DC:The Darkest Knight

 After dealing with the Riddler, I left Arkham and flew to the GCPD. Arriving at the top of the building, I jumped from the Batwing and glided down to where James Gordon stood by the railing, cigarette in hand.

I landed quietly and approached him.

"Commissioner," at my words, Gordon flinched slightly, but other than that, he didn't react much.

[JAMES GORDON]

"You're late," he said without looking back.

"It seems you were expecting me," I said as I joined him, both of us gazing out at Gotham.

There was smoke rising in every part of the city, sirens were louder than usual, and police cars were constantly coming and going from the GCPD.

The streets were quieter now; fewer people were out, leaving behind only criminals who were taking advantage of the chaos to loot stores or rob civilians.

"I had a feeling you'd show up," Gordon said, taking a drag from his cigarette.

"So you are telling me that for the last half hour or so, while the whole city was in chaos, instead of leading the police, you stayed here smoking and waiting for me to show up because you had a feeling?"

This old man is far too irresponsible for someone in his position.

"It sounds pretty bad when you put it that way, but I had a feeling that if I didn't catch you tonight, it could take years for us to be alone again. My gut feelings have never been wrong, and they weren't this time either," he said, waving his hand to brush off the subject before facing me.

"What about that Riddler guy?" he asked.

"He is settling into his new room at Arkham."

"Don't expect any gratitude. If anything, be thankful I'm not arresting you right now," Gordon said, flicking away his cigarette. "There is your fault in this chaos as much as that Riddler guy. That nutsack caused all this to get to you. Do you have any idea how many people died today because of you?"

"95, and there would be many more if it weren't for me," I said, which only made Gordon angrier as he glared at me.

"I can't take all the blame, Commissioner. You have your share in this chaos too."

"What did you say, punk?" Gordon snapped, his brow furrowed as he stepped closer, his hand resting on his gun, trying to intimidate me.

I bit my lip to hold back a laugh. Instead of looking intimidating, Gordon seemed like a kid trying to challenge his older brother because of our height difference. I was a whole head taller than him, so when he got close, he had to tilt his head back to look at me.

Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself down.

"You were a good cop before, Commissioner, or at least as good as they come in Gotham. You devoted yourself to this city, sacrificing your life and youth to make a difference. You put yourself on the line countless times just to save one more person. You cared about others more than yourself, like the day you had to take care of that 8-year-old rich kid whose parents were murdered. You stayed with the kid all night and comforted him while your wife and newborn child waited for you at home. And you throw it all away to catch little old me," I said, still looking at Gotham and ignoring him

Because if I look at him now, I'll burst into laughter.

Seeing his attempt to intimidate me fail, Gordon stepped back.

"Say what you're trying to say like a man; don't beat around the bush," he said, leaning against the railing and rubbing the back of his neck.

"How long have you been commissioner, James Gordon?"

"2 months, but what's that got to do with all of this?"

"You always paid attention to me, even before you became commissioner. But after you took the job, it got worse. I became your main focus, an obsession. You used all of GCPD's resources to hunt me down, neglecting your duty to go after real criminals—" I wanted to say more, but he cut me off.

"You are a criminal. You aren't stopping crime or solving cases. You're committing them. What you're doing isn't catching criminals; it's assault. You aren't solving crimes; you're interfering with police investigations. As a police officer, it's my duty to catch criminals. Who do you think you are to tell me otherwise?" Gordon said angrily as he once again came closer to me, poking my chest with his finger.

His gesture annoyed me a little. I wanted to grab his finger and rip it from his hand, but I held myself back.

"I want the same thing as you, Commissioner. Cleanse our city of its filth, protect the innocent, and make Gotham a better place. I'm not your enemy; I'm your ally."

"Then ditch this ridiculous costume and become a cop. Do it the right way, by the book."

"No one can chain me, Commissioner. You know that, and trying to do so would be a mistake. That Riddler guy is just the beginning. Others will come, some far worse than him. You know that. I can see it from your face. They won't play by the book. Why should we?" I said, and my words finally reached Gordon.

He took a step back, sighed heavily, and gripped the railings tightly, his knuckles turning white as he stared at Gotham.

"I'm not asking you to work with me. All I want is for you to stop fighting against me. And don't worry, nothing will change. We'll keep doing what we've always done: protect Gotham."

Gordon stayed silent, pulling out another cigarette and lighting it before taking a deep breath.

"...If we're going to do this, you need to change your ways," he said heavily as he exhaled the smoke.

"What's wrong with my ways? They are pretty effective. Criminals shiver in fear just from my name."

"That's the problem. You're too brutal and ruthless. Once you're done with the criminal, you leave them too broken. It takes days of medical care to barely keep them alive, not to mention the therapy they need to attend afterward. We can't even interrogate 9 out of the 10 criminals you catch because of how badly you beat them up."

"They deserve it. Those lowlifes deserve every single hit for the innocent lives they destroyed for their own amusement."

"Tell that to the guy whose jaw you broke just for smoking in a non-smoking area."

"That scum had it coming."

Gordon stared at me for a moment, trying to gauge if I was serious, which I definitely was.

That bastard should've thought twice before committing such a vile act.

Since he couldn't see my expression behind the mask, Gordon just shook his head.

"You're as insane as they are; maybe that is why you are so good at your job," he said, taking another drag from his cigarette.

"But I have to say, Commissioner, you accepted this deal quicker than I thought you would."I was a bit surprised he agreed so fast, especially after years of trying to catch me and declaring me the number one enemy of the police force.

I'm feeling kinda down since I didn't even get to manipulate him properly.

But it's good that he agreed since I really don't need the cops breathing down my neck all the time while I'm beating criminals.

"I might be a stubborn old man, but I'm not a fool, Batman. I know how effective you are despite your unorthodox ways, and I'm tired of this cat-and-mouse game. Every time I catch you, all it takes is for me to take my eyes off you for a second, and you just disappear like you never existed in the first place," he said, extinguishing his cigarette on the railing before turning towards me and looking at me with narrowed eyes.

From the looks of his eyes, either this old man is smitten by my godly physique and decided to think of me in a sexual way, or he thinks I am either a robot or a demon.

"By the way, I've always wondered, are you even human?" Gordon asked.

It brings me relief that he was thinking the latter.

"You're not the first one to ask, but yeah, I am human. This is just a suit. I can show you if you don't believe me."

"I'll take your word for it," Gordon said, but I could see from his face that he was really curious about my suit.

"If we are going to be working together from now on, or at least not be at each other's throats anymore, let me show you my sincerity and satisfy your curiosity. Otherwise, you'll always wonder if I'm really human," I said as my suit retracted back into my body, leaving just my helmet.

"That's some cool party trick you got there," Gordon remarked, stepping back to examine me thoroughly.

His gaze lingered on my crotch for a second before he quickly looked away."Lucky bastard got a damn bat for meat," he muttered.

"How old are you, kid? And don't lie. Even if I didn't want to, I've seen countless bodies in my time, and your skin looks too smooth, like a teenager, no older than 20."

This old man has some sharp eyes.

"How rude, Commissioner. Don't you know that it's impolite to ask a vigilante's age?" I joked to shift the topic, but Gordon continued to glare at me, waiting for my response.

"I'm as old as you think I am."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I won't either," I said, spreading my arms wide, still in my birthday suit, enjoying the rain on my skin as the breeze brushed against me.

"*Tsk.* Rude bastard," Gordon muttered under his breath.

"Okay, I get it. You're human. Put your suit back on and stop swinging that thing around before you poke someone's eye out," Gordon said, his tone a mix of anger and jealousy.

"Jealous much, Commissioner?"

"Fuck off, kid," Gordon said with a smile as he lightly punched my arm.

"Quit fooling around. We still have a city to save," Gordon said as he turned back to glancing at Gotham while I switched to my stealth suit and left.

"Glad we cleared things up, Batman, but don't forget I've got my eyes on you..." Gordon continued to talk as he turned to look at Batman, or where Batman was before, only to find he had vanished.

"I hate it when he does that," he muttered to himself as he headed for the elevator.