She was never alone. Selina was reminded too vividly of that fact as she stripped away blood-soaked bandages in the solitude of her latest apartment. Cats mewled about her feet, each meowing because of their concern for her, but they were not her only companions. Batman had left her too near to death for comfort as he had chased after the villains that had attacked Gotham, making it far too clear to Selina where his true priorities lay.

She had barely been able to walk, but her cats had come for her as always. Two tigers had supported her back to the building while the other big cats, lions, jaguars, and even a black panther, had kept the other denizens of Gotham who thought her weak enough to attack far at bay. She had not been supposed to be aware of their battles in the war-torn city on their way home, but she had. She had known every time her babies had struck and every time they had been struck and hated Bruce Wayne more with every time one of her furchildren was touched.

He shouldn't have left her, but he always left her. He left her in restaurants and theaters when Gotham needed her but they were supposed to be on dates. He left her alone on buildings when he didn't like what she had to say or didn't want to be bothered with her for some other reason. He left her behind bars far too often and easily.

She growled as she let the bandages fall to the floor. An ocelot held a bottle of peroxide out to her, its white cap clenched in her dangerous teeth. Selina thanked her baby and set to applying the medicine while still trying to ignore the others around her. She would never ignore her babies, but as many as were alive around her, there were still other beings hovering nearby.

She saw the shadows every time she felt herself to be alone. They flickered in and out of her vision, reminding her she never walked alone. Her parents were there, caring for her more than death, ironically enough, than they ever had in life. Her parents could get fucked, but there were others there who called to her far more greatly. Her mentors, other girls she had known her age, younger girls whom she had failed to protect, her babies who had died and gone on before her . . . They were all there, always there, lurking just off in the shadows and waiting for death to come and take her to join them.

She ached sometimes to be with them, especially the precious felines whom she had lost, but it wasn't happening yet. "Not tonight." Her babies mewed. A lion roared. Selina downed the whiskey Onyx brought her and rebandaged herself yet again. Then she laid in bed with her babies pressed all around her, all their glowing, green eyes intently watching the shadows until they fled again with the morning sun.

The End