Chapter Ten

Selene shot up in bed, gasping. She whipped her head around, looking at her surroundings: Her room. She was in her room. Selene breathed a sigh of relief and sunk back into her pillows. She looked down at herself. She was lying down on her bed, under the covers, shoes off. Selene flicked off the covers and threw her legs over the edge of the bed. She looked at the clock on her bedside table. It was eight o'clock. She hauled herself out of bed and stumbled to her bathroom. She took off her clothes and that's when she noticed they weren't covered in soot. Strange. Selene shrugged and turned on the shower water before stepping inside.

As she washed herself, Selene went over what happened last night: She was walking home from piano lessons, was taken captive by someone, was going to be burned alive, Batman saved her, then she woke up in her room. Selene looked down at her arms and saw a tiny scar that hadn't been there before.

Selene gasped in shocked, remembering the needle. "He drugged me!" She exclaimed in disbelief. "The bat-loving retard drugged me!" Selene shut off the water and dried herself. She went into her closet and found more clothes than usually. She had forgotten Bruce had bought her new clothes. After flipping through them, Selene put on a pair of baggy jeans and a long, black shirt that said Awkward in purple lettering. She combed her hair and came out into the kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks.

Bruce was sitting at the kitchen table with a police officer. As soon as she entered, both of them looked up. The officer had redish brown hair with glasses. He had an older look, but not too old.

"Selene," Bruce said, standing up when she entered. He approached her and put his arm around her shoulders. "Selene, I want you to meet Lieutenant Gordon of the Gotham Police Forced. Lieutenant, this is my daughter, Selene."

Lieutenant Gordon nodded. "Nice to meet you," He said.

Selene only nodded, not wanting to say anything. Bruce lead her to the table and she sat down. "Selene," Bruce started, sitting down, "Last night, you didn't come on from piano lessons. After awhile, I began to panic. I called the police force to search for you."

Lieutenant Gordon took out a note pad and began to read off it. "At nine thirty, there were reports of a fire. Naturally, the police were sent. While looking around, one of my men spotted Batman leading a young girl out of the building. Afterwards, I received a phone call from your father saying you were home." He paused. "We want to know if that girl was you."

"It was me," Selene replied calmly.

Gordon nodded. "Alright then. What was going on in the building?"

"There was a fire and I was trapped inside."

The Lieutenant nodded yet again and noted this reply. "After the fire had been put out, we noticed it was burning in a circle. I'm guessing you were trapped inside the circle?"

Selene nodded.

"After Batman saved you, what do you remember?"

Selene glanced at Bruce, suddenly remembering she had remembered something about her pass, then back at Gordon. "I asked who he was, then remembered him. He told me he was taking me home and then to go to sleep. I closed my eyes, then felt him stick me with a needle, and then I woke up in my bed."

"And the needle is implying...?" Gordon made a rolling motion with his hand.

Selene crossed her arms across her chest. "It implies, that he drugged me. The freakin' bat drugged me!"

"There's no need to get angry," Gordon said rather calmly.

Selene bit her lip, noticing how she had sounded like such a brat. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Gordon said, looking down at his notes. "It's natural for you to be stressed out after this. You had a interesting night."

Selene raised her eyebrows and looked at Bruce. He returned her look then shifted his eyes toward Lieutenant Gordon, implying that she should listen up.

Gordon was scanning over his notes, missing the silent conversation between Bruce and Selene. He looked back up and gave a small smile. "I have all I need. Thank you for your time." Bruce saw him to the door (Well, elevator door) then looked back at Selene.

"That remark about Batman was rather rude," He said.

Selene uncrossed her arms. "He deserved it! He drugged me! Drugged me!" Selene shouted.

"He was probably was trying to protect you," Bruce replied. "Like any superhero, he can't let you know where is lair is."

Selene raised an eyebrow. "Someone sounds like a superhero fan."

Bruce smirked. "I just know these things - just like everyone else."

Selene knew she was defeated. She stood from the table and was about to leave, then turned around. "Oh, and I forgot: While Batman was saving me, I remembered something."

Bruce's eyes gave him away. He was curious. "Really?"

Selene nodded. "I was on the porch of some ratty apartment building. I was talking with Batman. I said 'A lot of people don't think they need you anymore. But I'm not one of them. I don't think anyone could protect the people of Gotham like you can'... Then I told him it wasn't important that he knew that, but I wanted him to know some of the people of Gotham were still on his side."

Bruce nodded. They stayed there for a moment. Selene in the hallway and Bruce near the elevator. At the same time, they both turned away. Selene walked down to her room and heaved a sigh. This was so... Upsetting! She just wanted things to make sense and nothing did. Ever since she woke up in the warehouse, nothing had made sense. Everything was one big mess. Selene opened the door to her room and quietly closed the door behind her. Instantly, her eyes feel on the piano. She needed to practice.

Selene sat down at her piano and laid her fingers lightly on the ivory keys. She pressed down, then stopped. That note. She knew that note. She hit another. That too. She continued, hitting notes, remembering. Then, as she re-played, she caught herself mutter words along with the tune. "Don't let go of good times and let the bad times know you feel fine."

Here it came, the lyric that made her feel better: "Don't let go of good times and let the bad ones know you feel fine." It was strange that it made her feel better, but she liked in anyway. The song reminded her of what it use to be like before her mom was taken away.

Selene slammed down on the piano keys, making a terrible noise. Selene cringed, head throbbing, sweat making trails down her face. Only a few minutes later, the door to her room flew open and there was Bruce.

"What happened?" He asked, voice full of panic. Selene looked up, still cringing from the head ache. He got the message. "Another memory?"

She nodded. "I was in a room - my room - and I was listening to music. This lyric played... It gave me strength to keep going..." Bruce nodded and they stayed like that for a moment. Just looking at each other. Bruce turned to leave, but Selene stopped him. "Wait." He turned back toward her. "There was something else... I was saying the song I was listening to reminded me of what it use to be like before my mom was taken away."

Bruce frowned curiously. "So you had a family..."

"But my mom had been taken away..." Selene felt crushed. Another piece to the great puzzle of her life. As the day wore on, Selene kept going over the memory. Before her mom was taken away... What could that mean! Had her mom been abusive? A criminal? Sold illegal drugs? There was so many solutions but Selene didn't want to believe any of them. They all sounded so harsh, so mean. That couldn't be her mother... But then again, her mom could have done those things. Selene would never know.

Before she knew it, it was seven at night. Selene had stayed in her room all day, just thinking. She had opened a document on her laptop, jotting down all possibilities of each of her memories. What each one meant, what had happened, and what was going to happen. Selene sighed and shut her laptop. She slipped off her bed and wandered out to the kitchen. Bruce was there, dressed rather formerly. Probably going to some party. The news was one and the only light came from the living room.

Selene noted a book on the table. She walked over and picked it up. She looked up at Bruce, who hadn't noticed her yet, and asked: "What's this?"

Bruce, who had been fixing his tie, looked at her in surprise. He seemed to relax a little when he saw it was just her. "A book a friend left me. For some strange reason, she thought I'd like it. I finished it and since I'm seeing her tonight, I'd thought I'd give it back."

Selene held up the book, trying to read the title in the dim light. She glanced down at the authors name at the bottom. Right in the middle of trying to read the name, she stopped. The way she had to book, it was covering half of Bruce's face. She could only see his mouth. Selene frowned and put the book down, looking at his face straight on. Bruce took no notice of this and was still fixing his tie. She put the book back up and her eyes went wide.

"Oh gosh..." She muttered. Bruce heard her and looked her way.

"What are you doing?"

"Huh?" Selene quickly put the book down on the table.

"I said, what are you doing?" Bruce restated. Selene eyes darted around the room. Needed an excuse, needed an excuse...

"Just trying to read the authors name," Selene said. At least it was half true. Bruce nodded, giving her a suspicious look.

"Well," Bruce approached her and plucked the book off of the table, "I'm off. Good night."

"Good night," Selene replied casually. Once Bruce left she took a deep breath. She had to be seeing things. This had to be her imagination. But they looked so similar! Selene took a deep breath, trying to clear her head, but it kept buzzing in her mind:

Bruce Wayne, her adopted father, had very possibly be Batman.

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Sorry I took forever with up-dating! Been busy obsessing over 'The Avengers' hehehe... Please review!

~| Neverland Child |~