DC: I am Bruce Wayne

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"Do exactly as you like. That is the true meaning of pleasure. Pleasure leads to joy and joy leads to happiness."

GILGAMESH (FATE ZERO)

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Convincing Alfred of adopting Selina wasn't as hard a task as Bruce imagined it to be. All he had to do was just make him believe that Selina wasn't really a thief and was just trying to steal before to get some food since she was hungry which was more or less true except for the fact that Selina seemed to have some kind of special grudge with the Falcone family for some reason as Bruce understood, from their conversation on why she was trying to steal from a gang instead of an ordinary rich person.

Alfred of course had his doubts about the entire thing and at one point even thought that Selina could even be a spy or a ploy from one of their enemies (the man had grown really paranoid after the murder of the Wayne couple). But after a few minutes of heartfelt requests from a cute starry-eyed Bruce and slight emotional blackmail about him being all alone and having no friends after his parent's death, the butler melted like pure butter.

He ultimately gave in and promised Bruce to take care of Selina's situation first thing in the morning and adopt her officially and legally to make sure that she could remain here freely in the mansion.

This freed Bruce of all worries since he trusted Alfred. He knew that his trusty butler would always fulfill his promises and do anything to make sure that Selina gets adopted into his family even if it means bending the laws with their wealth and influence. His universe's Alfred was cool that way. Maybe it was because of Bruce 'almost' dying in this world after being shot in that alley that Alfred became this paranoid and loose with his morals when it came to Bruce, but whatever it was, he was glad for it.

As Bruce was lying on his bed in a carefree manner that night, pleased with himself for having manipulated Alfred and successfully getting what he wanted, a sudden sound of small footsteps got him out of his reverie as he looked at the closed door of his room.

"Who's there?" Bruce said, taking the bat-tool on his nightstand into his hands, ready to shoot down anything that moves.

"Umm. It's me, Selina." A small mosquito-like voice came out from outside the door.

"Kitty? What are you doing here at this time of the night?" Bruce asked, still not moving due to being suspicious of the voice. He had seen far too many horror and thriller movies to just believe any voice he hears during the night and open his door.

"I have never slept alone at night. I always used to sleep with the other girls back at the orphanage, so I was a little afr... uhh, troubled, yeah I was troubled and couldn't fall asleep, so I thought that I could come here." Selina said from behind the door.

Bruce almost laughed aloud at her words mainly because of how she was trying so hard not to admit that she was just afraid to sleep alone.

"Fine. I guess you can come in." Bruce said as he opened the door for Selina but still held on to his bat-tool, just in case.

Coming in, Selina quietly moved to the big comfortable bed and laid down on it like it was her private bed.

"Hey, that's my bed," Bruce complained, annoyed at Selina for not even taking his permission before laying down on HIS bed.

"Huh? But you let me enter yourself. I thought you knew that I wanted to sleep with you." Selina said, not at all realizing the potential double meaning hiding behind her childish words.

But Bruce also ignored them right now and just looked at her with an annoyed expression.

"What? You can sleep too. You can take that side while I can sleep on this side. I promise I don't scratch or anything, although there was that one time when a bully tried to cut my hair when I was asleep..." Selina innocently said as she began to remember the details of the event when she had almost scratched the eyes off a boy.

"*Sigh* Okay I guess you can sleep on my bed for today but that's only for today. I am a man who likes his privacy, so you should sleep on your own bed from tomorrow," Bruce said as he looked at Selina seriously.

"Yeah, yeah sure," Selina said carelessly dismissing his words as she pulled on his blanky to make some space for herself in it.

"By the way, how did you know the way to my room? I don't think I told you that, right?" Bruce asked as he kept the bat-tool on his nightstand close to him and pulled on his blanket as well, making sure that he had some left for himself.

"Well, Alfred had told me where his room was before he went to sleep. So, when I couldn't sleep, I first went to Alfred's room, he told me that I should instead sleep with you if I am having nightmares and showed me where your room was. So I came straight here." Selina said as she covered half her face with his blanket and stared at him like a small adorable cat.

Bruce was feeling a lot of emotions at the same time right now. He not only felt annoyed at not being the first choice of Selina to come to when she was afraid but also happy that at least his butler was a good wingman and sent Selina to him, although it might be due to Alfred not having the slightest idea of his master being a low-key pervert with a head filled with the lewdest thoughts of the twenty-first century.

"I see," Bruce answered as he quietly closed his eyes after switching off the bed lamp.

"Bruce? You awake?" Selina asked after some time of only silence permeating the darkness of the room.

"Yeah."

"Do you ever miss them, your parents I mean?" She asked out of nowhere.

"... A little, I guess," Bruce said, although he was talking about his real parents, not the Wayne couple.

"Do you ever wish that you could meet again, like even if one of them didn't want to meet you?" She continued with a voice that sounded like it was carrying a lot of hidden emotion in it.

"It doesn't matter what I want or wish Kitty. Reality is always disappointing. Nothing ever goes as planned in this accursed world. The longer you live, the more you realize that the only things that truly exist in this reality are merely pain... But, we have to make our path in that reality with our own efforts, create our own protecting bubble with happiness even in the harshness of it. That is what life is about. Enjoying the little things." Bruce combined a couple of quotes to not only encourage her but also to remind himself why he was trying so hard in this new life.

"I-I see. That's deep, you know. Maybe you can be a good politician, tiger. I heard that they can also give good speeches in public." She smiled as she tried to imagine kid Bruce with a hat giving a speech about reality in front of the entire city while she was stealing everyone's wallets.

"Thanks, but tiger?" Bruce asked as he ignored the quip and raised one of his brows in curiosity at the nickname even though Selina herself couldn't see due to the darkness inside the room.

"Well, you call me Kitty, so I thought I should give you a nickname too. You seem like a good leader and you are bold and courageous as you stood against even those thugs in that alley. Also, you are so cute in a different way than normal and a big softy on the inside, thus the name tiger." Selina explained.

"Wow, that explanation was deeper than my advice." Bruce laughed at her as he could almost imagine her pouting in the dark at his response.

"Whatever," Selina grumbled.

"Now, go to sleep little kitty or this tiger might try its luck on hunting you." Bruce teased.

"Best of luck with that. Catching a kitty is really hard, even for a tiger... By the way, thanks Bruce, for everything." Selina said as she slightly touched Bruce's back with her finger to show her appreciation before quickly retracting back her hand.

Bruce didn't say anything. He didn't need to. He knew that he had done something good today. He had not only rescued an orphan hopefully earning him some much-needed good karma for all the psychos he was gonna kill later in his life but also he had secured an adorable little kitty for himself, a kitty that hopefully would one day turn into his own sultry cat. At least he was secretly hoping for that to happen.

The silence continued in the darkness of the room as both of them slowly fell asleep with each having their thoughts swirling in their minds.

Of course, Bruce had another problem the next morning when he found out that Selina had hugged him sometime in her sleep and had placed her hand somewhere really close to a place where kids like her shouldn't be allowed to place her hand at this age.

Bruce was narrowly able to save his own life and freedom from the interdimensional FBI that morning only due to him being eight years old, the same age as her making him unworthy to truly get morning wood.

Bruce survived that day but he had no idea that it was only the first day and that sleepover was only the first of many with countless more to come.

Of course, Alfred didn't know about all this since he as a dutiful butler and a guardian just wanted to give his young master a friend and a playmate. So, after waking up, the first thing he did was call up a trusted law firm associated with the Wayne family and had them prepare a meeting with Selina's orphanage.

He was not only going to adopt Selina as his daughter according to his master's wishes but also make sure that there was no corruption in this orphanage of hers. Because the one crime even he couldn't ignore in Gotham was child abuse and trafficking. And he was gonna make sure that his future daughter and friend of the heir of the Wayne family was in no way linked to a heinous crime like that.

Even his young master had permitted him to use any means possible to adopt Selina and make sure that the orphanage's kids are not being abused in any way, so he was gonna do exactly that even if it meant taking control of every orphanage in Gotham. Yes, the Waynes had enough money to do that without even making a single dent in its deep, deep coffers.

"I think the future of the Wayne family is in very capable hands, Master Wayne. I hope that both you and Lady Martha can rest assured knowing that the Wayne family would never decline under a young master. I'll make sure of that. Nothing would happen to him as long as I am alive, I promise." Alfred said as he placed a bouquet in front of the Wayne family mausoleum where the two Wayne parents were buried.

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