Gotham Reception Hall

9:45 p.m.

The grand reception area was only marginally crowded this evening. The scheduled event was the unveiling and presentation of the newly discovered Egyptian Feline Queen, a rare jeweled artifact which had been a matter of myth until its accidental excavation the previous year. This unveiling was hurriedly organized by the Wayne Foundation, somewhat unexpectedly, and many of Gotham upscale had chose to snub the event on account of not wanting to be rushed into anything.

Their absence suited the event's benefactor just fine.

Mr. Bruce Wayne made his way through the small crowd of conversing dinner guests with a practiced precision, dismissively greeting them with only short waves of his hands and nods of his head, making his way over to his scheduled table. Just as soon as he reached his chair, he was graced with the sight of Commissioner James "Jim" Gordon and his wife Sarah walking toward their seats at his table. Bruce immediately stepped over to draw out Sarah's chair for her.

"Commissioner, Mrs. Gordon," he greeted cordially. "It's so nice to see you this evening."

"Thank you, Mr. Wayne," Sarah spoke kindly.

"Not so fast there, young man," Jim politely stepped in between Bruce and his wife's chair. "There are some things that are reserved for the husband, if you don't mind."

"You're a very lucky man, Commissioner," Bruce said as he stepped back to let Jim seat Sarah in her chair and push her up to the table.

"If you ever settle down and quit your playboy ways, maybe then you'll learn the value of marriage, son," Jim spoke gruffly.

Bruce raised his eyebrows in surprise at his brashness. "Yes, sir."

"Jim," Sarah scolded gently.

"No. No. It's okay, Mrs. Gordon," Bruce interjected quickly. "Our Commissioner certainly means well. And, quite frankly, I admit that he may just be exactly right."

The lights all around the room began to dim just slightly. The conversating guests slowly began to disperse and make their way to their tables, still lingering somewhat as the stage was still being prepared.

Bruce and Jim took their seats at the table along with Barbara, each of them taking notice of the one chair still left empty.

"Bruce? May I ask you something?" Barbara smiled cheerfully at him from across the table.

"Anything at all, of course," Bruce said as he returned her smile.

"Well, you've been seen and photographed dating so many top models and debutantes and the like. Do you think you would know the right woman if she walked into your life?"

"Well," Bruce answered with a gentle and nervous laugh as he looked down at the table, trying to figure out how to respond. Finally he looked up, his face now a little more serious. "Well, I think I will know her when…"

Bruce stopped in mid-sentence at the amazing sight sauntering down the side stairwell toward their table. His eyes grew wide, his pulse quickened, and his heart… skipped a beat.

Jim and Barbara noticed his reaction, and they both turned around to look over their shoulders at what had so captivated the attention of the young billionaire.

The sight his eyes had centered on was unforgettable. The most beautiful sight he'd ever seen was descending the staircase above him. Several men besides himself found themselves transfixed by her appearance, all of them now standing motionless as they gazed upon her. Her stride was smooth and graceful, not unlike that of a feline cat. She was wearing a dress which suited her perfectly. It was simultaneously classy and sassy, revealing yet demure. It was a sheer black dress which had a light shine to it with a wide plunging neckline that reached almost all the way down to her navel. Her arms were adorned with stylish expensive coverings which extended to just past her elbows. Her curve hugging dress had slits on up to her thighs on both sides which parted to reveal her sleek gorgeous legs as she walked, her feet were magnificently adorned in a pair of shiny high heeled double ankle strap classic pumps. Her excessively long natural blonde hair was stylishly curled with a line left free to flow over her left shoulder and down the left side of her back. Selina Kyle was a perfect vision of feminine loveliness.

Selina couldn't help but take notice of the man known as Bruce Wayne. Her eyes fastened on him immediately and, despite herself, her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. He was quite a hunk. He was almost the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. She'd never ever had to remind herself to stay focused on her job before, but this one time she indeed had to do so. She reminded herself that Bruce Wayne was just her next mark and nothing more.

Besides, this guy was certainly nothing but another aristocratic high living low life blueblood that had probably been stepping on people his whole life. When she had studied his profile, the media had certainly portrayed him as a brash foolish playboy philanthropist that had left a string of broken hearts in his wake. Unfortunately, she could see exactly why. With looks like his, she could see why so many women found him irresistible. She couldn't deny the fact that she was drawn to him. However, he was just a mark. An extremely gorgeous mark, but still just another mark for the job she was working on.

He would not stand in the way of her acquiring the Egyptian Feline Queen.

Several other men had begun to make their way over to the staircase to escort her, some of them even embarrassingly leaving their evening dates, but the captivatingly lovely woman had already angled her stride toward the billionaire. The men began to calmly disperse as quickly as they had approached, in deference to the unspokenly acknowledged alpha male.

Bruce and Selina walked up to each another, unknowingly gazing into the other's eyes.

"Ms. Selina Kyle, I presume," Bruce said cordially as he raised her right hand to his lips and kissed it.

"And you are Mr. Bruce Wayne," Selina said dismissively, despite the twinkle in her eyes at his gesture. "One of, if not the, most wealthy man in Gotham. Fancy meeting you here."

Inadvertently still holding her hand, Bruce escorted her over to their table in the perfect gentlemanly manner.

As she approached the table, Selina's lips parted to speak with a seductive and alluring smile.

"Good evening, everyone," her words slipped from her lips as she regarded the two individuals at the table.

"Ms. Kyle," Jim said politely. "Please allow me to introduce…"

"Oh, I know who you are," Selina said quickly, her voice kind and polite, but now carrying a venomous undertone with it. "Commissioner James "Jim" Gordon, the current hard working saviour of Gotham trying desperately, and if I may say, foolishly to stop the unending tide of crime from overflowing this already Godforsaken city."

Jim was so taken aback by her abrasive words that his body inadvertently paused as he was in the process of standing to greet her. He slowly sat back down in his chair. Bruce stared at Selina in disbelief, moving his hand off of her, his mind trying to calculate the motivation behind her hurtful words. He had no idea that things were about to get far worse.

"Still, Commissioner, a man of your integrity is certainly worthy of an heir to his imagined kingdom without crime. However, unfortunately, your homely wife has not been able to produce in that area, despite several… failed… attempts. I suppose that at least the trying could help keep things spicy in the old sex life, hmm?"

"How did you…" Sarah tried to begin.

"Oh, the records of hospital visits and the like are merely a matter of public record, my dear," Selina continued her crushing abuse. "But don't worry, it'll just stay our little secret," she finished with a playful smile.

"Excuse me," Sarah managed to whisper as the first of many tears slipped from her eyes and she quickly made her way away from the table.

"What in the hell is wrong with you?" Jim said to Selina as he stared at her with a gaze which could have set her on fire before he stomped past her and hurried after his wife.

With her plan now firmly in motion, Selina moved in for the kill. She sauntered closer to Bruce and placed both her hands on his chest, joyful with a fake conceited laughter.

"Well, it seems that the Gordons simply were not in a party mood tonight, hmm?"

Bruce stared down at her with a stare as cold as a glacier as he grabbed her wrists and lifted her hands off his chest.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" he whispered, his cold voice barely concealing his burning anger.

Selina was completely taken aback and caught off guard. Her mouth dropped in shock. Every previous playboy mark that she had gotten close to in order to pull a job had always fallen for that move. She would simply show up looking pretty, insult someone within the group, and the men would be falling all over her. With the complete shallowness of character and thinly veiled evil disdain which continually characterized the people within these wealthy circles, this simple plan had always worked.

However, this one… this man… was different.

Selina stared up at Bruce as if he were some kind of creature she had never seen before.

"What?" she managed to breathe.

"How about a reversal?" Bruce continued coldly. "Selina Kyle of the Gotham Kyles. A once noble family of distinction in Gotham until it fell into the worst kind of disrepute. The family had been controlled by the well known financial tycoon Victor Kyle, a rather intense businessman that reportedly built an entire empire on mining and massing rare and expensive jewelry and artifacts. However, it was revealed years later that Mr. Victor Kyle was in actuality heavily connected to the Gotham mafia, particularly the Falcone family, for whom he had been smuggling drugs and munitions into the city through his overseas shipments. At which time, the entire Kyle family fell out of repute in good society."

Selina snatched her wrists out of Bruce's hands, now backing away from the scathing power of his words.

"How do you… ," she tried to interrupt him.

"Around this time, your mother committed suicide. This again left a particularly bad mark on the family because you all had been raised Catholic, and this would be regarded by the church as one of the deadly sins. This means that unless your mother had truly accepted Christ Jesus as her Saviour, which many half pagan religions such as Catholicism don't always follow, then her soul is to burn in hell for all eternity."

A tear slipped from Selina's eyes. She continued backing away from him.

"Now, this is probably why your sister ended up remanded to a convent, probably out of some totally misguided attempt at atonement or absolution which would never come." He paused for dramatic effect before he continued. "But you probably weren't there for her, were you, Selina? No, you see, you were so concerned about yourself that you had already skipped town. You left your sister on her own, to fend for herself. Now, there is only one thing I'm curious about. Since you think that you're tough enough, or should I say, twisted enough, to run down a woman desperately trying to get pregnant, then what would have happened that was so bad to make you run away?"

Selina stopped walking backward. For one of the first times in her life, she was genuinely afraid. The invisible knife he had stuck into her chest was about to pierce her heart.

"Something must have happened," Bruce continued in a speculative yet mocking manner. "From your mother's suicide, I'm guessing that something must have been going on in the house, something concerning your father." He paused, once more. "Something like… abuse?"

A loud crack suddenly resounded throughout the entire room. The piano player removed his hands from the keyboard in front of him at the startling sound, leaving the entire room in a stunned silence. The joyful noises of the space ceased at once, as did all movements, and everything became still and quiet as everyone suddenly focused on the table near the front center of the auditorium.

Bruce licked the blood off of the side of his lip, more so as not to offend the tender sensibilities of some of the more genteel guests than out of any bother to himself. He had to admit, the beautiful young woman could pack quite a slap. She had actually slapped him so hard she'd drawn blood. Again, he had to face his dark side and admit to himself that this woman really turned him on. Still, he stared at her, unwavering.

Without another word, Selina turned and ran into the crowd, not wanting him to see her heartbreak. She was broken. She didn't look back…