A/N: I'm sorry for the excruciating wait. I'm taking a writing class in college and the homework eats up all my time. Not to mention that this chapter took some planning.

So, without further ado, I give you…


Bruce's Soul

Bruce…?

Selina rubbed the center of her chest. Something didn't feel right. Something really bad must've happened to Bruce! How could she possibly know that? She just does for some reason. Must be a pregnancy thing. Or maybe not.

"Hey, are you okay?" a classmate of hers whispered.

"I'm fine!" she said a bit harsher than she meant.

"Please no talking during the lecture," Professor Pszotka reprimanded.

She apologized. Their Art History professor could be strict sometimes, but she was cool. She always tried to keep lessons interesting. And as a fellow mother, she has been quite flexible with Selina. Always helping when she had troubles and giving her an extension on her assignments. She even gave her some good advice about pregnancy and parenting.

Not to mention fun to hang with. One day they ran into each other at the coffee shop and ended up having a nice long conversation.

Although now Selina wasn't in a fun mood.

Upon returning home, she just went to sit on the couch.

"Anything troubling you, Miss?" Alfred said. As he took the backpack she dropped haphazardly on the floor.

The truth was that she wasn't sure if anything was troubling her or not. Something was off, she knew. She needed to do something.

"Hey Alfred," she says turning to him, "how far is it to Gotham again?"


GCPD Precinct, Gotham

Good God, Bruce, Jim thought while rubbing his face. He hated Jervis Tetch as much as the next guy, but Bruce practically turned him into pudding. Bruce never even met him before and he made it personal with Tetch.

While beating him, he focused his aim on the eyes and the mouth. Must have been strategic. When Jervis hypnotizes someone, he speaks to them and tells them to look into his eyes. Now his entire face was swollen. When they brought him back to the GCPD, Lee examined him and said he needed treatment at once. She said that Jervis's breathing could stop. The look on Bruce's still blood-stained face told Jim that he had gone farther than he meant to.

More often than not, Gordon still saw Bruce Wayne as that kid he met in that alley even while watching him grow up. Ever since becoming a detective, Bruce had played a significant role in his biggest cases. His parents' murder, Theo Galavan, Hugo Strange, the Court of Owls, and the damn Valeska brothers. The boy has been a part of many of them and he did not cower, did not shrink away. He helped. He has proven to be a skillful detective. One Jim could trust on the force.

Thinking about his unborn child, he has come to think of Bruce as like a son to him. He practically helped raise him. God…. He raised that boy to kill the city's worst psychopath. And now he brought him back to his very own hell just after rebuilding his life.

Jim is a sickness to Bruce.

"Yo, Jim," Harvey said walking in. He sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk and took out his flask. "Bruce today, huh?"

"Yeah," Jim said under his breath.

"Not that I don't think Tetch deserved it but… but that was vicious." Harvey took a long swig. "Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to bring the kid back here."

"He's not a kid anymore. But maybe you're right…. I don't know." Jim leaned against his desk and rubbed his face.

"I hate to tell you Cap, but Penguin's and Nygma's people had a riot against them. And they're blaming us for 'deceiving them.'"

"Oh, God."

"Yeah and that's not the worst. They want to make an example out of those poor SOBs stuck with those bigger SOBs."

Jim sighed deeply. I should have killed that little bird freak.

"JIIIIMMMMM!"

"Speak of the devil."

Emerging from the office, they saw the little nuisance that has been pestering them for over five years hobbling in. Oswald Cobblepot. The Penguin from Hell. He was backed up by some of his cronies. His direction was aimed at the ranking officers in the bullpen.

"What is it now, Oswald?" Jim asked resentfully.

The short crook dragged his bum leg up the steps in front of them. "Tell me exactly why my people are deserting my protection?"

"Maybe they finally realized what a selfish, sick bastard you are who is only looking after himself," Harvey said with no worries.

Cobblepot's face flared with deadly rage. "How dare you! I will—"

"Oswald!" Nygma came jogging up to his partner and whispered into his ear. "Remember we need to keep this civil, if we want to get through this."

It seemed to have taken a lot of strength for Oswald to calm down—as usual.

"May we speak in private?" he asked as if being nice was killing him from the inside.

With reluctance, Jim ushered the four of them into his office.

The thing about Oswald, when it comes to most confrontations, he's a coward. He hides behind goons and would kill anyone who merely irks him. How did he once get elected mayor? Why would anyone want him as a mayor? Good thing the people came to their senses when they finally saw his true colors.

"Tell me what's going on," said Penguin.

Jim took a deep breath and answered. "There might be a possibility that the person behind that crucifixion might still be out there planning something big."

Oswald and Ed seemed to have pondered on that.

"What could it possibly be?" asked Penguin impatiently.

Jim then proceeded to explain the probability of Jeremiah and the danger that loomed over the city—again. He tried to leave as much of Bruce out of it as possible.

"I thought he was dead," said Edward.

"He is."

"How do you know he didn't fake it or—oh God—came back to life like his brother?" said Oswald.

Gordon was getting tired of explaining this. "No. I made sure he has been cremated afterward." He swore, if somehow someone figured outs a way to resurrect someone from ashes, he was going to shoot himself. Whatever happened to death means the end?

"Cap!" Jim looked back up and Detective Vanessa Harper opened the door. "You got a transmission coming in," she informed.

Jim instantly stormed out of the office and up the stairs to the radio he had up there.

He grabbed the receiver. He held it up to his mouth and pushed the transmitter. "This is Gordon," he said. He has been waiting for news from the mainland. Whether it was good news or bad news—please be good news—anything to help Gotham out of this mess.

"Captain Gordon?" a monotone voice came through. "This is General William Lyonel of the National Guard. I'm here to inform you about the reconstruction of the Gotham City bridges."

"Why is the National Guard overseeing the reconstruction?"

"Since you said the city was overrun with hostiles, we had to take precautions. What is the current condition of the city, Captain?"

Jim almost wanted to turn off the radio and leave the question unanswered. How would he say it? How could he describe it? A dead lunatic's cult raging psychological warfare against the police and a young billionaire. How would that sound?

To keep it believable, he just said it was hostiles that were possibly planning something big and catastrophic. He and the general then discussed further proceedings. Finally, they planned for the troops to come while the workers reconstructed the bridges to protect them. They even arranged to ensemble an armed escort to get the civilians out as soon as one of the bridges was finished.

They then concluded their formatting and hung up.

"That must be why your people rioted. They saw helicopters and thought help was coming," Jim said.

"That still doesn't give them the right to leave without my permission," Oswald interjected.

"Actually Oswald, that gives them all right to escape a hellhole with psycho gangs and power-hungry dictators who belong behind bars."

"How dare you! I'll have you—"

Penguin just pulled his knife from his boot when someone grasped his wrist with a viselike grip. The four present men stared in awe at a scowling Bruce.

"Drop it," he said under his breath. The rasp that came with it morphed Cobblepot's face from rage to fear. He loosened his fingers on his knife and Bruce took it from him.

He released him which Penguin instantly rubbed his wrist. "Mr. Wayne?" he asked befuddled.

"If I were you, Mr. Cobblepot, I would swallow my pride and listen to all of Captain Gordon's orders, before I get on the wrong person's bad side," Bruce threatened, malice radiating from his voice. Oswald's face reacted quite perfectly to the dreadful young man.

He broke eye contact with the kingpin. As he marched down the way he appeared, Penguin pride still took over him.

"How dare that boy! Who does he think he—"

"Oswald, shut it!" Jim cried. "You don't want to mess with Bruce."

Before Penguin could yell out his protest, Jim led him and Edward down to the holding cells.

Inside, laying on the bench what looked to be a mummy with bloodstains. Raspy breathing whispered from the body. Below it on the floor was a familiar top hat.

"Who… what is that?" Edward asked.

"That is what's left of Jervis Tetch. Courtesies of Bruce Wayne," Harvey said.

The two criminals gaped at the damaged body. Damaged caused by a billionaire brat.


Guilty… criminals… maniacs… murderers…! They all deserve to be punished.

Bruce toweled his face dry. Looking into the mirror at the freshly shaven face staring back. A face he hasn't seen in nearly a year, he thought. He for sure looked at least five years younger.

Throwing the towel away, he steadied his shaking arms against the sink.

What have I done?

He couldn't believe that he nearly killed someone… again. When he found out that Tetch kidnapped a young girl, he lost his mind. Other than his pocket watch, Bruce understood that he used his voice and eyes to hypnotize his victims. So that was what he aimed for. Take the bullets out of the gun and you can't shoot anyone with it. Nevertheless, he almost took another life. He felt like he was seventeen again after stabbing Ra's al Ghul.

Criminals like him and Oswald Cobblepot or Edward Nygma weren't making it easier—the bastards!

Selina was right. Gotham was eating at his humanity. People like Penguin wants total power over the city. The Riddler won't stop at anything to prove that his intellect surpasses everyone else's, no matter the cost. And Tetch? He is more brainwashed than most of his victims. These criminals were the reason he was becoming such a vengeful man. It all started simply for not wanting anyone else to suffer the way he had, but these madmen just have to let their damn egos get in the way. With their lack of morals, they lost their rights as humans and need to be punished.

It was people like them that made him who he was now. Corrupted individuals preying on the helpless. They will see the outcome of their reign of terror. At the cost of Bruce Wayne's soul?

"You know why we're destined to be best friends?"

"You shot my best friend you monster," Bruce hissed between his teeth at the thought of Jeremiah.

Bruce threw the towel away and pulled his shirt back on. He was getting sick of all the thoughts polluting his mind. Sitting hunched on the locker room bench, he opened his phone and looked at the photo gallery. The first one he looked at was the picture of him and Selina in Maui, Hawaii. She loved that trip. It was the exact opposite of Gotham, as she compared.

She was right. The memories were already starting to make him smile again.

The sun. The beach. The hotel. They even hiked into the jungle and climbed up to the top of the volcano. Boy, the tans they've gotten. Alfred even seemed like he was on vacation. From the glances Bruce saw of him with the ladies, he must have been.

There was something Selina said that held such significance to him: "Never realized how blue the sky is." She probably didn't mean much by it, nonetheless, Bruce took it to heart. That brought out an unknown feeling of comprehension in him. The only kind of sky she had known her whole life was gray.

The first night there, the couple attended a luau. The fire dance there was incredible, the native food was delicious, and Selina won the limbo contest.

On their last night, they attended another one. She even dressed up as a hula girl to try out the dance. Coconuts and all. Bruce was really stunned yet did not complain. He had no reason at all to complain. After the dance, she led him to a cluster of boulders with a hidden alcove, still in the hula garb. There, she laid him on his back and thanked him for bringing her to that paradise getaway. Compared to that "thank you," the rest of the trip was a snooze.

It was their last big vacation trip before they had to return home for work and school. And not to mention the baby. Thinking about it, that night on the beach must have been the conception. It was worth all the sand.

"No, I don't wanna share my rations with you."

A couple of cops walking into the locker room caused him to break out of his stupor. He instantly exited away from the people.

From reentering the precinct, he was glad that Penguin and Nygma left. His phone rang when he stepped up into the bullpen. The caller ID said it was Selina and he didn't waste a second. "Selina?"

"Hey B, how are you?" her voice filtered through.

"Fine," he responded without thinking. "How are you? How's the baby?"

"We're both fine, Bruce. Hasn't been kicking much while you've been gone. I think he misses his daddy."

"I miss the little slugger too. I miss both of you." His longing for her intensified. "I wish I was with you."

"Who knows? Maybe we'll be together again sooner than you think."

"I hope so."

Her snort from the other end was music to his ears.

"So are you any closer to solving this, Sherlock?"

"I wish I could say yes and go back home." He really did. "But the truth is, we're nowhere near done and it's eating me alive."

"Just hang in there, babe. I know you can do this."

God, he missed her.

"Well I should probably get back to work," he said regrettably.

"Okay. Oh! Before I forget… I… I love you."

Every millimeter of Bruce froze solid. Outside of the bullpen, Jim, Harvey, and Lucius were discussing further plans with Detective Harper and Alvarez. None of that mattered!

She said it. She had actually said it. And before he could.

"You love me?" He asked quietly into the receiver. All she made was a hum of acknowledgment. "I love you too," it felt so good to say it but odd with the phone to his ear. "I honestly was hoping to see your face for the first time saying that."

"THEN TURN AROUND AND SAY IT!"

Bruce whirled around. It did not come from the phone.

There she was. Her curly hair, her cheeky grin, her life-bearing belly wrapped in a black leather trench coat. Wonderful and gorgeous Selina Irene Kyle. She closed the phone she was holding and wobbled over to the bullpen where he was.

He couldn't believe it. She left Metropolis and came to Gotham? After he told her not to?!

As soon as she was only a few steps away, Bruce broke free of his petrified state to advance on her, grabbed her face, and kissed her with his deepest passion. May everything else be damned.


A/N: I know this chapter isn't as good as I could have written it, but I did say I'm in a writing class. A lot of my writing power is getting sucked at. It's just been a while since posting a chapter and I was going crazy. Plus I really wanted that ending so badly. I appreciate your guys' support. It means a lot.

Selina's art professor was named after my former art professor from college. If you don't know how to pronounce a name as Polish as that, it's (zot-ka) Pszotka.