Hello everyone!
are you ready for the 2nd chapter of season 2?
Remember that you can also go and read 'Sheltered' which is season 2 but the M. version of this story.
Enjoy!
Gotham
It was quite the sight to see Harvey standing behind a bar, cleaning glasses, tapping beer and laughing with customers. I'd never seen him like that before. He seemed to actually be enjoying working as a bartender more than being a cop.
"Refill?" Harvey asked me as I set the empty glass down on the counter.
"By all means." I laughed as he grabbed the glass and filled it with water.
"You know, I also serve beer or perhaps if something stronger strikes your fancy?" He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. "I bet I can guess your favourite beverage."
I lifted the glass to my lips and took a tiny sip. "By all means, Harvey."
Harvey rubbed his scruffy chin, tapped it with his forefinger, licked his lips and then snapped his fingers.
"G and T." He said with confidence.
Bloody hell.
I don't know how Harvey had managed to guess correctly, but he had.
"Ha, I guessed right, didn't I?" He smiled.
I shrugged and finished my drink.
"Does Alfred know you're here?" Harvey asked. Which wasn't an odd question, but the way Harvey asked it was as if there was more behind his words than random curiosity.
"He doesn't. I mean I spotted you from the window and came inside. Unless Alfred and I have a telepathic connection, I'm certain he's unaware I'm here."
"Good. Not that he isn't welcome, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't enjoy you spending time in a dirty bar such as this one." Harvey replied.
I rolled my eyes. "You've obviously never been to a pub in England."
"I'm sure I'll love it."
"Of that, I have no doubt." I smiled and reached for my purse.
"Whoa, whoa. What are you nuts? It's water." Harvey said stopping me before I could grab my wallet.
"Come on, Harvey. I always made you pay at the diner."
Harvey shook his head and pushed my hand away. "That was actual food. I can't make you pay for something which doesn't even contain alcohol. I ain't accepting it, Rosey."
"Okay, okay." I knew when I was defeated. "It was nice to see you, Harvey."
"Likewise. Don't be a stranger. If anything, this is probably the safest bar in all of Gotham seeing as I work here." He grinned and I couldn't disagree with him on that.
"I'll make sure to stop by every now and then." I told him. "Have a good day, Harvey."
I grabbed my purse, closed my coat and walked out of the bar. The door closed behind me and a soft jingle from a bell sounded.
When I walked down the street earlier today, I stopped in front of this large window belonging to a bar I'd never seen before. Imagine my surprise when I noticed who I spotted standing behind the counter.
At first I was certain my eyes were deceiving me. But as I stepped closer in front of the window and then the man looked my way, there was no doubt about it that it was in fact Harvey Bullock.
After everything which had happened, Harvey told me he had quit the GCPD and that it was one of the best decisions he'd ever made. He was his own boss now, he'd quit drinking and he even had a girlfriend. Harvey Bullock had a girlfriend. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
I guess this was really a time for people to quit their jobs and start something new.
It had been a few weeks since I quit my job at the diner. Mostly at Alfred's request along with some other reasons. Before that I had stopped working for Bruce as his private tutor, per his request. Neither Alfred nor I agreed with Bruce on it. But it wasn't my choice, after all I had been hired by the Wayne heir himself from the start.
As for the reason why I was currently in downtown Gotham and not at Wayne manor, all had to do with previous happenings. Now that I had been without a job for nearly a month, it was time for me to get back into the business of working.
Before discovering Harvey and his bar, I had been at the museum of National History. Once again trying to apply for a job there, which I had also done back when Alfred got me fired from my job as a teacher at Anders Prep. Luckily for me, today had gone differently and I was now on the list of possibilities for a job at the museum.
I gleefully made my way back to the car, ready to go back to Wayne Manor, to give both Bruce and Alfred the happy news.
::::::...::::::
Wayne Manor
It was clear a lot had happened while I was away, but the moment I arrived at the house I was still unaware of the disaster which had struck at Wayne Manor. Disaster in the way of ruin and destruction.
Every was quiet when I walked through the big wooden oak doors. Too quiet. Automatically I first entered the kitchen, but aside from a cooled down kettle on the stove, nothing else seemed out of the ordinary.
All became clear when I made my way through the corridor into the study room. Clouds of dust and smoke floated around the room and piles of stones and rocks were scattered around the fireplace. Even one of the paintings had been torn to shreds.
But what stood out the most was the smell. The smell of cows and farmland, only ten times worse than what you'd smell from the inside of your car when one would drive through the countryside.
"Alfred! Bruce!" I shouted loudly. I'm sure they were alright. Even though the past had proven differently, things weren't the same as back then. They had to be alright.
"Alfred!" I walked into the fireplace and yelled down the cold grey steps.
"We're down here, Miss Wood!" Bruce's voice echoed from down below.
"My word." I gritted my teeth as I descended the steps carefully. There was rubble positively everywhere. What had happened while I was away?
Alfred suddenly appeared in front of me as I was about to reach the bottom step. "Careful, love. Wouldn't want you to fall now, would we?" He extended his hand and helped me down.
"What on Earth have you two been doing? I was only gone for four hours." I frowned at him but then noticed the big gaping hole behind him. "Where is the door?"
Alfred scratched the back of his head. "I,- we,- uh,-"
"We blew the door." Bruce shouted from inside the newly appeared area.
I leaned closer to Alfred. "I was only kidding about that tank, you know." I whispered to him.
"We didn't use a tank. We used,- a bomb." He spoke carefully.
"You used a bomb?" I screeched.
Bruce finally decided to appear in front of us, his eyes were beaming.
"I took your advice to heart, Miss Wood. Look, it cleared a perfect path!" Bruce smiled happily.
"Your advice?" Alfred repeated.
I didn't dare to look at him. For I was certain he was giving me a death glare. "Bruce, I didn't tell you to blow up the house."
"Technically not, no. But your story, about how your father used dynamite to blow up old pyramids in other to get inside a tomb, got me thinking. And as you can see, it worked." He pointed proudly at the gaping hole in the wall.
"So I see,-" I pressed my lips in a thin line. "How did you manage to make a bomb in the first place?"
"I read about it." He nonchalantly answered, as if it wasn't rocket science. "Oh, and Alfred helped of course. He knew lots of things about bombs thanks to the army."
Now it was my turn to stare at Alfred with great disbelief. Of course he did.
"Well, at least that solves the problem of the inaccessible door." I muttered. One thing was for sure, I was not going to help them clear all of the rubble from the house.
::::::...::::::
Thomas Wayne's secret room was even more of a mystery than my father's office had been.
Whereas my father's so called 'secret' room held an old dark wooden desk and multiple display cabinets, Thomas's room had different pieces of furniture. Computers, file cabinets, a fridge filled to the brim with blood and bullet proof clothes. Whatever it was that Thomas hid for all these years, it really was something unlike I had ever seen.
Bruce was not fazed one bit by anything, in fact he was impressed with everything in there and his eyes shone bright the entire time he was in that room.
Alfred had an entirely different feeling about it. Initially he had been proud of what Bruce and him had achieved, which was blowing the door out off the wall. It was then I also learned that the cow smell I noticed earlier, was from the manure they'd used to build the bomb.
It wasn't until it was late at night and Alfred entered the bedroom that he dropped the facade he'd been holding up throughout the day.
"That room needs to be cleared." He said as he shut the door.
I looked up from my book and set it aside. "You intend to move everything up to the study?"
"Absolutely not!" Alfred's voice rose. "Bruce has no idea what he's getting himself into. He's a boy. A young boy. He should be in school, learning, studying, perhaps chasing after girl. Not meddle around in a room which contains gallons of blood in a bloody fridge!"
He didn't need to remind me of what was down there. I absolutely agreed with him that this was something Bruce should not deal with. I knew he wanted to do everything he could in order to expose Wayne Enterprises, and I was certain the secret to it was somewhere down there, but it was clear that there was more going on.
Thomas Wayne definitely had more secrets than what was going on behind the scenes with his company.
Alfred made his way over to the bed and set down where a deep sigh escaped him. He buried his head in his hands and for a couple of seconds didn't move.
I moved the covers aside an crawled over to him, placing my legs around his waist and pressing my chest against his back.
"What do you have in mind?" I asked.
Alfred raised his head and stared ahead. "I don't know. I have to think of something."
"Bruce will throw a fit."
"Major fir." Alfred sighed. "But what else can we do? He won't listen to a single word, I'm sure."
I shook my head. I probably wouldn't have either. If anyone had told me not to look for my father, I would have fought them to the death if I had to.
"Want me to talk to him?'
Alfred turned around to look at me. His eyes were red, as if he'd been crying. "No. Thanks, love. But it's my responsibility, he is my responsibility."
"Alright. Just, don't blow anything up again." I chuckled and that managed to get a small smile out of him.
After that we went to bed, ready to fall into a deep slumber from all the excitement of today. But Alfred didn't sleep. At least not through the night.
The man tossed and turned, groaned and sighed. He got up a few times during the night, but always returned after a couple of minutes. Sometimes he simply sat straight up in the bed, quietly staring at something as his hand stroked my back. By the time I woke up the next morning he was no longer there.
I decided that I didn't want to be here today, when Alfred would confront Bruce about Thomas's room. Alfred promised me there wouldn't be an explosion, but we both knew there would definitely be a metaphorical explosion.
Bruce was not going to let this go without a fight and I honestly wondered if Alfred would be able to win.
::::::...::::::
The call could not have happened at a better time. The National Museum of History rung me up that morning with good news regarding my application and if I was willing to come by that same day to discuss my contract.
I kept it a secret from Alfred and Bruce, both of them had different matters on their mind and I wanted nothing more than to get out of the house. I didn't even say goodbye to the two of them, though I suspected Alfred understood why I wasn't around.
After my visit to the museum, I made my way over to Harvey's bar to say hello to him. It was only early in the afternoon and I doubted things had blown over at Wayne Manor.
The bells jingled as I opened the door, despite the clear 'closed' sign on the door Harvey was walking around inside.
"We're closed!" The bearded man said loudly wiping the table in front of him.
"If I promise to have an actual drink this time, may I come in?" I smiled as Harvey's head shot up.
"Rosey!" He exclaimed. "Of course, come in."
I followed Harvey to the bar where he poured me a gin and tonic as I sat down on one of the barstools.
"I wasn't expecting to see you that soon again." He said handing me the drink. "Should I worry?"
I laughed. "No. I was in the area. I got a new job actually."
Harvey arched his eyebrows. "Don't you work for the rich little boy anymore?"
"Not as his tutor, I also quit my job at the diner."
Harvey nodded and poured himself a drink as well. "I heard, I went by there a few weeks ago. The old man told me that you'd quit. Probably for the best, if you ask me. Gang war was going pretty strong in that area."
"Seeing as the GCPD was right around the corner, I'm not surprised."
The door opened, followed by a jingly noise. Harvey and I both looked in the direction of the sound and just as Harvey was about to yell, 'we're closed!' he paused mid sentence.
The man who entered the bar was Jim Gordon. A face I was not expecting to see. Just like Harvey, or more unlike Harvey for he had retired and started a new job, Jim was currently without a job. Jim had gotten fired from the GCPD. It was no surprise he would visit his former partner during the day, especially given the fact that he worked at a bar.
"Hey Jim." Harvey greeted him.
Jim nodded. "Hi, Harv." Then he stopped as he eyes landed on me. I gave a small wave of my hand.
"Mr. Gordon."
"Miss Wood. Wasn't expecting to see you here." Jim said honestly as he took a seat next to me.
"I'm also sorry to interrupt, but I'd like to talk to you, Harv. Before customers come in?" He raised his eyebrows and averted his gaze from me.
A quiet spell fell over the bar and I knew that three was becoming a crowd. I cleared my throat and chucked my drink down.
"This time, I'm paying." I looked at Harvey as I slipped him a five dollar bill. "I'll see you next time. Goodbye, Mr. Gordon."
"Miss Wood." He bobbed his head.
"Good luck with your new job, Rosey!" Harvey shouted behind me.
I reached the door and was about to grab the handle when it flew open. In front of me stood a pretty woman with red fiery hair. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed together.
She blinked and suddenly her thin lips turned into, what could only be described as, a fake smile.
"I'm sorry. I thought the bar was closed." She said.
"It is, but Harvey is a friend of mine." I replied as I tried to move past her.
The lady didn't budge, instead she crossed her arms and cocked her head. "Really? I have no idea who you are though, and I happen to be his fiancee."
Ah. At least it was clear who this woman was. Though technically Harvey told me he had a girlfriend, it was apparent that there was more going on.
I extended my hand towards her. "Scotty, right? Harvey told me about you. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Scotty wrinkled her nose. "Sure."
Clearly this conversation or greeting was going anywhere. I retracted my hand and gave her one last smile before pushing her gently aside with my shoulder.
A loud 'hey' echoed after me as I made my way down the street, deciding it was now time to head back to Wayne Manor. Where I could only hope I would not also be greeted with a hostile situation.
Thanks for reading, lovelies!
Hope you all enjoyed!
We all know what happens to Alfred (if you remember the show)
But what will that mean for Rosalind and him?
Let me know what you think :)
Until next time!
