Hullo, folks! I just wanted to say thank you to each and every one of you! Today was a rough day and updating this chapter for you (and me) made me feel a lot better.

I also wanted to thank everyone for the reviews. I do appreciate the feedback.

And, as a note, I wanted ya'll to know who I am picturing for Edward Nigma/the Riddler…Matthew Bomer. I know most people won't agree with me, but I am standing firm. I think he'd be a really clever and suprising Riddler. Okay, enough from me and on to the story…

…

The Bat and the Cat Come Back

Ten

Bruce Wayne had been pacing for what felt like an eternity. He glanced at the clock for the fifteenth time. It had only been an hour since she'd left.

But a lot of things could happen in an hour. Bruce knew how much because he'd caused a lot of it in the past.

He trusted Selina. But it didn't stop him from worrying about her.

It was another two hours before Selina strolled back into the penthouse. Bruce was immediately at her side.

"Oh, did you miss me?" she purred as she sat down in a chair.

"Selina," he growled. It was his full, no-nonsense Batman voice. It stopped Selina's smirk immediately.

"Would you relax?" she said. "I'm fine, okay?"

"I want to know exactly what happened," he told her.

"Knowing you as well as I do, I am extremely surprised that you weren't following me."

"You told me not to," Bruce replied.

"Since when do you let that stop you? Neither one of us has a knack for following directions," Selina said as she slid one of her tall black boots off of her leg. She moved on to the next, but Bruce kneeled down and put his hand on the zipper. He slowly zipped it down, from thigh to ankle, without breaking eye contact with his wife.

"I can follow instructions when it counts," he said quietly.

"Touche," Selina replied.

He slid the boot off of her foot the rest of the way and Selina reflexively stretched out her toes. Despite wearing those boots often, they never got any more comfortable.

"Tell me the details. Did you meet with Nigma?" Bruce said, almost spitefully.

"I did meet with Eddie," Selina said. "And he's weirder than he used to be, if that is even possible…" she trailed off.

"Lina," Bruce said almost desperately.

"Can I change my clothes first? And then I promise to run through the whole encounter," she asked.

The pained look on Bruce's face said otherwise, but he got up and out of the way so she could go to the bedroom to change.

A couple minutes later, Selina emerged from the room and Bruce was sitting silently still as he waited.

"Did he touch you?" he finally asked as she found herself a drink from the sideboard. She figured she deserved one after the night she'd had.

"No, Bruce. Edward Nigma did not touch me. I did have a rather enlightening conversation with him and the nutjob formerly known as Pamela Isely…who now refers to herself as Poison Ivy."

"What?"

"Nigma works for you and Isely used to work for you. Well, I guess not for you, for your company."

"Wayne Enterprises hired Edward Nigma?" Bruce asked. "When?"

"Six years ago," Selina said. "He's a computer genius," Selina offered to Bruce as an explanation.

"I'm surprised Lucius hasn't flagged him," Bruce replied.

"Edward Nigma doesn't have a criminal record. Never been collared for anything. Fox wouldn't bother. Besides, you're the one he has it out for…"

"How does he have a clean record?" Bruce asked. "I find that hard to believe."

"Just because he runs in some interesting circles…"

"Interesting circles?" Bruce asked. "That's one way to put it."

"Eddie has always been a behind the scenes kind of guy. And I'm… I don't want to say lucky, but I'm lucky…that he's talking to me at all. I haven't always been so nice to him," Selina explained.

"Hm," Bruce replied.

Selina shook her head. "Don't do that."

"Don't do what?" he asked.

"Don't brood. Believe me, I'm not leaving you for Edward Nigma, for any reason. He might have beautiful eyes…but he's kind of a nerd. That's why I broke up with him in the first place," Selina explained.

"Beautiful eyes?"

"He has mesmerizing eyes and…" she trailed off, realizing what she was about to divulge to her husband. "Never mind."

"Could I trouble you to get back to your tale of the evening?" Bruce asked, clearly annoyed.

"Fine," Selina hissed back at him. "I dropped in on him and the crazy plant lady in their little fortress. Luckily, Harley wasn't there; she probably woulda blown me up. Eddie was a bit surprised to see me, needless to say…because you almost killed him the last time I saw him."

"I did not."

Selina rolled her eyes, but continued on. "I reintroduced myself to Poison Ivy. I told her that I liked her work. Josef probably would have killed me that night."

"Selina! Get to the point!" Bruce yelled. She'd danced around it all long enough and he'd had it.

"You know, you really need to relax," Selina told him in an angry tone. "And no matter what I tell you, you will not be running out into the night to defend Gotham, all right?" she said. "You promised me."

"I know I did," Bruce said, his voice calm again.

"I don't know how much about their plans, because they don't trust me yet, but this is big, Bruce."

"How big?"

"Funded by Lex Luthor big," she told him.

"Shit," Bruce replied. "I hate that guy."

"Well, he obviously isn't in love with you either. Apparently, he's been scheming for years against you. It's against Bruce Wayne, not the Batman. I, for sure, thought Luthor would be too busy trying to kill that Superman guy to bother with you."

"Well, the dealings I've had with Luthor go further back than Superman."

"We could have just stayed in Italy…" she said. "Instead, we're back in Gotham, hanging out with a bunch of your enemies. Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and the Riddler…"

Bruce gave her a silently incredulous look.

"What? That's what he's calling himself."

"So, what's next? Someone dressed in a penguin suit?"

"You have some serious issues."

"That's putting it delicately," Alfred said as he walked into the room. "The both of you could be quieter."

"I'm sorry, Alfred," Selina said.

"So, I couldn't help but overhear. Master Bruce has his fair share of enemies, but I would advise you both to make sure you separate those that are enemies of Batman from Bruce Wayne's enemies. As hard at it is to believe, not all of them are enemies of you both."

Selina nodded. He had a point.

"Well, you can worry about Luthor. Blake and I…"

"You and Blake?" Bruce asked.

"The kid needs help. Blake and I will take down Eddie, Isley, and Harley and we'll get them in Arkham where they belong. Although, I think I'm going to have that hat stuffed and mounted for our mantel."

Both Alfred and Bruce stared at her.

"She won't be an issue much longer," Selina purred conspiratorially. "You just do what you came here for, Bruce," she said. "Don't worry about anything else."

…

"She was here?" Harley squeaked angrily. "In my house? And you let her leave alive?"

"Came to pay me a visit," Edward said offhandedly.

"And why would she want anything to do with a lowlife loser like you?" Harley spat at him.

"Because Ivy and I worked it all out. We were ready for her; I knew she'd be curious. And curiosity is going to kill the cat," he replied, a sly grin on his face.

"She won't know what hit her," Ivy smiled seductively. "The poison will first drive her crazy before it renders her totally useless. And we'll be able to use her in the meantime."

…

To Be Continued….