So, guess who's back.
It's been a long year. I'm trying to get back into this, so please, bare with me and help me out a little here. I once said this was my baby and I would try to finish it so, please, read and review.
Quotes are from Thirty Seconds to Mars's Up In The Air.
"Is this the end I fear?"
Chapter 9: Loose Ends
There was silence, and the only thing I could hear was the blood rushing in my ears as my heart beat double-time. Charlie's eyes rose to look at my face, but my mind had gone completely blank, unable to fathom the severity of what Carlos Escamilla had just said.
His thumb brushed over the soft skin of my hand and I took a deep breath.
"No," I exhaled slowly. "You know what? Fuck you!"
My voice was barely more than a whisper. I yanked my hand out of his grip and stood up at the same time, turning my back on Charlie briefly. When I was on the other side of the chaise longue, his face was still somewhat surprised but I could tell he was trying to school his features. His eyes squinted as he looked up at me and tilted his head slightly to the left, taking on a confused and concerned expression.
"Dani?"
"Don't fucking call me that!" I hissed. "You have no right-"
But I had forgotten that my dear cousin Charlie had a short temper and absolutely no filter when he got pissed off.
"No right?" he asked, his voice at a normal volume but hard like steel, standing up and leaning toward me. "No fucking right? I´m your fucking cousin, Daniela! Have you forgotten that we fucking grew up together? Or did you forget that living in Gotham to escape your family, living with Bruce Wayne to be better, fucking Bruce Wayne to have what you do?"
My breath got stuck in my throat.
"Go to Hell, Carlos," I whispered, my eyes big and bright with hurt and complete astonishment. But I shouldn't have been so surprised. I had bared the brunt of his hurtful rants for years and years, after all.
"Oh, I'm sure we'll see each other there," he easily replied, appearing nonchalant once more. "But seriously, Daniela. I don't understand you. We both know it's what you've been waiting years to hear, and this is how you react?"
"¿Con qué cara vienes a decirme que me amas ahora, Carlos?" I replied, taking another step away from him. "After everything you did to me for years?"
"I thought we'd already been over this. I thought we'd already talked about what happened and gotten over it?" He seemed genuinely confused. "I was young, Daniela, and stupid and immature. I didn't know what I was doing to you then, I didn't even know what the fuck I wanted."
"And why tell me now?" I countered. "Why come tell me this now? You're married, Carlos. You fucking got married, knowing how I felt about-"
"You had left! You left me-!"
"I needed to get away from everything. I suffered for years over you! And you married one of my best friends!"
There was another short silence.
"It doesn't matter, Carlos. You're married, even if you are getting a divorce. I'm with Bruce now-"
"But are you happy with him?" Charlie cut me off, the anxiety rolling off of him in waves despite the knowing look in his eyes. I hesitated… and then was rendered speechless by my own hesitation.
"Of course I am," I murmured, looking at his face with a confused expression. "Why would you think I'm not?"
"You're not, Daniela," he whispered, quickly rounding the chair to take one of my hands in his and cup my face with the other, the desperation completely evident in his voice. "At least not like you used to be. Not like you can be."
"There's no going back, Carlos," I replied, my voice emotionless and level. "You're just confused and hurt by what Cinthia said. Come talk to me when you're not distraught over what's happening to your family. Honestly think things through, please."
I took a step away from him and slipped my hands from his. He shook his head, looking like he wanted to argue but knowing I was serious. I turned to walk away.
"Plus," I added over my shoulder, "You and I were never good together."
His words made my steps falter.
"He's just like me."
"What are the scars from?"
There was a moment of silence, and Bruce distinctly felt Daniela's muscles tense under his hands.
"What scars?" she replied, a smirk in her voice. They were on the bed, completely bare except for the sheets covering them. He was on his side, supporting his head on his left hand. She was laying on her stomach, her hands under her chin while Bruce's hand caressed her uncovered back.
"Don't play dumb, Daniela," Bruce replied, rolling his eyes despite the fact that she couldn't see it. "It doesn't suit you."
"That's what you think," she murmured, amusement coloring her voice. "It's gotten some good bits of information out of you, and you have yet to notice."
Bruce snorted, leaning over to lick her shoulder near her neck. She immediately caught her breath and her flesh got goosebumps. He blew on the wet skin for good measure and felt her shiver under his touch in satisfaction.
"Stop avoiding the question," he murmured, placing a kiss on the tattoo on the back of her neck.
"Stop distracting me," she countered, biting her lip and trying to maintain her breath even.
"It's the only way to get the truth out of you."
"I was young and stupid… and I thought I was in love," she said after a moment. Bruce stopped his ministrations as the words left her mouth. He tangled his hand in her hair, making her moan, and got a good grip before yanking lightly—she mewled— and whispering in her ear.
"Were you not?"
Her breath came out in short pants.
"I thought I would die without him," she shot back in her breathless voice. "And look at me."
"Look at you," he whispered against her neck, licking from the base of her shoulder to her jawline.
"I'm still here," Daniela exhaled.
"With me," Bruce finished, turning her face towards him to attack her lips.
"I think your fundraiser will be a great success, sir," Alfred said by a way of greeting. I was making my way down the stairs when I heard him and hesitated, wondering if I would hear something I normally wouldn't if I was patient. I could hear Bruce's footsteps stop at the foot of the stairs and could just imagine him fixing his shirt.
"And why do you think I wanna hold a party for Harvey Dent?" Bruce replied.
"Well, I should think your usual reason for socializing, beyond myself and the scum of Gotham's underbelly, to try to impress Ms. Dawes," Alfred replied, making me take a deep breath, waiting to hear Bruce's response. Maybe I had been right.
I wasn't too sure I heard right, but it sounded like Bruce said, "Yeah, very withdrawn and very wrong. Actually, its— uhh— Dent…"
I was prepared to turn and go right back up those stairs, but the sudden silence that overtook the two of them intrigued me. I finally took enough deep breaths to swallow the lump in my throat and made my way down the stairs.
Nobody took any notice of me as I approached the television, standing beside Alfred and away from Bruce. Although, to be honest, I didn't want to talk to either of them.
"Are you the real Batman?" Joker asked in the video, his voice piqued with curiosity, almost sounding childish.
"He's a symbol that we don't have to be afraid of scum like you" was Bryan's response.
"Yeaahhh, you do, Bryan. You really do," Joker replied. For once, I had to agree with the Joker. You could pretend to be brave, but somebody like the Joker should really scare the shit out of you. He was one of those guys, y'know?
He wasn't a monster, he was a real human being, which made it all the much worse. He was one of those guys that had no limits, no boundaries, no rules. He could and would do anything, uncaring of anyone's life, even his own.
"So you think Batman's made Gotham a better place?" Joker said in the same, almost-childlike voice. I knew this was hard for Bruce to watch so I walked around Alfred and stood by his side, my body turned toward his and my hand on his arm. "Mhm?" I couldn't tear my eyes off the screen, although it was hard to watch. "LOOK AT ME!"
I jumped. Joker's sudden shout scared me enough to make me jump. It sounded so primal and animalistic, it made me forget for a moment that the Joker was actually a person.
Bruce turned his body toward mine and embraced me with his left arm, both of us still watching the video.
"You see, this is how crazy Batman's made Gotham. You want order in Gotham, Batman must take off his mask and turn himself in. Oh, and every day he doesn't, people will die… starting tonight."
I glanced at Bruce's face for a moment before looking back at the screen.
"I'm a man of my word," Joker finished, his voice sounding deep, almost handsome in its rich quality. But it had nothing to do with the owner of the voice, someone who seemed almost inhumane.
Then, his hysterical laughing began, just as Bryan's screams did. I turned my head away immediately, placing my other hand on Bruce's chest. Bruce placed his other arm around me just as he turned off the television and hugged me.
"I'm sorry," I murmured, carefully watching the Gotham skyline through the glass windows/walls before turning to look at my boyfriend's face. He was also looking at the skyline through the glass over my head with a frown on his chiseled face.
"For what?" he asked, after a long while.
"Being a nuisance," I whispered. "Because I know what you're thinking… That that's your fault. But it's really not. You didn't choose for the Joker to set his sights on Gotham. You're only one man, Bruce, you can only do so much at once. You're a man with two lives and, in order to keep order in both of them, you have to give each of them their time of day. You know that. That's why you're Bruce Wayne as long as the sun is out, and when the sun sets, you become Batman…"
Bruce finally tore his honey brown eyes away from the distance and looked down into my eyes.
"I know… But why are you a nuisance?" he murmured, readjusting his hands around my waist. I dropped my gaze and played with the fabric in my hand, as both of my hands were now on his chest.
"Because I give you a hard time about trivial things when you have bigger stuff to worry about," I said in a small voice, almost shamefacedly. Bruce smiled and pulled me even closer against him.
"Like what?"
"Like not wanting to take me to Hong Kong," I whispered, making Bruce grin and kiss my cheek.
"But are you happy with him?"
"I don't consider that a nuisance. I consider it more of an… assurance," he said, leaning further away from me to fully see me, although he didn't let go of me. "I'll be more worried the day you don't accuse me of such things."
He softly kissed me before pulling away. Alfred had long since wandered away toward the other end of the apartment floor, and Bruce made his way toward the English butler.
"Why?" I called after him.
"You're not, Daniela."
"Because the day you don't care anymore will mean it's the day you've fallen out of love with me."
"At least, not like you used to be."
I took a deep breath and walked toward the glass wall.
"… to try to impress Ms. Dawes."
The Gotham skyline looked impressive from this height. I could only imagine what the ground looked like from the rooftop.
"Not like you can be."
"I'll wrap my hands around your neck so tight with love."
*With what face do you come tell me you love me now, Carlos?