JESSICA flew straight up out of her dream with a scream.
She passed a hand through her dark locks with a loud gulp. The white, short, nightgown she wore was contorted, almost suffocating the natural curvature of her torso. One of the white straps rested off her shoulder, she didn't bother to fix it either.
As she contemplated getting a glass of water or going to the bathroom to splash cold water over her face to bring her even further to reality, there was a thud on her balcony. She froze like she was in a horror movie. Jess slapped her glasses on her face and climbed out of bed, slowly walking to where the sound came from.
The white transparent curtains of her room were blowing with the wind, creating an almost silhouette of the dark entity outside her room. She found it almost hilarious that a robber would try and rob her. She had nothing they would want anyway, except her laptop, tv, and stereo system.
Just as she pulled back the curtains, it was gone. Confused, Jessica walked out to the terrace. The stone, cold, underneath her bare feet. She could have sworn she saw someone out on her balcony. "I need sleep..." She mumbled, turning around while rubbing her eyes under her glasses. She paused when she noticed the shadow of a man engulfing her frame.
Slowly looking up, there it was, hanging upside down like a vampire. Jessica was ready to scream when the man wrapped his hand around her mouth. "Don't scream, I won't hurt you." He spoke gruffly. She frantically shook her head yes. She could use her powers, but that would give her away. She had to comply unless necessary.
She scanned her eyes over the man and noticed the symbol on his chest. The Batman. "I'm going to remove my hand now." The deep octave of his voice sent shivers down her spine. Jess stared into his chocolate eyes for a moment, he confused her like a jigsaw puzzle.
She didn't have that feeling as she did with Lex, he was different. Slowly, Jessica nodded her head yes. When he removed his gloved hand from her mouth, she instantly went to ask a question. "What are you doing here?"
The bat stayed unmoved in his position. "I need information that could be useful coming from you."
Jessica placed her hands on her hips, her long, still damp, hair covering her shoulders. "Couldn't this have waited till morning when I was fully aware that a total stranger was hanging from my doorway like a vampire and when I was fully dressed?" She looked down at her outfit for a second before gasping. She crossed her arms over her exposed cleavage. "You need to leave!"
Bruce couldn't help but admire her. The way her right foot curved upward as all her weight rested on her left leg, her hips leaning to the same side. The moonlight illuminated her creamy skin in the right way, almost making her look like an angel. He still needed to come back to the situation at hand. "Not until you answer my question."
"And what is that exactly?" She asked.
"What's your connection to the Supertwins?"
"Excuse me?"
"Superman himself has taken a liking to you and the other female reporter, Lois Lane." He explained while making sure to keep his gaze directed at her face.
Jessica slowly nodded her head. "What's it to you?" She asked with a raised brow.
"Why do you trust him? After all, he's done. Along with his sister?"
"They try to help people to the best of their ability." She explained. "If anything, those two are heroes." She narrowed her eyes at him, moving closer. "What have you done? Punish people by being the judge, jury, and executioner?" She snapped with sass.
That seemed to have struck a nerve with Bruce, the man jumped down to his feet with his cloak covering his body, making him seem more menacing. "You don't know what I've done, what I've been through, what I've seen." He growled darkly. "Those people out there in Gotham are nothing you've seen before. They're murderers, sex traffickers, pedophiles, the list goes on. I do what is best for the people in Gotham. What have the twins done? Take people away from their families!" He bellowed with his hands clenched into tight fists.
During their argument, Bruce was walking closer to her, leaving Jessica no choice but to walk backward. "It's not like that!" She countered, feeling her back hit the thick stone ledge. "T-They didn't mean to cause all that destruction, it was Zod's doing!"
"Is that what they told you? " He spat. She tried to conceal some modesty to herself, pulling down the front to her gown to hide her thighs while one arm was slung over her chest. That soon proved fruitless when she was trapped between her balcony stone wall. "Are you that naive?" Now, angry, she slapped him across the face, catching him off guard.
"You dare come into my home!" She hissed, going to push him away.
Bruce grabbed her hands, with one hand, and pulled her wrists closer to him. "They are the real monsters. The sooner you realize that the safer you'll be." He growled.
Jessica looked up into his eyes to see he let his guard down. He was broken, he lost someone, too many for someone to stay sane. She looked down to his symbol to study it, it's seen things as well.
Bruce stiffened slightly at the feel of her fingertips running over his chest where his symbol was. He watched her intently, she was different from Selina, Talia, and Rachel. He barely knew her and felt so connected. He wanted to know her. He needed to know her. "What are you doing?" He asked.
"Trying to evaluate my next move."
"And that is?"
"Trying to see if you can be saved."
Bruce looked away with a deep sigh, one he did not want to let go of at the moment. No wonder why the twins took such an interest in her, she tried to look for the good; no after who they were. "Can I trust you?" He asked again.
She looked up at him with her bright blue eyes. " I can keep a secret, so yes, you can trust me." She whispered gently. The vibe hit her like a book to the face.
He wasn't menacing nor was he as awful as Clark made him out to be. He was just a man looking to do the right thing but failed to see that the right thing was being veiled by his wrong actions. She felt herself become smaller in his shadow, smaller than she's ever felt before.
Bruce took off his cape, the heavy layering being wrapped around Jessica's shoulders to hide her nightgown. She looked up at him through her long lashes, "Can I trust you?" She asked this time.
"I've..." He looked away. "I've lost people... people who've trusted me."
"When you realize that you can't be god, that you can't save everyone, you won't blame yourself as much." Jess explained gently, sorrow in her blue eyes.
"That's why you're so special..." He started. "you don't give up, even with every emotion going on in your head. Nothing will stop you from helping someone else. You know what it's like to feel...-"
"Broken..." She mumbled. She pushed her damp hair behind her ear before holding her hand out. "I'm Jessica... Jessica Jolene Kent, you probably already knew that, but I was raised to introduce yourself to new people."
Bruce stared at her hand for a second before wrapping his gloved hand in hers. "Batman." Just as Jess was going to say something else, there was knocking on her front door. She began to panic, realizing her current situation. "Who's that?" Bruce asked, seeing Jessica was panicking.
"You need to hide!" She whispered, handing him his cape back.
He held onto it in confusion. "Why?"
"When I open...-" She turned around to find him gone. "Rude..." She mumbled but took no time to wonder where he was. She calmly walked to the door the best she could and slightly opened the door. She had to pretend to be tired. She was met with her brother with his hands behind his back. "Clark? What are you doing here so late?"
"Is everything okay? I felt distress."
"No, I-I'm fine." Jess smiled. "I would let you in but I'm a little indecent."
"No, it's fine." Clark waved off with a smile. He paused at the smell of cologne coming off of her. "Did you bring someone home?" Clark whispered with a raised brow.
Jess blushed before punching her brother in his shoulder. "No!"
"Ack! I was just asking!" He gasped. "You smell like a man, I was confused."
"What if I like using..." She smelled her gown. "Cedarwood and..." she smelled it again. "Lemon. What are you doing here again?"
Clark held his hands up. "I just didn't like the way you were feeling. You were so peaceful then out of nowhere I felt how scared you were. I don't like you being afraid."
Jess rubbed her eyes under her glasses, remembering her nightmare with Zod. "Oh, Jesus, Clark, I'm sorry. I just had a nightmare, that's all." She sighed.
"You haven't had one of those in a while."
"Yeah, but I'll be fine."
Before Clark could bid his sister goodnight, he scratched the back of his neck. "Jess, listen, about you being mad at me, I'm sorry. I know I haven't been treating you as I should. You're my sister and you deserve to be treated better, especially from me."
Jess felt a soft smile grace her face. "Thanks Clark."
"You're welcome. Now I'm gonna go home. Lois is probably wondering where I am." With that, he kissed her forehead goodnight and left for his apartment. Jess closed the front door, locking it, like she did every night, and went back to her bedroom. She nervously looked around, wondering if Batman was going to pop up out of nowhere. She used her X-Ray vision to look for his body heat.
When she found he wasn't there, she sighed in relief. What she noticed, however, was the cape placed on her bed. She ran her hands over the material. "Memory cloth?" She mumbled, rubbing the material between her fingers. "What did you do to get your hands on this, sir?"
Jess looked off to her balcony with a soft exhale. "Tall, dark, and mysterious... why did you have to be my type..." She mumbled, placing the cape on her chair. She went to close the balcony doors when she paused, deciding it was best to leave it open. It was hot after all.
She got in bed, put the blankets over herself, and finally got some well-deserved sleep. A few minutes after she had fallen asleep, Bruce quietly jumped down from his hiding spot on the roof. He looked to see her sleeping form on the bed. He stared at her for a moment before closing the doors to her balcony.
He was addicted to this woman, and he knew she was going to be the death of him. It had only been a few days since he met her, he shouldn't have become this attached to her. He knew better than that. He was only supposed to come to the apartment, poke around to find things that would solve his question, and leave without a trace.
Instead, she had to wake up and complicate his life without even knowing she has. One way or another, he would protect her. Even if his life depended on it.