"Love blurs your vision; but after it recedes, you can see more clearly than ever. It's like the tide going out, revealing whatever's been thrown away and sunk: broken bottles, old gloves, rusting pop cans, nibbled fishbodies, bones. This is the kind of thing you see if you sit in the darkness with open eyes, not knowing the future." ― Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye

•••

Giving up on towel drying her freshly washed hair, Bird wrapped a towel around her head and sat down on the side of her bed; she looked down at her cellphone screen listing out the several missed calls from Harvey Dent that she'd ignored that morning.

She wasn't sure why he kept calling her, he hadn't left a voicemail to give any clues –and she wasn't sure she was ready to talk to him yet.

Her eyes cut over to where her engagement ring was sitting on her nightstand and she blew out a breath, wondering if he was calling to remind her how she hadn't been back to the house to collect anymore of her belongings.

Her concentration was broken when there was a knock on her door, sliding off the bed she crossed the room and pulled the door open expecting to either see Oswald or one of the kitchen staff with her breakfast.

"Good morning." Erin greeted her client with a tight smile.

"Erin?" Bird's eyebrows furrowed as she stared back at her lawyer and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Walking past her, Erin looked around the large bedroom before turning back to face her and saying, "You're due at the police station in less than an hour for questioning. There's no way you're walking in there without proper legal counsel."

Seeing the confused look on Bird's face, Erin cocked her head to the side and explained, "Harvey called me –apparently GCPD showed up at your house bright and early this morning to bring you in for questioning on the attack at Hobbs' campaign office a few days ago."

"Jim called me yesterday." Bird admitted, "Left a voicemail saying I needed to come in on my own free will for questioning or Barnes was going to have me brought in."
Shaking her head she sighed, "I didn't expect them to go by the house looking for me."

"So here is what's going to happen now." Erin said as she walked over and opened the closet to survey the sparse amount of clothing, "You're going to put on something nice. Preferably a dress –beige or some other neutral color to appear as least threatening as possible."

With a sigh at not only the limited amount of clothing, but also at the fewer color choices, she pulled the closet doors shut and said, "We'll stop on the way and get you something new to wear."

"None to very light make-up." Erin continued, motioning at Bird's face, "Makes you look younger. More vulnerable."

"This is stupid." Bird argued with her.
Knowing there was nothing to actually tie her to the crime they wanted to ask her about. She'd worn gloves and kept her face covered.

"I'm going to do most of the talking." Erin added, as she started fishing around in her oversized designer purse and pulled out a small notepad, "Now, on the night in question-"

"I was working with Victor Zsasz." Bird openly admitted.

"No." Erin scolded, shooting her a look and then reading from the notepad, "You were at the house you and Harvey Dent share."

"Wait... what?" Bird's forehead lined with confusion, but before she could ask much else her lawyer added, "For dinner the two of you cooked asparagus and lemon risotto and spent the rest of the night talking about a variety of personal things that is none of the GCPD's concern. Time got away from you and before you knew it was well after midnight and so you stayed over –you took the bed because he offered to sleep on the couch."

"The couch?" Bird repeated back with her head spinning and confused expression growing by the second.

"That detail is important." Erin nodded, "He was downstairs so if you'd come down to leave, he would have woken up. You didn't leave the house for the any reason –not even to step outside for fresh air. You did not leave the house. Okay?"

"No!" Bird shook her head, "None of this okay. Did you tell him to lie to the cops for me?"

Seeing the angry expression and unmistakable hostile edge her voice had taken, Erin held the notepad out for Bird to take and explained, "I'm just here relaying the message. When the police came knocking this morning and asking questions –that's is the story he gave them. So you need to memorize and repeat this back at the station as if it's fact."

Looking down to the notepad, Bird closed her eyes and let out a defeated breath at seeing it was written down in Harvey's writing.
For whatever reason, he had lied to the police and covered for her.

Handing it back to Erin, Bird realized and said out loud, "He lied for me because he thinks I must be guilty."

"You are guilty." Erin chimed in.

"Exactly, so if the truth does come out... he can into trouble for lying."

"Like I said, you need to memorize your alibi." Erin nodded.
Looking Bird over; she said, "Come on, get dressed. We've got a few stops to make before we show up at the police station."

Bird pulled the towel off of her nearly dried hair and tossed it over onto the foot of the bed on her way to the closet.

"What the hell did you do to your hair?" Erin gasped, her eyes widening as she rushed forward to get a better look.

"I cut it-"

"Not very well." Erin agreed as she saw the uneven ends and jagged angles, "We have to fix this."

"I tried to before I showered." Bird shrugged, "But I think I just made it worse."
She watched as Erin disappeared into her bathroom for a few minutes before returning with a pair of scissors and guiding her client over to the seat in front of the large vanity.

"We already have to stop for clothes, we don't have time to stop at a salon." Erin called over her shoulder as she opened up the dark curtains to allow the morning sunlight to fill the room.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Bird asked her, but it was clear from her body language that she didn't even care.

"I put myself through law school." Erin stated, stepping up behind Bird and plucking a comb up from the vanity, "On a good week –I was lucky to afford to live off Raman Noodles. Spending money on even a cheap haircut was out of the question."

Picking the towel up that Bird had thrown onto the bed, Erin draped it over Bird's shoulders to catch the hair clippings. "I know it doesn't come easily for you, but just trust me."

Shrugging, Bird avoided eye contact with her through the large vanity mirror, "My hair is the least of my problems. I honestly couldn't care less how it looks."

"Well, I do care." Erin blew out a breath as she started to even out the tips, "You need to look a lot more put together and a lot less like you got into a fight with Edward Scissorhands."

The room fell into silence as Erin continued to fix the disaster that Bird had made of her own hair, until she finally asked, "Why'd you cut it?"

"I don't know."

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me."

"No." Bird sighed, "I really don't have an answer to give. I don't know why I did it. One minute I felt like everything was just spiraling out of control and crumbling around me and the next I was chopping away at my hair and things started to still for a minute."

Without being prompted to give up more information, Bird swallowed hard, "That same night I was also really terrible to my brother and I don't have answer for why I acted like that either."

"If anyone asks about your hair, we're going to say you wanted a change. A fresh start." Erin corrected, before her professionalism faded and real concern showed on her face, "Do I need to be worried?"

"No." Bird answered, "I've got the story memorized. I can spend this morning putting on a friendly smile, acting cooperative and lying about how I didn't kill someone earlier this week."

"I'm not talking about your public image." Erin argued, as she worked on changing the part in Bird's hair over to one side inside of right down the middle, "I mean about you –about your mental state."

"What mental state?" She nearly snorted her response, "Just little ole' Bird, crazy as ever-"

"You're not crazy."

"You might just be the only person on earth who believes that then."

Stepping around the side, Erin made a few more last minute adjustments to Bird's hair and instructed her to keep the part off centered to make the unevenness look more like a trendy style then a mistake.

Erin began, "When I first agreed to take your case earlier this year –I only did so because of how long I'd been on your father's legal team-"

"Don't." Bird stood up and pushed the towel off her shoulders onto the floor then turned to face her, "Don't call him that. Real fathers don't backhand their daughters when they step out of line, they don't have their boyfriends beat up to teach them a lesson and they sure as hell don't up and disappear on them."

"Fair enough..." Erin breathed, "My point being that Carmine was always good to me and truth be told –that was the reason I agreed to take your case."

Bird's jaw tensed and she crossed her arms over her chest as she waited for the next probable insult about to be hurled her way.

"But I'd like to think in all these months of working for you, that I've gotten to know a good portion about you. Don't forget that I was right there with you through it all." Erin tucked her shoulder length dark auburn hair behind her ear and her shoulders dropped, "I wasn't sure what to think of you in the beginning, but then I saw it all happening. It didn't matter which judge we tried to pay off –something always happened. I used every single legal and illegal loophole and maneuver I knew and none of it mattered."
Her eyes locked with Bird's, "Someone framed you and they did a horrifyingly good job at it. I know being in Arkham wasn't a cake walk and I'm sure you've still got some things you need to work through from that, but one thing I'm sure of is that you are not crazy."

"What if I said that sometimes I really feel like maybe I am going crazy?" Bird's voice was soft and unsure.

"Then I'd say that someone must be going to extreme lengths to make you feel that way." Erin's tone was unwavering and Bird found herself envious of that confidence.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt that sure about anything.

•••

"Look at me." Erin instructed as she and Bird stood next to the chairs they'd been instructed to wait by at the police precinct.

When Bird did as she was instructed, Erin pulled a make-up bag from her own purse and started to dust Bird's cheeks with a light shade of blush.

Eyeing the large bag, Bird breathed, "Good god, what else do you carry in that thing?"

Cracking a smile Erin said, "Shush. I'm trying to make you look human."

"Thanks." Bird's voice was dripping in sarcasm.
She ducked away from mascara wand that Erin was now holding, "And you told me not to wear any make-up."

"That was before I got a look at you under the florescent lighting." Erin argued, instructing her to hold still and open her eyes wide, "Your color is off. We want you to look soft –not sickly."

"Are you eating?" Erin pushed.

Bird held back a laugh at the question.
Her stomach was tied up in constant knots and no matter what she did, she couldn't seem to rid herself of the nauseas feeling that was plaguing her day and night since she'd learned Theo Galavan had abducted Oswald's mother and been responsible for seemingly everything else wrong in their lives.

"When I can." Bird answered with a shrug before commenting, "But I am getting plenty to drink these days."

"Mhmm..." Erin hummed, handing her a small tube of tinted lip balm and sternly saying, "You better be talking about water and not the hard stuff."

"This is wrong." Bird finally exclaimed, unable to hold her thoughts in any longer, "This whole thing is ridiculous. They have absolutely nothing tying me to what happened at Hobbs' campaign office!"
Leaning in she lowered her voice, "And Harvey lying to the cops... he can't be doing that for me. All he's going to do is get himself in a mess of trouble."

"That's something you need to take up with him." Erin pulled something from her pocket and held her hand out to Bird, "Put this on." She instructed as she dropped the engagement ring she'd swiped off of Bird's nightstand in her hand.

Bird looked down to the diamond ring resting in her palm and then back up to her lawyer with a pained and angry expression.
"No." She argued.

That ring symbolized a version of herself that she wasn't anymore. It was a reminder of the life that could have been. Something that she'd worked and sacrificed for –all of the heartache and wasted effort that that path had ended in.

It might have just been a piece of jewelry –diamonds fixed on a delicate braided white gold band, but it hurt to even look at it; let alone wear it.

"You're unsure about your future with Harvey-" Erin's eyebrows raised as she tried to drive the point home.

"I'm not doing this." Her headshake of rejection was nearly frantic, "I cannot do this."

"Look, I know this isn't pleasant, but your alibi is that you and Harvey are trying to work things out... that's why you were back at the house that night. We need to sell that and if you end up being questioned by one of the few good detectives on the force then they're going to notice you not wearing the ring." Erin's tone was empathetic, but she wasn't backing down.

She knew what she was asking of Bird was going to be emotionally trying, but it would help sell their lie.
After all, she may not have had the reputation of being the most soft and sensitive lawyer out there, but she was damn good at what she did and that's why she'd been hired in the first place.

As painful as it might have been for her client, she wasn't in the business of mending broken hearts, she was in the criminal defense business and she'd do anything to win.

"You may not want him involved in this, but it's too late for that. He involved himself the moment he chose to lie to the police and it may be difficult to accept but the hard truth is that this is a win for us –for you. So put that ring back on." Erin's words hung thickly in the air around Bird, until she finally slid the white gold band onto her finger and let her hand fall at her side.

Erin glanced around them, "Something else you probably don't want to hear... but, now might not be the best time to distance yourself from Harvey Dent."

Bird's eyebrows furrowed.

"You're not public enemy number one, but you're also not exactly winning any popularity contests and you're choosing to surround yourself with the likes of people like Penguin. In doing that, you are putting yourself at risk for going down for any number of crimes." Erin huffed, "He might fancy himself a king –but the truth is he doesn't have the money, influence or following that Falcone did and it's my professional opinion that it's only a matter of time until either someone else rises up to take this throne or the police and DA's office go after him. You need to be as far away from him as possible when that day comes."

"Did you miss the part about Harvey and I breaking up? Erin, even if I wanted to try and get back in his good graces, I couldn't-"

"He took it upon himself to lie and protect you. He still loves you. You can use that to your benefit." Erin urged, leaving Bird with a sour taste in her mouth.

"Use him, you mean?"

"We all use each other in one way or another, Bird."

"I won't do that –not to him. I think I've screwed his life up enough..." She shook her head, knowing the entirety of the blame wasn't on her, "We've done enough to each other."

"Your decision." Erin held her hands up in surrender, "I'm just saying that you need to be looking out for yourself and keeping people that are well respected in the community close, is a good start. Having the right people willing to bend their morals and the truth in your favor goes a long way to keeping yourself out serious trouble."

Leaning down some to get a better look at Bird's face and try to get her to make eye contact, Erin added, "Just like before, when they brought homicide charges against you, I told you to keep Jim Gordon, that detective friend of yours, close. That having someone on the inside of the GCPD really being on your side could be a saving grace."

"I did keep Jim close!" Bird growled under her breath, as she geared up to argue that she wasn't going to use him either –someone cleared their throat from behind her.

Bird whirled around to see Jim.
She wasn't sure how long he'd been standing there, but she gathered from the angered and pained look of betrayal on his face that he must have been there for quite some time.

Her eyes met his and she could practically see the thoughts running through his head as if they were stamped right on his face.
Regretting ever spending so much visiting her in Arkham and probably kicking himself for ever thinking there was anything redeemable about her.

What she wouldn't give to just take back the last couple minutes of conversation.
In that moment, seeing the hurt look in his eyes –she'd have given every penny she owned to reverse the clocks.

"Jim..." Bird breathed, starting a sentence that she had no idea how to finish.

"Detective Gordon." Erin greeted him as if he hadn't just stumbled upon them talking about him, she walked in front of Bird and broke the staring contest between them, "I think your department has taken up enough of my clients time for today, so unless someone is finally ready to question her, I'm going to have to insist that we reschedule-"

"We're ready." He gruffly interrupted as he nodded for them to follow him towards one of the interrogation rooms.

After he showed them into the room, he turned to leave without another word to either of them.

"Jim?" Bird asked, her voice a little unsteady, "Where are you going?"

"I've got work to do." He replied with a heavy sigh, as if it was now a burden to just be in the same room with her.

"I don't understand." Bird admitted at the same time Erin reminded him, "You just said you were ready..."

"Captain Barnes will be here any minute." He let them know that he wasn't the one who was going to be questioning Bird.

With that, he left the room nearly slamming the door behind him.

Once they were alone, Erin commented, "Give him some time to cool down, then you should try and smooth things over."

"Why?" Bird asked, not even turning around to face her, "What's the point?"

"Several reasons." She shrugged, "But let's start with how much you genuinely care about him."

Whipping her head and looking at her from over her shoulder, Bird opened her mouth to protest but Erin didn't give her a chance, "I'm not blind, Bird. And I'm a lawyer, so don't think for a second that you'd be able to argue your case against me."

"Even if I did... care..." She swallowed and turned to face her, before shrugging in defeat and asking, "You know those people you meet and it doesn't matter if they're in your life for a week or ten years –somehow you end up better for just knowing them?"

When Erin nodded, Bird's head cocked to the side and she finished, "I'm the exact opposite. I can just cross paths someone and their lives end up infinitely altered for the worst."

"Causing destruction on catastrophic scales?" Erin's painted red lips curved up into a smile, "You're just one person."

"Maybe some people are just born sick." Bird shrugged as she pulled a chair away from the table to sit down, "And they just go through lives spreading it around like a virus to everyone who gets too close."

Sitting down next to her, Erin warned, "You need to pull it together. Now isn't the time to have some emotional collapse. That will just have to wait until later when you're behind closed doors and out of the public eye, got it?"

"I'm not going to have some breakdown." Bird argued with her, as she reached up and felt the freshly cut ends of her newer shorter hairstyle.

Her eyes drifted back towards the closed door of the room and as much as she tried to push the image of Jim's betrayed expression from her mind –she just couldn't.

She was used to having him angry at her –she'd even been known to get under his skin on purpose just to get a reaction.

But this was different; she hadn't just pissed him off.
He was nearly as talented as she was at hiding emotions and keeping a stone exterior, but she'd seen past it. That or he didn't even bother trying to hide; either way she knew what he'd overheard had cut deep.

It went past his being mad.
She'd actually hurt him.

"Morning." Captain Nathaniel Barnes announced as he opened the door and walked into the room, eyeing the two women he apologized, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Good morning." Erin greeted with a smile that looked far more like a smug smirk, "That's quite alright. I imagine you're still trying to get settled into your new office and role here at the GCPD."
Leaning forward over the table some as she watched Barnes sit down from across them, she continued, "Which is why I'm a little surprised you didn't have one of your subordinates handle this little meeting."

Looking between them, Barnes admitted, "We're all hands on deck right now. Unfortunately, I had to fire several officers my first day on the job; bribery, drug abuse, extortion, racketeering."
His gaze fixed on Bird when he added, "Many things are no longer being tolerated around here, Miss Wayne."

Erin arched a brow, "Cleaning up the department and the city?" She let out a low whistle, "Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you."

Before he could reply, Erin explained, "Let's cut to the chase then, shall we? Bottom line is you have no evidence of my client's involvement or she'd be in cuffs right now. She has an alibi for the night in question and no plausible reason for wanting Hobbs dead. Besides, from what I've heard you should be out there looking for Victor Zsasz."

"We are." He said with an abrupt nod, "But the attack on the campaign headquarters was carried out by two assailants. One of them has indeed been identified as Victor Zsasz. The second, however, was female."

Bird kept the same expression on her face, not looking at all phased by his words.

The knowledge of someone else being there had to have come from Hobbs after the police moved him into protective custody, she had ran into the room where he was to warn Victor of the GCPD's descent on the building.
All of his security detail had been killed and the strike-force would have barely caught a glimpse of her as she fled the scene.

She'd worn gloves and shielded her face with a bandana, the only person capable of actually identifying her would have been Jim Gordon. But she knew he wasn't going to say anything to anyone –admitting that would be an admission that he'd willingly let a criminal flee a crime scene and how he'd sat on that information for days after the fact.

"I'm sorry?" Erin's sharp laugh cut through the otherwise silent room, "You're admitting that the only lead you have on the case is that the second suspect is female? That's hardly a leg to stand on."

"It's certainly a start." Barnes argued, keeping his sights on Bird, "Miss Wayne, where were you the night Hobbs' office was under attack?"

"At my house." Bird stated.

"The house you own and share with District Attorney, Harvey Dent?"

"That would be the one." She nodded.

"I believe your officers already got his statement." Erin chimed in.

Ignoring her, Barnes questioned, "Did you leave the house at all that night? Maybe even stepped out pick up the mail or run to a gas station... pick up dinner? Anything?"

"No." Bird answered, "We pretty much spent the whole night talking. We stayed in."

"Talked the entire night away?" His eyebrows lifted.

"We, uh..." Bird breathed, letting the heartache she was still feeling show on the surface as her eyes drifted down to her engagement ring, "We called off our wedding a little while ago and we're just trying to figure out where we stand now. You know, if there's any chance that we could work past this. If we really decide to go our separate ways then there's the matter of the house we bought together. One night of talking doesn't even begin to cover everything we need to figure out."

Laying her hand on Bird's arm, Erin stopped her from talking and said, "I don't see how opening these fresh wounds could be pertinent to your case."

"No, it's okay." Bird argued, trying her best to seem genuine and ready to cooperate with the investigation, "I'll answer whatever he wants me to. I just want to get this over with."

Opening the folder he'd brought into the room with him, Barnes glanced over the notes from his uniformed officers they'd jotted down while talking to Harvey Dent.

Trying to make her slip up he asked, "Where'd you go out for dinner?"

"We didn't." Bird sighed.

"You ordered in?"

"We cooked risotto." Bird rubbed her forehead, "Lemon and asparagus risotto if you want specifics."

"I see." He nodded, barely even blinking as he tried to unnerve her, "Risotto... what all goes into that?"

"Vegetable stock, onion, rice, dry white wine, cheese..." Bird looked down, "Harvey complains that I use too much cheese, but I don't really think 'too much cheese' is even a possible problem to have."

Erin opened her mouth to complain about the line of questioning, fearing by the look on Bird's face that she might start to come undone.

"Honestly, Captain if you really want to know how to cook risotto –you should take a cooking class. That's what we did a while back, we took a couples cooking class." Bird explained, adjusting in her seat and clearly growing more uncomfortable by the second.

The class they'd taken together had been back when things were still going great between them, it wasn't too long after they'd gotten engaged.
The risotto recipe was one they'd picked up from the class and both really loved, which is why she figured he'd told the police that's what they'd cooked.
It was probably the first thing that had come to mind.

"I'm going to hit pause here." Erin spoke up, "My client has been more than willing to cooperate with your little interrogation here, but I'm going to just call this what it is –a fishing expedition. You have nothing and so you're hoping to trip her up, catch her in a lie. Which you won't because she's telling the truth."

Looking over to her client, she instructed, "Let's go. They've taken up enough of our time."

Captain Barnes rose to his feet and watched as the women across the table stood up.
In truth he knew he didn't have evidence to bring any charges against her, he'd known it all along.

But he also could feel it in his gut that Bird was guilty.
He'd was sure he'd had her pegged the moment he walked into the room and laid eyes on her –even more so as he'd sat right across the table from her.

There was a coldness about her, even when she seemed to be getting emotional in speaking about Harvey Dent –there was an hollowness behind her expression that she couldn't entirely cover.
"I know you've probably led yourself to believe that you're untouchable, Miss Wayne; but it's a new era in Gotham and no one is above the law. I don't care how much money or influence your family has or how many high priced lawyers you carry in your pockets. You and Penguin and everyone else involved will pay for your crimes." He cautioned.

"Bird." She corrected, as she slowly raised her head to make eye contact with him, "My name is Bird."

And there it was, Barnes thought to himself, the real Starling Wayne.
For a moment; however brief and fleeting it may have been –he saw past the calm and vulnerable exterior her lawyer had coached her into.

He could feel the coldness from where he was standing; surely she had certain degree of ice running through her veins, with a void somewhere inside that couldn't be reached by any worldly sentiment.

And just as fast, the icy darkness gave way to a soft and exposed countenance; eyes glistening with emotions that mere seconds ago he didn't believe her capable of possessing.

"Untouchable?" She quietly repeated back with her lips and chin wavering, "It wasn't all that long ago that I was doing time in Arkham for someone else's crimes. Believe me, Captain Barnes, I know very well that I'm not above the law –but I haven't done anything wrong."

It took him a few seconds to pull his eyes away from her entrancing stare, and a few more to remind himself of who he was dealing with –that she was a criminal.

She was good, that was for sure; being able to look right into someone's eyes and sell a lie that easily was natural talent.
The ability to effortlessly manipulate and bend others views of her at will made her dangerous.

"The next time you call my client in for questioning, you'd better have some actual evidence. She has been through enough pain and suffering –it might have been before you time that the GCPD botched the criminal investigation earlier this year, but bringing her in for a crime simply because you're looking for a female suspect is bordering on harassment." Erin sharply cut each word as if etched in stone, "If this happens again –I'll file an injunction with the court."

"Harassment?" He nearly choked on the laugh he tried to hold at bay.

Erin Windsor was one of the best criminal defense attorneys in Gotham City.
Just the thoughts of how many dangerous, lowlife scumbags were out lurking the streets because of her caused his own blood to run cold.
She, herself, should be behind bars.

Just as they reached the door of the room, he wasn't able to hold his silence any longer and disgust seeped into his every word when he questioned, "How do you even sleep at night, Ms. Windsor?"

"Naked, usually." She smirked, as she turned back to face his direction, "In my three bedroom penthouse, atop seven hundred dollar Egyptian cotton satin sheets."
Her lips angled up further and she added, "And four nights a week wrapped in the arms of my 6'2" Amazon goddess girlfriend."

Bird ran her tongue across her bottom lip and tried her best not to laugh at the stunned expression on Barnes' face.

"I think we're done here." Erin stated, spinning on her heels and pulling the door to the room open, then nodding for Bird to go out ahead of her.

Once they crossed over the threshold of the main doors to the building and Bird pulled in a breath of fresh air, she cracked a smile and turned to face Erin as she complimented, "You are amazing, you know that?"

Smiling back Erin laughed, "So I've been told."

The lighthearted, victorious moment between them quickly faded when Bird caught brief glimpse of Jim through the doors of the police station, before he turned and walked away.

Not sure what had caused Bird's mood to take a nosedive, Erin led her down the steps and onto the sidewalk as she assured her, "You've got nothing to worry about. Barnes is just trying to rattle you –see if you'll slip up."

"I know." Bird managed a nod.

"Gotham chews up and spits out self-righteous men like him every single day." Erin furthered, "How the hell he thinks he's going to uphold the law when half the people working for him break it on a daily basis is entirely beyond me. But that's not our problem- "

"We've got a problem?" Bird questioned, "You just told me I've got nothing to worry about."

"Cards on the table?" Erin asked, even though it was more of a statement, "I warned you earlier about how Penguin's days of ruling are numbered and when he falls –whether it's at the hand of criminals or GCPD... everyone around him is going to feel the sting."

"Then I guess the people around him need to make sure that doesn't happen." Bird stubbornly shrugged.

"I think you're failing to grasp how dire a situation your friendship with him could put you in." She cautioned.

"Oswald is..." Bird's jaw tensed, "Has always been the one person I won't abandon, okay? His life holds more value to me than anything else."

"I thought that degree of loyalty was discontinued centuries ago." Erin commented, shaking her head, "I can't tell you how to live your life. All I can do is warn you that you've booked a seat on a train that's headed off the tracks."

"Then I guess you're going to make even more money from me, huh?" Bird joked.

"Not if you wind up dead."

"You know..." Bird breathed, tucking her short hair behind her ears, "I used to tell him all the time he was going to get us killed." A sentimental smile gently displayed her dimples, "I guess somewhere along the line I made peace with that."

"I don't understand it." Erin admitted, "I can't even begin to understand it."
Her eyes drifted past Bird and she pulled her car keys from her pocket and said, "I'll wait for you in the car."

With a confused expression, Bird watched her lawyer cross the street to where she'd parallel parked.

"Starling..."

Her eyes closed and she tried to pull in a deep breath, but it got stuck somewhere in her lungs and she wasn't even able to speak as she turned to face Harvey Dent.

Their eyes locked and the searing pain started back up inside her chest.
The jagged edges of her broken heart always sharpened whenever she thought of him and now seeing him again, face-to-face, made her certain the pain would never dull again.

"Harvey..." She finally managed a response just before her eyebrows lowered and she nearly stammered, "What are y-you doing here? Are they questioning you again, because-"

"Unrelated matter." He quickly cut in, displaying a folder to show he was there about one of his cases.

"Oh." She nodded, awkwardly glancing around them and then over to where Erin was sitting in her car talking on the phone to someone and patiently waiting to drive Bird back to where she'd been staying.

She pulled in a deep breath and mentally prepared her excuse of why she wished she had time to stand there and talk but should really be going.

"How'd it go?" He asked.

"Fine." Bird answered; tucking her hair back behind her ear and looking around them again, "This Barnes guy doesn't have even a shred of evidence against me."

With that she jerked her head back and stared at him with narrowed eyes, "And who could really argue about my alibi? You know, since respectable District Attorney Harvey Dent can verify it."

She watched his jaw tense.

"Why'd you lie?" Bird pushed.

"I don't know." He admitted with a heavy breath and shoulders that sunk forward, "GCPD showed up looking for you and asking questions about the other night when all the mayoral candidates were targeted and next thing I know I'd created this elaborate story of why you couldn't have possibly been involved."

"You shouldn't have done it, Harvey." Bird's lips pursed into a thin line, "And clearly you covered for me because you think I was involved."

"Were you?"
Now it was his eyes that squinted as he closely watched her.

"I didn't do anything wrong." She stated with enough conviction that it was difficult to not buy into the notion.
Maybe somewhere deep down she believed it herself, but he knew her better than that and he also know that she'd reunited with Oswald Cobblepot.

Harvey's gaze dropped down to the sidewalk and he bit down on the side of his tongue.
Broken up or not –he hadn't expected the progress they'd made to disappear and her so easily revert back to a time where she'd spill one lie after another to him.

"Okay." He nodded, deciding it wasn't worth an argument and truth be told he really didn't want to know the exact details and extent of her involvement in any crimes.
He cleared his throat, "I won't do it again, Starling."

"I never asked you to in the first place." She copped an attitude.

What was it lately with everyone thinking she expected them to protect her?
She'd never asked anyone for that.

His eyes searched her irritated expression and his heart dropped.

It was just the night before that he'd gotten call from Alfred, wanting to know if he'd seen her lately or if they were still in touch.
Apparently, Bird had showed up Wayne Manor –cut her hair off in the bathroom and then proceeded to lecture her brother about how her personal criminal code of ethics.

It was as if she'd gone mad, Alfred had told him; he was worried about her and the encounter had left Bruce badly shaken.
Whatever was going on with Bird, it was becoming clearer and clearer that she wasn't in her right mind.

That knowledge probably played a hand in why he'd so quickly lied to the police to cover for her and then called her lawyer to further protect Bird when she wouldn't answer his phone calls.
He didn't want to see her pay the price for something she'd done when she wasn't herself.

He knew she'd brought her own fair share of issues to their relationship, but Harvey also couldn't help but feel an amount of guilt over how far Bird seemed to have fallen.

"I, uh..." He cleared this throat again, finding it harder and harder to speak to her, "I should get in there and take care of this." He held the folder up again.

"Yeah, I shouldn't keep Erin waiting." Bird agreed, thinking the entire morning had been a colossal waste of time.

Just as he turned to leave, she pinned her eyes shut knowing the next topic of conversation wasn't going to go well, but it still needed to be done.

"Harvey, wait."

When he turned back around to face her, Bird swallowed hard, "I need you to warn me if the GCPD is going to try and take Oswald down."

"You... what?" He scoffed with a stunned expression.

"The warrants are going to come from your office, so you'll know before they actually make a move. You have to tell me as soon as you know something." Bird continued as if she was making a perfectly reasonable request and not asking him to go against his own morals and the law.

"You're unbelievable, you know that?" His voice raised and he stepped closer, "One minute you're standing here telling me not to protect you, that you never asked for my help and now you're asking me to break the law and give you a heads up?"

"Unbelievable." He shook his head.

"Jim told me it was only going to be a matter of time until the GCPD comes at Oswald with everything they've got and that might not have been much of a concern before, but now they've got their new strike-force and Barnes and-"

"Yeah?" Harvey cut her off, his voice muffled behind tightly clenched teeth, "Then ask Jim to help you."

"He won't!" Bird yelled back at him.

"Neither will I!" His voice seemed to echo and bounce back off of every building around them.

Reaching up and loosening his tie when the city air became increasingly hard to breathe, he managed to lower his voice and add, "I can't, Starling... and I won't."

"Please." She pleaded, grabbing onto his coat sleeve to keep him from walking away from her, "You don't understand. There is so much going on that you don't know and lives are on the line-"

"What about Janice Caulfield's life. Hmm?" Harvey hummed, his eyebrows raised, "The men in Hobbs' security detail? What about all of them? Or hell, I don't know –the countless other people who've lost their lives because of Penguin?"

"Harvey..." Bird strained, "You don't-"

"I don't understand." He acknowledged, "Yeah, you've said that –so tell me; what don't I understand?"

"There is something big going on." Bird explained, "Bigger and more dangerous than Oswald."

"And what exactly would that be?" He asked, knowing very well that he wouldn't get a straight answer out of her.

"I can't tell you." Bird regretfully stated, "Partly for your own safety and also because every time I even the whisper the word conspiracy you get this look on your face like someone is slowing driving a nail through your skull."

"I don't even know what to say to you..." Harvey admitted, "I don't even know you anymore."

Bird's face twisted with emotion as she watched him turn and walk away from her.
Cursing under her breath, she quickly checked for traffic before jogging across the street to where Erin was waiting on her.

•••

"Well?" Oswald questioned as Bird walked into the dining room where he was sitting in his usual seat at the head of the table.

Her eyes drifted over the spread of food, and then to his barely touched plate and she gave a shrug as she slid into a seat at the otherwise empty table.

"I think Jim was right." She finally answered, "GCPD is under new management and this Barnes guy is something else. He's even been giving the axe to cops who break the law."

"GCPD is the least of my concern." Oswald apathetically replied, swishing the wine in his glass, watching the red liquid climb the sides, he then took a small sip as he stared off blankly in front of him.

"I know..." Her voice trailed off, making it apparent that she had more she wanted to say.

"But?" He shot a look over in her direction.

"But." She nodded, "How are we supposed to find your mom if we end up in jail?"

"We stay one step ahead, Bird." Oswald simply answered, trying again to choke down another drink of wine.

"Easier said than done." She breathed.

Oswald closed his eyes in irritation at her.
Right now, he needed support and he needed results, not for someone to be pointing out other problems that didn't begin to stack up to how much his mother meant to him.

Theo Galavan had his mother locked away somewhere where he couldn't find her. She had to be absolutely terrified and enduring more suffering that she should ever have to know.

He had to find her.

"Oswald." Bird finally sighed; either not picking up on how close he was to snapping or simply not caring, "I know how much your mom means to you, but having tunnel vision right now is going to jeopardize our chances of finding her."

His nose wrinkled as he practically spat at her, "Nothing, Bird! Nothing is more important than my mother!"

"I get it-" Bird tried to explain how important it was to keep his position of power.
He needed to make sure tariffs were being paid, that count houses were overflowing with funds –money meant power after all; and power was the best way to ensure safety.

"Do you?" He shouted, scrambling up to his feet so fast that he hit his bad knee on the edge of the table. "Pray tell, Bird, what is it that you get?"

"Hmm?" He dramatically hummed, eyebrows jutting upwards and the vein protruding from his neck above his shirt collar, "Because it seems to me that if you were capable of understanding how dire this situation is –you'd be doing something about it!"

"I can't fix everything, Oswald!" She screamed back at him to the background noise of her chair crudely scraping against the floor as she stood up, "You fix this, you're the King of Gotham after all!"

Her cheeks darkened in anger under the light coating of blush Erin had applied earlier that morning.

"I've been cleaning up your messes for years, but I don't even know where to start with this-"
Her screams were cut short as she quickly weaved to the side just in time to avoid the wine glass he hurled in her direction.

The glass hit the far wall and shattered immediately upon impact.

Jerking her gaze away from the splattered liquid running down the wall and the shards of glass reflecting the fire in the mantle, Bird's eyes were dark as she faced him.

"This is your fault!" He jutted a finger in her direction, "If you hadn't left me; turned your back on all we'd built-"

"Oh, no!" She shouted, frantically shaking her head back and forth, "You aren't going to pin this on me. This is on you; you're the reason Galavan ever came after me –the reason I got framed and thrown in Arkham. My entire life fell apart, Oswald –I lost everything!"

His nostrils flared and jaw clenched tightly enough he thought his teeth could break at any second.
How dare she?
His mother missing; certainly terrified and confused, locked away in some dark damp place and Bird was throwing herself a pity party.

Ever since he'd so graciously given her a place to stay, she'd done nothing but drink and sleep; wallow in her own heartache and knowing that she'd allowed what happened to get to her so badly had him nearly seeing red.
How long did someone really need to mourn the loss of a relationship with someone who was entirely wrong for them from the beginning?

"Boo-hoo!" Oswald hissed at her; nose wrinkled, face twisted and teeth barred, "You're delusional if you ever truly believed you had had a future with the likes of Harvey Dent! You've lost nothing, Bird!"

"My parents were killed, did you forget that?" Bird screamed, before she was able to pull in a deep breath and closed her eyes as she tried to calm herself down. Her heart was thudding painfully hard against her ribcage and there was a searing pain in her head from right behind her eyes, "Found out Falcone was my biological father and then he disappeared from Gotham. I lost months of freedom and was locked inside of Arkham Asylum. And where were you?"

Weakly throwing her arms out to the sides, she shrugged in defeat, "You were sitting here, on your throne –that's where. And then the minute you need help with something, I'm right here with you –where I have always been. Always watching out for you no matter what it costs me."

Vertical lines showed on his forehead as his face started to shift from anger to despair.
Truth be told, he couldn't even remember what had set the argument off between them.

"Bird..." He breathed, his own eyes slowly closing as every breath he took now burnt at his lungs.

"Don't." She shook her head back and forth, "You need to grow up. When it rains it doesn't just pour only on you."

Still shaking her head she turned and started for the door of the room.

"Where are y-you g-going?" He sputtered and started to follow her.

"I'm late meeting someone." She paused in the doorway.

"Who?" He was barely able to find his voice enough to whisper the question.

"Someone who might be able to help us when it comes to Galavan."

•••

Bird walked into the bridal boutique and quickly dismissed the offer of help from one of the employees, stating that she was simply meeting a friend.

On her way towards the few private rooms, she trailed her fingers over the white fabric of the display of wedding dresses lining the right side of the wide hallway.

She stopped when she came across one of the rooms with the door closed.

Reaching for the silver handle she opened one of the double doors to see a black fur coat draped over the back of the white couch towards the center of the room under a large chandelier.

She glanced around at the wedding dress cloaked mannequins and then over to a few more dresses on a rack near the corner of the room.

"Hey, best friend."

Turning around, Bird saw Barbara just as she stepped out from behind one of the large, full length mirrors.

"Hey, B." She greeted back.

Displaying her bright white teeth with a wide smile, Barbara commented, "And here I was starting to think you'd stood me up."

"Of course not." Bird cocked her head to the side, "Why are we meeting here?"

"Hmm..." Barbara hummed, tapping her chin and pretending to give some thought to the matter before exclaiming, "Just think about it. Who would come looking for either of us here?"
Putting a hand next to her mouth as if she was going to spill a secret, she added, "No one."

"Besides... isn't this place just stunning?" She cooed, holding her arms out to the sides and spinning in a slow circle, "This is where I picked out my wedding dress. Hey, you think they still have it?"

"I don't know." Bird harshly answered, "Why? Not like walking down the aisle is in your near future."

"Ouch!" Barbara gasped, her bright eyes growing wider, "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today."

"Someone is still mad over the hospital benefit." Bird countered, walking closer to her, "Or did you forget how you helped nearly get my brother killed? Or telling Jerome to kill Alfred? Or hell, I don't know, B... the fact that Jerome worked me over with a knife?"

"That last part wasn't supposed to happen." Barbara argued, her lips pursed into a thin line, "And your brother was perfectly safe-"

"Yeah, because Theo Galavan orchestrated the entire thing so he could rush in and the save the day. And what better way to look like a hero than to save poor little orphaned Bruce Wayne from crazed Arkham escapees." Bird's eyebrow arched.

"Look who's been doing their homework." She beamed, "Wait... is this why you finally took my calls? Because you want something?"

The silence in response to her question was the only answer Barbara needed.

Rolling her eyes, she passed where Bird was standing a dropped heavily onto the couch. With her arms crossed over her chest she complained, "The last time I was here they had champagne and imported truffles."

"Do you know where Oswald's mom is being held?" Bird lunged right into her line of questioning, which only seemed to bring Barbara down further.

With a heavy sigh she admitted, "When you said you wanted to meet up –being interrogated wasn't what I had in mind. I was thinking girl time, you know? Mani-pedi, maybe a little shopping, grab some dinner and end the night with a short murder spree or something just as fun."

A wild look filled her eyes and she leaned forward as she excitedly exclaimed, "Ooh, I know; you distract Jim and I'll kill Lee!"

"I'm not helping you kill Lee." Bird sighed, "Where is Gertrud Kapelput being kept? Come on,B; help a sister out."

"I don't know." Barbara finally answered, watching as Bird sat down across from her on the coffee table, "I really don't."

"But you can find out, right? I mean you're staying with him and his sister... or at least in contact seeing as how they're the ones who broke you out of Arkham. If you just do some digging-"

"Counter argument –I like my head where it is, right here on my perfectly sculpted shoulders and I'm not looking to change that anytime soon."

Bird's eyes narrowed inquisitively, "You're scared of him? If you help me find Oswald's mom then you won't have to worry about Galavan, okay? I'll protect you."

"That's sweet, B." Barbara replied using their shared nickname for each other, "But I can't help you."

Galavan was giving her something that she knew Bird never was –he was going to help her orchestrate Jim Gordon's death.
After all, if she couldn't have him then why should Lee Thompkins or anyone else for that matter? They were soulmates and nothing could or would convince her otherwise.

"It's all politics anyways." Barbara added, swiping a hand through the air, "That's why he wanted the candidates eliminated."

"Come on." Bird pleaded, "You gotta give me something here. We're supposed to be friends –the best of. So help me."

"I'd stay out of his way." Barbara shrugged, "That's the only real help I've got."
Rising to her feet, she warned, "Protect yourself and just stay out of it."

"I can't do that." Bird argued, also standing up to face her.

Stepping closer, Barbara wrapped her arms around Bird in a tight hug then whispered close to her ear, "You want information on Galavan? Try worrying about your mom instead of Penguin's."

Pulling back from the hug, Barbara planted a kiss on Bird's cheek before walking away and plucking up her fur coat off the back of the couch.
Just as she neared the door she called over her shoulder, "Love you, B!"

•••