They looked like two teenagers.
They had just parked in the cave. They were alone in a car in the dark and couldn't keep their hands off each other.
After parking, Bruce leaned over Selina and kissed her like he'd never done it before. As if he'd wanted to kiss her for a long time and only now had. Selina responded in the same way, hugged him, and grabbed the back of his head, she felt the same urge to kiss him, to have him next to her, on her body, between her legs...
Bat's vehicle was phenomenal, but it was also cramped and uncomfortable. The two didn't seem to care, they had so much stored desire, they were so light and carefree, nothing could stop them at that moment.
Or almost nothing.
The cave lights were turned on and the bright light from a spotlight on the car dazzled Bruce's vision.
"But... what?" he asked shielding his eyes with his hand.
Selina sighed dissatisfied as Bruce walked away and got out of the vehicle. With no alternative, she got up and followed him.
"Alfred?" Bruce called already outside the car. "Turn off the spotlight, please. We already know you are there..." He said looking at the armchair that was in front of the big computer.
The command was heeded, and the spotlights were turned off, the normal cave lighting was turned on. After the lighting change, the chair in front of the computer swiveled, and its occupant faced them.
It wasn't Alfred. It was someone too small for the high-backed chair.
"Helena!" Selina said running to the girl.
"You guys came back!" The girl opened a smile when her mother approached her.
"Of course, we're back, kitten." Selina crouched down and hugged her daughter.
"I thought they had abandoned me..." The girl said when Selina released her, but she wasn't talking to her mother, she was staring at her father.
"We would never do that, princess." Bruce said also crouching down to face the girl.
"So, where were you?" She looked at her parents, both were crouching next to her.
"We went to face the bad man, kitten." Selina revealed, she felt that her daughter deserved the truth.
"Did you defeat him?" she asked expectantly.
"You father defeated him." Selina said to the girl, staring at Bruce as he spoke. "He saved us from the evil man."
"Of course, you were going to beat him, Dad." Helena opened a smile for Bruce. "You're Batman!"
Bruce and Selina jumped.
"Helena, we need to talk about this..." Bruce began, worried. Unable to deny the girl, since he wore the bat suit.
"Don't worry, Dad. Alfred has already explained everything to me." the girl said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"He explained?" Bruce asked surprised.
"Yes, after I discovered the cave, the bat suits... And, of course, after I saw you go out dressed as a bat in that car... " She pointed at the Batmobile and then approached her father. "I know it's a secret, Dad. I won't tell anyone." the girl said winking at Bruce.
He looked gratefully at his daughter. She always surprised him, and few people were capable of that feat.
"I must admit that this is a picturesque scene, to say the least." the couple and the girl looked at the butler who had just entered the cave. "Miss Selina, you are going to catch a cold. You are in an inappropriate condition, miss."
Bruce got up and helped Selina to do the same. She was still in her tank top and panties, her lip was purple where Luthor had punched her, and her hair was a tangled, misshapen mass.
"Come with me, Miss Helena." the butler called. "Your parents need to rest. Tomorrow, they will tell you any details of this strange adventure. You will get used to it."
Helena looked at her parents and read in their eyes that this was not the time to antagonize the butler. The girl went to Alfred who took his hand.
"As for you, master Bruce and Miss Selina," the butler continued as he walked away with the girl. "I'll serve supper in fifteen minutes; it is good that you are presentable until then. This family needs some standard of normalcy, God help us."
Selina and Bruce looked at each other, accomplices. When the butler disappeared in the cave elevator with Helena, they were drawn together like magnet and metal. Bruce lifted Selina up and sat her on the bench in front of the computer. She crossed her legs around the bat's hips. They kissed again like teenagers.
Alfred had to wait more than fifteen minutes.
***
The next day, the young parents told Helena the whole truth about Luthor. Bruce told the girl that a sorceress had made Luthor forget about her and Selina forever. The girl was overjoyed with the outcome, said she had already read about oblivion potions in her wizarding storybooks, and made Bruce promise that he would introduce her to Zatanna.
In the days that followed, the weather became less frosty, Alfred's roses bloomed in the garden, and soon spring arrived.
Without Luthor's pursuit, Selina and Helena were free from the walls of Wayne Manor but remained there by choice.
And a whole new world of possibilities emerged.
Selina had gone back to wearing her beautiful engagement ring. She and Bruce went out to restaurants, parties, and other social events. In public, he still wore his carefree playboy persona and Selina adopted a character, a chic, dumb socialite. She made a point of looking like the social climber they thought she was.
Bruce took Selina to museums and art galleries. He discovered that the cat had come to appreciate these places over the years, and not just with the intention of stealing them. The two had pleasant afternoons appreciating historic monuments and artwork. Bruce always interested in the technical and historical details; Selina was always interested in the beauty of the works, how they made her feel and, of course, how much they should be worth.
The young couple had many plans. They were going to enroll Helena in a school near the mansion and Selina was researching a good art history course at the nearby universities. Bruce discovered that Selina had become fascinated by France and intended to take her to Paris in the summer for their honeymoon.
But for them to have their honeymoon, they needed to set a wedding date and Bruce already had a plan for that too.
***
It was midday on a pleasant spring Sunday and the young couple accompanied by their daughter were in the heated pool at the top of Wayne Tower. There was a restaurant, and it was full for brunch.
Helena was playing in the pool, the little girl looks beautiful in her purple bathing suit with black details that she had chosen herself, much to Alfred's dismay. The girl looked like a little fish and anyone who saw her had no idea that her father had taught her to swim a few weeks ago.
Selina was lying on a lounge chair by the pool, wearing a summer hat, sunglasses, and a tiny black thong-style bikini. She was chatting with a woman on the lounge chair beside her, the woman wore a more discreet blue bathing suit, but she was just as beautiful as Bruce Wayne's fiancée.
Lois had come with Clark to visit them. Although her relationship with her journalist friend was still platonic, she appreciated the friendship of the Gotham couple, and agreed to accompany him when she learned of Bruce's invitation.
"I'm grateful you didn't tell the guys about my plan to go to Luthor..." Selina spoke to Lois after telling her details about the confrontation they had with the Metropolis billionaire.
"I didn't tell you why you asked for secrecy, but I confess I would have felt guilty if Luthor had done something to you." Lois said thoughtfully while drinking a mimosa. "But you had the right to try to work things out yourself, without the guys getting involved. It was your revenge, after all..."
"But in the end, they got involved, and that's why it worked. I'm a disaster for feminism." Selina laughed, tasting her cosmopolitan.
"Sometimes we need to recognize that we need help. That doesn't make us any less strong, or less independent." Lois philosophized while looking at Clark who was talking to Bruce at a table in the restaurant, at the other end. "Sometimes it's nice to have someone who catches you in the air..."
"Still sighing for the handsome guy who wears his underwear over his clothes?" Selina scoffed. "Wake up, girl! Who you really need is not there in heaven, it could be right in front of you..."
"Who knows?" Lois said thoughtfully, still looking at Clark in the distance.
***
Half an hour later, when Helena already had her fingers wrinkled by the water in the pool, but before Selina had drunk too many cosmopolitans, Bruce managed to take the two of them to the restaurant to enjoy brunch with the couple of friends from Metropolis.
Helena had sat next to Clark, whom the girl came to call her godfather, after developing an affectionate relationship in recent months. She told the journalist about her everyday facts and about the latest things he had been studying.
Selina was already drinking a few more cosmopolitans, taking advantage of Bruce being distracted talking to Lois about international politics.
It was a nice, quiet meal. They had already finished brunch when Selina left the table with Helena to take the girl to the bathroom. The two left the table and Bruce remained talking to Lois. Clark then excused himself and left the table as well. The journalist returned a few minutes later, looking irritated.
" Did something happen?" Lois asked before her friend's unusually annoyed face.
"There was a paparazzi at the other table." Clark explained seriously. "He was following Selina and Helena, but I stopped him and kicked him out of here."
"He was very lucky you stopped him." Bruce mentioned carefree. "He would be in danger if Selina saw him..."
"I don't know how you can handle it..." Lois observed to the young billionaire. "It must be weird to be watched all the time..."
"The secret is to give them what they want. " Bruce explained to Lois, keeping the carefree playboy character. "They must be thinking you two are interviewing us. They're in an uproar today, why did I give them this..."
Bruce showed Lois his cell phone screen, there was a news item from the Gotham Globe. There was huge picture of him next to Selina, Helena between the two, they were incredibly beautiful. The following headline was over the photo in bold letters:
The perfect family: Bruce Wayne announces marriage.
Lois smiled in awe, and she wasn't a woman to be impressed easily.
Bruce Wayne knew how to win a front page.
***
Bruce untied his tie after returning from Helena's room. It was late afternoon and he had put the girl to bed. After playing all day in the pool, the girl fell asleep on her way back to the mansion.
Selina found herself the same way. She dozed in bed, too sleepy after all the cosmopolitans she'd had during the day, she didn't mind the yellow rays of the sunset that streaked her face and cast a golden hue to her hair.
Bruce found the whole scene funny, his two girls sleepy after having fun all day. He laughed to himself, enjoying all the peace he felt that late afternoon.
He looked out the big window across from the bed. The sky was golden with the rays of the sun that disappeared in the horizon. He remembered the ad he'd put in the papers that day. Now everyone knew. Now they had a date. It was official. His family was official. He felt that a small part of him had been rescued.
He thought about his parents and how he wanted them to see him at that moment. He smothered the bad feelings that wanted to get out of the box and looked at Selina who now had her eyes open and was looking at him.
"Come here." She muttered sleepily raising her hand towards him.
He took off his jacket and shirt before lying down beside her and hugging her.
"It was a great day..." Selina said with her eyes closed, pressing her body against Bruce's. "But it was weird that you invited Kent for a Brunch... What got into you? You're not that kind of friend..."
"His parents were having trouble paying the mortgage on the farm... the bank was going to execute it." Bruce said allowing himself to close his eyes, while he breathed in the scent of Selina's hair.
"Did he ask for help? Not his type. He's too honest."
"No, Clark would never do that... So, I called him today..."
"To say you paid off the mortgage..." Selina interrupted him. "That's just like you." she laughed.
"No, they still owe the bank their mortgage..."
"Then why did you call Clark." Selina opened her eyes and turned around looking accusingly at Bruce.
"I called him to say I bought the bank."
Selina laughed out loud.
"You are unbelievable, Wayne.
"You know what's unbelievable, Kyle?" He asked supporting his body over hers. "That lewd bikini you were wearing today..."
She laughed out loud again.
"Really. Do you know what this does to me?" he said leaving a trail of kisses on Selina's jaw. "I'll tell you a story... Once upon a time there was an introverted boy who fell in love with a tough girl," he said now kissing her on his lap. "So, they grew up and the boy doesn't know how to deal with the big hot girl that the girl it became..."
He gave her a good look and she didn't laugh this time.
"He knows how." She said seriously. "they're the same as before... they're just older..."
"Selina..."
She brought her thumb to Bruce's lips. sealing them. "The tough girl just wants the introverted boy to kiss her."
And they kissed as the sun disappeared over the horizon, they made love and it was already dusk when they fell asleep holding each other.
The mansion was calm and silent. Time seemed to have stopped.
***
Later that night, they had already had dinner and Selina was watching TV with Helena in the girl's room, so she didn't hear when the doorbell rang. Bruce, who had been in the cave getting ready to go on patrol, he had to change into his civilian clothes to meet his visitor in the library after Alfred announced him.
"To what do I owe the visit, Commissioner?" Bruce asked, feigning surprise as he entered the room. "Did you come to congratulate us personally?"
"I wish the motif was that nice, Bruce." The commissioner said looking worried. "Although I must say that I am very happy for your union with Selina. And it's because I like you that I came here personally."
"Did something happen?"
"I don't know if you already know, but Jeremiah Valeska escaped from Arkham a few hours ago."
Bruce knew. When he woke up from his nap with Selina, Alfred had informed him of the fact, and he was already looking for clues that would lead to the lunatic's whereabouts. He was even on his way out to look for him in Gotham before the commissioner showed up at his door, but since he couldn't reveal any of that, Bruce just nodded.
"Well, I was just now with the experts in Jeremiah's cell at Arkham." The commissioner continued. "And they found this..."
Gordon held out a newspaper to Bruce. It was the newspaper where he had announced his marriage to Selina. The photo had been scrawled. There were big maniacal smiles painted red on his mouth and on Selina's mouth, but Helena's face hadn't been scrawled.
Jeremiah hadn't scratched a smile on Helena's face.
He had placed a target on the girl's chest.
Author's notes
The next chapter will be the last.