Giselle is ushered into the Garden by police officers as the sound of a rifle shot firing sends panic into her system. Chaos and screams greet her inside as everyone frantically runs around, terrified. Suddenly, gunshots are erupting left and right and Giselle has no choice but to be helplessly shoved around by the people surrounding her.
At once, everyone's attention is diverted to the glass-paned ceiling as a series of bright orange explosions go off, and seconds later she watches as the shadow of her vigilante boyfriend drops into the room. However, she can't stare long as pieces of glass fall to the ground from the shattered roof. She puts her arms over her head to protect herself, wincing at the feeling of being nicked by glass. Rain is now misting into the Garden as Giselle spots Gordon on the stage. She begins to push through the throng of the terrified crowd, shoving past when need be.
Screams erupt once more and she turns to see Bruce dangling from the metal rafters above. Her heart nearly beats out of her chest for a moment before he places a well aimed kick at one of the Riddler's followers and lands soundly. The water level is beginning to rise even more now, and is soaking Giselle up to her knees. She takes the opportunity to climb up onto the stage, hurrying towards the back of it. One poorly aimed shot fires from above, slamming into the wall to the right of her.
Giselle glances over her shoulder to see Bruce rip the gun from her attacker's hand and hit him over the head with the butt of it. As a result of the sheer force of his blow, the follower goes tumbling off the rafters and into the crowd. Giselle goes to duck behind the stage, right as a group of firefighters and Gordon rush by her.
"Where are you going?" she shouts, turning to follow him.
"The rafters!" he bellows. "The hell are you doing here, girl?"
"The Batman told me to find you!" she exclaims. A flicker of knowing flashes over Gordon's face yet he says nothing. Instead, he cranes his neck in a motion for her to follow. Within seconds, Giselle is being forced to climb up the creaky metal behind Gordon and a few of his officers.
She hesitantly begins walking upon the rafter as her eyes land on Bruce, a few feet away, just as one of the Riddler's followers aims his rifle right at him. The bullet smacks into Bruce's chest and he goes flying, right off the rafter. He clutches holds on with only with a single hand. A scream emits from her throat as she lunges towards him, her body moving on its own accord.
She is vaguely aware of Gordon following as she reaches Bruce, falling to her knees as she reaches a hand out to him. It does not even begin to occur to her that she isn't strong enough to hoist him up on her own. However, she tries like hell as his stormy eyes find hers.
"Take my hand!" she sobs, stretching her fingers closer towards him. He takes it tentatively, his fingers slippery against hers. The weight of holding him up is more strenuous than she expects, and for a moment Giselle nearly topples off the rafters herself.
However, Gordon is suddenly there beside her, grabbing his other hand and the two together manage to get the masked vigilante back onto the metal rafter. Bruce is laying down, looking weak as Giselle moves to hover over him, panting.
Gordon stands up and begins shooting at another follower as Giselle cups the Batman's face. Tears are silently streaming down her cheeks out of pure fright and worry.
"Stay with me, please," she begs as he goes to try to get up before groaning. "It's okay, it's done. Don't try to get up,"
Giselle presses a worried kiss to his lips as he tries to murmur something to her. Just as she bends down to hear what he has to say, Giselle is yanked off of her boyfriend by her shirt and hair. She lets out a yelp as one of the Riddler's followers grabs a hold of her and pins her to the cool metal, which stings against her cheek. He pulls out a knife from his military pants, yet doesn't get the chance to cut or stab her.
A roar emits from Bruce as he tears the attacker off of her before landing punch after brutal punch upon him. Giselle winces at the sound of cracking flesh.
"Hey! Hey!" yells Gordon, running up. "Hey, man! Take it easy!"
Batman whirls around on Gordon, ready to punch. However, Bruce's eyes meet Giselle's, and he drops his arms. He weakly gets to his feet as Giselle watches Gordon pull the mask off her attacker.
"Who the hell are you?" he demands.
The middle-aged man lets out a sinister smile as he lifts his head to stare at her and Bruce.
"I'm vengeance,"
At that moment, however, all hell breaks loose. The lights flicker out, and the stadium goes completely dark before sea water bursts through the doors and windows of the Garden. Screams erupt as the force of the water tears the rafters and television off of the walls, and Giselle doesn't have the chance to scream as she loses her balance and tumbles into the seawater below. It's startlingly cold.
"Giselle!" shouts Bruce gruffly.
Her veins scream as she feels her entire body electrified by the loose wires that had been dangling over the water. She feels salt water burn her eyes and throat as she swallows a mouthful on accident. It's a miracle she's still alive as her head grows dizzy. However, just as she begins to see stars, Bruce is there.
His strong, sturdy arms wrap around her torso, pulling her to the surface as she gasps for air. Giselle sputters out a few coughs as she looks around to see people bobbing around the water. Bruce is tall enough to stand, and she braces herself around his torso as he pulls out a flare and it ignites to life.
The bright red glares around the stadium as she gazes up at Bruce, in all his magnificent glory. As silly as it is in that moment, Giselle wishes for a second that she still had her job. That she had the opportunity to write about who the real Batman was. The man behind the mask. The one she was staring at, right in that moment. And despite all the chaos around them, Giselle knew she'd be okay.
❔
Two days later, Giselle feels like shit. She can only imagine that Bruce feels worse, yet if he does, he certainly doesn't show it.
The entire city of Gotham is flooded with sea water, with the National Guard on their way. The roof of Gotham Square Garden has become a sort of refuge. Meanwhile, as soon as the situation was slightly under control, Gordon quickly pushed for Martial Law to go into effect.
Giselle can feel exhaustion creeping up on her already as she takes a swig of coffee. She is grateful to be wearing one of Bruce's faded tees as she hands out cups of coffee to other citizens sitting on the roof of the Garden.
Out of the corner of her eye, she watches as Bruce carries a young girl over to be airlifted to a hospital. Her heart swells with love for the man as she finishes passing out her coffee cups.
The day continues like that. The two helping, in any way they can, until Giselle receives a phone call around dinner time.
"Hello?" she says hesitantly, sitting down for a second resting her head on her worn jeans.
"Giselle?" the voice asks tentatively.
"Delilah?" she gasps in surprise.
"Oh thank God you're alright," her sister sighs into the phone. "I heard the news, and I was so worried,"
"I'm alright, just a little beaten up, that's all," she reassures her.
Delilah lets out another sigh of relief. "You should come visit soon. Or maybe I'll visit you,"
"Well, you might want to wait for the flooding to subside," Giselle weakly jokes. "But I'd love to see you,"
Giselle feels a hand on her shoulder and glances up to see Bruce with a ghost of a smile on his face.
"I gotta go Del, but I'll call you soon, okay?"
As soon as she hangs up, Bruce helps her to her feet. The sun is slowly beginning to set, and Giselle can tell that her vigilante-turned-hero is drained.
"How long do you think all this will go on?" she asks him tentatively.
"It'll take awhile to rebuild," he tells her as the two make their way over to the edge of the room.
"There's going to be a power grab, isn't there?" she adds. "With Falcone gone, it's going to get bloody,"
"I know," Bruce replies stiffly.
"Well, Gotham is lucky to have you as it's hero," she softly tells him as she steps closer to him. "And so am I,"
Bruce softly smiles before clicking his grappling hook and pointing it towards the building across from them. He ropes an arm around Giselle's torso, while she wraps her arms around his neck as the two swing over to the roof of the building, and into the night.
• · ─────── · •❔· ─────── · •
author's note:
ummmmm so technically the "movie" part of the book is over which is crazy
but
the story isnt over. there's more to come!!! also i know selina wasnt in this part when she is in the movie but boohoo i changing things. i'll cover her in the next chapter, as well as Ashley.
and once batman 2 comes out i will obviously be following that so stay tuneddddd!!!! thanks so much to everyone for reading!!!