"Bloody lack of security," grumbled Alfred, rubbing his bruised shoulder as the rest of the GCPD went about cleaning up the station after having it being run through by the whirlwind that was Barnes. "How are you coppers not even able to stop one man?"
"Hey, hey, hey," said Bullock, offended by the comment. "It's no ordinary man, Barnes was decked out on the Tetch virus."
"With the type of criminals and psychos we've been getting these days..." Jim Gordon rolled his eyes. "It's getting massively hard to keep up."
"I swear to you," Bullock prodded Jim in the chest. "The criminal element in this city has been on steroids or something. I wonder if other departments are having as hard a time as us."
"So, what's our lead now? I hope you had a plan B," said Alfred.
"The map," said Jim, motioning towards the butler. "I assume you have that owl."
Alfred nodded. "It's with Lucius, he said he was going to a professional to get it fixed."
Jim nodded, some good news at least. "Excellent. Let's work out where these hideouts are, and hopefully get to the bottom of this." Alfred grabbed his coat to follow after Jim and Harvey, but Jim wouldn't have it. "No Alfred, this is police business only. You need to stay behind just in case Bruce goes home. Someone has to be there for him."
"It's been six bloody months!" cried Alfred in aghast. "If he had the capability of getting home on his own, he would've done so sooner."
Holding a hand against Alfred's chest to keep him from following, Jim had already decided to keep the butler from finding out about the bunkers. "You'll never know. Keep your phone next to you. We'll call you with the slightest update."
Alfred still seemed unsettled, "You can't expect me to go back now. Do you know how much I have to regret? I can't stare at those four walls. Please, not right now."
"I'm sorry Alfred, I'm gonna have to insist this time. Stay home and wait for our call. We'll get Bruce back. That's a promise, alright?"
Caught between decisions, Alfred finally threw his coat down on the floor. "Damn it!"
"Come on man... you couldn't have known." Sympathetically, Jim gave him a pat on the back.
"It'll be fine, Alfie. We'll have him back before you know it," Harvey said reassuringly as they departed the station.
Lucius, Jim and Harvey gazed at the complete map, illuminated from the copy of the owl, spread over the wall like little stars in a dim sky.
"Why the hell do they need so many hideouts? Do you think they're all bunkers like the first one we encountered?" Harvey commented, pointing to all the spots on the map that had been marked out.
"If I'd to guess," Jim looked at Harvey and Lucius. "They got at least the majority of them converted into bunkers to salvage everything and everyone they wish to keep safe. Kathryn didn't deny that the Court was planning on destroying some areas of Gotham, but she did indicate that they weren't gonna use bombs."
"Why would they want to do that though? Real estate?" asked Lucius Fox.
"That, and to regain control. These guys have been in a power struggle with the underworld since the fall of Don Falcone. The younger leaders don't have the understanding that the old powers used to."
"All this over power..." Harvey shook his face at the thought. "By the dispersal of hideouts throughout the city, I'm guessing it isn't just a few buildings that they're trying to take down."
"Except the Narrows," commented Fox.
"What?"
Fox stepped into the light, stood on his toes and pointed to the north western spot of Gotham where the Narrows was supposed to be. "Don't you find it odd that there are hideouts all over the city, except for the Narrows?"
Jim took a closer look. Lucius was right, the entire length and breath of the Narrows wasn't marked at all. He straightened up, his eyes widened. "I hope it doesn't mean what I think it means."
Harvey scoffed, "Survival is reserved only for the wealthy. Can they be more predictable?"
"That actually gives us a clue as to the epicenter of the attack," said Jim, pointing to the spot that Lucius had. "They're going to create the most devastation in an area that matters least to them." He traced imaginary waves of impact down to Gotham central. "Except the blast... or whatever they've planned up their sleeves, is not going to be contained to just the Narrows. It's going to travel." His finger continued to move down towards the south eastern part of Gotham where the cliffs met the shore. "We need to stop these lunatics, otherwise this might mark an end to Gotham as we know it."
"Don't have to tell me twice!" said Harvey, rearing to get going. "I'm going to check out some of those spots marked on the map, in case I can find any clues on the Wayne kid. You should head to the Narrows to see if you can find out anything."
Jim nodded. "I was going to suggest the same thing."
"I'm gonna go back to the station and get equipment to scan for signals in the area of the Narrows," declared Lucius. "If they're going to trigger something in that zone, I'll pick it up."
"Sounds good," applauded Jim. "Call if you find anything."
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