Albert resisted the urge to release a breath of relief as they finally turned down yet another street lined with intricately built and maintained, sparely placed, homes that all practically screamed wealth. Lawns bright green and trimmed down to perfection, shrubs forced into statues that would barely even last a month before nature would wash away all that effort. It was a bit sickening in fact, like he'd drunken some curdled milk and his body was making it's displeasure know.
Life wasn't fair sometimes, that he knew but come on. How was he suppose to go back to his crappy place after seeing homes like these?
'I bet their AC works for more than two hours a day…' Just looking around was enough to make him rethink multiple of his life decisions and even slightly shake his moral compass. 'Maybe..maybe forming a cult wouldn't be such a bad ide-'
A mere thought, sweet as it was venomous, slunk past his defenses to slowly drip over his resolve. Something so innocent but oh so dangerous. And with a ruthless force of will, he crushed the idea beneath a mental foot. Before rubbing out the embers to drift away back to the subconscious of his mind.
"They're amazing, aren't they?" Barbara smiled wanly, dropping their speed down to a relaxing cruise. "I'm not much of a materialistic person but I remember my first time seeing such fancy homes and I made me so green with envy that I couldn't sleep for days. I knew it was stupid, but I just couldn't help it."
The ride there had been pretty quiet, an awkward gulf that he was more than willing to stay on the other side on. Sure, she turned on the radio at one point to drown out the near deafening uneasy silence. And it seemed, his interest hadn't been missed.
There were two ways he could respond, a nonchalant grunt. Barely something that made sure she knew he could actually hear her. A passive aggressive and immature sign of his displeasure. Instantly smacking down the olive branch being sent his way, crashing this 'date' into a nearly painful event.
And despite everything, being able to rub shoulders with the 'young masters' of Gotham was a real opportunity for him. That's exactly what these sorts of events were designed for, to network. And why he brought a stack of business cards. While he enjoyed being able to unravel the root cause of people's problems, the last couple of jobs had shown that he needed to find higher paying clientele.
Relying so heavily on Madame Clements' wasn't tenable in the long run, she wasn't always going to be there and the sooner he could become self reliant, the better.
That wasn't to say he was no longer going to take on low paying cases, he would just like to actually be paid big bucks for his work every once and awhile.
So with that in mind, he could afford to throw her a bone.
"I just didn't Gotham had enough space for all these houses….I kinda expected this place to somewhat mirror how cramp Downtown felt but each of them has their own miniature part around their home! Why would anyone need that much space?"
"Downtown is just older." The red head's shoulders eased, a small lips playing across her lips as the conversation flowed normally. "At first, Gotham was primarily filled with docks, warehouses and factories. But now, most of those abandoned building were bought up by the city and renovated to living spaces to support the massive population boom. And during that time, a group of wealthy factory owners came together and bought up a large chunk of Gotham. Holding those rights as the city expanded, some of them sold while others decided to develop the land into what it is now. Combined, most of these families own enough property to completely relieve how cramp the city feels...but obviously, they're not willing to give up all this."
It made some sense. Most of the elites were just people enjoying the benefits of their ancestor's stubborn refusal to bend a knee. They'd been smart and sat on a gold mine before reaping the benefits for generations to come. And if some of them ever got desperate for money, selling off some small pieces of land would be enough to set them up for decades.
But just because it made sense, that didn't mean Albert couldn't or wouldn't curse them. Not just for the fact he couldn't walk down the street without nearly tripping over cracked concrete or a knee deep pothole from them siphoning off money, but also because they got to live such a cushy life just by doing the bare minimum!
'Let me get in a newly built city and I'm going to do the exact same thing!'
"How often do they sell land?"
He knew it was more of question for Angeline given who her mom was, but his date probably had some insider information.
"It depends." She carefully answered, some amount of hesitation entering her voice. "If some of their companies aren't doing so well, then they'll sell just enough to keep them afloat. You gotta realize, selling land is like selling a piece of their own prestige. If they sell it all, I'm pretty sure they'll be kicked out of the club. As for why they don't sell to each other? It seemed some politician saw back then the writing on the wall and included a clause that forbids them selling land to anyone else besides the city. And now, they play financial chicken with each other to see who'll fold first."
"And I'm guessing the city doesn't sell land anymore?"
"Nope. In modern times, land is far too valuable. You can rent it but even if you 'buy' the land, the city will still holds the right to take it all away while only paying a mere fraction of the price."
"Then how do new elites rise? If the primary way they measure how successful you are is how much land you own, then how would anyone get into their ranks?"
"Interested are we?" Green eyes glimmered with rye amusement, a small smirk playing at the corner of her lips. Probably assuming she had found a flaw to leverage on in the future, ambition was a powerful thing..but it also made people blind and predictable. It'd been a calculated risk, but if he could introduce some false positives to the profile the Bat Family was building on him then it would help him some in the future. So instead of answering verbally, he looked out the window. Breaking her gaze and falling silent. A few moments passed before she finally provided a satisfactory answer. "Just teasing you...but if you really want to know, there's only two ways to fully be considered 'one of them'. Be born under one of their families or marry into them. You can get as rich or as influential as you want but without owning any land, you will always be considered beneath them."
'Man, they really did slam the door shut on their way to the top.'
It was like they were running a micro barony, each family more akin to nobility and he bet they would LOVE that analogy. The more he heard, the more the urge to just keep those business cards to himself grew. Would they really treat him as some kind of servant? Constantly talking down or demeaning him? And expecting him to just take it with a stupid smile on his face just because they were shoving big bucks in his poor face?
'Yes.' Pride wasn't going to pay the bills at the end of the day and if any potential clients really wanted to treat him like garbage then he was going to extract as much money from them as possible, think of it like a special packaged deal. 'I'll call it, the Premium Plus package Deluxe Addition.'
"How do you know so much about all this?"
Albert felt it was the right thing to add right about then, she had shared a bit too much insight into the inner workings of the social elites for an ex-police captain's daughter. It was clear that both the city and the elites wouldn't want that type of information just free and hanging around for everyone to see, it would spark such a massive upset among the general populace just knowing the reason why they were forced to live practically nose to nose to someone else they hated was the because the two entities controlling Gotham were playing games with each other. It might even cause a protest and attract the attention of some reporters...or worse, federal courts.
"My dad explained it to me." Despite the stumble, a lie flowed through effortlessly. Anyone else unfamiliar with the newly appointed Commissioner probably would've believed it, even people who only watched the guy's interviews wouldn't have found it strange. But for someone who practically grew up watching this world on a screen? The mere idea of Jim Gordon willing to dive into such a political maelstrom like that was laughable, much less give a damn enough to know so much. And it seemed, even she could tell how frail the excuse was. "It looks like we're here."
He ignored how relieved she sounded at stared up ahead to the street ending at a seven foot tall stone brick wall with only a singular metallic gate that glimmered slightly under the setting sun. There, a steady line of cars and limos were slowly being let on in. A pair of rather scary looking security guards dressed in sleek black suits stopped each driver before being handed a small white placard card, scrutinizing it for a few seconds before handing it back to them and waving them in.
"A lot of security for a party…" Other than the initial two, he could see an addition four just within line of sight. They tried to pretend to just be residents peaking at the line of activity from their porch, but the way their eyes scanned the procession was anything but casual. Frankly, it made his hackles raise. "Is this normal?"
"They're calling it a 'Soiree'." Barbara threw up air quotes, rolling her eyes at the obvious pretentious name before continuing. "I'm not really sure, this 'Soiree' is being held by the Hardwicks. They're not really that high up on the totem pole but that doesn't really mean much. Maybe their beefing up security for a reason? I heard the ward of the Waynes is attending..so maybe that's why?"
'You 'heard'.' If anything, that was nearly enough to make him roll his own eyes. This party..no soiree was the perfect opportunity for their little group of caped crusaders. Just having her and Dick interact with each other would make it so Bruce could publicly support Jim without anyone batting an eye or looking in too deeply. 'I really hope the little psycho doesn't cause me problems.'
Dick Grayson in his younger years was often portrayed as a rash, prone to anger, gloomy and just more willing to resort to over the top violence. The Teen Titans television show showed that side perfectly, especially in the earlier seasons. Hell, the guy only really cooled off after he got the hell out of Gotham and got his own city to protect.
And now, here Albert was about to walk into an event with that same guy's crush on his arm. Yeah...things were not going to be alright.
'I just hope I don't get the double knees of doom.' He mused but other than that, something was bothering him. 'Why does Hardwick sound so familiar?'
It was there, a strand of memory waving before him only to just barely escape his grasp.
"You're talking about Richard Grayson, right?"
He took far too much pleasure in the way she flinched, maybe he did have a small petty streak in him.
"...Yeah that's him alright, but I heard he commonly goes by Dick. Just a heads up."
If the comics were anything to go by, the volatile teen was already going to be on edge. Not just from jealously but from his disdain for the socialites considered his peers and honestly, it was possible that some random guy calling him by his full name might be the final straw.
'I'll pray for whoever makes that mistake tonight.'
"Got it." Albert nodded. "Not the best idea to mess with the Wayne's ward. Hey, just between you and me, they gotta be in control of city..right? I see their brand everywhere from food, medicine, electronics and even security systems. It's like I can't even walk down the street without something Wayne coming up, that has to be intentional."
"Bruce Wayne has always been seen as a pretty enigmatic character." Her face scrunched up in thought, hand rocking side to side as she emphasized her point. "From what my dad tells me, he disapeared for some time, came back and instantly caused a spectacle. And over the years, that has kinda become his MO. There's no such thing as doing anything half hearted. From over the top charity events, dating scandals, rumors of his prodigious spending history and more. The biggest scandal had to have been when Wayne Enterprise split off into the medical field and completely cut off multiple of it's military weapon contracts. Not stopping there, they split off into so many fields that they needed to develop subsidiary companies just to keep track of everything. That in itself caused so much money that I don't even want to think about it and everyone just assumed that just like most of the First Families, the Waynes would too fade in obscurity."
"But somehow, it didn't. And now it's almost tied with the likes of LexCorp."
LuthorCorp, or better known as LexCorp, was wide spanning corporations spanning over all things even remotely related to pushing the envelope on human development. Weapons of mass destruction, technology boarding on the edge of entering the realm of sci-fi and even space travel. This giant was being led at the helm by Earth's 'Smartest' man, Alexander Joseph Luthor, philanthropist to the public and Superman's arch nemesis in private.
Someone, Albert had every intention of avoiding with all his might. Bruce might be bad, but unless he catches wind of something he'll at least keep his meddling to mere observations. But with Lex, a passing interest would find himself disappeared into the night and strapped to a metallic table as the madman tried to slowly extract everything of value before, inevitably disposing of his corpse without blinking.
To think, only Bruce's own moral code kept him from being an exact mirror of the megalomaniac billionaire.
'It seems dropping in Gotham was a blessing.' Despite how brutal Gotham was, most of the threats, at least in the beginning, were only peak human at worse. Like a starter zone surrounded by all sides by bright red zones. With monsters like Lex Luthor, Captain Freeze, Black Manta or Cheetah on all sides. But then again, maybe that analogy wasn't perfect either. There was reason why some of the DC's greatest threats came directly from this city after all. But at least the threats here would at least give him some measure of time to develop before trying to drag him down.
A soft knock against the driver side window and a shadow falling over his glazed over eyes was all the warning he got before his vision snapped back into focus. Before him, a large man dressed in a plain black suit loomed completely over the smallish car. The guards frame easily eating up any form of visibility through the window. Hard black eyes roamed over him, flickering past the bulky black brace and particularly focusing in on his left breast pocket. Just the guy figuring out Albert was right handed was enough for him to begin feeling the pressure.
'Was it the way I was sitting?'
Whatever the reason, these guys were the real deal. And they were packing, barely making the attempt to hide the very obvious bulge on their side. Plus, judging from the visibly callouses that pressed against his window, they were also extremely comfortable with firearms. Combine that with that natural, cold confidence that oozed off of them it was clear each of them had seen live combat. Soldiers or mercenaries, that he was sure of.
Instead of saying anything, the guard just stood there looking down at him with a blank expression. Glancing over to the side, there was yet another guard on the driver's side. Barbara sent him a reassure smile before rolling the window down.
"Evening!"
The red head beamed at the women, crashing ineffectually against a stony mountain face. If it had any affect, he couldn't tell.
"Invitation, please."
Hoarse and demanding, those were the only words needed. Direct and to the point. No pleasantries or dancing around. It certainly didn't sound like a request, a command that brook no argument or excuse. If for some reason he'd been dragged out here without a plan, being embarrassed was going to be the least of his concerns. These people looked like the sort to be all to willing to set an example.
"Sure, let me just get it out real quick." Unflappable, Barbara kept eye contact with the guard and reached down to begin rummaging through the map pocket for a few heart stopping moments. One second passed and it felt like the hard gazes were gaining in weight, the red head wouldn't be harmed but he didn't have the umbrella of protection that being the Commissioner's daughter. And honestly, would she really expose her martial skill just to protect him? Maybe it could be explained if she flipped a single guard but each of them were highly trained, battle hardened and experienced fighters, not something a self defense course could explain away if she started knocking them to the ground with ease.
So if things came down to a fight, she could not be relied on whatsoever.
'Pocket knife, phone, wallet, keys and pepper spray.'
He chanted behind his eyes, listing everything of note he'd thought to bring with him. Most of everything he had could be considered useless. His phone would be smashed in a confrontation and depending on how generous they were, the content of his wallet might just be dumped out to the ground. Pepper spray might be enough to stun one of them but then he would certainly be dog piled with a vengeance by everyone else. But the moment he pulled out that pocket knife, the entire situation would change. And not for the better. No matter how small it might be, it was still considered a deadly weapon. Things would become incredibly dire for him.
"Here you go, sorry about that!"
Bless that girl, his beat heart simmered down to a steady rhythm. Shoulders barely slumping, he couldn't even pretend to hide his relief. Holding out a vanilla card, the guard gently took it and began looking it over. Those hard eyes scrutinizing every inch for anything odd, before nodding and handing the invitation back.
"Good evening, Miss Gordon." The guard cracked a small grin that looked more like a grimace but from the way she relaxed slightly, it must've been a beaming smile to match. Her dark brown eyes flickering over to the passenger side for just a bit before it grew to a near snarl. Amusement evident in her tone. "Please tell your date to relax, he's making my partner jumpy. Just head down this road and a valet will be there to park your car. They will hand you a ticket that can be used at anytime to retrieve your vehicle."
"Calm down, Albert." Reaching over, his 'date' patted his arm comfortingly. And only then did he realize exactly how wound up he was, like a coiled spring ready to strike. "They're just doing their job. He's just nervous, that's all."
"Of course." The guard nodded her head, feigning understanding. "Then please, enjoy the soiree."
The pair took a synchronized step back and the shimmering gate before them slid open.
"Thank you guys!" Barbara waved before slowly pulling onto the property and the difference was instantly noticed. The roads of Gotham has always been poorly maintained, making any drive unbearable for any long duration of time. From the cracked concrete, uneven bumps and potholes that littered the city it just made more sense just to walk everywhere. That had changed the moment they entered the nicer part of town, the ride smooth in a way that made him believe they were floating or gliding across the ground. He was wrong, so very wrong. On that small strip of asphalt, nothing else could compare. "Are you alright? I know those were some pretty scary guys…"
A leading question. There was some concern evident but her curiosity was plain to see. And it just happens there's a very convinent excuse from his past that he knew for certain the Bat Family would know all about.
"I'm fine, they just remind me a bit of Black Mask's men."
"Roman Sionis."
"What?"
He looked over at her, genuine confusion etched across his features.
"Giving criminals monikers makes them seem less human than they actually are." It was clear this topic was a particular passion of hers but it wasn't the right time. If that was really the root of his concern, then hearing someone, even minutely, empathize with Black Mask of all people would've been enough to cut all ties with that person. And from the dawning expression on her face, she must've realized that she really put her foot in her mouth. "I'm sorry, I don't mean it like that! Roman Sionis is an awful man and he'll face the full force of the law for the crimes he's done...I just don't want to make him seem more grand than he actually is. He's a thug, a crime lord and doesn't deserve a moniker."
It was a good save, no matter how she clearly scrambled to get it out. Both sympathizing with a perceived trauma and also get her point across. Maybe that mix could sooth someone, help them heal and also begin to see things in a similar way to her. A pretty damn well manipulator if he ever saw one.
'A bit sloppy but it would work.'
"I'll think about it."
A technical truth. He did think about it for a few seconds before tossing it out, monikers were the name of the game. Would she really say the same thing to Bruce? Or did she know of the piles of data he had on everyone of note in the world? Each with a physiological profile, biography and a moniker that best suited them. Names were reserved for people, not the monsters that infested the multiverse of DC. Hypocritical, he knew given who he decided to hang out with on a daily basis but at-least neither one of them ever placed a gun against his skull and/or back.
Okay, maybe he just did not like Black Mask. That thug specifically didn't deserve to have a human name.
"How do you think all this will go?"
Albert asked in the newly minted silence, wishing to get one more 'private' conversation in before she was swarmed with sycophants all demanding her attention or petty heirs eavesdropping on every conversation she had. Or the waiting staff that would assuredly sell anything they hear to the highest bidding reporter.
"I don't know about that." She hummed, slowing down to a near crawl as a man wearing a bright neon jacket waved them down. Besides him, a smartly dressed young adult stood dressed in a pristine suit. A smile on his face as he waved at them. "I kinda expect the normal stuff, I'm use to people trying to use me for my dad's position to either get them out of trouble or to try and transport something to someone else in custody. But he was a captain back then, so the amount of help that they could try to extract from me wasn't anything huge...That's not really the case anymore. He can single handedly open and close cases, release suspects, affect the budget and can even implement new policies in the GCPD. And with the upcoming external investigation, a lot of people are getting real nervous. I suspect some of the people here will try to get me to somehow influence him to overlook some names, whether them directly or someone they're working with...I don't think you realize, A LOT of people are going to be losing their jobs and possibly even face jail time by the end of this."
"And they'll try to use me as a lever as well?"
It made sense, he wasn't a known player. Just some random guy that somehow positioned himself to be in the ear of one of the most powerful man in the city due to sheer luck. If the red head wasn't willing to play ball, there was a very high chance that he might even be approached as well for a very similar reason.
"I'm telling you this now," Barbara sent a shark-like grin, green eyes hard as steel. "There's nothing you can say that could get me to make my dad compromise his morals. I love and believe in him too much to allow that to happen. As long as that's crystal clear, we'll be a okay for the night!"
'I know one secret that could change your mind.'
But if anything, it would be such an idiotic thing to threaten to reveal not just her but all the Bat Family's secret identity. And given how petty of a reason it would be for, making Batman an enemy simply wasn't worth it. The man might be fine with his own identity being revealed but the gloves would certainly come off if anyone dared to reveal the identities of his two apprentices/sidekicks.
They weren't like him. It was said Bruce Wayne died in that ally with his parents and the Batman was simply wearing his skin, parading himself to be human. He breathed in the persona, slept in it, ate with it and truly embodied what it was.
It didn't matter if he was revealed to be Batman. Like releasing a chain from a rabid dog. It was simply better to keep that little secret in the back burner for now.
Stopping, the man bowed slightly to the car before walking over to the driver's side.
"Miss Gordon," Beaming, eyes flickering over to the passenger seat with a professional gaze. "Please allow me. I will make sure your vehicle is well taken care of and if you were to go just beyond those shrubs there, you will see the entrance."
"Thank you," The red head smiled politely, grabbing her purse in one hand and a folded stack of bills in the other. "For you and all the work you do."
"I couldn't!" But despite that, the valet still made the bills disappear with a mere flick of his gloved hands. "Worry not, I will make sure she is somewhere out of the way and be extra sure everyone knows to be especially careful around her."
"Thank you!" Stepping out of the car, she looked back at her date. "C'mon Albert, I could sure use your help. These heels are going to be problem!"