The Dark Knight Initiative
A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the wait, two years in fact, but I've still been slowly getting reviews and follows even when I haven't updated in a while, thanks everyone for that.
Also, with Avenger Ager of Ultron out I got inspired once again to post another chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own either of these movies or franchises, if I did, or rather if anyone did, they wouldn't be putting it on the internet but rather make the crossover happen in reality right now. Lol
Ch3: Recruitment
Gotham City
Walking through the streets in the evening of Gotham wasn't as bad as Steve thought it was, the streets seemed clean and there were no signs of corruption that he heard about. Granted that was in the past, but on his way over he asked the nearby cities and even the citizens what Gotham was like before the Harvey Dent Act. And from the stories they told, having described Gotham as a pit of hell, something eerie about it, especially during the night… he was honestly surprised when he arrived earlier in the day, he'd pictured a derelict, but looking around and seeing how it's changed from what he's been told he was curious as to how they ever managed to get past all of that.
Wondering where he should start first with his investigation, he quickly thought of the police department, which is where he is heading for right now. Inside, Steve saw everyone on high alert; it seemed like the entire police force was restless, he tried asking any of the police officers about last night, if they were able to apprehend the Batman, but nobody seemed to notice.
"Can I help you sir?" Someone called from behind him, turning around he saw a fairly young-looking cop, looked to be in his early twenties, short brown hair, and the look in his eye as if he recognized who Rogers is, making him one of the few young people his ever met who knows Captain America.
"Yeah," Steve replied, "I was wondering if I could talk to the Police Commissioner?"
"The Commish is at Gotham General at the moment, you can give him a visit if you want, but I'd prefer if you didn't, he's been through a lot already."
"What happened to him?"
"You can ask him that when you meet him."
"I won't be a bother; I just have a couple questions for him."
"And what might those questions be?" The officer raised an eyebrow.
"About the vigilante everyone is calling the Batman."
That made the officer smile slightly at him, looking at him straight in the eye and said in a low voice so only Steve can hear, "So the Avengers knocking down Gotham's door and trying to catch the Bat? Or recruit him?"
Steve was right, this kid was too smart to be a beat cop, 'And recruit him? What made him think of that?' he thought, "…and how do you figure that?" he didn't beat around the bush.
"Well, for one, after the incident at New York six months ago, everyone in the world knows who you are, maybe not so much the archer, the redhead, and whoever the Hulk really is, but they certainly know Thor, especially Mr. Stark, and then there's you, Captain Steve Rogers," he emphasized the captain part, "you guys held your own against an army of alien soldiers, it's kinda hard to forget who you guys are since then. Figured a team like yours would someone with experience in the superhero biz, you know?"
Nodding his head, "Who knows? We might offer an invitation," Steve stared at the officer, "Not bad kid, I've been travelling ever since the incident and most people I've met don't seem to recognize me, and the ones who did were mostly war vets who served the war with me back then. You have good detective skills, Officer-?"
"John Blake."
"Officer Blake, glad to meet you," reaches out his hands as Blake took it in turn and shook it, "You don't suppose you could give me a ride to Gotham General, could you?" Steve sheepishly asked.
"It'll be my honor Cap," Blake nodded and couldn't help but salute the Living Legend before going to grab his keys.
Steve grinned when he left, the kid Blake reminded him of Bucky, and for a quick second he felt a pang in his chest, the grief of loss when his best friend fell to his death. Brushing it past him Steve continued looking forward and waited for Blake to come back.
Elsewhere in Gotham
On top of one of the tallest buildings across downtown Gotham, a bolt of lightning struck the roof of it, only it wasn't a regular lightning, from out of the smoke that dissipated in the air Thor emerged from his landing back on Midgard. He felt the cold night breeze flow through his entire body, enjoying it for just a moment before he returned his gaze to the city below him. He thought about all that Heimdall mentioned to him, 'A monster willing to destroy the whole city with the inhabitants in it. A hero willing to sacrifice everything for his beloved city, and a seductress who will betray him,' wrapping his head around the situation The God of Thunder has decided that the approach he'll have to take is one of investigation and research, read the so called 'newspapers' Jane has mentioned to him about before, ask questions and watch out for signs.
Stealth isn't one of Thor's strong suites but he did not want to tip off the enemy, going in throwing his hammer around might endanger the mortals. Deciding this is the best course of action, he slowly laid Mjolnir down on top of the roof, knowing full well no one will be able to lift it up and that he can always summon it to him if need be. Looking up at the sky he bellowed, "HEIMDALL, I SHALL NEED A HAND WITH SOME MIDGARDIAN ATTIRE MY FRIEND!"
Nearly a minute later another bolt of lightning struck the building he was standing on, revealing a regular long sleeve white shirt and black pants. True they were his home garments in Asgard when he is not fighting but they are less conspicuous than his traditional armor.
Putting on his plain clothes and keeping the boots, hiding them underneath his pants, he took the elevator all the way down to the streets, as he passed several people and buildings, he noticed the news headline for pretty much all of them had one thing in common, "The Dark Knight Returns" plastered all over everywhere. Curious, he stood in front of a news stand and read one for himself, starting his quest for information.
Helicarrier
Doors opened through Fury's office, Clint and Natasha coming in, already geared up for their mission, briefly saluted their commanding officer before becoming at ease. "Colonel, you sent for us?" Natasha asked.
"I trust the both of you have been briefed of your assignment?" Staring at them through his good eye, the Director of SHIELD gauged either of their response, he had a feeling Barton would be all in for it; Romanoff would be a different story.
"All in, sir."
"I have questions, sir."
The both of them replied at the same time.
'I knew it,' Fury inwardly grinned, "What are the questions, Agent Romanoff?"
"Why are we trying to recruit the Batman?"
"Lieutenant Hill asked the same question."
"And what did you tell her?"
"I told her that the Bat can be a great asset to the team."
"How so?"
"He has experience in the field, skills that would put most of my agents to shame—"
*coughcough* Natasha gave him a look and Clint had a smug look on his face.
"Like I said, most of my agents, and personally, he has qualities that I believe can aid us when we really — "
"He's been out of the game for several years, chief, no matter how good he is or was age will still catch up to him," Natasha replied.
"He doesn't have to be in the field Romanoff, I want to recruit him so he can train our agents to be better than they are," the tone on Fury's voice was slightly hardened, he didn't like being interrupted.
A low whistle could be heard from behind them, turning around, they all saw none other than Tony Stark and Bruce Banner by the doorway, a smirk on Tony's mouth, "So you basically want an army of Bat-Men?"
"What are you doing here Stark?" Fury asked, surprised, he didn't recall having sent for the genius playboy.
"Oh, you know, I always drop by to visit friends," said genius billionaire, don't forget the former-playboy part replied.
"He wanted to come to ask if you're gonna recruit the Bat," Banner gingerly replied, not wanting to be associated with Tony on this matter, "took a look at your computer system and somehow he brought me here as well."
A cold hard glare came from Fury's eye right at Stark, who simply smiled, "Ha, told you."
Gotham General
Lying down on his hospital bed, Jim Gordon had felt better, hell he certainly looked better. His entire body is still in pain from the explosion, the bullets, and the force of the sewer waters crushing him into concrete. But that didn't stop him from doing his job, and right now whatever Bane is planning he cannot let it happen, especially after everything he and him have sacrificed.
Thinking back, Gordon couldn't help but feel relieved, his old friend, the Batman has come out of his retirement to lend a hand stop Bane, it brought back memories when they were taking down the mob together, until… *visions of a sick maniacal laughter coming from a scarred face, then another, an angry burned disfigured face this time pointing a gun at his crying son* Taking a deep breath, Gordon shook his head to get the visions away from his mind, even after eight years there's just some things you can't unsee.
Suddenly the door to his room opened and he could hear Deputy Foley arguing with someone.
"—And I'm asking you who the hell do you think you are coming in here and think you can just demand whatever you want from the GCPD?!" Peter Foley yelled loud enough to be heard across the hall.
"Foley," Jim started, "It's alright," the tone of his voice, despite being gentle, didn't leave any room for arguments.
"Jim, they ca— "Foley couldn't finish what he was trying to say when he looked at Gordon, who was giving him a tired 'I don't care what you think' look right now, feeling angry he wasn't being shown any respect, even though he's the Deputy Commissioner, he just stormed outside, not caring what happens in there anyway.
"Phew, guy's just too full of himself sometimes," Blake spoke.
Gordon looked at Officer Blake, and then straight at the man next to him, the man had blonde hair, blue eyes, and despite wearing a leather jacket he could tell the man has a serious physique underneath. His years on the force has helped hone his observation skills, but just one look on the man's face he could easily tell, well, someone like him and Batman could, probably Blake as well, but he doubts Foley even recognizes the face of Captain America.
"To what do I owe the pleasure, Captain?" Jim smiles, knowing he got the Captain off guard.
Steve's slightly stunned expression of being recognized so immediately by the Commissioner caused him to grin sheepishly, "Commissioner, if you know who I am then I have a feeling you know why I'm here."
"The Batman?"
Steve just nodded, "Yes, sir. Just wondering if you know any information about the vigilante?"
Not sure why Captain America would want anything to do with the Batman, but if he's asking, there's a chance the Avengers are watching as well. Were they here to apprehend the Batman? Gordon pondered the probabilities and his options, if the news everywhere is that Batman is a murderer then it would be safe to assume he's here to apprehend his friend. But that would be too simple, and in Gotham, nothing ever is, so he asked, "What do you specifically want to know?"
"I want to know everything you know, sir" Steve said it in a gentle, respectful way, but his eyes had the look of a hardened soldier that would have made anyone give in. But James Gordon wasn't just anyone; he stared into the eyes of chaos itself and is still alive, so a stare down from Captain America hardly made him flinch.
"If you really want to know, I don't really know who he is, but I do know that his actions have spoken for themselves."
"Which is?"
"He killed Harvey Dent, he's a vigilante, a murderer and a wanted felon," Gordon lied, which is something he was becoming really good at and it made him feel like he lost a piece of his soul every time he repeated those same lines. It's one of the reasons his family left him. He looked back up at Steve, who only had a look of sympathy on his face. "What else is there that you want me to say?"
Steve merely looked straight at the bed-ridden man, then to Officer Blake beside him, then said, "I've been alive for over ninety years Commissioner Gordon—"
"Just Jim, please."
"Jim, and frozen for almost seventy of those years, I woke up and before I knew it, my team and I were protecting the world before we even officially became a team, I've fought in world war two back in the day, I've lost people who I care about, and you know what I noticed?"
"What?"
"That whenever we talk about someone we've lost, whether they're not with us anymore or have become distant and away from us, we tend to have a certain look on our faces when we mention them."
"Your point?" Gordon didn't understand what he was getting at.
"You have the same look of loss on your face, but when you mentioned Dent it didn't show that," Steve paused.
'Oh,' Now Jim knew what he meant.
"Your face slightly contorted when you call the Batman a murderer, and it wasn't a look of anger or hatred, it was a look when a person has let their friend down," Steve promptly finished, he understood how the man felt, thoughts of how he let Bucky down by not being able to save him, Steve has had that same look on his face when he thinks of his best friend.
At a slight loss of words, Gordon simply looked at the captain, his mouth agape before closing it, turning his head to face the window, the guilt on his face plain as day.
"Mind telling me the truth?" Steve kept asking.
"I'd tell you myself, but it isn't my call to make."
"So, you're telling me to ask your friend?"
A small smile forming on his face, Jim turned to face Steve, "It was his idea in the first place, so you can talk to him when you get the chance."
"And how do I find him?"
"Oh, don't worry; I'm sure he'll find you."
Outside Gotham General
Steve and Blake walked out of the hospital, pondering about everything that was spoken about in Jim's room. "You know Cap," Blake started, "just to give you my two cents; I don't think the Batman committed any of those crimes he was accused of."
Steve nodded for him to go on.
"I read over the case files dozens of times, and the people he was accused of killing, the time and cause of death, even the location, the bodies were found when Batman was sighted somewhere else."
"He could have left the scene of the murders," Steve tried to stay objective on this, seems this topic is very personal to a lot of people in Gotham.
"But the bodies were only a few minutes old when they died, and Batman was spotted saving civilians miles away," Blake sighed, he knew this would get nowhere, it didn't really matter to him what made Batman did what he did, but Gotham needs his help, he just wonders if Captain America can lend a hand. His thoughts broken when the radio in this car came to life, calling for assistance on 34th and 11th street, picking up the radio he answered the call preparing to leave, "Oh, and Cap?" getting the attention of the Avenger, "if you got time, look up someone by the name Bane, he's the reason why the commish is hurt and why Batman came back, take care of yourself alright?"
Watching him leave, Steve pondered what he said, 'Bane?' he thought, not giving it much more thought as he walked back to where he parked his bike. A few blocks down in the middle of the night Steve noticed some people following him, not knowing who they were he rounded the corner into an alley, turning around he was ready to face them when they pulled out assault rifles.
"A little too much firepower for one guy, isn't it?" Steve raised his hands, counting six people, all carrying AK-47 rifles, and they didn't look like common street thugs, no with what they're wearing they're possibly militia, or maybe mercenaries? He didn't have time to think about it when he saw a dark figure quietly land from above and swiftly took out each of them within seconds; some bullets were fired but were not aimed at anything or anyone. Watching in surprise as to how quickly he took out the armed men, but also at his fighting style, Steve Rogers found himself face to face with the Batman…
To Be Continued…
I know it's in one hell of a cliffhanger, but if I typed anymore I may never get to finish this chapter.
Anyway, with Age of Ultron out I will keep watching that movie once a week to keep myself inspired to finish this fic, and hopefully I'll finally have my first finished one.
Thanks again everyone who ever reviewed this fic, it's what made me keep going even though I felt like stopping, sorry again for the two year hiatus.