Author's Note: I was going to update earlier, but I kind of forgot. :/ (Bad me)
Let's See Here . . .
MissDarcy: Thank you, thank you, thank you, wow, thank you, thank you and I will.
AnonymousInternetNinja: There is not a better character on the planet than Alfred. Thanks.
Grayson: Sorry to leave you hanging—thanks a bunch.
Galle: Thanks :)
LordOfTheBooks: I loooove Gershwin. I actually went to a concert of his music around the time I was writing this
so I just threw him in here.
LordOfTheBooks: I have now! I'll try to update again sooner next time. :)
Disclaimer: I own Batman like I control the weather—seriously can it warm up some? It's April!
Chapter Ten: First Contact, First Step
Gordon looked over the last of the reports for the Wednesday evening.
He thought by now that he had seen everything in the police world. This city was proving him wrong.
He looked over a few reports that Baxby had turned in. The man was certainly aiming to please. Maybe a bit too much in Gordon's opinion.
But he wasn't going to fault the man for working hard.
Gordon turned to the last page.
Thankfully, it only contained two more paragraphs.
Then it happened—that feeling again. This time Gordon had made up his mind. Without looking behind him, he got up and exited his office. He stopped outside at
one of the night officer's desks.
"Ah, Jettson, I'm going to get a breath of air. If anyone needs me immediately have them ring my phone, but I shouldn't be gone long."
"No problem sir." Jettson replied as he looked up from his computer.
Gordon walked over to the elevator and pressed the 'up' button. It came quickly.
Once again the door opened on the upper floor. No one was to be seen, but it was after normal hours.
Taking the key out of his pocket, Gordon fitted it into the lock of the escape door.
He opened the door and started the climb up. He pulled his jacket around himself tighter. The wind was calm but the air was cooler. Gordon doubled checked that his
gun was still in shoulder holster. It was.
It was a dark night. The moon didn't help much, as it tried to shine through the smog of the city. Lights from office buildings shown like stars in the distance.
He walked to the center of the roof not knowing what to do next.
Should he say something? What would he say?
The feeling remained. Whoever was watching him was here.
Gordon took a breath and exhaled.
"You know. I find being watched irritating. The hair on the back of my neck refuses to sit back down." He spoke aloud into the night.
He waited for a response. None came.
Gordon buried his hands deeper into his jacket pockets. He was going to need to pull out his gloves soon for some of these late nights.
"The best way to judge someone is to watch how they act when they think no one is." Came a dark
sounding reply.
Gordon felt himself freeze. The voice was coming from behind him. He decided not to turn around.
"Most people prefer to talk to understand people." He said out into the darkness again.
"People can hide what they think, but they can't hide what they do."
Gordon gave a nod to the words.
"That's usually true." He said. "But not always."
There was more silence.
Gordon swallowed. What should he do now?
"So can I do something for you?" The Commissioner decided to say.
"Perhaps." Came the response. "It depends."
"On what?" Gordon asked now feeling bolder.
"If you mean what you say."
"If I can be trusted?" Gordon surmised out loud. He felt the urge to turn around, but fought it.
"It has been a long time since a decent man has held the position that you do now." The voice told him.
Gordon nodded.
"Yes, I know a bit about that. So what do I do? How does this work?" He asked.
"We'll have to see." Was the response.
"Am I allowed a question?" Gordon dared to ask.
The voice didn't say either way.
"Who all know about this? About . . . you." He said carefully.
"That I help the commissioner? Just you now. Many people have made guesses but none have absolute proof."
For some reason, Gordon wasn't afraid of the voice talking. Although, he was fairly certain that he didn't want to get on this guy's bad side. Whoever he was.
"So you work through the very top. How can you guarantee that I don't say anything?" Gordon paused to consider his own question. "I guess I would sound like a
nut. Despite all the rumors." He mused. "Can you tell me anything about Baxby?" Gordon asked suddenly.
"You can't trust him." The voice said after a minute.
Gordon had to raise an eyebrow.
"You have any proof of that?"
"If I did, would he still work here?" The voice charged.
"So what you are telling me is that I can't trust one of my own men, but I am supposed to trust you?" Gordon said. "That doesn't seem right."
The voice said nothing.
Gordon stopped to rub his hands together.
"So now what?" He asked. The feeling was gone.
He turned around. There was no one. Just an empty roof.
"Maybe I made him mad." He said quietly to himself.
Gordon got off the roof and headed back down to his office.
When he got home, the only light on was a lamp in the living room. He could see the light through the shut curtains.
Letting himself in, he found Barbara in bed and asleep. He thought about waking her up and telling her but quickly dismissed it. He could tell her in the morning.
"Morning. I was getting close to waking you up."
Barbara smiled at her father's greeting. She yawned.
"All the words in my textbook were starting to run together, so I decided to shut the light off and go to bed a bit earlier." She explained.
"Sorry I was out so late last night. Just couldn't seem to find a good place to stop."
She waved a hand of dismissal.
"It's alright. There is still some soup in the fridge if you want to take it with you today."
"I will grab some before I go." He told her.
She sat down across from him and poured herself some coffee in a red mug.
"Do you want anything in particular for dinner tonight?" She asked.
"No." He shook his head. "I'm going out tonight, as are you."
Barbara set her mug down heavily.
"And good feeling gone." She muttered.
Her father shook his head and ignored the remark.
"You'll have fun. You love The Magic Flute."
"Yea, I know." She said as she looked up at the clock.
She had forgotten that it had become Thursday. Or as she had begun to refer to it privately, 'the day of doom'.
"You want to hear something interesting?" Her father asked knowing full well that she would.
"Sure." She said picking up that it was something that she would like to hear.
"Well, as I worked last night I got that feeling again." He started.
He watched as his daughter scooted a bit forward her eyes growing a bit wider.
"So I went up on the roof." He continued. "And I decided to say something. And to my surprise . . ." He looked over at Barbara who motioned for him to hurry up
and say it.
"I got a response."
Barbara took in a breath.
"What did you say? What did he say? Did you see him? Was there more than one person? What . . ."
"Hold on. I never actually saw him. It was just a voice. A deep one. Crisp and exact." He explained further.
"But what did he say?" Barbara pressed.
"Well, it wasn't that long of a conversation. Basically, that he isn't going to do anything until he knows that he can trust me." He father said.
Barbara crossed her arms. This town had major trust issues and it was starting to get on her nerves. First Dick, now . . .Batman?
"So you're just supposed to trust him?" Barbara questioned feeling annoyed.
Her father gave a shrug.
"That's what I asked him."
"What did he say?" She said.
"Nothing. He was gone."
Barbara leaned back in her chair thinking.
"Rumors say that he works with the police department." She reminded her father.
"He told me that the only person who really knew about him was me." Gordon told her.
"So he works directly with the commissioner." Barbara mused.
"Or it could just be some crazy person. This town is full of them, trust me." He told her.
"A crazy person who climbs the roof?" Barbara asked.
"Yea, I don't know quite how he's doing that." Gordon said with a bit of wonder. "But if he is the person that you read about. The person who takes down the crooks
before the police can. Maybe he has a bit of a point."
"What, that you can trust him despite the fact that he doesn't think that he can trust you?" Barbara said in disbelief.
"Who did you say was considered the 'best' commissioner of late?"
"Williams." She told him.
"Maybe I should start looking into him. If he worked with . . . Batman . . ." He father said feeling odd talking about it in a real life sense, "Maybe there is something I
can learn from him."
"He's dead." Barbara reminded him.
"I know. But his case files are still around. I can start looking into how cases got solved and whether or not anything odd happened with him. Some of the older guys
on the force should remember him. I'll just make it sound like I'm interested in the history of it or something." Gordon explained.
"You should ask that guy. The deputy . . . whatever his title is." Barbara said.
Gordon bit his lip.
"I was told not to trust him." He said simply.
"By Batman?" Barbara said curiously. "But why?"
"He wouldn't say." Her father said thoughtfully. "You better get ready for school kiddo. I've got to get going too." He said standing up and washing his cup out in the
sink.
Barbara sat there fuming. What was wrong with the people in this town? Was everyone guilty until proven innocent? How could people think that way?
As soon as Dick sat down for breakfast, Bruce said.
"I've decided that for tonight I'm going to have us . . ."
"No can do." Dick broke in.
The newspaper, from which behind Bruce was reading, was lowered.
"I'm sorry?" He asked Dick using a tone that indicated that the response that he had given was not satisfactory.
Dick smiled.
"Nope, tonight I am booked. Volunteered actually. See Alfred for details." He said, finding it amusing that he had not mentioned anything to Bruce about tonight.
As soon as Alfred came into the room carrying Dick's breakfast, Bruce gave him a sharp look.
"Alfred, what did you 'volunteer' Dick for?" He asked pointedly.
"Well," Alfred began. "Since the concern is for Master Richard to be able to observe Miss Gordon . . ."
Dick rolled his eyes. Alfred was going the diplomatic route.
"I was talking with the Commissioner when he was here the other day, and he mentioned how he had been planning on going to see an opera with his daughter and
how he no longer could go so I . . ."
Bruce cut Alfred off.
"You volunteered Dick." He said finishing the butler sentence. He looked over at Dick.
"I thought she didn't like you." He stated.
"She doesn't." Dick replied shortly.
Bruce raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He then folded up the newspaper.
"Would you say that both of you have made up your minds on them?" He asked them both.
Dick took a stab at a piece of pineapple.
"Yes." Alfred said immediately.
"Practically." Dick finally chose to say.
"Then let me tell you this. Last night, I spoke to Gordon." Bruce said in a nonchalant way.
Dick's mouth fell open.
"You what?" He asked. "You actually talked to him? Isn't that breaking on of your rules? Why didn't you let me come? Nothing else was really going on in town. I
would have be . . ."
"It wasn't planned. I was observing him and he came out onto the roof again." Bruce responded breaking into Dick's questions.
"Did he shoot at you? Remember when Commissioner Tomik did that? It was so fu . . ." Receiving a look from Bruce, Dick stopped talking.
"He was surprisingly calm."
"He must have been doing some research." Dick commented. "Smart man."
"Even having some sort of knowledge doesn't make the first meeting easier." Bruce said.
"So what happened? Don't leave me in suspense." Dick said eagerly.
Even Alfred seemed curious to hear the news.
"Well," Bruce began. "He seemed cautious, but interested."
"So does that mean that you made up your mind?" Dick asked.
Bruce tapped his fingers across the table.
"I would say that I trust him up to a point. Let's not forget that he is still new to this city. He hasn't been tested yet or even, shall we say, tempted. On that note,
Baxby is back in town."
Dick groaned.
"I was hoping that he would just stay gone for good." He said.
"Not yet. We are going to have to play this carefully. He'll be close to Gordon. We have to keep an eye on him." Bruce said.
"Which one? Gordon or Baxby?" Dick questioned.
"Both. I don't want to give Baxby the upper hand just because Gordon is new. I told Gordon last night not to trust Baxby so I hope he at least has a seed of doubt in
his mind." Bruce answered.
"Well, have fun with that. Some of us have to go to school." Dick said pushing his chair back. "I'll see you later."
It must have been a non-spoken mutual agreement, for that entire school day neither Dick nor Barbara talked to one another. In fact, both of them were completely
blocking what was planned for the night ahead of them out of their minds.
Barbara had almost managed not to think of it the entire school day until Kelly had to say something to her in the hall between classes.
"Barbara hold up!"
Barbara turned around in the sea of people to watch Kelly weave through the masses to get to her.
"Hey." Barbara greeted her.
"So do you know what you are going to wear tonight?" She asked Barbara with a gleam in her eye.
Barbara slumped.
"Kelly!" She chastised. "I was doing great so far at not remembering! I haven't thought about it since breakfast and now, you bring it up and . . ."
Kelly started laughing. By now, Barbara was used to this.
"You are so dramatic Barbara. Honestly, you are perfectly sensible and reasonable in every other area except him." Kelly said still grinning. "And you must have
some idea of what you are wearing. No girl would put it off till the last minute no matter what who she was going with."
"Okay, fine. I know. Sort of." Barbara admitted.
Kelly beamed.
"You will have to send me a picture of you two." She said.
Barbara's eyes grew wide.
"Are you crazy? No way!"
"I swear I will not put it on the internet." Kelly promised.
"Not going to happen." Barbara said in response.
"Oh, come on. I'll be home all evening with a sick kid, you could at least brighten my day. I feel like a mother with a kid going to prom." Kelly said.
Barbara shook her head. She was not going to let Kelly guilt-trip her.
Kelly sighed.
"Okay, fine. Just try to have fun okay?" She told Barbara sincerely.
"Fine." Barbara muttered under her breath.
"That's a good girl now run along to class or you will be late." Kelly instructed with a perfect mothering voice.
Barbara had to smile as she turned around and joined the mass of moving people.
She and Dick didn't even make eye contact their entire class period. But he hummed though—the entire time. She wanted to throw a notebook at him.
Several classes and hours later, Alfred knocked on Dick's bedroom door. It took a bit of work, but eventually he was allowed in.
He found Dick lying on his bed with a pillow over his face.
"I'm sorry. Were you trying to rest?" He asked quietly as Dick lifted his head.
"No. I was considering suffocation though." He replied in a half joking manner.
Alfred lifted an eyebrow.
"That is not amusing. It would be a waste of life." He said stiffly.
"And now that I think of it, a waste of a good pillow." Dick said in a brighter tone. He yawned. "But now that you say that, I was getting a bit sleepy.
"Well, you had better start getting ready." Alfred instructed. This caused Dick to stare at the clock. He let out a groan.
"I would rather be out chasing a super villain in the pouring rain than do this."
"Really?" Alfred said challengingly.
"No." Dick admitted. "I guess not." He said getting up and stretching.
"Master Richard, do you know what a self-fulfilling prophecy is?" Alfred asked as he watched him go to the closet.
"Ah, a prophecy that is self-fulfilling?" Dick said. His voice coming out of the closet.
Alfred knew that he was teasing and gave him a good glare as he came out.
Dick gave in.
"No, Alfred. I do not know what a self-fulfilling prophecy is." He said.
"I supposed that in simple terms it is the idea that if you think bad things are going to happen, that there is a greater chance that they will be. And likewise, if you
think good things are going to happen, then there is a greater chance that they will." Alfred explained.
Dick looked unconvinced.
"Sounds like a large mind game." He responded.
"Indeed." Alfred agreed. He stared at him. "Really Master Dick, all you need to do is to take one step forward. One single step . . . and don't open your mouth and
say whatever you said to her that first time." He ordered.
Dick looked hurt.
"Who said I said anyth . . ."
Alfred held up a hand. Dick stopped his rebuttal instantly.
"One step forward alright? Just a step."
Barbara, for the fourth time of the evening, was fed up with her hair. It was like it was intentionally working against her.
Hearing one of her grumbles, her father knocked on the door.
"Anything I can do?" He asked hesitantly.
Barbara stood up and opened the door to let him in.
"At this point, nothing will help. This is why I always wear my hair down. Mom was the only one that could ever get it to do anything." She complained to him as she
sat back down.
"Well, you look perfect. I'm sorry that I can't help with the hair. The last time I did it I got yelled at." He said with a smile.
"What happened?" Barbara asked since she could not recall.
"You were in third or fourth grade or something and your mother was filling in for someone at her work so that left me to get you ready. Apparently, the pig tails I
gave you that day weren't symmetrical or something. I can still hear you mother's voice when I brought you home for the day. 'Jim, you did not let our daughter go
to school that way did you?'" Gordon started laughing. "I was banned from your hair from that day on." He told her.
Barbara smiled, letting her head rest on her hand as it balanced on the back of the chair. She turned back around and looked into the mirror.
"Fine. I will just pull some of it back with a nice barrette." She declared as she grabbed a comb. She turned around to look at her father.
"You look nice too Dad. I wish we could go look nice together at the same place." She added.
He gave her a soft smile.
"To be honest." He admitted. "I'm kind of nervous. I feel like I'm going to see the principle or something."
"You'll be fine." Barbara said encouragingly. "Find out what you can, while guarding what you know."
"Wise words." He said leaning down to kiss her head. "Are you sure you're fine if I leave?" He asked her again.
She nodded.
"Go ahead. I'll see you tonight okay? Have fun. Don't forget your briefcase." She reminded him.
"Will do." He told her. "And you have fun too, okay?"
Barbara settled for a nod as a response and giving one last smile to her dad, she watched him leave the room and after a minute or two she heard the door slam
shut.
Fun? She doubted that it was in the cards.
Random End Notes: Not the most exciting chapter in the world here. . . but good stuff is coming . . .
{Dick/Babs because, HELLO! They are perfect for each other!}
Alright you know the drill. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.