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He wakes up with a sore throat and his heart pounding hard in his chest.
Bruce has spent years trying to fight his worst instincts, the ones that kept pushing him to go out there and patrol Gotham's streets until the sun came up, instead of having a good night of sleep. He needed to check, be sure that everyone and everything was safe in the city. Crime never slept, and neither did he. Or, at least, that's how things used to be before she came into his life, and with her he just happened to forget sometimes, what a terrible place the world could be.
Memories come rushing back to him, like they've been lost for a time that feels both incredibly short and definitely too long all at once. Memories of him finally being able to sleep, only with her by his side, holding her in his arms wether it was in his bed or on a rooftop, the moonlight shining over them and making her eyes glint behind the mask.
This feels weird and foreign to him, because he remembers closing his eyes and expecting to never open them again. He remembers a young man - or were there two of him? - watching over him as he slowly slipped into unconsciousness. And what a sad and relieving feeling it had been, leaving his lonely life behind. He remembers hoping that maybe he would see Alfred again, and his parents, too. After all, there was nothing left for him, back at the Manor.
But something must have gone wrong, he must have just dreamed about it, because he's right there now, at the Manor. He must have fallen asleep on the couch, and now he finds himself looking around the living room expecting to find it abandoned and wasted, but it's not. It's clean and it looks majestic as it always has, and a brightly lit fireplace roars in front of him, the flames lighting up something on his ring finger.
A golden band. And he doesn't know why he's surprised to find it there, because it feels like he's had it on for years, like it just belongs there. Bruce takes it off and moves closer to the light, reading the word 'Forever' engraved in the shining metal. And something in his mind just clicks.
Forever. Just like in a fairytale.
A key turns in the door, and a familiar voice immediately follows the noise.
"Honey, I'm home." She calls from the hallway, her voice clear and so dear to him, it makes him leap up from the couch and run towards her. He doesn't really know how to explain it, but that simple sentence has the same effect on him as a siren's call.
Selina is standing in the hallway, carefully taking off her black leather jacket to hang it on one of the coat hangers. Her back is turned to him, but his gaze still lingers on everything about her. Her blonde hair has gotten longer over the years, always styled in waves, and he remembers when she asked him if she should've cut it or not, and how she scoffed when he told her that he didn't really know, because she's always beautiful either way.
"Liar", she had muttered to him, before going in for a kiss.
When she turns, the corners of her lips stretch into a smile at the sight of him. She walks over to where Bruce is standing with no hesitation, and he notices a ring matching his on her finger. Because Selina Kyle is his wife, and he remembers the night when he proposed to her, and how she'd waited patiently for him to let the words out of his mouth. That he loved her, and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
Bruce doesn't know what kind of twisted version of reality he's lived in so far, that memory is already fading away, leaving nothing but a feeling of uneasiness inside of him. A reality where Selina had never come back, where they'd never crossed paths again and he'd closed himself off to the world, becoming an empty shell who did nothing but wait for Batman to take over. Until even Batman was no longer enough.
Selina doesn’t fail to notice his thoughtful stare, she never does.
"Are you okay? Did something happen while-", she tries to ask, but Bruce stops her as he pulls her in for a kiss.
"I just missed you." He replies when they finally break apart, not caring if he sounds nonsensical and even a bit sentimental. He's had a taste of his life without her, without their family, and he knows damn well that he doesn't want any of it.
Selina laughs, never leaving his arms. "Bruce, I went to the grocery store for ten minutes.”
He would like to tell her, about the dream, about how it felt a little too real to be pulled out of his universe and directly dropped into another one, without her. But it doesn't really matter, because now she's here. Because he has found his way back to her. "That was a long ten minutes, believe me."
"You’re talking as if we haven’t been married for almost thirty years."
She says those words so casually, but she still cannot hide the grin that crosses her face every time she says it, that she's been married to the man she's spent her entire life loving for almost three whole decades. Bruce decides that it's no use trying to explain, the bad dream is almost gone now, as if Selina's presence is enough to make it unravel faster. He just wants to kiss her again, and he’s about to do so, when someone else shows up.
"You two have been doing that for years, I swear!", another female voice yells from behind them, younger this time. "Aren’t you guys tired?"
Helena has always had a thing for grand entrances, Bruce thinks as his daughter makes her way through the door, carrying two full grocery bags in each hand. She puts them down on the floor for a moment, tucking a few rebel curls behind her ears, while the rest of her blonde locks is safely tied into a high ponytail.
Selina just rolls her eyes, ready to reply to the young girl. "You're being dramatic, kitten."
"I'm not. And please, don't call me that in front of other people."
Bruce detects a hint of nervousism in Helena's voice, like she's worried about someone overhearing her mother using her favorite pet name for her since she was a toddler. Her blue eyes quickly look over the door, but she senses that he's watching her, because she immediately turns her attention back to him.
"Hey, Dad."
"Hi, Princess. Something wrong?", he says when he notices that she's rubbing her sweaty palms against her dark jeans.
Selina lightly elbows him, a knowing smirk on her face as she says, "We bumped into a certain someone at the store. And we asked her to come over for lunch."
At that sentence, Helena's cheeks turn a bright pink and Bruce can't help but remember how years ago Selina would do exactly the same, every time he asked her out on a date, despite them having known each other for a while. There is so much of Selina in their daughter, and he wonders if his wife can see it too, in the way Helena is always passionate and brave and a bit too stubborn, sometimes.
"It's not because of that," the girl replies, in a way that makes it obvious that it’s definitely because of that. "I'm just a bit tired. This city takes a lot from you, you know."
At the subtle reference to her work, not only as one of Gotham's most promising young lawyers, but also as its new protector, Bruce just nods. At the time, he hadn't exactly approved Helena's choice to become this new person, the Huntress. He didn't understand why she would want to put herself in such danger, when he and Selina had done everything, given her everything so that they wouldn't have to worry about her ever experiencing a pain even remotely similar to theirs.
But Helena's sense of justice had got the best of her, and when she put her mind to something, it was almost impossible to make her change it back. The best they can do now is to support their daughter with their experience, resources and training. But that still doesn't make it easier for him to accept the fact that not even Helena can escape the fate of having this double nature living inside of her.
"Hello, everyone."
A new voice snaps him out of his thoughts. A voice that isn't familiar and safe to him as Selina's, but one he's learned to recognize very recently. As soon as the other girl appears, he knows it's her. Her face is fuller and healthier, her eyes brighter, but he knows she is the girl from his dream. The Kryptonian.
"Hi, Kara. Please, come in." Selina waves, gesturing for her to get inside. Kara immediately follows the instructions, bowing her head towards Helena and reserving her a warm smile.
"Hel, thanks again for having me."
If Bruce hadn’t been too busy trying to place together what the hell is happening in his head, why has he dreamed of Kara Danvers, his daughter's friend who lives in National City, fighting alongside him against an alien emperor or something like that, he would have noticed Helena blushing.
"Mrs. Wayne, Mr. Wayne", the brunette greets them and for a moment he bets that she remembers it, too. That weird battle, Batman and two other guys freeing her from a prison in Russia. But she doesn't say anything about it and neither does he.
Silence settles over them for a moment, before Helena finally breaks the ice. "Kara, would you like to see our new kitten? I brought her home yesterday."
Bruce swears that he's never seen his daughter's eyes light up as much as they do when she looks at Kara, and the other girl seems to reciprocate the feeling, because she doesn't hesitate to reply. "I'd really love to."
As the two leave, Selina gently lays her head on his shoulder, a smile playing on her lips. "I wonder who will break down and say 'I love you' first."
"If she's anything like you, Lennie probably will." Bruce comments, enjoying Selina's annoyed expression as she bites back.
"Oh, but I didn't say it first", she tries to keep her composure, acting like this isn't a small argument she wants to win. "You did, my dearest."
"I clearly remember it was you. On New Year's Eve."
"Just because you'd said it the night before."
At this point, they look at each other and they know it doesn't matter who said it first, because they both know how the other really feels.
And now the memories of that other universe are definitely gone, as Bruce stares into Selina's eyes. Because if he's sure of one thing, it's that this moment right here is the reality where he belongs.