Loose Ends Who: Bruce and various other characters Where: Various When: After everything What: Bruce wraps up some loose ends, and hatches new plots
"Chief, I think you should see this," Montoya said, leaning so close to the window that her forehead touched the glass. Gordon sighed, pushing up from his desk and joining her, glancing up at the night sky and letting out a startled sigh.
"I'll be back," he told her, grabbing for his coat. "Hold down the fort." He was waiting for Jim on the rooftop, standing in the intense shadow behind the blinding light of the signal. "So, this is a two way thing now?" he asked, running a hand through his hair agitatedly.
"I heard about the video," the Batman said, never one to make small talk, and before Jim could carry on with his self-recriminations, he told him, "It wasn't your fault. She's still alive, that's the important part. We can still get her out."
"I just never thought Harvey...." Jim began and clucked his tongue. Neither had Bruce, but he couldn't exactly pitch that in at the moment. He paused and frowned. "And how exactly did you hear about the video?" he asked, throwing the switch to turn the light off. "It was confidential; we're not releasing it to any of the papers just yet." And then he sighed again, more resigned this time. "Barbara," he said. The Batman neither denied or confirmed. "Sometimes I wish she wasn't quite as good as she is. I'll have to change all of the database's passwords again. Vanessa will be sorry she missed this," he mused quietly to himself, glancing up at the sky, the stars, and before he could be asked, he shook his head and told Batman, "Nothing. It's... nothing."
"I went into the Narrows." That gave Jim a startled pause.
"We have police cordons up all around; we're trying to get as many people out as we can, but they're not making it easy...."
"And they don't intend to," Batman finished for him, not bothering to address how he'd slipped past the blockades. "There are still good people there, and they're terrified. But there are also plenty of bad ones just looking for a fight. I gave them one. I found someone who can help us, maybe. Do you remember Cluemaster?"
"Give me a hint," Jim prompted and the Batman actually chuckled darkly. Gordon thought about the name and laughed himself. "Okay," he said. "Just a little help."
"That's exactly what he did," Batman continued. "Left clues leading to his next crime. Not riddles like Nigma; straight up clues. Arthur Brown, he was...
"A former game show host," Jim said, nodding. "I remember now. He did sixteen months in Blackgate; definitely not Arkham material. Small potatoes."
"Which is part of the problem. We're seeing more and more of the petty thieves trying to attach themselves to this so-called Rogue's Rebellion, improve their reputations."
"You got him to turn?" Gordon asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Not him," Batman clarified, "a girl. His daughter, I think. She could fight, obviously had some training. Calls herself the Spoiler, gave me clues where to find a meth lab, followed me around, trying to help. She wanted to get out of there, she was scared."
"And you know where she is?"
"Safe," replied the Batman. "With people I trust. I'll come to you with more when I have it. Is it true, the video is like the ones the Joker used to leave us?" Gordon didn't answer; he looked disconsolate and Batman nodded. "He's dead. It's not something I'm proud of, Jim, but it's a fact. They're using this to play with us." Gordon nodded again, wondering for about the thousandth time if Batman was someone he knew, someone he talked to every day.
He lowered his head for a moment and then looked back up, in the middle of wishing Batman good luck when he realized he was alone.
***
Helena wasn't in her apartment, she wasn't at the Clock Tower. Bruce found her on a rooftop at the docks, once an extremely disreputable place, a place where the mob met and made their deals. Now filled with movie studios, an attempt to clean up Gotham. Huntress wasn't alone. "What's he doing here?" the Batman growled, gesturing at the Question.
Huntress scoffed. "What is he ever doing anywhere? Being a pain in the butt."
"I'm here on business, that doesn't pertain to this. Though I'm still asking questions," Question corrected them. "The right ones. Like, 'Are you insane?' Perhaps the Bat can talk some sense into you now."
"Actually," Bruce replied, "I came to tell Helena that I think her plan's a good one." Both Huntress and the Question were stunned into silence. "What you said to Oracle was right: if they're willing to shoot up a church to silence the last daughter of Gotham's original Five Families, you're in danger in the classroom. If they think you're on their side.... Do you think you can pull it off?"
"Please, I grew up around these people," Helena replied with a sneer. "I know how they think, how they talk."
"You know how they used to," Vic put in, his face a blank mask still managing to exude concern. "The Five Families were old fashioned, they followed certain rules. We're talking about drug dealers and thugs. This isn't the Cosa Nostra anymore. They don't believe in omertà ."
"It doesn't matter," Huntress argued. "They'll still respect it. They've already shown how threatened they are by me."
"You're not going in without back-up," Batman insisted.
"I volunteer," said Vic immediately.
"And what are you going to do when they whip out the guns?" Huntress snorted. "Serve them green tea with honey?"
Question tutted and turned away. "You don't change, Helena."
"Just be careful," Batman told her in Italian, "not to lead them right back to us."
"You're Sicilian accent still needs work," noted Helena, and then lowering her voice, added, "Bruce." He glared at her. "Yeah, I've known for a while. It's kind of hard not to make the connection. There was Barbara, but it was Dick that really tipped me off. I'll be safe, I promise, Capo di tutti capi."
"Don't call me that," he growled.
Helena feigned innocence, but her expression was sly. "But it's what you are. The Bat Family? Famiglia di pipistrelli?"
Batman laughed. She was pushing his buttons; she liked doing that. "Work it out with Oracle. I'll give you any support you need." And then he was gone, as quickly and silently as he had come.
"Vic...." Helena said, turning her head to him, but he only shook his head and walked away, his hands in the pockets of his trench coat.