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"God, you look like a mess. What the hell happened?"

"Gee, thanks hon, hello to you too," you rolled your eyes as you entered the apartment. It was slightly cleaner than the last time you saw it; Selina had made a noble effort at restoring it to its former glory. The cats swarmed to your feet. "Have you checked the news?"

"No, why?" The tv was shut off but the music was playing over the radio quietly. Selina was doing the dishes.

"I had a very interesting morning. Let's see: Boss man picked me up, we went to the funeral, I met a cute guy, I almost got hit by a car in the church, the guy who crashed into the church had a bomb on him, the cute guy paid for my taxi, and now I'm here."

"What!? What do you mean there was a bomb?"

Filling Selina in on what happened exactly didn't take long, although you did leave out some names, cough Bruce Wayne cough-not the D.A.s, however.

"So the D.A. was the hostage?"

"Yeah, he was wearing the same outfit from the other day, too. Remember when he asked if we needed a ride?"

"Yeah. I'm guessing he was taken not too long after that."

"Had to have been," you agreed. You opened the fridge to see what was inside. There wasn't much, you knew that, but you hoped there was at least something. You closed the door, frustrated. After a moment of silence, you remembered something.

"What about that score you were talking about?"

"Oh, the narcotics one. Some guy at the club was talking about it. It's apparently at Gotham Recycling."

"Okay, cool. So do you have a way in?"

"...no," she admitted. You rolled your eyes.

"How about this," you said after a beat. "I'll go check it out right now and see if I can find us some cover spots and places to hide. That way we aren't taken by surprise."

"Perfect," she complimented with a growing smile. "Hey, while you're at it," she pointed to a pile of broken furniture. "Be a doll and take that with you, hmm?"

"You're joking, right?"

She smiled and shrugged.

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"Can't believe she made me take all that. I mean, how the fuck do you fit a broken dresser onto a bike?"

Selina was, in fact, not joking about taking some items to the recycling place. It ended up being a good cover, though, because it gave you an excuse to look around the area without being suspicious. It was rather hard to find where you were supposed to drop things off at. Currently, you were complaining as you made your way home after securing the location; there were already some shady guys lurking around, but they didn't pay you any mind. You had just passed Gotham's Police Department when you saw something in the sky.

"What...the...fuck?"

The large object soared in the air, which made you slow to a stop in a side alley and get off your motorcycle. When it approached the ground, a parachute popped from its back. It hilariously hit the bridge over top you and crashed onto a bus, crashed into a parked car, hit some garbage, and then finally skidded to a stop at your feet. The masked man groaned as his eyes traveled from your feet to your eyes.

"Well hi there, stranger," you greeted cheerfully as you crouched down. "How was the fall?"

He caught his breath before muttering, "It was shit." You helped him to his feet. "What're you doing here?"

"What was that about?" You ignored his question.

"...Nothing."

"Didn't look like nothing to me. Looked like you fell from the police building." He shrugged his shoulders. "Fine," you shrugged back. "Didn't want to know anyway-by the way, you look like shit."

He let out a surprise chuckle before coughing out, "Thanks."

"And he laughs! Didn't know you could do that."

"I can laugh," he said defensively. You two started making your way down the alley. "And more."

"Can you now? Like what?" He said nothing, but his eyes held a bit of mischief. "So what, you taking a midnight walk or something to clear your head? Where're ya going?"

He gave it some thought before responding. It seemed like he trusted you more. "The bat signal."

"You have a signal? Damn." You let out a whistle. "So anytime I want to see you I just need to light that bad boy up?" Batman gave a small smile but made no comments or objections. "Anyways, need a ride? It's the least I can offer after you ate concrete and groveled at my feet."

Batman got your bike, behind you, and wrapped his arms around your midsection. "I did not grovel."

"Uh-huh, sure, now tell me where to go."

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"Alright," you announced as you barged into your home. "I found some spots-it'll be a piece of cake. What time did you want to leave?"

"Now."

"Now-oh shit, uh, okay. Lemme get dressed." Selina was already in her catsuit and sitting on the counter waiting for you. You quickly got dressed yourself, not wanting to keep her waiting any longer. She seemed a little pissed. Walking out of your room, Selina hopped off the counter and left the apartment. You followed after her to where your motorcycles were. Putting on your helmet, you asked, "One bike or two?"

"What took you so long?"

"What?" She gave you a pointed look before putting on her own helmet. "I'm sorry, I guess I was a little distracted, why?"

"I thought-" she paused before continuing. "I thought someone caught you. You were gone longer than you should have, I was worried."

"Oh." You felt a little guilty now. You could see how she thought that. "The building was a little bigger than I thought, so it took a bit longer. On my way back, I went a little slow and enjoyed the ride." Something told you that if you mentioned Batman that she would not be happy. So you shut your mouth.

"Two."

"'Scuse me?"

"Two bikes...and I'm sorry for overreacting." You both got on your bikes.

Grabbing her shoulder, you squeezed it affectionately. "You don't have to apologize, Cat. I'm the one sorry for making you worry." She squeezed the hand that was touching her.

"It's okay, Rat," she said before riding off. You followed.

As you approached the recycling plant, you moved in front of Selina and followed the path that you planned earlier. You stopped and signaled to her to shut off her bike between two large trucks. It was time to get to work. She grabbed a long chain from the back of her bike as you stretched-you didn't want to pull anything. You even slipped on some brass knuckles, ya know, just in case.

Quietly making your way past where the trucks were parked, you surveyed the area. You held up a peace sign to Selina. 'Two guards.' Nodding, she slipped in front of you and whipped her chains around the first guy's ankles. You quickly pounced on top of him and knocked him out as he hit the ground with a thud.

"Hey! What happened? You alright?" The man on the other side of the car that you were hiding behind started making his way over, but was stopped by Selina. He also hit the ground, knocked out. Quickly getting up, you followed Selina to the car's trunk where two duffle bags were located. Unzipping them revealed the cash she had promised.

"Dangerous crowd you're stealing from."

Whipping around revealed Batman. You put a hand to your heart, startled.

"Jesus," Selina sighed out. "Is this how you get your kicks, hon? Sneaking up on girls in the dark?" She was preparing the duffle bags. When she was done, she handed the first one to you. Batman made no move to stop you.

"That why you work in the club? It was all just a score?"

"You know, I would love to sit down and go over every gory detail with you, bat boy, but uh, those assholes are coming back-" she let out a surprised gasp. You looked over her shoulder in horror and dropped the bag.

Annika was laying in the back of this car in a body bag. Batman looked intensely at the girl and furrowed his brow. He was about to say something, but gunfire ruined it. Batman, almost thoughtlessly, let the bullets bounce off his suit as he instantly moved to cover you. Everyone dropped to the ground as the men making the drops deal moved forward. A nearby car revved and sped closer, gaining the attention of the armed men. An undercover cop stepped out of the car and gave you guys some cover, which gave you time to look over at Batman. He was knocked breathlessly onto the pavement from the barrage of bullets.

"Shit, shit, shit!" You were terrified; your throat choked up on you as the men walked over to your location. You recognized one as Oz when he started yelling.

"Hey, Vengeance!" A wave of bullets pierced into the car that you and Selina used for cover. "You think you can come after my money, huh?"

"What're we gonna do," Selina whispered, scared, as tears threatened to spill. You looked over to Batman again, but he was gone. 'What?'

You could feel Oz's footsteps vibrate the ground from how close he was. A loud engine captured everyone's attention instead, causing heads to turn. Daring to take a peek, you could see the silhouette of a car as the engine powered on. Gunshots fired and men started running for their own cars. You dragged Selina with you as you sprinted to where your bikes were parked, using the distraction as cover.

"Kenzie! Get the money!"

Hopping on your bike, you quickly revved your own engine and made your way back to the action. Fortunately, all the cars were driving away after the mysterious car-'definitely Batman,' you thought-which left you with Kenzie holding the two duffle bags filled with money. Swerving your bike last second allowed you to knock the man onto the ground, making him drop the bags. You grabbed one and sped off without looking back as Selina grabbed the other one, following you shortly after.

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Bruce was pouring over some 'Renewal' files after he had spent the last hour trying to piece together everything that had happened. The orphanage he traveled to seemed to make more questions rather than answer them, and unfortunately lured him away from Wayne Tower when the explosion happened. He was a mess; Alfred was in emergency care, he learned that his father was more sinister than he appeared, and you disappeared after the fiasco down at the recycling plant. He found himself craving your presence after staring at you in the photograph that started it all for an uncomfortable amount of time; the one with Mayor Mitchell, Annika, and you and Selina with Oz in the background.

His monitors flashed to life as a cat appeared through the contact lenses he lent you and Selina. It was your camera. Hope sparked through him as he made out a note that read 'Where are u?' printed in neat handwriting.

"Rat?" He sounded a little pathetic when he whispered it. He wished he could've gotten your real name instead of your stupid little nickname. After a moment you appeared on the screen briefly, but only to move the cat away. You barely even looked at him-just one quick glance before you scurried away, scared-like. Selina's face popped into view as you left.

"Can you see me?"

Bruce, slightly disappointed that it wasn't you, reluctantly answered. "Yeah, I can see you."

"I need to talk to you. Where can we go?"

Bruce was quiet as he thought of a place. By the way this was going, he assumed that it would just be him and Selina. That wouldn't do, he had to see you. He came up with the perfect place. "The bat signal. She knows how to get there." He shut down his monitors, hoping that you would take Selina to his signal. He gathered his things and slowly dawned the bat suit-his mood improved a little bit.

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