A L L E Y S | Gotham

twenty seven | PAIN AT ITS FINEST

Hello :) haven't been here for a while. So, this person Californiagirl22 writes stories, namely Gotham stories. And I would really appreciate it if you go and have a look at their works (they're a lot better than mine lol go look pls)
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JIM LOOKED UP WITH A RED TINGE ON HIS FACE, at Ed staring at both him and Lee. He knew that he would have to turn her down again. How could he possibly go out on a date, without knowing where Isabella was?

"Morning, Ed," he breathed out, and the tall man smiled at him.

"Detective, Miss Thompkins. As you may have heard, I've been recently seeing Miss Kringle. Kristen," he awkwardly coughed, and Jim almost chuckled at his nervous behaviour. "And she mentioned that it might be nice to go out with other people along, so I thought perhaps the two of you would enjoy joining us for dinner tonight."

"We can't."

"We'd love to."

Jim and Lee glared at each other almost instantly, while Ed nervously squirmed on his feet. Jim almost gave in, but at the last moment sadly shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Ed. I can barely eat knowing that- that she's... out there."

Ed frowned at the thought. Although his happy appearance didn't show it, he was hiding how glum he felt. His sidekick- no, his friend was missing. He just didn't want his bad mood to rub off onto Kristen.

"Of course. I don't mean to pry, Detective, but I know her as well... I was there the day you brought her into the station, and I met her in person not long later. I think that she would want you to enjoy yourself. Whenever I am with her, she always speaks so highly about you, and how she wants you to be happy..."

Gordon's eyes watered, and he quickly looked down. Ed had said a lot of speeches over Jim's time in knowing him, but that was surely one of the smartest.

"Yes, of course," he said quietly. "How about we do it at ours though? In case she decides to run away from them again, and go to our place... if that's all right?"

Ed nodded, smiling, "Of course, Detective. I'll tell Kristen."

〰〰〰〰

Barbara watched when Isabella softly yawned, her eyes squinting and her pink cheeks slightly hiding the tear tracks that were on her face. The woman expected her daughter to get up, but she didn't. Bella loved the feeling of the comfy mattress underneath her, and hugged tighter onto Barbara's body, her face digging into her stomach.

After a while, Bella did open her doe eyes, and stared tiredly at Barbara.

"Mommy..."

"Hey, sweetheart, how are you doing?" She whispered softly, mumbling into Isabella's frizzy red hair. Her voice was sore from the shouting that had erupted prior from it. How dare Galavan restrict that information from her? That the man Isabella caught her whipping was actually her biological father?

"Wh-Where's Tabby? She didn't come back," the girl pouted, earning a light chuckle.

"She's just dealing with something right now," Barbara informed. In all honesty, Tabitha was done messing around with Mayor James, and had moved on to her latest victim - Gertrud Cobblepot.

Isabella sniffed, her face pressing harder into Barbara's stomach as her arms held on for dear life, "I miss Jerome."

Barbara stiffened, petting the girl's head with a sigh, "I do too. Don't worry. You'll see him again one day." (A/N: you betcha, Barb.)

"But I want to see him now," she whined, once again fresh tears clouding her vision.

"Shh," Barbara cooed, kissing her forehead and leaving her lips to linger there for a long time, as if fearing her disappearance. "I love you, Isabella, more than life itself. Never forget that."

"I love you too, Mommy."

Someone at the door was watching with narrowed eyes. They then rolled them at the embrace the mother and daughter shared. Theo calmly shut the door, and walked away to go to speak with Oswald Cobblepot.

〰〰〰〰

Bella ate her pancakes happily, this time with both Barbara and Tabitha sitting with her at the table.

"How're they?" Tabitha questioned with a smirk, as the girl lifted her head to reveal her stuffed mouth and syrup dipping down her chin.

"Wit's wummy!" She choked out, the food still in her mouth.

"Be careful, Isabella," Barbara scolded, but she too, had a smile on her face. After everything, she was glad to have some peace. It didn't last for long, though.

Theo walked in, his eyes on the newspaper rather than the people on the table. Two of them were glaring at him, while the other was cowering behind her large stack of pancakes.

When Galavan did finally look up, he almost mockingly smiled, "How's everyone doing?"

"Theo," Tabitha warned, her voice low and clearly angry. "Get out."

"Why, oh dear sister? Am I not aloud in my own dining room now?"

"I-It's okay," Isabella lied through her teeth. She just didn't want another confrontation like the last.

"See?" Theo grinned, purposely taking a seat right beside the girl. Opposite them, Barbara and Tabby were seething.

Isabella only watched when he calmly grabbed a pancake, plopping it into his mouth and chewing obnoxiously.

"Mmm. We have to give a pay rise to whoever cook this. It's a real nice stab in the neck," Theo muttered the last part, but the young girl heard it.

This wasn't going to end well.
〰〰〰〰

Isabella wandered around the large apartment,this time without anyone watching over her, as Barbara and Tabitha were busy on a job for their 'boss'.

She giggled, her hands rubbing over the rough surface of the walls, as she thought of herself as being an explorer. In reality, she was more like Little Red Riding Hood. The Big Bad Wolf was only waiting just around the corner.

The girl gasped when her hand accidentally knocked over a rather nice looking vase, causing it to smash on the ground.

She whimpered at the sound, and could only stand there as footsteps approached her. Galavan's nose was twitching, and his eyes looked almost black with anger. No, he did not care for the ornament at all, but did some low-life scummy child think she could roam around freely, breaking what she liked? No. He couldn't have that.

Almost in an instant, his hand collided with her cheek, and she fell to the ground.