Chp 3 – Encounters

**Hello! Thank you again for the reviews, they are encouraging and I really appreciate them. I got a little excited and inspired to write some more (plus listening to the Dark Knight Rises soundtrack gives me so many great ideas!) This chapter is a little darker, but not too bad, and I hope you all like it! Don't forget to R&R!

~L.L.

Selina spent the afternoon going around to different places putting in applications and having interviews. She was surprised by the amount of places that offered her a job towards the end of the interview. She told them all she would think about it. The only job that seemed appealing was at the Gotham Museum as a front desk girl. Phone calls, making appointments and directing people towards the area they wanted to go was what she would be doing all day… but all night would be incredibly different. Incredibly wealthy men and women put thousands of dollars into this museum every year, and they also visited quite often. Gala's, parties, and events were also hosted there; this would be the perfect place for her to work if she were going to gain information about the people she inquired about.

The manager there, Sophia, was really impressed with Selina's interview and basically gave her the job of which she did plan on taking.

"Holls, I'm home." She hollered. The apartment was dark but the kitchen light was on. Walking through the dark was something she was used to, but when she stumbled on the coffee table that was lying on its side, she knew something was up.

"Holly?"

It was six in the afternoon and Holly should have been home by now. It wasn't that Selina stalked her or was her baby sitter, but after being screwed over by so many men, and knowing the person that Holly was, she really needed to watch over her. Everyone needed a protector and Selina took it upon herself to be Holly's.

Selina kept walking, slowly making her way around the corners of her apartment. Paper was crinkling under the boots she was wearing. Someone had been here. No, not just one person, but many. They left scuff markings on tile in the kitchen. Selina quietly grabbed one of the knives from the drawer; not making a sound. If anyone was still there, she would be sure they would answer some questions before they made it out alive. As she crept around, she got the same eerie feeling that someone was watching her again. However, it wasn't who she wanted it to be.

A dark figure quickly grabbed Selina from behind and smothered her with a damp cloth. Before Selina knew it, she was out cold. There was no time for her to think, or act. Whoever had been in their apartment knew about Holly and had left someone there incase someone came looking for her.

~Wayne Manor~

A police report came on the nine o'clock news about a break-in at an apartment down on the east end. Apparently a neighbor saw an open door, some blood on the carpet by the door and called the police. She was an old, frail lady, but calling the police was probably the best thing she could have done. Bruce half-watched the television while getting ready for a night out, but when the pictures of the two women that lived inside the apartment appeared he began to listen more intently.

Two women were taken from their apartment sometime around five-thirty today; Holly Robinson and Selina Kyle. Not much can be made out from the scene, but it looks as though there was a struggle involved. *The camera pans in on the blood on the doorway and carpet* If you have any information about these two women, please call the number at the bottom of the screen. Police and investigators are on the case and seeing if it has any relationship to the Highland fire from the previous night.

The reporter gave her name and then it went back to more news about the crime rate. Bruce, at this point, was finding himself concerned for these two women. Not only could the break in be tied with figuring out who is behind the drug dealings but, there are now more lives being put in danger because of it.

"Alfred!" He shouted from his bedroom. In an instant, there stood the butler.

"Yes, sir?"

"I won't be going out tonight." He pointed to the T.V. "I think I need to pay a visit to whomever is behind this.

"As you wish sir." Alfred had a disheartened look on his face; as he always did when Bruce went out. He didn't know if he would come back the next day, as the trouble Batman saw was far worse, it seemed, each time.

Bruce went over to his piano, pushed a few keys and a bookshelf moved to the side. Flying down the stairs he went over to the glass wardrobe that held the Bat-suit and quickly dressed. He would need to hurry. Three hours had already passed and if his suspicions were correct on where their apartment was, he needed to be even quicker on finding out who took the women.

~9:30pm~

Selina could barely move. Her body felt sore and almost broken. One of her eyes was half open while the other didn't seem like it could move. What had happened? How could someone have gotten the best of her like this? Where was Holly? So many questions ran through her mind. Trying to gather in her surroundings (which wasn't much to go by) she attempted to turn her head to look around; a dark room, some furniture, and possibly another person.

"Holly?" Her voice was corse.

"Se…lina?" It was Holly, but she sounded half alive. Which was worse than how Selina currently sounded.

"Don't move, Holly. I'll…get us out of here." She didn't know how though. Selina was bound at her ankles and wrists. She was pretty sure she had a few cracked ribs, and blood… there was blood coming from her right side. Great.

"Ah, you're awake." A menacing voice came from behind her. "Nice of you to actually wake up."

"What's going on?" Selina was going to play the innocent role; it was all she had left.

"My employer just wants to know why one of his best boys was almost roasted?"

"How should we know?" Selina could hear Holly start to cry. Dumb girl, she thought.

"Well, let's see. The dumb bitch over there was his play toy for a while, and then he mentioned something about her crazy cat room mate? Are you the crazy cat lady? Hmm?" He was taunting Selina now and she didn't like it, but what he didn't know is she was slowly easing her way out of the rope on her hands.

"Now, why would I be crazy?" She was free, and by the sound of his voice, he was about five feet behind her. He needed to come a little closer.

"Well, I can't imagine you being crazy. With such a pretty face…" He was only two feet away and his breath was soon on her neck. He was dangerously close. "…You are too lovely to be completely crazy."

A tear fell from Selina's eye, but this feeling was quickly replaced with rage and she swung at him. It took everything in her to hit him at full force, but it was enough to make him fall to the ground. In this time, she untied the rope at her ankles. She also noticed that her shoes, jacket and gloves were gone. It didn't matter. She could make it in this state; at least she thought she could.

"What were you saying about my face?" She towered over him. "Where are your buddies? Did they leave you to babysit the girls?"

"Who…who are you?" he was scared and she was right; he was alone. He was a hired man by Falcone to figure out who was on his trail. However, Falcone didn't expect the women to be the problem…

"No, the real question is who the hell are you?!" She was completely enraged now. She gave him a swift kick in the gut, and yelled the question again.

"I'm just the messenger! I'm just the messaenger!"

"Messenger for what?" The blood she had felt earlier was coming from a stab wound, which was even more awesome. Selina was starting to feel the effects of her efforts.

"He doesn't say, he just sends the guy that tells me what to do."

"Wha…what's his name?" Selina's head was starting to spin, but she couldn't show weakness, not now.

"Richie Vasquez." With that, a loud crash sounded from the front of the abandoned building door.

Selina tried to focus on what was happening but all she could see was a large figure come in and take out the same guy cold. She tried to make her way over to Holly, but didn't make it before she hit the ground again.

Batman had just showed up in time. He had parked his special Tumbler six blocks south and used the fire escape as an entrance to the only window in the room where everyone was. He used his special night goggles to assess how many people were there and where they were in relation to each other. He could see a figure towering over another and then another in a chair. He assumed it was the robber but when he snuck inside and saw the darker haired woman threatening him, he thought of another plan.

When she had tumbled onto the ground, Batman noticed the attacker start to get up. That was his cue. After knocking the idiot out, he took notice of the room. Just as he'd thought, another abandoned building used to hold hostages, probably meetings and what not. It didn't take long for him to track the thugs that took Selina and Holly, what with their fingerprints on the doorframe where Selina had been stabbed. Complete amateurs.

He untied Holly from the chair. She seemed to only have some bruising, but Selina was in far worse shape. He turned her over; her dark hair covering her face. Gently he brushed it away and stared at her a moment. Her eyes were falling shut.

"Wake up." He demanded. She was falling asleep and that's not what he needed. He got out a device from his utility belt and used it to call the police. He made sure Holly could function and then quickly assisted Selina.

"I need you to stay awake."

Selina batted her eyes a little, trying to open them as he asked. She saw the Batman again, but not as a masked vigilante but as something more, a man. She never let herself seem weak in front of anyone and here she was, barely hanging on in front of the very person she toyed with the night before.
"You have…great timing." She let out a tiny grin but faint footsteps from the hallway were growing closer. The police and ambulance had arrived and just as quick as he had entered, Batman was gone.

*Awww man. When I wrote this, I had to control my urge to make Selina and Batman want to jump all over each other. Haha, but in due time... ;) Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter up again soon!