"Please!"
"No."
"Come on Bruce!"
"I said no, Dick." Tying the last bit of his tie, Bruce glanced at Dick bouncing on the bed through the mirror.
"But I can help point him out." Still keeping up the antics, it seemed that Dick was never one to run out of energy.
"I know what he looks like," Bruce assured the boy. Thinking for only a moment that he should say something to stop Dick but he knew that perhaps Alfred would be better suited for that.
"What if you forgot?" Dick was not going to let this go. "Plus you're going to be distracted and…"
"I'm not going to be distracted." Not wanting to take the bait, Bruce just briefly paused in his movements before resuming getting ready.
"Aren't you going with Selina?" As he landed on his feet Dick gave him a look before doing a back flip in the air.
"No, she's going with someone else." Trying to get the disgruntled tone from his voice, Bruce faltered for another moment.
"Oh." Dick's brows narrowed. "Aren't you two together though? Like she's your girlfriend, she shouldn't be with other guys."
"She's not my girlfriend." Finally Bruce turned around and decided that just maybe he did have the power to put this jumping at an end. "Maybe you should stop before you get hurt."
"This is nothing. I've been more than a story in the air doing this." Dick informed, not bothering to stop. Honestly, Bruce didn't really see a reason for him to stop because he was more than correct. "So why isn't she your girlfriend?"
"We're just doing some business together." Bruce sighed, getting his suit jacket from the chair and putting it on. Figuring that Dick was not until going to quit asking himself these questions until he was more than ready to, Bruce let him continue.
"She's pretty." Pointing out something that Bruce knew well, he didn't bother to correct the kid. "Really pretty, you should date her."
"There's more to dating than just looks." Bruce smirked. Though usually not the one to doll out dating advice, Bruce could not help himself.
"You like her." Absentmindedly Dick did another amazing flip, which Bruce was surprised to see that someone so young had such control with his movements. Although he shouldn't really be that surprised but the way that Dick twisted was truly mind blowing and how he seemed to move without a second thought. His parents had taught him well.
"You need to stop before Alfred gets in here." Again attempting to turn the conversation elsewhere, Bruce told the boy making his way towards the disheveled bed. He was sure that Alfred was going to have a heart attack if Dick kept this up. They had caught him doing the most peculiar things in the large house. From swinging on the chandelier to climbing to the roof, the child was never one for a dull second.
"Fine." With that Dick did a somersault in the air before landing at Bruce's feet. "But I still think you should date Selina."
"Why the sudden interest in my dating life?" Bruce questioned.
"It's just what people do, I guess." He shrugged. "Dating makes them happy, I don't know."
"Never been my experience."
"So can I go with you?"
"Nice try."
"Master Bruce." Alfred promptly entered the room and look briefly at the bed then at Dick, lifting a brow he questioned. "I see you found yourself an indoor trampoline."
"Alfred," Dick stood up straight, "you need to tell Bruce that I can help him at the party and pick out Zucco."
"My dear boy," giving a slight bow at the hip to explain on the kid's level, "if you were to go to the party, Mr. Zucco would probably try to hurt you and we just cannot have that happen."
"But Bruce will be there." Then the other person popped in his head. "Oh and Batman! He's always there when you need him."
There was a brief and subtle glance between Bruce and Alfred. Bruce had become well aware of Dick's slight obsession with his other half. It seemed that though Dick had not actually seen Batman, there was an ideal about him despite the current bad press. Dick managed to research a great deal and to the extent that Bruce was impressed when he looked at the history of Dick's browser from his i-Pad. So the concern did not lie in the fact that Dick would find out about Batman and become instantly afraid of him but instead even more fascinated.
"He's a crazed murderer, Dick," Bruce bashed his alter-ego, "you shouldn't be idolizing someone like that."
"Besides he does not come out in the daylight." Alfred reminded him. "Now why don't you get ready for a swim before a later dinner?"
"Fine." Dick sighed and before leaving looked to Bruce. "You should ask her for at least one dance." Then hurried to his room.
"Did I misunderstand something?" Becoming amused, Alfred watched his young master begin to hurriedly finish dressing, "Are you bringing a date?"
"No." Bruce sighed. "Dick thinks that I'm dating Selina."
"Interesting theory." Alfred nodded, going forward and brushing off some of the dust from the suit. "Our young guest has been quite faithfully researching the Dark Knight as well."
"Let him search." Slicking back a piece of hair, Bruce looked once more in the mirror before turning to Alfred. "If anything comes up…"
"I will let you know sir."
Beautiful. That's what Bruce saw when he saw her next. It was such an overused and almost mundane word but he couldn't help but to think on of how beautiful she actually was. Sure he had seen her dressed up when he had taken her out, in a form fitting cat-suit that hugged her form, and in basically nothing when she had first told him that she knew him. But here she was an amalgamation of her personalities. She was charming but coy. She alluded to her sex appeal but she kept others at a distance despite the physical proximity that she allowed them in.
There was also her physical appearance that made him look twice, thrice, and more at her. The dress was less form fitting than one might think, but strangely showed off her assets by design of perfection. The drop in neckline, then the drop down her back where the necklace that was short in the front but elongated in the back showcased the curve in her spine and the muscles surrounding the structure wonderfully. The bottom was loose but there was a silt running up her mid thigh. The make up was darker than usual around the eyes but giving a straight cat eye. Her hair was smoothed out, showing off the angles of her face's bone structure.
He was not the only person to take note of the beautiful woman in the backyard. And he wasn't the only one mysteriously without a date. She seemed one short as well. As she outwardly laughed at some man's joke, Bruce reacted towards something that he had not done so in a long time. When he caught eyes with her, he knew that she was just playing a part and the sensation subsided, but only a bit. There was another feeling that came over him, one that he had felt briefly around her and chose to ignore. She was his working partner. That was all.
"Mr. Wayne!" He had been spotted by the lesser of the mob evils, Mario Falcone and was now being approached. "I'm so glad you could come."
"It's nice to get out of the office once in a while." To keep up appearances, Bruce shook hands with the man.
"Isn't it though?" Mario was the Falcone with the cleanest slate and appeared to move away from the family but even then he still needed to attend events such as these to keep his security team with him and his family. "I hear that you have a new addition as well?"
Bruce paused, unsure of how to take this interaction and chose his words carefully, "Just making sure that the boy has some room to breathe while the police sort everything out."
"Of course." Giving a smile, Mario added. "I'm sure the boy keeps you on your toes, a circus kid? That has to be interesting."
"It certainly has its moments." Bruce agreed trying to be amiable. "I heard that your own congratulations are to be in order."
"It's a girl." The joy was apparent but there an underlying emotion surfaced and Bruce noticed that Mario moved in closer to him. "Speaking of adding to the family, my father would like to speak to you when you have a moment."
"I'm not interested." Taking a drink of his ginger ale, Bruce immediately felt disgust at being there but at the same time knew that perhaps he could learn new information about the mob's plans to rise. The idea of even meeting with a man that threatened Gotham more than once while pretending to be nice, left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Our families go way back, Mr. Wayne," now he was just playing the want card, "you can't deny…"
"Excuse me, gentlemen." Bruce could recognize that voice from miles away and he couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face as Selina Kyle came into their view. "Mr. Falcone, you don't mind if I borrow Mr. Wayne for a second do you?"
"Just a second?" Mario winked and then patted Bruce on the back before leaving the two alone. "We'll keep in touch."
"You know," Bruce set his drink down on the table next to him and approached her, "I was trying to do some work."
"All work and no play, at a joyful time like this?" Selina's tone was mildly mocking but he appreciated it. "Dance with me."
It took him less than a second to respond as he lifted his hand towards her and she took it willingly. Making their way to the dance floor, Bruce tugged her close and wrapped his arm around her waist, while she gripped his shoulder. Their hands clasped together and Bruce held them against his chest. For a moment or two they swayed to the rhythm of the band playing a somewhat lively tune that was easy to keep up with.
"You and Mario chatted for a while." Selina commented as they moved on the floor. So this was also a ploy to get some information and not just to dance quietly for a while. "I didn't think he was in the family business as much as the rest of them."
"He's not." Still getting used to sharing his work, Bruce relented the information, though he did not really want to talk about this at this current point in time. However, the other topic that he would rather be talking about with her would be crossing the line and he was not willing to do that.
"I didn't know that the Waynes and the Faclones went way back." It was bound to come up and she had every right to ask and even be weary as her manner of speech indicated.
"They don't really." Bruce assured but saw that did not help so he gave up a little bit more. "My father, he was a doctor and saved Carmine's life on the operating table once."
"There's more isn't there?" Her lips downturned and the music's pace slowed down.
"Before," he wasn't sure how much he should tell her but tit for tat, as they say, "my grandfather, Patrick, and Carmine's father were college roommates. But once they got out of Princeton then their friendship ended."
"Just like that?" A brow lifted.
"There were rumors that they were friends but my father was certain to block all ties to the Falcone family until Carmine needed help." Bruce explained.
"You Waynes are suckers for hopeless causes aren't you?" Selina teased a bit. Although she did not know to the extent of the statement being true and she just looked up at him.
"Not necessarily, we just think that everyone deserves a chance." Then he decided that he could use some information on her as well. "Is Mr. Bradley sick?"
"Would you like him to be?" She smirked.
Wisely, he remained silent.
"We had a disagreement." Selina shrugged. "I didn't want to bring any baggage to the party and just wanted to have a good time."
"While taking a look into the Falcone vaults?" He guessed.
"Depends." Catching his eyes, Bruce felt himself stare right back into her green orbs. "Will anyone be there to stop me?"
Pulling her into him further as the song ended, Bruce dipped his head down and let his lips graze her ear. Smiling to himself as she shuddered, he whispered, "Don't take too much."
"Ouch." Dick rolled out of the limo and onto the pavement. Luckily the valets were out already towards another client and out of his way.
Peeking around the side of the car to see if the driver of the limo was still in the vehicle, Dick shook his head at seeing the driver off with a few of the others. He dully noted that perhaps the drinking and driving rule did not apply to them as they seemed all be enjoying something from the flask. Dick would later tell Bruce about this.
Taking his cue, he shut the trunk and straightened his small bow tie and jacket. It was one of the few things that he had that reminded him of how much he looked like his dad. Only once in while would this type of attire come on within the realms of the circus life but when it did, Dick thought that his parents were the most attractive humans ever. Or rather, he had once thought that, now it was different and they were gone. The thought reminded him of why he was there, to find Zucco.
Having long memorized the layout of the Falcone complex from a file that he had found while looking around on this database he had found, Dick just needed an in and he already had one. Each of the family members had children, he would either get lost in a group with them or if someone recognized him, he would just pull a whine and say that Bruce left him wandering the party. It was tricky but in order to get Zucco, he would risk Bruce's wrath any day. So Dick turned the corner by the gate and saw the area where the wait staff was and easily walked up to them putting on a confused look.
"Hey kid!" One of the staff caught his attention by touching his shoulder and Dick turned to him. "What are you doing back here?"
"We were playing hide and seek and I got lost." Dick shrugged. His heart raced but he refused to look abashed. According to this person kids were in fact invited to the party, after all it was a family party. It also meant that Bruce lied about there not being kids there.
"Come on." Jerking his head in the direction that they were supposed to go, Dick was inclined to follow. "I know where they're all hiding."
Without another word, Dick happily followed the man. Man, this whole lying and make-believe stuff was a piece of cake. He should really do this more often.
As they went through the mansion, Dick began to take inventory of the different rooms and places that the people were, especially the shut doors. Even though he had grown up in a relatively open door environment, he knew what the closed doors meant. Behind them were secrets and things that people like him, kids, were not supposed to know. However, having been told multiple times, he also came to the conclusion that the mob kept the closed door policy when they did not want anyone to know their secrets.
Continuing going down the long hall, Dick could hear the kids playing in one of the rooms, from what he guessed of all ages. Once he got to that room it would be easy to sneak out and collect the information he needed and track down Zucco. However, what he did not expect was one of the doors to his right opening and a very familiar woman walked out. Dick could not help but pause and the member of the wait staff noticed.
"Well, well, well," lifting a brow towards the boy, Selina could not help but smirk at the coincidence of the situation, "looks like the bird has flown the coupe."
"Found him in back." The waiter pushed Dick forward. He obviously assumed that Dick somehow belonged to Selina.
"Really?" She seemed to be waiting for an explanation.
"We were playing hide and seek." Dick answered lamely.
"I can see that." Taking him by the shoulder, Selina pulled him into her. "I can take him the rest of the way."
"Sorry about…"
"Don't worry about it." Turning Dick to her desired location, Selina began to walk down the hallway.
When the waiter was out of earshot, Dick went to explain further, "I didn't mean…"
"Kid," Selina smirked, "he's going to give you a very long lecture about all of this. He'll tell you that you shouldn't be here. Probably that it's too dangerous and so on." She paused and looked down at him, "But just remember while he's giving you that lecture, that I'm very impressed."
"Thanks." Dick murmured. "Can I go and find..."
"No." She told him. "I'm impressed but I'm not an idiot. He'll sick the bats on me if he found out that I let you go."
"Bats?" Looking up at her, Dick noticed that she only seemed to panic for a moment before sliding back into her cool nature.
"A Gotham saying." They arrived back in the backyard where the majority of the festivities were going on. It was already sunset and some of the porch lights were coming on making the area a more romantic place to be. "But you don't have to go looking for the man that killed your parents."
"But Bruce isn't…"
"He has it under control, kid." Selina assured. Highly aware of the pain that the kid was going through, she crouched down to get at his level, hopefully making him understand. "Bruce is not going to let him get away tonight."
"How do you know?" Dick questioned.
"He has a powerful friend working on it." She smiled.
"Batman?" he whispered excitedly.
"No, silly bird." Selina chuckled. "Me."
"Dick?" Knowing that voice, Dick and Selina turned to see Bruce standing there with a mixed look of surprise and anger on his face. "What are you doing here?"
"I really wanted some cake?" Dick tried a different tacit than he had with Selina but it fell completely flat as he saw Bruce become a little more angrier.
"You're going home." Marching forward, Bruce tone was not one to be messed with. "Now."
"Bruce." One of the few people to stop him mid-rage, Selina grabbed his hand before he even got to Dick. Knowing that people were listening, Selina lowered her voice. "We're not done here."
Torn between two scenarios, Bruce glanced between Dick and Selina for a moment, trying to figure out the best solution. If he left to make sure that Dick got home, he could potentially miss the opportunity to corner Zucco and have the silent arrest to not disturb the seemingly happy event going on around them. However, it would mean that Dick was safe and sound in the manor even if it meant tying the boy to the bedpost in order to stop him from going out.
"We need to…" However, Bruce was rudely interrupted by the sound of a couple of gunshots and screams from the outside area.
All three of their heads turned towards the noises and saw that there were about ten people in balaclavas with an assortment of guns in their hands from the window in the hallway. Not thinking twice, Bruce took off with Dick in his arms and Selina in hand, pushing them into the nearest doorway, which turned out to be a closet.
"That's not part of the plan." Selina sighed as Bruce turned on the flashlight on his phone and put Dick on the ground.
"Plan?" Although disturbed by the sounds, Dick was still able to comprehend what the two adults were talking about in front of him.
"Do you have the papers?" Bruce questioned her.
"Of course." She nodded. "They were fairly easy to find in the safe, a little disappointing actually."
"Good." He nodded. "We'll be able to prove that the insurance is a complete front for the backend weaponry."
"Right." Selina agreed. "And that the drugs given out by the insurance are fake."
"Do we know who authorized it?"
"Not yet."
There was another gunshot and it was closer. Both Selina and Bruce's reaction was strangely enough to put their arms around Dick in order to protect him. It also seemed that it was the only time that they recognized him as being in the room with them as they just kept going on amongst another.
"We need to get him out of here." Selina told Bruce.
"There are others…"
"Protect your own first." Cutting him off, Selina continued, "especially before anyone…"
However, she was also interrupted as the door to the closet swung up and a man with a gun appeared. In an immediate reaction, Bruce grabbed the gun, aiming it upwards as it went off and then quickly dislodged the man from the weapon. At the same time Selina delivered a knockout punch to the face, causing the man to drop. They glanced at each other and then Dick who seemed at a loss of words towards the two people and what he had just witnessed.
"Car." Was all Bruce said before he grabbed Dick's hand and began to lead the two towards the exit.
They were met with resistance and apparently the number of attackers had multiplied into the mansion. Standing face to face with around eight men covered from head to toe in black who all appeared to be ready and willing to fight, Selina and Bruce knew that there was no hiding from the kid any longer.
"Ladies first." Bruce motioned for Selina to go.
Without saying a word, Selina went forward for the first attack and despite her dressed up appearance and demeanor; she attacked like she had been waiting for this moment the entire day. Swinging around with her twists and turns, Bruce could not help but admire her finesse, among other things. He only took a moment to do so because immediately two men went for him and he eagerly kept Dick close but still managed to knock out the two people coming at him with ease.
Dick watched in awe as the two people that had saved him from not only the gunmen at the party but these attackers, he was completely taken with wonder at the sight. At first he had thought of Selina as being a beautiful woman of course but never was she able to do something like that. Or Bruce, the playboy philanthropist would be able to throw a knock-out punch towards two men at once. Much like the circus, things were not always as they appeared to be.
After they were done beating the living daylights out of the people, with bodies strewn across the floor, Bruce and Selina looked at each and gave a nod as they heard footsteps coming towards them and said, "Car."
With that Selina took a bewildered Dick's hand and Bruce activated a call on his watch. There was so much commotion out of the area that they were in and right now the adults of the group were focused on getting the younger person away from this mess and on his way home. The boy was fascinated with what had just happened and appeared not wiling to let it go.
"How did you guys do that?" Dick questioned as they hurried down the hallway, his hand in Selina's as Bruce took a cautious lead. "I mean you both just kicked all of their…"
"Dick." Pulling on his hand, Selina tried to shush the boy.
"Okay." He sighed but apparently he did not shut up completely. "But seriously, how did you guys…"
"Dick," It was Bruce's turn to actually make eye contact with the boy and tell him, "we'll talk about this later."
They went towards the edge of the walls and Bruce knew that they were almost to the cars and that they could possibly not be seen. Hopefully he would also get both Selina and Dick out of here, so he did not have to worry about them. Wait, he didn't have to worry about Selina, she was more than capable of handling herself. Yet as he looked at her, Bruce knew that he needed her out of here as well to finish off his work.
Luckily the place seemed empty of the wait-staff that Dick had just passed a bit ago. In haste, Bruce turned to the two others and began to explain, what he thought was a good idea. "You both need to get out of here and…"
"What?" Selina interrupted, clearly not pleased. "Why are you staying behind?"
"Someone needs to get this situation under control."
"And you're going to do that with what exactly?" She spoke in a low tone that told both males that she was not pleased with this idea. "Charm them with your dazzling personality?"
"I will not let them kill anyone." Bruce stated in an equally rough tone.
"Not all of these people are exactly good."
"There are children here Selina."
That's when she paused and then asked. "What do we do with the kid?"
"You can take him back to the manor." Bruce shrugged.
"No."
"Selina don't…"
"We're partners Bruce." Her brows narrowed. "You stay, I stay."
Then without a word, Bruce led her and Dick to his car. They did as quietly as they could, unsure of who was around them. Bruce opened the car door and then pushed Dick and Selina into the backseat of the limo. The watch beeped and the space in the limo became something much more. A very familiar cowl on the opposite side of them popped up from the bottom of the limo and Dick began to truly understand what was going on.
"Woha." Dick's eyes widened at the site before him. "Holy flying monkeys." Then he looked to Bruce. "Batman."
Thank you all for being so supportive during a mini-absence! It has been a crazy month but I'm happy to ring in the new year with another chapter. I have been trying to keep with some of you over PM with your questions so I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Now I can say, things are going to start to get interesting...
EV