Selina was ashamed to acknowledge how many times she found herself standing in the doorway of his room, staring at his bed. She was ashamed to acknowledge how many minutes of her life she lost allowing the memories to flow in a steady stream behind her eyes. She was ashamed to acknowledge that after all this time, and after what he had done, she would still give anything to have him here beside her again.

The holidays had come and gone, and she and Holly were still at the manor. Holly was still enjoying it and Alfred was delighted to have them there, and Selina couldn't bring herself to disappoint them. And Leslie was there more often than not, completing their little found family.

So Selina stayed, and subjected herself to the constant memories of the life that she had never deserved in the first place.

Entering the room, she went to his closet and opened it. She carefully avoided looking at his graduation gown, the reminder of the worst conversation of her life, and instead focused on the tuxedo that he wore to the prom. She smiled at the memory of that night, after he had abandoned his friends to come home to her. They had stayed up until nearly dawn, alternating between making love and cracking jokes about Freckles and Tommy Elliot and his other rich, foolish friends.

There had been something beneath the romance and jokes that night, though, a seriousness that had been developing ever since his ill-advised visit to the East End a week earlier and the conversation with Falcone the following day. She had misinterpreted it at the time. She had thought that he was finally growing up, but also that their relationship was entering a new, more profound phase now that she was allowing him to see more of her life.

She had been so wrong. Had she known what it would lead to, she would have done everything she could to snuff out his newfound worldliness and restore him to the naïve rich boy that she had fallen in love with.

"Are you okay?" She turned to see that Leslie had entered the room, and was watching her with a very sympathetic gaze.

"Yeah," she quickly replied, although her instinctive aversion to the sympathy was somewhat muted by her own compassion for the doctor. Shutting the closet, she crossed back over to the exit, letting Leslie see the emotions on her face.

Leslie gave a small, sad smile, patting her arm. "Alfred is about to get started preparing dinner. If you want to help him, now's your chance."

Selina brightened and hurried out. Both she and Holly were trying to help Alfred in whatever ways they could, although neither of them had ever developed much talent in the kitchen. Holly was a fast learner, and Selina had a feeling that this would become her next means of trying to help out at the apartment to pay Selina back, before she finally turned sixteen during the summer and could apply for legitimate work.

Sure enough, when she entered the kitchen, she found Alfred and Holly playfully bickering over who would cook the carrots. Smiling, she decided not to interfere, and instead went to set the table.

They stayed until after her birthday in February. By then, she was regularly aggravated with the longer commute to and from work, especially when the trains were slowed by winter weather. There was a reason why the people who lived beyond the river were rich old people who could get to work as late as they pleased and not have to fire themselves. Well, there were multiple reasons, but this had to be one.

And Holly was beginning to realize how boring it was out here, in the safety of the manor and away from the excitement of the city.

But she and Alfred were determined to ensure that Selina had an enjoyable birthday, and to Holly, that meant enjoying the snow-covered grounds around the manor and forcing Selina into the first snowball fight she'd experienced since she and Bruce were Holly's age.

Yes, she did in fact enjoy it, although not without a heavy dose of missing her old opponent. She recalled one particular occasion where he slowly advanced on her as he kept up his barrage of snowballs, and then suddenly he was upon her and they were tumbling through the snow as he pulled her close, warming her lips with his own.

She was driven from the recollection by a snowball to the face from Holly.

"So I guess you've been everywhere on these grounds," the girl mused later as they were walking through the shallower snow beneath the eaves of the leafless woods.

"Almost." Selina looked towards the southeast corner of the estate, the place that Bruce had always avoided. She knew it was the location of the cave that he had fallen into when he was little.

"What's over there?"

"A cave."

"Ooh." And then Holly was off, jogging in the direction of Selina's gaze.

Selina felt a pang of reluctance, wondering if she had a right to visit the place without him. But he wasn't here, and Holly was already deciding for her.

Soon, the crunching of the snow under their boots was joined by the sound of rushing water from the rocky stream that ran along the eastern edge of the estate, moving too quickly to freeze. Holly reached it and continued along the bank, only slowing down to look back at Selina and verify that she was still going in the right direction.

Eventually, they saw the small, dark opening of the cave. It was smaller than Selina had envisioned, but certainly large enough for a young Bruce to have fallen in.

"Be careful," she told Holly as the girl peered inside. She wondered if there were still bats in there. She recalled the book that she got for Bruce in Switzerland all those years ago. Some bats migrated in the winter, others hibernated. Which bats lived in this cave?

"It's really dark," said Holly.

"Really? I never would have guessed."

Holly stood back up and turned to her. "Alfred has flashlights, right?"

"Of course, but..."

"Oh come on, Catwoman, let's have an adventure."

Selina made a face, staring at the little chasm. She wasn't really concerned that there would be any danger, but she still felt some need to abide by Bruce's reluctance.

But Bruce wasn't here. He didn't get a say.

"Alright."

Holly beamed and hurried back towards the house, and Selina followed. Inside, she went to the cabinet in the corner of the kitchen where Alfred kept his maintenance tools, and withdrew two flashlights.

"What are you doing with those torches, Miss Kyle?" Alfred entered the room with his arms crossed, and for a brief moment Selina felt like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"We're going to check out the cave," said Holly.

"What cave?"

Selina gave him an apologetic look.

"Well surely you don't mean the cave where Master B—" He cut himself off and returned the apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Miss Robinson, but there was an incident at that cave many years ago. It's best kept off-limits."

"That was then," Holly protested. "We'll be careful, Alfred, but only if you call me Holly."

"Miss Holly." He smirked a bit as Holly rolled her eyes. "Fetch a third torch, Miss Kyle. I'd never live with myself if something happened to you and I wasn't there."

Selina pulled out a third flashlight, and they returned to the cave. "Be careful," she reminded Holly as the girl eagerly led the way.

"It's like a slide here," Holly said, shining her flashlight downwards.

"You're not afraid of bats, are you, Miss Holly?"

"No, Alfred, the bats should be afraid of me." And then she was gone, disappearing into the hole.

Selina went next, down the rocky slide until the ground leveled out. Standing beside Holly, she shone her flashlight upwards.

"There's a lot of them," Holly pointed out unnecessarily as they stared at all of the little creatures sleeping on the ceiling.

"Let's try not to wake them up."

"Scared?"

"No, but we shouldn't disturb their hibernation."

Lowering her light, Holly led the way further on.

The cave was deep. After maybe sixty yards, it started to widen. Incredibly, there were even more bats, thousands of them, as the ceiling arched upwards above them.

And then they entered a giant cavern. "Whoa." Holly turned her light every which way.

"Wow," Selina agreed.

"Incredible," said Alfred. "Unless I'm quite mistaken, that far side there is right beneath the southeast wing of the manor."

"Echo!" Holly yelled, and the cavern yelled her word back at her a few times over. In the darkness, there were squeaks and the rustling of wings.

"What happened to not waking up the bats?" Selina asked.

"Oops." Holly shone her light around the ceiling that was high above. "Sorry!" Again, her word echoed back at her.

Then she paused, her light shining on an indentation in the rock high up on the far side of the cavern. "That looks like a tunnel up there."

Indeed, the indentation was cut far too neatly to be natural. "That's manmade," said Selina.

"This land has belonged to the Wayne family for centuries," said Alfred. "Perhaps one of Dr. Wayne's ancestors ventured through here."

"Well, we definitely can't get up there." Holly was moving her light along the walls beneath the tunnel. "Maybe Catwoman could, with her equipment."

Selina scoffed. "Yeah right. I don't feel the need to risk my life investigating some tunnels."

"Who knows, maybe the Waynes have hidden treasure."

"The Waynes have plenty of treasure that isn't hidden."

"But why would they have hidden tunnels beneath their mansion?" She turned to Alfred. "Maybe those tunnels have a hidden exit in the manor itself."

"I consider that unlikely, Miss Holly. I'm quite familiar with every inch of that house."

"But if there are hidden passages, you may just not have found them yet."

"Enough," said Selina. "Let's get back above ground. I'd say this cave is best left to the bats."

"Indeed, Miss Kyle. Dr. Thompkins will be here shortly, and your birthday cake won't eat itself."

"Alfred, I told you that you didn't have to—"

"I made it purely for the purpose of instructing Miss Holly, of course. No other reason."

They were gone for too long. A pipe in their bathroom had frozen and then burst, and the damage had spread along the wall between the bathroom and the bedroom. Selina and Holly stared at the damaged expanse, trading expletives and wondering how they were going to afford to get this fixed.

"I don't suppose Sam is handy?" Holly asked.

Selina sighed. She certainly hadn't expected to be contacting Sam immediately after returning. How likely was he to misinterpret that? She just needed his help.

Either that, or she needed a lucrative heist, the kind that usually took weeks of planning. But she didn't have any current targets in mind.

"Or Alfred could give us the money."

"It's not his money to give."

"Yeah, but he has control of the accounts. And if anything, the other guy owes it to you."

Selina frowned at her. She would never do that. She had avoided taking advantage of her connection to the Waynes over the past four years, except when she stayed at the manor, and she wasn't about to change that. Bruce owed her nothing, and vice versa.

"Just a thought," Holly muttered.

Selina decided to call Sam, just to make sure that there was no mold or imminent risk of further damage. Of course, he insisted on helping to pay for the repairs.

"No," Selina said firmly.

"As a belated birthday present, if nothing else."

"Sam, please..."

"I missed you."

She sighed. She hadn't missed him, but she certainly would have felt better about that than about spending the whole time still missing Bruce. "You know that isn't mutual."

He grimaced and turned back to the damage. "I've got a buddy who can fix this. He'll give me a discount."

"No."

He rounded on her. "Then what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to pay for it."

"Yeah? Do you have a second job that I don't know about?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

His eyebrows shot up.

"You should leave, Sam." She winced, not having meant to echo her words from their fight. "Thanks for coming to check."

"Yeah," he muttered. He made for the exit, giving Holly a sorrowful "bye" as he passed her.

Holly looked at Selina.

"Not a word."

The Sionises were one of those wealthy, greedy families that Selina had set her sights on before, but she'd yet to have an opportunity to rob them. So it was fortuitous that the day after she and Holly returned home, the tabloids reported a major falling out between the Sionises and their son, and that they had expelled him from the big, fancy downtown apartment that they bought for him. Reportedly, he had gone to live with a girlfriend that they disapproved of, and the apartment was vacant, with new locks that only the elder Sionises had keys for.

In other words, it was the perfect target. There was no risk of getting caught, and the Sionises would likely blame their son for the robbery.

Within a week, Catwoman had planned out and executed the heist, and the damage to Selina and Holly's apartment was getting fixed.

"Do I want to know?" Sam asked tiredly. He had stopped by when Selina was supposed to be at work, hoping for a more civil discussion with Holly about paying, but Selina had stayed home to oversee the repairs and make sure the workers treated Holly alright.

"No, you don't," Selina replied pointedly.

Sam looked at Holly, who shrugged. "Selina, what are you involved in?"

"Nothing, Sam."

"This has nothing to do with your father?"

Selina bristled. "No, not at all."

Sam studied her, undaunted by her anger.

"Get out, Sam. And stop checking in, I've got it all taken care of."

He looked at Holly, who nodded towards the door. With a regretful sigh, he left.

"If he stops by again, shut the door in his face."

"He just wants to help us."

"I don't care." Selina went and sat heavily on the couch, bringing her knees up.

Holly joined her. "What did he mean by that? About your father?"

Selina shut her eyes. Holly didn't know all of her secrets yet, and she hadn't meant for that to change. "Not right now."

"Fine, but I'm going to ask again when the workers are done."

Once the repairs were done, life finally returned to normal, at least for Selina and Holly. It was a different story for the Sionis family.

It was another three weeks before the elder Sionises discovered the robbery, and they of course blamed their son. The tabloids ate it up and delightedly contributed to the escalating tension. For the next two months, the Sionis drama became Gotham's reality entertainment... until it all went up in flames, literally.

Selina stared at the headline for a long time, telling herself that it wasn't her fault at all. The family had already been having issues, and the robbery of the vacant apartment was just a small part of it all. And the son was clearly a nutcase if he was really responsible for the arson that killed his parents.

The Dent wedding put the incident from her mind. Marie had in fact met with Selina's boss, and Selina happily volunteered to work the event. But she stayed out of Harvey's way, feeling that she shouldn't toy with him on his wedding day.

It all felt a bit wrong, though. Harvey and Marie seemed to be going through the motions, as though the significance of the day didn't fully register to them, as though this were just another day in the course of their relationship. Selina wondered if her sister had anything to do with that, and if Harvey was secretly wishing that it were Sofia by his side instead of his new wife.

Sam reappeared on Holly's birthday, bringing her a gift card and a box of assorted cookies, which she gratefully accepted. He mostly ignored Selina at first, until Holly got irritated with the tension and left the room, insisting that they talk it out.

"I don't have an ulterior motive," he assured her.

"Good to know," she replied skeptically. He didn't have the expression of a man who was completely over her.

"Although I do want to talk to you about a potential job."

"A job?"

"I've been doing my research, Selina. The robbery at the Sionis apartment, and several other unsolved robberies..."

"Are you offering me a job or arresting me?"

"I'm not going to arrest you. Violence against women in Gotham is down by more than half this year. That's because of you. If the Catwoman's reputation were ruined, all of that progress would vanish."

"So I've got immunity?"

"Only from me. But look, you're obviously a very talented burglar, maybe the best in the city. I've got a way for you to put those skills to use on the right side of the law."

She studied him. "I'm listening."

"I'm guessing you know who Henry Claridge III is."

"The diamond guy?"

"Yeah, him. The Claridge Diamond is the centerpiece of his collection. He's loaning it to the Gotham Museum of Antiquities for a temporary exhibit on rare jewels."

"That sounds to me like a target."

"Exactly. That diamond has sentimental value for him. His grandfather was killed over that diamond."

"Most diamonds have some blood in their histories."

"Yeah, but he wants to make sure nothing else happens to this one. So he's gotten permission from the museum to hire someone to test its vulnerabilities."

Selina stared. "He's hiring someone to break into the museum just to show that it can be done?"

Sam nodded. "In as many different ways as the thief can conceive of. And then to advise the museum on how to fix those vulnerabilities."

Selina blinked, her gaze falling to the floor between them. It was an interesting proposal, certainly. There was a draw in being able to experience the thrill of a heist without having to worry about getting caught. But this had nothing to do with why she stole. She stole to punish the rich for their greed, not to help them.

"What do you think?"

"How much is Claridge offering?"

"I don't know. Let's meet with him and find out."

"I can't meet with him on my own?"

"We're using my dad's name to get the meeting in the first place."

Selina grimaced. "Of course."

Mr. Claridge looked a bit like a 1940's caricature of urban wealth. He was a short, squat man with a thin mustache that curled at the ends, and peered at them through old-fashioned glasses with perfectly round lenses. His three-piece suit was a dark shade of beige, with a navy tie beneath it.

"So, you're the son of the famous detective?" He sounded like he was trying for a gruff tone as he eyed Sam appraisingly, but his voice was just a bit too high-pitched for that.

"Yes, Sir."

"I do quite appreciate a good family reputation. Is your family known for anything, Miss Kyle?"

If only he knew. "No, Sir."

"But Selina was very close with the Wayne family," Sam hastily added, and Selina wished he hadn't. "They were very fond of her."

"Is that so?" Claridge gave her a more respectful look. "What happened to them was a terrible tragedy. Thomas Wayne was a great man."

Selina looked down. "Yes, he was. I miss them."

"Indeed. Well, Miss Kyle, you have my attention, but let us speak to your experience. I understand that you work for a catering company?"

"Yes, Sir."

"But she has also assisted the GCPD in some undercover work," said Sam. "There's nothing published about it, for obvious reasons, and it would be best if this information didn't leave this room."

"Very well. Mum's the word, as they say. Miss Kyle, I appreciate anything that you can do to improve the security of the museum before my diamond is placed on exhibit there. You will be paid based on the number of improvements that you contribute to."

"Thank you, Sir."

Sam was grinning as they left Mr. Claridge's mansion, and Selina rolled her eyes at him. "Undercover work?"

"Well, the Catwoman's mask is a cover, isn't it?"

"Touché."

There were, of course, several methods of breaking into the museum. Over the course of her first three nights on the job, she broke in and out a dozen different ways without setting off any alarms, recording each manner for the museum security to study.

A few days later, she returned to the museum to present her recordings to the security staff, and met Margaret Pye, a jewel expert who would be curating the exhibit. She looked surprisingly young for someone considered an expert, maybe a few years older than Sofia, although her white-blonde hair made estimating her age difficult.

"You have quite the talent for burglary, Miss Kyle," Pye observed as the staff studied her recordings. "One wonders whether your resume provides a complete picture."

"I was recommended by a GCPD officer. Would he have done that if I were suspected of any burglaries?"

Pye gave a wry smile. "I confess, I'm a bit jealous of your abilities."

They went to the employee lounge, and were there when the Mayor's surprise announcement was broadcast. "Well, how about that? Way to go, Harvey."

"You know him?" Pye asked.

"A little bit."

"You're quite well-connected for a catering girl."

Selina shrugged. "You never know whom you'll meet when you're working events."

"Have you heard the rumors?" Holly asked when Selina got home from her normal job a few nights later.

"What rumors?"

"You've got a new copycat."

Selina sighed. "Great."

"Except this one is a copybat, apparently. He's a big dude in black armor, and glides around using a cape like a giant bat."

"A bat?" Selina stiffened, a wriggling feeling in her gut.

Holly studied her, noticing the change in her expression.

"What do you say we visit the manor this weekend?"

The girl brightened. "That sounds good."

"Miss Kyle, Miss Holly, this is a pleasant surprise."

"Hi, Alfred." Selina studied his face. "How have you been?"

"I've been quite well. Things have been quiet here, as usual. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Holly shrugged. "We're just visiting."

"Well, I'm delighted. Please come in."

He stepped aside, and Selina looked around as she entered. Nothing was out of place.

Holly, not knowing Selina's real reason for the visit, immediately went to the kitchen, and Alfred followed her. Selina hung back.

She wandered her familiar path to Bruce's room. The room was freshly cleaned, but otherwise looked exactly as it had before. There was no sign that anyone was living here. Opening the closet, she found nothing missing and nothing added.

She visited Thomas and Martha's room, but nothing there was disturbed. On the way back, she poked her head into the study and the parlor. Again, nothing.

Finally, she joined Holly and Alfred in the kitchen. "Is everything alright, Miss Kyle?"

"Yes, Alfred." She studied him closely, looking for any sign that he was hiding anything, but she knew from a lot of experience that he had an excellent poker face.

"Have you heard the rumors about the Batman?" Holly asked nonchalantly.

"I should say not, Miss Holly, considering you're my best source for Gotham rumors."

Holly grinned at that. "Apparently he's a new vigilante that's prowling the city by night. He's not as cool as Catwoman is, though."

Alfred glanced at Selina. "Is that so? And how does Catwoman feel about that?"

Selina shrugged. "I don't know anything about him. But my copycats don't tend to last long. They get themselves hurt or arrested, usually both."

She thought that she caught the slightest twitch at the corner of Alfred's lips. "Well, let's hope that this one goes about it more sensibly, then."

"Yes, let's hope so."

She kept an ear out as more rumors spread about the Batman. He had several fancy gadgets and always appeared at crime scenes before long, forcefully detaining the criminals and leaving them for the GCPD to find.

The more she heard about him, the more certain she felt. She carefully kept her emotions beneath the surface, not even letting Holly in on her suspicions, but there was an iron vice around her gut each night as she wondered if he was out there. Their final conversation echoed in her ears over and over again, as fresh in her memory as if it had happened yesterday.

On the day that the rare jewel exhibit opened at the museum, a small reception was held. Mr. Claridge toasted to her efforts, which had resulted in several improvements to the museum's security. Selina gave a tiny wave, feeling embarrassed as everyone in the room applauded her. She was very unused to recognition, and the part of her that was anxious to get back to putting her skills to less legal uses was decidedly uncomfortable with it.

She had, of course, deliberately left one point of entry unnoticed.

Catwoman arrived on the roof of the museum that night. Using her claws, she cut into the thick glass of the skylight, removing a circle from a pane. Then she tossed a stuffed Pink Panther in, at an angle that she knew would be caught by the new motion detectors and set off the alarm. Retreating to a shadowed corner of the roof, she waited.

It was several minutes before he arrived, his cape spread wide as he landed. Walking over to the skylight, he knelt down in front of the cut pane, using his own glove to examine the edge of the circle of missing glass.

She stepped out of the shadow. "Nothing has been stolen tonight, Batman."

He stood and turned towards her with a swiftness that said he was well-practiced at moving in that armor. But when he saw her, he froze, giving her plenty of time to recognize the chiseled jaw that she had kissed countless times before.

Her emotions broke free of their containment, surging to the surface. "Bruce," she hissed.

"Selina?"

Her rage took over, and she lunged at him, claws outstretched.