A Little Birdy Told Me (Bat Family)

New Hope

Selina

I stood on deck, a soft breeze ran through my hair as I watched the sky transform with the sunset. This would be a wonderful place to vacation if I wasn't here against my will. There were other women on the boat, talking amongst themselves. Tonight was margarita night, they were having a blast. What I wouldn't give to scale a rooftop. Eve has been MIA for awhile. I was sure she'd be back, her and the girls she took, hopefully. I looked out at the water, maybe I could swim for it. I climbed on the ledge and tried to find a sign of land. I was sure it was Winter, so we had to be somewhere south. Definitely not off the coast of Gotham. There was no land in sight, so not on a lake.

"Mother would just send a boat after you if you jumped over." Below me, Mary appeared. Her usual bright green eyes were sad. She was one of the girls that was missing along with Eve. "And she'd resuscitate you if you'd drown."

I hopped down and stood next to her. "I wasn't gonna jump." I murmured. "What's eating you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

She shook her head. "I can't really talk about it." She looked at the ground.

"So it's about Eve?" I guessed and she shifted. "You can tell me. I can keep a secret." I tried to pry it out of her.

"It's just, she got mad at me, and then our mission failed and she took it out on me, and... and I'm starting to question if this is the right place for me anymore." She spoke softly. "That's why, if you're planning an escape I want to help you."

That was unexpected. "Weren't you Mother's number one fan?" I questioned.

"She took me in when I was helpless, scared and alone, I thought I owed her my life. But after the mission..." She trailed off, shaking her head.

This seemed too good to be true. Could Mary really be joining the dark side? "How do I know I can trust you?" I said crossing my arms over my chest and looking around.

She thought about it for a while. "Follow me." She said walking inside. We ended up in her room and I still felt a little on edge about all of this. She reached behind her pillow and pulled out a copy of the Gotham Gazette. "We're not supposed to bring anything back from our missions but I grabbed this." She handed it to me and my heart dropped.

There on the front page was Bruce, his son Damian, and Michelle. With a headline: 'Gotham's Very Own Bruce Wayne Unveiling His Newest Treasure.' She looked so happy. Pride swelled in me. She was alive and okay, she found her father. Soon, pride was replaced with longing. I wanted to be there with her, with all of them. I hated myself for leaving. All of these emotions went through me, but I didn't let anything show on my face. "So Bruce Wayne has another kid? What else is new?" I sneered. It felt bad, but it's what I had to do.

"He was our mission." She stated, turning the pages to the story about them. "Bruce Wayne has been on our list for some years now. Not as high as Batman, but still up there."

I did my best to hide my worry as I read the part she pointed at. "Not ten minutes after introducing us, the Waynes disappeared. We found out later by authorities that they were kidnapped and held beneath the venue by none other than the Gala's hosts Mr. and Mrs. Diebeaux." I looked up at the girl, confused.

"After the mission failed, Eve got mad at me, so I took the liberty of tipping off the police. Mrs. Diebeaux was one of our allies on the outside, she infiltrated millionaire Mr. Diebeaux's life, marrying him and brainwashing him. Ultimately she became in charge of all of his money, useful for COWL's* operations." She explained. "This mission was to do the same with Bruce Wayne."

I gave her a sidelong look. "You sure are smarter than you let on."

She shrugged. "When you're the teachers pet for so long, you're bound to learn a thing or two."

My eyebrows came together. "How long have you been here?"

"About three years now." She looked at the floor. As I put a hand to my chest. It was silent for a long time. "My parents died when I was twelve, leaving me to take care of my little brother and sister. I knew that if the authorities found us we would be split up. My sister was just five. So I took them and hid. My brother, always a rebel, went out one day and never came back; I went out to find him, telling my sister to stay put in the safe house." She took a deep breath. "I asked around for him and ultimately got kidnapped. I was held underground for so long. Then Eve came to the rescue. She could only take me, there were others trapped but she could only smuggle me out. The others were asleep. She said she went back but she told me she couldn't find them. I told her about my sister and brother she said she would keep an eye out for them. But I don't know anymore. And when she told me to kidnap Bruce Wayne's daughter my view of her changed. I thought she was an angel that took girls in who had nothing. Turns out she's just-"

"The devil." I finished for her. A chill went down my spine at the thought of Michelle being stuck here with me.

She sat on her bed. "And I don't know what happened to my brother or sister. They could be dead, she could have killed them."

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "You shouldn't think about things like that."

Her green eyes met mine. "I just feel guilty. I was supposed to be there to protect them. I abandoned them. I'm the worst sister ever."

"Listen, Mary-"

"Chrysanthemum, my name is Chrysanthemum."

°Time Skip°

I was back in my room on the boat lounging on my bed. I let the way the ship rolled lull me to sleep. The door opened and I turned lazily to find Eve walking over to me. I held back my cringe. She sat beside me on the large bed. "So I heard you almost jumped ship today." She said like a parent reprimanding their kid for being a brat in school.

Her sharp eyes caught mine. I remembered a time when I would look away immediately, that was a time when I had no hope. A time when I had nothing to fight for. I softened my face, putting on a little smile. "You're back." I said happily.

Her eyes widened in shock. After a split second she composed herself. "Yes I was away. That doesn't explain your behavior."

I pouted. "I was sad that you haven't been here. But Mary talked me down, she told me you would be back soon." I sat up so we were level to each other. "I'm sorry I was a bitch before. I didn't know how good I had it. But you know the saying, 'leave them alone and they'll come home' I took the time while you were away to really evaluate everything."

She was grinning. "I'm so happy to hear that. I told you you'd learn to love it here."

I nodded. "You were right, about everything." I bit my lip before quickly pulling her into a hug. "Don't leave for that long again." I whispered.

She returned the hug. "Never." She sighed.

I couldn't believe this was working. It was going so well that it felt to good to be true. I still didn't really trust Chrissy, she could still really be brainwashed by Eve, doing her bidding. But I had to believe, I'd come up with a back up plan if I had to. I would get back to Gotham and be with my daughter. Because while the mice are away, the cats scheme.

*Crushing Oppression in Women's Lives