6:18 p.m.
"Is everything ready?" Bruce asked as made sure his shoes would stay on as him and a few members of London's crew waited for the signal.
"Whenever the lights go out, that's our chance. The searchlights will go out and every crazy in here will start screaming. I think we'll have about five minutes. I'll stay behind to make sure Robert comes along with us." the man said as his friends prepared to make the jump inside the chute.
"No... I'll stay behind. I owe him that much." Bruce said.
"Are you sure? I know that this whole thing is time sensitive."
"It's fine. Without him, none of this would be possible. Just wait on us." Bruce said, slapping the guy's back as they waited.
Within a few seconds after Bruce's decision, the lights went out and every went dead silent for a moment. Then, pandemonium broke out and the entire prison of Blackgate became noisy and full of chaos. The men went one after another, swinging down the garbage chute quickly as Bruce made sure all five of them went down. He waited patiently as the yells of prisoners made him nearly deaf. He tapped his foot and his anxiety boosted up every second that ticked away into oblivion.
"What the hell happened?" a guard asked as he and his female partner got up and looked around the completely dark office.
Just outside, Nashton was still wielding his nightstick, having taken out three more guards on the way to the wing where Waylon Jones was being held. He ran across the office space and the two guards saw a brief flash of orange that made them jump. Nashton walked through the semi-darkness, calling out Waylon's name at the top of his lungs. He grabbed the flashlight he had swiped off a guard and clicked it on, the light slashing through the pitch-black space.
"Waylon! It's me! Where are you?"
"Eddie?" Waylon's voice asked from deep inside the wing.
Nashton smiled and ran for the sound of his voice. After running for a few minutes, he found Waylon behind bars, wearing a shock collar across his neck. He had stripped off the prison top and only wore the pants that hardly fit him. He looked at the lock and jingled the keys in front of him.
"How'd you get out and what's going on?" Waylon asked, leaning against the bars.
"A special friend. C'mon! We're getting out of here. Perry screwed us over big-time. He never planned on paying us."
"What do you got planned?"
"What do you think?" Nashton asked with a broken smile.
Come on, Robert. Bruce thought to himself as the minutes went by and the rioting began to quiet down. Just as he was about to go search for him, he heard heavy footsteps and quick breathing. From the darkness, Robert emerged, a long stream of blood pouring from his head and a slash across the front of his uniform.
"Are you okay?" Bruce asked, letting Robert go first into the chute.
"I'm fine. Let's go! That was close!"
Robert swung into the chute and after four seconds, Bruce dived into it, barely seeing Robert in front of him as they gained speed. Robert landed onto the rocky ground seconds later and Bruce slowed himself down, doing a front-flip onto the surface and running to the dingy where the loyal crew was waiting.
"We were starting to get worried! Hurry up!" the driver of the dingy said, starting the engine as Bruce and Robert hopped inside.
"Now, where to?" Robert asked.
"I'll let you guys find your old place and you can suit up. You have the armory covered, right?" Bruce asked.
Robert nodded as cold water shot into their faces as they soared over the large wakes in the harbor.
"Okay, good. I'll suit up and we'll meet once I find where Freeze is heading to. This is it, men."
All of them were silent but brave. They knew what they were about to face.
Bruce entered the Batcave by the dingy and quickly sped through the cavernous structure as fast as possible. He stopped when he reached the Batwing's dock and hopped off, running to the computer and warming up the suit chamber again. He began downloading all of the information on Freeze's location based on the temperature readings. He called up Gordon and he answered shortly after.
"Yes?"
"It's me. I think Freeze is going to war with Browning Perry tonight. It's not going to be good."
"Browning Perry? The board manager at Wayne Enterprises?"
"Yes."
"What's the reasoning? He already took down his building. He's in protective custody at the moment. I highly doubt that he could find him." Gordon said.
"Freeze is smart," Bruce said, analyzing all of Perry's previous trips on credit card checks, camera footage, and other digital footprints with the Mother Computer System.
"I'm sure he knows where he's at. Perry's hold up at... WayneTech?" Bruce continued, ending the sentence with a question.
"Why there?"
"I don't know. He needs to be kept safe. You're going to need your men ready."
"No." Gordon said simply.
Bruce remained silent and waited for Gordon to give his reason for the bluntness of the response.
"I'm not going to lead my men into another battle zone like the Joker's two escapes. I won't do that again and openly let them be put in the line of fire. Do you understand me?"
"I understand that you are scared for your men," Bruce said, bowing his head down and clearing his throat.
"But that's the risk we have to take in this city."
"Don't you dare act like you're one of my men. You are not! These men actually lives and families to go to. You don't! You can't possibly understand why they are afraid, you selfish son of a bitch!" Gordon yelled.
Bruce remained silent for a moment and thought on his words.
"Captain," he said with his hand on the 'end call' button.
"I'm going to need you. But you put your men first. That's more responsible than I've ever been. You're a brave man, Jim."
He pressed the button and the call was disconnected. Then, he began to suit up.
Gordon was shocked that the Batman had showed so much humanity for once. By saying his name, his heart skipped a beat and he realized the truth about the situation. The Batman was only asking for helping or accepting it because it was presented to him. He actually needed someone to stand by his side. Gordon put hos phone in his pocket and sat down lower in his chair.
"You need to help him, Jimmy." Bullock said in a dazed state.
Gordon returned to the real world and saw Bullock in his hospital bed with one eye barely open. Gordon sat up and combed back his hair and took off his glasses.
"I know I do. I just don't want any more death. I'm so sick of it, Harvey."
"Of course you are. Who wouldn't be?" Bullock said, sitting up for the first time in days and moaning with pain when he moved his head.
He adjusted the worn bandage wrapped around his head and pushed it up to his forehead. He motioned for Gordon to come close and he gave a small smile.
"You know... I knew you'd be here eventually. With less hair and a beer gut but hey, that's a plus."
Gordon gave him a small smile and sighed as he looked at the sun setting on the horizon of the skyline. Even near death, Bullock was still in control of who he was and what he needed to say. Gordon looked back down at his best friend and shook his hand.
"Now the Batman? Dear God, I never saw him coming but even through all of his antics... one thing hasn't changed about him." Bullock said.
"He will stand up for what's right. Whether or not that's legal isn't the issue. He does what he needs to do. Just like you. You two have the biggest hearts I'v ever seen and that is the truth. The Batman has not asked for any trust from us but we do. Why is that?" he continued.
"Because he puts the bad guys away." Gordon answered.
"That... that and," Bullock replied.
"He makes sure the good guys know who they are. That's what I've seen him really do."
"That's true." Gordon agreed.
Bullock held his friend's hand with both of his and shook it.
"Now, the big question is, are you going to stand by him?"
