Between one blink and the next, I've moved. I was in the hospital car park with Harley, now I'm in an alley alone. At least this time I'm wearing jeans, rather than my pyjamas like last time.

I quietly walk down the alley, towards the street, breathing in the cold air. I don't fight the smile on my face. I'm back in Gotham. It just feels so right.

I reach the street and look up and down it, trying to get some sense of direction.

I have no idea where I am. Crap.

No matter, I'll just walk until I see something familiar. I take a right and stroll down the street, taking in the scenery around me. There's still snow and ice on the ground, but not as much as when I was here last. So if I'm right, it must be sometime after Arkham City. I'd heard that there was a new game coming out, but I don't really know much about it.

My next question is how much time has passed here? I remember time moved strangely when I was here last, so I can't even guess how long it's been. It could be days or months or years. I study my surroundings, trying to get a clue as to the time frame.

Okay, first clue: It looks like some of the closed down stores have reopened. There's barely any graffiti and no broken windows anywhere, so someone must have cleaned up.
Which makes me wonder, why bother opening a business in a super prison? Unless...

I look around, and the lack of security cameras confirms my suspicions. This isn't a prison anymore. It's part of Gotham again. A place where normal, law abiding citizens can come and go freely.

After a few more minutes of walking, a familiar building looms at the end of the street. The courthouse! I break into a run with renewed energy, racing up the front steps and up to the door.

"Can I help you?" A voice to my left asks, making me jump in surprise. A security guard is standing there, watching me suspiciously.

"Uh, yes. Can you tell me what day it is?" I ask, out of breath from my run here.

"Wednesday." He answers, looking at me like I've lost my mind.

"No, like the date. What year is it?"

"Lady, what kinda drugs have you been taking that you're so out of it you don't even know what year it is?" He asks.

"Just humour me."

"It's October 14th, 2015." He answers. "Now, do you need me to call someone for you? Someone to come take you home?"

"No thanks. Do you have the time?" October 14th. Same date as it was back home. So that means it's been just as long here as it has for me.

"It's almost two in the morning. Do you want me to call a cab at least?" He asks, looking a little concerned.

"No money." I shrug, because it's true. I've got nothing, not even my gun. It's still in the hospital parking lot back home.

"There's a shelter two blocks that way." He says, pointing down the street to his left. "You can probably find a bed there for the night."

"Thanks." I head off in the direction he pointed. A shelter doesn't sound like such a bad idea. I'm not going to have much luck finding anything in the middle of the night.
Sure enough, I find a small building where the guard said I would. I walk inside and see an elderly man is sitting at a desk near the door, dozing lightly. I clear my throat, waking him.

"Sorry about that, just resting my eyes a little. Did you need a bed?"

"Yeah, that would be great." I smile, which he returns warmly.

"No problem, dear. I'll just ask you to sign in and we'll find you a bed." He hands me a clipboard and I fill out my name before handing it back to him. He leads me through a doorway, into the dining room then into a room lined with small shabby looking beds. Only about half of them are occupied.

"Here we are. Pick whichever bed you like. Some ladies from the church will bring some food around at about nine in the morning if you'd like some. Sleep well."

"Thank you." I say gratefully. I choose a bed in the corner of the room and curl up under the blankets. It's not very comfy, but it's warmer than outside, so I'm happy.
I try to will myself to sleep, but it's not use. I'm wide awake, running on adrenaline. I'm back in Gotham!

I need a plan of attack for the morning though. I'll stick around here for breakfast, because hey, free food! Then I'll have to try and find out what's happening. Is Batman still here? What about Scarecrow and Zsasz and all the other rogues? And of course, Riddler.

The million dollar question – Where is Riddler? It's been years, and I have no idea where to even start looking for him. Chances are he's not in prison, he's never locked up for long. But I don't know how I'm going to find him.
Maybe Batman is my best bet. If he's still around here somewhere, he'll have some idea where to find Edward, surely.
And then there's Harley. I don't think she's just going to leave me alone once she finds out I'm here again. She's pissed and looking for payback, and I'm going to have to face her at some point.

I can see the first tinges of light streaming into the room through the holes in the ratty curtains, and yawn involuntarily.
Might as well get a couple hours of sleep before I get going again. I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.

"Hey. Hey, lady."

My eyes fly open and I sit up, starling the old man who helped me last night.

"Sorry to scare you dear, I just thought you might like some breakfast. The church van just arrived. They have oatmeal." He says enticingly, smiling at me.

"Sure. Oatmeal sounds good. I'll be out in a moment." I reply and he shuffles off.
I take a moment to adjust to my surroundings. Still in Gotham? Check. Still in the homeless shelter? Check. Still have no idea how to find Riddler? Check.

I slowly make my way into the dining room we passed through last night.
Half a dozen well dressed women are serving up bowls of warm oatmeal, fresh fruit, and cereals. I make a beeline for the lady with the oatmeal.

"Good morning." She smiles politely. "Would you like some oatmeal?"

"I would love some, thanks." I watch as she spoons some into a bowl for me.

"Spoons are just down the end of the table there." She points. I follow her direction and take one, then I'm faced with a challenge. Where to sit.

Instinct says to choose an empty table, eat my breakfast and leave. But the other dozen people who slept here are all sitting together at a large table, so I take a deep breath and walk over to them.

"Room for one more?" I ask.

"Of course. Take a seat." The man nearest to me says, gesturing to an empty spot. I sit down ungracefully and nod at him in thanks.

"So most of us know each other, but I don't think I've ever seen you here before." Says a man sitting across from me. He's maybe late forties, slim with greying hair. "Where do you come from?"

I think about my answer for a moment before replying. "I'm from out of town. Haven't been to Gotham for a few years." That gives me an idea. "Maybe you guys can fill me in on what I've missed?"

"Have you been living under a rock?" Asks one woman. She's older than me, scary skinny and has long black hair. "Gotham's always on the news. What could you have missed?"

"Well... Batman. Is he still here?" I ask in between mouthfuls of oatmeal. It's probably not the most subtle way to get information, but it is the fastest.

"Ha! You have been out of it!" She barks.

"Just where did you say you were from?" Another man asks, looking at me suspiciously.

"Out of town. Really, really far out of town."

"Yeah, the Batman's still around." The man next to me answers. "Sort of." I give him a questioning look, and he continues. "He's not really needed anymore. Crime rate is down, way down. Everyone's scared of him, ever since he killed the Joker a few years back."

"Since he killed- Batman didn't kill the Joker! He tried to save him!" I exclaim. People don't really think that, do they?

"Oh yeah, he tried to save his arch enemy. The madman who tried to poison Gotham, and Batman tried to save him. Right." The woman laughs. Okay, so apparently people do really think that.

"But Batman doesn't kill people!" I insist.

"Well apparently, now he does. What's it matter anyway? Only good Joker is a dead Joker, if you ask me." Says an old man. Personally, I have to agree with him, but I keep that to myself.

"Well, what happened here? Last time I was in Gotham, this was Arkham City."

"Oh that. Turns out the Doc running it was crazier than Joker. He jumped off the tower and the prison went bust. They shut it down and reclaimed it for the city. It's mostly up and running now, except that part around the tower. It's still all off limits. They say it's structurally unsound, but I dunno. Can't trust the government these days."

"What about the inmates?" I ask, getting to the point of my questioning.

"All the ones they could catch were rounded up and taken to Blackgate." The man next to me says.

"And who didn't they catch?"

"Almost all the big ones got away." The woman says, shaking her head. "But luckily, we haven't heard from them. Probably in hiding, scared of the Batman."

"So, Scarecrow?"

"MIA." A man says.

"Killer Croc?"

"Last I heard, he was back in the sewers." Someone else answers.

"And Riddler?"

"No idea." The old man says, and everyone shrugs. No one knows about Riddler. I sit in silence for a moment. I need to plan out my next move. A half formed idea comes to mind, and I jump on it.

"Well, great to meet all of you, but I better go." I say, standing up. "Places to go, people to see, all that jazz."

"You stay away from Batman." Says the old man as I walk away. "He's dangerous."

"Duly noted." I nod at him and continue on my way. Even if they don't believe me, I know Batman didn't kill Joker, he tried to save him. And I know he wouldn't kill anyone else.
But all the same, I want to find Riddler.

I step outside and take in my surroundings. Shops are open, people are walking around and cars are driving past. I never saw Gotham like this when I was here.
If my memory is right, this is Park Row. Which means I'm kind of close to Riddler's hideout. My idea was to go there first and see if there're any clues as to where he is now. My only problem is getting there. I can't get a cab or a bus seeing as I have no money.
So I guess I'm walking. It'll take a while, but I've walked through this area when it was still crawling with thugs and criminals.

How hard could it be?

A/N: This is very late, I know!