Batgirl’s head was spinning as she felt herself plummeting down the side of a thirty-floor building. She had little time to take inventory of her situation – only to react. She was falling fast, out of control – and it seemed like every effort of hers to slow her descent were useless.

The police were waiting for her on the roof. They had set up a trap for her. Officers running onto the roof of the building across the street forced her to swing across to the nearest building – where more officers were waiting, guns drawn. She didn’t think before reaching down to her belt – and before she knew it, a trigger-happy rookie officer opened fire, prompting a hail of bullets to chase her as she purposely threw herself, backwards, off of the roof. She didn’t think about where that would send her – but at that point, it didn’t matter…as long as she didn’t end up shot to death.

She spread her cape quickly to try to slow her rapid descent, but that only sent her spinning out of control – and a thirty floor drop didn’t give her enough time to regain control. She closed her eyes and cringed as she watched herself approaching a concrete ledge quickly.

Pain filled her from her right shoulder as it impacted the corner of the ledge, breaking off some of the concrete. She knew she was definitely in trouble by that point. But not all of the news was bad – the ledge she hit slowed her down a little bit, and changed her angle of descent enough to aim her toward the parked cars on the street rather then the sidewalk.

As she watched herself falling toward a parked car, she spread her cape quickly again to cause herself to flip over so her back faced the ground – just in time to crash through the roof of the car. She sat up quickly, wincing as pain came from every corner of her body. She figured that something was broken, but the adrenaline running through her blood stream prevented her from pinpointing the pain’s source. At the moment she had more immediate concerns – two more police cars had just come to a stop a few feet away, and the officers from the roof were on their way down.

Batgirl jumped off of the smashed car, only to have both of her legs collapse from under her. She knew at that moment that she had a back injury, which was confirmed as she rose back to her feet slowly in spite of searing pain travelling from the small of her back up to her neck. She was in more trouble – with an injury like that, she wouldn’t be able to run or swing away from the police. As she looked down at a small red puddle forming next to her, she realized that she was bleeding badly as well. Blood was tricking down her arm to her right hand, and dripping to the ground. Her shoulder was in bad shape.

Before the driver of the first police car opened his door, Batgirl punched through the window wither her left hand, snatching him and throwing him to the street before he realized what was happening. She slipped into the driver’s seat through the window, put the car in drive, and slammed the accelerator to the floor. It was her one and only chance of escaping, and she was going to take it.

It was only a matter of seconds before several police cars began following her as she tore through the streets of Gotham City at high speed. She clipped a few parked cars and buildings as she went – her concentration was starting to fade from all of that lost blood – but she knew she had to lose the police following her. She couldn’t let them follow her to–

Batgirl was so lost in thought, that she didn’t even see the dark blue minivan fly through the intersection just ahead of her, crossing her path closely – too closely. She barely had time to react – her foot had just mashed the brake to the floor, locking all four wheels on the police car – when she felt the impact, and heard the sickening sound of twisting metal and shattering glass. Something was spinning around quickly…it was the car. It spun around several times before finally coming to a stop.

Her head spinning, she remembered the blood…the dizziness. She remembered the blue and red flashing lights approaching from behind quickly. She hit the accelerator again – the car didn’t move. She could barely see through the badly shattered windshield, but she guessed that her car had been disabled. She closed her eyes and began sobbing quietly to herself. It was over. They would either find her and send her away…or she would die.

She began losing consciousness as she felt two strong arms reach into the car and pull her out quickly. Arms that had the strength to lift the car she was in…or perhaps a building. She looked up slowly, feeling a twinge of agonizing pain from her neck that blurred her vision. All she could see was a red and yellow ‘S’ in front of her eyes.

“I’d better get you home, Cassandra.” He had a pleasing, relaxing voice, the kind that lulled her into a feeling of safety and security. As consciousness began slipping away from Batgirl, she realized who it was…Superman.

“What do I pay you people for, anyhow? Huh?”

Max Shreck looked around his office angrily, noting once again that each of his expensive paintings were no longer on the expensively decorated walls. They were in shambles on the floor. In a fit of rage, he kicked over the glass-top table in his office, causing it to shatter into a million little beads.

“I’m…uh…sorry, sir. There was no evidence of anyone entering the building. They must have been professionals.” Shreck’s head of security ducked quickly as a chair just barely cleared the top of his head.

“Someone was in here, dammit. Just look around this place.” Shreck held his arms out, pointing toward the broken paintings. “Am I to believe this was done by a gang of giant, intelligent rats? Is that it? My office is now ground zero for the Secret of NIMH?”

“No sir.” The man bowed his head. “I…I’ll do my best to find the culprit, sir.”

“Good man. Good man.” As security left the room, Shreck sat down at his desk and glanced at the partially open drawer to his left. He pulled the drawer open quickly to see that his letter opener was missing. It was no ordinary letter opener, however – it happened to have a extraordinarily sharp blade, and was used for protection. But no one would be able to tell just from outward appearances. Someone knew it was there to take.

“Tch, tch.” Shreck shook his head and smiled as he stood up to look out his office window to the street below. “Getting sloppy there, Selena. Very sloppy.”

 

“–very sloppy work, Clark. I can’t believe she almost was caught by the police.”

Cassandra tried to sit up slowly to see what was going on, only to be rewarded by a horrible sting and a burning sensation running up and down her back. She decided to roll on her side to see instead, to discover more pain from her right shoulder. Instead she just turned her head a little, to see what was going on at least with one eye.

“It was an ambush, Bruce. Somebody set her up.”

She could see Superman standing a few feet from Bruce in the Bat Cave. The way the two of them were talking, neither one knew that she was awake. She held up both of her hands to look at them – her left wrist had an I.V. attached to it, and she was laying on some kind of hospital-type bed in Bruce’s small infirmary. She could feel that her right shoulder was wrapped tightly, obviously to immobilize it.

“How many people did she kill in that van, Clark?”

The van. Cassandra’s heart began speeding up as she began worrying about the van too. She hit the van going about seventy miles per hour on a city street. They had to be dead–

“None, thankfully.” Cassandra could see Superman’s penetrating blue eyes look in her direction for just a moment. He noticed that she had awakened. “They’re pretty badly hurt…but they’ll live.”

Cassandra sat up slowly in spite of the pain as she watched Superman walking toward her. She didn’t want to be lying around like a vegetable when she finally met Superman up close and personal. He was a role model for anyone who wanted to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves…except maybe Bruce.

“How are you doing, young lady?”

She smiled painfully in response to Superman’s question. “Better.”

Superman looked back at Bruce for a second, who stood near his computer center with his arms folded. “I think you should take a little time off, Cassandra. Let yourself heal.”

Cassandra nodded as she took a cup of hot soup from Alfred, who had just entered the room.

“Would you care for some soup?” Alfred asked Superman that question as if he were just any other visitor in the house. Cassandra admired Alfred for his composure – no matter what happened, he always took it in stride.

“No thank you, Alfred. I’m fine.”

Alfred nodded and turned to head back toward the house. Cassandra watched him – he didn’t seem the least bit affected by Superman’s presence in the house. She couldn’t decide if it was because that was just his way…or if he did so to prevent Bruce from becoming jealous.

“Who?” Cassandra’s mind had been stuck on the words ‘somebody set her up’, her mind going through possibilities as Superman and Bruce continued talking. She finally decided to ask when she turned up empty.

Bruce and Superman both turned to face her at the same time – Superman spoke first. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“Who…set me up?”

With a sigh, Bruce looked at Superman for a second before heading toward his computer center. It was up to Superman to tell her.

“Cassandra…Do you understand why it’s bad for you to have too much publicity?”

Cassandra shook her head slowly, looking down to avoid Superman’s steady gaze. She felt like a child in his presence, one with very little intelligence at that.

Superman handed her a folded copy of the Daily Planet, which Bruce had tossed onto a nearby table. “Open the paper, Cassandra, read the headline. It’s about me, isn’t it?”

As she opened the newspaper slowly, she could see a full-page spread on Superman right on the front page. She quickly skimmed through the story, reading about how Superman was almost defeated by an old foe of his which returned again, after losing to him several times before. She skimmed the companion article, analyzing exactly how Superman beat the bad guy this time. And next to that, another in-depth article on Superman’s powers.

Cassandra looked up at Superman, her eyes wide with the sudden realization of what he was trying to tell her – the ‘bad guys’ read the newspaper too, and they used it as a learning tool. She watched as Superman began nodding at her and smiling.

“You understand now, don’t you?”

As she nodded, she could tell that Bruce was smiling in spite of himself. Superman had shown her by example something that Bruce had tried to teach her several times – only Superman gave her a reason for it, rather then simply insisting it was ‘one of the rules’.

“Now that you understand–” Superman folded his arms and sat down on the edge of the examination table, next to Cassandra. “–How about if you do Bruce and I a favor, and try to keep a low profile?”

Cassandra smiled weakly, and gave Superman a ‘thumbs up’ sign. As she watched Superman stand up and head toward the exit, she looked at the newspaper again. He was absolutely right. The evidence was unmistakable. She looked up to see him wave as he opened the door to leave the Bat Cave. She waved back, silently hoping he would come back one day.

“I’m sorry sir…I tried. But we had some interference from–” A Gotham City police Captain paused and began to shake with fear as the man behind the desk in front of him began rising to his feet. A man who promised him an end to crime, and vigilantes, in Gotham…and promised him money, and power.

“Tried? Tried?” The man behind the desk chuckled heartily as he swept the entire desk clean with a wooden cane he held in his left hand and stood on the desk’s top. “I, Captain Hall…try every day. I try to live a normal life.”

“I…I don’t see why you can’t–”

“Look at me!” The man leaned forward, closer to Captain Hall, the dim lighting reflecting off of his pale white skin. “I’m not what you call normal, Captain Hall. Yet I am…it’s everyone else who’s insane.”

“I think I’ll be going now, Mr–”

“Joker. Like the guy in a deck cards.” Joker dropped back to the floor, producing a deck of cards from his purple jacket. He began shuffling them between his hands quickly. “You see, the Joker can pop up anywhere–”

Before Captain Hall could even react, Joker swept a playing card across the side of his head quickly. He felt the side of his head with his hand, horrified as he realized that part of his ear had been sliced away. He began to cry out in horror and pain, as he watched the Joker begin to laugh.

“–And he’s always…the sharpest card in the deck!”

Joker began to fill the room with hysterical laughter as Captain Hall turned and started running. Playing card blades began slamming into the walls behind him as he ran. He knew that Joker was following him – and he feared he would never leave the building alive.

Another card sliced across his arm, as more hysterical laughter followed. As soon as Captain Hall made it to the ground floor, he crashed through the entrance door out into the street.

“Help! Help me, please!” Captain Hall tripped on the last step, falling face-first onto the sidewalk. He felt a sharp pain from his face – his nose was broken. He sat up quickly, and turned around to see Joker standing over him, a maniacal look in his eyes. “No…No!”

The last thing Captain Hall saw was a shower of playing cards flying toward him. It was only a matter of seconds before he lost consciousness from the pain of forty five stab wounds all over his body.

Joker stood above him for a few seconds, shaking his head slowly. “Dealer? Oh, dealer? I don’t like the cut of this deck. I want another one.”

Hysterical laughter filled the streets of Gotham, as Joker slowly walked down the street. He wasn’t in any hurry – he had no reason to run.

A twinge of pain tore it’s way through Cassandra’s arm as she tried to sit up to see who was opening the door to her room slowly. The pain was a not-so-subtle reminder that her shoulder was still badly damaged. It would take some time to heal.

“Are you okay, Cassandra?”

It was Tim. Cassandra sighed and sat up, wincing at another sharp pain from her shoulder. She gave him an exhausted look as he walked across the room, and stood in front of her. He was dressed in his Robin costume. She nodded in answer to his question.

“I…worried a little when Bruce told me you weren’t coming along tonight.” Tim smiled a little as he spoke, trying to seem as reassuring as possible. “You enjoy what you do so much…I thought you must really be hurt if you can’t go.”

Cassandra nodded and pointed to her injured shoulder with her opposite hand, as she smiled too. She shifted in her seat a little, pain from her broken and bruised ribs causing her to wince again.

“Wow…You are in bad shape. I’ve never taken a beating like–” Tim stumbled back a little bit from shock as he watched Cassandra roll up the sleeve of her black shirt gently to expose the dark purple skin around her shoulder. She laughed a little bit, quietly, as she let go of the sleeve. “My God…Shouldn’t that be in a cast?”

She shook her head ‘no’, prompting another little smile from Tim.

“Look, Cassandra–” Tim walked across the room to snatch a chair from next to a nearby table, and sat down on it backwards. “Strange as it sounds, you’re the only person I feel like I can talk to. Bruce doesn’t care, my family…well, they’re not exactly functional. But somehow…I feel that you listen to me.”

Tim turned suddenly as he heard a distant voice calling him. Bruce was getting impatient. “Cassandra…just be careful, okay? If you get yourself killed…I’d have no one left to listen to me.”

Cassandra smiled warmly, waiting for Tim to stand up before stepping off of the bed. She gave him a painful, but heartfelt hug. She was grateful that for the first time in her life…someone needed her.

“Wish me luck, Cassandra. We’re hunting for the Joker tonight.”

Joker? Cassandra suddenly looked shocked as she raced past Tim, headed down the hall toward the Bat Cave. As soon as she entered, she headed straight for Bruce, in costume, standing only a few inches away from him as she looked up at him angrily.

“You can’t come, Cassandra. You’re injured.” Bruce didn’t budge as he spoke in a low tone. She knew he meant to intimidate her a little – but she wasn’t intimidated.

“He can’t–” Cassandra almost lost her train of thought as she stared into Batman’s cold eyes. He wasn’t just in costume, he was in character as well – unfeeling, calculating, logical. Yet she refused to back down. “He’s not ready.”

“That’s not for you to decide.” Batman took one step away from Cassandra before heading toward the Batmobile, Tim walking just ahead of him. As Batman entered the Batmobile, Cassandra could see Tim give her one last look before the canopy closed – a lost look, like a child being taken to his first day of school.

As she watched the Batmobile drive away, she began to feel worried. She wasn’t sure if Tim would make it back in one piece. She turned around to see Alfred approaching her from behind.

“Would you like dinner, Miss Cassandra?”

Cassandra smiled politely as she shook her head ‘no’. She hadn’t eaten anything in hours – she slept through dinner. But somehow, she wasn’t feeling very hungry. Her feelings told her that something bad was about to happen.

“Oh my God.” Batman stomped on the brake pedal as soon as he turned the Batmobile around a corner to face City Hall. Standing in the middle of the street, in the pouring rain, was nearly every cop in Gotham City. Police cars were lined up to shield the officers, who carried shotguns and mace canisters. They were all dressed in full riot gear. A quick glanced in the rear view mirror showed him the two armored vehicles coming up from behind to close him in.

“We’re in trouble, aren’t we?”

Batman looked at Robin for a second without saying a word before he threw the Batmobile in reverse and stomped on the accelerator. As the back of the Batmobile slammed into into one of the armored cars, it skidded around in an arc, facing the direction they came from.

He stomped on the accelerator again. A hail of bullets began pelting the bullet-proof shell of the Batmobile as it crashed through the second armored car with a shower of sparks. Just as he began accelerating quickly to get away from the quickly pursuing police cars, he checked the rearview mirror again. Something didn’t seem right.

Approaching from behind was a bright light, quickly gaining on the Batmobile. A second later, the Batmobile was hit by something – an explosion. It careened out of control, smashing through the ground floor of a nearby building before coming to a sudden stop.

Batman shook his head quickly to clear the dizziness he felt before checking his passenger – Robin was out cold. He threw the car into reverse, crashing hard into yet another armored car – the sound of screeching of metal and flickering dashboard lights telling him that the Batmobile was seriously damaged. One more crash, and it would be disabled.

Luckily, by then Batman had broken free of the perimeter the police set up – it was now a matter of just outrunning them as they began pursuing the Batmobile out of the city. He reached down to press a button just ahead of the shifter, which mixed pure oxygen with the jet fuel used to power the Batmobile – it would burn up fuel quickly, but it would give him the speed he needed to stay far ahead of the pursuing police cars and helicopters.

He sighed deeply as the Batmobile tore through a path in a forest outside Gotham City, headed for the Bat Cave. No sound above told him that the helicopters were gone – and he’d lost the last police car at the Gotham City limits.

Batman drove into the Bat Cave quickly, lifting Robin’s unconscious body before he stepped out of the car. He rushed Robin to the examining table – the same one where Cassandra woke up earlier in the day – placing him on it gently.

“No!”

Bruce turned quickly as he removed his mask, to see Cassandra racing into the Bat Cave from the house. She looked at Robin quickly – and then stood in front of Bruce, only inches away. She gave him a look of anger and frustration, as her fists clenched tightly.

“I told you.” Cassandra pushed Bruce hard, stumbling back and wincing at the resulting pain from her shoulder and ribs.

“You know something, don’t you?” Bruce stepped back in front of Cassandra, looking down at her suspiciously. “Something about the Joker that you neglected to tell me.”

Cassandra shook her head quickly. It wasn’t something she knew, or learned it was…”Something I figured out.”

“You’re telling me that our last meeting with the Joker…and what has been happening the past two nights…are related?”

Cassandra nodded. “He wants them…to hate you.”

“Hmm.” Bruce paced around the Bat Cave a little bit, rubbing his chin as he thought. It made perfect sense – but how? How could the Joker turn the authorities against him all of a sudden?

As Bruce headed to his computer to research Cassandra’s theory, she headed toward Tim to watch as Alfred removed his mask gently, and began checking his vital signs.

“He’ll live.” Alfred looked at Cassandra sadly as he spoke, the look in his eyes telling her that he knew something like this would happen. “But he’ll have a nasty headache when he wakes.”

Cassandra frowned and sat down on the edge of the examination table, holding one of Tim’s hands tightly as she stared down at his unconscious form. Bruce betrayed his trust, and he didn’t even realize it. He never would, since he was always so eager to defend Bruce, even at his own expense.

It was a strange realization Cassandra had as she looked across the room and found Bruce avoiding her gaze – Bruce wasn’t perfect. He was wrong, and she was right. She knew that he would never admit it, but that deep down…he knew. And his stubbornness and unwillingness to listen to anyone under his ‘command’ nearly cost the life of someone dear to him.

But it was too late for blame. It was now time for forgiveness, and healing. They would never beat this – whatever Joker had in store for them – if they didn’t learn to forgive each other’s shortcomings, and work together.

Cassandra gave Bruce a weak smile as he turned around to check on her as she sat next to Tim, watching Alfred dab a cut on Tim’s forehead with disinfectant. Bruce looked unnerved at first…but then he smiled back. She could tell that he felt guilt over what had happened – and expecting to see a look of anger from Cassandra, he felt reassured when she smiled instead.

“Thirty seconds people. Look sharp.”

Reporters from newspapers and television stations as far away as Metropolis crowded into the small lobby of Gotham City Hall. It was unusual for a media event to take place in the lobby rather then in the mayor’s briefing room – but the small room was simply no match for the sheer volume of people attending the briefing.

The mayor was expected to announce a ground-breaking decision – a proposal that had been acted into law during a closed session of the Council – to finally put an end to the city’s reputation of being crime-infested as well as bringing it’s costumed vigilantes to justice.

Bruce Wayne sat in on the media event in a special box marked ‘V.I.P.’, alongside Lex Luthor and his bodyguard, Mercy. The rumor among the press was that Lex Luthor had something to do with the imminent announcement – a rumor which was most likely accurate, since Luthor wouldn’t bother to attend if it didn’t bring him personal attention.

Cassandra squirmed uncomfortably in her seat next to Bruce. She wasn’t used to wearing as fancy a dress as she was at the time – Barbara Gordon had bought it for her on a moment’s notice. She felt lucky that Barbara picked one for her that covered her up to her neck – so no one could see the heavy bruising underneath.

“Isn’t she a little young for you, Bruce?”

Cassandra and Bruce both scowled at Luthor as he smiled smugly in their direction. He knew very well that his comment was inappropriate – he just said it to annoy Bruce.

“Ladies and gentlemen…The mayor of Gotham City.”

The mayor looked tired as he stepped in front of the microphone at a makeshift podium. He sighed deeply and looked around the room before beginning to speak.

“I’m going to make this short, and sweet. There will be no questions after my announcement. A new proposal has just become law – it is now a crime to wear identity concealing masks within the city limits. And to help put an end to the recent crime wave, I am instituting a temporary curfew at midnight.”

A long pause by the mayor lent to voices beginning to fill the room. “Please, let me finish! In order to institute this curfew, LexCorp has donated equipment and manpower of it’s own to help make Gotham’s Finest more like Metropolis’ famed Special Crimes Unit. That is all. No questions.”

As the mayor turned and left the room quickly, the room seemed to erupt with voices of protest, urgent questions from the press, and outrage expressed by residents of the city. But his announcement concerned no one more then the two who were silent – Bruce and Cassandra.

“You don’t trust this either, do you?”

Cassandra stared at Bruce for a few seconds before shaking her head slowly. She then turned to watch as Lex Luthor left the building, followed by Mercy. Bruce noticed where she was looking as well.

He stood up, urging Cassandra to follow him outside. “Believe it or not, Luthor is genuinely helping. He has nothing to do with what’s happened to us. He’s doing this for publicity. There is another factor in this…one I have yet to learn.”

“Joker?” Cassandra stared at Bruce as she climbed into the rear seat of his car as it was held open by Alfred.

“Yes. Joker is involved.” Bruce leaned back against the rear seat as Alfred climbed into the driver’s side and began driving home. “But the question is…how?”

Night seemed to come too quickly for Cassandra. She paced the Bat Cave, costume draped over her arm. She was eager to go out to find answers…but Bruce didn’t seem to be in as big a hurry as he sat at his computer terminal, looking through recent news items.

“You’re not going, Cassandra. You need time to heal.” Bruce turned around to face Cassandra as she returned a look of disappointment. “I won’t be going out either, until I know what I’m up against. I don’t want to go out there and fight cops all night.”

Cassandra smiled and sat down on the edge of a counter behind Bruce. She watched him become hypnotized as he paged through image after image of newspapers and police reports from around the region. He was growing more and more frustrated as each search’s results turned up less and less…until there was nothing left to look through.

Bruce sighed and stood up slowly, giving his chair a too-hard shove to signify that in spite of his calm demeanor, he was upset. The Joker was up to something, and he didn’t know what – he was finally being outsmarted one of his oldest foes.

That was her cue. Cassandra suddenly grabbed Bruce’s hand, and started leading him up a stairway leading to a room high up above the Bat Cave. As she arrived at the top of the stairway, she turned on a large electronic telescope which filled most of the small room, and pointed at the television screen next to it.

The screen showed a long-distance view of Gotham City. Helicopters were floating over the city, lights were on all over the streets, and in every large building. Searchlights crawled across the skies.

“My God, Cassandra–”

She nodded quickly. “A distraction.”

“You’re right…but there’s more to it.” Bruce turned quickly and raced back down the stairway, with a confused Cassandra close behind. “We’re here…but Tim is visiting his family. If he goes out in costume–”

Bruce didn’t have to finish that sentence. Cassandra felt a shock of terror run through her as she lost her footing on the last few stairs and slid to the floor of the Bat Cave.

“Let’s go. Now.”

 

Bruce and Cassandra decided to visit Tim’s family’s home in civilian clothing, to avoid drawing too much attention to themselves. Tim lived in an unassuming suburban home just outside Gotham City.

He asked Cassandra to wait in his Jaguar as he walked up to the house and knocked on the door once. There was no answer – and on second glance, he noticed that all of the lights were off. He walked around the perimeter of the house quickly, glancing into windows when he could do so inconspicuously. He didn’t want the neighbors to think he was trying to break in.

“He’s not here.” Bruce climbed in and slammed the door of the car as he returned. He looked at Cassandra for a moment. “We’ll have to find him.”

Cassandra poked Bruce and pointed toward the car’s back seat quickly, biting her lip to try to hide her amused smile. As Bruce looked behind him, he could see Tim slumped down in the back seat, trying to stay out of view of the windows.

“The cops are looking for me. Something about violating curfew.” Tim answered Bruce’s next obvious question dutifully, without even waiting for him to open his mouth. He’d worked with Bruce long enough to be able to anticipate some of the easier ones.

Bruce didn’t seem to pay attention as he eyed a police car approaching slowly from down the street, shining it’s spotlight on every building and car along the street. “Do you have a license, Cassandra?”

She nodded. Bruce climbed out of the driver’s side and walked around to the passenger side quickly. Cassandra had an idea of what he was doing – she slid over into the driver’s seat. Bruce climbed into the passenger side just as the police car stopped, red and blue lights flashing, next to Bruce’s car.

Cassandra sat perfectly still as the officer approached the driver’s side of the car. Tim pretended to sleep in the back seat, while Bruce sat in the passenger seat displaying a cheerful smile.

“Good evening, officer.” Bruce’s smile was almost cheesy as he greeted the police officer, to be rewarded with a flashlight beam in his face.

“It’s after curfew, Mr. Wayne. Do you have a good reason to be out?”

“Yes, sir.” Bruce pointed to Cassandra. “My friend here is driving me home. I had some wine at a party this evening, so I called her to pick me up.”

Cassandra smiled nervously as the flashlight beam shined in her face next, before shining back on Bruce’s face.

“Just be sure to drive safely.”

“Thanks, officer.” Bruce sighed deeply as the officer walked back to his car and started driving away slowly. “That was close.”

Cassandra started up Bruce’s car and started driving away slowly. She didn’t want to catch the attention of any more police until after she left Gotham City.

“You don’t really have a license, do you?”

Cassandra just smiled quietly as she floored the accelerator of the Jaguar. She was outside the city limits. It was time to go home.