A/N: Hey guys! This is my second fanfic and I hope you like it. It isn't related to the other in any way, but if you haven't started reading my other one, please do! It's called "How Do You Talk To An Angel?" and it's a romance involving the Joker and an OC. Also, you'll probably figure out who the main villain is right away, but if you don't, check the apartment address. Hint, keep a phone nearby. Or at least the keypad. Once you find out who the villain is, I'll tell you what the clue was.
Disclaimer: I do not own John Blake, Gotham, or anything Batman-related. They are solely the product of Bob Kane and DC Comics. Except Mr. Blake, who Chris Nolan gave us. Oh, I also don't own Kill Bill, not sure who came up with it but I love that movie!
Chapter 1:
I'm not going to tell you my name. Not yet, anyways. I tell people my name when I trust them, and frankly I have no idea who the hell you are. I promise to tell you eventually, but for now just call me Kiddo. That's what my best friend (let's call him "Buddy") used to call me after we watched the Kill Bill series together. That seems to fit. You don't find out Beatrix's name for a while, though if you can read lips, you found it out when you saw Volume 1.
Anyway, that was where it all started. Kiddo and Buddy. Two, run-of-the-mill, all- American college students. Best friends since 4th grade. Before you ask (as everyone does) we have never been romantically involved. Just a guy and a girl, best friends, who did everything together.
Our story begins with the two amigos heading on over to a nearby pizza parlor after classes. We'd just take hour-long exam in Criminal Psychology, a required course for anyone who hoped to become an FBI agent. Hopefully, you've inferred that that was what we were aiming to be. Next year, we'd be trainees at the academy and then eventually agents. Right then though, we were focusing on relaxing. And Buddy's birthday that day.
"I still think we should've gone to the University of Alaska." Buddy complained. He tended to do that a lot.
"But it's in Alaska!" I protested sensibly. Honestly, he could be ridiculous sometimes.
"But then we could say we study penguins!" Point proven. I stopped walking and placed a hand on my hip.
"There aren't even any penguins in Alaska." I reminded him.
Shrugging, he answered me. "No one ever said it was a good program."
I was shaking my head and laughing when it hit me. Quite literally, in fact. On this annoyingly breezy night, in the midst of a beautiful full moon, the wonderful wind decided to lift a stiff piece of newspaper and slam it into my face. I was carrying it over to the trash when Buddy stopped me.
"Wait a sec, I wanna see the paper."
At the moment it was suspended over the trash can, and I was about to let my attacker meet its dirty doom.
"What for?" I asked, very willing to drop it.
"Sports section." He replied. Typical guy answer. I turned to him, facing the wind that was blowing my hair around my face a bit harder than before.
"You're doing wonders for the American-male stereotype." I drawled out, handing him the paper. I watched the moon shining on his face. I waited patiently. Almost patiently. Okay I was tapping my foot really loudly trying to annoy him because- well I was hungry okay? I'm not ashamed to admit it like those stick-thin models. I'm a woman, I was hungry. Sue me.
So there I was, not-so- patiently waiting when I saw Buddy's brow furrowed in confusion. The winds blew harder, so I decided to get his attention before I was knocked over. I'm a small person. I may be 22 (I'll give you my age- Buddy's is the same) but I stand short at only 5'2". Buddy always made fun of me for that, also inspiring the nickname Kiddo- I could pass off for a kid under right circumstances.
"What is it?" I prompted him sharply, but he took no notice of my snappiness.
He just continued staring at the paper until he finally turned to me and asked. "Did our football team get a new stadium?" I shrugged.
"You're the guy. I thought you always check the paper for sports, shouldn't you know?" I asked, trying to keep the strands of hair from blowing around my face.
"Our team isn't mentioned though- unless our team name changed to the Rogues?"
"Lemme see it." I grabbed a hold but he wouldn't let go.
"Wait a sec-"
"C'mon, Buddy just lemme see-"
The gusts of air created howling noises in that should-be silent night. Leaves started swirling in the air, a nearby bench was coming unhinged- it was like our own tornado. I tried to lift a hand to shield my eyes from the harsh power of the cyclone. Everything was spinning so fast that I couldn't even see Buddy in front of me. The only way I knew he was there was that my fingers were brushed up against on the paper still.
We were thrown up into the center of the tempest, going higher and higher until-
The winds stopped.
And we fell.
Hard.
"Shit." Buddy grumbled, rubbing where he landed on his back. I looked at our surroundings. The first thing I noticed was that piece- of- crap newspaper at my feet. Who even used those anymore? Well, I did at that moment. But not to read, I can assure you. I rolled it up and started whacking Buddy in the head with it.
"Ow." He complained (surprise surprise).
"You. Just. Had. To. See. The. Sports. Section. I. Am. HUNGRY!" I accented each word nicely with a swish! and a whack.
"We'll get something to eat. The pizza parlor isn't too far from here." He reasoned.
"Where is here?" I asked. Looking at our surroundings, I saw tall skyscrapers jammed together in the place of the small town shops that were even closer together. Surprisingly though, we were in a lovely park in the middle of the city. Here, we could see what was probably the tallest tower in the city. It had five letters on it, but I couldn't make them out.
Buddy was looking over my shoulder, and I turned around to see a sign that read:
Welcome to Robinson Park
I froze as I read the letters underneath. With all my heart, I hoped that this was a mistake. Or a dream. I knew it wasn't though. Below the first line, the words read:
The Most Beautiful Place in Gotham!
Turning back to the building, I narrowed my eyes. I tried my hardest to see the letters on the tower, but there was really no point. Blaringly obvious, it said WAYNE. As in Wayne Enterprises. And Gotham. We were in Batman- land. Being a highly logical and normal human being, I did a highly logical and normal thing. I fainted.
When I came back into consciousness, I found a man leaning over me. Yelping, I jumped up and (accidentally) head- butted him in the process.
"Who are you? Where am I?" I cried out fearfully. In a place like Gotham, what else would I have expected to happen when I passed out? Kidnapping was the least of my concerns- much worse could be done to me.
"Just calm down, Miss." He tried to sooth me while I attempted to grasp hold of my nerves. The man was tall and well-built. He was even a bit attractive, save a scar which started at his eyebrow, curved around, and went straight. It kind of looked like a…
"Look who's awake!" I heard a familiar voice say. I turned and looked at the voice. Crap, what was his name again.
He walked over to me. "Cat, you okay?" Buddy (Buddy!) asked in concern and my brow furrowed.
"Who's a cat?" I inquired politely, very much confused. The unnamed man chuckled, but I didn't bother giving him a glare.
"Looks likes your girl's got a bit of a memory lapse, Ted." Anonymous observed. Who the hell was Ted?
Buddy looked at me and sighed. "Okay. Your name is Catherine Goldstone, my name is Ted O'Hare. We are currently dating and visiting here on vacation." He gave me a look that the other man couldn't see. Fake names. Oh.
And then I remembered the reason we were probably here in the first place. Me fainting, because of the city we were in. I just had to be sure.
"And where are we currently visiting, Ted?" I questioned innocently, attempting to look like I was trying to remember something.
There was a slight pause, hardly noticed, before he answered me reluctantly. "Gotham City, New York."
I wished that I was drinking something so I could spit it out. But life doesn't give you a glass of water when you need it. Unless it's for drinking. Again, the room began to spin and I placed an arm against the wall to steady myself.
"Gotham?" I whispered. The man looked at me oddly.
"I know it's not the best place, but it isn't that bad, Miss." He tried to reassure me. I stared at him blankly. Was he not there for any of the movies or something?
"Do you mind giving us a second?" Buddy- no, Ted requested. The man only shrugged and walked into a different room. I heard a muffled conversation for a few moments from the other room, and then Ted began to speak.
"Listen, I'm not crazy about our situation, but you gotta admit- it's pretty cool. No one else we know will have gone through this. Gotham." He pleaded with me.
"-doesn't exist." I finished for him.
"Look, we aren't getting back anytime soon, so we might as well enjoy our time here." He reasoned.
"Sure! In fact, why don't we go and join in on the villainy! I'll go be a psychiatrist at Arkham, get assigned to the Joker, and become Harley Quinn!" I hissed hysterically. Was he insane?
He rolled his eyes at me. "I didn't mean it like that."
"Where will we even stay?" I asked, trying to get some sense knocked into him.
"The man who just left-" he nodded towards the door. "-is Marcus Greene. He and his friend, Mark Black, manage an apartment building. The landlord is offering us a place real cheap, until we get jobs and can pay him back."
"Well that's great!" I was suddenly optimistic. We'd have a place to stay while figuring out how to get back home. "Where is it?" I asked. I wouldn't know where the place was in Gotham, but I was excited anyway.
"Here." He answered evasively. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at him.
"And here is…?"
"Nn nn nnn." He mumbled.
"What did you say?" I was becoming nervous. "Where are we?" I really didn't want to know at this point, but I just had to.
Sighing, he gave me an answer. "The apartment complex is in the Narrows."
I stared at him blankly. Sure, I'd watched the Dark Knight trilogy, each movie a few times, but I still had no idea what the Narrows were. Funnily enough, I didn't pay attention to street names when watching a movie.
He sighed again then walked over to me and leaned down to whisper in my ear, though we were the only two in the room. "In the first movie, do you remember when Bruce and Rachel were in the car at the very beginning? She opens the door and tells him-"
"-to look past his own misery." I completed the sentence. Like a lightning bolt, it hit me. I knew where the Narrows were now. Gotham was a shitty place in- and- of itself, but the Narrows were the worst.
"Isn't there any other place we can afford?" I pleaded with him, desperate to find an escape, but he shook his head grimly."
"It's the outermost part of the Narrows. And there is security. By this point, they'll have moved Arkham. We are definitely not in the first movie."
"Then which movie are we in?" I whispered fearfully back. Under better circumstances (much better) I would've been able to put two and two together.
He shifted on his feet uncomfortably. "They just rebuilt the football stadium. We aren't in the movies." He told me.
"So we don't know anything of what will happen. Just like the real world. Joy." I replied bitterly.
"It's only temporary." He assured me.
"Mr. Greene?" Ted called out and the man strode in with a similar looking companion. He even had the scar which again looked like…
"Mark Black." The newest addition to our little group stuck out his hand in introduction, and I took it.
"Catherine Goldstone, Mr. Black."
"Please, call me Mark." He grinned and I smiled back. I liked this guy already. Turning to Mr. Greene, I stuck out a hand.
"And we haven't properly been introduced, Mr. Greene." I reminded.
"Marcus, please. Enchanté, mademoiselle." He kissed my hand and Mark pulled him back, almost comically.
"Okay, Romeo. Let's get these two lovebirds a room." He said exasperatedly. I was about to correct him that Ted and I didn't have anything going on, when I remembered that we were supposed to be dating. Wonderful.
Ted wrapped his arm around me and kissed the top of my head. The other two men looked at us like we were just the most adorable things in the world. When both turned away to figure some financials out, I scrunched my nose at Ted in mock disgust, and he silently chuckled.
Marcus found what he was looking for in their books. "Alright so you to will probably want 23B, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom-"
"Two. Two bedrooms, please." I stuttered and blushed. Marcus' face was as rubicund as my own.
"O-of course. Sorry 'bout that." He muttered sheepishly. An awkward silence filled the room as he scanned down the records. I shifted uncomfortably on my feet and tried to look anywhere but at Ted. I felt that if I looked, the two of us would burst out laughing and ruin the whole scheme.
"Okay, here we go. 67E. 3 floors below the penthouse, that's where the landlord lives. You'll meet him tomorrow… one bathroom, one kitchen, one living area, and TWO bedrooms." The man grinned, as if trying to ease the tension. We were handed the key and I went to check out the apartment as Ted worked out the financials.
I just couldn't be there when he paid, you understand. This was…too real. Sure, I was excited about being in Gotham. And yeah, I'd live in this place for the time being; but I couldn't just forget that I had the real world to get back to, with a real life and a real family. I couldn't see Ted hand over the money because it would just reinforce the notion in my mind that we'd be staying in Gotham for a long time.
