I Am Vengeance
Not Enough
White and barely visible, a sliver of white from the moon shined through a small break in the storm clouds. For hours it had been storming on the city of Gotham without any sign of stopping. In the main city, few dared to roam the streets, and those who did risked the chance of running into their worst nightmares.
Across town, in a large mansion, the kitchen light turned on blinding the occupant. Who, at that point, was currently rummaging through the cabinets. He said nothing to the man in the doorway. He just continued to search for something to satisfy his aching belly.
"Hungry," asked the man.
Slightly turning his head holding a box of cereal with a sarcastic smirk, "now what would make you think that?" With that said he tossed the box of cereal to the man before grabbing what they needed to make two bowls of the whole grain delicacy.
Silence fell over the two. The only sounds came from the crunching of cereal and the boom of thunder every so often from the storm raging outside. Neither of the males were very talkative people. Always saying as few words as possible to whoever they spoke to. Even still, the silence that fell over them was unnerving to one of them and it wasn't the boy eating his late supper.
Thoughts raced through Bruce's mind that night, and they weren't pleasant. What he was witnessing in his mind felt like a memory, like something that had just happened only recently, but that couldn't be true. How could he have memories of his companion's death when the boy was sitting right across from him? There was really no explanation for it. Nothing could explain why he was imagining holding the lifeless body of his student amidst the rubble of a destroyed warehouse.
Putting those thoughts from his mind Bruce looked to the one sitting across from him. The two had been through so much in such a short time. It seemed like just yesterday that he'd caught the youngster stealing the wheels off of his bat mobile. He wasn't sure what it was about this boy that drew him in, but there was potential and now he was living proof of that.
"Hey Jason," when Bruce spoke it caught the boy's attention as he looked up from his food, "I just wanted to say that---."
"Just wanted to say what Bruce," Jason snapped. When he heard those words come from Jason's mouth he had to close his eyes for a moment to see if he was talking to the right person.
Upon opening his eyes he saw that the scene had changed. They were no longer sitting in the Wayne manor's kitchen, but standing in an abandoned apartment with the Joker. While the clown lay bloodied up on the floor, yet still managing to laugh annoyingly. Jason stood across from Bruce with a gun in his hand and looking ever so pissed off, and even hurt.
After taking it all in Bruce realized that the other man was talking to him. "You let this psycho run loose on Gotham and all you can say is, I'm sorry. Well, I'm sorry won't cut it this time Bruce." With much force Jason grabbed a laughing Joker off of the ground holding him to his body gun now pointed at the clown's temple. "You choose Bruce, me or him."
Feeling a weight in his hands Bruce looked down to see that there was a gun in his hand and just like in his mind earlier he dropped it. He wouldn't kill. He had sworn to himself a long time ago that he would never give in to his darker side. It would be too easy for him to, and he knew that he was better than the ones he threw into Arkham.
Everything after that happened in slow motion. He stopped a bullet from leaving the barrel of Jason's gun, hurting his hand in the process. Then just as the bomb was about to go off he tried to grab the one he'd once called friend, but was too late. Buried under rubble the only one he found was a still laughing Joker. Jason was nowhere to be found, and once again, he'd failed the one person he shouldn't have.
Across town, in a large mansion, the kitchen light turned on blinding the occupant. Who, at that point, was currently rummaging through the cabinets. He said nothing to the man in the doorway. He just continued to search for something to satisfy his aching belly.
"Hungry," asked the man.
Slightly turning his head holding a box of cereal with a sarcastic smirk, "now what would make you think that?" With that said he tossed the box of cereal to the man before grabbing what they needed to make two bowls of the whole grain delicacy.
Silence fell over the two. The only sounds came from the crunching of cereal and the boom of thunder every so often from the storm raging outside. Neither of the males were very talkative people. Always saying as few words as possible to whoever they spoke to. Even still, the silence that fell over them was unnerving to one of them and it wasn't the boy eating his late supper.
Thoughts raced through Bruce's mind that night, and they weren't pleasant. What he was witnessing in his mind felt like a memory, like something that had just happened only recently, but that couldn't be true. How could he have memories of his companion's death when the boy was sitting right across from him? There was really no explanation for it. Nothing could explain why he was imagining holding the lifeless body of his student amidst the rubble of a destroyed warehouse.
Putting those thoughts from his mind Bruce looked to the one sitting across from him. The two had been through so much in such a short time. It seemed like just yesterday that he'd caught the youngster stealing the wheels off of his bat mobile. He wasn't sure what it was about this boy that drew him in, but there was potential and now he was living proof of that.
"Hey Jason," when Bruce spoke it caught the boy's attention as he looked up from his food, "I just wanted to say that---."
"Just wanted to say what Bruce," Jason snapped. When he heard those words come from Jason's mouth he had to close his eyes for a moment to see if he was talking to the right person.
Upon opening his eyes he saw that the scene had changed. They were no longer sitting in the Wayne manor's kitchen, but standing in an abandoned apartment with the Joker. While the clown lay bloodied up on the floor, yet still managing to laugh annoyingly. Jason stood across from Bruce with a gun in his hand and looking ever so pissed off, and even hurt.
After taking it all in Bruce realized that the other man was talking to him. "You let this psycho run loose on Gotham and all you can say is, I'm sorry. Well, I'm sorry won't cut it this time Bruce." With much force Jason grabbed a laughing Joker off of the ground holding him to his body gun now pointed at the clown's temple. "You choose Bruce, me or him."
Feeling a weight in his hands Bruce looked down to see that there was a gun in his hand and just like in his mind earlier he dropped it. He wouldn't kill. He had sworn to himself a long time ago that he would never give in to his darker side. It would be too easy for him to, and he knew that he was better than the ones he threw into Arkham.
Everything after that happened in slow motion. He stopped a bullet from leaving the barrel of Jason's gun, hurting his hand in the process. Then just as the bomb was about to go off he tried to grab the one he'd once called friend, but was too late. Buried under rubble the only one he found was a still laughing Joker. Jason was nowhere to be found, and once again, he'd failed the one person he shouldn't have.
♠ ♠ ♠
If you've seen Under the Red Hood then you know what happens. If not, I apologize, but I did not want to describe what happened in the movie seeing as this will take place after it. Anyways, this is a re-written re-post. I have the second chapter written, but it needs to be polished a bit before I feel it's good enough to post.