[prompt] colours seen by candlelight will not look the same by day
With the baby monitor set next to where she's lined her aromatic candles in front of the bathroom mirror and the radio playing quietly (barely background noise, tuned out of habit), the bath water is starting to get cool enough that Lo's thinking about getting out of the water when she hears the front door open and close. She smiles, eyes closed, head tilted back against the edge of the tub and changes her mind - must be Monty, maybe she'll put a little more hot water in and make room for him, it's late, baby must've had a real long day - sinking a little lower.
She knows there's something wrong when the handle twists not right and before she opens her eyes, but there are hands on her throat shoving her head down under the water before she can scream and she seals her mouth shut and struggles, holding her breath. In her mind it's a mantra - you stupid soft bitch this is not going to happen not in your home not in your home oh god the baby get out get the baby deal with this - and between the water and the oil he can't keep his grip on her. It's a big bath; Lo shoves hard and slides all the way to the other end, half falling out over the edge without a thought for her nudity. She clenches her teeth on her lip when he - must be a man, she knows what men's hands feel like, she'll get a good look in a minute, have to be able to identify him - jerks her up by her hair, shoves her into the side of the vanity like he's trying to knock her off-balance (and it works), says something bullshit about the easy way and the hard way.
The Good Lord knows which his Lo has always preferred.
She flings her hand out, grasping - closes her fingers around the first thing in reach (this can't be happening she can't have got this stupid why wasn't she ready) and forces herself around.
The flame of the candle sizzles out when she drives it into his eyesocket; he falls backwards, screaming, into the bath he'd just tried to drown her in and without much of an expression on her face Lo picks the blow-dryer up from the vanity and flips the switch to on.
Monty and Eddie arrive, the belated cavalry, about an hour and a half later. She's wrapped herself in Monty's robe and she recounts what happened in a small voice, twisting her fingers in the fabric and fixing her husband with a look of dark-eyed accusation - in her home, Montgomery Pippin, in her fucking-
"I'm going to make you boys some coffee," she announces, abruptly, "and put Rome back to sleep."
"...you go ahead, babe. Eddie and I will...deal with this."
Lourdes suspects there'll be some questions in the morning.
fandom: the dark knight (original character)
word count: 482
prompt: 1.3 [colours seen by candlelight will not look the same by day]
notes: contains violence (including eye damage) & death.