Hi guys! Thank you so, so much for your likes, follows and especially your reviews! It's so awesome to hear from you and how you're liking the story. Here is the next chapter. Hope you guys like it! (BTW - this is NOT the last chapter in case you were wondering.)
I woke up in an empty room, feeling dizzy. No windows. I couldn't tell where I was, what time of day it was. I didn't even know which continent I was on let alone which country.
I sat up and my head hurt, my throat was burning.
"You always come up with brilliant plans Cat." I said to myself, closing my eyes and trying to think through the stabbing pain in my head.
How long I had been sitting here, I couldn't tell. I had no watch and no phone.
Finally the door opened.
It was Medved. I was wondering if that meant I was in Russia or if he had come to another spot.
He didn't say anything as he looked at me with a sly grin on his face.
"Where am I?" I asked.
He just smiled at me.
"Could I get some water?" I asked.
He nodded and yelled something to someone outside.
Seconds later, a guy walked in with a glass of water.
Medved held it towards me but before I could grab it, he splashed the water in my face and then grabbed me by face, his hand tightly holding my jaw.
"This is not hotel." He said in a threatening voice. "Tell me where he is."
"Who?"
He pulled my face forward and smashed it against the wall. My whole brain was vibrating with pain.
"Don't play games with me."
And then he punched me in the face with full force. I felt blood gushing from my nose. He punched me again and again. My lip burst.
He grabbed me by my face again. "Again. Where is he?"
"London." I said, knowing well he was already on his way here. Wherever 'here' was.
He got up and took a handkerchief from his pocket, wiping his fingers, which were full of my blood.
Then he left.
I spit out some of the blood, my mouth filled with the irony taste.
Did I appear too calm? If this had happened to my former self, I would have been a wreck. The pure aggression from Medved. It was frightening. But I was no longer scared of things normal people would be scared of.
Bruce woke up and walked into the kitchen. Alfred was already awake and making breakfast.
"Good morning Master Wayne."
"Morning." He said as he sat down, Alfred filling a cup with coffee.
In his head he was thinking about a million things at once. How to find Medved, how to stop him.
Then that night on the rooftop in Luxembourg popped up in his mind. He bit his teeth together, angry with himself for letting his guard down and hoping he didn't go too far.
He wasn't himself when he wore the mask, that's why he had protested.
Then he thought about their conversation. It made him less and less hopeful for a future together with her. Maybe he had ruined what they had by pretending to die.
"Master Wayne?" Alfred asked.
"Yeah." He said absently.
"Have you seen Miss Hunter?"
Seen her? It was early in the morning. The sun hadn't even gone up yet.
"No. She's probably still sleeping." He responded.
"That's just it, sir. I knocked on her door and nobody answered because I wanted to make her some breakfast. When I opened the door, there was nobody in there. I called her cellphone and she didn't answer."
"What did you say?" He said in shock. He knew what this meant.
"That she isn't here, sir."
He got up and pulled out his phone, dialing her number frantically.
It went to voicemail.
"Track her phone." He said, feeling the adrenaline pumping.
"Right away, sir."
They walked over to the computers and Alfred typed away.
"There. I located the phone. It's…here." Alfred said.
"Damn it." Bruce said angrily.
"Maybe it's something harmless and she simply forgot to take her phone?"
"No, no. We talked last night and she wanted to be bait for Medved."
"Bait?"
"I told her no."
He shouldn't have been surprised that she wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Ok, she obviously wants us to find her. Try tracking her necklace."
Alfred typed on the computer again.
"Got it. She's in…a small village outside of Moscow."
How long had I been here?
Time seemed to pass painfully slow. I started to count the seconds to at least get a feeling of when five minutes pass.
"Jesus. That was only five minutes?" I said frustrated once I was done, resting my head against the wall.
A guy walked in. He was bald, wearing a thick coat and heavy boots. I looked at the boots, which were covered in snow. Definitely not in London anymore - I thought to myself.
That means I had to have been unconscious for a long time. I didn't remember a flight or anything.
The guy grabbed me by my arm and pulled me up.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
He didn't answer and pushed me along. He opened a door and shoved me inside, closing the door again.
It was a bathroom.
Once I had come out, we walked back into the other room, he tied my wrists together in front of my body with a rope, then he put a bottle of water next to me and left.
Back to the endless waiting game.
Ten bathroom breaks.
How many days had this been? They had given me the bare minimum of food.
I was getting impatient. The waiting made me crazy.
And then suddenly, I heard noises in the hallway. It sounded like fighting.
Shortly after the door opened.
He walked in, the kevlar shining in a stark contrast to the white walls surrounding us.
"I can't tell you how glad I am to see you." I said relieved.
Just now I noticed his facial expression. He looked angry, his eyes seemingly drunk on rage.
He didn't say anything as he walked up to me. He picked me up, throwing me gently over his shoulder.
"I can walk." I protested. But he didn't pay attention to what I had to say, carrying me out.
As we made our way through the building where I had been held captive, I saw several of Medved's men on the ground.
Then I saw Medved. He was unconscious but as I looked more closely, I wasn't even sure if he was still alive.
His eyes swollen shut, his front teeth were gone, his arm dislocated, his jaw seemed fractured.
"What…what did you do?" I whispered almost more to myself than Bruce.
But Bruce was silent.
We made our way outside. It appeared I had been held inside a small farm house, surrounded by nothing but snow.
He walked into an open field, still not letting me down.
"Bruce, I can seriously walk on my own."
No response.
Then I heard the helicopter. It landed not too far from us, the wind shooting snowflakes into my face.
It was a military grade helicopter. I was wondering where he gotten that from.
The doors opened and he walked with me inside, letting me down. He grabbed my hands, cutting the rope around my wrists with a batarang, while he looked at me with certain anger in his eyes.
"Thanks." I said.
He left.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"He's getting ready to pick up Medved." Alfred said.
I turned around in surprise. "I didn't know you'd be coming to road trips now."
"Master Wayne wanted me to be able to give you immediate medical attention."
"Then you came for no reason." I said as I sat down. "All I got is some cuts and bruises."
"Well, let me look at it anyway." Alfred said.
He grabbed a tray of medical supplies.
"Hold still." He said as he cleaned my wounds. "What happened?" He asked.
"Medved hit me in the face. Not a big deal."
Alfred looked at me long and hard before he continued.
He didn't lecture me. It must be bad if he didn't even have anything to say.
Batman walked back inside, dropping Medved.
Alfred gave me a headset. I put it on, the doors closed and shortly after we were airborne.
The flight was relatively short. Just now I could feel how my face hurt. And so did my neck, my throat and almost every bone in my body.
We were flying across snowy landscapes and I felt myself relax in the seat. Mission accomplished. We got Medved. My plan had worked.
We landed and Bruce walked out, dragging out Medved, who was still out cold.
I took off the headset, unbuckled and walked out.
"Daniel?" I asked as I saw him talking to Batman, Medved getting carried away by what looked like Interpol agents.
"Master Wayne called Mr. Goodwyn once we learned where you were. Interpol was quite interested in obtaining Medved. But they can't get him out of Russia. It's outside of their jurisdiction."
"But Batman could get Medved for them."
"Precisely. We're now in the Ukraine, which is part of the EU so Interpol can take it from here."
Daniel looked up from his conversation with Bruce in the distance and spotted me. He looked concerned.
"Our ride is right over there, Miss." Alfred said as he pointed at a military plane.
"Is he…?"
"He's coming."
I walked inside the plane, guessing Daniel had better things to do than talk to me right now. And to be honest, my head hurt so much I didn't feel like talking to anyone right now either.
"Do you happen to have aspirin?" I asked.
"Of course. Coming right up." Alfred responded.
Once Bruce was onboard, the plane took off.
I had never been in a military airplane before. It was just a big cargo section with a few seats in it.
Bruce was sitting almost at the other end, with the other seat. I watched him carefully as he took of his mask, holding it in his hands and looking to the ground.
He seemed broken.
Once we reached altitude, I walked over to him. He didn't seem to notice, still looking to the ground. Or maybe he didn't want to talk to me.
"You called Daniel, huh?" I asked with a smile.
He didn't look up, clearing his throat. "Yeah."
"Well, thanks for getting me out." I said.
He got up and walked past me, putting his mask away.
"Did you get any information from Medved?" I asked.
He spun around. "Don't you dare ever fucking do that again!" He yelled at me.
I knew he would be unhappy with my plan, but I didn't think he would be this mad at me.
It took me a second to respond, the anger in his voice taking me aback.
"I know it was risky. I get that. But it worked. We've got Medved."
"You could have died. Easily. The fact that it worked is pure luck."
"It wasn't luck. I had a plan."
"A plan? You had an idea!" He yelled. "A bad one at that. You had no plan of how I was going to get you out of there. Do you think it's easy to quickly organize getting a military helicopter?"
"No, but I had faith in you that you would figure it out. But you don't have faith in me. You still pretend like I'm a damsel in distress. I can hold my own. Is it because I'm a woman that you don't trust my abilities? Or is it because you don't work well in teams. I just want to…"
"It's because I love you!" He interrupted me loudly.
I was silent.
He sighed and shook his head.
"I get that you don't feel the same way about me anymore." He said in a more quiet voice now looking to the ground.
But I do - is what I wanted to say, but I didn't. Instead I just stood there.
"Enough with this." He looked at me with vulnerable eyes. "Enough! Stop the running. Stop the games. We've done it for too long."
He was biting his teeth together hard.
I had never heard him say this. I had never thought my back and forth got to him the way it apparently had.
"Is this supposed to be my punishment?" He asked.
Punishment? Of course not.
It was as if I was having an internal conversation with him. I felt a knot forming in my throat.
I had gone too far this time. Now I could see it.
"Because, I can't take it anymore, Cat." His eyes looked broken. "I can't."
I hadn't thought that me being taken as hostage would hurt Bruce. But now I realized how hurtful it must have been for him. Now I understood why Medved was beaten into a pulp.
I swallowed hard, looking to the ground and seeing his gloves, caked in blood.
"And it's not like I need a reminder." He continued. "I know I failed you. I know you blame me for what Bane did to you. I know you blame me for the death of our child."
My eyes shot up at him in shock.
I don't! At all! Why would you think that?
I felt tears in my eyes as I was shaking my head in protest but he was looking at the ground.
"There's not a day that goes by that I don't hate myself for making that mistake and getting beaten by Bane. If it wasn't for that…" He shook his head again and looked at me. "But I can't turn back time. I wish I could, Cat."
He ran his hand through his hair. "You can blame me, you can hate me, but don't you dare proof a point by getting yourself killed." He said as angry tears were streaming down his face. "Because I could not fucking live with that, do you hear me?"
My silent tears were hitting the ground. I nodded. Even that seemed to be asking a lot of me. I felt frozen.
With that he walked away, through a door, to another section of the plane, where he was getting changed.
I stood there in shock, disgusted with myself. It was as if my whole world had just been put on its head. Finally I could see the wreckage I had left in my path.
I took a breath, realizing I hadn't taken one in far too long. It sounded like I was gasping for air.
Suddenly I felt dizzy, overwhelmed by emotions and the physical toll finally catching up with me.
I walked to the bathroom, locking myself in the tiny room and splashed my face with cold water.
Like a tired boxer, I was holding onto the sink, looking at myself in the mirror.
Who had I become?
I didn't recognize the woman staring back at me. And it wasn't because of the bruises on my jawline, the cut on my upper lip, the cut above my eye that Alfred had to superglue, or the deep purple ring around my neck.
It was my eyes that I didn't recognize anymore.
For the rest of the flight, Bruce didn't come back to the main cargo area. I sat next to Alfred, feeling like an empty shell.
"Are you alright, Miss?" Alfred asked.
I nodded. But that couldn't have been further from the truth.
He placed a blanket around me.
The military plane felt appropriate. I felt like had been through an emotional war zone.
I felt raw. In pain. And these wounds were all self inflicted.
He was taking off his armor, piece by piece. He looked at his gloves, covered in blood and small pieces of skin.
He took a deep breath. There was no question, he had gone too far. Way too far.
Closing his eyes, the images only partially came back to him. When he walked into the house where Medved kept her, he was filled with rage. Drunk on rage. How he knocked out Medved's men - he wasn't even sure.
Once he had gotten to Medved he saw red.
"Batman!" Medved had said with a grin. "And here I thought you were dead."
"Where is she?" He asked in a deep, gravely voice.
"Wayne must have even more influence than I thought."
He grabbed Medved, twisted his arm until it popped out of the socket.
Medved screamed in agony.
"Where is she?" He repeated in a loud growl.
"She is in room down the hallway. She is fine."
He walked down the hallway with Medved in tow.
"She's in there. You can let me go now." Medved said.
But something in him snapped and suddenly he allowed himself to unleash the monster on Medved.
"Give me your operatives in Europe and the United States." He said.
"What?" Medved asked.
What happened next Bruce could only vaguely recall. He remembered punching his face repeatedly with so much force, he felt Medved's teeth fall out like jelly beans.
"Please, mercy!" Medved said, blood spouting out of his mouth, but Bruce wasn't even fully paying attention and he wasn't able to stop either.
Now in the airplane, he was grinding his teeth together at the memory. He had gone too far this time. He had no control over himself.
Once we landed, Bruce was the first one off the plane. He was wearing jeans and a hoodie, holding a futuristic-looking case in his hand.
That must be his suit.
He didn't look at me. Didn't speak to me.
We drove back to the apartment in silence.
We walked back inside.
"I'm heading back to Italy tomorrow." He said, taking off his jacket and placing it on the couch.
He was leaving?
Once again, instead of telling him how I felt, I remained silent.
"I've instructed Alfred to bring you wherever you want to go." He said, packing some of his things in a bag.
"That's not necessary." That was all I could muster to say, but he didn't respond, didn't look at me.
I felt a knot forming in my throat. The panic of losing him spreading across my body.
Say something! Apologize - even if it's too late.
He checked his watch and then looked at me. I was hoping my face didn't give away the emotional turmoil I was in.
"Do you need anything?" He asked quietly.
I shook my head. "No."
"Are you sure? Did Alfred give you pain meds?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
He nodded. "I should be back by 7."
"Where are you going?"
"I promised your Mi6 guy I would give him the info I had gotten from Medved."
I was about to say that I wanted to come but then I thought better of it. The last thing he wanted was to have me with him right now.
"Call me if you need anything." He said.
I nodded.
He walked to the door.
"Bruce?"
He turned around.
"Thank you." I said. "For getting me out."
He just nodded and walked out the door.
He was meeting Daniel at his apartment since Bruce Wayne couldn't just walk into Mi6. Not when he was officially declared dead.
It had irked him that he had to call Daniel in the first place when Cat had gone missing. But he had no other ideas at the point.
He knew he had to act fast in order to safe Cat. His pride had to suffer a little in the process.
He didn't like that the guy had obviously some feelings for her. He could see it in his eyes when he looked at her.
But here he was, walking into the Daniel's apartment, sharing information.
"Thanks for coming." Daniel said.
He didn't respond, hoping this would be over quickly.
"Alright, let's get straight to it." Daniel said, sitting down at the table and Bruce took a seat as well.
"Medved said he had worked with operatives for the Chinese mob." Bruce said.
"In Gotham?"
"In- and outside of Gotham."
"Chinese mob? That's certainly unorthodox for them to be working together."
"Greed. They thought there would get a big payday. Bane had them convinced of that."
"Anything else he told you?"
He nodded. "He gave me a list of his operatives in Europe and the U.S."
"Really?"
"I have already sent you an encrypted copy. This is the decoder." He said as he put a flash drive on the table.
"You're certainly good at what you do, Mr. Wayne."
Bruce got up and started walking towards the door.
"Mr. Wayne?"
He turned around.
"Could I ask you another question?" Daniel asked.
He sighed. "Sure."
Daniel got up slowly, crossing his arms in front of him.
"In my years as an agent I've never seen someone be brutalized the way Medved was and still be alive."
Bruce bit his teeth together. "That wasn't a question."
"Why did you do it?"
"I was in a rush to get information out of him. He's one of the biggest crime lords in the world. It required different methods."
Both of them knew he was lying.
"Really?" Daniel asked.
"Really." He said with carefully guarded anger.
"Huh. I could have sworn it had something to do with her."
He stared at him with angry eyes for a second before he opened the door and left.
He knew it was bad. Batman couldn't make it personal or he would be nothing more than a vigilante. But with Medved, it had been personal. He couldn't hold his anger back.
Instead of taking a cab he decided to take a walk along the Themes and clear his head.
I kept checking my phone every few minutes. For what I wasn't even sure.
Finally I heard the key in the lock and he walked in.
"How did it go?" I asked.
"Fine."
I wanted to ask again what Medved had told him but I felt like it wasn't the right time.
"I have to say, you working with Daniel, I didn't see that coming." I said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.
He braced his hands against the a chair, now looking at me directly and with serious eyes.
Enough! It was written all over his face.
Nervously I bit my lips together, clearing my throat. I looked at him again and he hadn't changed, his look still determined, waiting for my next move.
"Ok, here's the deal." I said, clearing my throat again.
I knew I had to finally say it before it was eating me from within.
"Before the whole Poison Ivy thing…I wanted to…" I swallowed hard, looking to the ground for a moment. "I came to see you because…" I looked at him again. "Because I wanted to apologize."
He looked surprised but didn't move, didn't respond.
I took a deep breath. "So here it goes: I'm sorry, ok?"
I felt myself getting more emotional. "I'm sorry for how I've treated you, how I blamed everything on you. I don't know why I did that. I was just so hurt and angry… But that doesn't excuse any of it. I'm sorry."
I was close to tears but was able to control myself, my voice shaking.
"I'm sorry for everything." I continued. "I don't blame you. For anything. I said these things because…honestly I don't even know anymore why. I don't recognize myself. But I would never, in a million years, blame you for what happened. The opposite. You saved me in more ways than I can count. Despite all the things I've said, in my heart, there's only you. I love you."
He was still standing there motionless. Maybe I had come too late? Maybe now I had him pushed too far away.
"I'm just so sor…" I started saying, but before I could finish the next sentence, he came up to me in determined strides and scooped me into his arms, finding my lips, pressing me closely against him.
And for the first time in a long time, I felt I could let go. Let go off the resentment, the fear, the anger, the hate, the hurt, the disappointment. It was all swept away in this very instance. I leaned against him, wrapping my arms around his neck, feeling my hands in his hair as our tongues met.
We stayed up for hours, talking before we eventually fell asleep.
I woke up in his arms, and it felt like the world was right again.
We had breakfast and then Bruce said he wanted to show me something. Before I knew it, we were back at an airport.
"Where are we going?" I asked as I walked to the private jet.
"Somewhere far away."
"That's not answering my question."
He smiled. "Swiss Alps."
"Swiss Alps." I repeated confused. "What's there?"
"I own a cabin there."
"Of course you do. Let me guess, it's just outside of St. Moritz." I just picked one of the most expensive places in Switzerland.
He smiled again and nodded.
"But why are we going there?" I asked.
"Cat, not everything we do has to be related to crime fighting."
For some reason that sounded like a novel concept to me.
"So what? We're going on vacation?" I asked confused.
"Yes, we've earned it."
As we were taking off, I thought maybe he was right and we had earned some time off.
"Won't people recognize us at that cabin of yours?" I asked.
He shook his head. "It's remote. Nobody knows we're there."
I nodded.
At the end of the hour flight, the white, snowy landscape stretching underneath us, I realized I did not have anything appropriate to wear.
"I didn't bring any winter clothes." I said.
"I got you covered." He said with a smirk.
He got up and got a white, puffy coat with expensive looking fur on the hoodie.
"Don't worry, it's fake fur." He said as he handed it to me.
That did make me feel better but I still felt awkward accepting expensive gifts from it. By the looks of it this wasn't a cheap coat.
"Thanks." I said awkwardly as I put it on.
The drive from the private airport had been 2 hours. This really was remote. When we arrived, it was once again like I had stepped into a magazine. A long gravely driveway lead the way to the house.
"So by cabin…you meant mansion." I said.
He didn't respond but simply smiled.
He opened the door for me.
"I'm not used to you opening doors instead of Alfred." I said.
He laughed. "I think I'm getting quite good at it."
I stepped inside trying to get the snow of my shoes when he turned on the lights.
It was a modern villa. One side of the house, the one facing the mountains, was all glass. Dark wood, marble counters. Expensive looking artwork.
"What a waste that nobody is ever here." I said, almost more to myself.
I turned around and noticed Bruce just standing there, watching me closely. He had his hands in his pockets, his eyes studying me closely.
We just looked at each other for a moment and then he walked up to me, taking my face in his hand and pulled my lips to his, softly kissing me.
I leaned against him, intensifying the kiss.
Lost in the kiss, I didn't even notice him lifting me up until I realized I was sitting on the kitchen table.
As soon as I took off his shirt, he pulled me against him again, his lips hitting mine with passion.
Not breaking the kiss, he unbuttoned my dress, his lips gliding down my neck as his hands were going down on me.
With one hand he pushed my lower back against him, before easing himself onto me.
I moved against his hand, ready to give in when he stopped. How was his timing always so perfect?
He kissed me as he unbuckled his belt.
I exhaled deeply as he entered me, this time around much more carefully, watching my every reaction to his movements closely.
I remembered the last time we had sex. On that rooftop. Not as Bruce and Cat.
This felt, in a way, different than any other time had. Maybe it was because we had agreed to a fresh start. I wasn't the same person that I was before he had left Gotham.
But for the first time since I had become the Black Viper, we were having sex within a relationship. No more back and forth.
"Don't stop." I managed to say, feeling drunk on him.
I couldn't get enough of him. I wanted him, in more ways than I had realized. I wanted him in me. His weight on top of me. His hot breath on me.
His head was inches from mine as we were breathing in heavy unison.
I held onto his arm, arching against him, as I felt myself shatter around him and he followed me swiftly.
We were looking at each other out of breath for a moment. He smiled at me before he got up and we got dressed again.
"I'll give you a tour." He said, taking my hand and we walked through the house.
"Is there a place where you don't own a house?"
He laughed. "Plenty of places."
The next four days we hardly left the house. It was just like we were freshly in love again. We couldn't get enough of one another. We decided to make it our mission to have sex in each room of the house. And there were a lot of rooms.
It was as if we were catching up on lost time. We watched movies, talked for hours, cooked together, and took long walks in the woods.
The snow was thick and magical looking. Like a winter wonderland.
"Grilled marshmallows would be perfect right now." I said as we were sitting on a cozy fluffy carpet by the fire, drinking wine and talking.
"Your wish is my command." He said with a smile and got up.
"Shut up! Don't tell me this place has marshmallows."
He came back with an entire s'mores set up.
"Ok, what is this place?" I asked laughing. He shrugged innocently with a smile on his lips.
The time in the Swiss Alps was like a dream.
"Wanna check out the outside hot tub?" He asked one night.
"This place has a hot tub?"
"Of course."
"Count me in." I said.
He grabbed my hand and walked outside with me.
"Wait, shouldn't I change?" I asked, not wearing more than one of his white shirts, which had easily become my favorite item of clothing.
"I think you're dressed perfectly for the occasion." He said as he scooped me up and carried me over the snow.
"How have I never seen that hot tub before?" I asked as he carried me towards it.
"It's normally covered and there was snow on top of it."
He went up the stairs and then slowly walked with me into the hot tub, lowering me into the water.
"This feels amazing." I said as the hot water surrounded me, the cold air above. "And you can see the stars."
I looked at Bruce's body, covered in far too many scars. He looked at me closely and then pulled me towards him, taking my face in his hands and kissing me. His lips parting mine as our tongues met. His body pressed against mine.
He stopped the kiss and looked at me closely.
I could see his breath in the cold winter air.
"I have to say Wayne, not bad, not bad at all." I said with a smirk as I moved around in the hot tub and sat down.
He smiled and came closer to me again.
He sat behind me and pulled me on his lap. I rested my head against him, looking at the stars.
After everything we'd been through, the Joker, Bane, death…I never thought I could feel this way again. Weightless. Without worries.
He moved his hands over my hips and alongside my body. The white shirt now clinging to my skin.
His one hand moved down on me, moving along my inner thigh until he touched my panties.
Then he pulled my panties to the side. I held on to his biceps as he continued, my breath hiking up as the sensation took over my body.
His other hand moved slowly over my body, across my stomach, my chest, until it reached my neck, softly bending it back.
That's when I felt him push two fingers inside of me. I arched my back.
"Bruce." I said under heavy breathing.
"Don't come yet." He whispered into my ear and stopped.
He scooped me up in his arms again and carried me back to the house. This time the short walk felt much longer since I was in a wet shirt.
"Don't worry." He said with a grin. "I'll warm you up in no time."
I wasn't doubting that.
"Did you ever have an awkward phase?" I asked Bruce as I was cooking eggs one morning, wearing his white shirt.
"An awkward phase?" He repeated, sitting across from me at the bar.
I had to admit, this view wasn't getting old. He was sitting in nothing more than black shorts, leaning back as he was reading the paper, his abs on perfect display.
I sighed. "The fact that you don't even know what I'm talking about…" I shook my head. "I guess Bruce Wayne was never an awkward teenager."
"I felt plenty awkward during ballroom dance lessons."
"Wait... what?" I almost dropped the spatula. "You know how to dance?"
He tilted his head. "Should I take this as an insult. We've danced before."
I laughed. "Sorry. No, I know you can dance but not like ballroom dancing… That's a whole different animal."
"You don't believe me?" He asked with a smile.
"I didn't say that."
"Waynes had to go through a classical education, which included ballroom dancing. So I've been told by Alfred because I certainly wanted to get out of it." "Wait, which kind of dances are included in ballroom dancing? The waltz, tango…"
"…foxtrot, quick step, samba, cha-cha, rumba. And you forgot Viennese waltz."
I just stared at him, trying not to laugh, covering my mouth with my hand. I slowly nodded. "Very interesting."
He sighed and looked at me frustrated. "You're making fun of me." He said.
I cleared my throat. "No. Wouldn't dream of it."
He got up and grabbed his phone. Suddenly the stereo system in the house was playing music.
He turned off the stove and held out his hand.
I laughed. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm asking you for a dance."
I laughed again but he was serious, his one arm behind his back, the other extending towards me, palm up.
Ok, I can play along. "My mother warned me not to dance with strangers."
He laughed.
I placed my hand in his and he pulled me towards him.
"How do we do this?" I asked.
He positioned my arm on top of his shoulder at a 90 degree angle. Then he took my other hand in his.
"Chin up." He said.
"Is that what your dance teacher always said?"
He smiled but didn't respond. "Waltz is about the box step. Let me show you. I'll lead and you just follow."
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
He grinned. "Here it goes."
Effortlessly he was moving me across the floor to the music. I held my chin up and smiled at him.
"Did you know the waltz was the first dance where a man held a woman close to his body?" He asked.
"I did not."
He pulled me closer to him. "In the 1600s this was as close as a man would get to a woman before marriage."
Very aware of how closer our bodies were, I just looked at him.
He stopped the movements but still held me in his arms. I was once again spellbound.
"Next one." He said.
"Next one?"
"Tango."
"Oh you were serious?"
"When am I ever not serious?" He asked with a smirk.
I laughed. "Very true."
He adjusted my arms and positioned them correctly and quickly told me the basics.
Then he changed the song from his phone and moved me across the floor again.
The movements much more sensual than in the waltz.
"I still can't believe you know how to dance." I said with a chuckle.
"Well, consider it a lesson learned." He said.
Then he dipped my body, leaning me backwards as much as possible without me falling.
He pulled me up in a fast movement and pulled me towards him again.
More steps across the floor and then he grabbed my leg by the knee and pulled it up and towards him as he leaned just slightly backwards.
I had to admit, him moving me around was kind of hot.
"Show off." I said.
He laughed.
We took a walk in the woods, the trees were weighed down by the fresh white powder.
The moonlight was hitting the snow just right to make it sparkle.
He took my hand as we walked in silence, the snow swallowing any noise around us.
"Beautiful night." I finally said, looking up at the stars.
He pulled me into his arms and kissed me on the forehead.
"I want to show you something." He said, taking my hand and leading me to an open field that was surrounded by trees.
He looked at his watch and pressed a button and suddenly all the trees around us were illuminated.
It wasn't even strings of lights, it must have been laser lights hitting the trees.
Whatever it was it looked like stars in the hundreds of trees surrounding us. I was speechless as I spun around, taking in the light show.
"This is… I don't even know what to say."
"Catherine?" He said and I looked at him again. His face was serious
I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not.
"Yes?" I asked nervously.
He looked at me closely for a few seconds, his dark eyes scanning mine. "I didn't get to do this properly the last time." He said.
"Do what?" I asked.
He didn't respond at first.
"I could say a lot of things and none of them would do it justice of what you mean to me." He said, looking deeply into my eyes. "I love you more than anything in this world and I can't imagine spending my life without you."
Then he got on one knee.
I didn't know why it made my adrenaline go up just as much as when he had asked me the first time. But it did.
I covered my mouth with my hands, trying to keep from crying.
"Catherine Victoria Hunter," he said as he fetched the ring from his pocket. "Will you marry me?"
I tried to compose myself before I answered.
"Yes." I nodded.
Before I knew what was happening, he got up and pulled me towards him and kissed me. I was hoping this wasn't a dream I would wake up from. We had gone through so much.
He put the ring on my finger.
I realized it wasn't the same ring.
"I had them re-make the ring." He said, noticing me looking at it closely.
Instead of the oval shape, that same diamond now sparkled back at me in a rectangle form, with small diamonds all around it.
"Radiant halo cut." He clarified.
"It's beautiful." I said.
Something about that felt fitting. A new ring for a new us. I wasn't the same person who had accepted his proposal all that time ago on a tropical island.
I kissed him again. Was this finally our happily ever after?
Whatever it was - for now I wanted this moment to last forever.
Freshly engaged for the second time, Bruce said he wanted to swap the cold snowy Swiss mountains for the Maldives.
"Is that what rich people do? Go on expensive vacations?" I asked.
He shrugged. "I honestly don't know. How I've been spending my money so far has not been the standard apparently."
I laughed. "Yeah, so many billionaires in this country and only one of them decided to become a man-sized bat at night."
He laughed. "I know. What's wrong with them?"
Bruce had rented a yacht for us and we were out on the ocean almost every day, swimming with dolphins. We were all over each other, like teenagers.
One day, Bruce had just gotten out of the water and was back on board as I was absorbing the warm sunlight.
"We should do it here." He said out of breath from swimming, running his fingers though his wet hair.
I raised my sunglasses and looked at him. "Easy tiger. There are other boats near by."
He looked confused. Then he chuckled. "Not that, though now you're giving me ideas. I meant getting married."
I sat up, not sure why this was something that still made me nervous.
"We've already been engaged twice." Bruce said. "I don't want to wait any longer. Life is too short."
I shrugged. "Sure. Let's get married here."
He smiled and nodded at me.
"But, we need to get Alfred back first." I said.
"Of course."
Bruce had sent Alfred on a long-earned vacation. He had never taken one and Bruce said he was worried for him. The old butler seemed to look more worried of late. I reminded Bruce that Alfred had gone through a lot during Bane's reign. Especially when he thought Bruce had died.
"All the more reason to send him on a vacation." Bruce had said.
It was a small wedding. Just us and Alfred. I didn't even ask my parents to come because for starters, they didn't know Bruce was still alive.
"Are you sure you don't want to invite them?" Bruce had asked.
"Positive."
I knew that deep down, I had changed and they hadn't. They still saw me as the woman they had raised. Not the one that beat up criminals at night wearing a black costume.
Bruce had found a minister on the island to perform a small wedding.
I shook my head. "That's so impersonal."
"Any better ideas?"
"Alfred."
"Alfred?" He repeated.
"Yeah, older gentleman. British. Loves tea." I joked.
He rolled his eyes at me.
"In all seriousness, who better to marry us? I couldn't think of a more appropriate choice." I said.
He thought about it for a second. "It's not a bad idea actually."
The date was set. Just a week away. There was nothing we needed to plan. No guests. No invitations. No catering. Just us at a beach.
We scouted out a beautiful tranquil beach on the island. Nobody was going to be here but us.
We were driving around when it all of a sudden hit me. "I'm going to need a dress."
He nodded.
"Where am I going to get a wedding dress from here?" I asked.
"I've taken care of that."
"How?"
"You'll see." He said with a smirk.
As we walked back inside our villa, I was still thinking of what I could wear. Basically any white dress would do. If it's a cover up, so be it.
"I have something prepared for you." He said as he walked with me to the living room. He opened the door and I couldn't believe my eyes.
"Sam?" I asked.
"Surprise." She said with a big smile, surrounded by what looked like 40 wedding dresses.
I walked up to her and hugged her.
"I thought you needed your best friend by your side." Bruce said.
I didn't think I did, until the moment I was hugging her.
"I'm going to let you two ladies catch up. I'm going to pick up Alfred from the airport."
I nodded. "Thanks." I said and gave him a kiss.
"No thanks necessary." He said and left.
"Alright, we have several bottles of champagne and a lot of wedding dresses. Let's get started." Sam said.
It was just like old times. We were laughing over the stupidest things that nobody else would be laughing about.
After trying on what felt like a million dresses, I finally had the winner.
It wasn't the custom Vera Wang that I had almost worn for wedding number one, but in a way, it was even more perfect.
"You think I'm weird for not inviting my parents?" I said, looking at myself in the mirror.
Sam shook her head. "No. I think you're doing what's right for you. I know it's hard for you to connect with people outside of this world of yours. I get it. It's something nobody else can understand. Hell, my parents were freaking out when I went to Princeton instead of Harvard. I don't even want to think what they would say if I told them I was a masked vigilante."
I laughed and got changed into regular clothes again.
It didn't hit me until the day of the wedding that I realized - I was about to get married to Bruce Wayne. It sounds silly, but for some reason, I had so many thoughts in my head that it only now was catching up with me.
I had spent the morning with Sam. We had gotten breakfast and then we were getting ready in her hotel room.
She had, of course, gotten us a hair stylist and make up artist.
We were sitting in our silky robes, sipping champagne, as they were styling our hair.
"Look at you." Sam said while smiling. "Who would have thought fearless Catherine Hunter is getting cold feet."
"What?"
"Come on Cat, I know you. That expression on your face… Spill it."
I sighed. "I don't know. It's just catching up with me."
"What? The fact that you're about to marry Bruce Wayne?"
I took in a deep breath. "Yes. That fact."
She took a sip of her champagne. "Well, if it's any consolation, the marriage won't be real on paper since he's technically declared dead."
I laughed. "True."
"All joking aside." She said as she leaned forward, facing me. "Of course you're nervous. It's your wedding day. Whether it's real on paper or not. You guys have been doing the back and forth for so long, it may seem daunting that it's now all or nothing."
I nodded. "I honestly don't know if we can have a happily ever after. Marriage…it seems so…normal. And we're anything but that."
"Marriage to me means that two people are bound together and honestly Cat, I couldn't imagine any two people better suited for that journey than you guys."
I smiled at her. "Thanks."
She nodded and leaned back. "Who would have thought that you would end up marrying Bruce fucking Wayne."
I laughed. "Not me, I tell you that."
"I wish I had a time machine and tell your young self that this would be happening."
"I would have killed you."
She laughed. "Oh I don't doubt it."
After hours with hair and make-up, we were finally ready.
"There." Sam said as she put a small, blue hair clip in my hair. "Something blue and borrowed. Your something new is the entire rest of your outfit."
There was a knock on the door. "May I come in?"
It was Alfred.
"Come on in." I responded.
Alfred walked in, wearing a tuxedo.
"You're looking sharp, Al." I said.
"Thank you. You look magnificent. I have something for you." He said and handed me a box. "It's from Master Wayne."
"Oh man. More gifts? I don't have anything for him."
Alfred smiled. "I believe that's quite alright miss."
I opened the box and saw diamond earrings.
"I guess that's another something new." Sam said.
"No, I would suppose this would count as her something 'old'. These are his mother's." Alfred said.
I looked at him in shock. "How did he get them here?"
"He's more of a romantic than you think. Once we found him in Italy he asked me to get those across the pond."
"Why?" I asked.
He smiled. "Hope, Miss Hunter. He wanted you to wear them on your wedding day and although you gave no indication you would ever be willing to marry him again, he did not give up hope."
Sam wiped away tears. "Damn it, Alfred. Now you made me cry and the wedding hasn't even started yet."
I put on the earrings, which looked perfect. I looked at myself in the mirror again and felt the butterflies creeping up again.
I took a deep breath and turned to face Alfred again.
"A little liquid courage?" Alfred asked as he handed me another glass of champagne.
"Certainly won't hurt." I said and took a sip.
"I am so happy for you two." He said. "Thanks Alfred." "He's like a son to me. Any father wants what's best for his son. Quite frankly, I've never seen him as happy as he is with you."
I hugged Alfred.
"Alright, I better get to the beach. I'm sure an equally nervous groom is standing there." Alfred said.
Bruce was putting on his shoes when Alfred came in.
"Almost ready?" The old butler asked.
"Yes." He responded.
"How are the nerves?"
Bruce laughed. "I'm pretty good." He said as he was standing up, closing the buttons on the cuffs of his shirt. "Am I nervous? Yes, but in a good way."
"Good." Alfred said with a smile.
"Could you bring her the earrings?" He asked as he put on his tie.
"Of course. I was already planning on that."
"What would I do without you?" He put on the jacket. "How do I look?"
"Like a million bucks." Alfred said.
"Just a million?" Alfred laughed and then Bruce noted emotions washing over his face.
He walked closer to Bruce. "I know that you're missing them even more on a day like today. So do I."
Bruce bit his lips together. He had been thinking about his parents a lot today.
"I can't tell you how proud they would be of you." Alfred said. "And my God, would they have loved her."
Bruce smiled, swallowing down tears. "Yeah, they would have."
"I'm so proud of you for making the leap of faith and trusting someone again. I am so very happy for you."
He hugged Alfred. "Thanks Alfred."
Sam and I were driving to the beach and I felt more nervous than I had ever before in my life.
"I'd never thought I'd be this much of a mess." I said.
"Well, wait until you actually stand in front of him. Then it's really going to hit you."
"Is this your idea of a pep talk?"
She chuckled. "It's going to be fine."
Minutes later we pulled up to the parking lot. From there it was only a short walk. The sun was slowly setting, turning everything into an orange hue.
We walked down to the beach and Sam was right. Once I saw him in a tuxedo, a small white orchid attached to his lapel, standing there with Alfred, I felt my stomach in a knot. This was it. He was going to be my husband in a matter of minutes.
He smiled at me, his eyes locking on mine with the same intensity as they had all the way back when we first met.
"Keep breathing." Sam said as we slowly walked towards Bruce and Alfred.
"I wasn't?"
"Nope. And you're all stiff."
"I feel like I need another bottle of champagne."
She chuckled. "We'll do that afterwards."
She suddenly stopped and looked at me. "What you two have is like some kind of fairytale bullshit."
I laughed.
"The bottom line here is, no matter how broken you think you two are, together you make each other whole." Sam said.
I nodded.
"Now go get married to that handsome devil already."
I laughed and hugged her. "Thank you for everything."
I kept walking towards Bruce, who reached out his hand once I was close enough.
"You look breathtaking." He said as our hands touched.
Suddenly it was as if it was just him and me.
"We're gathered here today…" Alfred said as he was reading the script.
It was almost more like background music as I was held hostage by Bruce's eyes.
"…to celebrate the wedding of Catherine and Bruce."
I couldn't remember the last time I had been as sure about anything in my life as I was about Bruce. Despite everything that had happened, or maybe because of everything that had happened, I had never trusted anyone as much as I trusted him.
"Bruce, will you cherish her, be there for her in sickness and in health?" Alfred asked.
Bruce smiled at me. "I do."
"Catherine, will you love him and stand by his side in sickness and in health?"
"I do."
"Very well." Alfred said. "Catherine, please repeat after me. I, Catherine
take you, Bruce."
"I, Catherine take you, Bruce." My head was spinning. I hope I wasn't going to pass out.
"To be my husband." Alfred said the next line.
"To be my husband
I will share my life with yours,
Build our dreams together,
Support you through times of trouble,
and rejoice with you in times of happiness. I promise to give you
respect, love and loyalty
through all the trials and triumphs
of our lives together.
This commitment is made in love,
kept in faith,
lived in hope,
and made new every day of our lives."
"Bruce, now repeat after me." Alfred said and Bruce repeated the same speech.
"I, Bruce, take you, Catherine to be my wife." Bruce said and to hear him say my name followed by the word 'wife' was surreal.
"The rings, please." Alfred said and Sam walked over and gave him the two sachets.
Bruce placed the diamond eternity band we had picked out together on my hand and I put the dark, brushed stainless steel ring on his.
"Now by the power vested in me by…well, by nobody actually," Alfred said with a chuckle.
We laughed.
"It is my honor and delight to declare you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Bruce placed a hand on the side of my face and gently pulled me towards him until our lips met. I leaned in and felt once again I had forgotten everything around us. Our first kiss as husband and wife.
We broke the kiss and Bruce looked at me emotionally.
Alfred and Sam came over and gave us hugs.
In my heart I was hoping that this could last forever. The happily ever after.
The next weeks we spent traveling, bouncing from place to place.
"Where to next?" - was the common question.
We were just having fun. A rare concept for us. I knew it would eventually catch up with us. We both did. I just didn't know when it would happen.
We were in Thailand and just getting back to our hotel room from dinner when I saw the notification on my phone.
"Alex just texted me." I said confused. I hadn't heard from him in a while.
"About?" Bruce asked as he was getting water from the fridge.
I read the text out loud. "Hey Cat, not sure if you heard or if you care but my sources from the GCPD said they found traces of chemical weapons at a storage location in Gotham. The FBI is now involved. They're not telling the public anything which leads me to believe - it's bad. Hope all is well with you. We sure miss you around here. Alex."
I put the phone on the counter and we stared at the ground for a long time, neither of us saying anything.
"Dinner was good, wasn't it?" I finally asked.
He nodded. "Yes. Excellent."
We were quiet for another few minutes.
We both knew what this meant. This was the moment our bubble had been busted.
"Fuck." I sighed.
He looked at me concerned. "We don't have to go." He said in a non-convincing way.
"And what? Let people die while we're sitting in the sun? I can't sit by the pool while my friends face a possible chemical terrorist attack."
"So we go in, find who is behind it and then we're done."
We were quiet again. We both knew that going back to Gotham would have consequences.
"Are you going back as Bruce Wayne or as…"
"Bruce Wayne." He interrupted me, not even wanting to let me finish saying it out loud.
"I'll give Alfred a call." He said as he grabbed his phone.
The next day Alfred arrived at our hotel in Thailand.
We were sitting in the living room, planning our trip to Gotham.
"Can you tell me how you're going to break the news to Gothamites that Bruce Wayne is still alive?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Like last time. I'll just reappear."
I shook my head. "No, no. You can't do that."
"Cat, for 7 years they thought I was dead. Nobody cared that I was still alive."
"This is different. You weren't there. When Bane took over, the Wayne family became a beacon of hope. They looked to me as if I was royalty. Why? Because I was merely in a relationship with you. That's all it took. I know you worked hard on being an arrogant billionaire playboy, but the Wayne family name still has meaning in Gotham. Especially after Bane took over."
He looked at me in thoughts.
"I'm afraid she has a point Master Wayne." Alfred said.
"Alright, I'm all ears." He responded.
"I could make some calls, let the media in on it." I said. "I think Gotham needs a head start. Something to ease them into the whole idea of you still being alive. I know I could have used one."
The comment didn't go unnoticed. He bit his lips together and nodded.
"And then what?" He asked.
"Give them a head start of a day or a week, then we agree to a press conference of some sort. Or sit down interviews but then you're going to have to go through the parade of shows."
"We." He corrected me.
"What?"
"We would have to go through the parade of shows. Don't think that you're getting out of this."
"You're Bruce Wayne. I'm nobody."
Bruce smiled. "Oh how mistaken you are, Mrs. Wayne."
He pulled up an article from the Gotham Gazette.
Where is Gotham's princess?
Catherine Hunter has seemingly disappeared from Gotham. In a time when Gothamites are rebuilding their city brick by brick, many were hoping for Hunter to emerge as the beacon of hope she was during Bane's regime. "She was a symbol that Bane had not destroyed Gotham yet." Politics Professor Dr. Zane Schneider from the Gotham University said. "As long as she was still alive, Gotham wasn't lost."
But now, six months after Bane has been defeated by the Batman, Hunter has up and left.
She was spotted in Berlin, Germany with an unknown companion, breaking the hearts of many in Gotham. (It showed a picture of me and Daniel.)
"I thought she was still mourning over Mr. Wayne but it seems she has moved on," a Gotham resident said.
I had enough and stopped reading, handing the phone back to him.
He grinned at me. "Have you not heard about Catherine mania?"
"No and whatever it is I don't want to hear about it."
"There are literally fan groups, obsessed with you."
"Ok, stop it right now before I'm going to throw up."
"My point is, they're easily as interested in me as they are in you."
"Point taken. We'll do the media circus together."
He nodded, a big grin on his face.
My first call was to Alex.
"Hunter. Where in the world are you hiding?" He asked.
"Thailand right now." I said.
"Nice."
"I got your message."
"Didn't mean to spoil your vacation."
"No, no. Thanks for looping me in. I have some news for you."
"Ok."
"Are you… are you alone?"
He was quiet for a moment. "Yes. What's going on?"
I took a deep breath. "You can't tell anyone yet. But I want you to have it first."
"You're scaring me."
"Nothing scary."
"Spit it out already, Hunter."
"For starters, that's not my name anymore."
"You changed your name?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I got married."
"You got married?"
"Yes."
"To that Daniel guy?"
"No."
"May I ask who the lucky guy is?"
"You know him."
"I know him?"
I took another deep breath, knowing what would happen if I said it out loud.
"Cat, just tell me who you got married to already."
"Bruce."
There was a silence on the other end of the line.
"I'm trying to understand. Your husband's name is Bruce?"
I sighed. "Sorry, I'm making this a lot more difficult than it needs to be. I married Bruce. He is still alive."
Another long pause.
"Bruce Wayne is still alive?" He finally asked.
"Yes."
"You're fucking with me."
"No."
"You buried him."
"I buried an empty casket. We thought he was dead."
"Holy shit!"
"I know."
"When did you find this out?"
"A few months ago. When I left Gotham."
"That's why you left?"
"Yeah."
"So, not only is Gotham's prince still alive, he's now married to you."
"Correct."
"You do realize Gotham is going to lose its mind, don't you?"
"I'm aware. That's why I'm calling you. We're coming back to Gotham and I need to slowly ease the people into this."
"Ease into it? Cat, people are absolutely going to freak out!"
"I know, I know. I just need help with the PR move."
"Ok, I got you covered."
"Good."
"Cat?"
"Yeah."
"Just to clarify something, you thought he had died?"
"Yes."
"Only to realize he was still alive?"
"Yes."
"That must have been brutal."
I closed my eyes, trying to forget that time in my life.
"It was." I responded.
The next day it hit the news cycle.
We were watching WCX8 online. I knew it would be on tonight. Alex and I had discussed the timeline.
It would hit Gotham like a bomb.
"Good evening. Billionaire Bruce Wayne, thought to have died during the Bane era, is still alive and now married to former WCX8 reporter Catherine Hunter. This is a picture from their wedding in the Maldives just last month."
I had given Alex one picture, because I knew the press would go insane without any visuals from our wedding. But I wanted to keep that day as private as possible.
"We spoke with Mr. and Mrs. Wayne yesterday and they said they're planning to come back to Gotham as early as tomorrow."
I sighed and muted the computer. Just like that, our secret was out in the open.
"There you have it." I said.
"It doesn't have to change more than we want it to." He responded but I knew, there was no going back now. We were heading full course back to a life that we had left behind.
Coming back to Gotham seemed surreal. Most of all because I had left the city, thinking Bruce was dead.
Here we were, back together, returning to the city that had caused so much pain for both of us.
I had followed the coverage of us in Gotham's news cycle. We were the talking point 24/7.
"It is as if there are no other news." I said annoyed.
"We knew this would happen."
I sighed. "I guess. I'm just annoyed how obsessed they're with gossip shit like this. I'm sure there is something more interesting than talking about us all day. Politics. Corruption. Anything."
We were only half an hour away from landing.
"You didn't have to do this." Bruce said.
"Do what?"
"Come back. I know what this means for you."
I looked at him. "Yeah? And what's that?"
"Coming back to old memories and old feelings. Opening back up old wounds."
"Are you talking about me or about you?"
He smiled softly. "I guess about both of us." I
nodded. "This isn't easy for either one of us. It's home and yet it's home of our worst memories."
It seemed like a dark cloud came over him.
"I don't blame you for it." I said and he almost looked surprised.
"We're landing shortly." Alfred said while walking towards us. "For better or worse."
I couldn't deny I was nervous. Gotham seemed to hold nothing for us than darkness and pain. "Are we making the right choice?" I asked.
Bruce looked at me almost concerned. After a few seconds he nodded.
I bit my lips together. "I can't shake this nervous feeling."
We had just touched down and I could already see the cameras in the distance.
"Here we go." I sighed.
We waved at the cameras as we got into the car and drove back to Wayne Manor.
Gotham looked much better than it did when I had left. The scars from Bane's reign were all but gone.
Where buildings had exploded, new ones were being built. The city had always been fast paced. Now it was paying off.
As we were driving through the streets I watched people rushing to get from A to B.
A woman running to the subway, a man in a business suit hailing a cab, two students drinking coffee. It was as if the city was back on its feet.
I looked on my phone and of course there were already pictures of us landing at the airport everywhere.
Bruce Wayne alive
Bruce Wayne and wife Catherine Wayne landing at Gotham International
I looked up and saw the familiar gate to Wayne Manor. Coming back was with mixed emotion.
We didn't have much time before our interview parade.
"It starts with Alex." I said, getting out of the shower and dressed.
"I know." Bruce said as he was closing his belt.
"Then it's basically all the networks all day long." I sighed.
He smiled. "I know."
We walked into WCX8, past the paparazzi at the entrance, and were immediately greeted by Alex and Peter.
"Catherine Wayne." Peter said with a big grin on his face.
I rolled my eyes at him. "I knew you would get a kick out of this."
He laughed. "Good to see you."
"You too."
Bruce shook his hand.
"Mr. Wayne, welcome back from the dead." Peter said.
He smiled.
"You're like a cat with seven lives or something." Peter said.
"Well, you know where everything is." Alex said and pointed at the direction of the studio.
"I think I remember." I said with a grin.
It was strange to walk though these halls again. It had been a different lifetime.
The interview, and the dozen other ones that followed after that, went according to plan.
The best lie is believable and has some truth to it. So we told them that Bane's men had kidnapped Bruce and taken him outside of Gotham, leaving him to die. That had been accurate.
We then said that once Bane was defeated, he was able to pay off the guards and leave.
Of course they wanted to see the rings, hear about our wedding.
The next day, every newspaper had us on its front page, every TV channel talked about it non-stop.
I was sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast, feeling exhausted from the last day.
"Are you feeling like they sucked the life out of you?" I asked Bruce, who was getting coffee.
"Oh hell yes." He said with a sigh, sitting next to me. "I don't know how many more times I could have sat through those same questions."
"Tell me about it."
"I looked at the FBI and CIA databases." Bruce said.
"And?"
"They have some leads. Not much. The chemical component is a new one, which might be good or bad news."
"How so?"
"Well, either it helps us find the person quicker because nobody has ever used it before or it makes more difficult for precisely the same reason.
"Ok, I'm going to check in with Gordon, hoping for some insight."
"Good. I'll do some more research."
As the sun went down, I changed into the Black Viper.
It felt like being back at home. The familiarity of the suit against my skin.
"I was waiting for you to show up at some point." He said as I walked across the rooftop.
"Here I am."
"By yourself."
"Yup."
"It would have been nice to get a heads-up that he's still alive." Gordon said.
I smiled. "Yeah well, you got more of a notice than I did and I'm sleeping with the guy."
Gordon looked at me for a minute. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Where is he?"
"What? I'm not good enough for you anymore? We made such a good team, Jimmy boy."
He looked not thrilled by that nickname.
"Truth is…" I continued. "just because Bruce Wayne is still alive doesn't mean the Batman is."
"I understand. He wanted to retire. Get out of it. This was a clean way to do it. Coming back, it's messy."
"Why chose messy when you can have me." I smiled.
He nodded.
"So what you got?"
With his foot, he slid a folder towards me. The grayish paper folder slid across the floor until I stopped it with my shoe.
"That's the information they don't want you to see."
"They?" "An informant gave this to me, since there is nobody left in this town to trust anymore."
"But who is they?" I asked as I looked at the folder.
"The government."
"Jim." I said, almost laughing. "I didn't know I was supposed to bring my tinfoil hat."
"I'm serious. They don't want you or anyone to see it because they don't people to panic."
"Panic about what?"
"It's all in the paperwork. Good to have you back." He said and left.
I frantically flipped through the folder and then I saw what he was talking about.
I came back to the Batcave and was about to blurt out the information when I saw Bruce, who was just putting on the Batsuit.
Maybe it shouldn't have been such a big surprise that he would turn into the Dark Knight once back in Gotham. I just didn't think it would have happened so quickly.
He noticed the look on my face.
"I'm going to the scene to see if we can get some scans." He said. "See if we can find anything there that's still useable."
I still looked at him carefully, his body protected by black kevlar. After everything he went through to kill the Batman, I thought it would take more for him to bring him back.
Yet here he was, walking around like it was nothing, in a skin that I thought he had wanted to shed forever.
"What did Gordon say?" He asked me, putting several gadgets on his belt.
I slapped the folder on the table.
"What's this?" He asked as he looked through it.
"The government is working hard to erase all traces of this incident."
"The government?" He asked.
"Yeah." I said, taking off my mask. "Turns out they have developed a new weapon. It's untraceable. You can kill foreign leaders and it looks like a heart attack. It can be dispersed via drones."
"Why is it in Gotham?"
"I'm not sure on that yet but I'm guessing they're not thrilled that they lost one."
He looked up at me. "They lost one."
I nodded. "And now they're doing everything to make sure that doesn't get out in public."
"Are they working on trying to find out who stole it?"
"Good question. That's all I know so far."
"Well, knowing the compound of the substance should help us narrow that down. Or at least know exactly what we're dealing with."
"I can go." I said.
"Be my guest." He said as he put on the mask.
I had meant that I could go instead of him, so he didn't have to bring Batman back. But as I watched him transform into the monster he once said he had killed, I realized he wanted to bring him back. Maybe it was a necessity. Something he could no longer control or hold back.
"You realize what it means if you're bringing him back to Gotham, don't you?" I asked.
"Nobody is going to know." He said in the familiar gravely voice. "I know how to be invisible."
He got into the Batmobil and I just looked at him in thought, wondering what I could do to change his mind.
"You coming?" He asked.
I nodded and jumped in.
I guess there was no use in stopping him. Just enjoy the ride.
We got to the warehouse where the chemicals had been found.
"Not much here." I said, looking around the empty space.
"Nothing your eyes can see." He said.
I nodded at him, understanding the reference and used the new gadget Fox had given me on my suit's arm.
I pressed the touchscreen and it lit up. I pressed the SCAN button and a blue light appeared.
"Pretty neat if you ask me." I said as I was scanning the area, smiling at him. "Too bad your suit doesn't have this feature."
He just looked at me in a serious way.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get an upgrade one of these days." I said with a grin, continuing to tease him.
He crossed his arms, looking annoyed, when I suddenly heard a sound from my arm.
"Looks like we have a winner." I said.
The data was analyzing on my arm.
He walked up closer to me and looked at the data.
"The compound is deadly, more deadly than anything I've ever seen. Based on the composition it can kill people within seconds." He said.
"What is it? A gas?"
He shook his head. "It's a powder. Stable on it's own. But once you turn it into gas…'
'…it's deadly."
We followed the trace outside.
He kneeled down and looked at the ground. "Tire tracks."
"And a burnt-down cigarette."
He took it and put it in a plastic bag. "Let's get back to the Batcave to analyze it."
"Analyze it for what?"
"DNA."
We were back in the Batcave, looking at the data, both still in our suits, without the masks.
Alfred walked in. "I thought I might find you here."
"We know the compound is made by the government, now the question is if we can find out where it was taken to?" Bruce said.
"There. A match." He said as the mug shot of someone appeared on the screen.
"Jason Barger." He said. "Arkham Asylum regular."
"This seems a little too big of a job for little Jason." I said.
"Oh it is. He's just working for someone. Time to pay him a visit." He said as he stood up.
"Both of us?" I asked.
"I can do it alone." He said, missing the point once again.
"No I meant I can do it if you want to make sure the Batman stays hidden."
He didn't respond and simply put on his mask.
Alfred looked at me with a concerned look on his face.
"Remember when I said Gotham looks better?" I asked him as once we arrived in the Narrows, outside of Jason's apartment. "I take it back."
He didn't respond. He barely did once he transformed into the Batman.
Looking around, the Narrows seemed worse than ever. Once again, those on the bottom had been hit the hardest by the economic downturn after Bane's reign.
We were looking at the apartment, looking if Jason was at home.
"So, is this what you do?" I asked. "Crouching on fire escapes and spying on people."
He ignored me.
"Nobody is home, big guy." I said and shot a grapple gun at the roof and flew across to the building across.
I landed on the fire escape and then made my way to the window. It was open. I moved the handle, went in and turned around only to see him already standing in the room, his arms crossed, looking at me.
"How the fuck did you do that?" I asked.
He was silent for a moment and then decided to answer a question I didn't even ask him. "He's dead." He said.
"Damn it."
Then I saw the body on the floor in the kitchen.
"He's been dead for at least a few hours." He said as he walked around to look for something.
"Where does that leave us?" I asked.
"Keep looking for clues."
I walked through the dirty looking apartment, the smell of death hanging in the air. A half eaten bowl of ramen was on the table. The cheap kind that comes in styrofoam. A can of bud light next to it.
This certainly didn't look like the house of a mastermind. But who was he working for?
I looked at the old couch and went between the cushions. Change, crumbs of whatever food it used to be, beet bottle caps.
I held my breath in disgust as I was fishing through the couch. Then I found a small piece of paper. It had a number and an address written on it.
In that moment Bruce walked up to me, grabbed me by my arm, pulling me towards him and onto the ground behind the couch.
The door opened and three guys walked in. Casually. They didn't know we were here.
"Burn the whole thing to the ground?" One of them asked.
"That's the plan. Leave no trace behind." Another one said.
"Who is going to look for this guy anyway? He has nobody." The third one said.
"Doesn't matter. Just do it."
They started to spread gasoline all over the place, walking slowly across the room.
We were still in a good hiding spot but suddenly Bruce pulled me back into a dark corner. That's how he did it. Becoming one with the darkness.
After a few minutes the guys put down the canisters and one of them got a lighter out.
"Time to light this party up."
"Wait, I gotta take a piss."
"Are you fucking with me?"
"No man. I need to take a piss. Just give me a second."
Unfortunately he would have to walk past us to get to the bathroom. Bruce's body language changed immediately. He tensed up, his jaw clenched.
The guy was walking towards us, still not even noticing us, when Bruce jumped out, grabbed him and smashed his head against the wall.
I ran towards the other two guys, sliding across the floor and knocking one of them out.
Guy number three shot his gun at Bruce so I grabbed the gun of guy number two and shot him in the knee.
He fell down and in that moment guy number two overwhelmed me, punching me and then kicked me in the stomach. It knocked the wind out of me. That's when I heard Bruce land a hard punch against him and he fell to the ground.
"Are you alright?" He asked me.
I couldn't answer, having trouble breathing. My stomach was burning. I nodded.
He helped me up and I leaned against the wall, hoping I would feel normal again soon.
He grabbed wallets and identification from the three guys.
"Let's go back." He said and supported me as we walked back to the window.
Back at the Batcave, we were both tending to our wounds.
I was close to throwing up. That asshole had gotten me good. Rookie mistake!
Bruce took off his armor and when I saw the bullet wound, I felt nauseous for all different reasons.
"You…you got shot?" I asked in a wheezy voice.
"It's nothing." He said.
"No, it's not nothing, sir." Alfred interrupted him, walking in with the silver trey full of medical supply. "In fact you're lucky to be alive."
"It's not critical, Alfred. It's a wound to the shoulder. It's going to suck for a while but no big deal."
"I thought your suit was bullet proof?" I asked.
"It is mostly. But I asked for it to be more agile and that meant losing the full protection. It was a lucky shot. It went right between the kevlar plates. A one in a million chance."
"And yet, we've been here far too many a times, Master Wayne." Alfred said, taking the tweezers.
"Aren't you forgetting the Lidocaine?" Bruce asked, pointing at the bottle of numbing gel.
"I'm not." Alfred responded, digging the tweezers into his wound.
Bruce's face turned white, his hands gripping onto the chair. He bit his teeth together, muffling his scream.
Alfred was digging the tweezers deeper into his flesh, looking for the bullet.
"Alfred!" He yelled.
"Almost there." He responded.
Bruce's muffled screams were getting louder, sweat starting to form on his forehead.
I walked closer, about to intervene. I couldn't watch Bruce in this much pain any longer.
That's when Alfred pulled out the bullet, holding it with the tweezers.
"There we are." Alfred said.
Bruce took a deep inhale, leaning his head against the chair. He was breathing heavy, his teeth still biting together. The color slowly returned to his face.
"What on earth was that?" He asked with heavy breathing.
"That, Master Wayne, was me reminding you that this is not 'nothing' as you put it. This is a gunshot wound. Most people never get shot. But you, Master Wayne, seem to make a habit out of it. Your body is covered in more scars than I care to count. And that you've gotten away with your life each time is next to a miracle."
Alfred held the tweezers with the bullet up again. "So this right here is certainly not 'nothing'." With that Alfred tossed the bullet into a silver bowl, making a loud noise.
He got up and left.
"Wow." I said, walking closer to Bruce and sitting next him. "You really pissed off Alfred."
He was still breathing heavy from the pain.
I grabbed a cloth on the table and soaked it in alcohol.
"This is going to sting." I said as I pressed the cloth against his wound.
He winced in pain again.
I looked at him closely as I was cleaning the wound. He was biting his lips together.
"You're worrying him." I said.
He looked at me. "He's seen much worse than this. I really don't know why he's making such a big fuss out of this."
"Maybe that's the point. He's seen much worse. He doesn't want to see it again."
I finished cleaning the wound and then bandaged it. "You're forgetting that he's been through a lot." I said.
"I know." He sighed.
"Sometimes I don't think you do. You can't just expect everything to go back to normal. Not after everything that you put him through."
He looked at me for a moment and then nodded in thought.
The next day we spent almost entirely looking up the details of the compound, researching who could be behind it and working with Fox on a possible antidote.
It was late when Bruce walked into the living room, feeling exhausted. The pain in his shoulder seemingly only getting worse.
He noticed Alfred sitting by the fireplace, watching the wood burn.
"There is no word about this weapon on the wires." Bruce said as he filled a glass with scotch. "If they're more worried about hiding their tracks than finding whoever did it, we're all in big trouble." He took a sip and faced the butler.
The second he looked at the old man's face, he knew something was different.
Then he noticed the suitcase. "Are you going on a trip?" He asked confused.
"Do you know, Master Wayne, what the happiest moment in my life was?" Alfred asked.
Bruce nervously shifted onto his other leg. Wherever this conversation was going, it wasn't going to be pleasant, he could tell.
He cleared his throat. "No, Al, I don't think I do."
"It was when I first heard your cries echo through these hallways."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I had a clear mission in my heart since that day. To protect you. To watch after you."
Bruce put the scotch glass down and crossed his arms in front of his body. "You're starting to scare me. What's going on?"
Alfred got up and walked closer to him.
"I thought Batman was a means to an end."
"It is."
Alfred shook his head. "No, because there is no end. Evil will always exist in this world. Your mission was to clean up Gotham. And you have. But you never hung up the cape. Even when you tried to. You just couldn't let Batman go."
"What are you getting at? What is this?"
"This is goodbye."
"You're leaving me?" Bruce asked in a soft voice, trying to make sense of it all.
Alfred nodded. "I can't be a part of this anymore. I never wanted this life for you."
"Al, you're my father, my family."
The old butler smiled at him softly. "And that's a bond that nothing can break. Even if we won't see each other anymore."
"Ok, talk to me. What would make you change your mind?"
"Let me put it differently. When Bane was defeated, I thought…" his voice was breaking, tears forming in his eyes. "I thought I had lost you. I felt it in my heart. I had to bury you next to your parents."
"I know and I'm so sorry I made you go through that…"
Alfred shook his head. "No, that's not what I'm talking about."
"What are you talking about then?"
"I'm talking about the meaning of life."
Bruce sighed.
"Life is supposed to bring happiness." Alfred said. "But I watch you go from one misery to the next. Heartbreak after heartbreak. The scars on your body are just part of my worries. I'm also concerned about the damage to your spirit. I told you to be careful not to become the monster. I fear my warning might have come too late. I saw what happened with Medved."
Bruce bit his lips together looking to the ground.
"I should have done more to help you separate yourself from the mask." Alfred said. "Instead I've seen you become one. I had hoped with her in the picture, you would see life beyond Batman was possible. But I fear more and more, there is no life for you beyond that cape. You don't see it for yourself and you don't want it. You went through all of that, pretending to have died, so you could leave Batman behind. But Batman didn't die. Here we are, after all that anguish and heartbreak, and you're more than willing to put the cape back on."
"Only for this one job. I mean it. I don't want this life anymore."
Alfred sighed, not trusting the words coming out of Bruce's mouth. "The happiest day of my life was the day when you were born. The hardest day was when I had to bury you. I knew I had failed your parents. Failed to protect you. Failed to be a good father to you."
"Alfred that's not true. You're the best father anyone could have wished for." Bruce said and he felt more and more helpless.
"Wherever your parents are, watching over you, they didn't want this life for you. They wanted to see you happy and I could never give that to you. I never saw you happy. When I heard you were still alive, I swore to myself I wouldn't make the same mistakes again. I was enabling you all these years. Leaving is all I have left to show you - there is another way. One that doesn't end in death and destruction."
"It's just one more job…"
"It always is."
"Do you want me to say I give up being Batman?" He asked and felt his voice ring of panic. "Because here is me telling you, Batman is about to die."
"He died many times and many times he came back. Remember what Miss Dawes told you? She wasn't sure if you could ever stop being the Batman. If you could ever give up the mask."
"I can."
"As time passes on, Master Wayne, I'm less and less sure of that."
"Gotham needed the Batman."
"Yes. It did. But Bruce Wayne needed Batman even more."
Alfred was right. He felt the emptiness of not being the Batman whenever he had attempted to hang up the cape and cowl.
"Every night when you went out to hunt criminals, I was worried if this might be the night you don't come home anymore. Then your injuries were getting worse and worse. Bane nearly finished the job." Alfred shook his head. "I won't do it. I won't burry another member of the Wayne family. Leaving is all I have left to show you that there's another way."
There was a long silence and Bruce was close to tears. He didn't know what he could say to make Alfred change his mind. Maybe there was nothing.
Alfred had a fatherly smile on his face.
"My boy." Alfred said as he hugged Bruce tightly.
Bruce felt tears running down his face.
Alfred had been there his entire life. It had been the only constant in his life. When the world seemed strange and foreign, Alfred was the one who helped Bruce make sense of it all.
The two men were standing like this for a while until Alfred broke the hug.
"Take good care of her." Alfred said.
Bruce nodded, still trying to find composure. "Yeah."
Alfred nodded with a fatherly smile and grabbed his suitcase and walked out.
When the door shut, Bruce felt like Wayne Manor already felt empty and cold without him.
I had just finished my workout at Manor's gym and had taken a shower. I was drying off my hair, walking in my comfortable black yoga pants and t-shirt to the living room when I heard earnest voices.
"Al, you're my father, my family."
I wouldn't typically be eavesdropping on a conversation but Bruce's voice raised my alarms. He sounded emotional and panicked.
Hearing Alfred say these things to Bruce broke my heart. I wiped silent tears away.
When he left, I waited a few seconds before walking in.
Bruce was sitting on the couch, his elbows on his knees, his head looking to the ground, looking at his hands.
I didn't say anything.
Bruce noticed me. "He left." He said in a soft voice.
I just nodded and sat next to him, nestling into his arms. He kissed me on the forehead.
I knew what this meant to Bruce. Alfred had been his only family.
As we were sitting there in silence, I thought about what Alfred had said.
Was he right? Had he been enabling Bruce? Would he have stopped being the Batman a long time ago if it hadn't been for Alfred? I doubted that.
But what Alfred was right about was that the mask had become part of who Bruce was. I knew that because, in the short time since I had been the Viper, I had felt the mask already consuming part of me. The thought of having to stop being her was like saying stop being a woman. That wasn't something I could turn off. It was part of my DNA.
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it was more like being an alcoholic. Addicted to the drug of fighting crime and wearing a mask as a symbol. If that was the case, then Alfred's action might help Bruce finally drop his addiction. An intervention.
A few days later we were able to puzzle together some of the pieces.
We learned more about the guys trying to burn down Jason's apartment and Fox was able to give us more details about where the ingredients came from. We also looked into the note I had found in the couch.
Now we had a million possibilities to track down.
Every now an then I could see the sadness in Bruce's eyes. Alfred leaving would take a long time for him to get over.
I walked in the living room shaking my head at him.
"It's silly." I said.
He smiled. "You're not getting out of this."
I frowned at him, looking at the invitation on the table.
"Remind me why I have to go?" I asked.
"Because you're married to me and unfortunately going to galas comes with the territory."
"Lies. You never went to these unless you absolutely had to."
"And this time we absolutely have to."
"Why?" I asked, crossing my arms in front of my body.
He smiled at me. "Because it's Enterprises' board members who are hosting it. With me back in town…I can't just ignore them."
"You're not on the board anymore. Fox is the CEO, you don't have to do anything."
He smiled at me again. "Showing face is the right thing to do. Trust me. It won't take very long. We'll make a brief appearance and then we're gone."
"Fine." I sighed.
"Your dress should be upstairs."
I winced at that sentence and it didn't go unnoticed.
"You alright?" He asked.
I nodded. "Bane made me wear dresses."
His features hardened. "I'm sorry. That was inconsiderate of me."
"No, no. I didn't mean it like that. It's little things that remind me of that time."
I got changed and we were ready to go.
When we pulled up to the entrance, photographers were once again taking pictures and reporters were shouting questions at us.
Even though it's been a while since we had returned, the press was still as hungry for any Wayne news as they had been on day one.
It was my new reality. Whether I liked it or not.
Once inside the ballroom, we mingled with people. Bruce talked with board members, repeating the lie over and over again that he needed time away from Gotham after Bane and everything else happened.
I checked my watch and we had been here for almost two hours.
"You look wonderful tonight, Mrs. Wayne," one of the board members said to me.
"Mrs. Wellington. Thank you, so do you."
"We are just so thankful Bruce is well. I can't imaging what you've been through, my dear. With him declared dead…" She shook her head.
I looked at Bruce in the distance, talking to someone.
"We all went through a lot during that time." I replied.
"I just wanted to thank you."
"Thank me?"
"For what you've done for Gotham."
"Oh, Mrs. Wellington, I wish I did."
"But you did, my dear. You gave people hope."
"I was merely alive."
"Nonsense. I could see it in your eyes on television, when that monster paraded you around. I saw your courage, your strength, and your will to fight. I knew you hadn't given up on the city."
I felt close to tears and swallowed. "That's very kind of you."
"I meant every word. Gotham owes you."
Bruce walked up to me. "I hope I'm not interrupting." He said.
"Not at all." Mrs. Wellington said. "I was just telling your lovely wife how much she means to the people in the city. You're a very lucky man."
"You don't have to tell me." He said, putting an arm around me.
"Well, take good care of her, Mr. Wayne." She continued. He nodded as she left.
"Ready to go?" He asked me. "Yes." I said with a sigh of relief.
"Everything well at Enterprises?" I asked as we walked down the hallway.
"They want me to come back as CEO but I told them no. The company is in good hands with Fox."
"Whatever keeps the company going. I, as majority shareholder, want to see profit." I said, smiling at him.
He laughed and opened the door for me.
We stepped out to more photographers taking our pictures.
"I'm going to make sure Fox keeps turning profits." He joked.
"Good." I smiled and he laughed again before giving me a kiss.
We were walking towards the car. Bruce opened the car door for me.
And then it happened. Fast. Without warning.
His eyes widened in shock. Blood spreading on his white shirt. It was like that time he was shot on live TV. Only this time it was really happening.
Everything was in slow motion as my brain tried to keep up with my emotions. I froze, watching the panic spread across his face. It seemed like I could not see anything but his eyes anymore and all I kept thinking was: No! Don't leave me.
I was incapable of walking towards him, standing still as the emotional tidal wave was taking ahold of me.
"Bruce." I finally managed to say and was surprised by how weak my voice sounded.
Suddenly my legs gave out.
He pulled me into his arms. "Can we get an ambulance over here?" He yelled in panic.
And then I understood - it wasn't him who got shot. It was me.
I looked down and saw the puddle of blood I was laying in. My dress completely soaked.
It wasn't his blood on his shirt. It was mine.
A second felt like eternity as everything slowed down around me. It was really quiet.
I could see Bruce's panicked eyes, tears streaming down his face as he was holding me in his arms, talking to me.
But I didn't hear what he was saying.
His lips moving. "I love you." I could finally make out. "Stay with me."
I wasn't in pain. I felt like I was in a cloud, far away from everything.
Images of my childhood flashing before my eyes. That moment my parents had bought me my first bike and taught me how to ride it in the backyard.
"Don't let go of the bike." I had said to my dad.
"I won't." He responded.
As I was paddling I turned around and saw my dad in the distance. He was smiling at me and waving before the bright sunlight swallowed his shadow.
Then I saw my graduation, my first car, my first job, moving to Gotham, landing my job at WCX8 and then the moment I first met Bruce. Our eyes locking in on each other. The next flash was us in his pool, laughing and kissing.
"Catherine!" He shook me by my arms and I snapped back into reality for a second, my eyes focusing on his bloodshot eyes. I had never seen him this panicked. It must not look good for me.
I could feel life slowly slipping away from me. Like dust blowing away in the wind.
Everything looked fuzzy. Everything but him.
What a fool I had been. Suddenly I had a bird's eye view of my own life and it made my worries seem so trivial and my actions so incomprehensible. The way I had treated him. Pushed him away. All for what? Did it protect me from getting hurt? Did it make me feel better?
Wasted time.
Now time was running out.
Bruce was screaming something to someone else, holding me closely in his arms. I felt cold. I knew what that meant.
I opened my mouth to speak but nothing was coming out. Come on Catherine!
"Bruce." I said in a weak voice and he instantly looked at me with concerned eyes, his arms wrapped tightly around me.
"I…" I swallowed, not used to the wheezing sound of my voice. "I love you."
His eyes weren't any less panicked, tears still streaming down his face.
"I am so sorry for everything." I said.
His face hardened and panic flashed over his features. "Don't you dare say your goodbyes. You're going to be ok, understood?" The way he looked at me told me - not even he believed that.
His mouth was moving but I couldn't hear anything anymore. Only my breath in my own ears.
Everything was getting slowly darker. Like a tunnel forming around Bruce. It formed further and further until there was just a light. Then the light was getting larger until I felt myself in nothing but white light.
Peter was just about to leave the newsroom for the night, when he suddenly saw the images on TV. Live. Uninterrupted.
He couldn't believe his eyes.
The noisy newsroom suddenly turned quiet as everyone was staring at the screens.
It took Peter longer than usual to pull his thoughts together.
"Who is our crew down there?" He asked, trying to push through the pain he felt.
The newsroom was still silent.
"Who is our god damn crew down there?" He asked again, now in a raised voice.
"It's just a photographer. No reporter." Someone on the team finally responded.
"Who do we have? We need to send someone ASAP."
"I can do it." Alex said.
Peter didn't need to see Alex's expression to know he wasn't going to send him. "Andrea, you go."
She nodded and left.
He walked closer to Alex. "You're too close to this."
"I'm fine." Alex responded.
Peter shook his head. "You're not. You wanna know how I know that? Because I'm not fine." He took a deep breath. "And I've seen it all."
He looked up to the screens again. "God dammit Cat." He said as he looked at the TVs, showing Cat in her dress, covered in blood, Wayne holding her, screaming for an ambulance.
Peter took a deep breath again, quickly wiping away tears.
"It's like a curse." Someone said quietly in the newsroom. "Here we are, all these years later, and Bruce Wayne is once again losing a family member to gun violence. Shot in front of him. In the street."
"It's cruel irony." Peter said under his breath as he watched his former colleague die on television.
She deserved a better ending - he thought to himself, wiping away tears again.
Across town, Gotham's richest man was about to lose everything.
He was screaming her name at her lifeless body in his arms, as if it would bring her back to him. As if she was only sleeping. The puddle of her warm blood was a stark contrast to her cold body.
Helplessly he pulled her even closer.
"No, no, no." He said panicked, hot tears streaming down his face.
He tried to feel her pulse, only to find there was none. No heartbeat. Her lips seemed a shade paler. The warmth from her body seemed to be already leaving her.
