GOTHAM DOCKS
NIGHT
Catwoman stood on the roof of the abandoned warehouse watching the one across from it. Robin was beside her, his young eyes scanning the dark. She still didn't want him here, touched by the filth in the building below them, but he had refused to be left out of a chance to help other children. Innocent children lost in the city that he so easily could have been one of if Bruce hadn't taken him.
A small shudder ran through her body. Batman stepped up behind her, closer than he needed to be, touching her, as if to offer some comfort and support. She would receive her comfort when the animals below were in jail; when the women and children they sought to sell to the highest bidder were safe.
"Everyone's in place." Batman spoke lowly. "We'll go on my mark."
"Hold." A voice crackled through the com they were sharing with GCPD. "There is a car inbound to your position. It's moving fast."
They heard the car and saw it a second later. It fish tailed to a stop in the parking lot of the warehouse they were watching. The driver leapt from the vehicle and ran into the building. There was silence and everyone held their breaths. Then yelling started from the warehouse, followed by a gunshot, and women and children screaming.
"Go! Go now!" Batman shouted. Jim Gordon's similar orders to his men were echoed through the com. Batman leapt off the taller building feet first his cape unfurled. He crashed through a glass section of the warehouse roof. It was an impressive entrance. The gang of human traffickers scattered. Catwoman and Robin landed on the ground beside him. Members of GCPD came in through various doorways.
The fight was dirty and nasty. Catwoman liked them that way. She flipped, kicked, and punched her way through the room. The women and children were in a separate area only guarded by a few traffickers and officers had been assigned to get them out. It shouldn't have taken them long to evacuate the room and get the civilians to safety.
She glanced to her left and grinned as the Boy Wonder propelled himself off the shoulders of one bad guy who was already going down and used the momentum to kick another solidly in the head. Robin's joyful laughter rang out through the sounds of close quarters fighting. Catwoman almost laughed with him but even in all the chaos something caught her eye.
A man stood with a gun raised and aimed at Robin. He had a painfully clear line of sight. The decision was made almost before her mind had time to process it. There was no way to reach the gunman before the trigger was pulled but she might, through the intervention of a God she hadn't prayed to in a long time but was begging now, get to Robin.
She was leaping, flying through the air, grabbing Robin's small body and covering it with her own. She never heard the gunshots. The white hot pain of the impact was all the proof she needed that they had hit her body as she crashed to the floor with her little bird, her kitten tucked safely in front of her. There was an almost inhuman roar that she knew came from Batman. Then the numbness began to wash over her body, pushing the pain away. The world became disjointed with muted sounds and she started to fade.
As the cops around them hauled the last of the conscious traffickers out of the warehouse in cuffs, Batman and Jim Gordon swooped toward the two still figures on the floor. As they approached there was movement and Robin crawled out from under Catwoman. He looked confused for a moment and then stared down at the bleeding woman beside him.
"No. No!" Jim couldn't see the boy's eyes behind the lenses but his face was frantic when he looked up at Batman. He wasn't sure what Catwoman's tie was to the two crimefighters but she was important to them both. He had seen Robin with her when Batman had brought her to GCPD to present her evidence about this case. The boy had been protective.
"Are you hurt?" Batman asked as he knelt beside Catwoman. The boy shook his head and looked back down. "Catwoman? Catwoman, can you hear me?"
The wounded woman mumbled something. Kitten? She was talking about kittens now? Jim thought.
"I'm okay! You saved me." Robin responded. Catwoman didn't answer him. "Please don't. Don't leave me. I can't do this again. We need you. Please."
Jim watched tears drip from under the boy's mask and on to Catwoman's face. The boy had clearly suffered loss before. "EMT is on their way in." He murmured to Batman. "We'll get her into the first ambulance heading out."
The distinctive roar of the Batmobile's engine could be heard pulling up outside. Batman moved to gather Catwoman up in his arms. "We have our own doctor." He stood and Robin followed. He looked down at the boy. "She'll be fine. Let's get her into the car."