Disclaimer: I don't own Batman anything in his world. Only the victims, prostitutes, Nicole, and Becky. And anything else that isn't in the Batman verse.

AN: The first 9 chapters have been re-edited for a few grammatical errors that were missed. There isn't any new content so you shouldn't have to re-read it. But if you want to, feel free.

"I'll stand for nothing less,

Or never stand again"

The Clincher - Chevelle

Nicole felt the blast of oppressive heat as soon as she opened the doors leading to the outside world that lay beyond the lobby of Wayne Tower. Cringing at the bright light, she made her way across the street and up the stairs of the parking deck to her awaiting SUV. Her air conditioning capable vehicle was a sight for sore eyes. She may have been from the Deep South, but that didn't mean that she liked the sweltering heat that had been provided courtesy of the first major heat wave of the summer season. The day had been fairly uneventful for her and she was more than ready to meet her roommate for dinner after feeling her stomach rumble. After being on the road for a few minutes, her car only seemed to be baking her in the heat that was still trapped inside. Much to her chagrin, the air conditioning didn't seem to be working. After fiddling with the dials and hitting the dash a few times, hot air continued to blow out of the vents. Great. Either the air compressor had gone out again or it was out of gas for the air conditioning. The nearly fifteen year old car was giving her more problems than she needed lately but she couldn't afford to replace it. Giving up hope of cool air, Nicole rolled the windows down as she merged onto the expressway; thankful she had missed most of the hustle and bustle of the afternoon traffic.

By the time she reached Betsy's Diner, she was almost soaked in sweat. Opening the doors to the vintage diner, she was immediately greeted with sweet air conditioning and the smell of greasy burgery goodness. Knowing where she was going, she quickly turned and found the familiar plush red leather booth and immediately sank down into the seat as it gave a hiss under the sudden weight.

Across from her, the curly haired brunette with bright blue eyes peaked over the newspaper she was reading. Unlike the Gotham Daily that the pair received each morning, the Gotham Gazette was the more prestigious and more informative newspaper. The mailing address located on the edge of the paper told Nicole that her roommate had snagged her copy from the mechanical engineering department of Gotham University. Without saying anything, Nicole reached into her massive bag and removed a black hair tie. Once her hair was securely placed into a loose ponytail, she grabbed a menu and glanced through it, although she didn't really need to. In reality, the roommates had eaten at the little diner that offered a view of the serene Gotham University campus at least once every week since her arrival.

"So what are you getting?" Rebecca asked leisurely, still reading the paper.

"Um…the chili cheeseburger and fries looks great. I think I'll get that." Nicole replied, biting her lip as she was thinking.

Rebecca chuckled, "Nikki, you always get that. Don't you want to live a little? Maybe try the grilled cheese, or better yet, the chicken fingers, Miss Predictable?"

Nicole, for her part, shook her head. "I'm not being predictable. I just happen to love chili cheeseburgers. Besides, it reminds me of home and the little hamburger joint that was there."

"Did you really just say that? Are you secretly from the 1950's?"

"Yeah, I did. Man, I must be getting old like you," she teased the brunette, who was her elder by a year.

Before her roommate could retort, the pink clad waitress approached the table and asked for Nicole's order. Looking at Rebecca with a wry smile, she recited her order, which was exactly what she had told her roommate it would be. Rebecca shook her head while folding the paper and set it down as she recited her order of a chicken salad for the waitress.

"So, how was Bruce Wayne today?" Rebecca asked as she smiled innocently. As a native Gothamite, she had been in disbelief that her new roommate wasn't under the billionaire's charm and frequently reminded Nicole that most women would give their right arm to be the man's assistant. She had made it routine to ask about Wayne and try to at least get her to flirt with the man, if not all out throw herself at him.

"Fine."

"I bet he was!"

"Really, Becky? Come on, even you can do better than that."

"What, he is! Seriously Nikki, why aren't you into him? Everyone worships the man. How can you seriously not want to date him?"

Sighing and realizing her friend wasn't going to let it go, Nicole formulated her reply carefully. "Becky, I agree the man is attractive, but he seems more of the type to date supermodels and heiresses only to say that he's dated them. Not to mention, for starters, that he can't keep a girlfriend, is a total player, and there's the tiny detail that I'm his assistant. How cliché is that? And have you ever seen him with a completely normal woman?"

"He's your boss for what, like three more months? You could keep it under wraps. People do it all the time. I know a girl who is graduating at the end of the summer and is dating her professor. And let's not forget you aren't exactly normal my dear."

"You know what I meant."

Rebecca thought for a minute. "Rachel Dawes."

"What?"

"Remember, I told you that she was one of the Joker victims? She also was Bruce Wayne's best friend. She seemed normal."

Nicole thought for a minute. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose one of her best friends to death. Rebecca had taken that position in the short time that they had known each other.

"Anyway," Rebecca started, breaking Nicole from her thoughts, "I think you won't go after your boss because you're weird and you're hung up on Mr. Dark and Creepy." She suddenly slid the newspaper to Nicole. "He made the front page of the Gazette again."

Smiling to herself, she eagerly opened the paper to a bold headline proclaiming that the giant bat had been sighted and possibly even halted a robbery in progress.

"So, Nikki, let me get this straight. Sexy Billionaire Bruce Wayne, whom you work in close proximity with, doesn't interest you. The vigilante thought to have murdered police officers and who also masquerades as a giant bat does? Were you dropped on your head as a child or are you just into some kinky S&M shit?"

Nicole shrugged. "I find him intriguing. Something twisted had to have happened to him for him to dress up as a bat and help others. If he were really a cold-blooded murderer, wouldn't he have killed more people by now? Why would he have stopped the Joker?"

Rebecca sighed. "That's just a rumor. The police arrested the Joker. He's safely locked up in Arkham. "

Before they could continue their debate, their food arrived. Nicole quietly chewed her cheeseburger, reading through the paper, happy to be distracted from the conversation with Rebecca. She knew that Rebecca held different views on the vigilante and didn't support him. Even she had days where she wondered if he could have been guilty. But deep down, she didn't think the Batman was. After all, if he was, why hadn't he killed before that incident or after it? And why did it seem that he was always foiling robberies or beating would be rapists and muggers to a pulp? It didn't make sense to her.

"Oh, I went by the post office box and got our mail on my break," Rebecca said, breaking the silence. She started digging in her massive side bag. "Ah! Here they are!" She slid the pile of bills across the table. Suddenly she smiled. "Nikki, what are you doing on Father's Day weekend?"

Nicole stopped flipping through the mail and paused to think of the upcoming weekend that was a little over a week away. "Nothing, probably calling my dad-why?"

"You aren't going out of town then?"

"No," she looked suspiciously at her friend.

"Then will you accompany me to the re-opening of Amusement Mile?"

"Wasn't that where the dead girl was found?"

"Yes, but the park is under new management--you should know that as it's now operated by Wayne Entertainment. And my engineering department had a contract to develop and revamp some of the roller coasters and structures as well as install a new ride. We just weren't sure of the opening date. So will you go? It's the Saturday of Father's Day weekend and it's open only for Wayne Enterprise employees. That means short lines, less crowds, and I might get to meet Mr. Wayne himself." Rebecca pleaded.

"Becky, I haven't even been told, how did you-"Nicole started but was cut off by Rebecca smiling guiltily and holding a torn open envelope. "You know, Becky, first you result to stealing papers from the engineering department, and then you start stealing people's mail. Becoming a career criminal are we?" Nicole teased, taking the envelope from Rebecca's hands. Inside was a simple invitation stating that she and her family or guests were invited to the Grand Reopening of Amusement Mile—Gotham City's biggest and best theme park.

"Please Nikki, you have to go. It's so much fun! I remember going there growing up, and, it's going to be even better now! It's like Disney World, only in Gotham. And I, of course, can be your one guest," she not so subtly suggest.

Nicole chuckled. "Ok, ok. I'll go. And I'll even take you."

Rebecca squealed with delight and started telling her about the remodeled park as the two continued eating their dinner and gossiping until Rebecca received a call that she was needed back in the lab. Bidding each other farewell, the roommates departed ways; Rebecca going to the swanky new Engineering building on campus and Nicole heading home to get her gym clothes as per her evening routine.

Gotham's East End was by all accounts one of the worst sections of the city, second only to the Narrows. The once bustling community near Old Gotham had certainly seen better days. When East End had branched out from old Gotham, new rows of apartments and store fronts were built. More importantly, many industrial sites had emerged, especially near the outlying coastal areas. The docks made an ideal place to export shipments. As time wore on, the economy worsened. Industrial businesses shut down. Buildings were abandoned. People left the older part of Gotham for the newer part that housed better business opportunities and newer, nicer living quarters. Those that did not leave were either too poor or too set in their ways. Eventually the buildings started rotting and the gangs formed or moved in from the outside. East End lost its grandeur of the past and exchanged it for the dilapidation and forgotten ways of the present.

It was here, near the docks of East End, that an abandoned, half dilapidated industrial warehouse sat. The building was marred with cracks and the windows were half busted. Dust covered most everything except the areas that had been recently used. The man seemed out of place in his attire; dressed casually in khaki slacks and a light blue button down shirt. He looked as if he were plucked from the Financial District and placed here haphazardly. Seemingly no one noticed the man's presence. Those who did simply did not question—sometimes, it was better to not ask why.

As the salty breeze ruffled through his hair, the man placed a shiny new padlock on the rusted chains that barred the tall chain-link fence. He had exited these gates for the last time. The demon's lair had served its purpose well, until the last escape attempt. It wasn't the first time one of his girls had tried to escape. In fact, he remembered Tiffany valiantly fighting back. He had tried to drug her on multiple occasions but she was a fighter. As he recalled, she always was. She was also the biggest bitch he'd ever met. He'd known her prior to her fame and it was by chance that they were reintroduced at a club that night. She hadn't even remembered him! He tried to approach her and tried to jog her memory. Every time, she brushed him aside; it seemed she was trying to hook-up with his friend instead. When Tiffany had had too much to drink that night, he couldn't resist asking to take her home. He knew what her answer would be. After all, she always did use the little people.

Instead of her home, he had driven her here. He hated that he had to drug her, but found it was much easier that way. When she had awoken she screeched nonstop. He gagged her. She still wailed. He had lost his patience and knocked her around a few times. It had stopped the wailing. But then, somehow, she had managed to get the knots loose and managed to crawl halfway out the broken, half boarded window. It had been a fight to get her back in but he had won.

He paused in his thoughts to look at the building and chuckled lowly. Wherever she was, he was sure she remembered him now.

Miranda had been different. She had pled silently for freedom until she had found some discarded sharp object left behind and cut through her bonds. She managed to slip out a side door and almost made it through the hole in the fence leading to the water—and freedom--beyond. But almost didn't count did it? It was after Miranda's almost-escape that he knew he needed to change locations. He needed something much more…accommodating.

The man walked silently back to his waiting vehicle, not giving the dilapidated hell hole one last glance. His thoughts were trained on one thing really—who would be his next lucky lady?

The water was freezing as she sank into its depths, eyes closed, to keep her contact lenses from washing away. She waited for the feel of the concrete bottom of the fifteen foot mark to meet her feet before swimming upward and breaking through the relatively smooth surface of the chlorinated pool, thankful her long brown tresses were in the ebony swim cap. Feeling for the edge of the indoor pool with one hand, Nicole wiped her still closed eyes free from water. It wasn't that she minded opening her eyes in chlorinated water, it was the fact that her contacts seemed to escape her eyes every time she did so. Without the vision devices, she would only be able to make out shapes and colors that were across the room. Reading would be near impossible unless it was right in front of her face. Still, she found life with contacts was much easier than life with her glasses. At least she could swim which was her favorite form of exercise.

Nicole pulled the black goggles over her head, placing them over her eyes. Surprisingly, she could see relatively clearly through them and could see out the massive glass walls that enclosed the indoor pool. The sun was setting beyond the horizon setting the sky ablaze with brilliant shades of orange and pink. She loved twilight and night time and always seemed to have more energy-hence why her workout sessions were in the late evening as opposed to pre-dawn. She placed the clear nose clip over her medium sized nose, thankful the clear ear plugs were already in place. She absolutely hated water in her ears and getting chlorinated water up her nose.

She began the motions of the laps, her preferred position being the backstroke, and the feeling of sliding through the water. The pool was relatively empty at this time of night and she preferred her solitude. These workout sessions were her way of easing her stress and worries. To everyone looking at her form, she appeared full of confidence and easy going. That was only partly true. Nicole did have copious amounts of confidence in herself. It was other people that she didn't trust and let in easily. Her past had taught her to hold people at arm's length and it had become ingrained in her. Rebecca was one of the few exceptions. Something about the hyper and spastic brunette had been endearing and comforting, reminding her of better days. She had immediately trusted her roommate and let her in. Everyone else would have to prove themselves worthy of her trust and confidence.

She hadn't always been that way. There was a time she had trusted everyone around her. However, those people she held closest to her, continued to hurt her. The first boyfriend she had ever had cheated on her. She had remained strong and vowed to learn from the past; after all, she was still a naïve eighteen year old. As the years went by, her best friend had seemed to change. Sure she had always teased Nicole, but now, it almost seemed like she was putting Nicole down every chance she got, especially when Nicole had been dating Will. As it turns out, Will and Sara had been sleeping with each other the entire time and Sara had given him an ultimatum – leave Nicole or she was leaving him. He chose Sara. What hurt the most was probably the fact that Nicole wouldn't sleep with Will. It wasn't that she didn't want to have sex; it was that she wanted to be in love first. To make the situation even more ironic, it had been on their one year anniversary that he told her of his decision—the same night she had made her decision to give him the one symbol of her love that was most precious to her. If that didn't rip her heart out, she didn't know what could.

Of course, Sara, being a popular Southern Belle who had many parallels to the great Scarlett O'Hara, controlled the group of friends that the two shared. A few nasty rumors and lies and the manipulative princess had succeeded in ruining the majority of Nicole's friendships. It was two months after that occasion that Sara ended up pregnant and Will and Sara were married. It had taken lots of crying, cursing, and even pints of Ben & Jerry's to stow the hurt away. She remembered seeing the wedding announcement and realizing just how pathetic her life had become. This mopey, depressed, withdrawn person was certainly not her. After some soul searching, she had come to the realization that if she had married Will, she would have had to live the life of a small town wife to a doctor who had a timetable about when he was to be married and even have children. He was very primitive in his ways and had often disapproved of her aviation pursuits, deeming such things unladylike and too dangerous. She had realized that if she had married Will, she would have had to give up the things she wanted.

She had decided to take back her life. Aviation was her passion and that's what she would do. Even better, it gave her a change of scenery where she could focus on being herself and not living up to the expectations of those around her. Gotham had been chosen for its education opportunities and the fact she could experience big city life. The fact that it was hours away from the little Podunk town she hailed from only sweetened the deal.

Nicole swam faster, feeling her irritation at the subject, willing herself to work harder. Yes, Nicole was almost angry. Things weren't going the way she thought they would. She had become an office assistant, which wasn't bad, but it wasn't what she wanted either. She had dreamed of a life of adventure, of rebellion, of passion and romance, but it seemed as if things weren't falling into place yet. It seemed as if she was stuck in some sort of limbo. If she were totally honest with herself, Rebecca's proposition that she become one of Bruce Wayne's notches on his bedpost wasn't all that horrible. But she couldn't let herself do that. Despite all the things that she was willing to do, compromising her morals and old-fashioned ideas on love wasn't one of them.

Nicole hauled herself out of the pool, taking a long drink from her bottle of water before wrapping a towel around her body and removing the swim cap and shaking her hair out. The lights of Gotham shone brightly through the darkened night as she looked out the windows surrounding the empty pool. Sighing in frustration, Nicole left to get changed, realizing she had to get back to her apartment to finish her assignments for her online courses. While Nicole wasn't an official student on campus yet, she had taken online courses during the spring semester and, now, the summer semester in order to get ahead with her studies. She would just have to wait until the weekend before she could be more adventurous it seemed.

The Narrows was a dangerous and foreboding place in the daytime. At night, the Narrows was a breeding ground of crime and evil so sinister, many of Gotham's police hated going there. It was precisely one of the many reasons why Batman often appeared in the Narrows. Often times, there was some shady mob deal being formulated among the rotting buildings. Other times, he was there to defend others from being robbed, raped, or murdered. Granted, his menacing figure was seen in other areas of the city at night as well on his patrol, but some days it seemed as if all the crime in Gotham crept out of the smelly streets of the island that the Narrows was located on. Tonight, his mission was to find anyone that knew Bunny Robbins.

He thought that it was likely that the murderer hadn't intended to kill the victim that night—there wasn't much evidence to indicate that, just a gut feeling. And if Bruce had learned anything, it was to trust his gut feelings. It was entirely possible someone had seen him with Bunny. There was also a slim chance he had used her services before. If so, that might make him easier to identify.

Hearing the crunch of the roof top under his boots as he walked, he decided to survey the activity below. Derringer Street was located in the heart of the Narrows and was populated by an array of seedy bars and clubs. It was the so-called red light district of Gotham and most of the prostitutes worked the street corners nearby. On weekends, the place was active, but like every other bar on a Monday evening, things weren't as busy here. Still it was crowded and the last thing he wanted to do was leap into the throes of a crowd. From his vantage point, he found a side street that was more protected, yet still offered an array of people to question. Quietly, he leapt with arms outstretched and glided down, appearing unnoticed in the alley.

On the fairly secluded corner, two women stood, silently conversing. He could easily tell that the raven haired girl felt awkward and self conscious due to the fact she kept fidgeting with her clothing, almost nervously. She stood in six inch red heels that contrasted with the black pleather mini-skirt she was wearing. Her top was a light blue tube top and was a little too tight and she obviously wasn't wearing underwear. In all likelihood, this girl, for she couldn't have been older than seventeen, was new to this. The other woman, at least in her mid twenties, stood as if she owned the corner, her confidence rolling off of her in waves. She was dressed in a tight formfitting and revealing red dress that offset her mousy brown hair.

As he stepped into the dim light, he made his appearance known by enabling his footsteps to be heard. The younger girl whirled around, jumpy at the sudden presence behind them and gasped. Hearing her compatriot, the older girl turned, visibly shocked at seeing his massive black form. She quickly recovered, putting on a face of indifference.

"What do you want, we hadn't done nothing," the brunette asked of him.

"Relax. I just want information"

At his growl, the younger woman looked as if she were about to faint as she visibly blanched and gripped the brunette's arm tightly.

"Bridget, chill." Turning her attention back to the Batman, she asked "What makes you think we know something?"

Thrusting the picture of the deceased girl at her he growled, "She was killed by a man picking of women in this city. Did you recognize her?"

"No," she replied cooling, trying to hand him the photo when an arm shakily stopped her.

"Wait," the girl named Bridget commanded. Taking the photo she stared for a moment before her look turned sympathetic. "Her name is Bunny. I met her when I started. She was real nice"

"Where did she work?" the gruff voice questioned.

"At the docks, near Arkham. I left because it was too sketch, even for me."

With that, the Batman nodded and sank back into the shadows. Now he had a location. Things might be looking up for his investigation after all.