Have you ever been broken?
Like, completely driven over the edge?
Have you ever lain beside the body of the person you loved?
Crying quietly and begging for them to wake up?
Have you ever tried to give their cold body warmth?
Even when you know they'll remain cold?
Have you ever regretted?
She huddled against his cold body, laying beside him in the cold cave. She laced her fingers through his bloodied ones and rested her head against his still chest. The Batman and his Nightwing stood near the door, watching her. They knew she wouldn't do anything, but it was a precaution. In a matter of minutes, they'd watched one of Gotham's most well known criminals completely shut down.
"Forever is a long time..." Her broken voice echoed, cracking as more tears rolled down her face. Nightwing looked off to the side, holding in his own tears.
"But I wouldn't mind spending it by your side." A sob escaped her chapped lips and she turned her face so it rested against his bruised and bloodied chest. Her whole being quaked with agony as she tried to bury herself further into his side, searching for a sign of life.
"Tell me everyday I get to wake up to that smile. I wouldn't mind it, at all."
Her body was pulled away from his and she let it happen, leaning against Nightwing's chest and sobbing quietly. She fisted her gloved hand in the fabric of suit, and she felt him squeeze her gently.
"I wouldn't mind it...at all."
Dear Batman,
My name is Samantha Kathrine Elliot. I am 15 years old, and I was diagnosed with depression at the age of 9. My parents had died a few days after I was born, resulting in me being put under my Aunt's care. By the time I was diagnosed, she had gone insane. Although I was raised from the age of 1 by The Joker and his Harley Quinn, I never truly was insane. I was just...me
I killed my first person when I was 7. I think that's when my depression started. I had been so ecstatic to please my Aunt, and then she let me watch the family of the man I killed cry over him. I realized then that I had killed someone. Taken a life. When I stopped functioning, Harley took me to a doctor. She gave me the prescribed medicine until I was moving and eating again, and then she stopped. I fell back into my depression and soon took to self mutilation. My thighs, wrists, forearms, shoulders, stomach, and hips became a sheet of paper.
When I was 13, I met Jason Todd. Well, originally I met Robin, but after a few months I met Jason Todd. He was the best thing that ever happened to me. We started dating not long after, doing our best to keep it a secret from you. But you're Batman. You know everything. He found out about my depression and my problem. He cried in front of me for the first time that night. He kissed every scar and cut he could reach and made me promise to never do it again. I agreed, as long as he promised to stay with me.
Jason came to me a month after our 1 year anniversary and told me you knew. He told me we couldn't see each other anymore, or else you would take away his title as Robin. I relapsed that night. I don't know if you noticed or not, but I didn't commit any crimes after that. I laid in my apartment in a new puddle of blood every night, thinking about all of the ways to kill you.
And then it happened. Jason died. Harley had called me out that night, telling me to come watch as Joker "broke the bat". I suited up almost immediately. If only Harley had known she would break me too. She made me watch as he was beaten, and then when it was time to go Joker's thugs grabbed me. I was too weak to fight back. And you know what Jason mouthed to me as they dragged me out of the building? Do you? He told me he loved me. He loved me Batman, and you broke us up.
The love of my life is dead. Your son is dead. We lost the same person. Does it hurt?
-Never yours, Ace September 24, 2014
