mistressgrey-posts asks: "Is that a challenge?" Selina Kyle and Cassandra Cain
A/N: How could I refuse this? Two of my favorite batladies at once!
Disclaimer: Batgirl, Catwoman, and associated characters are the creative property of DC Comics.
A Rainy Night
The rain fell from the rooftops rhythmically. Each patter was spaced, hitting a consistent, drumming beat.
When she closed her eyes, she could hear every song in the city. Affectionately, she breathed in Gotham. Even having lived in Gotham her entire life, she had rarely seen it as beautiful. But she felt its beauty, felt it in the heartbeat drumming on.
Selina Kyle was not dressed for a rainy Gotham that night. Her suit was a leather and modal blend that creaked in the wetness and groaned against the dampness like a barometer. Even rolling her neck back and forth to stretch met with resistance.
But she had made a promise to him that night and every night since she had put the suit back on. She had promised to make the nights of the East End hers. To take on their shared city and tame the nasty beast it could be.
And when someone like Catwoman promised someone like Batman something like that, well, there were no options.
She had a promise to keep.
One last time, she breathed in her city, closed her eyes, listened to the rhythms of the rains, then tilted back against the ledge of her building, and fell hurtling toward the earth.
Her hand skillfully yanked out her awaiting whip. It crackled and snapped as it found purchase. Her body moved fluidly through the jolt, pulled into the momentum of her whip. And then she flew toward her next spot.
As always, she landed on her feet. Even in the rain.
Then, she kept running.
Even in the rain, she had a destination in mind.
Like most cities with a healthy undercurrent of crime, Gotham followed ebbs and flows. Criminals, whether the Batman wanted to, believe it or not, were ultimately very human. Their activities followed the weather for a variety of reasons. It was more difficult to move large contrabands in the rain. People didn't like to get wet when they could avoid it. Less potential marks were on the streets to target.
But, like any human, they were also people with needs. Some people still needed to work, to get something achieved for the rotten day. And, from experience, Selina knew a home where girls and drugs alike could congregate out of the rain and out of the electively observant eyes of the GPD.
Quick by habit, she reached the building — old and gutted and supposedly uninhabited — and began to descend the fire escape through overcast and shadows. Each window was its own morality play on display as she looked for a familiar face to lean on for a good lead.
Even in the rain, she had heard rumors of big moves in the East End and she intended to stop its groundswell.
It was her intention to have it handled without much notice or applause. Which made it all the more curious when she had the hair prickling sensation that she, in fact, had an audience in attendance.
Claws bared, Selina turned on her boot heels toward the alley and saw shadows.
But she was not new to the business. She had been around Batman for years. So she swiped at the shadows all the same and felt her wrist caught easily by a firm grip.
Standing out further from the shadows, Batgirl revealed herself in her completely black uniform and faceless ensemble. The only color to be seen in the dreary rain was the golden shine of a bat's outline over her chest.
"I didn't ask for company," Selina hissed at her.
Batgirl tilted her head slightly. "Didn't ask."
Despite herself, Selina smiled. She had experience with Bruce's previous wards, even the original Batgirl, but this relatively new face was still elusive to her. Their encounters were always brief and pointed.
"Whatever you've got to do or say, make it fast, Bat Brat," Selina warned, slipping her wrist out of Batgirl's grip with a simple twist. "I'm working hard tonight already. I don't need to lose time being the witness to your newest Bat Practice."
"Okay," Batgirl said. Then nothing else. She stood in place, almost expectantly.
Selina stared at her then looked back to the windows. The occupants of its morality play had apparently already switched scenes and she had lost track of her target. It was enough an annoyance to dismantle any light-hearted feelings she had to spare.
Her eyes glistened with anger as she glared back at Batgirl.
"Did he have something specifically he needed from me?" she demanded.
To that, Batgirl seemed almost blank. "Who?"
"You know who," Selina replied snappishly. "Batman. What's he want?"
Despite the blankness of the mask, Batgirl portrayed a lot with a shrug of her shoulders and casual tilt of her head.
It only served to confuse Selina even further.
The rain was getting harder, enough so that it was cascading over the fire escape. Selina stepped closer to the wall of the building. Batgirl didn't move at all.
"What are you doing here then?" Selina pressed. "You're messing with my plans for the night."
At first, Batgirl's silence did not seem different than her usual quietness. It was enough so that Selina grunted in aggravation and actually began to consider moving on for the night. But Batgirl did finally answer her.
"Watching," the shadowy figure at last said.
"For what?" Selina asked testily.
Batgirl shrugged, more childishly and timid that time. It was as if she was completely caught unexpected by simple questions.
When Selina looked back into the building, she no longer saw activity. At least not any that mattered for her interest. It was all people moving through the motions of their lives and choices. Not Catwoman business. As far as Selina was concerned, not anybody's business anymore. Especially not on a cold and rainy Gotham night.
"Well, come on then," Selina said, getting out her whip and beginning to unravel it for use. "Let's get out of the rain."
Batgirl's head tilted in the opposite direction. She had questions, but that time she didn't express them.
"Have you ever sat back and finished off a coffee at the top of Gotham Cathedral?" Selina asked the girl with false casualness.
Confused, Batgirl reached for her standard Batman issued grappler, assumedly to follow after Selina. "Have you?"
Smirking, Selina whipped upward, finding purchase at the top of the opposing building. "Is that a challenge?" After a small laugh at Batgirl's expense, Selina leaped for the building. "You know what, Bat-kid? Let's make it one. Coffee's on me."
"Okay!" Batgirl said enthusiastically as she followed.
While they hadn't been formally introduced, Selina couldn't help but think they had a chance at building something beautiful here.