229/When a Kitty Leaves a Calling Card

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When a Kitty Leaves a Calling Card
Date of Scene: 02 March 2020
Location: Kingston - Miagani Island
Synopsis: Batman warns Catwoman that Talia al Ghul might be gunning for her.
Cast of Characters: Selina Kyle, Bruce Wayne




Selina Kyle has posed:
A late night in Gotham City, the perfect time for costumed vigilantes in capes and catsuited thieves to be out and about, doing what they normally do. One takes from those deemed deserving of being taken down a notch, and sometimes shares in different ways. The other fights to protect the city and its people, standing up against the evil criminal element and the chaos.

Sometimes, paths cross. Sometimes, it's on the same side. Often, it's not. It isn't common that Catwoman leaves something behind for Batman that isn't a reminder or taunt about how she's one step ahead of him again, or so she often thinks, but as he investigates a crime scene he'll inevitably come across a small cat-shaped locket. Opening it reveals an equally small note: 'Ferry Terminal. Midnight. Don't be late or I might not stay long. Meow. CW'

There she waits atop the roof of the building, biding her time by inspecting her claws. Full costume, goggles, bullwhip, even a shoulder bag of a pouch that may hold one thing or another, frequently the night's spoils.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"No bread crumbs?" One boot shuffles very subtly to grind the dust of the roof underfoot to mark Batman's arrival. "Worried that you're slipping. Even Nigma sends me the jumble from Arkham."

With an unnervingly smooth stride Batman steps closer to Selina's position, stopping just outside of her comfortable striking range. He takes a few moments to surveill the immediate area. Sight lines, escape routes. Glancing over Selina's person and estimating the contents of her slingpack. Then he finally looks at Selina's goggles, and his cowled head dips very slightly. The lenses of his mask are nearly opaque, at least enough that she can make out the faint suggestion of his eyes behind them. "If you're expecting me to protect you from the Russian mob, you're out of luck. I can smell Igor Kasmiov's cigars from here. Rare blend from Panama."

Selina Kyle has posed:
The building is clean. A quick analysis of the exterior and rooftop reveals no traps, nobody else waiting to ambush the Bat. The bag appears light, nothing weighting it down enough to press against the material of the catsuit or cause the strap to dig in at all around the shoulder.

The Cat's back is to him when he gets there, and she remains that way as she hears the crunch of roofing beneath the man's boot. "I'm not the Riddler. I don't do complicated setups," she explains, continuing to give him a view of her from behind, though a tinted lens of a goggle inclines just enough that she can make him out over the shoulder opposite the bag's strap. "I knew you'd be where you were, so I left something. You can keep the locket. It's clean."

Only then, with him mere feet away and, as she can tell, just beyond normal reach, does she turn to face him. Before she says another word, those eyes size him up from the tip of his cowl's ears down to those boots, and all points in between along the way. "Mmm-hmm," she muses to herself before her eyes roll. "I'm not in trouble with the mob. Haven't even stolen anything from them lately. I see you didn't get held up back there, either." Arms remain at her sides, one hand against a hip.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Chasing leads. Not running from cops," Batman says in his usual terse tone. He isn't fully wrapped in his cloak, letting it hang over his shoulders. It still obscures his hands from view. "Why the note?" he inquires a beat later. Eyes pan to Gotham, then back to Catwoman. The lenses could be bad enough, but Batman has an unnnerving habit of simply not blinking while staring someone in the face. "Not a good time for games. Murders on the rise. Al Ghul might be back," he explains. "Talia. Playing games. She takes over vice in Gotham, you'll be high on her list," Batman warns Catwoman.

Selina Kyle has posed:
"Do I look like I've been running?" Catwoman questions the Caped Crusader, the expression on her face one of smug satisfaction. Many things are a game to her, and many interations with Batman are the same. A different kind of game than others play, however.

She notes the placement of the hands, the cloak proving to be as big a benefit as ever in that regard, and it always looks imposing when he's swooping in from above with it fanned out. "I didn't think you'd want to be interrupted in the middle of your detective work," she answers, the remark off-handed. "Figured you probably already caught wind of it but a certain Black Panther was around the other day, getting back a few things of his from one of his own people who seemed to have gone rogue. She wasn't a bad fighter, I'll admit."

Though, the mention of one Talia Al Ghul coaxes a slight frown out of her. "She doesn't like competition, does she?"

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"T'challa. King of Wakanda. Thirty-four years old, sole monarch. Ascended to the throne in 2011. He's fast. Strong, too. Watch him," Batman advises Catwoman. "He's on par with Captain Rogers for physical ability. Never met him in person, but he's quite intelligent."

That bit said, Batman's lips thin with a press and he looks out towards the night sky again. "Talia's a problem. Always has been. Likes to be in control of everything, all the time. Ra's was a schemer. He'd lay plans that would take years to play out. Talia is more direct. She'll kill you if she can't buy you," Batman warns Selina. "And it won't be face to face. It'd be with an explosively trapped bauble or a sniper on a rooftop. You're very good. But she's patient and has enormous resources. Don't get hurt." Is that a little concern in his voice, making the plaintive appeal for Selina's safety?

Selina Kyle has posed:
Catwoman adds on another note to Batman's immediate analysis, fingers drumming along the side of her hip, "He's nice on the eyes, too. Even if that mask of his hides everything. I can't believe I'm telling you this, but the two of you should discuss suit technology sometime."

She grows quiet to listen to Batman's words of warning where Talia is concerned, and while there is a miffed expression that threatens to bloom further, coming out as a slow but audible breath through the nose given her clenched jaw, she takes a few steps around as she considers the thoughts in her head at the moment.

"Why are you telling me this? I figured you'd think it safest with me behind bars at Arkham, with all I've done over the years. I know you've almost done it more times than cats have lives." The question is a probing one, to see whether he bites or keeps his answer more guarded, protected.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Arkham's for psychotics. You're a kleptomaniac with some mild sociopathy. Criminal mentality versus criminally insane," Batman reminds Catwoman. "You're one for the justice system, not Arkham. If you weren't crazy going in there, you'd be crazy when you eventually escape." A mild compliment, however backhanded. Batman has some faith in Selina's skills.

"I'm telling you this because I know you're not going to bakc down from a challenge from Talia," he points out. Batman turns his head to watch Selina pacing, but otherwise doesn't shift his position. "I'm saying when you ignore my advice, do so with the best information possible. Don't trust her to deal fairly. Her sense of honorable combat is a gunshot to the back of the head. She'll kill you if she has to."

Selina Kyle has posed:
Catwoman maintains a poker face when given Batman's assessment of her criminal tendencies and her ability to escape. It's a good angle for him to take, considering she's yet to be taken in long enough to even reach processing for the police to learn who she really is. Even standing here with Batman so close could jeopardize that, given the warrants out for the arrest of the Feline Fatale.

"It's good to know someone appreciates talent when they see it," she deadpans, gesturing around her with a hand. "The way I work, I don't do the whole partner thing, at least not for long. An accomplice today could be an enemy tomorrow. Rather than not trusting her to deal fairly, how about I tell you I just don't trust her at all? I don't trust the Penguin, I don't trust the Joker, I don't trust Two-Face, and I don't know what the hell Harley's up to these days."

That said, she adds with a roll of the shoulders, "Not that I'm not thanking you for the concern. I get the feeling you wouldn't like it if I was gone."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"What would I do if you were gone?" Batman posits, with a positively Saharan sarcasm. "Sleep more. Take up knitting. Maybe break up a crime syndicate." There's a little humor in his voice. "Instead of spending my nights chasing around a serial felon to warn her about the heiress to a line of near-immortal assassins possibly killing her over some misplaced jealousy."

"Don't get killed, Cat," he says, and his tone settles. Just a little. "You need to be behind bars. You don't deserve to die. Especially not at Talia's hands."

There's a little closeness in that moment, spanning the distance between them. It vanishes when Bruce speaks again. "Do you know anything about the mob murders in Bludhaven?" he asks her. "I suspect it's her work. Could be wrong. If it spills into Gotham, it'll be trouble."

Selina Kyle has posed:
Catwoman sniffs once. "And we can't have that, can we?" No, the idea of Batman doing mundane things or being able to operate without her around doesn't quite work in her case. If there's a smile or any mirth to her right now, it's kept well under wraps. "It almost sounds like you think I'd be safer behind bars."

She's quick to clarify, "To which I'd say I'll take my chances on the outside. But what would she have to be envious of toward me, Batman? Does she think I'm in the way of the two of you? Does she think I need to be erased from the board?"

She moves over to the edge of the rooftop, sitting to drape her legs over the edge, hands resting against it to either side of her. "I can't tell you anything about Bludhaven. I haven't been over there in a while. Sorry to disappoint."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Don't know what Talia thinks. She's not as stable as Ra's was," Batman informs Catwoman. His tone is dry and almost scholarly, as if debating the merits of fish food in the local aquarium. "She is possessive. Obsessed with order. Wealth. Me. You represent a challenge to those things."

He turns and faces the other direction, as if preparing to walk off. "She will try to buy you off first. It's her way. Up to you to take that offer or not. I'd recommend taking it. Los Angeles is nice this time of year. Easier to start over somewhere else than be press-ganged into working for her organization."

Selina Kyle has posed:
"Don't tell me you're calling Ra's stable." At this, Catwoman laughs. Just once, but it counts. Turning her body enough to look at him without having to crane her neck from the new position, she reminds, "I can be obsessed with a lot of those things as well, or have you forgotten?"

It may be she isn't as fanatical about some of what Batman is warning her about compared to Talia, but time may answer that one.

Now with him putting his back to her, she adds, "Leave Gotham City for fairer weather? I thought you knew me better than that by now. I know we aren't exactly friends, but you let me go, I let you think you're letting me go, and we do that dance. Now, a question for you. Do you have a mole? Is that what you're hinting at with all this?"

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"I'm not hinting at anything," Batman tells Selina. He turns his head and looks back at her. The lenses are white again, completely opaque. They're hollow eyes, moving his still features into the realm of the uncanny valley once more. Those momentary lowering of his walls are gone and he is once more the crusader, the Batman.

"I'm telling you how it is."

Two more strides take him to the edge of the roof. "However you want to interpret that is up to you?"

A weirdly open-ended statement from the Batman, that. But then again, when she looks once more... he's gone. Vanished like a shadow under an overpass, and leaving Selina perched on the rooftop's edge.

Selina Kyle has posed:
The last words between the pair for this encounter are his. She's gone back to looking out over the water adjacent to the ferry building, mulling over what he's said. Be careful. Consider leaving Gotham City for her own safety. Be aware Talia Al Ghul will try to buy her off one way or another and probably attempt to kill her. But, no definitive answer to the question of infiltration or not.

By the time she turns toward him again, the rooftop is deserted. No sign of which direction he left in, and it was as silent as can be.

Catwoman mutters under her breath, "Ten years, and sometimes I still don't know what the hell to think about you."

Soon, she is away into the night as well, with more questions than answers.