So here i was again. Standing over the body of another dead woman who i loved. The last time i felt this helpless was when i was just a little boy alone in an ally. The two most important people in my life ripped away from me. That's what inspired me to become what i am today. Now i feel like the helpless boy again, as i stare down at the woman who i loved. I hold her body in my arms. Holding her close, begging for her to come back. But i know my cry's for her to return are in vain.

That was a false start. That wasn't the beginning of the story. It was well past the point of no return. The fatal choice had been made and it would get worse before the end. The past is a puzzle like a broken piece of mirror. As you piece it together, you cut yourself, your image keeps shifting, and you change with it. It could destroy you and drive you mad. It also could set you free.

"This is the GCPD. It's over Batman. This place is surrounded. Place your belt of tricks on the ground and come out with your hands up."

You see the choices you made, liking asking your parents to leave the theater early because you got scared, instead of sticking it out and being brave.

"Fan out people, circle around. Cover all exits. We all know how crafty he is."

Kissing her i think of the cold laws of cause and effect.

"Where are those units? Call central! We need every available unit here now!"

I am afraid. But i start from the beginning. Trace my own steps to the scene of the crime.

Chapter 1: The Real Beginning

The darkness of night surrounded Gotham and it was time for the bat to emerge from the cave. I made my way to a warehouse belonging to Carmine Falcony. I always kept a close eye on his affairs like this place i had been staking out for over a week. All i could see from him was copious amounts of cocaine and hookers in his office, you know minor things like that. But if i wanted to bust this place and get Falcony for good, i had to stay patient and wait for something big. When i arrived at the Warehouse that night, i heard gunshots from inside.

"Oracle, shots fired. Possible hostage situation."

"I'll inform Robin to meet you there."

"Negative i've got this."

"It's too risky alone. I'm calling in Tim."

"Goddammit."

This was supposed to be my case. I'd rather Barbra just let Tim stick to his cases. But she missed the old days of the dynamic duo. I preferred to do things alone after my first two Robins ended up hating me from spending too much time with me. I entered the warehouse. I saw a couple of hookers run out of the place behind me. I figured this place was about to look like Baghdad with g-strings.

I heard a woman crying in the room up ahead.

"Please don't" she cried.

"Die Die." He shouted followed by two gunshots.

I burst in with a batarang raised only to find the sound was coming from a movie on the T.V.. At least the room was empty so that i was the only one who knew how much of a jackass i looked like. I moved on and saw someone walking by calmly. He was wearing a cleaning uniform but i didn't like the looks of this guy.

"Hold right there." I growled like and angry dog.

"Holy shit? Batman? Easy man i'm just cleaning the place." I searched him for weapons. "Come on man, it's all legit. I work for the Squeaky Cleaning Company."

"You hear anything suspicious just now?"

"No, oh are you worried about the gun workshop upstairs?"

"Yeah i am. Take me there!"

He lead me a few steps before i knocked him out. His disguise wasn't fooling anyone, he was leading me into a trap and i knew it. You learn a couple things when you fight crime for a living. 1: There's no such thing as the squeaky cleaning company. And 2: If someone tells you it's legit, it's not legit at all.

I saw his friend wearing the same uniform, but this guy had a gun in his hand. I used a batarang to disarm him, rocked him with a stiff right hook followed by a knee to his solar plexus. All the perps inside were mascaraing as cleaners. As i moved further into the building i saw cleaning supplies next to large blood stains on the floor. These guys were really cleaning. Cleaning up their own mess. I heard more gunshots followed by voices.

"I'm not a violent man by any nature. But it pisses me off more than anything when they do that. It's an insult is what it is. We're trying to "clean" the place. They should have more sense when they bleed on the floor."

"That's what you get. You should find a way to kill these people without spilling any blood." His buddy replied to him. "You know gas'em or poison'em or something."

Even though these guy had "great" personalities i decided that i had to take care of them. After i took them out i took a look at the poor man they shot. I only took a quick look before i moved on. He was another one of the many people i was too late to save. There's no real way to deal with the past. I kept my eyes on the road, and off he review mirror and the roadkill behind me.

I headed up the stairs to find more fake cleaners. "Hey, Kaufman's waiting in the van. The hardware's been bagged. As soon as these guys get Jackie Brown taken care of we'e done." I took him and his friend out. The room looked like a gun storage, but it was cleaned out. In the next room there was a phone, the machine had a message recorded on it. I pushed play.

"You reached Tanya Fox. I'm not here right now cause i'm doing some nasty shit that kills. So leave a message after the beep."

"Tanya it's Carmine, ah to be a gun in your gentle care. Oh a man can dream. Sorry i couldn't be there as promised, somethings come up. Probably nothing to worry about but keep and eye out for trespassers. If anything happened to you...Just whistle and i'll be there if anything happens." I headed to the office and heard more voices.

There was a woman tied to a chair, with two goons in there looking like they were about to execute her. She was a young black woman. I guess that shined light on the "Jackie Brown" reference. One of these guys had a gun in his hand, the other seemed unarmed.

"Enough chit-chat. Finish her!"

"Wait! The mob guys attacked us! i have no beef with you guys! You took them out. Listen i work for Carmine Falcony." She pleaded for her life.

"Honey you work for no one."

I decided to make my move.

"Drop the weapon." I growled.

The guy with the gun nodded at his friend. The unarmed one reached into his outfit and grabbed an uzi and fired at me. I took cover and allowed the first domino to fall.

"Finish Her!" He screamed. And with that gunshot it all went to shit.

Like all the bad things in my life, it started with the death of a woman. I couldn't save her.

They ran off towards the exit. I chased after them. They got to the door and opened it. They were greeted by a woman. Unfortunately for them, she wasn't on their side. To be honest i never know who's side she's on. Catwoman is an impossible woman to guess.

She had a gun in her hand and the look of a killer in her eyes. She shot them in the head and looked at me as i showed up to late to stop another killing.

"Selina?" I asked as i saw her kill the two crooks.

"Bruce." She said with a smile. "We need to stop meeting like this." She walked right back out the door she came in. I tried to chase after her but she was gone.

Robin had arrived. Some of the cleaners tried to test him and fight him, but he made them regret that. The rest of them were making a run for it. I chased after some of them. They ran into the van. "Go Kaufman! Get us out of here!" He shrieked. They got away before i could stop them.

Tim approached me. "Batman, what the hell happened in there?"

I didn't answer him. This was all just a fucked up mess. What the hell was this about? Why was Selina there just to kill those guys? So many questions. But things have always had a habit of only making sense long after i had run out of time to fix them.

Back at the cave it was business as usual. Me trying to make sense of what happened. I tried to play it cool. But everything had changed the moment that door opened up to reveal Selina.

"Tanya Fox was a licensed gunsmith and dealer in firearms." Tim said.

"Right, the property is owned by Falcony. There's three groups involved with this. Falcony, rival mobs and gangs that Tanya mentioned, and of course these clowns in the cleaning suits."

"The dead guys were identified as Fox's employees." Barbra added.

"I heard a name mentioned. Kaufman." I said.

"This one's evil. I don't like it one bit. And it's only started. This case is all yours Bruce." Tim said.

"Well while Bruce is working on this, i've got something for you to work on." She gave Tim a file on his case. "Homicide Joe Ryan. It's going to be all over the news.

"The senator?" Tim asked.

"Yea it's also a mess. But we got lucky, there's an eye-witness. Should be easy for you boys to recognize."

Tim's jaw dropped when he saw the picture. "Bruce you're not gonna like this."

I snatched it out of his hands. They both hovered over my shoulder whispering warnings. But i didn't want to listen. Selina was the suspect in Tim's case. I didn't tell them i saw her. I wanted to stall. Maybe it was because she was alive when everyone else around me kept dying, survivors guilt washed away. The computer search on the Squeaky Cleaning Company and Kaufman came up empty.