Breath of Life
By Serena
Summary: They had both been wrong. Death was only the beginning. Bruce/Selina, post TDKR. Oneshot. SPOILERS.
A/N: Straying from my OTP Batman/Wonder Woman - I just had to write this piece after seeing TDKR. Blown away by the movie... especially the ending. Epic.
Cover art is by me. Check out my Deviantart to see the whole image, along with other Batman/DC artworks.
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I was looking for a breath of life... a little touch of heavenly light...
- Florence and the Machine
He'd always expected to die young. In his line of work... his choices... everything that had happened from the day that he'd watched his parents die in front of him... he had always believed he would die before his time. He had welcomed the idea. Death in battle, death in war. To go down fighting.
But he had been wrong.
And she had expected to die young. Not that she wanted to, or planned on it, but in her line of work... She knew she had a slim chance of living past the next few years. More and more she found herself in deep with the wrong people, and more and more she was sucked into a black hole where she was screaming for a way out, and no one seemed to hear her.
She never thought anyone would hear her.
But she had been wrong.
Neither of them had seen this coming. Not really. There had been hints, and stolen looks, but neither of them really saw it coming. When he met her in the airport, looking completely nondescript, and not like the famous Bruce Wayne, but instead a simple traveler, her breath hitched.
They were really doing this. Bruce Wayne, the Batman, was dead. Selina Kyle, the Cat, was also gone.
A fresh start. The slate wiped clean. Selina realized this all in a minute. They were finally free. No boundaries, no restraints. They could go anywhere, do anything. False IDS, passports, everything in place. Time to start over. Time to leave Gotham behind.
Time for a breath of fresh air.
They didn't say anything when he came up to her, only a backpack slung over his shoulder. But he nodded, gave her a small smile, and she met his pace, striding alongside him towards the gate. But they weren't out just yet... And she saw a few cops not too far away...
"You okay?" he murmured, as she grew more agitated.
She let out a slow breath as they passed by the cops, who hadn't even looked at them. "Yeah." And then, he took her hand in his own and squeezed it gently. Her answer was more firm this time. "Yeah, I am."
And together they stepped forward, walked hand in hand onto the plane, and watched without regret, without second thoughts, as Gotham disappeared into the distance. And Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle were officially dead to the world.
But they had both been wrong.
Death was only the beginning.
Their first night together in Paris was interesting. Both were uncertain of how to act around one another; after all, they hadn't had the easiest relationship in the past, and it had been in the middle of a war. Now, without a war, without being on opposing sides, discovering that they actually cared for each other... made things complicated.
She'd never really cared for anyone before, and it frightened her. Scared her to death. She'd never needed anyone before, but she was starting to think that she might need him.
Finally, that night, in their Paris hotel room, she stood a few feet away, watching him. Neither of them were sure where to go from here.
"I've never done... this before," she admitted, motioning to the both of them. Those dark eyes were full of strange uncertainty.
He knew what she meant. He'd never had a real relationship, either. He'd been this close to anyone before. Not even Rachel. Rachel had never looked at him the way Selina Kyle was looking at him right now.
"Neither have I," he told her, and he meant it. But he smiled at her, and she returned that smile; both were relieved. And when they came together, kissing each other like they would never kiss again, they both knew this was it. They both knew they would never be with anyone else. They both knew that in their hearts, they deserved, belonged to one another.
Passionate kisses soon turned into a dance. Lazy jazz music played in the background as they slowly danced in their hotel room, her head on his shoulder, their arms around one another. Peaceful... relaxing... unguarded.
They spent the next several hours doing things they'd never done before. Firsts, Selina told him. This was a fresh start, and she wanted to do things she'd never done before. They started by ordering everything on the room service menu. He discovered that he really liked chocolate chip pancakes and was amused to find they were her favorite food. They ordered several more plates of the pancakes.
Then, the next few hours, they were shouting at the TV, switching from sappy old dramas to agonizingly boring sports games, where they made fun of the players. They skipped the action movies and the lawyer/detective dramas - both knew why, but neither of them outright said it. They finally settled on an old "Three's Company" marathon and proceeded to lie on the bed, her chin resting on his stomach.
They finally fell asleep at three in the morning. And Bruce finally awoke later that morning, he discovered something when she was lying beside him, curled up, her hand on his chest, her breathing deep, even.
He'd had no nightmares.
Not every night was a good one. Some nights he still had nightmares. Nightmares of his parents, nightmares of being inside Bane's hellish prison, nightmares about everything in his life. But for the first time, he had someone beside him, making those nightmares a little less... nightmarish. When he would wake up, gasping, covered in sweat, she would be there, running her hands through his hair, murmuring words of comfort, anything to get his mind off them. Sometimes he'd share them with her; and other times, he would just hold her, listening to their hearts beating together.
And so did she. She would whimper in her sleep, showing weakness she rarely, if ever showed in the real world. But she would toss and turn, grasping at the covers, and mumble things in her sleep, things that she hadn't told him yet. He would wake her with warm, soft kisses to her face and hold her. Some nights, she would tell him of her past, tears silently streaming down her face. Others, she would just have him hold her, quiet, as he rubbed her back.
They learned from each other. They adapted.
They'd been alone their entire lives, and learning to live with another person, to depend wholeheartedly on someone else... that was a challenge itself.
But for the two world-weary souls, it was a welcome challenge.
It was a promise, a breath of life.
They traveled the world together. They first saw Europe, visiting all the places he had never seen because it had not been important to him, and seeing all the places she had dreamed of seeing but had never had the opportunity. It was an eye-opening experience to them both, in more ways than one.
She saw him, day by day, throwing off the mantle of darkness. She saw the resentment, the bitterness, the aches, the past pains dying away with every step they took, with every kiss she pressed to his lips and cheek. She saw him releasing his anger, his suffering. Leaving it all behind. Forging onward.
He saw her, too. He saw a cynical, bitter, shackled young woman finally released. Finally free to live her own life, away from her traumatic past, away from everyone clawing at her, coming after her. She didn't look over her shoulder anymore... Unless it was to meet his lips when he wrapped his arms around her, holding her to him, and pressed a kiss to her jaw.
It was more than liberating. It was exhilarating.
"Hey, you know something?" she said, throwing her arms around him on a bridge in Venice. As his arms went around her, she pressed a kiss to his warm lips. "We're free."
Bruce's eyes flashed with a delicious, darkening emotion - an emotion that made Selina completely weak in the knees. His only response was to tighten his hold on her... and kiss her again and again. And then, they were lost in each other.
Four months later, Bruce took Selina's hand and led her to the open cafe, the restaurant which Alfred had mentioned. The summer sun was pleasantly streaming down on them both as their took their seats, and Bruce took an opportunity to study the woman who had become the most important person in his life. She was dressed simply, but elegantly, a royal blue sundress, her hair up in a ponytail, and his mother's necklace around her neck.
"You look beautiful," he said sincerely.
Selina looked up from her menu, and she smiled. He treasured those real, open smiles, because they were only for his eyes. Only for him. She would smile like that for no one else.
"You look pretty good yourself, there, handsome," she teased, nudging his foot with hers.
He grinned. Then, a familiar figure sitting down a couple tables away caught his eye. He sucked in a breath, readying himself for familiar, painful feelings to return as he watched his friend, the man who had raised him, sit down at a table and look around. But as the waiter brought Alfred Pennyworth a drink, and Alfred looked up, did a double take, and saw him... Bruce found that he had no bitterness. No pain. No sadness. Just contentment. Resolution.
Alfred broke into a small smile, nodded. Bruce smiled, nodded in return. Alfred finished his drink, and got up. Without one more look, he simply walked off and disappeared around the corner.
Bruce smiled to himself.
"Bruce?" Selina's voice brought him out of his musing. "You okay?"
Bruce blinked, then focused on her. "Yes," he said. "There's just something I wanted to do." He reached into his pocket, frowning. He'd brought it, hadn't he? Ah, thank goodness. There it was.
"Do?" She looked at him blankly.
"Yeah. This." And he took out a small box, set it on the table, and opened it. When she stared at the box's contents, at a loss for words, he smiled. "Marry me?"
Selina grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."
They married in a small Italian chapel with only one witness. He wore a simple, elegant suit, and she wore a long, flowing gown of white. His mother's pearls were still around her neck. She rarely took them off anymore. It was a sign that she belonged to him... and that he was hers.
They sealed it with a warm, deep kiss, and left the church with her arm threaded in his. They walked along the Italian beach, just another unknown newlywed couple.
"Selina," he said suddenly. "I love you."
She looked at him, somewhat startled, but there was that teasing look in her eyes. "Well, it's about time, Mr. Wayne," she drawled slyly. "You did just marry me, after all. It's a good thing, then..." She moved closer, her eyes dancing. "... That I love you, too."
Another few months passed. After traveling everywhere, through Africa, India, Japan, the Caribbean... and finally back to Europe, they finally settled in Greece, right on the Mediterranean. Selina loved the whitewashed villas and the sea-green water, and the warm air. Tired of the cold, damp of Gotham, Bruce couldn't agree more.
"Bruce," said Selina one day, "there's something I need to tell you."
"Mmm?" He hadn't even looked up from the most recent designs for their new house, right on the water.
"Bruce."
At her more insistent tone, he looked up. "What is it?"
She walked up to him, took his hand, and despite his frown of confusion... She pressed his hand to her stomach. It took him a second, but when his eyes widened, she smiled down at him.
"You're..."
"Pregnant," she finished, grinning.
Bruce broke into a deliriously happy grin, but she held up a hand.
"Ah, ah, ah, slow down a minute, handsome... There's something else you need to know." And she held up three fingers. When he shook his head, baffled, she wiggled those three fingers, then pointed down to her stomach. Bruce swallowed.
"Triplets?"
She nodded. "Triplets. All girls."
Bruce paled, and the smile left his face. He suddenly rose to his feet, looking around. "I think I have a few spare Batarangs lying around somewhere..."
"Bruce!" she exclaimed. When he finally focused on her her, she gave him a look. "Honey, forget the Batarangs."
Bruce sighed, glanced away, ashamed, and ran a hand through his hair. "You're right. I'm sorry, I -"
"Bruce, that's not what I meant," she interrupted, exasperated.
He looked at her, puzzled.
She put a hand on her hip. "Baby... I have four handguns and two rifles. We're good."
A year later, Alfred Pennyworth walked down the pebbled driveway of his quaint little beach house on the New England coast. He opened the mailbox and started examining his Tuesday mail. After sifting through several letters, he frowned upon reaching a letter addressed to him, but without a return address. He turned it over, but nothing. Cautiously he tore it open, then hesitated and pulled out a glossy photograph.
Tears immediately sprang to his eyes.
Letting out a choked breath, he hurried back into the house. "Leslie," he called, entering the kitchen. "Leslie, come see this." His hands were trembling as he held the photo.
His darling wife entered the kitchen, watching as her husband sank into a chair, shaking. "Alfred, what on earth is the matter?" She came over to him a placed a hand on his shoulder. "What..." She trailed off upon seeing the picture.
Alfred's eyes were filled with tears... but a smile was on his face, a smile bigger than his wife had ever seen. He let out a choked chuckle, held up the photograph. "They're beautiful," he managed to get out. "So beautiful."
Leslie wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Yes," she agreed warmly. "They are."
The elderly, happy couple gazed with joy at the picture of the man, the woman, and the three beautiful baby girls in their arms, smiling back at them.
Thoughts? :)
Yes, it was pretty cheesy. Ah, well. They needed a happy ending.
- Serena