HOME | DD

Description
Catwoman took Batgirl below ground to a long-abandoned subway station and carried her into a storage room. She placed her unconscious victim on an old, rusted, heavy duty metal shelf that in another lifetime had been used to store ties. There were several lengths of rope waiting, and Selina used them to re-tie Barbara's wrists. She then tightly bound her elbows and added a harness to further restrict Batgirl's arm movement. Catwoman knew her victim well, and the bondage certainly wasn't something Barbara couldn't get out of, especially since Catwoman was being so kind as to not remove her utility belt. It wouldn't be easy, of course, but that was all in good fun. The point wasn't to keep Batgirl helpless forever, it was to keep her out of the picture long enough for Catwoman to finish her night's work, and between the chloroform and the ropes and the soon-to-be locked door of the utility room Selina estimated she had at least eight hours to fetch the Star of Savoy. With the knowledge of the museum's security arrangements she'd gleaned from eavesdropping on the Bat communications network, and with Batgirl out of the way, the job itself would be child's play. The transfer was set to take place two hours hence; Selina estimated that in two hours and ten minutes she'd have her diamond. She ran a hand over Barbara's cheek and then leaned over and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, her nose crinkling a bit as she inhaled a little whiff of chloroform. "I do so wish I had time to play," she lamented as she stood up. "You'll be long gone when I return, but just to be sure, I'll be back to check on you tomorrow," she said as she turned on a heel and blew her sleeping rival a kiss, locking the heavy steel door behind her as she exited.

SEVERAL HOURS LATER....
Barbara awoke, her head pounding from the anesthetic. It took a few moments for her head to clear enough to realize where she was and remember what had happened to her. Her vision slowly began to regain focus and she looked around, the naked bulb hanging from the ceiling illuminated the place enough for her to realize that she'd been here once before as Catwoman's "guest." "You've really got to start taking me to nicer places for our little rendezvous, Catwoman," she muttered to herself. The chloroform on the pad had mostly evaporated, but she could still smell that faint, medicinal, sickly-sweet odor and it was enough to dull her reflexes and leave her head feeling muzzy. A brief moment of struggle was enough for her to ascertain that Selina had tied her very tightly, indeed, but 'escape' was her middle name. She could still feel the weight of her utility belt tugging at her hips and knew it wasn't a careless mistake on Catwoman's part that she was still wearing it. Selina could be flip, but she never made mistakes. "Well, she was nice enough to leave you your toys. Best get to it," Batgirl thought. It took several minutes of painful writhing, twisting, flexing, and bending, but her contortions paid off and she finally managed to wrap her gloved fingers around a batarang. Fifteen minutes later she was staggering to her feet as she pulled the last remnants of rope from her shoulders and then cast the dust mask holding the anesthetized gauze pad aside. She took in a deep breath of clean air and sighed as she assayed the lock and reached in a pouch to retrieve a set of lockpicks.

THE BATCAVE....
Kate Kane--the Batwoman--was growing increasingly concerned. She'd received a frantic call from the museum stating that the Star of Savoy had been stolen--by Catwoman, no less!--and that Batgirl had never showed up to protect it, as had been arranged. The diamond's movements had been a closely guarded secret and it seemed impossible that even a thief as accomplished as Selina Kyle could have found out about its transfer. Doubly irksome was the fact that this theft had broken a solemn vow that Catwoman had made to Batwoman to restrict her thieving to mob bosses and other assorted criminals. Kate hadn't been too happy about that deal, either, but getting Catwoman to give up burgling completely was a pipe dream, and so far the truce had held for a year. Not having to chase Catwoman around on a weekly basis had freed her, Batgirl, and Robin up for a lot of other crime-fighting activities. Now, apparently, the arrangement was over.

THE ABANDONED SUBWAY....
As Batgirl began to work the lock there was a clatter of metal on metal as a key was inserted into the lock on the other end and the door opened suddenly with a loud clang. Standing before her was Catwoman, a Cheshire grin on her face and a velvet pouch dangling from her right hand. "Hello kitten, did you miss me?" Selina asked as she pushed past Batgirl, pressing the pouch into the heroine's hand as she did so.

Barbara noticed that Selina's catsuit was spattered with blood and that it was torn in a couple of places. Catwoman's smile also looked a bit forced. Batgirl deposited the lockpicks back in her belt and turned the pouch in her hand, pulling the string to open it. "Selina, what did you do?" she asked as she dumped the contents of the little velvet bag into her open hand. It was the largest diamond she'd ever seen, and it glistened brilliantly even in the dim light from the ancient, naked bulb. "Is this what I think it is?"

Catwoman winked, still holding her smile, "If you think it's the Star of Savoy, then yes," she said, clutching her side almost unconsciously.

"Let me get this straight. You drugged me and left me tied up in this rusty old pit, stole one of the most precious gems on the planet, and now you're handing it back to me? What's your game, Catwoman?" Batgirl asked. "Because right now, I'm not amused."

Catwoman's smile faded and she allowed herself a momentary grimace of pain as she sat down on the shelf she'd deposited Batgirl on earlier. "You might not remember, Babsy, but when I abducted you I told you that my client wanted you, too? Well, let's just say I assumed that when he saw the diamond he'd be more than satisfied and would forget that part of the deal, which I in principle had never actually agreed to, mind you," she said. "You know I don't steal assets of the human kind, except you every now and then for my own amusement," she smirked.

Batgirl rubbed her head, thinking back. She really didn't remember much more than the crack of the whip and the cloying smell of the drug.

"Suffice it to say, kitten, my assumption was incorrect. For some reason, the client had it set in his head that he was going to have a woman in a catsuit as the cherry on the top of his diamond. So, he decided that I'd make a suitable replacement for you," Catwoman continued. "At that point, obviously, the deal was off."

Batgirl looked at Catwoman and then back at the diamond, holding it up to look at it in the light and then turning it over in her hand a few times before dropping it back in the pouch. "You look a little the worse for wear. That's not your blood all over you, is it?" she frowned.

Catwoman sighed, suddenly realizing she was clutching her side and moving her hand away as if nothing was wrong. "Not most of it, no," she said, standing back up and sauntering over to Batgirl. "Look, Barbara, this whole thing was a terrible mistake. I'm sorry for what I did to you, and I'm......okay, you know I'm not really sorry for stealing the diamond; I was going to make enough from this job to buy an island. A big one. Like Australia," she said, reaching a hand up and running it down Batgirl's cheek. "But I am sorry it didn't work out. No one was supposed to get hurt. Aside from your little headache, of course. But you know I'll make that up to you."

Barbara reached up and grabbed Selina's wrist. "You don't get to touch me like nothing has happened," she said angrily. "And...and...Australia is a continent."

Selina grinned and quickly leaned up and gave Batgirl a little peck on the cheek. "Tell Batwoman that I'm sorry, and that as far as I'm concerned the truce is still on. Oh, and tell her not to watch cable news for the next seven to one hundred and fifty days," she chuckled, pulling her wrist free, spinning around and giving Batgirl a little slap on the bum as she strolled off.

Batgirl spun around. "Selina! You don't just get to walk away from this!" she sputtered, pointing at Catwoman's back as she ambled off, swinging her hips seductively.

"What-ev, kitten!" Catwoman hollered over her shoulder, waving without turning around or even slowing down. "Neither of us really feel like doing this right now, Barbara. If you feel that strongly about it come hunt me down in a couple of days and I'll knock your ass out and tie you up again," she laughed as she turned the corner and disappeared.

Batgirl gritted her teeth for a moment, then sighed and stuffed the pouch containing the diamond into her belt.

THE BATCAVE, LATER....
Batwoman breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the clatter of heels on the metal floor behind her and instantly recognized it as Batgirl. But as glad as she was that Barbara was alright, she was even more irate that her...protege? partner? sidekick?...had allowed the Star to be stolen. Batwoman spun around in the chair and stood up, a sour look on her face. "Alright, Batgirl, where in the hell were you last night?" she asked angrily.

Barbara was pulling her cowl from her head and shaking her hair out as she approached Batwoman, and she paused to reach into her belt. "I missed you, too," she said as she retrieved the velvet bag Catwoman had handed her and gave it to Batwoman. "And if you must know, I was sleeping," she said drily.

Batwoman's ghost white skin started to go red with ire, but before she could begin one of her notorious fits of apoplectic rage the gray velvet pouch was pressed into her hand and her curiosity was piqued. "What is this?" she asked as she untied the string.

"It's the Star of Savoy diamond, courtesy of Catwoman," Batgirl replied. "She said the heist was all a mistake, that she hopes the truce is still on."

Batwoman dumped the diamond into her hand and looked it over for a long moment before looking up at Batgirl, "Well I'll be. And yeah, I'll bet she does," she said. "Okay, there's a story here. Where were you and what happened?"

As Batgirl started to answer one of the monitors behind Batwoman began to show a breaking news story from GCN. Barbara pointed at it and motioned for Batwoman to turn the volume up. "I think we may want to see this," she said.

"This just in!" said the bubbly blonde GCN reporter breathlessly. "Prince Bandar al-Husseini of the United Omani Emirates was found murdered in his Gotham penthouse last night, along with five members of his security detail. The oil billionaire was widely believed to have been one of the richest men in not just the Middle East, but the entire world. A police source who asked to remain anonymous has claimed that the prince and several members of his entourage had been slashed and gored with what appeared to be claws. We don't want to speculate," the leggy presenter chirped, "but this appears to be the work of one of our city's notorious supervillains, perhaps Catwoman, although our source claims that nothing appears to have been stolen from the prince's apartment....."

"We don't want to speculate," Batwoman said, rolling her eyes, "but allow me to speculate. So why is this important, besides being another murder for us to solve? And I met that guy at a charity function. His eyes were all over Bette and I the entire evening. Creepy."

"Catwoman told me to tell you not to watch the news. This is what she didn't want you to see. Prince al-Husseini was her client," Batgirl said. "She knows you well enough to figure you *might* give her a pass on the robbery since she returned the diamond, but that you'll chase her to the ends of the earth for killing al-Husseini, even if he was a creeper."

"Client? You mean, she didn't do this on one of her larks?" Batwoman said. "This wasn't just for the challenge? So she could say she did it?"

Batgirl shook her head, "No, she said she had a client, and that he wanted her to acquire me for him as well as the diamond since I was supposed to be guarding it. She told me that she agreed to get the diamond but refused to give me up, and when she delivered the diamond for the payoff, he decided he'd take her as a substitute."

"So she killed him and all his men," Batwoman said.

Barbara shrugged, "You know she's a lot of things, but she's not a murderer. I'm guessing she wasn't given much choice. She was wounded and splattered with blood, and she was trying to hide it and not doing a very good job. I think this explains where the blood came from."

Batwoman nodded, "Well, no one was harmed in the museum heist. A couple of security guards were knocked unconscious, but other than that there was no damage done, so you're probably right. I'm not sure if I trust you to be an objective judge where Catwoman's involved, though, you have too much of a soft spot for her. al-Husseini has never been implicated in any kind of criminal wrongdoing that I've heard of, but you don't contract a burglar like Catwoman to steal one of the world's most famous diamonds and kidnap Batgirl on your first go-round. The prince may be dead, but he's probably got an organization. We need to see if he's been involved in any other thefts or kidnappings, or maybe human trafficking. And you still haven't explained where you were when you were supposed to be guarding that diamond."

"I was unconscious and tied up in an old subway station. Catwoman ambushed me. She's been listening in on our communications somehow," Batgirl said, disconnecting the comm unit from the inside of her cowl. "So spend less time questioning my judgment and more time figuring out how to make our communications secure again. I don't like getting caught flatfooted and sedated. And she'd have bagged you as easily as she did me under the circumstances and you know it, so do us both a favor and spare me the lecture. Oh, and thanks again for your concern for my safety, Kate," she continued, tossing the comm unit at Batwoman's feet and storming off.

"And in the meantime, look out behind you."

================================================================================================

Continued From:

Description
Catwoman took Batgirl below ground to a long-abandoned subway station and carried her into a storage room. She placed her unconscious victim on an old, rusted, heavy duty metal shelf that in another lifetime had been used to store ties. There were several lengths of rope waiting, and Selina used them to re-tie Barbara's wrists. She then tightly bound her elbows and added a harness to further restrict Batgirl's arm movement. Catwoman knew her victim well, and the bondage certainly wasn't something Barbara couldn't get out of, especially since Catwoman was being so kind as to not remove her utility belt. It wouldn't be easy, of course, but that was all in good fun. The point wasn't to keep Batgirl helpless forever, it was to keep her out of the picture long enough for Catwoman to finish her night's work, and between the chloroform and the ropes and the soon-to-be locked door of the utility room Selina estimated she had at least eight hours to fetch the Star of Savoy. With the knowledge of the museum's security arrangements she'd gleaned from eavesdropping on the Bat communications network, and with Batgirl out of the way, the job itself would be child's play. The transfer was set to take place two hours hence; Selina estimated that in two hours and ten minutes she'd have her diamond. She ran a hand over Barbara's cheek and then leaned over and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, her nose crinkling a bit as she inhaled a little whiff of chloroform. "I do so wish I had time to play," she lamented as she stood up. "You'll be long gone when I return, but just to be sure, I'll be back to check on you tomorrow," she said as she turned on a heel and blew her sleeping rival a kiss, locking the heavy steel door behind her as she exited.

SEVERAL HOURS LATER....
Barbara awoke, her head pounding from the anesthetic. It took a few moments for her head to clear enough to realize where she was and remember what had happened to her. Her vision slowly began to regain focus and she looked around, the naked bulb hanging from the ceiling illuminated the place enough for her to realize that she'd been here once before as Catwoman's "guest." "You've really got to start taking me to nicer places for our little rendezvous, Catwoman," she muttered to herself. The chloroform on the pad had mostly evaporated, but she could still smell that faint, medicinal, sickly-sweet odor and it was enough to dull her reflexes and leave her head feeling muzzy. A brief moment of struggle was enough for her to ascertain that Selina had tied her very tightly, indeed, but 'escape' was her middle name. She could still feel the weight of her utility belt tugging at her hips and knew it wasn't a careless mistake on Catwoman's part that she was still wearing it. Selina could be flip, but she never made mistakes. "Well, she was nice enough to leave you your toys. Best get to it," Batgirl thought. It took several minutes of painful writhing, twisting, flexing, and bending, but her contortions paid off and she finally managed to wrap her gloved fingers around a batarang. Fifteen minutes later she was staggering to her feet as she pulled the last remnants of rope from her shoulders and then cast the dust mask holding the anesthetized gauze pad aside. She took in a deep breath of clean air and sighed as she assayed the lock and reached in a pouch to retrieve a set of lockpicks.

THE BATCAVE....
Kate Kane--the Batwoman--was growing increasingly concerned. She'd received a frantic call from the museum stating that the Star of Savoy had been stolen--by Catwoman, no less!--and that Batgirl had never showed up to protect it, as had been arranged. The diamond's movements had been a closely guarded secret and it seemed impossible that even a thief as accomplished as Selina Kyle could have found out about its transfer. Doubly irksome was the fact that this theft had broken a solemn vow that Catwoman had made to Batwoman to restrict her thieving to mob bosses and other assorted criminals. Kate hadn't been too happy about that deal, either, but getting Catwoman to give up burgling completely was a pipe dream, and so far the truce had held for a year. Not having to chase Catwoman around on a weekly basis had freed her, Batgirl, and Robin up for a lot of other crime-fighting activities. Now, apparently, the arrangement was over.

THE ABANDONED SUBWAY....
As Batgirl began to work the lock there was a clatter of metal on metal as a key was inserted into the lock on the other end and the door opened suddenly with a loud clang. Standing before her was Catwoman, a Cheshire grin on her face and a velvet pouch dangling from her right hand. "Hello kitten, did you miss me?" Selina asked as she pushed past Batgirl, pressing the pouch into the heroine's hand as she did so.

Barbara noticed that Selina's catsuit was spattered with blood and that it was torn in a couple of places. Catwoman's smile also looked a bit forced. Batgirl deposited the lockpicks back in her belt and turned the pouch in her hand, pulling the string to open it. "Selina, what did you do?" she asked as she dumped the contents of the little velvet bag into her open hand. It was the largest diamond she'd ever seen, and it glistened brilliantly even in the dim light from the ancient, naked bulb. "Is this what I think it is?"

Catwoman winked, still holding her smile, "If you think it's the Star of Savoy, then yes," she said, clutching her side almost unconsciously.

"Let me get this straight. You drugged me and left me tied up in this rusty old pit, stole one of the most precious gems on the planet, and now you're handing it back to me? What's your game, Catwoman?" Batgirl asked. "Because right now, I'm not amused."

Catwoman's smile faded and she allowed herself a momentary grimace of pain as she sat down on the shelf she'd deposited Batgirl on earlier. "You might not remember, Babsy, but when I abducted you I told you that my client wanted you, too? Well, let's just say I assumed that when he saw the diamond he'd be more than satisfied and would forget that part of the deal, which I in principle had never actually agreed to, mind you," she said. "You know I don't steal assets of the human kind, except you every now and then for my own amusement," she smirked.

Batgirl rubbed her head, thinking back. She really didn't remember much more than the crack of the whip and the cloying smell of the drug.

"Suffice it to say, kitten, my assumption was incorrect. For some reason, the client had it set in his head that he was going to have a woman in a catsuit as the cherry on the top of his diamond. So, he decided that I'd make a suitable replacement for you," Catwoman continued. "At that point, obviously, the deal was off."

Batgirl looked at Catwoman and then back at the diamond, holding it up to look at it in the light and then turning it over in her hand a few times before dropping it back in the pouch. "You look a little the worse for wear. That's not your blood all over you, is it?" she frowned.

Catwoman sighed, suddenly realizing she was clutching her side and moving her hand away as if nothing was wrong. "Not most of it, no," she said, standing back up and sauntering over to Batgirl. "Look, Barbara, this whole thing was a terrible mistake. I'm sorry for what I did to you, and I'm......okay, you know I'm not really sorry for stealing the diamond; I was going to make enough from this job to buy an island. A big one. Like Australia," she said, reaching a hand up and running it down Batgirl's cheek. "But I am sorry it didn't work out. No one was supposed to get hurt. Aside from your little headache, of course. But you know I'll make that up to you."

Barbara reached up and grabbed Selina's wrist. "You don't get to touch me like nothing has happened," she said angrily. "And...and...Australia is a continent."

Selina grinned and quickly leaned up and gave Batgirl a little peck on the cheek. "Tell Batwoman that I'm sorry, and that as far as I'm concerned the truce is still on. Oh, and tell her not to watch cable news for the next seven to one hundred and fifty days," she chuckled, pulling her wrist free, spinning around and giving Batgirl a little slap on the bum as she strolled off.

Batgirl spun around. "Selina! You don't just get to walk away from this!" she sputtered, pointing at Catwoman's back as she ambled off, swinging her hips seductively.

"What-ev, kitten!" Catwoman hollered over her shoulder, waving without turning around or even slowing down. "Neither of us really feel like doing this right now, Barbara. If you feel that strongly about it come hunt me down in a couple of days and I'll knock your ass out and tie you up again," she laughed as she turned the corner and disappeared.

Batgirl gritted her teeth for a moment, then sighed and stuffed the pouch containing the diamond into her belt.

THE BATCAVE, LATER....
Batwoman breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the clatter of heels on the metal floor behind her and instantly recognized it as Batgirl. But as glad as she was that Barbara was alright, she was even more irate that her...protege? partner? sidekick?...had allowed the Star to be stolen. Batwoman spun around in the chair and stood up, a sour look on her face. "Alright, Batgirl, where in the hell were you last night?" she asked angrily.

Barbara was pulling her cowl from her head and shaking her hair out as she approached Batwoman, and she paused to reach into her belt. "I missed you, too," she said as she retrieved the velvet bag Catwoman had handed her and gave it to Batwoman. "And if you must know, I was sleeping," she said drily.

Batwoman's ghost white skin started to go red with ire, but before she could begin one of her notorious fits of apoplectic rage the gray velvet pouch was pressed into her hand and her curiosity was piqued. "What is this?" she asked as she untied the string.

"It's the Star of Savoy diamond, courtesy of Catwoman," Batgirl replied. "She said the heist was all a mistake, that she hopes the truce is still on."

Batwoman dumped the diamond into her hand and looked it over for a long moment before looking up at Batgirl, "Well I'll be. And yeah, I'll bet she does," she said. "Okay, there's a story here. Where were you and what happened?"

As Batgirl started to answer one of the monitors behind Batwoman began to show a breaking news story from GCN. Barbara pointed at it and motioned for Batwoman to turn the volume up. "I think we may want to see this," she said.

"This just in!" said the bubbly blonde GCN reporter breathlessly. "Prince Bandar al-Husseini of the United Omani Emirates was found murdered in his Gotham penthouse last night, along with five members of his security detail. The oil billionaire was widely believed to have been one of the richest men in not just the Middle East, but the entire world. A police source who asked to remain anonymous has claimed that the prince and several members of his entourage had been slashed and gored with what appeared to be claws. We don't want to speculate," the leggy presenter chirped, "but this appears to be the work of one of our city's notorious supervillains, perhaps Catwoman, although our source claims that nothing appears to have been stolen from the prince's apartment....."

"We don't want to speculate," Batwoman said, rolling her eyes, "but allow me to speculate. So why is this important, besides being another murder for us to solve? And I met that guy at a charity function. His eyes were all over Bette and I the entire evening. Creepy."

"Catwoman told me to tell you not to watch the news. This is what she didn't want you to see. Prince al-Husseini was her client," Batgirl said. "She knows you well enough to figure you *might* give her a pass on the robbery since she returned the diamond, but that you'll chase her to the ends of the earth for killing al-Husseini, even if he was a creeper."

"Client? You mean, she didn't do this on one of her larks?" Batwoman said. "This wasn't just for the challenge? So she could say she did it?"

Batgirl shook her head, "No, she said she had a client, and that he wanted her to acquire me for him as well as the diamond since I was supposed to be guarding it. She told me that she agreed to get the diamond but refused to give me up, and when she delivered the diamond for the payoff, he decided he'd take her as a substitute."

"So she killed him and all his men," Batwoman said.

Barbara shrugged, "You know she's a lot of things, but she's not a murderer. I'm guessing she wasn't given much choice. She was wounded and splattered with blood, and she was trying to hide it and not doing a very good job. I think this explains where the blood came from."

Batwoman nodded, "Well, no one was harmed in the museum heist. A couple of security guards were knocked unconscious, but other than that there was no damage done, so you're probably right. I'm not sure if I trust you to be an objective judge where Catwoman's involved, though, you have too much of a soft spot for her. al-Husseini has never been implicated in any kind of criminal wrongdoing that I've heard of, but you don't contract a burglar like Catwoman to steal one of the world's most famous diamonds and kidnap Batgirl on your first go-round. The prince may be dead, but he's probably got an organization. We need to see if he's been involved in any other thefts or kidnappings, or maybe human trafficking. And you still haven't explained where you were when you were supposed to be guarding that diamond."

"I was unconscious and tied up in an old subway station. Catwoman ambushed me. She's been listening in on our communications somehow," Batgirl said, disconnecting the comm unit from the inside of her cowl. "So spend less time questioning my judgment and more time figuring out how to make our communications secure again. I don't like getting caught flatfooted and sedated. And she'd have bagged you as easily as she did me under the circumstances and you know it, so do us both a favor and spare me the lecture. Oh, and thanks again for your concern for my safety, Kate," she continued, tossing the comm unit at Batwoman's feet and storming off.

"And in the meantime, look out behind you."

================================================================================================

Continued From: