Jason was there when they returned. He was rummaging through Bruce's gadgets; which covered an entire section of the Batcave. He certainly heard them arrive but didn't even bother looking at them. Instead, he grabbed five Batarangs and shoved them into his bag.

"What are you doing here?" Bruce said in a much harsher tone than he probably intended.

Jason swung the bag around his shoulders and marched right passed them, a sour expression on his face. "Leaving."

"You don't want anything to do with me but you're fine with stealing my tools?" Bruce hissed.

"Yep."

Jason hadn't slowed his pace for even a second. He had almost reached the elevator when Rahn said, "Bat... Did you not promise The Penis that you would make amends? Is this how humans 'make up'?"

This was enough to give Jason pause. He stopped, turned, and stared at the alien woman in absolute confusion. The same could not be said for Bruce who gave a gruff sigh but nothing more. Apparently he had grown used to the weird shit that left her mouth.

"Penis?" Jason questioned, temporary shock overriding his annoyance.

"Yeah. That's his name, right? Gray Penis?"

Bruce finally gave her a stern look and said, "Dick Grayson."

"Oh... Is that not the same thing?"

"No."

Rahn frowned, "Your language is counterintuitive."

On the far side of the room, Jason gave a short snort of amusement, then turned to leave again. Any initial intrigue had vanished into that deeply-rooted anger again. He didn't want to be in the same room as Bruce for longer than he had to.

Rahn's reminder must have stirred something in Bruce though, because before the young thief could exit the Batcave, Bruce had called out, "Jason."

The tone in his voice had taken Jason off guard. He didn't say his name with that usual cold indifference. It had purpose. "What?"

There was a silence that seemed to freeze the air around them. For a moment, it looked like Bruce might not say anything at all until, finally, he relented. "You're losing control. I've seen what you've been doing. The people you've 'interrogated'. It's one step away from murder."

"And you treat criminals any better, do you?" Jason scoffed. "Don't give me that bullshit. I've seen the look in your eye when you hurt them. You like it as much as I do."

"There's a difference between interrogation and torture, Jason."

"Is this your idea of an apology? Because it fuckin' sucks."

Bruce's jaw locked, as if it would no longer allow him to speak. It was clear that this was the closest that he had ever come to saying the words 'I'm sorry', and Jason knew that it was the best that anyone was going to get. That was another thing that he and Bruce had in common. Neither of them were very good at sincerity.

"Look," Jason sighed, pushing down the urge to just yell 'screw it' and leave. "I...appreciate everything that you've done for me, but this is where it ends. I can't just keep following you around, blindly agreeing with everything that you do. You've lost your edge. People aren't scared of you anymore...but me? I'll make them scared of me."

Bruce didn't stop him this time when Jason left. He stood there, the deafening quiet weighing on him, then finally sauntered towards the mess of gadgets that Jason had left behind. He hadn't taken much with him, but he had been sure to disorganise the entire section; probably on purpose.

"Have you made up now?" Rahn, who had been standing there watching the entire exchange, asked. "I can never tell with you humans."

Bruce tensed. His hands squeezed against the table until his knuckles were white beneath his gloves. "Just...go make yourself useful."

It took Rahn a few seconds to realise that what Bruce was really saying was 'go away'. Slowly, she was becoming fluent in Bruce Wayne speech. Maybe even more so than regular English. He always avoided the subject if he wanted to be left alone, and more often than not, he tried to distract her.

Still, Rahn didn't want to ignite his irritation, so she wandered towards the main computer. There was an alert flashing on one of the monitors. A break-in at Brixman Family Jewelers.

"Shall I handle this myself?" Rahn asked, watching Bruce's expression twist into something bitter. She pointed at the screen and he pushed away from the table he was organising his tools on.

"No," he said, adjusting his mask and heading back towards the exit.

Rahn was just about to suggest that she teleport them both there, it was much quicker that way, but the hazy aura surrounding Bruce stopped her. Evidently, he was exasperated and didn't want to be involved in any conversation. But even a one-off question.

Instead, she followed him from above; watching Batman turn into alleys and grapple onto rooftops until he found the store. It was dark. The lights were off but there were clear signs of movement inside. Something crashed and then, suddenly, a whipping sound snapped through the building.

Bruce groaned, "I'll handle this. Stay here."

Shockingly, Rahn obeyed his command. Likely because she still felt shaken by the fight with Parasite. She had ignored him then, and it didn't go well, so she was smart enough to listen this time.

When Bruce entered the building through an already broken window, he barely had a chance to make sure that Rahn was staying put before a shadow loomed past the room.

Batman followed, silently, turning a corner and finding himself staring at the back of a familiar leather suit. It had a whip strapped to its hip, and a pair of ears that perked on top of the helmet.

"Selena." Bruce stated, as if that one word was enough to say a thousand different things at once.

The woman's shoulders tensed, but she spun around with all the grace of a dancer...or a cat. She purred, pushing a large diamond ring onto her right index finger. Now every finger was covered in stolen jewellery, as well as her wrists and neck. "Oh, the Bat's come to play, has he?"

"Cut the act. I thought you said that you were done with a life of crime."

"I know I did, and I truly meant it at the time," Catwoman hummed seductively, stepping over to him and running her sharp claws over his armoured chest. "But you know me. I don't like to be tied down to a promise."

Bruce grabbed her hands in an attempt to stop her from her seduction attempt, "then I'll have to arrest you."

"Do you though?" She pushed onto her tiptoes until Bruce could feel the warmth of her breathe on his lips. "You used to be so much more fun."

"I used to be naive. I gave you too many chances. I thought you'd get bored of stealing from hard-working businesses, but apparently you don't aspire to anything above thievery."

"It's a very respectable profession to some," Selena grinned, "come on, let me go for old time sake."

"I'm not playing this game with you today."

Selena finally moved forward to brush her lips against his. It was a ghost of a kiss, a taste of the unending well of passion inside her; tempting him with memories of lust. He didn't reciprocate, but as she moved closer again Bruce didn't back away either. She kissed him again, this time harder, pushing her leg against his thigh and her body against his chest. She tried to move her hands, to reach for him, but he finally moved. Pulling her in tighter, he rested one hand at the back of her head and the other managed to pin her arms behind her back.

"Is this really an appropriate time to be mating?" A voice interrupted that pulled both Selena and Bruce apart from each other. Standing near the door, her hands crossed firmly over her chest, was Rahn. She didn't seem angry...just confused. "Perhaps I should arrest her instead, you are clearly too distracted to do it."

"Hmph, really?" Bruce huffed, and then there was a loud 'click'.

"What the-" Selena gasped, struggling to break free but it was useless. Bruce had handcuffed her. Apparently, he had used her own seduction tactics against her.

"You made me do it," Bruce said lowly, watching her try desperately to escape. "Don't make this harder on yourself."

Finally, Selena sighed. She stopped struggling against the handcuffs altogether and smirked up at Batman mischievously. "Jokes on you. I like this shit."

"I know you do," Bruce replied monotonously, but there was a hint of something beneath that tone. Something that mirrored Selena's playful banter...if only slightly.

Rahn watched, curious beyond compare. She had never imagined that Bruce could have so many complex relationships. The breadth of human bonds and emotions were dizzying. She could tell that there were real feelings, passionate and genuine, beneath Batman and Catwoman's banter...but there was a wall between them as well. One that had claw marks etching the sides from being climbed so many times, but somehow, neither of them had truly found a way around it. It was still there, parting them from each other, unmoving and indestructible.

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