What happened that night in the Blackgate penitentiary left Bruce greatly impacted. He decided to temporarily abandon his occasional activity as a masked vigilante and handed the special suit to Alfred. Punching a robber a few times was one thing, killing was another very different, no matter how much someone deserved it and no matter if he really had been the one who delivered the fatal blow. He also felt very confused about Selina. His mind told him that what he had heard from her was almost a declaration of love. And that the "power" Selina had mentioned to Ras al Ghul was nothing more nor less than Love. But on the other hand, why had not she openly told him "Bruce, I love you"? Why had not she even given him a kiss? And he was not sure what to think about the ferocity the girl had shown that night.

"I wish you were here with me, Mom," he said sadly one day as he put flowers on Martha Wayne's grave. "You could explain some things to me about how girls think".

During the following days, while Butch Gilzean awoke from the coma and became "Solomon Grundy"; while Sofia Falcone played a two-way game between Gordon and the Penguin in order to gain power in Gotham; and while Edward Nygma, having been thawed by a "fan" of his, sought to recover his intelligence (which he had apparently lost) by all possible means and met unexpectedly with "Solomon Grundy", Bruce did not see Selina and was moody and depressed. And he was more so as a charity auction to be held at Wayne Manor approached. He had no desire to be there, nor to shake hands with people he despised, nor to smile when he felt sad and lonely. Alfred, however, reminded him that he was Bruce Wayne and that it involved obligations.

A few days before that auction, coinciding with the first murder of "Professor Pyg", Bruce was in his bed trying to sleep without success (the sun was already rising and he had only managed to doze a little) when he noticed that they touched his face. He opened his eyes, startled. It was Selina.

'What are you doing here?,' he asked cautiously. 'Are you here to steal, maybe?

'It had not occurred to me, but if you wish I'll take a look to see if there's anything I can sell here to any of the fences I know," the girl answered in that sarcastic tone so typical of her. 'But no, I'm not here for that. I have come to propose that we take a tour together through the Narrows.

Bruce hesitated.

'What is that so terribly important that you have to do and that keeps you from coming with me?,' the girl asked, climbing onto Bruce's bed.

'Er ... nothing.'

'What are you waiting for? Come, get dressed and let's go now.'

Bruce got out of bed, picked up some clothes and prepared to get dressed. But then, he noticed a problem —Selina was there with him and she kept looking at him.

'Can you ... can you turn around?,' he asked in a shy tone.

'As you wish,' the girl answered, turning around. 'Although frankly, I don't think you have anything to be ashamed of. What's more, I'd even say you're pretty gorgeous,' she added cheekily as she chuckled.

Bruce felt his face burning but he did not answer. He changed clothes quickly. Since he had his back to her, he could not see Selina casting a fleeting glance and smiling mischievously.

They left the bedroom, making sure not to make noise. Selina picked up the ignition keys of one of the cars in the garage of the Wayne Manor, then, the two young men went to the garage and left there by car, with Bruce as the driver.

While driving to the Narrows, Selina told him that the Penguin and Sophia Falcone had allied to control Gotham, and that Victor Zsasz had killed several former mafiosi who were former allies of Carmine Falcone. She told him about a bar where illegal fights were held and about a fighter named "Solomon Grundy". She also told him about how she, Barbara and Tabitha had set up a business of selling weapons.

'You sell weapons to criminals?,' Bruce scolded her softly.

'Are you going to reproach me for that? Wayne Enterprises sells weapons in huge quantities, and the people who buy them are not exactly angels,' the girl snorted in an exasperated tone.

'It's true,' Bruce admitted; he knew from Lucius Fox that Wayne Enterprises actually sold weapons to countries at war and that these weapons were used to perpetrate crimes against civilian populations.

Selina told him to stop the car in front of an old apartment building. They got out of the car and then Selina did something strange —she started taking water with her hands from a huge puddle and sprayed the car with it.

'What do you do?'

'This car seems too new. If we leave it like this, when we leave the place where we're going, only its body will remain because the rest of its pieces will have been stolen. You have to mess it up so it's not so attractive.'

Bruce nodded, and started helping Selina to dirty his car. He even took the key to scratch the car with it but Selina stopped him. In addition to dirtying the car, they took garbage from the ground and used it to deliberately dirty the seats. When the car was really dirty, Selina nodded.

'Better. Come on, Bruce.'

They entered the building. After climbing several floors (the elevator did not work and in a neighborhood like that it was impossible to find a technician to repair it) they stopped in front of a door. They called, and they were opened by a very tall man, who was wearing a green suit and a black bowler hat, and who smiled in a strange way. His face was familiar to Bruce but he did not remember why.

'Hello, Cat,' the man said, still smiling. 'Well, well, well, it seems that the rich heir of the Wayne family has deigned to visit us,' he looked at Bruce with contempt.

'What are you doing here, Ed?,' Selina frowned.

'Only business, Cat,' the one named Ed looked back and Bruce could see ... Dr. Lee Thompkins, Jim Gordon's ex-girlfriend? What was she doing there? And then, Bruce remembered. That guy was Edward Nygma, the former Gotham police forensic expert, who had incriminated Gordon and made him go to jail, and who had earned later a sad reputation as the criminal nicknamed "The Riddler".

'Leave us alone, Ed," the doctor , before Bruce could say anything.

'Have a nice day, Lee,' Ed Nygma said, raising his hat slightly, then, he left.

'What was he doing here?,' Selina asked, frowning.

'I'm running out of medicine and I need money,' Lee replied, looking down.

'And the solution is for him to give it to you, right?,' Selina shook her head. 'Lee, you're a good person. You shouldn't make deals with a guy like Ed Nygma.'

'What alternative do I have? There are many poor people here who need my help,' Lee sighed . 'Here, nobody has a health insurance, and the government does not want to do anything about these neighborhoods. In addition, Ed has changed. He's no longer "the Riddler".

Selina rolled her eyes and sighed, as if to say "how naive".

Bruce, on the other hand, had taken a look around him. He saw that Lee Thompkins had set up a clinic in his apartment, but he also saw that it was not very well equipped. Obviously she did not have the means to do much, and she would surely have to resort to unclear means to procure medicines and medical supplies. He knew what he had to do.

'Doctor Thompkins, if you wish I can make some calls so that from the foundation Wayne they provide everything you need.'

'Would you really do it?,' Lee looked at him hopefully.

'Of course I would,' Bruce nodded.

Since he was with his back to her, Bruce could not see that on Selina's face, normally inscrutable, had appeared for a moment an expression of tenderness. But Dr. Lee did see it. Because she said,

'Selina, can you leave us alone?'

'Sure, that's what we're here for, do not you remember?,' Selina nodded.

She left them alone. Bruce was a little embarrassed. What was happening here? Lee invited him to accompany him to her office. They sat face to face, with a table between them.

'You see, Bruce. A few days ago, Selina came here to have stitches on a knife wound that was given to her in a street fight,' Bruce shuddered. 'Let's say, while I was curing her, we talked. Afterwards, we've seen each other more times, and I've been getting her to tell me more things. And let's say that you occupied an important part of our conversations.'

Bruce began to feel uncomfortable. He suspected where Dr. Thompkins wanted to go and he was not sure he wanted to talk about it.

'I... I don't know what you're talking about.'

'I think you do, Bruce,' Lee smiled. 'You see, Selina is very reserved. It's normal, if you consider the kind of life she has. But as a doctor I know how to get people to open up, to them tell you their stories. Especially people who are very needy to have someone to listen to them, to give them advice.'

'Is that what you do here with these people? Do not you only cure them? Do you also listen to them?'

'Right, Bruce. With the means I have, I can't do much to cure them. But what I can do is listen to them. And believe me, they need that almost as much as medicine.'

'And Selina needs someone to listen to her too?'

'Yes. You must think she has had to survive on her own since she was six years old. She has become accustomed to taking care of herself, and to get by on her own. Sometimes she may seem selfish, but she isn't. Her way of thinking is that she should not stick to anyone because that can lead her to depend on that person and that person can fail her. And many, many people she has met have failed her or have disappeared from her life. The problem is this, she has found something with which that way of thinking doesn't work.'

'Are you... are you talking about me?'

'That's it. I'm talking about you.'

'I... I don't understand.'

'I'll tell you very clearly. Selina loves you. She doesn't only "likes" you. She does love you. And that terrifies her and confuses her. She would like to keep you at a distance, you and he being only good friends because she fear that loving you will make her vulnerable. But on the other hand she doesn't stand the idea of you disappearing from hers life, and she fears that if she continues like that, that will be what will happen.'

'I ... I don't know what to think of her. It seems that nothing matters to her, that she doesn't care about anything other than herself. And yet, more than once she has risked her neck to help me.'

'It's true, Selina seems unconcerned about everything, but I can assure you that this is just a mask she puts on because in that way it's easier for her to survive in these violent neighborhoods. She also believes that really she doesn'tcare about anything other than her, that that's the way she is and that's it. But their actions demonstrate something else. That's the important thing, Bruce. Not what she seems to be, or what she thinks she is. The important thing is what she chooses to do. In this case, what matters is that she was there whenever you needed it, even she was a bit annoyed with you or you needed her for something dangerous.'

'It's true," Bruce admitted. 'What I can do?'

'Above all, give her space. Don't try at all costs to make her your girlfriend. She's a lonely heart, and she's used to not depend on anyone, and being your girlfriend would be a radical change in that. Make her part of your life, but go slowly. When the time comes, confide in her. Take her as yur confidant. And slowly you'll get her to open her heart to you.

Bruce thought about the charity auction he would celebrate a few days later at Wayne Manor, and decided it might be a good idea to invite Selina there. He proposed it to the doctor.

'It's a good start. But I suggest you do it so that it seems that Selina is doing you a favor by going. It must not seem that what happens is that you want her company.'

Bruce thought for a while and suddenly an idea occurred to him.

'I think I know what you mean, doctor. Thank you and goodbye.'

He went out and saw that Selina was balancing on the railing of the stairs. He waited for her to end because he did not want to distract her and to make her fall. When she finally descended from the railing, he said,

'Can I ask you a favor?'

'Yes?'

'In a few days I hold a charity auction at the Wayne manor. Since I am almost of age, there will surely be a lot of gold diggers there. Could you come too, to protect me from them?'

'All right!,' Selina nodded nonchalantly.