I remember, even though I was little, I still remember him. He wasn't crazy then, well he might have been but he was good at hiding it. He wasn't married to my mother but he was still my father. I didn't have the life most little girls wanted or had. He still loved me, my mother still loved me as I loved them. It was just different. My parents argued when I was supposed to be asleep but they woke me up and I listened. My mother wanted him to stop being bad, to come and stay with us and be a good person, get a good job so I can go to a better school, so she could afford new clothes for me, not used ones. She wanted all this for me, but she didn't understand, I liked it this way, it felt at home. He said he earned money doing what he did; I was three or four so I don't remember exactly what it was that he did and I never understood totally.
I remember the good things though, I remembered when they weren't fighting, they were happy or at least acted happy when I was around. I remember when we used to go for walks, all three of us, in Gotham park. In the spring he would always say, "Let's go see what the bumblebees made" meaning, "Let's go see the flowers."
I had brown hair like he did, it was a light shade of brown, and green eyes. His skin was a light tan color as was mine. Although we had the same hair skin and eyes I looked mostly like my mother, slender, long legs, long arms and skinny fingers, it may sound weird but my mother is quite beautiful and she used to tell me all the time that I was (but she is my mother, she was supposed to do that). She had curly, light blonde hair too, my hair curled in spirals at the ends though, it wasn't as pretty as hers. My face was similar to hers, heart shaped. Her nose had a curvy slope, it looks actually quite adorable (Kind of creepy but it's true), and her lips were full like mine and they were curvy. I didn't think I looked so much like her but now that I look at myself in the mirror and I remember her, I see we look almost exactly alike.
When I was four, my father disappeared. My mother had no idea where he was and neither did I. When I was six, my mother remarried, she married a man named Jakob Ivanov, a middle class man with a Russian accent. I liked Jakob a lot, he would always play my favorite board games with me and Always called me "Catie Bug" because my name is Catherine and I always loved the lady bugs in the park. He was always good to my mom and I and I would call him Papa, because in Russian and in other languages that's how you said dad, he was like a dad to me. They did not have any more children other than me but I was never spoiled.
We were all happy together until December when I was twelve my mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer; she had not noticed it before it got really bad. The doctors said she had maybe a year at the most to live; she died a year and a week later. Jakob and I were very sad, but Jakob never turned bitter, nor did I. I just became quiet.
Now I am twenty years old and I'm still shy. I work at a large library and that is where I am headed now. I dress kind of nice but casual, just a black skirt that goes down to just above my knees, a pair of short heeled black shoes and a light purple sweater over a white spaghetti strap top that reaches my waist. I wear no stocking or anything like that because it's summer and my skirt is long enough. I carry with me some books that I can add to a collection and nothing else.
"Good morning," I greet the librarian as I step inside. She waves to me a little and continues to work on her computer.
"I have some books I can add to the fiction section, the science fiction section and the encyclopedia section."
She stops to look at me, "Nice," she smiled, "Let me enter them into the computer and then you can put them away," I hand them to her and then I excuse myself to go help someone who looks like they are having trouble finding a book.
"Hi, do you need help finding anything?"
"No," he glanced at me giving me a friendly smile, "I'm just browsing, looking for a book for my friend, he's kind of sick so I'm giving him something to do."
"Okay," I smiled, "Let me know if you need anything." I stepped away and took the books I had earlier that the librarian already entered into the computer to put away. I headed to the encyclopedia section and looked at the title and I sighed, I would have to climb the ladder to put this one away. I didn't like the ladder; it was old, wooden and probably rotting. It had wheels; I told the librarian we should get a new one because it was a rolling death trap. She said we would but that was a few months ago, she probably forgot. I stepped onto the first step and climbed my way up to where I needed to be, I still couldn't reach so I had to take one more step. I brushed a strand of curly brown hair out of my face, probably because I was a little nervous and that's what I do when I'm nervous. I grabbed hold of my bangs to kind of calm myself and draw my attention away from the rickety wood ladder. After a few moments of this I lifted my leg to step up. I set it on the next step and pulled myself up to rest my other foot on it. Well, the wood must have been rotting and could only stand a few seconds of my weight because it split in two and I fell. I made a short, loud, frightened shriek as I descended towards the carpeted floor.
My head made contact with the hard (even though it is carpeted) floor and I landed on my side somehow. Sharp pain bolted through my right arm and I rolled over onto my back, groaning. I opened my eyes but my vision was blurry, probably from hitting my head, I was about seven or eight shelves up (the encyclopedia shelves are pretty tall so it's a big deal) when I fell. I heard voices but they were like echoes in my head that caused even more pain. I think it was the man from before, who knelt down next to me, he was telling maybe the librarian something. Oracle? Who was Oracle? He touched my right arm, right where it hurt and I cried out in pain.
Time seemed to go by faster because somehow I ended up in the hospital. I had a slight but not serious concussion and I've broken my arm, I should consider drinking whole milk. I didn't have many friends so when I woke up it was just the man and the Librarian and Jakob standing there.
"Thank you so much for bringing her here and calling me," Jakob still had a thick Russian accent that was recognizable anywhere. "Catie, are you alright?" He turned to me, noticing I was awake, it's funny I don't remember falling asleep.
"I'm fine Papa."
Jakob turned to the Librarian (okay, I should stop calling her that, her name is Barbara Gordon, and she's pretty nice, we like to go out sometimes together but we aren't that close because I'm more of a loner.) "What are your names by the way?" Oh papa, always trying to make new friends no matter what the situation.
Barbara blushed, introducing herself. The man introduced himself too, "Richard Grayson," he shook hands with Papa, which pleased the Russian man.
"Nurse!" Papa gestured for her to come over, "We would like to leave now, she as all set to go and ready." Of course I we had to sign something and pay a small bill for me getting taken care of but within half an hour we left with some pain medication for me. "Come, come please as a thankyou for helping my daughter, I will make Solyanka, Koltelty, and some Pirozhki!" all these are our favorite Russian foods. Papa would not take no for an answer and apparently, he had everything already made at home, all he needed was to heat them up.
While Papa was in the kitchen I apologized, "Sorry, he um, he gets too excited over everything." My face reddened and I looked down, I should not be ashamed of Papa.
"its fine," said Barbara, "I have a relative like that too."
"I don't think that relative likes me that much," Richard said, teasing though.
"No, she doesn't."
"What?" Richard was startled, "You're kidding."
"No, I'm not, I'm serious, she doesn't like you."
"Well I don't like her then!" Richard got over this fast though and turned to me, "Catherine, your father is actually a very friendly person, that's a good quality you don't find very often in people these days."
After that we ate and we said goodbye to Barbara and Richard. I had to sleep at Papa's house tonight because of my concussion. I wasn't going to but he insisted so I did.
About a month and a half later, I had a week off from work so I could visit a friend of mine in New York. Her name is Emily Grausse, she goes to college in the city. I never went to college because we never had enough money and I didn't want to go to the community college. Emily met me in the parking lot to her apartment building. We hugged and let each other know what we had been doing this past few months. I told her about my concussion and my arm but the cast I had on it was gone and my concussion was only minor.
"Wow, was the guy cute?"
"I told you I got a concussion and all you think about was if the guy who brought me to the hospital was cute?"
"Well was he?"
I blushed, "Kind of." Emily laughed and turned over on her back, we were in her bedroom, sitting on the bed doing the same thing we would always do when we were teens, talk, listen to music and brush each other's hair. It was around midnight. Getting up and flipping her blonde hair she told me, "I want to go for a walk."
"But it's the middle of the night and I'm not wearing walking clothes, neither are you," I pointed to her pink zebra pajama pants and she shrugged, he blue eyes smiled, "Let's put on some walking clothes." She strode over to her closet, pulling out two pairs of jeans that were kind of "Sexy" and she pulled out two "Sexy" shirts but they covered everything but one shoulder. "You're going to wear that?"
"So are you."
"No I'm not," I pulled out a t-shirt from my bag and some safe jeans and a pair of sneakers.
"Ugh, fine!" And she put on something similar to what I was wearing. I grabbed a sweater because it was chilly, September usually is. My t-shirt was a light blue and my sweater was a greenish color, my shoes were black. I confirmed to myself I looked totally safe and so did Emily who looked almost the same. I combed my Brown hair a little because I was nervous, I always am at night.
"Come on!" Emily grabbed my hand and we giggled like we always did in high school when we were doing something that wasn't commonly done but it was New York, there are traffic jams 24/7 and people walk the streets 24/7. With that bit of information, I felt a little bit better.
We walked for about forty-five minutes when we came to a bar with bikes out in the front. "Ooh, scary!" Emily, cooed, jumping for the door, I pulled her back, holding her by the arm.
"No! You don't know what kind of people are in there!" She gave me a Duh look with her eyes and gestured to the motorcycles behind us.
"Bikers."
"But still, Em!" I tried to pull her back but she twisted out of my grip.
"Come on; stop being a wimp, Catie!" She opened the door and two biker men came out. They both had large muscles but one of them, who looked to be about thirty had muscles bigger than my head. The other, about our age had more hair on his head that was black, he had a nose ring and an earring. They both had tattoos that made them look entirely hideous.
"Catie," The younger one said, staring at me with beady rat eyes, "That's a pretty name." He stepped forward but Emily pushed him in the chest, making him step back.
"No way," she said, she was scared too but not as much as me, I was shaking in my boots, wishing I was at home, sleeping dreaming about ponies and rainbows and butterflies! Unfortunately I wasn't I was here, in front of two, ugly bikers who could probably eat me for breakfast and still be hungry. I was on the verge of tears I was so terrified.
"Em," I managed to squeak her name out, trying to get her to pull away. The bigger guy grabbed her and held her by the arms, backwards. Oh no, we really shouldn't have come here. The one that told me my name was nice stepped toward me again, he was wearing all leather, leather pants, boots and a leather vest that was open to show his bare, tattooed chest. I wanted to scream I wanted to run but I was glued to this place. My muscles were tight and they refused to make any movement whatsoever except for my arms, hugging myself as I shivered.
"I can smell fear, you know." Oh no! He's half wasp too! "It has a sweet smell and it comes off you like a perfume." He inhaled the air around me and put his close to mine. All I could smell was tobacco. He put his hand around my mouth and dragged me to the side of the building, I struggled and fought but he was too strong and my screams were muffled by his big, nasty hand. The other guy had Emily but she was taken behind to the other side of the building. I was told he was taking me behind it. He threw me onto the concrete and I balled up, covering my head, bringing my knees up to my chest and I would not move. I heard the man grunt a few times but I ignored him, I was too busy sobbing my eyes out.
"You bastard!" the man groaned, probably in pain, I heard Emily run around the corner.
"Oh my gosh, thank you!" and she said "Catherine, Come on!" wanting me to move but I would not.
"Go ahead, I'll take care of her, I'll get her home." A voice, kind of familiar to me, told Emily. I heard her rapid footsteps continue after that. I felt him kneel next to me; I was still curled up in fear. He put his hand on my shoulder, "Are you alright?"
I looked up and dried my eyes; he looked surprised, he probably didn't know I was crying, then again it was impossible not to have known, I cried in a loud wail. "I'm… okay." I was surprised at what I saw and my eyes widened, "You're that guy that used to work in Gotham, with Batman, aren't you, Robin?"
He smiled, "It's Nightwing now actually."
"Oh, cool."
"Have you ever been to Gotham?"
"Actually, I live there, I work at a library."
"Cool." He helped me stand and took me to Emily's Apartment.
"Thanks," I said. It was kind of stupid but oh well.
"Any time." He left through the window.
"That was freaky!" Emily relayed all the detail even though I had been there.
"I just want to go to bed."
The next morning, we woke and went to get coffee at a coffee shop a few blocks away. It was about eight AM when we got there. We ordered our coffee and were headed to the park. While Emily was getting her drink though I stepped outside to wait to make the room a little less crowded. I wasn't really paying attention so I didn't notice the person until I ran into him, the top on my Styrofoam cup popped off and hot liquid splashed on us both. "I'm so sorry! I'm so stupid!" I told him, taking napkins out of my pocket and handing them to him, never mind the fact that I was wearing a white shirt that got see-through when wet.
"Oh no it's fine." His voice, I've heard it somewhere before I just couldn't put my finger on it. He was examining his shirt, dabbing at the wetness. It was a dress shirt and he was wearing a tie, probably on his way to work. "I can go home and change." He looked up at me and I recognized him.
"Oh hey! I remember, in Gotham I was at the library, I fell and you took me to the Hospital, Richard, Right?"
"Yeah, I remember, how's your head and your arm?"
"Good, my elbow making a cracking noise sometimes." We laughed at this.
"How's your dad?"
"Great, still loves his Russian soup." He grinned at this.
"Well, it was nice seeing you, Catherine, maybe we could get together sometime?" Emily stepped out of the shop but looked at me, my shirt and Richard and then stepped back indoors.
"That sounds nice, what time?"
"Is today at twelve sound good? At the park maybe?"
"Yeah sure!" I forgot all about Emily at the moment.
"Nice, see you there! I have to go home now and change." He headed back the way he came and waved goodbye.
Emily came back outside and once he was out of earshot she started rambling. "Oh my gosh, did he just ask you out!"
"Kind of, I don't know.
"Well did he want to go somewhere?"
"Yeah, the park, at twelve, he was the guy that took me to the hospital when I fell off the ladder."
"Really? Oh that is so romantic! He saves you, then he disappears and he finds you again! When are you going?"
"Today, at twelve." Emily squealed with excitement.
"You absolutely HAVE to go! Let's go to my place and get you dressed up!"
"Em, it's not fancy stuff."
"I know that, it'll be casual." She dragged me back to her apartment.
"Here," she handed me a yellow shirt, I opened it and it was a V-neck tank top. Next she pulled out a navy blue skirt with pleats that came down to an inch above my knees and some comfortable white shoes that slipped on but they looked nice with skirts. She had me wear my silver chain around my neck. My hair which was tied in a ponytail was taken out of the hair tie and brushed, so that it was down. My natural curls were still there. Over my shirt I wore a Navy blue sweater
"All done," she said with satisfaction, I wore no makeup but my clothes were things I wouldn't normally wear, I'm a bit self conscious.
An hour later, Emily spent so much time picking out clothes for me time flew by. I arrived at the park with a brown bag around my shoulder; I pulled a book out of the bag and sat on a bench, reading while I waited for him. Ten minutes later I heard him approach.
"What are you reading?" He sat next to me, his clothes were more casual, he now wore a white t-shirt with a dark denim jacket and a pair of dark denim jeans with sneakers.
"Bram Stoker's Dracula," I replied, closing it and putting it away. "You look nice; denim is a nice look for you."
He ran his fingers through his short, dark brown hair and looked me over with his dark brown eyes. He had pale skin, kind of like my mother and he was nicely and evenly muscled, not like the freaks Emily and I met last night, he was more like Nightwing. "I wish I would have dressed a little nicer, I feel out of place."
"No it's fine, I like it." He seemed extremely pleased to hear this and stood.
"Want to walk?"
"That sounds like a great idea." We walked kind of close, beside each other. "How is your friend, from Gotham? The one that was sick?"
He looked at me, "Oh, he's fine, it was just a flu I guess, he's back on his feet now, to tell the truth I thought it was really bad," He sighed, "it wasn't really a friend of mine. Well I was, but a different kind, he adopted me when my parents died."
"Oh, well, I'm glad he's okay then," I really didn't know what to say about his parents though. For some reason though a bit of sadness crept through me, my dad, my real dad, Jack Napier, I remembered him.
"So, Miss Ivanov, how is your dad?"
"He's fine; he's not really my dad though, not by blood."
"That's something we have in common."
"Yeah, my real dad died when I was a little girl."
"Oh, I'm sorry, don't tell me anything else if you don't want to."
"No it's fine, I only remember a little bit, it happened when I was four, sixteen years ago. It doesn't make me that sad when I talk about it."
"Okay, did you change your name to Ivanov when your mother remarried?"
"Yeah, my name used to be Napier."
He paused, "What was your father's first name, do you know?"
"Jack, why?"
"I was just wondering," he sounded a little troubled but he soon regained his calm voice.
"He would always take my mother and I for walks in the Gotham Park like this, it was because I liked the flowers." I laughed a little. "Let's talk about something a little happier, shall we?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know, did you like in Gotham all the time?"
"No, I traveled a lot with my parents but when they died in Gotham, Bruce Wayne, adopted me when I was ten and I lived there until I was eighteen. After that I moved here."
"Cool, I've lived in Gotham my entire life, but we lived in a small apartment at first, then when my mother met my Step-dad they married and she got a job and so did he. I was sent to a better school and we lived in a bigger apartment where we couldn't hear the neighbors trying to kill each other through the walls."
"Kill each other?"
"Well, not exactly, we lived next door to a couple who didn't get along anymore and they threatened each other's lives all the time, it was not a pleasant experience."
"I guess not."
After that we spent a few hours in the park just talking about each other, getting to know each other. He asked me out again for tomorrow and I accepted, he gave me his phone number and I gave him mine. He walked me to Emily's apartment and I told her about our dart and how he asked me out on another one, she wanted me to go on every single one he asked me to. We actually ended up going to the park every day at twelve until I left to go back to Gotham. He told me he would call, I just hope he does.