Outsiders

Just another night in Gotham

Sophie and Jacob both took the week that followed to reset. For Sophie, the shock and memories of her kidnapping fuelled sleepless nights, and for Jacob, the fear of losing Sophie drove him to his own form of the same. He spent those nights pouring over intel surrounding this vigilante. There were rumors of two, but proof of one.

He hadn't been so closed off not to have heard about the bat Family, but he'd previously waved it off as another idealist playing superhero. He hadn't paid the stories much attention... until now.

Kate returned home from a night of rooftop-hopping to find him sitting in the dark. It had been a week since the incident with Sophie, and things were slowly returning to normal. Even before she saw him she knew something was amiss in her flat. Her eyes scanned the darkened room and found him sitting on the sofa. Part of her was anxious, but part of her wondered why it had taken him so long to figure it out.

"Two years of training is enough to make you a Crow. It isn't enough to make you Batman, Kate."

"I'm not trying to be Batman."

"Tell that to Gotham's mob bosses, because I don't think they see a difference."

"I don't care what they see."

"You're putting an end to this."

"No."

"That is an order, Kate. You're in over your head, and it's getting too dangerous."

"I am not, and, with all due respect, you aren't my commanding officer, sir."

"Enough. You've stolen from me, you've endangered your own life, and you're giving Gotham false hope that things will change."

"Can't they?"

"What?"

"Why can't they change? The GCPD isn't doing it, and meanwhile you're fighting off corruption in your own ranks. The Bat family brings hope."

"Become a Crow if you want to serve."

She misread Jacob's tone as a commander ordering a subordinate. What she didn't hear was the fear concealed by the years of experience in hiding it. Kate shook her head in frustration. Part of it was her pride, unwilling to take command from a superior again, but part of it was the change she was seeing her night's out made. She wasn't taking down the likes of the Joker or the Riddler, but she was making a difference. She was interrupting muggings and burglaries.

One thing she hadn't accounted for was nabbing the bad guys to get booked by the GCPD or Crows. That track record for catching wasn't great, but she was learning. In that learning, she discovered not all GCPD was thrilled by the Bat family the night. A handful were indifferent, a few actively pursued her, Luke or the others, but a couple fell into the category of allies. She was building a rapport with these few GCPD duos who had stayed on from the Batman years. If they were out on patrol, it made booking the thugs easier, but if they weren't, well, the best Kate could hope was that she taught them a hard-learned lesson.

Her methods were unsavory; training in Serbia had assured that flavor in her fighting took hold. She hoped this was enough to make criminals think twice before stepping out into the shadows again, but if there's one thing growing up in the city had taught her, it was that pride and stubbornness was bred into every Gothamite.

"You're less forgiving than the other guy."

"Other guy?" Kate asked, squatting from the fire escape overlooking the alley. While she was beginning to trust this Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya GCPD duo, she wasn't ready to offer up anything to them.

"At least I think he's a guy. Montoya?" Bullock said, zipping a set of cuffs in place of the zip ties Kate had applied on one of the three burglars. They'd attempted to break into a hardware store. The storefront glass was demolished, but beyond that mess, nothing was out of place. The shopkeep had been called and more GCPD were on their way to help board it up which meant Kate didn't have much time to linger and chat.