GOTHAM

CRIME ALLEY

#1

Silently, he laid the flowers on the ground in the spot where they had fallen, where they had died. He remembered his father pushing him back, the hand grabbing his mother's pearls, the gun going off, his parents falling to the ground. The despair of being alone surrounding him.

His instinct told him he was being watched and he turned to look up. A feline figure crouched on the fire escape above him.

"I'm sorry." Catwoman's voice was drenched in sorrow. "I thought we could run the rooftops together. I didn't realize….." Her voice trailed off. "I'll go."

She was off, leaping upwards from fire escape to fire escape disappearing into the night. As he watched her an old memory crept from the back of his mind. Himself as a child and a young girl in Leslie's clinic.

"It was so much fun. Jumping from fire escape to fire escape." The dark haired girl's bright green eyes sparkled.

"But you fell. You hit your head." A young Bruce frowned at her.

"Yes, but for just a second it felt like I was flying Bruce." The girl looked in him in the eye. "Don't you want to fly?"

Maybe, Bruce thought to himself, he wasn't quite as alone anymore since he had someone to fly with.

GOTHAM CATHEDRAL

NIGHT

#2

Robin perched on a gargoyle next to Catwoman. He fidgeted but she remained stone still. It could be irritating, he decided, how sometimes she could be just like Batman. She was all about movement except when she didn't want to be then she was just as still and silent as he was.

"It's a cat thing." She said suddenly.

Robin almost leaped off the gargoyle. Catwoman reached out and grabbed his arm to steady him.

"Did you, did you just read my mind?" The boy gulped nervously. He didn't think Catwoman had psychic powers but you never knew.

"No, kitten, you're all but telegraphing." She grinned at him.

"Oh, okay." Robin bit his lip. "Is he meeting us soon?"

"No, kitten." Catwoman sighed. "It's just you and me tonight. He has something else to do. We'll see him in the morning."

"He's going to that place, where he lost them." Lensed eyes met lensed eyes. "Why can't we go with him?"

"This is something he has to do alone." Something he has to put himself through alone, Catwoman thought privately.

Robin was silent for a moment. "Should I be alone when I see my parents?" He looked away from Catwoman. "Am I weak because I want you guys and Agent A with me?"

"No." Catwoman turned his face back to hers. "Everyone deals in their own way. You are not weak and they would not want you to be alone. They would want to know you are surrounded by love. Do you understand me?" Robin nodded. "Good. What do you say we find some bad guys making trouble and kick their butts?"

Robin giggled and nodded enthusiastically.

GOTHAM

CRIME ALLEY

#3

Catwoman placed the roses on the ground precisely where she had seen her husband place them so many years before.

"I'm sorry you have to make do with me." She whispered. "He's off saving the solar system. I know he always makes sure that he's on planet on this day but well, sometimes intergalactic warlords don't even listen to Batman. Shocking, I know." She paused for a minute. "You would be so proud of him, of what he's become, of what he's built."

She knew in an instant she was being watched. She turned to look up, prepared to fight if necessary, and relaxed her guard at the sight above her. Her boys, all of them, perched on the fire escapes and with them the girls, Batgirl, Black Bat, Spoiler, Bluebird. Crime Alley had never been safer.

She frowned at Robin perched closest to the roof. There was something wrong with the way his cape draped. Then his caped shifted and moved even though Robin himself did not. She could see now a small figure with long dark hair and a mask that covered what she knew to be green eyes. Even the baby of the family was here for this. Robin scowled and tucked the small figure back into his side.

Catwoman turned back to the roses. Her voice was still a whisper when she spoke. "This is the most important thing he built, a family. Mostly made up of bits and pieces no one else wanted but that's okay because this is where we belong, together. You would have loved your grandchildren. They're a miracle each and every one of them. I'm sorry you didn't get to know them."

She pulled out her grappling hook and shot it to a rooftop. Birds and Bats of every shape and size followed her out of Crime Alley into the night.