Stealth Mode [Bats]

[Deleted]

Harvey woke up on his couch.  The day before had been a bit nuts.  Not only had he nabbed Joker, but he also found out one of his closest, if not very closest, friend was freaking Catwoman.  He was thankful to have a night to himself.  He could kind of use some company to help him with life in general, but for the moment he would settle for his whiskey and a record. 

He wiped the sleep from his eyes and checked his watch,  It was about ten minutes shy of being one in the morning.  He sighed, sat up and stood.  He walked over to his wet bar and poured himself a Maker's Mark before going to lift the needle on his new Dual turn table (thanks Selina).  He took the Peter Gabriel album off and put it in its sleeve.  He went to put it away in its proper place and flipped through another section of his vinyl.  Harvey probably had over five thousand pieces of vinyl in his home.  Some were duplicates, but no more than fifty of them were.  He picked out the Speaking In Tongues album by the Talking Heads and put it on.  He set the needle down and let it do what it did best.

The sound of it was rich.  Harvey had spent a pretty penny over the years to ensure he had proper rich and depth in his sound system.  He did  not like to settle for simple stereo, no Harvey wanted everything that was right.  He did not invest this much time, money, and love into vinyl without being able to experience it fully.  He swirled his drink in the glass, a small smirk coming across his face as the music began.  He closed his eyes, letting out a relaxed and quiet little sigh just before taking a sip of the whiskey.  He pulled a cigar from a box of them on his coffee table, sat down again, clipped it and lit it with a match.  He waved the match flame out after getting a few good puffs on it to get it going.

He leaned back into his couch and tilted his head back so he was facing the ceiling.  Soon after the track of the second song began he felt something.

"Back in stealth mode, I see..."

Harvey did not bother looking at him, he just knew the man was there.  Harvey could tell, something about that cape and the way it effected the acoustics in the middle of the living room.   What was it with everyone and dropping in on his damn balcony?  It was attached to his bedroom and thank god he kept his place tidier than he used to, it would be awkward if all these costumed weirdos were able to see his more private reading materials strewn about.

"Whaddya want?"

Harvey's right arm was against his body, in cast and sling.  His eyes still black from his nose being broken and reset two days before.

[Deleted]

Batman narrowed his eyes and descended from the balcony railing. His cape splayed around him as he moved slowly into the bedroom. His eyes scanned around for weapons or traps. As expected given his modus operandi Harvey Bullock had no traps set around the room. The man had what Batman had begun calling a "King Arthur Complex." He thought that the people around him were as honorable as he was. Of course, given his actions towards the Joker Batman would have to update his psych file on the man.

He turned his attention towards the wall of the bedroom, which was covered in concert posters. The Talking Heads, the GC Jazz Band, Dr. Dog. One of these things did not belong...Still, Batman had known Harvey for two decades. Jazz was not out of the question.

He quickly tapped his cowl, taking pictures that the Batcomputer could correspond to his previous evidence when he returned to the Cave later in the night. Batman didn't need to the computer to notice the changes since he was last here. For the first time since he had begun tracking Bullock, the man had finally unpacked his boxes and settled into his apartment. He no longer gave the indication of a man who was mere days from moving, but rather he showed himself to be a man who had settled down. The Marilyn Monroe picture was still recessed into the shower when Batman ventured into it, but at least Bullock had taken the time to add a frame and preserve it. He still insisted on using shaving soap and a brush, but judging by the wear on the equipment Harvey Bullock had finally begun shaving regularly.

Batman finished his investigation and ventured towards the living room.

"Back in stealth mode, I see..."

Batman straightened his back as he heard Bullock engage him. He valued the man's instinct, but Harvey was undisciplined. He had no drive. Batman could never understand how he could sit so casually in his home, day after day.

"Harvey," he ventured an introduction. 

"Whaddya want?"

Harvey Bullock was a man of few words. Normally it would suit Batman's style, but Harvey always chose the worst few words possible.

"How did you get your hands on the Joker?" He asked, dispensing with whatever formalities Batman may have been willing to conduct. 

He moved his way around the couch so that Bullock could see him, then he settled carefully near a window and allowed his cape to envelope his body. There was no reason both of them should suffer if he threw a smoke bomb to make a fast escape, and then he perched. His terminology for the ready position, capable of fighting or escaping from any angle, depending on his circumstances.

[Deleted]

Harvey sighed at the question. He Lifted his drink and cigar up, raising his arms in a slightly defeated gesture, still staring up at his ceiling. he brought his cigar to his lips and after a moment he sat up from his slouch and adjusted himself in his couch to lean forward. He puffed on the cigar for a moment, looking down at his coffee table and the album sleeve laid upon it. He took the cigar from his lips momentarily to down the remainder of the Maker's Mark in his glass. He set the glass down and picked up the remote to lower the volume of his sound system. He set the remote down and stood, walking over to his wet bar with his empty glass. He uncapped the bottle of bourbon and refilled his glass.

Finally he looked over at Batman, situated so strategically near his window. He sneered at him.

"What's it to you, Cowl-Head? Don't believe a guy like me can pull a smooth move like that?"

Harvey, once again, removed the cigar from his lips and took a sip of his drink and then returned it, keeping it clamped between his teeth as he moved back to the couch, taking his seat once again. He stifled a grunt of pain as he accidentally banged his broken arm on the arm rest. He looked to Batman once again and shrugged.

"If you're dying to know... I had the trap laid for him. I figured with his little blowing up that building downtown stunt and then later blowing up the top two floors of HQ he was after Gordon. Gordon and I were having a drink the other night when I came up with it..."

Harvey paused to pull his cigar from his mouth and blow a ring or two of smoke before returning it once again.

"If he couldn't get you to come out and play and couldn't get Gordon to come out and play, why not come after me? I'm around the guy all the time, why not come after his right hand? He also was using that pogo stick allover the place, I figured if I stayed home for a day or two he was bound to show up. There he came, pogo sticking onto my balcony, holding a gun, about to tell me how it was going to be and then... well Selina showed up, unexpectedly."

Harvey seemed to set his jaw. He looked Batman in the eye, there was rage in him, but it was yet to have been truly accounted for.

"She kept my .45 trained on him and he outed her as Catwoman. I don't think he even meant to, but he did. When he tried to pogo his dumb ass off I shot out the motor, as I had intended to all along, and boom, over a dozen of my own officers grabbed him when he hit the ground in the park. It all went smoothly, save Selina showing up out of nowhere."

Harvey glared daggers at Batman. He placed his cigar in the ash trauy and picked up his drink as a cloud of smoke emerged from his nostrils.

"So... I know, and you know that I know, now. I know other things, too, things like how you and her have been having this little on and off romance for years. She didn't have to tell me that though, I already knew the Cat and Bat were complicated, but..."

Harvey was too heated to continue. He did not raise his voice, in fact it seemed to get lower, teeming with anger, though.

"Look, Bats. I love her. I don't even know what to do. I arrest her, I lose her. I shun her, I lose her. I cut ties with her, not only do I lose her, but I lose her to you."

Harvey wished he wasn't so injured, he would have no qualms getting into a fist fight, but he had no chances against the Bat with a busted arm, a broken nose and this much anger pent up in him.

"I am a little sick and tired of you always coming out the hero. You're on night shift, I deal with this mess twenty four hours a day. It's a thankless job, and I'll always be fine with that, but I'm just so sick and tired of vigilantes like you acting like you're the answer to everyone's problems. Did anyone ever stop to wonder about those nearly fifty officers dead or in the hospital tonight who do this every day? Hardly. But, god forbid Batman goes missing for more than a day, the city's doomed. Did they ever stop to wonder how much the murder rate will go up tonight simply because fifty men and women aren't on patrol?"

[This is Harvey's 500th post, congrats to me!!!!  Also congrats to you Bats for nabbing it, ha!]

[Deleted]

Rarely did Harvey Bullock take his time. He was likely reveling in his victory over the Joker, and enjoying having more information than Batman. Batman grunted when Harvey tried to put him off, but it only took the man a moment longer to reveal his trap. It was simple, but clever. Played off of the Joker's weaknesses.

Still, Bullock had more to say.

Selina...

Batman considered things carefully. He had always though the relationship between Harvey and Selina Kyle was dangerous. Batman lived with that risk every day. He had thought, no he had known that Selina knowing about Bruce Wayne was the most dangerous element of his deception, but things had a way of working out that not even he could control.

Now that Harvey knew about the Selina-Catwoman things were going to be much more complicated. It wouldn't take a great leap in logic to conclude that Selina knew about Batman's true identity, and that left loose ends that needed to be tied up. 

"Complicated doesn't begin to describe it," he admitted. "I've always told her that her...history with you needed to be brought to an end."

Batman laid a hand down on a small endtable and inspected the material. Cheap. Most likely particleboard with a laminate over top of it. It seemed like Bullock hadn't yet let go of all of his old lifestyle yet. 

He let Bullock continue his rant for a few more moments, then spoke, his voice as stern as ever, "You do your job Bullock. Better than most cops, but you're still corruptible. You've still been corrupted," Batman emphasized, "Resent me all you want, if I weren't here you'd only be deeper in the mafia's pockets, like all of the detectives who came before you."

[Deleted]

Harvey stood at Batman admitting he believed he and Selina's history should have come to an end. He wanted to punch him. He wanted to choke him. He wanted to shoot him.

But... he wouldn't do those things.

The fire that burned in Harvey's eyes looked as though it was hotter than the fires of hell. If Batman had hoped to stir up the devil he certainly did exactly that. Harvey's fist clenched at his side. Even the hand on his broken arm was clenched so tight he began to break into the skin of his palm with his own fingernails. A drop of blood fell from his hand to the floor, Harvey didn't even notice it.

Then came Batman's last comments. Harvey's temper had already been toeing the line and that threw him over the edge. The gritting of his teeth was nearly audible. His stance was wholly offensive. Had he been in better shape right now he would have had no qualms charging Batman and crashing through the window with him. There were few instances in the Detective's life in which he literally wanted to kill someone, this was one of those moments.

"You're out of line, freak, and you know it. I've known Selina for longer than you have. You don't have any say in my on goings with her."

Harvey stepped toward him. He wouldn't attack the man but he came so close to him that they were inches apart, right there in the man's face without any fear or care for what might happen next.

"I ain't ever took a dime from no one. I've made a few mistakes, yeah sure, but I ain't ever took a dime from no dago piece of shit. My life is this badge, my loyalty belongs to Jim Gordon, and my heart is this city. I nearly died for each and everyone of those things time and time again. Jim ever tell you about the time Flass and his boys put me in the hospital for four weeks because I filed a evidence that proved they were taking bribes from Falcone? Hmm?"

Harvey finally stepped back a little, his anger easing only slightly. Something about getting in Batman's face and calling him out of his Bat-Brain always felt good. He glared daggers at the man once again.

"So, call me corrupt one more time, freak, go ahead, do it."

[Deleted]

Batman's eyes narrowed and he uttered only two words, "Jordan Rich."

He let Harvey react for a moment. He had little more reason to speak to the man, but there were still loose ends to be tied up.

"What's the plan when Joker gets out? You don't think he'll ignore the fact that you broke one of his toys?"

Batman stepped towards the window and flicked the lock off of it. He stared at Harvey in the reflection, marking the man's movements carefully even when he seemed as though he had turned his attention elsewhere.

Harvey's cats meowed in distress after their roommate's outburst, and came out of their hiding spots to hiss at Batman. Cats were always troublesome, but at least they didn't have the dogged persistence of an angry hound. He frowned at them and turned around, "Keep your pretensions Bullock," he shot, "We both know what kind of man you are, and it's not a man who keeps within the law, bribed or not."

[Deleted]

"Jordan Rich was a problem that needed to be solved. I don't regret what I did, but that doesn't mean I don't know to make better moves and decisions now."

Harvey suddenly seemed to be cooled down at the mention of Rich. Mention of him did not intimidate nor scare Harvey. He felt he had done what needed to be done, otherwise Renee might be sitting in jail right now because she had originally intended on killing him herself but refrained after Harvey talked her down.

"When he get's out I'll be as ready as I can, but he's unpredictable. I'll break all his toys if given the chance. I should have just killed him that night."

Harvey meant that, he could never understand how Batman constantly pent the guy up and when he inevitably bustedit out it all just happened allover again. More dead people, more heart ache for the city, more evil.

"Keep yours, too, freak, neither are you."

Harvey glanced at his cats. Good boys, he thought. He turned to look back at Batman leave.

"DON'T-"

Dick.

[Deleted]

Batman had little time for Bullock's "philosophy." It had always struck him as being far closer to justification-by-convenience than anything else.

"Prepare well then," he warned, "The Joker won't be fooled twice. Next time he'll be ready for whatever trap you want to spring."

No matter how long he knew the man Batman could never trust Bullock. He was a clumsy oaf who was far too close to the mob to be able to keep his hands clean. It wasn't but a week ago that word got around about Bullock eating with Falcone. Batman had kept out of that. Carmine Falcone had kept a low profile since returning to Gotham City and Batman had no reason to tempt the man into a public fight. He would just keep his investigations open and be ready for what came.

"It's hard to condemn me when I'm not the one who swore an oath to uphold it," he said and opened a pocket on his belt. Harvey couldn't see the movements under Batman's voluminous cape, and so he would have no way of seeing what was about to come.

"Goodbye Harvey," he said and raised his hand.

"Don't-" the cop yelled, but it was too late. The smoke bomb left his fingers and hissed open on the ground.

He's lucky I did this next to a window...Batman thought as he climbed out and shut it behind him, leaving a blinded Harvey Bullock to his whiskey and misery.