Disclaimer: The Characters from "The Batman" are owned by DC Comics, Warner Bros., Bob Kane and God knows how many other people by now. This is a story done purely for fun and not to make profit whatsoever. Any original characters that may appear belong to the writer and can be used with permission.
Holiday Knights
Chapter 2: Jim & Barbara
Jim Gordon was never one for excess. Even when he was younger he always focused more on the things he needed rather than the things he wanted. It was a skill that came in very handy once he had to live on a cop's salary. Even being commissioner didn't earn him a very big paycheck. Something that was especially evident when he had to help put his daughter through college. But that expense he didn't mind. When his daughter was involved he didn't mind indulging in a little excess every now and then.
Which is what led him to his current activity of cooking up what Barbara referred to as his "world famous pork chops." Sure they may not be the most decadent food around, but it certainly was more work than the usual microwave meals and break room donuts that he usually dined on. Of course, the main reason he hadn't made them in such a long time is because he usually had Barbara's help in cooking them. It wasn't that he couldn't cook them by himself, it was just that he enjoyed the father/daughter bonding time that usually resulted in their preparation. Something that was few and far between these days.
He knew it was bound to happen when Barbara said she wanted to live in the dorms instead of stay home while she attended college, but knowing about it and dealing with it were two different things. While he did deal with it as best he could, he was also happier than he expected when Barbara told him she was coming home for Christmas break. He was looking forward to spending some time with her over the next few weeks and hearing first hand how things were going for her in college. Although he had to wait a little while longer as she said she was spending a few days with a friend before coming home on Christmas day.
Of course, he didn't expect her to be quite as late as she was and if he wanted to have the pork chops done in a reasonable amount of time, he had to start them without her. That "starting" turned into flat out "cooking" and in fact he was almost done with them when he heard a key finally slip into the lock on the front door. It was quickly followed by the door creaking open and a cheerful voice proclaiming:
"I'm home!"
Barbara then picked up the blue plastic basket in front of her and stepped quickly into the apartment.
"And I brought laundry!"
"You know where the laundry room is," Jim shot back without looking up from the skillet.
"Ah come on Pop, no sympathy for the weary college student?" Barbara teased before she placed a quick kiss on his cheek.
"Not for ones that come back late," he replied with a barely suppressed smile.
"Yeah, sorry about that, I had to drop something off to a friend and kinda got stuck in traffic. But I'm here now and I can help out with the cooking."
"You mean setting up the table."
Barbara cocked an eyebrow then looked down just in time to see her father turn off the stove and frowned deeply.
"Gee, I didn't think I was that late," she said apologetically.
"I was about two seconds away from sending out an APB on you," he replied.
"See, with you I can never tell if you're joking or not when you say stuff like that," she remarked with a slightly worried look.
"Good," Jim nodded with a self satisfied smirk. "It means I haven't lost my touch."
"Well in any case, let me put this up," Barbara said, hefting the basket a bit, " and then I'll start setting up the table."
"Sounds good, Barb."
She quickly placed the basket and her backpack in her old room then moved into the kitchen where she took out only two plates and glasses from the cabinets and placed them across from each other on the small dining room table. She then turned to get the utensils but was surprised to find her father already walking towards her with them and the small plate of pork chops in hand. She took them from him with a smile and placed the platter between the plates and the utensils with the two plates. One pitcher of water, and a two liter of pop, later and they were ready to enjoy their Christmas dinner. Despite their joy over sharing the first meal in months together, there was still a bit of an awkward silence as they started on their meals.
"So how's school going?" Jim finally asked.
"It's going good. Getting all good grades in my classes," Barbara said with a slight self affirming nod.
"That's good. I knew you had it in you to do well in college, despite some of those odd slips in the last few years of high school."
Barbara choked a bit on the bite of food in her mouth. She had forgotten all about those few classes that had fallen slightly by the wayside thanks to her late night, Bat related activities. The fact that her father remembered caught her a bit off guard but she really shouldn't have been surprised. He was also a stickler for things like that.
"Are you all right?" he asked in concern.
"Yeah, yeah I'm good," she nodded then took a sip of her pop to wash down the rest of the errant food. "Something just went down the wrong pipe is all."
"You should try to actually chew your food then," he shot back with a slight grin.
"Right. Not used to actually getting time to eat. Usually I just chow down on something in the student union between classes."
"You know eating fast doesn't help you avoid the Freshman 15."
"Hey no need to worry about me Pop, I've got plenty of activities to keep me busy and keep those bad calories away," she joked.
"Nothing that goes against our agreement I hope," he replied with a stern look.
Barbara rolled her eyes with a sigh before she slumped against her chair.
"No, no, nothing like that," she muttered, gently poking at her half eaten porkchop with her fork. "Still studying hard to be one of those oh so helpful police lab techs."
"Hey, the tech boys do more to help us than you know," Jim corrected her. "And since you seem to be dead set on getting involved in police work in someway despite my protests, I'd feel a lot safer with you behind a desk all day instead of out there in the field."
"Weren't you just saying I should try to avoid putting on weight? Wouldn't sitting behind a desk all day kinda go against that?" she pointed out.
"First of all, that's just a bad stereotype and you above all people should know that considering you've met some of our lab techs, and secondly, that's what gyms are for."
"I don't know. I mean, I know I'm good with computers and all but I just can't see myself sitting behind a desk all day doing nothing but staring at a monitor," Barbara remarked as she cut off another piece of her porkchop. "I'm much more an action oriented girl."
"Not if you want me to continue helping paying for classes you're not," Jim shot back.
"Yes sir commission, sir!" she shouted with a mock salute.
"Barbara..." he scolded.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry Pop," she apologized then leaned back again. "And I do appreciate the help and that you're worried about me, but I'm not a little kid anymore. I actually can take care of myself."
"I'm not doubting your abilities to do so, it's just that field work is dangerous for any officer. Especially in this city. I just want to make sure you stay safe."
A small smile formed on Barbara's face at her father's concerned words.
"See when you say stuff like that it's hard to stay indignant," she retorted.
"That's good. It means I must be doing something right. Provided of course you're not going out late at night and running around with the wrong crowd while you're at college," he said, giving her another curious look.
Again Barbara was surprised by her father's words but this time it was a much more amused surprise that he would use those specific words. She didn't hide her amusement this time and in fact embraced it with the best mischievous grin.
"Who? Me? Now pop would I do something like that?" she asked in mock offense as she placed a hand on her chest dramatically.
"Not if you knew what was best for you," he retorted. "That also includes acting sarcastically to your father."
"Duly noted," Barbara said with a chuckle before she took another bite of porkchop. "So after dinner I take it we do our usual Christmas routine; open presents, make some hot coco then spend the rest of the night watching holiday cartoons older than I am."
"That's pretty much what I had planned," Jim nodded in approval.
"Sounds like a great evening."
"I know there's no place I'd rather be tonight."
"Me neither," she nodded then picked up her glass. "Merry Christmas, Pop."
He smiled and picked up his own glass to clink with hers. "Merry Christmas, Barbara."
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Huh. For once I don't really have a lot to say about this chapter. This was the one that really made me want to do this fic in the first place and then it all started to grow from there. It's just that I associate Christmas with spending time with family so much that I guess I kind of transferred that to some of my favorite characters in "The Batman" and of course that would include a touching little scene between Barbara and her dad. Not much to it, but I hope you guys enjoyed it and get to spend time with your own family this holiday season.
'Course being the slightly sadistic bastard I am I couldn't help but thrown in a few sly foreshadowing moments there. I'm sure you guys picked up on them there as I don't think they were quite that subtle. But it was so much fun. Oh and there was a quick reference to the last chapter if anyone caught that one.
Alright, on to the next one! Might actually get this done on time after all. We'll see.
Later guys!