A hot-dog and a cool breeze puts a cop at ease.

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Afternoon on another busy day. Paperwork right along with legwork had been piling up left and right. Gordon had hardly any time to stop and breath, let alone eat and take a break. When noon rolled around he said to himself he'd eat lunch at 1:30. Looking at his watch again he noticed it was verging on 3:00. The more he thought about it the more hungry he became. He hadn't eaten since? He didn't exactly know. Maybe it was time for the commissioner to eat something and try to recapture some of that energy he lost over the day. He wasn't as young as he used to be, so he needed fuel so to speak. It was good news that a place like Monolith Square wasn't too far away from the GCPD building. 

Today he didn't want to eat in a crowded restaurant. Today he'd take a walk, the Sqaure had a few park-type areas around. He might be able to find a shawarma or perhaps a hotdog stand. Gordon donned his trench coat and traveled down to the front area of the GCPD. Several officers nodded at him, some even waved. He smiled back, he waved back. He was too enveloped in thought to really pay too much attention to anyone. He began to walk, he did his best to clear his mind during the walk. It didn't go exactly as planned. However he was at a well known hot-dog stand. 

One with everything on it. The commissioner knew this wasn't good for his high blood pressure but he didn't care. Hotdogs were a staple in every cops diet. This wouldn't be the last one he'd have. Gordon walked into small park area and found a bench to rest while he ate. 

He'd watch real birds rather than watching jail birds. 

The actual birds were much nicer.

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Briar heaved a heavy sigh as she shuffled along one of the paths in Monolith Square. All of her recent late nights were beginning to take their toll. On top of her early mornings at the Botannical Gardens…she had opted to take the afternoon off of work, getting permission from her superior. Her superior had actually mentioned that she looked horrid. Maybe a break from her late night expeditions was in order. But right now…

Grrrrroooooooooowwllll…

Her stomach commanded her to go in search of food. Not feeling like returning home immediately and equally as disgusted with indoor food venues, Briar decided that the Square might offer her some peace as well as a new look into Gotham civilian life. Every opportunity that she could take to learn more about the people of Gotham, she would. She needed to learn. Blend in. Briar was first and foremost an assassin. Her true name was Kitsune. To her, in any case.

Eventually stumbling across a hotdog stand, Briar decided that her search for food had ended. She couldn’t be bothered to go looking for a different stand, and she had yet to try this…street food. She stood behind an elderly looking gentleman before stepping up to the vendor as he passed, ordering herself a hotdog with all of its fixings.

She turned around and sat down on one of the park benches. She always felt more at ease around nature. But she wasn’t alone. Perhaps unconsciously, she had followed the elderly gentleman to this bench. Briar flicked her eyes over to her companion just as she was biting down on her hotdog. Her eyes suddenly went wide with recognition, surprise causing her to accidentally inhale a bit of her hotdog.

“Ack! Gak!” Briar choked, beating her fist lightly against her chest as she struggled with the food. “C-Commissioner Gordon!” She finally managed as she finally began to breathe once more. Light coughs still perforated her words. What was the police commissioner doing…here?!

“Um…” Briar coughed, “Ah…Hi. I apologize…” Making a motion to stand up, Briar felt some intense awkwardness with her little outburst. She had just been taken completely by surprise. “I’m…interrupting your lunch.”

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The commissioner was taken by surprise by the young woman that was sharing the bench with him. He didn't see her coming, did she buy her hotdog at the same stand too? Maybe he wasn't paying as much attention as he should have been. He didn't notice her. Maybe he was too busy thinking about his week rather than paying attention to his surroundings. That is why he liked parks so much. Usually people were busy with their own things and let you go about your business. He wasn't totally against the concept of meeting someone new and eating lunch with them of course. It was rather nice to get out of the station and talk with someone that wasn't a member of law enforcement or someone that faced criminal charges. 

"No, no. You're fine. Please sit down and finish your lunch." He wasn't surprised that she knew who he was. Most people in Gotham knew who he was. He was on TV all the time, with a press conference of his own or part of one that the mayor was holding. He hated everyone knowing who he was and not knowing who anyone else was. He didn't like that feeling. Even if it couldn't be helped. He tried to talk to everyone that approached him. Even if it was an accident like what seemed to happen today. It would be nice to meet someone new. That was the thought initially of course. He wasn't sure what kind of person she would be. He only had just met her. That was what was unique with living in a big city. You could have a job like being the commissioner of the Police and still meet new people every day. 

"I feel like I should be the one apologizing. You know me and I have no idea who you are... Ms?" He ate between talking. He didn't want to seem rude or messy. Even if he never even met this person before he still wanted to make a decent first impression. He was the leader of the police in the city. Everyone held him up to a certain standard. This is something the mayor made sure to mention every time they met

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At the Police Commissioner’s insistence, Briar sat back down next to the old cop. She glanced over to him somewhat uncertainly before chomping down on another bite of her hot dog. Her eyes found themselves inexorably drawn to Gordon’s mustache. Something about it was intensely distracting. Maybe how bushy it was. The style? Maybe. It was a perfect storm of highly distracting elements, and without anything else to focus in on as Gordon was lost in his thoughts, she could not help but stare at it.

Snapping out of the trance as soon as Gordon opened his mouth to speak, Briar hurriedly took another bite of her hot dog. “Briar. Briar Byrnes,” she said. There was no need to use a false name. This was the first time that she had ever been to Gotham. “That’s not really something you need to apologize for Commissioner Gordon, sir.” Her training with the League had drilled in a certain respect for her elders. Using his title might be a bit much though.

“I don’t expect you to know who I am. I am simply informed enough to recognize the police commissioner. Which is more than I can say for some.”

Briar motion to take another bite from her lunch, but stopped as a question bubbled to the forefront of her mind. How to word it though…

“This city…Gotham. How can you justify…No. What makes you want to protect it? Despite the justice system not working or the corruption in your own police force? Despite people like the Joker?”

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Gordon was visibly perplexed by the question. This was a rather good question, the topic wasn't brought up to Gordon by that many people. He sighed for a moment while thinking of what exactly he should say as an answer. He put most of his life into this city. Making sure Gotham stayed safe. Making sure the inhabitants had their basic rights as residents of a city in the United States. He enforced the law because that was his job. But this new person he met raised a valid question. Why Gotham? Why one of the most dangerous cities in all of the United States, perhaps even the world for that matter. Why? The question that James Gordon asked himself every night when he couldn't sleep. The very question that kept him awake at night. Perhaps he was looking too much into this. The young lady just asked a simple question. 

So he would do his best to give a simple answer. 

"Over the years you'd see a lot of people calling Gotham 'hopeless'. A while ago when the Waynes were murdered the city lost most of its hope. Thomas and Martha Wayne were heroes to this town. They gave it hope. Now this was years before the Batman or whatever. At that time they were a positive force that drove people in this city to achieve anything they could. When they got murdered everyone in Gotham saw that even the finest of people could have something terrible happen to them. Their hope was gone. For me personally it was when I met an eight year old boy. The son of Thomas and Martha Wayne. I saw that all hope was lost in him. As a police officer, someone that is sworn to protect and serve. I saw that hope shouldn't be lost. Especially in such a young boy. Hope should be sustained and kept strong at any cost. Hope is what kept me here. Hope is what made me commissioner. Hope is why I'm here today." He took a deep breath. 

"Many have asked me why I condone the Batman to run around and do what he does. Because Batman is hope. And this city needs hope. Because if you're without hope then you're damned no matter how hard you try. With hope and a iron will at least you're willing to fight for what you think is right." 


Maybe it wasn't so simple after all.


But it was the truth.