Disclaimer: Own nothing
Summary: Selina Kyle has a knife. She inherited it from her adopted father Jim Gordon, he got it from Falcone, one of the former powers in Gotham. Now it was Selina's. She couldn't count the number of times it had saved her life during her time in Gotham.
My Old Man's Knife:
Two figures were bound together, connected by their joined wrists, above their heads, powerful ropes their captor. One of the figures, a muscled man swathed in black armor, cape falling down to above his ankles, head cloaked in a bat-shaped cowl. The other, behind him, female form clad in tight black leather, face covered with a mask capped with cat ears.
Naturally, this was a rather compromising position for them both, but not at all an unusual one.
"This is your fault, you know?" The woman bearing cat ears chuckled to the muscled figure, "If you had just let me take the diamond, we wouldn't be here right now. You always get so stuck up about these sorts of things." Selina Kyle Gordon gave a feral grin, knowing that he more than likely already knew she was wearing the haughty appearance-she was practically born with that grin on her face.
"Or you could have chosen not to commit robbery and breaking and entering." The now famous Batman of the city of Gotham ground out, rolling his eyes, "I didn't make you break in and steal a diamond."
"And you were going to break in anyway to lock up Penguin and his goons," Catwoman chuckled, "Always nitpicking. You were going to break in anyway so I decided to be a bit lucrative. So bite me."
The champion of the city breathed out, knowing that they had better things to do right now besides argue. Apparently, as usual, he and Cat were thinking along the same lines. "So all of your goodies in that tool belt were taken?" She asked, leaning back against her childhood companion. He nodded against her, "Unfortunately."
"Hmm," Cat purred out, "Not the most competent goon squad we have here. I still have my knife." Bruce raised his head, "I thought they took your switchblade. I saw them. It was hiding in your sleeve."
"Not that one," Selina said, dismissing the thought of the switchblade she had bore as protection since she was eleven, "That was the old one I used for intimidation whenever someone approached me on the streets. Before Gordon. I don't mean that knife. I mean the one Gordon gave me. I keep that in a safe place. It's under my foot. In my boot. Now listen. You need to listen to what happens. I've got the knife, so my rules right now till we escape, okay?"
Bruce felt a tug at his lips, "Yes ma'am." He braced himself, ready for action as his eyes scanned the room beneath his ebony mask, scouting out for any of Penguin's henchmen. "Alright then," Cat said, looking down at her legs, "If I can just….." Shifting her leg enough so that the back of her right boot against the warehouse floor, pushing it off her foot slowly. Just as her foot was almost out, she saw it. The knife. A switchblade, handle a grey-brown wood, concealing a long curved blade of steel. Selina grinned, relishing her old man's protection.
That switchblade that The Penguin's men had taken from her when tying her and Batman up had been valuable. She had relied on it for safety for fifteen years now. Stole it when she was eleven and whenever she was in a real bad neighborhood even for Gotham or there was a street punk that got too close, she'd just flip the blade up. But that knife had just been for physical protection. The switchblade her father had given to her, the knife Jim Gordon had given her that he had gotten from Falcone was special. That went beyond just physical protection, which she tended to value above all else.
Maneuvering the knife out of her boot with her right foot, she pushed it against her left foot, pressing both feet against it's side, scooping it up between them, bare foot against a leather boot.
"Okay, hero," She chuckled to the Dark Knight, "I'm going to flip up and grab the knife and cut our ropes. But you need to help push me up." A silent nod from her lover and sometimes ally and enemy (more often than not it wouldn't matter which they were, but lovers was always guaranteed) and Batman forced his legs still, leaning back. "Kick against my legs if you need to." He offered. "Right." Cat simply said, looking down at the knife. She spotted the silver lever right at the beginning of the hit. Pushing her right foot up and put pressure on it, hoping to all Hell the eventually springing blade didn't hit her bare foot.
A 'snapping' sound and a limb of gleaming silver emerged from its wooden and metal nest. Cat grinned, her feet tightening their grip around the weapon. Pushing back against Bruce's legs and jumping off, earning a grunt from the masked hero she flipped up, hands opening to receive the knife-their salvation. Her hands gripped the tip of the blade, her feet opening and she allowed herself to drop back to the floor, labored breaths heaving out, fingers wrapped knuckle-white around the knife's blade.
Twisting her hands so that the blade was reversed, hilt soon in her hands, she turned the knife towards their ropes. "Lover," She purred against the man that was her opposite and kindred in so many ways, "You owe me. Again. Honestly, I don't think the number of times you let me out of jail make up for the number of times I've saved your butt. Honestly, I think you'll love me even more after this."
Before the bat masked hero could respond, Catwoman slide the blade against the bindings thrice and then thrice more when there were only scratches. Gradually, as she kept slicing and as they tugged, there was a louder snap, louder than the knife's springs and their wrists were both free. Both pairs of black armored arms swung down, muscles exhausted, limbs nearly limp if not for years of training on both their parts.
Batman faced the door where he knew The Penguin's men stood, looking over their riches that they would soon pawn off if they could have their way. He heard shuffling and turned to see Selina pulling her boot back on, knife still in hand. She looked back at him, cat sculptured cowl cocked as she angled her head, humored look still on her face.
"What, handsome?" She chuckled, "You think I'm gonna help stop them? Nah, that's your gig for tonight. This isn't the Joker. Or the Riddler. We don't have to worry about these goons. They're not threat. You're on your own, lover."
Bruce let out a long, baited breath. He knew he shouldn't be disappointed or surprised in the least. Selina reserved her alliances with him for severe situations. Like if The Penguin was involved himself right now, or if the Joker or Riddler or the Mad Hatter or Two-Face were around. Never mind crooks like Poison Ivy and Scarecrow. Those two got into personal territories, didn't they?
"But," Catwoman said, lifting her head, smiling, "I want my stuff back as much as you do. So," she looked up and upon seeing the locked, glass container holding her whip and switchblade and Batman's utility belt, her smile widened, "Lets break that thing open." Without hesitation, sheathing the blade back into the hilt of the knife, stuffing it into her leather jacket pocket, and jumped over the steel railings between her and the stairs and bolted up. Almost soundlessly, Batman came up next to her in front of the glass container. In less than seconds, the case was open and Cat had taken her whip and switchblade out.
"It's been real, B." Cat said, backing away, "Unless you want to waste your time and arrest me too?"
She cocked her head again, amusement alight in her playful green eyes. Bruce remained stone-faced. Already, they both knew what his decision was going to be.
"Right." She smirked, "Another time, right? Promises, promises." With that, she bounded off up the next level of steel stairs towards the glass roof.
Batman shook his head, before turning back to the door, clenching his fists around his belt, readying himself, feeling his muscles start to strengthen again.
(Page break):
Catwoman glided through the air, landing hard in a kneeling position upon the next building's rooftop. She rose up, smirking over her shoulder at the warehouse where she heard gunshots flying. Her bat would be okay. He always was. People like him and her were always the people that were alright.
She turned and kept running. Looks like that knife had saved her again.
After almost an hour, she reached her family's building, climbing down the stone statues embedded in the building to the windows, entering. She saw Jim Gordon sitting at his desk, looking at bills-most likely.
Selina slipped in, siding up next to his desk, making the commissioner of Gotham jump, turning to her before his tense shoulders lowered. "Selina," Jim said, relieved, "Don't sneak up on me like that." Cat felt a smile form, "Please, pops. Who else besides me and Bats can get up here through the window without a helicopter? Don't get so worked up. You'll give yourself a heart attack." She added a widening of her smirk, much to his chagrin.
Scowling, Gordon waved a large calloused hand, "Have you eaten yet? Barbara made some food and it's leftover. There's some in the fridge if you want. Your room's still available."
Selina nodded, "Thanks, old man." She walked over, slapping an affectionate hand against his muscled arm and walked to the fridge. She heard him slump into his seat, letting out sounds of exhaustion. The cat burglar stifled more giggles. Having barely graduated from college due to boredom almost five years ago, the odd jobs she had earned and the high class jobs she had sneaked into along with her thievery kept her fairly well off even without both the wealthy Barbara Kean Gordon's and the authoritarian, protective Jim Gordon's hands to support her.
Reaching into the fridge, she retrieved a plate of uneaten burritos, wrapped in saran. Grabbing the nearly full bottle of skim milk from the fridge before turning back to her adoptive father as the fridge's door closed, she walked over, sitting down in front of him, putting the milk and plate of burritos down.
She pulled her mask off, pulling the whole cowl off and dropping it and the goggles that she had had since she was twelve onto the table next to the plate. The whip and other switchblade joined them soon. She reached into her pocket, pulling out the knife and dropped it down between her and Jim. Jim lifted his head, looking at his daughter. "This saved my ass again," Selina smiled at her old man, "Both me and our dear Batman."
Surprise was alive in Jim's eyes when he heard that. His hair was almost all white now, including his moustache. Selina liked to think that she was responsible for at least most of those white hairs, if not all of them.
Combing her nimble fingers through her copper curls, pushing a bundle of them behind her right ear, her head rose when she heard Gordon speak again, "You're both alright? You aren't injured at all? He isn't?"
"Well," Selina laughed, "You know I can take care of myself. And Bats is fine. He always is. Besides, even if he wasn't, he's too stupid to let that stop him."
An annoyed face met her gaze and she chuckled again, unwrapping the plate and picking it up, bringing it to the microwave.
"Looks like I was given a lifetime investment when Falcone gave me that knife." Jim said from the table as Selina put the plate in, "I never thought I'd be so happy to get a gift from an old retired mob boss."
Cat snorted from where she stood, starting the microwave up, "Well it's saved me dozens of times, so that's confirmed."
"Still," Gordon pressed, "You wouldn't need it if you just kept out of trouble."
"Oh?" Selina quipped, glancing over her left shoulder at her father, "And what fun would that be? Anyway, how's what I'm doing any different than what Batman's doing? And don't play dumb, pops, we both know who he is. He's not fooling either of us."
Jim barked out a quiet laugh, "Well that's right. It's hard to pretend I don't know who is." He looked back down at his papers, "I've seen him fight. His moves are too similar to Bruce Wayne's. Same training, same body type, same moves."
"Yep." Selina said dryly, pulling the dish out after the harsh beep rang through the air.
Bringing the plate over with the now steaming burritos to the table, Selina sat down, facing her father. "Thanks for the knife though, really," She said, smiling at him genuinely, "It saved both of our asses." She lowered her face, frown marring it for a moment, "Are mom and Bar okay?" She looked up to see Jim stiffen and nod. "Yeah," He answered quietly, "They're okay. You're mother was worried when you didn't call her back. You know…she won't be happy when she finds out you've been stealing again. And little Barbara needs to be looked after tomorrow night. Your mother and I are going out to dinner. So at least you can keep out of the stealing works till then."
The quirking of thin bronze eyebrows told Gordon that his oldest daughter had no intentions of following his advice. So what was new? Defeated as usual with his daughter, he grumbled out, "Just eat your damn dinner, kid." A quiet chuckle answered him before the burrito was scooped up.
Author's Note: The whole Barbara going nuts thing always annoyed me. Felt like a copout. Also, Selina never sided with Fish. But Jim did get the knife from Falcone from an encounter with Fish before Penguin took over.