Who knew Bruce and Selina used to have a near-perfect relationship in their young adult years? Who knew Bruce Wayne was so cheerful and full of bright passion in his early crime-fighting days? What happened to cause such a perfect setting to become the Batman and Catwoman we know now? What made Bruce so dark when he used to be so full of light? What caused Selina to turn to crime? This possible AU set in 2012 tells it all.
Prologue
My name is Bruce Wayne. When I was just eight years old, my parents were murdered by some petty street thug. He pulled a gun on my father demanding my mother's pearl necklace, and when my father refused, the thief shot my father where he stood. My mother was horrified, and stood in front of me protectively. When the thief realized my mother still wasn't going to give him the necklace, he shot her too. For the longest time after that night, Alfred—our butler and my godfather—was the only person I had. He truly became a real father figure to me, and I couldn't live without him
To most, I am just an unimportant rich person, but I am more than just a name, more than just some orphaned rich boy running his parents company, more than just a citizen, I am a superhero. For the past ten years, I have been traveling the globe, training to reach physical and intellectual perfection by learning a variety of skills; self-defense, illusion, science, gymnastics, escape artistry, and disguise.
When I was thirteen, I took a month off of training to come back and visit Alfred in Gotham. During my time at home, I heard about a young, apparently delinquent and dangerous, girl called Selina Kyle, who for the past few months had been trying to escape from the institution she was being held in; Sprang Hall Juvenile Detention Center. When I was away, I attained a few items, one being a police scanner, something I found most helpful. One night, once I made completely sure Alfred was asleep, I turned it on and tuned in. Within minutes, I came to discover that that Selina Kyle had finally managed to escape and was on the run. I quickly pulled on some dark clothing and slipped out of one of Wayne Manor's many secret passages. Sprang Hall was located just on the edge of southern Uptown, so it didn't take long to get to. And then, I saw her. A small girl around the age of ten or eleven running down the street with a large, very angry man on her tail. Man, for someone her size, she was fast!
I watched and followed her as she zigged and zagged down streets, until finally, she ran into an alley way and scaled one of the brick walls. I watch and try not to laugh as the big man yelled in frustration and gave up after looking into the alley and seeing nothing. Had he been a smarter man, he would have seen that little Selina Kyle was perched on the top of the small building, waiting to flee. When the Kyle girl was certain the man was gone, she jumped down off of the building onto a trash can and started running again. I continued to follow the Kyle girl until she stopped to watch a kitten and followed it, I took this as my cue to leave.
When I got back to the Manor, it was nearly 3am, and because the secret passages out can only be accessed from the inside, I had to creep very quietly back in through the library window which I always leave open in case I sneak out. I thought I'd made it safely inside without waking Alfred, but to my dismay the light turned on and I froze, feeling Alfred's gaze on me. I quickly went into an explanation about the Kyle girl escaping and started pleading with Alfred to let me hack into the city's security cameras to watch her so we could make sure she was not an insane child, bound on destroying the city. It took a lot of persuasion, and a long time of hacking into the systems, but finally I managed it.
I've been watching Selina Kyle grow, quickly learning that the rumors about her being a psycho where just that, rumors. I've watched her live among street cats, leaning their lifestyle and language. I've watched her train with a man called The Armless Master and with a man called Wildcat. But the one thing I've never figured out is where she and those cats live and hide. It's always been a mystery to me.
As I've watched Selina Kyle grow, I too have grown. Grown into the hero—well vigilante as some call me—known as Batman, or simply, The Bat. With the help from a man named Lucius Fox, I have a huge array of weapons, vehicles, small helpful devices, and suits. Lucius provided the resources, and built the vehicles to my requests, along with providing a bunch of other small creations he made. I designed the batsuit, and with the knowledge I got from my father, I constantly tinker with new tech to use to fight crime.
I have been through hell taking down some of the weirdest and most insane criminals you can imagine. The worst being a criminal known as the Joker. I won't go into much detail about him because I don't like to talk about it, but I accidentally created the mad man…
Being a guardian of the city is hard on me sometimes, but it's what I was meant to do. When I'm out there saving lives, everything about it just feels right. It makes me feel important, like I'm actually doing something good with my life.