A/N: So, last we left off, after months of stalking and failing to obtain Danielle's mark, Zsasz had plummeted over the Sprang Bridge. Danielle had survived and gone on to be a self-defense instructor at Gotham General Hospital. This is the sequel, three years after we left the events of "Salve, Salvage, & Salvation"… Special shout out to fellow Zsasz writer pshycogurl335 for helping me find the inspiration for the sequel - thank you so much! Enjoy! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Batman.
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Redemption, Retribution, & Restitution
-Prologue: RUNNING-
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Screams echoed in the dank tunnels.
A man's footsteps pounded frantically, rhythmically, drowning out the screams in his own mind.
He glanced back. A guard lay on the wet cobblestones, blood gushing from a knife wound. One hand covered his chest, while the other lay dangerously limp.
The man kept running. He knew they would be after him soon. They would discover his empty cage, empty shackles.
He was never going back there, never!
More yelling. It seemed the guards had found their friend in bad shape and the cage empty. "Alert the master! The prisoner Zsasz has escaped!"
Zsasz? Is that my name?
He continued to run. Torchlight flickered off the wet, slippery, treacherous cobblestones.
I-I did it! I can't believe this! I am actually getting out of this hellhole!
A half-smile graced the prisoner's gaunt face.
There were two paths ahead. His mind said right, but his feet pointed left. Which way?
"This way!" The yelling was getting closer!
He went left. His lungs screamed as he hauled up the incline. The tunnel curved, an area he could not remember. He just hoped there was a way out-
The man pulled to an abrupt stop. His heart pounded wildly. A lowered gate, blocking his escape, condemning him to his captors' mercy. No! No, there must be another way!
Hope! There was a tiny gap at the top of the gate. Please, let me be wiry enough to slip through…! He scrambled up the metal lattice.
Thump! He landed on the other side, gasping for breath, flashing a cocky smile over his shoulder. Too easy.
His eyes widened.
Oh no.
A sheer drop awaited him. His stomach lurched sickeningly. The stones were slick this close to the edge, too slick to grab safely. He could see trees, possibly a river at the bottom of the chasm, with fingers of mist weaving through the vast forest below.
There was no way down. No way forward.
He was ended right there. For a moment he could swear he saw the light, fading, going out.
Yelling and footsteps invaded his ears. They were coming! They would find him! And then he would go back in that cell, like an animal.
I won't! The thought came with a fierceness. His eyes narrowed. I will die first!
The man took a step forward—
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