Who's up for making 1000 reviews here? Just ten away! is it possible to break 1000? *shrug* Well, here's what's going on with Selina. Time's passing faster and I've kept it to the essentials, so it'll be going much faster soon. Enjoy!

Dick-16/17 Jason-13 Cass-11/12 Tim-9 Damian-3

Sacrifice

7 – Cat Cam

Three weeks. Nothing. Police and FBI were all but gone from the Wayne Manor and grounds. Two officers left their numbers with Bruce but that was all really left of government involvement with this case. No ransom, no proof of life. Agent Ferrel's idea of runaway was becoming the common idea among investigators. All but those who knew Dick personally.

It was only when the feds had left that Selina visited, and not through the front door. Bruce gave her a glare when she walked through his study window. "Do you have to use that route?"

"Couldn't count on Alfred's kitchen entrance being safe." She gave him a sly look. "Last I checked, the FBI didn't like me. Something about releasing their prisoners one night."

"Cats I hope."

"Most indefinitely." She closed the window firmly behind her. "Can't have my friends being used as guinea pigs. Anyway, about those things you told me to look out for," she turned about, all business, "I got some details."

The man straightened in his chair slightly, highly interested. Three weeks ago, the day after talking to Superman and getting those samples (which so far led nowhere), he had called her asking for help. Using both the League and her connections in the criminal community, he prayed to get a bite somewhere. The tech Jason found at that warehouse was deemed untraceable, homemade, by official reports. Bruce believed them to be prototypes of some newer tech company. Stolen tech. That is where Selina came in. "Oh?"

"Someone's been buying stolen tech," the woman started, moving around the room to get warm. "Top quality, untraceable kinds. Prototypes like that signal jammer and those vid-screens were among them. Word has it the guy who bought the tech, also killed the thieves. No one's saying who it is or they don't know. I'm guessing they're too scared to know."

"So the person who took him—"

"Someone big. Someone quiet." Selina looked away in frustration. "And doesn't run in my circles. Whoever it is, they're really good.

"What I can't understand is why take Dick and not call for a ransom?" She gave him a truly confused look, despite her concern for the boy. "I mean, there's no other reason to take him, is there?"

"None that I can see." He didn't like it. Who would? The whole thing was too suspicious.

"And the whole set up, far too complicated for just a kidnapping. Manipulating him to go there, using some lady, probably killing her, in order to get him to do what they want, then leaving everything he had on him behind, along with all that tech?" She shook her head, asking his own questions. "What are they really after? Why take him?"

"I've been wondering that myself." The man handed her a printout of the mysterious text that still bothered him. "What can you make of his?"

She took a look and scowled, thinking. "A lot of gibberish. What kind of secret could you possibly have?"

"Besides dating a suspected felon?" Selina peered over the paper at him, raising a testing eyebrow. Bruce gave her a serious look. "Everyone has secrets Selina. Scandalous ones. I've managed to suppress the media in the past, keep the kids out of the limelight, but one wrong step and the peaceful life they know, we know, and it's over. Dick knew this, probably better than anyone."

"So he was trying to save you." She couldn't help but to smile a bit. "That's so like him. He planning on saving the world then? By getting captured?"

"Possibly." Frustration ate away at him. "If that text wasn't so garbled up we could have a solid lead."

"Or maybe nothing at all." She passed the paper back to him. "A text is useless unless you can figure out where it came from. And wouldn't Mr. Amazing be using burn phones and cash?"

"Not just any burn phones," he began, getting out of his seat. The CEO picked up a tablet and brought up a file showing her everything he knew about that particular part of the puzzle. "Previously confiscated ones supposedly in police custody in Star City."

"What?" Selina took the list and went over it with a cruel eye. "Dead phones? From Star?"

He grunted in the affirmative. "Apparently our kidnapper is a traveler. West coast, east coast, he may not even be American."

"Someone lifting old burn phones from Star PD would make some noise," she note, looking through the random numbers. "I might be able to make some headway from this. How many times was he contacted?"

"About half a dozen times. Most of these numbers were rerouted through each other to confuse the search."

"Even though they led nowhere?"

"He's thorough." Frustration permeated from every line on his face. Whoever did this did not want to be traced. It was a struggle not to blow up or crumble into a mess at each dead end. "Not many people can manage this. He'd need training or access to an expert in communications."

"Sounds like your department." She passed him back the tablet. "I prefer the low-tech route. Now that reimbursement I talked to you about?"

"Doubled for you troubles." Bruce knew he was asking a lot of Catwoman, helping him like this. Technically she didn't have a reason to help him. He may even be putting her life at risk. But she saved Tim once, no questions asked. He could only pray she would help save Dick too. And to ensure her services, he'd pay her anything. He rewarded her handsomely for saving Tim after all. This task was anything but simple, so paying twice as much as she spent was well worth it.

She smirked, giving a satisfied nod. "I'll see what I can do once I get to Star."

"Stay for dinner?" Bruce insisted, coming towards the door.

"You haven't had it yet?" It was nearly nine at night. That was rather late for dinner, especially with a toddler and elementary school kids around. School was starting back up shortly after all.

The man looked away as they left the study. "None of us have much of an appetite lately."

"Hm. Interesting." She tilted her head to the side, contemplating his actions and words. Sounded like they needed a friend. All of them. "What's Alfred making?"

As the two of them walked through the halls to where the children were, Selina looked around and took in the changes in the manor since Dick's disappearance. The place seemed quiet, less lively. Almost like a hospital at night. Christmas decorations were still up, but ill cared for. Even the diligent butler couldn't find it in him to maintain the status quo they had before. Dust was starting to gather on the edges of their favorite portraits.

'Dick, whatever that secret was you are trying to keep hidden is, it better be worth it.' She looked over to Bruce again, frowning at his solemn expression. Not a drop of playfulness anywhere on him. He was the same as the manor: quiet as a graveyard. And it would stay that way until his eldest returned.

"Selina!"

At the sound of her name she looked around, spotting Tim rushing over to her from the grand staircase. His black cat hoodie drooped on his shoulders as he flew towards her excitedly. Within seconds she felt his body slam into hers, wrapping a hug around her waist.

"Timmy! How are you hanging there kiddo?" She couldn't help but smile at the kid. Automatically her arms surrounded his head and shoulders on impact. Not exactly comfortable, but it got the job done.

The boy shook a bit before steeling himself to answer. "So-so. Did you hear about Dick?"

His hold loosened enough for the woman to kneel down and get on eye level with him. "Of course I have. Been out there looking for him the past few weeks. That's why I haven't been around here."

"I thought you were just avoiding the cops," the genius stated flatly, trying to act strong. She could tell the past few weeks had been hard on the kid. If Timmy wasn't talking about computers, books, or complaining about Damian, he was talking about all the things Dick did, with him or with others. The kid idolized his big brother.

Selina gave a soft chuckle. The kid was sharp as a tack. "Well that too."

"Any leads?" The kid bit his lip in anticipation. Just like his father he was desperate for anything related to Dick. Anything that would bring him home safely.

But again she had to admit the truth. Shaking her head, "Nothing that's panned out yet. Just a lot of stolen tech."

"What about the parts?" He started in a panic. "The kidnapper can't just scrape off the numbers or designs of the pieces making those things can he?"

"Still trying to find matches on the pieces," Bruce promised as he returned with a sleepy toddler leaning against his shoulder. Cass was just behind him holding onto a book. "But Selina's going to be checking out that phone lead we dragged out starting tomorrow. Upturning all possibilities from several different angles is a large part of detective work."

"Different angles eh?" Selina gave him a slight smirk as she came back to her feet. "Don't trust me to get the job done alone?"

"I just have a friend in Star who runs in different circles," he explained. "He has a ward a little older than Dick, so he sympathizes and agreed to keep an ear out. I doubt you two will cross paths. What is it?"

For the past few seconds the woman just stared at Cassandra in slight confusion. "Great Expectations…"

Bruce looked over to his daughter and the classic novel she'd been trying to read over the holidays. Most days she would have finished a book that size in a couple weeks, but she was having a hard time concentrating on it due to everything around her. It wasn't that unusual, but the woman's eyes nearly popped open at the sight of it. "What about it?"

"Eat Expect. Cass, where do you normally read?"

Everyone stared at her as if she was nuts; that was until Bruce took another look at the book and remembered the phrase. "Oh my… Jason!"

"What?" came the teenager's muffled yell from the kitchen area. They could hear him coming towards them but it would be a bit. In the meantime, the man directed the others.

"Cass, you're usually in the parlor, right?"

"Usually…" The confused girl looked between the two adults. Tim was just as lost as she was. "What's going—"

"I'll take a look around there first," Selina stated, striding forward the way the girl had come. "You take a look around the second level."

"If there aren't any," the man concluded, "we have to assume they're piggybacking off of our security feed."

"What's going on Dad?" Jason started as soon as he was in the room, very confused. "When did Selina get here?"

"Jason, put Damian to bed," he ordered quickly, nearly shoving the toddler into his arms. "Then get the others to eat dinner. I'll explain later."

"Say what?" His green eyes grew wide in confusion and terror. He was in charge of his siblings? Now?! Cass and Tim were just as thrilled about it as he was, and twice as confused. Only a groggy Damian, starting to fuss at being passed around, seemed normal around them.

Just as the two adults started charging around the house, Bruce murmured, "We may have found a lead."

Half an hour later their father came towards them, a very frustrated look on his face. Alfred was just cleaning up dishes while the children tried to find excuses to stay up (Tim was having a hard time keeping his eyes open this late). Selina was just behind him, picking up something black, shiny, and reminiscent of cheap magnets off of one of the doorframes. It was pointed straight at the small kitchen table they used on a regular basis. Both were carrying small bags filled with the same kind of device.

The man took one of those same things and tossed it on the table for the kids to see. Jason was the first to ask the obvious. "What's that?"

"A spy camera," Bruce stated plainly, glaring at the offensive device. "It's how whoever took Dick knew what was going on in here. So far we've found twenty spread out around the manor."

"My word!" Alfred just gaped at the thing, letting the dish he was working on drop back into the sink. "I can't believe I didn't notice them before!"

"They were cleverly hidden," Selina started, making the butler not feel so bad. "On fake plant stems, linings of frames, edges of door posts, even on the black parts of entertainment centers. You should check fans, light bulbs, between shelves, nooks and crannies in the morning when the light's better. These almost look Government Issue, but not FBI. I'm thinking China."

"Whoa…" Jason picked the thing up as the other two leaned in. This was a lot to take in. "Hold on a moment. You're saying the guy who took Dick put these around our house?!"

"Exactly."

"When?" "How did you figure it out?" The boy's voices overlapped each other. But Cass was the one who answered Tim's question, holding up her book.

"Great Expectations! My book! I was reading it when Dick was taken." She looked up to her father to see if she was right. "'Great' has 'eat' in it and 'expectations' starts with 'expect', one right after another! Just like in that last text Dick got."

"Second to last," Tim reminded her. "We just can't read the last one."

"So some ugly put cameras in the manor, discovered something to blackmail Dick, then to prove he can do it tells him you're reading that book?" The teenager's summary was close to what his father had theorized.

"Pretty much." Bruce took back the camera, glaring daggers at it before putting it with the others in the bag he was carrying. "I need to get these to one of my labs. It's likely there's a signal we can trace."

"Unless big bad is watching now and has cut the connection," Selina started, playing devil's advocate. He grunted in acknowledgement.

"Your job the next few days is to find every single camera we missed," their father informed them. "Find them, destroy them. No exceptions."

"Like an Easter Egg hunt." The kids exchanged looks, nodding in acceptance. Their egg hunts became very involved very quickly. Now that they were on the hunt, they'd find all those cameras, and any bugs if they were around the house too, no problem to it. Their father saw that look and knew the rest of the manor's security would be in good hands, but at the end of next week, he was going to call Superman back in to do a multivision sweep.

"In the morning." The man swiftly turned to Selina as he started on his next task. He had to use an alternate route to the cave to get on this because of her presence. "The three of you are going to bed. You have school tomorrow. Selina, please consider staying the night to make sure they get their rest."

"Considered." She gave him a slight coy smile as she handed him her bag. She'd stay the night, then she was gone.

The kids exchanged looks again, this time unsure. After a moment of elbowing, Jason's voice stopped their dad. "Hey, um… Dad?"

"Hm?" He looked back to him for a moment, ready to go. But he stopped because of his son's hesitation. Jason was anxious about something, the cameras?

"With everything going on, wouldn't it be better if we… didn't go to school?" The teen gave him a pained, begging look. His father's narrowed slightly at the question, so he had to explain. "The press is still going with Ferral's theory of runaway and the kids at school are going to… well you know, be real jerks. I was thinking you should just—"

"No." His firm voice matched his eyes. He understood where they were coming from but, "you have to go to school. All of you. Pulling you out now will only make things worse when we get Dick back."

"There's an old British saying that's applicable here Master Jason," Alfred interrupted, drawing their attention to the stalwart old man. "Keep calm and carry on. Master Richard would want you to do just that in this instance. Each of you. He would be greatly saddened if you left school on his account."

Hearing the man's words, they had to agree. Dick wouldn't want them to be pulled out unless it was necessary, especially the younger two. They gave relenting sighs before nodding. This was just the way it had to be. That was all.

Slade thrust Dick against a hard wall, pinning him in anger with his forearm as he brought the iPad close to his face, showing him something. "Who is this?!"

The teenager barely got a look at it while struggling with the man's grip. "I don't know!" 'Selina,' his mind whispered, though his face hid any knowledge of this woman.

"You're lying!" He let the video run for a moment, displaying her familiarity with the parlor. "She's one of Wayne's old girlfriends isn't she?!"

"I don't know! Maybe!" It was hard to breathe being pinned like this. Why was Slade so angry about her being there anyway?

"Slade," Wintergreen started, trying to calm his friend down, "I don't think anyone can answer under these conditions."

One thing Dick liked about this other, older man was how he could occasionally make Slade see reason. Occasionally. He didn't always interact with them, much less than Alfred did with them. And he didn't have being British as an excuse for being so cold (really, Alfred's distance was entirely cultural and job related, nothing more). This time he had to, or the teenager really would have passed out before making any real answers. Deathstroke let go of him after a moment longer, letting him slide down the wall helplessly.

"Fine. Take a moment to think apprentice. Who is this woman?"

He looked at Selina's picture again and put up his best confused look in existence, the one that got him out of trouble with the principal when he pulled a prank and there wasn't sufficient evidence to pin it on him. "Really, I don't know. I don't keep taps on all of Bruce's girlfriends. I hardly meet half of them."

"She's clearly been to your house." The man's one eye glared hard on him. "She found the cameras."

"Huh. Good for her." Dick glared away, trying to think of a good excuse/backstory for the lady. "Maybe she's from Bruce's days traveling abroad. He met a lot of people back then and keeps in contact with them. I didn't always live there with him you know. For all I know she's Interpol, or even Catwoman. Hear she's hot."

Slade continued to glare at him, not pleased with the answer. The boy could tell he was thinking he was lying (so he dropped a little truth to throw him off), but he kept talking anyway. He knew how to talk after all. "Seriously, I've never met half the girls Bruce as gone out with. The rest of them we categorize by hair color and number. We don't bother to learn their names if they don't last six months."

The man's eye narrowed for a moment, considering his words. Dick knew they made sense. He just prayed they sounded true enough to throw the man off Selina's trail and that his expressive face didn't give her away. Bruce needed Selina, if not as a comforter then as a resource. And Dick really didn't want to endanger her any more than he had already. Deathstroke could be vicious.

Finally the man turned away, seemingly accepting what he said. "You better not be lying boy."

"They were going to find your cameras eventually," the teen jibed back, forcing himself back to his sore feet. Every part of him was either bruised or sore in one way or another. Scabs and new scars covered his hands, knees and even his elbows from all the training he was forced into. A newer cut on his chin started to bleed again and the one hidden in his unruly hair itched like crazy behind him. But despite all of that, he kept the sass up. "Alfred's really good at cleaning and you should see our Easter Egg hunts. Bruce hid them in really weird locations. One day Damian would have spotted one on accident and your whole scheme would be found out."

Slade gave him a cold stare, studying his features quietly for a moment. "I think you need a shower, apprentice."

Dick's eyes widened in terror. "No… No! I had one—"

"Get outside and strip." He brought out the trigger, waving it just next to his eye as encouragement. As more dread and terror filled the teenager, flinching the entire way, he walked forward to the yard outside the bunker they were using at the moment. He had to do as he was told.

Behind him he could hear the man giving Wintergreen new orders. "Prepare for our departure. We leave in two hours. No point in leaving a trail for Wayne's people to find, even if the signal did self-destruct before being pinpointed."

"Very well. Street clothes?"

"Naturally. Pity they had to find those cameras. They were more for his benefit than mine. Thanks to that woman," Dick cringed inside as he heard the rest, "he will never see his family again."

A/N: and Dick is moved from an abandoned military base probably in Pennsylvania to... who knows where. All because Selina found the cameras. Bruce called her and asked for her help but she couldn't make an appearance until then because of her past with the FBI. Because she bolted to Hawaii or somewhere else after the argument, Slade never saw her before. The fact that she's an intricate part of Bruce and thereby Dick's life and he didn't know about it kinda scares him. He also doesn't know about Barbara because she hasn't been by the manor during the stalking either, which will be important. =]

So the house is now camera free and the kiddos have to go to school the next day. Things are only going to get harder for them. And considering life goes on whether we like it or not, Alfred's 'Keep calm and carry on' will be used often, and later made fun of. Enjoy!