< just_muse_me - After the Night - arkhams_dr >

[knowthenbreak]

Nadine Lewis
Batman (OC)
395 words

The small cellphone sat on the nightstand as light penetrated the blinds on the windows of the bedroom. A two changed to a three as a minute passed, recorded by the digital clock beside the cellphone. All was peaceful, calm in the room. The woman in the bed, nestled under several blankets, slept soundly. The

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[arkhams_dr]

She was crying. For a brief second, Crane considered gently putting his hands around her throat and throttling her right out of his misery. While his drugs had worked impressively well - his bruises had all but faded away, and all the other traces of the beating looked to be vanishing at an accelerated pace - he'd neglected to make precise notes, and worse, he'd awoken fairly sure he'd done some things he'd have preferred not to, sticky, intimate things, and took a long time about it, if he recalled correctly. One look at Nadine and he was sure of it.

She'd been so useful before, though. It would be foolish to throw her away, wouldn't it? If nothing else, he could mail her head to Jim Gordon and his pet thug Stephens.

He moved onto the bed, his hands on her shoulders, reassuring instead of choking her. "Nadine? What's wrong?"

[knowthenbreak]

She shifted, immediately curling up to him. Her head shook as she bit her lip, trying to regain control over herself. Finally, she got the words out. "Gordon called." She slid an arm around his neck, holding onto him, trying to stop quivering. "He just-- He told me what I already knew."

Why couldn't he have waited? Given her an hour, maybe two, to enjoy just having Jonathan here, having someone who cared about her close by. He had to call, had to wake her up, had to remind her of the grim world outside her apartment. He couldn't let her pretend for even an hour that everything was fine. He had to remind her of reality.

"I'm sorry. I-- I don't know why I'm crying-- I knew it. I knew, but..."

[arkhams_dr]

"Shh, Nadine. It's all right to cry. I'm here." Moving the sheet to cover himself at least slightly, he noticed the nearly-empty vial on the nightstand. He held it up to her lips. "Drink this."

[knowthenbreak]

"I knew he was dead," she whispered, doing her best to hold back another sob. "I shouldn't-- It shouldn't be a surprise."

She drew in a thin breath before complying. She closed her hand around his and tilted the container up, drinking what was left in it.