"Bruce," Selina sighed as they sat in the examination room with Cassandra, "you understand that sedating a child every time they begin to act out is not good for them, right?"
"I understand that Cassandra has the ability to injure a fair number of people." He stood besides the girl, as she swayed a bit from the dose of sedative that Bruce just recently gave her. Cassandra seemed to be trying to fend it off, but it was a loosing battle as her eyes drooped.
"Still doesn't give you a right to knock her out." She crossed her arms.
"Would you rather her hurt Leslie?" Bruce asked, steadying Cassandra to prevent her from falling over and she was refusing to lay down on the cushioned exam table.
"She was just going to hurt you, not Leslie.
"No," He prevented Cassandra's relaxed form from jumping down, in case she hurt herself. "She saw that Leslie had a needle and was about to attack her…"
"You were never like this with Maggie."
"Maggie was three." He told her, stabilizing the girl again as she attempted to get out of the stupor. "And she didn't know the difference between jujitsu and judo."
"Do you want kids?" Selina suddenly questioned.
"Of course." Bruce was taken aback by the question.
"Then you're going to find a different way to handle her." She informed. "Because if any children that we have act out, you're not going to sedate them."
"But…"
"Bruce," Getting up from her plastic chair, Selina walked slowly over to him, coming inches to his person, "you're going to find a way to have her trust you and relax with you, otherwise, you can kiss the fun part of trying to procreate good bye."
"Then there wouldn't be any procreation." He pointed out.
"I'm sure that creative mind of yours could think of ways that this would be able to work out." Her fingertips edged the waistline of his pants. "And you know how imaginative I can be with thieving."
His brows narrowed as if to say, you wouldn't.
"Oh Bruce," A brow lifted, "I would, I so would."
"Blood work came out fine." After giving a brief knock on the door, Leslie entered the small room. "After we ran the DNA test that you asked for, which Dr. Grayson had to help with."
"What do you mean Babs had to help?" Selina turned to Leslie, as she came towards the three people.
"It seems that there is a reason for this little girl knows her stuff." She gave nervous glances to the two of them. "It also accounts for the overall scarring of her body and her mental state."
"Is everything alright with her?" Bruce asked.
"Well there is physical scaring all over her body." Leslie sadly looked over the girl. "As for her inability to speak, although there is a high likelihood that she has had some brain trauma in the past, I don't think that is the cause."
"Then what is?" Selina's brows narrowed. Despite her ability to mutilate anyone coming towards her, Cassandra was a child, a small and sweet girl.
"There is something called apraxia." While Leslie said this, Selina noticed the heavy look Bruce produced. "Now, I am in no way a speech language pathologist but I feel like this could be the answer towards her inability to speak."
"So since I'm not up to date on medical terminology," She wasn't understanding what was being said, "is this something that can be can or will she never be able to speak?"
"She needs someone to be able to sit down with her to teach her proper grammar more than someone without apraxia would." Leslie explained. "Most conversations she will be able to understand but in regards to communicating herself, she will have some issues. Cassandra will surely be confused with how to form sentences, words and so on. It seems that no one has taken the time to help her or give her the proper treatment."
"We need to test her." Bruce nodded. "And get her a speech therapist."
"Yes." Leslie agreed. "But I hope you both know sign language because if she does have this and she does get a therapist, some believe it's easier to learn sign language while learning speech. Plus since she seems to catch on to movement, they may be more prone to teach her that."
"What did the DNA results prove and why did you need Babs?" Selina wanted that information now.
"Cassandra is Sandra Woosan and David Cain's child." Leslie informed them and both of her jaws slightly slacked. "And I have no idea what either of them put her through for her to not know how to speak or the fact that some of her scars look like bullet wounds."
"Bullet wounds?" What horrors had this child seen in order to have those, Selina wanted to know and make them pay. It didn't matter what linage this kid came from, but to inflict that on a child, there was no reason for it.
"And knife." She sighed. "None of them are recent, some are a couple years old."
"She's eight." Bruce couldn't believe what he was hearing, despite making the mental note himself as Leslie had looked over the child's body, but he didn't believe or rather he didn't want to believe it. "How old can those scars possibly be?"
"Some of them seem old enough to be the same age as she is." Leslie watched as the girl squirmed in Bruce's arms as he unknowingly held her closer. "Others she seems to have obtained a couple years ago."
"But she's…"
"She seems fine." Leslie sighed. "But I suspect that you two have a lot of work to do in terms of creating a healthy environment for her to be living in."
"I don't know if we're the best people for her to be living with." Selina said truthfully and even Bruce gave a surprised look, yet couldn't help but silently agree with her. "We're not going to give her a sense of normalcy."
"She's not going to be your average child." The woman answered. "Her muscles are overly formed for someone of her age, there is not an ounce of fat on her, she can barely communicate, she seems to only know how to fight? No, I think she'll fit in quite well with the two of you."
"Dr. Thompkins." A knock at the locked door sounded. "You're needed in exam room one, it seems like a flu, but we need to make sure."
"Be right there!" Leslie glanced back at the three of them and bent over to the girl, who gave her direct eye contact, the sedative already seemed to wear off. "They give you trouble let Alfred, I, or Dr. Grayson know." There was a narrowed brow at the unknown person, since Cassandra had been passed out at the time that they should have met, Barb was anonymous. "You'll meet her." Then Leslie leaned in and whispered low into Cassandra's ear. "These two beside you will protect you no matter what, trust them." Backing away, she saw that the girl understood her and placed a comforting hand on Cass's cheek, looking towards the two adults. "She'll be fine. Alfred is parked around the back."
"Thank you Leslie." Bruce nodded sincerely, noticing that Cass was still a bit out of it, he picked her up effortlessly as Leslie left. They quietly made their way out back and into the awaiting car, sitting in the back. Bruce situated Cass between Selina and himself.
"Everything all right?" Alfred questioned from the front.
"Hopefully." Selina spoke up as she glanced down at the girl, who silently snuck her hand to Selina's, without question Selina overturned hers and cradled the small hand. Cass slumped against Bruce's side and she inhaled and exhaled deeply. Catching Bruce's eye, Selina nodded. Bruce gave a slight smile and caught Alfred in the rearview mirror, simply stating,
"It will be."
"You can't be serious, Drake." John was slouched in his chair in the office, while Tim stood in front of him.
"And if I was?" Tim crossed his arms.
"I'd think you were insane." He pointed to the man across from him.
"I've been called worse." The notion was irrelevant at the moment.
"You can't tell me that wanting to actually sit down and have a conversation with the woman that not only broke your heart, but could probably kill you with a wave of her hand…"
"She's not killing anyone." Cutting him off, Tim felt the apprehension from John and toned down his glare. "We need to get her intel. Find out how she knows where Cain is striking, maybe even where he's living."
"I'm sticking with my statement."
"She's a killer?"
"You're insane."
"You boys have a minute?" Gordon called them from the doorway to the office.
"Of course, Commissioner." Blake sat up a bit more when he saw that Jim closed the door. "What's going on?"
"You know this shadow woman that's been trying to prevent the Cain murders?" Gordon questioned and took in the look the two gave each other. "I need a full background assessment on her."
"Commissioner." Tim swallowed. "I don't know…"
"You're going to do it." He interrupted. "And here's why, either they get the dirt on your girl before you do and you may not like what they find, or you get the information and come up with ways to explain everything to them. You can get the information easier and less forcefully than they can."
"Yes sir." There was no point in wondering how the Commissioner knew what they were going to talk about or even how he had come to all these conclusions. Everyone in the room knew and there was no pretending any more. "I will get it to you on one condition."
"I'm not good with conditions detective." Already weary of what the young man had to say but willing to hear him out Jim sighed.
"We get to meet him." Tim went for it. "Actually meet him."
"Him or them?" Jim felt that it was coming just when.
"Them." John spoke out from his seat. "We want to meet them. And no phone calls, that's just a cop out."
"I'll see what I can do." Jim went to the door and paused, turning back to the two. "You know she's not going to like it when I tell her you just wanted to meet him." Then left.
"You're not very good with talking with women are you Drake?" John smiled, rising from his seat.
"And you're better?" The doubtful tone was not lost on John.
"I'm sorry," John grabbed the jacket from the chair, "who has a date tonight?'
"You're not going to help me with this?" Tim's look of disbelief caused John's smile to grow, that and the thought of the upcoming event.
"Hell no." He was halfway out the door. "If you think that I'm going to push papers over having a date with an attractive woman, you are not well in the head my friend."
"Karma is a bitch, Blake." Tim growled.
"On the very rare occasion, she can also be a beauty."
"So you always wanted to be a librarian?" John was laying down as his body faced Barb's as she sat cross legged on the blanket. "I mean you started pretty young for someone who wanted to catalog all their life."
"First off I'm impressed that you said the word catalog. But actually I wanted to be a secret agent." Barb said truthfully, popping a grape into her mouth. They were sitting in the midst of couples and families alike, all waiting for the sun to completely set and the movie to begin. "And at the time I saw a job posting for an information specialist for the FBI. It said that one needed a library and information sciences degree and I knew that I wanted to get the thugs off the streets but I was small. No one really took me seriously, but I knew I was good at tech stuff and enough to convince them."
"How old were you?" His tone was amused as he looked up at her smiling. She was happy that he didn't seemed intimidated by her at all, which had been the recent downfalls of all her dates. This guy was confident in himself, but could readily just as laugh at the fact that he was who he was and he was fine with that. "Ten?"
"Fourteen." She grinned. "They caught me."
"Who?"
"The FBI." Barb heard him laughed, causing her to laugh as well. Playfully, she struck out at his shoulder. "Don't I was really scared."
"A fourteen year old hacking into the United States top secret files." John chuckled. He caught on, and she didn't even have to tell him. Nice. "That would explain why he has you on his team."
"It appears I'm not the only one with the hacker skills." She took a sip of the beer that was provided, usually Robinson Park didn't allow for open containers but usually on movie night it wasn't as big of an issue. "Alright your turn."
"My turn?" John looked up at her with curious brown eyes. "I wasn't finished with the FBI story."
"Nope." Shaking her head, Barb gave him a look. "I told you and you somehow know about... him, so you get to spill details about your secret identity."
"What do you want to know?" His body became a little more tense but he remained passive.
"Family life." She shrugged. "Mom, dad, no mom, no dad. What was the young John Blake like?"
"Angry." He simply stated.
"Angry?" Although her curiosity had been somewhat sated, by knowing bits about his past, she refused to know all of it. She wanted to actually get to know the person. "Why angry?"
"You probably already know." John searched her eyes, wondering how much the woman allowed herself to search on him. He had done a fair amount of research on her, but only the things that she granted access to. Besides knowing what she did at night, that was enough for him.
"Enlighten me."
"My mom died in an accident," John started, sitting up. He hated this story, his story because it always had the same ending. People took pity, and although he couldn't make them say it, he could see it in their eyes. "I don't really remember, I was young, you know. But my dad," A breath. Barb was a bit taken aback by his change in demeanor. The once joking cop was now quieter, contemplative. "My dad was run into the ground with debt. He was a hard worker at a factory, and overheard some guys talking about a raid. He told the cops, it was probably one of the stupidest things he ever did."
"Dirty cops?" Barb guessed, well didn't really guess, but she could tell he needed some prompting.
"Yeah." He nodded. "They came into the apartment. Dad told me to run and hide, but it was too late for that. They shot him, point blank. I was in the closet, peeking through the crack, watching everything. The thugs beat him up a little bit more, making sure he was dead. I was too scared to go out there, until after they left. I called an ambulance but he had already bled out by the time they got there."
"So why be a cop?" She questioned. "They couldn't have left a good impression."
"I thought if I became one, I could smoke out the bad ones." John looked over at her.
"And the anger?" Barb was a bit quieter than normal, the sun was definitely lower and the lights in the park were starting to come on to welcome the latecomers to the outdoor movie.
"I came when I realized that I could've saved him so it's there." He informed her. "But I can hide it a little better with being the hothead of the bunch."
"That sounds healthy." In no way was her comment meant to be light but she understood. It's the pain that drives one, it may not be the total cause for action to take place but it does drive someone to do certain things, like become a sleuth for the most powerful man in Gotham and be able to control the majority of electronic equipment.
"Not all masks are visible." They shared a knowing look for a moment.
"What do you mean by that, John?" Barb's brows narrowed.
"You know exactly what I mean." No longer was he hiding the undertone of the whole dead space between them. He knew something, something that Barb guessed had to do with the man and woman in their respective cowls. "We all hide behind masks in one way or another. You decide to sleuth for our friendly neighborhood dark knight. I try to stop bad cops from doing what they did to my father fourteen years ago. We all want redemption in one way. We want to prevent pain from coming to others because no one helped us."
"That's an awfully tall order." She watched him steadily. "But that sleuthing isn't something to be spread around..."
"I know." He nodded, then lowered his voice and moved in, to whispered in her ear. "After all what would the Waynes think?"
"I..." Barb paused. "What are you talking about?"
"Hold on." John motioned towards the screen. It was now dark and the movie began to play. "Movie's starting."
"No, we need..."
"We'll talk after." Suddenly his nonchalant style returned and her eyes narrowed.
"Why did you bring them into this?" She whispered, moving in closer to them, as to not disturbed the people around them, he went to protest, but she interrupted him. "I've seen this before. Why would you automatically assume them?"
"Besides your overreaction." John shrugged. "Tim and I have done research."
"Oh please," Now, she had to play it off. "Like that idiot could even start a car."
"That idiot seems to be doing fine with that nice tank roaming around the city." He was also leaning into her. "Should watch what you say, otherwise his cameras might pick up that you called him an idiot."
"Okay," Barb couldn't stop her heart from racing but now she wasn't sure if it was because of the revelation or because John had gotten close, so close. "Say it was him, why tell me now, in public?"
"He said you have a tendency to overreact." John shrugged. "I wanted to make sure I had witnesses to my death."
"Tim?"
"No," A smirk came to his lips and her eyes narrowed. "Bruce."
Barb stalled. How the hell didn't she know about this? Why didn't Bruce tell her, or Selina? Perhaps Selina didn't know. Yes, she was going to give Selina the benefit of the doubt. However, Bruce was now on her shit list. After all she did for him. The big shit.
"So much for a date." Barb mumbled.
"Oh it's still a date." John insisted, this time coming closer for the right reason, as he slipped his arm behind her, while her own arms were supporting her. "That was just a distraction."
"A distraction for what?" She questioned.
Deciding not to answer her, he took a hold of her chin and connected his lips with hers. At first she was surprised, then panicked, seeing as how she had not done this in a very long while. After, her emotions finally settled on excitement and reciprocation. John felt her respond, and almost smiled at the thought of her being with him right now. Instead he deepened the kiss and brought his free hand, that wasn't holding her face to rest on her hips to bring her closer.
Easily he lowered her down with him on the blanket. They started off on their sides, but John swiftly moved to the top, to continue kissing her. Neither were concerned about their current whereabouts as they continued to placate each other with their actions. Like Barb, it had been a while since John had been put in this position. However, it didn't deter him in the slightest, instead it added fuel to the fire. He liked Barb, a lot. He admired her for her dedication and for her focus, her intelligence. Hell, the woman was gorgeous in his eyes. From her bright green eyes to her fiery red hair and her extremely petite frame, it suited her, all of it.
Just as his hands began to move northward and the woman beneath him began to breath heavier, he felt something small hit his neck. Barb must have felt it too because she paused and broke the kiss. They gave each other confused glances.
"Is that..." She started, but a giggling answered her question before even asking it. They looked over to see two boys see them and then run back to their blanket where their parents sat. The parents didn't even bother to look over at the now disgruntled couple. Barb looked back to John and said something that both were surprised to hear her say.
"Want to get out of here?"
Bruce sat in the study, opting to do some Wayne Enterprises work, knowing that they had a meeting the next day with some representatives from Hong Kong. At the moment what he was really hoping for was that it was just going to go better than last time. He had hope considering that their numbers weren't as steadily rising as the last and he had no reason to investigate them. Getting to a part where he just couldn't see straight amongst the numbers, graphs, words and bars, he sat back for a moment and closed his eyes.
As he focused on his breathing, he couldn't believe how much had changed since he had arrived back. Although six months was not as long as seven years, there was a certain longing to come back, a drive to see what was here that was not there before. Seven years he had engrossed himself within the underbelly of the criminal world in foreign countries, learning, observing, and absorbing everything that he could so he could come back to Gotham to take back a rotting city. And he had come back to do just that. Now, he had left for a more selfish reason, yet there seemed to be more than just the League coming after them. They wanted them to be distracted. The bigger question was why.
"Lost in thought I see." A low whisper came into his ear and he opened his eyes and turned to see blue ones staring back at him. "I would ask you what you're thinking about but I feel like I already know the answer."
"Have I become that predictable?" He sighed as arms draped over him.
"Your need for justice has made you that way." Selina replied, kissing him lightly on his cheek.
"Is she sleeping?" Although the girl had not been in their lives for long there was a particular routine when it came to children. He would see that it stuck.
"She is." She confirmed, her hands rubbing his chest. "I take it you're burnt out with trying to subdue her and infiltrating the Hong Kong market."
"Well since I took the Moroccan as well, the Hong Kong is almost a breeze." He shrugged and looked over his shoulder at her. "By the way I should thank you for that, considering I had about two books of paperwork to go through when you said that."
"Oh you know me," A lingering kiss, "I'm just here to help with the business."
"Sarah is going bowling with that boy." Bruce mumbled as Selina continued to taunt him a bit.
"She's fourteen, Bruce." Selina's hand left him and she came between the small space of him and desk. "And not ours to worry about."
"We don't know his intentions." He pointed out, then she lowered her face towards his and his instantly noticed that she was wearing quite a low cut black top and black pencil skirt that hugged her curves in the right places. A slow reminder from himself that she went to work today after the appointment and settling Cassandra in.
"She'll be fine." Reaching out, she played with his collar a bit, slightly miffed that he wasn't responding like she wanted him to.
"Barbara is also…."
"So help me god, if you talk about her and John." His mouth closed and she remained above him satisfied. "Bruce, you are not going to put on your suit to terrify these young men."
"Blake is not that young."
"Exactly." Selina nodded. "Come on, we should get ready. We don't have to have Babs singing in our ears tonight."
"She's not back yet?" Bruce asked, brows narrowed.
"It seems the date is going really well." She smirked. "Come on, Bats, maybe our date will be even better."
"I have some things to finish here." He kept his face calm as hers dropped a bit.
"Alright." She gave him a quick kiss before straightening up and beginning to walk away. "I'll leave you…"
Selina wasn't able to finish her statement as Bruce grabbed her wrist pulled her to him. He kissed her readily and instantly had her up on the desk. His right hand holding her neck and his lips beckoning her to stay and the other hand holding the upper part of her waist. The hard form beneath his clothes pressing against hers and she responded in kind by rubbing up against him. Continuing to kiss her and as he started to undo her blouse, he smirked to himself. Then for a moment he broke apart, coming upon the last buttons of the shirt and his eyes melted into hers. He could recognize the need behind her blue eyes as well.
"I never said what I wanted to finish."
Yey you guys like Cass! I'm hearing concern about not having Bruce and Selina interaction, and I didn't even realize that I haven't really been doing it and quite frankly, shame on me! lol. Wow, I can't believe I didn't realize it. Hopefully this chapter was a bit better than the last with their relationship and my new year's resolution is to get deeper into their relationship, which may mean longer chapters... ah well. But I do hope the other relationships that are brought on will make you guys happy as well!
I'm glad to see this story is still capable of getting new reviewers in, as well as keeping people! Please forward any feelings, comments, concerns, questions, predictions of how well the date went or just a simple shout out for Bruce/Selina time ;)
-EV