Chapter 5
The storm outside raged against the windows on the 15th floor of Lexcorp pharmaceutical, rain slamming against the glass leaving blots of a impact like a modern artist might fling paint against canvas, the vibrations creating a dull roar in the room where officer Derek was making his nightly patrols. Their sights and sounds were soothing to him, the sort of rain he remembered back from his days in old a rural home in the northwest Oregon, where'd he'd let the cool afternoon showers lull him to sleep. He sighed and continued patrolling the room, like he had time and time before, checking every cubicle of the massive employee work area, ending with the manager's personal office. The stacks of archived files here seemed safe for another day. Satisfied and eager to finish before one a.m., he strode toward the only exit, dutifully taking one last sweep with his flashlight before closing the door behind him.
Several seconds passed in the near pitch black room, the only sound or sight being the rain, and the occasional thunder preceded by the lightening that would every now and then light up the room. However, the city lights of the shorter buildings leaked into the top floor enough that after a minute or so, if one knew where to look, one might have seen a shaded figure drop from the ceiling to the floor. A few seconds later a flash of lightening revealed briefly the silhouette of a woman dashing into one of the cubicles. There was a barely audible jostling of metal which the trained ear might recognize as the picking of a lock, followed by the rustling of papers.
All this came to a halt as a beam of light suddenly illuminated the figure, revealing a woman covered in fur with the spotted patterns of a cheetah, wearing a small backpack wrapped around her waist, crouched before a filing cabinet. "Dr. Minerva?" said Batgirl, trying to sound non threatening, "I'm not here to-"
Before she could get out "Turn you in," she saw Barbara Minerva, aka the Cheetah, grab a paperweight off the desk and fling it at her head. Batgirl ducked as the Cheetah leapt over the cubicle wall. Looks like we're doing this the hard way, Batgirl thought, she could practically hear Batman saying, "I told you so." Dropping her flashlight and lowering the night vision goggles on her brow she dashed around and over the cubicle walls. It was a bit like navigating a maze, but at least she could see.
For her part, Cheetah's "natural" night vision was serving her well, as was her exit strategy. She leapt off a cubicle wall and through a ceiling tile in one fluid motion, disappearing into the upper crust of the building. She sprinted on all fours toward her entrance hole, only to be stopped by the flash of lights from an aircraft hovering right outside the building. A police helicopter? No, that was…
"The Bat Plane," said Batgirl standing behind her wearing a smile beneath the green pupils of her headgear, "…has a number of great features, including automatic pilot, I was thinking of giving you a demonstration." She barely had finished that quip as Cheetah leapt for her, claws and fangs on full display. 0-2 for diplomacy, she thought.
Selina sipped her drink awkwardly, as if she wasn't used to the shape of her mouth. She seemed to enjoy it however, and said, "Thank you, this is all very nice, I never knew you could fix tea like this." Batman smiled, realizing he was getting credit for Alfred's work. Selina continued, "I think I tasted something like this in London once, at a ball attended by the Prince of Wales."
She took another drink before quickly adding, "And don't give me any lectures on the rich girl who throws her promising life away committing crimes. Not all of us are content to live out boring, socially respectable lives. I suspect you know that very well."
Well, to an extent he did…but he couldn't really expound on that. For all their familiarity, his true identity was still a mystery to her. This was remarkable, given that she knew Bruce Wayne as well. As Wayne, he had looked to steer her interests toward her concern for wildlife, or half a dozen other pursuits. But in the end, she would always succumb to her old ways. He had begun to wonder if she wasn't as different from the compulsive criminals he had put away in Arkham after all. The Riddler couldn't stop making puzzles, the Joker couldn't stop his sick jokes, and as far as he knew, Catwoman couldn't stop stealing.
As if on cue, Selina spoke up, "I suppose I don't need to ask what you did with the gem," she said. It was clear she was trying to force some humor into the situation. "I sent it back to the museum," he replied. "There's no chance of you being traced to it, if that's what you're wondering."
Catwoman sighed, then turned, with a slight smile, "You mean you're not promising to send me to jail when this is over? You're getting soft."
"I just figured we had too much on our plate as it is without a warrant for your arrest. Besides, no harm done, the goods are returned"
Catwoman took another sip of her drink as he continued. "I also checked on your assets back at home. Everything seems to be in order."
"Of course," Selina spoke as she lowered her glass slightly. "My secretary is used to taking care of things while I'm away on my various 'business trips.'" Her smile was more genuine now.
They talked for several minutes, and Selina called her office to explain her prolonged absence. Having finished her meal, she looked comfortable as she asked: "So what is our next step?"
"Our next step is to wait. I have Batgirl on an assignment to bring the only person left who ever worked on Dorian's formula, Dr. Barbara Ann Minerva."
"The Cheetah, yes, I've run into her once or twice. Not a bad thief herself. What's she up to now?"
Batman brought up several news articles on the computer monitor. "She's been working solo ever since Grodd and Luthor's Secret Society broke up for good. I believe she's back to looking for a cure for herself, so we have a common interest. Unfortunately for her, she's still wanted by the police."
Selina smiled optimistically, "Then she'll be willing to lend a hand?"
"Friend or foe, I can give her access to much of the resources she wants. Hopefully, she and Batgirl are resolving things now."
The two women crashed through the ceiling and broke the staff break room table with the force of their fall. Cheetah was on the bottom and took the worst of it. Batgirl rolled away and rotated into a kneeling position facing her. She seemed to be out cold. As she looked up, she saw an older man in a disheveled security uniform, transceiver in one hand, a half eaten Butterfinger bar in the other. Officer Derek seemed to be frozen, though she couldn't exactly blame him for being stunned silent at the site of two women, one in a cape and mask and the other in fur, crashing in on his work break. Bumbling, he managed to drop the radio first, then grabbed is gun, pointing it at Batgirl.
"D-Don't move!" he stammered. He then realized he ought to call for backup, and tried to pick up his radio again with the hand that had the candy bar.
Barbara Gordon sighed, standing up with her hands raised, "Sir please-"
"Be quiet!" He shouted. He lifted the device to his mouth. "Get security to the staff room on the 15th! And call the police! We've got-Uh!" He was cut off by a resurgent Cheetah, who had in one motion rolled off the broken table, and from the floor kicked away his gun with one leg, and then planted both feet firmly into his jaw.
Derek fell to the floor as Cheetah turned to face Batgirl. She had moved to place a long cafeteria table between them. Cheetah gripped her end of the table and pushed it forcefully at Batgirl, who managed to dive away as the table smashed into the overlook window, shattering it and allowing in the pouring rain.
Cheetah dashed across the table and leapt through the opening. Batgirl ran to the broken window and through the blinding rain sheets, looked down the side of the building, and saw Cheetah descending it, level by level. Calmly, she put her hand to her ear and said, "Bat-plane, come."
The roar of a jet engine could be heard, and it was getting louder. Cheetah, looked to the corner of the building, and then down below, still clinging by her claws to a window sill. She seemed to make a decision and, to Batgirl's horror, leapt from her perch.
