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She follows him everywhere he goes. Not always, of course, that would be weird and she has her own life after all, but it’s more times than she’d like to.
Sometimes she just watches him, as he wanders through Gotham Plaza, probably headed to Wayne Tech or just taking a walk around to clear his mind. She keeps her distance and observes him, careful not to be caught, but he never notices her. How could he? Her sunglasses make it impossible to see her eyes and now she keeps her jet-black hair straight and loose on her shoulders. He could never recognize her.
There have been nights when she’s felt particularly bold, and so she’s followed the Bat, too. It’s more risky, she knows, because just like her, he swings from one rooftop to another and, just like her, he’s a part of the night. Catwoman knows he can sense her, she sees it in the way he stops and carefully listens to the soundless air around them. But every time he turns around to where she is hiding, she’s already gone.
Selina knows it’s wrong, she knows she should just let him go, for their own good, but she can’t. When she looks at him, she still feels that familiar warmth, the one she felt during Christmas time all those years ago, when he’d been the only good thing in her life after she’d lost everything. At the time, Bruce had been the only thing that made sense in her wretched mind and, after so long, he still is.
She has been a thief for a long time now, almost two years. That’s enough for her to know that there are some things that just aren’t meant to belong to her. No matter how much she wants them to be, they just aren’t worth the pain. Bruce Wayne’s heart is one of those things. Yet, as she glances at him from across the street, Selina can’t help but think about how desperately she wants him, all of him, to be hers.
Bruce still thinks about her, he thinks about her all the time. He knows about Catwoman’s little ventures outside of Gotham, about her successful career -if it can ever be called that- as a cat burglar and the number one threat to most ceos and hedge fund types. He has a complete dossier on her and, when the crime fighting allows him to take a break, he just reads every article about this skilled jewel thief over and over again, wondering where she is now. Wondering how she is now.
Alfred says he should just move on, even if it hurts, and Bruce knows he’s right. Chasing Selina after all this time just feels like trying to catch a shadow and he’s doesn't want to keep deluding himself into believing that someday he’ll see her again. But letting go of her would mean letting go of another person he loves, and he’s tired of losing everyone.
He lost his parents. He lost Vicki. Someday he’ll lose Alfred, too. Bruce doesn’t know if he can stand the thought of losing Selina forever, as well.
It’s Christmas time in Gotham City. Everyone is spending the most beautiful time of the year with their loved ones, unwrapping presents and singing happy songs, but not Bruce Wayne.
He stands in front of his parents’ graveyards, then takes a step closer and places one red rose in front of each tombstone. The cemetery is desert and while the snow falls gracefully all around him, he silently tells them that he’s doing his best to protect Gotham, but he still can’t save everyone. He couldn’t even save Selina from herself.
She watches the scene from afar, knowing damn well that she’s just asking to be caught at this point, because there is no one else but them in the whole cemetery. But it’s fine because if he doesn’t turn around, he won’t see her and he will never know that she was there.
Too late, he turns and his eyes lock with hers, still safely hidden behind her black sunglasses. Her first instinct is to run away, but she knows he will just run after her. And she’s so tired of running.
“Selina?”, he asks, eyeing her suspiciously as he reaches the place where she is standing. Selina Kyle is a speck of black against the white snow covered ground, but he knows it's her, and his heart starts beating faster.
She doesn’t reply, just takes the sunglasses off and allows him to take in everything about her that has changed. He lifts an eyebrow while observing her raven hair and she fights the urge to smirk. Yeah, she definitely wants to go back to blonde.
“You’re back.” He takes another tentative step towards her, almost afraid that she will disappear if he gets closer.
Selina smiles, overwhelmed with the way he looks at her, as if he’s been waiting his whole life for this moment. Truth is, she’s waited for it everyday too, ever since she left.
“Did you miss me?”, she asks playfully, but Bruce can recognise a worried edge in her voice.
He knows there’s no point in lying anymore, not when he’s spent more nights than he can keep count of reminiscing all of the moments he’s spent with Selina, just waiting for her to come back.
“Yes”, he confesses.
After he says that small, simple word, Selina’s face lights up in joy. She had always loved how honest he was, at least with her, never making a mystery of how much she meant to him. Of how much she still means to him.
Bruce just waits, lost in the way she smiles at him. That beautiful, elusive smile he thinks about so often when he closes his eyes. He holds his breath when she steps closer and closer, making it hard for him to keep thinking straight.
“The feeling is mutual”, she whispers.
When she brings her mouth to his, it’s unexpected, even if it shouldn’t be. He wastes no time and kisses her back, his right hand finding its way into her hair, while the other gently strokes her cheek. He doesn’t just need to kiss her, but to touch her, to make sure she’s real and not just another dream that is going to fade away as soon as he wakes up. Selina grabs the hems of his jacket and pulls him closer, her heart hammering furiously in her chest. She is definitely real.
She’s the first to pull away, when the need for air becomes too strong. She gazes at Bruce, stretching her lips into a proud grin when she notices that he’s breathless as well.
“You’re cute when you’re flushed”, she teases him.
He smiles against her lips and then kisses her again. She melts against him and in this moment, Selina is finally sure of one thing. He may not be hers, but he’s worth all the pain in this world.
“I was wondering if that offer is still valid”, she manages to let out when they break apart again.
“Yes, of course”, he nods, gently brushing their noses together, impatient to shut her up with another kiss. Then, he makes a small pause before adding, “What offer, exactly?”
“I recall a certain Mr. Bat asking me to go home with him, a couple of years ago. I wasn’t exactly in my best form at the time and he was such a good guy, you see”, she doesn’t look at him while she says this, scared that those memories will somehow cancel everything that just happened between them.
“He could be a bit rough, at times. But he was always good to me. I was afraid I would ruin his life if I said yes.”
That is just one of the many reasons why she’d been so determined to end it there between them at the time, but Bruce doesn’t push her to say more, and Selina is grateful for that.
“I think you would’ve made him the happiest man in the world”, he reassures her, lifting her chin up to meet her ocean blue eyes. There, he sees it, a small spark of hope that he knows all too well, because her expression is a mirror of his own.
“Maybe it’s not too late, then.”
Her voice breaks a little and he is silent for a moment, taking in what she is asking from him, unsure of what to say. Truth is, he’s afraid. Bruce doesn’t admit it, he never would, he’s Batman after all, but in his heart he knows there is fear. Fear that if he lets her in, she’ll run away again, like she always does, and he doesn’t know if he can endure that one more time. However, he cannot deny them another chance, especially when they never really had one in the first place.
“No, it’s not”, he gently tugs a rebel strand of hair behind her ear, then lets his hand reach for hers, their fingers entwining. “Let’s go home.”
No promises, Selina silently tells him as she holds his hand. Because promises mean certainty, they mean living up to someone’s expectations, and she doesn’t want that, because if she fails her heart won’t be the only one to break.
Still, for the first time in so long, she feels whole again. And when Bruce circles her waist with his arm, holding her closer, Selina knows she is finally home.