𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎 -


Batman drops down onto the same platform and they all turn to shoot at him so I quickly start helping him with beating them up, we fight for awhile until we have them all knocked down but I noticed that we were missing one.

I turn to see one try to snipe Bat so I quickly jump over the large gap and clutch onto the edge, they turn the gun to me and I use all my strength to pull myself up for them to sling the sniper on their back and go grab me but I punch them.

I get into a fist fight and I eventually won the fight.

Everything soon turned to hell as the place started flooding and the live wires dangling was causing a hazard, I jumped over to Batman and grabbed his bat symbol on his chest plate and jumped onto the live wire.

I cut the wire below where my hands were causing the wire to drop below me as I dangled in the air, Bat jumped down into the water soon after so I let go and fell into the water after him.

I swam to where the mayor was to see Gordon and Mitchell's kid, Bat was behind me so I moved over to lift part of the collapsed stage so it was easier for them to get out as Bat offered his hand for everyone to stare at him.

Mitchell's kid took Bat's hand and he lifted him up and told him to stay near me until we got everyone out and the kid did as he was told, my arms were starting to ache when Gordon was the only one left but I stayed strong until Bat had lifted him out so I slowly lowered the chunk of metal I was lifting.

I stepped into the water and Mitchell's kid grabbed my arm which surprised me but we followed Batman as he started a flare and led the way, we directed them to the rescue point and helped others out of places they were trapped.

Bat helped with getting people into the air ambulances whilst I helped with the paramedics on the scene, giving people painkillers and cleaning wounds, I take a step back for Bat to walk up to me and place a hand on my shoulder which made me jump.

"Bat, you scared me," I sighed.

He smiled, the first smile from the Bat. Damn, made Bruce and Bat smile for the first time in years.

"I don't think I'm vengeance anymore," Batman spoke.

I noticed how one of the people working under a Riddler's disguises repeating his infamous phrase 'I am vengeance' and it seemed to make him realise how people mis-read the meaning behind it, he also doesn't work the same as the definition anymore as Riddler seemed to chance both of us.

I nodded my head to Batman to show I understood and didn't blame him, he smiled and walked away to go back to helping out and I walked back to helping people.



After all of what happened I returned to Wayne Tower once we had fixed the city to see the files sat there waiting for me, I picked up my file with my name on it and remember all of the stalker photos of me and felt a chill run up my spine.

Riddler knew I was Ghost as my file had photos of me working on the suit from before Batman started editing it, I had given Batman my suit to check if Riddler had done anything to it and picked up my file and sat in the study.

Ed was clearly in love with me but I never saw it and only saw him as a close friend which must hurt him now, I still wanted to be his friend but knowing what he had done and the scars he's now left on Gotham tore me.

He also sang Ave Maria knowing it would get a reaction from me when I first visited him in the Asylum, most likely to then use to expose who I really was under the mask as his whole thing was to 'unmask' the truth.

But those words that he said to me echoed in my mind with the screams of pain, the screams of pain from the kids in the orphanage boomed in my head causing me insomnia but the only thing louder than their screams was his words.

"𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞, 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲?"

I knew his motive and it was only thing I kept secret from Bruce and Gordon, I never told or explained what that meant but he must of assumed that he was talking about all hell that Ed and I grew up in.

All of this was changing me however, I noticed how I acted so different during the flood when I was in Ghost and how careless I became and how I didn't rely on my adrenaline to throw punches or use my psychical strength.

I picked up the photo of Bruce and I on the bridge and turned the TV on, I looked up to see the same photo on the TV for them to say it was given to them by an anonymous source but that meant that Riddler must of timed the email.


I walked down to the garage that Bruce and I shared and walked onto the new bike I bought that was the same colour as the one Ghost had, I turned the key and the engine revved as I opened the garage door then drive out after putting my helmet on and the files in my backpack on my back.

I drove to Arkham Asylum and noticed how a news van was tailgating me but tried to ignore it and increased my speed, I notice how the news source increased their speed like I did so I took a sharp turn so they couldn't turn in time and continued driving to Arkham.

I arrived to see all the news stations imaginable crowding the entrance of the Asylum begging to see me, I took my bike keys and kept my helmet on knowing that someone would most likely steal it and walked towards the crowd after taking a deep breath.

The news reporters all swarmed me as I pushed through them to get to the entrance whilst they shoved cameras and microphones in my face asking about either Bruce or Riddler, I kept my backpack close and only took my helmet off once I was in the building as security weren't letting them inside.

Security takes me to the waiting room and asked me to give them any items I wouldn't want to take with me so I gave them my helmet and took the files out of my backpack and gave them the empty bag, they thanked me and let me into the room where Riddler was sat waiting.

"I noticed the media going crazy over you outside," Riddler grinned.

I roll my eyes and place the files on the table and he stood up to look through the glass, his smile grew wider when he saw it was the files with both mine and Bruce's name on it.

"Oh, that photo of the two of you leaked. Didn't it?" He shrugged with a smug grin.

I could feel my patience start to thin but I knew Bruce would of seen me on the news coming here meaning that I wouldn't have long, he would drag me out of here because he knows how manipulative Riddler is and the fact he was exploiting our old friendship worried him.

"Why are you so obsessive over me? I knew we were close in the.. past but why do you still care? Care enough to try and ruin what I' have with Bruce?" I ask.

I asked multiple questions but they were the same when you simplified them as I in summary asking why he cared so much for me, he was there when I cried my heart out after the attack on the Manor and thought I was going to lose everything.

Edward had been there for me since I first met him but now, now he was the same nerdy kid but with twisted ways.

"How about a riddle, like the good old days?" Edward offered, with a smile.

I knew this would only lead me further into my spiral but I needed answers, Edward had to have more reason for his actions then what the case revealed.

I nodded my head in agreement to hear a riddle to find the answer, Edward knew he had me wrapped around his finger as I rarely left something without answers which was proving to be my biggest flaw.

" 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐭. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭?"

This riddle caught me off guard as I had so many answers that I instantly thought of but wouldn't correlate to the question I asked, I narrowed it down through process in elimination in my head and then looked up at him in the eyes.

"𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩." I responded.

Riddler smiled and looked proud of me, I could feel guilt start to rise in me as I felt like a traitor to Bruce for even showing up here.

I had so many questions but much a short time frame so I had to be select about my questions here, I had to be quick with these answers too and not dwell on the answer like I just did because every second counted.

"Why leak the photo of Bruce and I?" I ask.

Edward walked up to the glass and stared at me in the eyes making direct eye contact however I didn't break it like I did last time, last time we made eye contact I broke it when we were at Mitchell's funeral.

"𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙄 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙢 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙄'𝙢 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚. 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚." Ed grins.

With the knowledge of knowing that Edward is so in love with me that he stalked me and found out about Bruce and I because of that and so much other stuff, I knew the answer almost immediately.

"𝙅𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙮" I sighed.

He simply nodded his had and smiled at me in a creepy way which sent chills up my spine, I never would of thought that someone I found comfort with as a child would turn out like this.

Ed was willing to destroy and tear me apart in hopes of winning my love out of Jealously, he admits it with a smile on his face knowing that it will cause conflict and drift us further apart.

The intercom in the room buzzes and I knew that meant that Bruce was here so I picked up the files but took a photo of Ed and I and gave it to him, he seemed surprised as it was a photo of when we broke out of the orphanage for the last time.

"Y/N, your visiting time has been cut short," The intercom buzzed.

They opened the door and I stepped out and Bruce ran over to me and hugged me, I hug him back whilst I clung onto the files and the doors slowly closed leaving Ed behind.

Bruce and I walked outside once I gathered all my things and we walked out holding hands, I held onto my held in my other hand as the news sources swarmed us and asked us questions only about us dating now.

We manage to push through them and got to our bike and I put my helmet on but they swarmed around the bikes too, I revved my engine but they still move so I slowly started moving forward making them move out of the way until we got out of the parking so Bruce and I drove off.

We returned to the tower and parked our bikes in the garage and then walked into the tower, I saw Alfred stood there smiling and I ran over to him and hugged him out of happiness to see him again.

"Alfred!" I sobbed.

I didn't visit Alfred in the hospital out of fear of what I had done even if I didn't personally cause the bomb I still blamed myself, Alfred seemed taken aback by my hug and froze for a moment then hugged me back.

I let go of Alfred and wipe my tears off my face which caused him to smile, Bruce walked over with a smile on his face too.

"You don't tell me about your relationship and now Bruce is smiling, you sure this is Bruce?" Alfred jokes.

I laugh and Bruce rolls his eyes whilst on the verge of laughter himself, I had missed already so much but was refusing to see him out of the guilt I gave myself for his injuries.

There was going to be a new funeral for Mitchell as the previous one wasn't concluded as planned so they organized a new one and Bruce and I agreed to go, we both change into formal, black clothes with the black coats that dropped below the knee but I didn't wear heels this time as I wore a suit.

My suit was a dark grey but close enough to black with a white shirt and black trey, Bruce wore the same as he did last time and we walked outside and got into the car and the driver drove us there and there was no one dressed as Riddler which made me feel safer.

Bruce stepped out of the car and the news instantly switched their attention to him as he stretched his hand out and I took it with a smile on my face, I stepped out of the car and we walked into the area that the funeral was being held and I see Mitchell's son wave at Bruce and I so I wave back with a smile.

Bruce also waved and the kid smiled before he turned back around to look at his father's memorial, I couldn't help but see Bruce in that kid after everything that's happened as we both knew what his parent's did now.

Bruce and I paid our respects then when we went to leave Gordon stopped me, causing Bruce and I to stop in our tracks and looked at him confused.

"Riddler asked us to give you this, the letter is already opened as Arkham inspected it," Gordon says, handing me a letter.

'To Y/N'.

I thanked Gordon and Bruce and I walked away after I stuffed the letter in my pocket and we walked away holding hands, the police officers around Gordon was talking about Bruce and I as Gordon ignored all the banter and kept a concerned eye on me as he knew the connection I had to Riddler.

Gordon knew something bad could come out of this letter and we knew the extremes he has turned to before, he flooded Gotham to prove a point which was probably what scared both Gordon and Bruce the most as they never knew what he would do just to see me again.

We walked out of the funeral and people took photos but we let them as we thought if we ignored them it would be best, we walked to the car and the driver opened the door and I thanked him as I got into the car and Bruce climbed in shortly after me.

I opened the letter and Bruce watched as I did so which I was grateful for, it was a slip of paper and I unfolded it for it to say '𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡'.

A friend?

"He's made a friend in Arkham," I shrug.

Bruce nods his head and I put the paper back into the envelope as the driver drove us back to the Tower, Bruce decided that he wanted to take a break away from Batman to re-consider the actions and take a moment to focus on what he could do to help Gotham.

We returned home and we thanked the driver as we left the car and walked back inside, Bruce walked to the opposite direction I wanted so I walked into the study and picked up a book and started to read.

When I finish the book I look at the time to see a few hours had passed so I walked drove down to the Batcave as I called it with my motorbike, I arrived and saw Bruce reviewing footage of when he was talking with Riddler when I was removed from the room.

"Oh, you really aren't as smart as I thought you were, did you rely on Ghost that much?" I heard Riddler's taunting voice.

Bruce noticed I was here and lifted his head up to see me walking towards him, I turn to look at the laptop to see Riddler's crazed expression as he soaked up all of the attention and anger Batman was given to him by hitting the glass but not leaving a mark compared to me.

"Don't worry though, they won't hurt Ghost," Riddler laughed manically.

Ed acted so different to Batman but I guess that was because he knew who I was close to the start of when this all began but didn't know who Bat was, I watched and saw how strange he acted in comparison to how he acted when he spoked to me when I visited him.

I pick up my mask and when I plug into the laptop I brought it plays Ave Maria at a high volume startling me and Bruce, the screen of the laptop started to flood with warnings of a malware and how the device was infected which caused Bruce to panic and quickly unplug it.

Riddler had bugged my mask, he must of done it when I had caught him after the chase and tried to grab my mask.

I was stood frozen in shock and fear as I had some of my worst memories I had forgotten flood back to me, I had already been suffering from nightmares but now I was now zoned out as the memories that I managed to lock out of my mind plagued me.

"Y/N!" Bruce screamed, shaking me.

I broke out of my trance to feel the warm tears pouring down my face to see Bruce staring at me with panic and concern in his eyes, it felt as if I was re-living my trauma and I went through it again with how I am now and Ed looking how he is now instead of his sweet, innocent smile.

Bruce had hold of my arms as my tears dropped to the floor and echoed in the cave like the other droplets of moisture did, I look at Bruce in the eyes and hug him without saying a word.

"It was like I was back there again, it was like it happened again at the orphanage," I sobbed.






𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧: 27.03.22

𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝:

𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝:

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 3,138

Comment