I wasn't certain how long I cried with the keen of the tigers ringing in my ears, as I held him in my arms. Tangram was the one to rouse me out of my gloom, chuffling at me, and nudging my side with his nose. For all that I knew I had to get Eddie to the Pit, I didn't want to let him go. What if it didn't work? What if...?

No, I couldn't let myself settle on that train of thought. I had work to do, and it wasn't going to get done with me weeping. There would be time enough for that if the Lazarus didn't work. Instead, I dried my eyes with the corner of the sheet and shifted Eddie's body to the side. Stripping his clothes, I then cleaned his body with a pan of warm water. Lying there, he looked so peaceful, as if he were simple in a deep sleep. After I had finished, I wrapped a clean sheet around him, and went to get the men to take him down to the pit.

~ ~ ~

My thoughts swam in many directions as the darkness closed on me. I thought of Dee, hearing her laughter, seeing her face lit up with a smile, and felt her warm body pressed against me. My nostrils filled with the scent of her peach oil perfume, and I could feel her soft lips on mine. But when I reached for her, she seemed to melt away, replaced by other thoughts and memories.

Batman.

Out of everyone I had known throughout my life, he bubbled to the top pushing Dee out of my mind. I somehow felt as if I were betraying her when thoughts of Batman would push thoughts of her back down into the miasma of memory. With his overpowering presence, my mind returned to the riddle of who he was under that mask, and I ran through what I knew of him.

Batman had to have a backer to pay for everything. He certainly didn't steal to get the money for his costumes and gadgets, and he most definitely didn't hold fundraisers. He was relatively young, well trained, and well traveled. Due to his annoying ability to suddenly appear at high society gatherings, I ruled it down to those attending, including servants.

There was also the matter of the Robins. Sons? Younger brothers? There had been three to count. The first was now terrorizing Blüdhaven as Nightwing. Every now and then, he'd return to Gotham. No one was certain what happened to the second, though, as always, there were rumors. The most popular was the one that the Joker had killed the boy, this popularized by the Joker himself. Having found out the Lazarus Pits existed made me consider the validity of the Joker's claim. And now there was Robin number three. This one, even at his young age, seemed to be more independent, often teaming up with heroes known to be on the Batman's black list: the Huntress and the Spoiler.

Now any rogue worth his salt knew of Hugo Strange's idea that Batman was indeed Bruce Wayne, international jet setting, billionaire playboy. No one took him seriously, as this was the same man with a hungry passion for mannequins. He would dress them, talk to them, and lavish attention on them. We all shuddered at the thought that he must also lavish affection on them. While I might not be one of the most respected rogues, at least I wasn't a laughing stock Hugo Strange was. Still, as I turned things over in my mind, I found that I couldn't cross Bruce Wayne off my list of suspects. In fact, the more I considered it, the faster he moved to the very top of my list.

In my mind, I heard the snap of the final piece falling into place of this jigsaw puzzle named Batman. To be certain, I checked over the facts that anyone who took the time to do a bit of research could find out.

~ Bruce Wayne appeared to be the same age as Batman. Plus, he had the wealth of the Wayne fortune, as well as access to some of the finest research labs in the world.

~ He had suffered a traumatic loss as a child when his parents were gunned down in what was now known as Crime Alley.

~ Batman always seemed to appear when Wayne was present, with Wayne disappearing for long stretches of time. Though, if asked, the socialites would say that he was cowering under a table like the rest of them.

~ I had robbed Wayne a few times at social functions, before Batman appeared. Each time, there seemed to be something in his eyes that betrayed his foppish society appearance. Those eyes did not belong to a fop. When I had been face to face with him, I had also noticed faded scars on his face that I knew had come from run-ins with either me or anther member of the rogues gallery.

~ The first Robin had appeared soon after Wayne took in that circus boy, Richard Grayson, when the boy's parents had been killed in a trapeze accident. When the boy moved off to go to college at Hudson University, Robin had appeared there, and then in New York City with the Teen Titans. Dick Grayson was a resident of the city at the time. He had to be Nightwing, considering the fact that Robin had exchanged his tights for those of Nightwing's, and then Nightwing and Grayson appearing in Blüdhaven at the same time.

~ The second Robin appeared after Wayne took in a street boy named Jason Todd. That same Robin disappeared after Jason Todd had been murdered abroad. It had been a while before another Robin appeared.

~ When the third Robin appeared, Wayne, it seemed, had befriended the young boy of a neighbor. Once more, shortly after this, a third Robin appeared with a very updated costume. At the same time the boy would disappear from the city, Robin would show up in some very strange places. Lately, however, the boy seemed to be gaining independence, much like the first Robin.

Many other details welled up to the surface, giving my guess a sturdy foundation on which to stand. No matter how much I considered other candidates, Wayne was the only one to fit the theory. Damn Strange for being correct! I would, of course, never mention to the man that he was correct. That would simply inflate his ego, and convince him that the two of us should spend time together as we were of like minds. I shuddered at the mere thought!

Wait. I had shuddered. And I felt it! I also felt pleasantly warm. There was no sign of a headache, yet I felt as if I were floating in a warm bath, or on a very warm breeze. I prepared to sit up, taking in a deep breath.
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