Rivalry on Hold [Talia]

[Catwoman]

She was not worried about him.

Selina didn’t believe in any gods despite her ‘good Catholic upbringing’ but she was still willing to bet by any of them that there was absolutely nothing wrong at all. There was an excellent explanation for the situation, she just was not aware of it yet and that was alright. She still was not worried about him. She was just a little curious. After all, it was a little unusual and, given the otherwise normal Gotham nightlife, that intrigued her enough to follow up this lead while Holly and friends held the fort back in the East End. In any case, she’d be back soon enough before any of the locals could stir up too much mischief.

This was more interesting. Batman did not seemingly vanish every day. Or, at least, he did not generally do this, which was to disappear entirely from Gotham for the last two nights as far as she could tell. Nor had there been sight or sign of Bruce Wayne, another interesting fact that she had picked up from a quick scan of the news. What she had been able to find out told her that Robin had not been seen either at least until a tiny slip by Leslie Thompkins told her that said Boy Wonder was in her clinic. Apparently, he was in poor condition, for which Selina read ‘coma’ or possibly ‘dying’ – it had to be serious if Batman was allowing his precious sidekick to stay anywhere outside of his home ground.

Well then. It seemed like she’d found where the Dark Knight had been lurking. With her question answered, she had considered just dropping it. He would be at his son’s side, no doubt. And, as long as the kid survived, the only ones likely to suffer for it would be whoever was suicidal enough to nearly kill a Robin. For one thing, Batman would not be the only one after them – setting aside the rest of his merry little band of do-gooders who would be eager for vengeance (even if they called it ‘justice’), the Joker would not be a happy clown when he found out someone had nearly stolen his fun. The shooter might as well turn himself in now and maybe he’d survive the experience mostly unharmed.

In short, the sensible thing would be to leave Batman to brood, then to wreak havoc on Gotham’s unfortunate criminal population while taking full advantage of the mayhem to ‘deport’ a few of the more unwelcome denizens of the East End to parts unknown. But then she was still curious and the answer did not entirely satisfy her. Her instincts told her that something more was up and, if it was big enough to take Batman out of the game for even a night or two, Selina wanted to know about it.

The clinic was still the best place to start. And so that was where she headed later that day. A black tank top matched with leather pants, boots and jacket were her choice of clothing, nothing that stood out as unusual. Only the cat’s-head on its collar around her neck could do that. Still, simple or not, the outfit emphasised the right parts of her when it came to flirting and it took her very little time to persuade a male nurse to tell her where she could find Robin. It really was too bad it was going to get him fired. Ah well, he should know better than to fall for a woman no matter how much she fluttered her eyes at him, particularly one with Selina’s particular brand of stunning good looks.

It did not take her long to stroll to the room in question and she did not bother to knock before slipping inside. And then she stopped short, her green eyes narrowing to slits as they fell on the woman within. Aside from the unconscious body in the bed, they two were alone and Selina felt no need to hide her loathing as she hissed.

”You.”

TAG: Talia

[Talia al Ghul]

Many people would call Talia al Ghul as an unfeeling woman; some would even go so far as stating that she had a lump of coal where a woman’s heart should be. Truth of the matter was she did care, and her feeling did run deep but they were saved for those who had earned her love and respect. Others would think her a horrible mother because she had sent her son off, the truth was she saw herself as a wonderful mother because not only did she truly love her son; but she had sent him to his father to learn. There were things that Bruce aka Batman could teach their son that Talia could not, one of them being the kind of man she wanted the young boy to be; his father not his grandfather. Talia’s hope was that one day Ra’s al Ghul would see Damien as his heir, since he was unwilling to except her.

The Hospital room was cold, and Talia had been there all night. She had slept very little in the easy chair that set next to her son’s hospital bed, for she waited to see him wake up. He had yet to waken, but the doctors had declared that they had done everything for him that they could at this time. Some of the hospital knew who was laying in the bed as Robin, and fewer knew him as Damien, for Talia and Bruce had worked to keep his name a secret. Bruce had come to the hospital as Batman, giving more to the fact that this was indeed Robin and no one had question him when he had informed the hospital staff that Talia was the only person, beside him, that was allowed in Robin’s room.

When the door open, Talia al Ghul, was leaning against the wall in the last bit of sunlight that the room was letting in for the day, her arms were hugged around her as if trying to keep the chill of the room away. At first Talia had assumed that it was just another doctor or nurse to come in and check on her son, so she didn’t open her eyes. But when she heard a very familiar voice, Talia’s eyes snapped open and she glared at the woman who had dared to enter her son’s room. "What are you doing here." Talia hissed