Chapter Text
Life with money was truly beautiful, Selina Kyle had always thought. She was born into one of the most powerful and rich families of Gotham, and nothing had ever been refused to her. With a flick of a finger, she could have anything or anyone in the world, and she used her status to its full potential.
Known throughout the city as the princess of Gotham Academy, she ruled the private school and everyone in it, including teachers and staff. She used her family name and money as a pass so she could do whatever she wanted to whoever she wanted.
Always followed by her group of preteen troublemakers, all sons and daughters of big crime bosses in the city, they liked to wreak havoc in the academy, terrorizing the ones they deemed inferior. Yes, life was great when you had money and power and – to a girl with plenty of both – life was nothing but fun and games.
“Selina!” Her friend called out, bringing the girl’s thoughts back to the present. She had been slurping an empty milkshake for a good five minutes, utterly lost in the boredom of another Wednesday. Or was it Thursday? She didn’t know how it happened, but the days had all fused and turned into an endless cycle. “What do you want to do today?” Bridgit asked.
Selina turned to gaze at her friend, noticing how she was wearing her long brown hair in a braid today and how conveniently she had “forgotten” her jumper at home, so she wore only her white button-up and dark blue skirt much like Selina’s. Wearing a uniform was a pain, you looked too much like everyone else, but the young princess wasn’t like anyone else, and she made sure everyone around her knew it.
“Let’s just go into town or something, this school has given all it had to offer,” she mumbled rocking her chair dangerously, letting her head drop back as she stared at the ceiling.
***
As they were leaving one of the top-end stores in Gotham City, Selina let herself fall a little behind. Everyone was laughing or bragging happily with their new acquisitions, but the young girl just couldn’t feel that kind of excitement anymore, not when she had everything.
Suddenly she felt a slight weight shift from her backpack, making her turn immediately. She had always had great reflexes and being a gymnast since a young age had only heightened it to the point that sometimes she looked like a cat more than a person. Confronting the figure that had approached her, she immediately grabbed their wrist and held it tightly. As she had suspected, this person tried to lift her wallet.
The commotion didn't go unnoticed by Selina's friends, that all turned to see what was happening, the guys coming immediately to tackle the dark figure to the floor. When the perpetrator lifted their head, Selina saw a very pale boy with wild brown hair, covering his brown eyes. She could sense no animosity from him, she couldn’t feel anything staring into those eyes she could see only emptiness. Like she had guessed the boy was young, but the dark circles under his eyes and his cracked lips added much to his age.
“You piece of scum! Think you can get away with that?!” One of the guys shouted, kicking the boy, who curled up in a ball to absorb the impact. The other soon followed, kicking the boy that did not let out a sound or tried to make a move.
“Jason, enough!” Selina shouted over their laughter and the insults her friends were throwing at the boy.
Jason, a typical jock kind of guy, always ready to start a fight, stopped laughing and looked at her in confusion.
“Why? This piece of trash just tried to rob you! I'm just showing him what my family does with petty thieves,” Jason’s father was Falcone's right-hand man, and the rest of his family also occupied different positions in ‘the business’. Despite her own family not having such connections, Selina always had the good sense of keeping some of the most powerful thugs in school in her right pocket.
“I can fight my own battles big guy, now scram,” she ordered without a drop of fear. Selina could perfectly see Jason's hesitation and anger, but she didn't flinch the slightest and he ended up walking ahead with the rest of the group, that returned to their normal conversations as if nothing had happened.
“As for you,” the princess said, turning to the boy on the floor, now starting to sit up. She stepped on his stomach, right where the guys had kicked him, making him gasp. “You’re just a piece of gutter trash, I don't even know what compelled you to come to these parts, but if I catch you here again, believe me, those guys are going to be the least of your problems.”
Letting him go she started to walk away, catching up with her friends.
***
The day wasn't very eventful after that and, after class, the driver picked her up and took her back to the house.
“Mom? Dad?” She called loudly into the corridors of what couldn't be described as anything else but a mansion. “Figures…” Selina murmured to herself when she received nothing but silence in response.
Kicking off her uncomfortable shoes into a random corner she comforted herself by feeling the cold marble floor under her feet. She was starting to go up the stairs into her room when a little furry black friend came down to greet her with a meow.
“Hi there sugar, come here,” the little princess picked up her black cat, sliding her fingers through its fur. She could be cold-hearted to others, but her cats had always been a source of warmth and comfort to a girl that grew up with little of either.
Going up to her room she threw herself into bed, just plainly staring at the ceiling. After a few minutes, someone knocked on the door. Only when Selina didn't answer after three times did the knocking became louder and more urgent, followed by the thin voice of a child.
“Miss Kyle? Miss Kyle, your bath is ready,” the girl said on the other side.
Selina turned on her side, letting her cat go. she didn't feel like getting up, but she also knew the girl wouldn't give up.
“Miss K–” Selina interrupted her by opening the door, staring at the little redhead, a good head shorter than her, with a messy braid Selina's mother kept complaining about. But there was no fixing genetic messiness.
The girl, Ivy was her name, had been a charity case, daughter of one of her dad's favourite butlers. when he passed from disease and with no mother in sight her parents had let the girl stay and work to make a living. Of course, the work she did was a sham, she couldn't cook or clean properly, and even carrying trays resulted in disaster with her, so she did mostly simple things like drawing baths and tending to the garden which she seemed to enjoy more than anything else.
“Yeah yeah I'm going,” Selina dryly replied moving to the big bathroom at the end of the hall, letting her clothes along the way without any shame. That floor was mainly used by her and only Ivy walked around to call her, so it was as if it was her private flat.
Stepping into the big tub she let herself sink in the hot water, letting her frustrations and anger be washed away like dirt. Indulging in almost an hour of soothing body washes and playful soap bubbles she let herself forget about time, school, her entire life. She used to hate baths, actually water in general, and even though she still frowned at group outings to the pool or beach, in her bathroom she felt safe and calm.
As the water was turning from tepid to cold she decided to finally get out, putting on a robe carefully placed by Ivy, most likely. She then retraced her steps to her room watching as her straightened hair began to curl as it dried. Frowning at it she took the hair straightener from a drawer and began straightening it once again like a ritual. She could simply ask Ivy to do it, but she feared the good-for-nothing girl would burn it off completely, and over the years Selina became quite good at it.
Putting on a simple grey shirt and some striped pyjama bottoms she laid back in bed scrolling through endless pages of social media. She didn’t even notice when the main door closed with a bang downstairs and loud voices were heard, assuming in the back of her mind one of her parents was home, shouting for one of the help.
After a few minutes of screaming voices back and forth though, she got up from bed to go listen more closely. Opening just a crack of the door she peeked outside, trying to listen to what they were saying. The voices arrived too faded though and she could barely make out any words, but there were unknown voices in the midst.
Then the shots came.
With the shots came screams and loud curses. Selina went back inside, closing the door shut and holding the doorknob to keep her hands from trembling.
Selina couldn't remember for how long the shooting lasted; she had ended up curled up in a ball in a corner with her hands on her head, without the slightest clue of what to do.
If was a long while after the firing had ceased that she decided to stand up, curling her hands into fists as if to give her strength to move forward.
She opened the door and checked the corridor, finding it empty. Selina pondered if she should wait inside for help, but there was also a strong possibility that whoever showed up not being friendly, so she decided to take her chances through the corridor with her phone in hand. She had tried to call the police before but there was no signal which hinted her that this was no usual robbery.
The girl tiptoed to the stairs, peeking slightly before going down. They had a phone hidden in the kitchen, with luck the assailants had not spotted it and she could call the police then. Her mansion was far too isolated for the shots to be heard, so it could take a while until anyone decided to check up on their house.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs though, any thought of asking for help was pushed to the back of her mind. Two massive pools of blood stained the marble floor of the entranceway. Dragging marks could also be seen in the kitchen’s direction, which could bring no good news.
The coppery smell of the red tint made its way to Selina's nose, making her gag. She took a hand to her mouth to stop herself from throwing up and started following it almost by instinct. She knew she should run, go far away from that place and call for someone, but a terrible feeling was brooding in her chest as she took one step after another to the kitchen.
And she was right.
Opening the door to the kitchen she saw two dark figures piled up on the floor. She rushed to turn on the flashlight on her phone to inspect closely, but she quickly regretted it when she met the cold, dead stare of her mother, her body riddled with bullet holes, and Selina's father right under her in the same fashion.
In shock Selina fell to her knees, dropping her phone into the ground. She opened her mouth to scream, but a hand quickly covered it, dragging her into the darkness.