Paint splattered angrily over the canvas, the colors having no real rhyme or reason. They blended together in a bit of a blur, mirroring the inner turmoil of the person holding the brush.
"That's a cool picture." Selina said, leaning on the frame of the open window behind her.
Alyssa huffed and wiped her hands on her smock. "I just, painted what I'm feeling. I do that, you should know that by now."
"Yeah." Selina nodded. "But this one's different from the others I've seen. Still-" she pushed herself off the window. "Its really good. You should send it to a museum."
"You've been saying that since you found out I could draw." she rolled her eyes.
"And I'm gonna keep saying it until you listen." Selina said as-a-matter-of-factly. "So. You gonna tell me what's wrong?"
Alyssa bit her lip. "Where to start? Fish still wants me dead, Ozzy's planning to throw the city into total anarchy just so he can put himself on top, and Mama Gotham is officially the newest member of the Falcone family. So that's fun."
"...That's not what I'm talking about." Selina shook her head, watching the older woman intently.
"Huh?"
"The painting? You only poor your feelings into your art when something's effecting you emotionally. And going by this..." she looked over the canvas. "Its something big."
Alyssa huffed. "...Damn you for knowing me so well. Alright yeah. I went to see Ed after the press conference, and lets just say he wasn't all too happy with me delving deeper into Gotham's underworld."
"But, he's your best friend." Selina frowned. She had heard countless stories about Edward Nygma, and they had always painted him as the perfect guy; smart, kind, and loyal.
"Yeah well, he said he changed his mind. To which I snapped that I didn't want us to be friends either and kissed him."
Selina's eyes went wide. "What?!"
"I'm not good with emotions, okay?" Alyssa threw her hands up into the air. "I mean I didn't even know I had a crush on this guy until Oswald pointed it out! And even then, my way of telling him was kissing him in a fit of rage." her shoulders slumped and she looked down. "I'm a mess..."
Selina sighed. "Well, its a good thing you've got me then."
*Three years ago*
Alyssa had had a good life in Smallville. If she was honest with herself, she had occasionally missed Gotham City, but taking care of Jerome the last two years had left little time for that.
But Haly's Circus had finally caught up with them, and accused Alyssa of kidnapping. It didn't matter that Lyla was a drunk who had men over nearly every night and beat her own son. It didn't matter that the police had had to pull the red haired boy from Alyssa kicking and screaming.
All the court saw was a high school drop out who had taken an 'unhealthy' interest in a boy five years younger than her. She could still hear Jerome crying, begging her not to let them take him back.
Alyssa shuddered. She hadn't been able to stop that, but before he had left she had promised him she'd get him back.
That was the only reason she had returned to Gotham. In this corrupt little city, anyone with enough money could buy a few buildings and rise in power quickly. The lawyer she had hired said she needed to get connections, a reputation, make herself look like a fit guardian.
Her hand snapped out and grabbed the wrist of the hand that was trying to slip into her pocket. The small girl attached to said hand looked up at her, startled.
"Nice try kid, but I pulled that trick enough times to know when its being pulled on me."
"Is this the part where you take me to the cops?"
Alyssa scoffed. "Why would I do that? You gotta make a living somehow kid, who am I to judge?"
The girl blinked at her.
"Tell you what; you got a place to stay tonight?"
She nodded.
"Don't you dare lie to me."
She shook her head.
"Come on."
"What do a dead man, a cruise ship and an emu have in common?" Edward said into the microphone in the medical examination room.
"Nothing."
He looked up. "Selina."
"Cat." the young girl corrected.
"You shouldn't be in here."
"Neither should you. You're welcome by the way, I turned the medical examiner off your trail on my way here."
Edward blinked in surprised. "...Thank you, but...why are you here?"
She shrugged. "I'm here because I've apparently become the bridge between you and my mom when you're both too stubborn to talk to each other."
Edward's face fell at the mention of Alyssa. Truth be told, he had been trying not to think about her. That was difficult however, as she had fled the room after yelling at him and stealing his first kiss.
After he had been silent for too long, Selina sighed. "You know when she took me in, she always liked to tell stories. Lot of 'em were about you." she looked him over in a way that made him feel rather small. "You're great in the stories. I don't see it yet."
Edward clenched his jaw. "Okay..."
"Alyssa adores you." she informed. "And, I know that loosing you once broke her hearts. That's why I invited you over in the first place." she stepped up to him, jabbing a finger in his chest just like her mother had. "But know this four-eyes; you break her heart again, I'm coming after you. And that's your onlywarning."
The following morning, the girl – who had revealed her name to be Selina Kyle, but she told Alyssa to call her Cat – went to sneak out of the apartment window early in the morning.
"What no goodbye?"
Selina stopped. She had been caught.
"Look lady, you did your charity." she shrugged. "You don't have to keep pretending."
"When did I pretend anything?" Alyssa raised an eyebrow.
"I get it okay? Take a kid off the streets, make them into a model citizen, its a great plan. I just don't have any interest in being part of it."
Alyssa chuckled. "Look kitten –" Selina glared at the nickname. "sometimes people are just nice. You're welcome to leave, but you're welcome to stay too."
"Well you're nice and all, but but I've got money to steal and alleys to sleep in, alright?" Selina sassed.
"I'll do you one better." Alyssa countered. "How 'bout I give you a home?"
Selina blinked. "What here?"
"Yeah, here."
"For how long?" she scoffed. "Three weeks, and then you get sick of me?"
"Oh I'm sick a ya now kitten, but I'm still making the offer."
"...Why?" Selina asked, her voice softer.
"What can I say? I like people who remind me of me."
She looked down. "...You're not gonna tell me what to do."
"Somebody's gotta."
"You're not my mom!"
"I'm not trying to be!" Alyssa sighed. "Look kitten, all I'm offering is a few square meals, a roof –" she nodded at the window behind her. "and a window to crawl out of."
Jim sighed as he held out the drawing the sketch artist had made.
"She said this is the man who killed your parents. She said, she saw his face. Do you recognize him, Bruce?"
"No." Bruce shook his head. "...What's her name?"
"Selina Kyle." Jim informed.
"Ms. Connors' daughter." the boy lit up slightly.
"You know her?" Jim raised an eyebrow.
"Not personally." he shook his head again. "But when she came to meet with my parents, Ms. Connors sometimes mentioned having a daughter my age. I've seen pictures, heard a few stories, but we've never actually met."
"And you want her to live here with us, do you?" Alfred asked, clearly not for the idea.
"Her and Alyssa, actually. Both of them need to be put in protective custody."
"Boy scout, I must really like you." Alyssa said as she looked around Wayne manor.
Jim huffed. "I know its a lot, but your apartment is the first place anyone would look for Selina. And you're the first person they'd go to to find her."
"Yeah, yeah, spare me the speech. Kitten don't break anything expensive!" she called as Selina wandered down the hallway. "We'll stay put, play nice. Meanwhile, you've got a meeting to get to." she handed him a business card.
Jim frowned as he read the name. "Harvey Dent?"
"That's the DA you're meeting with. Personal friend of mine, he's the one that keeps my affairs in order."
"...Thanks."
Alyssa shrugged. "No problem. Now if you'll excuse me me, there are more than likely some peanut butter cookies in the kitchen with my name on them."
Alfred was always up early to do his chores and make breakfast. Bruce usually wasn't up until after seven, so he was surprised when he heard the knock at the kitchen door.
"Morning Jeeves." Alyssa smiled at him.
"Ms. Connors. I didn't expect you to be up so early."
"I work with teenagers." she slid into one of the seats at the kitchen table. "I've learned to stay ahead of the game. What's for breakfast?"
"Bacon and eggs." Alfred informed. "Sorry if that's not what you and your girl like, but this isn't a hotel."
"No, hotels are my thing." Alyssa joked, but frowned when Alfred didn't even smile. "Have I done something to offend you Alfred, because I'm getting the feeling you don't like me."
"Nothing personal Ms. Connors, I just don't quite fancy a member of the mob and a street thief staying with us."
Alyssa rolled her eyes. "For the record, I only took Falcone's offer for protection. Now no one can hurt my kids without Falcone coming after them, and that's a damn site better threat then me going after them."
"You call them your kids?" Alfred raised an eyebrow. "I thought they merely worked for you as part of a charity project."
Alyssa chuckled. "You caught me Jeeves. They show up for their shifts, I give them a place to stay. My motives are purely selfish."
Alfred frowned as she said this, noticing something in her eyes and in her tone. "...I'm not so sure they are, Ms. Connors."
Being the curious boy he was, Bruce had a lot of questions for Selina. Selina didn't like his questions however, as they pried into her personal life.
Only Alyssa knew that story. It had taken a while, but Selina had told her.
Her father had been gone from day one. Her mother, while she had good intentions, she also had a serious drug and alcohol addiction.
She used to leave Selina at a toy store or a playground. One day when Selina was eight, she hadn't come back. She had been on the streets for a full year before she met Alyssa.
Alyssa was nice and offered all the motherly affection her real mother never had. As she had gained her 'Mama Gotham' persona, the other kids had taken to calling her 'Mama', but they had always joked that Selina was the only one who should call her that.
Selina had rolled her eyes, but the words had stuck with her. She was the only one of Alyssa's kids that called her by her name...at least when she was around.
She peered through the curtains out to the balcony off the study. She was just cracking the window open when the boy spoke up behind her.
"If you wanna go somewhere, we can call you a taxi."
She turned. "You move quiet."
"So do you." Bruce smiled. Selina shut the window and stepped away from it, but he still asked; "Are you leaving?"
"Thinking about it."
"Won't Ms. Connors worry?"
"Nah, mom knows I always come back. Though if I'm out past curfew she grounds me." Selina chuckled.
"...I'm sorry if talking about your family upset you."
"I wasn't upset." she shrugged.
"You seemed kind of upset."
Selina strolled over to the desk and picked up the framed photo of Martha Wayne sitting on it. "That's your mom, huh?" Bruce nodded. "She looks nice."
"She was." he looked down. "You saw her, the night she was killed."
"Uh-huh..." Selina nodded, setting the photo down.
"And you saw me? What I did? What I didn't do?"
She frowned. "W-what are talking about? What could you have done?"
"I dunno, something!"
"You're dreaming kid." she shook her head. "A gun's a gun." Pitying the boy slightly, she sat down on the fancy sofa and changed the subject. "My brother's in show business."
"...Oh?" Bruce sat across from her. "I didn't know Ms. Connors had a son."
"Well he's not really my brother, he's a circus kid my mom's trying to win custody of. He was the first kid she ever took in, even before she became 'Mama Gotham.'"
Bruce looked down. "...If I ask you something, will you promise not to get angry again?"
"No." Selina said, giving him a suspicious look.
Bruce asked anyway. "Why do you only call Ms. Connors your mother when she's not in the room?"
Selina smiled sadly. "She's not really my mom. She just, took me in, like she does with all the other kids. I-I don't wanna overstep anything."
"She seems to care for you more than the other kids in her care."
She shrugged. "Yeah, they always say I'm her favorite." Uncomfortable, she stood and changed the subject. "Did you ever kiss a girl?"
"N-no." Bruce stuttered, his eyes going wide.
"Do you want to?"
"W-why do you ask?"
"Just curious." Selina smirked.
Alyssa poured over her files with a sigh. She loved her job, but working numbers was boring no matter what field of business it was in.
"You seem rather disgruntled, Ms. Connors." Alfred said, making her look over her shoulder.
"I'm a business woman, Alfred. Budgeting has to be done sometime."
"Hmm." he stepped into the library she had tucked herself away in. "I owe you an apology, Ms. Connors."
"Everybody does." she shrugged.
"I misjudged you, and your daughter. You're both good people, and I'm happy to have you here."
"Thank you, Alfred." Alyssa smiled. "That means a lot."
"Well, I am just happy that the children of Gotham have a good role model."
"Well, I don't know about that." She chuckled, shaking her head. "I'm really just a meal ticket."
"Well done don't sell yourself short, Ms. Connors. Selina, at the very least, looks up to you."
"She's a good kid, she just doesn't want people to know that." Alyssa smiled fondly. "Reminds me a' me."