The Cat and the Beast

It was a simple trick. Selina did them in the shadows of Gotham City all the time. This night seemed no different from any other. The sky was bleak, dark and a storm was coming on the wind. She stood in her usual spot in the seedy Gotham neighborhood, a place where men with fancy cars came to escape their dull suburban house wives.

The rain began trickling down as a man walked towards Selina. From Selina's point of view he seemed average in every way. This should be a simple wham, bam, thank you mam. Her favorite. She pushed her cleavage together and purred enticingly, "What's a fine man like you doing in a place like this?" The man looked Selina up and down admiring her assets, "How much?"

"Well, that depends on what you want, cowboy."

"I want to you to be my toy. I want you to do any and everything I tell you to."

Selina didn't like the feverish look in his eyes or the way he was clenching his fists. "I may be a hooker, but even I have principles." She glanced down the street wishing Jen hadn't left earlier. "You couldn't pay enough for me, no deal." She began to saunter away, trying to distance herself. But the man grabbed her by the arm and threw her into an alley.

"You're not going anywhere, bitch."

"Fuck you," She launched herself at his waist, trying to knock him over. But he was a stone pillar and all she got for her efforts was a knee to the gut. She doubled over in agony, spitting blood on the pavement, "What, you a big man with a little penis?" The man was furious at this. He grabbed a chunk of her short hair and slammed her head into a dumpster. She collapsed into a puddle, gasping for breath.

"You stupid whore," the man knelt down, forcing his knee between her legs.

"Piece of shit, you probably fuck your mother," little did he know she had slipped a knife out of her boot. Just as she was going to ram the blade into the scumbag's back his eye caught the movement and he grabbed her wrist, squeezing until she relinquished her grasp. He was sitting on her so she couldn't kick him and now he held both her arms above her head. She couldn't help the tears that tumbled down her face, mixing with the rain. The man took her knife and slipped the blade inside her pants. She'd failed, she'd fucked up big time. Selina Kyle was just going to be another raped and left for dead prostitute. She closed her eyes and admitted defeat.

"That's not how to treat a woman on the first date," the gruff, rough voice startled her, Selina's panicked eyes roamed all around, but she couldn't find the source. The eyes of the man straddling her widened as he looked ahead of him, "What the…" A large, black caped figure flew into the man feet first, knocking him off Selina. A fistfight occurred, during which Selina scrambled as far away as she could. She looked back and recognized her caped savior, Batman. Of course she had seen him on the evening news frequently, but never right before her. Selina couldn't believe it, Batman saving a mere prostitute. Why? She gazed on, mesmerized, as Batman pummelled the man into unconsciousness.

Afterwards Batman strode over to her. He was backlit by a streetlamp and he seemed a very imposing figure. He was big and tall, enough to frighten any man. But Selina wasn't frightened, she gazed on him in admiration. The Batman knelt down to examine her wounds, "Are you all right?" The gruff voice sent chills down her spine. His hands roamed her head and arms.

"I've been around the block a few times, this is nothing a nice shot of whiskey won't cure," she rose to her feet and walked over to the unconscious man. She spit in his face and kicked him in the gut before taking his wallet. She took out a twenty dollar bill, "Loser," she flung the rest of his wallet down a sewage drain.

The Batman asked her, "Where do you live?" She told him the address. He picked her up and grappled her into the Gotham City night sky.