~Request~

Y/N- Your Name

    "Lalala, blowing up a bank and stealing from hundreds of people, lalala, not a big deal." I sang to myself, to the annoyance of my brother. "Shut up, Y/N!"

"Rude!"

He smacked my arm. I punched his face.

He fell on his butt, which served him right. "If you mess this up..." "What? You'll go crying to daddy?" He grinned. "Yes. And I'll tattle. And you'll be grounded for life." I wish he was kidding. "I don't see why the oh so terrible 'Mr. Freeze' would have us do his crimes for him? Bats kick his bottocks one too many times?" He glared at me. "You are begging to be grounded." "Maybe then I won't have to play damsel in distress. I'm a feminist, Craptain, not a wimpy love interest." "Better hope your acting' good then." He replied, unsympathetic to my cause. I hope that my insult didn't go unnoticed, that's never any fun.

Then, the bombs went off. Sirens blared, my brother went into action getting all the money out of the vault. Why we didn't just hack the banks systems, I'll never know. "Get into character, Y/N!" I groaned. The only reason anyone let me out of my room was to be a distraction. I put on my sky high stilettos I wished we could do just one caper without. "Here goes nothing."

I clacked into the bank lobby, then fell. I started screaming my head off, which echoed, which surprised me, so I felt my heart stop before screaming louder.

"What is this lady's deal?" I heard a voice ask behind me. "I don't know, but get her to shut up." Brilliant, my plan was working. 

"Silence." A bratty voice came from my left. "Huh?" I pretended to sniffle. "What did you see that freaked you out so much?" I turned to see two heroes staring at me, one with a supporting, brilliant smile, the other with a look of disdain, as if I was gum scraped off his shoe.

 "An explosion, huge." I said, trying to keep their attention towards me. The one who looked around my age, Robin, sighed. "Yes, we know. Who made the bomb go boom?" I decided I loathed him. "Captain Cold, the new one. He...," They looked at each other, then rushed off. "Wait!" I screamed, the desperation in my voice real. If I screwed this up, dad would never let me out of his sight again. They stopped. "Ummmmmm, isn't someone going to keep me safe?" I hated the sound of those words leaving my mouth, but it was all I could think of. The two froze, hopefully realizing they should. They looked at each other, having a silent argument. The short one lost.

Robin trudged over, and offered me his hand. "Come on."

We sat down on top of a building in the outskirts of Gotham, near the harbor. He said he was scouting on the lookout for smuggling, but I think that he just wanted to clear his head. I knew that's what I needed to do.

" Come here often?" My voice surprised both of us, he looked at me for the first time since we arrived. "What do you care?" His voice was slightly hostile, but not enough to discourage me. "I dunno. Just curious, I guess." He let his guard down ever so slightly. The more information I could get about him, the better. I couldn't waste this trip. "Not often enough. Sometimes, when I get some free time, I come here with my friends. But I never have free time." "I guess we're kind of opposites then. You have friends but not free time, I have free time but no one to share it with." He looked at me with surprise. "Someone like you has no friends? Rich, pretty, confident, powerful? Yeah, I bet you have no friends."

"Who said I was rich?" "You were in a bank reserved for the wealthy, wearing an outfit that probably cost a couple hundred to make. Of course you're rich." I glared at him. That tone of finality, as if he had me perfectly figured out and knew it. "This dress is from a thrift store. I liked it. I don't remember how much it costs, but it couldn't have been much."

"Still, you were at Gringotts, the bank for those who vacation on private islands while using their private jets for races. You can't tell me you aren't swimming in money." There was no way I could prove him wrong without making him suspect I was somehow involved in the robbery, so I stayed quiet. For a couple seconds, that is.

"You think I'm pretty?" It was a legitimate question. I'd never met someone who told me I was pretty before, other than my mother. "You're not getting any compliments out of me. You've been told you're pretty all your life. I was stating facts, not opinions."

"You are the first person, besides my mom, to ever tell me I'm pretty." That fact slapped me in the face, no, it was an ice bath. My brother, my dad, my dads henchmen? How could it possibly be true that this stranger was the one to compliment me, out of everyone I knew? How?

I was crying. Not too much, I could say something was in my eye and get away with it. But I was crying, because the only person to ever tell me I was pretty was gone, and now this stranger, my enemy who was a stranger, was saying it.

"I'm not confident, or powerful." I stood up to walk away. "Every single one of your assumptions is wrong. Now let me tell you about you. You're arrogant, perhaps rightfully so, but arrogance is arrogance all the same. You're used to being right, so you take your own word as law and never let anyone else have a say. You are possibly the worst human being I have ever known, and I have a sibling. Now, for some advice? Take a humility pill and f$&% yourself."

I turned around and began to walk away. Then I realized I had no way of getting off this stupid building. I stormed to the other side of the building and sat my petty self down as dignified as I could manage.

"Looks like neither of us knows anything about the other."

"What do you want to do, play twenty questions?"

"Are you rich?"

"Sometimes." I guess we're playing twenty questions. "Are you?"

"Yes. Where do you live?"

"A different place each week."

"Why?"

"My parents."

"Are they split up?"

"They would be, had they ever really been together."

"You said you have a sibling though?"

"A brother. Half-brother. I hate him, as I hate thee, and all Montague's."

"You're well read?"

"I don't really have anything else to do."

"Why?"

"I'm locked up in my room all day."

"Why?"

"Because everyone I know hates me."

"Is that true?"

"As far as I'm concerned."

"That makes no sense."

"And that's not a question."

Silence. What the heck is wrong with this guy, asking personal questions like that? What's wrong with me, I answered them? What's wrong with the universe for even making any of this possible, the questions, the answers?

"What's your name?" Oh my gosh. I was supposed to have an answer to this! A normal person wouldn't hesitate to answer. What's my name, what's my name, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! What the heck is my name?

"Apricity."

"Nice name. Is there a meaning behind it?"

"The warmth of sunlight in winter. I guess my mom liked it."

"It's nice."

"Yeah."

Silence again. That's not my real name, of course. My real name, (Y/N), isn't nearly that corny.

"Do you know her?"

"I did."

"Is she not around anymore?"

"You could say that."

A pause.

"Is she dead?"

"On the inside."

"That's depressing."

"Sounds like my existence."

"That's dark."

"So is the night. Why do you lurk around with Bats all night? Do you not have anything to do during the day?"

"My questions aren't up. But no, I'm home schooled."

"How do you have friends?"

"I lurk around at night."

"Everyone's a comedian."

I got up and sat next to him. His eyes were fixed on the horizon.

"Hey, has the bank robbery ended yet?"

"Yes. As soon as the idiot is in custody, I'll let you down."

"Hey, you seem nice enough. I'm really sorry about this."

"About the robbery?"

I stood up and aimed my gun, directly at his head.

"No. This."