Chapter Text
Thea startled awake with a dry, insatiable thirst. The worst thirst she had ever felt. Like, she might actually die if she doesn’t get water in her hands and down her throat in the next two seconds.
As she blindly fumbled her way down the halls to the kitchen in the dark, she thought she heard a sharp rustling noise in the display room. However, this was very low on her list of priorities, the top of which being water. Now.
She made it to the kitchen with minimal fanfare, only stopping her desperate quest when she was leaning against the counter, chugging water as fast as humanly possible. Thirst thoroughly quenched, she had the chance to get her thoughts in order. It was currently… around 2 am, far too early to be awake, considering she got back at around four last night, and hadn’t slept since then until midnight tonight. Thea consoled herself with the reminder that tomorrow (today, technically) was Saturday, and she didn’t have to get up early today. Well, she already did, but she’s going back to bed now so it doesn’t count.
She trekked back to her room. The walk felt much longer now that her head was clear enough to register how tired she was. On the way back to her room was the display room. It was there that Thea noticed something wasn’t quite right. Because last time she checked, the silent alarm should not be going off on her phone and there definitely should not be a figure in black lifting off the glass cover of one of her parent’s artifacts.
She made a little sound of alarm in the back of her throat, consequently alerting the intruder to her presence. Thea looked at the burglar. The burglar looked right back. The next five minutes were spent in an intense staring contest, a battle of wills. Thea took this time to more carefully assess the situation.
Fact number one: they were in the display room.
Fact number two: the burglar was lifting off one of the display cases, evidently about to snatch the artifact.
Fact number three: Upon closer inspection, based on the limited lighting and positioning of the case, it just so happened to be an artifact that her parents could quite frankly care less about.
Fact number four: Upon closer inspection Thea realized she could actually recognize the burglar: Catwoman, AKA Selina Kyle.
Fact number five: More of an opinion really, but Thea really liked Catwoman. Not quite Bat-levels of like, but still.
Fact number six: Catwoman was also staring at Thea, and has been for the last five minutes.
“D’you want some water?"
Catwoman flinched, clearly caught off guard from the random question. To be fair, Thea was also caught off guard. Roll with the bit, Thea, roll with the bit.
“I mean, it must be hard work stealing all this stuff and, uh, sneaking? I can get you a glass if you want.”
“Uh.”
While Thea was talking Catwoman had shifted into a subtle defensive stance, looking ready to bolt at the slightest breeze.
“Yeah, right, kid, is this a trap? And shouldn’t you be in bed?” Though Thea couldn’t see it through the harsh tint of her googles, she could feel Catwoman’s eyes narrowing as she scrutinized Thea for any sort of threat.
“No, I got up to get water. Do you want some water?” Thea clarified.
“Who are you? Why are you here?” Catwoman demanded, clearly disbelieving and also completely ignoring Thea’s offer.
“...I live here?” Surely Catwoman didn’t break into the manor without even knowing who it belonged to.
“You’re lying. No one lives here right now, the Drakes are halfway across the world,” Catwoman retorted. Well, that answers her question. Wait.
“Yeah, my parents are. I’m still here, though and you’re in my house,” Thea shot back. The information was clearly news to Catwoman, which struck Thea as strange, because it wasn’t like it was secret that she stayed behind. Her phone continued chirping in her hand. She shut it off.
Thea turned and went back to the kitchen to get another cup, filling it with water. She brought it back. Catwoman was still there, Thea was half expecting her to vanish as soon as Thea left. Catwoman had set aside the protective glass case and was taking the artifact off its stand. Now, Thea was sure Catwoman was a professional and knew how to handle these kinds of things. She was also not at all confident in Catwoman’s ability to properly transport the artifact. The way she was holding it almost made Thea recoil, her parent’s training in proper handling rearing its head.
“You should hold it from the bottom, supporting the base. The handles aren’t very secure,” Thea advised. Catwoman tilted her head but followed Thea’s suggestion. She slipped it in a bag that Thea hadn’t noticed and turned her full attention on the girl.
Why aren’t you with your parents?” Catwoman asked, finally accepting the offered cup. She set down her bag and took a sip.
Speaking of, the thief continued her interrogation, “Well then who’s taking care of you?”
“I have a nanny that drops me off to my classes and preps my meals,” answered Thea promptly. This was more than enough and completely normal, this Thea was sure of.
“And?”
“Uh? That’s kinda it.”
Thea’s response seemed to put off Catwoman a bit, and she worriedly chewed her lip in consideration.
“That… that’s not enough. You’re, what, six?”
“-Seven! Basically eight, really.”
“That’s really not safe. What if there’s an emergency? This is Gotham, it’s not safe for a kid to wander around unsupervised.”
“Well, I am, and I’m fine. What’re you gonna do? It just is.”
Catwoman made a displeased sound, before realizing the situation at hand.
“I’m stealing from you. You saw me take the thing. You corrected me on the right way to hold it. Aren’t you going to stop me?”
“Nah,” Thea shrugged, “My parents don’t actually care about that one, they just couldn’t find anywhere else to put it. I honestly doubt they’ll even notice it’s gone. You’ll probably have a better use for it anyways. Just don’t take anything else and you’ll be fine.”
“...really. This thing costs more than two hundred dollars. You’re telling me they wouldn’t even notice it’s gone?”
“Exactly! It’s only two hundred! And it’s just a pottery shard, it isn’t even complete. There’s nothing interesting about it.”
“I guess… but it’s still worth good money. Shouldn’t you want to keep it?” Catwoman prompted, torn between confusion and amusement.
“My parents are constantly on digs, they’ll find something better to replace it, I’m sure of it” Thea told the thief confidently. After all, how did she think all the display cases ended up filled?
Catwoman blinked. “O-kay then. I’ll take it then.” Catwoman slowly stepped back. She chugged the rest of the water and set the cup down
“I wasn’t gonna stop you.” Thea really meant it when she said that. She knew Catwoman didn’t steal for herself, much. Catwoman would only take the artifact to one of two places, to a pawnshop for the money which she would probably give out, or for her own home, which it was already doing just in Drake Manor.
Either way, Thea decided it wouldn’t hurt anyone if she let Catwoman take this one thing (and no, she was not biased, thank you very much).
“You’re not going to call the cops on me right?” Catwoman checked, already halfway out the window.
“Nope! Why would I want you in jail? I think you’re pretty cool,” Thea managed to tone down the fact that her inner fangirl was screaming inside.
“Oh!” Catwoman startled at the admission, “Well, I- thanks kid. You’re pretty cool yourself.”
Thea beamed. Catwoman lingered in the window for a moment longer before she slipped out into the night. Thea trotted over and leaned out the window as far as she could, hoping to catch a glimpse of the retreating form of the nighttime burglar. No such luck, unfortunately, all she could see was the dark night sky and dimly lit smog covering the city. Thea strained her eyes a bit more before giving up and twisting her body back fully inside. She closed the window, locked it and reset the alarm. One thief was plenty tonight, thank you very much. She was not going to be as lenient on the next unlucky soul thinking Drake Manor was prime pickings. Thea was tired, and a tired Thea was a mean Thea.
She picked up the cup still on the floor and debated going back to the kitchen again and ultimately decided that that was tomorrow’s Thea’s problem. Tonight Thea put the cup back on the ground and went back to bed, barely managing not to collapse on the way from sheer exhaustion.
Thea got settled under the covers, thirst thoroughly quenched and ready to go back to dreamland until at least noon tomorrow. She stared at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to come. She waited. And waited. And waited and waited and waited.
Frick.
Thoughts about Catwoman swirled around in her head. She replayed their interaction over and over again in her head. Thea rolled over, a stupidly giddy smile on her face as she thought about the now empty display case. Her parents' reaction didn’t even cross her mind. She wanted to know exactly how Catwoman got in, how she managed to hide all her supplies, how she worked. The complete lack of, well, anything, surrounding the renowned thief scratched an itch in Thea’s brain. She never could leave a good mystery alone. Unlike the bats, Catwoman was actually good at keeping secrets.
The most important thing above all else, however, in Thea’s mind was that Catwoman was just kind. She helped the working girls, she adopted and cared for stray kittens and even used some (admittedly not all) of her stolen goods to help people. Despite everything, Catwoman was good in Thea’s books. And the fact that she got to meet her tonight? Beyond Thea’s wildest dreams. She settled into her covers and wasn’t even mad when sleep took a long time to come.
- === ~*~ === -
The first thing Thea did when she got up the next morning was check the display room. She needed to double check that last night wasn’t just a dream. Just as she suspected, hoped, the case where the artifact once sat was empty. She didn’t notice the little cat-themed bug by the door.
Thea went about her day with little fanfare, working on schoolwork before getting bored and checking and labeling her little album. She stops by the piano and practices for an hour, something she’s neglected to do for a couple days now. She starts a new project before abruptly stopping and realizing she hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet. A quick glance at the clock tells her it’s past noon, which. Is not good.
Thea scampers to the kitchen and spends a good ten minutes staring at the fridge, working up the energy to actually make food. Her eye catches on a frozen pizza box.
One failed cooking experiment later, Thea was patting out the flames in the oven. Well, the one thing Reddit didn’t lie to her about was that it was indeed easier to clean up the burnt ashes than a sticky cheesy goopy mess. Half an hour later, Thea finally sat down and ate her delivery pizza with great annoyance. She totally could have made a frozen pizza, it was the oven’s fault that it exploded.
After her meal was finished, Thea resolved to go to the thrift store. She had been putting that trip off for no real reason and now she finally had the time to go. She was also avoiding her English homework but that was obviously completely unrelated.
Thea ends up back at home much later than anticipated, she was out for like four whole hours! Thea ate a quick dinner and put on her new clothes and camera to head out into the night. After a final check of her, admittedly sparse, equipment: her camera and camera case, a granola bar and a bottle of water, two twenty dollar bills, and her can of pepper spray. She walked out the door.
Then she walked right back to the door and locked it.
She went about the familiar route to inner Gotham. When she reached the correct building (the third building in from the corner store with batman graffiti) she climbed up the rickety fire escape and hunkered down on a rooftop in the Narrows and waited. Five minutes later, Batman and Robin were on scene, just like she predicted. Her camera went click click click as she quickly took pictures of the vigilantes capturing their movement, their energy. Robin flew ahead, swan diving off a building before grappling up, up, up until he let go, flipping down till he almost touched the ground. Right before he went splat on the unforgiving pavement below, he took out his grapple and hooked to the lip of the next building, beginning the sequence over again. Thea was entraptured.
Click click click
She followed the duo into the night as they went about their patrol. Click Batman smiling at Robin. Click Robin mid-flip, cape flaring dramatically behind him. Click Batman throwing batarangs at a couple of crooks while Robin cheered him on.
Eventually Thea ended up at the border between the Bowery and Crime Alley. Batman and Robin flew up ahead, taking a path that Thea couldn’t follow, despite her best attempts at making a functioning grapple. Instead she leisurely made her way down the alleyway. She needed to cut across the district so that she could meet them on the other side.
A light clatter on one of the many fire escapes in the apartment building drew her attention. A sleek figure in black crouched in the railing, carefully wriggling a window lock. Thea noted the small black ears atop the figure’s head and the thin black whip at her side. Catwoman.
Almost without her permission, Thea’s hands raised her camera and snapped a few pictures of the moonlight reflecting off Catwoman’s elegantly perched form. She was perfectly still, save for her arms, like she was just another gargoyle that decorated the city. Curiously enough, though, a few minutes later Catowman abandoned the lock and jumped off the railing.
Thea is torn between following Catwoman and continuing on her path to the Bats. In the end she decides to go with Catwoman. As it turns out she didn’t even need to choose. Catwoman swung between the roofs and Thea followed, jumping across the buildings with an ease that was only built with practice and a distinct and concerning lack of fear of consequences. Catwoman was a few buildings ahead. Good. She meets up with the big Bat himself not ten roofs away. Thea ducks down behind an air-conditioning unit to watch.
The Bat and the Cat talk for a while, and it becomes increasingly obvious that staying to watch was a tactical error. Over the course of fifteen minutes, Catwoman ends up practically draped across Batman’s shoulders. Robin stands to the edge with a look of mild disgust on his face. Thea can relate. She chooses to make her escape when their backs are turned. Climbing down the roof, she hoped they didn’t notice, but Robin’s gaze has been slowly sliding across Gotham’s sky-line, anywhere but Batman and Catwoman's conversation… thing. A few alleyways down Thea shudders.
She decides to call it quits for the night and heads over to a bus stop. This isn’t her usual bus stop, but she sure as heck isn’t gonna walk all the way to Bristol. Her feet are tired.
By the time Thea trudges up the steps to Drake Manor it’s nearly one in the morning. Not bad. She tries to open the door but it won’t budge. Right. She locked it. She pats around for her keys and reaches for the door again but right as she does she sees something, a shadow? Out of the corner of her eye. Thea freezes. If anyone, gangster, goon or otherwise, tracked her to her house that would not be a good thing. Very bad in fact. Her stuff is in there. Her parent’s stuff is in there. The house is rather important and Thea would rather not lose it. She stares off into the treeline, squinting, trying to make out anything suspicious among the darkness and shadows. Nothing. Thea bites her lip. If they followed her to her house it won’t make any difference whether she goes in or not, right? And she can arm herself better inside. There are knives in the kitchen, at least two ornate swords hanging about the house and a gun in her parents bedroom. Thea is also reasonably sure her mom owns a taser or dagger as well. She palms the pepper spray in her pocket and opens the door, slamming it shut as quickly as she can as soon as she darts inside. She stands there for a while, ears pricked, head swiveling about, trying to detect anything wrong. Still nothing.
Thea’s neck prickles with unease the whole night but she ignores it. If the shadow wanted to do something it would have done so already. There’s no point in worrying herself to death if nothing's probably gonna happen. Hopefully.
The Cat themed bug blinks innocently in the doorway of the display room. The shadow hovers in the woods a moment longer before she slinks back into the night, her orange goggles gleaming under the moonlight. Inside Drake Manor Thea stays fast asleep. She dreams of flying across Gotham’s rooftops, following the giant shadow of a bat. Giant flytraps tower over the buildings, green and black and a bright shining red, but instead of fear, they bring a sense of comfort. Thea knows she is safe when they are near. She follows a bright robin made of light, flipping and turning in the air. She runs fast as the wind, feeling wild, feeling free. A cat runs beside her, matching her step for step, guiding her, keeping her safe, like she is a precious treasure. Deep in her dreams, Thea runs with the cat. She knows she loves the cat and she knows the cat loves her back.