The Pioneer Bridge was on fire when Casey and Gordon reached the riverside. "Where's Branden?" Gordon demanded when he and Casey exited the car. "We need SWAT here."
"He's waiting for you on the boat," an officer pointed him towards a small boat where SWAT members were moving about.
"Good," Gordon replied. He motioned to Casey to follow hi. She did so though she was hesitant.
"Gordon," Branden said coldly when he caught sight of the entering the boat. "SWAT's ready to go. I assume you want to know what's going on?"
"Of course I do." Gordon didn't even miss a beat. "I got the call about ten minutes ago. What's happening up there?"
"Some guy in a jetpack and a flamethrower is wreaking havoc up there," Branden replied. He glanced away from them to put together his rifle. "There's hostages up there too."
"Firefly," Casey whispered to Gordon.
"What's the plan then?" Gordon asked Branden. "I assume you're taking SWAT up?"
"Of course we are," Branden scoffed.
"Good." Gordon walked onto the boat. "While you're leading SWAT up, I'll remain in the base of the bridge as task leader. Wilson will run point with me."
"What?" Casey asked, stunned.
Branden echoed her question and turned a sharp glare Gordon's way. "We don't need interference from you."
Gordon stepped up to Branden, getting in his face. "If we don't work together this guy is going to burn the bridge down!"
As he said it, a large explosion from the bridge made the all jump. Casey looked up. The smoke plume was getting higher and higher. "We can't delay this," Gordon said. "We need to get going."
Casey hesitantly followed Gordon onto the boat and it rumbled to life. She shivered as they raced across the frozen river to the other side where a coast guard station was in the base of one of the towers.
"What do you need me to do?" Casey asked Gordon over the wind.
"Helping me handle communications and getting into the computer system to make this easier for SWAT," Gordon shouted back.
She wanted to ask he if could do that but she thought better of it. She didn't want to look sulky in front of Branden. But she took solace in the fact that she wouldn't be accompanying Branden or any SWAT members up the bridge.
They arrived and Gordon handed her a bullet-proof vest with GCPD on the front. Casey put in on, wincing at the added weight. She followed Gordon and Branden into a small building. It was messy, papers were strewn all over the floor. They walked into a closed off area where computers sat, surrounded by other various machines used by the coast guard. And next to the office was the elevator.
"Computers are there," Branden pointed the out to Gordon and Casey. "SWAT and I are going on up. Set radios to channel three."
"Understood," Gordon replied as Branden and his team went up in the elevator.
He and Casey set themselves up. She logged her information into the computer and opened up the controls the bridge. "A lot of it is damaged," Casey commented as she looked through the reports.
"What do you have control over?" Gordon asked.
"Looks like the doors up top for now. I can tell you more when SWAT gets moving. Radio's all set up though." She gestured to the small hand-held connected to the computer. "You should be able to reach all units through that."
"Good." Gordon picked up the radio and spoke into it: "This is a hostage situation people. Get into position and prepare to breach on my order. Do not provoke or engage the suspect. He's got hostages in the bridge sub-level. Just get yourselves into position."
"What'll happen when Batman shows up?" Casey asked him. "You know Branden's not going to go with the plan. He wants to catch him. And he wants to stab you in the back."
"He's a cop, Casey. He'll do his job."
"He's gunning for you Gordon," Casey retorted. "He has been ever since Loeb died."
He looked as if he was about to say smoething but he stiffened. Immediately, he pulled out his gun and aimed it towards the barred opening of the office and into the empty room.
Casey opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing when someone spoke. "Don't send in your men." She recognized it, having heard it two times before tonight: Batman. He was already here. And he seemed to be crouching below the office counter so Gordon wouldn't shoot him on sight because she could only just make out the tips of the points on his cowl. "Firefly has the bridge rigged with explosives."
"Show yourself," Gordon demanded.
The radio in Gordon's hand beeped. "Branden to Gordon. We're in place, awaiting your orders."
Gordon lifted it to his mouth and spoke: "You have a go."
"No!" Batman said. "Call them back. If Firefly blows the bridge, there's no telling how many will die."
"You're the reason those people are in danger," Gordon snapped back. "He's doing this for the bounty on your head. Give yourself up!"
"I'm going to bring in Firefly myself," Batman countered. "Don't send in anyone else until I tell you it's safe."
"You'll stay the hell out of this! You hear me?"
"Gordon!" Casey said, alarmed. "Let him help! He's been helping us bring down these guys all night!"
Gordon turned on her. "Don't you dare try to defend him, Casey. He almost got you killed twice tonight!"
"The first time was my fault," Casey argued. "I walked right into it!" She stood between Gordon and the counter where Batman was crouched. "And you and I both know he's the only one who can get this guy without getting innocent people killed!"
A furious look crossed Gordon's face. "Casey," he warned. "Don't."
"No," Casey said so forcefully she surprised herself. "He's the only one standing between Firefly and a destroyed bridge. You know Branden can't take him down. Hell, Branden's probably up there waiting for a chance to shoot everything that moves! You think he cares about those hostages? He's not going to try and save them when there's a live target he can kill."
She clenched her fists. She was taking a huge risk standing up to Gordon but she believed with all her heart that Batman was the only one who could stop Firefly. This is what we need, Gordon, Casey thought. This is the hero we need.
"No!" Gordon's radio cackled to life. "Take him down!"
"Branden, report!" Gordon ordered into the radio.
"Captain Gordon," a new voice cackled in the radio. "I told you—the ONLY person I want setting foot on this bridge is the Batman. Test me again and things will not go well for Officer Branden."
"Dammit," Gordon swore while Casey groaned. "All units, maintain your positions," Gordon ordered. "No one else goes in without my order." He put the radio in his pocket. "I'm heading up. Casey, you stay here and run the computers, look for anything that can help us gain control of the bridge. That's an order."
She barely got a "yes" out before Gordon was running for the secondary elevator around the hall, leaving her alone with the Batman.
Casey heard a shifting of movement behind her and she looked over to see the Batman walking towards the elevator. But he glanced in her direction and their eyes met for a split second. Then he gave her a miniscule nod.
"You're going to get him, right?" Casey called over, nervously. "Because I think I just put my job on the line for you."
He did something to the elevator doors and it opened despite the lift being above them. "I will," he swore to her.
"Thanks." She sent him a smile but she didn't think he saw it because he entered the shaft and disappeared from view.
"Okay, Casey." She turned back to the computers. "Let's get working."
The program was simple enough for her to understand. She could operate large doors above on the bridge but many of them were offline.
Hmm, that's interesting. A pair of doors were still online but someone hijacked them and changed the security codes. Maybe that was where the hostages were?
"Gordon, I think I got something," Casey spoke into her radio.
"What have you got?"
"There're some doors that are still online. I think that might be where the hostages are."
"Where are they located?"
"Right above us. In the sub-level. They have train cars up there, don't they?" She asked. "There're some maintenance logs for trains cars here."
"Can you get me access?"
"Um, let me see. I can try to decrypt whatever password they set and give us access to the fire doors. That might get you in to where the hostages are." She inserted a flash drive into the computer and opened her program. In a few minutes, she had the password. And a few keystrokes, she was giving the control over to Gordon. "I can run the doors from here or you can access it remotely, if you've got access to a control box."
"I've got one here."
Without warning, the room trembled and Casey let out a squeak of discomfort. That sounded bad, whatever it was. In a few seconds, she had her answer.
"Five-two, command. Our target hit a gas main with his flamethrower. Fire in the north end."
"You've got to be kidding me," Casey muttered in disbelief.
Gordon's voice cackled through the radio. "Dammit. I'm remotely engaging the fire door in that section to protect the hostages."
It was a good move on Gordon's part but it would lock Batman out from where Firefly was currently wreaking havoc on the bridge.
There was an alert on her computer screen as Gordon closed the fire doors. "I hope that works," Casey said to herself.
She listen idly to the radio chatter as people hurried their way up the tower. She wondered where Batman was right at that moment. How could one man carry on through a night like this? Fighting criminal after criminal and yet he barely looked any worse for wear with exception of scratches on his suit and holes in his cape.
But other than that, he still looks formidable.
The radio came to life again but this time it wasn't Gordon. "Gordon," Batman's voice came on, "open the fire door in the train depot so I can disarm Firefly's bomb at the north end of the bridge."
"Get off this frequency! Now!" Was Gordon's only response.
Casey gritted her teeth in anger. If only she had Batman's channel, she could tell him she would open the doors for him. Hell, she would do it right now if she wasn't so sure Gordon would charge her ass with aiding a criminal vigilante afterwards.
"Listen, I'm on my way to disarm the bomb at the south end. Have this door open by the time I get back," Batman said.
Gordon didn't seem very pleased because his next works were laced with anger. "You let me do my job and stay the hell out of my way!"
Casey let her forehead hit the desk. "Stubborn fool," she whispered to the wood.
There was another shake of the room and then alarms went off. "Oh crap, you have got to be kidding me," Casey said wildly as she began typing furiously.
"Um, Gordon?" She said into the radio. "I've got a problem."
"What problem?"
"Someone just hacked into my feed. They have the codes for the fire door."
"Is it Firefly?" Gordon demanded.
"I don't think so unless he can hack computers whilst flying through the air and shooting fire. I think it's someone else—like Batman. He's probably going for the bomb on the other side."
"Dammit, can you change it?"
She typed in a few more keys and frowned. "No, I'm locked out from here." A deep, icy feeling settled in her gut. "I'd have to do it manually on the door itself."
"Casey, get up here. I'm going to need you to hack that door if Batman locks us out. The bomb squad is nearly here."
She whimpered in dread. Getting anywhere near a lunatic with a flamethrower was not on her wish list for Christmas. "I'll be there as soon as I can." She unplugged her flash drive, grabbed her bag, and ran for the elevator.
-x-
Thankfully, she only ran into cops on her way up and it wasn't long before she joined Gordon in the sub-level close to where the north fire door was. "Bomb's squad almost here," he informed her. "Can you disarm if from here?"
"I don't even know if it's armed," Casey replied and checked the screen. "It's not," she said, amazed. "You can go on through."
"We're breaching now," Gordon barked into his radio. "I repeat, we're breaching now."
The bomb squad tore through the door, heading to the north end where the last bomb was. And almost immediately, she noticed the fire door was opening. "The fire door is opening," she informed Gordon. "Batman's on his way."
"Doesn't matter, we're breaching now. Stay here," He added before he left. And Casey was alone again.
"This night sucks," she whined. She put her things away and tucked herself into a corner, trying to keep an eye on things. In the distance, she could see the carnage on the bridge. Fire and smoke was everywhere and at some points, she could see Firefly flying around.
Over the next few minutes, she watched more explosions erupt on the bridge. And even at one point she saw Batman hanging onto a rope that was attached to Firefly as he flew around. "That doesn't look fun," Casey said to herself as she watched. She didn't dare go closer for a better look. She didn't even want to be up here but she was too petrified to head back downstairs.
And deep down, some part of her knew that if she left, it meant she didn't have any faith in Batman. He can stop him. He saved me from Anarchy and Deadshot. He can defeat this guy.
However, Gordon's voice came through the radio. "Casey, get to the north end. We've disarmed the bomb but it's too dangerous for you to be over there."
"Sure," she replied into the radio and practically ran through the door, heading to where Gordon directed her. She felt more explosions above her and she quickened her pace. Ahead, she saw Gordon at a door, watching the sky.
He caught sight of her and beckoned her in. And just as she reached him, there was one more explosion and she looked up to catch the sight of Batman hanging onto Firefly before disappearing.
It was only moments later when one of the choppers confirmed that Batman had taken out Firefly and deemed it safe for them to come up onto the bridge.
"Are you sure?" Casey asked nervously. "What about the structural damage?"
"The areas around the towers are still in good shape but I wouldn't recommend going out farther onto the bridge," Gordon told her as they headed up the stairs to the top level.
And sure enough, they found Firefly hanging upside down from a beam on the tower. Up close, he didn't seem so frightening. His jetpack was gone—no doubt destroyed by Batman—and his visor was cracked, showing them mottled pink skin, his burns.
"He did it," Gordon said quietly, sounding amazed.
"You mean the Bat?" Bullock, who had joined Gordon with the bomb squad, scoffed. "Don't give him too much credit. Something tells me that if you hadn't given the bomb squad the breach order, this bridge'd be at the bottom of the river."
Casey would be happy to give Batman all the credit but she would agree with Bullock and give the bomb squad their credit for disarming the final bomb.
She turned away from the group and walked over to the edge of the bridge to look out over the river. It was still snowing pretty heavily but not as bad as it had been. She let out a heavy sigh and rested her head against the tall guardrail.
"You defended me," someone said above her.
She jumped and whirled around. Batman was crouched on a broken piece of fence above her, cape flying in the wind. "Do you get your kicks out of that?" She gasped out. But she leaned against the railing casually as she peered up at him. "But yeah, I did. You saved my life twice tonight—three times if we're counting now. I saw you fight impossible odds and come out on top. So if anyone can beat guys like him, it's you."
Casey smiled at him. "And honestly? If it wouldn't cost me my job, I would've opened that fire door for you."
There were more footsteps and Gordon joined her, his eyes trained on Batman. Batman casually tossed down a small detonator device. "You didn't listen," Batman stated.
"I'm not big on taking orders from wanted men," Gordon retorted.
"I'm not big on taking orders from cops," Batman countered. "I should've gotten to that last bomb." Though that was directed at Gordon and his unwillingness to cooperate with him, Casey couldn't help but feel guilty as well.
But what come out of Gordon's mouth next, surprised her. "Yeah," he admitted. Casey stared at him in shock. Was Gordon... actually agreeing with Batman? "And I should've given you access to that security door," he continued. "But between the two of us, we covered it pretty well."
Casey cleared her throat loudly and gave Gordon a pointed stare. And who helped you open doors and gain control of the system? She asked silently.
"Three of us," Gordon amended.
Both of them looked up to see that Batman had disappeared.
"He does that," Casey said.
"Yeah he does," Gordon chuckled. "But Casey," Casey turned to look at him fully, "I owe you an apology."
"You do?" Casey asked blankly.
"You stood up for something you believe in, even willing to risk your job for it. That takes guts and I admire you for that. I understand why you and Barbara have been so supportive of him all this time. And I was just unwilling to see it."
Casey couldn't help her smile. It grew bigger and bigger at Gordon's words. And maybe now he would reconcile with Barbara. "Happy to help," she said gleefully.
Gordon gave her a stern look and help up his hand to silence her. "But in all seriousness, Casey. Keep the insubordination to a minimum."
-x-
But if any of them thought their night was over, they were dead wrong. By the time they reached the shore and Gordon's snow-covered car, the dispatch radio was going off again.
"All units, code ten! I repeat, code ten at Blackgate Prison! Suspect identified as the Joker. Multiple casualties. Code ten, I repeat code ten! Priority one alert: The Joker has escaped from his cell and is leading the riots at Blackgate. Repeat: the Joker has taken over the entire prison. Multiple casualties. Multiple hostages—civilians and prison guards. Again, we have lost Blackgate."
Gordon, Bullock, and Casey fell into a silence. "This night is never going to end, is it?" Casey asked.
"How did he get out?" Gordon swore. He turned to Casey. "We can't make any delays, we need to get there."
Casey smiled wryly at him. "Gordon, how many times have you tried to send me home only to fail?" She opened the car door and got in. "I already know I'm coming with you."
-x-
And that concludes chapter seven! We're almost at the end of Origins. Just one more chapter to go. What will happen at Blackgate? And what trouble is Casey going to get herself into again? Are you excited? I am.
Reviews, favorites, and follows are love! See ya in chapter eight!