It took us hours to get to Jump City. And in those hours, I had time to talk to Robin, and to find out something about the people I had to live with for the next weeks. You would have imagined them to be the kind of superheroes that were all the time busy, but from what Robin was telling me, they were just a bunch of normal teenagers. With powers. From all of them, I found Raven interesting, since she was an empath and a mind reader. And that meant I had to block her from reading my mind, if she becomes suspicious. I even asked Robin about the criminals in his city, and he was very sincere and answered all of my questions.
„... and that was the last time we saw The Brain" he finished as we got out of the plane. The city looked gorgeous from where we were standing, even though it was night. A limousine came to pick me up and I couldn't expect less. Robin was going to ride on his motorcycle, but just when I was about to get in I heard Robin's communicator beep.
"Robin, Red X is on the move. He's at the mall"
"Ok titans, see you in 5 minutes" he climbed the bike and when he took the helmet to put it on, I jumped on its motorcycle.
"What are you doing?" I smiled and took the helmet form it's hands.
"I'm coming with you"
"No, you are not. Red x is dangerous"
"Come on Robin, you are talking to Batman's daughter." I said laughing a little. He sighed and looked at me serious.
"Look, I'll stay out of your way. Just take me with you" I begged with puppy eyes. He nodded and from God knows were, he took another helmet, then looked at the chauffer how he opened the passenger's seat doors, so that the bellhop men could put my bags in the limousine.
"How many bags do you have?"
"16, why? I know they aren't much, but I tried to bring only the essentials" He looked at me, not knowing if I was joking or not.
"Take her bags to the T Tower. I'll announce one of the titans to wait for you at the doors" The driver just nodded his head.
"Oh, and please, take care of Lore." I said and smiled at him.
"Don't worry, my lady, she's in good hands" he smiled back while petting her head.
"And could you buy some milk and tuna, please?" the chauffer just laughed and put her in the car. Robin looked at me like something was obvious.
"Are you kidding me? I tried all the way to pet her, and only got scratches and hisses, and the cat lets a man that she will never see in her life to pet her? And you could have bought her a cage..."
"Are you insane? She never left Gotham AND she is not an animal. She is my baby. You don't put babies in cages " I put on my helmet and wrapped my arms around Robin.
„Plus, we don't like to be captive "I whispered, making sure he didn't hear the last part.
"Hold on" he turned on the engine and we took off, with high-speed. I remembered immediately how my mother took me out on her black Kawasaki Ninja at midnight. The police always followed us, but never caught us. And neither did dad heard about this. She showed me how to drive it and how to fight while driving it. Dad never knew why I was so good at driving his bat mobile or batwing. As we were passing the red lights, I gave Robin a glance.
"What is Red-X doing there? Shopping session?"
"Cartier just opened there. Jewelry is one of his favorite things to steal after money"
"Robin... I thought you were Red X" I said after a few seconds, remembering how disappointed my dad was after finding out Robin tried to catch someone named Slade by becoming a villain.
"Didn't Bruce tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"I „retired" from that identity and the costume was locked in a security chamber. Several weeks later, it was stolen" He said not so happy to talk about this subject. And here I thought he was the most responsible person.
"Couldn't you keep it in your drawer? I mean, it was just a suit." We arrived in a couple of minutes and he parked beside a strange car, white with blue parts.
"If you would have put it in a drawer then nobody would have suspected where it was" I continued to say my point of view till he stopped me. Ordering me to stay beside the car, he left in a hurry. I promised him I wouldn't interfere, but I couldn't help feeling left out. I was missing all the action. I leaned on the hood of the car and lit myself a cigar.
I looked around and the city seemed prettier and cleaner than Gotham. Skyscrapers surrounded the area. Lounges and coffee shops at every step, accompanied by magazines with mannequins dressed in the autumn collection. I looked at me mall and took another smoke. If a Cartier shop was opened in there, it means that it had expensive clothes as well. Tomorrow I knew what I was going to do. A blue laser-beam shot out of the roof of the mall, lighting the place around it. I gasped and jumped out of the way of a flying object. It crashed right on the hood of the car. I looked at what fell with wide eyes and couldn't believe my eyes.
"Shit!" I was looking at none other than Red X. I looked in the direction of where he came, and I saw 3 figures flying straight at us. I panicked and started shaking him.
"Wake up, wake up, come on!" it was no use, he was unconscious. In my state of panic, I immediately pushed the x on his belt, remembering about the teleporter and a strange tingle travelled through my body. I blinked at looked around me. We were on the top of a skyscraper.
"That was a close one" I looked at Red X. His chest was moving up and down, slowly, so that meant he wasn't dead. I was sure he had bruises, but I wasn't going to take the costume off. I only hoped that he didn't have internal bleeding. Wind blew lightly through my hair as I stood at the edge of the building to see how tall it was. It was higher that what I was used to it, but nothing I couldn't do... I looked at my hands, as I always did at my first jump of the night. Looking at the diamond-claws gave me a boost of confidence.
I stood still for three seconds then facepalmed... I wasn't in my suit, I wasn't Catwoman! I didn't have to run, because I did nothing. Damn the instinct of evading. I sighted and looked around for the elevator, or at least something that told me it had stairs. I was startled when a pair of arms wrapped around me and pulled me away from the edge. Instinctively I pushed him off and did a back flip, landing on my feet. He teleported behind me, but I was quick and grabbed his left arm. I hit him with my elbow right in the solar plexus, and when he made two steps backward to catch his breath, I punched him in the stomach, taking his belt as well. I did another back flip and landed in a position attack, waiting for his next move.
"I just saved your life, toots. That's my thanks?" X said and raised his hands up.
"You thought I would jump? How stupid do you think I am" Not only that I was covered with dust, but he thought I would have jumped.
"I just thought maybe you wanted to jump, because you were standing on the edge of a fucking skyscraper" I was about to open my mouth and yell at him when my phone started ringing and I looked at it. Robin was calling me.
"Excuse me" I said and straightened up, dusting myself a little and arranging my collar.
"Yes" In the next second, I heard Robin yell at me.
"Where are you?!"
"Calm down Robin, I'm almost at the Tower. I was bored and took a cab. "
"Oh, ok. X was blown out of the mall and fell right on Cyborg's car. I thought he kidnapped you" I looked at X and smirked.
"My beautiful baby! Look what he did to it!" I heard a voice cry in the background.
"Robin, that is the stupidest thing you ever said. You know what I am capable of " I said looking at X who was massaging his chest.
"Apparently so do I" mumbled Red X and I shushed him.
"Don't worry I am fine. See you in the morning. And don't even bother to come and check on me. You know how I am when I don't sleep. And fyi, one of you messed up the car when blasting him through the rooftop. Bye!"
"Wait..." I hung up not interested in what he was going to say. I looked at the belt in my hands, then at X.
"Little white lies" I smirked at him. He looked tense and waited for me to make the next move. He looked precautious.
"What?"
"You are a friend of Boy Wonder?" His voice changed a little. Now he was the serious one
"Maybe, now, where were we? "
"Saving your life" He said proud of himself.
"You saved me? If I haven't been outside waiting, you would be in jail by now" I stomped angry to face him. He was the same height as Robin, so I was looking up at him. His face was inches away from mine. I had to give it to him, he was a classy one, after smelling Blue by Dior.
"So, I saved your butt. It's only fair that you save mine." I gave him the belt. As he clicked it around his waist, I wanted to facepalm myself again. Now he can teleport himself and leave me here.
"Just say it, sunshine. Your will is my command" he made a small bow and waited.
"I need to get to the T Tower. Can you teleport me there?" A smirked formed behind the mask as he pulled me next to his chest. The fabric was smooth to the touch. I thought it was leather, but it looked kind of weird for a man to wear leather. A tingling sensation traveled through my body and the next moment we were in a large room with windows from the ceiling to the floor. A queen-sized bed with four-poster was a few steps away from the long couch. In front of the black couch stood a mahogany coffee table, and my bags where in front of it.
"This is your room, right?" he asked looking down at me.
"Yup, and you need to know what intimate space means" Lore meowed and came right at me.
"Hello love" I said and took it in my arms. She put her paw on my cheek and I kissed her nose.
"Lucky cat" he said.
"Lore, this is Red X, the most wanted thief on Robin's list. Red X, this is the smartest, most beautiful and most spoiled kitty on the planet"
"I can see why" he pointed at the diamond collar at Lore's neck.
"Talking about names… you didn't say yours" he crashed on the couch and looked at me curious.
"You didn't ask... I'm Leona" I put Lore on the couch and started unpacking the bags, because I needed something to sleep in.
"And what are you doing here?"
"Vacation" I responded simply.
"A vacation... with the titans. You must be out of your minds…" he stopped and looked at the bags.
"And how many bags did you take?" he said opening one that was next to the couch. He was startled when boxes came out of it.
"Why does everyone have a problem with how many bags I have? I got needs" I took out the black box and put it in the closet. With all the shoes boxes there, it didn't seem suspicious.
"A need for high-heels, apparently" he said pointing to the boxes. Lore meowed and approached Red-X. She put her paw on his leg, then jumped on his lap. As he petted her, my little companion started purring with pleasure.
"You are one of the fewer persons Lore lets to pet her"
"What breed is it?"
"Egyptian Mau"
"Never heard of it"
"Because it's very rare. She comes from a long line of sacred cats from Egypt. The Egyptian Maus were the messengers of the goddess Bastet" He nodded and looked at me again.
"So, vacation?"
"Yes, my father is one of the sponsors of the Titans, so I pulled the lucky straw and had to come here. God, I would kill for a chai latte with extra cinnamon" another problem. Where will I find in this forsaken city my special drink?
"Interesting..." I looked at him when a chuckle filled the room and interrupted my thoughts. He turned Lore's tag and continued to pet her.
"Well, well, well, miss Wayne aren't you a bit too far from home?" I rose up and looked at him. Sometimes I wonder if wearing a mask is just to hide our identity and protect the beloved ones... Other times I wonder if it hides our real intentions and our next moves. Right now, I was searching for every kind of reaction from the villain in front of me. But he just looked relaxed, not caring that I was the daughter of a billionaire or that he was in the house of the Titans. He put Lore next to him and blew a kiss at me, then vanished in thin air right in front of me. I was expecting for a kidnap tentative, like many others before him after they heard who I was. Now I was intrigued and couldn't contain my excitement, I wanted so badly for him to meet Catwoman. I took out a large t-shirt and went to the bathroom to take off my make-up. Throwing my clothes on the floor in the middle of the room, I couldn't help but think this "little trip" just got interesting. I put my t-shirt on and crawled in my bed under the fluffy eiderdown, careful not to disturb Lore who was now sleeping on a pillow full of feather geese. I clapped my hands and the lights went off, letting the city lights guard the room.
"Goodnight, Lore" I whispered to my cat as I drifted to sleep.