Bella POV continued.

It didn't take long until one of Falcone's men spotted me. He nudged his partner and nodded in my direction. "Isn't that the Boss's granddaughter?"

"Actually, she's Thomas and Martha Wayne's daughter, but yes, his son Mario adopted her. The Boss cares deeply for her as does Maroni. I wonder what she she doing out here all alone? I thought that the Boss returned her to Wayne Manor and made her promise not to run away again."

"He did."

"Bella, is that you?" One of the men asked approaching me cautiously.

I sniffle and nod and continue to cry. "Shhh, come now, stop your crying it will be alright." The man says as he pulls me into an embrace and wipes away my tears. "What happened? Why aren't you at Wayne manor? Did you run away again after you promised the Boss that you wouldn't?"

I shook my head no. "Nu. Me nu wun away. Bad peoples came and twied to make Bwuce and me and Kat go bye bye."

The men exchanges a worried glance at his partner before replying. "Sweetheart, are you saying someone try to kill you?" I nod and again the men exchange worried glances. "This can't be good. Do you think we should contact the Boss?"

"What kind of idiotic question is that? What do you think?" The man replies semi sarcastically snacking the other guy in the head. "Of course we have to contact the Boss! If finds out that we knew that she was unsafe and we didn't do anything, it would he our heads." With that, the man took out his phone and dialed a number. "Put the boss on the phone it's an emergency. I don't care if he's in a meeting. Put him on now!"

Falcone POV

I was in the middle of a meeting with the members of the family, when the phone rang. One of the servants rushed into the room and whispered into my ear and I frown. "If you'll excuse me for a moment, I have to take this call. This had better be important!" I hiss into the phone.

"Yes sir, sorry to bother you Boss, but we found Miss Wayne wandering the streets of Gotham alone."

"Not again." I could hear the irritation in his voice and began to whimper. "Bring her here immediately. I'll have to have a word with her."

"As you wish Boss."

"What am I going to do with you?" Falcone asks with a sigh. I shrug. "You gave me your word that you wouldn't run away again and yet, here you are. Care to explain why that is?" Falcone asks disappointedly. Upon hearing the tone of his voice I can't help but break down into sobs once more.

"Sir, I don't think that she ran away."

"And why is that?"

"Because when we found her She said that someone tried to kill her. She's afraid to go back...."

"Please can Me stay witfh you?" I reply and he sighs once more.

"It's not that simple Bella you know that. You have to return to Wayne manor.

"You said we is family. You pwomised not to betway me the way Mista Mawoni did but you lied... You don't lobe me, you neba did." I reply sadly and Mista Falcone sighs.

"That's not true Bella and you know it. I do love you and so does Mario and Sal. We all want what's best for you. You don't belong in our world Bella. Your far too sweet and innocent. If you remained with me or with Maroni that innocence would eventually become corrupted. I have already seen it happen once with my daughter Sophia. I couldn't bare if that were to happen again. That's why I sent you back to Wayne manor."

"Me no wanna go back. Me is safest wifth you." I reply stubbornly.

"Bella, this isn't up for discussion. You must return to your legal guardian, to Alfred Pennyworth at Wayne manor. However, I have some things to deal with first so you can remain with me for the time being."

Falcone POV

"How did Maroni know where my money was?" I demanded of Oswald.

"Wha? Well that's a very good question. Not to criticize but you could have just called me."

"How did Maroni know where I kept my money? No one knew."

"The robbery at the armory? That wasn't Maroni."

"I thought we were friends. We had an understanding. You tell me every move Maroni makes. What happened? When did you turn on me?"

I notice Bella seems extremely interested in our conversation so I motion for her to join us. I don't know how or when she got this talent but She's really good at determining if someone is lying. "Never. Don Falcone. I swear never. Maroni had nothing to do with the armory job. I would know. I would have told you."

"Who was if if not Maroni? And how did they know about my money?" The doors open and Eliza comes in carrying a tea pot. I notice that Bella glances at Oswald and then when she spots Eliza she frowns. "Thank you Liza, I'll only be a moment."

"I'll come back."

"I asked you a question."

"Oh, you have a mole obviously and that's not Maroni's forte is it? No this is someone else. Someone artful. Someone close to you."

"I know who your going to name. But your hatred of Fish makes me doubt anything you say about her."

"With respect, I don't understand why you still tolerate her existence. She has proved her disloyalty 100 times. She wants your head."

"Like half the people who work for me. Fish makes me a lot of money. I can handle Fish Mooney and whatever SOB who did this too me. Tell me how to find the mole."

"You leave that to me Don Falcone. Dirty work. I'll find your mole. Trust me, he will belong to Fish."

"Bring me proof."

Oswald POV

"I don't get it."

"You Gabe not get it?" I reply with a laugh. "Quell Suprise, what pray tell don't you get?"

"Why not just tell Falcone the truth? It was that Liza girl that betrayed him."

"Timing. Gabriel. Timing is everything. And Liza is a time bomb. Just, wait a while and then watch and learn."

------------------------

Bruce POV

There's a phone." I rush over to a pay phone but realize that I need a quarter to make a call. "Do you have any change? I don't carry any with me."

Kat shook her head "nope sorry. Why do you care about Alfred so much anyway? He's just a butler."

"He's family!" I reply irritatedly. To my surprise Kat hands me a quarter.

"Good luck kid. I'll see you around maybe." Kat said starting to back away down the street.

"Wait.."

"Look, those bad guys were there for me, not you. You have nothing to worry about. Go home."

"But you said..."

"I was just trying to freak you out I was playing with you."

"You were playing with me? That's kind of cruel isn't it?" I replied angrily.

"Yeah. Your right about me, I'm not nice. Not like you. You've got a nice way about you."

"A nice way?" I reply confused.

Yeah. That's why I said that you were the target. So we could hang out a little while longer."

"I see. That's very convolute reasoning."

"Anyhow, it's been cool, I'm gonna disappear."

"You can't do that."

"I wasn't asking." Kat replies.

"You can't disappear, you have to come home with me. When Detective Gordon finds the man who killed my parents, you have to testify."

"You really think that was ever going to happen? Grow up B." With that she climbs
a fire escape. I wasn't about to let her get away so easily. I quickly follow suit. I see that she's standing on the opposite rooftop. At first I hesitate but then I take go back and then start running.

"No don't you won't make it!" Kat calls to me but I ignore her and make the jump anyway. As I struggle to keep my balance she pulls me into the rooftop. "Your crazy."

"Please don't run off again I'm out of breath."

"Okay, kiddo. You earned it. You want to hang with me? That's cool, but my world, my rules, you do what I say."

"Yes ma'am. Why can't I call Alfred or Detective Gordon, let them know that I'm OK?" I ask as we descend a stair case.

"Because we are disappearing. You've got to be like smoke. Smoke doesn't make phone calls."

"What is this place?"

"The flea. It's like the mall for street kids except without the crappy music. We will be safe her until dark. By the way, what happened to your sister? I haven't seen her in a while."

"Oh no. She must have gotten lost. We have to find her."

"Not gonna happen. We have to stay hidden B. Besides, I'm sure she can taken care of herself. After all, didn't she mention something about knowing Falcone and Maroni?"

"Yes but..."

"Look, if she's in with either of those guys, then she'll be fine. Everyone in Gotham knows making either one of them angry is a death sentence waiting to happen." Kat replies.

A little while later, we are at Kat's fence's building. "Kat, my babe."

"Hay, Clyde."

"What do you have for me?"

Kat plops a hand full of stuff on the desk. "Hay."

"Shh."

"Wow, sweet swag not your usual stuff."

"I'm moving on up."

Clyde pulls the watch from the pile. "Where'd you get this?"

"You want a story or the swag?" Kat demands.

"How much?"

"A Thousand bucks."

At this, Clyde laughs " please give me a break."

"That's rock bottom, you know it is." Kat replies.

"Fifty bucks." Clyde replies. Now this man is trying my patience.

"That pen is real gold that's an antique Jade netsuke it's worth $2000 on its own."

"And who is this well spoken little dude?"

"Never mind who he is, look 500 is Rockbottom. Why are you wasting my time."

"Relax."

"I am sure that we can make a deal."

"No thanks. We will go elsewhere." Kat replies grabbing the stuff off the table. As she turns to go a man places a hand on her shoulder. "I've got some friends coming over who would just love to meet you."

A little while later, I am relieved to see Alfred standing on the stairway below me. "Fancy meeting you here." I say trying to act casual.

"Are you alright?" Alfred asks.

"I'm fine and you?"

"You gave me a huge scare you know that Master Bruce? If you die.. Well, who hires butlers anymore?" Alfred says as he wraps me in an embrace. "Where is Bella?"

"We got separated. I don't know where she is." I reply sadly.

------------------------
Falcone POV

"Bella, I have a very important meeting to hold. I'm going to have to do a few things in this meeting that might scare you. I don't want you to be afraid of me so I need you to stay here with Liza."

"Nu, pwease Gwampa. Me wanna go wifth you."

I sigh. "Alright. But you have to promise me that you won't get scared."

"Me pwomise."

I take my gun and shoot a man sitting next to me. "Forgive me for shocking you. But let me give you some context here. I loved Bannion. We came up together. But he was supposed to guard the armory and he didn't. And maybe, just maybe, he looked the other way. I don't know. So what do I do? Do I let it lie?"

"Boss we understand...."

"Whoever else was involved will very soon wish they could die quickly like Bannion. In the meantime, all of us must do what is right for the family. Each of your tariffs will increase 25%. Until we've built up the reserves again."

"No disrespect but that's high."

"A little bit." Another man replies.

"What do you think Fish? Am I being fair?"

"We are family. We sink or swim together." Fish replies.

"You could all learn from Fish. She trusts me. Trust me and I'll trust you. It goes both ways." With that I motion for the food to start being served. "Let's eat."

After the meeting it was time to decide what to do with Bella. "My men will escort you to the GCPD so that Gorden can return you to Wayne Manor. If for some reason, the Detective is unable to escort Bella back to the manor then you are to do so in his stead."

"Yes Boss." The man looks at me apologetically. "Sorry kid. Like it or not, I've got to do what the boss says."

Jim POV

"Lovegood was a beloved pillar of this community. A dedicated servant of Gotham. So what do I tell the media huh? Huh? Any ideas?"

"That he was a crook. We nearly had him. And he was killed by whomever he would have implicated. If he had lived to testify. Say that."

"Forgive me if I can't get behind your approach. It was your gun."

"I didn't kill him."

"On balance I believe you. On balance. Suicide is much cleaner."

"It wasn't suicide it was a murder."

"It was suicide. He went mad under your relentless questioning, overpowered you, took your gun and killed himself with your gun. And don't tell me otherwise! What do you say councilor?" The mayor asks Harvey.

"I'm at your disposal Mayor James. I'm sorry if we caused you any disquiet."

"Disquiet. You arrogant clowns! You are hacking away at the very foundations of this city. Trying to take me down. I should have you both stuffed in a sack and drowned in the river. But I can't do that. Two scapegoats will look like panic. But one of you is going down mark my words."

"Sir that's not right." Harvey replies.

"Hush. It's not you Dent. Obviously it's Mr. Gorden,"

"Sir, I protest."

"But not too much. You see councilor Dent knows how to walk the line. He knows where the edge is. You Mr. Gorden, Do not know where the edge is."

"Mr. Mayor, kiss my behind!" I reply.

Bella POV

A little while later, the mayor is giving a speech to the people. "Dick Lovecraft suicide is a terrible, terrible tragedy. Fighting the trumped up charges of an overzealous police officer was too much for him. You have my word Dick this officer is being dealt with." The mayor replies glancing up at the sky.

I let out a deep growl and the man sighs shaking his head he knew that I wasn't going to like this not one bit. "What's he mean by that?"

"It means that the mayor is blaming an officer for this man making himself go bye bye. If he even if he didn't do it."

"Who?"

"I hate to be the one to give you the bad news, but he is blaming your friend Detective Gorden. I saw him packing up his desk earlier. He mentioned something about being assigned to Arkham Asylum as the new night guard."

At this, I out a deep growl my eyes flashing in anger. "The Mean poppyhead Maya is gonna pay for this!" I snarl. I watch as the two men exchange glances.