Disclaimer: See chapter one.

Chapter Fourteen

Another month has gone by since the small fight that occurred in Bruce's office. It's that event that made it obvious to me that whoever it was that let the twelve villains free, is becoming desperate.

What once seemed like an advanced game of chess has moved down to a novice-type level. Mistakes are being made on my mystery opponent's side, and I'm moving closer toward his King. I just didn't know it.

"Hey Daddy. Daddy!" Mari called up to me while pulling on my pants leg. Ryan was lightly slapping my other leg to gain my attention. When I finally looked down at her, she continued, "Can we get a puppy?"

My jaw dropped a bit at the unforeseen question.

Both of my children were staring up at me with large eyes and puppy-dog pouts.

Even I'm not immune to that look, which is why, before my resolve could weaken, I gave the answer that every father gives when their children ask for something.

"Go ask your mother."

They looked to each other and shrugged, before racing upstairs.

"The old 'ask-your-mother' line works every time, huh? Of course, she could send the kids right back to you if she wanted." I turned in my chair just as Selina walked past me. "Then what do you plan on doing?"

"She won't," I answered as she took a seat in the chair across from me. I lifted my newspaper again, my eyes going back to the article I had been reading before my mind drifted.

Huh. Chess tournament. That explains the analogy I used.

"I wouldn't be so sure. She is pregnant after all. The only thing Kory is sure about when she's pregnant is she doesn't want to know the baby's sex," Selina reminded me.

She's right.

I hate it when she's right.

She's smiling smugly at me now because she knows she's right.

She always knows when she's right.

I hate that too.

Before I could respond, the phone that was sitting in-between us began to ring.

Still giving me that smug smile, she picked up the phone and answered it with a smooth, "Hello?"

There was a pause as the person on the other line spoke.

"Sure, he's right here," she replied to the person before handing the phone over to me. "It's Vic. You got out lucky this time."

Once I took the phone in my hand, she left, still smiling because she knew she was right again.

Selina is one of the few people in the city that knows how to get in my head. Isn't it obvious just how much she loves doing it?

I grunted before putting the phone to my ear and speaking into it. "Hey Vic. What's up?"

"Man, you've got to come down to Indianapolis fast," Vic told me in a quick, hushed tone. "We got a new driver down here. Races by the name JR, but the moment I sat the guys face I knew I'd seen him before. He's one of yours. Once of the ones that got out a few months back, and he's racing now."

"Alright, calm down, Vic. I'll be there by tomorrow morning. Call up Wally and tell him to get there too."

Vic's the manager of a NASCAR pit crew. The only one who knows almost as much about cars as he does is Wally, because of his background with police and confiscated cars.

Brother Blood was out of his element, but Johnny Rancid isn't.

The guy's a bonehead. Of course that was especially obvious when he used the name JR to hide himself. Obviously those are his initials.

It's also obvious that my unknown opponent is trying to keep me out of Gotham. Has been for sometime now.

He, or she, is getting desperate.

Once Johnny's caught and taken to jail, that will only leave Slade Wilson.

Slade's uncontrollable, though, and has his own reasons for doing things.

You can tempt him with all the money in the world and he would only take the job for a completely different reason.

He's complicated.

But again, my opponent is getting desperate. By saving Slade for last, he's risking everything. Slade could easily outsmart anyone, including myself.

It took me a long time to figure out his pattern and, unlike my other foes who only sought revenge and control, his reasons for things are usually personal or has a way of suiting his benefits.

To understand Slade Wilson, you must delve deep into his mind, into his history, and connect the figurative dots. Think along the same lines as him, and then go beyond the two steps he takes to stay ahead of everyone.

His true motives, however, have never been revealed to me or anyone else as far as I know.

Bruce was at Wayne Enterprises at the moment, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind me calling his personal plane in to take me to Indianapolis. It is an emergency.

I made a quick call to set up the flight before going to grab my overnight bag in my room.

Kory was in there, lying on the bed and sulking.

"I'm as fat as a whale," she complained once I entered the room. She wiggled her toes before continuing, "I can't even see my feet anymore."

One of the kids must have said something. She always gets like this when someone says something, especially at this stage of her pregnancy.

I sighed before walking over to her and giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "You're just as beautiful as the day I met you," I whispered before sitting beside her. "I've got to leave. Vic called up and said that he saw Johnny Rancid down in Indy. He sounded pretty worried."

She nodded in understanding before pouting again.

I scratched the back of my neck before I hesitate to ask, "Do you want me to get you anything before I go?"

Her eyes lit up and a smile quickly replaced her pout.

I should not have asked that. I'm going to end up with a list of very odd foods, or I'll have to go to the grocery store to pick something up and then, when I get back, she'll want something completely different.

Too bad I'm a sucker for that puppy-dog pout look of hers.

And people wonder where Ryan and Mari get it from!

"Well, if it wouldn't be any trouble could I have a cookie-dough sandwich?"

"S-sure." I clear my throat, get up, and walk out of the room.

Do we even have any cookie-dough right now?

Was today my lucky day or what? I walk into the kitchen and I see Alfred helping Ryan and Mari baking chocolate chip cookies. I look into the bowl to find some cookie-dough still left inside and grab it and a few pieces of wheat bread and walk into the dining room to make the sandwiches.

There was enough raw cookie-dough to make three sandwiches and bring them up to Kory.

"You're the best, Dick," she tells me before practically stuffing one of the sandwiches into her mouth. I smile at her before hastily grabbing my overnight bag and exiting the room before she could ask for anything else.

If she hadn't already come up with some weird food concoctions during her previous pregnancies, this would probably be in at least the top twenty. Top ten maybe, but I've seen much worse. Some that have even made me physically ill to look at, but I won't even bother thinking about those. Bringing them up would also cause me to bring up my lunch.

I kiss my kids goodbye before leaving for the air field where Bruce's private jet was already waiting. I would have taken Tim's if he hadn't taken it to France with him.

Since I've seen him again, Jason had asked me why I had given up "the good life".

As much fun as it was to have the expensive cars, bikes, and ride around in comfortable jets, I wouldn't trade the life I have now for the world. It's a conflicting thing that comes right down to the reason; the main reason I fight. To protect my family and the people of the city. If it wasn't for that, though, I probably would rather have the expensive suits and cars, the safe life, because my family really wouldn't be as big a target.

It wouldn't, however, take care of the problems that plague Gotham City. The only way to beat those problems is by attacking them.

I was lucky to realize that as quickly as I did, and I used that knowledge to help attack the problems. I didn't stand off on the side, letting the corrupted cops outnumber the good ones. I stood up against them, took their hits and sent them right back at them. I didn't hide, back down, or walk away, even when it wasn't me who they were harassing.

Some people – Commissioner Gordon included – have thought it stupid of me at some points. I didn't care. I still don't, because I believe that as long as someone stands against the corruption, more people will follow.

Someone has had to step up, and it just so happens that I was the one to volunteer.

I'm not saying that some of the things I did weren't stupid – I was lucky to get out alive! – But I still did them.

Some people have called me a great fighter, some have called me lucky – the latter of which I mostly agree with, but never say aloud – but I quickly correct whoever says something like that to me.

"I'm not the only person who can do something like that. Right now, I'm just the only person with the courage to try, and hope others will follow my lead."

I know the human spirit really is a powerful thing, but it takes a lot of hardships to prove that to others.

It's not stupidity that makes them think twice about it; it's fear. Fear is just as powerful as the human spirit and, in Gotham, it's used by many of the corrupt and insane to get what they want.

It can be used in the reverse too. If the good guy has all the cards, it's easy to strike fear into the corrupted. It takes patience and time to do that, which I don't have in this case.

Johnny's already facing the death penalty, as is Slade. When you have something like that against you, is there really anything left to fear?

They know death is around the corner, and it only fuels them. Johnny uses it to become reckless, while Slade uses it to turn the tables on you.

The similarity between them is that neither has anything left to lose.

How do you take someone down like that?

I contemplated that question as I got on Bruce's jet and flew down to Indianapolis.

How do you take someone down with nothing left to lose?

You make them feel fear. Somehow.

Again, that has to do with getting into someone's head.

Johnny's easy. He hates fires. It goes back to when he was a teenager, playing with matches. He was trying to get some light in a dark auto garage. The flame licked his fingers and he dropped the match, not knowing there had been a small oil spill earlier that day. The next thing he knew, he was trapped in a burning building.

Luckily, the fire department at that time wasn't corrupted as it is now.

Now they usually just get in and grab the valuables and…sometimes a few other things they're paid to get and give away. Things that should never be sold, but cherished by people. Sometimes they're even paid to start the fires themselves and "save" particular people.

If Johnny was caught in a fire like that now, the Gotham Fire Department probably wouldn't have even showed up, since all the cars would have probably exploded, making them worthless.

I'm sure Vic can come up with something to scare him, if he hasn't been taken already, first.

The way he acted, I'm guessing Johnny knew who he was and, possibly, that he's even a friend of mine.

After a few hours of flying, the pilot wakes me up and tells me that we arrived.

Damn, do I miss the jets, if only for the reason that Bruce's pilots are basically some of the best flyers in the world and I can always relax and even fall asleep when I'm riding in one of these jets.

I stepped out of the plane and started walking out of the hangar when I saw him.

What the hell is the hyperactive track star doing here?

A/N: I'm sorry! I really ran out of time this morning or else I would have updated this chapter this morning.

Yeah, I know it's been a pretty long time since I updated, but I've been busy with a bunch of different things. At the moment, I don't know when the next update will be for Little Miracles, and ending it on a cliffhangar for a long time is probably also not a good idea, but since most of my readers also read Year 4, I'm sure that will tide you over until next time.

I hope you enjoyed it. Please review!