HAYSVILLE

"Damn it…" Charles Salve muttered as his coffee slipped over the brim of his cup and onto his slacks. He hissed as the coffee seeped through them and onto his skin burning his thy. He looked away from the road he was driving on and down to the cup holder in order to properly see where he was setting his coffee.

He was in a hurry to get to Blackgate Penitentiary, it wouldn't look good for him to be late seeing ass he was the warden. Typically anyone in that position in Gotham would be high on the list for threats and bribery but Charles had remained steadfast in his career. It helped that he didn't have a wife or children that could be threatened to coerce him into anything fishy. There was no way he would let Gotham's low lifes try to push him around.

As he sat up after setting his coffee down his eyes widened in shock and he slammed on his breaks. He only had time to notice that the damn coffee had spilled all over his car before his head crashed into the wheel and his car skidded off of the road and into a ditch before the driver side of the car was slammed into a tree.

Unknownst to Warden Salve the eighteen wheeler who that hit him stopped and a white van pulled up close to it, three men jumped out of the back of the van and dragged a body out with them. The driver of the eighteen wheeler hopped out of the car and took off the helmet and padded gear he had been wearing and deposited them in the van that had pulled up. The other three men placed the body in the eighteen wheeler and arranged him so that it looked like he had been driving before shutting the door and settling back into the van before speeding off.

WAYNE MANOR

"...Blackgate Penitentiary warden Charles Salve found dead in car crash. The former Warden's car was found driving through Haysville and we can only assume he was heading for Port Adams to take the ferry to Blackgate. An eighteen wheeler was also found at the sight of the crash, the driver was proclaimed dead by the the death of the late Warden, Alexander Fin is expected to take his place as the new head of Blackgate…"

Bruce turned the tv down and sighed, Warden Salve had been a steady man, maybe not good, but he was determined not to let Gotham's villains run amuck. Bruce wasn't so sure about this Alexander Fin.

"Do you think it was really an accident?" He heard Dick's steady voice from behind him.

He didn't turn when he answered, "It seems like it, other than maybe a grudge there isn't much of a reason to kill him unless whoever did had something to gain from the new Warden. Also, the driver of the other vehicle was found dead too. We'll stop by the GCPD tonight just in case though."

The teen he had been talking to walked around the couch Bruce was sitting on and plopped onto a chair. "Okay."

Bruce watched as DIck stretched until he was sprawled out all over the chair before looking back to the tv where the news was still playing. They stayed like that watching the news until Alfred called them into the dining room for dinner.

OLD GOTHAM

Batman crouched on the edge of a gargoyle as he surveyed his city. Throughout the last week he had head whispers of some kind of big operation but it was being played close to the chest. No one knew any details about it, not even what exactly it was. Just that it was something big.

Batman could only hope that it wasn't some new drug or any human trafficking

"Hey, look who it is, B" He heard Robin's voice and he turned to see a familiar silhouette on the building next to theirs. The shape leapt across the short distance between buildings to join them.

"Well look who it is." She smiled and walked closer to them, as she passed Robin she ruffled his hair and continued her path to stop in front of Batman.

"Tiger."

"Catwoman."

"You guys are weird." Robin observed with his head tilted to the side slightly.

Selina laughed at that while Batman, predictably, did not respond. "You think so, Kitten?"

Robin just gave her a weird look before diverting his gaze to his mentor, "Can we go now?"

Batman just nodded before turning in the direction of GCPD headquarters. Robin and Catwoman followed him closely and they all landed on the roof together.

Gordon recognized the familiar crunch of gravel that marked the Batman's arrival, though he suspected the noise was made on purpose and the Dark Knight could had landed silently if he had wished.

When the commissioner turned he was surprised to see not only Batman and Robin but also Catwoman.

"Catwoman? What are you doing here?" He asked bitterly, she may have been better since Robin showed up but Catwoman wa still a criminal.

His harsh question prompted a hard glare from Robin as he moved to step in front of the feline.

"She stays." Batman stated before getting to business, "Do you have any evidence that the Warden's death was not as innocent as it seems?"

Gordon reluctantly took his eyes away from Catwoman and turned to Batman, "No, and we don't have any reason to believe that Alexander Fin has any plans for foul play. He is new to Gotham, only lived here for a few months so that isn't long enough to get him in tight with any gangs or mobs yet."

Batman nodded and turned away from the commissioner before leaping off of the roof and shooting his grappling hook. He didn't need to look to know Catwoman and Robin were following him.

As far a he could tell the death of the warden and whatever had caught the attention of the underground were not related. He wouldn't rule it out completely yet but he wasn't going to focus on it as much.

FOUR DAYS LATER-GCPD HEADQUARTERS

"Jim, there was a breakout up at Blackgate!" Bullock wheezed, he had actually run up the stairs. Okay maybe not run, jogged, lightly jogged.

Jim Gordon rubbed a hand over his face and sighed, "Who was it?"

"Tony Zucco." Bullock said grimly.

Jim froze, that was definitely not something he had been expecting to hear.

"How did that happen?" He growled.

"Looks like a dirty guard." Bullock answered, still recovering from his jog up the stairs.

"Damn it!" Jim hissed, this was not good. He had a feeling the first person that Zucco would be looking for was his daughter's best friend, a boy he couldn't help but grow fond of over the years. He also knew Bruce Wayne would not be happy. He knew Bruce was a good man but he didn't always trust the man's judgement and he knew that the only thing the billionaire would be concerned about was the welfare of his ward. He ay alert the press in order to get the word out and have more eyes looking for Zucco but that meant that Zucco would probably go to ground like he had after the Grayson's murders.

"Keep this quiet until we have a lead. I don't want the press getting ahold of this and scaring Zucco into hiding."

Bullock nodded, "What about Wayne?"

"No, I'm afraid he would tell the press." Jim sighed and stood up.

"Where you going?" BUllock questioned.

"Blackgate."

Bullock nodded and followed Jim out of the office, this was going to be a long couple of weeks.

UPTOWN GOTHAM-FARROW

Tony Zucco hopped out of the undercover police cruiser and walked quickly into the safe house his men had set up. He made his way to the kitchen for his first real meal in a long time. He ate slowly and laughed with his men about how well their plan had played out. It had been almost easy, but the fun was soon over and it was time to talk business.

While he had been in prison for nearly six years his forces had diminished. There were a few who had stuck around, some out of loyalty, some out of fear. He needed to expand, he knew that his second in command Joe had been recruiting a few people, but not enough to raise any flags with the Bat. There had been reports of him asking about some big operation going on but it didn't seem like he knew anything concrete.

He had a few days to round up some more men and a good hacker to retrieve something for him before he made a phone call.

DOWNTOWN GOTHAM-WEST HARLOW-TWO DAYS LATER

Eli Willow's hands flew quickly across the keyboard as beads of sweat rolled down his face. He sat in the back corner of a little coffee shop that he knew his little sister loved. Why she would frequent a place called Eddie's Coffee Joint He didn't know, but it didn't matter, he was on a mission.

"Are you done yet?" A gruff voice asked impatiently.

"Almost, I'm just waiting for a reply." He said shakily. He needed the money this job offered but he wasn't exactly comfortable with hacking the email of a billionaire's secretary.

"Got it." He sighed, relieved to be done with his task.

The man sitting behind him turned and took a picture of the screen before picking up the laptop and setting down an envelope with what Eli assumed was his pay. He grabbed the money shoved it deep into his pockets and the 25 year old left the cafe as naturally as he could. As he passed an alley he saw the man that had been with him destroying the computer he had been using. He supposed it didn't matter, and anyhow he didn't want anything being traced back to him. He figured whoever this guy was, he didn't want the schedules of Wayne and his Kid so he could throw him a surprise party.