Stilettos Chapter One

A crackly speaker informed Raven that she had slept through the whole train ride, missing her stop in New York, and sticking her in Gotham. After all she'd been through in the past few weeks, Robin's home city was the last place she had wanted to end up.

Nevertheless, the train would go no further, and she had to take her duffel bag and get off. She would leave first thing tomorrow morning.

Gotham's train station set a precedent for the rest of the city: crowded, dirty, and crime-heavy. Raven would have gotten her wallet picked from her jeans pocket three times if she didn't have a demon's senses. Not a power, just part of her physicality. They had remained even when her other powers vanished.

She pushed her way out of the station, and found more peace on the streets. Most Gothamites stayed safely at home at- Raven pushed the sleeve of her dark green hoodie back and checked her watch- a quarter past one.

She headed North. A random decision. She would find a hotel somewhere.

While casually walking up the blocks, she passed a purse-snatcher in the act. Though sure it was a common occurrence, even under the Batman's watch, she swiftly lifted her leg and kicked the teenaged crook in the face as he passed her. He hit the pavement hard. She kept moving without hearing the victim's gratitude.

"Gotham is a dangerous city," Robin told them ages ago. Now, seeing firsthand the commonplace lack of morality, she knew just what he meant. Thank Azar, she thought, most people know better than to walk the streets at night alone. She couldn't stomach playing hero tonight. She didn't think she ever could again.

Heading North was a good choice, she decided after a few more minutes walking. If she wanted to avoid dabbling in heroism again, it would be prudent to avoid areas in need of a hero. The area she had made her way into looked less notorious to her. She'd been wrong before, though.

As she walked slowly up the blocks in pursuit of lodging, she listened to the city. Hailing from the pocket dimension temple of Azarath, she found urban areas fascinating. At night particularly, the air was free of the harsh honking of cars and people pushing and rushing, and instead half-filled by the tapping of a few heels, the humming of the occasional cars, the murmur of conversations leaking from open apartment windows. Occasionally a motorcycle in the distance shattered the city's easiness with a loud rev, keeping it awake and on its toes.

In the middle of the city's sounds, a cat screamed its meow. Raven stopped next to the alley in which she heard the cat. She considered leaving it, but her conscience wouldn't allow her to abandon a helpless creature in pain.

She found the cat holed up in a corner made by a dumpster and the alley wall. It looked filthy, but it had a collar around its neck. Its owner was probably searching the city for it. If they cared. Maybe they threw the cat away.

Raven shook her pessimism away. Gotham was getting to her. The dangerous and downcast mood made her less pleasant than usual.

She took a careful step towards the cat. As she approached, its black fur rose along its spine, and it hissed violently. It tried to threaten her with its claws, but the movement only seemed to aggravate its wound, and it curled back up in pain.

Even more slowly, Raven took another step towards the cat. In too much pain, all the cat could do was growl at her approach. Raven didn't stop, and knelt down a foot from the cat, murmuring reassurances and promises to the creature.

After a minute or two of calming the cat, Raven thought it would be safe to check for the wound. So, very carefully, she scratched behind the cat's ears with one hand to distract it while her other hand attempted to stretch out the cat's legs.

When she touched the cat's left leg, it shrieked at her, clawed and bit at her hand. Back to square one, Raven sat back on her calves, quietly talking to the cat as it growled and hissed at her.

Though the process took another while to calm the animal enough to approach again, Raven was invested, and determined to help the cat. Now that she knew the injury was in the left leg, she knew what she could do. She felt it spark at her fingers. Her heart pounded in anticipation, and doubt fled.

The cat growled suspiciously as Raven's left hand approached its leg. The growl grew to a hiss the closer she got. The cat seemed on the verge of attacking her when Raven broke through a barrier deep within her mind and managed to force power out of her fingertips.

The blue glow frightened the cat at first, but as it began removing the pain of- the cat was female, Raven realized- her broken leg, she slowly calmed. Raven took the cat's pain, and grimaced as she felt the break healing.

Raven's vicarious pain ebbed away, and while the cat tried standing on her newly healed leg, Raven stared down at her hand incredulously. Hope grew as she stood and reached into the deep recesses of her mind for the power she used to command. She tried to release her soul-self as she had used to do, quietly reciting her mantra, stale on her lips after only a few weeks of disuse. The power, though, however she tried to summon it, eluded her, refusing to come as it had so easily for years.

Raven would have cried if she wasn't so used to burying her emotions. She felt the loss of her powers all over again. She felt the emptiness.

Grateful and feeling forgotten, the cat rubbed against Raven's legs, pulling her out of her self-pity before it consumed her. Raven's eyes softened at the sight of the now affectionate animal, and she knelt back down to accept the simpler creature's love.

As she rubbed the cat behind her ears, she watched as the purring ball of fur tried crawling up into her lap. Smiling very slightly, the half-demon gently coaxed her into her arms, and stood. While the cat found a comfortable position in her hold, Raven started walking out of the alley.

Before she could step onto the street, an arm flew out to halt her progress. Not afraid of a fight, Raven reacted quickly, jumping back a step to face the aggressor. It turned out to be a slender and very pretty woman around her late twenties.

While Raven assessed the situation in her head, she barely noticed the cat in her arms start to squirm until it jumped fully out of her arms and into the hold of the other woman.

"Isis, what were you doing? I've been looking all over for you," the blonde woman scolded the cat, which purred and meowed in response, rubbing her face against the woman's.

She finally looked up at Raven and introduced herself, "I'm Selina Kyle. Thank you for what you did for Isis."

Raven shook her head, saying, "I didn't do anything, just found her."

Selina raised an eyebrow at the younger woman. "You consider healing powers to be nothing? I must say, Hun, I disagree."

Raven looked at her with shock. Selina laughed. "Yes, I saw what you did. But there's no need to worry: I have no intentions of telling anyone, if that's what you're afraid of. Anyone who would save my cat is a friend of mine," she assured with a kind smile. Raven relaxed.

"Thanks. I'm Raven," she said simply.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hun. Now, you must be new to Gotham," Selina guessed. Raven nodded. "I thought so. Most locals would never be out at this time, unless they're doing something Batman would disapprove of." Selina laughed at some personal joke Raven couldn't fathom. "Where are you staying, and for how long?"

"I don't know, I was just looking for a hotel. I'm only staying the night. I meant to get off the train in New York, but I slept through the stop," Raven admitted.

"A hotel? Don't be silly. You can stay with me tonight," Selina offered.

"Really? Why?"

Selina smiled. "Because I owe you for saving my cat, and Gotham hotels are not very nice. Now come on, I insist."

Raven surprised herself by accepting the offer graciously. Selina told her that her apartment was just a block away, and they started walking that direction, Isis happily following.

"So, Raven, where are you from?" Selina asked as they strolled down the block.

"I just left Jump City," Raven answered honestly enough, avoiding her original home.

Selina whistled. "That's a long way. Don't tell me you took the train across the whole country?" Raven nodded. "Wow. So, what are you running away from?"

The blunt question surprised Raven, mostly because of its accuracy. She breathed deeply, considering her answer. "The people who cared about me, the city that knew me, and the memories of something I just lost," she finally confessed.

Selina hummed at that. She looked at Raven with a knowing smile, saying, "Very deep but entirely too vague to tell anything. Very well done. I think I'm going to like you."

Raven raised an eyebrow, but didn't offer anything more.

"So, you lost something, and in the aftermath of that, your loved ones must have been very worried about you, enough that you wanted to get away... And if the city knew you, you must have been some sort of public figure," Selina began surmising.

Raven's eyes narrowed. She told her new acquaintance, "You know, curiosity killed the cat."

Selina burst out laughing at that, leaving Raven left out of whatever esoteric joke she found in the proverb. Still laughing, Selina opened the door to a very nice looking apartment building and waved Raven in.

Selina, Isis in her arms again, followed Raven into the clean and modern lobby, getting her mirth under control, though still smiling. They started towards the elevators across the room inhabited only by the doorman. As they walked, Selina told Raven, "Sorry Hun, that was just very appropriate for me. I'm very nosy, so you'll have to excuse me."

Raven shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

Selina tipped her chin in consideration. "Maybe, but it might become one, 'cause I'm going to keep asking. Is what happened a secret, or are you just a closed person?" she asked.

"I've always been very private."

Selina pressed the elevator's call button, and let Isis down. "I've never found that a very attractive quality. Everyone always feels better when they talk things out. So go on, tell me everything," she cajoled with a Cheshire cat grin.

They stepped onto the elevator, and Selina pressed the penthouse button. With Isis rubbing herself contentedly against both women's legs, Raven asked, "What do you do to stay in a penthouse apartment in Gotham?"

"I'm in a very lucrative trading business," Selina told her. "Don't change the subject."

Raven sighed. "I guess it's not a secret. Public knowledge, actually. There's really no reason not to tell you." Raven leaned down and scratched Isis behind her ears, hesitating. "Ever heard of the Teen Titans?"

"Baby Hero Squad out in Cali? Sure," Selina said.

Raven stood back up, leaving Isis to meow for more attention. "Is that how people see the Titans?" She asked, disappointed.

Selina shrugged. "I don't know. I make fun of everything."

Raven snorted. "Great. Years of work protecting a city from monsters and maniacs," she mumbled.

"So you're the witch Raven?" Selina guessed, very interested.

"I am not a witch. I am half-demon," she corrected.

Selina looked at the girl closely. "You don't look demonic. Your mother must have been quite the looker to make her half-demon daughter pretty."

"You're not very sensitive, are you?" Raven asked.

"Not at all. I much prefer to be honest, open, and playful," Selina said proudly as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

"No kidding," Raven agreed as they both stepped off.

"So why'd you leave the Titans?" Selina asked.

"I lost my powers."

"How?"

"No idea," Raven said and pursed her lips.

"But what about healing Isis?" Selina started walking down a short hall to her penthouse door, pulled out her key, and opened the door.

Raven shrugged and followed Selina into the apartment. "I'm not quite sure how that happened. My healing power just reappeared." She looked around the large, well furnished room without comment. Isis ran into another room and returned with three other cats, come to meet Raven.

"Don't you think that could mean the rest of your powers might just reappear?"

Raven looked back from the circling and sniffing cats to Selina, who had gone into the open kitchen, and told her, "I don't think so. Somehow, I think this happened for a reason. Either they'll never come back, or maybe I have to do something." She sighed, "I don't know."

"Don't worry, Hun. I'm sure it'll all work out," Selina reassured. She put out several animal bowls and filled them with cat food. The four cats investigating Raven, along with three others who appeared from another room, went to go eat.

"Would you like a drink?" Selina asked.

"Sure, thanks."

"Wine?"

"Red, if you have it," Raven answered.

"My kind of girl," Selina said as she uncorked a bottle and got out two glasses.

Selina lead them into the living room and they sat down on the couch.

"So the thing you lost was your powers, but that doesn't mean you had to quit the hero biz. I mean, none of the Bat-family have powers, and they're doing well," Selina said. "So was it about your friends?"

Raven took a sip of her wine. It was good. "I guess. After their tests to find what was wrong came up blank, they got annoyingly protective on missions, and I felt useless and guilty. So I took it out on them, and it got weird to hang out with them. I got really reclusive, and I was making them worry, and I was miserable. So for all our sakes, a couple of days ago I left a note and took the train to St Louis, then from there to D.C., then to New York... Which turned into Gotham. I couldn't stay in Jump, because people there had expectations of me. If someone expected me to save them because they thought I still had the power to lift boulders with telekinesis, they could get killed. It was better to stay out of the way, especially out of the Titans' way."

Selina laughed, surprising Raven. She told her young guest, "You have way too much weight on your shoulders for someone so young. How old are you, by the way?"

"Nineteen. You?"

"I'm nineteen as well," Selina said with a grin. At Raven's look, she admitted, "Fine, twenty-eight. But never tell anyone that, or I'll have to kill you."

Raven smiled simply. The two women sat quietly for a few minutes, as they finished their first glasses of wine.

As Selina walked back from the kitchen with refilled glasses, she asked, "What does it mean that you're half-demon?"

Raven gave her a funny look. "It means that my father was a demon," she said, tone telling Selina, 'Duh.'

"No," Selina clarified, "I mean, how does it make you different from humans? Besides previously having supernatural powers."

Raven shrugged. "Not much, really. My senses are heightened marginally. But I eat the same food, have the same anatomy and all that." She thought a minute before saying, "I mean, I guess I have a demonic side of my mind, but I suppress it."

"Like a split personality or something?"

"Not quite. It's more like my human side is my conscience, and my demon side is comprised of urges for indulgence and general rule-breaking." Raven rolled her eyes. "It's not very different than a human's moral compass, except that I can't ever allow the less moral side any reign."

Selina looked very interested. "Have you ever tried letting it out?"

Raven shook her head. "I'm afraid of what would happen if I did. I was born to be a portal to allow my father, basically the supreme demon lord of evil, entry to this dimension. I've spent my whole life trying to make up for that, so to do anything to cause harm was never an option."

"And did you allow him into this dimension?" Selina asked.

Raven looked guilty as she said, "Briefly. But I banished him."

Selina reached over and gripped Raven's shoulder. "Sweetie, you don't have to feel guilty for existing. You can't choose your parents, and you can't walk on eggshells forever because of them. I think you should try some guilty pleasures. Breaking a few rules and treating yourself well would do you a lot of good," Selina told Raven sincerely.

"Even if I didn't feel like I had to make up for being what I am, that doesn't make me want to try a life of crime," Raven said.

Selina laughed. "I didn't start because I wanted to, Hun. Necessity is great motivation... But then the thrill hooked me."

Raven looked at her new acquaintance with new eyes. Suddenly the clues connected in her mind.

"You're Catwoman," she realized out loud.

Selina grinned. "The one and only."

A/N: Another new story. I absolutely adore this one (or at least, what's in my head). I love writing Selina. She's nosy (yes, because curiosity killed the cat) and playful (like a cat, or a flirtatious theif), and I just really like her. I can't wait to write some BMCW moments. Dunno how long this will be in the long run. But I have the end written up, just have to get there. Hopefully with your support.

Cheers.