A World of Dreams and Nightmares (pt.12)
Title: A World of Dreams and Nightmares (pt.12)
Author:moni_mama
Beta: mayphoenix
Rating: PG-13 this chap
Pairing: Batman/Joker ( some implied Bruce/Rachel but nothing explicit)
Disclaimer: I don't own them sadly...cause if I did...they'd never be dressed or leave bed...<3 this is just for fun and cause my little mind is so very slashily warped. XD
A/N: This is going to be a looong one, many chaptered, but this is the first part, basically the summary is that when moving things around in the batcave Bruce sets off a reaction that sends him to another AU, where the Joker was never made, and instead Jack Napier was allowed to come to be and is another wealthy playboy. There is no Batman or Joker in this AU and Bruce has to figure out how to get back, while dealing with some growing feeling for Jack..XD Annnnnd I dunno say anymore caaaaause I gots lots little twists in here ^__^ sooo enjoy?
P.S. Well we're nearing the end! Another three maybe four chapters then it is fin! However I am already toying with the idea to a sequel so lemme know if people would be interested in one!
Previous Chapters
~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack parked the car in the long driveway of Wayne Manor. To be honest, he was scared. The message his lover left on his phone had a desperate edge that made his stomach knot up. Bruce had never sounded like that before and it worried him. He glared at the dashboard clock; 11:55pm glowed at him before blinking off as he cut the engine. He worried at his full bottom lip and climbed out of the car. It was late enough; he had showered after the day’s work at the office and was dressed unusually casual, pale jeans and a light green baggy sweater with the sleeves pushed up past his elbows. His wavy, dirty-blond hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail and he tucked an errant lock behind his ear as he made his way across the gravel.
His heart leapt and constricted at the sight of Bruce sitting on the steps. His head was down and at the sound of footsteps he looked up. If Jack wasn’t worried before, he was now. Bruce looked like hell, tired and uneasy, the look of a man who had lost everything and was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Jack moved quickly, kneeling in front of his lover, the loose stones digging into his knees. He ignored it and reached out to touch Bruce’s leg. He winced when Bruce flinched, a look of hurt flitting through his eyes before fading. “Bruce…baby, what is it?“ Jack’s voice was tight with apprehension. “I got your message. What’s going on?”
Bruce closed his eyes for a brief moment; when they opened again, the dark pools reflected conflict and pain so intense Jack’s breath hitched. “Jack…I…I have to go,” he said finally, voice harsh. Jack blinked and reached out, stroking his cheek worriedly. Bruce’s eyes slid shut once more and he leaned into the caress. “I have to go, and I don’t want to. God help me but I really don’t.”
Jack was becoming more nervous by the moment. “Bruce, what are you talking about? Is it a business trip or did something happen to your parents? I know they’re taking longer than you thought on that conference circuit.”
Bruce waved his hand, dismissing those concerns. “No…it’s nothing to do with -- Jack...please, you have to believe me when I say this, ok? When I tell you I love you, I mean it. More than anything in this world, Jack, I love you, I --”
Jack was positively terrified at this point. Was Bruce breaking up with him? Was that what this was all about, and he was leaving to get away after the break up? “Bruce --” he began, desperate for answers.
Bruce cut him off, looking distressed again. “Just let me get this all out, ok?” Jack nodded and Bruce’s shoulder relaxed a fraction. “I never…I never thought I would love somebody after Rachel…I thought it was done.” He licked his lips and forged on, looking at the gravel between his shoes. “Then I met you. You were everything I never knew I needed. Everything that I was missing in myself. I couldn’t believe it when we got together…I...I thought I had made a mistake, that I had done something foolish and damaging.”
Jack winced but waited to hear his lover out, despite the bittersweet of his words.
“It turns out, that one night, that one drunken night with you was the start of the best thing that ever happened to me. I fell for you, I fell in love with everything about you, and it killed me because I knew, I knew I couldn’t stay here with you and wake up every morning in your arms, which is what I want.” His voice took on a desperate tone. His words rushed out like a this was his one and only moment to finally tell Jack everything.
It made Jack’s throat constrict.
“I do, I want it so bad, Jack -- just once, I want to hold onto something that makes me happy, that makes me feel alive more than anything else has since I lost…since a long time ago. You’re everything in me that’s good, and I would give anything to spend my life with you, making sure you knew every damn day how much I love you.”
At that Jack let out a choked, gasping breath, and Bruce reached out and gripped his hands. “I can’t, though. I can’t stay, and it’s killing me.” Bruce looked away for a moment, then focused his eyes on Jack again. “I wish you could come with me, I really do. I would give anything for that, but I can’t ask it of you. I can’t force you to leave your life behind for me.”
Jack grew more and more confused, his heart aching for the pain Bruce was in. “Bruce…please, baby, you’re scaring me. Please -- why are you leaving? Where are you going?” He paused and shivered in the growing cold. “Why couldn’t I come?”
Bruce winced as though struck. “It’s far away, Jack, where I have to go…I…I won’t be coming be coming back.” He swallowed. “At least, not the same.”
Jack’s heart dropped. “Bruce, please, let’s just talk ab--” He would have continued but the air suddenly became charged; in fact, it felt heavy, almost like it was moving around them like a thick, invisible smoke. The hairs on his body stood up and there was a humming sound that began to grow in pitch and volume, filling the air. They stood and turned, looking, drawn somehow to the front lawn. The air above the grass began to distort and shift. Jack stifled a yell of fear as a bright blue portal of light opened, and out popped the head and shoulders of Bruce Wayne. Jack gaped like a fish and glanced over at Bruce standing beside him, expecting him to look just as shocked at seeing his own doppelganger. But his lover had only a sad and resolved expression on his face. It hit Jack, then -- everything, all the differences he had noted in Bruce, the words “I’m not your Bruce,” and what he had believed was a sick joke the morning after their first night together.
The Bruce in the portal looked around owlishly, much as Jack had, and when his gaze landed on him he cried out, struggling through the portal completely. “Jack!” he called, and rushed forward, face relieved and open.
Jack looked between him and the Bruce standing by his side. “You really were from another Gotham,” he murmured, face pale.
Bruce nodded looking miserable and sighed. “Yes, but…I meant it, Jack. I love you, and I wish….I wish I could stay…or that you…but I can’t…it’s impossible.” He turned, heading for the portal.
Jack panicked quietly. The two Bruces passed each other, and when the Bruce that belonged in this Gotham reached Jack and hugged him tightly, Jack’s heart broke. In that moment, he knew. He pulled away. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Really, I am…” He smiled sadly. “Tell Rachel I said ‘good-bye.’”
With that, Jack turned, sprinting after the other Bruce, leaping through the portal just as the man he had grown to love disappeared into it. He heard his friend call out behind him but he was already gone. Blacking out as he went though into a new Gotham, he didn’t think about the consequences, just that while this might not be the Bruce he had loved from afar for eighteen years, it was the Bruce he loved now, the one he wanted to spend every day getting to know all over again and loving every second.
His unconscious body was spit out into the Batcave and three pairs of eyes stared in shock and something else -- one with hope, and the other two with pure disbelief.
Author:moni_mama
Beta: mayphoenix
Rating: PG-13 this chap
Pairing: Batman/Joker ( some implied Bruce/Rachel but nothing explicit)
Disclaimer: I don't own them sadly...cause if I did...they'd never be dressed or leave bed...<3 this is just for fun and cause my little mind is so very slashily warped. XD
A/N: This is going to be a looong one, many chaptered, but this is the first part, basically the summary is that when moving things around in the batcave Bruce sets off a reaction that sends him to another AU, where the Joker was never made, and instead Jack Napier was allowed to come to be and is another wealthy playboy. There is no Batman or Joker in this AU and Bruce has to figure out how to get back, while dealing with some growing feeling for Jack..XD Annnnnd I dunno say anymore caaaaause I gots lots little twists in here ^__^ sooo enjoy?
P.S. Well we're nearing the end! Another three maybe four chapters then it is fin! However I am already toying with the idea to a sequel so lemme know if people would be interested in one!
Previous Chapters
~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack parked the car in the long driveway of Wayne Manor. To be honest, he was scared. The message his lover left on his phone had a desperate edge that made his stomach knot up. Bruce had never sounded like that before and it worried him. He glared at the dashboard clock; 11:55pm glowed at him before blinking off as he cut the engine. He worried at his full bottom lip and climbed out of the car. It was late enough; he had showered after the day’s work at the office and was dressed unusually casual, pale jeans and a light green baggy sweater with the sleeves pushed up past his elbows. His wavy, dirty-blond hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail and he tucked an errant lock behind his ear as he made his way across the gravel.
His heart leapt and constricted at the sight of Bruce sitting on the steps. His head was down and at the sound of footsteps he looked up. If Jack wasn’t worried before, he was now. Bruce looked like hell, tired and uneasy, the look of a man who had lost everything and was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Jack moved quickly, kneeling in front of his lover, the loose stones digging into his knees. He ignored it and reached out to touch Bruce’s leg. He winced when Bruce flinched, a look of hurt flitting through his eyes before fading. “Bruce…baby, what is it?“ Jack’s voice was tight with apprehension. “I got your message. What’s going on?”
Bruce closed his eyes for a brief moment; when they opened again, the dark pools reflected conflict and pain so intense Jack’s breath hitched. “Jack…I…I have to go,” he said finally, voice harsh. Jack blinked and reached out, stroking his cheek worriedly. Bruce’s eyes slid shut once more and he leaned into the caress. “I have to go, and I don’t want to. God help me but I really don’t.”
Jack was becoming more nervous by the moment. “Bruce, what are you talking about? Is it a business trip or did something happen to your parents? I know they’re taking longer than you thought on that conference circuit.”
Bruce waved his hand, dismissing those concerns. “No…it’s nothing to do with -- Jack...please, you have to believe me when I say this, ok? When I tell you I love you, I mean it. More than anything in this world, Jack, I love you, I --”
Jack was positively terrified at this point. Was Bruce breaking up with him? Was that what this was all about, and he was leaving to get away after the break up? “Bruce --” he began, desperate for answers.
Bruce cut him off, looking distressed again. “Just let me get this all out, ok?” Jack nodded and Bruce’s shoulder relaxed a fraction. “I never…I never thought I would love somebody after Rachel…I thought it was done.” He licked his lips and forged on, looking at the gravel between his shoes. “Then I met you. You were everything I never knew I needed. Everything that I was missing in myself. I couldn’t believe it when we got together…I...I thought I had made a mistake, that I had done something foolish and damaging.”
Jack winced but waited to hear his lover out, despite the bittersweet of his words.
“It turns out, that one night, that one drunken night with you was the start of the best thing that ever happened to me. I fell for you, I fell in love with everything about you, and it killed me because I knew, I knew I couldn’t stay here with you and wake up every morning in your arms, which is what I want.” His voice took on a desperate tone. His words rushed out like a this was his one and only moment to finally tell Jack everything.
It made Jack’s throat constrict.
“I do, I want it so bad, Jack -- just once, I want to hold onto something that makes me happy, that makes me feel alive more than anything else has since I lost…since a long time ago. You’re everything in me that’s good, and I would give anything to spend my life with you, making sure you knew every damn day how much I love you.”
At that Jack let out a choked, gasping breath, and Bruce reached out and gripped his hands. “I can’t, though. I can’t stay, and it’s killing me.” Bruce looked away for a moment, then focused his eyes on Jack again. “I wish you could come with me, I really do. I would give anything for that, but I can’t ask it of you. I can’t force you to leave your life behind for me.”
Jack grew more and more confused, his heart aching for the pain Bruce was in. “Bruce…please, baby, you’re scaring me. Please -- why are you leaving? Where are you going?” He paused and shivered in the growing cold. “Why couldn’t I come?”
Bruce winced as though struck. “It’s far away, Jack, where I have to go…I…I won’t be coming be coming back.” He swallowed. “At least, not the same.”
Jack’s heart dropped. “Bruce, please, let’s just talk ab--” He would have continued but the air suddenly became charged; in fact, it felt heavy, almost like it was moving around them like a thick, invisible smoke. The hairs on his body stood up and there was a humming sound that began to grow in pitch and volume, filling the air. They stood and turned, looking, drawn somehow to the front lawn. The air above the grass began to distort and shift. Jack stifled a yell of fear as a bright blue portal of light opened, and out popped the head and shoulders of Bruce Wayne. Jack gaped like a fish and glanced over at Bruce standing beside him, expecting him to look just as shocked at seeing his own doppelganger. But his lover had only a sad and resolved expression on his face. It hit Jack, then -- everything, all the differences he had noted in Bruce, the words “I’m not your Bruce,” and what he had believed was a sick joke the morning after their first night together.
The Bruce in the portal looked around owlishly, much as Jack had, and when his gaze landed on him he cried out, struggling through the portal completely. “Jack!” he called, and rushed forward, face relieved and open.
Jack looked between him and the Bruce standing by his side. “You really were from another Gotham,” he murmured, face pale.
Bruce nodded looking miserable and sighed. “Yes, but…I meant it, Jack. I love you, and I wish….I wish I could stay…or that you…but I can’t…it’s impossible.” He turned, heading for the portal.
Jack panicked quietly. The two Bruces passed each other, and when the Bruce that belonged in this Gotham reached Jack and hugged him tightly, Jack’s heart broke. In that moment, he knew. He pulled away. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Really, I am…” He smiled sadly. “Tell Rachel I said ‘good-bye.’”
With that, Jack turned, sprinting after the other Bruce, leaping through the portal just as the man he had grown to love disappeared into it. He heard his friend call out behind him but he was already gone. Blacking out as he went though into a new Gotham, he didn’t think about the consequences, just that while this might not be the Bruce he had loved from afar for eighteen years, it was the Bruce he loved now, the one he wanted to spend every day getting to know all over again and loving every second.
His unconscious body was spit out into the Batcave and three pairs of eyes stared in shock and something else -- one with hope, and the other two with pure disbelief.