Prologue
An icy chill spread through Gotham City.
The imposing skyscrapers were covered in a layering of snow, like a child's building blocks left in the sand. The gutters, once clogged with the cities surplus garbage, were overflowing with melted ice and the rain that had recently passed.
A bus shelter not far from the city limits was sprinkled with this same snow, creating an uninvited chill for its inhabitants. A businessman sat under this shelter, nervously checking his Rolex for the time. The dingy light flickered above him and the man anxiously bounced his knee at the thought of darkness. Beside him, a fellow traveller sat, the rusted metal of the shelter seats groaning below his build.
The businessman turned to his new acquaintance, spouting mindless Smalltalk about the weather or the bus schedule, but the small light dimmed again before he could finish. As it returned, the traveller was turned towards the man, his bandaged face looked to the shining gun in his hand. His cruel eyes locked onto the businessman as he raised an index finger to his lips, saying only a single word.
Husssshhhh!
Chapter One
The cold wind whipped against Selina's neck, tickling her pale skin.
A few curly tendrils of hair stuck out from underneath her mask, falling over her emerald eyes. Selina Kyle was in the costume of her alter ego, Catwoman, the queen of crime in Gotham City. This charade was all she had ever known, taking whatever she didn't have and making it her own.
She had a fairytale start in life, an underdog style start.
Daddy never loved her, but Mommy did.
When Mommy died, Daddy took to hitting her and doing terrible things.
So she ran away, living on the streets and surviving by stealing.
The only problem was that this fairytale didn't have a happily ever after.
She didn't grow up to be a princess, singing with the birds and the deer in some far away castle. She was still stuck in Gotham, a thief, living with her painful memories.
Daddy stop it, please!
I'll be better in the future, I promise! Just please stop…
Selina shuddered, the memories of the past making a return.
Her hand brushed against the frosted glass, palms resting flat on the window. The glittering gold and silver of the jewellery store glistened in front of her, reflecting the pale moonlight. Her sharp claws traced a circle on the store window; a high-pitched screeching flooding her ears as the metal cut into the glass. A small disk of glass popped out of its place, but Selina only smiled to herself and kicked in the entire window.
"That'll get his attention," She muttered.
The store sirens went off, a loud alarm blaring as she stood through the frame, grabbing every necklace and ring in sight. She felt the cold silver of the necklace against her hand; it's large jewel knocking against her gloved wrist. Something reflected in the sapphire, a glint of light along its smooth surface.
Selina looked up into the foggy sky and sure enough, the oversized illustration of a bat was looking down on her.
"Well I guess I'll have to stall for time then, wow! Those police are really getting sloppy, I mean, that siren went off about five minutes ago." She laughed. "Silly Billy, talking to yourself again, it's the first sign of madness you know. Why am I even saying that, of course you know! You've been a few crayons short of a box for a while now!"
She carefully picked a few of the more beautiful jewellery, pocketing it into her costume.
A dark figure swooped above her, blocking the moonlight from her view. A shadow fell across her face as she turned to look at him, her large eyes peeking from below her eyelashes.
"Hey baby," she giggled with a wink, her voice lowering to address him.
Batman was staring down at her, his disapproving glare focused on the diamonds in her hands.
"Seems that you are back to your old tricks again, Selina, I was starting to think you had gotten out of the crime game."
"Oh I could never do that to you honey, these weekly break-ins are our only way of meeting up. It's all business with you, never any personal calls." She crooned, "And I resent you calling me Selina, you'd wouldn't like it if I started using first names with you would you, batty… although that would require you actually having a first name."
"I hardly think were up to that level in a relationship," Batman said, mocking her, " I think some dinner and a drink is the socially acceptable stage before knowing someone's secret identity"
Oh, but they were way past that level.
Sex, fighting and incarceration were much further up the scale then dinner and a drink.
"Okay, okay enough with the pleasantries, I don't know about you but I'm just itching for a good fight."
"Well, after a couple of weeks you do start to get withdrawals." Batman said, thrusting his first forward.
She ducked out of the way, his punch colliding with the wall behind her. He turned around as her leg flicked gracefully into the air, the heel of her leather boot just grazing his chin. Her thighs flipped over, cart wheeling her into the lonely city streets.
Catwoman grasped onto the rusty fire escape of a nearby building, the extra weight of the jewels slowing her down.
Batman followed her onto the rooftop of an unknown building, the stone square seemed alien to him but gave him a strange familiar sense. He didn't recognize his surroundings, yet had most definitely been there before.
It was chillier on the rooftop; cold breath surrounded her masked face as Selina stepped out from the shadows.
"You look confused, dear, now don't tell me you don't remember?" She said, her full lips forming a mock pout. "You're such a typical man, never remembering the little things. Don't worry, I almost didn't realise either, only once I was up here did I remember. I've robbed that store before, silly me, my memory must be fading."
"Well excuse my ignorance," Batman said, "Can you tell me what's so special about this roof, before I lock you back in jail."
Catwoman walked over to him, swinging her hips. Her hands traced the grooves on his chest, before planting them on his collarbones.
"This, babe, was the rooftop where we first made love."
Batman widened his eyes, suddenly noticing the surroundings. The left hand corner was where they lay, the vent right beside him was where her panties fell and the pot plant, now moved, had been smashed in a fit of passion.
As swift as that memory, the feelings came back. The pure lust he felt for her came flooding over him and he remembered what he had almost said afterwards, something that would have only complicated their relationship more.
"How bout we go for round two up here?" she murmured, her lips inching closer to his.
He groaned, almost accepting her invitation before pushing her away.
"We're done with that part of us, Selina, those feelings left when you did." He lied.
"Oh come now! You could cut the sexual tension in here with a knife!" She laughed, throwing her head back. "Stop being such a pussy, no pun intended. The only reason your even fucking attracted to me is because I'm one of your 'Bad Guys' so stop being all high and mighty and all 'this relationship is too complicated' and bang me already!"
"You're wrong." Batman growled, trying to contain the anger inside of him, "The reason I'm attracted to you is because your funny, beautiful and confident, the only thing I hate about you is that you're a thief, a liar and your too messed up to even be in a relationship. Despite the fact that this one is about as messed up as it gets."
He turned to leave, steeping towards the edge of the building.
"If I sleep with you, one of us is going to have to leave when the sun comes up. So call me a wimp or whatever you need to too make yourself feel better, but this city needs me and you don't, and I'll only get distracted if we go down that road again." He paused, looking at her as his foot dangled over the edge, regaining his composure. " You were right though, I missed you."
He smiled as he disappeared into the darkness below.
"Oh so you're just going to leave then! We were in the middle of a fight, what happened to the whole 'you are going to jail' business?" She screamed into the black abyss below her.
She turned away from the edge, pacing in anger at his rude departure.
Of course he left, everyone always does. Poor Selina, all alone with no one to love her, all alone forever.
The voice in her head was back.
The voice would say horrible things to her. She never saw anything, just heard it, a loud voice deafening her other senses. It had been in there for as long as she could remember, it was the only thing that had ever actually stayed with her. It was quiet at first, only popping up about twice a year, but it had become more frequent of late.
You know he was right; you are far too messed up to even be in a relationship. Daddy never loved you so now no man can, your psychological textbook you know.
"Shut up, just… shut the fuck up." Selina muttered to herself. She kept trying to silence the horrible voice, but she never had any luck.
She sat on the cold, stone rooftop, bringing her knees to her chest.
"Deep breaths," She thought to herself, "Try not to listen, just push it into the back of your mind."
She tried to get rid of it, forcing her slowly disintegrating mind to silence the words, but to no prevail. Her breaths began to shorten, her throat contracting with every puff of air.
His voice popped into her head.
"I missed you"
She placed her sweating forehead on her knees and began to cry.
"Now now darling, pretty girls like you should never have to shed a tear. Don't you know that the beautiful people get everything handed to them on a silver platter?"
Selena's eyes snapped open, her body tensing as she turned to face the new voice next to her.
A hand was placed in front of her, inviting her to stand. Attached to this hand was a stocky, yet muscled man, covered in a simple tan trench coat. Layers of bandages hid his young features, only exposing hard eyes and a twisted smile.
"H-How long were you standing there?" Selina asked, wiping away her tears with the impeccably embroidered handkerchief he had given her.
"Well I hate to admit that I was spying, as I wouldn't want that to be your first impression of me, but I was resting here long before you came."
Selina's cheeks blushed to a bright crimson, her hazel-eyes looking away from the mysterious stranger in shame.
"Now, don't be embarrassed. But I do have to say before anything else, that I have a little grudge against your lover, well more than a little I would really call it a vendetta or a desire to kill him, and from what I just heard it seems to me that maybe we have a common enemy." He cooed, his eyes twinkling kindly, "So instead of wallowing in self-pity and crying your beautiful eyes out, maybe you should considering joining me and extracting some revenge."
He placed out an inviting hand again, the same as he had before. She took it gently grasping the glove in her clawed fingers, and with a handshake their agreement was done.
"It has been a while since I've done anything other than petty theft," Selena considered, "But I don't even know who you are!"
"Oh, I'm Dr. Thomas…." He trailed off, "I believe real names aren't exactly smiled upon in this field, so… Selina is it?"
She nodded.
"Well, Selina, you can just call me… Hush."