"How do you know him??"
Batman followed Lucy demanding an answer. She walked away faster, avoiding him. He quickly caught up and repeated himself more urgently, grabbing her arm, searching her face for evidence against what he feared the answer may be.
"How do you think?" she said to him. He let go. She looked into his eyes. She saw disappointment.
She sighed. There was a long silence as they stood there on a dark street together. The weather was turning bad.
"You knew him before..." Batman said in a low voice. He turned to Lucy, his eyes almost pleading. She knew what he was going to ask. "Maybe you can help-"
"You think I haven't tried to talk to him? I've spent years trying to get through to him. I use to always think that there was something I could say. But you know what? There are no magic words that will change him." She laughed in frustration. She wanted to say more but realized something odd. His voice. It had sounded different. She was certain that she'd heard it somewhere.
He tensed up when he saw her looking closer at him. He began to back away towards the shadows of the night.
"Wait!" She said. and to her suprise, he halted.
"I'm sorry." she told him sincerely.
Batman slowly began to walk to her. He stood so very close. She noticed that he had looked her up and down for a second.
He looked as though he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how.
"I need to know..." he began.
he seemed a little distressed, "Do you love him?" He had turned his gaze downward when he asked this. As if he knew the answer.
"Yes." she did not hesitate. She didn't even act ashamed. He looked away. It hurt him. He was trying not to show it.
She briefly wondered in the past if he had been interested in her but passed it off. His behavior had been strange and she was unsure if he was just simply being kind for the sake of it. But this moment confirmed it. When he looked at her, he saw the realization form across her face. She looked almost frightened.
"I didn't know," she said softly. Then she stepped forward. She offered her hand to him. He looked at it. Then he removed his. glove and held her hand. He studied it in comparison to his own hand. He caught her gaze, slowly dropped her hand then walked away. She stood there, bewildered at the idea that Batman had showed an interest in her.
"What are we, bossom companions now?"
Jack's voice filled the night's air.
Lucy didn't expect him to have been there, hidden. She hid her suprise and exhilaration as he walked toward her.
"We share a common...problem." she said. He raised his eyebrows and silently repeated the word, "problem". He pointed to himself with a mock questioning look. Lucy simpy tilted her head at his obnoxious behavior, seemingly restraining herself from yelling.
His eyes suddenly turned dark.
"Is that all you share?" He stood there, looking defeated.
For a split second, she entertained the idea of playing with his feelings. She almost wanted to lie to him. To see if it would hurt him. But she couldn't do that.
"Yes." She realized he must have overheard everything she said.
"Huh." he stared at her. But she wouldn't look at him. Her face was turning red so he prodded.
"I dunno" he said, "He seemed to be very interested in knowing your feelings for me."
"Well now he knows, doesn't he?"
Lucy tried not to sound angry. But she couldn't help but think she was cursed to love someone who may never love her. She had raised her voice at him, practically blaming him.
"Lucy." He said as he approached. She backed away and began to walk in the other direction. He'd always come off as sounding so condescending without meaning to.
"We need to talk" he was walking beside her. He put his arm over her shoulers and guided her into an alley. She did not protest as she was not afraid of him. He could do no further damage to her, anyway, she thought.
He'd already taken her life long ago, when he took her hand.
"You, uh...never asked me about my scars." He was leaning against the wall of the brick building that was now moisened from the light rain. He folded his arms. "Or don't you care?"
"I'm almost certain what happened." She said sympathetically.
He laughed. "Oh! You think that I..." he mimicked cutting his face with his knife. He shook his head as if she should feel embarrassed. "I didn't do this to myself. It was just an ironic incident that simply pushed me over the edge," was all he offered
"Who did this to you?!" She was beyond angry. And they both knew that she was not just referring to the scars.
"Oh stop it. You're overreacting. " He said, amused nevertheless.
"Jack, everyone is afraid of you. Even fucking Batman has no clue as to what you're going to do next!"
He smiled at that.
"I know you are having fun, proving a point. But you need to get out. WE can get out of here. Together," She said.
He stepped forward, amazed at her offer. She was too quick to trust him. He grabbed her, forcing her to tilt back her head. He kissed her passionately and with such desperation that she had forgotten everything bad he'd ever done. He was relentless. She held him so tight because she knew this kiss was goodbye. She could feel it. But she thought maybe she could change his mind. Matching his vigor and his passion, she found herself trying to remove his jacket in a haze of bliss. He didn't stop her. Instead, he began removing his gloves and tugged at her pantyhose. "Can I..." he whispered huskily in between kisses. He took her silence as a yes and while kissing her, pulled them down just enough to stick his hand in.
Her mind was blown and she was at a loss for words. His fingers were magic and she leaned against him, holding onto him for life.
"I've missed this so much," he said, looking into her eyes. "I love you," she told him. He hadn't expected that. He leaned closer into her as his fingers were more forceful, she began to see stars. He whispered, "I love you." They kissed as she collapsed in his arms. He pulled her onto him and pushed her against the wall. He licked his fingers savoring her. "Please," she kept urging him in between kisses. He began to remove his pants. She whispered, "Please, Jack. Don't leave me again. "
And just like that, he pulled away.
She cursed herself for uttering those words. She wanted him to continue what he was doing. Thankfully, he had only pulled away to remove his vest.