Superman/Batman Chapter 4: A Manor of Speaking
Upon returning to the Batcave, John Blake contemplated what Crane had told him. He had never heard of a criminal named "Al," but felt confident that Crane had been telling him the truth. Unfortunately, taking down the middle man would never slow down this "Al" character from getting his shipments, but at least he knew that the maker was rooted in Gotham and that Crane would be safely locked up again. He had long been on Blake's mind after condemning hundreds of innocent people to death during the Siege of Gotham that had left the city in chaos not three years prior. The event that had left the city devastated and nearly destroyed if it had not been for the heroics of the fabled Batman.
"The Batman," Blake whispered to himself as he looked around the Batcave that had once been the headquarters of Gotham's most infamous vigilante. Only a few ever found out his true identity as Bruce Wayne, the man who just so happened to disappear the same day as the dark knight. But seeing as how a majority of the rich elite in Gotham had been killed during those fateful months that Bane had taken control, most had written off his death as a coincidence. But Blake already knew that there was no such thing as coincidences.
During Wayne's will reading, Blake received the coordinates and equipment to discover the Batcave, yet had found everything in it to be either password encoded, too complicated, or too broken to use. The batpod, some devices and trinkets, and the armor were practically the only parts that Blake had salvaged. Unfortunately the armor didn't fit, but the belt and some of the pieces still helped him immensely in his attempt to fill in as the guardian of Gotham. For the most part he had only been taking down small pieces of the criminal underbelly as the Military had cleared out and put down most of the major threats after the Siege. But he wanted the remaining bad guys to continue looking over their shoulders.
Blake could hear music upstairs and remembered that the Martha and Thomas Wayne Charity Fundraiser for Orphaned Youths was going on tonight. Cursing under his breath for forgetting, he ran towards the elevator that led up to the manor, but stopped when he noticed a light glow out of the corner of his eye. No one had been down here except him since the Siege, but he found one of the computers had been turned on. Sitting down at the chair, he found that the database had been accessed and was used to bring up information on a company called LexCorp. Confused, he checked the user ID and laughed to himself before standing back up and walking to the elevator, ascending to Wayne Manor.
The party was grandiose and had all the makings of a typical rich elite shindig. Overweight men in penguin suits standing around with attractive female models at their sides; feigned sympathy and an overall lack of regard for anything but power hung in the air like a putrid cloud.
Blake hated these events, but since becoming the assistant director of the Wayne Manor Orphanage it was one of his duties to suck the teat of the wealthy every once in a while to make sure the kids received the kind of care that they deserved. It wasn't too long ago that he himself was in their position; the loneliness, the despair, the misery of not feeling loved or appreciated. No child should ever have to endure so much pain.
"Blake! Is that you, it's been too long!" An old voice shouted to him as he walked into the ballroom, freshly cleaned and shined up for the party.
"Commissioner Gordon, wow, I wouldn't have expected to find a servant of the peace such as yourself at one of these things," Blake replied, suddenly realizing just how much he had truly missed the commissioner in the last few years.
"Apparently then you haven't heard, he's finally retiring and is receiving a massive award here tonight for all of his tireless services to our city," a beautiful young woman with scarlet red hair and a tight black dress spoke, stepping towards the two men.
Blake's eyes widened, he hadn't taken the commissioner for a cradle robber like the rest of the men at the party, but tried to hide his shock as best as he could.
"And what a great piece of eye candy to have at your side, tonight!" Blake responded, failing to hold his tongue, "Surely she's enough of an award."
"Surely," the commissioner laughed, "Blake I would like you to meet my daughter, Barbara. Barbara this is an old friend and former colleague of mine, John Blake."
"Pleased to meet you," Barbara said politely. Unfortunately Blake's foot was already inserted directly into his mouth so his only response was to smile like an idiot and nod back to her.
"Barbara has moved back to Gotham despite her mother and I's disapproval to attend Gotham University this fall," Gordon said making a face as though he had just bit into a sour lemon.
"Oh that doesn't seem so bad, what are you going to major in?" Blake asked.
"Criminal Justice with a minor in computer sciences," she replied with a huge grin on her face. Blake noticed her father roll his eyes in disgust.
"Ah," said Blake.
"Crime has always plagued this city, and if I make half of the impact on corruption that my father did, then hopefully someday they'll give me a major award when I retire."
"If you make it to retirement," Gordon chimed in, "Barbara this is a dangerous line of work, I don't see how you can make such a choice after seeing what happened to this city!"
"Hey we made it out alive, didn't we?" Blake added, receiving a smile from Barbara and a scowl from Gordon.
"Because of a masked vigilante, yes, we made it out alive," Gordon scolded. "After half of the city was destroyed, all of the criminals were released, and most of the people killed or in fear for their lives, some of us survived to teach the next generation about our mistakes!"
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted as the music hushed and someone stepped up to a podium and tapped a microphone. Gordon opened his mouth as if to continue but instead looked towards the speaker and remained silent.
"Welcome everybody to the Wayne Manor Orphanage's Holiday Charity Fundraiser!" The voice was feminine and enthusiastic, and Blake turned to see a beautiful woman with platinum blonde hair delivering the words. "As the celebrity host for this year's event, let me just start by saying how appreciative I am that you all came out to support the orphans here in Gotham. It's the holiday season and we need to remember that there are a lot of people out there less fortunate than us. But because of all of you, the children here will have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year! So let's hear it for everyone here!" The crowd immediately roared with applause and cheers.
"I'm told that tonight we're also celebrating the career of one of the most important figures in Gotham's history, the best cop we've ever had, and one of the people responsible for saving Gotham three years ago, Commissioner James Gordon!" The crowd again cheered, but Blake noticed it wasn't as enthusiastic as when they were cheering for themselves. "Let's see if we can get him up here for a few words!"
Gordon looked at Blake and then at Barbara and let out a defeated sigh, then nodded and began to make his way up to the podium.
"Does he have a speech prepared?" Blake asked Barbara.
"Nope," she responded, "We all remember what happened last time he wrote down a speech. He'll probably just go up and give a few thank yous, some parting words, and then honor the fallen."
"Thank you Vicki Vale, and a special thank you to all the citizens of Gotham who have persevered through some tough times during my time as your commissioner," he began. "I don't have anything prepared, but I'd like to keep this short and sweet. I was born here, I have struggled here, I have succeeded here, and some day I will die here. Though I retire at sunrise on New Year's Day, I will remain in Gotham till the end of my days, and hope to enjoy many more years as a regular citizen. My hope is that I have left this city safer than when I took office, and would ask a moment of silence for those who have given their lives to make that safety possible."
Gordon followed with a brief pause, looking out into the audience with a hallowed stare. Blake could see the toll the job had taken on him after so many years of hard fought peace. The mob, the league of shadows, the Joker, Harvey Dent, Bane. Gordon was carrying a weight that no one could see or even begin to understand. Well, almost no one.
Gordon stepped off the podium and walked out of the room with his head down. Blake began to go after him, but was stopped by Barbara.
"It's probably best if you let him have some space for a while," she said. "Plus, who is going to protect me from all of these old men with money if you leave?"
"It looks like you could fend for yourself," Blake grinned, yet he stayed put.
As Gordon walked down the hallway out of the ballroom, he passed a large portrait of Bruce Wayne and stopped for a moment to carefully assess the man in the painting. The billionaire playboy who had risked his life in secret for nearly a decade stood before him on canvas. And he was never able to thank him, the hero of Gotham.
A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy's shoulders to let him know the world hadn't ended.
"Thank you, Mr. Wayne," Gordon said under his breath.
"I told you that you would never have to thank me," A voice came from the shadows behind Gordon.