"Selina, I'm so sorry. I thought you would want Bruce here. It is his…" Ivy paused when she saw Selina's tears and curled position. "Are you alright? Do you want me to kill him for you?"

Selina laughed and wiped her face with the blanket.

"No, it's okay," she said quietly.

"Are you sure?" Ivy asked. "Because I have this plant, Digitalis purpurea, that could stop his heart just like that." She snapped her crimson-nailed fingers for emphasis.

"Please don't kill anyone for me," Selina said, half joking. "Especially Bruce. If someone has to kill him, it's going to be me."

"Yeowch! Cat's got claws!" Ivy smiled wickedly. She spied the stuffed animal in Selina's arms. "Eww! What is that thing?"

Selina held up the worn teddy bear. "Bruce brought it for the baby."

Ivy scoffed. "He owns half of Gotham and he can't spring for a new toy? Cheap much?"

"It was his mom's," Selina explained. "It's an heirloom, I guess. It's dumb, right?" She asked.

"No," Ivy shook her head. "It's actually really sweet."

"He is too sweet, isn't he?" Selina hugged the bear to her chest again.

Ivy nodded in agreement. "Totally. Like one of those fancy expensive cupcakes. I can't believe you had sex with him." She added in a whisper.

Selina's face turned red. "Yeah… well I… um…"

Ivy laughed. "It's okay. I get it. He's cute in a young Clark Kent sort of way. He's just really… young?"

Selina sat up. "Ivy, you're the same age. At least you were a few months ago. Before all this." She gestured vaguely at Ivy.

"That's not what I mean." Ivy clarified. "I mean he's been sheltered. He's safe in his big house with his bodyguard and all his money. We had to grow up fast. Some of up faster than other." She looked down at her newly adult body and added, "not that I'm complaining."

Selina laughed at that then nodded at the bag of chips in Ivy's hand.

"So, what'd you get me to eat?"

Bruce was counting the days since he had seen Selina. It had been ten long, agonizing days since she had all but thrown from the emergency room. He had called Gotham Memorial to find out when she would be discharged but doctor-patient confidentiality meant the hospital couldn't tell him anything. He tried reasoning with the impassive voice on the phone but to no avail. He got no information.

Alfred had categorically refused to allow any stalking (as he called it) of Selina, Ivy, or the hospital in general. Instead, he insisted that Bruce focus on his training. The frequent sparring, grappling, and meditation took up a great deal of Bruce's time and tired him out enough that he was barely able to keep his eyes open when bedtime approached. He still saw her in his dreams, though.

The days would have gone by more quickly if there weren't constant reminders of his failure with Selina popping up everywhere he looked. Most of the actual newspapers and shows had given up talking about Bruce's baby-mommy scandal after the first week or two, but some of the seedier tabloids still tried to get Bruce's statement from time to time. Alfred screened most of the calls but every so often one would show up at the house. He would have to shoo them off with the weak threat of calling the police.

Many people assume the butler's only task is to answer the door so it was very strange when Alfred wasn't available to answer the door that day when the bell rang. Instead Bruce decided to answer his own front door. He was feeling particularly even-tempered after his meditation so he thought he was more than capable of dealing with a nosy reporter or two. It was weird, though, that a reporter might visit tonight. Usually the rainy weather kept them away. No amount of meditation could have prepared Bruce for what he saw when he opened the door.

Selina was dressed in black leather from head to toe and soaking wet. She shook out her soggy curls as the door opened. She looked as tragically beautiful as ever.

"Hey, kid." She said with a coy smile.

"Selina," Bruce breathed her name. "I was a jerk. I'm sorry. I - "

"Shut up." She pushed her way through the partially opened door and pressed her lips to his.

It had been almost a month since Alfred's awkward impromptu date with the vivacious Angie. He had not had the courage to call her for fear that her interest had been feigned but he had committed her number to memory long before the ink washed off of the inside of his wrist. Perhaps one of her girlfriends dared her into taking a shot at him because of how obviously out of place he had been sitting at that bar.

Still, he couldn't get the girl out of his head. He found himself daydreaming about her throaty laugh, the way the shimmering lights had glistened in her hazel eyes, the warm feel of her skin as they danced.

He was sitting in the study wondering what Angie was doing now. He imagined her sitting in a tiny apartment somewhere with her textbooks spread out all around her. Her hair would be messily but artfully thrown up in a bun on the top of her head. Her brows furrowed, she would chew absentmindedly on the back of her pen, trying to figure out the answer to a particularly difficult homework question.

He really shouldn't be chasing after a student. She was half his age, after all. Somehow, however, he found his fingers dialing the number she had scribbled on his arm before disappearing out the door that night with two other girls.

"¿Bueno?" An older woman's voice answered the phone in Spanish after just one ring.

There was a click a second later and a younger, more familiar female voice answered in English. "Mama, I got it. Hello?"

Alfred was speechless for a few seconds. Then he found his voice. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"Is… Is Ms. Angie available this evening?" Alfred hadn't expected to feel this awkward talking to a woman, not at his age, but as he said her name he could feel his palms sweating and his chest tightening.

"Speaking." The voice responded. "Who's this?"

"Alfred Pennyworth, Miss. We met at a bar a few weeks back." Alfred felt his face get hot with embarrassment.

"Alfred!" She squeaked. "I thought you were never going to call."

"Yes. Well, I…" he stammered.

She cut him off. "I hope you're not busy tomorrow night." She rattled off an address that Alfred scrambled to write down. "Be there at seven. Don't dress too nice. See you tomorrow!"

She hung up with a Click! leaving Alfred with his mouth open.

"Right, then." He said to himself as he set down the phone. "I guess I have a date."

The doorbell rang. Alfred jumped up to answer it when he heard Bruce open the door. He hurried to save the boy from whatever bloodsucking reporter had come calling. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who Bruce had let in.

Author's note:

What do you think of Angie? I hope you like her because I have a feeling she's going to be around for a little while. Look up Sara Rue, she's my inspiration for this character.