I have given this much thought, and have finally decided where I'm going with this fic. Now that the plot has been chosen, I'll do my best to stay on track and get it finished soon. This chapter is slightly explicit, I've done my best to make it not as naughty as I'm capable of.
Felina
Chapter 5: Best Night
After the date with Dana, she invited Terry back to her house for a while. Along the way she told him that her parents were gone for about a week, visiting some of her father's family out of state. Terry's sense told him that there was more to that statement than just letting him know, but he wisely kept his mouth shut about it.
"So," he said as he shut the door behind him. "What were you thinking of doing here?"
And Dana smiled at him then, a smile that both doubled his heart rate and calmed his senses in one. She said, "I was hoping we could go upstairs. . . I don't think you've ever seen my room."
He shook his head, and for a moment that look in her eyes kept him from breathing right; he couldn't have said a word right now if he'd tried.
She turned to go up the stairs, then paused and looked back at him. She raised at brow in question, smirking just a little, and Terry stepped forward.
For a full minute he had no control over his body. In fact, it seemed Dana was the one pulling his strings. She took his hand and led the way up to her room, and while he glanced around the room, he heard her shut the door.
His heart rate had now tripled. She couldn't possibly be thinking about what he was, could she? He couldn't help turning around to ask her, but the words never left his lips.
She had taken off the jacket she wore to the date, and her hands were on his shoulders. She was standing on her toes as well as pulling him down a little. If he could have spoken, he would've said her name. Instead, he opted for kissing her, his hands moving of their own accord to lightly grasp her sides.
Dana drew back after a moment, but despite her calm demeanor, he could feel and see signs of nervousness: the tint to her cheeks, her hands shaking, avoiding his eyes while being unable to look away.
His mind was far too decisive at this point to not tell him what she was thinking, what she wanted with him here, with her parents away, after such a pleasant date. And if her actions hadn't spoken loud enough, she opened her mouth and spoke it aloud.
"Terry, I. . ." she began.
He nodded. "I think I know, Dana," he replied.
Her blush darkened as she smiled. "That saves a lot of time and giggles," she half-joked.
He smiled back. "I just. . . I need to know why you chose now," he said, carefully. Glancing away, he added, "And why me."
She hugged him and sighed. "I chose you because I love you, Terry."
His heart jumped at those words, and his arms reflexively pulled her close. His smile came back.
"And I choose now," she went on, "because you actually pulled through for me." Leaning back, she teased him, "You made it through the whole date."
"I'll make it through the whole night," he vowed. "As long as you want me to stay."
She kissed him again, and this one was surging with her joy. He answered in likeness, letting her know how happy he was, too.
Everything that happened next happened in flashes, certain scenes and sensations where he came back to himself for a few brief moments during a haze of warm pleasure and love. Her hands on his chest, feeling the muscles there. The taste of her skin when he kissed her neck. The sound of her moan when he first touched her breast. The squeak of her bed when he sat down so she could take off his shirt. The look in her eyes when she whispered his name.
All of it, those memories, they were treasures in his mind. As great as Dana herself, a treasure in his arms.
Unfortunately, he didn't turn his cell phone off. It began ringing after they had laid down, when his fingers were working on the buttons down the left side of her dress. The familiar ring crushed the moment, doomed the promise of the night. He moaned and dropped his head onto a pillow.
And beneath him, Dana had gone still. "Maybe," she tried, "maybe he won't try a second time, if you just let it ring."
It was a good hope. Terry turned his head and tried to spot his jacket, which happened to be across the room, where they had begun stripping. Closer to the bed were shoes and his socks, along with his belt.
When the phone stopped ringing, he held his breath, staring at the pocket and willing Bruce to not call again. Not tonight, not when he was so close to Dana, when she was so willing to be with him. But the phone rang again.
Which meant it was important.
Terry grabbed the pillow his face was pressed to and sat up, clutching the pillow to his face and yelling into it. You damned old fart, you just can't let me have one perfect night, can you! his mind screamed.
"Terry. . ."
He dropped the pillow. Dana was sitting up now, too. She looked so forlorn like that, like she'd given up hope.
No. No way. He wasn't about to let that happen. He got up, snatched up his jacket, took out the phone – it had begun ringing a third time – flipped it open and hit the 'power' button. He dropped it on the floor again with his jacket and returned to the bed, sitting on the edge.
"You're way more important to me than an old man's whims," he told her.
Dana grinned instantly and hugged him tight around the neck, then kissed him with all of her worth. Bruce could wait; tonight, he was on Dana's time. And he knew, as he kissed her back, that after tonight, he would tell her about Batman.
-- Felina --
Where the hell was that damned thief?
She was chasing him – he had snatched a purse, two wallets, a shopping cart and a briefcase tonight, and she was going to catch him for it.
She was jumping along roofs now, leaping over the gaps between buildings. As she jumped another, she knew she wouldn't make it to the top. Instead she clung to the side and crawled her way up, leaping from time to time. Once she was on the roof, however, she was in trouble.
It seemed this particular roof was the property of Jokers. Their insignias were everywhere, as well as themselves. With the air of a woman built on pride, she stood up straight and looked down her nose at the gatherings.
There was much laughter from the Jokers, as well as whistles, lude comments and giggles. She stepped forward, and a few of the male Jokers circled her, like some predator that found its prey and enjoyed taunting it.
Who she assumed was the leader cam forward with a girl Joker on his arm. He smirked and tilted his head, looking Felina up and down. Then he laughed, an insane laugh. The kind of laugh that only lunatics knew.
"What have we here, a stray?" he asked, and his lackies laughed like he did.
"You could say that," she replied. "Who are you?"
"Me?" he asked. "Why, I'm the leader of this particular group. My name is Izual; a pleasure to see you," he said, sweeping a bow that made his men laugh and his women coo. He also took a leering look at her while doing so. "And who are you?"
"Felina," she answered. "You could say I was. . . spliced years ago."
"How many years?" he went on, looking her up and down again. "You can't be more than. . . twenty."
"Cats have nine lives, and I'm many cats," she replied easily. "I'm over eighty."
He gave a whistle of surprise. "Well, then, I suppose it's time you were buried, crone." His men laughed again, the girls shrieking at his 'wit'. "Unless you'd rather join me and me men, we're always looking for a new thrill."
"I could give you a very strong thrill," she hissed, low. "Would you like to see?"
He grinned, a maniacal grin. "Show me."
He shouldn't have said that.
-- Bruce --
He didn't get it. Terry always took the phone with, always answered it. What was different this time?
Bruce had a hard time believing that Terry had simply forgotten it somewhere. During the third call, it had cut off and a recording informed him that the phone was no longer on.
Tracing it on the computer showed that he was at Dana's house. There's only one reason why a man would go to his girlfriend's house after a date, stay there, and shut off his phone. A simple infrared light showed that heat was coming from just one room, and there was no other presence in the house.
Which left only one guess, even to those who never could take a hint. This knowledge left Bruce torn.
On the one hand, it was very important to be Batman, to protect the city, to prevent children from losing their parents, from families losing their homes, from people all over losing their lives.
On the other, it was very selfish and expectant to think that Terry would completely forego his entire social life to being a masked wonder. Bruce himself was in his early twenties when he became Batman for the first time, and even then, he lived here, above the Batcave. His money funded Batman's gadgets and vehicles, and the sidekicks'.
And Bruce had time for a social life because it was both expected and fairly easy to pull off. Batman at night, Mr. Wayne during the day; two men in one body. Terry isn't the same.
Terry has school, a family, and a girlfriend. He has friends, schoolwork, and dates. He has a little brother he has to look out for. Terry, in all, has more on his plate than Bruce Wayne ever did.
And at the moment, Bruce Wayne had little left anymore but time, a legacy, a secret, and an apprentice.
Maybe that was the biggest problem. Batman had several apprentices over his time, yet none in this day. Getting his old bones moving, Bruce got up and walked around the Batcave again.
He stopped before the glass cases holding the old uniforms. He smiled at them in memory. Bruce, Dick and Barbara. The original team. Later on, it was Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing. Sometimes Catwoman joined in the hero's work, sometimes she hindered them, sometimes she outright defied them.
Ah, Catwoman.
Bruce had fond memories of Selena. She was the only woman who continually intrigued him, mystified him, hypnotized him at times. It was something he never admitted, but Selena was perhaps the only woman he would have considered marrying in the end.
It was too bad she disappeared when she did. He was just about ready to do everything in his power to reform her and bring her into his team when she up and left. But thinking about Selena wasn't the reason why Bruce got up and crossed the room.
He studied the old outfits for a few moments. Turning away from the cases, he sat at the computer once more and pulled up the specs for the new Batman suit. What would be good for a new sidekick, he wondered, and who.
-- Morning --
Terry woke with an odd feeling. The first thing he noticed was the bed beneath him. It was softer than his, confusing him. The second was that he ached in a few places, like he'd pushed himself sometime the night before. The third was that he had an amazingly pleasant feeling, as though he'd visited heaven in his dreams.
Then he opened his eyes. With the onslaught of light came the onslaught of memories, and he sat up quick, eyes going wide in shock.
No way.
He looked beside him on the bed, and saw an angel wrapped in a blanket, still sleeping soundly. Her lips were curved in a smile, having pleasant dreams, undoubtedly.
Oh god save him. His mother was going to kill him for not coming home, his brother was going to hang on him asking a billion questions, Bruce was going to fry him alive for turning off the phone and when Dana's parents got home –
Terry was screwed, utterly and completely. Despite knowing all this, he didn't feel an ounce of regret, and looking at Dana was making him smile. He laid back down and wrapped her in his arms, closing his eyes. Last night was too wonderful and perfect to regret, really.
And if anybody opposed this – anybody who found out, that is – they would just have to deal with the fact that he and Dana loved each other. At the moment, the world around him didn't matter; Dana was his world. And what a wonderful world it was.
He kissed her forehead and brushed her hair back from her face. A glance at the clock told him it was seven, his usual waking time. Luckily the alarm didn't go off, which meant is was the weekend and weekend meant no school.
Which meant to pressure to get out of bed until he was good and ready.
Some time later Dana moaned softly in waking and her eyes fluttered. When she looked at him, he heart stopped for a full three seconds before it continued.
"Good morning," he said quietly.
She smiled. "Wonderful morning."
He smirked. "Spectacular morning," he countered.
She laughed. "Infinitely grand morning."
He laughed too. He found his boxer shorts on the floor and lifted them up, waving them in surrender. "I give, you win."
She laughed out of delight this time.
Dropping them, he sat up. "There's something I want to tell you today, Dana."
Holding the cover to her chest, she sat up as well. "Can you tell me now?"
He blinked. "Why? Is there something you want to do or. . ?"
She laughed. "I just don't like waiting to be told things."
He nodded. "Well, it's a bit more of a show-and-tell thing, which is why I said 'today'."
"Okay. Whenever you feel the time is right, I'm ready to listen," she replied, taking his hand.
"And I'm lucky beyond belief," he said unconsciously.
Dana blushed and glanced down, biting her lip. "I thought I was the lucky one."
"Maybe we both are," he tried, leaning closer to her. He lifted their grasped hands and kissed her fingers, one by one.
And she giggled. "Terry. . ."
Lifting his head, he said, "Dana."
Around lunchtime he remembered about his cell phone and hastily turned it back on. Both he and Dana had taken a shower after waking, gotten dressed and had breakfast. Up until now they had been teasing one another with silly games and complimenting each other. Dana had gotten up not a minute ago to make some sort of lunch.
Terry took the time to call Bruce and find out what he had wanted last night.
"Hello, Terry," Bruce answered.
"Uh, hi. Why'd you call last night?"
"Batman was needed."
He gulped. He was going to get an earful, he just knew it. "I was, um. . ."
"With Dana."
Shock held him silent for a few moments. "How did you know that!" he snapped at last.
"Basic detective work. Don't worry about what happened last night."
"With Batman? What – why?"
"Our new friend Felina showed up and took care of what I was calling you for."
"Oh." He blinked, then asked, "So she's our friend now?"
"Who is?" Dana asked from the kitchen.
"I'm taking to Mr. Wayne," he called into the kitchen.
She looked just as shocked as he'd felt earlier. "Is he mad?"
"Doesn't seem like it."
"Perhaps I should explain this later," Bruce said. A moment later the line went dead.
Terry put the phone back in his jacket pocket. He smiled at Dana. "What are you making? It smells great!"
-- Adrian --
She woke up with a massive headache. The first thing she did was get up and go into her bathroom, and looked in the mirror. Faint violet marks were slightly visible on her face and body, remnants of what seemed to be a difficult battle during Felina's night.
Though usually these bruises faded completely from Adrian's skin, appearing solely on Felina's, sometimes they remained, when they were worse than usual.
Adrian sighed and bowed her head. What was Felina thinking, getting in over her head like she did? What was worst about being connected like they were was that Felina always knew what Adrian was up to, yet Adrian could only get feelings and fragmented memories from Felina's nights.
And Arian often wondered what it was like to live a constant night, never glimpsing daylight with your own eyes. It was what Felina went though, yet Felina as well never complained. Felina's eyes, after all, were too sensitive of UV rays to allow her to move about freely during the day.
She was, in a sense, too much cat.
Adrian went back to her bed and laid down. It was Saturday now, no school, and no reason to get up at all. That is, until someone knocked on her door.
"Who is it?" she moaned out into her pillow.
"Max," a female voice returned.
Max? Adrian thought about that for a minute. Max. . . Max. . . oh yeah, Max. Terry and Dana's friend. How did Max find her?
Adrian got up wearily and opened the door. Max grinned at her and waved.
"How can you be so perky?" Adrian asked in a slur.
"It's past noon," Max informed her. "And there's something I wanted to talk to you about. . ."
"Fire away," Adrian yawned, stepping back. "But first. . . how did you find my place?"
"Simple, I'm good with computers," Max returned easily. "There's no code I can't crack, no restricted area I can't enter, no virus I can't kill and trace."
"So there's no hiding anything from you unless it's not on a random computer somewhere on the other side of the planet with absolutely no internet or satellite connection."
"Exactly," Max laughed. "Now sit. . ."
Adrian nodded and sat on her bed, rubbing her eyes. "What's on your mind?"
:End Chapter:
YAY I finished the next chapter, finally! Can I get a cheer?
:Nothing:
Well you all suck.
Anyway, review please. Soon as I get my scanner, I'll scan the pics I've made of Felina and Adrian. Check my bio for a link to my gallery, I have a 'new' picture of them up. Sadly, you cannot view it without having an account, as it has 'mature content'. . . Basically the two of them are naked but Adrian's back is turned and Felina. . . is covered in fur.
See ya next chapter!