Author's note: I'm so sorry for taking so long to update, guys! I had a change of schedule, and both july and august were INSANE, but things are calmer now and I'm getting back on track. WE'RE SO CLOSE TO SEASON 2! Unbelievable! Can you wait? Because I can't!

Anyway, this is the longest chapter so far, I hope you like it. And you should know that even though it took a long time for me to update, the next chapter is already half way done, so it'll probably come sooner :D

I want to thank for the reviews I got. They are not many, but they matter and I'm forever grateful. And now for the chapter!


3. A CHAPTER OF OVERTHOUGHTS

Turned out that the help the Big Pond could give her was a link to Central City Picture News about a man called Antonio Dorrance from Santa Prisca. Dorrance was reported missing the previous year, but not much was known for he wasn't American and it hadn't happened in America. After a while, everyone assumed that he was dead, but against all odds, Dorrance was found in Smallville in February badly beaten, unconscious and dependable of a drug that he carried in a primal system installed on his back. The guesses were that the drug eased the chronical case of his lungs. He was taken to Metropolis by a medical staff from LexCorp., and then sent to S.T.A.R. Labs in Central City, where they tried to figure out what was the drug that he was taking. He stayed in S.T.A.R. Labs for three months before a transition was made that allowed him to go to Singapore in late May.

The article was released on the day Dorrance landed in Singapore, his last stop, a couple of days before Selina got that email.

It was all very interesting, but hard to understand what it had to do with Ivy. Not sure of what Selina had to gain, she decided to research everything she could about Dorrance's case and found some curious things.

No one knew much about Antonio Dorrance's up bring, most of his childhood was a mystery, but rumor had it that he was the son of a big political guy in South America. For some reason, they had little to no interaction and somehow Dorrance, the son, ended up in Seattle, where he became a Jiu Jitsu teacher. In his mid-twenties, he was an annual book promise in anonymity and the only person that reported his missing was his boss, only after he didn't show up to work after three weeks. The boss had supposed that Dorrance had finally found a sponsor, since it was what his contact was trying to get him when he moved to America.

She didn't find much about this supposed contact he had. The only useful information was that the guy was a botanist, a bit of a recluse who also disappeared around the time Dorrance was gone.

Other thing she found out was a science article by S.T.A.R. Labs' Caitlin Snow-Raymond about Dorrance and his lungs condition, the circumstances in which he arrived and the analysis of his blood samples that accused modifications related to the drug he carried with him. He had mood swings and they couldn't figure out all the components of the drug that had some proprieties that were almost mesmerizing for the science world. She believed it to be something ahead of their time and was whiling to figure out what it was made of and how could they use it without bringing the same results it had on Dorrance.

It was a bit terrifying, really, but it was also everything Selina had, for after that link, it was like the whole world stopped for the Big Pond and she hadn't gotten any new gift, message, nothing. For weeks now, all she could do was dig deeper within the information she'd gotten. And lately, it wasn't being enough.

At certain point, the only thing she could think of looking at all those things about Antonio Dorrance was how long it took for him to be found and how, when it happened, he was irreparably broken. She couldn't afford to think that it'd take so long to find V, let alone to think that she'd be just as damaged. That would make the Pond's help rather useless, but maybe that wasn't their point at all. Maybe what they meant to say was "look at this pour soul. He was found. Don't worry too much, your sister will be too." And when she looked at it that way, it was reassuring.

[...]

With the Pond dry, and tied to the fact that there wasn't much Selina could do that the police wasn't doing already in Gotham (although it was unsettling), she could use the spare time to focus on the gallery and her own things, her own plans. It was clear that her approach wasn't being effective with the whole researching thing, so she had to try something else and her brain was working a mile per hour to figure something out.

She needed a new perspective, so on the following month and a half Selina gathered all the data about Fish, the gifts she got; she tried to cross it with all she knew about Ivy's disappearance, see if she could find a pattern that could be linked between what she knew about V and Dorrance and if she could find out if Fish was really alive at the same time, but it seemed that she was running in circles. It was time, Selina knew, to move. Actually move from place to place, looking for more, but for that she needed help.

Only one person would be able to help her with no questions and that was why she headed to Wayne Enterprises on a Monday morning.

"Lucius Fox, please." Selina said at the reception and the lady nodded. "Tell him Selina Kyle is here."

She got her card and in a couple of minutes the teen was heading to the main hall where she'd take the elevator to Lucius' level. Distracted looking for a bag of cookies in her purse, Selina didn't see when someone was in her way and she bumped into none less than Sid Banderslaw so hard that she almost fell down, but he held her shoulders, helping her stand.

"Easy…" he started, and then, when she looked up, his expression changed, oscillating between worried and amused. "Miss Kyle, what an honor."

Selina flashed her best smile.

"Hey, Sid." She said, knowing that he hated to be called by his first name by people he disliked (and she was pretty high on that list).

"Should I worry about my pockets, young lady?"

She scoffed, fixing the strap of her purse and hit the up button of the elevator before popping a tiny cookie in her mouth. She had only robbed him once, to make a copy of his safe's key, but he never forgot it. She could bet he never would.

"You've such little faith in me, Sid." She said, her mouth half full. "I'm a serious person now, haven't you met my parents, my sisters?" the elevator dinged opening the door and she quickly got in, hitting the close doors button. "You can catch the next one, right? See ya!"

As she went up, smiling and satisfied, Selina also managed to eat two other cookies in time for the lift reach to the top level of the Wayne building to meet the head of intelligence. When she opened the door to Lucius' office, he looked up at her with his glasses on the bridge of his nose looking like young Morgan Freeman and smiled.

"Hey Foxy!" she greeted and sat on one of the rolling chairs sliding to his side. "What are you working at now?"

"Nothing that would be your business, Selly." Lucius replied, but his tone was light. That dynamic they had was something that would always happen, her trying to sneak a peek of his work even if she didn't understand all of that math madness and him trying to shoo her from his back. Frowning curiously, he changed the subject completely. "Are those ginger cookies?"

"Yep." Selina offered him the bag and he gladly took one. "Those are total vegan and healthy stuff. Ivy would always bake those when Babs first learned about the pregnancy; apparently, it helps with morning sickness or something and we just got used to it."

With a smile, Lucius nodded.

"They are good." He told her. "Ginger cookies are my sister's favorite." It was very hard to get personal with Lucius Fox, so that tiny information he let slip lightened her face – it was nice to know that there were guys that were good human beings.

The light moment didn't last much, because time was running out and Selina was there for business, so she took a memory card from her purse and handed it to him, who took it carefully and already plucked it on his computer.

"What is it you brought to me?" he asked, opening file after file like a hacker movie.

"Things." Selina started, and after a quick glance from Lucius she continued. "Lots of things. I've been getting all these mail. Mostly from the east coast and I've been pulling info out of them."

Lucius had the archives going fast on his screen.

"What do you need, Selina?"

The golden question right in the open that made her sigh.

"A north." She confessed. "I need a new start and I think it's hidden in these files. I think that… if you cross the data and trace some sort of map, maybe I can figure something out, because it's been two years already and I tried to make it by hand and I couldn't think, I don't know what to do-"

"You have all of these for two years already?" he interrupted surprised and she shook her head.

"I started getting this mail for about two and a half years and when V disappeared I got ton of new stuff that made me lose track and I feel it will help me find her, but I can't seem to figure it out."

She finished her words with frustration and Lucius just nodded.

"A map?" he asked and she beckoned. "What do you plan to do with it? Backpack?" Selina just shrugged, flipping through something in her purse and Lucius smiled. "Give me a week and you'll have a whole interface with its own web connection, untraceable and what the hell are you doing?"

Selina stopped what she was doing – which was go through the contents of a wallet – and looked at him with innocent eyes. He could see the picture of Sid Banderslaw's driver license. Without a word, she continued to check the many cards, photos and papers Sid had.

"I know, Foxy" she finally said, not looking up at him again. "You're the best, that's why I came to you. I know you can come up with something beyond my imagination…" she paused, pulling a card hidden between some papers that seemed useless. "Do you know what it means?" she asked, turning the card to Lucius, who held his breath when he saw it. Selina nodded. "I thought so."

She pulled out her cellphone and took a picture of the card, sending a copy to Alfred with the same question she made for Lucius. The card was very minimalist and unique, but the owl – looking wise and eerie – said it all.

"A week?" she asked, and Lucius nodded. She shoved the money (at least a thousand dollars) from the wallet in to her purse, put the rest of the contents into it with little care, all in front of him, who could hardly hide a smile, before she got up to leave almost forgetting her bag of ginger cookies on the table. "Okay, you can have another and if we find Ivy, I'll bake more just for you."

"We have a deal." He replied very seriously taking a cookie from the bag and making her smile, and they shook hands to seal it.

Selina got back in the elevator chewing on a cookie and checking her phone, anxiously waiting for Alfred's reply. It wasn't like she would tell Alfred anything, not like they had become friends, but he was a reliable man who knew things. She had a good guess of what that owl card meant, there was a good chance she was right just based on Lucius reaction, but she wanted Alfred's say on it too.

She left the visitor card at the reception, dropped Sid's wallet in the first bin she found after flashing a smile to one of the cameras and she was crossing the door when her phone buzzed, but it wasn't Alfred on the other side.

"Harleen?"

"Selly, hi." Ivy's girlfriend sounded both excited and nervous, which was weird.

During those first weeks, Selina and Harleen were always in touch, but as days went by it was hard to get together without saying the same things over again, so they drifted apart, each one doing their own thing.

"Are you busy?" she asked and Selina walked slower, fumbling to find her keys.

"Not exactly." The teen replied. "Why?"

"I think I might have something." Harleen hushed, as if it was a secret and Selina hurried to get in her car, because any news about Ivy would be overwhelming and she had to sit down.

"Okay," Selina said slowly, putting her purse and cookies on the passenger seat. "Continue on."

"You know I've been putting all those posters around town three times a week, sometimes more. It's desperate, but desperation is all we have, right?" it wasn't, in the teen's opinion, but she wouldn't interrupt. "I was beginning to think that maybe no one would help when this guy called me, he said he thinks he saw something that might help and asked me to meet him. I figured you'd like to join me."

Selina took a deep breath.

"I would, indeed."

"And I want you to come with me."

"Okay. When?"

"This afternoon," Harleen told her. "It's a place called Deck of Cards in the Hill."

For a second or two Selina stopped breathing. Maybe her heart even stopped beating for the simple fact that she knew that place and she hated it.

"Leen, what's the name of the guy that called you?" she asked carefully.

"Hm… Jerome. His name is Jerome."

In her T-Bird, Selina closed the door and closed her eyes, one hand on the steering wheel and the other still holding her phone in place. Her stomach protested at the sound of his name. Of course, Selina thought, of course Jerome would be the one to have information about what happened around Arkham. He was gaining territory there and if that wasn't scary on its own, she didn't know what would be. Opening her eyes, she looked at her black dress, leather jacket, low boots knowing that she was underdressed.

"Do you know the place?" Harleen continued. "Do you know him?"

"Where are you?" Selina deflected getting it together and starting the car.

"The C Building, Upper East Side."

"Alright, don't move." She said, the motor coming alive along with her brain. "I'm at the Wayne Tower and I'll be there in fifteen."

Which wasn't true, because she got there in thirteen, honking in front of the building. Harleen played Roller Derby and that made her wardrobe the coolest. She always had bruises and some of the trainings were in the park. The college girl got in the car glowing with excitement.

"Are we going now?" the blonde asked, her blue eyes big and intense and Selina shook her head no.

"We're going to my house."

Harleen frowned and tilted her head confused.

"Why?"

"I need to suit up." Selina explained, starting the car again. "There's no way I'm going to Jerome's without a gun."

[...]

The Gordon home was noisy when Selina and Harleen arrived, the sounds of Jim – on his day off – playing with Barbie in the living room and Babs talking on the phone filled the ambient in a warm way.

"Dad?" Selina called going straight to the stairs that led to her room. "Can you give me my knives?"

"Knives?" Harleen echoed at the same time Jim shouted from the living room

"Why would I do that?"

From the door of her room, she shouted back

"Because they are mine and I need them!" and closed the door.

Inside, while Harleen sat on Ivy's bed, Selina changed into skinny jeans, a black tank top, stilettos and her favorite leather jacket. From under her bed, she took a wood box and emptied the contents on top the mattress. Harleen had stood up and had her back to her, looking at the huge board the girls had in their room. That board used to be filled with calendars, dry leaves and college notes, but now it had a big map of Gotham and a copy of every single clue one could find in the police report (that Selina had Jim copying for her, and then she put it together with Bruce's help. There were several photos of that board among the files she gave to Lucius) about Ivy's case. If Jerome really had something that could help, she'd have something else to add there.

"Please, don't touch it." Selina asked as Harleen was reaching for one of the evidences and the blonde turned around ready to say something that was probably different from

"Holy fuck." That was what actually came out. Selina was checking the bullets of an automatic pistol. "Is that really necessary?"

Selina smiled.

"Do you know why the Deck of Cards is in the Hill?" she asked and Harleen shook her head. "Because it's right next to Arkham and Jerome understands the power of the insane. He's clever and unmeasurably nuts, you need to be careful around him, okay?" as she spoke, she was also hiding three knives in strategical pockets and the gun on her holster. Among the many knives she had in her bed, she found two small ones and hid them in the wrists of her jacket under Harleen's watchful eyes.

"You're really serious about this." She said slowly, for the first time starting to feel worried. "Maybe we shouldn't go. Do you think he's lying?"

"No. Jerome doesn't play around, even though he likes to pretend like he does. If there's someone who could know something, that's him. Ivy was taken near his turf after all."

She didn't say the second part of her thoughts, however, that it would be hard to actually get anything out of him, that he would probably ask for a favor and that it wasn't good to owe him anything. She had a plan, but wasn't sure if it'd work. And she didn't want to freak Harleen out. This was the first lead they had since the Big Pond stopped sending things.

"How do you even have a gun, though." The older girl changed the subject and Selina smiled again.

"This is America, Harley. How come you don't have one?"

Harleen shivered.

"I don't even know how to hold it. The most dangerous things I've ever held were clubs in my gymnastic days."

Selina shook her head and rolled her eyes mockingly.

"Boring." And turning to the door, she shouted again. "JAMES!"

"Goddamit, Sel." Jim called, coming up the stairs. Just the sight of the pair of butterfly knives in his hand sent a rush of adrenalin through her. "Why do you even need them, are you going to sell them? Do you need money?"

It was so offensive that the teen even stepped back.

"Sell it? I sell half of my liver before I sell those beauties! Now, give them to me." She asked, reaching to get them and Jim held them out of her reach.

"You're not even supposed to have them yet." He said, the tease in his eyes.

It was true, he had promised her to give them to her in her 18th birthday, but everyone in the house talked about the knives as if they already were hers. Gordon got those knives when he was in the army and he taught Selina how to use them before he taught her how to drive. They weren't as cool as her whip, but it wasn't a good idea to show up at the Deck flashing a whip just because. Oh, I felt like carrying it around, don't worry. Nah, this was a special case. She needed her knives.

Usually, she'd play along – it used to happen every trimester or so, when she'd find an excuse to have them out of the box – but now she really needed to get going if she wanted to be done with Jerome as soon as possible, so she used her last resource sooner than she normally would.

"Come on, daddy, don't make me beg!"

Jim narrowed his eyes.

"You think that calling me 'daddy' will make it easier?" she pouted and nodded just once and he sighed, putting the knives in her open, waiting hand. "You are… these girls are gonna kill me." He concluded and Selina couldn't help but briefly hug him.

"Thanks, daddy!" it always, always worked. Ivy once said that due to their rough start, it always softened him faster if the girls were soft on him. She was damn right, as usual.

[...]

They arrived at the Deck of cards in the middle of the afternoon, an oddly foggy day of June even for Gotham's standards, but Selina took her time to leave the car, making sure that every weapon was in place.

"So…" Harleen started, side-eyeing Selina. "What's the story?"

"What story?" the younger girl asked and the blonde sighed.

Selina looked at the club across the street and then to Harleen by her right, choosing what to say. Her story with Jerome was delicate and complicated.

"Let's just say that the 15th year of my life was troubled and he can fuck you up real good." She told her, being as vague as possible and looked into Harleen's eyes. "I'm dead serious when I say that you need to be careful about him, around him. He's charming, plays nice, but he's no fool. You understand that?"

Harleen nodded and it satisfied Selina, so she got out of the car followed by the other girl.

"Damn Selly, you're making me feel awfully underdressed right now." She commented and Selina looked at her.

It was true that maybe Selina overdressed for that, but she needed the extra inches if she wanted to intimidate anyone. But Harleen, coming fresh off the Roller Derby training with a bruise in her chin and a killing outfit didn't fall behind.

"Nah." The younger said. "You're good." And they crossed the entry.

The Deck of Cards was a bright place despite its dark walls. It was supposed to be a poker house, but you couldn't see the poker tables anywhere. Like any illegal place, the business actually happened downstairs, but they wouldn't find Jerome there. Jerome had his own office in the main hall, with his own poker table where she once won fair and square at the age of fifteen and had a few consequences about it in a face to face on that same table. There were some bad memories there, but also pretty kick-ass too – although not enough to make her guts behave whenever Jerome was somehow involved with anything.

"Look at all of these…" Harleen commented walking towards one of the boards hanging around the main saloon. They were filled with missing persons and reward photos of people wanted by the police or the Penguin. On the one next to it, Selina spotted a familiar face.

"Hey, isn't it one of yours?" she said, pointing at a poster with a photo of Ivy, a HAVE YOU SEEN HER? CALL ME and Harleen's number.

"Yeah…" the blonde said, almost dreamily and reached to touch it with shaky fingers.

"Selina." A soft female voice called, all sugary and slow, a voice that Selina knew well and didn't quite like. Since she already was in poker face mode, though, it wasn't hard to turn with fake calm.

"Silver."

With her platinum hair and long legs, Silver St. Cloud was a few inches taller than Selina and also was one of the reasons why Ivy hated Bruce so much. Despite the fact that Silver seemed to really like him, Selina couldn't shake the feeling that she was somehow off, and the fact that she was there, dressed as one of Jerome's toys, put the teen on edge even more.

"What are you doing here?" Silver asked still sugary and Selina shrugged.

"I could ask you the same." She replied, stepping closer. With both girls on heels, they still had that height difference. "I confess I thought you could be a lot of things, but not a tool."

The best thing about Silver was that she didn't know how to mask her anger as well as everyone else and to see her swallow the insult was rather satisfying. Angry, she stroke back.

"Have you seen Bruce lately, Selly?" she poked, knowing that the girl disliked being called by her nickname by her. "He's been falling out of the radar for months already, isn't he? I mean, I know he can be a hermit sometimes…"

Selina scoffed, cutting her short.

"The fact that you think I'd know is flattering, really."

"What, you don't? Aren't you one of his tools?"

Selina widened her eyes mockingly.

"Oh, I see. You're trying to get back at me with my own words." She got closer and hushed the following part just for the sake of drama. "But if you think that I was a tool, then I wonder what that makes you for him."

Silver's eyes went dark for a couple of seconds. The real intention of the phrase was to make her cut the crap and stop bringing Bruce to it, because, really, he was always nice to her and never treated her like less than a person. He would have his affairs and be a bit of a dick with people he didn't know, but both Selina and Silver were deeply cared about by him and he never hurt them. Silver wasn't around anymore on her own account – and it wasn't as if Selina wanted her back, she still disliked her -, not because "something happened".

Besides, Selina always got bored pretty fast when it came to fight about men. She liked to fight about cooler things, like poker bets and car's scratches.

"Where's Jerome, Silver?" Selina demanded walking towards the door that led to his office. She was mildly aware of Harleen mooning around her and probably not getting anything, and she would've looked back just to make sure that the blonde was ready for what was to come if Silver hadn't stepped in front of her, reaching to do something that resembled a lot like touch her, which was so off limits that Selina felt like stabbing her just for thinking of it.

"You need to leave your weapons before getting in." Silver said firmly, her hands still up in a universal 'stop' sign and Selina stepped forward again, this time making sure to speak loud and clear for whoever wanted to hear.

"If you as much try to touch me, you will lose a hand." She said with a coolness that could freeze souls, making sure to say it very clearly. "And if you somehow succeed, I won't make small promises. Now," she continued, seeing Silver's fingers tremble and not giving two shits. "Where is JEROME." The last part was a calling out and she said his name so fiercely that the girl in front of her actually stepped back, dropping her hands.

"Damn, Selina, that was-" Harleen began to say, but was cut short by a hysterical laugh coming from within the building.

Taking his time, Jerome came from his office, the theatricality of it all making Selina roll her eyes. Couldn't they just get it over with already?

"Selina Kyle." He said clapping his hands together, making his way to her. "Long time no see." And as if he couldn't keep it serious for long, he smiled maniacally the way he could be. Selina swore that if he didn't stop, someone would put a permanent smile upon his face and depending on the day, that person could be herself, just for the joke of it.

"What a shame it had to change." She replied sounding bored.

Jerome shook his head slow and sad. He was very tall, taller than Bruce, and his red hair was dark and interesting, falling over his eyes. If he wasn't completely bonkers, she would find him attractive, but since Selina knew exactly who he was and what he could do – thanks, Babs! – there was no room for cuteness.

"You dismiss our love so easily, Selly." He said and she took a deep breath.

"You don't get to call me by pet names." She alerted him. By then, he was so close that she had to look up to keep eye contact.

"Don't tell me you're still bitter about those tights."

She crisped her eyes.

"I loved those tights." She retorted. "But I don't know, how did you like the scar?"

This time, he was the one to crisp his eyes and since he wasn't a big fan of conversations getting too intimate – well, not when he was the center of the exposed intimacy – he decided to turn the focus to the other person in the room, the new flesh in the form of amazed, scared Harleen Quinzel.

"And who's this pretty one?"

He was so fast in Harleen's face that she had to step back twice and almost tripped on a table. Before Selina could come to her rescue, she already began to talk.

"You called me, said you had information about Pam."

"Oh!" he exclaimed, licking his lips in a frantic way. His eyes had a way of studying them individually – Harleen, Selina, Silver – but never quite rest, it was disturbing. "Pamela Isley. You know, I met her as Ivy Pepper." He shot a glance to Selina, who had her hands on her hips in an I'm waiting pose. "V…" he continued and laughed. "Couldn't hide forever under Pamela Isley."

He laughed again, scarier and Selina loudly sighed so completely done with him.

"It does roll nice in the tongue, doesn't it, Sel?"

"Second warning, Jerome." Selina said sounding as bored as she was nervous. She was a hundred percent sure that it had been a bad idea to go there, but there was no going back now. "You know I don't play games."

"Oh, you think you're the only deadly thing here?" he asked and reached for the pink in Harleen's hair. "I mean, have you seen her?"

In her defense, Harleen did try to step away from him, but Jerome had a way of occupying your space that was rather claustrophobic.

"Just tell us what the fuck you know about V already." The younger girl demanded so, so done with him and he finally stepped away from Harleen.

"Yeah, but, you see, that's the kind of crap that demands a favor."

Harleen opened her mouth to say something, but Selina was faster this time.

"We are not gonna owe you shit, Jerome. If anyone is in debt here, that one is you."

He had his eyes locked on her and laughed again, but there was an edge there that meant she was stepping in minefield.

"Why would I owe you anything, Selina Kyle, you almost killed me."

Selina smiled matter-of-factly and stepped closer, her boots clicking on the floor.

"But you're still alive, aren't you? And isn't it how this life works? Isn't it what you say for those you keep alive? You break a few bones, leave a couple of scars and say 'You can live! But remember this kindness!', am I right?" by then, she already was standing between him and Harleen. "Therefore, we don't owe you shit. Now, start. Talking."

For almost a whole minute there was just silence between them, the only sounds coming from cars outside and the music in the basement, and then Jerome smiled as if they had a deal.

"Alright, you raise a good point!" he said with fake glee, starting to pace around. He went to the boards with all the missing people and took Ivy's photo from the wall. "It wasn't in my turf, you know? I saw her closer to gate B. She got cute."

"Jerome." Selina warned. All she wanted was to get the hell out of there with more information about V and she couldn't place if he was telling the truth, but he was all they had.

"I'm getting there, Selina, don't rush me." He said, pacing back in front of the girls, V's poster still in his hands. "I was around doing my thing when I saw the taxi dropping her and I recognized her – the red hair gave her away, you know we red heads need to stick together."

Selina wanted to say that Ivy would never team up with Jerome, but she suspected that it'd distract him, so she kept her mouth shut. He continued once he realized they wouldn't feed him.

"She was distracted with her phone when some guys started to approach her."

"What guys?" Harleen asked eagerly and Jerome looked at her lazily.

"I don't know, sweetheart, but they weren't from here. Differently from the woman." He paused, knowing that they would want to know more and the girls stepped closer. "Ivy clearly knew her, because they called each other by the name and there was some sort of… intimacy you only have with people you know."

"How was she?" Selina asked. "The woman."

Jerome shrugged,

"Can't remember very well, I don't know. Tall, I guess. Taller than Ivy, but maybe it was the heels. Brunette, wearing a lab coat like the docs in Arkham, but not exactly. Came on a car as soon as the guys trapped little Pepper."

Then Ivy really was kidnapped?

"Did she go by choice?" Harleen questioned, her voice small with the worry about the answer they could get and, for her surprise, he laughed.

"No!" Jerome said, still laughing as if it was genuinely funny. "No, Jesus. She fought rather hard, it was entertaining. They knocked her down and put her in the car, and then left."

Selina thought about it, balancing the facts. There was a chance Jerome could be lying, but he had never passed as the kind of guy to bother, so she had to consider everything. And everything could take a new turn now, maybe. She'd have to update Jim about it.

"Do you remember anything else?" Selina tried one last time, for she was ready to go. "Did you see the plate of the car or something?"

"There was a Metropolis sticker." He said, now sounding bored as if he was done with their presence. "On the window, something that looked scientific."

Selina nodded, still organizing the things in her head.

"If you knew all of this, why didn't you tell the police sooner?"

"Are you kidding me?" he scoffed, making a ball with Ivy's poster and throwing it over his shoulder. "All the police's numbers traced down to your dear cop dad that, may I remind you, tried to get me locked up more than once. Plus," he stopped in front of Selina, but looked back at Harleen, "it was the first time that the number was of a pretty lady." He winked and Selina watched Harleen blush through and through, but fast enough she had his attention again. "Although I should have imagined that she'd bring you along, if I was a little more clever. That rag looks way better now, by the way, Cat." He completed, his fingers brushing the exposed skin of her breasts and that was one of his many mistakes.

In the blink of an eye, Selina cut the back of his hand with one of her wrist knives blocking his attack with one swift movement and threw another knife in Silver's direction just to stop her from getting the gun she ran to.

Jerome was right, though, and Selina wasn't the only deadly person there. He could be only brute strength, but he was stronger and taller after all and the girl felt grateful for all the Jiu Jitsu and self-defense skills that both Jim and Bruce taught her, because she had to use them all.

It was a good thing, too, to have stored all those knives around, because he was able to block a few of her blows and the ones that hit were quickly stopped. In one lucky instant after Jerome came really close to knock her down, Selina used the other wrist knife to make a cut in his left cheek and that moment of distraction was all she needed.

She knocked him off his feet, locked his left arm with the heel of her boot and the right arm with her other knee. The blood was dripping in a perfect line from his left ear to upper lip, but it wasn't a deep cut and he looked both pissed and almost scared. Cold inside, Selina just eyed him tilting her head from side to side, shifting her weight on his chest lazily. Slowly, she took the gun from her holster and unlocked it, but instead of pointing it at him, she pointed to her left, towards Silver who was trying to make a move.

"Don't even think about it, St. Cloud." She warned, without breaking eye contact with Jerome. "Have you ever heard the story of how Sal Maroni died?" she asked him "and, you know, I told you not to call me by pet names, you know you're not allowed."

Selina was so calm, the whole room was on hold. Jerome looked at her as if already making plans for when they'd meet again. She continued.

"You were really nice today, though, Jerome, so I guess we should let it be this time, what do you think?"

He didn't say anything, so she got a little closer to his face. Without being asked, Harleen started to gather Selina's dispensed knives from the floor, probably sensing that they'd have to leave fast and that Selina'd like to have her weapons back, but the teen didn't give it too much thought, finally pointing the gun to Jerome's head.

"What?" she almost hushed. "Cat got your tongue?"

He took a deep breath, never leaving her eyes.

"It doesn't end here." Jerome finally said and Selina shrugged and then got up.

"Of course it doesn't. But look! You're alive again, still. Isn't it incredible?" she locked her gun again, put it back in its place walking towards the door with Harleen in her heels. She didn't have to give any instruction, the girl was picking up fast, she was good. "Now, you know what to do, right? Remember this kindness."

Once outside, they walked fast, close to running, to get to the car. Selina had left the key easy to find and Harleen had hardly dumped the four rescued knives on the floor of the T-Bird when Selina started the car.

Out of all the things the blonde could question, however, what she asked first was-

"Who was Sal Maroni?" she dared to look at Selina's profile and even though she was belted up, she was also holding for dear life on the panel, figuring that the other girl wouldn't ease on the gas until they were out of the Hill.

"One of the old mob bosses, from before the Penguin."

"How did he die?"

"Fish killed him." She answered, and it was as if she was watching the scene again live that exact moment, loud, clear and in full HD. It still was awesome.

"And who's Fish?"

"The most brilliant boss this city ever had, gone too soon." Selina said, her voice sad, her mind asking the same questions it did whenever she'd get a new package. "I miss her."

"Okay…" Harleen mumbled looking out of the window for a second. They could see the Narrows Bridge already, record time, and Selina slowed it down. "Why did she kill him?"

For that, Selina smiled, for the first time taking her eyes from the street and turning to quickly look at Harleen.

"Because he was a misogynist bitch."

[...]

The knock on Selina's room door made her feel even sicker, but by then she thought that her stomach was already empty, so she just rested her cheek against the cold wall of the bathroom, trying to recollect the pieces of her dignity.

She had to tell them. She had to open her mouth and tell Babs and Jim and let them help her decide what to do.

But it was so hard to form the words and Jim would be such a bitch about it, because he was always raging about 'PROTECTION, YOU KIDS ARE USING PROTECTION?' and now-

"Selly, I'm coming in." Barbara announced cracking the door open and once she heard no protest, she did just what she said.

"I thought you were at the park." Selina said from the floor, her voice hoarse, and Barbara came to her rescue, checking to see if she was feverish or whatever moms did to guarantee that their kids were fine.

"I got a call from Rachel telling me that you were feeling sick and had to come home, she sounded very worried. We came straight back." She explained before anything.

"You didn't need to do that." The teen told her. "It's just…" she took a deep breath, swallowed, thought 'say it' and "something I ate, probably. You shouldn't even stay too close."

Barbara scoffed and put one of the girl's curls back in place.

"Oh, I'm taking care of my girls while I can." She made clear and sat on the floor too, right in front of Selina, who avoided eye contact. "Besides, you don't really think I don't know what's going on, do you?"

At that, the girl's head shot straight up startled.

"You do?" she asked and Babs sighed worried.

"I know that you're too tiny and you're putting a heavy burden on your back, too heavy that you shouldn't need to carry. I see you with Jim studying this case, helping with Barbie, going to work and doing all the extra research and it's too much, baby, you're crushing your system."

It was the same argument people were using for almost a couple of months, the same argument she herself used to explain all the sickness and it wasn't a lie, but for how long could she keep it up? She already had to change that A-cup for a B.

"Mom-" Selina tried to interrupt, but Babs was too smart to fall for it like Jim.

"I know you want to find Ivy, Selly, we all do. I miss her every day! But you also need to take care of yourself. I know it must be weird without them, but it's important." She paused, analyzing Selina's risen eyebrow for a couple of seconds. "I mean, now with Bruce gone as well."

"What does Bruce have to do with everything?"

Barbara smiled.

"Everyone know you're each other's anchor, am I wrong?" she chuckled and Selina scoffed. "Come on, don't tell me you're still pretending you don't love him."

Feeling attacked, Selina crossed her arms and Barbara chuckled again, amused by her own joke. It didn't last much, though, because a wave of nausea hit the teen, that quickly turned to the toilet bowl heaving whatever was left out, but this time she had the comfort of Barbara pulling her hair and caressing her back with reassuring circles.

"You know, V taught me lots of food hacks to ease stomach pain. If you like, I can prepare you something." Babs offered, her voice warm and soft. "That'd be nice, wouldn't it?" she continued and feeling lightheaded, the teen just nodded gladly.

Following her own words, the woman took care of her girl very carefully and lovingly, help her clean up the bathroom, preparing a bath and chatting about nothing important, which gave the teen no reason at all to tell her at the same time that she tried to organize a math in her head of all the things she planned on doing in the near future.

"I never saw you as a Superman girl, Selly." Barbara said as Selina was drying off and changing into some fresh clothes.

"I'm not." She replied and Babs turned to her with a blue T-shirt with the famous S in front of it and Selina opened her mouth in an O.

The shirt had arrived the previous Friday, the first thing she got in a very long time. Although it was about Superman, the hero of Metropolis, it came from Smallville with the name of the city on the back. Ever since a rumor about Smallville being Superman's hometown spread, those souvenirs started to be sold. There was only one thing she could come up with that gift.

"Someone gave it to me."

"Who?"

"A client, I guess. I came back from lunch and it was on the office's table with no addresser, just my name."

Barbara frowned, but she didn't have time to say anything, because Jim knocked on the door and got in without waiting for permission – it was good that Selina already had put on a summer dress – with Barbie very awake in his arms. He acknowledged them, quickly glanced at the crime board on the wall and then turned to the teen.

"Selly, Lucius Fox is here, he said he has something for you." He announced and she raised her eyebrows surprised. She only expected to see Lucius the following day maybe, because there was a chance of his one week deadline to be expanded. "He asked me to tell you to bring your computer."

"Okay." Selina answered, almost automatically and Jim's posture changed as he sensed that something was going on.

Barbara dropped the tee on the empty bed and Selina reached to get her computer on her nightstand, but this thing in particular wouldn't be easy to diverge.

"Selina," Jim called like a warning. "What's going on?"

And she had to tell them. Not the 'I'm pregnant' part, but the other concern she had. The one involving a map, random data, her beloved T-Bird and probably many days of backpacking across America. While Lucius installed many programs in her computer, she told them every single details of her idea, trying to convince them that it was their only shot at the moment if they wanted to know more about what had happened to Ivy.

"You're going to Seattle?" Barbara asked seriously worried as if she didn't spend half of her youth doing reckless things, but Selina shook her head.

"No, what I'm saying is that this Dorrance dude from Seattle is somehow related to V's kidnapping, he's the only lead we had in weeks and I'm willing to dig deeper, but not in his hometown – I mean, it's not his hometown, but anyway -, but, I don't know, I'm thinking about starting in Smallville, where he was found."

From his seat by the table, Lucius said nothing, but raised an eyebrow while Jim and Barbara exchanged a look. Selina continued.

"And then I'll continue searching for clues until I find her." Silence followed and then Barbie made some baby noised that sounded like approval for Selina. "Look, it's clear that she's not in Gotham, they wouldn't be so dumb, not with a cop's daughter. And whoever Jerome saw was not dumb. We need to expand to other jurisdictions if we want to know more. I can do this."

They remained unconvinced and Selina grew nervous.

"I don't know, baby." Barbara argued. "It already was too dangerous when you went alone to face Jerome, he could've hurt you." Selina scoffed, but the older woman continued. "He could. And you should've told at least Jim about it, have some back up. I don't think you should go alone."

"I'm not going alone." She said. They all looked at her, waiting and she thought better. "Okay, I am going alone this time, but I wasn't alone at the Deck and Jerome is a pussy, he got his ass kicked. And" the girl continued, "he would never talk to a cop, let alone Jim, you all know that."

"How do you plan on doing it alone, you're just a girl." The cop asked instead and Selina shook her head offended.

"I'm not just a girl, I'm the motherfucking boss." She corrected him. "Lucius is doing the doppiest of the hacks for me to stay constantly in touch, my plan is to always call – to talk and exchange any new info we get -, and I'm fucking awesome. Besides, you can't go. You have to go be Tenant and Babs will go back to work. Take care of Barbie and make sure she's getting enough blankets at night. Meanwhile, someone's gotta go find Ivy and I'm her best option."

Anxious, Selina didn't know what to do with her hands. That was a conversation with a lot of silent moments, and she couldn't sit still waiting for their final word. Everyone in there knew that she'd go one way or another, she already had thought it through, but just the fact that she told them was a huge step in their relationship. Two years before, when she went to gamble at the Deck of Cards, she didn't even let them know she was leaving, she just snuck out leaving no note at all and came back with a bag full of money and ripped clothes. Look how far they'd come.

"What about the gallery?" Barbara asked. From her tone, Selina knew that she had gotten a green light. "I can't go back yet, Barbie is only two months old."

Selina nodded. She really had thought it all through.

"Marla can handle things until you're ready, you just need to counsel from home.

"Marla?" the blonde asked, just to make sure. "Do you trust her?" and the teen nodded.

If you didn't know what happened two years earlier, you'd completely question Barbara's decision of letting her business in the hands of a seventeen years old. But you knew better.

"She can do it." Selina assured. Her word was everything Barbara needed and she nodded, giving her approval. Jim, on the other hand, needed a little more time yet.

"What you're planning on doing" he said, "can take a few weeks or months. It can last for so long, kid." He sighed, suddenly tired and she waited. "But you're right, you're awesome. If anyone can pull this off, that's you. I just…" he drifted off for a few seconds, taking in her expression. "Please, be safe?"

Finally, Selina nodded.

"Gotham's first rule." She replied, making Jim smile too. "No heroes."

"No heroes." He echoed.

Good – she thought -, I don't want to be a hero anyway.

"If you pull this off, solve this case" Babs said, "you could follow Jim's footsteps and become a cop too, what do you think?"

Selina scoffed so loud and dramatically with those words that it was even funny.

"Don't be absurd, woman." She said, glancing at her father as if asking him to tell Babs how ridiculous that was, but the same way Selina didn't help much when they were deciding little Barbie's name, Jim just shrugged, indicating that he thought that she could have this profession too. Which shouldn't be surprising in Gotham.