The Many Loves of Batman

The Poison of Regret (Jade Nguyen, aka Cheshire)

Batman was all alone, standing in the tallest building in Gotham City. He stared right into the night, his entire being always camouflaging itself into the darkness it provided. It was his way of torturing the evil hidden away, to shed a sliver of light into the unending darkness that surrounded the life of the city.

"I know you're hiding..." He simply stated, his knees bending slowly as he crouched near the edge of the building. He could feel the presence of someone watching him. His paranoia always helps him every single time. It was thanks to said paranoia that he had managed to survive in a world full of metahumans. And it was thanks to said paranoia that he knew he was being watched.

Out from the shadows came Jade Nguyen, the villainess known as Cheshire. Her arms were crossed out under her chest, looking at him with interest in her eyes. He kept glancing at the woman, watching carefully every movement she may do. More often than not, he would probably have to face off against members of Ra's assassins, but it seems that the woman came all alone.

"You come all the way out here rather often, don't you?" He heard a hint of worry in her voice, but she could be faking it for all he knew. Though he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, and didn't act. Even if his paranoia was already warning him that something will happen regarding the female assassin.

"Why are you here?" He asked, ignoring her question. He needed to know what she wanted from him. It was always something like this for every woman assassin in Ra's guild. He would prefer to have a break from all the chaos that would suddenly drop upon his shoulders, but it was his duty to protect. It was because of that, that he still was crouched down in the same position as his stare was completely focused on the female slightly behind him.

"I guess you don't trust me" He heard her sigh, watching her carefully as she sat right next to him to overlook the darkness in Gotham City. He still had his uncertainties of Cheshire, but she had yet to attack him. Which meant that she needed something from him. "I don't have my katana with me, you know"

"I trust no one" He simply stated. While a bit untrue, she didn't need to know that he even trusted various people with his life. All she needed to know was that, in simpler terms, he didn't trust her. He had been in proximity of her blade, inches away from death, before. And she would just ask that question away as if she hadn't done that before? "Why are you here? I won't ask again"

"You don't miss much, do you?" Her voice dropped, now only being but a whisper in the wind. He could hardly hear her. And if it wasn't for the close proximity to each other, he could have definitely confused her words for incoherent mumbles. "They don't call you the greatest detective of the world for nothing..." It was then that he noticed just how confused she really was. It looked like she didn't know where to go, stranded off her predetermined path because of something. And here she was now, seeking out answers from him, of all people, to be able to walk down the path meant for her. "Lately, I have been having doubts... Regrets"

"And what does that have to do with me?" He didn't know why she was even telling him all of this. The two of them had hardly even talked with each other. The only connection between the two had always been Talia al Ghul, and even she had disappeared from his life as soon as she could. So talking with Cheshire in the middle if the night was the strangest thing he has done in the past month.

"I've done terrible things to a lot of people, especially to you..." He stayed quiet, hearing her let her heart out in their conversation. It was still weird to know that she actually felt regret for everything that she had done, but it was a possibility he needed to accept. "There is no way I can atone for it all..." He raised a brow, glancing one more time at the green wearing assassin. He saw the look of defeat in her eyes, as if she had given up on the prospect of searching for atonement. "My past clings to me, a parasite that doesn't want to leave"

He could now see clearly what she wanted from him. She wanted an escape from the shadows around her, to look at it dead in the eye and tell it that he is no longer in control. He could also see the glances he had been receiving from the female, shaking his head ever so slightly at the reactions of the woman. It seems that every female assassin was attracted to him in one way or another.

"No matter what I do, I can't make peace with it." He heard her continue her statement, the woman pausing ever so slightly. It was probably to consider her next words carefully, but he deduced it could be that she didn't know how to express her inner turmoil. "And whenever I try to be better, well...it gets in the way"

"Try and do whatever you want to do... It is all I have ever done" And it was technically not a lie. From the moment he saw the deaths of his parents, he vowed his revenge on the man that killed them. But after everything was said and done, he looked right at the mirror and saw that he could be better. It was then that he changed his mission from revenge... to justice. Becoming the hero that he was to this day.

"As if that'd ever work..." Batman said nothing, letting the female think whatever she may want to think in the first place. He felt a hand over his own, clenching at his own as if searching for support. He closed his eyes momentaneously, allowing the gentle touch. "Can we stay like this a bit longer?" He raised a brow yet again, watching carefully Cheshire's reactions to her very own words. Her cheeks had a very unnoticeable hue of pink to them, one that only a trained eye would be able to pick up. "Until sunrise, perhaps?"

He didn't answer, just allowing the moment to happen. It was not like he was looking out for a fight, and just doing nothing while looking at the dark skies with someone besides him was something he didn't disagree on. It was relaxing, actually. To be able to have a night where he didn't end up injured or hurt was a nice change. But the sudden soft lips to his cheek made him stop his thought process, glancing at the female assassin with a blank stare.

"Thank you..." He began to look back to the night, ignoring just how Cheshire got comfortable against his shoulder. Nothing was happening with the two of them right at that moment, but he knew for sure that she would be back in his life in the most unexpected ways possible.