Overkill [Selina/Catwoman}

[Deleted]

[Suggested listening: "Overkill" by Men At Work]


Harvey had the day off.  He rarely got those.  Harvey never took days off voluntarily.  He had to be told to take the day off, that usually included Gordon barring from him headquarters for the day.  Today was one of those days.  Harvey had nearly fallen asleep at the wheel today.  He was so tired.  He's been having trouble sleeping lately.  Each day this week he has been coming in with redder and redder eyes.

He would just lay in his bed all night and... nothing.  He could not sleep.  Whatever he tried.  He was only managing an hour or two of sleep a night.  Something was eating at him and he didn't even know what it was.  He was told to take a couple of days until he was rested.  If he tried to go back to work and he wasn't well rested enough he would be suspended for at least a week.  Harvey didn't take kindly to it and left work in a huff.  Though, as he sat in Robinson park, thinking, he felt bad that he acted a fool when he was sent home from work.  They wouldn't even give him his keys, afraid he might nearly fall asleep at the wheel again.  He lived in a building that overlooked Robinson Park.  He took a cab home, but before it made it all the way to his apartment he had the cabbie stop him off at Robinson.  He just wanted to walk for a bit and be somewhere that wasn't home or work or a bar.  Those were usually the three cases he cared about being at.

It was the early evening.  The sun was just starting to go down and he had a great view of it.  He was in the usual, suit, tie, trenchcoat, and hat.  He sat there watching the sun beginning to set.  He rarely took the time to admire it.  He sat there, smoking a cigarette and just watching the sun set.  No looking things up on his cell phone or talking on it, thinking about cases, or worrying about anything.  He sighed quietly to himself. 

[Deleted]

She had been up too early, but that is what happened when meetings that had been put off for days had to be fitted into whatever time slot they could. And now, when it wasn't quite night, and not quite day, she had thought to take a stroll around the part. Most people would be at home, getting ready for bed, eating dinner, doing family things. All she could honestly think about was getting a double espresso, and waiting for nightfall to truly, honestly emerge from the day's end. Her eyes weren't quite used to the glare off the snow, so as she strolled, hands gently cradling her beloved espresso, she made sure her sunglasses were firmly perched on the bridge of her nose.

It wasn't more than a quarter of the way around the park when she saw a familiar face. Odd, though. He should be at work. Why he wasn't, made her question things. There were some people in her life that moved like clockwork, and Harvey Bullock was one of them.

Tugging her jacket a bit closer around, she meandered over to where he was looking less than gruntled at the setting sun. Settling herself next to him, she plucked his cigarette from his lips, took a drag, and returned it before she said anything, her head resting on his shoulder. "You know, those things are gonna kill you, Detective." Selina would murmur quietly to her friend. The action of her pilfering a puff or two off his cigarette harkened back to nearly a decade ago, when they had first embarked on their friendship.

"Shouldn't you be at the station? Even if it is a rather pretty sunset..." She hoped he hadn't butt heads with Gordon over something. Or with the other less than proficent officers. Him out here, looking as pitiful as he was set the hair on the back of her neck on edge.

[Deleted]

He didn't even see her until she nestled up against him. She always put a smile on his face, though this one was a little weaker than usual.

Harvey didn't have to look to know who it was. He already had his arm straight along the back of the bench. He just curled it around, hand resting now on her shoulder.

"Oh, now you know there's plenty of things I do that could kill me, yet here I am."

 Eventually the cigarette made its way back to his lips. He let it hang there casually. He sighed, the smoke exiting through his nostrils.  Finally he turned his head, removing the cigarette from his mouth momentarily and laid a kiss on her lovely hair and then went back to staring at the sunset beyond the high rises and the bay with his cigarette hanging from his lips. His torso was noticeably more relaxed since her arrival.

"How you doin', baby?"

Harvey and her had an interesting friendship. He'd never forget, no matter how old he got and how beautiful she would always remain, the first time they met. It was a marked event in his life. It was the night he became the cop he wanted to be. Selina always knew she had a dear friend in Harvey, and more if she ever wanted it, but out of all the women in this town he'd hit on, he'd never done it to her, at least that he knew of at the moment...

"Aww, I got sent home.  I nearly crashed a squad car today.  I was heading through the upper west side when I started to doze off.  The officer with me grabbed the wheel and saved the day.   Not a good day for your ol' Bull, baby."

He leaned his head back against the bench.  He let out an exasperated sigh.  He was so tired and so upset, but, once again, he wasn't sure of what it was all about just yet.  Well, maybe he did, but he just didn't want to acknowledge it to the point that he couldn't even think about it he was so tired.  Harvey was won't to bury so many things that the older he got it became even harder to dig them back up.

Selina was one of the few graces in his life.  They didn't get to see each other enough, but when they did it always made Harvey's day.  Selina was the original.  Before he knew Gordon, Batman, Montoya or anyone else he'd found a friend in her.  She was the only woman he ever called baby.  Selina knew no favor was too big or impossible to ask of him.  The fact that she just walked up and leaned against him the way she did is a perfect example of how thick they were.

"Hope you've been havin' a better day than I have."

She smelled wonderful, it was enough to bring him back to life a little more.  He leaned his head on top of hers leaned on his shoulder.

[Deleted]

Ah, the simple pleasures in life. Even as she slid beside him, she knew what to expect. The comfort, the un-complicatedness of it all. The shared intimacy, without having to hide, or overly explain. It just was, with her detective. Her first detective, her mind, and now heart corrected her. Before she had known a Bruce, or even a Batman. Before she had given full reign to her feline side.

"Oh, and those other plenty of things would be much more fun that sitting so dour outside in the freezing cold, smoking a cig, and watching the sunset," she teased him, "I can think of many more death-inviting, fun activities."

As he showed his shared affection, she scooted closer, not only out of familiarity, but because it was wicked cold out. "I've had better days. Up too late, slept too little, now I have a a few appointments tonight. Work hard, play harder." She murmured as they chattered back and forth about their respective days.

Pursing her lips at his explanation, her gloved fingers jabbed into his side. "Don't do that. I'd rather you not die. Who's going to bail me out of the holding room, hm?" Her tone light, but chiding. He knew she rarely slept, she knew he did the same. But once it flitted over into possibly endangering his life, well, she had to say something.

"Why don't we go grab something to eat once the sun slumbers. My appointments aren't until later, and hell, you look like you need a decent meal, a non-judgmental ear, and then some rest. Maybe I'll even tuck you in, Detective." She glanced up, smiling at him in the near-sunset, hoping whatever was weighing on his shoulders wasn't going to be there for long. Somber Harvey meant something really was bothering him, but as ever, she knew he'd work it out in time.

[Deleted]

Harvey cracked a stronger smile and bit of a chuckle at the question of who would bail her out when she needed it.  He just shook his head a little and let out a more relaxed sigh.

"You got a point there."

Harvey rolled off the remainder of his chuckle and squeezed her in a little tighter, rubbing his hand on her side to warm her up a little.  Food did sound good, so did company.  He nodded, giving in to her, as usual.

"Deal, baby.  What'do you got a taste for this evening?  Hmm?"

Harvey had a remarkably broad palette.  He'd eat anything, though he did have his old comforts and stand-bys just like anyone else.  He always missed his Ma's cooking since she was gone.  He pictured her making it to those pearly gates with a pot of risotto for Saint Peter. 

"Anything sounds good to me.  I live just over there."

He pointed over to a nice little stone building not terribly far away. 

"We could do take out or find a place around here, I suppose.  I got some booze back at home, too."

Harvey would be having a whiskey this evening, at the very least.

[Deleted]

Smiling into her coffee, she knew that little reference would bring him back. Just a little bit of a nudge to remember a time when things were good, and looking up, rather than dwelling in the muck that was near everyday Gotham. "Mm." She offered, shrugging into him as he tucked her in close. It was chilly, and she was more than comfortable with the rock she knew sitting beside her. "Good. And something edible. I don't really care, as long as it's hot." As he pointed out where he lived, she had to smile, because she already knew that, but didn't know if he knew that. Then again it could just be one of their games where they tried to out-bluff the other.

"You do know I'm kiddy-corner from you, across the park, right?" She asked gently. "Booze and take-out...sounds like the perfect night. Lead the way from this icy wonderland?" She knew for a fact he had some top shelf whiskey, and always a decent bottle of wine. She could remember some of her first lessons in wine not from her parents, but from his mother, her mouth watering lightly at the memory of her cooking.

Sighing quietly, she waved her arm to the night, allowing him to lead the way. The sun had finally set, casting a slew of watercolored hues across the sky. A perfect backdrop to a good meal with fine company.

[Deleted]

Harvey just smiled and watched the sun set in silence, his favorite girl at his side. Eventually, when the sun went to its bed in the west, Harvey got up at her asking him to lead the way. He offered his arm to her because, again, Harvey was a bit of a traditionalist when it came to being a gentleman. He was not always a very gentle man, but when he was with her he was always at his best.

As they walked he lit another cigarette for himself and adjusted his hat against a gust of wind, making sure it was more firmly on his head. An audible 'brrr' could be heard under his breath if you listened for it.

Once they got into his building he checked his mail and decided to take the elevator today. Once they were on the fourth floor they would go to the end of a hall to apartment number 42. Harvey's place was simple, and spacious. He'd lived in this apartment as long as he'd known Selina.  His record collection had grown so large over the years that he had his walls knocked out and replaced with the appropriate amount and size of shelves.  Once he opened the door he held it open for her.  When they both got in he offered to take her coat and hang it on the coat rack.  He hung his up after and also took his suit jacket off as well.  Under he wore a crisp white oxford and black suspenders.  He loosened his tie a bit and walked over to the fridge, off to the right behind the largest shelf/wall.  His television and record player were immediately to the right of the door. 

"Pick a piece of vinyl and put that needle on it, baby."

Harvey pulled a bottle of Volnay Premier Cru out for her and poured her a glass in the meantime.  It was a type of red wine, specific to the Volnay area of France.  Simultaneously he took a stack of take out menus off the top of his fridge and began flipping through them for something that sounded good.  He looked at the bottle of wine for a little inspiration.  Italian did sound good, and it always went well with wine.  He was debating on having a glass himself.

"How about Italian?  I been having a hankering for some risotto this week."

He walked back to the living room with the wine bottle and her glass.  He handed her the glass and set the bottle down on his coffee table.  He pulled the menus out of his back pocket and tossed them down on the coffee table as well.  Once his hands were freed up he went to his wet bar, which was not far from his record player and stereo.  He poured himself a gin and tonic for the moment. 

[Deleted]

Standing, she curled her arm through his, grateful for the slight block of wind his height allowed her. Tugging her scarf up, she was glad her coffee cup still retained a bit of heat against her gloved hand.

Reflexively, her fingertips went for his new lit cigarette, a quick puff stolen off it before she held the smoke before him to take back. "Old habits die hard, you know. I barely smoke anymore. I think you're one of the few that knows I ever even did it, Harvey." She murmurs, her breath puffing cold in the air.

Thankfully their trek in the cold is short and swift, the elevator ride welcoming as they start to thaw. Heading into the apartment, she relaxes at the familiarity of it. Always music, always cozy. They'd both respectively altered their own living spaces through the years, and both homes now quite adeptly reflected the owner's personalty to a fault.

Covering her mouth with the back of her hand as she stifled a yawn, gloves came off, and were tucked into a pocket, her scarf unwound, jacket undone and given to her host. She'd worn something more casual today, not expecting to bump into any familiar faces. Thick grey leggings, a soft pale blue tunic sweater, her hair plaited over her shoulder. It was a soft, more casual side that few ever saw of the woman. Laughing at him having her choose something, she started scanning the wall of music, pausing here and there to read, and decide.

"You always give me the hard choices! If we're going for Italian....how about a bit of classic rock? I can bet you'll find something for us." Taking the glass of proffered wine, she first inhales deeply before sipping it. "You always shock me with your singleness. For your taste in music, and fantastic pairings of beverage to food..." She smiles wistfully for a second, thinking of who taught him, and her. "Your mother would be proud, you know." She adds quietly, on how Mrs. Bullock had been a mother, and important woman to her, as well. Even when she'd gone overseas, she'd always had a mind to send something back to his mother and sisters for the holidays, or whenever something caught her eye that she thought they'd like.

"Risotto sounds fantastic. Veal, or what were you thinking?" Pouring over the menus, she focused on one of them, waiting until he came back and they could come to a consensus on what to order as she curled up in one of the chairs so familiar to her.

[Deleted]

He smiled to her a bit about the music. He turned over to his shelves.

"Let's see then."

He had it all categorized by genre and then artist. He went to a shelf at chest level and began flipping through some albums. He paused momentarily at her comment about him being single. If only she understood how many times she simultaneously broke his heart and put it back together. He knew she would never break it intentionally, but it happened. He pulled the album out he had paused at. He couldn't help but feel it was a little ironic. One of the last songs on the album always made him think of her.

He turned back in her direction walking over to his turntables. He was careful and precise when he set a needle on a record.

"Me neither, baby. Then again, since the Jane Doe thing I've not really felt great dealing with women."

He, of course, was referring to when Jane Doe had locked him down in a basement for a few weeks and made him watch while she lived his life better than he ever had. That was roughly a year ago by now. Abigail Wilburn, the police psychiatrist, whom had fallen in love with Jane Doe's version of Harvey, had even left the department after all of it. She could not bear to look at a man she had fallen in love with who was never the real one.

Harvey just buried the pain of that. It was pretty surreal to see someone else be a better Harvey. He witnessed every moment of it, including intimate moments. Since then Harvey had lost a lot of weight and started taking better care of himself. He had always had good taste, but he never really showed it. This last year he had worked hard to outdo Jane Doe's Harvey Bullock. The next step would be successfully getting a woman as wonderful as Abigail to fall in love with him.

The greatest of all the women on this earth, at least in his own opinion, was sitting over there on his couch. And she already loved him dearly, falling in love with him would be the greater challenge, but Harvey would never put anything upon her like that. He did not to risk one of his very best friends.

The turn table began to spin with The Shins' Port of Morrow album.  He turned to her grabbing his drink and taking a sip of it.

"Its not classic rock, but I think its nice and you'll like it.  As long as you like it, then I'm happy, baby."

He finally sat beside her on the couch, turning his torso toward her, his tie hanging around his neck still tied, just loosened a little.  The glint of a gold chain with a charm that Selina gave him after she got back from France could be seen after he undid the top two buttons of his shirt.  Little did he know, she stole it special just for him.

"Thanks.  I think she's proud of those girls of hers, too, including you.  She loved you like you were one of her own, y'know."

It was true.  Selina was always welcome in the Bullock home.  His three sisters were all quite grown up now.  Gretchen was a science and math teacher at a school in Metropolis and the head coach of a girls ice hockey team and happily married to the coach of the boys hockey team.  Susan was also happily married and worked as a speech therapist and gave piano lessons on the side for extra income in Star City.  Little Laverne, the youngest, remained single and resides in Gotham.  She had majored in music at Gotham State University and currently toured the world as an opera singer, so while she still technically lived in Gotham she was not in town very often anymore.  She has been a chorus member for a few years but recently made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Micaela in Carmen.  She once wanted to be a police officer like her big brother, but Harvey insisted she go study music.  She had inherited their mother's voice, by far, and Harvey was not going to let her go waste that gift like he did.  His mother had wished for him to go to school and use that baritone voice of his to see the world, but he was more interested in keeping them safe.  He had no regrets.
 
Harvey smiled to Selina again and raised his glass at her.

"Ah, you know me, too, well.  You know I could never in my life say no to veal."

Harvey finally took his hat off and started to set it on the coffee table but put it on Selina's head.

"Hmm...  I don't know.  That's kind of my thing, I don't know if you could really pull it off like I do, here-"

Harvey finally took his tie off and looped it around her own neck, retied it, and sat back a little.

"Maybe.  You'd need a longer brim though.  Did you know the Fedora was originally a woman's hat?  It eventually sort of became a men's hat as well, and nearly primarily."

[Deleted]

She knew she shouldn't have opened thatcan of worms, but now that it was cracked, she nodded simply, understanding. She had her own faults, and issues with relationships as well. And the press seemed to make it much more interesting, well, than it was.

As a teen, she hadn't had a boyfriend. She'd toyed with men, but never 'gone steady' one could say. An all girls boarding school shot down the idea of dating, even if there was an all boys school they partnered with. Being there a year didn't help, either. It wasn't until she hit the dry land across the pond had anything...happened. Call her a bit of a romantic, or a head-over-heals sort, but Selina fell hard for her ex. And then realized things weren't always sunshine and sweetness.

So she returned to Gotham, the only person she'd kept constant contact with being Harvey, as well as his family. "We've both had our romantic roller-coasters." She added quietly, rolling the stem of her glass between fingertips. Perhaps is she didn't do what she did, her and one of her closest, and only friends could have made it. But with him...doing his job, she felt the inner cringe that it would 'taint' him. Taint his seeking for justice, and change him.

And that was something she couldn't do to him. So they walked this line, the closest thing to being herself she could manager, without revealling all.

"You know I'm always looking for new things...and The Shins! You can't go wrong with them." Yawning again, she scooted to allow him space to settle on the couch, settling in. Clinking their glasses, she smiled at the chain he wore. She had found it, made it a point to slip it from the jeweler with ease, and packaged sweetly, it had been shipped with a note to her friend back in Gotham. And he still wore it, years late, and with pride.

"Then you order!" She reached and slapped the menu against his chest, already having pilfered his phone from his pocket and setting it atop the menu.

"I can still remember that day. Your mother...was something else. Even that she'd been arrested, and was still...normal helped me out so much. Even after I got that scholarship to the school in Italy, and we wrote back and forth...she just...didn't question. She saw a need, and just did. I wish I could thank her, again." But she couldn't. Mrs. Bullock had taken in the angry teen, and shown her what love could be. That her own hellcat ways were ok. Maybe a phase, maybe not, but no one was perfect. Even when she had amassed the proper funds to get the hell out of the boarding school, she'd passed it off as a scholarship, not a five-finger discount courtsey of her snobby housemates.

And even now, there was a moment of poignant silence as the two remembered the vivid, vibrant woman, who had lived a full life.

Clinking her glass to his, Selina's vision all of a sudden went dark. "Hey! You know that won't fit me!" She squawked, shifting the brim of his hat upward, so she could see. Smiling, she shook her head at the tie, too. "I didn't know that, but I'm betting you weren't aware I do have a Fedora in my closet. A few, to be exact, and you're correct on the longer brim. I think with the proper attitude, women can pull of most anything. Hence that menswear shift in the runway. But I'll take it, if you're offering, you know..." she teased him, fingertips running along his chest, and looping beneath the gold chain he wore, charm still intact.

"I'm glad you still wear this." It had been a gift when he'd made detective. A small charm, that she'd been told, would grant the wearer protection. And even if he were as cautious and foolhardy, never admitting to what he was short on, she wanted to make sure he had it, and wore it. So far it had served him well. At least in the protection area.

[Deleted]

"Oof!"

Harvey caught the menu on his chest and then took the phone.

"Fine."

He quickly made the call. Within about two minutes he hung up. At the end he also put in for some tiramisu and cannolis.

He set it all back down and looked back to her taking a long drink of this gin and tonic.

"She was a woman that didn't care for too much praise or thanks, but I think she appreciated it, and I think she still does."

Delilah Bullock had been a stubborn woman as well as a graceful one. Anyone that met her had no doubts as to where Harvey got it from. Once a Bullock, always a Bullock. Some of that probably rubbed off on Selina.

He huffed a little smile out at her protests to him putting the fedora and tie on her. He eventually took the Fedora off her head and tossed it toward his coat rack, it ended up catching on it and resting as though it belonged there. He left the tie for the moment.

"Your hair is too nice to cover up with a hat any way."

When she reached for his chain he smiled a bit.

"Why would I ever take it off. I always loved it. It's perfect."

Just like you.

Harvey took another sip of his drink and then suddenly his expression changed like he had just remembered something.

"Oh stay right here. I found something the other day and I think you would like to see it."

Harvey disappeared, setting his drink on the table. He returned from his bedroom about a minute later with the box.

"I thought I had lost this years ago, but I found it buried away in a box of some of my old stuff my mom had packed up before she passed. I could not believe I ran across it."

He set it on the coffee table before them and looked to her.

"I wasn't going to open it without you. I can't imagine what is in here, but here it goes."

He blew a little dust off of it and then slowly opened the box. It was their dumb little box. They put things in it with the intent that one day they would open it when they had gotten older to help them remember their youth.

The first thing Harvey pulled out was a small stack of photos, he leaned back and flipped through them with her. The first one was all the Bullock kids and a demure Selina sitting on Harvey's knee in the photo. Harvey was dressed as Santa and looked a little annoyed by it. The next photo was Harvey with all three of his sisters putting make up on him while Selina and his mother looked on, holding back laughter. The next was Harvey at the hospital with two thumbs up, his first work related bullet wound. The next, Selina and the Bullock girls having a tea party. They continued like this, just silly memories. The last was a little strip of photos from a photo booth of Harvey and Selina. They did a few silly faces and on the last one Selina kissed him and it was obvious he was caught by surprise.

"Oh. My. God. I haven't seen a picture of me at this age in years."

[Deleted]

Giving a thumbs up after their order was placed, Selina sipped at her wine, thankful for the little things in life. "Your mother was wonderful, and didn't like the attention drawn to her when it could be lavished on her children. Selfless, and amazing." Selina countered.

Even as they bantered back and forth about his hat, she shook her head. "I just braided it. Thought a coffee and a walk around the park would wake me up, but this is even better." Smiling up at him, she turned away slightly, her cheeks darkening. How could she respond to that, nonetheless, what could she respond to that?

Leaning slightly so he could get up, she was curious as to what he was talking about. Until she spotted the well worn box, her lips parting slightly in surprise.

"You're kidding me! You still have this?!" Blinking, she set her own glass of wine aside, she scooted closer so they could look at the photos together. Somehow she'd been able to get out of the boarding school enough times to visit. Weekends, weeknights, it didn't matter. Mrs. Bullock never turned her away. It was like a home away from home. And after that arrest, she had tried to keep out of lock up.

She even remembered when she had gotten the phone call Harvey had been shot. It hadn't taken her long to get out of class, and get a ride to Gotham General. At eighteen, she was legally allowed to do what she wanted, only biding her time until she had enough for her 'scholarship.'

The Bullock family's love for music had urged her into art history, a different but not so distance cousin in the arts. And why not Italy, France, and London for schooling? As much as it had pained her, she wanted to put as many miles as possible between her and the city of sorrows.

Each photo brought back more and more memories, an envelope with her name on it tucked near the bottom, in her own hand, and another one dedicated to Harvey, in clearly what was his mother's hand.

"Oh wow...I just...some of these photos!" She exclaimed, pointing to the last set with the two of them pulling faces, and of her kissing him. Perhaps she'd left, for other reasons, too. Out of fear that she would end up unhappy like her parents, even though they had loved eachother at one point. "You read your letter, I'll read mine." As she handed over his, her fingertips skimming over something else in his envelope, other than the paper.

[Deleted]

Once Harvey saw the envelope and felt it his heart rate went up just a little. He knew what that was and he knew his mother. She would have wanted him to have it.

First, he read it to himself quietly. He, over the course of reading it, leaned back into the couch more and more, his expression becoming more speechless as he read on. Finally he got to the end and, of course, looked inside the envelope.

"Aww, Ma..."

Harvey was, at this point in his life, impervious to crying, but he couldn't help but allow one, just one little tear well at the corner of his eye. He was quick to rub his eyes and try to hide it.

Harvey finished his drink and got up to pour another, leaving the letter on the coffee table.

Dear Harvey,

I don't know exactly when you'll read this, but I know it will likely be after I have left this world.  You'll see I wrote a letter for you and Selina each, so I am hoping you will be sitting together going through this little box of yours and thinking about all memories you both have so sweetly preserved here. 

When I first met Selina I did not make any assumptions of either of you, nor would I ever.  However, after many years of doing my best not to meddle I cannot help but feel the urge to, finally, say something on the matter of the two of you.

Harvey, you love her, you always have and you always will.  I know you and I know that you would never say that to her because she is your friend and perhaps your best one, at that.  She brings out the best in you.  Either way, if you ever decide it is time to act upon the wishes of your heart - I have left you my engagement ring.  If, for whatever reason, that is not a possibility for either of you then I hope she always remains your friend and when you are ready to put that ring upon some lucky lady's finger that she has Selina's approval.  Her taste is impeccable, and I should know, I taught her how to distinguish a few flavors.  All I ask Harvey is that you allow yourself some happiness.  How bad could it honestly be?

Love Always,

Mom
-Delilah Bullock 

[Deleted]

Taking a moment to shift her focus to the man beside her, she could just feel the change before she saw it. He was starting to bottle up his feelings, but the one tear slipped out. Through the years, she'd found out when to pull him back to shore, and when to let him drift. For now, she'd let him get another drink. But she wasn't going to let him go so far she'd have to have a repeat of that one night.

So as she slid a fingernail between the envelope's edge, and finally understood as her eyes took in the all too familiar handwriting.

Dear Selina,
My son, as I know you have noticed, buries his feelings. I fear he will bury them deep enough that he will never be able to dig them back up. You are one of the only people I have ever witnessed that has put him at ease. He may have never told you much about his father but he was a terrible man. He is the reason Theo is the man he is. He strives to be everything his father never was: a just and honest man.

He's spent much of his life caring for so many women in his life that he knows not how to allow a woman to care for him. Please, I beg of you, if you can live up to the task please accept it. I always thought you two were right for eachother, but that is for the two of you to decide, not me. I hope you two always, at the very least, remain friends. And if there is ever anyone special in his life I expect that you will ensure she can handle the task of loving him as he would love her. Also, please make him get his suits tailored, sometimes he looks like an unmade bed. I know he's a hard working man, but a well dressed and tailored man is a happy one. I don't know how many times I have tried to get that through that thick head of his. Maybe he'll listen to you.
Love,
Delilah

Theo, as she had taken to calling him, probably didn't know the letters Selina and Delilah had exchanged when she was 'at school.' Even though she really was at school, there was a lot more going on that she hadn't said, too. She had mentioned Marc a few times, but never to the extent of how serious it was. And even then, Marc was an asshole when she had chanced the time differences to catch her Theo after a shift.

Blinking her own eyes, Selina felt the waterworks start. Tilting her head back, she realized she still had her own letter to read; the one addressed in her own hand. That one could wait. Slumping back against the ever-comfy sofa, she sighed, the sound low in her chest. It made sense. She had tried to send him suits when she had come across something that just..made her think of him. She'd even broken into his apartment a few times (for a cop, he was pretty lax about his window locks), and taken inventory on his things, making sure he looked good. And still....it made sense. From that very moment when he'd pushed her hair from her face, he'd had her loyalty. Her love. And the tidbits that Delilah had given her had stuck; and even when the woman had been gone, Selina had tried to make time for the closest, safest place in her life, that was not just a place, but a walking, breathing man. Setting her own letter down, she reached over to peek at the one addressed to Harvey.


If she had already felt a second loss of the woman who had taken over for her mother, she now felt torn, as if the rug had literally been pulled out from beneath her. Setting that letter down, she sat there on the edge of the couch, glad her hair was pulled off her face, and wishing it was there to cover her eyes in the same breath.

Delilah Bullock had never judged her, just as she had always felt. And...the wise woman knew more than she ever cared to really admit. Even as Selina moved away, she had understood that there was a reason. When Selina moved back..and kept her distance, but then failed so horribly at staying away...she understood, taking the young adult into her arms as she confessed how horrible she was, without giving away any of the specifics. There had just been open arms, and a listening ear as Selina had lamented the duality in her heart.

After her tears had finally ceased, the bright-eyed mother of four, (or five, one could argue), held Selina at arm's length and gave the younger woman a hard once-over, her words rushing back to Selina's ears, "If you've done something that reproachful, child, and you're showing this much remorse over it, our Theo will understand. Just don't let it stand in the way of something that could be. Remember that. Take chance. I know you're not hesitant to do so."

Gathering enough breath, Selina lifted her head from where it had fallen on her knees, and glanced over at him. Standing too more energy than she had; she dug deep to walk the short distance to where he kept his wet bar. Sneaking in beside him, she reached for a bottle she knew he kept for her: Jameson. Hands shaking, she took down two shot glasses, filling them before setting down the bottle, and slamming one of them. It had been years since she'd willingly done shots, but this moment gave her reason.

"She certainly was the most ballsy, classiest bitch I ever knew, Theo." Selina murmured, finally raising her tear-stained face to his. Refilling her shot glass, she held one up to him. It was a strong emotion that would cause Selina Kyle to turn to alcohol, and she wasn't only turning at this point, she was spinning. "To the Queen!"

[Deleted]

Harvey looked back at Selina over his shoulder, Ma got her good too. It was like a punch in the gut. She'd been gone for over ten years. Harvey couldn't believe they had just now found that box and those letters. All that time passed.

He was about to just start guzzling down some of the Jameson when Selina got up and poured them each a shot. A woman after his own heart, in so many ways. Harvey sighed and held the shot up.

"To the Queen of the Night. They broke the mold when they made that woman."

The sting of the shot didn't even get to Harvey like it normally would. He looked at Selina and was just about to say something when a knock came at the door. For a split second he was about to yell something about going the hell away, but then he remembered the food. He gave Selina an apologetic look and headed to the door, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. The man on the other side looked in a hurry. Harvey gave him his money and a generous tip. A moment later he was heading over to the couch again with two brown paper bags. One with their food, the other with desert. He busied himself with setting it all out and going to retrieve plates and utensils.

He really didn't know what to say. There was so much to be said that it was overwhelming to say anything right now. He set a plate up for Selina and then one for himself. The risotto took his senses over for a moment. He looked over to Selina again and managed a smile.

"What a night, eh? And we just started eatin'."

Harvey could never resist to opportunity to break silence with a joke.