Chapter 9: Sealing the Deal
It was yet another quiet night in Neo-Gotham, and Batman stood on top of a building looking down at the city.
"These quiet nights are much appreciated," Terry said as he watched passer-bys.
"Aren't they just pleasant?" purred a voice from behind him.
"What do you want Catwoman?" Terry turned around and growled.
"Oh I'm just taking a nice midnight stroll. Care to join me?" Catwoman asked as she circled around him while giggling.
"Not really. But what I do want is to know who you are," Terry said as he watched her walk.
"Now now, no need to get hasty, I mean, after all, we wouldn't want to get too close on the second date," She tsked with a smile.
"This is not a date, and I'm far from interested in your games," Terry replied with a slight waver.
"Oh you know you're interested Batman, I can hear it in your voice. So why don't we make a deal? If I give you a hint as to who I am, then I get a hint as to who you are. After all, we're both fighting the same fight," She shrugged as she sauntered over to the edge.
"How can I be sure you won't double cross me?" Terry said with doubt.
"I guess you'll just have to trust this little ole stray," Catwoman said as she gave Terry a saucy grin.
"I don't play the trust game little kitty," Terry said while crossing his arms.
"Well then I guess you won't get a hint," Catwoman said while holding a finger to her lips and winking. "I guess I'll just let you continue being a grumpy lil' bat," she said as she made to look like she was going to jump from the building top.
"Wait! If you can give me your word, then I'll give you a hint," Terry said when he realized she was going to leave. Smirking, Catwoman turned back around and gazed at Terry.
"I give you my word, on my honor, that you can trust me," Catwoman said with all sincerity and determination. Batman took a moment to look into her unusual amber eyes to see if he can detect deception. Not seeing anything but the truth, he sighed.
"Alright, I believe you. Your only hint as to who I am is…I go to high school," Terry said, thinking he had to upper hand.
"Very informative Batman, that just limits the number of possibilities by a lot," Catwoman said while mentally crossing of guys at the high school.
"Your turn Cat," Terry said with a slight edge.
"Don't be impatient Batsy, I'm thinking. Alright, your only hint as to who I am is…You can't see my piercing when I'm in normal clothes," Catwoman said with a slight smirk. Knowing that most girls don't show off their stomachs, Catwoman used that to her advantage. Dumbstruck at her clever trick, Batman didn't see her walk towards him. Feeling something lifting the bottom of his cowl, he snapped out of his thoughts and snatched Catwoman's gloved wrists.
"What do you think you're doing?" Terry growled.
"Relax Batman, I'm simply sealing our deal," she replied calmly as she continued to fiddle with the bottom of the cowl.
"Last time I checked our deal didn't involve unmasking me," he said.
"I'm not unmasking you. Just trust me," she said while gazing at Terry's covered eyes. Deciding that he could trust her, Terry released her wrists, but kept his hands close in case she lied. Smiling at the trust being shown, Catwoman lifted the cowl far enough to reveal his lips. Smiling gently, Catwoman stood on her toes a bit and leaned up to kiss him. It was only a brief contact, but the two of them didn't want to have it end all that quickly. Wrapping his arms around the bare mid-drift of Catwoman, he pulled her closer. In response, Catwoman wrapped her arms around his neck. They didn't deepen the kiss, they simply tried to make it last. Finally pulling away, Catwoman was biting her lower lip and smiling, her eyes still closed. Terry simply smirked and pulled his cowl down with one hand, the other firmly placed on her hip.
"Do you seal all deals like that?" Terry asked when Catwoman opened her eyes.
"Nope, just for deals with you," she said with a smile.
"I'll keep that in mind," was all Terry could manage to say. He was reluctant to let Catwoman go, feeling as though she belonged in his arms, but he did when she persisted on needing to get a decent night's sleep. Watching her saunter away, Terry couldn't stop his thoughts from running rampant through his mind.
Chapter 10: Too Much to be a Coincidence
The next morning found Terry sitting up in bed still thinking about Catwoman's hint. He couldn't think of any girls that walked around wearing full length shirts that would prevent a naval piercing from showing. Sighing in frustration, Terry headed out to get some breakfast then go to school. After a short walk to school, in which Terry was still thinking, he walked into his first hour class and logged on to the computer. He then pulled up the school's attendance and made a list of all the girls in the school. Terry was so lost in his quest for discovering Catwoman's identity that he failed to realize that Isis stood behind him with an evil smile on her face. Quietly putting her stuff down, Isis gently sat down in her seat next to Terry and just watched. She wasn't really able to see what Terry was doing so she leaned a little bit backwards to get a better look. Seeing the list of girls, Isis' eyes widened in shock.
"No way, Terry can't be Batman! That would be way too convenient!" Isis thought as she continued to stare in amazement at the list. "No, I'm just over reacting. Terry's probably just looking to see what other girl he can date. Yeah, that's gotta be it," Isis thought as she tried to calm herself. Forgetting that she was leaning backwards, Isis' chair started to slip and suddenly gave out from underneath her. With a startled yowl, Isis went down, causing Terry to jump and look at her in surprise.
"Isis are you alright? When did you get here? Why are you on the floor? What happened?" Terry fired off his questions as he helped her help.
"Yeah I'm ok, nothing too serious, I got here a couple minutes ago, I'm on the floor because my chair slipped, and I just answered what happened," Isis replied without missing a beat while dusting herself off. "So what were you working on that had you completely absorbed?" she asked as she sat back down.
"Oh nothing really, just looking some stuff up," Terry said while waving his hand dismissively.
"It didn't look like nothing but whatever, I shall leave you to your secrets," Isis said with a fake sniffle. "I guess we're not close enough of friends to let me in on what you're planning," she continued to say and sniffle.
"Oh come on Isis, it's nothing like that. I was just looking up the girls at the school to figure out which ones might have a naval piercing," Terry said while looking ashamed for making Isis upset.
"Oh don't give me that look Terry, I'm not mad at you," Isis said while poking Terry in the forehead and freaking out internally. "Well that just proves everything! Terry is Batman! Well isn't this just perfect! I finally kiss a guy I stand some chance with and he doesn't even know it was me! Brilliance, sheer frickin brilliance!" Isis shouted in her head. "Why do you want to know about girl's naval piercings?" She asked with as much curiosity as she could muster.
"No special reason really, just felt like it," Terry said while looking at Isis worriedly. He watched her expressions during her internal rant and was unsettled by the look of sadness that swept across her face momentarily.
"Oh I bet there's a special reason. Fess up Mcginnis, you secretly like girls with naval piercings," Isis said once she regained control of her emotions, her amber eyes twinkling with mirth. Terry simply shook his head gently with a smile, but then looked shocked. How he didn't realize it in the first place he never knew; Isis' eyes were just like Catwoman's. While still looking on in disbelief at Isis, Terry murmured that he needed to talk to someone and left abruptly, leaving a confused Isis behind.
When Terry made it to an unused hall, he called Mr. Wayne. "Mr. Wayne, I know who Catwoman is!" He exclaimed when Bruce Wayne answered.
"Are you sure you know who it is?" Wayne asked.
"Positive, unless you have reason to doubt that the new girl, Isis Kyle, shows up around the same time as Catwoman, has the same eyes, and the same mannerisms, as Catwoman," Terry said while making wild hand gestures.
"I do believe that it is too coincidental, but is there any other way to prove that Isis is Catwoman?" Wayne said, hiding his hope that Terry found the identity of Catwoman.
"Catwoman said that her naval piercing can't be seen when she's wearing normal clothes. If I could find a way to see if Isis has a piercing, that would prove it," Terry said.
"Then I wish you luck Terry, girls don't like it when boys try to touch their stomachs," Wayne said with humor. "When you confirm your suspicion, I would like to speak with her," he said before hanging up. "Selina Kyle…Isis Kyle…Could they be related? But then who was the Father of her child? I need to see if she might be related to me," Wayne said while looking at the monitor in the Bat Cave. A picture of Selina Kyle in her cat suit on the monitor with her mischievous smile.
