Chapter 35

"An earthquake might hit Gotham soon, Detective Gordon," warned Bruce once Gordon, Alfred and himself were certain they would not be disturbed. "And my gut tells me that Dr. Welkin is the key to this entire puzzle."

"What?" Jim hadn't a clue what Bruce was going on about, but he seemed certain of impending danger to the city.

Bruce paced the room, trying to assemble the thoughts in his head, and only stopped when he decided he had something coherent to present. "You were right when you deduced that I'd been taken by the Court of Owls, an Indian Hill clone put in my place so as not to arouse suspicion." Jim and Alfred traded glances. Jim hadn't believed Alfred about the clone up to that point, but now it was Bruce who was going on about the same thing. Bruce noted Jim's reaction, and decided to address it, "Think about it Jim, you've seen a croc-man hybrid, a woman immune to fire and Fish Mooney come back from the dead. Is the creation of a clone of myself really such a far-fetched idea?"

Gordon shook his head somewhat hesitantly, "This is Gotham, after all. At some point, it's become a side-show for freaks."

"Not to mention, I'm still healing from the injuries that damned clone inflicted on me," grumbled Alfred, tugging on his collar.

"So where did the Court of Owls take you, Bruce?"

"A compound, high in the mountains in Nanda Parbat - not owned by the Court of Owls, but a much more treacherous secret organization named the League of Shadows - led by someone preceded in the region only by his reputation, a man named Ra's Al Ghul."

"There are others behind the Court of Owls?" asked Jim, perturbed by the very thought.

"I'd say it's more like they're affiliated due to a united purpose. That purpose being the earthquake I talked about, and the devastation of the city of Gotham - although I can't understand what the Court would get out of this."

"The Court feels like they're losing control of the city." It was all starting to come together - everything that Jim'd learnt from Katherine, the underground bunkers, and now Bruce's own testimony. "They want a reset, that they might claim back the power they'd lost since Falcone's empire fell apart." Jim considered the secrecy that that Bullock and himself had kept in their discovery of the bunkers - but in that moment of shared honesty, he decided to reveal it in the hope of uncovering the truth. "Much like your secret, you must not reveal what I'm going to tell you either."

Both Bruce and Alfred nodded in unison.

"Sometime ago, Bullock and I found ten-inch-thick walled underground bunkers hidden all over the city belonging to the Court of Owls. If what you've said is true, about the earthquake, that's probably what they're attempting to hide from."

"Let me get this straight, these lunatics would destroy an entire city and all its inhabitants in order to regain their hold on it?" asked Alfred.

"That's what it sounds like, Alfred," said Jim.

"But it's not like they can control when and where an earthquake will hit, am I right?"

Jim shrugged. "What I do know is Katherine Monroe, and that the woman is as strategic as a chess player. She would not leave any of this to chance."

"Ra's spoke of the earthquake in the terms of a prophecy," added Bruce. "But he seemed certain of the time frame as to when this might occur."

"What did this man Ra's want with you, Bruce?"

Bruce shook his head slowly. "Said something about me being returned to Gotham at the time of the quake in order that I might be forged by it, and rise with an army of his as the eventual savior of the city. He was raving on like a lunatic, and I wanted nothing to do with his plan. It was the part about the quake that had me concerned - enough for me to try to escape on my own to come back and deliver this warning before everything started going into motion."

Alfred put a hand on Bruce's one good shoulder, and shook it proudly. "I can't believe you made it out of there. It couldn't have been easy."

"So we know what is to happen will happen soon. We know it involves a quake, but we don't know how they will achieve this at will." Suddenly, Jim remembered something else that might play a role in this confounding mystery. "Also - during that recent Arkham breakout, security videos showed the three men who initiated the release of inmates dressed up very similarly as Talons. Talons are..."

"Private assassins hired and trained by the Court of Owls," Bruce finished his sentence. "We've had our own encounter with one of such. Twice."

"Ah..." said Jim creasing his brow. He'd known that Bruce and Alfred had been playing detectives in their spare time. But it'd gone into perilous territory lately, and might've led to Bruce being kidnapped in the first place. "Why am I not surprised?"

"If Talons are involved in the breakout, we can only assume this was premeditated by the Court and could be related to the quake," Bruce went on. "Do you know who is missing, Detective?"

"Johnathan Crane, Jervis Tetch and Jerome Valeska, among others," replied Gordon, noting the change in Bruce's expression when the last name was mentioned.

"Do you know how much trouble it was getting Jerome Valeska in there the first time?" Alfred spat out. "How can we trust the system when it behaves like a revolving door?"

"They need to be hunted down," Bruce said as the dread on his face transitioned to an air of calm resolution.

"Not by you," warned Gordon, taking a step in his direction. "The G.C.P.D will handle this, please let us do our job."

"Oh yeah, like the last time you bloody let an entire asylum of lunatics loose?" Alfred continued to go on his rant.

But Bruce held his hand out to his butler to calm him down. "Alfred, we need to have faith in the system, otherwise we've already lost." Then turning to Jim, Bruce said, "Detective Gordon, remember that time is short. You and I know that missing the chance to get Jerome Valeska back under custody soon will prove fatal to this city, and more."

Gordon nodded stoically. "We will do our best, Bruce. I just need to know that you won't try to intervene."

There was something shady about the look that Bruce returned him. "You've made yourself clear on your position, Detective Gordon. I hope what I've provided will prove useful in your investigation. Thank you for coming and don't let me keep you any longer."

Knowing that his welcome had been worn out, Gordon quickly nodded back at Bruce with a smile on his face, and turned around to walk out the door.

"But you didn't say you won't..." he mumbled silently under his breath, knowing full well that both Bruce and Alfred wouldn't be able to hear him.