(for inyourdreams )

[gcpd]

John had been fiddling with her card for the rest of the afternoon. He really thought about it - really thought about calling her and asking her out on a date. She couldn't have had a boyfriend, right? Otherwise she wouldn't have given him her number. But then maybe she just wanted to "hang out" with no romantic connotations...or maybe he was just over thinking it. It was so unlike John to over think things. He had, after all, been called a "hot head" by the late, great Peter Foley.

But then Bane and Batman had messed everyone up. "Fuck it," he said under his breath and dialed her number on his cell phone.

Comments

[gcpd]

"Maybe." When the waitress came back, he thanked her and then took a sip of his drink.

[inyourdreams]

She also thanked the woman and tried her beer.

"Well, whatever made you call me, I'm happy you did," she said.

[gcpd]

"Have you seen much of the city yet?" He asked.

[inyourdreams]

"Not really," she said. "This is only my second time here. And it's all pretty different from the first time."

[gcpd]

"I should show you around then. There's a lot to see. I know some people come here to look at the buildings and get inspiration."

[inyourdreams]

"That would be great," she said with a smile. "I've been planning on taking my own architecture tour while I'm here, but it would be nice to have a tour guide who really knows his way around the city."

Which she assumed he did if he was a cop here.

[gcpd]

"I'll even show you around Wanye Manor if youre interested."

[inyourdreams]

She raised her eyebrows at that.

"Are you serious?" she asked. She'd heard the stories about Wayne of course. About the lavish parties, the extreme wealth, how he'd burnt down his own house and then rebuilt it exactly the same. How he'd died during the terrorist attack.

[gcpd]

He nodded. "I sort of work there, helping out with the kids. It had been turned into housing for orphaned youth after Wanye died."

[inyourdreams]

"Really? I didn't realize that," she said, surprised that Wayne would be that generous. Although she supposed it made sense with what she'd read about his parents dying when he was young.

"So really when you told me you don't do anything, that wasn't exactly true."

[gcpd]

He laughed quietly. "I guess not."

[inyourdreams]

"And just for future reference, if you're trying to impress a girl, which I'm not saying you are, you might want to lead with the fact that you do volunteer work at a Boys Home," she teased with a smile.

[gcpd]

He laughed again and shook his head. "Thanks, I'll remember that for later."

[inyourdreams]

She smiled and took a sip of her beer.

[gcpd]

"So how long are you in Gotham for?" He asked.

[inyourdreams]

"I'm not sure yet," she said. "It depends how long I can get work and how much I enjoy the city I guess."

[gcpd]

"Have you been enjoying yourself?"

[inyourdreams]

"A bit," she said. "I've only been here a few days and have spent a lot of it going to meetings. Plus, I don't really know many people in the city. Not that that's ever stopped me before."

She shrugged. It just meant she had to make it a point to get herself out there to do fun things in between the work.

[gcpd]

"Well you know me," he said. "Which isn't really something."

[inyourdreams]

She smiled.

"I wouldn't say that," she said. "You're a former cop who probably knows this city better than anyone. And you're going to bring me to Wayne Mansion. I think that's definitely something."

[gcpd]

He smiled a little. "A former detective if we're being specific."

[inyourdreams]

She raised an eyebrow.

"You really do need to work on this whole 'selling yourself' thing a little better," she said. "A detective? That's a big deal."

[gcpd]

He shrugged. "I suppose." Even now, he still felt like he could've done more - driven faster, ran quicker - he lost his partner because of his own carelessness.

[inyourdreams]

She assumed his lack of enthusiasm had to do with the reason why he also wasn't on the force any more.

"They really messed this place up, huh?" she asked after another drink of her beer. The pictures on the news were hard to believe at the time. Even all the way in Paris she'd felt horrified. She couldn't imagine what it was like to be here during those months and to be personally involved as she imagined he had been.

[gcpd]

"Yeah." He drank deeply from his glass then before setting it down.