Bruce, Jonathan, Alfred, and Commissioner Gordon stood with me at the entrance to the security line. From here I would be on my own to go to my gate and get on my plane to go home. We stood in silence as I clutched the handle of my carry on, and I worked up the courage to be the first to say goodbye. Finally taking a deep breath, I turned to Alfred, "Goodbye."

He held open his arms and I entered them gladly, hugging the old man for what was probably going to be the last time. Tears pressed against the back of my eyes as I held onto him, but I held them back as I pulled away. Turning to Commissioner Gordon, I gave him a smile, "Thank you so much for all that you've done to help with my mother."

He nodded, "No problem. I'll be in touch as soon as the Joker is captured to help with the transfer of your mother's remains."

I nodded and gave him a smile. Turning to Bruce, the tears lined my eyes and I embraced him. "Thank you."

"For what?"

I let out a small laugh, "I don't know. Everything you've done to try and keep me safe."

Hugging me tighter, Bruce said, "I'll always keep you safe. Always."

"Let me know if you ever decide to make it over to England."

"You'll be the first stop every time."

Pulling away, I gave Bruce a quick kiss on the cheek then finally turned to Jonathan. The group took a step back to give us some space, which I was thankful for. A tear slipped down my cheek and he swiped it away with his thumb. Keeping a hold of my head, he brought me in and kissed me gently. Pulling away, he kissed my nose, then my forehead before pulling me into a hug. I let a sob escape me as I held him, my heart giving deep thuds in my throat. Pulling away I looked into his blue eyes and tried my best to memorize him.

"I'll be fine," he said. "You'll be fine. This is the right thing to do. Don't worry about me. We'll see each other again."

I nodded, letting out another short sob. Looking up at him, I said, "I love you, Jonathan."

"I love you too."

Kissing him again, I pulled away, and took a step back towards the security line. I waved at the three men, who waved back, then turned around, making my way to the metal detectors. Passing through them, I was left to go to my gate and wait the two hours to board my plane. The sounds of the airport were dulled as I tried to get ahold of my crying. Several passengers were eyeing me from the side, no doubt not looking forward to spending the next several hours on a plane with a sobbing woman. I didn't really care. Pulling out a Kleenex from my bag, I dabbed at my eyes, and finally reached a state of calm.

Pulling out my phone, I sent a quick text to my boss, letting him know that I was safely at my gate waiting to get on the plane. Before I was able to put my phone away, I received a reply text from him, We'll be at the airport waiting for you. Be safe.

When my gate was called, I stood in line and boarded the plane, taking my seat on the flight. A weird feeling of anticipation came over me as I waited for everyone to get seated. I couldn't believe that it was going to be over. I was on a plane leaving for England. In less than ten hours from now I will be in my home surrounded by my belongings, probably having a glass of celebratory brandy with my employer. I'll be far away from this city. I'll be far away from the Joker. I'll be far away from Jonathan. It didn't escape me, the irony of my situation. I had started off this summer not wanting to be here, and yet here I was on a plane set to go home and all I wanted was to stay, but the plane could not settle and leave fast enough.

I still felt guilty that I was leaving and Jonathan could not. I was ensuring my survival while I was being forced to leave him behind, feeding him to the wolves. I knew that even though I was safe in England, I would forever have a level of anxiety whenever my phone rang, forever anticipating a call that Jonathan had been found dead in an alley in the Narrows. My mind began to spiral as my imagination got ahead of me, showing me scenarios of how I might react when I hear the news.

The flight attendants closed the door to the plane and the captains began their departure announcements. The plane began to taxi, and as the plane took off, I could feel the weight in my chest lessen and I began to relax. The plane took off lifting over the bay, gaining altitude before circling back over the city and marking it's course. For us that means going in a giant circle over Gotham before heading off towards Europe. I looked out the window as we leveled off, watching as the city shrank at a rapid speed, reducing it down so small all I could see were colored squares that were cars as they moved around on the islands, the people too small to see. I felt more tears begin to push forward, so I closed my blind and faced forward, hanging my head so my hair would shield my face from other passengers. Letting out a long breath, a tear slipped down my face, then the ding of the announcements came on.

"Hello plane people," said a female voice, "This is your captain speaking."

I stilled instantly in my seat at the sound of the voice. Fear paralyzed me as recognition coursed through me, and I gripped the arms of my seat in fear.

"Is there a doctor on board?" The voice giggled, "Can anyone fly a plane? I'm tired of these mother fucking snakes on this mother fucking plane!" The voice erupted into laughter, "I've always wanted to say that."

Passengers on the flight began to murmur as the sense that something wasn't right started to pass through the cabin.

"We're lookin' for one special passenger… for a prize, if you will. We're going to call a name completely randomly, off the tippity top of my little head, this is not at all pre planned, not rigged…. This is going to be real good. A lot of you are gonna want this prize. The winner… who was totally not preselected before the flight took off is…. Bethany Elwood! Congratulations! Yay!" Clapping could be heard on the other side of the speaker, and a few of the passengers who still weren't entirely sure what was happening clapped as well. "If Miss Elwood would make her way to the front of the plane, she'll be strapped in for her prize."

Two flight attendants came forward, both wearing clown masks, and I barely had time to react before they were removing me from my seat. The sight of the two men in masks solidified the fear of the passengers, panic settling in steady now. Pulling me forward, Harley Quinn came out from the galley at the front of the plane, the microphone stretched out to it's max.

"Hiya!" She said, "Remember me? I thought we were making such good friends! And here you are, flying away? Mister J says you can't leave yet. Not when we're having such fun!" Holding the microphone out to me she said, "Say something to the losers!"

I frowned, "What?"

Gesturing out to the plane she said, "The losers! The people who didn't win the prize!" Then she smacked her hand to her head, "Oh dear me! I forgot." She laughed, "Get the thing on her please."

One of the clown men gripped my leg and forced me into a harness. "What is going on," I asked.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you what the prize was! As you can see, Miss Elwood is being outfitted in a lovely harness, ready for the winter season! Go on, do a turn for them. This harness can be attached to another person for safety reasons and is so slimming!" Moving the mic towards me, she said, "Ask me why you need to be fastened in for safety reasons."

"Why?"

Giving a laugh, Harley replied, "Because that's the second secret prize that you win!" Turning to the cockpit, she pulled a gun out of her outfit and shot the two pilots who slumped forward into the yokes, causing the plane down into a nose dive, "The prize is your life!"

Screams filled the cabin as the plan descended rapidly, approaching the water of the bay. Harley Quinn pointed the gun at the plane door and shot a few rounds, trying to break the seal. Taking hold of me, she pointed the gun into my ribs as the two clown men moved forward to both try and open the door. A third man in the clown mask came forward and began attaching me to him with carabiners on the harness. The door handle began to budge and Harley turned to me, "Ready to fly?"

The door burst open, the two clown men getting sucked out immediately, followed by Harley Quinn and then the third clown and myself. I tried to grab onto anything, but it was of no use. I let out a scream as the sensation of falling came. The plane seemed to ascend above me as debris and bodies were strewn from the opening. The man I was with forced us around and the plane was replaced by the rapidly approaching water. Harley Quinn was doing twists and spins in the air, laughing as we fell. The other two clown men were okay, all three of them wearing parachutes.

When the surface of the water seemed too close, I was jerked into an upright position as the clown I was attached to pulled the chute. A speed boat circled under us, waiting for the first person to hit the water. One by one, the three clowns below us dropped out of their parachutes to fall into the water. After a few more feet, I felt the clown behind me begin to fiddle with my harness.

"No! Please!" I yelled back, "No!"

The harness loosened and I screamed as I fell into the water. Opening my eyes, I looked around trying to orient myself with which way was up and which way was down. Coming back up, I began swimming in a random direction, hoping that I was swimming away from the clowns, but it was of no use. The speed boat turned in front of me, and I was forced to stop at the threat of being run over. Two sets of hands reached down and hoisted me out of the water, throwing me down onto the floor of the boat. Harley Quinn was there, her everyday makeup streaming down her face as she held a gun to me. "Hey everybody look at me! I'm standing on a boat!" She laughed, "The internet is so funny when you're not in prison." As the last clown climbed into the boat she fell into a seated position, "Hurry up! We're on a schedule!"

The driver of the boat turned hard, and we were on our way back to Gotham. Debris was still falling from the plane, a few bodies could be seen floating in the water from those who were pulled from the hole in the side of the cabin. The vessel itself was just about to hit the water, hopefully there were still survivors on board. The driver sped over the wakes of the bay, causing the boat to become airborne every few feet, every time it came down I anticipated the gun in Harley's hand to go off. I watched as the plane's nose landed in the water the body looking like it was going to flip over, but as the nose dove deeper into the water, the momentum of the plane seemed to skid to a halt and it fell into the water belly down. As the plan landed in the water the displaced waves raced towards our boat, a few of them almost causing us to tip. Somewhat expertly maneuvering the choppy waves, we got closer to Gotham, we took another hard turn and we began to go around the perimeter of the city to the coast of the mainland. After what felt like ages of bouncing over waves, a shipping yard came into view, and we made our way towards it.

Pulling next to a dock, I was helped out of the boat by the bigger clowns then Harley Quinn stuck the barrel of a gun into my side as she forced me forward. We walked along the huge dock and made our way onto the main land among the apparently abandoned buildings before going to one on the far side of the docks. Entering the vast shipping space, we were greeted with stacks of shipping containers all lined up in a neat row, holes and rust showing how long they've been sitting there. In the middle of the room, the Joker stood lighting a cigar. Taking a deep drag, he let his head fall back before he let out the billowing cloud of smoke in a long plume. Turning to us, he threw his arms out to the side and gave a wide smile.

"Welcome, friend!"

Harley pushed me forward and I stumbled to a stop just in front of him. Pulling me into a hard hug, he spun us around in a circle, "I'm so glad we could catch you before you left! We were so sad to learn you were leaving."

He opened his arms mid-swing and I was flung back, losing my balance and falling on the floor. Looking up at him, I asked, "What are you going to do to me?"

"I'm going to show you all the hospitality that Gotham can offer you! Not that stuffy hospitality that people like Wayne can offer you. Shall I show you to your rooms?"

"My rooms?"

The Joker snapped his fingers and two henchmen came forward and picked me up off the ground. Pushing me forward, the Joker gripped my arm and pulled me along with him through the maze of shipping containers. As we walked through the warehouse he continued talking. "You see, we feel as if you haven't really experienced the true Gotham while you've been here. You've spent your time in a hoity-toity bubble, seeing the shiny glittering parts that not everyone gets to see. We want to give you a more day-in-the-life experience. Because, up there in the glittering towers there is less of a chance that you'll get kidnapped, but down here under the feet of the rich, you can get abducted whenever." Stopping in front of an opened container, Joker turned to me and he added, "You're much more likely to die, too."

With a laugh, he shoved me into the container and slammed the door shut.