In Love With A Good Man
Chapter 13: Trauma
It was a slow day at the bank.
Casey and June, who were both on the same shift for the second time since he started working there a week and a half ago, sat next to each other, idly chatting to pass the time while they waited for another customer to come in.
"Is it always this slow around lunch?" Casey asked curiously, sitting back lazily in his chair.
"Not really. Sometimes. But it's never really dead like it is today. Guess everyone in Gotham's taken care of their money problems." June joked. Casey scoffed and shook his head.
"Tch. Yeah sure. We get paid next week, right?" He asked curiously.
"Yep! Which is good, because my rent payment's coming up."
"Oh yeah. No hitting the club this weekend then, huh?" Casey joked and chuckled.
"Ugh, no. Actually that night that we all met up when you got here was the last time I've been to a club in, like, forever." June pointed out with a little laugh.
"Oh really? Same for me...well, the first time I've gone just to hang out and have fun, not for work." He clarified.
"Right, right. How're you adjusting to Gotham, by the way? New house, new girlfriend, new job. That's a lot going on all at once - very fast too." June pointed out. Casey nodded.
"Yeah. But things are alright. You guys are right, there is more work here. I've been able to book more music-related gigs, and I've even sold a few photos on the side. Between that and now this, I'm feeling pretty good. And things at home are good, especially with Harley there."
"Ahh, that's good...wait, is she living with you?" June asked.
"More or less, yeah. She sometimes stays with her friend over on the east side, but she likes being at my house more." He answered.
"Does she not have her own place?"
"Actually, no. She was staying with her old boyfriend before and got kicked out." Casey briefly explained. June turned towards him in her chair, looking at him with more concern.
"How long have you two been dating again?" She asked.
"Uh...little over a month now actually." He answered. June's eyes widened.
"Casey, are you sure she's not just using you to have a place to stay?" She asked sincerely. He shook his head.
"I thought about that but no, definitely not. We're a team, you know? She's looking for work, she cooks and cleans at home. We've got a real arrangement going on. It's good." Casey said with a smile. June still had her doubts, but Casey did look happy.
"Okay...just be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt again." June said. She was tempted to make another negative comment about Harley, but refrained from doing so.
"I understand. I'm being careful, I promise. But you'll have to meet her sometime soon, whenever we're able to get together again." He said.
"Yeah, of course," June nodded. "We can go out for drinks or something." She suggested.
Before Casey could respond to this, suddenly half a dozen men in tactical gear and armed with guns burst through the door and started swarming the building. June and Casey saw this and immediately ducked behind the counter, tucking their bodies out of sight as much as they could.
"Hit the panic button quickly!" June said, pointing to it. Casey looked up and his hands fumbled as he used three fingers to press it all the way in, triggering the silent alarm.
"W-What do we do now?!" Casey whispered to her urgently.
"We have to wait. Just do whatever they say until the police arrive." June whispered back.
"Alright, everybody out! Yeah I see you all under there! Come out slowly. I want all the money in the drawers! Now!" They heard one of the men yell as two men started walking behind the counter, dragging out their coworkers by the collar or by their feet.
"Who here has access to the stash in the back?" Another man demanded, passing by June and Casey, "You two, get out here! Either of you got the codes?!" He barked at them.
In the back area of the bank, they stored a small but still substantial amount of money. Only two people on shift at any given time had the access key for it. How they knew about it, no one knew.
"I-I do. I have a key..." June answered in a shaky voice as she slowly made her way out.
"Good! Let's move it then!" He yelled down at her, pointing his double-barrel shotgun directly at her.
"H-Hold on." Casey stuttered. Without thinking, he crawled forward and positioned himself over June, getting between her and the end of the shotgun.
"Get the hell out of the way!" The man yelled. Casey looked up at the man just in time to get cracked in the forehead with the hilt of the shotgun, knocking him out.
"Casey!" June exclaimed as Casey crumpled to the ground over her legs...
Harley looked at the clock on the kitchen microwave:
8:23
Where was Casey? He was supposed to get off work at 5pm. She hadn't heard from him all day. She'd tried calling him multiple times. No response; not even a text message. She had no idea what to do in this situation. This had never happened to her before.
Finally, Harley heard the door unlocking. Her head swung around to see Casey slowly shuffling inside. He sighed to himself as he closed and locked the door behind him. As Harley quickly ran to him, she could see that he had bandaging on his forehead that wrapped all the way around.
"Baby! What happened?!" She asked worriedly, rushing to him and putting her hands on his cheeks. He looked tired, and there was a distant, almost absent look in his eyes.
"Hey, baby. Sorry I didn't call...it's been a long day," He said, hugging her tightly. "I was stuck at the police station for a long time."
"Police station?! What happened?!" She asked again.
"There was a...uh..." Casey paused and closed his eyes, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. "There was a bank robbery today at work. One of the guys nailed me with a shotgun right here." He said, gesturing to his bandaging.
"Oh my gosh! Who were they?!" She demanded.
"Uh...the robbers?" Casey asked slowly.
"...right yeah, you wouldn't know that. Well I'm gonna find out! You stay here, baby. I'm gonna find them and make them pay for hurting you!" She declared, grabbing her coat from the coat hanger and getting ready to step outside.
However, Casey got between her and the door right away.
"Whoa, no no no no no." He said, holding his hands up.
"Get out of my way, babe! I'll handle this!"
"No, you're not," Casey said in response, putting his hands on her arms. "You promised, remember? We don't do that." He shook his head.
"But they hurt you! I can't just stand by and do nothing!" She yelled at him.
Her voice must've come out louder than she meant it to, because Casey started to wince in pain. He took in a sharp breath and shut his eyes. He held up a hand defensively and took a step back, "Baby, don't yell. Please. It's making my head ring."
"Oh baby I'm so sorry...you might've gotten a concussion or something," Harley said, patting her hands gently on his chest. She teared up and quickly started to cry. She wrapped her arms tight around him. "This is so frustrating! I hate not being able to do anything..." She sighed sadly.
"I know," Casey acknowledged as he hugged her back tightly. "But it's the police's job to handle it from here, not yours." He said.
"But..."
"Please, Harley...I need you here with me." He insisted. Harley looked up at him and nodded.
"Okay. I love you so much, Casey." She said, giving him a kiss. He kissed her back and wiped away her tears with his thumb.
"I love you too...so, um, I don't know if I'll have to go back to the police station to give another statement, but for now I'm not going back to work. They're giving me some paid time off. Kinda nice for it only being my first two weeks." He informed her then tried to throw in a dry joke at the end.
"They should," Harley agreed. "You need to take your time recovering...you deserve it after that traumatic experience." She said, resting her head on his chest.
"Yeah..." Casey sighed, "I guess I almost died, huh?" He said as if he was just now realizing it.
"But you're alive and that's what matters." Harley said, kissing him again...
Casey went upstairs and sat on the bed. Harley insisted on checking his bandaging before he went to take a shower. As she was making sure it was disinfected, Casey remembered June and decided to call her. Harley sat next to him for support.
When June picked up the phone, it took her a few seconds to say anything, "...hello?" She answered in a quiet voice.
"Hey, June. It's me," Casey said. "Harley's here on the line with me. I just wanted to make sure you're okay."
"I'm alright. I just...I'm a little shaken." She said.
"I understand...hey, June. This is Harley." She announced herself.
"Hey...how's your head, Casey?" June asked.
"It's gotta heal. Head still hurts, but I'm okay." He answered. June paused again.
"...Casey, you shouldn't have done that. You could've died and i-it would've been my fault." She tried to scold him, but her voice broke at the end of her sentence and she started to cry and sob. Casey sighed and listened for a little bit while Harley held his hand.
"Hey. Hey, don't think like that. We're okay, right?" He reminded her.
"Yeah," June said, sniffling once. "Yeah we're alright. Just don't do something stupid like that again! You really scared me!"
"I know, I know. I'm trying not to be stupid," Casey said, managing a little joke. "I'll check in with you again tomorrow, okay? Call me if you need anything, anything at all."
"Okay. Bye. And thank you."
"Anytime." Casey replied.
"Bye, June. Get plenty of rest!" Harley said.
"I'll try. Thanks." June said appreciatively before hanging up the phone. Casey sighed again and set the phone down next to him.
"Poor girl." He said.
"Yeah...what did you do, babe? When she said don't do something stupid again?" Harley asked.
"Um...we were on the ground and the guy with the shotgun was pointing it at her. I crawled out and just got in the way without thinking. I just like...crawled over her. That's when he hit me." He explained. Harley's eyes widened in shock.
"Baby!" She exclaimed, hugging him again, even tighter this time. He hugged her back, taking a moment to process today's events again.
"It was dumb, she's right," He admitted. "I don't know what got into me. I just...freaked out."
"You were being protective, hun. And I love you for that...but please don't do anything stupid like that again!" She said. Being called stupid twice so quickly made Casey chuckle a bit; he couldn't help but find that part of it funny.
"Of course, I won't. Sorry...the thing is, June's one of the only people who's always been there for me: when I was depressed, when my fiance left me...I couldn't just do nothing." He said quietly.
Harley immediately caught on to the fact that he'd just used the same exact phrase that she did earlier. She figured that was intentional, so that she would understand the feelings behind his actions. And she did. Definitely.
"I see."
"Yeah," Casey said with a sigh, rubbing his face with his hand. "I gotta remember that I have you waiting at home for me now...jeez that really was stupid. What was I thinking stepping in like that? Like my life doesn't matter?" He rambled to himself.
"It's okay, baby. It's okay." Harley reassured him, putting her hands on his face consolingly. He nodded.
"Forgive me?"
"Of course, baby! Just don't get into danger again." She said, giving him another kiss.
"My bad. Next time I'll just politely ask the robbers to pick another bank." He joked.
"Baby." Harley cracked a smile and giggled, shaking her head at him. He managed a smile and kissed her again.
"I'mma take a shower, okay?" He said, getting up and heading to the bathroom.
"Okay, sweetheart...need any help?"
"Heheh, maybe next time." He joked, going into the bathroom and closing the door.
"Call me if you need anything!" She said.
She waited for the shower to turn on. Then she grabbed her phone and sent a text message to both Catwoman and Poison Ivy:
"I need your help" She said.
Surprisingly, Selina was the first one to respond, "Help how?" She asked.
"What's wrong?" Ivy asked right after.
"Casey's bank got robbed and he got attacked for saving his coworker...I want those men to pay for hurting him." She made her intentions clear.
"Bank robbers?" Selina asked.
"yes...Casey told me not to get revenge but...I can't just sit back when someone hurt him!"
"First and foremost, is he alright?" Ivy asked.
"Yes but he'll need time to heal. One of the guys hit him in the head with the butt of a shotgun."
"Oh no! Ok it'll take some time but I'll look into it." Selina promised.
"Thank you Selina" Harley said, adding an emoji of a sad face with a tear coming out of one eye.
"Keep us posted please." Ivy requested.
"I will thank you guys" Harley said before setting her phone down.
For now, she'd done all that she could, so now she could direct her full attention to taking care of Casey...
