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Post by Bruce Wayne on May 20, 2011 1:28:35 GMT -5
It was not a good night.
Of course, it rarely was a good night these days, and for the most part he'd managed to distract himself from that fact via fighting the criminal element of Paris, keeping in shape, or more often than he'd like to admit, brandy.
Tonight was brandy night, and he was on number three.
The haze was coming down, and he was still coherent enough to berate himself for this kind of indulgence: hard to be diligent about crime when you're plastered. But at the same time, a part of him, the selfish part, just wanted to wallow and damn the outside world.
He wallowed. With the help of the brandy, he eventually lost consciousness and was, at least for a moment, transported away from reality and to a fuzzy dream-version of Wayne Manor.
He knew it was a dream--knew it simply because in the dream, Lois was standing at the window.
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Post by Lois Lane on May 20, 2011 3:16:00 GMT -5
It was dawn and the warm light from the rising sun streamed through the tall windows and stretched out onto the dark mahogany floors. Lois stood there looking out of the old, hazy glass to the grounds.
She was still and silent for a long while. When she finally moved, she turned to face him. Lois smiled softly through sad eyes, more full of understanding than pity.
"Hello Bruce," she said quietly.
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Post by Bruce Wayne on May 20, 2011 23:50:20 GMT -5
"Lois." He said, the one word carrying so much meaning.
It was almost hard to even look at her--like Jess, he'd failed her, too, and this failure seemed to be just as terrible a one.
"I'm so sorry."
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Post by Lois Lane on May 21, 2011 0:28:54 GMT -5
She shook her head.
"No," she said softly, then walked up to him so that she was right within reach. "It isn't over; you know that."
"Even if he had--" she stopped. When she spoke again, her voice was quieter. "Even if I were gone, it can't be over, Bruce."
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Post by Bruce Wayne on May 21, 2011 23:10:23 GMT -5
He reached to touch her, hesitating for a moment--as though she would disappear as quickly as she'd appeared. With a sigh, he took one of her hands in his.
"I won't give up. If I could find you, somehow..."
At the mention of 'he', his expression darkened.
"He'd know what it means to cross me."
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Post by Lois Lane on May 22, 2011 3:56:16 GMT -5
Lois looked down at their hands at length then carefully brought them up closer. His knuckles were red and purple, bruised for all the fighting and training. She ran her fingers gently over the bruises for a moment, her eyes thoughtful as she looked at his hand.
"I know what he wants," she said, her voice shaking with fear. Her eyes didn't met his and her words were suddenly frantic. "I thought all he wanted was me-- that if I left you and let him have me then maybe you'd..."
She broke off, closing her eyes as she stopped herself. When she opened them, she looked up.
"But there's no rhyme or reason. He just wants to watch the world burn... to watch you burn."
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Post by Bruce Wayne on May 23, 2011 0:39:59 GMT -5
His body tightened at Lois' words, the very thought of...
But a darker emotion drifted across his features at her assessment of the Joker--one that seemed quite apt, considering his criminal history. The only history to be found on him.
"I don't burn easily." He said, his half-smile grim. "And if he's not careful, I'll follow the trail of fire to where he's hiding you and himself."
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Post by Lois Lane on May 28, 2011 4:53:34 GMT -5
She slowly let go of his hand, letting them slip from hers.
"'We enter the circle at night and are consumed by fire...'" she said, quoting the ancient Latin palindrome. "Like insects, we don't know how dark night is until we've seen fire... and we learn that fire can burn only once we have been licked by the flames and set ablaze."
She reached up and gently touched his cheek. "We all burn easily, Bruce. No matter how resilient, we're all but moths to a flame."
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Post by Bruce Wayne on May 28, 2011 21:10:56 GMT -5
It had often been said that darkness was the element of Batman, the perfect element for him--it was part of the persona, the mystery behind the stranger in black. Sometimes, it was hard to tell which was the real mask--Bruce or the Bat. But in certain things, he could say for sure which one he was.
"Then if I have to be burned, I'll be burned."
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Post by Lois Lane on Jun 28, 2011 5:34:06 GMT -5
"He'll hurt you like he hurt me," she said gravely. "The Joker knows just what to do... to say."
Her eyes grew dark then blank. "He..." she trailed of suddenly exhausted.
A thick stream of crimson blood from some sort of unseen injury on her head poured down the center of her face, past her eyes, over her nose and past her lips.
"Bruce--" she managed to finish his name eerily before her knees buckled under her.
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Post by Bruce Wayne on Jun 28, 2011 11:02:30 GMT -5
"I swear, I'll--"
His thought went unfinished when the dream Lois started bleeding, and he moved swiftly to catch her as she fell. But it seemed as though the air around him was incredibly thick, impossible to move through almost, and in this part of his mind's eye it seemed as though Lois was falling too far out of reach...out of the reach of even Batman...out of anyone.
"LOIIIIIIIIS!"
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Post by Lois Lane on Aug 17, 2011 2:40:07 GMT -5
Lois' eyes were rolling into the back of her head.
"Wake up," she gasped almost inaudibly. "Wake... up..."
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Post by Bruce Wayne on Aug 17, 2011 12:43:32 GMT -5
"Not--" He suddenly snapped awake, bolting upright on the couch in his office. "--again." The Joker. No, this wasn't just intuition showing up in a dream, this was something else. He'd been sent a message, albeit in a way he wouldn't have expected. But he knew, he knew, that this time, if he didn't move faster... There was only one thing to do, really. Minutes after waking, there was a roar in the catacombs under the mansion, from out of a secret door came flying the uniquely-designed Tumbler. Bruce Wayne was on the back-burner for a while. It was time for Batman .
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Alfred Pennyworth
- In the Duggins -
Bats may be, but even for billionaire playboys, three o'clock is pushing it.%\0\%
Posts: 93
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Post by Alfred Pennyworth on Aug 18, 2011 0:33:13 GMT -5
Alfred watched silently as Bruce screamed out of the cave, holding a plate of tea.
Sighing softly he sat down at the main computer and began to drink, it would be something he'd do for the rest of his life.
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