"Where did you get this?" DeMarco asked Damien after Damien handed him a wad of cash.

Damien had called him earlier that evening to search through one of the Joker's storage units. There were several of them scattered around the city. Some were actual storage units, some were abandoned buildings or cars. The Joker's former employee Chris, had given him a long list of areas to search through. It had taken months to find the free time to get through most of the list. Going through the list meant a lot of waiting around to ensure that no one was around, scoping places out, finding ways to break and enter unnoticed. But now Damien was able to dedicate more time, because in the previous search of a boarded up trailer he found over $200,000 in cash.

"Don't worry about it," Damien said. "You're here to help me look."

"Okay.." DeMarco said, looking at the small garage they were standing in front of. "What exactly are we here to look for?"

"Anything," Damien said. "Anything that could help us find the woman who was working for the Joker."

"Seriously?" DeMarco said. "You're still on that? It's been months! The Joker is dead, they found him in the lake. What does it matter?"

"I doubt he's actually dead," Damien said. "I've been over the coroner's report and the police records a hundred times. That body could have been anyone."

"So, you really think he's out there somewhere," DeMarco said. "But you want to take chances and keep going through his stuff? He could show up-"

"So far, he hasn't," Damien told him. "He's probably left the city by now. But if we find this woman, then maybe we can find him. Oh..to see the look on Commissioner Gordon's face when we haul his ass back to prison. We will be heroes."

"Listen..I have to work early tomorrow-"

"So? Count the money I handed you. I'm sure it's more than you make at your $15 an hour security job."

DeMarco looked down and began counting the cash in his hands.

"$5,000?" DeMarco said. "Holy shit man..."

"So, you'll help me? I can give you a grand each time we search one of these places. You can quit your job. We might even find valuables at the sites."

"Uhh..." DeMarco though about it. "Okay. I'm in."

"Okay," Damien said. "I search top to bottom, ever corner, every item. I turn these places inside out. That's why it's taken me so long to get through the list of places I have. I don't wanna miss anything. And you have to do the same."

"Got it."

.

.

.

"Busy?" Bruce asked Adriana. She was in his office on his computer staring at the screen.

"Not at all," she answered. "Just watching a..video."

"Oh?" he asked, interested.

"Some woman giving birth...just reminding myself what I'm getting into in six weeks," she said.

She was now into her third trimester.

"Are you nervous?" he asked.

"Heck yes.." she replied.

"Don't worry, you're strong. You can do it," he said and walked over the computer and stood behind her and looked at the screen. "Oh...Okay...maybe a touch of nervousness is natural in this..situation."

"It's okay," she said, speaking mostly to herself. "I only have to go through this once...I can do it."

"Once," Bruce said. "So...You wouldn't like to have more children?"

"Oh...ummm.." she had to think about it. "I don't know. I mean...I could have more, maybe one day... Why?"

"No reason, just wondering," he smiled and kissed her on the lips softly.

"What about you?" she asked him. "Do you want children of your own?"

"Possibly, one day," he answered.

"I never thought of you as the type to want children," she told him honestly.

"Well...hopefully that impression that you have of me is changing."

"I think it is," she smiled. "Time for my workout."

"Workout," he said. "You don't want to take it easy? Just until..."

"I'm not a blimp anymore?" she laughed and looked down at her stomach.

"You're not a blimp," he said. "You're beautiful."

"Thank you, sweetheart," she said and stood to kiss him.

.

.

.

"Adriana?" she heard a voice behind her as she walked through the mall. She was wearing sunglasses and a large sunhat. Paparazzi had been following her for months because of her relationship with Bruce, and she wanted to be discreet whenever she went out.

"Oh..Damien," she said when she saw him.

He was dressed incredibly well and was wearing a Rolex watch with a ring of diamonds on it.

"You're looking well," he said.

"You too," she replied.

"So...you're going to have a kid," he said. "With Wayne."

Both she and Bruce had agreed they wouldn't confirm or deny anything with anyone. It was all on hush for now.

"How have you been?" she dodged his question, knowing that he would much rather talk about himself as always.

"I have been excellent," he said. "Gordon fired me."

"Oh...that's terrible, I'm so sorry," she said, trying to act concerned. "But..how is that excellent?"

"Because now I'm free, to do what I want."

"And what exactly is that?"

"Freelance work," he said dismissively. "You still can't hear thoughts?"

"Well..apparently not when I'm pregnant."

"I see," he said. "Well if you'd really like to know what I'm doing..."

He waited for her to act more interested, but all she wanted to do was say goodbye and leave.

"Um...sure," she said and adjusted her purse on her arm.

"Doing some work, related to the Joker and his disappearance."

"What?" she asked, remaining calm. "What do you mean? I thought they said he was dead."

"I don't think that's the case," Damien said.

"Why?" she went on, trying to get as much out of him as possible.

"I still have a few friends working on the force. From what I can gather, some type of a gas was released into transport vehicle that he was in and also the two detail vehicles."

"Okay...go on.." she said.

"What makes no sense to me is that he was in the back of the transfer vehicle with two security guards. Obviously, he wouldn't have had on some type of a gas mask or breathing protection and would have been exposed to the same gas that they were. He would have been sedated as well. Unless he was holding his breath the whole time which is unlikely."

"So...what do you think happened? He woke up before them and escaped?" she asked.

"I'm still trying to piece it all together. Whatever happened... Took a lot of planning and access. The Arkham morgue basically cremated the body the same day. Whoever orchestrated this wanted it wrapped up as soon as possible. Either the Joker planned this very elaborate, airtight escape plan...or..."

"Or what?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe someone helped him escape and disappear. Or maybe he had someone on the outside collect him while he was sedated. Maybe he was abducted. Maybe the body they found was actually him and he jumped. There are many possibilities. My bet is he had someone retrieve him and he is on the run."

"Okay.." she said. "So...what type of work are you doing now dealing with this?"

"Now, I'm trying to track down his woman. It hasn't been an easy task. But I will find her."

"Woman?" she tried not to sound breathless. "What woman?"

"He was seeing a woman, apparently. According to some people who worked for him and he himself confirmed it while he was in custody," he said.

Adriana began to feel lightheaded.

"Maybe they were lying," she said. "I mean...that is crazy."

"Nah..no way," Damien said.

"What did they tell you?" she asked.

"The men he hired? Not much. One gave me a ton of places where the Joker kept things stashed. So far found tons of cash and other valuables. The Joker basically told us nothing but that she was beautiful. Refused to say anymore even after I starved him for a week and beat the shit out of him."

"You..." she said. "Starved him and beat him? This must be why Gordon fired you.."

"Yeah. Still wouldn't talk. But I'll find out who she is. And then I will find out if he's still alive and where he is," he said.

"I don't get it," she said.

"Which part don't you get?" he asked her.

"What if she doesn't know anything? What if she's had no contact with him and thinks he's dead?" she asked. "She won't be useful to you if that's the case."

"Well if she does think he's dead then maybe he actually is. There is no way a man, especially one that hideous with a woman as supposedly attractive as they all confirmed, would take that type of beating and starvation and not give her name... if he was willing to just disappear on her. Nah... this one was special. Meant something to him. I'll find out who she is and get what I need from her. If he's dead, no problem. I've already made over a million bucks just looking for the bastard."

"You're not a cop, Damien. I mean. Not anymore. Why would she ...or anyone else for that matter...even talk to you?"

"She's a criminal, Adriana. Abduction and torture are things that I'm sure she's used to. Being with the Joker, I can't imagine the tolerance she's built up. I'll get the information I need out of her if it's there."

"So you're telling me you'd do that to her?" she asked.

"Of course not," he said. "I'd detain her and threaten her though. Ask her to contact him. He'd come out of the shadows if he's alive and voila. I'm Gotham's hero. No one's putting in the work to find him like I am."

"I...look at the time," she said. "I'm supposed to be somewhere," she lied.

"Yup," he said and looked at his Rolex. "Speaking of time. How far along are you in the pregnancy?"

"Oh, um...almost eight months.." she said.

"Hmmm..." he said, suspiciously.

"What?" she asked.

"You know, that kid could be mine," he said.

"What? That's impossible," she told him.

"You never know," he said and tilted his head.

"I do know," she said. "I'm one hundred percent sure."

"Could be my kid in there," he said again.

"Are you kidding?" she said and suddenly wished she hadn't run in to him. "It's not."

"So you're sure it's Wayne's?" he asked her.

"I'm sure it's not yours," she told him.

"Well...maybe we should have a paternity test and find out."

"No." she said.

"Adriana," he said. "Let's not make this difficult. I just want to know if it's my kid in there."

"Why? It's not yours-" she said.

"In the off chance that it is," he said. "I wouldn't want my child raised by some strange man."

"Bruce? What the hell-" she asked. "He's not your baby."

"I need to be a part of my child's life. If Bruce wants to participate we'd appreciate the support."

"Support," she almost gagged. "This is about money."

"Your rich boyfriend would probably pay me to go away if I'm the father."

"You're fucking disgusting!" she shouted and pushed him. Within seconds a man with sunglasses dressed in all black came up to them.

She knew that it was one of the men that Bruce hired to follow her. Invisible tag along security. The man acted like he was just a concerned bystander.

"You'll be hearing from my lawyer," Damien said as she walked away.