*J* (the continuation)

Part Forty-Five: Chapter 345: According To Plan

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BANTY SIDEKICK!!!! DON'T LET ANYTHING TOUCH YOU TODAY!!!

Poison Ivy wasn't used to visitors knocking at her door. For one, she stuck mostly to herself. For two, not many people knew where or how to find her. So she approaches the door curiously and cautiously. Her plants are at her command, slithering along the floor and walls, readying themselves for an attack if necessary.

Ivy carefully unlocks and opens the door. She's surprised to see a young girl in her early twenties with black hair smiling back at her. "Whatever you're selling, I don't want any," Ivy says and is shutting the door when the girl speaks.

"My name is Alexis. J sent me," Alexis says, stopping Ivy in her tracks. Ivy looks her over again and opens the door and allows her to enter. The girl holds out an envelope towards her, "J wanted me to give you this. I'm supposed to let you read it and then give you further instructions," Alexis tells her.

Ivy takes the envelope and carefully opens it. She pulls out a letter on a single sheet of paper. It was definitely J's handwriting. She starts to read it. Alexis watches as her face goes through many expressions. Curiosity. Confusion. Shock. And then finally tears start forming.

Eventually Ivy carefully folds the letter back up and returns it to the envelope. She wipes a tear from the corner of her eye and looks at Alexis. "What does he need me to do?"

*********************

The bat signal blazened through the night sky, reflecting off the clouds and the light rain drizzling down on Gotham. Jim Gordon approaches detective Harvey Bullock puffing on his cigar. "He should be here any minute now," Gordon says, referring to Batman. And then, like magic the bat drops down into the alley.

He walks past Gordon and Bullock and stands over the body in the middle of the crime scene the cops were taking pictures of. "Joker's second in command. Ace," he says.

"Single bullet between the eyes, pretty close range," Bullock says.

Bruce bends down and carefully raises Ace's head to look at the exit wound. He could tell the body hadn't been moved. He rises and approaches Gordon and Bullock. "Did you find the casing?" He gruffly asks.

"Two actually. And blood that doesn't seem to go to this one. We won't know who's until the medical examiner runs tests, but it looks like there were two shooters, with two different targets. One obviously got away. Ace here, he didn't get away." Gordon informs him.

".45 caliper and a .357," Bullock says extending them out to him. Bruce takes it and looks it over. He opens up the bag and gives it a sniff. If There was a chemical smell he would know that one of these bullets had gone through eitherthe Joker, Jester, Harley, or Jason. But there was no chemical smell present.

"Think Joker did it?" Gordon asks him.

"No," Bruce shakes his head, "Joker always leaves behind a Joker card. And he generally marks his bullets with some sort of identifying mark," he extends the evidence bag back to Bullock.

Then his stomach dropped. Ace wasn't just some average Joker henchmen. This was his number two. He had been with the Joker since day one. Since before day one. He had served Jack Napier in his days as the Red Hood. Which meant he was loyal, smart, and cautious. Ace obviously died trying to protect the Joker.

"Someone trying to to challenge the Joker maybe?" Gordon asks.

Bruce's eyes go wide and his heart started to pound in his chest. Jason. Bruce returns to Ace's body and starts to go through his pockets. Nothing out of the normal for a Joker henchmen. But then in his breast pocket he finds a small piece of paper. He unfolds it. It said two words. But the handwriting he knew all too well, it was the Joker's. It merely said Amusement Mile. Bruce palms it without anyone noticing. He stands.