Two sides of the same coin

Chapter 7 - For a Friend

Before walking in, the soldiers uncuffed Bruce. Then the other soldiers stepped away from the door, leaving him to grab the handle. Taking in a deep breath, he turned the handle and pushed the door open. Jeremiah immediately directed his attention towards Bruce, while at the same time not letting the two soldiers in the room escape his attention.

"Hello, Bruce. It's great to see you."

Bruce didn't need to look at Jeremiah's face to see that he was smiling. He met Jeremiah's gaze and tried his best to hold the glare he was giving without revealing his internal fear. Bruce was scared and angry, the only thing that kept his composure was the fact that he had a script to recite.

"Where are the bombs, Jeremiah."

"Closer, please."

Jeremiah gestured for him to come closer towards him with a tilt of his head and a slight movement of his wrist. Bruce hesitated, then stiffly walked forward, his fear slowly became greater the closer he got.

"Closer."

He continued to walk towards him.

"Tell me. How is the young lady doing?"

This only irritated Bruce even more, the fact that he couldn't do anything out of line only fueled the fire. He stood there in silence, signaling to Jeremiah that Selina's condition wasn't anything good.

"Oh."

Jeremiah's small smirk slowly grew into a concerned expression, as if showing sympathy for Selina.

"You know why we're destined to be best friends?"

In a split second, Jeremiah's expression went from sympathetic to joyful. It was almost childlike how his attention changed so fast from one thing to another, but he was still listening and observing everything that was happening in that room. From the slight shuffle of the soldier's feet to Bruce's breathing slowly quickening. He was quick to change the subject, he didn't want to anger Bruce too much, but maybe just a bit. He knew that treading on that subject would in no way benefit him or Ra's.

"Because we're very much alike. You are as I used to be. At war with your true nature. You must truly embrace it if you ever want to be free. Bruce, I'm just trying to help you."

'We're all searching for someone whose demons play well with ours and you, Bruce, I believe that your demons are particularly similar to my own.'

Bruce quickly became frustrated. He still couldn't understand why he found those words so comforting, and especially in a situation like this. After managing to sort out his thoughts for a moment, Bruce snapped back a reply,

"Trying to help me? By torturing Alfred? Trying to destroy Gotham? By shooting Selina? You think we're alike because there's a darkness inside both of us. But the difference is, I know how to control mine."

He said trying to convince himself, not Jeremiah, but him. Listing off the reasons why he shouldn't trust Jeremiah was the only way he knew how to take away the comfort of those words. Seeing that he had succeeded in making Bruce doubt himself, Jeremiah decided to give him more comfort in order to keep Bruce in a state of conflict.

"I think you could be so strong. I see it. He sees it too."

He slightly gestured to his right as if someone was there. A smirk was once again placed on his near blank expression, while Bruce hissed a reply