AHHH! Continuity has just gone out the window. Please just go with the flow, accept what is given and run with it, cus I'm probably three steps ahead of you. Okay so, I know it's been a while, and this might go slower than the first part. It may be a little Catty heavy, and if that gets boring, scream at me. I will change- you reviewers must know that I am a very flexible author and know when to back down and take good suggestions. So if -heaven forbid- Catty gets boring, kick, bite, throw a fit! Just tell me, I don't take much personally. Thank you and enjoy!

A Cat's Tale

By: Catty Engles Reporter for the Daily Gazette

Edition Eighth: All's Well that Ends Better

I took extreme pleasure clearing out my cubicle, lingering over nothing and finishing the job surprisingly fast. Later that week, I was clearing out my apartment. When I became the Titan's agent I brandished their copyrights with the force of one possessed. Business had never gone smoother for me. Corporations bent under my will to obtain the rights to sell Teen Titan merchandise. And I sat on top of the plunder like the big cheese I knew I was destined to be. Of course the Titan's got their fair share of the royalties, more than their fair share if I had anything to do with it. The Titans thought I had saved their life, but, I know for a fact, they saved mine.

Within a matter of months I took up residence in a highrise suit. The percentage from the action figures alone that Mattel gladly started to manufacture after I suggested production, would have left me suited for the rest of my life, but... Halloween costumes, legos, Beastboy Tofu and other homely food products, coloring books, keychains, jewelry, CDs, imitation communicators, some fancy new clothing lines, and comic books (wonder why no one thought of that before) would ensure that the rest of my life would be extremely comfortable. I could spare this suit splurge.

It's been two months, two short months and I'm a different Catty. I've let my rigid bob grow from my cheekbones to my jaw. My waifish, stick-like frame has filled out generously a result of either the steady stream of food or the reduction of stress, I don't know or care, but, to my pleasure, I have a curvy figure and something (somethings) to fill the front of my shirt. I feel more complete in these past few weeks than I think in my whole life.

I recline in my office chair, reveling in the utter bliss of getting what I want. Slick is in jail. Slade is old news, and I am the boss now. Life was- is good.

My generously spacious office affords only the most luxurious. Everything is leather or heartwood, giving the layout a pleasant aristocratic air. There is a conglomeration of novels and volumes on the bookshelf, overflowing onto my desk. Contracts and waivers are scattered across it, a spattering of elaborate paperweights, expensive pens, and prototype action figures litter the already congested surface.

The west side of the office is entirely glass. Not one of my brighter ideas, seeing as I fight down nausea every time I witness the insectile crawling of cars forty stories below me. I am not fond of heights. The last time this fear had ever manifested itself into a plausible threat found me dangling from a jet-packed henchman's grasp outside of the T-tower. I shudder at the memory and turn away from the window.

I punch a button on my desk, "Tina, are they here yet?"

A loud and dramatic sigh comes in a rush of static over the intercom's less than crystal reception, "Miss Engles the Titans are not present and will not be present until the appointed time: 4:00 PM as you may graciously observe it is still only 3:45 PM. Please, stop hectoring me."

I keep my finger on the button, "Hectoring, Tina?"

My office door opens and a slim blonde girl leans in the doorway, "Yes, hectoring, Miss Engles, etymology pays you know."

"And so does crime, but we don't all indulge in the illegitimate."

"You know what I meant."

My vampiress smile spreads across my face. Yes, Tina is in college, but she is just my match for intellectual word-games.

She flips her golden locks behind her perfectly conspicuous shoulder. Tina has a slight tendency to embonpoint. Her white square-cut tank is a good four inches lacking in material between her bellybutton (which is pierced by a diamond stud) and low-rise jeans. Her hips seem to have an eternal cock, accentuating her voluptuous figure, not to mention perfect tan. Hardly secretary material for a normal big-shot, but who said I was normal?

"I know you've been watching the clock as well."

She sighs dramatically, again. "Guilty as charged. Robin has finally committed a devastatingly devious crime." I cock an eyebrow, hardly smiling, "He's stolen my heart and made off with it like the shameless vigilante he is." She grins, clamping a hand across her chest. A little over the top, but Tina does nothing halfway.

"Ah, what green tights do for that boy. He has fangirls coming out of his... ears. Poor guy, I'm glad I'm not in his metal plated shoes." I shuffle some papers on my desk, trying to find at least a semblance of organization.

"It's not like you aren't interested." She scowls at me, her face suddenly turning dark, "I have feminine intuition, and I know how to use it. You're moving in on my turf."

"Robin and my relationship is purely business."

"Bull." With that, she turns, hips jiggling flagrantly, and slams my door. I wince, not from the noise but from the accusation. Lately, I've prodded myself for feelings of the romantic sort for the be-masked hero. My endless charade of boyfriends has recently been even less than satisfying. Empty words and hollow actions have done little to fill the void slowly growing in prominence inside me. As a rule of moral I have never run the bases, and am currently unattached. Robin has been dominant in my mind for the past few weeks.

I pause for a moment, looking down at the congested streets below, and let my thoughts wander.

I've been in close contact with each of the Titans ever since I started to handle all of their business propositions and I've enjoyed it immensely, not just on professional basis.

Beastboy is hilarious, even though his humor makes me want to groan. His adamant persistence of trying to make everyone laugh alone is funny. His carefree attitude but sensitive countenance keeps my short fuse in check. And more and more I begin to realize that these teens are not regular teens they are old heads on young shoulders... but he is the exception to the rule.

One of my most intimate relations is with Cyborg. He's become the big brother I never had, always teasing me gently and inquiring about my latest boyfriend's degrading qualities. He's not as quick-witted as I am, but his honest and straightforward approach to everything is a welcome relief from Jump City's tangled web of hidden motives inside and out of the office.

Starfire dubbed me as one of her new best friends after our little escapade with Slade (after clarifying that Cattys and Kittens do not conduct themselves the same, though I'm still not entirely sure why). I'm not very patient when it comes to most things, but Starfire's sincere inquiries of earth culture never cease to make me smile. She enjoys having someone to delight in the female pleasures of existence with, seeing as Raven does not "do" the mall, manicures, small chat, fashion, boy watching, or anything else fun. I am her mentor in all things womanly. We've hit the mall, chilled at the food court, flirted, well I've flirted, Starfire kind of just smiles. If Cyborg is my big brother, Starfire would most likely be my little sister.

Raven will never quite accept me. Every time we meet there is a coldness in her that I can't seem to melt. She's never trusted me, and this is one thing that burdens this bright new life of mine. She is so devastatingly secretive that I fear I will never come to know her like the others. Like they say, trying is the first step to failure.

And then there's Robin. The intense and bright boy- man he is. My dreams last night replayed over and over the attack on Titan Tower. Me cowering behind the couch ... Robin facing the henchman robot, sending a flurry of kicks and punches at him rapid-fire ... the robot hitting Robin with an open palm which gives Boy Wonder an opening to deal the fatal blow ... His debonair grin at the moment of victory. My feelings for Robin? I'm still trying to sort those out.

"They're here." Crackles Tina over the intercom. I straighten up immediately and press the return button.

"Send them in please." I imagine Tina rolling her eyes, like she didn't do that the minute they walked into the building.

I meet them at the door.

I usher the Titans into my office. Beastboy is the first through, trying to see everything at once. "You got this set up in a month?" He asks a little amazed as he riffles through my extensive bookshelf.

I beam as Starfire flies through the doorway and settles herself primly on a leather armchair near the full-wall window overlooking the city. "It is most amazing!" Her eyes glisten and she pulls her knees up to her chin, watching the rest of her friends file in, Robin last. When he steps past the threshold a tiny beeping sound emanates from my desk.

I shoot Robin a puzzled look and push some papers aside, searching for the source. "Robin, you don't happen to be carrying any high-density synthetic metalloidal componenets, would you?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

He cocks an eyebrow and produces a birdarang and many reactor bombs set to explode on impact from his utility belt. "Of course."

"Hmm." I approach him after finding the alarm's control panel and switching it off.

Cyborg is examining the doorframe, "Catty, this isn't-"

"A metal detector?" I finish, not looking up. I take Robin's birdarang in my hand, examining it more closely, "Yes, it is."

"But, it can't be fully operational, metal detectors are huge, and if my scans are right this is no thicker than one inch."

"Oh it's fully operational," I smile, still examining Robin's birdarang, "Airport metal detectors are meant to be conspicuous. It's a foolproof method of getting the point across that everything is being watched. There are many useless cortexes that can be removed to make it much smaller."

"But still it couldn't be less than an inch!" Cyborg looks confused and Starfire and Beastboy are grinning at his plight.

"Yes it can," I hand Robin's birdarang back to him, "If its sensors are replaced by ion beams."

Cyborg looks impressed, and enters something into the computer on his arm. I turn to Robin, my inspection of the weapon complete.

"This birdarang, wasn't what the sensors picked up, how can it-" I begin.

"It's made of an alloy of-" Robin begins to explain, but my intellect kicks in and I cut him off.

"Oh, but how did you overcome the-"

"I didn't."

"So this is-"

"Yes."

"That's amazing!"

"I know."

I step back, smiling at Robin. From what I've just learned I have a far deeper respect for his understanding of synthesis, but the other Titans, including Cyborg seem a bit confused. I wave my hand dismissively, "It's nothing, just some literati rambling." Robin catches the joke and flashes a smile before taking a seat next to Starfire.

I pick up a manila folder fit to burst and set it on the table. Beastboy groans, and all the rest of the Titans' eyes seem to glaze over like a room-full of students preparing to sit through a philosophical lecture of the anatomy of a dung beetle. I had opened the folder, but I close it and check my watch. Everyone is staring at me, their minds obviously somewhere else.

My hand goes to my chin. I'm obviously not going to get anything useful done here. I swish my way over to the desk and press the intercom button, "Tina?"

"Yes, Miss Engles."

"Are those complimentary tickets still on file?"

Shuffling papers. "Yes, Miss Engles, six of them."

"Thanks, set them out, please?"

"Of course."

I turn to face the Titans. "I think a little American Pastime is in order here. Who's up for peanuts and cracker jacks?" The boys leap up, Beastboy and Cyborg slapping high fives. "This meeting is adjourned. Let's go to a baseball game."

Thank you to Grumbumble, you make me smile, I love your reviews, and your story, if you've read this, why are you here? Go work on your own story! I am addicted!!!

Thanks for reading, drop me a line, tell me what you'd like to see, be my guest to tell me a joke, that would make me smile... hehe j/k.