I look out over Gotham, the wind fifty stories up whipping my cape behind me, still uneasy after my encounter with Morgan.

I'm not bothered by his former presence in Gotham City. As soon as I reached the Bat-cave after leaving the Joker's lair I put an alert on all his finances so I could track him. Within hours he had bought a plane ticket for Miami, retreating despite the few days still remaining on his contract with the GCPD. Right now he's on a plane taking him far from Gotham, and he's smart enough not to come back.

Contrary to what I would've said only days ago, I'm not bothered by the Joker's death either. I know it was only a matter of time. The Joker wasn't exactly likely to die of old age. I know that soon, someone will step up to take power, taking the Joker's place, but even that doesn't bother me much. His total disappearance means that anyone else will be leery about claiming his position, giving me a chance to clean up the city. Besides, it's doubtful that anyone who does try to take that spot will be anywhere near as bad as the Joker.

I'm a little bothered by Quinn, but not enough to explain my strong feeling of disquiet. The a few hours ago, just when Morgan's plane would have been taking off, Quinn found me. She said she needed time to think, to try to fix her life. She offered to come quietly to Arkham. Her only condition was that no one confiscate the chain around her neck, on which swung a small pendant.

I examined the pendant to make sure there she wasn't planning any tricks. It was a small vial filled with a dark, red liquid. I didn't ask, but I knew it was the Joker's blood, that she had somehow gotten it from Morgan. I don't know what happened between them, and I'm not sure I want to.

What disturbs me the most is the question that kept me up tonight, forcing me to go on patrol to clear my head.

Since my parents' murder, I've wondered what my life could have been. What my childhood should have been. Whether I would have been happy.

Morgan's story gave me a new question.

His scars are the same as mine, but deeper. The difference between us was the brutality of his mother's murder and his lower ability to cope with it.

So for the last couple hours, instead of thinking about how things would have been if my parents hadn't been killed in front of me, I've been forced to wonder how I would have turned out if I had been younger when it happened.

It's nearly dawn as I enter my apartment for the first time in months. Despite the hour, the lights are on in the kitchen and Deb is sitting on the couch, her laptop unfolded on the coffee table in front of her.

I open my mouth to greet her when she preemptively shushes me. I barely have time to put my bags down before she walks to the fridge, grabs two bottles of beer and heads outside, motioning for me to follow. Once we're outside and the door is closed she spins to face me.

"What is your fucking problem?" she demands.

"Nice to see you too," I say as I take the beer she holds out to me. At least now I know why we're outside. Harrison will be asleep, and I don't want him to wake up and hear whatever Deb has to say. Deb is still glaring at me, but considering I managed to placate a psychotic, homicidal clown only a few hours ago I think I can probably calm her down. "Look, Deb, I know I wasn't exactly subtle in Gotham-"

"What?" she cuts me off, looking genuinely baffled before my meaning dawns on her. "Oh yeah, that." She shakes her head. "I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about you leaving before your contract was up."

"Really?" I can't believe Deb's completely glossing over my killing spree in Gotham. She still looks pissed off, but this is a more forgivable offense.

"You know how bad this looks for me?" she asks. "For the department?" She utters a massive sigh of exasperation.

"I know I screwed up," I tell her. "But you have to trust me that I didn't have a choice."

"No fucking way," she shakes her head again. "I'm not letting you off that easy again. You can't just tell me to trust you anymore and expect me to forget it."

"Then what do you want?"

"A little honesty, for once."

Now it's my turn to sigh. "I ran into the Batman," I explain. "He told me if I left Gotham immediately he'd forget about it."

Deb stares at me in silence. "Seriously?" she finally asks.

I nod.

"Shit." She takes a long gulp of her beer and turns to look out over the water. "You think he'll come after you anyways?"

"I don't think so."

I follow Deb's lead and look to the horizon, where the first rays of sunlight are starting to appear over the water. We stand there in silence for a long time, watching the sun rise.

"Hey Dex?" Deb eventually says.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're back."

"Me too."

END

Well, that really does wrap it up. Holy shit I can't believe how long this behemoth got! Anyways, leave a review, let me know what you think, and thanks for reading this far!