"What do you want me to do about it?" Bruce snapped, his voice edged with exhaustion.
"I don't know, but they started after you and the old man kidnapped me." Selina complained, hating that she'd stooped to call him. What was wrong with her?
"Are you seriously blaming me? How did you even get my number?"
"Blaming you? For having nightmares about the assassin who tried to kill you, and nearly killed me? Yeah, I do blame you." She didn't even bother answering the second question. She'd robbed him blind while there were hundreds of witnesses around to watch. Did he think that there was no planning involved? Of course she knew his number.
"Well if we're assigning blame, you're the one with ties to the crime family that sent the goddamn assassin."
"How the hell do you know that?"
"You did your homework on me." Bruce said curtly by way of answer. Selina glowered silently. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know why she'd even bothered calling, and now she just felt ridiculous. Calling the prince of Gotham because she was having bad dreams. It didn't get more pathetic than that. "Is that all? You called me to blame me for your nightmares?" Selina didn't answer, still seething with embarrassment. "I'm going to tell you what you told me. Don't call me again." He hung up without another word and Selina was left listening to the dial tone for a moment before she hurled it at the wall. She crumpled, sliding down the wall into a heap and putting her head against her knees. God, she was tired.
Ivy found her like that a few hours later, curled up against the wall, half-asleep. Selina startled awake, feeling the footsteps vibrating through the floor.
"Babe, you're really starting to worry me," Ivy said, sitting beside her. "You look like hell. Please let me give you something."
"No, V," Selina insisted. "I'm okay."
"You're not. You've been weird ever since you got home. Bad dreams, night terrors…have you gotten four solid hours of sleep since you've been back?"
"Right now the record stands at three and a half," Selina said, taking a brave stab at humor. Ivy wasn't impressed. "And you won't have to worry about me for much longer. I'll be gone soon, Leo found me a place."
"Fan-fucking-tastic, now you can scream through the night in your very own apartment. Do you really think I'm letting you off the hook that easy?"
"Hoping." Selina said flatly. "The word is hoping. You don't have to babysit me, I'm going to be fine, really." When she would be fine was another question entirely. If she didn't get a solid night's sleep soon she was going to keel over.
"Fine my ass," Ivy grumbled, but stood nonetheless. "Come on," she said, offering Selina a hand up. "If you're running on empty, you might as well eat."
"And coffee?" Selina added hopefully. "Really, really strong coffee."
"Needy, needy," Ivy said, pulling Selina to her feet and laughing. "Yes, coffee." Selina helped Ivy make breakfast, drinking enough concentrated caffeine to energize a bull elephant. Somewhere along the line Ivy put on music and they danced around the kitchen, flicking one-another with pancake batter and singing along off-key, as if they were normal teenagers for once. Selina was sitting on the counter eating a misshapen pancake with her hands when a blonde woman walked in, a backpack slung over her shoulder.
"Ivy, hi, sorry to barge in but I have an enormous test in three hours and I need whatever that tea is that you made for me…" the woman stopped short, seeing Selina on the counter. It took Selina several long seconds to understand the horror and disappointment dawning on her face.
"Hi," Selina said, swallowing the last of her pancake and extending a hand. "I'm Selina. You must be Harvey…Ivy's told me so much about you." Selina gave Ivy a sharp look. Step in you moron.
"Uh, Harvey, this is Selina…" Ivy stammered. "But she just told you that, um – "
"For the third time, I'm Selina. Childhood friend" she cut in, pointing to herself. "I'm between apartments for the moment, so V's been helping me out." It took a moment, but Harley finally smiled, shaking Selina's hand.
"It's so nice to meet you! Why are you moving? Just need a change of scenery?" she asked, her voice heavy with relief.
"Infestation," Selina said. "Don't know what it was, but all sorts of vermin knew how to get in to the old place." Ivy choked on her coffee and Harvey gave her a strange look.
"Can I get you some breakfast?" Ivy said quickly.
"I don't think I can eat," Harley admitted.
"Right, big test today. I'll get you that tea."
"Yeah, the big test that basically dictates my entire future, and if I fail then the last four years have been for nothing…" She trailed off, looking embarrassed. "I'm rambling. I do that sometimes, when I'm nervous. I ramble."
"It's cute," Ivy said, pouring water into the kettle on the stove. Selina hadn't even known that Ivy had a kettle. When had she gone domestic? "Harley's applying for a PhD program, along with med school."
"Holy shit, really?" Selina said, impressed. Harley's blush deepened but she smiled nonetheless. "That's insane."
"Yeah, it's a little crazy, but that's kind of the idea. I want to get my doctorate in abnormal psychology, and eventually work in Arkham." Selina suppressed a shudder at the mention of the old asylum. She'd been born in Gotham and raised horror stories of what happened to inmates at Arkham. Selina was one of the many who thought that it never should have been reopened. She was searching for something to say when her phone rang, still on the floor from her temper tantrum a few hours before.
"Speaking of crazy," Selina muttered darkly, snatching the phone and putting it to her ear. "Hello."
"Darling girl, how good it is to hear your voice." Gerard trilled, sickly-sweet as ever.
"What've you got for me?"
"Not over the phone. I'll text you the address. Come down and we'll have a little chat." Selina's blood went cold and she struggled to keep her face neutral.
"On my way." She hung up without another word. "I've got to go."
"Everything okay?" Ivy asked, her eyes wide with meaning.
"Fine, just another day at the office." Selina replied evenly.
"What do you do?" Harley asked. Selina blinked at her. She'd forgotten that she was there for a moment.
"Personal acquisition," she replied without missing a beat. "It's just a company job. Weird hours, good pay. Great to meet you, Harley, but I have to go."
"I'm sure I'll see you again soon," Harley said cheerfully. Selina didn't share her confidence, and she was struck by how apart Harley was from her or Ivy's criminal lives. Or Ivy's anyway. Selina didn't pretend to be anything else.
"Text me when you're there." Ivy said and Selina nodded, grabbing her backpack. It wasn't until she was out the door that she pulled the knife out of her sleeve, gripping it with shaking fingers. Whatever she was walking into, it wasn't a normal job. There had been something in Gerard's voice, something different. Selina didn't trust different.
And if he was going to try to kill her, she'd be damned if she didn't take him down with her.
It took her longer to get to the address Gerard had sent her. The theater district was farther away than the bar, all the way down by the water. Selina kept her hood up and a wary eye out for anyone who might think she was an easy mark. The neighborhood was still Falcone, but Selina had never spent much time here – Gerard owned her, she stayed in his territory.
"I'm here to see Gerard," she said to the burly man at the door. Selina had to question his choice of assassination spots. Blood would be a bitch to clean out of nightclub carpeting. The man grunted and moved aside, opening the door for her.
"Ah, here she is now," Gerard's voice came from the back of the club. "Come in, come in." Selina moved through the sea of tables and booths warily, not liking the change of scenery. "Welcome, welcome." Gerard said, sitting in a booth next to a stately black woman who Selina recognized immediately. "Although, I should leave the welcoming to the proprietor of this fine establishment. Selina, this is – "
"Fish Moony," Selina said, berating herself for not realizing it sooner. Everyone knew that Fish worked out of a nightclub. "I know who you are."
"You said she was smart," Fish said, sizing Selina up with sharp black eyes. Fish was the wrong nickname, Selina thought, trying not to squirm under her gaze. Fish smiled a shark's smile and settled back against the booth, looking pleased about something. "You never mentioned that she was a pretty little thing," she said, laying a hand on Gerard's.
"You said to get you the best, and Selina's my best. Pretty has nothing to do with it."
"But pretty is useful," Fish said. "Sit by me, Selina, let me have a look at you." Selina slid into the booth, sitting as far away from both of them as she could without seeming rude. If the rumors were true, Fish had a hair-trigger temper and didn't abide rudeness. "How like a man not to think of a woman's attractiveness an as asset. And my, my, look at those eyes. Oh, I could just pluck them out and wear them as a necklace. And that hair…but my God the bags under your eyes. Don't you ever sleep child?"
"Crime doesn't sleep and neither do I," Selina said cavalierly. Fish laughed, delighted.
"Well it's all well and good. We can use it. Can I offer you a drink, Selina?"
"It's ten in the morning and I'm eighteen," Selina declined.
"How very astute of you."
"I'm no use to anyone drunk."
"Very true, very true. You are impressive on paper, but I don't know about your skill…"
"I've told you her successes for me," Gerard said, sounding offended. He didn't like that someone was doubting the tricks his pet could do on command.
"Yes, yes, but words are cheap, as you well know. I've not seen any of this prodigious skill myself." Fish leaned forward, tapping long blood-red nails on her chin. "So tell me Selina, what makes you so special?" It was an audition. Selina would've rolled her eyes if she wasn't sure that Fish would gouge them out of her skull.
"I don't know if Gerard told you, but – " Selina pulled the knife out of her sleeve and twirled it in her fingers. The guard at the door surged toward, his hand traveling to the gun at his hip. "Hey, calmati, big man." Fish motioned him away, still staring at Selina with sharp eyes. Selina inhaled through her nose, smiling coolly. They wanted Selina the reaper, they'd get Selina the reaper. Even though Selina the actual human being wanted to scream and then sleep for several weeks straight.
"Go on. What hasn't Gerard told me?"
"I like knives. Not such a fan of guns."
"And why's that?" Fish asked, drumming her claws on the table. Selina smiled, leaning forward, the knife still spinning in her hand.
"Everyone watches the knife. No one pays attention to what the other hand is doing. Lovely bracelet, by the way," she said, dangling the gold chain that Fish had been wearing a moment before off of the blade. "Too bad I took it from you." There was a tense moment before Fish leaned back, looking pleased.
"Very impressive," Fish purred. "Gerard, I do believe you undersold her. And I must say, I don't think anyone's robbed me in such close quarters."
"If everything I heard about you is true, anyone who robs you doesn't live long enough to spend it," Selina said, smirking.
"True." Fish said, clapping her hands together. "She's perfect. You're perfect, Selina."
"Brilliant. Are you going to tell me the job now?"
"Well," Fish said, frowning slightly. "One of my boys got in a little trouble, and he's being held at the police station. He'll go to trial soon, and it really would be a shame if I lost one of my best men."
"Where do I come in?" Selina asked, arching an eyebrow. "I assume that you don't want me to waltz into a building full of cops and break out one of your men? I'm good, but that's suicide."
"Oh no, no, no. I want you to waltz into a building full of cops and steal a file."
"What?"
"There's damning evidence being stored in the station, and the case hinges upon it. If that file were to disappear…"
"Then your man would get off scot-free." Selina filled in, understanding. "You do know that there will be more than one copy? It'll absolutely be backed up onto the police's server, and the DA will have one as well."
"I told you she was smart," Gerard said, smirking with satisfaction. Selina wanted to clock him. "Fish here has thought of that." Fish withdrew a flash drive from her bag, extending it to Selina.
"This will identify the file and destroy it, every copy of it. All you have to do it plug it. Easy."
Selina leaned back, flipping her knife in the air and catching it by the handle. "Easy. And when's the deadline for this tiny little job?"
"Oh, you'll be going today," Fish said, smiling the shark's smile again and watching closely to see her reaction. Selina took care to steel her features into an unconcerned mask. "It shouldn't be a problem for someone with your skill-set. I take it you know the interior of the precinct as well as anyone. This should just be a snap." A snap. Fish was insane, Selina decided. Insane, and trying to get her arrested. It was just Selina's luck that Gerard would find a friend just as bat-shit crazy as he was.
"I do know the precinct. Unfortunately, they also know me." If she walked in there she'd be arrested on the spot. They'd been trying to get her for years.
"Oh, we can do a little something about that." Fish purred. "When I'm done, your own mother wouldn't recognize you, let alone some idiot cops. So what do you say?" For half a second, Selina was tempted to refuse. Just say no and walk right out. Her eyes flashed to Gerard and his flinty smile promised murder if she did anything except for exactly what she was told.
"You've got yourself a reaper."
Fish wasn't wrong. A few hours later, Selina didn't recognize herself. In the dingy light of the nightclub's dressing room, she looked like a completely different person. Not like the night of the Wayne gala – that night she had just been another version of herself. The Blueblood Selina. But now, she was someone else entirely. Someone who wore pencil skirts and kitten heels, and sensible emerald blouses that accented the green of her eyes. Someone who wore just enough makeup to pass for professional, but still looked young and in need of protecting. Her hair, usually a mess atop her head, had been straightened and then curled again so that it hung in lazy ringlets down past her shoulders. To finish off the look, Fish handed her a pair of academic-looking glasses, the kind pretentious students at Gotham University always wore.
It was incredible, really. Some fitted clothes, makeup, and an old pair of glasses, and she wasn't Selina Kyle anymore. She could have been any college student in the country, or even a young journalist just starting out. She could've been any one of a thousand girls, but no one would recognize her a street rat and a thief.
"Look at you." Fish said, circling around Selina, tugging at loose threads and admiring her overall work. "You clean up quite nicely. I'll keep that in mind for the future." Selina didn't like the sound of that, but she just thanked Fish for the makeover.
"You will do well by me," Gerard hissed in her ear as she passed. Selina only gave him a red-painted smile.
"Don't I always?"
It took a few deep breaths before Selina got the courage to walk into the police station. Her disguise was good, but she'd never done anything so reckless. Well, she'd never done anything so reckless with such little planning in advance. To the credit of her disguise, no one stopped her. No one even looked twice her way.
Adjusting her glasses, Selina made her way to the reception desk, smiling at the officer behind it. "Hi, my name's Catalina," she said, making her voice slightly breathier than normal. "I was wondering if you could direct me to the forensics lab?" The cop looked at her skeptically. "I'm a criminal justice major at Gotham U with a minor in forensics, and I was looking for some firsthand sources for my dissertation."
"The lab's not open to the public," the cop grunted at her and turned back to his work.
"Oh come on," Selina said, leaning over the desk and flashing him her most brilliant smile. "My professor's a real hard-ass. I just need fifteen minutes. Do a girl a favor?" The cop's gaze wandered down to her chest and then back up to her face.
"Fine. Fifteen minutes." He gestured down the hall and Selina blew him a kiss before following his directions. She rolled her eyes with disgust as soon as her back was turned. Gotham's finest. No wonder the city was going to hell.
The lab was empty when Selina pushed open the door. It was small, just big enough for a few computers and some scattered pieces of equipment that she didn't know how to use. It was unorthodox to store files in a forensics laboratory, but the police department was downsizing. Whatever the reason, it made Selina's job easier. She plugged the flash drive into the computer without preamble, allowing the virus to begin its work as she searched for the hard copy.
"Oh," a quiet, nasal voice said from behind her. Selina spun to see a rail-thin man with glasses walk in. "Hello. Who are you?"
"Catalina Black," Selina said, extending a hand and trying to seem like she wasn't just digging through his files. "I'm a student at Gotham U…" she trailed off, spying the name-tag pinned to his lab coat. "Oh my God, you're Mr. Nygma!" The man blinked at her, not understanding and Selina prayed that the gamble wouldn't blow up in her face. "I've studied forensic science, and I've read some of your work." She looked down, trying for bashful. "I hope I'm not embarrassing you, but you're one of my heroes." It took a moment, but Nygma's face lit up.
"Thank you!" he said happily, shaking her hand. "It's always so nice to know that my work is being appreciated." Selina exhaled, relief making her dizzy.
"You're one of the experts in the field," she gushed. "I want to be a forensic scientist because of you."
"Well you know," Nygma said, obviously loving the affection. "I'm not just a scientist. I'm also a bit of a riddle aficionado." Selina raised an eyebrow. That she hadn't seen coming. "Let's see what you're made of, Miss Black. 'I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I?'"
"The letter e." Selina said after a moment. Nygma grinned, clapping his hands together.
"Excellent, excellent. Another: What is something the seller doesn't need, the buyer doesn't want, and the user doesn't know he's using?"
Something they could use less of in the Narrows. "A coffin." Selina replied again. She smiled, batting her lashes. "Is that all you've got? I could go on all day." Nygma threw a few more at her that Selina answered without any problem.
"I'll be right back," he said excitedly. "I've got a book of riddles in my desk. So nice to see a young person appreciate a good word game." As soon as he was gone, Selina slipped back into the file room, searching more quickly this time.
"Thank God," she murmured, pulling the file out of its container and stashing it in the oversized bag Fish had supplied. Selina yanked the flash drive out of the computer, dropped it into her pocket, and whirled out the door. She made it three steps before running headlong into a very tall and very familiar someone.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Wayne said, grabbing Selina's arms to steady her.
"It's alright," Selina said in her breathy voice, not meeting his gaze. For a moment she thought that he wouldn't recognize her, but in an instant his dark eyes widened with recognition.
"Selina?" he hissed, backing against a wall and pulling her with him. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I think you have me mistaken for someone else," Selina tried, but Wayne wasn't buying it.
"You're insane. You're insane. What could you possibly gain from coming here?"
"You don't get to ask me questions." Selina said curtly. "Goodbye now, Mr. Wayne."
"Absolutely not," Wayne said, snatching at her wrist when she tried to break away. "Tell me what you're doing here."
"Given the fact that I am no longer the captive in your magical house of horrors, you do not get to tell me what to do. I don't owe you anything." The last part was a snarl so venomous that Wayne took a step back from her. A step she would've used to get away if she didn't hear a voice coming back down the hall. Panic surged through her and Selina lurched forward, grabbing Wayne and pressing her lips to his, pushing them both against the wall. Wayne went rigid for a second and Selina expected him to shove her away, but suddenly he was kissing her back. He wound his fingers through her hair, one hand cupping her face like he had back at the mansion when she'd been bruised and battle-scarred, and Selina's thoughts scattered.
"Hey, hey, hey," a gruff voice said and Selina broke away from Wayne, her cheeks flushed. "You said you only needed fifteen minutes," the cop from the reception desk said, looking pissed.
"Sorry," she said, pulling herself together, and putting back on the mask of the flighty college student. "Guess I wanted to see how a billionaire kisses."
"Get out of here," the cop ordered, and Selina was only too happy to comply. She got what she was after. Selina made it out of the police station without anyone else bothering her and made it to the street a free woman. That had to be one of the craziest things she'd ever done, but one hell of a resume-builder. Selina replayed the entire heist over and over in her head as she hailed a cab and rode back to Fish's nightclub. It was a phenomenal job, some of the best work she'd ever done. And yet the whole ride back to the theater district, all Selina could think about was Wayne, and the way he kissed like he was dying.
He kissed like he was dying and she was the only one who could save him.