AN: So this is late (boo!), but I did do all seven days (yay!). I'm kinda sad Batcat Week is over though... Anyway, many thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, you're all awesome! =D


Day 7- Dreams

"There's nothing out there for me."

When Rachel died, as cliché as it sounded, a part of him died as well. His will to live, to keep fighting, it was gone. The only happy ending he had ever envisioned after he lost his parents centered around her. But the ring, the ceremony, it all vanished when she did.

Bruce didn't move on, how could he? He never went to find a life, to find someone... Or so Alfred liked to remind him.

"...you're not living. You're just waiting, hoping for things to go bad again."

Truthfully, he might have been. With his parents gone, with Rachel gone...Bruce had lost everything.

Then, Selina happened.

The first time she surprised him, she was like a spark of light in a never ending darkness. She was a breath of fresh air in his stale and stagnant life. She showed up out of nowhere and literally knocked him off his feet.

Then, when he least expected it, she was there, she didn't abandon him. She could have saved herself, but in the end, she came back and saved him from Bane. All of Gordon's, Fox's, and Blake's hard work would have been for nothing otherwise. It was only because of Selina that Bruce was able to save Gotham.

In that moment, flying out into the ocean, Bruce was able to see things with such clarity. Carrying a nuclear bomb could have that effect.

He realized something. No matter how much he wanted it, his parents were never coming back. Neither was Rachel. What happened to them couldn't be undone. The pain he felt by their loss would never go away, but he did have a choice. Would he wallow in that hurt as he had been doing or take the second chance he was being given?

Before Bruce pulled the eject lever, he knew the answer.

...

The days following the detonation were spent recovering by most of Gotham, by Bruce in particular. A Dr. Thompkins in the Narrows helped him. She cleaned and bandaged him and didn't ask many questions. Given the location of her practice, she must have been used to treating random stab wounds and gun shots at all hours of the day. Bruce planned to reward her accordingly once he got out of the city, but before he could do that there was something else he had to take care of first.

During that time he watched her. Every night. Every day.

She took the bat pod and drove along the coast. She checked beneath the bridges and through the ports and all the hospitals with John Does. She even broke into Wayne Manor a few times and then Wayne Enterprises. Rendered speechless by her actions, he knew then he had made the right decision.

Sometimes he couldn't help dwell on what might have happened in Gotham had Bane and Talia not. He had the strangest dreams involving Selina, museum break-ins, rooftop chases, kisses under the moonlight...

Two more weeks she spent in Gotham looking for him. When she flew out of the country, he followed by ship. Once they were in the same continent again, it wasn't difficult to find her.

...

Perhaps, at the time, the whole thing in Florence had been a ruse for Alfred's benefit. That had been Bruce's intention initially. Ask Selina to help him out, bribe her if necessary, so Alfred's dream - the older man had called it a fantasy - could appear to have become a reality. After everything, Alfred was owed that peace of mind.

What Bruce had not counted on was Selina herself. Yet again, she surprised him. She helped him willingly, even after he let her believe he was dead. She pretended to smile and looked so incredibly happy to be sitting at that café with him that it was easy for Bruce to pretend too.

Until he understood she wasn't pretending and neither was he. The prospect of more, however, was still terrifying. For both. But, Bruce was done living in the past.

Somewhere along the line Alfred's dream had become his and Bruce chose to give her the pearls. Most men gave a ring.

"I'd rather take them when you're not looking," Selina smirked, using that teasing smile to hide behind.

What else could she do with all the feelings she was experiencing and didn't trust? A naked body, that was one thing. A naked heart, that took so much more courage to expose. And, Bruce could see it in her eyes, the doubt and uncertainty, the fear. Having wrestled with his own demons he tried to tell himself he wouldn't be hurt if she refused. But he was when she did.

It was two months later when she was finally able to accept the gift he offered, and everything that came with it. It was funny, though, Selina had assumed she would feel trapped the moment she allowed him clasp the pearls around her neck, but the opposite happened. It was as though a weight was lifted from her and she felt lighter and more free than she could ever remember being in her adult life.

No vows were exchanged, however. They weren't necessary. Not for them. Selina had not believed in happy endings and neither had Bruce, but somehow together they found one.