Disclaimer: Characters belong to DC comics. I am not for profit.
Chapter 1:
Selina Kyle, at the age of eleven, had witnessed a crime. She was not the first she witnessed, nor would be the last, of that she was certain. But this crime had something special: they had murdered rich people. This would be the talk of the press for decades, Selina knew well. The Waynes would never be forgotten in Gotham.
Selina had watched the new detective. She could tell he was new by how he acted. Gotham hadn't marked him yet, he still believed in justice, that murderers could be caught and that they would be punished. She had followed him for days, to see if he was trustworthy or if he was already corrupt, but to her surprise, Jim Gordon didn't favor any mob.
She couldn't tell herself when she had started stalking him, breaking into his house when he wasn't there, looking for food and shelter, something she couldn't find on the streets. But she had to be careful, street children were always in danger and it was not surprising that they were thrown out of places. The break-in didn't seem to be something Jim approved of, not even if it was to seek a bit of security before heading back to the streets. Gordon's food was good, much better than rummaging through bins for some food, or stealing some, enough to keep her sated for a few hours. She didn't expect Gordon understand, rich people rarely did. Not even Selina herself understood why she kept coming back to his apartment or why she was taking longer and longer to leave. There was something about Gordon that soothed and reassured her. Selina should have learned her lesson from her years ago, with all the times she'd been returned to the orphanage, all the times well-meaning couples had wanted to adopt her and given up on her. In a sense, she was like a cat, full of character and easy to get excited about, until you got to know her and she revealed who she really was. Gordon signed the papers, agreeing to stay with her, her witness, until She testified. Something Selina never intended to do. She was no snitch.
She wasn't surprised when the door opened. She had taken too long to leave this time, though on second thought, she might have wanted Gordon to meet her there. Perhaps she wanted to see his reaction, if he would throw her out on the street as soon as he saw her, or if there was a chance that she would stay. She wanted to scold herself for that thought. Nurturing hope was a sign of a fall into even greater suffering. Gordon froze, motionless, as soon as he saw her and she, on impulse, fled from him. She had left the window open for this kind of situation. On rooftops, jumping between buildings, she felt safe. Only this time, she couldn't get to the window, Gordon had caught her before she managed to escape from it. Selina struggled, certain that now Gordon would stop her and take her to a shelter. But Gordon wouldn't let her go and for the first time in her life, Selina wanted to cry. She never liked having her freedom restricted.
- Calm down, Selena.-she listened to Gordon.- I'm not going to do anything to you.
- You're going to take me to a shelter. I'm not going anywhere. I will run away.
- You're not going anywhere, Selina. I give you my word. If I let you go, do you promise you won't run away?
Selina shrugged, but didn't promise anything. The word was very important in the streets and one could not give it without a specific agreement where both parties complied. But Selina had never trusted the police. She had lived on the streets all her life, since her mother had given her up for adoption when she was a baby. She had passed from one foster home to another, suffering abuse. She had gone to the police several times, from different districts, and no one had done anything for her. She had been the one who had had to leave foster homes, the one she had had to steal to survive on the streets, looking for food and places to spend the night, avoiding pimps, child molesters, rapists, thieves and murderers. That happened every night. The only thing she had that she could trust was her friends. They had all learned to look out for each other, to watch each other's backs. Sometimes when she was at Gordon's house, she had regrets, because she was in a comfortable, nice place with food. A secure site. While her friends continued on the street, going hungry, cold and avoiding being raped.
She doubted Gordon understood.
It was dangerous to break into a house in Gotham. The citizens of Gotham could be pretty nasty at best, at worst they could be very nice and then kill you. But there was something about Gordon that drew her back to him. That didn't mean that she trusted him one hundred percent, it just meant that she didn't consider him one of the worst, but he was still on probation.
Gordon stood there, staring at her. Both silent, trying to anticipate the other's next move. Gordon was the first to relax his posture, Selina followed suit.
"It's not the first time you've been here," Gordon said. It was a statement and Selina was not going to deny it.
- There is food, although now there is more than weeks ago.
It was something Selina had noticed. At first, Gordon's fridge was empty, but as the days passed, there was more food, more soda, more milk. She had briefly wondered if Gordon had a new girlfriend, but there had been no word on the streets and Selina hadn't seen him with company. And the streets were always attentive to the detective's private life.
- I know.-said Gordon.-I knew that someone was entering the house and seeing that only food was missing, I assumed it would be you. So I started making food for two.
Selina's eyes widened. That was not expected. Gordon was the first person to have done something like that for her. She didn't even know whether to thank him, not wanting to appear weak or needy before him.
"You're getting soft," Selina said.
"Here," Gordon said, smiling and putting something in her hand. "For the next time you come to visit me."
Selina looked at the object. It was a key. The key to the apartment.
Jim would never tell Selina how innocent she seemed at the time.
