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Jim Gordon knew something horrible would happen from the moment he had helped an old woman. At first there was no one on the street except that old woman and a man pointing a gun at him, then he ended up in the car, tied hand and foot with that totally bewildered old woman. He had been kidnapped by the Russian mob from Gotham. Jim was totally taken aback. He didn't know what they wanted from him, normally if there was any attempt to kidnap or kill him it was in relation to some case, this time, as far as he knew, he wasn't investigating any.

- You can catch me, but let this lady go.-Jim said in a desperate attempt so they wouldn't just have any hostages.

- Do you hear that, Andrik? The cop wants us to release the old lady.

The driver's laughter and sarcasm made Jim's blood run cold. His accent was neither Russian nor Italian, which meant they were neither Oswald's nor Falcone's men. It was the Bulgarian mafia, currently at war with the Russian. What did Jim paint in all this? He had never done anyone any favors, perhaps Oswald once, but whenever he could, he tried to avoid him, especially now that The Penguin and the Riddler had become inseparable.

Looking more closely at the situation, Jim realized that the woman hadn't said a word since she had been kidnapped, she wasn't even terrified. In such a situation, any innocent person would have lost their nerve a bit. Suddenly, he had the horrible feeling that the woman knew her attackers, or at least had a vague idea of what was going on. Although the woman seemed too old to be in the mob, perhaps someone had been late with a payment and they had decided to send a message to a relative. Be that as it may, Jim Gordon was on duty and she was an innocent to be protected.

- They're starting to chase us, Andrik.

Jim hadn't realized that a black car was hot on their trail. The driver had started speeding up and making sharp turns, if Jim didn't have the reflexes of an old trench soldier, the old lady would have slammed into the car door, luckily Jim was able to hold her against him. The old woman did not say a single word. But that black car that did not lose sight of them, was too familiar to him, only that at the moment he could not place it. Driving like a madman, Jim had a hard time knowing where he was while he was trying to keep the old lady from getting hurt. He tried to free himself from her restraints so he could hold her better, but instead he managed to rip her back seats. The body of a man, unconscious or dead, in the trunk made the old woman nervous and she began to vilify and attempt to attack the kidnappers. That hadn't been the reaction Jim had expected, but at least the lady was out of shock.

- Calm down ma'am.-Jim said. -If you keep moving like this, you're going to cause an accident.

- My son. she said, pointing her finger at the man in the trunk.

Mafia rivalry, the lady was not as innocent as Jim had first thought. Regardless of that, Jim had to protect. The lady was not old enough to go through such ups and downs, not even he should be in that situation. Since he arrived in Gotham he had had more upheavals than quiet moments, Mario Calvi and Lee had already told him, so much stress in his life was not good for him, he needed to find moments to disconnect from work. But whenever he tried, something prevented him, as if the city were giving him a pulse to prevent him from resting. Now the important thing was to deal with this situation, protecting two hostages while he fought the two attackers, all alone, without support and with possible enemies in the black car, whom they had lost sight of. The car stopped abruptly and both Jim and the old woman were thrown towards the front seats. The armed men opened the doors.

- Get down, quick.-said Andrik with a thick accent. He seemed to be the boss of those two, but Jim wasn't sure he was the boss of the organization.

- With what intentions?-Jim asked trying to cover the old woman completely. He wanted these men to talk, he needed to collect all the information possible to know how far he was involved in this mess and if there was any possibility of escape. –If this is a matter of money, you should give a little more time, you don't have to make hasty decisions.

The men laughed and the woman looked at him in confusion. At least he had tried, but those men weren't amateurs and they were going to be killed anyway, so in a brief moment of their inattention, while this Andrik, with his pistol ready and his finger on the trigger, opened the trunk, Jim lunged at him. He still knew how to perform the odd technique he learned in the army, maneuvers that, when he was younger, he had practiced repeatedly in case he ever needed them. Today was that day, and although it was too late to talk to his instructor and superiors in his corps, Jim was more than ever appreciative of the exhaustive drills and high performance he was forced to do in the Army and Boy Scouts when he was younger. The other had decided to help this Andrik, so Jim found himself surrounded, trying to fight two mobsters at the same time, handcuffed and praying that they would not remember that they were armed and he was not, while the lady had gone to help his son.

- How is he?-Jim asked once he was able to get rid of both mobsters.

- Breathe.-answered the lady. You could tell the calm in her voice, the tension that had suddenly left her body.

At that very moment, the black car that was following them earlier abruptly stopped. Victor Zsasz came out of it. The day went from bad to worse. Jim tried to cover the hostages, but the lady lunged forward and with surprising agility for someone her age, she ran, yes, Jim saw correctly, quickly ran the distance that separated her from Victor and hugged him. Victor, smiling and relieved, returned the hug. Jim could only watch, waiting for someone to explain the situation, feeling his blood trickle down his cheek. He had taken some pretty good beatings, a small price to pay to stay alive.

- Hello, Jim.-said Víctor Zsasz smiling happily.-It seems that whenever we see each other you are involved in this type of situation. Thank you for helping my granny and my father.

- Your granny? Your father?

Jim was really confused, but both Zsasz were grinning. Suddenly he understood why the man in the trunk looked so familiar. It was Ivan Zsasz, Don of the Russian mafia. A far deadlier assassin than Victor Zsasz, who had been close to Don Falcone in his glory days. Many believed that Jim Gordon, going against all the mafias, would also go against the Zsasz. Jim tried to avoid such talk so as not to target any mafia.

It would be a week later that Jim would find Iván Zsasz and Carmine Falcone in his living room, alarming Jim instantly. Carmine explained that Ivan just wanted to thank him for helped his mother and him during the kidnapping. Victor's grandmother, Svetlana, was delighted with the attitude of the young, handsome and brave policeman, who had saved her in a time of need. As much as Jim tried to explain to them that he was just doing his job, that he didn't want to get into mob business.

- It seems that in the end we are going to please you, Jim.-Carmine Falcone said with amusement.-You keep saving us.

He meant that he had already saved Carmine Falcone from Oswald, Oswald and Butch from Maroni and Fish, Maroni from the Electrocutioner, Victor Zsasz from Oswald and some other villain, Mario Calvi from himself, Svetlana and Ivan Zsasz. Yes, maybe Carmine Falcone is right and Jim's life is more connected to the mob than he thought. He suspected this wouldn't be the last time his paths would cross. But in a city like Gotham, that was normal.

- By the way.-Ivan said. -My son wants to tell you that if you ever need him, don't hesitate to call him, he will give you a discount so you can pay him with your police salary. But if you are going through financial difficulties, we can reach an agreement.

Jim was the only decent cop in Gotham for God's sake! This couldn't be happening.