Bruce's Little Orphan [John Blake]

Meeting Him

Brooklyn

The next morning, I was woke up early like I always do, and met Alfred in the Dining Hall.  He offered me breakfast, and I happily ate it.  It wasn't much, but it was perfect for me.

After I finished, I jogged back upstairs to change into my jogging clothes, before heading back downstairs.  I found Alfred again, holding a tray of food for Bruce, though he looked confused.  "Have you seen Master Wayne?" He asked when he noticed me.

"He's not in his room?"

"No.  But he made his own bed for a change." He said with a smile.  I smiled back, remembering Alfred's comment last night.

"I haven't seen him. . . Have you checked the cave?" I asked and Alfred looked genuinely surprised.

"He can't be - He hasn't been down there in years!"  Alfred said, still surprised that I even mentioned it.

"He may be, you never know.  I'll see you later, I'm going for a run."  I tell him, as if he didn't already know.  If my clothes didn't give it away, I go on a run every morning when I don't have to be somewhere.  "Bye."

"Have fun!" He said as I jogged past him.  As soon as I was outside the door, I put my headphones in, and played The Script, beginning my jog.

My jogs were longer than most peoples', a total of eight miles.  It's a good way to keep my occupied, considering I don't have a job.  I was actually thinking of looking into one at the local bank.

Twenty minutes pass, and I'm barely sweating.  About ten minutes ago, I crossed over the bridge, and now I was jogging around Gotham, taking the long way to my final destination.  The song, "Bullet From a Gun" rang through my ears, and I stayed instep with the beat.  I was approaching a stretch of road where it was almost always empty, ghostly even.  But not today.  Today, there was a car, and as I approached, I realized that it was a police car.  The hood was propped open, and a man in uniform stood leaning against it, looking as though he was completely confused about what to do.  I took my head phones out.

"Need any help, Officer?"  I asked him, causing him to spin around, stopping to look at me.

Wow. . . . He was. . . . wow.  I'm speechless.  His beautiful brown eyes raked up and down by body once, before stopping at my eyes.  We stood in silence for a few seconds, my mind suddenly buzzing, as if nothing in the world matter besides this moment, right here and now.

He looked down, closing his mouth that was slightly ajar.  He suddenly remembered my question.  "Well, I was just about to call a mechanic.  I've never been good with cars."

He looked back up at me, smiling.

"Nonsense.  My dad was a mechanic and he taught me everything he knew.  What's the problem?"  I told him, walking closer and standing beside him, looking down at the car.

"Well, it was just sounding funny, so I thought to check it out, then when I saw nothing I started it up again and it was slowing down."  He told me.

Ah, simple.  I found the problem immediately and fixed it.  Two minutes later, I looked up at him and he looked shocked.  "All done!  Should be good enough for any high speed chases you need it for."  I laughed.

He looked at me and smiled, again, before saying, "It was that simple?  Wow, I feel like an idiot."

"Don't.  Lots of people would've missed it, looking for a problem bigger than they think.  Don't worry, you're not an idiot."  I laughed.

"Well, I'm an idiot for not getting your name."  He said, causing me to laugh even more.

"It's Brooklyn, Officer Blake,"  I said, reading his silver GCPD badge.

"Call me John, Brooklyn."