Batman/Bruce Wayne, Batwoman/Kathy Kane, Catwoman/Selina Kyle, and Nightwing/Dick Grayson belong to DC Comics/Time Warner.
I am using them without permission, however I have not and don't expect to make money from this.

Rated PG : language; violence, some mature concepts.

Thanks as always to everyone who read and/or reviewed... (hopefully no one reviewed without reading!) Thanks to my betas, Cecilia and Jenny, and to Rach aka The Fink for suggestions on chapter one. Hope you've all enjoyed this. Next up is the story of Two-Face.

Reviews are appreciated, please take a moment to leave one.

A Woman Scorned

Possibilities

I admit it, I was kind of hoping I'd bump into Bruce soon, just to make sure he was all right, of course. But days went by with no sign of him, and I'm not exactly the patient type. So when I happened to be downtown shopping, and happened to be going by the Wayne Enterprises headquarters, dropping in to see if he was there seemed like the only logical thing to do.

Bruce's secretary remembered me. I got a smile, a nod, and we exchanged a little small talk as she called him on the intercom, and then pointed the familiar way to his door. It opened before I got there, and he was smiling at me.

"Kathy. What a nice surprise."

I took his hand. There was a time when I would have gotten a kiss instead of a handshake. "Hi, Bruce," I said.

"What brings you here?"

"I was in the neighborhood..." I laughed at the skeptical face he pulled. "Okay, I heard about what happened. I wanted to see how you're doing."

"I'm fine."

"So I see. How's Alfred?"

He frowned a little at that. "He's okay. Not hurt, but it was a pretty bad experience. Alfred's a lot tougher than he looks, though."

"I can imagine. Please, give him my regards."

"I'll do that."

"How much damage was there to your house?"

"Could have been worse. Thanks for asking."

Just as I was beginning to find the rather distant politeness of our conversation downright depressing, Bruce surprised me. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before saying, "You think this was all my fault, don't you?"

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to. I guess you were right when you came to see me that night. It wasn't a good idea. I hope at least you don't think I'd deliberately put Alfred in danger; he really wasn't supposed to be there."

"Of course I don't think that." I dropped my bag on the nearest chair and turned back to him. "I'm sure you meant well..."

That was when a knock interrupted us. At Bruce's summons, the door opened. A man walked in, young, dark-haired, average size, a stack of folders tucked under one arm. He stopped abruptly when he caught sight of me.

"Oh. Sorry, didn't know you had company."

"No problem. Kathy, this is my new assistant, Dick Grayson. Dick, this is Kathy Kane."

I had the impression of eyes bright with interest, a boyishly good-looking face, and a warm grin as he shifted the folders to the other arm and stuck his hand out. "Nice to meet you. Any friend of Bruce's is a friend of mine, I hope."

I smiled back. "Good to meet you too. Have you been with Wayne Enterprises long?"

"No. Started a couple months ago."

"I see. Hope you like it so far."

"Sure. I'm still learning, of course, but Bruce is a good teacher." They exchanged a quick smile as Dick put his burden down and said something about contracts and signatures.

"Right. Kathy, would you excuse us for just a minute?"

"Of course."

I watched them discussing whatever business it was they were taking care of; those two dark heads bent over a pile of papers as I was left to my own thoughts. Did it hit me then? Or was it more of a gradual process, and I only consciously realized it at that point? All I can say is: that was the moment it first occurred to me to wonder.

It couldn't be. Of course that was my first reaction. The very idea was absurd. Bruce, the playboy, the man who never seemed to take anything seriously, who was most at home at parties, or just relaxing at home. But... the unexplained disappearances, the last-minute broken dates, the late nights. The feeling I had always had that he was hiding something, something he cared about very much.

And there were other, little things... a lot of them... The way Bruce had reacted when he first saw Selina; the intense expression I had taken for attraction. Had it been recognition instead? The realization that she was the Catwoman? Only Batman, Nightwing, and I had seen her face in that warehouse... The plan he had supposedly made with Batman, the plan that made no sense unless it was the idea of one man, a man irresistibly drawn to a woman he could never have. The look on Bruce's face not just when I had told him I knew Selina's secret, but when I had foolishly repeated one of Batman's remarks to Batwoman. The new assistant, a young man just about Nightwing's age, size, and appearance. The way Batman had looked at me, as if he knew me very well. The way I had felt when he touched me, the same way Bruce always made me feel.

It all added up. It even explained a lot of things. No proof, of course, no way I could be sure. But...

"Kathy?"

"Um? Oh, sorry, Bruce, just daydreaming."

"We're done here. It's just about time for lunch, if you're hungry...?"

I thought about it, but only for a second or two, just to make sure he knew I hadn't come here trying to start anything again. I hadn't, really. After all, I still didn't know how he really felt about Selina, or about me. Still didn't know so many things, not the least of which was how I felt about him. But answering those questions might turn out to make my future very interesting indeed, especially if my suspicions were true.

"Sure, sounds like fun." I picked up my purse.

Dick stopped to shake my hand again on his way out. "Great meeting you. Hope I'll see you again," he said with another big smile.

"I think you will."

"Ready?" Bruce held the door open for me.

"For anything."

End