The Bat and The Cat

Part 38-Kiss me

"We need to leave Gotham," Selina announced after they'd gotten home from the party.

"What?" Tommy asked confused as he undid his tie.

"We need to leave. You see what happened to Bruce. It's not safe."

"Bruce is fine."

"Bruce is recovering from a gunshot wound."

"The keyword there being recovering," he pointed out.

Selina shook her hear. "This place is bad for us. How can you not see that?"

"Oh, I don't know, Selina. Is it the place or is it us?" Tommy's usual calmness was giving way to anger and frustration.

"Maybe it is us. I don't know. All I know is that I want to leave."

"What did Bruce tell you?" he asked all of a sudden.

Selina was taken aback by that. "What do you mean?"

"It's just every time you see this 'old friend' of yours, you want to leave," he accused. "Are you running away from something?"

YES! Selina wanted to shout. Yes, she was running away from her past, from stealing, from going hungry, from feeling alone, from this city that never felt like her home. But she didn't say anything and he interpreted that wrongly.

"What is it between the two of you?" he asked, hurt and pained.

"What?" Selina asked. She could feel the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes but she wouldn't cry. Was it her pride that he had hurt or her feelings? She didn't know. But whichever one it was, it stung like all hell.

"Are you in any way involved with Bruce Wayne?" he asked slowly, meticulously, as if operating on a patient.

Selina's heart sunk in her chest and the back of her eyes were stinging with unshed tears. She felt a lump rise in her throat as she looked upon Tommy's face and saw his eyes silently pleading with her to tell him no; to deny all allegations of an affair between her and Bruce. She moved her thumb on the inside of her palm and felt the coolness of her engagement ring and knew, then and there, that this was the only way to get Tommy to leave. The only way to protect him was for her to break his heart. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and bit hard into her lower lip. She forced herself to pull that engagement ring off her finger even as she heard his broken whispers. She thought he was only repeating one word, no, over and over again. But even so, she placed the ring on the table before him and walked out of his life without another word. After all, there was nothing left to say.

She didn't know where else to go and before she knew it, she found herself on the front steps of Wayne Manor. To her surprise, Bruce was the one to open the door.

"Selina?" Bruce asked surprised to find her on his doorstep only hours after she had left.

"Can I come in?" she asked.

Bruce stepped aside and motioned for her to go in. "Why are you here?" he asked closing the door.

Selina looked away. "I need somewhere to stay..."

Bruce put his hands in his pockets and watched her. Of course, she could stay. She could stay here for a lifetime if she wanted to. What Bruce was trying to determine was whether or not she wanted him to ask why. Or at least to ask if she's okay. "I'll ask Alfred to prepare your old room," he eventually said. "You should go have a nice bath until he's finished and I'll see you in the morning."

Selina met his eyes briefly. "Thank you."

*
Selina woke up in Bruce's room, well, one of Bruce's rooms, and she panicked for a moment. She thought all of the last three years had been a dream. But then reality slowly settled in and she realised that, as always, she had to live with her mistakes. How ironic, she was always trying to run from the past and it always caught up with her. She leaned back against the pillows and sighed. But all she could smell around her was Bruce. Not really his scent, but the familiarity of him, of all of this. She needed to get out of this bed.
She got up and put on the satin robe laid out for her. Oh, she had missed Alfred. She could smell his cooking now, wafting through the house and she made her way to the kitchen. As she was coming down the stairs she saw Bruce climbing up, a newspaper in his hand.

"Morning," he said and did little to hide his smile.

"Morning," she said, her voice small.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked as they kept walking towards each other but something else caught her attention.

She could hear Alfred opening the front door and then the familiar voice, Tommy. He had come to look for her here and here she was, in Bruce Wayne's house, dressed in a stain robe and with him smiling up at her. She hurried down the last few steps that would bring her on the same level as Bruce. She could hear the commotion in the hall as she made her way. Tommy wasn't waiting for Alfred. He would probably barge through any second. Before Bruce could react to any of the noise coming from the corridor she leaned closer and said: "Kiss me."

Bruce's pupils dilated, his mouth fell open. He looked at her confused and surprised, but, involuntarily, his gaze fell to her lips.

From the corner of her eye, Selina could see Tommy walking into the room. She leaned in and whispered in Bruce's ear. "Please...kiss me."

Bruce had heard Tommy walking in and even before that, he had seen right through Selina's little play; however, he had to admit that he didn't care. He wanted to kiss her, so when her hot breath tickled his ear, he moved his hand to the back of her head and brought their mouths together.

Although Selina had asked him for this, she was surprised for a moment. Her eyes fluttered close but not before she could see the hurt on Tommy's face. She felt like pulling away. The guilt was gnawing at her soul; but then there was Bruce, and the softness of his lips against hers, and the steadiness of his chest on which her palms were resting. Before she realised it, she'd leaned in and deepened the kiss. He cupped the other side of her face with his hand and his thumb stroked her cheek gently. She sighed inside his mouth. And then she felt more guilty. She opened her eyes again but Tommy was gone.

Bruce had to force himself to pull away when he felt her go stiff in his arms. He fought hard the overwhelming urge to remind her that he was the one kissing her, to remind her body of him. To remind her heart...what? That she might have loved him once, a lifetime ago?The cold truth of that realisation made him pull away. With his hand still on her face, he moved her head so that she would look at him. She didn't say anything. Because, for the life of her, she didn't know what to say. She looked away.
Bruce sighed. He let go of her face and his hand fell awkwardly to his side. He moved past her and went up the stairs.

"I'm not gonna be playing games again with you this time, Selina," she heard him say and realised she could indeed feel more awful than she already felt.