Selina's chest felt like collapsing. The more she thought about Bruce and what could be happening to him, the more her heart welled up in her chest until she wanted to stop it from beating completely. Remnants of a tear began to well up in her eye, and she turned away from Jim sitting beside her. She didn't need him there seeing her like that.
It was her fault Bruce was in trouble. He went off on his own with Talia because of her, and if he died, the last thing he would remember was their fight. The last thing Selina would remember of him would be his crying face and his body threatening to concave on itself, how devastated he looked when she told him what she wanted to. It was selfish. He didn't need to hear it. Selina just needed to say it. It was hard for her to be around him, but at the same time, she couldn't want anything more.
Jim pointed to mid-street while Alfred swerved the car down the snowy alley. Slush on the ground made the tires screech and graze the edge of the sidewalk. Selina was jerked forward by the motion, and she wanted to strangle Alfred for it. If not for her ego overcoming her id, she would have. Out the window, she noticed the car was heading back to Wayne manor, and that drove her over the edge.
"Why are we going to the GCPD?" Selina asked, her voice a half-whisper, half-scowl. "We should be going to Indian Hill."
Jim sighed, apparently more invested in his conversation with Alfred. "I suggest we form a perimeter around Indian Hill. We force them to tell us where Bruce is, then we milk them for all they've got."
"Bad idea, Detective." Selina growled, forcing Jim's attention towards her. "Come on, it's a freaking pit that makes you young again! If you were a psychopath with the goal of living forever, would you be at all fazed by a bunch of drunk cops with baseball bats?"
"Yeah, well you're not a cop, are you, Miss Kyle?" Alfred intervened. "Now, Detective Gordon, how many men can we get? We're going to bring the entire damn GCPD if we're listening to me."
Of course Selina was always the smartest person in the room. She punched the seat in front of her and screamed at the top of her lungs, "And what will the entire damn GCPD do once the maniacs kill Bruce and become immortal?! Huh?!"
That shut Jim and Alfred up long enough for Selina to make some progress with them.
"Listen, just get me to Indian Hill. A friend of mine grew up there, so I know the schematics. I'll sneak in, find Bruce, and come back out and tell you guys the situation. If I can free him, you call the cops and kill everyone in the place. Got it?"
Jim and Alfred looked back and forth between each other. Neither of them wanted to admit it was the best plan. Alfred stared forward and kept driving. His last words before committing to silence were, "For the record, Miss Kyle, I want to save Master Bruce just as much as you do."
"How's Bullock?" Selina asked Jim. After her plan got out, some of the venom melted from her eyes enough to sound sympathetic. She remembered what happened to Jim's partner with Shiva at the GCPD.
Jim's eyes went down as he forced a half-smile. "He's in the hospital, fighting for his life."
Selina nodded. "I'm sorry."
"I didn't know you cared about Bruce so much."
It was time to be honest with herself, and to be completely, painfully honest, Selina didn't either. She spent so much of her life trying to push people away, and suddenly, she got so close to someone so fast. Suddenly, someone had leverage on her, and it was destroying her.
Indian Hill crept closer and closer over the buildings until it loomed over them. Selina didn't feel one bit of the fear or regret Jim was implying she should be feeling with his eyes. Bruce was in there. She could feel it.
Indian hill was surrounded by a metal fencing. It might have been electric at one point, but it didn't look like anything was running inside. There was a big central building surrounded by a couple separate offices for power and business, all with locked doors. Selina jumped out of the car and gingerly poked at the fence with a finger to see if it was electric. If it was, the current had long stopped running. The metal was completely cold.
"Now, Selina." Jim said to Selina's back. "If Bruce is alone, get him out of there. If he isn't I don't want you thinking for one second you can take on a guard. We don't know what they're packing."
"This isn't my first rodeo, Jimbo." Selina growled. Jim handed her a walky-talky, and she tucked it away in her jacket. She grabbed onto the fence, locking her fingers into the metal wire, and hoisted herself off the ground. It was hard to find a place to put her feet, but there were wider notches in places she had to feel around for. Once she had gotten to the top, she put her legs over the side and jumped down, stopping and letting her body absorb the impact of the ground before standing up.
"Miss Kyle," Alfred said. "Bring back Master Bruce."
The two adults watched Selina slink up the side of the main building and onto the roof. She tore the metal off a vent and placed it on the roof softly as to not make any noise to alert the inside, and worked herself in.
When Selina dropped through the vent and landed silently at the bottom, she found herself a few meters off the ground, staring through an air duct at an office inside the main building. There didn't seem to be any power at all in the place, and no one was walking around. Selina grabbed the bars of the vent and popped it out, bringing it softly next to her and dropping down onto the ground. She was inside Indian Hill. She looked around her. It was quiet. Even if a person was completely silent, Selina could usually sense them. There was no one there.
She decided to go exploring when no one came to her. There were no workers or guards there, and the place was completely deserted. She decided to go in a circular pattern around the center so she would hit every room along the way, and eventually go down the stairs.
It was when she hit the third floor down that she sensed other people. They were below ground, and that was troubling. First off, it would be harder for the police to detect an explosion from underground.
Still, there was no sound, but a feeling told her there were other people with her on the floor. She never stopped being wary. Finally, she turned a corner and found Bruce, tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth. He seemed unconscious.
Selina inched closer, checking all around her for whoever did this to Bruce. On one hand, she was relieved that he was okay, but on the other hand, she wasn't sure he was. There was a footstep which set her off, and she turned to see Talia Lennon. That wasn't good. Normally, she could sense people long before she heard their footsteps.
"Don't damage the merchandise." Talia said.
Selina felt nothing but anger for Talia. "I don't know what the hell you want, but what did kidnapping Bruce accomplish?"
"Nothing." Talia breathed. "The accomplishing part comes later." She was inching forth, but the tone in her voice wasn't hostile at all. It was more sympathetic.
Selina growled, "Cool, well I'm taking Bruce, and the cops are going to arrest your ass later."
Talia stood in her place, her face completely devoid of emotion. Selina walked towards Bruce and started to undo the ropes, the entire time burning with anger at what Talia had done. She hadn't even finished untying Bruce when she decided the bitch didn't even deserve being arrested.
"You know what?" Selina asked, turning around and storming towards Talia. "Why don't we skip the arresting part and just kill you right now?" Selina channeled all her feelings into her fist, drew it back, and hit Talia right under her cheekbone. Selina could feel her knuckles sliding into the inundation under Talia's cheekbone, and she loved it.
She drew back for another punch when Talia's knee came up and hit Selina right below the stomach. Selina's entire body shook and she lurched backwards to absorb the blow, the pressure in her stomach making her cough. Talia's arm came back for a hit, but Selina caught her fist. Talia wrenched her arm free and jerked backwards.
The two swiped and kicked at each other, both of them reacting purely on instinct. Both of them had enough fighting experience to know exactly how to react to anything the other did. Occasionally, one of them would land a hit, and after a while, it seemed like Talia was landing more. Selina knew she was being worn out fast and had to get Bruce. She brought her leg up and landed a hit right above Talia's nose and ran straight for Bruce in the chair. Talia didn't follow.
Selina untied the ropes around Bruce's body. The noise had woke him up, and his eyes were flitting open.
"S-Selina?" Bruce mumbled. "What are you doing here?"
Selina didn't respond. She was too focused on Talia, slowly inching forward.
"I know where it is now." Talia said, her voice hollow and expressionless, as if she didn't care about anything she was saying. "I have the location of the Lazarus pit."
"Good for you." Selina said, still panting from the effort of the fight. "Can we go now?"
"I thought you'd be happier." Talia breathed.
Selina laughed a bit. "Why? 'Cause now we know who's going to screw over this city?"
"Except I'm not Ra's al Ghul."
"Fan-freaking-tastic." Selina scowled. "Then end this. Do whatever to your pit and leave this city."
"I can't do that. Why would I want the pit? Life has been cruel to me. My father is a sociopath, so why would I want to prolong my living?"
"Wait." Selina said. She stopped for a long time to understand everything she had heard. "You said 'is.' Jason Lennon is dead. He wasn't really your father, was he?"
Talia didn't say anything.
"Who's your father? Is it Ra's al Ghul?"
Talia didn't move or speak or breath for the longest time, almost as if to torture Selina. Once she did, it was only a hairline smirk on her face, which was enough for Selina.
"Tell me who your father is. We'll kill him." Selina left Bruce's side and crept closer and closer to Talia. "We'll help you escape from him."
Talia let out the smallest laugh. "How are you going to kill him when at any time, one of his men could dump his body in a Lazarus pit, and he'd come back even stronger, and more insane. They're all wrong about these pits, Selina. Sure, they bring you back to life, but it's not even you that comes out of the pit. You change. When my dad was stabbed and I got him to a Lazarus pit, I thought I was going to see him again. All I saw rise out was a monster that looked like my father."
Selina nodded. "Why did you kidnap Bruce?"
"While he was unconscious, I injected him with a serum that makes you talk in your sleep. He spilled everything he knew, everything he did, his Wayne Enterprises Net password,"
"What did you want with his Net password?"
Talia took a deep breath. "Sure, I know where the pit is. How to access it is a different story, and to do that, I have to talk to the owners of Indian Hill."
Wayne Enterprises. Selina thought. Talia didn't even look like she was going to hurt them. It looked like she just needed the pit for whatever reason she did. As Bruce was waking up, Talia left out of the room. Selina heard her go up some stairs, and it sounded like she was leaving the place. It almost pained Selina that she had to do what she needed to.
Sorry, Talia. Selina thought, before taking her walky-talky out of her pocket and clicking onto Jim's channel. She held it up to her mouth and said, "Jim, Alfred, Talia is coming up the stairs. Put cuffs on her. She's the one that kidnapped Bruce."
"Is Bruce all right?" Jim asked.
Selina nodded. "Yeah. I'm bringing him up now."
As she put the walky-talky back in her pocket, Bruce started talking. It looked as if he was sleep-talking, since his eyes were still closed, but it was clear he knew everything that was happening around him.
"Selina..." Bruce mumbled. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."
Selina took a deep breath and knelt down to stare Bruce in the face. "Bruce, I'm sorry. I said some things I shouldn't have, but I guess I was just... scared. I care about you, you know. So far, everyone I get close to abandons me, and I guess I was just scared that would happen again. I'm just... not used to trusting someone."
Bruce's limp body stirred in his seat. A pale hand came up and Selina put her fingers around it. Bruce sighed, "I love you, Selina. I trust you with my life."
"Bruce, when I heard you got kidnapped, I was so worried. I thought you were going to die, and the only thing I thought about is the fight we had. I'm not scared anymore. I trust you, and I'm stronger for it."
"You are." Bruce breathed, his eyes starting to open again. "That... that serum Talia was talking about. It made me talk in my sleep and tell her everything because it made me think about you. It was... I don't know. I can't describe it, but I just feel stronger when you're with me."
Selina nodded. "I thought of you, you know. When I was climbing in here, I was thinking about you and it made me strong. I couldn't live with myself if you died and I chased you away because I was a coward."
"It's okay." Bruce said, gripping his fingers around Selina's hand a bit tighter.
Selina laughed, and tilted her head up just a bit to kiss Bruce's lips. She felt his face was trembling. She whispered into his mouth, "Just so you know, I'm getting a little tired of saving your ass."
Bruce smiled a bit. Selina waited until he had worked up the strength to stand, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He leaned on her as she led him up the stairs and back outside. The cold air stung his face, and as soon as he was sighted, Alfred ran up and helped his child into the car. Once Bruce was safely adjusted in the front seat, Alfred turned back to Selina.
"Thank you, Miss Kyle." Alfred said.
Selina nodded, and got in with Bruce. Jim got in the front seat and started driving back to Wayne Manor.
Bruce had started to regain a bit more consciousness and was leaning on the window. Selina helped him up and started some conversation to make sure he wouldn't fall asleep again. Her voice helped him stay connected to the world. Halfway through, Jim received a call on his cell phone from Detective Alvarez and had to pick it up. Bruce and Selina were shocked at how fast Jim could make a U-turn straight for Blackgate Penitentiary.
"What's wrong?" Alfred asked.
Jim got a little more information from Alvarez and turned to Bruce and Selina. "Richard Optico is dead and Slade Wilson just escaped."
Selina looked between the adults, confused. "This can't be a coincidence. What happened?"
"They were together during transport. The guards say Optico gave Wilson a knife he had managed to smuggle in. Slade used the knife to kill the guards, kill Optico, and escape. We don't know where he is."
It all made perfect sense. Of course, Selina was the only one who knew. She thought for a while, and glared at Jim. "Tell Alvarez to run a check on Talia Wilson."
Jim looked confused. "Who?"
"When Talia kidnapped Bruce, she told me the Ogre wasn't her real dad. She's out looking for the Lazarus pit at the same time Slade Wilson escapes from Blackgate, you do the math."
Jim sighed, and turned his radio back on. "Alvarez, run a background check on Talia Wilson." He turned back to Selina. "Anything else you found out in there?"
"Talia said something about Wayne Enterprises. That's where Slade is going, I know it."
Jim rubbed his temples and talked into the radio again. "Give me all available units at Wayne Enterprises, we have a lead on Slade Wilson."
"Be careful." Selina said. "If Talia's going to be there, I-" Selina almost bit off her tongue as she was jerked forward when the car swerved along the street. She leaned forward in that split second to see someone was on the roof of the car and had stabbed something into the hood. The man in black on the hood of the car jumped off a nanosecond before the car went flying into the side of a building, and Selina's ears blew out from the explosion. Jim and Alfred, both sitting in the front, were blasted backwards when the windshield shattered into pieces, and the force of the impact made Selina's head jerk back so suddenly, her head felt faint. Then, she started to black out.
The car door slid open just a bit before completely falling off the hinge. Her vision was blurry, but it was obvious the man that had crashed the car and was standing in front of her with a sword was Slade Wilson. Slade seemed much more focused on the unconscious Bruce than her. The kid must have passed out from shock.
"Hello, Mr. Wayne. Nice to see you again." Slade said. "I'm sorry to intrude, but I'm going to need you to come with me."