An Unforgiving Anniversary Part 7

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Bruce's POV

LOCATION: Wayne Manor

The Grandfather clock loudly chimes at 8pm,

I feel my heart sink a little I suppose it's time to visit my parents but it gets harder every year but as I get up to go down to the Bat cave Tim seems to panic

"What are you doing?" he exclaims,

As if I don't know what they've all been up to all day

"It's getting late Tim and I've got an appointment to keep" I smile at Tim as I head down the staircase but much to my surprise I find Natasha and Dick sparring

"Hey Bruce god is that the time already?" Dick says,

I feel the tension leave Tim when he sees the pair of them.

Dick gives the boy a small smile and rubs the top of his head

"Come on little bird lets grab something to eat I'm thinking something covered in grease and salt" Dick says to Tim,

A giant smile appears on Tim's face "Great Idea!" he practically squeaks,

But before he leaves Tim turns around to me "Good Luck" he whispers and quickly winks leaving me an Natasha alone in the Bat Cave.

I turn to Natasha she was in her work out gear but she had hardly broken a sweat

"Uh Natasha I was wondering if you would like to come with me tonight to visit my parents we've known each other for a while now and I think it's about time you came along"

She looks at me curiously since I've never let anyone come with me but eventually she gives in

"Sure let me get dressed" she replies I needed to get dressed too I take my shirt off as Natasha walks behind a screen to get dressed.

Although I'm not one to peek but I spot Natasha's reflection in a mirror as she takes off her shirt,

I've always been captivated by her beauty but this time I didn't like what I see old, deep scars covered her porcelain back along with some fresh bruises but those scars I'd never noticed how bad they were 

"You like what you see?" she says with just a bit of spite suddenly I felt really guilty like a child that had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar,

My face feels hot I realise that I must be turning red

"Sorry but I've never seen those scars before" I apologize as she finishes putting her outfit on

"Harsh lessons from my Red Room days" she says but her voice is very soft I try and glimpse her expression but I couldn't make it out

"Did they do that to you?" I ask her,

We rarely talked about it because it made us both angry I wanted to hurt all of them every single one of them that ever laid a hand on her

"The long one on my left shoulder blade was from a whip when I was punished for showing mercy to a girl I was fighting, the deep one near my rib cage was from a bullet from a rifle ten years ago the soviets tried to assassinate me for deflecting to the west each of those scars all have their own story".

Natasha Romanoff had to be the toughest woman to have ever lived

"And I don't suppose you got those bruises fighting Freeze today whilst Tim distracted me" I tell her

Natasha looks round at me with a surprised expression on her face

"You knew!" she yells,

I smile at her "Tim's not a great liar" I tell her then turn even redder as I realize that I'm almost stark naked,

An evil smirk transpires across Natasha's face "Get dressed you've got an appointment to keep" she says then turns away to give me some privacy.

The time of 10:48 was coming up quickly the exact time in which they were murdered in cold blood,

This place Crime Alley it bought back so many bad memories but suddenly I feel a reassuringly strong grip on my shoulder

"Are you sure you want me here I wouldn't want to intrude" Natasha warmly says but I was sure I wanted her here

"No, no I want you here they would've wanted you here, I know they would've liked you" I tell her and it was true because despite her assassin past Natasha Romanoff is a good person.

I place two red roses on the pavement and kneel as a sign of respect,

I sense Natasha kneel down next to me in a similar manner,

I have to tell her it's now or never

"Natasha what do you think about us?" I ask her.

I notice her icy blue eyes widen just a little bit if you didn't know Romanoff that well you probably would have missed it

"Well we make a great team and truthfully I never thought we would be friends when we first met in everyone's eyes I was a murderer and a liar" I grab her hand gently and squeeze it

"Never to me Natasha even when we first met and I found out about all of the bad stuff that the Black Widow did I- I could never just bring myself to see a monster I saw quite the opposite actually especially that time where you took a bullet for me"

I recall that showdown with the Joker when I nearly lost her then those incidents with the Scarecrow, Ras al Ghul and then Bane it killed me a bit inside I mean don't get me wrong I knew Black Widow could handle herself perfectly fine but still I couldn't bare it if anything ever happened to her

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that meeting you has been a moment in my life which I would never take back, not for anything in the world"

I look at Natasha's face it looked like an emotionless blank slate to anyone that didn't know how to read her but I could see the truth she looked contented

"I feel the same way" she says, but what does that mean?

"Natasha what I'm trying to say is that I- I lo" but before I can finish my sentence I sense someone else in the alley

"Batman?" the voice says softly almost like a purr.

I turn around to see the other woman that I "loved" Selina Kyle AKA Cat woman

"Selina what are you doing here?" I ask her

"Crime Ally is a dangerous place I always make sure that things are ok in this area" she replies,

I knew she was staying on the right side of the law at the moment.

I turn to Natasha who has a sort of smug look on her face almost like she knew Cat Woman might be around her tonight 

"Go and get her tiger" she jokes but I was going to tell Natasha tonight that I loved her and although I did love Selina and if I had to choose it had to be Natasha we've just been through so much together

"Like you said Bats they would want you to be happy I'm your best friend I want you to be happy" with every word I feel my heart break a bit then I realise that I've just been locked in the Friend Zone.

Then maybe she just wants to be friends and I would much rather have her as my friend rather than lose her forever,

I look back at Cat Woman

"Widow I- I" but as I turn back around she was gone. 

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Tim's POV

LOCATION: Wayne Manor

I lay anxiously on the sofa,

I know that I should have probably gone to bed ages ago but I was too nervous about what Bruce was going to say to Natasha tonight.

Alfred notices my uneasiness

"Master Timothy be patient they've only been gone for a few hours" Alfred tells me but I couldn't help myself if things went well tonight it's possible that Natasha could officially become my mom.

Our attentions are drawn towards the door when the sound of a key being turned in the lock,

I jump off of the sofa to see who it was, and it was Natasha.

I try and think what to say she didn't look any different emotionally but then again she never did.

"Hello Tim are you ok?" she asks as I realise that I must be standing there staring at her like an idiot

"Oh I'm fine I was going to ask you the same thing" she narrows her eyes at me suspiciously

"I'm fine why do you ask?" I knew there and then that he hadn't told her,

Dammit Bruce.

"What happened tonight?" I ask her there had to be a reason he didn't tell her

"Well we stopped in Crime Alley I let him pay his respects to his parents we talked a bit and then we ran into Cat Woman and who knows the big guy could be changing his relationship status" I find it hard to hide my reaction

"What's wrong?" she asks I mean don't get me wrong I like Selina Kyle but she wasn't Natasha Romanoff,

I bite the inside of my mouth to hide the sadness that I was feeling

"N- n Nothing It's just been a long day I think I'll head to bed" I turn around to leave when she grabs my shoulder and enwraps me in a hug

"You would tell me if there was something wrong don't make me find out for myself" this felt odd she was never much of a hugger but I felt warm and safe in her arms it physically hurt to lie to her

"No Nat everything is cool promise" I don't know if she bought it or not I look up at her face but as usual I just couldn't read her not like Bruce can

"Well Goodnight then" she heads to the entrance to the Bat Cave,

She would most likely go out on another patrol before she headed home.

"Master Timothy are you alright" I didn't realise that Alfred had snuck up behind me

"It's just not fair" I admit to Alfred

"They both deserve happiness it's not up to us to dictate where they find it the universe works in mysterious ways we all know that better than anyone it's just up to us to stand back and watch how it unfolds and be there for them no matter what"

THE END?????

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No of course this isn't the end book 2 I coming along I'm just struggling with a name for it at the moment but stick around because there will be a teaser chapter coming soon that will tie into the next book.

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