Fun With Time Anomalies

Chapter Five

Finding her way out of this dungeon was surprisingly easier than she would have anticipated, mostly due to the fact that she was so much faster than the men clunking around in their heavy armor. Still, fighting her way out of this one without her gloves, bolas, or whip was going to be out of the question until she could find them again. Perhaps it would be wiser at this point to just escape. Considering she heard footsteps sprinting behind her and closing in on her, escape seemed to be the only option. She rounded the corner of the hallway and found a winding stairway leading down to the lower levels of whatever building she was in. Without hesitation she leapt over the rail and and went flying and then falling, landing on the stone steps about a floor down from where her pursuer was. Selina only had to lift her head to see that the hooded man had followed her lead and was flying right at her.

"Oh give me a break!" she snapped as she dodged him.

He landed on the steps and Selina countered with a strong kick to his head, which was blocked with his bracer-covered forearm. Selina discovered that the hidden, retractable blade was coming from that, but he wasn't relying solely on it in this fight. After he blocked her kick he moved in, closing the distance and ramming her hard against the wall. Selina drove her knee into his stomach and brought her elbow down onto his shoulder. It hurt him enough to make him dub over but he was still stronger and faster than she anticipated. He punched her several times in the ribs and blocked her kicks and knees to his face, but never went in for a kill. Selina realized, when she heard more footsteps approaching, that he must have been trying to keep her contained.

"I don't have time for this!" she snapped before punching him in the side of his head, once, then twice, then a third time before he had enough space between them for her to kick him into the railing of the stairwell. He didn't go over but lost his footing on the steps and fell onto them. It was then Selina noticed that in addition to his hidden blade, he had a sheathed sword and what looked like smaller knives in his robes. "If you don't want me dead why the hell did you put me in a torture chamber?"

It was the only question she cared to ask. More guards were closing in from above her and she didn't want to give the hooded man the satisfaction of having her caught anyways. The quickest route seemed to be jumping down the stairs rather than running down them. She jumped on top of the railing and leapt into the air before landing further down the staircase. And as expected, it didn't take long for her hooded pursuer to keep coming for her. It was time to get the hell out of here. With one final jump Selina had made it to the end of the staircase. Word must not have gotten out just yet to the rest of the guards, otherwise this tiny opening would have been her downfall. She sprinted across the threshold of the doorway, rushing through the narrow hallway with her hooded stalker not far behind. And to her great fortune, the hallway lead to a balcony that oversaw a small, moonlit courtyard.

This ought to get him off my back!

Before he could reach her, she leapt into a dive over the edge of the balcony. To jump in such a manner was certainly suicidal, and yet when the hooded man made it to the edge, he did not see her broken body on the courtyard floor. In fact, he did not see her at all. It was as if she had vanished into the shadows of the night. He jumped from the ledge and eased his way down into the courtyard, but saw no trace of her. And from the shadows of the balcony's archway, Selina clung to the shadowy corner, out of his sight. Without her gloves it would be difficult to make her exit by crawling across the ceiling. But now that she was out of his view and the night made the landscape darker without any electric-powered lights, her escape was quick, quiet, and convenient. And by the time she made it to the streets of Florence she scaled the tallest building the best she could without her gloves and made it to the rooftop.

"Buena sera, gatta-"

The voice came seemingly out of nowhere and Selina's first reaction was to swing at it. Her fist connected with Ezio's arm which, to her ultimate surprise, had blocked what would have been a very painful punch to his cheek. It still hurt him a little, but he backed away from her enough to give her room.

"Sta' calmo! I did not mean to startle you!" he protested, but nonetheless Selina stepped up to him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

"What the hell is going on and don't even try to lie to me, handsome." she snapped. "I've had a hell of a night and I know it had something to do with you!"

The actual, genuine look of surprise on Ezio's face at this outburst almost convinced her otherwise. But this was too good to be a coincidence. That man back there most certainly had to be his father. Ezio shook his head and placed his hands over her wrists. He didn't force her hands off of him, nor did he try to attack her, but she still refused to relax just yet.

"My father runs the bank that you tried to steal from. When you were captured, we feared that... that is... Cristina and I..." was he blushing? Why on earth would he be blushing at a time like this? He fumbled over his words for a moment before speaking again. "I told my father that I had met you. I asked him to speak at your trial so you wouldn't be executed. But he said you had stolen treasures from the Vaticano and other wealthy families."

"Your father runs a bank? He sure didn't look like any banker to me!" she chuckled, prompting a strange look from the boy. At that, he did gently lower her hands from his shirt and she obliged him. No point in roughing him up now.

"You saw him? Just now?" he asked, and then he noticed the welts on her face, the dried blood on her nose and the swollen lip. His hand moved to her chin, observing her wounds as best he could in the moonlight. "What happened to you?"

"I got into a bit of a fight." she sighed, turning her head away from him. "I'm assuming it was your dad. You only look just like him. I guess if he runs a bank and I'm trying to rob it, that's a good enough reason to try and give me a beating, but-"

The tension was in the air. When she looked back to Ezio, there was the most intense look on his face. Selina crossed her arms in front of her. "Don't give me that look! He obviously can handle himself. He was armed to the teeth with all kinds of blades and sure as hell knew how to chase someone down-"

"You must be mistaken!" Ezio snapped. "My father is a banker! Why would he... explain yourself! What happened? Did you-"

"I didn't kill him, if that's what you're worried about. I don't kill people. Not unless I really have to." the cat saw the relief all over his face and for a moment actually felt bad for him. It would appear that he wasn't exactly supposed to know about his father's nighttime endeavors. Apparently the Renaissance came with it's own costumed vigilantes with secret lives in the dead of night. "He didn't want me dead either, it would seem. I don't know why. Waking up on the rack was a hell of a way to start my day. I don't even remember fighting him after I tried to rob the bank."

This was turning into an awkward situation all around. Perhaps it would be better for the both of them if she were to change subjects. "You said you knew I was caught. Did you only know because of your father, or was that already public knowledge?"

"Everyone has been talking about it. How they caught the gattadonna." Ezio replied, and Selina could see the red in his face coming back again. "Cristina was... devastated."

it was at that moment that Seilna dropped her face into the palm of her hand. "You didn't happen to swing by her window a few nights ago, did you?"

There was no reply. Just the most uncomfortable, awkward silence that seemed to put the other topic right to shame. And just when she thought it couldn't possibly be stranger:

"...That thing you were doing... with your... mouth..." Ezio stammered and it took everything in Selina's entire body not to burst out laughing.

"How do you expect to stay popular with the ladies if you don't even know how to go down on one?"

Ezio scoffed at her and looked away. "I know that! I just... well... never saw a woman do it."

This was an interesting turn of events. He sounded awkward, but definitely not jealous. "Did she tell you about it afterwards?"

He shook his head but didn't comment on it further. Selina smirked and moved to him, sliding her fingers down his arm and tracing a path to his hand. "You know, the next time you could always just ask to come in. This is the rare occasion where I'm pretty sure all parties would be fine with it."

All sorts of hell had broken loose in just the past couple of hours alone, and yet somehow he was able to smile at that. If her entire body wasn't ebbing with pain, she probably would have taken him up on it then and there. But instead, she leaned in and kissed him. It was supposed to be a quick one before she made her getaway. Instead, his arms moved around her hips and he held her there as he kissed her deeply. Apparently Selina wasn't the only one who wanted to be a little bold tonight. She giggled against his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him harder and rubbing her body up against him. His hands stroked along the curve of her spine, sending shivers throughout her body and pushing her to take things further.

Tonight hardly qualifies as too much excitement, especially compared to the nights I've had in Gotham City. What harm could it do?

She pulled away from his lips but did not move away from him. For a moment they lingered there in silence. Ezio cupped her cheek with his hand and for a moment Selina found herself getting lost in his eyes.

"What is your name, gatta?"

"Selina Kyle."

The voice that answered did not belong to Ezio. The only other people in this town who knew her name was his father and Cristina, and neither were there.

The voice belonged to Talia al Ghul.