( IC CONTACT )

[fille_fatale]

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[fille_fatale]

Selina snorts, shaking her head. "Yeah, well not to me." The capes were definitely kept to a minimum in her memory. "What's the deal, then? Is he in with the cops?"

[bought_the_bank]

"I don't think so. But there's a signal they use that sits on top of Police Headquarters to get his attention. I hear nobody has access to it but Jim. It's been taken down a couple times but it always goes back up. It seems to cycle with the mayoral opinion."

[fille_fatale]

Jim. She's almost taken aback.

"Jim Gordon? What makes him so special?" She wouldn't be surprised to find he made his way back into the PD, but it's a big city, and a lot to learn."

[bought_the_bank]

"The same." At least in name. The man she knew likely bears little resemblance to Bruce's long time friend.

"He's Police Commissioner. Although I don't know for how much longer. He's thinking about retiring."

[fille_fatale]

The image drags a laugh out of her. Gordon was a young man the night the Waynes were murdered, and that...well, it does feel like a short lifetime ago. But the idea of Gordon retiring?

“Wow. Never thought this city would be clean enough for him to be a—“ she waves her hand, not entirely sure of the rankings and titles in the police department. “A captain, let alone the commissioner. And he made it long enough to retire?”

She whistles, shaking her head. “I’m kind of impressed.”

[bought_the_bank]

From what he gathers, Jim Gordon was a stand up kind of guy in her Gotham as well. It pleases him to hear it. He hopes it's a universal constant. "He was instrumental in cleaning up the department. He's got to be in his... seventies? Good man."

The declaration is similar in tone to his comments on Donald Sanders all those years ago, sincere and wholehearted.

[fille_fatale]

Everyone has their demons, especially in Gotham. Selina knows a little of Gordon's - she just didn't care that much, unless he was trying to get her into the system. Fortunately for him, though he tried harder than just about every cop she's ever dealt with, he was also a lot more willing to listen to a streetwise kid who claimed to see a few murders.

She recognizes his tone of voice. "You two are still friends?" It's not a surprise, really - but the idea is kind of...nice. He's not the kind to hold onto friendships easily.

[bought_the_bank]

Jim is probably the closest he'll ever come to having a normal friendship. There are things he hasn't said that Jim just knows and the trust between them is absolute.

He nods. "Have been ever since..."

Bringing himself to say it is still difficult on occassion.

[fille_fatale]

Selina just nods. The mean streak in her, the one that wants to say after your parents died, is quiet when her hackles aren't raised. Instead, she murmurs, "It's a whole new Gotham," and figures it's probably time to change the subject: this Gotham weirds her out, fascinates her at the same time, and she knows he won't like the idea of Gotham that she wants to settle into.

Crossing her legs, she lets her foot rest against his calf under the table. "Still just you and Alfie?"

[bought_the_bank]

It's just the sort of thing she used to do, the kind of contact she used to crave. Her foot against his calf. Her toes skating across the tops of his bare feet. Her nails on his thigh. A connection. A tease. A moment of happiness.

He almost pulls away but doesn't, not knowing yet if the gesture carries any meaning.

"Still just the two of us," he confirms. "If he knew you were back, I'm sure he'd send his greetings."

[fille_fatale]

"I bet." Five years ago, she had less than tender feelings for Alfred Pennyworth, which was very mutual, at least at the time. It was warranted, but had made knowing this Alfred all the stranger. Now, she's just trying to forget that past.

"You can say hi for me." Satisfied when he doesn't pull away, Selina just lets her foot press against him, maintaining the point of contact. She's always very much lived up to her nickname, reluctant to be touched but just fine with initiating contact.

"Kind of thought you'd have found a model to move in by now."

[bought_the_bank]

He smiles, amused by the thought. Maintaining a reputation as a ladies man has been ridiculously easy over the years but Selina was the closest he ever came to settling down. "I've never been interested in a trophy wife."

[fille_fatale]

“If I didn’t know you, I wouldn’t believe you.”

Obsessive research was always more his wheelhouse than hers, but it was impossible to totally avoid the celebrity obsessed news. “Papers call you a playboy.” She doesn’t try to stop the grin turnin her lips. If someone had asked her what she thought Bruce Wayne would be when she first met him, she’d never have come up with that.

[bought_the_bank]

His face is often plastered all over the local newspapers and trashy rags. But he's given them plenty of ammunition, playing up a fictional life style for the sake of the media. If he convinces them he's nothing but a spoiled rich boy with nothing on his brain but play time and sex, the truth is easier to hide. "That's not entirely true," he makes light of the title. "I'm also a businessman."

[fille_fatale]

He's not a boy anymore, but Selina knows how to wait for the best opportunity to rub something in. She rolls her eyes at him.

"Right. 'Billionaire businessman playboy, Bruce Wayne.'" The smirk settles on her lips like they were made to smirk at him. "So how long have you been keeping that front up?"

It's a bit of a gamble, she can't be sure, of course - it just doesn't feel right.

[bought_the_bank]

Her instincts are good. Plus she has the added knowledge of having known him as a kid. Or at least another version of him.

"All my adult life?"

[fille_fatale]

She indulges, first, in the satisfaction of being right. A moment later comes the rest.

"Why?"

[bought_the_bank]

The comfortable smile fades. He gives her a serious answer without diving into details. "Because I enjoy my privacy."

[fille_fatale]

Selina arches both eyebrows, slowly.

"So you created a very public image - that probably takes a lot of work to keep up - just to keep your privacy. Instead of just...keeping to yourself?"

[bought_the_bank]

"Journalists are like hungry dogs. You throw them a juicy steak and they're satisfied. If you ignore them, they follow you everywhere, hoping you'll drop a snack. I'm the wealthiest man in Gotham and my last name is Wayne. That makes keeping to myself nearly impossible."

So he's adopted a strategy that works.

[fille_fatale]

"Yikes." For all his money, Selina always felt like she had the more freedom between them: to come and go as she pleased, disappear when she liked.

Then again, the kind of people who follow her around tend to be a little more dangerous than paparazzi, so who can really say who has it better?

"You don't make being fabulously rich sound like much fun."

[bought_the_bank]

"It has its moments."

Money makes things happen. He did just buy a bank recently. That allowed him to place a deed into the hands of a woman he admires, to help repay a debt that can never be fully repaid. He'll never forget the look on her face, the joy and disbelief it brought to her simultaneously.

[fille_fatale]

A laugh leaves as a quiet exhale, and Selina quirks one corner of her mouth.

"Tell me." The part of her that would have hated hearing about this is still there, but it's quieter, less bothered by the idea of how he can throw his weight around.

It's still there, but she likes to think she has more self-control now.

[bought_the_bank]

He does tell her. But his public persona's idea of fun involves women, extreme sports, and exotic locations. His real idea of 'fun' is much quieter and far more philanthropic. They're small stories. Some of them revolving around the few, close relationships he maintains.

"Alfred and I still collect rare first editions," he tells her. "It's almost a competition now."

He recalls fondly running down the road to the mailbox with Alfred bringing up the rear in a more more dignified manner.

"I can remember when we gave Leslie the keys to the clinic."

[fille_fatale]

Of course they collect first editions. Selina smiles, and it's a touch sarcastic, laden with irony. The rich kid might have grown up, but he's not all that different. Besides, it's fitting.

The name gives her pause, though.

"Leslie?"