black cat | bruce wayne
pairing: bale!bruce x reader
word count: 2,6k
summary: where y/n finds kittens
a/n: every few months we gather here to celebrate another one of my hyperfixations, this time christian bale as batman! no idea if this fandom is still alive, but i had the need to write for him so i did & i hope you enjoy <3 fyi: i only watched the nolan batman movies so i can’t say if this could be read with any other batman in mind
warnings: none
universe: dc
The rain stops pattering against the window as Bruce drives his Lamborghini into Wayne Manor’s underground garage, the sound of the engine reverberating through it. The windshield wipers automatically turn off, and he parks next to his other overly expensive cars. As soon as he turns off the engine, he exhales tiredly. The night was short, Gotham needed Batman, and this morning he had three important meetings at Wayne Enterprises that he had to attend – one reason he’s all the happier to finally be home. The other is that he spotted your car in the garage, meaning you’re already back from work. Not even the bad weather can dampen his excitement of spending a lovely cozy afternoon and then evening with you.
The interior lights come on as he opens the car door and gets out. After locking the car with a beep, he stuffs the key in his trousers and makes his way inside. With every step, his polished leather dress shoes tap against the marble floor. Since Bruce didn’t get wet – entering and exiting his car in the safety of a garage –, he can easily walk into the house without worrying about making a mess. Even if he did, he has employees who would take care of that.
“I’m back!”, Bruce calls across the entrance hall, where he’s just entered through the door to the side leading to the underground parking garage. He receives no answer, however, and heads toward the kitchen, where he would expect to find Alfred making himself some tea at this time of day. To his surprise, he finds no one there either, only two abandoned mugs, the tea cold. Usually, Alfred greets him the second he enters, because he always notices when a car drives onto the property. And when you are around, it takes you a maximum of ten seconds to notice that he’s there.
Bruce is genuinely surprised that no one is greeting him today and slightly concerned, too.
He heads toward the large living room, loosening his tie on the way, hoping to find you or Alfred there, but the closer he gets to the room, the louder the patter of rain becomes. Bruce is surprised to see the elegant large paned doors to the terrace open, the expensive marble floor in front of them wet, the curtains fluttering in the light breeze. As he approaches the doors with the intent of closing them, he spots two figures in the distance at the gazebo in the large garden: Alfred, holding an umbrella over himself, and another over you while you are crouching.
“What are you doing?!”, Bruce calls over to you, briefly startling you as he had to be pretty loud so you could hear him over the rain and the distance. You don’t get up from your squatting position but simply turn toward him and gesture for him to come over. Bruce doesn’t think twice; after all, he has no idea what’s going on and why his girlfriend and butler are standing in his garden in the pouring rain.
He walks towards you, almost completely soaked after just a few steps. He doesn’t care though, he just wants to find out what the hell is happening. You meet him halfway, Alfred having trouble following you quickly enough on the wet grass with the umbrellas so you don’t get wet. However, Bruce can tell that you probably rushed out here without thinking in the first place, and Alfred had to run after you with the umbrella, because your hair is a little damp and there are a few droplets of rain on your black blazer and white blouse.
“I apologize, Master Wayne, but I couldn’t stop her!”, Alfred tells him, seemingly out of breath and feeling bad for letting the lady of the house into the rain. “I tried stopping her, but you know there is no use once she’s set her mind to something.”
To say Bruce is confused is an understatement. Alfred’s apology is unnecessary anyway; you can do whatever you want, and if that means running out into the pouring rain with no real explanation, so be it. Still, Bruce has no idea what’s going on, and it seems to be reflected in his expression because you start giggling. Giggling because he looks so incredibly adorable right now for multiple reasons: 1) his hair completely wet, raindrops dripping from the ends, 2) his tie hanging loosely around his neck, the collar wrinkled on one side, and 3) his face full of concern. At your laughter, the corners of his mouth twitch, but he’s clearly not sure what’s so funny.
“Remember Batsy?”, you ask him, all smiley and giddy, while Alfred holds the umbrella over both of you now. “I think I now know why she disappeared.”
Bruce’s confusion finally evaporates the moment you pull out the cutest little creature he has ever laid his eyes upon, previously hidden under your blazer to protect it from the rain and cold: a black kitten, so small it fits in the palm of your hand. Bruce’s heart melts in an instant and he can’t help but smile.
Of course he remembers Batsy, the black and white cat that has been roaming the estate for a while but suddenly disappeared and left you all worried and sad. Obviously, you were the one to come up with the name, just to tease Bruce who isn’t too fond of cats or any other living being to be exact, and you were also the one to welcome her into his house from time to time. Bruce and Batsy didn’t get along, but as long as you were happy, he was, too. Which only lasted until she disappeared without a trace a week ago and you were imagining the worst scenarios. Bruce couldn’t wrap his head around how one person could care so much for a little being that wasn’t even all that friendly or kind to begin with. The scratches on your hands and arms are proof of that.
‘Love sometimes hurts’, was all you said to him.
“I was reading my book and suddenly heard meowing. Then Batsy was at the window, but she didn’t want to come in. She meowed louder than ever, and when I followed her outside, she showed me her little babies”, you explain, gently stroking the kitten’s little head with your index finger.
Bruce is so utterly unprepared for this whole situation that he can’t help but stand there, hands on hips, speechless. He then lowers his head with a soft laugh and when he looks up back up at you in disbelief, brushes some wet strands of his dark hair from his forehead. He didn’t know it’s possible to love you any more than he already does. But you keep convincing him otherwise.
“W-What?”, is the only thing he manages to say, perplexed.
“Here, take this one inside and start the fire. Alfred and I will bring the others”, you tell him, and he has no other choice than to agree since you basically shove the kitten – gently – into his arms before you even finished the sentence. The little creature comments on this action with a quiet, almost hoarse meow. Bruce’s hand feels huge around the kitten, and he immediately feels the urge to protect it from all the evil in this world, so small and fragile as it clings to his hand.
The rain, the wetness, and the cold are instantly forgotten, and his sole goal is to bring this kitten, along with its siblings, safely inside the mansion. So, Bruce immediately sets off, cradling the small black cat under his suit jacket, sheltering it from the rain. Alfred calls after him to take one of the umbrellas, but Bruce couldn’t be less bothered if he got a little wetter on the few meters back to the house.
Once he reaches the terrace, he steps over the threshold and leans against the doorframe to slip out of his shoes. Quickly, he walks into the living room and grabs a blanket that’s neatly folded on the sofa. He spreads it out in front of the large fireplace and gently places the kitten on it, which earns him another meow. He then sets about lighting the fire, his eyes never leaving the little creature at his side, taking off his jacket and carelessly throwing it away in the process because it clings to him, not giving him much room to move.
As soon as he sees the first sparks, you and Alfred rush into the house, Batsy close at your feet, meowing loudly. Bruce is not sure if she’s commanding or thanking you. Either way, he makes space so you and Alfred can place the remaining four kittens on the blanket beside the black one. Alfred doesn’t hesitate for long and immediately fetches several towels, mostly intended for the cats, but he also gives one each to you and Bruce so you can at least dry yourselves off a bit without getting everything even more wet. Then he closes the garden doors, shutting out the rain.
“Would you care for some tea to warm you up, Master Wayne? Madam?”, Alfred asks, and Bruce gives a small nod of affirmation, too transfixed by the kittens to say anything. His butler scurries off to the kitchen. You sit down beside Bruce on the floor in front of the fireplace, your legs folded neatly to one side, leaning into his shoulder for even more warmth. He sits with his knees bent, elbows resting on them, his hands clasped loosely in front of him. Together, you watch Batsy take care of her babies, licking and cleaning them as they keep meowing softly.
“Isn’t this the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?”, you gush over them, placing your chin on his shoulder, your hand around his arm. “Alfred believes they cannot be much older than a week.”
At this moment, Batsy finishes her grooming and presses her head against your leg, purring. A clear indicator that you should pet her. Her fur is still wet, and you quickly grab a towel and wrap her in it, hugging her to your chest.
Alfred must be right about the kittens’ age, because the period since Batsy disappeared without a trace would fit perfectly. Besides, the little ones haven’t opened their eyes yet and are clawing at the fabric of the blanket. They are only able to crawl a little by dragging themselves with their front paws.
The black kitten in particular has discovered this successfully and is slowly crawling towards Bruce as if it’s drawn to him. Only now do you realize, when looking at all kittens next to each other, that they all have different colorings. One kitten is fully black; the others are only partially black, and the smallest of them is completely white. As if the printer had run out of ink. And of course, the only black cat feels infatuated with Bruce.
The same seems to be true the other way around.
With a gentle smile, Bruce takes the small black cat in his palm and reaches for a towel to gently stroke its fur. Even Batsy senses this special bond between the two immediately, because for once she doesn’t hiss at him like she used to, allowing him to take care of her baby.
“How can something so small make me feel so much at once?”, Bruce asks absently, holding the little cat up to his face so he can get a better look. Then he places a gentle kiss between the kitten’s ears. In the meantime, you put Batsy aside with the towel and began to carefully dry the other kittens as well.
“If I didn’t know you were talking about a cat, I’d almost be jealous”, you giggle, gently nudging him from the side, shoulder to shoulder.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I said the same about you”, Bruce smiles at you, leaning towards you to snatch a quick kiss. “I missed you today.”
His words make your heart flutter. He chose these specific ones because it’s the ones you always say to him when he comes back home from work. It’s not like you haven’t seen each other in a long time – you do every morning since you moved in –, but even a few hours without him feel empty. And you can’t hide how happy it makes you to hear those words from him. Especially considering Bruce isn’t the best at expressing his feelings. Today, however, every emotion is written all over his face – above all, affection and adoration.
“I couldn’t wait to come back home. Even though this is not how I imagined my day to go”, he laughs, shaking his head at the thought of Alfred and you standing out there in the pouring rain to save kittens for who knows how long. Somehow it makes Bruce proud, knowing he surrounds himself with people that have their heart at the right place.
“It wouldn’t be a usual day in the Wayne household without a little surprise”, you say, smiling to yourself while stroking the white cat’s soft fur.
This makes Bruce’s heart jump. You call yourself part of his family, even though he always assumed he’d never have one again. He already knew it before, but now even more so, that he can no longer imagine life without you. He wants to be with you forever and have you by his side at all times. He makes a mental note to later ask Alfred where his parents’ wedding rings are.
Both of you are lost in thought, silently caring for the kittens, listening to their soft purring and the crackling of the fire. Your clothes aren’t wet anymore thanks to the warmth, but you don’t want to imagine what your hair must look like because of the rain.
To Bruce, you couldn’t look more beautiful right now. Sitting at his side, one hand scratching Batsy behind the ears, the other placing the white kitten back to its siblings on the blanket. Slowly but surely, they calm down and fall asleep from all the excitement.
“So.. Does that mean we can keep them all?”, you finally ask, dreading the answer even though you’ve seen the way Bruce looks at them. For a moment, he looks at you in horror, as if you’d said something entirely incomprehensible to him.
If you’d asked him a few weeks ago, he would have said no. Bruce and Batsy didn’t particularly like each other very much. He just doesn’t do well with animals and wants nothing to do with them. He didn’t like having Batsy around, and you had to convince him somehow, but he just has a soft spot for you that he can’t deny.
“I thought the halls were a bit empty and silent anyway”, he answers, saying it in such a way that it sounds like he has to convince you and himself that it is the right decision, even though you both already knew that it was since the moment you handed him the tiny black kitten.
“And Alfred needs some company during the day”, you join in his convincing, struggling to keep your smile at bay.
“And we wouldn’t want him to get bored now, would we?”, he adds, and you both fall into a silent fit of laughter as to not wake the kittens. Bruce’s black cat has also fallen asleep inside his palm, snoring softly against his skin.
“And who, may I ask, is in danger of being bored in this house?”, Alfred suddenly asks when he returns with two cups of tea, handing them to the both of you. Bruce and you just look at each other mischievously, not sure how much Alfred has actually heard. But you don’t care because you’ve just welcomed six new family members into your family.
This day will forever be remembered as the day stoic, guarded multimillionaire Bruce Wayne was wrapped around a black cat’s paw.