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junietc · 5 years

Text

not just a friend - steve rogers

steve rogers x reader

pairing: steve rogers/captain america x reader

word count: 7213

summary: friday nights used to be lazy nights but maybe helping steve finish his pop culture list instead wouldn’t be all that bad

warnings: swearing, maybe some sex relate jokes but all in all just a fluffy one shot

a/n: this is a reallllll long one haha. for our lovely captain, steve rogers, we have a not so short one shot i’ve been working on for the past few weeks. please leave requests and remember to show some love :))

hope you enjoy ~

Friday night meant a lazy night in Y/n's eyes.

It meant staying at the Avengers compound in her favourite pajamas, either reading a book or watching some new Netflix movie Tony was raving about.

It also meant she finally would get some peace and quiet seeing as Friday night was when Tony and Pepper went on their date night, Steve went out with Bucky and Sam to explore the modern world, and Clint and Natasha dragged Bruce out of the lab to have some fun.

Of course, it wasn’t that she wasn't invited to join them, (asides from Tony and Pepper's date night) but she always chose to stay at home.

Say it’s because she wanted a day to let her feet rest or say she just wanted to enjoy the couple hours she had to herself without any obnoxious shouting being tossed around the compound.

Whatever the reason was, Y/n was used to being alone on Friday night.

So, you could only imagine her surprise when she saw a certain blue-eyed captain plop down, right next to her on the couch.

Raising a brow, she turned her head towards the super soldier. "Steve? What are you still doing here?” pausing slightly, she winced at her choice of words. “Sorry, that sounded really harsh. Aren't you supposed to be out? You know, fraternizing with the modern world with your little trio?" she heard him laugh before shaking his head.

"Yes actually. But I had some extra work to do, so I told Buck and Sam that they could go out on their own," Y/n nodded, unsure of what to say. She saw him let out a wistful sigh, more than enough evidence to tell her that he wished he could be with them.

Pausing the movie that was playing on the screen, she crossed her legs and turned to face him. "What do you guys do when you go out?" he looked at her surprised.

"Oh! Well, I try to check off my pop culture "to do" list. I've had it for a while and all the things are pretty stupid but I guess I just really want to finish it,” he told her, pulling out the small notebook from his back pocket.

Peering down and scanning through the list quickly, she noticed he still had more than half to check off. Y/n pursed her lips, looking down at her comfy over sized t-shirt and sighed slightly. I suppose now is a better time than ever to become closer to Steve. Allowing any possibilities of a peaceful evening to leave her mind she shook her and flashed him a grin. "Well than, get that American ass up and dressed because we're checking another thing off this list!" she announced enthusiastically standing up.

"What do you mean?" Steve chuckled watching her point at his notebook.

"I mean we're doing at least one of these. Lemme see, ooh! Are you hungry? I'm sure I could eat. Let's go get some Thai food! We could go to this restaurant that does takeout and then, hmm, 'I love Lucy'? I haven’t seen that show in ages, we could watch it when we get back at the tower," she looked up and saw Steve staring at her, a grin etched on his face. "What are you staring at? Let’s go!" she ushered Steve off the couch, making him laugh as she ran into her own room.

Changing out of her pajamas’ and into a simple t-shirt and jeans, she undid her messy ponytail and fumbled with her hair until she felt presentable.

She got out of the room and met up with Steve, who was had threw on a pair of jeans and his leather jacket over his shirt. The two took off and headed into the elevator. "The place isn't that far so we could walk there if that's alright with you," she told him.

"Sounds good," she smiled at him and they headed out to the restaurant. The walk was short as she had anticipated, the two chatting among themselves about their day and miscellaneous stories about their teammates.

They ordered their takeout before quickly heading back to the tower, the walk back filled with Y/n complaining about how cold it had suddenly gotten. Once they had gotten back to the tower, Y/n fired up the television and put on the first episode of "I Love Lucy" as the two changed into some comfier clothes.

"Alright, Thai food and I love Lucy. Lucky you Rogers, you've got yourself one of the best combinations in life," Y/n joked as she snuggled into the couch and started to eat some Pad Thai. Steve smiled at the girl, happy that someone cared this much to cancel their plans just for him. (Though her plans were hardly anything that needed canceling)

"I suppose I am lucky aren't I," he winked at her as she snorted in response.

The night trailed on, and it had been closing in on two hours of watching when the two had realized that it was getting late and they should be getting some sleep. They cleaned up and Y/n was about to retire to bed when Steve stopped her. "Hey, Y/n?"

She turned around and leaned against the door frame of her room. "Mhm?" she hummed in response.

"Thank you for tonight. It was nice of you to go out of your way to help me check off my list. It means a lot to me," he sent her a warm smile.

She smiled back, "it's no problem." He nodded before bidding her a goodnight. Before he could leave, Y/n’s voice stopped him. “Hey, I just had an idea. Why don't I help you check off your entire list? Anytime we're free we'll try and do another thing on your list. How's that sound Captain?"

A wide and goofy grin emerged on Steve's face. "That sounds perfect."

******

Nearly two weeks had passed, due to a rouge mission, before Y/n and Steve finally had another day off.

It was Saturday morning and Y/n was brain dead. Her thoughts were dispersed throughout her brain, trying to figure out where the next spot the criminal they were trying to catch would be. Not to mention she was running off seven cups of coffee and two hours of sleep so you could only imagine the chaos that was her mind.

She took a pause from her frantic typing and eyed the numerous tabs she had opened and papers that were scattered across her desk. Under her breath she cursed at how little progress she had made before returning to her laptop.

After an hour of dead ends and two more cups of coffee, Y/n decided it was pointless. “Who am I kidding. I should just give this case to someone at S.H.I.E.L.D," she stretched her neck and ran her fingers through her hair. A nap sounded like a nice idea at the time, but her plans were interrupted by a sudden knock on her wall.

Looking up from her work she saw Steve leaning against the door frame, a concerned look on his face. She threw her hand up in attempts to greet him. "Hey Cap, what's up?"

"Just checking up on you. Everything alright? You looked stressed," he questioned, concern laced in his voice. He walked over and examined her workspace. "You know you have the day off, right? You really should be relaxing. Working everyday isn't good for you.”

She scoffed, shaking her head, "Is Steve I-Need-To-Solve-This-Problem-Right-Now-Or-I-Will-Never-Forgive-Myself Rogers telling me to relax?” noticing his eyes roll she smiled. “Hey, I get what you mean. I guess I just though if did some more work I’d be able to help some more. But now all I’ve got to show for it is my Word doc with a billion typos and dead ends,” a sad laugh escaping her mouth.

"Don't say that," he spoke sternly. She raised an eyebrow at him as he picked up one of her lists, "There's a ton of good ideas here Y/n. You're just missing a few things and that’s probably just because you’re half asleep. You know what would help with that?" Y/n cocked a brow as he shook her slightly. "Taking a break."

Y/n broke into a grin when he pulled out the small notebook. "Are you just trying to get me to help you check off this list?" he grinned cheekily.

"Maybe."

*******

The two agreed that they needed to get some air, so Y/n suggested that they go to the planetarium. Maybe Steve could learn a thing or two about what recently happened in the solar system within the last seventy years he had been frozen.

When they got in, Steve was surprised to see a large dome with dozens of seats all lined up in a semicircle. Y/n grabbed his hand and dragged him over to sit down. "Trust me. Just watch," before he knew it, the lights switched off and various projections started to appear on the ceiling above them.

The patterns arranged themselves into different planets and stars and a deep voice began to play from a speaker. The two watched the whole show and listened intently, Steve occasionally chuckling due to Y/n whispering a few stupid jokes every so often.

After a solid hour or so, the two had to leave and head back to Avengers headquarter for training.

They walked in a comfortable silence, admiring the scenery and laughing at dumb jokes from time to time. Heading closer to the tower, they noticed a pair of figures being Sam and Bucky, waiting and chatting at the front entrance. "Hey Buck! Sam," Steve greeted the two men. Y/n sent a wave which they returned with soft smiles. The three of them chatted and Y/n noticed she was fourth wheeling, so she decided to bid the men a goodbye as she went in to change for her sparring with Nat.

Slipping into a tank top and her old pair of gym shorts, she grabbed a bag filled with simple necessities and headed into the elevator.

She made her way down to the training room, seeing Natasha talking to Clint who was practicing his shots. Quickly tying up her hair, she made her way over towards the two. "Hey, you ready for sparring?" Natasha greeted her, motioning towards the already set up mat.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

*******

After what felt like years of sparring, practicing her aim in the shooting range and weapon practice, Y/n was exhausted. She made her way over to the break station where Clint and Natasha were drinking water and cooling down.

"I swear I come out of training with a new body part broken each week,” she groaned, her muscles sore and her body sweaty. The pair chuckled as Y/n collapsed onto the chair in front of them.

"I noticed you and Steve have been hanging out quite a bit this past month. What have you been doing?" Clint remarked, throwing a towel towards Y/n, which she easily caught and used to wipe the sweat off her face.

"Well, I've been helping him do everything on his checklist since he's had it for a while," she replied simply, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge and taking a large gulp of the icy cold liquid. Natasha smirked slightly, raising an eyebrow.

"And you’re saying that’s the only thing happening during all this, one on one time?" Y/n nearly spat out the water she was drinking before turning to the ex-assassin. Clint, who had been trying to keep his laughter in check, looked at Y/n's face and completely lost it. "Well?"

"Nat!" Y/n exclaimed in a hush tone, looking around to see if anyone heard her. Turning back, she sent a glare. "Are you serious?" Natasha crossed her arms, the look on her face telling her that she wouldn’t stop if Y/n didn’t answer the question. Y/n sighed, "no. There are you happy? We're just friends alright? That's all that we are, all that we'll ever be. Jeez." Breathing heavily, Y/n shook her head.

Can’t believe her. Why would she think Steve and I would ever – no way that could happen.

Nat and Clint shared a look with each other before shrugging and changing topics. Noticing that they weren't talking about her anymore, she casually grabbed an apple and bit into it. She watched Steve sparring with Bucky and smiled as his eyes met hers.

Her stomach did that weird thing again, that caused her to feel all giddy inside and her heart seemed to be beating faster than usual. Confused, she looked down wondering what was going on in her body.

It's probably just from sparring for so long.

It was obvious to any outsider that she was incredibly wrong.

*******

A few days had passed, and Steve and Y/n had hung out a few times, grabbing lunch together or merely just chatting in the compound.

Y/n was minding her own business, when a sudden realization had struck. Getting up from her comfortable spot on her bed, she made her way to the living room where Steve was seated, watching an old re-run of a television show.

"You know what Rogers? I've realized that I've been helping you do what everyone else wants you, yet I haven't added anything to your list. We're going to change that," Y/n randomly announced, plopping down onto the couch next to him.

He looked over at her, her face in full concentration, trying to find the perfect thing to add to his list. Laughing he cocked an eyebrow at her, "Oh really? And what is something so revolutionary that I just have to add to my list."

Thinking deeply, her eyes lit up before smiling widely at him. "Snicker doodles."

*******

"Steve! You're supposed to save the cinnamon for rolling the cookies in! Not for putting it inside the batter!" Y/n was laughing, as she tried to stop Steve from screwing up the recipe and mixing the wet ingredients.

"Well you said dry ingredients. Unless something has changed in the past seventy years, I'm fairly certain that cinnamon is dry," he retorted, watching her roll her eyes at him.

The two were trying to bake snicker doodles, Steve making quite hard too, as the Trouble man Soundtrack was playing in the background. Y/n made the snarky remark that since Steve still hasn't listen to it since Sam hadn't shut up about it.

When 'Trouble Man' played, Y/n smiled to herself. Dancing, as she mixed the bowl, she swayed to the melody and made her way towards Steve. Humming along to the song, she started to sing. "I come up hard baby, but now I'm cool. I didn't make it sugar, playin' by the rules. I come up hard baby, but now I'm fine," Y/n removed the whisk from his hand and replaced it with her own hand. "Dance with me?"

Steve looked at her and smiled brightly. The two swayed together in sync. Y/n placed her hands on his shoulders before placing her face into his chest. Steve looked slightly shocked before smiling and placing his hands on her waist. "I'm checkin' trouble-"

"-sugar, movin' down the line" Steve interrupted, causing Y/n to snap her head up and stare at him incredulously.

"I thought you hadn't heard this yet?"

"Sam manages to sneak this song on every time we're in a car," smiling and laughing, the two look down to realize that the flour on Steve's shirt had transferred to Y/n's hair. "You'd better clean that out, here let me help."

Steve shoots his hand out to ruffle her hair but Y/n ducks down fast enough. "Not so fast old man. I may lack braincells, but I do have eyes and I can see that your hands are clearly covered in flower,” she pointed an accusing finger at him. "Alright, now that you're done throwing flour everywhere. We can start making balls of dough and covering them in the cinnamon sugar," the two shared giggles before grabbing small handfuls of dough and rolling them in between their hands.

After covering the last few cookies, it was time to throw them in the oven. Y/n was holding the tray and Steve opened the oven. A breeze of hot air blew across her face, causing her to scrunch up her nose before placing the tray in the middle of the rack. "You said how long until they're done?" Steve asked her.

"Approximately 10 minutes, so at 6:36," she replied, closing the oven and punching in the numbers. She turned around to face him. "Meaning we should clean up the mess we made before the others come and see what we've been up to all day."

They started cleaning up the mess they had created, throwing most of the utensils and bowls into the dishwasher and putting away all the leftover ingredients. Realizing that the soundtrack had played through, she made her way over to her phone and opened the music. "Which band was it that you also needed to listen too?" she asked Steve, who opened his small notebook.

"This band named Nirvana?" Y/n's eyes sparkled at the mention. Steve chuckled watching her facial expression turn excited and enthusiastic. "What? Do you know them or something?"

She looked over her shoulder and stared at him incredulously. "Know them? I love them! How have you never listened to – you know what? I'm just going to play it," she pressed shuffle on her phone before placing it down and heading over to clean up the last few things.

Grabbing a towel, she started to dry a few of the plates and placing them away. Music played, and Y/n sung along, dancing without a care in the world.

"Ooh! This is my favourite song!" Y/n dropped the towel in her hand and grabbed the spoon from the counter, bringing it up to her mouth. "Come as you are, as you were. As I want you to be. As a friend, as a friend. As a known enemy," she danced around the room, pretending she was on a stage, singing her heart out. Steve watched her sing and point at him, laughing to himself at how adorable she looked. "Take your time, hurry up. The choice is yours, don't be late. Take a rest as a friend. As an old-" she climbed onto the counter and used her free hand to dramatize her performance.

"Memoria, memoria, memoria, memoria." Once the lyrics finished, she danced around to the music and hopped off the counter. Panting slightly, she brushed the stray hairs out of her face before interlocking eyes with Steve and smiling goofily.

"Now that was a performance," Steve applauded her as she jokingly curtsied while laughing. The two shared a smile before cleaning up again and singing along to the songs.

Steve admired the girl, throwing a glance towards her every so often. His stomach seemed to be doing flips and he soon realized -

He was falling in love.

*******

About a month or so had passed and the subject of whether Steve and Y/n were dating was a frequently brought up topic. Many of the team members believed that it was all a secret and they were hiding their relationship, such as Tony, Clint and Sam. On the other end, a few of them thought that they were too pussy to go up and ask the other on a date such as Natasha and Bucky.

Of course, Bruce decided to stay out of all of this, but he did have his hopes that their relationship would soon evolve into something more than friendship.

To be completely honest, Y/n and Steve themselves had no clue what was going on.

The two liked each other tremendously.

Well that was obvious.

But they never truly acted on it, aside from Y/n's flirty remarks, but that was just her usual behavior, and remained friends.

It was quiet Friday night when Y/n was bored out of her mind. Dangling upside down from her bed, her eyes bore a stare into the wall.

A minute had passed before she decided that she was thirsty and headed down to the kitchen for something to drink. "Where's something to do when you need it?" she murmured, her fingers running through her hair as a yawn escaped her lips.

Once she opened her eyes, she saw a tall, dark haired figure standing in the kitchen. I mean I wouldn't mind doing him but – “Y/n?" her head snapped up.

"Oh, hey Bucky. What's up?" she asked as she made her way to the cabinets, grabbing a glass.

"Not much," she nodded before pouring water from the pitcher. "You know I was just talking to Natasha about your current love life," she looked at him, confused at why he was bringing this subject up, but nodded, taking a sip from her glass. "And I was wondering whether or not you and Steve were ever going to date."

Spitting out the water in her mouth, she looked up at the ex-assassin, her eyes nearly bulging out their sockets. "What?" she questioned, as sly smile started creeping its way on to his face.

"All that I'm saying is that you guys have chemistry. You've been hanging out a lot and-"

"I'm just helping him finish everything on that to do list of his," she interjected, wiping the excess water from the side of her face.

"Yeah and you're probably the last thing on it," Bucky grumbled quietly, making sure she didn't hear him. "What I was saying, is that you both should at least try and go on a date. I know Steve hasn't had something remotely close to a relationship in the last seventy years so I'm sure a date could fix him right up."

Y/n scoffed, rolling her eyes at his suggestion. "Why don't you go on a date with him then? He basically sacrificed his whole friendship with Tony for you. I smell a movie idea," she mocked in a sing-song voice. Bucky sighed before turning around to face the girl.

"I'm being serious Y/n."

She stared at him dead eye and crossed her arms. "And so am I. So, understand when I say that nothing will ever happen between me and Steve. He's just a friend," with that she walked out of the kitchen, grumbling to herself that she was hungry as Bucky rolled his eyes. “Also tell Natasha to stop blabbering about my love life to everyone!”

"They're even more perfect for each other than I thought. Stupidly oblivious though," he face-palmed before rubbing his eyes in annoyance. "God, I swear if I’m not Steve's man of honour when they get married."

*******

"I still can't believe you haven't seen any of the Star Trek movies. I thought you would've at least watched one with Sam or someone," Y/n rolled her eyes, settling down with popcorn next to Steve.

He chuckled slightly as he spread the blanket over top of the two of them. "Hey, at least I watched the Star-Wars movies. Tony wouldn't shut up about them until he made me watch every single one," Y/n laughed remembering the one time that Tony had barged into the meeting yelling about how Steve hadn't watched Star-Wars.

"I think you struck the most luck when you heard AC/DC early on. Tony nearly killed me when I said I only listened to one of their songs and it was Highway to Hell," she snorted, turning on the television.

About halfway into the third movie, Y/n stifled a yawn and started to lean on Steve's shoulder. She felt him tense for a second before loosening up.

The two were much too engrossed in the movie to have noticed the elevator doors opening revealing Tony and Natasha. The two of them walked into the living room and stopped when they saw Y/n and Steve together on the couch, Y/n's head on his shoulder. The two superheroes looked at each other and smirked. Tony let out a wolf whistle.

"Wow! Didn't know you still had it in you Capsicle. Especially not with our lovely Y/n! congrats," he teased, clapping his hands as they snapped their heads to look at them and Y/n rolled her eyes.

"Oh, shut it Stark. We're just watching a movie," she snapped, before turning back to face the screen.

Natasha snorted before curtsying in a mocking manner. "Oh, forgive us. Come on Stark, the lovely couple would like their privacy," Steve groaned as they snickered before making their way out of the room.

Y/n cursed something under her breath, before focusing her attention on the movie. "You know, a few days ago Bucky asked me if we were going to date."

Steve looked at her incredulously, her face blank as she shoved popcorn into her mouth. "What?" he asked her.

"He asked if we were going to date," she turned to face the shocked looking man. "I said no, don't worry. I told him we were just friends anyways," her voice quieter towards the end, chest clenching.

"Oh," Steve nodded, regaining his posture. "Just friends," his heart sunk to his stomach, as he shuffled around uncomfortably in his seat. "Right."

*******

The two had binged through the next few movies, probably landing on the ninth or tenth when Y/n started falling asleep.

Steve allowed the girl to take a nap, his eyes trailing from the screen to her.

He smiled as Y/n was snoozing softly on his shoulder. He checked on his watch and realized it was closing in on 3 am in the morning. He moved her, so she was leaning against the couch for a second before standing up and carrying her in his arms.

He walked over to her room as he walked into his Bucky eyeing him. "You and L/n have been hanging out a lot these past few weeks. You sure there's nothing going on Steve?" he teased his friend. Steve rolled his eyes before looking down at Y/n who had her face snuggled up against his chest.

"I wish I knew what it was Buck but I’m just not sure what it is," he looked down at the sleeping girl, a soft smile appearing on his face. With that he bid his goodnight before heading off.

Bucky watched his friend bring the girl into her room as he rolled his eyes. "Not sure what it is my ass. That punk knows he's in love with her."

Steve opened up the door and laid Y/n on her bed. He pressed a chaste kiss on her temple before sitting up from the bed. "'Night Y/n."

Before he could leave, he felt a hand grab onto his forearm. He saw Y/n, her eyelids only half open and her breath raspy. "Stay?" she pleaded. Steve looked at her slightly shocked. He saw her pout and gave in almost immediately.

"Alright," he laid down next to her as she turned and placed her face in his chest. He sucked on his breath, looking at the tired girl and wrapped his arm around her.

*******

Mmmm, warmth.

Y/n hummed in content as she woke up. She felt something hard pressed up against her head and opened her eyes to see Steve sleeping next to her. Her eyes widened immediately. Her first reaction to jump away before realizing that it would be too hard since his arm was wrapped around her.

Inhaling sharply, panic struck across her face. Steve's sleeping next to me. The love of my life is sleeping next to me. What am I supposed to do?

Steve's eyes blinked open, his head turning to face Y/n's embarrassed one. He smiled softly at her before murmuring a quiet 'good morning' in a low, raspy voice. Blinking slightly, makings sure this wasn't a dream, she smiled awkwardly.

"H-Hi," tucking a strand of hair behind her ear in attempt to reduce her embarrassment (which it didn't), she greeted him. "Morning. Remind me, but – er, why are you here? In bed. With me?"

Just realizing she was unsure what was going on, Steve apologized profusely. "Oh my god, I am so sorry! I didn't realize that you didn't know what was happening and you were probably extremely confused and I- "

God damnit Y/n. You just totally stressed out Cap for being nice. "– Steve?" stopping abruptly, he looked at her, worry in his eyes. "I'm not upset. It was sweet of you to bring me to my room. I just wondered why you chose to stay the night with me?"

Chuckling slightly, he scratched the back of his neck. "Actually, you asked me to stay the night."

"I what."

"Yeah you kind of begged for me to stay with you last night after I dropped you off in bed," he responded nervously. Due to her shock, her eyes widened as she watched the blue-eyed man start to laugh. "Hey don't worry. I don't mind. You were really cute when you were tired, so I couldn't say no," as soon as the words had escaped his mouth, Y/n's brain started to malfunction.

Did Steven Grant Roger, aka Captain America, aka my biggest crush ever just call me cute?

"Oh?" she exclaimed; her voice uncharacteristically high. "Really now?"

Steve looked at her oddly until he realized the words he had said earlier. "Oh, oh! Sorry I didn't mean it to say that you're cute – ah! Not saying you're not, I mean you're gorgeous, prettiest girl I've ever met but – damnit! I mean –" Y/n started smiling uncontrollably, laughter tumbling off her lips. Groaning Steve cursed under his breath. "Shit."

"Steve, what are you trying to say?" she asked the super soldier, who was currently hiding his face in his hands. Smothering a laugh, she tried to move his hands away from his head. "Steve?"

"Y/n, I have to tell you something," surprised at his sudden outburst, Y/n looked at him shocked.

"Oh! Well, what is it?" her mind trailed off, wondering what he wished to talk to her about.

Fumbling around his fingers, he bit his bottom lip before looking into her eyes. "Y/n, I really like –"

"Meeting in five minutes Y/n – oh! Steve? What are you doing in Y/n's room?" Natasha interrupted glancing at the two, a smirk tugging at her lips. "You two already slept together? I mean I knew it was going to happen, but I at least expected a date or –"

Y/n started to panic, launching a pillow at the red head's direction. "Natasha! Are you serious? Get out!" the ex-assassin laughed before shutting the door.

"Fury wants us there in five minutes!" her voice trailed off as she left. Y/n rubbed her temples at the actions of her friend. Turning to face Steve, whose face was prominently red now, she tried to get him to tell her what he was going to say before they were rudely interrupted.

"What was it you wanted to tell me?"

"I – nothing. Never mind. We should get going, don't want to leave Fury waiting," getting up and out of the bed, Y/n watched as he prepared to leave the room.

Disappointed, she replied, "oh, I get it. Tell me later?" Steve turned to face her with an unsure face.

"Sure."

*******

"They were in the same room?" Tony exclaimed loudly as Natasha shushed him with a glare. "Well sorry. I'm just asking to make sure you weren't seeing things?" he questioned, sipping some of the hot liquid in his mug.

Rolling her eyes at his distrust in her, she crossed her arms. "I'm sure Tony. I saw him when I went to call Y/n. They were deep in conversation and I'm pretty sure I wasn't just seeing things. He might've just popped into her room in the morning though. I'm not –"

Bucky, who had been quiet for most of the conversation had finally spoken up, "I saw him bring Y/n back into her room last night and he never came back out," Sam turned to face him and cocked a brow.

"And how do you know he never got out? Were you stalking him?" Clint snickered at the question, watching the soldier scoff and roll his eyes.

"That doesn't matter Wilson. The two definitely at least slept in the same room. But now to the question of whether they fu –"

Y/n's head popped in from the door and the rest of the team turned towards her, slightly surprised. "What are you guys up to?"

"Working on some tests," Bruce quickly replied, snatching random papers that were scattered on the table.

Clint rose his mug and took a sip, "snacking."

"Talking about whether or not you and Steve fucked each other last night," Natasha replied casually, watching Bruce choke on his coffee. Bucky snorted slightly, watching the h/c haired girl's face distort into shock.

Tony started laughing manically. "So, tell us Y/n? What'd the two of you do in the same room? Anything I'd like to get in the middle of?" glaring, she made a disgusted face at Tony's statement.

"Very funny Stark. We didn't do anything last night, alright? We were just watching movies and I fell asleep and Steve was a gentleman and brought me to my room," walking into the room, she grabbed a cookie from the plate on the table and munched on it.

Clint furrowed his brows before asking the next question, "but why did he stay the night? I didn't know that was a part of being a gentleman," Y/n pursed her lips, cursing under her breath. "Unless there's something you didn't mention, Y/n?" Turning around and crossing her arms she huffed.

"I might've asked him to stay," she mumbled under her breath quickly, not wishing for anyone to hear her. Bucky, who was closest to her, overheard her mutters and rose his eyebrows. Before he could say anything, Y/n cleared her throat and walked out of the room. "Now if you'll excuse me, Steve and I are heading out for lunch," seeing everyone's looks at her, she narrowed her eyes and stated, "as friends."

Bucky shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged his shoulders. "I mean sure it might start with being friends but a quick mouth to mouth action really can get it going for the two of you. Steve's just a little shy and won't initiate it but if you try hard enough–"

"Bucky we're not kissing."

"I never said kissing," smirking slightly he flashed a wolfish grin. "You two could always make-out instead," Y/n groaned loudly, watching the rest of the team burst in to laughs, even Bruce betraying her with his fit of giggles.

"You guys are honestly the worst. Steve doesn't like me in that way, and I don't like him in that way so there's no possible way for the two of us to date," Natasha started cackling and slammed her fist onto the table as her laughing intensified. Crossing her arms, Y/n asked, "what's so funny now Nat?"

Wiping a tear from her eye she looked at the girl and shook her head. "Alright if you and Steve aren't madly in love with each other than I guess that I wasn’t a previous assassin," Tony grinned before chiming in as well.

"And I suppose that I'm not a billionaire."

Sam chuckled before joining with the two, "and I'm not the best-looking guy on the team," everyone turned to look at him. "What?" Y/n shook her head, before looking down at her phone.

"I've got to go now. I don't want to keep Steve waiting. We'll be back in an hour or so," saying her goodbyes, she headed out for the door only getting stopped by the sound of Bucky's voice.

"That's right. No need to keep your future husband waiting to long," Y/n resisted the urge to smack him across the face but turned around and glared.

The laughter died down as she narrowed her eyes intensely, "would you please, stop?" Bucky scoffed but waved goodbye as she turned back around.

"Alright but for the wedding, can I be –"

"Oh my god you guys are so annoying!"

******

The crisp autumn air blew through Y/n's hair as she walked side by side with Steve, headed for a coffee shop downtown. This wasn't one of the things that Steve needed to do but Y/n was in the mood for a warm drink to calm her down from all the events that had occurred. Like sleeping with her massive crush.

Stopping in front of a quaint little café, Y/n opened the door and allowed Steve in. "After you, kind sir," she mocked, bow down as he chuckled.

"Well thank you doll," the slight word choice was enough for Y/n's cheeks to turn pink and for butterflies to start fluttering around in her stomach. After purchasing their drinks (and a slight banter between the two on who was paying. Y/n ended winning by swiping her card while they were arguing), the two set out for a casual stroll down the streets of New York.

They walked in a peaceful silence, enjoying the background noises of the busy streets and sipping on the drinks every so often. Y/n looked around, her eyes meeting back with his. She smiled warmly at him, her nose scrunching up as she giggled suddenly. "What's so funny?" he asked with a playful smile.

"Oh nothing," she waved him off. "I'm just remembering what the team said earlier. They were talking about us sleeping together or something dumb like that," she scoffed thinking about how dumb that idea was. Not that she wouldn't want to. God knows she does, but Steve didn't need to know that.

Not yet at least.

Steve placed one of his hands in his pocket, nodding slightly. "Oh. Yeah, Bucky was asking me about that earlier. I don't know what's gotten into them,"

"Yeah. They even joked about you liking me and whatnot. It was really weird," as soon as the words had left her mouth, Steve nodded awkwardly. Noticing something was up she turned to face the super soldier. "Everything alright?"

He nodded his head at first, "yeah, yeah don't worry about it," she nodded, going back to her original position facing forwards. It was only a few seconds after when Steve started shaking his head violently and sighing. "You know what? It's not alright," Y/n looked at him in shock.

"What do you mean? Is something wrong? Did I do something to upset you? Is – "

"I'm in love with you," pausing afterwards, he began to be extremely infatuated with his shoes, not taking his eyes off them. "I'm in love with you, Y/n L/n. And I have been for a while."

Y/n's face was red. Extremely red. "O-Oh," she could feel the blood rising to her cheeks, his sentence came outs so suddenly she hardly had time to react. Steve realized she hadn't responded and shook his head.

"You know what, I'm really sorry that was a lot to put on you and I didn't mean to just drop the bomb like that. I had a whole plan too –" Y/n pulled on his arm and leaned him downwards as she sealed his mouth with a kiss.

He tasted like the minty gum they had earlier and fresh coffee, his scent intoxicating her, sending her emotions haywire. They pulled apart, lips slightly parted, heavy breaths colliding with one another. Y/n smiled softly, once their eyes had met. "This is going to sound cliché, but you were talking way too much."

A bright grin had erupted on his face as he pulled her closer to him and pressed another kiss on her lips. His arms found their way around her waist as hers rested on his arms. Smiling once they broke apart, he said, "I suppose that was the best way to shut me up."

********

(One Year Later)

Steve never really was good at secrets. It seemed that everything he wanted to hide from his beloved girlfriend was impossible to do. Perhaps he was terrible at keeping them, but he liked to say it was because she was just so smart.

Fumbling around with the last few touches he quickly ran over to the couch and waited for Y/n too walk through the door. Jingle of the keys were heard, and a smile found its way to Steve face. "Hey babe, how are you doing?" Y/n asked as she walked in.

"I'm good," she placed a kiss on his cheek as she walked by, throwing her bag by the kitchen table. "Hey, do you mind grabbing my glasses for me in the bedroom?" he asked as she nodded, throwing her hair up into a ponytail.

Calling out to him as she headed to the room she said, "where are they?"

"They should be in the drawer next to the bed."

"Alright," she nodded as she opened the door into the room. Opening the drawer, her eyes were surprised to find a small velvet box sitting in the middle of the drawer, rose petals scattered around it. "Steve? What's all of –"

Picking up the box she turned around when she saw Steve down on one knee, a shiny diamond ring in his hand. "Y/n, doll. I know we've only been dating for a year, but I know you make me a better person and I know I love you with every single piece of my heart. You've sacrificed your time for me and your lazy Fridays," Y/n laughed as tears glistened in her eyes. "But I just want you to know I love you so much, would you do the honour of making me the happiest man in the world?"

Sobbing as tears cascaded down her cheeks she nodded aggressively. "Yes! A million times yes Steve. I love you so much," placing the ring on her finger he smiled as he took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately.

The two walked out of the room and loud cheers could be heard. "I knew she would say yes! What else could she have said?" Bucky shouted, hugging his friend who laughed.

Giggling she headed over to Natasha and Tony who hugged her tightly. "You know Steve was hiding all six of us in your bathroom? It was terribly tight. But I'm proud of you girl," Tony laughed before agreeing and ruffling her hair.

Bruce and Clint congratulated her and after harassing Steve, so did Bucky and Sam. They popped open some of Tony's celebratory alcohol and cheered. As soon as all the commotion had settled down Bucky cleared his throat. "Can I just say I predicted this like a year ago?"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Honey, we all predicted this. Don't act like you were the only one," everyone laughed before they all held a toast.

"To our two favourite blind love idiots who took way too long to date but the right amount of time to get engaged!" Clint announced as everyone chorused; "To Y/n and Steve!"

Sipping their drinks, the newly engaged couple smiled at the other and kissed deeply. "I love you Y/n," Steve said as she kissed his cheek.

"I love you too, Steven Grant Rogers."

✩✩✩✩✩✩✩

270 notes · View notes

sunlitroom · 7 years

Text

Gotham – s4e13 – Reunion

As I watched it, and some random observations here and there.

Previously on Gotham:

Barbara wore an upsetting flesh-coloured headband. Jim searched for the Doc. Sometimes we search for things we really don’t want to find. Sofia likes being queen! And she has new ways to hurt Jim! Harvey tells Jim he wants to feel clean. You’ll need a water cannon to get the muck off Jim, Harvey. Ed gloated, but Oswald claimed ‘you’re’ still there! Ivy’s changed. Lazarus water does things! Bruce has a party boy breakdown.

As always, long post will be long. There are likely to be rambling digressions. Gobblepot might appear (although I welcome all shippers and non-shippers alike :)). There will be naked favouritism and naked not-favouritism. Broader comments at the end on plotlines and parallels and general direction.

At stately Wayne Manor, Bruce is opening the case that contains his proto-Batman suit. He looks at it for a long moment, removes the mask, and throws it on the fire. Overall, It’s been a very symbolic couple of days for him. He needs to ease up a bit. Do some light housework, a bit of reading. Maybe bake something.

Harvey’s bar in the Narrows, where a man is eating a pickle very loudly. Ivy enters, and regards him with some disgust. Is it because they’re a kind of plant, or because he’s gross, or did whatever Ivy did to herself leave her senses a little heightened, maybe?

It’s hard to say whether it’s the light or the help of some Clairol, but Ivy’s hair is looking slightly redder.

She’s looking for Harvey. The cute barman says he’s not working today, but she can leave a message. Ivy says she will – she’ll use them to leave a message, all their flesh and blood and what they’ll become. She blows pollen onto them from a flower she was carrying.

(An aside. Based on what we’ve seen of her so far, Ivy is virtually the most dangerous person in the city. She kills indiscriminately, and seems completely without empathy or remorse)

At Sofia’s mansion, Lee is looking at a framed photograph of her and Mario. Lee is wearing fingerless opera gloves. That’s…definitely a style choice. I wonder if Lee’s move towards a deliberate and out-of-the-ordinary aesthetic signals a definite move from the move conventional heroic side of things to the more villainous side of the board, which is all about aesthetic.

Sofia says that still Lee is still her sister, even with Mario gone. Given that she murdered her dad, this doesn’t bode well for Lee.

Lee smiles and says that’s nice – but clearly not why she was invited. Sofia smiles back and tells her that while she owns the city, the Narrows never bent the knee. With this kind of phrasing, and Lee’s fur collar, it’s all gone a bit Game of Thrones. Lee tells her that the Narrows has never bent the knee – but Sofia replies that there’s never been anyone like her.

She wants the Narrows under her thumb – in the form of a 30% tax on all income. Lee tells her that the people there live hand to mouth, and will never be able to afford this – they’ll starve. Sofia smiles coldly, and tells her that they all have to make sacrifices, and she wants an answer by the end of the day.

Lee gets up. She offers to kiss the ring, if that’s what Sofia needs – because the 30% tax is impossible. Sofia tells her she’ll find a way. Lee remarks that she thought she was all about family. Sofia stares at her

I never said it was a happy family

At a diner in the Narrows, Alfred reads a paper. Bruce walks in – but Alfred avoids eyecontact. Bruce thanks him for agreeing to meet, but Alfred remains grumpy. He tries to talk to him about the annual foundation dinner, but Alfred is snappish

What exactly is it you want from me?

Bruce asks for his help to figure things out – he can’t do this alone. Alfred refuses. He tells Bruce he can’t just waltz in here and expect him to go back to washing his smalls and cooking his dinner. Bruce tells him he’s changed – but Alfred says there’s a difference between showing and telling. If he shows him, then he’ll reconsider.

Bruce asks how he can do that – but Alfred says that’s for him to figure out. Oh, fuck off, Alfred.

Bruce pleads – and says he’s asking him as a friend, but Alfred says he’s not his friend – he was his butler, and he fired him. He leaves, telling the waitress that Bruce will pay for the tea. Bruce looks lost.

(An aside. I’m sure I was supposed to see this as tough love, or something – but Alfred just seemed like a dick. Bruce is basically a big pile of trauma in lanky teenage form, he doesn’t need weird passive-aggressive sulking. Also – bad writing strikes in that Bruce nearly died a couple of days ago – and knowing that just makes whatever Alfred is doing here look worse.)

Presumably upstairs at Cherry’s, a desperate and dishevelled Ed is rifling through bottles of pill. Nearby, leaning against a wall, BadEd wonders aloud what Lee and Sofia’s meeting is about. He asks if Ed doesn’t wonder, Lee being the love of his life and all.

Ed impatiently tells him that he and Lee are friends. BadEd looks him over dismissively, and tells him that

The cuckoo pills won't keep me away

Ed replies that they might not – but they can stop him killing lee. Walking over to a small table, we see a pile of letters, including the one Oswald wrote last week. Ed opens it, and reads sections out incredulously.

He wants…..Can we be friends? I’ll never forgive him!

Bad Ed reads the letter over his shoulder and smiles snakily.

I think it’s a nice letter

He poses a riddle to Ed

What has two eyes but can’t see?

Ed stares at him, panicked. BadEd laughs.

Back at Harvey’s bar, where the worst investigation of a killer toxin/plant thing is taking place. Seriously, why don’t they just all make a salad out of it at this point and get stuck in? No gloves, no masks…..

Jim enters, and asks Lucius where Harvey is – Lucius tells him that he wasn’t here, and Jim helpfully reiterates what the show reminded us of last week – Harvey shot Ivy’s father. They head off.

Jim and a team of cops break into Harvey’s apartment. They see Harvey sort of spread-eagled on the couch in. One of the cops regretfully comments that they’re too late, but Jim shakes his head, and walks towards him – this is just how Harvey sleeps. Jim wakes him up – because apparently the door being bust open didn’t do that

An irate Harvey asks what the hell is going on, and tells him someone will be paying for that door. Jim tells him Ivy attacked the bar. Harvey asks about the bartender, Donny, by name. Jim says he’s sorry, and tells him that they have to think he was the target – since he shot Ivy’s dad. Harvey angrily tells him that he only shot Ivy’s dad to save Jim’s hide

So don't put this on me

Jim, nettled, responds equally angrily

I’m not putting it on you

(An aside – he’s easily nettled because he has guilt brewing about how Harvey fared due to the whole Pyg fiasco, taking shame and humiliation that rightfully belonged to Jim. At least – I hope he has guilt brewing)

They’re interrupted by a news report, which claims disturbing footage will follow. It’s Ivy, filming herself.

Plants love us. They give us food, shelter – the air we breathe. What do we do in return? Kill them. That's our nature. That's you. We cause pain. Everyone I've ever known hurt and betrayed me. I’ve always known in my heart what I need to do. I’m giving the city back to the plants - starting with the people who hurt me

(An aside - that's basically everyone – Ivy’s sensitive to slights, and also doesn’t really seem to like humans in general.)

Harvey looks worried

Starting with me

(An aside – Ivy’s improved since last week, when her entire rationale was ‘you hurt plants!’ Now that she’s referring back to her past and experiences, we get something else. She hates the whole city. It failed her – we got to see, specifically, how it failed her: watching her end up on the streets. She’ll show no compassion, because she feels she was shown none. She’s a good example of the city reaping what it sows – pun not intended)

As the news report is still playing, Jim and Harvey spot a sign in the background for an eatery they recognise, and manage to pin Ivy’s location. Jim wants to take Harvey to the precinct, but he refuses to hide – he feels responsible. Jim offers his badge, and Harvey angrily refuses. He has more contacts in the Narrows than any of them. He storms out, but then returns quickly – because he forgot to put on trousers.

Lee and Ed somewhere at Cherry’s. They’re talking and drinking. Lee is telling Ed about the meeting. She says it makes no sense: Sofia knows there no money here, Lee offered to bend the knee, Sofia was deliberately asking for something she knew Lee couldn’t give. She wants to punish her.

Ed asks why – but Lee says she doesn’t know. Ed tells her you can’t fight an enemy whose motivations you don't understand

(An aside – I wonder if this remark will become significant again later? Feels a bit like it will)

We cut away, and see Ed has hired the Baker Street Irregulars. He offers them a full set of encyclopedias minus T if they can find out why Sofia wants to punish Lee. They look unimpressed. He throws in 20 dollars, and they leap up.

Go get 'em

A police team breaks into Ivy's lair of plants and discarded sequinned evening gowns. As Jim looks around, he hears a voice.

Selina is sitting on the windowsill

What’re you gonna do?

Jim does what he does best – other than snarling and grabbing – and gets angrily judgy.

She killed four more people – and you knew where she was staying. If you’d told me, we could have saved their lives.

Oh shut up Jim. Go contemplate your own trail of dead.

Selina’s having none of him.

Or not. You couldn't stop her from hypnotising all your cops

Jim asks why she came. Because Selina doesn’t casually dehumanise and discard people, Jim? Even when they’re behaving in ways she doesn’t like or understand?

Selina says she wants to try to reason with her. Jim sneers and says she’s a fanatic – but Selina retorts that she’s her friend. Jim looks at her for a moment, and tells her that if she contacts her, then to call him, and he’ll try and bring her in quietly – otherwise, she should stay out of the way.

At that point, his phone rings. It’s Harvey with a lead.

Harvey is in a big basement? Warehouse? I dunno. There’s lots of barrels.

Harvey tells Jim that Ivy has been hiring muscle. As he says this, Ivy strolls in.

She’s beautiful, don't you think, Jim?

He points his gun at Jim. Ivy tells Jim to drop his weapon.

Poor Ed is sitting on his bed, breathing heavily, in some discomfort. He has his head in his hands.

(An aside – looking round, he's assembled a tidy bedroom like a cross between his apartment and lab. He’s really good at using found stuff and making it look nice. He should totally do this instead of crime – just like Jervis and party planning)

Bad Ed tells him he doesn’t look good, and that he is exceeding recommended dose. He picks up a pill bottle and starts rhyming off side-effects:

Trembling, cognitive impairment – still, how would you know?

He laughs, and Ed tells him to shut up

Bad Ed says he’s only getting stronger

Ed tells him that he won’t let him take over kill Lee. Bad Ed replies that he probably will.

(An aside - But why? They’ve really never made this clear. The implication before was that he would kill Lee because she was Ed’s last anchor to a sense of his better self. If he takes over completely, then what purpose would killing Lee after this point serve?)

Bad Ed smirks, and tells him the only way to get rid of him is to kill himself

Ed looks momentarily still as he looks at him

Well – I guess you're smarter than me

Bad Ed stares

You wouldn’t

Ed gains back a little power over him as he replies

Oh yeah

(An aside. I’m not sure to which extent I’m supposed to feel this – but I just find all this pretty desperately sad. We’ve seen since the early days that Ed fears BadEd, that he’s bullied and belittled by him. He’s trying as best he can here to maintain some control over his sense of self, and keep safe someone who has become dear to him. He’s constantly tired and agitated, and now unwell due to what seems like overuse/misuse of medication. The brief moment of calm he has at the thought of suicide just broke me.)

Back with Jim and Harvey. Ivy asks if Jim believes in fate – she went looking for Harvey, and he found her instead. Then she realised she could make him deliver Jim too.

Jim tells Harvey that she’s controlling him. Harvey answers.

I kinda like it - sweet surrender

Jim has a brief foray into compassion

You need help Ivy - let me find Selina. She wants to help you.

Ivy brushes this off and leaves. She tosses over her should that she has big plans, and tells Harvey to kill his partner, then shoot himself in the head.

Harvey aims at Jim, telling him not to try and talk his way out of it. Jim tries to distract him

Is Ivy's hair more auburn or scarlet?

Harvey mulls this, and Jim runs. They run about the warehouse, Jim taunting Harvey to get him to use up his bullets. Harvey is sore about Jim stealing his job. Jim says it was never really his and then lists his screw-ups. Harvey shoots repeatedly, angry, and Jim is able to evade him until he’s out of bullets, and knock him out.

Sirens. Bruce is looking for Selina’s help. She tells him he’s an ass and that she’s busy. He should go find Alfred. Bruce looks unsettled. Light dawns

You did, and he wanted nothing to do with you

She advises him to apologise to Alfred – whatever happened, she’s sure it was his fault. She leaves.

At Cherry’s, Lee and Ed sit opposite each other at a small table. Ed gives Lee the information he’s found - according to his spies - Sofia and Jim have been carrying on an affair

So, technically, your ex has been sleeping with your dead husband's mafiosa sister.

Funniest line in the episode – narrowly followed by the speed with which Lee responds

Yeah - ok Ed I get it

She starts to hypothesise

If Sofia’s sleeping with the Captain of GCPD it’s a power play, and one that failed, if I’m her next step. Maybe I should just just give her what she wants - power over Jim.

Ed is startled.

You would do that?

She seems pretty unmoved, and very sincere.

I’m not trying to get back at Jim, though he deserves it. My job is to make sure the people of the Narrows are safe and I will do everything in my power to ensure that.

Ed looks her in the eyes. He’s completely, totally smitten. I’m not exactly sure how CMS does that ten emotions all at once thing with his eyes, but it’s genuinely amazing. Seriously.

She smiles back at him

What?

Lee – I...

He looks away from her

I… I have to leave

He exits, and Lee stares after him.

(An aside - Lee didn’t look entirely oblivious, there – nor did she seem unreceptive. I don’t think the notion of her having feelings for Ed is outside the realms of possibility. If she’s not entertained the idea already, then she’s not outright rejecting it.)

Harvey comes round at the precinct. Jim asks if he can remember anything. Harvey says Ivy was talking about people who get rich by murdering plants. Jim remembers that she seemed to have been trying on ‘fancy clothes and shoes’ at her lair. Don’t hide your light under a bushel with those vague terms, Jim – we all remember those stunning 60s cocktail dresses your subconscious put Barbara in. You should set up a business on the side.

Jim instructs officers to ring around – try to find what fancy event is on that Ivy might be trying to crash. Eventually they figure out – the Wayne Foundation charity event. Jim tells them to assemble a strike force. Before he leaves, Harvey talks to him

Hey Jim. I spent too long putting it all on you. What happened – I’ve only got myself to blame

Not really, Harvey. But anyway.

Jim looks at him and ... still fails to own up. He says he’ll call, and leaves.

At the gala, we briefly see a photograph of Bruce’s parents. Are we ever going to hear more about Martha? Thomas is mentioned frequently, but they barely discuss Martha.

Still in his black polo neck of angst, Bruce takes to the stage. The lettering spelling out ‘Wayne Foundation’ is awful. It’s all uneven. And I don’t really think much of the ambience of the room, either. They should have hired Jervis on some day release from Arkham to arrange this. Woeful.

We see Alfred enter the room, as does Bruce, which makes him stumble over his speech. He changes what’s on the cards. He says his parents spent their lives helping people. He was proud of them and wanted them to be proud of him. He saw them murdered, but survived because someone in his life kept him going. He was everything to him: teacher, protector, and father. He hopes he can see that, and give him another chance.

Vaguely shocked applause

Bruce walks to Alfred. Alfred thanks him, and says that meant a great deal. But he then annoyingly and confusingly tells him that he can’t tell him, not until he accepts who he really is. Oh no – here it comes – ‘darkness’ chat again. Bruce needs to embrace that, apparently – but not really, because his heart and compassion are his strengths. He needs to accept altruism and darkness but it’s something he must do on his own. This is terribly confusing, Alfred. Go buy a parenting book from Amazon or something. Jeezy Creezy. No wonder Bruce ends up dressing like a giant bat.

Bruce looks let down and angry

I was stupid for reaching out

He walks away. And who can blame him?

Ivy now takes to the stage

That was quite a speech. I’m Ivy Pepper.

Panicked murmuring ensues. At least if Jervis had arranged this, you’d probably have had some really lovely hors d’oeuvres by now. And probably special folded napkins.

Ivy tells them to stay seated and her thugs chain the doors. Alfred runs.

Some empty space somewhere in Cherry’s. BadEd is ranting and enraged. We see Ed standing at a staircase with a noose in his hand

BadEd tells him he can’t do this – but Ed tells him it was his idea. BadEd tries to play for time

Ok fine - you win - you beat me. Is that what you want to hear?

Ed tiredly tells him that’s very nice, but he still has to do this.

BadEd is desperate.

Wait – there’s a way to do this where nobody gets hurt!

Ed flatly says he doesn't believe him. But BadEd insists – there’s a way to save Lee without killing himself.

Or us

I'm listening.

Back at the function - Ivy comments on the beautiful crimson flowers and tells a man he’s handsome before murdering him.

Bruce is walking away from the room as Jim runs towards it with his strike force. He asks Bruce if Ivy is in there. Bruce doesn’t think so – but the they hear ruckus, and Jim advances

There’s weeping and panic, and we see the man’s corpse flowering. Ivy looks blissed out by this, and says she’s going to turn this room into a gorgeous garden. Alfred tries to attack – but is knocked out. Ivy looks down at him

A volunteer

The strike force bursts the door open and Jim tells the thugs to drop their guns

Ivy strolls away, telling her men to kill everyone.

(An aside - What is Ivy wearing? Ivy – you are not Blanche Devereaux, and you do not have whatever it is that is required to convincingly wear sequinned palazzo pants.)

Bruce looks in at the chaos. Stealing a mask, he saves Alfred, who was about to be killed. He tells him that he’s getting him out of here. Alfred stops him though – telling him people need his help, and this is who he is. Bruce looks at him, masks himself again, and runs off.

(An aside. I kind of feel this is the problem with rushing the Batman thing along too fast. Bruce still really reads as a child. He’s tall. He has a deep voice. But he’s not an adult yet. We’ve just seen him indulging in a specifically teenage style of self-destructiveness. As such, telling him to endanger himself like this just comes off as cruel.)

Somewhere else in the building, Bruce watches from shadows, and then takes out a thug. Jim comes upon this. He yells at Bruce to drop it and, like, immediately shoots him. He might as well have yelled drop it afterwards. Wtf? Isn’t there a recognised way to do this where you don’t just immediately shoot the person? He did the same with Krank in the alley.

Bruce is fortunately wearing something bulletproof, gets up, and runs to the roof. No fucking wonder. Even if he did try to explain, Jim might just shoot him again before he can inhale and start talking. Jim chases him to the rooftop, but Bruce is gone.

Ivy’s lair. She removes the police tape that has been thrown over her plants. I’ve accidentally killed both of those specific plants in the past. One of them, a type of Calathea, is called a prayer plant – because it folds its leaves together at night, like hands in prayer. Ivy rifles through the mess and finds what she’s after - a tiny black bag.

Hear the news? Crazy Ivy Pepper attacks Wayne Foundation Dinner

It’s Selina. Ivy tells her it didn't turn out as hoped. Selina affects mock-surprise

What – you didn't get to kill everyone in there? You got out -you always were a survivor

She looks at her hands

What's in the bag?

It’s the little bag of life and death.

Nah – it’s the last of the Lazarus water.

Selina nods

So you can make more plants to kill people? Yeah - ain't gonna happen

Ivy asks if she’s going to stop her. Remind her of the old days. Tell her she’s not this person. Selina tells her they’re past words and uses her whip to trap her wrist and send the bottle hurtling away.

Ivy sneers – Selina Kyle turns out to be the hero. Selina tells her

I'm no hero

They fight. Ivy reminds her that one scratch is all it takes, and no antidote this time. Selina evades her. Ivy tells her she can’t run – but Selina was picking up the bottle. She threatens to drop it. Ivy asks her to stop – tells her she’ll let her leave. Selina mocks her generosity. She drops the bottle and puts her foot on it, not breaking it - yet.

No! How can you side with them - all the people who hurt us? You think they're innocent, they're guilty. Every person in this city – they spew out poison. How are you not choking on it?

Selina says the only thing she’s choking on is Ivy’s insanity. She breaks the bottle. Ivy screams and wraps her hands round Selina’s neck.

You shouldn't have done that. You're going to die.

Selina maintains eye contact but tells her to look down. She has a knife at Ivy’s gut.

Ivy asks her what what happens now. Do they kill each other? Selina tells her that’s an option. Ivy starts to strop a little

You always thought you were better than me

Selina replies

We were friends

Ivy says that was a long time ago, and she’s a different person now. Selina tells her that this isn’t what she wants and drops the knife. It’s a statement of trust - really, that Ivy still has a better nature somewhere, and she hasn’t altogether given up on that. Ivy tightens the grip at her throat, but tells her not to get in her way again, before dropping her hands and leaving. Selina watches her go.

The Narrows, where Sofia is meeting with Lee.

(An aside – wouldn’t she want Butch there? I know he can’t be, to facilitate what comes next, but even a nod to explain away his absence would be nice.)

Sofia sits down, placing her handbag demurely on the table before her. It’s a classic one with a clasp closure.

Lee says she has something more valuable to offer than what Sofia asked for. This turns out to be Jim.

(An aside – Lee is clever, but this is a misstep. You see Sofia’s eyes widen minutely – she doesn’t like the reminder that she might be losing her grip on him)

Lee says she knows about his other crimes. Sofia says she has her own dirt – but Lee tells her that she must need more, or she wouldn’t be threatening her. She smiles, confident, and tells Sofia to take her deal. And now the misstep is way more obvious. Sofia is quietly livid at the notion of someone seeing her slip up in any way. Her face hardens, and she tells Lee she has a better way to bring Jim to heel.

Sofia’s men shoot Lee’s guards. Lee tries to save one, and tells Sofia she’ll never get out of there alive. Sofia sneers

Your people. Who do think planted the guns?

Samson enters, and tells Lee she should have killed him. She really should have. Sofia tells Lee Samson runs the Narrows now, and points out that Lee’s failure to kill him told her everything she needed to know.

She had her men pin Lee down, and place her hand forcibly on the table. She talks out a hammer, and tells her that since she’s family, she’ll only do one hand.

Between covering my eyes and yelling ‘fuck!’ repeatdly, I could see that it was very gory – Sofia slamming the hammer into the back of Lee’s hand, mangling it, as she screamed in pain. When she’s done, she tells them to throw her on the streets and let the Narrows see its queen.

(An aside – I’ve talked about this elsewhere, but I think there’s a specific note of jealousy in Sofia’s actions, as well as her wider business concerns. Lee was loved by Mario and accepted by Carmine. I don’t know how secure Sofia feels of either of those things.)

Jim gets a call telling him about Lee. We get to the hospital and see him gazing through the window at her. A medic approaches and asks if he’s family. Jim looks tired. There’s a long pause before he replies

I'm a cop

The medic tells Jim Lee wouldn’t say who did it. Jim says she didn’t have to.

(An aside. I have to admit – Like Ed, I was surprised earlier that Lee was willing to deliver Jim even more fully into Sofia’s clutches. I assumed there were residual feelings, and they’d wind up back together, but now I’m not really so sure at all. That seems underlined here – as Jim stares at her through glass, and disavows any type of bond to her. I wonder if they have gone past the point of no return? Especially if Sofia enlightens Jim to the fact that Lee was willing to sell him out. Not that Jim doesn’t need to feel the salutary sting of what it would feel like to be betrayed - hopefully it might teach him something – but it might be a nail in the coffin)

Arkham. A frazzled-looking Ed sits at a desk. He’s signing himself in. The chief medic asks if he’s sure. Ed just looks tiredly at him

You do know who I am, don't you?

The man tells him to read and sign. As he does, Ed tells BadEd

I hate that you were right, but it will keep her safe

BadEd repeats his two eyes riddle, as we see Oswald approach the room.

(An aside – Uh, how? Does Oswald just get to wander with impunity? Did Jerome grant him his special charisma access? He didn’t seem entirely trusting of him that we last saw. If he did, does that access extend to stuff like this guy’s office? Surely pretty easy to escape if he has that, no? Oswald’s clever. Or at least – only when the narrative doesn’t need him to be stupid)

Ed is sick of this riddle, and tells him

Who cares?

You should

Oswald enters the room, accompanied by his villainous jangly music. He’s jubilant and faintly hysterical.

I knew you'd come

Ed is confused. But Oswald says he’s not talking to Ed,

I’m talking to him. I’m talking to him. He laughs. He read my letter.

Bad Ed waves the letter in front of Ed’s face.

Read the first word of each sentence

‘Please bring Ed to Arkham so I can set you free’

Ed looks desperate - cornered. BadEd repeats

What has two eyes but can't see?

Ed panics

No! I came here to save lee

Oswald laughs again – bordering on hysteria.

He read my letter

No – I am Edward Nygma. Lee believes in me and sees me for what I am.

Oswald lunges at his throat and grabs his collar.

But I see him! Lee Thompkins made Ed strong, but I see the other you. The one whose name I wouldn't speak. But because you have earned it and I need your help….

(An aside. This is a frightful guddle. Oswald never thought that ‘Riddler’ was a separate persona. He thought it was an absurd posey name Ed had adopted. The whole point of the grand Oswald/Ed friendship was apparently that Oswald saw BadEd and still thought that was fine and dandy. But now…..Oswald didn’t see that? Or the Riddler isn’t the combined Good and Bad Ed at all? I understand that Ed’s personality is complex – but it’s important to maintain some kind of consistency in who he is and how people perceive him – otherwise you just end up with a gungey mess like this)

Ed is frantic and begging

No - please

I need you, Riddler

Ed grabs his throat and face

Oswald waits, wide-eyed.

Poor Ed. We see several expressions chase each other across his face.

He puts the pen down

Shall we get to work?

Oswald laughs

Ed laughs

(An aside - Hmmm. It’s testament to CMS that a scene with so many wild inconsistencies plays so well. Ed realises he’s been trapped – but it’s too late. Or is it? It’s further testament to him that I think there’s some ambiguity at the end as to the precise nature of the amalgam that’s been created. It didn’t feel as instant or clean as it might.

This scene is also fairly clearly intended as an echo of Ivy and Selina’s stand-off, right down to the hands on the throat, and the appeals to the sense of history and friendship. The difference here is that while Selina genuinely wanted to help Ivy, and while Ivy showed Selina mercy – this is not the case with Ed and Oswald. Oswald shows Ed no mercy – despite his begging and pleading. Unlike Selina, Oswald wants to exacerbate his old friend’s insanity to get what he wants. I suppose you could say that Oswald owes Ed nothing, not after what he did to him – and, indeed, he doesn’t.

Still, it all seems rather ugly and selfish and sad, somehow.)

The kitchen at Wayne Manor. Alfred asks Bruce how he made it off the roof. Bruce tells him the fire escape. He then asks why he ran from Jim. Because Jim has a fucking twitchy trigger finger, Alfred, that’s why.

Bruce says he doesn’t know. He says he wants to help people, and if that means accepting every part of himself, he will - it’s what his parents would have wanted

Would they fuck, Bruce. Your parents would not want this weird psychological assault course Alfred has you attempting.

Alfred tells him his parents would have been proud of him – that he’s proud. He rises. Bruce offers him a lift back to Gotham, but Alfred tells him he’s home.

At GCPD, Harvey looks out over the desks. Jim approaches. Harvey congratulates him – he saved the day. That’s why he’s captain and Harvey’s a 50-year-old screw-up pouring shots.

Jim grimaces.

There’s a reason all right – but not what you think. I screwed up bad, and I need your help to make it right. Sofia hired Pyg - and I knew. I knew and I covered it up.

He’s teared up a little, but now he straightens up

And now I'm going to take her down

Harvey just looks at him. I’m not so sure I saw forgiveness there, if I’m honest.

(An aside – Jim’s big moment here is undermined by how quickly he leaps to the notion of taking Sofia down. It reads less like penance and making amends, and more like shifting the blame to the ‘real’ villain. But Sofia was only ever in town because Jim went to Carmine in the first place. I still don’t feel like he’s taking full responsibility for his actions.)

General Observations

Jim is making sort of vague movements towards making amends in confessing to Harvey – but it’s really not massively convincing. Harvey pointed out, last week, that Jim’s desire to confess is more down to Jim’s need to confess – rather than a genuine desire to make amends. He’s on a mission to take Sofia down, now – but, as I said, I still don’t think he’s anywhere near redemption.

Not a lot of Oswald, this week. I note that – Oswald’s desperation to leave Arkham aside, and that was there anyway – there’s not really one real repercussion of that prolonged and unpleasant storyline with Jerome here. Not one. You’d almost think it was unnecessary.

Aside from that, never mind what version of Ed we had - which version of Oswald was this? I can buy that Oswald is desperate enough to escape that he’s temporarily willing to be completely pragmatic – putting small matters like, say, digging up his father’s corpse to one side. But there are other logistical problems. Previously, Oswald thought that the whole notion of The Riddler was Ed being a poseur – but now he totally gets that the Riddler is the source of Ed’s villainous genius? And given how thoroughly dreadful Ed was on his last visit, why exactly would he think that any aspect of Ed’s dark side was being repressed? On top of that, let’s hope he’s got a back-up plan for when he gets out, because if he should have learned anything, it’s that Ed has a sadistic streak, and would betray him for laughs – or even just to make the point that Oswald does not get to summon him to Arkham to do his bidding.

As for Ed, his story just made me… sad, if I’m honest. He’s not my favourite character, but watching him desperately trying to hit on a combination of pills that will keep Lee safe and buy him some peace, watching him willing to kill himself to do the same, to escape the incessant harassment of a version of himself that he fears – it was genuinely sad. Ed’s ill, and he knows he’s ill.

We’ve seen a few points, over the years, where Ed has tried to get help. He tentatively told Kristen, on their first date, that he heard voices in his head – but she misunderstood him. He seemed to be improving in Arkham, to the point that he had apologised to Oswald for turning him away, but was still plainly ill – and looked bleakly at the doctor who told him he was sane. We see him struggle, here, to maintain control over his compulsions. But nevertheless, here he is again. Ed’s been not waving, but drowning, for a very long time.

I was honestly surprised, as I said, to see Lee willing to sell Jim’s secrets – but I guess it’s a sign of how far her story has moved on. She’s clever, and engaged ably with Sofia, but – at the moment, does not possess the ruthlessness to take her down, as Sofia herself pointed out. From spoilers, it sounds like she is going to cross that line soon. In crossing that line, there might also be common ground created with Ed (whatever version of him we have now), and as discussed above, I don’t think she seemed entirely closed off to the notion of him as a romantic option.

Selina and Ivy’s scene was one of the strongest – harking back to their shared past. Ivy is much improved now they’ve moved away from femme fatale and just made her indiscriminately lethal. A reassertion of Selina’s character was likewise welcome after getting lost in the boring catsuitted vortex of the Sirens’ storyline. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when they next encounter each other.

I’m not wildly engaged by Bruce right now. Sorry. I feel sorry for him – but the reasoning behind Alfred’s behaviour is absent.

Thoughts?

#gotham commentary #gotham s4e13 #reunion

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thequeenxofhearts · 7 years

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Patrol Night

This is probably one of the cheesiest fanfics I’ve ever written :p

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12703213/1/Patrol-Night

It had been 4 months since Batgirl was last on patrol and tonight was her first night back patrolling Gotham city.

Just over 4 months ago, Barbara stepped on a piece of glass and had to have stitches to repair the damage to her foot, therefore she could not patrol.

Tonight, was supposed to be Batman’s patrol night, but Batgirl begged him to let her do it and he finally agreed. He said it works out for the both of them because he needs to work on training Tim and Damian.

Batgirl had trained with Batman for a few weeks and she was finally ready to get back into the city. Red Hood offered to come with her, but she insisted on going by herself. She knew Batman would be watching her and he’d send someone to help if she needed it.

Standing on the rooftop of the tallest building in Gotham City, she looked down at the city, it was a warm, clear night. There were no flashing police lights in the distance, no sound of gunfire or a fight breaking out, it was peaceful. She made her way down to the museum, nothing suspicious, she wandered through dark alleys, nothing but a black cat looking for a mouse.

The jewellers and the bank were locked up tight and nobody was out. It seemed Gotham was going easy on her tonight.

She sat on top of the bridge and looked at the city, no cars were coming in, no cars were coming out, and she was the only person on the bridge.

Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, the Joker and the Mad Hatter were all locked in Arkham, probably planning their escape, but until that happened, Batgirl enjoyed the quiet city without them.

The moon shone over the city. “Hello Batgirl.” She recognised his voice. “Hello Nightwing.”

“What are you doing up here? Did Batman send you to spy on me?” She asked. “No, I just got back from Blüdhaven and I heard you were on patrol, so I thought I’d come find you.” He replied. “Oh, what were you doing in Blüdhaven?” She asked. “The Blüdhaven police department asked for Batman to go over because they thought Two-Face was wandering around their city. So, I went over, and it turned out to be just a random guy on his way to a costume party.” He replied, slightly amused.

“Who dresses up as a crime boss for a costume party?” Batgirl asked. “The people of Blüdhaven.” Nightwing joked.

“What are you doing tonight?” Batgirl asked. “I was going to go home, order a pizza and watch a movie.” He said. “Why?”

“Do you want to sit with me?” She asked. “Sure.” He said and sat next to her, looking at the city. “It’s really quiet tonight.” She said, he chuckled, “That’s probably why Batman let you patrol tonight.” He replied. “No, I begged him, and he let me, plus he said he had to train Tim and Damian.” She said. Nightwing laughted. “You really think Tim and Damian need training?”

“Damn it.” She muttered, lying down on the bridge. “I was going to ask you how your foot is, but I think we might have another problem.” He laughed, lying next to her. “Shut up, Dick!” She laughed. “Seriously though, are you alright?” He asked. “I’m fine.” She said. She began laughing. “What?” He asked. “When the Joker shot me, dumped Batgirl and became Oracle, monitoring crime bosses worldwide and helping allies worldwide, but I step on a piece of damn glass and I’m out of action for four months.” She laughed, “But now that I’m back, nobody wants to come out and play.”

Nightwing chuckled. “I missed patrolling with you Batgirl.” He said. “Thanks for the flowers you sent me at the hospital Dick.” She said, “How did you know Japanese lilies were my favourite?” She smiled. “You’re my best friend, it’s my job to know.” He said, she laughed.

“So, what important stuff do you know about me?” He asked. “You only like stuffed crust pizza.” She laughed, he laughed too. “That’s not good enough! Everyone in Gotham knows I only like stuff crust pizza!” They laughed.

“I know you like looking at the stars, Dick.” She said. “Only a few people know that.” He said. “As if you were the only person on the planet?” She asked. “Only Bruce knows that.” He said, honestly.

They looked up at the stars, there was still silence in the city. They enjoyed the peace, until there was a sound that made Nightwing laugh so loudly. “I’m sorry, I’m so hungry.” Batgirl said over Nightwing’s laughter. “I was so excited about patrolling, I forgot to eat.” She said.

“Wanna get a pizza?” He asked. “One last sweep of the city.” She said, getting to her feet. “Batman will be wondering where you’ve gotten to.” Nightwing said as he stood up.

They went to the jewellers, the bank and the museum before they went to the top of the tallest building. “Looks quieter than earlier.” Batgirl said. “I’ll race you back to my place.” She said, jumping off the building. “Hey, you didn’t say go!” He exclaimed, jumping after her.

Firing her grappling hook, she landed gracefully on the ground, Nighwing just behind her. They ran through the city, when they reached her apartment building she climbed quickly and quietly up the fire escape and through her window.

“I beat you again, Dick!” She laughed, panting. He fell onto the wooden floor, “The winner pays for pizza!” He exclaimed.

“What!” She exclaimed. “What about halfsies.” She asked, he nodded. “Man, I’m so hungry.”

“What are you doing, father?” Damian asked as he entered Bruce’s bedroom, “Just checking on Batgirl.” Bruce said, putting down a pair of binoculars. “Did everyone stay in their homes, liked you told them to do?” Damian asked. “It looks like it.” Bruce said.

Jason leant against the door frame, “Why don’t you just pay Dick and Barbara to get back with each other Brucie?” He asked. “That’s not what I’m doing Jason.” Bruce said. “Well, of course it is, father.” Damian said.

#Dick Grayson #barbara gordon #batgirl #nightwing #batman #gotham city #MY OTP IS PERFECT #batman fanfiction

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jade-brooks-photography · 5 years

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Photographer Research: Henri Cartier-Bresson

16th September // Week Two

Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French surrealist photographer in the 1930s to the 1970s. Many of his photos where in the lines of "the decisive moment", capturing the photo that could not be retaken but usually had a story behind it. His photos were taken before the digital age, when film Photography was at its peak and therefore made his photos even more spectacular on a sense that using an SLR camera you could not check how the photo turned out, and due to the limited amount of shots on film, it was more ofr less a gamble for the photo to be good, and would need to wait untill he processed it to see how they came out

This is an image of Cartier-Bresson himself, you can see the camera he used and what I like even more it that even his own portrait of himself captures the perfect black and white tone I'm trying to replicate in my own film imaged.

Quotes;

"The Camera Could Be A Machine Gun, Or A Warm Kiss"

"There Is Nothing In This World That Doesn't Have A Decisive Moment"

"For Me, The Camera Is A Sketch Book, An Instrument Of Intuition And Spontaneity"

Analysis:

This is one of his images I've analysed myself, Cartier-Bresson had a specific way he liked his photos to have symmetry and even geometry views. Everything having a correct place and thinking about that positive and negative spacing and when I see this image, it could not have been taken at a more perfect time as you can see he captured the bike perfectly between the railing and the wall. The contrast in this image also amazes me, you can see how the man on the bike is almost like a shadow which gives a sort of mood to the image itself and how he captured the motion blur, seeing the movement in the image, you can imagine him moving.

Coco Chanel 1964

This series of images taken by Cartier- Bresson in 1964 of Coco Chanel are some of my favourite pictures by him. What i like is that he captured the moment in a portrait form, both her smiling and laughing and capturing that beauty. While in this shoot, Chanel said to Bresson “i don't want you to get my wrinkles”- in response to this, Breton said a hard to hear quote (in my opinion) he said “At A Certain Age You Get The Face You Deserve, I Think”- and for portraits i think this is very important that people hear this because it is your face, its your story and at a certain age it does show your life, every scar, every line, every crease. These images have a very neutral contrast, the blacks and the whites really compliment each other, and it’s using indoor natural living lighting, with a slight hint of natural lighting from the window, inviting all sorts of shadows and them shadows complimenting her and brining out every detail and every texture.

I also love the placement of her in these images, she's in centre frame but more to the bottom of the photo, leading a lot of negative space around and above her. You can see he's used a short depth of field to get her in absolute focus, and her background is a blur and hazed out to get your full attention on her. I also like that he didn't just take one photo of her, he did multiple shots of her to capture each emotion like Bruce Gilden (another photographer who captures emotion). Breton also said “Take Loads Of Photos, Don't Get To Attached”- what I liked about this quote was that i need to apply it to my own photography, i tend to get too attached to one image and ill only used that image, but in reality , i need to be taking multiple images of the same subject incase one goes wrong.

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rxttenheart-archived-blog · 8 years

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THE JOKER X HARLEY QUINN - DANCING WITH THE DEVIL PART ONE.

TITLE - Dancing with the Devil [AO3] [FF] AUTHOR - @rxttenheart & @boredclonwnprinceofcrime PAIRINGS - Harleen Quinzel / The Joker & Harley Quinn / The Joker STORY GENRE - Romance, Drama, Erotica, Angst STORY SUMMARY - Doctor Harleen Quinzel thought her life was complete. A good job, a good partner, a good home. But her life was thrown apart and shattered when she finally got the patient she had been waiting for - the Joker. STORY RATING - Explicit WARNINGS/TRIGGERS/AUTHOR’S NOTES - Major character deaths, swearing, sexual content, violence. CHAPTER/ONE SHOT - 1. The Entertainment Arrives CHAPTER SUMMARY - A benefit for the GCPD is gate-crashed by our favourite criminal of Gotham, where a certain doctor just happens to be attending. WARNINGS - swearing, violence.

Guy Kopski smiled as he watched his partner of three years, Harleen Quinzel, talk with her brother, Tyler. She was attempting to get ready and was in the process of painting her face whilst she complained about the benefit they would be attending. It was a masquerade ball to celebrate Commissioner Loeb’s many years of service and Harleen hated that she had to go to represent Arkham Asylum. He was happy to attend these events with Harleen because he knew that without him, she normally said something that would get her into trouble at work.

“ Though because it’s a masquerade ball, no one will know it is me which means I can avoid all the board members of Arkham and their pointless questions that only Jeremiah Arkham would know. ” Harleen complained as she finished painting her face and started on her eye makeup. Her brother groaned. By the sounds of it, Harleen had been sat complaining about tonight for a good while completely forgetting about the time zone difference between her and her brother. Guy ran a hand through his hair and leaned against the wall.

“ Harleen, do you have any idea what time it is here in England? I know you haven’t lived in your home country since you were seventeen but come on. You can complain to me tomorrow about all the boring Americans... Although you live in Gotham City, blondie! I doubt your night will be boring. ” Tyler pointed out. Harleen rolled her eyes at her brother, shaking her head. Her light blonde hair was tied up in a messy bun to keep it out of her face.

“ It’s a benefit for a police commissioner, Ty! The place will be crawling with cops! Gotham may be filled with crazy people but no one is that crazy. ” Harleen reminded him, putting the finishing touches on her makeup. Guy smiled, he was an extremely lucky man to have someone like Harleen in his life. Beautiful, smart and witty in a different way that only a few people understand. She was a brilliant doctor despite the fact that she is more focused on writing a book on the criminals of Gotham. Deep down, he knew that she all she wanted to do is to help the people she writes about.

“ You have a guy called the Mad Hatter and someone dresses like a Bat to fight them. But you're the doctor of psychology not me. I'll talk to you tomorrow and you can complain about tonight all you want. Love you, blondie. ”

“ Love you too, Ty. Give my love to Annie, ” Harleen said, hanging up on her brother. She smiled at Guy in the mirror, “ you need to start getting ready or we will be late. ” She pulled her hair out of the band and it fell free past her shoulders in loose curls. Guy knew talking to her brother always made Harleen a mixture of emotions. She was close to her brother despite them living in two different countries and speaking to him always made her feel homesick. Harleen had moved to Gotham with her family when she was seventeen. When she was eighteen, her father had died in a car accident. Harleen had stayed in Gotham due to her scholarship to Gotham University but her brother and her mother had gone back to England.

“ Come here. ” He smiled. Harleen turned and walked over to him. She looked different with her face painted white, her eyes framed with black and her lips painted black as well. She looked mysterious and deadly. He wrapped his arms around her, his left hand on the black corset she was wearing and his right on her back between her shoulder blades. He held her close, breathing in her perfume and stroking her soft skin.

“ What? ” She asked, biting her lip teasingly. He knew by now that kissing her just after she had done her makeup always resulted in smudged lipstick and late attendance.

“ I just wanted to tell you that you look beautiful. Tonight will be fun, we will have lots of alcohol and just enjoy ourselves. Now let me help get you in your dress. ”

“ Remember to blend in, no one can know we are there till I find the exact moment to strike. ” The Joker explained to his men as they sat in the back of the van. All of them were dressed in tuxedos and suits with masks at the ready. He had been planning this for months, the exact moment to get rid of Commissioner Loeb. He was sick of having to abide by the Commissioner’s guidelines. The Commissioner and the GCPD needed to understand that this city was his and not theirs. The van stopped outside the back entrance of the Wayne Enterprises building where the benefit was being held. Most of his men were dressed like the cater waiters and would make sure that nothing happened to him. The Joker placed the wig on top of his head to cover his hair and placed the mask over his face. No one would know he was there until he wanted them to.

“ Let's go have some fun. ”

Harleen had been here for nearly two hours and was bored out of her mind. The room was packed with masked men and women getting drunk and enjoying themselves. Masks gave everyone a sense of anonymity which allowed a lot of people to act like morons. She could recognise some of the staff from the asylum even under their masks. She could spot Commissioner Loeb who seemed to be loving all the attention from the benefit for the GCPD. Despite the fact that he was probably one of the most hated men in Gotham that wasn't constantly fighting the Batman, she knew the rumours that he often took bribes from the criminals of Gotham to overlook their activities or let them off from their crimes. The only person not wearing a mask was Bruce Wayne and didn’t seem to mind that everyone could see who he was. Bruce Wayne was a tall and well built man, with dark hair and dark blue eyes. He was always friendly to her whenever they met. She really liked his butler, Alfred who was also from England and often would come round to the Wayne Manor for tea with him whenever she felt homesick or had a bad day. I should go round soon, it’s been a while. Harleen looked up at Guy, grateful that he was here by her side. Guy was a tall and muscled man with tanned skin, dark hair and grey eyes that look like the sky during a thunderstorm. He was doing his residency for his MD at Gotham General Hospital in the children’s cancer ward. She met Guy Kopski when she was already in her first year of medical school and had helped him decide which area of medicine he should study. Harleen was glad to have someone like Guy in her life, someone normal and stable. He gave her life the slice of normality she needed within the chaos of being a doctor at Arkham Asylum. He looked handsome in a simple black suit with a red tie and a black and red mask covering his eyes to match her dress.

“ I would recognise that blonde hair any day. ” Thomas Elliott's voice sounded behind her. Harleen smiled and turned to hug her friend. Doctor Elliot was a renowned surgeon and worked with Guy at the hospital. He was a couple of inches taller than Guy but they were a similar build, he had red hair and bright blue eyes, a tanned complexion and was an extremely friendly man even if he did have a bit of temper. He was wearing a black tuxedo with a white mask.

“ Thomas! I’m so glad you’re here. ” Harleen smiled up at him. He let her go and shook hands with Guy.

“ Couldn’t miss this a chance to see the two of you outside the hospital. But you, my dear, look bored. Mind if I steal her for a dance? ” Thomas asked. Guy was not much of a dancer and never had an issue with her dancing with others at these things.

“ Not at all. I think I spotted a few of the doctors from the hospital. Don't wear her out and keep your hands to yourself, Tom! ” Guy joked as he walked away. Thomas led her to the dance floor, the classic music getting louder and he started to waltz with her slowly. His hand on the small of her back and he held her hand softly. His touch was familiar and friendly. He smiled at her as they danced.

“ How is work? ” Thomas asked. Harleen laughed softly, shaking her head.

“ Why does everyone want to know about work? ” She asked. Everywhere she went at the moment since Jonathan Crane, her mentor, tried to poison Gotham with a fear toxin. It was due to his recommendation that she had her job at Arkham Asylum but everyone wanted to know what Crane had really been like. She had no idea how many times she had spoken to several GCPD officers about him. Crane may have been her mentor but she had always got the sense that he wished to be something more. Now he was a patient at the Asylum, the only patient of Doctor Arkham who took it upon himself to try and make his friend sane again.

“ Because you’re the new exciting doctor that was the student of Doctor Crane before he went Scarecrow. But I guess that’s all everyone wants to talk about. ”

“ You think? I can’t remember the last time I was asked a question that wasn’t about the asylum or Crane. I just- ”

“ Want to work in peace. I understand. How are you though? ” Thomas asked. Harleen sighed.

“ I’m bored, Thomas. Guy is barely at home at the moment. Doctor Arkham won’t trust me a patient of my own. I have probably had a session with every single patient in that asylum. Only a handful of them have I had more than once. It just makes me restless. I want excitement, I want to something to make my life feel like it has meaning. Get what I mean? ” Thomas nodded.

“ You should have become a surgeon. Plenty of excitement there, ” Thomas joked. Harleen laughed as the music stopped, “ you still dance beautifully. I’m sure that will be the first of many. ”

“ As long as I can have the next dance? ” A new voice sounded beside them, it was soft, sexy and made her want to smile. There was something so familiar about his voice but she couldn't place it. Harleen looked up at the owner of the voice. He was tall and slim, wearing a black tuxedo with a white shirt, bow tie and white gloves. His mask was a full faced one that looked a skull with little black cracks along it with golden swirls around to emphasis his eyes and jawline. He had painted the skin around his eyes white to blend it. He had beautiful green eyes that she just couldn’t look away from, it was like he was staring into her soul.

“ As long as the lady doesn’t mind, I don’t. ” Thomas said just as the music started up again. This time the musicians were playing something a little darker and a little sexier. A song that she shouldn’t be dancing with a stranger.

“ Of course not. ” Harleen smiled at him. Thomas nodded, walking away despite the anxious look she could see in his eyes. This was not the first time a stranger had asked her to dance at a benefit but there was something about this man that was dark, mysterious, dangerous and sexy. Harleen felt his hand on her waist and he gripped her hand tight. As he pulled her in closer, his hand slid from her waist to the small of her back. His eyes never left hers as he started to dance with her along to the song. He was talented at dancing, he knew exactly how to lead her and even put a few spins and dips in their dance.

“ We’ve never met, have we? ” Harleen asked. She felt his laughter more than heard it.

“ No, I don't believe we have. I think I would remember those eyes and that smile. ” Harleen looked away, biting on her lower lip softly.

“ What's your name then? ” Harleen asked, wanting to know if she actually knew the man under that mask.

“ Tell me yours. ” He demanded.

“ Why do you want to know my name? ”

“ Same reason you want to know mine, ” he leaned in and whispered in her ear, “ intrigue. ” She laughed softly.

“ I'm Harleen, ” she smiled, “ and yours? ” This time he laughed.

“ If you make a deal with the devil- ”

“ The devil? And what makes you the devil? Aside from the narcissistic personality and the voice that sounds like you could charm the coldest of hearts. ” Harleen interrupted him. His voice made her want to melt and listen to anything he had to say, despite the voice in her head that told her to stop and walk away. But there was something about him that pulled her in. There was something that Harleen hadn’t felt between herself and someone else that wasn’t Guy in years - sexual tension. She had no idea if he could sense the tension between the two of them. But she found herself longing for him to keep talking and dancing with her.

“ Ooooh so academic. ” He teased. “ Well yes, I am a doctor. ” She admitted.

“ Oh really? At Gotham General? I did wonder how you knew old Tommy boy. ” I wish I could see who was under that mask because if he knows Thomas, then I must have met him at some point. “ I met Thomas at med school, but I’m not a doctor at Gotham General. ” She said, shaking her head.

“ So where are you a doctor? ” He asked. Harleen sighed.

“ Arkham. ”

“ How delightful? I know Arkham well. ” Harleen frowned slightly. Do I know you?

“ How? ” She asked. He laughed softly in her ear, it was mocking and dark, sending shivers down her spine. But it was so familiar and she recongised it but she couldn’t place it.

“ If I told you that, Harleen, ” he stopped dancing as the song ended, leaning in and whispered in her ear, “ I would have to kill you. ” Harleen looked up at him and laughed softly.

“ You’re funny. I just wish I knew who you were. ”

“ You already do. Save me a dance for later, Doctor Harleen. ” He bowed her head to him and walked away. Harleen bit down on her lower lip. She walked back to the edge of the dance floor where Guy and Thomas was waiting for her. She couldn’t tell whether Guy was frowning at her due to his mask but the fact his jawline was tensed, she knew he was not happy.

“ Who was that? ” Guy asked, his tone short and she knew he was irritated. Harleen looked back into the crowd, trying to spot him amongst the masked faces.

“ I don’t know. ” But I wish I did.

As the Joker walked away from his dance with the intoxicating Doctor Harleen, he tried to focus on the real task at hand. But the pretty blue eyed doctor kept pushing her way into his mind. It had been the black and red dress similar to a Harlequin design that hugged her figure with a slit up the left side that caught his attention. Her light blonde hair had been left free flowing and she had worn long gloves over her elbows with her dress. The white face paint had showed off her defined cheekbones and jawline, her full lips had been painted black and a black mask had framed her eyes. Her large blue eyes had been so inviting to him, showing him all kinds of things she was capable of. There is a monster inside of her wanting to come out. She can spot the darkness in others because she is capable of so much yourself. He shook his head as he walked up to one of his men who was in a full faced white mask like all the waiters and bartenders were. He couldn’t tell which one of them was under the mask but he knew the moment he said the word, the fun would begin.

“ I think it is about time the real entertainment arrived. ” The Joker ordered. He looked around the room and saw all his men pull out the weapons they had brought with them. They fired shots into the air and he removed his mask and the wig, dropping the wig and leaving the mask on the table. People started screaming and running the moment the shots were fired.

“ Everybody calm down! ” He shouted, people stopped screaming and running, clearing a way in the middle of the room for him and his men to enter. All the different masked people made it difficult to spot anyone of interest, he could not spot the real man he came to see as he walked into the centre of the room. However, the alluring Doctor Harleen was watching the events with her large blue eyes and a look of surprise and deep interest. A man that must only be the doctor’s partner was holding onto her like he was scared that she would run up to him. Stop clinging onto her like that, she doesn’t belong to you, pathetic.

“ Where is Commissioner Loeb? Hand him over and no one else needs to get hurt. ” Silence fell after his order. People looking at each other, trying to figure out what they should do. The Joker smiled, the silence before the chaos was one of his favourite things. Someone moved through the crowd and stepped into the space, removing their mask. The Joker smiled as Commissioner Loeb approached him. Time is over with your games, Loeb. I know you’re having me followed and I am sick of trying to move under your gaze.

“ What do you want, Joker? ” Loeb asked. Though his voice was strong, the Joker could see the fear in his eyes and on his face. He was scared that the Joker would reveal his own criminal activities. But what he had planned was so much worse. The GCPD officers were a lot easier to spot now with their masks removed, they looked tense and ready for fight. You would be stupid to start a fight here, I have more men and none of mine are in tuxedos.

“ I just want to talk. I know normally, I do not get involved with politics and other people’s crimes but yours are starting to get into my way- ”

“ I do not know what you’re talking! ” Loeb interrupted, the Joker laughed. His laughter bouncing off the walls and echoed in the hall.

“ You need to stop lying to everyone. Remember last week when one of my men paid you off to look the other way when my men raided the Gotham City Bank? Or last month, when you ‘misplaced’ the security footage from the GCPD when I managed to ‘escape’. We would be here for hours if I listed all your criminal activities, ” he placed a hand on Loeb’s shoulder, his other hand had a knife in it and he pressed it against Loeb’s face, “ I just want you out of my wa- ”

“ BOSS! THE BAT! ” The Joker span to face Batman and smiled.

“ Sorry Bats, you’re too late. ” He waved his hand at him, showing him and the room the hand buzzer. Loeb fell to the ground, his mouth stretched into a smile as he laughed and his eyes bulging. The room had erupted into chaos, the Joker’s men fighting the Bat and several of the police officers that had removed their masks in order to be able to fight his men. He spotted Lieutenant James Gordon and Detective Harvey Bullock, the two lead officers on most of his crimes. Other guests were running and screaming trying to figure a way out of the room before they got caught in the cross fires. One of his men handed him a gun as he waited for the Bat to come and fight him. He enjoyed these moments, the chaos that ensued from something he had planned and he lived for it. By killing Commissioner Loeb, he had opened the door for a new Gotham and he hoped that this one would be so much more entertaining. He turned, throwing his head back and laughing at the beautiful mess he had designed. He stopped spinning and looked up to see Bats standing in front of him. He opened his mouth to say something but the Bat grabbed him and punched him in the stomach.

“ You’re so full of surprises, it’s like you let me kill Commissioner Loeb. You knew that he was just as crooked as all of us. ” The Joker laughed, trying to aim the gun at the Bat. The Bat grabbed his wrist, twisting it so the gun fell out his grip. Batman kneed the Joker in the stomach, winding him and he fell down to the ground. He looked around the room, most of the people had left the room apart from the few officers that were arresting his men. He didn’t see the point of continuing the fight that he clearly wasn’t going to win. If he hadn’t gotten distracted by the doctor, he could have been gone several hours before.

“ You will pay for murdering him, Joker, but for now, you are going back to Arkham where you belong. ” The Bat informed him, as he grabbed his arms and handcuffed him. Bats pulled him up off his knees and he looked around the room. He noticed that his mask had gone from the table. He smiled, licking his lips. Now this is going to be so much fun.

#♥♦ dancing with the devil ( MY FANFIC ) ♦♥#( dancing with the devil )#( figured i may as well put it on here )#( the joker )#( harleen quinzel )#( harley quinn )#( the joker x harleen quinzel )#( the joker x harley quinn )#( joker fanfic )#( harley quinn fanfic )#( ao3 link )#( ao3 fic )#( ff link )#( ff fic )#( dc )#( dc fanfiction )

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