February 4, 1989. Eleven PM, the next day was just an hour away.
After lunch, as planned, Barbara had taken James Jr. to the clinic. At the clinic itself, they were held up due to crowds of junkies wondering why everything hurt after their latest dose, which was why they were only now returning home, currently crossing the Aparo Bridge. Gordon, at that moment, was still on duty in Robinson Park, in the eastern part of Central Gotham.
A bit about the geography of Gotham City. The city was, in fact, three islands, separated by the Gotham River from the mainland to the south and west, spanned by three bridges: the Robert Kane Memorial Bridge in the northwest heading in that direction, the Trigate Bridge in the south between the West and Central districts heading south, and the Vincefiskel Bridge in the southeast, also heading south.
There were three islands in total. East, Central, and West.
First was the East island, the first to be settled and where Gotham City originated. Though its history was the richest among the islands, it seemed like a slum compared to its neighbors. This was due to the times during the industrial era when the Gotham government began developing the city westward en masse, causing the Eastern district to be reshaped into a residential area. But when the West island began developing massively, it lost even that designation. The East island remains, to this day, the most underdeveloped, both in terms of infrastructure (lack of proper schools, colleges, hospitals, decent roads, sidewalks, and environmental quality) and architecture (small five-story buildings whose condition, inside and out, left much to be desired), as well as quality of life (37% of the district's residents are unemployed) and its inhabitants (where one in every one or two people is a junkie). The only positive thing to be known about this place is that the Gotham City Police Department Building is located at its center, and Adams Port is to the north.
Next was the Central island, the most corporately and industrially developed. Its golden age came during the industrial era, and the island long remained packed with factories and plants of all kinds. It was here that absolutely all of Gotham's major corporations were headquartered, including Wayne Enterprises. Although the Central District was the most developed in its time (when the East was a residential area and the West was covered in agrarian society), it never gained much popularity with ordinary residents, all due, of course, to the accumulation of all those environmental problems from the factories. Though after the Great Depression, two-thirds of the factories closed and were either completely dismantled or relocated outside the city, and by the '40s the district was quite habitable, it was mainly people working for those very corporations headquartered there who moved in.
Last was the West island, which was built to all the highest modern standards, and even beyond. It used to be the center of the city's agricultural production, but that was until the turn of the 20th century, when the district began to follow the fate of its Central neighbor, though on a noticeably smaller scale. After the Great Depression, all factories left the city, and in their place first came small five-story buildings, similar to the East Island's, causing a large part of the East island's population to move there during the times. But in the early '50s, when the impact of the Great Depression was almost imperceptible, the island began to be built up with the most modern apartment complexes and high-rises, not corporate ones like in the Central district, but livable ones. It was here that both the most expensive and luxurious apartments and homes on the island were located, as well as all the main places where the wealthy spent their leisure time. Because most of the city's police force was concentrated in the East, its West became a gathering place for all the elites of the criminal world to gather, for which Gotham was sadly famous.
The islands were separated from each other by rivers.
The Sprang River flowed between the West and Central islands, splitting into two streams in the southern half, between which was a small island with a closed psychiatric hospital. The Sprang Bridge spanned its northern part, while in the south, two highways from the West and Central converged into one, that very Trigate Bridge.
The Finger River was between the Central and Eastern islands, formed from Miller Harbor on its northern stretch. Between them, besides a few highways, ran the Aparo Expressway, to the north of Miller Harbor, named for the railway running beneath it. Though the distance between them was noticeably less than between West and Central, so for a moment it could even seem like the Central and East islands were one big landmass.
Because of this, in Gotham, besides the four known directions, there was also a fifth, Center, so.
In Robinson Park, Gordon was thinking about how he regretted allowing his wife to take their son to the hospital alone. At this hour, even far from the squalid South-East End districts, it was still obviously not completely safe. Because of the hunt for Bat-Man, the number of patrolling police officers across the city had noticeably increased over the past few hours.
Captain Branden: "Yeah? We're on our way." Not far away, he heard their supervisor, Captain Branden, talking to someone on the radio.
Captain Branden, giving the order to Gordon and all the cops in the park: "Everyone to your cars! Fire on the Aparo Expressway, possible arson. Everyone, quickly, move!"
Hearing this, Gordon joined his colleagues in the car. On that same bridge right now were his wife and son. The problem was, Gordon had no idea about this, as he could assume they were already home, and even if he knew they were still en route, he had no idea their path led across that very bridge.
Reaching the bridge within two to three minutes—they were lucky the Central District on-ramp was quite close to them—they were stopped by the scene on the bridge. It was littered with cars; after all, Gotham was a city that woke up closer to night, and on top of that, there was real chaos on the bridge, making driving impossible and forcing the cops to abandon their cars and continue on foot. Roughly in the center of the bridge, a wall of fire was visible, slowly turning into a field of flames that divided the bridge into two parts. Only by getting closer could you make out the figure of a man flying through the sky, which from a distance could be mistaken for an unusually tall tongue of flame due to the visible yellow parts on its body. He wore something like a jetpack, which also seemed to run on fire, and in his hand was a flamethrower, roughly standard-sized, but judging by its effect on the bridge, it was many times more powerful than it appeared.
In the middle of the bridge was a huge gap, with the remains of someone's cars in the water below, whose gasoline, mixing with the fire, had created this hole. Although the bridge still held due to the fortunate placement of its support beams, the asphalt on the bridge noticeably crumbled into the water under the weight of the vehicles. Almost all the drivers were essentially trapped; their cars couldn't be moved away from the gap, and getting out and walking was nearly impossible due to the raging flames and smoke, which more resembled fog. The police still had to find a way through the fire; some cops helped people get out of their cars and walk to a place where neither fire nor smoke could reach them, while others continued toward the epicenter of the flames, simultaneously firing at the flying figure on the bridge, though this was futile due to the latter's mobility.
Gordon was among the latter, getting closer and closer to the source of the fire. But it only took a second for him to join the ranks of the former. The moment his squad descended onto the railway passing under the bridge—where there was noticeably less fire and the smoke didn't reach due to the wind, offering a better view, but the risk of collapse for both the railway and the bridge above them was still great—the first thing Gordon saw on the other side of the bridge was a blue Daewoo Nexia with the license plate W17-SLU, with a woman and a newborn baby inside.
Of course, Gordon's first instinct was to get to the other side by any means necessary, but that was obviously impossible under the current exposed conditions, as a couple more chunks of asphalt crumbling near him clearly indicated. Of course, that wouldn't have stopped him, but seeing how the railway tracks themselves were barely supporting his weight, and hearing his colleagues shouting his name, Gordon understood he had no choice at the moment.
When almost all the cops who were at the scene were now a bit further along the railway tracks, listening to instructions from Captain Branden on the next steps, Gordon had just now moved out of his wife's line of sight and was heading to join the others. But he had only managed about three more steps when he felt what he least expected—an incredibly strong, almost superhuman, choking grip from behind on his neck. He only needed to see the black cape behind the legs he glimpsed behind him to understand who it was, which became even clearer upon hearing the deep, low, slightly hoarse, and measured voice behind him.
Bat-Man: "Be aware, I don't like hurting cops, but for you, I'll make an exception."
James Gordon, slightly gasping from the grip: "Wha-what do you want?"
Bat-Man: "Take down the lookout."
James Gordon: "Lo-lookout? I-I don't understand what you're talking about."
Bat-Man: "Don't play dumb. Now you tell me everything about Captain Branden's plan."
James Gordon: "Listen! I-I really don't know what you mean. I know nothing about it."
Bat-Man: "You were ordered to stand watch so Captain Branden could lay out his plan on capturing me. I overheard only the last few words. Clear enough to remember?"
James Gordon: "I-I don't know anything about that. Truly, nothing! I swear to God!"
Bat-Man: "God won't hear you, He's not interested in helping you."
James Gordon: "I swear to you, I really know nothing."
Bat-Man: "You're lying. You're scared of me."
James Gordon: "L-l-listen, there on the bridge, on the other side… a blue Nexia, W17-SLU. My wife and son are in that car. Help them, I beg you, I'm scared for them."
Bat-Man: "I'll help them. Because they're in danger, not because you told me to."
James Gordon: "I-I don't care. Just so long as they're safe. And I swear to you, I know nothing about Captain Branden's plan. I'm not lying, honestly!" After which he feels the pressure on his neck ease, and within a second, he sees the Bat-man already at the edge of the gap, having landed with his grapple, then tries to catch his breath. "I'm not lying to you, I swear."
Bat-Man: "Doesn't matter to me, if you yourself don't believe your own lie."
James Gordon: "And thank you for your mercy."
Bat-Man: "It wasn't one. I just heard your friends coming."
The second he says it, the other cops rushed through the closed door into Gordon and the Bat-Man location, their guns prepared, but to their surprise, and to Gordon's too, the Bat-Man seemed to disappear in the thin air. Watching the scene in front of him, Gordon's thoughts, even if for a second, switched from his family's safety - maybe this Bat-Man wasn't their enemy.