I'm getting real tired of starting chapters like this, but I am once again in a fight with, guess who, Tony Murray, and Allie wasn't there to stop me. Students' cheers flood my ears as I shove him into the lockers. I punch him in the face over and over before he builds the strength to push me into the wall across the hall. My head snaps back into the concrete blocks, and I cry out. I look at Tony, and he punches me in the face. Hot red blood drips out of the corner of my mouth, and I lick it off my lips. I grin menacingly up at him, and he looks confused before I headbutt him, knocking him backwards. I grab his shoulders and knee him in the stomach. When he leans over in pain, I elbow him in the back, making him fall to the ground. He pushes himself up off the floor and holds a hand under his nose as I walk away, spitting blood into the trash can.

"You can't keep defending him, Gordon!" Tony yells after me. "You're just lying to yourself!" I grit my teeth and keep walking out of the building, grabbing my backpack off the floor on my way. When I get outside, Jerome is leaning on a tree by the road, and I walk over.

"What're you doing here?" I ask, smiling. He shrugs.

"Just wanted to come see my girl." I look down at my shirt, seeing the drops of blood that must've dripped onto it.

"Aw, damn it," I say. "I loved this shirt." He notices the blood and bruises on my face.

"Was it Tony again?" I frown and nod. "What was it this time?" I sigh and look back toward the building.

"He said you were a worthless freak," I tell him. "Every time he makes fun of you, it just makes me lash out. I can't help it." He nods and places a hand on my shoulder.

"I don't want you to keep getting in fights because of me." I shake my head.

"Jerome, I will never stop getting in fights if it means that people leave you alone." He smiles and kisses the top of my head.

"Come on," he says. "Let's go." I nod, and he takes my hand, leading me away from the school. "Do you have to go to the station today?" I sigh and nod. He looks at me with puppy dog eyes. "Why?" I chuckle and smile.

"I have to help my dad out with a kid," I say. He stops pouting and instead bears a look of confusion, making me laugh. "Something for a case. Someone I...sort of know said she saw someone he's trying to find, so he asked me to come along to make sure she stays in line." He nods.

"When you say you 'sort of know her...'" He trails off, and I chuckle.

"I met her before I got adopted," I tell him. "She saw a fight I got in and followed me home. Don't really know why, but she was just asking me questions. I got annoyed and told her to leave." He nods. "Then, when I got taken by the creepy lady with the pen, she was there too. When I woke up." He squeezes my hand at the thought of the time I was kidnapped. I look up at him and smile. "She saved my life. I got cut by one of the...guards, I guess, and she helped me get out. Well, long enough for the police to find us, at least." He nods.

"So you're friends?" I shrug.

"I'd say so, but I'm not sure she would." He laughs.

"Well, either way, you can tell her thank you for me." I look up at him as we stop in front of the station.

"What for?" He smiles.

"For saving my girlfriend's life." I smile, and he kisses me softly. "Go on. Don't want you to get yelled at for being late." I smile and run up the stairs to the GCPD. Pushing the door open, I look around for Jim or Selina. I spot the former sitting at his desk and walk over.

"'Sup, Jimbo?" I ask as I walk up. I look at Harvey. "Leprechaun." He rolls his eyes, and Jim looks up at me.

"There you are," he says. "I was worried you'd be late." He frowns when he sees my face (the injuries, not just my face in general). "Not again." I sigh and nod. "Who was it this time?" I frown.

"Who do you think?" I ask him. "It's always the same person." He sighs and shakes his head.

"Cassie, you can't just fight anyone you don't agree with. You have to-"

"To do what, Jim? Just stand there and listen while some son of a bitch calls my best friend a worthless freak?" He's silent. "That's right. I didn't just disagree with him. If that was it, I'd just say some witty comeback and be on my way. But if someone goes so far as to insult one of my only friends, I'm not just gonna stand there and let them!" He sighs.

"I get that you're used to just fighting your problems, but-"

"No," I say, cutting him off again. "I've been here over a month. I got used to not having to solve everything by fighting, but I'm not gonna do nothing while the only people I love get beat up on!" I turn away and drop myself in a chair a few feet away, crossing my arms and looking at the ground. I hear him sigh and walk away.

"Detective Gordon?" I hear. "Davis Lamond from juvenile services." I look up at him. Selina's standing behind him, looking extremely bored. "You asked to see Selina Kyle. Could you sign for custody?" Jim nods and takes the paper. Lamond looks at me, recognition in his eyes, before Jim hands him the paper back. "And when you finish, you can bring her to our new facility on Water Street. She's scheduled to be transferred upstate tomorrow." Jim shakes his head.

"Yeah," he says. "That's gonna be delayed. She has information about an investigation." Harvey looks up at Selina.

"Would you mind...stepping...back...a bit, please?" he asks slowly. She hesitates but takes a step back, and I roll my eyes.

"Be nice, Harvey," I call over to him. He and Selina look at me; however, he frowns and she smiles. Harvey looks back at Selina.

"Wait a minute," he says. "Is that one of the kids that was snatched? Another closed case." He shakes his head. "What is it about the word 'closed' that you don't understand?" Jim shakes his head and looks between me and Harvey. I just shrug.

"This is something else." He sighs. "Just read the letters, track the balloons. I'll be back in an hour." Harvey smirks.

"Yeah, boss," he says sarcastically. "Get right on it." We go to leave, but I hear Harvey quietly ask, "Where's my pen?" I smirk and look down at Selina, who duplicates my smirk and holds up Harvey's pen. I stifle my laughs as we leave. It's not too long before we near the area where the Waynes were murdered.

"So, why do you care who really killed the Waynes?" Selina asks. Jim doesn't even spare her a glance.

"Because I want the person responsible brought to justice," he tells her. She scoffs, and I look back at her.

"Did you read that in a book or something?" she asks him. I roll my eyes and look forward again.

"And we made a promise to the boy," I tell her as we walk into the alleyway. "So?" She nods and walks around. She points down to the end of the alley.

"The killer came from there," she says. "Took the man's wallet and the woman's necklace, then shot them both. He left the boy alive." She pointed to a fire escape. "I was up there."

"Everyone knows that," Jim says, showing no emotion. I, however, am a little nicer than that. A little.

"Plus," I say, "the killer's face was covered." She looks up at me and shakes her head.

"Not at first," she says. "He pulled his scarf up when he walked toward them. I saw him for a second." Jim scoffs.

"You saw him?" he asks. "Here? In the dark?" She shrugs.

"I can see in the dark," she says. He rolls his eyes. "You don't believe me." I sigh and smack Jim's arm lightly.

"I can see in the dark," I say. He looks down at me and pauses for a moment, before sighing and looking back to Selina.

"There's a question of whether you're lying about what you saw," he says. "And then there's the question of whether you were even here. You're not giving me proof." Selina rolls her eyes.

"I just told you, I stole some chump's wallet just before it happened. That was, like, two blocks from here. Didn't he report it?" He nods hesitantly.

"Yes, a man did report his wallet stolen by a thief that matches your description, and, yes, the timing does work out to just before the Waynes were murdered. But that does not place you here." I sigh and roll my eyes as Selina smirks.

"I dumped the wallet," she says, making me duplicate her smirk. She points to the drain. "There." I snort.

"Oh, the sewer," I mutter. "Great." I hear a click and look back to see Jim handcuffing Selina to a railing.

"It's not that I don't trust you to run away," he says, "but, well...I don't." I sigh as he walks back over.

"You find the wallet, you'll let me go, right?" Selina asks. "That's the deal." He shakes his head.

"No. I find the wallet, that places you here. We still have to find the guy." Selina frowns.

"That's bull!" He smirks.

"That's the deal." He looks over at me. "You coming? You did say you can, uh...see in the dark." I roll my eyes and shake my head.

"Not a chance." He nods and climbs down into the sewer. I hear a faint clicking and look back to see Selina picking the lock on the cuffs. I smirk.

"Not gonna try and stop me, are you?" she asks. I shake my head.

"What would be the point?" I ask. "I know how to find you again." She shakes her head.

"No you don't. No one does." I smirk.

"Are you sure about that?" She pauses before shaking her head and walking over to the drain.

"Oh, detective?" she yells down. She holds up the handcuffs before dropping them. "You're gonna need these."

"Hey!" I hear him yell. After a moment, his head pops up out of the drain. "Hey, wait a minute!" He groans when he sees that she's gone, and he looks at me. "You couldn't have tried to stop her?" I shrug.

"Like I told her, I didn't need to," I tell him. "I know how to find her." He sighs and climbs out. I back away a bit. "I do not envy you at all."

I do not own Gotham or its characters. I do however own Cassidy Alexandra, Ice, Gracelyn Ventura, and their plot, so don't steal. It's not nice.