Catgirl: Young Justice BOOK 1 (COMPLETE)

CHAPTER 44

|Gotham City
|August 18 2010, 05:50

Catgirl stopped walking at the end of the abandoned tunnel. It had been blocked off from the rest of the old railway system, which led onto The Flea. Robin had followed her down, taking a mental note of the newer gang related graffiti littering the victorian brickwork.

"This is it.", Catgirl tapped the wall with her claw, explaining, "It was blocked off in the early 90's after kids started to go missing. The wall's been up since."

"Flea kids.", Robin placed his gloved hand to the bricks, "They were trapped out."

"The opposite, actually."

Gotham had tried to murder the street kids who took refuge in the tunnels. Robin knew that was most likely what happened, he just didn't want to admit it.

"They trapped the kids in, with no food or water, murdering them.", He said.

"Not quite. They survived- well, most of them did." Catgirl properly explained, "By the time me and Felix ended up in the The Flea, it was already being talked about on the streets, but The Gunmen were there from day one. They were the oldest kids at the original Flea, somewhat in charge of keeping the younger kids safe." She turned her back to the wall to lean on it as she continued, "They told me they heard the workers closing in the tunnel, and that The GCPD would shoot at anyone who tried to escape. When the brickwork set, the kids on the other side split up; some risked following the tunnel, eventually finding Old Gotham, while the others spent days trying to break through the wall...where they still are to this day."

Robin's eyes widened, "There's a crime scene-"

"The GCPD won't go near it. Makes the city look bad. That, and it's been so long it's more of a resting place than a crime scene. The kids that died are long gone, and they don't have anyone that'd miss them above, so they've just been left." Catgirl's eyes narrowed coldly, "It's why the kids who survived chose to stay at The Flea, it's been more of a home than Gotham ever was to them; The Flea is a place where everyone is seen as equal, no matter what they were seen as above ground."

"But those kids-"

"They haven't been forgotten- at least not by The Flea's people. There's a memorial service every year, where The Gunmen visit the site and remember them." She pushed off the wall to start walking back towards the abandoned train station. "If they really wanted to, they could break through the wall now, but none of them ever want to go further than the tunnel. Honestly, I don't blame them; things in Gotham seem to get worse the more time passes."

"But you go back to Gotham.", Robin stated, "That's why they call you Alley Cat, you always go back to the streets." He needed to know, "Why would you go back if you can have a better life at The Flea?" He glanced back at the wall as they walked away from it, "You know you can get away from it all there, but you still go back to Gotham. Why?"

"I told you I don't know.", Catgirl sighed, looking up at the roof of the tunnel. "I wish I knew... ", she said, her eyes looking forward at the sunrise coming from the other end of the tunnel, "I guess at the moment it's because I made a deal, the contract- but before that I stayed at The Flea too. I was there nearly 7 months, so I did have a life there...", She went quiet after they reached the train station, using her hearing to make sure the gang who'd recently littered the station with their graffiti weren't in their territory. Once she decided the coast was clear she continued walking, Robin following close behind her. "So.", She spoke up again, this time changing the subject, "Wally's been back to school for a while now. When do I get rid of you?"

Robin huffed, "Too soon." He looked up at the sun coming through the smashed windows, "I've spent my entire summer getting beat up and shot at instead of hanging out with friends and making a start to the piles of homework I need to finish before I start freshman year. Way I'm going, I'll be behind, again."

Catgirl couldn't help but laugh at him. "Well most of that seems to be a pretty big part of having that.", She poked the R symbol on his chest, "And you've probably had a more exciting summer than your entire school combined; you became a part of a superhero team and got to do and see things most people are never going to, summer or not. When you start school you'll wish you could go back to it all- I know Wally does." She chuckled at the thought of the energetic speedster having to sit still for most of his days.

"I wish it was like that.", Robin weakly laughed, "But starting school won't change anything when it comes to me almost getting killed every night. Going back to school will just make it that little bit more dangerous, because I'm exhausted from sitting through advanced algebra."

"Then don't work as much.", Catgirl shrugged, "I'm not allowed to go to school, so I could easily split your hours with you. With the hero work, of course. You're on your own when it comes to advanced...whatever the fuck."

Robin laughed and shook his head, firing his grappling hook up at the skylight they came through. "You almost had me thinking you were truly being nice. If I do accept the offer, what do I have to do in return?!", He shouted as he shot upwards, making sure to avoid any shards of glass as he pulled himself through the broken skylight, climbing onto the roof.

"Nothing!", Catgirl replied before jumping up to join him, barley missing a shard of glass big enough to take a limb off. She brushed herself down and looked out at the sunrise, insisting, "I just wanna help a friend out, free of charge."

Robin made his way to the edge of the roof and sat down. "Well at least you think of me as a friend again.", He mumbled, checking the time on his computer, his eyes widening, "But we're already 10 minutes late for training at Mount Justice, so I'll have to take you up on that very generous offer another time."

Catgirl smirked, sitting down next to him. "Tell Canary we didn't show because we were tired- she said it herself, 'a tired hero is no good', and we've both been running around all night."

"We can't skip class," Robin shook his head, "it's important to keep up to date with training."

"As I said, we've been running around all night." Catgirl pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "We've done more than enough real practice to keep our skills fresh for today. Because of that, I'd say it's not skipping at all, we've earned this break."

Robin watched her light the cigarette and shook his head again, getting up. "Well I'm not skipping class.". He feared, "Batman will have my head if he knows I didn't make any effort to show up- you should know he won't be happy with either of us if you don't show up."

Catgirl flicked her cigarette ash into the abandoned train yard below. She took another puff of her cigarette and smiled back at him, "Well Batman doesn't own me." She patted the spot next to her as she looked back up at the sun, "He doesn't own you either, you know. If you really wanted to, you could..."

She heard his grappling hook fire so continued to watch the sunset alone, muttering to herself in frustration.

Despite everything he'd recently learned, he still didn't have the courage to stand up to Batman.

No matter what she told him, he'd fall in line, do whatever he was told to- even if he knew it wasn't good for him.

Catgirl just hoped that Robin would break free from Batman's control before it ruined them...like it did with her and Catwoman.

"Stupid Birdy.", She muttered, lighting another cigarette.

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Word Count: 1386