This is the second story in a trilogy. Part one is BlindJustice; part
three is Coin Toss.
Author's note:
The Water Cooler Dialogue Prologue snippet and the conversation and
recollections of Triptych all take place before the events of Officer
Down!.
The "quote" from Gordon's meeting with Superman and Batgirl is a paraphrase
and not a direct quote, as is the NML Dialogue.
*Pyser* a type of hard pear cider.
---
Gordon told Bock and Montoya about his first meeting with the Bat, and some
of the better anecdotes from the meetings the two had had over the years
they worked together to keep Gotham City safe. Later after he went home, he
sat in his favorite armchair, remembering a couple of stories he couldn't
tell his officers.
He remembered a young, muscular, vivacious redhead in the garb of the Bat.
He also remembered the day he realized exactly who the Bat was.
--
Jim came home early from work one night; Barbara was working late at her
off-campus job in the library as assistant to the head librarian, so she
wasn't home to greet him that night.
Since he was coming home early, he stopped off at MacGinty's Pub and
brought home Moira MacGinty's Irish stew, made with really succulent pieces
of lamb and beef; while he was at the pub, a stuffed bear wearing the
Gordon Clan kilt hopped in his paper bag and demanded to go home to a
certain beautiful daughter's stuffed animal collection, so he had it
wrapped for her as a present he had been working REALLY long hours at the
precinct since he'd taken the Commissioner's position, so he wanted to
surprise his daughter by coming home early and with a pleasant dinner for a
change.
He walked into his darkened house, turning on lights and depositing the
stew in the kitchen, where he would heat it in a broiler pan to bubbling
about 20 minutes before he knew Barbara would be home. He'd also purchased
blueberry and lemon scones, good, sharp Cheddar, a few pints of MacGinty's
best house cider and pyser * and two loaves of Mrs. MacGinty's brown bread
as well, to make the meal especially special as it was a rare thing for him
to bring in dinner, because of the crazy hours he and Babs were
increasingly keeping.
After he deposited dinner in the kitchen, he wandered up to Babs' room to
leave the new member of the collection on a prominent place on her bed. He
had just put down the package when a bit of gray cloth poking from beneath
Barbara's otherwise tidy bed's dust ruffle caught his eye.
Thinking it was a bit of laundry she'd missed putting in the hamper, he
pulled it out from under the bed...
And stared for what seemed like endless moments at the smoky gray unitard
with the bat symbol in yellow on it and the mask and boots that had been
rolled inside.
It felt as if the world whirled in a hundred different directions, and then
came to rest in place, and nothing was the same.
His Barbara, *his beautiful, brilliant, sunny daughter* was _Batgirl_.
Rage, pain, fear, all those emotions, separately and together, raced
through his heart, all at one time as Jim replaced the suit more securely
under the bed and walked back downstairs again, to ready dinner.
Rationally, he knew what Batgirl, along with Batman and Robin, meant to -
and FOR - Gotham. Without them, Gotham would resemble that toxic wasteland
of a city just south of Gotham called Bludhaven; there were times when it
seemed that the Batman and his partners were the *only* thing standing
between Gotham as a livable city and Gotham as a clone of Bludhaven.
But, selfishly, Barbara was his daughter and the one light in his life.
Without her, his life simply wasn't worth living. He found himself
*enraged* at Batman for leading _his_ daughter into situations where she
could be at the very least, maimed for life!
And yet - when had _anyone_ "led" Barbara _anywhere?
With a mental chuckle of grim humor, Jim recalled that his daughter could
also be one of the most stubborn individuals to walk the surface of Mother
Earth too - she *never* did *anything* unaware and without careful
thought; the Batman could never, and frankly, he thought *would never* have
convinced or coerced Barbara into *anything.*
In fact, he remembered that in the very first days that he saw Batgirl with
Batman, Batman looked annoyed and irritated with the fledgling heroine, and
underneath the irritation, there was a vague hint of ... almost fatherly
concern about the girl and her welfare, as well. Batgirl's attitude toward
Batman, by contrast, seemed like a combination of genuine admiration of the
morals and principles of Batman and a full-blown crush of a young woman on
a much-older man she admires and finds interesting. Jim had also noticed
(with some relief) that the "budding" sexual interest was *not* returned
instead, there was the vague impression that the man under the cloak of the
Bat was a combination of a bit uncomfortable with the hero worship and
crush he sensed from Batgirl and oddly enough, a little oblivious to it, as
well, because he seemed - emotionally perhaps - not mature enough to
respond to it.
It was also obvious that the Batman cared about the welfare of his
partners, and shortly after that first meeting, Jim remembered noticing
that Batgirl's offensive and defensive skills improved very quickly after
that initial meeting. Within 6 weeks of working side by side with the Dark
Knight, she'd moved with the same feline grace as Robin and Batman.
Jim realized that he'd seen that strange contradiction of images that he
spotted in Batman before when speaking to an acquaintance of his, but he
couldn't remember who it was at that moment. He knew, though, given time,
he'd remember who that reaction had reminded him of. He knew that it was
someone he knew fairly well and that he'd seen often enough for that person
to make an impression on him..
--
That night at dinner, Jim struggled not to show his terror and
consternation at his discovery that day to his daughter, who did most of
the talking about a new computer upgrade that had just arrived at the
library. He couldn't help thinking, though - what dangers would she meet up
with tonight?
The thought gave him three days of sleepless nights. At the end of the
third night, he knew he had to rationalize that his daughter was a young
adult and could make her own decisions, maturely – but that didn't mean he
had to like the situation. His meetings with Batman the week after the
discovery were a bit less cordial than usual, but as he came to the
decision to let Barbara make her own decisions for and in her own life, the
unmentioned tension between the two men slowly subsided during the weeks
that followed.
--
Six weeks later:
The annual Gotham City Policeman's Ball was also one of the high society
social events of the year for Gotham City's rich and famous as well as the
yearly meet-and-mingle networking hobnob for Gotham's police. This year it
was being held in the Kane Convention Center, an elegant Art Deco building
that was something of a bright spot in Gotham City's slightly grim streets.
Built before the darker times had come to the city in the mid-60's, the
convention center was an oasis of beauty, like a diamond set in tarnished
silver. The organizers of the ball stopped at no cost, for once, to honor
the *official* protectors of the city.
Jim really hated starchy, showy, one-upmanship black tie affairs, but as
commissioner of Gotham City's police force, he was required to be at the
ball at least until 9 o'clock that evening.
After having to literally inch away, step by step, from a group of Gotham's
society register headed by Veronica Vreeland discussing how the new city
zoning and the newly passed earthquake retrofitting and new building
construction code laws would drive down the property values in the rich
section of Gotham City on the West Side of town, Jim felt the need of some
air.
He made his way out toward the Kane Memorial Fountain, the center point of
the courtyard of the convention center, partly because the coolness of the
air around the fountain was refreshing after being in a stuffy ballroom
most of the autumn evening. Jim could smell the crisp scent of apples and
of drying fall leaves on the wind that was cooled by the fountain, and he
stopped to perch on the corner of the fountain to clear his head.
As he was sitting on the edge of the fountain, he noticed the increasing
volume of an argument between a couple beginning in a semi-shaded corner of
the courtyard.
"No, Billy, I will NOT go with you to your place tonight. I told you, I
have to go back home at 10 so that I can take over my brother's shift at my
family's store… ! " the young woman hissed at her date.
"C'mon, Renee, you *know* you want to go home with me. C'mon, we've been
dating for six weeks now... Can't you call home and tell Mommy and Daddy to
let you off one night?" the woman's blond haired date loudly and
drunkenly slurred back
Jim recognized Billy as Lieutenant William Pettit, the young SWAT team
officer that George Colson, the current SWAT team leader was looking at as
a future replacement; Pettit was already three-sheets-to-the-wind -
intoxicated, and was obviously ignoring the young woman's objections to
going home with him.
"No, I can't! My brother Manny's leaving early so he can study for his
midterms, and tonight till tomorrow's night shift was the only time off I
had, and I promised that I'd do this a month ago to help out!!!" Renee
replied looking VERY irritated with her date..
Jim noticed that the woman speaking was one of his hardest working young
officers, Renee Montoya; her devotion to job and family had already gotten
her noticed, and Jim was quietly considering putting the young officer on
the fast track to Detective-- good, hard working cops like this youngster
certainly deserved the opportunity to move ahead.
He couldn't help thinking that she should have had better taste in men,
though.
Billy suddenly grabbed Renee's arm, roughly, and was going to attempt to
drag her to the door, and presumably, out to his car. Jim straightened up,
prepared to intervene, but Pettit was stopped suddenly when he collided
with a tall, seemingly equally intoxicated dark-haired man in a tailored-to-
fit Armani suit who was exiting to the courtyard.
It seemed as though the man who collided with Pettit only stumbled and
brushed his arm, but Pettit suddenly let go of Renee's hand with a grunt of
pain and an expression of agony. The dark-haired man recovered from his
stumble, apologizing, and Pettit, who looked at first like he was going to
pick a fight with -- or just plain deck - the other man, suddenly blanched
stark white, mumbled something, and left without Renee, quickly.
Renee, who had also noticed the identity of the dark-haired man, also
looked a little surprised at who her erstwhile savior was, but after a
momentary conversation with him, she smiled and walked back into the party
through the door he held open for her, charmed by the courtesy of the dark-
haired man's smile, words and actions.
Jim noticed then that this man was Bruce Wayne, richest man in Gotham City
and all-around ladies' man, as well as all-around notorious klutz and
stumblebum.
He also noticed a sudden, abrupt change in Wayne's face on watching Renee
walk away that lasted for about 30 seconds before it was hidden under the --
mask -- of the empty-headed playboy socialite. The expression on Wayne's
went in an instant from vapid drunk to a battle hardened look mixed with
satisfaction, then back to intoxicated vacuousness, but not so quickly that
Jim failed to notice the change.
Wayne finally noticed Gordon standing in the mist of the fountain and
ambled toward the Commissioner.
Jim exchanged pleasantries with Wayne for a few moments; afterward, Wayne
wandered back into the ballroom. While talking with Wayne, he noticed the
exact same feeling of duality he'd perceived from Batman in this man -- he
had known him for years.
However, while talking to Bruce Wayne now, he got the impression that
although Wayne was talking about commonplaces, his mind was somewhere else,
and also that there was a lot more going on behind those dark sapphire eyes
than
Jim knew Bruce socially, from events like this; his daughter babysat for
Bruce's young ward, Dick Grayson but, this was the first time he'd really
thought about the little things about the Bruce Wayne he'd known for years
that didn't quite add up in the man's image; since finding out that Barbara
was Batgirl, he'd looked at everyone he knew, trying to remember the
individual that triggered that sense of twin-ness... Now, Jim saw it
*clearly*.
Bruce Wayne *was* the Batman. The attitudes he displayed most of the time,
his obvious emotional immaturity reaction to the deaths of his parents,
murdered in front of him as a child; noticing that he seemed to just...
disappear when trouble was around - and although everyone remembered he was
there at the beginning of a crisis where the Batman appeared, no one
remembered seeing him in the crowd during the crisis - but the Batman was
there, instead.
After their conversation concluded, Bruce announced that he was having more
champagne and turned back to wander back into the party. Jim noticed, also,
at that moment, that he was drinking sparkling *water* - not champagne,
too.
The champagne this year was a amber-colored Asti, specially imported from
France and gifted to the Policeman's Ball by a Belgian Ambassador that the
GCPD escorted around town as guards on his first trip to the US and Gotham
City.
The glass in Bruce Wayne's hand contained a clear, sparkling liquid that
was purely white clear.
Bruce Wayne wandered back into the party indoors.
Jim, however, stood in the cool mists of the fountain, going into shock
again with realization as he put two and two together and made four .
--
Later that evening:
The shock still hadn't worn off; Jim was alternating between absolute rage
and surprise, as he put more and more of the puzzle together.
If his suspicions were correct, someone he'd known for YEARS had not only
lied to him for at least the 5+ years he'd known him, but he was risking
the life of his daughter - and, he realized with that revelation that Dick
Grayson *had* to be *Robin* if Batman was Bruce Wayne* which meant he was
also risking the life of his ward as well...
It made his blood boil just thinking about it.
But, then, that rational corner of his mind grabbed the raging side of his
mind and made it listen to reason: He didn't officially KNOW that Bruce
Wayne was Batman. He had already decided to accept Barbara's decision to be
Batgirl, and he knew from watching Batman and Robin work together that the
two of them alone could and usually did take down entire gangs of thugs
with their bare hands, sheer nerves and fighting skills just short of
supernatural.
And, if that were the case, then confronting him wasn't necessary; Batman,
like Gordon would have in his shoes had taken as many precautions as
could be reasonably and, frankly, *un*reasonably be done to keep his
proteges safe. Like when he'd decided to let Barbara make her own
decisions, he decided now to let things lie, and not "out" Wayne as the
Batman. Since the knowledge wasn't official, he could deny it if asked
directly, and that plausible deniability kept Batman, Robin and
especially Batgirl safe, and as a sworn officer of the law, he couldn't
chase vigilantes that "officially" existed.
--
Three weeks later
Gordon met up with Superman and Batgirl when they were attempting to stop
the thieves of the 100 Gang out of Metropolis; Superman had made some
comment about watching Batgirl's back, and Jim had almost given away the
store when he said to Superman as he flew Batgirl to confront the 100, "Be
careful, 'cause Batgirl's still somebody's daughter...
And he watched them fly away thinking � That's *MY* daughter. Please,
please, Superman � and any listening angels, too - keep my beautiful
daughter safe"
Last year, near the middle of the NML: late August 2001
All the anger, rage and hatred that his rational mind had managed to bury,
deep in his heart and mind, were exploding from the end of his right fist
as he roundhouse-punched Batman in the jaw -- and, in a corner of his mind,
he noticed that Batman didn't duck --he even looked defeated, like a lost
child for all his size and obvious strength. He was telling him to leave
his home, leave the Blue Boys territory, and at this moment, all the
emotions he'd pent up over the years could all be expressed with that one
punch. For once, Batman listened, leaving his garden as he'd asked, but he
left a parting comment that Two-Face really couldn't be trusted.
Plausible deniability really meant nothing when someone you had depended on
for so very long betrayed you - especially when you'd been loyal to him -
at least, that was how Jim felt at the time.
Jim also had finally expressed in that punch the rage he felt that Batman
hadn't killed the Joker when he had the chance - the grinning hyena-like
freak madman who'd put his beautiful daughter in a wheelchair for the rest
of her life.
--
Last year, near the end of the NML: late November 2001
Batman and Jim stood in the garden, exchanging "niceties", but really
dancing around the words each really wanted to say. But, when they finally
started talking, Jim finally got most of what he'd needed to say to Batman
off his chest. Then, when Batman felt he needed to prove his loyalty to Jim
as a person as an absolute certainty by showing him who he truly was - Jim
realized that 1- he had always been right and 2 - he didn't *have* to know
for certain that Bruce Wayne was Batman. He begged him to put the mask back
on - because not officially knowing meant that the protection of the city
both loved so much was secure again, and also - it kept a little "mystery"
in the friendship, and yes, also - *partnership* between himself and
Batman.
Now:
Jim sat at the kitchen table, drinking a quiet pint of MacGinty's best
pyser, and thinking about all that had occurred over the years that he'd
known - and dealt with - Batman and his proteges. His thoughts turned, as
they often did, to his daughter, Barbara, and as if thinking of her
summoned her, his cell phone rang, startling him from his reminiscing with
a jolt. It was Barbara.
"Hi, Dad!" she said.
"Hi, beautiful, how are you?" he said, feeling his mood brightening just
speaking to her.
"Wonderful, Dad - I called to find out - are you free for dinner tomorrow
night?"
"For you, any time. What's the occasion?"
"... And, why does there have to be an *occasion* to take my Dad to dinner?
You're not turning down a free dinner, are you?"
"No, no, of course not"
His thoughts were distracted from heavy-weighted issues of secrets as the
two talked on for an hour, discussing their dinner plans for the next
evening.
At that particular moment, Jim Gordon felt like the richest man in the
world, and that was a fact that there was no need whatsoever to *deny*.
