Title: Another Way To Die
Fandom: Post-Dark Knight
Rating: M
Summary: Sequel to 'Control' and 'I Love You…I'll Kill You'. This is the 3rd and last story in the saga. Someone that you think that you can trust is just another way to die.
Pairing: I'll never tell…well at least not for a few chapters anyway!
Genre: Drama/Angst
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own any of the Batman characters. (Except for the ones I've created!)
A/N: Ok, so I decided to write a sequel to 'Control'. I'm really nervous about it though because I don't want this story to get too ridiculous. So I'm counting on you, my loyal readers, to let me know if it gets too out-there! Enjoy!
Chapter One
"Kellogg was found with a knife stuck right through the middle of the heart." Officer Locke told Gordon, sitting down across from him in Gordon's office.
"Damn." Gordon sighed, throwing a file folder down onto his desk in frustration. "That's the third undercover cop who has been killed trying to infiltrate Maroni's organization in ten months. This has to stop."
"Are we going to stop sending in cops?" Locke asked out of curiosity.
"I don't want to, but I don't know how else we will get anywhere if we stop." Gordon replied. "Now that the Joker is, well not around anymore, the next major threat to Gotham is the mob-more specifically Maroni's organization. They are the biggest fraction of the mob in Gotham and what we should be targeting our efforts on."
"But," he added. "We can't keep losing good cops."
"I agree." Locke nodded. "Yet how else are we supposed to bring their organization down? None of their guys are willing to talk to us."
"We need to figure out who the snitch is in this department while also uncovering the identity of Maroni's new hit-man and sending in one more cop." Gordon explained.
"How do we know that it's someone new?" Locke asked.
"We have files and records for all of Maroni's former and current hit-men. We have kept track of their M.O. and favorite style of execution. All three of the cops have been killed by having a knife stuck through their heart. None of the men on file have done anything close to that." Gordon explained.
"Besides, every time we bring in the known hit-men for questioning they all have solid alibis that hold up." Gordon added. "No, it's got to be someone new. I just wish we had any kind of clue to tell us who it is."
"So how are we going to get information on Maroni's new hit-man?" Locke asked.
"We're going to send one more cop in there." Gordon replied. "His job will be to figure out the identity of the hit-man."
Locke laughed. "And who are you going to guilt into going undercover? No one wants to do it anymore. It was hard enough to convince Kellogg to go in."
"Well," Gordon looked up at Locke, "actually, I was hoping you would do it."
The smile that had been on Locke's face slowly dropped and he felt the blood drain from his face. "Me, sir?"
"Yes." Gordon replied. "I want you to go undercover in Maroni's organization."
"But I don't have much experience going undercover. Shouldn't you choose someone who has more experience?" He was desperate to find any excuse not to go. He knew it was selfish but he didn't want to die and was fairly certain that's what would happen if he accepted this assignment.
"I think you will do an excellent job. You're a good cop and very honest." Gordon told him, hoping to convince him. "Besides, I need someone I can trust to go in there and I trust you implicitly."
"I'm glad you have such faith in me, but I would be lying if I said this was something that I really wanted to do." Locke replied.
"I understand your hesitation given the fate of the last three men given this assignment." Gordon replied. "But there's another reason I need you to be the next cop going undercover. I've arranged for Batman to take a larger role in helping with our investigation. He's going to make contact with you and kind of keep an eye out. He will be helping to make sure that nothing happens to you."
Having Batman on his side did make him feel a little better about this assignment. But it didn't make him feel entirely confident about the whole thing. Still, he felt like he had to do this. He couldn't let the Commissioner down.
"Ok." He nodded slowly. "I'll do it."
"Wonderful." Gordon smiled. "I promise you'll be ok. Between Batman helping you and our own investigation into the department, we'll find out who the leak in the department is before you end up like Kellogg or the others. And with any luck you will be able to find out who their new hit-man is."
"I certainly hope so." Locke chuckled. "So when do I start?"
Bruce was busy looking over some papers, occasionally glancing up at the monitors in front of him. Yet another cop was killed during an undercover investigation of Vincent Maroni's organization. Darrell James, Charles Lawrence and now Patrick Kellogg were all killed.
He couldn't help but feel slightly responsible for their deaths. After all, he was the one who approached Gordon about aggressively going after Maroni's organization in the hopes of toppling it and ultimately incarcerating Vincent Maroni.
In his mind, Vincent Maroni deserved a lot worse than incarceration. But he would settle for seeing him behind bars for the rest of his life.
He looked over at the calendar on the wall and saw the date, noting in his mind that it had already been ten months since the warehouse explosion. The explosion and resulting fire had burned the two bodies found inside to the point where they weren't recognizable. The only details about the bodies that forensics could be sure about was that one was a female and one was a male. There was no way to properly identify who the people inside were.
It drove the public crazy as they guessed who was inside and clamored for information. At first, he was one of those people, searching desperately for answers about the identities. Then, as time went on he realized the truth.
Lacy had blown up the warehouse with her and the Joker inside, and now they were both dead. He hadn't wanted to believe that Lacy was dead and held out hope for a while that she was fine. He searched hospitals for Jane Does and did his own personal search of the city for her. But there was no sign of her.
The thought had occurred to him that perhaps she had gotten out of the warehouse alive and was just living her life on some island. But he knew that wasn't likely. In order for that story to be plausible she would have had to trap some other poor woman in the warehouse to stage her own death and she wouldn't have led him and Alfred to believe that she was dead. She would have contacted them.
And she didn't.
The only good thing that seemed to come from Lacy's death was the fact that he was 99% sure the Joker was dead too. No one has heard from or seen him since that night. Crime in Gotham has gone back to being 'normal' and the public has calmed down significantly. For the first time in years, there isn't a madman running around Gotham trying to kill and destroy its citizens.
Now there's just the mob.
And he is determined to bring it down—starting with Vincent.
Alfred came up to where Bruce was sitting a brought a cup of cocoa. "Perhaps you should get some sleep."
"I'll sleep later." Bruce shrugged, taking the cup of cocoa and chugging half of the cups' contents in one large gulp. "Good cocoa."
"Thanks." Alfred chuckled softly. "But I really think you should get some sleep. I don't think I've seen you sleep in days."
"That's because I haven't slept in days." Bruce countered.
"Well then that settles it." Alfred said with a determined tone. He took the papers out of Bruce's hands and turned off the monitors. "You are going to bed now, Sir."
"Alfred, I don't need…"
"I'm not taking no for an answer." Alfred interrupted. "Don't make me drug your cocoa again." There had been a few times over the past few months that he had slipped sleeping pills into Bruce's cocoa to get him to sleep since he often refused to rest for days at a time.
Bruce looked at Alfred and could tell that he was serious. "Fine." He sighed. "You win."
"I usually do." Alfred boasted, waving towards Bruce's bedroom. "Now go and I better not catch you sneaking out or doing work."
"Yes Alfred." Bruce sighed.
Alfred simply shook his head and sighed as he watched Bruce head off to bed. He then took a look at what Bruce had been working on. It was no surprise that it was more stuff concerning Vincent Maroni and his organization.
Ever since Lacy told him that she had been working with Vincent, Bruce had been interested in bringing his organization down. That interest had grown into a some-what obsession after Lacy's death, with Bruce determined that Vincent was responsible for Lacy's downfall.
Bruce was convinced that Vincent was ultimately responsible for Lacy's death because he had been the one to supply Lacy with everything she needed to execute her plans. He had given her the materials and opportunity to corner the Joker in that warehouse and it was his fault that she had gone through with her plans.
If Bruce had been able to, Alfred was sure that he would have stopped her. But unfortunately he wasn't able to save her this time and he had to find a way to deal with that.
Alfred could see it written all over Bruce's face. He felt guilty about what happened with Lacy. While he understood what Bruce was feeling, and felt some guilt over it as well, ultimately he knew that Lacy had made her own choices and was prepared to deal with the consequences.
Sure, he felt like Vincent Maroni was scum and needed to be stopped—not only because of his involvement with Lacy but also because of the circle of crime he perpetuates in Gotham. The mob was starting to become out of control again and needed to be reigned back in.
Gotham would be a lot better off without the Maroni organization around. He just hoped that Bruce and the police could accomplish their goal.
He also hoped that Bruce could find some peace with Lacy's death. He had found his own sense of peace with it. Of course he missed still Lacy and always would, but he liked to console himself with the fact that she was now at peace and no longer had to wrestle with her demons.
Thinking about her resting in peace and finally being free of the Joker helped him immensely because he knew that was the one thing she wanted most in this world.
And it seemed like now she finally had it.