Gothamcrusxder - Blog Posts

ꪆ ⋆⁺₊  A plan was forming nicely in Selina's mind until an unknown voice distracted her. Turning, brown eyes narrowed at Gotham's celebrity heir, Bruce Wayne. She didn't have to babysit drunk billionaires looking to score, but she also couldn't afford to piss him off and be thrown out of the party. After all, she'd snuck in and needed to keep a low profile. Turning away from him as though she were bored already, Selina made sure her target was still in sight.

"Sure. Just got in Monday," she answered, giving Bruce a half lie. She did just return to Gotham that day, but she figured there was no reason to divulge the fact that Gotham was her original home. Returning her gaze to the man beside her, she gave her blonde wig a little shake to rid her eyes of the hair. "Do you always keep tabs on everyone in Gotham? Sounds tedious, Mr. Wayne." The corners of her mouth twitched in a teasing smirk.

The flood relief benefit offered two main advantages- one it would allow Bruce to use his other name to good use, helping citizens finally reclaim the parts of their city, and two it would allow him to closer monitor the ongoing crime wave. No matter how hard he fought he couldn't seem to put a dent in it, but getting them all together?

Bruce was confident he could at least get something.. find something.

The last person he had expected to run into was Selina; though he supposed he should have seen it coming, the other woman always had a way of surprising him. Clearing his throat he took a step forward, falling into the mask of the playboy. "I don't recognize you." he lied, waving down a waiter and grabbing a drink. "New in town?" he asked, careful to keep his voice light and his gaze soft.

ꪆ ⋆⁺₊ He didn't push her hand away, nor step out of her reach. Selina took that as encouragement, letting her own body practically melt against his. She had to tip her head nearly all the way back to still look at him. "I know you better than you think, Vengeance," she practically purred, pouring it on thick. Men were usually easy for her to manipulate, but she found that she could never quite guess what he was thinking. It was as if the leather armor were a steel wall, keeping her out.

Then she surprised herself by giving him the truth. "Documents. Files about my... sister." Sure, there were a couple of other shiny, expensive baubles thrown in the bag. Selina couldn't help herself. But the majority of her haul was folders full of different papers relating to the Hangman and the death of Sofia's mother.

Bruce could tell she was disappointed, though he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. "And you don't know anything about me." His eyes were unreadable, but he was studying her- trying to figure out what she might be thinking. The vigilante was usually good at reading people, but Selina had always been a little harder to read.

"What's in the bag that you need so badly?" Six months ago he probably wouldn't have heard her out- and he still didn't approve of her methods but if there was something else going on in his city well... He needed to know. Ever since Sofia Falcone had come back he had been on edge; even with her changing her name and being sent back to Arkham it felt like something was shifting... and he didn't like it

"I need answers. Now."

➺ starter for @gothamcrusxder

ꪆ ⋆⁺₊  The flood relief benefit attracted all the wealthiest that Gotham had to offer, including some from out of town. It would have been a thief's dream. In any other circumstance, Selina knew she'd be a kid in a candy store, but she was in attendance for a wholly different reason. Brown eyes scanned the party, searching for her mark. Dressed in a sleek, tight fitting, floor length black dress, she fit right in. No one could have known that she snuck into the party through the employee elevator shaft.

With a small sip of her martini, not actually drinking any but playing the part, Selina finally spotted him across the room. Jeremiah Arkham. The slight, nerdy looking man didn't seem much to look at, but Selina knew that he was the key to getting into Arkham. She'd just need to find a way to send his current arm candy running for the night, then insert herself. Men were so easy, she thought to herself with a smirk.

ꪆ ⋆⁺₊ There was no point in struggling against the vice like grip. Selina knew she couldn't simply pull herself away. She needed to be smart about it. The mention of bringing her in, however, wiped the smirk from her face and playful sparkle in her eye. "All this time and you still don't know a thing about me, do you?" she asked rhetorically, her voice low as she held his gaze. Sometimes she felt that if she stared hard enough, she'd begin to see who was under the mask.

"I did leave," Selina went on, not entirely sure why she felt that he needed an explanation. "Believe me, coming back wasn't an easy choice." She had her reasons - reasons that she wasn't entirely sure he could understand. Sofia Gigante. "I need what's in this bag. You and I both know that cops here aren't your biggest fan. Let me go and I promise you won't ever have to see me again." With her free hand, she slowly slid her palm up his chest and over the metal bat insignia. Fingers splayed across the hard leather. "Unless..." It was a hail mary. Her attempt to distract him while her mind raced for a way to get free.

Bruce had suspicions about why she had stolen from who she had stolen from; nothing he could prove and it was shaky enough that it wasn't worth bringing him, but her victim had been someone he'd been monitoring for awhile, but it wasn't up to either of them who was worth stealing from and who wasn't.

The masked vigilante pulled back at the last second so he wouldn't overly hurt her- but he needed her to see reason. "This isn't a game Selina." But he did miss that time when he'd worked with her, "And this isn't the time for you to go back to old tricks. I thought you left the city?" He kept his grip tight, "Which means I need to get you to GCPD so I can move on, doesn't it?"

ꪆ ⋆⁺₊ Return it. Of course, like that would happen, Selina thought to herself. Gotham's self-proclaimed protector clearly knew nothing about her mark. The dirtbag who's vault she raided deserved a lot more than theft. There was no way that Selina was just going to put the priceless jewels back after she went through the painstaking process of liberating them to a more worthy owner.

No sooner had she landed a blow than her own back was slammed against the wall. She stopped fighting and looked up at at the familiar, black leather mask through long lashes that poked out from her cowl, her chest heaving as she caught her breath. "And here I thought we were just beginning to have a little fun." Head tilted to the side and she pushed herself up on her tip toes, bringing her face closer to his. "Come on, Vengeance," Selina pleaded with a mischievous look in her eyes. "You and I both know you've got bigger fish to fry than a little ol' pussycat."

Anger built in Bruce's chest- it was comfortable, like an old friend he was familiar with. Selina had gone back to crime, not that he should have had any expectations for her but maybe for a moment he had allowed himself to think she had changed.

His opponent didn't stay down long- honestly, he hadn't expected her to stay down but it was a little disappointing that she wanted to keep this up. His hand shot forward when something yanked on the cable, and he stumbled for a moment before tightening his grip.

"We don't have to do this Selina."

Though quiet, his voice rang through the empty garage as he stepped forward, "Return what you've stolen and we can talk." Taking another step forward- the heavy boots he wore giving away his position the further he walked inside, the vigilante's eyes narrowed as pain radiated through his cheek and his head whipped to the side.

She'd caught him off guard.

The idea irritated him, and without a word, he reached out to grab her by the wrist that had just hit him and used the momentum of the move to spin her around and pin her up against the wall.

"Enough Selina. It's over."

ꪆ ⋆⁺₊ Selina's breathing was hard when she darted across the garage and made it to the front door. As she paused to unlock it, though, she realized with startling clarity just how quiet everything suddenly was. She whipped her head around to gaze at the seemingly empty building. Shadows swallowed every nook and cranny, making it the perfect environment for a nocturnal creature who liked to stalked his prey.

It wasn't that she thought he'd actually hurt her. After all, they were partners once. They'd taken turns saving each other's life. Her heart raced all the same as the tension in their little cat and mouse game thickened.

The silence was suddenly shattered when she heard the batarang fling out from the darkness. She ducked and it flew over her head.... which unfortunately left her open to the cable that wrapped around her ankle. Selina's eyes widened as she lost her balance and slammed down on the concrete floor.

The cat burglar was down barely a second before she reacted. Her feet kicked up in the air and she pushed herself up off the floor, landing in a crouching position. She grabbed the cable that was still wrapped around her ankle and yanked it hard. There was no way that she could hope to outmatch the Batman in strength, but she hoped that she had moved fast enough to take him by surprise. Maybe she could pull the grappling gun out of his hand, or give him a taste of his own medicine and make him lose his balance.

Not waiting to see what the outcome would be, she kept her forward momentum and launched forward. The cable now gave away his location. She jumped in the air but feinted to her left to bounce nimbly off a van and angle herself to put her elbow into her former partner's jaw.

Bruce watched as Selina changed trajectory, he had hoped after all of the stuff with the Riddler that she might change her ways- after all she had helped him bring down a huge threat to the city... But here she was stealing from a city that was hurting.

From his city.

Gotham was beautiful, but that beauty had been marred by a layer of filth and corruption... filth that he was dedicated to cleaning up even if it took the rest of his life. Extending his cape, a modified one after the disaster of the flight suit, the air carried him forward- giving him the appearance of a bat gliding after its prey.

Eyes narrowed as he watched her go into a closed auto repair shop. Stepping forward he crawled in through the window and immediately crouched. With a tap to the cowl, he could see everything- state of the art night vision had been a must if he was going to be catching criminals in the dark.

Selina would hear him if he took another step so instead of moving he stilled, controlling his breathing and gently pulling out his grappling gun. This would need to be done carefully, she could bolt at any moment.

His other hand took out a batarang and threw it in the general direction of where he had seen her disappear too, and then shot a line at her feet to catch her.

ꪆ ⋆⁺₊ It was only half a surprise to hear the heavy boots of the Batman taking chase. He was the good guy, after all. The city's protector and Selina... She didn't quite know where she fit in. Gotham had always resembled a cesspool of crime and corruption to her. As far as she was concerned, it was every man for himself.

....and every cat for herself.

Small in stature, Selina was nimble as she dashed across the rooftop, dodging cables and satellite dishes and eventually ending up in the alley. With the city already mapped out in her mind's eye, she aimed to continue down the alley and take a right. Before she could, though, the loud metallic clang of the batarang hit the brick wall next to her, sending a spark in warning.

Selina quickly changed her trajectory and dove in through the open window of an auto repair garage. It was closed down for the night and she hoped to lose him, but she could still hear him hot on her tail.

Bruce didn't... regret the words immediately, but he had to admit they might have been too hasty. His eyes were unreadable and the cowl hid enough of his face that it was impossible to tell what he was thinking, which ultimately had been the goal- to make himself seem like more than a man.

But he also had no idea what Selina was thinking.

The darkness covered him like a protective blanket, and the sounds of his city... of Gotham; the only place he would ever call him, soothed him. That familiar anger settled into his chest because Bruce Wayne didn't trust anyone; it was the only way he could survive as Batman and yet... he had trusted her.

"You're better than this."

But Selina was already taking off, and Bruce had to ignore the urge to throw a batarang at her, something told him she was too clever for that so rather he took off after her. Pulling out a batarang he threw it off to the side, hoping to head her off in the direction he wanted.

✱˚｡⋆ ↪ 𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐓 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒 .

@gothamcrusxder purred: i never should have trusted you .

ꪆ ⋆⁺₊ Such a declaration brought forth a wave of different emotions in Selina. It was hardly the first time anyone had told her that, and yet, she somehow thought that he was different. After what they'd been through with her father and the Riddler, Selina was sure that the only person she actually could trust was the man who's name she didn't even know.

Keeping any hurt or disappointment from her features, she rolled her eyes and pulled her knit cowl back on to obscure her features. "Trust me, sweetheart," she practically purred as she stepped closer to him. "You're not the first to make that mistake." Her head tilted to the side as her gaze held his own, marveling at how black those blue eyes could look.

Then she pulled the strap of her bag tighter to her body, the contents of her latest score that the Batman had walked in on. With a single step, Selina let her body fall over the balcony. She knew a window washing station was just a few floors below which she landed on, then wasted no time in leaping to the adjacent building's roof. The cat burglar sprinted off, never looking back.