Catwoman sprinted across the rooftop as fast as her leather-constrained legs would let her. She was used to the physical requirements of the job, but it was adjusting to the suit that was giving her problems. She wished that could drop the bag of loot that was weighing her down, but she knew the consequences of a failed mission would be dire. Her breathing became labored and she knew she was going to hit the wall soon, but the police were gaining on her.
She stopped and quickly raised her whip wrapping it around a support beam above her.
"I've got you!" The pursuing officer yelled, meaty hand closing around her ankle.
In a moment of panic, Catwoman grabbed the gun that had been holstered at her side and pulled the trigger before she could aim. The bullet hit the officer either in the shoulder or in the neck. The flash from the gun blinded her for a moment so she couldn't tell. She prayed it was the shoulder.
The other officer ran past his injured partner and charged after Catwoman as more officers began to pour onto the rooftop. He pulled out his service pistol and pointed it toward the spot where Catwoman was about to leap from.
"Drop your weapon!" He yelled gruffly.
Instead of taking the opportunity to jump off the roof and escape, she turned around in a crouch and shot at him. Another officer shoved him to the ground, the bullet narrowly missing his head. The officers quickly got to their feet and ran to where Catwoman had just been, just in time to see her leap from the building.
Catwoman fumbled for her whip as she began to freefall uncontrollably. She kept telling herself not to panic as the whip seemed to be stuck. She managed to yank it out just in time, and wildly lashed at the air, missing the flagpole she had been aiming for. Perhaps accidentally, the whip latched onto an elevated construction beam. It slowed her fall, but her weight snapped the whip as she bounced upwards. She tumbled ungracefully into an alley, scraping her belly and chin and sending her plunder flying across the alley floor in different directions.
"Umpf," she groaned upon landing.
She laid there for a moment to catch her breath. She didn't hear any police sirens around, which was a good sign. Still, she knew they weren't far behind. She needed to get out of there before they had a chance to catch up to her. Ignoring her bleeding knee and torn suit, she quickly began to gather the items that had fallen out of her bag.
"They wouldn't have been able to get an accurate aim if you had just dived instead wasting time shooting people," a voice from nowhere suddenly said. "That was your first mistake."
"W-who said that?" Catwoman searched around frantically for the voice.
There was a figure high above her leaning against the fire-escape and lurking in the shadow. She couldn't see their features.
"Nice outfit," the figure said stepping into the moonlight. "Too bad for you, it looks better on me."
With that, 'Catwoman' took off running. Selina rolled her eyes before pouncing off the fire-escape and landing in a crouching position. Her descent was far more graceful than the other's had been.
"Here, kitty, kitty," she taunted as she followed the other Catwoman, while slowly uncoiling her whip.
Stupid girl. This alley was a dead end. Rule number one of working the East End: always know your territory. The first Catwoman skidded to a halt almost colliding into the brick wall. Having disposed of her whip on the way down, she reached for the only weapon she had left: the gun. Selina threw the end of her whip towards her, wrapped it around her wrist, and yanked her so they were mere inches away from each other. The gun clattered to the ground.
"Gotcha," she smirked.
"You wish, you old bitch!"
Catwoman used her free arm to elbow Selina right underneath her chin. Selina's head snapped back, and she bit down on her tongue. Her mouth filled with blood. The whip slackened and this time Catwoman didn't wait to start running.
"Old?!" Selina said incredulously to herself as she took off after Catwoman.
She was mad at herself for letting an amateur get a hit in, but now that she had her in her sights she couldn't let her get away. Running at full speed, Selina dove into Catwoman, sending them both tumbling to the ground. They tussled for a moment, but Selina was able to overpower the imposter. She straddled her and pinned her wrists to the ground.
"Who-"
"Freeze!" A voice yelled interrupting before she could even begin her interrogation.
Suddenly a group of four or five police officers ran to the scene with their guns drawn.
"Whoa, there's two of them!"
Both Cat-women slowly came to their feet with their hands up. The police officers, momentarily stunned, seemed at a loss for what to do.
"Uh," the one who seemed to be in charge said. "Take them both. We'll sort this out at the station."
He kept his gun on them as two subordinates timidly stepped forward. With her hands still raised Selina was pushed face first into the wall.
"Catwoman you are under arrest for larceny, resisting arrest, and one count of murder of a police officer in the line of duty."
He grabbed her wrist and pulled it behind her back, turning her around so she was facing him.
"Sorry, Officer, but…" she said taking a page from the imposter's book and jabbing him in the jaw with her elbow. "You've got the wrong cat!"
Before the other officer could react, Selina launched herself into the air, grabbing onto the rusty railing above the alley. As she hoisted herself up she could hear rapid gunshots in the alley. She leaned over to see one officer on the ground clutching his leg while the others had ducked for cover. The imposter must've gotten ahold of one of their guns. She could see a shadow running across the rooftop.
Without a second thought Selina dashed up the fire-escape practically launching herself up each set of steps. She made it to the roof just in time to see the figure, already two buildings ahead of her, before disappearing into the shadows.
xXx
Selina woke up the next morning irritated. Irritated at the far too bright sunlight for waking her up this early. Irritated at the pain radiating from her jaw and the gnarly looking bruise she was sure had formed overnight. Mostly she was irritated that someone was out there masquerading as her, and she just let them slip right through her grasp.
The Copy Cat, as Selina called her, had come to Selina's attention three weeks ago when it had been reported that Catwoman had been caught on camera during a robbery at Dagget Industries. Warrants were being put out for her arrest. Imagine! Some imposter was out there sullying her already sullied name, and she simply couldn't have that. She had enough of her own legal problems without taking on someone else's thank you very much. She needed to find out who the Copy Cat was and stop her before more people wound up dead.
Selina quickly dressed in a robe and went downstairs for a quick breakfast. Bruce was away on a mission for the League that she hadn't bothered to learn the details of, which meant she would full use of the cave. It wasn't that Selina didn't like to work with him, quite the contrary. It was just that he tended to hover when she was working on her own investigations and offer unsolicited advice. It was one of his less endearing qualities.
Alfred was already in the kitchen by the time Selina made it downstairs.
"Good morning, Alfred." She not noticing the solemn look on his face. "Breakfast looks wonderful and we all appreciate your cooking, it's just that I'm in a rush so I'll just have a coffee."
"Mrs. Kyle-"
"Before you ask, no I did not catch the Copy Cat, but I was this close. She got away, but I'll make damn sure to get her next time," she said, as she prepared her cup of coffee.
"Mrs. Kyle if you would just-"
"I know what you're going to say but she shot two cops last night. She's out of control and I can't stop until she's off the streets...God, Bruce's do-gooderness is starting to rub off on me." She sighed. "Oh well. Can't be helped. I'll need-"
"Selina Kyle!" Alfred shouted interrupting her rant.
Selina was slightly taken aback, but Alfred's face didn't soften. It was then that Selina realized how anxious he appeared.
"Mrs. Kyle," he lowered his voice even though she was sure none of the boys were home right now. "I would hate to disrupt your investigation, but a very urgent matter has been brought to my attention."
Selina's eyebrow furrowed. "More important than catching a cop killer?"
"I'm afraid so. Someone called last night-a reporter named Glenn Reed-asking for Master Wayne."
Selina almost laughed in relief. "Well that's-"
"There's more," Alfred continued. "He wanted to speak to Master Bruce about an article—a profile—he is writing about him. When I told him that he was out of the country and unavailable to take calls he...he asked if he could speak with 'the Mrs.'."
Selina's blood ran cold. Alfred was the only one person who called her "Mrs." It was a controlled secret. The only people who knew were those they wanted to know. They had been so careful. Done in private in the middle of the night with only Alfred serving as a witness. She wasn't even sure their marriage was one hundred percent legal.
She knew that this would happen eventually. It was nothing short of a miracle that they had managed to have a year and half of undisturbed and peaceful marital bliss. Well, peaceful by Gotham standards. She knew from the beginning that it couldn't be avoided forever. They both did; though they never really talked about it. Even in the happiest of days it hung over them. They and the ghost of things yet to come; an awkward, silent threesome.
"Is that all he said?" Selina's words came out stiff; probably from the shock.
Alfred nodded once. "He said he would call back in the morning."
As if on cue the phone on the kitchen wall began to ring, slightly startling Alfred. Selina and Alfred stared at as if it had just come to life. Alfred cleared his throat before making his way across the kitchen and picking up the phone.
"Wayne Residence," he answered in his usual greeting. "Hhmm… hhmm…I see…No, he is not available at the moment…No…I will relay the message. Thank you."
Selina could feel her heart racing. The time that it took Alfred to hang up the phone and turn back toward her was perhaps the longest four seconds of her entire life.
"That was the West-Reeves school calling about Master Damian's repeated tardiness."
Selina let go of the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. She cursed under her breath. This was just great! As if she didn't have enough problems to worry about. She considered calling Bruce and telling him to come home right away but squashed that idea in a Gotham City minute. Instead she told Alfred that she would deal with it without telling him what she planned to do. She wasn't even sure herself at this point, but she knew that this could not wait until Bruce came home.
Disguised in a beige wool trench coat, large cat-eye sunglasses, and long blonde wig she left the manor soon after, but not before going down to the cave to dig up a bit of information on Glenn Reed, the reporter. She made it downtown in an hour, parked her Mercedes in the alley in the safe house closest to her location, and took the subway the rest of the way. If she had been under the cloak of night Selina would've just gone up the fire escape and broken in through a window, but because it subtly was more practical for the daytime. She waited outside the building and slipped in through the front entrance as someone was leaving the building. A classic city trick. Deciding to forgo the elevator to avoid potential security cameras she took the emergency staircase to the sixth floor.
Apartment 611. Apartment 612. Apartment 613. Finally; apartment 614. Selina glanced around to make sure no one was watching her. Though the building had been restored sometime in the last decade Selina estimated that the lock on the door had been installed in the 1920s. she picked it with a hair pin in three seconds flat and slipped inside.
She stepped into the dimly lit apartment, softly shutting the door behind her. Once she was sure that she was alone she took the opportunity to sweep the apartment. There didn't appear to be anything discernable about the place. There were a few pieces of mismatched furniture in the living room, an empty cereal bowl on the table, and a stack of newspapers sitting on an ottoman. Selina didn't know exactly what she had been expecting or even what she should be looking for. A conspiracy board? Bruce had more of a mind for investigation.
She looked through the bedrooms and didn't find anything—she didn't know—incriminating, she supposed. All in all, it seemed like a typical apartment belonging to a regular, broke twenty-five-year-old reporter. A small chausie cat emerged from her hiding place underneath of the couch and began weaving between Selina's legs, meowing. Selina went into the kitchen and filled her bowl with kibble. The cat purred in appreciation.
"Can I go back to what I was doing? Is that okay with you?" She asked the cat, who glanced up from her bowl in response.
Selina was becoming frustrated. This Glenn person seemed to know about her and Bruce, but how? They made sure they covered their tracks. He had to have something on them, but she was coming up empty. Perhaps he was keeping whatever information he had on them at his office. Just when Selina was starting to think that this had been a huge waste of time, her eye caught a laptop sitting on a chair underneath of a newspaper in the kitchen.
"Bingo."
She turned on the computer which needed password. One did not become a world class jewel thief in the twenty-first century without learning some impressive hacking skills. Years ago, she had developed an app that could input safe codes and computer passwords in a matter of minutes, but unfortunately for her, she had left her high tech gear at home, not having anticipated a need for it. The cat jumped up into Selina's lap.
She tried Glenn's date of birth, the name of the school that he had graduated from, and his mother's maiden name, all of which she had learned during her impromptu background check before she had left. No luck.
"What's the password? Do you know?" She said to the cat, stroking her behind the ear.
The cat purred.
"Hm."
Selina glanced around for any clues. That's when she noticed two framed pictures of the cat sitting on the desk in the living room. She lifted the cat's collar then typed its name into screen. The computer dimmed before lighting up.
Selina snorted. "Didn't anyone tell Glenn that 'Muffy' is a long-haired cat name."
Selina quickly found the article saved in a word document. She skimmed through it along with the rest of the files he had been collecting on her and Bruce. His investigative material was surprisingly extensive for some wannabe journalist barely out of school with no major publications to his name. They were mostly articles from the time of Selina's arrest and conviction, Bruce's parents' deaths, and conspiracy websites. Regardless, the less he knew the better.
"Oops," Selina said deleting all the backup copies that had been stored on his cloud.
Still, she wanted to make sure she didn't overlook anything important in her haste. She would have to do a more thorough search of it later. She left the apartment taking the laptop with her. The drive back to the manor had been tense, and the heavy traffic jam along the way did nothing to improve her mood. It seemed like she was attracting a lot of bad luck these days. She just needed to get back to the manor and finish dealing with this, so she could get back to tracking down the Copy Cat. She didn't need this distraction.
She pulled up in front of the gate and got out of her car to input the passcode.
"Hey!" a voice from behind her yelled. "Hey!"
She turned around to see a young, average looking man running up to her.
"Selina Kyle, right?" Selina felt a moment of panic but managed to keep it off her face. "The name's Glenn. Glenn Reed. I'm a reporter for the Gotham Gazette. I was hoping to get a chance to talk to you. I called last night and gave my number to your butler. I decided to just wait out here since I didn't hear back this morning."
"I'm sorry. You have the wrong person."
There was something about his smile. It wasn't the sinister grin she it had been picturing. It was genuine and accompanied by wide, excited eyes.
"Right. Sorry," he said, though Selina could tell that he didn't believe her. "Your name is?"
"Bonfiglio. Wilhelmina Bonfiglio."
"Well, you must know Bruce Wayne very well if you have his gate code. May I ask how you know him?"
"No," Selina said more harshly than she had intended. "You may not."
He put his hands up in capitulation.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. I've been writing an article about some of the wildest rumors about him and it's really taken on a life of its own. As someone with sort of relationship to him, what do you think about the one about Bruce Wayne using his money to hide out the Catwoman?"
Selina snorted. "I think people shouldn't believe everything they read on the internet."
With that she turned to leave.
"It's just," Glenn said, stopping her. "That's what I thought at first but the more I looked into the more it started to make sense. I was hoping to get a comment from Wayne or someone close to him."
Selina heard it as a threat.
"I can give you the number to his publicist."
Glenn shook his head. "I found something I think Wayne is going to find very interesting and I thought he'd want me to bring it to him first."
Glenn began to pull a folder out of the bag he had been carrying and held it out to Selina. She eyed it suspiciously before accepting it. Selina's stomach dropped, and her heart began to race. How? How was this possible? They had been so careful. They made sure they covered up their tracks. How did this nobody reporter from some second-rate gossip rag get a copy of their goddamn marriage certificate?!
"Where did you get this?" Selina asked softly.
He shrugged. "Anonymous source. It would be quite a story. Bruce Wayne running off and marrying a wanted assassin. I know the fallout would be huge and I was hoping to make a deal."
Selina chuckled darkly. "Let me get this straight. You are saying that Bruce Wayne, one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world is secretly married to someone who confessed to the slicing the throats of 237 people, and your plan is to blackmail this person?"
"No, not Wayne. Her. Selina Kyle," he said looking her straight in the eyes now.
Selina's eyes darkened. The time for games was over.
"Well if he is married to the person you say then you know what she is capable of, and I would surmise that she isn't someone you'd want to cross," she said menacingly.
"Cross? No, you misunderstand. I don't want to threaten her. I mean I'm not insane. I want to do an interview with her."
Selina couldn't help but laugh. "An interview? What for?"
Glenn didn't answer her immediately he seemed to be watching her reaction.
"Because I don't believe she killed all of those people, and that's the story I want to report."
Selina looked surprised but didn't say anything.
Glenn knew it was a risk coming here, and if he was wrong about her he could be making a deadly mistake right now. He wasn't sure whether her threats were empty or if she would really hurt him. She wasn't the other guy, after all. He had heard stories about how Batman was all talk and no action when it came to civilians. But then again, he had also heard stories about Batman sending people into comas just for looking at him wrong. It all depended on which part of the legend you believed.
But this wasn't Batman. Glenn had spent a lot of time researching Catwoman in the last few months. Her criminal record was extensive, to say the least, but she had only been charged with a violent crime once: 237 counts of murder. A FOIA request that had taken six weeks to secure had revealed that Catwoman had quietly pleaded guilty and sentenced to wait out the rest of her life on death row. Until she escaped, of course.
Still there was something about the case that felt off to Glenn. Prior to the alleged murders Selina Kyle had never been charged with a violent crime. Mostly grand larceny, breaking and entering, criminal mischief, and a few criminal conspiracy charges sprinkled here and there. His research had indicated that Catwoman had also never participated in any major crime event involving Gotham's most notorious rogues. Rumor had it that she even had helped Batman put an end to the carnage during the War of Jokes and Riddles and the gang wars. How did a morally ambiguous jewel thief go from heisting the Gotham Met to slashing the throats of more than 200 people?
It didn't make any sense and it didn't sit right with Glenn. He had managed to bribe a desk sergeant at the Gotham Police Department for her case file. During her confession she didn't provide any specific details about the murders. She appeared to not even know the names of the people she had slaughtered. It seemed to Glenn that she was just the Gotham Police Department's scapegoat. Someone had to go down for this and she was offering herself up, so problem solved. Why she confessed to a crime she did not commit was the real mystery.
True; Glenn had been given the story of a lifetime, but the story was incomplete. It wasn't honest, and Glenn had every intention of getting to the bottom of it.
"Look this story could make my career, but this isn't the real story," he said. "I thought that maybe Catwoman and I could make this work for each other. You know? I shelve this story and once she resolves her uh...legal problems I get an exclusive interview."
Seeing that Selina still looked skeptical he pulled out a thumb drive out of his pocket and offered it to her.
"Here," he said placing it in her hand. "This is everything I've got about her case. Please give this to Mr. Wayne as I'm sure with his considerable assets he will be able to get this to Selina Kyle somehow. My number is in here there if this would something of interest to her."
"I'll give him the message," she said.
"Great. Thanks. It was great meeting you, Ms. Bonfiglio."
With that Glenn headed back to his car, parked on the opposite side of the street. Selina stared at the thumb drive he had given her before slipping it into her pocket.
Precarious situations were nothing new to Selina. She'd be born into one of the darkest parts of Gotham City and spent her entire life clawing her way out. She had almost managed it; or so she thought. She had finally gotten a tiny slice of heaven but her new life had been built on pillars of salt. A castle made of sand. Never in her wildest imagination did she think that her future would rest in the hands of twenty-five-year-old journalist.
Selina hadn't had enough time to do a lot of research on Glenn. Not nearly as much research as he had done on her. It was impossible to say what his true intentions were. It could just be putting her on. He could've just been trying to get her to trust him and was planning on sending the story to his publisher tomorrow morning. This was not lost on Selina, but what other choice did she have. If he was being sincere it would at least buy her some time. That's all she wanted: more time. If it couldn't be forever, then let them have just one more day.
References: Catwoman (v5) #1
