*Krios "James", Devon Island, North Canada
The temperature was rapidly dropping, the sun was dipping lower by the minute and he knew he had to wrap up. He was not dress properly for below zero weather after all.
Ignoring his body's desire to shiver he knelt down into the snow and place his palms flat against the ground. The tingles of ice and snow made him want to stuff his hands back into his sweatshirt but he resisted.
Breathing heavily he stretched his senses out into the earth, past the snow and ice. As his senses expanded he started to feel all the cracks of the earth, the smooth grooves of dirt and ice, the spiked jags of granite. The absence of significant life was not too shocking as its isolation was the reason Krios chose this location.
But even so he still felt a field mouse, some worms and even some fish on the outskirts in the water stir uncomfortably from a 6th sense that something was happening.
As if spreading tendrils outward, Krios grunted in concentration as the tendrils gripped around the dirt, snow and ice and began lifting.
Around the Eastern portion of Devon Island the world began to shake.
The air tremble with exertion and the ground groaned with pressure. In front of Krios a frightening sight appeared as a jagged but circular square mile of ice rose. It was not much, maybe just a few feet upward, the sight of which would cause most geologist to assume a upland lift from an earthquake.
But slowly and surely the land continued to move higher. Chunks of dirt, rock and ice began tumbling down the sides. Additional cracks appeared around the perimeter as with a final heave the massive ice bulge broke from the earth.
Krios gave a gasp of relief as some of the stress of ripping such a large piece of land became easier. Mountain tops like the one the League of Shadows had were not exactly common, but large glaciers were a little easier to find in his hemisphere.
Holding it with all his strength he began to power through the weight to try to lift it higher.
1 foot
2 feet
3...
4...
'Holy shit! Is this really happening!?!'
This was easily one of his most impressive feats. He had no idea how many tons of weight he was lifting but it had to be in the hundreds if not thousands.
The leap of strength was astounding and he could feel a familiar feeling from before the attack at the temple build.
Was this the awakening? The Ra's Al Ghul's supposed next step he had hinted at? Was he finally going to achiev....
SNAP
'Uh oh,' he thought.
It felt like suddenly his grip got ripped away from the land. His sense scattered and he fell onto his butt and then his back. Pure exhaustion struck him as he felt his body shake from lack of strength as he fought to sit up.
A massive swoosh of air released from under the following ice bulge as it crashed back down onto the ground creating a small earthquake. The solid boom from the crunch of the ice, the slap of dirt to dirt, and rock clapping against rock made a earsplitting crash of noise.
Lying on his back he found himself heaving from the effort of what he had just done.
Finally gathering his strength he sat back up and stared at the ruined earth before him. The sounds of the earth creaking and groaning as it resettle still prevalent.
Looking at what he had wrought Krios began cursing under his breath,
"Shit, f&*k, bullshit, damn, piece of shit..."
His goal had been to simple raise an equivalent to the mountain top in the Himalayas to continue his training. But as he had prepared to lift he found he could do so much more and so like many weight lifters went way overboard with his ability.
Still though as he caught his breath and stared over the land, he was thrilled as his progress.
Ever since his training and al Ghul's teased 'awakening' was delayed due to unforeseen circumstances, Krios had spent any free time he had training.
At first he had been frustrated with finding places in Gotham where he could practice in peace. But after a few tries with his teleportation ability he found himself no longer bound to one location.
His first couple 'portals' as he called the whirling black voids he could open and enter could barely go a few miles. Using them required significant amount of strength and focus which at first proved difficult. But a few months of constant practice saw rapid growth to the point he was able to use it handily. There had been a few learning experiences, for one, he could technically teleport to anywhere he had been or even seen in a picture. It was so much easier if he had physically been there but enough power could get him to most locations. Distance was never a issue though he did find some area's around the world had something that blocked him. Many were random but a few from his research were heavily magical perhaps explaining the reason. Such restrictions were small issues, he reasoned if he ever had to get somewhere that was blocked he would teleport as close as he could and walk the remaining distance.
This new power of his was a welcome surprise but also something he wanted to keep hidden.
Teleportation was not unheard of on Earth. The Justice League used the watchtowers teleporters to send teams around the world, some criminals had devices of similar use, and a handful of wizards and sorcerers had some sort of trinket or spell that could work. These all had limitations though with special jammers, talismans and other issues preventing teleportation becoming mainstream.
Still, most depended on three different aspects to instantaneously transfer someone from one place or another.
The JL used the energy transfer method, basically their device would create a type of energy cocoon around an individual before dragging the person at light speed to the location. Though the more he tried to understand the physics of the device the more confused Krios became. Honestly, it felt more like magic which was ironic since he could understand the magic principle better.
The magical aspect of teleportation typically relied on the energy of either the wizard or patron to create a focal point. That point would condense before collapsing, typically in a flash sending the person to another location. It was technically similar to the energy transfer method but since magic could ignore physics it was truly practically instant. And unlike the energy transfer which was limited to Earth, magic theoretically could send someone to the other side of the galaxy instantly and relatively safely. Mind you, depending on your energy ability and patron no one on earth could gather enough energy for that trip.
The third and final aspect of teleportation and the one Krios believed he practice was the portal principle. The best explanation he could figure was that portals could bend space and time itself so like magic it was nearly instant. Based on his own abilities the power requirements were high but once reached made the execution of such easy. The other added bonus of this method was the difficulty of blocking or preventing it. It was hard enough technologically and magically to bend space/time in this way, more so to block it effectively.
As far as his research showed, there was no technology on earth that could do his method, though rumors had it that some alien tech may be able to. Teleportation using the other methods were fairly rare, even more so with his method. His ability if revealed would put him on every watch list in the world.
After all, it would be nigh impossible to stop someone with his abilities from entering something as secure as the Kremlin, the White House and so on.
Still, such thoughts were put cautiously into the back of his mind for now. Right now he was just grateful it could get him somewhere so remote he could practice without any prying eyes.
Mind you, as he looked around at the square mile of destroyed earth, it made him realize that avoiding detection would probably be out the window soon. Best to get out of here before someone came to investigate the earthquake he caused.
It took another few minutes before he had gathered himself sufficiently to stand. With greater difficulty then normal he opened a portal taking him to a dark alley of Gotham. He always avoided teleporting directly to his apartment just to be cautious, though he was certain no one was watching, paranoia was still prevalent. That and his current girlfriend tended to spend more time at his apartment then her own. Something told him that she would not take well to his identity being revealed as Krios.
That and he was uncertain if her alter ego Batgirl had bugged his place. Barbara wouldn't of, but Batgirl was a can of worms he was uncertain of.
Though night had fallen and there was a chill in the air, Gotham could not hold a candle to the frozen Canadian wilderness he was just in. Plus these were not the streets of Eastside, this was a decent, dare he say good part of Gotham. Cops around corners, clean streets and shops, plenty of polite people walking about this evening.
It truly made it a pleasant walk at night.
And to make it even better the sky was clearer then usual. The light pollution was still prevalent but the smog and clouds were barely noticeable allowing hints of the stars to twinkle. It nearly gave him pause as he continued his tired walk but kept his gaze upward.
While in the Himalayas his training on lifting mountain tops had him outside often with a perfect view of the cosmos. It undoubtedly helped his temperament but now that he thought about it, he hadn't done much star gazing since he returned to Gotham. Certainly he had been busy but he always tried to make time to do so.
'Perhaps I am finally growing up,' he laugh in his mind.
More likely he had adapted to a balance after a few years of probably not the most healthy lifestyle.
Reaching his apartment was a relief as he felt he could sleep for the next 2 days. He used the elevator and started to fiddle with his keys before exiting the lift to find a familiar face at his door.
He was far too tired to deal with his guest but he had no choice.
Making sure his mindset was more his 'James' persona he put on a easy going if confused look before walking up to his guest.
"Commissioner?" he said cautiously while approaching.
The greying Commissioner Gordon was wearing his beige trench coat and looked a little more frazzled then usual.
The dark circles around his eyes only added to his tired tone as he spoke.
"Ahhh James, I am looking for Barbara."
"Ummm," James frowned confused, "Has she not been answering her phone?"
"Well erm, its just that... she may be trying to avoid my calls right now," the Commissioner said sheepishly.
Giving him a close look the man who put the fear of God into the criminal underworld, leader of the largest police force in history looked dare he say... embarrassed.
"Well," James said slowly, "We weren't planning to hang out tonight. I was going to just get some alone time and some sleep, but she might be inside if you want to check?"
James unlocked the door to his apartment and kept it open while the Commissioner walked into his apartment.
This was not the first time the Commissioner had been to his house. A few months after they started dating Barbara had come to his place one night in a panic and said her dad wanted to meet him. This was something he both expected and dreaded but there was not much choice in the matter. So the Commissioner came over for dinner and while it was extremely awkward at first the dinner ended on a positive note.
Since that dinner which was perhaps just a year ago he had only a few interactions with the Commissioner despite dating his daughter. The man was busy and typically his visits was only when he was visiting Barbara with him. Save for a single night after the dinner where he took James to the gun range and went over the various ways he could hide a body should anything happen to Barbara, they had not spent much time together.
Still as he walked into his apartment with the Commissioner, calling out to Barbara if she was in, he felt like his relationship with Jim Gordon was for the most part positive.
Turning on the lights and hearing the lack of a reply her absence clear for both men.
Frowning, James took out his phone and sent a quick text message to see where she was at.
"Well I just messaged her, would you like to sit for a second sir?"
Despite wanting to crash and go straight to bed he felt it was important to try to be polite.
Sighing, the Commissioner nodded before settling in one of the recliners. Glancing down on it, he readjusted himself before giving a murmur of approval to James' furniture.
Chuckling, James went to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water.
"Would you like anything to drink?"
"Sure a beer would be great."
James gave him an apologetic look from the kitchen which the Commissioner recognized.
"Ah, that's right, you don't drink. Water is fine then."
Nodding, James poured themselves some and brought one to the Commissioner before claiming with some relief one of his other lounge chairs.
While he sat he felt a buzz from his phone with a quick text message from Barbara. It seemed she was fine though reading between the lines she was avoiding her dad.
'When did my life become a lame drama,' he thought as he drank his water.
The Commissioner had leaned back into the chair with his eyes closed. He was holding his glass of water but had not yet taken a drink.
Clearing his throat James asked slowly, "Soooo, what did you do to get Barbara angry?"
"She texted me she is fine but also avoiding you," James said when the Commissioner sent him a glare, "I read between the lines."
The glare broke as the old man spoke, "We got into an argument about her safety... I thought I was being encouraging but she took it as demeaning."
"Ahh," James said with realization, "Was it about how unsafe her work is?"
At that the Commissioner went still and silent. The body language he had would of fooled a lot of people but James knew the man was panicking at the idea he knew about Batgirl. Seeing the man worried and trying to both hide his panic was actually pretty funny.
"I understand," James said smoothly, "She told me a lot about her night gig. I don't blame you for being worried but knowing her she won't stop till she is ready to."
"Errr," the Commissioner was doing an admirable job trying to hide his growing discomfort.
James continued, "I mean, when she first told me about it I was a mixture of both proud and worried. Gotham is a legitimately a dangerous place and while she is protected and experienced there is still considerable risk. But I think we both know Barbara well enough that she is a mixture of inspired by you, a good person who wants to help, and a stubborn mule that won't stop."
Ignoring the clenching of the Commissioner's fist and his now barely concealed worried look James said,
"But despite the worry, a part of me will always be so proud of her. Going out every night, helping the GCPD in the best way she can. It is one of the wonderful traits she has, it both frustrates me and makes me enamored with her."
Spluttering the Commissioner finally found his voice, "She told you?!?"
At this point it was becoming so hard not to laugh at the undoubtedly rising blood pressure of the Commissioner. He couldn't blame the man for his heightened panic, the idea of a man's daughter masquerading around fighting psychopaths and then revealing said secret to her college boyfriend was a fair excuse.
Still, best not give the man a heart attack.
James smiled at the Commissioners shocked face, "Of course she did, there were too many nights when she would disappear off the face of the earth. I was surprised when did tell me but it honestly made too much sense."
Seeing the Commissioner about to interject James slid in the final tease.
"Working for Major Crimes Cyber Division is a perfect place for her skills."
Biting the inside of his cheek to prevent a grin forming from the most incredible face Jim Gordon was giving him. He looked like a fish out of water with his gaping mouth and his shocked face changing to confused before settling on relief. Credit where credit was due if he didn't know the secret of the Bat family Gordon's reaction the last few moments could be brushed aside without suspicion.
"Yes," the Commissioner said forcefully, "Err, yes her work in the Cyber Division has been a great boon to the department."
At that the old man leaned back into the chair with the tension releasing from his body.
"And while it is a dangerous job," James said, "Especially due to your enemies Commissioner, it seems odd you would become so worried about it recently. It is still a office, behind the desk position with almost nobody knowing about it. Has something happened to change that?"
The Commissioner shook his head, "No, it is not like that. You are right..."
"I don't know how much she has told you James but while she is behind a desk it is still a risk factor that I cannot fully be comfortable with. She is working big time cases with very dangerous individuals involved. And with what happened with Krios all those years ago well... that just showed that even police precincts are not as safe as we like to think."
James stayed silent though he did shift a little at the mention of Krios.
Taking a deep breath the Commissioner said quietly, "With how things have quieted down and with her relationship with you going so well I thought she would stop. That she would apply her skills elsewhere and make the difference she was always meant to. I tried to tell her that and well..."
If he didn't know that Jim Gordon was really referring to her vigilante activities he would of found her father's concern a little bit much. But knowing that he was really referring to her Batgirl activities made his concern and desire for her to move on much more reasonable.
"Hmmm," James mused, "She didn't take that too well?"
"You think," the exasperated Commissioner said.
Choosing his words carefully James said, "It probably would of been better worded from what I am gathering. I believe you are coming from a good place and want what is best for her. But it seems that you forgot to consider what she wants and her own desires. Not only that, but by being so... pushy... you perhaps have also belittle what work she has done now. Work that she takes pride in and should, work that I imagine is partially done to make you proud. I can imagine she would take what your saying as just an insult rather then your worry or encouragement."
"That makes a lot of sense," a glum Commissioner said.
It felt surreal for James to be helping the Gotham's Police Commissioner deal with his family issues. If you would of asked him the previous few years of what his typical interaction would be with anyone much less the man in charge of law enforcement would be, he would of laughed.
Jim Gordon was a serious and paranoid man. But over the year of getting to know him, James had grown to respect the man. No enough that to spare the Commissioner should he ever try to arrest him, but enough that he wouldn't try to sabotage his relationship with Barbara.
There was the added fact though he tried to ignore it that he was doing it for Barbara. He still despite the past year dating her found himself surprised and conflicted by how much he did care for her. And he knew that this fight and divide between her father would hurt her and that made him want to help.
It was a difficult thing for him to accept that he truly did care for her. Perhaps because of the fact if he was ever revealed to be Krios, she would insure he spent the rest of his days in jail.
Standing up James said, "I recommend you give her some space sir, just some time for her temper to calm down. When she comes through you need to apologize then explain your thoughts."
The Commissioner also stood and began to make his way to the door.
"You are smarter then most punks out there," he japed.
James did laugh out loud for that, "I can thank my mother for that, she has been helping me figure out how to deal with girls since the 1st grade."
Both men reached the door with James opening it to let the Commissioner out.
Before walking out the old detective gave James one more appraising look.
"Thank you for talking. I can see what Barbara means about you being a good one for that."
Smiling James replied, "A fact I find ironic sir, considering what a diehard introvert I am."
Snorting at that, the Commissioner walked out of the apartment and made his way to the elevator.
Making his way to close the door, James caught one last word from the man over his shoulder before the elevator doors closed.
"James... how about you start calling me Jim."