Mafia AU (based on the FOX show Gotham)
The reader is Bruce Wayne, and Dacre is the Joker (Jeremiah Valeska)
There's a note on M/N's bed. He has been searching for Dacre for over a month now and there's a note on his bed written in distinctly neat and familiar handwriting.
M/N rushes over from where he was frozen in the doorway and picks it up without even thinking about the various ways a note could be dangerous or even thinking about telling his roommate Joey. Joey would never let him pick up the note, much less investigate whatever it might have a clue for.
M/N flips open the note, ignoring the neat cursive of his name written on the front. The inside of the note has a few doodled hearts in the margin. Inside of the hearts is Dacre's handwriting, which says that he's invited to an address that M/N knows is somewhere in the dark zone. It's most likely a trap, but M/N doesn't have it within himself to care. He needs to find Dacre before he does anything else to the city or to the people that M/N loves. He needs to stop Dacre.
So naturally, M/N leaves the apartment immediately to find the address without telling anyone where he's going.
He slips through the alleys and streets of the dark zone easily enough. It's not hard to hide in the shadows of California, especially when the sky is steadily growing darker. It will probably be completely dark by the time M/N reaches the address, he thinks. Not that he minds. That should make it easier to sneak up on Dacre if he needs to.
M/N reaches the address when the sun is just about to set. There's just a few rays of light still peaking over the horizon, painting the sky a deep red, with splashes of dark orange and purple. The sky is a strangely peaceful contrast to the chaos and darkness shrouding Gotham right now. It reminds him of a simpler time, when they weren't cut off from the mainland––when they still had hope for a better California. It's a time that M/N misses, in retrospect.
Looking away from the sky, M/N surveys the building that the address led him to. There's something that resembles a shrine in a hole outside the building. Inside, there are candles with Dacre's likeness on them as well as a bigger version of the painting propped up against the back. It's creepy, and vaguely reminds him of Charles Mansons' cult. What's up with the phsyco's and their cults? He's definitely in the right place though, but why did Dacre bring him here?
There's only one way to find out, he thinks as he cautiously walks up the stone steps, to what is probably a trap or certain doom. Or both.
The wooden doors creak as M/N pushes them open and cautiously walks inside. What he sees inside makes him freeze in his tracks.
On the path in between the pews, there are flowers––red rose petals––strewn across the floor. Dacre is at the front of the room, wearing a deep blue suit and a white dress shirt with a black tie. His hair is slicked back and he's wearing dark red lipstick (and possibly other makeup, but M/N isn't an expert unlike Sadie and Mille). He's wearing the ring that M/N gave him a week after meeting him, and that alone is like a knife stabbing M/N in the gut. It's bittersweet and reminds him of better times, happier times.
There's also a priest who looks mildly traumatized standing by Dacre.
A few seconds later, music starts to fill the room, echoing off the walls. M/N looks around and his eyes settle on a literal orchestra (who also look mildly traumatized). He glances at Noah and Finn, who were standing off to the side in red dress shirt's and black vest's. Noah was holding something. He doesn't know what, but he can only hope that it's not a bomb. The man behind them was holding a large machine gun, the nozzle aimed near Finn's side.
M/N finally takes a hesitant step forward. "Dacre smiles at him. "M/N, I'm glad you decided to show up."
"What do you want?"
"Come here, N/N."
M/N takes another step forward and Dacre speaks up again.
"If you attack me or try anything, just know that the man behind Noah and Finn will kill a member of the orchestra. And I would really hate for that to happen."
M/N glares at him and walks forward until he's standing across from Dacre. "I'm here, now what do you want?"
Before he can react, Dacre reaches out and grabs both of M/N's hands. "You'll see."
Dacre nods to the priest, who nervously looks down at the book he's holding and starts reading from it, and M/N can only blink in surprise. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Dacre Montgomery and M/N L/N. If you have any objections, speak now or forever hold your peace."
Dacre gives M/N pointed look and M/N glances at Finn and Noah. At least he knows why Dacre invited him here now. A wedding with Dacre wasn't something M/N thought would ever happen (maybe once upon a time, but those were just fantasies) , but here he is, in a church, while a kidnapped priest reads and a kidnapped orchestra plays music in the background with kidnapped groomsmen witnessing the ceremony. And M/N doesn't even know how to divorce a psychopath that's obsessed with him.
The priest continues, interrupting M/N's thoughts. "Do you, Dacre, take M/N to be your... lawfully wedded husband? From this day forward, to have and to hold, for better and worse, for richer and poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?"
"I do," Dacre says softly, smiling at M/N. M/N is starting to realize that this is actually happening, he's actually getting married to Dacre Montgomery and it isn't some weird fever dream. A long time ago, he would have been happy to even date Dacre, but he isn't sure how he feels about this, and certainly not with the new Dacre––the one who shot Millie and stranded California.
The priest turns to M/N. "And do you, M/N, take Dacre to be your lawfully wedded husband? From this day forward, to have and to hold, for better, for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?"
M/N's thoughts stutter to a stop. While he doesn't particularly want to marry Dacre, he also doesn't want the orchestra to die. He'll just have to research divorces later. "...I do."
Noah and Finn then reluctantly walks up to them and Noah holds out the box he was holding to Dacre. He lets go of M/N's hands and takes the box from him. He carefully opens it and M/N finally understands what it is when Dacre picks something up from it and gently grabs M/N's left hand to slide a ring on his ring finger. M/N tries to ignore the way his breath hitches at the gentle contact, because he'd rather view his current emotions as fear than anything else, even though he's been drowning in them ever since he started searching for Dacre.
The ring is actually rather nice, if M/N was being honest. It has a twisting gold band and a sapphire at the center. Dacre gives him the other ring for M/N to put on him––it's similar to his own, but it has three smaller sapphires instead of one. M/N takes Dacre's left hand with his own and slides the ring onto his finger.
The whole ceremony is making something inside M/N ache. It's like a hand gripping his heart and squeezing it and it just keeps getting worse. It's just reminding him of how everything went wrong and how messed up Dacre is now. How M/N can never have anything normal or simple with him ever again.
M/N is pulled out of his thoughts by Dacre gently squeezing his hand. He looks up at Dacre and nearly flinches at the soft and concerned look on his face. He doesn't grace Dacre with an explanation, instead looking back towards the priest who has started speaking again.
"Before these witnesses, you have pledged to be joined in marriage and exchanged rings. By the authority vested in me by the state of California, I now pronounce you husband and husband. You may now... kiss the groom."
M/N looks back at Dacre to find him smiling at him. Dacre wraps an arm around his waist, holding M/N's left hand in his own and pulling him closer. M/N's thoughts stutter to a stop briefly (and his heart too, but he doesn't want to think about that) and then there are lips pressing against his own. M/N blinks in surprise and finds himself instinctually relaxing against Dacre .
When Dacre pulls back, M/N finds himself at war with himself. On one hand he wants to pull Dacre in for another kiss and let his emotions consume him. On the other, he wants to hurt Dacre for all he's done, wants him to pay for the pain he's caused everyone in M/N's life. In California.
Screw it, M/N thinks as he grabs Dacre's tie and pulls him in for a rough kiss. He bites Dacre's bottom lip and feels some sort of sick satisfaction at the taste of metal that spills out and onto M/N's tongue. Why not both?
When he pulls back, Dacre is looking at him with fascination and adoration in his eyes. His lipstick looks slightly smudged and the blood is barely distinguishable from the deep red color. M/N finds himself becoming hyper aware of the taste of blood still staining his lips and he darts his tongue out to try and lick it off. It still lingers in the back of his throat, acrid and heavy, and he pretends not to notice the way Dacre's eyes linger on his lips after that.
Then Dacre finds M/N's eyes again and steps back with a smile. He holds out one hand. "Dance with me, M/N."
M/N hesitantly takes his hand, and then Dacre's guiding him down the aisle to the back of the room where there's more floor space. The orchestra seems to take this as a signal, because they begin to play another song. It has a slower tempo and it's not one that M/N recognizes, but he doesn't particularly dislike it. It vaguely reminds him of the classical music that his father would play in his study and–
Before M/N can finish his thought, Dacre is pulling him in and placing his free hand on M/N's back. M/N recognizes the position and (paired with the music) he can definitely tell that it's a slow dance, so he lifts his free hand and places it on Dacre's shoulder. Dacre smiles at him, and then they're swaying side to side in time with the music.
Dacre gently leans his forehead against M/N's and closes his eyes. It's strange how much Dacre seems to trust him, M/N thinks. It's strange how much M/N seems to trust Dacre how comfortable M/N seems around Dacre. It's probably just because they used to be friends. Because they used to be in each other's space all the time, sometimes even for hours. Because M/N loves him.
The song slows to a stop and the orchestra starts another one, but Dacre is pulling away from M/N and looking into his eyes, stopping them both so that they stand in place. There's something in his eyes that M/N would tentatively label as sadness or longing, and it makes something inside of him ache.
With a sigh, Dacre leans down and presses a chaste kiss to M/N's lips. He pulls away slightly, leaving no less than an inch of space between them.
"I love you, M/N," Dacre mumbles, quiet enough that only M/N can hear him. The music almost seems to fade away as M/N is absorbed in Dacre's eyes, in their own little moment of time and space.
"I know," M/N whispers back, because he does. He saw the longing in Dacre's eyes when he told M/N that he was his very best friend in the graveyard. He saw the adoration in Dacre's eyes when on the night he nearly shot Millie in front of M/N. He sees the love in Dacre's eyes now, absinthe flavored with obsession. "I know," He repeats, because he doesn't know what else to say. Because he doesn't want those three words to slip out of his mouth, doesn't want anyone to know.
Dacee places another soft kiss against M/N's lips, and M/N can tell that he already knows.
M/N opens his mouth when Dacre pulls away (to say what? He doesn't know. An apology, maybe?), but Dacre shushes him. "You don't need to say it. Not now, not ever. I know."
And he does, doesn't he? Because he and Dacre are two sides of the same coin, and for some reason Dacre knows him better than he even knows himself. Because for some reason they both know each other better than anyone else. That's how it's always been, and that's how it always will be.
Because if soulmates exist, Bruce knows that Jeremiah would be his. Because they really do have a connection; because fate is cruel and twisted.
So instead of saying something, M/N gives Dacre one last kiss. It feels like an apology, but it doesn't feel like a goodbye. It feels like a 'see you soon'. Then M/N pulls away, away from Dacre and away from his arms, and the aussielets him. They both know that they'll see each other again, because they're fated to meet. They're fated like two magnets, drawn together by opposition, and bound to crash into each other.
M/N leaves the church without looking back, and if he looks at the new ring on his finger, it's not like there's anyone around to see. (When Joe asks about it upon M/N's return, he just tells him that he found it on the ground and liked it. They both know that it's a lie, but Joe doesn't bother to call him out. Something tells M/N that Joe knows that he's better off without knowing the truth). And if M/N stares at it in bed at night, when the moonlight is reflecting off of the metal and illuminating the gem in a way that reminds him of Dacre's eyes, then who's around to see but himself? Who's around to hear the whispered words that finally fall from his lips before he drifts off to sleep?
"I love you."