The Cat's Eye was a place for the rich, a place for the criminally involved, and a place where the forgotten tend to loiter. She asked Antonia and Colette to come along which they undoubtedly agreed. She hadn't seen Colette in forever so when the young woman showed up at the apartment door she didn't hesitate to give her a hug. "It's been so long, how are you?" Mar'i asked pulling away from her friend. Colette smiled, "I'm doing well, hopefully I can find myself a strapping man to take home with me." she winked.

     Mar'i playfully hit her in the shoulder; her friend was always looking for guys to bring home. The only one they were missing now was Antonia who was still upstairs getting changed. "Why exactly are we going to this VIP club anyways?" Colette asked leaning against the wall.

"An old friend of mine invited me so I extended the invitation to the both of you."

"This old friend wouldn't happen to be Damian Wayne, would it?"

"Yes. But before you say anything negative I am only going to see another old friend of mine, he told me that Melody works there."

     The familiar clicking of heels against hardwood distracted them from their conversation. They both looked to the side to see Antonia strutting towards them. Mar'i went to say something only for Antonia to speak, "I know I look gorgeous." she smiled and did a twirl letting the skirt of her blue dress fan out. Colette rolled her eyes and raised her arm tapping the clock on the wall behind her. "Time to go." she reminded them. A car was already outside parked at the curb waiting for them. The driver exited the car and rushed around to the front to open the door for them.

     They arrived an hour after the club opened and joined the back of the line to get inside. The three young women were only standing for a few minutes when one of the bouncers approached them. "Mar'i Grayson?" he asked voice gravely. She nodded, her two friends hidden slightly behind her.

"This way." He instructed unclasped the velvet rope and ushered them out of the line.

     The three of them followed the large bouncer down to the entrance of the club; Mar'i's eyes immediately honed in on Damian waiting by the doors with his two friends at his side. "Is this the woman you're looking for Mr. Wayne?" the bouncer asked. Damian ambled over to her and smirked down at her. Her friends muffled their laughter with their hands behind her, she could still hear them. "Thanks Tiny." he pulled out a fifty dollar and passed it to the large bouncer next to them who grunted in response. Damian held his arm out to her. "Do you trust me?" he asked.

"No." she replied sharply.

"Good. You shouldn't trust anyone." He smirked.

     Reluctantly she took his arm and let him lead her into the club. The music was blaring, people past them left and right, not to mention she had already seen several celebrities within the first few seconds of being inside. "I'm amazed you showed up Grayson." he leaned in close so she could hear him; chills ran down her spine when she felt his breath brush against her neck. She pulled her arm out from his and distanced herself to try and cover up the fact that she was nervous. "I only came to see Melody." She huffed.

     He rolled his eyes and tapped on one of the waitresses shoulders so she would turn around. The woman donned a pink dress and was holding a silver platter; Damian took two glasses of champagne off and gave the woman a wink. He held one of the glasses out to her; he actually looked like he was trying to be sincere. Mar'i didn't wish to be rude so she accepted the offer and took the glass from him. "Have you seen Toni and Colette?" she asked looking around now noticing that her dear friends had gone missing.

He snorted. "Kent and Wilkes are keeping them busy. I helped them perfect the art of seducing women."

"Yeah right, you, Damian Wayne seducing women? The last thing of you I remember was that you hated people."

"I am my father's son."

     The sound of someone tapping a microphone bellowed over the speakers making everyone turn in the direction of the stage. Mar'i stood there baffled when she saw her old friend donning a shimmering gold dress. "You told me she was stripper!" she snapped. He simply smirked and took a sip of the champagne. Mar'i found the young man to be quite infuriating; she wondered why she ever became friends with him in the first place. He was worse now than he was in the past when they were kids. "I did not say anything of the sort, I said she worked at a club." He corrected.

"Well you bloody well implied it!" she snarled.

     He rolled his eyes and instead finished off the rest of his champagne glass, as a waitress walked by he switched the empty glass out for a full one. Mar'i folded her arms and instead focused her attention on her old friend on the stage. "Welcome everyone to tonight's first act at the Cat's Eye!" she cheered. The crowd of people in the club roared with excitement, two thirds of these people were beyond intoxicated. "As your host and the owner of this fine establishment I present to you Lady Marquise." Melody presented motioning with her hand for the person to come out onto the stage.

     A darker woman swept onto the stage with the utmost elegance. Melody stepped off stage and back onto the main floor as the woman began to introduce herself to the crowd. "Is this Mar'i Grayson I'm seeing?" Melody exclaimed holding her arms out to her. The young woman smiled and accepted the near bone crushing hug that was given to her. Mar'i imagined Melody to be someone completely person than the woman she just saw up on stage.

     The music broke their moment of sheer happiness causing the two to pull away from one another. Over the past two days Mar'i had been receiving a plethora of hugs. "I heard that you own this place?" Mar'i asked trying to strike up a conversation. She hadn't seen Melody for more than fifteen years – it has been awhile and people changed over long periods of time. "Let's go to the loft, we can talk to each other without having to scream." Melody laughed.

     Mar'i nodded and followed her down a hallway and up a flight of stairs. The loft over looked the entire club below, dozens of people were dancing below them. "What's your poison?" Melody asked walking behind the small bar in the corner.

"Whiskey's fine with me."

"A party girl huh, I never knew models like you drank things like this."

"I've gone to a fair share of clubs, I know what to get."

     Mar'i sauntered over to the balcony and looked at the crowd below. She had never been to a club this full before. There was a round bar in the middle and the bartenders were getting slammed with drink orders. Her eyes scanned the crowds trying to find her friends; it was hard to do so with all of the people crammed into one small space. "I saw you in the crowd with Damian." Melody handed her-her drink and leaned against the balcony rail beside her.

     It was much easier to hear her now that they were away from most of the people. The woman's vocals from the stage was filtering up into the loft, she had a vintage taste to her singing. Mar'i enjoyed different, she was the ambassador for different. "Your eyes, they're not as green anymore." Melody commented, taking a sip of her glass of tequila.

"Eye contacts." She answered.

     Melody hummed in response to that. There was a comfortable silence between the two of them as they blankly stared out at the raging club below. "It's sad." Melody murmured against the rim of her tequila glass. Mar'i arched an eyebrow and watched as her face fell into a look of despair. "It's sad to watch him destroy himself like this." Melody sighed and took yet another sip from her drink. The young woman followed her gaze to see that she was locked onto the young man sitting at the bar alone.

     Damian was sitting there, drink in hand, and his scrunched up in a look of anger and disgust. She hadn't truly been around her old friends long enough to know where they stood in the world as a person. "He sits around all day, throws himself into fights with people as big as Tiny outside, and he screws any girl he can. He needs someone to love – like truly love but he's not willing to put himself out into that position of vulnerability." Melody said finishing off her glass of tequila.

     In her eyes he didn't seem like the type of person capable of loving anything let alone a person. Then again for the longest time her boyfriend seemed incapable of any other emotion than anger but he changed as time went on. The way Melody explained was like he had been stuck in this rut for a long time. It was unlike for her to care for someone like him but they were once friends, why she didn't know, but she felt the need to help him. "I mean don't get me wrong he's fearless, smart, and not to mention great in bed, but he needs help."

"You've slept with him?" Mar'i asked incredulously.

"Who hasn't? I've even seen your buddy Ms. Huxley slip out of his place once or twice." Melody snickered.

     Suddenly Mar'i saw her friend in a whole new light after hearing that from Melody. "So, I heard you're dating the serpent." Melody snorted. Everyone she's met in her life so far has never had a high opinion of her boyfriend. The man was a businessman. What was so wrong with dating a businessman? "He really has you –" Melody was cut short by the screams from the club below. They both looked over the balcony to see two guys in a fight at the bar, the woman standing next to her pinched the bridge of her nose and let out an annoyed sigh. "Damn it, not again." The blonde placed her empty glass down on the nearby table and hurried over to the staircase.

     She followed her downstairs and back into the main room towards the bar. Everyone seemed to move when they saw Melody heading their way, mostly because the look on her face screamed murder. A couple bouncers pushed through the crowd, one of them being Tiny, and pulled the two scrapping males apart. From what she could see one of the men was Damian, albeit his face was bloodied, she recognized him. Mostly she recognized him from the cocky smirk on his face.

     Besides the music blaring through the speakers the club was brought down to a murmur between the crowds. She stood on her tippy toes to try and see what else was happening before someone grabbed her by the back of her arm. Mar'i spun around to see Colette and Toni huddled up next to Damian's two friends. One redhead and the other ebony, both of them were tall. The dark haired male was probably as tall as Damian. "Where were you?" Toni asked with a giggle. Her two friends were obviously intoxicated, she had been to parties with them before and knew just how much alcohol they could put away in a small amount of time.

     The two strapping lads were practically holding the two women up. "Upstairs with a friend, do you need me to call you a taxi?" she asked, wearily glancing between the two young men. It wasn't that she didn't trust them – well, it was exactly that she didn't trust them. "Have you met Colin – look he has freckles all over his face." Colette fawned while poking the redhead's cheek.

"I promise you ma'am that we'll get your friends home safely."

"Yeah cross my heart and hope to die."

     Mar'i looked at the two of them to gauge their safety levels and whether her friends would be okay alone with them while intoxicated. A hand slapped down onto her shoulder causing her to jump in surprise. Melody laughed and held her fist out to the two young men who happily returned her fist bump. "I'd be more worried about what your friends are going to do to Colin and Jon then what you think they're going to do to them." Melody laughed. Mar'i crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at the two questionable people supporting her friends in front of her. "Relax Mar'i, Colin and Jon usually escort young and drunk ladies like your friends home safely so they don't get snatched up by some other sleazy creeps skulking about from here to their house." Melody reassured.

     For a moment she stood their considering her friends words. They just rekindled their friendship and she still didn't know if she could trust Melody or not. "Okay fine, but remember I have eyes everywhere and if I hear that anything happens to them," she stepped closer to them, "- I will be the last person you see before I drop your body into the harbour." She threatened. The two of them turned as white as a sheet of paper after hearing what she might do to them. "Do I make myself clear?" she growled.

"Yes." The two of them stammered.

     She watched them with a close and deadly eye as they led her friends through the crowd and towards the nearby exit. "What happened, I saw that one of them was Damian?" she asked after seeing her friends leave. Melody pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes and groaned, clearly it wasn't good. "Some guy grabbed one of my bartenders where he shouldn't have and Damian went off on him like a guard dog." Melody explained.

     As she explained what had happened the club slowly began to go back to normal. Chatter was picking up again and the speaker's volume slowly rose. "As much as I hate to do it I had to get Tiny to escort the two of them out. Do me a favour and make sure he isn't going home alone, he's just going to get drunk and start destroying things again." Melody asked to which the young woman nodded. From where she was she saw that he got beaten pretty badly, he needed to get fixed up. Damian however seemed more self-destructive than self-caring so she could only guess that he was going to leave himself wallowing in pain.

     He wasn't that far down the street from the club so she easily caught up with him. "Can I not get one second alone without seeing your smug face?" he snarled. She rolled her eyes and took his arm pulling it around her shoulders. He looked to be in pain and she knew her fair share of what pain felt like. The least she could do was support him while he walked. "I'm trying to help you okay? You don't have to be so ungrateful." She retorted. Damian didn't seem to want anyone's help with anything. "Where do you live?" she asked after a couple minutes of walking down the sidewalk in bitter silence.

     Damian stayed silent electing to ignore her. With her free hand she rummaged into pocket and pulled out her cell phone dialing her father's number. "What do you think you're doing?" Damian spat. It was late but her father was probably awake doing some work in the office he built for himself in the basement a few years back. It rang a few times before a tired voice answered. "You do realize it is nearing three in the morning right?" her father grumbled.

"Yeah I know but I need a favour."

"It better not have anything to do with me leaving the house."

"Do you by any chance have the address to Damian Wayne's current residence?"

     The startled noise that came from the other end almost made her break out into a fit of laughter. The young man leaning against her didn't seem all too pleased with her antics. "Why?" her father asked. She glanced up at Damian, who was glaring down at her, he was beyond furious by now. "Do you really want to know?" she asked. There was a moment of silence over the phone line; her father was actually considering pressing for answers. "No, actually I don't think I want to know so one address coming up." Her father decided.

     They arrived at Damian's place ten minutes later after her father gave her the correct address. His building wasn't too far away from the one she was staying in with Antonia. "You stay here and I'm just going to go find something to fix you up with." she murmured while gently setting him down on the sofa. This place was large even for a condo. It really proved that riches could get you anything. The view from the kitchen was absolutely breathtaking. "How long have you lived here?" she asked, snapping out of her daze and turning to the smooth wooden cabinets beside her.

     The only response she got was silence and the thrumming of the air conditioning from the vent above her head. "Do you have a job?" she asked, smiling when she found a clean cloth by the sink. He was still sitting on the sofa when she stepped back into the large living room. "I'm sorry." she apologized, taking a seat next to him on the sofa.

"For what?" he spat.

"For whatever I did to contribute you to turning into, well this." she motioned with her hand.

     He stayed silent, eyebrows knitted together in either frustration or troubled thinking, she couldn't tell which. Her touch was feather light when her fingers grazed his skin to gently turn his head so that he would look at her. "Melody told me you get into fights a lot." she noted, bringing the cloth up to dab at the blood around his mouth. The guy got a few good hits in she could see that much, luckily she didn't think he needed any stitches. "I don't fight because I want to; I fight because I have to. The man deserved it for harassing that lady." he admitted.

     Mar'i gave him one of the gentlest smiles he had ever seen. "So you're like some vigilante who goes around beating up cat callers and harassers?" she asked, tilting her head to the side and smiling. He grimaced; now she was making him sound like some sort of hero. Which he wasn't, Damian Wayne wasn't anyone's hero. He grinded his teeth down together when she brought the cold, damp cloth back to his face. There were a few more minutes of silence - awkward and tense, before she finished cleaning the blood from his face. "You'll need an ice pack for that bruise on your," she yawned, "- and I don't know what else he did but you might want to take some painkillers for later." she finished, stretching her arms out and yawning again.

     The city lights sparkle in her eyes if she turned her head ever so slightly. Mar'i stood up and brought the damp cloth back over to the sink in the kitchen. "It's late but I'm going to head back now and get some sleep while I can." she announced, washing her hands in the warm water.

"I was going to suggest that you stay, Gotham is dangerous at night, you're slightly inebriated, and I don't want to see your face plastered as a missing person on every news channel in the morning."

     She jumped when she heard his voice; he was standing behind her leaning against the kitchen island. "Maybe a little heads up next time when you decide to move around, you're as quiet as a mouse." she lectured, he rolled his eyes at her. Although his suggestion of staying for the night was kind, she had a boyfriend. From the things she's heard about him in the last few hours she didn't think this was just platonic. "As much as I'd like to I -

"Oh god, I didn't mean it in that way; the police commissioner's daughter and I? No way in hell." he spat.

     Mar'i was baffled that he knew exactly what she was leading up to. It was never going to happen. The two of them were so different; she couldn't imagine being his partner in life. Damian was a frustrating human being, not to mention rude, arrogant, and a tad spiteful. "You can have the couch, I wouldn't dare want you to get the wrong idea." He snickered and turned exiting the kitchen.

     The couch wasn't as uncomfortable as she thought it was going to be. Damian waltzed back into the room once she situated herself and chucked a few blankets and a pillow at her. "Thanks." She mumbled, pulling the blankets down from over her head. He was gone once she managed to untangle herself from the mess of blankets he had thrown at her. She lay on her side; out of the corner of her eye she could see the large windows behind the back of the couch.

     The glow from the city beyond the panes of glass illuminated the room quite nicely, not too dark not too bright. She yawned and fluffed her pillow, closing her eyes and settling into her makeshift bed. Mar'i didn't imagine coming back to Gotham only to be camping out on Damian Wayne's sofa the second day arriving back home. Home that word was so strange for her to say aloud let alone think.

     She was never in one place for too long. Of course her parents bought that nice house outside of Gotham in the suburbs once her mother graduated with her teaching degree but she didn't stay there all that often. She was in between living in Gotham, travelling with her mama, her friends, with Leo, and living in England. With her modelling she travelled quite a bit as well, she didn't really know what home meant.

     Owning a place for her seemed so farfetched. Truthfully she was independent but she the thought of living alone was well – lonely. Her boyfriend, he was great, but he was always travelling for his parents' business. The one he would be inheriting in the next few months or so. Mar'i knew he would never be home and soon he wouldn't have enough time for her, he barely had enough time for her now.

     A long sigh escaped her lips as she tried to cover up all of those thoughts with other memories. Her sixteenth birthday was a good one; she spent it in Hawaii with Colette and Toni. It was one of the happiest and saddest days of her life to date. The next thing she knew her eyes were flickering open and her sense of smell was overwhelmed by the aroma of French toast from the kitchen.

     The next thing she felt was her eyes burning like fire and acid. Last night was hectic and she forgot to take her eye contacts out. She hissed and closed her eyes, pressing the palms of her hands down onto them in hopes to ease the pain. "Damian where is your bloody washroom?" she yelled from the sofa. Everything was slightly blurred as she carefully made her way towards the kitchen.

     He was nothing but a watery blur to her at the moment; she needed to get these contacts out. "Down the hall and to the right." He said, she raced off down the nearby hallway before he could say anything else. Luckily he wasn't lying to her and the washroom actually was down the hall and to the right as instructed. She groaned when she could finally see herself again in the mirror. Her eyes were that same solid ethereal green, she hated it which was why she wore contacts.

     She leaned against the counter and blinked her sore eyes a few times before wiping them with the back of her hands. There was a knock at the door and before she knew it Damian had stepped inside of the washroom. "What are you doing? What if I was naked?" she exclaimed, horrified and covering her face with her hands.

"Then I guess I would have seen you naked."

     Damian rolled his eyes and folded his arms leaning back against the doorframe. Although he was silent she could sense him behind her. "So you'll lecture me about taking care of myself but you won't take out the one thing that could potentially blind you, well done." He applauded, albeit sarcastically. If she could she would've smacked him upside the head for that comment. It wasn't that taking care of herself wasn't important; it just wasn't as important as taking care of others. "Are you going to stop this pointless hiding and come eat?" he asked.

     It was a few seconds before she finally lowered her hands from her face. She could see him leaning against the doorframe behind her in the mirror. His expression stayed the same, pensive and slightly annoyed. Usually people reacted differently when they saw her eyes. "I'm spitting in your food." He decided turning and stepping back out of the washroom.

"You dare touch that plate of food and I'll throw you back in a jail cell!" she yelled.  

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A/N: A long chapter yeah I know I'm sorry about that. 

Skycrystal23 ;)