Bro
Laney
Okay, so, I shouldn’t be here. It’s my fault for leaving the group after dark, but I’m hungry and Spike hasn’t come back from scavenging but that’s a whole other story. Cause right now I’ve got my back to a brick wall in an extremely suspicious alley. I should not go down extremely suspicious alleys. I should know this by now. “So, fellas….”
“Shut up, bitch,” the guy with the knife growls, and I swallow.
“Um, I’ve got powers! I can, I can boil your brains inside your skull!” I don’t have any powers. I’m a teenager from the Narrows, harmless and homeless. I’m willing to say anything to make these men go away, because what they’re looking for, I’m not willing to give.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” They move closer and okay, I can get through this, I’ll just send my head off somewhere else, it’ll be okay. “Gonna kill her after.” Less okay.
“Please no, come on!”
Shit, I’ll never meet my soulmate now, my mark will fade off their skin and they’ll be left wondering what happened to me. My mark faded a few years ago, and I panicked, but it came back. Different words, same scratchy handwriting. I figured meeting them was gonna be interesting, but I guess that’s not happening.
There’s a shot and one of the dude’s heads explode. Okay. I can roll with that. I curl into a ball, smelling blood as three other bodies drop in front of me. Okay. This is a change. A good change, I hope. I risk looking up. Okay.
It’s Red Hood. He controls most of the drug trade in Gotham, but hey, he just killed a bunch of dudes who were gonna rape me, so I smile. Damn, he’s a big motherfucker.
“Bro, that was the greatest motherfucking rescue I’ve ever seen.” It’s the only rescue I’ve ever seen. No one’s bothered to save me before. He stiffens, stepping back with a hand to his gun. That’s not good.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
Holy shit. “I…oh my God. It’s you!” I stand up, put my hands on my hips. I did not plan on meeting my soulmate unshowered and filthy, but whatever. He’s pretty gross, too.
“Yeah, I guess it is me.”
“Are you gonna run away? Cause that would be really uncool.” He shakes his head and lets go of the gun, thank God.
“What’s your name?”
“Laney. Lane. Kaddoura. Lane Kaddoura.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yes. I’m just really excited to meet you!”
“Uh huh.” I frown and step over the dead men, which…ick.
“Look, if you’re gonna be all emotionally constipated, that’s not okay. I’m open about pretty much everything. Also, you died for a while, what’s up with that? I cried myself to sleep every night for months, and then you were back, but your words were so much more rude.”
“What’d they say before?” he asks, curious.
“They said, ‘Hi, I’m Jason. Are you lost?” I poke a finger into his chest. “So, Jason, what are we gonna do?”
“Let me see your mark.”
I smile, pleased, cause his voice is possessive. “Yeah, sure, okay.” I tug my sleeve up, revealing his words along my left forearm. “Alright, your turn.”
“Look, I have to take off my helmet to show you. This is a big deal, okay? You can’t go telling people my name, or what I look like. Ever.”
“You’re implying that I can’t be trusted, and that’s hurtful.” He just shrugs and tugs the helmet off. Okay. Okay. I lucked out. My soulmate is a hottie. A scarred, damaged hottie with a thousand yard stare, but a hottie nonetheless. My luck is finally looking up. I wolf whistle and he smirks, then turns around to show my neat handwriting along the back of his neck. “Yep, that’s mine. Is this the part where you drag me back to your lair and we have glorious sex for hours?”
I hook my arm in his and hope my smile isn’t too greedy. “No. This is the part where we go back to my place and discuss the terms of our relationship.”
“Totally not fun.”
“Then we have glorious sex for hours.”
“I rescind my previous statement.”
“Shut up, bitch,” the guy with the knife growls, and I swallow.
“Um, I’ve got powers! I can, I can boil your brains inside your skull!” I don’t have any powers. I’m a teenager from the Narrows, harmless and homeless. I’m willing to say anything to make these men go away, because what they’re looking for, I’m not willing to give.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” They move closer and okay, I can get through this, I’ll just send my head off somewhere else, it’ll be okay. “Gonna kill her after.” Less okay.
“Please no, come on!”
Shit, I’ll never meet my soulmate now, my mark will fade off their skin and they’ll be left wondering what happened to me. My mark faded a few years ago, and I panicked, but it came back. Different words, same scratchy handwriting. I figured meeting them was gonna be interesting, but I guess that’s not happening.
There’s a shot and one of the dude’s heads explode. Okay. I can roll with that. I curl into a ball, smelling blood as three other bodies drop in front of me. Okay. This is a change. A good change, I hope. I risk looking up. Okay.
It’s Red Hood. He controls most of the drug trade in Gotham, but hey, he just killed a bunch of dudes who were gonna rape me, so I smile. Damn, he’s a big motherfucker.
“Bro, that was the greatest motherfucking rescue I’ve ever seen.” It’s the only rescue I’ve ever seen. No one’s bothered to save me before. He stiffens, stepping back with a hand to his gun. That’s not good.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
Holy shit. “I…oh my God. It’s you!” I stand up, put my hands on my hips. I did not plan on meeting my soulmate unshowered and filthy, but whatever. He’s pretty gross, too.
“Yeah, I guess it is me.”
“Are you gonna run away? Cause that would be really uncool.” He shakes his head and lets go of the gun, thank God.
“What’s your name?”
“Laney. Lane. Kaddoura. Lane Kaddoura.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yes. I’m just really excited to meet you!”
“Uh huh.” I frown and step over the dead men, which…ick.
“Look, if you’re gonna be all emotionally constipated, that’s not okay. I’m open about pretty much everything. Also, you died for a while, what’s up with that? I cried myself to sleep every night for months, and then you were back, but your words were so much more rude.”
“What’d they say before?” he asks, curious.
“They said, ‘Hi, I’m Jason. Are you lost?” I poke a finger into his chest. “So, Jason, what are we gonna do?”
“Let me see your mark.”
I smile, pleased, cause his voice is possessive. “Yeah, sure, okay.” I tug my sleeve up, revealing his words along my left forearm. “Alright, your turn.”
“Look, I have to take off my helmet to show you. This is a big deal, okay? You can’t go telling people my name, or what I look like. Ever.”
“You’re implying that I can’t be trusted, and that’s hurtful.” He just shrugs and tugs the helmet off. Okay. Okay. I lucked out. My soulmate is a hottie. A scarred, damaged hottie with a thousand yard stare, but a hottie nonetheless. My luck is finally looking up. I wolf whistle and he smirks, then turns around to show my neat handwriting along the back of his neck. “Yep, that’s mine. Is this the part where you drag me back to your lair and we have glorious sex for hours?”
I hook my arm in his and hope my smile isn’t too greedy. “No. This is the part where we go back to my place and discuss the terms of our relationship.”
“Totally not fun.”
“Then we have glorious sex for hours.”
“I rescind my previous statement.”