Time in the Garden

The day after her rather crazy adventure with Bruce, Chloe decided to go exploring and found herself out in a garden. She smiled, it was beautiful out here she stopped and smelled some roses that were still on the vine. Her gaze landed on some tulips that had been planted and her smile grew, she loved tulips and these were just blooming. For a moment she could forget the real reason why she was stuck here and enjoy her surroundings.

Bruce had come outside for his daily dose of Vitamin D. He stood by his tree, he had craved his bat-symbol into the tree marking it as his. He wasn't a very territorial man, but god damn it that tree was his. He looked over to see Chloe enjoying herself. He leaned on the tree and watched in pure awe at the beautiful woman he saw. Carefree as nature itself.

She leaned back and became aware that someone was watching her from behind, she made no move that she was aware of this though. She kept walking and then decided to sit down on a bench next to a tree [Ooc...yes Bruce's tree XD] She let her hand stroke a rose's petals, she was happy to see a rosebush next to the bench.

Bruce laughed, enough for her to hear, "Can't get enough of me can you." He moved his head from the other side of the tree. Raising an eyebrow at her. She approached him indirectly, but he'd make the first move for a conversation.

She jumped and then looked up at the tree, she smirked when she saw the bat symbol carved into the tree. "I thought I could feel someone's eye on me, and I have no idea what you're talking about." She said and continued stroking the rose's petals. She forced her heart to remain calm as she didn't want him to think she had a thing for him or something.

"Oh, you might want to hear this from me, before anyone else tells you. You happen to be sitting next to the Bat tree... or so it's called by everyone." He paused trying to think of something to say, "They call this my tree because for the longest time I couldn't accept my failures. I used to sit in the tree and look at the stars... and if people needed to talk to me, here was where they'd find me." Bruce ran his fingers through his hair, "So, I just craved Bat symbols into the trunk for fun as I get my daily dose of Vitamin D." Bruce shut his mouth, he was getting overly talkative and he wasn't exactly sure why he felt the need to impress her.

She smiled, "Well its a very nice tree and the carvings do add a nice touch." She said with a wink. She had a feeling that he was gearing towards something else though and she stood up, "So any reason why you chose a tree?, I always thought bats liked caves." She said as she studied him.

"If you've looked around there aren't any caves. Plus Bats are actually more likely to roost in a tree when there are not caves in the general area." He said in his teaching voice. It was a normal misconception but he'd repeat it every time someone asked.

She giggled, 'I know, I'm just teasing you however when we first met I wondered if you slept in a tree." She admitted with another laugh.

"Why do people... it was one time. One time..." He actually fully showed an emotion for once, "Yes, I have slept in a tree." He tapped the tree, "This one. Once, okay? I didn't have a room and I was just in so much pain that I slept in this one... I'm sure you can understand a comfort zone, right?"

She bit back another smile as she could tell this was a sensitive topic, "I can indeed understand comfort zones, do you mind coming down though my neck is starting to ache having to look up at you." She said.

Bruce was caught a little off guard by the question. But nodded taking a seat next to Chloe, "You know, you're too young to have neck problems."

She sighed, "I don't have neck problems I just would much rather have this conversation at ground level, thank you for the concern though." She said with a gentle smile.

Bruce nodded in understand, "I'm used to being the tallest man in the room. I understand, sometimes it's overly annoying to have to look down on every... also makes me look like an egotistic ass." Bruce looked at her eyes. they were the same shade of green as his mother, "Your eyes... they remind me of my mother's. They're soft yet show a strong internal need to help others." Bruce shut his mouth, "I'm sorry if that came out weirdly." Bruce really couldn't explain his need to actually hold a conversation. It was throwing him off.

She smiled, "That didn't come out weird at all, your mother she sounds like an amazing woman I would have liked to have met her." She said warmly, she was touched that he had compared her eyes to his mother's as she had a feeling that he rarely if ever talked about his parents. She knew how that was, she had always kept her secret about her mother from pretty much everyone she knew until she felt like she could confide in someone she trusted.

"I'm glad." He said lightly, sighing in relief, "And she was..." he said, from what he remembered of her. He looked down at the ground, a few leafs had made their way to the ground. The silence between them wasn't awkward. But it allowed mother nature's sounds to be amplified in the area.

She glanced sideways at him and then back down, "So what was it that made you want to become a superhero?" She asked curiously. She hoped he wouldn't be offended by her question she guessed it was her reporter's instinct that made her ask these types of questions.

"That moment you saw... It changed my life. I swore to make sure that never happened to anyone else... so I trained and trained and trained. I'm fluent in 18 languages... things like that. I have 4 adopted kids, all that had tragic beginnings like myself. I see tragedy and I remember why I put on the mask. To protect the innocent and helpless from the corrupt and the guilty." His words seemed so strong, yet he wouldn't look at her. Something inside of him made him feel so weak yet... his opinion and words so strong.

She leaned over and touched his hand, "You really are amazing Bruce, I hope you realize that." She said and squeezed his hand gently.

Bruce moved his eyes to his hand, "No. I'm not. I'm a man that instills fear into the hearts of criminals. There isn't a lick of amazing or... whatever a good synonym would be." He sighed, what he did wasn't amazing. It was what people should do, maybe abet more violent but helping another person out should be a reflex. Not a force.

She sighed and let her hand slip from his, "You may instill fear into their hearts Bruce but you're a good person." She said honestly.

Bruce looked over to her. He wasn't exactly sure what to say. For the first time in a long while... he was speechless. Bruce stood up, knowing this was the time to go back to his lab, "If you need me, I'll be in the Lab." Bruce quickly moved out of range, feeling like a complete idiot for not having a better excuse.

She sighed and watched him leave, "Right." She muttered bitterly and with just a teeny bit of resentment.