Author's Note: This is my first story that incorporates a character that isn't already on the show, so I hope you enjoy it. (This is what happens when you see The Dark Knight Rises and then try to write a Young Justice story. Catwoman just starts showing up everywhere.) Please enjoy and review.
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. It belongs to DC Comics and Cartoon Network.
Of Blood and Promises
"Get her out of here!" Catwoman shouted.
"No! I have to fight! I have to keep Gotham safe. It's my job." Nightwing growled.
They were a strange team, Nightwing and Catwoman. The vigilante and the thief. But that's all she was, a thief. She didn't tolerate murder. That combined with her not exactly "professional" relationship with Batman, meant that the Bat Family and Selina Kyle were occasionally on the same side of the law.
At that moment, they were hiding around the corner of an alleyway. Nightwing had set off a knockout gas explosive to buy them a couple of minutes. They needed extra time right now.
Lying near them, propped up against the wall, was Batgirl.
She'd gotten shot in the shoulder during their battle against a gang that was small, but not incompetent. She'd continued to fight through the pain, but while she was distracted, one of the thugs had thrown her against the side of a building. The combined shock of a full body collision with the wall and the pain of a gunshot wound had knocked her out cold. She was now lying on the dirty sidewalk, blood staining the left side of her costume and dripping slowly onto the pavement.
She wasn't invulnerable, no matter how much she pretended to be.
"Have you seen how much blood she's lost!?" Catwoman asked angrily.
"I can't get her anywhere fast," Nightwing replied, "She's just as unconscious here as she would be if I tried to carry her. Maybe Batman could think of something, but I can't."
"Your daddy's not here right now, sweetie." she said scornfully, "But before he left, I promised him that I wouldn't let any of you kids get killed."
It was true.
The night before Bruce left for Rimbor, he'd met with Selina. They had rendezvoused at one of their usual meeting places, a dark and deserted rooftop in the dead of night. They were wearing their usual masks, hiding behind what other people saw them as, but that didn't matter. They were alone; it was personal.
Bruce had quickly gotten to the point, asking her for only one thing. She had agreed without hesitation, promising to watch over the closest thing he had to a family. This was Batman after all; how could she say no?
He had quickly thanked her, kissed her goodnight, and then disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving her alone on the roof to stare at the moon and wonder what she'd gotten herself into.
She wasn't going to break her promise, not when there was something she could do to help.
Catwoman reached into a small pocket on her belt and pulled out a key. She tossed it to Nightwing, who caught it in midair.
"Take the motorcycle. Get her to Alfred," Catwoman insisted.
She knew he wouldn't refuse.
"I'm not letting her die. Not on my watch," she added seriously, looking him straight in the eye.
Nightwing silently closed his fist around the key and turned to Batgirl. He scooped her up in his arms. One arm lifted under her knees, the other wrapped around her shoulders. Her head rested against his chest.
"Thank you, Selina." he said to Catwoman, giving her a quick nod.
"Hey!" she replied indignantly with one hand on hip, "Don't call me that. I'm Catwoman to you. And besides, I'm not doing this for you. I promised the Bat. I don't care about you or Boy Wonder or Bat-Chick. You got that?"
Nightwing flashed a quick smile.
"I know," he said.
He started to sprint away, moving as quickly as he could without shaking Barbara too badly, but when he was only a few yards away, Catwoman shouted to him,
"You better not wreck my bike!"
Nightwing kept running without even turning to acknowledge what she had said. But she thought she heard him laugh. A cackling laugh that was both maniacal and amused as it carried down every street in Gotham.
As Nightwing rounded a corner and Catwoman heard the engine of her bike rev, she looked up at the sky. The moon was high and its light flooded the streets, illuminating the true faces of villains and heroes alike.
"Don't let that girl die." she whispered into the night, "Not now. Not when Bruce isn't even here. Please…"
She was breaking every rule, every boundary.
She was sending a barely audible wish out into the universe, praying for the life of a girl she claimed she hated and asking for a man she shouldn't love to live long enough to see her again.
She heard Nightwing speed away, but she didn't look away from the sky.
Her thoughts were only interrupted by a pained groan from the alleyway. The knockout gas was wearing off. The gang members were waking up.
She sighed. It was no time for childish wishes or deep thoughts.
It was time for action. And this time, those thugs weren't getting past her without a few new memories about what pain really was.
She subconsciously curled one of her gloved hands into a fist before walking around the corner and back into the alleyway. Back into the fray.