Author's Note: Just a warning: This is going to be one of those 'Let's just see how things go' type of chapters. This is the first one in a while that I don't have a clear direction on, but hey, what's the worst that could happen? Let's find out.

As an afterthought I'm thinking that I'm going to be changing up the title, or at the very least, the summary of the story. They were both rushed, before I really had a clear idea of where the story was going, so take note. Those could be different. I'm trying to make this extra obvious so that nobody thinks that the story just vanished into thin air.

Edit: I'm a couple paragraphs in, and homonyms are giving me trouble tonight for some reason. Just a heads up.

"I am rather... Nervous about this procedure." J'onn said to Diana. They were standing in the private wing of the medical bay, watching Bruce through the large glass window. He'd removed his mask, and was staring at it as though lost in concentration. "His experience at the Asylum nearly destroyed him. Extracting the memory of that night would force him to relive it as well, which may not be wise... Especially considering what we may find."

"But J'onn," Diana began slowly, struggling to find the right words "we need to know if we can.. If we can..."

"If we can trust him?"

"No!" Diana exclaimed defensively. "Of course we can trust him... Even if it turns out that Strange brainwashed him into killing Firefly, it wasn't really him, was it? There's no way that could be his fault."

"You know as well as I do that he would not see things that way." The Martian said in a somber tone. "He sees the world in black and white. Right is right, wrong is wrong, killing is killing."

Diana sighed deeply. "I see your point. But there must be some way that you can tell without disturbing him?"

J'onn went quiet and stared at Bruce, his eyes glowing a brilliant orange. After what seemed like an eternity to Diana, he spoke up. "I see no indicators of hypnosis or brainwashing of any sort. But without having closely examined his memories of that night, I cannot be sure of what Strange is capable of."

Diana focused as hard as she could on finding a workaround, but came up empty. "Look at him!" She exclaimed, pointing at Bruce through the window; he was still staring absently at his cowl. "He's even starting to doubt himself. There must be something that we can do!"

"Perhaps I could be of assistance?" Said a deep voice from behind them. Diana whirled around, slamming the button that blacked out the mirror so the newcomer wouldn't see Batman without his mask. The stranger was wearing a long blue overcoat and matching fedora. His face was covered by a flesh colored mask that gave the impression that his face was completely flat and featureless.

"Question." Diana said aggressively. "What are you doing here? This is a closed wing!"

"I was summoned here." The Question said simply.

Diana gritted her teeth; she'd always found the Question's games mildly irritating, and she was in no mood to hear about how Stanley Kubrick had been killed by a mixed group of Illuminati mystics and IBM engineers. "By who?" She said, annoyed that she had to press for details.

"Him." The Question jerked his thumb in the direction of Batman's room.

"What?" Diana said, mildly surprised. "What does he want with you?"

"I don't know, Princess, but I'll be sure to let you know. Assuming, of course that you decide to let me in."

Diana gave J'onn a sidelong glance; the Martian stared at Question as though he was staring into his very soul (which, as a matter of face, he was). He slowly nodded at Diana, indicating that Question wasn't lying. Diana doubtfully entered her authorization code, unlocking the door. Question slipped through, sealing the portal behind him.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't... Bruce Wayne." The Question began. "Although, if it's any consolation, I've known your identity for some time now."

"It's not. But I know. That's why I called you here. You see things that other people miss. "

"Hm. Indeed. I received the files that you sent..." The Question reached into his coat and retrieved a folder. "Most disturbing indeed."

"He's in my head, Question. I don't know what he's after, but whatever it is, he's getting to close."

"You're worried that he's brainwashed you into doing his bidding and soiling your... Erm... 'Good name.'

Bruce nodded. "That's the worst case scenario. And at the moment, it seems to be the most likely."

"It would appear that way." The Question said cryptically. "However, upon close inspection of the notes you took on Professor Strange, I have come up with several scenarios."

"Give me one that doesn't involve the lizard men that secretly run the government."

"Nobody ever wants to hear about the lizard man..." The Question murmured, a distinctly bitter edge to his voice. "But they'll listen eventually, they'll have to. Or it'll be too late..." Batman coughed gently. "Right, of course." The Question retrieved his notes from the file. "So... Let's take a closer look at the time that you first time that you met Strange, which seems to be the key to the whole mystery, as it seems that the motivations behind the attack were less than clear. By contrast, his second strike had a clear and focused goal; eliminate Wonder Woman, in as gruesome a means as possible. The first one though... He claimed his convoluted plan was for the purpose of 'investigative research.' However... We still do not know why he went through so much trouble, when he'd already proved that he could read your movements weeks in advance. Let's set aside the possibility that the purpose of keeping you there was to brainwash you... I think that we could discover much more by investigating other purposes. Personally, I find the scenario rather unlikely. You've shown an unusual resistance to such techniques in the past... That path would be a risky one indeed."

"Alright, I'm following you so far. But how do we figure out what he's thinking? He's a complete madman."

"You see, that's where my unique expertise comes in the play." The Question said smoothly. "You've extensively studied criminal psychology, which should make this easy for you to understand. Strange is no ordinary madman; he shows all of the signs of a brilliant serial killer... Or as brilliant as such a horrible person can be, anyway. The point is, he completely lacks empathy. But this goes much deeper than a child burning ants with a magnifying glass, or even a serial murderer killing to fill a void that he can't identify. No, Strange channels his lack of empathy to achieve his ends."

"I've figured that much out for myself." Bruce said, growing impatient. "What I can't understand is what those ends are."

"That," Question began triumphantly, "is what I believe to be the solution to your quandary."

"Pardon?"

"Let me explain... What if the purpose of luring you to the Asylum and having you jump through all of those hoops wasn't to study you, or hypnotize you, but simply to rattle your cage?"

Batman blinked as realization set in. "You don't mean..."

"Yes. He's established himself in your mind as more than a man. Beyond analyzing with the psychoanalytic tactics that you're famous for. I theorize that the true goal behind bringing you to the island was to hide his true goals."

"It's brilliant..." Batman muttered, more to himself than anything else. "And it makes sense. He's been using my own tricks against me."

"Which brings me to my next topic... This 'new' Batman.

"You think that he had somebody impersonate me so that I would think that I was losing my mind?"

"Yes and no. I have no doubt that that was a side effect that he hoped to achieve. But I don't think that this imposter is simply another phase of the plan; rather, the core."

"Explain."

"At first glance," Question continued, opening his notes again, "one might notice many signs of a narcissistic personality disorder; the constant boasting, overconfidence, so on and so forth. However... Closer inspection reveals that all of these boasts are in relation to you. As a matter of fact, he seems to be completely obsessed with you, in every sense of the word."

"So... No way..." Batman said, catching on to what Question was implying. He understood, but the idea was so far-fetched... Preposterous, even.

"Strange is the fake Batman." The Question finished, leaning forward dramatically. "He's obsessed with the Batman. He seeks to become the Batman. It all fits. He captures you at the Asylum, sowing seeds of doubt in your mind. Not to mention, he gets a rare opportunity to take an up close and personal look at your equipment while you're delirious. Then, he kidnaps and torments the closest thing that you have to a lover, weakening you for the final strike, when he'll steal away the identity that he feels is rightfully his. He's made no secret of the fact that he's spent the last few years carefully studying you, and I wouldn't doubt for a second that he was driven enough to go through the training and steroid treatments that he would to go through to match you so quickly."

Bruce closed his eyes for a moment, absorbing Question's theory. If he was right, it could explain everything. The pieces did fit nicely... Although, on the other hand, Question had a habit of seeing nice, neat lines where none truly existed. "Question... How sure about this are you?"

"I'd bet on it." Question responded slowly. "But everyone says that I'm a lunatic. So I might not listen to me if I were you." He finished sagely, exiting the room.

"Uh... Yeah. Thanks." Batman murmured under his breath. He pulled his cowl on and dashed out the door, nearly running into Diana on his way out.

"Bruce!" She shouted in surprise at his sudden mood swing. "You look better. Did you figure something out?"

"I think so-" But to Batman's surprise, J'onn held up a hand to stop him.

"Not here." The Martian said in his deep, booming voice. "Do you believe that it is safe for you to return home tonight?"

"If Question is right, then yes."

"I shall trust your judgement, then. You should not be here; you must understand, in the eyes of the law, you are a fugitive. I will assist you in any way that I can, but the Justice League cannot be seen to be harboring fugitives from justice, especially if it sends the impression that we are protecting our own from the law. I am deeply sorry, but I believe that it is best if you keep a low profile until we have this sorted out. I will get a report from the Question and pass it on to the authorities."

Bruce nodded. "I understand. This doesn't have to involve the rest of the League."

"It would be best if it did not, at this point. However, I would suggest that you take advantage of the support that we can offer before you confront anybody."

"I'll keep that in mind." Bruce said, knowing that it would be extremely unlikely given the circumstances.

"So... Let me get this straight." Diana said, undressing for bed. "Hugo Strange wants to steal your identity so he can become Batman? That has to be the craziest thing that I've ever heard, and that includes all the garbage that Toyman comes up with."

"It's hard to argue with that." Bruce said calmly, climbing into bed next to her. He felt more confident, as though The Question had restored equilibrium to his perspective of Hugo Strange. Once he remembered that Strange was just a man, albeit a cruel and sadistic one, he seemed much more approachable.

"He'd never get away with that. What about the rest of the League? We'd know that it wasn't you in a heartbeat. Even if he somehow managed to beat you, he wouldn't last a second against all of us. I'd see to that personally."

"Maybe not. Remember... He knew how to disable my suit's countermeasures. He's probably had a look at everything in my belt, including-"

"Your emergency countermeasures." Diana groaned. "Now I see the problem. Oh well... But I think that we've made enough progress for tonight." She reached over and turned off the bedside lamp. "There's nothing more that we can do tonight." She hesitated for a moment. "I love you, Bruce."

He pretended to be half asleep, murmuring something indistinct that may or may not have been 'Love you too.'

'It's not perfect,' She thought as she rolled over. 'But I'll take it. Progress is progress, and that's enough for me.'

Author's Note: Daw, mush at the end. Because I realized that it's three in the morning, and here I am writing fanfiction while wearing a Batman snuggie, so fuck it my self-respect is gone already, so there's no use trying to preserve it.

I like how this turned out; I wasn't so sure when it started, but I think I got the vibe that I was going for. Kind of a building... Building... Building... BOOM, MIND BLOWN thing. Did any of you get that feeling? Anybody see this coming? What next? I'd really like to hear some more from you guys.