A/N: Greetings and hello. On with the show.

With the progression of the story, this chapter will not have Bruce or Liv in it. I can hear the groans from all of you, but trust me they'll come back next chapter.

Let's recap, Selena and Congressman Munoz are missing, Cassidy is working for Ganzel, and Elliot and the new officers Amaro and Rollins are trying to track Munoz down. Meanwhile, what's going on with our mercenaries Bane and Porter?

Disclaimer: I do not own either, please don't rub it in.

Please review and enjoy.

Chapter 4: Tunnels

West of Narrows Island, City Island curved upward to jut about a mile north. Here was the old industrial center of Gotham, built during the eighteen hundreds before the massive growth in the fifties drove more industry toward the expanding North Shore towns. However, close access to the seaport and the working class neighborhoods of West Gotham ensured the continued use of the area, especially with the installation of the new Ganzel Industries clean coal power plant that serviced the city along with the existing nuclear plant seventy miles away.

In addition, the main sewer treatment plant and outlets ran through here, and thus was why the local Department of Water & Power workers called a GPD sector car over. "So what have we got?" asked Amaro as he and Rollins arrived on scene on the concrete riverbank.

"Another body got washed up in the sewers," responded the DWP guy, sloshing through the frigid October water of the North River.

"Another body?" said Rollins, a bit put off by how nonchalant the guy sounded.

"Yeah, this happens every now and again, especially around wintertime. A bunch of homeless people sleep in the tunnels, light fires in garbage cans, that sort of thing. Some get drunk and then fall in and drown, leading them here. We actually pulled this one out of the grate; damn shame too, guy doesn't look a day older than sixteen."

Reaching the body, Nick and Amanda inspected the corpse for any clues. Nick stared when they flipped him over and saw his face. "Amanda, isn't that Mark?"

Her eyes went wide. "Yeah, that is Mark."

"You knew the guy?" asked the DWP worker.

"Yep," replied Amanda. "He ain't homeless. Lives in the St. Anne's Children's Home, the one run by Sister Peg."

"The nun who hands condoms to hookers?"

Nick chuckled. "The one and only."

The DWP worker shook his head. "As I said before, damn shame. And to think we had a three month reprieve."

Amanda's cop ears perked up at that. She and Nick both wanted to be detectives, and everyone said they'd make it eventually. "Say again?"

"I'm just saying that there hasn't been a body in three months."

She pursed and looked at her boyfriend and partner, an eyebrow raised. "I think we need to go pay the home a visit." Nick nodded.

An hour later, the two officers and former residents of St. Anne's Home for Orphaned and abused Children entered the premises. They were greeted almost immediately by a small, friendly black woman. "Nick, Amanda, it's so good to see you. I haven't heard much since you guys graduated from the Academy."

"Sorry Sister Peg," replied Nick, smiling sheepishly. "You know how it is, late nights on the job, too tired to spend much free time outside the apartment…"

"What with how often you two snuck off to the roof and came back with rumpled clothes and cheeky grins, I'll pass on the rest of the explanation," said the nun. Amanda blushed bright red while Nick grinned, earning a slap on the arm from his girlfriend. "Now, while I'd love to catch up, what's the official GPD business you guys came for?"

Nick's grin disappeared. "We found Mark Arliss' body at the sewage outflows up by the water treatment plant."

Sister Peg's mouth flew to her gaping mouth as she let out a gasp. "Mother of God," she said, crossing herself. "He hadn't been here in months but I just talked to him a week ago. He said he was alright."

"Wait, why wasn't he here?" asked Amanda, curious. Mark was still a minor thus St. Anne's should have kept him.

"Well, what happened to him is what's unfortunately happening to everyone, he aged out. While I love all the children here to death, the budget I have can't cover the costs of keeping them past the age of sixteen."

"I thought the Wayne Foundation covered those costs with their grants?" said Amanda. They certainly had when she and Nick lived here.

"They did, until about two years ago. A minute it was coming and a minute later the spigot was off and we had to make cutbacks."

"Did they give you a reason?" asked Nick.

"No. You want to speak to Mark's brother?"

"Calvin right?"

"Yep, he's on the roof with the other boys. Try not to get into the same sort of trouble like you used to up there," she said with a smirk, watching them blush.

Up on the roof, Calvin Arliss was busy drawing on the concrete bench with a piece of chalk as Nick and Amanda talked to him. "I'm not sure where Mark was living, but he had enough money on him to buy me Pizza every Sunday after church."

"I know this may be hard on you, but do you think he may have been, uh, turning tricks?" Nick knew this was a difficult question to ask, but a lot of homeless boys and girls did that to make ends meet.

Calvin looked up a bit angry," No way! Mark isn't that way. He told me he's been getting construction jobs here and there. You know, day labor."

"Sorry about that, but we have to ask."

Sighing, Calvin went back to drawing. "I know. He probably went down into the sewers looking for work."

"Now why would he do that?" inquired Amanda, making sure to add the Georgia drawl. Nick suppressed a chuckle, for that always calmed witnesses down and made them want to talk more; it also turned him on to no end, but that was beside the point.

"He told me last Sunday. He heard a lot of construction going on down there, thought they might need a hand."

Amanda looked at Nick, both of them making mental notes to check this lead out. She looked down and saw Calvin was drawing the twin-bat symbol. "You know about them?"

"Of course," he replied, finishing off the third one. "You think they're coming back?"

Shrugging, Amanda looked at Nick. "I don't know."

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After a long, boring day of consoling a distraught Mrs. Munoz, Commissioner Elliot Stabler and Chief of Detectives Olivia Benson were driving away from One PP in her jet black Cadillac XTS. It couldn't compare to her previous vehicle which was destroyed in the battle with the Joker, but it appealed to her.

"So Liv, how are things at Wayne Manor?" asked Elliot with a grin on his face. He had asked her to drop him off at the 1-6 on her way home, the sly bastard obviously trying to check up on her (not that she minded at all since he was her best friend.

"Things are good El, very good," she said with a smile. While technically true, she was omitting the part about the burglar because Elliot would almost certainly start investigating and digging into places she didn't want the CSU techs to go. "How about you Commissioner? Are the kids doing fine?"

The proud look of a father crossed Elliot's face. "Yep. Kathleen's getting straight A's at law school, Maureen's finishing her residency, Lizzie has been accepted to medical school herself, and your godson's wreaking havoc in second grade."

"Just like his daddy," she teased. "Seriously Elliot, that's great. What with Dickie climbing up the ranks like you, you raised a brood of great kids."

"Yeah, although I'm not doing much to raise Eli these days." Since they were at a red light, Olivia glanced over to see the sadness in his eyes. She set a comforting hand on his knee. He looked up and smiled at her. "Thanks Liv; don't get me wrong, Al is a good guy and Kathy is a terrific mother…"

"I know El, it's not the same. He's your son and you wish he was with you. I get it. What I don't get is why you don't go out there like Kathy did."

"Ugh," groaned Elliot, "Don't start with me on that."

"Come on El, you should put yourself out there. Find a nice girl and be happy, maybe get a couple of more kids."

"Like anyone would go for a divorced, workaholic, father of five like me."

"You're a great catch El. If I weren't happily married I'd date you in a heartbeat."

He chuckled. "For some reason that makes me feel better. Thanks Liv."

"Happy to help."

Looking at her, he asked the natural question on the subject line. "I'm curious Liv, why haven't you and Bruce had kids yet? He's loaded so there's no financial problem, so what's the delay?"

She was silent for a bit, not knowing what to say to him. She wanted kids definitely, but their unique situation kind of kept it just a pipe dream. "Oh look, we're at the precinct," Olivia chirped relieved.

"Lucky," Elliot muttered. "We are having this discussion later. Goodnight Liv."

"Goodnight El," she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "And remember what I said."

"Alright, alright," he waved her off, causing her to drive away laughing.

Striding into the 1-6, Elliot immediately felt the memories he had of this place flash before his eyes. Since being assigned to the Special Victims Unit, the direct predecessor to MCU, he was subjected to both the good times and bad. This was where he and Olivia had done their best to stand up to the mob, and succeeded in the end only through Elliot's lies. It would haunt him till the end, but at least the ends did turn out alright. "Well, well, if it isn't the big guy himself."

"Hey fin," said Elliot, shaking hands with his old friend. "So where's the Lieutenant?"

"Gordie's in your old office," said Fin with a smirk.

"Let me guess, he hates it when you call him Gordie."

"You won't believe how much he does," grinned Fin.

Leaving his friend with a laugh, he knocked on the door to Lt. Jim Gordon's office. "Come in."

"Hello Jim."

"Elliot, how are you?" said the mustachioed commander of MCU. "There wasn't any break in the Munoz case, so what's up?"

"Nothing. Dickie's working and I didn't much want to go home to an empty apartment, so here I am."

Gordon shook his head. "Elliot, you should put yourself out there."

"Olivia said the same thing."

"Well she's a smart woman."

At that point, Fin barged into the room. "We got a hit on Munoz's cell phone. TARU has a track on it."

"Good, get saddled up and let's get him home."

"Roger that Gordie," he said with a laugh.

Elliot smirked at his successor in MCU, who simply glowered. "How did you keep all these idiots in line all those years?"

"Believe me, it wasn't easy, now let's go get the Congressman."

"You're joining I presume?" said Gordon with a raised eyebrow.

"Like I said before, what else have I got to do?"

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The dingy biker bar in North Central Gotham just west of the Narrows was nearly empty, yet in her tight black cocktail dress Selena Kyle felt completely out of place. 'The things I do for my commission,' she thought. Dropping the disheveled, buzzed, and extremely happy Congressman Munoz at the bar, she picked up her Chanel handbag and headed to the table where her contact waited.

"You brought a date?" asked Brian Cassidy, who though in a suit had the disheveled appearance that went with the décor unlike Selina.

Smiling with her red-lipstick covered lips, Selina responded. "I like having someone to open doors for me, even in seedy places like this." She sat down, brushing her hair back behind her shoulders. "Right hands, no smudges or partials on either one," she told Cassidy, handing over the package.

Cassidy lifted the fingerprints of Bruce and Olivia Wayne in the air and smiled, always happy to pull one over on the woman who got away. "Very nice," he smirked, causing Selina to roll her eyes. He irked her in more ways than one, but his boss had what she wanted.

"So handsome?" she batted her eyelashes before getting to the point. "You got something for me?"

"Ah yes," Cassidy grinned, motioning to his goons. One by the door locked it while the others approached Selina.

Appreciating the double-cross but not coming unprepared, Selina looked Cassidy in the eye. "Look, I have no idea why you want Mr. And Mrs. Wayne's prints, but I can assure you can't do anything without their thumbs." She gave him an innocent smile as his face went red with contained anger. "Can't count so good huh?"

"I count fine bitch," he seethed nodding to one of his goods who cocked a revolver next to Selina's head. "In fact, I'm going to count to five. If I don't get the rest, then the bartender will have to clean your brains off the floor with a mop."

Gulping, Selina reached for her purse, which Cassidy grabbed roughly, not trusting her. "My friend's outside, just send her a text and she'll come in." Cassidy took out the cell phone and hit the send button.

A minute later, there was a knock at the door. The goon by the entrance let in Selina's friend who walked to her. "This place is a little stale for my taste," she said, handing Selina the package.

"It'll liven up in a minute, trust me." Taking the package, Selina handed it to Cassidy who inspected it. All the years a detective allowed him to inspect a print, and this one was flawless.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, catch you later," she said in a forced voice, causing her friend to shrug and leave. "You know," Selina told Cassidy, "It would have been easier to just give me what we agreed."

"Yes it would have," he grinned smugly. "But we can't have loose ends." He pulled out a Taurus semiautomatic and pointed it at her. "Even in that fine-ass dress, no one's going to miss a street whore like you."

"No," she tilted her head. "But they will miss him."

Cassidy looked and recognized the face of Congressman Munoz. "Cute, but there's no way they'll look in a place like this."

"I don't know, you did just use his cell phone." Cassidy looked at it, his face contorted in rage just as the police and SWAT vehicles pulled up outside. The goon behind him pulled out his gun and was about to fire when Selina rose quickly and smashed him in the face, twisting his hand causing him to drop the gun.

Rising with the Taurus in hand, Cassidy was about to fire himself when the thief turned and grabbed him by the arm, forcing him down on the table and unloading the gun as the SWAT team began hammering at the locked door. Snarling, he forced himself up and threw a right hook, but she dodged it easily and leapt over the table as his goons unholstered their weapons. Se reloaded the pistol and fired at two of the goons, dropping back as the police entered.

The SWAT teams charged through, firing at the criminals. Selina screamed, acting like a terrified bystander until the SWAT troopers moved to the alleyway where a massive gun battle began. Seeing the Congressman on the floor clutching an injured leg, she bent down. "Keep some pressure on that sweetheart."

The Congressman looked up as she walked away. "Call me."

Stepping outside, Selina casually walked away when a lookout she had somehow missed came charging at her with a knife. She was about to knock him out when someone punched him in the gut, toppling him with an uppercut to the jaw. Playing along, she acted the part of a scared girl. "Are you alright ma'am?" she heard. Selina looked up into the most stunning blue eyes she had ever seen. Forcing herself to look to the side after too long, she noticed a second goon drawing a weapon.

Leaping in the air, she kicked him in the head, knocking him down. "I think I'll be fine," she responded nonchalantly, walking away. Once she was out of sight, she stopped for a moment to collect herself. 'God, the commissioner is much more attractive in person.' Shaking her head, Selina pushed it from her mind, wondering why he affected her the way he did.

Back at the crime scene, Elliot gulped, unable to move. 'Wow! What a woman.' He was about to follow her and get a statement, even though a police commissioner was supposed to be immune from such menial tasks, when Officer Rollins arrived.

"Sir, we need you in the alley. There's a situation!"

Taking one last look at the direction the mystery woman went, he nodded and followed.

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The firefight proceeded down the alleyway, Cassidy's goons supplanted by trained mercenaries engaging the SWAT. Cassidy, who had regained consciousness and joined his men, motioned for his goons to follow him to the Escalade parked out back. "Sniper one, provide supporting fire!" he yelled in the radio.

All at once, a rooftop sniper swiveled a Barrett .50 Cal and took down three SWAT troopers, the massive round tearing through their armor. Cassidy and the rest of the men working for Ganzel Industries fled the scene while the mercenaries dropped into the sewers.

Arriving on scene with reinforcements, Elliot glanced into the secondary alleyway the mercs had fled into, seeing no escape but a manhole cover. "Get that manhole open now!" he yelled. "We need the DWP here on the double. You three, with me, we're going in!" While his job was mostly administrative, as the boss he could and did get into the action every once and a while.

Climbing down into the dark, damp tunnels, Elliot took out his flashlight and searched the passageways one by one, slowly inching their way forward. All of a sudden, an explosion tore through the tunnels forcing Elliot to take cover as his men were killed. It was because of this that he didn't hear the two mercs sneak up behind him and pistol-whip his head.

Up above, Nick and Amanda had arrived on scene to see Tucker and the field commanders looking into the smoking manhole. "What happened?"

"There was a gas explosion kid," said Tucker to Nick.

"That's not a gas main, it's a sewer; we need to go down there."

"Look we don't know what's down there!" Tucker yelled back.

"The commissioner is down there sir," Amanda replied angrily.

"Someone get these cowboys out of here," said Tucker. "And where's that DWP guy?"

Nick and Amanda walked back to their squadcar, angry and in deep thought. If the goons had the commissioner, how would they get rid of him? Suddenly it clicked in Nick's head. "You thinking what I'm thinking baby?"

"Yep," she replied.

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Elliot woke groggily from his stupor, the ache in his head, the blurry vision, and the confusion all telling him he had a concussion. Even through all this, he gathered that two men were dragging him deeper and deeper into the cavernous Gotham sewer system. There had to be a way to escape, there had to.

The mercs dragged him through the central compound where dozens of mercs were hard at work, constructing and excavating upward through a central cavern. Proceeding down a stairwell, they entered the control center and deposited the limp but still aware Elliot at their second-in-command's feet (Elliot was too groggy to recognize the voice). "What is this?" Porter asked angrily.

"This is Commissioner Elliot Stabler sir," answered one of the mercs. "He was snooping around in the tunnels and we brought him here for you."

"Are you two complete idiots?" roared the former FBI Special Agent. Do you know how much trouble you could bring down upon us because of this?"

Hunched over in a pensive posture, completely shirtless revealing his bulging muscles, Bane took that moment to speak. "Why are you here?"

The merc, grinning smugly that the big boss was siding with him instead of Porter, the legendary apprentice, kicked Elliot in the ribs. "Answer him!"

"I was talking to you," said Bane, rising. "Why did you bring him down here?"

"He's the police commissioner, we…"

"You panicked, and because of that you cost us the life of three others," Bane retorted, staring at the second merc.

"But, he's alone…" the first merc stuttered before Bane's hand wrapped around his throat, breaking his neck with one squeeze.

"Kill him," he told the other merc, "And then I will kill you." The merc gulped and began searching the body, pulling out the old Harvey Dent Day speech out of his jacket and handing it to Bane. Bane read it and called over to Porter. "Dean, come here and look at this."

Porter trotted over, taking the speech and glossing over it. An evil grin spread over his face. "This is a game changer master."

"It is, maybe their mistake will help us after all."

Aware enough of the situation, Elliot used all his remaining strength to roll himself into the running sewer main. The alert guards fired at him, but none reported seeing any hits. The merc, sweating profusely, looked back at Bane. "He's dead."

"Then show me his body."

"The current runs to any number of outflows."

Bane looked at Porter and motioned over to the man. Porter nodded knowingly and took out a cell phone, turning it on. "Follow him," he stated, tucking the cell phone in the merc's pocket.

"Follow him?" Porter then shot him in the heart, the man falling in the current.

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At the main outflow where they had discovered the boy's body, Nick and Amanda ran through the shallow water to the grate. There was the limp body of Commissioner Stabler, caught in the metal bars. "Commissioner!" yelled Nick, pulling him out and slapping his face. Elliot began to cough, barely conscious but alive.

A/N: Well there you go!

Up next, Nick and Amanda have a talk with our heroes, who decide to make a visit to the hospital.

Please review!