Under the Night's Light (April Clarkson, aka Midnight)

“Dear god…” Batman, surprisingly enough, was shocked beyond belief. He couldn’t think clearly right at this moment. He had been driven by anger and sadness, that suddenly being in front of the truth made him feel numb. His throat felt heavy, words struggling to escape from his mouth. His mind couldn’t even process it correctly, thinking that it was a dream… a nightmare. “April?”

In front of him stood April Clarkson, the woman he thought had died a few days ago, cloaked in the villain’s, Midnight, outfit. The mask had been pulled out by one of Catwoman’s grappling hooks and who had escaped as quickly as she could out of the area. He could see her face, once donning a beautiful and happy smile on her face now had a gleaming and hateful sneer. It broke his hardened heart to realize that she didn’t trust in him to find the murderer of her police partner.

“What’s the matter?” Her red lips barked at him, her eyes glaring fully at him. She glared at the Dark Knight, already knowing that the hero was Bruce Wayne. She can admit that she felt strongly for the man, but knowing that he was also Batman made her decide that it was time for some tough love. He needed to understand that while he tries to just arrest his villains, that there are some who just need to die. There was no way around it. “Didn’t expect your beautiful April to be the villain, Bruce?!”

Bruce’s breath hitched for a moment, the comment from the woman dear to his heart hit him deeper than what he expected. He knew that he may have failed in actually keeping track of the person who had killed April’s partner, but it was because he thought it was Midnight all along. But for once, his detective skills were enough, as Midnight was actually April apparently trying to seek out her own type of judgment. He took a step forward, watching as April just kept staring at him.

“Say something, Bruce!” She screamed, actually angry with not just the man in front of her, but with herself. She could feel the heat from the flames around the two of them, but she just ignored it in favor of confronting the man who had taken yet another step towards her. But she didn’t move, wanting to see what the man would even do at this point in time. She had expected many things: a punch, a yell, a kick, and she even expected to be carried out by force towards the police station. And then she opened her eyes wide in shock, feeling the arms of the Dark Knight across her waist.

“I thought I lost you…” He whispered, remembering that just a few days ago they had been enjoying each other’s embrace. The same night that he had seemingly found her dead, killed by the explosion that she, herself, had caused. It made him think to whoever was the dead body that he found at the scene, but he will think after everything is said and done. He needed her to know that his relationship with her was genuine, even if he may have failed her. “Why… Why do this?”

April had no words to his reaction. She never expected Gotham's Dark Knight to be whispering in a broken voice to her. She knew that their relationship went further than what both believed in. If her apparent death was able to make him feel so distraught, then what would happen to him if she really died. She changed her hateful glare to a more calmed expression, feeling slight happiness at the care that the hero showed for her. She slowly moved her hands towards his torso, embracing him just as she did those days ago.

“I was just angry… To know that whoever killed Barry is still out there…” He could understand her, it was the same feeling that he had developed throughout the years as he still felt anger for the man who killed his parents. So he stayed quiet, listening to her beautiful voice. “I felt as if I had to do something more… More than what I was already doing with the police force…” He nodded against her chest, feeling a bit calmed now knowing that April was in fact alive. He felt the need to help her, to bring her back to the right path. Maybe it was because of his selfish desire to have her close to him, but he would do everything in his power to save her from the dark path she had chosen. “And then finding your identity… I just didn’t know who to believe in any longer"

"Then believe in me, April" She sighed, their hug ending. She looked straight at Bruce, the mask not letting her admire his eyes as she had gotten used to. His words impacted her greatly, her heart moved by his resolve to help her. "Believe that I will bring whoever killed Barry to justice" She smiled at him, for once showing the man a different expression than her fake anger. She loved him very much, their time together never to be forgotten. But her anger had been brought out by the feeling of betrayal, which was a very powerful emotion. "I will not fail you again, April"

He kissed her, bringing her closer to him, ignoring everything around them. The two even the almost extinct flames that had surrounded them. He didn't say it out loud, but he loved her very much. His heart had been aching ever since she had seemingly died. But just knowing that he had a second chance, was more than enough to make him realize that she was dear to his heart.

She moaned, kissing him back with full force. She was shocked at first, almost not reacting to Bruce's kiss. But she managed to get ahold of herself, kissing him back with fervor. She would believe in him once more, as midnight came and the moon's light shone over the two of them.

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