Will the real Selina Kyle please stand up? Chapter 3 : Talia al Ghul [A Catwoman Fanfiction]

For her first few years of knowing Selina Kyle, Talia struggled to understand how a man like Batman aka Bruce Wayne could possibly love a woman like Selina. The way she saw it, the two of them could not have been more dissimilar. Bruce was practically royal, the scion of one of the oldest and wealthiest dynasties in American history. Selina's lineage was unknown. From what Talia had learned, she may have been an illegitimate child born of adultry. Bruce grew up in luxury, rubbing shoulders with illustrious personalities, travelling the world to perfect his mind and his body. His last name alone commanded the respect of those around him. Selina, on the other hand, was orphaned as a child and grew up in abject poverty on the streets of Gotham. She had to steal in order to finance her education and training. She lived in filthy, disgusting places and was probably treated like an insect by those around her. How could Bruce have been attracted to that low born woman?

And more importantly, how could he have chosen her and not Talia. Talia who was blue blooded just like Bruce. Surely, only nobility should lie with nobility. Unfortunately, Bruce did not see it that way. And it vexed her to no end.

When she and Bruce had parted ways, after he refused to be her father's heir, Talia coped with as well as she could. She told herself that a cold and driven man like Bruce simply could not be expected to settle down. That he had long forsaken love and domestic bliss to pursue his unattainable goal of ending all crime. Talia had tried to get her beloved to give up the cape and cowl and take his rightful place as the head of the League Of Assassins, but he would not listen to her. His resolve was unrelenting and it became clear that their relationship could not survive. Talia was deeply hurt by this, not just because but she loved Bruce but also because of how rare a man like Bruce was in her world. She may never find another like him. But she tried to accept her loss philosophically.

An enormous blow to her ego and her heart came when years later, she found out that Batman was with Catwoman. It appeared that the two were very close. He may even be in love with the thief. This devastated Talia. It told her that Batman had not rejected love. He had rejected HER love.

Talia wondered what that thieving harlot could offer the Detective that she couldn't. Sure, Selina was intelligent and beautiful. But Talia was royalty. The Demon's Daughter. She and he had the same exalted stature. They belonged together. What's more, Talia offered Bruce a family. A true chance at happiness. Could Selina Kyle, the woman who prided herself on being a thief, a woman infamous for her deceit and manipulation offer him that? Very unlikely. Yet, Talia's beloved was in love with her. Talia dejectedly concluded that a woman like Selina could probably perform lewd sexual acts for men. And that's probably how she had gotten her claws into Bruce. And what did that say about the Detective? Was he so controlled by his carnal needs just like lesser men?

Talia could not have her beloved back, but she often lay awake in bed wondering just what made her rival so special. Each day she prayed that she was afforded an opportunity to test her, to size her up, to find out if Selina Kyle was half the woman Talia Al Ghul was.

Opportunity presented itself when the Justice League hired Catwoman to break into Ra's Al Ghul's own palace and steal an ancient artifact. One that would allow an Inca tomb to be opened. The tomb contained a talisman that held untold power. Wonder Woman knew of its abilities and would not allow Ra's Al Ghul to acquire it. So they sent in the world's greatest thief to retrieve the key.

Talia was sparring with her bodyguards when every single alarm in the palace went off at the same time. As Talia and her ninjas and technicians tried to figure out what was going on, the alarms fell silent. Ra's Al Ghul himself now stood next to Talia as the head of security told them it was most likely a glitch in the system. Ra's was not amused and told him this "glitch" better be the last.
It wasn't.

About ten minutes later, once again every alarm in the palace went off. And then fell silent after a few minutes. This happened repeatedly, sending security personnel running hither and yon. Hundreds of them checked every nook and corner of the palace and its premises. Dozens sat before monitors to figure out what was going on. Surely, the LOA was under some kind of cyber attack. Talia's rage boiled over as she saw a tall, slender feminine figure in a mask and cat ears climb out of a vent in the gymnasium. Catwoman!

Talia was about to go deal with the bitch herself, when one of her minions told her that Catwoman was in her father's bed chamber. Just then, another informed her that Catwoman was in the Harem. Yet another monitor showed Catwoman in the conference room. Her image popped up on several other monitors in various parts of the palace. It seemed there were at least a dozen "Catwomen" running around. How was this possible? Were there actually multiple women who wore the Cat mask. The LOA ninjas ran off to all of the locations where the burglar was seen.

Talia didn't have to guess to understand why she was there. She had come to steal the key to the Inca Tomb. With a sword in each hand, she headed for the chamber where the artifact was kept. Whoever all those other women were, Talia knew that Selina Kyle herself would come for the artifact. This particular wing of the palace had only one exit. Armed with her swords, Talia stood there waiting for Catwoman. Finally the feline thief emerged from the room.

Talia raised her sword to take her head off, but suddenly she stopped. This was not Catwoman. The woman before her had the same height and built, but it wasn't her. Talia quickly removed the woman's mask and discovered that it was Kiara, one of her personal bodyguards. She looked intoxicated. "What the hell happened?" Talia yelled at her subordinate.

"Mist...Mistress.....I don't....know...I was guardian your bed chamber.....then woke up...here" Kiara managed to tell her boss, before she passed out again.

Talia quickly went into the room to find that the artifact was gone, as she suspected it would be. In its place was a tiny metallic cat. Talia let Ra's know what had happened and ordered for all exists to be sealed. As soon as she finished speaking, she felt a strong sensation that she was not alone. Her eyes darted across the chamber, before she looked up. And as soon as she did, a boot connected with her lower jaw causing her to fall to her side. The Catwoman had been clinging to the ceiling and now stood before her. Talia charged at her, intending to slice her up with her swords. But Catwoman was far too agile. She bent over backwards to an impossible degree, avoiding Talia's deadly swings, before she slid across the floor and was on her feet where Talia previously stood.

Talia was about to strike again but then she saw Catwoman's holding the priceless artifact. She chucked it at a wall forcefully, causing Talia to jump in that direction to save it. Just what Catwoman was counting on. Talia did manage to save the thing but Catwoman exploited the opening to knock one of her swords out of her hands. Both women were now armed. They began to attack and block each other with expert skill. For a few seconds, neither could gain the upper hand. Talia then swung her sword at Catwoman's leg but her feline reflexes enabled her to quickly lift her leg and then bring her foot down on the flat of the sword, thereby trapping it. She then slashed at Talia's forearm, inflicting a deep cut.

Talia screamed in pain and let go of her sword and before she knew it she was blinded by a gas bomb going off. In the three seconds that it took her to regain her senses and pick up her sword again, Catwoman was gone. As was the artifact. She ran out to the exit, several ninjas too had arrived to aid her but she knew it was too late. The artifact was lost.

Later on, it was discovered that the other "Catwomen" they kept spotting in different parts on the palace were holograms. Projectors had been placed at strategic locations to make sure that the security personnel would be scattered. The security system itself had been hacked into, making the alarms go haywire. It had probably taken hours, perhaps days for Selina to have set up all of this. The realization that she had probably hidden in plain sight among them was rather jarring. For all Talia knew, Catwoman could have been masquerading as one of her guards or a chamber maid, and she didn't know it.

Ra's went on and on about how disappointed he was. But her father's reprimand did not affect Talia as much as the idea that the Catwoman was far more skilled and intelligent than she had thought. Her mind kept replaying their fight. It had lasted only about 30 seconds, but in that short time Talia had realized just how much she had underestimated her rival. The two conclusions she drew were that Selina Kyle was Talia Al Ghul's equal in terms of combat skills; and that Selina had Talia utterly outclassed in terms of speed and agility. It was difficult for Talia to accept these facts but she was not someone who ran from her fears or lived in denial. It now became more clear to her why Batman had chosen Catwoman.

The years went by with Talia working hard to rise in rank in the LOA, and to raise her son Damian. News of Catwoman's various feats would routinely reach her ears. Her begrudging admiration for the other woman only growing.

The two women would not meet face to face again until 6 years later, when a chemical attack ravaged Gotham city. A cocktail of the Joker gas and Scarecrow's Fear Toxin was mixed in the water supply. Hundreds of thousands of infected people were running amok, attacking and tearing others apart. Batman had created an antidote, but even those who could be injected with it remained violently ill for several days. Most of those affected were the poor who didn't have access to water purifiers. Ra's Al Ghul was disgusted when he learned of this. It was a cowardly attack that needed to be crushed, both for the sake of honor and out of respect for the Detective. Talia felt the same. And so, on her father's orders, the Demon's Daughter landed in Gotham with hundreds of her ninjas and with emergency medical supplies. As she and Batman drove to the East End, the epicentre of the outbreak, he expressed to her that he was appreciative of her help. Talia's heart skipped a beat at his soft tone. Could it be that she still had a chance to win her beloved back?

This illusion only lasted until they pulled up in an underground tunnel. There, the Catwoman was sheltering thousands of people, mostly children. She looked as though she was injured. Talia watched as Batman ran to her and began to fuss over her. Selina told him she was fine and needed to focus on taking care of these people. But Batman would not hear it. He made her sit down and tended to her bruised cheekbone and the cuts on her arm. Apparently, she had been lynched by those driven mad by the toxin when saving a child. Any hope that Talia had of a reunion with her beloved died the instant she saw the way Batman looked at Catwoman. How often Talia had daydreamed that he would look at her that way. As if she was the only woman on the planet. It cut Talia deeper than any sword ever could when she realized that Bruce was indeed deeply in love with Selina Kyle. So engrossed he was in taking care of Selina that he seemed to forget Talia was even there. She had to clear her throat to remind him.

In the weeks that followed, Talia's team, the Bat Family and Catwoman and her friends were hard at work to restore some sense of normalcy to Gotham. Talia herself did not attend to the sick. That was not her job and would be beneath her. But she did see the hands on approach both Batman and Catwoman had to dealing with the crisis. Talia bitterly concluded that this too may be why Selina had such a hold on the Detective. She decided then that any attempts of getting back together with him would be futile.

Years after that, Talia and Batman's son, Damian was living with his father. Selina and Bruce's relationship was as strong as ever and Talia worried that her presence might threaten Damian's syanding in the Bat Family. Althogh Bruce assured her that Damian and Selina got along just fine, her mind was not eased.

As fate would have it, Talia was forced to work with the Justice League when Steppenwolf threatened to destroy the planet if humanity and its protectors did not submit to him. A rogue unit of the LOA had decided to join him. Talia felt she needed to step in. And so it came to pass that Catwoman and Talia Al Ghul would have to team up against dozens of these ninjas to keep Metropolis from being occupied. As the two women prepared for battle, Talia's greatest worry was for her son. She had faith that the Batman would always keep him safe, but in a moment of vulnerability she needed assurance from Selina Kyle that he really would be ok, if in case Selina survived.
"Kyle" Talia spoke as the two of them stood back to back and the ninjas began to surround them, "if I don't make it out alive...." she wasn't sure how to conclude that sentence. She didn't have to.
"Damian will be fine" Selina answered, knowing exactly what Talia had on her mind. "He will be safe, happy and cared for, you have nothing to worry about."

By the time it was over, both women had made it. They faught together, unleashing hell on their common foe and defeated the rogue ninjas, and the Justice League repelled Steppenwolf's attack. The world was saved, but Damian was injured in battle. Talia decided to go down to Gotham with the Bat Family to look after her son.Talia could not help but feel jealousy and dismay, when she observed that Damian and Selina had grown quite close. Judging from the ease of their interactions, there was mutual aimability. Talia was momentarily tempted to try and turn her son against her rival. To convince him that Selina was a vile woman who been the cause of his parents' estrangement. That she stole his father from his mother and prevented them from being a happy family. But then, logic prevailed and she knew she must do no such thing. For one thing, she did not want to lie to her son. For another, Damian was no fool and would see through the lie. Not only would it fail to convinced him to hate Selina, it would lessen the respect he had for his mother. Then, Talia would well and truly lose both father and son to Selina Kyle.

Over the few days that Talia spent at the Wayne Manor tending to her son, she noticed some subtle changes in his demeanor. He seemed a little more relaxed, a little more quick to laugh. Especially so when Selina was with him. Her role in Damian's life seemed to be at a middle ground between friendship and maternal affection. Of course Talia was still jealous, but she concluded that this relationship was good for her son. Damian would certainly benefit from having a strong feminine influence in his life. At that moment it did not matter to Talia that this influence came from a woman she abhorred. Damian's well being was of utmost importance. A ruthless killer she may be, but Talia was a loving mother who just wanted her son to be happy.

In the decade and a half that Talia had known Selina, she had gone from dismissing the latter as just another bed warmer for Bruce Wayne, to acknowledging her skills and capabilities to, respecting her as an equal, and finally to accepting Selina's place as a second mother to her son. This didn't mean that Catwoman and the Demon's Daughter would be friends. That could never happen. But, just as Ra's Al Ghul had battled Batman while simultaneously declaring him his greatest enemy, Talia too knew that she had a worthy opponent in Selina Kyle. As her father had often told her, hatred and respect were not mutually exclusive.