Catgirl: Young Justice BOOK 1 (COMPLETE)

CHAPTER 40

|Gotham City
|August 11 2010, 09:13

After years of keeping her past a secret, Dick was struggling to process that Katherine was finally opening up to him about it all- and so suddenly too.

He knew some of what had happened in her childhood- and what he knew he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy, but Katherine had went through it, and her way of coping with it was to keep it in the past.

Even with him, she'd previously refused to let him know anything. Now she was being somewhat open, Dick wanted to know everything.

"On Santa Prisca.", Dick wondered, "Bane seemed to know Felix; he said he broke your heart, so was he your boyfriend?"

Katherine looked at him disgusted, "Ew no. It wasn't like that at all. Felix wasn't my boyfriend. No."

"So you didn't love him?", Dick raised a brow, confused with her reaction after what Bane had said on Santa Prisca.

Katherine broke eye contact with him. "No, I loved him- even though he was a complete idiot, I loved him more than I've ever loved anyone." She sighed, looking down at the sidewalk infront of her as she walked. "He was the only family who loved me. He took care of me until I was around 6, maybe 7, when I lost him.."

"Oh.", Dick couldn't say much more to help, other than, "I'm sorry for your loss. I know what it's like to lose-"

"I know you do.", She cut him off,  quickly giving a sympathetic smile, "You're the only one who will really understand this..." She paused for a moment, like she realised something, before managing a sad smile and continuing, "I guess that's the real reason why I helped you that night at the circus; I knew exactly what it was like, to lose your family when you already had nothing."

Katherine suddenly stopped walking. She stopped in her tracks to look up at a car coming towards them. She put up her hood to hide her face, but he could still tell she was glaring at the car as she said, "They killed him."

Dick watched as the GCPD patrol car passed them, oblivious to the fact they'd just past their previously most wanted criminal, or that she had around $80,000 of cocaine stuffed under her shirt. He turned around to watch it turn the corner, then looked back at Katherine who'd already continued walking.

Now it made sense why she hated cops so much; The GCPD killed her brother. Her hatred towards the justice system- it was what pushed her to take up the life of crime. She became a villain through revenge- the thing Batman feared would happen when he first took Dick in...

"He died, protecting me.", Katherine continued, wiping her hand under her cowl. She laughed, "It's stupid really, it's been over a decade and it still hurts. I just...." some tears ran down her cheeks. "I just wish I could've saved him, y'know?"

"I know.", Dick frowned, also diverting his eyes back to the sidewalk. He knew exactly how she felt; they had that much in common. You never really recovered from the trauma of watching your family's murder, but knowing you could've prevented it if you acted made it X10 harder to live with.

The pair were quiet for a while, until Katherine stopped walking at an alley and announced, "We're here."

Dick peered into the normal looking alley unsure, but he didn't question it. They walked into it properly and she used all her strength to move the drain cover away from the manhole, exposing the ladder that led into the sewage below.

"The sewers?", Dick couldn't help but question this.

"Yes.", Katherine looked back at him as she started to climb down the ladder, "The sewers." She disappeared into the manhole, a small splash coming from the dark hole as she dropped into the sewage at the bottom.

Dick made his way to the manhole with the ladder. He kept his eyes down, trying to see Katherine through the darkness.

"You coming today?", Katherine's voice impatiently echoed from the bottom.

Nothing good would come from this.

Not wanting to push her patience, Dick dropped down from the ladder, into the sewage at the bottom.

What was down here?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Word Count: 718