At first Selena Kyle didn't think she'd be able to handle a couple of days without knowing if Bruce was safe or not; but, when that passed she had to up the number of days to a whole week. After the week went by she began to lose hope that Bruce was still alive; but, there was something deep in her heart that knew he was still alive. A week in a half would pass and other issues would start to interfere with her worrying about Bruce; however, it was at two weeks that everything became different.
The News said: "It's now been two weeks since the kidnapping of Gotham millionaire Bruce Wayne. Authorities have been quoted on saying that they were both close and clueless to the whereabouts of the Wayne. Earlier Commissioner Charleston gave a public announcement explaining the current situation" The commissioner tape played: "There is no reason to believe that Bruce Wayne has been harmed in any way, the kidnappers have not made a ransom or any form of contact with the G.C.P.D. and until they do we have to assume that Wayne is being held for some kind of shock value." The Newscaster returned: "As we heard the commissioner say in his speech there hasn't been any contact with authorities at all about a trade-off for Wayne's safe return, in fact, the only contact from the kidnappers have been to Wayne's speculated girlfriend Selena Kyle…" A rather flattering and candid picture of Selena appeared in a little box to the right of the female Newscasters head. "…Kyle was contacted immediately after Wayne's kidnapped but the details of what was said to her are still unknown." The female Newscaster stopped and the male Newscaster's face appeared; however, the picture of Selena didn't disappear. The male started: "That leaves the question to exactly what part Selena Kyle has in this whole ordeal. Many people believe that this may be the Lex Luthor factor. How can anyone forget two years ago when Luthor was kidnapped and threatened to be killed for the ransom of six hundred million dollars, later it was revealed that his wife 'The Contessa' Erica Alexandra Del Portenza, had hired the kidnappers and planned to split the ransom money and then kill Luthor to inherit his life insurance money, could Selena Kyle actually be the mastermind of this whole ordeal? We have relationship expert Linda Horowitz here to help answer this question. Hello Linda how are you?" The male Newscaster stopped and the other woman began to talk. "I'm fine thank you; let me first start off by saying that these millionaires are smart when it comes to making money; but, are just the stupidest people when it comes to picking relationships. Why would you pick this mediocre nobody to possibly share your millions with? She has no kind of culturing, class or anything of the like it is just beyond me as to why Wayne would waste his time on this riff raff of a woman-" Selena grew tired of hearing this woman speak and turned the channel and to no surprise the same story was being talked about. This channel was taking a different angle, The Newscaster here continued: "…we have an exclusive interview with one of the bank workers a Mr. Engels Olivares. Thanks for being with us Mr. Olivares…" The Newscaster said, the screen went to a smaller framed man with olive colored skin and a rather defined face, he seemed nervous, probably because he was involved in the bank kidnapping. The man started to speak: "Thanks for having me, there's not much I can say I was there and it was horrible and I-" Again Selena turned the channel to cable, they weren't covering the story and that would give her some peace of mind for the time being. As mentioned before there were other things she had to worry about now. The G.C.P.D. was really investigating her for the kidnapping and they were being forceful about it, with her other 'activities' she had to be careful not to make herself seem anymore suspicious than she already seemed, and on top of that she was being followed. Outside her apartment building a car had been parked for the last two days and there were four men watching her through the window for the last forty eight hours. Selena had been careful not to let whoever it was know that she was aware of them. For the first day she wasn't bothered; but, now it seemed a bit odd and unnerving. They had been watching non-stop for the last two days and now Selena was afraid that they may attacker in her home. It wasn't so much of the attack that bothered her but rather the mess it would make in her house and then some of the stuff they could find in the apartment. Selena didn't need anymore problems than she already had, Bruce had always extended Wayne Manor to her and she never used the option before; but, tonight would be the exception. Selena looked out the window quickly and to no surprise the black car was still across the street and the men was still looking towards her. Selena pretended to toss something out the window and then watch it to make sure that it didn't hit anyone on the street, then she went back into her living room. Despite the obviousness Selena hid all her valuable items in her living room closet, she followed the scarlet letter ideal that things hidden in plain sight were more often the least likely to be seen. There was one thing; however, that she didn't keep in plain sight. After reaching for her duffle bag Selena shoved her cheap dresses to either side of the closet. In the back of the closet dead in the center was a panel that had been carved out before she had moved in. When she first found it Selena came across some old photos and a videotape of the last couple in some compromising positions. At first the tape was entertaining; but, it wasn't long until she grew tired of the tape and put it in the mailbox with no return address or sent address; wherever it ended up didn't matter to her. Then after Selena began engaging in her other activities she found the spot pretty useful when trying to hide her spoils. The panel was nearly invisible when looked at from straight across; however, if you moved to either the left or the right you could see the space where the panel met the wall. Selena moved the panel and the same feeling that rushed inside her that always did when she opened the panel. There was something about looking at the suit that scared her. It was almost like looking at someone else, someone comatose; but, when they woke up this person would be a whole world of trouble. Quickly and without thought Selena grabbed the suit and stuff it into the bag, to hide it she took some of the old dresses as well and packed them on top. In what could be interpreted as angrily; Selena closed the closet door and picked her keys from the top of the T.V. , went into her room and quickly through them out the window. Upon reentering the living room Selena stole a glance outside the window from halfway across the room. She could still see the car and that was fine. Selena movements were getting faster she turned on the fan and turned it to the window so that the curtain blew and created the effect that there was movement in the house. After brushing her hair from in front her eyes Selena turned off the T.V. she went to leave; but, as she did the T.V. floated back into her mind; so she turned it back on. That way it would look like someone was home, even though when she walked out the front door the men would see her; but, what did that matter she was going to be as careful as she could. Selena looked around the apartment again very quickly making sure she wasn't leaving anything behind and, when she was sure that she hadn't she quickly walked out. When Selena reached outside the crisp night air strangled her senses for a moment. In the air she could smell the smoke stacks around the outskirts of Gotham and the oddly clean smell of the rain that had not begun to come down yet. The difference between them was startling and caused her nose to wrinkle up. Selena didn't waste time; however, she made a quick left turn, the quickest way to Wayne Manor was through the back alleys of Gotham. At first thought the back alleys scared Selena, the crazies, the rapist, the murderers, for a lone woman it would be near suicide or at least a deliberate act of masochism; but, Selena knew that she wasn't like the other women and thusly she had less to worry about. If the back alleys were the safest way then the back alleys were the way to go. For some reason, a reason that was beyond her, Selena looked back at the car and made direct eye contact with one of the men inside the car. In a hurried and very obvious manner she turned her head and went into the alley.
The man who had the eye contact with Selena was sitting in the back seat of the car on the driver side.
"She knows we're here…" the man said; the other men turned to face him. "…she looked right at me and turned away." He explained.
"Are you sure?" The front seat passenger side man asked.
"Yes Donald I am sure…" The man defensively started. "…She looked right at me and then turned into the ally!"
"Fine, fine if Jack says she saw us then I believe him…" The driver said. "…I'm sick of sitting here watching her do nothing all day anyhow, Rich make sure the stun gun is ready." The driver finished. In the back seat passenger seat Richard took out the stun gun and checked the charge and it was at one hundred percent.
"It's ready…" Richard said; the four men got out of the car and looked as if they were trying to look incognito and walked towards the alley.
The alley was very dark, which was no surprise; but, Gotham had tried to change the darkness years ago. They installed streetlamps in every alleyway that automatically turned on at dusk. The criminals; however, weren't idiots. It didn't take them long to destroy most of the lamps which lead to the installation of security cameras; (which came to the dismay of many civil rights group who claimed that random people walking down the street were having their privacy invaded by the installation) but, that didn't last very long either because the criminals just destroyed those and then destroyed the lamps as well as the fact that the state government was tired of spending money to fix these cameras and pay for security tapes every week. As a result of this negligence the alleyways remained dangerous and there was nothing to do about it. These were men though, the difference was immense. Gotham's crime rate could be split up very easily, seventy percent of crimes were committed against women, and the other thirty were split up in a specific way. Crimes committed against men in robberies dealing with businesses and government establishments were fifteen percent, accidental crimes, such as drunk driving accidents and manslaughter took another ten percent and the remaining five percent were committed solely against men with no other factors in immediate thought. Men were the vast minority in terms of being victims; but, were the majority of criminals; though, women were starting to come up in the statistics.
With all of that in mind the men walked into the alley without so much as a reasonable fear in mind. The only constant thing going on in all of their minds was the location of Selena Kyle. She had walked into this alley and now she seemingly had disappeared into the darkness.
"Where the hell did she go?" Richard asked; doing a turn to take a whole look at the alley. Jack didn't move from his position, chances were the woman was hiding behind a trash can; trash dumpster, or something evading them. The best thing to do was to simply let her feel as if she had gotten away and then spring on her suddenly to avoid any unnecessary problems.
The driver who's name was Henry was very frustrated had been watching this woman for two days and now there was the potential problem of having lost her. Henry scratched his left shoulder with his right hand and then rubbed his left arm with the same hand, a nervous tick he preformed whenever he 'sensed' danger or something of the like. Though men were not the majority of victims in crimes, the alleyways weren't the best place to be, they were scary for grown men. People were raped, robbed and murdered in these alleys. The other large problem about the alleyways was that they lead to the outskirts of the city. The city was well developed; but, the immediate outside of the city was underdeveloped, it would be easy to get oneself lost, or to lose a body in the outskirts of Gotham. Despite all that; however, the men were in the alleys because they were going to be well paid to bring this woman in.
"She's in this alley somewhere…" Henry said; agitated at the situation. "…find her and don't hurt her."
The alleyway was actually impossible to get out of unless one had some kind ladder. There was a large wooden fixture blocking the end of the alleyway to the beginning of east Gotham way; this had probably had been put her because of East Gotham Way's dangerous reputation. It followed the old underground system that had been unearthed in a failed attempt to start an over ground transportation system that lead from Gotham to New York City. Because it was never finished the entire span of East Gotham Way was subsequently in shambles and that made it a breeding ground for degenerates and scum. Even if Kyle had found someway over the wooden barricade, she wouldn't be scared enough of the four of them to run into East Gotham Way in the middle of the night; that was suicide.
Ten minutes of searching yielded no results, the four men searched up and down the alley every last inch and they could not find Selena Kyle.
"What if she went into East Gotham Way…?" Donald asked nervously; he looked around at the other three men nervously when they didn't answer "…I'm not going there, especially not at this time of night." Donald answered. Henry shook his head sternly and turned to Donald.
"I sure as hell don't want to go into that shit hole either; but, if we have to do so to find that bitch we're going to have to…" Henry rubbed his left arm again. "…We have too much riding on this." Henry rationalized.
"If we're going in there…" Jack gestured to the barricade. "...I want to have my gun." Jack's sentiment seemed to resonate with the other two men. They all seemed to turn to Henry looking for an answer.
"I've got mine…" Henry took out his gun and flashed it to the men. "…we'll be fine." Henry put his gun back in the holster hidden in his jacket.
"You've lost your mind if you think I'm going into that hell hole with only one gun between the four-" Before Donald could finish something smacked him very hard against the back of his head, his body shot forward two feet and he landed with a loud smack on his face.
"Shhheeeeeit…!" Richard exclaimed in a flash the stun gun was out; Richard jumped to Donald's body and turned it over. "…oh shit, he's hurt pretty bad" Richard exclaimed. Donald was unconscious and it was clear that his nose was broken and probably couldn't be repaired. The bone had split, very sloppily, in half and was protruding out of the skin. The protruding part of the face where the nose would be identified was caved in and is entire face was bloodied. Henry didn't move from his spot; trying to see everything around him making sure he was not to be attacked in the same manner.
"What the hell was that?" Jack exclaimed; looking at Donald's, now, blood drenched head. Richard tried to clear the blood with his sleeve; but, was making little to no progress.
"We need to get him out of here, he's going to need a-" As Richard spoke a loud snap ripped through the alleyway and the hand holding the stun gun snapped back towards the barricade. In a sudden jerk all of Richard's body was thrown backwards into the barricade with such a force that his head smashed a hole into the wood and his body laid limp. This time their assailant was visible standing on top of the wooden fixture looking down at them from the light of the moon. Henry couldn't stop himself, the fear from seeing the figure. The black suit against the dark night it was clear who it was. A quick snap of his wrist and the gun was pointed; but, it wasn't fast enough something slammed against his wrist and caused the gun to go flying. The pain against his wrist stung so much that he fell to the ground and began bleeding. For a couple of seconds the pain was so powerful that his brain could only center on how it could possibly hurt so much. When he came back to his senses he knew to stand up, once on his feet he looked over to where Jack was standing, but at this point he was laid out on the ground. Only a couple of seconds passed between his pain and getting up; but, in that small amount of time he had been ambushed and now was the only person standing. For a moment he stood there; but, then he remembered the gun, quickly he turned to go for it and when he went to dive for it, the deepest pain smashed his chest. Henry wasn't sure if it was the pain in his chest that knocked the wind out of him or the sudden smack into the ground with his back that did it; but, he couldn't breathe for a moment or two.
As Henry tried to get up something with weight landed on top of his chest. He coughed loudly and cringed. The boot pressed into his chest hard and his entire weight wasn't enough to lift his body up and, on top of that his wrist was bleeding uncontrollably. Standing over him was the black suit and piercing eyes; but, upon further review Henry realized it wasn't the Batman standing on top of him, it was something else, something female.
"Well, my, my, my, what do we have here…"the shadowy figure mused as it leaned closer to Henry's face. The smell of the demonic looking attacker's breath was floral, kind. The sheer oxymoronic factors playing out in front of his face and in his nose were enough to create a dizzying nausea. "…four big men stalking one harmless woman and now they have to deal with the big bad wolf." The assailant said as, presumably, she leaned close his face and allowed her lips to graze his cheeks softly.
For a moment Henry was shocked and confused as to what was happening; but, upon further thought he was sure he knew who this was. Among the large criminals that had come as the result of Batman's appearance another had come along that was working as a vigilante. She called herself "Catwoman" an obvious humorous play on the Batman's name and, as well as being a cat burglar the eccentric personality treated herself as a protector for women randomly attacked in the street. It made sense for her to be here, a woman going into East Gotham Way needed all the help she could get.
"I can't breathe…" Henry managed to spit out; through his fear and pain.
"Trust me if I didn't want you to breathe you wouldn't be breathe…" Catwoman smiled at Henry and touched Henry cheeks with her claws and softly caressed his skin. "…now; while you're able to breathe, tell me why you were following that woman." Catwoman gestured with her head toward the wooden barricade, Henry took note of that, and he could get her if he could find a shortcut in East Gotham Way.
"We weren't going to hurt her…" Henry struggled to explain.
"No…?" Catwoman asked with a hint of mock shock in her voice. "…then what were you going to do; a painless rape, a courteous robbery?" Catwoman licked her lips and looked deep into his eyes.
"No, none of that-" Henry started. Catwoman moved closer to Henry's face practically touching his lips with hers.
"Then what?" Catwoman asked more forcibly.
"I can't tell you that…" Henry moaned. "…get off." Henry demanded; he lifted his head up a little to seem more serious. Catwoman didn't allow him to though and knocked his head back on the pavement roughly with her hand.
"Sure you can…" Catwoman cooed; she took her claw and pressed hard on his temple drawing blood and then dragged the claw down the side of his face to the middle of his cheek leaving a thing red line blood, Henry cringed with the pain and Catwoman leaned in to the ear on the same side as the cut. "…I can be very persuasive." She said slowly as her hand probed around his chest. Henry wasn't sure what it was; but, her touching was extremely uncomfortable.
"No stop…" he pleaded; but, even as he started saying the words he could see something in her eyes open up, some kind of realization. That's when Henry realized that Catwoman had stopped probing his chest. With a quick snatch Catwoman ripped off the bulging object on Henry's chest. In the dark of night Catwoman could barely make out the object; but, in the brief light of the moon the object glistened and she could make out what it was. The shock was apparent in her face and Henry could see it as well, in that moment he knew who Catwoman was, it was undeniable. Coincidentally Catwoman then knew who Henry was because the object was a police badge and it revealed that Henry's name was Henry Rao and he was a detective from the G.C.P.D. Something was jarred in Catwoman's mind, it didn't make any sense why would the G.C.P.D. stalk a woman into a dangerous alley.
"You. you're-" Henry started; but it was too late Catwoman had lifted his head up and knocked it violently back onto the pavement and his eyes rolled back into his head. For, what seemed to be, a long moment Catwoman stood staring at the unconscious body of Henry Rao. If he was part of the G.C.P.D. that meant that she wasn't safe. They were probably trying to bring her in, make some excuse get their pay. They didn't need Selena Kyle alive to do that and if they did shed be charged with the kidnapping of Bruce Wayne. This was far worse than she imagined, it would have been fine if the four of them were just crooks trying to get a rape of a purse; but, she was now dealing with a higher power and Catwoman wasn't the target Selena was. Her "normal" life was going to be effected. For a brief moment fear gripped Selena Kyle and her exterior of Catwoman stood in the alley unsure of what to do. Wayne Manor could be reached through East Gotham Way, it could be a sanctuary, someplace to hide out, plus she could feel closer to Bruce. Wherever he was she prayed that he was alright. For his sake and for hers.