Title: The Moments In Between

Author: Takebuo Ishimatsu

Pairing(s): None

Summary: A series of not-so-small drabbles chronicling the moments in between the scenes in BB & TDK. Gordon-centric & mainly his perspective. Will have roughly 25 total.

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman Begins or The Dark Knight.

AN: Wow, haven't posted anything in a while. I know, I know, you hate me now. -_-0 I've been writing like crazy for NaNoWriMo, but want to get at least a third of the way into my other Batman fic (it will be massive) I start posting it. Not really working on my other stuff at just this moment. Sorry. *Hides*

Back-up:

"Come on, we need to get down to the basement," Gordon motioned towards the other officers with his hand, starting back towards the building now that the bats had dispersed.

He paused upon realizing no one was moving, all of them looking at the entrance with uncertainty. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"He's not in there anymore." Still no one moved and this time he didn't resist the urge, his eyes moving in circles behind his glasses. "He escaped through the back."

Just as he'd finished speaking, a call came over the radio asking for any available units to help with a bad car chase. Apparently they were after a black tank. Now, who would be driving around in one of those?

Gordon gave them a look that clearly said Well?

Slowly, very slowly, they started forwards, content to allow the sergeant to lead the way. He did so with no little haste, not entirely certain if his pseudo-partner had had time to tie any bad guys up down there or if they were escaping as they stood there doing nothing. From what he'd seen of the other's handiwork so far, he didn't usually leave loose ends, but he had seemed rather preoccupied with Ms. Dawes this time around.

Not that he blamed him. Someone that looked after those in trouble was just what Gotham needed right about then.

"So, Jimbo, you say you saw the Bat." Flass' voice made the simple statement into something more.

Gordon looked at him out of the corner of his eye as they entered the elevator. "Yeah."

" Was that before or after you went around back?"

Gordon paused and turned to look at him directly, not wanting to give the impression of any sort of fear or worry.

While rumored involvement with the Batman could technically get him fired, the other had no proof, other than his own assumptions, and they both knew it. What there was proof of was some of Flass' dirty dealings. Proof that might actually hold up in court now that things were changing.

"During, actually," he said in a clear voice, almost daring the other to question him.

In a town this dirty, who is there to rat to?

Though he wasn't to the point that he'd bet his life on it, he had a pretty good feeling that there was an answer to his question now.

Batman.

More than someone to "rat to," the man was his back-up. Now they were two.

He could see the moment the other cop realized something was different, something had changed while he was out making money with his mob pals.

Batman had proven himself to Gordon, and he would try to prove himself in return. His days of being intimidated by dirty cops were over.

Flass' eyes shifted away from his own in an effort to avoid confrontation.

" Just checking. Come on, partner, let's get down there and see what the crazies have in store for us."

Polite:

Gordon continued looking down the street long after the car (could one really call it that?) had disappeared. Turning around finally, he sighed, knowing he had quite a walk back to the station. He carefully rested his hand on his weapon and pushed open his jacket to reveal his badge, letting the few people around know that he was a cop. An armed cop.

It wasn't necessarily a bad neighborhood, nothing like the narrows he'd just come from, but in Gotham you could never be too careful. Hell, Thomas and Martha Wayne had been gunned down outside Gotham's Opera House and that had been years ago, long before the city was the cesspool it was then.

Perhaps he should have asked for a ride?

He smirked at the thought of pulling up at the precinct in the beast of black metal, wondering if the look on Loeb's face would be worth it when he got fired. Smiling openingly, he imagined that Flass just might just pee himself if he saw it.

Gordon wasn't naïve enough not to know how Batman had gotten the info he'd needed to bust Crane's operation, the man had certainly hinted at it enough for even a rookie cop to pick up.

He'll talk to me.

In fact, thinking back on it, Gordon had to wonder if the conversation outside his home hadn't been more of a warning than information gathering. The Batman's way of letting Gordon know that his partner might not be up for full duty when he got done making him squeal. (Which was really a moot point since Flass didn't look any worse for wear to him. Gordon almost felt disappointed.)

Perhaps the head's up was the Bat's way of being polite?

Lost in his thoughts, he startled a little when a set of flashing lights rounded a nearby corner, a mechanical "yelp" following them. He kept his hand on his weapon as the officer slowed upon seeing him. He couldn't see who was inside and he'd really meant it about never being too careful. It could be Flass coming to pop him while all his allies were busy.

"Hey Jim," Gordon relaxed at the familiar face inside the vehicle. Stephens nodded towards where his hand had been a moment previously, gripping his firearm, "You expecting someone else?"

Gordon shrugged. "It is Gotham."

"No shit. Your friend seemed to feel the same way."

Gordon frowned as he got in, turning to look at Stephens oddly, "My friend?"

It was the other's turn to shrug. "I was about ready to head back when I got an anonymous call stating you might need a pick-up."

"And you came?" Gordon asked with some skepticism. Anonymous phone call telling you to go to a random street at night? Lord knew no clean cop in town would follow that advice.

" Yeah, I know what you mean. But here's the thing, caller-id said it came from my own cell number. Like, me calling me on the same phone. Can you believe that? Not even mob bosses got that kind of technology, even if they wanted to go to the trouble."

Gordon snorted. "Great, so now he can hack phone lines. Is there anything this guy can't do?"

Gordon was certain Stephens had been around long enough to know that his annoyance was faked, but the other didn't call him on it.

Stephens shrugged. "Creepy and highly illegal, but I don't mind so much right now. I don't like the thought of Gotham's 'last honest cop' walking the streets alone at night, especially in this craziness."

Gordon rolled his eyes at the title before turning to look out the window, deciding it was probably a bad idea to mention that he'd originally planned on walking back so as to not take men away from the current crisis. And he'd have to be dying before he called Barbara at 3:36 AM and asked for a ride all the way across town.

He wondered if the Bat had known and that's why he'd done the calling for him. Really, by this point, he wouldn't be too surprised to find the other had mind-reading as another one of his many talents.

What did annoy him a little was the fact that he had a way to contact him but not vice versa. What was he suppose to do? Take out his garbage every time he needed to talk and hope for the best?

His eyes drifted up to the cloudy night sky.

He smiled as an idea came to him.

Newsworthy:

He supposed he should have been expecting it. Flass had managed to work out their relationship fairly quickly and he'd been the only cop unaffected on the island, along with having a back-up antidote for mass production. There had even been witnesses around to see his exit from the "Batmobile," as the press was calling it. Still, he wasn't entirely certain if there was any way to actually prepare for, well, this.

He shifted in front of the microphone awkwardly, wondering how he'd gotten into his current predicament.

Oh, right.

There had been only a handful of officers ready and able to defend the mayor so soon after the attack (all of the police in the Narrows had been cured but many had sustained injuries and were still quite disoriented). And, of course, the man had wanted to point out one of his known honest officers while accusations of misconduct and general unaccountability were being thrown around, thus having Gordon stand as one of his closet bodyguards up on stage.

Fortunately for the mayor, only a few questions were directed towards police incompetence and the direction of the conference had shifted entirely when one bold reporter had asked if it was true that Gordon had helped the Batman in his fight to save Gotham. Garcia had been all too pleased to shift the attention to what the GCPD had actually done right and had unceremoniously shoved him in front, telling the audience that they should hear it from the "Man of the Hour" himself.

Gordon snorted, knowing it had more to do with Garcia not knowing anything than his need to honor Gordon. He resisted the urge to shoot a look at Loeb, knowing the other had some explaining to do once this was all over. He'd tried to be as honest as possible and had explained the Commissioner his involvement with Batman as best he could, considering the man's clear distaste for the vigilante, even after all he'd done.

Judging by the momentary look of surprised when asked about it, Gordon figured Garcia hadn't been given the memo.

"Well, I," he cleared his throat, "I did my best to stop Crane and help those in need, as did all of the Gotham Police Department."

Unsurprisingly, the mob of frothing newsmen and women wasn't satisfied with his cookie-cutter answer and pressed on.

"Is it true you drove the Batmobile?"

"Why were you the only one unaffected by the toxin? Did Batman save you?"

"Do you know who the man behind the mask is?"

"How does your family feel about your association with the vigilante?"

...And the questions continued, getting more and more crazy at his continued refusal to speak. One person even asked if he was the Batman, never mind the fact that they'd clearly been seen by others to be in two separate places. Hadn't that been the whole point of the car question?

He glanced back at Garcia, wondering how he was suppose to respond. The other made a "Go on" motion with his hands. Well then, if the other didn't want to help, he'd just have to wing it and hope he didn't get fired.

Gordon cleared his throat again and was amazed at the utter silence that followed.

"As I said, I did my best to help. Some of this help may have involved working with the Batman, as I felt at the time that the lives of those in Gotham were more important than trying to catch him. Following this incident, the official policy is still to arrest the Batman on sight. Thank you."

He nodded to the crowd and then exited to his previous spot beside the Commissioner. The darker man gave him a look that promised a strong talking-to later, but the mayor had given him a pat on the shoulder as they'd switched places, so he wasn't too terribly worried.

Sketchy Promotion

Gordon blinked as his companions all but seemed to slither away. He hadn't thought his joke was that bad.

Turning around, he caught sight of the reason. Commissioner Loeb was striding through the doors of the GCPD and he did not look pleased. Following closely behind was a young man who appeared to be all but running in an effort to keep up. Gordon wondered at the large white thing he was carrying.

Was that a sketch pad?

Gordon got a closer look as the two stopped in front of him, his gaze confirming that it was indeed a pad of paper.

"Something you need, Commissioner?"

Loeb gave him a look that said he'd rather be anywhere else but there.

"I've come to inform you that the mayor wants you promoted. Congratulations, Lieutenant," he said the last part as if it was poison on his tongue.

"Thank you, sir, it's an honor," Gordon responded, not because he thought Loeb had anything to do with it (in fact, he'd probably been vehemently against it), but because it was what you were suppose to say in such situations. No one would ever accuse him of being improper.

" I'm sure it is," Loeb's lips curled in distaste. He continued after a pause, as if he really didn't want to say what was coming next, "Speaking of honors, my request to form a specialized Major Crimes Unit was granted. City council wants you to lead it."

"Th-Thank you, sir." Gordon knew his eyes were huge by then.

Promotion and his own special force? Already he was thinking of who he wanted in it and all of the good they could do with their concentrated effort. He mentally shook his head at himself as he realized the first person he'd thought of to ask wasn't even an officer.

"Details concerning force-size, budgets, etc. will be faxed over," Loeb waved the statement away, "However, at the moment, I'd like for you to have a sit-down with Richard, our sketch artist." Gordon nodded and the other nodded back; they'd met once before. "It has come to our attention that you may just be the only person who's seen the vigilante up close and I'd like to get a detailed picture to add to his profile."

With that, Loeb swept out of the office, certain that his orders would be followed. Almost immediately, the newly-minted Lieutenant was overcome with handshakes and pats on the back. He smiled thanks in return to each, turning back to the artist once it had quieted down.

"Well the, let's get this over with, shall we?" he smiled and pointed towards his office.

Once inside, he sprinkled some food for his fish, more as an excuse not to look at the other than because they needed it. Lord knew they probably ate better than he did, his workaholism causing him forget to eat half the time.

He cleared his throat but didn't start speaking right away, mentally weighing the pros and cons of lying and then unintentionally weighing the pros and cons of having a partnership with a man that caused him to do such weighing in the first place.

"So, Lieutenant, he's about 6'7", 300 pounds, and possibly Asian?"

Gordon blinked at the other, pulled out of his inner debate to see Richard's slight smirk.

Gordon smiled. It seemed he wasn't the only one who thought someone out there was doing the city some good.

He nodded to the younger man, "Yeah, that sounds about right."

The New iPhone:

Gordon cursed as he accidentally hit his thumb with the hammer, shaking the whole appendage in an afford to ward off the pain.

"Need a little help, Jim?"

He jumped at the unexpected voice, a slight blush coming to his cheeks upon turning and realizing Stephens and Ramirez had snuck up onto the roof without him noticing. He supposed it was better than Batman sneaking up there, at least before the thing was finished.

As silly as it made him sound, he sort of hoped to surprise the vigilante with it the first time it was turned on. Or, at least, pretend to surprise him with it. After the fiasco with Stephens' cell, he wouldn't be surprised to find out that the other had been monitoring his phone conversations and already knew about the finishing piece he'd ordered for the newly-made MCU headquarters.

All three of them gazed at the floodlight at once, a piece of metal clearly shaped like a bat laying over its surface, ready to be pounded down into place. That is, if Gordon could just work up the strength to do so. Who knew attaching the damn thing would be so hard?

Still, he couldn't ask the shop to do it. The blacksmith had already given him a Look when he'd put in the order for a giant bat. If it wasn't for the man's known praise for the masked man, he might have skipped it all together and tried to make something himself. Apparently, Batman having saved the man's wife got him a discount. Who'd have thought?

"It's...Halloween?" he flailed for an excuse, knowing the light could get him in big trouble, whether or not the tabloids were lauding the other as a hero.

Ramirez snorted, "Not for another three months, Lieutenant."

"I-"

"Save it, Jim," Stephens waved off whatever he was going to say. He walked forward and held out his hand for the hammer, Gordon looked at it for a moment before passing his tool.

"We'll take turns," he said sternly, not wanting the other to do all the work. He smiled in thanks at the coffee Ramirez offered him.

Stephens took a moment to observe what the other had started.

"Not exactly the new iPhone, but I suppose it'll do."

Gordon snorted as he took a sip, "Better than an iPhone." He returned Ramirez's questioningly look with a smirk, "Only one button."

She smiled at the joke, "Not quite tech-savy, huh Lieutenant?"

"Not as savy as some," he said with a small half-shrug.

He didn't need to explain whom he was referring to.

AN: Well, what'd you think? I already have plans for about 20 more of these things, all little ideas that I thought of when watching the movies or writing my other Batman fic. I might do other characters when I'm done, not too certain at the moment. If I do, who would you guys like to see more, Alfred or Bruce? Or someone else entirely?