Pre-Show Companion series to my fic Dark Light. Read Chapter One (the Prologue) of that for it to make sense. And, while you're there, you might as well read the rest, too.
This is the first one-shot in the series I mentioned in the update for Dark Light. It chronicles Selene's life and I was mentally hijacked when I wrote it. I can't wait to write the next one. It's going to be fun. I'll try to keep it in chronological order and I already have some plans for it, but I might think of a moment a bit too late and just insert it. If that happens, I'll put it in the AN. Mine are always ridiculously long anyway.
Read, Review and Enjoy.
The Next Morning (Or later that day)
August 3rd, 2003
Star City
08:04
At exactly 8:04 in the morning, Selene woke up screaming. Not crying, or whimpering or tears running down her face but blood curdling screeches. Oliver, who had fallen asleep in the chair across from her, jolted to wakefulness and was on his knees by the couch before his eyes fully opened. When he reached for her, though, she started screaming louder.
Dinah had been down the hall searching for something Selene could wear when she heard the commotion. Rushing into the living room, she was expecting assassins or super villains or freaking ghosts for all the commotion. Instead there was Oliver, sitting frozen in place, and Selene, crouching as far away from his as possible while still sitting on the couch. Just like the other night, a soft glow of white light was emitting from around her. Dinah slowed her approach, ignored the glow ('We'll deal with that later,' she thought) and held out both her hands. "Selene, sweetheart, what's the matter?"
Selene didn't answer but she did stop screaming. The light around her started to flicker. Dinah stepped closer and, when she didn't object, scooped her up. The little girl wrapped herself around Dinah, stronger than she thought possible. The glow completely disappeared. "It's alright, sweetheart. You're safe. Can you tell me what's wrong?" Selene sniffed and nodded into her shoulder. Dinah glanced at Oliver to see him not only confused but also slightly terrified.
"Bad dream," she whispered, "There was this scary guy with big glowing eyes and then this lady that always smiled. They kept saying "it's alright, it's going to be okay," but they were really, really scary." She started to hiccup, whether it was from trying to remember or from her earlier screaming, Dinah didn't know.
"Why were you trying to hide from Oliver?" asked Dinah. Oliver's face seemed to fall even more.
"Because." Selene buried her face into Dinah's hair.
"Because why?"
"He surprised me." Dinah let out a chuckle,
"That's it? Does he look like the man?"
"No." Selene shook her head.
"Then why did he scare you?"
"Because."
"Because why?" Selene glanced up at Oliver then back down at the floor.
"Because he was there."
Dinah sighed. If this was an everyday thing, she wasn't so sure she could handle it. Judging by Oliver's face, he wasn't sure either. "Then why did you keep screaming?" he asked. His face was starting to regain the colour it had lost.
"I don't know." Dinah laughed when she felt the little shoulders shrug against her. She leaned away from her and smoothed back Selene's hair. Her fingers caught on a row of knots. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that they would be going through a ton of bottles of that kids detangling spray. If they couldn't find her parents, that is.
"How about some breakfast then, hmmm? Do you like pancakes? Ollie here makes the greatest pancakes." Dinah's smile was shining but Oliver just rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like 'they're the only thing I can make and they come from a box.' Selene giggled as Oliver winked at her. She darkened instantly. Oliver's smile dropped too.
"I don't know."
"Don't know what?" asked Oliver.
"If I like pancakes." Oliver looked shocked.
"You're six years old and you've never had pancakes." At his words Selene scrunched up her forehead so hard her eyelashes brushed up against her brow bones.
"I don't remember." It was absolutely adorable and incredibly heartbreaking to see a little girl thinking so hard about whether or not she'd ever eaten pancakes. They needed to find out what caused her memory loss.
"Well then," said Dinah, boosting Selene higher up on her hip, "I guess we'll just have to test it out then. Do you remember what pancakes are?" Selene nodded so enthusiastically it looked like she gave herself whiplash.
Turns out, Selene loved pancakes. Even the ones Oliver burned when they distracted him by making funny faces and arguing over what toppings to put on them.
They were on their way to Gotham now, because if anyone could figure out where she came from and the other problems surrounding her, it was Bruce Wayne. He hadn't sounded very happy when Oliver had called him. Maybe it was because a six-year-old girl they found in an alleyway knew Oliver and Dinah's secret identities. Maybe it was because Bruce had been in an 8:30am meeting when Oliver had called him. Either way, it was 10:47 and they were late to meet in the Batcave.
"You're late." Dinah huffed a breath of annoyance at the dark haired man.
"You try organizing a 6 year old and Oliver." Bruce laughed and spun his chair away from the giant (overkill) computer screen towards them. There was a slight grin under the cowl.
"I took the liberty of asking Alfred to pick up some stuff for your houseguest. I hope you don't mind. I guessed you wouldn't have had time." Dinah smiled gratefully at the older man that walked out of the elevator. In his arms was a large basket.
"Ah, Miss Dinah. I do hope these will fit the young miss." Said young miss was currently wrapped in a much too big sweatshirt of Dinah's over the now-clean clothes they had found her in. She was also hiding behind Oliver's legs. Oliver reached down and set a hand carefully on her shoulder.
"Selene, can you say hello to Batman and Agent A?" he asked carefully. He wasn't sure about the other two, but he was still traumatized by that morning's screaming fit. She shook her head. "Can you at least say thank you? He did go shopping for you." She shook her head again and clutched tighter to his legs. He looked up at them and shrugged. "Well, I can. Thanks for the presents." Dinah gently slapped the back of his head. "What?"
"Be serious, Oliver." She turned to Bruce, "We appreciate this. We just want to help Selene." He nodded and rotated back to the computer screens.
"I used all the information that Oliver gave me to create a profile and run a search for missing children in Gotham. When I found nothing standout, I expanded the search. Seeing her now, none of these profiles are a match." He looked back at them. "Nobody has reported Selene missing."
"Expand the search again then," said Oliver, "There is no way that someone isn't missing her." He leaned down and hoisted Selene up in his arms. It didn't matter to them that she was almost too old to be held like that, she was tiny and it was more to comfort himself than for her.
"I've searched everything, Oliver," Bruce said, shaking his head. It was clear he was as mystified as they were, "This is Gotham, there's a good chance that her parents got into some trouble and left." Selene ducked her head into Oliver's shoulder and glanced up Bruce with wide grey eyes. After a second he added, "You said she has no memories?"
"None," said Dinah from where she'd been looking through Alfred's basket of goodies, "This morning she couldn't even remember if she liked pancakes. She knows what they are but that's all. Numbers, words, the alphabet; everything is there. She's very intelligent for her age."
"She just doesn't have any personal memories."
"Exactly." Dinah sighed. What they could see of Bruce's face was deep in thought.
"Have you called J'onn?" To Oliver it was beginning to sound like an interrogation. A friendly one, but still an interrogation.
"Not yet." He answered, "We were hoping you would have better results." From behind the cowl Dinah could see Bruce's eye narrow at Oliver's thinly veiled insult. Alfred, bless his soul, walked in with his ever-present, prefect timing and a tray of cookies.
"I've brought down some cookies for the young miss. I assumed she would be growing tired of the adult conversation." At the sight of cookies, Selene's eye lit up and she began to tap Oliver's shoulder.
"Put me down, Ollie. Put me down." Oliver chuckled and set her down, ignoring Dinah's cluck of disapproval. He was just glad she wasn't scared of him anymore.
Bruce couldn't help but think that Dinah had her hands full. She was clearly going to be the disciplinary parent. Selene ran over to where Alfred was and stared down at the chocolate chip cookies in wonder.
"The only other thing that I can help with is a DNA test," announced Bruce looking at Dinah carefully. She understood. Blood tests involve needles and needles and little children could be… trying. Both her and Oliver nodded for him to continue, Dinah wrapping an arm around Selene's shoulders. Bruce went to the medical corner and retrieved the needle before going towards them. Selene froze. Bruce took another step. The screaming started.
Slipping out of Dinah's arm, she raced for a corner as far away from Bruce as she could get, screaming various words. "No!" she wailed, the glow that surrounded her shining brighter than even the night before, "No more needles!"
Collapsing to the ground she pulled her knees up to her chest, sobs wracking her tiny body. Both Oliver and Bruce were excellent imitations of ice sculptures. Dinah took a step towards Selene and the light grew brighter until it formed a solid shield in front of her. Dinah joined the men in the sculpture department. Who knew Selene could do that?
Alfred walked forward slowly and crouched down beside the terrified child. He reached out and gently rapped the shield. "Knock, knock," he said after he tested the (very solid) surface. Selene shook her head. Alfred tried again, "I said knock, knock." This time she poked her tear-streaked face up from her knees.
"Who's there?" Alfred smiled kindly down at the girl.
"Alfred." She raised her face a little higher.
"Alfred who?"
"Alfred who-brings-cookies," he said, pulling a cookie from behind his back. Selene giggled and held out her hand for the cookie. Alfred pulled away from her. "Before I give this to you, can you lower the shield please, Miss Selene. I do believe that you are dearly worrying the adults."
Selene glanced beyond his shoulder at the upset faces. The light faded into golf ball-sized orbs and, after Selene concentrated hard enough, disappeared completely. She grinned shyly up at Alfred, who nodded in approval and helped her to her feet before handing her the cookie. Keeping one hand gripping Alfred's firmly, she walked over to Dinah and tugged on her shirt. "Sorry," she whispered, already walking over to Oliver. With a wary glance over at Bruce, she wrapped her small fingers around Oliver's wrist. "Sorry I screamed and scared you again." He chuckled and patted her shoulder.
With a sigh, Bruce lowered himself down onto one knee. Selene watched him cautiously. With the hand not holding the needle, he reached out and pulled his mask down. Both Dinah's and Oliver's jaws dropped. This day was getting to be too much to handle. "Hello, Selene."
She studied him with big eyes and whispered a "hi."
"I'm sorry I scared you earlier." She shrugged, but glanced at the needle still in his hand. He noticed this and said, "I would put this down, but then one of us might step on it and that's not very safe, is it?" She shook her head. "Right. I'm Bruce. I'm a friend of Oliver and Dinah's."
"You're Batman, too," she whispered, "Like they are Green Arrow and Black Canary. You're part of the Justice League. You're superheroes."
"Yeah, we are, and heroes don't like to hurt people, even the bad guys. Do you know what I wanted to do with the needle?" Dinah flinched when he asked and Oliver prepared himself for more screaming, but Selene just cocked her head to the side like a confused puppy.
"No, but needles are mean." Bruce smiled at her, hoping that nobody, save Alfred, could see how petrified he was.
"Needles are mean. To tell you the truth, I don't like them either. But sometimes we need them." He paused for a minute to let her process that but she just waited for him to continue. Dinah was right; she was a smart little girl. "The needle I was going to use, would take out some, uh, blood so we could put it in a machine that would try to find a DNA match so we could find your family." Bruce winced at how the words sounded. There really wasn't a way to soften that particular sentence without insulting how smart she was and making himself sound like an idiot.
She looked up at Alfred, who smiled encouragingly, and nodded. "Okay."
Dinah spoke up. "Are you sure, sweetheart? You don't have to."
"It's up to you," added Oliver.
"It will help?" she looked questioningly at Bruce, who nodded. "Then I'll let the needle take my blood." All the adults smiled at the way she said that. Like she wasn't even scared anymore. Bruce stood up and motioned her over to the medical bed set over to the side. Effortlessly— after he put down the needle, cause, you know, danger— he lifted Selene up to sit on the bed. Dinah came and sat right beside her, running her fingers through Selene's hair.
"You'll only feel a small pinch, okay?" said Bruce, sterilizing the spot on her forearm, "And if it makes you feel better, you can pinch Oliver." Selene giggled a little at Oliver's face from that comment before stiffening when she saw Bruce pick up the needle. "You can close your eyes, if you want to. That always helps. That's what I do." Oliver gave his friend a mocking grin, to which Bruce mouthed, "shut up" at him.
Meanwhile Selene closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After a few seconds of nothing she opened one eye. Looking down at her arm, she saw a bandage but that was it. "Wow," she said watching Bruce slide something into a machine, "You're good at that."
"Learned from the best," he answered, smiling at Alfred. Dinah helped Selene down and took her hand.
"We'll get out of your hair now," said Dinah with a grin. "Thanks for everything, Bruce. We owe you huge."
"Not a problem. I do expect Oliver to go over those forms now, though." Oliver grimaced. The forms in question we're considering a transportation deal between the two companies and Bruce had been reminding him for days.
"Fine," he sighed, "I'll look over the freaking papers. Happy?" Bruce laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Very. I'll call you with the results." He turned his blue eyes on Selene, "Have fun with the chocolate chip cookies Alfred snuck into the basket. They've always been my favourite."
"I will," she mumbled through a mouthful of crumbs. All the adults smiled.
As the family of three left, Alfred was grateful to the little miss. Maybe that's what these heroes needed. Someone to soften them all up a little. Even Batman.
What do you think? Too OOC? Maybe but I just had to.
Can anyone else picture how proud Alfred would be of Bruce for that whole bit? Because that's really all I thought about. I know it's highly unplausible that he would unmask himself but come on, it's a fanfic. And these are his fellow leaguers and friends. He can already tell that Selene is a permanent fixture for those two and that means they are all stuck with her.
Selene and Bruce will have some bonding moments in the future so be on the lookout.
The next one is a Selene and Oliver day. It shall be a grand spectacle. Might be awhile, though. I haven't even started writing it.
When I update this, I'll write a note in Dark Light. Keep your eyes posted.
Lots of love,
THEK