Deadshot

The Narrows

9: 00 PM

"What do you mean that Nikolai hasn't met you!? If this job goes a bust; I AM GOING TO BUST YOUR HEAD OPEN, UNDERSTAND!?" Black Mask screams as he clenches the phone that he held next to his ear "NO! I DON'T WANT ANY EXCUSES! IF I FIND OUT THAT YOU KILLED ONE OF MY MEN, I WILL KILL YOU, YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY, YOUR NEIGHBOURS, THE KID WHO KEEPS GETTING HIS BALL STUCK IN YOUR BACKYARD AND EVEN YOUR BLOODY MILKMAN!" the man dressed in a white suit howls "No one cuts me out the deal..." Black Mask stands in a well-kept room, lit with candles and even with a soft jazz piece of music coming from the record player at the end of the room.

Black Mask turns his head as he sees a man thrown through the window of the room and onto the table, badly bruised and unconscious, missing a few teeth and a broken nose. Shards of glass layer on the smooth red carpet which he carefully steps over towards the front desk. Black Mask looks down to the man and tightens his grip around the phone in his hand "Never mind, I found him" he gave an unamused comment to the sight. Lifting his gaze, Black Mask was swiftly thrown against the carpet by the dark knight.

Batman strafes forward with his arms by his sides and his cape trailing over the floor and pieces of broken of glass. Batman grabs Black Mask by the collar and drags him towards the desk where he then shoves off the man that was already lying on it to throw the man dressed in white against it. The vigilante rams the crime boss's head against the surface of the desk; causing Sionis to gasps in pain. Batman leans forward so his face was next to his ear and growls "The breakout at Arkham and Blackgate, I know that you had something to do with it! What do you know!?"

"Ain't got nothin' to do with that freak show, even if I did, why would I tell you?!" Black Mask snarls.

Batman rams his free fist into the space near Black Mask's head; punching right through the wood "I have been tracking you for months! I have beaten and battered tones of your men and I have stopped all your operations, you are a businessman, Sionis. It would be in your best interest to get me out of the picture!" the dark knight increases the pressure on the back of the criminal's head "You have your money rooted in all of Gotham, you expect me to believe that you had nothing to do with this!? You must know who is behind it!" Batman lifts Sionis' head and slams it back into the desk.

"Sure I do. I ain't too frilled about the breakout either! It is going to completely destroy all my operations in six days! You comin' to me was a big mistake, freak. I'm not behind this, this is the work of someone even more screwed up than you! Someone who actually belongs in a bloody circus!" Sionis dribbles blood out from the bottom of his mask.

"You know who did this, don't you!? TELL ME! And what is happening in six days!?" Batman grabs the man's shoulders and flips him over so they could talk face-to-face. The dark knight lifts his hand above the crime lord and forms it into a fist "TALK!"

"I dunno. Never seen him, all I know is he planned this whole thing out for you! Some freak that calls himself the Joker. He planned all this, but for who broke out all the nuts from the fruit basket? Your guess is as good as mine" Black Mask leans his head back "And your death is what is happenin' in six days. Operation: Knightfall will be your end, this city is going to be taken over by the lunatics and I don't want that to happen, yet I hate you just as much - so you can see my dilemma, right?"

"Crystal clear" Batman grabs the man by the collar and lifts him as he turns to face a large mirror. Batman steadily lowers the man to be on eye-level "I am running out of patience, Sionis. I recommend that you start spilling what I want to hear or start spilling blood, your choice" the dark knight leans forward "And do it quickly. What is this operation: Knightfall!? What are they planning!?"

"To kill you!" Sionis spits.

Batman's eyes focus on both Sionis and his own reflection in the mirror as he sees a red dot shining out in the distance of the broken window. The vigilante throws Black Mask to the ground and takes cover behind the desk as a bullet was shot into the mirror; shattering it in dozens of broken glass pieces.

Sionis smirks as he slowly crawls towards the exit to the room "Kill this son of a bitch!"

Batman sees Black Mask making his way towards the exit and pulls out a Batarang and aims it at him. He throws it towards Black Mask, however, another bullet was shot into the room. Hitting the corner of the room and ricocheting off and hitting the Batarang; causing it to miss its target and leave Sionis with another time to escape from the room which left Batman alone, pitted against the sniper.

Batman's eyes look down to his sides to a broken piece of glass. He takes hold of it and slowly arches it out from the cover. Looking at the glass, Batman tries to see the sniper, but before he could. The glass was broken apart as another bullet shot through it and hits the corner of the room and bounces back off towards Batman who moves his head to the side and barely dodged the bullet as it broke through the desk.

Batman scoots back to fully be in cover "Who the hell is this guy?"

Out into the distance, the sniper was lying on the rooftop as he looks at the room with a red recital. Dressed in a red and black armoured suit and wearing a white mask with one eye being covered by red lens "Come on out Batman, I got a special bullet just for you..." Deadshot whispers to himself as he patiently waits for any sign of movement from his target, just one slight slip up, that's all that he would need to finish him off once and for all.

Meanwhile

Mayor's Office

9: 11 PM

"Excuse me, Mr Dent. You can't go in there. He's busy" a petite blonde woman follows after Harvey Dent who ignores her and shoves the doors to the Mayor's Officer open. Mayor Aubrey James turns his head to greet Harvey and with a frown showing off all his fondness towards the man. The blonde woman looks over to the Mayor "I'm sorry, Sir. He wouldn't listen" she explains before Aubrey dismisses her with a hand wave. She rolls her eyes and leaves the two men alone.

"Just what the hell are you playing at, Dent? I am an extremely busy man" Mayor James asks, clearly annoyed at the man's company "I'm not quite sure if you didn't get the memo, but Gotham is in shambles. I don't have time to waste to be talking to you"

Harvey Dent stood with his hands in the pockets of his blazer, he carefully turns on a recorder that was concealed in his pocket. Dent stiffens his shoulders and looks to the Mayor "I'm sure that you are busy...with cleaning up the mess that you created. How could you let this happen? Did you really fear the thought of you losing to me that much?" Harvey eyed Aubrey for any signs of weakness, looking for a sign that could show the man's guilt.

"What the on God's green earth are you talking about?" James Aubrey spits back at the man as he walks to the back of his desk "You think that I am petty enough to go to this lubricous means just to spite you? Why the bloody hell would I do that when I am having my name dragged through the mud by the media?" the Mayor groans as the other man's words.

Dent folds his arms and raises an eyebrow "You never could do your own dirty work, but you must know who did? If the damming rumours against you are true. You have been working with Sionis, Sophia Falcone and all the other crime lords to keep your butt in the office. And with both me and Batman attacking them on both sides of the law; they must have finally had enough with our meddling. A breakout at Arkham and both Blackgate...what madness is that? That's too much even for them, so who did it?"

"Those are some spicy allegations you just threw my way. I'm sure that my lawyers would love to hear them. Listen, Dent. I know that you are my opponent and all, but the election isn't for a few more months so I am not sure why you thought that barging into my office and trying to force a confession out of me would work. Leave. Now. Or I will call the security" James reaches for the phone on his desk.

Harvey notices that James was sweating heavily and his hands were shaking "You seem to be very defensive, usually you just laugh off the times when you are called out for your illegal activities. But something's different. You're scared of something...you're sweating buckets when it's just you and me, you know that I'm not going to hurt you, so what's going on with you?" the district attorney asks as he steps forward towards the Mayor "You know, don't you? You know who is behind this"

"Dent. Shut it. You are putting both of our lives in danger" Aubrey hisses under his breath as he plants his palms on his desk "Keep your bloody voice down. For the love of god please keep your voice down before they hear us. I didn't want any part of this...this was all-" Mayor James' eyes widen as one loud gunshot echoes through the room, followed by another and another. Mayor James's holds his hand over his chest as blood soaks it. Harvey's eyes widen as he turns his head towards the blonde secretary who held a handgun aimed at him.

Mayor James dribbles blood from his mouth and his hand that was held over his chest was soaked in the red liquid "I'm sorry, boss. But you knew the rules" she quickly aims the gun at his head and fires. Aubrey was propelled backwards onto the ground. The blonde woman then returns her sights towards the head district attorney with her hand trembling "You just couldn't help yourself, could you? You just had to get involved. Well look where it is going to get you, six feet underground"

"Ma'am, put down the gun" Harvey protests as he slowly backs away from the woman who follows after him, step by step.

"Did you not think he wouldn't know that you were coming here? He knows everything that goes on in this city...I'm sorry...but I don't have a choice...out of respect for you. I just want you to know that this isn't personal. I actually did admire you...forgive-" The blonde woman was cut off as she sees Dent pull out a coin from his pocket.

"Hold on. Let's play a game. Flip a coin, heads I walk and tails...you get to shoot me" Harvey suggests leaving the woman in confusion.

"What are you even talking about?" the blonde was caught off guard at the sudden out of nowhere suggestion.

"Look. Like this" Harvey flips the coin upward, leaving the woman to look up to it. Harvey tenses up, with a quick exhale and while she was distracted he punches her and knocks her out. As the secretary his the floor, Harvey catches the coin in his palm "Oh god...I just hit a girl" he gasps in disbelief as he stares at the unconscious woman that was lying on the ground "Just what the hell is going on?" he runs his hands through his hair as he looks back at the bloodied body of the dead Mayor "What is going on?"

Harvey Dent turns around to see a group of guards run into the room as theirs see the unconscious woman and Mayor Aubrey James' bloodied corpse lying out from behind the desk. The men quickly raise their guns at Harvey "Freeze!"

Harvey's eyes widen as he holds his hands up "I didn't do this! His secretary did!" he tells them.

The guards look down to the blonde secretary who was lying on the ground with a large mark over her eye. They turn back to him and reinforce their position "On your knees! NOW! We will shoot!" they yell at him. Harvey slowly drops onto his knees and lowers his head. One of the guards makes his way behind Dent and handcuffs him.

"I DIDN'T DO THIS!" Harvey growls.

"Shut it" the guard orders as he drags Harvey onto his feet "Let's see what the cops think of your story!"

Meanwhile

Gotham Central Hospital

9: 21 PM

"All I am saying is that she seems like a really nice person to me. Us just pushing her with all these questions after what she witnessed...that can't be good for her mental health" Harvey Bullock expresses his concern to his partner as they both walk out of an elevator and begin to walk across the hallway "I know that she should be considered a suspect after all with all the evidence. but there is a part of me that just feels wrong about doing this, you know?"

"And I'm sure that it is your good conscience and not what is between your legs. Harleen is a suspect, and it is our job to bring her in for questioning" Jim Gordon tells Harvey as they make their towards one of the rooms "Us and Batman think that there is a high chance that she could have been involved, the evidence is just too stacked against her to not do anything"

"I know, I know. I just think that she needs more time to recover" Harvey and Jim enter the room and see Harleen Quinzel sitting on the bed in the room. The blonde woman greets them with a nervous gaze as she sees them make their way towards her.

"Officers? Can I help you? I already told you what I already know" Harleen tells the two men.

Gordon slides his hands into his pockets "Miss Quinzel. We have reason to believe that you are somehow involved in the breakout at Arkham. Would you mind if we take you back to the G.C.P.D for questioning?" he asks Harleen in a delicate manner "We recommend that you come with us now to make it a whole lot easier on all of us later. Once we are done; you will be able to leave and go on your way" he adds. Harleen bats her eyes with a subtle nod.

"You think I had a part in it?" Harleen questions in shock "You think I worked with those monsters to kill my co-workers? What the hell is wrong with you?" she grits her teeth as she glares at the commissioner who stood still and did not fault from his position.

Harvey holds his hand up towards Harleen "No, it's not that at all. We are just really desperate for a lead. I understand that you don't want to disclose information that it is your job to protect, but we really need you to come clean with us. A countless number of lives may depend on it" the captain stresses towards Harleen.

Harleen lowers her head and rests her hands in her lap "Listen up and listen good. I had nothing to do with that. Yes, I understand how you came to that conclusion. I was the only member of staff on the floor that survived that attack, that itself is a cause of suspicion. Do you think that I enjoyed hearin' the screams of my peers? Their death rattlin' cries for help as those bastards shot them, you think that I am happy that I am still here while my colleagues are dead?"

Jim took a step closer to her "I don't know. That's why I am asking you to come with us to questioning. You must have seen something that could be of use to solving this whole thing. I know that if you are apart of this, you don't want us to find out your guilt. However, if you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, you may feel way too scared to reveal what you saw out of fear for your life" the commissioner kneels in front of her "Make your choice now. If you know that you are innocent, come with us. We can put you into protection, no one will be able to hurt you. I promise. But, if you don't come with us, I will count that as a confession and drag you down to the station right now and put you in a cell"

"Woah, Jim. You can't be serious. She's scared and threatening her will only make her worse" Bullock steps in "We need to be fair about this, Jim. She is clearly going through the trauma of what happened the other day at the breakout. She needs time to make sense of it all" he places his palm to Gordon's chest "I get that you want to get the person who is behind this, I want to too. But this isn't the way. We need to be fair to her about this" Harvey protests Jim's actions.

Both men turn their head as they hear Harleen speak up. "Fine. Whatever, I'll go with you. It's not like I expect the cops to be carin' anyway. Let's just get it over and with" the blonde bites her lip. Harleen stands up and collects her things, her handbag and her jacket.

"You're really smooth, Jim. You know that?" Harvey rolls his eyes.

"There's much more on the line than one person's feelings. I don't like it either, but we need to put a stop to whatever those lunatics are planning" Gordon observes the blonde gathering the remainder of her things as makes her way towards them "If you're innocent. We will protect you, I promise"

"If you say so. I'm goin' to be dead by sunlight, I can feel it"

"That's not going to happen" Harvey places his hand on her back and guides her out of the room "We will make sure you are safe"

Jim, Harvey and Harleen look up as the lights go out; leaving the ward is placed into complete darkness except for a few lights coming from the buildings outside. Screams can be heard from the lower levels promptly followed by gunshots. Jim pulls out his gun from his holster which Harvey follows as he takes out his handgun "Jim...please tell me those loud shots were just something that we were just hearing and didn't actually happen" Harvey's teeth chatter.

"I'm not quite that old yet" Jim replies as he readies his weapon as he hears footsteps coming close from behind the door of the stairwell "Harvey...run" the commissioner orders as the door to the stairwell was kicked open with several armed men running out, dressed in full-black outfits. Harvey nods as he drags Harleen with him as they run off. One of the armed men aims at Jim. The commissioner was quicker as he shoots the man in the chest; causing the wounded man to fall to the ground.

"Target in sight, she's making a break for it, two additional targets are with her" one of the armed men announce as he taps on his earpiece. Jim sees around three more men empty out of the stairwell as he runs off behind Harvey and Harleen. The armed men begin to fire at him. Jim turns his head while he runs and fires at a few of the men, taking a couple down as he shoots them in the head or the chest area.

"JIM! THESE GUYS ARE FREAKING INSANE!" Harvey yells back to him as they try to outrun the group of men that follow after them.

One of the armed men waves at the others "Orders have been updated. Kill them all, no survivors"

Meanwhile

The Narrows

"Come out and stop hiding! You are only delaying inevitable, Batman!" Deadshot calls out to the dark knight as he looks through the scope of his sniper rifle "I have better things to be doing than wasting all this time on killing you. So do me a favour and get the hell out of your cover"

Batman hides behind the desk as he taps the button on his neckpiece "Alfred, I'm being shot at by a sniper. This is an all-new kind of accuracy. He seems to be good enough to have his bullets bounce off surfaces to hit his targets. I can't get a good look at his position without ending up with a hole in my head" Batman tells the man of the other end of the line.

"And what of Black Mask?"

"Gone. He must have known that I was coming and had the sniper trap me in this room. Sionis will be long gone by now, my main focus right now is to get past the sniper" Batman reaches to his utility belt "Whoever is using that rifle. Since he hasn't hit me through the desk means that he is not using any thermal vision, otherwise he could have killed me by now" Batman pulls out a smoke pellet "Here goes something, I guess" the dark knight hurls the pellet across the room as it let loose several streams of smoke that cover the room.

"Think that you can hide!?" Deadshot shouts down to him.

Batman jumps to his feet and runs out of the room, picking up Black Mask's cell phone on the way. Deadshot's eyes narrow as he sees the silhouette of the dark knight and fires at him, however, Batman jumps through one of the windows; leaving the room. Deadshot quickly stands to his feet and throws the sniper to the ground of the roof "Where did you get off to?" Deadshot questions as he lifts his left arm which had a round gauntlet around his wrist with a red laser that tracks out of it.

Deadshot press his earpiece "Mission update status" he requests as he scans across the rooftops around him.

"Target in sight, she's making a break for it, two additional targets are with her" a voice says on the other end of the line.

"Kill them all, I don't want any witnesses" Deadshot replies as he paces forward as he aims the red laser across the rooftops "Come on out, Batman. I heard that your suit is tough, right? Let's see if it can take titanium rounds. I made them just for you"

From below. Batman squats on a fire escape "Before I can meet up with Gordon and the others, I need to take out the shooter. I can't risk letting him remain loose in Gotham" he tells Alfred. Batman pulls out his grapple gun and shoots it and at the building across from him. He is launched forward and quickly grabs the ledge of the roof as the red laser as it orbits around past it. Batman gave a sigh of relief as the laser moves on past "Titanium rounds will not just shred this suit apart, but me too. Knowing how good his accuracy is...I can't let him see me"

Batman climbs onto the roof and takes cover behind a vent. Deadshot was a few buildings away, around two or three as he used the red laser to sweep across all around him "I know that you are out there. I know that you are going to try and play it safe, well good luck with that. Sneaking up on me won't be as easy as you think. I went through every part of this plan several times over. Do you think that I was going half-arse a job that was worth fifty million? Don't think so"

Deadshot snaps his fingers "Come on out men. Let's give a really good show" he calls out as several armed men walk out into the rooftops with sniper rifles in hand and with a flashlight on that lit up the area in front of them "You're finished, Batman" Deadshot holds up his right hand into a fist "Remember men, our client wanted to get it done with. No flashy tricks or speeches. He wants Batman dead, and we are going to give him that" Deadshot tells his men.

"Also, Batman. If you think I cheeped out when it came to their ammunition...you will be severely mistaken. They are all carrying titanium rounds too" Deadshot informs Batman as he and the five other men scan through the rooftops "Just come and try taking us out!"

Batman presses the button on his neckpiece "Alfred. Whoever the shooter is...he has a backup, all carrying titanium rounds. I need to take them out before I can get to him. I can't risk leaving him free to roam Gotham and he knows that" Batman whispers as he presses a button on his cowl. His vision changes to thermal and in doing so. He sees one of the armed men walking towards where he was hiding "I need to be careful about that, one wrong move and I'm finished"

"Where are you, freak? I got a bullet with your name written all over it" the armed man calls out as he turns the corner. Batman swiftly jumps forward and grabs the man's head and rams it into the vent which knocked him out. The clank drawled the attention of Deadshot and the four remaining armed men. Deadshot points the laser in the direction of the sound, Batman quickly jumps back and grabs back onto the ledge. Once his laser passes by the scene, Deadshot presses his earpiece.

"He's a tricky son of a bitch. He must have dropped off the building. All men, use your flashlights to check the ledges" Deadshot orders as he too points his laser at the ledges around him "You think that you're smart? I have killed all kinds of men that thought that they were clever. They tried to outsmart me when they really should be trying to outrun my bullets. The Boss thinks that it will take the lunatics to take you down, he says that they are on your level. But I'm going to show him that a good old bullet is all that is needed to take you down"

"You hear that? You are a dead man walking" one of the armed men yells.

Meanwhile

Gotham Central Hospital

"What is goin' on!?" Harleen screams as Harvey drags her along into another ward. They along with Jim Gordon were running away from four men wielding handguns as they quickly follow behind. Harvey was red in the face, Harleen's ankles were starting to hurt from her high heels and Jim ran behind them, occasionally taking a shot or two at the armed men. Either missing them or slightly grazing them with his bullets "I can't keep goin'!" Harleen cries as her breathing was heavy.

"You have to!" Harvey turns his head and fires three rounds at the armed men that were pursuing them; shooting one in the neck and causing them to fall to the ground "Otherwise we are dead!" he adds. He drags Harleen past a corner and into another hallway "Oh you got to be kidding me..." Harvey groans as he is greeted with the sight of flights of stairs at the end of the hallway "Jim! You better do something quick!" he yells at his partner.

"I'm trying!" Gordon shouts back as he turns his head and takes four shots at the three men who were chasing them, hitting one in the leg and another in the arm, one more in the shoulder. The one with the leg injury falls to the ground and yelps in pain. The one who was shot in the arm was slightly knocked off balance, but he remained on their trail. The one who was shot in the shoulder was launched backwards onto the ground as he holds his wound in pain.

Two men were left chasing after them as they took take shots at Jim and the others "You aren't getting away from us!" one of them warns them as they took another shot at Jim and ended up shooting him in his arm. The commissioner winces as he takes his own shot at the man; shooting him in the head and leaving for him to descend to the ground. Jim holds his wounded arm close to his chest as he follows after Harvey and Harleen as they reach the stairs.

Jim quickly turns around and fires one more time at the last guy that was chasing them; firing a bullet right through his heart. The man bleeds from his mouth as he falls onto the ground. Jim takes a deep breath as he looks back to the other two "You alright?" he asks while still gasping for air.

"I think that was the last of them" Harvey's reddened face replies as he walks towards him while holding Harleen's hand "And I don't want to stick around for long enough to be proven wrong. So why don't we get out of here and back to the station where it's safe" Harvey suggests as he runs his spare hand through his sweaty hair "They came here to kill Harleen, you heard them. That means that she can't be in on it, right? They wouldn't come to kill someone who they were working with" he looks to Jim.

"Let's get back to the G.C.P.D and worry about that later" Gordon returns his gun to his holster "They only showed up when we did. Which means that Dent and our other friend could also have been on the receiving end of these guys. We need to get back and make sure that they're alright" the commissioner walks forwards.

Harvey sees the man's wounded arm "That looks nasty, Jim. Let's get that looked at"

"I will...once we get back to the G.C.P.D. They came after Harleen for a reason...which means she must know more than she is letting on" Jim walks down the stairs "I will feel a lot safer when she is in witness protection" he tells Harvey.

"Really? You still don't believe me? They just came in here to kill me! They will find me in the G.C.P.D, that's where they will be lookin' for me!" Harleen protests as she walks down the stairs besides Harvey "I'm goin' to end up dead" she begs the two men as tears drip down her cheeks.

"You'll be fine" Harvey comforts her as helps her down the stairs "We won't let anything bad happen to you"

Harleen takes her glasses off "You can't promise that. You don't know what other things they will do to get to me. For cryin' out loud. They attacked a hospital and killed innocent people. Do you really think that they have a problem with breakin' into the G.C.P.D to kill me? Your friend might think that it's a good idea, but you can't, right?" Harleen begs Harvey as she pulls at his hand "Takin' me to the G.C.P.D right now will be the same as escortin' me to my execution, please...don't take me there..."

"Jim. She's right. We don't nearly have the manpower to take on an assault at the G.C.P.D. Taking her there will just be like handing her over on a silver platter" Harvey protests "There must be somewhere else where we can put her? Somewhere secret, somewhere where no one will know about that"

Jim sighs as he rests his hands on his hips "Even if I agree to that, where are we going to put her? There is a lack of secret places in Gotham that doesn't belong to the criminals" he sees Harleen and Harvey step of the stairs and join him on the ground floor "The only person who would even have access to that is-"

"Bruce Wayne, right?" Harleen asks "You're thinking of Bruce Wayne. He's the only one in this city to have anythin' like that"

"She has a point. Bruce could really be a help. And since we are close to him, I am sure that he would be happy to help us out. We can't take her to G.C.P.D, and most of the city is watched over by the crime bosses. Bruce is our only option" Harvey agrees with the blonde woman.

"You know him? Please, ask him. I don't feel safe out here" Harleen looks at Jim with her blue eyes.

The commissioner tilts his gaze at her "Bruce Wayne is a citizen and is not involved in police matters. It would be immoral and highly irresponsible of me to ask him to get involved in such matters. I could be not only endangering his life but the lives of all those who are closest to him. I don't want that on my conscience. He has nothing to do with this investigation" Gordon shuts Harleen down as he walks towards the exit. Harvey ran after him and stops once he stands in his way.

"You know that Bruce is going to agree to it, don't you?" Bullock comments "You don't want to ask him because we both know that he would agree to it because of his respect for you. We both know that he will, so you are needlessly endangering the life of a woman" the captain of the C.G.P.D adds.

"Intern I will also be needlessly endangering the lives of both her and Bruce's" Jim replies.

"Come on, Jim. Look at her. She has seen all her friends be murdered right in front of her eyes, she has just had several trained men come after to kill her. Just what the hell do you think that they will do next? With those lunatics from Arkham and Blackgate on the loose somewhere...her life is in danger of ending at any moment" Bullock holds his palm over Jim's shoulder "Please, Partner. I have believed in you in times when I shouldn't have and it worked out, I am asking you to do the same for me, please"

"Fine" Jim retorts "But when this bites us in the backside, don't come crying to me"

Both men glare at each other while Harleen secretly grins to herself as she watches the two men argue.

Meanwhile

The Narrows

One of the armed men steps near the ledge and uses the flashlight on his rifle to see if Batman was there "Come on out, freak show" the armoured man yells as a shadowy figure drops down behind him. Batman brings his arms around the man and wraps his right hand over his mouth and his left arm around his neck and chokes him out. The man tries to struggle against the vigilante's hold but was silenced as Batman throws him to the ground and stomps on his head with his boot, which left only three armed men along with Deadshot.

Batman moves out of the way and kneels behind a water tower as Deadshot's laser passes by "Report in" Deadshot commands through his communicator.

"No sign of him, sir"

"Yeah, no sign of Batman"

"Reporting no sightings of Target"

"..."

Deadshot's eyes narrow as he only hears three men report in "Damn it, he took out another one! Watch your backs and he may try to sneak up behind you. Don't let him" Deadshot orders as his laser points at the unconscious man "Unless you want to end up like him"

"Yes sir" one of the armed men responds.

"Will do" another man replies.

"On it" the last armed man confirms.

Deadshot walks forward "You must think that you are quite slick, right? Try pulling that shit on me and see how it works out for you" he lifts his left arm and aims at one of the water towers "Of course. Listen up, men. He's using vantage points to get the drop on you. Stay clear of any possible high points. We are not letting this bastard get the best of us. There is fifty million on the line here" Deadshot orders as he turns around and looks at all the vantage points "You can't pull that trick again, Batman. You have to try something original"

"Yeah, Batman. Try and get us now! We know how you work!" one of the armed men spits.

The sane goon quickly turns his head as he sees a bat-shaped metal object land on the ground next to him. He walks towards it and stands beside the floor grates "I have-" the armed man was thrown off balance as Batman jumps out of the grates and grabs his shoulders and rams his head into the goon's which knocked him out. Batman throws him to the floor and quickly takes cover as the attention of Deadshot and the two remaining armed men fall upon their fallen comrade.

"Oh man, he got Tommy!" one of two remaining armed men yell.

"Damn it. He was just ready to retire too!" the other armed man replies.

Deadshot aims his laser at the floor grates "He is making you look like idiots! How hard can it be to take out one man in a fancy suit! He is bringing bare fits to a bloody gunfight! This should be easy money, but you dumbasses keep screwing it up! He used the floor grates! Stay clear of the grates!" Deadshot growls "Keep playing this game of yours, Batman. It's going to be ending soon when I put a bullet between your eyes and I mean that literally AS I NEVER MISS!"

"Oh my god...he's picking us off like we're nothing" one of two remaining armed men waves of panic.

"This is creepy!" the other response.

"Keep your cool! Group up. He'll have no choice but to show himself then" Deadshot orders.

"Uh...Yes, sir" one of the men responds as both he and the other goon stand back-to-back.

"Not much that you can do now, Batman. We know about your tricks, there isn't much else that you can do to take us off guard. Do you think that picking off my men will make me easier for me to be taken out? Sorry, but you're dead wrong! I am the biggest threat here, I have killed hundreds of people who thought that they could outwit me, and look where that got 'em? You may take out the rest of my men, no I am damn right sure that you will, and I will be here to shoot you when you do" Deadshot yells.

"Yeah- what are you planning to do now?" one of the goons speaks up.

"Yeah! Come and try to take us out. We dare you...but uh- feel free, not to...we understand that you a v-very busy man" the other armed man gulps.

Deadshot points his laser around his two armed men "The boss said that you were more trouble than you are worth and considering that there is a fifty million bounty on your head speaks volumes to me. Just what are you doing that made him put such a large sum on your head? I'm not complaining, that just means that I get even more money for my troubles. I'm just curious about how you managed to piss off such a wealthy guy" Deadshot inquires.

The two armed men that stand back-to-back aim their weapons right in front of them as they slowly walk forward a smoke pellet rolls under their feet and let loose multiple streams of smoke that cover the two men who panic. A shadowy figure appears behind them as his eyes narrow. Deadshot turns his head to the sound of gunfire and screams. Bringing his left arm to the direction of the screams. He was shown the sight of his two remaining men now unconscious, bound together with black rope.

"Useless. The bloody lot of you are useless! Looks like I have to finish this myself" Deadshot growls as he begins to pace forward "Come on! Try and take me out! I want to look into your eyes when I kill you. Do you think that you can beat me? I am the best assassin in the world! No one has survived when I have been tasked with taking them out!" Deadshot yells as he turns slowly spins on the ground that he stands on. Using his laser to look for his target "Just try it!"

A moment passes as Deadshot's eyes ease up "Just as I thought. You don't have the ba-" Deadshot was knocked forward as Batman glides into him. Batman then grabs Deadshot's neck and chokeslams him onto the ground. The dark knight then uses his spare hand and punches Deadshot in the face; knocking him out.

Batman stands up as presses his earpiece "Alfred, the sniper and his men is taken care of. I'm taking him to the G.C.P.D. He knows something about the breakout at Arkham. He says that there is a fifty million dollar bounty on my head" Batman grabs Deadshot and throws him over his shoulders and walks towards the ledge.

"Thank goodness. There's that hassle dealt with. He could be a great asset for finding out who was behind this" Alfred comments.

"Though he's down, I doubt that's the end of it. He is a hired killer and took the contract to kill me. I'm sure that there will be others. Black Mask mentioned something about the operation: Knightfall that will happen in six days. He said that it will be the end of me" Batman explains.

"So this whole thing is just to get rid of you after all. Watch your back, Master Bruce"

"There's more. Sionis said that the person who planned all this calls himself the Joker. I need to find the Joker within six days before the operation: Knightfall can begin. Sionis was scared of him, I could feel it. He was shaking at the mere mention of the Joker. Whoever he is...he is sure to be the more dangerous than anyone else that I have met. Alfred, run a scan through the G.C.P.D's network. See if there is any mention of this Joker. I'm taking this sniper to the GCPD rooftop for Gordon" Batman kneels down and brings out a knot of black rope which he ties around Deadshot's arms and legs.

"On it, Master B. What about Black Mask? I know you better to than just let him go"

"I nabbed his phone. I can use it to track Sionis' contacts. Mostly likely will lead me to Sophia Falcone and Tony Zuko. They are the trinity of the underworld, once I take them out; Black Mask will be finished" Batman replies to Alfred.

"Oh...Master Bruce, while looking through the G.C.P.D something came up..." Alfred tells Batman in a worried tone.

"What is it, Alfred? You're scaring me"

"It's Harvey Dent, sir..."

G.C.P.D

10: 07 PM

Bruce Wayne steps into the police department, dressed in a white shirt with an unbuttoned collar and sleeves rolled up. Black trousers with polished boots. Bruce looks around until he sees Harvey Bullock standing near one of the desks. The billionaire walks towards the captain of the station with his arms swaying by his sides. Bruce was wearing a black Rolex watch, one that once was worn by his own father. Bruce could see that the watch caught the eyes of multiple people who were sitting behind the cells.

"Harvey" Bruce greets the captain who returned a saddened look "Please tell me that there has been a mistake. Harvey Dent would never kill anyone. We both know that he has been set up or there has been one giant misunderstanding" the billionaire directs towards the captain.

Harvey Bullock takes his hat off and holds it near his chest "Of course I know that. Jim knows that too. All three of us know that he has ticked off the wrong people, but we just can't let him go without proving his innocence, that will set off all kinds of alarms" the captain agrees with Bruce.

"Come on, Harvey. Anyone with a brain can see that Aubrey James is behind this. He has had it out for Dent since he announced his campaign" Bruce folds his arms, looking at the captain who returns his stare with an unsavoury glance.

"Doubt it. Not even James is this devoted to screwing with his opponents. Dent isn't under suspicion of murdering any regular guy. The Guards walked in on Dent with James dead and his secretary knocked out with quite the shiner. She told us that Dent went crazy and killed the Mayor and almost killed her before the guards arrived. She's agreed to testify" Harvey explains "She even said that he made her play heads or tails for her life"

Bruce gently shakes his head "That's a lie and you know it. There must be security footage of the incident to prove Harvey's innocence"

"With the dubious company that Aubrey kept...you would understand why there weren't any cameras in his office" Bullock sighs as he runs his hands through his hair "Listen, Bruce. I know that you aren't going to give it up and I'll let you know that you have me and Jim to back you here. Just watch your back, they just framed Dent for murder. I can only guess that you are next on their list..." Harvey sits down on the desk "Never liked getting into politics. I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole"

"Let me see him. I can get my lawyers on the line. They'll make sure they squash these petty little lies" Bruce tells the captain.

"Listen, Bruce. I will let you see him, but Jim and I need you to help us out with something first-" Harvey asks Bruce who quickly cut him off.

"Done. Just let me see Harvey" Bruce asks once more, this time with less patience.

"Alright, if you say so. He's in questioning with Jim" Harvey Bullock stands to his feet and makes his way towards Jim. Bruce follows after as he moves at a steady pace "Bruce. I hope you understand that Jim and I need to treat this like any other investigation. We need to be fair about this, even if you know that he's innocent. I hope that doesn't bother you. I know that you and Harvey have become close friends through the past few months, I would hate to see you take this more personally than you should" the captain informs Bruce.

"I will keep that in mind when I'm made a suspect for a crime that I clearly didn't commit. Harvey is going to get his innocence proven and then the people who framed him are going to be put behind bars. That is how it's going to go down. They made a mistake in doing this to Harvey and they will regret it" the billionaire grits his teeth.

"Amen on that one, that's for damn sure" Bullock agrees as they now stand in front of the one-way mirror. Bruce's eyes focus on the next room over where Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent sat opposite each other around a table. Dent has handcuffed and had his head lowered towards the table. Jim sits with his arms crossed, looking to Dent.

"Are the handcuffs really necessary?" Bruce glares into the room.

"It's all apart of standard protocol, sorry" Bullock sighs.

From inside the room, Gordon leans forward over the table "Would you like to repeat your statement, Mr Dent. I'm sorry about this, but this is all apart of the routine. Please go over what happened again" the commissioner asks with his left arm in a sling, held to his chest.

"I understand" Harvey acknowledges with a defeated tone of voice "As I said before. I went into that office to confront Mayor James just as we planned. I asked him about what he knew about the breakout and he suddenly started to get weird. He told me to keep my voice down and he started to come clean..." Dent confesses.

"Then what happened?" Jim asks.

"His secretary shot him. She said that he knew the *rules* and then shot him in the head. She then pointed the gun and me...and I had no choice. I had to punch her to save my own life" Dent finishes as he keeps his head low "Yes I did use my coin, but only as a distraction. That's all. Then the security team came in and saw me, they must have thought that I did it"

The commissioner nods gently "The secretary. She said that she heard gunfire and then walked in on you after you shot Mayor James. She told me that you punched her and threatened her life, she noted that you said something about James being *Too corrupted that he was beyond saving*. Are you telling that she is lying?" Jim inquires of the other man.

"Jim, how can you say that? I would never do such a thing" Dent asks as he sounds disheartened by Jim's claims.

"Sorry, Harvey. I have to ask you these questions, it's a part of questioning" the commissioner had a bad taste in his mouth from even talking to the man like he was guilty. Gordon reaches over with his right arm and hold's Dent's shoulders "You didn't do this. We know that Harvey knows that and I'm sure that Bruce does too. He has the most faith in you. Please, just play along with this in the meantime. You should have nothing to worry about" he reassures Dent.

"Okay, I understand" Harvey lifts his head to look at Jim "Yes, she is lying. She is working for someone. She said that whoever she works for knew that I was coming there. She knew that I was on my way. She was planning to kill me there, and when Mayor James started to confess...she killed him as well. She must have figured that if she couldn't kill me, she could frame me for his murder. That must be it. Listen, Jim. I recorded my whole conversation with Aubrey even after she shot him" Dent reveals.

"You have evidence of your innocence? That's great. Where is it?" Gordon asks Dent.

"Your boys in blue took it" Dent swiftly replies.

"I didn't give the orders to search you" Jim responds bewildered by the information.

"Oh, what a surprise. You can't control your men. The G.C.P.D has corrupted cops in it, same old, same old. And thanks to that, I might as well throw away my freedom because you can't control your own men" Harvey growls as he slams the desk in a fit of rage; causing Jim to jump out of his seat. A couple of moments passed, Harvey's looks at his fist and was in shock at his outburst. He softly shakes his head and looks up at Jim "I'm sorry...I'm just tired of the corruption in this city always screwing over its good people"

Gordon nods to the man "Listen, Harvey. If what you said is true then my own men will be trying to frame you too. They could do anything that will make you look guilty. They could plant your fingerprints all over the evidence, they could falsify witness reports. And if they are in even higher places; they could even affect your judgment" Jim closes his eyes "This has to be the same work of the people behind the breakouts. It has to be, there is no other way"

"You're saying that I'm done for, aren't you?" Dent drops his head onto the table "All I did was try to stand up for Gotham and look where I am now..."

"They haven't won, Harvey! We will not let them win. I will find out who did this to you and make them pay and you will be there to send them off to prison" the commissioner encourages the man, but to no avail as Dent still plants his head on the table "Me, Harvey, Bruce and our other friend in the shadows will have your back, no matter what" Jim plants his fist on the table "So you don't you dare give up on us!" he orders Dent who slowly lifts his head.

"...You're right..." Dent sighs.