ANGELS WEEP || bruce wayne

the eighteenth

"We wouldn't sleep," he replied. He looked up as Stacey let out a sudden laugh. "What?"

"You mean, we would stay up playing games all night under the covers. And read to each other with our little flashlight that was half-broken."

"Yes." His eyes drifted back to the ceiling.

"C'mon Bruce." She pulled at his side, ripples of something crawling down Bruce's spine at the contact. "Roll on your side for me?"

He turned, achingly slow, but ended up right where she wanted him. They faced each other, but his gaze still wouldn't clash with her's.

She slid closer slowly, inviting him to tell her to stop if he was uncomfortable. He simply watched as her hand drifted to his side, sliding down it to toy with the hem of his shirt.

"Why won't you look at me, Bruce?"

"I- I can't."

She slipped her fingers under his shirt and felt the smooth skin of his spine, pushing him closer to her.

Bruce whimpered. It was a vulnerable, animalistic sound, and it surprised her. She leaned back to look at him, but again, he refused to meet her eyes.

"Bruce-"

He whimpered again, closing his eyes.

In a lightning-fast motion he grabbed her hand as she attempted to pull her hand out from under his shirt. She stilled, letting him guide her hand back to its original position. "Don't stop. Please."

She buried her face in his collarbone and all he saw was white. He attempted to collect himself, to give himself any semblance of sanity, but her fingers traced a new pattern on his spine and all he could see was white.

"Your heart's racing." With her other hand she pressed his shirt into his chest. She paused for a minute and Bruce finally looked down at her, curious.

"Are you- are you counting?"

Stacey smilied sheepishly and looked up at him, her smile widening as she caught his gaze. "Sorry, old habits. Your pulse is one twenty, if you want to know."

He didn't know what to say, so he just stayed silent, feeling her breath on his neck and trying to restrain himself from completely enveloping her until she suffocated.

"You're holding back."

Damn her, he thought. "I'm not."

She sighed a hot breath and pulled back. He let out a whine of protest.

"Bruce, you don't have to hold back. Not with me."

He buried his face into the pillow and mumbled something.

"What?"

"I'm afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

He groaned. "That you'll leave again. That every waking moment will be a burning hell without you in it."

Stacey flinched back. "Might I remind you that you're the one who never wanted to see me again?"

"I didn't mean that." His voice was broken, crackling at the edges like a crumpled piece of paper trying to lay flat.

She sighed. "I know that now. But it kept me away for ten years."

He was silent for a while.

"Those were some of the lowest years of my life." He grabbed her and pulled her back to him, stuffing his face into her neck, and she marvelled at his casual strength. "We lead very different lives, you know. It's... It's hard for me to leave you. Hard for me to let you out of my sight."

She dug her fingernails into his scalp and he groaned, burying his face deeper into her neck. "Promise me you won't kick me out again."

"I promise. Promise me you won't leave?"

She sighed, running her fingers through his hair. "I have obligations now, Bruce. And with those obligations come a lot of enemies."

"I can protect you."

"Really? I don't know if people will take kindly to the Batman helping a queen of the underworld."

He fell silent.

"Oh, fuck." Stacey realized what she had done only when it was too late. "Did you know? Ah, God-"

"I knew." He said, quieting her. "I knew. I heard him say your name on the balcony. I heard him pledge his allegiance."

"I'm so scared, Bruce. I'm so scared at the person I might become."

He nodded into her collarbone. "Me too. I falter sometimes. I think the only reason that the Batman hasn't taken over, that Bruce Wayne is still alive, is because of you. So let's just be Bruce and Tacey right now. We can be the Donna and the Batman tomorrow."

She nodded at his answer. In one smooth motion, he swept his arm up to hold her neck, feeling her pulse beneath his thumb.

The dull rhythm lulled his eyelids closed, and his Stacey kissed the top of his head and whispered a faint "goodnight."

And, for the first time in ten years, Bruce slept a full night's sleep without a single nightmare.

🦇

A/N:

Here, have some fluff. As a treat. <3