WOOOh, here tha chapter guys, hope you guys like it.

…./…..

Winter outside the comforts of a shelter, is a harsh and ruthless environment. Bruce well realized it, before he thought about venturing in these cold desolate woods. But after seeing what happened just a few minutes ago, he did not care. He had to track whoever this monster was down.

Before he left he had heard the authorities making their way in. He had left a lot of his accommodations still at the hotel. Other than his wallet or phone, he had left the rest there. He had no choice, him being in the murder scene, would have suggested he was the murderer. He couldn't go back for his things, he had to accept that the authorities got it. He will need to pay the station a visit, just in case they get any DNA from his room. If they were to find out the Bruce Wayne was above them, the events to follow would be worse than anyone can think off. Right now however he doesn't have time for that. He needs to follow the trail but it's disappearing. The storm is picking up, the rain had turned to snow

Bruce stopped, and thought, "The footprints are disappearing, I won't be able to follow him soon."

Having no choice but to stop, he quickly went to the last fading foot print, looking closely to examine and get any clues. "These are hunting boots, the impression is pretty deep. A man of heavy build. And fast he was running though this snow. The Strides are 3 feet wide. He is over 6 feet tall. Weight, I would say somewhere around 240 pounds." With his last with his last thought, the footprint completely got filled up with the snow.

Bruce slowly got up, and looked at the white forest in front of him. There was no visibility in this pitch black night, the white snow tried to give a bit of an image but it was a losing battle. The temperature had went further down. Bruce kept looking at the direction where the footprints were heading, every inch of his body wanted to keep going, hoping he could find this man. But it was too late, and running through this storm could get him killed. Angrily he turned back.

While heading back, he thought the next best thing he could do, "I need to get my things from the hotel. Hopefully the logbooks were not found so easily. It's only been 30 minutes, they are still probably searching and trying to find the killer, and probably bringing down the ….bodies."

Bruce couldn't help but stop, when his thought went towards the girl, "I never even asked her name." Bruce quickly shook his head, to push away the unwanted thoughts. Now was not the time to mourn, but to work on the next step. Bruce quickly started thinking back, to how police work at a crime scene, "They are probably creating parameter. They wouldn't have started investigating yet. In this storm, they might believe that the killer is still around. I might just have enough time to get my things, wipe my room of any fingerprints. And if possible…try to clear my name of the logs…I paid with cash, so there is not paper trail to follow me with. "

Bruce calmed down, as he looked onwards in determination, and with a flash of second started running back as fast as he could in the snow. While running, he couldn't help but have the thought go across his mind, "This is going to be risky."

Bruce kept running back till he saw the outline of the motel, and as he kept getting close he slowly crouched. It would be much harder for them to see him with through is storm. He could see multiple lights scattering across the areas, it was much visible in the dark. They were looking.

Bruce just shook his head, "Fools…even if the killer was here, you can't find anyone if you are shining that light around. Anyone in the darkness will know where you are, and can easily avoid or kill you." As he kept going forward, he could hear faint shouting and talking. "The wind makes it almost impossible to hear anything. Perfect, I don't have to be really slow trekking through this snow, they won't be able to hear me if I speed up a bit." Quietly jogging, Bruce got really close to the right corner of the motel. The only cop that area already was walking towards the wood. Dodging all of the lights, Bruce quickly reached the wall. Peering out to front of the motel, he saw the current situation, "hmm 8 police cars, more must be incoming. The lights in the front are on, and the street lights as well. I won't be able to reach the stairs to the second floor going through the front."

He suddenly heard aloud cracking noise. Focusing towards it, he saw that the police were breaking into the rooms from the far left corner.

Bruce quickly realized, "I don't have much time, and I can't get to the stairs. I need to get to the roof." Turning back towards the cop near him, he still was focusing towards the forest. Seeing the opportunity, Bruce slowly started to creep up behind him. He logically thought, "I can just knock him out, and take is clothes. It will be so easy to get inside then, and no suspicions will be raised….But I will leave him here in this cold….damn it." Bruce looked back up at the roof, "Guess I'm doing this the hard way."

Heading back towards the wall, Bruce quickly started running. With his speed and strength, he was able to run up the wall for three steps, just enough for him to reach the small ledge. There were no windows in this side of the wall, he had no choice but to climb up all the ways to the roof. Quickly climbing up, and having his feet on the ledge. He found his balance to make the next jump, when he heard talking under him.

Slowly looking down he saw the cop was back, and there was another cop next to him. They just stood there chatting, while Bruce was four feet over their heads. One of the cop started saying, "So see anything"

The other one replied, "Nah, I looked around the woods, see if there were any footprints, almost impossible to see anything in this fucking weather. Hell if the killer danced over here, I wouldn't be able to tell ya."

The other cop nodded, "Yea I got it, the motherfucker thought this shit through again. Every time he's killed, there is always something that stops us from finding any clues. He's always a step ahead."

The cop nodded, "I know Jeff….how bad was it though."

Jeff looked at him, "You didn't see?"

The other cop shook his head, "Nah I don't like blood, came right here for any clues."

Jeff chuckled a bit, "You fucking pussy…it was bad. The poor girl it was just bad."

"Damn." was all the cop could say.

They continued talking, while angrily Bruce stayed silent above them trying to figure out his next move. "Damn it, I should have knocked him out when I had the chance. Now he's has someone else here. Could I take them both out without alerting anyone here….no it's too risky." He suddenly heard the familiar cracking sound again, the cops broke into the next room and it sounded like it was coming from the second floor. "Damn they are getting close to my room. I won't be able to get inside, without them seeing me. Could I make it to the window in time? Still wouldn't be enough time to wipe out my prints…is it too late, can I really not do anything?"

Bruce stood there wondering, when he brought himself back to the situation, "No c'mon, there has to be a way. Could I climb up without them hearing…I could but there is the snow to worry about? If I keep climbing, some snow is bound to fall down and they will notice. Damn it, what can I do." Bruce kept looking around in frustration for anything he could use. In the pitch darkness he looked towards the forest, and saw something. Two small orbs of light…"is that a wolf." He quickly saw more orbs of lights..."it's a pack. Is it because of the blood, they must have smelt it. Can I use this to my advantage? Wolfs are generally vary of people, they won't go further…but the cops will. I just need to inform them that wolves are nearby, and they will go closer to drive them off. It will give me ample time to reach the room". Bruce slowly grabbed a bit of snow from the ledge, crumpled it into a ball. And swiftly threw near the tree, where he spotted the wolves. The turned cops quickly turned towards the noise, one of them exclaiming, "What the hell was that?" They slowly started walking towards the noise

Bruce stayed where he was, he needed to be patient. His moment to move was going to come soon. As the cops went closer, they saw the same orbs that Bruce did. In panic they took out their guns and shot towards them. The noise echoed loudly, as they shouted, "WOLVES, WE GOT WOLVES." Bruce started to hear everyone running towards their direction."

As soon as he saw the first group coming in, Bruce quickly turned and started climbing. He wasn't worried about making noise or snow anymore, as the cops were too distracted to be able to even notice him. Quickly climbing to the roof, he made a quick glance towards the front of the motel, checking if anyone was still left, there were 2 cops in their car, but he wasn't worried, they looked distracted like the other cops as well, and were talking on the radio. There was another car, civilian perhaps, but it was too dark to see anyone in there, but that made it safe to believe that they couldn't see him either. "Unless I go up to them, and scream in their face I should be fine getting into my room." Bruce started to head towards his room, and as soon as he reached it. Bruce quickly grabbed the ledge, and flipped himself down to his room's balcony. Turning towards the balcony door, he quickly took out his wallet, taking out a credit card. He slowly inserted it the edge of the door. He thought, "These aren't highly secure locks, just the right amount of pressure and timing should be enough to open it." As soon as he finished his thought the door made a clicking noise and opened. Bruce quietly went inside and closed the door. He quickly went to work packing his things in two big bags.

While packing, he started to think, "The wolves aren't rabid, and they will most likely run away in a bit when the cops show force. Most likely shoot their guns some more and that is my signal that I won't have much time left. I think I only have five minutes tops." After packing his things, he quickly started wiping the room for any prints, being careful to make it look like he never was even there. While wiping the room, he found the cookies the girl had given him and without thinking he wrapped the whole plate with plastic and put it in his bag. And just like he had predicted he heard the gun shot. Seeing it as his cue to leave. He quickly opened the back window, and threw his bags out. Closing it, he quietly left the room. And quickly jumped of the balcony down to office room, where the grizzly crime happened. He started hearing the cops coming back.

Good thing the door was open, he did a quick clean of the door, just in case he left any prints when he had opened it, and the front desk as well. With his gloves he took out the logbook, and cleared his name, and very carefully added a different on the area called James Galloway. This way the erased marks of Jason Todd, would not be noticeable. He then quickly opened the cashier and took out the cash he had given before with his prints. Doing a quick clean of the cashier, he quickly ran to the back room where he had earlier escaped form the window. Ignoring the crime scene, "I will have time for that later" he jumped of the window. Grabbing his bags, he swiftly ran off.

He heard a few noises of the cops coming in, but the noises weren't in a hurry, so he was sure they didn't notice anything. While running away, he made a quick checklist, making sure he hadn't left anything. After checking everything out, he thought of his next step, "I need to get out of this storm."

/At the motel/

"The ripper is here, he is in Colorado. And you guys were looking for wolves. We gotta warn the folks you damn idiot" Anderson shouted to the officer next to him.

The officer quickly replied, "Sorry sir, but how can we warn anyone if we don't even have any clue what he looks like, we can't put in a physical description."

Anderson shouted again, "Then we tell them to not meet anyone they don't know, and stay in their houses."

Another officer ran towards him, "The forensic guys are here. "

The commissioner nodded, and said, "Tell them to take pictures of everything, to search every inch of this place. We're gonna find that son of a bitch this time." As he walked out, he started shouting again, "look in every room, and see if there is anything clue left at all. We aren't going home till we are SURE that everything has been check. Are we clear?" No one said anything, "I said ARE WE CLEAR."

Everyone quickly replied in unison, "YES SIR."

Anderson nodded, and saw the forensics team go in, while he watched outside. He was about to pull out a cigarette, when he heard a noise behind him.

"Anderson".

Anderson growled, as he turned, "For the love of Christ, James how many times have I told you…you are not part of the police force anymore. Stay out of our business."

James replied back sternly, "That doesn't mean I can't help."

Anderson threw his cigarette down, as he shouted at James, "YOU are not a detective, you're just a fired cop who got too way over his head. And you got in too deep with the ripper too. You always got in too deep."

James stepped towards him, exclaiming, "Because I had him Anderson, he was so close but if you guys…"

Anderson quickly cut him off, "You think you had him James, and we had to stop you from going on this wild goose chase. It was eating you alive."

James stayed quiet, as he kept on staring towards Anderson.

Anderson calmed down a bit, and said"…James you were one of the most honest cops I ever knew. But sometimes you let these criminals completely consume you. Most of the times you made it, but you almost got yourself killed too. I know you want to help, but it's too late. Your still young James, you can still do many things, let this go, you aren't a cop anymore. Move on."

James stayed quiet for a bit, till he sighed saying, "Maybe your right. Maybe I did let this job get to me too much. Alright Anderson…you win, I'm done. I will figure something out to do with my life. Maybe leave the state to try something else."

Anderson nodded with a grin, "That's a good Idea James" as he pulled him for a hug. While hugging him tightly, "You did good kid, you saved a lot of lives, now go live yours." After letting him go, Anderson turned back and went into the motel. James turned around as well and started walking away.

James pulled out some head phones from his pocket, and as he put them on he connected them to a receiver. He started hearing everything Anderson was saying. James had put a bug on Anderson, and with a small smile he said, "Sorry, Anderson but this is my life."

/the forest/

Trekking through the forest Bruce couldn't find any direction where there was any hint of civilization. As the storm kept getting worse and worse. Bruce started to feel the effect, his injuries were starting to freeze, making his body temperature go down significantly. If he didn't find place to get warm, he would suffer sever hypothermia and then most likely death. He took out his compass, as he decided which direction to go to. He just came from the south, so he thought going north east would be the best option. As he continued to keep walking he saw multiple silhouettes of mountains. Coming to the base of one, he spotted a small cave. Needing shelter from this weather he slowly walked towards it. After reaching the entrance, he took a giant stone, and threw it inside. He didn't want to get caught out by hibernating bears or some other animals. He waited for a few seconds, but heard no response. "Good guess this one is empty." He went inside and took out his flashlight, after a bit of search he found nice flat spot. He put his bag there. He needed to start a fire, before hyperthermia got too worse. He was feeling the itchy sensation and the numbness getting more and more intense. Bruce looked out, to see if there was any dry wood to be found. Almost everything as covered in snow. "Dammit, there is nothing I can light up, but I have to get warm." He walked around the cave, trying to see if he could find anything at all to give him warmth as the coldness got worse.

Luckily he saw a piece of wood lying on the floor. It was dry, he could use the fire from this to dry the wet branches and timber outside. Using cardboard he had in his bag as a base with some paper, Bruce broke the dry wood to smaller pieces, and set it up with the paper as a small teepee. He then quickly went outside and collected bunch of branches which were somewhat dry and brought them in as fuel. During his second trek for tinder, he found a huge log just on the ground. It must have weighed around 400 pounds. Bruce realized even though the surface was wet, the inside after cutting through the edges could be dry, and this log will provide a lot of heat for longer and faster. Bruce thought about the pros and cons of lifting this as fast as he could, could he lift this log? Can he even bring it back to the cave? But he in the end, he felt it was a risk he needed to take as his hypothermia had gotten worse, and his vision was starting to blur. He couldn't think as clearly, so he just went for and grabbed the log from the side, he took giant breath of air, and pulled it up with all his might. After a few tries, he finally got it up. He then quickly put his shoulder under it. After finding his balance, he slowly started walking to the cave. It was just quarter of a kilometer away. But in this weather, the hypothermia, and the intense weight of the log. It was the hardest journey Bruce ever had.

He kept walking towards the cave very slowly, he could barely think, "My body is failing, I have to get warm or I will die. C'mon just a bit more, my breaths are becoming shallow, my fingers are numb, but my arms is in a lot of pain. I'm feeling tired…no that's not good. I shouldn't be feeling tired, that means my body is beginning to fail. Shit, No I won't die…not yet...not yet." Bruce started to walk faster with his will power, but it turned out to be his downfall, as he lost his balance, fell on the ground with the giant log landing on his chest. Hearing a crack,Bruce yelled in pain, as he layed there. Bruce tried to think clearly, "…Ha…Hard to Breathe…ribs broken…need to get it off." He tried to push it the log off, but it wouldn't even budge.

Bruce kept pushing, but to no avail. Doubt started clouding his mind, "It's too heavy…I can't…I can't…everything is getting dark." Bruce's eyes slowly started closing…his breaths becoming slower and shallower, he even stopped pushing, as the coldness of death finally started to creep up on him

Bruce last thoughts, before the darkness started covering his eyes, "I feel it…I'm going to die…I'm sorry Alfred…I'm sorry mom and dad. I am sorry for not even being able to save that girl and her mother.. couldn't do it…I am a failure…I couldn't…"

Bruce's thoughts started to lay to rest, but not before in the pitch darkness he heard a piercing gunshot…the dropping of pearls…the scream.

Bruce finally went limp, his body looked almost peaceful, with no movement in his chest to signal if he was breathing. It looked as if Bruce was dead, when suddenly he screamed angrily, his eyes opened up black and blood shot red…as he screamed, "NOT YET…NOT until I KILL HIM…" Bruce used his hands to get a good grip under the log, and started to push it up with all his might. The log wouldn't move, but Bruce wouldn't give up, as kept pushing while he screamed in rage. The log finally gave in as it started to move upwards, Bruce kept on pushing till he found enough space, to quickly roll out. As the log fell down hard on the floor, Bruce did not waste any time to take a breath, and quickly lifted the log, and started walking back to the cave.

He said nothing…but in his eyes, he showed his rage, his determination…nothing was going to stop him…nothing. After getting inside, he quickly went to work on creating the fire, the numbness of his fingers didn't slow him down at all, as he was able to light up the paper and timber. The fire rose slowly, as Bruce carefully put some timber here and there, to add enough fuel but not too much to overwhelm the fire, and burn it out. He then quickly went to work on cutting the log, and sure enough, most of the wood inside was dry, with quick precision and strength he cut most of the edges, and layed dry wood next to the fire. He then quickly took off all of his wet clothes, putting them next to the fire. While cloth less, he saw the giant bruise on his chest. It was most likely from the log falling on his chest. He might have cracked a few ribs. He didn't feel the pain because of the numbness and the hypothermia. But he didn't care, he didn't care about anything, he just wasn't going to die. His rage wouldn't let him. He took out extra clothes from his bag, which were dry and warm. Putting them on, he took out some food he had in the bag. Rummaging through, he found the cookies that the girl had made. Pausing, Bruce finally calmed down as he slowly took the plate out, and pulled out plastic wrapper. Taking a bite of the cookie …all he could say was, "Delicious."

…/motel/…

"Did you find anything Andrew?" Asked Anderson to the lead Forensic expert.

Andre took out his gloves and said, "Sorry Anderson, but as usual, no finger prints anywhere. The crime was clean."

Anderson shakes his head, "How the hell does he do it, with so much blood, keep everything so clean."

Another forensics member shouts, "Anderson I got something."

Anderson quickly runs towards him, as the forensics member shows him a book. He says, ""It's the logbook, for the guests who checking in. their business was slow, but last night someone had come in. "

Anderson quickly asks, "Who?"

"Someone called James Galloway.

Anderson laughs hard, "Finally we have something, get an apb on this James Galloway. Find out everything about him, where he sleep, where he shits…I wanna know everything."

Anderson starts walking out the office, as he shouts, "And he must have stayed in one of the rooms, none of you found any finger print.

The Forensics member said, "No sir, I think he wiped his prints before he left."

Anderson nods, and says, "But he was forgot the logbook, its something. He finally made a mistake, and we are gonna capitalize on it and get that fucker."

Hearing all of this, outside the motel in his car. James was writing the information down. "I love Anderson like an older brother, but he is an idiot. Why the hell would the killer, who is a genius at wiping evidence of himself, would leave something so obvious like his name on the logbook? "

James said to himself, "It's a ruse, just a fake name. But you can figure out a lot from the fake name. He must have thought of it somewhere. Maybe I can find out where he got the inspiration from. Also I need to get inside and look at the bodies. But I won't be able to with Anderson lurking around. I have to wait to look at the evidence from the crime photos later. Probably gonna have to bribe Bobby again. Hmm but something is different. The situation has never been like this, there has never been any name on the check book. All the motels he's attacked, he would always scope the area, and then when he found the perfect time, would go in for the kill. But this time he left the name. And the wolves…well the wolves being here isn't the problem, but they are usually well hidden in the forest. How did the officers notice them, and then they all left to drive them off. I was too busy trying to get information on the victims at that time on my laptop. Did I not notice something either…when most of them went that way….most of them went that WAY…holy shit that must have been on purpose. The killer was still here…he still was here for some reason. And he used them as a distraction. He was here, and we missed him…FUCK." James looked at the motel, "Anderson, you don't even realize how close we actually are to him. It's only been two hours, how far can he actually go in this storm. Could I find him…could I get him, if I leave right now…no the weather is too harsh…But not with the jeep for this trekking this terrain, in my garage." James quickly reversed and drove onto the road. "I am coming for you ripper, you will pay for what you did", thought James angrily as he clenched his steering wheel. Anderson saw the car driving away, and said to himself, "Good bye James Gordon. It was a pleasure."

…/cave/…

After eating the cookies, Bruce also ate some nutrition bars. The fire had gotten big enough that he could actually feel the heat. He quickly took out the thermal blanket he had, and wrapped himself around. Bruce quietly though, "I will survive the night, my body is getting warmer from the heat, and the food. I will survive. My ribs will hurt like hell soon, I will need eat some painkillers soon, and get out of this forest. My injuries I had from fighting the white haired kid are back. Right now, I'm maybe at 40% of my physical capabilities. Maybe after some rest I can get to 60%. But I am not going to be at 100 unless I rest for about a week or two. And that is not an option. Whoever this killer is, he is strong, big, fast and smart…and he will kill again. I don't know if I will be able to beat him in a physical fight though. I will have to be smarter than him, thats the only way. I will need to fight this differently than I would have if I was healthy. It's going to be much more dangerous."

Bruce started to speak to himself, "But there is nothing I can do right now though, except rest and think. I remember almost every detail of that place. But I will need to look at the evidence in the police station. That is the only way I can actually see what exactly happened. But from what I remember, the vase had broken and then I found the bodies. But it doesn't make sense…it only took me 20 seconds max to get to their room. He couldn't have killed them and displayed their bodies in such a way in that short of a time. He couldn't have…but I didn't hear anything when he did those things. He was so careful. So methodical…to the point where even I couldn't hear them…I could have. If it wasn't for those dreams…my focus my reflexes are all weak because of that night….and because of my weakness…two…two innocent people died..DAMMIT."

Bruce shouted in anger...but after a few seconds calmed down. "Anger will not get me anywhere, go back to investigation…the killer did his work but somehow broke the vase at the end. There was no reason for him to break it, those two were dead…long before that vase broke…so why." Bruce concentrated, check if he missed anything, and suddenly his eyes went wide as he exclaimed, "Unless….he knew I was there, he wanted me to find their bodies. But why would he do that…to challenge me, no he doesn't know me, to kill me? No, he left as soon as that vase was dropped. Then why"….Bruce eyes widened again in realization. "To pin it on me. He used me as a scape goat. That's it…he knew I was there, He saw me from far away, he was spying on me and saw how shaken up I was because of the dreams. So when he killed the women, he broke the vase so I would come. He thought I would break down, and touch their bodies…leave my fingerprints on the crime scene. The cops got there too fast too…he called them probably from the hotel phone. His plan was perfect, I would leave my prints, and the cops would bust in and find me there. And I would be framed as the killer. Whoever this guy is…he is a genius."

Bruce stayed quiet for a bit, and then said coldly, "But he didn't realize…who I am…how could he, from what I showed, how could he possibly know that I am capable of. He probably believes he is home free, and that I am caught. And in this storm he won't find out otherwise unless the police release the information. That means I have an advantage, he doesn't know that I'm still around. I need to get some of my strength back. And then figure out what the next step should be."

As he started to relax, he suddenly notices multiple bright eyes all around him, in the darkness where the light from the fire couldn't reach. He thought for a second, "Hallucinations again…that's not good." But then he hears the screeching, he tenses up bit, when he realizes what these eyes were. "Bats….I can never get rid of you creatures can I?"

As Bruce calmed down, he suddenly heard something, he looked outside the cave, and saw body lying in the snow, he was about to get up to help, but then he saw, "the white hair, the bloody bruised body…it was that kid. I am still hallucinating." Bruce head started hurting, as he saw the kid get up all bruised and bloody…with pure white eyes as he started to slowly walk towards him. Bruce in pain couldn't do anything but watch, he felt his heart rate going up, as he thought, "Hallucinations do cause fear, but I can't get affected so easily." But as much as he tried he couldn't stop it, as the body kept coming close, almost at the edge of the cave. Bruce just stared on, and realized the hallucinations were not going to go away. Calming down he just kept on looking, to see where it would lead him. However before the kid could come further, all of the bats screeched, and flew out. They all flew through the kid, making him disappear. Bruce kept looking on, and couldn't help but grin, and said, "Don't know if the bats were real or a hallucination, but there always there." Bruce then got serious, and slowly got up, "And no matter, how bad these hallucinations get, no matter how much my body hurts, and no matter how dangerous that killer is, I am going to get him and make him pay."

Above in the same mountain, a large man's silhouette was trekking through the night. It was impossible to see him, except as a small shadow on the vast mountain, and he was heading north east.

….

Hope you guys like it…the next chapter will be for Dark knight evolution, within 2 weeks.

Thank you for your review, and if you all have any questions feel free to ask. I will answer them if can ;)

Have a good day guys, love you all.