🦇
Stacey hadn't seen Batman for a good part of a month.
The interaction had faded into a wisp of memory, and Stacey had often thought that it had been nothing but a dream. Seriously, a huge, pale vigilante in her bathtub, letting her stitch up and clean his wounds? It seemed ridiculous when she thought to imagine it.
But the fondness that she felt when she saw his cowl on the news reminded her that it was, in fact, a real event that occurred. His dark silhouette against the blood-red horizon lingered in her mind, and she couldn't stop herself from looking up to the sky whenever she helped an injured person in.
Lorenzo didn't mention anything about a vigilante, so it was safe to assume that he had forgotten her.
The days bled together, Stacey's routine of going to the hospital in the morning and returning home in the evening to attend to Gotham's injured now the norm. She looked haunted, purple blue bruises growing darker beneath her eyes the more the days went by with minimal sleep.
And still the Batman was a mere wisp of a memory, something Stacey saw in the shadows of her room as she slept and in the wide recesses of her mind as she dreamed.
The rain let up briefly in increments, the streets growing drier and drier.
Another week later, someone found her.
Stacey struggled against her captors, screaming through the cloth in her mouth. Lights blinded her and she strained to see through the fabric, but to no avail.
"Is this really the way to treat our esteemed guest?" A thick voice, accentuated by the faintest Italian accent was like smooth butter in her ear, and the blindfold slid from her eyes.
Stacey blinked, squinting at the flashlight shined into her eyes.
"So, Stacey Alicia Maroni. The princess of Gotham. What made you decide to return?"
A hand reached out in front of the blinding white light and tilted her head upward, the cool metal rings stroking the hot flesh of her jaw.
"Money?... Power?... Or, rather, are you here to avenge your father?"
The ringed fingers pulled the cloth from Stacey's mouth.
"My father?" Stacey spat. Her body was sore, tied to a chair; her mind was trying to make sense of the last hour since she was abducted getting out of work. Gotham's criminal underworld was getting bolder, unafraid to do dealings in the evening hours instead of the enveloping night. Nights were becoming more dangerous with the Batman around, so twilight was the safest.
Fingers returned to tuck loose strands of hair behind her ear. "Your father, Tace. Or is it the little prince who you've come back for? He hasn't left his tower since you ran away."
"Leave Bruce out of this." Her voice was raw. "And don't call me that. You're not allowed to call me that-"
"C'mon Falcone, just kill 'er already."
"Shut up," Falcone replied. Stacey was just beginning to make out the shadow of his face behind the flashlight when suddenly it left her vision. "This is a warning. A courtesy from family to family. Think of it as a gift, your life. I know you've been through so many hardships, cara. I can help you."
Stacey surveyed the dark room around her, books stacked onto ornately done bookshelves, the gothic windows providing a snapshot of the city. She was in the Iceberg, judging by the view.
"Vuoi aiutarmi o farmi del male?" She replied in Italian. Do you want to help me, or hurt me?
"Aiutarti, cara. So che non hai famiglia, ti offro la mia." He replied. Help you, dear. I know you have no family, I am offering you mine.
"Hey, talk in English!" It was Falcone's goon, the Penguin, by the looks of it. Stacey remembered staring at his ugly face when he exited the club, hiding behind her father's legs as they chatted. He had leered down at her and flashed his gold tooth.
Falcone ignored him, a hand coming up to stroke her face once again. "Non otterrai più questo affare."
You won't get this deal again.
"I don't want your deal. I don't want any of this!" Stacey spat, bearing her teeth and wriggling against her restraints. "My family left me nothing! I was forced to abandon Gotham, abandon the people I love just to escape the lies and the judgement. My own best friend turned against me for the sins of my family. But be aware, Carmine, when the day your sins come to the light, God will not be as kind to you as he was to me."
Falcone took a long moment, leaning back. Then he guffawed.
"You didn't come back for your money?"
Stacey baulked. "What money?"
Falcone and the Penguin looked between themselves, as if sharing a silent conversation.
"Alright." Falcone slapped his hands onto his knees and stood. "As a favor to your father, you're free to leave."
"What?" said Stacey and the Penguin at the same time, the latter unaware that this was the product of their silent exchange.
"I said," Falcone picked up the pool pole, surveying the abandoned game. "You are free to go. Oz, untie her."
Insulted, Penguin reluctantly slid out a knife, cutting the bonds of Stacey's wrists. She shoved him when he bent to take care of the rope around her legs and he landed with an "oof!" just as she slipped free and ran towards the exit.
"Tell your father I said hello!" Falcone called after her, sniggering at his henchman as he muttered curses after her.
Stacey flew through the nightclub, her doctor's coat and scrubs sticking out like a sore thumb in the crowd. But, as she passed the bar, a person called out to her, then two people, then four. In a blink of an eye, she was surrounded.
"Maroni!"
"Stacey! You're back!"
"Are you taking over the club again now that you're back?"
"Excuse me!" She shouted over the hub, desperately trying to escape the people calling her name and touching her-
The crowd screamed as a dark entity landed on the railing next to them, parting the crowd as it stalked towards Stacey. She drew her arms to her head and closed her eyes, expecting the worst, but it never came. Instead, a pair of armoured gauntlets found her sides and she was swept off her feet, carried like a bride through the crowd, who were whispering in fear and surprise at the sight of the daughter of a disgraced mob boss in the arms of Gotham's own vigilante.
Stacey's body shook but she stayed silent, closing her eyes and bringing her hands up to cover her ears. The bass still thrummed throughout her body, but the voices dimmed to a mere mumble.
The door banged open and she jumped, the Batman holding her tighter against him.
He stood outside for a second, catching his breath, before letting her down.
Immediately Stacey careened forward and slapped his chest, pushing him down the sidewalk. "You dick!"
He blinked, hurt more by the tone of her voice than by the force.
"Ugh!" She stalked down the street, white coat flying behind her like the wings of an angel gearing up for flight.
Batman followed, of course he did, and soon he caught up to her, matching her strides with his own.
"What."
Stacey didn't reply.
"Tacey..."
"I told you not to call me that!" Stacey said, stopping in her tracks. "I haven't seen you for a month, and now here you are, my knight in shining black armor."
"You're mad at me for... saving you?"
"Yes! No... I don't know. I just... I never had the chance to check your stitches, to see if you had healed properly."
He let out a long sigh, advancing ahead of her, amused by the sound of her tripping over her feet to catch up with him.
"You need more sleep."
"What I need is for you to stop being active all of the time. Seriously dude, you must be unemployed, how else do you time manage fighting and work and sleep?"
"Do you like your job?"
They looked ridiculous. A doctor and the Batman, side by side, one side arguing while the other chatting, each too stubborn to let each other go.
"Yes."
Batman sighed. "I mean the one you go to during the day."
There was a hesitation. "Yes."
"Why do you work then?"
Stacey rolled her eyes. "I'm one hundred thousand in student debt, buddy, I don't think I have the option to not work. I can barely fund my little operation as it is."
They were close to her apartment now, a few turns away from the promise of injured people and wounds to patch up and no sleep to be had.
"I can help you."
Stacey smiled stiffly. "Thank you, but I don't need your help. I already have enough of it as it is."
Underneath the mask he wore to disguise his emotions Bruce was smiling at her stubbornness. Much had changed those past ten years, but her stubborn-as-a-mule-like tendencies never failed. They stopped in front of her porch.
"And though she be but little, she is fierce." The quote slipped out, a memory of a time when Tace and Bruce would recite Shakespeare to each other and laugh at the absurdity.
But it was enough to shut Stacey up again.
She stepped forward, her eyes wandering around his mask in bewilderment.
"Who are you?"
"Maroni!" Lorenzo shouted from her window above her, Stacey barely able to spare him a glance before he tore down the stairs to burst out the front door. "Oh, Maroni, I'm so glad he found you!" He enveloped her in a hug and Stacey let it happen, though she had to fight down a gag at the feeling of his skin against her's.
"Wait-" Stacey tore herself away, looking between the two men in front of her. "You asked him to find me?"
"No." They answered simultaneously, looking at each other uncomfortably. "You were missing when I got home, yet your phone was on the counter. So I recruited Batty here to help me out in finding you. Told people that it was the Angel's day off."
Stacey sighed. "Thank you, both of you, for finding me. I need- I need to think some things out. Do you want my number or something?" She directed the last question at Batman, who shook his head.
"I have it."
"Alright, not creepy at all. Well, night!" She quipped.
"Wait." Lorenzo leaned in towards her as Batman melted into the shadows of the night. "I dunno what happened, but are you sure you're good being alone right now, kid? I'm sure that was kinda intense."
"Yes," she answered both questions at the same time. She smiled at Lorenzo. "Thank you for helping look for me. I'm glad you're my business partner."
He slapped her back. "Just doing my part, cara. Glad to be a part of the team."
Stacey slid into her house and locked the front door.
She slid her back against the door, cradling her legs to her chest.
And cried.
🦇
A/N:
I'm a sucker for clues leading to future discoveries, so if you think that something is familiar, it might just be leading to something bigger.
Is that too cryptic?😂
Anyway, the best way you can encourage me to keep updating is leaving comments, so please let me know if you're enjoying the story!
Thank you for reading!