Rae Green, Esq. had gotten a phone call from Bruce Wayne late Sunday night telling her to meet him at Wayne Tower first thing Monday morning. He didn't say what he wanted to meet about but when your biggest, wealthiest client calls you in for a meeting, you go without question.
Rae was the top attorney at the firm and first in line to take over as partner once the aging Gary Sheffield was due to retire that year. She had worked most closely with Bruce over the years. In the eight years since her firm began to represent Bruce Wayne, he had been a surprisingly reticent client. For the most part, the attorneys just reviewed contracts and made sure that Wayne Enterprises was adhering to environmental regulations with their latest projects. She had never once gotten a call about Mr. Wayne's personal conduct. Not even a DUI, which was almost standard for her celebrity clientele. She had only even met him on a couple of occasions. Always polite but much more aloof than the media would have you believe; a conclusion that some of the other attorneys at the firm agreed with. They had a running pool on when Wayne would finally snap and what he'd be charged with. As she got on the elevator at Wayne Tower at 8 AM sharp Rae mused that she might find out today.
"Good morning Rae," Kevin, one of the security guards getting off the midnight shift, said as Rae joined him on the elevator.
Rae mumbled something of a greeting while shoving files into her briefcase and balancing a coffee cup. Rae was not at all a morning person and was a little bit more than irritated that Bruce had ordered her to meet him at this ungodly hour. The offices weren't even open for business yet. They rode most of the ride to the forty-third floor in silence with Kevin attempting to make idle small talk, which Rae mostly ignored until she got to her floor.
The fact that Bruce had asked her to meet him on the forty-third floor was odd. The upper portion of Wayne Towers hadn't been remodeled the way the lower half had been, since probably before Bruce had even been born. It lacked the modern, glassy, air-conditioned conference rooms that the legal team usually met in. It didn't have the large windows that overlooked the Gotham skyline. Word amongst Wayne Enterprise staffers was they didn't even have decent WIFI connection. They were mostly just used now for archiving.
Rae followed the fluorescent lights to the end of the hallway to find Bruce already waiting for her.
"I appreciate you meeting me on such notice," he said uncharacteristically brusque. "I've asked you to be here to discuss a matter that required a high level of very discreet legal advisement. This is just a consultation. What is said here is not to go beyond this conference room. Understood?"
It wasn't a question. Rae was confused but nodded in agreement.
"Good. Nevertheless, I'll need you to sign this."
He handed her a piece of paper to sign, which she immediately recognized as a multilateral nondisclosure agreement. The firm had, of course, had non disclosure agreements in effect for all their high-profile clients, but this one more specifically pertained to Rae. It essentially said that if she revealed any information disclosed during this meeting to any third parties, including members of the firm, she would be legally responsible for a breach of contract and he would sue her into her next life.
"Bruce wha-" Rae said confused.
"I promise I will explain," he said. "If you don't want to agree to the terms without knowing what this relates to, I understand. This is something that needs to stay confidential."
Bruce also asked Rae to turn over her cell phone and any other electronic devices she had on hand. Rae signed the papers without another word. If Bruce Wayne was personally requesting their legal services, organizing secret meetings, demanding NDAs, and confiscating phones whatever he did must've been very bad. Still, Rae had gotten to know Bruce over the years and she knew he was a good man. Admittedly, a small part of her intentions for participating were less out of loyalty and more out of morbid curiosity.
Bruce handed her a folder and pushed open the door. The conference room was a lot smaller than the ones they usually met in. It was an entirely no descript space. Just a square conference room table surrounded by chairs and bright overhead lights. She was shocked to see someone else already seated at the table. Rae gasped audibly.
Who in Gotham hadn't heard the rumor that Bruce Wayne was secretly stashing his ex-girlfriend, the confessed murderer, off somewhere. Never in her wildest dreams would she think that it was actually true. They must have had a look of visible shock on their face because Selina took the chance to speak.
"Well, don't be shy," she said. "I don't bite. I Just scratch."
"Have a seat," Bruce said, closing the door behind him.
Rae shuffled towards the table and sat down with her mouth agape as if hypnotized. Bruce joined them at the table. Selina watched her carefully, a mischievous smirk spreading across her rogue lips. She seemed to revel in Rae's discomfort.
Rae had never met Selina Kyle, as she didn't typically involve herself with their client's personal business. All she knew was what had been reported about her. In person, she had an assuming presence that seemed to take up all the room. A dominating and no-nonsense aura. She let an unbearably long moment of silence pass before speaking again.
"Let's cut to the chase, why don't we? As you've probably already guessed, Bruce has agreed to help me with some of my legal troubles, which I'm sure you're already aware about."
"Uh-" Rae started.
Bruce continued, "I want you to review the evidence and get her case reopened."
"What!" Rae blurted out. "Why?"
Rae knew that Bruce was kind of a weird guy but asking his legal counsel to work on behalf of a confessed assassin went completely against everything she knew about him. She briefly wondered if perhaps she was blackmailing him somehow or otherwise coercing him into helping her. They had dated for several years; it wouldn't be a stretch that she had learned something incriminating or embarrassing that he would prefer to keep on the hush.
"Because I'm innocent," Selina said matter-of-factly. "Of murder, anyway."
Rae looked at her as if she had suddenly grown two heads.
"Didn't you just gun down a cop two days ago?"
"She didn't do it."
"That wasn't me."
Bruce and Selina chorused at the same time.
"Look, it's a long story. Lots of details; very boring. The Cliffsnotes version is that someone is masquerading as me and murdering people in the streets. But you let me worry about her. I have plans for her. I just need you deal with the other...misunderstanding," Selina said.
"You confessed!"
"Well I lied. Just hear me out." Selina took a deep breath. "I'll be the first person to admit that I'm no good-"
"That's not-" Bruce tried to interject.
"Bruce is a good person," Selina interrupted shooting him a look. "That's why he wants to help me. But I'm not like him. Look, I'm not going to try to sell you some sob story about growing up orphaned and alone with nothing, because at the end of it, none of that matters. My story isn't all that different from anyone else born in this hellmouth of a city. I'm just another child of the Narrows. I made choices and I chose to become a thief and despite what you may have heard, I'm no Robin Hood."
Selina's eyes lowered to table. She sighed before proceeding.
"I didn't just steal from bad people; I stole from good people too. Mostly for money but sometimes for thrills. I own that. And the reason I'm telling you all of this is because there's no question that I'm a criminal and maybe I do deserve to be locked up at Blackgate, but not for this. This I did not do."
Rae had to admit that she was intrigued. She was still skeptical but intrigued nonetheless.
"Bruce," Rae started without taking her eyes from Selina. "What do you say?"
"Selina told me what happened, and I believe her."
"And you're not being blackmailed into helping her, right?"
"Of course not," Bruce said sounding surprised.
Rae sighed exasperatedly. Bruce was going to owe her big time for this. Grumbling something under her breath she snatched Selina's case file off the table. She spent the next hour going through Selina's criminal record. Selina could see why Bruce trusted her legal know-how; she worked fast.
"The good news is the statute of limitations for the last grand larceny crime is due to expire at the end of the year. If the D.A. doesn't seek an indictment by then you can't be prosecuted."
"Good," Selina said knowing that grand larceny was the least of her problems.
She had learned this past year to be thankful for small blessings, and with her world threatening to unravel, she'd take all the good news she could get.
"The D.A.'s office already passed on this so it's not likely that Porter will seek an arraignment," Rae continued. "But next time you won't be so lucky, so just try to stay out of trouble."
"No promises," Selina said.
Bruce shot her a dirty look.
"It was a joke."
With that settled Rae turned her attention to the main attraction: the murder charges. She briefly went over the evidence while she listened to Selina's recorded police interrogation intensely.
Bruce had been kind enough to let Rae watch Selina's police interrogation from his tablet. Selina had been interrogated for nearly 12 hours. She'd need more time to review the recording in its entirety to get the full story, but the abridged version of Selina's "confession" wasn't as cut and dry as it had been reported in the news. Selina had been brought in by Batman himself so there was no denying that she was indeed Catwoman. She had been impressively calm at first. She even seemed to find the whole thing mildly amusing. Something Rae found odd was that while Selina had readily admitted to committing any thefts she had committed as Catwoman, she initially denied involvement in the murder. She claimed mistaken identity. Whether she was being sincere or just a very good actress, Rae couldn't tell.
Something else that raised red flags was that not once did she take Detective Alves' bait. She never gave away any specifics of any of the murders. As far as Rae could tell she genuinely didn't know anything. Around the ten-hour mark Selina seemed to get irritated but continued to insist she was innocent and that they had the wrong person. It wasn't until the detectives told her exactly how the murders that been committed did she let up.
A knife across the throat.
Rae didn't take Selina Kyle as a woman who was easily surprised or at least not one to show it. She looked shocked at the revelation. She was silent for a while and seemed to be contemplating something. She finally asked to make her phone call and when she returned she confessed just like that. The investigators accepted the confession without much pushback.
Silently watching Rae watching her be questioned by the police brought Selina back to that day. Admittedly when Batman came to arrest her for the murders she should've realized how bad things were for her. She naively believed that the misunderstanding would be easily rectified. He was Batman after all, the world's greatest detective, and even he believed in her innocence. He just needed to prove it. It shouldn't have been a problem, right? He just needed a little more time.
When Detective Alves told Selina that the men had been found with their throats slashed an icy realization washed over her. It was Holly. It all made sense now. The orphanage, the way their throats were cut... Selina had taught her that move back in the day for self-defense. It was different then. It was dangerous, and they were living on the streets. It was survival. Back then she had never imagined that she would do this. She used her one phone call to talk to Holly and she immediately admitted to the whole thing. She sobbed, said she had made a terrible mistake, and begged Selina to help her. Selina always tried to help Holly.
Selina always told Bruce that she was like a big sister to Holly, and like a big sister she took the fall her. Just like a little sister, Holly took advantage and made Selina her sacrificial lamb, the way Bruce saw conferring with anyone Rae stopped the tape and began combing through the so-called evidence against Selina. The evidence against Selina was inconsistent with the facts of the case. The reports all agreed that those who had been murdered had their throats sliced with a knife. The investigators had said that Catwoman's claws had been the weapon of choice. It didn't make any sense. Claw marks wouldn't leave one clean cut; they would've been butchered. The GCPD really did a hack job with this investigation, but in a city like Gotham there was no one to really care.
It was beginning to look like Selina was telling the truth after all.
"Porter deserves to lose reelection for bringing charges with such weak physical evidence," Rae said addressing the room for the first time in over an hour. "You should've taken your chances at trial."
"So, what does this mean?" Bruce asked.
Rae handed Bruce back his tablet.
"I'll need time to really go through everything but as for right now I don't think she did it. If you can provide an alibi for the times of the murders, which detective half-wit failed to ask for during the interview, I can probably get the courts to do a review of the case."
"What's the best-case scenario?"
She shrugged, "Best-case a judge reviews the evidence, or lack thereof. We argue the confession was coerced and get a new trial where a competent attorney will point out the inconsistency of the evidence."
"Excellent," Selina said.
"You'll have to turn yourself in to get retried"
Selina shrugged. "Sure. If things go south I broke out once; I can do it again."
Neither Bruce nor Rae seemed to find that amusing.
"The thing that I can't figure out is why. Why did you confess to a crime you didn't commit?"
"Why did the West Memphis Three confess to a crime they didn't commit?" She asked rhetorically.
Rae didn't say anything, but her eyes narrowed, clearly not satisfied with that answer. She let it go anyway. Selina was obviously a woman of many secrets and Rae didn't expect her to be completely forthcoming. She obviously had her reasons, but legally speaking false confessions were common enough that it might not matter.
"Fine. The important thing here is that if you didn't commit these murders then someone else did."
"Nice detective work, Sherlock. Did you figure that out on your own?" Selina said.
"There's something else," Rae continued ignoring Selina's sarcasm. "Let's say this does get retried. I'd say the odds of you being let go are fifty-fifty. We can provide all the alibis in the world and knock out every piece of evidence, but criminal court is a storytelling contest. Juries are fickle, and they don't like things to go unresolved."
"What are you saying?" Bruce asked.
"What I'm saying is it won't be enough to say that you didn't do it. If you didn't do it, then who did?"
"I don't know," Selina said without hesitating.
She made a promise and she wouldn't let Holly go down for this.
"Selina." Bruce sounded angry.
"Bruce." It was Selina's turn to shoot a dirty look.
Rae looked from Selina to Bruce back to Selina again. They both had tense, hard to read expressions.
She scoffed. "Oh, I get it. You're covering up for someone else."
Selina was silent.
"I'll take your silence as a 'yes'. Look I'm not going to waste my time trying to win back your freedom if you don't want to for yourself. If you know who did this then you have to turn them in."
Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed exhaustedly.
"Is that it then? There has to be another way." He said, already knowing that this was headed towards a dead end.
Rae leaned back in her chair and shrugged. "You can't have it both ways. You can't clear your name and whoever it is you're protecting. I'm confident that I get the conviction overturned but I'll need a name."
"No," Selina said defiantly still staring at Bruce.
"Then I can't help you. If you want to spend the rest of your life on the run that's your choice."
"You people are useless," Selina said standing up suddenly, the chair screeching across the aged titles as she did.
"Is this what you pay $360 an hour for?" She said to Bruce on her way out.
She slammed the door slightly behind her. Selina dipped into the storage room where she had stashed her disguise. She knew going in that trying to clear her name through legal channels was a pointless endeavor as she had tried to explain to Bruce when they had discussed it the day before. They knew what she needed to do; at least she did.
It instigated a heated argument between them. It was the first time they had fought the entire time they had been married. It was the first time Bruce had ever really raised his voice at her. It unnerved them both. They were already starting to see the cracks in their world. They laid in the dark in silence, unable to sleep.
Eventually Selina did what she always did: she ran. She was suffocating on the tension and needed to be alone to clear her head. Bruce said nothing while she slipped her suit on in the dark and headed out into the night. He didn't even look at her. She wasn't used to him being genuinely upset with her. That troubled her. The ghost of unease followed her around for the rest of the night.
Selina realized her plan was without a doubt risky. Crazy even, but what other choice did she have. She didn't like having to confer to Bruce about her life. She could do whatever she pleased; consequences be damned. But it was his life too. It wasn't until she met Bruce that Selina knew what it was like to be truly appreciated in a relationship. She had never thought happiness was in the cards for her. She had made so many mistakes in her life, she wasn't even sure she deserved happiness. But there he was not only telling her she deserved to be happy but offering it to her, and he was right. She had never known such plain and simple contentment than in the year that they had been married. She could let all that come to end just like that, and marriage was, after all, a compromise, right?
So, she compromised. When Selina came back to the manor she agreed to meet with Bruce's stupid lawyer with no expectations that it would be useful, just to conciliate her husband. She held up her end of the bargain and now he would have to do the same.
A soft knock at the door broke Selina from her reverie. Bruce opened the door slightly without waiting for an answer. They both said nothing as they rode the elevator back down to lobby.
"Bruce," Selina said finally as the silver elevator doors slowly parted. "We tried it your way. Now we do it my way."
xXx
"And that's all you really need to know about that. So that concludes our tour." Agent Campbell said. "When Colonel Trevor asks for you, you drop whatever you're doing and go. When she asks for you, you stop doing whatever Trevor told you to do and run. Understand?"
Agent Myers nodded.
"Good."
The A.R.G.U.S. station had been very quiet lately, but the powers that be still deemed it necessary to have two patrollers in every quadrant surveying the premises every night. Campbell and Myers continued their patrol in silence, the sound of the heavy boots echoing in the otherwise empty halls.
"Sector eight secured" Myers said into the walkie on her shoulder.
She typed in the passcode on the sliding door, when suddenly there was a bang from somewhere down the hall.
"I'll check it out," Campbell said after nothing appeared.
Campbell raised his weapon, and slowly proceeded back down the hall. Myers watched from a distance as he stopped just short of the corner and peered around the corner.
"I don't see anything" he yelled back.
Myers was about to tell him to forget it when suddenly a thick strap wrapped around her neck and yanked her backwards sending her to the floor. The sudden attack made her yelp and drop her weapon.
"Myers!" She heard Campbell yell along with the thundering boots running down the hall.
Before Campbell could reach her, the door slid closed. Myers quickly rolled onto her stomach, attempting to reach for her weapon. Something wrapped tightly around her wrist and pulled her arm backwards.
"Argh!"
She felt the hard barrel of a gun pressed against her temple.
"Don't even think about it," a female voice told her. "Up."
Myers put her hands up and slowly got to her feet the gun still pressed against the side of her head.
"Hello Campbell! Good to see you again. How's the hubby?"
"Catwoman, open the door," Campbell said calmly from the other side of the door.
Selina raised her foot and sent it into the keypad on her side of door, smashing it under her boot. The now tangled pile of wires spit out a few sparks before short circuiting, rendering it inoperable.
"Campbell, it was nice to see you again," she said, breathlessly wrapping her arm around Myers' neck, the gun still in her other hand. "But gotta go. Girl talk."
Selina knew that she had only bought herself a few minutes. Hopefully that was all she'd need. She quickly led Myers down the hall and around the corner. Myers struggled to keep up with her pace with her arm wrapped against her neck.
"Wha-" Myers tried to ask.
"Sorry dear, it's nothing personal. Besides it's not you I want," She said stopping in front of the door at the end of the hall. "It's your boss."
Myers recognized it as Amanda Waller's, the director of A.R.G.U.S., office.
"Open it," Catwoman instructed.
Without hesitating Myers punched in the over-ride code into the keypad. Catwoman shoved her into the room. Amanda Waller was seated at her desk in the back of the office. She didn't appear at all phased by the sudden intrusion.
"Catwoman, long time no see," She said barely glancing up from whatever she had been reading at her desk.
"How've you been Waller? Recruiting more suckers to do your nefarious bidding I see."
"I seem to recall that you were one of those suckers not too long ago," Amanda said dryly. "I can get J'onzz down here if you're-for God's sake Myers, put your hands down. It's not loaded."
Selina let her arm drop and a faint red blush ran across Myers' cheeks. Amanda just silently shook her head in annoyance. If there was anything Amanda Waller couldn't tolerate it was the incompetence of low-level A.R.G.U.S. agents. Myers angrily snatched the probably fake gun out of Catwoman's hand.
"C'mon I'm taking you down to holding," she said mustering up the last remnants of her dignity and trying to sound intimidating.
"No," Amanda said before Selina could say something snarky in response. "Leave us. And tell Campbell to call off the lock down. We will be discussing our security protocols, or lack thereof, in the future."
Myers, looking like a scolded child, left without another word.
"Oh, don't be so hard on them," Selina said sliding into the chair across from Waller's desk. "Breaking and entering is kind of my specialty, as you know."
"What do you want, Catwoman?" Her voice was even.
"Well I was just in the neighborhood, you know reminiscing about the good ole days and thought I'd just drop in for a friendly chat with my good friend Amanda Waller."
Waller scoffed. "I believe you said the day we met that befriending me would be akin to befriending a jackal and that I should keep in mind the nature of our relationship was a mere business arrangement and nothing more."
"Does no one have a sense of humor anymore?"
"As I explained, before you unceremoniously quit the JLA, you didn't complete the assignment, so we didn't hold up our end of the deal. So, I have no sympathy if some prosecutor is trying to indict you on charges that we would've wiped from your record if you had stayed."
"It's water under the bridge."
Amanda looked up at Catwoman. She folded her hands in front of her and seemed to just be studying her. It unnerved Selina, but she managed to keep her discomfort from showing on her face. Even without Bruce's warning, she had seen Waller in action during her brief tenure on the JLA. Amanda Waller was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Intimidating, formidable, and downright ruthless. She was always a dozen steps ahead of her opponents and plotted like a sociopath. Selina had a feeling she had been expecting her visit this whole time.
"Oh? Should I wager a guess why you're here then. You obviously need something from me." Amanda said after a long pause, "You know if you'd just turn your friend in you could solve your damn problems all on your own."
Selina bristled. "How did you-"
"I make it my business to know. Holly Robinson," she sniffed. "If she so much as puts a toe outside of the Khadymian border they'll be keeping an eye on her."
"Leave her out of this," Selina sneered.
Amanda shrugged. "If she becomes a problem it's a problem for the feds. I have bigger concerns than some wannabe assassin from the nobody-cares part of Gotham City."
"Why don't we just cut to the chase then."
"I thought we were having a friendly chat?"
"It doesn't feel so friendly," Selina said, her eyes narrowing.
Selina could tell that she was enjoying making her squirm. A cold smirk ran across Amanda's lips.
"There's no need for the hostility, Catwoman. As a matter of fact, I'm glad you came. Believe it or not during your time with the JLA I found you to be...useful and not completely incompetent. The way I see it this can be a mutually beneficial arrangement."
"So, you can do it?"
"What? Get your murder conviction overturned?" Amanda snorted. "Is that all you want?"
Selina sighed. "And you can do it without implicating Holly? How? I looked into it and I was told that it was impossible. Legally speaking."
"Is that what your husband's over-paid lawyer told you? Why don't you let me worry about the 'how.' If you were really all that concerned with it being on the up and up, you wouldn't be here right now asking me for my help of all people."
Selina eyes widened at the mention of Bruce. Of course, Waller knew about her and Bruce. At this point she expected that Waller knew everything about her from her social security number to what type of conditioner she used.
"Relax. I couldn't care less about what you and your sugar daddy do in your personal lives." She said noting Selina's slightly horrified expression.
Selina took a deep breath. She was feeling much too exposed these days. She wanted her life to go back to the way they were five days ago before this nightmare began. She wanted to feel the Gotham air on her face with not a care in the world. She wanted to make love to her husband like they were the only two people on the planet that mattered. She wanted to believe that in the end that simple piece of happiness after all the mistakes she had made in her life "was possible for her. That she deserved it. God did Bruce make her believe.
"Don't worry Selina. It'll be just like old times. You do a few high-level missions for me, you'll get that murder conviction overturned, and go on to live happily ever after in Bruce Wayne's castle by the sea. It might even be fun. You're still way too valuable to risk by officially inducting you into the Suicide Squad anyway."
"How generous of you," Selina said.
Selina couldn't believe she was here again. It was five years ago all over when people always expected the worst from her except for what she could do to benefit them. True; the JLA was a league above Waller's personal task force, the appropriately nicknamed Suicide Squad, but she felt like she was being held hostage nonetheless. Wonder Woman's boy toy, Steve Trevor, showed up out of the blue and offered to wipe her record clean in exchange for exclusive membership into the JLA. All she ever wanted was a second chance. To not be defined by past and there they were dangling it in front of her. They promised her the missions would be non-life threatening and "ethical" as Waller had put it. How could she say no. Sure, they did some good work together but no matter how hard she worked, other members treated her like she was nothing more than an irredeemable thief. Of course, they had no problem using those skills to their advantage, which left Selina feeling exploited.
It also didn't take long for Selina to realize that Waller's true interest in her was to use her as a tool to hold over Batman if need be. Waller knew he had a weak spot for her. Even without the rumors about his relationship with her, why else hadn't he ever arrested her? Where Selina had been willing to endure the JLA's painfully low expectations of her character in exchange for a second chance, she refused to play the role of collateral in Amanda Waller's anti-super agenda.
Freedom, it seemed, was always just beyond her reach.
Still what Amanda had said was true: she did need her help. Though the idea of going to Amanda Waller hat in hand and asking for a favor made Selina want to claw out her own eyeballs, she had no other choice. When she and Bruce first got married they brainstormed a list of ideas of what to do in the case that their marriage became public. Cutting a deal with Satan-incarnate was Selina's only contribution. She knew in her heart this was the only way to get out of it with no loose strings. Bruce wouldn't hear of it, and she knew he would be mad when he found out that she was doing this behind his back, but he'd just have to find a way forgive her. He always did.
"So," Amanda said after deciding that Selina had had enough time to consider her offer. "Do we have a deal?"
