Rebecca recovered quickly, only needing stitches and some sleep to recover from the night's ordeals.

It was a small mercy, though she hardly saw it that way – Rebecca was furious they'd lost the Joker because of her when it could have been the perfect opportunity to catch him. Not that she was ready to die or anything, but she kept kicking herself for not having reacted the way she should have when the Joker went for Rachel.

She'd replayed the moment in her mind a hundred times over, seeing all the angles she could have – and should have, she scolded herself – taken. Ways where she could have easily kept Rachel safe while successfully apprehending the Joker.

Unfortunately, when he'd gone after Rachel, her keener senses had left her in her all-empowering need to keep Rachel safe. And somehow, a part of Rebecca suspected Joker had known that.

Certainly, if he hadn't known it when he'd first gone for Rachel, he'd known it when he used Rachel to ensure Rebecca became a hostage against Batman.

Again, she kicked herself.

The only relief was the Joker hadn't managed to kill Harvey – the only one of the Joker's intended targets who had made it through the night.

Rebecca had insisted Gordon fill her in the moment she was conscious enough, and the frustrated Lieutenant had obliged once he was certain his Sergeant was in the clear. Judge Surillo had been bombed in her own car – the team sent to escort her hadn't been able to do anything as she had of course been killed instantly.

Gordon himself had gone to secure the Commissioner but someone had already been there to poison Loeb's stash of alcohol, which the Commissioner kept aside for stressful nights. The Commissioner had also passed quickly after taking a sip when Gordon hadn't been looking.

It was infuriating, because both cases indicated inside jobs – and especially with the late Commissioner. The Joker card had been reportedly seen amongst the files Judge Surillo flipped through during the prosecution trials for the mob, hence how the Joker got her prints on the card. But with Loeb – and getting in to poison Loeb's drink without any security noticing – pointed once more to moles.

But more worryingly, people were starting to lose faith again. Terror was gripping the city, and people who had been hedging to make a stand were backing down again with their tails between their legs – including cops, judges, politicians.

But Rebecca's fears were placed slightly at rest when Gordon informed her Dent was already back on his feet, and taking off running. He had already gotten Lau secured and protected, needing him alive to testify in court, and he was now working around the clock with Gordon to track down the mob leaders and the Joker.

And, of course, their secret 'partner' was also on the job.

According to Gordon, Batman had swung by in the night to inform Gordon the Joker had escaped after throwing Rebecca out of the penthouse and to let Gordon know he would also be tracking the Joker.

Rebecca just nodded, having heard the news from Bruce.

The billionaire had stopped by to see Rebecca only once while she was still sleeping, keeping up the façade that while Rebecca was an old friend Bruce Wayne was still more irresponsible and selfishly absorbed than anything else.

It hadn't stopped him using Alfred to call her often to check on her condition, however. After all the elderly butler had no reason not to show his care for the young woman he had watched grow up for almost three decades alongside his young master. And Rebecca had had to reassure 'Alfred' that she was doing well and would be discharged shortly every hour since she'd woken up.

Not that she minded – it was nice hearing Bruce's voice, especially to distract herself from everything that was going on. She had also arranged through coded words to go see Bruce secretly after she was discharged, instead of going home.

Gordon had ordered she take at least the day off to recover from her injury. And since Rachel wasn't going to be home as she was busy at her office, Rebecca fully intended to use the time to sneak some time with Bruce – and see if he'd made any progress in his search for the Joker, since the MCU wasn't coming up with much.

At the Batcave

Bruce stood before his desk, staring at the screens, which were all playing various cuts from the warning footage the Joker had sent before. He was trying to figure the Joker out; patterns, mindset, motives… anything that might help him both track and anticipate the criminal so he could catch him.

Alfred stood with him, as Bruce murmured while staring with a frown at the images of the Joker, "Targeting me won't get their money back. I knew the mob wouldn't go down without a fight, but this is different."

He nodded at the Joker as he finished darkly, "They've crossed a line."

"You crossed the line first, sir." Alfred countered grimly as he looked at Bruce. "You squeezed them, you hammered them to the point of desperation."

Bruce's frown deepened, his face becoming pensive as Alfred continued while nodding at the images of the Joker, "And in their desperation, they've turned to a man they don't fully understand."

Bruce pressed the button on the side of his work desk, activating the hidden chamber beneath the floor on one side of the bunker to pop open with his Batsuit.

Bruce walked towards it, intending to check it after the last night's drop, as he informed Alfred, "Criminals aren't complicated, Alfred. We just need to figure out what he's after."

"With respect, Master Wayne," Alfred replied bluntly, "perhaps this is a man you don't fully understand either."

As Bruce paid him no heed, standing before his Batsuit, Alfred piped up as he walked up behind Bruce, "A long time ago, I was in Burma – my 'friends' and I were working for the local government. They were trying to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones."

Alfred paused before he continued, "But their caravans were being raided in a forest, North of Rangoon, by a bandit."

Bruce turned, intrigued despite himself, and he folded his arms across his chest as he listened while Alfred went on, "So we went looking for the stones."

He stopped before Bruce as he stated flatly, "But in six months, we never met anyone who traded with him."

Bruce frowned, while Alfred continued, "One day, I saw a child playing with a ruby the size of a tangerine – the bandit had been throwing them away."

"So, why steal them?" Bruce asked, puzzled, and Alfred answered bluntly, "Well, because he thought it was good sport; because, some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money."

Bruce's eyes instantly shifted to stare at the images of the Joker he was scanning on all his screens as he realized what Alfred was trying to get at while the elderly butler continued, "They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with."

Alfred leant in to face his charge seriously as he stated flatly, "Some men just want to watch the world burn."

Bruce continued to stare at the screens, his lips pursed, while Alfred turned away just as the lift into the bunker came down.

"Miss Dawes." Alfred greeted, as though he hadn't just been warning Bruce about the seriousness of underestimating someone like the Joker.

"Alfred." Rebecca answered warmly, and Alfred asked as Bruce also turned to meet his girlfriend, "How's the wrist?"

"It's been better, but I can go back to work within the day as long as I don't overdo it, so it could've been worse." Rebecca answered as she moved said arm slightly to show it was fine.

Bruce came up to hug her while pulling her arm up gently so he could inspect it himself, while Rebecca looked between him and Alfred as she asked, "How was cleaning up after the Joker left? I was glad to hear that no-one else, at least, got hurt."

"Well, Miss Dawes, I can say I didn't have to have anyone wipe a dead man's blood off the floor." Alfred answered firmly. "And it was thanks to your intervention."

"Thanks, Alfred." Rebecca answered, before adding to Bruce pointedly, "Bruce, it's wrapped – you can't even see what it looks like under the bandages."

"Yeah, but I was worried." He answered as he slid his hand down from under her wrapped wrist and around her elbow. "Becky, when I saw he'd hurt you…"

"It was my own fault." Rebecca dismissed. "I was careless when he threatened Rachel – it won't happen again."

"It had better not." Bruce warned her, staring down at her with troubled brown eyes as Alfred's recent words weighed heavily down on his mind. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."

"Again, I say – a bit hypocritical coming from the Batman." Rebecca answered flatly, gesturing at the suit on display.

She then frowned slightly as she added slowly, "Bruce, about the Joker…"

"I'll deal with it." Bruce promised, but Rebecca shook her head.

"Be careful." She warned him, her blue eyes filled with worry though she also appeared to be deep in thought. "Something about him just doesn't add up – I don't think he's as crazy as everyone believes; or rather, I should say he seems to be a different kind of insane. And it worries me."

Alfred gave Bruce a pointed look behind Rebecca's back, one which clearly said 'I told you so'. Bruce grimaced back while Rebecca added seriously, "I'd even go as far as to say he's a true psychopath, and a clever one at that; and you seem to have caught his attention. So, please – don't take him lightly."

"I won't." Bruce answered with a slight sigh, but he was being dead serious as he promised, "I'll keep what you said in mind, Becky; I promise."

Later

True to his word – and against his will – Gordon called Rebecca back into action that very evening.

"But I don't want you coming in until I've called that it's clear." Gordon stressed as he drove them up to the building on 8th and Orchard. "Do you hear me, Dawes? Not until I've called the clear."

"Yes, sir." Rebecca answered, grudgingly. She disliked sitting on the sidelines and waiting for orders to rejoin the squad, ever since her early days on the force when her superior officers had left her on the sides all the time simply because she was a woman.

However, she knew Gordon was enforcing it for her own – and the squad's – safety with her injured arm, so Rebecca stayed put with one other officer by the police cars as Gordon, Ramirez and two more officers got out and rushed inside the apartment building.

Her patience was rewarded much quicker than expected, however, as Gordon called less than ten minutes later, "All clear – Dawes, get in here."

Well, she didn't need to be told twice. Rebecca quickly headed inside, motioning for the other officer to stand down. They needed at least one person guarding the exterior after all; besides, since the tip-off for the location had come from Batman, Rebecca had a feeling Gordon would keep everyone else out for at least five minutes while he and Batman poked around.

Sure enough, Rebecca spotted the two police officers who'd accompanied Gordon standing outside the apartment they'd been going to search. Inside the apartment, Batman stood examining something on the wall intently, while Ramirez watched a little resentfully. Clearly, she wasn't a fan of the masked vigilante at the moment.

As Rebecca joined Gordon inside the apartment, he informed her as he nodded to the two dead men slumped over a table in the corner of the apartment, "The target's Harvey Dent."

"How do you know?" Rebecca asked, but her question was answered as she was examining the bodies.

They had been arranged to look as though they'd been killed in the middle of a card game – a card game where both players' hands consisted of only Joker cards. Their faces were also painted in the Joker's clown-ish makeup, yet another of the Joker's 'symbols' for his victims; but more important for the detectives were the driver's licenses tagged on the dead men.

"Patrick Harvey, and Richard Dent." Rebecca muttered as she read the names off the false IDs. So, that was what Gordon had meant.

Something else caught her eye, and Rebecca moved to peer over at the paper on the side of the table as Gordon watched Batman examining a gunshot hole in the wall.

"That's brick, underneath." The Lieutenant commented, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "You're gonna take ballistics off of a shattered bullet?"

"No." Batman answered in his deep voice, ignoring the sarcasm.

Rebecca looked up as she heard a metal click, and she raised a brow as she saw a small, handheld drill in Batman's hand, while he told Gordon, "Fingerprints."

Batman began drilling the wall around the gunshot hole, while Rebecca touched Gordon's arm. He looked at her immediately, and Rebecca handed him the newspaper she'd found with a grim expression.

The Lieutenant skimmed the page Rebecca had shown him quickly, his face going equally grim, as Batman continued extracting the piece of the wall.

"Well, whatever you're gonna do, do it fast." Gordon informed Batman, just as the man pulled out the piece of the wall with the shattered bullet. "Because we've found his real next target."

Batman didn't say anything, but his questioning look was clear even from behind the mask as the masked crusader turned to face the two police detectives.

"It's the Mayor." Rebecca explained grimly as she took back the Gotham Times from Gordon and held it up so Batman could see it was opened on the obituaries page. "He's put it in tomorrow's paper."

Batman narrowed his eyes as he read the title that was right at the top of the page, 'Mayor Anthony Garcia, aged 40, Dedicated Public Servant.'

Below was a picture of the mayor, but his face on the paper had been painted with the Joker's trademark clown makeup. And all over the written article dedicated to the Mayor's memory were the words 'Ha Ha Ha', scratched onto the paper in black pen in a manner that spoke eerily of how crazy the Joker really was. Finally, on the side of the page in red ink, were the letters 'XOXO'.

Bruce took the highly technical scan he had made of the shattered bullet that Joker had left behind with him as he met Fox early the next morning.

"Can you do it?" Bruce asked as Fox examined the scan on his computer screen in the now secretly located Applied Sciences Division at Wayne Enterprises.

"Well, it's not easy – as with all your usual requests." Fox joked lightly, and Bruce grinned slightly as Fox began manipulating programs on his computer. "But, this should work…"

With his advanced systems and own technical prowess, the old gentleman soon had the fragments compiled into a program that could read and rearrange the scans, and Fox murmured as he finished uploading Bruce's scan, "This is your original scan. Here it is re-engineered."

Fox clicked another few keys, and the program activated, rearranging the fragmented bullet scans so that it became whole once more.

Bruce leant in closer to the screen as Fox shifted the angle of the bullet in view on the scan, pausing as they found the print Bruce had been looking for.

"And there's the thumbprint he left when he pushed the round into the clip." Bruce muttered as he examined the print imprinted on the restructured scan.

Fox leant back, satisfied, as he said lightly, "I'll get you a copy."

Bruce grinned in equal satisfaction, and he turned to leave now that he had what he had been looking for, when Fox called, "Mr. Wayne."

Bruce paused, looking at the older man as Fox looked at him curiously and asked, "Did you reassign our R&D?"

"Yup." Bruce answered instantly, nodding slightly as he confirmed Fox's words. "Government telecommunications project."

"I wasn't aware we had any government contracts." Fox commented, frowning slightly, and Bruce sighed slightly as he explained vaguely, "Lucius, I'm playing this one pretty close to the chest."

Lucius's brows rose slightly, and Bruce could easily read the surprise and the flicker of unease in the older gentleman's expression as Fox gave Bruce a very quick once-over.

"Fair enough." The old gentleman murmured, though he couldn't hide the skepticism and shadow of worry as he continued to watch Bruce.

But Bruce kept his face smooth and unreadable as he turned and walked away; partly because he knew Fox was likely not going to like what Bruce was really doing, and partly because… he didn't want Fox to know why Bruce was doing what he was doing.

Only Alfred knew of Bruce's real relationship with Rebecca, and Bruce wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.

The Joker was making it all too clear that one could never be too careful; and nothing, not Fox's unease or anything else, would close to measuring against the pain of losing Rebecca.