Chapter 10

Disclaimer: No, Bruce is not mine; if he was I would probably never put this in the comics. Either way, Kayne is mine. You steal her and I screw you up, capuche?

"Kayne, you must start preparing for the party now if you want to be ready by the time it starts." Alfred's voice calls from the doorway. Kayne glances back at him from her sulking spot in the rafters.

"My word! How did you get up there?" he questions, walking into her room with a dress bag and a box. He sets the bag and box down on the bed gently.

"Are you stuck? Do you need help? Are you scared of heights? Can you move? Do you need to me to call Master Bruce because preparations or not-" he begins rattling away with worry evident in his voice.

Kayne cuts him off with a slight smile. "Alfred, I am fine. The combination of being angry at 'Master Bruce'," She imitates British accent his voice at the end. "-and the itch of not being able to move finally got to me, so I ended up here to do a little exercises but more importantly to think."

She gets up and limps to the curtains. Kayne slides down the drape but slips accidently landing on her arse.

Alfred rushes to her side to help her up without touching her still healing ribs. "Ouch!" She whines, testing her butt cautiously with her hand. "None of that climbing business for a while my dear Kayne; you will just interrupt the healing process." Alfred chides with a wave of his pointer finger. She feigns a glare but smiles.

"Sorry Alfred, I still don't have a feel on my legs. The fall on the stairs really screwed up the healing process… I wish I was awake when the Joker touched me so I have some idea what he did to me." Kayne answers quietly, staring at her hands.

Alfred grabs the dress bag, and glances over at Kayne. "I am actually glad that you don't recall it. I don't want to know what that beast did to you."

She nods, walking up the bed. "Do I seriously have to go to the party Alfred? I think I should be kept a secret to the 'press' a little longer. You know probably for eternity? That sounds like an excellent idea, let's do that." She comments dryly.

"You know that Master Bruce wants you to attend. You already went over this with him and rather loudly might I add. Don't go to another parent for permission, it is rather rude. Now here is the dress Master Wayne picked out for you." He replies, unzipping the body bag.

Kayne and Bruce had another argument over The Guest of Honor position when the decorations came in. The people here to help set up, gave the room they were arguing in sharp looks. It got to the point that they thought someone was being murdered. Kayne was finally banished to her room till the party.

She stormed out; giving everybody she saw a death glare that could set them on fire. For one poor man it did whenever he stood to close to a candle without giving it much attention. Her face and neck were covered in a white head scarf, making her eyes and the bridge of her nose visible. She wore black jeans, and a long sleeve red shirt.

People started wondering what the lovely Wayne's daughter looked like and why they fought so much. From the quick glimpse of Kayne's raging, fiery brown eyes that glared at everything in sight, they felt they knew why.

It didn't help the rumors that Bruce supposedly beat her every night and morning to help numb the pain of his parents' deaths. Somehow Quinn got an edited version of the tape out where she questioned him about her recovery and abuse. Of course Kayne now realized why Bruce was forcing this upon her. It is crowd control. To show them that his daughter is relatively safe from harm; my ass, Kayne snorts deep in thought.

When Kayne's eyes met the dress, she immediately screeches in anger. "I am not wearing that piece of cloth, Alfred! No, I absolutely refuse! Does he have any respect for me? They will see my body and, all my scars. No!" Kayne screams, turning away from the dress.

It is a white satin dress that would barely cover her short shorts, let alone her scars. Its one sleeve has an intricate black leaf with flower design running down it and across the chest. A black ribbon cuts off at the chest and the little skirt, with a flower diamond buckle in the center.

"Will you just try it on? Master Wayne was insistent on this certain dress. I know it isn't what you wanted, and I tried to tell him. At least I convinced him to let you have a wrap to go with it." He begs, holding it up for her to see.

Kayne glances at it and lets out a groan. It is even backless. She looks at Alfred's pleading eyes, and sighs in defeat. She grabs it and heads off to her changing screen. Kayne peels off her shirt, careful not to disturb the bandages.

Alfred waits patiently for her to toss the clothes over. He caught them carefully, preparing for the next task at hand.

She tugs off her tight shorts, ever since her accident she had been getting out of shape badly. Kayne glances back at the dress skeptically. "Alfred, I don't own any bras that will go with-" She tries to make an excuse but stops as his hand shoots out, holding two gel cups.

Kayne takes them giggling at Alfred's most likely blush. She puts them on gently and then tugs the dress on. It felt very revealing, and airy. Her wish to wear shorts under kept stirring but she knew they would most likely be visible. Kayne steps out from behind the screen, trying to tug the dress down without revealing her chest.

"Oh, Kayne might I say you look magnificent." Alfred compliments, but she could see the glint in his eyes. "I look silly! I feel ashamed just wearing it. I can see almost all of my scars. Look Alfred. Be truthful, does the sight of my back frighten you?" Kayne demands, pulling her hair carefully over her shoulder to show him her scarred back.

He goes silent but she could feel the air of agreement. "I am dressed like I am desperate and my body is disgusting. I am not wearing this dress." She announces, already reaching to unclip the back.

"No, Kayne don't! Despite the dress's lack of coverage you do look beautiful. Your scars are nothing to be ashamed of. It just proves you are a warrior. Now here is that wrap I promised." Alfred exclaims, pulling her to the bed to hand her a soft, white satin shawl.

She snatches it and quickly pulls it around her shoulders, effectively covering all of her bare back. "Now the last matter that I can help you with is shoes. I hope your sense of balance is as good as your sense of modesty." He comments handing her a big box.

Kayne narrows her eyes at him and peeks into the box before handing them back. "No way Alfred. I have a pair of non-exotic dancer like flats in my closet that will do." She replies with disgust.

"I am sorry Kayne but I'm afraid Mr.-" Alfred starts off but she stops him by snatching the box. "Yeah, I know Mr. Wayne insists. I've heard it before. Jeez, does he have any respect for me? I feel so ugly and nasty in these clothes." She snaps, ripping the lid off the box.

Kayne tugs the stiletto, diamond glitter, strap heels on her small feet. Despite her scars her feet were relatively free of them. Although to her it felt like her foot was being snapped in half. She also felt lucky that her balance is almost perfect or else her face would be saying hello to the floor. The heels seemed to hike her skirt up an inch or so, much to her disgust.

"There that should be it. The party-"

"Alfred, what are those?" Kayne interrupts, pointing to something that fell out of the dress bag. A thick wad of pale material fell out of the bag, and bundled up on the floor. It looks kind of like panty house to Kayne.

She crouches down to pick it up, completely surprised by its actual size. It is an almost full body cover, and it matches Kayne's pale skin color perfectly. "Did he want me to where this underneath my dress?" She asks, pulling it closer to her for inspection.

"I wouldn't know." Alfred lies as he watches her head behind the changing screen. He quietly stands by the bed, listening to her unzip her dress and the sound of her struggling to pull the material on. "It covers from foot to neck, Alfred! My hands are free though, but it looks like I don't have any scars, look!" She exclaims, zipping her dress back up before steeping out from behind the screen.

Alfred agrees silently with her. Her skin looks clean and smooth; the only affect that was unusual was if you looked close enough you could see a faint haze in her skin. It almost looks like a 3D affect, but that was if you focused too long in one spot. The only problem was you could still see her 'birthmark' scar on her neck

"You look magnificent, now let's go the party already-"

"But Alfred look, there is something else in the bag." Kayne exclaims, gracefully taking the bag from his hand and placing it on the bed. She slides her hand in the bag, and pulls out of beautiful obsidian black jewel choker necklace that seemingly has a black raindrop dangling down.

"Where did that come from?" Alfred asks, gently taking from Kayne's excited hands. He examines it for only a brief second before Kayne is gesturing for him to put it on. She pulls her carefully curled hair back so he could get to her neck.

Even though it was an open offer to her neck, she still flinched when his hands brushed against her skin. He softly clips the choker together and stands back to give her room. Kayne fluffs her long, gorgeously curled hair and look in the mirror. "Are you sure I should go without make up? My bruises could be seen if they looked close enough."

Alfred nods reassuringly but his mind is on other things, like this mysterious necklace. All though he had to admit it went wonderfully with her pale skin and dark hair. Bruce must have slipped it in as a last minute thought for her neck. He kept saying how he couldn't find a necklace that could angle enough to cover but Alfred guesses he found one.

"Now when is the party supposed to start?" Kayne asks, applying a thin coat of lip gloss. She takes a look at her natural blush, and thick eyelashes. Her dark eyes flit down to her body. She holds back tears, wishing she could actually be this beautiful. To have a body that wasn't covered in nasty scars, and to be pure.

She shakes her head, no I can't think like that, she scolds. The scars are there to give you a purpose, to prove you can survive and be a warrior. To show that you didn't succumb to death but instead fought for life, because there is a reason to live.

Her shoulders seem to slump. Then why am I hiding them from everyone? She shakes her head again before a hand touches her shoulder. Kayne jumps and whips around about to throw the person over her shoulder. Alfred just stands there calm and waiting.

"Yes Alfred?" She asks apologetically.

"I said the party started half an hour ago."

She stares agape at Alfred. Alfred just glances at her with a knowing gaze, and gestures to the door. Kayne darts out of the room and down the stairs to the hallway. She runs past the kitchen and heads towards the sound of laughter.

Her glide slows and she halts just outside the door. Kayne fixes the imaginary hair out of place, and smoothed her dress. The glare that was ever present before is now back.

The sparkling lights seem to mock her as she takes a big, even breathe. The clinging of a glass snaps Kayne out of her deep breathing. "Ladies, and Gentlemen, the time has now come. I would like, no, love to introduce to my biggest Guest of Honor, my daughter, Kayne." Bruce's voice resonates.

Kayne huffs, and places a smile on her face. She steps out and enters the extravagant ballroom. Everyone's eyes seem to fall on her body, sucking in everything they could with on simple glance. The waves of approval and disappointment practically drown Kayne in the first second. Everyone in this room looks rich, old, a gold digger, or stuck-up but mostly rich.

Bruce stood in the middle with a smile on his face. His eyes were just like his foster daughter's, completely readable to her. His eyes help impatience, and anger with a bit of relief.

The hall is excellently decorated with white chandeliers shining brightly on the dozens of rounded tables. The elegant black chairs held many people already. Servers walk around idly, carrying trays full of small, slender glass filled with unknown drinks. The orchestra brought in had stopped momentarily to look up at Kayne.

They all wait with baited breath for her to speak.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Am I late? I've heard Wayne's are never late. I guess I'm still new at this." She chimes heartily, gliding across the floor. Laughter rings around the ballroom; although Kayne found nothing amusing. She grabs a glass off a passing waiter with ease. With the grace of a bird she places her hand in Bruce's outstretched one.

Kayne sips from her drink as he gently guides her to face a certain way. He softly presses his face in her hair as if hugging her. "Where did you get that necklace?" He hisses in her ear quietly. "From the bag." She tightly smiles, turning to everyone's gaze.

Kayne slowly makes eye contact with every set of eyes that held judgment. They were quick to look away.

"Everyone this is my daughter, Kayne Wayne. They grow up so fast don't they?" He inquires, showing off Kayne with a twirl of his hand that wasn't on her. The chuckle of agreement went around from the silly joke. Bruce clinks glasses with very few people.

"Now, let's truly get this party started with the Guest of Honor." Bruce announces, wrapping the arm that had her hand around her waist. She flinches noticeably away from him. A few people catch it and murmur about.

"Play nice." He gently whispers with slight tone of sadness. "You don't." She snaps back with a grin, coming closer to him. Kayne thanked her lucky stars she did because a mass of people shuffle towards them with excitement.

Somehow her butt finds a seat with Bruce still in close contact with her. Her hands start shaking at everyone so close to her. At any time, one of them could hurt her. A middle age woman sitting directly across from Kayne manages to get her attention.

"How does it feel to have such a handsome and wealthy father?" The woman purrs, eyeing Wayne. Wayne slips his hand into Kayne's, holding tightly to stop the shaking. Kayne eyes the lady and sips from the drink. A bright smile comes on her face and a look of gratitude becomes evident.

"Well, I don't know about any of that. I am just glad I have some to love and protect me. It sure helps, you know, compared to my other families." Kayne replies, relief in her voice. She squeezes Bruce's hand painfully tight when she emphasized her words.

He looks at her with a tight smile but everyone standing and sitting suck in the words like a sponge. Sighs of admiration and longing for a rescue story reflect around the table. "How was your family life before this?" someone behind her asks.

Her face drops. "She would prefer not to talk about that, so if you would mind." Bruce asks timidly, glancing behind her. "No, no. It is ok. Well, look at that I'm out of drink. Be right back." She replies, looking around before standing up. The small crowd parts to reveal everyone else lounging around and dancing.

Suddenly a pale hand shoots out to touch her. Kayne grabs it and is about to break before she see the face. She feigns a leap sideways and a squeal of surprise. A pale-faced woman with flaming red hair steps out of the crowd, wearing a bright red suit with a white blouse and a black pencil skirt. "I'm sorry Ms. Wayne. I just have one question. Does your father seriously let you drink alcohol?" She asks slyly.

A tablet and pencil practically materialize in her hands. Do you having anything to say about this fatherly move?" she questions, leaning in. The whole crowd turns to Kayne, wondering what she will say.

Kayne casually switches out her drink with a passing waiter. She gracefully sips from the elegant drink. "It's cider." She quips before turning away from the strange woman. "You never answered the father question." The woman asks with a note of annoyance quite evident.

"I know." Kayne snaps, walking way.

The redhead seems not to get her hint and follows her. Everybody heads back to whatever they were doing before. Words of luck are given as she passes by tables, heading to the food tables by the windows and in front of balcony. Kayne nods dutifully, wearing a smile that could easily been read as if she had just won a miracle.

"Hello, I am Summer Gleeson. I would love to able to ask you a few questions." Ms. 'Gleeson' states, no room for debate in her voice.

"Then what's stopping you?" Kayne asks, giggling. She grabs a grape of the food table and pops it in her mouth.

Summer looks taken aback by Kayne's sudden change in mood. "Well…" Kayne hums, turning to her with her glass at her lips again. She glances down at it, bummed that it was once again empty. See if Bruce had just gone with the bigger drink cups like I had suggested, this wouldn't keep happening, Kayne thinks bitterly.

"When were you adopted?" Gleeson asks, watching delicately as Kayne takes another drink from a blonde waitress with pigtails.

"I was never adopted. I am being fostered." Kayne quickly replies, sipping the drink. Her mouth had become really dry for so reason, and these drinks didn't seem to help. Especially this one, she thinks with disgust, looking down at the champagne filled glass.

"How do you feel having such a handsome father that is so young?" she inquires again.

Kayne nods and says, "Just look at him, he could be such a wonderful dad." Gleeson's eyes follow Kayne's gesturing hand. She takes this opportunity to dump her glass in the punch, and search out for another waitress.

"But that doesn't answer my question." The reporter sniffs, turning back around to find her gone.

Bruce had watched all this unfold. He let off a slight smirk as he watches Kayne dump her obviously spiked beverage into the punch. His eyes trail off to follow Kayne's movements. Gleeson's face of surprise is hard to miss. Kayne had efficiently gotten lost in the crowd to where almost nobody could find her. Almost being the key word.

He spots her heading over to the previous blonde waitress, asking for another drink. The blonde waitress smiles and says something in reply. Kayne seems to think about it, and nods. Bruce felt a tap on his shoulder as he watches Kayne accept another glass.

He turns his head to look at the table. "She is quite beautiful! How did you manage to find her?" An elderly man asks with great admiration in his voice.

"Just like any other child would, with great surprise." Bruce replies, nodding his head in thanks. The old man chuckles and offers a toast between them. Bruce lifts up his glass and clinks it together, before cheeking the alcohol and spitting it out whenever he wasn't looking.

It hit him just how much him and Kayne in common. Speak of the devil, he thinks, glancing over to her immediately. He picks her out of the crowd. A boy was talking to her, trying to get close to her. She smiles politely but the disgust is evident to Bruce.

Kayne's hand suddenly reaches up to touch her necklace. The boy had obviously complimented it. Bruce stares at it curiously. He wonders where it came from because he had never given it to her. It was the one thing he couldn't find for her. Lucius had been kind enough to make her the skin suit. This if Bruce could admit, looks dazzling on Kayne. Nobody had suspected something odd.

The necklace hung beautifully around her neck. Kayne said she had found it in the bag but he had not place it there. Maybe Alfred put it there?

Bruce raises his hand about to gesture Alfred over but an abrupt scuffle stops him.

Kayne seems to be walking farther away from this boy but he keeps moving closer. She finally stops and drops the façade. Her eyes become balls of fire. The boy probably couldn't see but Kayne's hand flit onto the table behind her for a knife. He quickly backs off. He had cornered the cat and the cat was about to fight back.

Kayne turns to leave but her face drains in color and crashes into a waiter before hitting the floor. Drinks spill everywhere. The boy didn't bother to catch her but instead chooses to stand there and look flabbergasted.

Bruce bolts up and runs after her as a crowd starts to form. The rich boy walks away from the scene as if nothing happened. Bruce pushes everyone out of the way. He wasn't too concerned. She might have slipped or something.

When he reaches her, he knows that is simply not the case. Concern pumps through his veins hard. His breathing slows, and his eyes harden. She was poisoned. Her hair is sprawled about her with drinks staining her white dress. The thing that stuck out was the green stains at the base off her neck, spreading out like vines on a plant. Kayne's chest, Bruce realized, wasn't moving at all.

"Everyone out! Miss Kayne has frequent fainting spells and over exerted herself tonight." Alfred orders over the gossips in the crowd. People mumble with worry but leave quietly and not so quickly. Bruce picks her still conscious form up and runs to the kitchen. Her eyes were wide open but unseeing.

He throws everything off a certain table, and places her on it. He grabs a latex glove and yanks it on before ripping the necklace off her neck. The scar comes to reveal itself as the vines slowly retract on her skin.

Kayne jerks up, with a gasp. "What the hell happened Bruce?" Kayne screams, her hands on her face going through her hair. "What do you remember?" he asks calmly, watching her peel off her shoes.

"I remember telling that rich snob that I didn't want to dance, and then blank." She recounts, taking deep breathes. Her body moves to sit up over the table. "Well, to make it clear, you fell over onto a waiter who accidently spilt drinks all over you and then you hit the ground. Oh, and this necklaces might have been poisoning you." He replies, holding up the necklace.

She looks shocked. "But that's impossible!" Kayne answers, resting her head on his shoulder. "I know you might find it hard to believe that a necklace could do that-"

"No not that Bruce. I meant the me getting poisoned part. I am immune to every now poison, and serum on Earth." She informs, looking him in the eye. He knew what that meant. She hadn't been affected by the truth serum. It also meant that the poisoner must have known that she couldn't be affected.

Alfred walks in quickly. "I found something." he says immediately, hugging Kayne. She hugs him back, resting her head on him.

"We did too. She was poisoned by this necklace." Bruce replies, pointing to the necklace on the counter.

"Which means I can assume you didn't give it to her." Alfred sighs, glancing at it. "Which is quite a shame, I really liked it." Kayne follows after him.

"Yeah, yeah, the twist is Kayne here is immune to most poisons up until now. Which means the poisoner found her downfall." Wayne announces.

"You now, I think I might now what was on that necklace. The symptoms are from an extremely rare cactus only found at the north end of Arabia. Only a few live in existence, yet their oil is used by the most elite assassins there. Maybe someone in Gotham found out about it." Alfred replies. "Either way you have to see this Bruce, it was left on a tray."

He hands Bruce a finely pressed piece of paper. Kayne glances over Bruce's shoulder, trying to read it. They both look up, grim faced. "We have to prepare for tomorrow. He could just be bluffing. Either way we can't cancel tomorrow. It would be too abrupt." Bruce reasons, rubbing his face. "Plus maybe we could catch him."

Bruce walks out of the kitchen; Kayne and Alfred close at his heels. Bruce leads them to the south corner of the mansion, opening up the clock wall. "Kayne, you better feel honored to be doing this." Bruce remarks stepping into the elevator. Kayne quickly follows, saying "How could I?"

The note left in between them simply stating, "Sorry I didn't get to attend tonight but something rather important came up. Although I must say you looked beautiful. Why are your scars gone though? I might just have to fix that tomorrow. See you then, oh and wear something nice. –J"