Work Text:
Jim Gordon lay awake staring at the dusty popcorn ceiling of his appartment. Normaly the life of a bounty hunter was exauhsting. Usually, he would be deep in restless sleep. Instead, he was thinking about Oswald Cobblepot.
Penguin often kept Jim up at night when he was working at the GCPD, but tonight was different. Their past fights kept playing through his head, a knot in his core building. He sat up suddenly as he realized what he was feeling. He grabbed the half empty liquor bottle from the bedside table and took a long gulp. He never had time to ponder his feelings while he was working at the GCPD but life of a bounty hunter was different. Less rules meant more time for his brain to think about other things.
And it chose fucking Penguin. Jim thought.
The city of Gotham was almost more alive at night than it was during the day, if you knew where to look. Jim found one of the bars he knew the less savory folks of Gotham frequented. The dim lighting and heavy air made the enviorement just was Jim was looking for. He gestured towards the bartender who sat a glass in front of him and filled it with something dark and strong. Jim hardly tasted it as his sipped and looked around the bar.
Shit.
In the far back corner booth sat Oswald Cobblepot with Victor Zsasz and 2 girls who Jim knew to work with the assassin. The girls were laughing at something Victor had said, but Penguin? He was looking at Jim.
Maybe part of him hoped Oswald would be there... Jim turned back to his drink as Oswald got up.
"Its almost like you look for trouble." Penguin greeted. "Cops aren't welcome here."
"Not a cop anymore." Jim tilted his glass and watched the dark liquid move.
"Then what are you doing here?" The crimeboss' voice was accusitory.
"Getting a drink." Jim made eye contact with Penguin again. His gaze was sharp, angry. But there was something else that Oswald couldn't place.
"There is at least 5 other bars within a 4 block radius." Penguin's tight smile that meant danger appeared. "Why don't you pick another."
Jim set down his drink. "Because I chose this one."
"Take it ouside boys." The bartender sighed. "I don't want to be cleaning bone fragments from the carpet again."
"I'm sorry are you a part of this conversation?" Penguin asked. He turned back to Jim. "This is the third time you've just shown up . If I didn't know better Jim, I'd say you were following me."
Jim's jaw clenched. He wanted to punch that shit eating grin off of Cobblepots face.
"Hey, boss." Victor appeared beside Penguin. "The girls wanna go home."
"Then go." Penguin said, as if it was obvious. He waved his hand dismissively as he said it. Victor tilted his head sharply, signling to 'the girls'. "Are you following me Jim?"
The door closed with a small bell chime as Jim didn't respond. Was he following Penguin? No. But he also couldn't deny he kept showing up at places where he was.
"Maybe we just have similar taste in bars." Jim finally said.
Penguin scoffed. Him? have similar tastes to Jim Gordon? As if.
"You don't belive me, fine. I'm going to finish my drink." Jim reached for his glass again. But Penguin's hand shot out and grabbedc the glass before Jim. The glass shattered against the wall, liquor splashing across it. Oswald took a deep breath before plastering a smile to his face again.
"You keep showing up to places like this, I'm going to start to think you like me, Jim."
Jim's fist moved faster than his brain, decking Penguin square in the jaw. Oswald cradled the contact point and looked back at Jim with that crazed smile Jim knew all too well. Oswald lunged.
Jim dodged and put his fists up. Oswald grabbed a bottle of the counter and swung it at Jims head. He ducked and tried to hit back but Oswald jumped out of the way just in time. They danced around the bar, bloody and bruised. Both enjoying the fight more than they should.
Jim tried to minimize colateral damage, guiding the fight away from tables and glasses. Eventually the fight ended up in the alley out back. Jim having guided a wild Oswald out by baiting him.
"Sometimes I think you get into fights because you enjoy them." Oswald said, lunging for Jim once again.
"Like you aren't having fun." Jim shot back, attempting to dodge. He didn't quite make it and the two ended up on the ground. As penguin threw flailing fists, Jim caught them and wrenched his body around.
Jim was on top on Oswald Cobblepot, restraining his hands, bruised, bloody, and a lot more into it than he expected to be. The thought caused Jim to freeze. He got up, dusted himself off, and walked back into the bar to play for any damages.
Oswald left that alley with a better understanding of Jim Gordon, but Jim? He had just opened a whole new can of worms.