A/N: Really sorry for the long delay. Things have been kinda crazy, but I promise I haven't forgotten you all. I'm hoping to get another chapter up next weekend, and I really hope things get a little less crazy after the wedding (five months! Yeep!). Thanks for all your patience!
Chapter 21
The Other Side of the Coin
Several hours earlier…
After Bruce left for the hospital, Lois turned her attention to her investigation. Investigations, she corrected herself as she looked at the papers spread before her with a sigh. Things were getting entirely too complicated.
To try to simplify things – or at least keep her thoughts in order – she organized her notes according to investigation and spread them across the floor of one of the Manor's unfinished rooms, hoping it would help her see the big picture.
Once everything was spread out, she stood and scanned the papers before her. The category dedicated to the attack at Wayne Enterprises was pitifully small – mostly the names of the victims, along with some notes on the information the two women outside the building had given her. She didn't know how trustworthy that information was, but it was at least a place to start.
Next to this, she had everything she knew about the Joker and the rest of the remaining fugitives from Arkham Asylum. Again, there wasn't much. The Joker hadn't made an overt move since his last television appearance. However, recent reports of murders between different criminal factions in Gotham made her think that he was "recruiting" as he had before. Until he – or one of his cronies – made a move, there really wouldn't be any movement in the investigation.
She had also dedicated a part of the floor to the Batman's secret identity. Seeing that everything she knew on that subject took up less than three square feet of floor space was a little demoralizing. Of course, she didn't write down her speculation regarding her boyfriend – she didn't want to have to explain to either him or his butler. It would be humiliating if she turned out to be wrong. However, since everything she knew otherwise still more or less boiled down to her first list speculating that he was everything from a racecar driver to a military experiment, she figured she should probably be embarrassed anyway.
Finally, she had everything she knew on Dent's murder. Looking at the multitude of papers spread out on this topic at least helped to assuage her ego. At least, it did until she realized that all she these pieces of paper represented a long list of questions but no answers.
She pondered her notes as she paced back and forth, trying to put her thoughts in order. She had a number of theories to explain what had happened that night, but even looking at the bigger picture, she couldn't stop running into one particular wall – why Gordon and Batman had participated in the cover-up.
Rubbing the headache that was forming between her eyes, Lois sank to the ground and scanned her papers once again. According to the news accounts published immediately after the murder, when the first responders arrived, they'd found Gordon and his family on the scene. The reports included Gordon's statement of events and described the aftermath and the hunt for Batman, but absolutely none of the reports adequately addressed the question of what Gordon's family had been doing on the scene in the first place. In fact, it seemed only one reporter had bothered to even ask the question – or at least print the answer. According to a single report in the Gotham Gazette, Gordon had claimed that he'd called his wife immediately after the incident, she and the children had been nearby on personal business, and she'd raced to the scene to ensure her husband was okay.
But the more Lois thought about that, the less it made sense. It was too far away from the Gordon residence for a business call in the area, and it wasn't exactly a good part of town for a family outing. So what was Gordon's family doing there, and how had they beaten the authorities to the scene? Unless Gordon had called them before calling for backup, but, again, why would he do that?
One thing was for sure; she needed to get her hands on that file. A quick glance at her watch, however, and she realized it would have to wait. With everything that had happened at Wayne Enterprises, Gordon would probably still be at the precinct. If she was going to break into his office to commit a minor misdemeanor (at least, she hoped it would be a minor misdemeanor; her bank account almost certainly couldn't handle the strain of bail for a felony), she should probably wait a few more hours for the coast to be clear.
Faced with that temporary roadblock, Lois turned her attention to the more anemic investigations spread out on the floor. She wished Bruce had returned from the hospital – for a multitude of reasons, not all of which she was emotionally ready to explore at the moment. So, rather than ponder the unconventional nature of her relationship with Bruce, she focused instead on wishing she could bounce ideas off someone. For a brief moment, she felt a pang of regret that she couldn't call Chloe or Clark, who had both acted as sounding boards for her in the past. Before she could feel too nostalgic, however, she pushed the feeling aside. She wanted to think about everything that had just happened in Smallville even less than she wanted to contemplate her love life.
Pursing her lips, Lois turned her attention to the information she had on the day's attacks. Struggling to her feet, Lois arched onto the balls of her feet to get her circulation going again, wincing when pins and needles raced down her left leg, which seemed to have taken the opportunity when she was sitting on the floor to fall asleep. She started to pace, but with one leg still asleep, it was more of a lurching hobble, as she stopped every couple of steps to try to shake some feeling back into her leg.
She was, of course, in the middle of just such an act when she heard a soft sound at the door and turned to find Alfred, holding a tray. How did he have an almost unerring ability to see her when she was the least composed? On the other hand, she'd just been thinking that she needed a sounding board, and now here he was.
Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, so to speak (and consoling herself – if that was the word – that he'd certainly seen her in more awkward situations) she lurched forward and grabbed him by the arm, almost upending the tray. "Alfred!" she cried with the wide smile that those who knew her best had long since learned to fear, "Have I ever told you that you have a knack for always showing up when I need you the most?"
With an aplomb that made Lois wonder what Bruce had put his faithful butler through in his early years, Alfred managed to gracefully disentangle himself without losing his grip on the tray or so much as spilling a drop of the cup of coffee and bowl of hot soup it held. "Well, I –" he began, but then he broke off, perplexed. Lois didn't know if his confusion was due to a dawning realization that there was no table in the room upon which to place the tray, or if he was merely struck dumb by what had to look, from his perspective, as the aftermath of a very small, localized tornado hitting Wayne Manor.
"Um…I was…uh…working," she offered sheepishly, reaching to take the tray from him so she could place it on the floor. There was a brief power struggle, as Alfred tried to retain his hold on it – either because of some strict notion of what the people he served should and shouldn't do, or because he was concerned that she was still so injured, she couldn't lift a tray, she didn't know. When he did finally relinquish the tray, however, he looked thoroughly nonplussed, an expression that was hardly improved when she decided to eat picnic-style and placed the tray on the floor. When she followed suit, she thought he might succumb to some sort of apoplectic fit.
In an effort to distract him from his offended sensibilities, Lois took a big bite of soup and then rushed ahead. "Sorry about the mess, but I'll clean it up when I'm done. I was just trying to get my thoughts in order. Mind if I bounce some ideas off of you? Sometimes it helps me work through things."
Alfred's eyes scanned the papers on the floor with interest, and after a moment, he nodded his head slowly. "Of course," he said in a low voice, and for a moment, Lois thought there was almost a hint of reluctance in his tone. However, his expression didn't indicate any reservations he might have, so she showed her appreciation for his assistance by taking another couple of bites of soup. She'd been around him enough by now to know that he seemed to believe that, if he didn't actually see her eat, it didn't happen – something that was rarely true, except when she was wrapped up in a really good story.
Still lost in her previous line of thought, she tackled that mystery first. "So, I was just thinking about the motive behind the attacks. Even if you only look at what happened today – and there seems to be some suggestion that this wasn't an isolated event – the targets were spread out in various departments with different roles. They could have been chosen at random, but that seems unlikely. We're talking board members and heads of departments. Which leads me to think that there are only two really plausible theories about the motive. Either someone is trying to hurt Wayne Enterprises, or…" she paused, realizing that Alfred wouldn't like what she was about to say.
But he seemed to be on the same page, because he finished her thought for her. "Someone is trying to hurt Master Bruce."
With a sheepish smile, she offered, "If someone wanted to hurt him, destroying his family's legacy – one of the last links he has to his parents – would be a pretty effective way to do it." She couldn't bear to see the look of pain and concern in the older man's eyes, so she turned to scan her notes. "Which means that the suspects fall into two likely categories – people who want to hurt Bruce personally, and those who might benefit from a little corporate sabotage. Anybody in particular come to mind?'
She was toeing a dangerous line, she knew. She was sure Alfred would want to help her, but she had no illusions about his true loyalties. She didn't fool herself for a minute into thinking Alfred would divulge anything Bruce would want kept secret, no matter how much he might like the new woman in his ward's life.
Indeed, when Alfred spoke, it was in measured tones as he chose each word carefully. "Master Bruce is a very powerful and influential man in Gotham, and I'm not so naïve that I think that kind of power doesn't attract its share of enemies. However, I don't know who would have sent those letters."
She should probably let it go, knowing she was treading into dangerous territory, using her personal relationship with Bruce to pry into his secrets – which she'd already decided she didn't want to do. But Alfred might be able to help her piece things together, so decided it was worth the risk. Knowing she was toeing the line, she picked up the photo of Bruce she'd put on the floor and ran her finger along the edge of the frame.
"What about something a little closer to home? Someone who has it in for Bruce personally?" Lois studied the picture as she tried to work things out in her mind. "An ex-girlfriend, maybe?" she suggested as the thought struck her. She remembered some of the articles she'd perused about Bruce, once she'd realized who he was. "Someone he dated? He does have a reputation for being something of a ladies' man, and while I'm sure the media's blown some things out of proportion, I'm sure it's not all an exaggeration."
Lois paused and rubbed her thumb under her chin, so lost in her train of thought that she had almost forgotten Alfred was there. "Bruce certainly knows how to sweep a girl off her feet. He's smart, handsome, charming, rich…almost something out of a fairy tale." Damn, but she wished she had her computer with her. The articles she'd scanned briefly when Bruce had been nothing more than a random stranger she'd propositioned to help her get into a party, she now wanted to read more closely.
Her eyes narrowed as she wracked her brain, trying to remember salient details of his past affairs as she worked things out aloud. "But life doesn't always end in a happily ever after." She fell silent for a moment, thinking it over. Could one of his exes have fallen for the public façade he presented to the world of the devil-may-care playboy, only to be unable to cope when reality proved to be far different? Lois hadn't known Bruce long, but she already could tell there were secrets under the surface that he used his carefree persona to hide. She could also tell that he was not the most emotionally available of men – and after some of her more catastrophic forays into romance, she'd built a bit of a wall around her heart, too, so she knew the signs.
In fact, it was probably the unconventional progression of their romance so far due to the turmoil in Gotham that had forestalled at least her (and she believed his, as well) usual romantic caution putting the breaks on their romance. When things calmed down, they were certainly going to have to figure out where they stood – or even wanted to stand – in terms of their relationship, but it was rather nice not to have to worry about that just yet as things played out a bit more.
Realizing her thoughts had gotten side-tracked, Lois frowned and turned her attention back to the matter at hand. "Could one of Bruce's former lovers have been so upset that he wasn't the man she thought he was or wanted him to be, that she would take such extreme action?" If so, Lois doubted she'd started with the attempted murder of a half dozen of Bruce's employees. She knew enough about stalkers to know they usually started a little closer to home.
Tilting her head back to look up at Alfred, she asked, "Has Bruce ever received any threats? Phone calls, letters, anything like that, as far as you know?"
Alfred was looking at her so intently, with such an odd expression on his face, she was momentarily distracted from her purpose. Then he blinked and it was gone, the affable butler once more. He opened his mouth to reply, but, believing she understood the reason for his expression a moment before, Lois cut him off. "You know what? Don't answer that. I'm sorry; for a minute, I forgot the kind of position I was putting you in. I'll handle it." If Bruce had been stalked, there would have to have been some sort of police report or court filing on the matter. Lois was going to have to try to pin Gordon down on the events of the night Dent died; she might as well ask him about this at the same time.
Which brought her attention to her open investigation of Dent's murder. With a slight frown, Lois scooted towards the section of floor to make sure her thoughts were in order. Alfred wasn't likely to have any concrete answers pertaining to this investigation, but at least he wouldn't be put in a difficult position in acting as her sounding-board as she tried to work things out.
"You know what I don't get about Dent's murder," she mused, forgetting to provide an external segue to accompany her internal mental gear shift, "Why the cover up? It's been bugging me for a while now."
"Perhaps there wasn't one," Alfred offered after a brief pause, slowly approaching to peruse the papers littering the floor. "Batman could have done everything he's been accused of doing."
She snorted and threw him a skeptical look. "Yeah, but you don't believe that, do you? There are too many things about that theory that don't make sense." His eyes met hers and he stared at her expectantly, which made her grin. She'd hoped it would help her thought process to bounce ideas off someone; it seemed he was expecting her to start from the beginning. She should have known he wouldn't let her take such an easy shortcut.
"This could take a while," she said abruptly, gesturing for him to take a seat next to her on the floor. He looked askance at the idea, choosing instead to leave the room long enough to procure two chairs, which he somehow managed to fit in the Jenga-style paper puzzle she'd left on the rug. She jumped to her feet but ignored her chair for the moment, feeling a need to pace as she filled him in on her thought process and worked out a stiff muscle or two.
"Okay, so we know there were a number of people murdered that evening, and they were all killed by the same person."
"Are you sure that's a safe assumption? This is Gotham," Alfred reminded her.
Lois nodded and continued speaking, having anticipated the question. "While it is true that it is theoretically possible for there to have been more than one killer, that would mean that at least one of the parties involved – Gordon or Batman – has chosen to cover up for not one killer but two. Or even more. Logically, that's not very likely, even if it is possible. So for the time being, we have to work on the assumption that there's one culprit, barring evidence to the contrary. Occam's Razor, and all that."
He frowned, pondering her argument. After a moment, he nodded, silently gesturing for her to continue with a slight smile on his face.
"So for the sake of argument, let's say that there was one killer. You could really focus your investigation on any of the victims, but it makes the most sense to look at Dent's murder. Not only was it the most high-profile, but it's also the only one where we know some of the people who were involved – or at least present. So it makes sense to look at who had a motive to kill the District Attorney, and from there, figure out how the rest of the murders are connected and who had a motive for all of them.
"We know there were three people on the rooftop the night Harvey Dent died. Batman, Dent himself, and Commissioner Gordon. Of course, someone else could have been with them," she added quickly, forestalling Alfred's next comment, "but then you hit that same wall: why would both Gordon and Batman cover up for a third party? Who would they both have such a strong motive to protect? Unless we find evidence that puts someone else on that roof – or eliminate all of the available suspects we know were on hand – we have to at least start with the premise that those are our suspects. Which makes this a bit more of a closed-world problem. So who did it?"
"Anyone you ask in Gotham will tell you it was Batman," Alfred reminded her, suggesting she start there.
"Right, but as I said, there are problems with that theory. First of all, we have the timeline." She scowled at the rough timeline she's drawn up on one piece of paper. "Granted, it's a little sketchy, since they've never released the M.E.'s times of death and I haven't been able to get my hands on any of the official reports. But what we do know is that Batman rescued the hostages and apprehended the Joker.
"So, depending on the official times of death, we have only a handful of possible timelines for that night: one, Batman killed Meroni and the others, raced across town to rescue the hostages – without any casualties, remember – and capture the Joker, then met Dent on the rooftop and he murdered him. Or, he murdered everyone but Dent, stopped his murder spree long enough to save some hostages, captured the Joker, and then killed Dent. Or I suppose he could have rescued the hostages, tracked all of his victims down, murdered them in some order, and then apparently decided he had enough blood on his hands and has never been tied to any murder since." She looked over at Alfred and put her hands on her hips, silently conveying the full measure of her skepticism over all of the theories proposed thus far.
However, the older butler rather stubbornly decided to continue being the voice of reason. "It is possible. Perhaps he had a vendetta against his victims. He could have snapped at the time of the murders and repented his actions later. Or perhaps, as you suggest, he simply realized he had enough blood on his hands. Stranger things have been known to happen."
She scowled at him, mildly irritated he didn't automatically recognize the irrefutability of her logic. "Sure thing, Horatio; there are more things in heaven and earth and all that. But is that really likely? Batman's taken on bigger crime bosses. Hell, he'd taken on the Joker not long before… or during… or after. Whatever the case. He manages to restrain any homicidal impulses when apprehending the Joker, a man who had murdered plenty of people himself and had just threatened the lives of a literal two boatloads full of people, but then snaps when it comes to some random police officer? Come on!"
"It could have been a personal vendetta. The Gotham police force has a reputation for corruption," Alfred tried one more time.
"It was pretty personal with the Joker, too," she retorted. "In fact, it was pretty clear the Joker was specifically targeting Batman with a lot of what he did." Alfred conceded the point with another slight nod.
Lois continued, "There is an additional problem with the theory that Batman is behind the murders. Regardless of what's been reported in the newspapers and in interviews, I've seen for myself that Gordon isn't exactly bending over backwards to apprehend Batman. He caught us both in his office…" She trailed off when she realized he hadn't been aware of the circumstances to that story, but she just waved her hand and explained dismissively, "It's a long story. It doesn't matter right now. Gordon found us in his office and didn't even try to arrest him. If Batman killed several people, including a fellow cop and a D.A., and Gordon knew he'd done it because he was there for at least one of the murders…why would he let Batman walk? Wouldn't he do exactly what he's told the press he would do, which is everything in his power to bring Gotham's very own vigilante to justice?
"Whatever way it played out – whether Gordon knows he's a murderer or just suspects it – Gordon's paying lip service to wanting to bring him down, but when he's got a prime opportunity to try to do just that, in a building filled with cops willing and able to provide backup, he doesn't. In fact, from their conversation, it was pretty clear they're still working together. Why? Because Batman pinkie swore not to do it again? I don't think so."
"Very well. There are some holes in the current theory," Alfred acknowledged, the corners of his lips quivering with the effort to suppress a smile. "Who's next?"
"The Commissioner himself. Okay, so let's say he did it. Maybe, as you said earlier, he just snapped. Got sick of cleaning up after corrupt cops, well-connected gangsters, and…uh…I don't know, decided to put a good friend out of his misery. You still have some timeline issues and the question of why those particular people pushed him over the edge. And you have the question of why Batman chose to cover up for Gordon."
"The Commissioner has done a lot of good for the city," her companion pointed out. "Perhaps he believes the good outweighs the bad."
Lois scowled. "Murder is murder," she shot back. "Either Batman believes in justice or he doesn't. He can't have it both ways."
"He may not see it that way," Alfred returned, sounding amused.
"He dresses up like a bat and goes on a near-nightly crusade to bring down the scum of Gotham. You don't do that without some pretty serious convictions…or issues. Either doesn't paint the portrait of the kind of man who would compromise said personal crusade. Remember, we're not talking about a petty crime; if he has reason to believe someone's killed multiple people – including a district attorney who, by all accounts, was a good man – I think he would want them brought to justice. Particularly since, at the very least, Dent's murder would have very likely been premeditated, assuming Gordon was the murderer. Remember, his family was on the scene before the responding officers arrived. Why would he call them there, unless he wanted to use them for some sort of alibi – but then Batman showed up on the scene and ruined the plan. Whatever his intentions, he still would have had to call them before Dent's murder."
Studying her closely, Alfred asked, "Why not after?"
"Because they live too far away. It would be way too risky for him to kill Dent, call his family to the scene, and wait around by the dead body for the half hour or so it took for them to make their way across town before calling the cops for backup. Why bother with an alibi at that point? Why not just leave the scene and wait for someone else to stumble across Dent's body? It's not like Gordon would have been a likely suspect. He had to have called them there before, but the only way that makes sense is if the murder was premeditated. Otherwise, why did he want them there and why was he planning to hang around the area long enough for them to come meet him?"
Silence fell between them as Lois considered a variety of possible scenarios, but her companion broke her out of her reverie when he murmured softly, "You assume the commissioner's family went there to meet him; what if it was the other way around?"
Lois straightened and shot Alfred a quick look. "But why would they have been – unless…unless someone else brought them there to lure Gordon to the rooftop," she corrected herself as understanding started to dawn. "Which makes sense, because I've been wondering how they all ended up there together. I mean, Dent had been missing since the Joker's attack on the hospital, so there was a question of how either Gordon or Batman had either lured him or known to meet him there. But if someone else lured Gordon to the roof using his family, why? And who? Batman? That doesn't really seem his style – and it makes Gordon's subterfuge make even less sense. If Batman had dragged Gordon's family in on this, I would think the Commissioner would be even more inclined to want to bring him in. Not less.
"Which leaves Dent – and I was about to get to him, anyway. Although I guess we have to revise our original premise and assume Gordon's family could have been on the roof at the time of the murder and not after, like I'd assumed. So, technically, any of them could be to blame – although, realistically, we're looking at his wife because his kids hardly could have gotten around Gotham in the time it took to commit all the murders. But we can pretty much eliminate all of them from the suspect list right away. Mrs. Gordon didn't have motive, for one thing, and I think the commissioner would have taken the fall for his wife, rather than depending on the Batman to agree to be Public Enemy Number One indefinitely. Have I overlooked anything so far?"
"Not that I can tell," he replied, gesturing for her to continue.
"So, we're down to Dent – that his death was either a suicide or an accident." She paused to consider, then added, "Or suicide-by-cop, I suppose. So let's start with either suicide theory. If he'd killed himself somehow, why would Batman and Gordon cover it up? Usually, people so when there's insurance money at stake, because most policies don't pay out in case of suicide. But even if Batman and Gordon were willing to go along with it as, say, a favor for their friend…who is the beneficiary? Has one even been named?"
Alfred frowned. "There was a report that Mr. Dent had changed his will shortly prior to his death – likely as a precautionary measure after the threats on his life. He named Miss Dawes as his beneficiary. Since she pre-deceased him, there is some question which estate would inherit."
"But there's also a question as to whether either of them had any other family to speak of, right?" Lois pointed out. She chose her words carefully, mindful of Bruce's revelation that Rachel had been a childhood friend. "So if there's a good chance any insurance money would revert to the state anyway, I really doubt everyone would be bending over backwards to try to ensure there's a life insurance payout."
She saw the sadness in Alfred's eyes as he remembered the little girl he'd once known. "Rachel had no other family," he murmured softly.
It was the first time she'd heard him refer to anyone in so familiar a fashion, but it spoke of his affection for the other woman. She wanted to give him a hug, but she suspected he wouldn't feel comfortable accepting one at the moment. Instead, she cleared her throat and said forcefully, "Okay, so not suicide. An accident? I've heard of people pretending something's an accident to cover up for a homicide, but I've never heard of anyone pretending something's a homicide to cover up an accident."
"Unless they feel responsible for his death," Alfred pointed out. "Batman and the Commissioner failed to save Miss Dawes in time. They weren't able to prevent the explosion that disfigured Mr. Dent. Perhaps because of that, they feel that, whatever happened, they feel they bear some responsibility."
She scowled. "Nobody can save everyone. Not the Commissioner of Gotham and not Batman." On a heavy sigh, she found herself forced to admit in a begrudging murmur, "But of course people don't always believe that. So it's possible. Which I suppose re-opens the question of suicide. Maybe they weren't trying to protect an insurance payout. Maybe he killed himself – or there was an accident and he fell – and they feel responsible." She crossed her arms and turned towards Alfred. "Although if that's the case and they both feel responsible, it doesn't seem fair that Batman would bear the brunt of the blame. Though if he thought Gotham needed the Commissioner to stay in charge, it's probably the kind of idiotic thing he would do," she grumbled.
Alfred made a sound that resembled a chuckle before he broke into a coughing fit and turned away until he could regain his composure. "That still doesn't explain what the commissioner's family was doing there."
"No, it doesn't," she agreed, grabbing a pencil and jotting down some more notes. "And if it was an accident, it doesn't explain what they were all doing there to begin with…although…" Her voice trailed off as she jotted down some more notes, crossed out some she'd made previously, and reorganized the papers on the floor as things started to fall into place. She didn't have the answers yet, but Alfred had helped clarify a few things. "Would Dent have brought them all there? It was where Rachel died…" Alfred had suggested that both Batman and Gordon had blamed themselves for Rachel's death and Dent's disfigurement. Did Dent do the same?
She didn't know how long she was lost in thought, but when she looked around again, she realized that Alfred had taken the empty dinner tray, apparently returned with a fresh carafe of coffee at some point, and was gone. A glance at her watch confirmed that it was quite late. A normal person would probably take that as a sign to get to bed, but Lois wasn't a normal person.
Instead, she crept to the doorway and poked her head into the hall. A quick glance around confirmed she was alone, so she ducked back into the room and shut the door as quietly as she could. Then she grabbed her phone and dialed for a cab – her car was back in Metropolis, and she wasn't about to borrow one of Bruce's, since she doubted he owned one that cost less than twice her yearly salary. Oh, who was she kidding? She'd totally take one of his cars if she had any idea where Alfred kept the keys. But, since he didn't, she would have to take a cab.
She kept her voice low so she wouldn't be heard through the door, if Alfred should happen to pass by, and directed the cabbie to meet her on the street outside the manor's gates. She was going to have to sneak out, if she didn't want Alfred to worry. She'd be back before anyone knew she was gone, she consoled herself as she grabbed her bag. If there was one thing that the brainstorming session with Alfred had confirmed, it was that she really needed to get her hands on the official file. And there was no time like the present.
It took less time than she'd expected for Lois to get to the police station. She stared critically up at the building as she climbed out of the back of the cab. She could try sneaking through the front door again, but she thought the fire escape would be a better option. And, since she knew Gordon wasn't as concerned about Batman's unexpected window visits as one might assume, she suspected there would be a lack of surveillance on the fire escape, even after Batman's last trip to the station.
Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she jogged to the side of the building and jumped to try to reach the ladder – which was when her body reminded her that she wasn't in prime condition for such physical activity. Scowling, she gritted her teeth and tried again, refusing to give in to her injuries. She couldn't quite suppress her grunt of pain when she managed to grab the bottom rung of the ladder, causing both the cut in her palm and her ribs to protest.
"Bruce would kill me if he saw me do that," she chided herself in a whisper as she pulled herself up onto the ladder. Then she blew out a long breath, waiting for the pain to subside even as she pretended she was just taking a moment to get her bearings. What Bruce didn't know wouldn't hurt him, and it wasn't like she'd lied to him. Given her usually antics, this was – comparatively, at least – taking it easy.
She crept up the fire escape on the balls of her feet, trying to stay as quiet as possible, until she reached Gordon's window. Then, holding her breath, she grabbed the bottom of the windowsill and tugged. Just as she'd suspected, it slid open easily. "Trying to arrest Batman, my ass," she murmured in an undertone as she stepped into the room.
Her injuries were all but forgotten under the excitement of the investigation as she darted across the room to the desk. Skipping the drawers she'd opened on her last trip for the moment, she fell to her knees and tackled the next lock.
She almost had it when the door flew open and the light came on, causing her to wince and duck her head, although there was no real place for her to hide. She heard the door shut and a heavy sigh. "You know, I'd wonder why I haven't arrested you yet."