Just Breathe

Epilogue

4 months later...

An elbow to the solar plexus was not the ideal way to wake up in the morning.

Especially after only a few hours sleep.

And especially when said plexus was already sore from an encounter with a baseball bat-wielding thief the night before.

Bruce groaned and rolled onto his back, rubbing the bruised area below his chest. He glanced over at Beth in concern, knowing what he would find.

She was having a nightmare.

Her hairline was damp with sweat, and deep lines creased her forehead. Her arms and legs jerked as if she was trying to escape from something.

It was a familiar sight - she'd been cursed with nightmares since her kidnapping. But they'd been getting less frequent over the past few months, and this was the first one in a while.

He rolled back towards her, and stroked her hair. "Beth," he murmured into her ear. "Wake up, sweetheart. Its just a dream."

He kept up the litany of soothing words as he ran his hand up and down her arm, the strong caress meant to ground her in reality, instead of whatever scene was playing in her mind.

Eventually, it worked.

With a gasp, she woke. She blinked up at the ceiling for a few moments, before turning to face him. Seeing that he was wide awake, she sighed. "I woke you up. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Do you want to talk about it."

She rolled on to her side and snuggled against his chest. He rubbed her back through the t-shirt she wore to bed. His t-shirt. She still liked to wear his clothes - and he still loved seeing her in them. "Its the same as usual," she replied. "I'm in the lab. Trapped and alone."

She'd described it before as an amalgamation of her childhood nightmare with added details from her kidnapping. "Do you, um, need to talk to someone? Professionally, I mean?" he asked cautiously.

She peered up at him. "Is Bruce Wayne recommending therapy?"

He rolled her eyes at her teasing. "I'm just worried about you."

She scooted further up the bed until they were eye-to-eye on his pillow. "I'm fine. I've been dealing with nightmares my whole life. They usually just flare up when I'm anxious about something."

"What are you anxious about?"

She raised her eyebrows. "You have to ask?"

He rolled his eyes. "You're over-reacting."

"That's easy for you to say."

He opened his mouth to respond but was cut-off by the sound of her alarm clock blaring.

"Shit!" she yelled. She sprang away from him to shut off the noise and he chuckled into the sudden silence, looking forward to the upcoming chaos that was Beth in the morning.

Four months of being a couple had taught him a lot about Beth Carraway. One of the things he'd learned was that she liked to sleep - a lot. She always set her alarm to give her the absolute longest time possible in bed. Which meant she only gave herself just enough time to get ready for work...and there was no slack in her routine.

No time for a leisurely breakfast or to catch up on the daily news. No time to hit the snooze button and indulge in some morning kisses...

And definitely no time to continue their conversation about tonight.

Instead, Beth jump out of bed and raced for the shower, the water coming on moments later.

Bruce loved their routine, despite the havoc of their mornings. Beth had shifted her hours at work which allowed her to finish by late afternoon. She would come straight to Wayne Tower, where he'd be prepping for his night as Batman. They would eat dinner, and spend several hours together, before he left to patrol the city. She would go to bed, and he'd crawl in beside her in the early hours.