Midwinter #1: The Earth Stood Hard as Iron (Batman)
Title: The Earth Stood Hard as Iron
Author: ebony_dahlia
Prompt: Bleak Midwinter Prompt #1
Fandom: DC Comics, Batman
Characters & Pairings: Becky Albright (New Year’s Evil #1)
Genre: General
Rating & Warnings: G, none
Word Count: 780
Summary:
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.
--"A Christmas Carol" or "In the Bleak Midwinter" by Christina Rosetti
Breath misted the glass. She lifted her hand to wipe it away and took more care not to press so close to the window of the bus. Becky Albright returned her hands to the pockets of her long, wool jacket, fingers brushing the gray fabric. She leaned her head against the cold window and took in the streets sleepily. Just how many times had she traveled this same route in the years of her life and not took notice of the streets around her? What was so different this time? The slush of the street, the dirty snow piled against the curbs was little different than any other winter in Gotham and even with two years absence from the city, Becky felt the familiarity of the scene. Perhaps that was it.
No, she knew the memories of peering from these same windows almost seven days a week, for all four seasons of the year, was exactly what brought such nostalgia to her. She had missed Gotham. She was thankful the city transit system hadn’t been updated in two years. She moved her hands and then crossed her arms over her chest. There was a scarcity of people on the streets this time of morning, but she could see the lighting from within the stores and their bright “Open” signs. The flicker of flames caught her eyes from down winding alleys where those without homes gathered around trashcans to keep themselves warm. Becky pulled her coat tighter around her and adjusted her knit cap over her auburn curls. Gotham had not changed in her absence. That thought both brought comfort and unease. It was as if the city had fallen into hibernation when she departed, but she had continued to grow and evolve. Of course she knew she was viewing only the surface. The city had undergone changes, but through the eyes of cruel and quiet midwinter, all seemed the same.
Becky pulled herself straighter as another street sign passed them by. The stop for Gotham University was coming up. The brick pillars that used to hold the gates that long ago separated the campus from the city beyond loomed ahead. It was then that Becky noticed how alone she was on the bus. She was one of five people. There was an older lady who was probably riding to the stop near Gotham General Hospital. Then there was a mother and child. Becky offered a small smile to the young girl. There were countless stops by apartment buildings, but they could have been going to the hospital as well. The child’s cheeks were quite ruddy, though Becky was no medical doctor. The final figure aside from her was clearly a man, though his face was indiscernible and hidden behind the folds of a newspaper.
She felt a flutter of fright in her gut. Surely he’d not heard of her return so quickly, but who was she kidding, he could have. The man coughed and for a moment the newspaper was lowered. He was darkly haired and had a mustache. He looked nothing like Jonathan Crane. She visibly relaxed and turned her gaze back to the road as they passed onto the grounds of Gotham’s local university. She gathered a grocery bag as well as her purse, which had occupied the empty seat beside her during the journey and waited for the vehicle to come a rickety and loud stop. She heard the engine hiss as she got to her feet, grabbing her cane and departing.
Her journey was one she knew. She tread over the frozen ground, hearing the frosty grass crackle beneath her boots. Her scarlet scarf kept her neck warm until she entered a building. It was the law building, the same place she had been those two years ago when Jonathan Crane had attacked the school as Scarecrow and made her his offer.
Her steps were not filled with the same adrenaline, but her heart thudded in her ears as she ascended the stairs in the building all the way up to the roof. There was fear there, but beneath it there was a sense of relaxation and preparedness. Yet when she opened the door and stepped into the virgin snow that had fallen there, only the wind greeted her. She reached into the grocery bag she had brought and pulled out a small, bright orange pumpkin. She sat it in the snow on the lip of the roof and stared out over the green of Gotham University.
“Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a pumpkin this time of year?” She spoke to the silence and the air carried the words away.