If there was one thing which Selina Kyle could not stand. One thing which she literally could not abide, it was sloppy theft.
She had spent years honing her craft to the skill level it was currently at and she expected others to put in at least a little effort. The caliber of the criminals in Gotham rarely rose above the classic smash-and-grab mentality of the truly stupid and she watched with a deep frown as that exact scenario played out on the street below her.
Three men were currently attempting to smash in the side window of one of the cars which had been parked in the darkened side-street and their efforts were being met with very little luck. Her bored gaze soon turned into a fierce grimace when the alarm of the car started to wail loudly as it detected the brutality it was being subjected to.
This won't do at all, she shook her head in annoyance as she dropped silently to the ground from behind the trio.
Using the darkness to her advantage, she slid up behind the tallest of the three, the one who was currently surveying his friend attempt to smash the window, and leaned in close before whispering, "Aww boys, didn't you know stealing cars was a crime?"
Gasping in surprise, the trio whirled around and their collective eyes widened as they took in the sight of Selina in her full Catwoman costume. As their mouths fell open, a look of mistrust entered their faces.
"Are you boys going to save me a lot of hassle and just leave this poor car alone? Or do we need to do this the hard way?" Truth be told, Selina was not very bothered by the attempted theft but they had interrupted her quiet time and that couldn't be ignored. Plus she was a little bored.
At her questions, the tallest man paused for a moment to ensure that the others were willing to back him up before he replied, "Get out of here, Cat, this is our score. Plus there's three of us and only one of you."
"I'll take that as a no then." Selina simpered as she ducked swiftly to avoid the sudden punch which the leader had thrown her way. Deciding to toy with him a little, she continued to anticipate and dodge his blows which keeping a vague eye on his two companions.
One of the companions pulled a chain from his pocket and swung it towards her head with a fairly accurate aim. A small well-timed flick of her hand allowed Selina to grab the chain in mid-air and she pulled at it sharply causing the man to fall forward on to his stomach. Jumping into the air, she brought her foot down on the back of his neck with enough pressure to knock him unconscious.
Directing her attention back to the leader, she kicked his shin hard enough to force him to also drop to the ground. A little bored with how easy this beat down had turned out, she prepared to jump on him and knock him out in a similar fashion to his friend but a loud crack and a sharp pain in her forearm caused her to hiss and pull away.
While she had been distracted, the third man had been able to free the gun he apparently had hidden on his body and get a sneaky shot at her.
Now officially pissed off, Selina charged at the man before he could get another shot off.
Grabbing the front of his face with her open hand, she slammed his head against the back window and the man squealed as his head went straight through as he was forced through the reinforced glass. Kicking the dropped gun away, she punched him in the jaw for good measure before returning to the leader and repeating the motion.
Panting heavily, it took her a few moments to realise that the car alarm had switched itself off and she was now standing alone in the almost silent alley with the only sound being the faint gurgling of one of the unconscious men.
She was immediately brought to her full senses by a stinging pain.
"Shit," she mumbled as she watched the small drops of blood continue to fall from her arm wound, "goddamn it Selina!" Chastising herself in a low voice, she quickly scaled one of the nearby walls in order to keep herself out of any further harm should anyone possibly discover her.
High ground was always the safer ground.
Inspecting the wound she was pleased to see that the bullet had not entered her arm but had only grazed it. The cut was about four inches long and was deep enough to cause her a little worry.
She cast her thoughts to her surroundings and whom would be close enough to help her. She could drop in on Bruce but she suspected he may have a romantic engagement tonight. Eddie had made it clear that unscheduled visits were no longer very acceptable since he was attempting to play by the rules.
That left her with one very obvious solution.
Grasping onto a nearby statue with the hand of her non-injured arm, she swung herself to the nearby ledge and started her short journey.
x-x-x-x-x
Sliding into the open window, Selina was mildly concerned about how easy entering this particular apartment had been. She may have to have a small word with the occupants about that oversight. Her concern lasted for another second before she felt something secure itself onto her leg and the world beneath her disappear as she was hoisted upside down as vines wound themselves around her legs and arms.
She winced slightly as one vine slid past her open wound but the wince soon became a loud gasp as it tightened over it to hold her in place. Opening her mouth to call for the homes occupants, she was cut off as the lights of the room burst to life as a pair of figures appeared in the doorway.
"Selina?" "Kitty!" A pair of voices called out and Selina found herself being slowly released and placed gently on the floor as the outlines of Ivy and Harley came closer and became visible. Harley was wearing a red cotton nightshirt while Ivy was wearing a matching one in sheer green.
"Is that any way to say hello to an old friend, Ivy?" Selina called out with false irritation in her tone, "And here I was coming to see how you both were doing."
"My apologies for my babies," Ivy crooned as she stroked one of the offending vines while Harley bent down to give Selina a bone-crushing hug, "but they have been trained to treat everyone who bursts through the window as a threat. Was the door broken?" Ivy smiled as she locked eyes with Selina. Sniffing slightly, Ivy's attention was drawn to the still-bleeding gash on Selina's arm, "You're bleeding, what happened?"
The question was thrown over her shoulder as Ivy disappeared into the kitchen to find one of her healing ointments which she kept stowed away in the fridge.
"Street punks," Selina confessed as she allowed Harley to inspect the wound more closely before the blonde ran to the bathroom, "one of them had a gun and he got a lucky shot off."
"Poor Kitty!" Harley pouted in sympathy as she returned and dabbed at the cut with a wet cloth to clean it out, "I bet ya kicked their sorry asses though?" She added with a wink.
"You know I did Harley," Selina confirmed with a matching wink. She glanced back to Ivy as she re-entered the room with a small jar full of something which vaguely resembled a light-coloured swamp mud.
Ivy seated herself on the couch directly beside Selina and delicately opened the jar to ensure that none of it spilled.
The room was soon perfumed with an added layer of earthiness which caused Selina's nose to tickle but she brushed the feeling off as Ivy applied a light coating of the mud-like substance to her open cut.
The result was almost instant as Selina felt the stinging vanish and the flow of blood dramatically cease. This particular cream was a specialty of Ivy's but it was something which she was very secretive about and she had only used it a small handful of times to stop bleeding or prevent excess scarring.
In fact, Selina doubted that anyone aside from herself or Harley had ever seen the benefit of it and she was always amazed by how potent the mixture was. By tomorrow morning her wound would be complete healed with not a trace of it having ever existed.
Placing the pot on a nearby stand, Ivy raised her eyebrows, "So it took you getting shot to force you to come and see us? I feel used."
"Aww Red! Don't be mean. I'm sure Selina has a good reason for disappearin' on us." Harley swatted Selina's shoulder lightly as she waited for an answer.
Taking a deep breath, Selina knew she had some explaining to do. "I've been away training with Wildcat for the last few weeks. I'm sorry I didn't tell you but it was a impulsive decision but I should have given you the heads up."
"It's okay," Harley nodded, "It's just a bit weird that we didn't hear from ya at all. Us girls gotta stick together and we was worried for ya!"
"Harley was all gung-ho to start a search party but I talked her out of it." Ivy added haughtily.
Selina was barely able to stop her eye-roll as she answered sincerely, "Thanks Ivy."
"We need to celebrate!" Harley clapped her hands together as she eyed up the pair, "Pammy and I missed ya Kitty so we need to have a day together before ya go disappearing again."
"Sounds good to me Harley," Selina agreed, "How about a spa day tomorrow? I don't know about you two but I could do with a good pampering." She purred.
"Ya up for it Red?" Jumping from her seated position, Harley leaned down towards Ivy's face and batted her eyelashes earnestly.
Smiling fondly at the blonde, Ivy nodded her consent.
"Yay!" Harley squealed with happiness as she pulled Ivy to her feet. Turning to face Selina again, she grabbed her hand too in her excitement.
"Where are you going to sleep tonight Lina?" Ivy asked as she stroked Harley's hand, "The couch is free."
"The couch?" Selina exclaimed indignantly but her eyes were filled with mischief, "What happened to my part of the bed? Has it shrunk in my absence?"
"That bed is not for bad cats who disappear without telling people where they are going," Ivy matched the mischievous eyes with her own, "It's this or we get you chipped."
"Try it Pam and we'll see what happens. Ever seen a cat scratch up a tree?" Selina threatened with no real fire.
Throwing back her head as she laughed heartily, Ivy had to concede that she missed her back and forth sparring with Selina while she was gone. "Well if you're going to be like that then I suppose that we could make a space for you. Goodnight Lina."
"Night Pam. Night Harls. If I come through then I will be through soon, otherwise I might just crash here."
"Night Kitty." Harley gave her one final hug before disappearing into the bedroom she shared with Ivy and leaving Selina to her thoughts.
It was a bit of an odd situation but Selina was pleased with the arrangement she had with the pair.
Harley and Ivy had officially been together for almost five years and their time together had been tumultuous to say the least but things had become much calmer since the demise of the Joker a year after they officially declared themselves a couple.
Reports of how exactly the bastard had met his end were varying and even the Batman was quite short with details when Selina had asked him but his death appeared to have been genuine. Gotham was still a mess but his lack of presence was definitely felt. She was aware that while the Joker was alive Ivy had existed with a constant mild dread that Harley would give in to his temptations and leave her, a confession which Selina had actually become privy to one evening when Ivy had consumed a little too much wine, but it never came to pass.
Her own relationship with the duo was something which she did truly care about. Previous to their official relationship and while they lived together in the home she bought with Hush's money, she had spent more than one night wedged between Harley and Ivy. Sometimes there was sex involved and sometimes there wasn't but they had a comfortable arrangement with no long-term attachments on her part aside from a genuine care for the well-being of both of the other women, a care which she knew they reciprocated.
But those living arrangements had soon come to an end and they had went their separate ways, leaving her to assume that their time together had a come to an end. An assumption which had quickly been strengthened after Harley and Ivy had announced they were together permanently as a couple. So her surprise when she next met with them and they confessed that they both had no issue with her being a part of their relationship came as a very real shock. She had been content to allow them their happiness but to know that they still wanted her around without the need for a commitment was more than she could possibly ask for.
She was in and out of their lives and they did not hold it against her. They also did not hold her on-off entanglements with the Bat against her that much, there was too much history there for them to ignore. When things got rough or she needed a place to lay low, they were always her first port of call and she repaid their help by assisting their various plots or gifting them with some very rare, very stolen items. Even when she argued with Pam or was irritated by Harley it was never anything which could not be sorted by apology or gift.
It was one of the few things in her life which was a source of comfort when she needed it.
It was nice.
She had been worried that they would be angry with her recent complete absence from Gotham though. When she traveled she usually gave them a quick message to let them know she would be out of contact but she had made an honest mistake and forgotten. However, they had seemed pleased to see her so she supposed that she couldn't have messed up too bad.
Groaning a little as she stretched her healing arm without disturbing it, Selina used the couch to also stretch out her lower back until she heard a satisfying popping noise.
Standing, she followed the path with Harley and Ivy had made as she approached their bedroom. Peeking her head inside she snorted softly to see that both women were already fully sleep with Harley acting as the little spoon with Ivy's hair covering their shoulders like a red velvet blanket.
A sigh of content escaped her lips and she slid into the huge, soft bed to the other side of Harley. Keeping her damaged arm on top of the duvet she felt Harley flinch slightly as her cold feet came into contact with her legs.
Without allowing her laugh to escape her, Selina giggled lightly as she settled into the welcoming comfort.
She barely had time to contemplate their planned day out tomorrow before the exhaustion of her night caught up with her and she fell straight asleep.