° SIX YEARS LATER °

The woman was now twenty seven years old. Her child, whom she held as near and dear as possible to her, was now ten years old. The woman still gets her money through drugs.

She is a part of the bigger drug companies in Gotham. Her daughter has no idea what her mother does during the day, as she goes to school. Public school for that matter, which was both a blessing and a curse. Yes, there were boarding schools, but those were too expensive.

the black raven | THE DEATH KISSED MAN

• jessie •

The most important thing I was doing at the moment was taking in the sweet smelling dust that happened to get me higher than the sky. I was not picking Mara up from school. No, she can walk. She'll be fine.

Plus, my 'broke down' car is too 'embarrassing' for her to ride in. She just doesn't know what's good for her. She doesn't understand what I've been through to get to the place we're in.

She doesn't know just how hard it was to get everything we have, her education included.

She should know. She shouldn't know, actually. She should understand. And if she doesn't, then that's up to me to force her to understand.

"Jessie! Open up!" A voice shouts, and I sigh, not wanting to be disrupted at the moment.

It's my 'me' time. My relaxation time. But people just want to ruin my life. Mara included, at some points.

"What?" I snap at Luciano, as soon as I see his cocky, lopsided smile aimed for me.

"I need the rest of the files. You forgot them. They're from Monday and Saturday," he tells me, stepping inside my residence without asking. I rest my hands on my hips.

"No."

"Yes."

"No," my second answer against him makes him turn around. I see his nostrils flare as he sighs in irritation.

"Look, Jess, I know it's hard and all with Mara being older, but you need to keep up. With all the orders, not just mine. Get the orders present again and we won't have a problem. And soon, I suppose, or else I might just accidentally slip out that you have this beautiful home," Luciano's voice is completely serious.

I can't compete with him on that level of blackmail, because of Mara, but I can still threaten him, and I'll make sure he remembers it too. I'm not taking his shit tonight.

"No. That's my final answer,"

"Jessie, I really wish that it didn't have to come to-"

"Don't finish that sentence," I interrupt, walking away from him and into the kitchen. I sit down by the counter and continue my relaxation.

"Excuse you? The hell did you just say?"

"I just said that you are not going to finish that sentence," I hear him start to come down the hallway and make his way around the living room, finally stopping in the kitchen.

He stares at me for a second, and then chuckles.

"So, this is how it's gonna be from now on, huh? Me having to tell the GCPD and the boss about-"

I shut him up when I leap forward, slam him into my fridge, and press a butcher knife to his neck. Adrenaline is pumping through my veins, and murder is practically flowing through my brain. A small smirk creeps onto my face while the color drains from Luciano's face.

"No, actually, it's not. Because if you dare tell anyone about this, you'll be dead before you even take a hit of my drugs. Do you understand me? The GCPD won't do jacksquat. They're like a sheep in a field of lions!" The knife cuts him, creating a thin layer of blood that spills from him neck.

As he makes eye contact with me, I relax my grip of the knife, as I know he's given into my threat.

"No."

That's all he says before shoving me off of him, sending me flying backwards into the counter, my body knocking some plates off in the process.

I look back to see that he's heading towards me, and I'm still halfway on the counter, so I discard the knife behind the counter and curl in on myself on the counter, waiting for the right moment.

My knees tucked into my chest, I peer though the space around my legs and see him only a foot away. And I kick. With all of my body weight and power, and it works.

His body slams into the fridge again and he goes down, as his head hit the corner of the black icebox that stores our food. My food anyways.

"You little- !" Luciano shouts, but he stops abruptly, as I had already got off the counter and ran to get the knife, charged towards him with it, and stabbed him.

Right between the heart and just above his right ribcage. Basically the middle of his chest. I twist the knife with force, making a hole in his chest. His head slumps down, and that's it.

He's dead. I watched the life drain out of him. I watched his face become death kissed.

And I feel absolutely triumphant. I defended my home, my drugs; me. The blood spills from his body and it's hot and sticky, and I love it.
But then I hear a heart stopping noise. I hear the small voice of the girl I live with.

"Mom, I'm home!"

"Go upstairs and start your homework, I'm making something special for dinner!" I shout, abruptly snapping out of my haze.

I hear footsteps and I freeze, thinking she's going come into the kitchen, but she doesn't. Her footsteps travel upstairs and I relax.

Now, time to clean up this mess.

- SIX YEARS AGO -

○ bruce - aged twenty ○

As I sat in that office, like it was any other day, I found myself staring at the photo of my parents. The one where my mother and father were happy but still controllable, still alive.

And then it comes back to me. The night. The starless sky. The warmth of my mothers hand. My fathers whisper into my ear, as he joked about the show.

But then comes the blackout.

The part I hate. The part I loath. The part where my vengeance controls the pin on the top of this big, black, death kissed bomb.

And then it clicks. All of it.

I know what I have to do. I have the strength to do it. Or do I?

What about Alfred?

He'll be okay. He's dealt with me for years now. My whole family. I don't think anyone could handle my whole family if we all could pile into one room.

But Alfred can. He has. He still will. But after the attack on Alfred, I don't know for sure anymore.

I mean, it's Gotham. She has no hope. No love. No life. Just dispair. And hate. And death. For everyone and anyone. And so, I know what I have to do, even if it kills me. I need this city to have something. Something to hold onto.

Alfred will have the best protection I can buy.

And I'll leave. And he'll be fine when I get back.

And I'll come back. And everything will change.

Everything will change.