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Tim wanted what they had, the glamourous cats. Jason Todd, Dick Grayson and Selina Kyle. The Kyle boys, the cats.
He wanted that, the Batman had told him to go home when he'd approached him, told him No, son. There is no position for a child. So he'd do one better, and join Catwoman. She couldn't say no to him, he knew that Jason had been hurt badly, and that she needed someone new to train. Cats got bored easily.
The party was lavish, he was only fourteen and wearing his nicest tuxedo. Selina was there with Dick, the boy talking to a pretty red haired girl. They seemed close, which made her Batgirl, by logical reasoning. Jason wasn't here, of course. But he would be ready to deal with that later.
He made his way through the crowd to Ms Kyle, clearing his throat as she helped herself to another glass of wine.
“Selina Kyle. I was wondering if I could have a word with you? I'm Tim Drake, you know my parents.” He offered a small smile, and she smoothed his hair out. “Of course, little one. What do you need?” She asked, leaning down to his height.
“I know who you are. And I know who Dick is. Jason too, and I want you to train me too. He.” Tim paused, to make sure she knew exactly which 'He' was being referred to. “He said I should go home, because he thinks I'm not supposed to do this. Selina, I want this. I want this more than anything, to spite him.”
She seemed genuinely surprised, but interested all the same. “Curiousity killed the Cat, they say.” Selina raised a brow at him, but didn't seem against it. “And satisfaction brought her back.” He replied smugly.
“Meet me on floor 31 of the Queen apartment complex tomorrow at 4pm. We can discuss there, little kitten.” She grinned, kissing his forehead before sending him on his way.
Excitement bubbled in his stomach. His mother took him aside, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Tim, why were you speaking with Ms Kyle, sweetheart?” She asked, running a hand through his hair. “I asked her if she can teach me martial arts. I know she's well trained. Researched her, I'm going to have my first lesson tomorrow.”
Barbara was shot that night. Dick left the apartment and Selina was out all night with Bruce, and they stood vigil at the young woman's bedside. Dick was within, with the commissioner, and he wept for the young woman. Now the commissioner knew that Barbara wasn't dating Mr Wayne he felt somewhat warmer to Dick, they were both at least similar in age, and the young man held onto her hand.
Selina had forgotten about Tim, and was asleep at 4pm when he arrived, and he let himself in. Her alarms didn't sound, and he carefully made his way in. Selina was asleep on the couch, a ginger cat against her chest. He felt a small pang in his chest, he'd seen the news, he knew what happened to Commissioner Gordon and his daughter. He hadn't realised it'd affected Selina too. He felt bad, bad enough to sit and kneel beside the sleeping woman, letting his head rest against the sofa arm while he waited for her to awaken.
He was aware of the sensation of his head being petted, nails brushing over his scalp, and he leant into the touch. He didn't recall falling asleep, but he was very much aware of the gentle touch. He was still at Selina's, which meant she was probably stroking his head. Which was nice.
“I think you'll do nicely, little kitten.” She purred, pulling him up to lie beside her on the sofa.
“Thanks, um, Selina.” He felt a little unsure, but her sureness was a complete contrast.
The first time he went on his own heist he was alone, Selina didn't know he was doing this. He was robbing Cobblepot's emeralds. He could do this, and he would do it without help. He'd been practicing for six months, and he knew he could do it. Infiltrating wasn't so hard, he crept in through the ventilation, featherlight as he made his way through the not-so intricate system of the warehouse. He wasn't a bat, so he couldn't sneak his way through life, so this would have to do instead.
The vault was somewhere within the main room, so he knew vaguely where to go. He figured that Penguin would keep it somewhere that didn't seem suspicious- a penthouse would be far too suspicious, and a likely target for Selina. But this, this was different. He wasn't Selina or Dick. He was Kitten, and he would prove his worth.
Dropping down on the zipline he hung upside down, ear against the vault as he began to click-click-click through the security system. He didn't have long, and didn't want a gun fight interruption. Selina was no guns, like Batman. She loved him enough to say no guns. No guns unless it was a last resort was the unsung rule, if you were going to die and could get a gun, then take it and get out of there.
He hadn't expected the sounds of a fight coming through just as he opened the vault, he managed to get three emeralds into his suit before his zipline was cut, causing him to land on all fours, glancing over his shoulder he saw.
Fuck.
The Bat was watching- and he wasn't alone. A girl in a bright costume jumped down beside him.
“We've got you now Catwo- hey! That's not her, that's a boy!” She looked between him and Batman. He had probably three seconds to flee. So he did.
He leapt from the window, tucking his legs in before he could get a batarang rope tied around them, landing outside gracefully. He then ran, as fast as he could to change. He didn't have long.
He managed to pull off the skintight suit and get on his shirt- no time to remove the trousers, might as well just put his normal pair over the top. He needed to rush. The emeralds were still there, his goggles were still on as he ran throught the streets of Gotham. He surely wasn't being followed. He managed to make it close to the apartment before pulling out his phone.
“Hey Selina, I got you some stuff, but I had company from flying pests. Can you come and get me please? I don't want to risk it.” He was out of breath, but the thrill of the chase was pumping through his veins. “Oh Kitten, you shouldn't have. Well, yes actually you should have. It's about time. I'm on my way down now. Suit or no suit?” “No suit, I managed to change quickly, but I think he's tailing me.” She hung up, and within moments was down and ready. She placed a hand on his shoulder, guiding him in. He was so tense, wound up like piece of elastic ready to snap at a second's notice.
Once they were up in the apartment she turned to him expectantly as he fished out the emeralds.
“Cobblepot's. I took the best quality ones before running. I left the cocaine and blood diamonds for the Bat to deal with.” He offered, and she took with a smile, all of the tension leaving his body. “Well done Kitten. I'm so proud of you.” She hugged him, and he knew that it'd been such a good thing he went out tonight. He spent the night tucked under her arm, deciding that this was the closest to real maternal affection he'd ever really felt. His training had been rough because Jason hated him, but it was like family. All of it was like family, and he found that he was proud of how well he was doing with it all. His real parents had no idea, not that they normally cared anyway. But this was something he was proud of, something he'd made with his own two hands.
“We let him get away B, today was a failure!” Carrie whined once they were back at the Batcave. He glanced over, and raised a brow. “Failure? We stopped ten thousand dollars worth of cocaine entering Gotham city, I wouldn't call that a failure. We got rid of those diamonds, I wouldn't call that a failure, would you?” “But we didn't get the boy! He was a criminal too!” “He's just a child, Carrie. Probably not much older than you are, you can't blame him.” “You don't know that, you're not god. You don't know everything, big bat daddy.” She prodded his shoulder, before climbing up to use him as a perch. “I know enough Carrie.” He shook his head, slight smile playing on his lips. “You've gone soft, probably. Weak for small kids and pretty Cats.”