A/N: Thank you everyone for your awesome reviews! Ahhhh this chapter's a good one, probably my favorite so far. I've strung the plot together pretty well in my head but there's a lot of wiggle room, so any ideas/requests/ or characters you want to see are all stuff I want to hear. (One reviewer mentioned Dr. Leslie Thompkins - thanks! She's going to fit in perfectly.). Anyway, let me know what you think! :D

Selina knew that something was going to happen very soon. Over the next few days, Bruce began spending a great deal of his time sitting near the window, staring out in what seemed like great concentration, and whenever she suggested packing up and moving on to another city, he resisted. He would give different excuses or ignore her altogether, but she wasn't stupid - she knew he was simply hoping that Marcus Michaels would find them so that he could slip him the USB device that he'd been working on every night when she pretended to be asleep.

She knew that arguing was futile, so she avoided the topic of Michaels like the plague. She couldn't control Bruce any more than he could control her, and she was still somewhat sure that life with him would always be like this.

Bruce had also decided to begin the process of growing out his hair and letting his facial hair grow in as well, though Selina doubted this would serve it's purpose of concealing his identity from those who would potentially recognize him as Michaels had. It couldn't hurt, however, she supposed, and she thought the look would suit him quite well. However, the fact that she was giving his hair so much thought in general was a testament to how utterly bored she was.

Neither of them had experienced any fresh air in days, and being cooped up with nobody but each other was getting more annoying to Selina every day. Their conversations were well-rehearsed dances that hopped around the topics that were dying to be discussed but never were, and the physical tension was possibly even worse.

Something had changed since their last intimate encounter, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was exactly. What she did know was that just the slightest touch made her skin burn, including the occasional brush of hands or other accidental things, and they both acted strangely about it when it happened. For two people who knew one another's body quite well by now, the distance they were keeping from each other was odd but somehow thrilling. She saw the way he looked at her when she undressed for bed at night in front of him, and the way his eyes darkened when they ran along the curves of her hips when she slinked about the room wearing next to nothing, but he didn't make a move. She wondered what it would take to break down this new resolve of his, and it became a question almost as intriguing as the one of why exactly it existed in the first place.

Maybe he wanted her to come to him first, or maybe he didn't quite know how to proceed after the incident in the bathtub. It had certainly been the most emotionally messy romp they'd had to date, and she cringed when she thought back on how she'd given in to him despite her better judgment. But as much as she still very much clung to her private, mental insistences that they would never be anything more than lovers, even she could no longer deny the air of inevitability that was starting to take hold.

It was the way he looked at her when she pretended not to notice, and how she knew he sometimes watched her when she pretended to be asleep. It was the way it hurt to keep her distance and not touch him, and the way her insides squirmed when their eyes did eventually meet throughout the day. It was the memory of that kiss, that horribly sweet, terrified, volume-speaking kiss of his that had broken her resolve to resist him and made her realize just how screwed she really was.

But that didn't mean she wasn't done putting up a fight, although at the moment, she was enjoying their current game more than the constant underlying conflict.

Today marked five long, uneventful, boring but tense days since Bruce had awoken from his headache, and this one went by even quieter than the last. If he wasn't staring out the window then he was texting John Blake, or doing his best to turn their suite into his personal gym, or brooding as he stared at the television with unfocused eyes.

Whatever he was planning, it was happening soon. And his silence was evidence that he did not want her to play any part in it.

She'd tried to snoop around on his phone, but he had beefed it up with so many security measures that even she wasn't sure how to break through it. It got to the point where she tried to look over his shoulder a few times as he composed texts, but that never got her anywhere either.

By sunset, Bruce was at the window again, and this time Selina decided to join him and see for herself what was so fascinating.

She stood so that only about an inch separated them, and the proximity raised her heart rate by a few beats. "Care to tell me what you've been staring at the last five days? Or are you still going to keep me in the dark?"

"You should pack your things," Bruce said, staring forward. "I want us to leave tomorrow morning."

"Leave for where?"

"I'll let you choose," Bruce said.

"I've wanted to leave for days now," she said, "but you've been ignoring me. I'm going to assume this means you know he's found us and you want to give him that device you've been working on before morning."

A slightly amused grin appeared on Bruce's lips. "You know I can tell when you're sleeping and when you're just pretending to be."

"I wouldn't have to pretend if you'd shed a little light on what you're doing every once in awhile," Selina said. "Let me help you when you go to him."

Bruce shook his head. "He has to think I took the clean slate from you against your will, and that I'm giving it to him to try to protect you."

"You know, he doesn't have the best track record of leaving people he makes 'deals' with alive," Selina said. "And I know you won't take a gun to protect yourself. You need my help."

"There's no reason to put you in danger," Bruce replied.

Selina's eyes narrowed at this. "You've got to be kidding me. I think I'm more than capable of taking care of myself, or do I need to reintroduce myself to you?"

"I know you are," Bruce said. "But I don't want to take any unnecessary risks."

"This is all one big unnecessary risk," Selina countered. "All of it. You're the one choosing to take it."

Bruce shoved his hands in his pockets and turned away from the window. "I'm not going to debate this with you again."

Selina rolled her eyes and continued to look out the window for a moment as silence descended upon them once more. The silence stretched into most of the night and Bruce seemed determined to speak as little as possible, eyes glancing to the clock on the wall often, though curiously, he seemed to be in a state of complete calm.

She thought this was because this was, after all, his element. She wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't utterly giddy and jumping with excitement inside.

Selina had no intention of sleeping tonight, but when the hour she normally prepared for bed rolled around, she went through her usual routine and then fished through her suitcase in search of something to change into, but she only found clothes that were in desperate need of laundering by now. But then her eye fell upon a white button down shirt that hung on the door of the bathroom she was in, and with the inklings of an idea forming in her mind, she took Bruce's shirt and shrugged into it, fastening only the middlemost button and sauntering back out into the main room.

Bruce was perched on the side of the bed, head bowed as he stared at his phone, but a glimpse of her bare legs sliding out from under the minimal coverage of his shirt did the job of catching his eye.

She ran a comb through her hair as his eyes ran over her, the raising of her arms providing a quick glimpse of black panties, the only thing she wore under his shirt, and when he set his phone aside on the nightstand, she did the same thing with the comb.

"So," Selina said as she lowered herself to Bruce's lap, straddling him, "what's this fake clean slate going to do when he plugs it in?"

Her hands were on his shoulders and his were on her hips as he replied, "It'll act exactly as he expects it to. After he uses it and he searches for his name, nothing will come up for a period of time long enough for him to think its genuine."

"And let me guess," Selina said, "you've had Blake arrange for the FBI to be here and waiting for some sort of signal from the device to move in and arrest him."

"They already have a perimeter set up," Bruce said. "He won't get away. Even if he destroys the device as soon as he uses it."

"And does the FBI know who's making this lovely little bust possible?" she asked, pushing a stray strand of his hair back on his head.

"Just a concerned citizen," Bruce replied, hands slipping under her shirt and sliding along her skin.

"Right," she said. "You must know that this is all entirely too simple. He's paranoid. He'll know something's up."

"Maybe, maybe not. Remember, I'm supposed to be dead. Most men who fake their deaths don't turn around and contact the authorities to turn in a criminal, blowing their cover."

"I highly doubt he'll take that for granted," Selina said. "But say he tries to kill you the second you hand over the device. What's your plan?"

"Not letting him kill me," Bruce smirked.

"You aren't invincible," Selina said seriously. "You need to let me help."

"Careful, Selina," he said, "I'm not supposed to know that you care about me."

"I've never said I don't care," Selina retorted. "I'd say that much has been obvious for a long time now."

"Then you can understand why I want you to stay here," Bruce said, eyes flickering to her lips when she absently licked them.

"That's not going to happen, Bruce."

They were silent for a brief moment, and then Bruce's eyes fell from hers down to the rest of her as he said, "This might be my second favorite look that I've seen on you."

"Oh?" she said. "And what would the first be?"

"Well, I would say nothing if I could," he grinned slightly, "but... I've never seen anything quite like you in skin-tight leather on top of the BatPod."

Selina chuckled. "Gave you something to fantasize about, did I?"

"You have no idea," he murmured before capturing her lips with his.

Fire exploded within her at his touch, and it almost took her breath away. She'd always felt something like this when they kissed and touched, but it was growing now, and the distance between them for the last five days seemed to have taken the flame and turn it into some sort of inferno. This was unprecedented, and a little terrifying, but she wouldn't have dreamed of fighting it.

His tongue was sliding into her mouth as his fingers undid the sole fastened button on her shirt, and when he pushed aside the fabric and found nothing but bare skin underneath, he groaned and quickly moved her flat on her back on the bed.

"How long do we have?" Selina asked breathlessly between his bruising kisses.

He briefly turned his head towards the clock and rasped, "Long enough."

His answer suited her just fine. Better that they go to meet Michaels relaxed and as tension-free as possible, anyway.

Five days of abstinence hadn't been kind to them, and within seconds all clothing was on the floor and forgotten, and their usual struggle for dominance commenced in a blur of hands and lips and teeth and limbs.

Eventually, however, Selina managed to push Bruce down and keep him there for a minute. "You know I'm coming with you tonight."

"That could mean several things," Bruce said, pulling her down and latching on to her neck.

"You know what I mean," she breathed, grabbing his hair and forcing his head down against the bed. Her lips found his neck and she took her time kissing down to his chest.

"I wish you would listen to me every once in awhile," Bruce said, his fingers tangling in her hair.

"And I wish you'd shut up every once in awhile," she replied, glancing up and giving him a devilish look before dipping down and, without any warning, suddenly taking his entire stiff length into her mouth in one smooth glide of her lips.

He cursed and she laughed, and the vibration of her voice made him curse more. Then she withdrew her lips and began a maddening routine of teasing licking and sucking that left him using words she'd never heard him say before, and when he was seconds away from release, he pried her away by her hair and rasped, "Stop, stop."

She let him move her back up his body and said as he flipped her on her back, "Too much for you?"

"No, too soon," he replied before kissing her lips.

Then he was working his way down, stopping for a moment to bring her to the peak of arousal with attention that he lavished on her breasts, alternating between them with his fingers and tongue while his hands held hers still at her side. She struggled against him and could have cried in relief when he finally continued his journey down his body, and she did when he slung her leg over his shoulder and bent the other one at the knee before kissing her where she wanted it most.

She bit her lip so hard that she tasted blood with the first stroke of his tongue, and with the second she pulled his hair so hard she felt some of the dark strands break off in her hand. With the third stroke, she dug her nails into his scalp and her toes started curling, and after nearly losing it with the fourth, she came apart during the fifth and shuddered almost violently as he tried in vain to hold her still.

As she panted and tried to recover, he held her leg securely over his shoulder and moved back up her body, pleased and unsurprised that she was more than limber enough to accommodate him. Her knee was almost touching her chest when he bent down and kissed her, and she replied with, "That was a new record, by the way."

He grinned and eased into her gently. He started out slower than he ever had before, and this didn't escape Selina's notice, though she couldn't deny that the change of their usual pace felt amazing. He took his time moving in an out of her, kissing her lips and the curve between her jaw and her neck, holding on to her leg with a grip like a vice, breathing hotly against her skin through his open mouth, and it wasn't long before she was seeing stars again.

He was moving faster now but only a little, and the the tension and pleasure was building again within her but languidly this time, and somehow she didn't have the urge to grab him and make him go faster and harder like she normally would have.

It was when they were both close that he raised his head a few inches and she opened her eyes to find him looking into them intently, bearing that same terribly soft, almost painful look that he sometimes did when he looked at her, and a few things happened at that moment.

Firstly, she realized that for the first time in her life, she was being made love to. Secondly, a searing pain tore through her chest and she felt like her heart had burst open. It was similar to the dull pains he'd caused in her before, but now it was so much worse she could have almost believed she needed to see a doctor. And lastly, his thrusts finally achieved their goal within her and her second orgasm gripped her as he continued to stare at her with excruciatingly soft eyes.

Only seconds later he found his release as well, and she held his head close when he buried it in her neck as he shuddered against her. Through her haze, she felt familiar panic trying to grip her mind, but the pain in her chest seemed to be keeping that response at bay. It was strange - her heart felt like it was split open and yet overly full at the same time, like it was about to explode several more times as it thudded inside of her chest.

And it was all because of that damn look.

They lay tangled together for a few moments until Bruce glanced towards the clock and groaned unwillingly, "I need to go."

They unwound their limbs from one another and Selina was quick to follow him off the bed, pushing the last few moment's events from her head and switching to business mode as she got dressed alongside him. He looked at her as she strapped two guns to herself and said, "I really don't want you to come, Selina."

"Too bad," she replied. "You know I'll never be content to sit on the sidelines. Even when you're doing something I think is stupid. Or maybe especially."

Bruce looked exasperated for a moment before he said, "All right, but can you leave the building a different way and make sure you stay unseen?"

"What did you think I was going to do?" she asked somewhat indignantly.

"I'm just making sure," he said. "I don't want you seen by anyone."

"I won't be," she replied.

When they had both prepared themselves, Bruce told her where he was going and kissed her goodbye, then headed out the door for the first time since he'd arrived. Selina watched and then waited five minutes before leaving the room herself, crossing to the other side of the hotel and slipping out through a window. She scaled down the building and disappeared into the night, armed and hoping disaster was not looming.


When she found Bruce in the alleyway he'd directed her to, he was still alone. She was hidden in the shadows on a third-story ledge that allowed her the best vantage point possible while still keeping her concealed, and when a rather stringy and unimpressive thug tried to sneak up on Bruce from behind, she enjoyed the loud cracking sounds that came from his body as Bruce slammed him to the ground.

"There's no need for that," Bruce said loudly into the darkness. "I know you're here and I have what you want."

"Indeed you do," came a greasy voice that made Selina's skin crawl. A few footsteps later Marcus Michaels appeared at the entrance of the alleyway, flanked by a few much beefier men than the first. "Bruce Wayne. I never expected to see you here, and certainly not with Selina."

"You don't know who I am," Bruce replied, "and it doesn't matter."

"Oh, but I do, and it does," Marcus smiled, taking a few more steps towards Bruce. "All of us Gotham natives would know your face anywhere. And here I thought you died in the riots."

"And I thought you were in Blackgate," Bruce retorted. "Can we make this quick?"

"Oh yes," Marcus said, "but first - where is dear Selina?"

"Asleep," Bruce said. "She doesn't know I'm here."

"That I doubt," Marcus said. "Nothing gets past that girl. I taught her well."

Selina's gut clenched.

"Do you have the clean slate?"

Bruce nodded. "I do."

Marcus smiled. "Unless you're lying, Selina's going to be extremely angry with you."

Bruce shrugged and produced a USB device from his pocket. "I'm not lying."

Marcus motioned to one of his men to take the device, and as the man did, Marcus said, "The two of you make an odd pair. She doesn't normally go for the pretty-boy playboy type, unless she's trying to bankrupt one," he chuckled throatily.

The man who took the device immediately plugged it into a laptop that another man had produced, and as he went to work on it, Marcus continued. "You know, something interesting happened the day after I saw you and Selina together at that art gallery she was working at. I have a friend - well, more of a very recent associate - in Gotham, and he didn't seem surprised at all that you were here, alive and well."

Selina narrowed her eyes and strained her ears.

"In fact, not only was he not surprised, but he became very interested in what I planned to do with you when I found you. I told him yesterday that I'd found you and would be closing in soon, and he made two requests of me."

Selina's gun was out and her target was fixed squarely on Marcus' head.

"First, he made me promise not to kill you," Marcus said, "and second, he overnighted this package to me and asked me to make sure it reached you."

Marcus produced a long, flat envelope from the inside of his coat and handing it over to Bruce, who eyed it warily. "I wouldn't be too scared. For whatever reason, it was important to him that you walk away alive."

Reluctantly, Bruce took the envelope at the same moment Marcus' goon on the computer announced, "It's the real thing, boss."

"Excellent!" Marcus beamed. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Wayne. Do give dear Selina my love, and tell her I'll be in touch."

"Stay away from her," Bruce nearly snarled. "Stay away from us."

Marcus' smile grew even larger. "'Us'? You know Selina even less than I thought," he laughed. "But you will find out sooner or later. Selina only thinks in terms of herself. She can not love. She has seen to much, lost too much, and been hurt too much, to love. One day you will wake up and she will be gone. Hopefully for you, however, she leaves your house and belongings intact, unlike mine. But that's what makes her such a dangerous creature - she can burn you and leave you for dead, and yet you'll still love her desperately." He chuckled. "Little bitch."

When his men had repacked the computer, he gave Bruce a final look and said, "Good luck - you'll need it," then disappeared out of the alley.

Within moments Selina was on the ground next to Bruce, and they were racing back to the hotel using different roundabout, shadowed routes, keeping out of sight just in case, and not saying one word to each other until they were back at their hotel room door.

"I think I know who this is from," Bruce said as Selina closed the door behind them. He stared at the envelope in his hands and didn't seem to have much motivation to open it.

"I wouldn't open it," Selina said.

"I don't think it's dangerous," Bruce said, "but that's not the point."

Selina furrowed her brows and stepped closer to him. Slowly, he flipped the envelope over and slid his finger along the seal and opened it, reluctantly pulling the envelope at its open end and peering inside of it.

All there was was a small, clear DVD case containing an unmarked disc. He pulled the case out and Selina immediately went to retrieve her computer.

She placed the laptop on a table and Bruce hurried over with the DVD, but when he opened the case and popped the disc out, he froze. Selina looked back at him and followed his gaze to the now-empty case, upon which lay a solitary joker card that had been hidden underneath the disc.

Bruce looked up at Selina and then tossed the case and the card to the floor, leaning forward and harshly shoving in the disc. Selina stood back as he pressed a button and the video began playing.

What she saw was a darkened, mostly bare room, at the center of which was a white-haired man, bound to a small wooden chair and gagged. She instantly recognized him as Alfred Pennyworth, and he didn't look frightened at all. He looked pissed.

"Well, well, well - what do we have here? Oh, that's right - a kindly old butler named Alfred," came a voice that everyone who hailed from Gotham knew horribly well. The camera shook and drew closer to Alfred as the voice continued. "Now, some people don't understand why I went through so much trouble to kidnap this old grandpa, but that's because I have a secret - Bruce Wayne's secret."

Then the camera swiveled and landed on a face covered in garish clown-like makeup, surrounded by muddy-shaded green hair and appearing more insane than ever. "You see, I was here in Gotham all along after I broke out of Arkham. I never left. Now, you can imagine my surprise when there I was, lurking in the shadows after Batman so heroically saved us all from that terrible bomb - bless his heart - and then I see a half-dead looking guy stumble down the alley I was sitting in, soaking wet, dressed in everything of Batman's except for the mask! So I follow him for awhile to get a better look, and he's so out of it that he doesn't even notice. Finally a street lamp gives me some decent light to see his face, and lo and behold - Bruce Wayne!"

"Now at this point, I couldn't be happier - not only is Batman alive (and let's face it, what good is it not being locked up in the looney bin anymore if there's no Batman to play with?), but not only that - I know his secret now! I'll admit, your identity surprised me at first, but the more I thought about it, I don't know how I never connected the dots before. Very clever, the whole irresponsible drunken playboy ruse - really, my hat's off to you," the Joker doffed an imaginary hat. "And you weren't easy to find, either, but as you can see, I've managed, like I always do. You see, a guy like me can do simple math and use it to come to the right conclusions, even if they make no sense to anybody else. I mean - Selina Kyle? What sense does that make? Gotham's Dark Knight running away with someone almost as cold as I am, who left him him to die in a sewer? Are you sure that nuclear bomb didn't do some damage to that head of yours?" He paused briefly to laugh erratically for a few seconds, then continued. "But anyway - I thought about it some more, and I realized no, this makes perfect sense. What else does Batman do for the rest of his life but try to reform the non-reformable, though on a much smaller scale than before, of course. But I have a proposition for you to consider. You see, life just isn't the same without you, Batsy. I'm incomplete without you - I mean sure, I find ways to keep myself busy, but it's just not the same. So here's the deal - you come back to Gotham, and we do what we're destined to do. If you don't come back, people will start dying. Starting with dear Alan - Albert - oh, so sorry, Alfred - here. I'll give you a week to get here - I know how international travel can be a bitch, especially without private aircrafts at your disposal - but if Bruce Wayne is not back in Gotham by then, dear little Butler will be in the ground next to your poor parents. And whatever's buried in your plot. Oh, and I'll tell the world who you really are, and make sure they all know you aren't really dead. So one way or another, you'll end up back here. I'm fine with either way."

Then the camera turned back to Alfred and the Joker began laughing under his breath. "Don't worry, Al - I'm sure he'll come and save the day. And if he doesn't, we'll have a lot of fun. Well - I'll have a lot of fun." Then he dissolved into hysterical laughter, and with another great shake of the camera, the video was over.

And that was when Selina knew that Gotham had found it's way back into hers and Bruce's future.