Batman stepped foot into the old mental ward of the original Arkham Asylum before it was relocated. Robin followed right behind him with his staff at the ready.

"You're sure this is where he's at, Robin?" Batman asked as he looked around the tattered building.

"I don't know too many people that dress in a purple suit and wear clown makeup. Yes, I saw him come in here." Robin answered.

"Split up. I'll take the east wing, you take the west." Robin nodded and the two went down the opposite halls.

Robin quietly and stealthy walked down the hall. He held his staff in front of him. He cautiously took in his surroundings. He heard something squeak behind him. He turned around and saw a rat scurry across the floor. Something had spooked it from that room.

Robin carefully stepped into the room and spun his staff in his hand. He went to hit the intruder but stopped the swing in mid air seeing his friend, Liam Martin.

"So this is your secret huh Blake? The next time you pick a superhero name try to avoid using your legal name." Martin scolded. Robin glared at his friend under his mask.

"Martin, what the hell are you doing here? It's not safe." Robin scolded.

"I followed you. I knew something was going on with you. This is what Joker was talking about right? You're one of Batman's partners." Robin let out a frustrated sigh.

"Fine, yes I am. Are you happy now?" Robin sneered at his friend.

"I certainly am." Robin's eyes widened hearing the voice behind him. Just as he turned around the masked man felt a stabbing pain in his side. He looked down to see Joker had plunged a knife in the soft side of his armor.

"John!" Martin screamed for his friend. He pulled his sidearm and began opening fire on the clown. Joker quickly pulled out the knife and ran for cover but not before Martin saw him flinch. He had at least gotten a hit on his target.

Robin collapsed on the ground as Martin ran to his side. Martin quickly shrugged off his jacket and pressed it against the wound.

"I'm sorry John! I'm so sorry!" Martin apologized as he applied pressure to the bleeding wound.

"What happened?!" Martin looked up as Batman appeared.

"I followed him here and I distracted him. Joker snuck behind him and stabbed him. He's going to bleed out if we don't get help." Martin advised.

Batman quickly kneeled down by Robin's side. He lifted up his left arm and began pressing the buttons he had seen Melody enter the night he was wounded.

"Hold him still, Martin. This is going to hurt but it'll save his life." Batman advised. Martin nodded and held onto Robin's limbs. Batman removed the blood stained jacket and applied the medicine to the bleeding wound.

Robin immediately wailed in pain and thrashed against Martin's hold on him. Batman finished applying the medicine and Robin began to relax again. Batman gave a solemn look to another masked man. He had been able to save at least one of his partners…

Robin looked at Batman weakly, "Go." Was the only word he said before his eyes drifted closed.

Martin's breath hitched in his throat and quickly placed two fingers on his friend's neck. He sighed in relief feeling a pulse. It was relatively weak but it was there.

Batman stood back up, "Stay with him." He ordered Martin.

Batman took a single step, "Wait." Batman looked back at the detective, "Who are you?" The masked vigilante stared at the detective. Martin had proven to be a reliable officer on the force. More importantly Voltess trusted him and saw him as a friend. After all, she sacrificed her life to save him.

"Dig a little deeper detective and you'll figure it out." Batman said cryptically before leaving the room.

Martin stood there confused at first until he remembered someone had told the same line.

"Bruce Wayne." He muttered and stared at where Batman stood moments ago.

23 Hours Earlier

"So you think I know where your cop friends are?" Ryan asked as paced in front of me.

"They were last seen in the Narrows. They were told of a lead there but it ended up being a trap. Nobody knows where they are." Ryan smirked.

"If nobody knows, how do you think I would know?" I rolled my eyes at him trying to be innocent.

"Cut the crap, Ryan. I know you know Joker's entire plan. You were supposed to do it together but you pulled out at the last second. I still want to know the reason why." Ryan narrowed his eyes on me.

"I told you I'm not telling you." He said sternly.

"Fine, then at least tell me where to find my friends." I countered.

Ryan shook his head, "No. That's what he wants, Mel. Joker wants you to find them. He's tested you with a single stranger then multiple hostage situations at once. Now this. You had a choice earlier tonight rather you knew you were making it or not. You picked Batman which is exactly what the Joker was hoping for. You're playing his game right now, Mel. Not yours." I frowned at him.

"What?" I asked quietly.

Ryan rolled his eyes, "Think about it! By the time you knew Batman was in danger you figured out that Joker laid out traps for him and your friends. Instead of going after your friends, you went after your boyfriend and saved him. That's what Joker was counting on."

I shook my head in confusion, "How would Joker know about Voltess' relationship with Bat-" I froze as the realization hit me. I was staring at the answer right in front of me. I glared daggers at Ryan and quickly gripped the collar of his shirt.

"You told him about us?!" I yelled in his face.

"Relax, I never mentioned your secret identities. I just mentioned to him that Batman and Voltess were a little more than just partners. He became very interested in hearing that." Ryan said with a smirk on his face.

"I don't know if you've noticed but Joker is kind of obsessed with Batman. I mean complete nut job obsessed. Everything that he's done so far is really targeted towards Batman, never you. Joker put you in these situations because he wants to see Batman crack. He wants to see Batman break his one rule." Ryan hinted at. I let go of Ryan's collar.

"He wants him to kill." I whispered in realization of Joker's plan. Now it made sense. The plan was ramping up and something tells me we're in the final stretch of Joker's plan.

"More specifically, Joker wants Batman to kill him. So he'll do it by getting under his skin by any means necessary. Hostages, throwing a kid off a bridge, traps, ambushes, and you. If I tell you where your friends are being held…you'd be playing right into his hands and Joker would be winning." Ryan stated.

"He's laid out another trap, hasn't he?" Ryan stayed silent. That answered my question.

"Is this part of the reason why you broke it off with Joker?" Ryan immediately put his walls back up and got defensive.

"What part of I'm not telling you do you not understand?!" He growled out. He stormed off to a different part of the building. I let out a sigh and stared at where Ryan was just standing. I can't leave here until I get the answers I need. Bruce isn't going to like this once he wakes up but I have to if it means finding Martin and Blake in time.

No One's P.O.V

Bruce's eyes opened to the familiar spinning ceiling fan above him. He looked next to him to see the other half of the bed empty. He tried to start sitting up but immediately hissed from the pain coming from his right side. Bruce looked down at the covered up wound that gave off a dull ache. He braced himself on his knuckles and clenched his teeth together as he pulled himself up in a sitting position. He sneered through his teeth feeling the sharp shooting pain.

"I'd advised against moving too soon, sir." Bruce leaned against the backboard. He turned his head to the butler.

"How long have I been out?" Bruce asked.

"Twelve hours." Bruce's brows raised in surprise.

"Twelve hours?" Bruce looked at the clock on the nightstand beside him. The time read 11:08am. It was already half way through the day.

"You lost quite a lot of blood, Master Wayne. You're lucky Miss Moser got to you when she did. We'd be making funeral arrangements right now and they'd be real this time." Alfred replied in a snarky tone.

A small smirk graced Bruce's face as a light chuckle came from him, "Well we couldn't have that now could we?" He joked. He looked around for the woman Alfred mentioned briefly.

"She's not here." Alfred seemed to have read his mind. Bruce's brows knitted together in a frown.

"Where is she then? Work?" He asked. Alfred gave a grimace and shook his head. Now Bruce was concerned seeing the look the older man just gave him.

"Alfred, where is she?" He asked in a more demanding tone.

"She left after bringing you back last night to speak to that Ryan Hayes fellow. She hasn't been back since." Red flags went off in Bruce's mind. She hadn't been seen since? He did not like the sound of that. Bruce threw the comforter off him and winced as he turned his still clothed lower half off the bed.

"Master Wayne, you're in no condition to go back out there. You need to rest." Alfred pleaded for him to stop.

"I don't have time to rest, Alfred. I don't trust Cyclone being alone with Mel for one second. If she hasn't been back in twelve hours then something has happened. I can't just lie here and do nothing." Bruce argued. He leaned on his left fist to push himself off the bed and into a standing position. He ignored the pain coming from his right side as he began to walk.

"You don't even know how to find them." Alfred argued. Bruce walked over to the closet and pulled out a white buttoned up shirt.

"Mel has GPS tracking in her suit. I can look it up from the cave." Bruce put his arms through the sleeves and fixed the collar as he straight it out. He began to button up the shirt.

"There's nothing I can say that'll make you stay…is there?" Alfred asked and looked Bruce in the eyes.

Bruce paused on one of the buttons, "This is about the love of my life, Alfred. Nothing could stop me from going after her. Especially not some superficial cut on my side." He finished buttoning up the buttons before walking past Alfred.

Melody's P.O.V

I leaned against the trunk of an oak tree as I kept an eye on Ryan from a distance. I had retracted my suit back to my bracelet some time ago. He still refused to tell me anything. Ryan gets heated every time I try to get him to tell me Joker's plan. He still wouldn't tell me where Blake and Martin are being held. At some point he figured out I wasn't leaving until I got an answer. He was annoyed to say the least and has been keeping his distance since.

I heard the roar of a car engine getting closer. I frowned and pushed off the oak tree. This was way on the outskirts of Gotham City. Who'd be coming out here? My frowned expression turned into a shocked one seeing the familiar silver Lamborghini come from over the hill. You've got to be kidding me. What the hell was he doing here?! So much for Alfred keeping him home.

My eyes glanced over to Ryan. I could see the shift in his mood upon realization of who it was that just showed up. I really didn't want Ryan to go hostile at this moment.

I walked out from under the oak tree as the car came to a stop. The driver side door opened while the engine was still running. Bruce stepped out and put an arm on the roof of the vehicle.

"Get in." He ordered with a stern voice and gaze. I crossed my arms and returned the same look.

"No."

"Mel, I'm not asking. Get in the car, now." I said nothing and made no attempt in moving. Bruce growled out in frustration.

"Melody! Get in the damn car!" He shouted at me.

"She's not going anywhere. Believe me, I've been trying to get rid of her for the past several hours." Ryan spoke up as he walked closer. Bruce's intense gaze turned to Ryan. Ryan returned the same gaze but didn't make any sudden movements.

"He's right. I'm not leaving until I get answers from him." I spoke up and pointed my thumb at Ryan.

Bruce looked at me then at Ryan and then back to me. He gave a frustrated sigh before leaning back into the car and the engine turned off. Bruce stood up straight and closed the driver side door. He walked around the car and stopped just feet away from Ryan. I cautiously took steps forward. Bruce was way too close to Ryan for my comfort.

"What answers do you exactly have?" Bruce asked.

Ryan scoffed, "I'm not telling her, what makes you think I'd tell you?" Bruce took a step forward.

"Ryan knows where Blake and Martin are being held by Joker. He refuses to tell me where." Bruce glared at Ryan.

"Have you tried beating it out of him?" Ryan narrowed his eyes at Bruce's threat.

"I'd like to see you try without the suit, pretty boy." Ryan taunted. He took a step forward.

"I could beat you without it." Bruce threatened back. Another step forward.

"Prove it then." Ryan challenged. Bruce and Ryan were now mere inches from each other.

"Enough!" I shouted. I squeezed between the two and pushed them away from each other.

"Nobody is beating anybody!" I yelled and looked between the two men. I turned to Ryan with a glare.

"I've had enough of these games, Ryan. You need to tell me at least where they are!" I was beginning to lose my patience.

Ryan returned my glare, "No. Go home, Mel." Ryan turned his back to me and started to walk away.

I felt Bruce's hand fall on my shoulder, "Come on, let's go. He's clearly not going to help. We can find them ourselves." Bruce stated. I felt my anger reach its boiling point.

I brushed my shoulder from under Bruce's hand, "You said that you don't recognize me anymore. Well I can say the same about you. You're not the Ryan Hayes that I once knew!" Ryan stopped dead in his tracks.

"The Ryan I knew was kind, compassionate, loyal, egotistical at times sure but most of all he cared. Is there any of him left or is it just Cyclone now?" Ryan turned his body slightly.

"That Ryan died six years ago when he got sucked into that tornado." He stated solemnly.

I shook my head, "I don't believe you. That part of you is still there. I've seen it. The Ryan Hayes I once called my friend is buried somewhere deep inside of you. I just need to dig him out." I stated.

Ryan scoffed, "Try all you like, Mel. It's not going to work." He turned back around and continued walking. I clenched my jaw in frustration. He was right there! I could see it!

I turned back to Bruce who had stayed silent. I looked him in the eyes and gave him a knowing look. Bruce gave a solemn look and approached me.

"I know that look. You're not coming back with me, are you?" I shook my head slightly. Bruce stopped in front of him and trailed a finger down the side of my face. His hand stopped and cupped my cheek.

"He's right there, Bruce. I can get him to talk and I've noticed I get better results if I bring up our past together. I'll have to get personal and I know you won't like that but you have to tr-" I was interrupted as Bruce leaned down and caught me in a kiss. The hand that was on my cheek now moved to the back of my neck. His other arm went around my waist and pulled me against him.

I leaned my head forward and returned the kiss. I placed my hands flat on his abdomen. I moved my hands slightly and I felt Bruce flinch and he pulled away from the kiss. He hissed through his teeth from the sudden pain. His side, I completely forgot about his right side. I pulled my hands away instantly.

"I'm sorry, I forgot about your side." I apologized. Bruce smiled lightly and grabbed my hands in his.

"It's alright. This cut is nothing compared to other injuries I've gotten." He assured me.

"Like breaking your back?" Bruce's smile widened and let out a slight chuckle.

"Like my back, yes." He stroked both thumbs over my fingers, "Do what you need to do, Mel. Don't get me wrong, I don't like this for a second but you're right. I saw it too just now. We'll work on finding them on two different ends. You stay here and work on this angle. I'll work my own angle. We'll call each other with any updates we get." I nodded and Bruce leaned down for another brief kiss.

"Be careful. I love you, Mel." Bruce whispered after the kiss.

"That's my line to you." Bruce grinned, "I love you too." I added at the end. Bruce released the hold on my hands and walked back to the car. He opened the driver side door and gave me one last smile before getting into the vehicle. The engine roared to life and I waved at him as he drove past.

I watched the car disappear over the hill before turning my head to the abandoned mansion. Ryan stood in front of it with a stone face expression directed at me. He'd witnessed the whole thing apparently.

No One's P.O.V

A linen bag was pulled off Blake's head. His eyes squinted at the sudden flood lights of the room. He had dried blood running down the side of his head and nose. His hands and feet were currently tied to a metal chair with rope.

"Blake?" Blake turned his head over his shoulder hearing Martin's voice.

"Martin, you alright?" Blake asked. He could see Martin was in the same position as him with their backs together.

"I've been better." Martin said jokingly. Blake rolled his eyes. Only Martin could make light of this situation.

"Where are we?" Martin asked as he looked around.

"I don't know but something tells me I know who's behind this." Blake stated.

"Oh I love guessing games! Could it possibly be me?" Blake glared at the clown in the purple suit as he walked under the flood light.

"Joker." The said man grinned and threw his head back in laughter.

"I was right! Now, it's my turn for a little guessing game. I saw you fight back there Detective and it made me start to think. Where have I seen those moves before?" Joker hinted and tapped his cheek with his finger.

"Ah," He lifted his finger up, "that's right. It reminded me of a little red bird. One that happened to show back up in Gotham City the exact same time you did, Detective. Now I'm a believer of coincidences but that is no coincidence." Joker laughed again. Blake struggled against his restraints. Joker connected the dots to him being Robin. This did not look good.

"What is he talking about, Blake?" Martin demanded.

"Ignore him. The clown doesn't know what he's talking about." Joker stopped laughing and suddenly brandished a knife. Blake held his head up as the clown placed the blade's edge close to his throat.

"Oh I know exactly what I'm talking about. I know in a matter of a few hours you and your partner here will be dead. Correction, one of you will be dead. Who it's going to be will be up to Voltess. This time, she won't be able to save everyone. She's on a timer, literally." Joker pulled back the knife from Blake's throat.

"Knock 'em out and get me the camera. The show starts in a few hours, boys!" Joker ordered his men. The last thing Blake saw was a fist coming at him.

Melody's P.O.V

"Here." I handed a Burger King paper bag to Ryan, "You look like you haven't eaten in days." Ryan had definitely lost weight since the last time I saw him.

Ryan gave me a disgruntled look before grabbing the bag from my hands, "You really haven't given up on me, huh?" He made conversation as he dug out a burger.

I sat down on the ground just across from Ryan, "Not in the slightest." I informed him.

"I gave up on myself a long time ago. You should do the same." Ryan advised and took a bite from the burger.

"I'm an optimist." I looked around at the building that was slowly being reclaimed by nature, "You know that this place reminds me of?" I asked and looked back at him.

"That abandoned research facility up in Washington state. Remember that massive storm that hit?" I asked.

"It was the only shelter we could find. We were there waiting out the storm for hours." Ryan had a very and I mean very slight smile on his face. He's scratching at the surface now.

"I also remember that huge rat that sought out shelter in the same place we did. You jumped onto that counter so fast!" I teased with a grin on my face.

Ryan shook his head and swallowed before pointing at me, "I recall you did the exact same thing and you screamed. I didn't."

"You shouted." I corrected him with an eye roll.

"There's a difference between shouting and screaming. You screamed like you were in a horror flick." The smile was beginning to grow slowly.

"I did not!" I defended myself.

"You can deny it all you want, Mel but I vividly remember you screaming." A light hearted chuckle came from him. There he is.

A silence fell over us, "That was also the night we first kissed." He added gently. He relaxed the hand that had the burger.

"I remember." I said quietly.

"What happened? Between us I mean." Ryan asked. He had a look of heartbreak on his face.

"You know what happened, Ryan. We would never had worked. You wanted to settle down and start a family. I didn't want to be tied down. I wanted to travel and see what I could." I reminded him.

"What about now?" I was taken back by that question.

"What?"

"That was a long time ago. You've seen the world and more with being an Avenger. If I had asked you how you are now, would you choose to settle down?" I hadn't really thought about that. It was more complicated now with being Voltess.

"I'm not sure. Being Voltess makes that decision ten times harder to answer than it was in the past." Ryan narrowed his eyes on me.

"What if Wayne asked you to settle down? Marry him, take his name, give him a couple kids. Would you do it for him?" Spite filled his voice as he spoke about Bruce. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about that kind of life with Bruce. What Bruce and I have is real. Far more real than I ever felt with Ryan or anybody else.

"I would." I whispered out my final answer. I could see the visible anger and jealousy in his demeanor now.

"Just not me." He angrily whispered.

"Ryan, I'm not in love with you. I'm in love with Bruce." Ryan's jaw clenched.

"I still am." Bruce was right.

I shook my head, "Even if I hadn't met Bruce, we could never be together again. You've killed people, Ryan. That is something I can't overlook." I reminded him.

"What about you, Mel? Hm? You always bring up that I've killed. You might not have been directly responsible for deaths but you still had people inadvertently killed. The Battle of New York. Over hundreds of casualties. How about Sokovia? Thousands of civilians lost their lives that day. Then the biggest one yet with Thanos. Billions all gone, turned to dust. You have just as much if not more blood on your hands than mine." I stared at Ryan in anger.

I was well aware of the casualty counts in the battles I've had alongside the Avengers. A mother who lost her son confronted Tony and I backstage after a MIT presentation. We dropped a building on her son while fighting Ultron. That is something that will always weigh on me.

"You're right, a lot of people lost their lives on those days. But it could have been worse, much worse than it was. Hero work is not that easy, not that you would know, Ryan. Let me tell you how it could have happened if the Avengers weren't there. The Battle of New York? Did you know the US Government launched a nuke towards Manhattan to try and kill off the Chitauri? No? That would have happened if it wasn't for Iron Man flying that nuke into the portal the Tesseract opened. That nuke destroyed the fleet before they could invade further with their reinforcements. Millions of people could have lost their lives that day instead of the few hundreds." Ryan remained silent.

"Sokovia? Ultron was aiming at wiping out the entire human race. That's eight billion people, Ryan. Eight billion is a much bigger number than thousands. These are all like that scenario on the train tracks. You have ten people stuck on the tracks in one direction and one person stuck on the other. Which way do you send the train? Do you save the many or the one? We did what we had to do in the moment if it meant protecting earth and the majority of the people that live there. So don't you dare try to compare your situation to mine. I tried to save those people while you purposely harmed them." I scolded him with anger clearly evident in my voice.

A tense silence fell between the two of us. I felt my phone vibrate in my jean pocket. I pulled out my phone to see a text from Bruce.

'You need to see this.' He copied a link into the text. I tapped on the link and it sent me a social media page. I froze seeing a video recorded by Joker that was live just minutes ago. I tapped on the play button.

"Hello Voltess, I know you're watching out there. You've been impressive so far. You've managed to save every person but that ends tonight. You see, I have your two little detective friends and they're on a timer." Joker moved the camera to reveal a red timer counting down. Bombs.

"In exactly ten minutes these timers will go off and your friends will be blown to bits. I have their locations listed but you'll notice they're at opposite ends of the city. You only get to save one. Better hurry, the ten minutes starts now." Joker's laugh rang out before the video cut off. I abruptly stood up and headed for the exit of the building.

"Mel! Don't go out there! This is what he wants!" Ryan yelled as he followed after me. I made it out of the building and I could see the sun beginning to set.

I activated my suit and threw my board down, "We're done, Ryan." I told him coldly.

"He's going to kill you!" I stopped with just one foot on my board. I looked at Ryan.

"That's his whole master plan right now. He's aiming to kill you to get to Batman. That's why I left." Ryan shook his head, "I couldn't help him kill you. If you leave, you're playing right into his hands. Joker won't stop until he knows you're dead."

I furrowed my brows and stared back at the city. My mind was going a million miles a minute. Then it hit me.

"Then we just have to make him think I am."

Present Day…

I opened my eyes and groaned feeling the aches run through my body. I looked around and noticed I was back at the abandoned mansion. I sat up and examined myself. I still had my suit on and it was caked in debris and dust from the building.

"You're lucky that suit ate up most of the explosion. That was a little too close of a call, Mel. I actually had to save your ass." I looked up to see Ryan.

"It took longer to get there than I expected. How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Just under two hours. The plan worked, Mel. They think you're dead and you do realize that includes your boyfriend right?" I let out a sigh and slowly rose to my feet.

"I know, but Joker would only believe I was really dead if Batman believed it too. I'm going to get an earful after tonight." I was already flinching at the scolding I was going to get from Bruce tonight.

"Joker's been spotted at the original building of Arkham. Batman and his sidekick were also seen entering it. That's where they are." Ryan informed me.

"I'll head that way then." I dusted off my suit of debris.

"How? Your cop friend has your board." My mask dropped down to my chin as I smirked at Ryan.

"Any metal trash cans around here?"