SEL Chapter 45

There’s still no sign of those two bodybuilders at the gym, but Steph doesn’t care. She has a date tonight, but more importantly, all of her attention is on the TV. She’s running hard on the treadmill, but she barely feels the exertion. Her sneakers thud, and sweat stings her eyes as she stares hard at the graphs representing the tallied votes.

Steph can’t hear the TV; she has headphones on, but the chevron has just changed.

Viti Saxena has conceded.

Steph slams the stop button and comes to a halt, leaning over to catch her breath.

“Holy shit,” she mutters.

SEL

Helena sits up in her bed at Wayne Manor. She is well enough to go home, but **** to do so. It will be some time before she’s properly on her feet, let alone able to put on her costume. Fractures take longer to heal than cuts and bruises. The thought of being stuck as a civilian for so long is deeply depressing, but it’s trivial for Alfred to ensure that she has a good substitute at school. Her home is comfortable, although not as comfortable as Wayne Manor. It’s mostly Alfred’s cooking and his company that she doesn’t want to leave.

She holds a tablet with the headline of Barbara Gordon’s victory. It’s not a surprise at this point. Her heroism was evident in the live broadcast from the debate, and Viti Saxena tastefully did not seriously challenge it. A lot of people still aren’t sure about Barbara because of her connection to Poison Ivy, but they’re sufficiently fed up with Gotham that they’re ready to take a chance.

Helena sets the paper aside and picks up the parfait that Alfred has made her. This should be interesting.

SEL

Jim Gordon sits beside Barbara’s bed in her hospital room; they’re surrounded by campaign staff. Jim’s wrists are still both splinted, and two of his fingers as well, but he faces a much easier recovery than his daughter.

Everyone’s cheering, but all he can do is stare in wonder at Barbara. He always knew she’d go far, but he never imagined anything like this. As Barbara’s staffers gather around her for a selfie, Jim sees Lucius Fox slip into the hallway. He gets up and follows.

Lucius wears the suit of a wealthy businessman, but he wears it the same way that Jim always wore the ones that he got off the rack as a cop, knowing that they’d get rain or coffee on them.

“You OK, Mr. Fox?”

“More than OK, commissioner,” Lucius replied.

“You really wanted to see her win.”

“I want change. She’s the best chance I have of seeing it in my lifetime.”

“Thanks for supporting my daughter.”

Lucius glances over at him. “Gonna take your old job back?”

“No. But I will go back to the **** if Babs appoints someone I can stand. I never got to work in a well-run department before. Always wanted to.”

Lucius laughs. “I know what you mean.”

“Aki Aramaki will be indicted tonight.”

“I know.” Lucius shakes his head. “Would you believe they even—well, it doesn’t matter. Even if Aki hadn’t done anything illegal, I can’t condone her tactics. She has lost her way. And done some things that I find personally offensive. She won’t get much sympathy from me.”

“I felt that way about Batman once or twice.”

“You miss him, don’t you?”

Jim nods. “There’s no one else who’s spent as much time in the trenches with me as him.”

“Oh, I understand. Commissioner.” Lucius offers his hand.

“I wish people would stop calling me that.”

“**** of habit.”

“Things are about to get weird, aren’t they?” Jim asks with a sigh.

“In Gotham?” Lucius snorts ironically. “Count on it.”