Detective Barbara Gordon 6

"His real name was Richie Murphy." The captain stated as Barbara and Tanner listened to him inside his office.

Barbara was persistent enough for the Captain to reveal the information brought to him.

"He was assigned to organized crime, more specifically, the Callaghans, before he got transferred to your case. It wasn't a coincidence either. He got transferred because his superiors were suspicious of him working with the Callaghans. Every time the feds were about to crack down on one of their operations, they somehow manage to be ahead of them and get away."

"Then, they're investigating if this was done by the killer or the Callaghans?"

"Callaghan, or one of his competitors."

"Then, why were we reassigned?"

The Captain sighed. He opened a folder on his desk, took out a photo and presented it to them. "This was given to me by the guy that also introduced himself as Sterling."

"This...!!" Barbara widened his eyes.

It was a photo of her and the previous Sterling walking out of Elise's bar.

"A-are they suspecting me of working with the Callaghans?!"

"No...." The Captain put the photo down. "I defended you. Because I trust your character, Gordon. You wouldn't do something like working with the Irish mob. You were reassigned because things really got dangerous if their competition suspected you of working with them. Or they supect you of working with the competition to get him killed."

"One more question, Captain..." Barbara said with a regretful expression.

"What is it?"

"Were you the one that suggested to take us off the case?" She asked with worrisome eyes.

"..." The Captain furrowed his brows in regret. "I did. I'm sorry. You're just too valuable to this precint, to the force. We can't lose someone like you. You have a bright future ahead of you."

"I don't NEED! To have a BABYSITTER! I joined the force to risk MY life to help people!" She shouted in rage.

"I know... but you will understand this one day, Gordon. You'll be able to help more people if you stay alive."

"Are you saying that I'm going to die?" Barbara began to form tears in her eyes.

"Tell me, Gordon ... can you fire your gun at someone, now?"

Barbara was taken aback by his sudden comment.

"If you're willing to risk your life but not ready to take one, then you are really asking yourself to be killed. It's not bravery anymore, it's just plain stupid." The Captain stated firmly.

Barbara collected her breath and fixed her posture. "Hah." She scoffed. "What was that about not needing to fire a gun to become a good police officer?"

"This is different, Gordon, and you know it. This case is gonna get ugly now that the Mob is involved."

"You underestimate me too much, Captain." Barbara spun her heel and got out of the office.

Bang!

She slammed the door shut in frustration. Every head in the bullpen turned their heads at her direction.

The Captain massaged his temples and sighed. "Why are you still here, Manning?"

"Sir, why are you so protective of her?"

The Captain chuckled. "There's two reasons." He glanced at the photos displayed on his desk. "She reminds me of my daughter. Headstrong. Grounded in her principles. Stubborn."

"And the other reason?"

"I know his father. He'd personally come here for me if ever his daughter got hurt."

"And you still did it, knowing that she'll get angry at you, just for these reasons? She isn't a kid that needs to be protected, sir, with all due respect."

The Police Captain made a wry smile. "I guess I'm stubborn too. Let's just put it that way."

----

"Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah. I think I'll take a walk before I go home."

"Be careful, okay?"

"Yeah. You too."

Barbara walked away without even bothering facing Tanner as she said goodbye.

She decided to cool her head down with a little stroll and refresh her mind with the sceneries of Brooklyn.

The sky began to dye itself in all shades of red and yellow. The tall buildings weren't a hindrance to this magnificent scenery but somehow made it more beautiful as the windows reflected the sky.

As she continued on her stroll, Barbara found herself at the Waterfront staring at lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Dozens of people watched the sunset with her.

Barbara found a bench to sit on and gazed at the horizon where the streaks of red and yellow were slowly being replaced by blue.

Less and less of people gathered as the sun was replaced by sparkling man-made light to illuminate the surroundings.

She was able to clear her head now. The unnecessary thoughts that were clouding her mind from what she should do were washed away by the beautiful scenery.

Just when she was about to get up from the bench, someone she knew sat next to her. Barbara didn't even have to turn her head to know who it was and that person looked like she wanted to say something to her.

"What do you want, Elise?"

"I don't want anything that you don't want, Detective."

"Please don't waste my time and quit the charades." Barbara warned her to stop putting on airs.

"What I want... I want the killer just like you."

"Hah." Barbara scoffed. "Are you still salty about your encounter with him?"

"I almost had him... I should've finished him there and then."

"Then, why didn't you?"

"Someone else came by. An innocent bystander. I had to escape. In the end, that girl became a murder victim."

Barbara widened her eyes and turned her head towards Elise. She glared at her. "You offered up that girl to a wolf!"

"I didn't know what he was going to do." Elise faced Barbara. "If I had known, I wouldn't have left. And now... now, Richie is dead too." She said with a sullen face.

"Richie... so, it was true that he was working for your outfit. That lying son of a... wait!! Is that why you came to see me? Do you know something?"

"I do know something. I was the only one that got to see that son of a bitch's face. I had him drawn up by a sketch artist."

"..." Barbara scanned Elise from top to bottom before she made a wry smile and looked away. "But you won't hand it over to me. You want something in exchange. Heh. Are you gonna give me an offer I can't refuse, or something along those lines?"

Elise sniggered. "I think you wouldn't want to refuse. It's a good deal. I don't even need to threaten you."

"As if you can threaten me with anything..."

"Oh? I think you forgot that you still have your friends at the precint. Detective Tanner, was it?"

Barbara snapped her neck and glared at Elise.

Elise just chuckled. "You see? I CAN threaten you, but I choose not to. That's how much good of a deal this is."

"Alright, get on with it. What do you want me to do in exchange?"

Elise rested her back on the backrest of the bench and exhaled deeply. "We'll share resources and information on the killer. I'll give you what I have on him, and then, you'll give me what you have on him. It's pretty simple."

Barbara chuckled this time. "You must think of me as a fool. There's a catch, isn't it."

Elise smirked. "What gave it away?"

"When you said it was simple. Things like this aren't simple even if I wish it were."

"Well... you're right." Elise's eyes suddenly became sharp and filled with murderous intent. "The only catch to this deal is I get the killer. You don't get to arrest him. I'll have the satisfaction of killing him myself. No trial, none of that bullshit. He gets what's coming to him."

Barbara laughed. "Or I just arrest you now for conspiracy to murder and criminal threat."

Elise raised her brow but her smile never left. "I'll just say you conspired it with me. You don't have any proof that you didn't plan it with me."

"Oh," Barbara waved her phone. "but I do have proof."

Elise striked fast and attempted to hit Barbara and get her phone, but Barbara dodged it and immediately got up from the bench.

"Hahahaha! Even if you get my phone, it won't matter. It's already been sent to the cloud. You won't be able to keep your records clean this time."

"Then, I'll just kill you!" Elise jumped up from her seat.

Elise took out a knife and lunged it towards Barbara.

Barbara weaved and grabbed Elise's arm before elbowing her to her face.

"Gurgh!" Elise fell back and Barbara successfully disarmed her.

"That was for last time." Barbara said before she threw the knife that she grabbed from Elise into the river.

Elise continued attacking Barbara in an effort to end her life, but unlike last time, Barbara gracefully dodged every attack that came her way whether it be a punch or a kick. It left Elise dumbfounded. It was the first in a long time someone had dodged her attacks consecutively.

"Why don't you fight back!" Elise shouted in her frustration.

Barbara didn't plan on making a counter attack and just focused on dodging. It was to prevent one of them from getting seriously hurt and to conserve her energy. Plus, she doesn't intend to fight her this time. This time, she used Richie Murphy's advice to keep calm, and it proved to be effective.

In the end, Elise was breathing heavily as she winded herself out.

"You can't kill me. Even if you somehow did manage to, my office computer also backs up my cloud. They'll be able to find out immediately who did it." Barbara said to Elise while she tried to collect herself.

"Gugh...."

Barbara looked at Elise's agitated face with satisfaction. "You were right. The deal you offered was too good to pass up, but there were some things that I didn't like. So, how about we change the last part where I arrest this guy, and I delete everything I have on you. I'll let you walk. Now... that's a better deal." She made a smug grin.

In truth, she already decided to keep working on the serial killer case before Elise showed up. She just played hard to get to sway the situation to her advantage. Her efforts were fruitful and she ended up on top in their agreement.

"Heh..." Elise made a malicious grin of her own. "You are something, Detective Gordon.... Fine. I'll go along with your proposition... for now."