Work Text:
"You alright?"
Alfred's voice snapped Bruce back into reality. "You find the witch?"
"It was Ivy."
Alfred looked down at Bruce's hand and grab it, "What's that?"
Bruce looked down at the small seed in his hand "Ivy said it could help Selina."
"What, you trust her?"
"What choice do I have?" Bruce shot back, his voice raw and sharp.
"Listen, I would help Selina as much as you, but Ivy is a maniacal cold blooded killer, you know that don't ya-"
"Give it to me." they both turn towards the bed to see Selina,
Bruce walked past Alfred to Selina's bedside. "Selina, I have doubts."
Selina rolled her eyes at that "Bruce, I was willing to kill myself yesterday, nothings changed since then so if Ivy wants to kill me, she can have at it."
Bruce swallowed thickly at her words; he hasn't been able to actual sit down and process everything ever since it happened (after he got all the information from the nurse about the 'witch' he called Alfred and after he made sure Selina and him would be alright, he left immediately to go find them.) but actually hearing her say those words 'I tried to kill myself' made his chest burn and left a sour taste in his mouth.
Bruce held out the seed for Selina.
"What do I do, just swallow it?" Selina asked as she tired to push herself up on the bed. "Yeah"
Selina took the seed from Bruce and swallowed it whole. After a seconds of silence, Selina let out a disappoint sigh, "Still here."
After a few seconds she closed her eyes "I know Ivy's lost her mind, but after her Mom and Dad died, she just sleeping on the streets," Bruce sat down on the bed, watching her as she talked as if what she was about to say was the most important thing he could ever hear.
"And it was a cold winter, she started to get really sick so I.....took her under my wing I guess," she said with softness in her voice "and showed her where to get food, where to get a roof over her head, and.....after some time she started to get color in her face."Selina let out a little chuckle. "And I just.....kept on checking in on her. Almost everyday.......she may look old now but she'll always be that little girl to me."
Bruce felt that familiar warmth in his chest as he smiled down at her; the same warmth he felt after she kissed him that night on the rooftop, the same warmth he felt when they had their first date, the same warmth he felt when she came to visit him on his birthday, the same warmth he felt when he first saw her.
Bruce felt the warmth get stronger as he saw her returned his smile, he remembers when he saw her smile, an actual genuine smile.
Her mother just came back into her life; Bruce knows it won't last, he knows why her mothers really here, for money. He also knows that it's going to break Selina when she finds out.
Bruce looks over to her at his side and sees her flash a beautiful, most breathtaking smile he has ever seen, he felt his chest go warm as she looks over at him with that smile; he knows not telling her is wrong, he knows she may hate him when she finds out, but honestly when he looks over and sees that smile he could careless.
'As long as she's happy. That's all that matters.' he thinks to himself as he watches her laugh with her mother. 'That's all that matters.'
Bruce likes to keep that memory close and relive it, he reminds him that Selina is still just kid, she's just a little broken.
Suddenly Selina starts to shake, Bruce jumps forward and places his hand on the side of her face. "Selina?" he can feel his eyes burn as she starts to shake more violently "Selina? Stay with me." Bruce can feel Alfred pulling at the collar of his shirt as the doctor and nurses rush to Selina bedside, Bruce grabs Selina's cold hand as a small attempt to comfort her, but is soon pulled away.
Bruce fights against Alfred more "God, what have I done?" his lungs feel like their on fire, if she- if she dies- he should have listened to Alfred, he should have tried to find another way- he should- he should have-
"Get him out of here." Bruce feels himself being pulled back, he tries to fight back "Let me go-" he needs to be in there- if she- he needs to be there. "Let go." he lungs feel like they're on fire
"Master Bruce- hey listen to me, hey" Alfred is in front of Bruce now; his hands on his shoulders, body blocking the door. "Listen, there's nothing you can do for her right now. The doctor knows what he's doing, she's gonna be fine, ya hear?"
Bruce let Alfred guide him into the small, uncomfortable chair that leaned against the wall.
"She's strong. That one. She will get through this" Alfred sat in the chair next to his and let out a little chuckle "I remember when we first met, she uh she called me the help" Alfred's face soften as he recalls the memory "Always been a feisty one, that one."
after a few seconds of silence Alfred looked over at Bruce "Listen, I know the last few weeks have been hard on you but I just want you to know that this? None of it is your fault. You hear?"
Bruce let out a bitter laugh, "How can you say that?"
"Bruce-" Alfred starts.
"No seriously, look me in the eye and tell me I'm not the reason she's here, tell me it's not my fault she tried to kill herself, or tell me how I couldn't have possibly known the seed was gonna make her sick, or how I need to stop blaming myself for everything" Bruce could feel all the anger and sadness that's been building up the last few days, bubbling up to the surface. "You can't sit there and tell me that, because it's not true and you know it."
Alfred looked at the boy with pity, "Bruce what happened to Selina was not your fault, Jeremiah was the one who pulled the trigger that day, not you."
"The only reason she was there, was because I called her for help" Bruce stood up and looked into the room through that stupid little window and watched as one of the nurses clean off some sweat from a now sedated Selina Kyle's forehead. "Jeremiah may have had the gun but I may as well as been the one who pulled the trigger."
Bruce-" Alfred was interrupted by the doctor coming out of the room, Alfred stood up "How is she?"
"Well, whatever you gave her put her body into shock, her temperatures skyrocketed and her WBC count was off the charts, then 45 minutes ago everything stabilized, I have no idea why. She was still in a lot of pain so we sedated her....she's been sleeping for a while now, I'd think it be best to come back in the morning."
Alfred gave the doctor a polite smile "Thank you, doctor." Alfred looked back at Bruce with sad eyes "Right Master Bruce I think we should uh, we should get some shut eye." Alfred gave his arm a little squeeze "Come on."
Bruce knew better then to fight with Alfred on this, so he forced his feet to move but soon stopped to take one last look at her.
Bruce felt his heart leap into his throat as he saw the empty bed, he ran into the room looking around for any signs of the girl. Bruce looked over to the open window and- no, god no please-
"Bruce?"
Bruce felt relief wash over him as he saw her walk to towards him. "It's a miracle.....how are you feeling?"
"Different." Selina replied, a little dazed, almost as if she was in a trance.
Bruce slowly stepped forward, almost as if he was afraid she could disappear into thin air. "Any pain?"
"No."
"Selina, I thought I killed you."
Selina shook her head, "I'm better. Better then before in fact."
Bruce felt his emotions get the better of him and he wrapped his arms around her waste, he smiles into her neck as she return the hug. He buries his face into her hair and takes a deep breath. For the first time, in a long time Bruce actually feels like everything will okay. Maybe not perfect, but okay.