Author's Note: This idea has been rummaging through my head for the past two weeks and I figured I had nothing to lose by at least putting it down on paper, so to speak. I have the prologue and two following chapters done though I'll be revising and outlining a bit more before adding them and writing more. This is basically to test the waters and hopefully by putting this up get the whip cracking on me to finish it.
This is set in the Nolan-verse, though I will be borrowing characters and some canon from the comics, B:tAS, as well as using my own interpretations. If I succeed I hope it will end up being the best of both words, and – in my mind at least – serve as a continuation of "The Dark Knight". It's hard to give you first readers an idea of where I want to go and who will be making appearances without giving too much of the story away, so I will just say this: leave me feedback – of any kind – and I hope you'll stick with me past this little introduction.
Rating: Mature/"R". There will be language, violence, adult themes, and etc.
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Prologue
The rain hit the pavement with enough force to seemingly make the street beneath it shudder, thunder rolling across the cityscape as buildings of glass and metal rose across a skyline of dark clouds. The blue glow of a television wavered from inside one of the office lobbies, barely noticeable from behind the fogging glass outside the window's ledge.
A woman in a pleated navy blue suit sat behind a desk, hair swooped to the side with a wiry microphone pressed against her ear. Her voice droned on the shallow ebb and flow of the media while the image of Salvatore Maroni hung at her left. "- remains to be seen after his release from the hospital. Statements from his representatives have not been issued thus far.
"Gotham police have proved diligent in their continually increasing efforts to bring those effected in the tragic events of last month to justice. While the city mourns the loss of District Attorney Harvey Dent, Assistant D.A. Rachael Dawes, Commissioner Loeb, Judge Surillo and countless civil servants and civilians at the hands of both madmen the Batman and the Joker, new initiatives are being put in place to not only keep Gotham's criminals behind bars, but bring the masked vigilante into custody. Gotham's very own citizens have begun to aid the efforts, sightings of the Batman trickling into the GPD. Officers feel that his apprehension is only a matter of time." She straightened her papers, tapping them against desk before cueing the weather report with a somber smile.
The cowled head bowed against the rain outside, metal grips hooking against the brick and stone of the building and he continued his ascent. The rooftop stood silent and cold, water pooling in the center.
"Took you longer than usual." A figure in a long rain coat and squared glasses stepped from the shadows.
"A pager isn't exactly a beacon in the sky," the Batman ground out, voice gruff and strange still to his own ears.
"True," Gordon nodded, looking at the dark clouds above. "I was worried you wouldn't show..." There was a pregnant pause before, "How have things been?"
"Wet." He felt his lips twitch.
The Commissioner flustered for a moment, caught between amusement and apprehension,"I meant-"
"- I know what you meant. Things are the way we agreed. The city is better for it." The caped figure walked to the edge of the high-rise, cape trailing against the ground as he peered out across the city as it sprawled.
"Nearly all of the GPD putting their manpower into hunting you down instead of the real killers out there – yeah, a whole lot better." Gordon stuffed his hands into this pockets in frustration, fingers brushing against the badge there.
"The people. They're better. This city is alive again because Harvey's message has outlived him. Gotham still has it's White Knight."
"While it's Dark fends off as many cops as he does criminals!" His voice rose and fought against cracking.
"This isn't about me." The eyes lined in dark grease-paint beneath the leather locked with those underneath the brows of the policeman, blank as he always tried to keep them while in the suit.
"No, it's about an ideal. The very ideal embodied in a man who fell just like the rest of us, a gun to the head of my kid while he was at it. You're the talk of the town, and the verdict is out. You're not the hero anymore. You've become the villain." Gordon strode over to the black figure as he finished, as close as he would dare, his neck craning in an effort to put his face in front of the other man's.
"Not forever." Batman looked away, the flickering of a far-off street lamp a convenient distraction. Inwardly he bristled with the urge move away; take to the currents and drift back down to where he belonged. Jim Gordon was an ally; one of three men he felt he could trust absolutely. One of three men whom he believed was as dedicated to this unending mission as he.
Of course, he had thought the same of Harvey Dent.
The name rolling across his mind made his fists tighten unwillingly. Remorse, regret, anger. He didn't know which was which anymore. The last was the most comforting.
"But for now?" Gordon asked, pulling the Bat out of his thoughts, sounding tired as he pushed his glasses up from the bridge of his nose, pinching the cartilage. He saw the figure nod in a slow affirmative.
After a beat the low voice came, "How's the boy?"
"As well as can be expected," the Commissioner replied shaking his head, memories hitting against the backs of his eyes in what seemed to be an incessant repetition of a parent's worst nightmare, again and again. "Still your biggest fan, I'm afraid." He sensed the tensing along the caped shoulders and hastily added, reassuring, "He knows he can't say anything about what really happened. He... he understands, I think. Understands better than I do, maybe."
"Smart kid."
"Yeah..." Gordon let the word lie in the air, the space between them still streaking with rain and a heavy silence as both seemed unsure where they stood in the new world they were making. "I didn't call you here for a chat though, I'm afraid. Word is Jeremiah Arkham recently received a large donation for the Asylum. Something under the table. Maybe a benefactor. Maybe hopeful new management."
"Who would want a madhouse?"
"That's the question I'm not sure I want an answer to ... We don't know anything yet and don't have the grounds for suspicion to request a formal investigation, but if this is showing on my radar it had better be on yours too. I'd feel better if it was, at any rate."
"I'll keep an eye out." Batman cast a sidelong glance at Jim before both felt the moment break, a silent end to their midnight obstruction-of-justice. "Goodnight, Commissioner." He mounted the short brick ledge, cape shaking into wings before he jumped, wind whistling against the resistance.
"Goodnight," Gordon mouthed before he turned, steps echoing back to where he had come from.
Batman stepped from the alley a moment later as a pistol shot rang in a sharp and violent crack, the figure of dark knight fading into an inky black sky. Papers clung to his feet and shuffled against the ground. The face of Harvey Dent stared up from the pavement on a leaflet, "I Believe" mud splattered, the right side ragged and torn completely.