Chapter Five: Catwoman and the Tigers' Lair!

Robin flitted through the deep shadows afforded by the manmade canyons of Gotham City's skyscrapers as easily as one born to the high wire. The teenaged vigilante flew with an exuberance he rarely allowed himself.

Tonight, the city belonged to him.

Batman was overseas and he'd entrusted the safety of his beloved Gotham to his junior partner, Robin the Boy Wonder. And Robin was not about to let his mentor and senior partner down.

Landing easily on the eaves of the Gotham Cathedral, an eerie gothic structure comprised of frightening gargoyles and flying buttresses, Robin took up a position on one of the cathedral's towering gothic spires. He surveyed the city far below.

As he watched the lights of passing motorcars mingling with the garish neon false suns that turned the Gotham night into a scene out of Dante's Inferno, Robin recalled the long years of training and hard work that finally led to his being here tonight, working solo.

Commissioner Gordon hadn't been exactly thrilled, Robin thought wryly. In fact, he'd been downright displeased...

"What! Alone? You're going after these people alone?" Gordon stood on the rooftop of GCPD Headquarters, the Batsignal still sending its summons into the clear, moonlit night.

"No offense, son," Gordon said, irritated. "You know I only have the greatest respect and admiration for you. But, Robin, understand that these men are vicious. They've already left a trail of blood and gore that would give even the most experienced police officers pause." Gordon jammed his hands in his pockets and shook his head. "No, Robin. I'm sorry." Gordon waved dismissively at the Boy Wonder as he turned and started walking back towards the rooftop entrance. "I won't be responsible for sending a mere child to face these thugs alone."

At the door, Gordon turned to once again address the teen hero.

"And another thing--" Gordon never finished. He was alone on the rooftop. Gordon felt a familiar eerie feeling wash through him. "Like father, like son," he muttered...

"Looks like I have to prove myself to Gordon as well as Batman," Robin said. He grinned rakishly. "Oh, well. I *love* a challenge!"

With that, Robin dove off the gothic spires of the Gotham Cathedral and allowed himself to enjoy the adrenaline rush he always felt during free fall. As the ground rushed up to meet him, Robin calmly shot out a safety line to the adjoining building and allowed his momentum to swing him in a smooth arc to his next stop.

"Woo-hoo!" he cried out with boyish enthusiasm.

Robin felt like a kid during recess.

For if the Batcave had been the world's greatest playroom for little Dicky as he grew up under Batman's stern tutelage, then the Gotham City skyline was the world's greatest playground. Batman might view his one-man mission with a humorless single-mindedness of purpose, but Robin saw no reason why he couldn't do his job *and* have some fun, too.

When he became Batman's partner, Robin entered the world's most dangerous game. At sixteen, he was now a player in the major leagues, expected to face off against some of the worst scum that Gotham City, the country's most dangerous urban backdrop, could offer.

"Yeah, I'm a player, all right," he muttered. "A rookie player." And tonight, Robin had a gut feeling that all he met were going to put him to the test...

The vicious thug slapped her again, drawing blood. Thelma gasped at the sharp pain. Her head was suddenly yanked back painfully by the hair. Thelma could feel his harsh, hot breath near her face.

"I asked you nicely," he grunted, squeezing her exposed neck for added emphasis. "Next time, I won't ask so nice. Now where *is* he?" He struck her again, this time close-fisted. Thelma felt her left eye instantly swell shut from the impact.

"I don't *know*," Thelma moaned. "I swear I don't--"

SLAP!!

Thelma cried out again. She closed her good eye against the ongoing horror before her. Her lips were badly swollen and bleeding. A dark, bruise was spreading rapidly across both her cheeks. A steady red stream flowed from both nostrils and from the corner of her mouth.

"Mister Thorne don't like Leo Maxie moving in on his territory, see?" SLAP! "Me and the boys don't like it when Mister Thorne is unhappy, see?" SLAP! "Now where are Maxie's boys hitting tonight?!"

Thelma mutely shook her head, no, and waited, exhausted and in excruciating pain, for the next blow. Thorne's henchman had established a sort of grim rhythm to his interrogation, with his relentless blows coming at such regular intervals that Thelma actually began to get a kind of perverse comfort in knowing what was coming.

But the next blow didn't come.

"Stubborn dame, eh? Okay, my old man knew how to take care of stubborn dames. He knew how to make my old lady toe the line. I learned a lot from my old man about dealing with women." Thelma felt him move away slightly. "Hey, Normie, pass me your cigarette butt. Let's see how closed mouth this broad's gonna be when I start marking her pretty face!"

"No...please," Thelma felt a scream of terror begin to well up within her throat. She struggled against her bonds in a helpless panic. "Please...don't!" she whimpered. "I don't know where they are...I swear, I don't..."

"Yeah, yeah...you're breaking my heart, Thelma. Leo Maxie don't do nuthin' without first talking to you about it. We know who wears the pants in Maxie's gang. The whole city knows it. Now, you gonna tell me what I wanna know...or is your next doctor's appointment gonna be with the plastic surgeon?"

Thelma turned her face away in a useless attempt to protect herself. "Please..." she whimpered softly. "Please, don't hurt me..."

"Wrong answer, Thelma," Thorne's henchman said mockingly.

Thelma's scream was that of a cornered animal. "*Dooonnnn'ttt*!!!"

The threatened attack never materialized. Instead, a gentle, caring voice...a very young male voice, her vast experience with men told her...was asking her if she was all right. She felt like laughing.

Of course, I'm not all right, kid, she wanted to shout. Are you stupid or something? Rupert Thorne's goons just worked me over! What a stupid question...

The young voice was accompanied by careful, gentle hands that first untied her, then swept her up tenderly.

"Don't worry, ma'am," he said fiercely, "everything's going to be all right. I promise." She felt herself being laid down with great consideration for her injuries. The soft warmth of a blanket soon enveloped her. She felt herself slipping into oblivion.

"No," Thelma whispered. "I can't sleep...got to stay awake." She forced her eyelids to flutter open and fought to focus her blurred vision. Thelma concentrated on a brilliant, yellow, red, and green figure an arm's length from her. As her dancing vision settled, gathering the various jigsaw puzzle pieces together, Thelma successfully separated the three bright hues into distinct patterns.

A young, handsome face, partially obscured by a mask, smiled at her.

"Help is on the way, ma'am. Just lie there quietly. I promise, I won't leave you alone. Magilla Gorilla and his three apes over there won't be bothering you for a long time."

The boy pointed with chin. Four men lay crumpled, unconscious on the floor. They didn't look like they'd wake up anytime soon.

"How did you--?" she started.

"Trade secret," he said, giving her a devil-may-care smile. The boy's bright costume...his underlying bravado and sincere kindness reminded Thelma of rumors she'd heard from Maxie's men about a kid who partnered with the terrifying hunter of the night, the Batman.

They'd talked amongst themselves in awed whispers about a kid who offset the Dark Knight's grim appearance with his own vivid costume. They'd talked about a kid who laughed devilishly while taking out the best of Maxie's boys.

Until this moment, Thelma had dismissed the rumors as just talk. She hadn't really believed that either one of the mysterious vigilantes existed.

"You-you're Robin?" Thelma whispered, shocked. At Robin's nod, she felt her eyes suddenly tear up. "Why-why did you help *me*?" she asked. "I'm Leo Maxie's girl. I only got what I deserved."

Robin gently placed his hand on her forehead and swept a matted, sweaty strand of hair from her face.

"No, ma'am. You didn't deserve what Thorne's goons did to you. *No* one deserves that kind of punishment." He dropped his eyes momentarily. "Believe me, I know what I'm talking about." Robin shrugged and gave her an encouraging half-smile. "Whatever problems exist between Maxie and Thorne, you're not the cause of it. You just got caught in the middle of it."

Thelma snorted, then grimaced in pain.

"You're just a kid," she managed, bitterly. "What do *you* know?" Thelma turned away, the hopelessness of her situation suddenly overwhelming her. "If I talked, Maxie would've found out about it, and he woulda killed me. If I didn't talk, Thorne's goons wouldn't've liked it, and *they* woulda killed me."

Thelma brought her hand up to her eyes. What had happened to her life? She'd had such dreams when she left home. Now, she had nothing left. Even the dreams were gone.

Thelma felt something soft being placed gently in her hand. She opened her eyes and squinted against the light: a snow-white handkerchief. Thelma felt the tears spilling over. When was the last time a gentleman had offered her a handkerchief?

"I know that we get out of life what we put into it," Robin said quietly. "I know that if we take shortcuts that eventually we have to pay the price. I know that there's right and there's wrong. And that once we choose a path, it's very hard to get off and choose another."

Thelma turned to Robin and looked at him sadly. "You mean, there's no hope left for me?"

The Boy Wonder smiled kindly. "No ma'am. There's always hope."

"But you just said--"

"--I said, that once we choose a path, it's hard to change...I didn't say it was impossible. We just gotta *want* to make that change."

"Know something, Boy Wonder?" Thelma whispered tiredly. "For a kid...you sure make a lot of sense."

With that, Thelma took the first steps necessary to change the course of her life. She began to talk...

The GCPD SWAT team stealthily surrounded The Combat Zone, a disreputable nightclub that catered to some of Gotham's seedier clientele. The tip that the latest gang hit was to take place at the club came in before midnight.

Gordon quickly ordered a team assembled and personally led the raid. Sergeant Harvey Bullock somehow heard about the hit and managed to tag along. Gordon expertly deployed his team, sent his scouts to recon the area around the club, received word that the coast was clear, and immediately gave the "Go!" command.

Three officers swiftly fired off concussion and gas grenades. The ordinance was designed to render unconscious any living thing inside the building. What the concussion grenades didn't take out, the gas grenades would. All the SWAT team had to do next was the mopping up.

They blitzed the building entering from all compass directions. The team was effectively masked against the knockout gas, as well as, heavily armed and armored against anything the underworld could throw against them. The team of professionals moved rapidly and smoothly from room to room, quickly and efficiently securing each room before moving to the next.

Before long, Gordon began to have a very strange feeling that all was not as it should be. He and his team had been in the building for almost ten full minutes and had yet to come across even *one* of Thorne's or Maxie's henchmen.

What was going on? Gordon spoke into his radio.

"Bullock! What have you got? So far, we've got zip! Only empty rooms!"

"Commish..." Bullock's halting reply came over the air. "I think you'd better get over here, sir...You're *not* going to believe this!"

When Gordon entered the Combat Zone's main dancehall and bar, he stopped. Gordon's jaw dropped as he gazed around the large, open room. Hanging from the rafters in twos and threes, obviously struggling against their bonds, were twenty of Rupert Thorne's and Leo Maxie's gunsels.

"It's almost pretty to see, ain't it, Commish?" Bullock asked. "I mean, it's kinda like poetry, what with them hoods hanging there, looking like Christmas decorations, caught in the glittering light from the spinning disco ball." Bullock grinned like a kid about to open to his presents. "And look, Commish," he added pointing. "Stocking stuffers!"

Down the middle of the dance floor, an arsenal of automatic weapons lay completely disassembled, the numerous parts lined up neatly along the floor, with almost military precision.

Gordon slowly walked up to the weapons display, surveying it critically for possible booby traps. Something white caught his eye. A piece of paper was weighed down by an AK-47's firing pin. Gordon bent down and picked it up. Unfolding the paper, he read the short message scrawled in a youthful hand.

MERE CHILD'S PLAY!--R.

Gordon broke into a wide grin. "Okay, kid," he muttered to himself. "You proved your point. You *can* do the job alone."

Robin smiled to himself. Gordon and his boys in blue should've found the little surprise packet he'd left for them. The night so far had offered some very interesting moments. Robin's eyes narrowed; his face grimaced in a snarl. Thelma was going to be all right, but Thorne's mooks had done a thorough job on her. It would be awhile before she showed her face in public again.

Stopping the gang hit provided just the right amount of job satisfaction that Robin needed. He smirked, shrugging. No big deal. There'd only been twenty of them, after all.

Hearing the unmistakable sounds of a truck backing up, Robin brought his attention back to the problem at hand. He was currently crouched high up on one of the many thick branches afforded by a large live oak. The broad leaves gave him sufficient cover, yet allowed him to see what was going on below.

There they were. Two of Leo Maxie's boys! Robin shook his head in amazement. The anonymous tip he'd received early that evening seemed outrageous from the get-go, but the Boy Wonder decided to check it out anyway.

Robin quickly scanned the grounds surrounding him. The chimpanzee area was to the East and the Polar Bear Exhibit to his immediate South. The henchmen were currently climbing into the rare White Siberian Tiger's lair.

When the call came to the Batcave, Robin believed it a joke at first: Someone was planning to steal the rare and priceless Siberian tigers from their lair in Gotham's Central Park Zoo. The tigers, a male and female, were a goodwill gift from the good citizens of Russia.

"These guys must be wacko," Robin whispered. He'd grown up in the circus. Tigers weren't animals for amateurs to toy with. More unpredictable than their wildcat brethren, the lions, the tigers of Haly Circus were only handled by their human trainer and his handpicked assistants.

Pop Haly's rule was ironclad. No one else was ever allowed in the tiger's cage.

Robin rolled his eyes. "Well, I said I liked a challenge." He dropped to the ground below, and darted silently through the shadows. Maxie's henchmen backed a large delivery truck up to the high security fence that ran along the tigers' lair.

Robin went over the lair's layout in his mindseye. Immediately on the other side of the fence was a narrow, five-foot ledge, which ended in a twenty-foot wide manmade chasm with a sharp thirty-foot drop. Beyond, lay the tigers' lair, an engineering feat that accurately recreated the Siberian tigers' native Asian environment.

Robin leaped and easily caught the fence's top edge. Climbing up and over, he saw a temporary "bridge" laid out across the twenty-foot gap. He heard nervous voices coming from the other side.

"I tell ya, Lenny," a high, squeaky male voice whined, "this ain't such a good idea."

"Shuddup, willya?" a deeper voice hissed, presumably Lenny. "I swear, Stevie, I tollya that if ya didn't have the stomach for this job, then you shoulda stayed home!"

"Aw, come on, Lenny," Stevie protested. "You promised Ma you'd let me in on all your heists and get me in good with Mister Maxie."

"Yeah, yeah, kid, I know," Lenny replied impatiently. "So you're here. Now button it...you don't wanna end up as a midnight snack for one of these big cats, do ya?"

No answer. Robin presumed that Stevie was chewing on this food for thought.

"Hand me the rifle," Lenny ordered.

"I, uh, I ain't got it, Lenny," Stevie said timidly. "I left it in the cab. I'm sorry."

"Jeez, Stevie, you're about as useless as a broken leg, you know that?" There was only hurt silence from Stevie. "Well, go get it, you idiot!" Lenny ordered, exasperatedly.

Robin saw one of the two figures below hurry to the truck's cab, while the second stood just on the other side of the "bridge."

Time to make my move, Robin thought. He followed the first hood, presumably Stevie, and coming up behind him, lightly tapped him between the shoulder blades. Stevie jumped, startled.

"What--?" he squeaked out. That's all he managed, because Robin knocked him out with a single right hook to the jaw.

"People with glass jaws shouldn't be crooked," Robin tsked under his breath. Keeping to the shadows, the junior Caped Crusader came to the rear end of the truck. He saw the other crook, still waiting for his partner's return. Robin took out a Batarang and shook his head.

"Like ducks in a pond," he muttered. Throwing with the deadly accuracy of a big game hunter, Robin instantly took out the second hood. Robin smirked as his target collapsed where he'd stood.

"Two down," he said satisfied. Robin quickly crossed the temporary bridge and picked up the unconscious henchman. That's when he heard it.

The unmistakable, bone-chilling growl of a large, feline predator. The low, rumbling snarl quickly turned into the bloodcurdling shriek of an angry tiger protecting his lair.

"Uh-oh." Robin stood stock-still. It took all of his self-discipline and willpower to remain unmoving when his basest instincts were screaming at him to run! Slowly, with absolute muscle control, he turned his head in the direction of the animal's cry.

He swallowed. By the dim light afforded by the quarter moon, Robin saw two pairs of eyes being reflected back to him in the dark. Robin could almost feel the Siberian Tigers' hot breath as they prepared to attack.

"Uh-oh," he repeated, his voice cracking. "Let's see, Superhero Lesson Number Five-oh-two: How to get from point A to point B without provoking a hungry, wild tiger into attacking. Oh, gee...I must've played hooky that day..." Robin began backing slowly, a teensy bit at a time.

"Okay, Boy Wonder," he muttered. "Time for Plan B..." He felt the unconscious man he was holding begin to stir. "Oh, this is not a good time, Lenny," Robin whispered. "If you know what's good for you, you'll stay in Sleepy-Time Land."

Taking out a palm-sized aerosol spray from his utility belt, Robin unceremoniously spritzed his groaning guest in the face. The hood's weak movements immediately stilled. Nothing like sleeping gas, thought Robin.

By then, the Teen Dynamo was about halfway across the bridge. Unfortunately, he saw that one of the tigers had emerged from its lair and was slowly, calmly stalking him. Robin felt a slightly hysterical laugh build up in his throat.

"Of course...*He* knows he's got all the time in the world." Stopping his retreat, Robin decided that it was time to face the enemy. He felt a cold hand clutching his insides. His parents' warnings to stay away from the cat cages suddenly returned in full force...

"Dicky! Get away from there! Those cats are dangerous. They're *not* pets!" John Grayson sternly admonished his four-year-old son, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck. The star aerialist had just caught Dicky standing dangerously close to the tiger cage. The little boy was trying to reach in and pet one of the beautiful creatures.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," Dicky said, ready to burst into tears. His Daddy *never* yelled him!

"The Great Valentin is a professional animal trainer, Dicky," Grayson said fiercely. He was holding Dicky by the arms, his clear, gray eyes burning into his son's. "Any obedience the tigers pay him comes from his years' experience of working with large cats. Don't mistake the tigers' fear and respect for their trainer as love for him. Remember that, son."

Dicky looked up his father, a large tear making its way down his cheek. Grayson relented and picked up his son, hugging him close to him.

Later that same season, a tiger escaped and terrorized the circus compound. The screams and warnings came in time, but just barely. Little Dicky, already an experienced aerialist with several performances under his belt, managed to leap and climb out of the way of the crazed, pouncing tiger, but not before he'd received the biggest fright of his young life.

Robin recalled the weeks of nightmares that followed the attack. His parents never again had to warn their precocious son to stay away from the tigers' cage...

Remembering how the roustabouts were finally able to throw a heavy net over the animal, successfully immobilizing him before Valentin arrived with the tranquilizer gun, Robin realized what he had to do.

Putting down his human load, Robin assumed a defensive stance and slowly began advancing towards the stalking predator. Recalling the Great Valentin's soothing tones when addressing his tigers, Robin began crooning in a low, melodic voice.

The tiger responded with a low, menacing growl deep within his throat.

"Here now, boy...You were given quite a fright weren't you? I know you're only trying to defend your home. I don't want to hurt you..." As Robin circled the three-hundred pound Siberian Tiger, he slowly and carefully removed a special device from his utility belt.

The tiger suddenly went down on its haunches. His tail began twitching dangerously. He was ready to pounce.

Robin waited tensely. His timing had to be perfect.

"Or I'm dead meat," he muttered. "Literally."

"Lennnnnyyy?" a high wail abruptly rang out from across the bridge. Robin turned, startled by the sound. "Lenny, where *are* you?" Stevie came stumbling from behind the shadows of the truck.

This was too much for the tiger. In a wild frenzy he sprang, his angry roar crying out against these nocturnal disturbances of his home. As the cat leaped and cleared the space between himself and his quarry, the tiger's angry cry changed into a screech of outrage!

A heavily weighted, wire mesh net suddenly appeared around him, enfolding him and entrapping him at mid-spring. His enraged and frightened howls were immediately echoed by his equally terrorized mate.

"Lenny?" Stevie called out, tremulously.

"He's on the bridge!" Robin called. "Grab him, and get the hell outta here!" Robin quickly turned to face this new, even more dangerous menace. She'd come out fighting mad, roaring her displeasure into the night.

Behind him, he heard the sudden roar of the truck's engines as presumably Stevie gunned it. This was soon followed by a deafening crash as the temporary bridge was partially dragged back across, then dropped down into the manmade chasm, thus cutting off Robin's escape route.

"You're welcome," Robin muttered ironically. He quickly turned his undivided attention back to the advancing tiger.

"Note to Batman...We really need to carry more than one handy-dandy, insta-net in our utility belts." Robin intently studied the crazed female predator's moves, ready to react.

"Okay, Boy Genius, time for Plan C," he muttered to himself. Reaching carefully into one of the many pouches in his belt, Robin was startled by a new voice behind him.

"Plan C, Boy Wonder?"

Without thinking, Robin whirled towards the sound of the low, sultry voice. There was no one there! His momentary distraction was the cue the female tiger needed. Before Robin could react, she sprang.

The next few seconds were a blur of activity. As the tiger attacked, a new, lithe figure landed gracefully a few feet in front of Robin, between him and the leaping tiger. The distinct sound of a cracking whip rang in the night.

"Stop, my pretty one," commanded the new arrival in a soft, crooning voice. Before Robin could shout a warning, and to his dumbfounded amazement, the tiger shifted her spring in midair. Instead of completing her attack on Robin, the tiger landed lightly, and quietly turned to the owner of the soothing, calming voice.

"There, there, my pretty one," the woman intoned, her voice a balm in the tiger's frenzied mind. The mysterious woman reached her hand out and gently rubbed behind the she-tiger's ear and below the chin. Robin gaped as the tiger actually dropped on her side and began purring. "Yes, you're just a big kitty, aren't you?" the strange woman purred lovingly.

"Now, my lovely, why don't you return to your home? Yes, you have the little one to think of now, don't you? That's a good mother. I'll send your mate in after you in a jiffy. I promise." As the woman spoke, the tiger reluctantly regained her feet and meekly returned to her manmade lair.

Robin stood rooted to the same spot. He'd seen a lot of strange things in his young life, but he'd never seen anything like what he'd just witnessed. Who *was* this woman? And why did he have the niggling feeling that there was something vaguely familiar about her voice?

The lithe figure remained largely in the shadows, but Robin could just make out a graceful, athletic build in a one-piece body suit. She seemed to be wearing a mask, but he couldn't be certain, as well as, thigh-high boots. And, of course, the whip he'd heard her use earlier.

Calmly turning to face him, the woman emerged into the dim light of the quarter moon, a dark silhouette outlined by the greater gloom. Robin squinted in the night. Were those pointed ears, he wondered?

"Who are you?" Robin demanded, then curiously, added, "How'd you *do* that?"

The woman let out a sexy, low, sultry laugh. Almost like a cat's purr, Robin thought, his eyes widening. Selina, he wondered?

"Call me...Catwoman," the mysterious woman replied, as if it were a big joke. "And I didn't *do* anything, my little bird. I merely spoke to her...one feline to another." Catwoman grinned easily, the picture of a cat who'd just swallowed a tasty morsel. "I confess I was hoping to catch a flying mouse, but I suppose, beggars can't be choosers."

With that, Catwoman cracked her whip, momentarily distracting the Boy Wonder, while simultaneously tossing a handful of exploding gas pellets at his feet...

His sense of smell came back first. There was the subtle odor of feminine perfume hanging in the air. Where was he?

Sound came next, accompanied by touch. The distinctive sounds of Gotham's street traffic could be heard far below, carried in by the light breeze that caressed his cheek.

Robin finally opened his eyes. Dawn was streaming in through the open French windows. Lying still, Robin surveyed his surroundings furtively. He was on a large bed in a strange room. He sat up slowly, checking himself over carefully.

He was fine. No wounds. No ropes. No nothing. The open sliding doors led to an outdoor balcony several stories up. Wherever he was, Robin was obviously free to leave at any time.

Another smell suddenly assaulted his senses, causing his mouth to water instantly. His stomach growled in sympathetic reaction.

"Oh, good. I'm glad you're hungry," the voice said behind him.

Robin whirled, instantly reaching for a Batarang.

"I was afraid you superhero types were too macho to eat or something." The strange woman stood calmly in the light streaming in from the open balcony windows. The effect was even more stunning than her appearance in the tigers' lair.

She was incredibly beautiful. That much was obvious, even with the cat-mask that covered half her face. Robin took in her perfect physique, which was emphasized by her one-piece cat-suit. The costume didn't leave much to the imagination. Robin felt himself blushing furiously.

He immediately took refuge inside his cape, a nervous habit he'd picked up as a child superhero. When up against unknown odds, Joker to the left, the Riddler to the right, Two-Face coming up behind you, a guy had to stand his ground with defiant dignity. Enclosing the cape completely around himself, somehow made Robin feel somewhat less exposed.

Yeah, right, Grayson, he chastised silently.

"Why am I here?" Robin demanded. "Why did you bring me? Catwoman, right?"

She smiled, revealing a perfect set of beautiful straight teeth. Again, Robin felt that he knew her. Not Selina, please, he thought. How would he tell Bruce? These thoughts and others flashed through the Boy Wonder's mind as his hostess indicated that he follow her.

"So you see, Robin," Catwoman said, leaning back sensuously on her chaise lounge, "my intentions are strictly honorable." Robin noted that the mysterious woman intentionally rolled her "r's" when she spoke, further emphasizing her assumed feline role. Catwoman gave him a purr-like sound from deep within her throat.

Robin carefully wiped his mouth with his napkin. There were no complaints from him over the breakfast she'd offered him as a token apology for dragging him to her "lair." He watched her subtle movements closely. Robin might not have much experience with women, but he knew a come-on when he saw one. Catwoman was obviously toying with him.

"So let me get this straight," Robin began. "*You* sent that anonymous tip about the impending theft of the Siberian tigers, because you heard that Leo Maxie has been dealing in the illegal black market trade of endangered species?"

Catwoman smiled, stretching out luxuriously on her lounge. "Yes...I may not like the idea of keeping those beautiful animals in the zoo, but I've made it my business to study how the Gotham Zoo cares for its animals. The female is one of the first Siberian she-tigers that has actually conceived while in captivity. The zoo veterinary staff is one of the best in the country and making fantastic strides in stemming the extinction of these rare cats."

Catwoman turned her emerald gaze on the Boy Wonder, giving him a slow, deliberate blink. Robin noted, relieved, that her pupils were normal, rather than slitted like a cat's. Then again, he seemed to recall that the big cats didn't have slits, but rather rounded pupils.

If this Catwoman were closer to the larger predators in make-up, then she was that much more dangerous. Maybe, "normal" pupils weren't exactly such a good thing after all, Robin mused.

"Okay," Robin nodded, conceding her point. "But this doesn't explain why you dragged me here, or why you've been pulling a string of cat burglaries around town."

Catwoman gave him a slow, sensuous, pulse-pounding smile. "String of 'cat burglaries'? Why, whatever do you mean, Boy Wonder? You don't believe that *I'm* involved in these inexplicable burglaries of house cats, do you? Search my place...I assure you, you won't find nary a stolen cat."

Robin shook his head. "You know that the missing cats aren't the issue. It's the half-million in stolen jewels and cash that's caught *our* interest." Robin emphasized the "our"--implying in no uncertain words *whose* interest she'd piqued: Batman's.

"Look, ma'am, I don't know what you're trying to pull, but you know that I can easily find out who you are just by running a trace on the address here. Do you want the world to know who the Catwoman really is?" Robin paused, gauging her reactions.

"Do you really want Batman on your trail? Believe me, much more dangerous criminals than you have had their careers cut short by him. And there are not a few in both Blackgate Prison and Arkham Asylum who wake up screaming every night because of him."

Robin gave Catwoman his most intense glare. She blinked in surprise by the ferocity of his angry stare. Robin might be a kid sidekick, but his scowl had been stopping criminals in their tracks since he was about twelve.

"I don't want to have to tell Batman that I ran into you, ma'am. I don't want to have to tell him who you really are. Look, you seem like a nice lady. Why don't you drop the Cat identity now before it goes any further. If you return the stolen jewels, you can probably get probation. I mean, this string of burglaries can all be collated into a single burglary count--a first offense."

Robin felt himself pleading. If this *was* Selina, he wanted to do everything in his power to keep her from continuing on this life of crime. For Bruce's sake.

"A good lawyer can get you off. If you need legal help, well, I hear that the Wayne Foundation provides pro bono--"

"No!" Catwoman hissed. "I want *nothing* from the Wayne Foundation...do you hear me? The Wayne Foundation destroyed my fa--" she stopped suddenly. Catwoman slowly rose to her full height. Robin likewise jumped to his feet.

Like it or not, she'd demonstrated last night that she could be dangerous.

"I want *nothing* from the Wayne Foundation," Catwoman repeated, ferociously.

Robin shook his head in confusion. Had it all been an act on her part? Had she never even *liked* Bruce?

"I don't understand. Bruce Wayne is one of Gotham's leading citizens, and I assure you, ma'am, he's a good man. There are rich guys who talk a good game and there are rich guys who mean what they say. Wayne falls into the second category. The Wayne Foundation--"

"--the Wayne Foundation is a house of mirrors, little Robin. It presents one face to the outside, while it distorts the truth behind its pretty facade. This whole town is rotten from the inside out, from your GCPD and Police Commissioner Gordon, to your precious Wayne Foundation."

Robin shook his head. "You're wrong, Catwoman. You couldn't be further from the truth. I admit Gotham City has a tendency to destroy the weak and helpless...That's why there's a Batman and Robin, to help stem the tide of darkness that seems to be sweeping in. But believe me, Catwoman. The GCPD and Gordon are clean...and Wayne...Like I said, he's a good man. You'll just have to take my word on it."

Catwoman suddenly cracked her whip across the breakfast table, scattering leftovers and dishes in every direction. Robin instantly somersaulted high and backwards, landing instantly in a crouch, at ready. To his shocked dismay, Catwoman continued to lash out at the furniture around her in a wild frenzy.

As she struck out with her whip, again and again, Robin heard Catwoman muttering under her breath.

"No! I *don't* believe it! *They* did it! *They* destroyed him! And I'll *see* that they pay!" Within moments, her rage spent, she stood in the middle of the room, surveying the damage.

"I'll make them pay, Daddy," she whispered.

Whirling suddenly around, she threw a handful of pellets at Robin's feet, which exploded instantaneously. As the gas overcame him, he groaned in self- reproachment. "Not againnnn..."

The cold, wet cloth on his forehead startled him awake. Robin's eyes jerked open, then cringed shut against the room's single, naked light bulb.

"Uhhnnnn..." he groaned helplessly. "Where am I...?" He turned his head in the direction of a dim figure nearby. The shadows in the room were eerily waxing and waning in time to the lone bulb's back and forth swinging motion.

"Hey, squirt," a quiet voice said next to him. "How're you feeling?"

"Babs?" he whispered.

"Shhhhh, Boy Wonder," the gentle voice admonished quietly. "It's Batgirl." Robin brought his hand up to his eyes, then slowly opened them, careful not to let in too much light. He swallowed, his throat dry.

"Batgirl?" Robin looked up her at her cowled face. Her lovely, green eyes were smiling. Where--?" He looked around the room. He was in the same place that he'd awakened in earlier. Much earlier. Robin's internal clock told him that several hours had passed. However, the room looked different.

With the exception of the bed Robin was lying on, all the furnishings were gone. The paintings and mirrors that hung on the walls previously had since been removed. Even the ceiling light fixtures were missing, the single incandescent bulb left in their place.

Robin blinked in confusion. What was going on?

Turning his head towards the open balcony doors, he quickly noted that it was nighttime already.

Robin brought his hand up to his face. Thank goodness, his mask was still in place. A lot of good that did him, though. Robin had no way of knowing whether Catwoman might have peeked under his mask.

"What happened? What are you doing here?" he asked, blearily. "How did you know where to find me?"

"Hey, easy, Boy Wonder," Batgirl said soothingly. "Do you remember how you got here?"

Robin shook his head, no. He felt slightly guilty for being less than truthful. Unable to look Batgirl in the eyes, he looked away.

"How'd you find me, anyway?" Robin repeated.

Seeing that Robin was physically all right, Batgirl sat next to him on the side of the bed. She patiently explained how she'd found him.

"A mutual friend contacted me at home," she began. Robin knew instantly that she meant Alfred. "He was deathly worried when you didn't come home last night and asked me to help look for you. I traced your moves, but lost your trail at the Gotham City Park Zoo."

Batgirl turned away, ashamed that she hadn't been able to track him better. Batman would've found him, she thought. Batman would've moved heaven and earth if he believed Robin might be in serious danger.

"Batgirl...hey, it's okay," Robin said softly, understanding what she was going through. He placed his hand gently over hers in reassurance. Smiling gratefully, she continued her tale.

"Anyway, early this evening an anonymous tip came, reporting your location. I jumped in the 'you-know-what'--" Batgirl grinned at Robin's shocked look.

"--You took the *Bat*mobile?" he asked, his voice cracking. Even *he* hadn't taken the Batmobile, Robin wanted to protest, and *he* had permission to drive her. Never mind that he preferred his Robin cycle. That was beside the point. "I'm dead," he added, falling back on the bed.

"Oh, don't be such a spoilsport. Our mutual friend insisted that I take her...said that *your* safety was of paramount importance and that Batman would agree."

Robin sighed. "Okay, okay. Go on with the story."

"Not much more to tell. I got here as soon as I could. Because of the building's condition, I had to move fairly slow, but the directions I'd been given of your location were accurate. I found you exactly where we were told you'd be."

"What do you mean...you were slowed by the building's condition?" Robin asked curiously.

"You mean you don't know?" Batgirl asked. At Robin's blank look, Batgirl gave him her signature, teasing smile. "Come on, Sleeping Beauty, and I'll show you."

Robin groaned. He had a sinking feeling that he wasn't going to hear the end of this one.

"Why me?" Robin dropped his head between his knees.

Batgirl slapped him upside the head. "Hey, come on, squirt. None of that. Who were you after last night anyway? Did you at least get a look at whoever did this to you?"

"If I knew that don't you think I'd tell you?" Robin growled. He felt like the worst kind of heel for not confiding in Batgirl, but Catwoman was his.

"Okay, junior, let's watch the attitude. Now come on. Let's get outta here, before the whole building falls on top of us."

Robin looked at her sourly. "What do you mean by that?"

"Just this." Batgirl stood up and walked towards the wall separating his bedroom from the next room. Placing her hands along an invisible seam, Batgirl suddenly pulled. Her rippling muscles underneath her costume showed the strength of her exertion.

Robin heard a strange tearing sound, and then half the wall started coming down.

"Batgirl, watch out!" Robin shouted in warning, but Batgirl was already out of the way of the falling drywall. To Robin's astonishment, he saw only the skeletal structure of a dilapidated building on the other side.

"What in the--" he began.

"You're in the old Katmandu Towers," Batgirl explained. "The city condemned it over three years ago. It's scheduled to be demolished later this week." Batgirl let her words sink in. "Whoever brought you here, Boy Wonder, went to a lot of trouble to fix up this little Robin's nest. Are you *sure* you don't remember anything?"

"Look, I already told you--"

"I know. I know," Batgirl interrupted. "You don't remember anything. Okay, squirt. Let's get of here. There's someone who's been worried sick about you now for almost twenty-four hours. I promised him I'd bring you home."

Robin just looked at her and slowly nodded in agreement.

As the two young crimefighters simultaneously shot out their jump lines into the night sky, Robin made a solemn vow.

I don't what your game is, Catwoman, but when I catch up to you, I intend to find out. You're mine.

Concluded...

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