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Casual Encounters
Part Four
written by destinyawakened
Jim Gordon found that he was thinking more about Bruce Wayne than he really should have been. The man, though always seen in the public eye at least once a day, was a complete mystery. Gordon was starting to see that this little playboy act he put on was just that – an act. He got a clear view of the man Bruce was trying to hide at the AT&T store; a businessman with a good head on his shoulders, making business deals with other companies without the consult – Gordon assumed – of Wayne Enterprises CEO. That was the man Gordon always suspected Bruce would become that night when at the police station over twenty years ago.
And because Bruce Wayne was so into covering up this side of him, it made Gordon begin to wonder just exactly what he was hiding from everyone else. Gordon sat at his desk, in his office, at MCU. He stared at the screen of his computer deciding whether or not he really wanted to go as far as looking into Mister Wayne's file for clues as well as his supposed “business partner” named Tony. The second wouldn't be too hard to figure out. Tony would have to be the owner of large company that most likely specialized in equipment or weapons. But searching through Bruce's file would just come up at a dead end. Back when the man went missing for seven years they ran many checks on him, and his record was completely clean. The most Gordon thought he'd find were some overdue speeding tickets; hardly something to cover-up with such an insane facade as being known as a “playboy” idiot.
I shouldn't be this interested or curious, Gordon thought. This is ridiculous. He had started to type in Bruce Wayne's name into the database field, but quickly deleted it. It would be pointless. There was a knock at his door and Sarah open it and popped her head in. He looked up at her and exited out of the screen completely.
“How did the training go with the new recruits?” Sarah asked as she closed the door behind her, leaned against and crossed her arms over her chest.
Gordon shrugged. If he was honest with himself, he wasn't really all there at the training, his mind was on the mystery that was Bruce Wayne. He didn't need to be aware of much for the training today, it was a lot of videos and tests for the recruits – a lot of downtime for him.
Sarah looked at him in an annoyed manner. “What are you doing anyway?” She moved behind his desk, standing next to him, but seemed disappointed when she found his screen was blank. She glared down at him accusingly.
“Was just catching up on paperwork.” He picked his cellphone up from the desk and waggled it at her. “I went to the cellphone store and had 'Chad' help me figure out the ring-tone option.”
“Oh? And what did you change it to?” She didn't seem to happy with him, maybe she knew he was hiding something from her. But in reality he wasn't really hiding anything from her, was he? No, no..
“Something basic...”
“... You mean something boring?” She finished for him. It was his turn to glare at her and her turn to shrug at him. Fine, they were even now.
“You have a better suggestion?” Gordon said as he pulled out the user manual for the phone so he could change it something a little more entertaining.
“No. But you should really make it something you'd like hearing every time your phone rings. You wouldn't want to get tired it.” She sat down the edge of his desk and picked up the phone and starting going through the many preprogrammed rings they had.
“Maybe I should set a different song for everyone in my phone-book.” He suggested and Sarah gave him nasty look.
“Why would you waste the time? And where did you get such a silly idea to do that?” She looked him briefly and then back at the phone, clicking through the names in his phone-book.
Again, Gordon shrugged. He couldn't and wouldn't tell her that it was something Bruce Wayne did, because then she would know he had run into the billionaire and begin to ask questions and the answers to the questions would get around the office and Gordon would have to keep answering the questions everyone wanted to know about Bruce Wayne. He snatched the phone back from her and pocketed it. She frowned at him, pouting her bottom lip out at him.
“Fine.” Sarah said as she slid off the side of his desk. “Are we at least still on for dinner tonight?”
Gordon shook his head. “After the mob run-in last night, there is still a lot of paperwork that needs to be done.” Another words he had already agreed via the mysterious text messages he got from Batman, that he would meet with him on the rooftop to discuss the case.
Sarah wasn't fooled. “Right.” She grumbled as she walked towards the door, hand on the knob. She turned her head to look back at him one more time. “I don't trust him, just so you know. If my opinion matters to you at all.”
------
Gordon stood leaned against the broken bat-signal, still in pieces on the ground. Everyone offered to clean it up, but he refused to let them pick up the pieces of something that wasn't officially over to him. He took a drag of his cigarette, closing his eyes to feel the cool breeze against his face. He didn't need to open his eyes to know when Batman was there next to him, in the shadows and watching. They'd done this long enough now that Gordon could feel the other man there.
“Don't say it.” Gordon said as he took one last drag of the cigarette before flicking it to the ground and snubbing it out with the toe of his shoe. He opened his eyes and found himself gazing into the dark eyes of Batman standing just feet away. The vigilante said nothing. “We rounded up most of the men in that warehouse last night. Still a couple wandering the streets though.”
“They'll be in hiding for while. No one to cover them.” Batman said simply. He knew better than anyone the comings and goings of the mob and the way the “families” worked. This particular one they caught in the act yesterday would be down for while, or at least until bail was set for them and they were back out on the street. Not much they could do about it.
Jim heard his cell phone go off, he'd finally decided on Bruce Springsteen's “Working on a Dream” as his ring-tone. It was one of his favorite songs after all. Batman seemed to be smirking at him with an almost “aha, I knew it” sorta of air about him. Gordon raised his eyebrows curiously at him as hit the silence button.
“Not important?” Batman asked curiously.
“Lieutenant Essen. She's mad at me because I blew off dinner with her tonight. I've got enough on my mind and I know all she wants is to pick my brain about the training today. Just not in the mood.” Gordon glared at the screen of the phone and then placed it back into his pocket. He looked at Batman again, who Gordon could had sworn had a brief grin on his face. Perhaps he was just imagining it...
“I'm sure I'll hear all about it in the morning.” Gordon sighed. Batman nodded. A silence crept around them for a few moment before Gordon saw Batman straightened his pose, something Gordon knew the man did just before disappearing into the shadows. But Batman didn't move, he just stared at the commissioner.
“Did your daughter ever get her books?” Batman asked. Gordon snapped his head towards Batman almost forgetting the meeting they had Saturday evening.
“Uh, well, yes, actually.” It wasn't unusual for Batman to care, just unusual for him to follow up on something so trivial and of all things concerning Gordon's kids, books from Bruce Wayne hardly seemed too important.
“Good.” Batman said, unmoving. The tone of the man's voice suggested that he might have done something about Bruce Wayne if he hadn't held up on his promise. But, maybe Gordon was reading a little too much into it.
Gordon thought briefly that he could possibly ask Batman to check into Wayne Enterprises for him, to find out who Bruce Wayne was dealing business with, but the more the thought crossed his mind the sillier it seemed. Batman wouldn't do it either, he had no reason to investigate Bruce Wayne and Gordon didn't want to give any hints of false accusations; he just mildly curious and could otherwise careless.
Really. Just not care.
“Jim,” Batman's voice cut through Gordon's thoughts like a jagged knife. “Your phone.” Gordon then heard his phone singing its little tune again. He sighed and took it from his pocket: Sarah.
“Should probably take this.” Gordon said as he brought the phone to his ear. He turned back to Batman to gesture he'd only be a minute, but the man was gone.
“Jim. I know you're busy with 'him', but do you think you can spare a few minutes to come over so we can talk?” Sarah asked, her tone wasn't rude, but it wasn't what Gordon would call pleasant either. He didn't want to talk, but he had no excuse now and he was a terrible liar when it came to Sarah.
“I'll be over in a few minutes.”
------
Gordon has spent the rest of his evening trying to convince Sarah that the vigilante known as Batman was not the villain he had told the city he was over a year ago. Gordon had told her this many times before and every time she said she believed him. Until a few days later when she started in again about what a bad influence Batman was on the city. Some days Gordon didn't know why he even bothered to explain it to her; she would believe what she wanted. He didn't leave her place until little after two in the morning and was now sitting in his empty apartment staring up at the ceiling from his bed.
Sometime in the last four days Bruce Wayne had crawled into his thoughts and embedded himself there permanently. This was not the last thing Gordon wanted on his mind before drifting off to sleep. He would have much rather be thinking about Sarah, or even work. Why was he thinking about Bruce Wayne and the sudden mystery that seem to be surrounding him? Wait, was there even a mystery there? Or was Gordon reading far more into things than he really needed to be?
This is ridiculous, he thought as he turned over, curled up on his side and buried his head into the pillow. He tried to think of something else, anything else.
Damn Bruce Wayne.
------
By morning Gordon had completely forgotten about the incident the day before with Bruce Wayne and walked into MCU refreshed and happy. Sarah seemed to have forgotten their small tiff as well and was back to being flirtatious with him. She didn't mention Batman and neither did Gordon. He hoped it would stay that way the rest of the day if not the rest of the week.
Come two-thirty that afternoon he headed out, told Sarah to hold the fort down, he had to go get Jimmy from school. He waited out in front of Jimmy's classroom and when he walked out Gordon grabbed the boy into a hug and began to move him towards the car parked out on the street.
As Jimmy slid into the backseat he looked towards his dad in the driver's seat and smiled. “Can we go to the comic book store on the way home?”
Gordon raised an eyebrow and turned his head back towards his son. “Would your mother approve?” Jimmy shrugged. Gordon could say no but he personally didn't see a harm in it, the boy idolized Batman, why not let him read comics of pretend heroes as well. “Alright. We'll go.”
It took a matter of ten minutes to get there through the traffic of downtown Gotham, but they arrived and parked and Jimmy was out of the car before Gordon even had a chance to turn it off. He slid out of his seat, locked the car and followed after his son into the dankly lit shop. Jimmy had gone straight for the DC comics section.
“Why not Marvel?” Gordon asked his son as he stepped up behind him. Gordon may have been behind in the times, but he grew up on comics as a kid, too. He knew somethings. Gordon himself preferred Spiderman comics and a little part of him sort of wished Jimmy would have picked that up instead of whatever it was he was reading (he couldn't quite see it at his angle).
Jimmy only shrugged.
“Oh, Gordon. Leave the boy alone. There is nothing wrong with DC Comics.” Came a voice from behind him that was as smooth as chocolate and drawled out just perfectly. Gordon's brain froze and he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. He had just gotten the damn playboy out of his thoughts this morning and now, for the fifth day in a row he was going to be face-to-face with Bruce Wayne.
Gordon slowly turned around, hand on Jimmy's shoulder to keep him where he was so he wouldn't have to go looking for him when he went to make a quick exit. Bruce stood there in a fine pressed dark blue suit, pristine white shirt and a shiny cream colored tie. This time, to Gordon's surprise, Bruce was with someone else. Another man stood next to him tinkering with a toy from the shelf next to him, looking almost more amused by it than anything else in the store. Bruce elbowed the man slightly and he put the toy down.
Gordon knew he had seen the other man before, but he couldn't quite place it. He was a little shorter than Bruce, a little less broad, but just as immaculately dressed as Bruce, right down to the cuff links on this suit jacket. He had one of those faces, much like Bruce's, that drew you in and made you feel like his best friend. Except, unlike Bruce's face, this man had a perfectly trimmed goatee that gave him an altogether devious look.
“Yeah, yeah DC comics are great –” the man said and then he looked at Bruce and then to Jimmy, who wasn't paying attention to any of them. He moved over to the wall and grabbed a comic from the marvel wall and dangled it in front of Jimmy. Gordon watched as Jimmy looked up from whatever DC comic he was looking through at the Marvel one in front of him. His eyes met the man's as he took the comic from him.
“Iron Man?” Jimmy asked skeptically. “Never heard of him.” The man scoffed and looked at Bruce and then to Gordon.
“Do you keep this kid in a cave or something? Seriously.” He paused and placed hand to his chest and smiled a little too sure of himself, for Gordon's liking. “Not that I mind caves –” the man went on but Bruce abruptly put a stop to his mindless chatter, by putting a hand on the other man's shoulder.
“Tony,” Bruce said warningly. Gordon gaped as he finally placed everything together in his mind. Tony, from Bruce's phone call yesterday. Tony as in Tony Stark, as in Iron Man. Anyone who didn't know really did have to be hiding under a rock these days; he was all over the news. And not just because he was Iron Man, but because of his company as well, Stark Industries. The combination finally made sense and Gordon felt like an idiot not realizing it before. It also left him feeling that Bruce Wayne was definitely not as dense as he was leading everyone to believe.
Bruce bent down to Jimmy's eye level and gestured at the comic in his hands. “What are you reading?”
Jimmy looked up at Bruce slowly at first looking a bit annoyed and then Gordon watched as something his sons eyes softened. Jimmy held up the comic. Gordon finally caught a glimpse of what it was: Superman. Another one of those comics made after the real deal, just like the Iron Man comic for Tony Stark. Except, no one knew who Superman really was.
“Oh, that is a good series.” Bruce said.
Jimmy nodded and closed the comic. “Yeah. But I wish they made a Batman comic. He's really a lot cooler than Superman.” Gordon wanted to stop his son from saying anything else, he even put a hand on Jimmy's shoulder to try and get him from continuing. But Bruce looked to Gordon with a stern gaze in his eyes and then back to young boy.
“But Batman is an outlaw. No one would want to read about him.” Bruce said softly. Jimmy stared Bruce straight in the eyes and his mouth trembled just a little bit and then Gordon saw his son buck-up, and take in a deep breath.
“He is not. Batman is a hero.” Jimmy's voice was very small, and so low that Gordon had to strain to hear him. Gordon felt his heart ache a little, it had been so hard on Jimmy to hear people talk about Batman the way they did, knowing that it was lies. “No one believes me.”
Bruce had a very small, caring smile on his lips as he scanned the boys face with his eyes. “I believe you.”
Gordon watched the exchanged and thought for sure he had to be hallucinating. Bruce Wayne was at it again, showing a side of himself that was just completely out of character. Gordon wanted the younger man to be walking around with a girl on each arm, flirting his way through a crowd, passing out money to every store in an attempt to buy it, and only looking out for his own benefit. Where was that Bruce Wayne? Where was the billionaire playboy – Prince of Gotham – that Gordon loathed so much? He liked this Bruce Wayne and he really couldn't have any of that.
Tony Stark had walked back to the toys, obviously not interested at all in the conversation, and was playing with the Iron Man action figures. Bruce had stood back up, Gordon not hearing the end of the conversation his son had just had with the billionaire, but Jimmy didn't seem upset anymore – that was a good sign. Bruce turned to Gordon with a smile that bigger, flashier and lot faker.
“I told your son I had something for him. I felt terrible about bringing your daughter something the other day and nothing for Jimmy. Would you mind if I dropped that by later this evening?” Bruce asked. His tone now was more professional, more business-as-usual than he had been when he was talking to Gordon's son.
Gordon was still in a bit of shock and numbly nodded his head. He would regret this, he was sure. “His mother will be by around six tonight to pick him up...”
“I'll be by before then.” Bruce gave a little wave to Gordon and walked towards Tony. Gordon stood, hand on his sons shoulder, watching Bruce and Tony exchange what looked to be friendly banter as Tony held up the Iron Man action figure and taunted Bruce with it. Bruce rolled his eyes and Gordon strained to hear pieces of their conversation, only catching the occasional “No, Batman is not better than Iron Man” and “You just keep telling yourself that, Bruce” and “Oh is that what you told him our companies were together working on”.
Gordon sighed. Bruce Wayne was becoming more of a mystery, now more than ever. At least the question as to who “Tony” was answered, but it also left a lot more confusion. And, Now Gordon had to deal with Bruce Wayne coming to his house for the second time that week. He hoped to God it was quick and that Barbara showed up during the visit so he didn't have to attempt to make small talk with Bruce and most likely his butler. Gordon also found he was wishing more than anything that Tony Stark was not tagging along with Bruce Wayne that evening. One billionaire playboy was quite enough.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven | Part Eight