Paralyzer [Gotham]

14

Bruce's birthday had been a bang, quite literally. I was almost glad we'd gotten out of the rush of the city for a couple days. Afterwords, it was a slow decent into something worse, I could feel it in the air. Victor thought I was crazy for thinking so, but the virus had given me a sixth sense when danger came around, and it hadn't left me since we'd made it back home.

All things considered a month or so had passed before things truly got worse, and just as it always is, my timing was as terrible as ever. I'm honestly surprised Victor hadn't caught on sooner, seeing as how he had noticed before I even had the first time, but I was happy to have the jump on him for once.

He was out getting groceries when the first explosion went off. It was far away, but loud enough to set off the car alarms on the street several floors below. When he finally did come through the door, I couldn't help but wrap my arms around him. "Where's the fire?" he chuckled, a hint of a nervous inflection to his voice. Victor's hands were full so he didn't return the hold, leaving me to step back and shut the door for him.

"Did you not see the explosion on the other side of town? Can't see it from here but I definately heard it, it couldn't have been small." Once he'd set everything down, he turned to find I'd followed behind him for a change, smiling a bit when he grabbed either side of my face and kissed the top of my head.

"I'm fine," he assured. "But..." He paused to pull back, drawing one of his guns and passing it to me. "Just so I feel safer." I chuckled and shook my head, sticking the gun into the back of my jeans all the same.

"Did you get the ice cream?" I hummed, turning to investigate the bags and pulling out the pint with a small, victorious grin.

"You shouldn't eat that for breakfast," he advised, causing me pause in my search for a spoon.

"Since when are you a dietician?" I scoffed. I sat on the counter and fought with the lid for a moment, meeting his eyes when I finally brought a spoonful to my mouth. "Besides, I've got cravings to hell and back. We can fight on this one." He held his palms out in surrender but had raised his brows at my words, collecting another bite as he slipped off his gloves. I twitched forward at his hands on my stomach, holding still at the pointed look he immediately gave and sticking the spoon in my mouth.

I breathed slow at the familiar feeling, the grin growing around my spoon contrasting my otherwise calm demeanor. Victor's eyes shot to me and I nodded, grinning even further, if it were possible. His eyes dropped back to my stomach, that old look of wonder sparking back to life in his dark eyes. God, I missed that look. I set down my pint and put my hands on his neck, trying not to laugh at his reaction to my cold fingers.

"We're gunna do it right this time," I promised, my grin softening out. "No viruses, no booze, just clashing horomonal attitudes." He laughed a second, leaning his head on mine before he could meet my eyes. He opened his mouth but whatever words he had died at his lips when a rumble shook the building, the sounds of another explosion quickly following. This one had been much closer.

"Listen, doc," he breathed, pulling my panicked eyes back to him. "I'm gunna go find out what the hell is going on. You stay up here and stay safe." I took a deep breath as his fingers spread across my stomach and nodded, trying to hold him there longer when he pressed his lips to mine.

"Be careful," I whispered when he inevitably pulled away, clutching to his dress shirt for as long as he was in reach. He took one in his own hand, bringing it to kiss the heel of my palm as he held my eyes.

"You've got nothing to worry about," he assured, giving me a final dark look as his eyes did a once-over and he turned to leave. But in this sewer of a city, there was plenty for me to worry about.