The Red Right Hand

This Side of Heavan

"This look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven." (William Shakespeare, "Othello")

The drive didn't take long, about 20 minutes or so, but the tension in the car was nearly exhausting. Raven hadn't said a word, her face blank and adrift, but the emotions she was unwillingly projecting were fragrant and slightly overwhelming. She was doing everything she could to keep herself together, but she was only one more broken brick away from crumbling. Dick found the feeling more than troublesome, but couldn't find the means to be sick about it—he was already sick with something else.

They were in a different part of Gotham now, a safer part, though its safety was determined by who you were and who you knew.

They were far away from the privileged, and even further away from the blind who'd never dare venture outside their shiny confines. They were in Outlaw Territory, and not even Batman could challenge that. This section of Gotham had always been under the control of a crime-lord, and Jason was just one of many to rule it.

During Dick's run as Robin, Falcone "The Roman" wore the crown, until he was murdered by Two-Face. After that, the city fell into a bit of turmoil, as its underworld strived to regain leadership. Two-Face initially took over control, briefly, but his leadership was challenged by many, including an Irish crime family and The Roman's only son, Mario Falcone. These depositions brought on many days of bloodshed. It was only before Dick finally left Gotham that Dent was arrested and thrown in Arkham to rot for what was supposed to be a lifetime. Falcone's son was only able to reclaim some of his father's power and territory. But not long after that, Mario, Son of the Roman, was murdered and replaced with a new power, Cosa Nostra. However, the Sicilian crime syndicate's stay in power didn't last very long. An internal power struggle between the Families within the organization ended with the murder of its leader, Franco Bertinelli. And before the Cosa Nostra could regain its order, their crown was taken by Black Mask—and now—that crown belonged to the Red Hood.

Dick recalled Bruce telling him of a time when this part of town was filled with old Irish bars and small Italian restaurants. It was a place of small means, but its character was strong and filled with honest people, looking for something of permanence. But that was all eventually lost. Soon, people had to pay for their safety or risk losing everything. But those people they paid to protect them, only used that power to strike fear and further their tyranny. Soon, the Irish bars where run by Irish gangs, and the Italian restaurants were just fronts for Italian crime families like the Maronis, Falcones and the Bertinellis. It got so bad, even the police and politicians began to develop a taste for blood-money, and that was about when Gotham reached its tipping point.

Bruce always believed it was that very tipping point that sealed the fate of his parents, who fought hard to balance the scales, even though they were far from the losing end. They believed in what Gotham stood for, they believed in those small shops and old Irish bars, and wanted to revive those lost opportunities. But it seemed someone else wanted those things to remain perished.

X finally came to a stop and flicked on his turn signal in front of an old bar that was built in the late 1800's. Dick remembered the old building, and recalled it once being called Hogan's. Only now it seemed to be known as the Wolf's Head.

"What a garish name for a bar," Dick mumbled, Raven not even looking up at the sign.

Red X glanced back at him and shrugged, "Yeah well, you may wanna tell that to the owner yourself, cause we're here, Chuckles."

Dick's eyes immediately lit up with his previous frustration and Raven finally looked up from her dismay. Red X turned down an old alleyway beside the building, but before he could finishing pulling the car around to the back, Dick jumped out and headed for the door.