"Man this place is beefed up" GCPD officers were running their routes in groups of four, constantly approaching people for questioning and padding people at the entrance. I'm guessing the attack on the commissioners' family got them shook.
Walking towards the door I'm stopped by an officer holding on to a K-9 unit.
"Sorry about this, it's just a precaution."
"It's fine." I say with a slight shake of my head. Once the officer and his dog are done padding me down and sniffing for anything possibly dangerous I'm let go.
Entering the building I walk on over to the front desk.
"Hello, I'm here to visit Ms.Barbara Gordon?"
"Sure thing sugar let me just call that room to see if she's accepting any visitors right now." As the mature lady dials in the room number she talks with whom I'm assuming is Barbara herself, or a Doctor.
"Uh-huh okay". She hangs up the phone. "Yeah they said you can come up. There's already some people up there so be mindful of that."
Getting on the elevator I follow the instructions given to me by the desk lady and go up to the 7th floor, and look for room 745.
I was nervous. Like REALLY nervous, this would mark the first time I would be able to interact with someone who was fundamentally a part of this world. I'm not trying to say everyone aside from characters featured in publications where NPCs, but the "plot" revolved around people like Barbara, and in visiting her, i was diving head first into a never-ending rabbit hole.
Knocking on the door, I waited until I heard a faint 'come in' and finally walked in.
Laying down on a hospital bed was an auburn haired woman, with a freckled face, and a pair of black - square rimmed glasses. She wore a hospital gown. Next to her was a table cluttered with a myriad of flowers, plushies, and 'get well' balloons.
Alright play it cool. Don't get weird.
"Hi" I said with a small smile, and walked over to the table to also put down my flowers.
"They told me it was you who called me in…thanks."
"Oh yeah, I was coming back home and panicked a bit when I saw you to be honest. Do you mind if I sit down?"
She shakes her head. "Go ahead".
She seems…fine? I was under the impression that she might be a bit more shaken up from what happened to her; Or maybe she just hasn't had the time to process everything. I mean, it has only been about a day or so since she got shot by The Joker.
"How are you feeling?"
"I was just shot by a clown, and got diagnosed with a L1 injury, first lumbar of the spinal cord. How do you think I'm feeling?". She says with a bit of annoyance in her tone.
Ok? she just got annoyed out of nowhere, but then again i'm probably not the first person to have asked that.
"Right, sorry that wasn't considerate of me."
"No you're…" she sighs "you're fine, I'm also sorry for lashing out on you, i really should be thanking you It's just-".
"It's cool, you don't need to explain yourself. You're not in the best shape right now. Is it okay if I get your name? I've seen you and your dad around but I don't think we ever really talked as neighbors."
I already knew her well enough, or at least her comic book self. This time I was finally going to meet Barbara, who's life still carried on outside of her appearances on paper.
"Barbara, Barbara Gordon." She reaches out her hand for a handshake.
"Right, nice to me you, my names Alex, Alex slaughter". I take her hand and reciprocate the intent. "Your dad's the commissioner right? I heard about what happened to him on the news. You think he's alright?"
"Yeah the old man's a tough nut to crack. I'm sure it won't get to him. That, and someone already confirmed that he's gonna get him back". She says with a smile.
"Hmm, that's good to hear."
It got quiet after that conversation ended. Things were getting awkward, damn. I didn't know how to continue the conversation after this to be honest. I wasn't that great of a talker. I preferred when people would talk to me since it was easier to bounce off of them.
Standing up and clearing my throat, I began to get ready to leave.
"Well it's getting late, and you should probably get some time to rest and sort your mind out."
"Oh yeah...you're uh, you're probably right. Thanks for visiting Alex."
"Of course, and umm…do you mind if I visit more often? I-I don't want to come off as weird or anything, don't get me wrong!"
If i was her i probably would've said no to some random guy wanting to come visit me often, but i wasn't her, and thankfully Barbara was a decent person.
She shows me an exasperated smile. "No you're fine, you're fine. I don't really mind it. Beats just constantly being surrounded by doctors and nurses."
"Alright that's great, I'll be seeing you then Barbara."
"Hm, see you then."
Once I was out and made sure the door was fully closed I let out a breath of relief. I was hoping to meet her more often, so establishing a point of contact was worth it. It'll also be easier for me to ask her to help me out once she becomes Oracle.
I need to start planning ahead once Arkham goes into isolation, and becomes a playground for criminals. I had to be able to sneak inside of the DMZ before all that happened. Thing was, I didn't have a specific timeline to follow. All these events were very vague in their timing. Everything was always 'a couple months later' between each other.
My only real source of information is the news so that's what I could really work with. I also needed to start training. Both physically and mentally. I was never a violent person by any means, but I knew eventually, I would have to kill. I don't know who, and I don't know when, but some people just had to die in this world. I loved Batman, but him sparing his villains almost always led to more loss of life. That was something i couldn't live with.
I'm sure these beliefs of mind would eventually put me at odds with the dark knight, but it was something I also had to be prepared for.
Unfortunately due to Gotham being based in New Jersey, it meant that the city had strict gun control laws. Thankfully, those laws were useless since there seemed to be an arms dealer at every corner of the street. I wasn't gonna buy anything crazy to be honest. Just a simple Glock would do. My goal wasn't to kill everything in sight, only kill when necessary, not for convenience, that'll be my motto.
I also had to buy some body armor, maybe something to protect my arms and legs too. I unfortunately, was not built like a tank, nor did I have the money necessary to buy a suit wrapped in a titanium cast with Kevlar plating.
Sigh so much to do, so little time.
Looking through my phone, I begin to search for any gyms that are offering kickboxing classes. It seems to be a pretty easy martial art to get into, and I'll also need to start weightlifting. I want to put my little healing ability to the test, so healing muscle fibers should help develop my body rather quickly.
Weightlifting, martial arts, cardio, and my ability, I'll be able to kill 4 birds with one stone.
I didn't have a license to carry. And taking all the necessary courses for one seemed like a pain in the ass, so my best bet was just to return to crime alley and see if I can find someone who's selling ghost guns.
Walking back to the place of my death was rather anticlimactic. Park row or rather crime alley, was much like the rest of the city - quiet during the day, however that didn't mean crime slept. As risky as it was, I began to walk up to people I found "suspicious" and began to question them. Maybe it was stupid to walk around like a kid on a shopping trip but as long as my name got out that I was in the market for a firearm; Sooner or later, someone had to show up right?
Checking my phone it was already close to 6:00 pm, sighing, I began to walk back. Upon Turning around I came to a complete stop as I felt something hard press against my back.
"Don't move, don't turn around, don't do anything stupid okay?"
"O-okay?" Damn, was I gonna get mugged again?
"You got a big mouth kid, if I didn't know any better I'd say you pigs have been getting sloppy with who you're sending over to watch us".
He began to pat me down, I'm guessing for a wire or anything that some cops might've placed on me. Looking back on it I've been getting touched quite a lot today huh?
"Nothing" I feel the hard object ease off my back. "What do you need a gun for? Especially one from a place like this? You seem like a nice kid, just go through the regular procedures like the rest of ya."
"It's Gotham man, you'd be stupid not to own anything for self defense. That and going through all the legal procedures sounds like a pain in the ass."
That got a chuckle out of the man. "Alright follow me, but don't do anything stupid."
Hearing his footsteps start to become lighter I finally turn around and watch the man walk away into an alley. I couldn't get a good look at him since he was wearing a hoodie and walking with his head down but I followed him anyway.
Watching him enter through a door I also walked into the small room filled with tables, cluttered with weapons and ammunition of all types.
"Here" he hands me some gloves. "Put them on, I don't want your fingerprints all over my beauties."
He had an assortment of Pistols, Assault rifles. Shotguns, hand grenades. The dude basically had an entire armory stored away in a small alley.
"What are you in the market for?"
"Something light, I was thinking just a pistol for now. Preferably a Glock 18, also I'm going to need it with a rifle conversion kit".
"Sure, what about ammo?"
"What do you got."
"All I have in stock for 9mm right now are 50 round boxes. They're $15 each."
"Give me 6 boxes for now."
"Done, anything else?"
"I also need body armor"
"Bullet proof or stab proof?"
"Give me 2 of each - oh, also i need a gas mask"
"Sure thing".
Setting my "order" on the table I started getting ready to pay.
"How much?"
"For the ammo give me $90 flat, for the pistol just make that $150"
"The pistol was pretty cheap, no?"
"It's an unmarked, reconstructed firearm, I'm not exactly selling you a fresh from the factory piece kid."
Integrity. I liked it.
"Hey how am I gonna carry this home?"
"Here" he hands me a backpack. "Consider it a first time buyer's bonus."
"Anyway I can contact you when I need a refill?"
He hands me a pager. "It's already got my info on it, it's your job to learn how to use it."
It'll do.
Walking out with my new toys I began to finally head home before it got any darker.
Guess the only thing I need now is to actually start to develop myself.