Batman and Catwoman: Family Mystery

31: Loss*

(Present)

Bruce Wayne was at Wayne Enterprise, holding a multinational conference call regarding the latest company project. Usually, he would make an effort in looking involved, but at the moment, his cousin Van Jr. was speaking. Babbling, more like it.

His uncle, Van sr., had asked him to make Van participate more, and this was the result. Van just needed to talk, no matter whether or not he knew what he was saying.

Thankfully, Bruce got distracted by his phone, not that the message was a good one.

"Whenever you're ready, Bruce." Van mocked.

"Sorry, it's Alfred," Bruce lied. "Continue."

His relatives didn't approve of his relationship with his butler, but they liked his wife even less.

Thomas Wayne was the anomaly of the Wayne family. The rest of them were your average, money hungry power mongrels, but Thomas was different. He wasn't a socialite, he was a social worker. Not to mention, he was Patrick Wayne's only child from his first wife; Philip, Agatha, and Van sr. were Thomas Wayne's half siblings.

Bruce had never met uncle Phil. Aunt Aggie was a sickly lady; and uncle Van was the businessman. Van's family never got along with Thomas; they especially didn't like Selina.

Van continued speaking, but as usual, Bruce wasn't listening. His thoughts were on the alarm. Not too later, an explosion went off in the city.

Please don't be you, Bruce thought as alarms now rang in the Wayne office.

"Sorry, Van." Bruce mocked, "I'm gonna have to cut you short."

Before his cousin could protest, Bruce hung up.

<<"Ooh! Is that the Bat signal?">> The president of the French branch announced through her screen, directing Bruce's attention out the window.

"It's safer to call it a night," Bruce suggested to his board members that were physically present as he impatiently waited for Fox to escort them out.

As soon as the last person was gone, Bruce ran to his secret entrance and took the elevator to the Bat cave located under his offices.

The jet parked on the roof behind the search light and Batman eagerly jumped out.

"Selina?" He called out for his wife over the noise of the fire engines.

"Gone," he registered a fading voice.

Batman tracked the voice around the light, which he turned off, and found his wife's roommate.

"Jen! Stay with me!" He said gravely as he pressed down on her major bleeds.

"Selina," Jen rasped again.

"We'll find her. Let's get you to the ambulance."

"R-Reach."

"Uhun," Batman ignored as he picked her up.

"N-no. Reach. Reach! Girl. Reach!" Jen repeated the name again and again.

Batman carefully glided down with the girl in his arms, and handed her over to paramedics.

"Bats!" He waited for Detective Yin to walk up beside him.

"She's not here," he answered before Yin could ask about Selina's whereabouts.

"Anything you got?"

"Not much to salvage in there. Jen said something about reach."

Ellen seemed to recognize the word.