Divination (Joker x Batman x OC)

Chapter 69

Shade's feet pounded the pavement as she sprinted down the dark alleyway in hot pursuit. The sound of two people running on the slightly damp streets broke the silence in downtown Gotham. The man in front of her clutched his laptop as he ran with all of his might, but he wasn't quick enough.

She tackled him and the computer flew out of his hands and slid across the asphalt.

"Please!" he shouted after his chest hit the hard ground. "Don't hurt me!"

"Try to run again-" she said and twisted his arm and pressed it into his back. "And I will."

"I promise!" he said in pain. "Shade, I prom-ahhhhhhhh!"

"Try to run again and I will break this arm," she shouted, kneeling on top of him.

"Okay! Okay! Okay!" he said over and over as she dragged him to his feet and threw him against the concrete wall.

"Hacking and identity theft is a very serious offence," she said to him. "You have no idea how much you are hurting people."

He looked into her eyes and then appeared to be staring at something behind her. She turned to see what he was looking at, even though she already knew. The Batman.

"Don't you dare move," she ordered the man she had been chasing.

"Okay," he said and held onto his arm after she released him, and groaned in pain.

Shade turned to the Batman and glared at him.

"I told you-" she said, feeling her anger immediately growing.

"Stay away," he said darkly. "And I haven't."

The man she had just chased down looked at Shade and then at the Batman and then back at Shade again. He was not understanding what was going on. She ignored the Batman and looked back at the criminal. He was young, in his early 20's with enormous dark curly hair and very fair skin.

"Let's go, kid," she said to him and reached for his arm, but the Batman came up to them and gripped her wrist before she could reach the criminal's arm.

"Let. Go." she said firmly. "Of me."

The Batman pulled her arm hard enough to turn her to face him.

"Tell me who you are," the Batman demanded. 

She could tell he was extremely eager to rip off her mask, but his righteousness and honor would not let him. Especially not in front of a witness. He had too much dignity. He also knew that if he did, she could shout his name aloud for a witness to hear.

"Or what?" she said and snatched her hand away.

"Tell me-" the Batman said and stepped closer, and she took a step back.

"Back the fuck up," she told him seriously, prepared to fight. "I told you. I have warned you."

He reached forward and grabbed her by the shoulders and she, knowing how he had fallen in the elevator shaft and using his thoughts now to see where he was in pain, jabbed him in his bruised rib. She needed to use as much strength as she could. His armor protected him but even the pressure of armor against his body hurt there. He jumped back in pain and let out a grunt grating enough to let her know that he was furious. He grabbed her again and slammed her against the wall.

The hacker spoke up, still cradling his sore arm.

"Hey man!" the hacker said to the Batman. "Leave her alone-"

He shut his mouth as the Batman gave him a glare.

 The Batman was in anger and complete disbelief that this man was actually defending the vigilante who was about to make sure he went to prison.

"What are your going to do?" she said, to the Batman calmly. "Hit me?"

She saw the Batman's lips press together. As she was turning to walk away, she was stopped.

What happened surprised her more than anything ever had, especially because he wasn't thinking about it before he acted. His fist flew at her face and struck her hard enough to knock her down in an instant. As she started to climb onto all fours from the ground to stand again, she was hit with a wave of dizziness. It felt like he had literally rocked her brain in her skull. 

"Not cool, man!" the criminal shouted at the Batman.

The only way she could get a grip on the dizziness was to stay on her hands and knees for a few seconds and to keep staring at the ground. She saw the Batman's thoughts. He was surprised with himself because what he had just done. While she was down on the ground, she tasted blood. She felt something hard in her mouth. She spit it out. A tooth. A molar.

"Shade-" the Batman started to say as she made her way to her feet, but it was too late.

She swung her foot his sore knee, which caused him to twist at an angle, sending him to the ground in immense pain. He was almost sure his ACL was torn. Once he was down, she kicked him repeatedly in his leg and a few times at his head. He raised his arms to protect his skull. He was in to much pain to stand and fight back. Once she started..she couldn't stop.

She had just emerged from a blackout from her blue potion half an hour ago. She was lucid and full of impulse. She felt a mania take over as she kicked him over a dozen times, hitting him hard and focusing on the areas where he had previous injuries. The rage kept her striking him until she felt the young hacker behind her grabbing her to pull her away from the Batman.

She yanked herself out of his arms and kicked the Batman a final time before the criminal pulled her back again.

"I told you to stay away from me," she said with a threatening tone in her voice. 

She somehow felt it..the potion that she drank earlier that night. The threat of revealing who he was...the absolutely potent impulse within her. It would take nothing for her to tell this young man the Batman's name. The Batman looked up at her, seeming to know what she was thinking.

"Shade," he said, the guttural growl disguise in his voice fading slightly. "Please. Don't do this."

Her arms trembled, wanting nothing more than to continue hitting him. The internal struggle and fight with her impulse was almost too much to bear. She was thinking of him with the woman in the fur coat..smiling...kissing. It made her even angrier.

The Batman's eyes pleaded. He didn't want his identity revealed to a civilian who would soon be arrested by the police. 

She spat out the remaining blood on her mouth onto ground beside him and turned around.

"Daniel," she said to the young man. "Grab your laptop. Let's go."