Now standing, Bruce couldn't help but hold a hand to his side. His arm was wrapped supportively around himself, knuckles bruised beneath the thick white hand wraps, padding never enough to soften the punches he threw.

He stood between Alfred and the lieutenant; the three of them gathered around the computer. They were all studying the same monitor. A progress bar was on screen, a file being loaded in the silence, making the sound of dripping water almost deafening.

Bruce took the moment of stillness to adjust the zipper of his hoodie, only pulling it up halfway to leave the valve in his upper chest exposed. His injuries were not the only thing making him uncomfortable. For Bruce three was a crowd.

This was going to take some getting used to.

On screen the progress bar vanished upon completion, a dial then spinning before the video played. It was CCTV footage from the GCPD.

"Amendments can't just be made digitally; everything has to be physically signed off then handed in before it's adjusted on the system." Gordon explained. Camara pointing at a reception desk. "Yesterday 19:41. That's when the route was changed."

With one hand still on his side Bruce typed a command, taking the footage five minutes before the system registered the new assignment. He scrutinized each frame. Eyes peering out from behind the tangled mess of hair covering his face.

An officer already stood at the desk, in conversation with the receptionist. Uniform told them it was just a beat cop.

A minute passed and the man they were looking for strolled into frame.

"Bock." Gordon almost spat in disgust at the sight of his Chief. Bruce had a feeling he had been holding onto some form of hope. That just maybe, they had it wrong.

The officer at the desk finished up, departing the area just as the Chief arrived.

"Colson said it's the whole system." The District Attorney had rather die then talk. His last act a vow of silence in self-sacrifice to keep the ones he loved safe. "Corruption starts from the very top." Bruce shifted his grip on his battered side.

"If the Chief's corrupt, why didn't the Riddler go after him?" Alfred unfolded his arms, looking to Bruce with his question.

"Riddler didn't take too well to things going wrong. Maybe he saw him as too big of a target." Bruce recalled his last interaction with the Riddler back in Arkham State Hospital. The man had become unhinged when the pieces of his carefully orchestrated puzzle suddenly didn't fit.

"Riddler didn't make mistakes. Maybe that's how. Kept things manageable." Gordon offered. "Think Penguin will go after Bock like Kenzie?"

In his mind Bruce was trying to recall events, times, and faces. Trying to find a connection, a hint anywhere in anything he'd experienced.

"Kenzie was a means to an end." The Penguin had given up his pawn for a shot at the knight. "Someone that high up could still be of use to him."

"Or maybe he'll shut him up before he gets the chance to talk." Gordon moved around the desk, collecting up his still damp coat he tugged it on.

"Where are you going?" Bruce's eyes trailed the man.

"If the Penguin gets to him before we do its just another dead end. I need to know how far this goes, how deep he's involved. Mackenzie could even have the dirt on the Penguin we need to convict him." At this point in time, they had nothing on the Penguin that could put him behind bars. He ran the Iceberg Lounge and that was about it. Just because Falcone worked under his roof didn't directly link the Penguin to the operation. All they had was circumstantial evidence. The word of a masked vigilante and one lieutenant not going to get very far in court.

"You're not going alone." Bruce went to make a move for his suit, only to find Alfred in his way. Alfred needn't say anything, everything having already been said, the look on his face just enforcing his words from earlier.

"Bruce. I've got this." Gordon approached the elevator. "Trust me."

Bruce turned his back to them, eyes finding the monitors instead, but his thoughts were not on the paused footage.

"I'll see you out." Alfred approached the same elevator, sliding open the door he politely gestured for the lieutenant to go first.


The foyer of the apartment complex had been quiet, elevator empty on entry. Gordon hadn't needed to buzz in, his approach to the door coinciding with someone leaving, the resident more than happy to hold the door for him.

By the time Gordon had left Wayne tower the rain had eased off. Waving down a taxi his first port of call had been the station. Though late he had a feeling the Chief would still be there, with recent events and the loss of the Commissioner and District Attorney, every department was in over their heads all while the press was breathing down their neck.

However, Gordon had been wrong. Not long after his arrival someone informed him that Chief Bock had already clocked off for the evening. This left him no choice but to make a house call.

Gordon wasn't sure how this was going to go down. Turning up at your superior's door in the dead of night not common practice, especially with the subject matter he was going to bring up. Either way it wasn't going to generate pleasant conversation. So, what was there to lose?

Having a moment to himself in the elevator Gordon was going over what he wanted to say, how he would say it. Doing this only got himself worked up. He'd worked side by side with Mackenzie, and Pete had been his partner for years. They had history. He never thought either of them would be involved in something like this. These days, everyone seemed to be wearing a mask, no one who they appeared to be.

Gordon shook it off. Thoughts not bringing any clarity to the situation.

The elevator dinged, light behind the floor number going out. Impatient with the slowly sliding doors he stepped through. There were only three apartment doors to the floor, Gordon approaching the one at the far end. He lifted his fist to knock only to find the door was ajar.

Without hesitation Gordon reached into his coat, pistol pulled from its holster as he took a trained stance, eyes fixated on the gap in the door. Slowly, he eased it open with his foot.

The room appeared clear. Open plan not giving any details away.

Gordon swept the area. The dining table stood out to him. A place was set, glass of wine half finished, knife and fork resting on the side of the still to be eaten meal.

In the silence a sudden sound startled Gordon, gun spinning round first to meet the supposed target. Blinds fluttered at him mockingly. Open window letting in the unexpected gust of wind. Gordon tilted his head slightly, something drawing him closer.

There was blood splattered on the white windowsill.

Gun still up defensively, he closed the gap, eyes glancing down at the droplets before returning his gaze forward. A fire escape sat beyond the windowsill, metal staircase scaling the length of the building. Gordon stuck his head through, looking up at the zigzagging steps, curtains flapping next to him. He was only five floors from the roof. The Chief's apartment being located over halfway up the complex.

Gordon stepped through, careful to not get snagged on the flailing fabric that adorned the window. No trust put in the rickety railing he kept his hands on his gun. The metal beneath his feet groaned, shoes loudly clanking no matter how softly he stepped.

He was a single set of stairs away from making it to the roof when something caught his attention.

"You've really done it now, you know that. You think your going to get away with this?" Gordon recognised Mackenzie's squealy voice immediately.

"Penguin put you up to this?" Gordon paused briefly; second voice just as familiar.

He rushed up the rest of the stairs, gun being holstered under his arm as he made the roof.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Gordon angrily called out to the vigilante. The Batman didn't make eye contact from behind the mask, usual stern expression never forthcoming.

"Jim?" Bock was on his knees, hands tied behind his back, blood dripping from his nose saturating his moustache red.

"What did I say? I said I had this." Ignoring his superior Gordon charged up to the Batman, jabbing him in the shoulder out of frustration. In this moment of anger, he'd forgotten who he was talking to and the injuries he knew the man carried. If it hurt. Bruce didn't give anything away.


Bruce had been gone before Alfred had returned, he knew there would be hell to pay but he wasn't about to let the lieutenant go it alone. This was bigger than him, the very integrity of Gotham being on the line. Faith needed to be restored in the justice system.

Gordon's arrival had been inevitable. His anger not unseen. Bruce willingly took the hit to his shoulder, though regretted it soon after, strike being a little too close to where the valve had been in his chest.

"You really had to break his nose?" Gordon flicked a glance between both men.

"Gordon. Your involved in this?" The Chief's squeaky voice cut their conversation off. Stepping through puddled rainwater the lieutenant examined the man's bloodied face.

"You listen to me." Gordon looked down on his commanding officer. "This is how things are going to go. We ask the questions, you answer them. Got that?" The two officers of the law stared each other down.

"How long you been working for the Penguin?" Bruce started again, doing his best to hide the underlying wheeze that was developing. He had only just dragged the man up the fire escape minutes ago, lieutenants' arrival timely, so he hadn't missed much.

"You serious?" Bock looked between his two captures, confusion seeming genuine on the surface.

"Answer the god damn question." Gordon demanded; anger now redirected to the man on his knees.

"Why would I ever work with or for that bastard?" The Chief spat to the side, blood from his nose on his lips.

"You made sure Kenzie's body was found, you set him up." Gordon pointed to the Batman on the side line, silhouette finding its place in the shadow, letting the lieutenant take the lead. "Penguin offer you an out is that it? The Batman for your neck. All you had to do was get him to that warehouse."

"Have you lost your mind?!"

"CCTV has you handing over the new order. Time stamp matches the update on the system."

"Oh really, you're so sure about that yeah." The Chief sniffed back some blood.

"Yeah!"

"Check again Jim. Only thing I've handed over that desk in the last few days have been condolence letters!" Gordon took a step back. "I lost half my department to crooked scum, you don't think that haunts me, keeps me up at night."

Bruce was starting to question their iteration of events. Tuning out of the conversation he thought back to the video.

"If you didn't change the order who did?" Gordon still pressed.

"There was a cop..." Bruce spoke up, making both men's attention shift his way. "At the desk before him." They hadn't questioned it, hadn't even seen it as a lead. Having been so fixated on the Chief they never saw passed him. Bruce was starting to make a habit of this.

There was a pause. Gordon taking a moment to recall the footage.

"Shit." The man eventually hissed out a curse.

"You know how much trouble you both are in?" The threat landed on deaf ears, Gordon reaching down and taking the collar of his superiors blood-stained shirt in his hands.

"Here's what's not going to happen. You're not going to say a goddamn word. Wanna know why?" Gordon didn't give him a chance to reply. "Because we've all you've got. You wanna trust someone. It starts with us two."

They'd made a mistake. Gone after the wrong man.

The rat was still loose.


Authors Notes

So I had to rewrite this entire chapter... I was reading through it and hated it. So this chapter is not as polished as the rest :( However last chapter will be up tomorrow, looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts after the conclusion of the story!