Acknowledgements: The Hanging Works AU belongs to cereta (LJ user), and 'Catspaw' is harrietspy 's. (LJ user)
Special thanks given to them for letting me play in their sandbox.

DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to DC and not me. I'm just borrowing them for a while to spin a tale. All these characters are used without permission, and I'm not profiting from this piece of fan fiction, so please don't sue me.

Pound of Flesh
By Jacque Koh
August 2005

Garth of Shayeris waited at the Gotham docks expectantly but not without worry that the one he had invited to the meeting would not appear. He tried to tell himself that it would not matter if the man he was waiting for never came. However, this would clearly be a lie to his heart.

It was admittedly a desperate measure for the former Aqualad to have the message sent the way he did. Orin had almost balked at his request to ask a favour of Batman during the latest JLA meeting. But the Sea King had recognised his protégé's need, and also realised that Garth had really asked very little of him in recent years. He had promised that he would get Batman's commitment to find the young man Garth was looking for, and to pass on the invitation.

Garth really hadn't wanted to use the JLA for this personal matter, but he was truly at a loss as to how to contact the rogue. For all the years of his association with the Titans, they could never get a hold of Catspaw at their whim. He'd appear wherever and whenever it was his fancy to come in and join them on missions; most often when it looked like it would be 'worth his while' and there was illicit loot to be liberated. In spite of that, it was assistance that the Titans did not refuse since he offered to the team skills and abilities that they could only dream of in infiltration, espionage, and 'general' thievery. He was also, the way he preferred to describe it, an excellent repository of 'useless' information, which more often than not proved vital to the success of some of the Titans' missions.

Despite nearly a decade of assistance, association and friendship with the 'second generation' heroes, however, it was to the Titans' leader, Arsenal's, eternal consternation that Catspaw resisted accepting formal Titans membership and becoming 'legit'. It would certainly have made contacting him a whole lot simpler if he'd agreed to carry the latest Titans communicator.

"It's your dime, Al." A cheerful voice announced from behind him, breaking Garth from his thoughts and making him swing around in shock for having been taken by surprise. "But I have to warn you, you've got Batman really steamed for using him as a message courier."

Garth grinned to see the familiar, smiling, black dressed, rogue; a young man whom he had known since his childhood days of membership with the Titans. And the one who had given him the easier to accept nickname of 'Al' for 'Aqua lad' rather than Roy's favourite soubriquets of 'Gillhead' and 'Fish face'.

It had been nearly a year since he'd last seen the man, but Garth could tell that time had been very generous to the professional thief. As ever, he was dressed in an all black suit with no discernable markings or design beyond a minimalist's style that made the sleek material of the body suit seem moulded to his well sculpted form. It was quite clear from the way the costume clung to his frame that it was meant to be both functional and-- deliberately distracting; a fact that had caused most of the male Titans no small amount of annoyance, whenever the ladies teased them by loudly discussing the 'damn fine' attributes of their 'unofficial' member.

Garth was well aware that what infuriated Roy and Wally the most was that Catspaw seemed to be completely lacking in ego, and totally oblivious of his own physical charms. Roy just refused to get over the fact that, upon her arrival on earth, Starfire had chosen to kiss Catspaw, with tongue, in her species' way to learn English so that she could understand the Titans; an act which they were to later find out was not strictly necessary since a bare hand to skin touch would have been sufficient contact to a Tamaranean's language learning trait. The Titan ladies were also forever eager to cast their eyes upon Catspaw's acrobatic body; while Garth had on more than one occasion overheard Roy and Wally commiserate over their costumes' comparison to the rogue's 'butt floss.' This current iteration of Catspaw's costume was no different to earlier designs in its revealing nature.

New to Garth, however, was the presence of a pair of escrima sticks attached to holsters on the man's back and the distinct lack of the familiar hip bags in which his friend normally carried his tools. On the other hand, his boots and gauntlets did look quite a bit sturdier, as did the head stocking which covered most of his head, but still allowed a spill of dark hair to fall over the edges of the goggles that hid his eyes.

"Catspaw..."

The man grimaced at the address. "Guess I really should have made you guys understand that that was just my name with the Titans. It made things pretty awkward with the Big Bat."

Garth's mouth almost fell open in shock and disappointment. "You-- that's-- not your real code name?"

'Catspaw' sighed as he ran a hand through his raven black hair. "Well-- like I once asked my mentor 'why do I want people to remember me?'

"You know what I do, Al? The less that's known, shared, and noticed about me the better, I don't use a code name when I'm on my own. Nothing against you guys, but I thought that the Titans could hardly tell the JLA, and the judicial authorities, that it was a cipher that helped them, or ran off with the loot.

"As it is, right now I have Batman demanding to know why I hadn't revealed my code name to him for years." The black clad rogue looked up at the night sky in a gesture that Garth recognised as someone rolling his eyes. "Plus he tried to lecture me for choosing a name which made me sound-- co-dependent on my mentor.

"I didn't particularly care about his opinion though." He gave Garth a wry grin. "It suited the Titans."

Now Garth's face really fell at that statement making his friend look alarmed. "Hey, hey! It's okay. That's how it started out, but we are still tight, aren't we?" 'Catspaw' quickly closed the distance between them to lay his hands on Garth's shoulders.

"I--" Garth looked down in embarrassment and disappointment. "I didn't know how else to contact you on my own."

"I understand. It can't be helped that the JLA aren't particularly thrilled about your association with me, you know?" The other man released a shoulder to reach over and place it at Garth's chin to make him lift his face and look him in the eyes. "Why are you looking up this aggravating scoundrel anyway?" He asked lightly. "Wanted to show off?

"I noticed the new costume." He leered good naturedly at the sculpted red and black body suit that Garth now wore. "Was it your turn to update your codename, and establish an identity not associated with your mentor?"

"T-- Tempest... I'm-- a mage now. And also have temperature powers over water."

"Whoa! Way cool, dude!" Catspaw clapped him on the shoulder in delight. "That is some power up. Titans foes had better beware now, eh?"

His look, however, immediately turned into concern when he noticed that Garth didn't look especially happy. "What happened, Al? You know you can talk to me."

"Cats-- oh-- but you're really-- not 'Catspaw' are you...?"

"Al--" The black clad rogue looked at him sadly. "Tempest, does it bother you that much that I gave the Titans a name that only they use?

"I understand the importance of superhero secret identities, you know? And you all have mentors with fam--"

"Garth." He interrupted the tired old excuse angrily.

"Huh?"

"My real name is Garth. Only Garth, I have no other name..." The former Aqualad had always thought that the Titans were much too hung up on the identity issue. Among themselves, they had known who the other Titans were. But not even their first name was ever shared with their resident rogue; no matter that they would never hesitated to trust him with their lives when the situation called for it.

However, they had shared their identities with Terra, whom was made a Titan and who eventually betrayed them. Yet it was the 'untrustworthy' rogue who had risked his life to come to their rescue. However, despite all that, the Titans still did not share their names with him.

The other man studied at him for a long while before he took in a deep breath and spoke again. "Well, I'm pleased to meet you, Garth. The name's Dick. Dick Grayson. And that is my original name, though I've seldom used it after I hooked up with my mentor."

"Dick?" Garth let out a strangled cough as he gave the other man a sweeping up down look and tried to hide his hilarity at the inappropriate (or maybe appropriate) connotations it gave him.

"Yeah, yeah-- laugh and get it over with." The rogue gave him a smirk to show that he didn't take offence at Garth's amusement. "The actual name's Richard, but my parents called me 'Dick' and I never asked anyone to call me different."

"I'm pleased to meet you too-- Dick." Garth gave his friend his first genuine smile since he came to his full powers and heritage.

A slight sound carried in the whisper of wind made Dick suddenly look up towards the roof of one of the nearby warehouses, drawing Garth's attention and keener eyesight to pick out the darker man-shaped shadow standing against one of the walls. The Atlantean sighed as he made out the shape of the man's cowl and noted the distinctive fall of the scalloped cape which flapped gently in the wind. He supposed it was too much to hope that Batman would ignore their meeting.

"Cat-- Dick, will you trust me?" Garth drew the rogue's attention back on him again.

"You're going to try something unusual, aren't you?" Dick threw a glance back at the dark shadow observing them.

"Only-- if it's okay with you."

Dick gave him a reassuring smile. "If I didn't trust you, I'd never have come here."

"Then, follow me." Garth took one of his hands and pulled him towards the edge of the dock. "I can make it so you can breathe underwater like me."

"You can really do that?" Dick asked him in wonder.

"Yes, and don't worry about your gear." Garth assured him as he caused a purple glow to surround the rogue. "You'll be fully protected."

Garth dove into the water first and turned in time to see Dick follow him gracefully. It took him just a moment to adjust and Dick was soon breathing under water as if it was as natural to him as it was for Garth. They didn't try to speak though as Garth took Dick's hand and pulled his friend after him, at an almost inconceivable speed, out of the harbour and into the open sea.

Once they were in open waters, Garth slowed down and pulled Dick up alongside him so that he could claim his mouth in a kiss. The other man had initially stiffened at the touch of his lips, but before Garth could draw away, black clad arms encircled his neck to pull him closer.

Garth's arms wrapped around his friend's back and he entangled their legs so that he could pull their bodies into as much contact as they could manage. The Atlantean desperately needed this so very masculine body of a lover against him now; anything to erase the memory of a few days earlier when he had thought that Tula still lived.

He had hoped that Dick wouldn't notice his inner turmoil. It wasn't as if they had sex all that infrequently ever since they started their on-again-off-again affair way back when. It was a source of secret pride to Garth that he and Tula had been the first to jointly seduce the rogue, plus prove to the Titans' resident 'scholar' that they could teach him a thing or two about something new.

Unfortunately, he and Tula hadn't remotely conceived the uproar it would caused in the JLA, when Tula's boasting among her girlfriends reached first Mera's then Aquaman's ears, and later ended up as a discussion topic among the JLA. It had Batman demanding for the Titans to be disbanded, and chiding their mentors for allowing the 'children' to run wild and engage in under-aged sex orgies.

Poor Roy had caught most of the flack for the event until he finally convinced Ollie that he wasn't the one who had lost his virginity to the Atlantean duo. Unfortunately, a whole lot more yelling had erupted from that revelation since the Titans were now forced to tell their mentors of the kid-rogue, whose code name they managed to withhold, who sometimes joined their missions uninvited. The junior rogue further did not endear himself to the JLA at all when they found out that he often made off with the villains' ill gotten gains as 'payment' for his contribution to the missions' efforts.

For a long while after that, the Titans had been afraid for Catspaw and desperately hoped that he wouldn't appear at their headquarters. Superman and Batman were especially upset to learn that a boy their age, and possibly younger, had taken to professional thievery, and the JLA had made plans to try and capture Catspaw to reform him before he reached adulthood.

Fortunately, their friend had been tipped off, by adult opponents of the JLA, of the overheard rumblings of discontent. It had caused the boy to disappear from their ranks for nearly two years, and made the Titans wonder if they'd ever see him again.

Tula and Garth had been especially upset and worried for their new found lover; and had prayed that the younger boy would not feel as if they had used him selfishly in an act of conquest. It was therefore with much relief that the Titans began seeing signs of intrusion into their newest headquarters along with love letters left for 'Al' and 'Aggie' (Aqua Girl) signed with a cat's paw print. Once Catspaw was sure that the JLA were not around to spring a trap on him and that the Titans had no intention to assist their mentors, he finally revealed himself to them again. Garth and Tula had enthusiastically rekindled their relationship with Catspaw then.

Though Roy had initially blanched to witness the two 'fishies' reclaim their 'kitty,' he did not show any hard feelings for the embarrassment they had caused him and Ollie years earlier. The Atlanteans made sure they were more discrete about their trysts this time round. However, the rosy lust of their three-some affair finally did come to an end with Jericho's entrance as a member of the Titans.

Tula and Garth already spent precious little time on the surface with the Titans, and coupled with Catspaw's unpredictable attendance on Titans missions, they had eventually drifted apart. Garth and Tula had also been distinctly absent and unaware when Deathstroke the Terminator had slipped a mole into the Titans with Terra. After he and Terra sprang their trap to capture the Titans, Joseph Wilson and his mother, Adeline Kane, had hunted down Catspaw and begged him to assist them in the Titans' rescue.

Jericho and Catspaw had immediately hit off after that first mission together. Still, while Joey eventually accepted Titans membership, Arsenal had been frustrated once more since Catspaw declined formal association with the heroes yet again.

With Jericho as a regular in the Titans, Garth and Tula were to distinctly feel the polite but firm 'hands off' vibe he directed at them in relation to Catspaw, whenever the rogue deigned to grace the Titans with his presence. Having noticed how Catspaw had taken the trouble and patience to learn American Sign Language, the two had accepted his show of interest as reciprocation of Joey's advances and gently backed off. However, their friendship was still very much cherished.

Garth had no few illusions that if it hadn't been for Catspaw's support, he would have been in a worse state after Tula died during the Crisis of Infinite Earths affair. And Garth was fortunate that Catspaw was on earth at that time since he had declined to follow his lover when Jericho accompanied Starfire to her home planet to be reunited with her family. Joey had wanted to soar among the stars; having gone on numerous jaunts into outer space previously, Catspaw balked at the idea of leaving earth again and opted to stay. Still, despite the support given to him by the earth bound Titans, Tula's death had caused Garth to eventually draw away from the team.

Reminded of her loss, Garth could not halt his tears from flowing. That was the other reason why Garth moved them into the water; he could cry unnoticed there. Unfortunately, his friend was always far more observant than any of the Titans cared to admit.

"Garth. Don't hide behind sex." Dick broke the kiss between them. Unused though he was to speaking underwater, Dick still managed to carefully direct his words into Garth's ear to make himself understood. "Talk to me. I'm here for you."

"Ca-- Dick... I--"

"Talk to me, Garth." Dick drew away so that they could look each other in the eye. "I'm not going anywhere."

So Garth gave in and led Dick to an undersea alcove, where they could sit above the water for a while and not have to deal with the distortions that being under water made to speech, and told him everything. About how Tula had suddenly reappeared to him alive; about how they had made love again and how comfortable and familiar she was; about how she betrayed him and did not realise it because of the spell his uncle, a dark mage named Slizzath, had cast on her to steal his powers and birthright; about his discovery that this mother still lived, hidden away with a group of Idyllists; about how it was revealed to him that Tula was no more than an outer casing of skin and looks which held a host of vermin and rotting flash together; about her tearful farewell when she realised and acknowledged that she was dead and told him to end her perverted existence; about his smashing her body to pulp to break the spell that had created her; about defeating his uncle and sealing him away in an other-dimensional prison...

Dick had listened to him quietly and held him in his arms, lending Garth his strength as he unburdened his anguish and turmoil over his fucked up love and family. As Garth's narration wound to a close, he realised that he had needed this talk more than he needed a fuck. As he gently drew out of Dick's hug to look up at him, Garth had to reflect that he was damned lucky that he had such a good friend who really knew what would most help his troubled soul... And who was a beautiful, sexy, much missed lover as well.

Garth leaned in closer to kiss his friend on the lips and quickly deepened the kiss when he was invited to do so. He needed this as well; to make love to someone he knew and remembered sharing with the Tula of old... if only to forget his disappointment and disgust when he found out just what it was he had touched and made love to just days earlier.

Dick's present costume was as difficult to remove as it was in the past. It was constructed to mould against his body, ostensibly to minimise wind resistance when Dick threw himself into his death defying acrobatics. But the tightness was making Garth impatient with the desire to just rip it off instead of patiently rolling it off his lover's taut, muscular frame.

Once it was off though, Garth revelled to the feel of a familiar lover's skin against his. He soon had Dick eagerly arching against him as his fingers sought for and impatiently pushed against the entrance to his lover's body. Garth had to be grateful that one of the lessons which Atlan blushingly gave him in spell work was on its uses with sex. It was very convenient that they didn't have to stop to locate a tube of lubricant since Garth hadn't brought any, and he'd hardly expect Dick to have had any in his numerous hidden compartments on his gauntlets or boots.

When he was stretched and ready, Dick had broken the kiss and tried to get on his hands and knees, but Garth had stopped him. He wanted to see Dick's face as he entered him. He needed to gaze upon his friend and lover, and erase from his mind the recent memory of having looked down upon the Tula construct that his uncle created to trick him. Dick had given him a questioning look, but readily complied with his guiding hands to lie on his back. However, when Garth had gripped Dick's hands to move them out of the way and raised them over his head, a totally unexpected transformation took place before him which had Garth breaking off what he had intended to start and scooping his panicking lover against his chest.

Garth held his trembling friend in a tight hug for a long moment; crooning softly into his ear as he stroked his back and listened to the muffled apologies that Dick made against his neck. "Shhh, Dick. No, you're not being a baby." He spoke firmly to try and stop Dick's disparaging words about himself. "There's nothing to apologise to me about. I've got you, Dick. You know I would never hurt you. You're safe with me."

His stomach did a flip flop as Dick stiffened at his words and burrowed deeper into his embrace. Garth forcefully clamped down on his fury for whoever had hurt his friend. He could read enough signs to understand that it must have been someone close to Dick who had hurt him; someone who must have once made a similar promise and broke it.

It took a long time for the sobbing to finally subside. Garth didn't loosen his hold on his still trembling friend though, but patiently waited until Dick was ready to talk.

"I'm sorry... It-- happened years ago." Dick finally broke the silence. "I thought-- I thought I was over it."

"Who was it, Dick?" Garth asked him gently even as he was turning over in his mind plans to gather the Titans and extract painful retribution from the scum that hurt their friend. He didn't care who the bastard was; be it the Joker or Killer Croc. Whoever it was that managed to turn their cheerful rogue into this scared and trembling apparition didn't deserved to live. "Who hurt you, Dick? I swear--"

Dick's hand had reached up to halt Garth's words. But he stayed silent himself for a long moment as he allowed Garth to soothe his trembling body before he was ready to speak. "H-- it-- it's-- already dead."

"It?"

"It was-- it was in Joey's body." He allowed Garth to continue to hug him close in comfort. "The damn spirits-- it wasn't the real Joey. I knew that.

"You know... I-- I almost didn't show up at the anniversary party. But after I did and was attacked by a Wildebeest, I couldn't help but get involved. And-- once I surfaced to help the team Steve Dayton assembled-- they-- the Wildebeests had a chance to grab me...

"It wasn't Joey." Dick looked up at Garth as he declared this firmly. "We-- we were just together a few days earlier. It was nothing like him. This-- this 'thing' only wore his body.

"It-- of the Titans, I'm one of the few humans associated with you. The Wildebeests had no interest in my body to host one of their spirits. It-- it took me-- because-- because it-- just-- wanted its turn with me..."

"Pallais! Dick--" Garth's hand reached to stroke his cheek softly.

Dick shivered again as he buried his face against Garth's neck. "It-- it hurt me, Garth. S-- sp-- spoiled-- and perverted ev-- every-- good memory-- I had-- with Joey..."

"That's-- that's why you stayed away from the Titans for such a long time." Garth stroked Dick's back gently as he tried to control his anger and sorrow for his friend's suffering. "You-- weren't just grieving for Joey's death..."

"Joey's father-- Deathstroke-- he-- took me travelling with him for a while." Dick told Garth softly. "We helped each other a lot back then..."

"Dick-- I--"

"Garth, you were laid up and in STAR labs yourself." Dick shook his head. "You were in no shape or position to offer me any comfort or help.

"I had-- Slade-- He was good to me..."

"Dick--"

"Just-- don't-- hold my hands over my head, Garth." Dick told him softly. "It's been-- years-- but I-- I obviously still can't handle that."

"Dick we don--" He looked at his friend in alarm and shock.

"Don't, Garth." Dick pulled away from the hug and laid a gentle kiss on Garth's lips to silence him. "Please don't let that-- 'thing' spoil and colour our relationship too.

"Please. Garth. I need this. I need to know that we're still 'okay'."

Garth supposed they must have made quite a fucked up pair. He wanted this contact with Dick to help him erase the memory of the reanimated Tula he had slept with a few days ago and to reinforce the good memories he had had with Dick and Tula before she died. While Dick wanted reassurance that they could still be okay, and that the trauma of having his lover's body brutally rape him would not destroy the comfortable relationship that they had always shared.

More aware now of Dick's skittishness, Garth put a tight rein on his own needs and took his time to help Dick relax again and get in the mood. Going slow, however, gave Garth too much time to study the form and skin of his lover.

Garth frowned in consternation as he looked upon the scars that adorned his lover's body. He was uncomfortably aware that most if not all the scars were picked up on Titans missions. Catspaw was too good a thief to ever be discovered on a job. And while Dick was a skilled fighter and martial artist, he truly hardly ever used those abilities on his 'pinches'. When he was with the Titans on the other hand...

Out of all the Titans, Dick was the only one who was completely un-augmented in any way, biologically or equipment wise. Even Arsenal was to later discover that he had a meta ability to always hit what he aimed at. As a result, Brother Blood had singled Dick out that one and only time he had been captured with the Titans by Blood's cultists. Catspaw had been tortured under the assumption that as a rogue he had no loyalty to the Titans and so could be easily persuaded to betray them. However, the thief had not only withstood the torture and abuse, when his interrogators finally left him alone, he had stubbornly clung on to consciousness long enough to escape and free the Titans from their imprisonment before he succumbed to pain, shock and blood loss.

That had herald the first time Catspaw's mentor visited the Titans. And while she stood over her protégé's unconscious and heavily bandaged body, Catwoman had blackmailed the Titans into promising to never involve Catspaw in their cases with Brother Blood ever again before she departed with him.

The second time Catwoman met the Titans was with their first encounter with the Wildebeest; where Catspaw had nearly been killed after a Wildebeest suit had detonated in close proximity to him. Raven had saved his life when the STAR medical team would have been too slow to do anything to help him. So shaken were the Titans at nearly losing their friend, they had been out for blood. The Titans had thus been neatly set up on a murder and man slaughter charge after Starfire attacked a Wildebeest and apparently killed the man in the suit. Catwoman had visited them again then and helped the recovering Catspaw and Raven play detective to prove the innocence of the Titans.

Despite her unhappiness with Catspaw's association with the Titans though, Catwoman never out right forbade his participation. However, she was harsh with the Titans. And on both meetings with them rubbed their noses in the fact that Catspaw would be far safer and freer from injury if he'd stop trying to play 'hero' and stick to 'villainy'.

"Garth? Stop."

"Wha--?" Garth jerked guiltily for having been lost in his thoughts.

"Let it go." Dick reached a hand over to grip Garth's chin and make him look into his eyes rather than stare at the scars that marked up his body. "I'm a big boy. I can make my own decisions."

"But-- being with the Titans has brought you so much-- pain." Garth told Dick as his heart sank within him for that alarming revelation.

"If the danger bothered me that much, I would never have joined the Titans on any mission." Dick told him softly, and then added with a smirk. "Besides, I've almost always managed to make it handsomely profitable for me."

That succeeded in drawing out a snort of laughter from Garth as he remembered the numerous times Catspaw had made off with either all, or the bulk, of the loot right from under the noses of the assembled Titans. "Arsenal has always sworn that you're incorrigible."

"And damn irresistible too; that's what a rogue is supposed to be." Dick smiled up at him cheekily, and then started to draw Garth down into a kiss while firmly moving the Atlantean's hands away from his scars. "Let it go, Garth."

And little else was said after that as they gave into their desires to gently explore, and become reacquainted with each other to reinforce the good memories that they had shared since childhood.

Epilogue

Batman glared at the waters of the docks that Dick Grayson (Bruce refused to consider referring to him as 'Catspaw') and Aquala-- Tempest had disappeared into hours earlier. Orin had proudly informed the Justice League of his protégé's impressive advancement but it still did not assuage Batman's general distrust of magic. However, racking his memories over the infrequent reports he'd hear from the other heroes of their protégés, Batman did recognise that the Titans saw their helpful rogue as a good friend; there was no reason for him to fear that Aqua--Tempest might deliberately try to drown Dick.

Still, if Garth hadn't intended to drown his friend, why had he drawn him into the waters? The docks did offer a good measure of privacy to any who might eavesdrop on their conversation. Somehow Batman suspected that Aqu--Tempest had wanted to hide them away from prying eyes. Particularly his prying eyes since it was his city.

He growled to himself. He was not being jealous. This was his damn city; he had a right to know what happened to its denizens and to be concerned about their safety.

A slight sound drew his immediate attention to the lithe figure that landed on the roof top behind him. Without looking, Batman could well guess who it was that joined him.

"You knew." His tone was accusatory.

Catwoman smiled at him as he turned to face her. "Don't pretend you didn't know it was Dick who was running around with the junior Justice League."

"The Titans were always closed mouthed about the rogue who helped them out on missions." Batman grunted grumpily. "We never liked that they didn't know who he really was."

"Oh, pooh." She waved off his statement dismissively. "If the JLA were that worried you would have stepped in long ago to stop him, and forbidden his 'interference' or assistance in their missions. Was it so upsetting when he regularly cleaned out the Titans' villains of their ill gotten gains, so that there was one less piece of evidence for the persecutors to hold against them?"

Batman gritted his teeth and deliberately ignored Catwoman's clear confirmation of Dick's activities in 'rolling' the villains that the Titans took in. "And how does he stay out of trouble with the villain community?"

"Call it 'Titans insurance'." She grinned at him. "He's always left the heroics to the Titans and concentrated on gathering the information and the loot. If they want their stash back, the marks can negotiate to get it minus Dick's cut. If the victim wasn't a Titans' target, on top of his cut, he'd just charge an additional retrieval fee dependent on level of difficulty; provided he can be persuaded to take the case."

A bank of light bulbs seemed to strobe into existence in Batman's head. "You mean-- to tell me-- all those mess ups of misplaced equipment and goods-- were not a result of human incompetence, judicial process failures, and isolated snafus-- but were 'incidents' engineered to take place?" His growl was quite menacing.

"That would be telling." She grinned at him, obviously basking in pride for her protégé. "You'd be surprised how much demand there is for what he does. There's always someone begging Calculator to persuade him to retrieve something for them everyday. Dick is happy enough to let Calculator do his first level evaluation for him for a cut. He makes it worth his while, and Calculator has always been simply thrilled that he's one of the few who know who Dick really is.

"His clients have also long learned better than to stiff or double cross Dick. He'd more than adequately made examples of the few who have tried. Plus, since no one wants to lose the service Dick provides, he's always well taken care of and protected by satisfied customers.

"So-- you really don't have to worry about the kitten in our community." She gave him a sly smile. "But it is sweet of you."

He growled at her for the suggestion that he was displaying undue concern. "What about the name?"

"Annoyed you, did it?" Her smile almost split her face in two. "You think it makes him sound sssooo co-dependent on me.

"I liked it. But-- he won't be happy if you call him that too."

Batman narrowed his eyes at her. "Care to explain?"

"It's just his name in the Titans. He needed to let them call him something other than 'hey you'. I still haven't managed to persuade him to pick a real code name." Her smile grew impossibly wider at his unconscious, though fleeting expression of relief. "Ooooo, were we getting all jealous and possessive?" She cooed at him teasingly.

"I don't know what you mean."

Catwoman sighed as she gave him a long measuring look. "You're impossible, you know? I don't think you even understand what you feel." Selina pouted at him then did the unexpected; she lifted off her goggles. "Either step in and do something decisive or leave him alone, Bruce."

Batman almost stiffened at the sound of his real name on her lips. "I don--"

"I will not be happy with you if you break his heart." She continued sternly as if he hadn't spoken.

"And how do you suppose I'd do that?" He snorted at her words. "I thought Tempest has that in his hands."

Her eyes went wide with laughter at his unintended grumpy tone. "Oh, so that's it!" She shook her head and threw her head back to laugh at his clear jealousy.

"They are friends with benefits." She reached over to scratch a claw lightly over his chest. "Only friends, mind you. If you were actually watching them carefully instead of stewing in jealous rage, you'd have noticed that.

"It looked like our fishy friend needed some comfort and Dick was agreeable to give it to him." Selina assured him kindly. "It's not as if this is the first time. Dick told me once that he was really in a bad state a few years back when a mutual friend died."

They stared at each other in silence for a long while before Selina's expression turned serious and she spoke again. "I can't say I was happy with his association with the Titans. How ever infrequently he joined them, the few times that he did gave him a shit load of bad experiences he could have done without."

Batman could not withhold the snort at her statement. "It was hardly 'few.'"

It had forever remained a contentious issue with the Titans that they never managed to reform the rogue in their midst. In truth, Batman had hoped that playing the hero with the Titans would encourage Dick to finally give up on thievery, and start to walk the straight and narrow with the Titans. It was no secret that Harper had waged a major and unrelenting campaign to get-- 'Catspaw' to reform, and finally accept formal membership in the Titans. In a team full of formidable powerhouses, Grayson offered to the Titans a balance of intellect and level headedness which they truly needed.

That was the only reason why the JLA had not interfered any further with the Titans after the boy had given them the slip years earlier. Having finally understood and reluctantly accepted that they could do little to change the boy before he reached adulthood, the JLA had allowed the Titans to continue as they were and just hoped that the 'hero-friendly' and helpful rogue would one day reform and accept a position as a hero in their community. Flash had certainly provided Arsenal with a lot of support, considering he had encouraging experience with his current best friend Piper having once been an enemy of his Uncle Barry, and now a reformed pillar of their city. However, given Selina's revelation that Grayson had actually made a very successful business out of 'rescuing' information and money for the rogues who fell to the 'predations' of the Titans and other heroes, Batman was truly despairing for ever being able to turn the young man away from a life of crime.

Even as Batman thought this, Catwoman's words suddenly registered to him. "What bad experiences?" He belatedly realised that his growled out words could not have been taken as anything except protectiveness and possessiveness.

Catwoman hadn't smiled though, but glared at him. "Perhaps the JLA should ask to be allowed to review the case files of the Titans sometimes.

"If I thought I could forbid him to take part in Titans missions, I would have done so a long time ago. As it is, Dick still hasn't forgiven me for blackmailing the Titans into refusing his participation during their Brother Blood Crisis."

"Why--?"

"He was tortured that one time Blood caught him with the Titans." She turned and laid a vicious slash across the brickwork of the wall that stood beside her. "Catspaw was the only human of the group then, and since he was also rumoured to be a rogue, the cultists' thought they could easily persuade him to betray his friends; so they tortured him. He endured and managed to escape to free the Titans, but Dick was bed ridden for a week after that little adventure.

"I've lost count of the number of times Dick has almost died on a mission with the Titans." Catwoman's hands reached to hug her arms as she glared at the slash on the wall rather then at Batman. "Then-- there was what happened a few years back with the Wildebeest affair..."

She rounded on him before he could raise a voice to ask for details. "Be gentle with him. He's suffered enough because of the-- 'hero-business' as it is." The word 'hero' was sneered.

A smirk pulled on her lips as she looked him up and down. "Just so you know? I'm not going to let it go that I wished Dick had taken up on Deathstroke's offer instead of returning to Gotham."

"Deathst--!" Now Batman was incensed that she would consider the mercenary a man of better character than he-- and angry with himself for the sudden flare of jealousy that the remark caused within him.

"One can't help but wish for someone stronger around-- who could better protect a loved one." She told him bitterly. "And history has shown that his choice of lovers in the hero community hasn't exactly been exemplary or painless."

She left him standing there speechless. What she had told him though, was a challenge which he still wasn't sure he wanted-- or was willing to take up. And it was also a warning; that if he really-- did 'want' Dick Grayson, he shouldn't expect the boy-- man to patiently wait for him forever. There were others who were more than willing to build a permanent relationship with Grayson if he didn't stake his claim.

However-- it was also a bad idea for Batman to get involved-- ever. Gotham was more important than his own desires. The JLA and the world were more important that his own needs... And-- even if he asked, he didn't think Dick would give up his 'career' to be with him. And if truth was to be told, Batman didn't think he had the right to ask Dick to change for him. He-- would never give up Batman for a lover; he couldn't-- he shouldn't expect Dick to do it either.

He-- really didn't know what to do...

Batman stayed brooding on the roof at the docks for a long time, not caring that he would soon have the sun's rays shining upon him in a few hours. Grayson and Tempest still had not reappeared and-- Batman-- just wanted to be sure that he-- they were all right before he left.

The End

Thanks for reading.
Cheers,
Jacque Koh