Gotham's daughter

Bruce's Lie

Bruce rarely lied to Alfred, but he had to this time.

He was away from Gotham and had told the butler that he would be running Wayne Enterprises business. In fact, he didn't even need to lie, but he was embarrassed to tell the butler that, with so many important things to do, he was going to leave everything behind to search for the whereabouts of his teenage love.

It had been six months since Bruce had returned to the rebuilt Gotham, six months since he'd seen all the people, he'd left behind ten years ago. All except one. Selina Kyle was not in Gotham. The "Cat" had evaporated from the city, not even Gordon knew what had happened to her. Selina had disappeared from Gotham almost ten years ago and left no trace.

Barbara Kean declined to speak, but after striking a few million-dollar deals between Wayne Enterprises and his construction company, she gave Bruce a single lead:

"Go to Metropolis".

Well, that, at least, had shrunk the search area a lot.

Bruce had no idea what made Selina leave for Metropolis, a city almost as crazy and dangerous as Gotham. But he needed to find out, he needed to know how she was doing and, something he refused to say even to himself, he needed to know if she had forgiven him for leaving.

He had arrived in Metropolis that morning, it was late at night and Bruce had almost given up hope of finding Selina. After looking for her in the city's official records and finding nothing, and after searching the underworld of ghettos and bars where if anyone knew something they didn't want to tell him, he dared to look for her in obituaries and hospitals.

And that's how he found her. To his immense relief, she wasn't listed in any city obituaries, but to his anguish, she wasn't doing well.

That night, Bruce found Selina and discovered that the girl, who was now a woman, was once again trapped in a hospital bed.

And when he walked into the rickety room of the Metropolis Charitable Hospital, Bruce had to do more than usual to hide his emotions, something he did very well. His spine froze as it rarely had in his adult life, an unusual nervousness gripped him. He slowly approached the bed where Selina lay. The "Cat" was there, and even in that situation, she was even more beautiful than he remembered.

"Selina..." he stammered as he gently touched the woman's pale face. He had a lot to say, but it was no use now, because even though she was as close as she had been in ten years, she had never been this far.

Long moments passed when Bruce, contemplative, remained beside Selina's bed.

There were light knocks on the open door that brought him out of his state of contemplation so deep that he didn't even notice the presence of another person in the room, another thing he did very well.

Bruce looked towards the door and saw the figure of a young man. A big man with neat hair, glasses, and a jacket.

"Good night," the man said softly as he entered. The nurse told me she had visitors. "I was surprised, no one had come to see her until now."

"You came" Bruce spoke hostile addressing the man.

"Oh, it's not what you're thinking." The man hastened to say. "I'm just a friend, maybe not even that, an acquaintance. Clark Kent." He said extending his hand to greet Bruce.

"Bruce Wayne." He replied squeezing his hand.

"Wayne? From Wayne Enterprises?"

"Yes." Bruce spoke dryly. "Where do you know Selina from?" He asked bluntly.

"She was an informant."

"You are cop?"

"Journalist." the man replied, and Bruce reconsidered if he had done the right thing to identify himself. "Oh, don't worry, I'll be discreet about your presence here." he continued as if reading Bruce's thoughts. "Especially if he came to help Selina. She needs it more than ever."