11:22AM

My dad was sitting in the third booth along the far wall of Willie's Diner sipping a freshly poured cup of black coffee. Willie's was situated on the corner of a side street just up the block from the tenement in which Dad raised me. As a girl, dad would bring me here to eat twice a week. Now, we barely made it to Willie's once a month but we still tried our best to make it our family tradition.

"Hi, daddy," I greeted him as I walked in.

"Hi, baby." He stood and wrapped his arms around me, giving me one of those fatherly hugs that a dad reserved only for his daughters; the kind of hug that belies the hardness a man believes he must show the world and instead shows him capable of unimaginable tenderness. "How are you feeling?"

"Better."

If not for the shining example of what a man is supposed to be, I may have lost faith in the male-gender years ago. I suppose his example also prevented me from falling into ridiculous relationships. Or, perhaps, it hindered me because I was looking for a mate that could outshine my father when—in reality—not a male on this planet could measure up. And, even if there were a few that could, they surely weren't living in Gotham. Oddly enough, I found that I didn't measure myself against my late mother's example but rather my father's.

"Looks like your eyebrow's healing well. When do the stitches come out?"

"Next week," I replied pulling my jacket open and sliding into the booth.

"Is it giving you headaches?" He took his seat again across from me.

"No. But the job is."

He didn't say anything; he just looked at me and lifted his coffee cup to his mouth. His mustache was twitching.

"Okay, dad, I'm gonna just get straight to the point."

"I didn't expect anything less from you, honey."

I untied my scarf, balled it up, and stuffed it in my purse. "I understand that the GU and the MCU are very dangerous and you simply want the best for me but I don't need you to protect me like I'm a little girl. I'm a grown woman and—while I'm flattered that my valiant father wants to shield me from the evils of the world—I want to be in the trenches. That's the reason I left the Corps for the GCPD.

"The C2D drives me insane. All I do is sort through data all day. To put it plainly, it's not fair that you use your position as the Commissioner to block me from moving to other departments and I want you to stop…please."

My dad didn't say anything for almost a minute. I watched him intently as he just sipped his coffee and swished it around in his mouth thoughtfully.

"Are you going to say anything?"

"Just gathering my thoughts."

Convenient.

"Barbara," he placed the cup down on the table and adjusted its position between his fork and knife until it was seemingly equidistant, "I have to say that I'm disappointed in you."

"Because I want to do something that you feel is dangerous?"

"I didn't say that. Hear me out."

"I'm sorry." I said folding my hands on the table.

"I'm disappointed in the fact that you would think that I would ever block you from doing something that you want to do or that you think is right. When have I ever stopped you from doing anything?"

"You didn't like that I went in the Marines."

"But I didn't stop you."

"Can I get you something, darling?" the waitressed interrupted.

I tore my attention away from my dad, "I'll have cup of coffee and an order of toast. Um, do you still have honey, Claire?"

"Just because you're the only person who asks for it, Barbara." Her smile was warm.

"Great! Wait—Claire, does that make me high maintenance?"

"I'm not the one you should be asking, Jim's the expert. I'll be right back with your order."

Dad resumed when the waitressed walked away, "Honey, you're more qualified than three-quarters of the entire force at every position the GCPD offers. But I need you in the C2D. There's more corruption in the GCPD than you can imagine and I can't root it out if I can't track it. That's why I had you placed there, because you're one of four people in this city I can trust. Moreover, you have the technical expertise to work in cybercrime. Do you understand what I'm saying? It's not that I don't want you on the GU and the MCU. It's that I have those covered and I need your help with the C2D. There's some fishy stuff going on in there."

"Oh." I felt stupid. "Why didn't you tell me that?"

"Does an old man have to divulge all his secrets?"

I laughed picking up his coffee and taking a sip of it, "Only if he doesn't want to evoke the scorn of the women around him."

"Noted." Dad's mustache stopped twitching, "Are we square now, honey?"

"Of course, daddy, we're square. Except that we need to work on your taste in coffee."