Catgirl: Young Justice BOOK 1 (COMPLETE)

CHAPTER 20

|The Flea
|19 July 2010, 23:27

Katherine squinted at her new phone's screen. She'd been calling Dick over and over again for what seemed like hours. He said Batman was willing to negotiate the terms of her contract and to call him back, but now she was trying to arrange a meeting time he wouldn't pick up.

Due to screens not processing properly through her vision, Katherine had only just started using technology, when she got her cowl upgrade.

Her knowledge was pretty limited to finding a contact by looking at their picture and pressing it to call them, but she knew Dick always had his phone on him- he even had a way of answering it on his wrist computer as Robin, if he wanted to.

So why wasn't he answering?

Was he ignoring her?

She hated the idea of being ignored, however it also could've been the phone connection...

Katherine was currently miles under Gotham City in what she called 'Old-old Gotham City'; it was ditched in the 1600's for what became the current Old Gotham City, and is now known by the locals as 'The Flea'.

The Flea was the only place Katherine was truly safe from everyone trying to hunt her down, as it was so secret. Only a few hundred people knew it existed, all who lived in the thought-to-be abandoned city, which was only accessible by following a specific route through the labyrinth of Gotham's sewer system, catacombs, and hidden abandoned railway tunnels.

Katherine first discovered The Flea through her older brother, Felix, who owned an apartment there. When he died Katherine got the apartment, and it was where she'd been living since January. The Flea was the perfect hiding place because most people thought it was only a scary story told by the GCPD and parents, to keep kids from entering the dangerous sewers below the city streets.

The story changed depending on who you heard it from, but they all involved the tragic story of kids going into the sewers and never returning. Most of the story told above ground wasn't half lies either. It was rooted in the truth, but most people believed it to be a lie, a story made up to scare any more kids from disappearing forever.

A loud buzzing came from the phone in Katherine's hand, making her drop it from the fright of the sudden ringing.

"Robin!", she gasped, quickly picking up the now cracked smartphone.

It was Robin who'd called her.

"Katherine, where are you?!", Robin shouted back, his voice cracking from the poor connection.

Katherine pulled the phone away from her ear, holding it in her hand. "Where was I- where the fuck were you?!", she yelled, "I've been calling non-stop for forever!"

"I was looking for you- do you know how worried I was?! I thought you were on some armoured truck on your way to Belle Reve!"

"How stupid do you think I am?!", Katherine hissed, "I've been trying to call you to make sure that doesn't happen!" She heard more noise coming from outside on the street, quickly calming down before she got in any trouble. "I'm not going anywhere near him, not until I know he 100% won't turn on me and I'm safe."

"Safe?" Robin laughed. "Since when have you ever cared about your safety?"

"Since I learned I could die for real.", She peeked through her curtains at the street below. The people who'd stopped what they were doing because of the yelling had resumed their business. She continued, "Usually I don't fear dying because I know I'll wake up again...but with Belle Reve-"

"I get it." Robin sighed, "You're starting to doubt Batman, aren't you?"

"He tried to turn me in before.", Katherine moved away from her window and sat down on the old rotting mattress she called her bed, "And if he succeeds this time, Belle Reve won't give me any chance to escape- they might even kill and burn me early, just to make sure."

"This time is different.", Robin tried to assure, "You're wanting to work as a hero- you said it yourself, you're too good of an ally to turn down. He'd be insane to turn on you."

"It's only a matter of time before he does." Katherine stated, "But yeah, I guess I don't have anything to worry about at the moment. Batman's smarter than that."

"You shouldn't have to worry about him turning on you at all.", Robin said.

Katherine nodded and decided, "Ok I'll meet him tonight. I'll meet you first, at Crime Alley...midnight. Don't be late." She hung up before she got the time to change her mind.

The whole time Katherine knew the hero option was only a temporary, but still wasn't looking forward to risking her life when it did all backfire on her.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Word Count: 815