"Good. You'll work with Carlton. Tell him the rules, Carlton."

I pull the mask off and set it on the desk. Richard's eyes widen at me. I still had my eyes on the card. I put the card on the desk.

"Mr. Wayne is quite persistent," I say while pulling out a card of paper. "Did you know that Ms. Dawes had died, Carlton?"

Thick, tense silence fills the room. My anger was not evident yet.

"No, Mistress."

I growl darkly.

"I TOLD YOU TO HAVE HER PROTECTED!" I bellow as I turn on him sharply.

I had him against the wall. He looked calm. I was fuming.

"Ms. Dawes was an asset to us! Who killed her?!" I yell as I release him and stalk over to my desk.

I sit quickly. Carlton pauses to right the plant that had fallen over from my attack. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Calm. I was calm and blank in a second. My eyes remained closed.

"Maroni."

My eyes flash open. Our eyes lock. He was calm, serious. I sit back in my chair. My legs cross as I lean on my hand. Looking at him. Contemplative.

"Call the florist. I want the best flowers sent to her. I suspect Wayne to be paying for the funeral."

I turn to my desk and pick up the phone. Carlton pulls his cell phone out and calls. I set to work fast. This would be over quickly. I was not happy. Gotham would know it.

"A man was found dead today, in front of the Maroni family home. The man is said to be Salvatori's brother," the anchor man says as he stands in front of the crime scene with lots of other media behind him and around him.

I sat at my vanity. I had just gotten in. The blood splatter on my face was clear.

"We have Irene Woods, the woman who found the body, here to tell us more."

A woman with grey hair and her house coat on looks at the camera nervously. She looked sickened.

"I found it this morning at 6:30, on my way to work. It was so horrible. The person who did this is…is…sick. A person who can do that so easily and violently is evil."

"What did they do?" the reporter asks anxious like a child ready for their candy on Halloween.

"They carved a smile on the man's face. Took his eyes out. Took his clothes. Carved every inch of skin. Fingers cut off. Tongue removed. His face was burnt on one side. His-his," she burst out crying. She sobbed and the reporter was sickened. Pale. "His chest said…"I smile even in death, though I do not deserve it. Come out and play." It was carved in and burnt over to make it stand out more."

My hair was wet and hanging down. I had make up set out on my desk. The dress I had on was a black sundress that went to my knees. The heels on my feet were designer and classy. Richard sat calmly with a smile on his face, watching the news.

"You missed a spot," Carlton says as he uses a wet paper towel to remove the blood from my face.

I turn back to the mirror and powder my face lightly. I slip my contacts in quickly. I stand and pull my large black sun hat on. Carlton holds my black coat open. It went to my knees and resembled a trench coat.

I stand outside the building my pent house was in. Carlton held an umbrella above me. Richard was trying to wave a taxi down. I was actually upset with her death. She reminded me of Maria. I had kept track of her and had men watching her. I had even spent lunch with her once or twice.

I look up at the sound of a car pulling to a curb. IT was across the way. Mr. Wayne stood in front of a black town car. The doorman to his building had an umbrella over his head. He stood in the door to the car, staring at me. I flash a weak smile at him as Richard comes over, angry at the taxi company. He smiles a little strong than I had. He waves me over. I look at Carlton for his choice. He puts his arm around me and walks me across the street. Richard stays at the building.

"Hope in," Wayne says as he steps out of the doorway to the car.

I look up at him and inspect his face.

"He can ride up front," he says, meaning Carlton.

I slip into the car. Carlton waits for Wayne to get in. We rode in silence for a little bit.

"I'm glad you got the invitation," he says as he looks out the window.

I glance at him.

"Me too," I say in a soft voice.

He looks at me.

"I didn't know her as well as you did, but I grew attached. She reminded me of Maria."

He looks at me again. I was calm as normal. The sadness was in my voice only. It never touched my eyes or features. He looked like he wished he could cry. It was clear that he loved her.

"Did you cry for Maria?" He wanted to justify his want for crying.

"No," I say in a regretful voice. "I never truly cry."

He looks a little shocked by that.

"You looked near tears on the news when your father died."

"Pretend. I hated Father. You would never understand. I loved him because he was my Father. Nothing more, nothing less."

He didn't say anything. I turn back to the door as we pull up. A cop opens the door. He looks saddened. It was the MCU. I step out before Carlton can get to me. Wayne needed support. I was new to this support thing, but I could try it. Nobody else would give it to him. I turn and offer my hand to Wayne. He looks up at me, eyes a little widened. He was stunned. I soften my expression a little, trying to remember how Maria had done it. It looked as awkward as I felt.

"What are you doing?" he asks as he steps out after taking my hand for help.

"Trying to give you support. We all need it sometimes. My sister Maria used to be mine. It's a new thing to me though."

He smiles sadly at me as I walk next to him on our way in. The building was packed. We sat up front. Carlton sat in the seat behind me. The Gotham City Cathedral was packed. I didn't touch Wayne when the priest said his bit. Wayne looked to be in pain almost.

The priest steps away from the podium. I stand slowly. Wayne looks up at me and gives a weak smile. All heads turn to watch as I step up to the podium. I look out at the crowd. Hundreds of faces I didn't know. I clear my throat before situating the microphone to my level.

"I didn't know Rachel Dawes as well as some of you have," I say, the sorrow and pain blocked from my voice. Only Carlton could hear the light sorrow in it. "I met her at Mr. Wayne's party for Harvey Dent. I liked her from the get go. She reminded me of somebody I lost a long time ago. Mr. Pennyworth, a man who watched Ms. Dawes grow up, my old neighbor, has asked that I sing a song for Rachel. I hope you don't mind if I'm a little off," I glance at Alfred, sitting next to Mr. Wayne. Alfred had watched me and Maria from time to time when we were young. "It's been a long time since I sang. I had no reason to. But now, I feel that his request was just. Rachel was a saint an angel. That is why he has chosen, Arms of an Angel by Sarah McLachlan."

Silence fills the room as the echo of my voice over the speakers dies away. The music starts. My eyes close as I clear my mind.

" Spend all your time waiting for that second chance
For the break that will make it ok
There's always some reason to feel "not good enough ?
And it's hard at the end of the day," my voice filled the room.

"I'm an angel, Jez!" Maria laughed as she flew high in the air on the swing.

" I need some distraction, oh beautiful release
Memories seep from my veins."

Maria stood in her white dress, smiling at me. Laughing with me. She was my light to life. She held Anthony, my little brother. Anthony laughed. He was eight again. Maria was 13.

" They may be empty and weightless, and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight."

Maria lay in bed with me. Facing me. Smiling. Her precious smile.

" In the arms of an Angel, fly away from here."

I opened my eyes. No. They had been open this whole time. Carlton was watching me. All eyes were. Wayne looked near tears. My eyes locked onto Carlton's, he saw how much this song took to sing.

" From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie."

"Don't let Father change you, Jez," Maria pleaded as I stood in front of her with blood on my once white dress.

" You're in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here."

"It's alright, Maria," I say with tears in my eyes. The last tears I would shed. "You're just fine. Mother is going to make it all better."

She smiles up at me. Blood running from the corners of her lips. He favorite white dress was soaking with red blood.

" So tired of the straight line, and everywhere you turn
There's vultures and thieves at your back
The storm keeps on twisting, you keep on building the lies
That you make up for all that you lack."

"Father loves you, Jez!" Maria yelled as she stood over me. We were in the Wayne's backyard.

"No he does! Do you see what he makes me do? Makes me watch!?" I yell. Anger. Anger has always been there for me.

" It don't make no difference, escaping one last time
It's easier to believe
In this sweet madness, oh this glorious sadness
That brings me to my knees."

I look down at Mother's body. I felt nothing. Cold. Blood covered me. Father put his hand on my head.

"Good. You're a true Biondi."

Maria screams as she enters the room. She falls to her knees in front of me. She shook me. I let her. She knew my pain. She understood me.

"No, Jez! Don't let it win!" she cries in pain and urgency for me.

I look from the body of my Mother to her face. Tears streamed down her face. She looked just like Mother. She was my mother. She cared for me. Not that shell of a body on the floor that I had once called Mother.

"It's alright, Maria. Mother can't hurt you anymore," I say calmly as I place my hands on her face and force her to look at me.

She sobs and pulls me to her, burying her face into my chest. Mother would beat us no more.

" In the arms of an Angel, far away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear."

"No daughter of Sorriso deserves to live!" the man yelled as he aimed his gun at Maria.

"Maria!" my 9 year old brother Anthony yelled, jumping for her.

The bang of the gun echoed. Anthony fell on Maria. Blood splashed me. I stood, stunned, looking down at my dead little brother. Maria was screaming and crying. I push Anthony from her quickly. The bullet had passed through Anthony and into her lung.

"Shhh," I whisper as I pull her into my lap. She quiets. The pain was leaving her. Just numbness now. Just like all those I had watched die. I knew what was too come, even at such a young age. "The angels will welcome you and sing for you every day."

She smiles.

" You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie
In the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here."

My open eyes see the crowd again. Many were crying. I close the last note off and look at Carlton. He was looking at me with light concern. A tear ran down Wayne's face.

Something wet hit my hand. I look at the hand, shocked. A tear. I touch my face. Only one tear had escaped. I step down from the podium and walk right past Wayne. My throat was tight. My anger was for once, pushed back. Pushed back by pain. Carlton stood quickly and rushed after me as I strode down the aisle and out the doors.