#<- again using this tag because if thomas worked a lot and bruce obviously didn't have friends to go out with

[martyrbat]

ghosts - batman: haunted knight

[ID: A multi panel sequence of Bruce Wayne as a child on Halloween. He's dressed up in a Mask of Zorro costume and is excitedly running down the stairs while holding two swords, calling out for his mother happily. He tells her that he's ready to go trick or treating. Martha Wayne has her hand on his shoulder and is smiling as she tells him, “your costume looks great!” Bruce replies, “Thanks, I made it myself. Alfred sorta helped. Is dad home yet?” Martha draws her hand back hesitantly and says his name. Bruce already knows that that means there's bad news. He tells her, “don't tell me,” before she continues and says his father called. Bruce has his head down, angrily finishing her sentence, “he's gotta work late!” He looks out the window as if his father will appear and says, “It's not fair! He promised he would take me trick or treating!” Martha soothes that she knows as Bruce repeats, “he promised,” to himself disappointedly. She tells him, “But there was an emergency,” which makes Bruce snap, “There's always some emergency!”

Bruce continues to stand in front of the window as Martha looks at him. Bruce announces, “I'm gonna wait for him. Even if it takes all night!” as he tensely clenches the handle of his sword. Martha reaches out for him sadly and suggests, “Bruce, I could take you out myself. Or, we can call some of the other children at school and go out with them.” Bruce, as an adult, somberly says off panel that, “she doesn't know...” as his kid self stares out the window still. His hat casting a small shadow on his face as he tells her, “There are no other kids to call. I have no friends at school.” Martha says his name again but doesn't know how to comfort him. Instead, she just silently places a hand on his shoulder. We see a silhouette from far away of her standing next to him as Bruce waits for his father to eventually come home. END ID]

[howl-fantasies]

Jello~ just had some random gotham thoughts 😙

What if [name] was Thomas Wayne's junior in Gotham academy. The little turd helped Wayne get himself a Mrs.

What if [name] is bff's with Deathstroke. They're not even best frienemies, just bff's. And it makes both Victor, Ed and even Barbara jealous 😆

What if [name] was holding back on her abilities, even when it's only her and Victor? But for what?

What if, Thomas Wayne was the first Batman?? No one knew because he wasn't all "I am the night!" With it.

What if he then handed over the Bat to [name] but she didn't want it cause it felt like a burden?

But... What if meta villains started appearing in Gotham trying to take over? The Bat needed to rise again.

What if [name] was the one of the founders of the justice league and not Bruce?

What if Bruce started out as a Robin? He didn't know it was [name] under that mask, but he didn't care to know because he wanted to protect Gotham. And his mentor was doing just that.

P.s. if [name] was Batman and let go, she'd totally kick everyone's asses.

P.p.s [name] would be a much scarier Batman or woman? Idk- I'm not good with names

Hello dear! Thank you so much for your request, it gave me a lot to think about during my sport, and I absolutely enjoyed every second of this deep-thinking session you instigated. Made me forget the pain 😂

So! Here are the answers to your questions:

Warning: dark themes, Gotham, twisted moral, mention of violence.

Word Count: 4.538

Tags: @immortal-velociraptor @keffirinne

GOTHAM RANDOM THOUGHTS AND INSIGHTS

What if [name] was Thomas Wayne's junior in Gotham academy. The little turd helped Wayne get himself a Mrs.

It's technically possible and and love this idea. But it brings up another question first: how does a child from the Narrows find herself in Gotham Academy?

We know Y/N has a sharp brain. As she grew in The Narrows and had to work for Carmine after her dad borrowed money from one of the king's loan shark, she often found herself thinking about the mob and its working. Clearly, the dirty work she was doing was for men also doing the dirty work themselves for bigger fishes.

She hated every second of her courier job but quickly came to realize that her evolution into the mob, since she was now corrupted by it, was inevitable. Her father's debt would never be paid back and if he or her mother died - which they did, when she was 14 - she would have to carry the whole burden.

If she didn't do something, maybe one day she would be a loan shark herself, still doing the dirty work for Carmine's officers and having some wannabe thugs / hungry or coaxed children to order around. Still, she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to pay Falcone and his goons back.

Plus, excuse her, but even as a kid, she had some ego. Being ordered around like a dog running blindly where it's told to was out of the question. So, she asked herself what bigger fishes had in common. Obviously, aside from knowing how to use a gun: a proper education. And a good and clean background to show off during public events.

She never participated one but she saw Carmine's officers parading in town and heard about the prestigious schools those fuckers had graduated from. Gotham Academy was one of them.

She took the tests, asking for Wayne's ancestral scholarship, and passed the tests with flying colors. Y/N was lucky she's got a good memory and knew how to break into one of the Narrows' dingy but surprisingly helpful library.

Her years in GA were pretty boring until the day she met THE Thomas Wayne. How? Not during one of his classmates' bullying or her beating the absolute shit out of them - she wasn't an idiot, fighting would mean losing her scholarship, she would pay one of her friends from the Narrows to do that for her later.

No, Thomas simply was interested by her point of view. His father let him read out of curiosity one of the tests she had to pass to be accepted in his world. It was about moral. And the pristine young man was quite curious about how his junior would already possess such nihilistic point of view. So he asked her.

And god did they talk. They were never able to find a common ground. Thomas was an idealist while she was claiming to be realistic, she told him more than once. But he liked her wit and she liked his. So they kind of matched and started a kind of friendship.

And this is because of this friendship that Y/N decided to play matchmaker with Thomas and Marta. Also because she was ready to rip her own head off as Thomas was sighing like a stupid enamored guy just next to her EVERY freaking time Martha was around.

"Dude, I tell you this as a friend. Grow some balls or something and go tell her some fuckeries about love, birds and bees and take her out. Or I swear I'm going to punch you."

He obliged. It was tedious and she had to experiment the famous and insufferable "let's pretend I'm your crush, what do you tell her?" Who do you think Bruce has to thank for his incredible awkwardness uh? You got it.

She wasn't too worried about Thomas being hurt or his family hating his potential lover. Martha was the perfect opportunity for Y/N to test her skills in spying and collecting information all around the school and town. The woman was clean, everything was perfect.

Got one of her more memorable shouting contest with Wayne after he found out about her little investigation, though. "What's wrong with you Y/N?!"

"What's wrong?! What's wrong?! Nothing, you fucking rich kid! I did what any Gothamite would have done before starting something with someone! Get out of your fucking manor and your pretty rich boy clothes and go see by yourself how it is necessary when you don't have an entire task force to wipe your ass, Wayne!"

He was stunned but have to give her some credit. She came from the Narrows and he wouldn't be a douche enough to pretend it may not have a huge influence on how someone sees relationships in Gotham.

Plus he had to recognize later she did a pretty good job. Had to tell Martha at some point, too afraid about what she would do if she ever finds out. She was mad, like he was, but impressed. She made her swear she'd never do it again, though. "Scout Word", was the only answer she got. And we all know what it means in the other woman's mouth. Exactly. Nothing at all.

What if [name] is bff's with Deathstroke. They're not even best frienemies, just bff's. And it makes both Victor, Ed and even Barbara jealous 😆

Oh boy, the drama here. But we all live for it, right?

I think both of them being best friends is very interesting too. I don't think they would meet during a mission where they had the same target, it wouldn't do. We all know Wilson is literally a beast. Even more after his coma, so it wouldn't make sense to put them in a conflicting position, she wouldn't even have the chance to move and he would eradicate her in a second. I also think they might have a few years difference too. Deathstroke being older.

Y/N met him a bit after his coma and the safari hunting thing. Let me explain. After his coma, Wilson heard he could no longer serve in the army and was depressed. His wife always suspected he wasn't really satisfied with his new hunting and safari thing. She was right.

Wilson found himself in Gotham when the Lady offered him a contract and told him to go to her illegal casino for a meeting. He wasn't the only one present here that night.

Y/N was here too. Even if she was still working for Falcone's family as a courier, she couldn't go to the man and simply tell him she hated it and would give him his money back if he let her start a whole new kind of missions for him.

First, she would never be able to approach him. She was a little woodlouse and he was the freaking king of the city. Second, even if she managed to barge into his house like some grand villain epic queen, what experience or guaranties would she have to offer to convince him to let her climb the crime ladder? None.

At this time, her only weapon was her brain. So she approached the lady instead. She Offered her to collect information around town about this and that to help her assassins. In exchange, she wanted to be paid and trained.

The lady wasn't impressed. But after Martha, Y/N had the time to work on her spying skills, and even discovered she was quite good with any kind of technology put into her hands, especially the first computers.

This is how she was introduced to Wilson. He needed some insights about his target and information. He could have done the job himself but didn't want to stay in town too long and make his wife even more suspicious. He liked young Y/N's way of working. She was clear, concise and damn well organized. Clinical.

His target worked in R&D for one of Wayne's rival company. He had to kill them and bring back to the Lady's client the technology he was working on.

While Y/N was spying, she developed a program able to crack and unlock practically any 'simple door', working with a digital code or imprint. Thanks GA and their super-nice computers bought by the Waynes.

For doors locked with more protections, well, "You're the G.I Joe here dude. Put some C-4 on it or fucking run like a bull on steroids to explode them. Your shit, not mine." He liked her foul mouth, and liked the diskette she had created for him, allowing him to finish his mission quickly.

He also saw the intelligence in it. And in her too cold brown eyes. Yep, he liked her, and didn't tell the Lady to go fuck herself when she explained him the "kid" wanted to be trained as a payment.

Wilson still is far better than her in combat or with weapons, but he did a pretty good job teaching her. Clearly, Jim and everyone in town who had the absolute shit beat out of them know who to insult now.

A few years later, when Y/N started to work and sleep with Victor, she mentioned she had an appointment with her 'sports coach' to Victor. Beings paranoid, he had to follow her and discovered her best friendship with Deathstroke. THE Deathstroke. Why and how did she always managed to know every interesting people in and out Gotham?! And why did they interact like they knew each other for ages? He was livid.

"Do you fuck him?" Woah, Victor being Victor. Always direct and asking the most inappropriate things with a placid voice and blank face. Man never disappoints.

"Dude has kids. Zsasz" She answered with a sigh.

"Oh. Did I ask if you fucked his kids?" He said making her laugh so hard she had to smash her hands a few times on his car dashboard.

"Well for the records, I'm not into kids. And I'm not into real daddies." She replied mischievously.

He wasn't convinced. And, if you ask him, he is still sure they both fucked each other at some point. And it makes him so mad he could shoot and cut the entire city.

He's not stupid enough to attack Wilson, Zsasz doesn't want to die so soon. But he may have sent a picture of his wedding band to him. His annular wasn't extended, though. But his middle finger clearly was.

Wilson found it funny and always find some time to rile Victor up with his true and incredible friendship with his wife.

Ed wouldn't acknowledge Wilson super-intelligence, always referring to him as 'the beast' or 'brawn-man'. Is he petty? Totally. But he refuses Deathstroke and Y/N genuine friendship. Wilson must have threatened her at some point.

Nygma would pout like a 5yo every time Wilson would answer one of his riddles right and accuse him to cheat. He tried once to tell him that he wasn't correct because he was expected one of Y/N's kinky and twisted answer instead and was baffled when Wilson would give him the exact answer she would have given to Riddler.

Nope. Nu-hu, it was only chance or some planets alignment. The beast didn't know her THAT well. He, ThE rIdDlEr, did. Even better than Victor and Barbara, he was sure.

Barbara would be beyond mad. Furious. She would spat like an angry cat at Wilson and threaten him to shoot him, to torture him, she even tried once her super-ninja skills on him and saw her sorry ass being kicked like it never was before. She owes her survival to Y/N, who had to explain Wilson with a loud and bored sigh that she was an "unkillable bitch".

Not because she was so good at what she did, no. But "because God might find her funny and reload her every fucking time, like a final boss or a running joke". Deathstoke snorted and like to remind Barbara what Y/N said anytime she threatens him to attack him.

What if [name] was holding back on her abilities, even when it's only her and Victor? But for what?

It would be difficult for her to hold back with Zsasz. He might not be as good as Wilson, but he's a pretty skilled and observant assassin himself. He would know because of her posture / reflexes that she's holding back. And it would be really dangerous for her.

Physically, she wouldn't try her chance against her husband, she would only win because she would outsmart him. Which is also quite difficult since Victor possesses a fine street intelligence. But she managed to do it once or twice before they started banging each other. Without this, she would be dead.

Now, what Y/N is holding back from Zsasz is information. She has her own vision and comprehension of the city and likes to know what happens, with who, and for what. Victor knows she's skilled with a computer in her hands, but he doesn't know she works on many digital and R&D projects on her own. Gotham was a little crime oasis now, but it would change, it always changes. And she would have to survive and adapt.

And the city won't be secluded forever. What would happen if some villain from another city decided to annex it or, who knows, what would happen if mutants like Wilson raised and decided to take over the city and plunge it into chaos? Don't get her wrong, she basked in chaos, but in a calculated one.

Her many discussions with Deathstroke led them to speak about his training for Vietnam and how the army tried to incorporate new ways of fighting and thinking.

Even if computers and technologies started to be used in Gotham, they both knew it would play an important role in everybody's life in a few years and could make terrifying weapons. So she decided to experiment, stealing Government's informations about their technological programs or Wayne's rival ones.

She was also very interested by the Wayne's own researches but asked Thomas if she could consult them, she was a criminal but with some manners, and they had history, and she offered to work on a few programs for him with one of his new employee: Lucius Fox.

Both would work very well together and promised Thomas they would never ever talk about their collaboration and act like perfect strangers if fate ever put them face to face outside.

Victor isn't an idiot, he knows about Y/N's restless mind and her capacity to anticipate things. As long as her secrets don't compromise his missions, he is ok with it.

He lives in present and for action, and is gladly letting the plotting and worrying about Gotham's future to his wife. Though, he often wonders what it would be to take a look into Y/N's head to see what keeps her awake so many nights.

--

Holding back on her abilities with the rest of villains isn't a problem. It's in fact one of her strategies to confuse them. She plays the sassy and insane woman really well, she also is but not as much as she likes to show. Her silly antics tend to lure them into a false sense of security.

Don't get me wrong here too. People in town know not to mess with her, she isn't Gotham No.2 assassin because of her Colgate's smile. She shoots very well and they know it too. But they don't really realize how capable she is in hand to hand combat. Jim experienced it once and realized she let him arrest her.

Oswald and Ed noticed it too when they kidnapped her, tied her up to a chair and couldn't do anything when she still found a way to escape. Same with the GCPD in the OS Bloodbath, they clearly didn't think Y/N would play Trinity or some Matrix character.

Clearly, she wasn't only good with guns. What was her limits? For now only Wilson and Zsasz know about it. If you ask them, be ready for a shit-eating grin making cold sweat break on your back.

What if, Thomas Wayne was the first Batman?? No one knew because he wasn't all "I am the night!" With it.

Again, totally possible. We saw it when Bruce and Alfred unlocked the soon to be Batcave. Everything was already set and the letter Thomas left to Bruce made me wonder how far he exploited the idea.

If Thomas was the first Batman, I think he would mostly watch and wait. Collecting information all around the city about every family and shady personality to use them later against them if needed, pretty much like Y/N did and still do but for other purposes.

Thomas wouldn't do it to fight people in a flamboyant way like Bruce will, but in a softer way, providing proofs and elements for the GCPD and justice to stop the criminals before they burn the city into the ground because of their greed. I think he wanted to preserve a balance.

The power dynamic when Thomas was working on the cave was already established with Falcone as the King, Maroni as his nemesis, thugs here and there but when it started to change and violence as well as corruption increased, Thomas was ready to start his vigilante's project but was brutally killed before he could concretize it. I think he wasn't as strict as Bruce may have been at first. His debate about morality in a city like Gotham with Y/N never really left him.

Gotham is a very special city, based on crime, deceiving and war for power. When Carmine was its King, it worked because the man had some moral and still thought about the city and the citizen, this is why he was frenemy with Jim's father and probably Thomas himself. Carmine was some kind of necessary evil to rule the evil spirits in this evil town.

What if he then handed over the Bat to [name] but she didn't want it cause it felt like a burden?

He would have talked to Y/N about his vigilante project at some point and she may have helped with Lucius to build it. Y/N also wants a balance between good and bad in the city, because she likes Gotham and because too much havoc would bring too much attention and inevitably force the Government to take measures and probably eradicate the city since we know it can't function without crime.

Thomas might have asked her to take his role as a vigilante if anything happened to him. She indeed refused. The burden would be too much, and she has some kind of twisted moral. She already was spying on the important figures in town and used the information mostly for her own personal benefits. She wouldn't do, she would be too tempted to focus on her criminal's mind instead of the greater good.

Someone else needed to take the position to counter her selfishness or the balance wouldn't work anymore. "Let's be realistic here, Thomas. We are friends, yes, but you know I am not a good person. This thing you created needs someone selfless, and it's not me. We both know it too."

Though, she agreed to keep an eye on Gotham until someone worthy takes the position. She hated it, but it wasn't forever. That is basically why she cooperates with the GCPD from time to time and tries to keep Jim and Harvey alive. Well, for Harvey, it's more because they have history and she finds him funny.

She thought Jim would be a good candidate for the job. But when she realized the path Bruce was taking, she quickly understood who would be Gotham next vigilante. She would always feel a bit guilty about it.

Thomas wouldn't have approved. But, like she told him, they both knew she wasn't a good person. So she let it happens. The kid had the shoulders to support the burden and would be way better than her for the job.

She made Thomas a silent promise, though: she would never try to kill his son. And she would stick to it.

But... What if meta villains started appearing in Gotham trying to take over? The Bat needed to rise again.

This is maybe the only scenario where she would be ready to wear a freaking costume and kick some villains' asses for the greatest good. She wouldn't let the city plunge into uncalculated chaos because some stupid super-powered sickos wanted to make everything explode just for the thrill of it. No, chaos needed a good motivation, a clear goal and a clear plan.

So, yeah. She would help Jim and the GCPD do their fucking job until someone takes the place. Jim would notice it's her at some point. And when he would ask her why, she would only say she wanted to eradicate concurrence.

He doubted it but didn't push. He would probably understand years later when Batman would come and he wouldn't see her again playing twisted hero. She was only keeping the vacant seat while waiting for the Batman.

What if [name] was the one of the founders of the justice league and not Bruce?

Since Y/N likes to worry about the future, she may already have anticipated heroes would at some point work together to stem crime, violence and new kind of villains.

Even if she wasn't very present physically in Bruce's life, I think she would always have some project for Lucius and him opened somewhere and exchange at least weekly with them about it.

She suggested the idea to Bruce, explaining him villains were already teaming up, so maybe it was also time for him to reach other super-heroes to do the same.

He wouldn't be too pleased to hear about his "criminal-consultant", as she liked to call herself, advice but Alfred convinced him to do it.

He would keep her updated about the founding of the league, ask for her skills to help Lucius provide them some tools and useful technologies but would always pay a great attention about what information he was giving her. She was still a villain. And technically one of his enemies. But he would hear her advice and gladly takes what she has to offer.

Nobody apart from Lucius, he, Alfred and she would know about who had the idea of the Justice League.

"You're better than me at playing Leader of the Light Brucie, even as the Dark Knight, which is pretty funny by the way. Nobody would ever suspect your good old evil Auntie was the one who came with this brilliant idea. Maybe Riddler, but he's far too busy to speculate about my precarious position between the good and the bad to give a shit."

"You're not my aunt, Y/N. And don't call me Brucie. What about Victor?"

"He would probably ask at some point. Like he asked me if I was the one who invited some aliens to Metropolis when your dear friend Superman started his brilliant heroic career.

"Like he asked me if I was the one who decided the color of the new GCPD's facade. Victor spent the last 15 years imagining I'm some king of great puppet master, or a god, or that you all are Sims and I'm the player. The idea will come and go, don't worry about it too much dear. Just let me brainfuck my husband." She would say. And he would trust her to do it.

What if Bruce started out as a Robin? He didn't know it was [name] under that mask, but he didn't care to know because he wanted to protect Gotham. And his mentor was doing just that.

The irony here. I mean, imagine him being trained by Alfred and Y/N but he didn't know it was her until much later, he would be really salty and some drama would probably happen between the two since she's one of the most prolific assassin in town. Bruce would feel betrayed. But it could be a good opportunity for him to understand things aren't only black or white. He already experienced it with Selina and Y/N would confirm it.

When he heard about some vigilante helping Jim and the GCPD to catch and arrest villains, he would tell Alfred he wanted to work with her, that she was doing the right thing, and, as a Wayne he had a duty to watch over Gotham. Alfred would cringe, he knew about Y/N and why she was doing this, and tried to deter his young master, failing brilliantly at it. He would call her and tell her about the teen's plan and she would be furious, demanding Alfred to freaking tie him up or break his kneecap to keep him far away from her. Again: epic fail.

Teen Bruce would force her hand, popping in all her confrontations with villains and putting his precious life at risk at first, getting an earful from Alfred and Y/N after. Both, the butler and the hitwoman would decide to train him after the fifth time he did it.

She would be his least favorite teacher since she can be cruel and ruthless. Hey, she promised Thomas she wouldn't kill the kid. She never said anything about beating the shit out of him, for his own good.

As an adult, he still sees Y/N as some kind of mentor, even if he would never say it aloud. It would be interesting to imagine Deathstroke recognizing some of Y/N's moves in Bruce fighting technique when he would fight him. Moves, Wilson would have been the one to initially teach her. He would confront her about it and she would politely invite him to go cook his ass on a burning hot grill. But he would know.

And his mind would understand why she did it, even if he wouldn't agree with it. He respects and like her too much to try to force her to reveal Batman's identity to him, so he would let it slide. Ignorance is sometimes a bliss and he didn't want to enter a political and moral game he didn't care about. It was her field, and Batman's.

P.s. if [name] was Batman and let go, she'd totally kick everyone's asses.

🤣I imagined her terrifying villains with her own "I AM THE NIGHT" with the same deep and modified voice Bruce will use later, just for the fun of saying it Bwahahaha!

P.p.s [name] would be a much scarier Batman or woman? Idk- I'm not good with names

She would probably, but not because she would be better than Bruce at fighting or intimidating people. But because she doesn't care to kill her foes. That difference would make her scarier. Villains wouldn't fight to escape jail or Arkham, they would fight for their life if she decided to kill them.

--

I'll go with my own P.s.: I love the idea of Y/N and Victor still being together many years later when Batman took his vigilante role. Zsasz would still be scary AF and have his own fights with Bruce, never knowing the Bat worked with his wife and personally know her.

As I said earlier, Victor would suspect Y/N's implication in the new order of the city. He knows how she likes to play the game of thrones from afar and monitor who is taking the crown or holding power. In a way, she makes me think of Varys but in a less noble way.

Anyway, as Victor often wonders what she was thinking about and what new secrets she enjoyed keeping from everyone, it would lead him to theorize about the most delirious things (see the points about GCPD new facade and the Sims).

He likes to observe her playing the game, it thrills him and remind him of their glorious days with Carmine. He was there when Falcone told Y/N she understands Gotham better than his own children and shares his vision for the city.

After Sofia's incident, he often thought about this moment and realized that if he had to give his loyalty not only as a lover but as a criminal too to someone, it should be to his wife. She was Carmine's true heir. Not Oswald, not any other mobster or villain. She was. The actual crown wouldn't sit well on her head, but she wears its shadow perfectly.

--

A/N - I hope you liked my babbling and it was clear enough for you my dear. Thank you again for your request, don't hesitate to ask again I love your thoughts and enjoy thinking about it! Have a beautiful day/night, take care! 💞

[ghoulcouriersix]

Bruce x Fem!Reader

Bruce x Fem!Reader

Word count: 1728

Prompt: “I’m not going anywhere.”

Tagged people: @minipaige160 @brykortreat

Warnings: Spoilers,Violence, if you don't like violent/fluff filled fics this one ain't for you so just ignore it.

Authors notes: Feedback is always welcome good and bad! I won't stand for plain harassment though because how is that going to help me improve? Anyways I hope you enjoy reading it I took a long break from writing and finally decided to get back into it so here's my first fic back from my break ^^

Bruce's wiki page:

The day was nearing its end and the gang still wasn't back yet, the air was getting crisp and bitter, you started to worry even if you didn't show it to the others.

The camp was alive with chit chat, idle arguments or Uncle complaining about how he's practically useless to do any work, the noise fizzed out to you it was just a simple mumble in the background.

"Still nothing?" Karen walked over to you her arms folded.

You snapped out of this trance that a hold of your mind and shook your head as the anxiety built in your stomach, a million scenarios ran through your mind, mostly horrible and gruesome.

Karen gently patted your back knowing not to make some snarky or outrageous remark when you're like this "Don't worry your head about it you know what those boys are like, they'll be back soon i know it"

And with that she was gone and the warmth from her hand evaporated, so you sat there knees tucked to your chest and your eyes stuck on the camps entrance. Horseshoe overlook was in your words, breathtaking it was always sunny and the crystal clear water to match made it perfect, it brought out the best in most of the gang except Micha, Bill and Reverend, Micha kept to his own devices with Bill and Reverend both passed out drunk half the time.

Your mind wondered to the gang and their well being and the deep pit of anxiety reared it's ugly head yet again, you knew they could handle themselves perfectly well but there was a certain cowboy your mind kept skipping over but the excessive pull in your heart brought your brain right back to him.

Bruce was a cold hearted man, he wasn't one for playing games with people, he's killed a lot of people, innocent and not so good hearted, honestly when you first clapped eyes on him you should have ran away then, bolted from that devil in disguise before you but something pulled you back maybe it was that little smile he had when you swayed over to him or how he smelled like home, could be his piercing brown eyes or that gruff southern voice, the way his clothes hugged him in all the right places and how it shapes certain areas perfectly. With Bruce being 43 you were always doubted by the other girls why you'd even like a man like him especially with his age too, you'd laugh off their jokes which had an underlying nasty tone to them, Mary-Beth was different though she would swoon around your relationship and how when she becomes a professional writer how you two would be the first she wrote about.

You remembered how Bruce and Arthur would go and collect overdue debts for Herr Strauss, they'd come back to camp with their knuckles bruised and a tense look in their eyes but a wad of cash in hand. You wanted that experience, to see that side of life and not be babied at camp knitting ripped clothes and baking. You badgered Bruce all day about it all attempts ending in a big no so you moved onto Arthur who caved after a few hours of not dropping the subject.

You had to go see a man called Thomas Downes, he borrowed a lot of money and it couldn't be ignored, Bruce and Arthur decided it was best to get there at sunrise, the atmosphere throughout the ride was thick and awkward, the sound of the horse's hooves slamming against the dry dirt was enough sound for you.

The Downes farmhouse was really nice and well kept, the horses and farm animals looked healthy and ripe, you wished you could live like this and get a name for yourself.

Bruce got down from his horse giving it a small pat and a scratch behind its ear, Arthur's lips were in a tight thin line you could tell he didn't really like doing this but it's business at the end of the day.

"Mister Downes i have come to collect" Bruce shouted his deep southern accent made its appearance, his threatening tone sent shivers down your spine, his Carbine repeater in one hand as he shouted, you could tell his patience was running thin.

Thomas looked up over the mounting plants he had behind a white fence.

"Arthur, (Y/N), over here" he called out.

With a nod to each other you hitched your horses and walked towards Bruce who was already interrogating this man, you scanned Thomas up and down, his skin was pale but his cheeks were flushed bright pink, he had dark red bags under his eyes and he was sweating profusely.

Bruce had the man by the suspenders ragging him back and forth "Where's the damn money you owe herr strauss?" he ordered.

The poor man was a bubbling mess, he clearly wasn't well, you grabbed Bruce's arm.

"Bruce he's not well, look at him" you interjected looking back at Arthur he looked intimidating and it was obviously striking more fear into Thomas, you felt a pang of guilt go through your heart and a churn in your stomach, this wasn't right these people were just trying to get by and fell and hard times now if they don't pay they get two burly angry men smashing at their doors.

"I aint got time for this, i aint gonna ask you again maggot now where's the money" Bruce barked again ignoring your words, tugging Thomas by the suspenders closer to his face, Bruce snarled his teeth gritted.

"I'll get it i promise i just need more time please" Thomas begged, he had a sincere look in his eyes.

You thought Bruce would've backed off but everything happened in a flash, Thomas was on the floor clutching his jaw you quickly stepped back, not used to seeing him in such a nasty way, sure he was moody and off but never downright vile in front of you, it was the start of seeing a man fighting with two sides of himself. Bruce stood over him the still rising sunlight illuminated his features, every wrinkle, the bear claw scar that fitted his face perfectly , that well kept beard, his furrowed eyebrows, his slicked back hair, his tent stash never lacked hair pomade.

Arthur knelt down besides Thomas, groaning as his knees cracked with his movements.

"Now you listen here, we aint playin' around with you, sick or not you owe us money and we are gonna get it whether you're here or not do ya understand me now?" Arthur threatened and Thomas nodded weakly as he turned onto his stomach coughing violently, you could tell his throat was probably sore as hell, his lungs sounded tired and dry as blood painted the grass below.

Bruce stepped off of him and looked down at him with a hint of disgust as Thomas gripped his chest, You could here the farmhouse door swing open and a older looking woman and a young looking boy rushed outside.

"Thomas" a woman shouted in panic rushing over to the dying man, she quickly collapsed to the floor beside the coughing man, comforting him, she looked up at the two strangers the shadow that covered their faces made them looks bigger and more monstrous.

"He's sick you animals, he's not well and you just about signed his death" she ran her fingers through his dirt coated hair you could hear her silent sobs as his eyes looked dilated and soulless.

The young boy looked terrified and the guilt in you grew, is this the life you so wanted? To be wanted in three states and maybe more? To go around beating up dying people and hounding the poor? No you're not that type of woman but there's people at camp that need you. A certain man who no matter what he's done or will do you just can't leave him.

"Sick or not he owes us money, he shoulda' thought about his damn health before borrowing money he can't pay back" Bruce raised his voice.

"You'll get your damn money, now go" she interrupted with a harsher tone.

Bruce threw his hands up walking away rubbing his knuckles, you could tell he was still riled up.

"You got one week ya hear? we'll be back woman" Arthur warned and walked towards the horses leaving the woman and the boy to try and calm their gravely ill family member.

You caught up to Arthur and Bruce who were already saddling up, Bruce had an expression of a bear who'd been stung by a thousand bees, his jaw was clenched tight and Arthur looked troubled and clearly pissed off but you decided to not comment.

That trip left a sour taste in your mouth, you saw what you wanted to see, the harsher world but it came at a price, a price you regret.

You hadn't the slightest clue of the time but it was well past 7 you predicted, the cold was getting to you now, goosebumps grew on your bare skin making any touch from your clothing extremely sensitive, your eyes began to sting with dryness and the looming need of sleep. The camp was going settling down for the night, some of the boys gathered around the campfire drinking as usual.

Your eyes slowly closed the mixture of voices and the crackling of the fire in the background slowly lulled you into peaceful stupor, you could hear footsteps, louder talking but it was muffled like you were slowly falling underwater, you could feel the ground disappear, it felt like you were floating on a cloud until your back hit the rough material below your body sinking into whatever you were laying on.

Your eyes cracked open slowly the land around was fuzzy and out of focus, the lantern on the side table outlined a familiar figure.

"Bruce?" You groaned and reached your arm out your hand gently grabbed his coarse leather jacket.

"Hm?"

"You're real I thought you were still gone" you mumbled with a small smile.

You heard a quiet chuckle which made your heart burst into flames and your cheeks flared up.

"I ain't goin' anywhere darlin'"

And with that you drifted back into sleep knowing your favourite cowboy was back safe with you.

Disclaimer: None of my characters are to be used as pfps, role playing characters or to be claimed by anyone who isn't me of course, if any are seen using my characters for any of these purposes then action will be taken against you. Fanart is always welcome please pm me so I can properly credit you and if you post it please credit my name as the character's owner it solves all confusion, DO NOT use my writing in any way shape or form and claim it as your own I spend a lot of time on my writing so I don't appreciate having it stolen.