Postscript
Holly sat in her little apartment on top of the dividing counter between the living room and kitchen spaces, the only thing left to move out now were some packed boxes of winter clothing. Her eyes were closed and she was trying to work up enough willpower to get up for another cup of tea. Something had been bothering her however, she could hear the rain falling. It was not the rain itself – that was very common in Gotham. It was the fact that she could not hear it a minute ago.
Eyes still shut, her hands slowly rose into a surrendering position, "I have an aversion to pain, dear dark knight. Come to have a chat or cuff me?"
Holly did have good hearing and he was not hiding. Batman stepped into the light of the kitchen, "Why did you burn down warehouse twelve at the East docks?"
He skipped the pleasantries, and his voice, Holly thought he sounded rather mortal – like a man in desperate need of a cough drop. Nevertheless, she still recalled that fateful night as a mystical swarm of bats descended upon Arkham Asylum. She took a breath, her hands slowly lowering to her lap, "The insurance money," She told him the truth, but as she opened her eyes and looked at him she could tell he wanted more, "because I wanted out. Since the time before Carmine ran the family, warehouse twelve imported Meteor. The cleaning chemical. We resold it at nearly every store in Gotham and distributor that exported it around and out of state, it not only covered as an alibi to move drugs but to make a little side hustle of trickling tax evasion change. Like a savings account. With it gone and Carmine stuck in Arkham the family will simply forget me in due time – they have someone else to do their books now anyway." That was the most honest, legally damning set of words turned into sentences she had ever told. Probably in her life, "I'm leaving to have a normal life."
He processed the information quickly, "Stay in town."
"Gotham is a cesspool, if you're not going to arrest me what reason do I have to stay?"
"Because when the time comes, you're going to testify everything you know." The way he spoke that word 'everything' made it feel like he already knew all her secrets.
Holly tipped her head down and shook it as if he'd just told a terrible joke, "Did you not hear me, I said I wanted out. Not a bullet…" He was gone by the time she looked up, "to the back." Holly knew she had good ears – maybe the Batman really was a mythical entity.
