Re: Old Gotham: Selina/Bruce
[She wasn't at her best, and he'd always been stealthy, but she managed to turn and slide a knife from her utility belt into her hand before he landed. She didn't lose the crouch, but her gloved hand lifted just a fraction, just enough to stab upward, angled, and get whoever was there between the ribs, if they were foe and not friend. But, in the end, she didn't even move the blade upward a fraction. He didn't even need to talk. Just the shadow was enough, and she knew that wasn't Dickie in the suit. The knife disappeared, as if it had never been in her gloved hand, and she stood and let the back of the escape bear the weight of her lower back and hips. If anyone came at them, he would be able to see, and she could tell if anyone climbed onto the roof. Safety, or at least the illusion of it.
And she'd been keeping her emotions at bay for nearly a week. A week running on fumes and injections, and trying not to think. Those first few days with Steph had been hard, so hard watch, and Helena had rounded it all off with a stinging emotional blow, and there was unspeakable worry for him beneath all of it.
He said something, but she didn't actually register what. Because he was standing there in one piece, against all odds, and despite a horribly bad plan that she hadn't been able to do anything about. And maybe it was just the past month and all its many terrors, but she couldn't hold back a sob. And then she moved.
She was swinging fists and the outside of her palm, gloved hands and claws, and she let the blows fall against his shoulders. She knew he wouldn't feel much of anything through the kevlar, and she should be reserving what energy she had left for the next three boroughs after this one. But she'd always been too emotional, even if it was hidden beneath slinky black. She crowded him, and she swung, and maybe words would've been better. But, no, that wasn't her. Every impact against his suit made her feel inexplicably better, and she crowded him back against the side of the building with a body that was tired enough that it couldn't do much unless he went willingly.]