#i remember max saying caroline would be more interesting if she liked girls somewhere in s3

[caroline-min-max]

Five Finger Fillet

The twins discover that Caroline plays a dangerous game when she’s upset.

Caroline appreciated having her own personal driver and two escorts to help carry her bags. Min and Max were always so eager to help, never complaining or showing any signs of irritation even if her request that they take her somewhere was last minute.

They’d proven to be surprisingly helpful, having a good eye for what kinds of clothing and colors looked best on her, as well as remembering what they needed back at home if Caroline forgot. 

The trio normally stuck together but they’d split up this time to visit the many stores that were on Gotham’s main street. Male company was very much not desired this time as Caroline entered a ladies’ undergarment store.

All that jumping around she did as the White Rabbit put plenty of strain on the bras she wore. It was common for her to return home to find that the one she had on was out of commission. The high impact sports bras this store carried seemed to be holding up well so she wanted to buy a few more while she was here. 

After making her purchase Caroline walked out to the car where they’d decided to meet once everyone was ready. She was the first to arrive, Caroline standing by the car patiently for the boys. They’d waited on her plenty of times so she didn’t mind in the slightest. It was a nice day out and people watching could be fun.

The sun was just starting to go down. This was the hour it could start to get risky to linger in Gotham as the unsavory types started venturing out. Caroline and the twins hadn’t been worried. They weren’t exactly Gotham’s typical “upstanding” citizens themselves and they didn’t plan on being out for long. 

One thug had decided to get up early. He spotted Caroline on his walk to a bar and didn’t hesitate to approach her. Caroline frowned as she spotted, wishing they’d kept the doors to the car unlocked now. She looked around, not seeing either Min or Max.

“Hey, doll,” he said, alcohol already on his breath from a bottle he finished at home as he leaned in close. Caroline crinkled her nose and leaned back from the odor. Besides that it smelled like this man hadn’t had a decent bath in a few days. “Why don’t come with me? We’ll have a real good time.”

“I’m waiting on my friends,” Caroline replied. “We’ll be going home so you just run along.” She said with a wave of her hand. What did a man like this think he was doing coming on to her? His clothes were ragged, filthy, and he was in need of a shave. She walked around these days looking like a rich heiress. 

“Snobby bitch...” the man snarled.

“Let go!” Caroline shouted when he grabbed her arm, shoving against his chest. While he may have been a thug he was a BIG thug, she having no affect. 

“What kind of panties did you get?” the man asked noticing the small bag that displayed the shop’s name she held along with her purse. 

“Go away!” Caroline was mortified. If he so much as touched that bag she’d burn it all when she got home and get new ones. She refused to wear anything that were in that man’s hands. 

Should she attack him? No one seemed to be paying attention but that could change if she kicked him too hard and did some serious damage. There would be questions. She could always stab him if things escalated too far...

Thankfully Caroline didn’t have to worry about that. On their way back to the car, Min and Max spotted what was happening and dashed towards Caroline. In moments she was being held protectively in Max’s arms while Min pulled the man away from her.

 “Did he hurt you?” Min asked Caroline, the man’s collar in his grasp. He stared down the man with a snarl. 

The man was completely bewildered. When she’d mentioned “friends” he hadn’t expected two men, much less two well built, extremely angry, identical twins. They were taller and stronger than even him.

“No,” Caroline answered. “You two got here just in time.”

Min wanted to beat the man within an inch of his life but knew now was not the right time or place. “Get the hell out of here and don’t even come near her again if you see her. Got it?” He gave the man a hard shove back, nearly making him fall over. Caroline couldn’t help but be envious of that kind of strength.

The man didn’t answer. He simply took off running like coward. 

“Lets get you home, Miss White.” Max unlocked the car and helped her inside as Min kept his eyes on the man for a moment longer to make sure he wouldn’t be coming back. “Are you alright?” he asked after all three of them were in the car, noticing Caroline looked distressed in the back seat.

“I’ll be fine...” Caroline answered. “I’m just a little shaken up. I don’t know what to do if I’m attacked while looking like this...”

The twins hadn’t even thought about that dilemma. They felt sympathetic at once. It could be a slippery slope trying to not draw any suspicions that they were actually wanted criminals hiding in plain sight. Seeing Caroline stab or kick anyone could be just enough to make someone realize she was the White Rabbit, with or without her ears showing.

“Well that guy won’t make the same mistake twice,” Min said, Max agreeing.

They failed to notice this didn’t make Caroline feel any better. She was deep in thought about what had occurred, not even noticing when they were home until Min opened her door and wanted to help her out of the car.

Max stirred before sleepily opening his eyes. It wasn’t even near dawn yet but he found himself needing to use the restroom. He’d rather not get out of bed but it couldn’t wait. 

Frowning, Max pulled the covers off and silently left the room he shared with his brother without disturbing Min. Min tended to be a much heavier sleeper but he could be a grouch if something did manage to wake him up. 

As he neared the bathroom Max could hear a faint noise near the kitchen that sounded out of place. His need to relieve himself becoming urgent, he ignored it for a moment while he took care of it. After washing his hands and entering the hallway again he listened for it once more.

He heard it again. It was an oddly rhythmic noise that seemed to be caused at even intervals but then he heard the pace speed up slightly. What in the world was it? He had to investigate.

Nearing the kitchen, Max noticed that the light was on. Was Caroline awake? What was she doing? The sound was continuing and once again he was certain the pace had quickened.

Max peered inside around the door frame. Sitting at the kitchen table, clad in a pink robe over her nightgown, was Caroline. In front of her was a cutting board that Max had never seen before. Placed on it was her left hand, fingers spread apart, and she was stabbing a knife in-between them. 

A game of Five Finger Fillet? Max’s eyes went wide. By the looks of the gashes and deep red stains on that cutting board it looked like it was a regular event. 

He and Min had always been curious about the small scars they’d seen on Caroline’s left hand. It had only been that one; from what they could tell there were no visible blemishes on her right. More observant than most men, Min and Max had noticed the number of scars slowly grow and Caroline had once gone out with them when she had her thumb bandaged. 

Neither of them ever would have guessed playing such a dangerous game was the reason.

Max stood frozen as he watched, not daring to make a sound as he watched Caroline casually go about stabbing the knife rather forcefully between each space before starting over and repeating, only the speed changing as she got more confident that she wouldn’t miss. Her eyes looked completely glazed over. 

He wanted to cry out for her to stop, his heart in his throat, but Max was afraid he’d startle Caroline and she’d wind up harming herself because he’d distracted her. It was terrible to watch. The knife’s blade was glinting, like it had been sharpened recently, and that tip looked deadly. It would likely slice into skin easily like butter.

It took several minutes before the inevitable happened.

“Ahh!” Caroline hissed through her teeth when she nicked the side of her middle finger, wincing. At last her strikes paused.

The small gasp Max let out to witness it happen was plenty loud enough to send Caroline’s sensitive ears shooting upright. She looked towards the doorway, expression not changing when she spotted him.

“Good evening, Max,” Caroline said calmly. “Can’t sleep either?”

“I-I...” Max stammered, taken aback by the fear he suddenly felt. That wasn’t the reaction he’d been expecting and those big, pink eyes of hers seemed to be looking right into his soul. “Miss White... Why are you doing that?”

“Oh, this?” Caroline looked back down. Her cut was still bleeding and slowly trickling onto the cutting board to give it a new stain. “Stress reliever.”

“But you hurt yourse-” Max began as he started towards her.

“So?” Caroline snapped harshly, her glare when she looked back at Max stopping him in his tracks. “Everyone else gets to hurt me so why don’t I get a say in it?!” Her frown was practically a snarl now. “That’s how it’s always been! My dad got to hit me whenever he wanted. When I thought it couldn’t get worse than that every time I worked at that club I had to deal with those gross men trying to put their hands on me. Whenever I’d complain about it I was told that I should be grateful anyone would even be interested in me because I was the ugliest girl there!” 

“Miss White...” Softly saying her name was all Max could think of. He didn’t dare try to get any closer. The knife was still clenched firmly in Caroline’s grasp and aimed at her hand. 

“And I still can’t do a damn thing about it as Caroline White! If I were the White Rabbit then that guy would’ve been dead! I can’t stab or kick anyone when I’m just me! I tried to push him away but I’m too weak! No matter how much I work out it won’t change how small and useless my hands are against lunk heads like that! He would’ve just laughed at me if I’d punched him!” 

That’s how it had gone in the past. All of a rabbit’s strength was in their powerful legs. Nothing had happened to enhance the power in Caroline’s arms or fists at all. These days if she punched an average person she could likely hurt them but she’d never be winning a fistfight with any of Gotham’s goons.

“The real me will always be nothing but useless! She’ll always be here!” Caroline’s frustration at herself kept building. She was shaking now, as if her anger was too much for her tiny body to handle.

His mind still racing as to what to do, Max noticed movement from the opposite entryway. It seemed Min had woken up and decided to see what was keeping Max out of bed. He’d likely heard Caroline just like Max did after that.

“If that’s going to keep happening then I might as well hurt myself before someone else gets to it!” As Caroline kept ranting Min very slowly started entering the kitchen, not making a sound. In his socks he slid more than walked across the linoleum. Max avoided looking at him so as not to alert Caroline to anything going on behind her. “Sometimes... Sometimes... I just want to take this knife and...” She raised it high above her head.

“DON’T!” Max cried as he ran towards her.

Caroline thrust the knife down towards the back of her hand. In a flash Min was at her back, grabbing her wrist to try and slow the knife’s descent. Max dove forward and slid his hand over the top of Caroline’s, wincing to feel the knife’s tip pierce into his hand. Thankfully it didn’t go any further.

Completely stunned Caroline offered up no resistance as Min gently slid the knife out her hand and tossed it to the side. Max hadn’t been cut badly at all but everyone’s eyes were on the small amount of blood that oozed from it. 

“Why would you do that?” Caroline asked, horrified by what she’d accidentally done. “My hand is already cut up but yours...” Tears welled up in her eyes. 

“We couldn’t just stand by and watch you hurt yourself,” Max answered softly. 

“It’s fine!” Caroline tore her wrist out of Min’s grasp. “It’s only my hand; I don’t go any farther! If you two are going to live here you’re going to have to ignore it. I’ll only do it at night when you should be sleeping!”

“We can’t do that, Miss White,” Min replied. Now that he and Max knew they were going to put a stop to it. 

“Well you don’t have any say in it!” Caroline snapped. 

“Please?” Max took a different approach, looking at Caroline with pleading eyes. He cautiously reached forward and grasped both of her hands.

“You’re going to get blood on yo-” Caroline began but Max held onto her hands firmly, but as gently as he could, so she couldn’t pull them away. 

“These are the hands that saved my life,” Max interrupted, not caring about the slight wetness he felt from Caroline’s cut. “These are the hands that took the bullet out of my shoulder and sewed me up. These are the hands that checked my wound each day and changed my bandages until I healed. You’re not useless, Miss White.’

“You have Max and I now,” Min tried to remind her again. We can handle the rough stuff! You’re the brains! The three of us can handle anything together but Max and I would fall apart without you!”

“It’s true!”

Caroline stiffened when she felt Min hug her from behind. Max looked at his brother nervously, worried he’d just made the worst move possible. Min waited a moment to see how Caroline would respond, relieved when she didn’t get angry or try to pull away.

“You said when you hired us that you wanted us to protect you, to keep you safe,” Min pointed out, his voice a low, soothing hush. “We’re doing that right now. You can’t do this anymore.” 

Caroline didn’t respond. 

“Please promise us, Miss White.” Max’s puppy dog eyes were enough to make Caroline soften up and sigh.

“Fine,” Caroline relented. “You two win.”

“Thank you.” Max leaned forward and kissed Caroline’s forehead. If Min could keep his hands on her shoulders surely he could get away with something so small and chaste. “Lets take care of our cuts now.”

“Y-yes...” Caroline replied, a bit flustered from the affection.

Min let Caroline go as Max helped Caroline up so they could walk over to the sink and wash their hands. Just in case of kitchen accidents there was a box of band-aides in a junk drawer that Max took out, wrapping one around Caroline’s finger before placing one over the top of his hand.

“It was shallow,” Max said with a smile when he noticed the look of guilt on Caroline’s face. “It’ll heal in no time!”

Caroline turned back towards the the kitchen table and saw that Min seemed to have vanished. The cutting board and knife had disappeared too. He had to have been as sneaky as possible to leave without her hearing him.

She knew what he was doing. He was either hiding or throwing away the knife and cutting board in hopes she wouldn’t be tempted to use them again. They’d be so simple for her to replace, and she’d be sneakier about it the next time around, but a promise was a promise.

Min was back soon enough. He looked at Caroline timidly, as if worried she were going to yell at him. He seemed perplexed when she offered a small smile instead.

“Now there’s something I want,” Caroline said as she crossed her arms, the twins straightening up at once and moving to stand in front of her. She sounded serious. “You two are the only men allowed to touch me. Anyone else does it when we’re not in civilian clothing you give them a nice new hole in their forehead. Otherwise... I guess you’ll have to stick close to me so what happened today won’t ever again.”

“We’ll wait outside the store for you from now on if we can’t come in!” Max agreed, Min too busy thinking about how Caroline had said he and Max were the only two men allowed to touch her to speak.

“Thank you.” Caroline knew she couldn’t have gotten a better response. Well...” Her ears wilted and shoulders slumped as she leaned against the counter. With all the excitement over with she was feeling her lack of sleep now. “Lets go back to bed and try and put this unpleasantness behind us.” She stifled a yawn.

“You’re OK?” Max asked.

Caroline nodded. “I know it was shocking for the two of you but it was like scratching an itch for me, Max.” She held up her hand to inspect the band-aide. Still on snug with no sign of any blood leaking through. “I’m just sorry you both saw that...” She must have looked like a madwoman. 

Embarrassed, ashamed, and guilty all at once Caroline exited the kitchen. The twins lingered for a moment before they nodded at one another and started for their room as well. They felt confident that Caroline would stay in her room until morning. 

She’d given them her word and they wouldn’t forget to fulfill their end of the deal as well.