2

The drive into the city was silent, save for the police radio. All that was coming through were reports of small time criminals stealing from mom and pop shops. Ivy looked over at Gordon. His thick black framed glasses sat on his rugged, stern face. She could see dark circles piling on top of each other under his brown eyes. His hair and moustache were starting to turn greyer and greyer with each passing day. He was still young, in Ivy's eyes, but Gotham had not treated him to nice.

"I heard about what the Joker did to your girlfriend some time ago…I'm sorry." Ivy began, "The Joker is a sick bastard." Gordon didn't say anything, so Ivy kept quiet. Gordon turned the police scanner off, and pulled into a parking space in front of the Gotham City Police Department's main branch in downtown Gotham. The building was big and grey, with large black letters that spelled out 'G.C.P.D'. The 10 steps leading towards the glass revolving doors were made of marble, which added an air of elegance too the otherwise bleak building. She had been here many times before, usually thanks to Batman. Ivy stepped out of the car after Gordon, following him into the building. All conversations stopped as men and women eyed her up and down. Gordon walked steadily ahead of Ivy who struggled to keep up. The marble tiles were cold against her bare feet, and the bleak décor of the main hallway was as uninviting as always. Large white doors with various plaques on them hid cramped offices cluttered with paperwork. A few pictures of fallen officers hung here and there, but there was nothing outstanding about this place. Gordon walked up to the elevator at the end of the hall and pressed the up button. Still silent, he let Ivy go ahead of him when the doors opened. He hit the '5' button and up they went, still in silence. When the doors opened Ivy went first, but let Gordon take the lead. Gordon stopped at the last door on the left, which had his name on it. He opened the door and walked in ahead of Ivy.

The office was large, but cramped with filing cabinets. His plush brown carpet matched his brown walls, where newspaper clippings of the Batman and his various foe's were taped up. Behind him a picture of his two children hung. The window in the office was large and overlooked Gotham city's main street. Ivy closed the door behind he and walked over to the window. The blinds were open, pouring sunlight into the room. She pressed her hands against the cool glass and looked down. The streets were crowded with people and cars. The mom and pop shops across from them had a steady stream of people going in and our, carrying bags of various sizes.

"So why did you really come alone last night?" Ivy asked as her eyes followed a black Mercedes Benz down the street.

"Like I said, everyone else was busy with the Joker's henchmen."

"I could have killed you."

"I trusted that you wouldn't."

"So that's why you came alone?" She said looking at him with inquisitive eyes. Gordon look back and shrugged. "How did the Joker manager to kidnap Batman?"

"Well, I'm not too sure yet," He said as he stood and came over to stand next to Ivy. Her heart picked up it's pace. "I don't know how he could have overpowered Batman. I think he had the help of someone else."

"Well, Harley is still locked up. Couldn't have been her. In fact, everyone else is still there too. Maybe it was one of Joker's men?"

"Has Harley mentioned anything at all about Joker?"

"No, nothing. All she said to me was that he was working on some big plot to destroy Gotham. That was it….Why don't you have some of your men helping you find him?"

"Because they all want to see Batman hurt as much as Joker does. None of them trust him, and frankly I don't want them to know that Batman was kidnapped. Do you know what kind of shockwave that would send throughout Gotham?" He placed his hands next to her own on the window.

"I still don't understand why you want me to help you."

"Aside from breaking out of Arkham last night and attempting to steal those toxins, you've been surprisingly good at Arkham for the last year."

"I got bored, what can I say?" She inched her hand over and her pinky grazed his own. She felt pleased with herself, but she wouldn't show it. Gordon glanced over at her and grinned. Ivy was secretly glad he asked her for help, even if she didn't understand why. Batman had been boring her for a while. No matter how potent she made her love potions, he always evaded her advances. Gordon, on the other hand, always intrigued her, but she never gave it a second thought. He was a straight cop, no bullshit here. He played everything by the book, save for Batman. He was Gotham's other symbol of hope, and Ivy secretly envied how he could stay so in such a corrupt town. Yet she would always catch him gazing over at her whenever she was caught, or maybe he would always catch her looking at him. Ivy backed away from the window and sat on top of Gordon's desk. He went over to the corner of the window and closed the shades. Ivy's mouth went dry and he heart beat faster against her chest.

"Lots of people get bored, Ivy." Gordon said as he sat down next to her. Now it felt like her heart was trying to break out of her chest and run around the floor screaming in joy. "And when people get bored, they do stupid things." He said leaning closer to her.

"Are you saying this is stupid?" She said leaning in too,

"I don't know yet, please don't disappoint me." His mouth was inched from her soft red lips. He turned away and walked over to the door, opening it. Ivy sighed and let her head fall back. "Lets go. I can't keep you here, people will start to think something's up." Ivy hoped off of the desk and walked out with Gordon. When they got outside a cop was wrestling a junkie to the ground. Ivy stepped around them and followed Gordon to his personal car on the side of the station. A blue sedan, how boring. Ivy got in and was greeted by plush grey seats. She slid the seatbelt over her and rested her head against the window. Another silent car ride, perhaps? They two drove off and headed south on Main Street. He took a left after three lights, and after 20 minutes of driving, he stopped in front of an apartment complex.

"This is it." "Is…is this where you live?" Ivy said pointing at the beige building.

"Yes, is there a problem?"

"Where am I staying?"

"In Barbara's room while she's away." Ivy's eyes felt like there were going to drop out of her head. She looked at Gordon, and then back at the building. The landscaping was sub-par at best, but for downtown Gotham it was almost paradise. A few tree's and bushes sat around the sidewalk leading to the front door. People had small potted plants on their balconies. Ivy sighed at the lack of flora around her, but she walked up to the door none the less. Gordon followed behind her and unlocked it, letting himself in first.

"Haven't you hear of ladies first, Commissioner?" Ivy asked annoyed.

"Well, you don't exactly know where I live. And you can call me Gordon." The walls inside were unpainted brick, with a navy carpeting. The doors were painted a deep blue, with gold numbers nailed on them. Gordon walked up a single flight of stairs and opened the first door they reached, number '5'. He opened the door and flicked on the lights. His apartment was bleak. It was apparent he once lived here with his family, but all sings of them were gone. A small black cat darted out the door and ran down the stairs.

"Oh! Should you go get the little guy?"

"He'll be fine. He does it all the time." Ivy came in and set the door ajar just in case, but Gordon closed it shut behind her. "In an hour he'll be back up, trust me." His walls were stark white, with beige wall to wall carpeting. To the left of her was a white door, to the left, a small door less room with a washer on the bottom and a dryer on top. The living room had large windows that were covered with blinds. A tan leather sofa sat against the far wall, with a round coffee table in front of it. Off to the side was a television stand with a large, LCD T.V. On the other side of the room was a oak table with four oak chairs around it. Ivy went and sat down on the sofa, peering at the empty walls. Gordon sat next to her and stared off into space. Ivy sat back and sighed. She wasn't sure what to do. Did Gordon like her, or was she making it up? Or was he using her to help him? He wasn't like that, or so she thought. Gordon looked back at her and smiled.

"Can I get you something to eat or drink? Perhaps something more to wear?"

"Nah, I'm good. Besides, I'm sure Barbara wouldn't want me wearing her clothing."

"Suit yourself." He stood up and walked into the kitchen, next to the dining room. Ivy closed her eyes and sighed. Gordon came back with a single mug of coffee and sat back down. He reached down for the remote on the table, pressing the 'on' button. A video of the Joker came on. His high pitched laugh made Ivy's head hurt.

"He sent this too me after I dropped you off at Arkham."

"Can you mute it? I may be able to identify the place."

"Sure," he said as he hit a small button on the remote. The Joker's mouth was moving, creating in-audible words. Ivy ignored his pale, elongated face, and looked around. The room was lit up bright as day, he knew Gordon wouldn't be able to recognize the place from the inside, but Ivy knew what it was immediately. The white wash walls and steel flooring, with hanging lamps and chairs thrown about was the Joker's favorite hide out. Not even Batman knew where it was. It was a good 30 minute drive away from Gotham. She wound up there by accident one day with Harley.

"It's the Joker's abandoned warehouse. It's a 30 minute drive down some old country roads away from Gotham. It's near Wayne mansion, actually."

"Really? Have you been there?"

"Only once, but I couldn't forget the place." Ivy leaved forward. Batman was not in the video. "Don't un-mute it, but what was he saying?"

"That by midnight tonight he was going to kill Batman."

"How?"

"He didn't say…" Gordon put his head in his hands and sighed. Ivy, unsure of what to do, hesitantly put her hand on his shoulder.

"It's just the Joker, Gordon."

"It's just him and all his men."

"His men usually go to Gotham to cause a stir. The Joker would be by himself, he wouldn't let anyone else bask in his glory if he was going to kill Batman tonight." Gordon looked up at her, and Ivy smiled at him, trying to act as calm as she could muster.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Ivy nodded and stood up. She walked away from the sofa and over to the closed door. "Is this her room?"

"Mhm,"

"I need to lay down for a bit…" She said as she opened the door, leaving it open. She threw herself on the rose pink bed with two bears on it. She didn't look around the room, instead she closed her eyes and fell asleep. It felt good to lay on a real bed for once. Gordon walked over to the doorway and peered in at the sleeping Ivy. He closed the door slightly for her privacy, and went back to watching the video.