"There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature." ― Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

••• flashback •••

"I was beginning to think you forgot about me." Bird admitted as she took a seat across the table from her littel brother in one of the visting rooms.

"No." Bruce answered, "I've just been busy... and not entirely sure what I'd say when I got here."

"How are you?" She asked, looking him over as she commented, "You're looking too thin."

"I've gotten taller." He excused, his eyes dropping to the table as he spoke.

He wasn't there for a social visit, he'd came there on business and he had a feeling her eagerness to see him would quickly fade when she learned why he was there.

"Starling..." He breathed, clearing his throat. "It's nice to see you, but the truth is... I'm not really here to catch up."

"What's going on?" She asked, looking her little brother over before asking, "Is everything okay?"

"I'm here because..." Taking a deep breath; he found the strength to continue, "I'm here because... I think it would be best for everyone if you signed over your shares in Wayne Enterprises."

"What?" She scoffed, her eyes wide as she stared at him in shock.

"Signed them over to who? To you?" Her teeth gritted in a sudden bout of anger and she hissed, "Right now, little brother, I'd sooner sign them over to a stranger!"

"It's not that I want to take your shares." He defended, his eyes full of sadness as he continued, "This is about trying to keep control within the family. Together we own fifty-one percent of the company and with you being in here –with the crimes you committed-"

"You think I'm guilty?" Fire burned behind Bird's eyes and she couldn't remember there ever being a time when she was more upset with him in her entire life. "I've done some bad stuff, but I'm telling you I did not kill those people."

"I want to believe you." He said in a sincere tone, "I did believe you, but I've looked over the files myself –saw the amount of evidence against you and for now, at least, I just think it would be better to sign your shares of the company over before someone else manages to get their hands on them. You know how corrupt the company is and I can't keep fighting against it if I don't own the majority."

The look on her face sent a pain through his chest.
He didn't want to hurt her; she was already going through enough, but the more time that passed with her inside Arkham walls the longer the company had to make a move against her and he couldn't let that power fall into the wrong hands.

"Wow..." She breathed, rubbing her hands over her face and blowing out an exasperated breath.

"What?" He questioned, their eyes meeting as he spoke.

"I'm just trying to figure out exactly when you turned into the kind of person who likes to kick someone when they're already down." Bird admitted, shaking her head in disbelief as she spoke.

Her downfall had happened so fast that her head was still spinning, the same city that had held her family's name up on a pedestal with loving hands and her fellow citizens who'd mourned her parent's loss with her, had turned against her when word of her crimes had hit the streets.

It wasn't a nice feeling, knowing countless people in her community wanted her to spend her life behind bars –or even worse and pay the ultimate price for the charges against her.
It wasn't a good feeling, but even so it was something she could handle. But not this, not her brother turning against her.

Feeling like her own family; her brother whom she'd do anything to protect and keep safe, was turning on her felt like nothing short of jagged blade plunged into her heart.

It was a betrayal.

"That's not my intention." Bruce quickly said, but didn't get a chance to say much else before his older sister cut him off as she harshly questioned, "You intend to take away my claim in Wayne Enterprises while I'm locked up in these walls for something that I didn't do. How am I supposed to feel about it, Bruce?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but she caught him off guard as she hissed, "What's next? Try and strip me of the Wayne name since I was adopted?"

"No! Starling I-"

"Because you couldn't even if you tried!" She yelled over him when he attempted to argue with her. "I am a Wayne –by blood and I have just as much right to the family company as you do."

"What are you talking about?" He asked, his voice quieter and a look of confusion on his face.

"Lilith Wayne." Bird stated, arching an eyebrow as she continued, "Kind of the black sheep of the family and apparently my birth mother –go figure, right?"

"I've never heard of her." He admitted, and she could tell by the look on his face that he was skeptical of what she was saying.

"Neither had I, until recently that is." She conceded, "But it's the truth and seeing as how you like the play detective nowadays –you should start with Harvey. I've got a letter at home from dad, telling me the truth about it and if you ask, Harvey will give it to you."

Bruce stared back at her with an almost blank expression. He wanted to believe she was making the entire thing up to shake him.
Wanted to believe that his father wouldn't have kept something like that from them, but it seemed with each passing day came a new revelation about Thomas Wayne.

It seemed the strangest thing in the world to still be learning about someone's life long after they were gone. Most took their secrets to the grave with them, but it seemed as though his father had left all his behind.

The siblings looked over to the door when an orderly let them know that their visit needed to be wrapped up –she was only allowed a certain amount of time per vistor.

"I will look into what you've told me." Bruce said as he got to his feet, and watched his sister stand up and smooth out her Arkham inmate uniform.

Bird nodded and turned to head towards the door, but stopped abrupty when Bruce called after her. "Even if you're telling the truth, it doesn't change anything. This isn't personal and I'm not doing this to hurt you –but you know I will stop at nothing to clean up Wayne Enterprises. I've already procured a lawyer who assures me there is no way we would lose the case against you."

Slowly, she turned back around and stared at him with her mouth hanging slightly open.

"I'm sorry." He said in a voice barely over a whisper and a weak shrug to match.

"As am I little brother." She countered, turning back around to leave the room as she repeated, "As am I."

Once she was back in the main room for the inmates on her floor, Bird set her sights on the table where Richard Sionis was sitting.

Pulling in a deep breath she crossed the room and sat down across from him. He glanced at her from over the top of the book he was reading, feeling like he was having Deja Vue from over a week ago when she'd so brazenly chosen to sit with him at breakfast only to let him know how much she didn't appreciate his messing with her and having men provoke a fight with her just to see how much of a fighter she truly was.

"Bird." He greeted, his eyes going back to the words on the page.

Offering a smile she greeted, "Mr. Sionis... I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot last week."

"Is that so?" He asked, amusement heavy in his tone as his eyes didn't leave the book.

"To survive inside of this place, we need friends."

With a sigh, he closed the book and laid down on the table with a thud as he realized, "You want something."

When she didn't say anything he motioned with his hand as he asked, "What is it?"

"I need to get a message to someone on the outside... I need a favor from an old friend." Bird admitted, keeping the smile on her lips as she spoke.

"You have visitors nearly every day-"

"No." She argued, shaking her head back and forth, "This person can't exactly just walk in here during visiting hours and... well, frankly I don't want anyone knowing about this."

"I'm intrigued." He conceded. Removing his glasses and laying them on the book he'd been reading. "Leave us." He instructed the other inmates at the table, who as usual, followed his every command and immediately got up and scattered in different directions.

"Who is it you're wanting to get a message to?" Sionis asked once they were alone.

"Victor Zsasz." Bird answered.

"The assassin?" Sionis asked with a laugh, his eyes narrowing slightly at her as he questioned, "You're not plotting an escape are you?"

With a chuckle of her own Bird answered, "No, of course not. I will get out of here one day, but when that day comes I'm walking out of here a free person." Crossing her arms on the table in front of her she continued, "I have a life on the outside that I'm planning to pick up where I left off, and I can't do that if I'm having to live life on the lam. As I said... he's an old friend."

"One that you said you're looking to ask a favor of." He recalled, "And what favor might that be?"

"You know what he does-"

"Yes, but I want to hear you say it." He answered in a low tone, leaning partially over the table as he spoke.

Pulling in a deep breath Bird paused for a moment before she finally answered, "I have a problem that I need taken care of."

"That problem being a person?" Sionis pushed.

"Yes." Bird said through her gritted teeth.

"Was it not just a week ago you sat in that very seat preaching to me about how you don't kill people, that underneath it all you're not a savage?" Not giving her time to speak he continued, "What happened to that Bird?"

"I'm still that Bird." She defended, clearing her throat and sounding more like she was trying to convince herself of that. "All I'm asking is for your help to get a message to a friend. Will you help me or not?"

"I'll help you." He nodded, "Seeing as how we're friends now, I expect to see you at my table for meals and just spending more time out in here in general. I like to surround myself with like-minded people, strong people with the spirits of fighters –warriors."

"Okay." Bird agreed, nodding in thanks before she stood up and started to walk away.

"You should clean yourself up." He called after her, as he picked his book back up and resumed his reading. "At least brush your hair."

Bird came to a stop and pulled in a breath between her teeth, before slowly exhaling as she nodded in agreement without turning back around to face him.

••• end of flashback •••

A smile spread over Bird's face as she paid for the fresh cinnamon sugared twist doughnut and piping hot coffee. Sometimes it still felt strange to just be able to eat whatever she wanted –whenever she wanted.

Just as she sat down at small table in the corner of the bakery, her phone started to ring.

Pulling it from her jacket pocket, she stared at the number on the small front screen wondering who could be calling her.

Deciding to ignore the number, she laid her phone down on the table and picked up the doughnut , but just as she was about to take a bite, her phone started to ring again.

Seeing it was the same number as just moments before, Bird blew out a sigh and dropped the pastry back on her plate.

Flipping the phone open, she answered, "Hello?"

"Hey, best friend!"

"Hey, B." Bird greeted upon hearing Barbara's voice, "How's the new found freedom going?"

"Fabulous." Barbara said before her voice broke off into a laugh she asked, "Guess what?"

Grimacing as she burnt her tongue on the coffee, Bird hummed, "Hmm, it's far too early in the morning to play a guessing game."

"You're no fun." Barbara pouted, before saying, "I don't have long, I just wanted to call and tell you I missed you and..."

Bird's eyes darted back and forth as she waited for her to go on.

Finally Barbara said, "I saw the news footage of when you were released from Arkham. How sweet was it that Jim came to get you?"

Bird sat her cup of coffee down on the table and said, "I didn't really have anyone else to call-"

"Don't worry, B. I'm not mad." Barbara assured her with another laugh before she said, "I just think it's so nice that he was there for you when you needed someone and I thought you might want to return the favor."

"What are you-" Bird started to ask with an uneasy feeling rising in her stomach.

"Where are you?" Barbara cut her off.

"A bakery."

"Which one?"

"What is going on?" Bird sighed.

"Oh, nothing really... I was just wondering if you'd get to the police station in time." Barbara replied, sounding awfully happy.

"In time for what?"

"Nice chat, B. " Barbara breathed into the phone, before the line went silent.

Pulling the phone away from her ear, Bird dialed Jim's number but he didn't pick up.

"Damn it." She muttered under her breath as she looked down to the doughnut she'd been looking forward to ever since she'd woke up that morning; the one she no longer had time to eat.

•••

By the time Bird made it to the police station it was a scene of complete and utter chaos. Smoke grenades that had gone off made it nearly impossible to see. Men dressed as uniformed officers had opened fire in the main room with guns.

There were injured and dying men and women littering the floor, blood sprayed across desks and open files from where the detectives had been caught completely off guard.

Ducking down she moved as fast as possible while trying to remain alert and see if she could spot Jim among the chaos. Spotting one of the men holding an assault rifle, Bird ducked down behind a desk and tried to stay out of sight.

"Miss Wayne?"

Looking over she saw Nygma also hunkered down under the desk across from the one she was using, he was shielding a pretty red haired woman wearing glasses with his own body. Doing everything he could to keep her safe from the attack launched on the station.

"Ed." She whispered, "Where's Jim?"

"I-I don't know." He stammered.

Peeking out from under his arm, the woman asked, "How many gunmen are there?"

"I don't know." She admitted, eyeing her before she questioned, "Who are you?"

"I'm Kristen." She introduced herself at the same time Ed answered, "This is Miss Kringle."

"Ooh..." Bird breathed, realizing this was the woman Ed had killed Officer Dougherty over.

Another round of gunfire broke up from the level above them and Bird could hear the unmistakable laugh of Jerome Valeska echoing throughout the building.

As Nygma tried to readjust, he accidentally hit his head on the desk and the sound seemed to fill up every silent space around them.

"Oh my god..." Kristen whined, realizing their hiding spot had been blown as Nygma silently clutched onto his head with a pained expression.

"We have to get out of here!" Kristen said much louder than she meant to.

"Don't move." Bird instructed, with her hearing focused on the sound of approaching footsteps.

"We can't just-" Kristen tried to argue, but Bird shushed her and warned, "Don't move."

The trio sat in silence, listening to the footsteps grow closer. Bird scooted back under the desk more to stay completely out of sight and kept her breathing calm and line of sight focused on the floor.

Waiting until just the right moment, she swung her leg out, tripping the gunman and bringing him down to the floor with a hard thud. Without wasting a single second she scrambled out from under the desk and kicked the gunman in the side of the head with such force that when he stopped moving she wasn't sure if he was dead or just knocked out –and she didn't care.

Picking up the handgun he'd been carrying, Bird started to continue on her path and search to find Jim but stopped when she realized she was no longer on her journey alone.

Looking over her shoulder she saw with Nygma and Miss Kringle were following her.

"What are you doing?" She hissed at them.

"Following you." Kristen whisper-yelled back at her and Ed nodded in agreement, knowing sticking by Bird was going to be their safest bet on making it out of there alive.

"Why?" Bird demanded to know, but when neither of them answered it slowly started to dawn on her that they were looking to her for guidance in a life and death situation.
That for whatever reason they were now depending on her for their own wellbeing and her eyes widened –this wasn't something she was used to.

"Keep low and stay behind me." She sighed, rubbing her forehead with her free hand.

Once they turned down a hallway where several offices were located, Bird opened her mouth to tell them that they would probably be better off picking a room and locking the door behind them, but as she started to, Nygma said, "Shh! Do you hear that?"

Pulling in a breath, Bird slowly exhaled and as she did she heard a muffled scream coming from the medical examiners office.

Slowly closing in on the door she turned the handle and pushed it open to see that a man had Lee pinned against the wall with a hand around her throat and the other over her mouth as she fought to break free –but he was much too strong.

"Oh my god, Lee!" Kristen gasped, tears burning her eyes as she got a look past Bird at what was happening in the room.

The man spun around and Bird didn't waste any time bringing him down with a single shot to the head.

Lee slid down the wall onto the floor, holding on her throat, making choking noises and gasping to catch her breath as she stared up at Bird with wide eyes.

"I..." Lee choked out, "I heard gunshots and I tried to hide but that man came in here..." Her voice trailed off as she looked over to the dead body on the floor and then back to Bird as Nygma and Miss Kringle filed into the room.

"What the hell is going on out there?" Lee asked them, "Where's Jim?"

"I don't know." Bird said, "But I'm going to find him."

"You can't go out there. It's too dangerous." Lee argued with Bird as Nygma helped her up to her feet.

"What are we supposed to do?" Kristen questioned.

The confused look on Bird's face grew as she looked around, still not fully able to comprehend why anyone would be looking to her for leadership.

After all, she'd throw just about anyone under the bus to save herself.
Looking down she realized so far she'd possibly saved three lives, even when it would have simpler to just leave them and go on about her goal.

Maybe she really had changed in some ways more than she thought.

"Okay." Bird said, closing her eyes and formulating a plan. Looking back to the group, she nodded to the far wall and said, "You're going to lock the door behind me, and then stay against that wall over there. Stay away from the window on the door and hopefully if anyone looks in –they won't see you."

Looking between the three of them, Bird popped the clip out of the gun to see how many bullets were left. "You've got five rounds, so make them count."

With that she decided Lee seemed the most capable, and handed her the gun before repeating, "Lock the door behind me."

Once she was out of the office and heard the lock in the door click behind her, Bird looked down to her empty hands and shot a glance back at the door. She'd really left the weapon with them instead of taking it for own protection.
Not that she needed a gun to defend herself, but she wasn't usually the type to take away from herself to give to others.

Pushing the thoughts out of her head, she crept back through the police station. She spotted Jerome dressed in a GCPD police uniform and he had someone tied to a chair, through the hazy smoke still lingering –Bird thought it looked like Commissioner Essen, but she couldn't be sure.

Coming to a stop on the sidewalk she looked around for any sign of Jim or even a trace of Barbara. She didn't know what exactly was happening, but Jim wasn't inside the station.

Knowing there were more alleyways and empty buildings to the right of the station, she decided that was probably her best option at finding either of them.

She'd walked nearly a block away when an idea hit her and she was sure if it hadn't been from all the stress of people expecting her to protect them back at the precinct; the lightbulb would have went off much sooner.

Coming to a stop, she pulled her phone from her pocket and redialed the number that Barbara had called her from earlier.

She raised her head and looked around as she could just faintly hear the sound of a phone ringing nearby. She followed the sound until she found Barbara standing in an alley watching as Arkham escapee, Aaron Helzinger, had a severely beaten and bloody Jim Gordon pinned to the ground –delivering one powerful blow after another to the wounded detective's face.

"Aaron!" Barbara yelled when she spotted Bird, "That's enough."

Standing up he nodded and took a few steps backwards.

Bird's eyes fell to where part of a metal pipe lay on the ground not far away from where Jim was lying defenseless. She didn't know what the plan was now, for a moment she wondered if Barbara would actually command Aaron to attack her.

Her eyes dropped back to the pipe, knowing that physically she was nowhere near a match to go against Aaron Helzinger.
He was more beast than man and towered over her.
She'd once seen another inmate at Arkham dent their metal lunch tray on his head and he barely even flinched.

But his height and muscle mass slowed him down. He might have been bigger and stronger, but she was faster and he'd tire out in a fight long before she would.

"Relax, B. And stop eyeing that pipe, you don't need it." Barbara smiled widely, "You're my best friend. You really think I'd sic Aaron on you?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure what to think right now." Bird admitted. Eyeing where Jim was still lying on the ground, breathing roughly and moving around in pain. "Aside from the fact that he probably needs a doctor."

"Good thing he's dating one then." Barbara loudly called out, before dramatically cupping her hand her mouth to hold back a laugh.

As Barbara started to descend on where Jim was lying, Bird protectively moved forward but she didn't get far as Aaron blocked her path.

Kneeling down on top of Jim, Barbara shook him until he made a pained groan and his eyes fluttered open trying to focus as she leaned over him, "I'm not sick." Barbara stated, "I'm free... you don't get that. I could explain it but you should probably get back to work, who knows what went wrong while you were gone!"

"Plus..." She breathed, looking over her shoulder to where Bird was keeping a close eye on her, Barbara added, "Bird's got that rabid look in her eyes again and that's my cue to get out of here."

Grabbing a handful of Jim's hair and lifting his head up off the ground, Barbara leaned to the side so he could see where Bird was standing as she theatrically gasped, "She's scary when she's mad, isn't she?"

Seeming to grow bored from the entire ordeal, Barbara let go of his hair and let his head fall back and roughly hit the hard cement before she leaned down and planted a kiss on his cheek, coming back with his blood on her lips she smiled wickedly at him before standing up and walking towards Bird.

"Looks like you showed up a few minutes too late to help him." Barbara taunted as she faced her friend.

Knowing that a big reaction was more than likely what she was playing to get, Bird shrugged as she commented, "I don't know. Looks like he's still going to need some help getting out of here."

Throwing her head back and letting out a laugh, Barbara complimented, "If I didn't know you so well, I'd totally buy into that 'couldn't care less attitude'. You're so funny."

Leaning in she pressed a kiss to Bird's cheek, leaving behind a near perfect lip print shaped stain in Jim's blood before she walked away calling over her shoulder, "Bye, B. Love you!" While Bird stood in place; fists balled up at her sides and her jaw clenched in anger.

Bird's head slightly turned to the side she made sure Barbara and Aaron were out of sight before she rushed over to where Jim was still lying.

Sliding down to her knees, her eyes darted back and forth over his bruised and swollen face –covered in thick trails of blood. His suit was torn and dirty, holding its fair share of blood in the threading from where Aaron had literally picked him up and threw him against the side of the brick building.

His eyelids were still fluttering and he was having a hard time understanding what was going on around him with the loud ringing sounds coming from deep within his ears.

"Jim!" Bird yelled, her voice hoarse as she tapped on the side of his cheek and tried to get him to look at her. Pulling her hand back she looked down at the blood on her hand and swallowed hard, "Jim!"

She wasn't sure what he was trying to say when he opened his mouth, but all that came out was a pained groan.

"You have to get up." Bird stated, biting down on the side of her tongue as she watched his eyes trying to flutter open again. Pulling the sleeve of her jacket down over her hand she wiped the blood away from his eyes so he could see better, before taking his head in her hands and leaning down closer to his face.

"Can you hear me?" She asked.

"Yeah..." He groaned as the his ringing ears finally started to settle.

"Something happened at the police station." She admitted.

"What... what are you...what?" He croaked, still fighting to keep his eyes open and breathe heavily through the pain seeming to radiate from all over his entire body.

"Jim!" She loudly complained, shaking her head back and forth.
She knew he'd taken one hell of a beating, but she was sure at some point she'd probably been through worse and managed to still be aware of what was happening around her.

"Something happened at the station, okay? I think Jerome has Commissioner Essen and a lot of people are dead and for all we know Barbara isn't done have you tortured, so you have to get up. We can't just stay here waiting for her and Aaron –or someone else to come back." Allowing time for him to absorb the information, Bird questioned, "You understand?"

"Got it." Jim answered as he struggled to get sat up and then with Bird's help was able to get up to his feet.

"Whoa, hey... easy." Bird stammered out, as Jim nearly stumbled right back over within seconds of gaining his footing, and she rushed closer to keep him up.

He closed his eyes and waited for it the feeling of the world tilting and spinning around him to slow, before he nodded to where his service weapon was laying on the ground where it had fell during the struggle. Understanding, Bird picked the gun up and handed it to him.
Together, they started back towards the direction of the station with Bird at his side, keeping a close eye on him in case he either started to fall again or passed out.

Once they got inside the doors, Jim came to a staggering stop when he saw the carnage on display in front of him. The entire stumbling walk there, he'd been preparing himself for possibly walking into a warzone. He was ready to fight and defend his brothers and sisters in arms –but he was too late to do anyone any good.

There were bodies all over the floor in puddles of blood, some detectives lying dead over their desks. Blood spatter had painted the room red and the only sound was cries and agonized noises from the severely wounded.

"What do we do?" Bird quietly asked, looking over to Jim before commenting, "Not like calling 911 will do us any good..."

Jim turned his head and shot her a look, but Bird shrugged as she pointed out, "I'm not trying to be funny." Looking him over she said, "I think you should sit down."

Hearing the sounds footsteps, Bird looked over to see Lee kneel down next to one of the fallen officers and feel for a pulse.

"Lee?" Jim called out to her.

"Jim!" She yelled, turning around and rushing over to where he and Bird were standing.

"Are you hurt?" He questioned.

"No. I'm –I'm okay." She assured him, looking over at Bird and thinking to herself that if she hadn't shown up when she did, things could have gone a whole different route.

"Where were you?" Lee asked him.

"Barbara was here... she lured me away." Jim explained.

Seeing how he was swaying as he tried to stand still, Lee said, "Jim, you need to sit down."

"That's what I told him." Bird commented.

"No." Jim argued with them, holstering his gun before he brushed past Lee and called out, "Essen?"
Seeing a few of the officers who'd survived the attack, gathered up on the platform he moved towards them as fast as he could.

Both Bird and Lee followed him up onto the platform where Sarah Essen was bleeding out on top of one of the desks, her once white blouse now a deep crimson.

Stepping up to the table, Lee felt for a pulse on the commissioner's neck –but it was weak and quickly fading. Each gasping breath she pulled in had a deaths rattle deep within her chest and Lee turned to face him as she silently shook her head back and forth.
She wasn't going to make it.

Kneeling down to her, Jim pleaded, "Hang on. Boss? Boss, stay with me... breathe."

"It's a new day, Jim..." She strained out the same words she'd said to him after being named commissioner and giving Jim his badge back, her lips weakly curving up into a smile just before she took her last breath and the last signs of life left her body.

Closing his eyes, Jim hung his head. Sarah Essen had been one of the good ones since he'd first started at the GCPD well over a year before.
Even though she'd only been gone for a very short time, the city already felt like a darker place.

•••

Bird stepped over a puddle of blood on the floor and looked around the busy precinct. Emergency crews had responded to the distress call, along with police still arriving from nearby cities.

The dead and severely wounded had already been moved, while EMT's were tending to the more mild cases there in the station.

A small smile toyed at the corner of her lips as she saw Nygma sitting up on one of the desks getting his arm bandaged up, while a concerned Miss Kringle hovered over him with some aspirin in her hand and a cup of water for him.

Good for him, she thought to herself, good for him. The night he'd killed Officer Dougherty, from what Ed had told her; it sounded like he was in love with her, but the love was unrequited.

Kristen smiled at Ed again, knowing that if he hadn't rushed to her aid and knocked her down, using his own body to shield and protect her –then she had no doubt she'd have been killed –or at the very least injured.
When the station first came under attack, she'd froze up in place. Bullets were flying all the room, ricocheting off of hard surfaces and she couldn't do anything but stand there.
She hadn't even a clue that Nygma had that much bravery in him –that he'd risk his life to save her.

As Bird passed behind them, Kristen looked at her and smiled before giving Bird's arm a small squeeze and a nod of thanks. She was alive, breathing and well because Bird had fearlessly taken down the man who was coming along to pick off survivors and then led them to safety. It was a sad day in Gotham, but even in the tragedy she found a few things; a few people to be thankful for.

"Bird." Turning around she saw Jim coming towards her.

"Hey." She breathed, "I think I'm going to go-"

"You saved lives today." He stated, cutting her off.

"Please." Bird cracked a smile as she spoke, "I don't think Barbara was going to let Aaron kill you, she just wanted you to suffer-"

"I'm not talking about me." He pointed out, stepping closer, "Lee told me how you led Nygma and Kristen Kringle to safety –how you even saved her."

"Yeah, well, don't go naming me a saint just yet. I mainly helped because Ed is a friend." Pausing to take a breath, she added, "And I've been known to do some pretty stupid things for the sake of my friends."

"Don't downplay it." Jim argued with her.

"Whatever." Bird excused, waving a hand through the air, "It's not a big deal-"

"Thank you." He loudly said over her protests, before repeating "You saved people today."

Looking around at the remnants of the attack on the station, Jim turned back to Bird and asked, "What were you even doing here?"

"Trying to find you." She admitted, tucking her hair behind her ears before carefully admitting, "Barbara called me this morning. She said she saw the news footage of when I was let out of Arkham and how sweet it was for you to be there to help me. Then... she said she thought I might like to return the favor and help you in your hour of need and so here I am."

"Gordon!" One of the surviving officers called out and motioned for him to come over.

"Do me a favor and hang around here a while longer,okay? I want to know every word she said to you on the phone and get someone to run a trace on the number." Jim said, before turning to walk away.

"It's pointless, you know!" She called after him, "Barbara's not stupid. Probably just a burner phone she's already ditched somewhere." With that she blew out a sigh and wandered back over to where Nygma and Miss Kringle were at.

Jim had just finished signing a few papers and speaking with some of the emergency responders, wanting to know when they'd have an exact tally of how many were lost or killed during the attack, when he heard Bruce's frantic voice call out, "Detective Gordon!"

Turning around he saw the teenager rushing towards him with Alfred jus mere steps behind. He gave a nod to the ones he'd been talking to, letting them know they'd finish up later, so he could give Bruce his attention for the moment.

"I... I saw the news. I was worried something happened to you." Bruce admitted, his eyes taking in the sigh of the badly beaten and bloodied detective as he softly added, "I'm very relieved."

"Me too." Jim said, his expression not giving much away.

The last time he'd spoke to the youngest Wayne sibling had been a while ago. Just days after he'd been fired from the GCPD entirely, he'd went to Wayne Manor to do the standup thing and deliver the news in person to Bruce that he wasn't going to be able to keep the promise he'd made about not giving up on finding out who killed his parents and apologize for that fact.

The conversation had taken a turn and he'd been entirely honest when questioned about hope for reinstatement of his badge, he admitted that his only chance at getting his job back would be to collect a debt for Oswald Cobbelpot.

He'd expected understanding from Bruce at the very least on why doing a demeaning task like that could turn ugly and might not be worth the payout. But to his surprise, Bruce had lectured him on how he'd spoke of finding his parents' murderer, making the city safer and cleaning up the department.
All the good things he'd hoped to do, but wouldn't be able to now that he'd lost his job.

Even went so far as to accuse him of sacrificing the greater good for his own sense of dignity and self-esteem. A fact that caught him entirely off guard, especially since he'd spoke to Bird in Arkham just the day before and she'd warned him against going through with it.

'Surely sometimes the right, is also the ugly way' –is what Bruce had told him. Words that played over in his head as was on his way to collect the debt, which had resulted in his having to kill the man he was going to see.

It certainly came a cost, but he'd gotten his job back. Collected the debt and Oswald had followed through on his end of the promise and forced Loeb into retirement so a new police commissioner would be named and Jim could be reinstated.

"The, uh..." Bruce stammered, "The last time we spoke, I was very hard on you and I wanted to apologize." His voice cracked with emotion, "You've been a really good friend."

Slowly, he stepped forward before quickening his pace and throwing his arms around Jim. He didn't have many people left in the world that he was close to, not many who truly cared about him without expecting something in return and it was weighing heavily on his heart and his mind that he could have lost one of them that day.

Bird said goodbye to Nygma and Miss Kringle as they left and then hopped up on a desk and looked around, her eyes stopping on where Jim was hugging her little brother. A small smile spread over her lips as she watched them.

If someone had told her a year and a half ago when Jim Gordon first entered their lives that he'd end being so important to them both, Bird would have laughed in their face. To begin with she couldn't stand the overly self-righteous detective –and now here she was rushing to his aid without a second thought and when she referred to him as a friend, she genuinely meant it.

She watched them talking for a little while before Jim looked over in her direction and then Bruce turned around to see her. Her eyes widened slightly as she sat up straighter and wondered what they were saying about her.

She hadn't seen her brother since the day he'd came to Arkham to say he was going to try and take her shares in the family company away. She was so angered by it that she'd had his name added to a list of people not allowed to visit her and had only spoken to him on the phone less than a handful of times after that.

When Bruce started to walk towards her, Bird slid off the desk and stood to face her little brother who was nearly as tall as her.

She started to open her mouth to ask him what he was doing there, but she didn't get the chance. He didn't even slow down, just walked right up to her and hugged her so fast and forcefully that it nearly knocked her over.

"I'm sorry." He apologized, still holding onto her tightly, "Out of everyone, I should have been the one to believe you when you said you were innocent."

She swallowed hard and tried to control her breathing as emotions started to get the best of her.

"I was so mad at you." Bird admitted, as she finally raised her arms and held onto him just as tightly as he was clutching onto her.

"You have every right to feel that way. I understand." Bruce assured her, finally stepped back as he empathized, "You must have felt so betrayed."

"I did." She agreed with the corners of her mouth drooping down into a frown.
Back when she was still in Arkham, she'd swore that she was never going to forgive him; she'd been so sure the anger and resentment was going to last forever.

But now as she stood there facing her little brother, who wasn't so little anymore, she couldn't feel the burning of red rage bubbling inside her any longer. He was growing up, becoming a man and it wasn't like she hadn't made her fair share of mistakes at his age.

You live and you learn and here he was taking the first step and apologizing –how could she still be mad at him?

"I want you to come by Wayne Manor." Bruce said.

Nodding and thinking he was just wanting to catch up, Bird nodded, "Okay, well, I'm sure Harvey and I could come over for dinner at some point this week-"

"No." He cut her off, "I meant just you. There is something you need to see... it's about dad."

Bird's forehead lined with confusion as she stared at him.

"Master Bruce, we'd best be on our way. I believe we're in the way of all these fine officers trying to do their job and we've been in their way long enough," Alfred said as he walked up to them.

Nodding in agreement, Bruce said goodbye to his sister and reminded her that she needed to come by their family's home soon.

Waiting until he was out of earshot, Alfred stepped up to Bird and said, "How are you holding up?"

"Hanging in there." She shrugged and attempted to joke, "Life on the outside takes a little getting used to."

"Mhmm..." He hummed, his voice lowering as he added, "You know the lawyer Master Bruce had retained in the case against you?"

Not giving her time to respond; he added in a knowing tone, "Disappeared without a trace. Strange isn't it?"

Not showing any reaction, she gave a shrug and questioned, "How could I have had anything to do with that? I was locked in the looney bin."

Alfred gave her a hard stare before he nodded, "Take care Lady Wayne. Sounds as though we can be expecting your presence at the house soon."

Bird watched as Alfred and Bruce left before she let out the breath she'd been holding.
She knew very well that her brothers lawyer was missing –a hefty withdrawal from one of her accounts had insured Victor Zsasz took care of the problem for her. A fact she'd never let her brother find out, though in her mind she tried to justify that at least the blood wasn't on her own hands this time around.

With that thought she looked down and realized she still hadn't had the chance to wash Jim's blood off her hands yet. With a scrunched expression, she wiped her hands on the jeans but it didn't matter since the blood had already dried.

She was on her way towards the bathroom, when she spotted Jim walking into Essen's office and she changed course and followed him.

"Hey." Bird breathed as she walked into the office and found Jim staring at the desk and empty chair, "I'd as if you were okay, but..."

He looked over his shoulder at her, remembering saying the same thing to her right after she'd gotten out of the asylum.

"We still need to go over everything Barbara said to you on the phone." He reminded her, as he stepped forward and picked up a pad of paper off the desk.

"Okay." Bird nodded, "Can I at least wash your blood off my hand first?" With an arched brow she added, "Not a huge fan of the feeling."

Jim opened his mouth, but his gaze went past Bird to the doorway. Looking over her shoulder she saw Bullock headed towards them.

He walked in the room and looked at the desk before directing his attention to his old partner and stating, "Essen was a good woman."

"And a good cop." Jim added.

Bullock moved his suit jacket to the side revealing the detectives badge on his belt.

Jim had tried a few times since rejoining the force to convince him to come back, but he's made it clear the he'd moved on and found a life and happiness after his time at the GCPD and wasn't looking to come back.

"It's good to see you." Jim said, walking closer to where he was standing, "But you don't have to come back to teh force."

"Let's not talk about it." Bullock swallowed, "We are who we are, right? No use fighting it."

Bird's gaze dropped to the floor at his words and she took a couple steps back, intending to slip out the door and leave them to talk but one of the officers darted into the office, "Guys, you need to see this."

He switched on the tv and stood back so everyone else could see what he was talking about.

"I'm reporting live from the scene of the GCPD massacre. We have just obtained video footage of the attack recorded by one of the assailants. I want to warn those of you watching, what you're about to see is very graphic." The reporter on screen cautioned the audience.

Bullock and Jim exchanged looks and Bird moved closer to the tv to see what was going on.

There was a pause of white screen while the footage loaded until the image of a dying police officer was on the screen with a gunshot wound on his chest bleeding through the blue uniform.

The camera tilted and the was being raised until the blood spattered face of Jerome Valeska was center screen.

"Hello, Gotham City! We're the Maniax. And I'm Jerome, the shot caller of our little gang. We're here to spread the message of wisdom and hope." He said, until the wounded officer in the background made a pained noise and the smile on Jerome's face turned to an expression of annoyance. Pulling the gun from the holster of the stolen police uniform he was dressed in, Jerome shot the officer and looked back into the camera, "Some people have no manners."

"My god..." Bullock breathed, a look verging somewhere between disgust and hatred emerging on his face.

"You're all prisoners. What you call sanity, it's just a prison in your minds that stops you from seeing that you're just little tiny cogs in a giant absurd machine." Jerome spoke loudly, each word full of conviction, "Wake up! Why be a cog? Be free like us."

He burst into another fit of laughter and Bird shook her head.
That damn laugh of his, the one that she'd once found entertaining, always seemed to burrow so deep inside of her skull that sometime it took days before it would stop haunting her.

"Just remember, smile." Jerome added, before breaking out into another fit of laughter and panning the camera to show the bloody mess he and the Maniax were leaving behind them. "Time to go. But don't worry. We'll be back very soon. Hang on to your hats, folks. 'Cause you ain't seen nothing yet!"

The screen faded to black with the sound of his laughing still playing through the speakers until everything fell into silence and Jim shut the television off.

Bullock looked over to Bird, his eyes landing on red stain on her cheek and he leaned in some and squinted as he questioned, "What is that? Is it blood, looks like a lip print..."

Reaching a hand up and feeling the dried blood, Bird nodded, "Yeah, Barbara kissed me."

Shaking his head Bullock looked back to Jim, "I warned you about Barbara back in the day."
Jutting a thumb towards Bird he added, "About this one too, but you still got her hanging around."

Jim gave him an unamused expression and Bird rolled her eyes, "Ha-ha"

•••