#why would he continue to fight tooth and nail to have a place in Gotham as a vigilante

[jasontoddenthusiastt]

The compelling thing about Jason as a character is that I never doubted that he cared about the world just because there weren’t panels of him being overly zealous about “restorative community care”

I’m not coming after anyone who wants to see that kind of stuff, but I do think seeking | that | as confirmation that Jason cares about the world is pretty narrow

[peterxwade24]

Safety Found in Red Sleeves

Chapter 7

So, who’s ready for Gotham ft. Thana and friends? Also, Uncles Ed and John show up at the end so, look out for that.

Anyways...

Jason woke up early that next day, and he decided he was just going to have a little bit of a lie in. He smiled and pulled Damian closer, shushing him when he made a noise in protest. “I’m pretty sure the girls are going to join us in a little bit, and then Tim a little while after that.”

Just like he expected, Steph and Cass joined them in the bed not too long after he said it, and then Tim joined in a few minutes after the girls. The five of them laid in bed, everyone finding comfort in each other. No words were passed between the family, they didn’t feel the need to speak.

That’s where Dick and Wally, and their kids, found them about an hour later.

“Why weren’t we called to join the cuddle pile?” Dick pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, while Mar’i, Jay, and Iris ducked around their fathers and climbed into the bed. They, like Damian, chose a Wayne and clung to them. Mar’i clung to Tim, Iris clung to Steph and Jai clung to Cass.

“There’s a nine-year-old practically asleep on my chest. My phone is on my nightstand. None of them brought their phones to my bed.” Jason whispered and carded his fingers through Damian’s hair.

Dick shot a look at Wally, Wally simply shrugged as though to say “when in Rome” before he too got into the bed.

“C’mon Dickiebird. We don’t have anything to do today. We don’t start guiding or protecting them till tomorrow.” Jason’s words were slightly slurred in his comfortable state.

Dick huffed good-naturedly before climbing into the bed with his family and the Wests.

---

Tim’s phone blared from the room he’d claimed, stirring the almost completely asleep cuddle pile into wakefulness.

Jason frowned and shifted Damian from his chest to Steph’s other side. “I’ll be right back. Imma go answer Timber’s phone.” Jason slowly got out of the bed, being careful to not displace the other kids, and quietly left the room. He made his way into Tim’s room, grabbed his phone off of the night stand, and, without looking at the caller ID, answered the phone. “Timothy Jackson Drake’s phone, Jason speaking.”

“Why do you have his phone?” Bruce’s irritated voice came over the line.

“Because Tim’s in my bed asleep with most of my family and he left his phone on the nightstand next to the bed he sleeps in.” Jason’s voice didn’t change despite a grin forming on his face. “If something’s gone wrong at Wayne Enterprises, then shouldn’t you as the CEO be stepping up to solve it? And not your seventeen year old son.”

“You have no-” Bruce growled.

“I have no what? Room to care about my little brother? Right to care that my brothers and sisters would perish in your care?” Jason’s tone took on a deadly edge. “I have killed for less. I have killed to keep my son safe. I am not above maiming in the defense of those I love.” Jason hung up the phone and put it back down on the nightstand with a weighted sigh. He turned and the only indication he was surprised by Cass’s appearance was a slight widening to his eyes. “Hey Cass.”

Cass simply walked towards her brother and let herself slump against his chest. She wrapped her arms around him in her own display of thanks.

Jason simply rubbed circles into the older girl’s back. “I will not let him hurt any of you ever again. Harvey and I will fight tooth and nail if we have to, he has already given up his parental rights to Damian. You and Steph and Tim are just as much my siblings as you are my kids, well, you not so much a kid but you know what I mean.”

Cass shook with silent laughter and nodded. She patted Jason’s back and pulled back. She flashed him a smile before pulling him back to the rest of the family. 

---

Jason smiled as Damian ran around the park with Mar’i, Jai and Iris. Damian hadn’t had many opportunities to open up to children his age, as there hadn’t been any in the league, and despite the fact that he was older than the other three the four of them got along fairly well. Jason watched as Dick fretted over the three younger kids, Wally stood beside him with a small affectionate grin on his face. Tim was riding a skateboard around the park, Bart keeping pace beside him. Cass sat with Kon while Steph, Cassie and Cissie chatted a few paces away from the other two.

Damian, Mar’i, Jai and Iris ran around the park, weaving around other patrons and laughing. Damian looked over his shoulder at the other three when he ran into someone.

“Are you okay? Oh I’m so sorry.” A girl, who was with the person Damian ran into, spoke with a French accent. She was significantly taller than her companion with long black hair, the bangs and tips of which were dyed purple, and copper coloured eyes. She fretted over both Damian and her friend, who Damian was finally taking in. Her friend was short, just a head or two taller than Damian, with blue eyes and short pink hair, part of which was pulled back into a spiky ponytail.

Damian nodded. “I’m fine.”

Mar’i, Jai and Iris, upon seeing Damian standing, turned and ran to get their fathers.

The taller girl nervously flicked her bangs out of her face before frowning. “Are you sure you’re okay? Alix doesn’t always look where she’s skating.”

The other girl, apparently named Alix, looked ready to comment when Dick and Wally approached.

“Are you okay Damian?” Dick’s tone was filled with concern while Wally hung back with the three other kids.

“I’m fine Uncle Dick.” Damian frowned, “where’s Baba?”

“He’s gathering the other three, then they’ll be over here.” Dick reassured his young brother/nephew.

Jason ran to his son and scooped him up. “Oh Kutlat Saghira. Are you okay?” He turned to look at the French teens and smiled. “Thank you for stopping to make sure he was fine.”

Alix’s eyes widened before nodding. “Yeah, uh, no problem.”

Juleka gave a shy smile and nodded. “It was the least we could do.”

-*-*-*

Thana stared at her friends, the three who had always had her back and the two newest additions to their ranks. She took a moment to thank Plagg and Tikki, without whom she may never have met her closest friends and allies. She took in her friends and the way that all of their outfits seemed to go together without being obnoxiously matchy-matchy.

Alix seemed to be vibrating in her shoes, which were custom made turtle shell patterned Heelys. She wore dark gray distressed jeans with a dark forest green racerback tank top. She had a black and red men’s flannel over her tank with a red beanie perched on the top of her head. She had a dark green turtle themed shoulder bag strapped across her back.

Nino, standing next to Alix, had similar shoes done in snake skin instead of turtle shell. He wore loose-fitting blue denim jeans with several snake related patches around the side seems, he had a gray collared shirt under a red sweatshirt. He had a black shoulder bag across his back, on the opposite side Alix’s was. He had his normal headphones around his head while he had a pair of black headphones atop his head.

Adrien wore black and white checkered vans with white socks. His pants were salmon with baby pink criss-crossing stripes covering them. He wore a baby pink sweater with a light gray fanny pack.

Chloé wore a layered yellow skirt with a pair of foxes chasing each other around her hem, her skirt was made up of a solid layer of yellow silk under two or three layers of tulle. She had a white crop top tank under a red knit cardigan. She had an orange coloured baguette purse at her side. She had black converse with black socks to finish off her outfit.

Kim wore a pair of black running shoes, with gray sweatpants and a white shirt. He had a red zippered hoodie on top of that. He had a tiny gray ox with a smaller black cat curled up on its back on the hem of his shirt.

Thana had a pair of black running shoes, with gray leggings and a white tank top. She had a red crop top hoodie made of the hoodie she’d received from Jason all those years ago with a few added panels. Her tank top had little depictions of the Vietnamese zodiac animals on her chest.

Alix smiled brighty. “So, Kiti, you’ll never guess who I ran into, almost literally, yesterday.”

Thana hummed in acknowledgement as she led the group to the elevator. “Who’d you run into Rùa?”

“Oh, just, your brother, his brother, and an assortment of children.” Alix grinned as Thana froze and turned to look at her.

“What?” Thana’s voice was almost too quiet to hear, prompting Kim to drape his arm across her shoulders while Nino settled his normal headphones around Thana’s neck.

Chloé stared at Adrien, her blue eyes seeming to stare into Adrien’s soul.

“Hey, Al, that maybe wasn’t the best thing to say when we’re trying to get to the lobby to go on a tour with the rest of our class.” Adrien attempted to gently tell her off, but it backfired.

“Whatever.” Alix slunk ahead of them into the elevator.

---

Adrien looked at Alix forlornly as Alix chatted with Juleka. He knew he’d have to apologize eventually, he may have one fear as Monsieur Punaise (which was his partner) but he had two fears as Adrien Agreste, and they were disappointing his father and an angry Chloé Bourgeois. He shook his head and looked back at Chloé, who had a frown on her face as her eyes continued to scan the streets.

Nino fiddled with his phone as he kept pace a step behind Chloé but a step ahead of Thana and Kim. He looked to be fully absorbed in his phone but he was quick to pull Chloé away from the street a few moments before a car came whizzing past.

Their tour guide, a pleasant man who’d introduced himself as Richard, despite the fact that the bodyguard had snorted in response before neglecting to introduce himself, led them around Gotham. He pointed out all of the touristy destinations, while Thana mumbled what could be considered sad facts about each place.

Thana kept flicking her eyes to the bodyguard, there was only one Gothamite with the exact same build as their bodyguard with the same scars littering his cheeks and jaw. She was worrying the cuffs of her jacket sleeves when she heard the distinctive tap of her Uncle Ed’s cane. She whipped around to attempt to locate him, before seeing him and his tacky suit and her Uncle John and his equally as tacky suit approaching from behind Kim. She broke away from the group, causing the rest of her class (as well as the tour guide and bodyguard) to turn to stare at her as she threw herself into her Uncle Ed’s arms.

“Little Hood. It’s good to see you.” Her Uncle Ed held her close while Uncle John finally reached the duo.

“Hey Mini Todd.” Her Uncle John ruffled her hair before settling an arm around Ed’s shoulders.

The three reunited for a moment under the watchful eyes of the class’ bodyguard, Thana’s friends, and Marinette’s class. Kim pulled out his phone to take a picture to send to his Mẹ, because she had asked for any updates on Thana’s family situation. Nino took a picture to send to Thana, because he knew she’d want to have photographic evidence of when she reunited with her two of her uncles.

“I missed you two so much.” Thana whispered into Ed’s neck while John settled his hand on the back of Thana’s head.

“We missed you too.” John assured their niece, he knew that she’d had doubts about whether or not they had actually missed her as much as she’d missed them, and he hated her father for giving her that complex every day.

Lila let out a blood-curdling scream before appearing to tremble as she pointed at the trio. “Marinette is hugging The Riddler and Scarecrow!” Lila then proceeded to pretend to faint, luckily for her Alya was right there to catch her, unluckily for her everyone else was focused on their classmate and that fact that she appeared to have tears streaming down her cheeks.

Taglist:

@southamericangothamite @maribat-is-lifeblood @mystery-5-5 @our-preciousss @mochegato @chocolatecatstheron @throneoffirebreathingbitch @2confused-2doanything @wannajointhecrabcult @dreamykitty25 @tomanyfandomsonmymind @moonlightstar64 @justafanwarrior @mialuvscats @pheony1882 @pepelachanel @moongoddesskiana @abrx2002 @ladybug-182 @greatcatblaze @thatonecroc @vixen-uchiha @superbwhispersconnoisseur @lilkymilky @susiej1118  @bluesimani @thatonecroc

[shmowlwrites]

(LATE) NaNoWriMo Day 5

“Daminette exposing Lila”

Bitch yasss

This was fun to do! This baby tops at 949 words and ended up becoming a songfic to the cut Hamilton song, “Congratulations”

Lila exposed, Class salt, Adrien salt

@the-navistar-carol

Bustier had finished class early and everyone was waiting for class to end. Marinette was on her phone, texting someone with a smile on her face. Not that that mattered. No, the attention was on Lila who had squished her way onto Adrien’s side of the bench and was regaling another tale. 

Marinette’s head snapped up at the mention of someone fairly familiar, fairly close to her. She listened for a few seconds before snorting. It caught the attention of the class and suddenly Marinette had the attention of everyone.

“What?” Lila sneered.

“Congratulations,” Marinette snarked, standing and placing her hands on the desk as she leaned over the desk and Lila. 

“What?” Lila scoffed, unsure of how to take it.

“You have invented a new kind of stupid. I can take you lying about knowing popular people to be popular, but I won’t take you lying about people I’m close to,” Marinette raised her chin and looked at Lila through her nose. 

“Excuse me?” Lila snarled.

“Let’s review,” Marinette pushed her way down the stairs and stood before Lila. “I can take you knowing about Jagged because I do.” Marinette paced the front of the classroom, beginning her triad. “I know Jagged Stone because I’m his personal designer. I thought everyone knew he’s had Fang, his crocodile, for as long as you have been alive and not only is he deathly allergic to cats, he hates them with his soul. I can’t take you lying about him writing a song about you because you’re a minor, he could be put in jail over that.

“I can take you lying about Ladybug, because everyone wants to be her friend. But continuing to do so after she ripped you a new one in front of Adrien and becoming Volpina over it is disgusting.” Marinette slammed her hands on the desk in front of Lila, ignoring the confused glances and sneers and Adrien’s warning looks. 

“Now wait a minute-” Alya shoot to her feet, preparing to defend Lila.

A new person cleared their throat in the doorway. Marinette sent a smile towards the boy. Tall, broad shoulders, black hair, green eyes, cleanly dressed. Handsome.

He returned a small smile before his features quickly iced over and his words were even sharper. “No. Lila claims she knows Prince Ali and flew in his private jet… yet, Prince Ali has nothing to do with you. He claims he has only heard your name from a friend of his in text.” The boy held up a phone that had Prince Ali’s twitter page opened on that very tweet answering the question.

“You claim to have diplomat parents, yet your father has never had anything to do with you, and your mother is a secretary at the embassy. You only managed to get here from sheer luck of your mother being transferred,” the boy paced with practiced precision, someone from older money and stiff practices, towards the liar.

“Now, who are you?” Alix popped up from her bench. This fight belonged in the classroom!

“I’m Damian Wayne, here’s my license for proof,” Damian tossed a card in front of Adrien, indeed showing the name Damian Wayne. You could see Lila paling.

“I came across the ocean not for the wolf in sheep’s clothing, but for Marinette. For someone who claims to be close to my family, you sure have quite a few facts wrong.”

Damian only looked at Lila from the corner of his eye while picking his license up from the table. He walked the length of the classroom like a lawyer taking in the entire court, with his hands held behind his back.

“Let’s review. Many may think Grayson is a man-whore, but he is devoted to his wife and family. You can say you were there for Todd’s funeral in Gotham, but have fun spreading that when he was killed and buried in Africa. You can say you helped Drake get where he is today, but he was a recluse and fought tooth and nail for where he is now. 

“You can’t say you’ve known me since we were children. My mother had a short leash and wouldn’t let me around children. I was shipped to my father at ten, I only had one friend until now, and it couldn’t have been you due to the fact he’s a teenage boy who towers over you.”

Damian finally stopped and looked at Lila head on, his words seeming to bite even more as he spoke. 

“So, congratulations. You’ve redefined your legacy. Congratulations, you’ve found your place in the media.”

“How do we know Marinette didn’t put you up to this?” Rose’s voice quivered from her seat. 

Damian tutted and stood behind Marinette, resting his chin on her head while wrapping his arms around her shoulders. His reply was made, and his words were soft before getting more biting. “I know Marinette like I know my own mind, you will never find anyone as trusting or as kind. And a million mistakes ago, she stayed with you. So I stood by.”

Marinette grabbed onto Damian’s arms, glaring at Lila. “Do you know why?” Her eyes flitted back up to the class. “I loved you more than anything in this life,I would have chosen your happiness over mine, every time!” Her knuckles were white with how hard she was clutching Damian’s sleeves.

“So congratulations,” she spat. Dropping her arms, Damian stepped back and Marinette snatched her bag from her seat. She hopped down and took Damian’s hand, the two leaving without a glance back. 

The class was still, in shock. Alya numbly turned her phone on to finally do her job as a reporter.

[darkshadow90]

Arthur Fleck x reader one shot: He’s got you on His Mind

Summary: You are a college student living in Gotham. You also happen to be one of Arthur Fleck’s neighbors. You pass each other on your way to classes, but you don’t talk to each other much. Arthur becomes infatuated with you, and thinks you’re in a relationship with him. Things escalate from there.

A/N: Hey, guys. This is a one shot I’m writing for an anon. They requested a one shot in which Arthur and the reader are neighbors. She’s in her early 20′s. Arthur becomes infatuated with her, and thinks they’re in a relationship. He’s more sexually experienced than the reader. This is my first time writing NSFW/smut in a story, so I’m not sure how good it will be. Please be kind with your feedback. I wasn’t sure what to include for the smut, so I decided to go with oral sex (female receiving). I thought it might be a little easier for me to write about since it’s my first time writing mature content. I didn’t want to write a full sex scene (like Arthur going all the way with reader) because I was afraid I would butcher it and it would be awful 😅 Now for the warnings: Arthur will be creepy in this. There will be stalking, unhealthy boundaries, kidnapping. Arthur will misinterpret things the reader says because of his delusions about her. This is in no way meant to represent a healthy relationship. Arthur and the reader don’t know each other very well at all. And because of that, this will be delving into major dub con territory. I can’t really imagine someone who barely knows Arthur being completely okay with doing intimate things with him. Especially when he’s imagined them being together and is delusional. Arthur doesn’t understand healthy boundaries. As I’ve mentioned before, while I have written quite a few Arthur x reader fluff pieces, I also tend to write Arthur darker than some of you would like, or are used to. Please remember that fiction isn’t reality. It’s only a story. Stay safe, everyone. That being said, I know some of you want to see more of a darker take on Arthur, and I’m so thrilled to have your support. Please do let me know if I’ve missed any trigger warnings. Anon, I hope in spite of how dark this is, it’s close to what you wanted. I hope all of you enjoy this 🙂

You hadn’t been living in Gotham long. You couldn’t afford to move to a nicer city, so you ended up going to college in the filthy city. You were hopeful that once you finished your degree,  you would be able to get a job in a better city.  On this particular morning, you were running late for class. You were running toward the elevator when you bumped  into someone. “Oh, I’m sorry!” You were expecting the person to scream at you to watch where you’re going, but when you looked up, the man in front of you didn’t say anything. He just stared at you. It was like he was in a trance. Feeling uncomfortable, you looked down. You noticed there was a card on the floor. He must’ve dropped it when you bumped into him. “Looks like you dropped this.” He didn’t say anything. It made you more uncomfortable. “I’m sorry for running into you like that. I’m late.” “Arthur.”  “What?” “That’s my name.” “I’m Y/N. Sorry I don’t really have time to talk. Bye!” Arthur watched you as you ran to the elevator.

Arthur was completely infatuated with you. You were one of the only people who didn’t yell at him or go out of your way to be mean to him. Almost everyone in Gotham  was rude to him. But you weren’t. He was happy to have someone besides Gary treat him with kindness.  He wanted to know more about you. He followed you everywhere. He picked up in all your habits, your likes and dislikes. Sometimes he watched you from your window at night.  He knew your full routine. You fell asleep with the TV on a lot. There were times you began to feel very creeped out. You had an odd feeling that you were being followed. You called out for the person to show themselves, but no one ever came out of the shadows. There was one night you could’ve sworn you saw someone or something  standing over your bed, but you weren’t fully awake. By the time you had fully woken up, whatever or whoever you thought you saw was gone. You could never shake the feeling someone was always watching you, and following you wherever you went. It made you feel on edge. You saw Arthur again. He seemed a lot more confident, and bold. He seemed a little strange, but he wasn’t dangerous...at least you didn’t think he was. You thought you could open up to him about how you’ve been feeling. “Don’t worry about it, Y/N. Whoever it is that’s been following you wouldn’t hurt you. They’re looking out for you.” “How can you be sure?” “If they wanted to hurt you, they would’ve hurt you already.” “I guess you’re right. Maybe they’re my guardian angel. I should get going. I have a busy day tomorrow. Goodnight, Arthur.” You went inside your apartment and closed the door.

Arthur fell in love with you. He needed to follow you and get to know you better so he could make you fall in love with him.  He spent the last few weeks following you, learning about your routine. He even managed to sneak into your apartment and watch you sleep. He made sure to leave before you woke up. He loved everything about you.  Randall and the guys  had paid prostitutes to  go on a “date”  with him. The women were nice to him. They were nice enough to show him how to please a woman. It was nice, but Arthur knew it wasn’t the same as a real relationship. It was more for the guys’ amusement than his, but he was glad he had the knowledge and experience he needed to make you feel good  when the time came. He knew it would be different with you.  In his mind the two of you had gone on several dates. You laughed at his  jokes. “You’re so funny, Arthur. And you’re so handsome. I’m so happy you’re always there for me when I need you. I know everything you’ve done has been for me. I’m one of the luckiest girls in the world to have you in my life. I love you.” One night, he imagined you touching him. Your  hand was so smooth and gentle as it continued to caress his manhood. Your praises and words of encouragement made him come. He snapped back into reality and washed the semen from his hand. He felt guilty. He felt shame for thinking of you that way, doing all those dirty things to him. But he knew it wasn’t wrong or shameful because he loved you. And you loved him, in his mind. You had touched the most intimate part of him, and he wanted to return the favor. When he saw you in the hallway, he was so happy when you told him the person following you is your guardian angel. He realized then that he had succeeded in making you fall in love with him. You viewed him as your protector. Of course, it was in his mind. He misinterpreted your reaction. He didn’t realize you were being sarcastic. He needed to keep you safe. You were too good for a place like Gotham. So soft and sweet. On that night, he intended to give you what you deserved.

He waited until later into the night when you would be asleep before making his way inside the apartment. He went inside your bedroom and carefully went over to the bed. He lifted you from the bed and carried you to his apartment. You woke up in a bedroom that was unfamiliar to you. It looked like it was a woman’s bedroom. You were trying your best to not panic. Someone was next to you asleep in the bed. It was Arthur. ‘What the fuck? What am I doing here? Why did he put me in his bed? I knew something was wrong with him. I need to get out of here before he wakes up.’ You got up and carefully began to make your way off the bed. Before you could stand up and get to the door, Arthur grabbed your arm. ‘Shit!’ “Where are you going, Y/N?” ‘Fuck, what do I do?’ “I...Arthur, why am I in your apartment, in your bedroom?” “I brought you here. You’ve been here before, Y/N. We’ve been dating, you know that. One night, you...you touched me. I know you feel the same way I feel about you since you told me I was meant to watch over you.” That’s when you realized Arthur was the person stalking you. ‘He thinks we’re in love with each other? Holy shit, he really is out of his mind!’ He gently pushed you back on the bed and kissed you passionately. 

When you finally caught your breath, you jerked away. “Arthur, what are you doing?” “I want to return the favor.” The was a side of Arthur you had never seen before. He wasn’t shy. He was confident. The kiss he had given you was demanding. It wasn’t anything you would’ve thought you would see from him. You froze and didn’t know what to say. You had limited sexual experience and you sure as hell didn’t want to do something intimate with a man you barely knew. As he began to make his way down your body, you tried to move away, but you were pinned under him. “Arthur, stop.” Stop? Surely you didn’t want him to stop. You liked being with him before. Your body began to react and you felt yourself becoming aroused. “Wait.” He didn’t understand why you were trying to stop him. He suspected you hadn’t had many sexual experiences. He thought he just needed to calm you down so you would feel more at ease. You weren’t sure what to think anymore. Under normal circumstances, you would’ve been fighting tooth and nail, but Arthur hadn’t hurt you. He wasn’t looking at you like he wanted to hurt you. His eyes were full of love and adoration for you. Part of you didn’t want him to stop. You felt him remove your underwear. “Arthur!” “Shhh, Y/N, it’s okay. Trust me. I promise you’ll like this.” You decided to trust him, but you felt vulnerable knowing he was about to be between your legs. You looked away and closed your eyes. His first lap was gentle. He started from the bottom and licked all the way to the top of your folds, stopping at the bundle of nerves hiding there. You gasped at the sensation, and he kept doing it a few more times until he was sure both of you were more comfortable. You still kept your eyes closed. He parted your folds and his tongue delved deeper into your wet hole. It was soft, wet and warm against you, and felt so good, you almost pulled away from the intensity. You felt heat building up in the pit of your stomach. When he barely grazed your sensitive nub, you bucked your hips, and he pulled away. He wasn’t done yet. He used one of his hands to keep you in place. He latched his mouth onto your nub, sucking on it, and circling it with with his tongue. The coil in your stomach was getting tighter, and the heat was becoming more intense. You were trying your best not to cry out. You didn’t want anyone to hear you. Arthur inserted a finger inside of you and began to curl it. The movement of his finger combined with his mouth and tongue finally sent you over the edge as you let out a stifled moan. You opened your eyes and saw Arthur wipe your juices from his mouth. “See? I told you you would like it.” You did like it. But even though you wanted what he did, you knew a relationship with him would be far from healthy. You needed to figure a way out of there, but you knew it wouldn’t be easy. You learned something about Arthur. He was a very determined man, and he was determined to keep you in his life.

@theplaguetoendallplagues  @dont-be-alarmed @germansarechill

[noodlecupcakeswritings]

Mad Love - Chapter 18 ( The final Gotham fic)

After Gotham was cut out off from the mainland, Emerald starts to learn that three’s a crowd and Jeremiah soon shows his true colours. Will she stick around like she did with Jerome or will she finally get some sense to leave and reunite with her true love.

The fourth and final instalment in my Gotham/Emerald series.

Please leave comments, kudos and reblogs if you like it. It really helps me out as a writer, lemme know if you wanna be on the taglist as well :)

Warnings: Language, Violence, Blood, Gore

Chapter 18

Emerald’s P.O.V

Slowly I awoke, my head pressed against something hard. I flinched away from the object, finding a radiator. My wrists were cuffed to it, preventing my escape. My surroundings didn’t give any clues to where Jeremiah had taken me. It was a basement, no windows, only one exit was up the staircase and through the brown door. And I bet he’d locked it too, so even if I got free from the cuffs I would still be trapped. He’d taken my phone and my switchblade from me too. For now, I had no choice but to play his way. I didn’t have to wait long before I heard the lock slide open and Jeremiah opened the door. I squinted as the light from upstairs hit me, Jeremiahs frame blocking some of it.

He descended the stairs, crouching down in front of me. I glanced at the open door. All I had to do was break my thumb, and I’d be out of these cuffs. And I would fit tooth and nail to get to that door. Jeremiah followed my gaze, smirking. “Your not going anywhere unless I allow it, Emerald,” he stated. “I guess I should start getting comfortable then.” “Not too comfortable. I’ve got all sorts of plans for you.” “Oh, I bet you do.” My attitude was already getting on his nerves as his smile faltered for a few seconds. I leaned forward, invading his personal space again. “You do whatever you have to do to make yourself feel better about your pathetic existence,” I smirked.

“My pathetic existence? Now lets not make this personal, I wouldn’t want to hurt your feelings.” I rolled my eyes, “and I bet it's all stuff I’ve heard before. Let me guess, I’m Gothams resident whore because I happen to have a colourful sexual history? Or maybe your gonna tell me how much of a dumb bitch I am for loving a man who tried to murder me on multiple occasions? Tell me something I don’t know.” Jeremiah remained silent for a few moments, as if I’d beaten him to the punchline. Soon, Jeremiah would be the punchline. “You know Jerome would have come up with much better material, he was more a joker than you claim to be,” I continued.

This struck a nerve with him as he slapped me hard. My cheek tingled, prickling with heat. I laughed, his violence didn’t scare me anymore. “I have this city eating out of the palm of my hand and your still comparing me to that ol’ corpse?” Jeremiah laughed. “Well, technically this was never your city or your brothers. You were the little coward hiding in your bunker from your own reflection. I was born and raised her baby. If it's anyones city, it's mine.” Jeremiah seemed out of options. I would not back down anymore, no matter what he threatened to do to me. He produced a phone from his pocket, my phone. He unlocked it, bringing up my contacts list. He hit the green call button next to Eddie’s name…fuck. And this was exactly why I hadn’t wanted to drag people into my mess.

Jeremiah put the call on loudspeaker and waited. For once I was begging silently that Eddie didn’t pick up. “It’s a bit late for you to be calling me, isn’t it? Or do you need me to help you get to sleep again?” Came Ed’s voice, his tone playful and teasing. Jeremiah raised an eyebrow at me at Ed’s words. I now wished the floor would literally open and swallow me whole. “Emerald? Are you okay?” Ed asked, having not gotten a response. “She’s a little tied up right now, but I can leave her a message if you like,” Jeremiah responded. “Put her on the phone, I want to know she’s okay first.”

Jeremiah held the phone out to me, giving into Ed’s demands. “Eddie, I’m okay. Whatever he wants don’t give it to hi-“ Jeremiah cuts me off by covering my mouth with his free hand. “You're not in a position to make any rules here, Emerald. If he wants you alive, then he’ll do as he’s told,” Jeremiah explained matter-of-factly. Jeremiah pulled his hand away and got to his feet, pacing as he continued the conversation with Ed. “Listen closely, in 48 hours I will text you a location and a time. I expect you to come alone. If I hear so much as a fucking squawk from that bird loving fuck, it's all over. Understood?” Jeremiah explained.

Oswald squawking sounded about right. Ed begrudgingly agreed to his terms and Jeremiah hung up without another word. “You know what Emerald. I think he really cares about you. I think you’ve finally gotten yourself a keeper,” Jeremiah spoke, his voice dripping with sarcasm, like he was about to make a joke. “I know you want to make a joke about it and I know you will. But I mean, for once you're right. He is a keeper, unlike yourself.” “That’s why I have to give you both a perfect ending. A tragic ending for such a tragic story. Would you rather die in his arms or the other way around?”

“Touch him and I swear you’ll regret it.” “Got it. You’ll be the one dying in his arms.” “At least I won’t have to put up with your bullshit anymore.” Jeremiah pocketed my phone again before heading back up the stairs and closing the door. I heard the lock slide into place and settled back down against the wall. This would probably be the longest 48 hours of my life.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I awoke on something softer this time, no cuffs around my wrists. My eyelids fluttered open, and I put my hand out to protect them from the harsh bright light. Soon my eyes adjusted, and I found myself laying on hay. The walls were red and white stripped. It took me a second to realise it was a circus tent. Great, so now he was taking the clown thing literally. Although this felt very reminiscent of when I’d met Jerome. Beside me was a small open box contacting Jeromes switchblade and a circus ticket. The date on the ticket read 1/2/2015. The date my parents had taken me to the circus, the night I had met Jerome. I guess I would need it for something and slipped it in the pocket of my jeans. I took the blade and flicked it open, looking around cautiously for anything else.

There was a giggling sound from outside. I frowned, it didn’t sound human. The tent opening flapped in the wind and I caught a glimpse of two hyenas. They stopped, sniffing the air before turning their heads in my direction. I remained calm even as they snarled at me, now entering the tent. I kept eye contact and waited for them to come to me. Jeremiah thought they’d probably tear me apart limb from limb. They probably would have…if his brother hadn't taught me how to handle animals like this. They bared their teeth at me, stalking closer and closer. I remained standing, smiling softly. The larger one reached me first, sniffing me again before nuzzling its head against my leg affectionately. My smile turned to a grin, and I reached down to pet it.

The second one nuzzled my hand, demanding affection. They were probably hungry, that’s why they had gone on the defensive. This gave me an extra layer of defence for whatever else I encountered tonight, which put me at ease a little. They followed me out of the tent, stopping when I did. The whole area was set up like a circus, different tents and stools together. Bright, colourful lights hung between the walkways and carnival music played. I could even smell popcorn and cotton candy. Yet it was completely deserted. Cautiously I continued through the walkway, the hyenas following me. Jeremiahs plans had been becoming more elaborate and theatrical lately, but even this was a lot for him.

We reached a clearing in the walkway, tents and stalls now in a circle around us. Well, there were three different ways to go. Before I could decide which route to take, however, a clown approached from the opposite pathway on a trike. He stopped the trike in the middle of the circle and honked his horn. The hyenas growled, baring their teeth at the clown. Suddenly bursting from the surrounding tents and stools were more clowns, brandishing their weapons. The hyenas circled me protectively, waiting to see who would make the first move. Tightening my grip on my blade, I also waited, looking from clown to clown.

They all were carrying bats of some sort, some wooden, some steel. There were five clowns in total. So this was the warm up crowd. The hyenas went after the two clowns behind me, leaving me with the remaining three. The clown on the trike remained where he was, letting the other two advance on me. The one in white swung the bat at me and I ducked low, jabbing the blade into his thigh. He cried out in pain, stepping back and letting the other one try and get a hit in. This one went for an overhead swing, making him slower than the first. Quickly, I slashed across his chest, red blood staining his yellow costume. They were obviously hired goons, meaning they pretty much useless in an actual fight. Goons were hired muscle, nothing more, they were all show and no brains.

The first one came back at me for another round although he was now limping meaning he would be slower. The bat whistled through the air, barely missing my legs. The second one struck my shoulder, knocking me backwards but thankfully not on my ass. I ducked as they both swung at me, their bats clashing together. I kicked the first one, aiming for his thigh wound. As he backed off once again I lunged at the second one. Both of us fell to the dirt, but I didn’t give him a chance to get his bearings as I slashed his throat open. Blood raised to the surface, pouring out of the wound and down his neck. The first one swung for my head, but I reached back, catching the bat mid swing. I wrenched it from his grip and threw it. Climbing off the second clowns corpse I advanced on now weaponless brute.

He put his hands out to defend himself and block my attack. I forced my blade through his hand, forcing a cry from him. I pushed the blade and his hand back further until the blade buried itself into the clown's eye. Finally, I removed the knife, turning to the clown on the trike. The hyenas were back at my side, blood staining the fur across their faces. The clown quickly turned on his trike and went back the way he came. Only the hyenas chased after him. And like hell he’d be able to pedal fast enough. The other two clowns laid in the grass, bloody and chewed. I knew this would only be the start of whatever Jeremiah had planned for me.

There was an arrow sign, pointing to the right. I took the path, constantly checking my surroundings. Up ahead in bright lights was the entrance to a mirror maze. More arrows were pointing to it, giving me my destination. I didn’t like the idea of going in there with only Jeromes switchblade. Who knows what the hell I would encounter in there? I reached the entrance and paused for a few moments as if to ready myself. Here goes nothing.

Taglist: @sweetfictionalworld​

[theartofdreaming1]

Partners - Part 1: A New Partner

Pairing: DickBabs

Rating: T

Summary: This was inspired by @avataraandy ‘s awesome AU picture of Dick and Babs as fellow police officers. I had been thinking about writing something based on this drawing for over a year (I haven’t written a lot of DickBabs fanfic), but never dared to actually write it since I don’t have a lot of time to research the cop stuff as in-depth as I would like - so I just decided to go for a collection of vignettes, inspired by Dick’s Officer Grayson run :) Check out the notes at the end of the chapter for issues I referenced ^^ You can read it at AO3 here.

In a police station in the rather infamous city of Blüdhaven a young police officer had just finished her shift and was now looking at the precinct’s large wall clock with an uneasy air about her. Her name was Barbara Gordon.

Barbara, a very clever and committed police officer, was easily distinguishable with her vibrant red hair and bright blue eyes that always held the look of pure determination in them - and with good reason: Barbara had big plans and was determined to see them fulfilled.

As the daughter of Gotham City’s Police Commissioner James Gordon, she had seen her Dad fighting tooth and nail to clean up the GCPD from the bottom up, ever since her childhood- and after many, many years, James Gordon had succeeded in making the Gotham City Police Department a better and much more honest police force.

Barbara was incredibly proud of her father’s accomplishment and aspired to do the same. And she would let nothing get in the way of that, least of all some new partner she just got assigned to and was about to meet any minute now.

First Meeting *1

Barbara wasn’t exactly giddy at the prospect of getting a new partner. This was Blüdhaven, after all, a city that had more Big Belly Burgers than honest cops. She was not looking forward to having to look the other way whenever her new partner was accepting a bribe or something of that sorts (Blüdhaven PD did not take well to rats), while simultaneously having to keep an eye on them to stop them from crossing a line (she’d heard locker room talk from fellow officers who bragged about beating the shit out of petty criminals like it was something to be proud of). Her last partner, Officer Crowne, had been lazy and old, practically just waiting to go into retirement; he had let Barbara do her job in peace, as long as he got some undeserved recognition for some of their cases and didn’t have to do anything that involved getting up from his ass.

It hadn’t been a dream partnership, but in contrast to alternatives such as trigger-happy Officer Richter, misogynistic pig Penham or a ruthless brawler like Officer Hannity, Crowne had been the lesser evil by far.

Barbara’s eyes wandered to the wristwatch her father had given her for her college graduation: her new partner was already 5 minutes late. Great.

“Gordon!” The unmistakable, authoritative voice of Captain Mercklesone let Barbara know that the moment of truth was here; in his tow the captain had a dark-haired young man, who exuded a strange mixture of calm confidence and puppy-dog-like excitement.

Mercklesone just barely waited until the newbie had completely caught up with him, barked “Meet your new partner, Officer Richard Grayson,” towards Barbara and, without any further words, stormed off in direction of his office.

Taken aback by this sudden exit, Grayson stared after Mercklesone’s retreating figure with a disbelieving look on his face, which gave Barbara an opportunity to take her new partner in more closely: She would guess that he was a little younger than her (so he probably was a complete rookie, oh boy), was about her height and looked pretty fit (he’d probably just left the academy, Barbara supposed), so he’d hopefully not drag her down too much.

Grayson turned around to face her and Barbara could see that he had pretty dark blue eyes and an easy smile, which he was now flashing at her. Barbara couldn’t help but notice that her new partner was ridiculously handsome. But he also looked strangely familiar.

“So, um, hi. I’m sorry for being late, took a little longer to get my uniform and gun,” Grayson explained apologetically, holding out a hand that Barbara grabbed for a short, but firm shake.

“Officer Barbara Gordon,” she properly introduced herself, “welcome to the Blüdhaven PD.”

Upon hearing her name, the newbie squinted his eyes, “Are you by any chance related to Gotham City’s Police Commissioner James Gordon?”

‘A Gothamite’, Barbara realized, surprised. You didn’t meet many Gothamites in Blüdhaven. Gotham City on its own already wasn’t really the nicest place to live in; people who lived there usually didn’t feel the need to migrate to their even worse-off sister city...

“If you think being his daughter counts as a relation, then, sure,” Barbara joked, affirming the newbie’s question. While the words were leaving her lips, the penny finally dropped and she suddenly realized why her new partner looked familiar: he was the Richard Grayson, adopted son and heir to billionaire Bruce Wayne, or the “Prince of Gotham”, as the tabloids liked to call the man who owned half the city!

“Well, the apple obviously didn’t fall far from the tree,” Grayson said warmly, unaware of Barbara’s sudden epiphany, “I’m really looking forward to working with you.”

Barbara gave her new partner a scrutinizing look, trying to read him - Why would someone with roots in Gotham’s high society come to rotten Blüdhaven to work as an underpaid cop?!

She couldn’t shake the feeling that it was no coincidence that he got partnered up with the only Gothamite in their precinct; surely some strings had been pulled to make sure his partner knew that they had someone from Gotham’s ‘royalty’ before them...

“What are you doing here?” Barbara asked brusquely, not liking the idea of being some sort of piece in the game Blüdhaven’s corrupt higher-ups were playing.

Grayson looked at her with wide eyes, clearly taken aback by her sudden change in demeanor.

“I suppose the same thing as you?” he said haltingly, confusion evident on his face, “just wanting to help where I can. ‘Serve and protect’, right?”

That sounded sincere enough, if mightily naive. Maybe he really just wanted to do some good, though her superiors probably thought he needed babysitting. And Barbara had just proven with her prior partner that she could work around her partner’s lack of input. Great.

“Our shift starts tomorrow at four. Be here by three. And don’t be late.”

The Observation *²

The next day, her new partner was at the precinct at three o’clock sharp, looking both nervous and excited. Barbara took him with her to the briefing room, where he listened to Mendelsohn‘s rambling briefing with intense concentration. Well, Grayson was definitely putting effort into this. For now at least.

She and her new partner were assigned the observation of 2741 Bowline Street. Apparently the apartment complex was the residence of the girlfriend of Digby Carnes, a robber with a long rap sheet of holdups going back to grade school, and Detective Division was hoping their perp would show up there. It wasn’t the most promising lead, but a lead nonetheless.

Barbara reasoned that there wasn’t much that her new partner could screw up during the observation. Plus, this could be the perfect opportunity to figure Grayson out.

Half an hour into the observation and Barbara had found out one important thing about her new partner: he just couldn’t sit still. He had started with occasionally shifting in his seat while asking some questions about their perp and then some about his new fellow officers. Barbara had barely noticed it then. It was after Barbara had answered all of his questions and a silence had fallen over them, when it caught her attention: the wiggling of his foot, the squirming in his seat, the erratic rhythm his fingers tapped against his thigh - it was driving Barbara up the wall.

“Would you please stop that?”

“Stop what?” Grayson asked confused, completely unaware of the restlessness he was exhibiting.

“That,” Barbara said, pointing to his left leg, which he was currently bouncing up and down. “You’ve been fidgeting the entire time since we’ve started our surveillance and it drives me crazy.”

“Oh,” Grayson said sheepishly, stopping his wiggling at once. “Sorry.”

For a few minutes, both cops continued their observation in complete silence and stillness.

But all too soon the finger tapping started up again. Barbara let out a deep sigh.

“You hungry?” Grayson said half an hour later, gesturing towards a food cart one block down the street.

She didn’t feel particularly hungry, but Barbara figured that a quick snack couldn’t hurt (especially if that meant a few minutes of calm), so she said: “Sure.”

“What would you like?” Grayson asked, an intent look on his face when he took her order.

Just as Barbara was about to pull out some money, her new partner waved it aside, telling her he “got it.”

That almost made Barbara feel bad for being so annoyed with him (or rather, his fidgetiness). When the bouncing in his leg returned ten minutes into their stakeout snack, she felt a lot less bad, though. She did notice him stopping his wiggling whenever he became aware of it - the following stillness lasted maybe about five minutes, but Barbara appreciated the effort.

Instead of blowing a fuse as she normally would have by now, she just ground her teeth together, praying for their perp to make an appearance.

It took Carnes two excruciating hours before he finally strolled down the street.

Barbara was pretty sure that her teeth were completely ruined by then.

The Bar *³

It had been two weeks after the rocky start of their partnership and they had just apprehended a car burglar. Grayson hadn’t been such a hindrance after all and even helped her at some point. Barbara was finally starting to warm up to her new partner and she felt in a celebratory mood - so she decided to invite him for a drink at Hogan’s Alley, a popular cop bar in Melville Section.

Her new partner looked positively elated. Poor guy, after all the crap she had given him, he apparently was now over the moon for something as simple as regular after-work-bonding. Maybe she had been too hard on him.

“Welcome to Hogan’s Alley,” Barbara said, leading Grayson inside the familiar and always crowded place, “it’s kind of the hangout for Blüdhaven cops.”

Grayson surprised her with his reply: “Oh, I know. I know this place well.”

“You do?”

Grayson didn’t necessarily strike Barbara as the kind of person that would spend a lot of time drinking in bars...

But as if to confirm his claim, Barbara’s partner easily navigated the crammed room to find them two empty seats at the end of the bar, where he was cordially greeted by the owner himself:

“Grayson! So you’ve finally found your way back here, huh?” “Hello, Mr. Hogan, it’s nice to see you again. How’s Michael?” 

“He’s doing really well… Does his homework like a good boy, helps me out sometimes on the weekends… I think he has settled in just fine.”

“That’s great to hear.” Grayson now turned his attention back to Barbara, who had observed the exchange with puzzlement, “Mr. Hogan, meet my partner, -”

“Gordon, if I recall correctly,” Hogan said, eyeing Barbara intently, “you used to come here with Crowne occasionally, right?”

“That’s right,” Barbara nodded, impressed by the man’s memory. She must have been here maybe six times over the span of her two years on the force.

“And now you’re partnered up with this one, huh?” Hogan said amused, nodding in Grayson’s direction. “How’s he doing so far?”

Grayson suddenly looked a little nervous. Poor soul.

“Not half bad, I’d say,” Barbara answered nonchalantly, a smile tugging at her lips.

Barbara noticed the tenseness in her partner’s shoulders disappear and saw that he was sporting a much more relaxed expression on his face now. She hadn’t realized that he would be this worried about her judgement.

Hogan seemed to have noticed, too; the bar owner let out a chuckle before taking their orders and serving the two cops their drinks, while chatting with them companionably. He then turned his attention back to his other customers.

Barbara looked expectantly at Grayson, who was now sipping on his drink, oblivious to her stare.

“So,” she said, unable to ignore the curiosity that had been sparked after watching the unaffected interaction between her partner and the bar owner, “how come you know Hogan so well?”

“Well, I worked here until I finally got into the BPD.”

Barbara couldn’t help the disbelief she felt seep into her words: “You worked here?!”

“Yeah,” Grayson affirmed casually before giving her a very piercing look: “Despite what you might think, I’m no stranger to work.”

Barbara felt her cheeks redden. This had been the first thought on her mind.

Grayson shifted on his stool, now fully facing her, a solemn expression on his face. Barbara felt herself leaning towards him.

“Look, Barbara, you’re smart and a Gothamite - I’m sure you know whose adoptive son I am.”

Barbara couldn’t help but be surprised that Grayson was openly addressing his connections now; he had made no allusions whatsoever to his high society ties these past two weeks - despite her harsh treatment of him throughout all this time.

���But I can assure you that I’m not one of these spoiled rich kids who think that they are edgy for mingling with the ‘plebs’ until they get bored and then return home where everything is ready to fall into their laps, that’s just not who I am nor who I want to be. Heck, that’s the whole reason why I left Gotham for Blüdhaven in the first place: to get out of Bruce’s shadow and forge my own path.”

“And your path leads you to Blüdhaven’s rotten police force?” Barbara asked, genuinely curious.

“Yeah, I think so…” Grayson said quietly, his voice now barely above a whisper, causing Barbara to lean in closer, “I told you that I just wanna help where I can, and if there is any city in desperate need of good, honest cops, it’s the ‘haven, isn’t it? I mean, isn’t that exactly why you’re here, too?”

Grayson locked eyes with Barbara and the intensity and honesty she was met with made her wonder how she could have ever believed him to be a spoiled airhead.

“I guess so,” Barbara admitted in an equally hushed tone.

Her response was greeted with a quick, faint smile.

“You see, you and I, we both know why we need good cops.”

Barbara immediately thought of her dad, who had seen a city worth saving in Gotham, just as she was seeing now in Blüdhaven, and she thought of a young boy who had lost his parents through a most violent tragedy, orchestrated by mob boss Zucco, and who had been adopted by Gotham’s most famous billionaire and was now looking right at her.

“Yeah, we both do…” Barbara said earnestly, causing Grayson to flash her a warm smile and reassume his relaxed position from before; the tension that had surrounded them dissipated immediately.

Barbara couldn’t help feeling bad for assuming the worst when she’d found out who her new partner was.

“I’m sorry I have been so hard on you the past two weeks,” she apologized, while nervously fiddling with her drink, “I couldn’t help but be suspicious that you were partnered up with the only other Gothamite in the precinct...”

“Yeah, I get it; it took me by surprise, too - kinda undermined the whole reason why I relocated...”

“Tired of being treated like Gotham royalty, ‘Richie Grayson’?” Barbara said teasingly.

“You have no idea,” Grayson said, shuddering at the use of the name the tabloids were fond of calling him,”just hearing that name makes me feel phony.”

“So what else should I call you, Grayson? Richard?”

“Actually, my friends call me Dick.”

Barbara raised an eyebrow, unable to hide her smirk, “Are you sure they are your friends?”

Grayson just rolled his eyes.

“Ha-ha, very funny,” he said dryly, before giving her an curious look, “What about you? What do your friends call you? ‘Babs’?”

“Not really; plain old “Barbara” usually does the trick…” Barbara said, not bothering to mention that there hadn’t been that many friends to call her nicknames in the first place.

“Shame... Now that I said it, I feel like Babs would actually suit you…”

“Well, knock yourself out; I don’t think I’ll mind you using it, Dick,” Barbara said, shrugging.

Grayson gave her a delighted smile, “If you say so, Babs.”

Barbara couldn’t help but let out a snort.

“This is so weird,” she felt the need to point out, all of a sudden acutely aware of how bizarre her life has become, “three weeks ago, I never would have thought that I would sit in a bar, chatting with the Richard Grayson, discussing nicknames…”

Dick scrunched up his nose when Barbara stressed his name that way, clearly not comfortable with its underlying connotation.

“Please don’t have any illusions that I actually fit in that high society world; I was born and raised in a traveling  circus... I suffered from a complete culture shock when I attended my first Wayne Gala - apparently it’s not proper etiquette to hang from a chandelier while the hors d’oeuvres are being served.”

The vivid picture her imagination provided her with made Barbara laugh.

Dick grinned, then continued: “And all things considered, I think I grew up very normally - I even went to public school and all that.”

“Really? Why that?”

Dick leaned closer to his partner in a conspirative manner. Now really intrigued, Barbara found herself mirroring his movement.  

“You don’t get to hang around girls much when you’re being home-schooled, you know,” he said, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Barbara rolled her eyes but couldn’t help laughing, playfully swatting his arm, “Ugh, and just when I was starting to like you.”

Looking positively gleeful, Dick gave a dramatic gasp: “Oh, so it’s happening? I’m finally winning you over?”

“Sorry buddy, but that comment just set you back another two weeks.”

To be continued... here.

Notes: 

*1

Nightwing #48: Mercklesone is the person that calls Dick to tell him that there is a position free at the BPD - he is not a police captain, but since I wasn’t sure who actually was the captain of Dick’s precinct, I decided to go with that name; it’s also the issue when Dick starts his job at the BPD; his partner, Amy Rohrbach, is not especially happy to work with him, because she thinks that he is “buds” with some of the corrupt higher-ups (she is not completely wrong - seems like the shifty Inspector Mac Arnot character arranged for Dick to be hired... I don’t remember if there was a specific reason why; he and Dick went to the academy at the same time - although Arnot rarely every attended the classes... he had his “connections”)  

Nightwing #61: Richter is another officer at the BPD; he’s a douchebag and we’re gonna meet him in the next chapter 

Nightwing #64: Hannity is another of Dick’s fellow officers; Dick has seen him “beat a suspect raw”

*²

Nightwing #64: Mendelsohn is one of Dick’s fellow officers in this issue.

Nightwing Secret Files and Origins #1: Bowline Street is a real street in Blüdhaven; at least according to this map (right upper corner)

Nightwing #49: Dick and Amy observe the apartment of Digby Carnes in this issue. Dick does not fidget during that observation (he’s been trained to be a detective since the age of nine in the comics, he can sit through a boring observation; plus, he’s sleep-deprived in that scene in the comic because he’s also a friggin’ superhero), but you can tell that he’s bored and dying for some action

*³

Nightwing #4: Dick gets a job as a bartender at Hogan’s Alley; the owner, Hank Hogan, is a former cop 

Nightwing #12:  the "Michael" (sometimes also called “Mike”) Dick is referring to is the street kid "Mutt", who tries to break into Dick's apartment; when Dick realizes that the kid has nowhere to go, he arranges for Hogan to take the boy in, giving Michael a home :) Michael make is helping out at the bar in Nightwing #42, when Dick celebrates his graduation from the academy with Clancy, his landlady

Nightwing Secret Files and Origins #1: according to this map from this issue, Melville Section is an actual district of Blüdhaven, although I have no idea if Hogan’s Alley is located there ^^;

Robin: Year One #1: Dick’s joke about girls being a perk of going to public school is something I burrowed from that issue ;)

[thecosywriter]

The Sadist’s Lullaby C3 ( ZsaszxOC)

[WARNING: This is a long one. This is also very NSFW there is a lot of gore and if that upsets you I am sorry.]

Chapter Three: Tea Party 

Letting out a muffled groan Zsasz’ eyes fluttered open; heavy under the weight of the powerful drug he had been given. As he let the light burn his eyes as they opened slowly the assassin mentally slapped himself for letting his guard down for a piece of cake, he really needed to get his sweet tooth looked into.

Casting his eyes to the corner of the room, Zsasz took in his surroundings, he was still in the apartment the smell of baking still filled the air. The room he was in was large, looking down he was strapped to a metal dining room chair – metal bars kept his hands, ankles and neck strapped to the chair – the metal was uncomfortably warm .

Good morning, Good morning,

We’ve talked the whole night through,

Good morning, good morning to you!

Casting a glance to the side, he caught sight of an old vinyl player – the culprit of the strange unsettling music which echoed around the pink room. Zsasz wondered too himself if her entire apartment was themed this way it was far too…girly and pleasant looking – it was quite sickening.

With his remaining energy Zsasz tried to break free of his bonds, earning a laugh from Tara who was watching from the door.

“Yeah, you can’t get out of those bonds unless I want you to Mr Zsasz.” Tara giggled made her way over to the table. Looking up at the woman, Zsasz noticed that she had changed her apron; the previous white frilly apron had been replaced by a baby blue latex looking apron, which was covered in dried blood.

“Did you know that the young Debbie Reynolds had to be carried off set after she finished filming the dance for this song?” Tara asked cheerfully as she cut herself a slice of the sponge cake which had been brought in and set out on the table in front of him.

“She was made to dance for 14 hours and her feet were bleeding.” Tara said, as she took a mouthful of the cream cake and gave a moan of contentment, relishing in her triumph of a dessert.

“Singing in the rain – wonderful film.” Tara mused as she perched herself on the table beside Zsasz crossing her legs enough that the assassin could get a slight glimpse of the white silk tops of her stockings making him slightly uncomfortable in his current position. Something strange about an attractive young woman and the prospect of being quite seriously hurt left the seasoned assassin with a conflict of feeling.

“Do you like musicals Mr Zsasz?” She asked with a smirk knowing full well her question would go unanswered.

Zsasz wondered to himself if this woman was real or if he was having some really fucked up dream, he had nightmares – someone in his line of work could only be expected to suffer in the privacy of his own home. His mind and the things he had seen privy to only himself during the still, cold hours of the night it was then, where his ghosts came to life.

“No? I admit they’re not for everyone.” Tara chuckled as she took another mouthful of cake without showing any signs of collapsing as he had Zsasz groaned as he realized it wasn’t the cake that poisoned him…it was the fork – Tara was eating her slice with a small silver fork where as he had been offered a gold fork, putting two and two together he assumed his fork must have been laced with a potent drug.

Putting his hypothesis on standstill as the room filled with a muffled scream, tutting to herself Tara placed her plate and fork down on the white linen tablecloth and left the room for a few moments, raising his brow at the muffled screams and banging which followed the brunettes exit.

“Mr Zsasz…May I introduce Nurse Lucy.”  Tara’s sing song voice echoed from door. Zsasz couldn’t help but laugh through his gag as the petite doll-like female dragged in the flailing nurse. The middle aged woman was chubby her greying hair a mess curled and pulled up on top of her head.  Her uniform was drenched in blood which the assassin assumed had spilled down her uniform after her eyes were removed…

Tara let out a little sigh of exasperation as she propped the nurse up into a chair and tied her town, the larger woman was quite obviously sedated enough not to fight back to her full potential – not that it would matter very much.

“You know, it is rude to speak with your mouth full!” Tara mused as she plopped herself on the nurses lap with a smile, her attention now focused on the older nurse with the bloodied bandaged eyes.

“What were you saying?” Tara chuckled as she moved the silk scarf from the older woman’s mouth, before wrapping it around her own neck and tying a pretty bow and pulling up a silver plate to check her reflection.

Zsasz watched silently as the living doll checked her reflection in the mirror, it was a sight to see – he had never come across anyone with this level of apathy. She clearly did not care about the wailing or the screams that poured from her nurse’s mouth. Humming nonchalantly to the songs which played in the background Tara played with her hair and made sure her makeup had not moved. Zsasz couldn’t help but find himself oddly drawn to the psychotic woman, he didn’t know if it was her porcelain doll appearance contrasting so heavily with the blood stains on her apron or the fact that she was so enthralled by the blood and violence – he had never come across a woman this derailed before and aroused the assassin more than it scared or confused him.

“Let me go please! I have children!” Lucy screamed as she tried to break free from her bonds much to the amusement of her capture who giggled and stood up off of the nurses lap.

“Lucy, Lucy, Lucy…Why would I do that? You are a liability.” Tara sung as she moved behind the nurse and gently ran her gloved hands over the nurse’s shoulders making her wince and sob silently.

“I can’t have you gallivanting off and telling all of Gotham about what has happened here tonight can I?” Tara said happily as she turned her attention back to Zsasz with a bright smile motioning at her female captive, almost hoping he would share her amusement at Lucy plea for freedom.

“I won’t tell anyone I promise!” Lucy cried out her voice breaking midsentence as she chocked back blood and spit. “People always lie when they are scared Lucy – its human nature.” Tara chuckled as she picked up one of the silver knives in front of her stroking the blunt silver down the nurses face making her wiper.

“Would you like some cake?” Tara asked sweetly walking over and cutting out a slice of cake and placing it in front of the blind woman.

“My uncle likes to keep me hidden. He is ashamed of me you see.” Tara mused out loud as she turned back to Zsasz who was sat watching the scene unfold.

“I have seen how your uncle loves you!” Lucy cried out in a failed attempt to snap the psychotic woman out of whatever she was thinking at that point.

“You can’t see anything Lucy.” Tara howled as she unwrapped the blood stained bandages from the woman’s eyes, letting the restrained assassin see – for the first time, the extent of the damage the young woman had done.

“Isn’t she funny?” Tara giggled happily clapping her hands in delight as she looked over to Zsasz, clearly very happy with her work.

“Now Lucy, I didn’t say he didn’t love me. I said he is ashamed – there is a difference.” Tara sighed as she looked down at the nurses hands that had begun shaking under the pressure, clearly annoying the woman standing next to her.

Zsasz watched silently as Tara lost composure for the first time, her victims nails tapping against the metal chair out of tune with the music.

“Stop moving your hands!” Tara roared as she snatched a fork from the table and stabbed Lucy’s hand making her shriek.

“If you are going to tap you can at least tap in tune.” Tara said darkly before sighing and shaking her head gently, composing herself one more.

“Did you know pigs if left hungry enough, can eat a whole human carcass?” Tara giggled as she pulled a knife from the table and started grinding it between the nurses knuckles earning another scream.

“I don’t keep pigs you see. I prefer smaller pets.” Tara continued as she twisted the knife dislocating one knuckle at a time. “I keep rats you see – they’ve got a bad reputation but they are smart little things and when they are hungry…well, they will eat anything. They ate the last four nurses I had.” Tara chuckled as she moved onto the other hand.

“And they will eat you, when I am done with you – isn’t that great Lucy? You always wanted to help people and you are helping me. Rat food is full of poison nowadays and well, my babies like raw meat – it is better for them and well, I don’t like the meat industry…”  

It was an oddly satisfying thing to watch, a woman crying with no eyes – it was unique Zsasz had to give this woman credit. She was good at inflicting pain in the most distinctive ways, if he wasn’t under contract to watch over her he might have offered her a job – but he wasn’t in any fit position to offer at this time.

Looking down at his cuffs, he felt the drugs begin to fade out of his system – he was gaining back his strength slowly, diverting his attention away from the two women the assassin tried to figure out a way to get the upper hand back from this situation.

Lollipop, lollipop Oh lolli lolli lolli, lollipop

Call my baby lollipop  Tell you why  His kiss is sweeter than an cherry pie  and when he does his shaky rockin’ dance  Man, I haven’t got a chance

“Oh one moment please – I know it is rude to pick up a call at the table.” Tara smiled as she removed her gloves carefully and folded them before stuffing them into Lucy’s eye sockets, making even Zsasz wince and look away.

“Hold those for me sweetie.” Tara chuckled as she moved over the cabinet on the far side of the room and picked up her mobile phone, motioning for everyone to be silent.

“Hi, Barbara! How are you?” Tara exclaimed happily as she leaned up against the wall and smirking at Zsasz, who was both afraid and deeply aroused.

“HELP! PLEASE SOMEONE HELP US!” Lucy screamed, shaking her chair so much that it toppled over onto the cream carpet, spilling blood onto the soft fabric.

“What was that hun? I need to put my TV on mute one minute…” Tara chuckled as she picked up one of the marble candlestick holders from beside her, leaving her mobile on the cabinet Tara skipped over to Lucy before straddling her waist.  “I will take these back.” Lucy chuckled before removing the gloves from her eyes and smashing the candlestick base into the nurse’s skull.

Zsasz watched with a manic smile as the young woman smashed the metal against Lucy’s skull, over and over until there was little left but a puddle. Giggling as she stood up, Tara picked up a silver plate to check her face which was now covered in blood.

“How do I look?” She chuckled as she stood up dusting herself off before heading back over to the cabinet and picking up the phone once more.

“Sorry Barbara hun I have guests over and they’re watching this really gory horror movie…it’s horrible; I don’t know how people watch this! How can people just kill without remorse?” Tara said with mock disgust as she walked over to an intercom on the wall and pressed a code in.

“Ok, TV is off. Go on.” Tara said as she watched three men in white suits walk into the room, their faces covered by plastic rat masks.Motioning towards the body on the floor Tara walked out the room and left Zsasz blinking at the events that he had just witnessed.

“Yes of course I am free this weekend. I don’t think there will be anything keeping me away…”

Zsasz could hear a murmur of the conversation Tara was having on her phone but the assassin was more interested in the rat men that were wrapping the nurse’s corpse in plastic before lifting her up and leaving the room.

“I’m baaaack!” Tara sang as she totted back into the dining room with a smile, pulling out the metal chair Zsasz was sat on the brunette perched herself on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Zsasz didn’t know what to do with himself, he was not used to being the one being taunted – that was his game, he played it well and he was shocked about how much he liked being the one being toyed with.

“Let me take this off for you.” Tara purred as she untied the scarf from behind his head and folded it before placing it onto the table before turning back around and gently running her nail down the assassin’s neck.

“I heard you were a bit of a sadist Mr Zsasz. Did you like my little show?”