Batman-Online.com

A/N: Here is the sequel to my previous Batman story. I hope you like it. :)


CHAPTER I

As the Sun shone in the surrounding clear blue sky over the City of Rio de Janeiro, an agitated Woman weaved her way through a busy crowd of tourists that packed out one of the many narrow streets that the City was known for. She was a smartly dressed Caucasian Woman, with Long red hair, who every few yards would look behind her, as though she was hoping not to spot anyone in particular.

'Come on, I am not that far from the Safe-House. I just hope that feeling I have is just a false...' she began to think, only to look back over her shoulder, making her eyes widen as she saw someone in the crowd behind her.

'Damn it, I have to warn Damien.'

So the Woman then manoeuvred her way through the masses towards one of the nearby stalls, taking a small grey-ball from one of her jacket pockets and dropping it into the boiling pot that stood there on a wooden table, before hastily putting some distance between herself and the stall.

A moment later and the white steam raising from the Pot, suddenly changed to red, earning confused and agitated shouts as it's owners rushed about like headless chickens around the stall.

But by this point, the lady was already well out of sight, having ducked into an alleyway, before entering one of the old buildings that lined up either side of it.

'We should never had stayed here as long as we did.' she thought while racing up the creaky old stairs, making a lot of noise as she got to the third floor and entered the second door on her right.

"Damien!" the Woman quickly replied as she found herself up against the wall, with a Katana drawn and aimed at her throat. The Weapon's owner was an older Man with greying hair and was clearly 10 years older, narrowing his eyes at the former as he stood his ground in a sharp black suit.

"I saw the red smoke from the window, so I take it that means 'they' have found us?" he asked, gaining a nod from his Colleague in return.

"Yes, I saw one in the market and so decided to warn you, before then losing 'him' in the crowds, Damien." she replied, bringing a knowing look to his face as he withdrew his blade and let her breath easy again.

"Good, then I see the lessons I taught you are sticking, this time..." the older Man began to say in response, only for his expression to become more serious.

"...wait, you said 'him', correct?" he added, earning a nod back." from his younger-comrade. But before she could say any more, Damien passed her another Katana that was in it's sheath and began to herd her towards the balcony.

"I want you get of Rome and head for our next Safe-House, which is in Great Britain."

This brought a shocked look to the younger Woman's face in return, while her Mentor simply stared back stoically.

"If you think that I am going to let..." she started to reply, only to be cut off by the front door being kicked open, making them both ready themselves.

"You haven't started running yet..." a white haired Man in a similarly coloured Gucci suit said as he entered the apartment, revealing to them an eye-patch that was covering his right eye.

...I don't know if you are being brave or simply foolish, Darhk and Onyx."

"Foolish? That is just the right kind of word that I would describe those following the same path as you, Slade." Damien replied as he narrowed his eyes back at their opponent, who simply remained calm as he walked closer to the pair.

"Slade? You mean...'Deathstroke'!" Onyx said back with surprise and a hint of fear in her voice, making the one-eyed Man nod back, before returning his attention to Darhk.

"You know why I am here..." he began to say, while stopping just a foot away from the pair.

"Of course I do..." the older Man began to reply, cutting of the new arrival.

"...You and your 'Companion' have been killing off all the members of the League, whose that do not wish to follow the path that you are offering."

"Ra's Al Ghul is dead and the one who that took his life still draws breath..?" Slade replied with a questioning and judgemental tone.

"Leaders rise and fall, but Ra's built the league to survive long beyond his death, which is something that you have put in doubt when you started killing off those of us who were still loyal to the cause..." Damien said back in a mirrored tone, only to be cut off by his Enemy.

"Yes, loyalty to the mission of our Society, but not to the Man who bled and died for it. I am sorry, Damian, but that is treasonous."

"In your eyes...sorry...eye, Slade, but there was always going to be another 'Head of the Demon', but only somebody that had actually 'earned' the title, not 'born' to it." Darhk spat back, only to then glance over his shoulder at Onyx while unsheathing his Katana.

"I told you to go, Onyx."

"...but...?" she began to stammer, which made her Mentor grit his teeth as his anger started to boil.

"I said...GO!" he spat while lunging at Slade, making the two fight as the younger Woman ran off onto the Balcony and out of sight.

Damien meanwhile, continued to attack his opponent, swinging and lunging the blade in every way that he could. But each and every attempt to hit Slade failed, as he simply dodged them all, before countering with a well placed back-kick to the former's chest.

"Hungh!" Darhk grimaced as he was knocked back, earning a smirk from the eye-patched Man in return.

"You are a little sloppy, Damian, telegraphing all of your moves before you even make them..." he started to gloat, which only angered the other Man even more as he recovered.

"...not exactly what I was expecting from one who once held a post amongst Ra's most trusted Lieutenants." he added, making Darhk attack once more as he swung the blade down upon his enemy, who performed a cross block and stopped the attack dead in its tracks. This made the former's eyes widen for a second with surprise, due to Slade blocking the attack with nothing more than his arms, which were covered only by the fabric of his suit.

"You're still wearing armour under that expensive suit..." he said in a questioning tone, earning a nod back from the other Man, who followed through by pushing the attack back and then punching his opponent in the stomach with his left hand, before swinging his right around and connecting it with the guy's face.

"Yes, of course..." he replied as Damian found himself back against the wall once again.

"...it's not exactly the right situation for my 'usual attire'..." he continued with his smirk growing wider as he watched Darhk got back to his feet, who gave him a dagger-like stare back.

"...and you're not even worth the effort."

"I'll show you!" Damien spat back as he grabbed a Picture-frame from the wall and threw it at Slade, who easily cut it in half with his Katana. Though while his attention had been diverted for just a split second, it was all his opponent needed to get back in the fight as he attacked once more with his own sword, clashing his blade against the other's numerous times as their fight continued in the Apartment.

"That's more like it!" Slade replied as their blades clashed once more, scraping against each other as the two Men tried to force the other back.

"This ends now." Darhk exclaimed as he pulled his blade back, making his Adversary move suddenly forward as the former ducked and let him pass.

"What the...!" the one-eyed Assassin said back with a startled tone, just as Damien spun around and lunged his blade at the other Man's back. But what he didn't see, was that Slade smirked slightly as he quickly moved his blade behind his back and deflected the strike, much to his opponent's despair.

"Ho..." he began to reply, only to be cut off as Slade then turned around and leg-sweeped the former off his feet and then stabbed his Katana down into his stomach, pinning him to the floor.

"Arragh!" Darkh cried out as the colour of his shirt around the wound changed to red, making him drop his own weapon as Wilson looked down at him while kicking his weapon away from the reach of his hand.

"Now as much as I loved hunting you and the others down in the past few years, it is well passed the time that this came to and end." he replied, making his bloodied and defeated Rival chuckle, despite the pain he was in.

"You really...think that this is over...,Slade?"

This made his enemy kneel beside him and twist the blade a little, gaining a painful grunt from the injured Man.

"Well, yes, Damien, I do." he replied with confident tone, which only made Darhk's pained smile widen.

"Then you're a bigger fool than I was led to believe, because as I speak, Onyx is getting further and further away from your clutches."

"Is that so?" the one-eyed Assassin then asked, maintaining a confident expression, before suddenly something came smashing through the Balcony window, earning a shocked expression from Damien as he saw the body of Onyx lying there, covered in blood.

"This one was of no challenge, unfit to be in the League of Shadows." a female voice then spoke, making the injured Man look towards the Balcony and see a fully masked Ninja enter the Apartment's interior. This made his eyes widen and clench his fists as he recognised the new arrival's voice, despite the pain he was currently feeling in his gut.

"You!" he spat furiously as she joined Slade's side, ignoring him and turning her attention to her comrade.

"Slade, has he told you anything yet?"

"No, I haven't had the chance to ask him."

"Let's not waste any more time then..." the masked Woman began to reply before grabbing the hilt of Slade's sword and turning it into Darhk's wound, making him cry out in agonising pain.

"We have been at this for almost six years, hunting down each and every member of our former organisation. But nobody seems to be able to answer my question, but you, Damien Darhk, were one of our top lieutenants. So I will ask you...who is responsible for Ra's Al Ghul's death?"

"You don't deserve an answer to that question, just like your actions have lost you your claim to the name given to you at birth, because you have betrayed everything that the League of Shadows stands for." Damien spat back, which simply made the Woman turn the blade some more into his wound, while the carpet beneath him became soaked in blood.

"Grrrraaghh...I don't know!" he suddenly grimaced, making her stop in return as a distrusting expression befell Slade's face.

"He's lying."

"I'm not, since I was...not even involved in the mission that...Ra's was overseeing in Gotham. None of us were, because...we were busy with the League's interests in other...parts of the World." he said back with baited breaths, trying to focus despite the beyond sharp burning feeling that was pulsing through his body from his stomach wound.

"Then who would know? Tell me and I will ensure that your suffering will end." the female Ninja replied, with only her green eyes visible through two small slits in her mask as she looked down at Darhk, who in turn had a thoughtful look on his own face as blood trickled down his chin from his mouth.

"...I heard rumours that...that one or two of Ra's personal Guard had been...arrested in Gotham after the mission failed. They are probably still in the City's...main Prison."

The masked-Woman then looked back at Slade and nodded, making the older Man grab his sword and pull it out of Damian's stomach. This gained another grimace from the beaten opponent, who started to bleed out from both ends of the wound as the Ninja then stood over him and unsheathed her own weapon.

"I thought...you were going to...give me a quick...death?" he asked in a shocked voice while gurgling blood that was filling up in his mouth, as his eyes widened in response.

"I lied, because you still betrayed our cause by not even attempting to find and punish the one responsible. And that is something which I cannot forgive." she said back coldly while staring down blankly as Darhk started convulsing as his eyes rolled back and spat up blood.

"You...bitch!" he managed to spit back as his life drained from his body, before a moment passed and he exhaled his final breath.

"Good..." she then exclaimed while raising her blade over her head, before quickly swinging down and decapitating the now dead Darhk, with his head rolling away from his body before stopping by Slade's feet as the Ninja sighed.

"...so we now know where to head next." she added, earning a nod from her Comrade in return.

"Gotham."

"Yes, Gotham." the masked-Woman replied before turning around and leaving the room, with Slade following her as they left the two bodies there in the Flat.

A Year and a half later...

James Gordon sat in his old Ford-Falcon, which was parked in an alley in old Gotham and was currently listening to a news-broadcast from Jack Ryder over the radio.

"...five years ago, former DA Harvey Dent had been revealed to still be alive and that he, not the Batman, was responsible for the heinous Crimes that were blamed on the latter. The Man that now called himself 'Two-Face' then attempted to destroy Gotham, but he was stopped by the Vigilante..." the News Anchor explained, while the former Police-Commissioner sat and looked out at the street in front of him.

"...this in turn caused 'then' Police-Commissioner James Gordon to stand down from his position, due to him using the former DA's apparent death to ensure that the one thousand criminals that made up the Mob, stayed behind bars. And with his resignation, the so called 'Dent-Act' was abolished and those same men were released back onto the streets of our City..." the News-broadcaster's voice continued, earning a solemn expression from Jim as he shook his head.

"...now as our viewers well know, that was a very uncertain time for us all, because we all thought that with the lack of a proper governing body, since Two-Face had killed not only the Mayor, but the majority of his staff and the GCPD now under the control of a new and 'inexperienced' Police-Commissioner, that things were going to once more get worse." Ryder then said before a thankful tone could be heard in his voice.

"But luckily that did not happen. I mean, of course the level of Crime rose up soon after the events of 'that Night'. But instead of getting worse like most expected, things in Gotham have improved."

This brought a thoughtful look to Gordon's face as he continued to listen, before noticing a person entering the alley and approaching his car.

"There are those that would say that this was because of the combined efforts of Commissioner Foley and Mayor Cobblepot, but this Reporter thinks that this is because of one Man...the Batman..." the broadcast continued, only to have the older-Man's full attention caught as the passenger door opened and a dark-skinned Woman with Raven-hair sat down beside him.

"So tell me, Renee, how is it looking? Because I haven't seen any activity at the front." the former-Cop asked with a tinge of annoyance to his voice, while turning off the radio.

"It's completely quiet out there, Jim. I don't like it."

"What's to like...?" Gordon began to say, before taking a file out of the glove-box and opening it to reveal a photo clipped together with some notes.

"...We were 'hired' to watch this Jake Percival by his wife, because she believes that he is running with the wrong people." he added while flipping through the notes, which brought a confused look to Renee's face.

"So why are we not just following him now?"

"Because when I tailed him yesterday, he came here. Plus I have..." the older Man replied, only for his Partner to cut him off as she noticed another piece of paper amongst the notes.

"Wait, what's that..?" she asked, taking the file from Jim and picking out the sheet.

"...I didn't see these particular notes in this file yesterday."

"As I was trying to say, I was given some extra information about this particular place." he said back, earning a knowing look from Renee.

"You mean from your 'friend'...the Batman."

This made Jim sigh as he looked away from her, returning his attention back to the building ahead of them.

"Look, Renee..."

"Jim, I know. You want to help him, since he is probably the only one that is really doing any good out here..." she began to reply, bringing his attention back to her.

"...but you do realise that if you keep this up. Foley will find out and arrest you for aiding and abetting a Vigilante." she added, which made her Colleague smirk back knowingly.

"I think Peter is already fully aware of that, but he also knows that I won't stop. So I guess the only way that he could arrest me, is only if Batman and I are seen together."

The Woman nodded back as a look of understanding appeared on her face.

"That makes sense, considering that I have worked wit you for over a year now and even I haven't seen the two of you in the same room."

"Well, you may have noticed..." Gordon began to say, as he smiled back confidently.

"...that Batman is very good at letting people see him, only when he wants them to." he continued, gaining a mirrored look from his Partner as she looked back out of the Car window at the building across the street.

"Okay, so We are working with Batman on this one and I guess that means that there will be some kind of signal for us, so we can move in?" she said as the pair kept their attention on their target, with the latter nodding back in return.

"That's the plan."

Meanwhile, inside the building, there was two groups of Men standing at opposite sides of a large room that was filled with numerous wooden boxes and crates. One group wore flashy black suits and masks that looked like charred-Skulls, while the others were dressed in Puff-jackets that had the silhouette of a Penguin on their backs. Two of them carried a metal suitcase each, while everyone else in both groups carried sub-machine guns.

"So after numerous scuffles and fights, your Boss wants to finally meet ours?" one of the latter group asked, earning a nod from the one of the former.

"That's right, Black Mask thinks it's about time that he and the Penguin finally had a 'face to face', so they can discuss about how to rule Gotham's streets."

"That's not going to happen unless your Boss shows his face to us, because the Penguin does appear before another's Lackeys..." another one of the Penguin's Men said, before looking them up and down.

"...no matter how well dressed they are."

This made the masked-men look amongst themselves, while a Caucasian Man in jeans and a t-shirt stood between the two groups.

"Come on, Guys, don't be like that..." he replied with an almost smug expression, earning both groups attention.

"...you asked me to get you a place to meet, one that had not already been hit by the Bat. And here we are, so don't waste it on arguing, because who knows when 'he' might..."

Suddenly as if on cue, all their torches and even the street lamps outside turned off, leaving the two groups in complete darkness.

"What the hell?" one of the Penguin's Goons exclaimed in response, while the lead-member of Black Mask's Men readied his weapon.

"It's 'him'!" he said, making the others of both gangs follow suit. The lead Penguin goon then turned to the two carrying their metal-suitcases.

"Get those NV-goggles on, now!" he spat, earning nods back as they opened them and equipped the devices, whose lenses glowed green as they started to look around the large room.

Outside of the building, both Gordon and René saw this as they remained in their parked vehicle, earning a confused look from the latter.

"Is that the signal?" she asked, making the older Man gesture to her gently.

"No, not yet, but get ready." the older Man replied as he put the file away and kept his attention ahead of them.

Back inside, the two groups were almost panicking as their NV-goggle wearing comrades searched the room.

"Everyone, get in a circle!" one of the others shouted, making both groups d exactly that and aim their weapons into the darkness that surrounded them.

"I don't see anything." one of the two searchers said as he backed up to the safety of the circle, earning a nod from the other.

"Me neither." he replied while doing the same, when suddenly all the interior lights activated, blinding everyone as the two guys wearing NV-goggles screamed in pain.

"Aarrrgh! I can't se..!" the one furthest from the group shouted, before he suddenly went quiet.

"Mikey!" the other guy called out as looked in his friend's direction after ripping off his NV goggles, with his vision slowly recovering as he saw what looked like a body lying on the floor.

"Man down!" he called out while rushing to Mikey's side, only for something large and black to appear in his path.

"Oh shi..." he then started to say, before he was silenced by an incoming fist just as the others began to open fire. Those very sounds were even heard outside, making Gordon get out of the car as he looked back at his Partner.

That's the signal, come on." he said knowingly, which earned a nod from the Woman as she followed him.

Back inside, both the Penguin's and Black Mask's Men were firing their weapons in all directions, shattering the windows and putting bullet holes in the walls as they shared the same wide-eyed look of fear at what they were facing.

"Where the hell did 'he' go?" one of them shouted as they stopped and stared at the rest of the vast empty room around them.

"The Bat was standing right there!" one shouted back as he pointed to the two unconscious men now lying at their feet, while the rest of them remained in a circle. But before anyone else could respond, two grapple hooks shot down from the shadows of the ceiling and grabbed the the right legs of both leaders of the groups, yanking them upside down and hanging them there.

"Get me dow..." the Penguin's lead-goon began to say as he hung there, only to be cut off as he then saw the Batman descend from the darkness of the scaffolding above. The man's eyes widened in terror as he watched the Dark Knight land between him and the Black Mask's lead-man, there in the center of the circle of armed-men, who all stood there and stared back in equal shock.

"What are you waiting for, shoot him!" the latter exclaimed with a fierce tone, snapping the others out of their shock. But that did not help as the vigilante quickly spun his cape around him, creating a sharp gust of air that disorientated them. He then disarmed the first man standing to his right, using the gun to club the guy on his left while back-kicking the previous one in the chest, sending him onto his ass. Two more then attempted to charge at their enemy, but Batman quickly kicked one of the two hanging leaders into them, making them fall onto their knees.

One masked-Man then managed to grapple the costumed Man from behind, giving another the chance to attack. The Dark Knight though, quickly kicked his legs into the air and hit the guy directly in the face, taking him out. While he fell to the ground and joined the others, Batman used his inertia to break the guy's grapple and send him up and over him, landing behind the mask-Man. The latter quickly tried to turn, but the Vigilante put him into a lock and then slammed him face down into the ground.

As the Dark Knight made short work of the two gangs, the guy who had helped them found himself staring in wide-eyed disbelief at what was happening before him.

"Screw this, I'm out of here!" Jake exclaimed as he saw the Costumed-Man continued to fight his way through the armed Men, before turning around and heading for the exit. Batman then turned around just into time to see him escaping out of the room, which made him smirk.

'He's all yours, Jim.' he thought before turning his attention to his right, while one of the others recovered and charged at him, though the Vigilante simply grabbed him and used the guy's inertia to throw him into another who has just recovered, knocking them both out and noting that there was no one left, except for those hanging from the rafters.

"Now that we are alone..." he said aloud, gaining their attention as they continued to swing back and forth ever so gently.

"...I have some questions about your Bosses..." he continued while turning to face them, which brought horrified expressions to their faces as they looked at him.

"...and you are going to answer me." he finished while closing the distance between them, making both Men nod back fearfully.

Meanwhile, outside of the building. The door burst open and the Caucasian Guy ran out, directly into the path of Gordon and Rene.

"Freeze, Jake!" the former commanded as he and his Partner aimed their pistols at the fleeing Man, who tripped and fell over into the nearby Trash-Cans, causing a racket as they fell over like bowling-Pins.

"God damn it..." Jim replied as he rolled his eyes, before looking over at his equally surprised friend.

"...Rene, help me get him out of that."

The two then helped the guy up out of the trash, only to surprise him by placing his hands in hand-cuffs.

"What the hell? You're not Police, you can't arrest me, Gordon!" Jake spat back, earning a knowing smile back in return.

"Oh but we can, because your 'Wife' hired us to find out what you have been doing." he said back, making the Criminal's eyes widen in shock.

"And since we found you at a 'Crime-scene', we have to turn you over to the Police." Rene added in a similar tone, which made the older Man's smile widen.

"Rene, take Jake here to the Car, while I call his Wife and let her know to join us at the local Precinct..." he replied, earning a nod from the Woman. But before she could start to escort Jake away, the door burst open again as both leaders of the Penguin and Black Mask gangs ran out in total panic, only to spilt up and run away in opposite directions.

"Uh...Jim?" his Partner asked with a bemused look, which just made Gordon shake his head knowingly.

"Not our problem, Rene, carry on."

The Woman then reluctantly nodded back, before taking their prisoner back to their car, leaving the former Police Commissioner alone.

"Busy night?" he then asked aloud into the dimly lit alley next to the building, before Batman then appeared out of the shadows on the fire-escape over head.

"You could say that, Jim."

"Do you need me to call the PD to come get the guys in there?" the older Man asked, making the Dark Knight shake his head as he looked down at him.

"That won't be necessary, I have my ways of anonymously contacting the Police. Plus, the less they see us working together, the better. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah, I guess..." Jim began to reply reluctantly, before glancing in the direction that the Penguin's Man had run into.

"And what about the two strays?" he then added, gaining a slight smirk back from the Vigilante.

"I will deal with them, once they have lead me back to their hideouts." he answered, earning a nod back from his friend as he sighed.

"I see, you're tracking them back to the Penguin and Black Mask, the last of the Mob Bosses in Gotham."

Batman simply stared back stoically in return, not answering Gordon, who then shrugged and took out his phone from his inside coat-pocket.

"Well, I should call Jake's Wife..." he began to say, only to be cut off by the Dark Knight.

"Good Night, Jim, watch yourself." he said, making the older Man return his attention back to the other's location.

"You too, Bat..." he began to reply, before noticing that the fire-escape was now empty.

"...man." he continued, while a slight smile appeared on his face as he returned his attention to his phone and made the call.

"Hello, Mrs Percival, It's Jim Gordon. Could you meet me and my Partner at your local Police Precinct, please..." he started to say, while walking slowly back to his waiting car.

A/N: That was the first chapter of my sequel to 'Scarred and the Damned', I hope you liked it and thank you for reading.

I really appreciate it. :)

CHAPTER II

At old Gotham's local Police Precinct, Jim Gordon stood at the front desk with Jake Percival, while one of it's Police Officers dealt with the paper work.

"Thanks for the help on this one, Jim. Our guys just found the rest of the two gangs that you reported to us..." the young uniformed-man started to say, before giving the older Man a questioning look.

"...but how did you know about that building?"

"This loser's wife hired Renee and I to investigate him, because she thought he was running off to cheat on her..." Jim began to reply, only for Jake to quickly answer back.

"I would never do that, I love Betty." he spat back defensively, before another voice called out from the direction of the Precinct's entrance.

"Jake!" called out a tattooed Woman in a fake Leopard skinned dress, who stormed right up to the restrained man.

"Betty, I..." he started to reply with a relieved voice, only to be stopped as she slapped his face, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

"You son of a bitch!" she spat back angrily, making the Cop at the front desk gesture to one of his Colleagues, who then quickly intervened.

"Sorry, Miss, we can't allow that." the other Officer replied as he grabbed Jake and pulled him away from her, while Gordon watched with a bemused expression.

"Jenkins, take Percival to the cells." the Receptionist ordered, earning a nod from the latter as he then carted Jake away.

"But...Baby, I did it for you!" was all the latter would shout back as he was taken out of sight, gaining an angry look from Betty as she turned her attention to the Cop at the front-desk.

"Make sure you throw the book at him." she said in a definite and clear tone, only then to look back at Jim and sigh.

"Mr. Gordon, thank you for your help with Jake, I am very grateful for it." she then said in a calmer tone, making the older-man nod back.

"Just doing my job, Mrs. Percival." he replied as she took a brown envelope and handed it over to him, before smiling at him knowingly.

"Here is the payment you asked for and please, call me Betty." she said with a tinge of playfulness to her voice, which made Jim's cheeks redden slightly in embarrassment.

"Thank you...Betty." he replied with a cough, as she turned to face the door and then looked back at him over her shoulder.

"See you around." she then said, before leaving the Police station. It was then quiet for a moment as the Receptionist and Gordon just looked at the door in bemusement.

"Why didn't you make a move, Jim..?" a familiar voice then said, making the latter turn around to see Harvey Bullock standing behind him.

"...it's not like you're tied down or anything."

This made the older-man sigh, before he and his former colleague shook hands.

"Let's just say that she wasn't my type and leave it at that, Harvey." he replied, earning a nod and a smirk back from the podgy-man in return.

"Fair enough, but I am just looking out for you, Pal..." Bullock began to say, before gesturing for Gordon to follow."

"...anyway, join me in the Cafeteria for a Coffee?"

"Why not. I already gave Montoya the rest of the night off, before delivering Percival here anyway." Jim replied as he and the other guy left the Reception and headed further into the Police Station.

A few moments later and the pair were seated at a table in said room, with each drinking a hot cup of Coffee.

"You know, it never ceases to amaze me that Foley still doesn't know about this." Gordon said with a tinge of disbelief to his voice as he looked around at the other Police Officers seated a tables like their's, making Bullock smile as he put down his hot drink.

"Well, I guess that we just think that our 'dear' Commissioner doesn't need to know. Plus there is also the fact that most of the guys on the force still look up to you, Jim, even the newbies."

"From what I have read in the Papers and seen on the News, Peter hasn't exactly been doing the job to the best of his ability." the older-man replied with worried tone, which brought a matter-of-fact expression to his friend's face.

"I think you're giving Foley too much credit, Jim,". When to many of us, he was never good enough for the job in the first place."

This made Gordon's eyes widen a little in shock at what he had just heard, before quickly taking a sip of his drink.

"I know you have a lot of problems with the Commissioner, Harvey, but he is still the Commissioner at the end of the day and that position warrants respect." he said back with shame tied into his words, but the podgy man simply shook his head in return.

"Sorry, Jim, but I don't buy that for a second. Because if I am totally honest with you..." he started to say back, only for Gordon to cut him off.

"What? And you haven't been 'honest enough' so far?" he said back with a slightly sarcastic, but still surprised tone as the Cop simply continued unfazed.

"...Jim, 5 years ago, you should have stayed and fought to keep your job. I know that no one in the GCPD would have stood against you...other than Foley of course."

"Bullock's right, Jim." another familiar voice suddenly spoke from the Private Detective's right, making him look there to see Crispus Allen standing there.

"Cris Allen? How long were you standing there?" he asked, making the Cop smirk back as he sat down beside them.

"Long enough to hear most of what the Bullock said, which I whole-heartedly agree with." Allen replied, making Gordon's face look both shocked and confused at the same time. But before he could reply, the new arrival continued.

"I know what you're going to say, Jim. But you haven't been here and witnessed the number of bizarre and frankly idiotic decisions that Foley has made while in charge..."

"Jim, ask the Lt. how many criminals we have had to let go in mid-pursuit, just because the Batman appeared and Foley wanted him arrested instead." Harvey then asked, making Gordon look over to Allen, who just stared back knowingly.

"I'll save you trouble, Jim. So let's just say...a lot."

The former Commissioner's eyes widened a little in return, as he could not hide his shock once more at what he was hearing.

"You're both serious about that?" he asked, still not quite buying it. But both friends just sighed and nodded back.

"It's true, Jim. Whether we are chasing down a Mugger or a fender bender, as soon as the Bat appears, we have to make him the priority." Bullock replied, making his former Colleague adjust his glasses with a disappointed sigh.

"I know all to well

"Looks like the Commissioner has summoned me..." he started to explain, noticing the curious look that Gordon was giving him.

"...he wants me to meet him at an event that is being held in the City Plaza."

"Oh, yeah. Isn't there some big Wayne/Lamont announcement being made?" Bullock then asked, making Allen shrug his shoulders.

"No idea, but I should go. Gentlemen." he replied before leaving the former Colleagues, who remained at their table.

"I should be going too." Gordon added as he finished his drink, making his chubby friend get up in return.

"Okay, Jim, then how about I walk you out then." he replied as the older Man nodded and stood up, before both men then left the Cafeteria.

Meanwhile, there were scores of people at the City Plaza, where what looked like a festival was taking place. There were many stalls and amusements available to keep the visitors entertained, but at the main stage stood Sebastian Lamont and Lucius Fox, with the former looking rather anxious.

"Bruce should be here by now, what could be taking him?" the younger Man asked, earning a calm and collected expression from the Wayne Ent. Chairman.

"I am sure Mr. Wayne will be here momentarily, Sebastian. Perhaps he is stuck in traffic?"

This made Lamont stare back at him with a disbelieving look on his face.

"Really? The guy is a billionaire, so traffic should not even be a blip on his radar anymore. All I know is that this announcement requires both CEOs of Wayne Enterprises and Lamont Industries..." he began to reply, before the older-man then saw Bruce walk into view with Alfred following behind him.

"Ah, here he is." Fox spoke, cutting Sebastian off as the Wayne approached them.

"Well, it's about time..." the younger of the two men said with pained relief, gaining an apologetic look from Bruce.

"Sorry I am late, Seb. I was tied up in some evening..." he began to explain, only to stop as if nothing came to mind.

"...Negotiations, Sir." Alfred then stepped in, earning a appreciative nod back from the Billionaire in return.

"Yes, exactly that. Thanks, Alfred."

This earned a knowing eye roll from Sebastian, before he gestured for his friend to follow.

"Whatever, you can tell me all about it after we have done our piece on stage, let's go." he replied, with the new arrival following him onto the stage as Fox and Alfred watched.

"Negotiations? Is this the Penguin and Black Mask again?" the former then asked, earning a nod from thr Butler.

"Naturally, Lucius. Batman was in the middle of re-calibrating the frequencies of the two Bat-Tracers he had used to bug two Thugs from either gang, before I had to remind him of this engagement."

This gained a confused expression from the Chairman, who took out his phone from his coat pocket.

"Why would he need to re-calibrate the tracers, since they always give off a very strong signal that is easily tracked via the 'Bat-Satellite' in orbit?"

"I do not pretend to understand everything that Master Wayne told me earlier, but there was something about a blackout zone that made the tracers signals disappear." Pennyworth replied, making the other man's expression become more concerned as he shook his head in return.

"No, that's impossible. There isn't any tech that is on level with what we have been supplying the Batman, it just isn't possible. But let me take a look at the last scans you have, since Bruce will be busy for the next few minutes." Fox said back, earning a nod from Alfred as they then walked further backstage.

Meanwhile, everyone's attention was caught as a Speaker called out from a podium on the main stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please..." he began to say as the audience, made up of various kinds of people, from Socialites, Journalists, City Officials and the general public, turned their attention to him.

"Now as you are fully aware, five years ago, Wayne Enterprises began an ambitious Initiative to rebuild and renovate the area of our fine City known as 'Old Gotham'. It wasn't a risk-free move to make, but it has paid off dividends, with hundreds of new jobs and opportunities created, as well stabilising an area that was once over run with Crime. And the situation there continues to improve, despite the fact that the Initiative has not yet been completed..." he continued, while the Audience watched intently.

"And with Wayne Enterprises leading by example, others have joined our endeavour...like Lamont Industries. And to speak more about this, I give you the CEOs of both Companies...Bruce Wayne and Sebastian Lamont!"

The was a thunderous round of applause as both Men walked onto the stage, stopping at the podium as the speaker stepped aside.

"Thank you, Gotham, you are too kind..." he started to say with an appreciative and charismatic smile.

"...but we not here today for the two of us..." the Billionaire continued to say as he gestured at both Seb and himself.

"...but for all of you. Because the Initiative that has breathed new life into Gotham City was only the beginning, a stepping stone into something greater and as most of you are fully aware..." the young Wayne added, before gesturing to his friend.

"...Sebastian Lamont pledged his company's support and resources to my endeavour. And together, our companies have sped up the time-line of how the Initiative was going to be worked and completed, bringing new ideas to the table on how to improve the City and it's infrastructure." He then finished, before stepping aside and letting Seb take the stand.

"Over the last few years, we have updated the City's Water supply-Network and Power-Grid, with both systems needing a much needed upgrade..." the other Man began to explain, before gesturing to the massive black curtain that was hanging behind the stage, covering up something that was the size of a building as spot lights were shone up at it from all directions.

"...and even though there are still a number of ideas and avenues that we are in the process of in researching, here tonight we can reveal one that will be make the lives of all Gothamites that much easier."

"And now we can reveal..." Seb then added as the curtain then fell, revealing a brand-new Mono-rail station.

"...Gotham's new, Public Transport System. He carries on, before Bruce then stepped in.

"As many of you know, the previous system was created when my Parents were still alive and had been severally neglected during it's operation, before finally being shut down seven years ago, after the Terrorist attack..." he added, while a screen just behind them activated and began showing information slides to the audience.

"...but now, this new transit system is faster and even more safer due to the state of the art H&S and Security features that have been introduced during it's creation, meaning that everyone in Gotham can go about the city without fear of something, like that day seven years ago, from happening again." The Wayne Enterprise's Owner finished as he clicked his fingers, making a Mono-Rail car activate and leave the station as it moved away over it's rail-line overhead, bringing loud and enthusiastic applause from the audience.

"Thank you, now why don't we open the floor to some questions." the Wayne then said, which made many in the crowd hold up a hand in return.

Twenty minutes after the presentation and both Bruce and Seb were now mingling with Gotham's elite and powerful, from City Officials to Business Leaders.

"Well, Bruce, that was another success to add to the Initiative." the latter said with a relieved expression, earning a knowing nod back from the former.

"Yeah, but we still have a long way to go before the Initiative is finished." making his friend put a hand on his shoulder, while he smiled back.

"But in the end, Gotham will be all the better for it. It will once more stand tall alongside such cities like Keystone City and Metropolis."

"Well said." a female voice then replied, making both men turn to see a young Caucasian Woman with dark chocolate long hair, wearing a sleek black dress that hung from her athletic-looking body. She was standing with Alfred, who despite the visible beauty by his side, still remained as professional and impeccable as ever.

"Master Wayne, may I introduce...Miss. Miranda Tate, who wanted to meet you." he said, while she stepped toward the Billionaire and offered him her hand.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Wayne." she then said, while Bruce shook her hand in return.

"Please, call me Bruce. And I am sure we have seen each other before."

"That is true, though it was at the weekly Wayne Enterprise Board-meetings. We have never really had the opportunity to actually speak to one another, which I think was a shame..." Miranda began to reply, while a slight smile appeared on her face.

"...because I think we could do great things together."

"Miss Tate was telling me of the many charitable projects that she has spearheaded around the world." Alfred then spoke, earning a nod from Seb after he took a sip of his drink.

"I too, have heard of those as well, Miss Tate..." he said, gaining the Woman's attention.

"...I am Sebastian Lamont. My friends call me 'Seb'." he added with a tinge of suaveness to his voice.

"Nice to meet you." she replied, before quickly returning her focus to Bruce.

"I was thinking that we could have a business lunch together, where we can discuss some ideas I have that I believe can help your Initiative, Bruce." she carried on, making the Wayne smile and nod back.

"That sounds great, Miranda. How about tomorrow, since I believe that I have a free space in my schedule?" he replied, before looking over at his Butler with a hopeful expression.

"Of course, Sir, that will not be a problem." he replied with a smile, before noticing Seb roll his eyes and finish his drink, before Lucius suddenly appeared and joined the group, looking rather concerned.

"Lucius, have you and Miranda Tate met?" Bruce then asked, earning a quick smile from the Chairman in return as he looked between her and him.

"Yes, of course. It is lovely to see you again, my dear." he replied, earning an appreciative nod back in return.

"However I am afraid that those potential 'business partners' you were hoping to meet, but were unable to speak to..." he started to say to the younger man, a slight crypticness underlining his words.

"...are now available for a meeting." he continued, making the billionaire's eyes widen a little as he realised what his friend was on about.

"Oh, I see..." he began to reply, before looking back at Seb and Miranda with a disappointed expression.

"...sorry, but this is something that I 'have' to take care of, unfortunately."

"No worries, Bruce." his friend replied, while the Woman mirrored his reaction.

"Of course, I completely understand. Besides, I will see you again tomorrow." The lady replied, making the Billionaire smile once more.

"Yes, we will. Please allow my Butler to make the necessary arrangements." he replied while gesturing to Alfred, who took out a small notebook and pen from the inside pocket of his suit.

"Yes, Master Wayne, I can do that."

"Now, Mr Fox and I really must be going. I will see you later." Bruce then said, while the Wayne Enterprises Chairman smiled at the others.

"It was a pleasure to see you." he added, before he and his younger Boss left the area.

"Well, Miss Tate, where and when would you like to meet with Master Wayne tomorrow? Because I have three open slots in his schedule tomorrow, with one at 12pm, 3pm and 5pm." he asked, gaining an appreciative smile back from the young lady.

"3 pm sounds good, Alfred, and I was thinking that the Criterion Restaurant would be a good place for the lunch." she said back.

"Alright then, Miss Tate. You are in Master Wayne's schedule for tomorrow." the older-man replied, earning a nod back from Miranda.

"Thank you, Alfred..." she started to say, before being cut off as The sound of a phone ringing eminated from the black leather purse she was carrying.

"...oh, forgive me..." the Woman added with a regretful tone, while she picked up he phone and looked at it's screen.

"It's no trouble, Ma'am." Alfred replied politely, while Miranda's eyes widened alittle as she saw the name on the screen.

"...but I must take this. It was nice to meet you, Mr. Lamont..." she carried on as she looked at Sebastian, before returning her attention to the Butler as she turned to leave.

"..., Good Night, Alfred."

"Good Night, Miss Tate." the older-man replied as she walked away, before noticing the disappointed expression on Lamont's face.

"Is there something wrong, Sir?"

"Oh, it's nothing, Alfred. Just that, things never really change." the younger Man answered back with a sigh. This brought a puzzled look to Pennyworth's face.

"I am afraid that I do not follow?"

"Back in College, Bruce would get all the attention from the ladies, leaving me in wind." Seb replied with a regretful tone, which made Alfred look around them in return.

"Well, Sir. Master Wayne is not here now." he replied, earning a look of realisation from Lamont as he glanced around him.

"You're right, he isn't..." he began to say, before noticing a Blonde Woman in a green dress eyeing him from just aways.

"...if you'll excuse me, Alfred..." he added with a now confident expression, only for the Butler to cut him off with a smile.

"Of course, Sir...good luck."

This brought the younger-man's attention back to Pennyworth, as he stared back with a surprised look on his face.

"...Not that you will need it." Alfred quickly and smoothly continued, making Lamont smirk back as he then walked over to the lady, leaving the Wayne's Butler on his own.

"I don't know..." he began to say to himself, before then heading out of the party himself.

Meanwhile, Bruce and Fox were now sitting in the latter's car as it drover away from the event, with the younger-man looking at a smartphone as his Chairman focused on his driving.

"So you managed to clear up whatever was disrupting the tracer's signal?" Wayne asked, making Lucius shake his head in return.

"No, Mr. Wayne, what you're looking at now is one of your tracers signalling from a whole different location..." he began to explain, while the Billionaire returned hos attention to the tablet's screen.

"...but wherever the disruption occurred, it was because there is a dead-zone covering an area of several blocks, which..." the Chairman continued, only to have Bruce cut him off.

"Is too big of an area to search on foot."

"Exactly, but as far as I know, there is no device capable of producing the kind of dead-zone that can interfere with our tracers." Fox replied, earning a knowing nod from the other guy.

"I know, they are state of the art."

"Either way, I will be looking into this, Bruce. In the meantime..." the older man started to say, before his younger friend spoke up again.

"In the meantime, I will be seeing what's going on at the Gotham Depot." he said while gesturing at the tablet, which showed that the tracer was pulsing from a particular spot on a map of the city. This brought a smirk to Lucius's face as he glanced at the screen, before returning his attention to the road ahead.

"I knew you would, that's why I am driving you to your Penthouse, since you do have a Bat-Bunker beneath it's building..." he began to reply, before a questioning look appeared on his face.

"...but the 'Batmobile' is back at the Bat-Cave, correct?"

This made the Billionaire smile as he looked back at his friend.

"That's right, but then again, you did build more than one."

"How very true, Mr Wayne." Lucius replied with a mirrored look, as their car neared it's destination.

Elsewhere, Jim Gordon had arrived at home and in the five years since his ex-wife and kids left, the place felt like it had become very solitary indeed. As he stood at the front door, the former Police Commissioner remembered one of the many times that he had played with both Jimmy and Barbara there at porch when they were little, which brought a slight smile to his face.

'God, I miss you guys.' he thought as the memory faded, bringing his attention back to the locked door as he took he house-key from his right-trouser pocket.

'That can't be right...' he suddenly thought as he tried to unlock the door, with a puzzled look appearing on his face.

'...it's unlocked!' he added as his Cop-instincts took over, equipping his Buretta while slowly opening the door and entering the residence.

Almost immediately, the older-man noticed light coming from the kitchen area which was illuminating the living-room, so he continued to slowly walk towards the lit area, hearing the sounds of someone cooking.

'What the?' the Private Detective thought as he got to the doorway leading to the kitchen, which made him take a deep breath as he tightened his grip around his weapon.

"Daddy?" a very familiar voice then spoke from behind him, making Gordon almost jump as he spun around, stopping short of aiming his weapon when he saw a 13 year old red-headed girl standing there.

"Barbara?"

A/N: That was the second chapter of my sequel to 'Scarred and the Damned', I hope you liked it and thank you for reading.
I really appreciate it. :)

Next Chapter: Batman takes on an armed gang at Gotham's Depot with some 'extra firepower' and Gordon is surprised to find his Daughter visiting him.

CHAPTER III

"That's a hell of a greeting, Daddy." the girl replied as she looked at the older Man, who stood there with his weapon drawn. But her words snapped him out of his surprise, making him look down at the Buretta, before clicking the safety into place and placing it back in it's holster on his belt.

"Well, what did I tell you about trying to surprise an ex-Cop?" he asked back, gaining a thoughtful look from his Daughter in return.

"I know, but 'we' wanted to give you a nice surprise." she said with a smile, looking over his shoulder and making the P.I. turn to see a 17 year old Jimmy standing in the doorway to the Kitchen.

"Hey, Dad." he said back, earning a nod from his old Man.

"Jimmy..." he began to reply, before gesturing to them both.

"...come here, you two." he added with a warm smile, before all three took part in a loving group hug. A moment later, the three separated as their Dad looked at his Kids with a big smile on his face.

"It's really great to see you both. But please, call in advance next time..." he continued, gaining acknowledging nods from the youngsters in return as a familiar smell caught Jim's attention.

"What's cooking?" He asked, looking in the Kitchen's direction.

"It's your favourite, Dad, Salisbury Steak with Fries and Gravy. Jimmy was making it as a part of the surprise." Barbara replied, earning an appreciative smile from their Father.

"I thought that I recognised that delicious aroma..." he began to say back, making his Daughter chuckle.

"...okay then, let's eat."

Twenty minutes later, the trio were sitting around the Dining-room table, having just finished their meals.

"Thank you, Jimmy, that was delicious. Just like your Mother used to make." Gordon said with a happy smile, gaining an appreciative one back from his eldest in return.

"You're welcome, Dad. But Mom didn't teach me how to cook that, since I taught myself." the younger Man replied, earning a curious expression from the Private Investigator.

"Really? I could have sworn that your's and her's tasted identical."

"They do, Daddy. But as Jimmy said, he taught himself..." Barbara jumped in, making both guys turn their attention to her as she spoke.

"...because he wants to be a Cook."

This brought a look of surprise to their Father's face, making his eyes widen a little.

"A Cook, but I thought you wanted to be a ... when you finished your Studies, Jimmy?" he asked, making his Son shrug as he finished the last forkful of food from his plate.

"I did, but I guess things change." he replied a little cryptically, making his Sister shake her head.

"Jimmy's just being modest, Daddy. A few years ago, Mom hadn't made us any dinner one night as she went out on a date..." she started to say, making Gordon raise an eyebrow.

"Your Mom didn't cook for you?" he asked in disbelief, cutting his Daughter off.

"It happens a lot these days, old news..." Jimmy began to answer with a disappointed tone underlining his words, before gesturing to his little Sister.

"...but please let Barb finish the story, since she enjoys telling it."

"It's not that great of a story, but still...okay. So as I was saying...Jimmy decided that if we were going to eat something, then he should be the one to cook, as he was the oldest. So he took Mom's cooking book and just followed the recipe...for 'Chicken Tikka Masala'." the young-girl explained, making Gordon's eyes widen in surprise once more.

"You made a curry? That's not an easy meal to make." he said, earning a knowing nod from the lad in return.

"I know, but I did it...and it was edible." he answered with a smirk.

"It was more than that, Jimmy, it was really tasty." his Sister replied happily.

"And it was a lot of fun to make. So afterwards, I tried a few more meals. With each one getting harder and more fulfilling to make every time." Jimmy explained, earning another nod from Barbara.

"They were all delicious, so Jimmy changed his studies to Cooking and hasn't looked back." she added, making Gordon's smile widened as he looked st his eldest.

"Son, I don't know what else to say other than I am very proud of you. I mean if you can make my Salsbury Steak like this..."

"Actually, Dad, I think I can improve the meal if I add certain spices to it." Jimmy said back, interrupting his Father, who simply smirked back.

"Well, I can't wait to try it out." he replied, before turning his attention to his Daughter.

"And how are things in School for you, Barbara?"

"They're okay, I guess." she replied a little sheepishly, which brought a surprised look to her Brother's face.

"Now who's being modest? Considering that you're top of the class in both Computer-Science and Gymnastics." he replied, making their Father look at both them with pride once again before giving his Daughter a curious stare.

"You're doing Computer Science at 13 years old?"

"Well, I kind of showed up an older Student when he was giving my class a presentation on Computers at School. The Teacher was so impressed that he had me take the Computer Science end of year examination for last year, which I aced. So the School Board agreed that I could take the subject now, which happens to be from a year above me." she explained with a tinge of humbleness to her voice.

"It's good to hear that you both are doing so well with your Studies." he said with a warm and caring expression, earning smiles back from his kids.

"So, how have things been for you, Dad? I mean, we have heard a lot on the News, about the Mob and other things." Jimmy asked, trying to generalise his question. But Barbara then spoke up, with a very particular question in mind.

"How is the Batman?" she asked with a very enthusiastic tone, surprising Gordon in return.

"Well, he's fine. I mean, he's 'the Batman'." he replied, feeling a little uncomfortable at his Daughter's question.

"That's good to know, after all, he has pretty much handled the Mob all by himself in the last couple of years. I bet it is just a matter of time before he finds the Penguin and Black-Mask." she said back, making Jimmy roll his eyes and sigh.

"Don't worry, Dad. Barbara is just starting to go through 'that' phase." he joked, making his Father's eyes widen a little as the red-head looked back at them with a confused expression.

"Oh, now it makes sense." the former replied with a slight smile.

"What, what makes sense? What are you two on about?" Barbara replied questioningly.

"I can't say that I didn't see this coming, but I was expecting it to be Boy Bands and worthless Celebs, but not masked Vigilantes." Jim added, bringing a look of realisation to his Daughter's face as her cheeks started to redden in response.

"It's nothing like that." she replied with a sheepish but honest tone, making her Brother stare back with a disbelieving look on his face.

"Really?"

"Yes!" Barbara then said with a slither of annoyance underlining her words, not going unnoticed by her Father.

"There's nothing wrong with a little hero-worship, I mean the Batman has saved the City, as well as our lives more than once..." the older man began to explain, with a slight smile gracing his face.

"...in fact, I did help him once during one of those times."

"We know, Dad..." Jimmy then replied, rolling his eyes and sighing in return.

"...you've already told us...many times..." he continued, before looking at his watch.

"...but anyway, I am going to call it a night. See you guys in the Morning, Night." the young Man finished, before leaving the table and beginning to head upstairs. This earned a surprised and confused look from Jim as he watched his Son leave.

"Oh, okay. Night, Jimmy."

"Night." Barbara added, before returning her attention to her Dad and noticing his confused look.

"Don't worry about Jimmy, Daddy. He just likes to see himself more like an adult now, rather than the kid he used to be." she said, bringing the P.I.'s focus back to her.

"I realise that." he said back with a disheartened tone, before Barbara placed her hand on top of his and smiled at him.

"But I still love to hear your stories."

"Thanks, Barbara." the older man replied with a mirrored expression.

"So do you still work with 'him'?" his Daughter quickly asked, making Jim smirk as he took a sip of his Coffee.

"Yeah, I have helped the Batman out more than a few times." he answered, making her smile widen in response.

"Cool, I wish I could help him out. Do something to say thank you for everything he did for our family." she replied with an enthusiastic tone, which made her Father's expression become a little more toughened.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Barbara, but I don't want you anywhere near the Batman..!" he began to say back, earning a surprised look from the young girl.

"...because the world he surrounds himself in is no place for a teenage Girl, so promise me that you aren't going to go looking for him?"

"I promise, Daddy." she quickly replied in a honest and clear tone, earning a sigh from the former Cop as he took another sip of his drink.

"So, do you think the Batman's kicking some bad-guy ass right now?" Barbara then asked, stopping Gordon in mid-sip as he noted one particular word in her question. But his Daughter simply stared back with an enthusiastic innocence to her face, waiting for his answer. So the Private-Investigator swallowed and smirked back at her, choosing to ignore the curse she just said...this time.

"Barbara, I can honestly say that wherever the Batman is, he is certainly kicking someone's ass...and they deserve it."

Meanwhile, Batman knelt down on the edge of rooftop overlooking Gotham's main Freight Depot, that was connected to the City's central Train Station. The night's breeze gently moving his cape to the side as his eyes glowed, which was due to him using his Cowl's Sonar-vision.

"There's a lot of activity down there, Fox, more than there should be for this time of night." he observed, seeing all the people down there due to their Mobile-phones sending out sonar waves, mapping out the entire area and everyone in it, which he could see in his's Cowl's 'Head's Up Display'.

"Yes, I can see it too..." Lucius replied from his seat at the Bat-Computer, back in the Bat-Bunker underneath Bruce's Penthouse building.

"...just don't use that tech to spy on everyone again." he added with a knowing tone, which made the Vigilante shake his head slightly in return.

"Like I would do that, anyway..." Batman added, trying to change the subject as he controlled the function from a small set of controls hidden in one of the packs on his Utility-Belt.

"...you and your team really out-did yourselves with version 2.0 of this tech, since I can now zoom in the image and see all the details of their clothes and what they have on them."

"Well, I can't have you risking your life out there every night without the most state of the art equipment, which can not be traced back to Wayne Enterprises naturally..." the older Man began to reply, only for the Dark Knight to cut him off as he recognised the insignia on the back of one of Men's jackets.

"It's the Penguin's men, I recognise the emblem on their backs..." he then began to say as his voice took on a curious tone, while they continued to work down on the ground below him.

"...but they are the only ones down there, I cannot see any of the Depot's night-shift anywhere else in the area."

"That's strange, considering that it is a '24 hour a day' workplace. There should be at least a few people in." Fox replied over the com-link, earning a nod from the costumed-man in return.

"But there isn't, Penguin's Men have the run of the place..." he added, before turning his attention to a large Lorry being packed up with metal crates.

"...and they appear to have found whatever it is they are after." Batman noticed, using his Ultility-belt control to zoom in on the crates.

"Can you make out any markings or insignias on them?" Lucius asked, making the Vigilante shake his head.

"No, there is nothing to identify their contents or who they belong to."

"That worries me, Bruce..." Fox began to reply in a telling tone, as his friend continued to watch the Men working below him.

"...because as you know, back when Earle was running the Board at Wayne Enterprises, he had a number of military contracts going. And when it came to delivering those, we were instructed to use unmarked Cargo containers and crates."

"So I take it that they must have used transmitters to identify which containers were their's then?" Batman then asked back, making the Chairman nod back from his place in the Bat-Bunker.

"That is the standard Military procedure when dealing with 'off the book' hardware, that's correct."

"So use the Bat's Eye Satellite to find out if these crates contain one of those transmitters, it should still be positioned over Gotham." the costumed-man then said, before his attention was caught by the arrival of two more vehicles to the area.

"Running scan now..." the older-man began to reply, only for Batman to cut him off.

"We have new arrivals here, two black Humvees." he observed while zooming in on them with his HUD, making his eyes widen as he recognised one man who stepped out of the lead car, who wore all black body armour and mask with red lining on his chest in the form of a Spider.

"That's 'Black-Spider'!"

"You mean the international Mercenary and Assassin, Black-Spider?" Fox asked back, gaining a nod from the Vigilante.

"The one and the same."

"So you obviously have the Penguin feeling a little anxious right now, especially is he is hiring assassins to stop you from interferring with his interests."

"Well, it doesn't change anything, since I don't intend to let the Penguin get his hands on Military equipment..." Batman replied, before noticing that the Penguin's men were virtually finished loading the Lorry.

"...which they are now taking out of the Depot, so we have to make our mo..." he added while moving away from the rooftop's edge, only for the Chairman to cut him off.

"I understand, Mr. Wayne, but I have just used the Bat's Eye and have detected the military transmitters on those crates." he replied, bringing a concerned look to Bruce's face beneath his Cowl as he kept moving.

"Why do I sense a 'but' coming?"

"Must be your keen Detective-like senses, Bruce...'but', I also checked the area surrounding the Depot and there are no Police patrols for at least four miles in all directions." the older man replied, making the Vigilante narrow his eyes as he dropped down from one roof to another below it.

"There is something bigger at work here, Fox, since this is the third time that when large enough gathering of Penguin's men appear somewhere in the city, that the Police then mysteriously vanished from the area."

"That does sound very suspious, Mr. Wayne. In fact, I have an appointment with the Mayor and the Police Commissioner tomorrow afternoon, so perhaps I can ask some discreetly ambiguous questions?" Fox replied with a slither of enthusiasum to his voice, while his younger friend stopped at the edge of another rooftop and looked down into the dark alley.

"We can discuss that later, Fox. In the meantime, have the vehicles left the Depot yet?"

"They are leaving as I speak, Mr. Wayne." the Chairman said back, bringing a slight grin to the Dark Knight's face.

"Good, I am in position now." he answered before dropping off the rooftop's edge and expanding his cape out as he decended into the darkness below.

Meanwhile, the lorry and it's escorts drove down on of Gotham's more emptier streets as it left the area of the Depot. Black-Spider sat in the passenger seat of the main vehicle, while one of Penguin's men sat in the driver's seat and kept his eyes on the road. But every now and then, he would give a nervous glance to the surrounding area. This did not go unnoticed by the Mercenary, who snapped his fingers and brought the driver's attention back.

"Hey, keep your eyes on the road!"

"Sorry, but I just know dat the Bat is gonna show up." the latter replied with a fearful tone, earning an annoyed sigh from the former, though his face could not be seen from behind his mask.

"Don't worry about 'him'! We have got enough firepower with us to stop a Juggernaut and if Batman manages to get to this truck, then I will deal with him." Black-Spider replied confidently, bringing a questioning look to the Driver's face.

"You sound real sure of yourself."

"Tell me, are you an international assassin and mercenary, with over 100 kills to his name?" he asked, earning a confused look from the Thug in return.

"No..." he began to answer, unable to tell how his passenger meant his question, due to his face being covered up.

"Then shut up and drive. Because we only have a window of 20 minutes to get this delivery out of the area before the cops start their patrols again." Black-spider replied, earning a silent nod back from the driver as he returned his focus to the road ahead.

"I still cannot believe that the Penguin has such control of the Gotham PD, I've seen Mob Bosses convince a Detective to hold back one or maybe two Patrols...but seven?" the costumed Merc then said with a curious tone, which made the other guy open his mouth. But before he could even begin to speak, his Passenger pointed a finger in his direction without even looking at him.

"I was just thinking out loud, there is no need to answer me. So stay quiet or I will hurt you."

This made the driver's eyes widen as he quickly closed his mouth, before looking back to the road ahead of them.

As the convoy continued on it's way to it's destination, it began to pass through an empty crossroads as one of Penguin's thugs, who was seated in the back of the Humvee following the Lorry, looked out of the side-window on his right-side, his eyes widening in shock as he saw something approaching them.

"It's 'him', the Bat's here!" he cried out as they left the crossroads, just as the Batmobile quickly turned the corner and joined the road they were on, quickly gaining on them, looking like a Le Man's race car from someone's nightmares with it's sleek yet fearsome design.

This gained a knowing nod from Black-spider as he heard the warning over the radio, looking over at his side-mirror to see the menacing vehicle following behind them, causing a slight smile to appear beneath his mask.

"It's showtime, boys. Let's give him the good stuff." he then said in to his transmitter, while the driver ne to him looked even more nervous.

Meanwhile, Batman sat in the driver's seat of the Batmobile, focusing on both the road and the armoured vehicles ahead of him, before noticing the Humvee in front winding down it's back window as a large gun emplacement appeared from within it.

"Mr. Wayne, the Batmobile's sensors register that as a Minigun." Fox spoke over the com-link as the data appeared in the Dark Knight's HUD, gaining a nod from him in return.

"I see it, shouldn't be a problem." he replied confidently as the weapon opened fire and enveloped the Batmobile in a barrage of bullets, all of which bounced harmlessly off the pursuit-vehicle's surface.

It's not working!" the gunner shouted over the sound of the Minigun's fire, making the two men seated at the front look at each other with worried expressions.

"The Minigun's a no go." the one sitting in the passenger seat then called out on his radio, earning Black-Spider's attention as he picked up his radio from thr dashboard.

"Impossible, those are armour piercing rounds."

"Someone should tell the Batman that..." the driver then started to say next to him, earning a glare from the Merc, though the former could not see it through the latter's mask.

"...I'll shut up now." he added fearfully, before Spider returned his attention to his radio.

"Just keep firing, you should wear down his armour and keep him back there."

"That's going to be a problem, Boss..." a panicky voice spoke back on the radio, making the Merc look at his passenger-mirror and see the Batmobile gaining on them.

"...because the Bat ain't staying back there."

"Mr. Wayne, are you going to let them waste their ammunition?" Fox asked over the Com as Batman continued to close in on the convoy, while bullets bounced off the vehicle's windshield, earning an indifferent look from the Dark Knight.

"They are their bullets to waste, Fox..." he began to reply, before sighing and pressing on of several buttons on his dashboard.

"...but this has gone on long enough. Firing 'Disabler'." the Vigilante continued, before the grill at the front of the Vehicle opened up and revealed a small cannon which fired a small round disc at the Humvee and latched onto it's underside.

"The Bat just shot something at us!" the gunner then shouted over the sound of his firing weapon, before the entire vehicle was suddenly encompassed in electricity, like it had been hit by a lightning bolt. This immediately shut down the car's engine, as well as electrocuted the Gunner as he still held on to the weapon, knocking him unconscious.

"Matt!" one of the guys sitting up front shouted back, seeing his friend lying comatose there on the backseat.

"Forget him, the engine just stopped..." the driver started to shout back, before the headlights of the pursuing vehicle flooded the car's interior.

"Oh sh*t!" he added, before the Batmobile rammed into the Humvee and sent it crashing into a wall as the former sped on wards towards the others.

"Spider! He took out Escort two!" the Lorry's driver exclaimed as he glanced at his side-mirror, earning the Merc's attention.

"Keep your eyes on the road ahead..." he spat before speaking into his radio, while looking at the Humvee in front of them.

"Escort One, take out the Bat!" he ordered, which was followed by the vehicle moving aside and allowing the lorry to pass them by.

"I am still picking up strong life-signs in the first escort, Mr. Wayne." Lucius stated over the com-link, earning a slight grin from the Vigilante.

"Of course you are, Fox. I only wanted to knock them off the road and out of the fight, not kill them."

"Unfortunately, it seems that these men do not share that sentiment." the Chairman replied, while Batman noticed one of Penguin's men appear from the second vehicle's sun-roof holding a large weapon.

"An RPG? Well, I suppose they get points for effort." he replied before flicking another switch, while the Man holding the weapon aimed it at the Batmobile.

"Activating 'Scrambler'." the Vigilante added just as the RPG was then fired, sending a small missile hurtling toward the Batman's vehicle, earning a grin from Black-spider as he watched from the lorry.

"Good night, Batm..." he began to say, only to stop as the missile suddenly veered off and went up into the sky.

...what the fu...?" the Merc added with a surprised and confused tone to his voice as the projectile then exploded harmlessly in the sky overhead.

"He's still coming!" the Man next to him spat fearfully as the Batmobile closed in on the last two vehicles, making the Merc clench his hand around his radio in frustration.

"Take that bastard down, I don't care how!" he then shouted into the radio frantically.

As the Lorry sped away, with the last escort now taking up position between it and their pursuer, Batman activated another device in his cockpit, which turned on a small screen to his left.

"Arming low yield missile and targeting the vehicle..." he said into his com-link, while a targeting cross-hair appeared on the screen and aimed at the bottom of the Humvee.

"...firing." he then added as he pressed another button, launching a black missile from a small silo at the back of the Batmobile which flew up before changing direction and flying directly at the other vehicle, making the RPG-guy climb back down through the open sun-roof.

"Oh cra..." he started to say, only to be cut off as the missile exploded just beneath the back-end of the Humvee, making it flip over onto it's roof, knocking it's occupants unconscious.

"Damn it! Now we are completely unprotected!" the Lorry Driver exclaimed as he glanced at his side-mirror, seeing the upside down Hum-Vee lying on the road as they drove away, before the Batmobile reappeared.

"Shut up and drive, I know what the Bat will do next..." Black-spider started to reply, before opening his door.

"...and I will deal with him."

This earned another fearful nod from the latter as he focused on the road, while the latter left the cab.

"Alright, Fox, I am switching to remote control now." Batman then replied from his place in the Batmobile, which had closed to within a meter of the lorry's trailer.

"I have control, Mr. Wayne. Good luck." the chairman replied over the com-link as the Vigilante opened the vehicle's canopy and climbed out onto it's front, before leaping onto the back of the trailer. He then quickly climbed onto it's roof, before his eyes narrowed as he saw Black-Spider waiting for him.

"This is as far as you go, Batman." he said in a confident tone while equipping a pair of combat knives, which gained an indifferent expression from the Dark Knight as the latter simply readied himself for a fight.

"Show me then what you can do." he replied with a cold and unimpressed tone, making the Merc lunge at him with his weapons. But the Vigilante quickly deflected the attacks with his gauntlets, before kicking his opponent in the chest.

The force of the kick made Black-Spider fall onto his back, but he used the inertia to roll back onto his feet and charge back at his enemy. He swung his blades left and right, with Batman dodging them with ease as he stepped backwards towards the back of the trailer as the Batmobile followed from behind.

"Mr. Wayne, I could disable the vehicle?" Fox said through the costumed-Man's earpiece as Black-Spider continued his attack, only for him to grab his right arm and twist it behind his back.

"No thanks, Fox. I've got this." he replies while twisting the Merc's hand, making him grimace as he dropped the first knife.

"Arrgh!" Black-Spider yelled, only to swing his left elbow back at Batman's face. But the vigilante saw this coming and blocked the attack with his free hand, grabbing this arm and putting the Merc in a hold.

"What is Penguin carrying in this lorry, Black-spider? Talk now, or you will never chew solid food again." the Vigilante warned, gaining a scoff from his opponent in return.

"I'm not telling you squat, Batman. Do your worst." he said back in a confident tone. But before the Dark Knight could follow through, he saw something small and shiny flying towards him from the corner of his eye. He quickly let go of one of Black-spider's arms to catch a throwing star that was inches from his face.

'What the?' the caped crusader thought as he glanced at the small projectile. But with his attention momentarily distracted, the Merc took advantage of this and spun around, freeing his other arm as he performed a backwards roundhouse kick, smacking the Vigilante square in his face and sending him flying off the lorry onto the street floor below.

"Bruce!" Fox shouted down the com-link as his younger friend recovered, while the lorry drove away.

"Follow the lorry and get a tracker on it...!" Batman quickly replied as he stood back up, looking at his surroundings.

"...I will be there shortly."

"No, you won't..." a unfamiliar female voice suddenly spoke from behind him, making the Dark Knight turn around to see a masked Ninja standing there in a fighting stance, her Katana unsheathed and ready for battle.

"...because you will die for the murder of the 'great Ra's Al Ghul'!"

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading it. I really appreciate it.

Next Chapter: The Batman faces off against an Assassin from the now defunct 'League of Shadows'. But unbeknownst to the Dark Knight, his enemy is linked to his long deceased Mentor/Adversary.

CHAPTER 4

'What the hell?' Batman thought as he stood there in the middle of the street while the Batmobile sped off after Black-Spider and his Lorry, because standing before him was a female Assassin who just brought up a name he had not wasted a thought on for five years.

'She can't be 'League of Shadows', because they fell apart after his...death.' he added before she then attacked, lunging her blade toward his chest.

But the Dark Knight quickly deflected the blade with one of his gauntlets, which brought an immediate counter from the attacker as she followed the momentum of his deflection and spun around and performed a back-kick that did hit him, making the Vigilante fall into a backwards roll, quickly recovering into a kneeling position as he found himself back to having some space between them.

This though, did not last long as the Assassin attacked again, lunging at him once more as she brought the blade down upon him. Batman though stopped the sword's sharp tip mere inches from his cowl as he held it in place with the blades of his gauntlets.

"You are merely delaying the inevitable, because you will pay for extinguishing the light of the great Ra's." she said back with venom in her voice, while he gritted his teeth in return.

"Ra's was going to kill thousands of innocent people, I couldn't..." the Dark Knight started to say, only to stop as he then shattered the blade between his gauntlets. But this did not phase his attacker as she simply pushed forward and punched him in the face and then kicked him in the stomach, knocking him backwards.

"Please, save me your self-righteous explanations..." the Assassin then started to reply, while her quarry quickly recovered and readied himself for her next attack.

"...because 'innocence' is too strong of a word to use when describing the citizens of this city. They all deserve to be wiped off the map for their actions or more importantly, in-action." she added, making Batman narrow his eyes in response.

"Over my dead body." he replied with a controlled defiance to his words, which made her smile behind her mask.

"That is the idea." she replied cooly before deftly throwing two throwing-stars at Batman's head, that he easily deflected away with his gauntlets. But she kept up the offensive with a jump kick, though the Vigilante quickly dodged with a sidestep before the Assassin landed beside him and went into a spin-kick.

'I recognise her moves. She has definitely been trained by the League, but who is she?' the Dark Knight thought as he easily blocked her attack and pushed her back with a palm to her face.

As the fight continued in the street below, another assassin wearing black and orange armour and a helmet that was also half of both colours, watched the pair from a rooftop above them.

'This is taking too long...' he started to think while holding a throwing star in his right hand, .

Back on the street, the female-Assassin launched another attack on Batman, which he again blocked and countered easily, putting her in a hold as he twisted her right arm behind her back and kicked the back of her right knee, forcing her onto her knees.

"I don't know who you are, but this ends now." the Vigilante began to say, only to have his attention taken by two more throwing-stars which made him let her arms go as he deflected them with his gauntlets.

The female took this as her chance and she quickly sprang back to her feet before hitting the Dark Knight with a back-kick, making he stumble backwards as the Assassin readied herself for another attack. But as Batman recovered his footing and prepared himself for it, she stopped and put her hand up to her ear.

'So she isn't working alone, I should have guessed that from the angle and trajectory of those Throwing-stars.' he thought, before noticing her free hand clench into a tight fist.

"I can do this...you can't take this chance from me!" she spat, only to look at her adversary and see the inquisitive expression on his cowl-covered face, making hers look more furious.

"This isn't over, Batman. Not until I have your blood staining my blade." she spat before throwing a small capsule to the floor which exploded in a flash of bright light, making the Dark Knight shield his eyes for a second. But as fast as that burst of light had appeared, it was then gone and so was she.

Batman quickly looked at his surroundings and noticed that her sword was gone as well, with only the shards of it's blade and two of the throwing stars remaining. So he bent down and picked up one of the latter with his right hand, while tapping an unseen button on his Cowl with the other.

"Fox, did you stop the Lorry?"

"I am sorry, Batman, but I'm afraid not. Two more escorts appeared and kept me distracted enough for the target to disappear...which is strange, because I managed to tag it with a tracer..." the Chairman began to explain, gaining a knowing look from the Vigilante as he continued to collect the evidence.

"Let me guess, it disappeared into that dead-zone, just like before."

"That's correct, Bruce, and the Batmobile's sensors are affected by the dead-zone as well. I have been trying every frequency I can think of." his friend replied with a hint of frustration to his voice, while the Dark Knight got back to his feet and looked around.

"Well, it's nothing we can deal with right now. And I have a new problem to contend with." he replied.

"I am heading back to your location now, but what exactly happened to you? The Batmobile's videofeed showed Black-Spider knocking you off the trailer's roof, whih i guess wasn't just a lucky hit." Fox said back with a curious tone over the Com-link, making Batman sigh as he held one of the Metal projectiles and stare at it inquisitively.

"No, I was distracted by an Assassin from the League of Shadows."

"Your old Sabbatical friends? I thought they died out with your former mentor, Ra's?" the Chairman replied, making his younger friend narrow his eyes in return.

"So did I, though it appears now that it is not the case."

Several blocks away, the armoured man waited in an abandoned building as the female Ninja appeared silently beside him and went to grab his shoulder. But the former quickly turned around and countered this by grabbing her arm in return, twisting it and putting her in a hold similar to what her adversary had done earlier.

"Ugh! Let go of me, Slade!" she spat angrily, only for her Ally to throw her to the ground.

"You seem to have forgotten which one of us is in charge here..." he began to reply while she slowly recovered, getting onto her hands and knees as he stood over her.

"...or you would remember that I am still your Mentor, which was by command of Ra's himself."

"I remember, Slade. But things have changed now, haven't they? The League is broken, leaderless and scattered around this world..." the Assassin began to say as she got looked up at the armoured man, with only his left eye visible through his helmet as he stared down at her.

"...we tracked down all of our brethren, welcoming back into our circle those who shared our views, while ending the lives of the ones that did not. Now with the pieces foundation of the League moving back into place, the only thing left for us to do..." she added while getting back to her feet.

"...is to avenge our fallen Master...who was also my Father." she continued before removing her mask, revealing herself to be Miranda Tate.

"And that we will, 'Talia'. I allowed you to make the first against our enemy, because I believed you were ready..." Slade replied as he removed his helmet, before removing her broken blade from her person and revealing it to her.

"...but your failure against the Batman proves I was wrong, so our next step against him will be of my design. Is that understood?" he asked, making the younger Woman look away from him, but nod back begrudgingly.

"Yes, Slade."

"Good, now go back to the safe-house and rest. After all, you have a busy day ahead of you." the older man replied with a knowing smirk as she turned around and was about to put her mask back on, only for him to hold his hand up at her.

"Oh and one more thing..." He started to say, making her stop and look over her shoulder at him.

"...when we are dressed like this, call me 'Deathstroke'." he finished, earning a nod from her before she then left.

As soon he was sure that Talia was gone, Slade took out his phone from one of the pouches on his utility belt and activated it. The screen lit up and showed a map of a building, which brought a slight smirk to the Assassin's face.
'All that security will not stop me from reaching my target.' he thought while reading the Building's name on the blueprints.

'Blackgate Prison'


Several hours later and Bruce was sitting at the Batcomputer, looking over some files as Alfred joined his side with what looked like a Smoothie.

"Here is your morning 'pick-me-up', Sir, with all the vitamins and nutrients you need." The older gentleman said as he placed the glass on the table next to his master, earning a grateful nod back.

"Thanks, Alfred." The latter replied, while the former looked at what was on the Computer's various screens.

"I see you are doing your homework on Ms. Tate, which I take means that you are aware that you are going to meet her in just over an hour, Master Bruce."
"Yes, Alfred, and know that I don't like to go into anything without a little background on the subject at hand." He said before picking up the glass and taking a sip, while the Butler noticed that one screen showed something different to the others.

"That's not all..." He said while pointing at said screen, gaining Bruce's attention as he placed the glass back down.

"Yeah, I am also going over the scans Lucius took yesterday with the Batmobile's sensors of the dead-zone that covers a part of the city." he explained, earning a surprised look from Pennyworth.

"You're multitasking?"

"Very funny, Alfred, but you know I can fire you, right?" the younger Man replied, trying to hide his smirk under an act of annoyance, but the older gentleman simply smiled back.

"Not in this lifetime, Master Bruce..." He said back, before gesturing back at the screen.

"...so, why don't you tell me what it is you're looking for."

The younger-man sighed and smirked back before typing away at the keyboard, making the data from the screen appear on the main one, showing two separate scans of the same area.

"The scan on the right is Lucius's from last night, while the one on the left is his approximation of what the dead-zone's perimeter could be, based off the data my Bat-tracer gave us before it's signal was dampened..." he started to explain before typing away at the keyboard, which then made one scan overlap the other. This earned a surprised look from Bruce, one that Alfred was quick to notice.

"Sir, what is it?" The latter asked, making the former point at the screen.

"See for yourself, Alfred. The scans don't match up, not even a little. There is at least half a mile difference between the two."

This gained a puzzled look from the older man.

"If I may, Master Bruce, but you did say that Lucius had 'guessed' what the dead-zone's perimeter was. So, perhaps he just got it wrong." he said back, making the Billionaire look back with an unconvinced expression.

"That isn't it, Alfred. I have worked with Luicus for many years now and in that time, his educated guesses have never been that far off. That is just one reason why he is still running Wayne Enterptise for me, since he never misses a mark."

"So if this anomaly is not of human error, then what is it, Master Bruce?" the Butler asked, while the younger man stared at the screen with a thoughtful look.
"I am not sure. I need more information. So, I will take another scan of the area during tonight's patrol." he replied before making the screen disappear, leaving just those with Miranda Tate's information on. Alfred though, looked at his watch with a feigned worried look on his face.

"Very good, Sir, but I think it is time for you to be on your way." he stated, earning a nod from Bruce, who then switched off the Bat-computer and joined his friend's side.

"Yep, I just have to change..." The young man began to say as they walked toward the elevator, only for Pennyworth to cut him off.

"I have already prepared a suit for you to wear, Master Bruce, and it is waiting for you in your room."

"You're the best, Alfred." Wayne replied with an appreciative smile as they entered the lift, gaining a knowing smile from the Butler as the doors closed behind them.

"I know, Sir."

An hour later and Bruce was sitting at a table in the Criterion as he waited for Miranda to arrive, only for his phone to ring.

"Bruce Wayne." The young man said as he answered the call, before a familiar voice replied.

"Mr. Wayne, Lucius Fox here."

"Lucius, what can I do for you?" Bruce said back, before looking around the room as there was still no sign of Ms. Tate.

"I was just calling to let you know that Mayor Cobblepot cancelled all of his meetings today, which are with anyone who is not part of the Mayor's office. So I will be unable to meet him as planned." The Chairman replied, earning an inquisitive look from the Billionaire.

"Isn't that a little strange?"

"No, not usually, Mr. Wayne. But I can still see him tonight, at the fundraiser at Rupert Thorne's residence, which I believe you also have an invite for." Fox said back, making Wayne nod back reluctantly.

"Yeah, but I'm not going. So I am afraid that you will be representing Wayne Enterprises alone, Lucius."

"Would this have anything to do with the overlapped scans of the dead-zone that I am looking at over our private network?" The older man asked with a curious tone.

"Yeah, I want to take another scan of the area with the Batmobile tonight, so I can compare it with those." The younger man replied.

"Well, since I have found myself with some free tine, Bruce. I can take a more thorough look over those scans, if you want? Because there is something familiar about the frequencies that were detected by the Batmobile's sensors." Lucius said back, just as his friend spotted Miranda entering the room and heading his way.

"Okay, Lucius. Keep me updated on this. Okay? Got to go." he quickly said before turning off the phone and standing up, just as Ms. Tate walked up to his table.

'Wow! She certainly is dressed for the occasion, though it is just a lunch." He thought while looking her up and down, for she was wearing a figure hugging red afternoon dress that showed off her considerable cleavage. Even the other people in the restaurant gave her a second and third glance, before then looking at Wayne with envious expressions, much to the annoyance of their own partners.

"Hi." Was all Bruce could say in response, trying to sound calm and collected. But this brought a smile to Miranda's face as she could see the ever so slight redness appearing in his cheeks.

"Hi" she said back, before both their attention was taken by a waiter who had quickly joined her side.

"Allow me." He said while pulling out a chair from the table for her, earning an appreciative smile back as she took her seat.

"Thank you." She replied as he gently moved the now seated lady towards the table.

"You're welcome..." He started to say back, before looking at both Miranda and Bruce.

"...now is there anything I can get you?"

"Get us two glasses of your Wine of the day please, while we look over the menu." The latter replied, gaining a nod from the Waiter before he then turned around and left, though not before giving Miranda one last glance.

"I apologise for my lateness, Bruce, but the traffic on the way here from my hotel was horrendous." she said sincerely, making the Billionaire smirk back knowingly.

"You're only a few minutes late, Miranda. It's really not a problem, considering that I have been far later."

This earned a playful smile from the Lady in return.

"Yes, I have heard about the fashionably late entrances of Bruce Wayne."

"They are well documented in the media, in fact the Guinness book of records still has my record in it." Wayne replied, gaining a chuckle from the Beauty.

"Well, let's hope that you will not be a bad influence on me."

"I make no promises..." Bruce replied as he picked up a menu, gaining a mirrored action from Miranda as he saw in the background that the Waiter was preparing to return to their table.

"...but right now, let's see what's good to eat." He then suggested with a smile, making the Woman's eyes widen a little as she smiled back.

"Of course, though I did have a delicious Paella when I was last here." she replied before their eye contact was broken, as they looked at their respective menus.

Meanwhile at Blackgate prison, Gordon and Montoya were in It's visitors room, seated in a cubicle linked to several others at one side of the room. Each one had a table with a chair at either end, separated by a bullet proof glass window. On the other side of the pair's cubicle was an older Caucasian man with stringy combed over hair, dressed in the same prisoner clothing as the rest on his side of the room separated room.

"Come on, Jackie? You have to give us something." Jim asked with a,friendly and hopeful tone, gaining a stubborn expression from the prisoner in return as he shook his head.

"I don't have to give you sh*t, Gordon..." He started to say as he spoke into phone, while looking jumpy and irritated.

"...,since it was because of you that I ended up in here."

"I know, Jackie. Because I was not there to vouch for you when you were arrested, but I had just been forced to resign." The former Cop replied regretfully, though it didn't change the other guy's expression.

"Yeah, and I spend five years in here...five years! And it was for something that I was not even guilty for." Jackie almost spat back, gaining a knowing look from Gordon in return.

"Come on, Jackie. We both know that you are not an innocent man, so please come down off your high horse..." he replied, bringing a reluctant but pained look to the prisoner's face.

"...because you know how this works between us. You give me information , then I give you something back."

"Yeah, like what?" Jackie then challenged, not sounding too convinced by Jim's words.

"I may not be Police Commissioner anymore, but I still have friends in high places. You give me credible information (like you always have) and I will make sure that you get out of here."

This brought a smile to Jackie's face as he chuckled in return.

"Where was this kind of offer five years ago, huh? I could have used this back then."

"Jackie, don't start gushing that the past five years in here were hell, because we both know they were not." Gordon replied with an unbelieving look, seeing through the other man's exaggeration.

"Wa...wait, how do you know that?" Jackie asked back, earning a slight smile from the P.I. in response.

"Like I said, friends in high places...so will you help us?"

The Prisoner looked at his surroundings, which was virtually empty apart from two guards who stood with their backs to the wall behind him.

"What do you want to know?" he answered, making both Jim and Montoya glance at each other before returning their attention to him.

"What have you heard about either the Penguin or Black Mask in the last 5 years?" The woman asked.

"Well, over the past five years, the Bat and the cops have put a lot of men from both those guys in here. Now I have not heard much about Black Mask, since his lackeys are still in here..." Jackie started to explain, gaining a curious look from Gordon as he picked up on that last sentence.

"What do you mean 'still', Jackie?"

"That's the thing, Gordon. Anyone with a connection to the Penguin is never in here longer than a week, tops..." The prisoner began to explain, while the other two just stared back with disbelieving expressions.

"...hell, most of them gloat about how they will be back out in no time, each and every time they are thrown in here. There is a lot of talk from many inmates here about joining up with the Penguin, if it means getting out of Blackgate."

"You swear this is true, Jackie? Because it does sound a little too unbelievable." Jim replied, his voice underlined with uncertainty. This earned a slightly shocked look from the other guy in return.

"Have I ever given you bad information before, Gordon. I swear this is the god honest truth."

"How is the Penguin doing this?" Montoya asked, looking at both Jackie and Jim.

"I'm not sure..." The latter said back while adjusting his glasses a little.

"...its been a long time since anything like this could even happen." He carried on, gaining a nod from the prisoner.

"Back when Falcone and the Mob were around, you mean. They had people everywhere, in all areas of the city." he added, as the former cop sighed with a worried expression on his face.

"I know that even with them gone, there would still be a little, perhaps some corruption in areas. But I wasn't expecting anything on this level and for this long."

"Okay. So, Gordon..." Jackie then started to say, gaining a knowing nod from the P.I. in response.

"Yes, Jackie. I will honour what we agreed too and speak to my friends about you getting out of here. But it could take some time."

"It's okay. You were right, things haven't been that bad here for me..." the prisoner said back with a smirk, only to be cut off as one of the guards spoke up and walked up behind him.

"Your time is over, Jackie." He said while gesturing for the man to join him.

"Yeah, I'm coming..." he started to reply, before looking back at his visitors.

"...see you around, Gordon."

"Yeah, be seeing you, Jackie." The former cop replied as he and Montoya started to leave and head for the exit.

"What did you mean by him not being innocent?" the latter asked with a curious tone, while the prisoner was escorted out of the room from behind the glass.

"Jackie is a criminal, but not one that was out to hurt people. He was never in the same league as ones like Joker or even Zsasz. He was just a information broker, but a very good one. But one day, he inadvertently got one of his friends killed. The whole thing happened because he gave out the wrong information, resulting in his friend and his whole family being murdered by a rival gang. Jackie blamed himself for the crime, even though he was not the one who committed it."

"I see." Renee replied as they walked away from the visitors room, down a long corridor.

"He could not be tied to the murder in any way legally, so he escaped punishment." Jim continued, earning a nod from his partner.

"So how did he end up in prison?"

"Five years ago, it was a case of wrong place, wrong time. Jackie found himself in the middle of a gang war between the Whisper Gang and the Four Fives. He tried to get out of the area before the GPCD turned up to arrest everyone involved, but he was recognised by one of the officers and found himself under arrest."

"I remember hearing about the incident, a number of people were killed before Batman and the Police stopped it, though it was mainly because of the latter. The former were split between capturing him and doing their jobs. Didn't it happen in the area where Two-Face tried to set off all his bombs and blow up Gotham?" Montoya asked.
"Yes, it was a few days later. If I had still been Police Commissioner at that time, then I would have heard about Jackie and had him pardoned. But I heard about him a little later, after he was already sentenced and figured that it would ultimately do him some good, since he would not be able to run from himself in there. And I still had friends in Blackgate, so I informed them about Jackie's situation and asked them to look after him."

"Well, he does appear to be doing well in here, despite how this place usually treats It's inmates." Montoya replied, before Gordon's attention was caught by a man walking towards them from the other side of the corridor.

"Jim?" she asked, making the older man gesture conspicuously to the other.

"That man over there..." he started to say, which made Renee look ahead and see a well dressed man with white hair heading their way. He was wearing a suit and had an eye patch covering his right eye.

The guy walked passed the pair, not even taking notice of them as he continued onward the visitors room, while they stopped and looked back.

"What about him, Jim?"

"I was a Police Officer for a long time, Renee. A lot longer than I was in the Marines. I learnt to trust my gut instincts and my gut tells me there is something off about him." The former Cop replied, earning a curious look from his partner in return.

"What do you want to do, follow him?" she asked, making him shake his head.

"No, we don't have any of our surveillance equipment with us and even if we did, we would be unable to use it..." He started to explain as a thoughtful look befell his face.

"...but there is someone who could find out about this guy."

"Should I set up a meeting with our 'ally'?" Montoya asked, gaining a confused expression back from Gordon.

"I was going to..."

"...to spend some time with your Daughter. You said earlier that you two had set something up today." She replied knowingly, making the moustached man sigh.

"Okay, so send him the signal and see if you can find anything out about eye-patch down there."

"Yes, Boss." Renee replied with a smile before the pair continued to walk down the corridor, heading for the exit.

Meanwhile, back in the Visitors room. An African prisoner had sat down in the cubicle that Jackie had previously used, looking rather bewildered at his surroundings. But that quickly changed when the guy with the eye-patch sat down in front of him, with only the glass to separate them, earning a disrespectful and knowing expression from the former as they both picked up their phones and held them to their ears.

"Slade!" the former said with what sounded like surprise in his voice, despite his calm exterior.

"Abbas, it has been a long time." the latter replied in a similar tone, which made the other's eyes narrow in return.

"Not long enough in my book, Slade. What are you doing here?" Abbas asked, staring daggers back as his visitor ignored it and smirked.

"I thought you would like to get out of here, unless you find life in prison appealing?"

"And what would I do if I was out? Since our way of life died with Ra's." the Prisoner asked curiously.

"We can rebuild the League..." Slade began to say back, only for Abbas to cut him off.

"We? You and me, or are you also speaking about that 'little girl' you are still babysitting?" he asked, earning a proud look from the one-eyed Assassin in response.

"I think you will find that Talia has become a very adept warrior, one that even her Father would be proud of...if he were still with us."

"Ha ha ha ha...!" his imprisoned comrade laughed, earning the attention of the guards standing behind the pair, as well as other visitors and prisoners in the room.

"...I'm sorry...but...that...I needed that. It was the funniest thing I have heard in years." Abbas sighed with deep breaths, regaining his composure while Slade narrowed his eye at him.

"You would do well to remember that Talia is the 'Heir to the Demon' and show her the same respect that you would for her fallen Father." he said back with steel to his words as he gritted his teeth, while the prisoner wiped his eyes.

"I would apologise, Slade, if not for the fact that little Talia lost that title the day she decided to side with that 'Brute'. You remember him, don't you?"

"Of course, but she didn't follow him out of the League. She remained and stood by Ra's." Wilson replied, making the other shake his head.

"How little you know, Slade. You see, the damage was done. The once-great Ra's felt betrayed by his daughter's need to defend that 'Monster'. There was 'something else' as well, but the former was the main reason. It was no real lose in the eyes of the League though, since she was not the only 'Heir'."

"Yes, I know of the other 'two'. But unfortunately, they are both dead. Talia and I have traversed the globe in our efforts to rebuild the foundations of the League, but all we found was evidence of her siblings falling to our enemies." Slade replied with a hint of disappointment to his voice, making Abbas shrug his shoulders in return.

"So, what's the point? The Lineage of the Demon is all but gone, with nothing but the black sheep of the family remaining. Thanks for the invitation, but no thanks..." he began to reply before sitting back in his chair, making the phone's cord straighten and tighten.

"...and if you think that I would ever work with 'you' again, Slade. Then you are clearly more of a fool than the others have led me to believe." he added, gaining a confused look from the visitor.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, which brought a disbelieving smile to the prisoner's face.

"Really? You mean after all these years, you didn't know...?" he started to say, before sighing as a slight chuckle escaped his lips.

"Why do you think Ra's put 'little Talia' under your mentor-ship to start with, or have you forgotten about your own failures within our ranks."

"I did my duty, and I am not the only one to have failures in my name, Abbas..." he began to say with a knowing expression, which brought a smirk to the prisoner's face.

"...nor were they bad enough to warrant excommunication from the League...or death."

"That is true, but think about it, Slade. You were given the duty of the protection and training of Ra's least favourite child. If things would have gone differently here in Gotham, she would never hold the title of 'Head of the Demon', fated to remain in obscurity for the rest of her life. And you would share that fate as well." he replied with joy to those words, seeing the anger slowly creep into his Visitor's face as he tightened his grip around his phone.

"I came here with an offer and a question for you, Abbas. For all of your poisonous words, Talia and I have already made gains with the remainders of the League. Those that have not joined us, have tasted our steel and joined her Father in the afterlife."

"Are you saying that you will kill me, Slade..." the other guy asked with a joking-like tone, before gesturing at his surroundings.

"...in here?"

"You have turned down our offer, that would usually be enough for me to end your life. But since I see that you are happy to waste away in here, then I am more than willing to let that happen. But, Abbas, you will answer my question." Slade replied with a cold, calculating tone. But this only made Abbas's smile widen.

"Then ask your question already."

"Who killed Ra's Al Ghul? Talia demands to know the name of her Father's killer." he asked, which

brought a thoughtful look to the prisoner's face for a moment.

"Let me think about it..." He began to reply, earning an impatient stare from his visitor.

"...okay, no."

"No?" Slade said back, barely holding back his anger as Abbas started to smile.

"That's right, I am not going to tell you. Because I do not owe you anything, Slade, and knowing that you and little Talks cannot rebuild the League just gives me joyous feelings inside. Because it shows how much of a failure you two are even now and if the League were ever to rise again, it would deserve better leadership than what is in front of me now." the prisoner replied with a wide smile, while Slade just stared daggers back at him in return.

"Unfortunately for you, Abbas, the only thing you have to look forward to is your death by my hands."

"If you could kill me in here, Slade, then you already would have..." Abbas replied while gesturing once more to his surroundings.

"...so I have very little to fear from you."

Slade gritted his teeth as he leaned in closer to the glass.

"We'll see about that." the one-eyed Assassin coldly said back, before dropping the phone and quickly walking out of the room. Leaving Abbas in his seat, smirking as he watched him leave.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading it, I really appreciate it. :)

Next Chapter: Bruce finds himself changing his plans when he gets an interesting invitation. Meanwhile all hell is about to break loose in Blackgate when Deathstroke comes to visit.

And in 2017, as Batman continues to protect Gotham as it's Dark Knight, another Man will soar into the sky.

CHAPTER 5

In the Bat-Cave, Alfred was sitting at the computer and looking over files on it's main screen, while the bats hanging from the cave's ceiling overhead made some muted squeaks between themselves.

"Yeah, you better stay like that? Feeding time is not until later." The old man muttered to himself as he continued to stare at the information on the screen in front of him.

'If I had told Wilfred when we last spoke, that part of a Butler's role was taking care of Bats, he would have laughed in my face...' He began to think, typing away on the Bat-computer's keyboard.

'...but luckily for the Bats, Master Bruce had this part of the Cave made more bat-friendly during it's last renovation, while also relocating the majority of our furry friends here into a safer haven in the deeper parts of the cave.' He added before his attention was caught by another window opening up on the screen, followed by an audio notification as it showed the Butler a live-image of a random alleyway in downtown Gotham.

'Oh, is it that time already?' Alfred contemplated as he saw Rene Montoya walk enter the alley and stop at next to a metal pipe that ran up the wall of a nearby building. She then took out a pen out of her jacket and drew a Bat-symbol on it, in complete view of Alfred and the hidden camera there.

"Okay, so Gordon wants to meet. Thank you for the heads up, Ms. Montoya." Alfred then said, before watching her leave.

But he was not the only person with eyes on the young woman, because across the street sat two men in an inconspicuous car who had heir attention on her as she entered her own vehicle.

One man took a pair of binoculars and looked into the alleyway, spotting the hand-drawn Bat on the pipe. He then nodded to his friend, who dialled a number on his phone and put it to his ear.

"You were right, Boss. Montoya has signalled the Bat."

"Of course I was right. You should know better than doubting me." A slightly disguised voice spoke back from the other end, anger evident in his tone which made the Man shake his head fearfully in return.

"I wasn't, Boss, I swear."

"Shut your mouth and put Jensen on." The Boss spat back, earning a hurried reaction from the guy as he passed the device to his friend.

"Yeah, Boss?"

"I want you to keep following Montoya, is that understood?" the voice spoke, gaining a nod from Jensen.

"Sure thing, Boss. But I don't think that the Bat will meet her." He replied before tapping his friend on the shoulder and gesturing at their target, who was now driving away.

"Follow." He added, making the other guy turn on the engine and drive them in the direction that Montoya was heading.

"I don't pay you to think. And I know that her boss Gordon will be the one who meets Batman. I thought once he was fired as Police Commissioner, that Gordon would no longer be any trouble. But that man is still a pain in our collective ass. So you just keel an eye on his friend there, while I set a trap for the Bat and the P.I. Because one way or another, they will both die and then I will have just that illusive bird to deal with...am I clear?"

Yes, Black Mask. Crystal clear."


It had become quite busy in the restaurant that Bruce and Miranda were eating at, with nearly all tables taken while the two continued to talk, only to be stopped as their waiter walked up to their to heir table looking quite flustered.

"Mr. Wayne, please accept my apologies if you feel that I have been neglecting your table for the last 20 minutes." He said in a grovelling tone, earning a confused look back from the Billionaire.

"You have?" Bruce replied before looking over to Miranda, who just mirrored his expression before returning his attention to the waiter.

"Yes and for that, I can only apologise." The young man replied, bringing a reassuring look to the Wayne's face as he looked between the Waiter and their surroundings.

"Look, ...?" he began to say, before another confused look befell his face, which made the Waiter speak up once more.

"Simon, Mr. Wayne."

"Well, Simon. As I look around the room..." the Billionaire began to say as he turned his attention to those sitting around the three of them, making the others do the same.

"...I see people who are clearly enjoying themselves, with not one looking displeased in any way. I am willing to bet that is because you." The young Wayne added, gaining a nod back from the waiter in return.

"...y...yes, I have been serving everyone on my own today so far, since some of the staff are on holiday." he replied with a wide eyed look, like he had only just noticed happy customers around him.

"Then relax and take a breath, Simon, because you are doing a fantastic job from what I see around me." Bruce said back with an appreciative smile, gaining a mirrored look from Miranda also.

"I second that." Added, making the waiter sigh as he grinned back.

"Thank you, I really appreciate that." he replied, before the Billionaire pulled out his wallet.

"I know tips are generally given out at the end, but here..." he continued while handing Simon two $50 notes, with Ms. Tate following suit as Simon's eyes widened even more.

"Are you serious?" he exclaimed almost excitedly while staring down at the $200 dollars lying in his hands from the pair.

"Consider that a thank you for 'your excellent service'." Bruce replied, gaining a nod from Miranda.

"You have more than earned it."

"Thank you both..." Simon then started to say with a wide-eyed look, before a thoughtful smile graced his face.

"...you know, I think that I will use this to start the cookery course that I really wanted to do."

This brought an engaged look to the young Wayne's face as he listened.

"So, you want to do more than serve tables?" he asked, earning an eager nod back from the waiter.

"Yes, I have always wanted to be a Cook, but thought it would be good to learn all aspects of working at a Restaurant first."

"That was a good idea." She replied encouragingly, gaining a nod from Bruce in return.

"I agree, and if you put as much effort and dedication into that as you have with your customers, then I don't see you failing to achieve that." He added with a mirrored tone, earning another beaming smile from Simon.

"Thank you..." the younger man started to say, before glancing at their surroundings and seeing another new customer taking a seat at the last unoccupied table.

"...so, is there anything else that either of you need at this time?" he asked in a professional manner, making both Bruce and Miranda shake their heads with a friendly smile as they both had noticed this as well.

"No, thank you. Not at this time."

"What she said. Thanks, Simon." The Billionaire finished, making the waiter nod back with a knowing and appreciative smile as he backed away.

"As you wish. Now please excuse me...and thanks again." He added before turning around and heading to the newcomers, leaving Bruce and Miranda alone again.

"You certainly gave that young man the boost he needed, Bruce." the latter then said, bringing a smile to the former's face.

"After seeing how many people he iswas looking after at this moment, how could I not. Hard work should be rewarded, no matter where it happens..." he started to explain, gaining a nod from Miranda he started to explain, gaining a nod from Miranda as she looked between him and the waiter, who was now serving other customers.

"...plus I wanted to return his focus back to everyone, since he did seem to get a little side tracked by us."

"Well, I guess it is easy for people to lose focus on the bigger picture when you have Bruce Wayne, Son of Gotham City in your restaurant." The lady replied with a smirk, earning a modest look and nod from the Billionaire in return.

"Yes, okay. That does tend to happen when I meet people, though I really don't know why. But Simon really deserves props here, for doing the opposite of the norm. Which is why I gave him a big tip."

" A sentiment that I share, hence why I matched your contribution, anyway..." Miranda began to reply, stopping only to take a sip of her wine.

"...before Simon's well-intentioned interruption, we had been enjoying these delicious meals and discussing our various charitable causes and how they can work together to help heal the world more, but we haven't actually just talked."

"You're right, Miranda." Bruce replied with an understanding tone as followed suit with his own drink, before placing the glass down by his now empty plate.

"If we're to combine our resources on the ideas we have spoken about in this past hour, then I would like to get to know my new partner more...and that is something I want to do." He said with a slither of affection in his voice, which made Miranda's smile widen more.

"As do I, Bruce." She said back, before he then refilled their glasses with the wine that was standing in the middle of the table.

"So..." Bruce began to say, only to be cut off as Miranda's phone started ringing.

"What could this be?" the young Woman then said with an annoyed tone as she picked up the device and answered the call.

"Miranda Tate...Angela? You do know what I am doing at this moment, right?...what, they did?...alright, I will come in and deal with it." She then said with a slither of excitement to her voice, which she tried to cover up by sounding annoyed. But Bruce was quick to pick up on this as he watched her turn off the phone and gesture for Simon to come to their table.

"Trouble at the office?" Bruce asked with a curious tone, earning a nod back from the lady as the waiter joined them.

"Yes, Miss Tate? How can I be of service?"

"We would like the bill please." She replied, gaining a nod back from Simon, leaving them as quickly as he had arrived.

"I am sorry to end this, Bruce. I would have liked for us to talk some more, but..." the young and striking woman began to say, only for the Billionaire to cut her off.

"No need to apologise, Miranda. I know the feeling, but perhaps we can set something else up instead." he suggested, gaining a welcome smile from her in return.

"That would be great, Bruce. In fact, there is an event happening tonight in Gotham. I was originally not going to attend..." she started to reply before glancing coyly away from the Billionaire, who gave her a knowing smirk back.

"...but it might be more interesting if I went with another."

"I see, great minds think alike, Miranda. You're talking about Rupert Thorne's black-tie dinner, which I too was not going to attend originally." He said back, making her stare into his eyes with a hopeful and seductive smile.

"Well? It might prove to be a more entertaining evening if we go together, what do you say, Bruce Wayne?" she said, which made him stare back with a mirrored look before acknowledging her with a nod.

"Okay, Miranda Tate, you've managed to twist my arm on this. That isn't something that can be easily done."

"Yes, I know. Alfred told me that at the charity event last night." She added with a knowing smile, making Bruce raise an eyebrow.

"Oh, he did?" he replied with a questioning undertone to his voice, which made her smile widen before hurriedly turning her attention to her phone, only for the Billionaire to get his out.

"It's alright, I've got this, Miranda." He said reassuringly, earning an appreciative look back from the young woman.

"...oh, thank you, Bruce..." she started to reply, while putting her device away.

"...so, how should we meet tonight?"

"I'll pick you up, say around 9pm. We don't really want to be there on time, do we?" he replied with a smirk that was almost mischievous, making her chuckle a little in return.

"Fair enough, we can be...how did you put it earlier? Fashionably late."

"Exactly. I'll see you later, Miranda" He said back in an affectionate and warm manner, gaining a mirrored expression from the Woman in response.

"Looking forward to it, Bruce. See you tonight." She answered, before leaving the table as he watched her go, a smile on his face as Simon return to the table.

"I see Miss. Tate had to leave, that's a shame." Simon stated with a tinge of regret to his voice, earning a nod back from Bruce as he gestured to his mobile.

"Yes, it is, Simon. But I would like to pay the bill now, please." He replied, making the waiter take a device out of his trouser pocket.

"Of course, Mr. Wayne." He said wirelessly connecting said device to the customer's phone, before a beep signalled the transaction.

"All done, Mr. Wayne. I wish you a good day and hope to see you here again." He added with a smile, gaining a mirrored look from Bruce as he took his phone and began to leave the table.

"Thanks, Simon. I think I will visit again, in the future. See you then." He replied before walking away, while Simon return his attention to the remaining guests.

Outside the building, the usher was waiting with Bruce's car behind him as the Billionaire walked up to him.

"Your vehicle, Sir." he said in a polite manner, gaining a smile from Wayne as he handed back his ticket.

"Thanks. Here...this is for keeping her spotless." he replied while handing the younger man a $50 note, who's own grin widened in appreciation.

"You're more than welcome, Mr. Wayne. Good day." the usher said back, while Bruce got into his supercar and drove away.

"Master Bruce?" Alfred's voice then spoke over the radio, while the younger man kept his attention on the road ahead of him.

"Yes, Alfred. That is good timing."

"Well, the car's sensors detected that you had re-entered it, Sir..." the Butler began to reply with a knowing tone to his voice.

"...so did you enjoy your lunch with Ms. Tate?"

"Yes, it was fun. And I will be joining Miranda at Rupert Thorne's function tonight..." the Billionaire started to say back, only for his friend to cut him off mid sentence.

"Really, Sir? I thought you were not going to attend? Instead, letting Mr. Fox represent the company in your place."

"Yeah, that was the original plan. But I...couldn't say no to Miranda." Bruce replied with an ambivilent tone to his voice, which he knew would make Alfred smile on the other end of the com.

"I say, it is about time, Master Bruce. Ms. Tate must really have made an impression on you." he said with a happy yet teasing tone, earning an uncomfortable expression from the Wayne.

'Damn it, Alfred. Always laying the pressure on, aren't you.' he thought while adjusting his tie with one hand, while keeping the other on the wheel.

"Was there a reason for your call, Alfred?" he then said back, the tone of his voice becoming a little irritated.

"Surely, Sir, you won't deny me the satisfaction in knowing that there is a small chance for you to have...at the very least a semblance of normalacy in your life? I mean it is not every day that you agree to see an intelligent and beautiful woman more than once." Alfred replied with a knowing but caring tone, one that made Bruce sigh in return.

"I know, Alfred. But you know why I can't..." he began to say back, with his words underlined with regret.

'I know where this is going. It's a never-ending cycle between us.' he thought, having had this conversation a number of times in the last few years.

"Bruce, you have let some real gems slip your grasp in the last 5 years. Women like Vicki Vale, Julie Madison and Linda Paige, just to name a few." Pennyworth continued, while Bruce listened as he drove through the city's streets.

"...even back when I was your age, I never let as many slip through my fingers as you have."

"Alfred, I know you want the best for me, that I can have more in my life than just Batman. But you will eventually come to terms with the idea that a normal life is purely out of the question for me..." Bruce began to reply, only for Alfred to remain quiet so the younger man kept talking.

"...I can't do what I do for Gotham as long as long as there is someone waiting for me to come home each night. Rachel realised that and let me go, so I doubt any woman would be able to put up with it."

"I understand what you are saying, Master Bruce, I really do. But just as I once told you that I would never give up on you, that I would support you in this noble crusade of yours. I will still want some thing better for you, and I have no doubt that out there in the world is a woman who will accept both sides of your life, even if you do. And please don't use Rachel as the example of why you're not going to try, because I do not believe that she was 'the one' for you, Sir, and deep down, you know that as well." old man said back in a caring and truthful tone, which earned a sigh from the Billionaire as he remained quiet for a moment as he stopped the car at a junction.

"Master Bruce?" the Butler asked, breaking the silence as the younger man nodded back in return.

"Yeah, you're right, Alfred."

"Well, I won't say 'I told you so'...at least not this time." Alfred said back, gaining a slight smile from Bruce.

"That would make a change. Anyway, is there anything else that I need to know?"

"Yes, Sir, there is. Mr. Gordon would like to meet you tonight?" the Butler replied, earning a curious expression from the younger man.

"So he used our 'live-drop' site in old Gotham again?" he asked with a knowing tone.

"Yes, Sir, or rather he had Ms. Montoya use it for him. But either way, Mr. Gordon will be expecting a meet-up tonight at the usual time." Alfred said back with a hint of worry, which the Billionaire easily noted.

"That shouldn't be a problem."

"And why is that, Sir? Considering you have other plans tonight that do not include a cape and cowl." The Butler replied with a concerned tone, though the Billionaire simply remained relaxed.

"Because I won't going to Rupert Thorne's do with Miranda until 9pm, while the meeting with Jim is at 7:45pm, like always. That gives me plenty of time to get to our Bat-Bunker in town and change, before heading off to the party." he said back with a knowing smile, gaining a sigh from the older man in return.

"I see, Master Bruce. Well, as long as you have the time..." he began to respond, only for Wayne too cut him off as he continued driving after the junction light turned green.

"It will be fine, Alfred. The live-drop will only last a few minutes at most, since Jim will only want to pass me some information anyway."

"Very well, Sir. I can see that you are now on your way here. What are your plans in the meantime?" the Butler then asked as Bruce's car joined the dual carriageway leading out of Gotham.

"I was thinking of hitting the Gym at home, then having something to eat."

"Very good, Master Bruce. Then I will make a start preparing your supper." Pennyworth said back, gaining an appreciative smile from the younger Billionaire in return.

"Thanks, Alfred. See you at home." he replied before ending the call and returning his full attention on the road ahead, putting his foot down on the accelerator and pushing his car faster as it sped away from the city.


A couple of hours later and Gotham was once again shrouded in the darkness of night, as the sun had set just an hour earlier. It was now a more dangerous time to be out and about in the city, since the street lamps could not illuminate every shadowed and dark spot.

Jim Gordon was more than aware of this as he drove home with his daughter, having spent the afternoon together. One of the few times that they had had been able to spend together as Father and daughter in the last few years, due to the complicated relationship he had with her mother, his ex-wife.

But even if he had burnt the bridges with Barbara, that was not going to happen with his kids. So Jim made sure to spend every free moment he could with them, to ensure that he remained a part of their lives.

That was why he let Renee deal with work as he spent the afternoon with his teenage daughter, who sat in the passenger seat next to him.

"So, did you enjoy this afternoon with your old Man, Barbara?" he asked, earning a happy look from her in return.

"Yeah, it was great. Thanks again for taking me out, Daddy." She said back, making the older man shake his head as he smiled back.

"It was my pleasure. The two of us should do this more often. Though I am still baffled why you chose 'Love that Baby'? The stage show didn't even have the original cast in it." Jim replied with a confused tone, making the redhead smirk and shrug her shoulders.

"We really liked the show when we used to watch it as a family, so I thought it would be good to see it again. But you are right, Daddy, It was not as good as I remember. What happened to the first Baby Doll?" Barbara then said with a curious tone, while looking out of the side window at the street lamps as they went by.

"You mean 'Mary Dahl'?" her Father began to reply as he kept his attention on the road, with a thoughtful look crossing his face.

"...I have no idea, Barbara. All I know is that she disappeared after the show was cancelled. Anyway, even if the new show was not as good as what we remember, the most important thing is that we had fun together."

"Exactly, Daddy..." the younger girl started to say as she returned her attention to him, mirroring his smile.

"...especially after eating 'Double Cheesemeister' meals at Big Belly Burger. It was all really tasty."

"Yeah, it was. Greasy...but definitely tasty. And now back to the house, though I wonder if Jimmy will be there before us?" the former policeman said, gaining a puzzled expression from Barbara as she looked at the street they were driving down.

"If we are going home, shouldn't we already be there? Where are we?"

"I just have to see a 'friend' first and then we'll head home, I promise." Gordon then said back with a knowing tone as he pulled over, parking the vehicle near a inconspicuous alleyway. But this gained an excited look from his Daughter in return.

"Are you meeting...Batman here?" she almost gasped, earning an eye roll from her father as he turned off the car's engine and released his seatbelt.

"Of course not, Barbara. Now just stay..." he began to say, only to find himself stopping mid-sentence as he saw the anticipation growing in his youngest's eyes.

"You are, aren't you?" she added with her almost ecstatic smile widening at the possibility, making the older man sigh in return and adjust his glasses.

"...Yes, Barbara. I am meeting with the Batman, but you have to stay in the car." He said back with a now serious tone, earning an understanding nod from the girl.

"Of course, Daddy. I just want to get a glimpse of him, if that is alright?" she asked, which brought an unsure expression from the Private Eye in response.

"Well, I can't guarantee that, Barbara. He does have a tendency to keep to the shadows. Now I shouldn't be long, just remember..." he then began to add, only for his daughter to cut him off.

"I know, 'stay in the car'. Now go and don't keep him waiting." She replied eagerly, making Jim sigh once more as he then got out of the vehicle and closed his door behind him.

'I'm starting to wonder if I should have taken Barbara home first?' he thought before taking a few steps into the alleyway, only to look over his shoulder back at his car. But his daughter just smiled back and gestured for him to keep going.

Gordon smirked back and returned his attention to where he was going, walking further into the poorly lit alley to the spot where his partner had left the signal. But just as he reached the spot, the few exterior lights that illuminated the area suddenly turned off and basked the former police commissioner in darkness.

Back at his car, Barbara saw what transpired as her grin widened, keeping her attention focused on the blacked out alley.

"He's here."

Meanwhile, Jim took a cigarette and a Zippo-lighter out of his pocket. He then used the latter to light up the business end of the former, which revealed that the Batman was standing before him before fading out of sight as he flicked the lighter closed and snuffed out the light.

"Good evening, Jim. You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah, I have some information about the Penguin..." the Private Eye started to say, stopping just long enough just to take a breath of the cigarette, which gave him another quick glance at the Dark Knight through the shroud of darkness that encompassed both men.

"...seems like he has some high level connections because no sooner are his men in Blackgate, that they are quickly back out on the street again. One of my contacts in the prison confirmed it for me earlier."

"I suspected as much, Jim. But that means he is getting help from either City Hall or the GCPD." Batman replied, earning a nod from Gordon in return.

"I know. I can't say that it sits well with me that the 'force' I worked hard to clean up could quickly fall back into old ways."

"If the connection is with the GCPD, do you think that Foley could be involved?" the Vigilante asked with a distrusting tone, which made the older man shake his head back.

"Not a chance, Batman. He may not be the best cop in the force, but Peter is no sell out. The guy is a firm believer in the letter of the law, or else he wouldn't have it in for you so bad."

"Good point. I will put feelers out into both departments then, which will hopefully give us something." Batman's voice spoke out of the darkness once more, gaining a curious expression from Jim.

"If I may ask, how's the search for Black Mask and Penguin going on your end? You were hoping to track those two goons back to the two crime-lords, right?"

"It is ongoing, Jim. But the less you know about what I am doing and how, the safer it is for you...and your family." He answered with a knowing tone, making Gordon glance between him and the car.

"Ah, you noticed Barbara."

"I did." The Dark Knight replied candidly.

"You know I don't usually make a habit of bringing my family along to our meetings, but we were on our way back from..." the older man started to explain, only for the Vigilante to cut him off.

"No need to explain, Jim. Just make you get her home safely. This area is not exactly safe." he began to say, only to be cut off by Alfred's voice

"Truer words have never been spoken, Comrades." Another disguised voice spoke up from just aways as the alleyway lights reactivated and exposed the pair for all to see.

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Gordon exclaimed in startled confusion as he and the Dark Knight found themselves standing before a heavily built masked man wielding an automatic rifle with one hand and a long machete in the other. He wore a purely black/grey armoured suit with the exception of three large horizontal red lines on his chest, while his mask had a red pattern around his exposed eyes

"James Gordon and The Batman. I am 'The Beast'. My benefactor wants your heads, and I am going to deliver them to him." He then said with a heavy Russian accent before opening fire on the pair, with the sound of his gunfire echoing throughout the alleyway.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading it. :)

Next time: Black Mask has sprung his trap, with Batman and Gordon facing off against the Russian hit-man 'The Beast' with Barbara stuck in the middle. Can the pair defeat him?

Chapter 6

"Get down!" Batman spat as he tackled Gordon down to the ground, both men narrowly missing the hail of bullets that Beast fired at them. But the mercenary simply followed their movement and and continued to fire, while the vigilante instinctively grabbed the edge of his cape and covered both himself and his friend with it.

"Ha. That will not save you, Comrade." The Russian chuckled, before noticing that the bullets were just impacting against the cape and not penetrating it, as they just fell to the ground with each and every hit.

"What the?" he added in Russian under his breath, before suddenly stopping as the gun jammed after the last bullet was fired.

'Here's my chance.' The Dark knight thought before throwing back his cape and revealing two Batarangs in his other hand.

"Jim, go!" he spat while throwing the two customised shuriken at their adversary, knocking his weapon out of his hands.

"Okay..." the former Police Commissioner hesitantly replied before getting to his feet and running back to Barbara and his car, while the Vigilante launched himself at the disarmed Assassin, hitting him square in his masked face with a right hook.

But the Beast ignored the hit and returned the favour by striking Batman in his chest, which even though was heavily armoured, knocked him flat on his back.

"You are more than you appear to be, Batman. I will relish killing you..." he began to say while standing over his target, before looking down the alleyway at Gordon, who was nearly at his vehicle.

"...but you are not my only target."

Meanwhile, Barbara sat in the passenger seat of her dad's car, eyes wide and mouth partly agape at what she was witnessing in front of her.

'This is incredible! Come on, Batman!' she thought excitedly, before the car door on the other side from her opened and her Father got in.

"I hope you have your seat belt on, Barbara?" he said in a hurried and alert tone, making her do exactly that, but never taking her eyes off what was happening before her.

"Yeah..." she began to reply, before a worried expression appeared on her face, because she noticed that he was starting the car's engine and the Dark Knight was lying at their attacker's feet.

"...but what about Batman? He needs help."

"He'll be fine, but I need to get you out of..." the Private Investigator then said back, only to stop as his attention was caught by the Beast now pointing a weapon at them, while the Batman laid at his feet.

"...oh crap!" he muttered under his breath before grabbing his daughter, making them both duck as the assassin opened fire and shattered the windshield, making shards of glass rain down on them in return.

"Daddy?!" the young teen exclaimed with fear underlining her voice, making the older man hold her tight as bullets raced over their heads.

"It will be alright, Barb." He replied, trying to sooth his little girl's fear.

But as the Beast had one foot down on the Batman's chest, pinning him to the ground as he continued to fire on the Gordons, the former did not notice that the latter was up to something.

'Got to get his attention back on to me.' The vigilante thought has he took two items from his utility belt, one smoke pellet and one more batarang.

"This will be easier than the Black Mask thought." Beast exclaimed confidently, making Batman's ears burn as he noted the former's words before shattering the pellet on the ground beside him.

"What the...?" the Russian merc spat in his mother tongue as heavy smoke began to surround and envelope him, only for his eyes to widen under his mask as his attention snapped back to his priority target, who smirked at him before stabbing him just above the ankle with the Batarang.

"Arrgh!" Beast cried out as he lifted his foot, freeing Batman who rolled clear and quickly pressed a button on the buckle of his utility belt while getting back to his feet.

Though before the Dark Knight could react any further, he was suddenly grabbed via his cape and yanked back on to his back as the Beast tried to run a machete down into his chest. But the vigilante quickly caught the blade between his own wrist blades.

"You are just full of surprises, aren't you, Batman?" the Russian replied as he gritted his teeth while trying to force his weapon down into his opponent's chest, all while the latter grimaced as he held the tip of his adversary's weapon just a few milimetres from him as it hovered there.

"I am glad that you have put up more of a fight..." the Beast began to say before the Dark Knight gritted his teeth and with all of his strength, broke the former's machete by slicing it in half with his wrist blades.

"Impossib..." the Merc then started to exclaim, only to be cut off by Batman's boot as the latter kicked him in the face. This made the Beast fall onto his arse as the vigilante performed a Kip-up and sprung back onto his feet.

"Black Mask should have told you..." the Dark Knight began to reply as he turned round to face his adversary, who was still sitting against the alleyway wall.

"...that I 'am' the impossible."

"Let's see about that." The Beast spat back as he sprung at the Bat with his broken machete and drove it at his head, only for the vigilante to block and deflect it with one hand and punch his enemy inn the face with the other.

But the Russian ignored that hit and swiped his weapon towards the Dark Knight's stomach, making the latter perform a block with both his hands.

The Beast smirked behind his mask as he replied by quickly pulling the blade back, revealing that he had feigned this attack and instead, punched Batman square in his face.

The Vigilante grimaced while he staggered back a few steps, clearly disorientated as the Russian pushed on with his attack and swiped his broken machete at the other's chest once more. But even as he was still reeling from the force of that punch, the Dark Knight still managed to bring his arms up to cover his chest, resulting in the weapon's broken blade slicing through the armour on Batman's right gauntlet.

"Arrgh!" the Vigilante grimaced behind gritted teeth, but the pain was like a shot of Adrenalin as it snapped his attention right back to his opponent, making him spin around in the same direction as Beast's attack and hit the Assassin with his cape, disorientating him.

Batman then continued to spin in that direction, keeping his momentum going as he then performed a 'reverse hook kick', hitting the Russian in the side of the head and knocking him to the ground.

It was the that he could hear the familiar engine growl of the Batmobile as it stopped at the entrance to the alleyway, just behind Gordon's shot-up car.

"Get to my 'car'!" He ordered in his disguised voice, gaining a nod from the former cop as he took his daughter out of their vehicle and headed toward the armoured car.

The Dark Knight then smashed a smoke pellet on the floor next to the Beast, who was recovering as the smoke rose and clouded his view.

"...that was a..." he began to say in a groggy manner while getting back to his feet, revealing his helmet to be cracked down one side as he was cut off by the sight of the now empty alleyway.

"...a mistake." He finished as the smoke faded away, with him hearing the roar of the Batmobile's engine in the distance before looking down at his blooded and broken machete.

'But at least I did not come away empty handed...' the Russian thought as he smirked behind his mask.

"Next time, Batman, you will drown in your own blood."


Ten minutes and several traffic light violations later, the Batmobile came to a quiet stop in an another alley behind the Gordon residence. The former Police Commissioner climbed out and helped his daughter from the vehicle, while Batman remained in the driver's seat.

"This car is 'so' much better than the plane." Barbara exclaimed like a fan-girl, earning a non reaction from the Dark Knight as he looked over at Gordon.

"Go inside, Sweetheart." The Private-eye then said while the young girl gave the Dark Knight a beaming smile, which instantly changed as she looked up at her father with a shocked expression.

"But, Daddy..." she began to say, only to be cut off by his firm stare.

"Now, Barbara."

This gained a sigh from the teen before she turned back to Batman, giving him an appreciative smile.

"Thanks, Batman...Bye." She then said, before heading inside as he just sat there with an indifferent expression on her face.

As soon as she was gone, Jim let out a sigh as he took off his glasses and cleaned them.

"I tell you, Batman, I don't know what's worse. Either she begins a fan-club for you or tries to fight crime herself..." he then said, before putting his glasses on again.

"...the latter sounds worse." He added, but Batman simply stayed quiet as he looked on with thoughtful expression.

"Batman?" the older man then said, bringing the costumed man out of his thoughts as he glanced back at him, noting the questioning look on the former's face.

"You're being too quiet, which for you is saying something."

"I'm sorry, Jim. I should have checked out the area before meeting you. You and your daughter nearly died tonight. That's on me." The Vigilante said with a apologetic tone, which made Gordon shake his head in return.

"No, Batman, don't do that. You hold enough responsibility on your shoulders. For all we know, that Russian had followed me here or even Montoya earlier today. So don't assume that this is all on you, because we are all in this together, right?"

This gained an appreciative smile back from Batman, who nodded in response.

"Yes, Jim, we are. Thank you."

"You're welcome. So, Black Mask thinks we are a big enough threat to him now that he hires assassins to take us out." Gordon replied with knowing look to his face.

"Yes. So, perhaps you should consider moving your family to a safer location until the situation with Black Mask and Penguin is resolved." The vigilante said back with a concerned tone, which made the older man shake his head.

"I appreciate the advice, Batman. But this situation with these two has been going on for too long now. And anyway, if I had to hide my family away every time a maniac showed up, then they would never leave the house..." he began to say, earning an understanding look from the Dark Knight as he listened.

"...No. I won't do that. Because if there was always one certainty, it was that there is always a risk when carrying a badge. Be it to the person carrying it, or to that person's family and luckily my kids understand that risk. In fact, after leaving the force, Barbara told me that she would never forgive me if I just gave up on helping people...on helping you. So here I am, standing with you against the chaos that continues to blight our city, no matter what/who it is and what happens?"

"And I appreciate that, Jim." The Vigilante replied as the two smiled at each other, before a curious expression then appeared on the latter's face.

"So, I take it that this is Black Mask's attempt to raise the stakes, hiring mercs to take us out?" he asked, gaining a nod from the Dark Knight.

"It would seem so. You should know, Jim, that the Penguin has also brought an assassin into his operation."

"Yes. It was Black Spider, right? Police have had encounters with him in Coast City, Metropolis and Starling City in recent years. Eye witnesses said that you took him on while chasing down a lorry being run by Penguin's men..." Gordon started to say, which the vigilante acknowledged with another nod, before a knowing expression appeared on the former's face.

"...before being attacked by what looked like...a ninja, who was dressed like those who attacked the city with Scarecrow's fear gas years back."

That last sentence brought the Batman's gaze back to Gordon as his masked face mirrored the other's.

"Yes, it appears that this ninja is all that is left of the League of Shadows and is here to take their revenge on me. But there is no connection with either Penquin or Black Mask."

"How can you be sure, Batman? I mean, you did say that Ra's Al Ghul was the League and with him gone, it was no more. But perhaps there are still some members out there." Jim said back, making Batman look away with a thoughtful expression.

'There is at least one other person...' he began to think, remembering that the female ninja was in contact with someone the previous night, before he saw the time on dashboard in front of him.

"I will look into it, Jim, and let you know what I find. But now, I must be going." The vigilante then said.

"Okay...but there is one more thing." The older man then replied, as he remembered something that he wanted to discuss before the Russian hitman appeared, earning a curious but stoic look from the vigilante.

"There was someone else at Blackgate when I visited my contact with Montoya. Just after laying eyes on him, I had a gut feeling that he was someone that should be on the other side of visitor's booths."

"What did he look like?"

"He was Caucasian, around 6'4 with silver grey hair and a trimmed beard. He was also missing his right eye." Gordon then said, remembering the details of the stranger.

"Okay then, I will take a look at the Prison's security footage and see if I can match his face to a name."

"I appreciate that, Batman. Good night." The former cop then said as he stepped away from the heavily customised motor.

"Good night, Jim." The Dark Knight replied, before the vehicle's canopy slid back into place and the Batmobile sped away, leaving Gordon standing there in the now empty alleyway.

"Good luck out there." He then muttered before turning around and heading in the direction of his house.

Back in the Batmobile, the masked vigilante tapped a button on the dashboard, which made his Butler's face appear on the small monitor beside the steering wheel.

"Yes, Master Wayne?"

"Have you been monitoring my situation, Alfred?" Bruce asked, earning a nod from the old man.

"Of course, Sir. I take it that you have seen the time?"

"Yes, so I need you to meet me at the Penthouse bunker, because I need a little medical attention before I go out to meet Miranda."

"I see. Though, I thought that you had now learnt basic field medicine?" Alfred asked with a curious tone.

"Yes, that is true. But nothing beats your perfect work, old friend."

This made the confidante roll his eyes and sigh in return at his end in the Bat-cave.

"Very well, Master Bruce. I will meet you there and patch you up."

"Good. Also, before you leave. Have the Bat-computer access the security footage at Blackgate Prison for the time that Jim Gordon was visiting. There is a person of interest that he wants me to look into." The Dark Knight added, gaining a nod from the Butler on his end of the call.

"Will do, Sir. See you soon." He said back before ending the call, while the vigilante glanced down at his bloodied gauntlet as he had both hands on the wheel.

'There aren't many blades that can cut through my armor.' He thought while returning his attention back to the road ahead of him, while his Batmobile continued further into Gotham.

An hour later and the party had already started at the Thorne residence, home to Gotham City Councilman - Rupert Thorne, with guests still arriving as they filled out the mansion's large ball-room.

The man himself, who was an overweight man with silver swept back hair, was in the middle of the masses, meeting and greeting them all one at a time with his wife by side.

"Hello, nice to see you again." was just one of three same three sentences he used while greeting his guests, or as many as Lucius had noticed as he watched the party's host make his way towards him.

"Lucius Fox, welcome. It's nice to finally meet you..." Rupert then said as he approached the Wayne Enterprises Chairman, his left hand extended toward the latter who took it in his left.

"...though please forgive me. I have had little contact with Wayne Enterprises since you replaced William Earle as it's CEO." He added as they shook hands, gaining a polite smile from the guest in return.

"Not a problem, Mr. Thorne. I do think you will find that many things have changed since the company's chief share holder returned to Gotham though."

"Yes, I read about young Bruce Wayne's return eight years ago. I was hoping that he would make an appearance tonight." the Councilman replied with a disappointed tone to his voice, earning a knowing smirk from the Wayne CEO.

"I would like to say that Mr. Wayne considered accepting your invitation, but he is both young and wealthy. A combination that rarely ever conforms to the things that we older and wiser folk believe are important."

"Unfortunately, that is true. Driving fast cars, dating beautiful women and generally being reckless with one's fortune. That is what the younger generation of millionaires and billionaires like to focus on."

"I did say 'rarely', Mr. Thorne. And while Mr. Wayne does like to buy fast cars and date supermodels, he does care an awful lot about his family's company." Lucius said back before taking a sip of his wine.

"Well, since I have relocated back to Gotham to take my place on the city council, perhaps I will finally get a chance to meet him." Rupert replied with a hopeful smile, which brought a curious look to Fox's face.

"It's bound to happen, Mr. Thorne. Though, can I ask how you have come to be on the city council? Because the last time I checked, you were a business man and not a politician."

This brought a sly smile to the other man's face in return.

"It's funny that you should ask, Mr. Fox..." he began to say, before stopping mid-sentence as he looked past the Wayne CEO.

"...but that will have to wait. Please, excuse me." he finished while walking past Fox, who turned around to see him welcome a short and chubby, but well dressed Caucasian man in a posh suit with slicked-back hair.

"Mayor Cobblepot, welcome." Rupert Thorne then said as the two men shook hands, with the shorter man looking up at him with an appreciative smile.

"Rupert, please call me Oswald and thank you for invitation."

"Like I am not going to invite the Mayor of Gotham to my first event back in the city, especially when he is now my boss." The host joked, gaining some light laughs from the people around the pair, while the Mayor simply smiled back.

'That wasn't awkward.' Fox thought as he took a sip from his glass, before his glance caught Cobblepot's.

"Lucius Fox!" he exclaimed while waling up to the surprised man, offering him his hand.

"I hope there are no hard feelings about my cancelling our meeting the other day? Though you were not the only one that I had to do that too." the Mayor added with a apologetic tone and smile, while Lucius accepted his hand in return.

"Of course not, Mayor Cobblepot. I understand that you are an extremely busy man." he replied as Cobblepot's blonde male aide handed his boss a drink from the nearby waiter, who took a sip as Thorne hovered around the pair.

"Well, we should set up a new date then, since I am very interested in knowing how Wayne Enterprises can further improve our fair city..." Oswald started to say, only to stop and turn to his Aide.

"Carmichael, please set up a date for...how's does tomorrow afternoon sound, Mr. Fox?" he continued, turning his attention back to the Wayne CEO.

"Sounds good, Mayor Cobblepot..." he answered, before noticing how agitated Thorne was becoming.

"...but we can go through the details later."

"Yes, that would be preferable, since there are a number of people who would like to see you now, Oswald." Rupert then said as he stayed at Cobblepot's side like a shadow.

"Very well, Rupert. But Mr. Fox shall accompany us." Cobblepot replied, earning a silent nod back from the Host as Fox looked at them both.

"I don't want to feel like I am inpede..." he began to say back, only for Mayor to brush it off as he gestured Lucius to follow them.

"Nonsense. Now please, come..." the smaller man replied with a smile, before looking back to Thorne.

"So, Rupert, who are we going to see?"

"Well, not only are the rest of the City's Councillors here, but so is the Police Commissioner and Roman Sionis, owner of Sionis Industries."

"Sionis? They're our biggest Competitor at the moment." Lucius said back after hearing the name, earning a curious expression from Thorne and Cobblepot.

"I hope that this isn't going to be awkward for you, Mr. Fox?" the latter asked with a show of conern in his voice, which made Fox shake his head in return as they saw the smartly dressed Sionis up ahead, talking with Peter Foley. The former had slicked-back black hair and was wearing a black suit and white bowtie over his medium build, who noticed the group heading towards them and smirked back.

But before they could join him and the Police Commissioner, everyone's attention was drawn back to the Mansion's entrance as two more people walked in.

"Who is that?" Cobblepot asked, before noticing that a wide smile appeared on Fox's face.

'I'll be damned...' he thought, before turning his attention back to the Mayor.

"Mr. Thorne, Mayor Cobblepot, I would like to introduce Bruce Wayne." he said as the young man and Miss. Tate joined the party.


Meanwhile at Blackgate Prison, Abbas was lying down on the bunk in his cell whilst reading a book. The prison-guards were down at the other end of the corridor of cells, finishing off their rounds in that particular cell-block, though this did not concern the former League of Shadows member as he kept his focused on his reading.

But then the light's just outside of the cell began to flicker off and then back on, though this still did not disturb Abbas as he remained unchanged.

"You do know that since I too was trained by the great Ra's Al-Ghul..." he then started to say out loud, before looking over the book to find Slade standing beside the bed in his armour.

"...that no-one can sneak up on me." he added with a confident smile, though he could not see the other man's reaction due to his masked helmet covering his face.

"I was not trying, Abbas. But since I am here, you know that we are going to continue our 'little' chat from earlier." the assassin replied in a stoic manner, earning a sigh from the prisoner in return.

"Yeah...I guess we are." he said back, before a moment of silence passed between the pair as Slade clenched his hands into fists.

Suddenly, Abbas throws the book at the armoured assassin, making the latter knock it away before quickly blocking a punch from the prisoner, who had sprung off the bed at him. The orange and black armoured fighter quickly tried to counter with an elbow to his face, but Abbas ducked under it and shoulder-barged his attacker into the wall.

"Urgh..." Slade grimaced as his back slammed against the concrete, but he didn't have time to get his bearings as his enemy continued his attack, performing a roundhouse kick to his side. But the assassin caught the prisoner's attack and flung the guy against the wall next to him, earning a painful grunt from him as he fell onto the floor.

"I knew you would not go down easy, Abbas..." the masked man said as he stood over the prisoner, who rolled onto his front by the bed.

"...tell me the identity of the man who killed Ra's and I will kill you quickly." he added, which made Abbas chuckle.

"You already know that it was Batman. I saw the news, Talia failed to kill him last night." he replied while slowly getting closer to the underside of the bed, which made Slade reach for one of the two swords that were on his back.

"Yes, but we also know that he was trained by Ra's before becoming the Bat, so we want his real name."

"Well, I am not sorry to keep disappointing you, Slade. Because I like watching you flounder in the dark, unable to see what is right in front of you." the prisoner said back, before grabbing a concealed knife from under the bed and quickly rising on to his knees and slashing out at his opponent, only for the masked assassin to draw his blade in blink of an eye and deflected the attack, then following through by slicing Abbas's hand off in one flawless and swift action.

This gained a pained gasp from the now one-armed man as he clutched at his handless arm, the shock of what had just happened freezing him in place. But he did not get much time to dwell as his hand lay on the ground in front of him, because Slade then ran his blade through the former League member's torso, missing all the major organs as it broke through his back.

"Arrgh!" Abbas cried out in pain, gaining the attention of the other inmates residing in the cell-block, while the orange and black armoured assassin knelt down next to him.

"What's going on in there?" one of Abbas's neighbours called out, which Slade ignored as he looked at his beaten foe.

"You are beaten, Abbas. I can ease your passing, but only if you are honest with me..." he began to explain, keeping his grip on the hilt of his blade steady and tight, while blood started to trickle down from the prisoner's mouth.

"...because I have this blade nestled right between some of your internal organs and with one twist, I can make sure that you die in absolute agony. So, what will it be?"

The sounds of Abbas's suspicious neighbours began to get louder as he started coughing up blood onto the floor, grabbing hold of Slade's shoulder to steady himself as he looked into Slade's only eye, which was exposed through the assassin's mask.

"You win...Slade. It's...Wa...Wayne, Bruce...Wayne." he replied between pants and coughs, which made Slade's eye widen in surprise.

"Th...thank you, Abbas. You may rest now." Wilson replied as he regained his composure while the sounds of the approaching prison-guards got closer, before effortlessly sliding the sword out of his opponent's torso and quickly decapitating him.

"...Bruce Wayne is...Batman." the assassin then muttered under his breath, before getting back to his feet, standing over Abbas's headless corpse. But then the sound of approaching guards caught his attention and the Assassin threw a smoke pellet down on to the ground and enveloped him and the whole room in a cloud of smoke.

"What's going on in there?" one of three guards exclaimed as they rushed into the cell-block, just as the smoke began to dissipate.

"The hell...?" another said with a dumbfounded expression as they all looked in to see both Abbas's corpse and head, while the third guard unlocked the cell door.

"Who? How?" the guard asked as he entered the cell, stepping around the prisoner's headless corpse, with said head lying next to the now open door. But the other two could not answer, simply staring down at the mess while the first activated his radio.

"Get the Warden and lock down the prison." he said in a panicked tone, while the surrounding prisoners yelled and shouted from their cells.

Meanwhile outside of the prison, Slade slipped through a cut in the perimeter fencing and dropped onto his front just as a searchlight from the nearby tower passed by.

'That was too close.' he thought before springing back to his feet and sprinting into the cover of a nearby group of trees, while more prison-guards continued to rush around on their side of the fence.

Once in the the clear, the assassin stopped behind one of the large trees to and removed his mask as a thoughtful smile appeared on his face.

"Bruce Wayne...is Batman." he muttered in a surprised tone while turning his attention to Gotham which was just a few miles away and lit up like a Christmas tree against the black of night.

'This certainly makes things more interesting.'

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading it. :)

-CHAPTER 7-

"Welcome to my humble abode, Mr. Wayne." Thorne said with an almost booming tone to his voice, greeting the younger Billionaire with a handshake.

"Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Thorne." Bruce replied with a confident smile, trying hard not to notice that all the eyes in the room were now on him. But Miranda then found the host's attention drawn to her, with the older man giving her a warm smile as he held out a hand to her.

"I don't believe I've had the pleasure, Miss..." he started to say, cutting himself off as she let him take her hand in his own and give it a kiss. This made Tate's skin crawl, though she did not show it as he made a fake smile back.

"Miranda Tate, Mr. Thorne..." she began to reply while coolly taking her hand back.

"...and thank you for the invitation. But believe me when I say..." the younger woman continued to say as her smile started to fade, while Bruce and the others around then watched.

"...you won't have the pleasure." she added with a cold smile, which stunned Thorne as everyone did not know where to look, but could not take their eyes off the pair as Miss. Tate carried on.

"You see, Mr. Thorne, I wasn't going to come to your party originally, because I am tired of you old, self-important Fat-Cats staring at my chest and making shrewd and childish comments behind my back. But I also am painfully aware of how much I can increase my influence in Gotham if I do turn up to these parties in a nice dress, because you will do anything I ask if I smile and look pretty. So I'm here with Bruce Wayne as my chaperone..."

This sentence brought a confused look to Bruce's face as he stood there and watched, before noticing that Lucius was having a hard time hiding the smirk that was growing on his face.

"...so that the Fat-Cat looks keep coming, but not nearly as much as usual. Do we understand each other, Mr. Thorne?" Miranda then asked, while the party's Host stood their with his mouth agape.

"Yes...,of course..., Miss. Tate." He then replied in a flustered and embarrassed manner, while Fox joined Wayne's side.

"I like your date, Bruce." he said with a smirk, earning a raised eyebrow from the younger man in return.

Miranda then turned back to the pair and gave the latter a coy smile, holding her hand out to him.

"Come on, Bruce. Let's go get a drink from the free-bar." she said, which made the Billionaire smile back as he took her and was led away from the others who all looked shocked, except for Lucius.

"Young people..." the Wayne CEO then said with a knowing smirk, earning the attention of the Mayor as he stood next to him.

"...am I right?" he added, gaining a scoff from Cobblepot in return.

Meanwhile, Bruce and Miranda approached the improvised but professional-looking bar at the back of the room.

"Two glasses of your best wine, please." The lady asked the barman as they stopped by at the bar, only for Bruce to jump in before the worker could acknowledge the order.

"Make mine a club soda, thanks." he said, gaining a surprised look from his date while the barman just stared at both with a confused look.

"Bruce?" Tate asked with a curious tone.

"I guess, I prefer to keep my wits about me." He replied with an honest smile, of which Miranda could only stare back before a daring expression appeared on her face.

"Make that two, please." She then said to the barman, who nodded back in return.

"Very good." He answered before turning around to make their drinks, leaving the pair alone for the moment.

"You've surprised me yet again, Bruce. You really aren't like the others, are you?" Miranda observed.

"I'll take that as a compliment, Miranda, thank you." The Billionaire replied as she looked back curiously.

"But you did drink when we had lunch earlier and I swore I saw you having a glass of wine at your event, where we first met."

"Yes, that is true for earlier. Because when you don't have the eyes of the world on you, then you can relax. But in this environment..." he started to answer before looking out at the others, making his date do the same.

"You have to keep up appearances, I can understand that." Miranda replied as the barman returned with their drinks, regaining their attention.

Your Club sodas."

"Thank you." Miranda said back appreciatory while taking the two drinks, before handing one to Bruce as the help turned to another person who approached the bar.

"So, Miranda..." the billionaire began to say with a confused-looking smile as the lady passed him his drink.

"..., I'm not just your Chaperone tonight?"

This gained a teasing smile from Tate as she took a sip from her glass.

"Well..." Miranda then began to answer, only to stop as she saw the look on Wayne's face, which made her burst into laughter.

This gained the attention of a few other guests standing nearby, which made Wayne smile back at them awkwardly as he looked around, while the former regained some self-control.

"...Oh, Bruce..." she then started to say, before stopping and taking a drink from her glass as her date mirrored her.

"...you are certainly not my chaperone. And I apologize if I offended you, but I was not expecting such an expression from 'Bruce Wayne' of all people." the lady continued, bringing a slight smile to the Billionaire's face.

"I guess I'm full of surprises?" He replied with a tinge of curiosity to his voice, which brought a coy smirk to Miranda's face as she looked at him.

"Yes..., you certainly are, Bruce." She said back as they stared into each other's eyes and smiled, before a curious expression grew on the man's face.

"Just out of curiosity, why did you tell the others that I was your chaperone?"

"Because I'm tired of coming to events like these...or the one where we first met and having the elitist fat-cats surround me like foxes with a Hen, taking turns to try he fast-track of wine and dine on me." She explained, earning a knowing expression from Bruce.

"I can relate, Miranda. Usually, I get mobbed by women at these events." He replied while gesturing to the others around the pair, making his date look over to see a few of the lady guests eyeing him up.

"On the hunt for a eligible Bachelor, are they?" She asked, noticing the icy glares that the other women were giving her.

"Yeah, but they are this time keeping their distance." he replied, gaining a knowing smile from Miss. Tate in return.

"That's because they know that you are already taken tonight, and so are staying away. It's exactly the same with what happened earlier with me and the fat-cats."

"I get it..." Bruce started to say, before looking between his date and the ladies nearby.

"...well, be careful. They have been known to fight over me, not that I want that." He said back with tinge of concern in his voice, making Miranda smile back confidently at him.

"Don't worry, Bruce..." she started to say back, before glancing back at the ladies.

...I can handle myself." She added with a smirk, earning jealous dagger-like stares from the others.

"Good. So..." Wayne began to say, regaining the lady's attention as they continued to stand at the bar.

"...your analogy about foxes..." he continued before noticing his date's smile widening, gaining a confused look from the billionaire as another voice spoke up from his left.

"What was that about Foxes, Mr. Wayne?"

This made the younger man's eyes widen as he looked in that direction to find Lucius standing beside him, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Lucius?" He replied with an almost stunned tone to his voice, which made Miranda chuckle in return.

"Mr. Wayne, what may I ask, were you and the lovely Miss. Tate discussing about my family?" The older gentleman asked in a friendly and curious tone, gaining a sigh from Wayne.

"Lucius, we're talking about the 'animal'." He replied, earning a look of revelation from the CEO in response.

"Oh, I see. Well, you should know that they are intelligent, cunning and are natural-born survivors." He then stated, gaining another sigh from the billionaire as Miranda just smiled back at the pair.

"Was there a reason that you came over here, Lucius?" Bruce then asked with a tinge of annoyance in his voice, cutting his older friend off mid-sentence. This brought a look of realization from Fox as he remembered said reason.

"Oh, of course, Bruce. The mayor would like to have a word with you, if you have a free moment?"

"Surely, Lucius, if it is anything to do with Wayne Enterprises, then you're the one to talk to." The younger man replied, making Fox shake his head in return.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Wayne, Mayor Cobblepot asked for you personally." he replied, which made the Billionaire look back at Miranda, gaining an understanding look from her.

"But, we were..." he started to say, only for her to cut him off.

"It's alright, Bruce. I just saw a Businessman that I would like to speak with." she explained while looking over his shoulder, making the Billionaire glance back to see an older silver-haired man standing by the wall on his own.

"I thought you said...?" Bruce began to reply with a confused tone, only for Miranda to smile back reassuringly at him.

"It's only one fat-cat this time and I'm certain that he's the CEO of Stagg Enterprises. All I need to gain his company's support is to use my charms on him. And while I do this, you can go and see what the Mayor wants. We can continue this afterwards." She explained before gesturing between herself and him, gaining a surrendering smile from the billionaire in response.

"Okay. Good luck with Stagg." He replied while backing away, bringing a smirk to Miranda's face.

"Thank you, now go. You don't want to keep the mayor waiting." She said back whilst shoeing him away, before walking over to Stagg while Bruce turned around and walked off with Fox.

"So, Lucius, did you get a chance to ask the mayor about our problem?" The younger man asked, making the other shake his head in response.

"I'm afraid not, Mr. Wayne. Perhaps you might have a better chance." He replied, before leaving his friend's side as the latter joined Cobblepot.

"Ah, Mr. Wayne, I am glad that you could spare a moment to speak with me." The smaller and chubbier man said as he shook the Billionaire's hand, earning a smile from him.

"It's not a problem, Mayor Cobblepot." He replied, feigning his real feelings as he found himself thinking about Miranda. But the Mayor simply smiled back knowingly, which made Bruce cringe inside.

"Oh, I'm not so sure. Having to leave a beauty like that amongst all those probable rivals around us..." Cobblepot continued to say as he gestured at the pair's surroundings.

"..., she may end up leaving with one of them."

But this line made the younger Wayne simply smirked back confidently.

"Then I guess you haven't heard of my reputation of being 'Gotham's most eligible Bachelor'?" He replied with a curious tone, while taking a glance back out at the crowd. This made the Mayor look out there again, noticing how many of the female guests around them were staring back at the young billionaire.

"I have heard..." he began say as he kept his attention away from Bruce, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly as he felt a tinge of jealously come over him.

"...but never had the chance to witness it firsthand." The smaller man continued as he returned his gaze back to Wayne, maintaining his calm and friendly stature.

"Anyway, that isn't what I wanted to discuss with you." He added while Bruce ignored one of the ladies trying to get his attention with a wave.

"And what would that be, Mr. Mayor?"

"As you may well be aware, our glorious city is facing a crisis now." The small man then answered, earning a curious expression from Wayne in response.

"What might that be?" He replied, making the Mayor stare back with tinge of surprise to face.

"Well..., I am speaking of the mob bosses - the 'Penguin' and the 'Black Mask' of course." The two of them are keeping organized crime, flowing through the veins of Gotham, which is halting the city's chances of achieving the greatness that it deserves."

"What did you have in mind, Mr. Mayor?" Bruce then asked.

"I want to give our citizens hope for the future and show that the power in Gotham is in the right hands and not those of the Mob. And I'm not sure you realize just how important our meeting here truly is..." Cobblepot started to reply, which made the billionaire raise and eyebrow at that comment.

"...because you and I are now the only members of Gotham's 'founding families' still living in it's boundaries." The mayor added, gaining a nod from Wayne in return.

"'Founding Families'. That's a term I have not heard in a long time."

"Indeed, Mr. Wayne. Your Family and mine are the only ones left. The Dumas, Elliot and Kane families are all gone." The older man said back, while Bruce looked at the ground with a tinge of sadness as the mention of the last two names gave him pause.

'Kane...that was my Mother's family and my childhood friend 'Thomas' belonged to the Elliot family.' He thought before returning his attention to Cobblepot.

"So, what would you like from me, Mr. Mayor?"

"Just your support, both public and financial, for an initiative that I am starting with the GCPD." The older man replied with a confident smile, while Bruce looked back at him with a puzzled expression.

"Well, if you want my public endorsement of this, then I should know what your initiative is. And if you also want financial support from Wayne Enterprises, I will need to bring Lucius Fox into this too."

"Of course, and you are correct on both counts. Please follow me, so we can discuss this out of view of prying eyes." The Mayor said back with a gesture, before leading the younger Wayne into another room, away from the crowds.

"Here we are..." Cobblepot then exclaimed as he and Bruce we met by two other men, one that the latter recognized as Commissioner Foley, while the other was a tall, well-built Caucasian man with raven black slicked-back hair in an expensive suit. The latter stood there looking confident and somewhat aggressive, though the former appeared uncomfortable and unsure of himself.

"...with Commissioner Foley and Roman Sionis, the owner of Janus Industries." Cobblepot added, earning a nod from the former and the latter offering his hand to the billionaire.

"Mr. Wayne." Foley said with a serious tone, while Bruce shook Sionis's hand.

'Can't say that I've seen the Commissioner looking like that before. I wonder what's got him spooked?' he quickly thought before speaking to the new guy.

"Hi..." he began to say back, before looking back at the Mayor with a questioning look.

"Excuse me, but I thought you wanted this to be between 'Founding Families' members..." he said, before returning his attention to Roman.

"...no offence."

"None taken..., Mr. Wayne." The businessman replied with a friendly expression, though Bruce could detect a tinge of annoyance underlining the other guy's words.

"Mr. Wayne..., I apologize, but may I call you Bruce?" The mayor said, gaining a cheeky smirk from the Wayne Ent. Owner.

"Only if I get to call you Oswald in return?" He replied, gaining a mirrored look from the shorter man.

"Well, I guess that depends on whether or not you join my initiative."

"Fair enough. So, what is this idea of yours?" Bruce then asked.

"As I told you earlier, the city is suffering from a crisis that is slowly building up to something worse..." he began to explain, earning a chuckle from Sionis.

"Isn't a crisis in Gotham just another Monday for everyone here?"

"It is not a laughing matter, Mr. Sionis. Long has Gotham shared it's history with organized crime, starting from the days of the Sabatino Family, before being succeeded by other like Falcone and Maroni..." the Mayor continued while Bruce and the others listened.

"...and while things may have appeared to improve since the Vigilante 'Batman' appeared on the scene, that is simply not the case as every time one Mob boss is removed, another one takes their place."

This earned a curious expression from Wayne when he heard that last sentence, which did not go unnoticed by Cobblepot.

"You have something to add, Mr. Wayne?"

"I'm just wondering what your opinion is on the Batman, Mr. Mayor? It sounds almost like you support what he is doing out there." He replied, earning a nod from Sionis in return.

"Yeah, last thing we need is that freak getting any official support from someone in the city." The other replied with a venomous sting to his words, making the billionaire glance over to him.

'Sionis certainly has a strong distaste for Batman. I should take a closer look at this guy, because I knew nothing of him before this meeting.' he thought before the Mayor responded to Roman.

"Don't get me wrong, I think it's amazing that someone has gone to such great lengths to help his fellow man. But... I cannot condone anyone to take matters into their own hands, not when we have a fully capable police force." He said, which finally made Foley take a step forward.

"As Mr. Wayne here knows, I am no fan of the Batman. In fact, I firmly believed that he had murdered Harvey Dent, which turned out to be not true. And even though the vigilante has done some good out there on the streets, gaining popularity among the citizens. I too cannot condone his actions and have made it a goal to arrest him..." he began to explain with a now serious tone and expression, like saying all of that finally had snapped him out of his quiet behavior from earlier.

"...but, that being said, there is a bigger picture to consider and with the growing threats of the Penguin and Black Mask, I have decided to give the Batman a pass for now, so long as he stays out of 'our' way."

"And what will the GCPD and City Hall be doing about those two?" Bruce then asked, regaining their attention.

"Mr. Sionis has graciously donated five blimps from the Janus Industries New York to the city." The Mayor replied, gaining a smarmy smile from the businessman.

"I had recently acquired the blimps in takeover of Ferris Aircraft's New York facility. And since I was planning on returning to my roots here in Gotham, I thought this gesture would go a long way to making that a reality."

"Okay, but what does my company have to do with this?" Bruce added with a curious tone, which made Foley speak up.

"Mr. Wayne, as you are aware, most of the city is located on three islands - Uptown, Midtown and Downtown...or 'Old Gotham' as Gothamites call it. We plan to have a pair of blimps positioned over both the northern and southern islands, with the fifth stationed over Midtown as the Alpha unit for the others." The Police Commissioner explained.

"Each of these blimps have been fitted with the most state of the art surveillance equipment, meaning we will have eyes in the sky looking down on the whole city." Roman then added, before the Mayor continued.

"If this initiative is successful, we will need another fourteen blimps produced so that we can have an airborne unit over each of the nineteen boroughs of Gotham City, thus ensuring that our Police can watch over and protect our citizens in their entirety." He said, while Bruce listened with an intrigued expression.

"And you would like Wayne Enterprises to create the other ones?

"In conjunction with Janus Industries, yes. I do expect to have other Gotham companies in on this initiative, but there is nothing like having Families Cobblepot and Wayne leading the way to a brighter and safer Gotham."

"I must say, it is an interesting concept. But I will need to discuss this with my CEO first." The billionaire replied, earning a nod from the Mayor in return.

"Of course, Mr. Wayne. We are planning to launch the first stage of the initiative in a day or so, which should be enough time for you to make up your mind. In the meantime, let's return to the party." He said back, before the four of them left the room and re-joined the rest of the party.

"So, Mr. Wayne, what was that about?" Lucius asked as the Billionaire joined him, with the latter's attention divided as he looked around the immediate area.

"It was about blimps, Lucius."

"Blimps?" The Wayne Chairman replied with a confused tone to his voice, earning a nod from the younger man.

"Yeah...but we can discuss this later." He said back in a distracted way, gaining a knowing smirk from the older man in response.

"Miss. Tate is over there, Mr. Wayne." Fox stated whilst pointing in the direction of the young woman, who was still talking with the old man from earlier.

"Thanks, Lucius. Speak to you later." Bruce replied with an appreciative smile before heading in that direction, gaining a sigh from his friend.

"Of course, Mr. Wayne."

"Bruce!" Miranda then said in a surprised tone as she saw the billionaire coming towards her, before looking back at the businessman.

"Thank you. I will have my secretary contact your people. Until then." She then said before leaving the other's company and re-joining Bruce.

"Bruce, while you were with the Mayor, I convinced Mr. Stagg to give a rather sizable donation to my cause." She explained with a smile, gaining a mirrored look from him in return.

"Well done. Glad to see you're making good use of the evening." He replied, gaining a slightly disappointed look from the young woman.

"Well, I would have rather spent the time with you, Bruce, but I had to share you with Mayor Cobblepot."

"I take it you that don't like to share." The Billionaire said back with a playful smirk.

"And you would be correct..." Miranda began to answer with a similar expression, before her face took on a more inquisitive look.

"...so was the talk between you and him worth losing sometime with me?" she then asked, making him shake his head in return.

"Of course, it wasn't, Miranda." He replied with a warm smile, gaining a bigger one from his date.

"Good answer. So, I hear they have a makeshift dance-floor. What do you say?"

"Why not." The Billionaire replied, offering the lady his hand. She smiled and took it in her own, before the pair began walking further into the hall.

But before they moved any further, the sound of an explosion outside rattled the building and brought the party to a halt.

"What the...?" Miranda exclaimed with shocked tone, mirroring the reactions of everyone else around them, while Bruce kept calm and looked in the direction the disturbance had originated. The orange and yellow hue of fire could be seen from the patterned window nearest to where the explosion happened, only for the lights to go out and shroud everyone in the hall in near complete-darkness, except for the light of the fire outside and the moonlight coming in from the skylight in the ceiling overhead as the last remaining sources of light.

'That was the GCPD support vehicle.' The young Wayne quickly thought, before his attention was caught by the sound of Cobblepot's voice.

"What's going on out there?" The Mayor barked at his bodyguard, who was already on his radio, an action quickly followed by Foley with his mobile.

"I need the closest units to the Thorne estate to get here as fast as they can." He said, while Miranda looked back at Bruce and noticed the lack of panic in his expression.

"Bruce...?" She started to ask, gaining his attention as the party's host then called out to everyone.

"Everyone, please remain calm. I'm sure that every..." Thorne then said out loud to the guests, only to be cut off as the front door was blown off it's hinges by a fireball, knocking those closest to it on to the ground.

"What in Hell...?!" The Mayor growled as two armed men entered the hall.

Both men wore similarly armoured suits and helmets, carrying large tanks on their backs, but had different colour schemes. The one on the right had a red/yellow look to his armour and was armed with a flamethrower, while the other's was dark green/grey and carried a weapon that look similar but also different.

"Hell is here, Mr. Mayor..." the guy with the flame-flower began to say, only for the other guy to continue.

"...and if any of you walking piggy-banks wants to leave, then you will give your valuables to 'Firefly and Killer Moth'!"

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading it, I really appreciate it. :)

Next Chapter: With Firefly and Killer Moth holding Thorne's party hostage, it is up to Bruce to find a way to defeat these two villains and save the day. But how will he do that without Miranda and everyone else finding out that he is the Batman?

A/N: Hey, Everyone. After two years off, which I needed for a break and also to make a start on my own novel, I am back with a new chapter for Batman: Deception. I cannot guarantee regular updates to this story, like one every few weeks for example, but there shouldn't be as long a gap between chapters from now on. Enjoy. :)

CHAPTER 8

Rain began to fall from the now cloudy sky on what appeared to be a normal evening in Gotham, dousing the burning wreck of the GCPD support vehicle that stood outside of the Thorne residence, the atmosphere inside of the mansion was anything but normal.

The Businessman's guests were huddled to one side of the hall as the villain Firefly kept his Flamethrower aimed at them, while his partner Killer Moth began stripping each one of their hostages of their valuables.

"Come on, Miss, I'm sure you have several more back at your fancy home..." the masked criminal said as he gestured at her pearl necklace, while she held her hands to it in a defensive manner.

"...so give me that necklace or I will simply burn it off." He added with a sinister tone, before firing his gun at the wall behind her, spraying it with concentrated acid that quickly dissolved that spot.

"Aggghhh!" she screamed before ripping off the necklace and throwing it into the open bag Killer-Moth was carrying.

"That's better..." he stated before turning his attention to everyone else.

"...Okay, Folks, consider that a warning to anyone else feeling less than charitable to our needs."

Everyone there then quickly removed their valuables and got ready to hand them over as the villain went up to each one, with Firefly watching them all.

"See, it isn't that hard to be charitable, is it." The Firestarter observed with a chuckle.

Meanwhile, two people who looked less than happy to were Bruce and Miranda. The latter was staring at the two costumed criminals with a rebellious disgust, slowly clenching her hands into fists as she watched the pair getting their way with everyone.

"Someone's got to do something, Bruce." She whispered to her date, only to get no reply. So she looked over to the Wayne to see that he was staring at the developing situation with a calm and stoic expression.

"Bruce? How can you be so calm at a time like this?" she then asked while nudging the Billionaire, snapping his attention back to her.

"There's nothing we can do while one them has a flamethrower aimed at everyone, Miranda..." He whispered back, before giving the young lady a curious look as he noticed her behavior.

"...and you're more riled up than I thought you would be, considering what's going on." He questioned, making her turn her attention back to the criminals with a subtle head shake.

"I despise those who threaten innocent people with violence and death." She replied with a tinge of self-righteousness to her words, gaining a curious look from the billionaire in return as glanced back to her.

"We are both on the same page about that, but there isn't much we can do right now." He replied, before one of the two villains noticed Foley.

"Hey, Moth. Look what we have here." Firefly exclaimed as he pointed the man out in the crowd, making people move away and expose him to the pair.

"Why it's the Police Commissioner..." the other costumed crook said in return, before noticing that he still had his phone in his hand.

"...and it looks like he might have called some of his friends to join this party." Killer-Moth added before firing his acid gun at the cop, spraying the corrosive liquid over his phone.

"Arrrgh!" Foley cried out in pain as a little splashed onto his hand as he dropped the device on the floor, which quickly started to dissolve as he cradled his hurt body-part.

"You might want to get some water on that." The villain then said, gesturing to the fancy bucket of ice water on the table nearby. This made one of the guests grab it and take it over to the Commissioner, who then quickly placed his burning hand into it and cried out in pain once more.

"If none of you want to have a similar experience, I suggest that you all behave from now on." The guy's partner then warned, before gesturing back to their half-full bag of riches.

"Fill it up, Folks."

Everyone then fearfully dropped their valuables into the villain's bag, be it watches, phones and jewelry, it all changed hands from Thorne's guests to those of their captors.

"That's good. Keep up the charity, Everyone, and perhaps you will all get to go home tonight." Firefly observed as he watched his partner moved from person to person.

Meanwhile, at the end of the group, Bruce and Miranda remained quiet as they stood there and watched the situation unfold, with the former using a sleight of hand to equip his earpiece before the latter can spot it.

"The Bat-Computer detected you activating your Bat-Com, Master Wayne...do you really need to brand everything? " Alfred's voice then asked, with Bruce the only one who could hear him, making the younger man smirk.

Meanwhile, in the Batcave, the Butler sat at the Bat-computer and brought up a layout of the Thorne's mansion on the main screen.

"Anyway, I have already plotted the fastest and most efficient path to your car from your current location, including a shortcut through a most interesting room should you find yourself being followed."

Bruce nodded discreetly before turning his attention back to Miranda who was watching the two costumed criminals with a disgusted and resolute expression, narrowing her eyes at them as they bullied and robbed the others blind.

"Miranda..." he began to say, only for the lady to turn to him and cut him off mid-sentence.

"Okay, Bruce, if I make a distraction, you should be able to get out and get help."

This earned a surprised look from the Billionaire as she stared back with a resolute and determined expression.

"Okay...but I was going to suggest that you go and I make the distraction." Wayne reacted with an unsure tone, gaining a knowing smirk back from his date.

"That's sweet, Bruce, but I'll be fine. This isn't my first time being at a party that was gatecrashed by criminals," the younger woman said, before subtly gesturing for him to go. "Now go."

Bruce smirked and nodded before quietly backing away as Tate started for Killer Moth and FireFly, gaining the others' attention as she did so.

"Are you two idiots finished yet?" She said in a brazen tone, making the pair turn and face her with confused looks though their expressions were masked by their helmets.

"Is she talking to us?" The fire-starter asked in a puzzled tone, making his partner shrug his shoulders before gesturing him to go over to her.

"Are you talking to us, Lady?" He repeated while holding his flamethrower towards the guest, a low flame dancing at the end of the weapon's nozzle as it was held close to her face, though Miranda did not even flinch as she stared him down.

"Well, I don't see any other Halloween-themed clowns at this gathering. So, yes, I am talking to you." She declared in a confident and defiant manner, earning a worried look from Foley as he stood alongside, Thorne, Sionis, Fox and the other hostages behind the two criminals.

"Miss. Tate, don't aggravate them. Just do as they say."

But his warning fell on deaf ears as Miranda stood her ground and stared the two masked men down, leading Fire-fly to spray a flash of flame just past her face, which did not even result in a flinch from the young Tate.

"Huh. I'm impressed, Lady, you've got some brass ones on you there." he acknowledged, making the woman narrow her eyes at him.

"I have more than you..." she replied before glancing down towards his crotch.

"...apparently."

Even though you could not see his face from behind his mask, the fire-starter gritted his teeth as he began to say while raising his hand to her.

"You Bitch!"

But before the criminal could take a swipe at her, Killer-Moth grabbed his wrist and stopped him, all while keeping his own acid gun aimed towards the crowd.

"Hey, no time for that..." he started to say before gesturing to the area just behind Miranda.

"...Wasn't there a guy standing with you back there?"

The lady shrugged in return with a completely bewildered expression on her face, which gained a subtle knowing smirk from Lucius in return.

"Was there? I don't recall anyone with me."

"Yeah, there was. Another rich schmuck." FireFly agreed, before pointing to the corridor in that direction.

"Go take a look. I'll cover everyone here in the meantime," he added while turning his attention to Miranda once more. "Someone should teach these people some manners."

But his chilling words did nothing for the female guest as she simply scoffed in return, making him almost erupt in fury.

"Just go, before I burn this bitch alive!"

Killer Moth nodded back cautiously, quickly leaving the group in the main hall as he went down the poorly lit corridor.

Meanwhile, just further down the corridor. Bruce paced quietly but quickly past numerous rooms as he listened to instructions from his earpiece.

"Okay, Alfred, where now?"

"It's the next door on your right, Master Wayne." the older man's voice replied, with the billionaire walking through the very next door and smiling as he saw it's contents.

"Alfred, you're a genius." he replied with an air of appreciation in his voice, since he could picture how his old friend would look after hearing his words.

"I have my moments, Sir. Now get into position before your pursuer reaches you." the butler then said through Bruce's earpiece, making him move to one of the shadowed areas.

Then only a few seconds later, Killer-Moth entered the room with his acid-gun ready.

"Come on now, Mr. Suit. Let's make this easy. You quit hiding and show yourself, and I promise I will not burn your face off.

But the only answer the criminal got in return was silence as he looked around the room, which looked like some kind of multi-media center though most of the devices were shrouded in shadow.

"Okay then. I guess I will enjoy melting your face off when I find you..." the masked villain then said while closing in on a shadowed spot behind what looked like a large screen TV.

"...and I will enjoy it." he added, only to be cut off by a gravelly voice speaking out from the darkness.

"No, you won't."

This made Killer-Moth turn around in time to see Batman suddenly standing there, making him freeze on the spot.

"What the...?!" he started to exclaim, only to be cut off as the Dark Knight knocked the weapon out of his hands and followed through with a punch to his chest and then a roundhouse kick to his masked-face, sending the criminal to unconsiousness as he fell back onto the floor.

"Is it done, Sir?" Alfred then asked, earning a nod from the Vigilante in return.

"Yes, Penny-One. You can turn it off now."

Suddenly, the Batsuit began to flicker before disintegrating and revealing that Bruce Wayne was still in his tux.

"Lucius and his tech guys have outdone themselves with these new holographic emitters." the young man then stated as he gestured to the hardware, whose red lights blinked off, which then deactivated.

"Perhaps you can give Mr. Fox and his team a bonus in their upcoming salary payment, Sir." the butler responded, earning a nod back Wayne.

"I'll take that under advisement..." he acknowledged while walking.

"...so, where's the nearest exit to my Jaguar?"

"You should find an unlocked window in the bathroom fifteen meters towards the west end of the house."

"Thanks. I'm getting my 'other formal wear' now..." he started to say before stopping as he gave his old friend a questioning look.

"Wait, Alfred,...you did put my suit in the Jaguar's boot?" Bruce asked, which he could swear would put a smile on the old man's face back in the Batcave.

"Master Bruce, I have placed a Batsuit in every one of your cars, from the Bentley to the Lamborghini."

This made the young billionaire smirk as he exited the room and started heading down the corridor towards the bathroom.

"I should give you a vacation, Alfred." he responded with an appreciative tone, earning a chuckle over the radio.

"And who would keep the Manor in perfect working order, Sir? Now get going. Those hostages are counting on you."

"No, Alfred. They're counting on us." Bruce said back with a smile as his disappeared into the shadowed end of the corridor, leaving Killer-Moth where he lay.

A few minutes later back in the main hall with the rest of the hostages, Fox was busy attending to Foley's injury as he wrapped up the latter's acid burned hand with helpf from Miranda.

"This should help until we can get out of here." the Wayne Ent. CEO assured, earning an uncertain look from Foley in return.

"Whenever that will be, Mr. Fox. Before they killed my phone, I did manage to get a message out..." he began to explain, earning disgruntled looks from Cobblepot and Sionis as the pair looked over at him.

"And where are the Police, Foley?" the short fat one demanded, mincing his words which gained a nod of agreement from the Janus CEO.

"Yeah. That was a good 10 minutes ago. Surely the nearest patrol would have been here by now." Sionis replied in an exasperated tone, with a look of dumbfoundedness being the only answer that the Police Commissioner could give in return.

"I...don't know. They should be..." he began to stutter while holding the cloth of his wounded hand, only to cut off by Miranda as she gestured back to their captor.

"Shush! Look." she whispered back as they looked back to FireFly as his attention was caught by the sight of Killer Moth limping towards him from the darkness of the hallway behind him.

"What happened?! Don't tell me that suit got the better of you!" he blasted at his partner who grunted as he rejoined the other's side and shook his head in response.

"No, Fly. It was the Bat..." Moth started to explain, taking his friend aback.

But as the two talked, the mention of the Dark Knight had not gone unnoticed by the others there.

"Did you hear that? The Bat is here. We're saved." one of the guests effused, earning looks of relief on the faces of the rest.

This even caught the attention of both Fox and Miranda, who had finished attending to Foley and had turned their attention to what was going on with the others.

"Did I hear that right? The Batman is here?" the Wayne CEO quizzed, gaining nods back from the others.

"You heard right, Fox." Thorne verified with an almost anxious tone to his voice, bringing a subtle smirk to the former's face while his female friend had a cautious frown.

"Forget Batman. We have an opportunity here." she replied while staring daggers at the two costumed criminals, something that did not go unnoticed by Lucius who stopped her as she moved closer to their captors.

"Miss Tate, please don't..." he started to say, only to be cut off by Fire-Fly.

The firestarter, having too noticed that their hostages were not staying quiet, quickly turned around and opened fire on the area surrounding the group, circling them in a ring of fire and stopping Miranda in her tracks as she felt the heat of the flames on her skin, making her retreat back to the others.

"Don't even think about it." he warned, giving Miranda a narrow glare through the lenses of his mask before returning his attention to his partner.

"Now, did you say...Batman?!"

"Oh yeah. It was the Bat. He's here." Killer Moth fretted, with the other noticing that he had the shakes as his acid gun rattled in his hand.

"Just relax. There's two of us and one of him." FireFly snapped, making his partner shake his head in return.

"Two against one? Did you not hear about the time he took out the Whisper gang that tried to take over the Gotham Central Station a few months back? They were twenty men strong." Killer Moth replied with a worried tone, earning a cynical head shake in return.

"I'm not worried. We can..." the other started to say before something suddenly flew past one of the large windows in the hall, catching everyone's attention as it blocked out the light from the street lights outside for a second.

"Did you see that?" One of the guests asked with a wide-eyed expression, earning similar reactions from others around him as they nodded back.

But as many in the room looked around in an ambivalent way, with both fear and hope etched on their faces, Miranda remained calm as she quietly observed the situation.

"Miss Tate, please contain yourself. You're making the rest of us look bad." Lucius requested with a teasing undertone, making her smirk back ever so slightly.

"As I told Bruce earlier, this kind of situation is nothing new to me."

"Nor to me. In fact, I was present when the Joker gatecrashed an Election party that Mr. Wayne held for Harvey Dent several years back." He replied, gaining a knowing look from the young woman in response.

"I heard about that. The Batman was present there as well, wasn't he?"

"Yes..." the Wayne CEO began to answer, making Miranda turn away and look back at the windows as another one was blacked out for a second as something passed by, blanketing in the room in darkness for a fast moment as her expression changed to one of cold determination.

"...and I highly doubt that this could be anyone else. We're in good hands, Miss Tate." He continued unknowingly as her look changed to one of concern.

"What about Bruce? Do you think he's alright?" she asked while returning her attention to him, bringing a reassuring smirk to the older man's face.

"I'm sure he's fine. It's these two who should be worrying right now." Fox responded while gesturing to the two costumed thugs that were frantically looking around, following the dark shape that kept snatching the outside light away as it quickly passed the various large windows of the hall every other moment.

"He's toying with us." Killer Moth stated as the pair went back to back, all while their hostages remained trapped behind the wall of fire.

"Just be ready. He'll..." FireFly started to reply back before being cut off by the sound of something small breaking through the window.

"What is...that?!" The latter then said as he felt something snag against his gun at the same time as the window break, making the former look up at the window and notice the small hole in it's pane.

"He threw something in, maybe..."

But before the masked man could say any more, the fire-starter's flamethrower shut down.

"What the hell?!" FireFly spat while his friend noticed that his fuel tank was leaking, creating a puddle on the ground behind his feet.

"He cut your fuel line." He pointed out, making the other unsheathe what looked like a machete whose blade suddenly ignited as it was suddenly enveloped in fire.

"Come and get us, Batman! Quit hiding!" He needled while spinning around and looking at each window in the hall, hoping to see some trace of the Dark Knight.

"Is your acid-gun still working?" The fire-starter

then asked with a more calm and focused tone to his voice, which was followed by Killer Moth firing his weapon at a nearby statue and covering it in a corrosive liquid that immediately began to eat through the object.

"Yeah." The other answered, earning a smirk from behind Fire Fly's helmet.

"Be ready."

And then for what felt like an age, the two costumed criminals remained back to back as they turned around on the spot and watched each and every one of the large windows in that hall, all while being watched by their captive audience.

"Well, where is he?" Thorne inquired with anger and annoyance underlining his words, gaining curious looks from Sionis and Cobblepot.

"You'd rather that costumed clown deals with this and not our police force, Rupert?" The latter questioned with a tinge of hostility on his tongue, bringing a similar look to the host's face as he glared back.

"What I want, Mr. Mayor, is this freak-show to be over. And if the Bat is the only way to end it, then so be it," he spat back, before glancing over to Foley who was still cradling his burnt hands. "It's not like the Police are being much help now, are they?"

This made both Cobblepot and Sionis exchange awkward glances to each other before another guest then regained their attention as she pointed at one of the windows above them.

"Batman!" the lady exclaimed in an exhilarated yet fearful tone as the Dark Knight crashed through the window and spread out his cape like a bat's wings, creating a shadow that engulfed the two masked criminals where they stood while dropping down to them.

Killer Moth quickly attempted to raise his weapon but was too slow as the vigilante glide-kicked him in the chest, sending the former into a wall as the latter landed perfectly next to FireFly as everyone else watched.

"You're f***ing dead, Bat!" The fire-starter spat as he lunged at Batman, only for the costumed crime-fighter to easily block his strike and counter with a punch directly at his helmet.

This shattered it's visor and revealed Firefly's true identity as Alfred's voice spoke into Batman's ear via the cowl's com-link as the criminal fell back against the wall.

"The Cowl's camera in conjunction with the Bat-computer's F.R.S has identified Firefly as Garfield Lynns, Sir."

"Stay down, Garfield, or you'll be taking all future meals via an IV drip." The vigilante warned through his disguised voice as the latter slipped down onto his arse in shaken state, before turning his attention to Killer Moth who had recovered and was reaching for his acid gun that lay just aways from him.

"And that makes you 'Drury Walker'," he said which stunned the masked man as the latter grabbed his gun and aimed it at the Bat. "Though I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Screw you, Batman!" Moth spat back before turning his weapon in the direction of Fox and Miranda.

"NO!" Batman shouted as he leaped between the pair and the acid, pulling up his cape to shield the two from the attack as Killer Moth fired a shot at them.

"Nothing can stop my acid, Batm..." the criminal began to gloat with a smirk behind his mask, only to stop as the Dark Knight's cape looked undamaged apart from a little smoke rising from it's fabric.

"...How?!"

But before he could get an answer, Batman pulled back his cape, showing that the guests were completely unharmed, and quickly threw a batarang into the acid gun.

"No! My gun!" Killer Moth began to bellow, only to be cut short as he looked up just in time to see Batman's fist hit him directly in the stomach, winding him.

"Because I'm Batman." The Dark Knight added before hitting the man again in his helmet, cracking it as the force of the hit knocked the man out as he fell to the ground.

This brought cheers from the guests as the Batman stood over the two defeated crooks, turning his attention to the guests.

"You're all safe now."

"Thank you, Batman," Lucius Fox then said with an appreciative smile, one that was shared by several of the other guests except for Cobblepot and Sionis who simply looked back with disdain as sirens could suddenly be heard outside. "But I think it's time for you to leave."

"I agree," the Dark Knight replied before noticing that Foley was still cradling his burnt hand, so he took an item out of one of the pouches on his utility belt. "though you should use this spray on the Commissioner's injury."

Foley heard this and looked up to see Batman hand the Wayne CEO the small canister, which made him look at the former and give him a reluctant smile in return, gaining a nod back from the vigilante.

Batman then equipped his grapple gun and was about to aim it at the open window only to find his attention caught by Miranda, who was looking at him with the same disdain that he saw in the Mayor's eyes.

'Miranda?' the Dark Knight thought before firing his grapple-gun and launched himself out of the window, leaving the guests alone with the two beaten criminals as the police then burst into the mansion, while Miranda simply looked up at the window Batman had disappeared through.

"...soon." she muttered to herself with a determined expression on her face.

Way tl;dr.

Chapter Nine

The scene outside of Thorne's residence was a chaotic one as the Police since arrived and were in the process of taking statements from the guests as they were escorted out of the mansion that Bullock was overseeing before noticing that Cobblepot was making a discreet exit.

"Excuse me, Mister Mayor, but you should give a statement before leaving." he called, only for Oswald's subordinates to stand in his way.

"The Mayor has been through a stressful time tonight, Officer, so he will send you a full statement in the morning." one of the suits replied in a matter-of-fact tone, which wasn't going to pass with Harvey.

"I'm sorry but that isn't going to fly with me, Sonny. If all the other high and flyers here can give a statement, then so can the Mayor."

But before the podgy-looking policeman could follow through, he felt a hand on his shoulder which pulled his attention back to find Foley standing behind him.

"Let him go, Bullock. The Mayor has permission to leave." he directed, which gained a look of disbelief from Harvey.

"But, Commissioner..." he cajoled, while the Mayor and his people continued to enter the vehicles of their motorcade, earning a more authoritative look from his boss.

"That's an order." he insisted, making the younger man shrug off his hand and step away in defiance.

"Fine," he started to reply as he watched the motorcade then leave the area without resistance, only to look back at his superior. "But you should know that we couldn't get a statement from Sionis either. He had left before we could close off the area."

"Right. Well, we will just have to see him tomorrow then." Foley reassured, only for Bullock to wave him off and head over to another group of guests, leaving the Police Commissioner alone as he stood there with his arm in a sling.

Meanwhile, Lucius and Miranda were being questioned, just like the others, with the officer there writing down every word on her pad.

"So, is that everything, Mr. Fox?" she inquired, earning a nod from the Wayne Enterprises CEO.

"Yes, it is, Officer." he answered with his usual friendly manner before the young woman with him then jumped in.

"Excuse me, Officer. But have you any word on Bruce Wayne? He didn't come out with the rest of us and must still be in there."

The policewoman gave her a reassuring smile in return as she put away her pen and pad.

"Miss Tate, our people have only just begun to search the residence for anyone else that could still be in...," she started to say, only to stop as she saw two more of her colleagues leave the building with a familiar face.

"...there we go." she added while pointing the pair to an area behind them, making them turn around to see Bruce being escorted to them.

"We found Mr. Wayne hiding in a room in the west end of the house." the one on his left reported, earning a taken aback look from the billionaire.

"Hey, guys, please? I was only doing what the Batman told me to and that was after I called in the hold-up." he denied, bringing a relieved look to Miranda's face while Fox smirked at him knowingly.

"You came across the Batman, Mr. Wayne?"

"Yeah, he stopped Firefly from making a roast of me. The guy still has his issues though."

"Yes,'clearly', Mr. Wayne. But we were lucky he turned up when did." the old man concurred, just as Rupert Thorne joined their side.

"That Bat is crazy to be sure, but we owe him our lives." the councilman commented as the police officers left them alone. "And I do hope you accept my sincerest apologies for what happened tonight."

All three gave their host a sympathetic smile in return.

"None of this is on you, Rupert." Fox counseled him, gaining a nod from Wayne.

"Yeah, this is Gotham. Costumed nut-jobs are just a way of life here."

"That is true. And it's because of the Batman that they keep coming back." Miranda added, making her date and his CEO look to her with curious expressions.

"And how is that, Miss Tate, if I may ask?" Lucius wondered, bringing a tinge of righteousness to the lady's otherwise gracious demeanor.

"Don't get me wrong. I appreciate what he did here tonight," she assured them before a slither of disgust broke through. "but the Batman's very presence here invites these lunatics to attack the innocent of this city. If he never came to be, then perhaps these 'types' of criminals would not either."

"That is an interesting view of our 'Dark Knight', Miss Tate. And normally, I would be in agreement with you," Thorne began to say before he then gave them a relieved smile. "But, just for tonight, I am certainly glad he was around. Please excuse me."

The councilman and host then turned and left the trio to see to the remaining guests, while Bruce gave Fox a knowing expression as he looked between him and Miranda, making the old man suddenly look at his watch.

"Well, I'll be. Look at the time. I guess, I'll be heading home. Good night you two." he then hurriedly said before walking away too, leaving the pair alone.

"So, if you want, I'll take you home now, Miranda?" the billionaire then asked, earning a thankful nod back from his date.

"Thank you, Bruce. That would be great." she replied, making the young man gesture for her to follow him to his car as the couple headed out.


Meanwhile, in the Gordon residence, Jim walked along the upstairs hallway and stopped at the door at its far end before knocking on it gently with his hand.

"Come in." his daughter called back with her father then opening the door, revealing Barbara's bedroom with the youngster already lying in bed with her netbook on balanced on her lap.

"Just wanted to make sure you were alright, Babs, especially after the night we just had," he began to say, with a tinge of shame in his voice. "I never would have brought you along if..."

"I know, Daddy," she then answered, cutting him off mid-sentence with a warm smile. "But it didn't matter in the end, because Batman was there."

This made the old man sigh with a heavy heart as he glanced down at the ground for a moment, for he could still hear the hero-worship in his little girl's voice, before returning his gaze back her way.

"Honey, it was because of mine association with Batman that we were in danger." he pointed out, earning a resolved smirk back from Barbara.

"Yeah, because you and Batman have the bad guys running scared. You should take pride in that. I know I am proud of you for it." she countered, making Gordon remove his glasses and pinch the top half of his nose in frustration.

"I can see why you would think that," he started to reply while putting his glasses back, before staring back with an aggravated frown. "but when it puts you or your brother in harm's way, I cannot just take it lightly."

This very sentence from her father's mouth brought an empty expression to the young girl's face as she worried what he could mean from that. "I hope you're not saying what I think you are, Daddy."

But Jim knew how to read his daughter and raised his hands in defense. "I know what you're thinking and no, I am not going to stop working with the Batman."

Barbara sighed deeply with relief at that as she smiled back at him. "I am glad to hear that, Daddy. If they're coming after us, then all that means is that you're doing something right. I'm not afraid of them and you shouldn't be either."

This brought a smirk to the former Police Commissioner's face as he reminisced about a time he heard former friend and ally, Harvey Dent, say something similar years ago before looking back at his Daughter affectionately. "Okay, Barbara, I'll try...as long as you tone down this hero-worship of yours. For I know for a fact, that 'he' finds that uncomfortable and unnecessary."

"Okay, I'll try, Daddy." she said back with a nod and warm smile in return, which made father then point at her computer.

"Now put that thing away and go to sleep, it's getting late." he directed, earning a little defeated but yielding smile back from her as she flipped the screen down and put the netbook on her side table before lying down and pulling the duvet up to her neck.

"Night, Daddy." she then said, gaining a warm smile back from Jim.

"Night, Honey. See you in the morning." he replied before turning the light off and closing the door, leaving the young girl in complete darkness as she lied in her bed.

But Barbara did not close her eyes and instead simply stared up at the ceiling while listening for her father's footsteps in the corridor on the other side of her door, waiting for them to disappear into the distance.

'Finally...,' she then thought after hearing the creaking sound of stairs as he then went down to the ground floor, making her sit back up and take the netbook back and open it up once more. '...now where was I.'

And with that, Barbara enlarged one of the windows on her screen again, revealing that she was in fact researching the Batman as various articles and images of the Dark Knight appeared on the screen.

'There's got to be a way I can help him, just like my Dad does.'


Bruce pulled his Lamborghini up to the pavement in front of the skyscraper where Miranda lived and deactivated it's engine as his date looked back at him with an appreciative smile. "Thanks for the lift, Bruce."

"Not a problem, Miranda. If you would like, I could escort you to your door...," he started to say back with a charming yet concerned look on his face. "because, as you are now aware, Gotham isn't exactly a safe place to be at night."

This made Miranda smile back at him knowingly as she let out a subtle chuckle. "Is that how Billionaire playboy, Bruce Wayne, asks for a 'nightcap'?"

This made brought a look of horror to Wayne's face as his eyes widened and his skin flushed, making him scratch the back of his head uncomfortably. "What?! No. Of course not. I mean...I have had worse lines than that in the past."

The young woman giggled to herself. "Oh, I have heard them all. You do have a reputation, after all."

This made Bruce shrug and look away defeatedly, which brought a coy smile to the lady's face as she looked back at him with her mouth slightly opened with the tip of her tongue showing. "But that doesn't mean that I'm not interested."

"You are?" Bruce replied with a tinge of hope to his voice, snapping his attention back to her which made her eyes sparkle as she looked at him seductively.

"Of course, Bruce," Tate agreed before looking up in the direction of her temporary home, which brought a disappointed smile to her face that the Billionaire could not help but notice. "But tonight would not be a good fit, unfortunately."

I see." he answered back, once more with a deflated tone and look as he returned his gaze to the street ahead.

"But," the lady then began to say, bringing his eyes back to meet with hers as she gave him a hopeful expression. "I would like to see you tomorrow if you're free?"

"Sure, Miranda. I would like that." Bruce acknowledged eagerly, which brought a wide smile to the young socialite's face in response as she opened her door.

"Great. Then I will text you an address tomorrow. Meet me there and make sure to wear clothing that's comfortable and flexible." she then stated cryptically, bringing a curious smile to the young man's face.

"comfortable and flexible?" he puzzled, not certain what his date could mean.

But she simply smiled back knowingly. "You'll find out tomorrow, Bruce. Good night."

"Good night, Miranda." he replied warmly before she stopped and leaned in close which made him do the same as their lips came within millimeters of kissing.

But just as they could feel the moist warmness of their breaths on the mouths, the socialite stopped and looked him directly in the eyes with a confident and teasing smile. "Good things come to those who wait, Bruce. I'll see you tomorrow."

She then got out of the car and closed the door, making him wind down its window and look back at her with a lopsided grin. "Can't wait. See you tomorrow, Miranda.

She simply smiled affectionately back at him before turning around and walking into the reception of the building, leaving him to admire her as she left his sight before he returned his attention to the road ahead.

"...women." he sighed before revving the engine and then driving his Lamborghini off into the night.

 Twenty minutes later, and the young woman exited the bathroom of her suite in a silk bathrobe while drying her long brunette locks with a towel as steam came out of the doorway in her wake, sitting down at her dresser as she looked at her reflection in its mirror with a thoughtful expression.

"Had a nice 'date' with Bruce Wayne, Talia?" a familiar voice then asked from the far side of the room, barely even gaining a glance from her as she continued with her hair as Deathstroke walked up behind

"I was, Slade," she began to reply before looking at the man in the mirror with an icy stare. "until two idiots in costume attacked us, causing the Batman to come to our aid."

This caused Deathstroke to remove his mask and look at her curiously with his solitary eye as a subtle smile graced his face. "Really? He was there?"

"Yes. I was so ready to attack him there and then," the young woman then scowled through gritted teeth as she picked up a comb from the dresser and began using it on her hair. "but there were too many witnesses."

Talia then stopped and threw the comb back at the mirror, hitting it dead center and cracking it's image as the split lines ran throughout it's glass.

"Damn it!" she spat while getting up and walking away from the damaged dresser, keeping her back to the older man as he stared down at her with daggers.

"That's enough! Calm yourself," Slade told his apprentice in a cold and cutting tone, before then giving out a pronounced sigh as he looked between the angry younger woman and the broken mirror.

"You are the 'Heir to the Demon', not some first-year recruit. So, start acting like it. I know you want justice for your father, but the moment you seek will not reveal itself if you let your emotions cloud your judgment and you miss your window of opportunity." Wilson explained, gaining a nod from Talia as she took a breath and exhaled slowly.

"I know, Slade," she responded calmly before turning around and fixing her gaze on the armored man, who then looked back with a quizzical smile.

"That's better. So, am I correct to assume that you will be seeing Wayne once more in the coming days? Because, I hope that he will not be a distraction in our mission." he pondered, making Talia nod back as the thought of the Billionaire brought a broad and thoughtful smile to her face.

"Of course. In fact, I will be seeing him tomorrow." she expressed as Slade then turned away with a half-smirk appearing on his face out of her view which was due to what he knew of Wayne's alter ego, though he could not help but feel a tinge of trepidation.

'This will all be for naught if she ends up unable to finish our mission,' he started to think, with his silence going noticed by his younger companion. 'I'm going to need to have a contingency planned if this does not go the way it's supposed to.'

"Slade? What is it?" Talia coaxed, bringing the assassin's attention back to her though he kept his gaze away.

"Something just came to mind that I must see to," he began to respond while refitting his mask and walking toward the open window. "so I will see you later. Good night."

"Alright. Good night." the younger woman said back with a bemused look on her face before shrugging and returning her attention to her hair as she looked back at her reflection in the mirror.


Back in the Bat Cave, Alfred was sitting at the Bat-computer and was going over an inventory list that was scrolling down its main screen when Bruce entered the area and joined his side which made the old man turn around and face him.

"So, did you have a nice evening, Master Bruce?" he asked with a knowing tone, making the Billionaire smirk back.

"I was having a nice time with Miranda...until the party was attacked by 'Killer Moth' and 'Firefly'," he started to reply before giving his old friend a puzzled expression. "tell me, Alfred, where do these guys keep coming from?"

"I think you already know the answer to that question, Sir," Alfred stated as he got up off the seat and let Bruce take his place, with the latter taking control of the computer. "but I will humor you, regardless. You have always said that you wanted Batman to inspire people to stand up for their city and push back against the corruption that had taken a hold of its core. But in creating a symbol that is beyond the understanding of those that plague this city, you have inadvertently created a new form of psychotic criminal that follows that same level of theatricality as Batman."

The young Wayne sat there with a contemplative look on his face as he thought on his confidant's words. "You mean like the Joker?"

"Yes, exactly, Master Wayne," the latter agreed. "As long as Batman continues to drive fear into the hearts of criminals, we should expect more like him to appear to challenge him."

"You almost sound like you're saying I should quit." Bruce then said back curiously, raising an eyebrow to the older man.

"I would never suggest such a thing. Because there is a positive to this predicament we find ourselves in regards to the question of Batman," Pennyworth continued to explain. "because as long as the Dark Knight is around then he will act as a lightning rod, keeping those more colourful and psychotic criminals focused on him and him alone."

This brought an appreciative smirk to Bruce's face as he looked at his old friend. "So, Batman's very presence creates an environment that breeds individuals like Joker, Killer Moth, and Firefly? But this turns out to be a double-edged sword as it also ensures that they only ever have their eyes on him, challenging themselves to come up with more outlandish and grandiose ways to take him down. That's certainly a more positive view on what I heard from Miranda earlier tonight. And though I'm not sure that I find that either take comforting, Alfred, but your take on it is one that I can live with."

"I would be worried if you were 'fine' with it, Master Bruce. But considering what I have seen while working alongside you in this crusade of 'ours' , I can say, without a doubt, how very proud I am of you...and so would your Parents." the butler expressed with an affectionate smile, earning a mirrored look back from the young Wayne.

"Thanks, Alfred. You know, I couldn't have done all this without you."

"Yes, you could have, Sir," Pennyworth verified with an honest tone before giving him a knowing grin. "just not as stylishly, I bet."

"That is true, old friend," Bruce then began to say as he turned his attention back to the Bat-computer, taking a look at the list. "So, I take it we are fully stocked?"

Alfred, though, was quick to interject by gesturing to his young master to click on the open window behind the list. "Yes, Sir, we are. Instead, I have already acquired the video records from Blackgate Prison for earlier today as you asked."

"Thank you." Bruce replied before opening the video and scrolled through the footage to the point where it showed Gordon and Montoya preparing to leave, hitting play as he and Alfred watched. "Okay, so who caught Jim's eye."

"I believe it is this individual, Sir." the butler then pointed out as they saw the former Police Commissioner look over to a man with white hair and eye patch covering his right eye who walked past, making the vigilante pause the footage and perform a facial match with their records.

"That's curious, Master Wayne, the database is coming up empty." he repeated as the compute came to the same conclusion, bringing a pensive look to the detective's face as he stared at the image.

"That just means that there is no record of him in the GCPD's files or our own. We should widen our search to include Interpol and A.R.G.U.S. using the cipher that Michael Holt helped me design."

"Of course, Sir," Pennyworth began to reply as Bruce continued to watch the footage. "That will take a few hours to compile though."

But before the Billionaire could respond to his confidante, his eyes widened as he looked with surprise at who the mystery man met in the visitor's room.

"What is it, Master Bruce?"

"I know that prisoner that our enigma here is meeting, I trained alongside him under Ra's Al Ghul during my stay in the League of Shadows. His name is Abbas." he described while highlighting the man's face and cross-referencing it with the computer's database.

"He was there when Ra's tried to destroy Gotham several years back." Alfred added while looking at the man's file, gaining a nod from Bruce in return.

"Yes, and he was the only one to be arrested after I incapacitated him back in the Narrows on that night. He has been an inmate in Blackgate ever since..." he explained before the Bat-computer gave out a warning sound and automatically opened another window over the footage, catching the attention of both men.

"It seems the bat-computer has detected a real-time event to the file of Abbas as we speak." the butler stated, bringing back the look of surprise to the young Wayne's face as he read the 'breaking news'

"Prep the Batmobile, Alfred. Looks like this night is not over yet." he then said before getting up and walking over to the Batsuit as he took off his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt, gaining a nod from the older gentleman who turned in direction of the vehicle as the headline in black bold letters commanded the screen.

'Prisoner found dead in a locked cell!'

CHAPTER 10

Midnight was fast approaching as the area around Blackgate prison had been sealed off by the GCPD as the heavens overhead opened up and released another downpour over the city, which to anyone living inside the city limits, had become as normal an experience as had it's continually high crime rate.

And this evening had turned into one of the longer ones for a certain podgy police officer as Bullock arrived in his patrol car, having not long ago left another crime scene.

"Do you remember when being a cop meant a usual `nine to five` shift, son?" the veteran asked his younger colleague who parked the car and looked over to his superior with a confused expression.

"Sir?"

"Never mind. Neither do I." the older man sighed before putting on his raincoat and exiting the vehicle, feeling the weight of it get heavier as the rainfall quickly drenched him, "stay here and keep the engine running."

He then walked past a line of reporters, ignoring their pleas for a moment of his time as they were being held back by several other officers, quickly joining Cris Allen and a female cop who looked around the same age as himself who was overseeing the situation.

"Allen, Lt. Sawyer. You do know that I had my hands full with the incident at the Thorne residence, right? I don't really have time to take on another right now." he groaned, earning their attention as his friend gave him a sympathetic gesture though the latter remained cold and focused on the task at hand.

"Cry me a river, Bullock. I was called away from Major Crimes for this as I am the most senior officer on hand while the Commissioner is currently recuperating in Gotham General. But because the crime scene makes no sense to me, and you have the most experience with such cases during your time working under Gordon, I have called for your assistance in this matter. Now please follow Allen here while I deal with the press." she ordered before leaving the pair as Allen gestured for Harvey to follow him.

"Lets go. We have a real Houdini of a mystery in there." the younger man said, earning a nod back from Bullock who then started for the entrance, before noticing Montoya staring back from the other side of the police barricades.

"Yeah, I'm coming." he replied before giving the lady a subtle nod back as the pair headed into the prison.

Once on the inside, the pair quickly made their way to the crime scene on the 10th floor, before the pair then entered the room in question.

"Wow." the podgy police officer then exclaimed in a unnervingly calm tone as he then entered the cramped cell, noting the dried blood on the walls and ground where the dead prisoner's body and head lay separate and covered by two grey sheets. "so this guy really did lose his head."

Cris nodded back in agreement as his colleague knelt down and lifted the sheet to inspect the body. "Yeah, but that wasn't the only thing he lost."

"...I see." Bullock noted, having spotted the severed hand and the knife that was still firmly in it's grip lying next to the headless corpse. "So, what was the murder weapon?"

"From what we can tell from the slices and entry and exit wounds, we think that it was a Japanese blade like a straight short katana-like sword." Cris described with an uncertain tone, making the older man stroke the stubble on his chin in response.

"You mean a 'ninjatō'." he replied knowingly, gaining a look of surprise from Allen.

"How do you know that?" the cop queried, making his friend smirk as he recovered the body and got back to his feet.

"I've seen a lot of Japanese films, Cris," he answered before looking over at the cell door. "And this place was locked up at the time of death?"

"That's right, Harvey. There was no sign of forced entry and the guards said that all the cells were locked up, like normal, 20 mins before lights out." the officer answered as the former turned his attention to the locking mechanism of the door, taking a small torch from his inside jacket pocket and illuminating the device in the hopes of seeing something that his colleagues might have earlier missed.

"I think you will find that we have already checked everything we possibly could have in this room, Harvey."

"Uh-huh," his more overweight friend replied as he looked over the door, keeping his eyes peeled for any clue or imperfection that he could find before sighing in defeat and turning back to Cris. "But you're right. Though it never hurts to have another pair of eyes on something."

"Well, what do you think? Have any ideas?". The young man then queried as the other officer took another look around the place.

"I would like to see the forensic report that was made before I got here, but this does remind me of a case Gordon and I handled several years back. Gordon and Stephens were there when I was a rookie back when the PD was working, unofficially, with Batman. We had a number of crimes being committed by someone called 'Lock-Up' who could break into any place without ever showing any signs of forced entry, despite never having the keys or codes required to gain access to such places."

"Lock-Up?" Allen then repeated curiously, earning his friend's attention. "I've heard that name before. Isn't that Lyle Bolton?"

"Yep," Bullock agreed with a nod before glancing up at the vent grate in the middle of the ceiling. "And as far as I know, he is still locked up here in Blackgate."

Cris took note of what his colleague was looking at and mirrored him before the former spoke again. "What about the vents? Couldn't that be an area of access to this cell?"

"The vents themselves are large enough for someone to crawl through, but the grates are top of the range and sealed to such a degree that no one could open them without some heavy-duty equipment. All of which would have gained everyone's attention if the perp had tried to gain access this way."

"I see," Harvey acknowledged as he used his torch again in the hopes of spotting something around the vent's grate, like stress markings or anything that could shed light on how the killer got in unnoticed before putting the device away and accepting defeat once more. "Okay, that's enough. I want to see that report now."

"Okay, let's go then. The clean-up crew will be here in five minutes." Cris agreed before the pair then left the cell.

Though, unbeknownst to the pair, Batman was lying in that exact vent just away from the grate that led into the cell in question, having crawled there all the way from its entry point on the prison's roof.

"Alright, Penny One. I have five minutes to check the scene for something that the police will have missed."

"Understood, Sir. But perhaps the Police have actually done everything already and have missed nothing this time." Alfred replied with a hopeful tone over the vigilante's earpiece, earning a sigh from the latter in return.

"Tch...they always miss something." he replied before noticing something about the vent's grate as he stopped next to it and tapping the side of his cowl. "There's something about the grate. Activating detective mode for my immediate surroundings."

With that, white lenses covered his eyes and the palm of his gauntlets lit up as both sets glowed with a dim white light.

"Your cowl and gauntlet sensors are now linked with the Bat-computer, Sir." Alfred replied, gaining a nod from the Dark Knight who looked through the special lens to scan the grate and its immediate surroundings, using the same sonar-tech he previously utilized to find the Joker years ago though at a much smaller range, showing a great amount of detail in the surface.

"I see something interesting, Penny One," the vigilante began to report as he moved one of his gauntlets around the edge of the grate, touching the area with one of it's fingers. "There are very fine markings and signs of fracturing fifteen centimeters from the edge of the grate that runs around its perimeter."

"Master Bruce, the sonar pulses from your gauntlet reveals that the markings are actually cuts around twenty centimeters deep and are at a twenty-five-degree angle." Alfred added from the Bat-computer back in the Batcave, gaining a nod from the young crime fighter.

"I see them too, Penny One. I have to admit, this is remarkable work. Someone took a great amount of care to slice not only into the steel of the vent but also through the concrete that lies underneath. And with the cutting having taken place at that twenty-five-degree angle, it means that the grate can be removed easily and can sit back in place without falling through the opening that was created which is not noticeable with the naked eye."

"In a more normal situation, Sir, this level of work and detail is meritorious. But I can now put a name to the face of Abbra's visitor earlier as the Bat-computer has found a match in Interpol and A.R:G.U.S.' databases," the butler replied, making the costumed vigilante stop and listen. "Slade Wilson."

"Slade Wilson?" the young man replied in his disguised voice with a curious tone as he then lifted the grate and pushed it in front of him and reopened the hole in the vent, before dropping down into the cell.

"Yes, Sir. He was a Major in the United States Army before being reassigned to A.R.G.U.S. due to his skill as an assassin."

"Let me guess," Batman started to say as he scanned the room. "He had his last mission in or around the area of Tibet?"

"That's right, Sir. He was the asset used to assassinate General Fang Zhifu twenty years ago. But once it was time for him to be extracted, Wilson was nowhere to be seen." the older man reported while reading from the file that appeared on the Bat-computer's main screen.

"Sounds to me like Ra's Al Ghul had taken our Slade Wilson into the arms of the Nanda Parbat at this point. But I never met him during my time in the League." the Dark Knight pondered in return.

"Perhaps Ra's had him on another assignment, somewhere else." Alfred suggested, earning a nod from Batman in response.

"So it would seem. But at least, we now have a probable face and a name to our killer here. We just need to confirm it," he replied before taking a look under the blanket at the corpse that was once Abbras, with his lens taking in every detail as they bombarded the body with sonar pulses. "and I have taken enough scans of the body and its wounds for the Bat-computer to run a reconstruction program on exactly what happened here and how our murderer here might look like."

"Yes, the data is compiling now, Master Bruce." Pennyworth stated, before hitting the enter button on the computer's main keyboard. "sending the results to your cowl now."

And then, Batman's HUD switched to playback mode as he stood back against the door as a hologram of Abbras appeared before him, looking as if he was made of pulsing energy with his physical details all in place but only in blue and white light, before the masked assailant dropped down from the ceiling between them.

"And that would be Slade." the Dark Knight remarked as he looked at the new arrival, who due to lack of data was just a blank figure with no detail whatsoever to his being, with only his height and size having been estimated due to the victims wound and the force used in delivering that fatal blow.

"That would be a fair assessment, Sir." Alfred agreed as he too watched the recreation via the Bat-computer which then showed the pair fight before the killer then sliced off the prisoner's hand, before driving his blade through the other's chest.

"That is definitely a 'ninjatō', a sword commonly used by the League's assassins." Batman observed as the former then removing the blade and decapitating the latter, who's holographic body and head fell down into the direct places that the real body parts lay now.

"So, Det. Cris Allen was right with his guess on what the murder weapon was?" Bruce's confidante clarified, gaining a nod back from the younger costumed man as he walked around the now paused footage, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the blank form of the killer.

"So it would seem, Penny-One. Not that I would take such details to chance on one's knowledge of martial arts movies." he interjected, gaining a head-shake and sigh from his Father-figure.

"Of course not, Sir. But since all the evidence on hand points towards the killer being this Slade Wilson and him being tied to the League of Shadows which is supposed to be a defunct group."

"Are they really gone? And if so, what is he doing in Gotham, and who is his partner?" Bruce then added, before Alfred's attention was caught by a warning light flashing from one of the smaller screens that showed activity at the end of the cell-block.

"Sir, I must insist that you leave now as more police officers are heading your way." he warned, making the vigilante nod back in response as his lens deactivated and slid back under his cowl, ending the holographic creation and returning the cramped room to its original dark atmosphere.

"I'm on my way out now, Penny-One." Batman replied before climbing back up into the overhead vent with ease and closing the hole up behind him, leaving the place exactly as he had found it as if no one had been there since.

Elsewhere in the city, a group of armed thugs was sitting on wooden crates in the center of an old abandoned warehouse with only the light of one functioning lamp to illuminate them as the cold darkness of the building's surroundings.

"How long are we going to have to wait here for the Boss?" one of them, a built and bruised thug asked as he rested the barrel of his shotgun on his right shoulder. "We've been here for over an hour."

"However long is necessary, Gavin." another more smartly dressed thug replied with a barely patient tone to his voice as he took a drag from his cigarette, before noticing one of the others nervously looking out into the dark. "Hey, stop doing that, Carl. There's nothing out there but rats."

This made his twitchy friend turn slightly back to the group, never keeping his back entirely to the dark, though you could see the discomfort in his face. "I don't like this place. I swore I heard noises out there."

"As Madson said, it's just the rats." another chunkier thug replied as he played with his revolver, constantly spinning its bullet chamber with his free hand.

"But what if it's not. What if it's the Bat!?" Carl almost shuddered, which made Gavin storm over to his frightened colleague and backhand him across the face, knocking the weaker man to the ground as he spat out a little blood onto the cold concrete floor.

"Just shut it and man up, Carl. The Bat doesn't know about this place, that's why the Boss called a meeting here." he barked, earning an eye roll from Madson as he took another drag from his cig before looking at the smoke rising up from it.

"You know those things will kill ya, right?" Gavin asked with a knowing look, making the suited man shrug his shoulders in return.

"Something will kill all of us at some point. I say, why worry about it. Just enjoy what you want." Madson replied though this answer did not sit well with Carl.

"Tell that to 'The Bird'. He died a painful death hooked up to all sorts of machines in hospital a few years back."

But the smartly dressed thug simply shook his head in return before taking another long drag, before exhaling a ring of smoke back at his cowardly looking friend. "If that's my fate, then so be it."

But before anyone else could reply to that, the main doors to the building opened and the light from the headlights of a car shone at the group as a limo drove into the warehouse and stopped just outside of their circle.

"Finally, the boss is here." Gavin observed with a relieved tone as the car's driver stepped out and opened the rear passenger door, revealing it's occupant to be Mayor Cobblepot.

"Hey, Boss. Why did you want us to meet here and not back at the base?" he asked as the small podgy-looking but well-dressed man walked up to the group with a cold steel glare.

"I asked you boys to wait here for me," Cobblepot began to reply, his voice no longer sounding opulent and posh but instead rasp and common. "Because I was nearly killed in an ambush at a public engagement by two clowns that our dear friend 'Black Mask' clearly sent."

"So perhaps, Madson, you could tell me how that was bloody possible?!" he spat with a venom tinged tone, making the suited thug lose his previously calm demeanor as he dropped his cigarette and stumbled to answer back.

"Uh, Boss... I had the place totally checked out for you before Thorne began his party." the guy defended with a worried tone, while Cobblepot was handed a closed umbrella by his driver.

"Well, Madson, let me put it in a way you'll understand," the boss then began to say as he stopped by him and Carl. "if you had done the job properly, as you claim, then I would not have been put in a position where I was at the mercy of two of Black Mask's costumed nut-jobs."

"But, Penguin...Sir, I had the entire perimeter of the place checked out. I had a few of your loyalists in the GCPD doing patrols in the area. There were no gaps that were not plugged up. It was the best I could do." The now nervous crook bargained, having noticed that Cobblepot's grip around his umbrella had tightened as the latter gritted his teeth.

"I believe your sincerity, Madson," Oswald acknowledged while keeping his eyes focused on his groveling minion ask he spoke, before then glancing away. "But you still failed me and put my life at risk from 'my' enemies and that cannot go...unpunished!"

The smaller man suddenly gripped his closed umbrella and swung it with force into Carl's face, knocking the guy straight to the floor, surprising Madson and the others around them as their boss turned his attention completely to their friend.

Carl shook his head as he looked up at then in a daze with blood running down the lower half of his face from his broken nose, completely shell-shocked from that sucker punch.

But the Penguin simply stood over him and lifted his umbrella over his head and brought it crashing down on the injured man with all the force of a sledgehammer, before doing it again and again and again.

Each hit made Madson twitch with unease as the sounds coming from each and every hit from the Penguin's regular-looking umbrella sounded like a piece of meat being tenderized, with even a splash of blood spraying onto the former's once clean suit.

"Oh, I think I broke him. Ha ha," Cobblepot then joked as he stopped and looked down at the bloody mess that was once Carl while blood dripped from the end of his umbrella onto the floor, before returning his attention to Madson. "That could have been you, Madson."

"Ye...ye...yes, Sir." The petrified criminal mumbled back, his words drenched in the fear he now felt for his own life.

But before anything else was said, Oswald suddenly pointed his red-stained umbrella at him and opened it, not only flinging more blood onto Madson but also dropping several clumps of dried cement onto the floor which brought a chilling smile to the Mayor's face.

"I do love these custom umbrellas I've had made," he praised while gesturing to the tool, before handing back to his driver who then opened and closed it several times before heading back to the limo. "You can hide anything inside any part of them. A gun, a blade...a pile of broken bricks."

"Yeah, Boss,...they're really good, Sir." Madson agreed under duress, making the smaller man step closer and look up at him with disdain.

"I was going to beat 'you' to death with it, but then I had a better idea...Spider!"

Suddenly, out of the darkness behind him, Madson felt someone grab him and touch a sharp blade to his throat. "Please,...Boss, give me another chance!"

This made the chubby man's smile widen as he took pleasure in the pathetic groveling on display from his minion, before nodding to Spider who dug the blade a little deeper into Madson's neck. "You have one more chance. And if you fail this time, then I will let the Black Spider here have his way with you. He can keep you alive for days while making sure that you die a slow and agonizing death."

The Mayor then turned away and made a hand gesture to his assassin, making him let go of Madson who fell to his knees as he grabbed his tie and held it to his slightly bleeding neck wound.

"Next time I tell you to ensure a location is secure, make sure that you are there in person to oversee it. That way, if our enemies do make an attempt on my life then you can use your pathetic life to keep mine going. Understood?"

"Yeah...yeah, Boss. Anything you say." The criminal quickly agreed, getting to his feet while keeping Black Spider in sight though the latter simply stood there stoically as if he was waiting for his next order.

"Tomorrow I will be seeing our contact in the GCPD to make sure that we do not suffer another repeat of tonight's debacle." Oswald then said aloud to everyone present.

"So the Mayor of Gotham City is the Penguin, it's would-be Kingpin of Crime." An unknown voice then echoed around the abandoned warehouse, putting Cobblepot on edge as his men readied their pistols and Black Spider prepared to unsheathe his sword.

"You're no Batman, whoever you are. He would not announce his arrival in such a bombastic way." The Penguin replied with confidence covering the break in his voice from being surprised, slowly backing himself into the middle of his group as they looked in all directions in an attempt to pin the intruder's location.

"How very observant of you, your Honour. But there is no danger to me in you knowing that I am here," the disembodied voice spoke again, still with no way to tell which direction it was coming from. "Since you cannot tell where I will strike from."

"Is that so?" Cobblepot teased before glancing over his shoulder to his assassin. "Spider!"

The assassin then stepped forward, pushing Madson out of the way while remaining quiet and putting his sword away, keeping his focus on the quiet in the room.

Suddenly, Black Spider spun around and threw several small knives up into the darkness to the right of the group, only to hear the sounds of them impacting the far wall.

"To slow..." the voice then said from directly behind Spider, spinning around just in time to block Deathstroke's sword with his own.

"Impressive," the masked intruder then complimented his rival, before breaking their clash of swords just enough to use his free hand to equip his custom Glock and fire a bullet into the right leg of all of Penguin's men in the room, before bringing his blade to deflect the sword of Black spider who had recovered and sprung back at the intruder.

And as the two then fought, deflecting and countering each other's sword attacks, the rest of Penguin's men fell to the ground clutching their wounded legs while their boss just stood there and watched in shock.

"Get him, Spider. I want him gutted like a fish!" he spat back before Deathstroke then ducked under the other assassin's blade, making the latter overcompensate and allow the other to punch him in the side of his torso.

"Ugh!" Black Spider grunted before the League of Shadows assassin then hit him with a barrage of kicks, one to the leg, one to the chest, and then ending with a spin kick to his face.

This sent Cobblepot's defender tumbling to the ground, earning a fearful look from the Mayor as in the blink of an eye Deathstroke was right in his face with his sword at the smaller man's throat.

"Oh, okay. Easy, Mate. I think we can come to some kind of agreement here," he then replied while looking into the orange and black mask of his attacker, trying to get some kind of sign of his thoughts as he looked into his one eye. "No need to make any more of a mess, right?"

"Cobblepot, I'm not here to kill you. I just wanted to prove a point that your Black Spider here is not up to the task of taking on the Batman. But then again, you did require his services from the so-called Society, didn't you?" Deathstroke asked back, earning a nod from the Mayor as the former removed his sword and took a step back.

"That's right. What of it?"

"If you want to beat the Bat, I suggest going with someone from the League of Shadows." the masked assassin replied, bringing a knowing look to Oswald's face.

"Ah, yes. I have heard of them. I thought the group was disbanded?"

"It was, but I am here to make sure that my former master is avenged and that the Batman pays for his sins," he started to say before looking around the room. "I do have a plan already in place, but I am not one to keep all my eggs in one basket."

"I see. So you want to form an alliance against the Dark Knight. I can get behind that." Penguin smirked, which earned a shake of the head from Deathstroke.

"Not just you, Cobblepot. Of course, you and your resources will be useful," he replied while gesturing back to Black Spider who recovered and stood back up behind the pair. "I think we should widen your horizon and combine our resources with another."

"And who might you be referring to?" The Mayor then asked with a puzzled look on his face as he adjusted his eyeglass.

"Black Mask!"