Written by - @gothamimagines
As requested by several of you ;)
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It had been two weeks since the bus incident and you were going crazy! Your drunken aunt, who was your guardian, hadn’t let you leave the house. There had been incidents at schools all over Gotham in the last week. No one had claimed responsibility for the attacks but you knew in your gut it was him.
So you had been trapped in this damn house for the last fourteen days because of your aunt! The sad thing was, it wasn’t out of concern for you, it was out of concern for the welfare check she had for caring for you. If you died she stopped getting them.
“You’re not going! I will lock you in the closet and leave you there to rot if I have to you little brat. You’re not going and that’s final!“ She shouted throwing her bottle at you, you duck just in time and it smashes against the wall behind you.
You glare at the woman before you, anger fills your body. After two weeks of being trapped with this drunken hag, you were about to explode. You march towards her grabbing her around the neck.
“You listen to me you booze filled whore, I’m leaving this house! I know I’m nothing more than a welfare check to you, so you should be VERY careful I don’t report your drinking!” You see fear flash in her eyes; you feel a rush of electricity fly through your veins.
You push her away sending her flying into a chair, you grab your jacket and head towards the door, turning back to look at your aunt one last time.
“Oh and one more thing, never threaten me again” you slam the door behind you. You march from the building with a sense of pride for finally putting that bitch in her place.
You dashed between the packed streets as you made your way towards the bus stop to catch your school bus, you were 18 and already had the grades to graduate but if it meant getting away from that woman you’d go anywhere.
You’re mind wondered back to that day. You sigh deeply as you think of him
He’d been haunting your thoughts constantly, his promise to come back for you still weighing heavily on your mind. It had been two weeks, he’s probably forgotten all about you be now.
*“There’s darkness in you”*
What did he mean by that? That you were like him?
You must admit you the idea of the cheer-squad being blown up didn’t bother you. Just like the feeling of your hand wrapped around your aunts throat didn’t make you feel guilty the second you’d let go like it should have.
What kind of person did that make you? After all you were ready to run off with a psychopath without even a second thought.
You’re pulled from your thoughts as you reach the back of the queue. You feel an arm drop over your shoulder and pull you away from the line.
You frown and look up ready to give someone a piece of your mind when you see those stunning eyes staring down at you.
“Don’t react gorgeous, just keep walking” he smirks looking dead head. He wore a baseball cap and hooded sweatshirt to hide his hair and features.
“I must admit Y/n you are a hard girl to find”
You were too stunned by the fact that he was really here to speak. You just let him lead you away from the bus stop
You hear your name being called from behind you by one of your classmates
“Just keep walking, trust me Gorgeous you do not want to get on that bus” you glace at him casually
“So the attacks on the schools, that was you?” you ask finally finding your voice
“Well I had to track you down somehow, it wasn’t like we had time to swap cell numbers” you snort, smiling brightly.
He leads you into a dark alley towards an un-expecting looking car. Before you reach it he pushes you against a wall. He pushes down his hood and pulls off his hat. His red hair falling messily into his eyes, you fingers itched to run through it.
“Ok last chance. You can walk away now, say you missed the bus and were lucky and I’ll never bother you again. Or you can come with me; everyone will think you died on that bus. We’ll get in that car and you never look back. Because I warn you Y/n, you come with me and I’m never letting you go.” You breath caught in your throat. You didn’t even have to think, you grin wickedly at him. You give into you need and reached up, running your finger into his hair.
“I want to go with you, you didn’t even have to ask” you hear a huge explosion in the distance, followed by screams as the bus went up in flames.
“Then let’s go home” he grabbed your hand pulling you into the back of the car with him.
On the ride to go knows where, he explained everything that had been happening in the last two weeks. Including his “death”
“You didn’t see me on TV?” he sounded disappointed.
“We don’t have a working TV, we’re lucky if we have electricity most of the time. That stupid bitch drinks away most of our money” you apologies
“Well you obviously aren’t dead, so what happened?” you questioned, upset that him former boss had stabbed him.
“The knife was laced with a drug, made me look dead. You know slowed my heart down and crap” He jumped closer to you making you smile at the crazed look in his eye.
“But that doesn’t matter now; I just have to be careful when I go out for a while. Until stage two is ready for action” he ginned stroking your cheek.
“And what’s stage two?” you ask raising an eyebrow
“All in good time” he winks “Oh and another thing. Our boss, he’s probably going to want you to pass a test” you frown looking at him
“A test? What kind of test?” Jerome points his hand like a gun and ‘shoots’ at you
You nod understanding what he meant, they were going to want you to kill someone. You didn’t want to think of what would happen if you failed. Noticing your silence Jerome put his hand on your leg, bringing you attention back to him
“That’s not going to be a problem is it?” for a second he look genuinely concerned
You let his question float around your head. Did you have a problem killing someone? You know that every nerve in your body should be screaming yes, but they weren’t. You laugh at the realisation you truly were crazy. Your laughter put Jerome at ease once again, but his hand never left your leg.
“No, I don’t think it will. God what does that make me?” you say to yourself , laughter still filling the car.
“That makes you special” you stop laughing and look at Jerome. He grabs you face and pulls it towards his crashing his lips to yours.
Electricity races through you, the rush of kissing him making your head spin. You both part for air, resting your heads together as you pant.
“There is one thing that’s worrying me though, I’ve never shot a gun” Jerome smiles down at you
“Don’t worry Gorgeous, I’ll teach you”
Jerome led you into an apartment, leading you through the doors until you reached your apparent destination.
You glared at a few men who stare at you as you pass. Especially the big one who was looking at you like you were a prime steak.
“Ah Jerome, we were beginning to wonder if you’d been caught” a tall dark haired man spoke, you didn’t like him. He gave off a bad vibe, you unconsciously shift closer to Jerome.
“So you must be Y/n, we’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Theo Galavan” he gave a little bow and you had to stop yourself from rolling your eyes. You force a smile and nod politely at him, squaring your shoulders and holding yourself tall.
You hear clicks of heels approach from behind you.
“Ah Y/n, this is Barbara” Theo introduces.
“So this is her? The cheerleader?” You narrow your eyes as the blonde enters your eye line, your jaw clenching at her description of you as ‘the cheerleader’ she looked you up and down before turning her back to you.
“I don’t see how she’s so special…” your eyes snapped to the back of her head.
“ ‘She’ is standing right here ‘Barbie’. If you have something to say, why don’t you say it to me?” Your eye flash dangerously. Barbara looked momentarily shocked by your outburst. She advanced on you slowly
“Don’t call me Barbie….” She almost snarled at you. You echo her movements stepping towards her
“I’ll call you whatever I like sweetheart, I’m not scared of you” you step right into her face. She smirks at you, nodding in approval.
You hear Jerome laugh behind you and step forward, he wraps his arms around your waist.
“Isn’t she perfect?” He smiles wildly at Theo, he laughs in return
“Jerome she’s a delight. I believe she’ll fit in wonderfully” you look up at Jerome to see him watching you.
“Of course, if she passes the test” Theo watches you intently, but you don’t even flinch. After all Jerome had given you the heads up that this was coming.
Theo reaches behind him and pulls out a gun.
“Have you ever shot a gun before Y/n?” You shook your head.
“Well that won’t be a problem, I’m sure Jerome will give you a few tips” he hands you the gun, you take it without hesitation. Not letting the shock of the weight of the metal show on your face.
You inspect the gun as Theo instructs Jerome to take you into the back room to practice. He takes your hand and leads you passed your growing audience into the back room.
“Do I get to pick who I shoot?” You spit, throwing a final glare at the monster of a man still drooling at the sight of you. You hear a cackle of laughter from Jerome making you smile.
“Ok gorgeous stand here” he stands you in the middle of the room, in front of a human shaped target.
He slips behind you, giving you tips on aiming and how to pull the trigger correctly. You were having a hard time concentrating with him being to close. His chest pressed firmly against your back. His arm unnecessarily wrapped around your lower waist pulling your hips to his.
“You ready to give it a go?” He whispers right into your ear. You nod lightly, not trusting your voice. He rests his other hand on your hip, but doesn’t move away.
You breath deeply like Jerome told you, raised the gun to the target and squeezed the trigger. The bullet flew from the barrel of the gun, straight into the head of the target.
“You’re a natural!” Jerome giggled behind you, spinning you to face him and kissing you firmly
He breaks the kiss smiling wickedly, before spinning you back towards to target
“Again!” He shouts excitedly
You echo you previous movements, and your second bullet lands directly next to your first. You laugh loudly, enjoying the feeling of being in control.
Jerome pulls out his own gun and stand beside you, one hand still firmly grasping your hip. You shoot together in a frenzy, both emptying your guns laughing hysterically.
You’re both interrupted by clapping from the door. You turn to see Theo standing there watching you both.
“Impressive Miss Y/l/n, but your real test is waiting” he leaves the room instructing you to follow.
You freeze momentarily, you shake your head and move to follow Theo. Jerome grabs your arm and spins you back to him. You look up into his eyes, your hands landing on his chest.
“It’s no different from hitting the target. One shot and then no one can stop us” You smile brightly at him, raising up onto your toes to press your lips to his lightly. You pull away and wink at him as you make your way to the door.
“You coming handsome?” You smirk at him.
You strut into the room, to see your audience still spread along the room. You hear the door shut behind you and see Jerome appear at your side. He takes your gun from you and reloads it before handing it back to you.
You look towards Theo and Barbara who were standing in front of a figure with a bag on their head.
“Well Y/n, the test we’ve chosen for you is one that will truly test you loyalty” You see Barbara smirk at you as she turns and pulls the hood off the figure. Only to reveal your aunt. She looks at you in pure terror.
“Can you kill the woman who took you in when your parents were killed? Who cared for you? Kept a roof over your head?” You listened to Theo’s speech uninterested, you hated the woman that stood before you. This wasn’t going to be a difficult decision
“Ms Y/a/l/n (your aunts last name), we will give you a chance to convince your niece not to kill you” Theo gestured for your aunt to speak
“Y/n! After everything I’ve done for you!” You snort loudly before bursting out laughing.
“Bitch please, they couldn’t have picked anyone in the world I want to kill more than you” you whisper to her winking making her cry. You look over at Theo
“Can I kill her now?” He gives you a look that clearly tells you he’s impressed by your reaction. He nods, you glance quickly over your shoulder at Jerome who’s watching you closely, excitement radiating off him in waves.
You turn your attention back to your aunt.
“Think about what you’re doing Y/n! These people are crazy! They’re psychopaths!” There’s laughter all around you and you can’t stop yourself from joining in.
“Yes they are you old hag. They are my kind of people” she looks at you in horror
“You’re a complete maniac!” she shudders
“I guess I am” you don’t speak another word. You just raise your gun, aim and fire.
The bullet hits her straight between the eyes, you grin madly at the sight as she falls to the ground in a heap.
“Bullseye!” You hear Jerome shout, making you giggle.
“Very impressive Y/n” Theo congratulates, you thank him with a little bow. You hand him back him gun. “I think Jerome was right, there is darkness in you” you feel pride swell in your chest the Jerome had been pushing so hard to get you here. Theo smiles at you and nods over your shoulder at Jerome.
“Welcome to The Maniax” you beam happily, turning back to Jerome who looked very proud.
“Let’s leave these two alone to celebrate” Barbara pipes up clearing the room. “Oh Y/n I grabbed your stuff while we were there, your in the room next to Jerome ” she gave you a sly wink making you smirk internally.
“Thanks Barbara” you nod at her the two of you coming to a silent understanding.
The big guy who had been watching you stops at your side on his way out.
“If you ever need any company sweet lips….” you cut him off before he had chance to finish
“Come near me and I’ll slit your throat” you smirk, never feeling more confident than you do right now. Jerome laughs his perfect laugh before reaching down and kissing you. You both pull away panting. The room had cleared without either of you noticing
“You were amazing Gorgeous, I never doubted you”
“Good” you whisper teasingly “so what do you guys do for fun around here?” You ask wrapping your arms around his waist.
Jerome grins wickedly down at you before pulling you from the room. The look sending butterflies straight to your core.
You were going to really like it here….you guessed being a maniac wasn’t a bad thing after all.