His fist crunched into the faceplate of the failed assassin making the anger he felt bleed out of his knuckles and even mingling with his brand new jacket. If it was his bones or that made that sound though he didn't care to know. Sometimes pain could be satisfying in its own twisted way. It could help build character, toughen a body and forge a person into inflicting pain in turn. If enough pain was inflicted in a methodic way however it could break someone's mind effectively turning them into a mindless husk, numb to the rest of the world.

Roman Sionis, known to all of Gotham as Black Mask, was no stranger to either end of that spectrum.

It took him a long time to carve his own hold of Gotham. There were plenty of bribes, killings and accidents to secure his rule. All of them were carefully planned out and paid for by the holdings he had and from the business he 'freed' from independent ownership. His lieutenants saw him as the boss of bosses and if he were a different man he would have called himself touched by the praise. Roman was good to people who were faithful to him, but to those that screwed up? Betrayed him? He went livid and that often led to him striking his men, leaving dark bruises and broken bones as a constant reminder. However with his female associates and hired help he never raised a hand to them. His mother, God bless her, despite her faults taught him well. It never stopped him from yelling their ear off though.

His fist pumped again into the faceplate with another sickening crack before he looked up at the scene before him. There were five corpses in the room belonging to his security and all of them were in carved, bloodied heaps. There were two others though, one of them he was punching time and again it seemed while the other was riddled with bullet holes. They were dressed in brown with brown masks and what appeared to be Kevlar armor. Their swords and knives were bloody. Two men did this to his detail. Two. Men.

There was a frown beneath his mask holding his anger in check but no one who stood now could see it. Out of the twelve men he had assigned to this floor only two stood before him now. They were wounded, holding bandages against some of their wounds but they stood straight backed and stared him right in the eye. Good men in these times were rare to find.

"Mind explaining to me," he began, letting his fist crunch into the faceplate a third time before dropped the corpse, "how these hoods got into my house?!"

The man on the left flinched from his tone. He held a cloth against his cheek and had his arm wrapped up. He found his target. The right stood still, and looked oddly familiar to him. He marched up to the flinching man and punched him right in the stomach. He keeled over, coughing and heaving before he fell onto his knees. Black Mask crouched down before pulling the man's head back to look at him. He made sure he got a good look at the intricately carved mask he wore to instill his own brand of intimidation in him. Batman had his symbol, Black Mask of course had his namesake he wore every minute of everyday.

"And how is it I'm still left with a coward?" he growled out. "Get a sit rep on the rest of the floors. If we were hit, I want to know who, how bad and what we lost."

He nodded and scrambled to his feet, nearly tripping out the door almost as he left. He settled his gaze on the last man. He had short cropped blonde hair with a wicked scar over his left eye. His right stared right at him, a rather dark pool of brown. He had his arm in a sling and the other was folded behind his back. Roman thought he was going to like him.

"Seen you before, street level operation I think back around the docks." He assumed, most of the recruits went to the docks to work some of their more profitable operations. "What are you doing here, kid?"

"Was going to ask permission to spread our operations to a few other docks down the way." He explained, bluntly. "Cops are snoppin' around and we don't need that business."

Roman had to agree. He had a few on the payroll, but no one influential. With the Bat back in town the pigs in blue were getting bold. They were stepping on his toes again and if he didn't have these assassins distracting him he'd likely send them a present of an explosive nature. He trailed his fingers along his neck in an idle fashion as he looked him over.

"Rook was your name, right? Giovanni Rook?"

He nodded. "Friend of mine recommended coming to work for you boss… he's lying over there."

Roman peered to where he was pointing and saw that hint of sadness touch Rook's face. He was taking the loss well so far. "Regretting it?" he asked, gesturing to the bloody scene around him.

"Not a moment boss." He answered quickly with a smile. "Given a proper chance I think I could flex some of my muscle."

Rook didn't look that impressive physically, so that meant he had his own men on payroll, something to monitor likely. He slowly nodded though. He couldn't judge him too harshly though he had met a few skinny thugs back in his day that could clock out a brute with a single punch. He tapped his fingers along his desk for a moment before he gestured to the chair across from him. It was a seat his old right hand man once sat, now he rested in a bloodied heap beside his desk. The smell didn't bother him, nor did it bother Rook it seemed.

"How capable is your muscle?"

"Enough to keep some of the smaller gangs at bay." He explained with a shrug. "We may be on your payroll boss, but we know we got to fend for ourselves when it comes to manpower."

"Call your men to here, you're going to be refitted and we're going to go on a bit of a trip."

Rook stood up with a nod. "Where are we going?"

Black Mask allowed a low, regretful sigh to slip from him. "Going to negotiate with the Bat."

If it wasn't for Rook's face paling, Black Mask would have thought that his idea would have had at least some merit. Now it was all just a big game of chance.

The rain pelted his coat as he, Rook and several of his men waited under the shadow of a rooftop. He bribed one of the GCPD to flick the fabled Bat-signal on. He could have destroyed it, so much easier to, but he may need this signal again later on. He slid a hand down to grab at the pistol he brought along. There was a chill in the air and he found a smile tugging at his lip as a looming caped figure descended onto the rooftop.

"…Williams?" he heard Batman ask. "What's this about?"

He sounded different to him now metallic almost. He traced his fingers along his mask for a moment, allowing a sigh to slip from him. That sign of fear was drowned out from the rain.

"I'-I'm sorry Batman," the officer meekly explained, "I needed the money."

Black Mask took that moment to step out from the shadows himself. "Don't blame the kid, Bats. He has a sick mother and he needs bills. I saw an opportunity."

"Black Mask," Batman growled out, "give me a reason why I shouldn't toss you back in prison."

"A common problem as I found out." He glanced over his shoulder. "Rook, show him the evidence."

Rook's arm hefted a small case that he threw to Batman's feet. He knelt down. He could see his frame was covered in what seemed to be body armor. He couldn't be sure, and that only added to the chill settling at his spine. You saw even a portion of someone's face you could read them. His mask hid his emotions, and it seemed Batman now shared that quality. His hand hovered above the case for a moment before he flicked it open. He pulled out one of the cowls the assassins wore, and a pair of their knives. His arm still ached from where they cut him, but he could now make a fist with each hand.

"How did you get these?"

"Assassins. They're our common problem I think. If they can get to me they can get to the rest of the families. If they can find the families, I think they can find you easily enough."

"They have already."

That was candid of him to mention and struck Black Mask off guard. He didn't show it though even as he adjusted his jacket and tie despite the rain. "Well then, what are we going to do about it?"

"We?" Batman snarled and for a moment Black Mask thought he was going to have to fend off an attack. He was surprised yet again to see him just stand there, seemingly looking for an explanation.

"Yes, we." He reiterated curtly. "Look Bats, we have history there's no denying that but Gotham is my home as much as it is yours." He was gambling now but he had to try before he had to do something even more drastic. "I can work with you here even help you against whatever these things are. I know the hood, the weapons… It was an old fairy-tale but hell if Batman turns out to be more real then why not the Court?"

If it wasn't for the accident he could have made it into the GCPD likely. He put two and two together, temper aside, and did his homework. When he discovered the old entries about the Court of Owls, saw the sketches of what eye witness accounts said and even a few written confessions of old survivors of the Court he knew he would need Batman's help. It left a bad taste in his mouth to have to work with his enemy but the old saying went the enemy of my enemy is my friend. He'd rather have him on his 'side' even for a bit rather then him breaking down the doors of every operation he had in the city.

Batman was silent for the whole time though, taking it all in. His shoulders rolled and even from here he could hear the pistons hiss and huff out in protest. He did not want to be on the business end of the Bats new attire, at least not now.

"I don't need your help, Black Mask. Gotham is my home, my responsibility. You'll hear from me again. Soon."

There was a metallic hiss as Batman suddenly shot up into the sky, hiding in the veil of rain. That left Roman and his men getting rained on. He was furious but he kept the more visual signs in check. He needed every man he could get his hands on now, and not just for beating some sense into them. He took a gamble and was humiliated for it but he knew just how to deal with Batman. You always needed a backup plan in his line of business.

"Rook?"

"Boss?"

"How quickly can you get our protection details on?"

Rook shrugged a shoulder, head canting in thought. "Not too long, can get them all gathered up within an hour I'd think."

"No need to gather them up. I want you to pull them."

He could feel his men staring at him now. He gathered up the knives since Batman helped himself to the mask. He twirled them in his grip. They were light, still sharp. In his mind if you couldn't sell something you'd use it the best you can. A pair of good combat knives wouldn't be a terrible investment especially if they were free.

"All of them?" Rook asked in a dumbfounded tone.

"Every. Last. One of them. If Batman wants to have the glory to himself? Let him. I have something else in mind that will take most of us out of Gotham."

He nodded and his detail fell in behind him. He stopped though, looking over his shoulder to see Williams following them. The kid was shaky, scared and with the amount of money he wired to him a very expensive investment. He gestured to one of his men. "The young officer is coming with us too."

"W-What?"

"Did I stutter?" he snapped. "We're going to take a trip. If the Batman wants to tangle with me again I have insurance now."

"E-Er…what kind?" Williams choked out.

Was the kid really that stupid? He turned around, grabbing the kid by the collar of his jacket and lifted him clean off the ground in one hand. He noted Rook's face twisting up in disbelief. He had a few secrets too. The three men with him and Rook would find out the extent of his secrets soon enough.

He rammed the officer's back against the wall, holding his arm against his neck as he loomed closer. He made sure his mask brushed at the kid's nose as he spoke. "The best kind," he growled, "life insurance."