The Cat and... the Bat?

"Nice job, kid," she remarked.

"Behind you!" Jake shouted.

Selina turned to see the thug she had just thrown charging her position. Rather than worry, she calmly reached for her belt and pulled out a set of bolas, tossing them with precision around the man's ankles. He went down hard, whacking his head on a pipe as he landed on the rooftop. By now, the last two thugs had recovered and made it around Selina's caltrops. Rather than engage alongside Jake, Selina leaped over their heads, kicking them each in the back to stun them before running after Penguin.

Repeating his tactic from earlier, Jake knocked the first thug back with a strike to the jaw before grappling with the other. As neither had a knife, this fight was less dangerous than the first two goons he had encountered, but more drawn out. Putting constant pressure on the man's shoulder, Jake beat on him as hard as he could, attempting to strike him in the kidneys, balls, or any other weak points he was able to reach. Whenever the other thug got close, Jake would lash out with a kick or punch to keep him at bay. By now, Jake could feel his body tiring, as he was relying on nothing but adrenaline to keep him going. Thinking fast, he swung the thug he had his mitts on to the rooftop, landing him directly on Selina's caltrops.

"Ah, shit!!!" the goon cried out in pain, feeling the tiny spikes lodged in his body.

As the other goon charged, Jake swiftly grabbed the man's collar and flung him on top of his partner, taking the first thug out of the fight from the additional pain of the caltrops. Before the second thug could recover, Jake was on top of him, kicking him as hard as he was able. Jake hit him from every angle he could, ignoring the man's pleas for mercy, until he at last landed several kicks to the man's head. A moment later, the goon stopped moving altogether, knocked completely unconscious from Jake's offensive.

On the other side of the roof, Penguin had just finished rummaging through the bag of one of the two original thugs. As he turned to make off with a camera, Selina arrived and stunned him with a whip to his face. The impact disoriented Penguin for a moment, but he soon recovered and pulled a knife from the handle of his trademark umbrella. Growling in anger, he swung the blade in a wide arc, nearly catching Selina in the stomach.

"Piss off, kitty cat!"

Selina rolled out of harm's way in the nick of time, but dropped her whip in the process. As she stood, Penguin moved between her and her weapon, cutting Selina off from her primary advantage over him. Flicking her wrists, she activated the razor-sharp claws of her cat suit and lunged for the disgusting midget. Penguin was by no means a trained fighter, but possessed surprising strength behind his form. It took all Selina had to pin his arm and keep him from running her through with the knife.

"Lemme go! This ain't got nothin' to do with you!" he squawked.

"What the hell are you doing here, Cobblepot?" Selina demanded. "What's so important about Gotham University?"

"Told ya, it's personal, bitch."

"Really? Well, color me intrigued," she replied, twisting his arm a bit more.

"AH! AHHHH! STOP!"

"Now, talk!"

"It's that son-of-a-bitch Stromwell!" Penguin wailed in pain.

"Joseph Stromwell?!" Jake shouted, arriving on the scene. "What've you got against him?"

"That bastard renamed the Cobblepot Family Scholarship. No one insults my family name and gets off clean! So, I sent my boys out to get some dirt on old Stromwell, see if we can't convince him to change his mind."

"Joseph Stromwell is a good man," Jake growled. "Everyone knows he's the son of Arthur Stromwell, one of the most notorious gangsters Gotham's ever seen. But even with that family history, Joseph still chose to make his own way in the world. He wants nothing to do with any criminal, and that includes you!"

"Whatever. I've got what I need," Penguin whispered.

Reaching behind his back with his free hand, Penguin slipped a small emergency knife from the clip of his suspenders. Selina was at such an angle that, by the time she saw it, the blade would already be lodged in her throat. But Jake caught a glimpse of it in the nick of time and charged forward without a second thought.

"Selina! Look out!"

Before Penguin knew what was happening, Jake tackled him to the ground, knocking his knife across the rooftop, and began whaling on him. As he beat the crime boss to a bloody pulp, Selina gasped at realizing that she would have met her end were it not for Jake. At last, she placed a gentle hand on Jake's shoulder.

"You can stop. He's had enough."

"Gah... please... no more..." Penguin pleaded. Looking up at the form standing over him, he asked, "What the fuck are you?"

Jake smiled and recited the two words he'd wanted to say all night.

"I'm Batman!"

The trio stood in silence for several seconds before Selina bent over laughing.

"No, you're not!" she giggled.

Jake sighed. "Fine, I'm a college student in a Halloween costume. Happy now?"

"Wha? But... how?" Penguin heaved.

"Ozzie, do I have to spell it out for you?" Selina asked. "You just got your ass kicked by a college kid! You're pathetic!"

"Imma kill you..."

"Not so fast," Selina replied, kicking him in the face. "Can't have you getting away before the GCPD gets here."

Picking her bolas up off the ground, Selina dragged Penguin over to the stairwell entrance and tied his hands to a pipe on the wall. She smirked with pride at seeing the cocky bastard reduced to a sniveling coward.

"Night-night, Ozzie."

With that, Selina slammed Penguin's face into the wall, knocking him out cold.

"That'll do until the police arrive," Selina remarked.

"Do I need to call 911 or anything?" Jake asked.

"No need. I sent out a signal when I first saw you having it out with those goons. They'll be here before too long. Now then, let's see if we can figure out what the midget was up to before they get here..."

"Here's the camera Penguin was trying to escape with," Jake replied. Scanning through the most recent photos, he said, "Huh. Look at this."

Peering over his shoulder, Selina could see a picture that was clearly taken from the window. Joseph Stromwell appeared to be walking down a hallway with a young woman in a Wonder Woman costume in tow. Though subjective, it was also rather obvious that the woman was intoxicated in some way.

"Hmm... think they caught Stromwell taking advantage of a young college student impaired by alcohol?" Selina wondered.

"Not likely," Jake snorted. "This girl in the picture is the reason I'm up here. She was my date tonight, but got completely wasted and started screaming at me in front of everyone. After she threw a drink on me, Dean Stromwell stepped in to remove her from the situation."

"Fair enough, but that by itself doesn't absolve him. He could still be taking advantage of her," Selina countered.

"Maybe, except for the hallway they're in. See that bulletin board on the wall behind them? That hallway leads to only one place: the break room. The student union's break room has free coffee available to anyone, twenty-four seven. He was taking her there to get her sobered up."

"Hmm... are there windows in the break room?" Selina asked.

"Yep. In fact, it should be right below us."

Grabbing her whip, she grinned and said, "Be right back."

After securing her whip to a pipe, Selina rappelled down the edge enough to get a peek into the break room. She soon returned to the roof.

"Wonder Woman's being force-fed coffee by Stromwell and another teacher, a tall black lady. Know her?"

"Yep, that's Mrs. Jackson. She's the Associate Dean," Jake grinned.

"Gotta hand it to you, you were right. Cobblepot was going to alter a photo to try and blackmail Stromwell into changing the scholarship back," Selina admitted. Hearing a helicopter approaching, she said, "That'll be the GCPD. Delete those photos and leave the camera here; the cops will take care of Cobblepot."

"You sure?"

"Yep. If nothing else, they've got him on criminal trespassing with a deadly weapon," Selina replied while pointing to the knives scattered about the roof. "With Cobblepot's record, that'll get 'em a warrant for his home and business."

"Wow, you've really thought this through."

"When you work with the Dark Knight Detective on a regular basis, he tends to rub off on you," said Selina. "Come on, this way."

"Wait, what?"

"You're dressed as Batman and you just beat up a crime boss and his gang of thugs. Do you really want to stay up all night filling out a police report for that?"

"Oh... good point."

Selina giggled. "Of course, it's a good point, you goof. Now, come on!"

*****

Detective Bullock gripped the strap next to his seat tightly. He really hated these helicopter rides, but they were the best way to get to the scene when they received a call from Batman or one of his colleagues. Turning to his partner, he saw Detective Renee Montoya tracing the distress signal on her smartphone.

"You sure it's from them?" Bullock asked over the sound of the chopper.

"Positive. It's definitely from the Batman Family," Montoya replied. "There! Down there, on that rooftop."

"Huh? But that's the Gotham University student union building!" Bullock realized.

As the helicopter landed on the roof, Bullock's eyes went wide, seeing at least a half-dozen goons lying either dead or unconscious. Stepping out with Montoya, they began to inspect the area.

"Got one perp dead over here. Stab wound in his back," Montoya said.

"Yeah, got several knives around here. One with blood, probably the cause of death for your body over there."

"Hmm... found a camera. Looks empty, though. I'll send it to the lab for processing."

"Damn, whiplash and scratches all over these guys," Bullock observed as the uniform officers cuffed everyone. "Looks like Catwoman had her way with them. What I would give for her to have her way with me," he chuckled.

"Bullock!" Montoya whined.

"C'mon, admit it. You'd take a swing at her too, Montoya!" Bullock laughed.

Montoya blushed, remembering that Bullock was one of the few who knew of her sexual orientation. "Shut up," she huffed with a smirk.

"Well, lookie who we got here! It's our old friend Cobblepot!"

"Penguin? What's he doing slumming it up here?" Montoya wondered.

"Dunno, but it's a bit too close for comfort with my daughter downstairs," Bullock replied. Grabbing his radio, he said, "Officer Jenkins, this is Detective Bullock. We got the roof secure. How's things inside the building?"

"All's quiet inside. Nobody knew anything was going on out there."

"Roger that. Keep me posted."

"Will do. Oh, Dean Stromwell wanted to make sure he caught you before you leave. Seems your daughter had a bit too much to drink and assaulted her date."

"Great... any sign of her date?"

"None. Witnesses say he took off alone after she tossed a drink on him."

"I'm gonna kill that girl..."

*****

A few buildings away, Selina and Jake slumped down against an air conditioning unit, panting and laughing as they came down from their emotional high.

"Shit... what a night," Jake sighed.

"Yeah, you were pretty good back there. What's your name, kid?"

"Uh, Jake. Jake Thompkins."

"A pleasure, Jake. Selina Kyle, officially," she replied shaking his hand. "But then, you knew that, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I'm kind of obsessed with the Batman Family, or the Bat-Team as I call them," Jake admitted. "What are the rest of them up to? That is, if you can tell me."

"Well, Penguin wasn't wrong when he heard the Dark Knight was out of town. The Brooding One and his sidekick got called away to Metropolis for a few days, and Batgirl was needed over in Blüdhaven."

"Oh yeah, I heard there were threats of rioting out there. Guess Nightwing needed some backup," Jake said.

"Which leaves little-old-me to protect Gotham," Selina said with a dramatic pose.

"Doin' a damn fine job, if I may say so."

"Thanks, but I wouldn't have made it without you, kid."

"What do you mean?" Jake asked.

"Penguin had me, pulling that knife from behind his back. He'd have killed me if you hadn't seen it."

"Ah, you had him beat. You'd have been all right," Jake replied, trying to downplay it.

"Regardless, you saved my ass tonight. I appreciate it. And it's kind of nice not to be saved by the real Batman for a change," Selina said.

"Really? I thought you and he had kind of a... special relationship."

"We did... once upon a time. There's always been a mutual attraction, but we've both come to realize it's not meant to be for us. Trust me, Tall Dark and Brooding isn't the most open individual out there. Balancing that with the dangers of the job and the constant adrenaline rush is a difficult task, even when you do genuinely care about each other."

"I guess that makes sense. I'm still running on adrenaline myself," Jake said. "Pretty hungry, too. Hang on a sec."

Reaching into his utility belt, Jake pulled out a Milky Way bar to satisfy his growling stomach.

"Ooh, please tell me you have a Snickers in there," Selina pleaded, licking her lips.

"Ask and you shall receive," Jake laughed, handing her one. "I may not have the latest in utility belt weaponry, but I'm prepared for an attack of the munchies like you wouldn't believe!"

"My hero," Selina giggled, digging into the Snickers. "Thompkins, eh? You wouldn't happen to be related to Dr. Leslie Thompkins, would you?"

"She's my grandmother," Jake nodded.

"Sweet lady. You probably don't know this, but she's saved the Batman Family more times than I can count."

Jake blinked at this. "What do you mean? She's totally against what you do. Says you're all a bunch of dangerous vigilantes."

"Yeah, she does maintain a consistent public position, doesn't she? But in private, she's been our go-to doctor for years, back even before the original Robin was on the scene."

"My Nana... helps a bunch of vigilante crime fighters?!"

"Yep. Just don't confront her with it, yeah? I'm sure she's only trying to protect her grandson with her public opposition to our activities," Selina said.

"Huh... and all this time, I thought she was just a boring, stuffy old doctor. Guess everyone's got their secrets."

"And speaking of secrets, I'd recommend you not tell any of your friends what you did tonight."

"How come? I just kicked Penguin's ass, and now I'm hanging out with the beautiful and badass Catwoman! I wanna scream that from the rooftops!" Jake laughed.

"For one, nobody would believe you," Selina giggled. "But more importantly, Penguin doesn't know it was you that kicked his ass. All he knows is it was some college kid dressed as Batman for Halloween. How many of those are there?"

"Too many to count."

"Exactly! Believe me, the last thing you want is for a crime boss like Penguin to come after you looking for revenge."

"I guess that's good advice. Thanks."

"No problem." With a sly look, Selina asked, "So... you think I'm beautiful, eh?"

Jake chuckled. "It's more of a factual statement than an opinion, but yeah."

"But you haven't seen me without my helmet on, right? How do you know I'm not really a hideous monster with snakes for hair?" she grinned.

"First, because you're called Catwoman, not Medusa. Second, you forget that your picture was all over the news during your trial. Still, I guess there's one way to know for sure."

"Show me yours, and I'll show you mine?"

"Fair enough," Jake nodded.

Lowering the cowl of his costume, Jake pulled his mask off and revealed his face to Selina. She said nothing at first, but soon smiled and ran her fingers through his short hair.

"A redhead, eh? Kitty like."

"Thanks," Jake blushed.

"My turn."

Selina unhooked the chinstrap of her helmet, slipping it off and revealing her golden locks, pinned up neatly in a bun. She grinned seeing Jake openmouthed and speechless.

"Well?"

"Um... wow," was all Jake could say.

"I take it you still think I'm beautiful?"

"Yeah... definitely."

Selina giggled. "Thanks. You're a sweet guy, and it's nice to be called 'beautiful' for once."

"What do you mean? Anyone who can't see that is just fucking blind!"

"Yeah, but most any guy that sees me just thinks of me as a hot piece of ass they wanna bang. The few that have tried... well, let's just say it didn't end well for those poor souls."

"I can imagine," Jake shuddered.

"And it's a totally different kind of relationship with the guys in the Batman Family; we have to keep things professional, since we rely on each other for survival. So, when I hear a sweet guy like you talk about me like that, looking at me like I'm the girl-next-door, it's a refreshing change of pace."

"Just c-calling it like I see it," he stammered.

After a pause, she asked, "So, you got any plans for the rest of the night?"

"Well, seeing as my date already dumped me and the police have shut down the Gotham University party for their investigation, I'll probably head home and turn in," Jake replied.

"Aw, I'm sorry. Hardly the Halloween blowout you had imagined, I bet."

"Eh, it happens."

Biting her lower lip, Selina mentioned, "You know... my apartment is just down the street from here, and my patrol's done for the night. Would you wanna relax with me for a while?"

"You... you're inviting me to your home?" Jake asked.

"Of course! Like I said, you're a sweet guy, and unlike most guys your age, you didn't try to cop a feel within a few minutes of meeting me," Selina laughed.

"Do I look like I have a death wish?!"

"See? That's exactly why I'm inviting you over. You're fun to be with, and I know you won't try anything..." she paused a moment before leaning closer, "...at least not without an invitation."

"Um..." Jake managed as his mouth dried out.

Leaning into his ear, Selina whispered, "Besides, I want to thank you properly for all your help tonight, Jake."

Holy fuck...

*****

"Isis? Mommy's home!" Selina called out as they entered her apartment. A moment later, a black cat leapt into her arms. "There you are, sweetie! Jake, you aren't superstitious, are you?"

"Please," he snorted. "If I was scared of black cats, I'd have run away screaming at the sight of you."

"Good boy." Carrying the cat closer to him, Selina playfully said, "Isis, this is Jake. He saved Mommy's ass tonight! Yes, he did!"

Laughing, Jake replied, "So, clearly Isis is your baby."

"My little girl," Selina said, pouring a bowl of food for her. "Come on in back."

"Ok."

As Jake followed, Selina unpinned her long blonde hair, letting it flow down to the middle of her back. Even though she appeared a bit sweaty from her patrol, she was still the most gorgeous woman Jake had ever seen in his life. Admiring the curves of her supple form, he saw that she was just that: a woman. So many of his classmates were little more than high school girls, both physically and mentally, but Selina seemed completely different. Her thirty-year-old body was in prime condition, and her sharp wit was intoxicating to be around.

"Staring at my ass, are we?"

Jake snapped back to reality and replied, "Oh, uh... no?"

"Liar," Selina giggled.

"Sorry, couldn't help it," Jake blushed.

"It's all right, I don't mind. I know I made it clear what I do to random men who try to take advantage of me, but once I'm comfortable around a guy, I'm really not shy about my body. I realize most men find me attractive; it'd be unfair to expect them not to catch a peek once in a while." Looking over her shoulder, she added, "And I'm very comfortable around you, Jake."

Before Jake could think of what to say, Selina stepped into her bedroom. At her beckoning, he followed her in, finding it lavishly decorated in Egyptian décor, with an obvious emphasis on cats. A massive king-size bed dominated the room, covered with a black comforter bearing stylized cat's eyes.