Chapter Text
Bruce groaned as he was dragged back to wakefulness. He wasn't particularly sore, but he felt like he'd run several marathons in succession with a deadweight on his back.
"Master Bruce?"
Opening his eyes, Bruce smiled wearily up at Alfred. He could see now that they were in the medbay of the Batcave. "How long have I been out?" He asked, pushing himself up so he was sitting on the small bed.
"Nearly three days, sir. Do take it easy, please. Ms. Y/N cautioned that you would need rest still."
Y/N. The last thing he remembered was her and Gordon getting him into the Batmobile. He had no idea how hurt she was. "Where is she? Is she okay?"
"She's fine, sir." Alfred's face said he disagreed with that statement, "I would have liked her to stay longer for observation, but once we had synthesized and administered the antidote and were sure that you'd be fine, she insisted on returning home."
"She...stayed?"
Alfred smiled gently and nodded. "Ms. Y/N sat by your side until Joker's poison was out of your system and your vitals stabilized. I did suggest she at least get some sleep in her guest bedroom, but she really is quite stubborn. Reminds me of someone else I know."
Bruce managed a quiet chuckle. "I'm surprised."
"I'm not." Alfred sat on the chair next to the bed as he looked at him. "She loves you, Bruce."
"No. Alfred, after the way I treated her, she can't."
"Y/N volunteered to go after you. Volunteered to risk her life."
"Of course she did. She's a good person and the only one with the training to take down Joker. It's no indication of feelings."
"Perhaps, but you don't sit by the side of someone you hate either. And the way she looked at you…I've only ever seen that look once before."
"Where?"
"Your mother. Before you were born Thomas was in quite the bad car accident, and when we arrived at the hospital he was still unconscious from surgery. The Doctor assured that he'd be alright, but the look on your mother's face as we waited for him to wake up...the concern, the love, the fear that something might still go wrong, it was the same look Y/N had."
Bruce looked away, processing Alfred's words. The older man wouldn't lie to him, if he said Y/N had that look then she did. But it didn't make sense. After the way he'd treated her, she shouldn't feel anything for him at all. For the first time in years, he felt unsure. "What do I do, Al?"
"Go and talk to her. Apologize and she'll hear you out. I'm sure of it."
Bruce nodded. "Okay."
~
The apartment was quiet when there was a knock on the door. You decided immediately to ignore it. You weren't quite up for visitors, plus you couldn't really open the door in your current state. Dressed in just a tank top and shorts, you were in the middle of changing the dressings on some of your injuries, and that would be difficult to explain away.
"Y/N?" That made you stop. Bruce.
You moved to the door, limping a little as you favored the leg Joker had sliced and unlocked it. Even though you'd known he'd be fine, you couldn't stop the relief at seeing Bruce standing on his own volition in the hallway. He looked tired, but the ugly dark veins were gone and he appeared to be mostly back to his regular self. You caught him doing a once over of your own body, no doubt cataloging and analyzing every bandage, scratch, and ugly colored bruise. His eyes lingered for a second at the bruise that spread over the edge of your tank, from where one of Joker's bullets had tried to reach your heart.
"How are you?" You asked, stepping aside to let Bruce in before shutting the door behind him again.
"I'm okay. I feel like I'm the one who should be asking you that though," he said, watching as you walked back to the dining table and all the medical supplies that were spread out on it.
"I'm fine." You propped your leg up and bent to start peeling the old bandage off, grimacing as the movement tugged at your bruised ribs.
"Yeah. You look it. Here, let me." Bruce shrugged off his jacket, draping it over the back of a chair, before kneeling in front of you. You didn't argue, instead letting him bat your hands away and leaning back.
Bruce's hands were gentle as he worked, carefully removing the bandage and gauze that lay over the injury. "This'll scar," he said, inspecting it.
"Had to start my collection sometime."
Bruce looked up at you, expression the closest you'd ever seen to pained, then resumed his focus on redressing the wound. The silence was awkward, but the act strangely intimate. Bruce's fingers brushed against your skin, ghosting over some of the bruises. You swallowed, unsure of what to do exactly. You'd expected to hear from him. A phone call, or maybe just a gift left at your door, but not him showing up. Not him kneeling in front of you, touching you so delicately as though he feared you might break.
"Why are you here, Bruce?" you asked quietly.
The question seemed to snap him out of his daze. Bruce cleared his throat and quickly stood back up. "I just…I wanted to say thank you. For coming for me."
"You didn't think I would?"
"I knew you would. A part of me hoped you wouldn't."
"Because you thought I wasn't good enough."
"No!" Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he slumped heavily in the chair opposite you, and the guilt crept in for jumping down his throat so quickly.
"Then why?"
"Because it was Joker. And Bane, of all people. Y/N the first time I faced him I barely made it out alive and I had more than a year of training. I would've rather died than watch him break you. I watched you on those cameras, and I could feel the poison burn me from the inside out, but seeing him hurt you? That was even worse."
The admission took you by surprise. Sure, you knew Bruce wouldn't want you to get hurt. Despite everything that had happened between you both he was still a good person that'd rather be hurt than watch another hurt, for him to say it was worse than dying? That was unexpected. "Bruce-"
"But you were magnificent, Y/N. How you defeated Bane…I couldn't have done it better myself. It was clever and skilled, and I knew that if Joker got his way and I did die, that Gotham would still be okay. Because it'd have you."
You shook your head. "I was petrified the whole time. I…I didn't feel magnificent. I barely felt competent."
"That just makes you braver. To do something even when you're scared, it's what makes you a hero."
"I...thank you."
Bruce offered you a small smile. "That's the second reason I came over. I needed to thank you, but also to apologize. I was out of line the last time we spoke. I should've trusted in your decisions and I was wrong to try and bench you like a disobedient child. I'm sorry."
Today was a day of firsts, it seemed. You'd never heard him outright apologize before. "Apology accepted."
Bruce nodded, but the tension in his shoulders didn't ease. He wasn't done. Just steeling himself up for something more. "It doesn't justify anything, but the reason I acted like that...I wanted to keep you as a student. Because if that's what you were, if I was a teacher, not a partner, I could continue denying things. I could deny how I felt, feel, about you."
"How do you feel?" You asked voice barely a whisper.
"I love you."
Breath catching, you simply stared at him. You'd suspected once that he had feelings, but after the way he'd been that night, you were sure you'd been wrong. You should've known better, you thought. It was entirely Bruce's style to hide how he was feeling in the worst possible way. The emotionally constipated asshole that he was.
"I don't want you to be uncomfortable. I understand if you don't feel the same way, or if you hate me. I deserve it. Alfred insisted I say something, he said-"
"I love you too." You cut him off before he could ramble any further.
Bruce looked hopeful and you couldn't help the way your heart jumped. "You do?"
"Yeah."
Bruce smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling with it. He was genuinely happy and it was a special feeling knowing that you were the cause of it. You met him halfway as he stood, arms wrapping around his shoulders, Bruce's finding their way to your waist. His lips met yours, the kiss slow but firey.
You broke apart, Bruce resting his forehead against yours, the little smile that made his eyes crinkle back, hands running up and down your sides gently. "I really do love you."
"And I love you."
Another kiss and Bruce stepped back, pulling his phone from his pocket. "I've got something to show you." He spent a moment, then passed the device to you.
It was your suit on the screen. Or something similar to your suit at least. The design was almost identical, but the coloring was different, as was the symbol on the chest. It was no longer a bat.
"I asked Lucius to start designing it. Needs your final approval, of course, but I wanted to do something to show I'm serious. It's time you step out from my shadow, Y/N."
"This your way of asking me to come back?"
"It is. As partners."
"As partners. I love it, Bruce." Handing the phone back, you hugged him again.
"How about we do something to celebrate?"
"You taking me on a date, Bruce Wayne?"
"If the lady allows it."
You laughed, feeling a weight lift off your shoulders. "Where do you have in mind?"
"There's a circus in town. I've heard great things about their acrobats."
"Sounds perfect."