The city was burning.

It was high summer in Gotham, one of the hottest on record. For the 6 million residents of the city and its outlying areas, every waking moment was spent in search of some cool, dark sanctuary. The rich relocated from sweltering grand ballrooms to private homes with swimming pools and central air. The other ninety percent of the city spent the hot days in the streets, attending impromptu block parties slumped in lawn chairs, watching as their children played in the spray of vandalized fire hydrants. People flocked to the movies and climate-controlled shopping malls during the day. At night, they slept on fire escapes and rooftops. Gotham was a tinderbox, summer heat was the match and everyone seemed to be waiting for the fire to strike. Life was on the chopping block during that high heat in August.

It was midday and Slam Bradley had made the unfortunate decision to finish up the paperwork on a case he�d just broken. He�d spent the morning typing up a report for the GCPD, plugging away at the old Bedford manual with the broken lower-case �j� key, stopping occasionally to eye the broken air conditioner with contempt. The office was noisy: three fans buzzed, stirring hot air around the room. On his desk a small black-and-white TV beamed in a Mexican soap opera. He couldn�t follow the plot but the Spanish melodrama seemed at home in the sweaty heat of the small room.

Holly was lying on the broken old couch shoved against the wall, making a necklace out of silver paperclips. Slam had been thinking of fixing up the place, getting some better furniture, maybe one of those computers. Holly shouldn�t have to sit on a couch with no springs and mysterious brown stains on the pillows. His old fedora deserved better than to be hung on a dilapidated coat rack. Slam thought he might get more business if he upgraded. Then again, mooks were always busting into his office, tossing the place, breaking his furniture and getting blood on his suits. Slam figured, why bother to fix up the place if it was only going to get destroyed again?

�Want some ice cream?� Holly asked for the third time, rising. Even her bright-pink hair seemed to have wilted in the heat.

Slam shook his head. �You go on. My treat,� he said, flicking a quarter at her. Holly shook her head. Ice cream hadn�t cost a quarter in Gotham for nearly thirty years. She slumped back down on the couch.

�How much longer?�

The slow, steady clack of keys on the Bedford stopped and Slam looked up at her. �I told you, I�ll be at this till sundown at least. Why are you hanging around, anyway?�

�Because Karon isn�t off until six and I don�t want to wait around in an empty apartment,� Holly replied, adding another paperclip to the long chain. �It�s sad but true: you�re the most entertaining alternative I�ve got.�

Slam leaned back in his chair, wanting to strip off the white, short-sleeved button-up shirt and walk around in his boxers and undershirt. He�d already removed his suit coat, tie and hat and it still felt as though he were being slowly cooked alive in the tiny office with the westward facing windows.

�You know what I miss?� he asked Holly.

She nodded. �Selina.�

Slam nodded in agreement. �Yep. No fun being part of the sideshow after the main attraction leaves town.�

Someone knocked on the glass-paneled office door and Holly and Slam both rose excitedly. Holly opened the door to admit Leslie Thompkins and they sank back down dejectedly into their former seats.

�Hi Leslie,� Slam greeted half-heartedly, settling back behind the typewriter. Dr. Thompkins nodded at both of them, marveling at the heat in the small room. Immediately she removed her gloves and hat. �What brings you to our neck of the woods?�

�My office is three blocks from here,� she reminded him. �It wasn�t exactly an ordeal to get here. Hello, dear. How are you?� she asked Holly, who shrugged, intent on completing the paperclip chain.

�Mind if I open the window?� Leslie asked Slam, crossing the room. She tugged on the bottom of the window a few times, straining a little.

�It�s painted shut,� Slam explained. �Security precaution. Can�t trust that someone won�t try and break in unexpectedly one night.�

�I doubt house paint would stop that particular someone,� Leslie said drying, flopping down next to Holly on the couch. The ever-composed, reserved woman was perspiring slightly, her graying hair frizzing in the heat.

The endless babble of Spanish from the black-and-white set fizzled and Slam changed the channel to one with better reception. A newscast came on, the shapely weathergirl clad in an eye-catching bikini as she explained that the heat wave would continue well into September. Slam and Holly both groaned.

The weather report over, a blond newscaster in an expensive-looking silk blouse began a rundown on summer crime statistics. �The GCPD has released a statement claiming that crime rates in the city have fallen nearly fifty percent from this time last summer. The impact of the crime reduction has been particularly apparent in the East End. Street crime, acts of petty vandalism and assault have plummeted, making this the safest year in Gotham since before the great �quake. In other news-�

Slam snapped the television set off, shaking his head. �Funny how they never mention why crime rates have dropped. I guess the term �psycho vigilante� doesn�t play well in test markets.�

They were silent for a moment. Holly looked at Leslie.

�What happened?� she asked simply. Leslie looked at the carpet, a god-awful green shag job that Slam had fully intended replaced before someone respectable like Dr. Thompkins laid eyes on it.

�He shut us out,� Leslie told them quietly. �You must have known that when Selina left-�

�He�d go crazy?� Slam filled in. �Selina has that effect on men. But this�he�s going after the people in this neighborhood like God�s own fury, Leslie. I know they aren�t good guys, strictly speaking, but��

�But they�re your people,� Leslie finished. �Drug dealers. Pimps. Prostitutes.�

�My friends,� Holly added. �Selina�s too. He took out the really bad bosses months ago. Why does he keep hitting the little people in the East End?�

Leslie shrugged, leaning back. �I don�t know. Bruce closed the manor and dismissed his valet. Robin, Batgirl and Nightwing are forbidden to access the cave or contact him. Bruce Wayne hasn�t been to work in two months.�

�Has he done this before?� Slam asked her. Leslie nodded.

�Two years ago, when Bruce was charged with murder. He escaped from custody and then decided the Bruce Wayne part of his life was a liability. Batman took over. He fired his young partners and began to work alone. It was�it was a dark period.�

�Well,� Slam said, rising, �I guess he�ll snap out of this, huh? He figured things out before.�

�This is different, Slam. He�s determined to be alone.�

Slam shook his head. �Creesus, I had my doubts about his sanity before, but-� He looked up at Leslie. �So this will continue until�when? Gotham turns over a new leaf? That isn�t likely.�

�He�s punishing himself,� Leslie told them. �He lost something that was important to him.�

�Well, she was never really his to begin with, was she?� Slam replied. �And you all just put up with him when he acts this way? The man is a spoiled child. First he treats Selina like crap, then he uses her to get close to that telepathic kid�he do things like that a lot, or just to the people he loves?�

Leslie looked to Holly for support. The young girl watched her coolly. Leslie reminded herself that she hadn�t come to argue with these people she considered friends. �Do you know where she is, Slam?�

�Why? Think he�ll even care?�

�Of course he will!� Leslie exclaimed, rising. �He never stopped looking for her. He�s shut everyone else out but Selina still matters to him.�

�Only because he wants to find Lucy,� Slam countered. �You know, I think he�s the worst person I ever met. And you want me to help him find Selina?�

Leslie sighed, sinking back down. �We�re running out of options, Slam. Either he finds her or he destroys himself and takes Gotham with him. I�ve seen what happens when he closes himself off like this, and Selina has always been the one woman who is able to reach him.�

�You tried this before,� Holly said quietly. Slam and Leslie turned to her. �I remember. Two years ago, when Batman was hitting the city hard. Selina told me you�d contacted her and asked her to find Batman for you. You thought she could find him when no one else could.�

�Well?� Slam prompted. �Did she find him?�

Leslie nodded. Slam frowned, shaking his head.

�Look, I could care less about him. The guy treats people like they�re pieces on a chess board. I never thought much of him as a hero and I think even less of him as a man. Selina deserves better and I�m glad she made it out.�

�Think of Gotham, Slam. Think of what he means to this city. He�s a symbol of hope,� Leslie said quietly.

�I think you�re living in a different neighborhood, Doc. In the East End, he�s nothing but a boogie-man,� Slam replied. �He doesn�t deserve her, and after what he tried to do to that little girl��

�He did it for the greater good, Slam. Lucy helped him to stop a killer. I won�t-� Leslie paused. �I won�t defend him to you. God knows you�re right. But he�s saved Gotham from destruction more than once. He�s fought and bled and given everything to protecting this city. He�s even saved the entire planet a few times.�

�Yeah, yeah, he�s a big hero. I get it,� Slam assured her. �What I don�t get is why you�re so willing to forgive him when he makes the wrong decision. You all rally around him and talk about what a great man he is, but Bruce Wayne is really just a scared little boy. I only care about Selina and she doesn�t need a guy like that in her life. She�s been through enough.�

Leslie closed her eyes. �I know you love her, Slam, but-�

�Of course I love her,� Slam said quickly. �And when she ran with the kid, I wanted to go with her. She never asked, but I think she wanted me to come along. I couldn�t go, Leslie,� Slam told her, his voice hoarse. �Gotham is my city too. And I�ll do whatever it takes to protect it from that self-righteous head case.�

�Then help him to find her,� Leslie requested. �She�s the key, Slam. She always has been.�

�What does that mean?�

�It means we can�t decide anything for Selina,� Holly interrupted. �She left because she was scared. It�s why she always leaves. I think she wanted to protect Lucy but she was protecting herself, too. People get too close and she bolts. You�ve seen her do it,� Holly said, looking at Slam pointedly. �If he�s a head-case, well, so is she. So maybe they deserve each other.�

�For the greater good?� Slam asked, smiling faintly at Leslie.

�Something like that.�

****************************

Slam decided the best way to approach Batman was to take the direct route. He went into the Bowery at the appropriate hour, found one of the pawn shops that doubled as a weapons wholesaler to the East End dealers and smashed every window in the joint.

Then he lit a Duke and sat down to wait.

He�d only finished about half the cigarette when a part of the night grabbed at him. Slam had to give the Bat points for making a dramatic entrance: he�d taken out Slam�s knees and growled �What do you think you�re doing� before Slam had time to fire off something pithy and cutting.

�Hello to you too,� Slam replied pleasantly, picking himself up off the street and dusting off his hat. Somehow he�d managed to keep hold of the Louisville Slugger but his hands kept trembling anyway.

If Batman was surprised to see Slam, he didn�t let on. �What are you doing here?� he snarled again, not even glancing at the smashed-in windows of the pawnshop.

�Beeping you.�

They stared at each other for a moment. Slam could have kept up the silent treatment all night but unlike some people he had to be up early in the morning. Breakfast with Holly so he could tell her all about this crazy adventure with a Gotham mask. The kid worried sometimes.

�I want to talk,� Slam told him.

Batman hesitated a moment. Slam guessed he was either considering the offer or entertaining the idea of dangling Slam off a building again. Slam had never credited the Bat with much of an imagination.

�Fine,� Batman agreed. �But not here. The rooftop of the Park Row Clinic. Ten minutes.�

Slam nodded.

Nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds later, Slam Bradley emerged onto the roof of Leslie�s clinic, puffing a little after the long climb up the stairs. He was getting too old for this crap.

�Do you have a message from Selina?� Batman asked from the shadows lining the rooftop. Slam shook his head, waiting a beat until he found his breath. Then he lit a fresh cigarette.

�Nope,� he said simply. �I haven�t seen her since your butler dropped the kid off at my office, four months ago.�

�I know.�

Slam exhaled smoke through his nose, craning his neck to look up at the stars. �Of course you do. You probably even know the letters she�s been sending were fake. Misdirection. She doesn�t want to be found.�

�Is she-� Batman hesitated. �Is she all right?�

Slam shrugged. �You know Selina. She�s always all right.�

�Then why-�

�I thought I�d give you a chance,� Slam told him, not looking at the dark thing looming in the shadows. �I�m going to ask you a couple of questions, and if I like what you have to say, I�ll tell you how to find her. If not�well, then you get to go back to your miserable existence with the knowledge that you blew your one shot at being with her. Believe me, it�s not an easy way to live.�

�Why?� Batman asked again, more softly this time. So he did have manners.

Slam watched the sky. Some of the industrial smog choking the atmosphere had cleared and he could make out some of the constellations above. Polaris was just setting and Cassiopeia was on the horizon. It was a beautiful night, warm and still. Selina would have liked it up here but she�d have said it was too hot. He would have told her that�s what you get for dressing up in black leather at the height of summer.

�I miss her,� Slam said quietly, puffing thoughtfully on the Duke. �She was fun, y�know? And she always made me feel like I was the only guy in the room. Except when you showed up, of course. Even then, I didn�t mind sharing the spotlight because I knew she�d be coming home to me. She may have loved you, but I was her friend. You have many friends?�

Batman didn�t reply.

Slam frowned. �Didn�t think so. Only yourself to blame, I guess. And that�s what I�ve been trying to wrap my head around this last year - why you? What the hell does Selina see in you? She doesn�t take crap from anyone and you dole it out in spades. I thought it might be the masks, some kind of weird sexual thing. But that didn�t fit either. I know Selina and deep down she�s a pretty conservative girl.�

The smog cleared a little more and Slam spotted Orion over the RKM Bridge. At least he thought it was Orion. He�d been a student of many things during in his life but astronomy wasn�t exactly one of them. �She tell you I burned her file for her the first time we met?�

In the shadows behind him, Batman shifted. Slam was glad to see he wasn�t boring him. �There was a lot of material in there. All her arrest records, mug shots, newspaper clippings�everything that Selina Kyle ever was or ever could be was in that file. And I torched it to save her. I saved something else, too.�

Slam opened his trench coat (he had an image to preserve, summer heat be damned) and removed a tattered and yellowed piece of newsprint from the inner breast pocket. He looked at the graying photo at the top of a short story from the society pages of the Gotham Gazette. �Bruce Wayne and date� the caption read. Wayne was sitting in a cozy little booth at some long-closed four-star restaurant, his blandly handsome face frozen in a shy, surprised smile. The �date� was Selina, sitting closer to him than was necessary even in the small booth. Wayne had his arm wrapped around her.

�I was married once, a long time ago,� Slam said quietly. �Turned out I wasn�t much of a husband. I�ve got a kid out there, a son. They moved back to Gotham a while ago, bought a house in Sommerset. I haven�t gone to see them. I�m scared of what they might say.�

He forced himself to stop, and when he spoke again, Slam�s voice had gentled somewhat. There were things the troubled shadow sharing the rooftop with him needed to understand, things that Slam himself had learned long ago.

�Funny, isn�t it, how some days we have so much and then it�s gone?� Slam asked, looking up at the stars in their heavens. �I think sometimes that if we could just forget how happy we used to be�maybe life could be bearable. But we always remember the way things were. And how, if just one little thing were different, maybe everything could be that way again.�

He turned and extended his hand, offering the faded picture to Batman. �I look at that picture and I see a man who wants so badly for things to be different that it tears him apart inside.�

Batman took the picture from Slam, staring at the newsprint intently. He was quiet for a long time. �What did you want to ask me?�

Slam took a deep breath. �Can it be different?�

The picture wavered slightly. �I think so, sometimes.�

�And then you remember who you are, right?�

Batman nodded. Slam lit his last cigarette. The two men fell silent and Slam listened as Batman folded the old newsprint and tucked it away in the folds of his costume. It was probably the only picture the guy had of him and Selina together, Slam realized.

�Did you know she was pregnant?�

The question was soft and still on the hot night air. Slam could tell the Bat had forgotten how to breathe for a second.

�I wasn�t going to tell you,� Slam continued. �She swore that butler of yours to secrecy, but she never thought I�d go to you on my own.�

�She�s�she�s pregnant?�

�Yeah,� Slam said simply, puffing on the Duke. �At least she was four months ago. She wasn�t sure what to do about the situation, and I certainly didn�t blame her for the indecision.�

Batman didn�t acknowledge the softly-worded statement. Slam refused to get upset about it. His jaw still ached sometimes from the last time he and the Bat had had a disagreement.

�Can you clean up the mess you�ve made out of your life?� Slam asked him, laying it out on the table. It was up to the Batman now. �You love her enough to be a different kind of man?�

Batman was looking out at his city and Slam waited, growing impatient with the lengthening silence. He stamped out his cigarette and stood.

�That wasn�t supposed to be a trick question,� Slam said. He was stopped by the strange tone in Batman�s voice.

�I�ll do whatever it takes to get her back in my life, Bradley.�

�Because of the baby?�

�Because I love her.�

****************************

�This thing have a CD player?�

Bruce barely glanced at Dick, keeping his eyes on the darkening road. They�d left Gotham nearly four hours ago, pushing the aging Corvette hard. Bruce was privately worried about the fuel line, but this had been the only car to take on this journey.

�Next stop, we have to find a payphone. I�ll need to call the station and tell them I�m taking yet another sick day. You realize I�m going to have absolutely no vacation time for the next thirty years?�

�So quit.�

Dick glanced at Bruce, then looked out the window. �Yeah�right. Look, where are we going, anyway? I don�t see you for months, then you show up in the �Haven this afternoon and announce that we�re hitting the road. Normally I wouldn�t push for more of an explanation, but why take this rustbucket out? Why not the Batmobile?�

�This isn�t that kind of mission, Dick,� Bruce explained softly, switching the highbeams on.

Dick leaned back into the worn leather seats of the Corvette. �Ah, so this is a personal thing. You finally get a lead on Selina?�

Bruce nodded.

Dick frowned. �I�m not sure I want to be part of this. Something about tearing Lucy out of Selina�s arms and forcing them both back to Gotham doesn�t sit well with me.�

The clutch started to grind, and Bruce shifted into a higher gear. �I�m not going to force anyone to do anything, Dick.�

�Since when?�

Bruce shot Dick The Look, and this time it seemed to have the desired effect. Dick quieted, then sighed in surrender.

�I�m sorry. But it�s been a rough year, for all of us. I keep wondering how many more times you�re going to shut us out of your life. I�m sorry what happened with Selina. Really. I thought things would be different. And maybe if Lucy hadn�t shown up, you two could have been happy. But Bruce, can�t we just�can�t things just go back to the way they were before you and Selina��

Bruce shifted into forth, the car�s engine switching from a quiet roar to a high-pitched growl as the speedometer crept above 90mph. �She�s pregnant, Dick.�

Dick Grayson blinked. �Jesus.�

A pair of headlights moved towards them on the highway, the high-beams left on by a driver either careless or inconsiderate. Both men squinted in the blinding light. �Are you angry?� Dick asked. Bruce tightened his hands on the wheel.

�I don�t know what to think, Dick.�

�So that�s where we�re going? To figure it out? Because if this is about condemning Selina for-�

�She believed she was doing the right thing,� Bruce cut him off. �She always understood the boundaries between right and wrong better than I. To cross the line as Catwoman, she always had to be able to find it. Her ideas of good and evil are more firmly fixed than my own, Dick.�

�What does that mean?�

�It means she was right to run,� Bruce said simply.

�So you agree that you were wrong about using the kid?�

Bruce nodded slowly. Dick exhaled. �Then why did you want to adopt her?�

It was a long time before Bruce answered him. �So Selina would stay.�

Dick closed his eyes. He suddenly wanted a stiff drink, even though he�d never tried anything stronger than champaign. �You wanted Lucy because�because it meant Selina wouldn�t leave you?�

�She loves the child, Dick,� Bruce said simply. �And Lucy would have been an invaluable asset. I could have-�

�You could have had them both,� Dick finished. Bruce nodded. Dick lowered his head, folding his arms. His mind was racing. He wanted to scream at Bruce, chide him for his manipulation and disregard for the feelings of others. Some part of Dick marveled at the sheer inability of the man to engage in a normal human relationship without using Batman�s mission as a buffer. And the larger part of him, the part of Dick Grayson that loved Bruce Wayne as a father, felt simply, incredibly sad.

�Did you ever tell her that you love her?� Dick asked. Bruce shook his head, his expression lost to the shadowy darkness of the lost highway.

�She wouldn�t have believed me, Dick. Or it wouldn�t have been enough.�

�So you drag Lucy into it?� Dick asked, pulling a hand through his hair in agitation. �That�s pretty messed-up, Bruce, even for you.� He was silent for a moment, staring out the passenger window. �I thought you were going to stop doing things like this. Be Bruce Wayne more often. Stop taking in kids because�� Dick stalled again. He finally felt ready to ask Bruce why he�d taken in an orphaned gypsy boy all those years ago. But the words wouldn�t come. He knew he was afraid of the answer.

�You weren�t supposed to be here,� Bruce said suddenly, as if reading Dick�s thoughts. Dick shrugged off the pain, hoping he�d misunderstood. Bruce continued slowly. �Neither was Selina. And they-� he paused. �My parents should have lived.�

�What?� Dick asked, perplexed.

�Jessica Bradshaw called it an aberration. A tear in the timeline. Something occurred that shouldn�t have. Carmine Falcone was supposed to die on my father�s operating table thirty years ago. Instead, he survived. Selina was conceived and the violence that The Roman�s mob brought to this city, the evil that took my parents� lives, and killed your mother and father, should never have been. None of us were supposed to know each other, Dick. How can I explain-� he paused, his voice rough, on the verge of breaking. �How can I believe that what I have now was bought with the pain of what I went through then?�

�Well, that�s life, Bruce,� Dick said slowly. �I know you�d give anything to have them back, but�you must have realized before that we�re all here because they�re not.�

Bruce watched the road, not reacting to Dick�s words. �I should have died with them. And for so long�I wanted to. I never really understood why I lived when they didn�t.�

�And did Jessica explain it to you?�

Bruce shook his head. �She offered to help me find the person who murdered them.�

Dick�s eyes widened. �And you turned her down?�

Bruce nodded. �She wanted me to agree that the people who�d hurt those children deserved to die. My principles would have been the price of tracking down the man who killed my parents.�

�You could have lied.�

�She would have known,� Bruce said tiredly. �And she showed me what I�d lost. What might have been. My life without you or Tim or Barbara, or Selina. And Dick�it was a wonderful life.�

Dick lowered his head, feeling the sting of tears in his eyes.

�I want to feel that way again,� Bruce said softly. �Happy. That�s really what she showed me. Happiness. I didn�t hurt anyone there, in that alternate future. I wasn�t responsible for Jason or what happened to you, or Barbara-�

�You weren�t responsible for that anyway!� Dick told him. �You think we blame you for that?�

�I blame myself,� Bruce replied. �And I wonder how many more lives I�ll destroy because of the first two that I couldn�t save. I can�t seem to stop hurting people.�

Dick shook his head. �You were just a kid, Bruce. Your parents�that wasn�t your fault. And Jason�s death, Barbara�s injury, when Two-Face put me in the hospital�that wasn�t your fault either.�

Bruce glanced at him, his eyes full of bitterness and self-recrimination. �I simply stood by and let it happen, which is worse. Inaction is the worst crime of all. Think of all the children in the Court of Miracles that could have been saved if someone, a social worker, a teacher, had stepped in and put an end to the cycle of abuse.�

�Jessica Bradshaw tried for action,� Dick reminded him. �And look how that turned out.�

�She tried to revenge them,� Bruce corrected.

�Potato, patahto,� Dick muttered. �The point is�she was wrong. She murdered people, Bruce. And I know that is an absolute wrong, moral relativism aside. You can�t possibly admire what she did.�

�No,� Bruce said firmly. �But I wish I had done more for them.�

�You�ve already done a lot, for this city and�and for me.� Dick assured him softly. �You know what my life would have been like if you hadn�t taken me in?�

�Better, I should think,� Bruce said gruffly, shifting again. Dick shook his head.

�I wouldn�t have chosen you as a father,� Dick told him honestly. �But we can�t always choose the people we love.� He took a deep breath, digging deep for the strength to make the words flow. �And Bruce, for what it�s worth�if the lives we�re living now are only an aberration, some flaw in Jessica Bradshaw�s vision, well�I still wouldn�t want things to be different. We are who we are because of the past. But we love the people we do because of the future. Because it�s something to hope for and work towards. I�I was always proud to be your son, even when it was nearly impossible to love you.�

The July moon broke through the clouds, high and full, illuminating the road ahead.

Bruce lifted his hand off the stick shift and found Dick�s, squeezing briefly. �It�s important that you know-� Bruce hesitated, �I should have adopted you formally years ago. You were always my son, Dick. From the start, you were in my life because I wanted you. Most biological children can�t say the same.�

Dick closed his eyes, smiling a little in the dark car. He breathed deeply around his father for what felt like the first time in years.

�So, where�re we headed?�

�Kansas.�

*****************

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