"So what are you going to do with your half?" Karon questioned in Selina' s linked ear as Selina surveyed the people below in the cargo holdings of the train.
"I think it's time to get out of that shithole of an apartment I have." Noting the four guys around the perimeter and then the six unloading the car into a truck, Selina knew that she had her work cut out for her if they caught her. The if was fairly large.
"Ditto." The clacking of the computer could be heard from the other end. "Oh here's a nice one, overlooking the park… seven hundred and fifty thousand…. new appliances and everything."
"Too steep for me." Selina smirked at the lack of focus on the task at hand from the other end. Nothing too serious right now, they could afford to be a little more laid back about this one. "I have to get Gwen a better lawyer and help with them getting the hell outta this city."
"Shit, that reminds me." Karon sighed. "I gotta pay those damn rehab bills." A pause. "Ah well, next heist."
"I'm surprised you guys don't want to relocate." Spotting a car sitting on the side, no doubt the head watching and making sure his shipment was safe or a least a top shelf guy.
"After Holly gets out, I think we are." Again with the keyboard sounds. "But Gotham's home and honestly I don't know if we could leave."
"Karon," Selina saw another strange thing and went forward, she had to strike soon as they were still in the midst of unpacking. "Get the block up and running."
"Got it." She confirmed after a moment and Selina was already down by the cars but on the other side as not to cause any sudden disturbances. Selina also noticed that one of the cars had a screen lit up through the windshields. Even the heads were bored with the operation already. "Hey where's your boyfriend?"
"You mean that jackass who almost made me miss out on that couple hundred thousand the other night?" Not really having considered it, Selina had to stop and think for a moment. Yes it was strange that he had yet to show up. Usually he was on top of these types of things. Her thought stopped short once she opened the cargo door and saw the red beams flitter their way through the darkness.
"Fortune must be on our side tonight." Karon commented and then saw the point at which Selina was at. "Alright so the code is Alpha Fox-Trot Charlie."
"Seriously?" Pausing, Selina was unclear if that was a joke as she stared at the keypad on the door.
"Seriously." Karon confirmed. "The lasers should go out in five, four, three, two…"
"Thanks, Karon." Going forward with the whole thing, Selina could not believe how easy this was, there had to be a catch.
"So there are in fact a few bum safes in there and you need to figure out which ones are not the bums." Explaining further, Selina caught on to what Karon was saying. The catch. "You get the bums, you get a bomb. It's that simple."
"You're still boring me Karon." Looking around her for the time being, Selina tried to figure out which ones were the rigid ones and the ones that happened to not be so. Though it was pretty intense for a simple job. They were probably worried about either her or someone else finding out about them and better to get rid of evidence altogether than only some of it.
"According to the notes from the gangster men," Karon skimmed them more so than reading directly, "shards of metal will implode from the explosive. Sound more fun?"
"They could've done better." Selina shrugged and took out the advance mini metal detector from her shoe. It would be easier to pick out the useful and non-useful safes now. Finally picking out one, Selina managed to quickly take out her equipment, lowering her goggles for a better look see into the object.
It also got quiet on the other end, obviously Karon leaving Selina to concentrate on the task at hand. Circulating the dial around to the correct numbers, Selina heard a footstep on the gravel coming towards her and hurried her work. Still she had to make sure that the numbers were aligned with what she had down.
"Selina." Karon's voice called to her and the footstep came nearer.
"Hold it."
"Selina." Again and a bit more urgent sounding, the footstep so close now.
"One second, Karon." Selina hissed, letting the last digit go in place and then finally a click of the locks opening for her. A smile formed to her face as she looked into the contents of the safe. "Perfect."
"The goose is out of the nest!" Karon's rushed tone, alerted Selina as she grabbed the safe's items and jumped behind the wall of dark objects as the footsteps came straight to the opening of the train's car.
"What are you talking about?" Waiting for a moment, Selina was positive that she had not been seen.
"They tracked my location." The woman sounded as if she was running around.
"How?" Selina could still hear shuffling outside the car's doors and knew she had to wait a moment longer.
"I was..." a sigh, "I was poking around in their interface and on their cameras."
"Damn it, Karon!" Sensing a time to silently move, Selina spotted a possible exit of a ladder leading to the roof of the car. If that didn't work, front exit for a sweeping escape.
"I'm getting off the link and making sure they won't track you too."
"Wait, Karon!" Her heart began to pound. How could they have tracked them? "Meeting place?"
There was a pause and Selina worried that she had already shut down the link. Finally Karon answered, "Harem."
Then there was nothing and Selina's ear was now fully clear of the device, knowing that Karon would not turn it back on. She knew that she would be safe once she reached the designated destination. In all honesty, it would be a couple days before Selina would be able to even reach Karon in person but luckily this was not a first time their cover had been blown.
Finally, the there was a pair of falling footsteps and Selina could breath again. Slowly creeping out of her hiding place, she poked around and saw that it was basically clear for her to get out of her spot. Of course she heard outside shouting as she stood and began to walk towards the exit. A black figure stopped her in her tracks.
"Aren't you a pretty little …" The man unsheathed a knife and Selina lifted a brow.
"I suggest you walk away from this." If he thought that was threatening, he should see what she could do in her sleep. "Don't want to tell your boys about getting beat up by a girl."
"I don't have to tell them." Beckoning for others to join him three other men came into the car.
"Good." She smirked, feeling someone come up behind her. "Because when I remove your jaw from its socket, you won't be able to tell anyone. "
As the man grabbed her, Selina easily knocked him unconscious by hitting him in the temple with the brass knuckles that she had been slipping on while distracting him. They were hired hands and obviously more muscle than focus and brains. Bringing him forward so she could take the gun and bring her elbow down on the back of his head with a knee to his face, Selina focused the gun on the men before her. They all had a look of surprise.
"I'll give you three seconds to leave and pretend this never happened." Formulating another plan in her head, Selina watched as one of the men came forward. She forced him to stop when she shot him in the foot. "Next?"
Before they even moved towards her, she knew that they were going to come for her so she turned to the rest of the safes and shot directly in the center of the keypad. They all heard the tick of the bombs inside go off and Selina took the opportunity to jump out of the train car, catching herself on the gravel and running towards the next nearest hiding place for the incoming mob men that were alerted to the explosive noise. Also, taking as much cover as she could as the car blew its top and sent out the metal shards towards the on-comers. Selina was lucky that more people were concerned about the exploding car.
Checking over her body, she saw that a couple shards had managed to graze her costume as one neatly embedded itself in her shoulder. She must have missed that due to adrenaline. Closing her eyes and preparing for the pain that would follow, Selina jerked the metal out of her shoulder and saw how large it actually was and noted that it thankfully had not gone that deep and hit something important. Savoring the moment of restfulness, Selina heard the shouts in the distance and knew they would be looking for her.
This was not her first heist, she knew what to do and she also knew that this wasn't going to be her last.
Bruce sat in his chair below the manor that he knew so well. It was easier working from here because people were unable to bother him as much. In the penthouse one or two neighbors would bother showing up from time to time and Alfred gave his excuses. But from out here, it was quiet, just the way he liked it.
"I suppose," well mostly quiet, Alfred was coming over to him carrying a tray of some sort of hot beverage and a meal, Bruce only looked for a moment before turning back to the footage. "You have heard of someone tampering with the recent mob acquisitions, I take it?"
"It's that woman." Bruce brought the blurred image up of right before the explosion. "She's been taking from the mob. Cash and some jewels."
"And you decided to let her go?" Putting the tray down, Alfred looked at the younger man.
"I didn't hear about this heist." He sat back and thought for a moment. The only sounds in the cave became the squeaking of the bats overhead. "She has someone working for her."
"Or with her." Alfred offered. "She also could be quite capable of doing this herself."
Without speaking, Bruce stood slightly and brought up the bits of the recordings he could gather on the high frequency that she and her partner had been using. Stopping once they got too ragged, Bruce explained. "Karon. She said the woman's name at one point but it was too muffled in the other links going on that it was lost. Starts with a C or S. But Karon is the woman who is working for her."
"Did she manage to take anything?" Slightly impressed that this woman had his ward so confused and flustered, Alfred had to hand it to her. She knew what she was doing.
"The car that she was in exploded, so I assume she managed to steal some of the cash that was designated for that train car." Bruce brought up some more pieces of information. He felt eyes in the back of his head and he finally snapped. "What?"
"There's more to life than this, Master Bruce." Alfred's voice was stern but soft. "You are locking yourself up into this…"
"I'm protecting the people of…"
"You are part of that people." Raising his tone a tad, Alfred returned it to normal when Bruce looked at him. "Need I remind you that you are not above them in any way. I don't care about how many times I have to stitch you up. I care about how many times you make it home and that this cowl doesn't replace your mindset of you being better than anyone else." A pause to collect himself. "You have worked outside of the law for too long, perhaps it is time for you to rejoin the surface world."
"There is nothing for me there." Bruce stated quietly.
"How would you know?" Tired of this back and forth, Alfred had his plan already set in motion. "You haven't seen daylight except from your cars and your damn office. The only people that you encounter are those of work, Fox and myself. You have not bothered to have a life as Bruce Wayne…"
"Because he's useless." It was under the illusion of controlled anger in which he said this.
"You cannot save everyone Bruce." Knowing what this was really about, Alfred saw a twitch in the man's facade. "And neither can Batman."
"He can try." Bruce insisted.
"He can." Alfred agreed. "But you're losing out on life."
"What do you suggest I do?" His brows narrowed. "Quit?"
"The thought never crossed my mind." The tone said otherwise. "Since you will continue on this journey why not revisit the past a bit?"
Bruce huffed. "I don't think I would like to do that."
"I don't mean in the forms of death and destruction." Alfred informed. "Perhaps a nice outing, with Mr. Elliot and his fiancée, Ms. Riley."
"You already called them didn't you?" He had to hand it to the man; he knew how to keep him surprised.
"I have been setting your play dates up since you were four years old, Master Bruce," shrugging, he began to set out the coffee in front of the man to force him to eat it, "I don't see why that should change any time soon."
"So where am I to go?" Finally, Bruce took a sip of coffee and noted how much he needed it. "Another bachelor party?"
"Close." Alfred placed the pile of eggs and ham in front of him. "A circus."
"A what?" Looking up, he saw that the butler was in no way joking about this. "You're serious?"
"I am." He nodded. "You are to accompany Ms. Riley and Mr. Elliot to dinner and then go to the circus."
"This isn't a double date is it?" Bruce asked wearily.
"I was assured that it was no such thing." Alfred paused to let Bruce take a bite of his breakfast and had a smile when he stated his words and the billionaire choked on his food. "Although I wonder if the woman you've been chasing around for the past two months would be interested in such things."
"She does enough acrobatics that she could…" Wiping his mouth, Bruce stopped himself and immediately turned to the computer to type in but Alfred got to the question before he even finished.
"The circus just got in two nights ago." Assuring the man that the woman that he had been chasing around the city had nothing to do with the arrival of the circus, Alfred added. "Cheer up, Master Wayne. Tomorrow night could change your life."
"I've watched plenty of people tame tigers." He grumbled, taking another bite. "It loses its charm after a while."
"I meant in that you may learn to have a little fun."
Selina dabbed at the wound, happy that they had no followed her to her apartment. Luckily they were more worried about the explosion than they were about her. Plus she had even more luck on her side when she had the fortuitous chance of run into an old friend.
"Thought you were gettin' your scrawny ass outta Gotham, kid." The rough male voice made her smile from her spot on the bathtub ledge and she glanced up to see the man that matched his voice very well.
"Awe Slam," finishing the touches on leg as she had seen another deeply embedded piece of metal. The shoulder had been taken care of long ago. "You know I'd miss you too much."
"Selina Kyle." His head shook and he blew out the cigarette smoke through his nose. "You should know that your girlish charms don't work on me any more."
"Really?" As she stood, Selina went over to his form leaning on the doorway and got close enough to feel the hot breath on her face. "Then why did you pick my scrawny ass up tonight?"
"Beauty should not be wasted on the mob." He replied, moving so she could pass.
"Personal motto?" She chuckled, going to her suit's belt and pulling out the cash and other materials from the various pockets that she managed to escape with. Placing it on the kitchen counter, she counted in her head and gave a nod of satisfaction.
Slam provided a low whistle as he looked over the cash just sitting on the table. "Plan on buying the mob?"
"Half of it is Karon and Holly's. A lot of it is going to Gwen so she and Bill can get the hell outta here." As she began to divide it up, she heard him let out a huff of amusement. "What?"
"You have such a soft heart." Slam found an empty dirty dish and put his ashes in it. "Next thing you'll be telling me that you're getting a charity fund together for all the little orphans of the city."
Rolling her eyes, Selina zipped the bag up. "You remember where St. Magdalene is?"
He paused and carefully lowered his cigarette. Slowly, he stated. "You know they'll be looking all over the place…"
"Their trail's cold." Holding up her phone, Slam saw the light and Selina explained. "Come on."
For a moment they traveled down the stairwell in silence, Selina carefully to take some of her own half with her. It was a custom of hers, mainly just in case they found out where she lived or something else happened and she needed to get out of town quick. In fact, that was how Slam and her had officially ended their couple trysts they had. She needed an out and she had taken it without so much as a good bye not. Since her return a couple months ago, this was the first time they had run into each other.
As they got into the car, silence came over them. Now was the time that it got awkward.
"So, uh, how was… uh…" Slam ventured, lighting another cig.
"We're going to do this now?" She attempted to look out the window by chance something would catch her eye to avoid the conversation at all costs.
"Hell yes, we are." He growled. "You the one that left, kid, what do you want me to say?"
"Nothing." Shaking her head, she could feel everything beginning to weigh on her. "You don't have to say anything."
"Screw that." Slam took a long drag and then pointed at her. "You should've told me where you were going…"
"I can't believe you're actually doing this." Her hand went to her head and Selina rubbed it.
"And I had to find out from the squirt." He added, ignoring her ramblings to herself. "For two weeks, I didn't know where you were…"
"Calm down, Slam." Selina assured him. "I just needed to get out of town for a bit."
"I thought you were dead, Selina." Emphasizing that last words, she could see that it stung. To him perhaps it was more than just those couple of nights and in all honesty, she would never know because she wouldn't ask him. "Dead."
"Alright." She had to give in just a bit. "I didn't think that… this was an issue with you, you know when I have to go, I gotta go. No questions, no trace. I'm gone."
"Yeah, well," he spat out his words like bad chili, "I thought I meant more to you."
"You mean a lot, Slam." This time she turned in her seat to look at him, luckily they were at a red light and they had to pause. Not like it mattered, Slam would stop traffic for her and she knew it. Selina wasn't lying the man did mean a lot to her but there would always be something holding her back. "But you know I can't…"
"Yeah, yeah." Slam gave a long sigh and looked back to the traffic. "I know."
"It's not like you can either." Selina gave him a certain look and went to cheer him up. "Don't bullshit me, you could never love a woman after Helena and you know it."
Giving a small smile, there was a truce in the car and he finally asked. "Where did you go, kid?"
"Around." They were getting close and so far no signs of any mobster. "A stint in Metropolis, Chicago, New York, even Star City for a hot minute. None of them is quite like Gotham."
"You mean with you costumed freaks running around?" It was good naturedly in tone but on some level he hated what she did. Running around, just waiting to be caught by that Batman.
"It's becoming a trend actually." Selina mumbled and saw the cathedral. Before jumping out of the car, she told him while grabbing the bag. "Circle until I get out, there should be a nice café if I'm longer than five minutes."
"You should talk with both of them." He gave her long hard stare that strangely reminded her of the teachers she had in the day.
Shooting across the car, Selina hugged and kissed his cheek, whispering. "I've missed you too Slam." Then bounded out of the car.
Scouting the area for a moment, she knew that no one would dare touch this place. It was the only place in Gotham that had been practically untouched by the mob and various other corrupt peoples that had tried to get at it. The safest place that Selina had known and where she knew others could be kept that way as well.
Instead of going through the front entrance that she knew would be closed, Selina snuck around to the side of the large cathedral and gave four rhythmic knocks. Holding tightly to the strap on her shoulder, Selina berated herself at still being in awe and guilt around this place. So many exchanges had happened here and though some good there were also bad ones. The door slightly opened and Selina let out a breath of air that she had been holding.
"Get in." The nun standing at the other end grabbed her arm and ushered into the place. Closing the door and doubly locking it, the nun turned and quickly looked her over. Then threw herself towards Selina.
"Hey, I'm here." Slightly taken aback by this shock, Selina patted her back. "I'm here, Maggie."
"It's…" Drawing back, Maggie took in a shaky breath. "Karon… she's…"
"What's wrong?" Her heart began to race. "Where is she?"
"We have Leslie and everything should…"
"Where's Karon, Maggie?" Selina's voice turned stern.
"Back room." Taking the lead, Maggie went forward. "Come on."
Selina followed in silence and then saw the mess surrounding one of her closest friends. Her eyes widened and immediately went to Karon's side. Battered and bruised were the least of it. One of Karon's eyes could barely open and her leg jutted out in an unnatural fashion. Her arms were held to her sides and had cuts running up and down them. Her face was bruised and it looked like a hundred men had beaten her up. And Selina wouldn't put it past the mob to do this.
"Karon." Kneeling beside the bed, Selina held back tears. "I'm so sorry."
"Please like you haven't seen me worse." She was trying to make jokes.
"I knew we should've stopped…"
"Shut up." Karon's one eye narrowed. "I still have my teeth and at the moment that's what counts. No gunshots, nothing fatal, just beat up."
"Badly." Selina added quietly.
"They didn't get any of the information either." That was definitely a surprise, but Selina did not care about that right now. Instead seeing her friend lying in this bed, mangled was something she would never forget and it would haunt her like everything else.
"I don't care…"
"Of course you do." Karon said fiercely. "Everything is blocked from here on out, they won't get past these firewalls. Next heist we…"
"There's not going to be a next one." Selina instated. "Not for you."
"What?" Despite the heavy bruising and bleeding, Karon wanted to rise but Selina held her down.
"Stop it or they'll kick me out." She hissed and the protest ceased. "Karon, when Holly gets here, you guys are leaving town…"
"We can't leave you here." Karon protested.
"Tough shit." Taking the reigns of the situation, Selina was not going to see another one of her friends get shot down by these awful people. There had been enough death in her life. "You guys are going to head upstate with Gwen and her family once you feel better and Bill gets out which should be in a couple weeks, especially with that leg."
"This old thing?" Indicating the leg with a slap, Karon winced and Selina gave a knowing glance. They had a long stare off before Karon asked. "What about the big one?"
"I'll get it to you som…"
"No." Karon cut her off. "Who'll be your back up?"
"You said it yourself," Selina smirked, "I'm a big girl, I can do it myself."
"Selina." Maggie's voice cut in.
"Go." Karon encouraged. "I'm surrounded by women taking care of me, what more could I want?"
"I'll be back." Kissing Karon's cheek, Selina whispered, "Money's behind St. Sebastian."
Then they walked towards the door.
"You can't keep doing this, Selina." Maggie stated in a soft tone.
"People need money, Mags." Selina sighed. "This is the only way I know how."
"People are getting hurt." They stopped and Maggie turned to her. "What if that was…"
"Didn't the convent threatened to close earlier this year?" She did not need to hear a self-righteous speech from her right now.
"That's not the point." Maggie wavered.
"Your bit is behind the Virgin." Selina nodded towards the statue in the corridor. "It should hold over this place until next year."
"This isn't a life, Selina." It was the same every time; hence Selina did not enjoy this bit. "One day that's going to be you."
"It already has been." Jutting out her jaw definitely, Selina let the scars of her past show on her neck through the small ones on her face that she managed to find healing solutions for.
"We have someone getting Holly from the facility." Maggie sighed.
"Good." Selina nodded. "I'll call tomorrow for an upstate place to take her, they can go there."
There was a moment of silence before Maggie spoke, "Selina, I do wish that you would chose something else. Something that would make you happy."
"I am happy." Putting a hand on her shoulder, Selina smiled. "Besides shouldn't I be the one telling you that? I am the older one after all."
"You know what I mean." Maggie insisted much to her sister's dismay. "You can't keep this up forever and when you were little you said…"
"Things change." Today of all days, she didn't need to be reminded of the past. Deciding it was time to go, Selina pulled her sister in for a hug and a kiss on the younger woman's forehead and told her. "Be careful of those priests."
Yey two updates in one week! However, I do have a question for you guys, is anyone actually reading this story or is this not your guys' cup of tea? I did want to build Selina's story up a little bit more and next chapter, let's just say I really want to get right but hopefully it will be out next week. Please let me know what you think and Happy NYCC weekend! I'll be tweeting this weekend shhh_librarian about NYCC, so if anyone is interested that's the kind of stuff I follow and will hopefully be able to put up some links for those that can't come.
-EV