Lucan hated to admit it, but being in an ordinary orphanage was a bit underwhelming, for all the nonsense he had just survived dealing with normal children was not anything much, even if those children were Gothamites.
He had found his own balance; oddly, it wasn't too different from his actual routine, although sneaking out to the nearby library was much easier. There, no one would call him an old man or give him strange looks when he talked to them.
There was something else, though. "So what was Willow Wood like? My dad doesn't tell me anything." The red-haired Barbara sat next to him. Fiction whispers the question into his ear as he reads a comic book. Fiction acquires a rather interesting flavor when you live in a world where people might be able to do those things.
red-haired
"Hey, you aren't answering." She pokes him with her index finger. "Hey, I'm talking to you… hello?" Lucan gritted his teeth and shook off her finger.
"I already told you everything about how it was destroyed. What else you wanna hear?". She crosses her arms and lifts chin with indignation.
"I want to know what living there was like, did you have any friends…" She started to ramble while lucan covered his ears with his hands.
"Alright. "Alright, I get it, already okay? It's just that I didn't do anything too different from what i'm doing now" she gives him a doubtful look but asks regardless of his otherwise clear intentions to refuse.
"So you just snuck around reading books like a creepy goblin?". Lucan make a confused expression as he looks at her from his comic, feeling slighted by this endlessly questioning nine year old
"I won't respond to that". He says flipping the page of his comic book while she smiles.
"You just did"
"Did not"
"Did two". Lucan let out a frustrated groan, placing a hand on his head, this is what his days had grown to consist of lately, Barbara wasn't like the people at the orphanage but maybe thats because shes rather strange herself.
"Look okay, I'll tell you about willow wood and you stop nagging me when I'm reading". She narrows her eyes at me.
"That's a comic book". She points out, Lucan shrugs.
"It is a book, no?" she rolls her eyes but agrees to the deal.
***
Barbara has a lot of interesting views about things, she admires her father a lot or was he her uncle? Lucan wasn't sure, he never took note of how they addressed each other, but she would always snag some cases he was working on to discuss with him.
"So you've actually met Batman? What was he like?". She asked in excitement hovering inches away from his face..
Lucan wiped his face with his sleeve, "Try not to drown me while you talk". Barbara's face turned slightly red as she coughed into her hand.
"A–Anyway, is he as scary as people say he is". Lucan sides eyes her for a bit and then relaxes into his seat.
"I'd say the rumours are justified…some of them at least". Barbara tilted her head, and looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"Which ones? I mean they can't all be true but I'm curious".
Lucan smirked arranging his books into a neat pile as he got up
"Well for one, he can't fly" He says, carrying the books in his arms, her eyes widened and she lets out a small gasp.
"What ? Then how does he get to all those places so fast?". She begins to invade his personal space again and he scrunches up his face as he turns his head away and she stops growing redder by the second "S–sorry".
Lucan leaves her and begins stacking the books back "He is huge though, doesn't make a sound when he moves either, like a living shadow" her eyes light up and he swears he can almost see her taking notes.
"Anything else? Does he have super strength like the rumours say he does?". Lucan was about to give her a clear and decisive no, after all he knew very well that he was just a rich guy in a suit, he then recalled the events back at the orphanage and scratched his head.
"Hard to say" Barbara gives him a look, with arched eyebrows and he just chuckles awkwardly. "I didn't actually see him fight much, everything was kind of happening too fast". She nods slowly.
"Being a hostage must have been hard work". She says mockingly and Lucan can feel a vein throbbing at the side of his head but he just sighs and shakes his head as he puts the last book back.
"I'll see you next week Babs". Lucan turns to leave while she just sticks her tongue out at him as he shrugs.
***
He jolted out off his sleep hid breathing ragged, as sweat dripped down his face, he rubbed his eyes, images flashes through his mind as he recalls the orphanage, the images of the melting walls, the cocoons, the pain he felt when he was captured "Its not my fault…there's nothing I could have done"
He muttered as he tried to steady his breathing but his heartbeat only quickened as he could imagine those neon vines wrapped around his neck strangling him.
The image of V flashes through his mind, pierced through by vines, Bradley his body covered in gaping holes and burns a blank expression as he lay on the ground lifeless "It… I…why can't I do anything?". He mutters to himself as tears well up in his eyes.
He had been waking up like this lately, drenched in sweat, vivid nightmares, he got up and went to the bathroom.
He splashed his face with water allowing it to run as he calmed himself taking slow controlled breaths.
His body still shivered, he felt a deep cold that no amount of winter could possibly grant him, he placed a hand on his chest feeling his thumping heart. "It's just a nightmare".
He finally manages to calm down as he climbs back into his bed laying on his back as he stares at the ceiling.
The next morning feels dull and Lucan almost feels like he hasn't slept at all. He sits up pinching the bridge of his nose "Rough night?"
His body tightened, as he jolted, his mind now alert as he slowly turned his head in the direction of the sound only to find himself looking at his roommate, sitting with his legs dangling from the bed frame "Did you know you scream in your sleep?".
Despite his outward appearance he's the oldest in the room, but somehow he was even smaller than Lucan himself, the boy offers a wry smile. "You're unusual, not a lot of people like that…but maybe you'll be fine".
He smiles jumping down from the bed with practiced agility, and waved him off. "See ya later"
Lucan let out a breath, his shoulders dropping as he hung his head limply "urgh what am I doing?" he shook his head and went to the bathroom, after relieving himself he joined them for breakfast.
The children all kept a certain distance from him at least some of them, some just treated him with indifference which he honestly found a bit unsettling, it always feels better to have a general idea of how people around you think.
After eating he sneaks out again to the library, the snow feels like it's getting colder, the streets were basically covered in a white carpet of forest, the code nibbled on his fingers as he trudged through the frozen slush.
He took a step, his leg got snagged on a stone he hadn't seen, landing face first in the snow with a dull thud "ow, yuck" he spat, wiping his face on his sleeve as he got up to dust himself off.
***
The library was warm, despite there being so few people, it was never cold here. The quiet brought him a certain kind of piece as well, one that made him feel comfortable, he laid his head back in the chair and eventually.
When he opened his eyes he found Barbara stacking books around him "What are you doing?" she jolted , almost knocking the pile over as she scratched her head "I was just um, testing how flat these tables were".
Lucan rolls his eyes at her while carefully and slowly raising his head to avoid knocking anything over "so what you got for me today?" He yawns, stretching, a small groan escaping his lips.
"So my dads been working on this new case lately, some psycho that supposedly only kills on holidays". Lucan tilts his head, his brows furrowed in confusion as he crosses his arms over his chest.
"I thought they already caught the calendar guy" she nods and shows him some pictures.
"That's why it's so weird, he's still in prison or I think so, i'm not really sure the leads always come up dead". Lucan looked at the photos as an unsettling but familiar feeling settled in his heart, like something dancing at the tip of his tongue but he couldn't remember.
"I don't like the look of this". The pictures all had a similar style to them, oddly theatrical, but with how this place was that could be anyone really, the troublesome part came in knowing what would follow alongside this new wave of behaviour.
It was going to be a very long holiday.
Author's Note:
If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead or support my work, you can check out my P@treon at [email protected]/LordCampione. But don't worry—all chapters will eventually be public. Just being here and reading means the world to me. Thank you for your time and support.