Hi all. Unexpectedly I got the first follower here. Thank you, generous soul! Hope this one will be worth your time!
"Kid, I am not here to lecture you.", Selina's voice sounded bored.
From the look on her face Bruce was sure that she actually wasn't here to lecture him.
Nor he was eager to listen. His hangovers didn't get better with time. It was an early morning and Selina woke him up by loudly knocking on the window. She wasn't here for months, they didn't talk for months…
"Why are you here? Did you decide to steal a new car? Would you like a suggestion?", he joked. The joke was good and his new friends would have appreciated it if they had known the context. Well, they would have laughed anyway probably.
Despite his apparent smugness he didn't feel as confident as he did these days.
Simply because it was Selina and she knew him. She knew him when he was not a drunk crazy billionaire Bruce Wayne. She knew him back then when he was a child with his parent's blood on his hands, when he was a detective seeking the truth, when he was on the edge of killing the murderer of his parents and even when he was a martyr for the Court of Owls.
Well, for God's sake, he knew her too. Before her team up with Tabitha and forming the Sirens gang, before her becoming a busy gal, before her becoming this black leather menace.
So it worked in both ways, but right now he was a weak link because she was a glorious stylish green eyed demoness in the morning light, standing in his windowsill as she did back then.
He was simply a mess.
Actually, it was the first time when his partying moved to the study room. He really hoped that he didn't bring a girl here, but a small-sized white jacket on the floor left little hope for that.
He wondered where this girl was at that moment, but asking Selina if she saw someone would have been clearly humiliating.
"I am here to make a deal with you. I heard that you got the knife back. I would like to buy it."
"Are you serious? I thought you would try to steal it first", he couldn't keep his sarcastic tone down. It was his last line of defense taking into account his condition.
"I don't have time for that. Just tell me what you want for it."
"You are free to discuss it with Alfred. I don't care.", he looked away from her thinking of whether he will look even more pathetic if he finds something to drink. His head was killing him.
"Oh, sorry, I think I should have talked about it with old Bruce, who seemed to owe something here."
"I thought you weren't here to lecture me.", he laughed.
"Be sure I am not. I've never cared less about it in my life. Btw, I think your girlfriend is puking in your bathroom still. I hope you didn't put the knife there. It will significantly reduce the price then."
"Selina, you talk too much for a person who doesn't care.", he finally sat on the couch since Selina found him in half-lying position. "You were right back then. You actually were the only girl I knew and this was the only reason why I cared… Ah, can't believe what a schmuck I was."
She smirked. Is this how they are going to be from now on? Will they use each opportunity to hurt each other, to bring down each other?
Well, she can play that game.
She came closer. He smelled like a cheap alcohol, though she was sure that it wasn't the case. His hair was a bird's nest and his face had more resemblance to her usual Narrows neighbors than to that polite courageous boy who told her that he liked her.
"You know,", she started with a smart-ass expression, but then her face fell. "Actually, I don't care about the knife. I need your help. I think someone is trying to kill me…"
His readiness to strike back on her comments disappeared. This face… He remembered it. He remembered it from the time when she came to him desperate to find Ivy. He forgot his headache, he suddenly forgot that he needed to play his billionaire role. She needed help…
"How can I help?", even his voice sounded sober. He was determined, focused as if he was getting ready for the fight.
She stepped even closer, suddenly leaning so that her face was almost on the same level as his.
"I can have you whenever and however I want but I don't want to. Remember that.", she almost whispered with a smirk and then continued in an almost serious voice "After you quit playing in your teenage dramas, you may remember that old Bruce actually had a goal and this goal was worth something."
She stared at him for a few moments. Even despite his hangover she couldn't help but remember that back then she was that close to him only with one purpose in mind. Such an innocent memory… Would it still be the same? Would she still feel the same? Or better, did she ever stop?
She leaned back. His eyes narrowed, his face got a color of anger.
"Get out.", he hissed.
She didn't need any other directions. She went back to the window sill at the same moment when a blonde chick opened the door. Selina let out a quiet laugh when she almost fell over the threshold.
Anger has been back just for a second: Bruce felt a disgust. He felt it occasionally, but this time it was a strong feeling. Surprisingly, he wasn't angry with Selina for deceiving him. Surprisingly, because those few moments were the best he felt in weeks. He felt like there was a purpose, a calling, something that he could fix, make better. He was needed…
"I will call you a taxi.", he said to the girl without even looking at her.
Probably it is time to check if Alfred was still willing to talk to him…