Title: "The Cat Gets The Bat"
Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The Cat finally gets the Bat.
Warnings: Het
Word Count: 2,746
Date Written: 25 February, 2012
Challenge: For a Batfic-contest LJ comm's biweekly competition
Award: None yet, but it should be going up for a vote this weekend at the Batfic-contest LJ comm!
Disclaimer: Bruce "Batman" Wayne, Selina "Catwoman" Kyle, Gotham City, and any other characters mentioned within are οΎ© & TM DC comics, not the author; are used without permission; and may not be used without permission. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Cats are known for many traits. Their beauty, pride, and elegance is noted by any one who looks upon them with open eyes and heart for even a few scant seconds. As many of them who are as fine walking the city streets alone are also good with families, and they can truly be a girl's best friend, far better than any diamond or man. One of their aspects of character has been spoken about for centuries; used in plays, books, and movies; and yet still, only those who really become close to them know how true those old sayings of a cat's patience are.
A cat's patience knows no end. Oh, she'll complain to any one who'll listen to her meows and show her impatience in the whippings of her tail or the strikes of her claws. Yet she'll still preserve her patience once she knows what she wants and where to get it. She'll find the hole of her prey and wait for hours on end or, on occasion, even days for the mouse to squeak out of hiding just so that she can grasp it in her claws and sink her teeth into its warm and wriggling flesh.
Those games of cat and mouse have been going for ages, longer than man has been writing tales even, but none has ever been like the one I am about to win within just the next few seconds. Instead of hours or days, I've waited for years to win this battle. I've had my rodent of choice in my teeth before, under my claws, under my body, and in my bed, but still, every time I've thought I've had him at last, he's found a way to buck me off and run off into the night.
Part of me keeps waiting for it to happen again this time. Every time some one coughs, whispers, or even sneezes around us right now, I'm expecting the Batsignal to light up the sky or some other disaster to happen and have the one I've chosen sweeping off and away from me again. I clutch his arm. We both know my claws are digging slightly into his flesh, but only I truly know the reason why. He thinks I'm just nervous, perhaps suspects I'm the one having second thoughts, but that's not the case. I'm not letting him get away from me this time.
It's happened too many times before, on more occasions and in more ways than I care to recall. He's used every excuse in the book to escape my clutches, but not this time. I'm not getting pushed aside today for any reason. If he goes somewhere, I'll follow him, and then I'll drag him back, by tooth or claw if necessary, to this spot where, for now, we belong. He's mine, and soon, the entire world will know it.
I feel like I have more eyes on me right now than ever before. It's probably really not the case. I've bound to have been gawked at by more people before several of the times he's dragged me off to Arkham. It's probably just the fact of who these people are that has my skin itching and my back riled. All of his sidekicks and his trusted butler, too, are just mere footsteps away. Plus, this place is packed with every hero and every newspaper columnist ever to walk or fly through Gotham.
He thinks I've got none of my own here, no backup to call upon, but he's wrong. He doesn't need to know he's wrong, I think, as the man before us begins to speak and my ruby red lips twist up into a wry grin. My family is here, hiding amongst his, lurking beneath the benches, sticking their tiny, furry faces out amongst the legs of his unsuspecting Gothamites. They're peeking through the windows and the doors, too, which are open because I insisted they be left wide open for the Spring breeze which is even now tugging at my long, white dress.
As I stand there, holding to his arm, gripping his flesh in my claws, I can't help but to think back over the years. I've had my eye on him for a long time, and we have been through all sorts of crazy adventures together, him chasing me as well as myself running after him. I've tasted the wonders of his flesh and listened to his heart pounding many nights and some days, as well. We've danced together throughout both disaster and ball rooms. We've saved the world and rescued innocent lives, and he's thrown me into jail so many times that we've both lost count.
I didn't think the great Bat detective would ever lose track of anything, but he has admitted to me that he can no longer recall the exact amount of times he's thrown me behind bars. I think it's really because he doesn't want to remember. He knows I've a good heart and soul, though we'll never agree on how best to save the innocents who deserve rescuing, and he'll never agree that my family deserves rescuing far ahead of most of his supposedly innocent humans. The law has stood between us for far too long, but it's never going to separate us again. I've finally come to his side, and he doesn't need to know that I still believe in my brand of justice. I'll pull him over to my way of thinking eventually, once I have him purrmanently in my claws where he belongs.
I gaze into his beautiful, baby blue eyes as he answers the man standing before us with a heavy, black book in his hands, and my heart skips a beat. I know he can hear my heart pounding; I hear his, too, beating in the same, powerful, and lovely rhythm as my own. We've beat together for years now, breathed together, too, and it's much more than just wanting him in my claws that's made me hold to the patience that the Saints are purported to have possessed. Any other woman, and any cat, too, would have given up after all these years, but not I. I tried to a few times, but every time I walked away from him, every time I faked my death to get him to stay out of my life, I found I could not stay away from him.
My claws finally release his flesh. My hands travel down his muscular arms and grasp his hands. Everything in the room is quiet except for my babies. I can hear them purring in their hiding places amongst the humans, and I realize that I, too, am purring. I'm purring, and there are tears in my green eyes. They are, however, for one of the extremely rare times in my history, tears of happiness. I've only cried, maybe, three times in my entire life from joy, and every time, he has been the reason those tears have sprung.
He cups my face in his hands. His touch has always been so warm, so comforting, and reassuring. I want more of it now as I always have before. I step closer to him, smiling through my tears, and my heart soars even higher as I notice the tears reflecting back to me in his own blue orbs. He'll never admit he's fighting tears, but he doesn't have to tell me for me to know. I know this man, both sides of him, and I have loved him almost ever since I first met him.
At that time, I thought he was the enemy, and he believed me to be his most trying foe. We played that game for years, trying to force ourselves to be the other's opponent, when in truth, though what we believed was completely different at the time, we both wanted the same thing. We have loved each other, I realize now, since that first moment our lips touched while we were battling. We've both yearned for this moment ever since, but so much has stood in our way - the law; our crazy, twisted lives; our different beliefs; the world. No more! I want to mew, and I see that declaration reflected in his misting eyes. We'll never let anything else stand between us again!
We have been meant to be together all this time, destined for one another since the moment we were born and brought into this reality whose world, though it can be so harsh at times and almost always was until we found each other, actually looks like a beautiful place when I gaze at it from his loving arms without handcuffs or ropes holding me back. It is beautiful, I realize. It's been made beautiful through the eyes of love, and it is ours for the taking!
We'll take it together from this day forward! We'll stop the thieves and killers. We'll free the enslaved and save the innocents. I'll help him to see that cats need our help worse than the humans, and when the time comes, I'll show him why my brand of vengeance is the right way for it doesn't let the enemy come back to kill some one else. I'll help him see the truth and be the rock he'll need in that time, holding him and supporting him through whatever else may come.
I used to be a thief myself, but those days are over. Although I'll still seek vengeance and right the wrongs cast upon my babies, I'll no longer steal anything again. I made him that promise a month ago when he asked me to come here to this place with him and say the words I am about to speak before the world. When I made that vow, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to keep to it, but now I know I will. I won't steal another item ever again for as long as I live. I've no further need of jewels, diamonds, necklaces, or any other kind of riches for I've the most wonderful treasure for which I could ever seek right here in my arms, the man who loves me waiting for me to love him back which, of course, I always have and forever will.
The man in black is speaking to me now. For a change, the man in dark clothing isn't a hero or a villain. He's a simple civilian, a friend of Bruce's. He's the man who married his parents, and now he's the man who shall marry us. "And do you, Selina Kyle, take this man, Bruce Wayne, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better and for worse, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 'till death do you part?"
"I do," I purr, smiling from ear to ear like the cat who just ate the canary in front of an entire church full of people. I have no appetite for bird nor mice. I want bat. I always have, and from this day forward, I shall never go hungry again! I shall have what I want and give to my beloved husband, and my darling babies, still all that they want! "And even after," I add, still purring, murmuring the words against Bruce's lips for he's already pulling me close, preparing to seal the most important deal of both of our lives.
"If there is any one who has a reason that this man and this woman should not live in holy matrimony from this day forward, let them come forward now or forever hold their peace." I hear a few of my babies hissing softly, as well as a few of my darling Bruce's friends murmuring. Some of them still wonder how he ever fell in love with me, but I know how. He saw my inner soul and fell in love with me for who I am, just as I saw beneath his valor and do gooderness to the real man within who, although that same courage and determination to do right is still a large portion of that man, is so much more wonderful than I ever would have guessed when I first wrapped my whip around his throat. The humans hush. They wouldn't dare speak aloud their complaints for they know that we both would rip into them - if there was even anything left to rip, after my babies were done.
The preacher smiles and shuts his book. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Happy applause and joyous meows fill the church. There's a few screams, too, as my Brucie's beloved Gothamites finally see my babies as they streak out from underneath the pews to come milling around our legs.
For the first time in our life together, Bruce doesn't immediately slip into his Batman persona to pay full attention to the screams. The people might as well not even be screaming right now for he certainly doesn't appear to hear them. He's too busy kissing me, and he has my full attention, as well, as I kiss him back, purring still deep in my throat, and curl my body around his muscular frame. We kiss long and deep as some of his friends rush out of the church and others try to regain the peace, but none of their screams or words penetrate our moment of bliss.
He pulls me up into his arms, and I go freely and happily. Still, he doesn't cease kissing me even as he sweeps me up. My fingers curl into the silken locks of his jet black hair, and I deepen our kiss as he starts running with me. He isn't going to let any one disturb our moment or our special day. He doesn't condemn me for having my cats come along. He understands at long last that they are as much my family as he is.
From a far distance, I hear his eldest sidekick calling to his butler to get the limousine. The screams have subsided; laughter reigns instead. Tires screech outside. Rice and catnip is being flung; it covers our skin, hair, and clothes. Still, Bruce doesn't look up. He keeps kissing me, and I return his kiss in full, my hands softly and lovingly caressing his handsome face and hair as we dash out of the church and into his limousine. People and cats alike are both running behind us.
Even now, I am aware of my babies and their presence. I know when two other doors are opened on the limousine, and they clamber inside just before we take off. They're safe, and their momma is the happiest I've ever been. I lean into my beloved husband, pushing him back in his leather seat, and my tongue dips into his mouth as I hear the window between butler and millionaire snap shut. No one sees us now, but it wouldn't matter if the whole world was still watching. I love my husband, both sides of him, the millionaire who was once, but never shall be again, a playboy and the dashing, heroic, and often vastly aggravating Batman, and as we ride away as Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Wayne, I show him how much I love him, purring deeply and kissing him like there is no tomorrow.
Yet now, for the first time in my life, I know there will always be a tomorrow. Our futures stretch a long, long way ahead of us, shining and sparkling with the brightness of our love that fills them and curling together, as do our bodies and our hearts, as we have been meant to do forever. "I love you, Bruce!" I purr in between kisses. "I love you, Batman!"
"I love you, Selina, Catwoman!" His hands are everywhere at once on my body and tangled in my hair, as are mine on his body. Our mouths crash together again, kissing again and again and pouring more passion and love into each kiss for our love does grow with every time we touch. As we kiss, celebrating the union of our hearts and souls from which we shall never try to run again, our hearts soar out of the limo, beyond the clouds, into the great beyond that's never looked brighter than it does right now as I curl into my husband's lap and we love each other with all that we are forever more.
The End