Nightminds
Title: Nightminds
Chapter: Prologue of ?
Author:spygirl690
Disclaimer: These characters are not mine and neither are the lyrics in the prompt.
Rating: R to NC17
Paring: Batman/Joker
Warnings: drug use, graphic violence (in later chapters)
For JL User: jaelrenatus
Three prompts for writer:
All these quotes from Male Hooker in a Bathtub, a short written by Scott Gross from From Autumn to Ashes.
“I'm losing my ability to do the only thing I know how to do and as the nights are longer I know I must take myself as easily as possible, and I'm not taking you with me.”
“I’m so in love that if you turned your back I’d claw your fucking spine away…”
“You’re the perfect whore.”
Summary: “Sometimes it is the darkness that two people share that can bring them together.” This story examines the months Bruce spent in Princeton before returning home to start his journey in Batman Begins. The title was inspired by the Missy Higgin's song with the same name.
The gravel crunched beneath the tires of the Royls Royce as it came to a halt in front of a large concrete building.
“I'm not staying in the underclass men's dorms?”
Alfred turned from the view outside the car's window to the face of the young man next to him. He smiled, hoping to reassure Bruce, who hadn't said anything the entire ride from Gotham to the New Jersey town.
“I thought you would be more comfortable if you had some room to breath after a long day of classes,” said Alfred.
Bruce smiled at him, “yes. That does sound nice.”
The chauffeur opened their doors and the two men stepped out and took in their surroundings. The large apartment building was several stories high, housed in a new cement building, given a more modern look by the steel fixtures that jutted out of the building at odd angles. It might have been seen as artistic to some but to Alfred it seemed like a gigantic porcupine. It housed other students from affluent families on each floor, but Alfred didn't choose the building for this reason. He chose it for the privacy the suite at the top of the building would give Bruce. The apartment stood on the outskirts of campus, but close enough that Alfred could see the large stone buildings of the main campus on the other side of the hedges outlining the property.
He looked across the top of the car at the young master's face; Bruce stared at the buildings with a look as cold as the stones themselves. He caught Alfred looking out of the corner of his eyes and his expression changed to one of cheer in an instant. Anyone who didn't know Bruce would have thought the expression was genuine but Alfred knew better. Bruce was trying to put on a good face dispite the turbulence in his heart.
“Think they still pull the first day's prank?” Bruce asked with a hollow sound to his voice.
Alfred laughed as he joined Bruce on the other side of the car and they both looked at the school grounds.
“Thinking of recreating some of your fathers old tricks?”
Bruce laughed, “perhaps.”
“Mr. Wayne, shal I bring your bags to your room,” the chauffeur interjected, carrying two large leather suitcases in his hands.
“All of your other belongings have been brought before hand, the apartment is completely furnished,” said Alfred.
Bruce looked at the posh apartment building in front of them and then to the chauffeur.
“I think I can make it from here,” Bruce said, taking his bags from the chauffeur. Bruce placed the bags at his feet and turned to Alfred.
“Do you think you can run the house without me?” Bruce smiled.
“Oh, I think I can manage,” Alfred said with a grin as he pulled Bruce in for a hug.
Alfred let Bruce go and watched as he walked up the short path to the apartment. A bellhop dressed in maroon greeted him before he disappeared inside. Alfred let out a sigh as he got back into the car, his eyes still fixed on the apartment building.
Alfred hoped he made the right decision about the apartment. He knew Bruce would like to be away from his classmates after activities at school were finished. Ever since his parent's tragic death the young master had not been very good with people. Well, he was good with people, or so it seemed to those on the outside. But the outgoing schoolboy was just an act. If given a choice Bruce would have preferred to be alone. Although he was surrounded by many people at school, he never acquired any close friends. The only friend he ever had was Miss. Dawes, whose mother had stopped working at Wayne Manor a few years after the Wayne's deaths. In the beginning, Master Bruce had tried to keep up a friendship with her, even though she had moved far from the manor. But in the end, the friendship had simply faded away. Miss. Dawes brought up too many old memories. Memories of a simpler time when Bruce had been happier.
Bruce's travels after leaving prep-school were unknown to Alfred. He hadn't come home after gradation like Alfred thought he would, but instead chose to live the wild-life with a few adventurous comrades. Two years later he had come home to attend Harvard. He didn't even make it through the first school year before they turned him out. Bruce had never told him why and Alfred never asked. He wanted Bruce to tell him when he felt ready. Alfred didn't know what had inspired Bruce to attempt college again. Perhaps it was an attempt to finally become more like his father? Alfred sighed. Bruce, as always, was very difficult to read. Bruce had become better at hiding his true feelings as he grew, separating himself from his feelings until they were a separate entity he could place in a box to never look at again. Then, he would act in a way he thought appropriate to the situation, not how he truly felt.
The shadows of Princeton reflected on the windows as the car moved away from the university.
I hope this is the start of a new life for Bruce, thought Alfred, I hope he can find someone who will make him take off the facade of happiness he's worn for so long and replace it with something genuine.
Note: My beta is MIA. Can anyone take up the task of looking at my fic for me?