As promised, here is the continuation of this story! I know it came a little later than I would have liked but I had some thing to take care of in my personal life before I decided to hop back on here and start writing this story again. I think I'm going to TRY to get on a consistent schedule of uploading chapters that way you guys know/and can look forward to updates if you have chosen to follow along on this adventure.
I believe I will start posting on Fridays because of my lack of class that day as well as (hopefully) a lack of homework to be done on that day! But things could change and it just depends on how I start to get back into the flow of things!
XXX
Anslee looked out the window for the majority of the car ride. She noted how the skies looked more gloomy and gray than normal. While she had hoped this city would look up while she was gone, it seemed like it did the exact opposite. It was sad to see somewhere you've spent your entire life living in go down the drain. It was depressing and not really helping her current mood with everything going through her head at the moment.
John would look over at her every once in a while to make sure she wasn't uncomfortable. He knew what she went through the last time she was with a cop she barely knew at the mere age of 17. She'd been tied up in a warehouse and nearly blown up. She lost her own mother that night. He could understand her apprehensiveness because even he still wasn't sure who all he could trust in his line of work. All he could do was hopefully get her to trust him.
John drove over the southern bridge over the glimmering waters of Gotham Bay. Despite the overcast, the water still shone a silver color reflecting the gray colored clouded skies. The large steel beams of the bridge had rusted over the years, showing their age and the neglect the city had on them. Anslee was surprised that the bridges had been able to sustain themselves after the years of no maintenance.
She almost hadn't noticed that the car had come to a stop had John not opened her door for her. Anslee looked up at the man before undoing her seatbelt and exiting the car. The two of them now stood at the end of the bridge just off the main road where he pulled over. A path led towards a little walkway along the side of the bridge where people could stroll or run. John nodded for her to follow him to the sidewalk pathway. After a minute or two of walking in silence besides the whistling of the wind as it blew past their bodies, John stopped and leaned forward against the railing overlooking the bay. Anslee followed suit and turned her head to look at the skyline of the city.
"I pulled Gordon out of the sewers that day," John finally broke the silence between the two, looking over at Anslee while she still gazed at the skyline.
She was silent for a few seconds, her eyes still trained on the skyline as she spoke, "He didn't tell me that."
"He chased a gunman into the sewers and when I pulled him out he was babbling about some underground army...a masked man named Bane."
Anslee's eyes immediately flew to John when he spoke the name of the excommunicated mercenary, a quizzical look etched in her facial features. John locked eyes with her, obviously getting a sense that she knew something of the facade that was Bane from her father.
"When I notified my superiors they asked me if he saw any giant alligators," he chuckled slightly, "But if there's one thing I know, Gordon needs The Batman."
"I know," Anslee bowed her head, gazing to the murky waters below them, "Gordon told him the same thing, but Gordon doesn't-"
"He doesn't know and he doesn't care to," John cut her off.
Her eyes stayed fixed on the water before she spoke again, "How do you know?"
"I'd known before all this catastrophe struck...it was a long time ago. I was a kid, Saint Swithens, the orphanage I was put in used to be funded by the Wayne Foundation. My mom died when I was small, a car accident, I really don't remember it much, and my dad got shot a couple of years later from a gambling debt. I remember that one just fine."
Anslee looked back to John, sympathy laced in her tone, "I'm sorry John.."
"Don't be," the man shook his head, "But I know what your old man felt when he lost his parents too. It's not something many people have to experience. The anger that you feel in your bones. And foster parents understood it for a while, but then they want the angry little kid to do something he knows he can't do. Move on. And soon they stop understanding. They send the angry little kid to a boys home."
"I figured it out too late. You gotta learn to hide the anger...practice smiling in the mirror. It's like putting on a mask."
Anslee knew the feeling all too well that he described. It was the same process she had to go through after losing Rachel and essentially her father to his own self loathing. For a bit she felt like an orphan due to the absence of both her parents in her life and living everyday like it wasn't constantly on her mind and putting her through pain wasn't an easy task.
"You dad showed up one day, cool car, pretty girl on his arm, and we were so excited," the man chuckled again, making Anslee look at him. John's demeanor had almost completely changed as if the memory brought him a sense of pure joy; he almost looked like a kid in a candy store.
"Bruce Wayne, Billionaire Orphan. We used to make up stories about your old man. Legends. And you know, to the other kids that's all it was, just stories," his smile dropped slowly, "But right when I saw him I knew who he was. I'd seen that look on his face before. It was the same one I taught myself."
"So you finally decided to confront him once all of this Bane business started going down by threatening to issue a warrant to investigate Harvey Dent's murder unless he agreed to see you," Anslee gave him a questionable look.
"Your dad's a very hard man to get into contact with, I had to pull a string or two otherwise I wouldn't have gotten this far," John looked apologetically towards her.
Anslee smirked, "Gordon would have done the same thing."
"So everyone seems to be on board with this idea of getting the Batman back except you," John watched her carefully.
"I wouldn't say everyone, you and your buddies down at the precinct seemed pretty hellbent on chasing him down last night instead of keeping eyes on Bane and his men."
"Believe me, I was rooting for him the whole time under my breath. Foley was the one leading the battalion on that one. You should have seen the look on his face when Batman pulled out that big hovercraft thing," John laughed.
"The Bat," Anslee corrected him, "he named it The Bat."
John chuckled once more before turning his eyes to the skyline of the city clouded by a light fog, "Well, this city needs The Bat."
"I swear, the best thing that could happen to this city would be immediate evacuation followed by a fire of a massive scale. Melt it all down. Consume the ruins. Then put the ashes of those evaporated dreams into a big urn and sit the urn on the desks of a few thousand oily politicians. Let them smell the disaster like we do," Anslee glared at the city before her.
"But you agree that this place needs saving? That people's eyes need to be opened to what's really going on before it's too late? That we need a steady and capable line of defense otherwise this place might just end up in flames?" John looked back to her.
Anslee took a deep breath, sighing before looking back at John as well, "I do agree..and as much as I hate to say it, we do need Batman back. I just still can't wrap my head around how the cost justifies the need, or what the cost will even be in the end. What will Batman lose? What might I lose?"
John looked at her melancholy face, pursing his lips slightly before speaking, "I promise, I will do everything in my power to keep the cost of the fight low for all of us. I just need your help and I need you to trust me, Anslee. I'm still a believer in The Batman, even if you're not."
Anslee stared back at him for a split second and slowly began to nod, "I'll do as much as I can...for now, what I know I can tell you is that we have reasonable suspicion that John Dagget might be working closely with Bane. Him and his men were a part of a plan in West Africa that secured mining operations for Dagget. It seems as if he brought them here to Gotham, but we really don't have any proof of them working together."
John's smile slowly returned to his face, "Thank you, Anslee."
The twenty-three year old smiled softly in return, "Why did the Wayne Foundation stop funding the Boys' Home?" she wandered out loud.
John shrugged, "We don't know..one day the money just stopped. Seems like your dad might want to get some fresh air and pay attention to those details. Sometimes those details might need his help."
Anslee playfully nudged the man, "I'll talk to my old man when I get home and see what I can do for you and the Saint Swithens. I know you must still care about that place a lot."
"I do, and I appreciate that," John smiled, "What do you say we grab a mediocre cup of coffee and I'll take you back to the precinct so you can head home?"
"Only if you let me buy," Anslee smirked before she gave the outline of the city one last glance and turned to walk back off the concrete sidewalk towards where John had parked the patrol car.
The man watched her move with such confidence and swagger as if she hadn't just had a difficult conversation. He knew he was throwing a lot at her at once and she was taking it like a champ. Not much had changed since high school, especially not the fact that he was still head over heels in love with her, yet she had not the slightest clue.
John followed after her, a smile etched on his face.
