Author's note: Can you believe that over an year later I can finally say that Bloodstream is finished?
What a ride, guys. I got some great criticism here, made some friends thanks to this fic, and not it's coming to an end, at last. I almost can't believe it.
I want to ask you to forgive me for taking so long to publish this epilogue. You guys have no idea how hard it was to write it right. I wrote the first act twice, the second three or four times, because I wasn't satisfied with them, but now I am. And kind of proud, also. I don't think I've ever wrote anything this complex, and I really hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I did.
(rumor has it that I have a sequel in mind, but I won't promise anything. let's the third season roll a while longer, and then we think about it)
(but if you have any interest in a sequel, let me know!)
Thank you all for being so faithful and awesome, and thanks Teo (TheAeacusProject) for beta reading this epilogue. Go read his fics, guys, he's the best.
AN EPILOGUE IN THREE ACTS
- Act one: the rise up –
When Ivy Pepper was kidnapped by Dr. Woodrue's minions, drugged and changed, Selina Kyle and Barbara Gordon, her family, figured it was time to fight for her.
For Selina, it meant a journey (that was also a flight) to take control of their situations. She turned every corner with expectation and faith until she reached her goal.
Barbara took over when Ivy came back. She knew how it felt like to be used and abused by someone you thought you could trust. Her girl needed her now, the way she had needed her girls almost four years ago; she wasn't willing to disappoint V.
The women of Jim Gordon's house were, exactly how Selina said once, full time warriors, and it was even surprising when Ivy adjusted back home right away. Truth was that after being alert at all times for so long, she finally got a chance to relax, sleep in her own bed, take one long bath.
Ivy was home, at last, and everything could be normal again. It felt like it would be that way for about a week, until it became clear that normal – as always – wasn't an option.
That household was doomed.
"You want me to do what?" asked Ivy. Now she understood how Selina had felt when they tried their intervention.
"Go talk to Leslie a bit, it might help," repeated Jim, trying his best to make it sound like a suggestion.
"Because it worked so well for Babs, right?" she replied, way harsher than she intended. Well, interventions sucked.
Barbara raised an eyebrow, and Jim sighed, but Ivy wasn't having it. She already had postponed her return to school in one semester, which was bad enough, and had put pause on her relationship with Harleen, which was even worse. She didn't have to add a shrink to the equation.
"Baby, what happened to your room?" asked Barbara very carefully. She had baby Barbie on her hip, the ginger girl unaware of the tension of the room. Ivy stopped short, and it took her a beat too long to come up with a reply. That was a low blow.
"What about it?"
"Ivy-" Jim sighed. She was being difficult, she knew, but they should be used to it already.
And Barbara was.
The difference now was that she wouldn't put up with it.
"V, you were found in Central City, the metahumans city," she said carefully. "Maybe they did something to you."
"They did!" Ivy snapped, and Barbie cried with surprise, the little girl started to fuss startled, and it made the teen take a few deep breaths. "Every day they did something to me, everyone knows that, but that doesn't mean I need to go to a shrink twice a week, I'm fine."
"Ivy, you are not fine!" insisted Barbara, passing Barbie to Jim. "You're having nightmares, there are weeds growing uncontrollably in your room, and you refuse to hold your sister after she got sick, what is that?"
"I'm toxic," the teen said under her breath, hoping no one would hear.
"That's absurd, V," Jim interfered. "You did not make Barbie sick."
Except that she did. She did when she kissed the baby goodnight, and then the girl had signs of poisoning. She did, because she knew that there was something wrong with her, and she could feel the toxicity on the tip of her fingers, but she thought she could control it the way she controlled with Jonny, who was fine until he wasn't, and it sent her on a spiral of not knowing if she contributed to make him worse. Now Barbie was sick, she was dying, and it was her fault.
"Ivy," Barbara said. She had gotten closer and was standing right in front of V, who wanted to step away, but she had her back against the wall, head down. She had trapped herself. "Baby, we've got you. Let us help."
"How could you help?" she replied, looking up at Babs and Jim. She felt tears drop on her cheeks and damn, she didn't want to cry, but there were so many changes, and so many secrets inside of Ivy, it was too big for her.
"You think you are beyond saving, but you aren't," Barbara continued, cupping Ivy's cheek. "Please, don't give up on yourself, we'll figure it out."
Barbara hugged Ivy, then, and even though the girl protested at first, there was no way she could break out of it, and the moment she stopped struggling was the moment the tears fell freely.
To cry like that, finally, helped ease the burden – a little, but helped.
When Ivy went to her room later that day having in mind that she'd clean the place from all the weed that had grown in her sleep, what she found was a beautiful fall garden waiting for her.
The raise of Ivy Pepper's power came from togetherness and acceptance. It was hard work and constant progress, but she opened up to the possibilities of her new abilities. She had one more reason to keep in touch with S.T.A.R. Labs, and they helped a lot too.
And, at the end of the day, she agreed to meet Leslie twice a week anyway. She liked Lee, after all. And also, school would only accept her back with the approval of a psychiatrist, and it might as well be someone she knew.
- Act two: the arrival –
Selina always wondered which moment was the moment that changed everything. In her head, she tried to remember those days almost a year ago when life's responsibilities felt like they were too much and she made her own version of quitting.
Perhaps it had been the first day, when she didn't use the door to climb to Bruce's room, and he was reading one of those Russian novels that people love so much. She hardly saw him wearing glasses, but that afternoon, he had them on, so thin and discreet that one would barely notice them.
That late afternoon, after work and a run to the hospital with Babs, she needed a shower.
"Wanna join me?" she asked, already taking off some clothes.
Fifteen year old Bruce would not say no.
Maybe it had been then, Selina thought having her own morning shower almost 40 weeks later. She felt really heavy, even though, in cold numbers, she hadn't gained so much weight. Selina was all tense also, but she had spent the past couple of weeks dealing with fake contractions, so it must be it again. According to Cait's calcs, Connor wouldn't be due for a week, so there was nothing to worry about.
Despite everyone's opinion, Selina moved on with her morning routine. Fish had put her out of the conference rooms since the false alarms started, but that didn't keep Selina from doing her things – she had, after all, earned her spot back by Fish Mooney's side and intended to keep it that way once Connor was out.
That didn't mean she already had a plan.
It had been bad enough to just Facetime her family on Christmas, and she knew that it'd be a hell of a lot of work, if she kept him. Selina kept running the options in her head, trying to figure out what to do, and wondering why she thought that carrying on with that pregnancy was a good idea. All of her judgement had been clouded for a very long time.
Maybe she would be back to normal once the baby was born.
Her body tensed again when she was drying off, and Selina had to hold on to the sink to try and breathe. That was really painful, it was a wonder Babs didn't go crazy in the first minutes. But it wasn't time for Connor to arrive, not yet.
The day went on.
Fish assigned her a personal assistant just for baby's matters, which was quite annoying, to be honest. Like basically everyone in Fish's crew, she was a stray, and a stray with her own baby girl, about Barbie's age. Crystal and Stephanie, fellow Gothamites. It could be worse, Selina was aware, but there was nothing she treasured more than her privacy.
There was no privacy with Crystal around.
"Selina, maybe we should go back," Crystal suggested when Selina had to stop yet another time during their two hours run to the mall. "We should call your doctor, what do you think? It's only a couple of hours from Central to here."
"You should call my sister, actually," Selina corrected. "She's coming from Gotham, it's a longer go."
Crystal stopped, avoiding eye contact as she balanced Stephanie on her hip. Selina did not like the face she was doing.
"What is it?" She demanded.
"Nothing, it's just..." Crystal was quick to say. "Uh... Your contractions are what? 40 minutes apart? Your sister won't arrive in time for the delivery if it keeps that way."
"What do you know about that?" asked Selina taken aback. She and Ivy had agreed that they would be together for this, but they had everything planned for next week. Connor would have to wait, she could not do that without V.
"Just from my experience, Selly," Crystal told her. "Stephanie is my first kid too, not all first born babies take too long to arrive."
"My sister Barbie did," Selina argued. "We were in the hospital for so long!"
"Your baby is not your sister, Sel," the woman argued. "And your body is not your mom's. You are you and he is he. Total different story."
That was a crappy pep talk, but Selina had to admit that Crystal was kind of right. Nothing ruled Ivy out of her priorities list.
"You know what?" said Selina, fishing her phone from her purse. "You call Cait, I'll call V."
They stopped in front of an electronics store and sat down, baby Steph bothered in her stroller. The phone only rang once before Ivy picked up.
"'Sup, girl?" V asked excitedly. "I was just thinking about you."
"Hey, you busy today?" Selina asked, one hand on her belly. The TVs of the shop were showing the news.
"Not much," answered Ivy. "Just examining some blood samples in Central. Why?"
"Oh, you're in Central?" Selina practically exclaimed.
"Yeah, thankfully," Ivy sighed. "Have you seen the news?"
Selina paid better attention to the screens in front of her. The headline alerted about the dense clouds upon Gotham and how flights were being cancelled since the middle of the night. It looked terrifying.
"I'm looking at them right now," Selina said frowning. "When did you leave?"
"Last night, came early to see Jonny," Ivy told her. "I was going to go back today, but…"
"Did you call home? Is everyone safe?"
"Yeah, I did. Mom said that it looks fucking scary. The Chief of Staff was in the news telling everyone to stay inside, it might be the hardest snowstorm the city's seen in decades. You know how Gotham gets when shit like this happen."
Oh, Selina knew. She remembered, and she was glad to be far from the city.
"It's going to be the Purge outside," she commented, trying to absorb as much information from the muted TV news as she could. "Looks like it already is."
"Yeah," agreed Ivy. "Like when there was a mob war in the city, remember? Except that this time it's worse, because it's no one's land."
Selina hummed in agreement and then reached for Steph, who was trying to get out of the stroller. She held the baby's small hands stopping her, and suddenly Selina realized that she would be holding her own baby's hand today. It made breathing a rather challenging task.
"You were going to tell me something?" Ivy asked, bringing Selina back to reality. "Sel?"
"Yeah," Selina breathed. Stephanie had beautiful blue eyes, not sharp like Barbie's and V's, but soft, creamy even. "Are you near Cait or Cisco?"
"I'm in the Labs, yes," Ivy answered. "They are frantic here, trying to contact the Flash to take Caitlin somewhere."
"Yeah, you might want to ask for a ride," Selly looked over at Crystal, who was on the phone as well and gave her a thumbs up. "She's coming here. Connor will be born today."
There was a moment of silence.
"V?" Selina insisted, and then she heard a sharp breath on the other side.
"Holy shit," Ivy said under her breath. "Okay, I'm coming. See you soon."
"You better," Selina warned, and she hung up. She looked at Crystal again.
"Car is waiting, you ready to go?" the woman asked, and Selina nodded. Even though it was just partially. Even though she wasn't very certain of anything.
[…]
It took forever.
Not for them to go back home, nor for Ivy and Cait to arrive, that only consumed about fifteen minutes. And even the two hours that Barry and Cisco needed to ride their van to Metropolis with all the medical equipment that Caitlin needed to assure that the baby's vitals would be fine felt like nothing compared to the pain and the excruciating minutes each contraction lasted.
"You know, Fish," Selina said after a particularly painful set of contractions. She had no idea how she didn't pass out yet. "It was very wise of you not to have your own kids, this is-"
She breathed holding the windowsill and lowering her head. Selina chose to have her baby at home. Fish would guide her through the delivery, Ivy was her doula, Caitlin the doctor. In the bathroom, the bath was half filled with warm water, but Selina couldn't stay still. It bothered less when she was moving.
"How much longer?" she practically begged, feeling the next wave of contraction approach. They were so close together now, and she was drenched in sweat; Ivy followed her close.
"Darling, you are all dilated," Fish told her not for the first time. "You need to find a comfortable position and push, now."
Selina gritted her teeth, trying not to scream. She understood Babs so well now, and regretted how much she enjoyed filming her labor. This was terrible.
"There isn't a comfortable position," she managed to say through her teeth. Why did it have to me so painful?
There was a knock on the door, and right after Cisco peaked inside.
"The tablet," he stepped in the room to give the tablet he had modified for Caitlin, that would help her monitoring the final moments of labor and first moments of the baby. "Wow, Selly, you look like shit."
Selina didn't even have the strength to reply, she just stared at him. Her water had broke two hours ago, and now she only had this robe on, her hair was soaking wet, as well as her skin, and she had the feeling that the room smelled weird.
"Shouldn't you be pushing by now?" continued Cisco, unaware of Caitlin's censoring glare. He looked over the open door of the bathroom. "You know, my cousin had her first baby at home too, a couple of months ago. She had her in the tub, said that it was very soothing. Maybe you could try it, is the water warm?"
"Get the fuck out," Selina said, trying hard to stand firm, even if her uterus was protesting.
"Okay, sorry," the scientist raised his hands and quickly went back out, closing the door after him.
"Where are you going?" Ivy asked. She was so distracted by Cisco sudden appearance that she hardly paid attention to Sel, who was slowly walking to the bathroom.
"You know what?" Selina answered, working hard to breathe, talk and walk without popping that kid right there and then. "I didn't try the tub, and I'm running out of options. You insist that I can get comfortable, so let's find a goddamn comfortable position, I want him out."
The women followed Selina with watchful eyes, helped her get in the tub and carefully sit down after removing the robe. The water was warm, just enough, and rather nice, but Selina still fumbled and struggled to find the best position to stay.
Finally, her body seemed to settle. There wasn't another way to describe it. Selina got comfortable at last, turned a bit to her right side, which was also good, because she could face Ivy, who sat down the floor by the tub, one hand caressing Selina's shoulder. The sisters looked at each other and the eldest nodded, letting out a relieved breath. Ivy smiled.
She made a mental note to thank Cisco later.
"I was hoping you wouldn't make me get wet, girl," Fish commented, but there was humor in her voice as she joined her in the tub. "Okay, darling, when the next contractions come, I'm going to need you to push real hard, understand?"
Selina nodded, already knowing that the next wave was close.
"Don't worry, Selly," Caitlin said with her calm voice. "We're all here for you."
"Come on, you can squeeze my hand all you want," Ivy offered, holding Selina's right hand in hers. "Let go, Sel, he's really close. All you have to do is push."
She knew. And damn, how she wanted this pregnancy to be over already. It had been so hard, so intense, and now she was dangerously close to holding her baby.
When the next wave of contractions came, Selina gathered all her strength and pushed, pushed really hard, like Fish told her to do, screaming her pain out hoping that it'd help somehow. Everything became a blur, and when the contraction ended, people were smiling at her.
"That's a lot of hair," Fish said with warmth. Selina blinked, trying to focus.
"What?" she asked out of breath.
"Give me your hand," said Fish, reaching out for Selina, who let go of the rim of the tub and the girl followed suit. Fish guided Selina's hand between her legs where she could feel the baby almost out. "Gently," she instructed, and Selina felt it, the soft hair in Connor's head. She felt her heart flutter. "One more go and he might be in your arms, if you push hard enough."
One more go? That sounded tempting. She had been pushing that kid for half a day already, it was more than time for it to be out. One more go.
It took forever.
In the corridor, Selina's screams echoed so high that she even startled baby Steph, and Crystal had to go somewhere else try to shush the kid, leaving Cisco and Barry alone, anxiously waiting. She screamed so loud that no one heard her phone ringing on her nightstand until it reached voicemail.
Forever.
And then-
There he was. Connor. In Fish's hands, the exact same way Crystal had described Steph's delivery, and Caitlin rushed to help clean his airways and time stretched even more before finally, finally he took his first deep breath and started crying.
Selina sat straighter and reached for him, so Caitlin ever so gently placed her baby on the girl's chest. Connor was small and started to calm down as Selina touched his little arms and checked his tiny fingers. Ivy adjusted her position to make space for Caitlin and Fish, who were engaged in cleaning Connor as best as they could, but still managed to stay by Selly's side.
"Time of birth," Caitlin announced, typing on her tablet. "5:16 p.m., January 7."
Connor settled, keeping quiet even when Selina had to gather the remnants of her strength to push the placenta out. He had a lot of black hair, just like his father, and after a few minutes, he opened his eyes, revealing grey irises that were way too familiar as well. He needed only a couple of tries to get the handle of that breastfeeding business.
Selina was mesmerized by him, by his small nose and the way he was staring up at her as he ate. Her baby. Her son.
"You did it, Sel," Ivy said, her voice soft as it had never been, caressing Selina's shoulder. The sisters looked at each other. "You did it."
Looking down at her baby, she felt fine. Selina held Ivy's hand with her free one, and the sisters stayed like that for a long time. It had been a crazy year, but things were good, at last.
- Act three: the beginning –
Bruce Wayne felt the skin of his elbows scratch when he fell on the rough floor of the small Taiwanese town he'd been spending the past month in, the dust clinging to his already dirty clothes. He had been trying his best to stay clean and presentable, but some things were just not possible.
More often than not, he wondered how Selina did it.
Selina. It had been almost two months since he called her for the last time, and he still didn't know why it felt so urgent. Maybe because he'd be getting rid of that phone soon, maybe because he wanted her to know that he remembered her.
It was a good thing she didn't pick up. The words he wrote in the letter were still true – she'd make him go back in a heartbeat, even if he was truly enjoying his trips, even if he was learning so much.
Selina Kyle was his weak spot. Had always been, even when he was too stupid to treat her better.
(Maybe he was being stupid right now, with no phone and just enough money to buy a slice of cake, but who was paying attention, right?)
Bruce gathered the pieces of his dignity and got up again, patting his pocket to make sure that his money was still there, and then he turned around to look at the bakery he had just been kicked out of, quite literally. Maybe he had miscalculated things, assuming that they'd let a kid clearly from the streets simply walk in and order something.
His elbows stung, but physical pain was something he had long ago learned to overcome. Bruce Wayne discovered pretty soon that the hardest part was when he had to overcome the pain in the mind.
The bakery was packed with people, loud as they could be. It had glass windows and tables outside. Since the weather was a bit chilly still, most of the tables were empty, everyone more comfortable in the warmth inside.
That day, Bruce was seventeen.
He wanted a slice of cake, had the money for it.
Gluing his dignity with courage, Bruce stepped towards the bakery again, ready to beg, if necessary, say that he'd stay in the furthest table if possible. Just for a slice of Black Forest.
"Didn't you just get kicked out of there?" someone asked, stopping him with his hand on the handle.
He turned around and faced a girl about his age, with long and dark straight hair and blue eyes. She was Asian, but just in part, he could tell by her features. She was flanked by two massive guys who looked unfriendly. Bruce held his head high.
"I just want some cake, and I can pay," he told her, as if she had to understand. The girl raised an eyebrow unimpressed.
"You won't get any here," she told him. "Not dressed like that. There's another bakery in the west wing."
"They don't have Black Forest," Bruce replied, as if it was obvious, and the girl crossed her arms and smiled.
"Exigent. Why so?"
Was it worth saying? Bruce looked down, his hands nervously whipping on his pants. Well, what the hell.
"It's my birthday today, that's all," he said, and that seemed to take her by surprise. The girl tilted her head.
"Give me the money," she said, and he instinctively stepped back. His reaction made her giggle. "Don't be silly, do I look like someone who'd rob you?"
Well, Bruce have met all kinds of rich people during his social days in Gotham, so she'd have to forgive him for being suspicious.
"Come on, I'll put a good word for you and buy you that slice of Black Forest, what about that?" she insisted, and Bruce thought for a couple of seconds before fishing the money in his pocket and handing it to her. One of her bodyguards stepped ahead to protect her, but she only made a sound, or said a word, he couldn't tell, and he stopped. She stepped closer, just enough to get the money from him. "Why don't you wait at one of those tables?"
Bruce nodded, and she said something to one of the guards. The guard gestured, and another one appeared from the shadows, positioned between the tables. The girl walked to the bakery.
"I didn't catch your name," Bruce said, and she looked back at him.
"I didn't give any," she answered, and waited a heartbeat to add, just for the suspense. "I'm Talia."
Talia. Pretty name. He nodded.
"I'm Bruce," he informed. "Thanks, Talia."
She smiled.
"Don't thank me yet," she said, and then entered in the bakery, engulfed by the warm air of the store.
Bruce chose a table and the guard followed him from a safe distance. That girl was important, but it didn't really matter.
He was seventeen. Life was just beginning.
