Title: The Moments In Between

Author: Takebuo Ishimatsu

Pairing(s): None

Summary: A series of not-so-small drabbles chronicling the moments in between the scenes in BB & TDK. Gordon-centric & mainly his perspective. Will have roughly 25 total.

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman Begins or The Dark Knight.

AN: This chapter isn't quite as funny as the others (at least not in my opinion) & three of the drabbles are from others people's perspectives as they think about Gordon. The last one occurs out of the time-line.

Special:

It hadn't taken him long to figure out that he was being followed. In a position such as his, head of MCU, as well as the only known link to Gotham's very own superhero, he'd gotten even better at watching out for potential threats. Not to mention, his (so far unsuccessful) attempts at judging exactly when and where the Bat came and went.

Taking all that into account, as well as the apparent lack of skill of his pursuers, it'd only taken him minutes to confirm that he hadn't been alone when he'd walked away from the crime scene. It wasn't the first time, either.

What was taking a little more time to process was why he was being stalked by his own officers.

Surely by then everyone in MCU should have realized that he never "aimlessly wandered" off into the shadows. Even if Batman wasn't around, he never went far enough to warrant a babysitter.

Granted, he freely admitted that he'd been shot at numerous times while an officer in Gotham. Sometimes by other officers. Still...

He felt a little insulted that he was being followed by rookie cops.

Glancing around, he decided that if Batman was in the shadows, he certainly didn't see him and it was as good a spot as any to confront the two.

"All right you two, come here," he indicated with two fingers towards the corner he knew they were just behind.

There was a momentary stillness and he imagined their deer-in-the-headlights looks before two sheepish young men came into view.

"Uh, sir, we can explain..." Kasley trailed off, looking towards his partner in crime. Brians gave him a betrayed look.

"It's just, uh, we realized the other day that we've never even seen him, and, well..."

Gordon stared at them. There was really only one him they could be talking about. He felt his lips twitch.

And here he'd thought that they were performing some kind of weird protection detail or an elaborate prank of some sort. Perhaps even a hazing exercise orchestrated by one of the older detectives. He wasn't certain if he should be amused or annoyed, though he was leaning more towards the former.

He kept his voice stern regardless. "So, you thought it was a good idea to stalk me?"

They both refused to look him in the eye.

"You do realize that there are people out there who wouldn't think twice about actually stalking me?" They gave him hopeful looks, ones which he was careful to crush quickly before they got any ideas, "And I'm not talking about the kind of men who run around saving damsels in distress. I mean guys that wouldn't even blink at the idea of popping two rookie cops on their way to me."

Brians frowned, "Yeah, but that could happen any day of the week, whether we were down a dark ally or on an open street in broad daylight."

Gordon nodded at his point, "I know, but it's harder to keep track of real threats if I'm trying to keep track of you two. Not to mention, other people."

He looked to the sky, still void of the signal until he got back to MCU and turned it on. Technically, any officer with access to the roof (which was just about all them except the rookies) could have done it. However, it'd become apparent that his fellow finest thought it a task only meant for him.

Perhaps it was; Batman hadn't shown up when Loeb had turned it on. Then again, he didn't always show up for Gordon, so he wasn't certain if that example counted.

"Sorry, sir, we didn't mean to cause you any trouble," Kasley said.

"Yeah, we just really wanted to meet him. I think you're the only who's ever really been face-to-face with the guy," Brians followed up.

Gordon figured it was kinder not to point out that they were probably the reason the Bat had been avoiding him the past week. Instead, he gave them a fatherly smile.

"That's all right. Perhaps he'll meet you someday."

He mentally shook his head at his own words, wondering if they'd noticed. He'll meet you, not you'll meet him.

They gave him hopeful looks, and he felt a little bad for getting their hopes up. Though, for all he knew, it could be true. If he was gunned down the next day, who would the vigilante turn to? Or would he break all contact with GCPD? He still wondered about how he'd achieved his own "honor" of being picked as the other's connection.

"Why me?"

"You're an honest cop. One of the few."

The other had admitted that not every man on the force was dirty. Gordon knew that Stephens would have done just as well, so why him? Luck of the draw?

He supposed he could ask the masked man, but he already knew he wouldn't get a straight answer, if the other even deemed to answer him at all before disintegrating into the darkness.

He decided to push the thought away, knowing it would lead him nowhere. If anyone asked, he'd just say he was special or something. Claim that the Bat had liked his fish or some other crap.

Matters of Trust:

"Lieutenant?" Gordon looked up from his paperwork to see Det. Allen standing in his doorway, "I'd like to speak with you, if you've got time."

Pushing his mess aside, he made a motion for the other to take a seat.

Sensing the other's uncertainty, he waited silently for him to start.

"Well, I suppose there's no nice way to ask this, so I'm just going to spit it out. Did you delete the evidence we had on Batman?"

Gordon's eyebrows shot up, both at the news and the not-even-remotely-subtle accusation.

"Of course not, doing something like that would be highly illegal."

Allen gave him a scrutinizing look and Gordon didn't blame him for it, despite how annoyed the lack of trust made him.

He was Batman's partner, of sorts. He'd seen official partners do a lot more than lie and hide things for each other. Just last year, they'd had a case of one man actually killing a witness in order to protect the other. Such incidents were rarer now that the Bat had appeared on the scene, but it wasn't improbable, especially if one was thinking that the Bat was in on it himself.

"Sorry sir, I had to ask."

Gordon nodded, though he wondered what the would have done if he'd said yes, considering he'd taken the issue up with him directly rather than reporting it.

"So, should we launch an investigation, then?" Allen asked. Gordon had enough experience to know it was a test question. The other may believe that he'd not deleted the evidence, but wanted to know if he'd support the illegal activity after the fact.

As much as he knew it'd make him look suspicious, he shook his head.

"If you'd like to look into it, I certainly won't stop you. Have a few rookies help you, if you want. However, I don't want any manpower diverted to it, since I already know what you'll find."

Allen gave him a questioning look.

"Nothing. You'll find absolutely nothing. I don't know if you've heard, but this man has broken in and out of God knows how many places, hacked countless phone lines, including mine and Stephens', as well as numerous other feats that I can't even begin to wonder how he pulled them off. To top it all off, Batman not only managed to buy thirty brand new cop cars, but also move them into a storage facility without a trace. If he can do something like that on a whim just to prove some point to a snooty old broad, what do you think he can do when he's actually trying to cover his tracks?"

Gordon knew he sounded a little bit like one of the fanboys, but he felt he'd gotten his point across. As much as some people might want him to, he wasn't going to waste resources hunting a man that couldn't be caught anyway. However, what Det. Allen wanted to do on his own time was up to him.

The other gave him a considering look before nodding. "So you think Batman deleted them himself?"

"Not a doubt in my mind."

"And you still trust the man?"

"I do."

"What if he goes bad? With all these 'amazing' things he can do for good, can you even imagine what he could do if he turned? How would we stop him?" Allen stood up in agitation and Gordon put his chin on his hands, trying to calm the other with his own relaxation.

The last thing he wanted was to get into a yelling contest with one of his best men about the Goddamn Batman. He did that enough with the Commissioner (though, more with snide insults and faux politeness than actual yelling.)

"Call Superman," Gordon answered with a smile.

"Gordon, I'm serious!"

"So am I. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure how we'd deal with him if he went bad. Maybe step up the investigation into who he is. Maybe hire another hundred men for SWAT. Maybe we'd build a joint church with the mob and pray together," he answered, not entirely joking about the praying part.

"I'm not saying you have to trust him, or even me, for that matter. But it's because we can't stop him that I go along with him. So far, he has all the means to do whatever the hell he wants and he instead chooses to help out in one of the worst cities in the entire U.S. Even if he does go bad, I don't think we'd have the means to deal with him anyway, so I don't spend my time worrying about it. If we decide to part ways, he'd still do what he does and we'd still do what we do and all it'd end up doing is make both our jobs harder."

Allen sighed, "I see I'm not going to change your mind."

Gordon nodded, "And I'm not going to change yours."

They shared a look before Allen nodded towards the piles of paperwork.

"I'll leave you to your work then, sir. Don't stay up too late."

Gordon looked towards the clock as the door closed. It was about time to go turn on the light.

Trust Matters:

"I'm telling you guys, I don't think we should trust him so easily! He erased evidence."

"Only evidence for his own case," Ramirez pointed out.

"So that makes it all right? If he goes out and murders someone, it's fine, so long as he still helps us catch all the other killers?" Allen snapped back.

"I didn't mean that, and you know it. I'm just saying, the guy is a vigilante, and thus breaking the law anyway. He's got to have some way of making sure he doesn't get caught. He couldn't very well help from inside a prison."

"I wouldn't be so certain of that," Stephens said with a snort as he passed by on his way to the coffee pot. He was definitely going to need it with those two going at it again.

"So why didn't he become a cop, if he wants to uphold justice so much?"

"Because cops can't do anything," Brians said absentmindedly, writing something on the report he was working on. He paused when he realized everyone was looking at him, causing him to blush.

"That came out wrong-" he quickly moved to reassure his fellow officers.

"No, he's right," Nickelson jumped in, "Before Batman, Gotham was so full of dirt, you'd think we were a farm rather than a city. Even now, outside of MCU, there's still a lot of bad cops, politicians, hell, even doctors, school teachers, you name it. The Bat doesn't work inside all the legal tape, so he can't be stuck up in it like the rest of us."

"That 'legal tape,' as you so kindly put it, is what stops crime. Sure, you think it's fine for him to delete a few files, scare a few punks, but what if he starts going farther? What if he kills someone to send a message to the others?" Allen pushed.

Ramirez rolled her eyes, "Batman doesn't kill people."

"Even if he did want to 'send a message,' I can't honestly say I'd be all that disappointed if Maroni suddenly disappeared one day," Stephens added.

"Exactly what I'm trying to say! We let him get away with taking out a few mobsters and what's to stop him from taking out people like Miss Lampurott?"

"I wouldn't mind her going missing either," Brians muttered. Allen shot him a look, and he went back to his report.

"So, you're going with the whole 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely' route, huh?" Nickelson asked.

"There's a reason that saying is so popular."

Nickelson shook his head. "People also say things like 'Better to reign in hell,' yet not everyone out there is a crook. Besides, the Lieutenant doesn't seem to agree with you and my money's on him." He nodded towards the symbol just then coming on in the sky outside the window.

They all quieted to observe it, as if it required its own moment of silence everyday. Considering the lack of calls whenever it went on, perhaps it did.

Allen crossed his arms. "Gordon's a good man, an even better cop, but his judgment isn't perfect. He can be-"

A shot rang out and they were moving before they'd even truly had time to process the sound. Side-by-side, the officers took the stairs two at a time until they reached the roof entrance.

While Stephens checked to see if the coast was clear, Ramirez hissed at her partner.

"I swear, Cris, if your bad-talk caused some kind of karma attack against the Lieutenant..."

"Shit, you don't think Batman shot him, do you?" Brians whispered.

"Let's go!" Stephens ordered and they burst out of the roof door, guns drawn.

The two men seemed to freeze in the act of Gordon offering hand to the downed vigilante.

Batman refused the hand, getting up by himself and starting to undo the straps of vest on top of his own bulletproof suit.

Gordon instead rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I suppose I should have mentioned this to someone."

"You think?" Stephens snapped, putting his gun away shakily, the adrenaline still coursing through his veins. "Shit, Jim, I thought you'd been popped up here on our own roof."

Without saying anything, it was implied just who they'd thought had done him in. Only one person could have even gotten up to the top of MCU without anyone noticing in the first place. Well, two people if you counted the notorious Superman, rumored to have visited the Dark Knight previously. The Man of Steel, however, wasn't usually held in much distrust. Quite different from Gotham's own hero, who wasn't even thought to exist by some people.

"What the hell are you guys doing up here?" Nickelson asked.

"Testing," Batman replied in a rough voice. Handing the vest over to Gordon, he gave the smaller man a nod before jumping off the roof.

"Not a very talkative guy, huh?" Ramirez joked.

Gordon shrugged, giving them his Batsmile.

"Maybe not, but he's a good listener." He held up the vest, "He got us those new vests we've been requesting."

"I think we're gonna need more than one, Jim," Stephens said with a smile, taking the vest from the other, giving it an appraising look. It was one of the more expensive types.

Gordon shrugged again, "Oh, I imagine the rest will show up somewhere. This one was just for demonstration purposes."

"He let you shoot at him?" Allen asked incredulously.

Granted, the guy probably got shot at more than they did, but to just stand there while someone pointed at you from three feet away? Perhaps he'd misjudged the guy. At the very least, he seemed to work well with the Lieutenant.

"I asked him if he wanted to do me, but he said he doesn't like guns," Gordon responded, his voice saying that he didn't quite understand it himself.

Batman was a paranoid bastard, but he hadn't even blinked when Gordon had jokingly asked if he was suppose to shoot at him instead. He really didn't like guns, huh? Maybe it had something to do with why he'd become Batman in the first place? Wife gunned down? Children?

Gordon stopped himself from pursuing that line of thought. He didn't want to know.

The man could take out a dozen men with fists alone. If anyone asked, he'd just say he thought guns were too easy. If he ever mentioned the gun thing again. Perhaps he shouldn't have told the others at all.

Gordon wondered when lying and withholding information had become his usual mode of operation. Unfortunately, he'd always played things close to the vest, and so he wasn't quite certain if he could blame it entirely on the masked man.

"He must really trust you, huh, sir?" Brians asked, sounding a little starstruck.

Gordon smiled. The kid had finally gotten to see the other, even if it wasn't what one would call an ideal first meeting.

"I'd say it goes both ways," Gordon replied, looking up towards the signal in the sky.

He caught Allen's eye as he passed by him to go inside and the other gave him a nod.

Got His Back:

Ramirez looked around, wondering how she'd gotten into the situation she was in. Oh, right, her mother was deathly ill and she needed money for her hospital bills. God, she hoped her fellow officers could forgive her one day.

She knew she'd probably never be able to forgive herself.

"So, do we go ourselves a deal?" Maroni asked, holding out his hand.

Ramirez hesitated, looking down at the appendage like it might light her on fire at the slightest touch. With the company she was currently keeping, maybe it would.

"What, you backing out or something?" Maroni gave her a calculating look and she quickly shook her head, knowing what happened to people who backed out of deals with the mob.

"No, I...I just," she swallowed. Deciding she might as well get it out, she continued, "Are you going to want me to...kill anyone?"

"Wow, wow, missy," Maroni held up his hands to emphasize his words, "I'm in the import-export business. I don't off nobody."

He gave her another scrutinizing look, one which she understood all too well. Even though they'd come to her, the other would never admit anything to a cop. Not even a dirty cop, which she supposed she was then. Maroni was apparently smarter than Falcone had been, perhaps learning from his predecessor's mistakes, such as when Flass had testified against the mob boss to save his own skin.

She gave him a shaky smile, "Of course not, I must have misunderstood. What, with Dent giving you such a hard time. And...Lieutenant Gordon."

She gave him a look and he nodded as he understood her meaning.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, press is bad right now. But, don't believe everything you read, sweet cheeks. Besides," he leaned in to whisper, "Even if was to...off someone, hypothetically, of course, it sure as hell wouldn't be Gotham's own Honest Abe."

He leaned back and spread his arms to indicate the men around him, "We all know who has the dear Lieutenant's back, don't we boys?"

There was some grumbling and Ramirez caught sight of two men with some bruises on their faces. She briefly wondered if Batman had done it, before realizing that if he had, they'd both be in jail. Hopefully. There were still some cracks in the system, and she was about to become one of them.

"I see," she replied.

Despite the deal she'd just made with the devil, she resisted the urge to smile as she walked to her car. Gordon would never know it, and she certainly hoped that the Batman never figured it out, but it warmed her a little to know that the masked man was protecting the other even when he didn't know he was. Gordon was a good man. If anyone deserved a slightly-disturbed walking ninja arsenal as his own personal threat of retaliation, it was the Lieutenant.

*The Goddamn Commissioner:

Loeb blew into his cold hands and rubbed them together vigorously, wondering where the hell the crazy bat-wannabe was. Light wouldn't be up for another hour, shouldn't the so-called "hero" still be out, pretending to be a police officer?

The unknown man had probably tried out for GCPD and hadn't made it due to his mental health. The nut had then decided to take matters into his own hands, thus proving the recruiting officers right in their assessments.

He made a mental note to have someone, not Gordon, look into the application records for the past several years. The man may have fooled the public into giving him the title of "last honest cop in Gotham," but he knew who's side the other was really on. He knew for a fact that the city's precious good cop had lied to his face on more than one occasion, as well as to other influential people.

He apparently had the mayor in on his little scheme, the man himself having suggested that the Commissioner not go after the vigilante so hard. And Gordon claimed not to like politics.

He glanced about the roof, still not seeing anything. He didn't believe for a moment the rumors that the other just appeared out of nowhere, and so kept his eyes glued on the emergency stairs leading up to his position.

He rubbed his hands together again, still cold despite his expensive Kashmir gloves, a gift from the young Wayne to go with his new overcoat. Even with all of his money, he was a good kid. He understood when to bow down to authority, and, when times required it, to show a little appreciation to said authority.

How else did anyone think the speed demon kept his license when he averaged three tickets a month?

Yes, Wayne was a good kid. Nothing like the crazed giant bat.

Where was the damned Bat?

He eyed Gordon's "faulty lighting equipment," wondering if there was some trick that he'd missed. Maybe it was like a code and he had to flick it on and off a certain number of times before the other showed up?

Oh, how he wished he could write Gordon up for his audacity, putting his own personal...Bat-Signal on top of MCU. However, Mayor Garcia had insisted that it was a subject better left alone, pointing out that they had no proof that Gordon had ever even used the light. Loeb bet he could dust the thing and find the Lieutenant's fingerprints all over it, but he understood the implied order.

Gordon was to remain the GCPD's shining poster boy, at least until Loeb found someone who could take his place. Unfortunately, with damn Dent bringing up cases left and right against members of his department, he'd not had much luck so far.

He jumped as someone cleared their throat behind him. Spinning around, he glared at the amused looking man of his thoughts.

"Something I can help you with, Commissioner?"

Loeb pointed towards the light, "Mind explaining this?"

Gordon shrugged, "Like I've said, we have some faulty lighting equipment. While our main floodlight is being fixed, I hooked this one up."

He gave the man an impish smile, "Got it on discount from a party store after Halloween."

Loeb scowled at him, "And just what do you need a floodlight for anyway?"

Gordon gave him an innocent look, one which they both knew didn't fool anyone, "To see the bad guys, of course."

The Commissioner stalked over to the other and pointed a finger in his face, "You better watch out, Gordon. There's a lot of criminals just itching to get their hands on you, and I'm sure it won't be long before one of them figures out you come up here to play with your Halloween decoration every night."

He gave the other a look that expressed more than his words. Though he had no real intention of ever getting within a foot of a hitman outside of an arrest or court, (that'd make him far too much like the scumbag Maroni for his taste) the other didn't know that. There were people out there that'd knock off Gotham's Golden Boy without even being paid and he was hoping that fear alone was enough to keep Gordon in line.

However, the other didn't respond to his implied threat as well as he'd have liked. Gordon instead gave him a tight smile, eyes drifting up towards the symbol in the sky.

"Oh, I know, sir. You don't have to worry about me. I'm watched very closely."

Loeb felt as if the air was suddenly colder than it was before and he wasn't entirely certain if some of the shadows moved or not. Wrapping his arms around himself, he hurried into the open roof door without another word. He gave Gordon a parting glare just before he closed it.

He'd get the smug bastard and his dress-up buddy one day.

AN: Well? Whatcha think? I'm taking a bit of Loeb's attitude from the comics, though not nearly to that extreme (he either wants Gordon killed or at least have the crap beat out of him in some of the ones I've read). Compared to that, the rude bastard in the movies isn't so bad.