How Far the Apple Falls [ Jim ]

[jimmyg]

Things in Gotham were less than perfect. Things in Gotham had always been less than perfect. Since he can remember, Jimmy has always had to wait long hours for his father to return from his long, tiring day at the Gotham City Police Department, and he has never enjoyed it. At some point though, ones simply gets used to the disappointment of either seeing dad as he walks through the door near bed time or even going a day without seeing him at all. Gotham was a terrible city, ridden with crime, and people like his father were needed at all times. Jimmy understood that. But the boy needed his father, too.

At times, it seemed like James forgot that. Like he was so dedicated to his work that his family came second. It hurt Jimmy to think about it that way, but sometimes.. it was the only way he could think. Today however, was not one of those days. It was summer, and it was the end of the day. The sun still lit up the Gotham skyline at roughly seven o'clock PM, casting a few yellow-orange rays into the Gordon household. At the moment, Jimmy was alone. His mother had gone out to get groceries for dinner that night, and Barbara was living with her boyfriend, Dick Grayson. Someone that Jimmy didn't ever really get, but then again.. he never really had much of a conversation with him, either.

There wasn't too much to do. It being summer and all. he had no homework to speak of. School would be starting up soon, and he wasn't looking forward to it. It was that same sort of attitude that led Jimmy to simply lounge around most of the day. Be as lazy as a fourteen year old could be so as to enjoy it while he could. At that moment, he was slumped on the couch in the living area, the remote control to the TV held out as he dismissively flipped through the channels. There was, as usual.. nothing on. A bunch of so-called reality shows that he didn't care for, or re-runs of sitcoms that he also didn't care for. With a roll of his eyes, Jimmy tossed the remote to the other end of the couch, crossed his arms and leaned back into the cushion. He always preferred reading, or drawing something. Not TV.

Looking up at the clock though, he remembered why he was down here to begin with, instead of up in his room. It was getting to be late, and dad was supposed to be home any minute. At least, his shift usually ended around this time. But being on call and being so loyal to the force, Jimmy's expression hardened and a slight scowl formed at the thought of him not being home for hours yet. Another night of waiting around for Jim when he was off doing other things. Important things. Things that came first, instead of his family.

But, Jimmy understood. He could be second place, if it meant having any place in the world, at all.

[james]

Summer was almost over and with PROTECT implemented, Gordon felt he'd had even less time than before to spend with his family. Why did something always come up? He was still very much awake physically, but there was a weariness about him. He loved his job, he wanted to protect Gotham for his children, but how was he an idol when he was away all the time it seemed? His son was growing up, before he knew the boy would be out of school, going to college, and Gordon didn't want to miss it. He didn't want his son to think he came anywhere, but first. That's why he did what he did.

Tonight, though, tonight, Gordon opened the door to the apartment, hearing the murmur of the television as he entered the hall, shucking off his shoes and opening the closet to deposit gun and the other items of his police work that he brought home. He then walked to the living room, and offered a smile to his son.

"I can always count on you to watch for me, huh?" He chuckled. "Mom out?"

[jimmyg]

With the remote out of his hands, Jimmy let out a quiet sigh and fell to his side, stretching his arm out to grab it from where it'd fallen after he'd tossed it. The background noise of an unfunny sitcom was apparently too much for him at the moment, and he preferred to sit around in silence to generated audience laughter from corny jokes. Things like that only served to irritate the boy, and he was already irritable enough as it was from what week it was. School was right around the corner. He didn't want to think about it.

The silence didn't last long. Still laying on his side, he heard the door opened and lifted himself up slowly, putting his hands up on the back of the couch and peering up so that just the top portion of his head was visible. He expected to see mom first, but it was actually dad, and he was happy to see him.

After Jim finished putting all of his police gear away in the closet near the door and wandered into the room he was in, Jimmy grinned and gave a small half-shrug. "I was just watching TV." He said, though he only remembered after that he'd actually turned it off. With the remote still in hand, he handed it to dad. "There's nothing on." He said, and scooted over to a different cushion so Jim could sit if he wanted to, nodding. "She went grocery shopping."

[james]

Jim smiled softly and made his way to the couch to sit beside his son. He took the remote, but placed it on the coffee table, not really interested in turning on the television. “Nothing on, huh? Always the problem,” he chuckled and then leaned over with a mischievous glance at his son.

“You wouldn't know what we're having for dinner would you?” He asked like it was a big secret, but then pulled back, just simply smiling. “What have you been up to today, did you clean your room like your mom asked?”

[jimmyg]

When Jim placed the remote on the coffee table, Jimmy sunk into the couch a little more with a yawn; more boredom induced than anything else, and shook his head. "It's all dumb re-runs of dumb shows, as usual." He said, a tone to his voice that was joking, but almost sounded like he was offended at the lack of good shows on television these days.

At the question about dinner, Jimmy shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "I'm not sure." He looked up at dad, and then over at the kitchen area. "Bet'cha it's something like spaghetti or ..chicken, or something like that." Those seemed to be the standard sort of meals around the house lately.

"I did most of it. I just had a little more to do and I came down to get something, but then I got distracted." The boy first glanced over at a table at the end of the side of the couch he was closest to, then pulled himself up from his comfortable slouch and stretched his arm out again to reach for a book. It wasn't the typical book a fourteen year old would read, but was one of Babs' old college chemistry textbooks. He opened the binding, and started flipping through it again. "I started reading through this."

[james]

Jim listened to his son intently, smiling when appropriate--at the exasperated tone when he spoke of the boring shows on cable and at the mention of the food. He just knew that it would be nice to sit down with his family and eat a hot meal instead of eating the leftovers he usually did and had to warm up.

When his son brought up what had been distracted by, though Jim couldn't restrain his surprise. He blinked, looking at the book, one he recognizes. "You understand it?" He wasn't horrified and in awe, it was pure almost excited awe.

[jimmyg]

By now, Jimmy had been paying more attention to the big book that rested in his lap that he was flipping through rather than his dad. It as like his focus had been completely shifted from speaking with his father to looking through the book, so it took him a moment to actually respond. A few more flips of a few pages, and he found a graph that he'd been particularly interested in earlier, and remained on that page.

The boy did look back up at dad though, and furrowed his brows just enough for it to be a noticeable expression change, as if he felt the tiniest bit insulted that he wouldn't understand. "Yeah.. it's not that difficult." He said in a passive tone, making sure that he didn't sound as offended as he was; which wasn't very much at all to begin with. Only enough to form a kernel that his age was once again a factor in leading people to believe that he wasn't all that intelligent.

[james]

Jim could tell how intently his son was absorbed in the text, he could see the light of comprehension that donned his face so even before the boy spoke he knew the answer and he couldn't help the pride that settled in his chest at that.

He does catch the tone that his surprise had caused, unintentionally, for Jimmy to think his father doesn't think him capable, but unlike most, he can read into the subtle tone and know that it was hiding more. "Hey, I was just surprised. I didn't know you were interested in these sorta stuff," he sighed at that in sudden sobriety. Of he wouldn't, he wasn't around enough. He ruffled his son's hair. "I'm not surprised you're so smart, take after your mom in that department. I'm proud of you and I'm glad you enjoy this." He gestured to the Chemistry Book.

[jimmyg]

The sudden sort of defensive stance that James took sort of struck Jimmy off guard. Had he appeared more offended than he meant to? Probably. But then again he did have to consider how well trained his father was in the area of noticing little ticks that people exhibited. It had always been hard to get away with things when his father was the one questioning. Not that Jimmy lied very often in the first place, but when he felt the need to, in order to get himself out of trouble.. it was usually with Barbara that he told little lies to.

Grinning at the ruffle of his hair, Jimmy's hands left the book and went up to his head to flatten out his blonde locks back to their normal, somewhat shaggy state. "Thanks, dad.." He responded quietly in regard to James being proud of him. That was another thing he enjoyed; making dad proud. Sometimes he felt like he didn't, because as smart as he was, he wasn't flying through school like Babs had. He was always on the honor roll, but he wouldn't be ready for college for another few years, unlike his adoptive sister, who had always been the bookworm genius type.

"I don't know if I really enjoy it yet. It's just.. interesting." He said, being the complex little thinker that he was. Jimmy would read something simply to stimulate his mind, even if he didn't enjoy the subject versus lose brain cells over watching poorly written television shows. Just another way he was different from other kids.

[james]

"Well as long as it's interesting," Jim smiled. "Just know that I'm proud of you no matter what, kiddo." He leaned back and watched his son a moment. He would rather him stimulate his mind like this instead of rotting it with television. He removed his glasses and rubbed at his temples before replacing them and leaning back towards his son.

"How much of it have you read already? Anything you particularly enjoyed?"

[jimmyg]

There was at least one constant in Jimmy's life; he did like it when dad expressed pride in his actions, no matter how mundane they might've been. Most children felt of a sense of accomplishment when their parents were pleased with their behavior, and in this way Jimmy was just like every other kid out there. A small grin formed, but he didn't thank James a second time. Instead, he just peered back down at the book, flipping through a few more pages and nodded back.

After a moment, Jimmy slouched back into the couch and flipped through a couple more pages. "I was just kind of skipping around, and if I saw something interesting I stopped." He said, quickly pushing a bunch of pages at once over to the other side in order to get to the glossary. He looked up a few things, before shifting his eyes upward and looking for a word in his own head. ".... Organic. That's what it was." He said quietly, looked up the 'O' section of the glossary and then flipped to a different page, giving a brief summary of 'organic chemistry.'

He then sat back up, and scooted over toward James a bit so that he could show him the page. The grin that was on his face was still there, since he did like talking about things he was interested in, especially with dad. "It's interesting how many chemicals are actually natural, instead of manmade."

[james]

Jim scooted closer as well and glanced over the page his son had shown him, reading a little. He smiled. "You like organic chemistry, eh?" He nodded. "It is interesting, eh? Most of the elements are natural and you know organic chemistry plays such a big part in everyday life. Without it we wouldn't have plastics. It's also very important in my field."

He enjoyed being able to talk to his son. He often felt out of reach with him because Jimmy dealt with other problems than he had. He had school to worry about, bullies, he had to him to worry about. He knew his son worried about him, missed him, and he knew he wasn't here a lot. He wanted to be, though.

James met his son's eyes. "I couldn't put people away in jail if I didn't have people who knew chemistry and could test evidence for important things."

[jimmyg]

Listening to his father, Jimmy nodded at the appropriate moments, learning new things from him that he hadn't in the book. The book gave him all the little details, but dad was able to tell him how they were found or applied in real life, which was just as, if not more interesting than what the text had to offer. "I guess I do like it, kinda." He said, with a half-shrug. "Too bad I won't have any classes in it for a while." This, he said quietly, and mostly to himself.

At the eye contact from James, Jimmy looked away rather suddenly. It was another odd quirk of his, not being able to hold eye contact with anybody for very long unless he was confronting them about something. Then again, Jimmy made an effort to be as non-confrontational as was possible. And then, the mention of putting people away in jail. Biting a little at his lower lip, Jimmy closed up the book slowly and pushed it back over to the table that it'd been resting on previously.

"Those are called 'forensic' people, right?" He asked, folding his hands in his lap and looking down at the floor again.

[james]

Jimmy's quick adverting of his eyes, made Jim feel bad. He knew his son didn't quite like staring into people's eyes. It was a behavior that he'd never questioned, but one that concerned him. Did he make his son uncomfortable? Why? He gripped Jimmy's shoulder gently to dispel his own thought, though it didn't work, and also to make his son feel better.

"Yeah, our forensics team. Some of them study bodies, others chemicals, fibers, and such things found at the scene. And because of this chemistry, they can match things like hair or DNA." He grinned. "You can always keep studying on your own, though if you want too. Then you'll have a one up on those kids when you finally do get to learn this stuff, eh? Only if you want, though."

[jimmyg]

Even if James had questioned Jimmy's problem with eye contact, there wasn't much he could say in return. He just was that way. No explanation really, he just never could look people in the eye. Most considered it a trait of someone with a guilty conscience, but there was nothing that Jimmy felt guilty of doing. Besides, he never paid much attention to it anyway.

At the gripping of his shoulder, Jimmy looked back up at his father briefly and then returned his gaze to his hands that were still folded in his lap as James explained a few divisions of the forensic science field at the Gotham City Police. The rest of the country's police had the same sort of layout, but of course Jimmy only thought about Gotham. "Sounds difficult." He spoke up, though his voice was quieter than before, as if the hand on his shoulder made him more timid or something along those lines.

"...How long do you have to go to school for something like that, dad?" Jimmy inquired, both looking back up and seeming less uncomfortable, since he was genuinely interested in the subject. If he continued with his premature interests in this sort of field, maybe he could sail through high school and college like Babs had. Then maybe mom and dad would be just as proud of him as they were with her?