Lacey Towers was completely empty by the time Batman arrived. The two cops on the balcony outside were the only people left and he took care of them easily.
Inside the apartment the smell of burnt wood assaulted his nose. Someone lit a fire, Batman noted. In the center of the room was a large burn mark on the floor and a body sprawled by the stairs with a tarp covering him. But he could still make out the iconic black mask the man wore.
The second body was a woman. She was dressed all in white with exception of the blood stain on her chest and strung up from a chandelier with ropes. Her sleeves hung down parodying the look of an angel in a twisted, macabre way.
The police believe Penguin murdered Black Mask but why would he send me here if he was the killer? It doesn't add up. He zoomed in on the outstretched hand of the male and scanned it for fingerprints. To no avail though, the fire damaged the fingerprints and made making an identification impossible. The police must've assumed him to be Roman Sionis because of the mask but Batman couldn't be sure without a DNA analysis.
He walked over to the female and scanned her prints. A string of drug trafficking reports came up and a name: Tiffany Ambrose, one of Sionis's girlfriends. But he had nothing to indicate her being the target. She could been in the way or a means to get at Sionis...
He turned to the burn mark on the floor and started to reconstruct the scene. An image of a Molotov cocktail shattering and reassembling itself appeared. By the male body, an image of a person threw the cocktail down on the floor. Perhaps in an effort to destroy evidence.
He went to the male victim and created a scene of the gunshot wound to the shoulder. An image of Penguin appeared as well, holding a gun. The shallow trajectory of the bullet suggests the shooter could be someone of Penguin's height. But where the bullet originated told him a different story.
There were grooves in the floor. Whoever shot the male had been leaning back in a chair.
The gunshot through Tiffany's chest came from a revolver, analysis revealed. The ballistics showed a low-angle trajectory, just at Penguin's standing height. But there was more gunpowder than there should have been if it was the Penguin. Whoever shot Tiffany did it while laying on the ground.
He turned to the dusted fingerprints on the wall and scanned them. They were a perfect match to Oswald Cobblepot but the prints were on top of the soot. Penguin was in the apartment after the fire.
The cops had one thing right, Penguin was here in this room. But only after the murders were committed. If he didn't kill Black Mask, who did...?
He looked over the crime scene once more, thinking. The only thing I can say for certain was that Tiffany's shooter was lying on the floor. But why?
He caught sight of some white streaks on the floor, spared from the fire. He examined them quickly.
White shoe polish. Whoever shot Tiffany had been dragged along the floor.
Now, there was a clearer image of the murder. Besides the victims, there were two other people in the room. Tiffany's shooter and whoever was dragging the shooter. But it wasn't enough to identify them. He went over to where the first shooter sat in the chair and analyzed.
That's odd, he thought. The DNA here doesn't belong to either of the victims. Whose is it?
There was an image of someone—the first shooter—sitting at a desk and another person sneaking in behind him through the now-broken window. The second person tackled the shooter and a fight ensued but he was unable to tell who won.
Luckily, he found a piece of torn cloth caught between the wood and broken glass. It must've ripped when the second person surprise attacked the shooter. The intruder was wearing a white suit or sport jacket. He could use that to identify the intruder but he still couldn't identify the male victim's shooter.
One last impact place to check. He could see the shallow crater on the counter above the common area where something heavy hit it. The DNA turned out to be Tiffany's but several days old according the level of oxidation. He didn't flinch as the crime scene images showed someone brutally slammed Tiffany's head into the wood.
Hmm... She was holding onto something. Where is it? He reviewed the image of her attack and followed the red line to whatever she was holding. It had fallen among some clutter. He knelt down and dug around and pulled out a cell phone.
There was still some battery left and he went to her messages. The inbox was filled with text messages to Sionis. The recent ones sounded hysterical and frightened.
'I swear he's been following me back here. Please send some guards. I don't want to be alone.' One read. 'Or just come yourself.'
He went to another. 'I saw him again. Please Roman, please get someone to kill this Joker person.'
The Joker? He had never heard of anyone named the Joker in Gotham.
Nevertheless, he had an idea of what happened. Someone killed Black Mask judging by the male victim but the crime took place days ago. And I saw Black Mask earlier tonight, Batman reminded himself.
The only answers I have raise more questions: Who is the Joker? Was he the killer here? Or is he one of the assassins?
I have a body, an unknown shooter, and an unknown assailant who attacked the shooter. But he didn't have an identification, save for Tiffany. He was at a dead end.But he still had one more option. I need to match the DNA samples against the records in the National Criminal Database to identify who was the room.
Immediately, he opened his comm link to Alfred. "Alfred, I need access to the National Criminal Database."
"Well, the only way to do that would be to infiltrate the Gotham City Police Department."
"Then that's where I'm going." Already he was heading out the door.
"Sir, you'd need to physically hack into their servers. If you insist on doing something that foolish you'll need a powerful nonlethal weapon," Alfred said. "I recommend coming back here to pick up your concussion detonator."
"Not a bad idea."
-x-
"You saw him? You actually saw him?" Barbara cried out in excitement.
Casey nodded. "Yup. Clear as day—er, night. Whatever."
"What'd he look like? What did he do?"
"Well, he was really tall and imposing. Like, if I were a criminal I'd definitely would not want to cross him. But he showed up at the courthouse and knocked Anarky around like he was nothing."
"That's awesome." Barbara breathed.
"It was pretty cool," Casey admitted. She had been within touching distance of the Batman. For a brief moment, she wondered if he was really muscular or the suit just added to his physique. He was probably ripped, judging how easily he knocked people around. He is just like the ultimate fantasy: tall, dark, deep voice, and mysterious.
"Casey?" Barbara pulled Casey from her thoughts, waving a hand in her face. "You got a weird look on your face."
"Oh—nothing!" Casey flushed and looked away. It's not like he's a guy you would take home to your mother, she scolded herself. Batman had better and more important things to do.
The moment Casey came back, an anxious Barbara ran up to her.
"Dad flipped when they got the tip about Anarky and you weren't here," she had said. "I wanted to go with but he wouldn't let me."
Casey turned back to her desk where the report waited for her. It was almost finished but she opted to talk with Barbara some more instead.
The teen was absolutely ecstatic to hear about Batman's appearance at the courthouse, much to her father's chagrin. But Gordon gave Casey a warning look and she tried to downplay the Batman's involvement.
Casey yawned for the umpteenth time. "I need some coffee," she announced.
Barbara furrowed her eyebrow. "Didn't you have like five cups already?"
Casey shrugged and stood up. "Adrenaline wears off and makes you feel more tired than you already are. I dunno."
"Is this what I have to look forward to when I become an adult?"
"That and taxes."
As Casey and Barbare neared the bullpen there was the sound of voices. Gordon was standing on the balcony overlooking the room, addressing several officers around him.
"What's this?" Casey murmured as she and Barbara came to a halt in the doorway.
"I know everyone's still in shock over what happened to Commissioner Loeb, but we need to stay focused on our primary targets for tonight," Gordon was saying. "So far Waylon Jones has been processed, Anarky's being processed right now, and we're following an anonymous tip on Deathstroke's location. But we've got a ways to go before sunrise."
"What's he talking about?" Casey asked Barbara.
But before Barbara could answer, Gordon did it for her. "There's eight assassins in town tonight. From the info we've been gathering, they are among the most dangerous criminals on record—period."
Assassins? In Gotham? She knew Gotham had a reputation for crime but this was ridiculous.
"After interrogating Waylon Jones, we've learned that they're all competing for a huge bounty which Black Mask has offered for the head of the Bat."
Casey's mouth dropped open. No way. Black Mask couldn't have!
But the others had different opinions. "Where do I sign up?" Someone asked jokingly.
"I thought he was a ghost." Another sneered.
Next to her, Barbara bristled with anger. Casey placed a hand on her shoulder.
Gordon didn't seem to think it was funny either. He gave them a withering look. "Alright cut the chatter, people. Our goal is to ensure order in this city. So our number one priority becomes bringing in the bat before these assassins get to him. The closer it gets to morning, the more desperate the assassins will grow—and if he's still out there—the more damage they'll cause to the city, as they try to find or attract him. Alright, dismissed."
Casey could feel Barbara shaking with anger. "I think I don't need that coffee anymore," Casey and said and firmly directed Barbara back into the cyber division room.
"Did you hear him?" Barbara cried out in anger. "He tells them to catch Batman when they should be working with Batman to protect people and bring in these assassins!"
"I heard him," Casey said grimly. "But you gotta realize, Barb. Your father is head of the Vigilante Task Force. If he doesn't do his job, then Branden will have his head. He's already being watched and so're you." Barbara told her a couple weeks ago there've been cop cars outside her house, watching them.
"Then he should work with the Batman and take down Branden and SWAT."
"If it were than easy," said Casey.
Barbara whirled on Casey. "You agree with me don't you?" She asked aggressively.
"Of course I do. But I've got to keep it quiet. I work here and this is my job. At best they'll fire me. And at the worst they'll..." She trailed off. She didn't need to finish her sentence. Snowball's mutilated corpse flashed through her mind.
Barbara seemed to calm down. "I'll find a way," she said softly. "I swear. I'll find a way to fight them."
"Hacking their bank accounts and alerting the IRS seems to be a good way." Casey joked.
Barbara laughed. "Very funny, Casey. Tell me how the works out. I'm gonna go talk with my Dad again."
"Good luck." Casey said and went back to her computer. Truth be told, she managed to hack into Loeb's bank accounts two weeks ago. And she came so close to sending the copies she made to the IRS anonymously. But Loeb deserved more than five years in prison and she held back. Now Loeb was dead.
I could link it to Black Mask. Casey tried to convince herself. He's been funding a lot of stuff illegally. But hacking into Black Mask's bank account would be no small feat considering he owned the Merchants Bank. It would be a lot of accounts and numbers to sort through and following money trails to see where it led.
Her report still waited for her and she set to work. Without Barbara around, she finished quickly and printed it off.
I should tell Ed I'll be taking off soon. Casey decided as she took the report from the printer.
She walked over to Ed's office and knocked. No answer.
Weird. Did he leave? She knocked again. No answer.
She tried the doorknob and found it unlocked. She poked her head into the room. "Ed?"
It was empty. Ed's office was completely immaculate, not a pen out of place and no personal papers in sight. His computer was off and his chair neatly pushed in. But no Ed.
"Huh." Casey exited and scratched her head in confusion. "Maybe he left?"
Pushing the emptiness of Ed's office to the back of her mind, she walked back to the bullpen to find Gordon and give him the report he wanted.
She found him chasing after Barbara who stomped past Casey. Seems like they had their usual fight, Casey guessed from the look of rage on Barbara's face and the exasperation on Gordon's.
"Captain Gordon." She tried to get his attention. "I have the report you wanted."
"Put it on my desk, I'll look at it later." Gordon didn't spare her a glance and continued chasing after his daughter.
-x-
Alfred stressed being cautious when infiltrating the GCPD but Batman took down the members of SWAT ruthlessly when he found them in his way. He didn't have time to find alternate routes. There were six remaining assassins waiting for him in Gotham. He had to deal with them, solve the crime at Lacey Towers, and apprehend both Black Mask and the Enigma character.
Batman did not have time to be gentle.
He entered another vent and stealthily made his way through. Ahead of him he heard voice—a man and a young girl.
"He's out there catching the criminals that you let walk free!" The girl was arguing.
For a second, he wondered if it was the woman from the courthouse. But the voices were too different. The current speaker sounded younger.
"He is the worst kind of criminal!" That voice he recognized: Jim Gordon. He made his way further down the vent until he saw an opening in the pipes. He was looking into Gordon's office. Gordon had his back to him but he could see the young girl he was talking to: vivid red hair and glasses and her arms were crossed and she looked angry.
"The kind who thinks their actions are justified—who acts completely outside the system!"
"The system is broken!" The girl nearly shouted at him. She looked to be on the verge of stomping her foot but she turned and stormed out the room.
"Barbara, wait!" Gordon shouted and went after her.
Barbara, he thought. He recalled Gordon had a daughter named Barbara. Strange night to bring his daughter to work.
As he was about to continue on, and break down another bar in his way, the office door opened.
It was the woman from the courthouse. Casey Wilson, he remembered. Now that she was out of her coat and ridiculous hat and in brighter light he got a better look at her.
Her hair was tousled as she had been running her hands through it and though she was pale, he could still make out a smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks. She yawned as she came closer and set some papers down on Gordon's desk. Up close, he could make out the faint dark circles under her eyes.
She's a senior analyst in the cyber crimes division and doesn't take bribes. The job must take a toll on her.
He turned to go when another voice stopped him. "Wilson."
In front of him, he saw her back stiffen as she turned towards the open door. "Branden," she replied evenly.
Howard Branden. Batman's fist clenched in distaste. Only minutes ago he heard him briefing his SWAT team on killing him to get the bounty Black Mask put on his head.
"I heard about the Anarky thing." Branden said, eying her.
He's gauging her for a reaction. He sent her to Anarky hoping she would get killed. He's waiting to see if she'll accuse him of it. He hoped she wouldn't. He didn't want to have to burst through the wall to stop him when he needed to get into the server room.
"Yeah, it was pretty lucky." Casey's voice was guarded. She wasn't biting at Branden's bait. "I almost thought we were going to let him slip through our fingers when SWAT didn't show but Batman came and did your job for you."
A faint smile formed on his face at her cheek. Across from her, he saw Branden's jaw tighten. No doubt her comment angered him but he also missed an opportunity to take the Batman down.
"Don't get cocky Wilson," Branden snapped at her. "Just because the Bat showed up to help you doesn't mean he will again." He scowled at her before turning his back and striding away.
After Branden left, she let out a long sigh. "That was close," she muttered to herself. "For a second I almost thought he'd... nah." And finally, she left the office and closed the door.
Branden won't try his hand yet, Batman thought. But if he gets Gordon out the way like those SWAT members were planning, then she'll be next.
By the time he climbed up above into an opening over the bullpen, he saw her disappear behind a door. Good. I don't want her to get caught in the crossfire. He descended on an unaware SWAT member, knocking him out.
-x-
Goosebumps broke out on the back of Casey's neck as she went back to her desk. She didn't like the way some officers were speaking to each other quietly. She wasn't an idiot. She caught some snippets of their conversations. SWAT was in on the bounty for Batman's head.
Figures as much, she thought sullenly. With Loeb gone, their safety net is dissolving. They're going to want to get the money so they can take off in case anything goes wrong.
And something did go wrong. As soon as she sat down at her desk, she felt a tremble and the police radio came to life. "All units, there is a disturbance in the holding cells. Some sort of prisoner riot. Emergency protocols in effect."
Casey groaned and ran for the door but it closed and locked before she could reach it. "Dammit."
The new emergency protocols shut every door and locked them with a passcode. And with Ed also managed to procure a new device to prevent anyone from wirelessly hacking the doors. Since Ed was the only one who knew the passcode for the cyber crime room, she was locked in until the emergency protocols lifted.
Knowing the GCPD, it could take forever until someone got the prisoners under control. And she wasn't willing to stick around for anyone to come by. "Guess I gotta hack it then." Casey rummaged through her drawers and pulled out a blue flashdrive.
Though the boxes stopped one from hacking passcodes wirelessly, they couldn't prevent manual hacking. She never tried hacking the doors before but she hoped it would work. She inserted the flashdrive into the locking device and waited for her program to start working. It was a simple program she made back in high school. If anything with a USB port was locked, the program on the drive would find the combination to unlock it in its system.
In a few minutes the word CONUNDRUM appeared in the passcode box. Casey's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. That's an interesting word choice for Ed... She tried not to think anything of it and slipped the flashdrive into her pocket and left the room.
The precinct didn't even look like it was on emergency lockdown. Everywhere was calm. The holding cells were underneath the building. But it didn't stop Casey from hurrying down the hallway.
Her first place to go would be the server room to see which protocols failed and if Barbara was there and make sure she was alright.
-x-
He had hoped he would've been able to get in and get out of the GCPD but corruption lurked at every corner. And, in an attempt to cast a bad light on Gordon, a prison riot occurred. SWAT was on full alert and he wasted too much time dealing with the prisoners.
But his efforts should be easier with the new disruptor he acquired in evidence.
The server room was just ahead and he pulled the disruptor out and fire the last shot at the box stopping the signal he needed. He crouched down, staying mindful of his surroundings, and searched for the password on his cryptographic sequencer. When the words "AUTHORIZEDONLY" came up on the screen the lock clicked open.
He entered. Almost immediately he heard a gasp. The same red-haired girl yelling at Gordon stood up in surprise, holding onto a personal electronic device. "Easy," he said to her. He wouldn't hurt her. And judging by the argument she had with Gordon, she was behind the Batman's cause. "I need access to the National Criminal Database."
When she seemed to realized who was standing in front of her, she almost became giddy. She grinned and motioned to a server next to her. "It's right here."
He approached it, looking for a place he could hook up to. "You must spend a lot of time here," he said offhandedly. He found a port and placed his pwnbox in it and turned it on.
The girl examined it closely before speaking. "Cool pwnbox. You're bypassing the network's security." She kept going as trying to impress him. "But you'll need to physically bridge the intranet to the external telecom wires if you want to uplink remotely."
The pwnbox beeped when finished and he took it and placed it back in his belt. He turned to the girl. "This kind of knowledge could get a young girl into a lot of trouble."
She merely smiled. "They run under the building."
She doesn't care. "What does?"
"The telecom wires. You can access them through the sewers."
Then the sewers were his next destination. He made to leave. "Wait," the girl said and he stopped and looked back to her. "Why... why do you do what you do?" She asked.
An image of a dead man and his wife in an alley and a little boy crying over them flashed through his mind. "Because I made a promise." He said simply.
"Barbara, there you are!" Casey Wilson entered the room. When her eyes fell on Batman's form, she stopped and her mouth opened in surprise. "Well that explains the emergency lockdown."
-x-
She couldn't believe it. She was seeing Batman for the second time in one night! "Well that explains the emergency lockdown," she said when she saw him.
Next to him, Barbara was smiling happily. "If you need help getting into the sewers Casey can—" She started but a hissing noise made them all look down at the tear gas can rolling into the room.
"Get out of here!" Batman commanded as Barbara and Casey started coughing.
Barbara ran for Casey who grabbed her and pulled her out of the server room. They stumbled out of the room to the waiting group of armed SWAT.
"Hold your fire!" Someone ordered.
"You idiots. It's me! What were you thinking?" Barbara shouted angrily while Casey tried to expel the rest of the rest of the gas from her lungs.
"Who were you talking to in there?" The cop ignored her.
"She was talking to me!" Casey stood up, also glaring at them. "I went to the server room to see if any of the protocols failed and keep an eye on things! And since you gassed the room, I can't do my job!"
Some of them had the decency to look sheepish while the others just scowled. Casey scowled right back until another Detective Bullock came around the corner.
"Someone get some paramedics! Gordon and Branden are on the top floor out cold! The Bat must've gotten 'em!" He shouted.
"Is my dad okay?" Barbara asked, alarmed.
"He's just unconscious, it seems." He gestured to some of the men. "You, you, and you come with me. The rest of you work on getting this place up and running. It seems the Bat has left the building."
Barbara followed Bullock and his men to check on her dad. Casey turned to the remained SWAT members. "I need a gas mask." She told one. "So I can sort out the mess you guys made."
He grumbled but procured one for her. She slipped it on and went back inside the server room. Gas still lingered in the air and there was no sight of Batman but she spotted a broken vent in the corner. So that's how he got out.
She busied herself with checking the servers and seeing about lifting protocols in certain areas of the building. She left the holding cells on lockdown until someone cleared it out. But she unlocked everywhere else that didn't seem like a problem.
She reemerged from the server room moments later and removed the mask. "There. The building's is partially running now until someone can sort the holding cells. Be sure to tell Captain Gordon and Lieutenant Branden when they're up," she told a SWAT member still waiting outside.
"Will do."
She turned back towards the server room. What did Batman need in there? She wondered. And why do I get the feeling this night is not over yet?
-x-
Barbara didn't want to wait by her dad's side forever until he woke up so she retreated back to his office. She was sure he'd be happier to see in here when he woke up.
She sat down at his desk and pulled out her laptop. She had been going through the GCPD database again before the Batman showed up. If she was lucky, the signal he used would still be there. When she came across a particular report, she knew Batman would be able to help but she didn't know how she'd reach him. If she could get the signal back, she could hack into his comms and tell him her dilemma. She was sure he'd help.
Barbara never told Casey but she knew a lot of the things happening behind the scenes in the police department. She hacked the database almost regularly but stayed away from areas Casey had control of. Casey would recognize her work and even though Casey had the same views as Barbara, she wouldn't allow Barbara to get in too deep.
There it is! Luck was still on her side and she found the anomaly signal. Hopefully Casey wouldn't notice it as she lifted the emergency protocols. She typed the information in her laptop and connected. Please connect. She begged silently. She needed the Batman's help.
The line opened.
Yes! But what should she saw to the superhero whose comms she just hacked? "Hello?" She started. "Hello? Batman?" Just go for it Barbara. Just go for it. "It's Barbara. Sorry for, uh, hacking into your comms but I need a favor." She took a deep breath. "Some evidence crates have gone missing. Army-grade stuff and no one here's doing anything about it. So I'm sending you their GOS location information." She clicked send. "Use your weapon disruptor on any crates you find. It'll fry their circuits and render their stuff useless. ...Thanks."
She closed the link. She hoped he would do what she asked of him. He was the only one who could.
For as long as she could remember, criminals walked free and the GCPD abused their power over the average citizen. She watched as her dad's superiors walked all over him and even saw his former partner attack him. Since then, she had wanted to take a stand but how? How could a fifteen year old girl do anything against the corrupt men ruling the city?
Then the Batman came and things started to look up. Criminals whispered about a Bat hunting them at night and tread carefully. Loeb and Branden were more subdued. Barbara hoped her father would share her enthusiasm for the Batman but he shared the same view as his coworkers: Batman was a criminal as well.
But Batman would save them. She knew it. And she would help him in any way she could. She pulled up an image of the city. Six lights blinked back at her signaling the six weapons caches that went missing (but she'd bet anything Branden or Loeb sold them off.)
Barbara slouched back in her chair and waited.
-x-
This chapter turned out to be longer than I expected. I added more of Barbara in than I intended. But I wanted to make sure this chapter would also be the start of Batman's and Barbara's teamwork which is why Barbara had a longer interaction with Batman than Casey did.
Now the hard part begins since more and more side quests are coming in. Some of which I forgot about. Whoops.
Next chapter, Gordon sends Casey home. Will she make it home safely or misfortune strike again? After all, those streets are not safe with gang members, SWAT, and now these assassins on the loose.
Reviews, favorites, and follows are love! See ya in chapter five!