"You sure this is a good idea? Pretty far up," Holly gulped as she peered at the ground below. They were maybe about two or three floors up from where they were standing, or in Bruce's case, balancing on the staircase banister. Bruce's balance grew very unsteady as he held his arms out, slowly taking step after step to the other end. Holly did her best to keep her mouth shut, knowing this task needed most, if not total concentration. But Selina carefully perched herself on the other end, meeting his gaze.

"Keep it tight here," She instructed, gesturing to her diaphragm. Bruce took her guidance and straightened his posture. He could feel the firm pressure as he slowly took another step towards Selina, and as he was doing that, Holly slowly walked to the railing, ready to grab and pull him from the edge if things went wrong. "Better?" Selina asked, already knowing what the answer was. "Yeah," Bruce nodded before he climbed back to safety. "If you want to test yourself, you should come with me to the midtown bridge," Selina offered.

"You've climbed it?" Holly asked. "Since when?" "I do it all the time, right to the top. Kids go up there to make out all the time. I could take you and Bruce if you want. If you're not a chicken," Selina teased. "I'm not a chicken!" Holly rolled her eyes playfully. "That sounds cool," Bruce commented as he sat in a chair, putting his shoes back on. "Let me ask you a question, Bruce. What's up with all the weird homework about your mom and dad?" Selina questioned. "I'm trying to understand why it happened," Bruce answered.

"There's no why. Bad stuff happens all the time, you gotta get over it," Selina's voice grew soft but had a hint of exasperation. "Maybe you're right," Bruce acknowledged the thought. "Of course I'm right," Selina said. "Holly, you're with me on this, right?" On one hand, Selina made her point, but on the other, there wasn't really much they could do or say to make Bruce change his mind. 

Clearly, the plan to train and his investigation into the deaths of his parents was set in stone the moment the murders happened. And once it was grafted, it was almost impossible to change it. "You want to kiss me?" Selina cut the tension with a knife as she flashed her usual mischievous grin. Bruce looked up at her, caught off-guard. "No, thank you," He answered. "Well, what about Holly?" Selina chuckled as she saw Holly's cheeks turn pink with embarrassment. "Selina, we talked about this..." the blonde whispered. "Your daddy's not here. What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Selina whispered back.

Though neither Holly nor Selina could see it, on the inside, Bruce was smiling. Holly was a sweet girl, and though he wouldn't say it out loud - at least not right now, she was really pretty. "I would like to," Bruce spoke up. "But I can't help feeling you have an ulterior motive, Selina. And Holly, I don't imagine you consider me a suitable romantic partner. So why would either of you want to kiss me? I don't know," Holly breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Though she never really thought about romance, Holly knew one thing for sure. She wanted her first kiss to be at the perfect time. And a pressured first kiss in the hallway of Wayne Manor with Selina present was not the perfect time.

"You think too much, kid. I'm just trying to be nice," Selina replied. "No offense, you don't strike me as a nice person," Bruce spoke. Who wouldn't take offense to that? Holly looked surprised, and Selina shared the same expression as her. "What do you mean? I'm nice!" Selina squinted. "I don't mean you're not a good person, but you're not nice. You don't care much for other people," Bruce explained. Holly could feel herself mentally cringing at his words. The longer Bruce tried to explain it, the more Holly wanted to put duct tape over his mouth to stop him from hurting the girl's feelings any more than he already did.

"Screw you, orphan. You can climb the damn bridge yourself. I guess Holly won't be such a chicken after all," Selina shook her head. But as she was about to run off again, the three of them heard the doorbell ring on the back door of Wayne Manor, and they ran down the stairs to see who it was. As they reached the middle of the final staircase, they could see a woman who appeared to be bleeding from her face as Alfred talked to her.

"Alfred, is everything all right?" Bruce asked. "No, Master Bruce. This lady's been involved in a car accident," Alfred answered. But the longer Holly and Selina looked at the woman, the more they noticed something was off. If you were in a car accident, you had to look pretty beaten up and scruffy, depending on how bad it was. And aside from the blood on the dark-skinned woman's face, she appeared to be completely fine, if not a tad shaken up.

But soon, that scared look turned into one of menace and satisfaction as she glanced at Selina. "Alfred..." Holly warned. The butler got the young Gordon's message loud and clear, yelling at the three as he told them to run. While the three kids ran back up the stairs, two men entered the Manor as Alfred began fighting them to buy the children time to get out. "What do we do?!" Holly's voice grew panicked as they ran down a corridor and to the right. In the intense moment, Bruce grabbed Holly's hand as they and Selina continued running down the hall.

While Wayne Manor was like a maze to the two girls, Bruce knew the secret exits like the back of his hand. Bruce closed the door behind him, leaving them with few places to go. "This better be a way out," Selina glanced around. "The old servant's hallway, it's through the closet!" Bruce opened the door right next to them and ushered Selina inside. As Holly stepped halfway in, she turned to see Bruce was ready to head back the way they came. Without hesitation, Holly grabbed Bruce's arm and pulled him in, shutting the door behind them as they went down the secret hallway.

"But we have to help Alfred!" Bruce insisted. "There's no time!" Selina insisted. As they continued down the hall, they reached a small balcony that looked out into the gardens. Selina quickly jumped over the ledge, and Bruce looked at Holly, waiting for her to go. "No, you go first," Holly insisted, following behind as Bruce jumped off the balcony. Luckily for them, they weren't too far from the ground, maybe a couple feet or so. A few seconds later, Holly did the same. As they reached Selina, Bruce again turned back to the Manor, still hearing the scuffle inside.

"Bruce, come on!" Holly pulled on his arm. "Alfred might be hurt! I can't leave him," Bruce tried to escape her tight grasp. "He told you to run!" Selina protested. Bruce kept looking back at them before looking back to Wayne Manor. "Fine, stay if you want, but I'm out!" Selina kept running. But as the sounds of gunshots made their way outside, Bruce and Holly dashed after Selina just as the woman and her men followed close behind. And while the kids didn't see it during their escape, Alfred pulled out his handgun and shot at one of the men.

In the process, Alfred got shot in the upper arm, but he managed to kill the man before running and following the other two into the woods but the further he ran through the thicket, he was unable to find the children or the attackers. "BRUCE!" Alfred called out, his voice only gaining the attention of a few crows. He called out a few more times, continuing his search, but realizing there was no use, he returned to the Manor to contact Jim.

~~~~~~~~~

When Jim and a few other officers arrived to inspect the break-in, Alfred sat on the arm of one of the couches as a medic bandaged his wounded arm. Upon hearing the news of the break-in, to say that Jim was scared that his daughter was being targeted would be an understatement. He was terrified for his daughter and could only pray to whatever god was listening that she remained safe and sound. But he kept his composure and treated this like it was just your average investigation. "Local PD is searching the woods, but so far, no sign of Bruce, Holly, or Selina. What can you tell me about this woman?" He asked Alfred.

"Well, she was, uh, early 30s. A tasty fighter, actually," Alfred described as Jim wrote it down. "Look, mate, it's just a scratch. Shove off, will you? I've got stuff to do!" The butler turned to the medic, who kept poking at his arm. "Look, we've got 50 police in the woods, even more on the roads. We need to focus on this woman and her people. What can you tell me about her?" Jim brought him back to the current situation. "They were trained killers. And your bloody little delinquent brought them here!" Alfred glared.

"We don't know that yet," Jim reasoned. Just then, Harvey walked into the room, having heard more about what happened. "You must be Alfred Pennyworth. Nice job out there," Bullock looked to the butler. "Yeah, well, not nice enough, eh?" Alfred muttered to himself. "This was taken off the dead guy," Harvey held up Selina's mugshot. "Nothing else. No keys, no ID, nada. Now, I know this girl. She was grabbed by the child snatchers. And now she's getting attacked by assassins at Wayne freaking Manor?! What the hell's going on, compadre?!" Harvey's tone grew increasingly louder and louder.

"What, you haven't told him?" Alfred asked Jim. "Told me what?" Harvey inquired. "Selina Kyle was in the alley the night the Wayne's were murdered. She saw the killer's face," Jim told his partner, who looked at him disapprovingly. "Oh, for Pete's sake, don't do this to me!" Harvey sighed. "Harvey Dent in the DA's office is investigating Dick Lovecraft. He thinks that Lovecraft is connected to the Wayne killings. So, he leaked that we had a witness. He thought he could spook Lovecraft, get him to reveal himself," Jim explained further. "Wow, that's a hell of a plan. How did it work out? Bravo!" Harvey scoffed.

"We thought she was safe. We thought no one knew she was here," Jim got defensive. "Yeah, well, you were wrong, weren't you, you plank? How did they know?" Alfred snapped. But Harvey continued to unleash on Jim, asking him why Jim didn't tell him about the foolishness, and Jim replied that he knew Harvey was going to try and stop him. "Of course I would've tried to stop you, you putz! What the hell are you thinking? The Wayne case is closed. It is closed!" Harvey yelled. "You know damn well it's not closed!" Jim yelled back. "Don't tell me what I don't know!" Harvey growled.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP, THE PAIR OF YOU?!" Alfred silenced the detectives, making them turn to him with eyes as wide as saucers. "You can argue later. But right now, we need to worry about Master Bruce and Miss Gordon!" Alfred continued. "Jim, did you seriously get Holly involved too? What the hell, man?" Harvey gaped. "Not directly, I didn't!" Jim shook his head. "With everything going on with Barbara, I thought she needed some time to herself," "Great job, Jim. Now, she's nowhere to be found. What are we going to do?" Harvey asked.

Jim explained to Alfred and Harvey that if the children didn't come back soon, they most likely would be heading back into Gotham, claiming that Selina felt safer there. "Good luck trying to find her in the city. A street kid like that?" Harvey remarked. "But you will help find them, right?" Jim asked. "Yeah, of course I will. Because I have to be crazy!" Harvey answered. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but hearing about Holly's involvement in all this struck a chord. He would never forgive himself if something were to happen to Holly. In a way, the girl was like family to him.

"Thank you. All right, I'll focus on Lovecraft, I'll find him, and if he is behind this, I'll get him to call off the contract," Jim said. "How are you gonna do that?" Harvey inquired. "I don't know, I'll think of something. Run the streets, huh? Focus on your contacts, go to work," Jim replied before walking out of the library. And as Harvey was getting ready to head out, Alfred offered to go with him. "All right. You're pretty handy for a valet," Harvey commented. "Butler, mate. I'm the butler," Alfred corrected, reloading his handgun.

~~~~~~~~~~

Holly, Bruce, and Selina had been running for what felt like forever, and they finally stopped to catch their breath. To them, it felt like they just finished running the 5k, but unfortunately, they weren't out of the woods yet, both figuratively and literally. Holly reached into her jeans pocket for her inhaler and took a puff. As she felt it kick in, and her heartbeat calmed down, she looked up to see Selina was a tad concerned. "I'm good," Holly assured. After another minute or two, they continued on their way, Holly still kept an ear out just in case the assassins were coming back.

"We need to call Alfred," Bruce's worries only continued to grow as they walked through the field. "You see any phones around here?" Selina asked sarcastically. "No. Perhaps we should go back to my house. If the police are there, we'll know it's safe," Bruce suggested. "My dad must've gotten word by now. Maybe he's looking for us," Holly reasoned. "Yeah, right. The police will make it safe?" Selina retorted. "We have to contact them at some point. Someone tried to kill you," Holly said.

"Me? Nobody knew I was there. It's Bruce's house. Someone obviously wants to kill him," Selina shook her head. They walked out of the vast field, finally reaching the midtown bridge. "Why would anyone want to kill me?" Bruce questioned. "Must be all that lame detective work you're doing. Paid off good, huh?" Selina answered. They approached the Gotham River, looking out to the other end at the smog and tall buildings rising out of the ground. Dad will find us soon. We just have to stay together and close to the GCPD.

Bruce's face fell the more he glanced out at the water. He had never been this far away from Alfred, and part of him started to fear that maybe he was critically wounded and fighting for his life. But he was pulled out of his fears when he felt Holly's gentle hand on his shoulder. "Cheer up, we're cool. We lost them," Selina took notice. "I'm just worried, that's all," Bruce admitted. "Relax. Once I got you both safely hidden in the city, I'll find you a phone," Selina promised.

"Thank you, I appreciate your help," Bruce started to smile. "Thanks, Cat," Holly nodded with the same amount of appreciation. "Hey, just trying to be nice," Selina shrugged before they walked up the hill to the bridge and back into the city.