Chapter 3
"My mind is like my web browser. 19 tabs are open, 3 are frozen and I have no idea where the music is coming from."
-Unknown
March 14, 2015
The GPD station was bustling. Papers littered every desk along with numerous styrofoam cups of coffee. A rotund cop with a double shoulder holster stood by the donuts, scowling at the brew in his hands and mumbling curses in between threats, "to fire the runt who ruined a good cup of joe."
In a corner, sat Katalina. An itchy wool blanket wrapped around her slim shoulders. Her bunny sat next to her on the wood bench, black button eyes staring at the scene in front of it. The girls dirty, black shoes swung back and forth and she hummed a song under her breath, one her mother used to sing to her before bedtime every night.
"Kitty!" a young feminine voice shouted over the noise in the cramped office.
Kat's head snapped up, red hair hanging limply around her shoulders and brown eyes red-rimmed.
The young woman crouched in front of her niece, "Hi Hun, you might not remember me to well, but I'm your Aunt Jan. The nice officer over there," She pointed over to where Commissioner Gordon stood talking on the phone, "told me about what happened. I'm here to take you home with me if that's okay with you?"
Kat bit her lip; she didn't want to go with her aunt, she wanted answers. However, Kat was too tired to do anything other than nod. She'd ask questions later. Like: why was her aunt here and not Granny and Papa. Surely, they would take her…right? Daddy might not have been on the best accords with her grandparents, but they wouldn't abandon her…would they?
Reaching out to clutch her plush, Mr. Hopps, to her chest, she thumbed the zipper on his back. She took a moment to nuzzle her nose into the bunny's fur, thinking over her options. With a sigh she looked up into her aunt's hopeful, warm blue eyes.
A final squeeze to Mr. Hopps, "I'd like that."
October 2, 2019
Katalina liked to think that she knew everything about her friend. Yes, Clara was quirky, but Kat had prided herself on the fact that she knew everyone of those quirks and could easily go along with anything the perky blonde threw her way. Which is why she could only tilt her head at her friend in bewilderment as she gaped, open mouthed, at the teen from across the lunch table. She knew everything about Clara Foster, or she thought she had. It was just…
"Has your hair always been brown?"
The now brunette, Clara Foster paused before biting into her PB&J sandwich (sans crust) and blinked familiar baby blues. She wrinkled her cute button nose, causing her full pink lips to purse, "No it's new." Then she took a bite of her sandwich, causing jelly to squirt out of the bottom and splash onto her carrot. Clara pouted at the now jelly covered vegetable before tossing the offending orange stick onto Matt's plate. He grinned and took a bite, jelly and all, causing the two teens girls to grimace and shake their heads at the new boy.
Kat pointed her pretzel at the fake-brunette, "Seriously why did you change your hair? Tons of girls would kill for your beach blonde waves, I'm pretty sure some do."
In Kat's opinion Brunette Clara was even prettier than Blonde Clara. The light caramel brown brought out the blue in Clara's eyes, making them sparkle like sapphires and her pale skin glow.
Clara rolled her eyes, "Didn't you watch the news last night? The Mad Hatter has broken out of Arkham…again."
Katalina had not, in fact, watched the news last night, she hadn't even called Clara like she'd told the other girl she would do, something she got chewed out for on the bus ride to school. Instead, she had grabbed a cold slice of pizza and made her way to the apartment's rooftop to mull over the day. From getting hit by Wayne's limo door to the tentative camaraderie they had shared before they parted ways. It had given her a headache. Or maybe that was the concussion she was almost positive she had received. Either way she had greeted her Aunt Jan with a tired sigh, explaining that she needed to be checked over (she did have a concussion, by the way). Kat stayed up all night because of her head bump and in the morning tired and feeling like one giant bruise (her chest and back were in varying shades of black and purple by morning), she decided on a single thought with certainty: she really hated Wayne.
"Who's the Mad Hatter?"
Kat raised a single red eyebrow at the blonde boy, "How do you not know?"
He gave her a flat look, biting into the last of the carrot, "Hello? New to the city."
Clara grimaced at the chomped up carrot in his mouth, daintily flicking a piece of carrot spittle off her shoulder, "He's a 'C' list criminal that sometimes terrorizes the blonde, female population of Gotham for a couple of days before Bats drags him back to his padded cell in Arkham Asylum."
Kat hummed in realization, "Mom made you dye your pretty blonde hair did she, Alice?"
Clara mumbled something that resembled, "One day…She'll see…gonna…ditch."
Matthew looked vaguely concerned by the petite blonde's (brunette's) sentence, though he wisely decided not to comment.
Katalina just smiled, unconcerned, "And in actuality, the Mad Hatter shouldn't even be rated as a 'C' lister…more like an 'F'? Maybe an 'E for Effort'? Though I do agree with the fact that he is totally, well, mad."
"Speaking of changes in appearance," Matthew took a sip out of his carton of milk, "Where's your other pair of eyes?"
Kat gave him a flat look, "My what?"
The blonde boy motioned to his face, specifically his eyes, "Your glasses? I don't think I've ever really seen you without them." He turned to Clara, "You don't look too surprised about this development."
Clara raised a perfectly sculpted (now also brown) eyebrow, "Kat walks into a lot of poles."
Matthew blinked, "Don't you take gymnastics?"
"Cheerleading, and I don't walk into that many poles."
Clara shook her head, "She either walks into or trips over everything within a twelve-foot radius."
"Then how do you—know what? Never mind."
The brunette grabbed her tray and stood, the other two teens following her lead, "What I want to know is why you didn't call me like you had promised. We were supposed to go over our costumes! Halloween is in less than three week and I have no idea what we are doing! If we wait to much longer the only things left are going to be either Red Riding Hood or a Twilight costume."
Kat groaned. This again? She had thought they had ended this discussion on the bus. Obviously not.
"Twilight?" Matthew scrunched his nose in disgust, "How do they even make that into a costume? Just throw some glitter on yourself and your golden."
Katalina let out a short bark of laughter, her tray clanging as she set it atop the trash can, "Glitter." She mumbled, shaking her head and letting out a few chuckles.
Clara looked offended with a touch of amusement, "Hey! This is a serious matter! Ever since we became friends we've dressed up in matching costumes. PB and J—"
"Not one of our finest years—"
"—Alice in Wonderland and the Cheshire Cat—"
"—Ahhh, that one was my idea—"
"—Cop and robber—"
"—Aunt Jan's fault completely—"
"—And last year we went as Regina and Cady from Mean Girls—"
"—My personal favorite—"
"—Would you STOP interrupting me?!"
Kat and Matthew stared at the fuming brunette in surprise, "I'm just explaining things to Matt. He's new to your craziness."
Clara took a deep breath, "Kaaaaaaaaaaaaat." She whined.
A sigh, "I don't know Clara. How about—"
"Why don't you two go as Batgirl and Catwoman—since you're a brunette now Clara? Or maybe Poison Ivy for you Katniss."
"Now I know why you hate being interrupt—"
Clara squealed, "That could work! Kat, do you think Jan would be Batgirl for us? We could be the criminals and she could be the person arresting us!"
Katalina sighed, but smiled, "It could be fun. I bet Aunt Jan would be happy for the excuse to dress up."
The bubbly brunette clapped her hands, "Perfect!" Her eyes widened as if she had just realized something horrifying and her head whipped to face the school clock, "Shoot! We're going to be late to class!"
With that, Clara grabbed Kat's wrist, roughly yanking the redhead down the hall and leaving a bewildered Matt to stare after the two best friends.
He let out a small huff, "Yeah, let's just leave the new guy behind. I'm sure he can find his way around just fine. This castle of a school isn't that big. Not like this is only his second day or anything."
"So, why didn't you call me last night?"
"Really Clara!?"
"What? You never told me what happened. We're alone now, you can tell me."
Katalina looked around, as if just realizing that someone in their group was missing, "Where's Matthew?"
Clara looked at Kat in incredulity, "You just noticed he wasn't with us?"
"Clara! He's new to the school! We can't just leave him behind to have a girl talk. He might get lost or cornered by the jocks or worse," she shuddered, "the plastics."
Clara bit her lip, then shrugged, "He'll be fine…I hope. Now what happened?"
"I got hit by a limo door." Kat prepared herself for the bombardment of questions Clara was sure to send her way.
"Only you."
Say what? What kind of alternate universe have I fallen into?
"That's all you have to say. You put up all that fuss only to say, 'Only you'?"
"Pretty much."
Katalina shook her head, disgruntled at her insane friend, and pushed pass the classroom door to take her normal seat in the back. She dropped her book bag to the floor and slid into her seat, head turning to look out the window. As her brown eyes scanned the courtyard, they paused at the old maple tree in the middle. The leaves had turned a vibrant red which reminded her so much of her mother's own fiery locks. She sighed, hearing the teacher walk into the classroom, and went to turn back to face the front of the class when she saw something out of the corner of her vision. A beautiful snowy owl was perched on one of the tree branches, big amber eyes watching her unblinkingly, head tilted at an unnatural position. She inhaled sharply and jerked back around in her seat.
She ground her teeth. You're just seeing things, Kat. It was nothing. You're going to look out the window and it'll be gone.
The owl was gone.
Her shoulders dropped in relief.
Hands shaking slightly, she leaned down and opened her book bag, grabbing her Algebra textbook and pushing aside the Biology 101 textbook to grab a pencil. Her hands contacted air.
What in the..?
She opened her book bag wider. No pencil, no phone, no headphones, only two schoolbooks. Where had all of her things gone?
She pursed her lips, eyes scrunching closed as if in pain. Her fingers paused their search, knowing it was a fruitless endeavor. She really hoped she was wrong about her hunch, but she knew better than to hope the Fates would bless her just once.
Somewhat frantically, she turned the bag around, searching for the tag on the inside.
Wayne was monogrammed on the tag in a golden, swooping scroll. The cursive swoops followed the sinking feeling in her stomach. Kat had grabbed the wrong book bag when Wayne had given her a ride home.
Why me?
After the dismissal bell rang, Kat jumped out of her seat, grasping the offending book bag lightly between her thumb and pointer finger—as if afraid she would contract a disease from it.
"Clara, we have a major problem."
"We do?"
"Yes, look." She thrusted the object at Clara's face.
Clara batted the bag away with a scowl, "Katnip, what are you doing?"
Kat showed her the bag again.
The brunette looked concerned for Kat's mental health, "Your book bag? I—What?"
Katalina shook her head, "Not mine…Wayne's." She shuddered and grimaced, the name leaving a bad taste in her mouth.
"How and where did you get Damian's bag?"
Kat glared at her friend—who sounded way to amused for such a troubling ordeal that Kat was going through.
"Remember that limo door that broke my glasses and killed a perfectly good sandwich?"
"That was his limo!?" Clara burst into great guffaws, actually doubling over in amusement.
Kat waited for her friend to get herself together, tapping her foot impatiently against the marble floor of the hallway.
Finally, she snapped, "Oh, shut up, it's not that funny!"
Clara straightened, wiping a few stray tears of mirth from her eyes, "I'm sorry, it's just…out of all the people…" she started laughing again.
"This is a serious problem, Clara."
Clara changed her face into a deadpan expression, "Yes, sandwich murder is a very serious subject. Have you thought of pressing charges against him at the police station for bread-slaughter?" Her blue eyes sparkled from behind her blank mask, lips twitching in their effort to restrain her laugh.
"He gave me a concussion!"
"You give yourself a concussion on the daily."
Kat growled.
Clara put her hands up in surrender, "Sorry, sorry. I'll stop being such a ham."
She burst out into another round of giggles at the total look of exasperation on Kat's face.
Suddenly exhausted, Kat turned from Clara and started to march down the hall—away from her unsympathetic bestie—and towards her next class, Wayne's bag dragging behind her.
"Kat! You know I'm sorry. Lettuce put this whole provolone behind us and—"
Kat twirled around to glare at Clara.
"Okay that last one wasn't the best."
The redhead nodded.
"What happened?"
Kat raised an eyebrow.
"I'll listen to your story without laughing or making anymore puns." She stuck out her pinky.
Katalina smirked and latched her pinky around Clara's. They shook their pinkies and then took them back to make an 'x' across their hearts.
"I solemnly swear on my heart." Clara said.
Kat looked around the hallway to make absolute sure they were alone, "Well long story short, I stopped to bring my aunt dinner at work and when I left the building I was walking down the sidewalk, listening to my music and minding my own business, when a limo pulled up to the curb. He just opened his door—didn't check to see if there was anyone in the way that stupid, arrogant, brat—which hit me. My sandwich, my poor sandwich, was hit by a car when it rolled away." She took a breath, pausing to mourn her lost sandwich before continuing on, "So I was laying on the ground—regretting the very existence of cars and doors—when that monster of my nightmares stepped out of the limo. His butler—his name is Alfred Pennyworth and he's very nice—offered me a ride home in apology for my glasses getting broken." Kat lifted the book bag, "I guess I was just in such a rush to escape, I grabbed the wrong bag. How he never noticed when he walked me to my door I'll never know. Come to think of it…how did I not notice it?"
Clara blinked for a minute, trying to process what she'd just been told.
"He walked you to your door?"
Kat tilted her head, "Is that all you got out of that?"
"Well…no, but that was what struck me as the weirdest."
"To be honest it was embarrassing for the 'Prince of Gotham' to see my run-down apartment and to meet my drunk neighbor."
Clara smiled softly, "Your apartment is great and it's your home. Don't be ashamed of it just because Mr. I-Have-A-Gold-Spoon-Shoved-In-My-Mouth turned his nose up it."
In a rare show of affection, Katalina gave Clara a side-hug, "Thanks, Alice."
Clara pulled away, disgruntled, "And you killed the moment."
The redhead chuckled, unrepentant.
"You know you're going to have to return Wayne's bag to him…right?" asked Clara hesitantly.
"Well yeah, I kind of need my books. I only have a select few class books of his. The rest must be in his locker and I have no idea what the combination is to open it. The textbooks here are too expensive to replace and I definitely don't want to have to borrow pencils from the person in front of me for the rest of the year."
Clara paused for a moment, "Who did you borrow your supplies from today?"
Kat grimaced, "Creepy Carl."
The brunette shot her friend a look of abject horror, "You poor thing. We need to get your bag back."
"We have the next class with Wayne, I'll catch him then."
With that the two teens walked to their next class. Unaware of the blonde boy who turned down the hall a few moments later.
"Now where on earth is Miss Greene's Biology 101 class?"
"What do you mean he's not here today? Where else could he be? It's a school day?"
"I apologize Miss Vinicio, but Mr. Wayne took his son out of school for the day. Something about a family matter at home, maybe. That's all I know. I wish I could've been more help, but there's nothing I can do."
Kat sighed, "Thanks Miss Greene. Sorry to bother you."
The older lady smiled kindly, showing off a front tooth which had a swipe of purple lipstick on it, "Questions are always welcome, dear."
Katalina took that as her que to mean, 'get lost you silly girl' and excused herself, closing the door behind her with a sturdy click that sounded much like a death knoll.
Now what?
Her options were now limited to:
A) Wait for tomorrow
B) Go to his home (Shudder)
C) Go to Wayne Enterprises and possibly get hit by another limo door
Option 'A' appealed to her the most. It was the most simple, it was noninvasive, and it would provide the least interaction between the two.
A new sense of purpose and energy filled her. Yes, she'd just wait until tomorrow.
Outside near the gates, Clara leaned up against the wall, waiting for Kat to conduct her business. She straitened away from her leaning perch when she saw her friend arrive, anxious to hear her news.
"So?"
"He wasn't here today."
"Why not? It's a school day."
"That's what I said. Miss Greene told me that his dad pulled him out for a 'family matter' whatever that means."
Clara pursed her lips, eyebrows furrowing in thought, "What are you going to do?"
Kat shrugged, "Wait for tomorrow I guess."
Clara nodded in agreement and the girls turned to leave, only to have a panting and disheveled Matthew run up to them.
He bent over at the knees, gasping for air and holding up a finger, signaling for the girls to hold on for one moment. He straightened and, with an intense fire in his eyes stated, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO!?"
He strode towards the girls—Kat noticed a slight limp in his right leg, "You guys are the worst friends ever! You left me completely alone in a school where I had no idea even where the bathroom is because I left my map at home thinking I could follow my two new friends around but nooooo, they ran off for girl time and left the poor new boy to fend for himself! Do you know how many detentions I almost got written up for today!?"
Clara opened her mouth to respond, but Matthew cut her off, "Twelve! Twelve detentions and six tardies! I've never had a tardy before in my life! And another thing, why did no one warn me about the jocks who will hang you by your underwear if they catch you outside their locker rooms after lacrosse practice? I hung there for a half an hour before the hook finally broke and I landed on my phone—which cracked the screen by the way!"
"What happened to your leg?" Kat questioned, her stomach sinking in guilt. She had once been a new kid too and she knew the school could be absolutely daunting before you memorized the layout. She should've been there for him instead of being wrapped up in her own minute problems.
He sighed, some of the tension leaving his body at both of the girls' shamed faces, though some of the irritation lingered behind his eyes, "I tried to jump down the bleachers when I got cornered by some of the girls on the field."
Kat and Clara grimaced, and started to fuss over him.
"I'm so sorry—"
"We're such terrible friends—"
"If you never want to speak to us again—"
"We'd totally understand—"
He gave them a smile, "Nah, but you guys do owe me a lot of favors for the next month."
Both girls nodded quickly, "Deal."
Kat tossed his arm around her shoulders, her arm going to support his back, while Clara grabbed his book bag. The three left, Matthew demanding cookies and Clara promising the best cookies he's ever tasted while elbowing Kat to make sure she got the memo to pick up some baking ingredients.
Yes, Kat would deal with the Wayne Situation tomorrow. Matthew was more important.
Wayne was not, in fact, in school the next day.
Nor was he in school the day after that.
Kat flopped onto her couch Friday evening, disgruntled, and blew her red bangs out of her eyes. Wayne hadn't been in school for three days.
She looked over at his still mostly empty, monogrammed book bag. If she had to ask to borrow Creepy Carl's pencil one more time, she was going on a mass murdering spree using that same spit covered pencil. The first victim would be Carl himself, which she was unabashed to say had been the star of most of her violent fantasies as of late.
It was terrifying how therapeutic the thought of sticking his own spit-covered pencil into his eye was.
The spit covered part came from the fact that Carl licked everything he let you borrow.
Some say it's because he wants to make sure you return it—who wants to keep a spit covered pencil (who wants a spit covered pencil in the first place?)—others say it's just a weird quirk he's been doing since kindergarten; when boys thought the only way to claim a girl was to infect her with your cooties (or throw rocks at them).
Kat had no idea, nor did she really want to know—she had a feeling the therapists at Arkham would have more fun analyzing that boy's brain then some of their criminals—though she did lean more towards the first opinion, considering she thought all kindergarten boys hated girls because they had cooties. Or maybe it was different for the rich kids that built their society out of well-matched power marriages.
Anyways, she blamed all of her plight on Wayne.
Maybe she should daydream about sticking the pencil into his eye instead.
No, that would mean having to think about Wayne.
She'd keep Creepy Carl for now.
Kat groaned and moved to sit up. She was done waiting for Wayne to appear. She wanted her bag back and she wanted it back now, even if she has to go to his house to get it.
The thought of her precious book bag—along with all of her school goods—going up in flames was enough to spur Katalina into action. She wrote a note for her Aunt, telling her not to worry if Kat was gone when she arrived, but if she remained missing past nine o'clock her will was under her bed in her grandmother's old jewelry box, along with her candy stash and a dirty sock.
Removing her uniform's tie, she kicked off her Mary Jane's and changed into her converse. Throwing on a light coat, Kat grabbed the bag, grumbling about how it had turned into more trouble than its worth and how she wished she could burn the offending thing.
She locked the apartment door behind her, taking extra care to tip-toe past her neighbor's door (no need to get a second concussion in one week). Back on the street, Kat walked until she got to a more populated area where she could catch a taxi. She hoped they'd understand her if she asked them to take her to Wayne Manor, because she had no clue what Wayne's address technically was.
Oh well, she'd figure it out as she went.
"Taxi!" Kat waved her hands like a maniac, hoping to attract the driver's attention.
To her luck, a yellow taxi cab pulled up to the curb, only to have a business man push her out of the way and take her cab.
"Hey! That was my cab!"
Shaking her head, she tried to flag down yet another taxi. Finally, one pulled along the curb and Katalina yanked open the door and jumped inside before it could be stolen from her yet again.
The Cabby turned around, "Where to Toots?"
Kat bit her lip, "Um…Do you know where Wayne Manor is by any chance?"
The Cabby gave her a once-over in the mirror, then raised an incredulous eyebrow. He probably wondered why a poor looking teenage girl was heading to the house of the richest man in Gotham. She was beginning to wonder why herself.
"You sure that's where you're going, Kid? Not gonna try to rob the place are ya? I heard they gots all kinds of high-end tech, but that they also gotsa state-of-the-art home defense too."
Kat shook her head, "I don't see what business it is of yours what I'm going there for, I just need to know if you can take me there."
He shrugged and pulled away from the curb, "If you gots the cash then I'll keep my mouth a shut and drive ya."
Leaning against the back seat to get comfortable, Kat dropped Wayne's book bag in the seat next to her and propped her cheek on her hand so she could stare at the window. Watching Gotham from the backseat of a car was probably one of Kat's favorite ways to experience the city. The pedestrians trudging there way about town to and from work. If you looked closely you could see the people from the Narrows picking pockets and lurking in the alleyways.
Tall buildings reached for the sky, which was strangely clear from its usual smog—though the sky was still tinted a smudge green.
The car jolted to a stop, causing Kat to have to brace her hands against the seat in front of her or risk banging her head of the door.
"What—?"
"Just a small traffic jam, Toots. Nightwing was fighting Hatter earlier and they messed up the streets real bad."
Kat furrowed her brows, "Nightwing? This isn't even his city. What's he doing here?"
Cabby shrugged, gray eyes peering at her through the rear-view mirror, "Don't know. Some say Bats has too much on his hands and had to bring in more help."
"Help?"
"I heard tha' more than the Hatter broke outta ol' Arkham. Some like the Riddler and Killa' Croc, but none too bad."
Kat thought the cabby 'heard' a lot.
"How much longer?"
"About fifteen minutes or so, Kid."
Kat gave a nervous glance at the taximeter. The number was slowly crawling up. She fingered the small roll of cash she had grabbed from the coffee canister in her bedroom. She really hoped she had enough.
The taxi started moving and Kat let out a slightly relieved sigh, maybe she wouldn't have to walk the rest of the way. Maybe.
The ride resumed. Kat didn't try to lean back against the door, just in case he had to make another abrupt stop, however, she did keep a wary eye on the ever- growing number on the screen up front. Outside the window, the skyscrapers and downtown buildings were exchanged for nice suburban homes with white picket fences and perfectly trimmed lawns. Those also eventually melted away to bigger and better homes, until they couldn't even be call houses but mansions.
Twenty dollars.
Twenty-two dollars.
Twenty-three dollars.
Twenty-fou—
"Could you stop here?"
The Cabby slammed on the brakes. Kat fell off the seat. She sat up, rubbing her head, "Yeah, here's fine."
Cabby turned around in his seat, bushy eyebrows pulling together into a frown, "Here? You sure Toots? The Mansion is only a mile away."
Kat turned to look at him as she opened the door, grabbing Wayne's bag and pulling her wad of money out of her coat pocket, "A mile," she pointed straight ahead, "that way, right?"
He nodded.
"Alright," she looked at the taximeter and counted out the correct amount of cash. Kat pocketed the one lonely bill back into her coat pocket and handed the taxi driver the rest, "Thanks. Have a good day."
Cabby gave her a chew-stained smile and tipped an imaginary hat, "Much obliged, Toots."
Kat closed the door and stepped back as the Cabby turned around and drove off, leaving a trail of road dust and a coughing teenager in his wake. She squared her shoulders and grasped the book bag harder, "Alright. It's only a mile. You can do this. Yeah…I got this."
Trudging down the road, she pushed away the thought of how she would be able to get back home without any money, but she'd worry about that later. For now, she was on a mission, all else could be dealt with later.
Of course, half of the situation I got myself into were caused
by following him.
A/N: *flops a sad excuse of a chapter onto the table* I know I've kept you guys waiting forever for another chapter, but here it is! I was on Christmas break so I FINALLY had time to take a break and sit down to write! I don't know how I really feel about this chapter, but it's what my fingers typed.
HUGE thanks to all those who have reviewed and followed!
R&R,
Ryderdye ;)
