No Heroes

A Home To Come Back To

Bruce: Directly After Chapter 3

They looked at each other for a long time. Too long. Selina looked away first. It was then that Alfred caught up with them. Bruce and Selina were in a very compromising position, so Selina quickly pushed herself up and walked over to him.

Bruce got up as fast as he could and ran to Alfred, wrapping his arms around his butler, his friend, his family.

Bruce only spoke when they pulled apart, managing only a whisper. "Thank you."

Alfred smiled and nodded. Bruce looked at him, noticing the small differences that six months had brought. Alfred had a few more wrinkles around his eyes, and was slightly paler then the last time they saw each other. Bruce was wondering if-

"-Sorry to break up the little reunion," Selina interrupted his thought, "but we have a maximum of two minutes before someone comes to kill us and take you to Jeremiah again."

Bruce and Alfred nodded in unison, but Bruce secretly promised himself he would ask Alfred what all had happened to him and Selina later. Right now, they had to ensure that there would be a later.

Selina turned around and started running, to which Bruce was still surprised at. Six months ago, the doctor told him that she would likely never walk again. Now, she was jumping and running exactly like she used to. She was different, though. Her hair had grown out to her shoulder blades, although it was the curly mess it had always been. When he was looking at her just a few minutes before, he noticed that her eyes were brighter, filled with determination, and her face seemed slightly older, like Alfred. Bruce wondered what made her change so subtly, but so drastically to him.

They ran to a black van that Bruce assumed Selina had hot-wired and jumped in with Selina in the drivers seat, Alfred on the passengers side, and Bruce in the back. It was still running, so all Selina had to do was hit the gas pedal to zoom down the street with teeth rattling speed. After getting a decent space away from Jeremiah's goonies, Selina grabbed a bottle from the glove compartment, opened it and put one of the pills in her mouth.

"I thought you stopped using the pain killers," Alfred said with a mixture of confusion and concern.

"I did. But I'll make an exception when I get punched in the ribs by a 300 lbs man twice my size." She scoffed, and then looked at him seriously, "don't worry. I'm okay." She only turned back to look at the road when he nodded.

Bruce was still concerned, though. He was still completely dumbfounded that she was able to walk, let alone fight. He also felt guilty for not being there. He promised her that he would-

"-Anyways, what did you do to piss off the bad guys this time?" Selina interrupted Bruce's thoughts, yet again.

Bruce couldn't help but chuckle at her perfectly timed sarcasm. But then, he looked at them and realized that she was being serious. He coughed to regain his voice after hours of almost nothing.

"Nothing. I mean, I've been looking for Jeremiah on the sly for months."

Selina and Alfred looked at each other.

"What?"

"Bruce," Alfred sighed, "you excel at many things, but being subtle is not one of them."

Before he could get defensive, he was interrupted by a scratching sound. A radio.

"Selina." Alfred prompted.

"Hold up, old guy." Selina huffed, "let me try. You always get to answer."

"But you're driving! It's like texting and driving, unsafe and difficult to do!" Alfred argued.

"First of all," Selina countered, "it's like calling and driving, which isn't the same thing. Second, I don't need your British lectures. And third, I can't believe that you think so little of me that you don't think I could multitask." She ended the argument by reaching down and grabbing a radio trans receiver and bring it to her lips.