I had been home for a while, choosing to spend the rest of my day both in my room and on the balcony outside it. I was currently reading a book from the house library when Bruce came through the open French doors. He gave me a smile and pointed back inside, "I'm sorry… I did knock, but I figured you were out here and couldn't hear me."

I gave him a smile, "You figured right."

"May I?" He then pointed to an empty seat.

"Sure."

Sitting down he got comfy before asking, "So, how was your date?"

"It went surprisingly well."

Bruce looked shocked, "Really?"

I gave a nod, "Yeah."

"So… what does that mean?"

I looked away from Bruce and stared at a spot on the page in my book, "I think… we're going to… try again."

"What? I thought you went there to show him that you two weren't working out."

I shrugged, "I know, but… he took me to the park where we had our first date, and he wanted to spend time getting to know me and vice versa. Then he asked me if I would go to meet his therapist-"

"He what?" Bruce sat up in his chair.

"As a guest. His therapist wants to meet me."

"Why?"

"Jonathan talked about us in his sessions. His therapist wants to meet me because I've been a positive influence on him."

"Did you agree to go?"

Looking at him, I frowned for a moment then said, "Yes."

"Are you insane? You're willingly going to Arkham? Do you know how dangerous that place is?"

"Bruce, I can't help where his therapy sessions are. Believe me, that building scares me, it really does."

"Then why are you even going?"

I frowned, "Why are you so against this, Bruce?"

"Why are you going back to him, Bethany? The man lied to you, he's a known criminal, and don't forget you broke up with him. Why are you letting him talk you into getting back together? He's just trying to manipulate you."

"And you aren't?" Closing my book, I set it down on the table in front of me, "I've come to you - as a friend - for advice. You don't know what I've been through, Bruce. I've been kidnapped, held at gunpoint, thrown out of a helicopter, and dropped off of a fucking bridge; that last one was after I watched the person I care about get shoved over the edge of said bridge not knowing if he would live or not. I've had my life threatened, found out that my best friend and the man I've been dating have been lying to me the entire time - putting me in danger. Then to top this all off, my mother was murdered! All of this has happened in the span of a month, Bruce. A month! I have Jonathan trying to talk me back into dating him, and while I don't want that-"

Bruce scoffed, "If you don't want that, then don't go back to him!"

"I still have very strong feelings for him, and although he has a horrific background, he's shown that he's a changed man! Then I have you taking advantage of me in my hour of need, constantly telling me how great we'd be together, and how well you would provide for me, and how happy we would be together-"

"Taken advantage of you?" Bruce frowned, "I've taken advantage of you? You used me as your distraction! You chose that! You are the one who asked to be in my bed! You were the one who started the intercorse!"

"Yes, but you didn't have to go along with it."

"I said no! I said no, then you batted your eyes at me because you know how I feel about you, Bethany."

"And yet you were the one who wanted to continue when I ended the arrangement."

"God dammit, Bethany!" Bruce stood up and moved to the railing and stood with his back to me.

"What?"

"You know what." He didn't look at me.

I was quiet for a moment, looking at Bruce's back. I frowned, then stood up, taking up the space next to Bruce. I didn't look at him, but said, "I'm sorry."

Looking down Bruce was quiet for a moment then said, "I need you to be safe, Bethany. I've lost too many people that I love to this city." Turning to me he added, "You are the most important person in the world to me, Bethany. Like I said before… you are all I have left in this world outside of Alfred…. I love you, Bethy."

My heart grew heavy in my chest, "I… love Jonathan."

Bruce gave a terse smile and a short nod before looking out towards the city. We were both quiet for a moment before he said, "Be careful going to that therapy session at Arkham."

"I will, Bruce."

Nodding, he didn't look at me, and pushed away leaving me alone on the balcony. I watched him leave, then sat back down in my chair, picking up my book. Opening it, I tried to read, but I wasn't registering anything. Closing the book, I went back into my room and crawled into my bed. Pulling my computer to me, I opened it and began watching a movie. Somewhere during the film, I fell asleep, letting the slight breeze from the open doorway and the comfy mattress lull me to sleep.

The roll of thunder sounded outside of the open doors and I sat up lazily in the darkness. Rubbing my eyes, I took a second to wake up as another thunderous boom came, and I sighed to stand and close the doors against the rain. As I stood in front of the open doors, I saw the Batsignal in the sky, but no rain. A third boom came, and my eyes were directed to a plume of smoke coming from one of the islands of Gotham. Walking onto the railing, I strained to see where the smoke was coming from and my heart dropped as the shape of Arkham Asylum was highlighted by all of the commotion in that area. Running back into my room, I grabbed my cell phone and dialed Jonathan's number and went back out onto my balcony as I waited desperately for him to pick up the phone.

"Doctor Crane." His calm voice made my whole body go weak with relief.

"Jonathan!"

"Bethany? What's wrong?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm in the city. What's going on?"

"There was an explosion-"

"I know."

"I can see it from Wayne Manor, it's by Arkham and I just-"

"It's by Arkham?"

"Yes."

"Hold on." I heard him moving and soon the sound of a television set came on and a reporter was talking. "Oh my God."

"What?"

"My… my house."

"Jonathan?"

"The Joker blew up my house."

I gasped, "Oh my God!"

"The police are here."

"Why?"

"I don't know. But Gordon is with them." A commotion came from just outside the phone's rage and I heard Gordon making the order to bring Jonathan in for questioning. "I have to go."

"I'm coming down to the station."

"No, Bethany, stay there. The city isn't safe."

"Come on, Crane," came a voice, "Put the phone down."

"Let me say goodbye to my girlfriend, please."

The voice scoffed, "Yeah, and I'm talking to the Queen of England."

"Bethany, stay at Wayne Manor, I'll call you when-"

"Jonathan wait!"

"I said drop the phone!" The voice was closer now, and there was the clack of Jonathan's cell phone being dropped to the floor. I paused for a moment and said, "Hello? Hello!" Looking at my phone's screen, I saw I was still connected, but no one answered. "Shit."

A knock came from my bedroom door and Alfred came in, "Miss Elwood? Bethany?"

Entering my room I saw him looking around frantically, "Alfred, what's wrong?"

"Oh thank God," he said, "We need to go, now."

"Go?"

Taking my hand he didn't say anything as he pulled me from the bedroom and down the stairs, the entire time I was aware of a loud beeping sound. Together we ran to the front door and out of the building, Alfred not stopping as we ran down the driveway. We made it a few feet from the house when a loud bang came and we were thrown forward by a gust of energy. I let out a scream as I hit the pavement and was rolled forward, skidding to a stop.

Everything hurt. I felt cuts and scrapes that were burning as they came in contact with the air, and I felt immense heat. I raised my hand to my head, but a hand grabbed it and began hoisting me up. "Miss Elwood, are you okay?"

Opening my eyes, I found a very battered Alfred trying to help me up. Standing, I used Alfred to brace myself as I turned to see what had happened. I gasped at the sight of Wayne Manor in flames. Turning to Alfred I said, "I'm fine. How are you?"

"Fine, I'm fine."

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my phone and saw the screen was cracked. I was able to light it up, but I couldn't get it to call out for help. I let out an angry grunt as I pocketed it, and I looked back at the house. Pieces of papers flew from the house and I moved toward the wreckage, frowning as I found thousands of playing cards scattered, charred, and burned. Picking one up I gasped at the sight of the jester dancing on a ball. Bringing the card back with me, I showed it to Alfred who seemed to pale even more than he already was.

"I can't call anyone," I said, "My phone is ruined. What should we do?"

Alfred hesitated for a moment, looking out over the grounds to a small craig where a naturally occurring waterfall was. He turned back to say something, but then bright lights shone on us, blinding us. We moved to the side of the road as, what can only be described as a massive black tank, came to a stop in front of us. The top opened up and Batman jumped out, coming to us, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," answered Alfred, "We're… quite alright, Batman."

"A police unit is on it's way to come and get you."

"Why are you here," I asked, "Shouldn't you be in the city looking for this lunatic?" I threw the joker card at him.

"I am here to collect samples from the explosion. How were you two able to get out of the building?"

"The bomb was on a tripwire which started a timer," said Alfred, "I discovered it when I was doing my rounds."

"Was anyone else in the building?"

"No, sir. Master Wayne is in the city with some business clients."

Batman nodded, and the flashing lights of fire engines, police cars, and ambulances caught our attention. Batman disappeared and was replaced by Gordon. Gordon came over and gripped Alfred's arm, "Are you two okay?"

"Yes, we're fine," I said, "What happened with Jonathan?"

"We brought him in for questioning about the first explosion, to count him out as a suspect."

I frowned, "Well, surely this explosion works in his favor."

"On the contrary, it does not."

Bending down, I picked up one of the playing cards and I held it in front of Gordon's face, "This doesn't work in his favor? Look around, Commissioner. They're scattered everywhere. The Joker built both of these bombs, and attacked both our houses. He's been blowing up buildings all month, Jonathan had nothing to do with them."

"Why would he target Scarecrow?"

"I don't know why he targeted Jonathan, but I bet it's for whatever reason he's been targeting us from the very beginning."

Gordon held up his hands in surrender, "I'm sure Scare - Jonathan… is innocent in this attack," he motioned with his hand towards the manor, "But it's procedure to rule him out for the bombing of his house. Just to make sure he's still following the procedures of his release."

I frowned, and an EMT came over to check on Alfred and myself. We were deemed non-emergency injuries and were clear to leave. We were given a ride back into the city and I directed them to Bruce's penthouse, thinking it was the only place in the city that we could go. Riding the elevator up, Alfred went straight to the phone and tried to call Bruce to let him know where we were and that we were okay. Bruce was currently on his way to the manor, but was turning around as soon as he could to make his way here. When Alfred hung up, I took over dialing up the Gotham City Police Station.

"Gotham City Police."

"This is Bethany Elwood, I'm calling for Commissioner Gordon."

"He's busy, ma'am."

"Can you give him a message?"

With a heavy sigh the clerk said, "Yes."

"Please tell him that Jonathan Crane stay at the Wayne penthouse when he is released from custody."

"The Wayne penthouse? You a friend of Bruce Wayne?"

"Yes. Will you give him the message?"

"Fine. Have a nice night, ma'am."

Hanging up, I found Alfred leaning against the kitchen counter with his head in his hand. I went over to him and embraced him in a hug. Pulling away I led him to the living room and sat him down in a chair. Going back to the kitchen, I made him a cup of tea and gave him the saucer. He gave me a smile and said, "I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks to you," I said. "You saved my life, Alfred."

He smiled, "Glad to do so."

The elevator dinged and Bruce came around the corner. Seeing us he ran over and picked me up into a hug. "Thank God," he said, kissing my temple, "I'm so glad you two are okay."

"We're fine, Master Wayne. Just fine." Alfred gave him a smile.