Welcome to another story born during Frannie's contest Song to Story. Inspiration was the song proposed: Fire by Sara Bareilles
Also, The Batman played a big role into inspiring me to write this. It's not going to be a cross over, simply borrowing traits from the main characters in the comic book.
I hope you'll like how this turns out. This story is still a wip in my laptop so there might be breaks if I somehow lose my muse along the way. =)
The night before the party celebrating Dr. Carlisle Cullen's election as mayor, I came across disturbing evidence about my father's murder. The last piece of the puzzle had been under my nose for so long that it was embarrassing.
I couldn't allow Carlisle to be named the election winner.
Carlisle was a surgeon. The same surgeon who'd operated on Charlie the night he was shot.
Even after my chat with Cullen the other day, I still doubted I hadn't imagined the whole thing. Nothing from my partner-in-crime's behavior was similar to the man I was supposed to marry.
With actual fear gnawing at my gut, I put on my leather pants and the tight-fit black blouse I wore under my leather jacket. With my boots on my feet and my lace eye mask in my pocket, I was ready to go and confront Dr. Carlisle Cullen.
Emmett pursed his lips when I joined him in the garage, where he was looking under the hood of my everyday vehicle. It was actually the SUV he drove me around in.
"Going out, Princess?"
I rolled my eyes. "If you think you can bully me into staying, you're a decade too late."
"It didn't work when you were seventeen. I don't know why I even bother."
I winked, straddling my motorbike, and kicking the stand. After I placed my helmet on, I squeezed the clutch, shooting forward, leaving Emmett's anxious face in the side mirror.
I risked everything by going to Dr. Cullen's house, but I had to confront him. The whole city knew about the vigilante team, and they were afraid of us. Of course, Dr. Cullen had security up to his teeth, but he might not heed the warning. I doubted he lived in fear like the other lowlifes. He thought nothing could touch him.
I parked close to his gated estate before escalating the wall and landing mutely in his front yard's wet, trimmed grass. Several neatly trimmed shrubs stood at even intervals around the driveway.
Rich, dumb asshole.
It wasn't like I hadn't inherited more money than I knew what to do with, but I didn't flaunt it in the city's face. All I'd spent was on my bike and several medical bills when my wounds had been above my friends' proverbial payroll.
I donned my mask, crawling closer to the house, astonished how I hadn't bumped into any security.
It didn't take long to figure out why Dr. Cullen hadn't invested in people protecting him and his house. A small pack of Doberman dogs came running around the house, barking and ready to tear apart everything in sight.
I was grateful for every moment Jake had insisted I learn how to do backflips and catch myself on a high structure. I escalated the roof without much trouble, leaving the mutts to bark their heads off in the yard.
My target was a dimly lit room on the far eastern side of the house. I kept low to the slightly tilted roof, praying my feet wouldn't slip.
When I reached the window, which was open, I pressed my back to the wall. I kept a hand over my mouth so my suddenly erratic breathing wouldn't be heard.
Dr. Cullen had a visitor in the form of his nephew.
Edward was standing close to the window, dressed more casually than I'd ever seen him – a black hoodie and black sweatpants. Dr. Cullen wore a suit, as I often saw him in on TV.
"You better fucking watch out, Carlisle," Edward snarled. My heart was beating in my throat at this point because if he glanced to the side, he'd spot me.
And he knew who I was now.
"All I'm saying is you'll make one hell of a rich widower." The nonchalance in Dr. Cullen's voice and his implications made me feel faint.
"I'm warning you to drop this insane scheme to off Swan, Carlisle." I noticed how Edward's hands curled into fists at his sides. "Because I'm ten levels above you. I can have you rot in prison with all the dirt I know about your past."
"Are you threatening me?" Dr. Cullen gasped, planting his hands on his desk. I saw one of his hands slipping under the edge of it, and I didn't have to be a genius to know he had a gun there.
"I'm merely stating a fact." The cool calm of Edward's demeanor sent a shiver down my spine. He usually acted like this on the streets, late at night. I'd never heard him use this voice with his friends or his next of kin.
"No plan is set in stone, you know? Swan could easily be the brokenhearted widow who'd find solace in my arms." Dr. Cullen pulled a short handgun from under the edge of his desk, aiming it at Edward.
To his credit, Edward didn't even flinch. "Now you'd turn against your brother's son? For what? It's all about money and power to you."
"Plans can be set in stone," he said darkly. "In the stone above your grave."
Edward ducked in time for a bullet to fly where his head had been a moment ago. My heart stopped for a second before adrenaline kicked in, and I knew I had to act. I had him on my side. He knew his uncle was corrupt.
I saw Dr. Cullen changing his aim to where Edward had crouched, so I swung into the room, my feet knocking the weapon out of his hand. I met Edward's eyes for a second, and they widened in recognition and…fear?
I usually focused on my opponent during combat, but I'd been distracted while trying to decipher Edward's expression, which was enough time for Dr. Cullen to backhand me. He had a heavy strike, which sent me to the floor.
His polished shoe slammed into my throat, cutting my air supply. But before panic could take over my body due to the lack of oxygen, Edward slammed some object into his uncle's head. He fell with a loud thud next to me.
"Are you out of your goddamn mind?" Edward spat, helping me to my feet. "Hurry." He gripped my wrist, dragging me away from the office and down the stairs.
I hacked loudly, barely able to breathe normally, let alone run.
"My bike," I managed to wheeze out when Edward pushed me into the passenger seat of his Aston Martin.
He shot me an annoyed look, gunning it through the open gates and down the road. I tried not to look at him, but that was the safest option. As much as I loved speed when I was on my bike, I hated it while I was confined inside a car.
"Goddamn it," he shouted, making me jump, startled.
I rubbed my throat slowly, staring at his long fingers clenched on the steering wheel, respectively, on the gear shift stick. He kept spitting curses every now and then until we reached another gated estate.
This one looked abandoned and spooky. Of course, I knew this used to be where Edward had grown up, but I hadn't imagined he still lived here.
I couldn't help but laugh, a short, throaty laugh.
He shot me an inquisitive look, probably wondering if I'd lost my mind.
"You live here?"
He rolled his eyes, accelerating through a tight tunnel at the far right of the shell of a burned building. We stopped somewhere underground, and fear gripped my bones.
"I rebuilt the back of the house," he said softly, in his usual low cadence.
I got out of the car on shaky legs. My throat still raw when I swallowed.
Cullen guided me to an elevator. He kept a hand on the small of my back during the short ride, his foot tapping against the metal floor.
The doors opened to reveal a modern open space, luxurious to a fault yet classy. He'd kept the original architecture but added modern tones. The front wing of the house was separated by a beam structure that held up the burned façade.
We walked into a much smaller kitchen than what I expected. He pointed me to the square red table. I took one of the two available seats, still massaging my sore throat.
"Here. Drink some hot tea," he offered, placing two steaming cups in front of us. He slumped in the other chair, grabbing his hair in his hands.
"How badly did I fuck up?" I dared to ask because it was no secret I'd made a mess of everything.
"I hope I gave him a concussion big enough to alter his short-term memory," he said gravely. "Because otherwise…we have to flee." His eyes met mine, and I'd only seen that stern look on him during our fights.
"It was the first time I acted without thinking," I admitted.
"Clearly." He scrubbed his large hands over his face. "I saw you in the window reflection," he clarified a moment later. "I had no idea how to shoo you away because you had no idea what you were walking into."
"I heard enough," I muttered. "He doesn't care about anything…apart from…money and reputation."
"There used to be something he cared about," Cullen whispered. "She was his everything."
"Until his love for money overruled?" I guessed.
"You can say that," he allowed. "She was killed along with my parents. He didn't know Esme had come over to tell my mom she was with child. I only know this because Siobhan told me years later. It was supposed to be only my dad in the house when the fire started, but with Esme's visit, my mom stayed behind. Siobhan came to pick me up from my piano lessons."
"Jesus." I felt bile rising in my throat. I didn't know the details behind his tragedy.
"Does it hurt?" His eyes were suddenly on me, and I wasn't sure what he was talking about. My heart ached for him like never before.
I was learning about a new side of him, a more humane side.
He came closer, crouching in front of me. I involuntarily flinched when he reached out a hand, but he didn't pull back. His eyes held sorrow as his warm fingers curled around the side of my neck, his thumb stroking softly the spot where his uncle's shoe had previously rested.
"I'm better," I admitted.
"Promise me; you won't do anything like tonight again. I might not always be there, Kitty."
Tears sprung into my eyes at how raw and honest he sounded. "Okay."
He gave me a doubtful look, not believing my sincere answer. I wasn't going to do anything as crazy as I'd done tonight.
"How long have you known," I asked quietly.
"What exactly?" His thumb stroked my throat softly.
"Who I am…"
His infamous smirk made an appearance. "A while."
"How long is a while," I demanded because he was getting on my nerves. This was Cullen's special trait since when we were five.
"You think a sexy eye mask can hide who you are? Yeah, maybe to the unobservant fools. I've known who you were from the first night I stumbled upon you kicking that shoplifter's ass."
"What?" I felt my jaw dropping.
He tapped my chin. "You're adorable, Kitty. Can I ask why you decided to show the lowlifes your mad fighting skills?"
I felt my cheeks heating up in embarrassment. "Isn't it obvious? My father's death."
He nodded somberly, cupping my cheek. I hated how I sighed like a schoolgirl in love. He grinned, leaning closer and nudging my nose with his.
"What about you?"
He lifted a brow, and I felt like an idiot because the same event from his past had been his determination to find justice and fight crime.
"But…but you're…" I stumbled over my retort because I didn't actually know what to say. To be honest, he was pretty perfect, except for the fact he was known as a manwhore before we got engaged. And even though he was related to Carlisle Cullen, his name had never been involved in the tangled mess around the city. I guess you could say he was an enigma.
Fighting a smile, he pulled back, offering his hand for shaking. "I'm Edward Cullen; nice to meet you."
I legit giggled, like an airhead in love for the first time. "Isabella Swan." I shook his hand firmly.
He surprised me by jerking me forward. I fell on top of him in the middle of his kitchen. He wrapped his arms around me, searching my eyes.
"Am I allowed to kiss you, or should I fetch my costume?"
I placed my hands on either side of his face, kissing him hungrily. Our last kiss held nothing to the passion we shared at this moment. And I'd thought that had been hot.
"Let me show you to my bedroom," he said softly, pulling me up before carrying me down the hallway. "Fuck me," he spat. Just as he pushed open a set of double doors, his cell phone rang from his pocket. "I guess someone found Carlisle," he said dryly.
I walked inside, wandering around but keeping an ear on his conversation.
"Cullen," he muttered, clearly upset our plans weren't going to work. "When?" he asked in a shaky voice. I had to admit; he was a good actor. Actually, he deserved a freaking Academy Award for how well he'd played me. He'd known it was me all along, yet he never let me know who he was during our nights on the streets. "Shit. What hospital?" I turned to meet his eyes and saw genuine fear in his. "I'm on my way."
"Your uncle?" I guessed.
"He's at Central Memorial Hospital. By the sound of his housekeeper, he wasn't lucid when they took him. I'm pretty sure I aimed in the right spot. He taught me where to hit someone in the head…the best spot to avoid complications…and to assure the victim wouldn't remember a thing."
"Christ. He's a real monster," I mumbled.
"It came in handy tonight." Edward shrugged. "I'll drop you off at his house to get your bike, then follow you home to change your clothes. We're going together to the hospital."
"What? Are you crazy?"
"We're engaged, Kitty."
I crossed the room to where he stood in the doorway and dug my nails into the side of his neck. "This kitty has claws, Vengeance."
"I'm aware," he joked. "I had to answer some embarrassing questions to my associates ever since you've marked me the other night."
I couldn't help but laugh.
"Come on. It will be our first public appearance since our engagement."
"I hate you."
"There's a thin line between hate and love," he said cheerfully, walking me back to his garage. It was more than that. It looked like some undercover, secret op bunker with various computers running different programs and a multitude of large metal boxes.
I didn't ask, but I was certain they were full of weapons.
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