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John grinned, humming to himself as he pulled down his shirt a bit. He sighed in defeat, realizing that while he'd been fixing one part of his shirt, another part had gotten messed up again.
He stepped out of his bathroom and stretched, before heading over to Bruce’s room. They were finally going to go on their first real date! John practically was bouncing up and down as he knocked on Bruce’s door gently.
Bruce came to the door quickly, and John grinned when he opened the door. John was wearing dark purple jeans and one of his green shirts. He had decided on matching his shoes, going with purple. Bruce smiled at him. “Oh, you look great. I mean, you always look great. I didn’t mean..”
John held up his hands, giggling softly to himself. “Bruce, it’s ok. I know what you mean, don’t worry.” He noticed Bruce visibly relax, and Bruce managed a small smile.
“Right. Sorry.”
“No need to apologize! All good!” John looked over Bruce, who was wearing all black. Black dress shirt, black pants, he even had his sleeves rolled up farther than usual. “Hey, you look pretty good yourself, mister CEO!”
“Oh, uh, thank you.” The comment caught Bruce slightly off guard. John was just so different from everyone else Bruce had ever met. Sure, having a new housemate was still a bit odd, as was being in a relationship with John, but Bruce never felt more at ease than when he was in John’s presence. He felt like he could actually be open with him.
“You ready?” John asked, bringing Bruce out of his thoughts.
“Yeah, let’s go. I’m starving.” John hooked arms with him and they made their way to the front of the manor. Bruce grabbed his keys and gave a small wave to Alfred before John practically pulled him out the front door.
Just before the door closed, Bruce saw Alfred give a wave in return, as well as a small smile. He hadn’t seen Bruce this happy in a long time.
“Bruce, how many cars do you own?” John grinned, running to the one that was parked in the driveway. It wasn’t Bruce’s main car, the one that could transform into the Batmobile, but it still was stunning.
“Too many.” Bruce replied, unlocking it. John grinned over at Bruce when they were both in the car.
“Heard anything from Cat Lady recently?”
Bruce blinked at the question, stopping the motion of putting on his seatbelt. “I.. Catwoman?”
“Yeah. She was like totally in love with you, Bruce!” John slipped on his own seatbelt. “I told you that at the cafe!”
Bruce looked over to him. “John… if you’re worried about competition or something, don’t be. I told you then that I had nothing with her. I never will. She tried to sleep with me while in a relationship with Harvey… she didn’t even like him like that. ...She just wants my money. She’s a thief.”
“I’m a murderer.”
Bruce raised his eyebrows. “John, you almost died!” John looked into his lap, messing with his hands. Concern washed over Bruce.
“Hey…” He reached over and placed his hand on John’s. “Did something happen?”
John took a breath. “It’s just… it’s only been a couple weeks since everything happened. We haven’t even gone on our first real date. I’m… I’m laying out all the cards on the table. If… you hold yourself to something Bruce, and I try to hold myself to that, too. Killing those people… seeing you at the funhouse…” He squeezed Bruce’s hand tightly. “...that was so horrible, Bruce. ...My memory tells me it was self-defense, but what if my memory’s wrong? And… and I wake up every day and wonder… what if it happens again, but it’s definitely not self-defense. What if.. What if I kill a bunch of people? What if I hurt you?”
He sniffed and wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. “I’m… I’m just trying to say that.. If you realize this isn’t gonna work… if you realize you don’t care about me… I understand. You have a duty to keep others safe. You’re already breaking your code. If you see things going south… call it, ok?”
Bruce was entirely silent. He struggled to find words. He did manage to get one thing out. “I know it was self-defense. I looked.”
John looked over at him, a few tears falling down his cheeks. “You… what?” Bruce reached up and wiped them away with his thumb.
“I never doubted you. I investigated what I could. Obviously the bodies were gone, and digging into autopsy reports was a bit difficult, considering The Agency is gone now, but I dug.” He moved his hand back to John’s and squeezed it. “The Agency guns were special. Stun mode and kill mode.”
John’s eyes widened. “Oh, the guns were red! That’s when I started to freak out! Red is bad.”
Bruce nodded. “Right. They were in kill mode. I found that out after some digging… Those agents were sent to kill you and Harley. Plain and simple.”
John’s animated state fell. “If I had known that there were two settings… Maybe I could’ve stunned one and then the others...”
“John. One against three with guns isn’t a fair fight. You did what you had to. And taking the time to put the gun into stun mode could’ve killed you.”
John looked over at him again. “It’s still wrong. I wish… I wish I brought you with me, that night. I should’ve.”
Bruce sat back. “You were upset. Harley had abandoned us. She punched you. You wanted to be alone-”
“I didn’t want you to find out that I loved you.” John cut in. “I was really upset… I felt like it was all falling apart. I was afraid that if The Pact was going down then I would never see you again. I was drunk. I got mad at you. Pointed a gun at you.”
“Hey. All behind us.” Bruce said. “You told me you wanted to start over. To forget The Pact. To have a new life with me. Yes, it’s important to remember, but those actions don’t define you. You jumped off the bridge, John. THAT defines you. You saved all those agents after Waller almost killed you. THAT defines you. You dread your memory at the funhouse. THAT defines you. What we do- what we will do- that defines us.”
A smile tugged at the corners of John’s lips. “God, I love you.”
“Well, I dunno if I’d go quite that far.” Bruce gave him a smile of his own. “But, I love you, too.”
***
John stretched when he got out of the car. He looked over at Bruce, going over to him and holding his hand. “Doesn’t look too busy!”
Bruce looked down at their hands, a light blush crossing his face. He squeezed John’s hand. “Oh, yeah, never too busy. It’s a great place, though.”
John blinked, and it took him only a second to realize that they were holding hands in public for the first time. They’d only been out a few times together. “I… oh.”
Bruce gave him a small smile. “It’s ok, I’m not uncomfortable. Just know that people will ask questions. As soon as people see us together the media will be all over it.”
John gave him a grin. “Media shmedia! We’re here for a date, Bruce. We can take ‘em!”
Bruce held back a chuckle, and the two entered the restaurant. “Where do you want to sit?”
John blinked. Bruce was letting him decide? “Uh… oooh, the booth over there.” He led Bruce over to the booth and slid into one side. Bruce sat opposite him, giving a soft smile as he pulled the menus from a stand on the table.
John took the one that was offered to him and began to look it over. After a moment he spoke. “I don’t know what a lot of this stuff is. Oops.”
“You can build your own here.” Bruce said. “On the back. Pick whatever you think will be good. This place never fails me.”
“You’ve been here a lot.” John lowered the menu a bit, looking over to Bruce.
“Not recently, but when I was a teen for sure.” Bruce gave him another small smile. “Once I ate two burgers, two orders of fries, a shake, and a sundae. That was after graduation... From college.”
John couldn’t help but giggle. “Dang! Well, hopefully one day I’ll get to see that!” He flipped his menu to the back and began to look at all the choices for toppings.
He looked up to see a waitress approaching them. When she got a good look at the two of them she raised her eyebrows, clearly surprised. She quickly rang off her name and asked for their drink order.
“Oh, a chocolate milkshake for me, please.” John gave her a soft grin and she jotted it down onto her pad. Bruce spoke after a moment. “I’ll have one, too.”
She nodded and walked off. John leaned forward, elbow on the table and his chin resting in his hand. He was staring at Bruce. With that sweet, smooth voice of his, Bruce made everything sound sexy.
Bruce looked up at him from his menu, realizing that he was being stared at. “Uh.. John?’
John could help but let out a soft sigh. God, those eyes were gorgeous. A subtle blue that John could get lost in forever. Hell, he could get lost in Bruce forever.
“John.” Bruce spoke a little clearer now, and John snapped out of his trance.
“Hm? Yeah?”
“You were staring at me.”
There was a pause, and John sat back, frowning. It hadn’t even fully registered in his brain, but he had been staring. “I… sorry, buddy. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“It’s ok. I’ve had worse things directed at me.” Bruce gave him a little smile.
The waitress came back with their shakes and asked for their order. John decided to go simple. There were certain things in the toppings section that he didn’t remember ever hearing about. He topped his burger with cheddar cheese and bacon, because he knew that that stuff was good.
Bruce, on the other hand, knew exactly what he was doing. His order had a lot more toppings on it, and John could’ve sworn he heard ‘fried egg’ in the list. He sipped his shake, grinning at the flavor. This was like the preview to the ice cream that would come later.
Bruce slipped their menus back into the stand and John hummed. He looked outside the window, seeing a few people pass. After some searching, he saw what looked like someone with a camera across the street. “Is that a paparazzi?”
Bruce looked over and after a moment he nodded. “Yeah. Are they bothering you?”
John quickly shook his head. “No, no! I wanna make a good impression. Hopefully they’ll get my good side!”
“All your sides are good.” Bruce replied softly, looking over at him. John looked over at him after a moment, a small grin on his face. “You’re really good at this.”
“At what?” Bruce took a sip of his shake.
“At flirting. You’re… making me feel really special. But it’s not over the top. I’m so glad we didn’t go to an insane five-star restaurant.”
“I wanted to bring you to a place that I really like. I have a few memories of coming here with my mother. And Alfred.”
John leaned forward a bit, interested. “Your mother?”
“Yeah. Just like… one or two. We came here for ice cream a few times. After she passed I stopped coming… for a long time. Until high school. I needed time, I guess...” He trailed off, a faraway look in his eyes.
John was silent for a moment. This was really, really sad, but also sweet. Some of Bruce’s only memories of his mother involved this place. “That’s… thank you for opening up.”
Bruce looked back over to him. “Sorry, didn’t mean to get sappy on you.”
“It’s perfect, actually.” He smiled at him. “You’re showing emotion.”
“Just let me know if it gets to be too much.”
John looked outside again, determined to catch the paparazzi in the act. He looked over to Bruce again, and frowned when he saw the look on his face. He couldn't exactly tell what it was, he just knew it wasn't good.
“Bruce?”
“Blackmail.”
John raised his eyebrows, utterly confused. “Uh… you'll have to elaborate.”
“I never got a chance to tell you.” Bruce looked over at him. “Everything was so tense in the funhouse and on the bridge… I joined The Pact because I was being blackmailed by The Agency. They found out the truth. They came to me right after Riddler’s death.”
John looked down at the table, rage settling into his stomach. “You.. they were going to expose you? Even before I had the virus and everything? They've known since day 1?”
Bruce gave a little shrug. “Basically. I… I should've just let them expose me. It would've been better than exploiting our friendship.”
John raised his eyebrows, rage dissipating. “Whoa, Bruce. Now THAT is crazy talk. Trust me, you did what you could. Yeah, I do wish you told me you were being blackmailed, but knowing me I probably would've told someone accidentally. So maybe it's good that you didn't. Also, what the hell? Blackmail?”
Bruce gave him a small smirk. “I think it was because Batman became known to a lot of the world’s population fairly quickly. He stopped some bad international people. The government didn’t want to look bad because some guy in a bat costume is doing more than most law enforcers.”
John giggled at that, sipping his shake. “Oh, but Bruce, they do! GCPD is starting to hold its own, but most police forces pale compared to Batman, even without the black costume! He’s a beast!”
Bruce gave another small shrug. “He’s something.”
It was only a few more minutes until their burgers came out, and John rubbed his hands together. “This looks super good!”
Bruce thanked their waitress then smiled over at him. “Oh, just be careful. I’m sure you’re still not really used to having very flavorful food.”
“Yeah, at Arkham we just got mush and when I got out all I really ate was junk food!” John grinned as he began to put ketchup on his burger. Bruce had given him all sorts of food to try, and had learned that giving John a warning was always important. After John once bit into a lemon without any idea as to what it was, Bruce never took any chances.
John bit into the burger and grinned. Even with just cheddar, bacon, and ketchup, it was extremely good. The flavors melded together and created something delicious.
Bruce bit into his, looking over to John, who gave him a thumbs-up, happy with his choice. They ate in silence, John smiling to himself as he stereotypically dipped his fries into his shake. It was so good, no wonder people did it all the time.
John sat back once he finished his burger and began to finish his fries. He glanced over at Bruce’s plate, raising his eyebrows once he saw that Bruce had already eaten his entire burger and all his fries. “Bruce! Wow, I should’ve timed you!”
Bruce sipped his shake, then let out a soft chuckle. “Well, you know me. I don’t eat a lot at home.” It was true. Bruce really didn’t eat a lot.
“Why not?” John asked, suddenly concerned. If Bruce had an appetite, then why didn’t he eat? Bruce shrugged.
“I just feel weird about it. I’m always ready to go out, so I don’t really want to be running around on a full stomach. And I just forget to eat, honestly.”
John hummed in thought. He’d already seen what Bruce was talking about. There were some nights where John would find Bruce up and working, and John would force him to go to bed. Bruce juggled so many things, his own well-being was probably fairly low on the list.
“Well, eating is important.” John stated. “And you should look out for yourself more often. You’ve got me now. I can take some of the load.”
Bruce give him a small smile. “Right. I’m sure I can give you a few things to help with.” John nodded, eating another fry. He wanted to help Bruce in any way possible.
After the waitress took away their empty plates, they looked over the dessert menus. John saw an extremely chocolatey sundae and decided on that one. He had a major sweet tooth.
Bruce ordered something much more simple, a regular sundae with cappuccino crunch ice cream and gummy bears. John tilted his head. He had no idea that Bruce liked gummy bears. The ice cream flavor made sense, Bruce practically ran on coffee, but gummy bears came out of nowhere.
The ice cream was set down in front of them, and John picked up the cherry on top and ate it, humming to himself. He looked out the window as he began to eat, looking for that paparazzi again.
He had a moment to self-reflect, thinking of the pictures of Bruce he’d collected over the past few years. Pictures always made him look so good, but, as John discovered upon first meeting him, Bruce was just naturally photogenic. He looked good from any distance, any angle. Hell, he made everything look hot.
John cleared his throat, deciding to keep himself focused on the ice cream he was having. It was super chocolatey, and extremely tasty. This date had been everything he hoped it would be. Well, he still wanted the paparazzi to get a picture of him making a heart with his hands, but there would be plenty of time for that!
“Is it good?” Bruce asked him, putting a spoonful into his mouth.
“Yeah! You want some?” John held up a spoonful for him, but Bruce shook his head.
“No, no. I’m good.”
“Suit yourself!” John hummed and popped the spoonful into his mouth.
Bruce watched as John finished off the sundae. He smiled to himself, remembering that he saw that the sundae was meant for two people. John ate it all by himself.
“Oooooh, super good!” John grinned and wiped his mouth. “And you finished off yours, too!”
“I told you this place was good.” Bruce replied.
Bruce paid for them, leaving a generous tip for their waitress of course. People like her worked hard.
The two walked out of the restaurant, and John was still determined to see that dumb paparazzi. He took Bruce’s hand into his own and grinned at him. Bruce gave him a small smile in return, blushing ever so slightly.
“Thank you.” John leaned against him as they walked. “For taking me out. And paying.”
“You’re very welcome.”
They got to the car, and as Bruce slipped his keys out of his pocket, John took the opportunity to cup his cheek and give him a quick peck on the corner of his mouth.
Bruce looked at him, blinking as his blush intensified. They were both silent for a moment, before Bruce wrapped an arm around John’s waist and pulled him close. “Let’s get out of here.”
John nodded and went over to the passenger side of the car. Right before he got in, he was sure he saw that stupid paparazzi down the street put away their camera.