Chapter 24

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New Chapter, read, enjoy and review.

Five years and two months before the siege of Gotham City

My conversation with Bruce did not go well. I did not know what we were after that. Had we broken up? Were we still dating? I did not know.

"So, that's what we are to you? All of us? We aren't real." Bruce frowned at me.

"Of all the things I've just told you that's what you're focusing on." I couldn't help to scoff.

"What else am I supposed to focus on? The fact that you are claiming to come from another world or the fact that we are all supposedly fictional characters?" Bruce countered.

I shook my head. "Bruce…"

I reached for him. He took a step back. It hurt.

"I'm sorry." Was all I had to say. "You wanted the truth and I gave it to you."

"You gave me your truth." Bruce nodded. "A truth told by a delusional woman." He stared down at me. I did not dare to speak. I waited for the next word that would come out of his mouth. "I think you should leave."

It hit like a ton of bricks. I could have said more. I could have explained myself better. But explain what exactly? I did not even know how I landed there. I told him everything I knew. Everything there was to say. What could I say more?

So, I left.

There was one thing I should have said but did not find it in me to say the words. Three words, it might have made the difference. It might have not changed the outcome. It was too late now.

No words were exchanged between us, ever since. We kept our distance. It was not easy, I missed him everyday. Sometimes, I would drive by the Wayne Tower just to catch a glimpse of him. Like a stalker. Sometimes, Alfred called just to speak. Many things were left unsaid between the butler and I. At least, he did not sound angry or hurt. We were still friends.

"Lover's quarrel?" Gordon sat across me in the booth.

I snorted as he ordered a coffee. "I wished." I sighed.

"What is it, then?" He asked.

"I'm not sure." I rubbed my face. "It's complicated."

"What isn't?" Gordon scoffed. "Look, Barbara and I went through a lot together. Before everything." He paused. "In every relationship there's ups and downs. Especially when you are cop and live in a dangerous city."

"How did you get through it? Before she decided she couldn't do it anymore, how did you get through it?"

"We talked a lot. Meeting hallway, many compromises. On her part mostly." Gordon said. "We fought for it. Every step of the way."

"There's nothing left to say." I said quietly.

"There's always something to say." He said patting my hand. "I don't know what you see in Mr. Wayne. But I know that you two love each other. Everyone can see that. Even those stupid tabloids."

"You read tabloids?" I raised my eyebrows.

He ignored my question. "Whatever it is that happened between you two, fix it before it's too late. Give him another chance."

I looked up at him. "Why have you never asked?" I blurted out. "Why didn't you ask how I knew all those things?"

"In the beginning, I did." Gordon said slowly.

"And then?"

"I decided I don't need to know where you get them. All I needed to know was that you were doing a good job. That you did what was right." I nodded at him. "Now, stop your wallowing and let's get back to work."

"I don't wallow."

Should I go back and talk to him? Tell him what I couldn't say before? Was it too late? Could it be that simple? Maybe, it was not that simple. I would not know unless I had tried. I just did not know how to do it. I needed to try.

I was screwed. This man was seven feet tall and he stood between me and the door. Not only was he tall, he was also big. A mass of muscles and bones.

It was not supposed to go this way. It was supposed to be a simple intervention. A simple arrestation. A suspect in a murder case. He had been seen with the victim a few days prior to their death. There was bad blood between them, it could have been a motive. What the numerous witness had failed to described was how big the suspect was.

So, with Stephens, we went to arrest him. Now, standing in this bar, customers hostile to the law enforcement. And this giant towering me, refused to follow us. This was bad. This was really bad.

You know this moment in movies when a bar brawl was about to happen. As the viewer, you can sense it. There was this tension, the glances between the characters. Everything was there. Except that in movies, bar brawl looked funnier. In real life, bar brawls were painful.

So very much painful.

I was screwed.

It all happened at once. The Mountain grabbed me by the neck, lifted me up as if I was a ragdoll and slammed my back on the pool table. The air was knocked out of my lungs. The fight erupted around me while this giant had me pinned to this pool table. He was chocking the life out of me. And there was nothing I could do. I couldn't reach for my gun. My arm wasn't long enough to reach his face. I had to get out of his grip.

So, I used my legs. In a few quick moves, I was able to push him off of me. I fell off of the table with him. Catching my breath, getting as much air as I could. Crawling away from him. People were fighting around us. Customers against customers. Stephens against customers and me crawling away from the giant.

A large hand circled around my ankle and I was pulled back. I turned on my back and kicked him in the face as hard as I could. He groaned in pain and let go of me. There was a gun shot. And everything stopped.

It was Stephens.

He helped me up. "We only want big guy over here." I nodded at him, telling him I was alright. "You don't want your asses to be put in jail, you let us walk on outta here."

And that's what we did. We walked out with our suspect.

A large bruise was gracing my throat. As large as my neck could be. It had been a long day. A very long day. The suspect was in custody at the moment. While we checked his alibi. I really hoped the bastard went to jail, if only for the bruise on my neck. And for almost chocking me to death.

Three soft knocks on my door. I opened it and Bruce was standing on the other side. In casual clothes and with food.

"Hey." I simply said.

"Hey." He said back. "Can I come in?"

"Sure." I let him in.

I wasn't expecting that. I didn't expect his visit.

He put the food on the table. "This is from your favorite Italian place."

"I only have one favorite Italian." I scoffed. I looked up at him. "Why are you here?"

As an answer he hugged me tightly. I had missed this. His scent, his arms around me, I had missed all of it.

"I've missed you." I said softly.

"I've missed you too." He said back. "I'm still not alright about it all."

"I know." I retorted. "We can work it out, right?"

"We can."

Five years before the siege of Gotham City.

Bruce and I were not getting anywhere in this relationship. It didn't mean that there was not any love between us. There was. It was just that it was still hard to him to come to terms with this ugly truth. So, he asked me many questions. About him, about the Batman and everything that was related to this world and how was represented in our world.

It seemed as if we reconciled and we did to some extent. But it wasn't like it was before I told him the truth. We still spent together but mostly we were talking about where I came from. About what I knew.

Although, I was being very careful as not to reveal what I knew about what would unfold in three years. Bane, Talia and the siege of Gotham. I did not tell him. I kept it for me. He would probably hate me for it. But this world had a way to counterbalance my actions, any changings that may happen. If I told Bruce what I knew, I feared that it would not end up as it did in the movie. With Bane and Talia gone and Bruce alive and happy. Finally, free of the Batman. What if, I told him the truth and instead of being alive, he ended up dead. Sacrificing himself for Gotham.

I could not let that happen. I did not want to bury him. Not if I could help it.

Should I explain the multiverse to him? No matter how little I knew about it. Or was it too much? I should just deal with what he knew now and what he was ready to believe.

His energy project was getting along well. He had the funds to finally launch it. He had Miranda Tate a few months ago. Who really was Talia al Ghul. It was finally starting. Talia was already here in Gotham.

It was smart to come to Gotham and wait it out. Wait for the right time to strike. Did she know that the project would be a failure? Maybe. Could she predict Bruce's becoming a recluse? Maybe. Let's just say that everything that happened after she started the project played in her plan well. I guess we would never know what her original plan was but we knew what her final plan was.

Blake was officially a police officer. And as Gordon had specified, he worked under the commandment of Foley. We crossed paths from time to time and sometimes I was able to have him work with me. He had good instincts. He knew where to look and why to look there. He would make a really good detective. I knew he would.

Things were following their course. As it should. No one knew of the impending doom that would befall them in a few years. No one but me. I couldn't wait for it to be over. I couldn't wait for a day where I would not know what would come next. A day where I would be as clueless as anyone living here, in this world. Where I wouldn't carry the weight of knowing of what it's coming next.

A day where I would be free of knowing.

It was exhausting. Planning ahead to be able to save lives. Planning ahead to change the outcome for the better, only for me to fail. But that would not happen this time. This time, everything would play out just the way it was supposed to. Sue's death was a warning, a reminder that I should not change or meddle with this story. I was allowed in this world but that was it. I could exist here but I could not change the story in the way I wanted to.

I had no intention to this time. My changing of the story, however minor the detail may be, could mean Bruce's death. Of course, I should give him more credit than that. Have more faith in him. It was not in him I didn't have faith. It was in this world that I didn't have faith in. This world was treacherous. This world just wanted to right the wrongs I had done in the past. There were still years before Bane would make his first appearance. There was still time for this world to claim certain that hadn't happened. Deaths that should have been.

And then I had hoped that it might not. I remembered that Bruce was never in love with Rachel.

There might be hope, after all.