The dark clouds looming over Gotham slightly parted as last night's rainstorm ended, but even then, it was still a dark and dreary day as the GCPD was called in. But rather than the crime being your typical stabbing or shooting, it was something they rarely got calls about. A hanging. "Captain," Harvey nodded to her as she arrived on the scene. "What have we got?" Essen asked. "Sometime last night, Mr. Lucky there got tied to that chair, a noose was dropped over his neck, and he's heaved over the side. Some suits coming up for a smoke this morning found him," Harvey explained.

"How'd he get back up to the roof?" Essen inquired. "See that pulley there?" Harvey pointed behind her where the contraption was hanging from the metal tower.  "My guess: it was the killer," "Guy went to a lot of trouble to get him back up. Why not just leave him hanging?" "Good morning, Captain!" Ed joined them, tightly clutching his notebook. "Morning, Ed," Essen acknowledged him. "The more you cut me, the bigger I grow. What am I?" Ed babbled. "We're on a rooftop, Nygma. Don't tempt me," Harvey grouched. 

Ed sighed before turning to Captain Essen and giving the answer. "A hole. I'm a hole," he answered with just a hint of frustration. "Okay, and the relevance?" Essen requested. "Well, there's a hole, a surgical incision in our victim's abdomen. Certainly post-mortem. I guess the killer was looking for something. I'll have to examine the body more fully back at the lab," Ed explained. "You mean the medical examiner will," Essen clarified. Ed stuttered, trying to say he could handle performing an autopsy, but Essen again reminded him of his position. "You handle forensics, Ed. The bodies belong to Dr. Guerra. And he's made formal complaints. I can't cover for you anymore,"

"I read you, ma'am. Loud and clear," Ed nodded before curiously turning to examine the dead body before the medical examiner showed up. "So, where's Gordon?" Essen turned back to Harvey. "Personal stuff. He'll be in soon," Harvey answered, turning around to look over the edge of the building. "Hey, don't stand near the edge," Essen warned. "You worried about me, Captain?" Harvey asked. "You know I don't start drinking until noon,"

"Detective Flass had a lot of friends, and your partner arrested him for murder. Accidents happen," Essen spelled it out. "You're the one who put the cuffs on him," Harvey pointed out with a smirk. "So, we should all be careful," Essen concluded. And as she walked away, some of Harvey's colleagues overheard the situation, and some even glared at him over the Flass situation. To some, it didn't matter if Flass was a murderer some of those people still worshiped him.

"To hell with them," Harvey muttered.

~~~~~~~~~~

Holly had left for school by the time Selina had arrived back at the apartment, and even after Ivy got better and returned to the streets, Selina continued to overstay her welcome. She couldn't help it. It was rare she ever got to stay in a nice place like this rent-free. She sat on the edge of the dining room table, kicking her legs and snacking on the dry cereal out of the box. But the second she let her guard down, she heard the front door open, and Jim's voice echoed through the unit. "Barbara?" He called out, reaching his coat to grab the second set of keys.

But instead of hearing Barbara's voice, he heard a creak from the kitchen and stepped inside, but the only thing he found was the open cereal box. He could only shake his head as he picked it up and put it back in the pantry, thinking that Holly must've left it there. But then he heard another creak, but this time, it came from behind him. "Selina, I know it's you. Come on out," Jim sighed. "Surprised to see me?" Selina poked her head out. "No. You've been here for how long now? A few weeks? A month?"

"Little more than that," Selina shrugged. "Hey, it's your daughter's fault. She said it was fine!" "No, I said it was fine for a few weeks. But you're overstaying your welcome," Jim stated. "But aren't you also? Aren't things over between you and your girlfriend? Should you even be here?" Selina crowed. "I just came here to drop off keys," Jim answered. "Go get your stuff," Selina's eyebrows quirked up. "Why? Where are you taking me?" "Well, you're not staying here, and you're not gonna stay on the street. I'll find you someplace safe," Jim explained.

"Hmm, safe," Selina scoffed. "Safe like Wayne Manor? That was your last great idea," "So someplace else. You're still my only witness to the Wayne murders," Jim responded. Selina slowly backed away, a tiny smirk on the edge of her lips. Jim must not have known about the truth yet. "You haven't talked to Bruce since he got back?" Selina questioned. "No. Why?" Jim glanced. "Because I told him already, I didn't see anything. I lied," Selina admitted.  Sucks about your girlfriend. She's got some really nice stuff," Jim's eyes widened as Selina ran onto the balcony. "Hey! Wait!" Jim chased after her, but he was a split second too late as Selina fearlessly jumped off the balcony and onto the next one below.

How Selina could toy with Bruce's emotions like that and think he was finally going to get justice for his parent's murders, Jim had no idea why. But if anything, he needed to pay a visit and make sure he was okay. Though hitting dead ends in his investigations seemed to be an ongoing thing, Jim had never hit so many dead ends until the Wayne case.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Detective James Gordon's here to see you, Master Bruce," Alfred spoke as he and Jim walked into the library. Bruce looked up from one of the untouched files and set down his paper. "Detective," Bruce acknowledged. "Bruce. How are you?" Jim asked, shaking his hand. "I'm fine, thank you," Bruce answered. "I would've come by earlier, but things were a little crazy. You were gone for a while," the detective explained. "You were gone for a while," "Yeah, Switzerland," Bruce nodded.

"Probably wise. I saw Selina Kyle, and she told me she lied, she saw nothing," Jim explained, though Bruce already knew about it. But even then, Jim could still see the pain in the young boy's eyes. "Yes. That's what she told me," Bruce stood up from his chair and sat on the couch where Alfred stood just a few feet away. "She made up the story to get out of juvie," Bruce added. "Well, she could be saying this now because she's scared. It would be understandable after what happened," Jim tried to reason. "No, she doesn't scare easily. I believe her. She didn't see the killer," Bruce insisted.

"Look, this is unfortunate, but it doesn't mean we're back to square one. Someone sent assassins after her. Only a guilty person would do that," Jim said. "Yes, and led her bloody assassins to the manor. Thank you very much," Alfred reminded, his voice gravelly. "Anyway, you need no longer concern yourself with the case," Bruce sighed. "Bruce, this isn't the time to give up," Jim looked confused. "I'm not giving up," the young boy insisted. Confusion spread across Jim's face, muttering he didn't understand what Bruce was saying.

"Months ago, you promised you'd find who killed my parents, and in all that time, you've managed to find one witness, who turned out to be a liar," Bruce spoke. "An investigation like this takes time," Jim spoke calmly as the tension in the room grew. "I understand. But I don't want you to feel bound by an oath you can't fulfill. I'm releasing you from your promise. I'll pursue the matter on my own," Bruce stood up and walked out of the room. But as Jim was about to go after him, Alfred stepped in the way, telling Jim to let it go. "I really wouldn't bother, actually, mate. Once Master Bruce makes up his mind, there's no arguing with him," 

Jim continued to protest, saying it was too dangerous for Bruce to pursue the case on his own. But Alfred was persistent, saying if that was the case, he'd look after Bruce and make sure he wouldn't do anything stupid. "Can I show you the door?" Alfred asked. With a reluctant sigh, Jim followed the butler back to the front of the Manor and back to his car. Not only was Jim worried about what would happen to Bruce taking on this investigation, but the next person he feared for was Holly. She and Bruce seemed to have become quite acquainted with one another, and the more time he and Holly got closer, the more Jim grew more and more paranoid. If she were to get involved with the Wayne case, a target might be placed on her back.

And Jim would never forgive himself if that were to happen.

~~~~~~~~

"How about getting it right the first time so we don't have to keep doing this?" Harvey lectured one of his coworkers as the younger man didn't have a straight answer when it came to the pending investigation. All Harvey could do was wish and wait until Jim got there so he could escape this nightmare of unreliable people. "Detective Bullock?" a woman's voice inquired from behind him. "It's my name, don't wear it out," Harvey warned as he turned around. "I'm Scottie Mullens. You called me about Adam Jodowsky," She introduced herself.

"Oh, y... Oh, Ms. Mullens, yes. Thank you for stopping by. Uh, miss? Mrs.?" Harvey stuttered, trying to hide he was almost instantly entranced by her dark red hair, dark burgundy hat, and light green eyes. "Miss," Mullens clarified. "Good. Good," Harvey nodded before he led her to his desk. "So, how did you... know Mr. Jodowsky?" the detective questioned. "I was his sponsor, sort of. We were in a support group together. He's dead, isn't he?" she answered. "What makes you think that?" Harvey asked, a little taken aback by her question. "This is a homicide division. You're a homicide detective," She pointed out.

"We found his body this morning. Your number was in his pocket," Harvey answered. Ms. Mullen's face fell as she explained she had just given the victim her number and repeated she recently became his sponsor. "So, what kind of group is this? Uh, for booze, pills?" Harvey speculated. "It's for people suffering from phobias," Ms. Mullens clarified. Harvey nearly cracked a smile at that thought. A support group for phobia was something he never heard of before. "Your joking," He coughed.

"Fear can be debilitating. It helps to talk to someone about it. Don't be an ass," Ms. Mullen squinted. "Excuse me?" Harvey asked. "You were about to make fun, don't be an ass," the woman pointed out. "Your right, I'm sorry. I was," Harvey apologized. "So, what was Mr. Jodowsky's phobia?" "Heights," Ms. Mullens asked. "Hmm. So if he was found dangling from the top of a tall building..." Before Harvey could finish his sentence, Ms. Mullens interrupted him, inquiring if that was the cause of death. "I'm gonna need the names of all the people in the support group," Harvey requested.

Ms. Mullens tried to explain to him that the group was completely anonymous. But Harvey was not going to let the anonymity of a support group stop him from catching the killer. "Adam was the only one I knew personally. You don't think someone from the group did this?" Ms. Mullens questioned. "Could be. Killer certainly seemed to know of his phobia," Harvey reasoned. The longer he made eye contact with her, the more a certain question wanted to escape his lips. Eventually, Harvey could not hold it back any longer, no matter how awkward the question might be. "Are you Irish?" He asked.

The woman's eyebrows quirked with surprise as Harvey tried to water down the awkwardness. "Y-You seem like you could be Irish," Harvey stated. "What's it to you?" Ms. Mullens asked. "I'm just curious," Harvey answered. "When's the next meeting?" "Tonight, at 6'o clock," Ms. Mullens answered. "And these things, they usually run, about an hour?" Ms. Mullens nodded in confirmation. "So, you could maybe go to dinner afterward. Hypothetically,"

"Hypothetically," Ms. Mullens smiled. "Okay. Well, I'm gonna keep working on the case, and I'll call you if I feel the need to go to this meeting. We're gonna find out who did this. I promise, Miss Mullens," Harvey vowed. Ms. Mullens smiled and thanked him for his time before leaving the precinct. "So, I went through the materials from the scene. Ropes and pulleys can be bought anywhere. For what it's worth, I traced the chair the victim was tied to," Jim said as he walked up the stairs to where Harvey was standing, still in silent awe. "Yeah, I'm listening," Harvey finally turned to his partner.

"Banker's chair, wooden, made by some company in the Narrows that's been closed down for years," Jim explained. "Great, then let's go," Harvey reached over to his chair to grab his jacket. "You sure? That's a pretty thin lead, Harv," Jim looked surprised. "Since when have you been scared of a little work, huh?" Harvey responded. Okay then! Jim blinked, having never seen Harvey act like that before, but brushed him off and followed him out of the precinct.

~~~~~~~~

The warehouse door creaked as Jim and Harvey entered the rusting and decaying structure, stepping over furniture and shattered pieces of glass. And just from looking around in the dimly lit structure, it looked like everyone that used to work in that building dropped everything and left what remained to rot away for the next however many years. "So, word around the house is that you and Doc Caliente have a thing," Harvey broke the silence as he stepped over a broken chair. "Thompkins?" Jim inquired. "Yeah, kind of, I guess. So, you and Barbara are finally finito?" Harvey pressed on.

"Yeah, I dropped the keys off at her apartment today. When Holly gets home, I'm gonna have to break the news to her," Jim added. "That's gonna be hard for her, man. I can't even imagine being a kid and watching your parents split," Harvey sighed. "I know. I didn't want it to come to this," Jim admitted. "You know, fourteen years together is a long time, and this is not how I imagined it would end," Harvey's eyes widened, and he stopped in his tracks. "Fourteen years? And you guys were still engaged?" Harvey gaped. "I wanted to give Barbara the wedding of her dreams, I didn't want to rely on her parents for money," Jim said. "And of course, raising Holly was the top priority. So, we had to put a hold on the planning,"

"Damn. Well, did you at least get any of that self-righteous breakup sex?" Harvey asked, making Jim almost instantly roll his eyes. "She wasn't there. You notice I don't ask you about your love life? But you always ask about mine!" Jim pointed out. "My love life is an open book, and a short and nasty one. But I'm working on the vic's friend in the phobia support group, and unless she's the killer, I think I'm in there," Harvey smirked. "You see why I don't ask?" Jim said with a tiny smile. "Just don't screw it up with the doctor," Harvey replied. "I'll try not to," Jim promised.

"Seriously," Harvey spoke. "I've been willing to forgive you on account of you not getting laid, but you mean to tell me this whole time you've been making speeches, raising hell, you've had a woman? The thought of what you would do if alone is truly terrifying," Their conversation was quickly interrupted by a man's screams ringing off in the distance. And quicker than a flash, Jim and Harvey whipped out their guns and ran towards the sound.

"GCPD!" Harvey yelled as he and Jim ran into one of the back rooms and found an unconscious man tied to a chair with a few pigs around him and he was about to be attacked by another man dressed a pig with a butcher knife. "Drop the knife!" Jim warned. But as the masked man turned around to attack the detectives, Jim and Harvey didn't hesitate as they shot the man until he was bleeding out on the ground. "What the hell?" Harvey mumbled as he and Jim got a closer look. One of the pigs took notice of Jim's presence and started sniffing around him while Jim tried to get the pig to buzz off.

Harvey reached out to untie the victim, and as he finished unbinding his second wrist, Harvey found something that may not be a thin lead after all.