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WHO: Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne
WHERE: Bruce's apartment (the Mancave?)
WHEN: After prom
SUMMARY: Selina goes to surprise Bruce and gets a surprise of her own when she finds out he was ported home and back
WARNINGS: ??
FORMAT: Words

Prom had been interesting. And now Selina was all dressed up with nowhere to go. Except that wasn't true, was it?

It had been a few days since she'd seen Bruce. Might as well make the most of a killer ensemble, mmm?

His building wasn't too far. She wasn't really dressed for scaling buildings or anything silly like that, but the regular security was easy enough to bypass and avoid. She made her way up to Bruce's apartment. She was polite enough to knock, at least.

Chances are he wouldn't even be home, out patrolling or some such. Well. Maybe he'd have a surprise waiting when he got home...

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For an expert like her the regular security was easy enough to bypass, but that had already been compromised by a cosplaying internet militia that had given months preparation to a siege of the batcave. In the weeks since he'd been upgrading and although Catwoman was as good in heels as she was in her work clothes, she didn't make it much further than the courtyard without tripping a silent alarm.

As such, it wasn't too long before his car pulled up outside. It was a little irregular for him to be this late returning from work. Usually he would have already traded the Italian three-piece for the Kevlar combat suit and fulfilled several patrolmen's arrest quotas by this hour.

He came through the door and moved through each room with a silent haste and a dark expression on his face, half-expecting it to be Bond trying to return his cat.

Selina was easy enough to find, relaxing on the couch with a very satisfied expression. Which covered up annoyance at the fact that he seemed to be well aware that someone was there. And perhaps curiousness that he seemed to be taking the night off.

"Long day at work?" she called out, clearly amused at her own wittiness.

It didn't take long for the defensive tension he carried himself with to disappear when he realized who his guest was.

"You could say that," he replied with a knowing look, casting the briefcase he was prepared to used as a bludgeoning weapon into a vacant chair, "Did we have plans?"

It was a fair question. This probably wasn't the first time he'd skipped out on their plans without realizing it, and she was dressed up...

"I was at the prom and thought I'd get a little more milage out of the outfit with someone who'd actually appreciate it." She could have let him sweat it out a bit more, but she was in a generous mood. "Surprised you're not in the mask this late."

"I've got it covered. Things at the office were more pressing." Bruce loosened his tie and tossed it the way of the briefcase. "I find it hard to believe you had to come all the way here to find someone's head to turn."

Of course, he wasn't complaining.

"Not just someone." She smirked. "Letting Dick take over for the night?"

"And deprive him of the night off while Damian attends the prom? No, I have a new partner." He paused as if he was timing something. "There, at the window."

Sure enough, Batman was stood by the window. It wasn't a costume that gave too much away but Selina ought to know him well enough. If not from that jaw or that build, then from the voice. "Did we have plans?"

Selina turned to stare at the window. Then back at Bruce. And then the window again.

"What?" That was the most coherent question she could come up with. No wait, there was another. "Robot?" She was sure Bruce was real, at least. Pretty sure.

Batman stepped into the light and pulled back his cowl, revealing that he was indeed Bruce. "Robot doubles are Superman's thing."

Bruce, the one in civilian clothing folds his arms. "The Porter sent me back to Gotham. I came back with this."

And that distracts her from the fact there are two of them. "You were sent back?" She directs the question at the first one, since he made the statement. "How long?"

It couldn't have been long on this end. She'd seen him a few days ago. Hell, maybe it was a good thing she hadn't noticed. She wouldn't have taken it well.

She wasn't entirely sure she was taking it well now, although her expression remained even.

"A few weeks," he replied, "I only lost a day in City time."

And he hadn't wasted any more by being perturbed. It was his first time experiencing being Ported out first-hand, but this wasn't the first time he'd had to deal with spacetime jet lag. His last was only a few months ago.

The other Bruce, the one dressed as Batman, remarked, "I'm distressing you."

She eyes shifted to the one who was speaking. Probably the best way to handle it. "I just..." She trailed off for a moment. "I'm glad you made it back."

And finally, just a hint of a sly look. "Both of you."

"Actually, we're the same m-- oh," the first Bruce replied, the realization creeping onto his face with a small smirk. "Well, I had compelling reasons to return."

She could point out that he didn't really have a say in the matter, but that would ruin the mood, wouldn't it? "And you're the... original?" she asked the first one, not sure if that was the right word to use.

"We both are," he explained, leaving the other Bruce to elaborate once he'd pulled off his cape and his gloves.

"We have the same memories. We share experience while separated. He's me and I'm him. There is no original."

At least, that was the rationalization he had quickly come to upon discovering his new ability. It probably wasn't good for his psychological well-being if he started to believe he was a copy of himself.

She could go along with that rationalization. Maybe it was a bit better for her too. "Do you stop being separated?" She didn't bother to ask how he managed two bodies and two sets of eyes. She had a bit more faith in him than that.

"I do, although I've yet to determine if it's necessary." It had been disorientating at first, the sensory information being input in double. But between the two of him he determined how to suppress the second-hand experiences while his attention was demanded elsewhere.

"I haven't figured everything out yet, and we're staying close in the meantime." This was the first full day they'd spent separated. It had been very productive.

"Hmm. Shared senses, you said?" There was a wicked glint in her eye as she leaned over to the unmasked Bruce. "Can you both feel this?"

And she kissed him. For science, of course.

Sure enough the other, half-costumed Bruce flinched as her lips met his doppelganger's. Senses very much shared.

Edited 2011-06-13 02:08 (UTC)

"Hmm." She glanced from one to another, smiling a lazy smile. Rather like a satisfied cat. Her nails teased under the collar of Bruce's shirt, and she watched the other to see the reaction.

"I think some experimentation's required."

The costumed Bruce worked hard to maintain his composure, tugging a little at the collar of his jumpsuit. If he'd ever expected her to suggest such a thing, it certainly wasn't in a situation like this. "-- of course. I am curious to discover what the limitations of these abilities are..."

"Of course." Was there a better way to get Bruce to do anything? "I guess it's a good thing I stopped by, then. And that I have the rest of the night free..."

And a distraction to keep her from thinking about the fact Bruce was Ported out and she didn't even notice.

She had been better off not noticing. Bruce knew that from experience.

"You did come all this way. A little hospitality is the least I can do," civilian Bruce got up and wandered into the kitchen to fetch a bottle. He might have abstained but he kept the rack stocked should company jimmy the locks and make herself at home. While he was pre-occupied, the costumed Bruce took his spot beside Selina on the coach.

The whole thing was still a bit surreal. But she did her best to focus on the one in the costume like he was the only one here. The only one in the room, at least.

"Busy night out there?" Hers had been quiet. Well, mostly. "Blake got nailed at the prom for attacking Waller's date."

Bruce, being Bruce, had skipped the uncanny valley stage and moved straight on to the practicalities. If anything, it was a refreshing change to have a doppelganger that wasn't evil.

"No kidding?" He said, a wicked look blossoming on his face. "I'm sorry I missed it. Busier at the office, actually. I'm making some changes that aren't too popular with the rest of the board."

"Oh really?" And here she'd expected the one dressed like a bat to talk about Bat things. Same person, she reminded herself. "Do I even want to know?"

It was bound to happen a lot. It was strange; at the time Bruce was capable of separating what he and his duplicate experienced easily enough. But as the time elapsed the memories fell into place and the significant memories - whether they had been his personally - became pronounced as if he had been in that board room himself. It was going to take time to get the hang of things, to learn how to keep everything separate when required.

"It will be hard to miss once the papers go to print," he replied. "I'm staging a hostile takeover of my own company. Come Monday Laskin Corp will be Wayne Enterprises and a sum of our profits will be diverted, along with my personal coffers, into kick-starting the Wayne Foundation."

She would have told him he didn't need any more duality issues. Not that he'd listen.

The news did bring a smile to her face. "Get a photo of the board's reaction," she told him. "And then get it framed."

"I already did," the other Bruce replied as he returned with a bottle of red wine and a glass perched between the fingers on one hand. "I'm thinking of having it framed. Have you eaten? I can make you something."

Somehow it didn't seem likely that there being two of him meant double the culinary prowess.

Maybe Selina had the same thought. "Yeah, plenty to eat at prom." She accepted the glass and the bottle, glancing again between the two identical men. "Sure you won't have anything?"

"I'm sure," they said in unison.

She sipped the wine. "That was a little creepy, you know."

Neither of them had noticed, or at least if they had they didn't show any sign of it.

"You might have to get used to it," the civilian Bruce remarked. "So, aside from a fracas at a prom, what else have I missed in my absence?"

"Not a whole lot." She frowned, not quite at either one of them. "Logan's son showed up and practically broke down the door to the Tool Shed. Already had that fixed."

She had no idea what Bruce thought about her running Logan's bar. But she kind of felt she owed it to him after his last time here.

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