Hello, everyone! I hope you're all well! I know this isn't a next chapter to my ongoing stories. But I had to write this. A friend of mine drew the cover of this story, inspired by the recent Batman/Catwoman: Special #1. In turn, I was inspired by her beautiful drawing to write this.

I warned in the summary that the content is sensitive and might provoke sad feelings to some of you. Please, read of your own accord.

If I sadden some of you, please accept my apology in advance. Death is part of life. And however well portrayed or written, it is always painful. Know that I cried while writing and reviewing this too.

Nevertheless, I hope you like this. Thank you!


~Rest~

"Hello, Bruce…"

You approach the grave with slow, careful steps. Your exhaustion after a night out is evident in the way you plop yourself on the ground, tired knees bending with difficulty as you bring them to your chest. I want to wrap my arms around you, comfort you. I can't. It's killing me that I can't. The irony isn't lost on me.

"I went out with Helena again tonight. She keeps telling me I shouldn't join her, that I need rest. Of course, I don't listen. She doesn't get why, Bruce… Only you did…"

I know, Selina. I would get it. From the very first moment I laid eyes on you, I got it. Your need to be out there, to put on the suit. Your need to steal. Your need to feel alive... Your need to feel close to me... I did get it, Cat. I still do… Always…

"Anyways, it was another wannabe supervillain again tonight. He calls himself 'The Puzzler'. He even has a line. "How puzzling is this, how puzzling is that?" Eddie would go berserk over this pathetic attempt to imitate him. Remember Edward, Bruce? Riddle me this and that? Alzheimer took its toll on him…"

You look away and rest your cheek on your knees, wrapping your arms around your legs tightly. Your knuckles whiten and I know what you say next is hard for you. I wish I could make it easier. Make it all easier…

"He died two nights ago. Heart failure. They found him in his cell with a crossword in hand. There was only one word he couldn't remember. Three letters, across. Nocturnal mammal belonging to the order Chiroptera. How ironic…"

A lone tear rolls down your wrinkled cheek, the first of many. You're hurting.

You were never like them, Cat. You never crossed the lines they did. But you lived with them. Worked with them. You understood them. Perhaps more than I ever could. For better or worse, you spent a significant part of your life with them. So you're hurting. And I am so sorry, Selina… For you pain... For not being able to be there for you…

"It's getting lonely out there, Bruce. All the old, familiar faces are getting lost. So few of us are left. I know I should expect it. We've been around too long. It's just… so lonely, Bat… So lonely with you gone…"

With your head buried between your knees, you start crying. Your muffled sobs echo across the graveyard, a gut-wrenching sound that makes one's heart break. My heart breaks, Selina, at the sight of you.

I remember all the times I made you cry and didn't offer you the comfort you needed. The remorse is still haunting me. Remorse for all the things I should have said and done. Remorse for not being with you till your last day, like you were for me…

But it doesn't matter anymore. Nothing I think or wish or want does. Cause there's nothing I can do about anything. All I can do is watch you shed silent tears as you mourn in front of my grave, just like you've been doing every week since I left two months ago. Sometimes, our daughter joins you. You don't cry then. You remain strong. But when you're alone, when no one can see you, you let it all go…

"I wish you were here, Bruce… I wish we had more time… I-I wish we hadn't wasted so many years of our lives j-just chasing each other…"

You drop your head back and a cry escapes your mouth. Your eyes are shut, your beautiful, wrinkled face twisted in pain. You ask if I'm there, if I can hear you. Your voice is barely above a whisper. You ask again while you open your eyes to look at my gravestone.

"Are you here…?"

I am, my love. Sort of. I hear you. I see you. And as your hand shakily reaches out, looking for something to hold on to, I reach out too. Our hands don't touch, that sense of 'almost' being a painful reminder of the space between us. It's agonizing.

"I'm s-so sorry…"

You're apologising because you think you're not strong enough. If only you knew, darling, how strong you are in my eyes. How much I admire you.

If the tables were turned, I would most likely spend my time in the cave, trying desperately to find something to keep myself busy with, too busy to think of you, to mourn you. I would only visit you when I'd visit mother and father too.

But no. You're different. Better. Braver. Visiting every week. Talking to a stone. Soaking the earth wet with your tears. You face your feelings. There's nothing stronger than that, Selina. Nothing.

"I wish I knew what it's like over there. I hope it's peaceful…I hope you're resting, Bruce... You deserve it..."

I never thought I did, Selina. I spent my whole life fighting crime only for the scum to crawl back out from the dirty gutters of Gotham. I never felt I was doing enough to deserve a break. You kept trying to convince me otherwise. But I wouldn't listen, would I?

"I bet you don't think so. Even now. Stubborn and unsatisfied, as always."

A weary smile reaches your lips. I return it, even though you can't see it. You just know me so well…

And you love me so much. Perhaps more than I was ever able to understand. You would put up with the grumpiest man on earth. You wouldn't if you didn't love me. I felt your love in every touch, every glance, every word. And it's the honest-to-God truth, Cat, that I loved you too. I didn't say it much. But you knew anyway. You knew me, you knew it. Perhaps that's why I didn't say it much. Cause you knew…

You clear your throat and take a deep breath, your trembling hands wiping your tears away. Your movements are slow, tired. It's funny how I want to be the one to tell you to rest now...

"Helena will join me next week. She misses you, but she's knee deep in cases, working in the cave or patrolling all the time. She's so like you, Bruce. I'm glad she is. It's like a part of you is still alive through her..."

Your voice fades and your brow creases in deep thought and sadness as you swallow a lump in your throat. You carefully push yourself of the ground and stand up, looking as lean and captivating and beautiful as the day I first met you.

You tell me about a kitten you found in an alley the other day. It's this pattern you have. Before leaving, you always mention something small and insignificant, something funny and light that happened throughout the week. It's your leaving mark. I always dread it, for I never want you to leave. People think you find peace when you die. I do when you're here. Even after death, it's only around you that I manage to find peace...

"I love you, Bat."

I love you, Cat.

"I'll be back next week."

You bend and kiss the cold stone. I miss your kisses. They always made me feel alive. I wish your last one on my death-bed had indeed been able to bring me back to life...

"Rest in peace, my love..."

I will, Selina. When we meet again. Then, we can both rest...

~The End~


And this is it... There will be no second chapter to this, in case anyone wonders. One is heart-breaking enough...

Thank you for reading. Please let me know what you thought of this and stay safe!

P.S.: I have one more such story written. An old one of mine that I adapted to BatCat. But I will take my time before posting it. One can only take so much angst and drama at once...