Maniacs (Gotham)

Beautiful Dreamer

[No Man's Land - Day 100]

She remained in bed for the rest of the morning, muscles aching and without much energy to do anything. Midnight had slowly rolled in. She had managed to doze off for a few hours, but memories of the altercation continued to reappear. It didn't let her sleep. Every single time she closed her eyes, Evelyn's acid-soaked face emerged. The sizzling sound came back.

It's not that she regretted having fought with Evelyn because it was only a matter of time for it to happen - She had it coming. After Reese tried to kill her the first couple of times, things began changing in every aspect of her life. Jerome died for the first time. She tried straightening her life but completely disregarded that plan the minute Jerome was resuscitated, and she fell harder. She almost died in Arkham. Her mother returned and admitted to being her psychiatrist. They escaped and had to deal with Jerome's family. She almost died. Jerome died again.

Now she's on a wasteland she helped blow up, running away from people trying to kill her along with her boyfriend, who so happens to be her ex-boyfriend's evil twin brother.

And she almost died... again.

So, with all of this disarray happening in her life, Evelyn's minor surprise appearances had become nothing but an insignificant nuisance. She believed that Evelyn would go her way and she would go her own, but now more than ever it was cemented in stone that they'd never be okay with the other existing. Forever enemies. And to be honest, it was very gratifying to finally confront her and relieve the tension that had been boiling under the surface for a long time.

A soft knock thundered against the door before it opened slowly, a head peeked through the gap. "Good morning, sunshine -" Kai greeted, his eyebrows quickly knitting with what seemed worry when he saw just how injured she was. "Woah."

"Good morning." The bruised woman responded with a weak smile.

"You look terrible." He grimaced, letting himself in and closing the door behind.

She scoffed, "Really? I could've never guessed."

"Yeah." His face copied her smiling expression, "You did pummel each other hard."

Reese rolled her eyes, "Like you said, I have given her one too many opportunities."

Kai nodded, understanding where she was coming from - If the two had really been enemies for a long time, then it only made sense for their rivalry to conclude. After their last encounter, he knew Reese had lost interest in Evelyn. It wasn't the same story for the latter, who always went for the throat whenever she saw Reese. "Well, I hope this is the last time because you nearly died."

A snort came along with a head shake, knowing for a fact it wouldn't be the last time. "Kai, if I was paid every time I've been in that predicament -"

"You would be a millionaire?"

"Billionaire." She corrected, lifting her index finger for emphasis, causing her friend to laugh at the young woman's everlasting attitude. It proved to him that she was as strong as she felt herself and that she was indeed an expert in these situations. "As I've said in the past I'm a hard one to kill."

Kai smiled genuinely, "I don't doubt that."

Reese relaxed against the pillows, "Years of experience."

The man sat beside her, "Is that what got you into Arkham?"

Her bottom lip was chewed gently as her mind instinctively spiraled into memory lane. "When your whole life is nothing but disasters and people saying you're not worth it, it makes your sanity crack little by little... until it shatters." Her voice had quieted. Kai noticed that her posture had stiffened and her gaze had become glued to the wall - pensive - but it seemed her brain had been filled with nothing but the recollection of loneliness. "And then no one wants to deal with the damage."