In the middle of a dark alley the man felt a foot over his throat. He put his hands on it trying to remove, but a hit from a whip made him grunt. The tall woman over him smirked under her strange cowl...
Was she a Cat?
A savage cat. She had hit him roughly with her whip and had marked his face. She kneeled over him, caressing his cheek with the tip of her whip.
"Well honey..." she purred, "are you going to talk or not?"
"Who are you?" the man asked.
She pressed her foot against his throat. "I asked first. Where is Lussac?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I can be persuasive." She smiled and licked the whip. "Want to try it?"
"Wait... wait... We can talk."
"Good. I like good boys. The exposition at the Louvre museum, Rodsmand's Private Collection. Who can sell me the plans for it? First floor... Richeliu... The important pieces are a bracelet, which has a cluster of clear gems in the center, and a ring."
"John, John Lioness, you can find him at the north of the city. He always goes to a bar called "Le Maison Bleu."
"Excellent..." she released him and moved back. "Good boy. Now go."
The man nodded and ran away scared. She took her whip and put it against her shoulder thinking in silence a few seconds. Mmm, she stretched her arms, she needed a good drink, going to that bar would be a good idea..
Helena looked through the window. She was clinging to her bedtime companion, a stuffed animal, a cat named "Jaçques". It was raining; she had been in that big apartment almost all day. Now she felt much better-- she knew she could jump easily up or down, and she liked how it felt. She had been enjoying herself so much as she ran and jumped between the shorter buildings that she didn't realize the next building was too far away until she had already jumped. Luckily, she healed quickly and maybe her mother wouldn't be angry with her. She had warned her so many times about being careful with her meta-abilities.
Her mother was tall and elegant, she was lovely with her and always keep an eye on her, her schoolwork, what she needed, and how she felt. She usually took her on weekend trips; she liked being with her, she was always fun and she could talk with her about anything. She usually talked with her, never scolded her unless she had done something really bad, like use her meta-abilities in front of people.
Helena saw the cars down on the street. She remembered when her mother had told her she was going to have to stay with Barbara a few days, she didn't have any other options or Helena would have protested. If her mother trusted the woman, well, it must be because she was a good person; her mother usually didn't have many friends, only Barbara and a man. Sometimes she went out with him, Bruce Wayne. But she had seen him only two times. Selina didn't like taking him to her home.
She was sitting ont her mattress watching her mother pack her suitcase on her bed. "You must stay with Barbara a few days," Selina said, opening the closet.
"Why?" the kid asked curiously. Her mother never used to let her stay with any one. She didn't like it, and now, suddenly, she wanted Helena to stay with a friend of hers.
"I need to go to Paris to sell our apartment."
"Why I can't go?"
"This is a business trip and I need to work." Selina picked up some clothes.
"But you always take me with you, you say you don't like leaving me with other people."
"I know, but not this time, it's a fast trip and you have classes. Do you like this?" Selina showed her a piny dress.
"I hate that dress," Helena grumbled. "No way."
"Well, I tried, let me guess, your short pants and jeans right?"
"Yes."
"Dear, you need learn to dress with class." Selina raised her brow. "Go get your underwear."
"My clothes are cool." The kid stood up and went to look for them.
"Yes, but you must start to try with dresses."
"Mom...Do you think I'm going to be okay with Barbara? I've never been with her."You know her, come on." Selina took some of Helena's pants of from the closet and put them in the suitcase.
"Yes, but... I'll feel strange."
"She is my friend, I trust her, and she's a good person, intelligent, smart; there's only one problem, really.
"Which is?"
"She is a terrible cook." The blonde woman winked at her. She ruffled brunette hair with her hand. "Don't worry honey, I'll be back soon. Now... what else do you need?"
"Shoes..."
Helena felt sad; she knew Barbara just a little; she was nice; but the few hours that she was at her apartment, she was always busy with her things. It seemed she had a lot of work because she spent hours reading, writing or talking on the phone. Her mother had never left her alone so much; she missed her mom; she hoped she would be back soon; she missed her home, too.
She heard the door opening, it was Barbara. She smiled, finally she had arrived; she was hungry and was waiting for her because she didn't like to eat alone. She put Jaçques to the side and jumped down off the couch to run toward the door. The red head walked in with a lot of papers on her hands.
"Hi Barbara, can I help you?" she asked.
"Sure... how is your arm?" the redhead gave her some papers that the kid took with her good arm..
"Hurts a bit..."
"Do you take your pills?" Barbara walked toward the table.
"Yes." Helena put the papers on the table.
"Let me see you." Barbara sat on a chair and examined her arm. She touched it while Helena watched her in silence. Finally, Barbara smiled and stood up patting her back. "It's not bad... healing, don't worry, you will be okay in two days. How was today?"
"Boring, nothing to do." The child followed her.
"Did you call your friends and ask for your homework?" The red head went to the kitchen and took a package from the freezer.
"Yes, I did it, wanna see it?" Helena continued to follow her.
"Not now, I have things to do, when I get back. Leave it on the table." She was in a hurry, she needed to finish some reports and she had heard that the gang that she was following was going to attack that night.
"Are you going to leave again?"
"Yes, I need to work." The red head walked out of the kitchen.
"At night?" She raised her brow.
"Yes, it's an important meeting." She put the frozen food inside the microwave.
Helena sighed and began to set the table for two.
Barbara thought in silence a few seconds, she turned to look at the child. "Hel, no, just you."
"Just me? Why?" she asked softly.
"I told you. I need to go out now." The ringing of the microwave indicated to Barbara that the food was ready, she opened the door of it and put the meal on a plate.
"But..." Helena gazed at her with out knowing what to do, her mother always checked her homework before going to sleep and she always ate dinner with her.
"I'll leave this here for you. Wash your dishes when you finish, I have to go now." She put the plate on the table. "Bye, go to bed early." She kissed her forehead and walked outside.
Helena watched her go and stood up from the table. When she heard the door closing she looked at her food. A great end to a boring day; she opened the fridge and put her plate inside. She didn't like roast beef. She took out a big carton of ice cream. Well, if Barbara wasn't there, she could enjoy it. She found a spoon and put a big scoop in her mouth. That was good, she walked toward the bedroom to turn on the television.
Barbara removed her cowl. Her entire back hurt. She had faced some criminals and one of those guys had hit her roughly. She took off her costume carefully and sighed when she saw her jeans. Her whole body hurt; but she needed to change. Helena was sleeping in her room and she couldn't open the secret entrance, so she needed to walk on the street to go to her apartment.
She walked in slowly, trying not to make any noise. She opened her bedroom door. Helena was asleep. She went to her bathroom and turned on the warm water. She had lied to the girl, telling her that she needed go to an emergency meeting; it was the only way to excuse her exit at eight pm.
She removed all her clothes and examined her body; she had some bruises. Nothing serious. She stepped inside the shower and put her hands over the wall. The hot water running on her back felt wonderful and she lowered her head. She remained still for long minutes, just feeling the warm liquid caressing her back. The problem was that she had a meeting again, early the next morning, she barely had a few hours to rest.
After finishing her bath, she looked at her face on the mirror. A big bruise was appearing on her cheek. "Damn..." she mumbled. She put some ointment on her bruises and went to her bed where Helena was sleeping deeply. She looked at the night table and saw the big carton of ice cream.
"Oh Helena..." she grumbled in a low voice. She picked it up, it was almost empty. The next day she would have a serious talk with the kid, but it would wait until tomorrow. She fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow of her soft mattress.
A few minutes later she felt a light weight on her back. She turned and saw Helena crossed in the middle of the bed hugging her waist. She took her by her shoulders and moved her to her place covering her with the blankets. She turned and rested her head again on her pillow. She had almost fallen asleep when an arm moved around her neck. She rolled her eyes and sighed. She moved it carefully off of her neck and turned to put it under the blankets.
Something like a bone on her back woke her up a half hour later. Helena had buried her head on her lower back. She raised her head sleepily and saw "Jaçques" on top of her. She pushed it. She sighed, Helena moved as if she had fleas. She sat up again and moved her gently to her pillow.
"Mmm?" the girl mumbled and sleepily opened her eyes.
The moon light through the window let Barbara see her feline eyes for the first time. Selina had told her about it but she had never seen it. It was strange... and cute. "Shhh... it's okay... shhh..." She brushed her hair slowly until the girl returned to her dreams.
The redhead took a deep breath and lied down again, staring at the ceiling. She wondered how Selina could manage a child. She always had been a woman that loved her freedom, the night, like her. And she had given it all up for her baby. It was admirable. Maybe she could never do anything like that. Being a crimefighter was her life.
Helena snuggling aginst her, cutting her thoughts. She felt the kid wrapping her arms around her waist.
"Helena... why don't take your cat and hug him?" she mumbled and began to analyze how she she got into this mess. "Yes, I remember," she said to herself "I was trying to be a good friend." She understood was useless to try to keep the girl quiet. She had read that children move alot at night in their beds. So, the best thing was to try to sleep; she felt so tired.
A strange and light vibration on her stomach grabbed her attention. What the hell was that? She wasn't hungry. But... that wasn't her.
She raised her head and looked down. Helena had her head over her stomach, sleeping deeply. She looked her strangely. She was... purring? It couldn't be! She was a child with the meta abilities of a feline but not a damn cat... or not? She touched her back with her hand.
A purr.
A purr?
Oh damn! She was purring! She closed her eyes and let her head fell back. How could she sleep with that sound and the vibrations? They were light but... she was used to sleeping alone, surrounded by silence and peace. Her bed only for her.
Silence.
Peace.
Something far from her that night. She looked at her watch, three o'clock in the morning.
It was going to be a long week.
She threw her mask on the mattress and walked toward the window. It had been a long night. It was back breaking. She sighed and looked at her watch. Too early for her and too late to call her kid.
She had never left her alone before. They always had been together. She was her kitten, her lovely kitten, her life, her soul. She had brought a light to the darkness in her life. Her smile, her innocence. Every time she smiled at her, she knew she had made the right choice. Her daughter was special; she was half-meta and she was Batman's daughter.
It was ironic, the good boy and the bad girl as a couple, How could she be involved with him? She laughed to herself holding her arms and looking at the city of light through the window of her apartment. He was handsome, brilliant... Good body. But both were difficult. Their temperaments were strong. She had kept the secret from him that she was her daughter. She was afraid. It would be dangerous for the child if people knew either secret. She was hiding it from everyone, including Barbara. She grimaced. She didn't want to hide it from Barbara, probably the one person she could trust with the secret. But she wasn't sure if she should talk about it yet or not.
She wanted a normal life for Helena; for that reason she had resigned from her past life, but it seemed her past had followed her. Thank god Barbara had agreed to take care of Helena for a few days. She had lied to her, saying she was going to sell her apartment. True, it was mostly because she had practically pestered the poor young woman to death. Selina laughed inwardly, she was quite sure Barbara had her hands full....
She hoped Helena was alright...
