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English
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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
Words:
1,057
Chapters:
1/1
Kudos:
8
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2,233

Back Porch

Summary:

Batman: The Dark Knight -- preslash bit between Batman and Jim Gordon.

This is all Stef's fault.

Work Text:

The silent figure in black waited in the shadows. It was a warm night, pouring down rain. The sounds of Gotham were muted, but the argument was sharp in his ears.

“We can’t go on like this, Jim!” a female voice shouted.

“Barbara, please,” a tired voice pleaded.

Batman ignored the water pouring over him. His eyes narrowed. He’d heard Jim Gordon weary before, but there was an extra something in his tone that set every nerve on edge.

“I’m tired of living while looking over my shoulder! I’m tired of living in terror of you not coming home!” Barbara Gordon’s voice rose an octave. “You didn’t have to see the looks in your children’s eyes when I told them you were dead!”

“You don’t understand. I had to.”

“Why? Why did you have to!”

“I couldn’t put you in danger. With the Joker on the loose--”

“Don’t!” she snarled.

While her voice became more and more angry and agitated, his was more tired and resigned to take all of her well deserved venom. Batman clenched his hands into fists. He had to stomp on the impulse to march in there and beat some sense into her. Didn’t she realize that she was beating up one of the best men that he knew?

“I was a target and that made you and the kids one,” Gordon said levelly. “Joker had to think I was dead.”

“Couldn’t you have told me?” she accused.

Gordon sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, but it had to be convincing.”

Batman shifted to see in the window. She had her hands on her hips. She stuck her chin out. “I won’t live like this anymore. I want you to quit. I want to move. I want to be safe.”

Gordon took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. “No,” he said quietly.

She shook her head and blinked back tears. “Haven’t you had enough? This place already destroyed Harvey Dent because he was a good man. I don’t want to see that happen to you.”

Batman took a deep breath and let it out slowly. //I wouldn’t let it.//

“It won’t,” Gordon tried to assure her, but they both knew he couldn’t make any promises.

Her eyes hardened again. “The Joker’s in Arkam. How long do you think that will last? Or how long before another psychopath comes along? This is the perfect breeding ground. Can’t you see there’s nothing here worth salvaging?”

Batman closed his eyes for a moment and saw Rachel Dawes’ face. He grimaced. //Yes, there is something worth salvaging, but there will be a cost.//

Gordon stepped closer to her and took her by the shoulders. He pressed their foreheads together. “There’s still good here,” he said with quiet intensity.

She grabbed his wrists. “Gotham is rotten to the core. You just refuse to see it.” She dug her nails into his skin. “You won’t leave him.”

He jerked away from her as if he’d been burned. For the first time, he raised his voice. “If I give in now, all the sacrifices and deaths will have been for nothing. Dent’s death has to mean something.”

“You may believe that, but don’t lie to me!” She viciously slapped his face. “You’re obsessed with that bat! Tomorrow I’m taking the kids to visit their grandparents in Metropolis.”

Batman saw Gordon’s shoulders slump even more. He growled quietly. //Stupid bitch doesn’t know what she’s talking about.//

Gordon cleared his throat. “Maybe that would be for the best,” he said without trace of emotion. “For a little while.”

“Will you come with us?” she asked curtly.

“No,” Gordon whispered and turned his back on her. He went out to the back stoop and leaned against the railing. He took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket but his hands shook and he had trouble getting one out. He cocked his head to the side as if listening to the rain. “I guess you heard.”

One end of Batman’s mouth quirked up. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” he said dryly.

Gordon looked up and to his left where he could see Batman’s face. He managed a small smile that lit his tired eyes. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“I know.”

“But I’m still glad to see you.”

Batman gave the smallest of nods. “I’m sure it was just her stress talking,” he said awkwardly.

Gordon managed to shake a cigarette out. He put it between his lips and slipped the pack back in his pocket. He lit it and took a deep drag. He blew the smoke out slowly and studied the darkness. “True, but this has been building for a long time. I can’t say that I blame her.”

Batman wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He watched Gordon’s body language. Gordon’s whole manner suggested a very weary, lonely, and guilt-ridden man who possessed a will of iron. Unfortunately, he knew that lonely, guilty feeling all too well.

Gordon ran his free hand through his hair. “A little time away from here will do her and the kids good.”

They were both quiet through the rest of Gordon’s first cigarette. It was a companionable silence. When he lit a second one, he spoke again, still not looking at Batman. “I guess you heard everything.”

Batman blinked and her words sounded in his head. A warm feeling suddenly spread through him. “You’re obsessed with that bat,” he repeated.

Gordon dared meet Batman’s eyes again. “She knows me too well,” he said ruefully. “Sorry.”

Batman held Gordon’s gaze. “There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

Gordon had to look away from that intensity before it swept him away. He threw the cigarette into the puddle below him. He glanced back up to see that Batman was gone, although he had the feeling that Batman was still watching him. Somehow, he found that comforting.

Gordon sighed and sank down onto one of the steps. A second later, young James ran out the back door and sat next to his father. He looked on Gordon with concern. “You all right, Dad?”

Gordon put an arm around James’ shoulders. “Fine.”

James bit his bottom lip. “You sure?”

Gordon kissed the top of James’ head. He gave the first full smile Batman had seen from him all night. “Yes.”

“I don’t want to go visit Grandma and Grandpa.”

“Why not? They have a pool.”

“I don’t like leaving you by yourself,” James answered solemnly.

Gordon gave James a squeeze. “I’ll be okay.”

“Batman will be there to help if you need it, right?”

“Right,” Batman mumbled from his perch and melted away into the night.