Batman: Purgatory

CHAPTER 5

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Gordon blindly throws his hand atop his alarm clock. The sun peaks through his window like a curious child and blesses him with the forgotten feeling of warmth. Wiping his groggy eyes, he sits up on the end of his stiff mattress and stares down at the dirt between the boards of his neglected wooden flooring. Bare chested with only a pair of boxers on, he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, preparing himself for another day at war. Yet suddenly, right as Gordon stands up, a cold, metal barrel presses against the back of his head. A brief chill runs down his spine but he stands unshaken, staring at the barren wall across from him.

"Hello, Jim," a scratchy, unrecognizable voice greets from behind him, pressing the end of a gun against his head.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Gordon demands, his hands shaking with adrenaline.

"A whisper in the night Jim, that's all. Who I am is not relevant. You've been digging around in my business and I don't appreciate that. So, I've come to present you an offer," the scratchy voice calmly explains to him, speaking elegantly, "Leslie Thompkins. The woman who disappeared last night. The one driving Batman mad. I know where she is. But—"

"There's a catch, isn't there? You freaks are all the same," Gordon bluntly interrupts, irritated and boiling inside.

"Yes, quite precisely. The price tag for this woman's life is, well, the identity of the Batman."

"I don't know it," Gordon brashly counters.

"That's the point, Jim. I do," the man in the shadows delivers with force, before pausing for a moment, "You, are, of course, a man of the law. It is your code by which you live. A broken code, that lets monsters slip through the cracks as the powers in place turn a blind eye. I have a file full of undeniable evidence as to who the Batman really is. The location of Ms. Thompkins also resides in that file. Now, you could just turn a blind eye and tell everyone that you never saw anything related to the Batman, but I know you better than that Jim. See, I know you could have discovered the identity of the Batman years ago Jim, but your loyalty to him is so blind that you never started tugging on any of the strings. Though, if I put all the pieces right in front of you, your allegiance to the law will, in the end, outweigh your allegiance to the Batman. Otherwise, everything you have ever lived your life by is a lie."

"So, Jim, in the end, I present you a choice... The life of an innocent women... or the Batman?" The voice in the shadows asks, a smile spread wide across their face by which Gordon is blind to.

Gordon hesitates. A silence lingers in the room. He stares blankly ahead. At last, he comes to an answer.

"Take your file and shove it."

"What?" The voice is perplexed.

"I've worked with Batman for over a decade. In that time, he's saved this city God knows how many times, and taught me many things. One of those things being that no one is beyond saving. I haven't seen him like he is tonight, in, well... a long time. But I won't give up my hope in him. He's flawed, just like every one of us... as his partner, as his friend, the least I can afford him is the chance to get back up."

"You're letting a woman die," the voice tells him.

"I'm not," Gordon counters, "I'm letting Batman save her."

A scoff blurts out from behind Gordon. He feels the icy barrel vanish from against his head and he flips around to see the mysterious figure has presumably vanished. A sigh of relief leaves him. He sits down on his bed again, taking a deep breath and a moment to regain his head. Once Gordon reaches for his glasses by his nightstand and puts them on, he sees that they aren't as foggy as he last remembered them.