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sheepfilms
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taylor price
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Discoholic 🪩
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With Every Heartbeat - Bruce Wayne x f!Gordon!reader
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(OC version also available on Ao3 here)
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Imagine telling your husband Antoine you're pregnant
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Adrien Rabiot and Olivier Giroud being friends would include
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Kylian Mbappé and you being best friends before dating would include
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Kylian Mbappé being jealous would include
Original Series
Losing Game - Antoine Griezmann x fem!OC
Summary: 21 year old Gabrielle Darian and her family are famous for being selfless and helping people in need. She never expected to find true love until he arrived. But with true love can come trouble, and secrets.
Book One: I • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII
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The concept of Once Upon A Time but with superheroes instead
With Every Heartbeat • Bale!Bruce Wayne x fem!Gordon!reader (Chapter XIV)
Requested: No
Pairing: Bale!Bruce Wayne x fem!reader
Story's synopsis: When y/n Gordon learned her billionaire boyfriend was also a vigilante at night a year ago, she knew it could be dangerous for her. But she listened to her heart and decided to choose to be happy with the man of her dreams. And after all, Bruce and her had agreed to keep their relationship secret - for her sake. But when the wrong person understands her closeness to Gotham’s protector, the reality of how cruel and mad some people are comes running back, and all is left to do is holding on. For as long as one’s heart beats.
Word count: 2.2 K
Chapter warnings: Abduction; anxiety; mention of implied feared SA
A/N: So sorry for not posting in a while, Uni and my mental health drove me crazy. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter please don't let this flop. Couldn't find a better GIF smh. I also posted an OC version on Ao3 here. ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE.
Tag list: @helendeath @im-jesus
Tag list for this story: @deadofnight0 @unclearblur @christianbalefanatic @triptuckers
Series Masterlist
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
Nearly two years ago
When Bruce turned away from the Gordon’s house and went back to the Manor, he knew Jim and James Gordon were trustworthy policemen. What he needed to do now was find a way to convince them to help him clean Gotham. But when he arrived home, welcomed by Alfred’s disapproving gaze, it wasn’t the father and the son he thought about. It was the girl - Jim’s daughter.
And to his own surprise, he also caught himself thinking about her in the days that followed. There was something strange about her, something he couldn’t name, in the way she had smiled at her mother, peaceful. In her posture, as though she felt entirely safe and content.
For a whole week, he resisted the urge to look for information about her, before he eventually gave in. But he told himself it was only because he needed to know if every Gordon was reliable. After all, the son had a record of not being kind to the criminals he arrested. It was only reasonable to make sure the daughter was different and didn’t have any tie to Maroni or the mob.
When he started looking, Bruce first discovered that the Gordon girl apparently lived a discreet, quiet life and didn’t have any criminal record. He didn’t know her first name, but he thought there was a chance she had studied at Gotham University - and he was right. He found both her mother’s file in their records, and hers.
That was when he learned her first name. y/n. Two years younger than James - and five years younger than Bruce himself. She had studied to be a librarian, and it didn’t take him much research to then discover that she now worked at Gotham’s library. Bruce knew Alfred would tease him about looking for information about a girl, so he only looked when he was sure he’d be alone.
Bruce tried to persuade himself that knowing only her name, her occupation and the fact that she seemed as reliable as her father and brother was enough. But a few days after getting that information, he was still somehow thinking about her - which still confused him - and had to admit that there was something inside of him that wanted to know more about her. Something that wanted to see her again. Just like he had tried to resist looking for information about her, he did try to resist going to that library to see her. He scolded himself and told himself that it was silly. Creepy, even. After all, the only reason he had spied on Jim and James Gordon was because he knew he would need allies. Nothing more. He had no reason to go after her. Yet, he still went.
*-*
“So much so that she gave me an idea: as long as she’s here in good company with me, no one will get hurt. No more deaths, no more tears, no more chaos. And, she can leave anytime she wants. The door will be open. However, her first night of freedom will be some people’s last night alive. I’m a man of my word.”
Your old watch indicated that it has been three days since you had been kidnapped again. Not much had changed since the first day. You were still in that cold, squared basement with concrete walls and floor, which somehow slightly smelled like gasoline, you had woken up in. To your great surprise, the two Joker’s men standing outside the open door had given you a thin blanket - clean, a surprise, too - but also a bit of food once everyday, and bottles of water. The biggest difference since you first woke up in that basement was that you now knew why the Joker had taken you this time. If you hadn't been so scared that the two men were gonna tell the Joker about your every move and emotion, you would have sighed, would have rolled her eyes and would have shaken her head. You should have known. What other reason the Joker could have had to take you again, if not to torment Bruce again? But this time, it was worse. The first time, Bruce only had to find you, there wasn’t any ultimatum hanging over his head. Now, Bruce was faced with a choice - you, or Gotham.
You had feared her two jailers - so to speak - would mock and taunt you, or worse, but they’d only turned their heads a few times a day to check on you. They hadn’t spoken a word to you, except for the “here” they’d say every time they handed her water or food. You had refused any food on the first day, too anxious and too scared of the food not being actually edible, but hunger won and you had eaten a bit of food on the second day; and had however drunk all the water you had been given. As sleep was concerned, you had barely slept, too cold and too scared of the Joker watching you sleep or the two men trying something.
Another thing that surprised you was that you had been left alone the entire time. The Joker had left right after he made his video, which all of Gotham had probably seen by now, and hadn’t come back since - the only positive point in those three days. There was nobody but his men - wearing clown masks - standing outside the door for a few hours, until two others came and replaced them. You almost snorted every time you thought of that door. White and open at all times, exactly like the Joker had said. And you knew that the two men wouldn’t try to stop her if you escaped. The Joker wanted you to escape, but most importantly wanted you and Bruce, or rather, Batman, to be the reason he’d kill people, because he knew neither you nor Bruce could live with themselves if it ever happened. I’m trapped, your mind kept telling you, and it was getting harder and harder to ignore it.
Still sitting on the ground like on your first day here, you let out a silent sigh, and rested your head against the concrete wall behind closing her eyes for a second. You had tried to stay calm, to tell herself that the Joker needed you alive to get to Bruce, and tried to convince yourself that Bruce would come eventually, like he did the first time. You just needed to hang on. He was looking for her, you knew he was. Knowing him, he probably already had a plan, and was already hunting down the Joker and his men to interrogate them, assisted by your father and brother. Eventually, one of them would be too scared of Batman to stay loyal to the Joker, and would tell him where you were. Thinking about it, you had no idea where you were. The basement was empty of any furniture or anything that could give a clue of its location, and for some reason, there wasn’t any noise coming from outside. The day before, you had taken a glance of what was behind the white open door, in hopes of finding any clue, but were disappointed to only find an empty, narrow corridor with, at the end, stairs.
You ran a hand over her face, which reminded you that you had been too stupid to not put the black ring on before leaving the house. And too stupid to not realise it was a trap. James would never just text in case of emergency, he’d call instead. And if he had to text, he’d send you the “emergency code” you two shared: the word “Red”, followed by his location. You had been too blinded by how worried your brother and father’s job had always made you that you didn’t think before going. You thought of your mother, probably heartbroken and sick with worriness; your father, probably angry at everyone and especially James. You hoped he didn’t treat James too harshly like he had always done. It wasn’t his fault. The last time you had seen him was when the Joker had ordered his hencheman to throw him out of the moving car, and you feared he might have gotten hurt while falling on the hard concrete. He’s looking for me, too. Him, dad and Bruce will find a way. The Joker needs me alive, you thought, and his men thankfully don’t seem to be interested in me. I just need to wait. You shivered - her watch indicated it was 03:41 a.m. - and covered your chest with the thin blanket. Exhaustion was winning you, and your eyes closed by themselves as your head rested against the wall. You heard some whispers outside the door - probably two of the Joker’s men replacing the two current ones. However, it seemed to you the whispers lasted longer than usual, and you heard footsteps getting closer.
*-*
“Ouch! Come on, man-”
“Speak.”
The man’s legs kicked the air as Bruce tightened his grip on the man’s shirt - dirty, according to the stains on the collar which Bruce could see thanks to the streetlights. The man’s hands instinctively went to grab Bruce’s, but the latter did not loosen his grasp.
“I don’t know anything! Please, I’m just a cashier!” the man pleaded, not as panicked as the criminals Bruce interrogated were.
“A cashier who works for the Joker”, Bruce retorted with impatience. “Speak.”
“I told you, I don’t know anything!” the man repeated. “ I swear!”
“Where is y/n Gordon?”
The man hesitated before speaking.
“I’m not on that side of the job. I just deliver drugs. I promise. He decides what we do for him.”
That, Bruce could believe.
“Look,” the man continued in a tone both calm and cautious, as his hands let go of Bruce’s. “I’d rather be dealing with a chick than risking getting my ass caught by the police at every street corner, okay? But we don’t get to decide. He does.”
“Who did he choose to keep her?”
“I don’t know!” the man insisted, “The Joker only tells me who me and the guys need to deliver the drug to. Minutes before I have to go. And from a different phone number each time. He doesn’t want us to know anything. I promise you, I have no idea where that girl is. But you’ve seen the tape, right? If she leaves, people die. And if you find her, she dies. He wants you to not know what to do.”
“You think?” Bruce countered, not amused at all, having a hard time containing his annoyance.
“Listen,” the man continued, “I don’t know where she is. But I may know a place where he kept people in the past. It’s a basement, I was asked to keep a mobster who-”
“Where is it?”
Once the man gave him the address, Bruce let him go and quickly walked back to the Batmobile. The engine cried as Bruce drove through the streets. He hesitated on calling y/n’s father and brother, wanting them to know any clue he could find but not wanting them to face the cruel disappointment of the clue not leading anywhere.
“If you find her, she dies.”
Bruce’s hands tightened on the steering yoke. It should have never happened. I should have told her to stay at the house while I was gone. It was too risky. How could I be so stupid? After a few minutes, he finally arrived there. It was a normal, abandoned house with a small garden full of weeds. It wasn’t rare in Gotham. Parking the Batmobile in an empty street near it, Bruce entered the house through a broken window, and found himself in what seemed to be a dirty, dusty living room with only an old sofa, broken furniture scattered everywhere. Ignoring the awful smell and the small spider that ran away when he got closer, Bruce listened closely, but didn’t hear any noise. Taking out a flashlight, he walked to the kitchen, empty also. He didn’t bother going upstairs, and directly went to a corridor. On the other side of it, there was a white door, just like the man had said. Bruce walked as silently as possible, but once again didn’t hear anything. He took a glance behind the door, and saw a small, squared room and stairs.
He went down them, and was now in an empty, narrow corridor. He saw an white, open door, and the room behind somehow had the light on. Frowning, Bruce walked towards the door, starting to think the man, as he should have expected, was simply wrong. His jaw tensed as he entered the basement. He thought it was empty at first, but he questioned whether it was a squatter who had put electricity in the house. His eyes fell on the ground, where he saw a thin blanket on the ground. Bruce went to take it, and he saw something on the concrete grey ground that caught his eye. Bending down, he cautiously grabbed the red hair. His heart started beating faster, as he already knew y/n had been here hours, if not minutes ago. The clock in the Batmobile had indicated 3:49 a.m. when he left it.
“If you find her, she dies.”
Clenching his fists, Bruce knew what he was going to do.
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I'd like more Mattheo PLZ 🙏
Hi unfortunately requests are closed for the moment but please do it again (a more precise one perhaps?) next week when they'll be open again xx
Reblog to gain creative energy and to give more creative energy to the person you reblogged this from.
Hi there 🌼
I hope it’s okay that I’m reaching out. My name is Rola, and I’m a mother of two from Gaza. Life used to be simple—filled with laughter, home-cooked meals, walks with my children, and ice cream on weekends. But since October, everything has changed.
We lost our home in a bombing. One moment, we were sipping coffee on the balcony… the next, the house shook, windows shattered, and our world collapsed. We had to flee with nothing—no clothes, no toys, no sense of safety.
My children still ask about their beds, their books, their quiet little room. I don’t have answers. All I can do is hold them and keep going.
We’re now raising funds to evacuate—or, if returning becomes possible, to rebuild. I just want to give my children a future that isn’t defined by fear and loss.
If you’re able to help—by donating or even just sharing our story—it would mean everything 💛. Your kindness can bring us one step closer to healing.
Thank you for listening. And if you'd prefer not to receive messages like this, just let me know and I won’t reach out again.
With love and hope,
Rola | @rolafamily 🤍
👆👆
fandom etiquette as a whole died when people who didn’t grow up on fandoms became stans during lockdown, yes, but why am i seeing people openly mocking fics on twitter. why am i seeing screenshots of fics with captions like “bro what is this 😭.” why am i seeing people mock fic writers for not knowing how sports or theater or college or any other organization operates in the real world.
“college is absolutely nothing like this” “why are we writing four people on the team scoring a hat trick in one game” “so tech work is nothing like this, hope that helps!”
if you don’t like a fic, and if you can’t suspend your belief enough to enjoy a fic that exaggerates or ignores real-world orgs, you don’t have to read it. you don’t have to screenshot it and put it on blast for twitter. you don’t have to post a link to it in the replies. the back button is literally there on your phone. it’s not giving baby’s first fandom anymore, it’s giving entitled asshole and it isn’t as cute as you think it is.
merry crisis
Today starts suicide awareness week. Reblog to show your support! <3
life is good, just look at what it has given us so far…
marshmallows
hugs
tumblr
this sexy thing
music
bromances
and on top of all of that, life gave us the Once-ler :D
Lets Celebrate life, in general, yea life is a bitch, but there are so many awesome things life has to offer. It just takes a little searching to go find out what they are :)
date of origin: 9th of september, 2012.
With Every Heartbeat • Bale!Bruce Wayne x fem!Gordon!reader (Chapter XIII)
Requested: No
Pairing: Bale!Bruce Wayne x fem!reader
Story's synopsis: When y/n Gordon learned her billionaire boyfriend was also a vigilante at night a year ago, she knew it could be dangerous for her. But she listened to her heart and decided to choose to be happy with the man of her dreams. And after all, Bruce and her had agreed to keep their relationship secret - for her sake. But when the wrong person understands her closeness to Gotham’s protector, the reality of how cruel and mad some people are comes running back, and all is left to do is holding on. For as long as one’s heart beats.
Word count: 2.1 K
Chapter warnings: Hostage situation; mention of blood
A/N: The last chapter kinda flopped so I don't hape much hope for this one lol. I apologise for any mistake/typo. I also posted an OC version on Ao3 here. ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE.
Tag list: @helendeath @im-jesus
Tag list for this story: @deadofnight0 @unclearblur @christianbalefanatic @triptuckers
Series Masterlist
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
The last thing you remembered when you regained consciousness was the Joker throwing James out of the car, on a path of pebbles and small stones and you calling out his name before being knocked out. You had no idea where you guys had been then - and didn’t know whether James got hurt in his fall and if anyone, most preferably their dad and his colleagues, would be able to find him - and had also no idea where the Joker had taken you now. You were alone in what seemed to be a small basement that had no furniture in it, only a bulb on the ceiling that emitted a very bright light that slightly hurt your eyes.
Sitting down on the hard concrete floor, you shook your head, and ran one of your handcuffed hands over your face. If you hadn't felt so anxious and tired, being abducted again might have been funny, hilarious even. Like a bad joke or a prank. You looked at the door facing her, and contemplated getting up and trying to open it. It would be closed, of course. The Joker was a madman, not an idiot. But, just in case…You got up, and walked towards the other side of the room with the slight annoyance one feels when they’re about to do something they know is going to be useless. You pushed down the handle, and tried to open the door as silently as you could, in case the Joker or his men were on the other side, but as predicted, the door stayed closed. Well, at least you tried.
Trying to think rationally, you tried to stay calm. You didn’t have your watch on, so you couldn’t know what time it was. But Bruce would be back soon. Alfred would let him know something had happened to you, and he’d come for you. He had found you once, he could do it again. You just needed to be patient, calm, and not do anything foolish in the meantime. But then, you let out a frustrated groan. Bruce was literally on another continent, and he was supposed to be back later during the night, at worst early tomorrow morning. However, you didn’t know if his mission had gone well or if he’d have to stay in Hong Kong longer. Yes, your only hope was that Alfred would get worried about you not coming back and call Bruce, and the latter would come as soon as quickly as he could, mission accomplished or not. Yes, Alfred would surely notice you were gone and he’d call Bruce. You just needed to be patient. In a few hours, a day or two in the worst case scenario, it would all be over.
But suddenly, your stomach dropped with anxiety. During those few hours or days, who knew what the Joker had planned to do to you? Well, the “facial lacerations” case is already checked, so that’s one option off the list, but the said list was endless. To fight the growing panic of being abducted again, you tried to understand why the Joker took you again. Holding you and James hostage to escape the MCU headquarters could - and should - have been expected from the Joker, but why would he take you after? Did he plan on using you as leverage so the police would leave him alone? In that case, you just needed to be calm and patient. No, that was not it. Knowing him, he-
The noise of the door suddenly opening behind you startled you, and you tried to stay calm, even when the Joker came in, still wearing the same purple and green clothes you only saw him wear.
“Seems like déjà-vu, if I may,” you said calmly, but you regretted it almost immediately.
When James and you were kids, your father always told you two that, if you guys were ever kidnapped, you should follow five rules: stay calm, don’t act smart, don’t do anything stupid, do not ask obvious questions and speak as little as possible. And you just broke the second and fifth.
“Maybe,” he said. “But don’t worry, miss librarian, our time spent together is going to be much funnier than the last.”
You jumped in surprise when he walked closer to you and took your handcuffed hands to free them, not gentle but not rough either. With that, he looked at you one more time, making you shudder, turned around and walked out.
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
A few hours later
‘Master Wayne, it seems something has happened.’
As soon as Alfred had said those words on the phone, Bruce had immediately known it had to do with you. Otherwise, Alfred would have also said what that ‘something’ exactly was, without detour, and definitely without a worried tone. Bruce asked what it was, and the answer was the one he dreaded to hear. You had gone - rather urgently, it would seem - to see your brother at the MCU headquarters a few hours ago, and hadn’t come back. Alfred had obviously tried to call all of your family members, but none of them had answered. Sat in the seat inside the small plane he used to go to Hong Kong, he ran a hand over his face and let out a silent, angry sigh. At least he had already been in the plane when Alfred called, but it would take another few hours to get back to Gotham - another few hours where you were missing and he couldn’t actively be looking for you. Hours where anyone could hurt you in unimaginable ways, or worse. Damn it. Alfred had started the facial recognition system, just in case, but neither him or Bruce had high hopes it would work.
When the plane finally landed in Gotham, the sun hadn’t risen yet, but was about to. Holding Lau by the arm, Batman handed him to Dent and the officer that were with him, before his eyes instinctively went to the dark sky, where the Bat-signal was shining. The MCU officers usually turned it down after a while if he didn’t show, so for it to still be on at this hour was more than usual. Bruce walked to the Batmobile which he had parked nearby in a place where no one would see it before leaving for China, and drove to the MCU headquarters. He guessed that at least one of the Gordon men would be waiting for him, and when he got on the roof, he was proven right. Jim was there, arms crossed and deep in thought as he often was, though he seemed more tired and more anxious than usual. His son was there too, but he was pacing back and forth, running a hand through his brown hair. He was much paler than usual, and had a still bloody rather deep cut on his left temple. When he saw Bruce, his eyes widened and he immediately walked in his direction.
“My sister,” he said quickly in an anxious tone, “she- the Joker took her.”
Again.
“What happened?” Bruce asked.
“The Joker managed to escape his cell,” the older Gordon explained calmly. “He took my son hostage, took his phone and texted y/n to come. He said it was an emergency. She came, obviously, and the Joker took both her and James hostage to leave the headquarters. He had a car come and pick him up, and released James a few minutes later. But he kept y/n.”
“How did he escape?”
Bruce saw James gulp and become even paler. “It’s my fault. I…I don’t know what I was thinking, but I went inside his cell and…he taunted me. About y/n. And…I was idiot enough to not understand that he wanted me to snap. But it happened. I- I snapped, I punched him but he managed to take my gun and take me hostage. I told the guys to just shoot, I didn’t give a damn if I was also shot, but-”
He stopped and closed his eyes for a good minute. Bruce clenched his fist. He felt angry at the younger Gordon man, but it was useless to snap at him or even to let him know, as it was obvious that James was already sick with guilt, or soon would be. Also, knowing the kind of cop and father Jim was, James probably already got screamed at.
“Any other information?”
y/n and James’ father shook his head. “Not about Arielle, no. But after he took her, he killed six people today.”
“We need to find my sister,” James said immediately, pleading. “Before that son of a bitch hurts her again.”
Yes, we do.
After leaving the MCU, Bruce texted Alfred to tell him he had arrived, and was going to the underground basement. Bruce was already sitting in front of the monitors, no longer in the suit, when Alfred came in.
“Any news, sir?”
“The Joker took her.”
Again.
“That message from her brother was a trap.”
“Good heavens. Well, I think you should try to rest a little before-”
“You know I can’t,” Bruce cut him off. Just like last time, we don’t know what the Joker wants, and every minute that passes gives him the opportunity to hurt y/n even more.”
I should have insisted she come with me. Or should have made sure she couldn’t leave the house while I was gone.
He felt a bit tired, but nothing he couldn’t handle or not ignore. And whatever he was going to feel while looking for y/n - tired, hungry, anxious - was nothing compared to what the Joker could make you feel, even right now.
“Sir,” Alfred continued, “if I may, I believe he took Miss Gordon for the same reason he kidnapped her and hurt her the last time: to hurt you. He hoped - and still does - that, by breaking her, he’ll break you and you’ll do something you’ll regret for the rest of your life. Something that will make Gotham hate you.”
“Well, if you’re right,” Bruce answered, his eyes still on the screens, “he’ll fail again. He won’t break me. And he won’t break y/n.”
One part of him wasn’t so sure about that part, but he ignored it. He had to believe that y/n would hang on until he managed to find her. And he had to believe that he would be able to find her again.
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
The rest of the day felt exactly like the day after y/n had been kidnapped the first time. Bruce spent it mostly sitting in front of the monitors, while Gordon father and son were patrolling the whole city. He reluctantly drank the coffees Alfred brought him, in order to not feel tired anymore, but barely ate the food that came with it. The constant images of y/n being in that man’s claws closed his stomach. He sighed, trying to contain the growing frustration in his body, when the alert system he had set up in case the Joker, his name or his voice showed up on TV went off. Bruce quickly turned to the TV screen, where the evening newspaper announced the Joker had a message. A few seconds later, the latter appeared on the screen, his face close to the camera so that his surroundings couldn’t be seen.
“Well, Gotham, those news reports are a little depressing, aren’t they?But here’s something to brighten the mood. See, I have somebody really special with me: y/n Gordon. Be a good girl and say hello to everyone, Arielle, hum?”
The camera then switched and Bruce’s heart clenched when y/n appeared, sitting on the floor against a wall, apparently calm - and, thank God, apparently unharmed. She didn’t answer, only looking at the Joker with tiredness before looking away, shy as usual, but Bruce could tell she didn’t want to give her kidnapper the satisfaction. The Joker had a sort of ‘hum’ at her silence, which didn’t make it clear whether he was unfazed or disappointed by it, and turned the camera back on him, flicking his tongue out.
“y/n here is very special, because you see, Batman is very fond of her. Can’t blame him, really. She’s a sweet little thing, and we have a lot of fun together. So much so that she gave me an idea: as long as she’s here in good company with me, no one will get hurt. No more deaths, no more tears, no more chaos. And, she can leave anytime she wants. The door will be open. However, her first night of freedom will be some people’s last night alive. I’m a man of my word.”
The Joker laughed, and barely a second later, the broadcast returned to normal.
NEXT CHAPTER
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With Every Heartbeat • Bale!Bruce Wayne x fem!Gordon!reader (Chapter XII)
Requested: No
Pairing: Bale!Bruce Wayne x fem!reader
Story's synopsis: When y/n Gordon learned her billionaire boyfriend was also a vigilante at night a year ago, she knew it could be dangerous for her. But she listened to her heart and decided to choose to be happy with the man of her dreams. And after all, Bruce and her had agreed to keep their relationship secret - for her sake. But when the wrong person understands her closeness to Gotham’s protector, the reality of how cruel and mad some people are comes running back, and all is left to do is holding on. For as long as one’s heart beats.
Word count: 3.3 K
Chapter warnings: Hostage situation; mention of blood
A/N: We're entering the third and last act of this story! There is a lot of foreshadowing in this chapter so make sure you read it carefully ;) I apologise for any mistake/typo. I also posted an OC version on Ao3 here. ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE.
Tag list: @helendeath @im-jesus
Tag list for this story: @deadofnight0 @unclearblur @christianbalefanatic @triptuckers
Series Masterlist
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
“What will happen to the Joker, now?”
As you expected, your question took everyone off guard. You knew it was probably better to never think about that man again, and that’s what you planned to do - but only when you would know for sure the place where they’d lock him - and hopefully throw the key.
“He’ll stay at the MCU for a few days,” your father answered calmly. “Then, Dent agreed to have him put in prison. But I suppose he won’t be there for long, they’ll put him to Arkham soon after.”
“I don’t like repeating myself, but you didn’t need to be there last night,” James insisted, a glass of wine in his hand. “As long as the Joker was there alone, we only needed one second to catch him. We should never have never let you be there in the first place.”
The four of you were all in the living room, you and Bruce sitting on a sofa side by side and your father and brother on the opposite sofa. James was the only one drinking - your father rarely drank, just like you, and as for Bruce, well, you sometimes wondered if he could name any alcohol besides the champagne he sometimes pretended to drink in public. Outside, the sky was clear and the sun was shining, as if it even was happy that the Joker was at last behind bars.
You shook your head and sighed in annoyance.
“You’ve been saying that ever since you got there, James. Either change the subject or be quiet.”
“She’s right,” your father responded. “What’s done is done.”
But you knew that, deep down, he agreed with his son.
“How about dinner, all together?” you proposed, taking a sip of your apple juice. “You two, mom, Bette, and us. Either here or at the penthouse.” You turned to Bruce, who gave you a small, single nod.
“Excellent idea.”
“Why not. Neither us nor your mother are working this week-end, so why not Saturday night?” your father said.
“Do Bette work this weekend?” you turned to James, who shrugged.
“Dunno, probably.”
“I wonder how she can stand you,” you muttered. “She probably dreams of hitting you with her racquet.”
“Don’t start, y/n.”
You shrugged. Honestly, though. Bette and James have been together for five years, and he still has no idea what her schedule is. Bruce and I have only been dating for a year and a half and he knows. Just like I’d know if he has a clear schedule.
“Your mother is supposed to come tomorrow, right?” your father told you.
You nodded, “Yes, she is.”
“Are you planning on telling her what happened?” he asked. “I understand you wanted to spare her, and so did I, but now that everything is over, it may be time to tell her. She’d want to know.”
James shifted. “What mom doesn’t know can’t hurt her.”
“Agreed,” you nodded again. “I’m not sure what’s the point in telling her. She’ll just scold me like I’m a child.”
Your father took a sip of his lemonade. “Still better than what she’ll have planned for me.”
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
The next day, there were grey clouds in the sky when your mother arrived, immediately hugging you tightly as usual. She looked less tired than usual, happy even.
“When I got home from work yesterday, your father had gotten me flowers,” she said with a smile, sitting on the sofa next to you.
“Were they nice?”
“Oh, yes. When I saw them, I immediately asked him what vase he broke.”
You two had a small laugh, and for the first time in months, everything felt right. Do I want to ruin this moment? She’ll be so mad at dad.
“I’m glad things are better between the two of you,” you smiled. “I mean it. I…hated seeing you two constantly fight when I was a teen.”
Your mother’s face tensed in guilt. “I know, honey. I’m sorry you had to go through that. By the way, your father said you want everyone to come here for dinner on Saturday. Does the offer still stand?”
“Yep. I’ll try to convince Alfred to let me use the kitchen., but I see he saw my poor cooking skills from a mile away.”
Your mother had a chuckle. “You’re always too harsh on yourself. I’ve tasted your cooking, and it’s actually pretty good. I’ll help you, if you want. I can make that chocolate cake I usually do for your birthday, if you’d like. Your father isn’t so bad in the kitchen but James, God help anyone who has to cook anything he’d cook.”
You laughed. “Right. I hope for Bette’s sake that she has hired a chef.”
“Does Bruce cook?” your mother asked.
You nodded with a smile, “Sometimes, yes. And he’s actually pretty good.”
“Then keep him close, “ your mother smiled, her tone teasing. “Men who cook are rare.”
Wanna be chefs, billionaire vigilantes are even rarer. You remembered the few times, mostly at the penthouse, when Bruce would make you breakfast to bring it to you in bed or when the dinner he cooked when you had managed to convince dear Alfred to take an evening off - “I expect an immaculate kitchen when I return,” he had said before leaving.
All of a sudden, your mother’s face became serious. “Have you heard that…the Joker was finally arrested? Your father refused to tell me much about it.”
Suddenly, flashes of the moment you had spent with him in the warehouse, facing his twisted sense of humor and euphemism, came into your mind. Pulling yourself together, you felt your cheeks become pink. Ever since you were a child, your mother usually could tell when you lied.
“He and James mentioned it yesterday when they came, yes.”
Your mother had a compassionate yet slightly sad smile. “You must be relieved.”
You exhaled, “Like all the people he hurt, I guess.”
“Are you okay, though? Everything you went through…It can’t be erased in a span of a few weeks.”
“I’m fine, mom,” you answered right away, forcing your lips to form a smile which you hoped was convincing. “I don’t need therapy or something like that. I just need…peace. Normality.”
As much as I can have with those scars of my face and the memories in my head.
Your mother reached for your hand. “You deserve it, sweetheart.”
After your mother left two hours later, you felt guilty for not telling her about the Joker’s “gifts” and your role in his arrest. It’s for the best, you tried to tell yourself.
“Are you quite well, miss?” Alfred asked, carrying a tray. “Should I go get Master Wayne?”
“No, thank you, Alfred,” you said with a small smile before sighing. “I just…feel bad about keeping what happened to my mother. I did want to tell her before she came, but I saw how happy she was, I just couldn’t.”
Alfred put the tray on the coffee table, where he then put the cup of tea he had offered to make you moments before.
“If I may, you had the best intentions, miss. Your mother wants you to be safe and happy, and that’s what yourself wants for her as well. It shows how much the two of you love each other. And I’m sure your father and brother feel the same way about the other, but also about you and your mother. That is what family means, miss. Master Wayne had that, as well.”
You closed your eyes for a second. “Every time I think about him growing up without his parents, my heart breaks.” you turned to the white haired man. “But I’m glad he had you, though.”
Alfred had a polite yet warm smile. “That’s very kind of you to say, miss.”
At that moment, a door closing and footsteps were heard in the kitchen, and Bruce soon appeared, having finished his work in the basement.
“I found some new info about some of the Joker’s men. I think I can find at least one of them tonight.”
“Very well, sir.”
Alfred left with a nod, and both you and Bruce went to sit on the sofa. Without realizing it, you put your head on his shoulder, and his hand quickly went to reach for yours.
“You didn’t tell her.”
“I couldn’t,” you sighed. “She’s had enough with my dad and James putting themselves in danger nearly everyday. She doesn’t need to imagine me doing it. In her eyes, I’m the child who chose a safe job.”
“Well, the chances of a book suddenly falling off the shelf and hitting your head are low, but not zero.”
You had a short laugh. “Touché.”
He kissed your brow, and brought his arm around you, allowing you to put your head into the crook of his neck, inhaling his familiar, enjoyable scent.
“Maybe it’s time to think about the future,” he said almost in a whisper.
“What, you’re already thinking about the next crazy guy you’re gonna have to face? I’m betting on a huge guy who wants to completely destroy Gotham. Or an alien.”
Bruce chuckled, and that was the best sound you had ever heard.
“I was actually thinking about us.”
“You mean, the future until next week or, like, in ten years?”
“Both. How about we go out next week? We could have dinner in that place you like.”
“The one with the tacos?” you asked, “Or the place you like, where nearly everything has a French name?”
The two of you laughed together and you put your arm around his waist.
“You pick.”
You sniffed. “Do I have time to think about it? To be honest I…I don’t really feel like going out of the house. Right now, at least.”
“Of course. It’s not like I don’t own both places anyway.”
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
Over the next few days, Bruce managed to catch several of the Joker’s men, whom James was more than happy to put behind bars. However, the mobsters of Gotham still needed to be also put behind bars, and Bruce had found that the man who managed their money, a Chinese CEO, had flown back to Hong Kong after James and her father had come close to finding the money in one of the banks the mobsters had put it. And thus, that was where Bruce needed to go, in order to bring him back. As Lucius Fox had already prepared what Bruce had asked for for this particular task, Bruce would leave the day after and would be back in two days, which didn’t sound but felt like a long time to you. He had offered you to come along, of course, and be a tourist while he worked, but as much as you had appreciated the offer, you planned on going back to work - only one of you could afford to not have a salary - and while Hong Kong sounded like a very interesting city, the mere thought of being somewhere you didn’t know at all scared you too much to go.
The next day, Bruce put his bags - a big one with his suit and whatever gadgets he thought he would need there and a smaller one with some normal clothes and belongings to act like a tourist - in the car and went back to kiss you goodbye. Incapable of stopping yourself, and hoping he wouldn’t mind, you wrapped your arms about his neck and kissed him again before hugging him.
“I’m not going away for a year, love,” he said, apparently amused.
“I know. But it feels like it.”
“Call Vicki and your brother’s girlfriend to have a pyjama party. I’ll probably be back before Vicki leaves.”
You laughed, and then nodded. “After all, why not? They get along.”
Then, you looked at Bruce, suddenly thinking about his dark suit in the car truck.
“Promise me you’ll be careful. I know that I ask you to promise that every night you go on patrol,” you sighed, “but…It’s not the same, alright? This time you’ll be on another continent. Alfred and I, or even my father and James can’t help you if anything happens.”
“Lucius is coming with me, Bruce assured you, stroking your hair. “I trust him. But if that makes you feel better, I promise I’ll be careful. It will be easy.”
You nodded, barely feeling better, and he kissed you quickly one last time.
“I love you,” you whispered.
“I love you, too. Don’t act foolish before I come back.”
“No chance, mister I-scare-criminals-as-a-hobby.”
He gave you a barely amused look before walking to the car, turning back to look at you one last time before getting in. You watched the car driving away, and had to almost force yourself to close the door and ignore that bad feeling you had. I need to trust him. He knows what he’s doing. You watched a movie, tried to read, but, feeling completely alone, you called Vicki and Bette.
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
The next day, Alfred was in the kitchen preparing breakfast when you woke up. You called your manager Emma to ask if you could go back to your normal schedule and your motyou texted you to ask if you wanted to go get groceries for the dinner planned at the end of the week togetyou . Promising yourself to not forget the black ring when you’d go to work, you checked your phone, and saw Bruce had sent you a message saying everything was going well, which eased your worry a little. You taped an answer, requesting a phone call, and read a book while waiting for his answer. An hour later, your phone buzzed, but it was a text from James that appeared on your phone’s screen.
You grabbed your phone, expecting a text about his work or even maybe the planned dinner. But your heart froze when you saw the message your brother had sent you.
Please come to the MCU, it’s urgent. Problem. Need to explain in person.
You had to read the message a second time to make sure you had understood. James rarely sent you texts while he was at work, unless he had a bit of free time there - which was obviously extremely rare. Frowning and feeling a bit suspicious, you tried to call him but he didn’t answer. What if it’s dad? you quickly rose from the sofa, and barely two minutes later, you were ready to go, about to open the main door when Alfred appeared in the foyer.
“Miss?”
“My brother sent me a message,” you quickly explained, “there’s something wrong at the MCU. I gotta go.”
Alfred frowned, seemingly worried. “Would you like me to drive you there, Miss?” he asked.
“Don’t worry, Alfred, I’ll be alright, thank you.”
Giving him a grateful smile, you left the house and took your car. You drove through the palisades, and it had seemed like an hour had passed before you finally reached the center of the city, and then the MCU headquarters. By some luck, you managed to park right before the small building. When you came inside, there was no one in the small entrance area, but what really worried you was that there was no noise. The few times you had come here - trying to be a good daughter and sister by bringing James and your father lunch - there were either at least a few bored conversations or everyone was speaking and moving around at the same time. But now, there was a complete silence - in comparison, Bruce’s cave seemed almost loud. That’s weird. Did they all leave?
“Hello?” you called out, walking around the entrance.
Almost immediately, you heard someone moving and grunting, like they were trying to move but, for some reason, couldn’t. The noise seemed to come from the main room, where everyone’s desks were. You walked towards it, and when you entered it, immediately froze at the sight before you. In semi-darkness, among the messy desks filled with papers, several officers - your father wasn’t here - were standing, pointing their guns in the middle of the room, where the Joker, whose makeup slightly disappeared on some parts of his face, had an arm wrapped rightly around James’ neck and, with his other hand, was holding a gun against his temple. Forcing yourself to look away from your brother’s face, you lowered your eyes and saw, on the ground near James’ feet, his phone. Well, that explains the weird message.
You forced yourself to take steps forwards, and everyone’s gaze was all of a sudden on you. James’ eyes widened in panic when he saw you.
“y/n, don’t- go, now!”
But the Joker held him tighter, frowning in what seemed to be annoyance, and then turned to you.
“Ah, the little dove. I appreciate you joining us tonight. Considering the way things ended the last time we saw each other, I simply wanted to make sure you and I were still on good terms.”
“What do you want?” you asked, ignoring his words.
The Joker cleared his throat, and seemed to think for half a second.
“Hmm, I only want you and your big brother here to come on a little ride.”
James as well? I understand why he’d want to take me, but why him?
“Why?”
You tried not to show it, but you were terrified. Not for you, but for your big brother. Your heart was beating much faster than it should have and you had to force yourself to breathe.
“You always ask a lot of questions, don’t you?”
“And what will you do, if we refuse?” you asked, ignoring his word once again.
“Oh,” the Joker answered, apparently a bit surprised byyour question, “I’ll make this place blow up after I blow dear Jamie’s head.”
You gulped, and let out a silent, deep breath.
“I’ll come with you if you want,” you said as calmly as you could, “but only if you let my brother go.”
“Hm, hm”, the Joker shook his head, “no can do. You’re both coming.”
“y/n,” James managed to say, “don’t listen to him, don’t-”
You looked at him and had a small smile.
“It’s gonna be alright, Jimmy.” You turned back to the Joker and had a small sigh, “We’ll go with you.”
For God’s sake, I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ll probably get both of us killed.
“Remember the exercise, class,” the Joker continued in a merry tone, addressing the police officers around you, “anyone who makes one step in our direction will be the one to clean up the blood and the brain parts.”
He started walking in your direction, his arm still around James’ neck. When he got close, he grabbed you, mumbling something that sounded like “come ‘ere”, and pulled you close to him, like a human shield. He led the two of you towards the door, moving back so he could still look at the officers. He continued until the three of you were in the entrance area, then outside. To your great surprise - and you even felt surprised to be surprised - there was a car waiting outside. You couldn’t see the driver clearly, but could see he was wearing a clown mask. It’s alright. I’m wearing the black ring, so Bruce will find us. We just need to hold on until Bruce comes.
Some officers followed you guys outside, their guns still pointed at the Joker, their gaze sometimes moving to both James and you for a quick second. Standing next to the car, the Joker looked at you and gestured for you to get in. You opened the door, sat in the back seat. You saw the driver had a gun on his lap, and the Joker sat beside you, managing to do it while still holding James. With his free hand, the Joker went to close the door, and the car immediately drove away.
“Where to, boss?” the driver asked.
It’s alright, you thought again, forcing yourself to stay calm. I’m wearing the black ring, which means Bruce will be able to locate us. We just need to hold on until Bruce-
You lowered your eyes and almost gasped.
You didn’t have the black ring on.
NEXT CHAPTER
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With Every Heartbeat • Bale!Bruce Wayne x fem!Gordon!reader (Chapter XII)
Requested: No
Pairing: Bale!Bruce Wayne x fem!reader
Story's synopsis: When y/n Gordon learned her billionaire boyfriend was also a vigilante at night a year ago, she knew it could be dangerous for her. But she listened to her heart and decided to choose to be happy with the man of her dreams. And after all, Bruce and her had agreed to keep their relationship secret - for her sake. But when the wrong person understands her closeness to Gotham’s protector, the reality of how cruel and mad some people are comes running back, and all is left to do is holding on. For as long as one’s heart beats.
Word count: 3.3 K
Chapter warnings: Hostage situation; mention of blood
A/N: We're entering the third and last act of this story! There is a lot of foreshadowing in this chapter so make sure you read it carefully ;) I apologise for any mistake/typo. I also posted an OC version on Ao3 here. ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE.
Tag list: @helendeath @im-jesus
Tag list for this story: @deadofnight0 @unclearblur @christianbalefanatic @triptuckers
Series Masterlist
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
“What will happen to the Joker, now?”
As you expected, your question took everyone off guard. You knew it was probably better to never think about that man again, and that’s what you planned to do - but only when you would know for sure the place where they’d lock him - and hopefully throw the key.
“He’ll stay at the MCU for a few days,” your father answered calmly. “Then, Dent agreed to have him put in prison. But I suppose he won’t be there for long, they’ll put him to Arkham soon after.”
“I don’t like repeating myself, but you didn’t need to be there last night,” James insisted, a glass of wine in his hand. “As long as the Joker was there alone, we only needed one second to catch him. We should never have never let you be there in the first place.”
The four of you were all in the living room, you and Bruce sitting on a sofa side by side and your father and brother on the opposite sofa. James was the only one drinking - your father rarely drank, just like you, and as for Bruce, well, you sometimes wondered if he could name any alcohol besides the champagne he sometimes pretended to drink in public. Outside, the sky was clear and the sun was shining, as if it even was happy that the Joker was at last behind bars.
You shook your head and sighed in annoyance.
“You’ve been saying that ever since you got there, James. Either change the subject or be quiet.”
“She’s right,” your father responded. “What’s done is done.”
But you knew that, deep down, he agreed with his son.
“How about dinner, all together?” you proposed, taking a sip of your apple juice. “You two, mom, Bette, and us. Either here or at the penthouse.” You turned to Bruce, who gave you a small, single nod.
“Excellent idea.”
“Why not. Neither us nor your mother are working this week-end, so why not Saturday night?” your father said.
“Do Bette work this weekend?” you turned to James, who shrugged.
“Dunno, probably.”
“I wonder how she can stand you,” you muttered. “She probably dreams of hitting you with her racquet.”
“Don’t start, y/n.”
You shrugged. Honestly, though. Bette and James have been together for five years, and he still has no idea what her schedule is. Bruce and I have only been dating for a year and a half and he knows. Just like I’d know if he has a clear schedule.
“Your mother is supposed to come tomorrow, right?” your father told you.
You nodded, “Yes, she is.”
“Are you planning on telling her what happened?” he asked. “I understand you wanted to spare her, and so did I, but now that everything is over, it may be time to tell her. She’d want to know.”
James shifted. “What mom doesn’t know can’t hurt her.”
“Agreed,” you nodded again. “I’m not sure what’s the point in telling her. She’ll just scold me like I’m a child.”
Your father took a sip of his lemonade. “Still better than what she’ll have planned for me.”
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
The next day, there were grey clouds in the sky when your mother arrived, immediately hugging you tightly as usual. She looked less tired than usual, happy even.
“When I got home from work yesterday, your father had gotten me flowers,” she said with a smile, sitting on the sofa next to you.
“Were they nice?”
“Oh, yes. When I saw them, I immediately asked him what vase he broke.”
You two had a small laugh, and for the first time in months, everything felt right. Do I want to ruin this moment? She’ll be so mad at dad.
“I’m glad things are better between the two of you,” you smiled. “I mean it. I…hated seeing you two constantly fight when I was a teen.”
Your mother’s face tensed in guilt. “I know, honey. I’m sorry you had to go through that. By the way, your father said you want everyone to come here for dinner on Saturday. Does the offer still stand?”
“Yep. I’ll try to convince Alfred to let me use the kitchen., but I see he saw my poor cooking skills from a mile away.”
Your mother had a chuckle. “You’re always too harsh on yourself. I’ve tasted your cooking, and it’s actually pretty good. I’ll help you, if you want. I can make that chocolate cake I usually do for your birthday, if you’d like. Your father isn’t so bad in the kitchen but James, God help anyone who has to cook anything he’d cook.”
You laughed. “Right. I hope for Bette’s sake that she has hired a chef.”
“Does Bruce cook?” your mother asked.
You nodded with a smile, “Sometimes, yes. And he’s actually pretty good.”
“Then keep him close, “ your mother smiled, her tone teasing. “Men who cook are rare.”
Wanna be chefs, billionaire vigilantes are even rarer. You remembered the few times, mostly at the penthouse, when Bruce would make you breakfast to bring it to you in bed or when the dinner he cooked when you had managed to convince dear Alfred to take an evening off - “I expect an immaculate kitchen when I return,” he had said before leaving.
All of a sudden, your mother’s face became serious. “Have you heard that…the Joker was finally arrested? Your father refused to tell me much about it.”
Suddenly, flashes of the moment you had spent with him in the warehouse, facing his twisted sense of humor and euphemism, came into your mind. Pulling yourself together, you felt your cheeks become pink. Ever since you were a child, your mother usually could tell when you lied.
“He and James mentioned it yesterday when they came, yes.”
Your mother had a compassionate yet slightly sad smile. “You must be relieved.”
You exhaled, “Like all the people he hurt, I guess.”
“Are you okay, though? Everything you went through…It can’t be erased in a span of a few weeks.”
“I’m fine, mom,” you answered right away, forcing your lips to form a smile which you hoped was convincing. “I don’t need therapy or something like that. I just need…peace. Normality.”
As much as I can have with those scars of my face and the memories in my head.
Your mother reached for your hand. “You deserve it, sweetheart.”
After your mother left two hours later, you felt guilty for not telling her about the Joker’s “gifts” and your role in his arrest. It’s for the best, you tried to tell yourself.
“Are you quite well, miss?” Alfred asked, carrying a tray. “Should I go get Master Wayne?”
“No, thank you, Alfred,” you said with a small smile before sighing. “I just…feel bad about keeping what happened to my mother. I did want to tell her before she came, but I saw how happy she was, I just couldn’t.”
Alfred put the tray on the coffee table, where he then put the cup of tea he had offered to make you moments before.
“If I may, you had the best intentions, miss. Your mother wants you to be safe and happy, and that’s what yourself wants for her as well. It shows how much the two of you love each other. And I’m sure your father and brother feel the same way about the other, but also about you and your mother. That is what family means, miss. Master Wayne had that, as well.”
You closed your eyes for a second. “Every time I think about him growing up without his parents, my heart breaks.” you turned to the white haired man. “But I’m glad he had you, though.”
Alfred had a polite yet warm smile. “That’s very kind of you to say, miss.”
At that moment, a door closing and footsteps were heard in the kitchen, and Bruce soon appeared, having finished his work in the basement.
“I found some new info about some of the Joker’s men. I think I can find at least one of them tonight.”
“Very well, sir.”
Alfred left with a nod, and both you and Bruce went to sit on the sofa. Without realizing it, you put your head on his shoulder, and his hand quickly went to reach for yours.
“You didn’t tell her.”
“I couldn’t,” you sighed. “She’s had enough with my dad and James putting themselves in danger nearly everyday. She doesn’t need to imagine me doing it. In her eyes, I’m the child who chose a safe job.”
“Well, the chances of a book suddenly falling off the shelf and hitting your head are low, but not zero.”
You had a short laugh. “Touché.”
He kissed your brow, and brought his arm around you, allowing you to put your head into the crook of his neck, inhaling his familiar, enjoyable scent.
“Maybe it’s time to think about the future,” he said almost in a whisper.
“What, you’re already thinking about the next crazy guy you’re gonna have to face? I’m betting on a huge guy who wants to completely destroy Gotham. Or an alien.”
Bruce chuckled, and that was the best sound you had ever heard.
“I was actually thinking about us.”
“You mean, the future until next week or, like, in ten years?”
“Both. How about we go out next week? We could have dinner in that place you like.”
“The one with the tacos?” you asked, “Or the place you like, where nearly everything has a French name?”
The two of you laughed together and you put your arm around his waist.
“You pick.”
You sniffed. “Do I have time to think about it? To be honest I…I don’t really feel like going out of the house. Right now, at least.”
“Of course. It’s not like I don’t own both places anyway.”
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
Over the next few days, Bruce managed to catch several of the Joker’s men, whom James was more than happy to put behind bars. However, the mobsters of Gotham still needed to be also put behind bars, and Bruce had found that the man who managed their money, a Chinese CEO, had flown back to Hong Kong after James and her father had come close to finding the money in one of the banks the mobsters had put it. And thus, that was where Bruce needed to go, in order to bring him back. As Lucius Fox had already prepared what Bruce had asked for for this particular task, Bruce would leave the day after and would be back in two days, which didn’t sound but felt like a long time to you. He had offered you to come along, of course, and be a tourist while he worked, but as much as you had appreciated the offer, you planned on going back to work - only one of you could afford to not have a salary - and while Hong Kong sounded like a very interesting city, the mere thought of being somewhere you didn’t know at all scared you too much to go.
The next day, Bruce put his bags - a big one with his suit and whatever gadgets he thought he would need there and a smaller one with some normal clothes and belongings to act like a tourist - in the car and went back to kiss you goodbye. Incapable of stopping yourself, and hoping he wouldn’t mind, you wrapped your arms about his neck and kissed him again before hugging him.
“I’m not going away for a year, love,” he said, apparently amused.
“I know. But it feels like it.”
“Call Vicki and your brother’s girlfriend to have a pyjama party. I’ll probably be back before Vicki leaves.”
You laughed, and then nodded. “After all, why not? They get along.”
Then, you looked at Bruce, suddenly thinking about his dark suit in the car truck.
“Promise me you’ll be careful. I know that I ask you to promise that every night you go on patrol,” you sighed, “but…It’s not the same, alright? This time you’ll be on another continent. Alfred and I, or even my father and James can’t help you if anything happens.”
“Lucius is coming with me, Bruce assured you, stroking your hair. “I trust him. But if that makes you feel better, I promise I’ll be careful. It will be easy.”
You nodded, barely feeling better, and he kissed you quickly one last time.
“I love you,” you whispered.
“I love you, too. Don’t act foolish before I come back.”
“No chance, mister I-scare-criminals-as-a-hobby.”
He gave you a barely amused look before walking to the car, turning back to look at you one last time before getting in. You watched the car driving away, and had to almost force yourself to close the door and ignore that bad feeling you had. I need to trust him. He knows what he’s doing. You watched a movie, tried to read, but, feeling completely alone, you called Vicki and Bette.
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
The next day, Alfred was in the kitchen preparing breakfast when you woke up. You called your manager Emma to ask if you could go back to your normal schedule and your motyou texted you to ask if you wanted to go get groceries for the dinner planned at the end of the week togetyou . Promising yourself to not forget the black ring when you’d go to work, you checked your phone, and saw Bruce had sent you a message saying everything was going well, which eased your worry a little. You taped an answer, requesting a phone call, and read a book while waiting for his answer. An hour later, your phone buzzed, but it was a text from James that appeared on your phone’s screen.
You grabbed your phone, expecting a text about his work or even maybe the planned dinner. But your heart froze when you saw the message your brother had sent you.
Please come to the MCU, it’s urgent. Problem. Need to explain in person.
You had to read the message a second time to make sure you had understood. James rarely sent you texts while he was at work, unless he had a bit of free time there - which was obviously extremely rare. Frowning and feeling a bit suspicious, you tried to call him but he didn’t answer. What if it’s dad? you quickly rose from the sofa, and barely two minutes later, you were ready to go, about to open the main door when Alfred appeared in the foyer.
“Miss?”
“My brother sent me a message,” you quickly explained, “there’s something wrong at the MCU. I gotta go.”
Alfred frowned, seemingly worried. “Would you like me to drive you there, Miss?” he asked.
“Don’t worry, Alfred, I’ll be alright, thank you.”
Giving him a grateful smile, you left the house and took your car. You drove through the palisades, and it had seemed like an hour had passed before you finally reached the center of the city, and then the MCU headquarters. By some luck, you managed to park right before the small building. When you came inside, there was no one in the small entrance area, but what really worried you was that there was no noise. The few times you had come here - trying to be a good daughter and sister by bringing James and your father lunch - there were either at least a few bored conversations or everyone was speaking and moving around at the same time. But now, there was a complete silence - in comparison, Bruce’s cave seemed almost loud. That’s weird. Did they all leave?
“Hello?” you called out, walking around the entrance.
Almost immediately, you heard someone moving and grunting, like they were trying to move but, for some reason, couldn’t. The noise seemed to come from the main room, where everyone’s desks were. You walked towards it, and when you entered it, immediately froze at the sight before you. In semi-darkness, among the messy desks filled with papers, several officers - your father wasn’t here - were standing, pointing their guns in the middle of the room, where the Joker, whose makeup slightly disappeared on some parts of his face, had an arm wrapped rightly around James’ neck and, with his other hand, was holding a gun against his temple. Forcing yourself to look away from your brother’s face, you lowered your eyes and saw, on the ground near James’ feet, his phone. Well, that explains the weird message.
You forced yourself to take steps forwards, and everyone’s gaze was all of a sudden on you. James’ eyes widened in panic when he saw you.
“y/n, don’t- go, now!”
But the Joker held him tighter, frowning in what seemed to be annoyance, and then turned to you.
“Ah, the little dove. I appreciate you joining us tonight. Considering the way things ended the last time we saw each other, I simply wanted to make sure you and I were still on good terms.”
“What do you want?” you asked, ignoring his words.
The Joker cleared his throat, and seemed to think for half a second.
“Hmm, I only want you and your big brother here to come on a little ride.”
James as well? I understand why he’d want to take me, but why him?
“Why?”
You tried not to show it, but you were terrified. Not for you, but for your big brother. Your heart was beating much faster than it should have and you had to force yourself to breathe.
“You always ask a lot of questions, don’t you?”
“And what will you do, if we refuse?” you asked, ignoring his word once again.
“Oh,” the Joker answered, apparently a bit surprised byyour question, “I’ll make this place blow up after I blow dear Jamie’s head.”
You gulped, and let out a silent, deep breath.
“I’ll come with you if you want,” you said as calmly as you could, “but only if you let my brother go.”
“Hm, hm”, the Joker shook his head, “no can do. You’re both coming.”
“y/n,” James managed to say, “don’t listen to him, don’t-”
You looked at him and had a small smile.
“It’s gonna be alright, Jimmy.” You turned back to the Joker and had a small sigh, “We’ll go with you.”
For God’s sake, I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ll probably get both of us killed.
“Remember the exercise, class,” the Joker continued in a merry tone, addressing the police officers around you, “anyone who makes one step in our direction will be the one to clean up the blood and the brain parts.”
He started walking in your direction, his arm still around James’ neck. When he got close, he grabbed you, mumbling something that sounded like “come ‘ere”, and pulled you close to him, like a human shield. He led the two of you towards the door, moving back so he could still look at the officers. He continued until the three of you were in the entrance area, then outside. To your great surprise - and you even felt surprised to be surprised - there was a car waiting outside. You couldn’t see the driver clearly, but could see he was wearing a clown mask. It’s alright. I’m wearing the black ring, so Bruce will find us. We just need to hold on until Bruce comes.
Some officers followed you guys outside, their guns still pointed at the Joker, their gaze sometimes moving to both James and you for a quick second. Standing next to the car, the Joker looked at you and gestured for you to get in. You opened the door, sat in the back seat. You saw the driver had a gun on his lap, and the Joker sat beside you, managing to do it while still holding James. With his free hand, the Joker went to close the door, and the car immediately drove away.
“Where to, boss?” the driver asked.
It’s alright, you thought again, forcing yourself to stay calm. I’m wearing the black ring, which means Bruce will be able to locate us. We just need to hold on until Bruce-
You lowered your eyes and almost gasped.
You didn’t have the black ring on.
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With Every Heartbeat • Bale!Bruce Wayne x fem!Gordon!reader (Chapter XI)
Requested: No
Pairing: Bale!Bruce Wayne x fem!reader
Story's synopsis: When y/n Gordon learned her billionaire boyfriend was also a vigilante at night a year ago, she knew it could be dangerous for her. But she listened to her heart and decided to choose to be happy with the man of her dreams. And after all, Bruce and her had agreed to keep their relationship secret - for her sake. But when the wrong person understands her closeness to Gotham’s protector, the reality of how cruel and mad some people are comes running back, and all is left to do is holding on. For as long as one’s heart beats.
Word count: 3.3 K
Chapter warnings: Anxiety, stress, slight PTSD; fluff
A/N: If may the most boring chapter yet lmao I'm sorry. I apologise for any mistake/typo. I also posted an OC version on Ao3 here. ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE.
Tag list: @helendeath @im-jesus
Tag list for this story: @deadofnight0 @unclearblur @christianbalefanatic @triptuckers
Series Masterlist
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
“He says,” James had also told you, “that the meeting is gonna take place tomorrow night, at the warehouse like you suggested, and says he’ll come alone. My colleague will be given the exact hour of the meeting tomorrow, I’ll give it to you the second I get it, so I’d advise you to be ready to go at any time. Dad and I will come visit after lunch.”
That night, you went to bed but only managed to sleep when Bruce came back from patrol - during which he probably tried to catch the Joker one last time before you had to become involved.
Everything is going well, you had thought in the morning, while Bruce and you were sitting around the table in the living room. Too well. Is he suspecting - or preparing - something? Will he actually come alone?
“What would the two of you like for breakfast?” Alfred asked, putting two cups of coffee on the table in front of Bruce and you. “Even though I guess the answer will be ‘nothing’.”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing, thank you, Alfred.”
Bruce, who had been lost in thought just like you had been, raised his head to look at you.
“You should eat.”
“I’m not hungry,” you said with a small smile. “I usually can’t eat anything when I’m anxious.”
“You can’t still back up and not go. No one will be mad at you.”
You shook your head gently, still smiling. “No, it’s too late.”
“It’s not,” Bruce explained calmly. “If the Joker believes you’ll go to the warehouse tonight, he’ll go. He comes, I catch him, and this is it. You don’t need to be here.”
“And when he escapes from whatever place they lock him in,” you answered, “he comes for me or my family.”
“That’s still true if you go,” Bruce argued.
And knowing he was right, you did not answer.
The rest of the morning went extremely slowly, as went any hours before something important, either good or bad, is supposed to happen. Alfred went to open the warehouse and put secret mics inside it, your mother visited you, unaware of what was happening, and the thought that the meeting might not go well made you feel really bad for not telling her. Lunch consisted of Bruce not eating anything and you barely able to eat two bites of the food in your plate, and at sunset, James and your father came - which seemed to have become a pattern - and it both relaxed you a bit and made you truly realize what was going to happen, and made your anxiety rise. Bruce greeted them with his usual politeness but didn’t let the two men say anything else before speaking.
“I don’t want y/n to do this,” he said, which made you sigh. “I think we can stop the Joker without having to put her through it.”
“‘We’?” James had a genuine small laugh. “Why, you’re planning on being there tonight, Bruce?”
“I’m afraid you can’t,” yours and James’ father immediately responded politely but firmly. “I understand waiting here will be stressful and annoying for you, but one civilian involved is already enough.”
Goodness, if they only knew how much of a ‘civilian’ Bruce is…Maybe one day he’ll tell them.
“Right.”
“And about what you just said,” your father continued, “it’s too late. The Joker expects her to come. Or, at least, we must act like he does.”
“I’ll be going,” you said, your tone demanding no argument - an argument you had no patience for at that moment. “Whatever happens next, neither Gotham nor I can’t continue to live like this. And I’m tired of living in fear of what that man is gonna send me next.”
“So you’d rather live in fear of what he’ll do if he escapes and finds you again?” Bruce retorted.
“If my father lived in fear of the criminals he put in prison getting revenge, he would have died of a heart attack a long time ago.”
Bruce didn’t respond, and looked away, but you knew he didn’t like that answer.
“We don’t actually know if the Joker is the type to get revenge,” James stated.
“Yeah, because we don’t actually know anything about him,” you said, stating the obvious.
Suddenly, James’ phone vibrated. He took it out of his pocket, and read what probably was on the screen.
“The meeting is in an hour.”
The two policemen immediately made some phone calls to their colleagues, giving them the info and making sure everything and everyone was getting ready. You got a hug and reassuring words from your father, which comforted you a little, and to your great surprise, James reached out for a hug as well.
“Everything is gonna be okay. We’ll be right there, and so will Batman.”
“I know, Jimmy.”
“Don’t call me that,” he broke the hug, rolling his eyes at the nickname they had used for him when he was little and that he now hated, but he actually had a faint smile on his face.
They left, having to go meet their colleagues to give instructions. They also had to be at the warehouse at the very last moment in order not to be seen and therefore, much to their dismay and yours, couldn’t even drive you to the meeting. You put on the black ring which contained a location device, just in case, and Bruce, having to go prepare himself in his main base where his suit was, drove you there. While waiting for him, you got a message from James, reminding you of what you were supposed to do - simply give the Joker the name, but without screaming it as it would be, he wrote, “useless” - and reassuring you once again. When Bruce was ready, the two of you got into the Batmobile and drove to the warehouse. Ever since learning Bruce was Batman over a year ago, being in the Batmobile was something you had wanted to do - and something Bruce had obviously refused to let you do, no matter how many times you reminded him of how your own father got to do it when they had to stop Ra’s Al Ghul and Crane from destroying Gotham with the toxin, accusing him of not trusting you few times - and, given the circumstances, you couldn’t bring herself to enjoy it. You simply observed all the buttons the vehicle contained, trying to make the best of the moment and also to distract yourself from what was about to come. The drive was silent, but Bruce put his gantled hand on your knee, and you covered it with yours. Bruce parked a few streets away from the warehouse so he wouldn’t be seen, and kissed you once before the doors of the vehicle opened.
You checked your watch, which Bruce had given you as a gift months before - you had ten minutes left before the meeting was supposed to take place, and it would take you five minutes to walk to the warehouse. Getting out of the Batmobile, you took a deep breath before turning your head to look at Bruce one more time and started walking. You understood very well that Bruce had, like the police, to get there at the last moment in order not to be seen by anyone, but you really wished Bruce could have at least walked with you. As you forced your legs to walk towards the harbour, your whole body felt both cold and hot, your clothes suddenly felt uncomfortable, too tight and itchy, your heart beat so fast it almost hurt, and your stomach twisted. You felt nauseous, which the smell of the harbour and of the fishes probably didn’t help, and when you finally saw the warehouse, you felt tears picking your eyes. Your phone vibrated, and when you took it from your jacket with shaking hands, you saw a message from your father.
Everyone is in place. It’s gonna be alright.
It reassured you a little, and you forced yourself to take a deep breath. You didn’t know exactly where either them or Bruce were, but knowing they were in place and close relaxed you - but not as much as you would have wished.
Your steps towards the warehouse were slow, fearful, and you kept glancing around to see if anyone - meaning any of the Joker’s men - was there. The warehouse was open, and you stopped a few feet from it, too scared the Joker would already be in there, waiting for you. You concentrated and tried to listen to any noise coming from inside the warehouse, but there was nothing. Feeling anxious and scared like never before in your life - with the exception of when the Joker had put the knife in your mouth, telling you how some people needed a message - you stepped inside the dark warehouse and turned the light on thanks to Bruce’s instructions. The warehouse was empty, and the door facing you, which led to the smaller room in which the Joker had you for a day, was closed. All of a sudden, you thought you heard a small noise coming from that room, but considering the state of stress you were in, your mind might as well have made it up. You looked at her watch when a sinister, fake laugh was heard from behind, making you jump.
“Well, well, well.”
Hearing that voice made your mind rewind to the six days you spent with the owner of that voice, and the pain you had felt when he had lacered your face. Closing your eyes for a second in order not to cry and forcing yourself to not listen to your body as it screamed at you to step back towards the smaller room, to do anything to put distance between you and the other person present in that warehouse, you gulped and turned towards the Joker.
“Did the little dove at last leave the nest, hum?” he said, tilting his head to fake surprise.
The Joker looked every bit the same as he did when you last saw him. You didn’t want to answer, and didn’t think you even should, but you knew you had to. The quicker I send the signal, the quicker Bruce, dad and James and their colleagues will come, and everything will be over.
But before you could, he spoke again.
“Did you like my gifts? Our tete-à-tete ended in such a sad manner, I felt bad.”
“Did you come alone?” you asked, the slight shaking in your voice betraying your terror.
The Joker chuckled. “I’m a man of my word, beautiful. And I always honor a lady’s request. You asked me to come alone, so alone I am,” he added, acting as if he was offended by you thinking he wouldn’t.
He stepped closer, slowly, and it made you shake in fear. Your eyes instinctively lowered towards his hands, suddenly too scared one of them would just grab your face like it did once; while his eyes observed your face.
“Ah, I see I’ve left a mark. We look similar now, don’t you think?” he added with a delighted smile, flicking his tongue against one of the scarred edges of his mouth. “Now we’re both always smiling. By the way, what do you tell people when they ask how you got these scars?”
Your breath shortened, and anger and disbelief replaced half the fear you were feeling. Son of a-
“A mark?” you spat, frowning in both disgust and disbelief. “You put a knife on my mouth and lacered both my cheeks. I bled out in the room just behind me. You did that to send a so-called message to Batman, despite me repeating to you many times that I didn’t know him.”
The Joker shrugged and adjusted his purple jacket.
“Well, did he?” he asked, not fazed at all by your reaction, even raising an eyebrow which could barely be seen under the black make-up around his dark eyes. “Did he get the message? You know, when he continued his so-called heroic life as if I hadn’t kindly sent you a book so you could be entertained and flowers like a true gentleman, I almost started to believe you when you said he didn’t care about you. And I promise you, I almost felt bad.”
His tongue darted out for a second again - a sort of quirk he seemed to have, as you had seen him do it several times during your time with him.
“But things have changed, haven’t they, little miss Gordon? Either you got your memory back and decided to share that info with me, or you decided he didn’t matter after all. Which one is it?”
“I told you the truth back then,” you retorted. “But since you won’t leave me the hell alone, I had to do something.” You cleared her throat and straightened up. “I know who Batman is now, but like I said in the message, I want something special in exchange.”
The Joker squinted his eyes, faking curiosity and interest. “I’m dying with curiosity here, sweetheart,” he said with a frown. “Tell me, what do you want in exchange for betraying your boyfriend?”
“Peace,” you answered, suddenly managing to pretend to be calm. “I want you to leave me and my family alone from now on. No more creepy, disgusting gifts sent to my home or to my family. Nothing. I don’t want to hear from you again.”
The Joker squinted his eyes for half a second, before pouting.
“Alright, little dove. You won’t hear from me again. But I do think you’ll always see me, considering those lovely little scars on your face,” he added in an unbearable light tone, pointing at her cheek. “I think we had enough small talk, don’t you think? Give me Batman’s name.”
You took a deep breath, and forced her mouth open.
“Philip McGinnis.”
Everything then went in a few seconds. Several voices shouted and people seemed to be coming from both behind you and the Joker. The latter didn’t have time to react, as two men went to grab him before throwing him on the ground as he laughed while your father, your brother and another cop pointed their guns at him. You watched it, taking a step back, and Bruce arrived barely a second later, putting himself between you and the Joker.
“It’s over now.”
You looked at him, and managed to smile nervously, still too shaken to be relieved. The Joker was still laughing as he was handcuffed and led outside. He didn’t resist one bit, but turned towards you as he was about to disappear from sight.
“Well done, little dove, very well done!”
All the policemen present went outside to probably bring the Joker in one of their cars, except for James and your father, who walked in your direction, putting their guns away. Your father opened his arms when he was closer to you.
“It’s over, sweetheart.”
You hugged him tight, letting a tear run down your cheek, and you felt James’ hand gently stroking your shoulder.
“Thank you, dad.”
“You did so well,” your father said, breaking the hug before quickly kissing your forehead.
“You took your damn time, though,” James joked in a fake scolding tone. “I was getting so annoyed, wondering what the hell was taking you so long.”
“I know,” you said, “I’m sorry. I thought taking a bit of time would make him less suspicious.”
You let out a long breath, and ran both hands over your face, feeling your body relax slightly. “Thank you all for being there. I couldn’t have done it if I didn’t know the three of you were there,” you added, looking at the three men in the room.
Your eyes met Bruce’s, and you suddenly were dying to be in his arms.
“Let’s go home, now,” James said. “I think you deserve to rest. Dad and I need to go to our homequarters to make sure that son of a bitch doesn’t escape but we’ll see you tomorrow.”
Your father nodded, “Anna will drive you back.”
The two Gordon men thanked Batman, who only responded with a short nod, and you, for good measure, thanked him once again, knowing you’d joke about it later on with Bruce. You gave him a smile before you, James and your father went outside, where Anna was waiting for you next to a police car, giving you a polite yet warm smile.
“I’m glad everything went well, y/n.”
“Thank you,” you smiled.
You and Anna got in the car, and the drive was spent in a comfortable silence, except for a bit of small talk, Anna telling you your father and brother had mentioned you several times, and only spoke of you lovingly. Anna was so nice and seemed so genuine that it was hard to believe she was once, according to James, accused of being bribed by the mob. The gate was open when the car got to the house, and Anna parked right in front of it.
“Thank you, officer. I appreciate it,” you said.
Anna gave you a nod and a smile. “No problem. Take care, young lady.”
The ‘young lady’ made you chuckle a bit. You walked to the house, the only noise being the police car driving back towards the gate, and opened the door - probably left open by Bruce. You came inside, immediately closing the door behind her and locking it, and saw Bruce in the entrance, barely a few feet away from her. You guys stared at each other for barely a second before you spoke and smiled.
“I knew you would get there before me.”
Bruce immediately walked in your direction and you jumped into his arms. He wrapped his arms around you and held you tightly, and the sense of safety you always had felt whenever he held you - or was in the same room as you - as well as his familiar, comforting scent made you relax almost instantly.
“My God, Bruce…”
“To say I wasn’t scared for you would be lying,” he said softly against your ear.
You two broke the hug just enough to kiss, slowly and deeply, Bruce’s hand going from your lower back to the back of your neck.
“I was so scared, too,” you sighed. “So scared he had brought his men, and so scared he’d hurt me again somehow. I don’t know how I managed to go through it.
“You’re a Gordon,” Bruce answered, repeating the words you had once said to him. “It’s in your blood to be brave.”
“I guess so,” you said with a tired laugh before kissing Bruce again.
Alfed appeared at that moment, a small yet happy smile on his face.
“I’m glad you’re safe, miss.”
“Oh, Alfred.”
You detached herself from Bruce to go hug the older man, who you now considered family. When he broke the hug, his smile was bigger.
“Everyone is tired, but since neither of you have eaten all day, I insist a dinner is necessary.”
“You’re right,” you nodded. “I’m starving.
Bruce had a half-smile, and Alfred went to the kitchen. A few minutes later, the three of you- you had insisted Alfred joined Bruce and you - were seated around the living room’s table, eating your favorite food while you told Alfred the details of how the meeting went when he asked. Once you three were done, you yawned, and Bruce gestured to the door.
“Let’s go to sleep.”
And sleep in tomorrow morning.
You and Bruce bid Alfred goodnight, and both took a shower before going to bed. There, with your head on Bruce’s bare chest, his arms around you and one of yours on his chest, near one of the few scars he had got from his patrols, you felt relaxed for the first time ever since the night you got the scars.
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Next chapter should be up this weekend if everything goes well!
Here's one clue for what will happen:
With Every Heartbeat • Bale!Bruce Wayne x fem!Gordon!reader (Chapter XI)
Requested: No
Pairing: Bale!Bruce Wayne x fem!reader
Story's synopsis: When y/n Gordon learned her billionaire boyfriend was also a vigilante at night a year ago, she knew it could be dangerous for her. But she listened to her heart and decided to choose to be happy with the man of her dreams. And after all, Bruce and her had agreed to keep their relationship secret - for her sake. But when the wrong person understands her closeness to Gotham’s protector, the reality of how cruel and mad some people are comes running back, and all is left to do is holding on. For as long as one’s heart beats.
Word count: 3.3 K
Chapter warnings: Anxiety, stress, slight PTSD; fluff
A/N: If may the most boring chapter yet lmao I'm sorry. I apologise for any mistake/typo. I also posted an OC version on Ao3 here. ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE.
Tag list: @helendeath @im-jesus
Tag list for this story: @deadofnight0 @unclearblur @christianbalefanatic @triptuckers
Series Masterlist
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
“He says,” James had also told you, “that the meeting is gonna take place tomorrow night, at the warehouse like you suggested, and says he’ll come alone. My colleague will be given the exact hour of the meeting tomorrow, I’ll give it to you the second I get it, so I’d advise you to be ready to go at any time. Dad and I will come visit after lunch.”
That night, you went to bed but only managed to sleep when Bruce came back from patrol - during which he probably tried to catch the Joker one last time before you had to become involved.
Everything is going well, you had thought in the morning, while Bruce and you were sitting around the table in the living room. Too well. Is he suspecting - or preparing - something? Will he actually come alone?
“What would the two of you like for breakfast?” Alfred asked, putting two cups of coffee on the table in front of Bruce and you. “Even though I guess the answer will be ‘nothing’.”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing, thank you, Alfred.”
Bruce, who had been lost in thought just like you had been, raised his head to look at you.
“You should eat.”
“I’m not hungry,” you said with a small smile. “I usually can’t eat anything when I’m anxious.”
“You can’t still back up and not go. No one will be mad at you.”
You shook your head gently, still smiling. “No, it’s too late.”
“It’s not,” Bruce explained calmly. “If the Joker believes you’ll go to the warehouse tonight, he’ll go. He comes, I catch him, and this is it. You don’t need to be here.”
“And when he escapes from whatever place they lock him in,” you answered, “he comes for me or my family.”
“That’s still true if you go,” Bruce argued.
And knowing he was right, you did not answer.
The rest of the morning went extremely slowly, as went any hours before something important, either good or bad, is supposed to happen. Alfred went to open the warehouse and put secret mics inside it, your mother visited you, unaware of what was happening, and the thought that the meeting might not go well made you feel really bad for not telling her. Lunch consisted of Bruce not eating anything and you barely able to eat two bites of the food in your plate, and at sunset, James and your father came - which seemed to have become a pattern - and it both relaxed you a bit and made you truly realize what was going to happen, and made your anxiety rise. Bruce greeted them with his usual politeness but didn’t let the two men say anything else before speaking.
“I don’t want y/n to do this,” he said, which made you sigh. “I think we can stop the Joker without having to put her through it.”
“‘We’?” James had a genuine small laugh. “Why, you’re planning on being there tonight, Bruce?”
“I’m afraid you can’t,” yours and James’ father immediately responded politely but firmly. “I understand waiting here will be stressful and annoying for you, but one civilian involved is already enough.”
Goodness, if they only knew how much of a ‘civilian’ Bruce is…Maybe one day he’ll tell them.
“Right.”
“And about what you just said,” your father continued, “it’s too late. The Joker expects her to come. Or, at least, we must act like he does.”
“I’ll be going,” you said, your tone demanding no argument - an argument you had no patience for at that moment. “Whatever happens next, neither Gotham nor I can’t continue to live like this. And I’m tired of living in fear of what that man is gonna send me next.”
“So you’d rather live in fear of what he’ll do if he escapes and finds you again?” Bruce retorted.
“If my father lived in fear of the criminals he put in prison getting revenge, he would have died of a heart attack a long time ago.”
Bruce didn’t respond, and looked away, but you knew he didn’t like that answer.
“We don’t actually know if the Joker is the type to get revenge,” James stated.
“Yeah, because we don’t actually know anything about him,” you said, stating the obvious.
Suddenly, James’ phone vibrated. He took it out of his pocket, and read what probably was on the screen.
“The meeting is in an hour.”
The two policemen immediately made some phone calls to their colleagues, giving them the info and making sure everything and everyone was getting ready. You got a hug and reassuring words from your father, which comforted you a little, and to your great surprise, James reached out for a hug as well.
“Everything is gonna be okay. We’ll be right there, and so will Batman.”
“I know, Jimmy.”
“Don’t call me that,” he broke the hug, rolling his eyes at the nickname they had used for him when he was little and that he now hated, but he actually had a faint smile on his face.
They left, having to go meet their colleagues to give instructions. They also had to be at the warehouse at the very last moment in order not to be seen and therefore, much to their dismay and yours, couldn’t even drive you to the meeting. You put on the black ring which contained a location device, just in case, and Bruce, having to go prepare himself in his main base where his suit was, drove you there. While waiting for him, you got a message from James, reminding you of what you were supposed to do - simply give the Joker the name, but without screaming it as it would be, he wrote, “useless” - and reassuring you once again. When Bruce was ready, the two of you got into the Batmobile and drove to the warehouse. Ever since learning Bruce was Batman over a year ago, being in the Batmobile was something you had wanted to do - and something Bruce had obviously refused to let you do, no matter how many times you reminded him of how your own father got to do it when they had to stop Ra’s Al Ghul and Crane from destroying Gotham with the toxin, accusing him of not trusting you few times - and, given the circumstances, you couldn’t bring herself to enjoy it. You simply observed all the buttons the vehicle contained, trying to make the best of the moment and also to distract yourself from what was about to come. The drive was silent, but Bruce put his gantled hand on your knee, and you covered it with yours. Bruce parked a few streets away from the warehouse so he wouldn’t be seen, and kissed you once before the doors of the vehicle opened.
You checked your watch, which Bruce had given you as a gift months before - you had ten minutes left before the meeting was supposed to take place, and it would take you five minutes to walk to the warehouse. Getting out of the Batmobile, you took a deep breath before turning your head to look at Bruce one more time and started walking. You understood very well that Bruce had, like the police, to get there at the last moment in order not to be seen by anyone, but you really wished Bruce could have at least walked with you. As you forced your legs to walk towards the harbour, your whole body felt both cold and hot, your clothes suddenly felt uncomfortable, too tight and itchy, your heart beat so fast it almost hurt, and your stomach twisted. You felt nauseous, which the smell of the harbour and of the fishes probably didn’t help, and when you finally saw the warehouse, you felt tears picking your eyes. Your phone vibrated, and when you took it from your jacket with shaking hands, you saw a message from your father.
Everyone is in place. It’s gonna be alright.
It reassured you a little, and you forced yourself to take a deep breath. You didn’t know exactly where either them or Bruce were, but knowing they were in place and close relaxed you - but not as much as you would have wished.
Your steps towards the warehouse were slow, fearful, and you kept glancing around to see if anyone - meaning any of the Joker’s men - was there. The warehouse was open, and you stopped a few feet from it, too scared the Joker would already be in there, waiting for you. You concentrated and tried to listen to any noise coming from inside the warehouse, but there was nothing. Feeling anxious and scared like never before in your life - with the exception of when the Joker had put the knife in your mouth, telling you how some people needed a message - you stepped inside the dark warehouse and turned the light on thanks to Bruce’s instructions. The warehouse was empty, and the door facing you, which led to the smaller room in which the Joker had you for a day, was closed. All of a sudden, you thought you heard a small noise coming from that room, but considering the state of stress you were in, your mind might as well have made it up. You looked at her watch when a sinister, fake laugh was heard from behind, making you jump.
“Well, well, well.”
Hearing that voice made your mind rewind to the six days you spent with the owner of that voice, and the pain you had felt when he had lacered your face. Closing your eyes for a second in order not to cry and forcing yourself to not listen to your body as it screamed at you to step back towards the smaller room, to do anything to put distance between you and the other person present in that warehouse, you gulped and turned towards the Joker.
“Did the little dove at last leave the nest, hum?” he said, tilting his head to fake surprise.
The Joker looked every bit the same as he did when you last saw him. You didn’t want to answer, and didn’t think you even should, but you knew you had to. The quicker I send the signal, the quicker Bruce, dad and James and their colleagues will come, and everything will be over.
But before you could, he spoke again.
“Did you like my gifts? Our tete-à-tete ended in such a sad manner, I felt bad.”
“Did you come alone?” you asked, the slight shaking in your voice betraying your terror.
The Joker chuckled. “I’m a man of my word, beautiful. And I always honor a lady’s request. You asked me to come alone, so alone I am,” he added, acting as if he was offended by you thinking he wouldn’t.
He stepped closer, slowly, and it made you shake in fear. Your eyes instinctively lowered towards his hands, suddenly too scared one of them would just grab your face like it did once; while his eyes observed your face.
“Ah, I see I’ve left a mark. We look similar now, don’t you think?” he added with a delighted smile, flicking his tongue against one of the scarred edges of his mouth. “Now we’re both always smiling. By the way, what do you tell people when they ask how you got these scars?”
Your breath shortened, and anger and disbelief replaced half the fear you were feeling. Son of a-
“A mark?” you spat, frowning in both disgust and disbelief. “You put a knife on my mouth and lacered both my cheeks. I bled out in the room just behind me. You did that to send a so-called message to Batman, despite me repeating to you many times that I didn’t know him.”
The Joker shrugged and adjusted his purple jacket.
“Well, did he?” he asked, not fazed at all by your reaction, even raising an eyebrow which could barely be seen under the black make-up around his dark eyes. “Did he get the message? You know, when he continued his so-called heroic life as if I hadn’t kindly sent you a book so you could be entertained and flowers like a true gentleman, I almost started to believe you when you said he didn’t care about you. And I promise you, I almost felt bad.”
His tongue darted out for a second again - a sort of quirk he seemed to have, as you had seen him do it several times during your time with him.
“But things have changed, haven’t they, little miss Gordon? Either you got your memory back and decided to share that info with me, or you decided he didn’t matter after all. Which one is it?”
“I told you the truth back then,” you retorted. “But since you won’t leave me the hell alone, I had to do something.” You cleared her throat and straightened up. “I know who Batman is now, but like I said in the message, I want something special in exchange.”
The Joker squinted his eyes, faking curiosity and interest. “I’m dying with curiosity here, sweetheart,” he said with a frown. “Tell me, what do you want in exchange for betraying your boyfriend?”
“Peace,” you answered, suddenly managing to pretend to be calm. “I want you to leave me and my family alone from now on. No more creepy, disgusting gifts sent to my home or to my family. Nothing. I don’t want to hear from you again.”
The Joker squinted his eyes for half a second, before pouting.
“Alright, little dove. You won’t hear from me again. But I do think you’ll always see me, considering those lovely little scars on your face,” he added in an unbearable light tone, pointing at her cheek. “I think we had enough small talk, don’t you think? Give me Batman’s name.”
You took a deep breath, and forced her mouth open.
“Philip McGinnis.”
Everything then went in a few seconds. Several voices shouted and people seemed to be coming from both behind you and the Joker. The latter didn’t have time to react, as two men went to grab him before throwing him on the ground as he laughed while your father, your brother and another cop pointed their guns at him. You watched it, taking a step back, and Bruce arrived barely a second later, putting himself between you and the Joker.
“It’s over now.”
You looked at him, and managed to smile nervously, still too shaken to be relieved. The Joker was still laughing as he was handcuffed and led outside. He didn’t resist one bit, but turned towards you as he was about to disappear from sight.
“Well done, little dove, very well done!”
All the policemen present went outside to probably bring the Joker in one of their cars, except for James and your father, who walked in your direction, putting their guns away. Your father opened his arms when he was closer to you.
“It’s over, sweetheart.”
You hugged him tight, letting a tear run down your cheek, and you felt James’ hand gently stroking your shoulder.
“Thank you, dad.”
“You did so well,” your father said, breaking the hug before quickly kissing your forehead.
“You took your damn time, though,” James joked in a fake scolding tone. “I was getting so annoyed, wondering what the hell was taking you so long.”
“I know,” you said, “I’m sorry. I thought taking a bit of time would make him less suspicious.”
You let out a long breath, and ran both hands over your face, feeling your body relax slightly. “Thank you all for being there. I couldn’t have done it if I didn’t know the three of you were there,” you added, looking at the three men in the room.
Your eyes met Bruce’s, and you suddenly were dying to be in his arms.
“Let’s go home, now,” James said. “I think you deserve to rest. Dad and I need to go to our homequarters to make sure that son of a bitch doesn’t escape but we’ll see you tomorrow.”
Your father nodded, “Anna will drive you back.”
The two Gordon men thanked Batman, who only responded with a short nod, and you, for good measure, thanked him once again, knowing you’d joke about it later on with Bruce. You gave him a smile before you, James and your father went outside, where Anna was waiting for you next to a police car, giving you a polite yet warm smile.
“I’m glad everything went well, y/n.”
“Thank you,” you smiled.
You and Anna got in the car, and the drive was spent in a comfortable silence, except for a bit of small talk, Anna telling you your father and brother had mentioned you several times, and only spoke of you lovingly. Anna was so nice and seemed so genuine that it was hard to believe she was once, according to James, accused of being bribed by the mob. The gate was open when the car got to the house, and Anna parked right in front of it.
“Thank you, officer. I appreciate it,” you said.
Anna gave you a nod and a smile. “No problem. Take care, young lady.”
The ‘young lady’ made you chuckle a bit. You walked to the house, the only noise being the police car driving back towards the gate, and opened the door - probably left open by Bruce. You came inside, immediately closing the door behind her and locking it, and saw Bruce in the entrance, barely a few feet away from her. You guys stared at each other for barely a second before you spoke and smiled.
“I knew you would get there before me.”
Bruce immediately walked in your direction and you jumped into his arms. He wrapped his arms around you and held you tightly, and the sense of safety you always had felt whenever he held you - or was in the same room as you - as well as his familiar, comforting scent made you relax almost instantly.
“My God, Bruce…”
“To say I wasn’t scared for you would be lying,” he said softly against your ear.
You two broke the hug just enough to kiss, slowly and deeply, Bruce’s hand going from your lower back to the back of your neck.
“I was so scared, too,” you sighed. “So scared he had brought his men, and so scared he’d hurt me again somehow. I don’t know how I managed to go through it.
“You’re a Gordon,” Bruce answered, repeating the words you had once said to him. “It’s in your blood to be brave.”
“I guess so,” you said with a tired laugh before kissing Bruce again.
Alfed appeared at that moment, a small yet happy smile on his face.
“I’m glad you’re safe, miss.”
“Oh, Alfred.”
You detached herself from Bruce to go hug the older man, who you now considered family. When he broke the hug, his smile was bigger.
“Everyone is tired, but since neither of you have eaten all day, I insist a dinner is necessary.”
“You’re right,” you nodded. “I’m starving.
Bruce had a half-smile, and Alfred went to the kitchen. A few minutes later, the three of you- you had insisted Alfred joined Bruce and you - were seated around the living room’s table, eating your favorite food while you told Alfred the details of how the meeting went when he asked. Once you three were done, you yawned, and Bruce gestured to the door.
“Let’s go to sleep.”
And sleep in tomorrow morning.
You and Bruce bid Alfred goodnight, and both took a shower before going to bed. There, with your head on Bruce’s bare chest, his arms around you and one of yours on his chest, near one of the few scars he had got from his patrols, you felt relaxed for the first time ever since the night you got the scars.
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With Every Heartbeat • Bale!Bruce Wayne x fem!Gordon!reader (Chapter X)
Requested: No
Pairing: Bale!Bruce Wayne x fem!reader
Story's synopsis: When y/n Gordon learned her billionaire boyfriend was also a vigilante at night a year ago, she knew it could be dangerous for her. But she listened to her heart and decided to choose to be happy with the man of her dreams. And after all, Bruce and her had agreed to keep their relationship secret - for her sake. But when the wrong person understands her closeness to Gotham’s protector, the reality of how cruel and mad some people are comes running back, and all is left to do is holding on. For as long as one’s heart beats.
Word count: 3.2 K
Warnings: None (for this chapter)
A/N: If may the most boring chapter yet lmao I'm sorry. I apologise for any mistake/typo. I also posted an OC version on Ao3 here. ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE.
Tag list: @helendeath @im-jesus
Tag list for this story: @deadofnight0 @unclearblur @christianbalefanatic @triptuckers
Series Masterlist
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
Nearly two years ago
The night had fallen on Gotham, but that didn’t mean the city had settled. Perched on top of a residential building, Bruce could see, if he looked straight ahead, some of the line of Gotham’s tall buildings, on which a lot of floors were still lit. But what interested Bruce, and the reason he was there, was down on the ground.
On the opposite street stood a brownstone house. The people living there were mostly families with children, or single workers like there were millions in Gotham. Bruce was looking at the first floor of that brownstone house, where James “Jim” Gordon lived. Bruce had known, when he had decided to fight the city’s criminals, that he couldn’t do it alone, so he had looked for potential allies, people who could be trusted and who had the power or could have the will to help. He had remembered Gordon, the policeman who, all these years ago, had tried to comfort him at the police station after his parents’ death. And luckily, not only was Gordon still here in Gotham City, and by watching him a few times, Bruce had found the mustached man was one of the very few members of the police force who weren’t bribed, and hadn't been investigated by Internal Affairs.
And Bruce had also discovered that Jim's son, James Jr., who looked a lot like his father, had followed in the latter’s footsteps, both in terms of job and integrity, which gave Bruce another potential ally. Like most nights and like the ones where Bruce had also watched him, Jim Gordon was in his house with his wife, around the same age as him and with light red hair. But tonight their son was there as well, probably for dinner. Also that night, around the table in the home’s small kitchen, was seated another person Bruce had never seen before. It was a young woman, apparently slightly younger than James Jr., and she resembled the rest of the family, so Bruce concluded there was a possibility that she was Jim and his wife’s daughter.
Sat between James Jr. and Jim, she was wearing simple jewelry and an old dark purple shirt. Bruce couldn’t really see her eyes from where he was, but they seemed Y/E/C. Bruce wondered if she shared her father and brother’s views. There was something about her he couldn’t put a name on.
She was apparently teasing James Jr., who sighed and protested with words Bruce couldn’t hear, which made her laugh. Both elbows on the table and both hands folded beneath her chin, she suddenly turned on the other side of the table towards Mrs. Gordon, seemed to listen to her, and nodded. Then, she smiled, and before Bruce left sometime later, unnoticed as always, she was the last person at the table he looked at.
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
“So, what did they say?”
You yawned, tired from barely sleeping the night before - and not getting back to sleep after the gate had been opened the night before that. Bruce, sitting on the other side of the table in the living room, took a sip of his coffee, looking at you before answering.
“They agreed to set up a trap to catch him, and asked me to take part in it. But when it comes to you being a part of it, your father isn’t a part of it.”
“Of course they’re not,” you said, shaking your head. “They’ve both been treating me like a baby all my life. And my mother too. But there’s nothing that forces me to listen to them.”
“That’s true,” Bruce said. “And I can’t force you to not be involved either. But I thought about what you said. About doing something other than waiting here for that man to send you something to torment you again.”
“I’m all ears,” you assured, now curious.
“You could…go somewhere far away. For a while. Until I manage to catch him. You could take your mother or Vicki with you if you want to.”
You blinked twice before answering. “So your plan is, instead of me doing nothing here, me doing nothing somewhere else?” You had a tired, annoyed sigh, “Bruce-”
“Why are you so against protecting yourself?” he frowned, also a bit annoyed.
“Why does protecting myself involve me doing nothing? That’s what I’ve been doing ever since he sent that damned book. We should have done something then. If me being involved in that plan is one way to catch him, I’d do it.” You stared at him before continuing, “My father and my brother have, time and time again, been showing courage to stop criminals. That’s my turn.”
“You’ve got nothing to prove to anyone,” Bruce said, his eyes now a bit sad.
Yes, not to anyone. But maybe to myself, I do.
Your father and James came in the afternoon, looking more tired than usual.
“We talked to Batman, last night,” your father said as if he was confessing a crime, looking at you. “We discussed your idea and while we agree to a set up, involving you is out of the question.”
“Why?” you retorted vividly. “In case you two have forgotten, I’m-”
“A civilian,” James interrupted, strangely calm. “And we don’t involve civilians in our missions until absolutely necessary.”
You snorted, almost in disbelief. “And you don’t think that’s the case here? Hey, I’ve seen the news, you know? He killed two of your colleagues two days ago. It’s not about what he’s doing to me, but what he's doing to the city. For we all know, one of you could be next. Or the mayor, or the new DA-”
“That doesn’t change what I just said.”
You exhaled. “Alright. So, what’s your plan then? What’s Batman’s plan?”
You had a quick glance at Bruce, sitting next to you, but he didn’t react.
“He’s still trying to catch him”, your father said. “He’s gonna interrogate more mobsters, but-”
“It’s unlikely they’ll talk,” you cut him off. “You need a trap.”
James sighed, rubbing his eyes. “What would that trap be, little sis?”
“Simple,” you said. “One of your colleagues who has links to the mob can give the Joker a message that says I can give him what he wants: Batman’s real name. We don’t know his plan, but since he thinks I’m close to Batman, let him think he’s actually right. I meet him somewhere, tell him I only want peace in exchange for who Batman is, and then, you two and Batman can catch him.”
There was a moment of silence, then your father and brother exchanged a look.
“That’s…not bad,” James admitted.
“Extremely dangerous,” your father corrected him in a scolding tone. “What makes you think the Joker will believe you’re genuine?”
“He doesn’t need to think I’m genuine,” you explained calmly, as if it was natural. “He needs to think I’m desperate enough to let him win. He wants to prove the world is corrupted and evil. We just need to prove him right.”
Before leaving, James and your father said they’d look for one colleague to send the message, and that they’d let you know. Like the day before, you had expected Bruce to be angry at you. And, despite your annoyance for the habit he had of always wanting to shield and protect you, you understood his point-of-view. He didn’t like putting anyone innocent in danger, whether it was you or someone else. He was too good for that. And that was one of the reasons you loved him with all you had. You could tell him that to convince him, but would never tell him that while you wanted to stop the Joker for the city, you mostly wanted to do it for them. Once you were alone, Bruce turned to you.
“You’re too brave for your own good.”
You turned your face to look at him, and brought a hand to the back of his neck, where his hair began before forcing your lips into a small smile.
“I’m a Gordon. It runs in the family.”
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
Two days later, James came with your father, officer Ramirez and another colleague.
“We’ve discussed it,” your father said, “and we’ll go with your plan. But, Y/N, I hope I’m clear when I say you’ll need to do what we tell you to do.”
“Of course.”
“You’re gonna write the message,” James said, joining his hand on his lap, “and we’ll make sure the Joker gets it. We’ll offer the meeting to take place in less than a week - to make sure our colleague can give the message to the Joker. And for the ‘where’, we’re exploring safe options.”
You thought quickly, “Why not in the warehouse where he kept me? He’ll like to know I didn’t forget.”
“Alright,” James nodded once. “To show him you’re genuine, there will be a petal from the flowers he sent you with the message.”
“The plan,” his colleague added, “is for you to be there first. You’ll be alone, but we’ll be close. The risks for you are minimal. You’re gonna need to be calm, even though not too calm and confident. Like you proposed, you’ll tell him you’ll give him Batman’s name if he swears to leave you alone from now on.”
“And then you’ll use a code for us to come. It needs to be something random, something innocent.”
“Why not the name of Batman?” officer Ramirez proposed. “It’s gonna be a made up name, but we could also use it as a code.”
“Phillip McGinnis,” Bruce said, speaking for the first time since the policemen entered.
You nodded, “I understand.”
“Then,” James explained, “me and Anna here exfiltrate you while dad and our colleagues arrest him. There will be only four of us. Otherwise we’re risking getting caught.”
“Four of us, and Batman,” your father added, and officer Ramirez tensed on her seat. “But if we see the Joker had brought his men, we abort the mission and you’ll leave immediately.”
You nodded again. “It can work.”
It needs to.
You went to grab a pen and a piece of paper, and wrote, your hand shaking slightly: I have the question for the question you asked me once. I can give it to you in exchange for something special. Come alone.
You gave your father the note, and after explaining a few more details and asking you several times, James and the other officers left, but your father stayed behind, putting his hand on his waist like he did when he was in a serious mood.
“You’re sure about this? You can be back up at any moment, you know? We can-”
“Dad, I’m sure,” you assured him. “This whole thing cannot go any longer. It doesn’t matter how we stop him, we just need to do it.”
Your father’s lips turned into a thin line under his mustache. “I don’t like the idea of my daughter being a bait. Especially against a madman. And, Y/N, will you be able to stand being in the same room as him? After what he has done to you?”
“We’ll just have to see.”
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
You had always been the kind of person that stressed for any reason, whether it was for your grades at school, your social life - which, ironically, had barely existed throughout your life - or your job at the library. It had become worse when you were a teenager, and the doctor had even mentioned chronic anxiety as a real possibility. If anyone asked what the worst period in your life in term of anxiety and stress was, you would have answered your time in college, where you had struggled between all the homework requested of you, the grades - which were average at most - and your work as a babysitter and as a waitress in a cafe in order to have some money when you’d graduate so your parents could keep their savings which they had planned for you as much as possible.
Well, that was before a mad clown decided to make you a target. The next two days that followed, you were anxious not only about the Joker sending another so-called damn gift, but also about him coming back to the house - because the gate episode proved he absolutely could, if his twisted mind wished to - and, last but definitely not least, you were stressed about him getting the message, and whether he’d accept the meeting. because, you realised after your father had left, there was no guarantee he’d accept, or that he’d come without the intention of simply killing you again - who the hell knew?
You spent those two days mostly lost in thoughts, thinking if the plan even had a chance to be set in place, thinking about everything that could go wrong - your father or brother injured, or worse, waiting to be told the Joker got the message, barely able to eat or sleep. Bruce did his best to distract your mind, and you even invited Bette and Vicki over to spend some time together - Lorin had been invited as well, but as you expected, she had politely declined - however it had barely worked.
And, two days later, James called you and said the words you had been hoping and scared to hear.
“The Joker got the message. He accepts the meeting.”
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There was some text issues with the chapter, they're fixed now! Sorry for the inconvenience xx
some of you never experienced the “this isn’t available in your country” situation and it shows
