Things Don't Change

"no one was safe"

Y/n's POV 

As soon as I left my house, I got on a bus and the switch from my hometown to Gotham was crazy. Gotham had this type of feeling when you arrived. It was like you had to be on edge and not trust anyone. The city was so different. Although it was night, you could tell that the city was still active. When I got off of the bus, I could feel peoples' stares on me. I pulled my hoodie over my head and tried not to attract any attention. 

"Hey do you need any help with those?" a man asked me. "No" I replied to him. "Are you sure?" he blocked my path. "I'm sure" I replied again before continuing to walk. "Playing hard to get?" he continued to follow me. "No, I just don't need your help" I replied to him. "This city isn't for someone like you, I'll give a week before you end up on some news headline" he said before walking away. 

I would never say it, but that made me nervous. From the moment I got off of that bus, I knew this wasn't a safe city. I eventually found a motel that I could stay at. 

"What do you want?" the receptionist asked me. "Can I get a room?" I asked her. "207" she tossed me some keys. "You're not from here are you?" she assumed. 

I didn't respond to her. 

"Here's some advice, don't give people the chance to fuck with you" she spoke more seriously. 

I nodded my head and went to my room. It was exactly what I imagined. It was not a ten out of ten but a room that was somewhat clean. The couch had a few stains on it and I didn't even wanna look in the bathroom. I changed into some more comfortable clothes and then I turned on the TV. The news was on and there was a restaurant that got bombed. Batman and Robin managed to save everyone and then left the scene. The new reporter then talked to a witness. 

"I truly appreciate what Batman and Robin do, but I fear that it'll get them killed one day. There are people like the Riddler and The Joker out there and throwing them in Arkham won't be enough" he explained. 

This witness was right. Since I was little, I used to watch replays of Batman's fights, and they were no joke. Knowing that someone that I cared about could potentially be fighting these criminals made me a little uneasy. 

I turned off the TV and tried to go to sleep but it wasn't easy. I don't know how people in Gotham sleep knowing how dangerous this city is. At any moment, anything could happen. 

The next morning, I checked out and looked for somewhere to stay permanently. A small apartment would've gotten the job done. I talked to the landlord and got a one room apartment. It was a pretty good deal. The living room, dining room and kitchen were pretty much in the same area without any walls to separate the space. It was a little roomier than I expected but I didn't even start decorating yet.

Over the next few days, I got some furniture and really tried to make the apartment feel like home. I found it a little odd how everything was so cheap in Gotham. The apartment I got was cheap, the furniture, cheap, literally everything was cheap. It was like these people wanted to get rid of the things they owned. Some people really wanted to leave this city and it really showed in their body language and the tone they spoke in. 

Once everything was settled in my apartment, I was doing some work on my laptop, trying to track down Tim. I had the news playing in the background and I saw something shocking. 

"Unfortunate news, a woman has been murdered this evening. Terri Rider was killed on her way home from work. Witnesses described her body as being disemboweled with her eyes gauged out" the news reporter explained. 

My eyes widened and I didn't know what to think. That same woman had sold me a desk earlier today. She was so kind to me and now she's dead. That was a real eye opener to me and I saw what the city truly was in that moment. No one was safe. If someone wanted you dead for whatever reason, you'd be dead. 

I felt a little sick knowing that Terri was dead. I had to turn off the TV and take a step back. I questioned why I was in this city. There wasn't even a guarantee that Robin was Tim and yet I continued to stay in Gotham, just for that small chance. 

Tim's POV 

Batman got an alert that someone had died and we quickly went to the crime scene. A woman was dead on the ground with her organs and eyes ripped out. It was a little unsettling but I was getting used to seeing these types of things as it came with the job. Batman got some files about her life and he handed me a picture of her. She was at least forty years old and looked like a decent person. 

Her eyes were filled with joy and it seemed like she had a good life. I asked myself why anyone would want to kill someone like her and then I remembered how messed up things were in Gotham. Nobody cares how nice you are or what you go through. People would not hesitate to cause harm no matter what. 

I examined Rider's body closely and took a look at all the openings in her body. 

"The person who did this made clean cuts. Her organs were never damaged and I think she was alive during the process of the organs being removed" I explained. 

I also saw that someone's nails had been dug into her cheek. As if they were trying to silence her. 

"Let's go Robin" Batman said to me. 

We left the crime scene to Commissioner Gordan and went on our way.