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Moth stood out like a sore thumb on the streets of Gotham. His purples and greens popped against the muted greys of concrete and ragged red of brick, yet outside of the occasional glance, he didn’t get many eyes from the pedestrians on the street. As rain fell upon his green helmet, he stumbled into a phone booth. Finally sheltered from the rain, he exhaled and grabbed the receiver. He reached into his yellow gadget belt (affectionately named the ‘Moth Belt’) and scrounged around inside until he managed to find a few coins. It’s hard to think that he had started this whole supervillain thing as a millionaire.
He reached a gloved hand up to the buttons, pushed in a simple three-letter combination, and waited for a few seconds as it rang out. Rain tip-tapped against the glass windows as he looked out and impatiently tapped his foot. Once he heard a voice on the other end, he simply responded, ‘Police,’ and was redirected. Another few, painful, and long seconds of waiting followed, and he finally received another response.
“I’m uh-” Killer Moth cleared his throat as he tried to speak. He had spent some time thinking about this, not quite long enough now that he’s finally here. Sighing, he presses on. It was too late to turn back and walk out now. After all, he’s right here, and there’s someone here who has to listen to him. He might as well go through with it.
“I want to turn myself in.” He mumbles under his breath, which elicits a response from the operator.
“What?”
“I want to turn myself in,” Moth affirms, slightly louder now but still clearly anxious.
“Can you tell me your name, sir?” The Operator responds, sighing audibly. More often than not, this was a crank call, an attempt to incriminate someone else, or simply a trap. No one wanted to turn themselves in, not here.
“Drury Walker..” There was some clacking on the keyboard. “You might know me as Killer Moth.” Moth affirms, to silence on the other end.
“You are kidding, right?” The Operator says with a hint of suspicion.
“No, I want to turn myself in, I-”
The Operator cuts him off by erupting into laughter. Moth’s grip over the receiver tightened. This couldn’t be happening.
He sighs and looks down. “Look, I know that-”
He couldn’t even finish that; there was another voice on the line and then another. All were joining in with their laughter and commentary on Killer Moth. One called him a ‘half-rate waste of space’ while another referred to him as a ‘waste of GCPD money’; he felt his heart sink.
This was all a terrible mistake. Why did he do this? What did he think was going to happen? Did he think he was going to get some medal for this? Some praise for being a model citizen? He felt their words sink deep, even though he had never met these people and knew next to nothing about them.
He slowly cleared his throat and gently and carefully tried to rephrase. “I just want to talk to-”
He couldn’t even finish that; the laughing rose in volume at the sound of his voice, which finally made him snap. He pushed the plastic receiver back into the payphone. At first, he put it in gently, before reeling it back and slamming it back in furiously. He felt his heart sink even deeper afterwards; it brought him no relief, and all he could do was turn and leave.
He opened the door of the phone box and wandered out into the street again, directionless and grasping at whatever he had left. No one cared where he went anyway.
-
A mere few days later, he found himself with a bloodied nose in an alleyway. His luck had not improved in the slightest, and he had been discovered by a hero who didn’t hold any punches while trying to rob a store. Once again, he was left humiliated as he took off his helmet and looked down into a puddle to see his reflection. He saw his own bloodied and bruised face, which didn’t fill him with great confidence for his next heist attempt.
“Are you alright?” A feminine voice called out from nearby. Moth panicked and quickly put his helmet back on before turning to see a familiar face.
It was Batgirl, His first real enemy, and unfortunately, one that seemed to be always one step ahead. Normally, Moth would try to give a witty retort and try to fly off. Not today, though; he had been through enough trouble and was prepared to turn himself in.
“Oh, hey.” He tried his best to appear as if he hadn’t just been slammed into a wall and beaten until he could hardly stand. He rolled his shoulders back before deeply exhaling and pressing his back against the wall. “Yeah, I’m uh, I’m doing good. How are you?”
Batgirl found this response very unusual; there wasn’t much malice in his voice that she usually received. She tilted her head, looking at him with a suspicious expression. A droplet of blood dripped from his helmet. It was clear from the injuries he had sustained that he wasn’t doing his best. She sighed; she wasn’t going to give him much of a harder time, but she did have an obligation to arrest him.
“You aren’t gonna try and get away?”
Moth sighed and shook his head. “You would probably catch me.” He said.
“Yes, but there’s a chance I won't, right?” She replied.
He didn't respond, just sort of looking disheartened as he looked past her at the wall. Sheepishly ashamed of everything. Of himself, of his situation. Of having her sympathize with him. He didn't deserve her time of day; he didn't feel like he deserved anyone's time or attention.
"Moth?" She tried to get his attention. "Are you sure you are alright?"
Moth reflected that if he turned himself in, he would be back in Arkham, and he would be at the mercy of those in there once again. They treated him worse than anyone. He gulped and felt his throat clench.
"I'm okay, I promise," Moth said, his voice small and timid. It was a far cry from his usual bombastic personality. He went silent for a few more seconds as she just waited. "You shouldn't be so worried about me." He finally chimed in.
She dimissively hand-waived his concern. "Moth, we aren't best of friends exactly, but I don't want you getting hurt." She took a few steps closer; she needed to know he could trust her, but this only made him a little nervous. They were both in uncharted territory; neither knew the other to act like this...
"Moth, you're bleeding." She pointed out, of course, his physical injuries weren't at the height of her concern. He was physically fragile, easily knocked out by a single punch. Dick had called him a glass jaw for his common habit of going down in one well-placed blow. No, she was more concerned about his mental state and how he was seemingly disheartened with all the things that used to give him such theatrics.
"I'm sure it'll be fine."
"I'm worried it could be something serious." Batgirl didn't geniunly believe he was seriously injured, but she did want to let him save face while getting to know what was going on with him. "I have a safehouse near here. I'll get a good look at it. I won't find out your secret identity. I promise."
Of course, she already knew it, but she never told him that. He was still a mystery to her, mostly, just a name and whatever government documents she could find. Birth records, arrest logs, she never really knew who Drury Walker was, just Killer Moth. Maybe he preferred it that way. Moth was in no position to resist her offer, and if it spared him maybe an hour or two in an uncomfortable holding cell, he would take it. He clung to some vague hope that his confidence would return to him.
"Fine." He mumbled, What's the worst that could happen after all?
-
The safehouse was surprisingly comfortable. It was a well-lit apartment, likely just meant as a place to lay low rather than stockpiling weapons and equipment. Those places are usually reserved for seedy basements and hidden caves. Batgirl knew she didn't want Moth anywhere near those things; he would be a massive danger to himself.
She shut the door behind them and crossed her arms at Moth, squinting at him as he awkwardly stood there. She had never been on such peaceful grounds with him before, never quite this casual and relaxed around him.
"Could you take your helmet off?" She instructed, Moth wasn't in any position to argue but was still concerned about clinging to his secret identity. No one knew who Drury Walker was, but it was out of principle. No one knew who Batman was, so no one should know who Killer Moth is.
"Do I have to?" He said. She sighed in response. This might be a little harder than she wanted.
"No, you don't have to. It's just going to make my job of making sure you are alright a whole lot more difficult." She said. Moth looked away, and she just dismissed the issue. She already knew what he looked like. If he didn't want to cooperate, he didn't have to.
There was a brief moment of silence before Moth spoke up again. "You shouldn't be wasting your time with me. I'm fine, I promise." He said, again dismissing his worth, highly unusual for him, considering his usual claims of being capable of being a full-blown 'Anti-Batman'
"It's not wasting my time, you look and sound like you are upset about something." She replied. Moth sighed in response.
"Well, of course I'm upset. Who wouldn't be after losing a fight like that?" He questioned
"Who did you fight?" She said
"This guy with a red helmet called me a bunch of names and said I was distracting him from more important stuff. He was quick, but I thought he was gonna break my jaw." He mumbled. She sighed and shook her head. She should have figured as much.
"That must have been scary." She said. He shrugged, again trying to appear as stern and serious as he could despite clearly not quite feeling himself.
She looked down at him with a hint of sympathy in her eyes. He was annoying, yes, but he wasn't much of a danger to anyone, and compared to some of the other villains locked up in Arkham, he looked almost innocent. Still a thief and a criminal, but he had never done anything that sickened her to her core.
"I guess." He mumbled. He felt like she was talking down to him, but that wasn't completely unwarranted. She was far more experienced than he, far more notable and recognizable. She was likely stronger in most every way, outside of being able to fly, of course.
"I know I haven't seen you as much as we used to..." She had fought him very often in her first two years; he was a recurring villain to her, maybe even an arch-nemesis. However, time went by, and she moved on to bigger and badder villains. He hadn't fought a real superhero in a while, which is probably why Jason picked him to vent some anger out on. He was, unfortunately, a punching bag with little risk of being dangerous to the public.
She took a deep breath and nodded quietly. "I promise I didn't forget about you, though." She tried to smile reassuringly at him. She knew that he had been reduced to fighting...and getting captured by regular cops more often these days.
Moth felt a lump in his throat. He hadn't thought she even really cared. After all, she was famous now, and he was still a nobody. A C-list villain used as a joke by others. The fact that she was still talking to him even when she didn't have to made him feel strange; he was surprised anyone cared at all. Yet he felt like this could all turn into one cruel joke at any moment, so he swallowed hard and tried to maintain his composure.
"It's fine, really. I mean, you are all... successful and everything. You don't need me anymore. I'm no better than some common crook." He pushed himself lower. He had been like this before, but tried never to let anyone see. He always tried to cover his self-deprecation with an almost comical ego. Now it was breaking, and he didn't know what to do.
Batgirl responded by placing a hand on his shoulder and smiling warmly at him. "Don't say that about yourself, Moth. You are still very special, and I still care about you. After all, you are the first person I ever fought." She tried her best to reassure him; she sat next to him on the couch and gently smiled at him.
He sighed and nodded. "I guess so, I just...I wish I were more important. I wish what I did mattered and I just...I wish everyone would stop making fun of me so often..." He was starting to break up around this point, and he audibly sniffled
She looked disheartened. She knew she had been on the delivering end of some of the jokes at his expense. She never knew how he took it; in fact, she was never quite aware that he was such an emotional person. She had called him a loser to his face back in the day, and then had stopped talking to him altogether when she moved on to more 'important' bad guys.
"I'm sorry, Moth. I didn’t know it hurt you so much." She said she didn't quite expect him to be so hurt by all of this. After all, he never expressed any of his concerns or feelings, Though she supposed he probably didn’t have much of a way to. In this situation he seemed to be far more vulnerable than perhaps even he knew he could be.
“It’s okay.” He sighed, he had said too much, he knew he had humiliated himself and if she wasn’t taking him seriously beforehand she certainly wouldn’t now. Yet, he was still a victim to his feelings. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t-”
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for Moth.” She cuts him off, she has to stop him feeling sorry for himself. He couldn’t hold his emotions back much longer, and tears started to well in his eyes. He slowly reached up and took off his helmet. She softly smiled at him. “Do you want a hug?” She offered.
He tried to clear his eyes, visibly reddning from his welling tears. He nodded, no one had ever offered such a thing to him anymore. She smiled and wrapped her hands around him, moving closer. She squeezed him in close as he noticeably became far more nervous.
“Sorry I-”
She shush’ed him again, he clearly wasn’t used to being in this situation, she had to remind him that he didn’t owe her anything. That he was fine just being here, he deserved what she gave to him. He cautiously, slowly moved his hands to hold her back.
His tears ran down his face as she empathetically held him close. She needed to make up for all that time they spent apart somehow, he felt her gloved hands holding him closely, wrapped around him, pulling him in close. He could feel her warmth, such kindness and closeness was something he was desperately in need of.
He closed his eyes as he rested his head on her shoulders. Time seemed to pass slower as he felt all his doubts and hesitations fade away, slowly and carefully he felt her holding him, cradling him and reminding him that he meant something to someone, even if it was one person. It made it worth his while.
“I’ll let you go free this one time Moth. On account of good behaviour.” She giggled a little. He nodded eagerly, slowly opening up his eyes. Their faces were so close together, and he was reminded that he was worth something if he would be permitted such intimacy and kindness. “I’ll try and check up on you more often too, just to make sure you aren’t in any danger or anything.” She added, she knew where to find Drury, even if he didn’t know that she could keep such tabs on him.
“Thanks.” He smiled
“Of course, I do have to suggest that you give up this whole supervillan thing.” She gently reached up and ran a hand through his brown hair. He shivered a little, not fully used to such close touch but eagerly enjoying it all the same.
“You know I can’t do that.” He responded, his voice soft and clearly enjoying this time with her. She giggled a little, continuing to toy and play with his hair as she nodded back at him.
“It’s okay Moth.” She smiled softly.
“You are perfect just the way you are.”