Selina Kyle awoke from a deep sleep to hear her phone ringing. Normally she wouldn't get out of bed after an excruciating night of raiding Falcone's stash of illegal drugs and setting it all on fire. But this call was made to her "emergency" number. Only a few, very special people in her life had it.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that it was Dick Grayson. The first though that crossed her mind was "is Bruce ok?". But nothing could have prepared her for what she heard. Dick told her, while trying to hold back sobs, that Jason was no more. That Joker killed him. That his own mother had betrayed him to that monster. And that Bruce wasn't letting anyone comfort him.
"Selina, Bruce isn't talking to anyone." He's locked himself away. Selina I'm worried he might.....Please just come see him."
Selina didn't need to be told twice. After wiping the tears from her face, she got dressed and drove to the manor. She had to make an effort to force herself not to picture Jason's innocent face. His beautiful, impish smile, his excitement every time she took him to Pete's for burgers. She needed to be strong. For Bruce. For the man she loved. For the man who gave his all to his city and paid for it by having his heart ripped out.
The manor door was opened by Alfred Pennyworth. His eyes filled up the moment he saw Selina. She immediately put her arms around him. She said nothing, because what can one possibly say at a time like this? She simply let him cry and let her own tears flow as well.
She felt Dick's gentle hand on her shoulder. He knew that Selina loved Jason. So did Barbara Gordon who helped Alfred into a chair. Selina only asked "where is he?".
"Down in the Cave." Dick told her.
Selina immediately set off not knowing in what state she would find her love.
She knocked on the door of the chamber that she knew He would be in. The one closest to the river. The one that was Jason's favourite.
After several minutes of banging on the door and pleading with Bruce, he finally opened up. The first thing Selina noticed was the blood. Jason's blood on his neck, his chest, his arms. And the haunted look in his eyes.
"You don't have to go through this alone, Bruce", Selina told him as he fell to his knees. She tried to comfort him as best as she could, "I'm right here for you. We all are. You can let it all out. I won't let this defeat you. I promise." Yet, even as the words came out of her mouth, she had no idea how she was going to do that. How could she possibly heal his wound.
As Jason's coffin was being lowered into the ground, surrounded by those who loved him, Selina Kyle was there too. Right next to Bruce Wayne. She held his hand in hers and could tell that he had....hardened somehow. Bruce seemed miles away. The man who chased her on the rooftops, bantered with her and loved her in spite of everything was slipping away.
In the days that followed, Bruce only drifted further and further away. From Selina and from his friends and family. At first they all left him to his devices, hoping he would let them in when he was ready. But it never came. With each day, his face grew a little more stoic. His demeanour, more callous. Selina tried to get him to speak to her. But he rejected every one of her attempts with a coldness she hadn't seen in him before. She learned from Alfred that he was now spending all of his free time in Jason's room. Desperate to be close to the things that had once been close to his son.
It wasn't Bruce's coldness that tormented Selina. It was his pain. And the thoughts of what had been done to her Little Bird. It took all of her mental strength to not dwell on what his last moments must have been like. She only hoped that Bruce was able to do the same.
For the immediate future, Catwoman's singular goal was to hunt down and punish the monster who took Jason from them. And she knew exactly where to start.
Harley Quinn. Joker's "girlfriend" and glorified punching bag. Selina had tried to help her in the past. To convince her to get away from him. But on this night, she had only one question for her. And she would not relent until she had her answer.
Harley tried to play dumb. She told Catwoman she had no idea where "Mr J" was. Even as Catwoman's blows caused her to be tossed all over the place. At long last, she couldn't take anymore and revealed the Joker's whereabouts only to get the beating to stop. "HE'S IN NEW YORK!! HE'S IN NEW YORK!!" came the blood curdling scream.
"Don't warn him." Catwoman told her, before leaping out the window "if you warn him, I'll know. I'll come back for you. And when I do, there will be no talking." The venom in her voice sending a shiver down Harley's spine.
Now that she knew the scum's location, Catwoman just needed to set a trap. It took weeks before an opportunity presented itself. Batman would be busy, working with the Justice League to foil one of Lex Luthor's plans for world domination. Catwoman already had a plan, and was just looking for the right moment to set it in motion.
Rokko was a low life. He was good at two things - shooting guns and beating up prostitutes. Once, a key member of Joker's gang, he had fallen out of favour with the Clown Prince of Crime following a series of failures. The reason he had escaped with his life was only because Joker had decided to skip town. He was smart enough to lay low for a while, however, he could not resist the lure of a vulnerable looking, scantily clad young woman standing all by herself on a lonely street. Rokko hadn't painted his knuckles with a woman's blood in so long. This just seemed perfect.
Unfortunately for Rokko, his fun was over before it could begin. As Holly Robinson quickly knocked him out with a well placed blow. When he came to, his head hurt like hell. As his vision cleared, he saw Catwoman standing right in front of him. Rokko's first instinct was to flee. But that wasn't an option, for he was chained to a chair. He decided begging would be wise. It wasn't.
Catwoman drew her claws millimetres away from Rokko's eyes.
"Stop your pathetic sniveling" she growled "Now, you're going to do exactly what I tell you to. That is if you want to stay in one piece. Nod if you understand."
Rokko nodded. And Catwoman continued, "You're going to go to New York and tell Joker that you've captured the Batman. Tell him it's your gift to him. That you're holding the Bat in the abandoned Ace Chemicals building."
She pulled a cape and cowl with Bat ears attached, out of a bag. "Give this to him. It'll convince him." She said before bending down and looking straight into the terrified man's eyes "And Rokko, if you happen to fail in this endeavor, I'm going to hang you off of a building by your intestines. Got it?"
Rokko only nodded frantically. He took the cape and cowl and set off to follow Catwoman's orders. His worthless existence came to an end when the Joker shot him right between the eyes as soon as he was done talking.
Joker's ego and his fanatical obsession with the Batman was something Catwoman was well aware of, and hadn't mentioned to Rokko.
Now, on this cold January night she was poised to pounce.
Joker and about a dozen of his henchmen entered the decrepit old building. On seeing the familiar silhouette of the Batman hanging from a ceiling, the Clown went wild with rage. He barked at his men to cut the Bat down. His rage was replaced with confusion when he realized that it was actually a dummy. He only had enough time to realise that he'd been fooled when a long whip took the guns out of all of his men's hands. A slender, dark figure knocked them all out in no time before doing the same to their boss.
Joker woke up on the rooftop of the building. He now fully realized what had happened and burst into mad cackles. "YOU SET A TRAP FOR ME KITTY!! YOU..... YOU ACTUALLY GOT ME!!! AND NICE TOUCH WITH THE CAPE AND....". Before he could ramble any further, the clown's right cheek was cut open with a set of titanium claws.
"Before you die Joker, I need you to know that you killing Robin is what led to this." Catwoman herself was surprised at how eerily calm her voice sounded.
"Ahhhh yes!! Your baby bird!!" the madman taunted "you gonna avenge his death mommy?"
"SHUT UP!!" Catwoman screamed before proceeded to inflict deep cuts all over the Joker's body. She would bleed him out with a thousand cuts. The clown tried to escape but with a powerful kick, she dislocated his knee cap. She worked with cold, clinical precision as she slowly sliced up the Joker's flesh. Just as he was starting to lose a satisfactory amount of blood, a pair of strong hands grabbed her and pulled her away from her prey.
It was Batman, accompanied by Nightwing.
"NO! BATMAN! You can stop me now!! He needs to die! Please!! Please don't stop me!" She begged and pleaded, as Nightwing checked if the Joker was still alive. He was, though barely conscious.
"This won't bring him back." Batman told her firmly.
"I don't care!" Catwoman retorted, "he needs to suffer. You know he does."
"I can't allow this Catwoman. You know I can't. You know me."
Batman maintained his stoic exterior, but just under the surface, Selina could see his pain. Just as she could see his eyes begging her not to kill. To honor his code. That if he saw her, the woman he loved, take a life it would truly break him. She couldn't proceed with her plans anymore. She couldn't cause him any more pain.
She said nothing as Nightwing took Joker away.
"How did you find out?" Catwoman finally asked.
"One of my sources in New York told me how Rokko was killed. And I found out from Alfred that one of my capes was missing from the Cave. I figured it had to be you."
"I'm sorry" Selina whispered "I just wanted to.... that monster took Jason from us. I just...." she began to cry.
Batman said nothing. He simply put his arm around her. For the first time in over a month, he held her close and accepted the comfort of her embrace. They stayed locked in each other's arms for a long time. In those moments, they were like two wounded animals. A Bat and a Cat holding each other on a lonely rooftop.
