*And then Red told Rapunzel that she would never date him, but I could tell by certain physical actions and subtext there was an interest there,* BC's voice resonated directly in Bruce's mind, the AI's tone enthusiastic. *I'm telling you, Bruce, 'The Hood and the Wolf' has very interesting dynamics about sentient beings.*

  Bruce allowed himself a slight smirk as he stepped over a puddle that reeked of unknown substances. "Fascinating, BC. And here I thought my life was complicated."

  *Oh, you haven't seen anything yet. Wait until you hear what happens when...*

  The AI's commentary cut off abruptly as Bruce realized he'd walked into something—or rather, someone had walked into him. Multiple someones.

  They emerged from doorways and alleyways like shadows given form: children, ranging from barely ten years old to nearly adults, all wearing the hard expressions of those who'd grown up too fast. Their clothes were mismatched, but their ambush was practiced. Professional.

  At the center of the group stood a girl who couldn't have been more than fifteen, though everything about her posture screamed that she was trying to appear older. Dark hair framed sharp green eyes. She held a gun with disturbing steadiness. Bruce recognized her instantly, even in this universe.

  Selina Kyle.

  "Hey, mister," she said. "Hand over your money. Now."

  Bruce could have disarmed them all in seconds. The gun in Selina's small hands, the rusty knives clutched by the younger ones, the broken bottle held by a boy who couldn't have been older than twelve—none of it posed a real threat to someone with his training. But something made him pause.

  "So this is what you do?" he asked calmly, genuinely curious. "Rob strangers in the night?"

  One of the older boys, maybe seventeen with a face full of poorly healed scars, spat on the ground. "Yeah, the stupid ones who walk around here looking like you. Nice suit, fancy boots. I bet you never went without a meal in your whole life."

  "So hand it over," Selina added, though Bruce caught the slight tremor in her voice that the others probably missed.

  Bruce reached into his jacket pocket slowly, pulling out his wallet. "Here," he said, extending it toward her.

  Selina snatched it from his hand with lightning speed, her eyes never leaving his face. The group began to back away, their job apparently done, when the sound of slow, deliberate cpping echoed from the shadows.

  "Good job, Selina."

  The voice made every one of the gang members freeze. Bruce watched as their faces went from confident to terrified in an instant. From the darkness between two abandoned buildings stepped a man in his thirties, tall and lean with the kind of cruel smile that spoke of violence as entertainment.

  "Good, kitten," Mark continued, his tone mockingly affectionate. "You might just have what it takes to keep running with the Alley cats."

  "Thank you, Mark," Selina replied, and Bruce noted how small her voice had become, how she unconsciously stepped backward.

  Mark's attention shifted to Bruce, and those cold eyes appraised him like a butcher examining meat. "What's your name, stranger?"

  "Why should I tell you?" Bruce responded evenly.

  Mark's smile widened. "Simple." In one fluid motion, he grabbed the red-headed boy who'd been holding the broken bottle and pressed a gun to the child's temple. "Because if you don't, this happens. I kill him."

  The boy whimpered, tears starting to flow down dirt-stained cheeks.

  "Why would you do that?" Bruce asked, though he already knew the answer.

  "Because I can." Mark's finger moved to the trigger. "So every second you don't give me your name, I kill one of these little rats."

  Bruce saw Selina's face go pale. Her eyes darted between Mark and the crying boy, and he could see she'd witnessed this before.

  "Okay," Bruce said quietly. "My name is Bruce."

  Mark released the boy with a shove that sent him sprawling to the ground. "Good. Bruce." He stepped closer, studying Bruce's expensive clothes and confident posture. "I don't know who you are exactly, but the way you look, how easily you handed over that cash... I bet you've got more where that came from."

  The man's smile turned predatory. "So here's what's going to happen, Bruce. We're going to take you somewhere private. And then you're going to give me everything you have."