Light Amidst the Chaos

Ch 7

I always wondered why criminals did the things that they did. What happened to them as children? What was the thing that really set them off? Surely people don't just wake up one day and decide to be evil, only people born evil do that. However, I don't think anyone is really born evil, we all have a choice.

Levin was a different case. He was complicated and highly unpredictable. My family was lucky we were able to catch him as many times as we did, but usually it was for a price. I was kidnapped and he got away, my father nearly died putting him behind bars. Better yet, the Joker even handed him to us. Those were only pure luck and luck alone.

Jason and Dick were the only two who really understood my family. Bruce was in that boat as well but mostly Dick and Jason. Charlotte wasn't the same after Dick left but I couldn't blame her. After all, she was in love with him. My parents did everything to keep them apart and Levin just used that to his advantage.

One time, he kidnapped Dick and used him as bait to lure my sister in. She almost died that night saving him. Then there was another time where Dick had to save her because Levin was about to dump her into a piranha pit. He knew if he kidnapped one the other would follow and he wanted to cause as much destruction as possible. It worked everytime, even with me and Jason.

"What're you thinking about?" Jason asked, moving to lay on my bed.

"Levin is smart, he knows my family's weaknesses. It's why he probably stole Charlotte's belongings and killed my family. He knows I'm coming after him now, no doubt." I replied, turning my head to face Jason.

"Bruce thinks he has a partner, someone your sister knew." He stated, propering his head in his hand.

"I know," I replied, "that's the piece I'm still trying to figure out." I ran my hands over my face and sighed.

"Rachel was able to see it was definitely Levin, but the part I wasn't able to get to because you tried to freeze everything is that there was a second person with him." Jason explained.

I sat up and looked down at him. "What did they look like?"

"Rachel couldn't get much out of Maverick's memories. They put a blanket over him but if it helps, the voice kept repeating something in German." He explained, turning and looking at the ceiling.

"Did it sound like Guten Abend, gut Nacht?" I asked, looking at down at him.

"Um, I think? I don't speak German." Jason replied. "Why?"

"It's a German lullaby my grandmother used to sing to us as kids." I stated, getting up out of bed.

"Is that significant?" He asked, sitting up.

"Yes because Charlotte sung it to Maverick every night." I replied, looking for my shoes.

My grandmother was a German immigrant. Her and my grandfather met and had my mother. When my sister and I were younger, my grandmother and mother would say those words to us when we were sad. I don't remember much about my grandmother or grandfather, they died a little while after I turned 6.

I never met my father's parents. I never really knew why but he never talked about them. All my mother would tell me is that they sent my dad from Seattle, Washington all the way to Gotham City for some training when he was 18. He never heard from them again, this is according to my mother. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a picture of either one of them.

"Woah hey, put the shoes down." Jason said, climbing off the bed.

I glared at him, "I'm fine. Besides, I have work to do."

"Loreli, you need rest. You nearly turned everyone to ice cubes earlier." He replied, taking my shoes from me. "Besides, what're you gonna do?"

"If Levin knows I'm coming after him, that means he isn't in Gotham anymore." I explained, grabbing a different pair of shoes.