tears to adventure ; gotham au

one; death knocks and gets what it wants

Life isn't something that's guaranteed, and it certainly isn't given to you for a million years. Me and my sister, Gabi learned that on the night of November 18 2018. The night that changed everything forever.

It was a very cold night in Gotham city. The wind whipping our faces as we walked from the theatre. My father had given Gabi his jacket, and my mother had her arm around me tightly. We were all shivering but at least we were together.

"So, Benji, Gabi.. Didn't I tell you that production would be wonderful?" My mother chimed into the silence between us, giving my sister and I the opportunity to start geeking out about it.

I clutched the playbill from American Son in my hand and laughed lightly, exchanging a look with my sister.

"It was so amazing dad." I said, with a smile before my sister jumped in to answer. She was always the one who wanted to bring up the little things she'd noticed in shows like these. What a nerd, but I wasn't far off from that either.

"I loved the acting so much. It was so... unbelievable!"

This light conversation continued as we walked into the alleyway of 52nd street to meet Alfred, our butler, and the car.

My parents, the Wayne's, were the richest people ever to set foot in Gotham, but they used their money for good, and didn't throw it in other peoples faces.

I was looking around at the dark, towering buildings when I swear I saw three faces peering down from an escape ladder. I almost said something but was suddenly halted when I ran into my mother, as she'd stopped walking.

I thought we'd gotten to the car, but what I picked my head up to see wasn't the car and it most certainly wasn't Alfred. I inhaled and my eyes widened. A man with a gun pointed at my father stood before us. I couldn't say anything. I couldn't move. All I could do was whimper slightly from under my mother's arm. I had dropped my playbill and my knuckles had gone white.

"All of your money, NOW!!" The man with the dark hood said, pointing to just about every valuable piece of shining jewelry that my mother had on and the watch on my father's wrist.

"Do what he tells you... nobody will get hurt... it'll be okay."

I was shaking, and as soon as we had given the man everything we had, I expected him to run, but he didn't.

"We've given you what you want... now, let us go home please..."

My father spoke in a calm tone, his hands over his head. My sister couldn't move from the fear, and I felt the same way.

"Oh you'll be home very soon..."

The gun went off without second notice, and then it went off for a second time. Before I knew it, my mother and father had fallen to the ground and the man was gone.
The world around me started to move in slow motion, as Gabi and i kneeled down beside our parents. I couldn't think straight. I couldn't see straight. Tears formed in my eyes almost immediately.

"MOM!!! DAD!!!"

I shook them, trying to stop the bleeding coming from where the bullets had struck. After ten minutes of trying this I stopped... they were gone.

My parents were dead.

I got on my knees, looking at my bloody hands before looking at the sky and just screaming my lungs out. My scream was a hallow, sorrow filled scream...nothing anyone wanted to hear. Gabi just sat there, staring at her hands as she sobbed softly, yet so hard that she was struggling to breathe.

There was no way to stop the tears from falling down my face either, and I sat curled up with my sister. The two of use just clinging onto each other to try to find some comfort, yet not getting it. We just sobbed into each other's body's, the tears falling uncontrollably, and our soft cries filling the silence of the alleyway.

Before we new it the Gotham P.D. was at the crime scene and a man named James Gordon had us wrapped in blankets. He tried to talk to us about what has happened but honestly, we couldn't get anything out, so he sat there with us. For some reason, I felt like he'd been in our situation before... like he understood.

As soon as I saw our car pull up, I nudged Gabi softly and we both leapt to our feet. Alfred's arms were opened wide for us, tears in his eyes as well as we crashed into him, seeking the comfort once again. I don't think I've ever ran faster in my life. All that we wanted was to feel something familiar... all we wanted was our parents, and we couldn't get them back, ever.

"Come come now... let's get you two back home..." He murmured softly in his low British accent, as he helped the two of us into the car.

I looked up and I swear I saw the three faces once again. One of them was staring right at me. They had witnessed the whole thing.

I let out a long, sorrow filled breath before I sat down in the backseat next to my sister.
The whole ride home was the matter of calming down and getting into a decent state before starting to cry again and again... and again. I sat closer to Gabi than I'd ever sat before, my arms wrapped tightly around her, as if she could slip from my grasp at any minute. Eventually the two of us drifted off to sleep, eyes tired from crying too much.

Our lives were never going to be the same again. Never.

~•~

The three faces I had seen belonged to three street kids. They were all tougher than Gabi and I, and held themselves in dignified ways most of the time. Although that's what they seemed from the outside, on the inside, they were all very sensitive and easily broken.

Stef had short curly hair, and was always trying to make a joke, even in desperate situations. It was her way of coping with some things, and how she'd gotten out of the hell hole that she had called her home. She had a nice smile, but a fierce one and could fight off anything that came their way.

Anela was roughly five feet tall, with long dark hair and dark soulful eyes. Deep down she had so many suppressed emotions that she didn't let anyone see. She was street smart. She knew when her feelings should show and when they shouldn't. Her family life... well it had been more complicated than she had wanted it.

Then there was Carolyn, the girl who had been staring at me curiously from the ladder. She was always trying to figure people out, and was extremely helpful and smart. Her hair went down to about her neckline and her eyes could stare daggers at you if she wanted to give you that kind of message. She'd almost started out on the streets, or so she felt like she had. She was the trio's leader.

They had witnessed the murder of the Wayne parents, and had also witnessed the two children break down and cling onto what they had left of their family. It wasn't the most cheerful event, Stef had tried to joke after the kids had been taken home.

As soon as the Gotham City Police were out of the alley they climbed down and began their trek back to their little home they'd made by the outskirts of the city. None of the, said much on this walk. It was too quiet in the city for comfort, and they didn't know why.

Little did they know that my decisions from then on would lead Gabi and I to their troupe and these three street kids would help us through everything.

I sat up that night, not able to fall asleep. My mind was focused on the killer of my parents, my eyes were almost swollen with tears, and my heart was shattered into what felt like millions of pieces. I had to find this man... I had to make him pay for what he did to my family...