AHHHHH FUCKKKK! OKAY look. I totally forgot that today was Thursday. This week has really been rough and I seriously haven't been able to keep track of what day it is. I had dance team auditions for my University this week and it has thrown me off so bad. I know I said I literally get out of class at 12:30 on Thursdays and that's why I picked this day to upload new chapters, but I had a TON of Italian homework to do and then A huge assignment for my Music In Context class (that I almost didn't get turned in on time haha), and then I also had to practice for my audition tonight. I literally completely forgot it was Thursday until 12:30 AM.
To Captaintjf-Happy Belated Birthday! I hope you had an amazing day! And thank you for your review, I really appreciate your review and I'm so so so glad you enjoy the story! I hope you enjoy this too!
I really don't know if people are looking forward/care about updates on Thursdays (And if you do then you're a real one and I love you a little extra). But I'm sorry I forgot and I will try my best to remember next week! Happy reading loves!
This story has been edited for grammar, typos, and timeline/plot issues as of 7/20/2020
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2 PM rolled around in what seemed like a half hour after she initially woke up that morning. Time had a weird way of passing in Gotham. Anslee headed out to the car garage. Ans walked down the row of cars, looking for one that had especially been her favorite. It wasn't exactly what you'd expect someone like Anslee to drive. The big black SUV that Bruce got her for her sixteenth birthday-even though she declined it in all her teenage bitterness since she was convinced Bruce was trying to buy her love- sat looking shiny and sleek. Ans wouldn't be surprised if Alfred had run it through the car wash a few times over the years to keep it looking nice. And there was no doubt that Bruce had driven it around a few times too. She smiled to herself when she saw the vehicle. After approaching the drivers side door, she opened it with ease. As she got into the seat that was surprisingly adjusted to her preference, she looked up at the visor to see the keys hanging from them with a purple "A" key chain, signalling they were hers. Upon putting the keys in the ignition, the car hummed beautifully and the gas gauge was at full.
"Thank you, Alfred," And smiled before she pressed the correct button to open the garage door that was in front of her car, "Gotham Regional, here I come," she spoke before pulling out of the garage and speeding out.
It had taken her only twenty minutes to get to the hospital and find a decent parking spot. Traffic on the southeast side was usually pretty busy during that time of the morning since people were on their way back to work from their lunch breaks around now. Anslee had left the paper containing Robin's address in her car, but kept her wrist-let wallet with her. Once entering the hospital, she approached the front desk. A nurse, who despite it being still early, looked happily up at Ans with a smile, "How can I help you today?"
"Hi, I'm here to visit James Gordon," Anslee replied with a smile in return. The woman nodded before opening a binder sitting on the ledge.
"Just sign in here and may I please have your name to put in the system?" The woman asked, handing Ans a pen.
"Yes of course, Anslee Wayne," she smiled before signing her name and who she was going to visit in the column next to it. When she looked back up to hand the nurse the pen, she saw the look in her eyes that said she had recognized the twenty year-three old by her last name, but didn't fret.
"Thank you Miss Wayne," She smiled, taking the pen, "He'll be up on the second floor, third door to your right."
"Thank you," Ans smiled before heading towards the stairs, figuring it wasn't a big deal because it was only one floor up.
The short trek up the stairs hadn't even taken her thirty seconds, And the search for the third door on her right was something a kindergartner could do. When she found the door, she hesitated before knocking three times like she had done on the previous night on the manor door. She waited a few seconds before she heard a grumbled, "Come in," before pushing the door open and giving a soft smile to the man in the hospital bed even though her heart shattered at the sight of him looking so broken.
The man looked at the door, a bright smile lit up his face as he saw who walked through, "Anslee Wayne? Is that really you?" he asked in disbelief.
"Hey, Jim," she smiled a little wider when she saw him smile.
"Come, come sit," he gestured to the chair that sat next to his bed. The girl nodded and took a few steps towards the chair, taking a seat and placing her wallet in her lap. Gordon reached down and took one of her hands in his, "I never thought I'd see your face again after Alfred told me you left without a trace."
"Yeah I've heard that a lot the last few hours," she chuckled in return as she looked at him.
"When did you get back?" he asked her.
"Last night. Sorry I wasn't here sooner, Alfred told me what happened last night and I had a nice little conversation with my dad after I saw him or the first time in five years this morning," She smirked.
Jim shook his head, "Don't worry about it, sweetheart, I haven't been too up for company the last few days anyways,"
She frowned, "Oh? I mean I can leave if you want me to and come visit another time you'd like," she spoke.
"No, your company is always welcome, you can talk to me without giving me some sort of news that will ruin my day," he chuckled in return as he looked into her brilliant green eyes. He remembered those eyes from when she was young and Bruce had left Gotham for those seven missing years. He guessed Waynes had a thing for disappearing for indefinite amounts of time. He remembered seeing her every so often when he'd see Rachel for work, he'd practically watched the girl grow up.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Kinda like I was shot and thrown into a tunnel of water," he chuckled lightly, " But I'm hanging in there," he sighed, "So Alfred gave you the rundown?"
"Gave me what he knew," she shrugged, wondering if she should bring up Officer Blake so she could get some background on the man, but decided to leave it out, "Although he did tell me about the speech you were gonna give at the Wayne Foundation event on Harvey Dent Day, you wanna tell me about that?" she asked with a soft tone, keeping her voice laid back.
Jim sighed again, looking as if he were thinking about something deeply, "Anslee, you know that night at the warehouse ruins still haunts me in my nightmares even after all this time. We built a holiday celebrating the man who tried to murder my family because of the lie this city is building off of. And it eats at me everyday, it has for the past five years. I'm sure it still hasn't been easy for you to process either considering you were pretty close to Harvey when all of this went down. I thought maybe at the Gala it was time to come clean and make the announcement, but I couldn't bring myself to de-idolize Harvey like that after so many years of his legacy being celebrated. I decided that sometimes there are things that are kept in the dark for a long time. And there are reasons for that, no matter the repercussions and no matter who takes the fall. I'm not asking you to agree with me, but just understand where I'm coming from" He gave her hand a small squeeze and she gave him a soft nod.
"I know where you're coming from Jim, and honestly I would be terrified in your position. I won't sugarcoat it. I know you're probably scared, but I understand..and I agree," she smiled through her teeth in return, images of self-pitying and suffering Bruce Wayne flashed in her mind "Some things have a purpose for being kept in the dark for a while, and I know you'll reveal what needs to be said when the time is right. And I know you'll figure out when that right time is."
Jim looked at her with a soft smile, "You always had a way of understanding things even from when you were young."
"I've had some pretty good mentors throughout my life," she chuckled, "Any idea how much longer you'll be in here?"
"I took a nasty fall, well, more like a tumble, into the sewer lines, along with the gunshot in my leg, they say I haven't been doing too hot," he looked at her.
Anslee nodded and sighed, "It'll get better in time, like when I broke my foot when I was ten."
"I remember, you complained and complained how you couldn't do anything because you were so limited, plus you made sure everyone knew how much you hated walking on crutches too," Jim chuckled, "You sat in the DA's office and colored in your coloring books for hours while your mother worked."
"It's like that, it'll take time," She chuckled as well.
Ans had stayed for nearly four and a half hours just talking with the man, catching up on the years she was gone. Nothing much had gone on in the city, but Jim had listened to her talk about her time with Alvin Ailey's and things she'd experienced. He was interested to hear about her criminal justice studies at Metropolis University. He even joked about her being a part of his team at the GCPD.
Their conversation was cut short when a nurse had come in, saying it was time for Jim to take his meds that would eventually knock him out. Ans gave her a nod and turned back to Jim, bidding him goodbye, before he kissed her hand and bid her goodbye as well.
As she walked down the stairs to the first floor and towards the front door to the parking lot, Anslee gave the nurse from earlier a nod before walking out back to her car. She clicked the button on her key fob to unlock it and saw her head lights flash. She approached the SUV, looking up at the hospital one more time before getting in and putting the keys in the ignition. The keys were turned, making the engine hum to life. Ans sighed as she leaned back in her seat, eyeing the piece of paper that had Blake's address and other pieces of personal information.
"One more stop today," she muttered to herself as she reached over, taking the paper in her hands and looking at the address, glancing back and forth between the paper and the screen of her navigation system. Upon entering the address, she discovered he only lived ten minutes from the hospital. She glanced over the address again before pulling out of her parking spot and starting her journey to Robin Blake's apartment building.
