March 14th
Gotham City
0025 EST

Inside the bathroom, Barbara chastised herself. When Deke had stood after doing whatever it was he'd done, he'd turned on his way up, and there was a moment that she'd hoped he hadn't noticed, where she had to physically stop herself from leaning over and kissing him. It was some kind of instinctual imperative, she was right there, he was right there, and her body wanted to act without her permission.

As she had an internal argument with herself, a cold chill ran up her spine. He'd admitted he'd used his powers to touch her mind once already. Could he have planted a suggestion, made her want to do it? Or was it just her, wanting to fix a damaged person? She wasn't some princess, and while she certainly felt grateful for his help, she very clearly believed going to bed with him in thanks was not happening. She was also able to stop herself, which didn't seem to jive with malicious psychics. Their psychological profiles tended to involve a lot of instant gratification.

Wait, why was she thinking about going to bed with him now? She let out a grr in frustration as she washed her hands. She was firmly against being a one-nighter kind of girl, the never ending mission had too many anonymous moments as it was, and being that kind of intimate with a stranger just wasn't for her.

That's when the thought hit her. She was frustrated with him because he was withholding from her. He didn't want to tell her about his powers, and while he'd been forthcoming about his life growing up, she knew there was a lot he wasn't telling her. It didn't help that she was also frustrated at being benched. She was frustrated she was stuck in one of the safehouses. She was just plain frustrated.

When she exited the bathroom, she was surprised to see Deke passed out on the couch already, and the bedroom door open. He hadn't gone so far as to turn down the sheets, which was just as well. Barbara had no intention of going to sleep anytime soon. She needed to clear her head, and had one sure fire way to do it.

She went into the bedroom, opened the closet, and pulled the carpet up by a corner. Tucked within a hollow on the floor was a safe, and after entering the correct code, she was able to collect her spare costume from among the few contained within. It was an older getup, when she was still using the purple and gray, but it would fit well enough for her to do what she planned to do.

Barbara silently slipped out of the window, and took a leap. She rode the wind a bit on her cape before firing off a line, and just let herself soar through the city, welcoming the focus she needed to ensure her safety, and the thrill of just getting out into the night.

While it was common knowledge that Gotham wasn't exactly the safest place in America, it had gotten a lot better once Batman had begun his crusade. The threats were bigger now, sure, but they were much rarer. The real threats to the casual citizen, like gangs and basic corruption, were well on the decline. Batman had broken the back of the mob here, and it showed.

Now, a little past one am, the city was really starting to come to life, with neon splashing electric color against the otherwise cold concrete. As Batgirl swung about, there were people below her. Couples on dates, teenagers out just wandering for fun, someone taking their dog on a late night walk, and even a small party in between two apartment buildings, with Christmas lights strung about.

Barbara's trip through the city found her alighting gracefully on the roof of a building directly facing the Gotham Arts Center. Of the several museums in the city, this one was her favorite. As a little girl, her dad would bring her here for the interactive exhibits, and just let her wear herself out in all of it.

It also appeared to be of someone else's interest that night. She still wasn't exactly up to a hundred percent though, and she approached the shadowy form with caution. This person revealed themselves rather abruptly however.

"Batgirl." A sultry voice purred. Catwoman turned to look at the woman who usually had a much better success rate of sneaking up on her.

"Catwoman." Barbara replied as her body reflexively moved into a more defensive stance. Instead of attacking her though, Catwoman just stood up fully and walked towards her, hands half up.

"I'm not robbing the place," She said, her voice still that sultry purr. "Nothing interesting in there anyway." When Batgirl didn't relax her stance, Selina stopped approaching her and sat down with her back against the roof access door.

"Word on the street is Brick worked you over. He doesn't exactly take it easy on people." Selina said as she fished a paper bag and a thermos out of her small duffle. Almost condescendingly, she made a show of it, just to prove she didn't have anything illegal in the bag. "Sandwich?"

"I ate earlier." Barbara said, cautiously taking a seat against the low roof wall across from Catwoman. "Why are you out here anyway?"

"Would it surprise you to know Bruce asked me for a favor? Even paid me for it too." Catwoman said, her purring tone more emphatic. When Batgirl didn't respond, likely out of shock at how casually Selina had dropped Bruce's name, she continued. "He gave me one of the Kahndaqi Mau statuettes. I'll go after the rest eventually, but I really think it's his way of flirting."

Barbara didn't want to think of the implications in that statement. Mostly she was upset with Bruce for letting Selina into his life as much as he had, but also because he hadn't told her that he was outsourcing while she was recovering. She watched as Catwoman unwrapped her sandwich, and began nibbling at it, almost daintily.

"Okay, you're killing me Batgirl, what's your deal?" Selina asked between bites. The girl looked halfway between annoyed and confused, and her silence wasn't helping matters much. It was easy to forget she was dealing with a teenager, until moments like this.

Batgirl sighed and leaned back against the wall, trying to stretch the tension and ache out of her core. She was going to pay for this trip tomorrow, she just knew it. "I needed to clear my head," She finally answered.

"Oh?" Selina asked with an arched eyebrow and a sly grin. "Trouble in the Bat family?" When Batgirl shook her head, Selina kept speculating. "Home then?" another shake of the head. "Still not gotten your invite to the League?" This earned a scowl before another shook head. "Boy trouble?"

Batgirl huffed in frustration before nodding. "Yeah. It's embarrassing." She really wasn't particularly comfortable talking about the situation, but there wasn't exactly a huge pool of adult women she could talk to. At least Catwoman was better than Harley to discuss the situation with. "I'm confused."

Selina popped open her thermos and handed it across. Batgirl's nose was immediately greeted by the smell of hot coffee, and not the cheap stuff either. "I'm going to let you in on a secret." Selina told her, taking her thermos back once Batgirl had taken a sip. "There's a reason men never argue when women kept saying they were simple creatures. They're just as complex as we are, but they let us confound ourselves trying to figure them out."

Batgirl made a face, realizing Selina was right. "I don't understand him, and I don't know if he's doing it on purpose to make me interested, or if he really is just like that." She said, accepting the thermos back for another sip.

"If you're already that worked up, I'd say you are interested. Have you slept with him already?" Selina asked point blank, and was rewarded by Batgirl spitting her coffee out in shock.

"God no! I'ma, I mean, that's, uhm, no. No I haven't." Batgirl sputtered. It wouldn't take thermal optics to see the heat rising in her cheeks in sheer embarrassment. She didn't discuss sexual matters with M'gann or Cassie most of the time, let alone a woman she'd put in prison.

Selina let an amused smile creep across her face, the Batgirl's reaction was worth getting coffee on her new costume. "Good," She said, and watched her reaction. "What kind of boy is he?"

Barbara also wiped herself off, still furiously embarrassed. "He's just a shy boy from somewhere down south. I can't get him to really talk about himself besides banal small talk."

"You're very lucky. Whether good or bad remains to be seen though. Either he's just not that self-absorbed, or he's playing with you." Selina replied. "What does he want from you?"

"So far, nothing. He hasn't tried anything with me. He's been nothing but a perfect gentleman, but he's not patronizing about it either. He's seems genuine enough, but he's just so damn confusing. He said he liked me, and I like him so far, but he won't act." Barbara said, speaking as much with her hands as with her voice.

Catwoman put away her sandwich wrapper, washed the last bite down with a drink of coffee, and leaned in towards Batgirl. "Then you my dear, need to sit him down, and ask him. Don't let him escape. Straddle him on the couch if you have to, but get your answer."

Barbara blushed again, and Catwoman's suspicions were confirmed. "If things go far enough, yes, you can ask me about how sex is really supposed to work. I'm sure Bruce isn't looking forward to that conversation, and I can at least give you some good tips."

Thoroughly embarrassed and a bit uncomfortable, Batgirl stood slowly. "I'm not going to straddle him, but I'll ask." She said as she loaded her grapnel guns with fresh cartridges.

"Don't let him waste your time," Selina called to her as she swung off the roof and back into the city.