(A/N: Are you ready?)
A missing woman dabbed the last bit of white nail polish on her pinkie toe. Her other foot was resting in the lap of the owner of the manor as he read a book. Raising her wet toes to his face, she commanded, "Blow." And he did.
It was noon and the sun was high in the sky. The rich man had made it a point to stay home during the day, but he still left at night. He gave her the excuse that he was working, but she knew better. Still, she'd find out what his little hobby was eventually so she wasn't worried.
Reaching over to the coffee table, she took the sandwich they were currently sharing from its plate and took a bite, admiring her toes. She licked her lips and returned the sandwich to the plate, replacing it with a glass of sweet tea, her eyes now on her companion. She chewed on her bottom lip pensively, her mind in shallow thought.
Scooting her body forward, she raised the straw of the beverage to his lips. Brown eyes flashed to hers and he took a sip, his gaze unwavering as she took the drink back to take a sip of her own. Fingers reached out and tucked a curl behind her ear, she smiled smally but hid it by taking another sip of the drink.
"How are your wrists?" Bruce finally spoke and she shrunk back a tad.
"Fine." Baby answered, putting down the glass. "I know all the tricks to keep them from scaring." She assured him for no reason at all, her tone light. She saw the unspoken question in his eyes and quickly put on a teasing grin, taking the book from his hands. "What are you reading?"
"A psychology book." The Wayne answered without missing a beat.
"Is that a joke?" Baby questioned, before looking at the cover. It wasn't. "Are you trying to get inside my head?" She teased before her smile faltered, "That's not a place you want to be; trust me."
Bruce turned toward her on the couch, his eyes scanning her face for a moment before he brushing a hand down her cheek. "Do you trust me?" He retorted.
The beauty stared into his eyes, her dark orbs penetrating. She saw sincerity but she shook her head with a sad smile. "I don't trust anyone."
"That must be lonely."
"Unimaginably so." Baby replied, her plump lips pursing, "But something tells me you understand that better than anyone." Her watchful eyes catching the smallest reaction.
Bruce cracked a crooked smile and brushed a thumb against her knee, not looking away from her for a second. "Seems we're two of a kind."
Baby licked her lips and shook her head, "I wouldn't go that far. How are my toes?"
"Dry."
"Good." Baby cracked back before getting up from the couch, "I'll be right back." She threw over her shoulder as she padded out of the room. She needed to get a top coat to lock in the color. Stepping into her temporary bedroom, she trotted to the nightstand, picking up the clear polish. As she turned to leave, she caught sight of her phone on the bed. She paused for a moment then shook her head, leaving the room in a hurry.
Baby dropped herself back on the couch and put her feet up again, though Bruce had moved from the sofa to his desk. She painted a final coat on her nails and grabbed the remote from the coffee table, pressing a button and making a painting rise to reveal a television. She clicked it on and laid back, flipping through channels. Looking away from the screen for a moment, she glanced over her shoulder at Bruce. "I think… I want to go out today." The beauty murmured, waiting for his brown eyes to look to her and when they did she raised a brow, "Well?"
"I'll send for a car." Bruce responded over the monitor, "Where are you-!"
"Shopping." Baby answered quickly, getting up from the couch before he could question her more. "I'll go get ready."
An hour later, Baby looked like her old self. She was wearing a white chanel jacket over a checkered crop top and a white mini skirt with white pumps on her feet. She had pressed her hair, so it hung down straight, though it was fluffed high and held back by a white headband. She had silver hoops in her ears and a black purse that mirrored her red heart shaped one at home. Her lips were glossed in Vanilla Dream and her eyes were lined like a cat. She was ready to face the world again after being locked up.
Baby sauntered down the stairs and nodded to Alfred as he opened the front door for her. She walked out of the manor and squinted at the sun, the beams directly on her for the first time in weeks. Putting her shades on, she got into the town car, muttering the destination to the driver. Armed with her cell phone and wallet, she glanced behind her as the car drove away. Bruce was watching with a grim expression.
It took no time to drive into the city and as Baby glanced out the window, it felt foreign to her. Gotham never really felt like home but when the driver passed the club, her heart ached as if it was.
Baby frowned and turned away from the sight, biting her lip. She wasn't welcomed there anymore, the sooner she understood that, the better.
Jay had found someone new.
Her heart dropped into her stomach and she swallowed down a sob, gripping her pocketbook instead. She closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing, not wanting to breakdown in the back of the car.
It was all over for her. She would have to find a way to leave town or-!
Insistent buzzing in her purse interrupted her morbid thoughts. Furrowing her brows, she clicked open the clutch and took out her phone, the name "Johnny", flashing across the screen. Her heart stopped and she answered it.
"Hello?"
"Jewels!" Johnny exclaimed desperately, before sighing in relief, "Where are you? What happened? Are you alright?"
A million questions were fired off at her at lighting speed and she could barely keep up with them. Her eyes began to water for another reason and all she could say in reply was, "Is he still mad at me?"
"Jewels," Johnny repeated, a breathless laugh coming from him, "We've been looking for you since you left! I thought you skipped town or something, but… Hell yeah you can come home!"
Baby grinned so widely her cheeks hurt from the out of character expression. "You've been looking for me? Why didn't you call?"
"We've been calling you everyday nonstop!" At that the beauty's smile began to drop, "You didn't get the messages?"
"No." She whispered, suddenly feeling sick, "I didn't… Johnny cakes," She started, swallowing, "I'll be at the club tonight, six sharp. Tell the old man I'm coming home." With that she hung up the phone, slowly lowering the device to her lap.
"He wouldn't." Baby muttered to herself, shaking her head. "He wouldn't do that to me. He doesn't know who I'm with, he couldn't possibly…"
Looking down at her phone, she unlocked it and went to her voicemails. Her mailbox was empty, she scrolled down to the bottom of her saved messages and saw a button that said 'Deleted Messages'. She tapped it and her heart sank even further. The most recent one was dated earlier that morning.
"Baby," Her name was breathed into the phone, "I-I want ya to come home on home. Our bed's cold and everyone is so fucking incompetent. I… I need ya home, sweet pea."
One after the other, she played the messages until tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Turn the car around." She nearly barked at the driver, "Now!"
By the time the car pulled back up to Wayne Manor, Baby was shaking with anger. Not waiting for the driver, she opened the door herself and slammed it closed behind her, stomping up the steps to the home. Yanking the door open, she headed straight to her bedroom to pack her things.
As she stepped into the room, a metallic golden dress was laying on the bed. Pausing in her anger, she walked to the dress and peered at it, running a hand over the sequined gown.
"Do you like it?"
"Jeez don't you ever make noise?" The beauty breathed, too proud to show how startled she was. She didn't get an answer right away and rolled her eyes, too angry to even look at him. Footsteps sounded toward her and she reached under her pillow to grab the pistol that was there. The beauty quickly whipped around and pointed it to him, her eyes wild.
Bruce put his hands up and smiled crookedly, "So you don't like the dress…"
"Give me a reason why I shouldn't fucking shoot you where you stand." Baby hissed through clenched teeth, her lips set in a fine line.
Instead of doing what he was asked, the billionaire started to walk towards her slowly, though his hands were still raised. "I bought you that dress," He began to inform her lowly as she clicked the safety off, "Because I wanted you to attend a gala with me tonight."
"Back. Up. Wayne." The beauty scowled keeping the gun pointed at him. His smile got wider but he kept advancing on her, right until the barrel was in his chest.
"You're a good dancer so I figured we could-!"
"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Baby snapped fiercely, jamming the barrel harder into his chest, "I don't want to go anywhere with you! I don't even want to be around you!" Her hard resolve faltered and she scowled at herself for breaking, "I knew you were just like all of them and it would only take so long for you to show your true colors. I trusted you and you lied to me."
"I was trying to protect-!"
"Shut up. Shut your fucking mouth, you liar. You only want me to yourself but I have news for you," Baby swallowed, licking her lips, "I'm not yours to keep. Or to take." Brown eyes glared viciously into identical pleading ones, "I'm his."
With that, Baby removed the gun from his chest and clicked the safety on, stuffing it in her purse. She grabbed her car keys and began to leave, snarling as her arm was grabbed. "Don't fucking touch me."
"You can't go back to him."
"Fuck off." She snapped back, yanking her arm out of his hold and marching out of the room. Baby almost made it to the stairs when she was pulled back again, though this time she was roughly slammed against the wall. "Get off of-!"
"Stop talking." Bruce barked at her, his tone frightening. Baby could see the same viciousness in his eyes now and she stopped struggling, "You are not going back there. I will not allow-!"
"Allow me?" Baby repeated with a dark chuckle, "You sound just like him."
The Wayne scowled and his grip tightened around her arms, "Don't compare me to your clown."
The beauty simply laughed louder, shaking your head. "You're two of a kind, Brucie," She threw his earlier phrase back at him with a smirk, "But I prefer the original." A gasp of pain left her lips and she looked down at her arm to see a needle depositing a clear fluid into it. "What the fuck?" She murmured, looking back up at Bruce as her heartbeat began to slow down. "What did you do?"
"You can't leave." Bruce uttered again, holding her up as her legs gave out.
"N-n-no." Baby stammered, her body becoming weak. "They'll come-! You can't do…" The last thing she saw was his brown eyes before her head lulled back and she lost consciousness.
Chills ran up and down her spine as she came to. Her wrists were bound to her sides and something was locked around her ankles. Confused and albeit frightened, she struggled against her restraints but to no avail. The fact that she was lying down made her panic even more and just as she was about to scream, the blindfold was removed from her head.
"You." Baby whispered as the Batman walked around her and began to flip switches, "Why am I here?"
"I'm going to help you."
Her blood ran cold and she swallowed, "Did Wayne put you up to this?" She managed to say, "I don't know what he told you but I-!" A loud bang made her jump, "Please." She begged around, though her words came out garbled with a sob.
"The only way to save you from the clown is to make you forget." The hero spoke lowly, the rasp of his voice chilling her to the core, "Once you forget, you'll be cured," He paused, taking a look at her, "Of everything."
"I don't need a cure. I'm not sick." The beauty breathed, her eyes wide with terror. "Please just let me go."
"You're depressed and angry. With a haunting past but I can change all of that." The bat promised, checking her restraints, "I'm going to change that."
"I don't want you to." Baby cried, swallowing her sobs, "Please, I'll do any-!" A mouth guard was shoved into her mouth and she began to hyperventilate as gel was rubbed onto her temples. She looked up at the exposed chin of the masked man and her eyes widened.
"Bruce?" She spoke out, but her words couldn't not be understand around the guard. The sound of controls switching, made her freeze and she did something she hadn't done since she was younger; she began to pray. Her chest heaved up and down hurriedly and as two transmitters were placed against her temples, a tear fell down her cheek.
Everything burned.
(My fanfiction tumblr is DeePett, voice your concerns and frustrations to to her.)