Soothsayer ⚡ Barry Allen

Old Habits Sometimes Die, This Didn't

Cat hadn't given me a key and I hadn't even brought a bobbypin with me, so I stuck to the good old fashioned way of getting in. However, climbing up a fire escape in the dark proved to be harder than I remembered. By the time I reached the third floor I felt like I had gotten a proper workout. As a habit, she always kept one window unlocked. It was another matter finding which one that happened to be.

As my luck would have it, Selina was smart enough not to leave the ones closest to the fire escape open, but there was a minimal opening in one a good stretch off. I was only an inch taller than her, so I thought I would've been able to reach it a little better. However, I didn't have her gear or her flexibility, so when I reached the window sill, the fingers holding onto the fire escape slipped and I hung by one hand over a three story drop.

Taking a deep breath, I reached up and secured a better hold, able to slip my fingers in the small opened space of the window. Bracing my feet against the brick wall and finding a small divit to place my toes in, I pushed up the window enough for me to get through, hanging for a minute more before lifting myself up and tumbling through the window.

Joshua hissed from somewhere in the apartment as I laid on the floor for a minute, opening my eyes to find Selina standing over me. "You know the door works, don't you?"

"Too mundane," I lightly laughed. "Plus, theres no blood rush picking locks. Hanging over a potentially fatal drop..." I trailed off in another laugh. "Now that's fun." Selina scoffed and walked away, leaving me to peel myself off the floor.

"Where have you been all day? I came back and you were gone for another two hours." I smiled; she worried about me still.

"I made a friend in prison," I informed, giggling when she turned back on me with wide eyes and parted lips as she went to reprimand me. God, she was almost as bad as my mother. "Don't give me that, he's a civilian. A good one, at that." Selina folded her arms over her chest and nodded to motion me to continue. "He started visiting me and now that I'm out, I wanted to visit him. Simple as that."

"Does he know that? That you're not simple, I mean." I rolled my eyes and stood; her heels put her above me, she never did like being shorter.

"Obviously. He isn't simple, either." He still wanted to know me after I killed someone in front of him. Cat raised a brow, her attentiveness as she read me reminded just how cat-like she really was. "I'm not gunna go blabbing his secrets. Who do you think I am?" I scoffed walking past her to walk into the living room, I was sure to take my boots off before stretching out on the sofa.

"I know exactly who you are, Andy, and that's not someone who prances around with some civilian for shits and giggles," she pointed out. "What's going on with you and him?" I rolled onto my stomach and stretched out my arms and back, feeling several pops down my spine.

"He's nice to me, I like feeling normal once in a while. Is that so bad?" I shrugged as I turned to look at her, my brows pulled together. Cat studied me for a minute before sighing and sitting on my legs, pulling a low groan from me.

"I guess not. As long as you leave him out of things."

"Duh," I sighed, knowing full well that this was the first time I'd lied to her in a long, long time. I wouldn't help Barry turn her in, there was a very small list of people I wouldn't, but I'd be letting him in on a lot of my associates. "You working later?" I asked curiously. I had work of my own I had to get to, I wanted to know if my absence would be noticed, again.

"Yeah, I probably won't be back until after three." Late nights of crime, how I missed those days. I guess now it'd be late nights of crime fighting. I was more excited about the change in routine than I was about turning rat. In and out of prison, I killed enough rats to populate the sewers, and now I would join their numbers. "You wanna order a pizza or just fend for yourself?"

My thoughts broke with a laugh, remembering just how much Barry and I had to eat earlier. "I'll be fine, snack on some cereal if I feel like it." Joshua joined Selina in sitting on me, curling up on my back so they both trapped me to the couch.

"You going out again?" she asked as she pet the cat and it vibrated on my back like a little massager.

"Yeah, probably won't be out as late as you, though."

"Then you'll need these." Selina dropped something cold onto an exposed patch of my back, pulling a hiss from me as I wiggled underneath the two in order to remove it. Joshua dug his claws into my back and retracted them only after I grabbed the object and stilled. Bringing the cold, metal object into my line of sight with a lightly irritated frown, it softened out when I held a set of house keys. "Don't give 'em to anyone you don't know," she informed with a soft smile.

"I thought you forgot how to make that face after I left," I giggled, her laughter joining mine in loud volume after she smacked my ass in response.

"I didn't forget how to smile, you conceited ass," she laughed. Apperantly Joshua wasn't having any of this because he jumped off my back and walked away with an irritaled mewl. I didn't care about his widely human personality, I just missed hanging out with Selina like this. She had such a cute laugh. I turned over under her weight and sighed comfortably when she laid beside me, her head resting on my shoulder.

Sometimes she could be like a mom to me, other times she was more of an older sister. I liked the originality of our relationship, she's the only person -- other than Barry -- that showed genuine concern over me and my hectic life. She had been the first person to talk reason into me, teach me to be smart about my activities. I would've been in prison a lot longer if it hadn't been for her.