Not Ashamed

James "Jim" Gordon had faced many things in his seemingly long life as a cop of Gotham City while slowly rising up the ranks. From the usual criminals with guns to psychos and just recently a masked man with a bomb powerful enough to vaporize all of Gotham City. As he walked into the large room, the people within it were looking at him, mumbling, whispering, and some with the Press currently taking pictures. But the Commissioner of Gotham PD did not give them any attention, as he was focused on the hearing before the Committee assigned to evaluate his past actions, and how they had unraveled events that took place with Bane occupying Gotham for nearly five full months. When it was over, a full investigation had been ordered, weeks of asking questions from cops, witnesses, and just about everyone they could find who was involved in this situation were brought in to face this Committee.

"This Committee will now be called to order. Please state your name for the record," ordered the man spearheading the hearing by the name of Arnold Nasser from the FBI.

"James Gordon. Police Commissioner of the Gotham Police Department," answered a calm James Gordon while some in the crowd behind him, who were cops that were with him had begun to clap, and cheer for him.

Before Arnold Nasser used his gavel to call for order.

"Order! Order! One more act like that and I'll clear this room of all cops," ordered Arnold firmly.

"Commissioner Gordon, do you know why this hearing was called?" asked a middle aged woman by the name of Melissa Fairhaven, who was a Senator for the state, and assigned by the President himself to get answers.

"I was under the impression it had to do with my past actions eight years ago regarding my decisions concerning Harvey Dent, the Joker, and questioning of my competence in being Commissioner," answered James into the microphone calmly.

"That is correct Commissioner Gordon. You see, after the masked mercenary named Bane read your...confession of sorts to the world regarding the truth eight years ago, this Committee was created to get answers. Answers about what happened that night, why you did what you did, and what you have to say for yourself about it," said a third person, a man from Internal Affairs by the name of Dirk Krasner.

"The truth. Its funny how everyone now knows the truth and still wants to know more. As if my written 'confession' wasn't enough and having it read live for the entire world to hear. Every single word Bane read out loud before freeing the inmates at Black Gate Prison were all true. Those were my words. And I will standby them. The Joker had visited Harvey Dent while the city was panicking over his bomb threat on a random hospital, which in truth was the one Harvey was staying at, and the two talked to each other. The Joker easily played on the emotional and physical trauma Harvey had just gone through. The pain and suffering he suffered not only to is face, but the loss of Rachel Doss only made things worse. The Joker played on that and made Harvey Dent believe he should take certain matters into his own hands to get things done," replied James with the Committee Members looking at each other.

"And by certain matters, you are referring to certain police officers you had under your command, who if we are not mistaken were responsible for Harvey Dent's, and Rachel Doss's safety following the Joker's initial capture by your hands," stated Dirk with James nodding.

"Correct. The Joker was hired by the Mob Bosses of the city to fix the problem they were having regarding the Batman helping the police department in secret in taking down their organization one step at a time. Unfortunately, the Joker was playing them too, and just about everyone else at the time into making certain events happen. Namely the hostage situation on the two boats and that of the missing people from the hospital," answered James with the three members of the Committee nodding.

"The Joker nearly had everyone fooled with you and the SWAT units getting ready to fight and shoot the wrong people," added Arnold with James nodding.

"Yes. He had his men dressed as the hostages while the actual hostages themselves were made to appear like the Joker's men. If it weren't for the Batman, the hostages would be dead, the Joker's men would have killed the SWAT team, and the two boats would have blown up with even more people being killed," replied James while the three members of this Committee looking over some papers.

"Speaking of the Batman, who was it between the two of you to suggest that he take the fall for Harvey Dent's actions?" asked Melissa curiously.

"That was the Batman's idea. I told him we had bet everything on Harvey in cleaning up Gotham City in the long run and being the White Knight that everyone could look up to when the chaos had ended. After what Joker did to us, to Harvey, and to Gotham...the Batman knew as well as I did that the people would lose hope. Every criminal Harvey had put away would be out on the street, crime would be everywhere, the police would be overwhelmed, and things would get worse. The Batman told me he could be the monster that everyone targeted. That he could be whatever Gotham needed him to be whether it was being a hero or a villain," answered James while remembering that moment clearly.

"Is that why you had your family leave Gotham? Under the disguise of your wife and yourself going through a separation while taking your children with her?" asked Dirk with James nodding.

"Yes. My wife and children had witnessed everything Harvey did. I knew my wife would understand things when I explained them to her, but as for my two kids...my son who was held in Harvey's arm with a gun pointed at the side of his head witnessed everything. If anyone asked him what he saw, my boy would have told them all the truth, and put the Batman's plan in jeopardy. I had to ensure no one harassed my family about what they just went through and protect the truth from being unraveled," answered James Gordon while all the sounds of multiple cameras going off while talking to the members of the Committee.

"And the confession you wrote? When did you write that?" asked Arnold with James now pausing to collect his thoughts.

"Several weeks before the Eight Anniversary Party held at Wayne Manor for the success of the Dent Act. I wrote it as a speech I had prepared to tell in front of the people at the party, but...in the end I...I didn't feel the time was right. The people weren't ready for the truth. Not yet," answered James with Arnold frowning.

"And when would the time be considered right? Next year? The year following that one? The year after that? Five years from now?" asked Arnold in a semi-heated tone.

"Calm down Arnold. Its understandable why Commissioner Gordon wanted to keep the truth from being known a little while longer. With the way things were, he was afraid of what the outcome would be if the truth was spoken to so many people at such an event. Bane revealed the truth right in front of Black Gate Prison where the inmates learned what happened and stirred up a preverbal hornets nest," countered Melissa on behalf of the Commissioner in front of them.

"All the same, we need to get answers from him about what he did, and if this man is someone who should stay Commissioner of our police force within this city," said Dirk while some angry voices in the far back from several of the police who came to support their Commissioner during this hearing were now heard.

"Who are you to judge him?" demanded one cop.

"The Commissioner could have left us all to rot and get blown up, but chose to stay and fight!" added another officer.

"Half of Gotham wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the Commissioner!" shouted a third cop with more voices rising.

"Enough!" commanded James with the police in the back going silent instantly.

"Thank you Commissioner," said Melissa while smiling sincerely at him.

"You won't be thanking me after what I have to say next to the three of you," said James with a sense of angry tiredness in his voice.

"Oh? Do enlighten us," said Dirk with narrowed eyes.

"I've been a cop for a long time. Since the days when gangs ran Gotham's drug rings all the way up to when the Mob took their place. I've been shot at, nearly blown up, have faced life threatening dangers you don't find unless you're in a war zone, or in a third world country. You sit in front of me, asking questions, wanting answers, and all the while you are judging me in regards to my competency as Commissioner. I am not ashamed of the choices I've made. Of the decisions I had to make. Before the Batman, the Mob ran the city, judges were corrupt, and so were the cops. The bad guys we caught kept getting away or getting second chances thanks to the lawyers paid for by the Mob. Evidence went missing because of the corrupt cops at the precincts. People became so use to the pain and suffering around them that they did not have the strength to fight back. The good cops couldn't go to Internal Affairs because they feared the Mob had people there too, and they would be labeled Rats before they were struck down by their possible crooked partner when on patrol. Good cops didn't know who to trust and the DA's Office didn't have the manpower to help them. When the Batman came along, everything changed in Gotham City, and it was for the better. At least...for a time," admitted James with several cops behind him.

"Considering what happened with the Joker, some would argue otherwise," said Dirk with James scoffing at the idea of things not getting better.

"The Mob was on the run, good cops began to find courage again to stand up against corruption, bad cops were now becoming the scared ones, and things seemed to be balancing out. Mob attorneys no longer could use the law to get their clients out of prison and the corrupt judges themselves couldn't support them either without setting a bad precedent that risked being appealed. Then the Joker came along and the scales shifted back. The city was on the edge of a knife. No. The edge of a jagged sword! We were on the verge of our city rising from the dark cesspool the Mob put it in or falling even deeper to the point where the laws of the land meant nothing to anyone. When the Joker was taken down, he played one last card in the form of Harvey Dent, and believed he could destroy the future of Gotham by destroying its champion of justice by making him out to be a villain. The Batman came up with the idea of creating the lie that he was the villain and would allow Gotham to heal through Harvey being seen as a dead hero people could aspire to becoming. I was entrusted to make sure that lie survived long enough until the lie was no longer needed and no one cared anymore that it was a lie that allowed the city to heal," countered James with Dirk frowning.

"And Bane? You do realize some would argue your lie was a bomb waiting to go off and Bane did make it go off to further cause problems for the people of Gotham," said Arnold with James shaking his head.

"Bane didn't need me or the confession to make that happen. From the way things went down, he was planning things for awhile. My actions were just additional ammunition he could use. Nothing more," answered James while Melissa nodded, but Arnold, and Dirk did not.

"Nothing more? He used your confession Commissioner. I would say that counts for something," said Dirk while James took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes with the look of frustration showing there.

"What should I have done sir? Told the truth? Told the world that Harvey Dent killed a corrupt cop on the payroll of the Mob? That Harvey Dent lost his mind thanks to the works of a psychopath who took someone he loved from him? That Harvey Dent held my wife and my two kids hostage? Had my son at gun point? That he was prepared to shoot my son if the side of the coin he flipped landed on tails of said coin? That he was doing it just to make me suffer?! What do you think would have happened once that reached the ears of the public? What do you think would have happened to all the criminals, murders, and rapists that Harvey locked away? Can you honestly sit here, in front of me, and say you wouldn't have done the same damn thing I did?!" demanded James angrily with the cops once more shouting their approval and a gavel being heard.

"Order! Order! Not another word from the people in the back!" commanded Arnold, as he pounded the gavel, and waited for the cops in the back to stop shouting.

"I'm not ashamed of what I did. Of what I had to do. If you feel I am unworthy or just not competent enough to be Commissioner of the Gotham Police Department, then go right ahead and say so. But I guarantee you won't find another Commissioner willing to stand side by side with other cops and officers should something similar to this happens again when things get hot under the collar," said James firmly before he stood up and abruptly left to the shock of the three members of the Committee while the Press was asking him questions while the cops in the back provided him with their voluntary bodyguard escort to escape the media masses.

(Gotham PD HQ-Commissioner's Office)

"You did what you had to do Commissioner," said one of the officers named Mark, who had been with him during the raid on three trucks to get to the bomb.

"They won't get rid of you sir. You've done too much for this city," added Scott, who was among those that charged Bane's army of thugs and got banged up pretty badly during the fighting.

"I'm sure they won't. But with Gotham once again in a state of peace...they may see this is as their only opportunity to have me relocated," answered James before letting out a sigh.

"Not a chance. The entire police department is on your side. So are the people of this city. They know what you did and what you had to do Commissioner. They know you fought for them and fought beside us up to what could have been our end," said Mark with Scott nodding in agreement.

"We'll see. My storming out at the end didn't exactly help my case. If anything, the bull's-eye on my back just got bigger," remarked James before he let out a small laugh.

"I think I speak for the entire Gotham Police Department when I say you have plenty of cops willing to take a bullet for you on this matter Commissioner," said Mark with James smiling for a second.

"Thanks Mark. You and Scott should go. Your families are no doubt waiting for you to come home. After everything that has happened in recent weeks, I'm more then inclined to give you two a well deserved vacation," said James with Scott and Mark smirking at him.

"With all due respect Commissioner, we're going to stay a little while longer before we go home. Our families understand," said Scott before he shook the Commissioner's hand and Mark doing the same seconds later.

"Now I just hope the members on that stupid Committee do as well," whispered James before he slumped back against his chair and let out a tired sigh.

Tomorrow was his Judgment Day regarding his career as Commissioner of the Gotham Police force.

(The Next Day)

Once more, James "Jim" Gordon sat down in the same chair he did the previous day, and faced this Committee regarding his past actions. The Press had eaten up everything he had said yesterday, the people were talking, voicing their opinions, and again earlier this morning on the 6 o'clock news. Like Mark and Scott had told him, everyone seemed to be on his side. Well...not everyone. Some of the relatives and family members of criminals who had been locked up called his actions the reason behind the violation of Civil Rights their kin lost when they were in Black Gate Prison. Civil Rights Attorneys and other such legal entities, who James knew were not always the squeaky clean ones were now slowly coming out, voicing their own so called opinions, and some saying he should resign from being Commissioner rather then the Committee making the decision for him.

'No. I'm going down swinging. I can do that much after everything that's happened to me and to Gotham,' thought James since he had seen and done too much to simply cave at the moment his fate would be decided here today.

"James Gordon, it is the opinion of this Committee that what you did eight years ago was a gross violation of your duties as newly appointed Commissioner of Gotham PD. You lied and caused a lot of problems for this city that may have been avoided regardless of your feelings on the matter. Feelings which were clearly clouded before and after the events surrounding your family, namely your only son," said Dirk with James trying to keep his anger in check.

"However, no one can fault you for making the choices you did since everything that happened during the Joker's chaotic attack on the city is not something covered at the Gotham City Police Academy. Police are always taught to follow the many rules and regulations to keep them from going the path of the criminals. Unfortunately, this only covers how to handle the normal criminals of this city like thieves, crooks, murders, and the like that the laws we have were designed to handle. But such individuals like the Joker and Bane exploit this as a weakness since they do not care about controlling the city. Rather they tried to destroy it from the inside out and both nearly succeeded in that regard. Only through your actions, the police, and admittedly the Batman was the city able to survive not one, but two events that would be considered apocalyptic in nature for its citizens," added Melissa while sending Dirk and Arnold a small glare since they were not keen on being open-minded about this as she was.

"Personally Commissioner Gordon, I would love nothing more then to throw the book at you for your actions despite the results you got in the end on both counts. However, we are not blind to the reality of the situation about how the people of this city do not want you to be removed, or the fact every police officer in this city would sooner relocate or resign if we chose to punish you. That being said, this Committee today has decided NOT to remove you as Police Commissioner of the Gotham Police Department. In fact, we encourage you to stay on as Commissioner, and visit the Academy for a 6 week session on this matter to help teach what you know to the Cadets at the Gotham Police Academy so there is some kind of reference in the off chance this ever happens again in the future. This Committee hearing is officially over!" concluded Arnold before smashing the gavel down and the cops in the back cheered in victory while the Press began to asking all of their questions in James Gordon's face at the same time.

However, James wasn't listening to them, and just walked out of the room on autopilot with the help of his fellow police officers until he got into the back of a car with Mark being his driver for the day while Scott was on the passenger side.

"Congratulations Commissioner. We knew you would make it out of their alive," said Scott with a smile on his face.

"Thanks Scott," replied James while looking out of his car window.

"The whole precinct is going to want to have a party," remarked Mark with a small laugh and Scott joining him.

"If they want to have one that is there choice. As for me...well...I'm going to head to the roof to look over some reports," said James while Scott raised an eyebrow.

"For a guy who just won against a Committee filled with bureaucrats and an agent of I.A. you're acting like it was a defeat Commissioner," said Scott with James shrugging.

"Its not that Scott. Its just...there are some people who should be alive to see Gotham's temporary reprieve of crime," remarked James while thinking about Bruce Wayne being the Batman and everything they did to combat the criminal element in Gotham.

"You mean the Batman?" asked Mark with James nodding.

"And Harvey," added James with the two officers looking at each other for a second.

"No offense Commissioner, but the man went psycho, AND nearly killed your family," said Scott while James nodded.

"I don't blame Harvey for that. The Joker got inside his head. Twisted it. Made sure the mind had matched the face," replied James with Mark not saying anything about that.

"What about your family? What do they think? Are they coming back to Gotham now that the truth is out?" asked Scott curiously.

"They aren't coming back to Gotham. After everything that's just happened...Hell would sooner freeze over," answered James since his wife had called mere days after everything calmed down and begging him to leave.

But in the end he couldn't and was able to show his wife that Gotham would need him. James was a part of Gotham just as Gotham was part of him. The people would always need him just as deep down it would always need the Batman.

It was a shame the man that created him was gone.

"We're here Commissioner," replied Mark, as the car stopped, and they all got out of the car to head inside.

When they did, the cops within cheered, clapped, and shouted that they were glad to have him there. James gave them a meek wave mixed with embarrassment on his face as he made his way to his office to sit down and collect his thoughts once more. As he did, the Commissioner reflected on how it all got started for him, as he sat in his office, in this chair, back to the window, and a man in mask clicking a gun to the back of his head. He thought the masked man was going to kill him, an assassin sent by the Mob to shut him up after turning down the cut his crooked partner had taken from food vendors. Instead, it was the start of an uneasy alliance, a slow building trust between two people, who would take the fight to the Mob, the heart of the crime element in the city, and eventually things that came out afterwards one after another.

It was almost something out of book or movie. Ha!

Part of him was now half expecting the Batman to appear in his office, maybe saying something like "Surprise!" or "Death couldn't hold me." or some cheesy line befitting his dark persona. But it never happened. No dark dramatic entrance. No deep dark voice that was used to intimidate the criminal element. Nothing.

'I might as well go to the roof and work. No point in being in this stuffy office,' thought James before getting up and grabbing some files on his desk with the fastest route to his destination already plotted in his head.

All the while wondering if Gotham City was truly ready to live without the presence of the Batman.

He would soon get his answer in a very interesting way.

(A/N: I wrote this after seeing The Dark Knight Rises so many times. I thought to myself "There is no way Gordon could be Commissioner after all that without a Committee of some kind breathing down his neck." so I decided to write this. This surrounds the end of the movie during the last few minutes where everyone or mostly everyone close to Bruce Wayne realize he is in fact alive or something along those lines. I also figured during the chaos of the Committee hearing, Bruce arranges for the Bat Signal to be repaired, and it surprises Gordon when he's up on the roof. Something like that takes weeks to get done since you have to get the light, the symbol, put it all together, and finally putting it on the roof of a building like a Police Precinct without anyone noticing. Am I right? Yes. Yes I am. As for my other fics, I'm going to work on them again, but it will be slow since my mind is everywhere, and has no sense of direction. Until next time...PEACE!)