First Impressions OR The Three Times Commissioner Gordon Met the Original Robin
In which Commissioner Gordon meets Robin for the first time three times: as Robin, Nightwing, and Batman.
I stood on the roof of the Police Station, staring out across the twinkling lights of the city, my coffee slowly chilling in my hand. Shrieking sirens broke the spell of the night, heralding the crack of gunfire and screams of women. This was my city: never a peaceful night, never a deathless day. I sighed, pushing my glasses up my nose and turning to switch off the signal. A black shadow shifted in my peripheral vision and I jumped, my heart skipping a beat in my chest and my foam coffee cup tumbling to the ground.
"Holy heart attack, Batman! You tryin'a kill the man?" a high voice chirped. I spun around quickly to find my stealthy visitors. There was Batman, his silhouette barely visible in the shadows. I shuddered. How he always manages to sneak up on me I may never know. A splash of color caught my eye and I turned to see a young boy, maybe nine or ten years old, bouncing anxiously on his toes next to the Dark Knight. Well that was new.
"Robin," Batman growled, turning to glare at the child. His cheeks turned a light pink beneath his mask and he stopped bouncing, straightening his shoulders and pulling together a serious expression. I couldn't help the small smile that tugged at my lips. "Commissioner," Batman grunted by way of greeting.
"Batman," I replied, nodding my head at him. "Robin," I added with a nod. The boy beamed and nodded his head back, raising his chin just a bit higher. "Two-Face escaped from Arkham this morning. Since then, five of his old gang members have busted out of prison and are robbing their way across the city, hitting every small time jewelry store and bank along the way. We've had every cop we can spare on their tails, but they've split up so we're stretched thin. They're headed north, if that's any help." Batman nodded and turned to leave, his cape swishing behind him. Robin trailed after him with a grin, skipping slightly to keep up with his long stride.
"Can I drive the Batmobile?" he asked excitedly, staring up at the man with undisguised hope.
"Not until you can reach the pedals," Batman deadpanned. Then they both jumped off the roof, disappearing into the night. I reached down to retrieve my coffee cup and returned to the building, locking myself in my office and slumping down in my seat.
Gotham. What is it about Gotham that attracts the freaks? Two Face, Joker, Riddler, Poison Ivy, Penguin, Catwoman, Clayface, Killer Croc, Bane, the list goes on. At times I find myself wondering if they attract the Bat or the Bat attracts them. I sighed, rubbing my eyes before pushing my glasses back up. No. I couldn't allow myself to think like that. The Batman is our only hope against criminals like them. In a lawless city with lawless citizens, only a lawless hero stands a chance.
I felt my heart sink in my chest. Was a city this dark, this twisted, really worth saving anymore? Crime ran unchecked, the so called enforcers of the law working with the criminals to destroy the very city they swore to protect. It had gotten so out of control that a single man felt it necessary to don a mask and do the job himself. What could there possibly be worth saving in a city that far gone?
I flashed back, finding myself staring at a face half-covered by a black mask. The face was anxious, teeth sinking into his lip. The face was blushing, trying to hide his energy behind a mask of professionalism. The face was proud, his chin raised as he tried to maintain a serious expression. The face was excited, grinning as he trailed after the older man. The face was hopeful, optimistic about something he knew was unlikely. This. This is what is worth saving. Innocence. Childhood. Purity. No one should have that stolen. I had seen too many children forced to grow up, too many young lives destroyed, too many dreams shattered. I couldn't lose sight of what I was fighting for. I couldn't forget the innocence depending on me to survive. I would keep fighting. I had to keep fighting. For the Robins.
I paced across the rooftop, hands clasped firmly behind my back with my pipe pressed between my lips. My head snapped up and I scanned the roof at every turn. I was anxious, to say the least. Which is why when a man appeared before me, dressed in black and with a mask obscuring the upper part of his face, and he wasn't Batman, my gun was pointed at him before I even realized I'd drawn it.
"Who are you?" I demanded, taking in his long black hair and the stylized blue bird across his chest. He grinned, tapping his chin with his index finger in a thoughtful manner.
"Hmm, let's see," he murmured. "My former associate has a thing for bats? You took up a pipe to quit smoking cigarettes? Wait, howzabout - holy mistaken identity!" He snapped his fingers and smiled widely, looking at me expectantly. I slowly lowered my gun as I stared at the man before me, memories of a bubbly boy in a leotard dancing across my mind.
"Robin?" I asked tentatively. Surely this couldn't be the same child that chased after the Bat so many years ago. The same child I had watched grow up as if he were my own.
"I go by Nightwing now." He smirked as he pointed at his chest. "Got my own symbol n' everything." I smiled wearily and holstered my gun, shoving my pipe back between my lips.
"It's good to see you again son. Though I hate that it has to be under these circumstances. Joker escaped." Rob- Nightwing's face instantly turned serious.
"How long ago?" he snapped.
"Half an hour. Where's Batman?" Nightwing stepped to the edge of the roof, wings appearing under his arms.
"He's preoccupied at the moment. Don't worry, I've got this." With that, he was airborne and I found myself alone on the roof again.
I couldn't wrap my mind around the new information I had just received. Robin was a full grown man, a hero in his own right. No longer the young sidekick I first met on that very rooftop. When he had disappeared over a year before, just stopped showing up, I was worried. I had asked Batman after a couple months, but all he did was assure me that Robin was alive and well. Then a new Robin began joining the Bat, and I stopped asking questions. I wouldn't get any more information from him anyway.
Nightwing. He was so different from the energetic child I knew, and yet nothing like the stoic Bat that trained him. He was a happier hero. Sure, he was no Superman or Flash, but what could one expect from someone raised in Gotham?
I remembered that night when I had first met Robin, how he had reminded me of what I fight for, and I smiled. That was a fight we won, Batman and I. We protected Robin. Sure the kid was scarred, battle-worn, already a veteran of a war many would never even acknowledge, but he never lost his purity, his wide-eyed innocence, his smile. Sure Joker was on the loose, sure more people would die, sure more lives would be destroyed, but we had won this fight, and, for the moment, that was a good enough reason to smile.
"And if you don't make it in time, well, poor frowning Frankie here will be aaalllllll smiles." Joker cackled and switched off the camera, the TV in my office returning to static. I turned it off and spun in my chair to face the dark figure in the corner.
"Any ideas?" I asked, walking around my desk and perching on the corner. Batman stepped out of the shadows, a thoughtful frown etched on his lips. He looked different, somehow, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I had just about chucked it up to anxiety and sleep deprivation when I heard something I was pretty sure I wasn't meant to hear.
"Holy hostages," Batman mumbled, rubbing at a light stubble on his chin. It took a moment for that phrase to process, and when it did I had trouble fighting off the smile tugging at my lips. The kid did a damn good Batman impersonation, I'd give him that.
Then a thought stuck me, and I couldn't help but blurt out, "Is he alright?" Batman looked up, the thoughtful frown never leaving his face.
"Well if the Joker gave us until midnight, I'd assume so, but he'll probably require years of therapy," he answered.
"Not Frankie. Batman. Is he alright?" Batman's frown deepened and I could feel a shift in the atmosphere.
"I am Batman," he growled. I gulped and nodded, looking away. He had never used that tone, and I didn't much enjoy hearing it from the usually cheerful man. He sighed and stepped closer, reaching his hand up as if to run it through his hair before dropping his arm back to his side. "Sorry, Commish," he mumbled. "No, he's not alright." I blinked and he was gone, disappearing just like Batman.
I returned to my seat and stared at the black screen of the TV. Batman was gone. There was no other reason Nightwing would give up his own persona. He knew that Gotham needed Batman, and he sacrificed his own desires to keep Gotham alive. He took on the role neither of us wanted him to take. The man really was a hero.
My heart broke for the kid. It was obvious from the moment I met him how much the boy adored Batman. Their relationship to each other was always undefined, but I could see the love between the two as clear as day. If Batman was gone, then Nightwing might be too. I sighed, closing my eyes to fight back tears. We had won the fight, but it might have all been in vain. If there was no Batman, there was no Robin. Innocence can't last forever. Every child must grow up at some point. Innocence, childhood, purity, they're all lies. Nothing pure can remain untainted, nothing gold can stay. Perhaps there really is nothing worth saving in Gotham.