CHAPTER 42: "Life Is Pretty Complicated"

*Detective Harvey Bullock (GCPD), 

"My name is Detective Montoya and this is Detective Bullock, we are here to ask you a few questions..."

Detective Rene Montoya said to her most recent lead in her non-stop investigation into the criminal known only as Krios.

The woman on the other side appeared in her late 30s. Despite wearing sweatpants, and an oversized t-shirt, obviously her pajamas or relaxing clothes, she was a bombshell. Beautiful red hair cascaded down, messy yet somehow stylish, with sharp facial features and kind blue eyes.

For a second, despite her attire, Bullock would have sworn he was looking at a cover model.

"I am sorry," the woman said to Montoya, carefully looking at the badge she was showing, "What is this all about?"

Montoya tucked her badge back into her coat, "We are here to ask a few questions concerning some connections you may have with..."

"Oh!" A look of understanding appeared on her face.

Opening the door she ushered them in, "Please take a seat, I apologize for the mess."

The detectives glanced at each other somewhat surprised and walked in to find a nice if simple apartment. The TV was running with some news program before being turned off by the woman who gestured for them to take a seat.

"Mrs. Jane Coulson," Montoya began as she sat on the couch, Bullock took a glance around before sitting next to her.

"Please," she interrupted Montoya, "Call me Jane, my full name just makes me feel old."

Montoya narrowed her eyes at the interruption, though she kept the smile on her face.

"I was hoping to discuss your involvement with the Penguin Mob..."

"Of course," Jane interrupted again, "I understand completely, what would you like to know?"

Watching the woman carefully, Bullock could not tell if she was intentionally trying to irritate Montoya or was naturally annoying. The wide-eyed look of attentiveness and calm ease to please the detectives seemed genuine. But a very small part of Bullock, something instinctual felt something was off.

Montoya was either oblivious or simply too eager to get her questions going to notice.

"You acknowledge your business transactions with the Mob?"

Jane nodded with a sad smile, "For about a decade or so I served as a prostitute. I serviced for many of the gangs of Eastside, though I did have a retainer with the Penguin Mob."

Her flat-out admission to prostitution caught the detectives off guard. Usually, someone didn't just admit to a life of prostitution right off the bat.

Seeing their surprised faces she laughed softly, "Probably was not expecting me to flat out and say it, but it is a significant part of my life. One I am not proud of, but also one I am at peace with."

"Umm yes," Montoya had a game plan in place, a series of questions designed to get the woman to admit to her past ties. But with Jane Coulson just coming out and saying her past with barely a care, it through the detective off her groove.

Seeing her thrown off, Bullock decided to step in, "When was the last time you did business with the Mob?"

Pausing to think about it Jane said, "Well I finally made enough to leave the sex business behind a little after I turned 29, so it would be about 17 maybe 18 years now."

"Though to be fair, a few of the clients belonging to the Mob did try to elicit my services a few years after I left it. I turned them down each time though, I was done with that life by then."

Bullock nodded, glancing at Montoya who was flipping through her notes, he decided to continue the questioning.

"You say you haven't worked with them in decades, what about contact?"

"I guess if you consider contact being some of my friends who are prostitutes serving them then yes. But no one from the actual Mob, I wanted to stay away from that life and work on my degree." Jane said.

Montoya seemed to have recovered as she looked up from her notes, "Are some of those prostitute friends Sarah Bergstrom, Janice 'Violet' Smith and Crystal De Angelique Martinez?"

For a moment, something flashed in Janes's eyes, perhaps the first flash of irritation. She stayed quiet for a moment pondering the question.

"Yes, I did know Sarah and Janice. They sadly perished during the Eastside fires, and Crystal while she survived is now stuck in a hospital bed."

Tears appeared in Jane's eyes, "We all were roommates off and on the last few years. We grew close and... their deaths and what happened to Crystal... it has been hard."

Bullock reached into his jacket and took out a handkerchief which he handed to Jane. She nodded her thanks and took it, dabbing her eyes.

Montoya gave an annoyed glance at Bullock before reaching into her coat and pulled out photocopies of some of the bank statements they had gathered.

"We have bank statements that show the Mob paying your 'friends' six figures a year for some sort of service. Would you happen to know anything about that?"

Jane took the papers and looked over them for a moment before shaking her head.

"No, I am sorry," she handed the papers back, "Like I said, I left that life behind. What the ladies were doing for the Mob was on them. We never talked about their work."

Bullock began leaning back into the sofa to get more comfortable. This had been the routine for the past month as Montoya went about visiting drug dealers, caterers, prostitutes, grocery stores and even a few hotdog stands. All and many more on the list of bank statements as she went down the list questioning them in hopes of finding someone who knew something about Krios.

Bullock started to accompany her when it became common knowledge amongst the other detectives why they were visiting them. As her obsession grew, she began to become ostracized by many in the GCPD. It had gotten to the point where now, Bullock was the only one who would accompany her on these trips.

For another few minutes, Montoya continued her standard questions about any information the woman had concerning the Penguin Mob. Eventually, the questions ran out and Montoya rather irritably gave a thank you and got up to leave.

Bullock seeing she was finished with her questions also stood up and followed her to the door. 

Montoya stopped for a moment to stare at some pictures hanging on the door by the wall. Her attention seemed focused on one in particular. It showed a younger Jane with a young brown-haired man in a suit smiling with an arm around her left side, to her right was a teen girl with vibrant red hair and a massive smile. Both the young man and teen girl shared remarkable similarities to Jane suggesting familial relation. What was surprising was to see a boy in the center, with black hair, brown eyes, and a goofy smile from what looked like the others tickling him to smile for the picture. Unlike the other two with their fair skin and similar eye colors, the boy had hints of Latin American and other features very different from the rest.

"Is this your family?" Montoya pointed to the picture.

For a second, Jane hesitated before reverting to normal and saying, "Why yes, my eldest son, daughter, and youngest."

Montoya gave Jane a curious look, "You say this is your youngest?"

She pointed at the boy, "He doesn't look a lot like you... must take after his father?"

At this point Jane's demeanor had changed slightly, now she was showing some annoyance.

"He was adopted." Her tone had turned slightly cold.

Bullock feeling the situation turning into a P.R. nightmare said, "Of course, thanks again for your time ma'am, please excuse my partner."

Grabbing Montoya's arm he dragged her through the front door. Jane on the other side began to close the door when Montoya stopped it by putting her foot between the frame and it.

"Sorry, one last question," Montoya watched Jane's face closely.

"Have you ever heard of the criminal called the Hound or Krios before?"

Bullock couldn't see Jane from his position, he only heard a short pause before a huff of exasperation.

"The one from the news? Of course, everyone has. If you are referring in my private life, then no I have not."

The door slammed shut and the two detectives stood outside silently for a moment.

"What do you think you are doing?" Bullock asked angrily.

Montoya raised a finger to her lips and motioned for them to walk out.

After walking back onto the street and to their car, Bullock who was tired of her antics a few weeks ago and even more so now unloaded onto her.

"What the hell Rene!?!" He growled.

"You realize what thin ice you are on right now?!? The number of complaints Gordon and I have helped you with these last few months has caught up. One more and I.A. will be suspending you!"

Montoya looked at Bullock and for the first time in months gave him a genuine smile.

"I think we got something Bullock, we finally got f$%king something."

Bullock frowned as she hopped into their car, and joined her in sitting.

"What the hell are you talking about? That old prostitute has nothing, just like everyone else."

Montoya shook her head, "She got rather cold to us when we started asking about her kids didn't she?"

"Maybe because you were acting like a b$%..."

"I got..." Montoya ignored him, "I got under her skin and then threw her a curve ball with my question at the end about Krios."

Bullock rolled his eyes, "Yes I was there, she told you flatly that she knew nothing."

Montoya started the car and began to pull into the driving lane, taking them back to Major Crimes.

"You didn't see how she reacted to the question Harvey," Montoya said excitedly.

"When I asked the question she hesitated, which is not too suspicious. But trust me when I say, her hesitation is not why I am happy."

Bullock watched his partner closely, growing more concerned by the growing smile on her face.

"She looked scared for a moment Harvey, just for a moment but I saw it. Why would she look scared if she knew nothing about Krios?"

---------------------------------------

*Dick Grayson 'Robin', Wayne Manor

"...this is so weird," Jason muttered under his breath.

A swift rap from a wooden ladle to Jason's head made him yelp and the rest of the dining room table attempt to hide their laughs.

It was 'team dinner' as Alfred affectionately referred to the monthly meal the various members of the Batclan and occasional League members were forced to attend. Alfred a few years back wanted Bruce to be a little more sociable with people who knew he was Batman. At first, it started with just a few Justice League members like Superman, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter. When side kicks such as Dick and Barbara joined the team they became the norm with the League members only occasionally coming due to their schedules. As time went on the Batclan grew to include Jason, Cassandra, and sometimes Seline.

At first, it was like trying to herd cats, Bruce was the worst, but a few words about how sad he was he couldn't practice his skills in the kitchen with some tears always broke Bruce. It usually would be Alfred lamenting his failure to serve 'Master Wayne' properly with a few tears before Bruce would sigh exasperated and agree. Which would immediately make him perk up and start planning excitedly the meal for the members.

Alfred would always prepare a 5-course meal, displaying his impressive culinary skills. The food he prepared for the heroes was always good, but it seemed he gave it his all for these special dinners.

Roasted duck, roast beef, baked chicken, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, roasted red potatoes, a mix of gravies and au jour sauces, grilled asparagus, braised brussel sprouts, 3 different salad combos, and a few petite loaves of homemade bread.

"Alfred, as usual, the food looks magnificent," Bruce said with a slight smile. "If you will sit down now we can all dig in."

The butler sighed for a moment before sitting down in the chair nearest to the kitchen. It had been the one non-negotiable item Bruce had insisted on with these monthly meals. That proper British butler Alfred would have to sit with the rest of the guests, rather than continue to serve them as his butlerly instincts screamed for him to do.

Once Alfred was seated, Bruce motioned for everyone to dig in.

Today the table had the majority eating was the Bat Clan. Barbara, Dick, Jason and Cassandra were here, along with Superman, Martian Man Hunter, and his niece M'gann.

Seeing a fellow Team member made Dick smile sadly. Wally had been unable to come due to a school assignment he was behind on, Kaldur was visiting Atlantis, Artemis said she was busy, and Connor...

Dick glanced at Superman who had an empty chair to his left.

Connor flat-out refused to come even with M'gann nagging him to. The tension between the Man of Steel and Connor was apparently much worse then Dick first assumed.

'I wonder if they have spoken to each other,' he wondered.

"Thank you so much, Alfred for this meal. I will need you to write down the recipe for the roasted potatoes, my mother would love these!" Superman said enthusiastically. 

"Of course Master Kent," Alfred said with pride, and without looking swatted Jason again with his wooden ladle.

"Use your silverware not your hands Master Todd."

This time the table didn't even try as everyone burst out laughing at Jason who gave everyone a dark look.

"I know where you all sleep," Jason threatened, which to his continued embarrassment made them laugh more.

The rest of the dinner went smoothly with everyone making small talk with each other. Bruce mostly spoke with Alfred and Superman. Dick and Jason argued about kung fu movies with Cassandra listening amused, and M'gann and Barbara talked about school.

"And then I was like duh M'gann, they don't know you can read minds!" M'gann laughed as she finished her story.

"But Barbs tell me how things have been going for you and you know?"

"Shhh," Barbara looked panicked, "not here..."

Dick had overheard the two girls talking and put his full attention on them while Jason kept talking about some movie called Kung Fu Hustle. He wasn't the only one interested as Bruce looked over to Barbara with a familiar investigative glint in his eye.

"Who is M'gann talking about Barbara?" Bruce asked.

Barbara was not one easy to rattle, nor was it easy to ever embarrass her. But one would not be able to tell with the slight blush on her face as she tried to insist it wasn't important.

Watching Bruce grill her lightly with some amusement in his eyes, Dick at first thought it was funny. But as he watched Barbara's reaction to Bruce's prying he started to wonder who would elicit such a response from her.

"Oh, I know," Jason said with his mouth full of food. Which earned him another swat from Alfred's trusty wooden ladle.

Jason swallowed, "I bet its that guy we met during the study sessions and the mall, his name was Jake... no Jeremy?"

"James," Dick said out loud, thinking back on the time they met at the mall.

"Ahh," Bruce leaned back into his chair in contemplation.

Barbara tried to nonchalantly shrug, "He is just a friend I study with and keep in touch."

"You also asked him out," M'gann said to a horrified Barbara.

"M'gann!" Barbara screamed.

The whole table went into chaos with the two girls arguing, Jason was laughing at someone else being embarrassed, Alfred tried to instill some order, and Bruce, Superman, and Martian Manhunter watched quietly amused as they ate.

Dick though just looked down at his plate and focused on his food. He did not like or feel good about the idea that Barbara was interested in another guy.

The first time Dick met Barbara he hated her. It felt like Batman was just trying to replace him with someone new. It would take months of working together and training before he finally realized what a boon she was to Batman and him. Slowly he grew to appreciate her more, from her fighting to her computer hacking abilities. While he could pride himself on being the better fighter, he had to admit she was a certifiable genius and far outpaced him with investigative and tech ability.

It didn't help as the years went by and they both matured that she started to grow from just being pretty to becoming beautiful. Nowadays as they sparred he would find himself watching her more, looking at her curves, everything about her made him desire her.

But, she didn't see him the same way. A few months ago he had tested the waters by bringing up the subject of dating co-workers. She emphatically said that those ideas were very dangerous and not worth pursuing. 

From there he had not brought the subject up again out of fear he played his hand too early with her and decided to wait. But now there was this other guy who seemed to have snuck in!

Dick felt a soft poke to his leg and looked up to see Cassandra staring at him. The girls were still arguing and the adults and Jason were still watching amused. At this moment no one was paying them any attention.

Cassandra used her sign language to ask, 'Are you alright?'

Staring at her concerned eyes he gave her a weak smile and mouthed, 'I am fine.'

She nodded though it felt like they both knew that Dick was lying.

Back to the main arguing between the girls, Bruce cleared his throat loudly to get their attention.

"So has the young man met your father yet?" He asked with a slight smile.

Barbara looking defeated said, "No... or at least not yet."

Bruce looked at her curiously, "Not yet?"

"Ya, he has been on a study abroad for college credit." Barbara sighed.

But then her voice took a happy tone.

"Actually, we were just messaging each other before dinner. Turns out something came up with his family"

"He is coming back to Gotham..."