Tensions ran high inside the apartment as Jim and Barbara continued giving each other the silent treatment. Although they tried to act like nothing was wrong in front of Holly, after the threat of a custody battle, she kept eyeing them like she was waiting for confirmation that it was just an empty threat. And once this rough patch was over, they could go back to being the happy family they used to be before Gotham threw them into this endless loop of crime and secrets.

Holly sat on her bed, finishing up the last of her algebra homework, humming to herself as she kept writing the same set of equations over and over again until it was burned into her brain. Math had never been her strongest subject, but it was one she was determined to get through with a passing grade. A knock on her door made her look up, watching as it cracked open to reveal it was her dad. "Hey Hols, can I come in?" He asked. "Yeah, it's fine," She nodded. Jim stepped in the rest of the way and sat at the edge of her bed. Holly set her pencil down, and it was just awkward silence between them.

"Did you need to talk to me about something?" Holly finally asked. "I just wanted to make sure everything was going okay with school. Is it?" He questioned. "Pretty much the same as public school, except for the uniforms and horseback trail. But I did make a new friend," Holly answered, leaving out most of the details. "Good, is it a girl friend or a..." Holly knew exactly where this conversation was heading. She had been through it several times before, and the response was always the same no matter how old she got. "No, boys have cooties!" She chuckled. "But in all seriousness, it's a girl. Her name's Cara,"

While Jim was skeptical about his daughter attending Anders Prep, he couldn't deny the fact that Holly could handle herself. At least, he hoped so. While they did their best to continue building that father-daughter relationship, Jim still felt so distant from her, like he barely knew her. He tried to be there whenever he could, but the second he had a moment to be with his family, something else came up. Holly noticed her father's prolonged silence and placed a warm hand on his shoulder. "I owe you an apology," He sighed. "For what?" Holly questioned.

"For being such an absent parent. I know I haven't been around much lately, and it's not fair to you for me to put this job above you. And I'm sorry you're caught up in this fight with me and your mom," He slowly looked up at her, the guilt and shame clear on his face. "Dad, it's okay. I know your job can be quite demanding," Holly assured. "My job should never come before my family. I don't want you to think for one second that I'm ignoring you or don't want to spend time with you. Because I do, you're my little girl. I want to make sure you're happy and safe," Jim sighed.

Holly scooted closer and hugged him tightly, telling him everything was okay between them. "All I ask is that you and Mom try and work it out. I don't want to lose either of you," Holly pleaded. Jim could see the panic in her eyes, and it broke his heart to see her hurting. "I'll talk to your mother while you're at school, I promise," He spoke. Holly nodded, a faint smile appearing on her lips as she hugged him again. Planting a soft kiss on her forehead, Jim wished her a good night's sleep and left the room.

~~~~~~~~

"Jim, I'm not going to apologize for my past," Barbara spoke calmly. Keeping his promise to Holly, Jim and Barbara waited until their daughter left for school and talked about their relationship going forward. "I'm not asking you to. You're not listening," Jim responded. "No, you're not listening. I'm not asking you to walk away from this," Barbara countered. "Really? Because it sounds like you are. We keep going around and around, and I keep telling you that I don't have a choice!" Jim sighed, resting against one of the windows that looked out into the city. "Barbara, this city... The law and the crime here, they're all twisted up at each other like a maze. I came here to be a cop, but this city needs something else,"

"So okay, I understand. I'm just asking for one thing: half of what you have to carry," Barbara requested. "God knows I've dumped my half on you, and you carry it," Jim looked away from the window and over to her. "Barbara, what I'm dealing with, it's so dangerous," Jim warned, but Barbara was persistent. "Half of what you carry," She repeated. "If you think I care about the risk, then you're forgetting who I am," Jim shook his head, telling her he could never forget the woman she was and how she had changed his life for the better. "Are we okay? Are we still fighting?" He asked.

Barbara pursed her lips in thought before a smile slowly formed. "We're negotiating terms," She clarified. "That's not good for me," Jim spoke. "You tell me what you're up against. Okay? You let me in, then we're okay," Barbara slowly reached for his hand, taking it in hers. "That's work again," Jim reminded her. But the more he looked into her eyes and saw the life they had made together and the future that could lie ahead, he caved in, vowing to tell her everything he could. "I'll make it right. For you and Holly,"

With this wave of relief crashing over both of them, Jim and Barbara shared a brief kiss before Jim grabbed his things and left for work. And as he checked his text messages, he saw four missed calls from Harvey and about half a dozen texts asking where he was. Jim responded, apologizing for the delay, and told him he was just taking care of something. Jim could tell just by the wording in his partner's text that he was irritable as he told Jim about their next crime scene's location. When he arrived at Gotham Bridge, he saw dozens of his colleagues and a few medical examiners examining the scene and the body they had found. A young woman was strung up on the metal poles, with some shrine laid out on the main bridge.

But this was strange. She had no blood on her, or the white dress she was wearing. So, who could've committed this crime without any blood trace? She had to have been there for at least a few hours before someone discovered the body early that morning. As Jim reached Harvey, he briefly overheard the conversation between some of his colleagues, but the one thing that caught his attention was the name "Gotham Goat," "What's the Gotham Goat?" He asked Harvey. "A wannabe. For a copycat, the copy is... ugh. Downright creepy, is what it is," Harvey remarked. "You moonlighting or something?"

"What? Me?" Jim asked confused. "Yeah, 'cause you're late and you look like crap warmed over," Harvey pointed out. "Well, write me up if you want," Jim challenged. Harvey rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath as he wished he hadn't received this call so early in the morning. "You're in a good mood," Jim spoke sarcastically. "I'm in a deja vu acid flashback. Someone's hunting the kids of Gotham's top 1 percent, the press will have a field day, the city turns upside down, the whole thing's gonna come down on the GCPD like a ton of bricks," Harvey explained. 

"Well, then let's catch him quick," Jim spoke. And for the first time since he started working at the GCPD, Jim noticed for once Harvey was taking a case seriously. Instead of thinking of it as a waste of his time. They both watched as the medical examiners carefully handled the body and placed the girl's corpse into a black bodybag. The white lifeless glow in her face and the chilling peacefulness sent shivers down their spines. "I'm guessing the killer knew the victim, Amanda Hastings, somehow. We'll go see the family, see if we can try to get something we can work with," Harvey finally spoke.

As they walked back to the car, Harvey looked over to where Nygma was closely looking at the candle shrine. "Nygma, let me know when they're set up for the autopsy," "Anything in particular you want me to look out for?" Ed asked. "Just call me!" Harvey squinted. The death of a child was something no parent should ever have to go through. The thought of going through the grief itself was a crushing enough thought when Jim thought about it. He could only pray that he would never have to go through it himself.

~~~~~~~~~

At the Hasting families' residence, Jim and Harvey watched as Mr. and Mrs. Hastings sat in the living room with their therapist Dr. Marks, staring blankly in front of them with tears in their eyes. Fortunately for the detectives, telling them the heartbreaking news of their daughter's passing had already been taken care of by an earlier call by one of the Hasting's closest friends, as well as the medical examiner who confirmed their daughter was gone. "You see, the strange thing, the horrible thing is that I've been having the same dream for weeks. Of a dark, overbearing presence," Mr. Hastings spoke, his daze still intact.

"Mr. Hastings, about your daughter, and we know that this is difficult, but did she have anyone in her life that worried you?" Jim asked softly. "Anyone who might have wished her harm?" Mr. Hastings looked up at Jim with a surprised expression. "Everybody loved my Amanda," He stated. Just then, Mr. Hastings started clenching and unclenching his fist, and Jim and Harvey looked at each other, confused as to what was happening. "Uh, Mr. Hastings, are you alright?" Harvey inquired. But Mr. Hastings didn't respond and continued clenching his fist.

"Robert, if you need to take a moment, I'm sure it'll be all right," Dr. Marks spoke up, placing a hand on the grieving father's shoulder. "Absolutely," Jim assured, not wanting to push them over the edge in their state of grief. As Mr. Hastings walked off, Mrs. Hastings continued staring at the wall. "Come on," Dr. Marks looked over to her, and with some assistance, Mrs. Hastings joined her husband in another room, away from the detectives. "I know you gentlemen are working against the clock, but I'm afraid Mr. and Mrs. Hastings might not be ready for this," Dr. Marks warned.

"I can see that," Jim nodded. "And you are the Hastings' family therapist, Dr. Marks?" "Yes, I treat mostly Mr. Hastings, but we've had many family sessions. Mr. Hastings has a very delicate nature," she detailed. "I'm afraid he's not at all capable of dealing with this kind of tragedy," Harvey scoffed at this, saying that no one was capable of dealing with this tragedy, how it was like a freight train that runs you over, and you're left to pick up the broken pieces of your life. "Do you not believe in treatment?" Dr. Marks questioned.

But rather than backing down or giving a blunt yes or no answer, Harvey immediately started making assumptions that Dr. Marks was tranquilizing Mrs. Hastings based on her rather off behavior. " And if you're giving out samples..." But before Harvey could finish, Jim stepped in and put it to rest. "Okay, Detective, maybe we should, uh..." Jim gave him a warning look before gesturing towards the front door. "Yeah, you're right, we should," Harvey eventually agreed. Dr. Marks excused herself to check on the elderly couple. With their only lead out of the way, the two men left the residence and reached the main lobby of the building where some of the officers were still investigating the security footage and questioning some of the neighbors.

"Amanda Hastings was last seen entering this building... Tuesday, midnight. That's about 36 hours ago," Harvey mentioned. "You think she was abducted from here?" Jim asked. "I don't know. That was Milkie's M.O. ten years ago. He took each one of the victims from their homes," Harvey recalled. "But CSI found no signs of a break-in," Jim pointed out. "They didn't with Randall either. He worked for an air-conditioning maintenance crew that covered all three buildings,"

"Did he have keys?" Jim asked. Harvey nodded, confirming that Randall indeed had keys. This could be their step in the right direction to finding Amanda's killer. Jim reached into his pocket, and the second the other end picked up, he requested the employee list of every maintenance and janitorial company with access to the Hastings' building. "Yeah, I'll tell him," Jim assured before hanging up and looking over to Harvey as they returned to the car. "They're ready for the autopsy,"