Hi! I'm finally back! Ah, this felt so good to write! If you're reading this, thank you so much! And I'm sorry!

I'm feeling so much better, I decided I'd write a new chapter! Finally! I'm sorry it took me so long. I hope I have Sarah's voice right, I read over the story again just to make sure but I am a little rusty, so if she sounds a little OOC, please call me on it! Anyway, on with the story!

P.S; Have a great day!

Chapter 17: Decisions, decisions

Elyssa's bakery looked like a murder scene. The entire block was taped off, paramedics were attending to Aiden's injuries while Officer Reagan finished questioning me.

"...And when I got here he was standing there!"

Officer Reagan scribbled a few notes onto her notepad. I looked at the ground and sighed, "so, now what do I do?"

She clicked her pen. "How long has he given you to complete his order?"

"He told me to meet him at the docks in a week."

She tapped the pen against her chin, "a week, huh?" She put the pen in her pocket. "Just, give me a second." She walked away from me, pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and dialed a number.

I sat down against the bakery wall and pulled my knees to my chest, exhaling deeply. What the hell am I going to do?

I immediately got an answer I have to leave town. I thought. I went over my assets in my head, I didn't own a car. I didn't even own a cellphone, I definitely didn't have enough money for a plane ticket, and even if I did where would I go?

After talking on the phone for a moment Reagan walked over to me.

"That was my supervisor." She said, "we have an idea."

"Oh, yeah?" I asked, standing up.

"You're going to go to the docks next week, as planned."

I looked at her incredulously "what?"

"Hear me out." She said, "there will be officers watching you, once the transaction is made, we'll arrest him. Then he won't trouble you anymore."

I thought about it for a moment. It sounded like a good plan, but… my eyes narrowed.

"How do I know I can trust you?"

Reagan seemed taken aback by this "Miss Valens I've been involved in this ever since you were kidnapped by the Riddler, why would you think you couldn't trust me?"

"Maybe you're trustworthy, but what about your fellow officers?"

Reagan nodded with understanding. "Of course." She gave me a hard look "you have my word, all the people involved will be honest. No one else will know."

I still wasn't convinced.

Reagan signed in defeat, "I'll give you until tomorrow to think about it."

I nodded, "okay."

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, she answered it.

"Yes? ...Uh huh… okay, I'll be right there." She hung up, "I have to go. I'll have one of the officers drive you home, okay?"

"No!" I said quickly "that's okay, I can get home on my own."

She raised an eyebrow "Miss Valens, it's after midnight. There are no busses running right now, you aren't safe. Please."

I sighed "fine."

She turned, "hey! Murray!" One of the officers, a thin, middle aged man, turned and looked at us.

"If you aren't busy, could you drive Miss Valens home?"

He nodded, "sure, no problem." He looked at me, "follow me."

…

I had never been in a police car before, and I was nervous in spite of myself. The car was an unimposing, black and white crown vic and, judging by all the stripped paint, it had probably been in a few car chases. I was silent for most of the trip, but, just about a mile away from home, Officer Murray broke the silence.

"So, had an encounter with Harvey Dent tonight, huh?"

"Yes" I said, staring out the window, "you know I did, you were there during the investigation. What of it?"

"He wants you to tailor a suit for him?"

I looked at him with confusion "you know all this. Why are you asking me?"

"He's a dangerous man you know, lots of forces." We pulled up in front of the apartment "you'd best watch yourself."

I scrambled out of the car.

He smiled slyly "goodnight, Miss Valens." He shut the door, and, with a screech of tires, sped away.

I looked around frantically, at first the street looked normal, and then I saw it. There was someone looking out the window in the apartment across the street, taking pictures of the city skyline, and then I realized, he's not pointing his camera at the skyline, he's pointing it at me.

I gasped and ran into the apartment as quickly as I could.

...

Vikki was asleep when I walked upstairs to our apartment, so I decided to avoid telling her what happened until the next morning. I was hungry, so I opened the fridge. We didn't have much, so after choking down a glass of milk, I went to sleep. Or, at least, I tried too. I took a shower, slipped into bed, and lay there, staring at the ceiling for hours, thinking. Could I really trust Reagan and the other officers to protect me? Could I somehow contact
Two Face and tell him not to meet me at the docks? Or maybe… I thought, should I just go through with the deal? That's definitely the easiest solution, go through with the deal, get on Two Face's good side... I chuckled a bit at my own pun, pocket some money in the process? It's an option…

No! I thought, getting a grip on myself the man's a murderer, I don't want his money! But… I don't want Vikki to get hurt… I don't want to get hurt...

After hours of conflicting thoughts, I eventually fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning exhausted, drunk from the night's events. Not bothering to brush my hair, I stumbled out of my room. Vikki was sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee.

"Hey, Vikki" I said, exhausted.

"Hi Sarah" she looked at me and jumped "who let the sasquatch in?" She asked, laughing.

I pushed my hair out of my eyes, "Vikki" I said, sitting at the table, "we need to talk. Now."

Vikki's smile disappeared. "What's wrong Sarah?"

I took a deep breath "I...was contacted by Harvey Dent yesterday…"

Her eyes widened "Two Face?"

"Yeah. He was at my old workplace, he was going to kill Aiden if I didn't get there, and... he wants me to make him a suit."

Vikki's head dropped to her hands "Sarah…"

"Vikki, I swear I didn't encourage this…"

"Sarah, I can't do this again!" She stood up and paced around, wringing her hands nervously.

"Vikki, we have a plan, I'm going to help Officer Reagan catch him."

She turned sharply and glared at me, "you really think that's going to work?" She snapped.

I opened my mouth to say something, but the words never came.

"Half of them are bought out, and you know it!" She shouted, "and even if by some miracle your plan works, you really think it'll help you, Sarah?" She threw her hands in the air, paced forward four steps and turned back around. "If you go through with this, you'll just get more orders, and if you do as Reagan says..." She groaned "you know he'll escape from Arkham. You'll be in witness protection for the rest of your days! And you know witness protection in Gotham is a one way ticket to the morgue!"

I looked away from her, she was right. As much as I wanted to deny it, I knew she was right.

"I'm sorry" I said quietly. It was all I could think of saying.

"Oh, you're sorry?" She said angrily "well, I forgive you. But, I'm not going to watch this happen again." She walked away to her room briskly.

When she came back she was carrying a duffel bag over her shoulder, stuffed to bursting with all of her belongings. "I'm getting out of here before I get hurt." She said firmly.

"Where are you going to go?" I asked.

"I'm staying with Dylan for a few days, then, I don't know. I can't be here anymore. I can't walk into the apartment and worry that some criminal will be sitting on the couch waiting for me. I'm done."

I didn't try to stop her, in fact I was relieved. If I was going to become a walking target, I didn't want her or anyone anywhere near me. "Bye Vikki."

My lack of resistance seemed to surprise her, she stood there looking at me for a long time before she said "stay safe Sarah." She opened the door and left.

With that over, I looked over at the phone. What was I going to do? Call Reagan and tell her no? Say yes?

I sighed and walked over to the phone, dialing the number on the slip of paper. "Officer Reagan?"

"Miss Valens."

"I'm…" I gulped, I wanted to tell her yes. If I was going down, I wanted to take him with me. My fingers trembled, and without thinking I shouted "I'm out!" And slammed the phone down before she could reply.

A few minutes later the phone rang again. "Hello?"

"Good choice Sarah." The voice was quiet and gravelly. I couldn't tell if the person on the other end was a man, or a woman.

"Who are you?"

"A friend. Mr. Dent says don't meet us at the docks next week."

"Okay" I was about to hang up the phone.

"I'm not finished" He said, "meet me for coffee tomorrow, and we'll talk."

"How will I know it's you?"

"You'll know." The phone went dead.