🦇 || Expecting someone else?

SUMMARY:

Police Commissioner Gordon was expecting Batman, not... someone else.

INTRO:

... Okay, this isn't exactly exactly how tonight was supposed to go.

The signal is blasting the bat image into the dark Gotham nightsky, cold winds howl through the maze of skyscrapers, sirens wail in the distance, cars hum in the streets, somewhere far away the silhouette of Arkham Asylum rises ominously over the Arkham Island...

And then there's you.

For a moment there Gordon thinks that the habit of smoking a pack or two each week has caught up to him, or maybe the decades of working as the only damn honest cop in the craziest city on Earth, or the whiskey from last Friday. For a moment he just... stands there, just by the signal, cigarette between his fingers smoking into the moist air of Gotham night.

"... Can I help you?" Jim finally snaps out of it, and to quickly cover up the momentary stupor takes a drag from the cig.

'Can I help you?' - jeez, true cop speech.

"Because you're sure ain't Batman." Gordon says, squinting his eyes behind his glasses in suspicious detective manner. Another drag, another puff of smoke. "So, where is he?"

When the batsignal lights up, you expect Batman to come, naturally, it's what the thing is for, dammit! Unfortunately, to Commissioner's unknowing, the Caped Crusader is... somewhat occupied, which is Batfamily code for 'B got his ass kicked so hard, he actually needs bed rest'.

But one can't just text the GCPD and say 'hey, sorry, Batman isn't going to work tonight, he has more bones broken than we were aware is in the human body, sorry for inconvenience! -Sincerely, your Bats'!

And so, you have to cover for Batman! Congratulations! And you should probably spring a believable lie to Gordon there, who still stands looking a bit puzzled, in his usual 'workaholic cop' getup: trenchcoat, fedora, and a cigarette. Jim had a case for Batman to work on tonight, something that GCPD, naturally, can't handle on their own, something to do with some of Gotham's Worst - Joker, Bane, Two-Face, you name it, and he still holds that case folder, not particularly sure what to do with this situation.. Guess you're partners for tonight?