Hand fitting in his own just the way he remembered, the way he missed, Chris watched Emily with a newfound appreciation as she slept. In a way that he had never really acknowledged openly in the course of their relationship, watching the reformed villainess bring their baby into the world in tears, screaming, and blood was the most incredible thing he had ever seen, and that was including everything he had done or ordered done as a super villain. In fact the only thing that had eclipsed his admiration was the feeling that griped his heart when Emily handed him the baby. He was pretty sure that the nurse was going to give him the bundle first, but at the murderous look in the new mother's eye the young woman thought better of it - it was fine with him though, having every doubt in the world at holding the baby. Sure he had happened to find one or two books just laying around to read, but seeing pictures and diagrams wasn't the same. Anyways, it meant so much more when Emily herself had handed him the baby as a sign of trust.
"So how's everyone holding up?" Dave had been there the time, others flickering in and out to check on the hero and family, his eyes showing the hours, "Where's the little one?" Present but nodding off in the chair every so often, he had missed the baby being taken for tests.
"The nurse should be back any moment..." The words had been on the tip of his tongue for the better part of the day, but until now there had been no privacy to speak, "Thank you. Thank you for telling me to get my ass over here, and... Thank you for taking care of her."
Dave was taken aback to hear such a thing, but he was by no means about to make it easy for his nemesis, "Well that wouldn't be necessary if you hadn't been such a fucking idiot in the first place." Mindful of not waking the woman, the cutting edge to his voice was no less venomous. "She still loves you, you know. I can't for the life of me understand why she'd hold on to a shit-heel like you, but she's always going to love you."
Because she was borderline insane, his very own devoted Harley that would never outgrow her Joker, no matter how awful he was to her. "I know." Sighing, Chris kissed her hand before crawling out of the bed, something in his eyes that the hero couldn't believe, "Emily deserves better then me, than you, than all of us. Face it dude, we're all a lot fucked-up, maybe even her most of all, but she did this out of more than desperation to escape a shitty life and live out a fantasy, she did this all for love. And I..." Choked up, he couldn't say any more, but he didn't have to.
"It's not too late to turn over a new leaf, give all this shit up and do right by these two." Dave understood what it felt like to be conflicted about saving people by putting on his mask or choosing to follow his dick to greener pastures, but he could only imagine how that struggle would change with adding a child into the mix, and factoring in that Chris' main goal had been hurting others... Well, whatever was going on his mind in that moment he could only guess. "Emily left the game, so you can too." The sad truth was that if this didn't change Chris enough to reform, then nothing ever would, and if she wasn't careful, the slippery slope of co-parenting very well could have returned her back to square one. Black Heart wasn't the worst person to fight against, but discounting what a tragedy it would be to see her regress, the thought of facing a mother bear Black Heart was almost frightening. Especially after having Child Protective Services called for child endangerment.
The leather and masks could easily return in the bedroom, and it wasn't like there was too much left to do as the Mother Fucker now anyways, so it wasn't any of that that was keeping the allure of evil alive but more the question of the future that had him concerned at this point. The money wouldn't be an issue since he still had that in spades, but what about when school started, when the sleepovers began? Chris sincerely doubted that many parents would allow play dates with the spawn of the world's first super villain. Fuck, I did to my kid what my parents did to me...
Realization sending chills up and down his spine, Emily stirred to as if hearing his distress, "No, it'll only be that way if you let it. The world may hate you, but she will love you because you were there for her to pick her up after school, because you attended all of her practices and recitals, going the extra mile to make her smile when her pet turtle dies. Gemma will adore her daddy, and if she has to grow up saying fuck the rest of the world, so be it." Propping herself up on her pillow, the young woman put her hand on her baby daddy's arm, "Just so long as you learn to whisper better."
Laughing in spite of his intrusion, Kick Ass couldn't help hold back when Chris looked back at the woman sheepishly, "Seriously, where's Peter Parker when you need a photographer!"
Trio smirking at that, it turned out that Emily woke up just in time for baby Gemma to be wheeled into the room by the redheaded nurse that had been making googly eyes at Dave. Taking the baby back for a feeding, she cooed to her boys, "You know, this would be a good ending to a comic, two enemies bonding together over new life as the villain recants his ways, the hero and good friend being named godfather and the former villain proposing to his long-time love."
Gemma Genovese gurgled at the suggestion, prompting her father and potential godfather to renew their smiles, "Maybe you should just save that for your slash fanfiction, Emily."
"Hmph," she frowned at the two men in her life, "I never said it would be an award-winning end, just a way to tie things up."
Three freaking years! Yeesh! Well I want to thank everyone who read and supported this story, it means a lot, and I'm so happy that I FINALLY ended it! Some might not like this ending, but I actually really love it, ending on an open note of optimism and recovery.
Naturally Kick-Ass is the property of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. Emily Vela, Gemma Genovese, Knight, and all minor characters are mine.