V ꪆ Shallow | Post Batman 2022 - 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.

ꪆ ⋆⁺₊ Mirroring the inmate's actions, Selina picked up the phone and held it to her ear. At the sound of her name, her smirk grew, giving way to the fact that Sofia was correct in her assumption. "Hello sister," she replied. The word felt strange on her tongue. Selina was used to being alone in her life, but on the other side of the plexiglass partition, she saw a potential ally. "I take it you got my letter? I wasn't actually sure what these bastards in here pass on to the inmates or not." She took a steadying breath, the first inkling that Selina was nervous. "I saw what happened. To the Falcones."

brown hues narrowed as she was lead into the visiting area in heavy shackles. there had been some suspicion at first regarding who was waiting for her. more fans, reporters, hollywood big wigs wanting to turn her life story into a tv series? they'd all come over the past month and sofia no longer had the time or bandwidth to deal with blood suckers. but no – the woman sitting in front of her wasn't any of those things. she could feel it in her bones. picking up the phone, sofia took a pause to study the woman's face. then she realized. the letter. “selina?”

✱˚｡⋆ ↪ 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.

➺ starter for @jewelstole

ꪆ ⋆⁺₊ Living up to its namesake, Gotham was always so dark that nights bled into days. Sometimes the only way to tell which was which is by the neon lights that adorned nearly every façade. Currently they buzzed and reflected on rain soaked streets as Selina made her way down a familiar alleyway. They were all familiar to her now. She knew her way around the seedy underbelly of the city like she knew the back of her hand.

The cat burglar’s current mark moved along the shadows, thinking himself perfectly sneaky. She smirked to himself from under her knit cowl, amused that he had no idea he was being stalked. All the rich government officials were the same. They thought themselves invincible, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Mr. High-and-Mighty had been flashing around some major cash recently and Selina was sure that there was nothing legal in the way it was obtained. It's like he was begging to have it stolen, so really, she felt she was doing him a favor.

Just as she was ready to pounce, she saw another movement in the shadows. Someone else was in the alley... Someone who really had to know what they were doing to not be detected by Selina.

➺ starter for @frcshkills / sofia

ꪆ ⋆⁺₊ In knowing who her true father was, Selina was well aware of the half brother and half sister she had. They were part of a different world, though, and she never thought twice about reaching out to them. Not until the news report that alerted the world to the downfall of the Falcone family. In her studio apartment in Blüdhaven, Selina found that she couldn't stop smiling as she absorbed every sordid detail that could be released. If there was one thing she knew about the media, though, it was that one had to read between the lines if they wanted the truth. When Sofia (now known as a Gigante, which is a detail that Selina would never overlook) was arrested... again... she knew that there was more to the story than meets the eye. She still didn't know how to feel about her estranged half sister, especially since the world had dubbed her The Hangman. What monster could kill women like that? Yet Selina had her doubts. Just enough to pique her curiosity and reach out.

It was ten days after she sent the letter to Sofia that she decided to make her return to Gotham. The trip was happening far sooner than the cat burglar liked, but if it meant finding a new ally.... perhaps a new family... she knew she couldn't resist. Her black, patent leather high heel tapped impatiently against the concrete floor as she sat in the metal chair, legs crossed, facing the dirty window that separated her side of the room from the inmates. Selina wore a short, blonde wig, and a coat made of faux tiger fur. She clearly wasn't trying to look discreet.

When the sound of a door opened, brown eyes snapped up to that partition, seeing a guard lead Sofia in. This was it, she thought to herself. The moment of truth. Ignoring her rapidly beating heart, Selina looked the picture of calm as she raised one hand and wiggled her long nailed fingers by way of a greeting.

ꪆ ⋆⁺₊ Selina wasn't a world traveler, but she knew that there was nothing like the sight of Gotham at night. Imposing gothic architecture mixed with the cyber noir flair of neon lights set the city apart from any other in the world. Surfaces slick with rain provided reflections of the lights from every angle. If she could take her heart out of the equation, Selina could admit that the there was beauty between the cracks and shadows. Unfortunately for her, though, she always led with her heart, letting her emotions rule her actions. When it came to Gotham City, those emotions were less than positive. Sadness, anger, abandonment, resentment just to name a few.

Blüdhaven might be a short drive away, but it was the escape she needed to clear her head. The ability to live her life without any reminders of her scumbag of a dad, and the time to properly mourn Annika were invaluable assets that she wouldn't have been afforded in Gotham. There was a sense of normalcy that her life had been lacking.... until she turned on the news one evening and saw the reports of the Falcone estate up in flames and Sofia Gigante taken into custody. Again.

Selina had no plans to connect with her half sister, but even she had to applaud the "gas leak" that wiped out the Falcones. Able to read between the lines, she knew that Sofia had more to do with it than was reported. Though she had tried to wash her hands of her past, too many thoughts kept niggling at the cat burglar's mind. Annika was strangled... just like her mom was... just like she nearly was. There were too many coincidences between the murders they say "the hangman" committed verses what her father actually did. Unable to suppress her curiosity any longer, Selina packed a bag and took the two hour drive back to the source of her inner turmoil: Gotham City.

Seeking answers, she was able to break into the Commissioner's office that night to search for any documents on The Hangman's murders. With her backpack full of any hardcopy files she could find, Selina sat down at the computer to start working on getting into the local server. That should have everything on the cases that she'd need. Computer hacking wasn't exactly her forte, but she wasn't entirely helpless. As sharp nailed fingers flew over the keyboard, she suddenly froze when a shadow fell over the screen. The scent of leather hit her before any other clue, causing a small, wry smirk to play at her lips.

Turning in her chair, her eyes fell upon the unmistakeable form of the Batman. She kicked her feet up on the desk, looking entirely at home as she regarded him, listening to his version of a greeting. "I could say the same about you, baby," she practically purred. "Don't worry, I won't be long. Mama's just gotta finish up some work." She returned her attention of the computer, fighting to stifle any erroneous feelings that the sight of him stirred up.

@felin3fatal3 ♡'d for a penguin one liner.

❝ you don't seem surprised to see me. ❞