When he woke up Alex expected it to be in the cold and dark of Batman's subterranean hideout but instead he felt a scorching heat and felt heavily weighed down. When he opened his eyes he found himself staring out into the desert, wearing a full combat load and cradling an M16A4 rifle in his arms.

"Hey Westbrook, eyes forward!" A voice yells at him. Alex turned around to see his old squad leader and a patrol of grunts behind him.

"Aye Sergeant!" He replied. Alex resumed walking and looked forward spotting his friend Daniels swinging the metal detector ahead of him. "Daniels you've been at it for a minute, change out with me!".

"I'm good for a bit more bro." He replied and Alex felt his frustration rising.

"I'm serious dude, change out!" He tried again.

"Westbrook I'm fine, jus…" BOOM! There's a flash of light followed by an explosion, knocking Alex on his back from the force of the detonation, ear's ringing and vision hazy. There's shouting coming from the patrol now but it's partially drowned out by the pops of gunfire coming from a nearby village.

Alex's squad leader yelled at him to suppress the village with his M16 but all he can think about is Daniels. Alex got up and ran to wear he last saw him and found Daniels lying in a pool of blood a few meters away with both legs blown off at the knee from the explosion.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Alex started applying tourniquets to his legs but the blood just kept coming and he heard Daniels having trouble breathing. Ripping off the front of his flak reveals shrapnel wounds so he start treating those but as he's doing so he notices that his movements have stopped. Alex looked at Daniel's face only to have his eyes stare blankly back at him and he fell backwards in shock.

"And how does that make you feel?" A new voice asks. The sounds of screaming and gunfire have stopped and Alex was no longer in the Afghan desert. Instead he's laying back on a couch, gear gone and a feeling of grief overwhelming him. Looking over to where the new voice originated from reveals Harleen sitting in a chair next to him, note pad in hand and waiting for his response.

"I don't know. Sometimes when I close my eyes I can still hear it, pop pop pop, just constantly in my ears." He answered and she frowns.

"I told you going over there would fuck you up but ya didn't listen ta me did ya!?" She shouts and Alex noticed the shift in her accent. He's no longer on the couch but instead strapped down to a chair in a circular room. "Your clearly suffering from PTSD and in my opinion as a doctor I recommend ya undergo electroshock therapy." She says, walking over to the lever in her jester suit.

"Wait don't!" He managed to shout but she just grins cruelly at him and throws the switch. Blinding pain courses through him for what feels like an eternity but just as soon as it starts it's over. Alex opened his eyes to see that Harley's gone and that he's no longer tied down just as an explosion goes off somewhere inside the building.

Alex got up and rushed out the door, his only thought being that Harley's somewhere here and in danger. The cell block is in chaos when he arrived, guards are trying to restrain the patients but that doesn't concern him. Alex spotted Joker and his jester accomplice, who's face he coudn't make out clearly for some reason, holding Harleen hostage and making a run down the hall towards the exit and he gives chase, pistol in hand. Funny, he didn't remember grabbing it but regardless he fired a few shots off at Joker's retreating form.

Alex got to the exit and suddenly he's in the back of a squad car, rifle in hands, and chasing after Joker and his accomplice down the streets of Gotham. Alex set the rifle to burst fire and started taking shots at the car's tires to try and slow them down. He got off a few bursts but trying to fire accurately from a moving vehicle at high speeds is difficult. One of his rounds must've gone wide as he saw blood splatter on the windshield before the driver loses control and flips the vehicle.

The car stopped and Alex rushed over to the wreck, weapon up and finger on the trigger. Arkham security's already gotten to work on pulling Joker out so he moved over to the driver's side and grabbed the woman by the hood of her costume and yank her out. In doing so he ripped the hood off, revealing blond hair.

The women was unusually quiet and her body limp. It only took Alex one look at her face to figure out why; the bullet that was supposed to go through her hand had instead made its way through the back of her skull and exited through her forehead.

Alex stared in horror at what he'd done; however unintentional he had just killed his best friend. Laughter burst out from behind him and Alex turned to see Joker cackling madly at him.

"You see Sergeant, it's not me who you should worry about harming her. No, it's yourself. You think you can save her from me, but in doing so you'll kill her. She'll be another name on the growing list of people you've failed to save and just like Daniels she'll be forgotten by the world. And then you'll die, knowing that you've failed."

"Sergeant wake up!"

Alex snapped back to reality with a jolt to find himself back in the Batcave, Batman standing over him with a concerned look on what he could see of his face.

"You were stirring violently, are you alright?" he asks.

"I…no. I just had a very vivid reality check."

"How so?"

"I dreamt of Afghan, then Arkham. I've had these dreams before but this time it was different, I saw myself…killing Harley in the car chase and then Joker was taunting me, saying that I'd only end up killing her if I tried to save her."

"Hmm, sounds like your subconscious is feeding off your anxiety and playing tricks on you. I wouldn't take any stock in that if I was you."

"But what if it's right and I really do end up killing her?"

"If you start doubting yourself now you'll never know, will you? You can save her, and we'll help you do it, but you need to have faith in yourself."

"Your right, fuck am I thinking like that for? I'm a fucking Marine, and you know what Marines do!? Kill the enemy and get shit done! Hell yeah, I'm motivated now! Let's get out there and fight some bad guys!" Alex proudly declared, jumping out of bed before remembering that his legs were still fucked up and falling over.

"Maybe you should rest a few more days first Sergeant."

"Ugh, you know what…your probably right. Help please?" He agreed as Batman reaches down to help him up.

"Come on I'll drop you off at home." He says as he walks Alex over to the Batmobile. When they get to the vehicle Alex remembered that he'd forgotten something.

"Hey, where's Batgirl at?" He asked, wanting to thank her for saving his ass.

"She's on temporary suspension."

"Oh, well can you tell her I said thank you. I'd probably be dead if she hadn't come for me."

"You can tell her yourself. I'll have her check up on you at your apartment later."

"Yeah that's fine…hey wait, how do you know where I live!?" Alex asked alarmed but Batman just stares at him with a blank expression.

"Come on Sergeant, I'm Batman."

…Mission Complete…