Mama Gotham

Influences

*Ten years ago*

A thirteen year old girl didn't usually come to Gotham's precinct unless they'd been arrested, but Alyssa was there more than some of the employees.

After her parents arrest, she had come back to see detective Bullock. If it wasn't for the danishes she always picked up from his favorite bakery he'd tell her to get lost. He usually avoided children on principal; his vulgar language and drinking problem didn't exactly make him the best influence.

But, though he'd never say it out loud, he had to admit that Alyssa was growing on him. She had a counter for every sarcastic remark he had – she had taken to calling him Detective Douche – and she wasn't afraid to tell off the other officers when they tried to scold her for being there.

She knew how harsh this city was, Harvey had seen that first hand. But...she was a good kid.

Then one day, a few months before she was gonna turn fourteen, he got a letter from New York.

'Dear Detective Bullock,

Congratulations, the committee has awarded you the Officer of the Year award. Your nomination letter was by far the best and we look forward to seeing you and Ms. Connors at the awards ceremony in New York on March 17th.'

"Connors!"

Alyssa jumped and fell out of his desk chair where she had been taking a nap while waiting for him to come in. "What happened? Who's dead?"

"You are! Explain this!" he threw the letter on his desk.

".....Congratulations?"

******

The 15th finally came and Alyssa was standing in the middle of the room with a glass of wine in her hand that had been refilled twice and was closed to needing a third.

Only three of the pictures on the walls were her's. One was of a picnic table sitting on a hill under the stars, one was of her charm bracelet hanging off her wrist, and the last one was the splatter painting she'd made after she kissed Edward.

They were getting quite a lot of attention, and everyone she invited had shown up, even Harvey kept glaring at Oswald.

"Wow." Bruce smiled, blushing slightly from Selina's grip on his arm. "You're very talented, Ms. Connors."

"Thank you." she nodded.

"What did your sister think?" Harvey asked.

Alyssa only blinked at him with an innocent look.

"She, never showed up." he realized.

She shook her head. "Its just you guys."

"Are you telling me that your sister never showed up?!"

"No." Alyssa said. She wasn't all that surprised, but if she was honest, she was a little disappointed. She felt Edward squeeze her hand. "But of course you all did."

Before Harvey could get even angrier, a blonde woman walked up to the group.

"Hi, my name's Barbara Kean, I run the gallery." she held out her hand for Alyssa to shake.

"Alyssa Connors." she shook it.

"The woman behind the mystery. I met all the other artists ahead of time, but I never got to meet you."

"I wasn't exactly informed I'd be participating." she informed. "You're Jim Gordon's girlfriend, aren't you?"

"Yeah, yeah I am. How'd you know that?"