"I-I'm telling the truth, I didn't kill those guys. I mean, a cop?! Why would I kill a cop?!" Smikers stuttered as he sat at the interrogation table back at the precinct. "Maybe because you're a thieving, cop-murdering pile of crap," Harvey snarled. "But, mind you, that's just a theory," "You confessed to stealing the balloons. On what purpose?" Jim questioned. "Look, I did steal the balloons, but I owed these loan sharks, and-and if I didn't pay 'em, they were gonna cut off stuff!" Smikers explained, shivers running down his spine at the fear of being harmed.

"So if you didn't kill Danzer and Cranston, who did? Who'd you sell the balloons to?" Jim spoke calmly and collected, unlike his partner who was getting more and more agitated by the prolonged silence. Smikers glanced down at his lap before looking the detectives in the eyes again. "I never saw his face. We had a drop-off point to exchange the balloons and money," Smikers admitted. Harvey had had enough. "You know what we got here, Jim? We got us a criminal mastermind, hmm? Not only is the murder weapon in the stratosphere, but so are the bodies. It's the perfect crime!" Harvey shook his head. 

Smikers appeared to mutter something under his breath, but it was rather quiet, and the detectives could barely hear it. "What was that?" Jim asked him. "T-the bodies will come back," Jim and Harvey looked at each other before they leaned over the table, closer to Smikers. "What are you talking about?" Jim squinted. Smikers looked at them surprised; they most likely didn't know how the weather balloons worked. After all, they weren't your average carnival fair balloon. "Tell us what you mean genius, or I'll beat it out of you," Harvey threatened, cracking his knuckles for further intimidation.

"They rise up, and it gets colder and colder, and the balloon gets brittle, and the helium expands," Smikers explained. "Then what?" Harvey pressed on. "It pops..." Smikers finished.

Not long after the interrogation wrapped up, Jim and Harvey got word that Cranston's body had returned to the ground. Not only was his body splattered all over the streets like a bug on a windshield, but he also crushed an old lady as she walking her dog. The dog wasn't hurt, but it would surely remember the traumatic and grisly sight of its owner's demise. "I'm really starting to dislike this case," Harvey sighed, watching his colleagues scrape up the pieces of Cranston's body, as well as place the older lady into a body bag. What was left of her broken body, at least.

"Where do you think they find shovels that big, huh?" Harvey wondered. Jim had just gotten off the phone with Captain Essen, where only more bad news came in. A third victim of the Balloonman was identified, Cardinal Quinn. "He was meditating in his garden. Alvarez is on his way to the scene," Jim explained. Harvey could only roll his eyes as not only was there pressure from the citizens and the rest of the GCPD, but now the church was going to be breathing down their necks. "Forget the fact that Quinn was known as the diddling priest," Harvey continued to complain.

"Here's what we found in Cranston's pockets. What wasn't smashed to bits," An officer handed them a small evidence bag containing Cranston's badge, wallet, and a yellow piece of paper with names written on it. Harvey's eyes widened as he examined the bag, noticing a disturbing detail. "Why's your name on this, Jim?" He questioned, handing Jim the evidence bag. Jim took a closer look at it through the tiny scrawls written on the bag, and he looked back at Harvey with realization.

"I know who the Balloonman is,"

~~~~~~~

Back at the GCPD, the real balloonman's face was pinned to a corkboard, with photos of all his victims and the evidence left behind at the crime scenes tied together with red yarn. But who was really the balloon-killing vigilante? "His name is Davis Lamond; 48. He's worked at juvenile services for 15 years. No priors. He didn't show up for work today and hasn't been back to his apartment. We have uniforms at both," Jim explained to Captain Essen as she looked at the board with him.

"And you're positive he's the killer?" Essen asked. "We found a form on Cranston's body that I'd given Lamond yesterday morning. Also, keys that opened his apartment. I'm guessing they had a scuffle, Cranston went through his pockets, but Lamond managed to attach him to the balloon," Jim added. Essen crossed her arms in front of her chest, wondering what could've caused Lamond to snap. "His coworkers describe him as thoughtful, dedicated, sweet-- a few said that," Jim mentioned. "Oh, great, one of those sweet cop-killing vigilantes. And what about his last target?" Essen spoke sarcastically.

"Same profile as all the rest. Well known, seemingly respectable but actually corrupt," Jim said, even though he knew that profile could match any of the scumbags in Gotham. Captain Essen's frustration was evident, not only in her body language but also in her eyes. "I have the mayor, city council, half the city's judges and clergy hiding indoors screaming at the commissioner to find the guy. And guess who he screams at?" She vented. "We've got his photo out there. It's just a matter of time," Jim assured. Captain Essen gave him a look that silently said, "It better be soon," before she walked off.

Turning back to his partner, Harvey shook his head as he hung up the phone, having called everyone he could think of from the network of Chinese hookers and loan sharks. But none of them had any information to give. "Think about it, Jim. He had to store the balloons, the helium canisters, the carts he was using... Uh, maybe a storage facility, a warehouse?" Harvey suggested. Suddenly, it hit Jim like a thousand bricks. "Or an abandoned building!"

~~~~~~~~~

With at least a few hours before the Balloonman would kill his last and final target, Harvey and Jim rushed to the old juvie building. Most of the windows had been shot or punched out, and a black iron fence was wrapped around the entrance, keeping trespassers from breaking in and scrapping. "What made you figure this place?" Harvey questioned as he and Jim looked out the car window, staring at the dirt and grime-covered architecture. "The girl yesterday, Selina told me she was in a new juvie building. Lamond, the counselor, said the same thing, so I'm thinking what happened to the old juvie building? Turns out the city's getting ready to demo it," Jim answered.

"Look, even if he was here, he's probably long gone. He's only got one balloon left, so why would he stick around and wait for us to make our move?" Harvey reasoned. Then, he saw something past the fence, seemingly waiting for them... the familiar white weather balloon. "Or maybe he is here. Look!" Harvey pointed out before he got out of the car, Jim following right behind. Both men pulled out their guns as they entered the open passage that connected the sections of the old building. And just as they entered the loading zone, they not only found the balloon cart, but they also found a dark blue van, the back door wide open.

Jim peered into the back, he called out to Harvey, but there was no response. Only the cocking of a gun. Harvey walked to the other side of the van with his hands up. Behind him was none other than the balloonman himself, unmasked and ready to complete his kill list. "Drop the gun! Now!" Jim shouted. "I can't do that, detective. I'm not done yet," Lamond shook his head. "One more time.... drop it," Jim warned, his finger now on the trigger.

"You know you should be helping me, detective! I'm doing this city a favor since nobody else has the balls to step up! You could too," Lamond scoffed. "You're wasting your breath. My partner here thinks you're as bad as the scum you kill. I can see how your kind of doing us a favor. So don't shoot me, all right?" Bullock awkwardly chuckled as he silently feared the worst. Keeping his handgun behind Harvey's head, Lamond looked over to Jim as if he could try and make the detective understand his point of view. "You believe as I do. I know you're the one who caught those child snatchers. You risked your life!"

"So did I!" Harvey piped up before going silent again. "You want to protect the innocent from these scumbags? What about your daughter? You couldn't live with yourself if something happened to her, I know that," Lamond had a point regarding Holly. But there were other ways to do good within the barriers of the law. "What good are laws when they require men like your lieutenant Cranston to implement them? And Ronald Danzer-- you really think he would've ever seen the inside of a jail? Or that priest? Why didn't the law punish him?"

"I have given my life to the lost children of Gotham because I wanted to make a difference. And you know what kind of difference I made? None. The people running this city feed off the weak, and the law protects them. And when your mayor rounded up all those children to send off to that prison upstate, I decided "no more." I would teach them there are consequences," Lamond continued his rant, clearly rooted in his beliefs. "Who are you fighting for? A mayor in the mob's pocket? Cops on the take? Or for the weak and the innocent?"

But Jim would not answer. Not because the question was hard to answer, but because Harvey's life mattered more than satisfying a criminal's agenda. Eventually, Lamond got tired of waiting. Pulling his gun away from Harvey's head, Lamond began to fire at Jim, but he quickly ducked behind the van. While the balloonman was distracted, Harvey took his chance to escape his clutches and shoved Lamond against the van, the gun skittering across the concrete.

With the thought of giving the balloonman a taste of his own medicine on his mind, Bullock headbutted him into the cart and cuffed him to the weather balloon, the mechanics instantly unraveling the weather balloon and sending Lamond into the air. As Jim came out of hiding, he was in shock to see what Bullock had done. "How's it feel? You're hoisted by your own petard!" Harvey taunted. "Grab him!" Jim yelled to his partner, but Harvey continued to smirk and watch as Lamond floated into the air. Without a hint of hesitation, Jim grabbed Lamond's foot, attempting to pull him back to the ground, but it wasn't enough, and he too, began to be pulled away by the balloon.

Harvey looked at Jim in disbelief, yelling for him to let go. "Shoot it! Shoot the balloon!" Jim shouted. "Jim, just let him go!" Bullock called back in reply. eventually, Harvey fumbled around looking for the gun and quickly grabbed it. There was only one bullet left in the chamber. This was a life-or-death scenario. Bullock lined up his aim, just as he had done many times before, although the circumstances were quite different. "Shoot it, now!" Jim insisted. Finally, Bullock pulled the trigger, hitting the balloon dead in the center, and popped it. Lamond and Jim fell back to the ground, landing on top the blue van. Lamond bounced right off and landed on the ground, knocked unconscious.

~~~~~~~~~~

"The crusade of the vigilante known as the Balloonman ended tonight when he was apprehended by police. He was one man who stood up to the corruption eating at the heart of Gotham, willing to break the law in order to save it," Bruce watched the broadcast from the library as Alfred set out his dinner on a silver platter. "Well, I imagine the criminals of Gotham are sleeping well tonight," the butler commented when he took notice of the program. But Bruce could only shake his head. The man may have had good intentions when it came to cleaning up Gotham, but he was doing it the wrong way. "He killed people. That made him a criminal, too," Bruce mentioned.

"That's very true," Alfred nodded. "Can I get you anything else, Master Bruce?" "No thank you, Alfred," Bruce answered. Alfred took that as his chance to leave, but he turned back to Bruce as he began to eat his dinner. "Do try and eat a bit, won't you? Be a shame to have you floating away," Bruce turned his attention back to the screen, watching the rest of the broadcast as the screen briefly flashed a brief photo of Jim grabbing the balloonman's leg right before the balloon popped. "...The GCPD claims a win, but this journalist is left to wonder: Now that the Balloonman is gone, who will defend the people of Gotham? This is channel 7 at 7:00, reporting live from the former Gotham juvenile facility center downtown, with your minute-to-minute updates. Back to the newsroom, John," The reporter finished.

Meanwhile, back at the apartment, Holly's jaw dropped at the photo of her father. If she expected anything to come out of capturing the balloonman, it certainly wasn't this. She could only thank God that Harvey had been there to shoot the balloon when he did. Thankfully, Barbara hadn't been in the room to see it, but she had heard the first few bits of the broadcast, sighing with relief that this man had been caught. And the second the door opened, Jim walked in with a slight limp and a hand on his head. Holly dashed over and hugged him.

"You okay, Dad?" she asked, noticing his mild discomfort. "Yeah Hols, I just fell. I'm okay," Jim assured before resting against the sofa. Barbara soon joined them and crouched in front of her fiancé. "The city's sick. Sick in a way I hadn't realized," Jim grimaced. "When they were taking him away, this Balloonman killer, I asked who his last target was," "Did he say who?" Holly questioned. "It doesn't matter. He meant the mayor, judges, anyone in a position of power-- they're all guilty," Jim explained.

"But that's not true. There are good people in power who want to make a change," Barbara tried to reason. "It's how he feels, it's how they all feel. That's why the city embraced him. Because we let them down. If people take the law into their own hands, then there is no law. There are cops who do it, the same thing he did," Jim continued. Holly could only sit in and listen as the reality of it all sank in. No matter what decisions you make, whether within the laws or not, someone was going to get hurt regardless. "Dad, I know you. You're not like them, you would never fall into that trap," Holly insisted. "How can you be so sure?" Jim inquired.

"Because we love you, we see the real you," Barbara squeezed his hand reassuringly. "Now, I'm gonna get you a drink," Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. As Jim stood up to answer it, Barbara said she'd get it and motioned for him to sit back and relax. But as she opened the door, she was surprised when a well-dressed man with spiked black hair asked to speak with Jim. "Jim, someone is wanting to speak with you," She called out. Jim and Holly looked up, and the man smiled.

"Hello James, old friend,"