Good evening, loves! Here's the latest chapter of HOFAH! There's only a few more chapters left before we wrapped up the second chapter in Cassidy's story! We get some shades of another character in Batman lore below, so hope you catch them and like the twist ;) I have just outlined the final fanfic of the Cassidy Williams trilogy and you guys do not know how EXCITED I am to start writing and wrap everything up! ;) Until then enjoy the latest edition! Be sure to favorite and follow to be the first to read new chapters, and I hope to hear from you in a review! We are in the home stretch, so stay tune as we wind down the the sequel! :) Happy Reading! - trs0010

Chapter XV: The Best Laid Plans

Snow blanketed the streets of Gotham. Bane's reign extended into weeks on end. With it, Gotham deteriorated slowly. The thugs, gangs and other miscreants that were locked away thanks to the Dent Act were now back on the streets to cause whatever mayhem they saw fit.

While hundreds of cops laid trapped underground, mercenaries carried out Bane's justice. What cops remained underground were targeted and slaughtered on the streets. The city felt like the Gotham before Batman arrived to raise it out of its misery.

Cassidy pulled her leather jacket around her tighter as she ducked into an alley, keeping her eyes trained on the tumbler that patrolled the streets. If caught, she'd be dead or worse. If Bane could single-handedly best Bruce, Cassidy didn't stand a chance in hell.

She had separated from Blake during their daily patrol. It was risky, she knew. When he found after she snuck off, she would get a lecture. It was safer if they were a part. It gave one of them a chance to survive if an attack occurred. If caught together, they both are dead within a blink of an eye.

Blake went to deliver a message to his former partner that was trapped underground. Ross was their point of contact to keep the forces in the sewers aware of the situation, and they were ready to attack should the opportunity to free them arose. Cassidy could over pray that it did. They didn't have a chance without them. They needed the numbers.

Cassidy preferred to scout the streets from the shadows. She memorized the patterns of Bane's tumblers. She did recon on his forces, weapons and where they were stationed. Anything to give them the slightest of edge, Cassidy did her best to find.

The wind stirred, bringing a bitter chill. Cassidy was wrecked and exhausted. She felt so much pressure riding on herself to rid Gotham of Bane for Bruce's sake. He had taught her so much. She should be ready to take the reins, but the weeks spilled into months, and the masked man was still inflicting his new world order. Every passing day, Cassidy felt more like a failure, letting Bruce down.

"Well, well, well…" a slimy voice called from behind Cassidy. She tensed. "What do we have here?"

She turned around. "Not so fast," a second voice called, stopping Cassidy from reaching for her gun. "I know you," the first voice called as one of the Blackgate escapes came into the light, resting a bat against his shoulder. "You're the Joker's girl."

"No one owns me," Cassidy spat. "Can see why he liked you," the second thug called joining his partner as he lazily aimed his gun her way. "She's feisty."

"It's not safe for a pretty little cop like yourself to be alone," the thug armed with the bat warned. "That's a death sentence."

"Who said I was alone?" Cassidy challenged, crossing her arms in defiance. A smirked touched her lips. "You think he isn't lurking in the shadows? He keeps me on a tight leash."

Cassidy dared to walk closer towards them as she watched they take darted glances towards the shadows. They weren't as confident as they once were as the doubt crept into their minds.

"Mister J won't be too happy to see his girl roughed up, but go ahead. It is only your life you're gambling. Remember jokers are wild."

"You're lying," the armed thug challenged, but his voice quivered just enough for Cassidy to smiled. She knew she was getting to them.

"Call my bluff," she dared.

The bumbling duo paused and looked at each other with fear in their eyes, urging the other to make the first move. It was the opportunity Cassidy was baking on as she whipped her gun out during their moment of indecision. She fired the gun at the armed thug, striking him in the knee.

He threw his weapon aside as he reached for his injured leg, falling to the ground in a hiss of pain and curses. "Bitch, you'll pay for that," the prisoner with the bat called as he rushed towards Cassidy.

He swung at her head, but Cassidy slide to her knees, ducking out of the line of fire. She struck the thug in the back of the head with the butt of her gun, he staggered and swung blindly with the bat, connecting with Cassidy's stomach.

As she doubled over to catch her breath, he threw the bat across her throat. Cassidy struggled to keep the weapon from crushing her windpipe and cutting off the air completely.

She forced herself into the air, landing both feet against the brick wall of the alley. She used her momentum to climb the way until she swung behind the thug. With a push, she forced him into the wall. His head smacked against the brick, knocking him out.

She picked up his bat and rested against her shoulder, mimicking his earlier action. "You're just a psycho as the damn clown," the second convict howled through his gritted teeth as the pain from his gunshot wound was too much to bear.

He continued to let out curses and cries of agony, spewing unflattering names towards Cassidy's way. She sauntered up to his side and dangled the handle of the bat inches above his face.

"You talk too much," she deadpanned before knocking him out with a quick thrust of the club. She tossed the weapon aside, picking her gun off the ground. She had dropped it during the struggle. She holstered it before dusting herself off, smiling to herself at her handy work.

"Cass," Blake shouted as he sprinted towards her from the street. He grabbed her shoulders "Are you okay? I heard shots fired."

"Never been better," she smiled as Blake looked over her shoulder at the unconscious forms of the Black Gate escapees. "You shouldn't be out here alone," Blake warned, meeting her gaze with eyes darkened in seriousness.

"Trust me," Cassidy assured him, breaking out of his grip. "I can handle a couple of pricks without breaking a sweat." "They aren't who I am worried about," Blake responded, daring a glance in the shadows.

Cassidy placed a gentle hand on his cheek. "He had me, Blake. I was alone, unconscious in a sewer, where no one knew if I was alive or dead or where I even was for that matter. Yet, here I am."

Blake rolled his eyes, running his fingers through his hair. "That isn't reassuring, Cass."

"I was worried for the first week of knowing he was free," Cassidy explain, taking his hand. "Every dark corner struck a chord of fear. He has had eight years to plan his game. He isn't going to share the stage with Bane. He's waited this long. He won't reveal his hand a moment sooner."

"We need to take down Bane," she continued. "If we don't stop him, it won't ever matter what the Joker does or doesn't do. There won't be a Gotham left for him to terrorize."

"I hate that you're always right," Blake muttered with a laugh. "I need that in writing for future use," she smiled. "We should get back. Gordon is expecting us."

Blake wrapped his arm around Cassidy's shoulder as he led her back towards the street. "You used a bat?" he mused as he nodded back towards the carnage left by Cassidy.

"I'm batting 1.000," Cassidy smirked, earning a grimace from Blake. "Geez, tough crowd."

They pair stuck to the side streets, avoiding any main roadways where Bane's tumblers patrolled. Their destination was a local supermarket that had become a base camp for the few dozen cops that were still above ground and ready to fight by any means necessary to take down Gotham's newest threat.

Cassidy spotted the largest of Bane's ominous vehicles. It contained the threat to Gotham's existence – an unstable bomb that could destroy the entire city should it be detonated. She felt the tug of heroism, or stupidity because all she wanted to do was chase after the tumbler and steal Bane's master weapon.

It was a suicide mission. Cassidy knew that, but it didn't quiet the need to do something. Cassidy hated being confined to the sidelines when such a dangerous threat hung around the city. She felt Blake's grip tighten around her shoulder. He was just as anxious and more reckless than she was. Cassidy was honestly surprised he hadn't done anything to get himself kill in an attempt to commandeer the tumbler.

As the tumbler made the turn down their street, the pair darted down the nearest alleyway, maneuvering the labyrinth of Gotham in silence until they reached the back entrance of the supermarket.

"You're late," Gordon commented as they entered through the employee entrance. He was leaning against the closed freezer in the butchering room. "I decided to take some batting practice," Cassidy sweetly smiled. She heard Foley already causing a commotion in the next room.

"I assumed the cavalry had arrived then?" Cassidy asked. Gordon nodded, leading the way towards the stock room.

"How can we trust you?" Foley voiced called as the trio joined the fray. "We don't have any other choice," Gordon answered for their new guests.

"Commissioner Gordon? Captain Jones, Special Forces," came the introduction.

"Captain, we're glad to have you here," Gordon answered, quickly shaking the man's hand. Jones was one of three Special Forces officers that had entered the city under the ruse of delivering rations to Gothamites. He represented their best chance of taking down Bane and saving their city. Even then, their Hail Mary of a plan was risky and placed the odds highly stacked against them.

"How many of you are there?" Jones asked as he surveyed their rag-tag crew.

"Dozens," Gordon answered. "I'd rather not say exactly, but the men trapped underground number almost three thousand."

"What kind of shape they're in?" Jones mused, assessing what little they had working in their favor. "They've been getting water, food," Gordon answered.

"Could we break them out?"

"Yes sir," Blake interjected. "Take out the mercenaries guarding the outflow south of Ackerman Park, blow the rubble, you've got a hole big enough for ten at a time. I'm in contact with my partner – they're waiting for the day."

"Men who haven't seen daylight for three months?" one of Jones's men asked skeptical, knowing what type of psychological damage that could cause.

"Men with automatic weapons who haven't seen daylight in three months," Blake answered. If any of the men underground couldn't handle the pressure, they could have ended it, but they all kept waiting, patiently, for their turn to enact some revenge.

"What about the bomb? The satellites can't see any radiation hot spots?" Jones questioned. "They keep it on a truck," Gordon mused. "It must have a lead-line roof. They move it constantly."

"But you know the truck?"

"They've got three of them," Cassidy answered from her perch against the back wall. "The routes don't vary much. I have them memorized."

"What about the triggerman?" Jones continued his interrogation into the situation. "No leads," Gordon answered. "It's a bluff. Bane wouldn't give control of that bomb to someone else."

"We can't take that chance," Jones responded. "Until we have the triggerman, we just track the device, smuggle men over…"

"While Gotham lives under a warlord, like in some failed state?" Blake asked incredulously, his anger tittering towards its boiling point.

"Dial it back, officer," Jones ordered. "This situation is unprecedented. We can't do anything to risk millions of lives."

"Aren't you going to tell him?!" Blake shouted as the tension filled the room. Those trapped under Bane's terror knew the real gravity of the situation.

"Captain," Gordon spoke, his voice heavy with exhaustion. "Things are more complicated than you think. There's somebody that you need to meet."

"This way gentlemen," Cassidy announced as she made her way up the stairs and out of the storeroom. "We can scout out the tumblers during our field trip."

The Special Forces troops and Blake followed Cassidy onto the empty Gotham streets. After a few blocks, a low rumbled filled the streets. "Right on schedule," Cassidy smiled, leading them towards an alley.

Two tumblers were leading a massive black truck cruise down the street. Captain Jones retrieved a Geiger counter from his jacket pocket. Cassidy and Blake stared at the display; the numbers were off the charts.

"This way," Cassidy whispered. "The bank is just a block away, and we can use the side streets to avoid any of Bane's goons."

With weapons drawn, the squad followed Cassidy's lead through the side streets and alleyways till they reached an abandoned Tellsons Bank.

Crossing the empty lobby towards the elevators, they troop rose to the top floor where the bank offices were located. Cots and makeshift furnishings lined the offices and corridors.

"I was up here looking for a vantage point," Blake explained. "Found the people who run the corporation who owns it living here."

"What corporation?" Jones questioned.

"Wayne Enterprises," Lucius Fox answered for them as he entered the main hallway from a back office.

"Captain, met Mr. Fox," Cassidy began the introductions. "Mr. Fox, this is Captain Jones of Special Forces."

Jones shot a look at Miranda take casually standing in the background. "Miss Tate is fully aware of the situation," Fox explained.

"And as CEO of Wayne Enterprises, I have to take responsibility for it," she answered. "Why?" Jones asked. "Because, Captain, we built it."

"You built the bomb?"

"It was built as a fusion reactor," Fox explained. "The first of its kind. Bane turned the core into a bomb then disconnected it from the reactor."

"There is one juicy detail we haven't touched," Cassidy chimed in. "as the device's fuel cells decay, it's becoming increasingly unstable until the point of detonation."

"It's a time bomb," Cassidy lamented. "Triggerman or not. If we do not do something, Gotham is fucked."

"It will go off in twenty-three days," Fox finished as Captain Jones took the blow on the new piece of information.

"Bane's revolution is a shame," Blake spoke. "He's watching Gotham rearrange its deckchairs while the whole ship's going down. Your appeasement plan might not be as practical as you thought."

Captain Jones threw a heated look towards Blake before returning to Fox. "Could you disarm it?"

"I don't know," the older man answered. "But I could reconnect it to the reactor and stabilize it."

As the Special Forces debated on what their next move was, Cassidy turned towards the window to gaze upon the jaded city of Gotham. "No word?" she asked as Fox joined her.

"No Miss Williams," he answered solemnly. "Not since Bane's new world order."

Cassidy hung her head. She had hope Fox would have some way of contacting Bruce with all the technology he helped create for Batman. "If he were gone, you'd know," Fox comforted, but that didn't ease Cassidy's pain.

The only thing Bruce loved more than Rachel was Gotham. He wouldn't watch as it crumbled at Bane's feet.

"Let's move away from this location," Jones ordered. "Then we'll call this in."

Blake, Cassidy, and the Special Forces unit returned to the bottom floor of the bank, making their way towards the exit and snowy Gotham streets. Halfway across the lobby, all hell broke loose.

Mercenaries serving Bane rained down on them in a hail of bullets from machine guns. It was an ambush. Blake tackled Cassidy back into the elevator, returning to the top floor.

"Fox," he shouted as the sprinted from the lift. "Somebody sold us out!"

Fox and Miranda burst into the corridor "Take Miranda," Fox order. Blake grabbed her hand and began to lead her down the stairs. "Fox," Cassidy pleaded. "Come with us."

"I suggest you leave now, Miss Williams," Fox commented as the ping of the elevator sounded. "Gotham still needs you."

With a shout of frustration at the stubborn man, Cassidy flew down the stairs and out through the emergency exit, quickly running down Blake and Miranda.

"Where the hell were you?" Blake shouted as they sprinted through the maze of side streets. "Not now," Cassidy cut him off. "We need to get to our safe house until things die down."

Blake nodded as they flanked Miranda Tate and escorted her towards Bruce's old penthouse apartment. The apartment's security was so heavy that none of the looters and mercenaries could touch them. Once the city fell, Cassidy knew it would be the only place to go.

"Welcome to our home away from home," Cassidy greeted once they ushered Miranda inside the top-floor apartment. Most of the furniture had been returned to the rebuilt Wayne Manor, but you couldn't put a price of security.

"It's beautiful," Miranda mused. "Well, my cousin used to have excellent taste," Cassidy deadpanned as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Miranda Tate had had her eyes on Bruce for the longest time. Cassidy, always the protective little sister, did approve of her. Perhaps it was just her women's intuition, but something always felt a bit off. She was exactly happy to have to protect her now.

"There's a spare room that way," Blake pointed down the hall. "Shower if you need it. Relax for a bit until we figure out our next move."

"Play nice," Blake warned with a smile once Miranda had cleared the room. "I was nice," Cassidy defended, her arms up in surrender.

"You okay?" Blake asked, now that the adrenaline of another near-death experience had died. Cassidy nodded. She was still upset that Fox refused to leave with them. She feared what Bane would do to him.

"He'll be fine," Blake answered as if ready her mind, wrapping Cassidy in a hug. "You can't save them all, Williams. He's tough."

All Cassidy could do was sigh a rest her head against Blake's chest. "I know something that will cheer you up," he mused, before breaking the hug to pull a small box out of his pocket.

He tossed it to Cassidy, who caught it easily. She raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but Blake only smiled slyly. "What's this?"

"You don't think I would forget your birthday just because the world's ended?" Blake joked. "What kind of a guy do you think I am?"

With all the chaos that surrounded them, Cassidy had lost track of time. She had no clue what day it was, but she could always count on Blake to remember something trivial like a birthday during a time of terror.

Cassidy genuinely smiled as she untied the ribbon around the box. She looked up at him stunned as she stared at the contents, placing a hand over her mouth to cover her shock.

Inside was a white gold necklace with three semi-circles, stacked on top of each over, dangling from the end, held to the collar by a diamond hook. The ends of the semi-circles were studded with diamonds.

"John,' she whispered, staring at the piece. "You didn't loot this did you?" she laughed in disbelief.

"I might have bought this four years ago," he answered sheepishly. "I just never had the right time to give it to you."

Cassidy brilliantly smiled, besting the shine of the diamonds on the jewelry. Blake couldn't help but smile back as he helped her secure it around her neck.

"It's perfect," She smiled as she turned to look up at him. She kissed him gently. "Thank you."

"Anything for my girl," he boasted, wrapping her back in his hold. "Happy birthday."

"What's wrong? I should have gone with earrings, right?" he quickly asked as he watched the smile fade away from Cassidy's face.

Cassidy laughed. "It's just," Cassidy began. "He's gone." Blake relaxed, relieved that she loved his gift, but that only lasted a minute when he realized he couldn't relieve her of what was truly the matter.

"I guess it is silly," she went on. "I just kept thinking Bruce would swoop down and save the day like he always does. It's been months since Bane took control, and Gotham is slowly burning. If he were alive, he'd have come back by down. He would have saved us."

Blake squeezed her tightly. "Bruce spent his whole life saving Gotham. Maybe it's our turn, Cass."

Cass tried to put on the bravest face she could, but the numbing knowledge that Bruce was indeed gone was just too much. "Go rest," Blake ordered, ushering her towards their shared bedroom. "I'll keep the first watch. Consider it birthday gift number two, and later I'll join you for gift number three."

Cassidy rolled her eyes and blushed as Blake shot a wink her way. As she shut the bedroom door behind her, she leaned against the wood, allowing her guard to come down and the emotions of truly losing Bruce to overtake her, but only for a moment because a large package on the bed caught her eye.

A tall, thin white box with a green ribbon tied around it rested on her bed. On top was a purple rose with a card attached. She knew that calling card instantly.

Cassidy cautiously walked towards the box, unsure of what game he was playing. She picked up the rose, and despite herself, smelled the sweet fragrance.

Her finger unfolded the small card attached to the flower:

Hope your Birthday is a SMASH hit, Doll – Love, J.

Cassidy read the scrawling, red handwriting with a mix of curiosity, fear and that same unspoken emotion that tugged at her heart. He remembered her birthday. The clown was always full of surprises, both great and nightmarish.

She slowly untied the ribbon and slowly gripped the top of the box, almost afraid to find a bomb waiting for her underneath the lid, but when she did, Cassidy couldn't hold back the giggle.

She was met with a baseball bat, branded in purple and green. Cassidy slowly turned the wooden weapon over in her hand, before giving it a solid swing. She couldn't help the smirk that graced her lips.

She wasn't wrong. He had been watching.