She had been calling her brother for days. She wanted to believe that he was angry with her, ignoring her. But she knew he wasn't. Her fears were confirmed when she went to his house and found no one. She used her key to check inside. She looked all over the house, including the bat cave and felt her heart drop when she never found him. She got in her car and was about to pull away when she saw someone pull up. She felt a spark of hope when she saw it was John, but the spark died when he rang the doorbell. He didn't know where her brother was either.
"He isn't there" she didn't know what else to say so she waited for him to speak.
"Do you know where he is?" She had come to lean against his car and was watching him, as he was watching her.
"No." She would not cry. She kept repeating that to herself as thoughts of her brother's fate paraded through her mind.
"Do know where he last went." He said it softly. He could see she was upset, he wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her everything would be okay. But the caged look in her eyes kept him from reaching for her.
"He went after Bane. I tried to tell him not to, that he could get hurt" he saw the tears well in her eyes, and silently watched as she willed them away.
"He followed a woman who knew where Bane was. Her name is Selina Kyle." She suddenly knew what happened. She had deceived her brother, and led him to Bane, where he was waiting to tear her brother apart.
She looked at him with her deep green eyes, and he saw so much sadness in them he couldn't resist reaching for her. He took a step closer to her and wrapped her in his arms. He felt her stiffen and he held her tighter. She weakly tried to push him away, but he just tightened his arms around her. She leaned into him, and he loosened his grip on her almost smiling when she didn't step away from him. She looked up at him, he could have kissed her their faces were so close.
"You need to find her, she'll know where he is. I can help, if you need me." He saw the determination in her eyes, and marveled at her strength.
"I'll call you if I find anything. I'll get Commissioner Gordon's approval, but I will let you know." He was almost surprised when he felt her wrap her arms around his waist. And then she was gone.
She went to work, but her heart wasn't in it. She tried to focus but couldn't. She couldn't stop worrying, and decided she'd let one of the other girls close. She was half way home when she got a call from John. He'd found Selina. He was going to professionally question her, and then he'd let her talk to the woman. She was being held at the airport, and Evan was on her way.
Selina couldn't believe she'd been caught. She'd been so close, but now this stupid rookie detective was questioning her.
"Did they kill him."
"I'm not sure. " She wished she could tell him where Bruce Wayne was, she hadn't realized how good of a man he was. She was surprised to find herself sorry about what she'd done. She almost couldn't believe it. He was one of the few rare people who deserved a good life, and she'd taken it from him.
"I have someone who'd like to talk to you, off the records. Whatever you say can't be used against you."
"Is this even allowed?"
"I'm making an exception." She was curious now. And then Evangeline Wayne walked through the door. She really was beautiful. Especially now, in her pain. Selina didn't know how she was supposed to tell her that her brother was dead. Or that it was her fault. She couldn't imagine that this young woman would be too understanding. She expected Evangeline to look at her with such hatred that she was shocked when all she saw was pain. Her eyes were so similar to Bruce's, Batman's. How had she missed it.
He didn't know what Evan would do, he just hoped this woman wouldn't provoke her.
"Did you know who my brother was, was this all a plan?" He could hear the tears in her voice and fought the urge to hold her again. He watched as Ms. Kyle went to say no
"would it have made a difference if you'd known?"
"I can't say for sure."
He could see Evan was getting more upset, she was standing beside him. He reached for her hand, but she shook him off.
"Do you know where he is?"
Selina knew why he'd made an exception for Evangeline, he liked her. It was obvious. She could see how visibly broken Evangeline was as she started raising her voice.
"I don't know."
"Is he dead?" John saw the anger, and fear in her eyes. He knew that no answer would calm her down. He stood up and tried to reach for her but she moved away. He looked Selina Kyle in the eye and tried to tell her not to answer.
She watched as the detective tried to grab Evangeline, but she kept moving away. The girl deserved an answer, even if it didn't help. She watched him try to tell her not to answer, but it was too late.
"I'm not sure you should hear this. Evangeline"
"IS HE DEAD?" No one moved after she screamed.
"I don't know." Selina whispered.
She watched as tears began to fall from Evangeline's eyes.
"You have no idea what you've taken from me." Selina realized then that this was a girl who looked privileged, but in reality had very little. Selina only hoped that whatever was going to happen, Evangeline would be okay. She watched as Evangeline ran out of the room.
The detective opened the door and she saw a police officer outside of it.
"Take her to Blackgate" he said as he ran after Evangeline.
He finally caught up to Evan. She was standing beside her car waiting for him.
"What now?"
"No, Evan you don't have to be apart of this"
"Where is he?" He wanted so much to answer that for her.
"Until one of us can answer that, I am apart of this. So do you want my help or not?"
