𝐞𝐮𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚 • 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒃𝒐𝒚 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔

of coffee cups + criminals [j.todd]

The newfound silence was the most comforting sound that could possibly be heard at this hour. It was almost 11:00 pm and she had yet to flip the 'open' sign to 'close'. It was an oddly busy day at Gotham Grounds - the local coffee shop just west of the Narrows. To say that it was the busiest day that [Y/N] had encountered thus far would be an understatement.

The small shop was used to serving thirty, maybe forty customers per day. This bustling autumn night however, [Y/N] found herself running out of coffee, having served well over 100 people throughout the day. Luckily, the young barista had finally used up the shop's total stock, forcing her to close up.

"Hey IRIS, call Jason." She called to her cell phone, hands too full with empty cups to dial the number. Cleaning the counter space in the front, she patiently waited for the dial tone to stop, hoping to hear the voice of her boyfriend on the other end.

After a minute or so, the ringing stopped. [Y/N] stilled in her place, giving her full attention to the call. "Hey, you know who this is, leave a message. Or not, thanks!"

The [H/C] rolled her eyes, swiftly going back to cleaning. When Jasons voice message finished, she hollered to her phone, "Hi Jay, it's me. Finishing up work right now. Be home in," She paused, surveying the cleanliness state of the cafe, "eh, maybe a half hour. I hope... anyway, see you then!"

Juggling the mass of collected cups into one arm, she picked up her cell and ended the call.

Sleep clouding her better judgment, [Y/N] dumped the cup load into the sink and instead of engaging in her routine cleaning, decided to leave the dishes for tomorrow. If it were any other night, having a load of dirty cups just sitting in the sink would have driven her mad, but it was almost midnight, and all [Y/N] wanted to do was go home.

Being one of the owners of Gotham Grounds did however give her liberty to leave the shop as she wished and so, deciding that her half-assed clean up was enough, [Y/N] locked the front door and strolled onto the sidewalk, not once glancing back.

-

Jason was having one hell of a night.

First, big old Batdad was being a prick, as always, and lectured Jason to no end. This time it wasn't about his objectively harsh vigilante methods, rather his familial engagement... or lack thereof. Bruce went on about how it was the third family dinner he had missed this week, that Alfred missed him, that he wasn't letting anyone in. Jason had had enough of his father's scolding and abruptly left the cave, not bothering to even take a peek at the case files he originally came for.

Secondly, just with Jason luck, Black Mask had disappeared. The tracker that Jason had previously put on Sionis' car no longer had a ping. It seemed to Jason that the idiot had finally caught on and disposed of the vehicle, annoying the vigilante to no end.

Not only did he have to deal with stupid familial problems, but now his one lead had vanished. On the bright side, Jason thought, this night could not possibly get worse. But of course, he was proven wrong.

In the midst of his Red Hood business, Jason had ignored the vibrating of his phone - brushing it off as Dick trying to make amends for Bruce's actions. So when he finally settled atop the Wayne Enterprises building, he then saw it wasn't Dick that called, but [Y/N].

He quickly redialled her number, hoping that the two of them would not be starting a game of 'phone tag'.

"Hello?"

Jason smiled to himself from under the mask, just hearing her voice was enough to turn a shitty night into something tolerable. "Hey."

On the other end, [Y/N] too found herself smiling at his voice, "Hi, nice to finally hear from you."

Jason let out a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of his neck, he hated not being able to answer the phone all the time. Truth be told, talking to [Y/N] was the only thing Jason really looked forward to. "Yeah," He started, "Sorry about that doll. I got kinda hung up at work."

This piqued [Y/N]'s interest. Though she knew only as much as Jason was willing to reveal about his 'night time activities', any chance he opened up about them intrigued the girl. "Oh?" She asked, "Is everything okay?"

Nonchalantly, he brushed it off, "Oh yeah, all good. Just a minor inconvenience s'all. Don't worry about it."

Upon hearing his insouciance, [Y/N] shrugged off the conversation, nodding into the phone. Jason then turned the questions towards her, "What about you love? What're you up to on this lovely Gotham night?"

[Y/N] laughed at his sarcastic tone, "Just getting home now actually." She started, only to be interrupted by Jason's surprised outburst of, "really?".

She nodded into the phone again, then remembered that alas - Jason could not see her, "Yeah, really. It was like scarily busy today. I'm pretty sure all of Gotham, hell, maybe even Metropolis too, all came to grab coffee today."

Jason let out a low whistle, "Damn, guess I missed the memo."

[Y/N] chuckled as she dug a set of keys out of her jacket pocket. The coffee shop was not too far from her apartment, luckily, and she had been a good ways through the trek when Jason called. "I know, I hoped to see you stop by. Tim came, by the way, it was nice to see him."

Jason knew that she didn't intend for there to be a double entendre within the sentence, but he took it as that. With his closing in on Sionis, he had pulled away from the Batfamily and as an extension, so had [Y/N]. He knew it wasn't fair to her, within the months of their relationship she had gotten close with his siblings. Just because he wasn't investing in the relationships didn't mean she couldn't.

"Jay?" Her call shook him out of his rabbit hole of thought.

Jason cleared his throat, "Yeah, I'm still here. That's good... I'm uh, I'm glad he stopped by."

Sensing her boyfriends uncomfortability, [Y/N] changed the focus off of his family. "I just got home, do you want to swing by or..." closing the front door, she hung up her keys on the hook, waiting for his response.

"Uh," Jason pulled his phone away to check the time, it was quarter to twelve. He sighed, "I don't think tonight, no. Sorry love, it's late and I don't want you waiting up for me."

"Jason," She began to lightly scold, "I told you, I don't mind-"

Silence gripped the phone line.

Jason furrowed his brows, waiting to hear [Y/N]'s voice again. After a beat, he spoke, "Doll, you still there?" It was as if metal flooded his veins, cold fear encasing his body until she finally replied.

"Yes... I- I'm going to have to call you back."

Before Jason could even get a syllable in, the line went dead.

-

"Jason," [Y/N] started as she went further into the apartment, "I told you, I don't mind-"

Now on most nights when [Y/N] came home, she would be the only occupant in the living space. But she already knew today was not like other days.

There, lounging against her kitchen island stood a man she'd only ever seen on the news.

Roman Sionis gave a mocking wave at her frozen frame. Fear seeped into every ounce of her body, words unable to form a cry of help.

"Doll," Jason's voice briefly brought her back, "You still there?"

She opened her mouth, trying to sift through the mile-a-minute thoughts in her head, trying to form a coherent sentence, a cry for help.

Words bubbled to the tip of her tongue, but were quickly popped as Sionis lifted his hand towards his face, a black-gloved finger held up to his lips, shushing her. Something flickered in her peripheral vision, in the Black Masks other hand a pocket knife flipped open.

[Y/N] knew in this moment, her cry for help would turn into one for death.

"Yes..." She said slowly, searching Sionis' face for an ounce of approval, "I'm going to have to call you back."