Near them is two dogs, napping and nonplussed by the fact that they're in the vicinity of two people who can snap them in half and all, and after some minutes, the crocodile-man and the She-Hulk finished their lullaby, and kissed the egg on both sides, and then carefully scooped the sand back over the egg in a hollow, enclaved nest, and the She-Hulk looked to give orders to the dogs who woke up, sitting and guarding the nest, as the couple left the cavern, heading into the northern direction, figuring to hunt animals or such up top from their guess.
The phone-clad man then shut off the video, seeing no bars to send it to anyone, including their boss, and knew that the egg would be an invaluable price, heck, maybe selling it to the infamous Black Mask, or perhaps the rumored cracker head in Cobblepot, agreeing with his partner, realizing that this is far better than treasure.
And so, perhaps after waiting like an hour, hoping that the couple was not having a snort snack, they went into the cavern, and the dogs went into action, snarling, protective of their mistress and their mistress' mate's offspring.
The two men were enforcers, and they very much had dealt with the loose attack dog once or twice, so it didn't last very long to quickly subdue the dogs. Simply using their climbing gear as ropes, they quickly muzzled the dogs and then tied them up by the feet. One of the men thought it might be better to kill them, but the other one talked him out of it; deeming that they were already tied up, there was little chance they were going to come after them.
After that, the two of them quickly grabbed their prize and moved fast to get out of the caves before the parents would return; last thing they wanted to deal with was an enraged She-Hulk and her croc mate.
Unfortunately, they didn't know of the cameras locked on the nest surroundings, and it triggered their phones around their family table, at late suppertime up in Wayne Manor, and of course, it enraged and caused the new parents to go into rage and panic, with Thomas quickly telling them to spread out, with ordering Alfred to keep an eye on the Batcave, with Caroline and Jane safe upstairs, in case if the two men, if lost, ended up into the Batcave, as there are traps that Alfred can push to attack the two men while saving the egg somehow.
Martha turned into the second She-Hulk, to run and rampage her taken route, with Thomas taking up a motorcycle his taken route, with Waylon and Poppy as the third She-Hulk and Croc, taking different routes as well. Alfred had called Bruce, and several minutes later, the Batmobile roared and whooshed under the Batcave's main floor, jumping up and over into the main floor, and ran into one of the few wide caverns to fit the Batmobile.
Batman pushed the tracking mode of the tracers inside the phones of the Wayne family, and narrowed his eyes, "Nothing yet, they'd not stopped to see anything.", as Catwoman watched outside of the car's front window, and then shouted as she pointed, "Slide right!".
Batman braked and turned the wheel, pushing the Batmobile into a wide turn, and there, like deer in headlights, is the two men, with the egg in the arms of one man, and they moved. "Got ejection seats, Bat?".
Batman nodded, and put the Batmobile into automobile drive, taking the seatbelts off, and then pushed the ejection button, and with that, the Batman and the Catwoman leapt like creatures of the night, overtaking the men, with Batman tackling and fighting the man without the egg, and Catwoman scratching and tackling the man with the egg.
Just as Batman permanently broke his foe's waist, and punched him unconsciously hard, there was a gunshot, and Batman looked instinctively to see, with horror and fear clutching his heart, the egg gratefully intact and not shot, laying harmlessly on the floor, with Catwoman clutching and cowering on her knees, holding a gut wound with bleeding hands, her side leaning in to protect the egg, and the man standing up shakily with bleeding scratches and bruises, holding his gun straight at Catwoman's head.
Batman roared, running and kicking the man into the head, knocking him out hard, and seeing him down, he turned to Catwoman as she smiled, collapsing into her side, and he moved, catching her, "Selina, Selina, look at me, we'll get you to the med bay, you're going to be okay!", removing his cowl, tears falling, as he removed his cape, to wrap around the gut wound.
Selina's eyes widened in awe as she groaned and whimpered in pain, "Knew that there was an attractive, good man behind the mask, but didn't expect Bruce Wayne of all people...Is the egg alright?", hearing a faint array of sounds, from gamma roars to a crocodile growl-roar, and a motorcycle roar.
"Yeah... yeah... it's alright...", Bruce panted as he was trying to stem the bleeding. "You ain't losing a life on me...", he said as she gave a small chuckle.
"Yeah... pretty sure I've used quite a few...", Selina was trying to keep positive despite feeling so cold and the pain in her belly. "B-Bruce...", Selina started to whimper. "I don't wanna die...".
"You're not going to die... you're not...", Bruce told her. Selina replied, "How do you know?", and Bruce looked determined as he gently removed her googles to look at her, "Because my father is a doctor, my family knows about you, and you gave me my first kiss, Selina...I'm not going to lose someone I might as well have found the chance to consider love with for the first time ever.".
"Bruce...", Selina whispered with tears and shock, as the sounds got louder and stronger, and Poppy's voice screamed in relief, "My babies!", picking up the egg, kissing it as Waylon joined her, looking over the egg, with Martha and Thomas looking at Bruce, "How bad?".
Bruce replied, "She's bleeding, Dad! She was shot in the gut! Please help her...I can't experience it again, not ever!", and Thomas nodded, looking at Martha, "Alright, Martha, you're even faster than me, take her to the med bay in the Batcave. Bruce, ride behind me, now!".
Martha nodded, gently lifting Selina in her arms as Bruce reluctantly let go, taking a seat behind his father, and Martha then ran off in the fastest run she ever did, securing Selina gently yet firmly as she tried to keep her grip over the wrapped spot of Bruce's soft cape on her wound...So soft...and warm...
"Never...", Selina grunted in pain. "Never suspected the Waynes... ugh... of all people...", looking at Martha in slight amazement of her She-Hulk looks. "Please, Miss Kyle... don't try to speak right now... save your strength...", Martha told her.
Selina replied, "I...I know...I can't help talking...Are...Is Bruce's dad really good...at doctoring?", and Martha smiled, "Thomas is really good at it. He has caught up all the recent improvements in doctoring since he woke up, reading all the books and asking questions of our family doctor, and since then, he's the best chance around here. It's going to be alright, Miss Kyle. I know it's scary to fall sleep and think that this is it, but you need to save your strength...".
"Ok-okay...", Selina whispered as she was trying to keep herself awake but the urge to fall asleep was great as if the pain would stop if she could just sleep. Martha moved as fast as she could before she reached the Batcave's medical suite. A few moments later, Thomas arrived and started getting to work with the tools around.
"Where was she hit again?", Thomas asked as he quickly started to sterilize a few items. Bruce replied, "In the gut, Dad!", as he followed him in from the motorcycle, looking worried, and Thomas looked sharply at him, "You can't distract me or your mother, stay outside! Bruce, we'll take care of her, go!".
Alfred grabbed his shoulders, "Your father's right, come along, Bruce...", as they left the medical suite, hearing muffled sounds of orders and such to take the cape off, draw out the catsuit zipper and all as the door closed.
Bruce collapsed into the bench, his hands shaking though his hair, and Alfred rubbed his back, glancing at the camera of the nest with Poppy returning the egg as she went to help remove the ropes from the whining dogs, presuming that Waylon is taking care of the two men, with perhaps a call to Fate to memory-change the recent few hours.
"What happened?", Caroline's voice asked in concern as he then glanced at the stairs to see Caroline holding Jane protectively, and Alfred sighed, "I think Miss Kyle got shot, in the gut if I heard right...The egg is safe, Poppy is back at the nest with the egg, freeing the dogs, and I think our boy is calling Fate to take care of the two men...I don't know what kind of damage they got, since Bruce and Miss Kyle got to them first...".
"How on Earth did they manage to... I mean, just anything...", Caroline questioned as Alfred shook his head. "Must have simply just stumbled upon things; for instant, the dogs were all tied up with climbing equipment, so it was clearly not really thought out and more of just on the fly.", Alfred said.
Bruce replied softly, "The cliffs..Need to cover up the cliffs side of the cave system between the Wayne borders...I just had my first kiss with Selina on a Gotham rooftop...I...I wasn't helpless to stop that guy from shooting her in the head...but seeing him...it was like Chill for a moment...I saved her...but I don't want to lose her...She sounded so scared...She never had been scared before...".
Caroline went to sit next to Bruce on the other side, with Jane cooing as she reached out for Bruce, crawling from her mama's lap into Bruce's lap, snuggling into Bruce's chest, and Bruce sighed, wrapping his arms around Jane, as she didn't care about the unique armor, playing with the bat emblem with her little hands.
Bruce gave a little chuckle as Caroline said, "I think Jane is saying that everything is going to turn out all right, Bruce. Thomas is a fantastic doctor, and sure, it will take some time, but she will be alive, just sore and tired in the end.", rubbing his back as well, glancing at her husband on the other side of Bruce with a smile.
"I hope so...", Bruce closed his eyes. "I'd be less scared right now though if she got hit in like the legs or the arms... those usually aren't as high of risk of being fatal.".
"It's not a non-zero chance though, young sir.", Alfred reminded. "There are vital arteries located in the legs and arms; it's just as risky...".
Bruce nodded to Alfred's use of facts, and a few minutes later, they saw the camera of the nest with Poppy reuniting with Waylon in relief, nuzzling and kissing, actually tucking into the nest this time, their familiar protective circle around the egg.
A portal appeared, with Fate stepping out, glancing at the huddled group on the bench, "Managed to rough up their car, to make them think that they crashed into one of the roadway railings over in the countryside, changing their memories into being drunk and such, and removed the memories of the event. Wiped evidence on one of their phones which had a video of Waylon and Poppy with the egg which was not gratefully sent, probably because there were no bars to that type of phone he had down here. Destroyed the cavern possibilities of the cliffs between the Wayne cliff property and put down very strong and unremovable signs of the law and such on the Wayne cliff property and camouflaged the few caverns for escape routes in case. Waylon was most incensed but managed to keep his cool for me to learn what happened...Is he back now in the nest with Poppy?".
They nodded, and Fate sighed, "It's back to first base again for them...They won't leave the nest for the following days now, not that I can blame them...", and Caroline replied, "There's a coffee station over there on that table if you need some coffee after using all that magic work...Thomas and Martha are inside the medical bay, working on Catwoman.", as the Wayne family and the Pennyworth family knew that they don't have Selina's permission about telling other allies of her identity, but it was a necessary thing to know other dangers, and investigating them all as they didn't know of Catwoman thoroughly until Batman got to know her here and there since the day they met.
"I'll be fine.", Fate said as Alfred gave a small nod, "Thank you again, I say that on behalf of everyone... you do so much for this family.".
"This was nothing. It was almost an unspeakable act, but I get the honest feeling the men didn't truly know what they were dealing with.", Fate explained.
Bruce replied, "Nope, they didn't...Good thing that I and Poppy thought up the tracers in the outfits and the vehicles for navigating the caverns a couple of years ago...If we hadn't, we would have lost them and the egg.", with a sigh.
Jane cooed, resting into his arm and yawned, sleeping and snuggling into his side, and Alfred chuckled, "I think she is saying that we can't ponder the past too much, Bruce, best thing right now is to wait and hope for the best.", and Bruce gave a small smile.
Fate replied, "Indeed. I'll let you know if I'm good for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year, otherwise apologies ahead if I'm busy then.", and Caroline replied, "Of course. Good night, Fate.".
"Good night, my friends, and I'm sure you will inform Thomas and Martha of the news once everything is settled.", Fate replied, and they nodded in agreement before Fate took his usual portal home.
It was at least an hour and half before Thomas came out, looking a bit exhausted, and Bruce swiftly got up, gratefully without Jane who is slumbering deeply into Alfred's arms as Bruce has passed her over the last half hour, and started to ask, "Is she alright? Is she...?", as Thomas grabbed his shoulder, "Breathe, son...I can't lie, it was touch and go for the first several minutes, but after we got the IV and the suction to prevent blood flooding, she is at normal temperature and breathing fine now. The bullet is taken out, with part of her stomach stitched up with dissolving stitches that will take a couple weeks to heal. Bed rest is strongly recommended with minor trips to the bathroom. The belly scar itself got normal stitches and will have to be taken out at the end of those same couple of weeks, with carefully applied medicinal lotion to help the healing along. We had to take off her catsuit, to wash out the blood and all, but with your mother's help, she is in a comfortable position, in a home hospital gown and covered with a blanket.", as he finished his explanation.
Bruce nearly heaved with relief, hugging Thomas, "Thank you, Dad...Thank you...", and Thomas rubbed his back, "Never thought I'd see the day my son would consider love after everything...", kissing his son's temple, hearing a chuckle.
"Now, let's get her into one of the rolling beds, into the elevator up to the manor, and to the private guest wing by the manor elevator as well, and everything's going to be fine. She just will sleep the whole night and probably half the day, okay?", Thomas replied as he then pulled back, looking at his son straightforward.
Bruce nodded, "Okay...", and so, with Martha guiding the IV pole and such, Thomas and Alfred went to take Selina into the rolling bed as Bruce watched, carrying the catsuit and all, and after relieving minutes of making sure there weren't obstacles, Selina then became comfortable in a guest bedroom, with Bruce working gently to clean the catsuit, fighting back unnecessary thoughts, and putting it into the private wing's dryer, and then went to sleep in the chair besides Selina's bed after changing clothes.
Selina groaned as she slowly started to wake up after what felt like the longest rest she had in so long. Obviously, first thing to hit her was the dull pain in her stomach and also feeling something hooked up to her arm as she slowly started to open her eyes.
She blinked, making out a ceiling, feeling a comfortable bed underneath, seeing light, and glanced to see blinds showing through silvers of daylight on the two windows on the outside side of the room, and then heard sounds of deep breathing.
She glanced over, and a small smile formed as she now remembered everything, including the reveal of Batman, now Bruce Wayne, looking a bit uncomfortable in the chair, but kinda cute in his casual clothes, asleep, with an IV stand nearby.
She whispered, "Bruce...", and she huffed lightly before speaking louder, "Bruce.", giggling softly as Bruce sleepily woke up, "Give me five minutes, Mom...", and Selina replied, "Wrong woman, Bruce.", with a soft smirk as his face snapped over, waking up quickly as his eyes widened in relief, "Selina!", scooting the chair closer, and took her hand gently, "How are you feeling?".