This sucked. Like, a lot. We were assigned a mission by Batman to guard the Gotham Museum while he and Robin went off to do the 'Dynamic Duo' thing and take down Joker. Little did the big black Bat know, though, that an old flame would be there to go after a certain priceless statue. Typical, right? I wish… It started off as any other mission, any other gig…
"Team. Assemble in the main hall." I got up slowly at the command of Batman, walking down the hall with Artemis. We had been watching some cheesy movie from our childhood, enjoying the sappy lines and obvious attempts at humor when Batman called for us. As I walked, I looked at the tunnel we were in, admiring the carving work that so seamlessly met the cool man-made metal. I reached out a hand and gently caressed the surface as we continued down the passage, not really paying attention to anything. Eventually Artemis and I got to the main room and we all looked expectantly at our captain.
"There are rumors that Penguin is going to attempt to steal ancient diamonds on tour at the Gotham Museum," Batman began, staring all of down, one by one. "You are going to go and guard the museum and make sure no villains get in or out." His eyes narrowed to slits at this point and suddenly a question struck me.
"Why aren't you and Rob gettin' this one?" I inquired—in what I thought was a good-natured way.
"Joker has escaped from Arkham. Unless you'd rather deal with him…" I rigorously shook my head, recalling the last time we went up against the Clown Prince of Crime. "Robin and I need to take him on together—because, apparently, he's got himself a new lackey as well."
"Is that the psychiatrist you've been telling me about?" Robin asked. Batman simply nodded.
"Now, you have your assignment. Go get ready and leave as soon as possible." We all nodded and went to get dressed. I walked through the halls again and entered the boy's 'Locker Room', grabbing my suit and slipping it on. I touched the bolt on my chest and my usually bright yellow costume turned a charcoal grey instantly. Superboy simply put on gloves and Kaldur took off his dark teal fleece, pushing his belt buckle to transform his red top to a shadowy ash. He nodded once and we headed for the bio-ship, meeting the girls there. Miss Martian had her black shirt on—opposed to the customary white. Artemis' suit was, as a whole, a darker shade of green, and Zatanna and Rocket's outfits were unchanged.
"Shall we go?" Aqualad asked once. The rest of the Team nodded, clambering into the bio-ship and sitting in our usual spots, a chair left vacant from Robin's absence. We rode in silence, everyone contemplating something different. I was currently thinking about how to celebrate my two month anniversary with Artemis. I had decided on a nice dinner, maybe a trip to that new movie coming out she really wanted to go see… Yeah, that was it… Suddenly, though, Superboy broke the stillness.
"How much longer?" he asked, his voice only hinting at anger.
"Just a few more minutes; Happy Harbor's not that far from Gotham." I then got a funny thought—we could have simply zeta tubed our way to the city. But, then again, we would have to pass through Batman's 'Cave'. And who knows what hell there would then be to pay for seeing his precious fortress. "How do you want us to proceed once we get to the museum?" Miss Martian asked our team leader.
"We need to advance with utmost caution," Aqualad began. "I know little of this 'Penguin' villain, but I wish to avoid the embarrassment we faced when we were defeated by Clayface. We need to prove to Batman that he can trust us to be capable with these criminals. We will be vigilant, quiet, and watchful."
"So stay to the shadows and watch for any thugs?" Rocket asked for confirmation. Aqualad nodded. "Got it." As the girl finished her sentence, Miss Martian began the descent to the rooftop of the Gotham Museum.
"Let's go," Aqualad ordered. "Fan out around the museum and keep constant watch. Miss Martian, if you would link us up, we can proceed." The green girl did as he asked, and at once we all went in separate directions. I headed to the entrance myself, planning on making regular rounds, circling the museum grounds and looking for anything suspicious. Artemis joined me, setting up on the roof; everyone else, meanwhile, stayed inside the building, all of us making occasional reports.
"Tenth round," I said through the psychic link. I ran around the edifice, spotting no dangers or objects, save a crow pecking greedily at a dead rat he found in the street. "Nothing. Anyone else?"
Miss Martian spoke next. "I haven't seen anything yet, either. Artemis?"
"It's all clear from up here. The only activity is from the highway a few miles west of here." I glanced up at her and winked, my girlfriend animatedly rolling her eyes from above, making sure I could see the gesture. "Superboy?"
"I've been scanning through my thermals this whole time. We're the only ones here." The boy sounded gruff and tired, bored with his task.
"I haven't picked anything up. As far as I can tell, there's no activity in this museum except for us," Zatanna offered. "What about you, Aqualad?"
"Negative. There are no signs of anyone in my section of the museum. Rocket, report."
There was silence for a few seconds as we all waited to hear Rocket's voice through the link. "Rocket, report," Aqualad said again, a hint of strain filling his voice. There was no reply. "Team, converge on the main hall entrance. Now." We all rushed to get there, worry causing me to run faster.
I pushed through the heavy wooden doors and went skidding on the smooth marble, stopping inches before I would slam into Zatanna. "Sorry," I mumbled, and turned to face Aqualad, whose expression and stance were grave.
"Miss Martian, can you sense her presence at all?" he asked.
"Yes. She's here and alive—just not… conscious." We all exchanged confused and strained glances, knowing someone or something had taken her out. "What should we do, Aqualad?"
"We need to fan out. Get in pairs and watch each other's backs. We can't have anyone else get taken out." With a sharp nod from out leader we all split up. Zatanna went with Aqualad, Superboy wandered off with Miss Martian, and Artemis and I grouped together.
"Who do you think did this?" I asked, trying to make conversation.
"Who knows? Could be Penguin. That'd be my first guess, seeing as he was supposed to show up anyway. Honestly, though, I think Batman made this whole thing up." She peeked around corners as she whispered, holding her bow at the ready, making me want to swoon at how cute she was.
"What do you mean? To get us out of the Cave or what?" I would scan each corner before she looked around it herself, ensuring her safety.
"Yeah… Something like that…" Suddenly she went eerily silent as she peered around the next corner.
"What?" I asked, checking the hallway with my scanners again. I could have sworn there was no one there… When she didn't answer me, though, I became antsy. "Artemis, what do you see?" She just shushed me and looked around the entire wing of the museum we were in. Finally, though, she turned to me.
"Do you see anyone?" I gave her an odd look.
"No. Why?" She smiled and walked toward me, staring me straight in the eyes.
"I just wanted to tell you that I know our… anniversary is coming up. And that you've probably been concocting this extravagant date or something." I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly—the blonde just smiled more, though. "I think it's really sweet that you want to make it special… but I'd be happy just spending the evening at your house or something. 'Kay?" I offered a warm smile in return and she leaned forward, kissing me lightly. It was enrapturing; her lips were so smooth, so soft and gentle but needy as well. I kissed her back fully, looping my arms around her waist. We quickly broke apart, though and went back to searching, our arms occasionally brushing against one another.
Artemis and I explored the entire pre-history wing of the museum, standing in awe of the T-Rex that was on display. There were numerous skeletons of dinosaurs and taxidermies of large jungle cats. They even had pictures of that wooly mammoth that was found in the Arctic or wherever, that one that was completely intact; apparently it had been on tour here before. As we walked through more and more of the museum and less and less seemed to be going on, my girl began yawning and leaned in to me. "What's up?" I asked.
"Nothing. I'm just exhausted. I haven't had a good night's sleep in three days." We stopped in our tracks and I just stood there, looking at her, wondering what I should do. I couldn't just tell her to go or leave her alone—Aqualad would kill me. So, I did the only rational thing: I picked her up bridal style in one sweeping motion and instructed her to rest her head against my chest. She willingly obliged and let out a big, comfortable sigh, nestling her head against my collarbone and sending shivers down my spine.
I carried my girlfriend and continued making rounds about the museum, not taking advantage of my super speed for it might have woken Artemis. Eventually, though, I had had enough. There was nothing here and Rocket was fine. I called out to Miss Martian on the psychic link. "Has anyone found anything suspicious?" I got a resounding 'no' as my answer. "Then can we go or something? It's two-thirty. I think if someone was going to try something they would have done it by now." Aqualad took control of the conversation.
"Batman told us to watch for any activity. But… I agree with Kid Flash. It appears there's no one here and there won't be. I feel we are wasting our time. Everyone meet in the 'Ancient Stones and Jewels' hall." We all signed off and I shook Artemis a bit to try and wake her. She opened her eyes blearily and stretched out in my arms, pecking my cheek and stepping down to the floor. We walked there quickly, wanting to get home and to bed as soon as possible, and we entered the hall not three minutes later.
"Is everyone here?" Aqualad asked, Rocket lying limp in his arms, her chest slowly rising and falling. He did a quick head-count and we all set out toward the bio-ship. Until, that is, we all heard a distinctive clacking of high-heels. Aqualad, who was in the lead, stopped dead in his tracks, turning around slowly. We all followed his motions, facing the figure that stood before us.
Legs. That's the first thing that hit me—the sheer volume of legs this woman had, all clothed in a pearly black leather. She had high-heeled boots on that went up to her upper calf, her full black leather suit taking over. The outfit covered her entire body, save her face and… upper chest. I could feel the glaze form over my eyes, quickly accompanied by a sharp jab to my ribs by Artemis. I then noticed her pointy ears and a whip held languidly at her side. We were dealing with one of the Big Seven.
See, Batman will occasionally call on us to deal with one of his 'usuals' so he can go fight one of the higher prioritized villains. These guys are nicknamed—by yours truly—the 'Big Seven', and include Catwoman, Joker, Two-Face, Ra's al Ghul, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, and the Riddler. Batman specifically told us never to engage these seven adversaries in combat, for we will lose; and by a large margin. Fortunately we were facing the least likely to kill us out of all, so we had that going for us.
Which is nice.
"This is certainly not what I… expected…" Catwoman mused, swinging her whip around and plastering a seductive smile on her lips. "I at least hoped big Daddy-B would send his ward. How disappointing…" She pouted her plump, dark maroon lips as she whined for a better challenge. "And you gave up so easily. I thought that once I took out one of your teammates you'd at least try to find me. But, here you are, running away with your tails between your legs…" Aqualad set Rocket down gently and stepped to the front of our little huddle.
"So you did this to her?" he asked, his voice attempting to sound dangerous—but the nerves of facing this woman were getting to him.
"And what if I did?" she replied mockingly, lowering her eye-lashes.
"Just tell us if she'll be okay." Catwoman looked taken aback.
She coughed slightly, trying to get herself back on track. "That's all you care about?" Aqualad nodded cautiously. "You don't care why I'm here? Why've I've chosen now? What I can do to you?! I could kill you! ALL of you! And no one would even know! And all you care about is if your little friend here IS GOING TO BE OKAY?!" The woman sighed deeply, clenching and unclenching her fists around her lithe whip. "Yes. It was just a mild sedative—she should wake in a few hours. Now, can we get back to the matter at hand?" All of us nodded in unison, too scared to move. We didn't know what she could do, didn't know what she would do. This wasn't like when we faced the Injustice League; Robin was there to help us take down Poison Ivy and Joker. And there was reason to believe they weren't really trying in their attempt to defeat us. Catwoman was unpredictable. We had no idea what she was going to do. "Thank you."
"Now, if you hadn't noticed, I'm a thief, not a killer. So, I'll just be on my merry way. Toodles!" And with that, she ran off through the doorway, heading back to the large case of ancient statues.
"I know we should not engage her," Aqualad ordered at once, "but she said herself she would not kill us. Kid, go after her!" I took my instructions immediately and ran towards the woman in the all black suit—which didn't do her too much good in the bright lights of the museum. However, just as I thought this, Catwoman threw something at a conveniently placed circuit board, causing the entire museum to turn pitch black. I slid my goggles over my head and skidded to a halt. She had been right there, right in front of me… Where…? I whipped to the left, right, searching for the feline. I looked up, down, ran around the entire room. She was gone.
"Guys!" I called out. "I can't find her! Can anyone see her?" Superboy answered.
"My thermal scans can't find anything, either. It's like she disappeared. Zatanna, can you give us some light?" The sorceress nodded and stepped forward.
"Evig su thgil!" she proclaimed, and at once, little orbs of light began floating around the room. "That better?"
"Much," Artemis replied as I pulled my goggles back on top of my head. "What was she headed for?" my girl asked.
"Well, considering her M.O. and the fact that she ran in here, I would say she was going for the priceless cat statue that's on tour here. It's originally from Egypt and was found in a nearly demolished pyramid." We all looked at Aqualad as he told us this—how did he know? "We've been here for a while, guys," he answered. "I… got a little tired of simply looking at the artifacts. I figured it wouldn't hurt to read about them." There was a slight smile on his face and he sent me ahead to search for Catwoman and told Zatanna to give me an orb while the young girl placed protection around Rocket who was still passed out.
I ran through the next wing to the one with the cat statue, asking the orb to go to all the nooks and crannies it could find. I scrutinized every section of wall and ceiling I could see, occasionally sliding on my goggles and checking where the orb wasn't to see if she was hiding just out of the reach of its light. I couldn't see her, though, and when my eyes went to the case that was holding the cat statue, I was horrified.
I ran up to the glass box and stared at it. There was a perfect circle cut through it, the statue was gone. "She got it!" I shouted, running back to my team. "She has… the…" I went through the doorway and was met by an even more intimidating sight. My entire team was on the ground, Catwoman daintily walking away, swinging her whip happily. "…statue…" I finished lamely.
"Oh!" she exclaimed. "You're still here? Let me just take care of that…" Catwoman began walking towards me, lashing her whip threateningly. I tried to run away, but she had gotten within range and looped the leather around my waist and began pulling me towards her. I ran in the opposite direction, though, causing her boots to slip on the stone surface. However, she yanked on it once, hard, and I went crashing on the ground. Catwoman pulled me along the ground as I struggled to get up, and eventually she was right over me, holding a black cloth that smelled horribly. "Now, take a big whiff…" She stuck the rag in my face, but I held my breath, hoping to wait her out. She wouldn't get the swathe out of my face, though. Just as I started to lose resolve and the stench began to get to my head, a crashing noise sounded. Catwoman stood erect at once and peered around the room, leaving me on the floor, tied up in her whip.
Her entire demeanor changed at once. "Oh, Batman!" she called flirtatiously. "Where are you? I know you're here." A batarang came zipping out of nowhere, but she ducked. "See! Why don't you just come out and face me like a man!"
"We don't have to do this, Catwoman," Batman called out from the blackness.
"Oh, yes we do," she replied. As she opened her mouth to continue her ranting, a black gloved hand went over my mouth as a voice hissed in my ear.
"KF—it's me. I'm gonna get you out of here." It was Robin. I had never been more thrilled to see the kid in my life. And yet…
"No!" I whisper-yelled back. "I wanna see how this plays out…"
I could practically hear the younger boy roll his eyes in exasperation. "Fine. But at least let me get you and the others to safety." He unraveled me from the fine leather and told me to hide behind the archway—and that if I disobeyed he would knock me out and take me back to Mount Justice. I agreed giddily and went to my designated spot as Robin took everyone out to the bio-ship, one by one. I then turned my attention back to the battle at hand.
"Come on, Batman," Catwoman yelled, getting increasingly annoyed. "Come out of your hidey-hole. You know you can't beat me from a perch fifty feet away." Silence was his only response, though. "Ugh! You're so childish. I'm just going to leave, now." Catwoman stormed off toward me, toward the exit. She stopped, however, when a dark voice cut through the air.
"Stop." I could see the woman smile as she turned around. Batman was not ten feet away, just standing there. "You know I can't let you just walk out of here with that." Catwoman smiled, pushing her hips out so they attractively curved.
"Oh, really. And what will you do to stop me?" Her voice tinkled slightly, in a pleased way. For some reason, this is what she had wanted.
"Whatever it takes." Catwoman just chuckled before launching herself at him. Batman dodged her attack cleanly and threw a flurry of batarangs at her figure. However, the woman cart-wheeled and back-handspringed out of the way, returning the attack with her own projectiles. One managed to loop itself around Batman's legs, sending him to the ground. She ran up to a tall exhibit and jumped on top, making for the skylight. Fortunately, Batman sliced through the rope of her bolas easily and grappled after her, catching her mid-jump. They both fell to the ground, but were on their feet almost at once, immediately going at each other in fierce hand-to-hand combat.
Now, I had seen Batman take on members of our team and other Leaguers as an example—but nothing like what he was doing now. Right then and there, I realized that when he fought as a model he wasn't trying at all. What I saw now was a totally different person. He was throwing a flurry of punches at Catwoman who was retaliating with just as much force and power. Understanding also struck me; this is why he didn't want us going after those certain villains. They were a challenge for him, let alone a team of hot-headed teenagers. Batman was winning, though, and he eventually got a hold of Catwoman's arms, twisting them around so her back was to his chest and they were barely an inch apart. I then noticed she was saying something to him, so I crept from my spot to hear what they were saying.
"Why don't you just put me in jail like all the others?" she asked, struggling against his iron grip.
"Because I believe you can change, Selina." My eyes went wide. He knew her name? Her identity? And he wasn't putting her in jail? What did that mean? "I believe you could fight with me—not against."
Catwoman—Selina?—scoffed in reply. "You've been on about me switching sides since we first met. What makes you think I'll ever… change?" Her voice was progressively getting softer and I crawled closer still, making sure I was out of sight.
"Every time we fight, every time we encounter one another, you give up easier. I think you like being caught. You like being with me. And what better way could you be with me than fighting with me? We'd see each other every day, talk all the time. You might even get to discover who I really am…" Batman was bribing her. I couldn't believe it. He was bribing a villain with his secret identity—the one thing that could destroy him indefinitely; and it looked like Catwoman was thinking about taking the bait.
"How do I know you're not just bluffing…?" she asked weakly, turning herself around to face him. I saw her eyes and they were full of hope, of longing.
"I guess you don't," he returned. "I suppose you'll just have to take the chance…" And with that, the Batman, the Dark Knight, the Cape Crusader who struck fear into the hearts of criminals—and teenaged boys—leaned in to kiss Catwoman. And… let's just say she was eager to return his feelings. The dark-haired woman practically launched herself at him, their lips locking. The kiss progressed quickly, and I got the feeling they had done this before. I watched, though, wondering if this was still part of the plan—and it was. Just… not Batman's plan. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Catwoman stuck her clawed nails into Batman's side, sending him crashing to the stone floor.
"Thanks, but no thanks," she trilled, wiping her lips elegantly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a cat statue to sell." Catwoman climbed gracefully on top of an exhibit, jumped once to grab the ledge of the window, and propped it open, hopping out and closing it silently. Not too long after, Robin ran in the room, saw me, and went white as a sheet. He gestured for me to get on the bio-ship, and I saluted him, running past in a flash—no pun intended—but hid by the doorway.
"What happened?" Robin asked the slowly rising Batman.
"She… got away."
"You tried to get her to switch again, didn't you?"
Batman grunted in the affirmative.
"And she kissed you, didn't she?"
Batman turned his head to the side, choosing not to respond.
"And you fell for it, didn't you?"
Batman looked at him sharply. "Yes. Alright, we know I fell in her little trap…"
"Again…" Robin corrected.
"Again," Batman admitted with a sigh. "Now, get in the ship and take the Team to Mount Justice. I'll be there after I finish informing the Commissioner about what happened." Batman then stormed out of the museum, clutching his side. I ran up to the bio-ship, pretending I had been there the entire time. So, as Robin awkwardly walked in and took controls, I remained silent the whole trip back, just thinking to myself. Why did Batman know Catwoman's secret identity? Why doesn't he turn her in? Why does he want her to switch sides so badly? And why did he fall for an obvious trick like that—again? Oh, yes. The drama was getting juicy…
Author's Notes: Oh, Wally. XD I wanted to write from his perspective because it seemed entertaining. He's so fun to write!
Now, if you hadn't already guessed, I ship Bruce/Selina. She is the only one I ship with him. You see, when I ship someone, I can't put them with a bunch of other people—only the one.
Hope you enjoyed the Wally/Artemis bits. I hope people weren't OOC, and since Catwoman hasn't been in the show yet, she gets to be entirely my creation! YAY! Please leave reviews and requests if you have any! Thanks! ;D
~Passez une bonne journée!~
Cordially,
LadyFrederic