His nights were longer now, longer than they ever were when he wore the cowl.
Back then, it was work, corner store robberies, muggings, interviews, and detective work.
But now.
Now, the worrying keeps him up; he is more worried about Richard than he ever was when he was Robin.
And Damien.
He was more worried about Gotham.
And that little girl.
Josephine Kerr.
A daughter he conceived with an unfortunate woman.
A child is not that much younger than Damien.
I think you and I are going to do this forever.
Words The Joker said to him after their first encounter.
I'm not Batman anymore.
I'm not Batman.
He kept tabs on her, Rebecca Brown, the second he became aware of her relationship with him.
She was an unremarkable beauty, a small-town beauty queen.
She wasn't a Gotham citizen; she was born in a small town called Park Ridge, a nice, quiet place to raise a child.
A long way from Gotham.
What the hell was she doing here?
The police report said they were in the city to see the circus.
If the Joker knows she's here, he's probably laughing at the irony.
He kept the girl's existence close to his chest; no one knew about her.
He didn't even tell Gordon.
Then, when the woman died, he told her parents, who fathered their granddaughter.
They swore never to mention him.
The idea of the child not knowing never sat right with him.
He didn't deserve to know, but she did.
She did deserve to know who she sired her.
For 8 1/2 years, they kept their word, and they never mentioned him or set foot in Gotham.
He was sitting in- well, lying- on a bed in a Hilton with someone when he turned on the news and saw the story.
A family of 3 involved in a deadly crash, the survivors, the driver, and an 8-year-old child listed in critical condition.
The Joker's escape took center stage over the crash.
The reporter, a woman- not Vicky- casually mentioned that they were on their way to the circus.
The comment made him think of the Joker.
Like if he saw the story, he'd laughed as he sent Harley to kidnap the kid.
He went back to his meeting.
She lay comatose in Gotham General for two months, and the news report faded from his mind.
Tim asked him to look into documents about the adoption of a missing child when he saw her name.
The child was at the same orphanage.
The image of the child appears on the screen.
She had grayish-brown eyes too big and round for her narrow face; her nose was thin, small in contrast to hers, but her too-full lips managed to draw attention away from the eyes.
Her blonde hair looked like she had gone swimming, and someone did a terrible job washing the chlorine.
She was too pale.
She was too thin, but she was a ballerina, which was forgivable.
She looked worn, but overall, she was a cute kid.
A small-town beauty.
A small-town innocence.
She looked like her hapless mother and him.
St. Aden's orphanage.
Damien mentioned that orphanage before.
I should tell Richard. He thought.
He sat in the cave, waiting for Dick and Damien to return from patrol.
He spent the whole night debating- arguing, really- whether he should tell Dick or not.
Should Dick know?
Should they all know?
Is it the right decision?
No, this is the right thing to do.
The child could be in danger
Besides, he needed to get this off his chest.
And Dick was Batman now, and he needed to know.
And he could get through to Damien.
Finally, after an hour, he heard the batmobile getting in.
"I'm telling you, Grayson," Damien's voice said the second they jumped out of the car, "that woman was flirting with you!"
"Naw, she was just grateful."
"That was more than gratitude she was displaying." Footsteps were approaching. "Even the commissioner could see it."
"I know when a woman is flirting with me; she wasn't."
"I'm telling you-"
"Bruce, you're still up," Dick weakly said when they reached him.
Damien scowled and stomped away from him and out of the cave.
He was still angry about what Bruce said.
I can't think about that right now. Bruce thought. I can make it up to him later.
"How was patrol?" Bruce asked casually.
"You know, same old, same old. Joker didn't show himself tonight. He must be planning something big."
The Joker, standing over the girl's bloody body, holding a knife while laughing, flashed into Bruce's head.
He felt his body shudder, and he turned away from him.
"Don't worry, we're going to find him," Dick assured him as he put his hand on his shoulder. "He can't stay quiet for long."
"It's not that well, not exactly." He rubbed his temple. "Sit down."
He sat down; since he took on the mantle of Batman, Richard's blue eyes aren't as optimistic as they once were.
"What's wrong? Is everything alright?"
"I'm not sure, but it involves the Joker and the little girl, Josephine."
" Is she dead?"
"I don't think so, but I won't know until we find him, but that's not. Do you remember when everyone thought that the Joker killed Batman?"
"Yes, you and Joker were gone for almost a year."
"When he thought I was dead, he went sane. He met a woman named Rebecca Brown, Josephine Kerr's mother."
"Are you saying that she's his daughter?"
"Yes."
"Do you think he knows?"
He thought for a second. " Without a doubt."
"Poor kid." he shook his head. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"
There was no offense in his voice, just fatigue.
"Never thought she'd come to Gotham."
"Maybe Damien is right; we should find her. Do you think he'd kill her?"
There was the question
Would he kill her?
'Bruce?'
"I don't know."
'Thank you for meeting here.'
He smelt her perfume before he heard her footsteps, Joker turned to find Poison Ivy approaching him cautiously.
'Joker.'
They were never fond of each other, but the arrival of the newborn forced them into a temporary alliance.
'How is the kid?'
'She asks about you constantly.'
Joker was curious about what exactly she asked but didn't continue.
'You need money for her?'
'No, I need to know what I'm getting myself into.'
'I banged her mother, some country girl met. I had her convinced that I'd marry her.'
'Is Josie yours?'
'Probably.'
Ivy looked out over the city. 'What now?'
Joker shrugged. 'Shove her in some home with a childless couple far away from Gotham.'
'Where is her mother?'
'Died in childbirth. Anything else?'
'When do you plan to see her?'
'The less we see each other, the better.'