Hey guys. I'm sorry it took so long but here you go! Let me know what you think because I only got three reviews last chapter and I wasn't too happy about it.

REVISED: 8/28/2012

Caught in the Middle:

Chapter 7

Bruce was the one who drew back first. He wasn't used to physical contact other than hand to hand combat, and after seven years of not being hugged, it was a shock to his body and mind. Plus, it was Selina of all people he was hugging.

Selina let go reluctantly but obeyed. She took a step back, sniffed, and rubbed her eyes thus smearing her makeup slightly. Bruce chuckled a little bit and got out his damp handkerchief.

"Here," He said gently as he held it out to her.

"Thank you." Selina took it and dabbed her eyes.

Bruce turned to Rachel who was staring at the two.

"Is this who you were waiting for?"

"Yes." Rachel looked down.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked a little angry.

Rachel sighed. "I was trying to protect her."

"Protect her?"

"Yes, when you left, her world fell apart, Bruce. I didn't know how she would react to her seeing you again."

His face started to get a little red. He opened his mouth to say something but Selina, who had been silent up until now, stepped in.

"Bruce." She put a hand on his arm. "It's fine."

He backed down.

Selina felt eyes burning holes in the back of her head so she turned around and saw a blonde and a brunette. They were pretty but in a sleazy way. They were glaring at her.

"Bruce!" They called and it clicked.

They were with Bruce, and they were jealous. Selina turned back around and ignored them as did Bruce and Rachel.

"Well, Selina, we should probably get going. We don't want to miss our reservation for dinner." Rachel warned.

"Okay." Selina turned to Bruce. "I guess I'll see you around, Bruce."

Bruce gave a quick nod, his mind racing for anything to say to make her stay.

"Selina," He called to make her stop and turn around.

"Hm?"

"Would you uh-" Why was he so nervous all of a sudden? Bruce cleared his throat. "Would you like to go out to lunch tomorrow? I know this really nice Italian restaurant."

Selina grinned. "I would love to go to lunch with you tomorrow. It would be great to catch up with each other."

He gave a small smile. "Okay, I'll have Alfred pick you up at 11:30."

"Alright, sounds good." Selina gave one last smile before following Rachel into the restaurant.

Bruce headed towards his car.

-Inside the Restaurant-

Rachel and Selina sat down at their table.

"So," Selina started opening her menu. "What was Batman like when you met him?"

"He was scary!" Rachel exclaimed. "I shot my Taser at him because he startled me and he didn't even blink!"

"Was his voice deep?"

"It was, and it was also really raspy."

"When he helped me, it wasn't really raspy. It had a softer touch to it."

They paused as their waiter came and took their orders.

"I don't know, Rach, it seemed like he knew me. He, he said my name when he left me at my apartment." Selina looked down at her glass of red wine.

"Really?" Rachel asked. "Do you know anyone who would dress like a bat at night and beat criminals to a pulp?"

"No, not at all."

"By the way, what happened that night? You never gave me the whole story."

"Okay, I was down at the docks, spying on Falcone's drug shipment-"

"Whoa, wait a minute, you were where? Does Sergeant Gordon know about this?" Rachel asked.

"He knows now…" Selina muttered.

"Selina! You know how dangerous that is, you could have been killed. You were almost raped! If Batman hadn't saved you, I would have lost you; you wouldn't be here right now!"

"I brought my pepper spray!" Selina argued.

"And look what happened!"

"I'm sorry; I won't do anything dangerous again, okay?"

"Okay." Rachel nodded. "Go on with your story."

Selina told the whole story. When it was finished, Rachel's eyebrows rose. "When Batman saved me, he just randomly disappeared, it was creepy."

Selina nodded. "But, when we got to my apartment building from running across the roof tops, he jumped off of the roof and dragged me with him. Then, his cape turned into something like wings or a glider! And when he said goodbye that was when he said my name!"

"Selina, why do you get all the guys saving you and going after you?" Rachel asked teasingly.

"Oh, trust me, I don't. Have you seen the way some lawyers at the courthouse look at you when you walk down the hall? And when you have Flass eyeing you like you're a piece of meat, you wish that you were ugly. It's so gross!"

"Yuck, he is rather disgusting." Rachel agreed.

Their meals arrived shortly after. Rachel paused eating and put down her fork.

"Selina, are you okay?" She asked.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

"We ask because we are worried about you. When you saw Bruce, you were crying. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

"I'm fine, Rach, I was just very surprised. Out of all the restaurants in Gotham, we picked the one Bruce was going to, too." Selina sighed. "I guess I was a little upset. It's just that, I hadn't seen him for seven years, and it was all of a sudden with no warning. I couldn't mentally and emotionally prepare myself. But I'm glad that it went the way that it did. It could have gone a lot worse."

"I agree."

"Yeah, I could have been angry, which I was for the first four years of his disappearance. But, for some reason, I'm not. I guess a lot of things were happening the night Bruce disappeared. He was angry, so angry. It scared me." Selina never told Rachel about Bruce kissing her, fearing Rachel would get more jealous. Before she came along, there was just Bruce and Rachel. Then there was Bruce, Selina, and Rachel. Rachel felt like the loose end, she had always wanted to be the center of attention. One on one with her is when Selina get along with her the best. A group of four is fine but when there was a group of three and she's not the center of attention, it gets hard.

"Any news about Falcone?" Selina asked, breaking from her thoughts.

"No, we have tried questioning him but he hasn't let anything out." Rachel glared at some point over Selina's shoulder. "It's aggravating."

"It takes time, Rach, just be patient."

"Okay." Rachel gave Selina a small smile.

Dinner finished up quickly after with idle conversation about everyday things. Selina and Rachel departed the restaurant after dessert and left their separate ways after a hug.

Selina took a cab home, her feet were hurting form the high heels she was wearing. Plus, it was too dangerous to walk and she didn't have her gun or pepper spray. She took off her coat and shoes when she entered her apartment. She walked into her bedroom. She dropped the shoes and coat on the floor and walked into her bathroom. She turned on the shower as hot as it would go and took off her clothes. Selina stepped into the shower and grit her teeth, bearing the pain of the hot water running down her back. Slowly, she began to wash her hair.

It felt good to see Bruce again. It had been such a long time. Plus, she had lunch tomorrow with him. She would finally get some answers to why Bruce left.

Thinking of the one on one time with Bruce she'll have tomorrow brought butterflies to her stomach. She hadn't felt that since she was a teen around Bruce. But that was when she had that silly little crush on him.

'Stupid.' Selina thought as she put conditioner in her hair.

She thought of him as a brother now, right? Although, she knew deep down she had loved him when they were younger. But, when Bruce left, it broke her heart. Now, she's over it and she is there for Bruce as a friend.

'I hope…' Selina pondered as she lathered her body with body wash. She breathed deeply as the aroma of vanilla filled the shower.

After washing her face, Selina stood in the shower until the water got ice cold. She got out and toweled herself off. She put on her underwear, sweats pants and a sports bra and climbed into bed. She fell asleep thinking of black capes and blue eyes.

-Next Day: 11:33 AM-

Knock, knock, knock

No answer.

'That's strange.' Alfred thought as he knocked again, this time a little louder.

"I'm coming!" An aggravated voice yelled on the other side of the door.

The door opened to show a sleepy and grumpy looking Selina. She had her sweats and a Disney World sweat shirt on.

Nevertheless, Alfred put on a big smile. "Good morning, Miss Selina!" Alfred greeted cheerily.

"What the—Alfred, what are you doing here? Don't get me wrong, it's great of you to come—Oh my God! My lunch with Bruce is in," She looked at the clock, "a half an hour!"

Selina gasped as she turned around and ran back into her bedroom. She had overslept.

"Make yourself comfortable, Alfred!" Selina yelled behind her.

Alfred chuckled, stepped into the spacious apartment and shut the door behind him. He took a seat on the couch.

Selina rushed to open her closet. She got out some dark gray skinny jeans and a white shirt with a black stripe down the middle of the back. She put on her bra, shirt, and pants and got out a pair of socks. She put them on and got her black knee high boots with silver buckles on them. She quickly brushed her hair and teeth in the bathroom. She also put on some mascara, not bothering with any other makeup. Selina got her boots on and her turquoise coat and walked out to see Alfred reading the newspaper on the couch.

"Alfred! How are you?" Selina asked.

"I'm doing well, and you?"

"Very good, thank you."

They embraced tightly.

"It's been too long hasn't it?" Selina smiled.

"Yes, it has. But, we best be off. We wouldn't want you to be late. You know how impatient Bruce is." Alfred laughed.

"What are we waiting for then?"

The two left the apartment and walked outside. There, by the curb, was the Rolls Royce.

"Alfred, did you have to bring the Rolls?" Selina asked she didn't want to make a scene downtown. The paparazzi were like sharks, searching for anything to feed its hunger for new stories.

"Yes, you are a lady and you will be driven like one." Alfred chided.

"Fine." Selina said as she smiled a bit.

Alfred opened the car door for Selina and helped her in. He walked around to the driver's side and got in behind the wheel. He pulled away from the curb and drove down the street towards the restaurant Bruce had picked out for them.

Alfred pulled up to the side of the road again and in front of the Del'Imperatore Festa, the Italian restaurant. It looked fancy. Selina looked down at herself. She wasn't wearing the right clothing for this place.

"Miss Selina." Alfred said, looking in the rear view mirror. "You look fine."

"Thank you, Alfred." She smiled at ease and opened the car door.

"Don't kill him; he has been through a lot these past couple days."

Selina laughed as she shut the door of the car.

She walked up the steps of the restaurant as Alfred drove away. As she took one step at a time, she became less and less confident. What if things didn't go well in there? What if they went badly?

'Stop it!' She thought angrily. 'If you calm down, everything will go smoothly.'

Selina took a deep breath and shook out her shoulders. She was ready. She walked up confidently and entered the restaurant. She walked up to the maître d'.

"Um, excuse me." Selina got the attention of the male server.

"Yes, how may I help you?" He asked formally.

"Is there a reservation for Bruce Wayne?"

"Yes, Mr. Wayne said that a friend was coming. What is your name?"

"Selina Roth."

"Miss Roth, please follow me." The maître d' led the way through the main sitting area to a secluded booth away from the other tables. There, she saw Bruce; he was dressed in a black suit. He had his hair combed back neatly and was sitting, looking at the menu.

"Mr. Wayne, your guest has arrived." The maître d' announced and Bruce looked up with a big smile on his face.

"Thank you." Bruce said as he got out of the booth. The maître d' nodded his head and left.

"Hello, Bruce." Selina greeted.

"Selina, how are you?" Bruce asked as he stood before her.

"I'm good, you?"

"I'm pretty tired." Bruce laughed.

There was two second of silence before Selina launched herself at him. Bruce caught her; a little startled and maintained his balance.

"Selina?" Bruce asked after a minute of her hugging him.

"Oh, sorry." Selina stepped back and blushed. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' She thought angrily at herself.

"Why don't we sit down?" Bruce suggested seeing Selina was a little embarrassed.

"Okay, I'm so hungry. I haven't eaten anything yet today." She said, easily forgetting about her uncomfortable feeling.

"What time did you wake up?" Bruce asked, taking a seat across from her.

"I think about forty-five minutes ago."

"Lucky you, Alfred gets me up every morning at 9:00 sharp." Bruce complained. "He doesn't let me sleep in at all."

Selina chuckled. "You were always the last one out of bed and if Alfred didn't get you up, you probably would have been late to school every day."

He smiled as he remembered Alfred and Selina trying to get him out of bed on the weekends and during the summer.

"Bruce." Her tone wiped the grin off his face. "Why did you leave?"

Bruce folded his hands on the table and sighed. "I needed to get away, far away. School at Princeton, and the anger I had were too much to handle." He stammered.

"Where did you go?"

"Southeast Asia." He paused.

"What did you do? You couldn't have been staying a nice hotel with a pool for seven years."

He looked uncomfortable. "I did odd jobs and what not."

"You didn't kill anyone did you?" She asked jokingly.

"You're funny." Bruce rolled his eyes. "What do you think of this Batman?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Actually, I got to meet him face to face."

Bruce acted surprised even though he already knew this. After all, he was Batman. "Really? What was he like?"

"He was scary! It was pretty amazing though."

"Where were you when you met him?"

Here, she stumbled to find words, knowing Bruce will get upset. Not wanting to lie, she told him the truth and of course he got distraught.

"Selina! You were where?" Now, Bruce wasn't faking this, he hadn't known that she was down at the docks when he was there as Batman. "Don't you know how dangerous that was?"

"Yes I did, but I was doing this for Sergeant Gordon."

"Why would you be doing this for him?" Bruce asked confused.

"I'm a private investigator for Gordon and the GPD."

"That's right. Alfred told me about that. Go on with your story."

Selina told him everything, from being chased by the three thugs to almost being taken advantage of by them to Batman saving her and saying her name. All the time, Bruce was quiet. His eyes widened when he realized how close she was to almost being hurt.

"Wow, I'm glad Batman came before…well you know." Bruce said.

Selina remained quiet. She was thinking about what Batman said. 'You need to find a close friend to stay with.'

"Bruce, Batman said I need to get away from my apartment. Falcone knows where I live and he could send someone there to hurt me."

"You can stay with me." Bruce offered.

"I would like that." She smiled and he returned it.

"It will be just like old times!"

Selina laughed. "You keep forgetting that the manor is my house too."

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and smiled a goofy smile.

"What will we do with all my stuff?" Selina pondered aloud.

"I'll have some guys from Wayne Enterprises pack up your stuff."

"But I want some of my furniture to not go into storage."

"We can go over with boxes and pack up some things that are important for you. What do you want to pack up?"

"Pictures, books, my working supplies, and my bedding." Selina answered.

"We'll do that tomorrow."

"Okay."

The waitress came and took their orders and left.

"How's work?" Bruce inquired.

"It's going well. I just finished this big story on Falcone. That's why I went down to the docks too. It's my best article yet!"

"That's fantastic! Alfred said that you were the head crime journalist for the Gotham Daily."

"Yes, I am. It took me six years to get to that, lots of coffee and sleepless nights."

"I was lucky to get a night of sleep when I was in Asia." Bruce fussed with his wine glass.

"Why?"

"Nightmares."

"Still?" Selina asked.

"Yeah, they were still about Chill and my parents." He paused. "Occasionally I would have dreams about you."

"They were good dreams right?"

Bruce laughed. "Most of them were."

"Good."

Their food arrived and they ate, talking about what had happened in the past seven years. What had happened with friends. What other little things had happened with Selina. Soon, it was time to go.

"Is Alfred taking me home?" Selina asked as Bruce helped her get her coat on.

"I was actually going to drive you home since I drove here in my Lamborghini."

"I wish I had a car, but I don't." She laughed.

"Come on." Bruce led the way out of the restaurant and went to the valet who already had the beautiful, silver car waiting for them. The valet went to open the car door for Selina but Bruce waved him off.

He offered to do it himself and took her hand. He opened the car door and helped her in.

"Such a gentleman." Selina teased and Bruce smiled cheekily as he shut the door.

"When will you be moving in?" Bruce asked once they were on the main drag.

"Would tomorrow be okay?"

Although Bruce was surprised, he was extremely happy. "That would be great!"

She laughed again at his enthusiasm.

He pulled up the car in front of Selina's apartment building and walked her into it and to her door.

"I'll call you tomorrow." Bruce said as he hugged her.

"Okay, I'm looking forward to it."

She unlocked her door and went inside as Bruce walked down the hall.

Inside, Selina leaned against the door. That went surprisingly well. She huffed out a breath and walked over to the dining room.

She decided to work on a new story on a case that Rachel was working on. But for some reason she couldn't work. Her mind was too jumbled together. She was going to move back in with Bruce, after all these years. This thought brought butterflies to her stomach. Before she knew it, it was 8:00 in the evening and she decided to go to bed early.

Selina quickly changed for bed, tired from the day.

All of sudden, she was in Wayne manor again and for some strange reason, she heard a baby crying from upstairs.

Deciding to investigate, she walked up stairs and followed the sound. As she approached one of the spare bedrooms, she heard another voice.

"Shh, it's okay, shh." It sounded like Bruce.

Selina slowly peaked in the room and saw Bruce holding the baby. He looked slightly older then he was today. He turned and saw her.

"Selina, I think she wants her mommy." He walked over to her.

She was the mother? Bruce handed her the baby and she held it, still unsure.

She was the mother.

Bruce was the father.

And for some reason, she was so happy.

Selina woke up to her phone ringing.

She picked it up.

"Hello?" She asked still thinking about her dream.

"Miss Selina?"

"Hey, Alfred. What's up?"

"Master Bruce is very sick."

-End Chapter-

I will get the next chapter up soon, hopefully.

Until Next Time,

Hope's Survival

Cheers!