Catwoman was patrolling alone when a thick fog began to appeared. "Catwoman your angel of death awaits." The Phantasm, a top of the line assassin, but Selena knew her by another name.
"Andrea Beaumont, still not over Bruce I see." Phantasm deactivated her voice changer but kept her mask on.
"No, Selena, this is just the day someone the Catwoman double crossed asks for payback. Them hiring me must just make you a black cat."
"Sorry hun wrong network." Catwoman draws her whip and strikes at the mercenary. Andrea dodges the attack and vanishes into fog, which thickens on the roof top. "You know even if you get rid of me you'll never have Bruce." Andrea informs Selena that she already knows that, however it was true that this really was a hit called in by someone else. "Well then, guess, I'm just gonna have to break that pretty little nose." Phantasm strikes from the fog only to be grabbed and thrown away then whipped around the chest and slammed, hard. "Sorry, but I have a family to get back to." An arrow flies right at the back of Catwoman's head, which she narrowly avoided.
"I have no use for you family just your husband and you are standing in the way."
"Talia, you hired Andrea? The other woman hired the ex-girlfriend to kill the wife, when did my life become a soap opera?"
"If it makes you feel any better I have no romantic affection towards you husband, he is simply the finest specimen of human in the world. And my baby must be completely, normally made, human."
"Normally made?" Selena inquired. "Your trying to kill the wife so you can harvest the husband's seed, which part of that is normal."
"I only require the birthing process to be normal conception is moot."
"And here I thought it was the best part." Talia drew her bow and fired again Selena narrowly avoiding shot after shot. After flipping off the roof Catwoman whips a fire escape and begins to swing away, something Talia doesn't allow with a well placed arrow. Selena, of course, lands on her feet on the roof of a lower building, Talia quickly follows. "You can't beat me Talia." The daughter of Ra's Al Ghul said nothing as she fluidly returned her bow and drew her sword. Talia kicked Selena in the gut, sending her flying. As Talia stood over and lowered her sword over Catwoman's heart the blade was deflected, by The Phantasm.
"No one helps me with my bounties, not even the people who give them to me."
"Get out of the way. You have already failed, now stand down or I will strike you down."
"Tell me something Talia, have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"
"Only when the moon is full and the wine is red." Talia answered. The master assassins traded parries and strikes neither woman afraid to go for the killing blow. Talia drew her dagger and tried to attack with both weapons, Andrea merely summoned another fog and vanished. "You think this trick will help you against me. I am the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul, the true heir to the demon." As the fog began to clear it became apparent that neither Catwoman nor Phantasm were still present. "You bitch."
Elsewhere hidden from view Andrea waited for Selena to come to. "I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure this counts as one of your nine lives." Andrea quipped.
"Wait, you saved me? Why?" Selena just couldn't fathom that she was alive because of Andrea Beaumont.
"I told you before it wasn't personal and now there's no money to be made in your death." The two women discussed their next move for several more minutes, deciding that attacking Talia head on together was their best chance to dissuade her. Catwoman and Phantasm stood out in the open and waited for Talia to come. Her arrival was announced by an arrow aimed right for Selena's neck, quickly, and easily dodged. Andrea rushed Talia resuming their duel from earlier. Not having time to switch weapons Talia merely discarded her bow. Catwoman joined the battle catching Talia in her side. Talia looked at her former assassin and Catwoman before making her next tactical maneuver.
"Very well, I will not interfere." She said.
"Thank you." Andrea replied.
"Oh shit." Catwoman muttered as she dodged an attack from her would be partner. "You know she's just going to wait for us to tire each other out, then kill me to get to Batman, and then kill you for attacking her."
"As long as I complete the job, thats all that matters to me Selena. You wouldn't believe how often I work for the U.S. government."
"They've hired you thirty-seven times this year alone." Catwoman answered. After which she added. "I am Batman's wife after all."
"Yeah I bet your a lot of fun on trivia night tell me something thats going to save your life." Andrea roared. Selena knew how much it hurt the woman to be reminded of when she gave up Bruce. Selena reached up, caught the blow, and kneed her in the ribs hard.
"You broke your ribs two weeks ago. How's that for trivia night?" Catwoman hissed. The women were equally skilled, their fight at one point taking place on the walls and ceiling. Luck, thats all it was, Andrea's injuries before Selena were more severe than Selena's injuries before Andrea, but sometimes thats what it comes down to. Catwoman stood over Phantasm gasping for breath with nothing left to give. Knowing this Talia didn't even make an effort to hide herself.
"You are a woman worthy of him, Selena Wayne, but my son will be the future, so I must have the best. There is no shame in this defeat, sister. You were simply out gunned."
"Her name is Selena Kyle-Wayne, sister." Wonder Woman spat from above them.
"You never trusted her." Talia realized. Selena went on to ask why she would ever trust an assassin, and explained that she turned on her coms the moment she awoke in front of the mercenary. The Daughter of the Demon turned to the Princess of the Amazons and asked. "Do you think I'm going to run just because your here?"
"Oh, I hope not." Was Diana's reply as she charged the woman. Talia evaded the amazon flipping over her and throwing her dagger. A dagger which was caught and crushed in Wonder Woman's hand. "There is no shame in this defeat, sister. You were simply outgunned."
"You know repeating the exact same thing I just said doesn't make you sound as clever as you think." Talia threw up a flashbomb surprising the hero. Wonder Woman couldn't see or hear anything for several moments. When her vision cleared she saw Catwoman standing next to Andrea and Talia both of whom were tied up.
"Thank you for the assist Wonder Woman." Selena exhaled the former villain was exhausted.
"Did you really need it?" Diana wasn't sure.
"Yes without that time to recover I would not have been able to defeat them." Diana pointed out that she could have defeated them as well to which Selena replied. "Perhaps, but you have have to prepare for the next move."
"Batman to Catwoman" The very husband she had just fought for interjected on the coms.
"Catwoman here what do you need?
"We found Red Robin. Call Dr. Leslie Thompkins, and keep it quite, very quite."
"How bad is it?" Catwoman had seen the, almost obsessive, drive with which Batman had looked for the boy.
"Catwoman get the doctor." Diana having heard the most of it added.
"He could have asked how you were doing."
"He does, when we go home, but in the field I'm just another leaguer."
"I suppose it has to be that way." Talia and Andrea never made it to cells both of them vanished the moment the Justice League stopped watching them.
Much later on, in the Batcave, Batman was still hard at work. Which did not escape the watchful eye of Selena Kyle-Wayne. "What are you working on?"
"With everything thats happened today I haven't had a chance to go over everything else thats occurred. Powergirl, Red Tornado, What Talia and Andrea tried to do to you, and then there's this."
"Virgil Hawkins file?" Selena had read the file many times when he had been a member of the Ultimen, At the age of nine, Virgil Hawkins lost his mother to gang violence. His father vowed to help the community, and set up the Freeman Community Center, which became a second home for his son. Virgil grew up to be an honor roll student with a quick tongue. That caused him to be to be the target of notorious bully and gangbanger "F-Stop" Stone. This made Cadmus's already exciting offer, of internship, all but irrefusable. "Isn't he home?" Batman played news footage from Dakota. At a gathering of all the crews of the city in the Dakota Docks. F-Stop had gone toe to toe with his rival Wade and violence and gun fire ensued. Police showed up, and a tear gas grenade caused a container full of Quantum Vapor to explode. The entire dock area became covered in a thick, purple smoke. Teens mutated and deformed on live television. Batman told her they were calling it the Big Bang, and those affected Bang Babies. "What's this got to do with Virgil?"
"Virgil was at the Big Bang. Static has been sighted."
"Do you think he remembers anything?"
"I don't know how much, but I'd hardly call going by Static again a coincidence. Cadmus isn't going to just leave him alone either. We should exercise a rotating group of leaguers to protect the boy."
"Agreed, we should start with you and Clark."
"I have another idea, but lets see if we can't find out why he was removed from the Ultimen." Batman continued staring at the monitor, the pieces were starting to come together.
In an other dark room hidden from prying eyes The Phantasm and The Heir to the Demon stood before the man himself, and Ra's was not pleased. "I told you now was not to the time to go after the detective. You could have ruined the lights plans."
"What of our plans? I have no desire to sit around and wait for your business partners to sip tea." Talia said.
"Regardless of whatever else you two have going on I did my part." Andrea pointed out.
"The tracer?" Ra's inquires.
"A subcutaneous micro-tracker, injected while she slept. Undetectable and good for three days. But why give it to Catwoman?"
"As the detective's wife she is granted access all corners of the league's operation. Over the next three days we will monitor her. Selena's movement's will provide data for U-Day."
"Doesn't your precious light already have an inside man?" Ra's daughter demanded.
"Indeed but for what the light is preparing even more data is needed. We have spent billions and years getting ready for what comes next. Soon my daughter, even if you do not approve, the world will see the light."