This Gray Weather Will Fade

Deep inside the city of Portland, Oregon was an alley. It looked just like the others, small and narrow, dumpsters lining the inside further down in the darkness. Brick by boring brick was towered high on both buildings on either side, and useless escape fire ladders hung limply, dangling just so they were hanging on by a thread.

Of course, since I have brought your attention to this one particular alley, you are pondering now what might be coming out of it, or even going inside. Well, in this city, it was normal for drug dealers, murderers, and other criminals to set up hide outs and gatherings in the most unsurprising places.

Based off of insight from a very untrustworthy, but reliable in the way the police had no other leads, in this alley there was to be a trade between the law and the scum of the city. The trade, was ransom for an officer. A very important officer to keeping the city safe.

Nora Gray had been working on a case that lead her into this deep predicament. She had gotten caught snooping (it was never her forte anyways) on a rather infamous drug dealer that had yet been caught and brought to justice. And justice, was what Nora Gray wanted. It was her arrogance and determination that often lead her into such dilemmas

You see, Nora Gray was in short, the finest cop this state had ever seen. However, her ways in going about getting the bad guy was never taken lightly on the public’s side. It seemed in the most suspicious way, Nora always knew when to aim, and when to fire. She had always said she acted on instinct, but instinct wasn’t looked on proudly when almost half of the criminals she had caught ended up dead, even if it was for the right reasons.

A black van was parked on the other side of the street staring directly into the alley. If anyone had been paying any attention to the vehicle, which had now been sitting in the same spot for exactly three and a half hours, they would have been detectable.

“Here?” The man known as Donald Winters asked, a fairly tall and in-shape lieutenant who was running the operation. He was the normal profile for a city cop. However, this man was just about the only trustworthy cop the unit had. Well, besides Nora. He had brown eyes and shaggy brown hair that kept falling in his eyes because he was moving in the van so much, trying to get a peek outside at whatever he could see. His bright red tie and white collar shirt was the usual uniform, along with black dress pants he kept wiping his nervous sweaty hands on.

The driver made his way to the back of the van. “Yes sir. We’ve got the others in position.”Lieutenant Winters nodded in reply, putting on his black coat and stepping outside and into the alley where he was told to be. He was going to murder Nora himself if she got out of it.

Suddenly, a black SUV slowly drove up the alley from the other side and stopped in front of Lieutenant Winters abruptly. Out came the driver first, the usual suspicious drug accomplice that could be pointed out on the streets. As soon as the driver got out, it must have been the signal for the others to continue the deal as well, for the rest of the group had gotten out right afterwards.

There was still no sign of the major boss dealer, Eli Barone, a well-known Italian drug dealer as mentioned before, and of course, Nora Gray herself.

“Where is she?” Winters asked, suddenly impatient and his voice showing no sign of fear. It was determined, and ultimately stern.

A click of a gun was sounded, and Winters flashed his eyes in the direction it had come from. He turned his head and make the slightest flinch when he saw one of the men had a pistol pointed directly at him, “Shutup.” was all the man said. Lieutenant Winters nodded slightly and didn’t make a move or the slightest squeak of his shoes.

A bright flash of lights came on behind him, and Winters hesitantly turned fully around to a more professional looking car coming down the alley on the opposite side from the other SUV. This was a problem, because now the van couldn’t see or report to the other police cars in the area what was going on.

Once more, the driver got out of the car and went around to the side, opening the shiny black door and letting the target himself come out slowly, as if all of this was a nuisance to him.

Eli smiled warmly at the Lieutenant, knowing well he was scared about his precious cop who was locked in the back of his trunk.

“Do you have the money?”He asked in his thick Italian accent. It was almost a puzzle to figure out half of what the man said.

“Do you have the girl?”Winters snapped back, and he heard another click of a gun somewhere behind him.

Mr. Barone smirked, and waved his hand slightly to the driver behind him. In no hesitation, the driver sprinted towards the trunk and opened it, pulling out a limp and bruised body and putting it on it’s knees in front of Winters.

A bag was over the person’s head so there was no way to conclude for sure it was her. The driver instantly pulled the bag off of the head of the victim and Nora Gray’s brown hair flopped over and covered her face, sticking to the slight instances of blood from her beatings.

She kept her head down, probably because she was exhausted and starving. She had been in Mr. Barone’s hands for almost a week with barely any food or water. And obviously there was no hint of proper hospitality from the dirty clothes she was wearing or the tight ropes rubbing her wrists bare and now bleeding. Winters hid his emotions, which included anger and fear at the same moment, and kept his eyes locked on Eli Barone.

“Here she is.”He merely said. “Now where’s my money?”

The Lieutenant was smart enough to bring a plan B in his pocket. He had told the van driver and his other cops what he was planning, and it was looking like a genius idea right now. Winters still had his hands in his pockets, fingering the small locator device that would soon go off in every car he had parked around the perimeter.

With two guns now on him, Winters lightly clicked the button, making sure no sound could be heard even though it was an impossibility with the light rain coming down on them now. The Lieutenant had yet to give and answer, and with no hesitation on Barone’s part, he suddenly whipped out the pistol he had hidden in his coat and aimed it at Nora who was still on the ground.

“Mr. Winters?” He asked again, cocking the gun and also an eyebrow, letting the Lieutenant know he wasn’t going to ask again. The cold steel pressed against the side of Nora’s head, and Winters could see the slightest hint of aggravation and annoyance come from the way she moved her head away from the gun. Winters smirked in his mind, she was always the one to keep her head in these situations. Pun intended.

Flashing colored lights were now only a few feet away and only the Lieutenant had noticed. He smiled and shook his head, which made Mr. Barone look at him in a peculiar way.

Eli spun his head around, seeing the lights now, and signaled for all of his men to pile back into the cars, choosing to ignore the two most symbolic police officers. But it was too late for them, the police soon had them surrounded and all members of the group were in handcuffs, pushed into the back of each cop car.

Lieutenant Winters saw out of the corner of his eye the ambulance which was specifically parked for Nora to get herself checked out. There she was, being examined eye for eye, blood pressure, the whole procedure.

As Winters walked closer and closer to the girl, he could make out each and every bruise she now had on her arms and neck. Her porcelain skin was paler than normal, which he had expected, and her below the shoulder brunette hair was tangled and tousled, making her natural surfer waves become hidden in the mess. She was a bit more slender, something he had also expected, and her green eyes no longer held that simple spark they once had.

“How is she Philips?”Winters asked the medical team member.The doctor was always on the cases with Nora and Winter’s unit, so they knew each other fairly well.

He looked up at the Lieutenant and shrugged, “Nothing we haven’t dealt with before.”

“This needs to stop happening.” Winters sternly said to Nora.

Nora looked up at him for the first time. She was always somewhat of a shy girl, but very intimidating nonetheless. Cunning and crafty, she always had the dirties of tactics up her sleeve ready to use if necessary. Naturally, Nora meant business when it came down to it. Her voice held a mysterious tone, never knowing the full extent of her emotions. It was all in her face, her eyes.

“We got him didn’t we?” She said, in that very same simple tone she always had, no matter who she spoke to.

“It wouldn’t have mattered if you had died.” The Lieutenant was stressing this point he so often had to make with her. Nora never did any of her actions purposely to harm anyone, she cared very much for others, but didn’t much care for herself in life or death situations. It wasn’t like she was literally careless, but she would always put the lives of others before herself. She would convince herself that if her life meant getting the justice of a madman, then it would be worth it.

“It’s done now. Move on.” Nora was the only one in the unit ever to speak to Donald Winters like that. Actually, Nora was the only one who could because of her outstanding streak in bringing in the criminals on these Oregon streets. Winters would get irritated, but he’d soon realized he couldn’t stop her.

“We’ll deal with this later.” He said, eyeing her carefully, Nora only returning the stare with a stronger one than his. Winters turned and walked away with ease, giving the impression he was not affected by her glare. Nora, however, was not fooled that easily, and he knew it.

Winters made his way over to one of his partners in the unit, Richard Malarkey, another trusted member of the team.

Malarkey nodded his head in Nora’s direction. “How’s she doing?”

Winters shrugged and rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ve had enough of this though.”

Malarkey nodded again, but in agreement. “She’s gotten us farther than anyone ever could.”

Winters sighed, deep in thought. “I know. But she’s going to get herself seriously hurt one day. And it will effect every decision she’ll make.”

Malarkey laughed, “Christ. You need to calm down and look on the good side for once. We’ve got Barone, the biggest crime scum of the city, and you can’t celebrate because Nora is a little beaten up?”

“That’s not the point. She could’ve gotten seriously injured.”

“Yeah, well, she didn’t. Be happy with what’s going on now, in this moment. Everyone is fine, and once again, we’ve got another one behind bars. Nora did her job.”

Winters shook his head. “No. She’s not done yet.”

“What? You’re going to make her testify?” Malarkey asked somewhat sarcastically but at the same time knowing it was true, he was starting to judge his leader’s decision.

“We have to. We’ve got no one else.” Winters sighed.

“She won’t mind.” Malarkey said, some hint in his voice showed he was questioning himself about that.

“She will when we have to move her.”

“Are you serious?” Malarkey asked, unbelieving what was coming out of Winter’s mouth. “We need her here!”

“She’s done all she can for us. I think this is the solution-”

“For what? Because you can’t stand to see her get hurt? That’s part of the job Don. She’s accepted it, why can’t you?”

“Nora has to see that she can’t keep doing this. It’ll ruin her. She’s a tough girl I’ll admit that, but one day someone will come along and she’ll end up in the same situation, but it’ll be worse. I’d hate to be there the day she breaks down.”

“You’re making the biggest mistake of you’re life. Once she testifies, Barone’s men will probably still end up finding her, no matter where you send her.”

Winters shook his head. “We’ll just have to put her in a larger city. They know we always put witnesses in small towns in the middle of no-where. It’s the usual procedure.”

Malarkey scoffed. “You had this planned from the beginning.”

“I had to think of something.” Winters said, knowing full well this could be a huge mistake. There was no doubt in his mind that once the criminals in hiding in the city heard the best cop was gone, nothing could compare to it. It would be a free ride in the open. All hell might just break loose.

“Where are you sending her?” Malarkey asked, not really wanting to know. Winters would have chosen the most high crime rated city, where Nora would feel at home and not too far away. Malarkey could see the hesitation in Winters features and sudden tightened posture, maybe even reconsidering his decision. But the final parts of the movement were already in play, and nothing could be changed.

“Gotham.”

-

Two years.

It had been two long years since that night where Batman had left him hanging there, waiting to be taken in and thrown in a cell. That same small, dark, damp cell, cut off from anything of the outside world except for a few therapy sessions that went terribly wrong.

He never worried. He was never scared. He knew what was to come in a few moments time. It was a sign where another one of his ingenious plans would come into play and he would get himself out of there, and he would finally be free to terrorize the city once more.

The chaos. He could taste it.

Three minutes.

In three minutes everything would be set, all hell would break loose once they noticed he was gone. It would only take a few seconds with the security surrounding him. It was thick, but he could make it. He heard the screeching tires outside his bared window.

He wasn’t worried. He wasn’t scared. He planned this for two years. He was going to take down the city just as he did the last time. Only this time, people would know. The police had covered up Harvey Dent’s crimes too well, and it was time to set the record straight.

The all too familiar sky light broke through the clouds and covered the city.

He broke into his menacing laugh, letting the scars etched in the sides of his mouth spread from ear to ear.

That’s what he was waiting for.