Chapter 3

That night, while Terry and Bruce broke the news to Barbara and the others, Max took her kids, Grace and Warren, with her to Sally and Basem's. After leaving the kids in the playroom with Stevie and Auggie, Max walked into Sally's office, finding her typing away at the computer. Max walked closer to see Bruce's CT scans all over Sally's desk.

Max exhaled, "Sal…"

"Radiation is out," Sally said, immediately. "I figured that out from the get-go. If Bruce were even like… three years younger… maybe, but… not…" She exhaled. "Anyway… Palmer Sciences has some stuff that… that-that in theory could work. I'm crunching a few numbers."

"Sally."

"There might be some kind of alien tech. Like some old Project Cadmus stuff. Ask Terry if he can ask Waller…" Sally stopped. "I mean… that agent guy who used to work with her if he knows about anything like that."

"Sally. You know Bruce won't go for that."

Sally's face grew rigid as she looked at Max. "I missed the part where he gets a damn choice! I'm trying to save his life!"

"Sally…" Max said, calmly.

"Not now, Max! No comfort! No sweet talk! No kind words! I'm trying to save Bruce!"

"Sal. There… may not be anything you can do for him this time."

"NO!" Sally jumped to her feet. "I'm not listening to that! Are you hearing me?! I'm not hearing that crap! I don't believe it! We kept Basem from being executed, you from being taken advantage of, our guys took down a cult, and won more fights than I can count! So don't you DARE tell me we can't keep Bruce alive! We did before when he needed a blood transfer! We'll do it now!"

Max just stared at Sally and slowly put her arms around her, pulling her into a hug. Sally's entire body seemed to loosen at once as she leaned on Max, hugging her back.

"It's okay, Sal," Max whispered.

"We have to save him," Sally cried against Max. "We have to! We can't let him die!"

"We'll do our best. But the thing we need to do the most is be there for him. And each other."

"Max, we're gonna lose him!"

"Yeah. And it hurts like hell."

"We have to do something," Sally whispered.

"All we can do is be the family he never thought he'd have," Max whispered back.

Sally sniffed. "I'm sorry for screaming."

"Don't worry. I expected it."

"What do we do now?"

Max smiled. "Wanna go watch Encanto with the kids?"

Sally sniffed again. "Yes."

Selina went back to one of her old Gotham hideouts, located in Park Row. She hadn't visited it in over fifty years; she was surprised it hadn't been discovered or bulldozed. Given her affluent lifestyle choice, it was the last place most would look for any stash of hers.

Most.

Selina had two spots like this; the other was located in another section of the city, which had long since been renovated. At the height of her Catwoman career, Bruce caught her at that one. He always did that. No matter clever she thought she was, he always proved himself to be better. Even on the rare chances she could trick him, he would trick her right back and better. It was why she abandoned this spot, long before she swore she wouldn't return to Gotham.

Though she did visit it, one more time, before leaving Gotham for good. Right after her marriage to Bruce ended. Selina wanted to bury her life in Gotham here; again, swearing to never come back and put Bruce behind her forever.

Turned out real life was never as easy as she wanted it to be. Helena, alone, was proof of that.

Selina went inside an old townhouse, walking to a backroom, and opened the hidden floor compartment near the back wall.

She pulled out metal lockbox and sat on the floor, leaning her back against the wall. She opened the box; inside was a diamond ring and a single photo. It was one of her and Bruce. On their wedding day. She studied her wedding ring. She always felt guilty for never giving it back to Bruce.

Selina loved Dick, no question. She married him, after all. But part of her always loved and would always love Bruce. It was a simple fact.

The Bat and the Cat. They could've worked. They should've worked.

But Selina accepted that they didn't.

What she was just now accepting was the avoidable truth of it was just as much her fault as it was Bruce's.

More and more, Selina realized, for all her accusations of Bruce never changing, she didn't either. Ironically, until after Helena was born. Selina had to admit to herself that her and Bruce's failure of a marriage was both of their responsibilities.

Now, there was nothing she could do to make amends. Selina leaned her head back against the wall, staring at the ceiling. She couldn't help this. She couldn't rescue Bruce from falling into a vat of acid. She couldn't push him out of the way of a speeding car or a gun's line of sight. She couldn't steal any magical cure-all. She couldn't trade a valuable diamond for Bruce's life.

There was nothing she could do.

And it wasn't just herself Selina hurt. She hurt her daughter. Their daughter; Selina constantly corrected herself and scolded herself each time for still thinking of Helena as just "her" daughter. Selina kept Helena and Bruce away from each other a majority of both of their lives. She started to cry. She hated herself for what she did to them. She was beginning to accept that she always would.

And she deserved it.

Helena grew up without Bruce because Selina was angry at him, and now they were running out of time. There was no way to change that. And there was only one person Selina could blame.

Herself.

"Bruce…" Selina whispered. "I'm so… so sorry!"

With Barbara, Dick, and Tim gone and Diana and Helena in the Manor, Bruce and Clark were sitting in the Cave, taking in the silence and the memorabilia all about the Cave. They looked at each other.

They smiled.

"Remember when Luthor and the Joker teamed up?" Clark asked.

"First time we met," Bruce answered. "The prelude to the Injustice Gang."

"I… could not… stand you!"

"You were too goody-goody for me. It was sickening!"

"Yeah," Clark whispered. "You still get on my nerves."

"And there has never been a moment, since we met, you haven't irritated the hell out of me," Bruce countered.

They held their smiles. Bruce started to chuckle. Clark did the same. They both erupted into full-on laughter for several minutes before settling down.

Clark took a deep breath and exhaled. "I can't fix this, can I?"

Bruce shrugged.

Clark sat contemplatively, his smile slowly falling away. "Bruce, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. This… this way my life is ending… it's better than I deserve. I have more in my life… than I ever deserved."

"Starting with Terry and going from there, you deserve all of this. Mended fences, so much family, so much love…" Clark chuckled a bit. "Told you your best days were ahead."

"And they're not over yet," Bruce declared. "Not until I'm actually gone."

Clark smiled, warmly. But sadly. "Amen."

Later, after everyone else had left the Manor, Helena walked into her room, to get ready for bed. Despite having her own house, Bruce gave her a room. With the news, Helena decided to spend more time at the Manor. She walked into her bathroom and turned the sink faucet on. She stared at the water in the sink then looked up at herself in the mirror. She stared at her eyes. His eyes. Her father's eyes.

After all these years, she finally found him. And, a mere three years later, she was going to lose him again.

"It's not fair," Helena whispered.

She gripped the sink and started shaking.

"It's… it's… it's not fair…"

She tried to steady her breathing.

"IT'S NOT FAIR!" She punched the mirror.

Then did it again.

"IT'S NOT FAIR!"

She threw one more punch, cracking the mirror, "GODDAMMIT!" She let out a scream and raked her hands through her hair. She stumbled backwards then fell against the tub, crying and wailing. She had minor cuts on her hand from the mirror, but she didn't feel the pain. Not the physical variety. Her father, the father she waited her whole life to meet, who loved her from the moment he laid eyes on her, was dying; no other pain compared to that.

"Helena."

Helena looked up to see Diana standing at the door.

"Diana…" Helena said, nervously. "I… I'm… sorry. I…"

Diana walked in, kneeled down, and wrapped her arms around Helena. "It's alright," Diana whispered.

Helena leaned against Diana and kept crying. "Diana, my daddy's gonna die," Helena cried.

Diana just closed her eyes, letting tears fall, as she gently rocked Helena. Helena just wept as Diana held her closer.

Barbara, Tim, and Dick sat in Lou's diner, staring at their food. No one had eaten a bite.

"This is really happening," Tim whispered.

"I can't believe it," Dick rubbed his face.

"Where's Selina?"

Dick chuckled, softly. "Somewhere. She… needs to be alone right now."

"You're not worried?" Tim asked.

"About Selina?"

"I withdraw the question." Tim looked at Barbara. "Barb?"

Barbara just stared at the table. She'd barely said a word since Bruce revealed his news.

"Barb. Say something."

Barbara looked up and stared at them. "We can't fix this. Can we?"

Dick and Tim looked at each other, worriedly, then back at her.

"There's no criminal to catch," Barbara continued, "no villain to lock up, no puzzle to solve, no time limit to beat… nothing… that'll fix this."

Dick leaned back. "No. Not this time."

Barbara leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. "I… honestly thought he'd outlive all of us."

"He probably never wanted to."

Tim pinched the bridge of his nose then lowered his hand. "As hard as this is for us… I gotta be honest… I'm way more worried about Terry and Helena."

"Me, too," Dick confessed.

"Me, too," Barbara agreed.

"Helena's gonna be hit hard by this. I know what she'll do. She's gonna cry and breakdown when she needs to and keep pushing. I hope. This… this will be way different for her. We'll need to be there for her all she needs."

"And Terry?" Tim asked.

Dick looked at Tim then focused on Barbara. "You know him best, Barb. What's he gonna do?"

Barbara thought for a moment. But almost grinned. "That kid is stronger than any of us. Bruce, included."

"Couldn't agree more," Tim replied.

"No argument from me," Dick smiled. "Seeing that kid in action… I'm surprised I didn't realize he was Bruce's son sooner."

"It was shock to all of us, believe me."

"What's amazing is…" Barbara paused. She scoffed a bit. "…Terry doesn't even realize how strong he is. He doesn't even care if he's that strong. He just… does what he's supposed to. He just wants to protect and save everyone around him. He's shouldered… us and everyone around him, in and out of costume, and I'll be damned if I don't admit he does it flawlessly. He's gonna be hurt, sure, but he's got Max. And the others. So, what Terry's gonna do is what he always does. Keep fighting."