Hero/Vigilante AU
Content Warning: Implied violence
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With people like that horrible Bat on the loose, Gotham's civilians lived in a state of perpetual anxiety. Not to mention all those corrupt big businesses, the ineffectual police force, and now that clown fellow vying for attention as well…
The city was like a maze of twisted metal hedges and expressively jagged buildings, looming ominously over its citizenry. It was a horrible iron forest, and in every hidden crevice there dwelled a new sick surprise, waiting to make itself known,and when trouble sprang, the people scattered like roaches.
Some of them were more willing to tolerate this lifestyle than others, and the few who still bore some ounce of fight in them often flocked together, braving the harsh lights from above in order to form a rebel group of sorts. Not that there was a legitimate regime in place to topple, it was more of an overarching trouble that they were fighting really. Some serious social turbulence. At the root of the problem was an ineffectual, corrupt system bending to the wills of fringe maniacs. But regardless, whatever the cause, it all had to stop. Masked crime was a malignant tumor on Gotham's back, so perhaps masked vigilantes could act as surgical tools. Fighting fire with fire, and all that.
Crane and Tetch were only two of them. There were several others knocking around as well, who generally worked collaboratively, despite having wildly differing motives. Environmentalism, animal rights, government reform, education reform; everything from public facility maintenance to spiritual cleansing were on their contemporaries' agendas. And they would all do anything to make their personal ends meet. Anything.
Jervis and Jonathan in particular were focused on protecting the weak, the defenseless, those who could not fight for themselves. The kinds of people that they used to be. In order to shelter these individuals properly, they had to go to the mouth of the source: all of those strong-arming tyrants in power, the CEOs and politicians and exploitative overseers. They all thought that they were untouchable, but they were still slaves to their own minds, just like everyone else. They were still human, and therefor still fallible at the end of the day, an for the greater good, they had to be removed.
"Are we doing right?"
The question had come out of nowhere, really, and if it had come any later than at that moment, Jonathan thought he might have slept through it. In fact, he'd been under the impression that the little man in his arms had drifted off ages ago, but apparently he was just as alert as anything, eyes wide open in the dark. Jonathan produced a groggy noise. "Mmphf. What was that?" he asked, caught off guard by his own fatigue.
Jervis shuffled closer, nudging his face into Jonathan's chest, rubbing his cheek against the folds of his nightshirt plaintively. "I just… don't you think we were a bit harsh tonight?"
Crane paused in thought, not needing to be told which particular escapade his partner had in mind. "No," he said finally, firmly. "That man needed to be eradicated. His embezzlement wasn't just selfish Jervis, it was condemning hundreds of his employees to irreversible financial collapse, not to mention their families as well."
The Hatter sighed and began to run his hands along a few tender spots, loving and gentle and chaste. A finger traced Jonathan's jaw and a palm stroked the valley between his ribs and his pelvis. All of this affection came completely out of nowhere. It certainly didn't match his uneasy tone at all. "I know," Jervis said with another sigh, tucking his chin in. "But it still felt a little too severe. I don't know." His caresses grew lesser, softer and sparse as he drew yet further into himself and into his partner's arms.
"He had to be punished." For such a dark statement, Jonathan's voice was awfully casual. In the face of all of those gentle touches from before, he felt he ought to do something in return and ran his forefinger over the knobby notches in his bedfellow's spine. "I suppose so…" Tetch trailed off in such a way that suggested that he didn't really suppose that at all, but Jonathan was much too tired to address it in the moment. And what was more, he didn't quite agree with Jervis either. His aim was true, after all, but it would be a mistruth to say finally having the power to swipe back when his tormenters attacked wasn't the most beautiful rush he'd ever experienced.
He kissed the top of the smaller man's head and promptly fell asleep.