AN: Okay, so these next couple chapters will go through the next few episodes rather quickly, but I tried to make it so it's not too choppy or anything. Enjoy and please review!

Playlist:

Paramore-Let the Flames Begin

Chapter 31

Jim was searching for Isabelle every second of his free time. He even had the GCPD working with other police departments in the surrounding cities to search for her and put out her image. Oswald Cobblepot had also checked in with Jim to tell him he also had men of his own in other cities looking for the smallest hint of Isabelle's whereabouts but nothing had surfaced.

Oswald was worrying much more than when she left before. At least then Jim knew where Isabelle was and that had assured Oswald that she was all right. Now the pressures of finding her safe and sound and making his club a success were weighing on him.

With Isabelle seemingly gone without a trace according to the men he'd sent out, Oswald put all of his energy into fixing up his club for opening night. The sign outside the club glowed purple, Isabelle's favorite color. The club had touches of her in it as well; proof that Oswald couldn't get her off his mind. He had several men outside of the city and he'd sent to word to Falcone as well, asking for help but he'd yet to hear back. There were flower arrangements on every table, full of the flowers whose scents reminded him of Isabelle's perfume. He'd even gone so far as to have vanilla pods stuck down in the bottom of the transparent dark purple vases. He picked one up and took a deep breath as he longed for her to be here, to see this moment, and for him to have her safe in his arms.

"Penguin."

Oswald turned around to see Maroni walking up to him. He turned to hurry away.

"Where you going?"

"Don Maroni. Such a pleasure to see you."

"Look at you. From the trunk of my car to running your own club. The place looks good Penguin. Hell of a turn out," Maroni joked.

"How about a table? Drinks? My compliments of course," Oswald asked nervously.

Maroni looked to the bottle in Oswald's hands. "Expensive stuff. Let me see. I had a little chat with Falcone," Maroni said as he held the bottle in his hand. "I came here to let you know that all is kosher between us." Maroni slapped Oswald and pointed his finger at him. "As long as you don't go giving Falcone any more of my secrets."

"No. Nothing like that."

"Of course not. Grab a glass."

Oswald did just that and Maroni began to pour the champagne into the glass. "You better hope that old man Falcone lives a long life 'cause the second he's out of the picture," Maroni let the champagne overflow onto Oswald's polished shoes and the floor. "So are you. And it's sad she had to get caught up in all this 'cause of you, but your Isabelle too." He patted Oswald on the back who closed his eyes and ground his teeth in fear and anger.

~O.o~

Oswald was proud to see his mother singing on stage. He'd had a rough day to be honest. His men returned once again with no trace of Isabelle. He would have killed one of them if he didn't need them to continue the search. He must have called her phone several dozen times every day since Nygma told him she'd gone missing, but every time it went straight to voicemail. So, along with not getting much sleep lately, he was already on edge when someone dared to boo his mother and call her a hag. He buttoned his jacket and walked towards the man and picking up an empty wine bottle he gladly killed him, not caring that he had frightened his patrons.

Later he sat at the piano, in a halo of blue light that shone on the stage. His mind was filled with thoughts for his Isabelle. He wasn't all that worried about the club being empty. It just needed time and his mind was so full of scenarios featuring Isabelle that he just couldn't think about it anymore that day.

~O.o~

Jim and Lee were talking with Mr. Cicero, the supposed psychic. Jim didn't believe that he was psychic, not one bit; until, as Jerome was being brought in Mr. Cicero spoke up.

"If you could only see what I see…any luck finding Isabelle Mr. Gordon?" Mr. Cicero asked.

"Excuse me?" Jim was taken aback.

"She's gone missing, hasn't she? And you've had no luck finding her. She's closer than you think, but hidden well."

"Are you saying my niece was kidnapped?!" Jim's voice rose and Lee's face was one of confusion.

"Yes. But don't worry. You'll be reunited but be prepared," Mr. Cicero said.

"Prepared for what?" Jim slammed his fist onto the table, surprising Lee.

"It might not be a happy reunion," Mr. Cicero clarified.

"What does that mean?" Jim demanded, his heart racing.

"That's all I know. I'm sorry."

"You don't know where she is?" Lee asked as she placed a hand on Jim's arm hoping to calm him down some.

"No."

"You wait until now to tell me this?! Someone told you she was missing," Jim tried to reason.

"No one told me."

After Mr. Cicero and Jerome were arrested Lee talked to Jim. "Why didn't you tell me your niece is missing?"

Jim sighed before answering, "It's not for you to worry about."

"No, I care about you, you should have told me. You don't need to carry this all on your own Jim. You can talk to me about it," Lee held his gaze.

"We don't have any leads, there's no trace of her. She left the night of the Charity Ball. She used to run away a lot when she was younger. When I got upset with her or she was upset about something and didn't want to deal with it she'd just run away. I always found her or she'd come back soon. I have to find her Lee. I won't lose her. I can't lose her," he stated and looked away as his eyes began to fill with tears as the thought of not finding her safe and sound or not finding her at all. He knew better than most what could happen to a young girl in Gotham. He never thought it could get worse than her getting wrapped up with Oswald Cobblepot, but it had.

Lee wore a soft, sympathetic look on her face as she wrapped her arms around Jim. "You will find her Jim."

~O.o~

Zsasz had just dropped off the new and improved Butch Gilzean at Oswald's club.

"Oh," Zsasz started. "Falcone has a couple of men looking for Isabelle Gordon. He's hoping he can have a favor with Mr. Gordon if they find her."

~O.o~

Jim visited Bruce at the hospital while Bruce was watching over Alfred.

After he questioned them about the attack on Alfred Bruce spoke up. "I have some people out looking for Isabelle, but so far they haven't found anything."

"Thank you Bruce. Really, you didn't have to."

"It's no problem at all. I just want her back in Gotham, safe and sound."

"Same here Bruce, same here," Jim said, patting the young man on the shoulder.

Both Bruce and Alfred talked about Isabelle's disappearance many times in the days since and Bruce had searched her room for any clues but found nothing. Bruce was truly worried about his friend. They grew so close during her time at the Manor and she hadn't hesitated to comfort him when he needed it most. Bruce had even asked Selina if she knew anything but she didn't and promised she would keep an eye out.

~O.o~

Kristen Kringle turned around to find Edward coming into the room where she was collecting some files. "Oh, my."

"Fun fact," Edward chuckled. "The human species attracts members of the opposite sex via pheromones secreted through saliva, sweat, and urine."

"Gross."

"But…one can't always trust such an animalistic method to find a suitable partner."

"What are you trying to tell me?" Kristen asked.

"Arnold Flass was released. I know that you two were dating, and if the attraction wasn't intellectual-how could it be with that gorilla?-then it must be physical. He's just…he's such a bad, bad, bad…"

Kristen reached out a hand to one of Edward's, interrupting him. "I appreciate your concern. But it won't be necessary."

"Oh, but it is. You see, my friend Isabelle, I believe you two met weeks ago here; she was hurt by her boyfriend who supposedly cares about her. I was there. I saw it. His words, his actions, hurt her. He is not a nice guy at all and I feel she deserves better. As do you."

Kristen smiled. "She did speak highly of you when we met," she said, causing Edward to smile. "I've realized there are far better men in the world than Arnold Flass."

Edward smiled and wished he could call Isabelle to tell her of this revelation. He knew Jim was doing all he could to find his niece while also continuing to stay devoted to other cases. Edward kept his eyes and ears sharp for the slightest inkling of anything to do with her that might help but so far, nothing.

~O.o~

Jim was sitting across from Oswald, the last place he expected to be, asking for his help with Commissioner Loeb.

"All right, it's settled then." Jim wasn't happy about owing Oswald a favor but he needed to figure this out. "Any news from your guys on Isabelle?"

"Disappointingly, no. You?" Oswald asked.

"Nothing. I don't understand it," Jim sighed.

Oswald moved closer to Jim. "We will find her Jim. We won't stop looking for her. I don't care how long it takes."

Jim could see the conviction in Oswald's eyes and he thought, for the slightest second, that he saw the real Oswald, or at least the Oswald his niece saw.

~O.o~

Jim and Harvey were in the precinct, standing in the area that held some evidence.

"You don't think…" Jim started.

"He abducts young, single, attractive women and he keeps them sometimes for a week, sometimes for months. Then he dumps their bodies around Gotham," Harvey explained.

"How many has he killed?" Jim asked.

"A dozen, maybe more. Every time he makes a kill, he leaves one of these at the crime scene. It's his calling card."

"So, who is he?"

"No one knows. Thinking is he's educated, decent-looking, rich. But that's just a profile. Some of the guys call him The Don Juan Killer. Most call him The Ogre."

"So, why haven't I heard about this guy before? Why hasn't the public?" Jim asked, a terrifying idea now starting to form in his mind.

"It's the GCPD's…dirty little secret. Only a handful of senior detectives know anything about this guy, and they sure as Hell ain't leaking it to the press."

"Why not?"

"Because The Ogre retaliates against any cop who investigates him. He kills the people they love. That's why this lunatic hasn't been caught yet Jim because no one's been stupid enough to investigate."

"Until I came along."

"Which makes me wonder how did you catch this?"

"I told you a fellow officer asked me to look into it."

"Who? Which one?" Harvey asked, looking around Jim.

Now Jim and Harvey had just finished talking to the officer that gave Jim the case and Jim rushed to call Lee.

"Jim, listen! You might still in the clear on this," Harvey tried to reason with his partner.

" 'In the clear?' he could have Isabelle right now! He could come after Lee!" Jim spoke with panic rising in his voice.

"Only if he thinks you're investigating him. Think about it. It's not on your docket. There's been no press linking you up to this case. Hell, all you've done is ask some questions so you got to drop it now! This is no time to be a hero!"

"What if he's our guy? What if he took Isabelle? It's possible and it's the only inkling of a lead we've got so far."

"Why take her? If you weren't on the case weeks ago…"

"What if the commissioner somehow got to him about her, huh?" Jim suggested.

"How would he do that?" Harvey asked, not believing what Jim was saying.

"I don't know but I wouldn't put it past him. He wants me out of the way. This could have been his plan all along. Tell The Ogre about Isabelle, get me to investigate the case, put those I love in harm's way."

"We just found that girl. Why would The Ogre have her and your niece at the same time? That's not his M.O."

"Not usually."

"Jim…"

"If I drop it, I'm letting a serial killer go free. The blood of his next victim is on my hands! And that could very well be Isabelle's blood!" Jim's face was starting to grow red and he was frustrated with his partner, even though he knew Harvey was just looking out for him.

"If you don't drop it, that blood could be Lee's too."

Jim was on the phone now, trying to reach Lee, when he saw the Commissioner walk in. He slammed the phone down on the receiver.

"You!" Jim yelled. "You son of a bitch!"

"Excuse me!" The Commissioner asked.

"You set me up!" Jim yelled as he came towards the Commissioner.

"Detective I don't know what you think…"

Jim grabbed the Commissioner's shirt. "Don't talk. Listen."

"Hey!" one of the officers that was with Loeb started.

"Back off!" Jim yelled in the officer's face.

"Don't you…" but Jim held up a finger.

"I tried to work with you. But now you crossed a line. You come after the one's I love. From here on, we're playing my way. No more games. No more deals. I'm gonna find The Ogre and I'm gonna put him behind bars. And when I've done that, I'm coming after you. I'm coming after you, Commissioner. You're done."

~O.o~

Jim was at Lee's now, sitting on the toilet and holding an ice pack to his head.

"You think he has Isabelle?" Lee asked. She was concerned but refused to give in to Jim's insistence that she leave Gotham.

"I think it's likely. It's the most plausible thing so far. I have to find him. For Isabelle and for you," he said before pulling her face toward his.