Disclaimer: I had a fiendish master plan that would have given me ownership of all of these characters, but Phase 7 involved a hunting trip with Dick Cheney, and I chickened out. I'm a bleeder.
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Partners
Chapter 8
Barbara's exhaustive search into their backgrounds revealed little. Following his parents' murder, Richard Grayson had become a ward of the state, and had been bounced between numerous foster homes. School records suggested a bright but unmotivated student with an indifferent attitude towards discipline and a marked lack of respect for authority. Attendance became sparse once he'd entered high school. About a year and a half ago, he'd disappeared from his foster home. No criminal record, though his name was mentioned on a list of suspected gang members. The gang in question had disbanded over a year ago, and she found no further mention of him.
She found a notation regarding the murder of his parents in Batman's casefiles. It appeared that he had apprehended the man responsible for the Graysons' deaths, a Gotham mafioso 'Boss' Tony Zucco, but the DA had decided he didn't have enough evidence to pursue a murder charge. Batman's notation "Get Dent on this," indicated a belief that the case was winnable, but not long after he'd written that, Harvey Dent was no longer an ally. Zucco pled guilty to racketeering and served six months of a two-year sentence in Blackgate before being paroled. Zucco had left Gotham, current whereabouts unknown.
Selina Kyle's past was practically a cipher. A birth certificate, names of parents (both deceased), driver's license, passport. Her employer of record was a 'business' that appeared to be nothing more than a PO Box in the Cayman Islands. Her job title was "outside consultant" for which she received a handsome salary, income taxes scrupulously paid. The owner of her apartment, a woman in her seventies, lived on the property and apparently kept no records on computer.
Everything fit, but none of it was positive evidence. She was going to have to get closer.
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"You're sure?" Dick asked. Again.
Selina glared at him. She could accept a certain amount of incredulity from her younger partner, but this was the third time he'd said that. She'd agonized over whether or not to tell him all day, putting him off with lame excuses he didn't buy. Finally, he'd said, "Look, partner, whatever's bothering you, you don't have to tell me if you want to. It's not like you owe me anything." It was that one word that made up her mind for her. She was still new to this whole 'partner' thing, but keeping your partner in the know seemed like square one of a partnership, right up there with watching each other's backs. So she'd told him.
She was beginning to regret it. Her patience, not at its zenith to begin with, was wearing extremely thin. "If you like, I can claw the exact same marks into your chest and you can try to find a cat in Bristol that can match them?"
"Uh...you know what? I think I'm going to take your word for it," he said, letting his body tilt bend out of his handstand until his feet touched the floor.
"Do that," she said, still glaring at him as she leaned forward, stretching out the muscles of her lower back.
He sighed and sat down on the practice mat, leaning his back against the wall. "So what do we do?"
Finishing up her stretch routine, she said, "We find out what they know. We'll attract their attention and split them up. If it's business as usual, than they know as much as they usually do."
He stood, grinning, "Nothing?"
"Right," She stood as well, slipping into a defensive stance. "If they know more, we figure out how much of a problem it is. You've got your backup hideout, ID, and so on in order?"
"Yep," Dick said as he slipped into a similar posture.
"You want to tell me what they are?"
"Nope," he said, grinning.
"Good boy," she said, grinning back.
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Batgirl had found a rooftop across the street from their apartment, one that provided her enough concealment to observe them. For an hour, they'd mostly been in the bedroom the two had converted to a training room. Stretches, what looked to be tai chi and some light sparring made her hopes rise. It seemed more like a warm-up than a workout. She took the minicamera out of her belt and show a few pictures of them.
"What do you think you're doing?" Batman growled from behind her, making her jump in surprise.
"I-" she began, but he cut her off.
"We do not bring our personal business into our work."
"It's not just personal, it's-"
"I can respect your diligence," he continued, his growl dropping in tone and rising in menace, "but I do not need you looking into my private life. Do you understand?"
"Wait," Barbara blinked in surprise, "Your private life?"
Batman's glare only deepened, "Don't play dumb. Your searches into her background were logged. I don't know how you learned I was seeing Selina Kyle but that is none of your business!"
He was seeing her? This was going to get complicated. "I didn't know you were seeing her."
There was a silent pause as Batman assimilated this. "What?"
Finally given a chance to explain, she said, "Him. Her roommate, Grayson. I know him. I think he's Tiger."
"Explain," he graveled.
Deciding the real explanation was best left unsaid, she answered, 'He had a bandage on his head, the same place where I hit Tiger with the fake statue. It made me suspicious.
Batman pondered that for a moment. "You hit him with the statue."
'Oh hell,' she thought, 'he would jump right to the one thing I didn't want him to.' "The fake statue."
"Which you didn't know was a fake at the time." The glare was back.
'Ok, need a distraction.' "So you said you're seeing Selina Kyle?" she asked.
Her plan worked, as he recalled the marks Catwoman had left on his chest, the ones Selina had commented on...just before she abruptly left the Manor. 'Oh hell...' he thought.
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Selina's plan had been simple enough. Of course, being Dick, he had his own twist in mind, and this time it was one he wasn't going to tell her. They went through their usual pre-prowl warm-up and made their way up to the rooftop. They brought out their whips and coiled them around the neighboring building's flagpole. They were about to jump when suddenly both lines went slack.
Both bullwhips had been sliced neatly, thinner haves dangling from the flagpole, the other halves in their hands. They both turned around, knowing what they'd see. Batman and Batgirl, on the roof of their apartment building. "Catwoman," Batman growled, staring at her.
She stared back. Deciding it was best that he knew they were on an even footing, she answered, "Bruce." Batgirl seemed surprised by this, looking away from Tiger.
"C'mon," Tiger said to Batgirl, grinning at her, "Let's leave these two alone."
Her jaw dropped at his...invitation. "You think I'm going anywhere with you?"
Tiger sighed and said, "Fine, how about I pretend to run and you pretend to chase me?" And he proceeded to hop off the roof, a metal clatter indicating he had landed on a fire escape.
"Go after him," Batman ordered, eliciting a scowl from Barbara. She walked to the edge of the roof, glanced downward for a moment, and then hopped off. After a few moments, of silence, Batman said, "We need to talk."
She crossed her arms and fixed him with a glare, "I'm glad you finally realize it." He glared back. For a long time, they simply stood there, staring. Finally, she broke the silence, "You know, if we're going to talk, actually saying something would be a good start."
"So say something."
"You're giving me Abbott and Costello?" Catwoman scowled, "You're still a jackass."
"You're wrong." There was something odd about his voice. It seemed...lighter.
"No, you really are a jackass."
"Not about that." There it was again. Just a touch less gravel when he spoke. "Saying something. It wasn't a good start."
Selina blinked. 'That...that was a joke?' The corner of one side of his lips curled upward. She stared, wide-eyed. He stared silently back. "I don't think saying nothing is working any better," she noted.
He gave a grunt of assent, but still managed not to say anything. The silence drew out, becoming uncomfortable. The silence was broken by the sound of a sharp impact. Batman and Catwoman's heads both whirled to face the same direction, the alley their partners had gone into.
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When she made her way to the edge of the rooftop, she glanced downward and frowned. Tiger was crouched on the top landing of the fire escape, his index finger held to his lips. She hopped down onto the landing next to him, quickly ducking out of sight. Two earpieces were connected by a thin plastic cable to what Batgirl recognized as a small microphone. She whispered, "What are you doing?"
He used a tiny piece of putty to set the microphone on the edge of the roof, pointing the unidirectional pickup towards the two still on the roof. He whispered in response, "Listening in. This is gonna be good." She glared at him, and he said, "Look, if you want to try to bring me in, you're welcome to, but not until I hear how this turns out."
"It's private," she said in an angry hiss.
"Uh-huh. Did he read the letter I left you?"
"..."
"..."
"Give me one." Tiger grinned and handed her one of the earpieces, which she tucked into the side of her cowl. "Why do you even have a sound-amplifier anyway?" she doubted he collected a lot of evidence or listened in to any mob meetings or the like.
"Safecracking," he replied. She glared at him, and he grinned in response.
It was Selina's voice they heard first. You know, if we're going to talk, actually saying something would be a good start.
So say something. Tiger's blue eyes rolled dramatically. Batgirl frowned.
You're giving me Abbott and Costello? You're still a jackass. Tiger grinned triumphantly at her, as if his side had scored a point.
You're wrong.
No, you really are a jackass.
Not about that. Saying something. It wasn't a good start. Batgirl stifled laughter at that, while Tiger smiled ironically.
The two said nothing for the longest time, prompting Tiger to comment, "They really suck at this, don't they?"
"Would we do any better?" she asked softly.
"I'm not sure how we could do worse."
In their earpieces, they heard Selina say, I don't think saying nothing is working any better.
"Why can't they just be honest with each other?" Tiger said.
Batgirl said heatedly, "Like you were honest with me?"
He frowned. "When was I not honest with you?"
She saw red. Her fist swung out and slammed into the side of his face, sending him sprawling onto the metal landing. "When you told me you were nineteen, you son of a bitch!"
He looked up to see her standing over him, fists clenched. Catching a glimpse of Batgirl's red hair, he blinked in surprise. "Barbara?"
"This is getting positively Shakespearean," Catwoman mused, arms crossed as she glanced down from where she stood on the edge of the rooftop above them. Standing next to her, Batman grunted in assent. "You realize they were spying on us."
Batman glared at them, then glared at Catwoman, "Bad enough you've corrupted the boy, but kindly tell your partner to stop corrupting my partner."
Selina chuckled, "You're Mr. Invasion of Privacy in this town, Stud. Obviously she gets it from you."
Batman lifted the microphone off of the roof and said, "This is not our equipment." He crushed the microphone between his thumb and index fingers, the feedback causing both Dick and Barbara to wince in pain and pull the earpieces out. Selina glared at Dick.
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The masks are off. What will they do now?
in Chapter 9