Bruce gets another go. Can he survive? X3

Another Setup

She had to say the invitation was quite a surprise. When Selina got the card inviting her to the art gala, she was ready to reject it out of principle. Bruce stood her up the last time they scheduled something, and the time before he cut out early due to an 'emergency'. Inviting her to a fancy feast to be stood up again was not something she was planning on doing.

Imagine her shock when the name at the bottom wasn't Bruce, but Alfred Pennyworth. Since when did that butler go to galas?

Curious beyond measure, Selina had to accept. At the very least, she knew the older man wouldn't ditch her for an 'emergency', nor would he forget about her and the event; he was far too much of a gentleman for that. If only he were thirty years younger...

Still, she accepted and dressed herself to the nines. It wasn't every day she could see the wares of the high class. She needed to look like she belonged there, no matter who her 'date' was, in order to scope the place and start planning future heists. She was going to enjoy the night, one way or another.

Looking outside once, the lady was glad Alfred had agreed to send her a text (imagining the man texting was quite funny) when he was nearly to her new apartment to pick her up. The clouds were threatening to storm on her parade, probably even forcing the great Batman inside for the night if it opened up. She gave it fifteen minutes until the downpour started. The cats were pretty antsy. When the text arrived, she hurried to lint roll her dress and exit her apartment before more hair landed on the silky black Migmon gown. Throwing the roll aside, she threw her thin scarf around her shoulders, grabbed her clutch, and gladly made her way to the building's grand foyer. Kitty was doing well lately.

She only had to wait a few minutes before a familiar Rolls Royce appeared before the building. Smiling, the dignified catburglar strode to the doorkeeper and asked for his help outside. No need to keep her date waiting out front, not with a bellhop on hand. Not waiting for any invitation, Selina motioned for the hired help to open the back passenger door to her awaiting vehicle and stepped inside.

"Thank you Sam. Alfred! You really know how to spoil a g-"

Her cheerful countenance dropped the second the door shut behind her and she saw she wasn't alone in the back seat. On the other side sat Bruce Wayne, also dressed to the nines in Armani and just as surprised as she was to be back there together. He had a tablet in his hands, sure sign he wasn't paying even the slightest attention to where his butler was taking him. The man never did see the world around him when work was before his eyes. That he saw Selina there at all was a miracle of itself. Whether she wanted to see him was another story.

"On second thought..." Quickly she made a grab for the door to make her escape, only for it to not budge and the car to keep moving. "Alfred!"

"My apologies Miss Kyle," the proper British gentleman started, not really sounding sorry at all, "but I'm afraid I will not be able to attend the gala with you. Master Bruce though is quite available this evening and as I cannot attend as his 'plus one', please do us the favor of taking that spot."

She turned her angered eyes from the old man to her old date, ready to lash out. "You sneaky-"

"I had no part of this!" Bruce insisted, throwing his hands into the air defensively. For a moment she thought he was Dick with that gesture, but looking at his eyes, she knew he was both sleep deprived and drugged. The great playboy was not firing on all thrusters but apparently had to attend this gala for one reason or another, else he'd be in bed resting from whatever case he just finished or was working on. "I swear Selina, I had no intention of dragging you anywhere you didn't want to go."

"Oh?" She folded her arms testily, eyeing him slowly. She almost believed him. Almost. "And why is that?"

He hesitated a moment before answering. "Because you're mad at me. And have every right to be."

"Is that all?" Oh she was ready to rip into him sure, but the butler needed a good tongue lashing too. He was going to get it real soon, or was until that passenger/driver divider cropped up. That sneaky, sneaky man. If he were thirty years younger, he'd really be some fun.

Again Bruce hesitated before answering, truthfully. She had to know what pain medication he was on if it was making him this truthful with her. "I was trying to figure out a way to make it up to you. Missing that date last month... I didn't think you'd want to go to a stuffy art gala. Not without some kind of gift or dinner to make up for last time."

Her eye twitched as she used all herself control to not flex her jaw. He was right, to a point. An official art gala as a penance date was not something she'd accept. Now a mini vacation to the Caribbean or Bahamas, even Alaska, plus pampering from expert staff, that was what she'd take as an apology. That or Batman letting her get away with a good heist. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen much of Batman lately. Mr. Justice letting her steal free of charges because he was feeling bad? Or was it a very difficult couple of weeks? What had he been working on since he ditched her that last time?

Her temper started to cool as she tried to figure out what was going on behind the scenes. Alfred was forcing him to go out instead of rest. Bruce clearly needed rest. No birds hanging around so either they were covering for daddy or were confined to bed until they were better too. She had no explanations since the date he cut short oh so long ago, from anyone. Alfred's invite was by special messenger and she hadn't contacted any of the batkids out of principle. This was between them.

But what had happened since then?

She shrugged, turning away nonchalantly like one of her cats. As curious as she was, she wasn't desperate. "Naturally. I expect to be treated like a queen tonight. No wandering eyes-"

"Of course." A hint of relief and humor came from the man's voice.

"-and you defend me from those prudes who criticize your choice of women. I am not one of those brainless floozies you dated for show."

"I thought you hated it when I fought your battles." Bruce cocked his head to the side, remembering a time when she told him off. Of course she remembered it well too, one of their early dates when he introduced her to certain members of society.

Selina gave him a coy look. "Not tonight. Tonight, I want a dark knight to make it all special for his lovely queen."

"Ah." Her date smirked, shaking his head. He always caught on quick. "As you wish your majesty."

"And after we're done there," she gave him a stern chiding look, "I want a full explanation. Why you cut one date short, why you didn't show last time, and why you're so doped up I could steal your credit cards without you knowing. I want to know what's going on."

"Well that's-" He started to explain, probably something he wanted to do from the beginning, but she stopped him.

"After tonight. What I want to know right now is," she pointed emphatically at the door next to her, very irked, "why can't we get out of here? I thought you'd at least have an escape route for your own car."

To this the man cringed. "Alfred likes to use the child locks on us, to make certain we follow social protocol."

Selina eyed him with misgivings. "And you don't have a way around this?"

"I did..." The way Bruce looked away guiltily perked her curiosity tenfold. "Once..."

"Huh..." A sly smile started to grow on her face. Well, she had all evening to get her explanations, maybe even some fresh blackmail for later. She was definitely going to enjoy tonight.

A/N: Alfred is a sneaky old man. And he really wants Bruce to settle down already. So he set this up. I think I'll cook up a better set up for the third round. X3