Chapter 41: A New Beginning
Weeks went by after the kidnapping incident. Bruce and Harley took Abigal to the hospital to make sure she was alright. They kept her under surveillance for a week, to make sure she wouldn't display symptoms that Joker's victims usually underwent. Besides having the physical appearance of that of the victims of the laughing gas, Abigal seemed fine. After a week, the hospital finally gave her a clean bill of health and allowed the Waynes to take her home. Everyone seemed puzzled by Abigal's condition. Perhaps the Joker had used a weakened strain of his laughing gas and maybe she has just gotten lucky. Bruce and Harley were just happy to have both of their kids back safe and sound.
After that however, came Alfred's funeral. Bruce spared no expense on the proceedings, wanting to give his trusted butler/ adopted father a proper sendoff. He also did everything in his power to keep the media out of the funeral, making it as private as possible. Everyone attended, from pretty much every member of the Justice League and the entire Bat-family. After everything was said and done, they placed his grave alongside Thomas and Martha Wayne, even if he wasn't blood, Alfred was every bit a Wayne and belonged there.
Even after three weeks, the effects of the Legion of Doom debacle were still being felt. Johnathan Crane was released from the hospital after suffering a serious injury to his leg after the submarine crashed. Crane now had to walk with a cane and a limp. As much as hated to say it, Crane was done with the hero business. Bruce was happy to offer Crane his home to stay, and the former Scarecrow accepted. He loved the Wayne kids and was thrilled to watch over them now. No one wanted to say it, but it seemed as if Crane was replacing Alfred at the manor, even if no one could truly replace the lovable Brit.
That was not all in the form of world-shaking news in the world of the Waynes. Both Dick and Ivy announced that they had secretly eloped and were now married, much to Harley's anger (she had her heart set on throwing the wedding she knew was to come). Apparently after the Legion of Doom event, they both felt life was too short to wait, and too dangerous not to. In their line of hero work they knew every battle could be their last, and the aftermath could either leave them crippled or dead. What was even more surprising is that they came back after eloping with a kid, a little girl around the same age as both Thomas and Abigal. Her name was Mazie.
Both Dick and Pamela explained they had come across the girl awhile back, playing in a small garden in the Children's ward of Gotham's hospital. When the two weren't out fighting crime, they had visited her, with Ivy showing her how to care for the plants in the garden and Dick just being his old charming goofy self. Mazie had been in the hospital since birth, with a life-threatening disease that proved too costly for her birth parents. It didn't surprise the hospital staff too much when the parents dropped her off for one of her treatments and never came back. Luckily due to the Wayne charity foundation, the abandoned girl's medical expenses were taken care of, even though sadly a cure had not been uncovered. In a fit of desperation to save the girl's life, Ivy performed a blood transfusion with her own blood in the hopes that her altered body and blood will have a positive effect on the girl and destroy the disease. Miraculously, it worked. Although like Abigal, Mazie changed as well. Her hair had been blonde, but now it was altered with red streaks in it. Not to mention her lips were now bright red, as if she wore lipstick. Besides that, she could also communicate and control plants, just like her newly-adopted mother. When Mazie was introduced to Thomas and Abigal, the three hit it off quickly and became fast friends
More weeks passed and things finally returned to normal and settle down. Harley was walking up the steps, carrying a tray of food for Abigal. She heard Abigal chatting happily to someone, although she couldn't guess who. Thomas was with Crane downstairs and Mazie was not visiting today. As she entered Abigal's room she saw her sitting on the floor looking into the mirror that was attached to her closet door. She seemed to be chatting with her reflection.
"Abigal?" Harley asked curiously, " Who are you talking to?"
"My new friend." Abigal replied, turning to her mother, "His name's Jay."
Sorry for the forced introduction of Mazie. Her character however, will be in greater detail when I release the side story involving Dick and Ivy. However, since this is Harley and Bruce's story, those scenes would not fit into the arc. Though Mazie will become integral to this story. *