Dangers in the Dark

Making Things Clear 4.1

It was almost like dad was stuck in some sort of trance as he stared at the man. To be honest, it was starting to feel slightly awkward so I cleared my throat, hoping it would bring dad back to his senses. Instead, it made the man look back over at me.

"You must be Holly," The man said to me.

I nodded at him before realising that I was being pretty impolite.

"Please, come in," I offered, moving the door to the side so he could walk in.

"Thank you," the man said before limping in. "James, hi."

Dad continued to stare at him just as Barbara walked in. She looked from me to dad to the man before back to dad.

"Jim, who's this?" She asked.

"I'm Peter. Peter Humboldt," the man introduced, shaking Barbara's hand. "Lovely to meet you at last. You're even more beautiful than I imagined."

"Shush. Pleasure to meet you," Barbara smiled, a faint blush rising to her cheeks at the compliment, making me smile at her.

"And Holly," Peter continued, making me turn to him in confusion. "I have heard many things about you. From what I've heard you are a very smart girl."

"Thank you. Nice to meet you, Peter," I replied awkwardly.

"We never meet any of Jim's friends. He never tells us anything. Does he, Holls?" Barbara joked.

"No, he doesn't," I agreed half-heartedly, thinking back to the Wayne Murder,

"Men," Peter sighed.

"Don't I know," Barbara replied like they were old friends, dad just standing there awkwardly. "Would you like a drink?"

"No. Uh..." Peter trailed off.

"He's a work friend. It's a work thing," dad insisted.

"I'm just recently back in Gotham and I had an idea to pop by," Peter continued to explain, but I couldn't help noticing the worry, or was it anger, on my dad's face. "Out of the blue. But now is clearly not a good time."

"I'll walk you out," dad offered, hostility evident in his voice.

Dad then started to walk Peter out, both Barbara and I watching them until the door closed.

"He seemed nice," Barbara commented.

"Yeah, I guess," I muttered, tearing my eyes away from the door.

"Well, it's late now. You should be getting to bed. You've got school tomorrow," Barbara said.

"Ok," I sighed. "Good night."

"Good night, sweetheart," Barbara replied, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "Sleep well."

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Third Person POV

Apart from the occasional police siren, zoom of a car or drunken shout in the distance, the night was silent. Well, that was until Jim Gordon shoved Oswald Cobblepot (Peter) out onto the street and then into a wall.

"I told you never to come back here!" Jim reminded him angrily, lifting him by his shirt against the wall.

"I know. I know, I—I apologise. But I just wanted to speak with you," Cobblepot stuttered.

"No. If Falcone finds out you're alive, he'll kill us both," Jim said, looking around the street just in case.

"I got no place else to go," Cobblepot admitted. "Gotham is my home."