i had to save them both. you see, i'm both bruce wayne and batman. not because i have to be, now... because i choose to be.
incredibly private multi-muse, heavily featuring batman forever's dr. chase meridian. only writing with mutuals of @showgal. all of these characters exist in the harleenverse i fear ( everyone is from the dc universe, lives in gotham, or knows harleen somehow... )
starring : april kepner, annie january, thor odinson, damian wayne, talia al ghul, s'chn t'gai spock, sasha bordeaux, bella swan, eve macarro, hela odinsdottir, chase meridian, bane, charlotte york goldenblatt, eddie brock + venom, emilia harcourt.
april kepner, grey's anatomy # what if the way you hold me is actually what's holy? ⸺ april kepner.
main verse: working at gotham general hospital as a trauma surgeon. likely married to jackson avery if we aren't shipping. mother of 1. i changed my mind she's in metropolis in harleen's grey's verse ♡
annie january, the boys # i just learned these people only raise you to cage you ⸺ annie january.
main verse: the vigilante starlight begins to make her name in gotham city.
thor odinson, marvel # you were dancing through the lightning strikes ⸺ thor odinson.
main verse: justice league member thor odinson.
damian wayne, dc # you have no room in your dreams for regrets ⸺ damian wayne.
main verse: robin years. do not be weird. written way more as a background character than a main muse.
talia al ghul, dc # the woman who sits by the window has turned out the light ⸺ talia al ghul.
main verse: ???
s'chn t'gai spock, star trek # and right there where we stood was holy ground ⸺ s'chn t'gai spock.
main verse: . . . still star trek, soooorrrry. can have time travel isuses & get stuck in gotham though!
sasha bordeaux, peacemaker # all the wisest women had to do it this way ⸺ sasha bordeaux.
main verse: post peacemaker season 2.
bella swan, twilight # i still mean every word i said to you ⸺ bella swan.
main verse: gotham u student after edward leaves her in new moon. getting her degree + a few more years before she's turned. vampire protector ♡
eve macarro, john wick # you pulled the wrong trigger ; this empire belongs to me ⸺ eve macarro.
main verse: moving the entire john wick universe into gotham city. most threads post-ballerina. vigilante eve.
hela odinsdottir, marvel # they gave her the keys to this city then they said she didn't do it legitly⸺ hela odinsdottir.
main verse: post ragnarok, no powers, fucking around in gotham city. probably reluctant friends with harleen.
chase meridian, batman forever. # trust me; i can handle me a dangerous man ⸺ dr. chase meridian.
main verse: after batman forever, before she and bruce break up.
bane, tdkr? # i couldn't help but wonder: no matter how far you travel can you ever really escape your past? ⸺ bane.
main verse: ???? hqas based. sex and the city inspired.
charlotte york goldenblatt, sex and the city # i've been dying just from trying to seem cool ⸺ charlotte york.
main verse: lives in the palisades. at all the wayne parties. you will not catch her dead in gotham city proper.
emilia harcourt, peacemaker. # i'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror ⸺ emilia harcourt.
main verse: post peacemaker season 2.
eddie brock + venom, marvel. # you and i walk a fragile line ⸺ eddie brock. & but i never thought i'd live to see it break ⸺ venom.
main verse: suffering in gotham city. . . minor vigilante-ism.
bruce wayne, batman forever ( but only in the background of chase's threads i'm being so fr) # looking backwards might be the only way to move forward ⸺ bruce wayne.
main verse: he exists for chase... this is not talia's bruce or damian's dad this is only val kilmer bruce </
" i am going, and i am taking your car. " she brings a kind of what are you going to do about it vibe to the function ⸺ even if she knows the answer, by now. octavia can't help it. she pushes and she pushes at every boundary bellamy sets. why does he get to decide, just by luck of being born first? " linc is going. i'll be fine. you worry too much. "
" brother. " he doesn't mean for it to sound so commanding, but his voice booms across the empty hall, and he can't help but to smirk at the sound. perhaps he will take to this king thing, after all. " you have done excellent work here, but i fear it is time for a rest. have you heard of pizza hut? "
there’s blood dotting bandaged knuckles. selina misses the irony in talia’s statement, misses the deep, deep irony in asking her about a kid’s well-being — when not more than two hours ago she was swinging (unfairly) at a guy in the checkout line. even as a parent, without the presence of her self-restraint, selina strikes before she speaks too often. the tip of her cigarette glows a faint orange, red, then fades to nothing. “yeah. he is. but you wanna know if he’s happy.” she fixes talia patiently with a knowing glance, because she, too, gets it. she knows what it’s like. to love someone that’s yours so deeply you only want them to be happy. to know joy. “he does. i don’t think he expected her to give him such a run for his money, but holls surprised him. didn’t surprise me even in the slightest. he’s — adjusting. gotham — sucks.” embarrassing, her vocabulary short-circuits. and she finds herself tracing the shape of a cat with the barely-felt tips of bluntly clipped nails.
happiness is not something talia has allowed herself to imagine. greatness, certainly. accomplishment. but happiness is something that has only been stolen in fleeting moments with bruce, evenings where the moon shone too brightly over gotham and she could almost believe his promises.
talia supposes she has believed the bat's promise, if she's entrusted him with her their son. her hands are clenched into fists ; it's so unlike her to have a tell.
" is he? " it's all she wants for him. a chance at a life without shadows. if bruce cannot deliver that, she has given up her son for nothing.
" it is good for him to be challenged. " what she means is : it is good for him to have her. a smile curves on her lips ; they are not the words she would use, but she has to agree. gotham sucks. " there are worse places. "
❝ i know i said i'd drop it, but hear me out, before you say anything--- ❞ this isn't exactly about the night on the boat. at least, not in the way that @saveboth would think......there were a few words that she said that stuck with him--- ❝ you really think adrian's in love with me? cuz i never thought about it that way.....❞ as if you ever thought about it like that at all, chris. ❝ ignore the shit i said about him needing a brother. 's fuckin' weird. ❞ he laughs it off, awkwardly, shaking his head. ❝ guess i wasn't willing to accept that version of things....❞
" i don't know, chris. if you're coming to me for advice then we truly are fucked. " this is firmly adebayo's territory, and emilia would prefer if it stayed that way. she's as stiff as her leather jacket, beer bottle in one hand. ( this jacket is new, not so broken in as her old one ⸺ but not so bloodstained or smelling of cigarette smoke, either. ) " why are you asking me this? " it's better, she supposes, then him asking about the boat. still . . . " you've known him longer than me. what do you think? "
that's what fame will get you --- no peace at your favorite coffee shop. even with the sunglasses on, eve is spotted. she's not complaining, though. better to be adored than be a nobody. worse yet, forgotten. she fixes a smile on her face. for the record, it's not insincere. ( really, it's not. )
but eve quickly clocks that this isn't her normal fan encounter. the instinct stops her in her tracks and erases her go-to offer of a selfie from her tongue. annie janurary? starlight? of course eve knows who that is! the problem is, this lady is so not that lady. seriously, did she raid dakota johnson's post coldyplay break-up wardrobe?
eve's smile doesn't falter. she's even still willing to do the selfie. ❛ so sorry! should i know you? ❜
that, annie is not expecting. she's stunned into silence for a few moments. has her face not been on every major news network for the past year? annie pushes her sunglasses up, letting them sit on top of her head. she points behind herself wordlessly, at the tattered poster plastered to the building behind them. it is at least three stories tall. " that's me. please don't make me do it. "
fuck, she's going to have to do it. annie glances around to make sure nobody else is watching ⸺ even if she knows by now somebody is always watching. then, starlight's eyes begin to glow.
this is far more tense than their lunches usually are. clark silently watches april assault the leaves of lettuce, proceeding to make a casualty out of their container as well. he works through his own french fries slowly, half afraid that any sudden movements might set her off and choose him as her next victim.
alas, none of her frustration was directed at him. " i'm sure she's got other women friends, april . . . " he starts, unsure if he should really chime in at all. but hey, clark's a gentleman and as such, he must defend his lady love. also be mindful to never call her his lady love to her face. or think it again — too risky.
" you are very good at your job! " he agrees readily. it's easy to be supportive in times of crisis. " well— okay. i won't say it, but you did. and i did too, and that's okay. i don't think she looks at me like anything, i mean, she barely even looks at me most days! " there's some tension at the corners of his mouth, he also jumped too quickly to add that. " what i mean is, she's new, but she's one of us now. i think you oughtta give her the benefit of the doubt, y'know? try and get to know her a little. i'm sure you guys will get along just fine! " right? he has no idea. he's terrible at girl world, not matter how many times he's seen mean girls.
" no way. " it isn't like april to be so harsh, but a girl can only take so much. why does she have to be the bigger person when harleen refuses to do so? ( turn the other cheek, april. she hears it in her head, knows she has to do it, but she isn't ready yet. can't she have five minutes to be angry? surely god would understand, if he too had to deal with harleen quinzel. ) " if she hates it here so much, i don't understand why she doesn't go home. metropolis this, superman that. "
the cookie crumbles beneath april's fingers and she tips her head back, staring at the sky. jackson is in surgery. it's nice to talk to clark. he's kind and warm and all the things april tries so hard to be. so why is she still thinking about jackson?
" she looks at you all the time, " she says, exasperated. " it's like she wants to eat me if i mention you. i don't get it. " clark is kind and warm and all the things harleen is not. april sees the looks he's always giving her. she notices when neither of them have surgeries on the board and yet aren't in the attendings lounge. april does not have money in arizona's pool, but she knows what she'd bet on if she did. " clark, i'm not a little kid, okay? just because i don't ⸺ we're friends ⸺ you can tell me things. "
she's so tired of feeling like she's outside of everybody else's circle. just because she happens to have a set of beliefs nobody else here shares. she misses ohio.
" it's weird that she sits with lex at lunch, right? that's weird. "
no mention of the third member of their little lunch gang. jackson.
