theladyscribe: Etta Place and Butch Cassidy laughing. (natalie hector)
a subtle sort of brilliance ([personal profile] theladyscribe) wrote in [community profile] avandell2008-10-31 06:10 pm

The Nothing Man

Title: The Nothing Man
Characters: Batman
Rating: G
Word Count: 176
Summary: Bruce Wayne disappears into anonymity.
Notes: A sort-of crossover with American Gods. Part of the Bruce Springsteen Fic Project. Title from "Nothing Man." Lyrics here.

The Nothing Man

He doesn't die. The people around him - Rachel, Harvey, Gordon, Alfred - die and are replaced by new faces. Babs Gordon grows up, marries, and becomes one of the best police commissioners the city has ever seen. Bruce Wayne disappears into anonymity, an old man who never returns from a vacation to the south of France.

And Batman lives in the shadows. He feels older, but he doesn't look it. He feels old, like the water that surrounds the heart of the city, but at the same time he feels as young and new as the shining high-rises built by the up-and-coming city leaders.

It's strange, but it feels right, feels like this is where he's supposed to be, living in the shadows, just on the edge of the night. The city is safer than it once was, but it is not safe yet. Nor will it ever be. He knows this, and that is precisely why he can never die.

If he dies, the city dies, and if the city dies, so does he.

[identity profile] voodoococonut.livejournal.com 2008-11-30 11:30 pm (UTC)(link)
I really love the last line. If he dies, the city dies, and if the city dies, so does he.

From the trailer of "The Day the World Stood Still" right?

Very good. ^ ^

[identity profile] voodoococonut.livejournal.com 2008-12-01 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
I've read most of Gaiman's stuff (Good Omens, Neverwhere) I'll have to pick that one up too.

No, it's good to know.

You're welcome, it's always good to have reviews.

[identity profile] mistressmarilyn.livejournal.com 2008-12-01 12:55 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, I felt a pang when I read that. I saw The Dark Knight again last night and it left me in an angsty mood, and this fit perfectly.

Nicely done. (And I love the style of your journal.)

[identity profile] bacchae23.livejournal.com 2008-12-01 01:06 am (UTC)(link)
GAH.

American Gods and TDK?

Be still, my beating heart.

Um. Wow. This is awesome. Why? Because the Bat totally becomes a pseudo-diety in Gotham, you illustrate that beautifully. Why no one has seen this earlier, I know not.

But yeah.

Just...gah.

So happy. :)

[identity profile] thursdays-girl.livejournal.com 2008-12-01 01:19 am (UTC)(link)
A Gaiman fan! This was lovely and could easily be found in American Gods. Beautiful work.

[identity profile] thursdays-girl.livejournal.com 2008-12-01 01:24 am (UTC)(link)
I never saw the correlation before this, but you are totally right. Wonderful work.