Author's Note: Hello everyone! Here is the next update, hopefully it'll start to answer some questions. This one is probably on the verge of being rated M, so please don't be too angry with me, but even I can't resist writing a bit of BatCat smut. Anyway, let me know what you think once you've read it.

Happily Ever After

Four.

Selina immediately began to plan an extravagant night for Sofia and Alfred and refused all help that Bruce, in a half-assed manner, tried to offer her. It only took about an hour, and soon everything was coming together. And she absolutely refused to let Bruce in on any of it.

Alfred would be taking Sofia out for dinner and a show in town. They would have to leave about five in the afternoon in order to make their dinner reservations that Selina insisted that she set up for them. Selina had paid for everything, saying that she and her husband felt awful for missing Alfred's birthday and they just wanted to do something nice for them.

Alfred was curious at first, Bruce not being one to lavish gifts on the older gentleman in the past, but since being with Selina, he'd known that Bruce had changed.

To be absolutely certain the house would lay empty all night, Selina had booked them a room at the fanciest and most romantic hotel in town…town that was forty minutes away. Even if Sofia wanted to say no, and Selina was banking on the fact that she wouldn't, she couldn't because Alfred would insist that they couldn't refuse the gift. Particularly a gift that was so expensive.

It was one in the morning when Selina slipped out of the bed she shared with her husband. She moved soundlessly, careful not to disturb the man next to her. She waited until he was sound asleep, rolled over on his left side and away from the door. Bruce's breaths were deep and rhythmic. This was her chance. It was time for her to go.

Selina headed downstairs to the spare bedroom and she slipped into her newly acquired leather cat suit, a new version of the one she'd worn in Gotham more than a year ago. It was a bit stiff, but it fit her perfectly. She had to remember to send a thank you note to the leatherworker who fashioned it for her later. However, her smirk of pleasure changed as she zipped it up to her neck. It instantaneously brought back the memories of the last time she'd put a suit like this on. The last time she'd put it on was when she decided to stay in Gotham and help the man she was now married to. She thought he was crazy then, now she knew the truth: he was. But then again, so was she.

Selina's mode of transport was going to be the motorcycle that she'd convinced Bruce she needed just last week. And while she was fond of the cycle itself, she missed the Batpod dearly. She steered her motorcycle on the narrow Italian streets, wishing silently that Bruce hadn't blown it up in Gotham.

It was a long ride in the dark. Selina wore her new night-vision goggles so she could avoid using the headlamp as long as she possibly could.

After what felt like an eternity, Selina stopped the motorcycle about a distance of a city block in Gotham from Sofia's house. It lay dark and quiet. Just like Selina liked it and needed it to be.

As she approached the house, Selina was grateful that Sofia had given her a tour of the whole house, except the room that she kept referring to as her 'office'. That was where Selina figured she needed to start. That could be the only place she needed to go, barring some secret room like Bruce had.

Silently and stealthily, Selina made her way up to the house. She found plenty of long shadows to keep herself hidden in, being well-practiced in keeping the prying eyes off of her. While Sofia didn't have many neighbors, it wasn't possible to be too careful in these situations. She crept around the side of the renovated farmhouse and found a window that would be in the precise place as that of where Sofia's office lay in the floor plan. Of course it was closed; that would be too easy.

The last time Selina had visited the house, she remembered to check for an alarm system. She thought it would be too odd to ask Alfred flat out, but she was in luck. There was a keypad by both the front and back doors and after expertly picking the locks on the back door; she paused at the blinking keypad to her left.

She knew she was only going to have about 30 seconds, maybe 45 at most, to type in the code. Lucky for her, she was excellent at this. She cracked her knuckles and got to work.

A simple device pulled from her utility belt and scanned over the buttons showed significant wear on 4 digits. And she knew, after watching Sofia the last time she was there, that the first digit was zero. That brought down the possible number of combinations to a very manageable figure. But she was still only going to have two times, she reasoned, to try it out.

"Try 0-8-6-2," a voice growled behind her.

She jumped a mile and lashed out with her arm, immediately at the defense. Her elbow connected with a hard body, but only for a moment. The second intruder grabbed her arm and whirled her around, so they could see eye to eye.

Selina stared incredulously at her husband. He was dressed in all black, and it was eerily reminiscent of the batsuit that he'd donned as savior of Gotham.

"Type it in, Selina," he said. "We don't have much time."

She turned back to the keypad and did as she was told. The panel read disarmed and Selina turned back to her husband. They stared at each other in silence for a full minute before Bruce spoke.

"Did you really think I was going to let you do this alone?" he asked, his voice not dropping the Batman growl.

"Get out," she said as forcefully as she could with a whisper. "This isn't yours…"

"You are my wife and therefore I am here with you," he said.

"This is ridiculous. I don't have time for this," she said, shoving him aside as best she could.

Her path to the office was long. All of the curtains and blinds were up, letting in the light from the moon and stars, so Selina and Bruce were going to have to remain low to make sure no one outside saw movement within the house.

She wished to hell that he wasn't here, but he was, so the point was moot. Selina crouched to the ground and Bruce followed her actions.

"What's the plan?" he whispered.

"It was to get in and get out as quickly as possible. But now you're here and…"

"And I can keep watch for you," Bruce finished.

"Or do you mean over me?" she asked in a hoarse whisper. But it didn't matter. Whatever he said wasn't going to change her mind or make her feel any better. "Never mind, just please stay back, Bruce," she said.

"You get five minutes in that office," he said. "Then we're getting the hell out of here."

"Honey, that's more than enough time to do what I need to," she said. She winked in his general direction and headed off in the direction of the office.

Selina crouched as close to the ground as possible and soon she was at the door to the office. She tried the doorknob, but it wouldn't turn. Locked. This was definitely the room she needed. Why would Sofia need to keep a room locked unless there was something in there to hide?

Selina pulled her lock-picking equipment out of her utility belt and began working on it. This lock was more sophisticated than that of the backdoor, which might have surprised anyone else, but Selina knew she was getting to the good stuff.

"Here, let me try," Bruce's voice said as she put his gloved hand on hers.

Selina shook her head in anger. "Seriously, Bruce. You were supposed to stay in the sitting room, keeping an eye out. I used to do this myself all the time."

"I know," he said. "But now you don't have to."

She withdrew her death-grip on the lock picking tools and let Bruce take hold of them. Within seconds, the shiny brass knob was turning under his grip and the door was swinging open.

He gave her a knowing look and she rolled her eyes in response. Selina pushed past him and adjusted her night-vision goggles once more. The window was directly opposite the door that they had just opened. There was a desk against the wall to her left and two tall file cabinets on either side of the large window.

A computer was idling on the large desk, the soft hum filling Selina's ears. She wanted to go through every single file on that computer, but there wasn't going to be enough time.

"What would be your first stop?" Bruce asked.

"The computer," she said.

He shook his head.

"What, then?" she asked him flatly. "The file cabinets will take just as long as the computer."

"I'd start with the picture on the desk," he said, pointing at a small framed photo.

Selina narrowed her eyes again and focused on the photograph that Bruce was talking about. She recognized the man that a younger Sofia was standing with. She wasn't sure why though.

"I know him…I think," Selina said.

Bruce nodded. "So do I."

"I can't place him, though," she said, studying the image further.

"Carmine Falcone," Bruce whispered.

A shiver went through Selina at the mention of the man's name. She shook her head and tried to clear it, but it wasn't working.

"Just because she knows him, doesn't mean…" she said, trailing off when her night-vision caught sight of something else hanging on the wall. "Never mind…"

"What?" Bruce asked, following her gaze.

"She is a Falcone," Selina said, walking over to the wall. "Here's her family tree. And here's Carmine."

"Cousins," Bruce whispered.

"It doesn't mean that she's…" Selina trailed off.

Bruce shrugged before moving to the file cabinets and opening a drawer. He began to read the names on some of the files while Selina inspected the bookshelves. Finding nothing particularly interesting, she moved on to the desk drawers.

Each of the drawers were locked, but Selina was able to open them quickly. Finding nothing but paperclips and pencils in the first two drawers, Selina moved on to the third and final drawer in the large desk. This drawer housed only one thing…a large, leather-bound journal.

Selina opened it and focused on the delicate cursive handwriting that couldn't belong to anyone besides Sofia.

"Bruce," she said quietly.

Immediately, his attention shifted from the file in his hand, to the book she had laid out on the desk.

Selina hadn't looked for anything specific when she opened the book; she simply picked a page and opened it. A letter signed by Carmine Falcone marked a journal entry. It was dated a year ago, during the time of Bane's occupation of Gotham City.

"Some of this letter makes sense, Bruce," Selina said. "The rest is total nonsense," she finished.

Selina handed the letter to Bruce, careful not to lose the particular page in the journal.

"Falcone was put in Arkham by the Scarecrow over ten years ago," Bruce said. "He was hit with the fear toxin…"

"What?" Selina said. "Fear toxin?"

"Story for another day," Bruce said.

"Okay…" Selina said. "I really like this part where Falcone talks about what the Joker says about you."

"It's too bad that we didn't see this letter a long time ago," Bruce said.

"Yes, truly unfortunate," she said sarcastically.

Bruce produced another device from his own belt and snapped a picture of the letter.

"That won't turn out; you didn't use a flash," Selina said.

"Ye of little faith," Bruce replied back.

"What's next Batman?" Selina asked innocently. "What do you propose that we do now?"

"We get the hell out of here," he growled. "We know who she is."

"Sounds like a good plan," Selina said.

The couple systematically went through and put everything back where they'd found it. Bruce locked the door from the inside and they silently closed the door.

They back-tracked their way out of the house and Selina armed the security system before they locked the door and left.

As soon as they were far enough away from the house, Selina turned back to Bruce, who was keeping pace with her. She turned and kissed him, momentarily distracting him.

"Race ya home, Wayne," she said, ducking away from him and finding her motorcycle. She sent him one last look over her shoulder before starting it up and heading out into the darkness of the countryside.

With her head start, Selina beat Bruce back to their home and she was still standing in her cat burglar garb, waiting for him.

Bruce found her standing in the kitchen, drinking a glass of water at the sink. Her long gloves were left haphazardly on the kitchen island.

"I'm sure you'll tell me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I've told you how much I like your suit," he said from the top of the stairs as he eyed her form.

"Don't try to distract me from the matter at hand Bruce Wayne," Selina said. "You just show up…"

"Is it new?" he asked as he moved closer to her.

She held up her hand to halt his movements.

"Bruce!" she shouted.

"Okay, I'm sorry I didn't let you go alone, but I wanted to make sure you were safe. I know you're used to working alone, believe me, I understand. But you and I are in this together now," he explained as he closed the distance between them.

"You should have just told me," she said.

Bruce's left hand found the curve of her hip and his right hand slid up the zipper that started just below her belly button. His index finger traced all the way up her flat stomach, between her breasts and he stopped once he reached the ring under her chin.

"So you like this old thing?" she asked, forgetting her argument.

His finger hooked through the ring and he started to drag the zipper down, revealing skin slowly. The first detail he noticed was a long chain with whatever was she'd strung on it tucked into the top of her bra.

He tugged lightly on the chain and her rings sprung free and hung between her breasts.

"My gloves wouldn't fit over them," she offered as explanation.

Bruce nodded.

"I'm curious to find out what one wears under an outfit like this," Bruce said. "You already know what went under the armor I wore."

He kept unzipping until the suit was completely open. She was only wearing a bra underneath.

Bruce eyed his wife curiously.

"What?" Selina asked.

"This can't be only what you wore all those nights…"

"It can't?" she asked innocently as she batted her eyelashes.

Bruce let out a low growl of approval.

His hands began to snake around the smooth curves of her shoulders, stopping only momentarily to trace the scar at her collarbone from the Joker's knife and the round one from the bullet. He began to slide the leather down her arms. It happened much more easily than he'd expected and soon the suit was at her waist revealing all of the pale flesh of her upper body.

The boots she wore put her on an even height with Bruce and she looked into his dark eyes.

"What do you want, Bruce?" she whispered.

"Upstairs," he growled. "Now."

He scooped her up effortlessly.

"I guess I didn't know that my suit affected you this way," she purred.

He climbed the rest of the steps, two at a time, almost at a run.

"You have no idea," he replied.

In a flash, they were in their bedroom and Bruce laid her down on the bed.

"I don't suppose the boots can stay on?" Bruce asked.

"That's the problem with this suit," she said.

Bruce grinned. "There are no problems with this suit."

"Well, if you want the rest of the suit off, boots have to go…"

Bruce blew out air, more likely than not trying to keep himself in control of the situation.

"Well…?"

She waited for him to decide what he wanted to do.

He moved his hands to the hem of his own shirt and removed it before working on the cargo pants that he'd worn to moonlight as a burglar. He kicked them aside before moving back towards his wife on the bed.

He grabbed her rings that were resting on her chest and pulled. He broke the chain and slid the jewelry off. Bruce took her left hand and he slid the impressive jewels back onto her ring finger.

"Better," he said before getting on to the business at hand.

… … …

Bruce woke the next morning to bright sunlight streaming into his eyes. He groaned in anger and attempted to roll over to bury his face in his wife's warm body. But all he found were cold sheets.

He glanced at the clock. 6:30. Bruce sighed loudly before sitting up. His back ached but he smiled as he remembered last night.

Selina's cat suit was in a pile on the floor and her boots were blocking the path to the bathroom. The steel knives that were her heels glinted in the offending sunlight.

The door to the bathroom stood open and there were no sounds coming from it.

He climbed from the bed and stretched before putting on his pair of pajama pants. He smiled when he couldn't locate the top.

Leaving his bedroom, he walked out of the sitting room and looked over the railing into the family room below. Selina was passed out on the couch, in his black silk pajama top with her laptop on her stomach and papers strewn about the room and on the coffee table.

He smiled and took the stairs to be closer to her and to take a look at the various papers she had.

Bruce carefully picked up the computer and Selina shifted slightly when the weight was removed, but she did not wake. And Bruce was very surprised at what he found when he focused.

The floor plans to the museum in Florence and an image of a leopard diamond, hanging on a gold chain, on a marble bust took up the entire computer screen.

He kneeled down and set the computer down before turning to the papers scattered on the floor. There were sketches of the jewel and notes about its size, shape and color as well as location and normal, everyday security.

She'd been working on this for hours.

"Selina," he said, whispering, trying to contain his anger.

She opened one eye and looked at him. She smiled in his direction, happy to see him, but it quickly turns to a frown when she sees the look on his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked, sitting up.

"We need to talk about all this," he said, waving his hand at the computer and the papers all around. "Because you aren't doing this."