Chapter 19: Trying To Cope With Loss

This is Summer Gleason reporting here outside on this gloomy and rain soaked day, after having just concluded the funeral processions. The Gotham City weather clearly seems to be mimicking the feelings of a city still finding itself in a state of mourning from the loss of two of its brightest shining pillars. Droves of Gotham's citizens arrived to offer their condolences brought on by the tragic passing of Dr. Thomas and Martha Wayne last week. Even today, a rippling effect continues to course throughout the city leaving its people in a state of continuing turmoil, and as we continue moving forward that negative impact only seems to be growing. After all, Thomas and Martha Wayne weren't just known as pioneers of the economy, but reached so many others through their philanthropic endeavors.

Also, rumors continue to mount hinting that many corporate businesses are likely seeking out alternate locations to move their operations, uprooting from Gotham entirely out of a very real fear for their own safety. Sources speaking on condition of anonymity have hinted that the current feeling within these companies is that if two truly powerful and beloved public figures such as the Waynes are unable to remain safe from the corruption that has run rampant within this city, what chance would anyone else have to run a legitimate business?

The only possible saving grace thus far has been the lack of information coming from the heir of the Wayne family business, Bruce; who has thus far remained silent as well as hidden from public eye. In fact, until the funeral earlier today; no one had even been reported as catching a glimpse of Bruce in the last week, let alone hearing any word from him. The only thing that has been released is the statement already provided by the PR department of Wayne Enterprises shortly after Thomas and Martha's murders. That small sliver of hope still leaves the city's residents with little to go on as the rumors continue to swirl around and Bruce's extended silence begin to raise even more questions. Everyone is becoming anxious with just what Bruce's first action will be concerning the running of his father's company. Will he…

Diana turned off the television that had been broadcasting the news report, having heard all she could tolerate. She was sitting on the edge of her bed in the apartment that she'd been staying in ever since that horrible night almost a whole week ago. The loud crack of thunder that had followed a bright flash from lightning caused her to glance away from the now darkened TV screen to the lone apartment window, where she could see rain pelting repeatedly against it. She had to admit that the reporter was right. The weather did seem to match the demeanor of the city, and it was almost as though the gods themselves were joining the city in the mourning of such great loss. She knew that such a case wouldn't actually be true of the gods, but did hope that they would at least hear her prayers, and help to bring a measure of peace to Bruce after all that he'd been forced to suffer through yet again.

Part of her reasoning for such a prayer had come from the dreadful knowledge that it seemed he was going to have an even harder time dealing with this loss, and she was admittedly no closer to resetting the timeline than she had been before Thomas, Martha, and Alfred had lost their lives. In fact, she was actually unsure of just what to do next, having already processed what little information that she had managed to glean throughout the previous week.

~~ Joker's warehouse, six nights ago ~~

Diana rushed forward immediately when she saw the mangled man before her after he'd flinched upon hearing her voice. She quickly regretted her next decision however when she absentmindedly grabbed hold of the man's shackles to set him free, and was instantaneously met by the sound of him weakly screaming in agony. She realized that her actions had caused him to move inadvertently, and with a hacksaw stuck in one of his mangled hands, it brought a new surge of pain to him. However she knew that he needed to be released, and moving much more carefully, made sure to stabilize the man's hand as much as she could while she worked to set him free. Once he was finally loose, she took a moment to look over his various injuries, and realized that the amount of dried blood on the ground was unfortunately a very good indicator of the blood loss he'd already experienced before she'd arrived. It was more than apparent that he'd lost so much blood already that it would be detrimental to any form of possible recovery. If he even were to survive, both hands had long since passed the point of saving any single missing digit, and there was a vast amount of infection already surrounding his wounds. She couldn't help but to wrinkle her nose at the fowl stench that accompanied the infection, and she knew that it had already poisoned what little blood was left to course through his veins. "Tell me why the Joker did this to you." She softly requested.

"T…try….tried to stop him." The man answered weakly. "S…save S…arah."

Upon seeing the man struggling to even speak, Diana guessed that what little fight the man had left, he was going to lose it rather quickly. She knew that she needed to hurry before any questions she could pose would be left unanswered, and it was best to be blunt and straight forward. "How were you able to travel through time?"

"The…the wearer…Tr….Tri…angle…of Light…w…ill….p…pos….possess…gr….great….power…The…p…ower…of time….sp….sp….spent."

"Triangle of Light?" Diana questioned. "Is that some sort of amulet? Where is it?"

"J…J…." The man never finished answering as his body gave way, allowing his spirit to travel to the underworld where Hades would be waiting. She could only assume that the Joker had somehow uncovered this man's ability to move back through time, and he'd obviously beaten the poor man to the brink of death's door in order to glean every last detail that he would need. She now knew just why people had begun to die with the changes instead of surviving like they had been previously, and that knowledge also brought about a sense of anger as she had unknowingly been so very close to ending this torturous timeline with her hands held around the Joker's lapels. Now she knew that it was going to be much more difficult. She needed to know where he kept whatever this Triangle of Light was, and then discover how to use it. The Lasso of Truth would very likely be needed for an interrogation, and that would also require breaking in to speak with the clown. However with him already confined to Arkham by this point, she was going to have to risk being hunted by the local authorities when she broke into the Asylum to extract the information that she needed. She now had added motivation to reset this timeline, and such a risk would be taken without any hesitation of retribution.

~~ Present time, Diana's apartment ~~

Diana was now standing next to and staring out her apartment window leaning against it, still pondering what to do while also wishing again for what seemed like the umpteenth time that she'd been faster that horrible night at multiple different instances, but none more so than after having successfully broken into the Asylum only to find that the Joker had already been transported away by some unknown yet highly powered government officials. And to make matters worse, now police officers and FBI agents were seeking her out for having broken into Arkham, and it was all for nothing as her search turned out to be fruitless. No one she'd come across that night had known anything about where the Joker had been taken, but if she had to venture a guess she would bet that the ones who had held her in temporary custody were directly involved. In her previous experiences with law enforcement in man's world, she'd found that most enforcement agencies would fight tooth and nail in order to hold the ones responsible for the deaths of their brothers or sisters in arms. This group had apparently been run no differently, much to her disappointment and misfortune.

After eventually having struck out with finding the current location of the Joker, she'd attempted shifting tactics by breaking into the evidence lock up area. She found that nothing of significance was there, no trinkets or amulets amongst the Joker's personal effects, but she also realized that the evidence had yet to be confiscated by the unknown government agency either. With that knowledge in hand, Diana then spent the next two days waiting, watching, and hoping that someone would eventually come, only to find that no one did. At that point she'd become frustrated and had run out of leads, so she then returned to the Batcave with the fleeting hope of finding Bruce there obsessively training or preparing to battle for his city, but it was clearly evident that he hadn't been there at all. At that point a defeated feeling started to consume her as she slumped into the Batcave computer chair, causing some dust to rise up into the air. She'd made no more progress from that point to where she was now, and that was why she found herself in her apartment with no real direction to go. Her warrior instincts refused to allow her to give in, but she couldn't help the fleeting feeling of potential failure to return things to normal from bubbling up.

Her thoughts then shifted to the world's greatest detective before focusing more on the man underneath the mask and just where he'd been. If not for the funeral being played on the news, she wouldn't have seen even a glimpse of him at any point in the last week. That was strangely something which felt foreign to her now, and she didn't like it. Desire for a man's accompaniment wasn't a part of her upbringing, but no matter how much she internally argued over it, she couldn't deny that she missed him. Until now, she'd never really felt alone before, and now she wasn't sure how to escape it. All her friends in this timeline were either missing or had given up the fight. It was an empty feeling, and it felt almost as though a piece of herself had gone missing as well. She leaned her forehead against the cold glass of the window, looking down through the clinging rain drops as if the answer might be waiting down on the sidewalk below. "Where are you Bruce?" She quietly asked to no one.

~~ Embassy Suite ~~

The door slammed shut after having granted Bruce entry to his room. Today had been just as difficult to deal with as any of the previous six. He leaned his back against the door and allowed his head to fall backward until it too was against the wooden surface, wondering if the heartbreak and pain would ever get any easier to deal with. Eventually he rose up and pushed away from the door, slipping out of his rain soaked coat before tossing it onto a nearby chair. He stopped walking when he'd passed in front of a mirror by the wet bar, unconsciously grabbing a newly placed bottle of bourbon from the shelf. His face was covered in scruff from having not shaved in days, and his eyes were bloodshot from grief and a lack of sleep. He'd managed to not shed tears until his parent's bodies had been lowered into their graves, and then the water flowed down his face, mixing with the steady rainfall in a steady trail of rivulets that clung to his jaw momentarily until gravity finally got its way and ripped away from him just like his family had been. If not for the salty taste, he might've been able to convince himself that the tears hadn't been shed at all even if he still knew better. He then looked down and away from the mirror, as if he'd become disgusted by what he'd seen there before pinching his eyes tightly shut.

After a few silent moments, he opened the bottle of liquor, and placed the opening to his lips as he tipped it up and took in a generous swig. After allowing the burning liquid to travel down his throat, he turned to face the rest of the room, taking notice of how housekeeping seemed to have taken the opportunity presented by the funeral procession to tidy things up. If not for that, then anyone that had gained entry would've thought someone had held one hell of a party, or had been on quite the bender. Before that day, there had been bottles and empty plates strewn about the room carelessly, and some of them splintered into pieces. Tears may not have fallen during that week, but plenty of booze had made its way down through his system. If at any time during that week he'd been asked, he wouldn't really be able to tell much of what he'd been doing as he couldn't recall much of anything that had transpired in the last few days. The only thing that could be said about his actions was that the cluttered mess of plates and containers made it more than obvious that he'd taken liberty with using room service and hadn't really left the room at all.

Bruce took another large swing as he felt his line of thinking beginning to shift toward the unending and painful reminder of the many reasons why he was currently in this state. Anger and hate being at the top of that list. Without the booze his rage had been overwhelming him, and it was causing him to lash out in many different directions, but two were more prominent than the rest. One of those directions was troubling him the most though. Why had Diana initially come to him if she knew what was "supposed" to happen to his parents all those years ago? She'd claimed remaining quiet to keep him from experiencing added pain from such a loss, but he couldn't bring himself to clear her of the guilt of having a direct impact on the pain he was in now. He felt like she'd basically been using him as a tool for her mission to fix the timeline, where his parents had long ago died. But why would she be so cruel? She'd seemed to be exactly the opposite of cruel ever since he'd met her. Why would he in this other timeline even be friends with someone that would hold a mission over the feelings of someone they supposedly cared for? As his anger began to boil over, Bruce slammed a fist into a wall out of frustration before proceeding to chug half the bottle down and crumple to the ground next to his bed. All he wanted to do was go back to seven days ago where he had his parents and Alfred, and he had felt the love of such a beautiful woman. A woman that had seemed to be so honest and caring, and not a woman that used him to in essence rip those he loved away from him.

~~ An unknown compound ~~

A government official was marching down a long corridor. At the end was a door leading outside. This door currently was where a situation had started to become an issue. For over an hour, someone had been pounding away at that door while yelling certain obscenity laced rants to anyone that dared listen. And that was what had brought the man to head in the direction he was currently going. He came to a stop just before the door, looking at a security monitor to confirm once again just who it was on the other side. On the screen, he could see a single female standing there huffing and puffing in a good impression of the big bad wolf from the story about the little pigs. The agent almost smiled to himself at placing that childhood story into this situation. No amount of huffing and puffing would bring this facility down that he was aware of. Certain that the woman was on her own, he reached for the door and pulled it open. "Is there something I can help you with, miss?" He asked politely.

"You bet there is!" The woman vehemently shouted while simultaneously rummaging through her purse and after locating the item, pulling out a folded document. "I've got a court order that states your people are to return our prisoner back to Arkham Asylum immediately. You had no authority or right to take him from our facility."

"How did you even find us here?" The agent asked.

"You're not as sneaky as you think, and I know you took him here." The woman spat out.

"I think that you might be mistaken, miss…. I'm sorry, I don't believe we've been introduced." The agent replied, remaining friendly with his demeanor and tone. He even had a pleasant smile on his face while speaking to the clearly agitated woman.

"Doctor." The woman corrected quickly. "Dr. Harleen Quinzel. And there's no mistake. You and your people took the Joker without proper authorization or clearance."

"Well I'm Agent King Faraday, Dr. Quinzel." The agent responded while sticking his hand out in an offered greeting. When she made no move to reciprocate, he eventually pulled his hand back. "Do you mind if I take a look at the court order?"

Harleen handed Faraday the order hastily after hearing his request. "I'll need to see that the prisoner wasn't mistreated or tortured in any way while in your custody, and then I'm to accompany him back to Arkham personally. And I have copies of that court order in case you're thinking of trying any funny business. I don't know who the hell you think you are, but your group overstepped their bounds this time, and I'm not about to put up with it. The Joker is MY patient."

Agent Faraday carefully read through the court document while the doctor was spouting off on her diatribe, and once he was done, he released a small sigh before handing her back the order. He needed her to be pacified before she drew any more unwanted attention to them. "Well, it seems that you were able to convince the judge that we are in the wrong. I'll have to let my superiors look this document over, but in the meantime I think it'd be in everyone's best interest to move this discussion inside." Faraday stated, and only received a frustrated huff in response.

Faraday shook his head as he stepped aside to allow the doctor entrance into the facility. If not for the court document revealing that this Dr. Quinzel had gone through the proper channels, he'd simply have her locked up in a cell as well just for her being here and interfering. But with others having knowledge of her presence and it being official through the court system, there were too many people involved to silence discreetly. Any call to confine her at that point would have to come from above his pay grade.

"Why so much interest in a cold blooded murder like the Joker?" Faraday asked as he led her down the corridor in the direction of the holding cells. "He's just recently responsible for the murder of some very good men and women. Some of them were my friends."

"Allegedly." Quinzel immediately fired back. "Its called due process, and innocent until proven guilty. Perhaps you've heard of it."

"Fair enough." Faraday reluctantly conceded with a sigh. "But even still, the Joker is a madman, and Arkham doesn't seem to be well enough equipped to keep him behind bars. He seems to waltz right back out as soon as he's put in there."

"That's your opinion, Agent Faraday, and frankly one that I think is misguided at best." Harleen responded with disdain clearly dripping when she called out the agent by his name. "Our facility isn't a jail, it's a place meant to help those who aren't psychologically able to be held to the same standards of what you'd probably refer to as the normal populous. The Joker is no different than any other patient we treat there, but in my time with him I've seen him make some amazing strides with his treatment. We were just starting to get some positive feedback out of him, and now thanks to you all that hard work could be destroyed. Now no more stalling. I want to see my patient, and then have arrangements made for his immediate transfer back to Arkham."

Soon they reached the cell where the Joker had been confined. Faraday took a moment to glance over at the doctor as he wasn't quite sure why, but at that moment he couldn't help the feeling that there was something odd about this woman. This feeling was coming from deep in his gut, and it was a feeling that wasn't setting well with him. She seemed a little too determined to have the Joker placed back into the Asylum under her care, and he found himself wondering just why that would be. He was about to start asking some more questions, but the doctor spoke up before he had the chance. "I need a few minutes with the Joker. It'll give me the chance to discern what's happened to him since he was removed from Arkham."

"Very well Dr. Quinzel." Faraday complied surprisingly without any argument. "I'll be sure that my superiors look over this court order of yours while you have your time with the Joker."

Faraday walked over to the plexiglass window that separated the two of them from the Joker, and reached down toward a panel that sat about waist high. He gestured to a button for her to take note of. "When you're ready to speak with him, press down and hold this button." He explained. "The prisoner has one on his side to respond with in his cell."

"Why can't I go in and speak to him directly?" Harleen questioned.

"Because he's dangerous." Faraday answered as though it should've been more than obvious. "I'm not sure how things work with your facility, but while he's here you'll follow our protocols or wait outside until my superiors have reached a decision."

Harleen wasn't sitting well with the threat, but decided not to press her luck for the moment. She could at least speak with her patient, and that would have to suffice until they were back in their familiar confines. So with a calming breath, she depressed the comm button. "Hello Joker." She announced. "It's me. Dr. Quinzel."

Joker's head perked up from his position of lying on the single sized bed upon hearing the good doctor's voice. He was pleasantly surprised to hear from her, especially so soon, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. So he hopped up off the bed and made his way to the plexiglass wall that was between him and his freedom. "Harley, is it really you?" He asked with a hint of hopefulness evident in his voice. "Are you here to take me back home?"

"That's right Joker." Harley responded. "It's Harleen, and I'm here to bring you back to Arkham where we can continue your treatment."

Faraday watched the beginnings of the conversation between doctor and patient, before turning to exit the room. Before he walked through the doorway, he made sure to stop next to a security officer stationed within the room, and reached over the officer's shoulder to a console and initiated the interrogation mounted recording devices. "No one is to stop recording until I return under any circumstances." He ordered. "You got that soldier?"

"Yes sir!" Came the quick response before Faraday took his leave. Once the door was shut behind him, he then pulled out his cell phone and placed a call to the first contact on his list.

The phone rang a few times as he waited patiently before eventually being rewarded once someone on the other end finally picked up. "Sir, we have a situation here." He informed the person on the other end of the line. "There's a woman that arrived in front of our facility, and she came with an approved court order. I…" Faraday was interrupted before he could finish by the other person. He remained quiet at that point as he listened to orders being given to him, some of them surprising him, but not enough to speak up until the other person was clearly finsihed. "I understand sir. We'll release the Joker into her custody within the hour."

Faraday wanted to say more, but he heard a distinct clicking sound indicating that the call had been disconnected. He placed the cell phone back in his pocket and scratched the side of his head in confusion. Even though he didn't have the authority to make such decisions when court documents were involved, he'd never before had his superiors acquiesce to such an order. Ever since the creation of this division, they hadn't been governed by such restrictions like other agencies. It caused him to wonder just why this instance had been different, but once again he knew that it wasn't his place to question orders handed down to him. The prisoner was to be escorted back to Arkham, and that was exactly what he was going to see be done.

~~ Gotham City suburb ~~

Jim Gordon was scraping the remnants of what had been left on his daughter's dinner plate into a trash bin. "I know about the turmoil and rumors Jim, but unless you've heard something about Wayne Enterprises closing up and moving to somewhere further away than Metropolis I don't understand why you're thinking of doing this." Jim's wife stated as she multitasked by continuing to wash other dishes in the kitchen sink.

Jim walked over to her and handed the now scraped off plate to her. "It's something that I've always wanted to do Sarah." Jim explained. "Working for the Wayne's was great, but it was never the career path that I wanted. With Thomas and Martha gone and the Joker behind bars, now's the time to return to the force. The Joker already wiped out a good portion of the mob, and before they can build back up there's a real chance here to try and get the corruption out of the police departments. Maybe even help get the streets cleaned up before Barbara graduates high school."

"Why you though Jim?" Sarah asked as she spun around to face her husband. "You know damn well that whoever tries to make such a move is likely going to be assassinated or worse. Why can't you let someone else take on the burden? Working for Wayne Enterprises is a good career to have, and a safer one. I don't have to worry if you're going to be killed by some psychopath or worse yet, by some dirty cop that's supposed to be watching your back."

"In a city like this, that could happen regardless of where I work honey." Jim countered as he returned to the trash bin, pulling out the full bag before tying it up to carry outside. "That's especially true now. There's nothing but turmoil going on especially for power within the city, and why not let someone good try to make a stand? If I knew anyone for certain would be able to do such a thing, then I'd be more than happy to sit back and follow their lead, but right now I think that these other people are likely having the same discussion that we are. Someone needs to step forward, and I think I can be the one that does it. Thomas and Martha deserve something good comes from this tragedy and Bruce does too. I want to make sure that it does."

Having spoken his piece, Jim opened the back door leading to the alley where his garbage cans were located. He heaved the bag up into one of the cans before turning on his heel to head back and continue the discussion with his wife only to see a soaked tall female now standing between him and his back door. "What are you doing here?" He asked, instantly recognizing the female as a rain drenched Diana.

"With the all of the different forms of authorities looking for me, I have to admit that I wasn't sure where to go or who I could trust." Diana explained. "But Bruce trusted you, and that is good enough for me."

Jim's face scrunched up upon hearing Diana's reasoning for showing up unannounced at his house. He thought about telling her she had to leave, but eventually sighed in resignation. They were both standing out in the rain, and he had some questions to ask her any ways. "Alright, but we'd better get you inside before someone recognizes you." He said as he walked past her and back in through the door to his house. Once they were both inside, Jim shut and locked the door behind them just as he would any other day. Then he motioned over toward the dinner table. "Have a seat over there, and I'll brew us a fresh pot of coffee while we talk."

An hour later Jim, Diana, and Sarah were still all sitting at the dinner table. The coffee pot had been emptied, filled, and emptied again by that time as Jim had been listening and asking questions while Sarah tended to scoff at Diana's story and answers in disbelief. Diana finished telling her story by telling about the events that she'd been involved with over the past week. "And I know that the Joker is intricately involved, but I haven't a clue where he's hidden this Triangle of Light."

"Time travel?" Sarah chimed in, having finally heard enough of this ludicrous story. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I can assure you that everything I've stated is true." Diana replied.

"Jim, you can't seriously believe this." Sarah stated while turning to face her husband directly. "I think she needs to be sent to Arkham. It's clear that she's lost her mind."

"Sarah, I know how this all sounds, but if you'd have seen some of the…" Jim started to defend Diana.

"Oh my lord James!" Sarah cried out in utter disbelief. "A pretty face comes strolling in, and of course any man would give her the benefit of the doubt. Well, I've heard quite enough. It's bad enough that we're harboring a wanted criminal, but to have to sit through this hogwash is just too much." Sarah then got up and set her coffee cup into the sink while peering out the window in front of it. "Listen Diana. We were kind enough to provide you shelter for a while, but now the rain has stopped. So I think you need to leave before you being here get's us into any trouble."

"My apologies Mrs. Gordon." Diana responded as she too stood and set down her empty mug. "It was never my intention to cause trouble for you and your family. I thank you for your hospitality."

Jim stood up at that moment, and gestured for Diana to follow him to the front door of the house. When they were out of ear shot of his wife was the moment that he chose to speak again. "Sorry about that, but you have to admit it does sound far fetched for anyone to believe."

"Yes, I'd feel the same way in her position Jim." Diana agreed as Jim opened the front door and stepped outside with her. "I wouldn't have come at all, but wanted to have a sounding board to speak with other than a brick wall. Sometimes it's good to hear responses, even if they are questioning your own sanity."

"I take it then that you haven't heard from Bruce yet." Jim surmised.

Diana's expression drooped at the sound of his name. "Unfortunately I haven't." She answered even though he already knew what she'd say to him.

Jim reached over and placed a comforting hand on Diana's shoulder, getting her to look him in the eye in the process. "I know it may not seem like it right now, but Bruce needs you Diana. Now more than ever. Even if he appears to show the exact opposite of what I'm telling you, it's true."

"Thank you Jim." Diana responded, perking up ever so slightly. "You truly are a good friend. Bruce is lucky to have you, in either timeline. But I think the best thing for Bruce is to find this Triangle of Light, and undue the damage that's been done."

"Well, if you feel that way then we'll need to find out where else to look for it." Jim stated, catching Diana off guard. Hadn't his wife just lambasted the notion of time travel while he sat there silently? Why did he seem so willing to help with her now if he had barely put up a fight when it was being questioned earlier? Questions like these continued to pop into her head, and almost caused her to miss his continued words, almost. "Clearly since you broke into Arkham to find that the Joker had been moved, and then broke into the evidence lock up means that this triangle thing still out there somewhere. Let's go for a ride and see if we can find some answers."

A/N: Ahh yes, even in this timeline Jim is an excellent friend for those that wish to do good. Please R&R. Let me know your thoughts.