Just Breathe

Chapter 9

Bruce adjusted the focus on the binoculars as Beth walked into view.

He'd reverted to spying again.

It was his only option. He needed to make sure she was safe, but he couldn't keep spending time with her. He was getting in too deep. The panic he'd felt last week at the thought of something happening to her proved it.

He'd vowed after his parents' deaths that he'd never get close to anyone again. He would spare himself from the crippling fear and pain that came from that kind of loss.

Yet it kept happening. First with Selina, and now with Beth.

Alfred thought it was inevitable - they'd fought about it earlier that night.

"Bruce, human beings are social animals. We're not made to live in isolation. You're not made that way. You were always such a sensitive boy, with so much empathy...its not healthy for you to shut yourself away from people."

"I told you last year in the hospital - what I went through, with my parents...I can't go through anything like that again. I can't."

"So what's your plan? You're never going to see this woman again? And just hope the feelings you have for her disappear. Haven't you heard that 'absence makes the heart grow fonder'?"

"It's not like that. We're just friends."

"Keep telling yourself that. You need her in your life, Bruce. I've seen the effect she's had on you."

"I don't need anyone-"

"Yes, you do! You can't keep going on like this! Spending every waking minute obsessed with this city and trying to right all of its wrongs. When are you going to live your life? Find some happiness for yourself? Do you think your parents would have wanted you-"

"Enough, Alfred!" Bringing up his parents had been the last straw. Bruce had grabbed his gear, hopped on his bike and taken off.

And ended up here, lying on the roof across from Beth's apartment, watching her write something at the small desk in the corner of her living room.

Alfred was wrong.

He could get over this...attachment...he had to Beth. He could master his feelings and detach himself from them.

He'd turned his phobia of bats into a symbol that now terrorised others. He'd conquered his fear of his own mortality. He'd honed his body and his skills over months and years of hard work.

He could do this too.

He just needed some space. When he was around her, it was too easy to forget the risks. With her bright smiles and her hopeful optimism, she made it seem as if nothing bad could ever happen. That the world wasn't a brutal and destructive place, and that he could let down his guard against heartache.

But when he was away from her...when he was immersed in the underworld of Gotham, where pain and loss were constants, the price of such a relationship seemed far too high.

So, he just needed more distance. His feelings for her would fade. And then he could continue his mission with no distractions, his heart safely stowed away, not at risk of being damaged again.

With that thought, he re-focused on his task tonight. He scanned the streets below, checking for any suspicious vehicles, and scoped out the rooftops surrounding her building.

There was nothing and no one.

Beth moved within her apartment, catching his eye. She'd finished whatever she was writing and now approached the window across from him. She fixed the A3 sheet of paper to the glass, and he zoomed in on the words printed in thick black lettering: