ONE YEAR LATER

Ryker Heights, when construction began, was going to be the future of Gotham. A concrete jungle with the rich and famous financing towers of steel and prosperity, the neighborhood was unlivable for those without the stomach to make some cash. But for a company like LexCorp, guts came in spades.

Since Lex Luthor declared he was running for President, his company's new building in Ryker Heights had halted expansion into the city to reallocate funds towards the campaign. The daring, pushy CEO had made Gotham City the last city on the campaign trail for a reason, but that reason was going to get him killed.

Late on an October night, the LexCorp building received a loud reawakening. The cool night air huddled people tighter into their clothes, and thank God. When the blast shattered the windows on the forty-second floor, glass rained down like a shower of knives. Two bodies followed. One hit a car parked along the sidewalk, but the other wasn't as fortunate. Three people were hurt by the glass, two dead at the scene, and Jim Gordon didn't think he'd ever lost this much sleep over the eyewitness testimony of the secretary of that floor.

She was Laura Brinkley, secretary to Mercedes Graves - a cutthroat business exec and Luthor's righthand woman. Gordon wrapped a shock blanket around her, because she was shaking, her hands twitched around a cup of tea from the Starbucks across the street.

"You said you saw who?" He asked, bushy eyebrows knitted in confusion. He couldn't have heard her right.

"The kid from Star City, y-you know…" She said, and her eyes squeezed shut. Her short hair had her draw the blanket over her head like a shawl. "...The one that used to follow Green Arrow around."

Gordon nodded, and rubbed his thumb across his forehead. "I know who you're talking about...can't think of his name. My memory…"

"Speedy," She licked her lips. "I'm from Star City...That guy saved my life once, but...he's been missing for three years. There were rumors...that Green Arrow cut him off. Kicked him out, but...there were other rumors that he switched sides."

"...Switched sides?"

"Yeah…" Laura nodded, "Like tonight. He kicks the door open, points an arrow at me, and tells me that if I move, he'll put it through my eye...Told me if I told anyone that I'd seen him, he'd come after my family. I watched as he fitted something square and black…" She put the teacup on the hood of the squad car and held her hands out, indicating the size. "About this big, and this wide...looked like a bomb if you ask me."

"A bomb?" Gordon asked, "So this was an assassination attempt on Lex Luthor?"

"Looked like it."

"What'd he look like?" Jim wished arthritis hadn't taken hold of his fingers, so he could write faster. He sighed.

"Ginger hair about shoulder length, green tattoos on right arm from the shoulder to the forearm...He dressed in red leather, almost head to toe. Wore a Star City baseball cap, I have one just like it." Laura bit her lip as she hung her head, clearing her throat. "He was young. Twenty-one, twenty-two."

"Good, you're doing great, Laura." Jim patted her shoulder, "What else happened?"

"The Red Hood showed up," She said, pulling her blanket around herself. "He was just...he looked like hell. Like he'd been running all night, he was breathing hard. Maybe he'd been chasing Speedy all over before they got there, I don't know. But...he didn't seem interested in a fight."

"There's a surprise."

Laura shook her head. "I know it sounds weird, sir, but I'm telling you the truth. His hands were empty. He held them up like he was surrendering. He said he just wanted to talk. Speedy, he…"

"He what?"

"At first, I thought it was sweat on his face," She whispered, "But I realized that it wasn't sweat. He was crying. He said he had to plant the bomb."

"Why?"

"Because if he didn't, someone was going to kill his daughter."

Gordon grew very still, and his pen stopped scribbling. He met her eyes, and she wasn't lying. No darting of pupils, no dilation. Just steady. Looking left as suspects do when they were trying to remember. Remember something true to begin with. "...What did the Red Hood tell him?"

Laura's face became gaunt, the shadows deeper. "...That if Speedy didn't leave with him now, he had no chance of seeing his daughter again...And then he pulled me out from behind my desk, pushed me through the doors, and then a shot rang out...the bomb exploded. The two men you found, those were bodyguards...they were proofing the building for Mr. Luthor."

"...I think that'll do it, Miss Brinkley." Gordon's mouth was a grim line as he closed his notebook, and pushed it into his breast pocket. "I'll arrange for a car to take you home and inform your boss of what's taken place here tonight."

"...Commissioner Gordon?"

Jim half-turned, and pushed his hands into his pockets. Laura's eyes were nervous, worried. "...What do you think is happening?"

"...I think someone wants Lex Luthor dead." Gordon said after a moment's pause, "...and I plan to find out who."

….

Before I tell you this story, let me preface it by saying that I take it all back.

A broken neck would be better than this.