Disclaimer: All characters (except Julia, Celine, Joaquin, Isis, and Kitty) are not owned by me and are used without permission solely for the entertainment of fan-fiction readers. Please read and review.

Author's Note: Batman thinks they should try and see if they can trust Batgirl, but Bruce is not so sure about her. A new criminal appears, allowing Batgirl the chance to prove herself and put her new plan into motion. The next chapter will bring Batman and Batgirl closer together and finally allow them to form an alliance.

Chapter 6: The Feline Felon

Joaquin Cortez walked angrily down the dark hallway. His feet splashed through the puddles covering the concrete floor. A rat crossed his path before he turned to the left and started down another narrow hallway. It reeked of rat, garbage, and old water. He seemed very out of place here with his fancy suit, expensive shoes, and neatly combed hair and moustache. He arrived at an old metal door that was brown from age and mold. It creaked loudly as he pushed it open.

Inside it was very dark. The only light came from a lamp in the far corner. Joaquin flipped the switch on the wall next to him. The room filled with red light. It was filled with expensive mahogany furniture, antique Persian rugs, a Swiss grandfather clock, French lace, and many more rare furnishings. In front of him sat a huge black panther, its tail swishing slowly from side to side. Joaquin ran a hand nervously through his hair and stepped by the panther.

"Do not mind Isis. She is harmless", said a female voice.

Joaquin turned to where the voice came from. Stretched out on a couch was a beautiful woman. She had long flowing golden blond hair and two piercing blues eyes that shone like sapphires behind her golden locks. Her features were delicate and very elegant. She wore a black robe made of fine silk that fell loosely over her perfect figure. She smiled seductively at Joaquin. Joaquin swallowed hard.

"The Bat stopped the exchange, but I managed to get away with some of the goods" Joaquin started slowly, taking out something from his jacket's pocket. He handed it to the woman.

She looked down at the object in her hand. It was wrapped in white cloth. She unwrapped the cloth and took out a small statue. A grin slowly appeared on her ruby red lips. It was a bronze figure of the ancient Egyptian goddess Bastet in the form of a cat with inlaid blue-glass eyes. She traced a finger across the cat's face.

"You know, cats were worshipped as sacred animals in ancient Egypt. The goddess Bastet was seen as the protector of women, children, and cats of course. She was also the goddess of sunrise, music, dance, family, fertility, birth, and pleasure. Cats were held in such high esteem in those times that the penalty for killing one was death"

Joaquin only nodded.

The woman stood up, her robe flowing along with her movements. She walked up to Joaquin, her hips swaying seductively with every step. She stopped with her face inches from Joaquin's. She traced a finger across his lips before kissing him deeply. Then, she parted, a half smile on her face.

"You did well my love. It was not a total loss. I did get what I wanted, did I not?" she asked.

"You did indeed Celine. But I must ask, what was the purpose of it?" Joaquin inquired.

Celine smiled at him before turning around and lying back down on the couch, "Now they will know", she said simply.

"Know what?"

Her smile widened, "That Catwoman has returned to Gotham".

Joaquin smiled and approached the couch. He took Celine's hand and kissed it. Celine stood up and motioned him to follow.

"I must prepare for my appearance tonight. First impressions are always important. Tonight will be a night Batman will never forget. Is everything ready?"

"Of course", replied Joaquin.

"Joaquin, prepare yourself. Tonight Batman meets Catwoman"

- - - - - -

Batman stifled a yawn as he drove the Batmobile around Gotham. It had been unusually quiet that night. Something that always put Bruce more on edge. If that was possible.

"Wayne, shouldn't we call it night? It's been awfully quiet the last couple of hours. Just the usual Jokerz and a burglary or two", Batman stated.

"McGinnis, keep your eyes open. It's been too quiet tonight. Something is going down and you need to be ready for it"

Batman just mumbled.

As if right on cue, an alarm went off in the Batcave.

"What was that?" asked Batman.

"Break in at the Museum of Natural History"

"I'm on it"

Gotham Museum of Natural History

Batman ran across the roof of the Museum of Natural History and stopped next to the skylight. He peered into the building and saw nothing. He was going to have to go in.

"I'm going in", he said into the com-link.

"Just be careful. I don't like this at all"

"You never do"

Batman used a laser gun to cut a hole in the skylight's glass. He lowered himself through the hole and clicking on his camouflage, glided down to the floor of the museum. He crept through rooms and exhibitions, until he arrived at the Ancient Egypt section.

"Wasn't this where Batgirl had told us the next hit was?" asked Batman.

"Yes"

"Maybe we should have listened to her"

"We didn't know if the information was reliable or legit. Plus, we have no reason to trust her"

"Yet" finished Batman.

Bruce remained silent.

"Maybe we can give her a chance. She was right about the hit. She was straight with us. She hasn't done anything to compromise us, all she's done is help", Batman continued.

"Terry, someone's there"

Batman looked around the room . . . nothing. Then, he heard someone rummaging through one of the exhibitions. He used his night vision lenses to get a better look. It was hard before because of the shadows and darkness, but now Batman could clearly see a female figure. She was placing something in her backpack. She straightened up and seemed to be about to leave, but she suddenly came to a halt. Her back was to Batman, so he could not see the grin on her face.

"Be still"

Batman did not move a muscle. The girl turned around, but did not move anymore. Then, Batman was shocked to see her sniffing the air. Her head turned in his direction and she seemed to smile right at him.

"Good-evening Batman", she said.

The woman was wearing an all black, tight fitting body suit, almost identical to his own, minus the Bat sign. She had a low-slung metal belt around her waist from which hung a whip. Her mask covered the upper part of her face, but exposed her eyes, which were an amazing sapphire blue. The mask reached down to her cheeks, leaving them exposed, along with her mouth and chin. Her lips were painted ruby red. And to finish it off, two 'ears' quite like Batman's, only much smaller, crowned her head.

"I know you're there. You can stop hiding now", she said softly.

"Turn off your camouflage Terry"

Batman appeared in front of the woman. She smiled at him again.

"Ah, so kind of you to drop by. I knew you would come", she said.

Batman just glared at her.

"Oh dear, where are my manners? We haven't been formally introduced. I am Catwoman, the newest addition to crime in Gotham City. I've heard wonders about you. And I am dying to see if they are true", Catwoman said in a purring voice.

She strolled up to him in the same seductive way she did Joaquin Cortez. Batman's eyes widened a little, but he remained calm. Now they were face to face, only inches separating them. Catwoman smiled at him. That smile beamed with sensuality. Everything Catwoman did was sensuous. Catwoman WAS sensuality, it was her most important weapon against Batman and all men. Because when men see sensuality, they become distracted. And when they are distracted, they make mistakes. And she was well trained to use those mistakes to her advantage. But Batman was going to be much harder to seduce.

"Put it back", Batman growled.

"Put what back?" Catwoman asked innocently.

Batman's glare never wavered, "Whatever it was you took, put it back. Then, you're going to jail"

Catwoman laughed. It was a light, sophisticated laugh. She traced a finger around the bat symbol on Batman's chest. Batman tensed underneath her touch.

"You wouldn't want to send a girl to jail now would you?" she said with a pout on her face.

Batman licked his lips. Catwoman leaned in closer.

"Would you?" she whispered.

"TERRY! Snap out of it!"

Whatever trance Batman had been in, he completely snapped out of it. His head jerked and he pushed Catwoman back from him. She seemed shocked at first, but realized that she was going to have to do things the hard way.

"I underestimated you Batman. A mistake I will not make again. Now I must bid you farewell until our next meeting", she announced.

"You're not going anywhere", said Batman.

"A girl like me doesn't fit well in a jail cell Batman. I have way too much class for that", she replied.

"I'll be sure you get your own private cell"

"Have it your way"

Catwoman grabbed the whip at her side and lashed out at Batman. The whip wrapped itself around his right arm. Catwoman yanked with all her strength to send Batman flying into a glass case headfirst. Pulling her whip loose, Catwoman made a run for it.

Batman recovered quickly and pulled himself up from the fragments of glass surrounding him. He saw Catwoman running out of the room. He leaped up and ran after her, opening his wings and firing his rocket boots. He could hear Catwoman's laughter ahead of him. Why was she laughing?

Just as he was reaching Catwoman, something very heavy fell on top of Batman. He crashed face first into the floor. He groaned and turned around to see what had fallen on him. He was shocked to see that what had fallen, or rather pounced, on him was a huge black panther. He jumped to his feet and backed away from it.

"Ah, I see you've met my pet, Isis", came Catwoman's voice from behind him.

She walked over to the panther and patted its head lovingly. She grinned at Batman before climbing onto the panther's back. Batman stepped forward towards them. Catwoman took out what looked like a marble and flung it to the floor. Batman watched as it rolled and rolled and rolled. BOOM! The explosion shattered all the windows and glass cases in the room. The panther leaped through one of the broken windows, carrying Catwoman along. Batman, who had been thrown into a wall from the blast, looked up to see Catwoman blow him a kiss before vanishing into the night.

But Batman was not about to give up that easily. He ran to the broken window and looked out to see the panther down on the street, running towards an alley. Batman launched himself into the air and followed. Catwoman spotted him and waved with a radiant smile on her face.

"I must say you are quite the adversary! But I always have loved a good challenge!" she shouted to him.

They were in the alley now. The panther jumped up onto the fire escape of one of the buildings and continued jumping until it had reached the rooftop. Batman fired his rockets to send him upwards after them. Catwoman seemed to be enjoying every moment of it.

"I wish we could continue this all night Batman, but enough games for tonight! But not to worry, we'll meet again. Believe me, we will!"

She threw a net at him. Batman got tangled up in it and began to loose altitude, but now, Catwoman had gotten some distance between them. The panther jumped from rooftop to rooftop, farther and farther from Batman. Batman had completely lost control and began a freefall. There were no buildings to break his hundred something foot fall.

"Terry, try to fire your rockets again!"

"I CAN'T!"

"Mc . . . "

Static.

Batman watched as the ground came closer and closer. He felt sick to his stomach now, just thinking how much this was going to hurt. Lucky for him, I had gotten there as fast as I could after hearing the explosion. Just in time to save his sorry ass.

Batman jerked in the air. He looked up to see me holding onto the net he was tangled up in. I was on my hover board. I flew him to the nearest rooftop and set him down on it. Then I jumped off my board and cut him loose.

"You let her get away", was all Batman said.

"Well it was either get the bad guy or let you leave a nasty mess on the sidewalk. Are you serious? I just saved your life! You could at least be grateful or say thank you!" I shouted at him. I was getting pissed.

"Okay, thank you. But you still let her get away"

"You got some serious issues Bats", I said as I turned to leave.

Batman grabbed my arm. I looked at him curiously.

"Thanks Batgirl", he said with genuine gratitude in his voice.

I smiled and nodded, "Anytime Bats"

I jumped off the roof.

He called me Batgirl. Now we're getting somewhere.

- - - - - -

Batman jumped out of the Batmobile and walked over to Bruce, who was sitting at the Batcomputer, typing away. Batman stood behind him and removed his mask to look at the flashing images on the screen.

"You let her get away", said Bruce.

Terry groaned, "That's exactly what I told Batgirl. I'm beginning to sound like you, and that cannot be good"

Bruce turned the chair to face Terry, "Rule number one: NEVER underestimate the enemy. Especially women", reprimanded Bruce.

"Hey, she was pretty damn strong for a girl and she had a PANTHER! Let's just say I was caught a little off guard", Terry said in his defense.

"That is not an excuse. You have to be prepared for the impossible, the inconceivable!"

"Well, she had me head over heels for her . . . literally. I almost had her there before she sent me plummeting into the sidewalk", Terry said sarcastically.

"There is no almost. You either get them or you don't", said Bruce.

"Yeah well next time I'll be ready for her. And her little pet too"

"You will be ready, because you are going to spend the rest of the night and upcoming nights in simulations. So yes, you will be ready"

"Slag it", muttered Terry.

- - - - - -

Class was so boring. I knew all this stuff already! When were we going to get to the interesting part? When did the writing start? I sat there half-asleep from boredom as the professor droned on and on about the history of literature and so on and so on.

RIIIING . . . RIIIING

Thank god for the bell. I jumped out of my seat and practically ran out of the room.

Back at Home

As soon as I got home, I grabbed a bag of chips from the kitchen and ran upstairs to the study room. I dropped into my very comfy computer chair and got to work. I had designed a new program that gave access to all 'super heroes' and other vigilante's to all the information I had. We had recently been studying Greek Mythology and had come across the Oracle of Delphi in one of my books.

The Oracle of Delphi dated back to 1400 B.C. and was the most important oracle in all of Greece. Built around a sacred spring, Delphi was considered to be the center of the world. People would come from all over Greece and beyond to have their questions about the future answered by the Pythia, priestess of Apollo. And her answers, usually cryptic, could determine the course of everything from when a farmer planted his seedlings, to when an empire declared war. Scholars would also congregate at Delphi, and it became a focal point for intellectual enquiry.

This had given me the idea of making the program. Kitty would be the 'face' of oracle, but in fact it would be my program doing to work. The program could answer ANY question a vigilante could have and get them any information they might need. I had started a chain of contacts in the 'underworld' that supplied me with information on anything big going down. All I had to do was use one vigilante as an example that oracle really did work. After that, the others would come themselves. It was actually an ideal situation, because that example would be Batgirl and since I would be working with Batman, he would be able to back Oracle's existence. I just had to convince Batman that Oracle really did exist. Piece of cake, right?

DELPHI ALERT!

Alarms were going off all over the room. What was going on? There were no heists planned for tonight! God, I hate it when criminals take initiative!

"Kitty, report!" I commanded.

Kitty's face appeared, "There had been a break-in at D'Antonette's. The suspect had broken into the Tiger Eye Diamond safe. Gaining access to security camera feed"

The video from the camera came onto a computer screen. It was Catwoman. I should have known . . . Tiger Eye Diamond. They should have put a 'steal me' sign on it! How could she resist that?

"Kitty, can you get me a location on Batman?"

"He's arriving at the scene just now"

"Can you get a lock on a radio frequency?"

"He does have a frequency, but it has very good jamming and I can't get a lock on it"

"Great", I muttered.

I turned around and started down the ladder. I suddenly got an idea. I grabbed a pocket computer I had just programmed that morning.

"I'm getting suited up. Start up our link Kitty"

- - - - - -

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- Lady Artemis -