Work Text:
“We need to talk.” Selina stated impatiently, after climbing in through Bruce’s window into his bedroom.
“Now?” Bruce asked, sighing.
Bruce currently lay on his bed with his eyes closed. He was mentally exhausted and just wanted to be left alone, but Selina was glaring at him. He could practically feel the tension rolling off her without even looking.
She obviously had something to say.
“Fine.” He replied. After a second or two, he got up off his bed and faced towards Selina, who was still glaring.
“What is it?” He asked.
“Where have you been?”
“Here.”
Selina took a breath,
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“It doesn’t matter what I want you to say. I am trying to be patient, and-and understanding, but we made plans and you bailed again, just like last time, and the time before that! The least you could do is send me a text, or maybe give me a call. Hell, I’d even accept a goddamn carrier pigeon!”
“I was busy.”
“Doing what?”
“Things.”
“Really?” She started sarcastically, “What things?”
“Things…that you wouldn’t understand.”
Selina scoffed at the comment, obviously offended.
“Please enlighten me Bruce,” she teased, more hurt than playful, “Or do you think I’m too poor to understand you and you’re oh so complicated life!”
“Here we go again. You know that’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“I-I” Bruce hesitated
Selina was left with silence.
“I thought so…You know what’s really dumb?” She took a breath, frustrated.
“I liked you, Bruce. I really did and I thought you liked me too. But if you can’t even open up to me about your life or the ‘things’ you do when you’re flaking, how are we ever going to be anything more than just a homeless street rat and a preppy rich kid?”
As she was once again met with silence, Selina turned around, hiding the water welling up in her eyes.
She walked up to the window ledge, but just before she jumped out, she heard a desperate,
“Wait. Selina don’t go!”
She turned her head to face him. He was brewing with emotion.
“You want me to open up to you? Fine!”
She walked back in the room as Bruce finally exploded.
“Selina…I-I love you. Ok there I said it!”
Bruce bursted, making Selina blush despite the circumstances.
“But that doesn’t mean you get to come in here and demand it from me. Yeah okay, I haven’t been the best communicator, but you act like it’s the easiest thing in the world. I admit I’ve been flaky, and I’ve run away from you and avoided you and that may have been wrong of me, but I-I just can’t keep up with everything you expect of me!”
“All I expect is a boyfriend that cares enough to see me!” Selina yelled back.
“I’ve just…been dealing with a lot.”
“And I haven’t?!” Selina shouted, “I literally sleep on the streets, Bruce”
“That’s not fair,” Bruce said, “I offered you a place here on multiple occasions, but you chose to be on the streets! You chose that life, it’s not like I got to choose mine.”
She was so done with this boy. He was so inconsiderate, with the lamest excuses possible. He didn’t even care to properly explain himself to her when he knew that he was the one in the wrong. So, despite her better judgment, she said the one thing she knew would that could shatter Bruce’s walls and release every emotion he'd been hiding from her.
“What could a poor little rich boy like you possibly be dealing with?!”
She knew he hated being called that.
It undermined him and everything he’s ever had to go through in his life—despite being rich—but Selina’s emotions got the better of her.
To her surprise though, she opened up a can of worms she could never put back.
“How about this?!”
He pulled up his sleeve to show Selina his arm. There was a line of old-ish stitches that covered little cuts—almost like cracks in his skin.
“Gerome used a staple gun to lodge staples in my arm. They stayed in there for a good 2 hours before getting treated, which is why the doctors said they would never fully heal.”
“Bruce, I—“
“Or this?!” He interrupted.
Bruce pushed down his turtleneck to show her an array of scars around his neck.
“See these big lines? Galavan tried to strangle me with a whip.”
She glanced down to her own whip that she used as Catwoman. She winced a little as she knew how painful they could be.
Bruce continued, “And all these tiny ones are from the infinite amount of times someone’s held a knife up to my throat.”
Selina was practically speechless.
He kept going around his body showing her his scars and bruises to make Selina understand what he was struggling with.
She always assumed Bruce had some sort of PTSD from everything that’s happened to him, but she never knew how severe it was, or that he carried all of it with him all this time—mentally and physically.
How do you get better when you have these constant reminders that forcibly take you back to when it all happened?
“You wonder why I missed our date tonight?” He finally said.
Bruce showed Selina the freshest wounds he’d gotten. His wrists were practically red, and his skin rough.
She stared at him surprised. She didn’t even notice these when she climbed in.
"I didn't call because my phone's gone. Probably ditched in some shady alleyway, or warehouse dumpster. Just like the phone before that, and all the others you've tried to reach."
She examined his bruised wrists as he held them out to her. They were some pretty deep cuts in them that worried her.
“Bruce, these look serious, why didn’t you get these wrapped?”
“I refused.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Would it even change anything? I’ll just get kidnapped again anyway."
"Bruce-" she tried to counter before getting abruptly interrupted.
"Ever since my parents died, I’ve been living with this giant target on my back. I’ve been kidnapped and held hostage. I nearly died who know how many times and I…I”
Bruce was slightly shaking at this point.
“What is it?” Selina asked, worry and sympathy all over her face.
“I almost killed someone!”
He continued, eyes watery, “I feel like I have to walk on eggshells around everyone because there’s at least one thing that I learned from Silvie and I’ll never forget it: anyone can be a threat and everyone has the ability to betray you, no matter how much they may or may not care about you.”
Bruce fully lost it, tears streaming down his face as his legs buckled underneath him and he fell to his knees.
Selina immediately bent down in front of him, planting the most comforting hug she could muster up. She was very inexperienced with such things, but it was the only thing she could do.
They stayed there for a while. Bruce practically soaked Selina’s shirt with the tears he’s been keeping locked away as she held him in her arms.
As he settled down a bit, Selina left to get a first aid kit. She’d been to the mansion so many times that she knew exactly where to go (and how to avoid Alfred while doing it). She came back into the room after a few short minutes.
“Selina?”
“Yeah, Bruce.”
She said as she started applying bandages to his wrists.
“I’m sorry.”
“No I’m the one who’s sorry. All this time, and I had no idea what you were going through. And I just kept putting more and more pressure on you to tell me everything and I—“
“Selina.” He interrupted. “It’s okay. I should’ve been able to share things with you.”
“But why didn’t you? I understand things can be difficult to talk about but you didn’t have to avoid me or lie about it.”
“I…I didn’t want you to get involved or somehow suffer because of me…it just seemed like the less you knew about it, the more separated you were from all the maniacs and psychos who are out to get me.”
“You do know I was born and raised in this city right?” She mused, “I know every street corner, every cop—kind and corrupt—every bad guy, every crazy out there, every threat. Nothing is going to happen to me Bruce. You don’t need to worry about that, ever.”
She made sure that if he took away nothing from tonight, he’d at least understand that.
“I guess I also just didn’t want you to see me like this either. I didn’t want you worry about me because the truth is: I’m not perfect or invincible Selina, and neither is my life.”
“And that’s okay. You never needed to be, at least not for me because Bruce, for what it’s worth,” she looked deep into his sweet, brown eyes,
”I love you too.”
Bruce broke out into a huge smile as he looked back into her beautiful eyes.
They were so close now and at this point, neither of them could stop themselves from coming in to a glorious kiss.
———
Throughout the night, Bruce continued to open up about all the pain, trauma, and PTSD he carried with him from every brush of death he’d ever encountered, including his parents’, almost his butler’s, and his very own. They talked and talked till the late hours of the night, or I guess morning.
———
That morning, Alfred walked through the halls of the Wayne Manor, carrying a tray of breakfast. He made it to Bruce’s room and knocked,
“Master Bruce, time to wake up.”
There was no answer, which was unusual given that Master Bruce had usually been up by this time, practically waiting for Alfred to knock every morning for the past few weeks.
Of course, Alfred had noticed some unusual behavior from Master Bruce recently, and sometimes he wondered whether he was up early or if he stayed up late, especially with all that he’s been through. His mother had insomnia and Alfred often wondered if Bruce inherited that trait.
Then again, maybe it was the awful evening Master Bruce had just yesterday with sadly another attempt on his life.
The wounds on his wrists kept reopening with every kidnapping and Alfred started to grow worried when Master Bruce refused to put on bandages yesterday.
After a few more quieter knocks in case Master Bruce was still sleeping, Alfred crept the door open just a smidge.
He was horrifyingly surprised to see the bed empty.
He immediately opened the door fully in a panic, but then calmed down as he saw the sight of Master Bruce and Selina fast asleep on the floor, leaning on the rim of the front side of the bed.
Selina’s head was on his shoulder and his head was on hers. They’re fingers were intertwined together as they held each other’s hands.
It would’ve been a much more pleasant sight to see if Alfred actually liked Selina, but still, he couldn’t deny how at ease Master Bruce seemed compared to how he’s been the last few weeks without her.
He took notice of the bandages from the first aid kit that somehow found their way onto Bruce’s wrists.
A surprise smile broke out across his face as he looked towards Selina.
“Maybe i was wrong about you.” He quietly said to himself looking at Selina.
He then carefully and quietly set down the tray of breakfast on the table and exited the room.
He closed the door behind him and stood in the hallway crossing his arms for a second.
Even if it wasn’t him, he was relieved that at least someone could finally help Master Bruce help himself.