It was just what Jenna Silvera expected from the charity guests as they mingled down below from where she stood on the stairs; woman's heels clicking against the marble floors, the constant hum of chatter and false laughter, the clicking of glasses or big serving spoons clanking against the most expensive dishware her mother owned as the guests helped themselves to more food from the buffet. It was always the same, it always had been her whole life, and truth was she found it loathsome. These people did not care about her family, nor the charity they were throwing thousands of dollars into. All they cared about was their public image, how their society viewed them, and their lives were all about maintaining that image. It didn't take long for Jenna to figure that out about Gotham; it was all just one big theater stage, where people dressed up fancy and lied to others and themselves about what they truly cared about or what was in important, just so they appeared superior and important. The majority of them were even dumb enough to leave their values or beliefs at the door, just so long as they exuded themselves as someone high in the society. It didn't matter if they were mindless. And Jenna knew exactly who fit that description the best: her parents.

She stopped in the middle of the long and wide staircase, made of white marble with red carpet running down the middle, and her eyes scanned over the mass of guests, looking for someone in particular who was rumored to be there. Her eyes wandered over her dad, with his red hair combed back slickly, his fancy black suit tailored and pressed, a wine glass in his hand that he had not even taken a sip of due to the fact he was not a big drinker, at all, and she rolled her eyes to herself.

"Hey, so Kristen is here after all. Just saw her."

Jenna glanced over to her right at Rodger, a good friend she made since that dreadful day she had moved to Gotham. Rodger was short, and had short, curly blonde hair and glasses. He came from a long line of inventors, and his father, who had recently invented a new line of Tupperware, was reaping in those benefits while he and his mother dragged him to all of the parties and events, one of which being where he met Jenna when her family was new. It was all a part of that image, Jenna knew, but fortunately she had managed to find someone in this Godforsaken city who felt the same way she did. Well, for the most part. Rodger still had his flaws.

"Fuck, really?" She asked now as she glanced away again, raising up on her toes in her high heels to get a better look. Her eyes suddenly locked on a young blonde girl who was talking with some new guy Jenna had never seen at these parties before, and her jaw became unhinged in frustration."Dammit, she is here!"

"Who's here? And Jenna stop doing that in those shoes, I thought I told you! You'll break the heel clean off and those are one of a kind from France, dear. I won't be able to buy you another pair."

As Jenna lowered herself down, she quickly glanced over to her right and confirmed quickly that Rodger had been replaced with her mother standing there, and glancing over her shoulder she noticed Rodger sitting behind them on the stairs. He was grinning at her, and Jenna glared at him for a moment until she was forced to look away when her mother, Mrs. Mia Silvera, a highly known model in France, Italy, Britain and now Gotham, stepped forward to pick up a strand of her long, straight, natural bright red hair and run her fingers down it gently.

"Honey, I told you this was a curly-hair or up-dooccasion. Straight hair right now makes you look glum, and it's pulling your gorgeous face down and making you look ugly. And a black dress? Sweetie what I did I tell you today? Black is for mourning, honey. This is not a mourning occasion, we're past that now."

If there was anything Jenna was good at, it was tuning out her mother. It had always been the same her whole life. Instead of having pretend tea parties with her when she was a child, it was pretending to walk down the runway her mother made out of wood in the backyard, modeling the latest fashions. Instead of playing dress-up in her mother's clothes, Jenna played dress-up in her own, new clothes that her mother bought and forced her to wear, making Jenna look the way she thought was acceptable. And now, instead of asking about how her life was going or realizing Jenna had different interests than her, Mia was constantly accusing her of her faults. It drove Jenna crazy, but at the same time she couldn't help but to feel slightly pathetic. Here she was, ready to turn twenty three in a few months and she was still tuning out her parents like a teenager overflowing with angst.

"Mom," Jenna complained as she leaned her head away, and she smoothed her hair back down with her hand. "It's fine, okay? Stop."

"And those piercings, Jenna. I can't believe you went and did that. If I would have known I would have never-"

"Let me out of the house, I know Mom." Jenna rolled her eyes as she looked away, and she could feel her mother staring at her new nose and eyebrow piercings. But her mother's opinion didn't matter. Jenna liked her piercings, she was sure that they only enhanced her face, and regardless of what anyone said she was keeping them in.

"I just don't understand why you would want to ruin your face, honey. I'm not the bad guy here, I'm trying to help you. You need to take those out."

"Well it looks like Dad could use some help. That Bob Basin guy is coming on to him pretty strong," Jenna said, ignoring her mother's comment altogether.

She turned again to stare at her mother, who had glanced down the stairs, her eyes falling onto her husband, Rodger Silvera, who owned his own line of dealerships, chatting with a man who was always fishing to borrow money, swearing he'd pay them back once his investments went through. Her mother said nothing as she sighed and she started down the stairs, lifting her blue dress up on her side as to not trip over the long fabric, and Jenna shook her head and rolled her eyes just as Rodger stepped up to her.

"So Kirsten is here," Jenna told him again, annoyance laced thick in her voice. "Which is just great. She was supposed to stay home."

"I know, but her mother came back early from her trip and dragged her here," Rodger said as their eyes both followed Kristen through the mass of people. She turned suddenly, her eyes instantly locking with Jenna's on the stairs, and she frowned at her, lifting up her hand as to silently suggest she was sorry for the change of plans.

"Fuck," Jenna cursed under her breath. "There's no other parties around. And nobody's going to be at any clubs on a damn Tuesday night."

"Hold on, I'll call Thomas," Rodger told her as he pulled out his cell phone from his pocket. "He might able to pull something together." Jenna didn't bother answering him, and instead she started down the stairs, wanting nothing more at that moment then to just leave her stupid house and go find a party or something. She was desperately craving a smoke as well, and she knew she'd take the opportunity to abandon this place for one at anytime.

It was just as Bane had told Isaac: Jenna was impossible to miss. She stood out from the crowd, with her short, black dress with a deep v-line neck, that long, red hair, and most off all those bright eyes that were noticeable even from a good distance away. Isaac quickly finished the last bit of champagne in his glass before he carelessly set the cup down on a table next to him, and he started over to Jenna after nodding at another henchman, signaling that he was going in.

As Jenna was making her way toward him in the opposite direction, Isaac swiftly bumped his shoulder into hers purposely, and he turned around immediately with wide eyes filled with false concern as Jenna quickly caught her balance.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Isaac said, slightly taken aback by the stunning aqua blue color of her eyes. "I didn't see you there," he added smoothly, his eyes wandering over her piercings before they found her eyes again.

"I don't blame you," Jenna answered. She took a quick look at the man's suit on his slender body before she raised her eyes back up to his face. He had short, brown hair that he hadn't bothered slicking back in the same manner as everyone else, and instead it stuck upward in an organized fashion. He had blue eyes that appeared to glow in the bright light of the house, and a thin, trimmed mustache that was attached to his neat and trimmed beard that extended down past his chin and up toward his ears.

Isaac let out a laugh, and he cocked his head to the side slightly as he pointed a lose finger at her. "You're Jenna Silvera, right?" He asked politely, although he already knew this, and he grew slightly confused when Jenna rolled her eyes. There was something she just hated about complete strangers with whom she had never met knowing who she was.

"Yeah," she answered as she nodded her head slightly, but she forced herself to smile when the man held out his hand.

"Isaac," he said with a smile. Jenna took his hand, and he grew surprised upon learning how tight her grip was on his hand as she shook it firmly once before letting go.

"Nice to meet you," she recited in a robotic tone of voice, just like she had gotten use to over the months in Gotham upon meeting tons of new people she could care less about. She was about to excuse herself from him, but when her mother suddenly stepped up to her, after noticing her conversing with a man she had never seen before, Jenna was suddenly stuck. Mia placed her hand on Jenna's shoulder as she smiled at the man, and with a roll of her eyes Jenna glanced away, wishing she would have had the time to warn Isaac of this so he could escape the trap that was Mia Silvera. He seemed nice enough. Poor guy, Jenna thought.

"Oh, I see you've met my gorgeous daughter," Mia boasted with a wide smile, Isaac forcing that same smile as well. If there was anything that didn't make one feel gorgeous, Jenna knew, it was being referredto as gorgeous when the person was standing right there. "I'm Mrs. Mia Nicole Silvera," she said now as she held out her hand. Isaac kept his smile as he reached out to shake it, and he noticed how dainty and loose Jenna's mother's grip was versus her own.

"Isaac Barsad," he introduced. "You have a beautiful home," he lied. Truth was, he couldn't stand their house.

"Why thank you!" Mia exclaimed as she took her hand back to place it over her heart. "Thank you so much for attending our small little get together!"

Small? Jenna thought to herself, and when she glanced back to Isaac she could tell he was probably thinking the same thing.

"Jenna, did you introduce yourself? This is Jenna Marie Silvera-"

"Oh no, she did," Isaac quickly interrupted, his eyes finding Jenna's face as she kept her gaze focused away from them. Marie, he thought to himself. Her facial expression was interesting to him, and he continued to stare at her until her mother began to speak again.

"Oh, wonderful," she said. "You know, Jenna has her first photo shoot for Glorious Gotham next week. She'll be modeling the new line from Whitney Claus, she's a famous designer from Germany and she's coming out here for it and everything. I had to pull some strings, but it's been arranged for Jenna to be on the cover." She smiled proudly as she glanced down to Jenna before looking back to Isaac once she saw Jenna was not even looking at them, and rather had fixed her gaze on the floor.

"Really," Isaac said, his eyes falsely bright as he nodded, pretending he found this interesting while meanwhile Jenna was kicking herself over her mother's obnoxious ways. It was so evident in this man's voice that he could care less, but her mother was terrible at taking hints, as was her father.

"Oh yes, I can't wait! Jenna's tried a little bit of it all; hosting some events, speaking publicly, acting, learning her father's business, and now modeling. We like her to experience all aspects of the culture as much as possible."

"Culture?" Isaac repeated, his smile fading, and when Jenna glanced over at him she knew him to be thinking the same thing she was, unaware that 'rich' had become its own culture...

"Oh yes," Mia went on, and Jenna felt her face reddening the more her mother spoke. "So, Mr. Bamlard, what is it you do for work?"

A grin slid onto Isaac's lips, not only at Mia's already forgetting of his name, but also due to his line of 'work', and he glanced down slightly with a laugh before he looked back up to Mia, noticing in the corner of his eye Jenna was looking at him now, too. "I uh, do a little bit of everything," he answered truthfully. "I'm a sort of... co-manager of this... business."

"Oh, sounds interesting," Mia answered, though her tone made it clear that she was losing interest. "And how's the pay?"

Jenna sucked in her lips as she shook her head, and Isaac grinned at her. Of course her mother would ask how the pay was before she asked what the company was or what they did.

"It's great," Isaac said with that same, devious grin. "It's very rewarding."

"Well that's great for you," Mia said as she glanced over her shoulder. "Well if you excuse me, Mr. Barmas, I must go join Robert. Have a lovely night, and please, help yourself to the buffet, and don't forget to write that donation check!"

Isaac said nothing as he smiled at her, and he nodded as Mia started away. Jenna continued to stand there, and the need to apologize for her mother grew strong enough to the point of her opening her mouth to speak without thinking.

"Sorry about her," she said, her voice low. "She's... a piece of work."

"Nobody's has ever called me Bamlard before," he said, though he knew now that Bane's fellow henchman would go crazy with this name, seeing as how one of them was standing rather close to them, his back facing them as he listened in.

"Yeah, she's fucking ridiculous," Jenna went on, Rodger waving to her from across the hall catching her attention. He was smiling widely as he waved hectically to her, the bright lights from above reflecting off his glaces and hiding his eyes from view, and it was evident to Jenna that Rodger had found a place to go so she could ditch this event. "Well if you'd... excuse me," Jenna forced herself to say politely. "I gotta go."

"Of course," Isaac said with a grin. "Maybe I'll see you around, Jenna."

Jenna stared at him for a moment, a slightly creeped out feeling overcoming her for some reason. "Yeah, maybe," she said slowly. "Bye."

"Goodbye," Isaac said, and as Jenna turned to walk quickly into the mass of the people, he kept his eyes planted firmly on her while the henchman who had been listening turned around to step over to him, and he pressed the red button on the recorder he had been holding before he tucked it into his pocket.

"Bane wants her?" He asked, confusion and disgust laced in his voice. "Why?"

"Not sure," Isaac said with a shrug. "But it's his orders, and our duty to get her to him..."

"So what you got?" Jenna asked once she had approached her friend, and she stood next to him to read the text message on the screen of his phone, Thomas explaining that yes, he was having a party at his house and to head over there now since his supply of alcohol was limited.

"We've got a party. How soon can you get out of here?"

"Now, like right now." Jenna said. "Let me just go get my bag."

"Alright, but hurry up. This place is growing more obnoxious by the second."

"Tell me about it," Jenna agreed, that annoyed tone back in her voice, and she quickly started for the stairs.

Moments later, after she had returned with her large purse, she met Rodger in the great hall of her house, and after checking to make sure her parents were preoccupied with something else, they started toward the back of the house to exit out of the sliding glass doors that led into the spacious backyard.

"Don't you ever feel nervous, sneaking out like this?" Rodger asked as Jenna carelessly tossed her bag over the fence. She knew Rodger to have ever sneak out of the her house with her one other time, for he usually convinced her to come up with some story to tell her parents instead so they knew they were leaving.

"No," Jenna answered as she placed her hands on top of the fence to pull herself up. "Just pathetic," she added, and as she placed her feet flat on the wood, she gritted her teeth slightly as she hoisted herself up, and once she had placed her foot on the horizontal board in the front, she steadied herself before glancing back down at Rodger, who was staring nervously past the pool and at the glass doors. "Rodger!" She whispered loudly. "C'mon."

She jumped off the fence, landing safely on the grass on the other side, and after she picked up her purse she waited for Rodger to the do the same. Once he landed noisily on the ground next to her, he stood up quickly and followed her past the side of the large house as he pushed his glasses up on his nose. Jenna glanced around the corner before she started walking on the stone pathway in front of her house toward the driveway, but just as she started past the front door it opened suddenly, and she jumped when four men stepped out onto the porch, and a small shock of surprise ran up her spine when she realized one of them was Isaac. Coincidence? She thought. It had to be.

"Hey," he said with a grin as he stepped off of the large stone porch to move closer to her. "Long time no see. You leaving already?"

"Uh, yeah," Jenna answered as Rodger stopped behind her, eying the four men with suspicion.

"Where you headed?" Isaac went on to ask as he reached into his pocket to pull out a pack of Camel cigarettes.

"Something came up," Jenna lied smoothly. "We gotta go."

She appeared to be in a rush, so with that same grin Isaac took a small step back. "Of course," he said. Without another word or so much as a glance back at him, Jenna and Rodger continued down the driveway, Isaac's eyes on Jenna the entire time.

"Who was that guy?" Rodger asked as he quickened his pace to walk directly next to her, and he took out his phone to start dialing for a limo.

"I don't know," Jenna answered as she reached around to pull out a cigarette and a lighter, and she stuck it in between her pink plump lips before hungrily lighting it. "Just someone I met tonight," she added as she exhaled. Rodger nodded, but said nothing else as he followed Jenna down the driveway and hill and toward the black gates that separated her property from the neighborhood.

–

That constant dripping noise of water splashing against the concrete grew louder as Isaac headed toward what could only be described as Bane's 'bedroom' of sorts after he had changed out of his uncomfortable suit, and once he approached the opened door, he paused to knock on the frame, his eyes falling onto Bane's back as he sat at the desk again.

"What did you gather?" Bane asked, knowing already that his most trusted right-hand man was standing behind him. He did not bother to look at him, and instead he kept his eyes planted firmly on the dark wood of the large desk in front of him. Isaac took this question as his informal invite to step into the room, and he glanced over his shoulder before he lifted his hand to wave away the fellow men who had joined him in spying on Jenna. They dispersed quickly, and Isaac knew they wanted nothing more than to get away from Bane. Even after all this time, most of his henchmen still feared him, scared that just one, little screw up would lead to their untimely death. And they were right, Isaac knew.

He turned and stepped into the room, his boots loud as they made contact with the concrete each time he took a step forward, and he stopped a few feet behind Bane. "Her full name is Jenna Marie Silvera," Isaac started, listening as Bane scrawled something down on a piece of paper – most likely her name.

"Did you talk to her?"

"Yes," Isaac answered. "And her mother."

At this, Bane placed both his bare hands on the desk and slowly pushed his chair away from the desk, and he took his time with standing up before he turned around, his eyes instantly falling on Isaac, and he took a step closer to him.

"I'm not interested in the girl's mother, Barsad, I sent you to the mansion he keep an eye on Jenna. What did you gather about her?" He ended his question in a slight growl, and Isaac listened to the raspy breaths that escaped past his mask as he waited for an answer.

"She appeared to hate it there – at the party I mean. Her mother embarrassed her, and she appeared uninterested in everything. After we talked I caught her sneaking out of the house, like a damn child, and we followed her limo to some party in the southern area of Midtown and came back here. I couldn't go into that house after her though, I'm sure you understand."

"I understand," Bane replied in a slightly higher tone of voice. "Is it safe to presume this conversation was recorded, like I had asked?"

"Yes sir, James has it."

"Then bring him here," Bane commanded simply, his tone suggesting this was something that Isaac should have come up with himself, and as Isaac quickly turned around to exit the room, Bane turned around himself to step back over to the desk, his eyes falling onto the name he had scribbled down on a piece of a paper. A moment later he heard footsteps enter the room, and he turned around just as James handed him a small recording device. Bane took it from him, and without a word he turned around again to lower himself into the chair.

"That'll be all," Bane said as he rolled himself closer to the desk. "Close the door behind you." Without a word both Isaac and James backed out of the room, and once he heard the door close, he immediately pressed his thumb to the play button to listen.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," came Isaac's voice through the recorder over the hum of people in the background. "I didn't see you there."

"I don't blame you."

Her voice was not what he had been expecting. It was lower pitched than normal, and not as soft spoken. It was a prominent voice that held purpose and self-will, and upon hearing it Bane cocked an eyebrow.

Isaac laughed then. "You're Jenna Silvera, right?"

"Yeah," came Jenna's voice again. Well executed, my friend, Bane thought to himself over Isaac's smooth ways, and he praised the believable unknowing tone Isaac spoke in.

He continued to listen as Isaac went about introducing himself, and he couldn't help but to grow contemplative every time Jenna spoke, especially when she said "nice to meet you," back to Isaac. His eyes roamed down to stare at the picture of Jenna and her parents in the news paper. Her voice carried the same undertone her eyes held in the picture. Jenna was unhappy with her life, but yet she did nothing to improve her situation. How interesting...

Suddenly he heard a new voice, and upon listening further he learned that it was the voice of Jenna's mother. He placed his thumb on the fast forward button, preparing to skip over her moth, but he stopped himself, and instead listened to all that her mother was saying about Jenna. Oblivious, uncaring, slightly idiotic, Bane thought to himself as he listened to Mia speak, and from behind his mask he couldn't help but to grin slightly at Isaac's tone when he repeated "culture?" and it was obvious to Bane what he had been thinking, for he was thinking it too. A moment later, after Jenna had excused herself in that distracted tone, the recording ended, and Bane reached out to set it on his desk before he leaned back in the chair. It would all work out so perfectly, really, once he took Jenna. After she would help him out with a little task first, perhaps she would think of it as some sort of sick rescue, and right when she would get high on the hope that she'd be away from her despised life, she'd realize just how good she actually had it, but by then it would be too late. Bane would kill Jenna, right after he admired that glint of hope in her bright blue eyes fade away rapidly. And that is when it would all begin...

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