To My Hope (Edward Nashton x Vigilante!Reader)

You Came

"I was Hoping that you'd come last night," Bruce says as you drive to the funeral, smirking slightly at his name joke, to which you roll your eyes with a light scoff. "But I understand. It's a lot to take in."

"I just couldn't face it," you tell him with a shrug. "The person who's supposedly obsessed with me... you saw the news, about Pete."

You couldn't bring yourself to go with The Batman and Gordon last night, to look at the scene of Pete Savage's death, left by the Riddler. You were too distracted with the letter, the Riddler himself when he appeared on your TV screen... absolutely everything. But you're Hope. You'll manage, like you always do.

"Well, Pete's not a good cop," Bruce states, and you frown, listening. "Looks like he got greedy. I think he was in on the drops business. The Riddler's targeting the corrupt, especially people to do with that case. There are more photos," he continues, passing them to you and glancing at the car windows, their reflective film blocking out any random, prying eyes from outside. You shuffle through the photos with a sigh.

"I managed to get someone in the lounge," he adds, "to the club below it. Colson, the DA, he was there. Talking about an informant on the Maroni case. A rat."

"A rat," you repeat slowly, and Bruce nods. "Okay, that kind of makes sense, what with the Riddler putting rats in that cage yesterday..."

"I got a card," he responds, and you can see the dull annoyance in his gaze immediately after he mentions it. "Another riddle. 'Follow the maze until you find the rat. Bring him into the light, and you'll find where I'm at."

"Bring him into the light?"

"We'll work on it," Bruce assures you. "I, um, I met a girl from the Iceberg Lounge," he adds. "Selina. You'll get on well with her. She's friends with the blonde girl from the pictures with the late mayor. She talked to Colson."

You smile with a nod, giving the photos back, the frowning as you notice his hesitation to mention something else.

"Okay... What is it?"

He pulls out an envelope from his pocket, handing it to you. You bite your lip as you stare at the familiar handwriting from Mitchell's house, the angel card.

To My Hope

You quickly pull the card out of the envelope, and stay frozen in your seat as your eyes trace the words on its cover. It's another old fashioned love cartoon, with two silhouetted figures holding hands, standing under a large green heart with curly white words written inside.

'I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED YOU,

'I ALWAYS WILL,

'LOVED YOU YESTERDAY,

'LOVE YOU STILL.'

You open the card up properly to see the same riddle The Batman got, but the obvious difference between his and yours is the faint, messy hearts drawn in the background of the writing in pencil. Bruce looks away, annoyed.

"I don't like the idea of him thinking of you like that. Stay close, okay? I know you can handle yourself, but this is different."

You smile at Bruce fondly, tucking the card away in your jacket pocket. "Alright, worryguts."

Chanting and clamouring can be heard clearly from outside, as Bruce Wayne's car drives to the entrance of the church. As you peer out the window, you can see a group of people chanting "No more lies!" and holding up boards with the Riddler's question mark symbol sprayed on it, signs held up saying 'OUR DAY OF JUDGEMENT'. Bruce stares too, retreating into silence as he steps out, going over to your side to give you a hand, and choosing to keep it in his.