Disclaimer: So my people are talking to DC's people...oh wait, that would be if I had people. Sigh. This means I own nothing except for my OCs.
AN: Best part of not being in school anymore? I now have time to work on this and various other stories on my computer. Enjoy!
Chapter Four: School House Rock
"…She's on the job nearly every night, even during the school year. She's dedicated, I'll give you that," Bruce concluded over a breakfast of muffins and coffee.
"Sounds like you admire her," teased Babs as she played with what was left of her muffin and gave her mentor a wry half-smile.
"In a way I do," conceded Bruce. "There was no way I was ready to combat crime night after night when I was her age. To be already fighting crime, not to mention protecting this city in the state it's in, with no real mentor is amazing. I don't know if even you or Dick could have…" Bruce trailed off, looking away.
Babs reached across the table. "Bruce, you need to forgive yourself. There's nothing you could have done. There was no way you could have known that they would have gone after Dick."
Bruce gave a self-deprecating chuckle. "I'm the world's greatest detective. I should know these things. Damn it Babs, it's been almost five years and I still haven't been able to find out what those bastards did to him. I don't know if he's dead or alive."
"I'm sorry you feel that way." Both of them were silent for a few moments as Alfred came in to clear away the dishes with a sad look on his face. He hated it when Master Bruce began to dwell on poor Master Richard. It only made him more depressed and more likely to shut out Alfred.
As Alfred left, Bruce looked at Babs. "There's one other person besides Puma you should watch out for when you're patrolling the city. She's new. Goes by the name of Huntress. She appeared over the summer and seems to be going after the Five Families in particular. Unlike Puma, I have a good idea who she might be…"
Cat walked up the stairs to her school. All around her, she could hear the sounds of a new school year convening. From a first look, Cat was different from the rest of the people around her. Instead of the white, wealthy teenager one might expect from Belmont High, Cat was somewhat of an anomaly. A Latina, she stuck out like a sore thumb.
Cat's grandma had nearly sold an arm and a leg to get Cat into Belmont instead of her local high school by pushing her granddaughter academically and saving what she could to afford the tuition. Cat didn't know how this had happened and she didn't ask; sometimes it was best not too when Lita was concerned. Lita had been so proud that her daughter had won a merit scholarship to Belmont. Lita had always been there, before she had disappeared.
Cat mentally shook her head to get rid of those memories of her grandma and entered her school. Inside, the cacophony was somehow louder than it was outside, the sounds echoing off the walls and lockers. Cat made her way to her locker, where she met up with her one good friend Lisa.
"Don't look so down Cat, I'm sure your grandma will show up soon," Lisa counseled as they made their way to first period. Lisa was the only person who knew that Cat's grandma was missing and had kept it to herself so far. She didn't want to see her friend dragged off to a foster home when she knew Cat was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.
"I don't know Lisa, it's been over three months. I don't know where she is and I have absolutely no leads. All I know is that if this keeps up for much longer, I'm going to have to start forging her signature and find some little abuela to play her and somehow find the money to pay her," responded Cat gloomily as she opened the door to Room 23.
"Good morning ladies," said the teacher from behind the desk. She was young, in her mid twenties, with dark hair and eyes that had seen unspeakable tragedy. It was her eyes that caught Cat as she said good morning to her English teacher, a Ms. Helena Bertinelli. There was something resolute in there too, and something else that caught Cat by surprise. Lita would have told Cat that this Ms. Bertinelli had seen death and embraced it in more ways than one. Be careful with that one, Lita's voice came from Cat's memory. She may look innocent, but she's a killer. Mark my words. Cat shivered as she took her seat. She would be on her best behavior in English this year.
As the bell rang for the end of the day, Cat exhaled a sigh of relief and bolted towards the door. The first day of school was over. Now she just had to survive the rest of the year intact in this madhouse. Cat caught the bus to home and looked at her reading assignment again. She's chosen some interesting books for us to read this year, Cat though as she scanned the list. English this year was world literature, and such books as Crime and Punishment, Things Fall Apart, and One Hundred Years of Solitude were on the list.
Cat was still pondering the list when she reached her home. It was a nondescript brownstone house that had seen better days. Originally, it had been in one of the nicer parts of Gotham, but now it was in one of the seedier districts. Checking over her shoulder to make sure that no one was following her, Cat opened the door and entered her solitary home.
Ever since Lita had vanished three months ago, the house felt so empty. Cat's steps echoed in the silent house as she walked inside and put her bag down on an empty chair. Cat dropped her books on the counter and went through the mail, hoping that something would show up that would tell her where her grandma had gone.
Ever since Cat's mother had been murdered on Christmas Eve nearly ten years ago, Cat had lived with her grandmother. One of the first things they had done was to move from Mexico City, where Cat's aunt still lived, to Gotham, where Lita had said they would be safe. Safe from what Cat had yet to find out.
After finishing her homework in record time, Cat went down to the basement, where she kept her gear. Cat and Lita had constructed this place together and Cat had trained under her grandmother's eye for years before being deemed worthy a year and a half ago to start going around the city as Puma.
Cat began to check her gear for flaws; her grandmother's admonishments so ingrained in her mind that she did this without thinking. First her grappling hooks, then her lines. Everything had its order and Cat went through the check without really thinking. Not until she got to her uniform did she start to think about the woman she had met the night before.
"So we have a new vigilante in town," muttered Cat under her breath as she checked her black costume for any holes from the night before. She wondered if this was the old Batgirl all grown up. No one had seen or heard from the former crimefighter ever since the real Bat disappeared all those years ago. Where've you been hiding all of these years then? Cat thought as she made sure her costume was still intact. There had been a hint of an accent in her words, Spanish maybe, as if she'd been living abroad all these years. Whoever she was, she was the second new crimefighter within the last few months. Cat had yet to run into this Huntress, but it was only a matter of time. Gotham was relatively small when it came to crime, and Cat and Huntress seemed to be after the same sort of people.
Seeing that her gear was ready, Cat started to don her costume. Just because school had started didn't mean that she was going to start slaking.
The night was going fairly uneventfully so far. There had been a breaking and entering that Cat had broken up but nothing big so far. None of her sources had brought her any news of a new shipment from Jaguar, so the city was secure on that front, Cat decided as she watched the docks for any activity. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied a flash of purple run into the shadows of the building adjacent to the one she was on.
Cat moved quietly in the shadows, nearly falling off the roof when she saw who was behind that flash of purple. The Huntress stood before her, crouched and watching some men unload a shipment. Cat, deciding against interfering, watched silently as Huntress took down the men with crossbow bolts fired one after the other with a near deadly accuracy.
"Impressive isn't it?" came a familiar voice from behind Cat. Telling herself not to jump and chastising herself for allowing this to happen again, Cat looked over at Batwoman.
"So you're stalking me now, is that it?" she asked with a semi-surprised voice, while keeping one eye on Huntress. "How long before you think she notices us?"
"Oh, I think she already has," responded Batwoman, kneeling and gazing over the roof. "Right now, she's just showing off for us."
"Maybe we should introduce ourselves," remarked Cat, and before Batwoman could stop her, she jumped off the roof and landed behind Huntress. The woman took care of the last man before turning to face Cat.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded. "From what I know, you only work the Latin gangs, not the Mob."
"So it's a crime now to work more than one beat?" Cat countered as she took in the scene. "What's in the crate, drugs?"
"No, which is puzzling," responded the Huntress, as she finished tying up one of the men to a nearby light post. "My contact only said that this was a big shipment and that the Five Families have a lot riding on this. I don't know what could be bigger than drugs though," she added in a confused tone.
"So the Mob's expanding," observed Batwoman, who had come down from the rooftop to look into the case. "Let's take a look." With that, she expertly popped open one of the crates and looked inside. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed quietly, her eyes widening in surprise as she gazed at the mysterious cargo.
"What's that?" asked Huntress, looking into the crate, and then looking at Batwoman, equally surprised as the other woman. "Why are they shipping this? There's no value to it."
"Excuse me, but can you please tell me what's in the crate? You two are kinda hogging the view," growled Cat, impatient with the other two women.
Huntress and Batwoman looked at each other before Batwoman reached down and threw Cat a rock. "Examine that," she said curtly.
Cat looked at the rock, then looked at the two women in front of her, confusion in her eyes. "It's kryptonite. But Superman's been gone for years. Why would they need all of this? And where are they getting it from?" Neither woman had an answer for her.
