#aternative

Month 3

I'm sitting on the edge of the roof of my family's restaurant and home. It's a nice sunset and I wanted to use the new markers I found in the dumpster at the strip mall to draw it. I like being able to use color in my notebook it's fun and I don't get to do it often since the art supplies store tends to donate their old stuff to Gotham schools.

Which isn't a bad thing, at least they donate the stuff they don't want! Some of the shops at the strip mall could learn a thing or two from Ms. Gonzalez. Like jeez if you don't want it and it still works just donate it or give it away! Don't throw it in the trash, and if you do throw it away don't get mad when I take it! You threw it away, it's up for grabs, I take it, simple.

I look up at the sound of heels walking towards me and smile as Catwoman sits down on the roof next to me. She's got a big brown bag in her one hand and a little pink bag in another. She sets them aside and reaches out to ruffle my hair.

"What're you drawing Kitten?" Cat ask and I put away the marker I was using before handing her my note book.

"The sunset! Ms. Gonzalez at the art supplies place on King Blvd threw away a set of markers! Well, almost a full set, it's missing the light green but there's not a lot of green in Gotham so," I explain as I hold up the pack of markers, Cat smiles before looking back at my drawing.

"You're really good at this Kitten," She says as she flips through different pages before stopping on one, it's a drawing I did of her.

It was one of the first nights she came to visit me and we were sitting on the roof like we are now. I thought she looked really pretty and decided to draw her and once I got my markers it was one of the first drawings I colored.

"Do you like it?" I asked blushing as Cat looked at the drawing.

"Oh Kitten, it's beautiful. I'm flattered," Cat says as she lightly traces the page with a finger before handing me back my notebook.

"I actually have a gift for you." I perk up at Cats word as she grabs the big brown bag and hands it to me.

I hesitate to take it but she nods and tells me to'Go on, open it.' I reach into the bag and pull out multiple bottles and a bag with a zipper, looking at the bottles they're all hair care. Specifically for curly hair, eyes wide I look at Cat because I recognize the brand as an expensive one.

"For that mop on your head, I want my Kitten to have a gorgeous head of curly hair," Cat says before taking each bottle and explaining what it's for and how to use it, then opening the bag to show me a purple silk bonnet, scarf and pillow case.

"Cat," I whisper a little overwhelmed and in awe, "I don't have a gift for you, I can't repay you for these."

I look at her in shock as she laughs a bit, I can feel myself blushing and I'm a bit embarrassed. Once she's done laughing Cat places a hand on my back and leaning down to be eye level with me before speaking.

"It's a gift Kitten, but if you feel like you owe me then as repayment you keep drawing and showing me your work." Cat's clawed finger taps on the outside of my notebook and smiling at me as I give her a confused look.

"What could you possibly get from me drawing and showing you?" I ask a little confused and Cat smiles leaning back up to her normal height while sitting.

"Because when you become a famous artist I'll get to claim I knew you when you were young and not famous! Sounds like a fair deal?" Cat ask holding out a hand, I take her hand and shake as I say;

"Deal!"

Month 5

I run down the alley and quickly scramble into my bathroom window before slamming the window close and locking it. Breathing heavily I run to the front door and close it before locking it and pushing my couch in front of the door. Making sure it's flush with the door before moving to double check that all the other windows are locked and confirming they are.

"Ha! Suck it Stoplight! Can't catch me!" I laugh as I relax a bit.

"But I can." I jump and spin around to see two creepy white lenses sitting in the dark corner of my home.

I step back as Batman steps forward and leaves the shadow making him look like nothing but a spooky blob of black. I hear loud purring and look around for Queenie, becoming slightly confused when I can't find the fluffy black kitten. Then realize the purring is coming from Batman...

"Are you purring?" I asked as I kept looking for my kitten, only for Batman to push aside his cape to reveal Queenie loafing on one of Batman's arms.

"Oh!" I walk up and grab my cat who squawks in protest before setting her down and letting her walk away after giving her a good head scratch.

I look back up and glare at Batman, maintaining eye contact with the creepy white eyes. There's a clattering in the bathroom before the door swings open and Robin stands there, he's soaking wet and panting. I giggle as he glares at me and walks to stand next to Batman.

"Hey Stoplight, how's the weather?" I snicker before turning around and going to make Queenie's food.

"Hand it over kid," Rodin demands holding out a hand covered in a red gauntlet.

"I told you I don't have it," I say as I start making my kitten's food.

"Bullshit we saw you take it, hand it-"

"She doesn't have it Robin," Batman rumbles after cutting the kid off.

"What, then who does?" Robin asked looking up at the figure.

"Catwoman." I smile as Batman says the name with certainty and don't stop what I'm doing as I grind Queenie's medicine into a power.

"You know she's a criminal, right?" Robin asks, I look up at him and raise my eyebrow.

"And? Almost everyone I know is a criminal, she's helped me so I help her," I say walking over to where Queenie's water bowl is and setting it down next to it.

"Robin, we need to find Catwoman," Batman says walking towards the front door, simply pushing the couch back to its previous spot and unlocking the door before leaving.

•°•°•

I jolt awake at the sound of someone in my bathroom, quickly I jump out of bed and grab Grace's bat. Creeping quietly to stand next to the door I wait and hold my breath as the door opens. I grip the bat tighter readying myself to swing as hard as I can. The door opens and I wait to swing holding it tighter... Then swing

"Kitten? Are you awake I-"

I try and stop the swing causing the bat to swing into the wall with a loud crack, the wall cracks a bit and my bat splitters from hitting solid brick.

"¡Qué coño casi te golpeo! ¡No hagas eso!" I scream as I drop the bat and hug Cat.

"I'm sorry Kitten, I wanted to check up on you!" Cat says as she holds me and I sigh into her hold, Cat continues, "I heard that you and Queenie got visited by The Bat and Robin, are you okay kid?"

I nodded my head and felt Cat's arm wrap around me to pick me up. I lay my head against Cat's shoulder and snuggle further into her warmth. I can feel her laughing but I cling tighter and slip into sleep, before falling asleep again I hear Cat whisper;

"Thanks for the help Kitten..." I feel lips press against my forehead and smile.

Month 6

I was minding my own business, in my own home! Trying to stay cool inside and get away from Gotham summer night heat when Robin comes barreling into my home. He's panting, sweating, and looking around frantically.

"Excuse me! This is my home! You can't just run in here like you own it!" I yell at the older boy standing in the middle of my house.

"Where is she?!" He asked looking around frantically.

"Catwoman? She hasn't been here in a while," I answer assuming that Cat is the 'she' he's talking about.

"Robin! She's on the other roof!" The boom of Batman's voice echoes from upstairs.

Robin turns around and runs back through the door and takes the stairs up two at a time before I hear the slam of the roof access door. I sit confused for a moment before grabbing my shoes and running upstairs to look around.

In the distance I see Batman and Robin's black capes in the distance jumping from rooftop to rooftop. As I watch them continuously jump and run I noticed a figure on the street darting from shadow to shadow before walking towards the dumpster and fire escape that leads to my home.

I quickly dart back inside and as I get into my home Catwoman appears from my bathroom breathing heavily and smiling. She walks over to my couch and sits down heavily allowing Queenie to jump into her lap. I walk over and sit down next to her.

"Kitten! I have to show you what I got!" Cat moves Queenie into my lap before reaching into a pouch on her belt and pulls out a necklace with several gems and a match set of earrings.

"Oh! They're really pretty, what are the gems?" I asked as Cat places the earrings into my hand.

"They're cat's eye sapphires," Cat says gleefully as I hand her back the earrings and she tucks them back into her pouch.

"I've got more drawings to show you," I say as I reach for my notebook and hand it to her.

Cat immediately lights up as she flips through the pages until she finds the last drawing she's seen. Then she spent multiple minutes on each new drawing before moving to look at the next one, I waited patiently for her to get to the most recent page. Finally she flipped the page and Cat's gasped, looking up to meet my eyes.

"Kitten, this is beautiful," Cat whispered, it's a work in progress page but there are multiple drawings of Cat both with her cowl on and without it.

I take my note book back and scoot closer to Cat until I'm leaning against her. I pull my knees up and rest the book against them and start refining my last sketch before moving to a blank space and starting another sketch of Queenie laying down. Cat's arm wraps around me and we stay like that for a while.

Cat watching me draw while I'm cuddled up against her side, it's nice. Comforting.

Month 8

I sit patiently on the rooftop waiting, a large brown bag sitting next to me as I wait for Cat to arrive. It's late but the moon is full so I can see well enough to know the shadow behind me is too big shouldered to be Cat's. I turn around to see the creepy black blob that is Batman standing behind me, he's staring down at me and I stare up at him

"Can I help you?" I ask and only get a low grunt in return so I shrug and go back to watching the waters of Gotham Bay.

I hear the clicking of heels and I jump up immediately to find Cat standing to the right of me. I move to run and hug her but as I pass by the Bat Creep he sticks out an arm to stop me.

"Hey! I want to go hug Cat, so move," I say as I try to push past him only for him to block my path again.

Growing frustrated I slip under his cape and duck through his legs and out the other side before rushing up to Cat. Once I'm close enough I jump into her arms and hug around her neck.

"Hello to you too Kitten," Cat says laughing as she puts me down.

"I got you a present!" I squeak as I rock back and forth on the balls of my feet, Cats eyes widen before she crouches down to be eye level with me.

"I got you a present too Kitten!" Cat's eyes light up with mischief and I feel my smile growing wider.

"Whatcha get me?" I ask as Cat reaches into her satchel and pulls out a black box and hands it to me.

I take the box and gently set it onto the roof before opening it. Inside there's a set of new markers, a sleek black book, a set of fancy pencils and a pair of new tennis shoes. I look up at Cat with wide eyes.

"Is this really for me? All of it?" I asked not really believing it.

"Yes Kitten, all of it," Cat laughs as my eyes dart down to the new shoes.

"Even the shoes? These don't even have holes or cuts from the shop owners, they're like new, new!" I gasp, bewildered and awestruck by the gift Cat has given me. I picked up the book and opened it to find crisp white pages, not a single tear or stain anywhere.

"What would I even do with shoes that small Kitten, yes even the shoes are yours," Cat reaches out and ruffles my hair, smiling at me.

Immediately I remember my gift bag and turn around, darting quickly past Batman and Robin who showed up at some point, and grabbed my bag. I bounce and skip past the two weirdos and stop in front of Cat. I hold up the bag to Cat and she takes it before crouching down to my height again.

Cat reaches in and pulls out the first of three presents, it's a pretty ceramic cat vase that I found a few weeks ago. It's got a little chip missing out of its ear but other than that it's perfectly fine. Gently Cat sets it down before reaching into the bag and pulling out gift number two, it's a painting done of Cat and Queenie sitting on my couch.

"When did you paint this Kitten?" Cat gasped, I beamed at her as I replied.

"A while ago but it wasn't finished I had to find the right purple for your suit!" Cat smiled at me before reaching into the bag for the last item. It's a tattered wide rule black and white camo notebook. Cat's eyes flick up to me.

"I thought you'd like to have my first finished sketchbook, you know... To prove that you knew me before I was famous," I whisper, suddenly feeling very shy with the two on lookers. Suddenly Cat reaches out and pulls me into a hug squeezing me tightly.

"Oh Kitten, thank you! This is a wonderful gift, thank you," Cat whispers into my ear as she holds me and I hold her smiling into her shoulder.

"Why are they here?" I whisper into Cats ear.

"They think I'm going to steal something but I just came to see you," Cat whispers back and I nodded.

"Weirdos!" Cat laughs as Batman gives a grunt.

Month 11

I'm sitting with my back to Cat as she braids my hair, we're sitting in my home and Cat's wearing normal clothes for the first time. I'm currently drawing on my new sketchbook, it's rough sketches of Queenie playing with her new toy Cat got her.

"Kitten, can I ask you something?" Cat's hands gently pulled a chunk of hair before pulling it back, there light pulling as she braids my hair keeping it tight.

"You just did," I replied and giggled when she bumped my back, "Yes Cat, you can ask me anything."

"Where are your parents?" I froze up before taking a deep breath, I knew this question would come eventually.

'Where's your family? Why are you alone? Who takes care of you?' Like I'm not a big girl who can take care of herself, like I haven't been doing just that for a years now. I don't need help taking care of myself or Queenie.

"I don't know," I whisper knowing Cat can hear me, I don't know why I feel nervous or sad. I haven't felt this way before when I've told adults about my parents.

"Then who takes care of you?" I take another deep breath and look at Queenie, watching the fluffy cat bouncing and playing. I feel angry, I don't like Cat thinking I'm incapable of taking care of myself.

"I can take care of myself, I've been doing just fine," I say trying to make myself sound independent and self assured. Why am I so nervous? I don't like this feeling.

"Do you want to take care of yourself?" Cat asked and her tone was low and gentle as she continued, "Because if you'd like, I could take care of you Kitten."

I tense a bit and Cat must notice because there's a hand rubbing my back. I turn to look at Cat and she's smiling kindly at me, too kindly. I drop my eyes to the ground and mumble quietly;

"I'll think about it..." I try to avoid seeing Cat as often for a little bit, I think she noticed...

Month 12

Stupid rich people, stupid companies. 'Neh your stealing company property uh!' If it's company property why are you throwing it away? You're not using it, you're throwing it away! So what if I take it out of the garage you've already ruined it enough that I couldn't sell it at full price.

It's not like I'm going to sell these peaches anyways, these are a massive score. If I can just get into the Narrows I don't think these prissy snobs will follow me. Come on little legs move! If we get home I can have fresh peaches for the first time since Mr. Cortez died come on!

If this pays off it may be worth the risk of going back to that restaurant, there was so much good food in that dumpster! Come on just a little further and then it's a straight shot to get into the Narrows, then I'm home free.

"Gotcha!" Shit!

A large hand wraps itself into my curly hair and pulls, frantically I drop the bag of peaches and try to claw at the wrist of the man. I try to scratch and kick as I'm lifted off the ground by my hair, I yelp in pain as the man wanks me up hard and just holds me up.

"You've got guts girlie but you're going to learn a lesson about taking what's not yours," the man hisses as two other men finish catching up.

"They weren't yours either! You threw them away! They were in the trash!" I scream as I continue to kick and scratch the man's arm, "Let me go asshole!"

"You heard my Kitten, let her go," I gasp as Catwoman drops down from somewhere up above and stands a few feet away. I feel a flood of relief at the woman's voice and presents.

The hand in my hair releases me, dropping me to the ground and I quickly scramble to stand behind the woman in the black and dark purple suit. One of her clawed hands gently rests on top of my head as the other cracks a whip off to the side as it slips off from around her hips... So cool!

The three men glare at me as I tuck myself tighter against Cat. There's another crack of Cat's whip and the two snobs in the back turn and run away quickly. The last one stands there before scooping up the peaches and then leaving. I let my shoulders slump a bit at my peaches being stolen, dang I was looking forward to those.

Suddenly Cat turns around and crouches down, the handle of her whip clatters to the ground as her gloved and clawed hands lightly run over my body. Patting me down and then turning my head left, right and up as she rambles.

"Are you okay Kitten, did they hurt you at all?" I bat away her hand as I roll my eyes.

"I'm fine! Just pissed they stole my peaches... They didn't even want them until I took them." Cat lets out a sigh before she pulls me into a hug, I stiffen instinctively before relaxing a bit.

"Hey I told you I'm okay, I promise Cat. Nothing happened, just a little hair pulling and rich assholes being bullies," I mumble into her chest as she squeezes me tighter. She pulls away suddenly and levels a glare at me.

"Don't ever do that to me again do you hear me! You have to be smarter than that Kitten!" I open my mouth to respond when there's a whooshing sound and the sound of feet hitting the pavement ground.

Leaning to look around Cat's shoulder I see the tall black wall that is Batman and Robin leaning around the side of him. I stick my tongue out at the two figures as the Bat glares down at me and Cat.

"Catwoman," Batman grumbles and I see Cat's eyes roll as she smiles mischievously at me and I feel something slide down the back of my shirt. It's cold and flat but it doesn't slip out of my shirt as it's tucked into my pants.

"Go on Kitten, get home and don't do anything like that again," Cat stands up and says "Hello Batman, I seem to be doing your job for you. Stopping this little girl from being harassed, all because she took some trash peaches."

I giggled before turning around and running away down the alleyway. I hear the flapping of fabric and as I turn down another alleyway I'm stopped by Robin standing in front of me.

"Whatcha want, Stoplight?" I ask and giggle again as Robin splutters and stutters.

"Quit calling me Stoplight! My name's Robin kid!" He yells indignantly and I roll my eyes as he places his fist on his hips and puffs out his chest.

"What do you want?" I ask bouncing my head at each syllable of the word and then Robin's eyes widen becoming more white and weird.

"You're a rude little girl you know that?" I shrug as he shakes his head and he continues, "Are you okay? Really those guys weren't really nice to you."

"I'm fine, angry about my peaches but now I just want to go home and sleep," I say as I shrug again and push past him, Robin lets me go and I hear the flapping of his cape as he disappears.

•°•°•

I slide the bathroom window close and lock it before leaving the room. Once in my house I sit on my bed and untuck my shirt allowing whatever Cat slipped in there to fall out. Turning around I see a really fancy dark wood box that has gold designs and blue cat's eye gems all over it.

Gently I pick it up and it's a lot heavier than it looks, turning it over I can hear something moving around inside. I look closer and can't see any obvious key holes so I can't pick the lock so I continue to flip the box and look. My thumb rubs one of the cat's eyes gems and it pushes in slightly.

Intrigued I feel for another button and find a piece of the gold detailing that pushes in and a gem that rotates. It takes me about ten minutes trying different combinations before I hear a click and the box pops open. Slipping onto the floor I place the box onto my bed and check for any sort of trap or trigger.

I find none so I open slowly keeping Queenie in my lap as I do so. Slowly the lid tilts back and the underside has a super complicated and fancy design of a cat on it. The eyes are bright green gems and the cat is made of this really pretty white stuff that changes colors when you tilt your head. The cat is surrounded by black and gold but when you tilt your head the black shifts color similar to white stuff but different colored shifts. The white goes to pale pinks and orange with some light blue and the black goes to dark blue, gold and green.

The bottom of the box has a really dark purple fabric that looks super soft and pillowed. In the center of the fancy pillow is a long statue of a cat made of solid black. There's detailing all over in silver and other gems, like the cat is covered in fancy jewelry. The collar has a big blue gem dangling from it and the cats eyes are almost glowing a bright yellow.

"Beautiful isn't it Kitten?" I jump and turn around causing Queenie to scramble out of my lap, immediately the large black fluffy cat saunters over to Catwoman who's standing in the doorway leading out of my apartment.

Cat reaches down and picks up Queenie who immediately starts purring loudly. Walking over to me she sits down next to me and places Queenie into her lap as she looks onto the box in front of me.

"I'm impressed you got it opened so quickly Kitten, you continue to surprise me," Cat says as she runs a clawed gloved hand through my hair. I lean into the touch a bit and hum before Cat says, "You can pick it up, flip it over."

I look at her with wide eyes and ask if she's sure. Cat smiles and nods towards the statue and the box, I swallow around nothing and with slightly shaking hands I pick up the cat statue. It's heavier than it looks a lot like the box, I slowly rotate the statue in my hands and admire the details up close. The statue is extremely cold in my hands and it feels like it's almost humming.

I finish spinning the statue and stare into its eyes. The statue gets warmer in my hand almost like it's burning but it never hurts me. The eyes seem to glow super bright as everything falls away, slowly the eyes shift from bright yellow to purple. I suck in a breath as I look up and I'm surrounded by a massive fancy temple and not the dingy abandoned room that is my home.

There's a woman and a man arguing, they're wearing white dresses? With a like bunch of fancy jewelry and decorations. I can't understand what they're saying but they sound angry when suddenly the man stabs the woman multiple times before letting her fall over the side of a balcony. The man suddenly turns to me and glares at me with strange glowing green eyes.

I try to move and get away but I can't move, it's like I'm rooted in place. The green eyed man reaches me and pulls me up by my hair once again. He hisses something in the strange language before I feel a sharp pain in my side, looking down I see red pooling out of my side staining my white dress thing. The knife twists and is pulled out before the man swings it in a wide arc again.

"KITTEN!"

Suddenly I'm back in my apartment with Catwoman, she's shaking my shoulders screaming my name. I shake my head a bit trying to clear my head, my side hurts and I reach down. Touching where the knife was I pulled my hand away and see red? Oh! I'm bleeding... Everything gets really blurry and I can vaguely hear Cat yelling at me to stay awake before everything just fades...

To 'Kitten!'

Black... 'Stay with me!'

•°•°•

When I open my eyes everything is too bright and loud. The roof above me isn't mine, I don't know where I am. I lift my head up to look around but groan as my head throbs and my right side burns.

"Kitten!" I look to my left and see Cat sitting next to me, she's not wearing her suit she's just in normal clothes. She's holding my hand and immediately drops to her knees to get closer to the bed.

She reaches out and places hand on my cheek, she's not wearing her gloves so I can feel how warm her hands are as I lean into the touch. Cat's warm brown eyes are puffy and she has dark circles under her eyes. I try to speak but I start coughing instead, it causes my side to burn and my eyes to well up with tears.

Immediately Cat tries to soothe me and puts a glass of water to my lips, I tilt my head back and drink. It's really clean water not at all like the water that I drink from my tap at home. I completely empty the glass before the glass is taken away and set somewhere else. I turn back to Cat and squeeze her hand that's still holding mine.

"Cat? Where are we?" I ask my voice horse and barely above a whisper.

"We're at my home Kitten, I called for some help," Cat whispers as leans down and rest her head against our entwined hands.

I look around and spot the two bright white eyes of Batman standing in the corner, shadow encompassing him. I can tell that he's not glaring so I raise my hand and give a little wave. At that the looming figure of Batman steps out and approaches the bed.

"What's your name?" The low timber of Batman rumbles and I glance at Cat, she simply nods.

"Loretta Cortez," I sigh sinking a little further to the pillows behind me, if I'm going to lie convincingly then I've got to act like I hate this.

"How old are you and when were you born?" He really thinks I'm going to give him that information to him...

"I'm 10 years old and my birthday is February 3rd." I lied about one of those, gotta sprinkle in some truth.

"Where are your parents?" I freeze at that question, the sudden tension in my body causes a wave of sudden pain to flare up from my right side.

"It's alright Kitten, I promise. Just answer Bats as best you can okay," Cat says as she gently squeezes my hand, I sigh and try to sink deeper into the bed.

"Dead, they've been dead since I was 7. My sister Grace was taking care of me but died in a shoot out between Penguin's and Two-Face's gangs. I've been squatting in my family home ever since." Most of that was true if slightly twisted from the truth. The best lies have a grain of truth that's what Ms. Donovan says.

Batman groans before turning to Cat, she looks up to him and they stare at each other for a moment before looking back at me.

"What happened to make you start bleeding?" Well I don't really know but I'm lying through my teeth already so Imma commit to the bit.

"I was stabbed..Duh! It happens sometimes, Cat came and saved me I guess," I say shrugging before hissing again at the pull of pain from the shrug.

Cat squeezed my hand and Batman only grunted before turning around. He walked to the window and opened it, before pulling something from somewhere. He's about to leave when he turns around and smiles at us, which is kinda creepy and unsettling.

"Congratulations on your own Robin, Selina." And then he's gone.

"What a weirdo..." I heard Cat laugh before sighing deeply.

"Is your name really Loretta?" She asks, I turn to her and Cat looks so tired. I feel bad so I decide then and there to tell her.

"No, my name is Jillian Rodriguez. I am 10 years old and I was born on the 3rd just not in February it was March..." I bite the inside of my cheek before breathing and continuing, "My parents are dead but my half-sister Grace is alive and working for the Penguin as one of his goons... I think she is anyways I don't really know I never see her."

"Good Loretta sounds like an old woman's name and Jillian fits you better, Kitten."