Storge part I

(storge)

I love you
when I am weary
of watching you love others.
for you
I will keep these tired eyes open.

— one, two, three, four - a.j. (via ibuzoo)

He got there late. It was a bit disappointing, really. And she understood that between stopping a crime in which people were actually in danger and preventing her from stealing expensive stuff from rich people the Batman had to have his priorities straight. But he still came, so it was worth it.

'Put it back.'

'Nah.'

'Cat…'

'What?'

'I don't want to fight you.'

'Fight me? Oh darling. You'd have to catch me first for that.' Eyes locked to his, Selina slipped the jewel she stole in her cleavage.

And… Was that a smile? A small one but still a smile? He was always so ridiculous serious when he put that suit, she always thought it was to make it up for the stupid parts of his costume, which was all the entirety of it. IT HAD BAT EARS, AND A SCALOPED RIMMED CAPE LIKE A CHILD'S DRACULA COSTUME!

Batman flung himself into her and Catwoman let an excited yelp escape before running away. Her heart racing madly, Selina jumped from rooftop to rooftop glancing behind and to find him almost reaching her but never quite close enough. Her legs were starting to give in and it didn't make any sense because she was used to run over rooftops for so much longer than that, but she didn't stop, kept going, the idea of him finally catching her filling her with equal measures of longing and dread. Until it finally happened, she had just jumped from a building to another, but she never landed on her feet, she felt his arms lock around her in mid-air, the whole world engulfed in darkness as they rolled over, his cape covering the both of them. They struggled until he was trapping her, his hands pushing her wrists against the concrete, his hips gluing hers to the ground. Her chest heaving against his armour, her heartbeats so fast she could almost taste them.

His head dipped, Selina's lids trembled, the night's air was blown with the high-pitched sounds of sirens.

Selina sighed, turning her face away.

'Master Bruce there is gang fight near you, firearm was heard. Be careful.' A metallic voice that was clearly Alfred coming from Batman's cowl was heard.

'Alfred is in this too? Why am I surprised?'

'Later, Selina.'

And he left.

Still lying on the ground, Selina plucked out the jewel from the dip of the valley of her breasts. He had forgotten to take it back.

ooo

Selina was in her bed, not sleeping and trying to figure out what the hell was happening to her and Bruce lately when a black mass landed on her balcony.

'When you said later I didn't expect this soon.' She said opening the glass doors.

He said nothing, just grunted and tilted forward, falling against Selina.

'What is it, Bruce?' She was scared now, and it got worse when she felt something warm and wet dripping from his side and tainting her fingers red. 'Oh god you're bleeding. I'm calling Lee.'

'No need.' He breathed. 'Just need a couple of stitches, and to lie down a bit.'

'Couple of stitches? What if you have internal bleeding?'

'I don't. It's not that bad.' She didn't seem convinced at all. Bruce took one of his gloved hands to her face, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear and smearing blood on her skin. 'Trust me.'

'You are one crazy bastard, do you know that? Come on, let's put you on the couch, you are not bleeding all over my bed.'

His arm over her shoulders, hers around his waist, they made the short way to the living room, a trail of droplets of blood following them. Bruce let a relieved grunt when he finally sat on the couch.

'Let me see.'

He pushed his cowl behind. Selina turned the lamp on, Bruce winced at the sudden light. His face was tired but not too pale, he had not lost a lot of blood. Selina felt the knot in her stomach give a little. He took off his gloves and she helped him with his armour and top, trying not to think the last time she helped him undress. Her breath hitched when he was naked from his upper body and Selina couldn't help herself when she felt her eyes water when she saw all the scars.

'What have you done to yourself, you stupid dickhead?'

'Thanks.' He said with a grimace.

'Shut up. Lean back a little, I have to see it.'

As he told her, it was not that bad. She was no doctor but she had seen her share ugly wounds and that one didn't even made to her top twenty. It was a puncture wound, made by something sharp and pointy, and it was bleeding a lot, but it was not deep enough to reach anything inside, mostly because Bruce now was a beefcake of a person. Far cry from the skinny boy that was all too tall and long limbs.

'I'll get the stuff to stitch ya. Stop moving, geez!'

She was working in silence when she felt him touching her hair again. She battered his hand away. Bruce sighed.

'Are you mad at me?'

'What do you think?' She answered between her teeth.

'You are always mad at me, Selina, and half of the time I don't even know why.'

She raised her head to give him an incredulous look.

'Are you kidding me, aren't you?'

'I'm really not.'

Selina looked up sighing dramatically.

'Lord give strength. You can't possible be this stupid.'

'I'm afraid I am.' Oh, she sometimes hated when he played his naïve boy number.

'Bruce… You come to my window in the middle of the night bleeding, hurt, give me a scare… Look at yourself. You're all… I don't get it. You have everything. You always had. You don't need to do this to yourself.'

'Pot, you're back too.' But unlike when she said that to him, Bruce didn't look mad at all, he had this soft look on his face, an endeared look. Selina wanted to punch him.

'It's different! I take care of myself. You clearly haven't.' She retorted exasperated.

He gave her those sad, serious eyes of him, the ones that convinced her by the age of thirteen that she had to protect him from world's harm forever.

'I do have to do this, Selina. You know I do. But it's nice that you care.'

'Shut up!'

He played with her hair again, this time she didn't bother to stop him, and he felt her hands going a little lighter on the stitches. When she finished she gave him a glass of water and a couple of painkillers. He fell asleep soon after, so fast and easily that he didn't even feel her taking his boots off or covering him with a blanket, neither the kiss on his forehead.

ooo

Next morning he woke up to the sound of giggles and a strange prickling sensation on his leg.

He first saw a cell phone pointed to him. He frowned and started to register the world around the device, the little girl with messy dark hair filming him, and an unfamiliar weight on his left thigh. Bruce looked away from Helena to see a grey cat kneading him.

'Morning, princess.' He greeted with a sleep heavy voice.

'Morning, dad. What are you doing on our sofa?'

Bruce scrabbled around his brain for a convincing answer that would make the least harm possible when Helena crouched to get something from the floor.

It was his cowl.

Shit.

'Daddy… Are you the Batman?'

ooo

'You must understand that you can never tell anyone about it, Helena, you can put our whole family in grave danger.' Explained Bruce carefully as they had breakfast. He made toast and scrambled eggs. Helena set the table. Selina was just allowed to microwave stuff and boil water, so she did the later.

'Yeah, I know. I've never told anyone about mom being Catwoman either.'

Selina spilled coffee all over the table when her hand shook, Bruce tried to fix the damage with a dishcloth.

'What?! Since when do you know that?'

'A while… I mean. People do call you Cat for no reason. And Mrs. Lockwood, you know, from Arts and Crafts, she was showing us pictures from stolen art and a few of them was part of our décor. At first I thought we had replicas, but they are the real deal, aren't they?'

'You keep stolen items here? Selina!'

'Oh god… I'm so stupid. Why did I think I'd have a normal kid with you?' She glared at Bruce. 'Of course she is an evil genius.' And she tickled the little girl's side mercilessly.

'Mommy!'

'I think she is brilliant. I wish I was half as good as a detective when I was your age, Helena.'

'Of course she is.' Selina tickled Helena harder. 'My terrible, brilliant evil genius.'

'No, mommy, stop!' Pleaded Helena giggling and making half-hearted attempts to escape her mother.

Bruce watched the both of them and imagined how it would be if all his mornings were like that.

ooo

Bruce was in his way home when Alfred called saying that Dick was not in his bed and that he couldn't find him anywhere. They argued over the phone because there was no sights of a break in, no not on his bed, and there was also no surveillance camera recordings of him leaving. He called Selina to ask if Helena knew something even though he had just left them, then he called Barbara to see if Babs knew something, and Alfred was calling people too to no avail. Bruce was carrying dread around him as if it was an actual corporeal entity when he got to the cave and found Dick asleep curled on his computer chair.

You know… The next chapter should have been the last before the epilogue… But I told you last time, I changed the ending, it's still will be happy and cute and all, but I needed more character development. Oh, and you are also getting a surprise on the last chapter.

Keep taking care of yourselves and your loved ones. I'll come back soon.