Philia part VI

There was a strange man in her Alfie's study.

He was very tall and large, not like her uncle Harvey that was large in a fluffy way, this man was all hard edges, although he was wearing a long velvet dressing gown that looked very soft. His dark hair was wet and pushed back, he had sad blue eyes.

'Who are you?' He asked. His voice a whisper, like he had just seen a ghost.

'I'm Helena, who are you?'

'Hello, Helena. I'm Bruce.'

'Really?!' She couldn't contain her excitement. That was Bruce Wayne! From the stories everybody – except her mom – told her since when she could remember. They never told her the exact words, but she always had the suspicion that he was her father. He didn't look anything like she pictured him in her imagination or seen in her dreams. That Bruce was young and energetic, she always imagined someone like the Superman from Metropolis. But this man was dark and looked very tired, very human. She was a bit disappointed.

'Do you know who I am?'

'Duh, who doesn't know who the prince of Gotham is?'

He raised an eyebrow to that, his lips in an almost smile. A twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

Helena walked from the window to the sofa, throwing herself on the cushions with remarkable familiarity. Bruce Wayne didn't move from his position next to the table.

'How did you get in, Helena?'

'The security in this place sucks.' She didn't see him mouthing the words as she spoke them.

'And you came for Alfred, you said. How do you know him?'

'I don't know. Since forever. I think he is my godfather or something, or is that uncle Jim? You know, I have to ask my mom. So, have you seen him?'

'He's on a holiday. But he should come back soon.'

'Oh… I didn't know he took holidays. I didn't think she would allow.'

'She?'

She giggled.

'It's a joke. We say that Alfie is married to the Mansion.'

He chuckled. And she felt a wave of proud for making such a gloomy looking man smile.

'I suppose this could be true. So, Helena' he was repeating her name over and over again, as if he was trying it on 'what business a young lady like you have with my butler this late?'

'He hasn't been visiting…' She pouted. 'I think he's fighting mom. They fight a lot. Sometimes is silly and funny, but other times it isn't… And I haven't seen him for a while. I miss him.'

'Your mother…' He hesitated and Helena took a breath, she knew what he would ask next. 'Who is she?'

ooo

Helena wasn't in her room. Selina knew that because the first thing she would do after getting home was to check on her and give her kiss on the forehead as she lied asleep. But she wasn't in her bed. The apartment showed no signs of a break in, the bed was unmade but no signs of struggle either. Trying not to panic, she went to the living room to find Holly dead asleep with the blanket slipping to the floor. She tried to shake Holly awake.

'Holly! Holly! Where is Helena?'

'Lena…?' Said Holly groggily. 'Oh, hi Selina… Goodnight, so… sleepy…' And she closed her eyes again, useless.

Now Selina was in full panic mode.

She ran back to Helena's room to try to find some clue of what might have happened. It was all her fault, all her fault. Someone that had a grudge against her might have found out Catwoman's identity and coming for her. What the worst thing you can do to a thief? Steal her most prized treasure, and that was her daughter.

She dialled Alfred first, but no one was picking up. Swearing, she called Barbara and nervously explained the situation.

'I know it's hard but try to calm down, Selina. Think with a clear mind. You said there was no sighs of break in or struggle, that Holly seems drugged. Yes, a professional could do that, but you have to think of the possibly that she went out on her own.'

'Went where?! It's the middle of the night, Barbara, where the fuck would she go? And for what?'

She heard Babara Lee's voice on the background but couldn't tell what she was saying.

'Babs said she was thinking about making Alfred a visit, but was afraid you wouldn't let her.'

Selina clenched her eyes shut.

'Shit.'

Barbara started saying something, but Selina ended the call. The world was spinning a little slower. She took her keys and left.

ooo

She probably got tons of speeding tickets that night, she couldn't care less, Barbara was calling her nonstop, and she saw some incoming calls from Lee and Jim too. In the mindspace Selina was, there was no possibility of her taking any call without the danger of driving straight to a three, so she just ignored the annoying buzz throwing her phone on the backseat. The journey to Wayne Mansion have never seem so damn long before. Why did rich people had to build their stupid hugeass houses in the most remote part of the city? It was asking for trouble if you asked her. How did Helena go there on her own? The thought of her taking a cab or an uber all alone in the middle of the night gave Selina chills. To think she would make that trip all the time alone when she was just a little older than Helena, half by bus half by foot, sometimes hitchhiking on some creep's truck, how she had never been raped and murdered was a mystery.

When Selina reached the Mansion's gates the despair bubbling inside her was unbearable, she got the enter code wrong two times before racing with the car inside. She parked in the lawn in front of the house not caring a little bit about Alfred's prized begonias and entered the second code, this time she got it in the first try.

'Helena?' She shouted, her voice echoing on the long darkened corridors. 'Alfred? Where are you? Oh my God where are you kitten? Please be here, please be here.'

She finally reached the study, her daughter apparently safe and sound, asleep on her favourite sofa, from a chair in front of her, Bruce stood up.

'Hi, Selina.'

Should I stop ending chapters like that? Maybe, but it is such fun! And it isn't like you are suffering a lot. I post all the time.

I think you (on AO3) noticed that now I have an idea of how many chapters this story will have. It's an odd number and I don't like it, but I also might have plans for an epilogue? We'll see. If you want to get some freebies about this story you can follow my writing blog on tumblr, I'm username pandoraimperatrix

Have a nice weekend my darlings, be safe!