Catgirl: Young Justice BOOK 1 (COMPLETE)

CHAPTER 2

TW: DEATH

|Belle Reve Penitentiary
| January 5 2010, 14:00

Today was the day Robin had been scared of ever since he met Katherine:

Her funeral.

Around midnight on New Year's Day a distress signal from Belle Reve was sent to The Justice League. They didn't give much detail how it happened, but somehow Catgirl escaped her cell after a riot was started. It was believed she was trying to escape with some of her villain friends, but her mother, Catwoman, got to her before she could pull it off.

Batman was the one to break the news to Robin, and it broke him. He'd always known Katherine was a loose canon and her early grave was inevitable- but he didn't expect her to go down like this, at the hands of her own mother. For as long as he could remember Katherine had been there for him, ever since his parents died...yet when she needed him to protect her, he wasn't there.

She turned herself into Belle Reve after two years of giving into her instinct to kill- something that made no sense at all, as she couldn't feel guilt when she was feral- she enjoyed the killing, and she'd killed anywhere from 700-2000 people over the two year span. It didn't make sense for her to just stop.

However, her killing spree, even by Gotham standards, was unforgivable. She was to be executed at Belle Reve Penitentiary on her 18th birthday.

Katherine knew this, yet still turned herself in, and Robin never got the chance to find out why.

He thought that if he could find out why- if she actually felt guilty, then he could save her.

But he was too late.

"Dude, breathe."

Robin wiped the tears from under his mask and looked over at Kid Flash, who was also security for Katherine's cremation.

"We can't let them..", Robin managed. "She's not even- dead...", His voice cracked, making him fall silent again.

Before she went feral, when she was still his best friend, Katherine told Robin something she'd never told anyone: that she had 9 lives- and not the myth kind cats were rumoured to have either.

Katherine's other mother was Bastet, the Egyptian goddess of cats. She gave Katherine 9 lives, each lasting an average of 15 years if lived to the fullest, and if she lost any she'd only remain dead for 48 hours, before moving onto her next life.

The only thing to stop all this would be if her corpse was cremated before resurrection, which was going to happen any second.

What made it worse was Robin couldn't stop it. Her fate had already been decided for her, by the justice system. She'd be put on death row and was to be executed when she turned 18. If anything happened to her before that, she'd be cremated to stop her from coming back.

He couldn't let it happen.

Robin took a step forwards in hopes to run and save her, but before he could two strong hands pulled him back and held him in place.

"Don't make this harder than it already is," A rough voice warned, "She's gone. She's not coming back."

Behind him, Robin could feel Speedy.

He was also here to work as security for the funeral, but Robin and Kid Flash didn't think he'd actually show. He wasn't in the cremation room, but was only because he was in the morgue with Katherine.

As much as Robin didn't like to admit it, Speedy was the closest to Katherine before she went feral. He watched her slowly lose control over herself- something Robin was responsible for.

Robin knew this was all his fault too.

Robin's knees gave in and he broke down as Katherine's body was put onto the machine. He closed his eyes tight and tried to breathe. He felt like he was drowning. He wanted to save her but he couldn't. He was too late again.

Speedy pulled Robin closer and tightened the grip on his cape. Unlike the other boys, he couldn't look away. His eyes were fixed on her body, the flames surrounding it. He didn't realise he was crying too, until the door slammed shut and she was gone.

"She's...she's really gone," Kid Flash looked over at them in disbelief, "Isn't she?"

Word Count: 723