Batman Eternal #28

LETTING GO

After beating down some thugs at his favourite bar in the Cauldron of Gotham City, Jason Todd calls back to his friends to inform them that he'll be coming home. Still, despite having completed the tasks assigned him by Batman, Jason feels like he's forgetting something. Annoyed by his obvious suppression of emotion, Starfire insists that he remain in Gotham - if not to liberate the city from martial law, then at least to say goodbye to Batgirl.  Batgirl, meanwhile, is busy torturing the current Police Commissioner, Jason Bard. His machinations have made Gotham City into a monster as far as she is concerned, and that has brought out the monster in her.  At the Moffat building in the East End, Catwoman has been captured by Louis "Bone" Ferryman, who holds a personal grudge against her. She had nearly smashed his head in when she'd sought vengeance for his murder of her friend Lola. Only Batman had stopped her. In order to regain face after owing his life to Batman, he intends to beat her to death in front of a room full of people - including a nine-year-old Jade McKillen, whose corrupt uncle Dragos insists that she watch. Unbeknownst to those in attendance, Killer Croc has tracked Jade to the Moffat building, and has come to collect her.  Meanwhile, Batman has taken down Flamingo and allows the man to wake in a cemetery, watching him get up and leave, in order that he can follow him back to his employer. En route, Flamingo receives an invitation to Catwoman's impending murder.  As Bone prepares to bring his bat down on her head, Catwoman warns Jade to close her eyes, but the bat never makes contact. Killer Croc's sudden crashing through the door distracts everyone from the main event. Grinning, Tiger Shark places a ten grand bounty on Croc's skin, providing Catwoman with the distraction she needs to put her pole-dancing classes to good use, and knock the feet out from under Bone, breaking his legs.  Catwoman begs Jade to untie her while Bone and Ibanescu attempt to regroup on their intent to kill her. Deprived of the opportunity to beat her to death, Bone insists that Ibanescu shoot Catwoman. Though it has been years since he fired a gun, Ibanescu obeys - and hits Jade instead.  Red Hood, meanwhile, sneaks into Babs' apartment and discovers all of her notes and evidence pointing to Jason Bard as the one responsible for her father's continued incarceration. He tracks her down and takes the rope holding the commissioner aloft from her, warning that this kind of justice isn't how she operates - it's how he operates. With that, he releases the rope, and lets Jason fall, prompting Barbara to leap after the end, sparing Bard's life, but snapping his leg. Red Hood admits that Batgirl is still a better hero than he is.  Batman follows Flamingo to the Moffat Building, where he discovers the aftermath of the shooting. Ibanescu lies dead, and both Catwoman and Croc are traumatized by Jade's death. Unsure of the scenario leading to this point, he orders Croc away from the girl, and Catwoman warns him away. Angrily, he shoves her against a wall and demands to know what happened, reminding that he had warned her about causing chaos. She collapses into his arms, crying, admitting that she could have stopped Jade's death, but she failed. Batman tries to tell her that he is there for her, but she turns away coldly, reminding that he is not there for her - and nobody is.  Sitting on the Sprang Bridge, separating the city from the rest of the world, Barbara suggests that Jason stay in Gotham; help save it. Jason admits that Gotham has never been enough for him, even if there was more for him there, hinting at their romantic interests in one another. He won't pursue it, though, because he will never be Dick Grayson. With that, he calls for his companions to collect him.  In his cell at Blackgate Penitentiary, Rex Calabrese receives a visit from his daughter, Catwoman, who reports that Jade is dead, and she needs to use his contacts to unite the families and re-assert the natural order under the rule of the daughter of the lion - her.