A/N: I feel like once I get started writing these, it's hard to stop but then once I stop, it's hard to come back to it. Idk. Here's the chapter.

Thx!

AMM


"You're taking this too far, Bruce," Alfred tells me as he dusts off the cowl. "You assume the persona of a bat, but you are not an animal. You nearly killed a man tonight." I did not. I just injured him, broke his arm. How does that equal nearly killing someone? But I remain quiet as I stew in my chair. I stare at the computer as it continues decrypting the data from the drive that we set it up to do earlier. "Your parents didn't raise you this way. And neither did I."

"He's still alive, isn't he?" I ask Alfred, referring back to the man with the broken arm, ignoring his attempt to get through to me by using the parents card.

"And in the hospital." He says before taking the cowl to the table beside the batsuit. "Next time, it might be the morgue." Never. I would never allow myself to kill someone. I wouldn't be able to live with myself. "Especially now, during this preposterous attack on your family, you must show the world the true nature of a Wayne."

"Giving everything to this city and then being murdered for it?" I ask him.

"My thoughts exactly," Alfred snaps. "Every time I see you leave this cave." He glares at me harshly but I just slump in my chair and look away. "You're a good man, Bruce-good, just like your parents." Alfred tells me, losing the coldness in his voice as he approaches. "Don't lose that. I don't mean to be a doddering old fool on the subject. But, as a friend, the burden of advice falls on me."

"Sometimes this job requires hard decisions," I tell Alfred as I stand up and approach the small table beside the batsuit with the display of my parent's blood-spattered movie tickets sitting on it. I lean heavily against it.

"You're the right man to make them," Alfred assures me. "In fact, I think you're the only one who can. You bury the person, Bruce, but you never bury the memory."

I clench my eyes shut. "Sometimes, I wish I could." I admit as I reopen my eyes, taking the cowl and securing it to the batsuit. "That night….that alleyway….it made me who I am….I can't get it out of my head."

"That is your gift and your curse." Alfred says. "Being Batman can allow you to turn back the tide of treachery that's reached this city's shores….or drown you in its sorrow." Alfred comes towards me, before stopping at the table. "When you doubt your fate, remember why you started all this." He turns to me and holds up one of the tickets. "Remember that boy in the alley,"

I take the ticket. "I won't forget." I tell him, putting the ticket in my coat pocket, having changed into my suit after getting back so I'm ready for the day when the computer beeps.

"Neither will I," Alfred tells me before we walk to the computer, ready to see what's on the drive. "Back into the fray again," he attempts to joke as I sit down. I go to see what's on the file but see an article in the Gotham Media Feed.

Corruption Rumors Tarnish Wayne Family Legacy

It reads. Then I scroll to the next article.

Batman Tangles With Masked Crook Atop City Hall

I exit out of the Gotham Media Feed before anything else fuels the anger that keeps building beneath my skin, simmering just to blaze at any moment. I click on the drives file.

"Looks like that egg finally cracked. And inside, Mayor Hill was hiding….more than I could've imagined," All over the screen are pictures and documents involving crimes committed or involving Falcone. "This is a complete manifest of Carmine Falcone's criminal organization."

"What in the world was Hill doing with all of this?" Alfred asks. "Illegal arms dealing, drug running, mob hits, money laundering," Alfred reads off the list. "Falcone's been involved in everything."

"This is an insurance policy," I piece together. "Hill could expose Falcone if he doesn't play along."

"That would explain why he's never made a move against him." Alfred agrees.

"Sure as hell better than any bodyguard." Alfred hits a few keys and I spin in my chair, standing up as a holographic blueprint of the city appears, areas turning from blue to red as the hologram links with the computer. "This is it, Alfred. With this proof, we can finally knock out Falcone's organization." Eventually, the whole map is red.

"Where would we even begin to dismantle it?" he asks.

"This is a police matter," I tell him.

"And there's only one cop we can trust to handle this evidence correctly."

"Lieutenant Gordon," I say. "He could mobilize the entire police force against Falcone."

"What about that reporter from the Gazette-" I cut Alfred off.

"Vicki," I suggest.

"Yes, Ms. Vale. She could release the evidence through proper channels. I suppose it comes down to who you want to help most. Or who you think could do the most good." I could give it to Ms. Vale but I feel that Gordon should have this. He'd be able to do the most good with it while Vale could get shoved aside by someone claiming she has faulty evidence. One of Falcone's men could come after her. I feel it'd be better to hand the information over to Gordon.

"The cops are on the frontlines of this war. Gordon needs this more then anyone."

"A wise decision, sir," Alfred says. "We'll attack Falcone on two fronts tonight. Gordon through the police and Batman…." Alfred trails off, almost seeming to regret bringing it up.

"By whatever means necessary," I tell him as I approach the batsuit. "Whatever Falcone is planning, it ends tonight.

"He's a spider, Bruce. Eyes everywhere, a dense web of goons poised to trap you. No one has ever managed to bring him down."

"I haven't tried yet," I tell him.


A/N: This is definitely my shortest chapter yet. Barely over a thousand words. But I want to stick with how I'm writing these, how I separate the chapters. So, this one will just have to stay short. Sorry!

Thx!

AMM