Metropolis

"Here ya are, Miss, the Daily Planet," the cabbie said turning to me. "You want me to wait for you?"

"No," I said, brushing my bangs away for the millionth time. "I might be awhile." He extended a grubby hand for the money I owed him. "Thank you," I said as I paid him and stepped out of the cab. Out in the open I feel vulnerable, exposed. Everything in this city is so open. No dark alleys, gothic buildings hidden in shadow, nowhere to hide. I don't waste time getting inside the building.

My name is Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman to a select group in my home town of Gotham. Once, I was the most powerful woman in that city. I held the heart of Gotham's dark defender, Batman. Who I recently found out is Bruce Wayne, but you didn't hear that from me. Now, I'm an emotional wreck, although I'd never actually admit that to anyone. Okay, maybe emotional wreck is a bit of an exaggeration.

Anyway, things didn't work out. Partly, because Bruce has trust issues and partly, because I was afraid of what might happen if… Well, that's why I'm here in Metropolis, to see a woman who knows a whole lot more about being in love with a superhero than I do. Lois Lane.

As I enter the newsroom I'm nearly bowled over by a copper-haired kid as he rushes past me.

"Oops, sorry miss," he apologized as he heads towards the stairs. So that must be the infamous Jimmy Olsen. I brush it off, I have more important things to worry about than a kid who isn't watching where he's going. Lois isn't hard to find, I just have to follow the sound of her voice as she bounces ideas off of her husband. And she calls him Smallville, isn't that adorable. In a gross, mushy, that-is-so-romantic-I-want-to-gag sort of way. And people wonder why I still call Bruce Bat-breath.

"Excuse me, Ms. Lane, my name is Selina Kyle," I interrupt. Lois looks up at me and out of the corner of my eye I see Kent's head pop up on the other side of the cubicle. "I'm not sure you remember me, but I'm a friend of Bruce Wayne's." Fact is, I doubt that she would forget me after I held her hostage on top of a flag pole. But that was Catwoman, and I'm not about to admit to that identity in a roomful of journalists.

"Um, yeah, look Ms. Kyle, you've caught me at a really bad time. I have a deadline to make and I've still got a lot get down." Well gee, I never would have guessed.

"I understand, I was just wondering if we could get together for lunch or something so we can discuss Bruce's…" I have to choose my words carefully, luckily I scripted this speech on the way here, "… uh, nocturnal escapades," I finish. Lois' eyebrow raises just a tad.

"Ms. Kyle, I'm afraid you have my wife confused with a gossip columnist," Kent interjects. I sigh.

"Who says I'm talking about his love life?" I say softly. And Lois understands, although the Kansas farmboy is a little slow on the uptake. "Here's the name and number of my hotel, and my cell phone in case I'm out and about. I should be in Metropolis for a couple of days, so give me a call when you have more time."

"I'll be sure to do that Selina," Lois replied. Good, she was curios; I wouldn't have to wait long.

"Lois, did she just say what I think she said?" I hear Kent ask.

"Yep Smallville, she just did," follows me out the door. Another sigh escapes me, if thigs had worked out, would Bruce and I have had what those two do?

* * *

Lois and I decided to have coffee in my hotel room so that we could talk in relative freedom. It was rather awkward at first. Lois didn't want to outright ask about Bruce and I wasn't sure how to bring up what I'd really asked her here to talk about. But, as is often the case in such situations, the direct route proved the best.

"I know who Superman is," I said. Startled, Lois looked up from the coffee cup she had feigned being absorbed in.

"How?" she asked, turning dead-white.

"I'm not stupid and I happen to know a few things about the habits of caped crusaders. It wasn't very hard for me to put the pieces together," I paused. "I'm not here to threaten you or blackmail you. I just need your advice, if you're willing to give it," I took a deep breath, wondering if I really knew what I was getting myself into.

"Let me guess, you want to know how I deal with Clark always having to run off and save the world."

"Actually, no, that's not it at all." I choose my words carefully, I'm not used to sharing my personal information with an almost complete stranger. "Bruce and I are in the same line of work, so to speak. Awhile back, I'm sure Flyboy told you about the 'Hush' incident, Bruce and I started to get involved. Things started getting serious but…"

"Let me guess, Bruce didn't trust you, right?" I'd say she's sharp, but anyone who knows Bruce's, knows that he has trust issues.

"That was part of it. But the thing is, I'm not sure I trust myself." There you go, all the cards are on the table. "How do you do it? How do you go through each day knowing that if something ever happened to you, if there was ever a time he was too late to save you…"

"If he ever lost you to one of those madmen he fights so often," she cut in, her eyes boring into mine, "he would lose it?"

"I know Bruce," I continued. "When he found Thomas Elliot's body, he almost killed The Joker. Yes, Elliot had just been shot, and yes, Joker had a gun. But he almost killed him over he hadn't seen since he was a child. The only reason that perverted clown is still alive is because Gordon was in the right place at the right time, and was able to reason with him. If it were my body Bruce found Joker standing over, I don't think anyone would be able to stop him." I'm tempted to tell her more, to say that I already know that it will happen and I already know he'll lose it. But I don't, she doesn't need to know that.

"The thought has entered my head over the years," Lois began. "You just have to trust that he's better than that. You have to trust that he will do the right thing." She looked at me, letting what she had said sink in before she changed the topic. "Selina, you have got to tell me how you got Bruce to admit that he was Batman."

"Well, actually it was Batman that admitted he was Bruce," I conceded, realizing too late that my fate was sealed. Lois got a glint in her eye that I strongly suspected meant I'd be stuck with her until she had the whole story.

"Details my friend, I need details."

"Just as soon as I get a written agreement saying everything I say here is off the record," I replied with a grin. Lois rolled her eyes. "Get comfortable, it's a long story."

The story turned out to be longer than I thought it would, and then it morphed into another story and before we knew it Lois and I were trading tales about the various masked persons we knew. I don't remember how late it was when she finally decided she had to go.

"Selina, I have one last question for you," she said as she stood to go.

"As long as it doesn't require an answer more than five minutes long, I don't mind."

"If Bruce had to choose between saving you and saving Gotham, which choice would you want him to make?" I paused, my hand resting on the cool metal of the doorknob. Her question pulsed in my brain and for a moment I didn't know how to answer, but as I slowly turned to face her I knew in my heart what my own choice would be.

"I'd claw his eyes out if he chose me over my city," I replied.

"Make sure he knows that," Lois said as she left the room. "Oh, by the way, the Planet is running a very interesting article on the cat's eye diamond exhibit in the Metro Museum tomorrow. You might want to read it." I'd known that she would reach that conclusion, she's too smart not to put the pieces together.

* * *

Gotham's East End

Two nights later

Cats do NOT like the cold. When it's cold cats prefer to be curled up on top of a heater or in front of a fireplace. But, unfortunately for this cat, it's winter, and winter in Gotham is cold. Tonight started out as one of the coldest the city has seen all season. And that was before the rain. Cats hate rain too.

Luckily for me the, East End kept me busy enough that I could push the cold to the back of my mind. First, there was a robbery at some pawn shop. Then, there was a mugging two blocks over. You know, run of the mill stuff, nothing special. Things would be slowing down even more once we hit the holidays. Anyways, after that Oracle sent me to break up a drug deal that was going down. That went well, until one of the thugs landed a blow to my knee. I still managed to take care of them, but knew I would feel it in the morning.

Now I'm headed home, cold, wet, and miserable. Could be worse though. Nope, not a bad night at all. I let myself go into auto drive, staying just aware enough of my surroundings that I wouldn't end up plunging to my death. Can't wait to get out of uniform, at some point and time I managed to get water in my suit. I noted something coming at me out of the corner of my eye. I start to react but I'm too late, my assailant has me pinned beneath them before I can do anything else.

"You idiot, you'll ruin everything," she screeches. I know that voice.

"Shadow Cat," I say. She's dangerous, but up until this point I thought she was on my side.

"I came to tell you so you would change things. I thought you were strong enough to stay away from him." She ended up on her back after that little speech.

"I did what you told me, I drove him away. But it's kind of hard to avoid him completely in his city," I shouted back.

"You were too weak. Went running back to him the instant he said he was sorry," she said, lunging at me. "I thought you would be able to do it. But I know you, and I should have known better. The only way to change things is to eliminate you."

"Not a chance sister," I said, though I didn't entirely believe it. She was good, very good. Almost seemed to know exactly how I would react to everything she threw at me. "What," I began, dodging away, "makes you think that your killing me will produce a different reaction than Joker killing me."

"You're not his wife yet," she said, pausing. That was all I needed. I was up and over her head before she knew what was happening. I was aiming for the edge of the roof, ready to use my momentum to carry me to the next building. But I landed wrong and my bad knee, which had taken a thorough beating during my fight with Shadow Cat, gave out. Next thing I knew I was hurtling towards the pavement from ten stories up, with nothing to grab onto. Can my day get any worse?

"Don't worry, I've got you." Grre-at, Bat-breath, nope doesn't get any worse than this.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in a tone that was little hard considering that he had probably just saved my life. Of course, he was the reason I in this mess in the first place….

"Oracle said something about you hurting your knee during drug bust. I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd make sure you got home alright. I'm glad I did," he said as we lighted on a nearby rooftop. "A note for future reference, if you're hurt and don't want anyone snooping, don't tell Oracle 'you're fine'. She gets concerned." And of course he chooses one of the most embarrassing moments of my life to display his developing sense of humor. Stupid flying rat.

"I don't need you to baby-sit me," I said, my voice coated with as much acid as it would hold. He had me sitting down with my pant leg rolled up before I knew what was happening. "Bru-uce…" I began, but stopped, inhaling sharply as he examined my knee. I managed to keep from doing so again, but the fact that I'd quit protesting told him how much it hurt.

"I don't think anything is broken, but you should probably take time off to let it heal," he concluded.

"Would it stop you?" I retorted. Bruce looked up at me, silent. Not for the first time I wished that I could really see what he was thinking behind that mask.

"Let me get you home," was his only reply.

"I'll manage." Unfortunately, injuries that are easy to forget during the heat of a fight, scream at you afterwards.

"Humor me," he said as he caught me for the second time. If this didn't stop soon, it would become a habit. Actually, if I wasn't trying not to like the guy, his concern would be cute. I sighed.

"Fine, but don't get used to this. It won't happen again." He wisely kept quiet on the way to my place. Didn't matter though, by the time he had deposited me outside my room I was fuming and quite thoroughly embarrassed. I hate it when he does that to me. He helped me in the window and then over to the bed.

"You should get some ice on that," he said, turning to go. I could tell he didn't want to, and deep down I didn't want him to go either. "Selina," he began turning back to face me.

"Don't Bruce," I said at the same time. Of course, he never listens to me, but luckily he wouldn't have time to say anything else.

"Selina," Holly Robinson, my roommate, God bless her timing. "Selina, is that you?"

"Yeah, Holly, it's me," I replied. "Hey, could you get me some ice?" Her head popped into my room.

"Sure, be back in a sec." I turned to where Bruce had been, but I already knew he was gone. Probably a good thing. I sighed, I was going to have a heck of a time getting out of my outfit with only one good leg.

My profuse apologies to all DC comics fans everywhere. I know this stuff is SUPER out of character. It will only get worse. Okay, so it only gets slightly out of character for Bruce and Selina, I got a better handle on some of the other characters in this story. I think at this point (ages and ages ago) in my comic book studies I had read some Superman and the Batman Hush saga (AH-mazing, it was my favorite storyline until Heart of Hush came out). Anyways, the way that the Hush saga ended made me mad and as we all know, when I don't like how a book ends I want to fix it. This is the first part of my fix. This probably would never had seen the light of the day (well, my best friend and fellow Batman obsessor has read part of it), but I stumbled across it the other day and realized that while it might not exactly be true to the character's in every sense, it was pretty entertaining (to me at least) and I figured that if I enjoyed it and Kaji enjoyed it, then there is probably someone else out there who'll enjoys it.

I have tried to put a few touches in to brush it up (it is older writing) and make it a little truer to the current DCU. I think that the Daily Planet comment there at the end was orignally "an interesting article on cats"...Yeah, even I rolled my eyes at that one.

So, please read and review. And I'll try to get the next chapter typed up fast.