Legend

I took a moment to appreciate the sight of Tony shaking the goon like a dog with a toy, then turned my attention to my brother. His face was bruised and his mouth still bled sluggishly. His arms and legs were zip tied to the chair. I carefully checked out his mouth first; all the teeth were intact although a couple might have been loosened. He was going to need stitches on the inside of his mouth, though. He gargled at me when I said so. Tony floated over, dragging the goon with him.

"Wayne's on his way," he said, popping up the mask on his suit to talk. "What do you need me to do?"

"I'm going to find something to pack his mouth with. Could you pop those zip ties?"

"Of course. I've been here for fundraisers before. I think there's some first aid stuff down the hall. There's a butler's pantry with a dumbwaiter." I nodded and headed for the door, then turned and scanned the area.

"Fuck," I half-shouted. The Joker was gone.

As I made my way down the hall, wrapping the blouse around me and tucking it into my waistband, I felt pretty certain that the Joker had just bruised the hell out of me. He'd been very skilled with the sap and I felt like he didn't want to kill me just yet. The pain didn't get any worse and there wasn't any feeling of pressure or anything that would make me worry. I was looking forward to going home and having Alfred check me out, though. In the pantry I did find a barely adequate first aid kit and trudged back.

As I rolled up gauze to pack J's mouth, I thought to ask if Detective McIver had been called, because I sure hadn't. Tony dragged the goon with him in search of either a land line or my purse. I was betting on a landline here. I placed the last gauze roll delicately, then asked him if he was hurt anywhere else, checking his wrists and ankles to make sure the zip ties hadn't broken the skin, but they'd just been tight. J shook his head.

I stood up when I heard footsteps on the stairs. Bruce burst in the room, surveying the space. "Are you two worse than you look?" he asked me, and I shook my head. "Where is he?"

"Got away. I thought I'd choked him, but he must have not been unconscious." He nodded and took off for the doors at the other end. I ambled over to the table and started picking up the buttons that had been torn from my shirt, putting them into my pocket. I don't know why, the shirt was torn in a couple places and I couldn't see wanting to wear it again after this. J got up and we leaned against the table.

"This isn't payback for calling off our plan, is it?" J asked, not seriously, nudging me with his elbow. I grimaced as he accidentally hit a sore spot.

"No, but if you keep poking my bruises, you'll regret it," I said testily, and he looked as contrite as possible. I heard more footsteps and we looked over. This time it was the one I was waiting for, and I smiled as Damian ran over.

"Oh, Alex, Sweet Pea, are you ok? Where is he?" he shot these questions at me as he folded me gently into his arms.

"I'm bruised but ok. He got away, damn it, your dad is in pursuit." I snuggled into him and felt better just from his reassuring presence.

"Is this your brother?" he asked, extending one hand long enough to shake J's hand before wrapping his arm around me again.

Uncle Bucky arrived just then, shook his head. He and J hugged before Bucky checked his mouth. Damian released me, although he kept his arm around my waist and I leaned against him. Tony came back, goon still in tow, dropping my bag by my feet. "McIver's on his way," he said briskly. "Did Wayne go after the Joker?" I nodded. I was getting pissed with myself for not having done better. After a brief conversation, Tony shoved his goon at Bucky and blasted off. I could see the goon's eyes widen as he saw the metal arm and put two and two together to make a very frightening four. Bucky scowled at him, directing the goon to sit in the chair J had been tied to, then standing where he could intercept any threats.

"If you so much as twitch, you'll regret it," was all that Bucky said, but it was enough. The goon edged toward it, never turning his back on Bucky, and sank down on it. Before Bucky could get started, however, the police arrived. McIver hustled into the room and took in the scene before him before walking over briskly.

"The Joker?" he asked, leaning over to take the mask off the goon who was just starting to stir.

I shook my head bitterly. "He got away."

"My dad and Tony Stark went after him," Damian said.

"Who's this guy?"

"My brother. And he needs to go to a dentist as soon as possible. He needs stitches, at least." McIver nodded and summoned one of the patrol officers to get him care, then take his statement.

"All, right, Alex. Let's get the interview done, then I'll send you home," he said, nodding at Damian. He gestured toward a female patrol officer, and I felt relieved. On the way out to a smaller room, I diverted briefly to pull the mask off the thug in the chair. I reeled back in surprise.

It was Vanilla.

McIver looked between us. "This is interesting," he said, and this time escorted me to a small parlor-type room across the hall.

"First of all, are you hurt?" he asked as we sat down.

"He worked me over with a sap," I said, frowning, feeling like I was forgetting something important. "But he seemed pretty skilled. I don't think I'll have anything more than bruises and soreness, but I'll get checked out."

"That's right, you have that paramedic certification," he said, then took me through everything that had happened since I set foot in the train station. McIver let me get through it, then had the female cop, named Suarez, photograph the bruises coming up, then I sat down as he asked more detailed questions about my timeline. "And now for the really interesting thing. How do you know that minion of Joker?"

"That is the most interesting question of the day," I said, leaning forward. "Because that's the guy who was the boyfriend of my friend who was killed in our apartment fire."

"Really?" McIver said, curiosity lighting his eyes. Officer Suarez leaned over the back of his chair.

"Yeah. We called him Vanilla, but his name is Thomas... somebody."

"Yeah, I remember you telling me about him."

"Why did you call him Vanilla?" Suarez asked.

I flushed. "Margaret was...adventurous in her personal life. She said that Thomas was not, so the nickname of Vanilla stuck." I shrugged. "It seemed to fit. He didn't seem to be interested in much outside of Margaret, didn't have much expression. He didn't like Aslyn, our other roommate, or me much, but he absolutely seemed to loathe us after Margaret was killed. I haven't seen him since the memorial service." Suarez smirked a little, and McIver sent her out to formally arrest him and put him in the patrol car. There was a tap on the door and another uniformed officer poked his head in to say that Tony and Bruce were back without the Joker. I scowled. McIver told me to wait, and went across the hall.

Then I sat bolt upright. Oh, my god, the call from the clinic. That's what I'd forgotten. How could I have forgotten? I dove for my purse, hoping that my phone was there... It was, the screen cracked, but I could still use it. I listened to the message. It seemed to take an irritatingly long time for the doctor to get to the point and tell me that I wasn't pregnant and I needed to schedule an appointment to replace the IUD. Yep, just as soon as I got some privacy. I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes, my hand resting momentarily on my lower abdomen. The Joker had hit me just above the pubic bone and I shuddered. Yeah, I wasn't going to get pregnant until the Joker was behind bars. I couldn't risk it.

When McIver returned, he had a few more questions for me about my watch and the tracer. We didn't discuss the goon on the floor, and I'd been vague about what had happened to him. I didn't think that the modification to my class ring was something that would be approved of, and pretty certain that my possession of a strong sedative was not legal. He sighed when I had explained the tracker. "I don't suppose it occurred to you to add the police to your list of callers?" he asked with irritation.

"Well, not really," I had to admit. "If it called 911, it would be pretty pointless because I can't answer any questions using it, and I don't know if it requires special equipment to trace, come to think about it. You'd have to ask Tony." McIver exhaled gustily and told me that Damian was waiting to take me home.

"I'll be in touch," he said, rather threateningly, I felt. I just nodded, grabbed my purse, and went out to the hall. I took Damian's arm and we went downstairs and out the door.

There were cars all over the place, parked haphazardly. Damian tucked me into the BMW and inched the car through the maze of official vehicles. Neither of us said anything until we got clear on the road. "Do you want to go to a hospital or is the bat cave ok?" he asked as he drove.

"Home is fine," I said. I noted that he was gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. "Could you pull off the road for a minute, honey?" It was a couple of minutes before he could turn into a small parking lot. He turned off the engine and turned to me. I took a deep breath and told him about the pregnancy scare. He didn't say anything immediately, just rubbed his eyes and then his cheeks. "I'm sorry," I added. "I can't believe I was so careless with my birth control."

"It'd be easy to lose track since it's a long-term solution," he sighed. "I'm both relieved that you're not pregnant and sad about it."

I nodded. "I'd be terrified to be pregnant with the Joker running around free and nursing a grudge," I agreed. "But the thought of having your baby..."

He leaned over and kissed me. "I want to have babies with you," he said. "But not now, and not until... well, I'd like us to be married first, and I'm just not quite ready for that yet. I want us both to be ready and actively wanting a child." I smiled.

"I'm not ready yet either. I feel like a pregnancy now... I don't want to feel like I'm forcing you into marriage, and I don't want a kid out of marriage, either. When we get home and I get scanned and all, I'll call the clinic to get a new IUD." He kissed my hand.

"Let's get through the Joker thing first, then take stock and figure out where we're going together," he said, and I agreed. He started the car again and drove home. Alfred was disturbed to hear about my afternoon and after the scan showed just bruises and painful areas but no serious damage, settled me in the library with some coffee and cookies. I'd lay off the cookies starting tomorrow, I decided. Damian joined me and we snuggled up together.

"Do you remember that conversation sofa from the Yale club?" I asked. "We sat in it during the holiday party. I loved being able to look at you while we talked."

"We should go up into the attic," he said. "There's piles of furniture up there. I can't cuddle you like this if we find one, though."

"We can hold hands as we talk." I smiled. "I be we could kiss over the divider."

"Well, kissing," he murmured. Alfred cleared his throat and presented Damian with a cup of tea. Damian made a pleased sound and I couldn't help but shake my head. He didn't even like a nice strong black tea, preferring delicate white or green teas or herbal infusions.

"I believe your brother is being returned to you, Miss Alex," he informed me, then glided off to the door. I gave Damian a quick kiss and stood up. He came with me as J stepped into the house.

"Welcome, Master Jaimez," Alfred greeted him, tugging a bit on J's suitcase. Bemused, my brother released the handle. I gave him a careful hug.

"How's your mouth?"" I asked anxiously.

"Still num," he said with a little difficulty, and I nodded. "Loosened a molar, cuts."

"This is Alfred," I introduced them.

"Niss t' meet you," J said.

"The pleasure is mine," Alfred said crisply. He turned away with the suitcase as I introduced Damian. J squinted at him a little suspiciously, but they shook and slapped each other's shoulder in a manly fashion.

"Let's go to the library," I suggested. "J, do you want an ice pack?" He indicated that it would be welcome. Damian suggested that I take him to the library and he'd fix an ice pack. J sank down into the most comfortable chair with a sigh, then thanked Damian when he came back.

"So how did the Joker get his hands on you?" I burst out.

J shook his head. "The train was stopped on the tracks outside the city, and these weird guys with masks got on and started looking at the passengers. They demanded ID from a few other guys around my age before they got to me. Then they pulled me off the train, put a sack over my head and shoved me into a disgusting old car. Smelled like mold. Then we went upstairs in that house and they tied me to that chair, hit me a few times, took my picture. I didn't see that man--the Joker? until you got there."

"He must have gone to the station while his minions were snatching you," I growled.

"Minions?" J managed a smirk at me.

I swatted his leg. "I can't believe I let him get away. Again!"

"Why didn't you just kick his ass in public?" J asked.

"Because I didn't know if he'd booby trapped you. If he had, he could have blown you up."

Damian made the little chattering 'Ttt' sound he made when he was irritated or upset. "I didn't even think about that," he said, "but he's done that to hostages before."

"Shit," J said faintly. I eyed him sidewise.

"You going to tell the parents?" I inquired.

He gave me a side eye too, and after a moment I grinned and he tried to. "What?" Damian asked.

"Not unless we have to," I translated. "Gotta get to Bucky, though, see if he'll agree not to mention it." Damian looked between the two of us, then started to laugh.

"I kind of feel sorry for your folks," he said. We shrugged. We didn't see the point of worrying them unnecessarily. It all depended on whether J could heal fast enough before he visited. We had the tissue accelerator on our side, though.

The conversation went onto a nicer track as Damian and J got to know one another better, and I mostly sat and watched, chiming in now and then. I was glad they were getting along. This pleasant situation was interrupted by the arrival of Bruce, Tony (in civvies instead of his armor), and Bucky. All three of them looked pissed and harassed. Thus ended the happy fun time.