It was another night in Gotham. I had just met up Uncle Croc, he had just gotten a new tail, super cool. He had been helping my friend Banshee, using the underground tunnels, a lot of metas have been hiding down there. As much to hid from the good guys as the bad ones. In the eyes of the so called super heros those with powers who didn't become heros might as well be villains, and most of them just want a normal life.
I was watching this city official who had been falsifying low income housing documents, kicking out poor residents but keeping their names on the lease and then selling the apartments and collecting full rent and also keeping the government subsidies to help pay the not evicted poor person's rent. Selina had been trying to track him down for weeks, but he was always either in the police station or with his police officer girlfriend. Tonight he had gone by himself to one of the section 8 housing places he was using to commit fraud. Big mistake.
It was well out of the way of the main part of the city, but I didn't want to take any chances of him using the metro station two blocks down to disappear, so I had watching using a three camera set up on the other adjacent rooftops. Croc had given me the names of the management of this building. I glanced down at the rotating camera views, I need to find the angle that gave me a view of their meeting. I didn't know which manager was dirty or if they all were, I just didn't want to give the government any unnecessary ammunition to shut down the housing projects, just enough to take down the scammers.
I was so tired, normally Selina would be out here with me, but she had to lay low. She had gotten into some deep shit with Scarecrow's goons a week ago, she had a broken arm, a couple fractured ribs, and concussion, I had a black eye, some bruises, and busted lip from pulling her out. He had been trying to vent some toxic gas into the underground. I had been up here for a couple hours, I frowned, and winced as the motion re-split my lip and the taste of blood filled my mouth. The pain was good it kept me awake.
I heard a sarcastic laugh through my earpiece from the cameras. Fuck fuck fuck, there was no way. I saw the stupid red, green and yellow colors of bird boy. He and B-man were down the street, next to one of the houses I had my equipment on, at a brothel. Most likely breaking up some drug rings. If my bad guy heard that they were down the street there would be no way he'd be careless enough to give me rope to hang him with. Too bad, tonight was a bust, wouldn't want to get caught here by the dynamic do-oh. I had a couple grand worth of stolen jewelry sitting in my waist bags. I moved to the first surveillance set up. I had gotten first set of my claws recently, grabbing them from where they were tucked into my waistband. I flexed and flicked my wrist, letting the sharp pieces of carbon fiber and steel slip from their hiding place, using them to pry the adhesive I had used to secure the setup, I did this to the four others. Folding them into a backpack.
I sat up on the largest building, trying to decide where the heroes had gotten to. The last thing I wanted to do was get in their way. I flexed my new claws in between the bricks. I could feel the reassuring weight of my whip, and the sheath of my knife was pressing from my hip into the back of my ankle as I crouched. If it's one thing I have learned in Gotham over the past two years it would be moving before you know your environment was almost as lethal as hesitating was you start moving. I heard the crunch of the roof's gravel behind me a millisecond before I felt the hand on my shoulder. Spinning I saw him. Robin.
"What the hell do you want?" My voice was slightly lisped from from the swollen and busted lip that refused to function normally. His eyes widened at my appearance, I could only imagine what I looked like to him, I had purple bruises around my jaw and nice set of them on my shoulders too.
Batman came into view from the shadows of the roof. "Where is Catwoman?"
His eyes narrowed at me, god if he didn't piss me off so much I would almost feel relieved to see him. At least if Batman and Robin was around I didn't have to worry about the other thugs in this part of town. I felt my chest puff up in response to his tone, and winced as my ribs protested.
"Why the hell do you care?" I tried to say, but it came out a lot more like "whydahellduyucare" great now I sound like an idiot.
"This is important."
"Well jeeh Bats I guess if it's important I should just tell you." I glared him. I had been staying with Ivy for the past couple days Selina had needed to go to the hospital. I took her to one in Metropolis because I didn't want anyone accidentally recognizing her. Batman maybe one of the good guys, but I am don't think I'd trust him about as far as I could throw him. If I remember the building opposite this one had a terrace. I spun and jumped, over shot the landing a little bit, so I caught the side of the building with my shoulder. My jacket caught the brunt of it so minimal scraps. I turned again to grab the railing and fall the remaining two stories to the top of a dumpster, rolling and recovering. I ran, I could hear them landing behind me. I just had to get to the metro, from there the tunnel to the underground.
Robin dropped down in front of me and swiped my legs out from under me. I pitched forward, I pulled in, bringing my arms up to protect my head. I slid, felt the bruises on my ribs scream. Banging my lip on my arm I really resplit the thing now, the blood dripped down my face.
"Seriously, we just want to talk to her." Rob said from somewhere behind me. I could see the glow of the metro lights around the corner. Damn I was so close.
"And I am very seriously not going to tell you."
"I don't have time for this." Batman picked me up by the back of my jacket, I braced to be hit, but he just set me on my feet. He grabbed me by my shoulders and shook. "Tell me where she is."
I shut my mouth, and had to resist to urge to spit. I ground my teeth and glared. "Why the hell do you care?"
"We are just worried." Rob said, he tried to pull Batman's hand off me.
"The last time I saw her she was in pretty rough shape, but she was alive."
"But where was she." He was doing that growling thing that made me want to strangle him. But my arms were way too short to reach him.
"Why should I trust you?" This time I did spit on him. Fuck him.
"We know that Catwoman and Crane are fighting, and we know that Crane destroyed one of Catwoman's sanctuaries last, but she hasn't done anything to respond. We think he went after her for a reason. We think she knows something."
"You guys are a little slow on the draw, that's been over."
"What did Crane want?" Oh great growly Batman is back.
"What do you think he wanted? Something we had obviously, he took it, but you know Selina isn't great about sharing, so I have no idea what it was." I coughed, the taste of blood was rancid. When Rob put a hand on my shoulder, my glare softened. The many times me and Rob had fought, it had never been serious, I had never really tried to hurt him, more often than not we would just tire out. We used to spare while Catwoman and Batman had ran farther and faster than me and him could keep up with. They would either come back together or one of them would and then one of us would have to go looking for our respective adult that was most likely tied up on a rooftop somewhere. Somewhere down the line we stopped fighting. As soon as they started their little dance, we would sit down and watch. He had become my friend.
"Listen, K, we really are just worried about her. What have you been doing since she's out of commision?" He was being kind, and that made me very angry. I didn't want his kindness, I didn't want their pity, I wanted them to do their damn jobs. If Crane hadn't gotten out of arkham, Selina would never have gotten hurt.
"What? Could I come stay with you?" I sneered at him, I knew I was being mean, but I couldn't help it I was hurt.
I ran from them and got to the metro right as a train was pulling out. Once it was clear I ran down the tracks til a service entrance came into view. Pulling through it, you have to be careful here, Croc bashed holes through the landings so he could fit. I had to get out my whip to climb down into the monsters den. I heard the growling as soon as I came through the door, but as soon a Croc smelled me he stopped.
"Hey little Cat. Bats follow you down?"
"Nope, hey CW wanted me to give you these." I pulled out the anti-psychotics, I had stolen from the hospital.
"Thanks little Cat, you tell her I said so. Scarecrow get her that bad huh?" Everything he said was overlaid with that hiss growl noises his disfigured jaw made as he talked.
"Yea, but I got her out of town so she's good. Eh I am staying with Ivy, you seen her today?"
"Yea I think Riddler was paying her a visit."
Crap that means I won't be stay there for at least a week. I chew on the inside of my mouth. Well I guess I am just gonna have to go home, even though I knew it wasn't safe to return. I waved goodbye to Croc, and ran down the access tunnel until I reached another access point to the metro.
Getting home Isis weaved around my ankles. I went upstairs to my room, a smallish room with a walk in closet. My bed was just a big king mattress on the floor with tons of pillows, comforters, and blankets, I pulled my leather jacket off and threw it in my closet. Placing my backpack on a set of hooks, I pulled out my control pad and placed all the data I collect along with my own notes into the folder with the rest of the info I had gathered. I ran back down stairs to Selina's big master bath, all my toiletries were still at Ivy's. After getting all cleaned up I got to use Selly's robe, she would kill me if she saw me in her favorite robe. Using her hairbrush I sat down at her sink, it was so weird to be back without her. Being lost in thought distracted me.
When a knock on the bathroom door pulled me out of my thoughts. I reached under the counter, and sure enough there was a gun.
"Selina is that you?"