Catgirl: Young Justice BOOK 1 (COMPLETE)

CHAPTER 21

|Gotham City
|20 July 2010, 00:47

Robin made his way into The Narrows. He kept to the roofs so the criminals on the street wouldn't try and kill him. Without Batman or Katherine by his side, the people of The Narrows wanted him dead more than most the villains did. There wasn't anything he'd done to them, they just hated heroes.

He finally made it to Crime Alley, and was about to jump down to it, when the manhole moved. Not sure what to expect, Robin stayed where he was to observe. A couple moments later Catgirl crawled out of it, wincing and rubbing her arms from lifting what, to her, must have been extremely heavy.

Curious as to what she was doing in the sewage, Robin kept watching her. The next thing he knew she was looking straight at him, smiling, "Superhearing."

Robin sighed, "Superhearing", and joined her on the ground. Trying to spy on her was futile, so he more directly wondered, "What were you doing in the sewage?"

Catgirl was quick to answer, "I need to keep a low profile. CatCo are trying to hunt me down. The first place they'll look in Gotham is The Narrows, specifically Crime Alley."

"Right." Robin had a feeling that wasn't entirely true, but didn't push it further. "What about Batman, are you sure you want to do this?"

"It's my best option."

"You have others?", Robin hoped.

Catgirl diverted her eyes.

Robin frowned, "You ready?"

Catgirl gave a reluctant nod, her eyes shifting back to the manhole cover.

"Ok then." Robin took a deep breath. "Let's just get this over with. After you."

Catgirl narrowed her eyes at him, walking out of the alley and onto the street.

*****

"Robin.", Batman greeted his protege casually. He was at the batcomputer, looking at a file of Bane. "I thought you were at Mount Justice with the team."

Robin glanced back at Catgirl, who was still by the entrance, "Yeah.." He looked back at his mentor, "I was, but I- Catgirl...Catgirl has something to ask you."

Batman turned his back to the computer, now staring at Catgirl. She felt as if his gaze was looking right through her. She shivered, forcing herself to go up to him. "Hey Bruce...", She sheepishly smiled, "I'm back.." He didn't look happy to see her. She nervously laughed, "Miss me?"

Batman stood up. "You're here to negotiate.", He stated.

"Y-Yeah.." Catgirl diverted her eyes, "I want to give the hero thing a chance...but I can't, unless it's on my terms."

"Your terms often include murder-"

"No killing, I know.", She bravely cut him off. She took out her gun and handed it to him. "I've changed my bullets back to my old ones- but they won't be used for lethal shots.", She explained as he looked at the bullets inside the gun. It was better she came clean about the steel herself before he found out another way. She continued, "And I'm not staying at Mount Justice, or Wayne Manor, or here."

"You can't stay on the streets.", Robin spoke up, suddenly not so much on Catgirl's side as he was a moment ago.

"I'm not.", Catgirl shot him a glare for potentially sabotaging her negotiations, "I'm staying at my own place-"

"Own place?" Batman was quick to question it. Robin's input did sabotage.

Catgirl moved on, "I don't want you two or anyone else in The League controlling me. I do what I want to when I want to, and no contract will change that. I'm not a puppet or a pawn in your losing battle against villains. If I want to leave, I will- when I turn 18 and the contract expires." She put on poker face and stared up at Batman, "Those are my terms, take them or leave them."

Robin nervously swallowed. He believed Batman would never-

"Deal."

"What?!", Robin choked. Catgirl shot a smug smile towards him.

"But.", Batman continued, making Catgirl lose her smile, "Up until the contract expires you must be your best self; which means you need to eat, sleep, and stay sober. If you do choose to quit when you're 18, you need to stay that way, or The League won't support you anymore."

Catgirl's eyes widened a little. "Even if I choose-?"

"Even if you choose to remain a hero.", Batman confirmed. "We won't support you if you're not worth it."

"That's fair.", Catgirl shrugged, "Harsh, but fair..." She looked back over at Robin. It seemed a little too fair. "What about the guns?", She questioned that the most, "I could easily just point and pull the trigger on anyone, at any time."

"I'm giving you a chance to prove yourself.", Batman told her, "Don't make me regret it."

Catgirl tilted her head, "For real?" This was definitely too fair- not that she was complaining or anything; she just wasn't used to Batman being like this.

Batman turned around to type up the updated contract on the batcomputer. "According to Robin and the rest of your team, you proved yourself capable of loyalty at Cadmus. I'm willing to test just how trustworthy you are."

Catgirl gave Robin a grateful glance. "What's the catch?", she asked Batman. Even if he was treating her differently, he was still the same- he'd have a catch.

"There isn't one.", Batman said.

Catgirl and Robin shared an uncertain look. Was Batman lying? Neither of them could tell. He was Batman.

"If you choose to go back to villainy, you'll be treated as one. If you choose to take up the job of a hero, you'll be treated as one.", Batman explained, "The choice is yours to make."

"Well, I choose hero, obviously.", Catgirl smiled in relief, deciding, "Yeah, I agree to try the hero thing again."

"Then don't make me regret it.", Batman warned, putting all his attention back onto the computer.

Catgirl lost her smile for a second before she looked over at Robin and the pair grinned at each other. The negotiation was almost effortless. It couldn't have gone any better.

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Word Count: 1015

A/N: WE JUST HIT 50K READS!!! Tysm for all the love on this series so far. I hope to keep improving it for both old rereaders and new readers. Thank you again to everyone who takes the time to vote and comment, it helps a lot!