「 Lucy Quinn x Robert Nigma 」

Spoiler Warning: This is basically me looking at their relationship from Robert's perspective as it was mainly from Lucy's. I have said this before with my Batfamily couples and I'll say it again: I miss them and I can't wait to get back into the series for the rewrite just to see them fall in love all over again <3 However, since there will be mention of major events from Indescribable & Lucy Quinn please make sure to read those. Enjoy!

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ✧.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

It was inevitable the two would meet. A son of the Riddler and the daughter of the Joker were more than likely to bump into each other.

It just...wasn't in the way that the Gotham Globe would probably expect.

If they knew they existed and if Robert and Lucy stayed with their parents, there would likely be a story in the paper about the new "sidekicks" for the Riddler and the Joker.

Instead, Lucy Quinn was a runaway and Robert Nigma was the son of an absent father.

Or...at least Robert was until his dad told him to spy on Lucy and go to her high school.

At that time, he was Robert Xavier. At that time, he was just to get information and get out. At that time, he had to pretend to date Silver St. Cloud's daughter, Poppy.

Instead...he fell in love with Lucy Quinn and suddenly his "mission" became a lot more difficult.

And slowly Lucy realized that she liked him too.

And for a time they were happy: Robert's father was arrested, Joker was in jail, Lucy discovered her half-sister, the Team succeeded in their missions.

Then things changed: Lucy and Robert were in their 20s now. Older, wiser. Responsibilities piled up and deadlines came knocking.

They managed to make the most of it...

Until they couldn't.

Bruce Wayne, the man known as Gotham's Dark Knight, had suddenly decided his "Batfamily" was no longer needed.

Out of nowhere, he cast them all out. Every single one: his five children, his grandchildren, his wife, his two new protégés, everyone.

Lucy got fed up and left for New York, to be with her mom and Poison Ivy and her half-sister, Rosette. To work as a lawyer and help those who can't help themselves.

That's what Robert always admired about her.

Lucy knew what it was like to be helpless, to be abused, to be not wanted.

And she kept going and did not back down from what she believed, continuing to help anyone she could.

She sent a hectic voicemail to Robert on her way to the airport: that she was leaving, it wasn't forever and that she loved him.

He pretended not to be angry but deep down he was. He understood why she was doing it, but it didn't mean that he wasn't hurt.

The two of them being together, despite everything they had been through, was not at the forefront of her mind.

So instead of dwelling on the past and pining over Lucy, Robert got to work on his art.

He dove into work, taking commission after commission. A few months became a year, then two. The city become more and more corrupt by the day with a new gang called The Jokerz ravaging the city for all its worth.

Robert just focused on work and the pain became more easy to manage—more easy to hide. More easy to forget about the fact that Lucy and him had lost touch—possibly for good.

Then suddenly his father was out of prison, to be put on house arrest for the rest of his life.

Robert didn't have much of a relationship with his father in his childhood or teens, that is true.

But when Arkham called him to pick him up from the asylum as his next of kin, Robert found he couldn't refuse to take his father.

It was awkward, at first. They said their hellos and Riddler gave directions to his current residence with pointing and short responses.

Then Edward Nigma had asked about Lucy.

Robert got defensive, all his feelings and anger at the events from two years prior came flooding back to him.

But Edward didn't interject. He let his son yell and rant and rave about the situation.

He was done in about a minute flat and then Riddler had that smile on his face that Robert knew all too well.

It was an infuriating smile, a smug smile he used when he had an idea or statement to make. He used it to show he was better than everyone else in the room...or claimed to be, anyway.

"You should talk to someone instead of bottling this up, next time." He says, like it was that simple. And in a way it was.

Robert found his father to be annoying most of the time...but for once he had good advice.

He had just intended to drop his father off and forget all about their interaction...but now things were different.

When Edward invited him inside, he followed and discovered some important details: the apartment building was nearly abandoned, everyone too scared to go anywhere near a building that housed former villains, Edward's apartment was nice and clean despite being untouched for a few years and it was a lot more simple than Robert expected.

Edward made tea and then they played a game of chess while talking about life.

The Prince of Puzzles was a lot more lax than Robert remembered.

It seemed being in Arkham Asylum changed him for the better in his last moments there.

Edward mentioned how as he got older, he got more tired, more aware of his own mortality. He shared amusing stories of his first few capers and expressed sadness when explaining that Oswald Copplepot had died of old age in Arkham (Robert had seen the story in the paper, a small page, barely worth mentioning. Edward's story of his old friend was much more interesting and engaging).

Robert had decided after that day he would continue to visit.

Edward could still be his annoying, smug self—he seemed very frustrated when he lost to his son. But he was also more willing to share personal details about his life.

Edward talked about his abusive father, the school jigsaw puzzle contest when he was a little boy that got him on the path to villainy, all the details that Robert had never gotten to hear way back when.

In turn, Robert discussed his art and his neighbors and how life was without Lucy (the answer was usually not great).

Then suddenly, three years had passed by without Robert noticing.

He was in his apartment one day when Lucy Quinn, the love of his life, showed up in Gotham City again and at his door.

She just wished to say hello, that she was back in Gotham again.

They both pretended to not act like they missed each other until they couldn't.

The next day, she was still there. Asleep in his bed, her face relaxed and less guarded in sleep.

He brushed his thumb against her cheek, which made Lucy smile and made Robert mirror it before checking the time—3am—and going back to bed.

They kept their rekindled relationship a secret for a while. It didn't last long, Lucy and him were good friends with the children of Batfamily members—it was never going to last.

Time passed—the Batfamily gained a new Batman, Bruce was found to be alive, a rich guy who commissioned Robert for a piece of art turned out to be Lucy's long lost brother.

In all that time, it gave Robert time to think. About the future, the time he had left on earth.

All the cities that use to be known—Star, Central, Keystone—were all shells of their former selves with all their heroes dead and buried.

Sure, Lucy and Robert weren't "heroes" but they had been friends with the children of heroes. They both had seen how death affected their closest friends.

So, Robert did the logical thing. He called Lucy to his apartment, claiming there was an emergency.

When she got in the door, she had the shock of her life when he appeared in front of her, down on one knee with a ring in his hands.

Of course, she said yes, and they were soon married in a beautiful ceremony that neither were to forget any time soon.

Even more years passed, suddenly they had three girls: Harleen, Delia and Deidre Nigma-Quinn.

But then...something changed.

It was the day they all reunited at Wayne Manor, free to be people for the first time in their lives—not the children of billionaires, heroes, villains—but real people.

Until it all shattered.

Harleen had rushed out with tears down her face and broke the news that she couldn't find her sisters.

There was panic all around and everyone rushed into the manor to see how they could help track them down.

When the two finally found out the news, it was a shock. They had gone to be with the Jokerz gang.

Robert was shocked and Lucy was silent. Robert glanced at his daughter as Harleen was clearly not trying to cry and it broke his heart in two.

Scarlett and the others promised they could do all they could to help...but it wasn't enough.

Delia and Deidre were gone.

He remembered when they were alone, as he comforted Harleen (only 16 and far too young to have to deal with any of this), Lucy said:
"Dad really got the last laugh, huh?"

Robert thought about her remark as they drove home. The car ride was awkward and silent, the same way it was the day Robert reconnected with his father.

Then when they were finally home, with Harleen going to bed early for the night, he said,
"Hey." Lucy turned to him, wordlessly. Her tears were gone but her eyes were puffy from the crying.

He pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her forehead.
"Your dad didn't get the last laugh. We're still here together, right? He, and everyone else around, tried to break us up but we're still going strong."
Lucy nodded, hiding her face into Robert's chest.
"We'll keep fighting. We'll get our daughters back. We'll make sure that this doesn't happen again—maybe we can Scar to train Harleen to protect herself. I don't know! But...we'll get through this." He says, keeping his voice low.
"...ok." Lucy curls her hands to fists, placing them on his chest as she looks him in the eye,
"I trust you."

She says it so simple, without any gravitas or embellishments.

And maybe that's all what was needed after all the hell they've been through to get to this point.

"Ok," he says with a small smile and eyes tear bright.
"I love you, Lucy Quinn."

Lucy's smile mirrors his as she reaches up to give him a chaste kiss on the lips.

"And I love you, Robert Nigma."

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ✧.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Final Notes

I spell Robert's last name as "Nygma" now but my original writing in the Batfamily series has it as "Nigma" (which is also a way it is spelled) so I have to stay consistent with my original canon!

Wasn't expecting to get this one-shot done this soon but I asked people what they wanted to see updated this week and iamthedoctorinutah requested a one-shot so I figured this would be the easiest one to do. This came out a lot angsty than I wanted but nothing wrong with that.

Like I said above, I missed this couple and I can't wait to rewrite their love story in the Batfamily rewrite <333

BatgirlGeek❤️