Chapter 10: The Catbird Seat
The ballroom was in chaos, with guests chattering anxiously about the chilling message that had appeared on their phones. As Joseph stood shell shocked, Damian placed a steadying hand on his shoulder.
"Just breathe, we'll figure this out," Damian said in a low voice meant only for Joseph.
But Joseph hardly seemed to register Damian's words, his eyes darting around the room frantically. "Who was that? How did they access all our phones?" he muttered, panic creeping into his voice.
Damian, in an attempt to feign ignorance about the news and generally anything that occurred outside the Wayne Manor or Wayne Enterprises walls, tried to reassure him. "It was probably just some hacker looking to cause trouble, make a name for himself."
Joseph wrenched away from Damian's grasp, a paranoid glint in his eyes. "No…no it was Matthew's killer. Had to be. But why come after me…with such lies?"
His eyes settled on Rose, and like that, a lightbulb seemed to flash in his mind.
"You did this, didn't you?" he asked, simmering rage evident in his voice.
Rose placed a hand on her chest, her face showing clear offense at the accusation. "Me? Oh please, Joseph. I resent that. You grossly overestimate how threatened I feel by you, which is not one bit."
"Admit it Rose, you're trying to sabotage my campaign!" Joseph yelled, vitriol plaguing his voice.
"Joseph, you need to calm down," Damian urged, growing concerned by his friend's frayed state.
But Joseph was already backing away, shaking his head vehemently. His eyes darted around at the crowd, many of them watching him with worried, judging eyes. "I need to get out of here. I need to think."
Before Damian could stop him, Joseph stumbled towards the exit, pushing through confused guests until he reached the doors. Retrieving his coat, Joseph rushed out into the night, leaving the fundraiser in disarray behind him.
Damian watched helplessly as Joseph fled. He knew exactly where Joseph was headed - back to his office, where he always felt in control. Damian considered going after him, but hesitated, deciding Joseph needed space to process what had just occurred. He realized their mission to reshape Gotham suddenly faced a grave new danger. And if they couldn't discover the source of this scheme against Joseph soon, his promising young vision for the city would be destroyed before it even began.
Under the cover of night, a slender black figure slipped through a window at the District Attorney's office. The figure was feminine, dressed in a sleek leather jumpsuit, with a mask covering her face. The mask itself had ears, making an unmistakable similar appearance to that of a cat. Creeping through the dim, empty suite, Sabrina made her way straight to Joseph's private office. Part of her had wanted to stick around at the chaotic fundraiser, just to see how everything turned out for Joseph, but she had a job to do and Falcone paid her well.
Once inside of his private office, she took a moment to look around. She noted his law degree framed on the wall, as well a picture of him and his mother on his desk. Sabrina picked up the small framed picture and ran a gloved finger over it slightly. She remembered meeting Mrs. Dent during her tenure in college. Gilda was a nice woman, Sabrna only hoped that she would never see the video from the fundraiser. Shaking the thought loose, Sabrina placed the picture back down on the desk. She had to focus.
Booting up his computer, Sabrina connected a flash drive and started copying select confidential files—case details, notes on Gotham's crime network, and most importantly, any information on the Diana Wayne Memorial Hospital. She hoped this intel would satisfy Falcone, at least for now. Just as the transfer completed, Sabrina heard the main office door open. Her eyes darted around to find anywhere that could suffice as a hiding spot.
Joseph entered the office, appearing quite disheveled. He grabbed at his tie, loosening it in an aggressive fashion before plopping down behind his desk. Outside of the window behind him, Sabrina hung on the windowsill. She pocketed the flash drive in a pouch on her belt as she peered at him through the window, for just a moment. Her heart dropped seeing him so visibly shaken.
Joseph sat back in the chair, his head in his hands. After a moment, he straightened up and began poring over documents, clearly desperate for a distraction. Sabrina pulled herself up and scaled the side of the building in order to reach the roof. Once there, she silently chastised herself. She couldn't afford mental slip ups, any dwelling on past history between Joseph and herself, not if she wanted the money she was promised.
On the rooftop of a nearby building, overlooking the District Attorney's office, stood Batman. His eyes narrowed at the sight of the figure. He had a hunch on who they, or should he confidently say, she was.
"I was right to follow Joseph," he said, seemingly to himself. After a few seconds, Julia's calm, nonchalant voice piped in through his cowl.
"He didn't get into a car crash, did he?" she asked.
Batman shook his head. "No, he has a guest at his office. One that I doubt he knew was even there."
From his point of view, he saw the black clad figure take off across the roof and leap to an adjacent rooftop. Batman gritted his teeth and turned to jump towards another rooftop himself as he began pursuit.
"Well speaking of guests, the last of them have left the Manor. It's bad form not to see them out yourself, y'know," Julia commented in a tone that left Damian imagining the snarky smile that was likely on her face.
"Even so, they'll be back for the next party," he said as he jumped off the roof. Spreading his arms out, his cape expanded, allowing him to glide through the air towards the figure.
Sabrina vaulted over an air conditioning unit and leapt to the side of a larger building. She quickly hopped up at a fire escape in short bursts before maneuvering to the roof. Before she could head completely across, she heard the sounds of heavy boots landing behind her. Whirling around, her eyes briefly widened at the sight. Batman stood up straight, his eyes practically boring right into her soul.
"You picked the wrong criminal to pattern yourself after," he said in his usual dark, gruff voice.
Sabrina gave a confident smirk as claws extended from her gloved fingers.
"I'd say it's been working pretty well for me," she said, a challenging glint in her eye.
"Until now. Why were you in Dent's office?" Batman asked—no, demanded.
"Wouldn't you like to know," she purred coyly. With lightning speed, she lashed out, raking her claws at Batman's chest. His honed reflexes allowed him to grab her wrist before impact, leaving the two momentarily still as their eyes locked. Without breaking the gaze, Catwoman swept Batman's legs out from underneath him. Once he hit the ground with a small thud, Catwoman brought her leg up high in the air, showing her flexible nature, and brought it down with an attempt to drive her heel into Batman's chest. The Dark Knight was quick to roll out of the way and push himself back up to his feet.
Wasting no time, Catwoman closed in and threw several kicks aimed at Batman's body and head, but Damian was quick enough to block and parry each attempt. With lightning speed, the burglar changed tactics. She pulled a whip from her belt and flicked her wrist, sending it curling dangerously at Batman's feet. Taking a step back, his eyes narrowed.
Of course she had a whip. New cat, same tricks.
The thief regained her composure and swung the whip towards Batman once more, this time it was aimed directly at his face. Getting his arm up, the whip wrapped around his protective gauntlet. He jerked his arm back, pulling Catwoman towards him and causing her to lose her balance. As she stumbled towards him, Catwoman executed a seamless roll through, and launched herself to try and slash at Batman with her claws. He grabbed her by the wrist, stopping the claws mere inches from his face, and maneuvered to lock her arm in place behind her, while placing his free arm under her chin.
"This is your last chance. Why were you in Dent's office? What did you steal?" Batman asked with a low growl.
Catwoman struggled against his grip as she inclined her head to look at him. "I see you like to play rough. I guess they don't call you dark for nothing."
Without saying a single word, Batman increased the pressure on her arm, and pushed his arm harder up under her chin.
"Alright…fine. I'm just the hired help, nothing personal," she breathed out. "I was paid by a deeply interested party to gain access to some of Dent's files."
"Who?" Batman pressed.
"Telling you that information," she began, as she reached down into her belt with her free hand to grab two smoke pellets between her fingers. "Would be bad for business."
She dropped the pellets at Batman's feet. They burst open, spewing thick smoke that caused Batman to release his grip on her. It wasn't everyday that he was on the other end of a smoke attack, and it showed. Slipping out of harm's way, Catwoman ran towards the edge of the roof and dove off. Unfortunately for her, it would take more than smoke to slow Batman down. He quickly ran through the choking cloud and stopped at the edge of the roof. As Catwoman fell through the air, Batman shot his grappling gun down at her, which wrapped around her ankle and halted her fall.
Sabrina looked up, sucking her teeth and rolling her eyes. "This isn't how you go about getting a girl's number."
He retracted the line, which slowly pulled her up towards him.
"I still have questions, and you're going to answer them."
Using her core strength, Sabrina sat up so that she could look Batman more clearly in the eye. "It's really all in the delivery. Work on that, and you might just get what you're after."
With a swift swipe, she used her claws to cut through the grapple line. The move was unexpected, even though it really shouldn't have been. Biting back a curse, Batman watched as she disappeared into the night. Clenching his fist, he made a mental promise to track down the daring thief. She was clearly a pawn in whatever elaborate game was being played at the expense of Gotham's crime families, and now Joseph as well. If there was one thing Damian hated, it was unnecessary variables.
"A new Catwoman, hm? Please tell me you won't repeat your father's mistake and fu-"
"Julia," Damian said with clear annoyance in his voice. He stared up at the bat Computer screen with his arms crossed. On it was an image of Catwoman, taken by Damian's contact lenses, connected to several other images. Maroni, Falcone, Matthew Thorne, the Burnley Freight Yards, and even Joseph.
Julia stood beside him, her eyes scanning over the images and the various arrows weaving in between them, giving possible connections. "Just having a bit of fun at your expense, is all."
Damian rubbed his chin in frustration as the night's events weighed heavily on his mind. Not only did the fundraiser end in a less than ideal fashion, but the integration of a new party in the already complex web that began with Dr. Thorne's death was a headache he hadn't anticipated.
"I don't suppose this new Catwoman gave away her real name or showed her face during your rooftop tango?" Julia asked dryly.
Damian shook his head. "If only it was that easy," he replied. He zoomed in on the catlike masked face. "She's a trained fighter, that much was obvious. The suit was custom, military grade, the type of material Selina Kyle used once she stopped being an amateur, or so that's what father told me."
"So she's connected to Selina in some way? A child maybe?" Julia suggested.
Damian narrowed his eyes, his thoughts rushing back to the fundraiser. "Joseph introduced me to a Sabrina Kyle back at the fundraiser. Apparently they were friends from college."
Julia raised an eyebrow. "So she's our cat?"
Damian turned to her. "The moment I heard her last name, it crossed my mind. In fact, it weighed heavily on it. She left right before Thorne's killer made his statement-"
Then it hit him.
Damian's fists clenched as the realization permeated his mind. "She infiltrated the fundraiser to spy for him. Joseph doesn't even see it."
On the computer, Julia took the initiative of drawing a connection between Sabrina and Dr. Thorne's mystery killer.
"Well, now that that's all cleared up, what do you plan to do?" Julia asked.
Damian crossed his arms as he stared at the monitor, planning his next move mentally. "I'll talk to her, see if she slips up in any way. I'll also take a DNA sample so I can compare it to Selina's."
Julia smiled wryly. "What if in doing that, you find out you're related?"
Damian turned, striding with purpose towards the elevator. "Don't make jokes like that, Julia. They're absurd."
Falcone Penthouse - 9:45 PM
Sabrina strode confidently into Falcone's office, her heels clicking against the floor with each step. Underneath her fashionable clothes, she was still buzzing with adrenaline from her encounter with Batman earlier in the night.
"Sabrina," Falcone greeted her warmly from behind his desk. He had a half empty drink in hand that he took a sip from.
"I have what you requested, straight from Dent's private files. If there's anything for you to use against him, it's all on here," Sabrina said smoothly, handing over the flash drive.
Falcone took the flash drive with a satisfied grin. "With what I heard went down at that fundraiser, I might not even need to bother. Excellent work nonetheless." He reclined back, twisting the flash drive in between his fingers. "If he gets past the shit that guy stirred up and continues his campaign, hopefully we have the leverage to keep his self-righteous crusade in check."
Sabrina gave a coy smile. "I aim to please. If need be, I could…continue to feed you information. Joseph seems quite happy to have me around."
A small, delighted smile formed on Falcone's face. He let out a chuckle as he gestured to Sabrina. "You see that, that's why I like you Sabrina. You know how to take the initiative. I knew you were the perfect woman for the job."
Sabrina beamed under the praise.
"Let me know if you need anything else," Sabrina purred as she turned to leave.
"Keep an eye on your bank account, you'll be handsomely rewarded for this," Falcone called after her.
Sabrina smirked as she walked out of the office, her heels clicking along the floor once more. The perks of working for Falcone were exactly as one would imagine. Despite whatever conflicted feelings she had about hurting Joseph, she had her own interests to protect for now. All she had to do was remain on Falcone's good side until it was no longer beneficial. Little did he know that beneath the charming facade of her loyalty, were the claws of a cat lying in wait.