Needle clutched in his fist Bruce stabbed himself in the bare chest. The long thick spike crashed through his skin, a gasp accompanying the incision of the tubing valve, jaw clenching as the pressure in his chest started to ease up. Bruce breathed as deeply as he dared. Judgmental thoughts finding him in a moment of weakness.

Had he pushed himself to his limit?

Was this all he had?

A shaky hand went to his side, sudden raspy cough making his vision darken. The sensation passed. Allowing him to unbuckle his belt. Laying it down on the desk, he leaned forward. Eyes pinned shut from the pain of his movements.

Bruce was in worst shape than he liked to believe, this oversight led to his confrontation with the Chief being more problematic than he had first anticipated.

He'd done what he needed to.

That's what he kept telling himself anyway. But in truth, it was nothing more than a desperate attempt to justify his actions.

With his chest heaving, Bruce forced his eyes open, fingers fumbling for an empty vial in his belt. He recalled the numbing effect the green serum had provided and the strength it gave him to exceed any previous limitations. This chemical concoction was the only reason he had been able to drag the Chief from his apartment, force him to the roof, where the lieutenant had later intervened. Without it…

Hands brashly manoeuvred the empty vials and belt aside. Returning to the matter at hand, he made generous use of medical tape to secure the tube sticking out of him, tearing sound causing bats above to wriggle in their slumber. From there he discarded the roll on the desk, proceeding to unwind the wraps around his hands next. Cut bruised knuckles stung from the exposure. Fingers stained from his application of the black makeup around his eyes, the stuff getting caught up under his nails.

The light from the monitors reflected in his blue eyes as Bruce pulled up a seat, arm doing its best to cradle his battered torso. Without the green drug coursing through his system, keeping up appearances wasn't so easy. His pale skin told its own story, tired eyes giving away the length of the long night, all while his broken rib kept pressing against his punctured lung. Clearing his throat after a wet sounding cough, Bruce half expected to find blood on his hand.

It took him a moment to peel the contact lenses from his weary eyes, but with their removal and

subsequential placement in their designated holders, Bruce couldn't help glance over to the elevator.

There had been no sign of Alfred upon his return.

Bruce wondered if he was going to show at all.

He watched for a moment, waiting. But eventually he turned his attention back to the screens in front of him, refusing to acknowledge how badly he wanted to hear the usual rumbling of the descending elevator.

The ocular program automatically played the video upon completion of the download, screen going dark. All that was being displayed was a lone light slipping through the seams of a door. Bruce adjusted the speed of events, fast forwarding till suddenly through his own eyes he watched once more the door swing open, two figures entering.

"Lieutenant, what's this about?" Officer Martinez was the first to enter, hand reaching for the light switch. The bulb above unveiled the surroundings, Bruce having been standing in an interrogation room, single table accompanied by two chairs, one either side.

The young officer practically jumped out of his tanned skin, hand reaching instinctively for his gun, but it was never drawn.

"What the-" The man's eyes where wide, heart having stopped for a second at the sight of the masked vigilante. "W-what's going-"

"Sit down Martinez." Gordon strolled passed him, metal chair being pulled out from behind the desk. The officer removed his hat, holding it in his hands he swallowed deeply before complying.

Gordon had been the one to lead the young officer through the winding corridors of the GCPD. In the early hours of the morning those around were working the graveyard shift. It was busier than normal with recent events, few more bodies about but they kept to themselves. Everyone had work to do, reports to fill out, evidence to catalogue. These days there wasn't time to sleep.

"Lieutenant, what's this about?" Officer Martinez was nervous, hands not sure what to do with themselves, upper lip twitching under his dark moustache.

"Just wanted to follow up on one of your reports." Gordon returned to shut the door, lock clicking closed, key being removed. Panicked eyes flashed between the Batman and his superior.

Bruce recognised the officer, having seen him on several occasions. But Martinez had been the one to fill them in upon their arrival at the warehouse. He was one of the first officers on the scene.

The video continued to play, Gordon sliding a piece of paper across the table to the young man, whose eyes never settled, unsure where to look the whole time while his fingers ran over the brim of his hat anxiously.

"Why'd you change the order?" Gordon left the printout in front of him, image a still from the CCTV footage they'd uncovered previously.

"What order?"

"You know what god damn order!" A heavy fist slammed down on the table.

"I…" Martinez was trying to speak, lips moving but nothing coming out. He kept glancing over to the corner of the room, directly at Bruce, the Batman watching him intently.

"What's the Penguin got on you?" Bruce took note of his own voice, motion in the video as he stepped forward. It was quiet, but he could make out the underlying wheeze, bringing forth the recollection of his overall fourth use of the green drug in one night. He'd needed it just to stay on his feet.

Martinez pressed his lips together, hanging his head briefly, face being taken by emotion.

"They threatened my family." The mans sobbing was just as hard to listen to the second time around.

"Whose 'they'?" Bruce managed to ask before Gordon could.

"I don't know." Martinez was breathing quickly, head shaking, hands clutching his hat tightly. "Some guys jumped me, showed me photos of my family. They gave me an address, told me to arrange search and rescue to sweep the place." The young man spoke as rapidly as his breathing, information flooding out at a rate of nots. "They said if I told anyone…" His face scrunched, eyes watering.

"I see you found your rat then." Alfred's arrival was unheard. It caught Bruce off guard, hand unconsciously pausing the video.

"Yeah." Clenching his jaw, he kept a cough at bay.

"What did you do with him?" Alfred pressed for more, cane clicking on the hard floor as he closed the gap between them.

"Nothing." Bruce pressed play, video resuming. Alfred watched at his side as the officer broke down into tears. "Penguin threatened his family. He didn't have a choice."

"I see." The officer had Alfred's sympathies. There was a pause before he spoke again. "Here." Bruce could see Alfred offering him something in his peripheral.

He hadn't noticed how the cold had stung at his bare skin until now, the pain in his chest and side having done well to mask such minor discomforts. But seeing the black hoodie being presented to him brought this sensation to the forefront of his mind. Doing an awful job to conceal the pain, a hiss unavoidable, Bruce slipped the black hoodie over his bare arms, zip coming to a stop halfway leaving the bruises on his chest still visible.

On screen Martinez was busy describing his attackers, the ones that had confronted him one night. They had been waiting for him. Followed him home.

"Gordon's keeping it quiet. Swept it under the rug for now." Another secret buried thanks to the GCPD. However, a man was still dead. A cop none the less. But pinning it on Martinez would be exactly what the Penguin would want.

"And the Chief?"

"We were wrong." Coming to terms with it in his mind was one thing, saying it out loud another. "He's not involved. Not in this anyway."

Alfred's attention was switching between the footage and Bruce. Taking in information from both sources as he tried to get to grips with what had happened.

"You still think he's dirty?"

Bruce hesitated. Deciding to switch his answer at the last second.

"I'm not sure." He wasn't sure on much anymore. He'd been so caught up in not making a mistake in this investigation that he had stumbled over almost every hurdle. And with Gordon now aware of his identity, Bruce wasn't even sure where things stood between them…. Or where things even stood between him and Alfred.

"You need to be sure." Alfred lowered his brow, eyes intent on finding his. "You've got a target on your back Bruce. Penguin wants the Batman dead."

"I know." Bruce mumbled. Pausing the video his eyes wandered down at his side in Alfred's direction. Man's fingers white against his cane.

"He won't be the last to be used to get to you." Alfred gestured towards the paused monitor; Officer Martinez sat with his head in his hands.

"I know." He was looking for something on the desk. Rummaging through the mess, papers being moved aside.

Suddenly what Bruce was searching for was presented to him, Alfred baiting him to look his way. He was holding out his latest journal. Pen sitting contently between the pages.

"I can't stop you… I should have realised that two years ago." Bruce slowly accepted the book from Alfred. "Doesn't matter what I think. What I say." The man smiled solemnly. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to give up on you Bruce."

An appropriate response refused to find Bruce, his breathing adjusting to speak, but it was a wasted effort without anything to say. In the end his only action was to lay the book down on the desk, hands placed on either side.

Alfred waited. Holding out for a reply that never came.

The man's eyes dropped, hand adjusting itself on the cane as he turned to leave, Bruce left to stare through the monitors in front of him.

"It does matter." Bruce ultimately called after the man just as the doors of the elevator were pulled aside, finding his voice at the last second.

With his stare still forward.

Bruce never saw the glint of hope in Alfred's eyes.


Authors Notes

And here we are at the end... or are we? I have a little surprise for you all. This is just the first part of a two part story that I am in the process of writing! There are many hints hidden throughout this story, couple seemingly unfinished plot points that will be taken up in part two. I wanted this story to stand strongly by itself though, the main mystery slowly unravelled and solved within this part.
I don't have a date for when the second story will start to be posted, I'm still in the process of writing it and I like to finish the entire thing before I start posting. Gives me time to do edits make sure things are as perfect as I can make them. I'm actually dyslexic so I finding writing rather challenging at time. All I can say is stay tuned!
Finally I just wanted to thank everyone for reading along. Love to know your thoughts on the overall story, the mystery and what theory's you had along the way! And of course what theories you might have for the second story!