4:00

The study sitting room, Wayne Manor, outskirts of Gotham city

Selina

After Alfred's bizarre-enough-to-be-true explanation, she'd attempted to coax Alfred into telling her where the cave was. When he refused to do that, saying he needed express permission and there was a security over-ride that needed Bruce, Alfred did take pity on her and said he would go through the study front room once he arrived home and suggested she wait there. So that was what she did, despite being tired.

There was simply too much going on. What did a psycho assassin warlord have to do with sniper deaths and doctors doing weird stuff to Arkham asylum patients? Was there even a connection? What about the security system of the shady art collector Camilla Fritton who was coming to Gotham? Not to mention her own intense physical therapy session and workouts she did to try and keep her stamina up. Life wasn't going to slow down any time soon, and she almost felt bad for complaining when things were slow and boring. Almost, not enough to admit to it.

She'd been dozing off and on for the past hours, only really being awake when the grandfather clock chimed off another hour. She'd gone and collected Isis at one point to keep her company but other than that, she had not left the oddly stiff couch. She'd run out of things to look at in the room by midnight, and that was around the same time her side insisted she take it easy.

Selina woke up at the sound of Dick giggling.

"Did you see that Russian guys face when I answered him in Russian? Boom surprise!"

"You know the rules. We don't talk about work outside of work." He may have been in Bruce's clothes but it was Batman doing the scolding. It was kind of nice that someone was on the receiving end of that for once.

"I know, but his face. It was like, boom, instant confusion." Dick continued, unwilling to be silenced until a very loud shushing.

"Don't stop on my account." Selina tried to use her general joking tone but her need for sleep bleed through. "I hate Russians almost as much as Italians."

Bruce, dressed in a pair of sweats looked unamused at her encouragement of Dick. She decided she was done dealing with Batman and changed the subject. "Your bff the great and mighty and not mention humble demon buddy called. He says hi."

Bruce closed his eyes, took a deep breath and ordered Dick to go to bed. The joking mood was gone at the mention of demons and he quietly scampered up the stairs. Dick was however unable to resist the urge to use the handrail as a device to flip off, showing off and conveying his displeasure at being excluded from the conversation.

"Why don't we go get somewhere quiet and talk this over? It may take a while." The tone was light and airy, as if she had just asked him about how his favorite sports team was doing, or what he thought about the weather that particular day. Selina was able to see for the first time the Batman in him. The ability to adapt quickly to anything. Most masked figures made their identity a full time job, and very few were part timers like herself and Batman. The more she paid attention, the more she saw he had been under her nose the entire time. Bastard.

She ignored his extended hand to help her off the couch, and instead disturbed Isis, who although used to night time activity, never liked having nap time disturbed. Selina brought her cat along with her, cats hand been a constant security blanket throughout her life, and she was not going to let that go anytime soon.

Bruce sulked all the way into the kitchen, an opened the pantry door and gestured for her to go in first.

"I am not going anywhere until you explain." Selina pulled her cat closer to her, and her face looked offended at the very idea of talking in a pantry. In a house this large, surely there had to be other places they could talk. "Start talking."

He didn't talk. Instead he went in and gestured her to follow him. Difficult man.

Once they were both inside, He moved aside a few tin boxes whose contents only Alfred knew, and revealed a small, slightly discolored square in the wood of the back wall. He carefully pressed in a certain sequence on the sides, Selina's brain instantly committing them to memory. Down, Left, Left, Up, Up, Right, Up Left.

The panel next to the stored rice, oatmeal and other starches slide open to reveal a tiny hallway. It was small enough someone as broad shouldered as Brue had to turn to the side to fit through, but for someone slight like Selina, she fit through easily. Cat and all.

The staircase down was made of stone, and was worn in several places. How had she never seen or heard of this until now? She'd thought her blue print guys were the best in the business. Apparently not. The way down was dark, automatic motion sensing lights flickering on to offer just enough light to get down.

The staircase winded around several times and took several random turns, probably following the natural rock the house was built on. The steps were uneven, and had dips in several places. Even though she would never admit it out loud, she was starting to get tired and Isis was longing to go exploring in her new environment, ever curious about new terrain.

The staircase abruptly came to an end right at a turn, turning into a very modern looking large metal door with a combination in it. This was more her speed.

Bruce broke the long silence first. "The combination is Alfred's first time stitching me up from a bullet wound. Figured it would be only something we could know." He gently put the numbers into place, and pushed open the door and gestured her in, "Ladies first."

Selina was so curious about finally getting to the secret lair she didn't even bother to fight with him. The place was huge, much larger than she had thought. The cave was at least two and a half stories high, and fit Batman perfectly. There was a giant section dedicated to practicing sparring, multiple balance beams, ledges to practice grappling, and all manners of weight equipment. There was a smaller section, almost like a mini building inside the cave, that contained host of medical equipment. Next to that was the larger lab, with enough machines and tech that would make university lab geeks jealous. Nestled next to the lab and in the corner was a large computer system along with a few work stations, with a separate indented space with multiple humming servers.

The air was cool, and she felt deep underground. Once she stepped closer into the middle, she saw what was along some of the other walls. A dinosaur, multiple joker boxes, other knick knacks like multiple Penguin umbrellas, a giant penny, and other rogue themed things he'd taken along with what looked like a large filing area. Then there was some kind of giant safe area again, that she would have to get into, and the car, along with a bunch of other bat themed vehicles.

"All you need is boat." She remarked sarcastically and he gestured to a tunnel leading off from the vehicle areas, leading to what was no doubt a boat. Selina couldn't help but roll her eyes. Of course he had a boat, and if it was anything like the collection of various batmobiles and motorcycles, he had multiple. Of course he did.

"Why did you show this to me?" Selina asked, and Isis meowled to be let down, no doubt to explore her new area that the cat had probably already thought of as her space. There was a slight rustling that caught the cat's attention farther down in the darkness, and Isis went off to investigate.

"Bats." He explained calmly. "She'll be fine." Of course his bat cave had literal bats. Despite insisting, he was not a showy guy, there was a lot of bat themed stuff in here. All he needed was to start a Batman merchandise franchise and he could be a billion or so richer.

"Why. Did you show this to me?" She repeated and he went over to the medical area, sitting down in one of the many chairs that was nearby. He indicated to the seat next to him. She didn't take it, opting to put her hands on her hips and glare at him. "I asked you a question. If you're not going to answer I'm going to crack that large vault over there." Her legs still felt weak and her side was on fire, but she was determined to one up him no matter what. She may be in his lair, but damned if she was going to do whatever he asked her to just because he showed her the batcave. Rogues had been trying to get in for years, and there was a pool at the iceberg for the first person to get into the batcave. There was also a bigger prized for the cowl, but the batcave one was what she really wanted. Who knew what trophies he had in here?

"Selina, please don't do that." For the first time he sounded tired too. "It was pointed out to me you thought I hadn't trusted you, and I wanted to prove that I did." He looked at her, expressionless. Bruce may be talking but it was Batman behind the wheel. "And," he sighed. "You deserve to know what you're going into."

That was what she wanted to hear. Selina sat down, holding her breath in until the sigh of relief passed her. She stretched out into the office chair, making every effort to appear nonchalant, not about to let him off the hook just yet. "So Alfred gave you a call?" She questioned, looking down at her nails. She really should get them done, she didn't feel herself unless they were done up and powerful. Sure she wore claws on her suit, but claws in real life were a defense mechanism.

"He did." Bruce confirmed. "Almost as soon as you got out of him who Ra's was. Don't play games with him, he's dangerous."

"Who? Alfred or Ra's?" she asked, while at the same time rolling her eyes and he sighed, exasperated.

"He can't die, has more life times of experience than any of us combined, and controls a large network of assassins, weapons dealers, and contraband, in everything from drugs to rare art and everything in between. He's kidnapped Dick from this house to make a point."

Selina looked up from her nails, she had a small hangnail on her left hand. "Before or after I re-did your security?"

"Before but that isn't the point."

"Then what is the point?" Her temper flared "So he's dangerous, a psycho who thinks too highly of himself and deals in the black-market. Why is he special?"

"Because it was his bullets in Zsasz and probably Dent too. But he claims he isn't involved."

Selina snorted, "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like duck, it probably is a duck. Doesn't take the great detective to figure that out. Why do you believe him, I thought you didn't trust the word of criminals. No wait let me guess, he really is like a father to you and you trust him way more than you ever did me."

"Can you please just let me explain?" There it was, the flash of anger she knew she could inspire in him. He always let more slip when he was emotional, and with no Batman to hide behind, Bruce would have to come clean on center stage. The comment about his dad really got to him, his hands clenched up and his jaw got noticeably tighter. Good. Exactly what she wanted. Maybe it wasn't fair, or nice, but she didn't want to be in the dark.

She watched Bruce deflate and take a breath in.

4:10

The Batcave, somewhere below Wayne Manor

Bruce

She was pushing his buttons on purpose. He knew her well enough to know she was playing games because she was still mad at him, and even though he was trying to fix it, she wasn't about to let up until he went and waved a white flag. Which was coming next, he just had to get a word in without her getting mad at him.

Alfred had called, explaining Ra's had rung her on her private number, something which disturbed him greatly. It had the exact effect Ra's wanted, in that he sent Dick and Barbra, who were now getting along again, to go to the Russian meet-up and he went to confront Ra's himself.

Ra's had been patiently staring at the window until Batman had appeared. He was grinning in that creepy way of his, when he knew he had won. Batman didn't like it.

Their chat had not gone well at all, especially considering Ra's opened with "So she's your distraction to deal with the pain of not having Talia?" Things had gone downhill from there, with Ra's demanding he start knocking down into lairs and looking for Talia, while Bruce was insisting that an armed sniper who went after released Arkham patients after they had been experimented on was more important. Both men had left the conversation angry, which Bruce knew had also been his intention.

Behind the mask of seemingly senile and insane figure, Ra's was very manipulative and cunning, especially when it came to getting what he wanted. Most of the time he got what he wanted, and those times Ra's didn't he was like a toddler. Bruce had told Ra's he was welcome to search on his own, but there was to be no killing, no connection with Batman, and he was not to do anything incredibly illegal. Ra's found those rules overally restrictive. The conversation ended at a stalemate, with Bruce assuring him he would listen and follow up on any leads brought to him, as well as keep an eye out. The last thing he need was Ra's deciding to go through Gotham himself and causing some kind of incident.

After that, Bruce had gone to check over Arkham, doing a personal count of all the inmates. He snuck some medical files that were kept on the local server, a necessity after a group had hacked into the system and put some confidential files on certain villains online for entertainment. The asylum was as it had always been, old, creepy and disturbingly easy to move around in and not get caught. He'd have to fix that. Again. Every time he or Bruce Wayne and the board pushed for a security overhaul, things got better for a few months and then went lax again. It was how people kept getting out and how apparently doctors ran tests on inmates that were unapproved.

An impatient throat clearing brought him to the present, where the woman in front of him still looked like she wanted to throw something at him. She was hurting still, although she was doing her best to hide it. It had to be unnerving, to get thrown into this world very suddenly, even if she thought she was familiar with it.

Bruce got up to go grab her blanket. "Where do you want me to start?"

"The beginning." She didn't stop glaring at him even as he dropped the blanket over her, though he did notice she shifted slightly to become more comfortable.

"I'd just finished college. I was still angry, had no real direction in life and just needed to do something. So I told Alfred I would be travelling for a while and went to Japan. I hadn't even meant to in the beginning. I found myself outside a Dojo in Japan I had researched and found to be a high center of learning and started there."

"Charming Bruce, but what does this have to do with anything?"

"Are you going to interrupt me all the time or let me tell this or not?" He asked her and she rolled her eyes, like she always did when he was right and she was annoyed with him. He continued "After I finished there, I went all over. I was obsessed with being the very best, like no one had ever been. I learned everything from anyone I could find to teach me. Breaking and entering, carjacking, Escape Artistry, magic, fighting people, behavior techniques, stuff like that. I went everywhere, South America Australia, Africa, until I found myself high in the Himalayas looking for my last stop. I'd heard rumors about a man named Ra's al Ghul and his elite fighting force.

"At first he refused to teach me anything, only convinced I was determined after I broke into his compound and sought him out without being detected. I had no idea who he really was, and he didn't let me know either. I'd dealt with shady people in the past but nothing on the scale of Ra's. I didn't find out his true colors until the very end."

"He sounds charming." She interrupted again, and raised her eyebrows at him when he sighed. This was already hard enough to tell her, he wasn't used to telling anyone anything straight, preferring to keep some part of his emotions in check. It was hard enough to talk to her when she was mad at him, but it was another to tell her what was coming next, even if he did trust her.

"He liked me a lot, though I didn't know until later. I was determined to prove I was capable of being what I wanted to be, and learned a lot in a short amount of time. Then I met Talia, his daughter." Of course Selina tried not to react but he could see the slight narrowing of the eyes, her attention more focused. She was intensely proud of the fact she was the only female in Gotham City who got away from Batman the most, that she beat him at anything.

"She was everything I thought I wanted." Bruce got quieter as he recalled this part of the story. He still remembered when they met, and way she had seemed to fit so easily into his life. "She seemed to care about everything I did and I was happy. To make a long story short, she pretended to be in trouble hoping I would kill someone to save her. Doing so would prove to Ra's that I was ready to be his successor." It had been a lot more complicated than that but Selina would get the gist. He had glossed over that part of the story almost entirely, preferring to not revisit the fighting and hurt he had experienced.

"I didn't kill anyone, and after I learned what Ra's really was, I left. No one there was who I had thought they were, and it was time to go home. Ra's and Talia didn't take it well" Understatement of the current centaury but Selina seemed to get it. Her smartass remarks were gone, and she was giving him her full attention. She seemed content to just let him get it all out because she probably knew as much as he did if he didn't get it out now, he never would bring it up again.

"The reason Ra's is in town is someone took Talia. Which isn't unusual, he's pulled this trick multiple times over the years. Apparently the kidnapper left a note with a bat on it. This was the same time his personalized bullets that all his elite assassins use started to show up in dead Arkham inmates. Ra's claims he isn't responsible, but he's sticking around to keep an eye on the situation and look for leads on Talia since the bullets being used by the sniper were stolen off her dead guards."

Bruce sighed, the full weight of the tale hanging over him still. He thought it would be better for her to know it now, but instead almost feared a reaction from her. She was along for the ride, and the last thing he wanted to do was drag her into a game with a volatile manic. "Any questions?"

"Many." She replied cheekily, grinning at him and causing some of the tension to leave him. Why had he been worried about telling her this in the first place, of course she would be all in. They had still been a team before, and nothing changed because masks were off. He needed to get his head together and stop acting like because she wasn't in a suit that she wasn't the same person. "Why am I here?" she queried again, the tips of her mouth curling into a smile and amusement written all over her face. She wanted to make him spell it out and say it, the first time hadn't been good enough for her. Infuriating woman.

"Because," He started carefully, "You're involved no matter whether any of us like it, especially since Ra's insisted on finding out about you. He followed me to the hospital in the name of working together. Because of what happened with Harvey attacking you, you're on the target list. It wasn't random whoever was pulling his strings had him single us out. Someone is sending a message, and you're a part of it. That and I was going to tell you anyways, being stabbed just gave me another excuse."

She grinned, and his white flag was accepted. Which was good because he didn't think he could stand an Ironman movie marathon with her commentary. There were some pretty pointed jabs his way.

He smiled back too. "Am I forgiven now?"

"No. Just for asking that question."

Just more proof that the more things changed, the more they would always revert back to the start.

"You look tired." He noted and looked over at his watch, it was almost 5:30 in the morning. He need to sleep, and being in a cold cave probably wasn't what she needed. "We'll take the elevator this time."

Bruce went off to collect Isis, who for some reason seemed to really like him, leaving Selina behind him, who was muttering about why they couldn't have taken the elevator in the damn first place.

9:00

One Police Plaza, Gotham City Downtown

Jim Gordon

The phones had always been ringing off the hook in the Police station but even more so now since a tip-line for some bank robbers had gotten put up. The non-stop ringing was enough to give anyone a headache, and the station coffee, which was the cheapest city hall would get them, did nothing to help the throbbing. Add in some fluorescent lights, and you had a ticket to a blistering headache.

It didn't help matters when his own phone rang, meaning something must be important enough that he had to go look into it, or take care of something. People thought being the commissioner was more political than police work. That would be a lie, it was both on steroids. Not only did he have to personal responsibility to close cases, but whenever something bad happened he faced the wrath of city hall, the public and the media.

"This is Commissioner Gordon."

"Commissioner, this is the morgue. We have some men here who say they're here to pick up the bodies of Harvey Dent and Victor Zsasz." It was Dr. Simon working today, nice guy. He'd gone in the work he did in the start to pay off some of his doctor's loans, now he specialized in it full time and was recognized for his expertise. He also sounded pissed.

That made Gordon sit straight up in his chair. "No one is authorized to take them."

"I know. That's why we called. They say they have orders."

"Tell them I will be right down and to not do anything until I sign off on it. I'm not getting Gotham PD in trouble because someone didn't file paperwork correctly."

While it was unlikely people wanted the body for any other reason than to verify it was them and that the deceased was in fact dead, there had been stranger cases in Gotham city. Cannibalism, for one. Obsession with the dead was another and this town was just full of crazy people, who really needed a reason in this town to steal a body? Stranger things happened.

He made the long trek down the stairs, said hi to the receptionist, told one of his police captains he would see them in a meeting later, told another to keep him updated on the Rowllins case, and arrived to see his medical examiner on duty that day, Dr. Simon, arguing with men in suits.

"This is outrageous. You can't just waltz in here and take bodies because you claim to be the government. We're going to need some identification here. More than some badges."

"He's right." Gordon butted in, getting several men who screamed government operative staring at him disapprovingly. "I'm going to need some kind of authorization or official go-ahead in order to let you take them. It's just policy for the bureaucracy, surely you understand that."

They didn't move for a few moments, then one went outside briefly and re-emerged with a woman. She was short, but had a presence about her that was intimidating. It was how Gordon had felt when he went through basic and had faced down his first drill sergeant, who despite being five feet tall, was incredibly scary and could yell terrible things at him for over five minutes without repeating anything. She also screamed government, and Gordon knew it wasn't anything in the city government.

"Commissioner. I'm Amanda Waller." Even her voice was scary sounding, the voice of someone used to getting their way and used to making things happen. "This is your order from the Federal Government. We are conducting a research program into biological bases for mass-murders to develop. Here's your slip of paper." She threw it at him, and if she hadn't already walked off Gordon would have said something.

Sure enough, it was a government release form, like every other one he had ever seen. At least that was in place. It had her credentials too and certified she was the project manager in a government run research organization, something called Cadmus, that fell under Homeland Security. There was a number at the bottom, along with a few names. All of which Gordon recognized as state and federal officials.

"You can call that number or call the number you get for looking the person up online." She stated, walking closer to where the bodies were laid out on exam tables. She looked them over with a critical eye, disgusted by what she was looking at, her brow furrowed in revulsion. "They're legitimate."

"She can't just barge in here and take bodies off the table before our complete exam is done on Zsasz." Dr. Simon pleaded, looking at Gordon for help. The last thing any Doctor wanted was to give someone else authority, especially if it was over something he had. Add in the fact Dr. Simon had just returned from vacation and had only gotten to examine Zsasz last evening and this morning, made for an angry examiner. Dr. Simon's outburst caused the woman to turn around.

"Oh yes I can. I can even have your license revoked for impeding my progress or even just for looking at the body wrong." She then turned to look over at Gordon, dark brown eyes almost daring him to fight back. A smile engulfed the lower half of her face, teeth stark white in contrast to her skin. It was not a happy smile, it was a smile of aggression, Gordon had seen it often enough while working with criminals to recognize it.

"Dr. Simon, her papers appear to be legitimate. I trust the Federal Government will send us a copy for our records upon completion of the autopsy?" He couldn't resist that last little bit. It had always been a problem when the Federal Government had swooped into his department and tried to do things without notifying his officers or just flat out not telling him things. The least they could do was make sure their paperwork was in order.

"It will be on your desk when completed, I'll have our doctor send it over to you as soon as possible." she said, no longer paying attention to the two Gothamites. Her focus was entirely on the men moving out the body bags into a truck that had been waiting outside in the loading area marked "Police vehicles only Violators will be towed"

The Feds disappeared almost as quickly as they came, with only a "have a nice day gentlemen. I'll be in touch" to go on.

Just wanted to say thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the story. If not let me know what I can improve on.