Young and Beautiful: (Four Years after Red Mirror)
"What do you mean by she wants Damian?" Selina snapped at Dick.
The young man glared at her, "Exactly what I just said. Talia intends to take Damian back to the League. He's her son after all."
"No, he's not. Damian was never hers, he's always been mine. I will not let her take him from me." Selina growled. She'd already lost Kat, she wouldn't lose Damian too.
Bruce put a hand on her shoulder, "Selina, no one's taking him anywhere he doesn't want to go. He's eighteen."
"So you're saying we just let our son run off with a psychotic mass murderer?" She yelled, outraged by what he was saying to her.
He shook his head, "No, Selina. We won't let him go, but he's got to make the decision for himself. Do you understand?"
Selina lunged at her love, "Don't patronize me!" Dick caught her though, easily keeping Bruce out of her reach.
Dick chuckled darkly, "Man, Bruce, you sure do know how to pick 'em, don't you?"
Selina stilled in his grasp, "Excuse me? Did you just put me in the same category as that crazy Lazarus Pit loving bitch?"
"Selina." Bruce said stiffly, his mild amusement at her outrage being smothered by the fact that his taste in women left a lot to be desired most of the time. Morbidly enough, his relationship with Selina was the healthiest one he'd ever had.
She shrugged out of Dick's hold, giving him an expression that would have withered most men. He just grinned back. Sometimes she really hated the oldest of Bruce's adoptive children. Dick was a dick ninety-five percent of the time. That percentage dropped considerably when a certain newly arrived alien was in the room. And he thought she was messed up. At least she wasn't a pedophile. Yes, she knew that the bubbly girl was far older than she looked, but still, it was fun to watch Dick squirm. If the girl didn't annoy her so much she'd have her over all the time.
That night at dinner, Bruce posed Talia's proposition to Damian while Red preoccupied himself with Lian on the other end of the house.
Damian stared at his parents, "She wants me to join the League of Shadows. Does she not realize I'm kind of a free agent? I don't want to join anything, especially not with her. I don't even know her!"
That had ended that, and Selina had beamed for a week.
Talia was not so easily dissuaded.
Selina and Damian had been at their favorite Mexican food joint and had taken the initiative to start walking, enjoying the sights while waiting on Bruce to go get the car. Talia attacked them. Or rather, she threw Damian away and started beating on Selina.
It had been years since she'd been in a real fight, but Selina wasn't about to let the crazy eyed bitch kill her and take their son. She fought with everything she had.
They ended up on a pedestrian bridge, sending the civilians scattering to get out of the way of the well trained cat-fight. Talia pinned Selina down, twisting one of her arms behind her, pushing hard enough that the muscles screamed. "You've filled his head with lies. His place is beside me." Talia hissed into her ear, accent thick as she pressed down on Selina's throat with an elbow.
Selina's silent prayers were answered when her free hand found a loose piece of rebar about a foot and a half long resting on the bridge. Instinct caused her to thrust the metal into the other woman's chest. Talia gasped, looking down at herself before locking eyes with Selina.
Panic filled Selina, "Oh, God, no, no, no, no!" She pressed her hands around the bar, holding it still, "I-I didn't mean to. Hold on, we'll get help."
Talia smiled up at her, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth, "Perhaps you are worthy." She put her hands over Selina's. "You bested me in battle. Take care of them." Her deranged smiled still in full force Talia jerked the bar from herself. Selina screamed, and Talia was dead in seconds.
Selina fell back from the woman's corpse, vomiting over the side of the bridge. Her vision blurred right before she heard Bruce's voice, "Selina!" He fell to his knees at her side, pulling her into his arms.
She was half mad by the experience, "I killed her."
He nodded, wiping blood from her face, "I know. Are you hurt?"
"My shoulder." She whispered, leaning close to his chest.
Bruce kissed her, careful of her injured shoulder. "I can't lose you, Selina."
"I couldn't lose him." She said, wondering where her little eighteen year old boy had gone. Had he seen her kill his other mother? Would he hate her?
Bruce wasn't looking at her anymore, but farther down the bridge. Damian was standing over Talia's body, his long back hair freeing itself from it's ties. Selina watched as he knelt beside the woman and closed her eyes for the last time. "Damian." Bruce called.
Her beautiful boy turned to look at them. He knelt beside them, his expression unreadable, "Do you hate me?" She asked, not bearing to hear the answer.
Damian gave her a tiny smile, taking one of her battered hands in his, "No, Mom. I could never hate you."
Selina passed out with a smile on her face.
Three days later, she woke up. The first thing she noticed was a rather large bump next to her under the covers, and a tiny hum of power in her head, "Lian?" She asked, lifting the blanket to see a head of red curls. She couldn't help but smile, carding the fingers of a bandaged hand through her granddaughter's hair, pleased to see Isis curled up in the toddler's chubby arms. He would always look after her, even when Selina couldn't.
"She wanted to sleep in here with you." Bruce explained from his place across the room.
She hadn't noticed him, but calming hum of Lian's power kept her heart from racing in surprise, "What did you tell her?"
"What could we? She's four. All we said was you had a few 'boo-boo's and needed a nap." He said the last word like a curse, and Selina smiled.
"You still can't get used to that, can you? Don't worry, she won't be this little forever. You can start teaching her all about your microscope and computer in a handful of years, I'm sure." Selina quipped, ignoring her shoulder ache to haul Lian closer so she could cuddle her more securely.
Lian stretched against her, but didn't wake, snuggling her face into Selina's uninjured shoulder. "I should never have left you."
"What?" Selina asked, her attention drawn from Lian to Bruce.
"Twenty-one years ago, I shouldn't have slammed that door in your face. I'll never forgive myself for that." Bruce said, looking more still than she'd ever seen him.
For a long time, Selina didn't speak. It had taken her a long time to forgive him for that. And then she realized that she'd never properly absolved him of guilt that was hers. "I was a different person then." She began, cupping his face in one of her hands. "I stole from you, I hurt you. How were you supposed to know I really was pregnant? Back then it was my job to lie. You were right to be cautious."
"I was a bastard to you. My parents would have been horrified by the way I acted." He said, guilt gnawing at him even over twenty years later. And he'd just watched Selina almost die in a fight with another woman he'd wronged.
"No offense, but your parents are dead, Bruce. Yes, you were a bastard, but now you're my bastard, so that's all that really matters, right?" Selina said softly.
"Not really." He said, sinking to one knee by the bed. "Selina Kyle, would you do me the incredible honor of becoming my wife? I'll never leave you again, no more slammed doors."
Selina hid her shock behind a cocky laugh, "No more slammed doors? You forget, there's going to be a teenager in the house. There will be more slammed doors."
He stared, annoyance coloring his face, "Selina. I just asked you to marry me. Focus."
She laughed again before she noticed the jewelry box in his hand. "Bruce!"
The man under the hood smiled again, "I need an answer, Selina."
She reached out and picked up the string of pearls resting on the velvet pad, "Your mother's pearls. And...oh!" In the center of the string of pearls was a diamond ring, white gold from her brief assessment, with a round cut diamond no less than six carats framed by half carat emeralds.
Bruce shook his head, saying sternly, "Selina."
She jerked her attention to his face, and stared there for a few minutes. She loved him, she really did, but a great part of her had never wanted to be married. Of course she'd never wanted to be a mother either, but it had happened and she had failed spectacularly. Just once, she wanted to fling herself into something not knowing the outcome, just to trust that he would catch her when she fell, "This is forever, right, Bruce?"
He nodded, "You're the only woman I've ever really loved, and that's never going to change."
Tears burned the back of her eyes, "Even when I'm old and wrinkly?"
That got her another smile. "I'm older, I'll be old and wrinkly first."
She blinked the tears back, smiling back at him, "Well we're both in fantastic shape for our ages, so we might as well give it a try, right?"
"Is that a yes?" He asked cautiously.
"Yes!" Selina cried, throwing her arms around him and doing her best not to faint from the pain in her shoulder or squish Lian.
She was up walking around a week later, standing in front of the big windows overlooking the back yard, watching Red chase Lian around the green. Faintly, she could hear Lian's shrieks of laughter and Red's deep chested chuckles. "How are you feeling, Ms. Kyle?" Alfred asked, startling her.
Selina hid her anxiety behind her well crafted mask before she turned around to face him, "I've felt better, but I can't complain. Bruce has taken good care of me."
The butler regarded her stiffly. Bruce hadn't allowed him into his room while Selina had been recovering. In many ways, Bruce had turned into a lion protecting his mate, the only reason she was out of the room was because, yet again, Gotham had needed Batman.
Alfred sniffed, "Yes, well Master Bruce is quite keen on you."
"You don't approve?" Selina asked, the ring on her left hand feeling like it weighed five hundred pounds.
"No." Alfred said firmly, "You destroyed him once, you'll do it again."
"By hiding Kat from him?" She asked, her gut churning dangerously.
Alfred was glaring, "By telling him she'd died. He mourned that little girl for years. Did you know he had an artist render drawings of her?"
Selina felt the blood drain from her face, "What?"
"One of the nurses in the hospital gave Bruce a picture of her. That's how he knew she was his in the beginning. He already had a good idea of what she would have looked like. For years he'd hang up the cloak on her birthday and lock himself in his room with those drawings." Alfred said, shaking in hardly disguised anger.
He hated her. She didn't blame him. "I was scared, Mr. Pennyworth. I was terrified I was going to lose her. They came and told me they could save her, but that I couldn't tell Bruce. For her to live, he had to think she was dead. I was young, hurt, and thought I'd already lost him for good. I couldn't lose her too."
"And we lost her anyway." Alfred said, and Selina saw the hurt in his eyes. He'd cared about Kat too.
"Yes, we did. But she saved the world. She was a hero. I couldn't be prouder to have been her mother. I'll spend the rest of my life trying to be worthy of that, and of Bruce's love." Selina said, energy flooding through her.
Alfred's face softened, "Ms. Kyle, we might make a Wayne of you yet. Those pearls look lovely on you."
Selina touched the string with the hand of her uninjured arm, "Thank you, Alfred."
"As you were, Ms. Kyle. I need to go prepare Miss Lian's lunch." Alfred ordered gently.
Selina smiled, "You're too good to us. And thank you, for looking after him. I wasn't ready then, but I promise, I am now."
He smiled, "I know you are. After all, Master Bruce isn't the only one with connections."
"I'll keep that in mind." Selina told him, knowing better than ever where Bruce got his cool collected threatening face from. "I'll go fetch the little one." She walked through the old house, and out onto the yard, Isis following her every step.
"Gramma!" Lian yelled, running in her direction as fast as her four year old legs could carry her. Selina threw her arms out and caught the little thing.
"Hello, sweetheart." She said, holding the little girl close. "What have you and your Daddy been up to?"
"Cops and robbers!" Lian informed her.
Red approached slowly, face red, "Whew, she's one fast little robber!"
"Takes after her Grams, doesn't she?" Selina cooed, letting Lian go so she could chase Isis around the yard.
"Yeah, she does." Red agreed, "I swear though, she makes me feel so old."
"How do you think I feel?" Selina noted with a laugh. "I'm glad you two are close though."
Red nodded, "Yeah, but how long is that going to last?"
"Well, Kat always pretty much hated me. I deserved it though. Lian loves you already, I don't see that changing." Selina said comfortingly.
They both gazed at the tiny redheaded girl as Red muttered, "God, I hope not."
The touch of Bruce's hand on hers brought her to the present. "Sorry?"
He smiled the tiniest bit, "I asked if you wanted to go home and get some sleep."
She shook her head, "No. We're needed here."
Selina stared through the glass at the younger woman there. "She hardly looks forty-three. I know we have fantastic genetics, but she could damn near pass for thirty with her hair done and makeup on."
"They had aged her eight years, it's possible they reverted her to her original age. Perhaps that's why she doesn't remember us." Bruce offered.
"She should remember me. I was a failure as a mother, but I was there." Selina reminded him. "She should remember the little brother she raised mostly on her own."
He shrugged, "Well, part of her remembers Lian."
"Exactly." Selina replied. Since their granddaughter had made her spectacular little move, Kat had been in a tailspin. "She'll destroy herself going on like this."
"She's strong, Selina. She'll figure it out." He assured her.
Selina shot him a sidelong glance, "Wasn't it you who was advising us not to get attached?"
Another tiny smile, more impish than usual, not unlike the one he'd given her when Terry had 'accidentally' discovered the Batcave. She'd almost killed him for that. In many ways, she used Terry to replicate how she should have been with Damian. She was fiercely protective of the boy, even though he wasn't hers. Bruce was still smiling, "That was then, this is now. You were right, she's our daughter. She may be a killer now, but she's still the same person. She's lost right now, but as her family, it's our responsibility to take care of her."
Selina touched his face, guilt spreading through her. "You should have had more than a year knowing her. I'm so sorry."
"Don't mention it again." Bruce said, moving to wrap her in his arms, cane abandoned against the console.
Selina leaned into him, "I can only imagine how he's feeling."
Bruce nuzzled his face into her hair, looking through the glass. "Red's talking to Lian."
"How's it going so far?"
"She's angry, but she's a daddy's girl." Bruce assured her, brushing his lips across her forehead.
Selina's mind wandered back to that blissfully sunny day, where the bond between Red and Lian had almost made the ache Kat had left behind fade. "Yes, she is, isn't she?"
"I've seen the world, lit it up
As my stage now
Channeling angels in the new age now
Hot summer days, rock 'n' roll
The way you play for me at your show
And all the ways I got to know
Your pretty face and electric soul
Will you still love me
When I'm no longer young and beautiful?
Will you still love me
When I got nothing but my aching soul?
I know you will, I know you will
I know that you will
Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful?
Dear lord, when I get to heaven
Please let me bring my man
When he comes tell me that you'll let him in
Father tell me if you can
Oh that grace, oh that body
Oh that face makes me wanna party
He's my sun, he makes me shine like diamonds"
Young and Beautiful
By: Lana Del Rey
