Title: Bedtime Stories

Author: Maeve Bran

Rating: T

Summary: Buffy and Bruce exchange life stories.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Spoilers: "Batman Begins" (2005)

Bruce crossed to the built-in bar in his living room.

"Would you like a drink?" he asked in his most debonair manner.

Buffy looked at the man who had been her date and had to stifle a laugh. It didn't work. A laugh busted out anyway.

"What?" he inquired.

"It's just that you sounded like some movie star or James Bond just then," Buffy managed through her giggles.

"I guess I did," Bruce smiled. "But the question still remains, do you want a drink?"

"Sure. I'll take a scotch," Buffy answered.

Bruce poured two glasses of the amber liquid, then carried them over to where Buffy sat on the couch and handed her a glass. He sat it the chair next to the end of the couch where Buffy sat.

"So you said something about your mom finding out about you being a Slayer," Bruce said.

"You don't pull any punches," Buffy sputtered. She took a calming sip of the liquor. "Mom found out because-- to make a long story short-- my vampire boyfriend lost his soul for the second time and started hunting me and my friends. I couldn't tell her not to invite Angel in without explaining something. Willow found the spell to uninvite him, but I had to be sure that Mom wouldn't invite him in again. That, and Spike came visiting and so did one of Angelus's minions. I had no choice but to dust him in front of her."

"How did she react?" Bruce asked, intrigued.

"She didn't take it well at first," Buffy said. "Actually, it was 'Have you tried not being a Slayer?' and then 'You walk out of this house, don't even think about coming back.'"

"You walked out of the house," Bruce stated rather than asked.

"I had to. Angelus was trying to unleash a hell dimension on Earth and I was the only one who could stop him." Buffy drained her drink. "I had to run Angelus through with a sword. My ex-boyfriend, and I had to kill him. The worst was that Willow had manage to re-ensoul him just as I ran the sword through him, but I knew the only way to stop the destruction of the world was to kill him anyway. After that I didn't go home. I took Mom's words to heart and ran away. I didn't think she'd let me back home."

Bruce was stunned. He wasn't sure what he'd do in similar circumstances. He knew he had been trying to make peace with the awful things he had to do as Batman to save Gotham, but to have to choose to kill the one you loved to save the world... it was a situation he hoped to never face.

"What happened?" Bruce asked.

"Well, after a summer away I returned home. Mom began to adjust to the idea. She even took to having hot cocoa with Spike. She began to mother all my friends who had issues with their parents. Then she died while I was in the middle of my sophomore year at UC Sunnydale. I had to drop out and take care of Dawn. But for two whole years she was the most awesome mom around. I still miss her, five years later," Buffy explained.

"I know what you mean," Bruce took a drink of his liquor. When Buffy looked at him, puzzled, he continued. "I forgot that you aren't from Gotham."

"Nope. I'm a California girl," Buffy said brightly.

"My parents were gunned down in front of me when I was nine. We were at an opera and left early because I was scared. We got outside and a guy held us up at gunpoint. He got spooked and shot my Dad, then my Mother, but turned and ran away instead of shooting me too," Bruce explained.

Buffy was moved. She carefully placed her glass on the coffee table. She was a little unsteady, after all alcohol doesn't mix well with Buffy. She then sat on the arm of the chair and put an arm around Bruce.

"I'm sorry," Buffy whispered as she tightened his arm around him.

Bruce wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her on to his lap. "Don't be. It was over twenty years ago. Anyway, I had Alfred. He raised me and I think I turned out fine."

"Yes you did," Buffy agreed before standing up. "Whoa. I think I drank too much tonight." She started weaving her way across the room.

"You couldn't have had more than three glasses of wine..." Bruce started to count.

"And the glass of scotch," Buffy added. "I learned in college that alcohol and Buffy are non-mixy things. Though I sometimes forget." Buffy staggered across the room.

"Here," Bruce swept her up into his arms and carried her to her room. Once inside he placed her gently on the bed and left.

Buffy drifted off to sleep with pleasant dreams of what could have happened had she not been drunk.

-5/?-