Chapter 12

Dead ends. Nothing but one dead end after another. Every lead they had was proving itself to be a complete waste of time. That's the nature of investigative work, he knew, but it didn't make it any less frustrating.

Nardoc Sera was a ghost - lost in the wind 3 days before the break in. His apartment was empty and his bank accounts untouched. Given the lack of public records and a complete absence of social media profiles, Nardoc Sera had existed for a short 6 month period when he worked at as the assistant to the museum's gem curator.

The curator was another dead end. The stereotypical spacey professor type, he didn't even realize Nardoc Sera hadn't shown up for work for the past four days. He was shocked to learn about the fake gem, but not as shocked as they all were when he discovered the real ruby hidden in a battered cardboard box in the back of the gem safe.

"I still don't see why we couldn't have held on to it for safe keeping," she said, stretching against the passenger seat of the Batmobile.

"Right," he said sarcastically, weaving in and out of traffic. The Bat Signal shone bright in the autumn sky as he sped toward GCPD headquarters. The mystery surrounding the ruby was an elaborate ruse to facilitate the transfer of a biotoxin to Red Claw. Then why hadn't it been there? Who got to it first?

Yanking hard on the wheel, the car spun to the right and ended up perfectly parallel parked behind the police headquarters. Due to safety concerns and needless wear and tear on the car he rarely used that move...but he wanted to do it tonight. Maybe he was showboating. Maybe he wanted to impress her.

"You handle all your equipment that well?" she asked, sex dripping from every syllable. He wouldn't rise to the bait, but he was pleased that it worked.

"Stay here."

"You don't expect that will actually work, do you?" she asked, her arms crossed.

"Gordon knows you're responsible for that string of West Side robberies two years ago. And so do I."

The West Side robberies were a string of at least a dozen open cases involving undetectable break ins focused on high end goods.

"Prove it, handsome," she purred, rising to her knees and getting into his space. She knew he couldn't. He lacked the physical evidence to tie her (or anyone) to the crimes. It was infuriating. "I'm your partner on this case. It's in your best interests to vouch for me. I am on your side, after all."

"For now," he pointed out.

"Exactly," she said, pleased with herself. With a sigh, he climbed out of the car.

^()^^()^

"How long have you known?" Batman asked, flipping through the file folder.

"Since yesterday," Jim Gordon said, taking a drag off his cigarette, his eyes never leaving Catwoman. "Feds have been playing this one real close to the vest for obvious reasons. They wouldn't have told us at all if not for Red Claw's little stunt last night. Rumor says this is what she's looking for."

Catwoman played coy as Gordon glared at her. It had only taken a few words from Batman to get Gordon to accept her presence. But acceptance didn't mean he liked it.

Batman's brow furrowed under his cowl as he scanned the file. One month earlier, an experimental level 4 biotoxin was stolen from a government-run germ lab 30 miles outside the city. He was certain Nardoc Sera was involved.

"And I suppose you don't know anything about what went down last night," Gordon sneered, his eyes narrowing as Catwoman casually leaned against the Bat Signal.

"I know what you know," she said, smiling, her voice innocently sweet. She was taunting him, playing with him.

"I'm sure," Gordon spat. He turned to Batman. "Can I have a word? In private?" Catwoman shrugged her shoulders and sauntered to the far corner of the roof, purposely swinging her hips with every step. Gordon flicked his cigarette butt to the ground with disgust. "I hope you know what you're doing."

"Meaning?" Batman asked, his voice flat and neutral, though his body was as tight as a string.

"She's one of the most notorious thieves in Gotham."

"She's here to help."

"And I'm the Pope," Gordon said, his voice louder than intended. He took a deep breath and lit another cigarette.

"I thought you quit," Batman said, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Don't change the subject. We both know she's responsible for all those robberies a few years ago."

"There's no evidence to support that," Batman said. Gordon scoffed.

"There's no way in hell she just happened to turn up again on the same night someone tried to steal one of the rarest gems in the world." Gordon took a deep breath. "Look, I get it. She looks damn good in that suit-"

"Are we done here?" Batman snapped, cutting him off mid-sentence. Gordon dropped his cigarette and crushed it beneath his shoe. His eyes were hard, harder than Batman had ever seen them.

"Yeah. We're done."

He watched Batman and Catwoman disappear from the roof.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Gordon whispered again, his breath visible in the cold air.

^()^

"That went well," she said, sliding into the passenger seat of the Batmobile.

"You didn't have to taunt him," he said as the roof slid closed.

"I did no such thing."

"Uh huh." He tossed the folder onto the dash. She picked it up and paged through.

"We're not going to try to shake down this government facility are we?" she asked, tossing the folder back onto the dash. That would usually be his next move but he had his reservations. It surprised him that she would have reservations as well.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because they will have stepped up security after last night. They won't relax it for at least three weeks. I'm certain we could get in if we wanted, but I'm not sure it would be the smartest move at this point."

Wordlessly, he stared at her. Why was she in the museum that night? Was it a coincidence? Or was she working with Sera? Could he really trust her on this?

She flipped through the case file again, her lips pursed in thought. His gut was telling him he could trust her. At least, he thought that's what his instincts were saying. He wasn't sure why he was allowing this partnership to continue...but then there was that part of him that said he knew very well why.

"The lab's out. I have another idea, but I'm going to have to blindfold you."

She cocked her head to the side and raised her eyebrows.

"Sounds fun," she said, grinning wickedly at him. His body went hot. Maybe Gordon was right.