I don't own Batman or any of its characters. You know this, I know this. I get sick of saying it because it kills me a little bit on the inside.
Phoebe2: it's great to have you reviewing a story of mine again, ole friend. I'm a bit interested by you saying this is an alternative to what Nolan gave in the plot..What exactly does that mean? Great to know you're interested and of course Gordon will be major in the storyline. I'd have to slam my head into a brick wall if I left out Gary. Thanks for the review, I look forward to your next!
Guest: glad you love it. I'll certainly continue. Thanks for the review, I look forward to your next.
JACK NAIPER: nice to see your interest in this story, Mister Joker...glad you like the start. And I'm aware Bane's takin this almost too well but, like I said and you mentioned he doesn't like to waste time and neither do I. I didn't want to become too repetative with Bane's reluctance to agree, i felt it would get annoyin to the reader and I would hit writer's block. On the fighting, I'm not quite sure how to go about this. I never felt the need to actually name his fighting style and to me I believe he knows many of them and condenses it all into his own. If you'd like to name it, I'd be more than willing to let you. Just let me know and I'll shove it into the story at some point and time. Thank you for your review, I look forward to your next.
scribe4hire: glad you like this, Bane's redemption makes sense I hope. Very happy you've enjoyed this all so far. I felt the need to make it creepy and dark down there because that's what anything about Arkham is to me. I thought of Frankenstein's Monster briefly as I wrote it and had to smile at the irony. Very glad you enjoy this. Thank you for your review, I look forward to your next.
RainbowKitteh: thanks a lot. It means a lot to hear all that, well, read all that. I can't wait til your next review.
NeedanEscape: so glad you love this. Thank you for your review, I look forward to your next.
tangerinee: That's all okay, please, be completely honest. I'll try to answer your doubts one at a time. You're okay with Bane surviving, good to hear. I believe Bruce did this for numerous reasons. One, because he knew the story between Bane and Talia, knowing that Bane became what he was just for her. Two, because he knew someone would need to train Blake in the manner of fighting that Bruce had learned and Bane is the only surviving member of the League of Shadows. And three, because i wanted to write this story and that's the best excuses I could come up with. Gordon and Blake are still wary of the situation but you must remember that they both trusted Batman completely and would've done anything he asked. That's my excuse for those things. It's cool, I'm glad to hear your doubts. I need a good critic. :)...I'm going to be more descriptive and whatnot once I get the story moving. And Blake will take on the no killing thing, but Bane is obviously an exception considering they have no other way to take him down if he turns on them. I truly appreciated the criticism, it's fine. I'm glad you're staying with the story, stay honest for me. Thank you for your review, I look forward to your next.
Author's Note: in the movie, a thing was mentioned that made me sad but it took until the second time I saw the film The Dark Knight Rises to catch it. It was mentioned by one of the characters that Gordon's wife had left him, taken the kids, and gone to Cleveland. For one, I fail to see how that's an improvement from Gotham, but I'll save my rant for another time. Dozy cow. Sorry...moving past that. Since I plan to have Gordon a main character, this will probably be an important factor in his part of the story. I just wanted to explain this and make sure you readers know because as I said, it took a second watching of the film to catch that little fact.
Also, I'm introducing an OC here that will become an important character. Two OC's to be exact.
Goodbye Is A Second Chance
Chapter Two: Trust Issues
Blake looked around the house that he and Bane were supposed to share when training began. Gordon had dropped him off after they left the ex-terrorist at the penthouse.
It was a lovely house. It need a bit of work but he didn't mind. He liked doing stuff like that. It wasn't in bad shape, either. He debated on whether or not he should start doing a little clean up now, and decided against it. Glancing out the window, he could see the Orphanage that used to be Wayne's home.
He wished he'd had that place when he was orphaned. He'd dreamt about it. They all had, speculated on what would happen if the billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne adopted any of them. Now, it was kinda as if one of Bruce's last gifts to the world was adopting them all. In a way.
The kids were all outside at the moment, playing in the huge yard that they never would have had in the city. Not able to resist a visit, Blake walked out of the house and started across the yard.
Xxxxxx
Just to the right of Blake's path towards the children, a group of kids were being intently watched by a teenage girl who was pretending to read a book. The small group of boys were playing some sort of tag game that was becoming slightly agressive. This was due to the boys being boys and becoming extremely competative for no apparent reason.
However, this wasn't average competativeness. They were on the verge of flat out picking on one of the boys, which was what the girl was watching for. Her cue to intervene happened as one of the boys closer to her age shoved the one she was keeping an eye on.
His shout of "You're it!" when he did it, didn't cover the fact that he used uneeded force. Before the boy could get back up, the girl had dropped the book and was standing in between them.
"You're not supposed to pick on kids smaller than you. Might get hurt in return." she said, getting in the offender's face.
"What are you trying to say? That Karma's a bitch?" asked Scott, not backing off.
"Yep. And so am I. I ever see you do that again, and you're gonna be in a world of pain, little boy." she replied.
"Who you callin boy?" he asked, now offended.
"The scrawny turd that happens to be quickly losing his chance of returning inside unscathed."
"What you gonna do about it?"
"Beat you just a little harder than you're daddy ever got the chance to." she replied. That, apparently, was crossing a line. He moved his hand to hit her, just as Blake sped up to stop the fight that he saw ready to break out. However, Blake didn't have to do anything at all.
Scott's hand got an inch from her face when she grabbed it by the palm, and turned it the way a Marine would deflect in self defense. It forced his whole body to turn, due to the angle she put his arm, and she punched him in the rib, letting go so he could fall to the ground right at Blake's feet. Blake gave her a stunned look, then helped the young man off the grass.
Scott wasn't injured, other than his pride and slight bruising he might have the next day and ran off, his buddies following.
"That was a bit excessive." said Blake. She shrugged.
"It was nothin." she said, turning and pulling her little brother to her.
"I'm a little impressed, to be honest."
"You learn to fight where I'm from. Had to protect myself and my little bro here. Plus, Scott's a jackass who deserved it. He and his pals are all fourteen and play with kids younger than them to bully." she said, placing her arm around his shoulders.
"I understand. Try to not get into trouble with that stuff. Better yet, try to not hurt people with that stuff." replied Blake.
"Sure thing, cutie." she said, turning and going back to her spot to sit back down and continue reading. Her brother sat down a few feet from her and pulled a notebook out of a bag, then proceeded to start drawing something.
Blake opened his mouth to say something else, then shook his head and continued walking. Making his way up to the building itself and walking in. Very little had changed since the orphanges had taken over Wayne's house. The furniture was all still there, some of it rearranged but it was still there. Pictures and paintings still in place.
The only big difference was that there were kids all over the place and the tv's in every room were all on.
He kept walking until he saw the man he was looking for. Approaching the older man, he smiled.
"Hello, Father." he said. The priest smiled at him.
"Blake, how are you?"
"I'm good. You?"
"Good, good. Fixing some things up and whatnot, I'm really glad you're here actually. There's something I need some assistance with and I wasn't sure who to talk to." said the Priest.
"Sure, anything."
"Two of the kids found something a few days ago in one of the rooms and I've had to close it off ever since. Come with me." he said, starting to walk away. He unlocked and opened another vast room, shutting the door behind them.
"What is it, exactly?"
"You know how some rumours have gone around about Bruce Wayne having been the Batman?"
"Yeah."
"I think there's something here that might be proof. Either way, it's too dangerous to have open." said the priest. He fiddled with the piano for a few odd moments, trying to remember what to press. Eventually, he got the combination right and the wall behind the piano suddenly started to move. It opened to a passageway. Blake, jaw still in a dropped position, wandered over and glanced down into the cave that he'd already visited more than once. He suppressed a smile and turned to the priest.
"What do you need me to do?" he asked.
"I was wondering if you knew someone who could help you close this up permanently. Or at least make it harder to get into." answered the priest.
"Well, this is some impressive construction work and I'm not very good with all this type of stuff...Not only is it complicated it's probably really heavy, which means I'll need some special equipment..." rambled Blake, thinking aloud.
"Or the hulk." joked the priest, Blake stopped and almost chuckled as an idea crossed his mind.
"Good point. You know what? I think I know someone who'd be perfect for this. Can you wait perhaps another couple days, just keep this room locked until then?" asked Blake.
"Sure, you can get this taken care of descretely, for certain?"
"I'm pretty sure I can, yeah."
"Great, thank you. Anything I'll need to do before you come over to take care of this?"
"Yeah. Those kids that found this, I want them present so I can talk to them. They could probably lend a hand as well." said Blake.
"Done. So, how's life treating you?" asked the priest as they walked out and he locked the door again. They walked back into a room just a few doors down, the older man's office, and Blake proceded to tell partial truths about how life was treating him at the moment.
Xxxxxx
Gordon sat in his office, wishing he had a meeting or something to go to. It was generally the time he'd go home but he felt like he had no home to go to. Ever since Barb and he had fallen out and seperated three years ago, he hated being at the house.
As the seperation crossed his mind for the hundredth time that day, like it did every day, he mentally began to rant, like he did every day.
As if Cleveland's any safer than Gotham. She couldn't even go up to Maine and stay with her sister. No, she had to go to Cleveland.
I should call. I was right, I don't have to point that out. I knew something was going to happen, I was prepared, and it did. It's over now. Things feel safe. She might come home. There's no reason not to, now. I won't be the way I was when she left.
Then again, for all I know she's found another guy by now. She never talks to me. Jimmy and Maggie talk to me, I know what's going on with them, but she refuses to speak to me. So how the Hell would I know if she's moved past me by now? I have to call. he thought, for about the thousandth time in the past few weeks. He wasn't certain what was stopping him from calling. What was stopping him was what he didn't want to admit. He was scared. He was scared she'd answer the phone and tell him she was never coming home. He knew the only way to avoid hearing that, for certain, was to just not call.
He felt like he was a broken record. Constantly having that argument, fighting between logic and fear. He hated this.
He finally decided to call, treat this like taking off a band aid. That's all he could do, he couldn't take this anymore.
Before he could even pull his phone out of his pocket, it started to ring. The ring was short which meant it was a text message. Bringing the phone into view, he saw it was a message from his son.
"Hey." it read. Gordon smiled and pressed the reply button.
"Hey, how r u doing?" he typed, then sent. As usual, the reply was quick.
"Good. wats up?"
"Im at work still. Why dont u call?"
"cant call til aftr 7" was the reply.
"Oh. Whats your mom and sister up to?"
"Idk. Im not home."
"Oh. Where r u?" asked Gordon, feeling nervous at the idea of his son out and about in Cleveland. He never got an answering text. His office door swung open, almost violently. Causing Gordon to abrubtly stand up and nearly draw his weapon. He relaxed and his face broke into the biggest grin in months when he recognised his son.
The boy was smiling as well, his expression never changing when his Dad made his way over to him and pulled him into a huge hug. They hugged each other tightly for a little while, then Gordon set his hands on his son's shoulders and just looked at the boy.
"You're almost taller than me, kid." he chuckled.
"I've grown about three inches since you last saw me." replied Jimmy. Gordon sighed.
"You need to shave, too." replied Gordon, tapping his son's chin before letting go of him. Jimmy smiled and rubbed his stubble.
"Maybe I wanna grow a beard."
"You're not a mountain man, you don't need a beard." chuckled Gordon, leaning against his desk as Jimmy sat down.
"Well, if I grow a mustache it'll look like I'm copying." argued Jimmy, light heartedly. The boy was feeling more at ease than he had in months. He'd always been closer to his dad and more like him than like his mother. He always seemed to feel calmer when he was with his father.
"Or you could just be clean shaven."
"Nah. I look too boyish, no one will take me seriously. I think I'll grow a goatee."
"You look boyish because you are a boy, you're only sixteen. Are you gonna grow sideburns to go with that goatee?" asked Gordon, jokingly.
"Oh yeah, real big 1970's sideburns." replied Jimmy. Gordon laughed.
"I can't believe your mom let you come up here by yourself." said Gordon.
"Well, she kinda didn't." replied Jimmy, now looking a little uncomfortable. Gordon narrowed his gaze at the boy.
"What does that mean?"
"We kinda had an argument."
"About?" asked Gordon, not liking the sound of this.
"It's not that big of a deal. Let's go get something to eat. I haven't eaten yet and I'll bet you-" began Jimmy, Gordon cut him off.
"James, what did you two argue about and did you run away?" said Gordon in his strictest, fatherly voice.
"We argued about you and technically, it's not running away." answered Jimmy, not meeting his father's gaze.
"Tell me what happened, from the beginning of the argument to when you ran off."
"I said that we should go home, she said we were home. I said no, home is with Dad in Gotham. She threw a fit, saying what she said before we left. I said that thing's will be different now and you were right anyway, she told me I was being disrespectful. I said that whether she's coming or not, I was going home. She just walked away. I went to my room and packed. Maggie asked me if I was leaving, I said yes and asked her if she wanted to come with me. She said it was probably best if she stayed with mom, I let her. Gathered up my cash, picked up my check, hopped on a plane, got in a cab, showed up here. I didn't run away." argued Jimmy, still not meeting his father's eyes. Gordon sighed again, rubbed his temples, then looked back at his son.
"Alright. Maybe I can convince her to let you stay with me for a while. And you did run away, try to justify it all you like but you did run away." said Gordon, pulling his phone out again.
"I didn't run away, Dad. I came home." replied Jimmy, looking at his father finally and meeting his gaze. Gordon couldn't suppress a small smile and nodded.
"Okay, but let's not try to use that phrase on your mother just yet." said Gordon, agreeing with his son.
"I can stay?" asked Jimmy, his face lighting back up.
"What I'm gonna tell your mother is that she can drive out here and get you if she wants you back. You're my son, you can stay with me whenever you want, Jimmy." said Gordon, not being able to not smile when his son's face broke into a big grin.
He pulled out his phone, searched through contacts, his thumb lingered over the call button as he looked back up at Jimmy.
"I'm glad you're home." he said, swallowing a happy lump in his throat as he pressed the green button.
"Me too."
"And paycheck? You're working?...Barb?" he asked, surprised until hearing the other line click as she answered.
Xxxxxx
Bane sat overlooking the city from the splendid view the penthouse had to offer as he intently listened to some of the music that his new identity was supposed to enjoy. It wasn't bad, he actually enjoyed it.
He had already gone through the file and was going to read it all again in when this album ended, working on memorising everything. It would only take one more read through and he'd be set. He'd always had a good memory.
He watched the sun starting to set just as the album finished. Walking over to his desk, he turned the music off and picked the file back up. Before he could even begin reading it again, a buzz sounded by his door. Setting the file down and walking over that way, he pressed a button, letting in whoever had shown up.
Blake walked in, giving the bigger man a half smile. Bane raised his eyebrows.
"Yes?" he asked.
"I was wonderin if you wanted to start training tonight, at least give me a layout of what we'll do."
"Do we have a place for it yet?"
"Yep, a place I think you'll love."
"Are you certain you're prepared to begin?" asked Bane.
"I am." stated Blake. Half of him did want to start training but the other half was scheming. He figured this would be a great way to test Bane's loyalties, he'd just sent a text to Gordon with the instructions on how to get into the Batcave and where to hide and watch, just in case.
"Then lead the way." said Bane.
Xxxxxx
Gordon and Jimmy were in the car, on their way home when Gordon got the text. The phone was sitting in a cupholder when it buzzed.
"Grab my phone and tell me who the message is from." instructed Gordon. Jimmy picked it up.
"It says John Blake. Who's that?"
"He's a friend of mine, used to be a detective. Open the message, tell me what it is."
"It says...wait, what?" exclaimed Jimmy. Gordon gave him a confused look.
"That's what it says?" he asked.
"Why is your friend training with Bane? Why isn't he dead? The news said he was dead. What's going on?" rambled Jimmy, confused and concerned. Gordon sighed.
"I really didn't want to bring you into this at all."
"Dad, talk to me, please. I'm kinda having a major freak out session right now."
"Look, long story short, he's alive and the Batman's last request to me was to reform him." replied Gordon, taking the phone and glancing over the message.
"Why's this John guy training with him?"
"Cause Blake is taking the Batman's place as vigilante protector. And I guess he needs my help right now so we're on our to where they train." said Gordon, not really wanting to bring Jimmy along but knowing the boy would completely refuse to stay out of it now.
The car turned onto the highway, following a route that the Batmobile had gone several years ago the first time it was chased by the entire Gotham Police Department on live television.
(this is kind of a To Be Continued chapter, I know, sorry about that...I just thought that since it took me so long to finish just this part that it was only fair i post as soon as possible...I didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer. So, please leave me a review! Thanks.)
