AUTHOR'S NOTE: Probably not the best idea to have three ongoing multichapter fics at the same time, but forgive me. This idea came by and threatened to leave if I didn't act on it, so I did. The chapters will not have a uniform length and I don't know when I will update this again but I promise I will. The title of the fic is subject to change. The story might be more dark and mature than my others. Enjoy.
"…Auctor Van Derm's famous painting 'The Lady' was bought by Bruce Wayne today in a private auction held in the Gotham Royal Hotel. The colorful painting which depicts Auctor Van Derm's wife, Amalia Van Derm, shortly after their marriage was paid an 'undisclosed amount' by Gotham City's resident billionaire, says a source from the auction. The source, whose identity will not be revealed, also added that the 'undisclosed amount' was easily upwards of a $100 million and high enough to place 'The Lady' in the top 20 of the world's most expensive paintings.
Asked about his purchase by journalist Vicki Vale, Bruce Wayne commented: 'Both Auctor and Amalia are part of the Wayne family, and they are my direct ancestors. The purchase of this painting was simply an act bringing them back into where they should be: with The Wayne family.' He refused to comment on the amount he paid for it.
The private auction also had other notable guests, both from Gotham City and out and most of them are said to have participated in the proceedings. Mr. Oswald Cobblepot secured himself 'The Penguin', artist unknown. Silvia St. Cloud, Ferris Boyle and Thomas Elliot were in attendance though whether they bid on anything is not known. The CEO of Queen Industries and Star City billionaire Oliver Queen made the winning bid on on a set of antique arrowheads reportedly recovered from an island in the North China sea. Lex Luthor, CEO of LexCorp from Metropolis was in the, too; having won the bids for more than one piece of art. Eminent scientist and professor of theoretical physics, Dr. Harrison Wells was also in the crowd along with Dr. Ray Palmer of PalmerTech. Carol Ferris was seen with her husband, Hal Jordan, bidding and winning the painting 'Oa' by artist Alan Scott. Victor Stone…"
— — —
Filthy, rich dogs, thought Selina Kyle as she scanned the online article detailing a private auction which had taken place a month ago. Too much money, and they don't know what to do with it.
Closing the tab with the piece on the auction, Selina started reading another article detailing the history of 'The Lady', which was her sole reason for being interested in the auction at all. The article detailed the history of the painting along with some details about the artist. Auctor was supposedly the descendant of Sir Gawain of the Arthurian legends. The painting was supposed to contain a clue as to the location of some treasure or other.
Selina couldn't see any clues, but she could admire the light strokes that composed the picture and she could admire the petite woman's beauty. Amalia Van Derm, seated in what looked like a garden of some sort, was sporting a graceful smile with a twinkle in her light green eyes. Her golden hair was neatly pinned with a jewelled brooch and she wore an emerald dress that matched her eyes.
Clues or not, the painting was beautiful. That much was obvious.
Minimising the internet browser on her old laptop, Selina pulled up her encrypted email program and opened the last email she'd received. There was no address, no information about the sender and the message itself was two lines, four words. She read them again.
'The Lady'
$150 mil.
Though it contained no more than fourteen characters, the content need not have been clearer. It was a job offer. And she had to agree that it was a very, very, very tempting offer. All she had to do was steal the painting and hand it over to whoever it was and she would be paid over a hundred million. She thought about it for the whole of thirty seconds before deciding that, no.
No. She wasn't going to let this chance go by.
She clicked on the reply button. The text window popped up. The typing indicator blinked at her. Selina smiled to herself as she carefully typed out her reply.
yes.
A/N 2: There is another fic in this universe, named 'a bleeding heart', which will have a Harley Quinn/Floyd Lawton and Harley Quinn/Pamela Isley pairing and be, much like this fic, more dark and mature than the rest of my work. Dunno when I will work on it, though. Till then, read and review.
