#arkhamriddler

Mom can’t help but sigh with a smile as the three of them look up to him, bloodied grins clear amongst their bruise spattered skins and scratched up faces. His three little angels are in nothing but their boxers as he cleans them up, washing wounds, binding any cuts and strapping together aching fingers to help them heal better. Yj, Swag and Puzzles all look so innocent and yet so proud of themselves as they’re tended to, each one speaking over the other as they try desperately to tell the tale of their night.

“Mom it was so cool! We were just marking up some side streets-“

“And out of nowhere came these two guys from the Narrows gang-“

“They were huge and had bats but we totally weren’t scared-“

“Hush now!” He cuts through their babbled story, pinning the bandages in place around Puzzles’ hand and moving to dab at the slowly oozing blood from Swag’s cheek. “You did very well taking down two of them and I’m very proud of you for doing as your told and coming straight home afterwards. My little boys are growing up so fast, proving themselves to be real Riddlers.”

The boys all grin to him again and soon enough they’re back to hurriedly explaining their tale, Yj jumping in with a few points to his injuries for emphasis, Swag giving a few jabs to the air as if he’s taking out an opponent, whilst Puzzles simply swings his feet and nods, giving a few words through his still clinging shyness when around the louder boys.

It had been their first night out without one of the older Riddlers for protection. Usually he’d only let the young teens out when they were with either himself, Arkham or Enygma but they’d begged and begged to be allowed a chance to prove themselves. So he’d given in, letting them have that chance on the understanding that they stayed together and stayed within their territory. He’d been worried of course, pacing across the station floor and constantly checking the old cracked clock for reassurance. Enygma was away on business, making deals and connections with outside sources for him, meaning that if they boys needed backup there was only himself and Arkham there to help.

Arkham had scoffed of course, sprawled upon the ratty couch against the wall and puffing on a cigarette, musing about how he’d been on the streets by himself at their age and been just fine. Mom had rolled his eyes at that, knowing how Arkham had ended up in Juvie plenty of times and then prison afterwards when that hadn’t straightened him out. He worried, he knew his boys couldn’t cope with that, they were still so young, Swag and Yj only a few years older than Puzzles and none of them out of their teenage years yet.

He’d worried right up until the second they’d run down the tracks home, giggling and laughing amongst themselves, jostling to get close as the scrambled up the platform to him. Mom had gathered them all into a hug, noting their injuries and taking them to the safety of the train car to clean them up. Arkham had followed, spitting the butt of his cigarette onto the tracks and swinging his cane over his shoulder. It was clear the other Riddler cared, even if he tried to pretend that he didn’t.

Now Arkham stands behind him as he finishes binding their wounds, wiping away bloody streaks, checking that bruises aren’t covering breaks and fixing up his kids first real wounds of war. The three are still grinning despite the injuries, all glowing in their victory over the rival gang, so proud of themselves for beating two men into unconsciousness without the help of the older gang members. Mom smiles to them all, kissing at their foreheads before standing up. “I’m very proud, it won’t be long until you’re all earning your tattoos by the sound of it. Isn’t that right Arkham?”

Turning to the older Riddler he raises an eyebrow to him, trying to silently convey his wish for him to stop being such a sullen prick and show some semblance of approval to the children. They all look so eager the little darlings, wearing their wounds with pride as they sit before them, watching Arkham with bright eyes just begging, nay pleading for just a scrap of a positive comment from him.

Sighing loudly as if it’s such an effort, Arkham pushes away from the wall to stand before them, arms folded, cane still in his grip as he looks down at them all. Mom can see the way they look ready to be classicised, memories of their father and others constantly belittling them swirling in their heads. “Next time remember to shield your faces more, you can’t afford to have black eyes and restricted vision for a few days after every brawl.”

Mom nudges him, clearing his throat in annoyance and hoping that won’t be all. Yj, Swag and Puzzles look so disappointed with themselves, smile drooping as they’re given advice rather than the praise they so desire. It’s heartbreaking and Mom scowls at Arkham until finally the older Riddler sighs in frustration. As he goes to leave the train car, Arkham reaches out to ruffle each of the boys’ hair roughly, not exactly words of praise, but it’s as good as they’re going to get for the moment.

Arkham is flattening the crease of the bed sheets when Yj wakes up. The kid looks awful, pale with dark bags under his eyes, the drugs in his system make him sluggish when he moves and he just looks so confused to be in the hospital. He doesn’t really know how to be reassuring so he leans forward, trying to smile gently although he’s sure it looks more menacing than he wants. Yj groans a little, shifting in place as he tries to sit up. Arkham helps him gently, fluffing up the pillows to prop him up properly. “You scared us, the others have gone to get some sleep. You’ve been out for just over a day.”


Yj grunts, his hand with the line in reaching out for the glass of water on the side. Arkham winces in sympathy as he gasps in pain, holding his side through the light green hospital gown. He takes the glass himself, holding it up to the others lips to let him drink. When he pulls back Yj is more careful in his movements, trying not to pull his stitches again. “Getting shot isn’t like the movies.” he sounds drugged, his eyes glazed with pain medication and half closed even as he sits up. “Hurts a lot.” 


Arkham nods, unsure exactly why the kid looks so upset at his predicament, surely he should be glad to be alive? “I know, but you’re going to be fine. You’re staying with me for a few days whilst you recover. Detective wanted to take you but I didn’t think you’d want to be babied to death.” 
Yj goes to shrug, thinks better of it and stops halfway through, still looking miserable.

“I don’t want to be a bother.” He mumbles, picking at his bed sheets and keeping his gaze averted. “I can stay somewhere else so I don’t get in your way.”


“You won’t be in the way, it’s fine Yj… What’s wrong? You’ve been avoiding me for a while now, tell me.”
 The kid fidgets more, movements still muted by the drugs as he keeps his eyes down. Arkham sighs and reaches out to place his hand on top of his, using his thumb to stroke their softly as he’s seen detective do to calm the younger man on occasion. “I didn’t think you’d want to see me.”


He’s completely confused for a moment and he really hates being confused. “Why wouldn’t I want to see you?”


“Because…” The younger man bites his lower lip, chewing there for a moment before continuing. He tugs on the sheets, curling into them more with a hand bracing his stitched up side as he shifts. When he speaks again his voice is barely above a whisper, as if he doesn’t want to be heard. “I thought you were mad at me for Jonathan leaving.”

Arkham blinks in confusion, mind blank as he tries to work out what the younger man is saying. There’s no reason he can think of for Yj to think such a thing, unless there’s something he’s not telling him. But the only scenario running through his head, thanks to the daytime television Swag has been watching all day on the hospital TV, is the thought of Jonathan and Yj together. He shakes his head at the ridiculous idea. There are so many reasons as to how that would never happen. “Why exactly would I be mad at you for that?”

“Because it’s my fault.” Yj is refusing to meet his eyes, still picking at the sheets on his bed and keeping his voice low. No matter how quiet he tries to be Arkham can still easily hear the upset within. “You were happy with him, everything was fine between the two of you and then I showed up.”

He’s still utterly perplexed as to what the younger man has to do with his relationships. “And?”

“And that’s when you guys started drifting apart.” Yj really sounds worked up by all this, he shifts in his bed, wincing as his stitches pull before he settles again. “It was worse than if you were fighting because there was just nothing! At least if you’d been fighting there would have been some passion left between you, you know? But every time I came to visit, there was just nothing.” Arkham reaches out to pat his thigh, to keep him calm and stop him from having an outburst that could damage his bullet wound any more than necessary.

“Jonathan’s leaving had nothing to do with you.” He says as calmly as possible, flattening the creases from the bed sheets over his lap and trying to usher the kid to lay down and get some rest. Hoping his words will be enough to soothe him.

“But it must have.” Evidently not. Arkham is worried when he thinks he can hear a build up of real upset in the words. “I’m sorry I kept coming over but I needed you and you’d promised you’d be there for me if I needed you.” Arkham can definitely hear some tears in the voice as Yj struggles to get closer to him, almost trying to get out of the hospital bed in his rush to explain. He stands to pin him easier and keep him safe. “I didn’t mean to get in the way of both of you, really I didn’t.”

“Hey calm down, you’re going to hurt yourself more.” He pulls the covers back over him, one hand on his chest to keep him still as he tries to explain as easily as possible. He really hadn’t thought that anyone else would care about his relationship with the other man, but this has obviously been building up for weeks. It had just taken a bullet to get it out in the open. “Yj, it really didn’t have anything to do with you. I’ll admit it was difficult at times, like when you were determined to share our bed,” he chuckles dryly, “but none of it was your fault.”

“Then why did he leave?” The kid looks up pleadingly, his finger coming up to hold at his shirt cuff.

He sighs and moves to sit on the edge of the bed, letting the younger man move close enough for an almost hug. “Yj, Jonathan and I are grown men. We can make the decision with what to do with our lives and our relationship by ourselves.” Slowly he wraps an arm around his shoulder, careful not to jostle him too much. “Just because he’s gone and I’m here doesn’t mean there was some huge drama. We talked about things between us, they were good, exciting and it was fun for a while.” He sighs again, dragging up memories of their time together, suddenly being smothered in the emotions he’d kept hidden from everyone else.

“But we couldn’t live together. You know I like my things a certain way, and besides we were always getting in each other’s way. With him in his own place, he can continue with his work, I can continue with mine and there’s no biting our tongues for the sake of being a perfect couple. The fact is, we’re not going to be perfect. There are too many things wrong with the pair of us for it to be a fairy tale romance like in the movies. Things are working out a lot better this way for us. I still see him from time to time, we still work together sometimes and the sex is just as amazing as ever, but we don’t need the conventional relationship to make us work.” He gives up on appearances and climbs fully onto the bed, lifting his chin so Yj can burrow into his chest beneath it.

“Are you happy?” The younger one of them asks, medication finally making him calm down and sound sleepy as he’s held. Gently Arkham reaches down to feel his dressings, glad when his fingertips come away unbloodied. He presses a soft kiss to his hair before replying.

“Couldn’t be happier.” He sometimes had days where he misses Jonathan with everything he has, but this truly is working for them both. It’s what works for them and that’s good enough for him, even if it didn’t fit into society’s conventional views.

“Can we go back to the way we were?” Yj snuffles closer, his eyes closed, fingers curling into his shirt as he clings on in preparation for sleep.

“Definitely.” Arkham holds him close, careful of the various wires attached to the hospital equipment as he does so. He’ll admit he’s missed the younger man, even the annoying questions when he’s been trying to get some work done.

“Can I share a bed with you when I stay over?”