DISCLAIMERS/NOTES
1. This is a fan fiction based on characters owned by DC Comics. I DO NOT OWN THEM. This is just for fun.
2. This is a femslash story. If you don't like that sort of thing, you won't like this.
3. IMPORTANT: As readers of my previous stories might (though I highly doubt it) remember, the events of this story were hinted at in Surprises (so you might want to read Part 4 that first if you haven't, or wish to refresh you memory, to whet your appetite for this!). Something happened prior to that story between Selina and the Green Arrow - something that brought Selina to tears in thinking back to it. This is what happened.
PART 1
The Catwoman hated the Watchtower.
Everytime she visited, part of her wondered why she bothered. If it was not for the fact her beloved wife insisted on returning, Selina Kyle-Zatara would gladly never step foot on the satellite again. As far as she was concerned, there were just too many pompous, up-their-own-arses arseholes. Not for being do-gooders: no, the reason Selina resented them so was the grief some of them gave her spouse.
Indeed, Zatanna was almost blackballed when she and Selina began a relationship. Selina knew it would be difficult for the magician, of course... but she did not realise how petty some of her so-called friends would be. People like Aquaman, Captain Atom... and the bastard in Selina's face right now.
The Green Arrow.
As the archer continued to drone on, Selina had to keep reminding herself why she was there. For Zee. Always for Zee. Her wife was all that mattered. As amazing as it would have seemed a couple of years ago, the Catwoman would have done anything to make Zatanna happy. Even... risk losing her.
Zee was seven months pregnant. Those months had been a nightmare for Selina: all the stuff she had read and researched about pregnancies just would not go away. Specifically, the stuff she read about failed pregnancies. In the worst scenarios...
No. Selina could not think that. She would not lose her wife. She would not allow it. No matter what, Zatanna would survive her pregnancy, and she and Selina would be the proud mothers of five babies.
Five. Selina still had a time wrapping her mind around that.
Selina narrowed her eyes at Arrow, not really listening. How did Dinah put up with this for so long? Was something wrong with the blonde? Regardless, Selina's patience was threadbare. Just how long would this be an issue? How long would these jerks criticise Zatanna for finding love? Sure, Selina could understand the Leaguers having a problem to begin with: the Catwoman's reputation was legendary - if Selina did think so herself - but they had been together for years now. How much more proof did these idiots need?
Once more Selina chastised herself for letting Zee bring them back here. A space station orbiting Earth was the last place a heavily pregnant woman carrying quintuplets should be. Selina should have put her foot down. But no: Zee had insisted, had claimed she still had friends here. She could have fooled Selina: the Catwoman could have sworn Zatanna was persona non grata with some of the Leaguers. The gutter-level of respect these people treated the magician was stunning to Selina. Granted, Selina could not handle any criticism of her beloved, but evenso...
"Are you even listening?"
Selina broke out of her musing at the Arrow's question. "I'm just waiting for you to say something intelligent. Good thing I didn't hold my breath."
Arrow looked at her increduously. "You stuck-up bi... "
Zatanna - who had been sitting at a table not two feet away, head in hands - suddenly spoke up. "Ollie! Don't you dare!" She went to stand up...
Selina would not have that. Her darling needed to keep off her feet - any exersion was too much. She elbowed Arrow out the way and put her hands on the magician's shoulders. "Zee, don't," she said as she gently pushed Zatanna back into her seat. "I can handle this."
"But... he said you... " Zee looked furious.
"I know what he said," interrupted the Catwoman, remembering how this all started. Zee and the other Leaguers in the room had begun discussing the upcoming wedding between Powergirl and Terra... and Arrow had made it abundantly clear the Kyle-Zataras should not be invited. Not that Selina gave much of a toss, but Zee was hurt. The archer was not speaking for everyone - he clearly said it more out of spite than anything else - but the magician took it as another dagger to the back. And then Arrow began regurgitating the same crap he and others had said since their coupling: the Catwoman could not be trusted, Zee was insane, etc. etc., blah blah blah. It did not help matters that Ollie was not being challenged. The only other people besides the three of them in the Watchtower rec room were the Ray and Stargirl. And they were far too low on the pecking order to stand upto the veteran.
Selina walked towards the kitchen worktop. She needed a damn coffee if she was going to have to put up with this shit. "Don't turn your back on me!" came the Arrow's voice.
That was it. The Catwoman had had enough. She turned around to face the stupid archer with the stupid goatee and stuck her finger in his stupid face. "This has gone far enough! I don't care what you say about me, but you're hurting my WIFE, and I will not stand for that! So get this through your empty head, for fucking numbskull - I love Zatanna, and nothing you or anyone else says will change the fact that we're together, and we'll always be together!" Selina took a moment to glance at Zee, who despite the hurt she was still feeling, smiled lovingly. Selina returned to Arrow. "So why don't you stop this broken record and just accept it, and accept Zee's decision?! She's always talking about how you're her friends... it would be nice if you acted like it sometimes!"
Arrow narrowed his eyes. "No one here trusts you."
"I know for a fact that's shit," Selina said confidently. "But even if it was true, I don't care. Believe what you want - all that matters is my marriage to Zatanna, and the family we're going to have. And if you don't like it, go fuck yourself."
"I thought she was crazy for marrying you," said Arrow, "but she must be insane for carrying babies for the two of you."
"Ollie... " came Zee's voice.
"What's the matter, Ollie - jealous?" Selina mocked. "Why don't you go to your own heroine in fishnets?" As Arrow's eyes widened, Selina stroked her chin. "Oh wait, I forgot - she left you for someone who actually gives a shit about her."
"Shut up... " seethed Arrow.
"And why did she leave you?" asked Selina rhetorically. "Oh, that's right: you cheated on her - again!"
Arrow was visibly shaking, his fists balling. "You don't understand... "
"I understand perfectly," Selina responded, in more ways than one. She left unsaid how much damage the Robin Hood-wannabe had done to the Black Canary. There was a reason the blonde would periodically panic over her marriage to the Oracle. Why, at her weakest, she would beg Barbara never to leave her. It was because, thanks to Ollie, it was what Dinah expected. He had always left her hanging. But Selina knew better than to tell Arrow that: knowledge of the Canary's unfounded worry over Babs' love would only give the archer the pathetic idea he could steal her back. And though they were hardly best buddies, Selina would not let this bastard mess with Dinah again. Even Selina knew she deserved better - she deserved Barbara Gordon. Shaking her head, Selina turned back to the kitchen worktop.
Arrow pointed to the door. "Get out of here, you bi..."
Zee managed to get to her feet again and went towards the archer, his back to her. "Ollie, I told you... "
"And take your stupid pregnant wife with you," Ollie sneered.
Something in Selina snapped. Her eyes widened, and all thought was replaced with pure fury. "You SON OF A BITCH!" She spun on the spot, her fist whirling in the air...
However, the Green Arrow's reflexes were impeccable, and he ducked...
And Zatanna was behind him...
TO BE CONTINUED
