Scaredy-Cat
By: 1000th Ghost
*This story is dedicated to my cats because they are afraid of thunderstorms, and if cats are afraid of thunderstorms, probably Catwoman is too :P *
Selina yelped and buried herself even deeper under the covers. This house was old and creepy and made noise in the night, but that was the least of her concerns now.
CRASH!
She could see the flash of the following lightening even through the luxurious comforter on the luxurious bed in the luxurious room of the house that was supposed to be luxurious but really just made noise in the night.
She should be grateful to be staying in such a house on a night like this and not out on the streets, forced to either find makeshift shelter or brave the torrential elements.
But, she wasn't.
She only felt alone and terrified.
Tears came to her eyes, which usually she would rebuke herself over. Thunderstorms didn't count though. Thunderstorms were bad enough to deserve tears.
Another particularly explosive thunderous crash sent her flying out of bed with a shriek. Enough of this. She didn't have to face this on her own. Selina Kyle did not live by many rules, but one was that if there was something that she wanted, she would take it. And right now, she wanted comfort, and she would take it regardless of what he thought.
The hallway was as black as the leather jacket she had left in her room. For a moment, she was almost grateful for the lightening that illuminated the inky night. But she could see in the dark without its help, and this house was not comforting; it had paintings and tapestries and - was that a suit of armor? - and looked like something out of a Scooby Doo episode.
Now she was thinking about dogs. Great.
Alfred, giant bother that he was, at least had done one thing right and given her a room close to Bruce's. Probably so the boy could catch her stealing anything. As if he possibly could.
Just two lonely guys in this big, old house. They should get a pet, she mused. And then she felt truly grateful that they did not have a dog. And then the thunder boomed, and her mind said that it sounded like a bark, and there were tears on her cheeks. This house didn't need a dog, it needed a cat.
She slipped silently into his room.
She moved quiet, as he had pointed out to her. It was a natural skill she needed. She couldn't figure out why he was so equally quiet.
It was even darker in here, but that was okay. Her eyes adjusted to the dark remarkably fast, and she could see the bed that was too big for the boy it contained.
She smiled at the sleeping figure as she crept closer. Maybe it was more of a smirk, but there was no mirror to check. She meant it to be a smile anyway.
She wasn't going to wake him up. She wouldn't, she was too good, too cautious. He would never even know that she had been there.
He gasped and shouted, "What," the moment her knees were on the mattress.
She mentally cursed. He was as skittish and alert as she was, even when he was asleep.
"Shut up," she told him and climbed the rest of the way up.
He was stuttering and fumbling, and she didn't pay him any attention. Before he had gotten a single intelligent sentence out, she was wrapped around him under the blanket.
He was so stiff. That was alright, she just wanted to hold him, he didn't need to hold her back.
"Cat...Selina..."
She wasn't sure if that counted as an intelligent sentence or not.
She could hear the unrelenting rain pounding against the picture window and decided that his words did not merit a response just yet.
"W-what are you doing?"
"Use your brain, detective. What does it look like I'm doing?"
"Selina, I-I-I think maybe I'm not ready for this. I mean, not-not that I don't want to but...could we wait or, or just-"
He might have still been talking, but she was laughing so loudly that she couldn't tell. She hardly even heard the thunder.
"You don't have to make fun of me just because-"
"Oh, my gosh, B. I actually live in the gutter, and my mind isn't nearly as far in it as yours is."
"Wait, you...what?"
She laughed some more, and the echo was amplified in the old room.
"I can't believe it, you thought I wanted to-" She paused. "Oh, no, I want you to say it." She giggled irrepressibly. "Silly, sheltered, billionaire boy. You thought I wanted to what?"
"To-to...you know."
"Nope, 'fraid not." She was torturing him and enjoying it immensely.
"Well, you climbed into my bed in the middle of the night! Doesn't that mean you want to...to, you know-"
"I think we've already established that I don't." She was never going to grow tired of tormenting him. For a moment, she tried to envision what the two of them would be like as adults. Probably she would still torment him, and he would still be stiff. She was okay with both of these. And maybe someday she would get him to bend a little, and he would get her to be a little tame. Maybe.
"To...make out." It came out as a high-pitched whisper.
"Mmm." She practically purred. "Would you like that?"
"I-" It sounded like he was choking.
"I bet you would." She arched into him, every curve molded into his stupidly expensive pajamas. She didn't even have any curves, but she could certainly act like she did. "What do you say, Bruce?" She licked something, she couldn't tell what at such close proximity. Maybe the edge of his chin. "Meow."
"Okay."
What?!
Suddenly, his arms were around her, and she was pressed even more flush against him. One of his hands was on the back of her head, and it was bringing her closer. She could feel his breath ghosting her lips.
"Whoa, Tiger!" With expert reflexes, she removed the hand from her hair and placed it back between her shoulder blades. "Geez, calm down."
"I thought..."
She could almost perfectly envision the look of confusion on his face.
"Look, I just came here because I'm scared, okay?"
"Scared?" he repeated like a parrot.
"Yes, scared!"
And now she remembered that she was, and she didn't like that at all. She enjoyed their little flirtation distraction, but it always had to end, the bad always had to ruin their moments.
"Of the house?"
"Of the storm."
"You're afraid of a storm?"
A crash of thunder, and her face was pressed into his chest, affirming her claim.
"I didn't think you were afraid of anything."
"I thought I told you to shut up."
"Some things you should be afraid of," he mused. "I think fear can be a very powerful weapon. But thunder - that can't hurt you."
"How about rain? I know you're a fan of swimming in your clothes, but I doubt even you would want to be caught out in this."
"But you're not out in it," he countered. "You're in here."
"I've been out there plenty of times."
He was silent for a few minutes.
"Are you crying?"
Why exactly had she thought falling for Mr. Weirdly Observant was a good idea?
"I don't like storms." And if she heard one more rationalization of why that wasn't logical, she was going to hit him.
"You are crying." He sounded positively shocked. "I'm sorry!" His hand went back to her head, but now he only stroked it like she was, well, a cat. "It's alright. Don't be scared."
"I didn't think you had it in you."
He chuckled.
"What, wanting to make out with you? You're beautiful. And...interesting."
"Well, that, yes, but I meant being all comforting."
"Hmm." He continued to pet her. She thought she was going to fall asleep soon. "I guess I like helping people."
"Protector of the innocent?"
"Something like that."
She yawned.
"Yeah, but I'm not the innocent."
Now he would probably lie and say that she was.
"You'll be my exception."
She smiled against his chest, and this time she knew it was a real smile.
"So I can stay?"
He nodded; she felt his chin bumping the top of her head.
"I said you were beautiful," he said after awhile when she had been almost completely asleep. "You didn't say 'thank you'."
"I already know I'm beautiful."
"Well, what-what do you think of me?"
She nestled herself deeper into him, marking her territory.
"Go to sleep, Bruce."
"If you want to test yourself, you should come with me to Midtown Bridge."
"You've climbed it?"
"Yeah, to the top. Kids go up there to make out. All the time. I could take you, if you want."
"Okay. I'd like that."
The End