Chapter II – The Bat and the Cat

April 10th

"Alfred, this is Ms. Selina Kyle, Selina, this is Alfred Pennyworth. He's my butler."

"Uh huh." I say blandly, my expression placid. I was working so hard to ignore my suspicions and just have a good time,…but then those suspicions just had to turn out to be true… How can I not act like this? How else would one act if she (or he) was lured into trusting someone who really did turn out to be lying?

I step into the car and Bruce follows, closing the door behind him.

"Okay, start talking, Wayne." I frown.

He sighs, "Um,…how do I put this…" he mutters.

"Spit it out, or I swear I will kick you in the nuts." I growl, "I want to know all of what you know of me. Now."

"I er—" Bruce sighs, but then he just lets it out in a very rushed pace, "I'vewatchedyoueversinceyoubrokeoutofSprang."

I stare at him, my mouth gaping. Then, I slap him… Hard.

"You know, I didn't want to believe it, I really didn't because I wanted to have a good time," I growl, "but stalking?!" I try to slap him again, but Bruce grabs my wrist.

"Stop! Stop…" he says, "Just let me explain."

I yank my hand out of his grasp, "Explain what? That you're a sick—" I don't typically cuss, but this deserves it, "—bastard?!"

"You were a potential threat to my city." He says suddenly.

I stop, dumbfounded, "W-what?"

Bruce sighs, "Let's just say, Jim Gordon and I are pretty tight, and back then, he practically told me you were a psycho child… So when you escaped,…I figured I should keep an eye on you."

"Oh." I say, "But why? Why watch me?"

He pinches the bridge of his nose, and looks up at me, his face straight and serious, "You aren't the only one with a secret Selina."

I stare at him. Secret? Is he…? "What are you talking about?"

"Don't pretend. You know exactly what I'm talking about,…Cat. That is what they call you on the streets, right?"

I move my mouth silently like a fish.

"Uh huh." Bruce smirks, "Got your interest now, don't I?"

"You're—you're a hero? You, mister fancy Bruce Wayne, a hero?"

"Want proof?"

"Of course I want proof." I say.

Bruce waves his hand up towards the front of the car and we start moving. "Then that's where we're going." He says excitedly.

I turn away from him and rub my forehead. I really, really hope he's telling the truth about this, because if not, I've just agreed to be taken to some random place by a complete stranger…

"You don't trust me, do you?" he asks.

I turn back to him, "To be honest, no, I'm not sure if I do or don't."

"I know it's a lot to take in, but there's no need to worry. I promise, I'm not lying about any of this." He stares intently into my eyes, and even though I couldn't read his face before, the way he's staring now, just makes me feel like I should trust anything he says.

It doesn't take long until we slow down to go through a property gate—most likely to Bruce's house—and start making our way up the hill on a winding road. It takes a while for me to see it, but once the house comes into view, I gasp. Yeah, not just a house,…a manor. Wayne Manor.

"Gorgeous, isn't it?" Bruce asks.

"It's incredible."

Alfred slows to a stop in the large, circular drive, but even though he comes around to open the door for us, I open it and step out before he even touches it. I see Bruce wave him off out of the corner of my eye as I stare around at the property, taking it all in. I've never seen anything this beautiful in my life.

"You actually live here?"

"Yes, just me and Alfred."

"Hmm. So tell me more about Alfred… Is he really just a butler to you?"

He laughs lightly, "I see you're starting to figure things out." He smiles, "The answer is no. He is not,…but it's complicated."

I grin, "You can explain it later." I say as we head up the marble stairs.

"Thank you, it's a bit much to explain right now." He rests his hand on the handle, "You ready?"

I nod with a smile.

Bruce put his hand on a panel of the door and slides it over, revealing a hidden key pad behind it. He types in the code too fast for me to remember fully, but it starts with 814. He pulls down the handle and opens the door dramatically. The inside is just as breathtaking—if not more—than outside of the manor. Marble floors, golden banisters, extravagant crystal chandeliers, grand halls leading to many different rooms, and not one, but two grand arched stair cases leading to more beautiful rooms on the second and third floors.

"Whoa…" I mutter.

"So, do you want a tour of the manor? Or do you want to go see the secret lair?"

I smirk, and roll my eyes around, (my funny, over exaggerated pondering face) and then look back at Bruce, "Okay, I gotta admit, as astounding as your manor is, I really want to see your lair. I mean, if this is your house, then your lair must be pretty awesome."

Bruce chuckles, "I don't mean to brag, but it is pretty cool." He pulls out the handkerchief in his jacket pocket, "I only have one request before we go down." He says, unfolding the kerchief.

I look down at his hand and the way he's refolding it. I realize exactly what he's doing, "You want to blindfold me so I don't know the location of the secret entrance?"

He smirks, "Clever girl."

"I know the secret hero code." I say as he ties the kerchief over my eyes, "Although, this isn't entirely fair since you know probably know where my lair is…"

"Actually, I've never managed to figure that out. Your lair is just out of sight from the street cameras." He says, guiding me through the manor.

I grin blindly, "Good."

Suddenly we stop and I feel Bruce step away from me. I hear him shifting something, and then a small *SHFT* sound, like a sliding door. He has me walk forward again, and then I can feel the floor moving down. As soon as we stop moving, he pulls off the kerchief and get my first glimpse of the lair. I have to do a double take. We are in a cave. Literally, a cave. A large computer lays right in the center of it and large cases filled with assorted weapons and black suits with strange masks surround it.

"Welcome to the Batcave!" Bruce announces.

"B-batcave…?" I ask, "Nooooo… Nooooo. You're,…? No, you can't be…"

He smirks humbly.

"Seriously? You're Batman, the Batman…?"

"The one and only."

I laugh, "Wow, I seriously never would've guessed. He's so much—I don't know—darker and more serious than I ever would have pictured you."

He continues to grin, "What can I say? Everyone has a dark side, mine just happens to be the best kind of dark side."

I laugh, "So,… you said before that you could help me become a better hero? What exactly do you have in mind?"

Bruce raises up a finger, "Ah, well for one, don't you think that suit of yours is a little ratty for your taste?"

I stare at him, almost insulted by his words, but he makes a point, I really do wish it was better… "Yeah? What do you have in mind?"

"Wait here." He says, holding both of his hands up, before turning and striding quickly to the case full of suits. In a moment, he's pulled one of the oddly shaped suits out and started walking back towards me. I wonder for a moment if he's handing me a batsuit, but I quickly realize the shape of this suit is much different than the others.

"Here, I had this designed and tailored specifically for you." He says, extending his arms to hand it to me.

Wow, he really is an odd man. I mean, talk about obsession… I'm not worried about him anymore, but if I wasn't so sure he wasn't stalking me in that way, I'd be very creeped out right now.

I hold up the suit to examine it, running my hands over it to get the feel of it. The outer material was sort of a leathery texture and the material on the inside was softer than silk. I'm not sure what was woven in between the two materials, but it was durable enough to keep my claws from shredding it. Not sure if it would hold up against a knife or bullet, but it would hold up a lot better than my old suit. I notice as I run my hands over it that two pointy, triangular shapes stick out of the cowl. I have seen something similar to this on Bruce's suits, but the batsuit's points are much longer and thinner. No, these are not bat ears…they're cat ears. A zipper runs down the front length of the torso of the suit, but instead of following a straight line down, the zipper starts from under a small flap—most likely to keep it zipped up when worn—on the right side of the neck, and makes almost an S shape snaking down from the neck, across and over the left breast, and then back across to the right where it ends on the hip. What an interesting design. When I move it again, I feel something flop across my hand from underneath. I turn it over quickly to find—of course—a tail.

I look back up at Bruce—who's staring at me, waiting for a reply—and laugh. He frowns at me, looking disappointed, "Do you not like it?" he asks.

"Like it? I love it!" I laugh, "It's just—" I honestly cannot stop laughing "It's sooooo much like me. I mean, the suit in and of itself practically taunts any opponent before anything can be said! I mean, it could not be more perfect!"

He smirks, obviously relieved, "That's kind of why I designed it that way. So,… do you want to try it on?"

I glance down at the black suit and then back up at him, "Uh, why wouldn't I?"

He chuckles, "Okay, you'll find a place to change through there." He says, pointing at hollow in the wall.

I walk into where he indicated, and what I see makes me come rushing back out, my eyes almost tearing with laughter.

"What?" he asks, his eyebrows scrunched.

"I—Oh," I crack up, "I now have full proof tha—" I snigger into my hand "—that Batman does have a bathroom in—in the Batcave!"

Bruce rolls his eyes, his lips pursed in a smile, "Ha ha ha. Soooo funny. Now you can tell the whole world that Batman poops. Hilaaaarious."

I stagger back into the bathroom, still laughing my head off.

I slide off my red dress and heels, slip into the silky inside of the suit, pull the S zipper up and latch it in place under the flap on the neck, and put the cowls over my head—leaving my bangs hanging out. The suit is not entirely full body, leaving my hands, wrists, feet, and ankles bare, but s qo far however, the suit is incredible. As I step around to examine myself, I notice the tail moving with me, following my movements perfectly, and also just twitching randomly, exactly how a real cat might act. Clever, Bruce. Very clever. The cowl, which cover my ears entirely, should block out quite a bit of sound, but instead—obviously something Bruce put in the design—my hearing is actually heightened, allowing me to hear Bruce's light footsteps all the way from in here. I walk back out into the cave, fully prepared to show off for Bruce, but before I take even five steps, he's in front of me holding more black colored items in his arms.

"Sorry, forgot to give these to you before." He says, handing them to me, "They make up the rest of the suit."

I stare at him, surprised at how suddenly and silently he had appeared, but take the items and walk back into the bathroom with a simple "Okay."

The new items consist of a pair of long, high heeled boots; orange tinted, triangularly shaped goggles; long gloves—appearing to have many pockets within them; and a silver belt with many metal compartments, looking an awful lot like Batman's belt… I slip on the belt first and pop it together, but as soon as I do, I notice there's no release latch on it. Instead, five little slots—arraigned in an upside-down arch-like formation—are on the part of the belt that hits my hip. There's something I'm going to be asking Bruce about… I next zip up the boots. I expect to have no sense of balance in them, but not only do I have no problem standing in them, but as I walk, they seem to automatically adjust so I won't fall flat on my face. Clever. I slip on the gloves and put the goggles on last, wondering why on earth would they be orange?

I walk back out into the cave—again—and strut towards Bruce in this new attire. He grins. "Perfect! Now, everything fits, right? No need for adjustment?"

I smile, and in my best 'Ace Ventura' impersonation, I say, "Like a glove."

Bruce bursts out laughing, "Oh my god, you like Jim Carrey?!"

I smirk, "Well, when those were about the only movies my sister and I could watch, we got pretty hooked on them. Those and the few Looney Tunes VHSs we owned."

Bruce looks as if he wants to hug me, "You wouldn't believe how addicted I was to that kind of stuff when I was little! Now of course, that was never the stuff I watched with my parents, they thought it was a bit too vulgar for their tastes. No, instead, I watched them with one little boy I was close to. This was before that night at the theater of course…"

I scrunch my eyebrows, "Theater? What theater?"

"Don't you know what happened the night my parents were murdered?"

I shake my head guiltily.

"Ah, well, then I'll tell you my story…since I already know yours… Oh, and this will also explain how I'm so close to the Commissioner." he pauses, clearly gathering his thoughts, "When I was eight, my parents were murdered by a petty street thug. We had just come out of the monarch theater after watching an opera, when he came out of nowhere and aimed a gun at us, demanding to have my mother's pearl necklace. Being the man he was, my father refused and stood in front of us protectively. Sadly, that made the thief angry, and he…shot my father where he stood. My mother was horrified, but with tears in her eyes, she bravely stood in front of me to protect me. When the thief realized my mother still wasn't going to give him the necklace, he shot her too. Jim Gordon—still a detective back then—was one of the officers who arrived on the scene and he was the nicest to me. He promised he would find the man that killed my parents and he would do everything he could. Jim really did his best, but with this man, it soon became obvious he was a lot harder to find than Jim thought."

I stare at him, my eyes full of commiseration, "And so what about all this? What triggered your desire to fight crime?"

"Ah, it's a little difficult to blame it on one thing, I mean, a lot of events factored into it. But I think that it was mostly two events that caused it, one being the night at the theater, and the second being an event that happened a year and a half later. Alfred had taken me Park Row—aka Crime Alley—to visit the small monument that Gotham put together for my parents and to meet up with social worker Leslie Thompkins. Unfortunately, we never got to see her that night… we got caught right in the middle of a heist. A gang of men were attempting to rob a young woman and we walked right into it. One of the men aimed a gun at the two of us, telling us to get on our knees, but Alfred refused. Being a man trained in hand-to-hand combat from his time in the military, he stood up to the gang and tried to take them on. He was winning… until one of the men shot him in the thigh. The gang forced the woman and me to the ground beside Alfred, our hands behind our heads. After that, we didn't move from our crouched positions until the police and an ambulance arrived. The mix of those two events where what really made me realize that Gotham needs help, and soon. That was when I knew what I wanted to do with my life other than being some orphaned, rich kid that no one cares about… Alfred has been sending me around the world so I can attain intellectual and physical perfection by learning a variety of crime-fighting skills, including chemistry, criminology, forensics, martial arts, gymnastics, disguise, and escape artistry."

"And what of Alfred? You already confirmed he's not just your butler."

He sighs, running his fingers through his hair. This is obviously a difficult subject for him. I wonder why he's letting me push him so far.

"Well, after my parents were murdered, we were encountered by Leslie Thompkins who went over what would happen to me now that my parents were gone. It took a few days, but they finally found the will my parents wrote, leaving the entire state to me and legally stating that Alfred was to be my godfather should anything happen to them. Alfred became a true father figure to me, and believe it or not, under that civil composure is a truly caring man who loves me as much as my real father did."

"Wow… Wish I had someone like that…" I mutter the last part under my breath.

There's a pause of silence before either of us say anything, until I look down and remember the belt, "Hey, uh, how does this belt thing work?" I ask, tugging at where the ends are snapped together.

He smiles knowingly, "Have you tried sticking your claws into those slots?"

I blink. Ooooohhhhh…

I slide my fingers to line up with the slots and unsheathe my claws, letting each smoothly into a slot. With a tiny click, the belt unlocks.

"Wow. That's really ingenious." I say, snapping the belt together again.

"If you think that's cool, wait until you see how much fits into that belt." He smiles, "Okay, to unlock the compartments, do the same thing, but instead of all five claws, just use the middle three."

I do as instructed and hear another tiny click.

"Now, once unlocked those compartments can be opened at any time by pressing on one. To lock them again, just insert the same three claws."

I press on the compartment resting on my right hip and it opens, revealing various numbers of items that don't seem as if they should be able to fit inside it.

Noticing my expression, Bruce decides to give me more info on what the items are. "Inside the belt are some my own assorted creations, designed for you. There are Biterclaws—similar to my Batarangs—which are spinning paws with claw-like spikes; a mini grapple gun that can hold up to 4 tons; bolas; tracers; smoke pellets; line launcher; tranquilizer gun; laser; pellet grenades; Taser; stun pellets; EMP gun; and one of my newest creations, a personal tracker so if you or I are in trouble or need assistance, we can just activate it and it will show our location to each other."

"How on earth does it all fit in this tiny thing?" I ask, picking up the belt for emphasis.

"That, Selina, is a secret you will have to discover for yourself."

I glance over at the case of suits, "Tell me more about the bat—"

"Uh uh," he interrupts, "I'm not finished telling you how awesome your suit and equipment is."

"Well aren't you modest." I laugh.

He rolls his eyes, "Alright, moving on to your gloves and boots. Your boots have spring-action climbing pitons, so you will be able to scale walls, and like your gloves, have many more pockets and compartments for things like knives or other easy grab items. Your gloves have another feature too, but you won't see that until you put them on. As for your goggles, they have many features, night vision being one of the many." He pauses, as if he forgot say something, "Oh, and going back to the belt, if anyone either than you or I touches it, they will be electrocuted, preventing from any tampering should you leave the belt behind somewhere."

"You know Bruce, you really are a genius." I say, sliding the gloves onto my hands.

Bruce's cheeks redden for the second time today, "Thanks," He says, awkwardly scratching his neck, "but, you're pretty clever yourself."

I grin sheepishly and rub my finger on the bride of my nose. After a moment's pause, I think of the question that has been nagging to be asked ever since I heard of Batman. "Why did you choose a bat for your image?"

"Now there's the question I've been waiting for." He says, flashing his perfect teeth, "This may sound strange to you, but my biggest fear when I was younger was actually of bats—"

I stare at him, "Afraid of bats? Then why on earth would you choose to be the very thing you fear?"

"To instill my fear into others as they did to me. I'm not afraid of bats anymore by the way, I have a much bigger fear to worry about."

I don't question him further. I mean, what a way to become a hero. Just incredible. And here I thought my backstory was good… "So again, why do you want to train me?" I ask, changing the subject abruptly.

Bruce gives a light laugh, "Have you ever considered having a partner? Someone to work with out in the field?"

I furrow my brow, "Yeah, I guess? Wait, are you telling me that Batman,…wants a sidekick?"

"Well, not a sidekick…" he trails off.

I smirk, "I don't believe my ears. You, the great detective who prefers to work alone, you want me to work with you."

He glances around the room kind of awkwardly, "What can I say? You've got a lot of great potential Selina, and not to mention, two dark creatures of the night working together sounds like a good combination to me."

"Hmm, I guess I can work with that." I walk around the room, examining the walls, "But you sure you can handle my skills?"

Bruce chuckles, "Your skills, eh?"

I finally find what I'm looking for; a barely noticeable—but definitely not natural—line in the cave wall. I unsheathe my claws, but when I look down at my hand, I notice that it's not my claws coming out of the gloves, instead, razor-sharp claws—triggered by the movement of my actual claws—pop out of the gloves, making the suit all that much more wicked. I smirk, "Yes, my skills." with a short glance back at Bruce, I stick the razor-sharp claws into the imperfection in the wall, sliding them around until *SHNK* I slice across something metal. With a rumble, the wall slides up, revealing a long tunnel leading out of the cave. "Aha!" I say, turning back to him with a smug look on my face.

"How did you—?"

"Told you I had skills." I smirk.

He rolls his eyes, but it's obvious he's impressed, "Good job, but you do realize how much damage you just did to the mechanics, right?"

I whip around and see the sparking wiring where I sliced, "Oops…sorry…"

"I'm just messing with you, it's actually a fairly easy fix." He smiles.

I squint my eyes and purse my lips in a silly face, shaking my head at him.

"Okay, you've proven you are skilled in observing, but let's see how well you do in combat. Yes, I've seen you fight, but let's see you fight against someone with a little more skill." He taunts.

"You're on." I say confidently. I charge at him, hopefully tricking him into thinking I'm making a stupid move, but just before I reach him, I do a handspring, bringing my legs around from the side to collide into his. I think I've got him, but before I've completed my move, he manages to grab my legs, my momentum causing my upper body to swing around and I have to put my hands out to keep from hitting my head on the rock floor.

"Clever move. I'm impressed." He says, "But you aren't the first one to attempt it on me."

Using the floor to push off, I swing around and summersault away, pulling my legs out of Bruce's grasp as I do so.

"Impressive." He says.

"Aren't you worried about ripping your suit?" I ask it jokingly, but I'm being serious.

"Nah," he says calmly, "This isn't a really expensive suit anyways."

I laugh and stand up, making him pause in anticipation. Then, without a word, I jump forward, attempting to psyche him out.

"That the best you got?" he asks. He isn't challenging me, he asks it in the way Ted Grant used to; basically wanting to know if there was more to teach me.

"No, I have more tricks up my sleeve." I state, "But you're welcome to show off some of yours."

He chuckles, pulling off his jacket, "Honestly, I was hoping you would say that..."

Ha, so I was right about the way he said it. I wonder if he ever worked with Grant...

"Well? Come on then." I tease.

In a blink, he tosses his jacket into the air at me—distracting me—and before I even realize it, he's behind me with his arm locked around my neck.

He pulls it off immediately—since that hold would have knocked me out in another two seconds—and steps away. "That's just trick number one." He says smugly.

"Okay, now there's a trick I want to learn!"

"And you say you've got skills..." he mutters.

"Hey!"

"I'm just kidding!" he laughs.

"Uh huh, suuuuuuurrrrrrre..." I say and stick my tongue out at him.

"Wanna use the punching bags?" he asks, indicating to the three hanging on the far side of the cave.

"Weelllll..." I say, doing my overdramatic thinking face, "Okay!"

We spend a while training and showing off what we know, until around eight o'clock, Bruce asks, "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

I blink at him. "Dinner? I uh..." I realize how worried Bartus must be right now... "I—I shouldn't."

"Why not?" he asks, looking disappointed.

"I've been gone all day and my clan must be worried sick. I should be heading home."

"Oh. Okay..." Bruce says, his face sinking. He looks up as if to say more, but stops himself.

"What?" I ask, staring at him.

"Well, it's just that... D-does your clan actually care about you?"

I frown, my eyes narrowing, "Whoa whoa whoa, buddy. Now that's crossing a line." I growl, "They are my family!"

"Sorry!" he says quickly, "It's just that I've never had a good experience with other cats before. I mean, getting under my feet and trying to kill me doesn't exactly shine the best light on them. I'm just curious to whether a cat can actually care about a human."

"Well I can understand how any regular human would think that, and it's true that some cats really are heartless, but FYI, humans can be pretty heartless too!" I turn to leave, but Bruce grabs my shoulder.

"Selina, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offe—"

I yank my arm out of his grasp, "You just don't get it do you, Bruce?!" I say, turning to face him, "Those cats are the only family I have! At least you've had Alfred, a human to love you! Me? I've been forced to find family with animals..." I can't believe how emotional I'm being right now... "I lost my mom, I had a terrible father, and on top of all that, my sister ended up killing herself! The cats are the only ones I have left!"

Bruce stares at me, stunned, and opens his mouth to interrupt, but I cut him off.

"No one has ever loved me since my mom died. NO ONE except my clan!"

"That not true, Selina!" he says suddenly.

"What are you talking about?" I frown, "There is no one in this world who could possibly love me—"

"I love you!" he shouts, catching me off guard.

"W-what?" I gape at him.

"I'm sorry I've pressured you into all of this so quickly, but it's not because I'm some love-desperate, girl-hungry stalker,…it's because I've watched you suffer in a hell hole for too long. I care about you, Selina, I've just waited too long to say something. I know I look like some crazy jerk trying too hard to get someone to love him, but you have to understand, that's not who I am at all."

I stare at him, speechless.

"And I'm sorry about what I said about your cats. I never meant for it to come out the way it did. I understand you now, and in all honesty, I can relate in a lot of ways. Yes, I do have Alfred to love me and act as my father, but unlike with you and your cats, I didn't find myself so willing to care about him at first. It just felt too foreign. Instead, I found my love in combat. So while you were forced to find love in animals, I became obsessed becoming a better fighter, completely ignoring the man who was caring for me the entire time. I had no place in criticizing your clan."

"I—I'm sorry for how I reacted Bruce… It's just—there's so much you're piling on me at the moment and I'm not sure I can handle it. I mean, love? That's a pretty strong word, and I—I'm sorry, Bruce, but I don't know if I feel that way..." I say and turn away. Love? He makes it sound like a fairy tale where the couple falls in love in a day—or less... I mean, who is he to expect me to feel that way about him, when I barely even know him? I trust him, I can honestly say that, but love him...?

"You don't have to feel that way about me." He says, interrupting my thoughts, "My point is, you act like no one cares about you, when there's really someone who does. Am I making any sense?"

"No? Yes? Maybe? I don't know... I'm really sorry, but it's just too much for me right now… I—we—let me have some time to think about all this, we can talk about this more later…" I turn and walk away down the tunnel leading out of the cave, leaving Bruce behind to stand there silently.

When I reach the end of the tunnel, I come to another door, but right as I near it, it slides up out of the way, opening up right onto a deserted road I've never seen before. Did Bruce open the door for me? Or does it have a sensor or something? Regardless, now I have to figure out my way back to Midtown from here. I guess I should follow the road, but I'm not sure if it'll lead me to Midtown or just into Uptown. Eh, I'll just follow it...

As I walk down the road, I hear something moving through the grass. I peek around quietly, only to find that it's a rat. But on closer inspection, I realize that one, it's not running away from me, and two, it has the same glassy eyes as the snake this morning... Weird. Why are there robot animals following me? I rip the rat's head off without a second thought and stuff the pieces into my glove; something I will examine later.

I've been walking for nearly 40 minutes now, and it appears that the road in fact does lead to Uptown. Through the trees, I can just see the city buildings from here. Suddenly, I stop, hearing something behind me. At first, I think it's another rat. But then I notice three figures moving the trees in the distance. Before they see me, I quickly run behind a tree and watch them from afar. As they get closer, I see that two of the figures are large men, and they're carrying the third figure—a young girl—in between them. Just because I would be dishonoring the hero code if I didn't, I follow closely behind them. They're dragging the girl towards a clearing, but them kidnapping a girl isn't what confuses me—yes, I'm obviously concerned and going to rescue her, but this kind of stuff is kinda normal for Gotham—no, what confuses me is the fact that they are too overgrown men who could basically carry each other, and yet, they're both carrying the girl between them as if she weighed as much as them. When they reach the clearing, I hold back and watch from behind a tree as they set the girl down and continue walking. I want to keep following them to see what exactly they are up to, by my instinct tells me to stay behind and help the girl.

As I approach her, I can see that she is a child of around 11. She is completely unconscious, but no harm appears to have been done to her body. Her hair is a lovely shade of auburn, and on her back is a backpack with a small teddy bear poking out of the top. I bend over to pick her up, when I feel warm breath on my neck. I realize my mistake too late as a hand clamps over my mouth while another pulls me tightly against a man's body; it was all a trap.

A second man ties my wrists together while the one holding me pulls a gag around my head.

"Well, Vince, look who we got here. It's the lil' ol' Cat." the thug holding me says. "The Boss will be so pleased!"

The one named Vince smirks, "Yeah, if you don't mess up this kidnap like you did on the last one, Charlie." he snorts.

"Shut up!" Charlie growls.

Vince goes over to the girl with the red hair, and throws her over his shoulder. As soon as Charlie loosens his grip to grab a nearby sack, I wriggle out of his arms and start to run, screaming as loud as I can through the gag. Vince shouts at Charlie, "Shut her up before she gets away and we get caught!"

Charlie grabs my arm and shoves a cloth over my nose and mouth until I black out.

April 11th

When I awake, I find myself tied to a steel chair in a dark room. Large crates line the walls, full of what looks like money. Looking down at a stray dollar, I realize that it is counterfeit.

I hear a sob behind me, I turn my head and see that the redheaded girl is tied to another chair behind me. She turns her head and stares into my eyes with teary bright green eyes.

"You're the Catwoman aren't you?!" She gasps. "Can't you get us out of here?"

I glance down at my gloves. Well, DUH, with those metal claws Bruce gave me, I can cut through practically anything! "Yeah… here, just give me a sec and I'll have us both free."

I unsheathe my claws and begin slicing away the rope. It was difficult at first due to the angle, but once one hand is free, I'm able to cut the other ropes in seconds.

I slice the ropes around the girl's ankles and she springs to her feet.

"You are sooooo cool Catwoman! You and Batman are so amazing! I mean, taking on criminals, beating thugs, and all before the police can do a thing!"

I grin. No one has ever called me Catwoman before, usually all I get is a crude 'Cat'… "What's your name, kid?" I ask.

"Barbara Gordon. Dad and Sarah call me Babs though."

Gordon… Is she who I think she is? "Does your dad happen to be Commissioner Gordon?"

Barbara nods. "Dad is always busy catching bad people… I just wish he would see how great you and Batman are."

I pat her shoulder, "Yeah, me too…" As I stand, I frown, wondering how this girl—who appears to worship me as her hero—could possibly be related to someone like Jim Gordon—who not only despises my thieving past, but also "vigilantes" like Bruce and I. Although, if I remember her story correctly, she isn't Jim's actual daughter and is actually her niece whom he adopted several years ago… still, it's a wonder, how after all this time, he hasn't rubbed off on her.

I walk over to the door and yank on the handle, but it won't budge, it's locked. I turn back to Barbara and put my fingers on my lips. She nods. I slide my claws down the bolt holding the door closed, slicing it in half and unlocking the door. The door swings open.

She smirks at the feat as I turn to grab her hand, "Okay, stay right behind me." I whisper.

I tip-toe down the hall with Barbara right behind me, clutching my hand. I flinch and Barbara grasps my hand tighter every time we come across a squeaky part of the floor.

My first instinct is to get out of this place as soon as possible, but as we round a corner and see a door open just a crack, light shining out of it and hearty voices echoing out of it, I decide to take a moment to eavesdrop. I glance back at Barbara again and put my finger up to my lips again, indicating to move forward.

We stop and I stand close to the crack.

"So why again did Maroni want us to kidnap the crazy cat lady?" A voice—whom I recognize as Charlie's—asks.

"Some mad-scientist or whatever wants her and is paying Maroni to do it. That's all I know." A second man's voice replies.

"All Maroni told me was that we were to use the Commissioner's daughter as bait, and once we had the Cat, he'd hand her over to the scientist." A third man adds.

"But why the Commissioner's daughter?" Vince asks.

"Are you really that stupid, Charlie?" a fourth man laughs, "Not only would Gordon's brat draw the Cat's attention more, but Maroni was planning on using her for ransom later! Can you imagine how much money we'd get for the spoiled brat?"

"You know, Charlie," Vince chuckles, "sometimes I wonder if you even know how to put on your shoes…"

"Shut up, Vince!"

I back away from the door as I hear someone land a punch.

Barbara looks up at me nervously.

"It's going to be okay." I whisper. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if that's true… I can probably manage to sneak us out of here, but if we get caught, I am not going to be able to put up a fight against five overgrown thugs. I've fought one of Maroni's thugs before, and if I remember correctly, I barely managed to take him down. And he was one of the smaller thugs…

"Wait here." I whisper back to Barbara, "When I give the signal, run towards the exit as fast as you can."

"What's the signal?" Barbara asks.

I do a sort of flick with my head, then look back at her, "Got it?"

Barbara nods.

I walk a few steps towards the open door and pause. I turn to look at Barbara, expecting someone to already have their hands on her, but she is alone and fine. I turn back to the door and snap my fingers. My whip appears draped over my hand. Grasping the handle, I flick it towards the exit. It snaps around the doorknob and wraps around it a couple times. I do my little head flick and hear Barbara running up behind me. As soon as she runs past me, I yank the whip and the door flies open. I run to the exit just as the door to the room full of thugs bursts open.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BITCHES!" Vince screams, charging after us.

Right after I run out of the door, I kick it closed behind me, hitting the faces of some of Vince and two other thugs with a sickening crunch.

When I catch up to Barbara, I grab her and put her on my back, piggy-back style. She clings to me with all the strength she has. I keep running until I reach a clearing with several industrial buildings that seem very out of place. I flick the whip up to one of the eves of a building and swing up, landing safely on its roof. After setting Barbara down, she runs behind one of the air conditioning vents so she is out of view, as I hide myself behind another.

We stare at each other with wide eyes as we hear angry shouts from below. They don't seem to know we're up here though, because soon the voices disappear into the distance. Peaking around the corner inch by inch, I make sure the coast is clear before picking up Barbara again.

"What do we do now, Catwoman?" She asks as we swing back to the ground.

I set her down and tilt my head in thought, clapping my hands to make the whip disappear again.

"Bruce!" I shout, remembering the tracker he gave me.

Barbara looks puzzled, "What?"

"Uh, never mind… I have tracker that should notify Batman to come and get us."

Barbara smirks, "So you do work with Batman!

"Huh? Oh,…yeah." I say. I slide my claws into the tool belt, unlocking it, and press each of the compartments to find the tracker. As the compartments open, I find myself still amazed at how so much can fit into them. After digging through each compartment—finding stranger and stranger tools with each one—I finally find something that looks awfully like one of those Help, I've fallen and I can't get up! buttons. I press the button repeatedly and wait. I turn to Barbara, "You can go ahead and sit down; this may take a while."

Barbara sighs and sits down, I sit down beside her.

"Why don't you take off your mask?" she asks.

"I have to protect my identity. I can't let people know who I am."

"Why?"

"Let's just say I wasn't liked very much when I was your age."

"Oh… What's in your belt?"

"Just stuff to help me fight." I say, putting away the tracker and sealing the belt once more.

"Can I see your whip?" Barbara asks.

I snap my fingers and let her examine it, "How does it disappear and come back like that?" She asks, handing it back to me.

"I'm not really sure to be honest." I say, pondering it myself. "It was just a gift, so I don't know much about it."

"Oh." Barbara stares off, "Why did you become a superhero?"

I open my mouth to answer, when I realize, I barely know the reason myself. I sigh, "To be honest, I really don't have a major reason for turning to heroics. The way it really started out was just to learn how to defend myself, but I guess somewhere along the way I realized I could be using my skills to fight other problems. I mean, yeah, the things I've gone through had an effect on my decisions in the end, but there was never really just one thing that made me put on the mask."

She looks at me and smiles, "Someday, I want to be just like you and Batman."

I glance at her, "Well kid, not that this city doesn't need more heroes, but I wouldn't exactly advise our line of work."

She frowned, "Why?"

"The world's a dangerous place full of dangerous people, and when you work the way I do, you have to face the worst of those people. I'm just not sure you're meant for that world."

Barbara sighs and rests her chin on her hand, "Fine."

I don't want to discourage the kid, but she's got her whole life ahead of her, she doesn't need to risk it by choosing to do what Bruce and I do.

We wait for about thirty minutes when I realize no one is coming. Either Bruce is ignoring me, or the alert didn't work.

Barbara pulls her knees against her chest, "Where's Batman?" she asks, her head resting on her arms.

"Dunno." I stare around the area, "Looks like I'm going to have to call for someone else."

She looks at me, "Who?"

"Cats."

She gives me a puzzled look.

"Oh, didn't you know?" I smile, "I can talk to cats."

She gets an excited little twinkle in her eyes, "Coooooool! I didn't know you could talk to cats, I only thought you dressed like one.

I chuckle, "Oh I do more than just dress like them." I wink. "Okay, you might wanna cover your ears; this is gonna be loud."

Barbara quickly puts her fingers in her ears.

I raise my head towards the sky, "HELP!" I meow at the top of my lungs. "HELP!" I yowl again, even louder than before.

Barbara pulls her fingers out of her ears, "That is so awesome!"

I smirk to myself. Who knew speaking to animals was considered "awesome"…

It doesn't take long before about a dozen cats come running at us from all directions, all meowing things like, "Who are you?" "What's going on?" "Are you all right?" "Are you hurt?" "What's the matter?"

"Quiet!" I say to them. All the cats stop talking and stare up at me. "I need your help."

One gray cat steps forward out of the group, "If I may ask, what is it you need help with?" it asks politely.

"We are lost and we need to know how to get back to the Midtown area. Do any of you know how to get there?" I reply

All of the cats say no, except one tiny white cat at the back of the group. "I—I know." It says quietly.

"Can you show us the way?"

The cat nods, "Follow me."

The white cat walks towards me and goes between my legs. Barbara and I turn and walk behind him. Seeing that they weren't needed, the other cats stay behind and head back to where they came from.

The little white cat leads us back into the woods were we had come from, "Um, could we avoid that place?" I say, pointing in the distance to the building Maroni's thugs had held us in.

"That place? Oh, of course… The people who stay there are scary." he says quietly.

We walk for in silence for a while, and barely breathe as we pass the house. When we are completely out of earshot from the building, I look down at the tiny cat, "What's your name little one? Where're you from?"

"I'm—I'm Perciet." he says timidly, "My brother and I live on the n-north-west side of Midtown."

"Great." I smile, "I live around that area."

Perciet nudges his head forward, "L-let's go then… My brother will be mad if I don't get home soon."

"We'll go to your place first then."

"Okay." He mews.

As we walk, Barbara looks up at me, "Where are we going? What were you guys talking about?"

"Well, we are heading back into Midtown where Perciet—the little cat—lives. Then we're going back to my place."

Barbara grins, "I'm going to see where you live?" she asks.

"Mhm."

"Do you live with a lot of cats?"

"Yep."

"Yay! I love cats!... Will you take off your mask when we get there?"

I pause, "Maybe…"

Pretty soon we are out of the woods and on a road I kind of recognize.

"Do you recognize this street?" Perciet asked.

"Not really. I don't usually stray this far away from the north-west side." I say, puzzled. I know that street, I just can't remember why.

All of a sudden, I'm thrown into a flashback.