A Clever Fascination

Chapter 6 - The Ulysses Question

Kit's apartment was small and unspectacular. But it was on a quiet street and had everything that she needed, so she loved it. It was all bricked walls and some fake wooden floors. There was a living room/kitchen and a little bedroom area, all in the same space. That was all it consisted of. And a lot of books.

The admonished detective spent her first day off, reading and petting her cat, Pemberley; a black and white feline with a slim build who was happy enough to lay around his home all day, waiting for his human to return and feed him.

The radio was on, across the room, and Kit didn't have the motivation to get up and change the station, so found herself listening to an interesting collection of songs. Gotham wasn't known for its excellent radio coverage. It was sunny outside, one of the only times Kit would open her curtains. As she often lamented, it was a grey city and her apartment only had a view of another building. Plus, all the grey light that filled the room most days was enough to depress her into the floorboards. Instead, lamps and candles were preferable in such a space.

She was finding it very peaceful, truth be told. No criminals, no Zsasz, no drug busts, no Zsasz, no bomb threats, no Zsasz. Kit was starting to think maybe she should be given a new case, the assassin was too good at slipping away, it was frustrating. But she was going to let all that go starting tonight, a week not thinking about criminals would do her some good.

Somehow, it had not even been a full day and Jim Gordon still found himself in need of the suspended detective's help. So much for peace. Kit's telephone was ringing very loudly, making her jump and lose the page in her book. For a moment, Kit really heavily considered ignoring it, technically being on leave meant that any work calls or emails didn't have to answered until she allowed back to work. The woman grumbled slightly but pulled herself up from her position on the sofa, picking up the phone with a halfhearted 'Hello'.

"Hi Kit, it's Jim," Too friendly, he wanted something. In not so many words, Gordon would usually demand 'Kit, get your ass to the precinct, pronto' in a gruff bark. But this was far too nice. "I- uh- need help."

Called it.

"Ah really?" She had to fight the smug words that would leave her as Jim swallowed his pride on the other side of the phone.

"Look, Nygma sent another riddle and I have no idea what it means, I thought you could help me start by telling me how to solve it?" His gruff voice displayed his irritation.

"I'm on leave, Boss. That means if I'm not allowed to work. Even from home. Worker's laws or something. If you need my help, you'd have to wait until my leave is up-" She explained, infuriatingly calm. Kit always knew how to get on people's nerves. Not because she was annoying or anything, it was just a case of figuring out what bothered them most and playing on it until they were good and irritated.

"Kit, just... Look, you can come back to work. We'll forget about the disciplinary and-"

"You said your decision was final."

Kit was annoyed, yes. And she was proving a point by not accepting Jim's silent apology outright or jumping at his offer to go back to work. He'd soon see that she was a very capable asset to the force and maybe learn to be a lot less of a hypocrite. But probably not. Hell, he already proved that he needed her help. She was like his human cheat sheet.

"Alright fine, whatever you want. Just help me with this damn nonsense and I'll leave you alone." Gordon snapped, mumbling that she was a stubborn mare along the way.

Kit thought about it. She should help Jim, even if she did plan to stick out her some sort disciplinary leave because he couldn't make a decision on the day. But she was still so unbelievably frustrated. Her Commissioner wanted to be hypocrite, fine! He could deal with it alone. Kit was gonna be stubborn.
Though the chances were that Nygma had sent that riddle for her so she had to know it.