It's Time For Wing Clippin' [Gordon]

[Deleted]

Recommended Listening: "Make Some Noise" by The Beastie Boys


A thundering voice crept rapidly from a floor below, a growl that only grew in intensity the longer is lasted.  Soon the voice was clearer, the words formed as it climbed the stairs and walked into the bull pen.  Gordon's officer door was very abruptly wrenched open.

"-AND YOU'RE LUCKY I DON'T COLD CLOCK YOU RIGHT NOW, BIVINS!  I AM IN A GOOD MOOD TODAY AND YOU'RE NOT GONNA RUIN IT, YA CHUMP!"  

Harvey had his right index finger pointed somewhere in the bull pen, presumably at Bivins, he huffed before stomping the rest of his way in and slamming the door behind him.  He shrugged off his trenchcoat, hung it on a hook, sat in a chair infront of Jim's desk.  He took his hat off and placed it on the desk while his other hand pulled out a smoke from somewhere on his person and struck a match on his shoe as he moved to rest his left ankle onto his right knee.

He looked to Jim and gave a wave of the hand that held the match, causing the fire to die out.  He exhaled, smoke billowing from his nose, much like a cartoon bull.

"Commish... ya look like hell."

Harvey's grimace from when he walked in evolved into a ornery grin.  

"So, yeah.  I'm back."

[Deleted]

Paperwork and more paperwork. Follow ups on the university shooting, the run in with Ivy. Too much paperwork, too much for one man to handle. Outside of his office Gordon could hear a voice. Louder with each thunderous step. Someone was coming to pay him a visit. He had an idea of who it might be. Was it Harvey? Wasn't he taking a leave of absence? How long did Gordon allow him to take? About a year, probably around that area. Has it been that long already? The questions that Commissioner Gordon asked himself in his head were interrupted when his guess of who was making a ruckus proved to be true. 

Harvey Bullock was back, he certainly knew how to make an entrance. An entrance that intensified the headache that Gordon already had. For Gordon this felt like a double edge sword. His eyes were strained from dealing with paper-work for most of the night. Dealing with the wide array of crimes that Gotham has went through recently. On the other hand it was Bullock that had intervened with him going through files. He was loud and obnoxious but he was a good friend. Gordon looked up from his desk. He smiled a tired smile, perhaps he was happy to see Bullock. He hadn't exactly noticed him being to absent until he burst into his office. That is when the Commissioner realized that Bullock hadn't been around. His job took up most of his thoughts, but was it really that bad? Perhaps he needed Bullock to spring him back to reality. 

"Hey Harvey." The commissioner replied, sitting up straight from his slump. 

"Is this just a visit or will you be active again?" The commissioner was all business to start with. Maybe once that was out of the way they could talk normally. But it certainly has been a hell of a couple weeks.

[Deleted]

"Ah, yeah. I'm back-back, this time."

Harvey puffed on his smoke for a second and rummaged his hand around on a bookshelf behind him to find the ashtray he used to keep in Gordon's office. He found it and placed it on the desk.

"Yeah, I ain't a fed no more. Done with that."

Harvey scratched his chin after pulling his cigarette away with his right hand. He hadn't shaved in a couple of days, so he looked the usual. He looked like he had shed a few pounds, but not too much. He looked a bit tired himself, but from something different. Maybe time would reveal that something in the future.

"So same place as before or you reassigning me to another department? Either way, I'm good."

Harvey's current rank was Sergeant, before he left he'd taken the Lieutenant's test, and passed, but he hadn't stuck around long enough to know that. He ended up dashing out, visiting every other month briefly to check on his apartment and his mother, mostly. Maybe a drink with Montoya, or a brief run in with Jim.

The amount of knowledge he'd gained this last year was vast, but Harvey never flaunted his smarts. Maybe the roughness was all just a facade to protect him from harm?

"Been dealin' in a lotta, eh, information this last year. You look like you could use a hand with gettin' your plate cleared," Harvey commented as he gestured to the ridiculous amount of paperwork stacked on his desk.

"I mean, your desk is looking like mine did before I'm left, but I always have been slow at getting paperwork filed on purpose. I know this ain't on purpose, Commish."

Harvey leaned back in his chair and looked at his cigarette for a moment and then began smoking on it again after tapping ash from it into the tray.

"If I'd known me bein' gone was this hard on ya, well I might have tried to get back a little sooner than a year."

[Deleted]

Gordon smiled at the response he received from Bullock, it was nice to have him back. Gordon would definitely be the first one to say that Harvey was obnoxious but he was a damn good cop. A good enough cop that was decent enough with whatever job you stuck him with. Good enough at his job that is Gordon remembered correctly, that had passed the test that would determine if he was ready to become a lieutenant or not. It so happens that Bullock managed to pass that test. Before saying another word Gordon stood up and walked over to a file cabinet. That particular file cabinet housed all of the names and files of the upper echelon of the GCPD. Gordon looked for awhile. The files were organized enough but it was still a lot to go through. Eventually Gordon found the rather thick file with the name 'Bullock'. Pulling the file, Gordon walked back to his desk, moving the other files aside and laying down Bullocks file opened. 

"Well Sergeant, as you can see. The first thing you see in your opened file is the test that you took about a year ago to see if you were ready to be promoted. As you can see by the approval stamp, you were cleared for a promotion. As commissioner it is up to me to determine whether you are ready or not for such a responsibility." Gordon paused for a moment, waiting for his words to sink in. "You know that you'll always have a place in this department. Although during your absence life still had to go on. Homicide is currently running at full capacity. However there was recently an opening in another division." Gordon smiled, before standing up. He then extended his hand. 

"Welcome to Major Crimes, Detective Lieutenant Bullock."

[Deleted]

"Ugh, I forgot about that. Pay any better?"

Harvey looked a bit unsure at the idea of more responsibility. He'd just spent a year with more responsibility and power than he'd ever had as a cop. As much as he wished this would be a piece of cake compared to that, he was fairly certain it would be harder.

He mulled it over while he puffed on a cigarette and pulled the file from Gordon. He opened it and looked at his scores. He'd done well, very well as a matter of fact. Certainly better than he would have expected. He'd been in a bit of a dark place before he left, with the Charlotte thing and all.

After a length of silence Harvey stood and shook Gordon's hand.

"Eh, I'll do it. Thanks, Commish. Hopefully I don't screw it up."

It was common of Harvey to underestimate himself. He tended to be a bit self-deprecating. He finished his cigarette and put the butt out in the ash tray and sat back down, he didn't care to look any further into his file so he handed it back over to Gordon. He wasn't at all surprised at how thick it was. It was full of all kinds of stories, he was sure of.

"If you think I can do it, maybe I can. Anyway, you got a briefing? Anything going on you need me to jump into. I got back yesterday, so I hadn't really settled back in yet, but my apartment doesn't smell, so that's good enough for me."

Montoya had kept watch over it, carrying his spare key. He'd already found evidence of at least two small parties, he wouldn't say anything to her. That's the price a man pays for a loyal partner.

[Deleted]

Needless to say, Gordon was glad that Bullock accepted. Part of him knew that he would however. Taking the file back, Gordon walked back to the cabinet he took it from and filed it back in. He then returned to his desk and sat back in his chair. "Pay increase of 15% so there's that. And as for anything for you now?:" Gordon paused for a second. He wasn't really sure what was going on in Major Crimes currently. He was told of a few major cases that had been going on, but as commissioner there was a whole lot to deal with. He knew that the head of Major Crimes Captain Presley would take good care of the newly appointed detective lieutenant Bullock. 

"See Captain Presley tomorrow morning, he'll get you settled in. You'll have a new desk, and a new start. I hope that'll help you, Harvey. I know before you left... You had a hard time." Gordon went silent for a moment, he didn't want to ruin this happy moment. So before Harvey could even realize Gordon smiled and went straight back into his paper work. "It's good to have you back, Harvey. I know you'll be able to handle this job in major crimes. Just know that its a bit different than homicide." Gordon looked up once more with a smile, before going back to the mountain that was his paper work. 

"We'll get a drink and catch up some more real soon, but as you can see I'm swamped. But really. Thanks for stopping by."

[Deleted]

Harvey looked pleased at the pay increase. He watched Gordon try to wrack his brain for some kind of information to get Harvey. He really did miss me. I used to be the one that gave him the answers about that kinda stuff...


He tightened his lip a little at the mention of "having a hard time."  He just gave a somber nod and sighed under his breath, smirking back to Gordon to deflect any bad memories for the moment.  

"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill.  I get to swoop in and save all the other departments from the cases they can't handle.  Slackers."

Harvey got up and pulled his coat back off the hook and began pulling it on as their quick chat was coming to a close.  He picked his hat up and held it against his chest as he stood there.  He gave a casual smile at the mention of a drink

"Yeah, but before that we gotta get you enough free time to get through half a drink, Commish."

Harvey offered his hand and shook his before leaving, putting his hat on.

"See ya mañana, Commish.  Give my best to Punky."

By Punky, he meant Babs.  He'd always called her that.