Gil watched Jess as she descended the stairs. That one look, coming after everything that happened in the last few hours, sliced him into a thousand pieces. He always thought her one of the most beautiful women he ever met.

Tonight, though reaffirmed it.

Her hair, a deeper, glossier shade of brown than Bright's, spilled down her back in a silken wave.

Her dress, not quite black but not exactly charcoal gray, fit her like a glove.

Showed off her legs to perfection.

Other women with sons facing indictment for murder might've come downstairs in a pair of old sweats, hair in messy buns with their faces haggard and drawn.

Not Jessica Whitly.

No, she looked immaculate, as always.

Any other night and Gil'd have complimented her on how beautiful she looked.

Tonight, however, he didn't.

Not when the reason why she looked so amazing was a dinner date with Nicholas Endicott.

The man who not only finagled her ex-husband into a prison cell but was behind her son being charged with murder, as well.

"Gil." A spark of pleasure added flecks of silver to her gray eyes. A welcoming smile curved her lips. Sent tendrils of heat coursing through Gil. "I wasn't expecting you."

"I just left Bright at his loft." Where he told the kid to run. Something the higher-ups would have his badge for if they ever found out. Gil was confident Bright's place had been throughly swept and anything even remotely resembling a surveillance device removed. "Thought I'd stop by and check on you. Make sure you're all right."

"I'm fine." Jess paused with a hand on the railing. "I only have a few minutes before I leave for Nicholas', though."

The last place he wanted her going. Something Gil told her without regret or shame.

"I don't like you going to Endicott's by yourself."

If Gil was being honest with himself, really honest, he'd admit the reason he didn't like Jess going over to Endicott's was because he was jealous.

Like hell he'd admit that, though.

Out loud, anyway.

There'd be time after everything returned to normal — or as close to it — for him and Jess to sort out everything between them out and decide where they were going to go with their relationship.

If we even have one…

"It's only dinner, Gil."

It wasn't only dinner in Gil's opinion.

He just couldn't put his finger on what it actually was.

The timing of the invitation, coming hot on the heels of the district attorney announcing they were going ahead with pressing charges on Bright, struck him as suspicious.

Opportunistic even.

Raya suspected the invitation had to do with Martin Whitly. That it was the next step in this game they were playing. Gil couldn't deny there wasn't some truth to her theory. Endicott had made it abundantly clear his partnership with Martin Whitly was at an end when he had Eddie Smith try and kill him in his cell at Claremont.

A cell they discovered Endicott obtained in exchange for Martin Whitly's silence about Endicott's connection with the Court of Owls. Something else Raya commented on as they talked in his office earlier.

"Endicott's likely been waiting to get even with Martin Whitly for years." Raya took a seat across from him. "He just needed the right moment to strike." She made a face. "Something Malcolm, unfortunately, gave him by digging too deeply into his operations."

Resulting in the death of Eve Blanchard.

"Is he doing this because Martin blackmailed him?"

"No, I think this goes back to when my father hired Martin to kill my mother and me."

Gil's eyebrows arched.

"Why do you think it goes back that far?"

"Because killing my mother and I made sure no other child from the bloodline of Lydia Doyle could be born."

"And Martin failed to do that."

"Resulting in my surviving and having children who share her bloodline."

"There's also Malcolm." Dick perched on the edge of Raya's chair with a soft sigh. "Who I think Endicott wants to make into a Talon so he can fulfill the prophecy and bring the Batman That Laughs fully here to our universe."

Gil didn't need to ask what the Grim Knight would do once he got there.

Destruction of the universe seemed pretty clear.

"That's not going to happen," Gil said firmly. "Not on my watch."

Or Batman's for that matter.

What he did ask was, "What's Endicott's motive for bringing a Batman without morals here?"

"Power." Dick draped an arm around his wife. "Control. The usual."

"He wants to take over as the leader of the Court?"

"Yes."

"Not gonna happen," Gil said again. "Not while there's breath in mine, Jim's, and your mentor's bodies."

"That's why Endicott will send his minions for you and Uncle Jim next." The worry in Raya's eyes crawled into Gil's belly. "You and he and Bruce stand in the way of what he wants."

"Let him come after me."

"It's not you they'll go after," Dick said somberly. "It's the people you love."

People like Bright, JT, Dani.

Jess.

"Gil?"

Gil pushed his thoughts aside and focused on figuring out a way to convince her not to go on her date without upsetting her.

"You're not going to Endicott's and that's final," was not the way to get her to agree not to go to Endicott's, however.

Jessica didn't respond well to strong arm tactics.

At all.

In fact, they usually had the opposite effect.

"Excuse me?" Her eyes narrowed into thin slits. "Did you just tell me I am not going to Nicholas's?"

A voice in the back of his head told him he should switch tactics.

Soothe her ire before appealing to her with calm, rational logic.

Gil decided not to do that.

Not this time.

There simply was no time to waste.

Not when Endicott and his cronies circled them like a group of hungry vultures.

"You're not going to Endicott's and that's final."

"How dare you." Fury suffused her face. Flashed in her eyes. "Telling me where I may go and who I may keep company with. Who do you think you are?"

"Who am I?" Gil shot back, tone as heated as hers. "I'm the one trying to keep you from getting hurt."

"Gil…"

"You're not going over there, Jess. It's too dangerous."

"You're being ridiculous."

"Am I?"

"Yes." She spun on one spiky heel and stalked to where her purse sat on a small table. "It is only dinner."

"It's not only dinner." Gil's brow furrowed at her scoff. "Jess, I don't know what Endicott has planned here but I know it's not only dinner."

"Gil, all we're going to do is have some wine, eat a lovely meal, and talk." She glanced at him from over one shoulder. "That's it."

"If I believed that was all Endicott had planned, I'd let you go. I don't think that's his intention, however."

Jess scoffed again as she ran a hand over her hair. Gil ached to sink his fingers into those silken strands. He didn't dare touch her, however. Now wasn't the time for indulgence. Not while Endicott, Talons, and a Batman without any moral restraints were out there.

"Nicholas won't try anything, I assure you."

"You can't guarantee he won't."

"I've been alone with Nicholas before and nothing happened."

"I know you have been."

Something Gil hadn't especially liked but couldn't do anything about at the time. Endicott was the last man on Earth he wanted Jess spending time alone with. Well, him and Martin Whitly. If he had to pick one he trusted her with more, Gil'd pick Martin. He believed the man cared for Jess in his own twisted fashion.

Endicott?

Wanted to use her to crush her ex-husband and son.

"I don't want you spending time alone with him. Especially," he added as Jess rolled her eyes, "after everything that's happened with Bright."

Who Gil hoped had taken his earlier advice to pack a bag, grab Sorcha, and head for the one place he'd be completely safe: Wayne Manor.

"There's no reason I can think of not to go."

"I can think of a number of reasons for why you shouldn't go."

The man being a member of the Court of Owls for one.

Orchestrating the death of Eve Blanchard for another.

Sending a hitman to kill Martin Whitly.

Getting Martin transferred to prison.

Setting up Bright.

Having his own attorney murdered to silence him.

Convincing the district attorney to file charges on Bright.

Freeing John Watkins from Arkham…

"If I don't go Nicholas will become suspicious."

"I don't give a damn what he becomes. All I want is you safe."

"I am not afraid of Nicholas."

No, she wasn't and that concerned Gil the most. She was not thinking about her own well-being.

A trait Bright inherited from her.

Among a number of others he frequently lamented over.

"Jess, we don't know what Endicott has planned…"

"And that's exactly why I should go," she said. "I might be able to find out what he's got planned."

Gil closed his eyes. More a long blink than anything else. Part of him wanted to grab Jess and shake some sense into her. The other wanted to yank her to him and kiss her until they were both breathless.

He did neither.

He wouldn't obtain the result he wanted. In fact, the opposite was more likely to occur.

His only option was truthfulness.

Pure, simple, and honest.

"You potentially getting hurt isn't worth what, if any, information we might get."

"It's worth it to me."

"Jess…"

"It's my son he's having framed for murder."

Gil bit back a sigh. Jess saw her son being threatened by a bully and was doing what she needed to protect him. He couldn't fault her for that. He respected her for her dedication to her children. She gave everything she could to them, did anything to see them happy, and healthy.

Was she perfect?

By no means.

A helicopter parent?

Absolutely.

She had no choice but to become one after her husband got outed as a serial killer.

"I know you want to protect Bright." Gil stepped forward and placed his hands on her shoulders. The only contact he allowed himself. For now. "Confronting Nicholas Endicott by yourself isn't the way to do it, though."

"I told you, I am not scared of Nicholas."

"I am, though." Gil stared into her eyes. Saw confusion and uncertainty swirl in those smokey depths with something else. Something he didn't dare define. "That's why I don't want you to go over there. Nobody will be there to protect you should Endicott try anything."

"I don't need any—"

"Jess, he's dangerous." Gil's fingers tightened on her shoulders. "More dangerous than Martin Whitly."

Jess studied him silently. Gil tried to figure out what she was thinking but her face remained a perfectly composed mask.

"He offered to help me…" she said softly. "He said he could help Malcolm. I want to find out how."

Gil had a good idea how Endicott would help Jess.

As well as what he'd want in exchange for it.

Over my dead body, Gil swore as Krypto poked his snowy head into the foyer. I could send him along with her, he realized as the superdog's ears twitched.

Something told him that suggestion would be meet with abject refusal and censure.

"I know you want to help Bright," he kept his tone tone soft, cajoling. "I do, too. Going to Endicott's, though isn't the answer."

"I want to put a stop to whatever Nicholas has planned." Her lower lip trembled. The only bit of vulnerability she allowed to slip through her calm facade. "I want to stop him before he hurts my son."

"I'll stop him, Jess." Gil'd do anything and everything possible to see Endicott locked away for good. "I promise you, I will stop him."

It was a vow he intended to keep.

Even if it killed him.

A/N: Hello, all! Hope this finds you well!