Disclaimer: James Gordon and Batman are owned by DC. I'm not making any profit from their use.
Thanks to Kathy for the beta!
Unraveling the Patterns
"So, that's where we are, now. Ballistics still can't get a match on the bullet, no ID on the victim, and the crime scene's been tampered with. I don't know what you think you can come up with, Batman, but I'd…" the commissioner looked up again and found that he was alone on the roof of the GCPD building. Gone again. Damn it! Gordon hated it when Batman pulled that disappearing act on him. After all these years working together, would it really kill the man to say 'goodbye'? Or if not that, at least to wait until Gordon was looking at him again before he took a flying leap off the rooftop? It was enough to drive a person to start smoking again.
If it annoys you that much, why do you always look away, then?
Gordon tried to ignore the question.
Why not rig up a hidden camera? Or arrange to have another observer present? Or…They were good suggestions. He knew he wouldn't act on them, though. What purpose would it really serve? His lips twitched. After so many years, he supposed he'd gotten used to the status quo. In fact, he supposed that if one day, he turned around and Batman was still standing there, he'd probably have a heart attack from the shock. Maybe Batman suspected the same thing?
Gordon sighed and headed back into the building. If Batman could solve this case the same way he'd managed to solve so many others that had stymied the department, well then, let the man have his fun. He paused. Fun? Maybe that's what it was: some sort of private in-joke. Batman did have a sense of humor, although Gordon could count on his fingers the number of times he'd let it show.
He shook his head. There was a murderer on the loose. The GCPD had no leads, and here he was racking his brain trying to figure out why Batman chose to cut out on him in the middle of a conversation? Better to tackle a mystery he stood a chance at unraveling.
As to why he put up with it in the first place, that was easy: a person with Batman's record for resolving criminal cases was entitled to a few idiosyncrasies—however annoying Gordon might find them.
He closed the door behind him.