Chapter 290: Understanding Boundaries
Midnight. Captain George Stacy stood alone on the Manhattan Precinct rooftop, a massive tarp-covered searchlight beside him.
Assistant Augie had hauled it over from the old precinct—the one Green Goblin had bombed to rubble—and installed it just fifteen minutes ago.
"Everyone stay sharp. Be ready to evacuate on my signal." George spoke into his radio.
Inside the station, Augie exchanged uncertain glances with the other officers and dispatchers. He pressed the talk button hesitantly:
"Captain, you sure you don't want Major Crimes snipers on standby?"
"Absolutely not!" George's voice sharpened. "I know this looks like the perfect chance to grab Batman, but we don't even know if he's human."
"Just follow my lead. Whatever happens, I'll take full responsibility."
Augie still thought the captain was taking a crazy risk. He tried one more time:
"What if Batman takes you?"
George grabbed the tarp with one hand, radio in the other, and yanked hard.
The canvas fell away, revealing a battered searchlight underneath. Welded to its center was a bat symbol—the exact shape of the batarang George had been keeping in his desk.
"Augie, remember two months ago? When we were working late at the old station and that squid guy dropped out of the sky?"
George stared at the bat symbol while speaking into the radio.
"Of course. That was the first time Batman delivered someone to us." Augie said.
"He didn't drop Squid-Man anywhere else. He brought him to me." George said. "Even if that was just convenient, Batman's never killed anyone. I don't think he'll hurt me."
"Captain, you forgetting about that killing at Rikers last week? The one they're pinning on Batman?" Augie reminded him.
"No evidence it was actually him. I don't buy it." George said. "Probably some other vampire."
"Even so, you need protection when you meet him." Augie patted down his pockets, came up empty, then turned and yelled into the station:
"Anyone got a crucifix? I need one for the captain."
The cops all shook their heads, but one of the dispatchers pulled a cross necklace over her head and handed it over:
"A priest gave me this. Make sure I get it back."
Augie nodded repeatedly, grabbed the cross, and rushed to the roof:
"Captain, I don't care if Batman's gonna hurt you or not—wear this."
George pocketed the crucifix and waved him off:
"Go back down. I'll handle this alone."
Augie wanted to stay, wanted to wait with the captain for Batman's arrival, but George's tone left no room for argument. He headed back inside.
On the rooftop, George tucked away his radio and touched the cross in his pocket.
HUMMMM—
He hit the switch. Yellow light shot upward at an angle, cutting through the night.
Hell's Kitchen.
Batman and Venom Robin swung between buildings like twin grim reapers, ready to drop on criminals at any moment.
Then Batman stopped mid-swing, landing on a rooftop. Venom Robin pulled up beside him.
They both looked toward the new Manhattan Precinct. A beam of yellow light pierced the sky.
Without Khonshu manipulating the weather anymore, New York's nights weren't as overcast as Gotham's, but clouds still drifted overhead. The searchlight painted a circle on them—with a massive bat symbol at its center.
"Someone wants to see you." Venom Robin said. "You going?"
"Stay here. I'll be back in ten minutes."
Batman stepped off the edge and dropped. Mid-fall, his cape spread wide and he glided toward Manhattan Precinct.
Captain George Stacy stood alone on the precinct roof, late September wind cutting through his uniform.
He pulled his jacket tighter and looked up at the bat symbol projected against the clouds.
WHOOSH!
An undisguised rush of air came from somewhere close by.
When George turned, a dark figure stood at the roof's edge, maybe forty feet away.
White eyes glowing. Sharp ears jutting from his cowl. Only his jaw visible beneath the mask—making him look almost human.
But then George remembered Batman punching the four-hundred-pound Kingpin so hard he flew through several walls at Oscorp Tower.
That was the only time Batman had fought someone in daylight with witnesses present. Unlike most of his nighttime operations.
Based on that display of superhuman strength, George preferred to believe the exposed chin was just camouflage. God only knew what kind of creature hid under that mask.
Thump. Thump.
Even though George had been a street cop for years, had arrested countless criminals, facing this unknown thing made his heart hammer.
He forced himself steady and spoke:
"I know you can hear me. First, I want to thank you personally for helping us catch criminals who'd slipped through our fingers."
Batman stood silent as a statue at the roof's edge. Motionless.
He accepted George Stacy's thanks. But that's not why he'd come.
"But beyond George the private citizen, I'm also the Captain of Manhattan Precinct."
George cut to the point:
"Let's skip questions like 'who are you'—we both know you won't answer."
"I'm not standing here tonight to judge some ghost in the name of the law. I'm here as this city's legal protector, trying to talk to a power I can't measure. We need to understand each other."
George closed his mouth after that, slowly slid his hand into his pocket, gripped the crucifix, and waited for Batman's response.
The cross wouldn't do anything. George knew that. He just needed something to hold onto.
The night wind caught Batman's cape, making it billow slightly. Just when George started wondering if Batman even spoke human language, that low voice finally came:
"Understand what?"
George exhaled with relief. If he'd talk, they could communicate.
He steadied himself, pulled his hand from his pocket, and looked at Batman:
"Understand each other's boundaries. And what happens when we cross them."
***
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