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cobblepot-comfort · 5 years

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The Rescue

Chapter 3 - Home Truths - AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19704580/chapters/46632031

“Jim!”

Jim flinched awake to find Oswald shaking him and staring at him with intensity.

He sat up quickly, rubbing furiously at his sleep-leadened eyes.

“Detective Gordon, what are you doing here?” Oswald said stiffly, his blue-green eyes flashing indignantly.

“Erm….” Jim faltered, “I was just...erm….tired….”

He left the bed hastily, went back to his chair and sat down slowly, grasping the arms tightly. This was awkward!

So much for being direct, he thought. He had been taken by surprise and had chickened out yet again….

“Ah. Hmm,” Oswald said reflectively, playing with his fingers distractedly. “Well, yes, of course - I see what you mean,” he mused. “It must be SO draining, having to care for a ‘problem’ patient like me.” He closed his eyes, stretched his lips and sighed heavily.

“No, Oswald, that’s not what….” Jim said hurriedly, then halted mid-sentence as Oswald’s eyes flicked open and a big smirk of triumph appeared on his face.

“You are SO easy to tease, Detective Gordon!” he grinned impishly.

“Ha ha, very funny!” Jim replied dryly. “That’s the last time I take pity on you, Cobblepot!”

“I never asked you for pity, Jim.” Oswald’s eyes flashed a warning and his mouth tightened.

Jim had struck a raw nerve.

This was tricky. Hell, he wanted so much make Oswald smile again. He always looked so damn bewitching - the way his eyes glistened when he was being playful….

He wondered how to do that, though? He fought off the overwhelming urge to take that pretty, enchanting face in his hands and then kiss the life out of it.

“Erm, sorry, bad choice of words. I meant HELP you, friends help one another, right?” he scrambled desperately.

It worked. Oswald’s face relaxed into a soft smile of surrender.

“Of course, I should have known that’s what you meant. I am just a tad sensitive at the moment, Jim, you understand,” he said.

“Well that’s no wonder, after all you’ve been through,” Jim said sympathetically.

“Thank you, Jim,” Oswald nodded gratefully, “I knew you’d understand. You know how much I suffered at the hands of Galavan and his sadistic sidekick sister!” His tone hardened and his eyes began to fill up with angry tears.

“Hey,” said Jim gently, “You’ll be ok now, it’s safe - here.” He tentatively reached out and touched Oswald lightly on the arm.

Oswald’s eyes got very big and bright.

“Oh - Jim. So tender all of a sudden!” he smiled, his dimples growing. “What brought this on then?”

Jim gulped hard. That smile….those dimples….

“Well, Oswald - I just don’t like to think of you suffering. I mean - no-one deserves that. And - we all need support in times of trouble - don’t we? Everyone needs a friend - don’t they?” he prompted carefully.

“Yes, Jim, of course - you’re right. And that was so beautifully expressed, too. But - Jim - the time you are spending here with me - the way you’re looking after me and all my needs - what does Lee think about it?” He cocked his head and studied Jim closely.

“Erm….Lee? Well...she knows I’m doing the right thing - I mean, by saving a life, and protecting a witness…” Jim floundered.

“And that’s it? That’s all? Does she believe all this is just altruism, Jim?” Oswald pressed.

“Why wouldn’t she?” Jim fired back defensively.

Oswald visibly flinched. He realised he had pushed Jim too far.

“Oh. Well, yes, of course, why wouldn’t she? Please - forgive me, old friend,” he said apologetically. “I shouldn’t have interrogated you like that..”

“No Oswald, it’s ok,” Jim cut in quickly, his brows relaxing. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. Maybe it’s just because I’m tired,” he shrugged.

“Well, Jim, of course you are! All this must be telling on you. I do appreciate your sacrifice.”

“Oswald - it’s no sacrifice - really - no sacrifice at all.”

”Ah, well, if you’re sure. I would hate to put you to any inconvenience.”

“You? Ha! Never!”

“Now you are being flippant, James…”

“ I was just trying to lighten the mood.”

“I know you were. And I was just playing with you, of course. It’s what we do, isn’t it, James?””

Jim really wanted to take that sweet bundle of beauty into his arms and kiss him passionately, trace those dimples on that smiling feline face with his fingers, tell him in no uncertain terms that he was more than ready to play. But just now he lacked the courage to take the risk. It could still be a step too far.

Oswald saw Jim’s thoughtful frown. He guessed that something was troubling him, and he suspected he knew what it was.

It was time they stopped messing around and put their cards on the table.

This was ridiculous! If Jim couldn’t do this, then he would have to take charge.

“James,” he began purposefully. “There is something I have wanted to share with you for quite a while, but have never felt quite able to until now.”

“Oh? This sounds kinda deep, Oswald.” Jim’s frown unravelled and a soft, boyish smile replaced it. Oswald’s heart skipped a beat.

“Well, Jim,” he resumed slowly, “you are right, it is deep. But I have been bursting to tell you about it and really don’t think this can wait any longer.”

“Oh. OK, Oz - what is it?” Jim said, full of intrigue.

“It’s this, Jim.”

Oswald took a deep breath, clasped his hands tightly and began.

“As I was being carried in your arms, unconscious, through that forest, I had a dream. I dreamt that you told me that you had been in love with me for a very long time, but had been too afraid to let me know.

“You had always treated me roughly because of your fear of revealing your true feelings. You said you were really sorry for treating me so shabbily, and would try your best to make up for it. You said that far from seeing me as your bitter enemy, you saw me not only as a friend but also as your beautiful dark angel, and that if anything bad were to befall me, it would break your heart.

“There was no way you would let me come to harm though, as you quickly reassured me that you would protect me with your life. I would live and get well and strong, as you would nurse me back to health and stay by my side for as long as it took to get me on my feet again.

“You would make sure to get justice for the death of my poor mother. She would be found and have a proper burial and the murdering Galavans would get what was coming to them. You would find a way of doing that that would avoid getting me into any kind of trouble and would keep me out of prison - because what good would it do me to be in Blackgate when I could be lying in your arms instead?”

“It was a beautiful dream, Jim, and so vivid, recalling it brings tears to my eyes. I just needed to share it with you.”

Oswald had looked down at his hands the whole time he was speaking, and his voice had begun to shake during his speech. By the time he reached his conclusion, there were indeed tears in his eyes, and he gave an emphatic sniff and blinked rapidly, struggling bodily to contain them. He wrung his trembling hands so tightly that the knuckles turned white.

Jim swallowed hard and caught his breath at every word Oswald uttered, for each one had been dragged from his own heart and all were true. The dream Oswald had recounted had come from a nightmare, one that had made Jim so afraid that he would never have a chance to confess how much this gangster, this delightful little devil had come to mean to him. He had wanted to tell him, regardless of whether he could hear those words or not -before it was too late.

And it appeared that his dark angel had heard them after all. He had kept them hidden away in his heart ready to escape so sweetly and eloquently through his lips.

So he opened his own lips and took courage, heaving his heart into his mouth at last.

“Thank you,” he said quietly. “That was beautiful, Ozzy. And - it wasn’t a dream, but you knew that, didn’t you?”

Oswald slowly raised his face and his tear filled eyes shone starry bright with intense joy as he said, “Yes, Jim. Yes, of course I knew it!”

Later….

“I never thought I’d fall in love with a gangster.”

“Ha! But you did, Detective Gordon.” Oswald grinned, his eyes shining proudly with love.

“Yes - I did, Mr Cobblepot.” Jim stared lovingly back, then pulled his gangster into a soft kiss.

Oswald drank in the feel of Jim’s mouth on his. He closed his eyes and sighed as their lips parted.

“Mmmmm. Thank you, James. That was a lovely kiss. Hmmm, Jim - an interesting thought just occurred to me,” he mused. “If I’m a gangster - then does that make you my moll?!”

“Ha ha - I guess it must do!” Jim laughed.

“I think you’d look adorable in a feather boa and a flapper dress, Detective.”

“What? No way!”

“Yes, I think you could really carry it off! It would be the perfect undercover disguise. You could be my perfect arm candy when I’m back at my club!”

“ Well OK, if you’re sure - as long as you don’t expect me to wear heels….”

A short time before that….

After his little ‘confession’, Jim had wasted no time following up on it. He had reached out and taken Oswald’s bewitching, tear-wetted face in his hands, staring deeply into his glistening azure eyes before claiming his lips at last.

The touch of that sweet, velvet-soft mouth had ignited a flame of love that had coursed through his whole body, firing up every fibre of his being.

But Oswald had pulled away and broken the kiss, his mouth agape with surprise.

Jim was stunned for a moment, hypnotised by the beauty of Oswald’s astonished stare.

Then he’d tried to apologise, thinking he’d overstepped the mark.

“Oh - Oswald, look….I’m sorry…” he’d begun awkwardly.

“No, Jim, please! I just wasn’t ready…” Oswald had cut in, his eyes wide and bright with excitement.

And he had grasped Jim’s face and pulled him back onto his waiting, welcoming lips.

Oswald had never been kissed before - not like this - that was evident. He was inexperienced and gauche and in desperate need of guidance.

Luckily, Jim was both willing and able to school him in the ways of love. Oswald followed his lead, first slowly and tentatively and then with hungry, unbridled passion.

He sure was a fast learner!

#jimwald #gobblepot #oswald copplepot #jim gordon

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