Catgirl: Young Justice BOOK 1 (COMPLETE)

CHAPTER 90

TW: SUBSTANCE ABUSE

|Gotham City
|December 25 2010, 21:30

Catgirl let her guard down for less than a minute to try and light her cigarette, but that was all it took for someone to approach her.

"Kath."

Catgirl rolled her eyes and put her empty lighter away.

There was no way she'd manage this conversation without something to smoke.

"Need a light?" Her company offered, crouching behind her with his lighter.

"Thanks." Catgirl mumbled, awkwardly taking the lighter.

Calico stood back up again, towering over his younger sister, unamused. 

"You lied." He said.

"Sorry, again." Catgirl took the first puff of her cigarette, holding it and the lighter up for Calico to take, "Most big brothers would be happy to learn their little sisters aren't planning on blowing up their hometown."

"Well I ain't most big brothers." Calico retrieved his lighter and took up her offer on sharing a cigarette, "What are you smoking anyway?" He coughed after taking a puff of it, "This shit's deadly."

"Yeah." Catgirl didn't even glance at him, "That's kind of the whole point."

Calico mechanically chuckled before pulling off his cowl and taking a proper draw from the cigarette, his voice muffled from the smoke in his airways when he asked, "How much longer you got anyway?"

Catgirl hesitated to think about it. 

She knew the current life she had was drastically shortened when Zatanna used it to host Dr Fate, but she didn't have a way to know exactly- and that was presuming Batman kept his word and didn't get her killed again.

"Don't know." She mumbled, "Few years, give or take?"

"Out of action for that long?" He sarcastically sympathised, "Must be hard to keep up the hero act if you can't play hero, huh?"

Catgirl rolled her eyes and held her hand up for the cigarette. 

She took it back and took a deep draw from it before explaining, "Batman's contract runs out on the 31st of October 2011."

"Then what?"

"Then..." Katherine hadn't thought that far ahead.

Calico laughed, putting his cowl back on, "Then you'll have to choice but to come back to the old family business- which on the subject of 'family' I have something to tell you, regarding Selina."

Catgirl tensed, "What about her?"

Calico put his hands on her shoulders, easing her a little. "My friends went to Belle Reve not long ago- you too, so you know she's never getting out-"

"But?"

"But.." Calico smiled, "They said if I continue to stand with them that they may be able to come up with an appeal for her-"

"And free her?!" Catgirl jolted to her feet- a little too quickly.

If not for Calico grabbing her and pulling her down from the ledge she would've fell.

Catgirl quickly recovered and slapped her brother, "I can't believe you!" She furiously screamed at him.

"Whoa!" Calico pulled his gun on her, nervously laughing , "Easy tiger...your feral is getting the better of you."

"Felix, you fucking idiot."

Whether that was her feral side talking or her, she meant it.

"I'm an idiot?" Calico scratched his head with his gun, "Sorry Kath, but last time I checked this was the best plan we had at avenging ourselves, and it didn't take me 11 years to come up with it either."

"At what cost?" She crossed her arms, "You clearly don't realise it yet, but your so called friends aren't what you think. They will give you what you want in return for working with them, but by the end of it all it won't matter if you get what you want, because you would've lost everything you had."

Calico sighed, "You're not seeing the bigger picture here, Kath."

"Which is what- exactly?" Catgirl questioned.

Calico went silent before changing the subject back to their mom, "What matters is we can finally get justice- real justice."

Catgirl shook her head at him as she took a final draw from her cigarette before stepping on it and warning him, "The Light aren't your friends."

"They're our friends." Calico held out his hand for her, "Take my hand and let me prove it; you're much friendlier with them than you think..."

She was?

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Word Count: 716

A/N: I'm nearly done editing and finally completing the timeline (which is 1986-2010 full of things relevant to the book), added the many trigger warnings I've missed, and corrected (most of) the grammar for 98 chapters with an average of 1000-2000 words each. 

Now All I have to do is  publish the Q&A, but I'm yet to get enough questions to post that so please comment any questions you have about the book!

*Q&A will be posted on January 1st 2021