BATMAN: Fall Of The Dark Knight #Wattys2016

2: THE AFTERMATH

The scene was gruesome. Commissioner Gordon, Detective Harvey Bullock and his partner Renee Montoya walked upon the scene to find two bodies lying on the ground. One looked like Harley Quinn with one of Batman's Batarangs sticking out of her chest. The other was a teenage boy who was either Robin or who was dressed as Robin with a gunshot wound in his back. They were responding to a 911 call saying that both The Batman and The Joker were in the area. The caller said Batman had killed someone, though they didn't say who. At first, Gordon believed it may have been a prank call, but, after seeing the two bodies, it was clear the call was anything but a prank.

"My god," Montoya muttered as she gazed down at the bloodied bodies.

Gordon and Bullock said nothing as they began examining the crime scene. Gordon crouched down next to Harley's body to take a closer look. He paid particular attention to the Batarang sticking out of her chest. As he was kneeling there, he remembered the time he actually stopped Batman from killing The Joker in cold blood, telling him that if he crossed that line he would treat him like any other criminal. Now it looked like he had finally crossed that line, and it chilled him to his core.

"What do you think, Commissioner?"asked Bullock as he stood next to his partner Montoya.

Gordon didn't respond to Harvey's question as he stood back up and stepped over to Robin's body. He crouched down next to the boy and started examining his gunshot wound.

"Gunshot to the back," Gordon said."This looks like The Joker's M.O., all right."

"What about Harley Quinn?" asked Harvey. "Do you think Batman killed her?"

"Or do you think he may have been set up?" Montoya interjected. "It's happened to him before."

Again, Gordon remained silent as he stayed crouched down. While it was true The Batman had indeed been set up for murder and other crimes by his enemies, his well-honed cop instincts told him that Quinn's death was indeed at the hands of The Batman. Gordon's train of thought was broken when Robin began choking. Gordon gazed down at him in shock that he was still alive he had lost so much blood. Robin reached up with a shaking hand and grabbed Gordon by the collar of his trenchcoat. Gordon looked over his shoulder and yelled, "Somebody call for an ambulance! Now!"

Just then, Robin pulled on Gordon's collar. Gordon lowered himself down so he could hear what Robin was saying.

"I-it wasn't . . . Batman . . . it was . . . The Joker . . . who . . . shot . . . me . . ."

Gordon knew by the look on Robin's face he wasn't going to last much longer. He looked over his shoulder again and yelled, "Where the hell is that ambulance!"

Robin all of a sudden coughed up more blood as his hand went limp. Gordon grabbed his shoulder and said to him, "Hang in there, son. Help is on its way."

Robin gazed up at the Commissioner through the slits in his mask. Then he coughed one last time beforehe shut his eyes for the last time. Gordon felt for a pulse and, as he expected, he couldn't find one. Gordon stood up again, not taking his eyes off Robin's lifeless body.

"Put out an APB on The Joker," he said to Bullock and Montoya.

"What about Batman?" Montoya asked.

Gordon paused. He looked over Robin's body and then Harley Quinn's body one more time before he turned his head and said over his shoulder, "Put out an APB on The Batman too."

"Right away, Commissioner," Montoya said, giving him a nod.

She turned to walk away. Bullock stood there for a moment as he gazed down at the two bodies, especially Harley Quinn's with the Batarang sticking out of it. Harvey wasn't surprised if it was The Batman who had killed her. Unlike Gordon, he never really trusted the costumed vigilante. He viewed him as little better than the other costumed freaks who always seemed to up their criminality to try to best The Batman. He always believed if Batman had left a lot of the heavy crime that plagued Gotham would also leave. But he more or less tolerated the Caped Crusader because he respected Commissioner Gordon and trusted his judgment for the most part. Now it seemed he may have been proved right about the Dark Knight, and he wasn't sure if he would be happy about that or not.

"Jim—" Bullock started to say, but Gordon, as if he were sensing what he was about to say, cut himoff by saying tersely, "Not now, Harvey." He turned to walk away from the scene. "Not now."

Gordon slowly walked back to his car with his head hung low. Like Montoya had suggested, there was a possibility that Batman—who was someone he not only considered a colleague but a friend—had been set up by one of his enemies as had happened a number of times before, but this time he knew that wasn't the case.

He knew.