"Alright Mr. Fox, what is it you wanted to talk about?" Bruce Wayne asked as he strode into the older gentleman's office, wearing his second suit for the day. The man in question was seated at his desk looking over a file of papers. Some of the papers were newspaper clippings.

Looking up, Lucius Fox didn't really know where to begin. So instead of answering he stood with the file in hand and passed it Wayne.

"What is this?" He asked before opening it and beginning to look through the papers. Several had headlines of brutal killings, and unexplained deaths and murders. All the papers dated back to three years ago and older.

"I was contacted by an old friend," Lucius began. "They had compiled that paperwork together and gave it to me to give to 'my special friend.'"

Wayne looked up sharply, his face dark. He closed the file.

Lucius held up a hand. "I did not, in any way, shape, or form, tell them of my connections in this town. However, they do not know who is behind it all."

"Meaning?"

"What I'm connected to is all they know, not who."

Gritting his teeth, Wayne clenched his fists. "Any reason why I should have these papers? They are several years old."

Lucius sighed. "I don't really know. They wouldn't say." Or couldn't, he thought to himself. "Seems they're afraid of something that may be coming."

"And theses papers have something to do with that something?"

Lord, I really hope not, Lucius thought. It was hard enough the first time.

But he didn't say that. Instead he said, "I don't know. I really don't."

Wayne nodded. "Then I'll pay her a visit tonight." He started to leave to room.

This time Lucius looked startled, "Her?"

Wayne smirked, and held up the file as he left, "Coffee stains, Mr. Fox. Coffee stains."

Nia sighed, and glanced at her watch. The time read well past eight, and beyond time to get home. Hopefully, Kaya wouldn't be too upset about having pizza for dinner tonight. Especially since she oh so loved the shepherd's pie her mother had made the day before. So much so, it took her three hours to finish one helping.

The girl was busy working in Nia's office, doing whatever vocabulary homework that had been given out that day. Sensing she was being watched, Kaya looked up to see her mom in the doorway, smiling.

"Second week of fifth grade, and you have homework already?" she asked, grinning. "Did you do something to the teacher?"

Kaya glared at her, and blew a raspberry in response.

Nia laughed, "Alright, well I'm gonna go lock up now. When I get back, I expect you to tell me what kind of pizza you want."

Kaya grinned. "Pizza? Really?"

"Really, really."

"Yes," The girl shouted in triumph and she threw a fist in the air.

It's always so eerie, the vet thought as she locked up and turned off all the unnecessary equipment. She was placing a hot water bottle in a basket for the infant deer to be carried in, when something didn't feel right. She barely hesitated in her preparations.

"Thank you for coming here, and not to my home."

Batman just stood there.

"I have a daughter to protect, and I'd rather not take the chance that you might be seen at my home. Even coming here is dangerous."

"Why?" He asked, voice thick and gravely. "What's coming?"

Nia rolled her eyes, and responded, "Starting with the easy questions aren't you?" She stopped what she was doing, and turned her head in his direction. "Since Lucius told you about me, I'm surprised he didn't tell you more." Taking a deep breath, she continued, "Because I don't know."

"The articles were from three years ago, why do they matter?" He asked. He still hadn't moved.

Rubbing her face with her hands, she groaned. "I don't know," she answered.

Growling, he took a step closer. "You don't know?" Clearly, he didn't believe that to be the truth.

Nia whirled around and snapped, "No I don't know. The killer featured in those articles is dead." She returned to her previous task and began preparing formula for the fawn with in a frenzy. "Look, I just got a tip from a very reliable source that that file would be very important." Heck, the tip came from the most reliable source there ever could be. The One on High. Yet Nia knew if she told him that, Batman would not take this warning seriously. "To be honest, the file might be helpful for the commissioner and DA to also have. If you give them a copy, tell them to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Even this month's surprising lack of crime could be something."

"Why?"

"When does a person on the shore know a tidal wave is coming?"

She didn't get an answer, but continued on anyways, "It's not the earthquake that's the warning, although it is helpful. It's when all the water on the shore pulls back so far that fish get left gasping on the beaches and sometimes reefs are exposed."

She didn't even hear a swish as he left, but before she turned back around she knew he was gone.

Victoria Johnson heard the knock at her door, and answered it to take her Chinese take-out from the delivery boy. She paid him, shut the door and headed for the kitchen. The radio was playing, and she started to hum along with. Soon humming turned to singing.

"This is who I am, oh this is who I am, so take me and make me something better than before, oh oh."

Leaving the kitchen and intending to set her plate of food on the table, she froze when she saw the file set on her table. Movement to her left caught her eye, and she jumped when a dark figure stepped out of her dark hallway. She relaxed when she recognized him and set her plate next to the file.

"A gift?" she asked.

"A warning," he answered.

Flipping open the file she froze again, this time at the sight of a familiar headline. It was for the murder of a young woman in Louisiana. A killing that was still listed as a cold case in her district. Johnson had thought that killer would never be stopped, yet this was the last killing of this kind.

"Look familiar?" He asked. His voice gave her the creeps. It was too low, and grated.

"Yeah," she said, flipped through a couple more articles. "Several of these are cases that I had to deal with. Thought we caught the guy a couple times, but something always fell through. He's dead though." Died in a storm. She remembered finding his body, mangled from a fall. "Why'd you bring these to me?"

"Friend of a friend wants us to keep an eye out."

Johnson's head snapped up, "What friend? Why?" But he was already gone.

She cursed, and sat down hard in her chair. She began to look over the already familiar articles.

She didn't see anything she hadn't already seen before, so she didn't understand what she needed to look out for. The guy was dead. She remembered the night clear enough, when she, a few officers, and others found him on the roof of an apartment complex. He'd had a hostage and was backed up to the railing of the roof when the storm started. He wouldn't listen to the cops, or the others trying to talk him down.

He must have freaked, she thought. When he fell, he must have freaked and not realized the short railing was behind him.

Johnson shook herself, tried not to dwell on that place too much. It seemed the many unanswered questions surrounding the case were going to get dragged up yet again.

The phone rang and she jumped. Laughing dryly at herself, she picked it up without looking at the caller id.

"Hello?" she said. "Commissioner, this is she. Is there a problem?" She waited listening. "Well put him in holding, we will get to him in the morning." She listened, then nodded. "Yes, I understand. Well then, I'll be there shortly." Hanging up, she went into the hall grabbed her coat and shoes and left. Still sitting on the table was the file, and next to it the plate of forgotten food.

It only took ten minutes to reach the station, and that was including the time it took her to pull out of her lot. It took her only another minute to reach the holding area. The commissioner was waiting for her.

"Well Commissioner Gordon, I'm beginning to think you miss active duty. After all you seem unable to stay away from it," Johnson said with a smirk as came to stand next to him.

He merely grimaced at her before sipping from his coffee. "You'll soon learn that the crime rate is far from the pristine rates of other cities." He glanced at her. "Your bayou included, Miss Johnson."

"Oh I know that, that I do." She turned to the single view window and sighed. "So tell me who is this?"

"A petty, small time thief. He's of no significance really since the information he gave us panned out to be useless." Her head snapped around to look at him.

"And I'm here why?" She asked, her drawl dragging her word out.

Gordon sipped his coffee before answering, "An odd file came across my desk. I just wondered if you'd gotten a copy of it."

She went still and looked away. Oh boy, she thought. "Uh yeah I got it. Got any ideas about it?"

"I was going to ask you that, since I saw reference to your previous district."

Rolling her eyes, she snapped, "Yeah well those are cold cases we never officially solved, 'cause the bastard we know did it went and got himself killed, ok?"

He eyed her warily. "And there was nothing more to them? No… potential accomplice?"

"No. His pals took part in other killings and assorted crimes."

"So he was part of what? A mob? A gang?"

"They weren't exactly a gang, but they were definitely similar to one with one exception."

"Oh?" He asked.

"A person couldn't join their club. They were pretty much exclusive to specific people." She snorted, "We think one idiot tried to and got himself killed for it."

Frowning at her, he muttered, "And that's amusing?" He shook his head as she shook hers.

"You had to be there." She said by way of explanation.

He turned from the holding area and motioned for her to follow him. He led her up to the roof, a place they could speak quietly without others overhearing. It used to be good for speaking with the man 'wanted' by the police, but now that he really is wanted he hasn't been any where near Gordon. Not until today when the file hit his desk and he heard that familiar rough voice pass on the warning.

One they reached the roof, she didn't wait for him to speak. "So maybe we need to keep a look out for any one of his pals. I'll organize a couple files on them-"

"I don't think there is any need to. I assume you haven't looked through the entire thing." Gordon said, cutting her off.

She raised her eyebrows, "Didn't get the chance. There's info on them in the files? I had only seen newspaper clippings."

The man nodded, "There were only a few pages in the back, on a few gentlemen and one woman."

"Well then Commissioner, it seems we have a heading in this potentially brewing storm, besides keeping a blind eye out."