Chapter 10

Obviously, Batman did not particularly enjoy the conversation he was forced to have with Gordon after this. He could tell that Gordon was trying with great difficulty to avoid panicking when Batman told him that Crane was nowhere to be found.

"I'll find him eventually. He can't be too far away," Batman assured him.

"I know you will. Don't worry too much. I'm sure he'll turn up. In the meantime, you should get some rest. I'm sure your day has been… eventful. While you're searching for him, I'll be sending my units to find more information about the 'Joker'. I've heard of him, but never realized that he could be an actual threat to Gotham." Batman took a step away. "Wait," Gordon called. "Let me ask you… Do you think that Crane could be sending us on a wild goose chase?"

"It's possible. But I don't think so." Before Gordon could question him further, Batman had disappeared.

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Bruce Wayne slowly rolled onto his back and stared at his ceiling for several minutes before turning to look at his alarm clock. It was two in the afternoon. He was somewhat surprised that Alfred hadn't woken him. He was quite thankful for this, since he clearly had a long night of searching ahead of him. He possibly had a great many nights of searching ahead of him.

Like clockwork, Alfred struggled to open Bruce's door and balance a tray of breakfast at the same time.

"Good afternoon, Master Bruce," he said cheerfully.

"Hey, Alfred. Do I have any plans this evening?"

"Well, at 7:30 you are supposed to be hosting a party on your yacht."

"Better cancel," Bruce said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "My evenings are going to be tied up for a while."

"I'll take care of it," Alfred said. "Oh, this was sitting on the doorstep this morning." Alfred handed Bruce a small brown cardboard box with the name 'Bruce Wayne' written across the top in a very familiar scrawl. Bruce stared at it silently before slowly placing his cup of coffee on the tray and taking the box from Alfred.

"If you need anything, Master Bruce," Alfred began, crossing to the door.

"Yeah, I'll call you, Alfred. Thanks." As soon as Alfred had shut the door behind him, Bruce ripped open the box, trying to keep his hands from shaking. Inside was the ipod he had previously bought, as well as a small post card.

"Sorry, Bats. I just had to find out for certain. Anyway, enjoy the music. I chose it with you in mind. Also, I hope now that your identity is 'out of the box', so to speak, this won't prevent you from searching for me. I'm anxiously awaiting the chase.

-J.C."

Bruce opened the ipod case and scrolled through the music section. Despite the fact that Bruce was desperately fighting the urge to panic, he had to admit that, for once, Crane had done something right.

"All AC/DC… All the time," he murmured, scrolling through the songs absent-mindedly. He leaned back, gazing forwards into space. All at once, he jumped out of bed, a sense of determination portrayed in his expression.

… And the chase was on…

-The End-