The bus ride back was uneventful aside from the odd looks and whispered comments Ethan got from other passengers on board. He flipped them all the bird scowling till they turned their heads away.

There wasn't much he could do about them staring he was after all covered head to toe in dried mud and after walking three miles to reach the bus station he was sweating buckets resulting in a unpleasant combination of sweat and dirt.

He was aching, hungry and penniless so the opinions of strangers was hanging very low on his little list of fucks to give at the moment.

Ethan occupied himself for the majority of the trip by scrubbing off the bits of the forest he'd collected from his encounter with the twins. His black hoody was beyond saving the same could be said for his dark jeans but he tried anyway, silently praying that his boots would make it. Ethan didn't know why he had thought wearing his best pair to go rob a bank was a good idea, not exactly like criminals get extra credit for dressing well.

Criminal.

That word hit a nerve, everyone had one, a single word that broke past all their carefully constructed barriers. Ethan could think of a few that hurt him; freak, father-less, faggot but the one that went straight to the heart surprisingly was criminal. He hated being called it even though technically he was one. It hurt to be labelled as such especially because he didn't want to break the law at all.

I don't have a choice in this. Ethan reminded himself.

He found it hard to believe some of the things he found himself doing these days, it felt like he was undoing all of the hard work his parents had put in to stop people like him.

They had always been so proud of their contribution to the police force, proud of what they were doing for their city and their one and only child was slowly unraveling the thread from their tapestry.

The irony of it all was as a child Ethan had been determined to join the League.

A silly dream that only an oblivious child could hold onto but he held on to it, right until the bitter end. His parents had always been so supportive, not just with his dreams but with everything, always pushing him always encouraging, smiling faces cheering him on eyes filled with pride.

They didn't care that he was a meta-human, they didn't care that he sometimes got moody, they didn't care that he was gay. He was their son and they had loved him all the same.

Ethan swallowed the lump in his throat blinking away the moisture in his eyes, blaming it on the air in the bus for being so damn dusty because that's what it was just the dust in the air getting to his eyes...

They crossed over the bridge into Old Gotham just as the sun set over the horizon. Ethan couldn't wait for the journey to be over, he'd quickly grown weary of the enclosed space and the people on board with him.

As soon as the bus pulled up into the bus station Ethan was the first one out breathing in the chilly city air. With winter approaching the streets of Gotham grew colder and colder every night but Ethan didn't mind in fact he loved the cold or more accurately the festivities that the cold would bring.

Ethan stuck his hands under his arm pits to stop the temperature biting at his finger tips walking down the chilly streets head filled with happy memories of this time of year.

His parents had usually taken him to a market square in Somerset that sold the best hot chocolate the kind of hot chocolate that made your insides feel like a purring kitten, if you walked further down the square you would find another stand selling freshly baked spiced biscuits wrapped up in cute little packages.

Ethan remembered how delicious they were. When Mary was out of hospital that was one of the first places Ethan wanted to take her.

His heart felt a little lighter thinking about planning a future with his Mother in it. They could restart their lives, they could leave Gotham, go anywhere, do anything. No more late night robberies or day-long hospital visits, just normal day-to-day routines where Ethan's biggest concerns had been deciding what to wear.

His past self would be horrified with his current wardrobe choices, he often just threw whatever was practical on regardless if it looked good or not.

Ethan decided to take a tram rather than walk the rest of the way home to give his already worn-out feet some rest, they had done enough today. He very briefly considered calling a cab but he knew the drivers charged an arm and a leg around this neighborhood.

As he walked Ethan tried to swallow some of the rawness clawing at the inside his throat, when that didn't work he tried to clear it by coughing but ended up making it worse. He could still feel the twin's fingers pressing against his wind pipe...

The only peace of mind he had was knowing that the twins were out there licking their own injuries right now. Ethan hoped he never ran into them again he would not be held responsible for what would happen to their sorry asses.

Terror Twits.

Ethan chuckled to himself and some passers-by gave him a wide birth, he noted how some of them tightened their grip on their wallets eyeing him warily. He wasn't surprised, if he had seen someone walking down the street covered in dirt and giggling to themselves he would have kept distance too.

This was just a mentality most Gothamites picked up, where as the people outside of Gotham's borders carried themselves openly, inside of Gotham's borders people were on alert all the time.

There had been a time when Gotham had been much worse than what it was now, back before Batman had appeared, before Black Mask's power play, back when the name Falcone still carried weight on the streets.

Ethan didn't remember much of that time, he had only been a toddler, but what he did remember was his parent's opting to wear bullet proof vests even while off-duty.

He passed a few lurching drunks who slurred a growl at him, then took a right up onto the tram platform. After about five minutes of waiting the rusty wailing signaled the trams arrival, Ethan hopped on board the empty tram when it stopped looking forward to a hot shower and food.

That was when he felt it.

Eyes. Eyes watching him.

Not just a simple glance but someone was watching him intently. Call it a sixth sense but there was no way Ethan could mistake this feeling, somebody was tailing him with purpose.

The doors of the tram closed as it pulled away.

Ethan calmly moved to take a seat unable to shake the waves of paranoia that washed over him.

Had someone figured him out? Did they know what he had done? What he had tried to do today?

Who is it?

It couldn't be the GCPD he was so careful not to leave any trails, he knew what mistakes to avoid from his parents own investigations it couldn't be them. The only people who knew his face and his powers were the twins and there wasn't a chance in hell those two would follow him into Gotham.

Ethan watched the buildings passing by over head to distract his nerves, their looming shadows filled in the gaps between them with inky darkness.

Then for a split second Ethan swore he could see something moving in the dark, he swallowed rubbing his eyes and with a second glance the shadows were still again.

Maybe it was all in his head...he had had a long day and tiredness does things to a person's mind. No one had discovered him. Especially not him.

Any chance at enjoying the journey had long since faded the hairs on his neck tingled and goosebumps rose on his arms. Ethan began studying the shadows more closely his stomach doing nervous flips.

He knew eventually someone might discover him but not this soon, he needed more time, he would have to go on the run, a warrant would be put on his head that would mean he wouldn't be able to keep the funding going...

Ethan gripped the edges of his seat tightly feeling the cheap plastic break apart under his fingernails.

"Not now...please not now" Ethan whispered to himself.

The tram came to a halt and Ethan was off before the doors had fully opened, pushing strangers out of the way barreling down the streets hoping that he might be able to slip away from his phantom follower.

Taking a sharp right into the nearest alley using routes learnt from fleeing from the law numerous times, if he was lucky his stalker would assume he was heading north while actually he would take an exit leading east then wrap back around to reach home.

The thought of a longer journey made Ethan want to cry, there was only so much his body could take in a single day but he held firm taking the longer route to make sure whoever was following him wouldn't be able to track him back to his house.

He kept as hidden as possible avoiding well-lit areas and busy streets, he still didn't know who had tailed him or to what lengths they would go to catch up to him and he made no plans to find out.

When he finally stepped foot onto his street the paranoia came back full throttle breathing down his neck like an unwelcome stalker. Ethan must have checked his back a dozen times but could not shake those dreadful 'what ifs'.

He didn't have a back-up plan if they found him. Now that he thought about it he didn't really plan for anything, always preferring to take action instead of thinking. That was beginning to cause him problems if today's events were anything to judge by.

Ethan wasn't stupid by any means, he just wasn't much of a thinker, just like his parents. Although Mary always seemed to be able to rein in some of his Father's more dangerous impulses.

Distracted by thoughts of his parents Ethan didn't see the dark shape pounce out of the shadows. On instinct he tensed, the ground rumbled under his feet prepared to split open and unleash hell at his command.

The furry black cat gazed at him with an uninterested glare snapping it's tail back and forth fearlessly, the feline wore a silky smooth purple collar with the initials 'S.K.' engraved around the collar's golden tag.

Ethan relaxed annoyed at himself for jumping at a cat of all things he shooed the creature away who in response stared on with sharp yellows eyes, hissed, then twirled around back into the shadows.

Carrying on down the street Ethan spied his home breathing a shaking sigh of relief. His family had lived in this apartment building for years, it had been dedicated towards housing struggling families courtesy of Wayne Enterprises, it wasn't pretty living but the rent was cheap, crime was rare and nobody asked questions.

He paused just outside the entrance to check that his follower hadn't followed then jogged up the steps two at a time quickly breezing past his landlord who sat at the reception desk straight into the lift. He pushed the buttons furiously as his landlord tried to wave him down, he didn't want to have to cough up another excuse about this months rent.

The elevator mercifully closed its doors and took him up to floor five, the ride was slow but thankfully empty just the occasional groan from the cables above for company.

When he reached his floor Ethan exited the lift stumbling along the hallway until he reached his apartment, he turned the key in the lock and slipped inside where his back pressed against the wooden door pushing it closed.

And only then did his composure finally gave way to the avalanche of emotion running through him.

His legs gave out and he fell to the floor shaking as he truly began to digest the days events. Everything seemed to dog pile over him as hot tears trickled out the corners of his eyes but the rock wielder stubbornly rubbed them away.

He wanted to scream until his throat bled or hit something repeatedly till his knuckles cracked. He wanted to feel something anything other than the hollow loneliness that was growing inside.

Ethan wondered how long it would take before that emptiness consumed him till his self-loathing finally reached it's apex and he couldn't take it anymore.

He had come home empty handed with nothing to keep Mary's treatment on-going and worse someone might have made him. He didn't know what to do anymore the only reason he left Gotham to begin with was because he had been desperate for money and now with that failed attempt he was in an even more worse situation than before.

He laughed pitifully to himself the sound cutting off halfway to be replaced by dry sobbing.

Ethan was doubting himself, doubting that he could manage this alone, that he could find a way to make it all better. The only thing that the teenager did not doubt was that he would do what ever it took to help his family.

After another round of halfhearted sobbing Ethan pulled himself together getting up slowly to move towards the bathroom shedding his dirty clothing along the way, not caring where the discarded garments fell. When the shower was running Ethan stepped in naked as the day he was born letting the temperature rise until the water was scalding hot, humming in pleasure weakly as the water washed away the dirt, sweat and tears.

He spent a good half an hour washing wincing as he moved over bruised skin already dreading how painful those areas would be in the morning.

Then Ethan reluctantly left the shower hearing the call of his bed. He opted to just pull on a pair of boxers letting his body heat dry up the moisture.

But as he walked into his bedroom he was met with a surprise. Sitting confidently in the middle of his bed was a fuzzy black ball of whiskers and fur.

The coal-colored feline looked familiar and upon noticing the purple engraved collar around its neck he realized it was the same cat from outside.

"How the hell did you get in here?"

The cat hissed taking a swipe at his hands as he tried to grab it.

"Don't mind Snowball, she's been terribly catty all day long" A smooth feminine voice whispered into Ethan's ear quickly followed by a knee into his back that hit one of his sensitive bruises.

Ethan cried out in pain as he turned to glimpse his attacker. But she was already moving. A long leg kicked him in the right side of his face. Ethan groaned stumbling backwards to put distance between them.

The woman in his room was dressed in a full leather jumpsuit, the front of the suit was zipped a quarter of the way down revealing a generous cleavage, pointed black gloves covered her hands with the finger ends resembling claws and her face was concealed by a tight black cowl with big orange goggles over her eyes.

But the defining aspect of her costume was the pointed ears attached to the top of her cowl.

Ethan's first thought was, assassin stripper, which was quickly followed up with a mind-blowing realization.

"You're Catwoman!"

She smiled slyly then replied with a voice of silk.

"In the fur"

"What...What the hell?!"

Catwoman pouted pouncing across the small space. Ethan tried to avoid her but she was so damn fast, faster than anyone had any right to be, she moved with a professional elegance that would make any dancer jealous.

Catwoman jumped onto Ethan's shoulders wrapping her thighs around his neck, his vision flashed white as the first thing he processed was the crushing pain of having someone hold him in a choke hold again. She forced him to the ground applying more pressure around his windpipe while Ethan clawed at her legs.

He was hesitant using his powers inside his home, worried that he might accidentally bring the whole building down and every time he attempted to harden his skin Catwoman tightened her hold. Ethan's sight started to blur and so he used the last drop of energy he had left to crystallize himself prying the offending legs away.

Catwoman leapt away watching the teenager clad only in boxers shimmer into a giant transparent crystal.

"Well well, that is a very pretty trick"

Ethan's legs wobbled struggling to hold his weight.

"You okay there handsome? You don't look so good"

Ethan fainted...

When he came to he was in his bed, under the blankets, with a warm pressure on his chest. Snowball the cat laid on top of him purring contently as Catwoman sat at the foot of the bed flicking through a random magazine she had pulled from his desk, her cowl was pulled back showing her short spiky hair.

Ethan pushed Snowball off slowly sitting up. The cat snapped her tail in protest then made her way to Catwoman sliding into her lap like an over-spoiled child, the leather-clad woman ran her fingers across the felines fur watching Ethan with curious green eyes.

"What...why are you here?!"

Catwoman bit her lip mauling over the question.

"I'll be honest, I was here to teach you a lesson"

"What? Why?"

"You stole from me"

"I didn't!" Ethan protested loudly.

"Oh but you did, you see Old Gotham, that's my favorite scratching post, imagine my surprise finding that some amateur had come along ruining all my fun"

Ethan didn't understand he had never done anything to piss off Catwoman, nothing he knew of at least, he actively tried to avoid any involvement with other criminals, especially masks.

The green eyed woman saw his confusion and rolled her eyes.

"You broke into vaults; stole money, ignored the law and made away with other peoples hard earned livelihoods, I wanted to do that"

"So you were the one following me?"

She nodded smiling.

"You almost gave me the slip back at the tram station, I was very nearly impressed"

Ethan still didn't understand why she would attack him and if it wasn't for the exhausted state of his body he would have been throwing her out of the window.

"You followed me to rough me up!?"

She huffed strolling around Ethan's room like she owned the place. Snowball remained stationary watching them both curiously, Catwoman paused by Ethan's desk to pick up one of his family photos.

"I won't lie; you're sloppy, inexperienced, a bit rough around the edges but I think you have a unique gift, a gift you should turn to more...suitable pursuits"

"You attack me! Then want to give me life advice?! Get lost you don't know anything about me or why I do what I do" Ethan snapped angrily.

Catwoman smiled slyly.

"Oh I know more about this kind of life than you think, so many kids jump into crime because they can or maybe because they don't have a choice it doesn't matter, what ever your reasons are it sticks with you for life"

Her voice was sincere but it didn't calm Ethan down.

"I was following you because I wanted to scare you off and now I'm going to give you some advice, get out now while you can, before its too late"

"Screw you, it's not like I wanted to be a criminal in the first place!"

Catwoman turned raising a primped brow.

"This kitty thinks otherwise, considering your actions"

"Its not like that I... I do what I do because I have to"

She frowned showing Ethan the picture she held, it was one of him and his parents outside GCPD both of them dressed in full uniform.

"These look like your parents, GCPD officers? I know that pays well so please do tell me why you do what you do because I'm pretty sure you're some stupid kid trying to get back at Daddy and Mommy"

Hearing someone speak about his parents made him furious the shift in the air from civil to tense was instantaneous ready to ignite at a single spark.

Catwoman didn't believe a word Ethan said her arms crossed and her face set in an expression that could only be described as disgust, she believed him to be a rebelling child looking for something fun to do. Ethan wished it were that simple.

As chatty as the notorious master thief had been Ethan sensed she was ready to knock more sense into him if he said the wrong thing but what she wasn't aware of was that he was also ready to do the same if she said the wrong thing.

"My Mom. She's in hospital the treatment is expensive and we couldn't afford it conventionally"

Her eyes narrowed.

"What about your Father?"

Ethan mentally cursed, feeling a mournful pang hit his chest.

"He...he died some time ago"

There was a moment of silence as she studied Ethan's face for lies, eventually she nodded unfolding her arms.

"Were you planning on paying for this treatment by robbing that bank near Bludhaven?"

Ethan froze, his heart pounded as he wondered how on earth she knew about that.

"Well? Cat got your tongue?"

"How did you know? No-one is supposed to know"

Catwoman burst into laughter rich honey toes rang through the air, when she finished she pretended to wipe a tear of laughter out of her eye.

"Oh that's just precious, so innocent, you've drawn all kinds of attention lately, a fresh meta-human not under anyone's pay check? That's a golden opportunity for those who know how to take it"

Ethan ground his teeth together.

If Catwoman had caught onto him the rest of the criminal world wouldn't be far behind her.

"If you had actually stolen any money I might have made off with it, that would have been a fun lesson for you, although not exactly like I could use those bills for anything"

Ethan gazed at her curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"Kid, those kind of bills are marked if you used them to pay for anything the cops would be on you quicker that you can say 'cat nap'"

What?

Ethan was shocked if that was true then leaving the money behind was probably the best thing he could have done.

He thought... No! That was the problem he didn't think! He just did. And yet again not thinking could have cost him everything.

Catwoman watched him with a calculating look.

"Lets speak hypothetical here...If per say you found a way to pay for this treatment, what would you do then?"

The rock wielder morphed from shock into suspicion.

"I'm more concerned with what to do now rather than my future"

"I said, hypothetically, now answer the question"

Ethan didn't like her tone but he answered the question.

"I would...I thought I was going to go back to school, graduate then get a crappy job flipping burgers or something"

The thief hummed in thought turning away from Ethan shaking her head at her own ridiculous plans, after a moment of contemplation the feline character turned back around with a wide smile on her lips.

"I have an offer for you to consider"

Ethan raised his brow but didn't say anything remembering what the master thief had said a few minutes earlier.

'A golden opportunity for those who know how to take it.'

He didn't like this, not one bit, but he was in over his head and what ever she might have on the table might just be a better paycheck than anything he could come up with alone.

And so Ethan decided to listen to her offer.