Catgirl: Young Justice BOOK 1 (COMPLETE)

CHAPTER 70

|Wayne Manor

|October 30 2010, 18:07

Katherine poured some gravy onto her mashed potatoes. She numbly watched them drown in it, her mind far from the dinner table. 

It'd been 5 days since she saw Calico. He disappeared after their talk, leaving her alone to process the truth, something she'd not been able to accept.

It just couldn't be the truth.

"Miss Kyle, I think that's quite enough gravy for you.", Alfred snapped her out of her thoughts, taking the gravy from her and putting it back in the middle of the table.

Katherine looked down at the brown puddle on her plate, avoiding eye contact with the other two pairs of eyes watching her.

"So.", Dick awkwardly broke the silence, "It's your birthday tomorrow, Katherine."

"Mhm." Katherine didn't look up from the mess on her plate.

"You're 17.", Dick continued, "That's kind of a big one, right?"

"Mhm."

He sighed and went back to eating his food.

Bruce asked, "What do you want for your birthday?" 

Katherine looked up from her food at him, unsure if he was serious or not. 

He continued, "Do you not want a gift? If not, I can give cash?"

"I think you've given me enough." Katherine pushed her chair back and stood up.

"Sit.", Bruce firmly told her, almost as a warning. "Dinner isn't over."

Katherine glared back at him, "I don't care, Bruce." She moved away from the table and got up to leave, a batarang shortly hitting the wall beside her.

"Master Bruce!", Alfred scolded, "No weapons at the dinner table!"

"Sorry, Alfred." Bruce stood up and walked over to Katherine, turning her around to force her to look at him. 

She looked up at him, struggling to keep herself together. Her eyes were glazed with tears and her hands were balled in fists, gold dripping from her claws digging in too much.

Bruce removed his hand from her. He didn't know why she was upset, he just knew that when she was emotional, it was important to give her space. "Talk to me.", he said. 

Dick, on the other hand, got up from the table and reached out for her.

Neither of their options were satisfactory, so she ran away.

**********

|Selina Kyle's Apartment, The Narrows

|October 31 00:09

"Happy Birthday."

Katherine kept her eyes on the black, smoke-stained apartment.

"Still mad?", He climbed through the open window, "I suppose that's understandable-"

"She brought you back, didn't she?", Katherine kept her back to him.

"Bastet? It was your life." 

"I only wanted to remember...", Katherine barely whispered, hesitantly turning to face the kitchen. Calico walked inside, crouching to touch the floor. He wiped the black smoke away to reveal the bloodstained floor underneath. 

Her eyes watered, the memory replaying itself.

He looked older now, but all she saw was a scared 11 year old boy, desperately trying to protect his baby sister.