A conversation between Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne
Jim stood at the balcony overlooking the bullpen of the G.C.P.D. A dwindling number of night staff were eagerly waiting for their shift to end. Stacks of paperwork stood at every desk, most of the criminals had been transferred the day before and Gordon was ready to head home but there was always work to do. It had been the end of another long day trying clean the streets of its criminals but where ever two wear taken out another five were already waiting to steal their place. After Penguin has risen in power, it was difficult for the Gordon to keep on top of the underworld and his old acquaintance. Though they'd been having help recently from a dark suited vigilante the press had dubbed 'Batman'. Just yesterday he had returned to the precinct and found the directions to a particularly violent gang's child-run drug lab, the henchmen all gift wrapped with a grappling hook.
"You asked to see?" Jim turned startled, see to a grown-up Bruce Wayne fresh from his lavish travels abroad. Bruce was taller than he was, and Jim suspected his oversized jumper and plush coat covered a strong-build, but it was hard to what he was hiding. He hair was black and slick, his eyes tired from staying up several nights in a row.
"I've been following your travels on the news, seems you've got knack for getting in trouble." Bruce's wild adventures had caught as much attention as the mystery man in black, though in a less favourable light. He'd been making up for missed youth after Gotham had been bartered up between the Penguin and the G.C.P.D.
"I like having fun. Don't worry, I won't bother you while I'm here." Bruce smiled; his teeth gleamed in the faint light of the precinct. Jim led him Bruce into his office and sat him down. He'd never seen Bruce so relaxed, as though the weight of the world was finally off his shoulders. But Jim had seen Bruce at his lowest, he'd watched as Bruce and Alfred lied to him countless times about their misadventures and he saw the façade Bruce was trying to hold even now.
"You'll just be sending your nightly fights here instead?" Jim said cooly, as he pulled out two glasses and set them down. Bruce was no longer a boy, though he never really got the chance to be one, but he was old enough now to share a drink or two.
"You've lost me, Detective. That's not my kind of fun." Bruce shirked him off, hoping it was just a flickering thought in Gordon's mind.
"You know what I mean. I've seen you since you were a boy, fighting in all-black. You telling me your return and this 'Batman' at the same time; is a coincidence?"
Bruce didn't falter. He knew Gordon was a good detective, and how stubborn his mind could be when faced with a mystery. He removed his dark leather gloves off, and took the glass from Jim. His reddened knuckles on show, confirmed Gordon's suspicions.
"You're working outside the law, Bruce. You could just join us. We could use your… skill set." Jim offered, he hoped Bruce was not as set in his way as he was. As the masked vigilante, Bruce has taken out more men that Jim ever could in his prime.
"I cannot do what I need to from within the law, Detective Gordon." His name sounded bitter from his tongue, but Bruce needed to put distance between them if he Jim to leave him alone.
"I can't help you if you don't. We still have rules. We have to do this the right way." Jim reasoned but Bruce was quick to snap back, "Sometimes to right way is the ugly way. You once broke the law to protect it."
Jim remembered the advice Bruce once gave him, he stumbled a second. "I killed a man, Bruce…more than once", he admitted, "I tried to do it alone, but you just become more like them." His former captain, Barnes' speech came to mind, without the law to cling on to, you lose your bearings; you drown.
"I will not kill. I won't … be like them." Bruce stated like a mantra he repeated to himself many times, he looked back at Gordon, his gaze unwavering, waiting to be challenged.
"That's how it starts, Bruce, on your own" Jim slammed his glass down, not wanting to see Bruce make the same mistakes he once did, "but trust me, the G.C.P.D is different now, and I'm running it."
"They're taking money from Penguin again. Not many, but you haven't got many officers to spare. The criminals outnumbered you and Penguin… you can't touch him." Bruce had stopped trusting Gordon a long time ago especially concerning Penguin; he was done waiting for someone else to clean up the mess. As much as he loved Jim and his sense of duty, one good-hearted man leading the force was not enough and the tide was turning against the G.C.P.D.
Jim long suspected a few of his newer officers had switched allegiances. They were too young to remember the chaos all the turf wars had caused but he needed the numbers just to cope with the admin. Penguin was just a necessary evil, the best of the worst, while he handled the rest of Gotham. There was only so long you could hold back the darkness seething through Gotham.
"I'm not alone." Bruce filled the silence and tried to reassure Gordon, "Alfred and Lucius are aware."
"Alfred knows?" Jim replied bewildered that'd others let approved of his nightly activities.
"I'm not a child anymore." Bruce reminded him, "Alfred knows I have to do this. He worries for me… like a father, but you've never treated me like that."
"Maybe I should have." Jim whispered; he never had time to be there for Bruce as a child. He barely had time to question all his escapades back then. He'd feared too many times that he'd let Bruce down or worse still give me another death to mourn.
"I thought you'd understand. This is what Gotham needs."
"You could be happy, Bruce. I hear Selina still sneaks around The Narrows. I could ask Lee." Jim tried to change the topic, give the younger man another way out.
"My father once told me, I would have to choose between happiness and truth. You cannot have both, so only choose truth if you have a calling. The G.C.P.D. is yours, this is mine." Bruce stated again, not wavering from his post.
Jim wondered a second whether he'd thrown his chance at happiness away to pursue the truth, but he only had to remember his long list of lovers to remember his choice. He had many regrets but he would make the same sacrifices again to help the people of Gotham. Bruce had grown up in that hardship, his whole life was marred by the darkness that wrecked Gotham for decades now.
Jim settled in his chair, silently agreeing, "If you do this, I'll have to come after you. Vigilantes are against the law now. I can't let every madman take the law in their own hands."
"Then arrest me, Detective, because you're either with me or against me." Bruce sat back in his chair and smiled confidently again, the façade returning. He searched for a response from his old friend. He knew Jim never expected him to change. He just wanted to know why and he had the answers, as he had done all along.
"On what grounds? You've not caused any trouble… yet", Jim smiled back. He was glad to have Bruce Wanye back in Gotham, even in these dire circumstances and the help, whatever form, was a welcomed aid. He imagined the paperwork would double, much like his intrusion when he first returned to Gotham. Their glasses were empty, and there was nothing left to say.
"Master Bruce?" A softened old English voice knocked at the door, "Nice 'stache, Gordon. It suits you." Alfred stood in the doorway waiting, dressed in his usual 3-pieced attire and a cane at his side. His hair receded and fully white, but he was still well-able for a man his age and experience.
"I was just catching up with Detective Gordon. I've arranged a sizable donation to the department… to help with the paperwork I might cause with my troubles." Bruce rose from his seat, straightened his overhanging coat and put out his hand.
"Very generous of you, Bruce", Jim nodded back remembering the young kind-hearted boy that once waited on him in this very building. Gordon walked around the table between them to meet his hand but pulled him in and wrapped his arm around him, "If you ever need anything, you call me." He looked the young man in the eyes and couldn't help feel a swell of pride in the man he'd grown up to be. He held the door as the three of them walked out. Jim quickly caught Alfred, before they left.
"So you approve of this?" Jim questioned the older man.
"Do you?" Alfred quipped back, "His father entrusted him to make his own decisions, they entrusted me to help him- No matter how blind and foolish it may seem."
Jim turned to watch Bruce walk out the precinct but he was nowhere to be seen. He turned back to Alfred and saluted him off. He knew Alfred would take care of Bruce, and Bruce Wayne was what Gotham needed now. A knight to fight in the darkness. He watched as the sun rose over Gotham, the light breaking through the precinct over the balcony- a new day was dawning on Gotham. In his tiredness, he remembered one more question he had but in the midst had forgotten… why a bat?