[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/221222/2aee3124eced27758c12e83d18146aea.png[/img] [sub][color=gray]Prev [b][color=FF0000]|[/color] [/b]Next[/color][/sub] [hr][/center] [indent][color=silver]I never forget. I guess you could say it is my superpower. The unshakeable commitment to remembering what I really shouldn’t. The funerals. The smell of the arid desert. The screams of the innocent people that were put between me and my crosshairs. The utter dread that has followed me since I was twelve years old. It’s made me what I am. Resilient. Strong. Clever. It’s pushed out what I’m not. Obedient. Unquestioning. Foolish. The shadow that lingers over me is not one that I fear anymore. It is one I weaponize. It is one reason I bear the symbol of the Bat. A symbol that represents the fearless. Those that sulk in the shadows and bring the darkness to light. No matter the cost. No matter the toll. My choice has earned me no friends. No allies. And I [b]like[/b] it that way. I don’t care about The Batman. I bear his symbol not out of loyalty but creed. The crusade he has waged. The principles he represents. The price he’s willing to pay to be the light in the darkness, reminding Gotham that there is always hope in the most unlikely places. I understand this well. I am a soldier. I am a Kane. I am Batwoman.[/color] [center][youtube]https://youtu.be/LMiaLj3vJBA[/youtube][/center] Detective Sonia Alcana was exhausted. The long nights were pretty much the expectation in the GCPD, but the shake-up at the department had pretty much taken everybody that she knew off guard. And here she was, waiting in the middle of the night risking her neck because a normal murder ended up being not-so-normal. The Mayor would’ve swiped her badge if he knew she had called someone outside of the force’s sphere of influence. Hell, the newly minted Commissioner would’ve gladly given her the lashing of a lifetime. But in Gotham? When something spooky happens in the middle of the night decorated like it wanted to be found? Alcana’s instincts always pointed to signaling a bat. With a lit cigarette in hand all she could do now was wait. It didn’t take long. [color=FF0000][b]“Those things will kill you.”[/b][/color] “With how this guy went? I’ll take my chances with the cigarettes.” It didn’t take long for the two women to move through the harbor and into the crime scene. The detective had played it smart and close when she went about contacting Batwoman. She only made the call after there were no eyes on the scene, nobody who could’ve made the detective’s life sore by reporting she was involving a vigilante with the case. Alcana was turning thirty-five soon and the adjustment to be ‘hands off’ with Bat-vigilantes was something she didn’t very much get. Batman & Robin had been pretty much a needed element when she had joined the force and under Gordon’s directive the relationship they had was far less adversarial. But times were changing. Detective Alcana didn’t very much care for the mayor. She didn’t vote for him. Not a bad guy, just an idiot. But rules were rules. Sonia wasn’t keen on losing her job. Fortunately, the nearest coffee place that was open by the harbor was aways away. The officers she sent off wouldn’t be back for a few minutes. She could fill Batwoman in with what she needed to. Inside the warehouse sat the victim, laid down in the middle of the room in a very deliberate manner. His chest was carved open. [color=FF0000][b]“Pretty obvious cause of death. He’s missing a heart. Who is he?”[/b][/color] “Name’s Fred Stickley. Upper management at Strader Pharmaceuticals.” The detective remarked as she looked at the vigilante. “We found his heart in a box. Right next to him. With a bow, all tidy-like. Oddly, weirdest thing was [i]this[/i].” The detective reached in her pocket and handed the vigilante a card. [color=FF0000][b]“Queen of Hearts.”[/b][/color] “This town has a funny way of being sometimes.” She took another smoke, “Personally, it's downright annoying.” [color=FF0000][b]“I’ll look into it.”[/b][/color] [/indent]