I spent the following night with a bottle of vodka from Bruce's secret stash. After spilling my guts to John, I wanted nothing more than to numb myself with something other than my own rage. They left me alone for the night and I was grateful for that.

All over again, I felt like the little girl who lost her mother all those years ago. I watched the room spin around as I lay on the floor with the bottle. This was the only way I knew how to let go of control. Was this what the Joker was talking about?... Enjoying the world topple with just a few bricks removed? What unsteady foundation was my sanity built upon? I wasn't sure if I was pulling the bricks out... if the Joker was... or if John was.

I sobered up the next morning and opened my windows to let in some fresh air.

After some half hearted forethought, I decided to give crime fighting a shot. Why not? I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Since my father had been locked in Arkham, I was starting from scratch.

John had faith in me - more faith than I had for myself. Of course, he had no way of observing the psychological tightrope I was balancing on... teetering between his views on altruism and my more personal motivation for revenge. He had a certain type of blind faith in me that I could easily become his Achilles heel...

As Goya once wrote, 'the sleep of reason produces monsters'.


A few days before Halloween we visited Lucius Fox at Wayne Enterprises. I had been so excited to meet him I almost forgot why we were there.

"Lovely to meet you, Ms. Falcone. I've heard quite a lot about you."

My smile could have also been considered a wince.

"I'm sure your new CCTV systems have painted a lovely picture of me."

"Well, you wouldn't be here if they hadn't," he said, winking.

John, Lucius and I made our way to the basement of the building, walking through a few hallways that required different security clearances. Lucious went through them like clockwork.

Finally we made our way to a set of steel doors that opened via retina scans. As the doors slid open, motion detectors switched on bright lights, revealing a room that must have been the size of a football field.

"Home sweet home" Lucious said, walking towards a set of desks and monitors at the far end of the large, open space.

I realized how awestruck I must have looked when John elbowed me, smirking.

"I never would have thought a place like this existed under the city" I said, trying to shake my excitement.

"Most people don't" said Lucius, "so lets keep it that way, kid" he said, eyeing me while booting up a few computer screens.

During our visit, Lucius had asked me about an alter ego name to fit my new crime fighting profile... something that had meaning for me.

"Perhaps an animal totem?" He suggested.

It didn't take me long to settle on the perfect alter ego.

"Tiger's Eye"

The meaning of the stone for me was twofold: A protector... a watchful eye and a homage to my mother. I wanted to wear my past on the outside. To remember why I was here. To remember who I was becoming.

That day we designed blueprints for the suit. It was sobering- another step towards a future that I could control. I no longer needed to hide or run away. On the contrary, they would be running from me.


Halloween in Gotham was always a double edged sword. Festivities, fundraisers and trick-or-treating laced with looting, gun violence and homicide. When the day arrived, Jack-o'lanterns, bats, ghosts and goblins decorated the mansion. The day was spent readying the charter school students for trick-or-treating.

The day was just as exciting for John and I, as Lucious came by to drop off my suit. When I tried it on, it was brilliant beyond imagination. Black leather, bullet proof fabric, light weight, a full coverage mask with tigers ears and stripes of blackened gold fabric. It was as equally equipped as it was terrifying. The suit gave me the ability to jump higher, to withstand blunt impacts and was even sensitive to atmospheric changes. But the most important modification was the suit's hypersensitivity to my insight. The fingertips of the outfit allowed me to either block out or enhance another's thoughts and memories as I saw fit. It was liberating to know I could freely use the gift when I wanted. It no longer needed to control me like it had in the past.

As the students left the manor to go trick-or-treating, John and I were in the newly renovated bat cave checking police reports and news updates. Combining Lucius' private CCTV and John's access to the GCPD police radios, we quickly concluded that so far the night remained relatively somber. John trusted the police force to handle most of the light to moderate criminal activity. Intervention would be saved for more delicate situations.

I was inspecting my suit further as Alfred came down with some protein shakes.

"Ms. Falcone, are you ready for your initiation into the family?" Alfred said smirking, handing us both green smoothies.

"Oh god, not this" John moaned, taking a breath then gulping it down while holding his nose. After exhaling, John stifled the urge to gag. "This is the most disgusting thing you'll ever taste."

I eyed John and Alfred suspiciously, sniffed it, then took a sip.

"It tastes like kale," I said plainly.

"I hate kale," responded John. I rolled my eyes and finished my smoothie as well.

"Thanks Alfred."

He smiled and winked. "Well at least Someone around here likes my smoothies"

Alfred stared at one of the television screens broadcasting the annual Halloween Fundraiser, a costume contest between all the most popular, well known fashion designers. The fundraiser had begun earlier that night, models were in the midst of strutting down a catwalk inside one of Gotham's historic halls. The city's socialites were standing around with champagne glasses, determining which costume they would bet on this year. The announcer sounded joyful and excited as she interviewed a seemingly rich and important guest.

"This is the kind of thing I can't stand watching," Alfred said, collecting the empty glasses and beginning to walk up the stairs towards the cave's exit.

"He says that but he's just going to watch it while having his tea."

Alfred pretended not to hear John's remark as I giggled.

"Good luck tonight, Lucy. Make sure Mr. Blake doesn't get into any trouble"

"Thanks Alfred" I said, as John rolled his eyes and ushered him up the stairs like an embarrassed teenager.

When Alfred was gone, I turned to John, "I'm sure Bruce would have attended an event like this."

He nodded. "Unless he was needed elsewhere."

I always wondered how he could quickly go from civilian to super hero mode at the most inconvenient of times... must be a trick of the trade.

Suddenly, the TV screen flashed with static. At first we thought there might be something wrong with the cable, but then a figure slowly started to materialize as the picture changed from fuzz into a darkly lit room.

"Hi Gotham… miss me?"

I froze. Not now.

"Ladies and gentle-man…There is nothing wrong with your television set... Do not attempt to adjust the picture. I am controlling transmission" the Joker erupted into fits of laughter as his dimly lit face appeared on screen. There was someone tied up in the background. Judging from his surroundings, I realized the footage must have been shot from inside a newscasting van.

"Allllll Hallows Eve" said the familiar, chilling voice. "When the dead... rise ".

I turned to John but his eyes were glued to the screen.

"But I'm not talking about me. No no no..."

He paused now, getting closer to the screen and adjusting it, as if it was a camera on a tripod.

"Rumor has it, there've been sightings of a stray bat flying around Gotham... could it be?...our light and savior? Batman?! Let's ask the audience..."

The joker positioned the camera towards his hostage, walking towards him and turning him around in the chair. John and I stood in shock. Tied in the chair with an explosive stuck in his mouth was the jeweler John had saved earlier that month. The old man had a fresh gash on the side of his head. The Joker removed the device from his mouth and the man's sweat covered, shaky form gasped for air.

"Now. Mr. De'Lorenzo... I remember you saying to a lovely news reporter that you came FACE to FACE with this man... could you kindly repeat to the audience what you said his name was?"

The old man was so frightened it took him a few moments too late to collect himself. I jumped backwards as I saw him raise a knife to the man's mouth.

"John-"

"Sh!" I had never seen him like this. He couldn't stand what was happening in front of him... I looked towards the screen, helplessly.

"Night-w-"

"Speak up! Speak up!" The Joker said giddily, out of sight.

"Nightwing" the man whimpered.

"NIGHTWING" the Joker roared as the man trembled. The Joker cooed the store owner, eventually shoving the device back into his mouth.

"I have a special surprise for you, Nightwing," he said, pushing the chair away from the frame. Behind the glimmer of his makeup, the Joker's face was emotionless as he readjusted the camera and licked the side of his lips. "We criminals of Gotham have worked far too hard to be shown up by some batman wannabe. Consider this an initiation of sorts, because now that I'm back... I expect Gotham to come at me with the best of the BEST. So, if you think about it, I'm helping the GCPD weed out a few more of the crazies." The Joker whooped with laughter as the jeweler whimpered behind him.

John was clenching his fists, waiting for the Joker to get to the point. I knew he was drawing this on, letting the poison sink into John's veins. This was all a part of the plan.

"Tonight, at midnight, you will make a choice, batboy. Save Gotham's elite from a chemical bath at the city's Gala, or deactivate bombs I've placed around my old stomping grounds, Arkam. The trick is, you can only pick one treat. Save the wealthy or free the felons! "

About to shut off the camera, he came back around to it, holding up a finger.

"Oh… and one more thing. If the GCPD interferes with our little game... no-BODY wins." He ended the sentence with a gesture of an explosion. As the camera fell to the floor with a crash the picture immediately cut back to a news reporter, talking into her earpiece inside the Gala. She turned towards the camera.

"Folks... We are now inside a live hostage situation. I've just been informed that the doors to the gala have been sealed shut- the exits being blocked..." the female reporter stood shakily as an armed man in a clown mask swiped an expensive looking necklace from around her neck before moving on through the crowd. The entire ballroom was being raided by the Joker's men. Surprisingly, after a few moments, the reporter collected herself and continued.. "W-we will stay live with you as we approach midnight. I'm Danielle Lee, reporting from the annual Halloween-"

We were running to our motorcycles in seconds.

"What are we going to do? Should we split up?" I asked, starting my motorcycle.

"Gordon has Arkham covered. We need to head to the Gala... People's lives are at stake."

I nodded as I switched my masked goggles to night vision. With that, we shot out of the waterfall entrance to the batcave, speeding towards the city.

It was only then that I thought about my father in Arkham.