A/N: So I meant to update a week ago, but then I had writers block for the last half of this chapter until about two days ago. Sorry for making you guys wait longer than usual for an update. Please read, review and, enjoy though.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine

Chapter Eight

Audrey's Apartment, Gotham's Lower District

"Answer me, Gunny!"

Audrey remained silent and stared straight ahead. The man before her rolled his eyes; she hadn't spoken in over three hours. Not even to say her mantra of name, rank, and serial number. She just wasn't there.

"Not talking isn't going to bring him back, Gunny. All you had to do was talk and he would still be alive." Tahri grinned as Audrey's gaze shifted to glare at him.

Not true! ...Not her fault…she didn't …

Audrey's glare fell away into nothing. Sean…

She could still hear his screams.

Audrey forced her eyes shut for a moment. She looked like hell, her face was bruised and puffy, her lips were cracked and coated with blood, and for the first time in what felt like years she was completely aware of her surroundings, of every pain in her body and she hated it. She just wanted to crawl back inside her head.

Tahri leaned forward, "Last chance, Gunny. Speak or you may not survive our next session together."

God, she hoped so...Audrey silently seethed, she couldn't do this anymore. Just the idea of being able to end all the suffering was…it brought her a small amount of peace. But she'd be damn if she allowed herself to be killed by his hand. Instead of responding to him, she titled her head back and smiled. It was a soft, bitter smile, almost mocking in its betrayal.

"Fine. Have it your way, I know I enjoy our time together." Tahri stepped back from Audrey and turned to a table set behind him.

From it, he pulled what look like a sharp knife but from the side edge, a small hook curved upward. He twirled it around in his hand as he looked at her in consideration, "I think that your left side has taken enough abuse for now, why don't we give your right side a chance to catch up?"

Audrey tipped herself back as much as she could in the chair that she was bound to. Tahri had been sloppy with her restriction thinking she was too grief-stricken to do much. Her right hand was almost loose, another twist and she'd be free.

She waited until he moved closer to her before she made a move, her leg kicked out hitting his knee hard enough to bring him down slightly. Audrey thrust her fist up catching him in the nose, she cried out in pain as her skin stretched and several of her wounds reopened. Ignoring the burning and throbbing, she twisted his arm and took the knife from him before plunging it into his chest.

There was a sickening sucking sound. It took her a moment to realize it was Tahri. He couldn't breathe. The sound was him trying to gasp for air. Audrey tore her eyes away from her tormentor. She needed to get out.

She staggered over to the table and picked up the gun he had placed there earlier and made her way to the door that kept her trapped.

NO!

Audrey snapped her head up and focused on her surroundings. No, she repeated to herself. The man that she had seen the bar couldn't possibly have been Tahri. He was dead. He was…

Abruptly, she stood and ran towards the bathroom to unload the meager contents of her stomach. It had been two days and even now she was still in shock. Audrey was well aware of how she looked. Her eyes were bloodshot, more from lack of sleep than tears, and her skin was paler than usual. She was fairly sure that anyone who looked at her could see that she was hanging by a thread.

Charlie had noticed. She knew he had noticed because he was watching her more carefully than ever. He was watching her like he watched Reed. Audrey shook her head at the thought. While she was warmed by his concern, she couldn't help but feel pathetic that it even needed to be there in the first place. Quickly, she rinsed her face and pushed back the vulnerable feelings that had been pushed to the surface the past few days. It would do her no good to relive old memories.

She made her way back into her living room and pulled out several case files. Reed had managed to hack into some of Danny's files to learn more about the operation that Maroni ran. There were two major drug runners that worked under Maroni. Francis Stallone and Louis Ricci.

Stallone was the better known of the two, at least on the streets and in the prisons. He had been caught three times on possession and aggravated assault and had spent five years in jail for manslaughter. According to Danny's notes, Stallone knew when every shipment of drugs was coming in, where, and to whom it was going to be dealt. However, he only dealt with drugs like cocaine and heroin…drugs anybody could get a hold of, if they really wanted to.

Ricci was a different story all together. He had been caught for possession a few times but beyond that he had no jail time on his record. He kept his head down for the most part. Like Stallone, though, Ricci knew all about what shipments were coming in and how they were being handled. Anything else about his part in the Maroni's family was relatively unknown. If Audrey had to guess, he would be the one handling the prescription drugs…hopefully something like lorazepam.

Charlie had done a little research into prescription drug world. Hospital used drugs like anesthetics are rather hard to get onto the black market, let alone the streets. Sanctioned narcotics, barbiturates, anesthetics, and whole list of other medicines used in hospitals were regulated closely by the government which made it damn near impossible for any drugs to go missing. Of course, someone always found a loophole.

Audrey ran a hand through her hair and let out a sigh. She was tired, but she didn't want to go back to sleep…or even attempt to sleep. Her eyes unconsciously sought out something other than the papers that lay on her lap. A nearby newspaper caught her attention and a quick glance at the date showed her it was a few days old. She shrugged to herself as she picked it up, but only found more over exaggerated articles on Gotham's recent murders…Oh and Mayor Garcia's upcoming fundraiser…Ooo.

Audrey tossed the paper from her with a sigh and glanced at a clock. She nearly smiled in relief as her eyes quickly made out the time. It was just past seven and in her mind a reasonable hour to head down to warehouse and see if she could do more than go through case files. Audrey was out the door after she grabbed a few things and shoved them into a carrier bag. The door's lock echoing in her wake.

Inner City Gotham

A soft breeze wafted through the air as Tahri's cool brown eyes fastened onto several pieces of paper that lay before him on a small glass table. Occasionally, he would make a note on one before setting it aside. He had been working on the rooftop terrace for several hours and had been finishing up some paperwork when one of his subordinate's wandered out onto the private garden. It hadn't taken long for the other man to zero in on his boss.

The man's approach had been quiet, nearly unheard except for the sporadic sound of a crunched leaf. Tahri didn't bother to look up as he came to stand on the other side of the desk. He was well aware of the other man's presence, however. He continued on with his note making for a few more minutes before he decided that he had stayed quiet long enough.

A raised brow met blue eyes, "What is it?"

"Maroni is here." His underling's graveled voice answered back.

Tahri frowned, dealing with the aging mobster was beginning to become a nuisance, "Let him in."

In? Was that even the right word to use when he sat up here? Tahri mentally shook his head. He never had been one for semantics. Automatically, he turned his eyes back to his papers and listened as his crony's footsteps faded away. It wasn't long before the Italian mob boss meander onto the gardened roof and found his path over to Tahri.

As he did with his assistant, Tahri ignored the older man. This time, however, there was a cold tension in the air. It didn't take a genius to figure out that these two men didn't like each other.

Maroni let his lips twist into a scowl as Tahri finally looked up from his papers. The mobster didn't miss the flash of irritation behind Tahri's mocking eyes. Dirt, Maroni thought, his eyes reminded him of dirt. The two remained in a staring contest for a few more minutes before Maroni dropped a file on top of the table. A few of Tahri's paper's drifted from the table and onto the ground.

"What's this? An invoice?" Condescension oozed from Tahri's mouth. He didn't even reach for the file, much less glance at it.

"I wouldn't come here if it was an invoice, kid." Maroni replied stiffly, he stifled a smile as irritation flashed through the younger man's eyes again, "It seems that there's a little birdie following you around."

Tahri frowned faintly, his curiosity got the better of him as he reached for the file. He barely had a chance to get it open before Maroni started to speak again.

"What I want to know is if she's one of yours? Or if I should start worrying about federal agents getting too close to this little operation you have going on?", the mobster's grey eyes glinted as he carefully watched Tahri's eyes take in the photo.

Tahri froze as he stared into a pair of familiar blue eyes. Gunny…Almost unconsciously, he had to keep himself from touching his chest where he knew an all too familiar scar lurked.

He hated the desert. There was too much heat. Heat that caused people to sweat and the atmosphere to smell. Even when he was a good ten feet underground, it was still too hot. Tahri let out a sigh as his eyes drifted over to the disgustingly pathetic mess before him. Two Americans. Marines, actually.

He had to admit they had lasted a lot longer than he had thought they would. The girl in particular. He had thought she would have been the first to break with her sapphire eyes that still held a smidge of uncorrupted innocence…of hope. She was proving him wrong though. Not much left her mouth aside from her name and rank and when something else did it was either a smart ass comment or a curse. She had spirit... One that was slowly beginning to diminish with each laceration and bruise that showed up on her companion's body as a result of her defiance.

The man had been harder to read, but it was obvious that he cared for the girl in some capacity. Just the way he would look at her screamed concern and maybe...love?

Tahri just wasn't sure what kind of bond the two held. It was starting to become obvious, though, that the man couldn't take much more. He was going to be the one to break. The girl would end up dead before she spoke of anything significant.

He stepped into the enclosed room and let the door shut quietly behind him. He had barely made a noise when the girl's head lifted up to stare directly at him. He was mesmerized for a moment by the streak off purple that lined her cheek and the blood that had caked over on her lip. Her eyes shined brighter than he had ever seen before and he was instantly reminded of a cat's eye at night. The moment passed and he was back to business.

"Well?"

Tahri blinked as the mobster's voice broke through his thoughts, "You said she's a federal agent?"

Maroni tilted his head slightly as he absorbed Tahri's distant tone and stiff posture. The kid had gone pale for a moment and he wondered why.

At the younger man's blatant stare Maroni answered, "Yeah, FBI. Her name's Lynette Peters and she's looking into those little murders that your boss has been creating. She seemed particularly interested in you when you were at Fortuna's the other night."

"That's not her name." Tahri replied as he pulled more photos out of the file.

Maroni raised an eyebrow, "So she is one of yours then."

"No, she's not." Tahri said irritated. He pulled one of the photos closer to himself for a better inspection. A smirked claimed his lips as he caught sight of her neck. She had the tattoo, "Don't worry about her. She'll be taken care of…Just make sure that shipment makes it to the mayor's."

It was clear to Maroni that he was being dismissed and he didn't like it. He forced himself not to grind his teeth as he watched the younger man stare at the pictures of the Fed. He was missing something…he was missing more than he would like and the whole business with the Artist and Tahri was starting to put him on edge.

The older man started to leave when he turned back abruptly and asked, "What's her name?'

Tahri paused but didn't see any harm in answering, "Audrey…Audrey Douglas."

Tahri picked up his phone to make a few calls as Maroni disappeared from view. The photo of Audrey was still clasped firmly in his hand when a voice on the other end answered, "I found our next target."

Tahri didn't notice the eyes of his subordinate on him or that several of the papers that had fallen to the ground were mysteriously missing.

Lawson's Lumber Mill, Gotham City's Outer Limits

The boss was losing it. Louis Ricci took a long drag from his cigarette. The nicotine did little to calm the nerves that were turning his stomach inside out. His eyes swept over the run down lumber mill he stood in front of and frowned. The place was about ready to crumble. Not that anyone would notice since it lay on the outskirts of Gotham…actually it was closer to the Palisades, but Ricci doubted that any of the rich folks would notice if it suddenly disappeared.

He usually enjoyed this, heading out to the mill to pick up shipments and make sure that everything was in order, but this job…this job just sucked. Going to the mayor's place. Yeah, right. The boss was definitely losing it.

A few of Ricci's boys lounged around the surrounding area. In all honesty, they didn't really need to be there, he didn't need the protection. Ricci knew who exactly was coming in with their shipment and how exactly everything was going to play out. He had done this little transaction a million times before. The boy's though, Ricci smirked, they just made him look intimidating.

The sound of a car coming down the road drew everybody's attention. Ricci watched quietly as a large unmarked van made its way closer to the mill and silently tossed his cigarette to the ground. His boy's had started to straighten up and were reaching for their guns as the van began to slow before coming to a stop.

"You gonna shoot me, Lou?" A deep baritone called from the van.

Ricci grinned, "I was thinkin' about it. You bring em'?"

A tall man with a black goatee slid from the driver's side of the van and walked to the back. All the while he talked to Ricci, "Oh, yeah. This is gonna cost you a pretty penny, my friend. It was not easy getting this much on such short notice. Whose bright idea was it to triple the order at the last possible fucking minute?"

Ricci had slid up to the back by this time and answered, "I don't know, Ramon. Boss just up and changed the order on me and I wasn't going to ask questions."

Ramon raised an eyebrow, "Was he pissed?"

"You have no idea." Ricci mutter as he began to look over the boxes that lay in the back of the van. It looked like everything was there.

Satisfied Ricci signaled to his boys to start unloading the van as he turned back to the taller man, "How much?"

"950." Ramon answered. His face went blank as Ricci's head snapped up.

Ricci's eyes turned to ice as he began to evaluate the other man, "I was thinkin' more like 600, Ramon."

"It would have been 600. Last minute changes, like tripling the order, causes a lot of people to become uncomfortable, Lou. I had to grease a lot of wheels to get this to you on time." Ramon nodded towards the unloaded boxes, "Hence the extra 350."

Ricci huffed at that and he headed back to his car. Faint footsteps followed behind him and he knew that Ramon was close behind. Quickly pulling the passenger side door open, Ricci grabbed his laptop and a mini satellite antenna from the seat and placed them on the hood. It only took another few minutes for him to be connected to the internet and logged into one of Maroni's various offshore accounts.

"Same account number?" Ricci asked stiffly as Ramon leaned on the car next to him.

"Yeah, same one."

Ricci nodded ever so slightly as he punched in the numbers need to transfer the money. 950,000 dollar transfer…estimated time of completion was two minutes. Ricci sighed and left the laptop on as he watched his boys unload the last of the boxes. It didn't take long for his attention to drift back to Ramon, who was currently picking lint off his shirt.

"I expect a discount on the next shipment."

Ramon paused for a moment, "Just as long as nothing changes last minute…fine."

Transaction complete. Ricci closed the lid on his laptop and turned expectantly to Ramon.

The taller man pulled his phone from his pocket and walked off to make a few calls. He returned a few minutes later with a smile planted firmly on his face, "Every thing's there. Nice doin' business with you, Lou."

"Yeah, yeah. Get outta here before I really do shoot you." Ricci watched as the other man chuckled quietly before heading to his now empty van.

As soon as Ramon was out of sight, Ricci turned walked back over to the boxes and flipped a couple of them open, "You guys sort these out?"

A few of them nodded as Ricci turned to look in their direction. The older drug dealer smiled in satisfaction, at least that was something good.

"Alright, I want these four boxes loaded up and taken to the city. Sammy, you'll take 'em." Ricci order as he pointed at a few of the boxes.

The boxes were loaded up in no time and Sammy was down the road before Ricci could blink. He mentally shook his head at the kid…he was a little too eager to please.

"The rest of these boxes need to be loaded up. They're going to our fine Mayor." Ricci watched as a few the boys stiffened in surprise and unease.

He didn't blame them really. He didn't even want to go near the mayor. Not because he was an upstanding political figure, but because he was on the Russian's payroll, not Maroni's.

Ricci wasn't even settled in his car when another cigarette appeared in his mouth. His lips quirked to the side slightly and he whispered, "Into the Palisades we go."

A/n: Special thanks to: Siriusly-a-princess, Monday the 14th, AnaNinaSnape, Skye007lex, , DrPepperPrincess19, and sandrews for the reviews. I always enjoy hearing from you guys, keep it up. I would also like to thank: EvilPurpleCookiePenkeyMonguin, , Moka-girl, and sandrews for adding this story to their favorites list. Thank you!

Don't forget to review everyone. : )