Gotham Streets

Welcome Home

      I sat in the chair, my hands still cuffed, Jim pulled keys from his pocket.

"let's get you out of those" he said starting to uncuffing me.

Jim's eyes were glassy from the tears. Suddenly a woman came in.

"What's going on here Gordon? You're letting her go?" She asked.

"I'm taking her home" He said.

"Gordon, a word first" he nodded and stopped uncuffing me. They stepped out and I listened intently.

"Jim, what is up with you?" The woman asked."Who is that?" she asked. I heard them shuffle.

"She's my responsibility" he said boldly. There was a pause. "My name is in her father's will, he wanted me to be the one to take of her... He didn't live long enough to tell me,"

"Who was her father?" She questioned.

"We grew up together, he and I went to war..." he said. I heard her take a breath. 

"Take her home, drop charges," she said. 

"Thank you, Cpt," he said.

"Just, get her home safe Gordon" she said. Jim opened the door.

"And keep her out of trouble Gordon!" she said jokingly. Then she walked away. Jim picked the keys back up and got me out of the cuffs. I rubbed my wrists then looked back at him.

"I just got to make a phone call first. Then, we can go," he said smiling. He started to call someone and it rang and rang and no one answered. 

"I'm sure she'll be fine with it" he said putting a hand on my shoulder and guiding me out of the room and into the main area of the precinct. It suddenly became silent, everyone in the area stopped what they were doing and stared at us.

"Just keep going. Don't mind them," he whispered. We walked out of the precinct and to his car. He got into the driver's seat while I eased my way into the the passenger's seat.

"The person you were calling... A girl? Your girlfriend?" I asked. He looked over at me.

"Her name's Barbra, she's a fashion designer. And... I don't exactly live with her. I mostly stay there," he said. 

"You don't have a place?" I asked. He started the car.

"Not really, no" he replied kinda disappointed that he couldn't take me somewhere he owned himself.

"Hey. It's okay. I'm sure Barbra's nice" I smiled.

"Yeah, she is," Jim said smiling back. Then he started to drive the car. He took me to a very nice apartment building and we took the elevator to the top floor. He knocked on the door and a blonde woman opened the door.

"Jim..." she said then looked over at me.

"This is Charlie," he introduced.

"Hi" I said plainly.

"Hi" she said back then let us in. I walked in and sat on the couch while they talked in private. I didn't try to listen, I felt tired and didn't feel like snooping.

Jim and Barbra came back in. It seemed that they came to terms. I liked Jim and Barbra was nice, in her own petty way, but I wasn't like I asked for any of this. Barbra came up to me and sat down, she then tried to comfort me.

"You and Jim are more than welcome to live here. I want you to feel safe and free here" she started to say, dumbing down the words for me.

"I lived in the street, not a mental hospital. I understand English" I said.

"Oh..." She said. I looked to Jim who was hoping it was going well, I faked a smile.

"Sorry. Force of habit," I quickly apologized.

"No. It was rude of me and I want you to feel comfortable enough to speak your mind" she said. I had a feeling she'd regret saying that one day.

"Thank you..." I said. 

"You must be tired, it's getting late. Your welcome to sleep in my room" she offered.

"Oh no. I'm fine on the couch," I objected.

"Okay, I'll leave you then" she said patting me on the leg then she went into the bedroom. Jim walked up to me and sat on the couch.

"Look, I'd prefer if you didn't run off or disappear without telling someone. I heard about what happened with Falcone" he said worried.

"Jim. You're caring too much, ease up on the parent thing, please" I said joking but kinda serious. He just nodded and smirked a bit before going into the bedroom with Barbra. I laid back on the couch, put up my hood just enough to cover my eyes and crossed my arms before falling into a deep sleep.