Another Chapter fun fact: I started writing this one before I started the prom chapter because I didn't realize that after the stuff that happens in this chapter happens, it's a domino effect of bad shit happening and throwing in the prom chapter in the middle of all that would have been so random and out of place. So this was already partially finished before that thought hit me. I finished this about an hour after I posted the prom chapter.

THIS CHAPTER WAS UPDATED AND PROOFREAD FOR TYPOS, GRAMMAR, AND PLOT/TIMELINE ISSUES AS OF 7/18/2020

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Anslee had been in an incredibly good mood when Rachel had come to get her on Sunday. She noticed that her daughter hadn't even been phased by the fact that neither her or Harvey could come to send her off to her first and last prom. Ans had been quick to dismiss it as no big deal and she understood.

When Anslee had gone upstairs to get her stuff, Bruce had explained how her night had actually gone down to the mother. What she heard had actually made her jaw drop.

Even the "I love you, dad," and the hug that Anslee gave him before they were about to leave caught the woman off guard.

But now it was Monday morning and the news was buzzing with the development on the murder of two Gotham government workers found in a dinghy apartment at 8th street off of Orchard. Apparently there had been a tip that Harvey Dent had been murdered there. But upon investigation by the GCPD, it turns out it was the two men; one named Patrick Harvey and the other named Richard Dent.

Also found at the crime scene was evidence left by the Joker himself. It was a copy of the Gotham Times that had a death threat aimed at the mayor in the obituary column.

"With no word from The Batman- even as they mourn Commissioner Loeb, these cops have to be wondering if the Joker is going to make good on his threat to kill the Mayor today . . ."

Anslee felt like she was going to be sick to her stomach as she watched the news while she drank her morning cup of coffee. It felt like the city hadn't been able to catch a break since Joker had begun his own reign of terror.

Rachel entered the room and looked to the TV with a grimace. The mother looked exhausted and it bothered Anslee.

"I don't think you should go to that parade," Anslee spoke before taking a sip of her coffee.

Rachel paused from picking up the files she'd left on the coffee table and looked to her daughter, "And why is that?"

"Because one, you look like you haven't had a good rest in a few days and I mean that in the nicest way possible. And two, the mayor is going to be out in the open where it'd be easy for the Joker to go after him and you'll be standing and sitting less than 6 feet from the man the entire time," Anslee answered in a concerned tone.

Rachel studied the girl for a second, "I appreciate your concern, Anslee, I genuinely do. But I promise that the entire GCPD plus more will be at the parade. I'll be safer than you think."

Anslee still didn't look convinced when Rachel tried to explain things to her.

"It's also part of my job to be there for things like this, Commissioner Loeb had a lot to do with my job. I promise you, Anslee, things are going to be okay."

The teen took a deep breath, "If you say so," she spoke as if she still didn't believe what Rachel was saying.

"If I'm not wrong, you should be heading out for school here in a few minutes," Rachel cocked a brow at the woman.

"You still have my car keys you ever so graciously confiscated when the doctor said I couldn't drive after my mugging," Anslee raised a brow back at her.

"Your keys are on the counter and I have to leave now. I have to meet Harvey down at the Major Crimes Unit before we head downtown to march in the parade for Loeb," the woman confirmed.

Anslee watched as her mother walked around the couch, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Rachel called from the kitchen, "Bye Ans, love you!" the woman called as she headed out the door.

Anslee couldn't even get out a response before the door shut. She still had an uneasy feeling about Rachel showing up to that parade. It made her insides churn.

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Anslee sat at her desk in her American History class watching the Smart Board at the front of the room. Her teacher, Mr. Bright, insisted that the class watch the march for Commissioner Loeb out of a sense of respect since the man was murdered. She could care less about the man because according to Jim Gordon, the Commissioner was very corrupt. Although it did give her an excuse to avoid Nico furthermore and also an opportunity to watch out for Rachel.

As they watched hundreds of police officers march down the streets of Gotham while bagpipes played, Anslee felt a tap on her left shoulder. Pulling herself out of her thoughts, the girl turned to face John Blake. He had dark, nearly black hair and dark brown eyes, his skin was rather fair as well. He was also the one who took Jenni to prom.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt you…" he gave her a half smile, "Jenni told me what happened with Nico on Saturday, and I wanted to say I'm sorry about that."

Anslee frowned slightly, but John was pretty nice to say something to her about it, "Don't be sorry it's not your fault. I'm sure Jenni must have been so unfocused all night. But it ended up working out in the end," she whispered back to him with a smile.

"I know, it just sucks it had to happen at all. You don't deserve that."

"Thanks, John, that means a lot," she smiled back before she turned around to face the board again.

As she turned around, cameras were now focused on the mayor, and sitting behind him, Anslee recognized three faces. Harvey Dent. Her mother. And Jim Gordon.

"Commissioner Loeb dedicated his life to law enforcement," the mayor spoke, "and to the protection of his community. I remember when I first took office and asked him if he wanted to stay on as the commissioner."

The man paused as he studied the crows thoroughly.

"Clearly he was not a man who minced words, nor should he have been. A number of policies that he enacted as Commissioner were unpopular. Policies that flooded my office with angry calls and letters," he continued.

"No kidding," Ans muttered to herself, remembering when Rachel would come home and rant every other day about something dumb that Loeb would do.

"And as we recognize the sacrifice of this man we must remember that vigilance is the price of safety," he finished as he stepped away from the podium.

Immediately, the military officers that stood tall and proud with their rifles were being ordered by their commander. With each set of words he spoke they changed their positions in unison. They began to fire a series of two shots into the sky by the commands they were given.

Anslee continued to watch, her head bowed as the men held their guns. Every time a gunshot rang out she couldn't help but flinch.

"Ready. Aim." the commander spoke a third time. And that's when all hell broke loose. Instead of pointing their guns to the sky, every single one of the men turned to point their guns in the direction of the mayor.

The cameras turned to face the podium where the Mayor stood at and before the commander could yell fire, none other than Jim Gordon launched himself from his seat and tackled the mayor as gunshots began to sound in rapid fire.

The classroom erupted into gasps and words of worry. Anslee went pale as she thought about her mother being there at that scene right now. The crowd that was gathered at the parade all began to panic. Cops and citizens alike were scattering in every direction on the streets as gunshots continued to sound.

Anslee stood from her chair as fast as she could and immediately bolted for the door. She didn't even hear her teacher or classmates calling after her as she left the room. All she could hear was her heart pounding in her chest and her short breaths she was taking.

Once she was down the hall, the girl leaned up against a set of lockers and tried to take deep breaths. Ansee pulled her phone from her pocket with shaky hands and managed to unlock the phone and dial Rachel's phone number in her state of hysteria. She put it up to her ear and listened to the line ring.

"Come on, please please please pick up," she muttered, "Please mom, please be okay."

After a few rings, the other line picked up and Anslee had never felt such a sense of relief.

"Mom?" the girl asked immediately.

"Anslee? Sweetheart is everything okay?" Rachel asked in a panicked tone.

"Are you okay? We were watching the parade in History and I just watched everything happen. God I got so scared," she breathed out.

"I'm okay, but Harvey disappeared into the crowd of people after they dragged us off stage," she spoke, "Are you okay, Ans?"

"No," Anslee breathed out again, "Please come and get me, mom, I can't stay here, not after that. Not after everything, can you please come and pick me up or have someone from the precinct pick me up?" the girl was nearly begging.

"I'll figure something out, just go to the nurse and we'll keep you posted," Rachel responded, knowing there was no way that she was going to be able to coax the girl into going back to class.

"Okay, I'll go," Anslee nodded, "I love you, mom."

"I love you too, Ans." Rachel responded before the line went dead.

The teen did her best to regain her composure before she made the trek down to the nurses office.

XXX

It had already been nearly 7 o'clock. Which meant Anslee had been sitting as a desk with her mother at the MCU for 8 hours and 13 minutes. She mostly sat in silence while she caught up on things she missed in the classes she was not present for. John had been nice enough to drop her backpack off to her after the nurse called Mr. Bright to let him know that Ans would be leaving. In the end, she got a pass to leave the school and took her car to the Major Crimes Unit where Rachel was.

Rachel had been back and forth between her desk and the desks of other people who worked at the MCU. She'd been on phone call after phone call. Gone through file after file. The workload never seemed to end.

Anslee now sat with her head laying on the desk and her eyes half closed. She was tired, hungry, and just wanted to go home.

Rachel was bustling through a few files when her phone began to ring. She picked up the device and put it to her ear.

"Harvey where are you?" she demanded.

Anslee immediately sat up straight, knowing that Harvey had been MIA since he separated from Rachel earlier that day.

"I'm where you should be at Major Crimes trying to deal with all this mess," she spoke back into the phone, "Can I get the fingerprint analysis?" she asked a passing cop as he handed her another file.

"Oh this is Gordon's unit," Rachel smirked as she used her free hand to open the new file.

"He vouched for these men," she seemed to interject, making Anslee raise an eyebrow.

Whatever Harvey had said in return made the woman stop what she was doing and look up from her work. She seemed worried as she began to glance around at the bustling precinct. She went quiet as she glanced down at Anslee.

"Bruce," she spoke into the phone, "We can trust Bruce Wayne."

"Harvey, trust me," she pleaded, "Bruce's penthouse is now the safest place in the city."

Rachel then began to pick up her jacket and her satchel before hanging up the phone.

"Get your stuff together," she looked to Anslee.

"Why what's going on?" Anslee questioned.

"Just get your stuff together, we need to leave now," Rachel persisted.

"Not until you tell me what's happening, mom," Anslee persisted back.

Rachel stopped and looked around her before lowering her voice, "The Joker has named both you and I as his next targets. Two men that were taken into custody today were Joker's guys. One had a name tag with mine on it and the other yours. We can't take any risks so we're going to your father's penthouse to stay safe, now please pack up your stuff and let's go."

It took a second for the mother;'s words to register with the teen, but she didn't even argue with that reasoning. Anslee quickly shoved her laptop and binders back into her back and zipped it.

"Take my car, that's not as suspicious," Anslee persisted as she held her keys out to her mother.

Rachel nodded and quickly took them, whisking them both away from the MCU without a word to anyone about why they were leaving or where they were going.

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Yeah she's kinda a shorty chapter, but like I said, the rest of this story is going to heavily rely on the plot from The Dark Knight so it's about to get incredibly interesting, really, angsty, kinda depressing, basically a mix of everything.