Selina walked in guardedly, hanging on to her Glock on her waistband. She steps into a large room with nothing but a flight of stairs on the far right corner. The back wall was solely made of floor-to-ceiling French windows and behind them there was a porch with long couches around a fire pit facing the ocean. She tries cautiously with her finger on the trigger:

"Is anyone home?"

Silence. She makes no sounds as she steps in further in her high heeled boots, sneaky and alert. A cold wave is shot up her spine and she freezes to the sound of someone coughing heavily upstairs. She takes the gun into her hands and keeps it in position in case she needs it. Walking up the stairs carefully and slowly she decides to try once more.

"Is there anyone out there?"

A strangled and throaty voice responds in between coughs.

"Selina. Come here."

Her heart stopped. For a split second she considered not moving and going back as if she was never there in the first place. But the husky voice behind the opened door at the end of the long corridor called out to her making her whole body light up, the adrenaline pumping through her veins now having nothing to do with any imminent danger. She walked briskly towards it preparing herself for what she was about to see.

The room was quiet with only the sounds of sea coming to shore. The only light was the moon's coming from the window walls facing the king-size bed. On it, a black figure shivering and trembling.

"Bruce!" She ran towards the bed putting her gun away.

"Hi." He said with a fuzzy smile, his eyes barely opened. "You came".

She sat down and put her hand on his forehead, feeling his temperature. He leaned towards it and closed his eyes. Bruce was burning hot, his face was sweaty, his hair damp stuck against his skin. Selina was shocked to see he still had his Bat suit on, having only removed the mask that was on the floor.

"How the hell are you alive?"

"I'm not sure I am." He mumbled, coughing after. She helped him by supporting his head and then laying him down again. "Is it night already? Why is the sun still out?"

"You're making no sense. It's night, yes." She said as he started coughing again. "You're burning. We should get you in the shower and I'll try to find some meds in here."

She helped him sit down and as soon as she took her hands off him he started tumbling back into bed.

"Wow. Easy, tiger."

She put her arms around him and helped him get up, carrying part of his weight and holding his hand around her neck to stabilize him. Leading him to the room in the corner of the bedroom which she presumed was the bathroom, she kicked the door opened with her boots. He walked in and leaned against the counter, feeling exhausted already. She turned on the tap on the large granite tub and turned him around so she could help him get out of the suit.

Bruce looked like he had been dropped from a balcony only to be ran by a truck. He had bruises of all imaginable colors on his back, and there was a swelling on his shoulders where the ropes from the pit were tied to. Selina traced a wound on his lower back with her cold fingers and Bruce shivered. She stopped where his boxers started, unsure of what to do with them. When he looked to the side and captured her eyes in the mirror, she felt caught and immediately let go of him, clearing her throat.

"Come on, get in." She muttered, picking up his suit from the floor and hanging it by the door.

He walked slowly and she helped him down, the water still running low. She turned around and took her clothes off, leaving only her underwear on. She wasn't sure why, but she couldn't look him in the eye, and so she told him to slip forward so she could slip in from behind to wash his hair first. Sitting down on the edge of the tub and pouring water on his greasy locks, she put a bit of shampoo on the palm of her hands and started massaging his scalp with it. He let slip a sigh of relief as the hot water ran through his body and rested his head against her knees.

"I feel better already." He mumbled.

She put on a bit of conditioner in his hair to help her untie the knots - he'd been laid down for god knows how long and before that he was wearing a cowl. She took the hair comb and started slowly brushing his hair locks, careful so to not make any sudden movements and put him through more pain. As she was putting on a little bit more of conditioner she couldn't help but peek at his strong and bruised body. He had scratches and old scars throughout his six pack abdomen. A big one caught her attention and she immediately reached to it to take a better look.

"Bruce, this is infected! We're gonna have to take you to the hospital." The hole where Talia's knife entered his body was all kinds of red and purple, his flesh presenting blisters and general swelling.

"No. No hospital." As she began to protest he cut her off. "No one can know I'm alive. If I go to the hospital they'll start asking for documents and about how I got a knife in my stomach. I know we're very distant from Gotham but the Wayne name does mean something here in Europe, and even if we are in a small town in the middle on nowhere I can't risk it."

"You're so full of yourself." She snaps, but then softens her voice. "Well, I'm gonna have to at least clean it and try to patch it up. You've been in this suit for days now, all sweaty and greasy and it can't be too good for the wound."

She drops the brush and lowers herself inside the tub, spreading her legs so they're each on one side of his body. Sitting down like that makes her feel so tiny next to him.

"Lay down a bit so I can reach it."

He lowers himself and she accommodates her lower back on the side of the tub so he can rest and put his weight on her. She takes a small towel from the hanger and dips it in the water, putting some liquid soap on it and warning him:

"This is probably going to sting a bit."

She starts rubbing the wound softly, applying as little pressure as possible. Bruce lets out a strangled groan and closes his eyes shut, grabbing her arm. Selina takes the towel off of it immediately, but continues as soon as he calms down.

"Don't be a baby, Wayne." She mutters, but her tone is slightly more empathetic than usual.

She brushes off the dirt and tries to peel off bits of pus as gently as possible. He grunts a little, but she can hear him gritting his teeth through the pain. She can't help but notice how his abdomen is tensed and how his muscles are prominent and she bites off her lower lip to keep a smile off her face. It seems inappropriate to even think about it when he's so clearly in pain.

"The second time isn't so bad, I promise." She says while putting more soap on the towel. As she kept cleaning the wound, she could feel his body relaxing and dropping off a bit of the tension. You could still hear low groans when the fabric touched the injury, but it seemed more tolerable now. She starts rinsing the area and brushing it with her fingers softly to remove any residual soap.

When he first felt her hands against his skin, he lightly squeezed her arm - which only now he realized he was still holding. She pretended she didn't notice and continued distractedly. A small movement under the water caught her attention, though.

Well, there was definitely nothing small about that. And yes, it was exactly what she was thinking. That was probably the first time Selina Kyle blushed, as her eyes widened for a split of a second.

"Are you serious?" She half-grinned in shock.

"What?" He asked, distracted. "Oh." He let go of her arm, a bit embarrassed. But he would never give her that satisfaction. "I mean, we're both half naked in a hot tub, you're touching me all over and I was stuck in a pit for a long time. Not really my fault. Also, I can feel my back against your boobs right now." He paused. "They're..."

"I can't believe you. You almost died, your body took a giant hit and you're all bruised and you can afford to think about that?" She shook her head in disbelief. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's impressive. How you can still get it going." She laughed and started pouring water on the wound again, not touching him this time.

"Wait." She paused, her brain connecting the dots. "Unless... you like this, don't you?" He looked at her, trying to understand what she meant. "Me, here, doing this, it gets you going, huh?" He kept staring at her. "You enjoy it. The pain."

He looked away and murmured. "That's not it".

"Yes, it is!" She said, a curious and teasing grin plastered on her face. "Hey, I'm not judging, we've all got our fads."

The way she said it made Bruce wonder if she had something specific in mind when it came to her, but it really wasn't the time to ask. He was already making a huge effort to not think about any of that.

"You're weak. Save the energy, Wayne. You might actually need a bit to spare if you wanna keep up with me another time."

Bruce's efforts to relax were all thrown in the trash now. "Selina." He groaned. "You're not helping."

"Sorry." She laughed quietly. "I mean, I'm just saying, I could help you if you'd like. It'd take minimal effort on your part." She teased him jokingly.

"Oookay." He said, trying to lift off of her.

"Hey! Settle down, you can't be putting too much pressure on your body right now." She said while helping him up.

"Well, you'd know." He said sarcastically, then shook his head, grinning. "You're too much, Kyle."

"Thanks. Now let me at least wash your back. You look like you've been living in the mud."

She took the sponge and started to rub his skin to wash off all the dirt. She then brought some water in her hands to rinse off his back, which she was more than happy to do. She always had a thing for back muscles - maybe because it looks like they can take it well.

"Okay, you're all done. Just give me a second and I'll help you dress up."

"Now that's something every guy wants to hear."

He turned around to sit face to face to her in time to see her roll her eyes. She was now washing her hair, her hands on her head scrubbing the shampoo, which gave Bruce the ultimate sight of her breasts pressed against each other under her black lace bra. She caught his eye and could not hold off a grin.

"Bruce! Come on, man."

"Sorry."

"You don't look sorry." He shrugged his shoulders.

"I gotta say today was the first time I saw you laugh. Or even smile - not ironically."

"Well, you don't really know me, do you?" She said, while rubbing some conditioner on her hair locks.

"l'm hoping to change that." She eyed him from under her hair. "But something tells me you are the more grumpy serious type."

"Says the man who hid in isolation for 8 years and had a cave for an office."

"Fair enough." He laughed softly.

The realization that he didn't know Selina apart from his researches and background checks hit Bruce hard. It's not that he thought she wasn't more to it than his frenemy or war ally, but the fact that he felt as comfortable with her as he'd never been with any other woman in his life. He liked the fact that he never knew what she was going to do next, but still trusted her. Of course, that did lead up to her betraying him and leading him straight into Bane's arms not long ago. But she proved herself later by staying with him to save Gotham and then killing Bane to save his life. He of all people knew the burden of taking a life, even if it was the life of a worthless piece of shit, and she didn't seem to mind picking up that burden for him. So, in many ways he wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her, and neither would Gotham.

Even though that realization gave him an odd feeling, it didn't make him regret betting blindly on this. On her. They'd have plenty of time to get to know each other now that no lives depended on any of them. He'd decided he wouldn't ask. He wouldn't ask about her parentless childhood, her proneness to burglary or even about her first arrest being at 16 for solicitation. Those were all things that he'd come to know about her illegitimately. It wasn't fair if she wasn't the one telling him. If she thought none of these things were relevant to who she was, then neither did he. And if she was never interested or willing to talk about them, then they didn't matter to him. He'd seen enough of people's assumptions about one's life to know that the majority didn't even come close to the truth.

He realized how absorbed he was in his own thoughts when Selina cleared her throat, clearly expecting an answer to a question he didn't hear.

"Sorry?"

"I asked if you're gonna tell me about it."

"About what?"

"Seriously, where are you? About the whole dying/not dying thing. How did you pull it off?"

"Oh." Bruce pondered. He hadn't decided how much he was going to tell her yet. "Autopilot."

"Autopilot?" She yelled and splashed water on his face. "Seriously? You lied to me?"

"No. I mean, yes. But no." She looked at him impatiently as he rubbed his face. "I had the autopilot installed a few months ago, but I'd never tested it. I wasn't sure it was going to work." He was going to leave this last part out, but it came out anyway. "And to be honest, I didn't know if I wanted it to work."

She looked at him inquisitively. He couldn't read her face. It might have been impatience, fury or irritation. Or all of the above. He realized he wouldn't get away with telling her just half the story.

"Batman was done. He'd done his job. People didn't need him anymore than they needed Bruce. I'd played the part I intended to play and it lasted long enough to create a symbol. And now this symbol could be anyone, because that's what a symbol is. And as for Bruce... well, let's just say he was done too. But I knew he still stood a chance, which is why I turned on the autopilot. And it's also why it didn't really matter for me if it didn't work." Selina stared at him, patiently this time. "Until... first, it's important that you know that none of this was planned, not really. And you played a huge part in this plot, because if you hadn't stayed and if you hadn't saved me, there wouldn't be a plan to begin with. And you're very unpredictable, so there was no way to tell if we would be able to pull it off beforehand. You did everything you could do for Gotham. You stayed, under no obligation whatsoever. You stayed to fight for the city that never fought for you. The second I realized that, the second I saw in your eyes how surprised you were with yourself that you'd stayed, I knew your sacrifice couldn't be in vain. Not yours, and not the others'. So I had to do one last."

"You have very little respect for your own life". Selina stated. It was not a judgmental or accusatory statement; it was just a statement. "Speaking as someone who most of her life didn't have enough to survive with, I don't understand how you could think like that." She added, as if she was actually imagining what it would be like to live in Bruce's mind.

"I understand how that could be perceived as selfish. To not care enough about my life when so many people don't have the option. But as I was flying over the bridge and towards the water, all I could see was my parents and the lives they didn't get to live. And the sacrifices Alfred had to make to give me a decent life without them. And it didn't seem fair to any of them, and it didn't seem fair to me, as Bruce, to not try to see this through." He paused, not sure if he should continue. "Also... I hadn't been able to visualize a future for myself in a very long time. For 8 years, or maybe longer, I just existed. I didn't live. I didn't plan and I didn't care that I didn't plan. There was nothing in the world that gave at least a glimpse of what I'd want for a future. Until you."

Bruce finally looked at her, because he hadn't been able to for most of his speech. He was terrified that she'd just freak out and leave. Instead, she just froze mid-brush and then continued combing her hair calmly, noticing that he wasn't done talking.

"When I was up there, the last thing that came into my mind before I pushed the autopilot button was you. Nothing specific, not even our kiss. It almost made me laugh for a second despite the context I was in. You surprised me. Nothing had ever surprised me in a long time, not in a good way anyway. And there you were, startling me every step of the way, for good or bad. It made me bitter to know I wouldn't be able to stick around for more. To see if there was something here to see. And today when I was in bed shaking from the pain and fever, and I heard your voice calling me, I swear that for a second everything stopped." He laughed nervously. "I'm sure by now you're thinking of a million ways to get out of here unnoticed after you put me to bed, but I wanna tell you that there's no pressure. You can leave if you'd like. No hard feelings. I don't want you to, but I get it. It's a lot to pin on someone. But also, so you don't freak out, I want you to know that my life doesn't depend on that. If you left I would go on, living my life because that's what I chose, and I can't choose for you. I would be disappointed and frustrated, and honestly blue-balled. But I would understand." Selina seemed like she was about to cut him off, but he continued anyway. "But if you do choose to stay, there's also no pressure. We can see if this goes somewhere, or not. We can be friends - although friends with benefits sounds better, just saying. You're getting the clean slate and now you can do anything and go wherever you'd like, and maybe being with me isn't your most appealing option. And I'm heading towards a new life, one that I've never had the chance to have. And I can have it without you, I know that. But with you I feel like I can finally begin."

Selina looked into Bruce's eyes for what felt like forever. He bared her stare, nervous but patient. Her expression was uncrackable. She was scared to open her mouth and she was scared not to. It might have been naive of her, but she hadn't thought this thing between them could actually be turned or had actually turned into a thing. They had kissed twice, both times with her making the first move. She felt the effect it had on Bruce, but then again that was the effect she had on most men. She didn't expect any of them to wait around for more than that, but then again she also never wished to wait long enough to find out. She was a cat-burglar and a crook and she couldn't imagine why anyone would want to stick around to know her more than that. She had been with so many men in her life, none had ever made her speechless. Or blush. Or laugh like she'd done today, despite the circumstances. But she also knew that when things seemed too good to be true, it's probably because they were.

"When I thought you'd died... when I ran to that bridge and saw you get blown up... I froze." She mumbled, staring at an imaginary point on the wall without blinking. "I felt like my whole body had turned into ice, and I'd be melting soon and there was nothing no one could do about it. I saw some people run to the shore to see if you would come back like some kind of miracle. I felt sorry for them, and I was angry at them. How dare they be so hopeful and naive." She trailed off, her face turning into a mask of disgust only to turn into one of wistfulness after. "I've lost so many people in my life I'm practically numb to it. But with you... when I thought you were dead, I felt like all hope had been drained from me and it was offensive that others still had it. It wasn't fair. Nothing ever is, but this... this couldn't be ou... your end. I walked home and every face I saw along the way made me think of you. Of how you had to get yourself killed to save them when most of them didn't even deserve it, and I just stood there and watched it all happen. I hated every single of them because they didn't understand your sacrifice and they would never appreciate it like they should. I felt so lost I wandered around for hours before I could find my block. I don't wanna feel like that ever again. Today I felt like this giant weight was taken off of me and my lungs could finally breathe." She looked him straight in the eyes, pondering if she should say this last part or not. "I'm staying. Again. I don't wanna give you any hope because I don't even have enough of that for myself, so I can't give you any guarantees. That's not me, I've never known that in my life. But I can't open this tunnel only to leave after it's opened. I guess I need to stay and see it through, whatever that means". Bruce smiled as she paraphrased herself, and thought about how much had changed in the last two days or so. "So it seems like I'm taking this leap, no safety net or anything. For neither of us."

"With you, I wouldn't expect it any other way".