Chapter Text
Detective Gordon was not paid enough to deal with this.
He poured himself yet another cup of coffee while the other officers gossiped about their latest case. As far as Gotham was concerned it was just like any other case, another few bodies to add to the cemeteries. Fantastic. But what made this particular one so interesting was the possible supernatural elements.
Gotham was cursed, this was a well known fact amongst the citizens and even the world. The Shadow-Assassin-Demon-Creature that started stalking the streets however was new. It only showed up after the second body was found. At first they thought it was gang related, most days it was, and with how the current gangs practically held the city in their hands the GCPD couldn't do anything about it. In fact Jim would bet his left shoe that most of the officers were on some sort of payroll for the various gangs, but what could one man do?
The second body revealed that the two had a connection, they worked at the same company: Apex Chemicals. Both were also pretty high on the ladder, but no one on the GCPD would dare pick the case up. That's when it showed up. An officer who had been patrolling the site of the second murder had found a creature covered in shadows and glowing white eyes crouched over the crime scene. While it wasn't in the report, Jim was sure that officer had screamed very loudly.
After that it was rumored that the shadow would visit the other site and occasionally be seen in random spots around the city. Some said it could fly, others that it would steal children and eat them. So like any other urban legend, Jim ignored it. He had a daughter to feed, he couldn't get caught up in…whatever it was. He sipped his coffee and counted the minutes until his shift was over.
Five more minutes until he could go home.
Four minutes.
Three.
Two.
Sixty seconds now.
Less than thirty.
“All available officers report to The Bowery, in pursuit of a suspect of attempted murder, who appears to be a giant bat. Possibly the shadow creature.”
“FU-”
Gordon stepped out of the police car, very annoyed. If this creature did exist he was going to wring its neck for taking one of his few free nights that he could eat dinner with his kid.
“Report.” He asked the nearest officer, Aspen, he believed her name was. She was one of the few good cops who joined the force to do actual change to this city. They didn't deserve her.
“Earlier this evening an officer caught the creature attempting to kill the third partner in that Apex Chemicals case. He managed to scare it off and began pursuing it, even managing to hit it. He said it screeched pretty loudly so it might be too injured to fly off. We’ve set up a barricade in this general area and have been keeping an eye on the skies.”
“Which officer?”
“Michaels.” She replied with a sour face.
Of course it was Michaels. He was known for taking hush money and moonlighting for mob bosses, they just didn’t have any proof. This made it even more difficult since they couldn't trust anything he said.
“Great. What areas are still in need of canvassing?”
“This street here.” She pointed to an area on the map laid over the hood of a car.
“Right, I’ll take care of it. Keep an eye on him.” He told her as he grabbed a nearby Walkie-Talkie.
“You’re not my boss.” She said as she light heartedly rolled her eyes.
“Then why am I doing all this work, after my shift?”
“Because you’re a somewhat decent person, even if the department overworks you and doesn't pay you enough.”
“Thank you.” At least someone recognized he worked overtime.
Now, time to find the creature.
He’d been searching the area for a while, checking every alleyway and keeping an eye on the roofs that the creature apparently preferred. It had been quiet, too quiet. How do they even know if the creature was even still here? For all they knew it was actually made of shadows and crawled back to whatever little hole it came out of.
He should be home with his daughter, Barbra, not here hunting fairytales. Jim should really talk to his boss about a pay raise.
The detective shone his flashlight into yet another dark creepy alleyway when the light caught something reflective, almost like eyes. He decided to investigate it, probably not the smartest idea, and pulled out his gun, keeping it pointed to the ground.
“Police, come out with your hands up, nice and easy.” He called out to the darkness.
His only response was a growl and the sound of cans being knocked over.
“Please be a opossum.” Jim quietly begged to whatever was listening above.
It was definitely not an opossum, in fact it was Human shaped and hiding behind a dumpster.
“Police, come out with your hands up.” He tried again.
The creature, that's the only thing that it could possibly be, growled and hissed, refusing to comply. Jim, stupidly, got closer. Upon further inspection the creature had massive bat-like wings and wore all black. Its head was covered in a strange mask/cowl, with pointed spike-like ears. He could see why most people described it as a demon.
The Bat Creature was slightly hunched over, out of breath looking and holding one of its wings close to its body. He couldn't see its eyes, but they were no doubt darting around looking for a way out. Right, Micheal apparently shot it, so it's probably injured. Hurt animals are always more dangerous, prepared to lash out to protect themselves. What really surprised Jim however was how young the Bat Creature looked, barely twenty if he had to guess. However he didn't know how it -they- aged, for all he knew they were over a thousand years old.
He couldn't stop thinking about his child, how if she was hurt he would want someone to help her. The Bat Creature wasn't even attacking, not like what Micheals sketchy report said, only growling trying to put some distance between the two of them. They wouldn’t get far, it was a deadend with large buildings, and with a hurt wing there was no way for them to fly away.
The Bat seemed to make eye contact, which was really hard to tell with the white lenses in their cowl. Jim felt like they were staring straight into his soul, he lowered his gun.
“Gordon, report in.”
Their body became tense, preparing to flee.They clearly understood English to some extent. Jim slowly reached up to his radio after a moment of thought.
“Nothing so far, I’m still searching.”
“Understood.”
The Bat still looked suspicious, keeping a firm watch on Jim.
“Did you kill those people?”
They shook their head, for some reason Jim believed them.
“Do you have somewhere to go?”
The Bat didn’t respond.
“You don’t have to tell me where, but if I let you go, do you have somewhere safe to stay?”
They gently nodded their head, still slightly tense.
“Can you get there by yourself?”
Another nod.
“You should have a clear shot to the Sprang Bridge, everyone is searching in the opposite direction. There’s roadblocks all around, you’d be safe on the roofs, but they’re keeping an eye on the skies. Can you still make it?”
A hesitant nod.
“That’s all I can do. Good luck I guess.”
The Bat Creature hesitantly walked past him, then darted around the corner back into the shadows. He hoped he hadn't just made a mistake.