Yue

 17th November

09:12 GMT -5

Commissioner Gordon stares at me for a little longer than would have been comfortable for me back before I got used to things like this. "Are you telling me that I've got vigilantes in my city who are part of a worldwide team and can come and go whenever they like?"

"No, I'm saying that you've got two: the Justice League and the Congregation."

"The Justice League are authorised by the UN."

"So's the ICC, but America's still going to declare war on the Netherlands if an American gets arrested by them." Behind me, Harvey snorts with amusement, then covers it with a cough when Commissioner Gordon's irate gaze turns his way. "I really think it would help you if you regarded this as an opportunity rather than a problem."

He looks at me extremely sceptically. "Yeah? How'd you work that one out?"

"Because if it's a problem then you can't deal with it anyway. You could probably get the budget for ten police auxiliaries. You won't be able to get the budget for the city-wide wards it would take to prevent them teleporting reinforcements in. And that wouldn't even stop them operating while they were here. They appear to be able to recruit and empower any monotheist. Which in a city like Gotham is about ninety percent of the population."

"Christ."

"On the other hand, I've spoken to several of the local members and one of their recruiters, and they're open to the idea of working very closely with the Gotham City Police Department. Which means you'd end up with police auxiliaries who could teleport, communicate with each other in ways which can't be intercepted and generate flares at will." I don't know if their ability to bring in arbitrarily large quantities of reinforcements very quickly is a selling point or not. Maybe skip that for now. "And you'd get to train them, which means they're less likely to create problems for you and less likely to get their fool selves killed."

"If they're that enthusiastic, why don't they just join the police?"

"Because that's not something people with superpowers do, whereas Gotham has had two significant vigilantes become police auxiliaries in living memories. And we both know that you used the extremely relaxed laws which legitimised Green Lantern to sneak Batman in. And yes, I'd be very much in favour of you subverting that, but they could have applied to join the police before they got super powers."

"What about their religious practices? I'm not prejudiced-."

"But…"

"No. I'm not. I treat anyone who wants to join the force in whatever capacity exactly the same. Religion is actually one of the few things that hasn't divided this city. But after Deacon Black, I've learned to.. take a closer look at newly emerging religious groups." His eyes narrow slightly as he remembers something. "And don't you have an ongoing dispute with… The Resurrection Crusade?"

"They tried to destroy the human capacity for free will. But since the individuals who did it died I don't consider the dispute to be ongoing. Unlike you I have all sorts of prejudices, but in this case I'm willing to contemplate the idea that the Silver City has actually done something right. Members of the Congregation have to spend time with people from other monotheistic communities, and firmly believe that no one Yahweh wasn't okay with could get in. As a result, they're actually less insular or intolerant than the average member of their community." I shrug. "I guess that when you firmly believe that a particular deity is the supreme moral arbiter, having them tell you that a particular group are actually 'okay' settles the theological arguments pretty firmly. Heck, they talked to me."

That gets a very weak smile. Which he swiftly quashes.

"Alright. I'm not promising anything, but I suppose there's no harm in meeting their representative."

"Thank you, Commissioner. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No. Thank you."

I nod politely, then turn away and leave him to his paperwork. Harvey follows me out of the corner office and into the Major Crimes Unit's office. "Superpowered guys on the force, huh? Don't suppose there's any chance of you picking up a badge."

"I'm not a US citizen. Though if Queen Hippolyta calls upon my services, I would be happy to do a term as a guard in Themyscira City."

"Heh. 'Guard'."

I turn my head towards him, smile politely, then pat him gently on the back with my left arm while simultaneously removing tar from his lungs and fatty deposits from his everywhere. He's not in as bad a shape as you might think from looking at him, but tobacco, alcohol and poor nutrition were having a deleterious effect on him. And now they're not.

Can't say I didn't warn him.

Harvey doesn't appear to notice as he escorts me to the door of the Major Crimes offices and waves me goodbye. In the hall-

"…a year now, transferred from Investigation."

A police detective I don't recognise is talking to Jade… Ah, leaning forward, posture confident, voice slightly quieter than expected… If I were less confident in our relationship I'd probably do something confrontational right now. Either that or 'assert our relationship' by embracing or kissing her. She'd tolerate it, but it would earn me a cutting remark or two later. But I'm not that insecure. And I know exactly how she feels about me. Not as strongly as I feel about her, but little strands of violet light have started wriggling their way into her consciousness when she thinks about me. And-

"Really?"

-I'm sure she knows that I know. Not like I kept my abilities -or anything else- secret from her. I wonder if she's consciously realised it herself yet?

"When Gordon became Commissioner, he cleared out a lot of the dead wood." He shrugs. "He goes for people with proven track records, and I like to think my work speaks for itself."

I turn away to examine a notice board while Jade does whatever she's doing. A 'weapon safety is everyone's responsibility' poster, a rota, photos from some sort of social event and a thank you note from a colleague currently convalescing. I wonder if I could talk Alan into coming here as a loan from the City of New York? Given how Gotham's recovering and how Batman has wider responsibilities, he might like swinging by and-.

"Should I be offended that you didn't run Detective Driver off?"

I turn around to face her, check the corridor in either direction and then step forward to wrap my arms around her, lifting her slightly off the floor as I forcibly bring her lips to mine. She makes a token resistance, then pushes her face harder against mine than I was prepared for. I'm actually struggling to prevent both teeth clicking and laughter as we kiss, my head being forced back as she relies on the strength of my grip to support her oral assault.

Okay, not as if I mind-.

From an inch away Jade stares into my eyes, the tip of my tongue held between her teeth.

My environmental shield means this doesn't hurt, but I really need to learn that Jade will attempt to turn anything she regards as a dominance display back against me. I lean towards her, relaxing my grip as her feet return to the floor. She graciously decides to allow my tongue to return to my mouth.

"In answer to your question, I love you and I trust you. And I'm not some sort of lunatic who feels the need to growl at any man who looks at you."

"No." Her lips twitch as she tries to prevent herself from smiling and for once actually fails. "You're some other kind."

"I don't know if you had any.. plans today, but I was rather hoping that you could spare me a little time."

Her eyebrows rise. "What did you have in mind?"

"Planning to attack Hell, naturally."

She tilts her head to the left and gives me a mildly irritated look. "You remember what happened last time we went to Hell?"

"And that's why I want to plan it properly this time. Planning a black operation assault against a hardened target in enemy territory just wouldn't be fun without you."

A minor eye roll. "Who else are we planning this with?"