Chapter Text
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of morals. At least, that was Selina’s professional opinion, and she continued to cling to it fiercely – despite having married Bruce Wayne twenty years ago.
To be fair, Bruce only proved her rule. He lacked some morals, seeing as how he still took to the streets at least three times a week – even though he’d technically retired three years ago and given the legacy over to his four sons. Then again, no one had claimed the cowl yet, so perhaps that’s why he still clung to his old habits
But who was Selina to judge? She still went out as Catwoman from time to time, mainly when Harley and Ivy wanted a girl’s night. And she supposed she dabbled in the fine art of stealing even when she wasn’t dressed as a cat. Like tonight, at her gala. She’d already stolen three pairs of earrings, four pairs of cufflinks, two diamond rings, ten bracelets, and four watches from the unsuspecting attendees.
So, perhaps she should amend her rule to any person in possession of a good fortune must be in want of morals. Although she’d stolen before she had a fortune, too, so maybe no one actually had morals…
Still, the rich seemed to lack moral decency in spades – or diamonds, as it were. And Selina had very high hopes that the “new money” would be the same. And unfortunately for them, they’d piqued her interest.
Selina sipped her chardonnay and scanned the crowded Gotham Hall. Despite beginning this gala fifteen years ago, it was still considered the “unofficial” start to the fall season. As such, it was a more laid-back affair than other galas, with light hors d'oeuvres instead of a full meal.
But there was plenty of alcohol, and guests were pretty far into their cups at this point. It was usually at this point where she excused herself and went back to Wayne Manor. Unfortunately, she was waiting for the “new money” to arrive. They were quite un-fashionably late at this point. But everyone was in agreement: Charles, and his sister Darcie, were making their first public appearance tonight. And Selina was not going to miss it.
She kept half an ear on the conversation the other Gotham dames were having, but they’d already revealed all they knew about the Bingley siblings. In fact, Selina knew more than the rest.
Charles Bingley had been propelled into the Gotham elite with his recent “innovative software.” But just what that “innovative software” was, no one seemed to know.
Except Bruce. He’d been the one to back Charles Bingley’s invention, working with him to put the software into a sellable product. And to Selina’s deep annoyance, he refused to tell her anything about it. Claimed there were NDAs in place.
“Where are their parents from again?” Mitzy or Miffy – or something like that – said.
“Ohio,” Selina murmured.
She tuned them out as they tittered about how “quaint” that was. What they meant was “boring,” but boring wasn’t a word you used in high society. Or perhaps they simply meant middle-class. The two were often synonymous to them.
But the Bingleys were boring. Selina had the facts to prove it. She’d had her third stepson, Tim, do research into the siblings. She would have preferred Dick’s wife, Barbara; but with her being in the first trimester of her second pregnancy, and having extra duties as the new police commissioner, Selina hadn’t been able to bring herself to ask that particular favor.
Fortunately, Tim hadn’t realized Selina and Bruce were at odds over this. His nose was always stuck in a book nowadays, and a lot seemed to get past him. Or he just didn’t care.
Either way, his information had been boring, boring, BORING. Charles and Darcie’s parents worked boring middle-class jobs. The siblings had gone to boring middle-class colleges, and both had accepted similarly boring middle-class jobs after graduation.
Now, the middle sister, Georgiana, had been intriguing. She’d initially gone to Yale and had received top marks there, only to transfer to Gotham University her junior year of college to be closer to S.T.A.R. Labs. Unfortunately, she died in a car accident a little over ten years ago, and she seemed to take all the family dynamism with her.
Tragic, yes. But not especially intriguing. Except that Tim dug up two circumstantial pieces of evidence that Selina couldn’t quite ignore concerning the youngest sister, Darcie.
First, Darcie’s social footprint was non-existent. Not only did she have no social media accounts, she had no subscriptions. No credit cards. Nothing. In fact, the only reason she knew Darcie was a presence in Gotham was because Bruce had told her. Otherwise, there would have just been a birth certificate, W2s for a preschool job, and a college diploma from some online college.
Which was the second bit of suspicious information. Charles had purportedly created software. But he’d graduated with a BS in business. Darcie, on the other hand, had graduated with a BS in computer engineering. Which meant Darcie had the credentials to make “innovative software.” Charles only had the credentials to market it.
To everyone’s knowledge, however, Darcie had nothing to do with the technology. It was all Charles.
Why wouldn’t Darcie claim her invention? She’d certainly get more funding and fame than Charles, what with being a woman and all. Why would she allow a man to take that from her?
She wouldn’t. No self-respecting woman would. Not unless there was something else going on. Such as, neither she nor Charles actually invented it. Perhaps they’d stolen it – possibly from another country. Perhaps they’d found it on the black market. Perhaps they were in league with a secret terrorist organization. It would be just like Talia al Guhl to try and get an in this way. That woman lived to vex her…
Selina barely contained her eye roll as Minky or Pinky – or whatever that woman’s name was – began loudly talking about the new curtains she’d ordered for her vacation home. Unless those curtains were made from the dresses of Marie Antoinette, Selina had very little interest in them.
She smirked. She knew they weren’t made from the French queen’s dresses. Selina’s were though. A fact she was particularly proud of, since she was pretty sure Bruce didn’t know.
Just then, the ballroom doors opened and in stepped the siblings everyone was talking about. The dames ended their conversation about Matilda’s or Manatee’s curtains and started whispering about the newcomers instead.
Selina eyed the siblings critically. Charles was a tall, affable looking man. He grinned a lot, reminding her immediately of her first stepson, Dick. But the sister, Darcie, gazed out at the crowd with a grim determination, similar to the way Batman would look on an assembly of Talia’s League of Assassins.
Then again, perhaps it wasn’t a bad analogy. These people would tear her apart.
Selina tilted her head as the dames behind her began to do just that. She hated to admit it, but they were right. Society would be forgiving of Charles and his eagerness; they’d be less so of his sister. It was always a double standard for women. And Darcie wasn’t doing herself any favors.
Charles was in the latest fashion, with a suit that cost at least six figures, but more likely seven. Darcie? Her black dress was elegant but plain. Definitely not more than four figures. Selina gave her points for holding her head high and shoulders straight, but she really ought to smile. Society at all levels demanded a woman smile.
Poor girl. Society wouldn’t be kind to her at all. Which was quite convenient for Selina.
Selina watched Bruce stride over to Charles and Darcie Bingley, his classic billionaire smile on. He knew. He had to. And the bastard wouldn’t tell her a thing. She’d used all her old tricks to change his mind, too. Nonchalance, seduction, petulance, seduction again, a few mind games, seduction a third time…
But for some reason, she just couldn’t get a rise out of him like she used to. It was like he simply played along and went with the script. His heart wasn’t in it. Well, except for the seduction part. He’d been into that. But he hadn’t flown into a passionate rage like he used to. He just…allowed her to be.
Maybe he was mellowing. Maybe she was losing her touch. Maybe she should file for divorce. That might bring the spark back.
She pushed thoughts of Bruce and her aside. She would find out what the Bingleys were hiding. She had a plan, and everyone was already playing their parts so nicely. And if that didn’t work, she’d go with Plan B…
She excused herself and hurried over to Bruce, who was chatting amiably with Charles. Darcie was looking around, her lips pulled together in a disapproving line. Selina rather liked that, despite her suspicions about her. Darcie didn’t fit into the rich crowd, just like Selina hadn’t.
Selina plastered her own billionaire smile on. She hated herself for having mastered it over the years. For learning to fit in – and wanting it sometimes, too.
“Well, hello,” she purred as she entered their conversation. Bruce’s face tightened ever so slightly. “I’m Selina Wayne,” she said, holding out her hand to Charles.
Charles took it with a grin. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Wayne.” He grinned and pumped her hand a little harder than was polite in higher society.
“Please, call me Selina,” she said demurely.
She turned to Darcie. The girl gave her a tight smile and a small nod, which Selina returned graciously.
“And the pleasure’s all mine,” she said, turning back to the more talkative Charles. “I’ve been dying to meet you! Ever since Bruce came home telling me all about your invention. He was so excited! Like a little boy at Christmas!” She laughed condescendingly as she glanced at Bruce, who just barely hid his eyeroll.
Selina frowned in mock consternation. “Although, I forgot what he said it was…” She looked from Bruce to Charles.
“That’s because I didn’t,” Bruce clipped out.
Charles laughed nervously. “Just some security tech,” he said, eying Darcie uncomfortably. Color rose to his cheeks.
Selina hid a smirk. Charles was a horrible liar. Hopefully Darcie would be, too.
Bruce looked at Selina, a tight smile on his face and a warning in his eyes. “It’s not out yet and we’ve all signed NDAs.”
Selina arched a brow. “You can’t even tell your wife?”
“No,” was his forbidding reply.
Selina laughed lightly and looked to Darcie. “Boys and their toys, am I right?” She gave Darcie an arch look. “Do you know what the technology is? Or is it just my husband who refuses to talk?”
Darcie gave her a cold look before pointedly looking back at the crowd. Selina felt herself bristle and had to actively tell herself to relax. She’d clawed people’s faces for less.
Bruce shifted slightly, a move she knew meant he’d picked up on her anger. She hated that he knew her tells; then again, she knew his, too. She supposed it was fair, even if she didn’t like it.
Play nice, she told herself.
She smiled over at Darcie. “I’m so glad you could make it to this ‘unofficial’ gala. I cannot wait to see what you wear to the first official one!” She gasped, as if she’d just had a thought. “Perhaps we should go shopping together! I have someone – in Rome – that will make you a dress to die for!”
She knew Bruce wasn’t fooled, but she was pretty sure Charles was. He looked excitedly over at Darcie.
Darcie stared at Selina carefully, her face unreadable. A slight thrill went through Selina. It was like old times again. Playing with the bad guys and watching them squirm. She’d missed that.
“Bruce told me about Andre,” Darcie said placidly. “I chose to go a different direction.”
Selina was taken aback. First, that Bruce had actually told her about Andre; and second, that Darcie had rebuffed her.
“Well,” Selina said slowly, letting her eyes travel down her dress. “Perhaps we can find a new direction together?”
She really had tried to be delicate. But there was no getting around that Darcie’s dress was just not fit for society. Darcie needed her; and she had to make the girl see it.
Darcie gave her a withering look. “No.”
Selina tensed, and Bruce shifted again. But she recovered quickly enough. She hadn’t survived the dregs of Gotham by taking no for an answer, after all.
“My dear,” Selina said breezily. “This place is full of jackals that will tear you apart. Let me help you. A good dress will make or break a reputation, you know.”
Darcie’s face hardened. “I’ve seen the prices for gala dresses. I bought this one – which is expensive for most people – and donated the difference to charity.”
Bruce cleared his throat in a way that made it obvious he was covering a laugh. Selina “accidently” stepped on his foot, the only outlet for her wrath at the moment.
Charles’ face creased in concern as he looked at Darcie. “Oh…That was a good idea. Should I have done that?”
Selina just barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes, but Darcie’s face softened.
“No, Charles,” Darcie said kindly. “You’re going to be part of society. I’m not.”
Selina narrowed her eyes. There was a bit of an undercurrent there. She’d have to poke at it to see what it dredged up.
“So, what are you in Gotham for, then?” Selina asked, a slow smirk curling her lips. “Keeping house for your brother?”
Darcie stared at her unblinkingly as she took a sip of champagne. “I’m in charge of security.”
Interesting. It had the underpinnings of the truth, but it was very clearly a misdirection. Which meant Darcie was slightly better at lying than her brother – but only because she knew how to manipulate the truth.
Charles laughed as if this was the greatest joke he'd ever heard. “She is good with guns,” he said with a grin. He sobered quickly, looking at Darcie with great affection. “And she does care about protecting people.” Darcie’s lips quirked up ever so slightly, and for a moment, her face softened. She was really quite pretty when she wasn’t glaring at everyone.
But they’d told Selina a great deal: Darcie was the one in charge. But why the lies then? What did they have to hide? And why wouldn’t Bruce tell her?
Bruce cleared his throat and stepped forward pointedly. He slapped Charles on the back, carefully turning him toward the crowd of younger people.
“Well, you don’t want to stand around talking with us all night,” he said. “Go out and have fun. Find my kids. I have five of them milling about, all around your age. Well, the youngest is almost fifteen years your junior, but the rest are all in their thirties.”
“Thanks Mr. Wayne!” Charles said with a grin.
Darcie eyed Selina before turning, and Selina bristled again at the hostility in the girl’s gaze. She was suddenly very glad that she wouldn’t have to deal with Darcie herself. Plan B would make their dealings far and few between. She just hoped everyone else would cooperate.
Selina plastered a smile on and leaned into Bruce as the siblings walked away. She knew it would look like a loving wife leaning into her husband. But she felt less than loving at the moment.
“They’re hiding something,” she murmured.
“It’s probably not what you think,” Bruce said firmly.
“So you’ve looked into them? They’re completely clean?”
Bruce hesitated. “Mostly.”
Selina sniffed and patted her hair, despite knowing every inch of the pixie cut was perfectly in place. She debated about starting a fight. In her younger years, she wouldn’t have thought twice. Unfortunately, she’d adopted enough rich-person airs that she hesitated. Besides, she did try to make it so only one Wayne made a scene at an event; and unfortunately, she was certain another Wayne would before the night was out.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll figure it out myself.” She ignored Bruce’s sweet little smile. He was giving her more of those lately, and she wasn’t sure how she liked them.
Ok, she did know. She liked them a lot. They made her heart flutter, even after twenty years of marriage and ten years of an on-again, off-again romance before that. But she’d never admit that to him.
Instead, she narrowed her eyes as she sifted through the crowd, running through her plan once more. She eyed Charles critically as he chatted with Bobby or Ken or Throckmorton…or whatever all their names were.
“Where’s that condom fail of ours?” she muttered as she scanned the crowd.
Bruce gave her a stern look. “Our daughter is having fun with her friends.” He nodded over to the far side of the room.
Selina narrowed her eyes as she glanced over in that direction. Helena was laughing and talking with Fred or Jerry or Cal, or whoever they were. She looked suspiciously drunk, too. Selina knew it was common for underage drinking at these events, and most people let it slide. Still, they expected some decorum, and Helena wasn’t showing much at all. Or rather, she was showing a great deal of something, but it wasn’t decorum.
And Selina hated that she was starting to care. Who was she becoming in her old age?
Selina sipped her wine as Helena placed a chair on a nearby table, then clambered onto said chair and began to tip it back and forth on its edges until she was rocking crazily.
Selina sighed. It was really too bad there was such an age gap between her and Charles. No self-respecting thirty-four year-old would date a twenty year-old. Unless they wanted sex. Which, of course, he probably did.
But more than that, Charles wanted an in with society. Helena would definitely not provide that. And she definitely wouldn’t cooperate with Selina. The girl somehow defied all her manipulations. She was either too stupid or too stubborn, and the jury was out on which it was.
“She only has a few more months until she’s twenty-one,” Bruce said gently. He nodded off to the side. “And Damien’s watching over her.”
Selina scowled, allowing him to assume she was only thinking disapproving thoughts instead of disapproving thoughts and scheming.
“She doesn’t know how good she has it,” she muttered as she watched Helena do a flip and land in a young man’s lap, to thunderous applause. “When I was her age-”
Bruce gave her a fierce look. “When you were her age, you were living on the streets after running away from countless abusive foster homes. It was horrible and should never have happened.” His face softened. “We’ve given her a better life. It’s not fair to hold your past over her.”
Selina bobbled her head back and forth, moving her lips soundlessly as she mocked Bruce. He sounded like a therapist. Which made sense. He’d been going to therapy for years now.
But Helena wasn’t the daughter either of them had expected her to be. She was flighty and shallow and dumb and…rich. She didn’t care about her parents’ missions, or their pasts. She simply wanted to have fun.
But Bruce at least tried. Selina…well, apparently, she had some issues on motherhood to work through. But that was between her and the therapist she hadn’t hired yet. Maybe she should finally take Harley up on her offer…
Selina pushed that thought away for another time as she searched the crowded ballroom, trying to find Dick Grayson, her eldest stepson. Finally, she spotted him chatting with Jason, her second stepson, in an out of the way corner of the room. Dick was smiling and gesticulating as usual. She eyed Charles again. They really were cut from the same affable cloth.
What’s more, she could tell the other rich boys weren’t playing nice with Charles. She stifled a smile to see Darcie’s condescending sneer at one of them. She was annoyed with Darcie, but still…it was nice to see the rich buffoons put in their place from time to time.
But Dick would be a perfect friend for Charles. After all, there was no faster way to the top than befriending a Wayne. Besides, Selina was convinced Charles wouldn’t be of much help to her. He would be a means to an end: which was to figure out Darcie.
But she knew she’d need more than just friendship to snare Darcie’s secrets.
Selina looked across her remaining three stepsons. Damien was closest in age to Darcie, but he would instantly be suspicious of Selina, and would flatly refuse to be part of her scheme. He was contrary that way, especially when he sensed she was trying to undermine Bruce.
Tim was out, too, but only because he was in a very steady relationship with his high school sweetheart, Bernard.
Which left her Jason. Which wasn’t a bad option, per say…
Selina eyed Jason carefully as he chatted with Dick. He had that effortless rebel-without-a-cause aura. She liked that about him. Wealth hadn’t changed him one bit. Although, he had been MIA for several years, and then estranged from the family. So he hadn’t really grown up with the glitz and glamour the way the others had.
But more importantly, she’d sensed in him a keen yearning for more lately. Probably because Dick was about to become a father again. Why any woman would want to be pregnant more than once was beyond Selina, but that was between Barbara and Dick. And it was rather convenient timing, since Selina needed Jason to be looking for love. People were always so much more malleable when they were pining.
She eyed Darcie again. If looks could kill, most of the young men in the crowd would probably be dead. Not that that would be bad, but it really was best not to make enemies as soon as you met someone. It’s how she’d evaded Batman treating her like a hardened criminal. And look where that had gotten her? Married, at the top of Gotham society, the matriarch of a sprawling vigilante business…
Selina ignored the twinge of discontent in her heart and focused again on Darcie. Would she dismiss Jason the same way she was clearly dismissing the other society men? Possibly…but possibly not. Few women could resist a bad boy like Jason, especially because he didn’t give off the air of being a rich bad boy. James Dean bad boys were so much better than the rich ones. It really was a shame Selina had fallen in love with Bruce.
The key, however, was making sure they didn’t know what she was doing. Jason would immediately be contrary and refuse to cooperate. Dick…well, Dick would probably go along with it, but he also wouldn’t try and get her information.
But she could do this. She’d been manipulating people all her life. Just because these people knew her and her methods didn’t mean she was at a complete disadvantage. It just meant she had to be more careful. Craftier, subtler. And she was quite crafty and subtle, if she did say so herself.
And Bruce wouldn’t stop her – he’d made it clear he wasn’t playing her games anymore. Which was fine. She’d play her games elsewhere.
Selina tossed Bruce a smirk. “I’m going to make my rounds.”
Bruce caught her arm, a dangerous gleam in his eye. He leaned close to whisper in her ear, and a thrill went through her. It was like old times again. Bat and Cat. Would it be an ultimatum? A veiled threat? Perhaps a smoldering warning…
“You can keep all your ‘findings’ except Norman’s cufflinks and Lila’s bracelet. Those are family heirlooms.”
Selina rolled her eyes as her heart sank. So much for fun and games.
“Sometimes I don’t know why I stay with you,” she said as she flounced away.