Tabitha had finally come to after a moderately long wait in that room behind the clinic, that coincidentally could've doubled up as a sauna. Selina was slick with sweat and kind of an expert at paper ball waste-bin tossing by then. Lee wasn't kidding when she'd warned of the noise. Everything discussed in the doctor's office rang loud and clear, as though Lee herself, was standing in that very room.
"Geez... hope you had a good nap," she sniped at Tabby.
Still groggy, Tabitha rubbed the back of her head where she'd been clubbed and tried to remember how she'd gotten to that room. "Where am I?"
"You're in the Narrows. Ed and I carried you here."
"Ed?" Memories of that conversation with Butch began to come back to her.
"According to him, Barbara would've shot you had he not knocked you out first. Looks like that relationship is over."
Butch was dead. He was shot in the head, by Barbara, no less. He was dead because Barbara trusted Ed over them. That much Tabitha remembered quite clearly. She grit her teeth, finding all the motivation in the world to get off that bed and go get Barbara back.
"Oh whoa whoa whoa..." Selina backed her down. "You're not going back."
"Why not?"
"Are you suicidal? Barbara is going to kill you."
"Not if I kill her first," snapped Tabitha, touching the side of her hip in the search for her gun. It wasn't there. Her whip was gone as well.
"Come on! Ed said you and Butch were planning on betraying Barbara anyway. Why go back to that?"
Tabitha glared Selina down with wide open eyes. "Barbara shot Butch. She should not be allowed to come away from that."
"Tabby, calm yourself down! If you go over there this hot-headed you'll...." she trailed off when she thought she heard Detective Gordon's voice in the next room. Tabitha must've heard the same thing because she immediately turned around and temporarily put all plans of revenge on ice.
"So should I ask you what are you doing back here, or should I ask why didn't you tell me?" Jim asked Lee, the moment they got some time alone.
She sighed and leaned on her steel filing cabinet, trying to think of the best way to approach his question. "I've spent such a long time being mad at you, Jim - about the whole Mario situation. I was so bitter that it made me unprofessional. I don't like being that person."
"I know," he softened to her. "I don't blame..."
She cut in quickly. "No, let me finish." And only continued when he backed down. "I knew I had to leave you, and I got on the train to do that. But I didn't get very far. I wanted to leave you, but it was you, not the city, I didn't see the point to leave completely. So I turned around and came back. By then, I'd already ended my contract with my previous landlord, so I knew if I were to return to Gotham, finding a new place would have to be my first and utmost priority. Just..." she absently shook her face. "It was really last minute, and I didn't want to be anywhere I might accidentally bump into you, so I ended up in the Narrows. You probably know that I've not spent a lot of time in the Narrows, the last time I visited was... I think seven years ago, but little did I think that it would deteriorate to levels I never thought possible - it was just appalling. The poor sleeping on bare pavements. Factories turned into drug-houses. Under-aged girls trying to earn a wage selling their bodies. Kids, rummaging through the trash. It was so painful to see that I thought about leaving Gotham for real and never coming back - but just then I stumbled on a crowd gathered in an alleyway. They surrounded this poor woman who was laid on the ground, going through labor all alone, crying for help. Nobody knew how, so they just stood there and watched. I guess... it was sheer instinct on my part - I dove in with whatever knowledge I've gathered of childbirth, and delivered the baby into its mother's arms." She paused to savor the memory, a smile brightening her face. "That moment, Jim. I can't describe. It was like I was reborn. I finally understood my purpose in this world - and wouldn't have to go on wandering it aimlessly. Regardless of how far gone the Narrows looks, it has hope." Instinctively her hands extended as though she were holding the baby from the alley in her own arms. "I could be that person to bring hope."
Jim soaked it all in, and finally he nodded when her motivations became a little clearer to him. "So you built this place?" he asked, looking around in newfound admiration.
"I put all my savings into setting up this free clinic, but it hasn't been easy. With no money coming in, and so many people here who still need help, I think I might've been more ambitious than practical about it."
"Lee," he said, holding onto one of her shoulders. It made her tense up. "You're doing a good work here. I can't express how inspired I am of you."
She stared at his hand on her shoulder, then she just shook it away. "That time is past, Jim," she said coldly. "My work is here now, in the Narrows. I won't have the time or energy for a relationship."
"You mistake my intent. I..."
"You're here for the Riddler," she completed the sentence for him, very matter-of-factly. "He came, dropped off Tabitha Galavan and left."
"Tabitha Galavan..." he repeated, looking about the room. He'd almost lost track of what he'd intended to do in Lee's office.
"She's in the back," Lee pointed to the door behind her so that he would know where to find Tabby.
But Jim didn't need to open the door because Tabitha did it for him. Selina a few steps behind her.
"Hmm," he said, addressing Tabitha directly. "Perhaps you'd like to tell me what two of you were doing with Edward Nygma."
"That's our business," replied Tabitha, haughtily.
"It'll be everyone's business if Ed is connected to some very dangerous people I've been investigating. I need to stop them."
"And who might that be?"
Stubbornly, he put his hand on a hip. "Need to know basis. Do you know if Ed Nygma has been paying visits to the Narrows?"
Tabitha exchanged a puzzled look with Selina. "I don't think so. He's been spending all his time getting Barbara under his spell - and plotting revenge against Oswald." Jim opened his mouth to ask, but stopped when Tabby added, "Don't even ask. Anyway, with all the time he's put into replacing us, I can't see how he'd have time for anything else."
"So why did he drop you off here, of all places?" Side note to Lee, "No offense."
Lee and Tabitha turned to Selina for answers. "Hey, he said Lee was offering free medical care."
Tabby looked at in disbelief. "Really! Selina..."
"Come on, it's Lee," Selina tried her best to explain. "We all know she'll do a good job."
"Maybe I should point out that 'free healthcare' is a privilege only reserved for those who can't afford it." Lee pointed out.
Jim's phone rang, and he answered it. Inevitably cutting short the discussion among the females in the room. "What?" It would seem that the person on the other side of the line had sprung some rather surprising news on Jim. He replied, "I'll be there as soon as I can." Then put down the phone and turned to the others in the room. "You'll have to work this out without me. I need to head off..."
The phone rang again.
"One sec," he excused himself as he retrieved the second call. "Gordon." The room waited for him in silence as he remained engaged with the conversation on his phone. "Where's he been?" asked Jim. As the person continued to speak, Jim took a panning look at the ladies that ended with Selina, his glance remained on her. Selina creased a brow, suspect that his phonecall might involve her directly or indirectly. "Alfred, at any other time I'd drop everything to be there, but right now, there's been umm..." he continued to look at Selina. "Something's just happened that I urgently need to attend to. Meanwhile, I'll send Alvarez and a few other cops to Gotham General to watch..." The person on the other side of the line might've have cut the line prematurely because Jim never got to finish his sentence. He only removed the phone from his ear and stared at it for a bit.
"Who's in Gotham General?" asked Selina, already holding her suspicions. There'd only be one reason for Alfred to call Gordon.
Jim looked thoughtfully at Selina, then told her, "It's Bruce, Selina. They've found him."
No comments:
Post a Comment