A/N: So, I'm not gonna lie: this week has sucked. I had no time to work on this, so I had to wait to start this chapter until Friday night. To put it into perspective, it usually takes me a whole week to write one of these chapters. But I'm gonna stop complaining because I love this story and knowing that I'd finally get a chance to write the chapter this weekend is what kept me sane through the work week. So anyways, here's Chapter 31. Hope you enjoy!
A Legion of Horribles
Selina slammed the telephone receiver down in frustration.
She'd called Bruce over a dozen times already. She'd called the Gym, the Flea, and even the GCPD to see if he was there. But to no avail.
Bruce Kyle had vanished.
Again.
The difference from before: this time she knew where he'd gone. It wasn't a comforting thought.
He'd gone into Arkham Asylum completely alone. He must have a plan…he wouldn't have just barged in there without one…
On second thought, that was exactly something he'd do.
That meant Bruce Kyle was inside Arkham Asylum, alone, without a plan, without backup, and surrounded by psychopathic killers.
And she'd sent him there.
She went to his apartment. There was nothing but weapons, some food rations, and a blueprint of a car with a hidden compartment in the back. For a moment, she considered contacting Jean. But then she remembered she had no idea how to do so. Instead, she was left with a butler who'd been nearly beaten to death by Galavan a few hours prior, and a Wayne Enterprises' scientist who'd never been in a fight in his life.
She needed help.
"Detective Gordon!" Selina yelled over the bustling noise in the GCPD precinct. Gordon was exiting the Captain's office, his expression grim. Selina walked up to him, quickly saying, "I was hoping you'd be here."
"Selina, you gotta stop calling me detective," he chided with a small smirk. The smirk disappeared quickly as he studied her features. "What is it?" he asked, sensing something was wrong.
"Bruce," she told him gravely, her heart dropping as she finally left herself realize the obvious truth. "Hugo Strange has Bruce."
They drove out to Wayne Manor where a very worried looking Alfred was waiting at the front door. Before she'd even gotten out of the car, he was already yelling.
"SELINA MARTHA WAYNE! WHAT IN THE BLOODY SEVEN HELLS WERE YOU THINKING!? NO NOTE! NO NOTHING! JUST AN EMPTY BED AND A CAR MISSING! DID YOU EVEN THINK FOR A MOMENT–"
"ALFRED!" Selina yelled over him.
He stalled, hearing the shrillness in her voice. He looked between Selina and Gordon, seeing the collective grim expressions on their faces. "What's wrong?" Alfred asked, ushering them inside and locking the door behind them. Lucius Fox was waiting inside, seeming surprised at Gordon's presence. Lucius and Alfred stared at them, waiting for an explanation.
Selina's gaze remained locked on the floor, her lips sealed.
Gordon answered for her: "Bruce Kyle is trapped in Arkham Asylum."
"I sent him there," Selina stated quietly.
The only sound in the room was the ticking of the wall clock.
Alfred stared at her. "How could you do this, Miss Wayne?" he asked. The disappointment in his voice stuck like an ice-cold knife in her chest. "I strictly forbid you from involving that boy, didn't I?"
"I know," she practically whispered. "But Bruce always handled himself. I was sure…"
"But you were wrong, weren't you? Well, it's different if you choose to be involved in something like this, but you actively involved Bruce Kyle. It doesn't matter about my personal opinion about that boy, but he has been a bloody good friend to you and he's been loyal. And you put your own concerns in front of that boy's safety." He took a deep breath. "I'm really disappointed in you, Miss Wayne."
Dead silence followed.
Selina was in the midst of a storm of emotions: guilt, disappointment, embarrassment, regret… All of this was her fault.
Gordon finally spoke up, asking, "You're sure he's still there?"
"Yes," Selina answered softly. "He wouldn't have missed our meeting otherwise. Strange must be holding him prisoner in Arkham."
"Only I doubt he's in Arkham," Fox interjected. "I wager Strange has him in the secret lab where he created Azrael."
"But Strange runs Arkham," Gordon objected. "He's seen there every day. The lab must be accessed through Arkham."
"You're thinking it's underground," Lucius concluded.
"It has to be. There must be stairs, an elevator, ventilation shafts. I just don't know how to find them," Gordon said.
Lucius thought for a moment and then said, "I may have a solution. The technology Strange is using to create these monsters must be very advanced. My guess is he's using plutonium isotopes to mutate cell structure. If so, there'll be trace radiation. At Wayne Enterprises, I developed a miniature Geiger counter for battlefield use. Get me into Arkham, and I'll find the entrance to that lab."
"The Wayne Foundation gives the asylum money every year," Selina pointed out. "I'll ask for a tour."
"From the man that ordered the assassination of your father?" Alfred asked pointedly.
Selina clenched her jaw and looked him dead in the eyes. She wasn't gonna back down, not right now. Not after putting Bruce in harm's way. But Alfred wouldn't accept an answer like 'But I have to help him' or 'I'm the only one who can'. To get him to listen, she had to appeal to reason.
"He'll wanna find out what we know," she said slowly and methodically. "And he won't see me and Lucius as a threat."
"No," Alfred stated. "Absolutely bloody not. You're not to walk straight into a lion's den. I can't even go to back you up with a leg like this, can I?" he asked, gesturing to his injured knee.
"Alfred, you said yourself that it's my fault what happened to Bruce. That means it's my responsibility to make it right."
Lucius nodded, saying, "And I may not be the man you choose as second in a street fight, but anything I can do to protect Selina, I will."
"Still, it's half a plan, isn't it? I mean, just say that Lucius can get you in there, and you find the entrance to the laboratory, then what?"
"They tell me," Jim interjected. "I call Bullock, he comes busting in with a hundred cops, keeps Strange busy. I find Selina."
"I see. And how exactly do you plan on getting in? I mean, these two, possibly, but you? I mean, Strange won't let you within a bloody mile of the place."
Selina grinned. "I can take care of that," she said, going through her jacket and removing the blueprint of the car. "If I can get you in, can you manage the rest of the way?"
Jim looked at the blueprint and nodded. "Yeah, I think I can."
"Mr. Fox is pulling up, up front," Alfred told her as he hobbled into the study. Selina was halfway through pulling on her overcoat, having changed into fancier clothes for her meeting with Professor Strange, although she'd still selected an outfit with pants rather than a skirt. "I've told Gordon if I don't hear from you within an hour, I'm gonna go straight to Bullock."
Selina nodded slowly, seeing the worry in his eyes. "I have to do this, Alfred," she told him. "I don't have a choice."
"Of course you got a choice," Alfred chided, reaching forwards to fix the collar of her coat. "In the same way I can choose to let you go with my blessing, and tell you to bring that boy home safe. Or I can take you right now, I can stick you on an airplane and fly you somewhere very far away."
"You can't," Selina objected.
"Don't be such a plonker. Of course I can. But I won't. You see for the past two years, Miss Wayne, all I've tried to do is protect you and keep you safe, thinking that's what your father wanted. But you're not the same little girl he left behind, are you? So, I have to ask myself, what would Thomas Wayne do if he were here? Your father took responsibility for his actions. He fought very hard for what he believed in. And I will not stop you from doing the same thing."
Selina stared at him. "You never talk about them," she stated. "Why?"
Alfred sighed, suddenly looking older and more tired than she'd ever seen. "Your father was the best man I ever met. Your mother was the same. All either of them ever wanted to do was help people. In fact, that's how I met your father. Selina, your father saved my life. He brought me here, to this place," he said, gesturing to the Manor, "to protect you. And I failed."
"But you have protected me," Selina told him.
He shook his head. "No, I haven't. Because I can't. And with every passing day, it becomes more apparent that I don't need to. Selina, your father and mother were strong, but you are far, far stronger. But that's only because I failed to keep these bad things from happening to you. Galavan, those assassins, Wayne Enterprises, Malone, and now Hugo Strange…" He sighed and shook his head again. "And because I couldn't protect you, you learned how to protect yourself. It's the reason you went to that Kyle boy in the first place, why I let you go. Because I knew he'd make you stronger. And now he's in trouble, and he needs you to be strong for him. So…" he trailed off, a small, weary smile dancing at his lips. "Off you go."
Selina walked right up to him and wrapped her arms around his chest. He groaned in pain, but returned the hug, his small smile growing larger by the second.
"Thank you, Alfred," Selina told him, "for everything."
He nodded. "It's my pleasure, Miss Wayne." She let go and he re-straightened her coat's collar again. "Now, Gordon and Mr. Fox will be waiting for you."
Selina nodded and walked out of the study. All of this was her fault, but she could fix it.
Because, as bad as the situation was, she was stronger.
Selina and Fox stepped out of the bright red sports car at Arkham Asylum. A short, bald man with red circular glasses approached them. Selina's blood boiled.
"Hugo Strange, at your service," the man told them with a confident smile.
"Lucius Fox," Lucius greeted.
Strange nodded, shaking Lucius' hand. "Mr. Fox." He turned his attention to Selina. "And of course, you are…"
"Selina Wayne," she answered. She was almost the same height as the man, which she found quite comical. But that was the only comical thing about him. His eyes were cold and dark, seeming to go on into his head forever. When he smiled, his eyes didn't crinkle up, which Bruce had taught her meant the person was faking the smile. Everything about him screamed at Selina to not trust him.
Yet, her father had.
"I can't tell you what it means to finally meet you," Strange told her. "Your father was very dear to me. What happened to him and your mother was indeed a great tragedy. Please accept my condolences, belated as they may be," he said, putting out his hand for Selina to shake.
Selina stared back at him, her stomach churning with disgust at his words. That lying, backstabbing, traitorous son of a bitch…he'd killed them. She wanted nothing more than to reach into her coat sleeve, whip out her knife and gut him right then and there.
Instead, she put on a smile, making sure to crinkle up the corners of her eyes in case Strange was looking for that, too, and shook his hand. "Thank you," she told him, refusing to betray her true emotions. The second her resolve broke, the second she broke her act, she'd be damning Bruce.
"So, how can I be of help?" Strange asked. "It goes without saying that the work we do here would not be possible without the support of the Wayne Foundation."
"The asylum was a cause close to my parents' hearts," she told him, keeping her voice light. "As such, I believe it is my duty to see how their money is being spent."
"So, this is a bit of an inspection," Strange concluded.
"No, nothing so formal," Fox told him. "We were just hoping for a look around."
"We don't normally give tours," Strange said.
"Even to someone who provides a quarter of your operating budget?" Selina asked.
She saw Strange's eye twitch in agitation. However, he smiled again and told her, "Of course, we can make exceptions. I'd be happy to be your guide."
"Actually, I thought that you and I could talk, while Mr. Fox looks around," Selina said. "He's very discreet."
"I see. You've come armed with a plan." Selina smiled as pleasantly as she could manage. "I'm afraid we can't allow civilians to wander about," Strange told them, "but perhaps my assistant, Ms. Peabody, could accompany Mr. Fox. She's very discreet."
"That's fine," Fox answered, "I'll just get my coat." He walked off to the trunk of the car, removing an overcoat and leaving the trunk cracked open.
Meanwhile Strange said, "Ms. Wayne, if you will," gesturing for her to approach the building.
Strange led her inside, swiftly taking her through the maze of the building towards the business offices. She tried to map the layout of the Asylum, but everything looked the same. Eventually, she had no idea where she was in correlation to the entrance. She was on Strange's turf now.
They eventually reached Strange's office, Strange taking the chair behind his desk and Selina taking one of the chairs across from him.
He showed her a map of the facilities, allowing her to figure out where she was in the building. Then Strange went over a bunch of boring logistical talk that went right over her head. Finally, he turned to the television and flipped around through the Asylum's security cameras.
When she was satisfied, Strange flipped off the televisions and asked, "Selina, as much as I value the opportunity to finally meet you, perhaps we could address the real reason for your visit."
Selina furrowed her brow, saying, "I'm not sure I know what you mean."
Strange smiled. "Well, you see, the other day, James Gordon came to see me. He asked about a project that your father and I worked on a decade ago. I was led to believe that he was working on your behalf. Is that not why you're here?"
"After he left the GCPD, I retained Mr. Gordon to look into my parent's deaths," Selina told him, sighing as if her big lie had come out. "He's been pursuing various leads, and he doesn't share everything with me. If he overstepped or caused some offense, you have my apologies."
Professor Strange smiled coldly as he poured himself and her two cups of tea. "Thank you. And I can understand how you want answers. How difficult it must be to accept that something so horrific as the murder of one's own parents could be a random and meaningless act. So, you want a reason. Someone to blame."
Selina nodded, taking a sip of the beverage. "In their case, I think there was someone to blame."
"Oh, so do I," Strange agreed.
They sat in silence for a moment as Strange put a pair of sugar cubes into his tea. Finally, he looked up at her and said, "You remind me of him. Thomas. Not in appearance, of course, but you have that same look in your eyes."
"What look is that?" Selina asked.
"Certainty," Strange stated. "As a scientist, that's a luxury that I cannot afford. No, in science, there must always be some doubt, but not with Thomas. No. Thomas believed in things."
"I think what you're referring to is moral principles."
"Yes," Strange agreed. "Sadly, science and moral absolutes do not make easy bedfellows. Oh the arguments we used to have. I could never make him listen."
"I'm glad to hear that," Selina stated.
"Are you?" Strange challenged. "Haven't you ever imagined the life that might have been if your father hadn't been so certain? If he had listened?"
"Then he wouldn't have been the man he was."
The professor smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling up for the first time. "True. But he wouldn't be dead, either. Along with your mother."
Selina's blood ran cold. For a moment, she'd allowed herself to suspect that it hadn't been Strange who'd killed them, that he'd merely been the fall man for some larger scheme, that he'd been an unsuspecting cog in the wheel of a much larger machine. She could relate to that, sympathize even. But, no. He knew something that she didn't about their deaths.
Selina didn't interrupt, so Strange continued, "Are those ideals that your father cherished so worth it? Wouldn't you gladly trade everything you believe for one more day, one more hour with your parents alive?"
In that moment, it took everything in Selina to not flip the table and slice his stomach open.
Instead, she resigned herself to standing from her seat, her hand unconsciously drifting towards her sleeve. "So you admit it then? You admit what you did?" she accused.
Strange stared her down, standing from his chair so they were at eye-level. "Here's what I admit, Selina," he said in a grim tone. "That I was your father's friend. That I pleaded with him, as I plead with you now. Turn back. Surely you have those that you care about. For their sake," he started, his eyes flicking down at the floor, "as well as your own, make the choice your father did not. You have been searching for the man who killed your parents. But the answer has always been right in front of you." He circled around the desk, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Selina, your father orphaned you. His actions fired the bullet that killed him and your mother. He knew what he was doing, and he did it anyway. I'm begging you not to follow his path."
Selina stared daggers at the man, shrugging his hand off her shoulder and tightening her grip on her knife. "You want to know if I wish my parents were alive?" she asked quietly. "Of course. Would I give anything to have them back? Yes. But my father fought and died for the people he cared about. And if necessary, so will I."
Strange looked at her with such an incredible sadness. The first real emotion she'd seen him display since she'd first met him. True regret filled his eyes.
The hypocrite…
He sighed and slowly walked back round his desk, pushing a button on the PA system and saying, "Take them."
Selina snapped. She leapt across the table, kicking Strange into the wall behind his desk. She whipped out her knife and pressed the tip to his throat.
"Where is Bruce Kyle?" she hissed.
"It seems you are your father's daughter," Strange told her, the complete lack of fear in his eyes fueling Selina's growing hatred for the man. "I want you to know how greatly I respect that."
Suddenly, two pairs of hands grabbed her arms, pulling her away from the professor. She dropped the knife as she struggled against the men dragging her from the room. "Where's Bruce Kyle!? What have you done with him!?" she roared as the doors to Strange's office slammed shut.
She felt a prick in her neck. She fought against the drowsiness overtaking her, but it was no use.
Everything went black.
When she woke up, she was alone in a cold, damp room. There were windows made of one-way glass towards the top of the room, probably for doctors to safely observe patients locked inside. The only feasible exit from the room was a single door off to the side.
She sat up, gently touching the spot where she'd been drugged.
She huffed. "Motherf–"
The door suddenly opened and she shot to her feet. In a matter of seconds, the door had opened, Mr. Fox had been shoved inside, and the door slammed shut again.
"Lucius!" she exclaimed.
"Selina, are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine. Where's Gordon?"
"I haven't seen him," Fox stated.
She groaned in frustration. "Strange you piece of shit!" she yelled up into the chamber. "We're not done here!"
No response.
She sighed, turned to her companion. "I'm sorry I got you into this, Lucius," she told him. "It seems likely we're all going to die in here."
"Don't say that," he chided.
She shook her head, explaining, "I don't mind dying. I mind that I got you and Jim Gordon and…Bruce involved."
"Selina," Lucius started, "you are a remarkable young lady, but you didn't force any of us to do anything. We chose."
Selina clenched her jaw, turning away from Lucius. "Hugo Strange said that all this time I've been searching for the man who killed my parents, when really…it was my own father. That he knew what he was doing." She paused and chuckled bitterly. "That I am my father's daughter."
"Selina, your father had the courage to fight for what he believed in," Lucius told her. "And as long as there is life, there is hope."
A PA speaker rang above them as a familiar voice lulled, "Touching sentiment."
"Who are you? Where's Jim Gordon?" Fox demanded.
"Hmm, yeah… I would urge you to worry about yourselves right now. Jim Gordon has his own problems," the voice said, breaking out into a sinister laughter. "So, here's the situation: Professor Strange has tasked me with finding out how much you two know about what he's been up to. And more importantly, who you told."
"Show us Jim Gordon and Bruce Kyle," Selina demanded.
"I think you're not grasping the power dynamic here, sweetheart," the man stated. "As I was saying, we need to know what you know. And you're gonna tell me. Or poison gas will spew from the nozzles above your head and you will both die very, very painfully."
They both looked up and, sure enough, there was a ring of pipes above them with nozzles dotted about it.
"I know this voice," Fox told her. "He worked for the GCPD. He had a funny kind of name."
"There's nothing funny about my name," the voice said.
"He was the one that framed Jim Gordon," Fox said.
The voice on the speakers sighed. "You always were a smart cookie, Foxy. Do you know why Strange gave me this job? It's because he knows that I would kill you both and not bat an eye. So, keeping that in mind, five minutes on the clock. Starting…now." He stopped talking for enough time to cackle about their misfortune before saying, "Okay, quiz kids. Who's ready to play, 'Life or Death'?"
"Sir, Mr. Nygma. You are Nygma, aren't you?" Fox asked. "This is absurd. The police know we're here, you can't kill us–"
"Are you ready to play!?" Nygma demanded.
Fox sighed and held up his hands in exasperation. Selina sighed. "Yes."
"Good," Nygma lulled. "You have one guess, five minute to talk it over. Who runs Indian Hill?" Selina and Fox looked at each other. "Who runs Indian Hill?" Nygma repeated. "You have one guess. Think carefully. Answer correctly, or die."
Selina paced around the room, her mind going a mile a minute. Who runs Indian Hill? Well, it was obvious. It was Hugo Strange. But no…she knew that it was really the Wayne Enterprises Board of Directors ran it. Was that the answer he was looking for?
"You have sixty seconds left," Nygma told them. "Who runs Indian Hill?"
Fox sighed. "I say, Hugo Strange."
Selina shook her head. "Wayne Enterprises. Wayne Enterprises runs Indian Hill."
"That's surmise."
"Why would he ask that question if the answer was obvious?" Selina asked. "He wants to know what we know."
"What we think we know," Fox warned.
"Which is Wayne Enterprises," she insisted.
"Is that your final answer?" Nygma asked. "Running out of time here."
"Yes," Selina stated.
There was a moment of silence in the room, during which Selina feared she'd jumped the gun.
Then, Nygma said, "Correct! Wayne Enterprises runs Indian Hill." A fanfare started playing over the speakers, which Selina found to be quite mocking given the situation. "Bravo, girly. You're almost safe. Just one more question. You ready?"
"Yes," Lucius said angrily.
"You have five minutes, quiz kids. Answer correctly or die. Wayne Enterprises runs Indian Hill, but who runs Wayne Enterprises?"
Selina and Lucius paced around the room. Who ran Wayne Enterprises? Duh, the Board of Directors. But that was far, far too easy an answer than what Nygma was probably looking for.
Before she knew it, Nygma announced, "You have thirty seconds left. Who runs Wayne Enterprises?"
Lucius shook his head in frustration, stammering, "The Devil, maybe. Is that the deal? Communists? Witches?"
"No, there's some trick behind his question," Selina told him. "Some big secret."
"I've worked for Wayne Enterprises for 10 years. There is no big secret. The board of directors runs Wayne Enterprises," Lucius said.
"Fifteen seconds…"
"That can't be the answer, Lucius!" she insisted. Lucius just shook his head.
"Ten seconds…"
"Give us more time!" she yelled at the window.
"Five seconds!"
"The board of directors," Lucius stated.
There was a pause in which the only sound was Selina's racing pulse in her ears.
"Incorrect."
Her heart sank.
"Oh, what a shame," Nygma lulled. "The correct answer is…" he made a hissing sound through the microphone. Selina shot a bird at him. "Sorry. You lose. And what happens to losers? Yowza!" An alarm went off in the room. "Death by poison gas!" he exclaimed, laughing hysterically as a green fog began to fill the room from the pipes above their heads.
Selina and Lucius simply stared at the vents. Selina shook her head. It couldn't end here. Not after she'd gotten this far. But there was no way out of this one. She was going to die here, along with Lucius. Gordon was probably already dead, or wishing he could be. She tried not to breathe the gas in, but eventually gave up. It hurt like hell. She felt like her lungs were on fire. The corners of her vision went black. She started to panic. She didn't want to die, not yet, not like this. She wasn't like her father. All that stuff about being okay with dying had been a front. She was terrified. She hadn't come to this place to stop Hugo Strange or whoever ran Wayne Enterprises, she just wanted Bruce back.
Bruce…
He'd been in that place for nearly a whole day. Was he even still alive? What if they turned him into one of those monsters like Galavan or Freeze? How could she have put him in harm's way again? He didn't deserve to die. He was too good for the situation he was raised in. If she'd grown up the way he did…
You know the phrase, 'My whole life flashed before my eyes'? That shit's real. She started remembering bits and pieces from her fifteen years on the planet. When she was five and her father found her climbing in a tree and she'd jumped down and landed gracefully on her feet next to him, earning the nickname 'Cat'. When she was eight and she skinned her knee so her mother sang to her while her dad fixed it up. When she was eleven and her father had taken her hunting and she'd gotten lost, and when he found her he wrapped her up in his arms and carried her back to the camp. When she met Bruce for the first time. When she danced with Bruce for the first time. When she jumped across a roof with Bruce for the first time. When she stole something with Bruce the first time. When she hugged Bruce for the first time. When…when she kissed Bruce for the first time.
Oh how she wished she could go back to that moment, to tell a younger version of herself to get her priorities straight. Bruce Kyle was the best thing that ever happened to her. He changed her life. He'd saved her life. And now, that life was over. What a shitty way for her to return the favor.
Lucius keeled over in front of her, collapsing gracelessly to the hard, cold floor.
She wasn't strong enough. All that talk about her being stronger than her parents, it was just talk. She was still that weak little girl who'd watched her parents get shot.
A tear traced down her cheek as her knees started to shake. She was so tired…so weary… She'd been fighting for so long…she wanted to rest. Her legs gave out and she sank to her knees.
No. There had to be a way out. Someone would come to save her. He would come to save her.
"Bruce…" she choked out, feeling more and more like that little girl in the alleyway again. Helpless.
No one was coming.
She fell over, her vision going darker and darker by the second. Her lungs had stopped burning. Or maybe she just couldn't feel it anymore.
Either way, she wouldn't let her last thought in this world be of something stupid like why she wasn't in pain.
Instead, she focused on one memory. Her best memory. It wasn't a real one, but she'd dreamt of it so many times that it felt real.
It was a simple image. A few feet away from her was a picnic blanket strewn out on a hill overlooking the city. On the blanket sat her parents and Bruce, happily chatting away. She watched from afar, her father and mother politely chuckling at one of Bruce's rare attempts at a joke. Suddenly, they all turned to face her. They were beaming, her parents' eyes filled with pride. Bruce patted the spot next to him, his smile the largest of all. He was wearing a tank-top, showing his arms and back that were somehow completely free of scars. It was perfect.
Selina smiled.
Everything went black.
