Hello. Insomnia is a pain in the side, isn't it? Well trust me, it's a torture for me but since it lets me think of ideas for new story chapters, I guess...it's okay? Well anyways, time for a new chapter of 'Your Dark Knight'. I wish to say that this will probably be the last chapter, at least for a while, to be written so quickly; I do have other stories to update for, plus a new school year is on the horizon and I'd hate for my genius (so not being modest here; supposedly, I'm a child prodigy) to not be shown to my fellow classmates and teachers (it's funny when they think low of me, then get the surprise that I know more than they expected) like always, so I need to focus on my studies. But I hope you all enjoy this chapter, thank you so much for the reviews and with that, here is the latest chapter to 'Your Dark Knight'...Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING BUT THE PLOT OF THE ONCE ONE SHOT AND ANY OCS USED AND/ OR MENTIONED...Sorry if this sucked, was lame, too short, or all the above...Sorry if there were any grammar mistakes made during the writing, creation, and polishing of this update...Note: A lot of things take place in this chapter and, the moment of truth is near...
Even though he has dealt with long, exhausting 8-hour periods of important education almost every day, Kendall felt extremely tired and sleepy when the dismissal bell went off and allowed the students of Sherwood High School to leave campus; he was dazed, there were thick purple bags under his bottle green eyes from the insomnia episode, and his brain was just out of tune with everything going on around him.
In shorter terms, he was out like a light even though his body was wide awake.
"Kendall, maybe you should let me do the research for today; dude, you look dead on your feet." Logan said to him as they lounged in the schoolyard, away from the large crowd of laughing teens and seething teachers; they were waiting until the parking lot was empty, less traffic meant an easier route to the ravenette's car in the end.
The blonde took about ten minutes before realizing Logan was talking to him, jumping slightly as he struggled to put his facial expression into a simple smile.
"N-Nah Logie, I'm fine! Ready to start digging!" He said in a weak cheerful voice, Logan shooting him a mild glare and crossing his arms over his chest.
"Kendall, you sound as if you're high on cold medicine. You're slurring your words, you look out of it plus you're so uptight right now that someone dropping a pencil would probably send you scrambling up a tree. Dude, James is here still; I can do the work for today on Shadow's identity, but for now just go find your boyfriend and have him take you home in my place." Logan said in an adult tone, the blonde rolling his eyes but soon sighing in silent agreement.
He knew Logan was right, as usual; the mocha-eyed boy dreamed of becoming a doctor, so he knew almost everything about the human body, from the nervous system to the names of all the 206 bones. He could tell Kendall was running on fumes, in that condition he'd probably hinder the investigation they were planning on Sherwood's mild Jason Todd.
Still, to leave his best friend with the task and bother his precious boyfriend over something as silly as insomnia...
"Kendall, just listen to me okay?"
"B-But...!"
"Is something wrong, guys?"
Both gasped and turned to see James standing there with his bag over one shoulder and a hand on his right hip, his hazel brown eyes looking with warm concern at his blonde-haired beauty. Kendall blushed and looked down at his feet, Logan smiling brightly though; talk about the brunette's perfect timing!
"Actually yes, James my good friend. Kendall here is dead tired but insists on helping me out with some homework for our Geometry class; of course I can handle that with my hands behind my back, but you know him, always the ideal pal!" Logan said, feigning a look of surprise; James held back a smirk as he approached Kendall and embraced him tightly, their eyes meeting when he pressed a kiss to the shorter boy's bushy eyebrows.
"Kenny Rabbit, are you overworking yourself?"
"Eh, no?" Kendall tried to make up a decent-sounding lie but failed at seeing the unconvinced spark in his boyfriend's stare; he soon snuggled into the junior's warm, strong chest and breathed in his scent, a nod leaving him shortly afterwards.
"So, what were you saying...?"
"I'm tired..."
"What was that?" James asked, Logan chuckling quietly at the harmless teasing; he could tell Kendall's blush was darker now, even if he couldn't see the blonde's face, said boy punching James' left shoulder playfully.
"I said, I'm tired."
"One more time, babe."
"I'm tired, tired! Okay, really tired I am!" Kendall said, James laughing at the feeble impression of Yoda from the secret geeky (yet the fact he loved a geek made James giddy inside, since he liked odd yet intriguing interests in others) boy; he pressed a kiss to the other's lips quickly, smiling once more when he saw the longing, affectionate look taking over Kendall's pretty boy features.
"That's what I wanted to hear in the first place, Kenny Rabbit. Don't worry Logan, I'll take him to my house; I'm sure my mom and Jade won't mind my cute little boyfriend staying over for a bit, plus he can call his mom using my home phone to let her know he's fine and just sleeping over a friend's place tonight. Actually, I like the idea. That means I get to be around you for the rest of the day, Kenny Rabbit..." James whispered into the other's ear, thinking Kendall looked so adorable gripping his dark purple leather jacket tighter around himself.
After the romantic meeting they had during lunch, James had let Kendall borrow his jacket to avoid having questioning stares on him during class; since the brunette left a large amount of love bites on his lover's neck, the blonde couldn't go around school looking like he was just pleasantly ravished by an angel unless he wanted to get suspended by the principal.
"A-Are you sure that's alright, James? I mean, your mom has never seen me before..." Kendall said, pausing when James rolled his eyes.
"Sweetie, Jade knows you; she can fill in my mom about you herself, and I'll happily tell her how much I love and adore you as soon as she gets home tonight. She works late most nights so she probably won't be there when we arrive, but I'm sure she won't mind. I'm a devil at school but an angel at home, I never do anything wrong so she trusts me 99.9 percent of the time." He responded, Logan raising an eyebrow.
"What about the remaining one percent, dude?"
"The remaining one percent...she thinks one day I may burn down the house while fixing dinner and die in the flames, but that's been my chore for five years now and it hasn't happened yet. She's just paranoid, you know? Since Jade and I are her 'babies', she's very overprotective of us. Because she loves us, and because she's afraid of losing us like she did Shay..."
Kendall frowned and pressed soothing kisses to the brunette's cheeks and chin, knowing that sad look overshadowing those hypnotizing, brown eyes; he was thinking about his deceased older brother Shane, his twin that he lost two years ago in that horrible car accident.
"Well then, I leave Kendall in your capable hands, James. See you two tomorrow and don't worry bro, I'll figure out the Geometry homework on my own. Take care guys, until tomorrow." Logan said, patting both lightly on the back before smiling and turning on his heels to start toward his car, Kendall soon gasping when James suddenly picked him up bridal style and held him close to his warm body, the sky darkening and a chill soon heavy in the still air.
"J-James, what are you doing!"
"Carrying you, isn't it obvious, Kenny Rabbit? You're tired and I don't want you wasting your remaining energy trekking to my house; I'll happily carry you there, you can sleep on the way." James explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Well it was to him and now to Kendall, just that the blonde had been caught off guard is all.
"B-But your car, you can't leave it here in the school parking lot!"
"Babe, it won't get jacked up or anything if that's what you're worrying about; since I stayed behind talking to my Photography teacher about an assignment, I let Carlos take the truck and had him drive Jade home. Everything's under control, now sleep my Sleeping Beauty. My beating heart will now soothe you to dreamland in no time, don't worry about a thing; you know you're the most important person to me in this world, I won't let anything happen to you." James assured the younger boy with a sweet smile and brief kiss on the lips.
Kendall's face was still red in embarrassment and shyness as he cuddled up to the other's toned frame, arms around James' neck and eyes closing almost instantly as the insomnia's defects from earlier today began to pull him under a heavy, thick cloud of fatigue.
James smiled tenderly at the dozing off beauty in his hold, shifting Kendall's own bag to his free shoulder and making sure the other was all nice and cozy in his long, strong arms before heading out of school grounds toward his house.
...
"Kenny Rabbit, can you hear me? Sweetie...?"
Kendall's bottle green eyes slowly fluttered open at James' melodic voice, he noticing he was in a large bedroom with the walls painted black with a rich, dark red carpet flooring.
He faintly groaned and sat up, realizing also he was in an incredibly soft, king-sized bed with crimson red sheets and fluffy pillows; he blushed feverishly at seeing that he had been changed out of his clothes and into a pair of silk, black pajamas, his eager for James eyes soon falling upon the smirking brunette.
"Looks like my voice can wake up this Sleeping Beauty, huh? How are you feeling, Kenny Rabbit?" The junior cooed, rising from his computer desk chair in the far right corner of the room and soon climbing into bed with the blonde, he dressed in a black tank top and gray sweatpants; he looked a little frazzled, maybe from taking a short nap sitting up while watching over the shorter boy for who knows how long.
"I feel better, at least I got more than two hours of sleep in today. Is this your room, Jamie?" Kendall asked, arms going out toward the other while a pout pulled at his soft lips; James' smirk grew as he gathered the younger boy into his arms, both now having their backs to the bed and eyes on the bone white ceiling.
"Yeah, this is my cave so to speak. I know it's not much, but it's home you know?" James mused, Kendall unable to believe how heavy the lack of interest was in the other's voice.
The room was spacious yet not overbearing; the windows were large and overlooked a clear, starry night sky and full glowing moon. The walls were black but had several red Xs painted in the corners, book shelves in high towers throughout the room while an elegant dresser and chest of drawers occupied the wall opposite the brunette's bed. Two whole walls, however, were made of glass; double mirrors reflected the two perfectly like the face of a large river, the shards of the mirror James shattered to pieces months ago all stuffed away in a black trash bag hidden deep within his closet.
It was a cave in a way, due to the dark colors and air of solitude present, but it wasn't a cave Kendall would mind spending nights in with James.
"How long have I been out?" The blonde soon asked, his eyes on his lover's calm face. James smiled as he played with a lock of dirty blonde hair between two long, spidery fingers.
"Let's see, we left school like around three in the afternoon and it's eight now, so for about five hours." Kendall's eyes nearly popped from their sockets, a gasp leaving him and causing his body to snap into a sitting position once more, knocking James' arms from around him (sadly).
"F-Five hours! Oh no, my mom and Katie! They must be worried sick, I need to call them!" He began but James pulled him into a fiery kiss shortly afterwards, stroking his face as he worked his magic on the soon moaning blonde.
"Sweetie, Logan saved us there; he called ahead to your mom and told her about you staying over here tonight, she said it was okay so no worries. My mom isn't home yet and Jade's in her room talking with Dak over the phone, so we are in the clear." James explained, Kendall burying his face into those perfect chocolate-brown locks when his lover nipped at his sensitive neck.
"A-And how did I change clothes then?"
"Simple, Jade helped me with it; she dresses most of the Drama Club kids for their performances so she gave me a few pointers on how to do it right without waking you. I told you I'd take good care of you; you're my life now, you deserve only the best, Kenny Rabbit." James answered as he pushed the blonde into his pillows and ravished his neck more with pecks and light bites; Kendall shivered as a pink streak crossed his thin cheeks and nose, he soon seeking the brunette's soft lips to taste, to bask in their warmth and the ability they possessed to send him into a world of absolute bliss.
Their passionate lock of lips lasted until they ran out of breath five, long minutes later, Kendall panting and pressing his body closer to the one hovering over him as James struggled to gulp in a lungful of air.
"Damn, you're hard to resist, do you know that?" The brunette choked out, Kendall letting out his famous cackle at this; only James would be so blunt to say that out loud and not feel ashamed to.
"Good to know, that means I still hold your interest." Kendall replied with a surprisingly flirty grin; James smirked at the lovableness of the dirty blonde and kissed his left cheek, nipping at the baby soft skin there.
"You hold more than my attention; you hold my heart." James said, resisting the urge to face his reflection in the mirror; even though his eyes were focused on Kendall, he could sense Shadow's outline watching, glaring in anger and jealously from the mirrors.
Even in the safety of his room, James and Shadow could not be separated.
'Now, ask him now!' Shadow's voice echoed loudly in his head, making the brunette wince.
"James, what's wrong?"
"Nothing Kenny Rabbit, just a little headache is all. But tell me something, is Logan really bad at Geometry or what? I mean he's a child prodigy, it's hard to believe he would need help in anything relating to schoolwork." James mused randomly, cocking his head to the side; Kendall bit his lower lip, not wanting to lie to the love of his life but unable to say the truth just yet. Saying anything would have to bring up Kendall's theory of James and Shadow being the same person, and he had no evidence to prove him right or otherwise.
For now, he had to bite his tongue and play it easy.
"Actually I'm the one who's not good at Geometry; Logan just said that so not to embarrass me."
'See, he's lying to our face! Do you really think he's worthy of learning the truth about us? He's just a distraction, he'll just be in the way! Even if I love him as much as you, the same way as you, we can't risk him learning more! It's a good thing we stopped him from meeting with Logan to investigate us, but it's just the first step! We still have a lot to do...' Shadow whispered in the back of James' head, the brunette wincing again though this time able to hide it so that Kendall wouldn't get worried about him.
"Oh, well I'm not that bad with Math; maybe I can help you."
"N-No!" Kendall exclaimed before thinking his actions through more carefully, his near hysterics outburst making James raise an eyebrow at him.
"Why not, Kenny Rabbit? I know my strong points are in English and Art, but Geometry isn't that hard once you get the hang of it. Why won't you let me help you, Kendall? Is something wrong, are you okay?" The brunette asked, face serious as he cupped Kendall's cheeks and stared hard into his bottle green eyes.
Kendall felt tears stream down his cheeks, the sight making James' eyes widen.
"Kendall, what's wrong! Please tell me, what's wrong my sweet bunny?" The brunette's face was in panic mode as he cradled the younger boy in his arms, rubbing the small of his back gently and working kisses into his hair.
Kendall just shook his head and gripped James' tank top tighter between pale hands, wanting nothing more than to calm down with James' scent.
"N-Nothing, just being emotional again I guess." He only said, though he trembled when James' cell-phone vibrated on his bedside table; the brown-eyed boy held Kendall close still with one arm while his free hand swiped his phone and checked the latest message: it was from Carlos.
He was confused as to why the Latino was contacting him so late (well, late for the taller junior) but after he read the text over and over, James' heart clenched tightly and Shadow growled again in the back of his head.
James, this is bad! The SPD, Shadow's now a wanted criminal by them! Something's up, Shadow is a wanted criminal by the SPD! My dad is in charge of the squad after him, after you! We have to do something, quick and now before things get worse! I'll try to find out more through Damian, but we have to come up with a plan to fix this soon!
-Carlos.
...
Logan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Logan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He tossed the newspaper clippings and photos he managed to get aside on his desk, plopping down on his bed with a heavy heart.
For the last five hours, he's been looking over everything he could get of Sherwood's mild Jason Todd, of the mysterious Shadow...and nothing new has been uncovered by his calculating mocha brown eyes.
The pictures showed no trace of the hero's hair color or eyes, the columns dedicated to him were short and didn't have much detail, plus whatever important or interesting information would be kept out of the public's eye, to the police only.
He was at a dead end; all this digging and flipping through for nothing, nothing to prove if Kendall was right or wrong about James being Shadow. There was no clues to prove the silent, often anti-social teenager was the mysterious masked crime-fighter by night.
What was he suppose to do now?
"There has to be something, something I'm not seeing or getting right away. This guy can't exist on his own, no way..." The young genius muttered under his breath, reaching for a picture of said hero on the floor and sitting up to place it on his lap, switching on his reading lamp to get a better look.
The domino mask that hid those eyes well, the black body suit made without a trace to the original material or company, the skills of an acrobat and tech of a billionaire. Where could Shadow be getting all this funding from, it can't be from here since there was no company or industry in Sherwood with the bucks to create blueprints and put in the blood, sweat, brains and tears to make this kind of stuff: smoke traps and trace decoys, gloves that left no fingerprints on the surfaces they touched, motion sensors and heat-seeking night-vision goggles.
It was like the fancy tech the freakin' Batman had thanks to Wayne Enterprises!
"Where does this dude get his toys? There has to be something, something I'm not getting! Come on brain, don't let me down now!" Logan huffed, folding the picture and tossing it into the wastebasket by his desk; he rolled out of bed and turned to his computer, its screen opened up to the online page of James' mom's cosmetics company.
The page was simple yet attention-catching, a list of the items sold in big, brightly colored letters with the company's number off to the side in case of questions and concerns of the products produced.
He had looked through the site in hopes of finding some logic to Kendall's reasoning about James and Shadow being one-in-the-same but found nothing, that resulted in a dead end too.
"What am I missing? Shadow, I know there's more to you than what we already now. Who are you under that mask, and it is...true, what the SPD reported on the news about you attacking innocent people during a robbery? Are you really just a bad guy who wanted to gain the trust of the town to later stab us in the back? Or...no, there is more to this." Logan soon pulled up the article talking about Shadow's new turn of leaf, scanning the images carefully once more.
Same mask, same smirk and suit, same fighting style and everything in between.
But...Logan had a feeling this could not be Shadow.
The attacking of people, the cruel methods of manipulation and torture, the evil vibe from the hero (now a wanted criminal by the SPD) in general...none followed Shadow's style of handling things; sure everything was a match to who Logan knew about but there was something different about Shadow in these images, like a carbon copy of the real thing.
"I can't help but think this is a big mistake; Shadow isn't a bad guy, even if it looks like he is now. But I can't dwell too much on that, I have to think where the cash flow for his tech is coming from." Logan's mocha eyes returned to his computer's screen at seeing an update to the site pop up; apparently, Brooke Diamond's kingdom of cosmetics has made over two-thousand billion dollars in the last few months, due to some investments in security technology and mechanics.
The woman was raking in big money, yet chose to live in a mini mansion in a small town, with her now only son and adoptive daughter.
Wait...that's it!
Investments in security technology and mechanics, developments in defenses!
Shadow's tools, his equipment!
It must come from...!
"Brooke's cosmetics company! There must be someone in there who is helping Shadow, or at least has some type of intimate connection to him! That's it, why didn't I see it before? The millions of dollars raked in by Brooke's products, they would be able to be invested in and even buy Shadow's tech! Which means, Kendall could be on the right track! James may not be Shadow but someone in his mom's business knows or is him! That's it, I need to get down to Brooke's company first thing tomorrow and ask around! I'll skip school, no big deal since I'm the top of my class, and find out more!" Logan's lips twisted in a smile as he grabbed a notepad on his desk and began to write down notes and his plans on how to find the information he needed, brain working into overdrive.
Now he had a lead; it was a stale lead but a lead nonetheless.
And now that he has a lead, he was going to have pull out all the stops of his detective skills in order to the solve this mystery.
...
Damian sighed as he put his son Mauricio to bed, the small dark-haired boy finally asleep after crying for several hours; he was now a mess after learning about Shadow's change of heart, his lovely blue-green eyes sad and spirit crushed to know the hero he looked up to...was really a criminal playing the good guy.
"Please, please let me find a way to prove Shads is innocent. He's not a bad guy, I know it and someone is out there framing him somehow. Please God, help me find the real culprit and teach him the lesson on what happens when someone toys with justice, with the truth and the law." Damian prayed as he stared out the window, chest tight and mind racing.
Oh, for once he was going to let fate decide the time limit of this problem; even though he was itching to take some action, all he could do for now was wait.
Wait for a sign, then jump in when the time was right...
...
"Soon, soon everything will fall into place. Soon, everyone will pay for what they did to me..."