What Makes A Man?

Chapter 6

Bruce was true to his word. He rose earlier the next morning and made his way into the Gotham City Police Department. In the broad daylight he felt more comfortable. Almost safe. He slipped into the building by his usual window entrance and waited for a free moment to see Gordon. This didn't work out to his favour. The longer he stood waiting in that hall, the more anxiety caused a rush through his veigns. Gordon was the very last person he wanted to see, for reasons he no longer wished to even think about. However, he had inwardly agreed with himself that in order to "move-on" he would need to return to a normal schedule. Still, there was an intense fight or flight struggle working within his mind and he was about to give into his desire to flee when Gordon opened the door and invited him in.

With a mental sigh and not so much as an outward display of discomfort whatsoever, Batman walked into the office.

Gordon didn't want to be the first to talk, he silently watched and waited for a cue from the man before him. He wanted to guage where Batman was "at."

Batman spoke.

"Anything more on the Belgian Miniature case?" He asked.

Gordon shrugged. "Nope, by now its probably sitting on a teetering pile of valuable art waiting for sale on the blackmarket."

Batman didn't have a response. Gordon decided that it was the best time for him to take a chance and discuss things with the caped man before him. He indicated to Batman to take a seat, which Batman politefully refused.

"No thankyou, if you don't mind. I'm more comfortable standing."

Gordon didn't ask whether that was down to actual discomfort (from injuries, perhaps?) or a need to maintain control in the situation. He decided to put the man at ease and sit himself down- a signal of submission. He wanted to show Batman that he was trustworthy. He lowered his voice to a comfortable level, but one that could not be heard outside the room.

"How are you, Batman."

Batman felt the hot blood rushing to his skin and willed it to stay away.

"I'm fine." He replied.

Gordon nodded slowly. He decided to go out on a limb and do some personal inquiring.

"I don't know anything about your personal life, Batman, but…is there someone you've told? Someone you can talk about this with."

Batman shifted about uncomfortably in his standing position, he immediately folded his arms across his chest. Both men knew it was a subconcious action of defense.

"Look, Gordon…I've dealt with this. Its behind me now. What we need to do is bring criminals to justice. I'm not the focus here. I'm perfectly fine."

"…and what if I were to say "I don't believe you,". What if I were to suggest your trying to repress the occurance, even though you haven't dealth with it?"

Batman stared at the man across the desk.

"Maybe it's not a bad idea." He replied darkly.

Gordon sighed.

"And If I were to say it's a terrible idea?"

"Then I'd accept your opinion."

"Batman, I'm a police officer. I'm a commissioner! You don't think I'm not trained in assault crisis? You think I don't know what happens to a person who is raped?"

He knew he didn't need to feel guilty about using the word, but that didn't prevent the sharp jolt of regret when he saw the tall mask-clad man before him flinch. He could even see the rapid rising of his chest as his breathing increased. He couldn't imagine how fast the pulse would have been moving.

Still, at least Batman was not denying it. That was a positive step in the right direction. He continued in a softer tone.

"It's a big thing, what happened. Its going to take more than a week for you to sort through your emotions."

Batman was silent.

"and," Gordon added, leaning forward "You're going to need to have someone there who will be ready for you when it all comes crashing down." He leaned back "Because, frankly, Batman, I don't think you've even fully accepted what has happened here."

They sat in silence for several minutes, each processing uncomfortable thoughts and the things they wanted to say, but were not sure how to put into words.

At length, Batman began speaking.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do for me, Gordon, and were I in your position, I would be giving the same advice." He looked out the window, depserately wanting to find himself climbing through it to freedom. He shook the thoughts away and continued. "But the fundamental thing here is- you don't know who I am. I deal with things differently than other people. Otherwise, I wouldn't be this figure you see before you. I would be just another man."

"Batman, I can't deny that you may believe that, and for all I know you could be right, but-" he paused to stand and walk over to the Batman. "If you're not right, then you may only be setting yourself up for a harder fall than is really necessary." He laid a hand across one of Batman's crossed arms- as a test.

Gordon's suspicions were confirmed when he noticed the increasing discomfort of the other man. His breathing began to become shallow, and rapid. He flinched and reflexsively stepped back. It took several seconds for Batman to realise what he had done. He looked away from the other man, ashamed to be caught out in his fear. Ashamed to have been proven wrong.

Gordon didn't say anything about it. He still needed to tell Batman one more thing.

"Batman, I don't know if this is the right time for me to say it, but…the DNA testing came back."

Batman merely nods his assent for Gordon to continue.

"Tell me to stop if this is making you uneasy…but I need to know…was it Kalinsky alone that…assaulted you?"

Batman coughed slightly to ease his own anxiety. While turning his head just enough to avoid eye-contact, he nodded swiftly. Once. He didn't want to bring any more awareness to it than he had to. Gordon cursed. Then lifting the documents once again to look at them, he sighed angrily.

"He's done it again. Not one trace of forensic evidence to suggest it was him."

Batman felt a sinkhole open within him, but more than that- the sense of justice that had spurred him on his whole life came back with force.

"There are witnesses. The women he assaulted- they can testify!"

"Five of our six witnesses were found to be under the influence of drugs at the time." Gordon looked up at Batman, " And you're the sixth witness."

Batman began shaking his head. "No. I can't testify. Batman keeps a low profile, and…and"

Gordon finnished his sentence.

"and you're a man."

"That's not what I was going to say."

"But its what you meant."

Gordon didn't need Batman's affirmation to proove his point. He had seen it many times before. Male assault charges dropped because the induviduals involved were too ashamed to be recognised as victims of male-rape. It was a taboo that had permeated society, and would continue to do so as long as sexual-violence was associated with weakness, or submissiveness. He also knew the perception of rape being a "woman's issue" had its impact on the number of un-reported male-assault cases.

But at this moment, he didn't press the issue. The man before him was not yet at a place where he was ready. He could only hope the conversation had been opened, and that the right seeds had been planted in Batman's mind, spurring him to make the right decisions for himself.

"Is that all, Commissioner?" Asked Batman, after another considerable stretch of silence.

"Yes." Replied Gordon. "In fact, I don't want to see you in here for another two or three weeks at least. Unless…unless its to talk about something other than a case."

Batman sighed. "Won't Gotham notice the absence of Batman?"

"We'll feed little tidbits of supposed Batman activity to the media. They never see you in action anyway, so it won't make too much of a difference."

The masked man nodded, and left the way he came in.

End Chapter Six

A/N

...All little fanfiction readers go to fanfiction school to learn the Three Rs of Fanfiction-Fanism!

READ!- As much fanfiction as you possibly can!

REMEMBER! - to keep an eye on updates.

REVIEW!- all of them, so that people know if they're good little authors, or terrible little authors.

Thankyou :)

-Tree, the Author