A/N: Okay, so I went back and fixed the whole 'Selina older than Bruce' thing in Chapter 2. That one's my bad. Thanks to the reviewer Kitcat for letting me know. I think it'd been pointed out before, but I just never got around to fixing it. I'd also like to thank you all again for your continued support on this series, my oneshots, and Escapades. It really means the world to me that people are reading what I'm writing, and after only a year, this story is twenty-five chapters long and 100k words! I would've never been able to do it without you and your support, so thank you. And speaking of chapters, here's chapter 25! Hope you enjoy!
A Bridge Between
"We should climb the Midtown Bridge," Selina suggested out of the blue.
Bruce, halfway through a bite of his burger, looked a little surprised at the random proposition. They were at one of his favorite diners. It was all the way across town from the Factory, but it was well worth the trip. Nightcrawlers was good, but it didn't hold a candle to this place. So where she'd gotten the idea to visit the Midtown Bridge, Bruce had no idea. "Where'd that come from?"
She shrugged. "Well, I was thinking of what we should do today, and then I started thinking about what we did at the Manor for fun," which also reminded her of their prank war that was never officially called off, meaning it was still ongoing, today… "and then I started thinking about you teaching me how to balance, and then I remembered you suggesting we go to the Midtown Bridge to climb it, and then I remembered us getting chased by assassins, so we never did, did we?"
His eyebrows were almost at the ceiling. "Okay, then," he commented in a taken aback voice. All he'd been thinking about was his burger… "So, we never went. So what?"
"So, we should climb it, today. It'll be fun."
Bruce shrugged. "I've climbed it before. It's not that great…" he trailed off with a slight uptake in his voice. He was suddenly very interested in his burger.
"Oh, really?" she questioned, her intuition telling her that something was up. Why would he not want to climb the bridge? He'd been the one to suggest it when they were younger. What had changed? She rolled her eyes. "Well then, I guess I'll have to 'climb the damn bridge on my own'," she told him accusatorily.
Bruce cringed, remembering the harsh words he'd said to her just before the assassins had shown up. He huffed in defeat. "Fine," he muttered.
"Fine what?" she dragged out.
He rolled his eyes but answered, "Fine, I'll take you to the bridge."
Selina smirked victoriously, picking off one of his fries. "Good. I can't wait to see what's up there."
"Wouldn't be so sure about that…" Bruce muttered to himself, too quiet for her to hear.
They finished their burgers and fries, Selina mowing hers down in a matter of minutes while Bruce tried to eat as slowly as possible.
Yes, he had originally proposed to take her up there, but that was before. Now, over a year and a half later, taking her up to the top of the bridge meant serious problems. Maybe he could throw her off the scent… "Ya know, I heard there's this new place opening over on the Southside. It's supposed to be like the Flea just bigger, and there's gonna be a grand opening party tonight. You wanna check it out?"
She threw up a single eyebrow, as if asking, 'Really? That's the best you got?'
And truthfully, it was.
He didn't have a reason to not take her up there…at least, not one that didn't accompany even more questions.
"Maybe after," she lulled, staring out the window with a small smirk.
He sighed in defeat and returned to eating his meal at a snail's pace. Unfortunately, the food inevitably ran out. He asked if she wanted to get desert, he'd pay for it, too. But no. The check came, they paid for their food, and the next thing he knew she was leading him through the city towards Midtown.
He tried to convince himself that he could turn this around. Maybe she'd get scared when she saw how tall the bridge was? If they did go up there, maybe he could steer her clear of it?
He could pull this off…he had to.
Now, was this whole situation avoidable by a simple outing of the truth? Yes, yes it was. Was the truth even that bad? No, no it wasn't.
But he couldn't do it, not by his own free will anyways.
He'd explain when they got up there, when she inevitably found it. He'd clarify the whole situation and everything would be okay. Right?
Right?
Midtown was usually a fifteen to twenty minute walk from the diner, so how they got there so fast, Bruce didn't know.
By the time they crossed 8th and West Avenue, she could see the bridge. It wasn't the tallest structure in Gotham, not by a long shot, Wayne Enterprises soared over it like most of the skyscrapers, but it was the tallest structure in Gotham that you could climb bare hand.
And after several weeks of practice on climbing and freerunning with Bruce, she was ready to test herself.
It looked a lot taller up close, though.
Standing at the base of it, she couldn't see anything near the top. The thought of falling from that height…her stomach started churning.
Bruce sighed, leaning up against the base of the tower they were about to climb. "We don't have to do this today, Cat," he told her. "We can come back another time and–"
"NO!" she responded, louder than she'd meant it. She cleared her throat and repeated, "No. We're doing this, right now."
"Selina, you're literally paler than me, right now," he pointed out.
She pushed out a shaky breath. "I'm fine. Just nervous. Besides, I want to see what has you so scared."
Bruce sighed and went to pick the lock to the service door. He was actually trying to not open it, figuring he'd 'break his lock pick' and they'd have to come back another time. But no, of course he couldn't do that because the universe hated him. Instead, the lock popped open within two seconds, probably damaged from the sheer amount of street kids who'd already picked it.
He muttered a curse, but slowly pushed the door open. Inside was a single, old, rusty ladder, ascending over a hundred feet before it reached the next platform. There were no rings to keep you from falling, nor any guarantee that the ladder would hold up under your weight.
This was the great filter of the climb. If you had the guts to use the ladder, the climb up the side of the bridge would feel like nothing.
He glanced over at Selina, who'd somehow gone even paler than before.
"You sure about this, Cat?" he asked. "We really don't…" He sighed. It was no use. He could see the determination in her eyes, wordlessly telling him that any attempts he made were futile. They were climbing this bridge, right here, right now. "Fine, then. I'll go first," he told her, stepping towards the ladder and taking hold of the third rung up. Funny thing about that rung: it was loose, and would pop out entirely if you put any force on it.
So that's exactly what he did.
He heard her yelp as the rung clattered to the floor.
"Oh yeah," he commented boredly, "watch out for those."
And without a second thought, he hoisted himself up, past the missing rung and onto the fourth. So he went, higher and higher, very aware of Selina staring a pair of holes into his back. He wasn't even fazed by this climb; he'd done it multiple times, after all.
His stomach went void at the thought, suddenly reminded of why he was trying to keep Selina from going up the bridge. About halfway up, he intentionally shook the ladder, making it creak and groan under the stress.
Selina gasped from down below.
He looked down at her with his best attempt at a fearful expression. "You still sure about this?"
She looked about ready to be sick, but nodded.
Dammit.
He continued up, each rung he passed making the growing weight in his stomach even heavier.
He reached the top and hoisted himself onto the small Catwalk that led to the second service door.
There were no railings on the platform, so he sat down on the edge with his legs dangling off precariously.
"Come on up!" he yelled down at her.
He couldn't see her very well from that far away, but he had a pretty good guess as to what she was feeling.
She froze, staring at the ladder.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…
No. It wasn't a good idea. But that was the fun part, right?
So, swallowing any good sense she had left in her, Selina stepped towards the ladder, took hold of the fourth rung, and hoisted herself up.
The second she was on the ladder, she realized just how stable it actually was. Given its appearance, she would've assumed that it could come crashing down at any minute. Yet, when she started to climb, it felt solid and sturdy.
As she got higher and higher, the ladder's solidity never coming into question, a fire lit in her stomach.
Bruce had been trying to scare her…
Oh, he was gonna pay, big time.
She scaled the ladder in record time, any fear she once had replaced by the determination to royally kick Bruce Kyle's ass.
When she pulled herself up onto the platform, he looked almost as sick as she had been standing on the ground.
He offered her a hand, but she ignored it, asking, "Okay, what the hell is going on, Bruce?"
Bruce shook his head. "What do you m–"
"Don't lie to me," she cut him off. His mouth snapped shut. "What is going on with you?"
He sighed, turning his back to her and walking towards the service door. As he picked the lock, he told her, "It's complicated, okay? I'll explain everything when we get up there."
"Oh, so now you want to take me up there?" she drawled accusatorily. "What's with the change of heart?"
He shrugged, finally getting the door to open and turning back to her. "I know I can't stop you," he answered honestly, before walking out of the ladder room and out onto the balcony of the initial tower.
She followed after him, stepping out onto the tiny terrace. Sprouting out from the concrete structure were dozens of steel beams and braces, leading up to the top of the bridge. It honestly didn't look like that difficult of a climb…
"Follow me," he told her abruptly.
And so they wordlessly scaled the Midtown Bridge, Selina retracing the route Bruce took. The climb was easy, and they made it all the way to the top without taking a single break.
Bruce hoisted himself up over the peak of the bridge, then assisted Selina up and over it as well. Surprisingly, the peak of the Bridge resembled a ship's crow's nest, although it was square and stretched over a dozen feet across. And for some reason, there was a park bench in the middle of it, bolted to the floor.
"How did…" Selina started.
Bruce chuckled and shook his head, sitting down and telling her, "No one knows. Some think the people who built the bridge put it here; some people think aliens did it. If you ask me, I think someone had too much free time."
Selina smiled at his rare attempt of a joke.
She stepped up to the edge and took a deep breath. It was beautiful up there, a single place in the center of Gotham where the smog and soot dispersed, the air clear and semi-clean.
"It reminds me of Wayne Manor, up here," she commented offhandedly.
"What?"
She turned back to him. He had a weird, confused expression on his face. "I said it reminds me of Wayne Manor," she repeated.
He hummed. "Yeah, I heard you. Just…since when do you call it 'Wayne Manor'?"
She shook her head. "What do you mean?"
"Nothing, just…it's weird hearing you call it that. You always called it the Manor or home or whatever. Just sounded weird, is all."
Selina shrugged, but the realization hit her hard. She didn't view the Manor as home, anymore.
When did that happen?
She shook her head, pushing away the thoughts and returning to the task at hand.
"So," she started, slowly walking towards him, "why didn't you want to bring me up here?"
His eyes dropped to his feet. He opened his mouth, but closed it just as quickly, not sure how or where to start this conversation.
Instead, he simply pointed to the North-facing side of the platform, the wall to the bench's left.
She slowly walked over to it. It was littered in little scratches and carvings. As she got closer, she realized that they weren't random or meaningless. They were letters, words, names; all of them in pairs and encased in hearts.
She'd been scanning the wall for less than ten seconds when she found it. She didn't initially register what she was reading, but it eventually dawned on her. Her heart sank slightly and she suddenly felt very, very awkward.
"B + Z," she read aloud. Bruce cringed, refusing to look her direction. "In a heart."
She scoffed and he cringed even harder. He knew this was going to happen, that she'd eventually find out…but he hadn't wanted it to be like this.
Granted, he'd had over half a year, four weeks of which she'd been living with him, to tell her about his relationship with Zee, but he'd never brought it up. He hadn't been able to.
"You're an idiot," she practically whispered, still facing the wall.
"Selina…please, just let me–"
"You really think that this warranted lying to me?" she asked, doing a complete 180o, both physically and in where Bruce thought this conversation was going.
He stammered and stuttered in surprise, eventually getting out, "I thought–"
"Yeah, well you thought wrong," she interrupted. "Bruce, do you really think I'd care if you and Zee used to be a thing? That it warranted lying to me? And for what? To protect me?"
Bruce nodded and shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much exactly that…actually…" he trailed off.
She rolled her eyes, starting towards him suddenly. He flinched, expecting to be punched in the face or kicked in the groin, or at least slapped on the arm, but it never came.
Instead, she sat down next to him on the park bench. "Well, you didn't need to protect me. And…I know your intentions were good, but…" she stalled and gently placed a hand on his own, "I want you to know one thing…"
He nodded for her to go on.
The next thing he knew, she had a fistful of his collar, and her other fist cocked back and ready to unload on his face. She'd pulled him so close, they were practically breathing the same air.
"If you ever, ever lie to me again, I will throw you off this damn bridge, got it?" she hissed.
"Yes, ma'am," he replied, his voice cracking horribly on the word "ma'am".
She smiled. "Good," she stated, before taking his shoulders in her hands and planting a quick peck on his cheek.
He smiled like an idiot, stupidly asking, "So, you're not mad at me?"
"Oh, no, I'm mad as hell. And you're gonna pay for this," she told him flatly. "But in the meantime, we have a party to get ready for."
She stood from the bench and climbed over the side of the platform before realizing he hadn't even stood up yet. "You coming or what?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I'll meet you down there. Just…give me a minute."
She narrowed her eyes, but nodded. "Fine, but make it quick."
Bruce nodded as her head disappeared over the edge. He waited until he was certain she was actually climbing down, and then stood from the bench.
He removed a rock from his coat and went to work on the floor of the concrete platform, first carving a B, then the plus sign, then the C.
When he was done, he stood up on the park bench and looked down at his handiwork.
He'd abstained from drawing a heart around the initials. It felt cheap and tacky, just like the rest of the smaller carvings. Besides, what he had was nothing like what those people had. Those other people had a boyfriend or a girlfriend or even just a crush, but he had something more.
He had a partner.
And her name was Cat.
And he'd never lie to her again, for fear of being thrown off the Midtown Bridge, as well as knowing what was on top of it.
Whatever this place had meant to him before, it held an entirely different meaning, now.
It was a single spot between their two worlds, a bridge between, connecting them. And if he ever thought to try and protect her from the truth, this place would remind him of the pact he'd signed in stone.
But for now, he had a party to get ready for.
A/N: So, there's probably only going to be one or two more chapters for the remainder of this arc. However, the next and final arc for Season 2 (which I can't believe I'm almost done with, already) is the Azrael and Indian Hill arc, and I'm really excited for it, especially since I'm going to be taking many, many artistic liberties with when I rewrite the plot.
And this is a little off topic: but I had no idea how difficult it would be to write Roles and Escapades series at the same time. I keep getting them confused, so it's almost a relief that I'm nearing the end of the arc in Roles. Twice now I've caught myself switching their personalities at the beginning of Chapters.
But anyways, I hope you enjoyed and if you did or have any comments/questions/critiques about this story (or ideas for new Escapades chapters), please Review! Your feedback is why I write, after all. Thanks for reading and ciao for now!
And, for those asking: Yes, they will eventually find out about the whole switched at birth thing. I've had that part of the story fully plotted out since I started this project. There have been subtle hints about it throughout the series, but a full-scale development is coming soon, so be prepared cause it's a damn big one.
