A/N: So, it's been nearly three whole months since I posted anything on here. During that time I got heavily invested in some other stories, primarily My Hero Academia, so when I came back to Gotham it felt like I was seeing it all for the first time again. When I joined on the show originally, the first three seasons were already on Netflix and I watched the entirety of Season 2 in two days. So, after going through and watching the entire season over again, I have finally started sketching out an overarching outline for the season. I'm still working on that, so unfortunately this chapter won't be too plot-heavy. Instead, I wanted to dive into the loose ends of what Season 1 ended on, catching up with all the characters and letting you know what they've been up to since the rise of Penguin and Selina's discovery of the secret passage. So, with great joy I introduce you all to Season Two of Roles Reversed: Rise of the Villains.

PS. For anyone interested I'm currently working on a MHA side project, but that won't be coming out on here for a very, very long time if ever.

The Calm Between Storms

Neither Selina nor Alfred knew who'd unlocked the steel door. The night before when, thanks to a helpful tip from Lucius Fox, they'd found the passage behind the fireplace, their progress had been stopped by a thick steel door with a key code. Then, the next morning, it was simply open.

Selina thought of Bruce for a moment, wondering if it'd been him who'd cracked the code. However, since Alfred didn't know that he'd been in the manor that night, Selina decided to keep the theory to herself.

They slowly crept down the dark passage. The air was thick and warm, as if it had been trapped for a very long time. Alfred took the lead, holding an apprehensive hand out in front of them. Finally, the stairs leveled out and they reached a cement floor. After a few minutes of fumbling around in the near darkness, Selina's hand caught a protrusion in the wall. She flicked the switch and blinding light seared into their eyes.

"The bloody hell is…" Alfred started.

Selina looked around the room. She recognized it. It was the same one from all those months ago, the one that she and Bruce had come across behind the steel door. Across the room was the wooden staircase that they'd walked down, and on another wall was the door that led out to the cave.

Alfred was in shock. "What is this?" he muttered, inspecting a bullet-proof vest on a nearby rack.

Selina shook her head. "Beats me," she lied. Well, technically it wasn't entirely a lie. She had no idea why there was a secret bunker underneath their manor or why there were multiple hidden staircases which led to it. Maybe there was more than one?

She walked over to the computers and plopped down into the rolling chair. A cloud of dust rose up. No one had sat there for a long, long time, probably since…

Selina tried to stop herself before the memory came back, but it was no use. The man's voice, the gunshots and the blood's splatter, the look of nothingness on her parents' faces: it was all clear as day to her.

Alfred placed a hand on her shoulder, jolting her back to reality. She reminded herself that that was in the past, that she'd moved on from that night.

Lying to herself didn't help, but it was worth a shot at the very least.

Alfred turned on the pc and the screen dimly lit up. The computer was newer looking than anything she'd seen before and yet, after several minutes of waiting, the only thing that came up was a blinking cursor.

Selina decided to try something. She typed dir and a list of text popped up. The files had names that sounded like acronyms, such as I.H.R.P., W.E.P.I., JANUS, T.C.O.O... There were dozens of files on the computer.

She clicked on the one called IHRP, and it redirected her to a screen with a place to enter a password. She tried SELINA, but to no avail. In fact, as soon as she hit enter the screen went black and the computer started making a weird noise. Alfred grabbed her and pulled her away from the console just as there was a small "poof" sound and a tiny bit of smoke began to emanate from the pc.

Alfred shook his head. "What in God's name was your father doin' down here?"

Selina stood there, unresponsive.

Alfred looked around the room again, a bit more fear in his eyes than before. "Come on, Miss Wayne. We shouldn't be in here."

"What?" Selina asked, defiance sparking up in her chest. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Alfred started exasperatedly, "this place is dangerous."

"Really? The computer bugged out and that's enough for you?" Selina challenged, implying that that was what scared him.

"Look around you, Miss Wayne," Alfred bit back. "A freezer full of blood." He pointed at the rack, "A bullet proof vest with two slugs in it! Whatever your father was doing down here probably got him…" Alfred didn't finish the statement. His angry expression melted away and was replaced with one of worry and concern. "And I'll be damned if I see you suffer the same fate…"

His voice broke towards the end. Selina bit back a response and nodded, saying, "Okay, Alfred." She paused. "I won't investigate this stuff on my own. You're going to help me," she stated, making it clear that it was a decision and not a suggestion. "Or I'll keep without you, probably with Bruce…" she trailed off.

Alfred shook his head in exasperation. "I worry that you hang out with that Kyle boy too much, you're starting to sound just like him." Selina smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Fine then, but you do what I say when I say it, understand?" Selina nodded. "This is on my terms," Alfred added.

"Fine by me," Selina responded all too quickly.

Alfred smirked. "Good. Condition number one: you're going back to school."

Selina's victorious smile faded quickly. "School?" she asked, hoping she'd simply misheard him.

"School," Alfred confirmed. "Condition number two…"


Bruce dropped down from scaffold to scaffold, eventually arriving at the floor of the Flea. He greeted some of his friends with a light grin as they bustled about, shopping or talking with fellow street kids. He made his way up the stairs and towards the back where the runner of the Flea worked.

"Hey there, Samson," Bruce greeted.

The large black man looked up from some paperwork and beamed. "Is that Bruce Kyle I see?"

Bruce grinned back. Since Maroni and Falcone and Fish had been taken down, Penguin had established an empire that spanned almost the entire city. Naturally, Bruce fell in line with the rest of Gotham's scum, watching for opportunities to move up in the world. So, when Jack Napier's name came up as one of Penguin's most wanted fugitives, Bruce struck. Unfortunately, Jack's body hadn't been found after the big fight, meaning he'd probably gotten away and was hiding somewhere in Gotham or a nearby city. Bruce had came forward and gave all the information he had on not only Jack, but also several other of Falcone and Maroni's top lieutenants who'd survived the fight.

Samson gestured to a nearby shelf and told Bruce, "Penguin's money is right over there. It's the duffel."

Bruce took the bag and opened it. He counted thirty or forty stacks roughly and nodded. "It all seems here." He cracked a grin and took out three of the stacks, placing them back on Samson's desk.

Samson looked up in confusion. He started to protest but Bruce cut him off saying, "Relax, big guy. Penguin cut taxes by ten percent today for his original underbosses, like you and Gabe."

Samson grinned. "Man," he muttered, "this is the good life."

"Don't get too comfortable," Bruce warned jokingly. "This is Gotham after all."

Samson chuckled. "Give Penguin my regards."

Bruce nodded. "Will do," he said before zipping the duffel bag back up and throwing it over his shoulder.

Since Penguin had taken over, he'd allowed the underbosses to do business as they saw fit, and the Narrows had prospered. Bruce had been promoted to one of Penguin's official errand-runners. Granted, it didn't sound too glamorous, but for a thief it was the best job anyone could ask for. As he went around collecting taxes and running errands, he made relationships with underbosses and other people high above his pay grade. Along with that, he heard everything that went on, and in Gotham information was money.

Bruce was about to ascend the scaffolding again when a familiar voice called his name.

He turned back and grinned. "Hey Floyd," he greeted.

Floyd shook his head. "Damn, Bruce," he muttered. "You're moving up in the world ain't you?"

Bruce shrugged. "If you call being Penguin's lapdog a promotion, then sure, I guess."

Floyd nodded to the bag. "How much you got there?"

"More than you'll ever see in your life," Bruce retorted with a smirk.

Floyd grinned mischievously. "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Floyd shrugged. "Nothing, just that I got a job coming up that may or may not interest you…"

Bruce sighed. "Alright Floyd, I'll bite. What kinda job?"

"Three words," Floyd started, holding up a closed hand and raising a finger with each word, "Children's. Hospital. Fundraiser."

Bruce pondered this for a moment. "Who's gonna be there?" he asked.

"Bunch of old, rich geezers who won't notice if they misplace a couple hundred bucks," Floyd responded.

"When?" Bruce asked, becoming more and more interested as the conversation went on.

"Couple of weeks," Floyd responded. "Do you need a suit?"

Bruce shook his head. "Nah, I got a ton of those."

Floyd smiled. "I told you you'd be interested."

"Shut up," Bruce scorned. "Aren't you supposed to be working or something?"

Floyd shrugged. "Yeah, but I got a feeling that Samson won't notice. He's probably too busy smelling all the money he just saved."

Bruce scoffed. "Probably. Let me know when the job is and I'll be there."

"Bruce Kyle and Floyd Lawton back at it again!" Floyd exclaimed, drawing a few judgmental looks from passersby. Bruce rolled his eyes, throwing one last goodbye over his shoulder as he left the Flea.


He dropped the bag off at Penguin's place before heading out for his last job of the day.

He wasn't dreading it exactly, but he wasn't looking forward to it either. He was just hesitant.

The walk to the restaurant was only a couple of minutes from Penguin's headquarters, but it felt like an eternity to Bruce. He was caught between wanting to get it over with and wanting to push it off as long as possible. Unfortunately, his feet took him to the correct destination and he entered Ma Marea's Authentic Italian Restaurant. The owner, Marea or simply 'Ma', had originally been a Maroni loyalist until her eldest son randomly went missing for a couple of weeks. She eventually fell in line with the rest of Gotham, and her son miraculously returned, although missing a couple of fingernails.

Bruce kept his eyes on the ground as he entered. He was certain that she'd seen him, but he acted as though he didn't know she was there. He felt her eyes bore into him but he kept walking. Finally, he reached the back room and there sat Marea. She smiled and stood to hug and kiss him.

"Young Mr. Kyle, how are you?" she asked in a thick-Italian accent.

"I'm doin' good, Ma," he responded. "How 'bout you? How's the restaurant?"

She shrugged. "We've had better weeks…" she trailed off.

He dropped his gaze to his feet. "Well, I still gotta do my job so…"

Ma nodded. She handed him a duffel bag full of money, which he combed through lightly before nodding. He removed three stacks and handed them back to her, saying that taxes had been cut. He just wanted the conversation to be over with so he could leave.

She hugged and kissed him again and he left out the back door, wanting to avoid going back through the restaurant at all costs.

He turned the corner into the back alley and froze.

'Shit,' he thought. He grinned weakly and said, "Hey Zatanna."

She stood across from him, still in her waitress attire. "Hey Kyle," she responded. "What're you doing here?" she asked, her voice void of emotion.

He held up the duffel bag. "Just collecting taxes," he said shortly.

"For Penguin?" He nodded. "Wow…moving up in the world, are we?"

Bruce shrugged. "I just got lucky. Penguin wanted information on Jack and I had it."

She looked him up and down, probably searching for injuries. Finally she asked, "How's Cat doing?"

Bruce shook his head. "Don't know. I haven't seen her in a while," he replied.

She nodded. "Right. Well, I'll see you around I guess," she said, turning on her heel and going back into the restaurant. The door slammed behind her.

"Well that went well," he muttered. They hadn't left on the best of terms after the Gang War, but it hadn't as bad as it was now. After the fight, they'd simply gone separate directions, him to Penguin and her to Marea.

Bruce decided to shrug it off, finish his job, and then go home and forget about it. He was mostly successful at doing so, except for one key thing Zee had asked.

How was Selina doing?

He hadn't checked in with her in weeks, not since the end of the gang war. Even then he hadn't said a word to her, opting to leave a note instead and be out before her or Alfred were awake.

That night he tossed and turned like normal, but instead of fearing what he'd see in his dreams, he feared the reaction of a certain green-eyed girl if she to find out he was Penguin's lapdog. She knew he was a criminal, but being a psychopath's lackey was a new low, even for him.

He cracked open his window. Fall was arriving, evident by the cooling temperatures. The trees of the countryside would be changing soon. Maybe he'd visit Wayne manor to go see them some time?

It was ironic how both teenagers were wishing they were anywhere else than where they were. One wanted a life of comfort and security while the other simply wanted something to do, an adventure.

They had no idea how, in just a few weeks, they'd be longing for their old lives back.

A/N: Here we go again! Sorry for the shorter chapter but, like I said earlier, this is more of an introduction to Season 2 than a full-fledged chapter. This was more of a dusting-off-the-cobwebs project than anything else for me. It'll be a while before I post the next one since I refuse to begin until I have the whole plot fleshed out. Thanks for reading and make sure to favorite/follow so you don't miss the next chapter, and while you're at it you may as well review ;)

Ciao for now!

Oh, and the day that I wrote this just happened to be the day that the recap/trailer for Gotham Season 5 came out. I gotta say: I'm pumped. Anyway, it's not that important, I just thought it was ironic that the same day I returned to Gotham, the show released something like that.