Disclaimer: I do NOT own Selina Kyle(Catwoman), she belongs to DC. If i did, she would have already been on The Dark Knight, or on a third movie(lets hope!). Much Thanks To NotHuman for BetaReading!

Chapter One: Against the World

March , 1993

"I don't believe the accident of birth makes people sisters or brothers. It makes them siblings. Gives them mutuality of parentage. Sisterhood and brotherhood is a condition people have to work at." -Maya Angelou

The rain pelted hard against the ground as Selina and Maggie sat on the school steps waiting for their mother. Selina had been waiting for 45 long and agonizing minutes for her mother to pick her and her nine year old sister up. She cupped her sister's hands, still looking anxiously toward the road in front of them.

What's taking her so long? Selina thought, frowning at the continuity of the endless rain. She flinched at the sudden roar of thunder. The weather had been like this for three straight days. She'd decided today was officially the worst, not only because of the weather but also the events of the day. First, before she'd headed off to school with Maggie, her mother and father had fought. She recalled something about him being fired at work and something else about some lady. Selina was too preoccupied with the finishing touches of her class assignment to bother listening more; not that she wanted to anyway. They'd been fighting a lot lately, and her mother continued to get more and more depressed and distant. Though, Maria Kyle had always been distant, often finding her dozen stray cats more interesting then her own family.

The raven haired girl looked at her fair haired sister. She was still too young to understand what was going on in their humble little family. She then looked to her project, a large Bristol board covered with a black garbage bag to protect it in case it rained. The project Selina's class had been assigned to do was to pick an animal and give a presentation about them; were they lived, what they ate and so on. Selina had picked the jaguar, one of the most powerful predators of the animal kingdom, in her opinion. She felt very proud of her work, confident that she would get a high mark. Her father had helped, here and there, but she chose to do most of it by herself. When she was done she proudly showed it to her father, and he praised her good work. When she had attempted to show her mother, she had quickly looked toward her daughter then back to her cooking, simply saying, "Nice." Selina was greatly upset; she'd barely glanced at her hard work.

She had never been close to her, that woman; she couldn't call her mother. She was just that woman or Maria; nothing more than that. Selina and Maria constantly fought. She couldn't remember a time when they'd actually gotten along. Only constant yelling, arguing and slamming doors. As for dad, he was also just that man or Brian. Though she was considerably closer to her father, he too shared the similar detached qualities of that woman.

"Okay, you know what? Why don't we just go. The rain is settling down a bit, and we don't live that far anyway." Selina looked at her sister, waiting for a response. She simply shrugged. Having her agreement, Selina guided her sibling carefully down the steps and off of school property. She walked the street briskly while Maggie tagged along, trying to keep up with her sister's pace.

The streets in the east end were dirty and full of trash. The homeless clogged up the sidewalks, making it hard for pedestrians to travel over the grimy pavement. To Selina, this was home and always had been. She ignored the many beggars and drunks as she turned sharply down) the next street, Maggie trying to keep her balance as she nearly hit the corner of a building. Selina breathed a quick apology to her, continuing their walk. Just two more blocks… She hadn't meant to be to be forceful with Maggie; she just wanted to get home and away from the streets as quickly as possible.

Finally, they reached their destination. Selina's green eyes softened as she examined their home. It was at the very corner of Belle and Mary Street. The ten story apartment complex was a dull grey with streaks of black from gun powder and car exhaust. The two girls walked up the crumbling old stone steps, reaching for the old rotting wooden doors. As soon as she stepped into the building, Selina could smell the repulsive mix of cigarettes, vomit, sweat and urine. It was just another normal part of home life. Walking up the creaking steps, she felt a strange heaviness on her chest. She simply shook it off. It's just the storm...

Selina was quite peeved that the landlord had yet to build an elevator in the God-forsaken building. Her family lived on the ninth floor, for crying out loud! The roaring thunder boomed outside as Selina and Maggie reached their floor. As the two walked down the dark empty hallway, Selina stroked the oily walls, feeling the peeling wallpaper here and there. It was dark, but she could still see the door numbers; though she was pretty sure she could find her apartment without the aid of light or numbers. Finally, they reached their door: 720. Selina was reaching for the knob when that same disturbing feeling rose in her body.

"Are you alright, sis?" Selina turned to Maggie, her vibrant, innocent eyes looking at her with great concern.

"I'm fine, really," Selina responded, trying to ease her sister's worry. She grabbed onto the knob tightly, pausing before opening the door.

Upon entering the apartment, Selina's anxiety grew. Something just wasn't right. Instincts, gut instincts.

"Wait…stay here, Maggie," Selina ordered, walking deeper into the cramped apartment. Just the same as she had left it before school, clothing everywhere, objects clearly out of place. She made her way past the cluttered living room to the equally untidy kitchen. Plates stacked to the top in the sink untended stains on the floor and countertop. She then made her way to the bedrooms, of which there were only two. She first entered the room she shared with Maggie. Nothing out of place; neat, compared to the rest of the house. Selina hated clutter, especially in their room, her sanctuary. In her room, all was right and orderly and peaceful compared to the chaos in and outside of her home. Slowing as she exited the room, cursing herself for dirtying the carpet, Selina headed across the hall. Her parents' room was almost identical to hers and Maggie's; same size, colour, even the furniture was in the exact same spots, just mirroring her room. Looking around, Selina finally noticed something off. Where's Maria…?

She left her parents' room and turned right; the bathroom. She felt her anxiety rise once again. She slowly walked to the door, hands shaking. She hesitated, but managed to gather the courage to open the door in a single swift thrust. She exhaled deeply, realizing how long she had held her breathe. She scanned the small grubby room. All seemed normal, until her eyes laid on the bath, covered by dull yellow curtains. She walked toward it, her heart racing. Deep inside her, somehow, she knew very well what she would find. I really hope you didn't mean it...

Selina's hand rested on the edge of the curtains for the longest time, until finally she opened them to confirm her fear. Her eyes widened in horror to find Maria's lifeless body submerged under water. She fell back against the wall hard, sinking down to the cold tiled floor, screaming. Running her hands through her hair, Selina felt repulsed at seeing Maria's ghastly white body under water. The disturbance she felt overwhelmed her. Maria had talked about how bleak and meaningless her life was; Selina remembered her talking constantly to Brian about killing herself for his adultery.

"Oh…my god…" she breathed deeply, trying to calm herself, trying hard to suppress her screams so as not to draw her sister's attention. She rose from the floor, walking slowly at first, looking back at her mother one final time before sprinting out of the bathroom.

"Get out, now!" Selina shouted as she slowed down, reuniting with Maggie. She looked blankly at her. Selina gave a deep sigh. She grabbed her sister's arm and guided Maggie out of the apartment. Selina couldn't bear to be in the apartment with their mother's dead body in the bathroom. She closed the door behind them. They'd just have to wait for Brian; he'd be home soon.

"Why are we outside, sis?" Again Maggie gave her those pleading eyes. Selina sulked down to the floor, hugging her legs.

"Something bad, dad will take care of it."

"Where's mummy?" Selina's heart sank. She'd never truly loved her mother, but Maggie sure did; she was young and needed her. Selina felt tears well up in her eyes. She turned towards Maggie, bringing her into her arms in a tight and warm embrace.

"It's just you and me kiddo, us against the world."

A/N: Finally done! So feeling inspired and gaining a bit of in obsession with lil' miss Catwoman, I've decided to start a nine part fic depicting her life in nine year following her mother's death and her eventual transformation into…Catwoman! Nolanverse meaning it will follow what ever is movie canon and her story will of course differ from other interpretations in the comics but will still have the basic element that her stories