5369/Getting To See The Commish

Getting To See The Commish
Date of Scene:	27 February 2021
Location:	Historic Clocktower - Penthouse
Synopsis:	Jim Gordon stops by the Clocktower with coffee and donuts for Barbara. He finds Stephanie Brown there allegedly working on homework, before Barbara returns to update him on her ongoing problems with her legs.
Cast of Characters:	Jim Gordon, Stephanie Brown, Barbara Gordon

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Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon is never sure what precise hours his daughter keeps. She's usually at her computer and probably doesn't get as much sleep as she should. Does anyone in Gotham, though? Jim can't remember the last time he slept a full eight hours. Probably back in Chicago. Quarter century back. Gotham keeps you on your toes.

He rings the button outside the door. He insist on her having state of the art security, of course. He's made plenty of enemies who wouldn't think twice about using her against him, after all. Or just hurting her for the spite of it.

"Barbara? It's Dad. Brought some donuts and some coffee. Don't worry, I bought it fresh, I wouldn't subject you to station coffee," he says into the intercom.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
One of the good things about working with Batman, the Birds of Prey, and having Barbara for a mentor, is that when Stephanie can use extra time working on her labs for her chemistry course at Gotham University, she has chemistry lab space available, and far better quality than what the University boasts for freshmen students.

Stephanie peels off her goggles and removes the coat she's put on over her jeans and t-shirt, leaving the safety gear behind and heading for Barbara's living space. She'd brought over raspberry lemonade to share, a whole case, and if Barbara wasn't there to enjoy it yet, it didn't mean that Stephanie couldn't grab a bottle well-earned by her time on her lab.

But before she makes it to the fridge, one of the alarms goes off, quiet in this part of the house, but Stephanie knows what that little light means. She goes over to check and sees a car having rolled up, Barbara's software having already identified the license plate as being her father.

"Oh, shoot," Stephanie says, going over to a mirror and rubbing at the faint goggle marks on her face. They are already almost faded, and by the time Jim Gordon is buzzing in from the door, Stephanie manages to rub them out completely.

She goes over to the controls of the door, hitting the intercom and saying in a bright tone, "Hi Mr. Gordon. It's Stephanie Brown. You just missed her, but come on up." The door buzzes as the lock disengages to let him in.

Stephanie hurries over and hits the button to cause the display case of trophies to rotate back into the wall. One last spot check of nothing incriminating sitting out, and Stephanie moves over to meet the Commissioner at the entrance to the penthouse.

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon makes his way in, clad in his usual brown suit and trenchcoat. His hair is mostly grey, although he'll proudly cling to the through dark threads still running through the silver. He comes up with a nice big box of donuts, setting them aside along with a jumbo thermos of coffee that he filled up.

"I know she has her own coffee machine, but I thought I'd save her the trouble. Oh, well, it will keep, I suppose. Do you happen to know where she's off to?" he says. He didn't fully understand his daughter's connection to the young woman, but it wasn't any of his business and god knows he had enough other things in the world to investigate without poking into his daughter's personal affairs. He was glad she had friends, at least. It hadn't always been easy to make them, being Jim Gordon's daughter.

"I hope you're doing well, young lady? Still at your studies?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie greets Jim Gordon with a bright smile. "Oh I'm sure she's going to-" Stephanie starts to say kick herself, but given Barbara's state in her wheelchair she changes it to, "be disappointed she wasn't here. I think just running some errands," Stephanie says.

She offers to take the coffee and donuts and asks, "Want me to pour a couple of cups. I was just going to get some lemonade but coffee would be even better. And yes, doing my best to keep my GPA up. Barbara is such a godsend when it comes to my computer classes. I mean, she makes me earn it myself, but at least when I'm screwing up, she's there to guide me back in the right direction," Stephanie says, and intentionally giving the sharp-minded police officer more reinforcement on why she's there. "Did you want to have a seat, see if she returns?" she asks. "The view is gorgeous today. I was kind of standing and staring earlier," she says with a warm grin.

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon smiles, "I'm glad you can understand that stuff. She tried to teach me computers a few times, but I think I'm just a little too old to grasp it all. Maybe I already filled my head with too many other things to jam it all in. That's what I try to tell myself anyway," he says with a bit of a twinkle in his eye.

He goes to take a look out at the view himself after he pours some coffee, one hand holding the cup to his lips and letting him take a long sip, black and unsweetened. "I don't get to look at the city much during the day. It is a view. Pretty, even."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie pours some of the black gold into a cup of her own, though she adds creamer to it, turning it a tan color, and enough sugar that it'll have a sweet taste to offset the coffee's normal bitterness. She moves over to join Jim Gordon by the window. The girl's wearing jeans and tennis shoes, with a t-shirt that shows Marvin the Martian wearing a Gotham U t-shirt. Probably bootleg, like Warner Brothers would license the image out like that.

She takes a sip of the coffee and says, "You are the Commissioner, right? I'd think you'd have an awesome corner office with a great view, too. Or do you just not take the time to enjoy it while at work?" the college freshman asks. "I can imagine how easy it would to bury your head in work at a job like that."

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon shakes his head, "I keep my desk on the lower floors. It's important to stay close to the officers who work the street. They might call me a superior officer, but I'm not more important than anybody else. I'm just older and been at it longer," he says. Which doesn't give him nearly enough credit, of course, but Gordon isn't in it for credit.

"I also had to shift my work hours partly to night. Things are too active after dark for me to be sitting at home in my slippers when things break loose. I'd just get called in anyway," he says. "I hope things will keep getting better, though. With bright young people like you and Barbara here, I have a little hope, at least."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie holds the handle of her mug in one hand, fingers balancing it with the other as she takes a sip. Outside winter hasn't quite given up its grip on the city, but it's loosening. The snow is melting faster than it is being replaced, with more and more of the pavement and the grass in parks and yards becoming visible from beneath the layer of white that blanketed it off and on throughout the last few months.

She flashes a grateful smile over towards Jim Gordon. "Well, I just hope I can come anywhere near to what Barbara has accomplished. She's such an inspiration. The things she's done with her company," Stephanie says of Barbara's eco-friendly company, "and still taking the time to help a dumb kid from Bristol like me," Stephanie says. Also there's that whole punching bad guys thing that Stephanie looks up to her for. "You really have a great daughter, Mr. Gordon."

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon smiles, "I do. I'm very, very lucky. I wish I could take more credit for it. Must've been hard for her, getting dragged to do her homework at the police station or being a latchkey kid. Not what I wanted for her. I did the best I could. I think she's the smartest person I've ever met and I've met some pretty smart people," he says.

"Do you have any specific ambitions, Stephanie? Any goals for where you want to take this education you're getting?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The college coed takes another sip of her coffee and looks thoughtful. "I'm still struggling with what to do for a major. I've thought about linguistics. But I think I'd probably enjoy knowing the languages far more than I would sitting around doing interpreting for people all day," Stephanie says, the words coming slowly as if she's delving into thoughts that have been tumbling in her head for awhile.

She turns away from the view to move over to take a seat in one of the chairs. She slips her tennis shoes off so she can draw her feet up. "I think forensics is kind of interesting too. I don't know that I thought I could handle that amount of science though. I'm doing ok so far with chemistry, so maybe it wouldn't be as rough as I'm thinking," she says. "Is it very hard to find a job in that field?" she asks.

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon takes another sip of the coffee and takes a seat for himself across from the young woman, "We can use all the help we can get, whether it's in the lab or on the beat," he says. "If you want to pursue that after graduation, I'd be happy to give you a recommendation. Hiring isn't strictly within my purview, at least not solely, but my word still goes pretty far in this town, last I checked," he says.

"The workload here is heavy. It's no secret that Gotham's worst neighborhoods are some of the highest crime regions in the country. We've cut into that in the last few years, but it sometimes seems like we're shoveling against the tide," he sighs. He pinches his nose for a moment. "I remember Barbara used to talk about wanting to be a cop, sometimes, when she was young. I discouraged it. Maybe unfairly. But I couldn't help but worry. A father always does, I suppose."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown sits in one of the chairs, drinking a mug of coffee poured from the thermos that Jim Gordon had brought along with donuts. "I think the chance to contribute and make a difference would mean a lot to me. I also realize it's not exactly the most... aesthetically pleasing job," Stephanie agrees about the possibility of pursuing a career in forensics.

The young woman shifts in her seat, drawing her legs further up beside herself. "I imagine any parent would be concerned, yes," Stephanie agrees when Jim Gordon mentions Barbara not having stayed with a career of being a cop. "But she's definitely done well for herself. And her degree was in forensics too, if I remember right," Stephanie says. "If I don't go that route... I'm really just not quite sure what else might interest me. I'd say 'pastry chef' but I'd eat all my profits."

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon chuckles, "Some things are more important than profit. Pastry chief among them, I would say. My best advice is to find something you feel passionate about. Helping people can mean a lot of things, not just fighting crime or solving murders," he says. "I daresay Barbara's eco work would fit in that category. And I know plenty of restaurants that the city would be quite poor without. When you make the lives of the people around you better, that goes beyond just those people and to the others their lives touch."

He finishes his cup of coffee, "As for the aesthetics...yes. I think a strong stomach would be required to work any part of the justice system in Gotham."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
The doors from the elevator open smoothly with a soft ding, permitting the entrance of one Barbara Gordon. She was, of course, aware that there were visitors, one of whom was her father, because there's no security system as advanced as that protecting the Clock Tower. Peeking at her phone while riding up, she'd thumbed some commands, and then grabbed her bags from the floor on either side of her.

Hanging them on the little hooks, she grips the wheels of her low seated wheelchair and rolls forward with a push and leans forward to glance around, "Dad, you here?" She calls out. Hair tied back in a ponytail, she's wearing slim-cut jeans, red tanktop with a black members only jacket. Red framed glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. "Steph?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
"True," Stephanie agrees how money isn't everything. "Though I'd probably turn into a blimp if I was baking sweets all day," she says, the lithe, toned young woman quite far from that. If she kept up her current nightly activities she could probably handle those calories, even. Batman's entourage eat like the crews from Dangerous Catch.

As the sounds of Barbara's return are caught, Stephanie rises from the chair. "Yep, in here with your father," she calls to Barbara, and moving around to where the woman can spot them easier without having to roll too much. "Your dad brought coffee and donuts. We haven't hit the donuts yet, want me to pour you a cup?" Her own has a bunch of creamer in it, but then Barbara knows that, and with sugar, is how Stephanie tends to drink coffee.

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon smiles and rises from his seat to greet his daughter, offering an embrace and a kiss on the cheek once she comes in to join them. "Hey there, kiddo," he says. "Just figured I'd check in on you a bit. Things have been hectic lately. Not that they aren't usually," he says. Smells of coffee and tobacco and a bottle of cologne that Barbara had gotten him for Christmas long enough ago that it had probably turned partly to vinegar.

He regards the chair with a bit of concern, "Been having trouble?" he asks, unable to disguise the concern in his voice.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Babs waves to the pair, finishing the treck over to them where she locks the wheels and embraces her dad, "Hey daddy." Grinning a bit more smelling the cologne she'd gotten him, "Mm? Oh... nah, I'm okay." Glancing down at her wheelchair, "Had to pull the chair out of the closet, but I've talked to the doctor and I have an appointment to make sure the implant isn't malfunctioning."

She'd been out of the wheelchair for a little over two years now.

But they said there might be hiccups. It was experimental surgery, afterall.

"It's probably nothing. I'm fine." Assuring him with a glance at Stephanie, "Uhh yeah, please. I've got some work I've got to do on a contract, but I can have some coffee first! One cream no sugar."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown goes over to make the coffee, though it doesn't stop her from being a voyeur as the father-daughter hug is given. It's a simple enough thing for most people, something they wouldn't even really think about. But seeing it means something to see for a young woman whose father spent more time in Blackgate than he did in her home. It makes her smile softly.

The cup of coffee is poured and the cream stirred into it. Stephanie grabs a plate as well and picks one of the donuts she knows Barbara favors from the box, and then plates another donut for the Commissioner and brings them over to them. "Here you go," she says brightly.

"We were just talking about college majors. And what an awesome daughter you are," Stephanie tells Barbara, giving her a warm grin.

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon smiles and nods at Stephanie, "My favorite subject," he agrees. As to the chair, there's a suspicious cast to Jim's eyes. But he knows that Barbara likes her privacy, likes to keep things to herself. Maybe to an unhealthy degree. Or maybe he was just nosy.

"Tell me if you need anything. And keep me updated," he says. He had been aginst the experimental implant in the first place, concerned of unexpected side effects or pain. But he also understood Barbara wanting her mobility back. He just didn't want her to put her life - or quality of life - at risk in exchange.

"Young Stephanie here said she has an interest in forensics and pastry."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"Of course I will." Babs says with a nod, assuring her father she'll, at the very least, keep him in the loop. There's a little guilt that he's only just finding out now, if she's honest. A glance over at Stephanie, accepting the cup in both hands. "Thanks." Sip.

Mm? Brow perked, looking between the pair of them, "Well, she'd be great at it. She can tell me whenever Charlie eats the last donut. Ya know, synergy."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown lets out a warm chuckle and retrieve her coffee cup from where she'd set it down. "Oh, I don't know that I'm all that good of a cook anyway. Just more of a joke, the pastry chef one," Stephanie says. "I suppose if I had to pick right now, it would either be linguistics or forensics though. I'll give it time though, keep taking a few classes to try some other things and see if anything interests me."

Stephanie retakes her seat, but on the edge of it to bring her nearer to the other two so it's not like she's withdrawing from the conversation. "Also I brought a case of raspberry lemonade over, it's in the fridge. A thank you for the help with my computer homework," Stephanie says. She actually hasn't needed help with computer homework, she was however using the chemistry lab to work on some school assignments. So probably more of a cover story since Jim Gordon doesn't know the Watchtower has a chemistry lab.

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon nods, "I could never cook worth a damn either. Poor Barbara here had to grow up on a mixture of Big Belly Burgers, reheated pizza and my meager efforts in the kitchen. A lot of scrambled eggs and toast, mostly," he says.

"I should probably be heading to the office soon, but I'm glad I got to check in with you. Both of you. I'll try to call ahead or...text," he says. He's had to learn to text, almost against his will, as it's so much a part of GCPD protocol now, but he'll never stop being suspicious of it.