Challenge Fic: Better, G
Apr. 20th, 2008 11:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stinglikeabeeTitle: Better
Characters: Superboy, Catwoman
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,820
Summary: While on a stakeout, Catwoman is interrupted by a certain superhero.
Disclaimer: DC owns all, not I
Author's Notes/Warnings: Written forshananagin's challenge Use Kon in a New and Interesting Pairing Month! Not beta-ed, so if ya catch any mistakes, let me know!
Characters: Superboy, Catwoman
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,820
Summary: While on a stakeout, Catwoman is interrupted by a certain superhero.
Disclaimer: DC owns all, not I
Author's Notes/Warnings: Written for
shananagin's challenge Use Kon in a New and Interesting Pairing Month! Not beta-ed, so if ya catch any mistakes, let me know!The icy wind makes Selina wish for better company than the gargoyle whose perch she's sharing. The temperature must be at least 40 degrees, but the chill makes it seem ten degrees lower. A stick of gum soon solves the chattering teeth, and returning to the matter at hand, she raises a pair of binoculars.
Being on the side of the angels was much like her last gig: hours and hours of surveillance. While the capes wait for distress calls to swoop in and save the day, Selina prefers to be proactive and pounce on the bottomfeeders Gotham's law and order couldn't put behind bars.
Tonight she's on the rooftop, setting her sights on the balcony of a small-time gangster's condo. Chatter down the grapevine said The Muzzle was expecting company: goons from Chicago affiliates armed with suitcases of green. But after two fruitless hours in the cold, her man was still glued to the flatscreen with his posse watching The Godfather.
A red blur catches her eye. She zooms into the living room made so invitingly open by the condo's glass balcony doors. Rising from a cream leather sofa, a man in a red shirt reaches towards something unidentifiable on a large wooden table. She tries to zoom in closer. A flash of something bright momentarily blinds her; it's a gold chain hanging off the man's neck. Hissing in annoyance, she furiously fiddles with the dial and focuses on the inscrutable item in the man's palm. He gives it a shake.
Grenade, she thinks. Bomb, maybe?
The man thrusts the object in front of the television. It's a remote.
Selina groans. The intel must have been off. It happens, but she likes it better when it happens to Slam, not her. Last thing she wants now is to report the big meet was nothing more than Guido movie night for the pathetic wannabes. Intent on causing some small measure of payback, she picks out the gum and balances the pink mess on an index finger. When it's nicely aligned with the balcony, she flicks and watches as the gum gracefully arcs and disappears.
'A little childish, don'tcha think Catwoman?'
She grabs the gargoyle's bulbous head and pulls herself off the perch, landing onto the rooftop with a soft thud. 'You would know.'
'Ouch. That hurt.'
When she glances up the kid's smiling the particular smile first trademarked by the original man of steel. An earnest smile, with the slight curling of the lips to suggest laughter at an unspoken joke. Selina hasn't seen that in a while.
'Isn't it past your bedtime?'
'Depends. Are you going to make me go to bed?'
There's just enough leering in those words to make her pause, but she quickly recovers.
'Go and play with your little Bat friend,' she says, readjusting the whip around her waist so it settles snugly on a hip. With her back to the kid, she slides the goggles down to rest atop the bridge of her nose. Not hearing anything in reply rings multiple bells in her mind though, and she looks over her shoulder. She sees empty space where there once were a teenage superhero. With a practiced hand, she unfurls the whip. It snaps midway before being snatched out of her hand.
He shakes his head. 'Nuh-uh.'
Selina charges and aims a kick at his ribs. He dodges to the right, she lands, whirls around, elbow intent on causing damage. She misses again.
'Hold. Still.'
He crosses his arms with a smirk. 'Promise you won't try to hit me first.'
She laughs and throws a punch at his head. Her fist bounces off harmlessly.
'Tactile telekinesis,' he reminds her.
She shakes her injured hand. 'Do you ever stop saying that?' she manages to say through clenched teeth.
'People keep forgetting.'
He cuts across the empty space within a blink of an eye. She lets him take her hand and watches as he gently blows. Ice crystals fleck her knuckles.
'Better?'
She finds herself unable to tear away from the sincere blue eyes. Why is it always the cute young ones that come by when she's done with a stakeout and bored to tears? She inwardly sighs. Maybe it's the suit.
As if reading her mind, he chuckles. 'Y'know, I've always been a fan of your purple catsuit. Roxy said it made you look like a $20 hooker, but what did she know? Like, it perfectly showed off your assets... Um.'
She yanks her hand away. Men. She again turns her back on him, scanning the area for the discarded whip.
'Wait, wait.' She grabs the whip, winding it up, and watches him warily. He scratches the back of his head, giving Selina an eyeful as the motion lifts the edge of his black shirt upwards. 'Geez, I'm messing this all up.'
Now it was her turn to cross her arms. 'What do you want?'
He shrugs. 'You know. Just to say hi.'
She rolls her eyes. Teenaged boys and their lucidity. 'I'm leaving.'
He reappears before her, the red S logo searing into her vision. 'Not yet, I gotta tell you something.'
'You're going to stop keeping tabs on me when you're in town?'
He frowns. 'What? You think I'm spying on you?'
'Why not? A lot of your people think I'm not capable of helping out the good guys.'
'That's not true. Batman vouched for you.'
She blinks as he pushes her goggles up on top of the mask. His hands take a hold of her shoulders. 'Listen, this might sound crazy but... I like you.'
'Ooooookay.'
And they stare at each other for a good amount of time before Selina realises he's waiting for her to say it back. Or say something other than okay.
'Superboy--'
'Catwoman.'
'Superboy--'
'Call me Kon,' he says, desperation creeping into his voice. His cheeks bloom a deep shade of pink.
'Kon.' She slowly pushes away. 'This is flattering but--'
'But?'
Selina wonders where to begin. For one thing, Superboy is much, much younger. And Selina preferred her men just that, men.
His thumb curves a path down her jaw. 'You're amazing, you know that? Strong. Beautiful.'
She purrs. It's been a while since someone complimented her and she makes a note to let that happen again.
'That's kind of you, Superboy. But you're really not my type.'
At this his mouth falls open and Selina takes the opportunity to slip out of his arms. But before she leaps off the ledge, she calls out over a shoulder. 'You really need to work on your seduction techniques.'
'But... we kissed!'
This has the impact of a bus crash on her. He was right, they had kissed. And before she can come up with the reasons why it was only a silly harmless moment, she need only look at Superboy to figure maybe it wasn't.
The back of his hand is pressed against his lips, the light in his eyes raw with pain.
'I thought maybe I had finally found someone who understands. Not the way Robin and the others do. All they talk about is how I could never turn evil. They don't know jack.'
'But when I heard you had become a hero, you became my hope.'
She looks away. 'I'm not a hero, Kon.'
'You save lives.' He waves a hand over the lighted shapes of the city. 'You're here every night making a difference.'
'I don't have the answers.'
'I know.'
Selina crouches down and takes a seat on the ledge. 'For all I know it could be a mindworm.'
He sits beside her. 'Better that than an alien parasite. Superman's fortress has this ugly pimply freak that crawls up people's backdoors.'
She laughs and he cracks a shy grin in her direction. When the sounds of her deep laughter dissipates into the cold night air, he nonchalantly leans in.
'So. Why did you kiss me?'
Her gaze finds an intriguing crack on top of the gargoyle's stone head. 'What's the fortress like this time of the year?'
'I dunno, why are we changing the subject?'
Selina remembers the heat radiating off his body when they last sat together. The guilt ridden body language, the trembling of his lips as he confessed Lex Luthor laid claim to half of his DNA. The things he had told her in confidence that he hadn't be able to tell others in his life. She had assumed all along he had unburdened himself to a total stranger, and now tonight's news made her as awkward as a schoolgirl.
'I'm not trying to seduce you, you know.' He's looking up at the sky, and trying to fill in the silence.
'Yes, you are.'
He agrees. 'Only a little. But you're Catwoman! I thought I had to, you know, try harder.' He lifts an arm and flexes. 'I couldn't win you over with these guns only.'
She raises an eyebrow, while filing away that delectable image for later.
'Just tell me this. It wasn't out of pity, was it?'
Selina holds her breath. How many times in the past had she wondered to herself whether Batman's kiss was exactly that? Looking at the kid, or rather the young man sitting with her, she feels a pang of guilt.
'No, Kon. I kissed you because you were sad.' She reaches for his hand and smiles at his surprise. 'Better?'
'Yeah.' He stares at their intertwined fingers. 'Sorry about your hand.'
'Don't worry about it.'
They sit in silence, holding hands, legs swinging in the air, and peering at the dark beautiful mess of night in Gotham.
'So I'm not your type, huh?'
'No, Kon.'
'Cuz, you know, I can grow on people.'
'Is that right?'
'And if you're worried about Batman, I could totally take him down.' He protests over her peals of laughter. 'I could! Really!'
When she gets her breath back, she spies Kon pouting adorably. 'Okay, okay. I believe you.'
'Thank you.'
She pinches his cheek. 'And if you're in town, you're always welcome to say hello.'
'Sure, Robin can wait. What's he going to do, kick me off the Titans?' His arms wrap around her waist, pulling her in with those innocent eyes. 'Will I get a kiss if I'm sad?'
She executes a perfect karate chop in the middle of his forehead, ignoring the howl that follows.
'Don't get your hopes up, kid.' After a beat, she smiles indulgently. 'But you can always count on me to help make it better.'
Being on the side of the angels was much like her last gig: hours and hours of surveillance. While the capes wait for distress calls to swoop in and save the day, Selina prefers to be proactive and pounce on the bottomfeeders Gotham's law and order couldn't put behind bars.
Tonight she's on the rooftop, setting her sights on the balcony of a small-time gangster's condo. Chatter down the grapevine said The Muzzle was expecting company: goons from Chicago affiliates armed with suitcases of green. But after two fruitless hours in the cold, her man was still glued to the flatscreen with his posse watching The Godfather.
A red blur catches her eye. She zooms into the living room made so invitingly open by the condo's glass balcony doors. Rising from a cream leather sofa, a man in a red shirt reaches towards something unidentifiable on a large wooden table. She tries to zoom in closer. A flash of something bright momentarily blinds her; it's a gold chain hanging off the man's neck. Hissing in annoyance, she furiously fiddles with the dial and focuses on the inscrutable item in the man's palm. He gives it a shake.
Grenade, she thinks. Bomb, maybe?
The man thrusts the object in front of the television. It's a remote.
Selina groans. The intel must have been off. It happens, but she likes it better when it happens to Slam, not her. Last thing she wants now is to report the big meet was nothing more than Guido movie night for the pathetic wannabes. Intent on causing some small measure of payback, she picks out the gum and balances the pink mess on an index finger. When it's nicely aligned with the balcony, she flicks and watches as the gum gracefully arcs and disappears.
'A little childish, don'tcha think Catwoman?'
She grabs the gargoyle's bulbous head and pulls herself off the perch, landing onto the rooftop with a soft thud. 'You would know.'
'Ouch. That hurt.'
When she glances up the kid's smiling the particular smile first trademarked by the original man of steel. An earnest smile, with the slight curling of the lips to suggest laughter at an unspoken joke. Selina hasn't seen that in a while.
'Isn't it past your bedtime?'
'Depends. Are you going to make me go to bed?'
There's just enough leering in those words to make her pause, but she quickly recovers.
'Go and play with your little Bat friend,' she says, readjusting the whip around her waist so it settles snugly on a hip. With her back to the kid, she slides the goggles down to rest atop the bridge of her nose. Not hearing anything in reply rings multiple bells in her mind though, and she looks over her shoulder. She sees empty space where there once were a teenage superhero. With a practiced hand, she unfurls the whip. It snaps midway before being snatched out of her hand.
He shakes his head. 'Nuh-uh.'
Selina charges and aims a kick at his ribs. He dodges to the right, she lands, whirls around, elbow intent on causing damage. She misses again.
'Hold. Still.'
He crosses his arms with a smirk. 'Promise you won't try to hit me first.'
She laughs and throws a punch at his head. Her fist bounces off harmlessly.
'Tactile telekinesis,' he reminds her.
She shakes her injured hand. 'Do you ever stop saying that?' she manages to say through clenched teeth.
'People keep forgetting.'
He cuts across the empty space within a blink of an eye. She lets him take her hand and watches as he gently blows. Ice crystals fleck her knuckles.
'Better?'
She finds herself unable to tear away from the sincere blue eyes. Why is it always the cute young ones that come by when she's done with a stakeout and bored to tears? She inwardly sighs. Maybe it's the suit.
As if reading her mind, he chuckles. 'Y'know, I've always been a fan of your purple catsuit. Roxy said it made you look like a $20 hooker, but what did she know? Like, it perfectly showed off your assets... Um.'
She yanks her hand away. Men. She again turns her back on him, scanning the area for the discarded whip.
'Wait, wait.' She grabs the whip, winding it up, and watches him warily. He scratches the back of his head, giving Selina an eyeful as the motion lifts the edge of his black shirt upwards. 'Geez, I'm messing this all up.'
Now it was her turn to cross her arms. 'What do you want?'
He shrugs. 'You know. Just to say hi.'
She rolls her eyes. Teenaged boys and their lucidity. 'I'm leaving.'
He reappears before her, the red S logo searing into her vision. 'Not yet, I gotta tell you something.'
'You're going to stop keeping tabs on me when you're in town?'
He frowns. 'What? You think I'm spying on you?'
'Why not? A lot of your people think I'm not capable of helping out the good guys.'
'That's not true. Batman vouched for you.'
She blinks as he pushes her goggles up on top of the mask. His hands take a hold of her shoulders. 'Listen, this might sound crazy but... I like you.'
'Ooooookay.'
And they stare at each other for a good amount of time before Selina realises he's waiting for her to say it back. Or say something other than okay.
'Superboy--'
'Catwoman.'
'Superboy--'
'Call me Kon,' he says, desperation creeping into his voice. His cheeks bloom a deep shade of pink.
'Kon.' She slowly pushes away. 'This is flattering but--'
'But?'
Selina wonders where to begin. For one thing, Superboy is much, much younger. And Selina preferred her men just that, men.
His thumb curves a path down her jaw. 'You're amazing, you know that? Strong. Beautiful.'
She purrs. It's been a while since someone complimented her and she makes a note to let that happen again.
'That's kind of you, Superboy. But you're really not my type.'
At this his mouth falls open and Selina takes the opportunity to slip out of his arms. But before she leaps off the ledge, she calls out over a shoulder. 'You really need to work on your seduction techniques.'
'But... we kissed!'
This has the impact of a bus crash on her. He was right, they had kissed. And before she can come up with the reasons why it was only a silly harmless moment, she need only look at Superboy to figure maybe it wasn't.
The back of his hand is pressed against his lips, the light in his eyes raw with pain.
'I thought maybe I had finally found someone who understands. Not the way Robin and the others do. All they talk about is how I could never turn evil. They don't know jack.'
'But when I heard you had become a hero, you became my hope.'
She looks away. 'I'm not a hero, Kon.'
'You save lives.' He waves a hand over the lighted shapes of the city. 'You're here every night making a difference.'
'I don't have the answers.'
'I know.'
Selina crouches down and takes a seat on the ledge. 'For all I know it could be a mindworm.'
He sits beside her. 'Better that than an alien parasite. Superman's fortress has this ugly pimply freak that crawls up people's backdoors.'
She laughs and he cracks a shy grin in her direction. When the sounds of her deep laughter dissipates into the cold night air, he nonchalantly leans in.
'So. Why did you kiss me?'
Her gaze finds an intriguing crack on top of the gargoyle's stone head. 'What's the fortress like this time of the year?'
'I dunno, why are we changing the subject?'
Selina remembers the heat radiating off his body when they last sat together. The guilt ridden body language, the trembling of his lips as he confessed Lex Luthor laid claim to half of his DNA. The things he had told her in confidence that he hadn't be able to tell others in his life. She had assumed all along he had unburdened himself to a total stranger, and now tonight's news made her as awkward as a schoolgirl.
'I'm not trying to seduce you, you know.' He's looking up at the sky, and trying to fill in the silence.
'Yes, you are.'
He agrees. 'Only a little. But you're Catwoman! I thought I had to, you know, try harder.' He lifts an arm and flexes. 'I couldn't win you over with these guns only.'
She raises an eyebrow, while filing away that delectable image for later.
'Just tell me this. It wasn't out of pity, was it?'
Selina holds her breath. How many times in the past had she wondered to herself whether Batman's kiss was exactly that? Looking at the kid, or rather the young man sitting with her, she feels a pang of guilt.
'No, Kon. I kissed you because you were sad.' She reaches for his hand and smiles at his surprise. 'Better?'
'Yeah.' He stares at their intertwined fingers. 'Sorry about your hand.'
'Don't worry about it.'
They sit in silence, holding hands, legs swinging in the air, and peering at the dark beautiful mess of night in Gotham.
'So I'm not your type, huh?'
'No, Kon.'
'Cuz, you know, I can grow on people.'
'Is that right?'
'And if you're worried about Batman, I could totally take him down.' He protests over her peals of laughter. 'I could! Really!'
When she gets her breath back, she spies Kon pouting adorably. 'Okay, okay. I believe you.'
'Thank you.'
She pinches his cheek. 'And if you're in town, you're always welcome to say hello.'
'Sure, Robin can wait. What's he going to do, kick me off the Titans?' His arms wrap around her waist, pulling her in with those innocent eyes. 'Will I get a kiss if I'm sad?'
She executes a perfect karate chop in the middle of his forehead, ignoring the howl that follows.
'Don't get your hopes up, kid.' After a beat, she smiles indulgently. 'But you can always count on me to help make it better.'
no subject
Date: 2008-04-21 11:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-22 12:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-22 01:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-22 03:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-22 03:05 am (UTC)Probably a good portion of the ladies like her too. LEATHER AND WHIPS. And the whole "bad girl" thing.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-22 02:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-22 03:02 am (UTC)Thanks for commenting :D
no subject
Date: 2008-04-23 05:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-23 11:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 09:25 pm (UTC)'And if you're worried about Batman, I could totally take him down.' He protests over her peals of laughter. 'I could! Really!'
*giggles madly* Just like Kon to think so!
And Selina? Love that she sat with him and held his hand. Gave him something else to dream of...
no subject
Date: 2008-04-28 11:34 pm (UTC)I like Selina as the 'bad girl', but I wanted to show her sweet side for once :D