Do Unto Others...

Chapter 8: Close Encounters

City Hall, June 28th, 9:02 a.m.

Pete stood towards the rear of the group that had assembled before the front steps of Gotham City Hall. Although rain was in the forecast, the sun shone brilliantly and warm air made several beads of sweat form on his brow. Thankfully, he had worn a light short-sleeved cotton shirt with dark khaki pants. Unfortunately, the only shorts he owned were for running, nothing nice enough to wear to a press conference.

Despite living so close, he rarely went into the city if he didn't have to work. Being that Pete would be starting his training at Wayne Enterprises, he decided to make the most of the day. Save for a little spring in his step, everything was as normal as could be. His run that morning had been perfect, not a single nick while shaving and the sky was clear for miles.

He could have easily spent the day home, enjoying the relief that coursed through him after the previous night, but he was wary of letting his mother ruin it for him. Upon returning home, he had explained to her his accomplishments and she had only lashed out at him, telling him that he shouldn't be so happy with himself for only taking one girl. That the others were still out there, waiting, gaining strength, ready to do harm.

Pete wasn't sure he could listen to her all day.

Instead, he had treated himself to a drive into Gotham with a loose plan of having brunch, maybe touring the veteran display at the museum and a walk through midtown. The women were nicer there. Better dressed, better educated, making a living for themselves instead of taking it from others. After parking in a municipal garage, Pete headed north on Court Street towards a cluster of restaurants. With Mimi's still closed, he hadn't eaten out in weeks and had decided to find a nice place for brunch. A small table to himself, quiet time to think.

As he walked by City Hall on his way to a bakery for a late morning breakfast, he spotted the gathering and decided to observe for a moment, ignoring the grumble of his stomach. A tall, dark skinned man dressed in a midnight blue suit stood somberly before a microphone-bearing podium. The closest twenty people held out recording devices and flashed cameras while shouting out questions. The man looked towards each of them and continued to reply that he had no comment and that the Deputy Mayor would be speaking shortly.

A tingle of curiosity rose within him.

Eight minutes after he had found himself a place amongst the other members of the crowd, over a dozen men and women, clad in dark business suits and solemn faces, stepped out of the front doors of City Hall. They lined themselves up in a single row behind the , grimly looking out at the small audience. A middle aged, balding man with a pale face and grief stricken features stepped forward, baring weight on the podium as he stared down at the microphone.

Everyone grew quiet in a hushed anticipation. The man cleared his throat and spoke, his voice tired and stressed, "Good morning, people of the press and concerned citizens alike. Another tragedy has befallen this city, another victim left dead on the streets. Another young woman has lost her life to the hands of faceless madman that has terrorized us for too long. The young woman was... My step-daughter, Sharon."

As he listened, he expected himself to grow angry at this man's harsh assumptions of who had slain his step-daughter, claiming that she was a beautiful young woman aspiring to be an artists, she was in fact nothing more than a common whore. Although beautiful, she was an artist of lies and seduction.

"And although our police force is staffed with driven and talented detectives," he looked over his left shoulder at the row of the suited men and women, "We have called upon outside forces in order to bring this killer down and to make our streets safe once more," as several members of the group applauded softly and began to shout out questions, the Deputy Mayor looked over his right shoulder at the remaining individuals that had followed him down the steps.