Chapter 72

"Is there anywhere you can go?" I ask Otis, as I walk with him and Ed, the sun setting over the Gotham skyscrapers.

"I'll return to the sewers with Mr. Sniffles. The Flea never suited me anyway, too many people," he explains, petting Mr. Sniffles while holding him in his arm.

Ed tilts his head toward the child, "Sewers are dangerous and insufficient places of residence. Isn't there a shelter you could go to?"

Otis and I glance at each other, before bursting into laughter. Even Mr. Sniffles starts giving a series of high-pitched squeaks, waving his paws around hysterically.

I reach up and playfully ruffle Ed's hair, "You couldn't get into a homeless shelter if you camped out in front all night!"

"There's a reason they call them Hobo Hotels, you can never get a room, and no one wants to leave!" Otis exclaims, Mr. Sniffles racing out of his arm and scurrying up onto his shoulder.

Ed frowns, "Well, that doesn't sound like a funny scenario."

"It's not, we just make it funny to cope," I shrug.

"I don't know, it's still pretty funny to me!" Otis laughs, still working off his laughter.

I smile, "I'm sure it is."

I just finish clearing off my desk for the day when Ed shuffles toward me, his hands pressed together.

"Natalie, I would like to invite you to a...semiformal dinner this evening," he murmurs, attempting to be discreet as other nearby officers continue working.

Dinner? With Ed? But I have to intercept the fences' child trade tonight. But...dinner with Ed…

"Oh, really? What's the occasion, did you win another award?" I ask playfully, nudging at his arm.

"Nope, I figured that since Major Crimes is handling the rest of our investigation, we should celebrate our contribution with...dinner."

I giggle, raising my eyebrow, "Semiformal dinner?"

"Nothing too fancy of course. You'd need reservations months in advance to get into a sumptuous place like The Lock-Up, but I feel like we both deserve some time together outside of work, and we have much to discuss! I've just recently made some breakthroughs on Ms. Kringle, and-"

"Ed, look, I'd love to, but I already have plans for tonight, okay? Maybe some other time," I interrupt, slinging a small purse over my shoulder and heading for the door.

He follows me, peering over my shoulder, thinking that I don't notice him, "...a date with your mysterious man?"

"Ha! No...I'm spending an evening with a friend."

He perks up, "Me?"

I roll my eyes, "No Ed, she's a...friend from the CIA."

There's no way I could tell Ed that I'm going to see Barbara, Gordon's finance. Knowing him, that information will get back to Gordon sooner than later, and that would mean trouble for both Barbara and me.

"Oh! A female lover. You haven't had one of those in a long time. You are quite picky with women, aren't you Nat-"
"No, it's not a date, Ed. Is that all you can think about?"

He pauses for several seconds, twirling a pen in his hand, "Natalie, dear friend, I am a young man in his twenties. That is all I think about, that and gnosticism. Can't forget about gnosticism."

"I don't think most people in their twenties would be thinking about such philosophical ideas," I counter.

"True, but we are definitely not most people, now are we, Natalie?" he kisses me on the forehead, "Well, perhaps we could reschedule for another time. Until tomorrow, friend."

I smile while I start walking out of the precinct when I suddenly stop. Did Ed just...kiss me? I turn around, but he's disappeared. It, it could be nothing, just a friendly gesture but...it seems so out of character for him. Why would he do something like that? Maybe I'm just overthinking it, Ed never has been very good at socializing or indirectly expressing his feelings, even with me. But, maybe, just maybe, does he like me? No, he likes Kirsten Kringle, she's exactly the kind of girl he's always dreamed about, if she'd actually like him back of course. But maybe he's seen otherwise, and maybe...he's giving me a chance.

I slap my forehead, what was I thinking? Of course he still has hopes on Kirsten, he was just being friendly with me. That's all we are...friends...right?

"So this is the place?" Batwoman asks, glancing at the dock area from the roof of a tall warehouse.

"Yep, at least, if the guy was telling the truth," I reason, pushing away Batwoman's cape as the wind blows it into my face.

We stand, it's about twenty minutes until the exchange should take place. I'd filled Batwoman in on the situation. From the height of the warehouse, we can survey the entire area, and watch the deal go down from a safe distance.

"Hey, how are things between you and Gordon?" I ask her.

She shakes her head, "Not...entirely well. He's still upset about something that happened earlier this year."

"What happened?"

She sighs, "...one of his first cases as a detective was tracking down these child kidnappers. Since the police weren't informing the public about it and were even content with letting the case slide. Well...when I found out about the case I went to the press, little did I know it actually did more harm than good."

"That press leak that allowed Mayor James to start that stupid 'tough love' program? That was you?" I realize, practically standing up.

"I, I didn't know what it would do! I felt terrible afterwards so...so I grabbed my old Zorro costume from a Halloween party and tried to disrupt the buses going to the juvenile detention center. I guess you could say it was my first outing as Batwoman," she explains, giving a slight smile.

I chuckle, "What did you do? Knock out the bus drivers and drive away with the kids?"

"All I did was slash their tires, that's all!" Batwoman claims, "...and I also tampered with some the bus engines as well."

She leans her head back so that it rests against the thatched roofing, "But...when I saw those kids, I realized they was more than I was expecting. These weren't innocent, helpless kids, some of them were armed to the hilt, dangerous even. And if that's what the kids were like, I couldn't begin to imagine the adults. Luckily, my parents always encouraged me to take self defense classes, and after some equipment and...costume alterations from V, here I am."

"I hope you realize that most street kids are armed that way out of necessity," I explain.

"I know...I just imagined something more like those teary-eyed little kids you see on those PSA ads. I didn't grow up on the streets after all."

I nod, "Alright, I can forgive that. But you don't survive the streets by staring at a camera all sad and teary-eyed. Street kids are very self-sufficient."

"I know, you were a street kid too, right?" she asks.

"From age eight and onward, yeah," I lie down on the hard roof next to Batwoman, "I told you about that, right?"

She nods, "That's amazing that you lived on the Indian Hill Reservation right before it burned down. What was that like? Did you guys sit around campfires and perform rituals or...or go canoeing out in the Gotham River?"

I snort trying to hold in a laugh, "Canoe in the Gotham River? We'd get run down by a fishing boat if we didn't die of exposure first. And state law prohibited us from lighting campfires, the place was too much of a fire hazard anyway…" I trail off, as I remember something, "say, the anniversary is coming up. I should probably visit Mom and Dad soon."

Batwoman sighs, "Sometimes, I wish my parents were dead...no disrespect to yours. I'm sure they were great."

"That's the thing...I was too young to really know. And now...I don't really remember."

The both of us leap to our feet as two cars pull up into the docks below. I recognize one car, the beat-up old jalopy belonging to Clyde and Hakeem. But the other I don't recognize. It's much nicer, one of those sleek black cars that mobsters and gangsters often drive. Two very thin men in tuxedos and a woman in a white evening gown exit the car. All three of them don white masks with soulless black eyes and the nose flared out just a bit. What sort of gang is this?

Clyde and Hakeem shove four bound, blindfolded children out of their car, the children quietly whimpering as they keep their heads bowed.

"Here they are," Clyde pushes one of the children forward toward the three masked figures, "now, where's our money?"

The woman hands one of the men a leather briefcase. The man opens it, revealing stacks of bills packed inside. Batwoman leans forward, ready to strike, when a pair of feet hit the roof behind us. We whirl around just in time to see the Talon attack, lunging forward with his blade. Batwoman throws a smoke pellet, encasing the entire rooftop in a heavy mist. Taking this opportunity to escape, I sidestep the confused Talon, making it out of the smoke along with Batwoman. We turn around in the direction of the smog, and as it clears, we find the Talon's vanished.

Returning to the other side of the roof, we look over the edge to find that both of the cars have also disappeared. Batwoman throws her head down, "Ugh, we were set up. I should have known."

"Who were those people in masks?" I ask, glancing around.

"This is more than I thought...they not only know who we are, they're coming out of hiding just to lure us out," she mumbles to herself.

"Babs, what are you talking about?"

She sighs, sitting down on the roof, "I...I'm just trying to piece this whole thing together. I mean...did you see those guys?! We're dealing with some kind of gang or organization here."

I scrunch my eyebrows. She knows more than what she's saying, but what could she possibly be hiding? In my semi-paranoid glancing around, I turn around, and my heart leaps when I discover the Talon poised just above us, his blade raised.

"Look out!" I cry, pushing Batwoman out of the way.

His blade sinks into my arm, and I squirm as he digs the knife further in. Batwoman comes in from the side, tackling him to the ground. However, when she knocks him over, the blade goes with him, ripping an even deeper cut into my arm.

I push off to the side as Batwoman wrestles with the Talon. She has him pinned to the ground, but the Talon wiggles just enough to get one fist free, swinging a punch at her. She falls over, and the Talon retrieves his blade, swinging it in his hand as he approaches her. But he suddenly stops as a small marble taps at his back. It activates, shocking him and forcing him onto his knees. Behind him, I smile, putting away my bag of marbles.

But just as I'm about to get up, the Talon shakily stands, his knees wobbling. Batwoman sees this, and dives under, sliding across the roof with her left foot first. The Talon jumps up and dodges her, hitting the ground just as she comes skidding to a stop. She comes charging back at him, but the Talon's ready for her. Just as she launches a punch at him, he grabs her arm with both hands and throws her over his shoulder, causing her to sail over the edge of the roof.

I gasp as the Talon walks up to the edge, and looks down to find Batwoman hanging by the edge by a single gloved hand. He steps on her hand with his wrapped foot, grinding it in, trying to get her to let go and fall to her death. Her other hand flails to her side, but regaining control of it, she grabs his foot with her hand and drags him off the edge. The Talon flies over her, falling into the darkness below.

Getting onto my feet, I help Batwoman back up onto the roof before we head down to investigate the Talon. Once we hit the ground, we find him lying on the concrete. Batwoman cautiously approaches the Talon, kneeling down at his side. She removes his mask, revealing that of a young man, maybe just past his teens. She shakes him, prompting him to stir, and cough up blood.

"Who are you working for?" she asks, holding him up by his collar.

The man starts laughing, his teeth bloodied, "You can't already…*hack* *hack*, guess?" He laughs some more, as blood begins pooling around his stomach, "They're coming to get you, Barbara. I may die but *hack* *wheeze*...the Talon will rise again and again. Beware…*hack*...they...who watch at all times."

He slowly closes his eyes as his head leans to the side, blood trailing out of his mouth. Batwoman places two fingers on the man's neck, "He's dead."

Making sure my gloves are all the way on, I search the man for any identification, or anything that may help us, but all I find is his other blade. On it are engraved the words, "Ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch".

Batwoman takes out the Talon's other blade that we'd retrieved when he attacked Barbara's apartment.

"Behind granite and lime, ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch," I read aloud, "this ringing a bell to you at all?"

Batwoman remains silent, holding the two blades in her hands. I reach out to her, but just then we're interrupted by the clicking of a gun.

"Freeze," Renee Montoya commands, her gun trained on the two of us.