Author's Note: I apologize sooooo much for not updating much sooner. I lost inspiration for writing for a while and I'm starting to get it back slowly. Hopefully, this chapter, which is rated M, by the way, will be enough to satisfy all the folks out there.

Please let me know how you feel about this chapter after you read it. It would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Happily Ever After

Three

"So what exactly did she say?" Bruce asked. He'd been trying to get the specific details out of his wife for about an hour. But it wasn't panic or fear that was keeping Selina from expressing herself.

She was pissed as hell.

"Who the hell does she think she is!?" Selina yelled. Selina was pacing, back and forth, angrier than she'd been in a very long time. She'd thrown her shoes at the wall, leaving two indentations in the drywall.

"Selina!" Bruce said, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Focus and tell me exactly what she said."

Selina looked at him in the eyes as she attempted to calm herself down. But what she really wanted to do was go back to that damned boat and punch Sofia in the face.

"Sofia said that she'd researched us thoroughly. And that she had found out all about my past and that there was a certain something that she needed my expertise with."

"When?" Bruce said.

"She said it was when we went to Paris for our honeymoon," Selina sighed.

Bruce shook his head. "We don't even know when we're going," he said. "How could she…"

"She said that if I confessed my past to you and she found out, that she would tell everyone about you and your past. She knows you're Bruce Wayne," she finished.

"How could she know about…?"

"About Batman?" Selina finished. "Well, the Joker figured it out. I suppose someone with enough time and enough resources could solve the puzzle, too. It's not that big of a stretch of the imagination."

Bruce and Selina were silent for a second. They merely looked at each other in the quiet and peacefulness of their home.

"Well, we do have the element of surprise," Bruce said. "She thinks that I don't know about your questionable past," he laughed.

"If she had enough time to figure out that you're the Dark Knight of Gotham, she probably should have figured out how we met," she pointed out.

Selina closed the space between them by leaning her head on his chest. Bruce wrapped his arms around her and held her.

"We've been through much worse," Bruce said. "Both separately and together. We just need to stay one step ahead of her."

"I'm worried about Alfred," Selina said suddenly.

Her statement shocked Bruce. He was silent for a minute.

"Say something," Selina said.

"Alfred is a grown man," Bruce replied.

"Yes," Selina agreed. "But he is currently living with someone who is devious and is lying to him. He is in a lot danger. We don't know who this woman really is yet and since we know, that makes it our responsibility."

Bruce wasn't sure what to say.

"And I know he didn't tell her about you," Selina said. "He would never do that."

Bruce shook his head. "I wasn't thinking that."

Selina stepped back from him and looked him in the eye. "Yes, you were. But Alfred Pennyworth would never, ever betray you like that. He loves you."

"Which means she's getting her information somewhere else," Bruce replied. "And we need to figure out where her stream of knowledge is coming from."

"You and I need to figure out who this woman actually is," Selina said.

She immediately began to stalk away from her husband. Selina was going to start researching Sofia.

"Where are you going?" Bruce called after her.

"I am going to start my own research," she called from the stairs. "I need to figure her out since she seems to think she's figured me out."

"I'm married to you and I wouldn't venture so far as to say I've figured you out," Bruce replied as he followed her up the stairs.

"I can't believe you were right," Selina said as she continued to climb the stairs.

Bruce paused in his steps behind her. "Pardon me, madam, but you can't believe I was right?" he asked. "Why is that?"

"You know what I mean," Selina said as she stopped and turned to look at her husband. She rolled her eyes dramatically for effect, but it was apparently lost on the man.

"No, I don't think I do," he replied.

"Oh, seriously, Bruce! You're missing the point here," Selina yelled. Her voice echoed through the staircase and house. "She knows who you are, she knows who I am. She is threatening my way of life and I don't like that. I'm going to fix it."

Selina continued to stalk up the stairs without another word.

Bruce nodded his head slowly. "I stand corrected."

He followed her up the stairs and found her booting up her newly acquired computer in their bedroom.

"Do you know where to start?" Bruce asked.

The look Bruce received would have reduced normal men to a puddle of mush.

However, Bruce Wayne wasn't a normal man.

Bruce Wayne took a step towards his wife in spite of the danger that it could potentially be.

"I am only asking because I've done a little research already and I would gladly share it with you. It might help," he said.

Selina narrowed her eyes at the man before her.

"All right, what do you have on her?" Selina asked.

Bruce turned on his own computer after crossing the room. Once the computer was running, he immediately began to pull up all of the documents, articles and videos that he'd collected about the elusive Sofia.

"A little research?" Selina asked as the information started popping up, filling the small computer screen.

"I can put it up on the big screen if you want," Bruce said.

"You don't do anything halfway, do you, Wayne?" she asked.

"Well, this isn't how I pictured spending our afternoon, but, if this is what's happening, I'm going to invest myself," he replied.

Selina put her head on his shoulder. "You'll get your reward later, Batman," she purred into his ear. "But this might take a while; I'm going to get comfortable."

Selina unfolded herself from around Bruce and headed for the closet, while unbuttoning the shirt she was wearing. She emerged a few minutes later in a pair of black yoga pants and a form-fitting top.

"Let's go out here and spread out," she said, grabbing her laptop.

… … … …

It had been about a month since Sofia had made her demands on Selina during their breakfast on the sailboat.

Bruce and Selina had, of course, kept up appearances and gone to each and every one of the events that Sofia had since chosen to invite them on. There had been a weekend trip to Rome and more trips out on the lake in Sofia's sailboat.

Alfred seemed happier and happier each time they visited; clearly he was in love with this woman. And if Selina didn't know the truth about Sofia, she would say that this woman was also in love with the older gentleman. But that worried her all the more.

Three days ago, Sofia announced to Selina on their 'girls only' shopping trip, that she needed to test her. The shock must have registered on Selina's face because Sofia went on to explain herself. She wanted to see Selina's cat-burglar skills in action before she trusted her completely to the task assigned of her in Paris.

In a week's time, the two couples were going to be going to a masquerade ball in Florence. And Selina would be tasked with collecting a very rare gem on display at the museum hosting the ball. And she had to do it during the party, with everyone in attendance, including Bruce.

Upon hearing the news, Bruce was not pleased. He turned around from his computer desk and looked at her after she walked into his office with her shopping bags.

"No," he frowned. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"

He pulled her into his lap and he waited for an answer from his wife.

"No, I don't think it's a good idea. But how else are we going to make sure she trusts me? I don't see another option."

"Don't do it. Tell her no."

"I want to know who she is. I am going to break into her house and find out."

"I don't like that either," Bruce said. "And she probably expects it if she knows your background."

"I just walked into your house…"

"And back-flipped out the window," Bruce deadpanned.

"Don't even start, Mr. Wayne," Selina said. "You liked it," she breathed into his ear. "And this is the only thing I think will work, Bruce. I don't like that I can't find any information about her. There's nothing about her past, other than what she told us. And I completely believe that it's all bullshit."

"Because it is all bullshit," Bruce said. "She must have spent a lot of time replacing all that information on the internet and everywhere else."

"Which makes it seem like she's got that much more to hide," she purred into his ear.

"You don't have anything else to prove, Selina," he growled back in her ear.

"Pot. Kettle. Black," she replied as she poked him lightly in his pectoral muscle. "I need to know what we're all involved with. I need to protect…"

"You don't need to protect me," he said, rising from the chair with her in his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he carried her to the bedroom. He tossed her to the bed lightly and looked down at her. "It's my job to protect you," he growled in his Batman voice that sent shivers down her spine.

"What about Alfred?" Selina asked as she looked up at him.

But Bruce was already pulling his shirt over his head.

"I don't want to talk about Alfred right now," he said once his torso was bare. His eyes were dark, incredibly dark and Selina knew better than to stop Bruce Wayne once he was onto something.

Selina shimmied out of her shorts and tossed them over Bruce's shoulder.

"You know I like doing that," he said.

Selina's eyebrow arched. "You're really going to debate this right now?" she asked.

He didn't answer her. He merely removed his own shorts and kicked them aside.

"You can take off the rest," Selina smirked as she looked up at him.

"Unnecessary," he growled.

The grabbed her calves, hard enough that she couldn't get away; not that she would want to. But he was careful not to leave bruises. Bruce pulled her toward him and soon they were together and picking up a well-practiced rhythm.

It wasn't sweet or gentle. It was urgent and frantic and they both fought to gain control over the other. It was more of a wrestling match than love-making. Coarse language was thrown about and as Bruce followed her up towards the head of the bed.

Bruce won out, not for lack of trying on her part, and she wound up on her back on the mattress again. He ripped the shirt she was wearing in half and slid it down her shoulders. In another instant, Selina's legs were wrapped around his waist, holding him close; she wanted her chest pressed against his. Her heels dug into his lower back. Normally, she tried to make sure she wasn't hurting him; today, she didn't care.

Bruce wasn't so gentle either. His hand wound itself in her hair and pulled head back to expose more of her neck. She arched her body towards him, submitting to him completely.

Pillows fell off the bed and sheets and blankets twisted beneath them. Selina paused only when one of her lamps shattered on the floor with a loud crash.

"You can buy a new one tomorrow," he said, taking just a moment away from her neck and collarbone.

"I didn't like that lamp anyway," she panted against his shoulder.

Selina was up against the headboard as she finally found her release. Bruce's hand left the smooth curve of her side as well as the tangled mess of her hair and gripped the antique wood behind his wife's head as his own release was coming. It splintered beneath his strong hands as the final wave of pleasure rolled through him.

He collapsed on top of her as carefully as he could and the two of them lay in silence for a moment, panting hard.

"I don't want you to do anything she asks you," Bruce finally said, his forehead finally resting on her shoulder.

Selina ran a hand through his damp, dark hair and settled it on the back of his neck. She drew soft circles with her index finger as she spoke. "I know," she said. "But I have to."

"The Clean Slate was supposed to fix this," he said. "It was supposed to make sure that you didn't have to do anything you didn't want to do anymore. Only what you wanted to do," he finished quietly.

"I told you a long time ago, once you've done what you had to, they'll never let you do what you want to."

He remembered that particular night very well. It was his first night out of his house in eight years and he was on a mission to get his mother's pearls back. And while he'd retrieved the pearls, he lost his favorite Lamborghini in the process.

"And you said that there was no fresh start in today's world. But we've come this far, Selina," Bruce said. "You and I, this house, our life..I'm not willing to give it up because of this one woman."

"We've come this far only to hit a wall again, Bruce," she said. Selina tried to move out from underneath him, but he pinned her in place and looked down into her eyes. She tried to look away, but she couldn't for long. He was damn hard to resist.

"We'll leave," he said.

"What?!" she yelled. "We can't leave! If we leave, we have to keep running. Besides, what about Alfred?"

Bruce rolled over on his side and looked at her after running his own hands through his hair. Selina had come to know that this was his nervous habit. It immediately gave his emotions away, despite the fact that he kept his face blank.

Selina was still on her back, not looking at him.

"What's your plan?" he asked after a tense silence.

"The masquerade ball is this weekend. You set something up to get Alfred and Sofia out of the house. When they're out, I can go in," Selina said simply.

"That's it?" he asked. "That's your only plan?"

Selina turned to look at him. "Not everything has to be overly planned out and dramatic, Bruce. Sometimes the simple plan works the best."

"And what if you get caught?" he asked.

"That won't happen," she replied.

"I caught you," Bruce said back quickly.

Selina rolled towards him so they were face to face on their messy bed.

"Have you considered the fact that maybe I wanted you to catch me?" she asked.

"I highly doubt that," he responded. "But it sounded good."

"The plan will work, Bruce. I just need fifteen minutes in the house," she said as she moved to inspect the now-broken headboard. "I liked this headboard. It was an antique." She brushed splinters off of the bed onto the floor. It was a bigger mess than she'd originally thought. It probably couldn't be salvaged.

"Sorry," he replied with a smirk on his face.

"No, you're not," she said back. "But it's okay, as long as you let me go alone to Sofia's house."

Selina knew it was going to be cold reaction to what she had said. She knew he would hate the bargain she was attempting to make. But what Bruce did shocked her more than she'd ever imagined.

He was laughing at her. Actual, full out, belly laughs.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked.

Bruce was laughing so hard he was trying to catch his breath.

"Do you really think I'm going to let you go alone?" he asked.

Selina rose from the bed and stood, hands on her hips, staring at her husband.

"Let me?" she hissed. "Seriously, Bruce, it's like you don't know me at all."

She immediately turned on her heel and locked herself in the bathroom. That was the last Bruce heard from her for the rest of the night.