Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Batman tear and am reciveing to money for this story.
A/N: this came to me as I was watching Catwalk of the Batman: Animated Series and just had to write it. OneShot DeathFic.
I never meant for this to happen
By: Delia Ra'Nar
Always a game between us. Just a game. Well just a game for me. Nothing was ever just a game for him.
I had just stolen some rare artifact that was shaped like a cat, can't remember what exactly. I hadn't bothered to keep the fact that I was going after it a secret but I hadn't announced it to the world at large either. That would be to obvious for him. And if it was to obvious he might not bother hunting me down.
It's funny. Everyone assumes that I steal all those figures just because I have a thing for cats. That's not true. I mean, I do have a thing for cats, I adore them, but that's not why I steal them. I steal them because I know he'll be waiting for me there. It was nice to know that I could have the strongest, most mysterious man in the city wait for me whenever a rare exhibit is in town.
This time it was a visiting Egyptian Gallery featuring the Goddess Bast. He must have been thinking 'how could she resist.' He was right. I couldn't.
The great thing about this exhibit was that there were so many cat statues he couldn't know which one I was after. When there was only one it was harder because he would booby trap it and if I wasn't careful, the hunt would be over before it began. But not this time.
Everything started out just as I planed. I grabbed the artifact, and he tried to grab me. The chase was on.
I never really realized it before now, but every time he chased me I tried to kill him. It was actually kind of a shock because I don't usually try that. Steal, yes. Kill, no. and yet it wasn't ever like trying to kill a normal person. It was more like… tossing a dog into a pool instead of a cat. You could do it because you knew that they would always swim. So, yea, I always tried to kill him, but it was okay because I knew he would never really die.
We were up in the rafters of the musame, playing- I mean fighting. But he was getting very close. And I wasn't ready for the game to end. The pound is such a terrible place for a cat. I flicked my whip and swung onto a large sign announcing the exhibit. He was right behind me, as I knew he would. Just as he landed I leaned all my weight to one side, making the sign sway and he to lose his balance. I slashed the rope on my side then catapulted to his, latching on to the one remaining support while cutting it beneath me. I scrambled up toward the skylight, every second expecting for his large, strong hand to fall on my shoulder. But he didn't come after me.
My steps faltered. What could be keeping him? Surly he wasn't just gong to let me escape. I went back to the skylight and peered in. at first I didn't see him. Then I spotted the horns under the sign.
This wasn't happening.
Quickly I slid down the rope as far as I could and used my whip to swing down the rest of the way. I heaved the sign off him. He didn't move. What was wrong with him? I couldn't understand why he didn't slap his infamous bat-cuffs on me. I mean, this had to be a trap. I touched him and he was getting cold. I kissed him and he wasn't breathing.
I never meant for this to happen.
And that was it. He was dead. Gone. And I figured: what could it hurt? I just wanted to know who this man was, the one I had been chasing for so long. Because even when he cased me, I was still really chasing him. Do you know that old saying: curiosity killed the cat? Well it did.
He had loved me. I know that now. For real. As himself. Not just HIM. But I didn't see it. All those times he was there for me, saved me, with the mask and without. I just never put them together. Now it's to late.
I knew I couldn't leave him here, not now. No one else could know who he is- was. I closed his empty blue eyes and slung his weight over my shoulder.
I took him home. Obviously I knew were he lived now. The Bird wasn't there of course, he would be at that fancy college then, wouldn't he? Probably better that way. I got the feeling I didn't want to be around when he heard the news.
The butler was there though, always was it seemed. He couldn't believe it when I told him. Wouldn't. It just makes it worse because I think he had hopes for us. Even knowing who were both were. All four of us.
I walked out of that house with my world gone. The police would be after me still, but it didn't seem to matter. I didn't even bother to think about what they would do if they found that I killed him, because I knew that they would never be told. Part off me wished they would be. Besides, they would have their hands full without his help. The city's criminals would rejoice when they realized that he wasn't coming back.
I know I can't make it right. I can't be HIM. I don't think even the Bird can, not the way he needs to. But I can do something. I can help. And I will. For my love. For my Batman. For my Bruce.