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Jackie Taylor was many things to the people of Gotham city. A snobby, rich playgirl who had everything handed to her on a silver platter, a tragic girl who lost her parents in a brutal way at such a young age, or a brilliant entrepreneur whose tech empire was the face of Gotham city. Recently she had taken up a new identity that the citizens of Gotham are unaware of. The Gazette dubbed her ‘The Batman’. A cape wearing, pointy eared vigilante meant to be a symbol of fear for the criminals in the city. Every night when she put the suit on it was like unlocking a different personality. People underestimated and even scoffed at Jackie Taylor, yet they admired Batman.
Jackie stood in the middle of the Batcave with the suit’s cowl in her hands. It was a marvel of technology, one she couldn’t have possibly come up with herself. She had the help of Akilah, her tech expert at Taylor enterprises. She was a childhood friend, practically family at this point, and the only person Jackie had to rely on after her parents were murdered. As they got closer over the years she viewed Akilah more as a younger sibling. In fact, Akilah called her here for some important briefing before Jackie went out stalking into the night.
”Oh good you’re here. I wanted to show you the upgrades I made to your suit before you head out for the night.” Jackie turned her head to see Akilah walking down the metal catwalk, making her way towards her slowly but surely.
“I thought the suit was perfect as is, but here you are throwing new surprises my way.” Jackie chuckled softly to herself as she put the cowl back with the rest of the suit in its display case.
“Well actually I took an idea from the papers. I added a voice changer to your suit. You can activate it using the button near where your ear would be on the cowl. I figured if the newspapers were assuming you are a man then why not run with it? Better to preserve your true identity.” Akilah explained as she tapped some keys on the Batcomputer, pulling up a holographic diagram of the suit.
“I just don’t understand why they assume I’m a man. I mean I literally have long hair flowing out of the cowl.” Jackie rolled her eyes trying to focus on the diagram, unable to hide her annoyance at the papers for their view of Batman.
”Would you prefer your identity being exposed, defeating the entire purpose of why we’re doing this, Jackie?” Akilah shot Jackie a look, silencing her immediately.
Jackie returned her focus back to the diagram trying to spot some other updates to her batsuit.
“What are these extra gadgets on the utility belt?” Jackie asked, gesturing towards the diagram.
”Ah you noticed. I had some free time and wanted to upgrade your arsenal per say.” Akliah tapped more keys on the Batcomputer and the whir of electrical motors led to the appearance of a hidden table of gadgets in the middle of the room.
“I modified your grappling hook into a grapple gun so that way it’ll be easier when you’re swinging from building to building.” Akilah picked the gadget up from the table, placing it in Jackie’s hands.
“Woah..you really outdid yourself this time. This is way easier than that clunky grappling hook.” Jackie examined the gadget in her hands admiring how sleek the design was. She noticed small metal spheres laying on the table and curiosity got the better of her. She picked them up examining them in her hands. “What do these do?” She asked, half tempted to throw them on the ground just to find their purpose.
“Don’t do that,” Akilah was quick to snatch the gadget back from Jackie’s hands shaking her head.
”They’re smoke pellets. If you throw them on the ground you’ll fill the entire cave with smoke.” Akilah shook her head explaining what they did as she attached all the new gadgets to the utility belt of Jackie’s suit.
“Okay…well I should probably suit up for the night. The city isn’t gonna save itself.” Jackie grabbed the cowl from the display case and suited up.
———————————————————————
Later Jackie was jumping across rooftops fully in her Batsuit as she watched over the streets of Gotham. It was oddly quiet tonight. Not the usual muggings or shady business going down. The streets were seemingly empty. It gave Jackie a bad feeling in her gut.
”Akilah are you picking up anything on the GCPD radios? I don’t like how quiet it is.” Jackie pulled up the comms system on her wrist directly connecting her to Akilah in the Batcave.
“Nothing to report. Either it’s actually a peaceful night for once or the police finally figured out we’re tapping into the frequency of their radios.” Akilah reported the bittersweet news on her end.
“Commissioner Scott is a friend of Batman, he knows about us using the radios. I guess for once criminals are afraid of something lurking in the shadows.” Jackie shook her head, turning off her comms system. It felt nice to know that crime was at a standstill for now but Jackie was also bored. Being Batman brought a thrill of adrenaline that Jackie found herself chasing ever since she locked up her first criminal. Without any action happening being Batman seemed kinda pointless now.
She squatted on the edge of the rooftop turning on her ‘Detective vision’ as Akilah dubbed it which allowed her to see people through walls. She spotted something unusual at the jewelry shop. The store closed hours ago yet there was someone moving around inside.
“Akilah something’s up at the jewelry store. I’m gonna investigate.” Jackie spoke into her wrist communicator before gliding off the rooftop towards the roof of the jewelry shop. She ripped the cover off a nearby vent giving her access into the store without tripping any alarms. She stealthily moved through the rafters above trying to stay out of sight to get a better look at who was in the store. It seemed to be a person dressed in all black but her hood had a pair of cat ears attached. A cat burglar in the most literal sense. She watched as the mysterious Catwoman carefully used her retractable claws to cut a perfect circle in one of the glass display cases and pull out some jewelry shoving it into her bag.
“Let’s put this new suit to work.” Jackie hit the button on the side of her cowl activating the voice changer with a soft hum before dropping to the floor quietly directly behind Catwoman. She crept up behind the thief, her hand hovered over a batarang on her utility belt but before she could do anything the woman turned around and Jackie could see her face a little more clearly now. She had tufts of blonde hair peeking through the hood of her suit. Despite the thief’s eyes being hidden behind the pair of goggles on her face, Jackie could catch a hint of amusement on her face. Confident. Unbothered.
“So you’re the famous bat that's been the talk of the town lately? You don't seem that intimidating to me. Actually you're shorter than I thought you would be.” The thief seemed to analyze Jackie as she stood there. Was this some kind of intimidation tactic?
Jackie straightened, unmoved by her words. “I'm not here to talk.” She was taken back by the sound of her own voice. It was husky and monotone yet still had a feminine tone to it. Akilah really nailed programming the voice changer to Jackie’s preferences. She lunged forward, being the one to throw the first punch aiming for the thief’s midsection, keeping her movements controlled and precise. Catwoman was quicker on her feet than Jackie expected, able to evade her attack like it was nothing. She caught Jackie’s arm, yanked it sideways, and wrenched her wrist back. Pain shot up her arm like a live wire. Jackie grunted and dropped her weight rolling to try and break the grip but the woman had a strong hold on her.
”Straight into violence? And here I was hoping we could…bond.” Catwoman leaned in closely to Jackie, their faces only being inches apart as she practically purred into her ear putting emphasis on the last word.
“I don’t associate with criminals.” Jackie’s jaw clenched as she shoved the thief off of her causing Catwoman to stumble back. Jackie staggered towards her swinging a punch at her jaw. This time she connected, the sound of the impact echoed throughout the empty store as the thief staggered back holding her jaw. Jackie charged towards her ready to strike her but the other woman reached for something on her belt, a whip. The whip cracked with a sharp whiff as it wrapped around Jackie’s arm, stopping her just before landing a blow on the other woman.
Catwoman snapped the whip downwards with a smug grin causing Jackie to lose her balance and sending her to the ground with a thud. She was dazed as she had the wind knocked out of her. Jackie was quick to recover, scrambling to her feet in time to see Catwoman escaping into the rafters using the vent Jackie used to enter as an escape route. Jackie fished her grapple gun from her utility belt aiming up at the rafters and pulling the trigger.
She landed on the rooftop just as Catwoman did, sleek and breathless. Without hesitation Jackie flung a batarang at the thief’s hand knocking the whip free and stopping her from escaping. Catwoman hissed, then turned slowly, her goggles gleaming in the moonlight.
“Someone’s eager for round two I see.” Catwoman’s eyes narrowed as she placed a hand on her hip. Jackie didn’t reply, she charged but Catwoman met her halfway. A sudden sting flared on her cheek. She stumbled, blinking, disoriented. Something scratched her. She reached for her attacker, but the thief was already there seizing her arm and pulling her close.
“Careful there Batman, this kitty has claws.” Catwoman dragged the metal fingertips of her claws along Jackie’s cheek, slow and deliberate.
“What’s your motive in doing this?” Jackie questioned her entire body tensing, heart pounding from the fight, or something else…she couldn’t say.
“You mean the stealing or the teasing?” Catwoman scoffed as her eyes glinted with confidence. “Well I can answer both of your curiosities. I steal to live and I tease my prey because I like to see them squirm.” The thief made sure to get real up close and personal to Jackie causing her stern facade to falter for a moment. She stared into her eyes, searching for something, a tell, a crack in her facade. Behind the smirk and the flirtation there was something else. A flicker of something real. She just couldn’t figure out what. Not yet.
Jackie blinked in the dim light of the rooftop, the scratch on her cheek still burned. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Not from the exertion, but from her. That look Catwoman gave her, half daring, half pleading. It was more unsettling than the fight itself. Before Jackie could say anything else, a sudden hiss of smoke erupted between them. She coughed, trying to see through the swirling cloud. When it cleared, the rooftop was empty. Catwoman was gone and she had used Jackie’s own smokebombs to make her escape.
———————————————————————
It had been weeks since the encounter with Catwoman. Jackie should have forgotten her by now to focus on other things, yet here she was back in the Batcave sitting in front of the computer, her fingers typing in a frenzy.
“Are you seriously still obsessing over Catwoman? Jackie she got away, you need to get over it. Sometimes these things happen. Even to the best of heroes.” Akilah sighed as she entered the Batcave seeing that Jackie was still in the same position as she left her in last night.
“I’m not obsessed. I just need to figure out who she is. I mean she was smart enough to use my own gadgets against me. She could be dangerous if she hits again.” Jackie glared as she sunk down in her chair.
“Uh huh.” Akilah leaned back against the desk, arms folded across her chest. “I’m guessing the scratch on your face was part of her parting gift?”
“She’s messing with me I swear.” Jackie reached up, touching the scratches left behind on her cheek. “She was flirting with me midfight I swear. It’s like she knows how to push my buttons.”
“Well mission accomplished.” Akilah quipped a small chuckle escaping from her lips. “You look like you just got dumped and mugged at the same time.”
Jackie didn’t laugh. Her fingers tapped relentlessly against the console. “There’s something off about her. It’s not just the gear or the moves. She’s not like any other random criminal I’ve faced. She’s deliberate…focused.”
Akliah leaned forward, interest piqued by Jackie’s analytical skills. “Do you think she’s after something specific?”
Jackie nodded, confirming Akilah’s suspicion. “I just don’t know what yet. I have a feeling she’s not just hitting stores for shiny things. There’s a pattern here I’m sure of it. If I could just figure out her identity maybe that would be a good start.”
Akilah turned back to the Batcomputer urging Jackie to move out of the seat so she could try and take her shot of finding Catwoman’s identity. “Then let’s find it. I’ll pull up all reported thefts with similar motives. Surely someone has to have a record of her.” As data streamed across the screen Jackie left Akilah to work her magic walking over to the suit display. Her reflection stared back from behind the glass. Her mind wasn’t on the suit this time. It was on the woman in that jewelry store. The glint in her eyes masked by the goggles, the moment they shared. “Who are you…?” Jackie whispered to herself.
Lines of data flickered across the Batcomputer’s massive screen. Akilah scrolled through a growing list of break-ins, high end targets, minimal security footage, zero forensic evidence.
“You weren’t wrong.” She called out to Jackie, her voice focused. “All these heists? Jewelry stores, museums, private vaults, they weren’t about money. She’s been stealing items, not valuables.”
Jackie leaned over Akilah’s shoulder frowning at what she found. She tapped her chin, her jaw tightening as she tried to put the puzzle pieces together. “What does this mean exactly?”
“I think someone is paying her to do these jobs.” Akilah’s eyes widened as she clicked on a classified GCPD case file. “Bingo I think we just found who she is.”
Jackie stood there almost stunned as she read over the case file. “Natalie Scatorccio.” She repeated the name to herself under her breath. “Expert infiltrator. Italian black market roots, speculated to be the illegitimate daughter of Carmine Falcone. Looks like she’s been off-grid for years. GCPD thought she retired after being caught for her last job in Metropolis went sideways, she tried stealing diamonds from an heiress.” Jackie shook her head trying to soak in all the information. “She didn’t go off-grid, she just changed cities.”
Akilah tapped a button, pulling up a surveillance photo. The same goggles, the same outfit, the same dyed blonde hair, the same smirk. “She’s a mercenary thief.” Akilah started to explain. “Doesn’t steal unless she’s hired. If she’s working in Gotham now…that means someone wanted her here.”
Jackie’s mind raced. Everything made sense now. The precision, the gear, the purpose behind the crimes. She couldn’t believe she let such a skilled thief slip from her fingertips and using her own gear to do so. She slammed her fist against the desk of the Batcomputer in frustration.
Before either of them could say more, the Batcomputer’s alarm blared sharp and insistent. A red pin lit up on the city map, pulsing over a tall glass and concrete building.
“Armed robbery in progress at the bank?” Jackie asked, her eyes flickering across the screen.
“Downtown branch.” Akilah confirmed scrolling down to look at the details of the situation. “Ten hostiles, automatic weapons, looks like they have hostages inside too. GCPD is on route but they’re outgunned.”
Jackie was already on the move grabbing various parts of her suit out of the display case and gearing up. “Pull security blueprints. Route me a safe infiltration path.”
Akilah nodded immediately and brought up the bank’s schematics. “Acces through the rooftops air vents. North corridor’s lightly patrolled. I’ll jam the lobby cameras once you’re inside.”
Jackie reached for the suit’s cowl being the finishing piece of the suit before she was ready to head out. The cowl snapped into place with a soft hiss. “Let’s see if they’re afraid of the dark.”
———————————————————————
The chaos inside the bank was absolute. Shattered glass littered the marble floor. Customers huddled behind overturned desks. The goons wore tactical black, faces covered, weapons drawn. Suddenly…darkness. Every light in the lobby blinked out. The emergency red lights switched on and flooded the space, bathing everything in an eerie blood tone. A shape dropped from the ceiling like a shadow with weight. A scream. A shout. Gunfire lit the room but the bullets hit only smoke. Then came the first crack of bone. Smoke curled through the dim red emergency lights of Gotham Bank. Muffled screams echoed from the marble lobby as Jackie moved like a shadow through the chaos taking out goons one by one silently from behind.
Gunfire rang out behind a desk. Jackie dropped low, rolled, then sprang forward. Her elbow caught one of the gunman square in the throat. He crumpled with a gurgled grunt. Another tried to raise his rifle to shoot Jackie but he was too slow. She flung a batarang straight towards him. It sliced through the air and clanged off the weapon knocking it aside before she slammed him into the wall. She was halfway through the lobby when a familiar voice cut through the smoke of the room.
“That’s far enough, freak.” Jackie froze, turning toward the source. Two-Face. The villain Jackie had the unpleasant experience of fighting only once. Half of his face was a melted ruin because of an accident. The other half is still hauntingly handsome. He stood on the grand staircase, pistol aimed down at the group of hostages.
Jackie's eyes scanned the group of hostages and her eyes widened when she found that amongst them…was Catwoman. Natalie Scatorccio. Goggles pulled up showing off her striking eyes, one of the lenses being cracked, bruised lip, hands zip-tied behind her back. Even now, her expression was unreadable. Part challenge, part intrigue.
Two-Face smirked, noticing how Jackie's eyes lingered on Catwoman. “Caught this cat trying to get into one of the vaults. Thought I'd keep her around…for insurance.” He pressed the barrel of the gun to Nat's temple. “You've got two minutes to back off, or I start flipping coins.”
“Let her go.” Jackie flinched for a half a second at her own voice through the modulator, it was cold as ice.
“Not how the game works.” Two-Face snarled. “You play by chance. We make the rules.” He pulled a small silver coin out of his pocket flipping it in the air.
Before it landed, Jackie moved. A smoke pellet burst at her feet. With the flash of her black cape she grappled up to the beams of the ceiling. A flying kick sent Two-Face crashing into the railing of the stairs, his gun skidded across the floor. Two more goons opened fire. Jackie dove behind the teller's desk, bullets splintered the wood above her. She counted seconds between reloads waiting for a window of opportunity then burst forward. A flash of fists, a batarang to the knee, a final brutal roundhouse. One by one the goons fell.
Two-Face stumbled to his feet clutching his ribs. “You think you can end it this easily? You don't know who you're up against. It's two against one Batman.” Two-Face tried to intimidate Jackie but she wasn't in the mood. She rolled her eyes as she wordlessly stepped towards him. She landed a hard blow directly to his head. Two-Face collapsed against the steps out cold. Jackie's ears perked up hearing the distant wail of sirens outside. She turned towards the hostages already being ushered out by the GCPD. Only one stayed behind, Natalie.
———————————————————————
The night pressed heavily above the city, thick with the scent of smoke, sirens blaring in the distance, and the coppery taste of adrenaline still fresh on Jackie’s tongue. She led Catwoman up the side fire escape of the bank, boots clanging quietly against the rusted metal. Neither said a word. Not when they passed the bullet scarred windows, or when they finally reached the rooftop. The city unfurled below them, steel and light and endless noise.
The comms system on her wrist beeped and Akilah’s voice crackled in her ear. “Jackie you can’t seriously be up there alone with her. Not after what we know.”
”I just wanna talk to her. She’s not gonna run.” Jackie replied bluntly urging Akilah to trust her actions.
”She’s dangerous.”
”I’m not so sure about that anymore.” Jackie turned off her comms for now. She stood a few feet away from the edge of the roof, arms still tense, cape fluttering in the updraft. Her heart hadn’t stopped racing, not from the fight, not from the danger, but from her.
Natalie joined Jackie’s side standing near the edge, her silhouette cast in the orange glow of a rooftop floodlight. Wind lifted strands of blonde hair from her face. Her bruised lip was split just enough to show where Two-Face had struck her, but her eyes were sharp and unreadable behind the lenses of her cracked goggles.
Jackie took a step backward, fingers tightening at her sides. “I know who you are.”
Catwoman gave a half laugh, low and wry. “You’ve figured me out?”
”I mean I really know.” Jackie’s eyes narrowed at the thief who had her back turned to her. “Natalie Scatorccio. Also known as Catwoman. Thief for hire. Wanted in Metropolis and now in Gotham.”
Natalie turned to face her fully, letting the city light frame her from behind. “And here I thought I was being subtle. Natalie sounds too formal, just call me Nat.”
“You’re not as subtle as you think.” Jackie muttered almost under her breath. “You’re skilled, deliberate, calculated. Everything about you has a purpose.”
Natalie tilted her head to the side, a small smile forming on her lips. “So do you Batman.”
A silence fell between them, not empty but charged. Almost like there was a spark in the air. Then Natalie asked, almost lazily and carefree. “So what now? You haul me in? Or does this rooftop come with a lecture and handcuffs?” She paused almost like there was something else burning in the back of her mind. “Before you haul me in…can you humor me for a second? Who are you really? You know my identity, isn’t it only fair I know yours?”
Jackie didn’t answer right away. Her hand moved to her cowl hesitating. She contemplated the consequences in her head. Nat was a criminal, a thief, she shouldn’t trust her with her true identity…and yet something inside of her felt like there was more to the other woman. She wasn’t like any of the other villains she had faced previously. In her ear Akilah patched herself back through, her voice urgent. “Jackie. Don’t. This is too risky. Who knows what she’ll do with the truth.”
Her warning fell on deaf ears as Jackie pulled off her cowl with slow shaky hands. Dirty blonde hair spilled out across her shoulders, damp with sweat, sticking to her neck. Her face was bare and unmasked.
Natalie blinked almost instantly recognizing the face underneath the mask. “Jackie Taylor.” She said a little breathless. “The Jackie Taylor. Billonare, tech genius, Gotham’s golden girl.” She laughed, soft and surprised but not in a mocking manner. “Wow you really had me fooled. I figured Batman secretly had to be a woman, I just didn’t expect it to be you.”
“I get that.” Jackie rubbed the back of her neck not meeting Nate’s eyes. “I present myself so differently as Batman. I can’t even recognize myself sometimes.”
Natalie lifted her goggles to rest on her head to better study Jackie carefully. She saw the bruises beneath the surface. In the way Jackie held herself, in the weariness clinging to her voice, in the silence that settled when she stopped talking. “I have to admit, this wasn’t how I pictured our night ending.”
Jackie shot her a half smile enjoying the casual conversation, it was a nice change of pace for her. “Not exactly how I planned it either. I took a risk with this.”
Nat took a cautious step forward, head tiled. “Why do you do it?” She asked bluntly, wanting to go deeper with Jackie. “You’re Jackie Taylor. Tech royalty, empire in your palm. You could live in the sky and never even touch the streets. Yet you put on a mask and fight like hell for a city that would chew you up if they knew the truth.”
Jackie was quiet for a beat, her gaze dropping to the gravel of the rooftop. “I wear the mask because I don’t know who I am without it anymore.” Her voice was soft almost like a whisper as she glanced back at Natalie. “My parents were murdered when I was a kid. Gotham didn’t care. They caught the guy, sure but nothing changed. Same alley, same stories. The system kept failing the same people.” Jackie’s jaw tensed as she continued. “So I became something it couldn’t ignore. Something criminals would fear and maybe survivors could believe in.” She looked away again, more vulnerable than she’d let herself be in years. “I don’t know if that makes me a hero or just another part of the machine.”
Nat studied her for a long moment before finally speaking up. “It makes you real. It makes you human. Not some myth everyone else thinks you are.”
A beat passed. Then Jackie turned the question around on Nat. “What about you?”
Nat raised an eyebrow silently hoping Jackie wasn’t asking the question she thought she was. “What about me?” She repeated the question back.
Jackie took a slow step forward, closing the distance between them. “Why are you doing this? I know you don’t steal for the thrill like every other criminal. So what’s your mask hiding?”
Natalie’s lips parted, for once she hesitated. She let out a quiet breath, her expression hardening, not with anger but defense. “I steal because like you it’s the only thing that makes sense to me anymore.” She walked past Jackie stopping near the ledge of the roof, arms wrapped up around herself. “I grew up in Gotham just like you. My father never stuck around and my mother was just a lowlife housekeeper. When she died, I was fifteen. Alone, no money, no name anyone cared about.” Her voice lost its cool edge, softening like old bruises. “Stealing wasn’t about money. It was survival. Then one day someone paid me. Not to eat, but because I was good. I could slip in and out without anyone noticing. That was the first time I truly felt powerful.” She turned to meet Jackie’s eyes. “You put on the suit and became something people fear. I put on a hood and became invisible. It was the only way I could move through a world that never really wanted me in it.”
Jackie let the other woman’s words sink in for a moment before finally saying something. “You’re not invisible to me.” Jackie’s voice was quiet almost as if she was afraid to offend Nat. Natalie blinked, her facade flickering again. Jackie stepped closer, closing the distance between them once again.
“I see you. I knew there was something different about you ever since the jewelry store.”
“No one ever has.” Nat didn’t move, didn’t smirk or flirt or dodge. Her hand lifted slowly, brushing against Jackie’s cheekbone where the faint cut from their first encounter still lingered. They stood there bathed in the soft glow of the city’s distant lights. Two women on opposite sides of the law and yet in this moment they were bound by something deeper than justice or survival. Jackie reached out slowly, her fingers hesitated as they hovered above Nat’s bruised lower lip. Her thumb gently brushed over where Two-Face had split her lip. Natalie didn’t flinch away from the touch.
Their eyes met not in challenge this time, but surrender. “This doesn’t mean I trust you.” Jackie’s voice barely escaped her throat trying to break the tension in the air.
Nat’s lips curved into a slow, knowing smile. “Wouldn’t respect you if you did.” And then as natural as a breath, Jackie leaned in. Nat met her halfway. The kiss wasn’t sudden. It built, slow and cautious at first, like they were both testing if this was real. It deepened quickly, charged with everything they’d kept buried beneath masks and names. Their hands found each other’s faces, tangled gently. At that moment there was no Batman or Catwoman. No thief. No vigilante. No more smoke. No more masks. Just them.
When they finally parted, foreheads still close Jackie whispered, “You’re still a criminal.”
Natalie’s eyes gleamed with something playful. “And you’re still a vigilante.”
“Guess we’re both breaking rules tonight.” Jackie smiled faintly. A quiet beep echoed from her wrist. Akilah again, probably panicking. She silenced it with a simple tap. “You should go.” She said softly hesitantly pulling away from Natalie.
Nat gave her a sideways look. “Telling me to run, or warning me to disappear.”
“Maybe both.” Jackie smirked faintly.
Nat stepped back, but her eyes stayed locked on Jackie. “Next time we meet…”
“I might have to stop you. Jackie finished her sentence for her.
“I might let you try.” There was no promise. No false comfort. Just the understanding that whatever this was, this moment, it was rare. Precious. Real.
“Your secret is safe with me by the way.” Natalie turned, her boots whispering against the gravel as she reached the ledge. Something flickered in her gaze, emotion without words. Then she vanished over the ledge, swallowed by the city like smoke in the wind.
Jackie stood there a moment longer, staring into the space where Nat once stood. The sirens in the background faded. The wind was rising. She pulled the cowl back over her head. The mask slid into place, but it felt different this time. Not a cage but a choice. As Batman she turned and walked to the edge of the roof. Below her Gotham roared. A city always on the edge of breaking, and still somehow worth saving. She stepped off the edge gliding into the dark of night. Not to escape it, but to become the thing the shadows feared.