Divination (Joker x Batman x OC)

Chapter 64

"You're avoiding me," the Batman said to Shade.

He had followed her down a small, dark, cobblestone street in West Gotham. She had just rescued a child that was abducted by a mentally unstable neighbor. The woman had lost her own son several years earlier. The Batman heard the police dispatch and knew that Shade would be involved.

"I am," she replied directly. "Avoiding you."

She had been ordered by the Joker to not interact with the Batman at all. She knew that he had eyes around the city and could not afford to be seen with him. 

"Please go away," she said.

She could tell that the bluntness in her statement had surprised him. But his thoughts told her that he assumed she was uncomfortable with him because he had kissed her previously. He thought the kiss was why she wanted to keep him away.

"Listen to me, Shade," he started to say.

"I'm serious," she interrupted and backed away from him. "This is not a request. Stay away from me. Do not approach me and do not talk to me again. Go."

"I have a proposition," he said in his heavily disguised rough voice. "The Joker. I believe you and I could work well together in an effort to detain him."

He had finally admitted he wanted her assistance. It was not a victorious moment for Shade. She needed him to go away.

"Listen," she said remembering to disguise her voice through frustration. "I'm telling you right now to back away from me and leave me alone. I won't say it again."

"I've offended you," he said, "I apologize for kissing you. It was inappropriate. I hope that you can forgive me for that and that we can work together in a professional manner to focus on what is important."

He took a small step forward and she immediately took another one back.

"If you come any closer," she said. "After I've told you repeatedly to get away from me...I'll have to stop you. This is your final warning."

He couldn't tell if she was serious. She was a vigilante now, he thought. She shouldn't be so sensitive and unforgiving. Not when there were more serious matters at hand, like the Joker running loose in the city. He took another step forward.

"Shade-" he started to say.

She lunged at him full force nearly knocking him off of his feet. She began to hit, striking immediately. He was used to fighting and being attacked so he was not exactly caught off guard. Instead of fighting back he grabbed her by her shoulders and pinned her against a brick wall before she gave him a hard knee to the chest. He felt it shake his armor around him. Her lower body strength was much greater than he had anticipated. She began to kick him. Her frustration grew and she began targeting his lower body until he fell back onto the ground. 

She knew that he was a pain from the twisting his knee. The injury was a weakness. She did not want to hurt him, but she needed him to listen. He wasn't hitting her back yet, as he was not sure how much damage she intended to inflict. He was certain that he could do serious damage if he struck her.

He wasn't even sure where the wooden plank that she had grabbed and was bearing down on his upper chest had come from.

"Listen to me closely," she said with all seriousness. "If you really care about what is best for Gotham right now then you need to listen to me dammit. Stay the fuck away from me."

"Or you'll kill me?" he asked, sounding completely unafraid, knowing that the answer would be no.

His knee ached as he moved slightly.

He swung an arm under her right leg and pinned her on her back, then snatched the slab of wood from her and threw it at the brick wall.

 "What's best for Gotham is if we both work together," he said.

She punched him hard in the center of his mouth to distract him. She used to strengthen her lower body to flip him off of her and then elbow him in the side of his jaw. She stood on her feet pressing her right heel against his throat.

"I didn't want to have to do this," she said. "But I'm going to have to threaten you."

Already she could see in his thoughts as he reached for her ankle with both hands that he was going to try to knock her down again. He was not taking the fight seriously. She needed to do the unthinkable.

"Mr. Wayne," she said slowly. "If you don't stay away from me from now on... I will have to reveal to everyone in Gotham who you really are. Your true identity. And don't bother denying it."

She bent her knee and knelt down so that her face was close to his. He was stunned into motionless silence.

"Bruce Wayne and Shade will never work together," she said before she fled.