AN: Thank you to all my reviewers! (gives them cookies) You have no idea how much that means to me. I haven't been getting any of those lately, so I'm glad people are actually liking this one. Now, on with the story!

Chapter Four

The girl's photo had been posted in the newspapers and on the television. She was something of a celebrity, the only one of Joker's hostages to make it out alive. Gordon had painted it to where some nameless, low-ranked cop had been the one to find her, and upon radioing for help, Joker got away. No one gave a reason as to why the Joker decided to leave the girl. No one needed to. Since when did the Joker need a reason to do anything? Still, it surprised Bruce that most of the general public believed that load of bull. Especially after what happened last time the Joker got involved with the cops. A good number of Gordon's force had wound up dead. There were some who suspected that there was something greater afoot, but only one or two who thought anything even close to the truth - that the Batman was behind the girl's rescue, and was trying to repent for his crimes against Gotham. Bruce had smiled when he heard that one on the talk radio stations. It hadn't gotten very far. Batman was a villain right now, and a villain he would remain until the cops themselves exonerated him. Nothing less would restore what little bit of a good reputation Batman had.

He had waited longer than he wanted to. Publicity had died down, the incident forgotten, and a month had passed before Bruce made it up to Gotham's only orphanage. He planned on making a private adoption, trying to keep the whole deal out of the papers. It was a great risk - there was the good chance that the Joker would find out about this and make the connection between Bruce Wayne adopting the girl and Batman's determination to save her from him. Gordon, if he made the connection at all, would not be a problem. Bruce always thought that the Commissioner could be trusted with the secret that only two other people knew about, but he had never had the guts to reveal it. Better to let Gordon find out on his own than to be the instrument of his own destruction.

Bruce was antsy enough as it was without Alfred breathing down his neck. "You need to wait a little while longer, Master Wayne." he said cautiously. "It would not do for someone to discover your secret because you were careless."

"I told her a few days." Bruce reminded him. "I promised. She probably thinks I've abandoned her."

"You will have plenty of time to apologize later. You cannot protect her if you are discovered."

"I can protect her either way." Bruce protested. Alfred gave him that look. "And no, this time I'm not going to make you say I-told-you-so. I can protect her, both as Bruce Wayne and as Batman. Although I hope Batman never gets involved in her protection again."

"I agree with that one, sir." Alfred said. "However, I think Batman will be needed sooner than you think with her. I got the information reguarding her birth from my source yesterday. I've been waiting for the chance to tell you about it."

Bruce hesitated. "That means it's not good news."

"Good and bad." Alfred admitted. "Aside from the obvious, she is perfectly healthy. Her mother is an inmate at Arkham. Long-term, live in patient. She was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, but it made the woman kill both her parents and three of her neighbors under the belief that they were conspiring to kill her. The poor woman never really stood a chance at life. She was allergic to most of the medicines they used to treat her."

"I'm assuming this is more than a sob story." Bruce said pointedly.

"Be patient, I'm getting there. Either way, about seven years ago this woman turned up pregnant. In her condition, they doubted the child would survive, but they decided to let her carry the fetus as long as she could. The child was born four months early, but aside from stunted growth and her refusal to speak, she was in perfect health. She didn't even show signs of her mother's delusions." Alfred hesitated. "That was the good news. This is the bad - the girl was never named, but the man they believed was her father took her in when she was three years old. He had visited the woman many times before the conception, and the girl didn't resemble any of the guards, so he was the logical assumption." Here he paused again and looked Bruce in the eye.

"That visitor had two scars that ran across his face."

Bruce hissed. "Joker."

"It would seem that way."

"Holy crap. That explains an awful lot. Like why he was concerned about her condition." Suddenly Bruce hesitated. "But Joker was probably the one hurting her then. Why would he care about her?"

"Remember, Master Wayne, we don't know anything about Joker's background." Alfred reminded him. "This may be the way he was raised as well."

Bruce nodded. "It changes nothing. I still want the girl."

Alfred nodded with a smile. "Then go get her."

/--/

The woman at the front desk was a pretty thing, Bruce noted absently. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a dazzling smile, not to mention great legs shown off with tight-fitting jeans. Her name tag read 'Jane'. He walked up to her, flashing her his best PR smile. "Hello. My name is Bruce, and I would like to talk to you about an adoption."

Jane's face lit up. "That's terrific! Most of our kids are in the playroom now, so let me take you there and you can see if any of them take to you. Unless you have a specific one you're looking for?"

Bruce shook his head. Chances were, the girl was in the playroom with the others. "Let me have a look."

Jane led him down the short hallway to a massive fifty-foot-square play area, with everything from toddler's toys to video games set up in all parts of the room. Bruce let his eyes wander over the group, taking note of the ten children who seemed oddly subdued. These were the ones the Joker had tormented to cover his true purpose, Bruce realized darkly. Suddenly, one child in particular caught his eye. The girl he was looking for was sitting in the far corner, a sketchpad held firmly in her small hands. He indicated her to Jane. "Who is she?"

"We're not sure." Jane said simply. "She never told us her name. Then again, she doesn't talk, so it's hard for her to relate to the other kids. Then after what that Joker character did to her, she's been a bit traumatized."

Bruce almost laughed at that. Talk about an understatement. "Can I talk to her?"

"Sure. If she'll let you."

Bruce walked across the room, taking care not to step on the half-pints as they weaved their ways around him. He came to stand directly in front of the girl, kneeling down in front of her to get her attention. She looked up slowly, and suddenly her eyes lit as recognition dawned on her face. Bruce smiled.

"Ready to go, kid?"

She reached up to him, allowing him to pick her up and place her on his hip. He took her back to Jane. "This is the one I want."

Jane nodded doubtfully. "All right. But you're going to have to name her. Like I said, she didn't come to us with one."

Bruce looked at the child's hopeful face and smiled. "I think I'll call her Kaitlyn. How does that sound?"

Kaitlyn smiled brightly and hugged him.