The Promise

Jim Gordon lay in the hospital bed with his eyes closed. He was listening to the machines that were monitoring him, beeping in the darkened room.

"These things are only counting down the time until I go," he thought to himself, "But before I go, I need to do one more thing."

The heart attack that struck Jim had been expected for years, but not how bad it was. Even though the doctors and the nurses smiled and told him that he would soon be out, Jim had a bullshit detector from his early days as a cop and knew this was it.

Jim sensed something and opened his eyes. There he was, standing by the window. The cape, the cowl, the yellow symbol on his chest that put the fear of God in all of the crimnals of Gotham City.

"Hello Bruce."

The man standing by the foot of the bed didn't seem surprised. "When did you figure it out?" he asked.

"Some time ago. I may not be the world's greatest detective, but I am able to put two and two together. I never said anything because I knew that our city needed it's protector."

"I looked at the charts." the man said. "It doesn't look good."

"I know, " Jim said. "But I have one other thing to do." Jim raised his hand.

The figure at the end of the bed took off his glove and held on to his friend's hand.

"Even after I am gone, Gotham will need it's protector. You have to promise me to keep up the fight, protect the good people of this city. I did the best that I could to make sure that everyone was protected from evil."

"You did better than anyone else, Jim," the figure in black said. "No one else could have done better, even me."

"Thank you, that means alot to me. But I am not going to be here anymore and I need you to continue for me."

The man in black was silent for a moment. "It would be my honor to follow in your footsteps."

Jim squeezed the hand in his, closed his eyes and with a final breath, was gone.

The man who never showed any fear to his enemies, who seemed to be a figure of the night, felt a tear run down his face. He put his friend's hand back on the sheet and putting his glove back on, turned to the window. At the window, he looked out over Gotham City. Even though they didn't know it yet, the city had lost one of it's greatest people. But there was still another one who had a promise to keep.