With Every Heartbeat • Bale!Bruce Wayne x fem!Gordon!reader (Chapter XV)
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: 2K
Chapter warnings: Abduction; punch in the face
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 and on Wattpad here. ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE.
Tag list: @helendeath @im-jesus
Tag list for this story: @deadofnight0 @unclearblur @christianbalefanatic @triptuckers
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A few hours ago.
You were awakened by someone touching your shoulder.
“Wake up, lady.”
Still half-asleep, you realised the basement’s light wasn’t turned on and immediately saw two flashlights pointed at her. Raising your head a bit, she looked at the two men in front of you, and was startled by the fact they weren’t wearing clown masks like all the Joker’s men who had been guarding you. In the dark, you only saw that one was tall, had a beard and that the other was blond, and was smoking a cigarette.
“Com’ on,” the first man continued. “We don’t have much time.”
He bent and grabbed your arm to make you stand.
“What- What’s going on?”
You were barely on your feet when the man led you impatiently towards the door. The other didn’t speak, but gave you an annoyed look, as if he thought he had something much better to do.
“Don’t ask questions.”
Now fully awake, you tried to struggle to free your arm from his grip but to no result. You had to follow the man’s quick pace as they walked across the empty basement, and when they climbed the stairs, he walked in front of you, so quickly that you almost tripped two times.
“We need to move,” the blond man behind you said, “right now.”
“What do you think we’re doing, bumbass?”
They were in what seemed to be an abandoned living room, but it was hard to tell when the only lights came from the street lights outside. Considering how stressed the two men seemed and sounded and how quick they were moving, you realized it could only mean one thing: either Bruce or the police were close. Your heart, which was already beating fast thanks to having been awakened so abruptly, started beating even faster, and once they got out of the house, you frantically looked all around, with the hope to see the Batmobile but the street was mostly empty except for cars and houses asleep at this hour. It took all of your focus, but you still noticed the two men did the same thing; which confirmed your theory.
He’s close.
He’s close.
He’ll come and get me.
The three of you walked down the street, even more quickly now, until you reached a car. The man holding you opened the rear passenger door, finally letting go of your arm.
“Get in. Quick.”
You didn’t answer, still looking around with hope and listening to any sound that could be a familiar police siren sound or the Batmobile's roar. The blond man grabbed your shoulders and pushed you down on the back seat with an annoyed sigh, so hard that you found yourself on the back seat not even a second after. You immediately tried to leave, but the blond man closed the door and immediately went to sit in the passenger seat, while the tall man sat behind the wheel. The car started moving and suddenly, the blond man turned around towards you and threw a larger blanket at you, which fell on your knees.
“Lay down, and put this on you.”
You looked at the blanket, and then at the man. After a second, you shook your head.
“No. I won’t.”
The blond man cursed with an exasperated sigh and punched you in the face. Your upper body lost balance and fell on the back seats but you managed to use your elbow to steady yourself. You felt blood coming down your nose.
“Shut your month, lay down and put the fuckin’ blanket on you.”
“What the hell- What is wrong with you?” the other man said angrily. “We aren’t supposed to hurt her.”
“It’s a punch, relax. Never could stand a bitch with a big mouth.”
The car was going fast, and you felt dizzy. If you hadn’t felt so weak after not eating for a few days, you probably would have been embarrassed to not be able to fight back. You thought of just strangling the blonde man. Or at least trying - a Gordon always fought back. The man behind the wheel would have to stop the car eventually, and then you could get out the car and run - and they couldn’t kill you, because as the tall man had just said, they weren’t supposed to hurt you. Probably an order from the Joker. Plus, the thought was very tempting after the punch. You grabbed the large blanket so it could be used to do what you had in mind, your grasp firm against the fabric.
Then it hit you. The Joker. The video he had made inside the basement.
If you leave, people die.
You didn’t believe the Joker was a man of a word as he himself said, and certainly didn’t trust him. But you couldn't take the risk.
You run - and then what? The two men simply tell the Joker, who happily goes on a killing spree. All because of you. A victory brought on a silver platter.
You lowered the blanket.
*-*
“Hi.”
Sitting on the hard ground, you slowly opened your eyes, and then jumped and gasped at the sight of the Joker’s face a few inches away from yours. You immediately used your arms to retreat until your back met with a wall. It only took a few seconds, as the room the two men had taken you to was another basement - this time filled with old objects instead of being empty - but much smaller. Your heart was beating so fast so you could hear it in your temples. Feeling a bit ridiculous, you rose on your feet as the Joker raised his eyebrows - not that you could see them under the black makeup all around his eyes.
“Aw, did I startle you?” he asked in a sugary voice, pretending to feel bad.
You didn’t answer. What could you say? Yes, you did. You would not - could not - give him the satisfaction. He took two steps towards you, and you felt your body tense and your eyes focusing not only on each of his moves, but also the ones he could make. You barely noticed his henchman behind him.
“I was told you barely ate the food you were given,” he continued, his tongue flicking out of his month. “That’s rude.”
“Not as rude as kidnapping someone and forcing them to stay,” you retorted.
The Joker looked taken aback, and his white face took a surprised, almost sad expression.
“Forcing? I’m not forcing anybody. Wasn’t the door open in the other basement? Knowing you, you might have not checked, but this door is also open. I told you, you can leave whenever your little heart feels like it.”
“And then you’ll kill people,” you snapped. “And nothing is telling me you did keep your word and hadn’t killed anybody since I’ve been here.”
Maybe I’ve been staying for nothing.
The Joker seemed to think, and nodded once. He gestured towards the man standing behind him, and the latter took out a newspaper out of his pocket and threw it at your feet. You hesitated before taking it and read the front page.
THE JOKER KEEPS HIS WORD.
There was an image of him - scary, but much less than in person - and only one sentence under it.
No deaths or attacks since y/n Gordon has been in captivity.
You blinked once. He kept his word. He did what he said he’d do.
I can’t leave. They can’t find me.
“See? I kept my word. And you stayed there like a good little girl. We both did what was expected of us. One could argue that it gives us something in common.”
Your head immediately rose from the newspaper to look at him.
“We have nothing in common, you-”
“Ts, ts, ts. It’s beneath a Gordon to use those unpretty words, don’t you think? Just like it’s beneath a Gordon to not look for his daughter. Your old man and your dear big brother are looking for you, did you know that? Same for Batman. As for your little rich boyfriend, well, I’m starting to think he doesn’t care.”
When you stayed silent, he continued.
“You know..." he said softly while walking slowly towards you, “people think chaos is easy. It's not. Takes work.” He nodded, then stopped, and his tongue flicked out again. “Do you have any idea how hard it's been, hum?”
You didn't answer.
“I've got people calling me all day. Asking if I’m gonna blow up a school or a hospital, shoot a random father of three, or set something on fire.”
He stopped again. "'No. I’ll confess, it gets very frustrating for someone like me."
He shook his head once to replace the green strand of hair that bothered him.
"But that's the funny thing, little dove."
He pointed at you, now only barely a foot from her.
"You're worth more to me alive than any of them are dead."
*-*
“I promise you, I don’t know anything! I don’t work for him! Please!”
If Bruce had the energy or the time, he would have rolled his eyes. James was holding a drug dealer by the collar on the edge of a roof. The man’s back was arched back, and if James let him go a bit abruptly, chances would be the man could just fall off the roof.
“You really think I’m gonna believe that?” James snorted. “You little-”
Bruce saw one of James’ hands leave the man’s collar to reach in his pocket, probably for a gun. Bruce took a few silent steps, James not hearing him once. He was proven right when a gun appeared in James’ hand. The latter pointed it towards the man’s throat and was about to bring it closer when Bruce grabbed his wrist.
“Do not.”
James’ head snapped towards him in surprise, and he then looked around for a short second. The criminal’s eyes became wide and he muttered a small “Dear God”.
“I guess I should get used to you arriving out of nowhere by now,” he said coldly, before he jerked his wrist out of Bruce’s grasp.
“This maj doesn’t know anything,” Bruce said calmly. “Let him go.”
“You don’t know that,” the younger policeman retorted.
Familiar quick steps - Jim’s - were heard behind them. The latter arrived, and grabbed James’ hand, which was still gripping the drug dealer’s collar.
“What’s wrong with you?! Let him go.”
James appeared deeply annoyed, angry even, but did what his father said. Once freed, the drug dealer ran away, muttering a mix of curse words and religious ones. The older Gordon man turned to Bruce, looking more tired than ever.
“Our team didn’t find anything in the basement, except y/n’s bit of hair and her DNA on the blanket. It’s likely you got there shortly after she changed your location.”
“What does it change?” James retorted. “We still have no clue where she is.”
Bruce didn’t answer. James was technically right. And the thought he may have missed you by a few hours, minutes maybe, had not left Bruce’s mind ever since he had left the basement.
“Since the Joker is keeping his word, we cannot charge ahead headfirst. Finding y/n is not an option, because the Joker will also do what he said.”
There was a short moment of silence, then James ran a hand over his face.
“Then we do it backwards.”
His father frowned. “Backwards?”
“The Joker’s promise is what is keeping us from finding y/n,” James explained. “Both because he changes her location, and also because he said her leaving or being rescued results in killing people. To me, it means we focused on the wrong thing. The Joker is the problem-”
“So the solution is to find him first,” his father continued. “Him and his men. He won’t talk, but maybe his men will.”
“He wants her alive”, James continued. “Needs her, even. That gives us the advantage of her always being alive.”
His father looked at him. “But in what condition?”
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