This Hero Wears Black Latex
In the beginning I thought that I was doing the right thing. I honestly did. My idea, at the time, seemed innovative. I wanted to do good. But... Maybe I sincerely cannot be trusted with such a task.
Chapter 1
It's 5AM on a misty Summer morning within Gotham's East End. A bodacious black latex clad figure gracefully scales the numerous ancient towering buildings in confident stride. Discreetly, she scales down a building in particular, easing onto a rusting fire escape, and enters a vacant loft apartment through a large unlocked window. Snatching the sweaty mask and goggles that donned her head, the green eyed beauty lethargically kicked off her boots with a hiss of satisfaction leaving her full rubied lips. Sauntering to her bedroom, she instantly felt relaxed just at the sight of king sized bed. It had easily been days since she had been home. It felt good to be back.
Sensing her arrival, a few of her cats decided to make their appearance known. Yawning, her orange tabby, Citrus, rubbed against her leg affectionately. Lola, a grey Persian, meowed as if to say hello. Slowly, her other feline roommates eased towards her. She knew they were probably hungry, it was nearing their breakfast time. But a ten minute cat nap wouldn't hurt, right?
With outstretched arms, Selina Kyle sighed as she plummeted backwards into the plush masterpiece of her bed. Eyes fluttered the moment her exhausted toned body hit the deliciously soft foundation of her affection. Though, her moment of peace simmered as her mind worked on her last activity.
Thoughts of the hours prior filtered front and center of the successful robbery she had recently completed. Of course she was satisfied with her bounty. Yet, a nagging thought in the back of her head couldn't help but point out that the adrenaline and exhilaration she felt when thieving was beginning to fade.
A new to her.
Unzipping her catsuit while simultaneously turning to her side, she contemplated this strange realization. She'd been a thief for as long as she could remember. But not for the first time she debated if she should look for something new to occupy her time. Bruce Wayne has certainly been pushing her to do so for the last year…
She laughed aloud, Citrus and a Calico named Jupiter jumped onto her bed simultaneously. Perhaps the Bat was finally getting into her head. Hadn't he said a month ago that she couldn't, "Do this forever"? At the time she confidently rebutted his argument. She was Catwoman. Stealing was what she did. But perhaps...Bruce had a point.
He had always believed that she had potential to be more than what she was. No one had expressed as much to her before. At the moment, she thought that maybe she could explore the idea of moving past mindless thieving.
Long elegant fingers rubbed Jupiter's ears and scratched under his chin. He leaned into her touch and purred. "Something else…" Eyes fluttering, her fatigue finally hit her head on. Closing her eyes she contemplated what her "something else" could be.
Selina jolted upright when she heard glass shattering outside of her bedroom within her apartment. Immediately she jumped to her feet, thinking the worst, to see her redheaded friend, Holly standing in the kitchen with a frown. A broken glass was at her feet, and a mischievous black cat stared at her with judging blue eyes. "Seriously Luna? You're going to wake up Selina doing stuff like this." she mumbled, stooping down to pick up the the glass. "Too late." Holly looked up and smiled at her, a mild apologetic expression inflicting her soft features.
"Sorry Selina. I was trying to feed the cats and Luna thought it'd be a good idea to push my glass off the counter." "No worries. I'll take over. Thanks for watching my babies while I've been out." "No problem!"
Holly's blue eyes discreetly took in Selina's form as she walked by. Selina paid no mind to it. " How'd it go?" Selina knew what Holly was doing. Looking for injuries, a visible cut, a bruise. Holly worried over her. The adorable brat. Selina felt as if she was supposed to be looking out for her. Not the other way around. Still, she knew it went without saying. Selina practically raised Holly after picking her up off the streets. She couldn't fault the girl for worrying about her. Especially when said person knew she was robbing someone connected to the mob.
Holly cleaned up the mess and Selina took over finishing feeding her arsenal of felines as she told Holly about the job. A piece of cake once she infiltrated a retired mob boss's hideout. A few million dollars worth of jewels stolen later, and she was home in one piece. It was a flawless execution to a rather high stake robbery. It took almost a week to get everything in order for her to strike. Though, even with its success...
Holly noticed the troubled expression on Selina's face. "What?" Holly asked, her voice dropping into that of concern. "I was thinking this morning about pursuing something else. Not doing jobs like this as much, if at all, anymore." "Like?" "I don't know yet." "You sound like Bruce Wayne got to you." 'Maybe he did', she thought to herself. "You know...I don't think it sounds all that bad. I'd feel better knowing you were safe at home instead of...Well, you know."
Selina ruffled Holly's short red hair. "What's that pipsqueak?" Her laughter filtered throughout the apartment making Selina feel warm and content. Holly was no longer the child she looked after. Ten years since she took her in, Holly was now an eighteen year old. An adult. Now she seemed to be the one giving Selina advice and worrying over her.
Putting away the cat food, Selina leaned on the counter and glanced at the digital clock on the oven. 6:20 AM. She slept more than a brief catnap. But it wasn't enough. She yawned into her shoulder. "Holly, I'm going to head into bed for awhile." "Got it. Need anything?" As Selina pushed herself from the marbled counter, she kissed Holly on the cheek with a smile. "Absolutely nothing. Thanks for helping out with the babies." She closed her bedroom door behind her, took off her catsuit, threw on negligee, even despite forgoing a shower, and jumped into bed once more.
Blissful bed. Blissful sleep. Twelve undisturbed hours of it. 'When was the last time I was that comatose?' She couldn't recall. Pushing black bangs out of her eyes she smirked while staring at the ceiling. She was a few million dollars richer, and she was well rested. 'What more could a girl ask for?'
"Selina."
Her smile slowly widened as she sat upright. 'Someone tall, dark, and handsome, it seemed.' Despite it not quite being dark yet, he was already in his full suit. Black cowl, and menacing disposition in place. Though, he didn't scare her. He never had.
She raised a brow in question. "A mob boss has been robbed. Know anything about that?" "Nope." she said with a shrug, not bothering to look him in the eyes.
"Return what you took." "No." "Give the jewels back. We talked about this." "You talked about it. I listened. And why does it matter? He was a crook."
Then, it clicked. She had an idea of what her "something else" was going to be.
Selina jumped up excited. That's what she was going to do. Take. Keep taking. And then give back. Give back here, to the East End! Bruce didn't visibly show his surprise at her sudden jolt from her bed, but she knew she caught him off guard.
Jumping from her bed she grabbed her phone. What was she going to do with a few million dollars? Her fence already had the jewels. The money would be hers soon. But what did she need it for? She did the job for fun. Easily, she could do the same thing again. The East End was riddled with poverty and crime. It could be argued that the crime was caused by the poverty. Everyone knew that the East End was the thorn in Gotham's side. The forgotten and damned. These people needed the money immensely more than her.
What if she did good here? The appeal of stealing wore off, she thought, because she didn't want for anything anymore. She had it all. Or, she had enough. Stealing was only so fun when there was a real reward for her efforts. The thrill of finishing a job has lost its appeal because it had became routine. But doing something with her treasures and money once it was all said and done?
Giving back? Now that sounded fun. A wide almost manic grin and excitement overcame her. "Selina." She looked over her exposed shoulder, her silk negligee loosely hung off her body with two delicate straps. "Hm?" "What are you doing?"
"What you're asking of me." "The right thing?" If it was anyone else it would have sounded like a question. Instead it came as a statement. A reluctant, yet hopeful, statement. "In a way." "Selina," he warned.
Amusement glittered in her green vibrant eyes. She always wondered what made her appeal to the infamous Bruce Wayne. He had plenty of other women to choose from. Other crooks to bother, if that's what he wanted. Yet, he always came back to her. To point out her redeemable qualities. To save her soul. Berate her when she did wrong. Save her when she bit off more than she could chew.
This crook, with hardly any family and with more baggage than she'd care to admit… He was always there. He was with her now. Throwing her phone carelessly behind her onto her bed, she wrapped an arm around his neck. His suit, made of an unknown substance that was rough and callous, dug into her skin. It didn't bother her. It was familiar. She looked up at him innocently.
"Don't you trust me, Bruce?" He scowled at her. It came without question. He trusted her. At least when it counted. Returning jewels was debatable. It was well known for her weakness of objects that glittered. Leaning forward on her tiptoes, she kissed his lips. He neither recripricated or pulled away from her.
"Believe in me. I have a plan," she stated while pulling away and grabbing her black silk robe that was draped on a trunk that was positioned at the end of her bed. "Believing in you isn't the problem, Selina." She looked back over her shoulder of where the great Batman was standing, to see empty air. Laughing she reached for her phone again. It was time to make some calls.
It was time to make a difference.
Downtown Gotham
Over a week later and she's wearing a white baseball cap, a blonde wig, and an inconspicuous outfit. Blue jeans and a black tank. She had a docile demeanor as she approaches her destination. Hands in her jean pockets, no one would guess it was her, Selina Kyle.
Stopping at an intersection, she appeared to be waiting to cross the street. The traffic light was green so she was forced to wait. In reality, she was exactly where she needed and wanted to be. Stealing a glance ahead of her over the rim of her sunglasses, she could see two men laughing. Her new marks. Her timing was impeccable. Across the street from her were a couple of no name cops that she knew smuggled drug money throughout the city for the mob.
Again with the mob. She was playing with fire, she knew as much. But they were making it too easy for her.
It was an unnecessary risk, coming here. But she wanted to get one last good look at the people she was going to be stealing from. For the last few days she had been tracking them. Learning their habits, who they talked to, and deciphering who was "in" on their side job for the mob. It seemed to be a fairly new operation, so the latter of her investigation revealed that there were few who participated or were aware of their side gig.
Holly had become her eyes and ears on the street. She brought the dirty cops to her attention. Apparently it was becoming more and more well known of which cops played dirtier than the others. They didn't exactly hide it on the East End.
Selina knew there was usually a monetary influence when it came to breaking the law for cops. And figured, who better to steal from than the cops? While the Gotham police were a form of authority, they couldn't call in lost funds when they weren't legally supposed to have them anyway. It was as good a start as any for funding her own project.
Selina was no longer interested stealing from Gotham's elite. No, she wanted to go after the corrupt. While she wouldn't say that she agreed with everything Bruce Wayne said to her, she couldn't deny that he gave her some fair points. One of them being stealing from "good people".
Growing up on the streets, she never really thought of the wealthy as good people. They were hardly even people. 'How could they be?' She used to wonder. To have so much, to be detached from the world, from the filth that overcame it, from people like her? They were rich. Not people.
And she took from them. With a clear conscience, she must add. But then you start to understand that while some individuals are wealthy, there is more to them than that. A young boy with no on in the world but his trust fund, his parents having been murdered days before. A man who embodies wealth and power, who fears for his numbered days. Cancer having riddled his body. A family who has to keep the world at arm's length, everyone seems to want more from them. More, more, more. So much so, they kidnap a member as a means of acquiring a ransom. The money was given, and the child they took came back cold and with a bullet wound to their small head. Killed the moment they were taken.
Wealth, while desired by most, had its limits. It didn't promise happiness. It didn't even necessarily promise power. For every man and woman that had extensive jewels, gold, and money, they were still only a man and a woman.
In the beginning, Selena didn't understand this. And if she were being quite honest with herself, back then she wasn't sure if she wanted to understand. People had things that she didn't. So she took it forcefully for herself.
Envy and greed and the rush. It fueled her actions for years. But now, it didn't appeal to her. Or, perhaps it did, but not in the same way. She meant it when she said she was going to do things differently from now on. That she was going to make a difference. She hadn't been a kid for a long time now. But she doubted she ever grew up and matured, until recently. Maybe she was still in her head, maybe she was still doing wrong. No, she was definitely still doing wrong.
However, with her wrongdoings… Maybe she'll finally be able to do some right. Bruce tried to beat the criminal ambition out of crooks and villains. But Gotham was already too corrupt. Too lost. He never had a chance besides curbing the crime. But she was a crook. She knew how crooks thought. How they worked. And unfortunate for them, she was going to put this knowledge to use.
Batman's goal has always been about saving Gotham's soul. What he didn't seem to understand was that it had since long been lost. She wasn't looking to save this city. But she was looking to do some good. How far she'd go, she didn't know. Though, to her, it didn't fully matter. She wasn't a long term planner. Her plan was to get started and then see where it took her. Though she wouldn't delude herself like Bruce, like Batman. Her actions might help, but it was a bandaid to a much bigger issue. However, this didn't deter her.
Laughter.
It brought her back to the scene at hand. The cops slapped each other on the back goodnaturedly and walked back towards the station. She smiled. Tonight there was a supposed move planned for the mob. And tonight she was planning on striking.