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Scarlet Starlight	By : DarthMeow504 Category: zMisplaced Stories [ADMIN use only] > Spiderman Views: 35989 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: This is a work of non-profit fanfiction. The Marvel Universe, the DC Universe, the Image Universe, and all characters and elements thereof are copyright their respective companies. Additional disclaimers within.

Chapter List
- 28
- 29
- 30
[Author's notes: Harley Quinn is copyright DC, as is Stephanie Brown. The alternate history of Stephanie and the Robin franchise is my own contribution, like anything else in these stories that doesn't match canon. Hpbie Brown, the Prowler, is copyright Marvel but tying him to Stephanie Brown the Spoiler was my idea. Catra, the old cartoon villain, is copyright whoever the hell owns Masters of the Universe. Adrienne Montoya is my own creation, based on Renee Montoya and named after one of her voice actors from the animated series. Battia, renamed Becca, is a character from a manga and anime called Outlanders and is copyright it's author and publisher. Like Adrienne, she was named in honor of one of her voice actresses.]

[Gallery: Harley in Batgirl costume: http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss27/ebailey140/hq/HarleyQuinn011-08.jpg. more at http://asylums.insanejournal.com/scans_daily/161282.html

Adrienne Montoya as Catra: http://www.demotivationalposters.org/image/demotivational-poster/1006/bad-pussy-catra-she-ra-shera-princess-of-power-horde-hordak-demotivational-poster-1276089275.jpg

Battia aka Becca: http://whiskeywolf.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/outlanders_issue_25_cover1.jpg , http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/characters/15/72481.jpg ]

Chapter 18: Three Cat Tales

-----

PART I: GOTHAM CITY
"Barbara... be a dear and get the door?"

Barbara Gordon sighed and steeled herself... after all this time, she still didn't like answering doors when she didn't know who was on the other side. Of course that was understandable, considering that she'd gotten a good chunk of her midsection blown out of her back that way once. Sure, she'd gotten better since then, but it was a rough and painful road to recovery and still a traumatic memory. But she was in Selina's home, and their unique form of relationship didn't really allow much room for telling the feline fatale no. Not if she wanted to taste the cat's cream, and she was too hooked to give it up for anything short of a major dealbreaker. And so, armed with the knowledge that Selina's staff undoubtedly wouldn't let someone this far into the estate without verification they were safe, she buried her nervousness and did as she was asked.

It would be safe to say that nothing really would have prepared her for what she saw.

For the first moments, it was like looking into a mirror of sorts, into her own past. The achingly familiar dark purple and yellow, the red hair spilling from under the cape and cowl and sexily framing the Bat emblem on the generous feminine chest... it was like looking at herself, years ago, as the one and only original Batgirl. The figure was as stunning as she herself must have been in those days, but it wasn't her mere attractiveness that put Barbara into a state of quiet, staring shock.

The apparent doppleganger didn't pay her nearly so much attention, however, giving her only a quick "what are -you- looking at?" sneer before bouncily waving to Selina with a huge grin and shouting to her in an accented, exaggeratedly cutsey voice.

"Heya, Cat-lady! Mistah J wanted me to bring ya a message, catch!"

She'd barely stepped fully into the room when she tossed a manila envelope to Selina, who caught it effortlessly while watching the two of them with an amused but curious expression. Barbara shifted her gaze from her back to the imposter as the wheels clicked in her head, her shock turning to boiling anger as she deduced exactly who it was imitating her. The woman barely had a chance to realize how much trouble she was in before it was too late.

"Hey, what's yoah problem? Someone piss in yah catbox, sweetie? I -- hey, you look familiar... oh, SHI--...!"

If Barbara hadn't been so furious, she would have been as amused as the softly laughing Catwoman at the shift in the Bat-double's expression from mild annoyance, to curiosity, to realization and sudden shock. Instead, she only felt a small rush of satisfaction as her fist crunched solidly across the cowled face of the imposter, sending her into a sprawling, bouncing skid a dozen feet across the floor.

"HARLEY QUINN!"

Her roar of anger was almost Batman in intensity, and the rage in her features was deadly as she raised a fist and crouched to pounce, fully intending to tear that outfit off of her with her bare hands and inflict as much pain in the process as possible. The look of wide-eyed terror in the blue eyes of her target, or the blood on her rapidly-swelling lip from the damage already inflicted didn't deter her, but the whip catching her fist and holding her firmly did. Turning on Selina with those blazing eyes, she actually growled in frustration, but the Catwoman only held her gaze with calm determination.

"That's enough... you've made your point. You win, there's no need to keep hurting her."

Barbara absorbed this and looked back to the still floored and cowering Quinn, who chose the moment to fix her with a kitten-eyed pleading gaze that was so comically pathetic it threatened to cut through her rage and send her into laughter instead. Controlling that urge, she simply sighed and relaxed her stance, letting the whip go slack as she stopped fighting it. Keeping her face and voice stern, though, she put steel in her voice as she made it clear she was only relenting so far.

"Fine... but I want an explanation. And I want that off of her, NOW."

Selina nodded and released her arm from the grip of the whip, and chuckled softly as Quinn at first began to scramble to strip off the offending costume, but then she shook her head in paniced denial, looking to Catwoman for help and finding only a sternly commanding gaze instead. She sighed, defeated, and continued to strip, muttering softly.

"I ain't wearing anything under this."

Barbara blinked and raised an eyebrow, and Selina continued to chuckle as Harley finished disrobing entirely, her manner meek and submissive even as she blushed bright red. She took it further still as she kept her eyes down and folded the costume and kneeled to present it to Barbara with a softly muttered apology. Even as she cursed herself for letting it get to her, Barbara found the sheepish contrition quite effective in salving her anger. Hell, she even felt sorry for the girl now and a little guilty for having hurt her in the first place. Only the knowledge that the woman was a trained psychologist adept at manipulation, and that her puppy dog eyes and crocodile tears were the time-worn tactic of a child defusing parental anger with cuteness kept her from forgiving her completely. Still, as adorably pathetic as she looked and as humble as she was acting, it was hard to stay angry at her.

Selina clearly found the whole scene quite entertaining, but her curiosity reminded her of the envelope yet unopened in her hand and she casually slit it open with a single glove-claw (yes, she liked to wear her clawed gloves and keep her whip on her even when relaxing at home) and examined the contents. Frowning, she presented the paper inside to Barbara who came over to read it.

Barbara's frown soon matched Selina's as she read the paper, which was marked mostly with "HA HA HA" in various clipped and pasted fonts and a simple hand-written "Send me pictures! --J". Harley had been set up. Of course it was infuriating, and it was also puzzling as hell, but both women knew well that it often didn't pay to try to sort out how the Joker managed even half of the crazy shit he did. Sometimes you could figure it out, but more often it seemed to have no rational explanation and you could drive yourself nuts trying to make sense of it. It tended to be easier to just roll with it and respond to the chaos like a force of nature, dealing with the consequences rather than trying to sort out the whys and hows.

While the two reacted to the paper, Harley came close to peer at it as well, curiosity overcoming her contrition. If possible, she managed to look even more adorably pathetic as she slumped and muttered "I guess the joke is on me, huh?" It was enough to make Barbara want to hug her and pet her hair and tell her everything would be all right. That unexpected urge, combined with the reminder of Harley's still stark nakedness, forced Barbara to bite her lip and freeze, cursing herself at her mixed emotions.

Selina, ever perceptive, noted this subtle set of reactions and smiled softly, speaking in a soft purr.

"If you like, she can join us for play this evening... I'll even let you domme her, in case you've still got the urge to punish her. She'd probably quite enjoy it."

Barbara blinked in shock, for a moment recoiling from the thought but again caught in mixed emotions. "That's ...! -- umm actually sort of tempting, really, but, umm, no not really a good idea. Not right now. I don't think I'm quite ready for that, maybe another time or something I don't know don't make me promise anything...."

Selina nodded with a soft smile as the normally confident redhead trailed off blushing in uncharacteristic uncertainty, and gave her a soft look of reassurance. "Enough said, my dear. Harley, wait by the door, I'll call a servant to bring you some fresh clothes and you can be on your way. Oh, and take a cup of ice from the bar for your lip, too. I'll be in touch soon."

Harley nodded with a soft, cute little sigh and did as she was told. For a moment, when it seemed Barbara might actually take her up on the offer of play, she'd brightened considerably but that had been dashed. Still, she wasn't crying anymore at least and seemed like she would be ok. Selina would just have to make sure to make it up to her another time, that was all.

As one blonde headed for the door to wait, another came in the same way, causing Selina to softly sigh in frustration at the botched timing of it all. The new arrival was whom she had been expecting in the first place when she asked Barbara to answer the door, and that whole thing had certainly not gone even remotely according to plan. In her typical way, the girl was cheerfully oblivious to the trouble she caused by her carelessness as she sauntered into the room and greeted Selina, full of energy and attitude.

"Hey Selina, sorry I'm late, did I miss much? What's Harley doing here, and how come she's nakies? Can I take pictures?"

The young woman chuckled at that comment, and moved to the minifridge at the room's bar and rummaged for something to eat without bothering to ask. One multi-pierced ear had an earbud still in it while the other dangled near her cleavage, playing some bouncy pop tune with a japanese singer, a minimal concession to being able to listen when spoken to at best, and she concentrated more on making a sandwich out of one of Selina's chilled shrimp cocktails than paying attention to much of anything else. A whirling dervish of adorable self-absorption, that was Stephanie Brown.

By contrast, Selina's other guest was transfixed on her, staring in enraptured shock. It was only after long moments that she managed to find her voice to speak her name. "Steph... Stephanie??? Is it really you?"

The bouncy blonde blinked softly, tilting her head in reply. "Hey Barb, yeah of course it's me, who else would it -- oh, yeah." She paused, suddenly looking sheepish, and sighed. "I forgot you didn't know, sorry... yeah, it's me. How's the expression go? Reports of my demise were mostly greatly exaggerated."

She gave a soft little smirk, trying to look cute, but was instead almost bowled over by a virtual tackle-hug from the redhead. "STEPHANIE! Oh god I can't believe it, you're alive... you're really here..."

The target of the pounce embrace blushed a bit under the attention, even as Barbara shed happy tears on her shoulder. "A few new scars for my trouble, but yeah, I'm still here. Thanks to Selina."

The Catwoman smiled a much warmer smile than she usually gave as she said softly. "Surprise... she was the guest I was expecting. I knew you'd be happy to see her."

Barbara nodded enthusiastically. "Damned right I am! But what happened? She was..." she trailed off with a wince and a shudder. "...she was a mess."

Stephanie answered for her. "Yeah I was... but I got better. Like you did. Took forever it seemed like, I had to work every day to heal up, but I never gave up." She paused, and then clarified. "I was so near dead it was better to send me away to heal, away from Gotham and the enemies I'd made. To be safe while I healed and rehabilitated. I couldn't defend myself like that, and I would have been a burden on anyone else trying to protect me. So, I spent a year in Japan while I got better and came back after the heat died down."

Barbara frowned. "You're not a burden Stephanie, you never were. Don't say that. What happened wasn't your fault."

The blonde shrugged and squirmed free to pace a bit as she reflected on bad memories. "Dangerous people were after me, and I was helpless... it would have put people at risk trying to protect me like that. What we did was the best way, it fooled everyone and no one looked for me again. It was hard, knowing people would be hurt... that you'd be hurt... I'm so so sorry about that... but it was the only way. People had to believe I was dead."

Barbara sighed deeply. "We did believe, and it did hurt. A lot. You're not just some foster brat anymore, you have people that love you." she paused, as someone occurred to her who loved her perhaps most of all. "Does Cassandra know you're alive?"

Steph blushed a soft sheepish smile as she flashed a promise ring she wore. "Oh yeah, she knows. And she said she'll kill me if I ever do that to her again."

Barbara chuckled softly with a warm smile. "For a girl who doesn't say much, she nailed that one. I couldn't have said it better myself."

-----

A short time later, the three were engaged in conversation over an early dinner, provided by Selina's house staff. Whatever else could be said about Selina, she had impeccable taste in the finer things in life and was generous with those she cared for. As a result, the meal and drinks were almost as good as the company. And that was saying a lot.

Eventually, during the course of dinner and conversation, the subject turned to Stephanie's recent past, much of which Barbara remained out of the loop on. In particular, her time spent as a Batgirl and how that related to the numerous other identities she had used.

"Umm, mind if I start from the beginning? It's easier to keep track of that way, especially since I don't know just how much you know and what you don't. So I'm just gonna tell you the whole thing from the start, ok?"

Selina smirked in soft amusement, and Barbara nodded and bid her to go ahead. Stephanie nodded, and began her story.

"Well obviously, I wasn't the first Robin. That was a guy named Grayson, who was a circus acrobat whose parents got killed in a mob hit and the Bat took him in. He designed the outfit when he was still a kid based on his circus costume, and by the time he was trained enough to use it he was already in his late teens and had kinda outgrown it. He didn't stick with it long, like maybe a year and then he made a grownup identity and is Nightwing now. Then a street vigilante named Todd decided to use it so he could make criminals think the Bat was nearby and be scared when they saw him. He came from the streets, basically, bad family mess like me and he wanted to clean up his neighborhood, take revenge on the scum who'd made his growing up hell, and steal himself a nice fortune to set up himself and his mom with by 'confiscating' drug money from the scum he took down. Batman refused to work with him, but the scum didn't know that and so it almost worked. Then he caught the other edge of that sword when the Joker got him. Not pretty. He came back tho, Talia al Ghul decided that the Bat would feel less guilty about the kid getting killed if she tossed his corpse into a Lazarus Pit... now he's back to his old ways but bloodier as the Red Hood. But I think I'm wandering off topic."

Selina only smirked more deeply at the adorable teenaged rambling, and Barbara chuckled softly and bid her continue.

"Anyhow, the whole guilt over Todd thing is important cuz that's how I got my in. At the time, I'd taken my foster brother Hobie's old identity as the Prowler, but I wanted more cred --basically the same scheme as Todd tried. I did my research, found out the whole story with him --minus real names at the time, of course-- and suited up as Robin. Batman tried to shut me down, and when I said I wouldn't stop he said he wouldn't work with me, and I asked him how well that worked for him last time? A morgue pic of Todd in the outfit... well I kinda feel guilty now cuz I basically blackmailed him, but it worked. I was the third and to this day final Robin. I met Cass, and you, and Huntress and the others, and I loved every minute of it. Then I ended up like Todd. Again, not pretty. But you know that part."

Barbara winced at not only the reminder of Stephanie's gruesome near-death but also the harsh emotional blackmail she'd used against Bruce, but it was water under the bridge now and it had led to better things. So she nodded and told her to go on.

"After I healed up and came back, I took up the Prowler identity again for a little while, reunited with Cass, and started putting some of the training I'd got in my rehab to good use. Clearly it made a difference, cuz it caught me the eye of the new Batwoman who made me her partner as the new Batgirl. It felt damned good to be selected, to feel like I'd earned my slot you know? Like I'd made it."

Barbara smiled... the girl had indeed come a long way. "What's she like? I don't know a whole lot about her."

Stephanie smiled. "You'd like her... she's a lesbian, dated a cop for a long time and decided to take up the Bat to help make a difference. She based the identity on you, actually, the red hair in particular which is a wig... the whole idea was to make people think she was you in a more grown up identity. A shortcut to street cred, it's important when rep makes such a difference in how criminals react to you."

Barbara nodded. "That makes sense... what happened?"

Stephanie looked down, blushed, and struggled for words for a moment. "We had a... umm... amicable but irreconcilable personal falling out. I guess that's the best way to put it. I almost made a third go of the whole Prowler thing, but then I hooked up with Selina who made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I'm her Catgirl now and I couldn't be happier."

Barbara smiled warmly, and got up from her seat to move to Stephanie, giving her a gentle hug and a soft kiss on the cheek. "Then I couldn't be happier for you. Or prouder of what you've accomplished."

This time it was Stephanie's turn to give a fierce hug and shed happy tears at those welcome words.

-----

About an hour later, dinner was finished and the trio had moved to lounge on the couches in the den area to continue their conversation over drinks. The conversation had been light and pleasant, filled with catching up on news and reminiscing old times, until Selina dropped a bomb on them that left the room in stunned silence.

"Stephanie, why don't you tell Barbara why you stopped working with the Batwoman?"

The blonde looked down, stumbling for words as she blushed redder than the wine in her glass, while Barbara frowned as she came to her defense. Selina merely smirked softly and pressed the issue.

"Oh my dear, don't you trust me? You'll want to hear this I assure you. Go on, Stephanie. She won't bite... but I might."

Barbara's frown deepened to almost a scowl, but she fell silent in deference to Selina's word on the subject. How far that would extend would depend on just how badly Stephanie continued to react, and how bad it seemed what she had to say would be. Barbara did trust Selina... to an extent. But there was no question of whom she'd side with if it came down to Selina or Stephanie.

Selina only smiled and held her eyes with that almost patented Catwoman look of delicious smile and diamond hard eyes, taking up the challenge in Barbara's defiant glare. They were interrupted from this silent dominance challenge by Stephanie finally finding her voice.

"Umm, remember what I said about Batwoman modeling her look after you? Well it umm... got to me. I ended up making a pass at her cuz of my crush on you and it backfired. She was sweet about shooting me down and all, but she said we couldn't work together anymore until I got over it."

Barbara blinked in shock and locked wide eyes on Stephanie. "Over... me? I never knew you were 'under' me."

Selina chuckled almost silently at the joke, but Stephanie only blushed deeper still and locked her eyes on the floor. "I always wanted to be but I never got the chance."

Barbara blushed as well and fell silent at the decidedly sexual implication of the way Stephanie had twisted her joke around to riposte it back to her... her mind was reeling with it when Selina's soft purr of a voice interrupted and deftly took control of the situation.

"So now you know... she might never have found the courage to tell you had I not forced the issue, but now... you're here, and it's all in the open... and tonight, if you choose, you can make her dream come true."

Barbara's jaw softly dropped at that. She meant it. And from the look in the blonde's crystal blues, she wanted it. Wanted her. She couldn't deny a responsive sexual thrill of her own in answer to the desire in the eyes of Stephanie Brown.

Still, she was unsure. "What about Cassandra? Aren't you two...?"

Stephanie nodded. "Yes, and I love her with all my heart, but she knows I umm, play. She knows that nothing could take my heart from her. She knows I play with Selina, and whoever else the only rule is I never lie to her or hide anything. And she has veto power."

Barbara blushed a little deeper at that, and looked down as she processed it all. The bases would all seem to be covered, this could really happen... still, her mind tossed up objections where her heart and lower center had already decided.

"And would she veto us?"

Stephanie almost laughed out loud at that. "She loves you almost as much as I do, just not quite as sexually. She doesn't really allow herself those sorts of fantasies, but if I asked her to join us right now and be yours along with me she'd do it."

Barbara was completely stunned, while Selina's feline smirk could rival the Cheshire Cat himself. "I... don't know what to say." was all Barbara managed to get out.

Stephanie bit her lip, and found her courage as she rose to move to Barbara, sitting in her lap straddling her hips facing forward, putting arms around her. "Say yes."

The gentle but insistent kiss pressed to her lips was more than Barbara could resist, as any more objections her mind might raise were firmly and decisively overruled.

-----

Part of Barbara still couldn't believe she was going through with it, even as she and Stephanie stripped one another down in the midst of nervously awkward but nonetheless intense making out, all under the appreciatively watchful eye of Selina the Catwoman. Still, despite any reservations she might have it was hard to argue the fact that they were past the point of no return. And so, as she laid the smaller and younger blonde down on the couch and met her with a much less hesitant and much more fiery kiss, she steeled her courage around her decision and took things to the next level. As she began to kiss down Stephanie's body, first down her neckline and then to her chest, she sealed with her actions the resolve that there would indeed be no turning back.

Allowing her instincts and desire wash away her reservations, she flowed into her task as she indulged herself in the swell the young woman's chest, eliciting pleasure and growing desire from her as well as stoking her own flame. Soon enough but not too soon, she began to kiss down farther still, seeking the blonde-framed feminine center that would make their joining complete, but she was stopped by a sight she should have expected but still managed to shock her into sudden stillness.

As she stared, she brought her hand up to tentatively, gingerly touch at it as she examined it in horrified awe. The scar was huge, some six inches across at it's widest point, with a vicious swirl pattern like a hurricane that indicated where the massive drill bit had pierced her and brutally caught skin and tore it free as it spun it's impaling way through her body. The mottled skin of the scar with it's mix of reddened and pale coloration and unique texture was a visceral reminder of the mortal trauma that had been wrought on her body and brought her so near death, and it caused a deep shudder to icily lance through Barbara's own body at the gory memories of the near-dead girl's motionless body on the medical slab and the very believable pronouncement that she had indeed died. It also brought to vivid recall her own experience with bloody near death, pierced with a bullet and just as eviscerated, with her own just as brutal scar in a location not that different. Two out of three Batgirls, traumatized by similar horrific injuries... it made her fear for the third.

Barbara's state of horrified rapture wasn't lost on Stephanie, but it was Selina who spoke first.

"Our scars are stories, written in our skin. They tell tales indelibly inscribed, and to deny them is to deny our past. To deny our past is to deny ourselves."

"..."

The pair were speechless for long moments after that, absorbing the profound words, but it was Stephanie who in her typical distractibility broke it first, having noticed the brutal scar on Barbara's back where the bullet had exited, an almost starburst pattern of scar tissue, softer and paler than her own with the passage of time but no less a vivid reminder of past blood and pain.

"Worse in back than front... it's like a mirror image of mine." she idly spoke as she examined it with eyes and fingertips.

Barbara nodded. "It was a jacketed round, meant more for hard targets, but still any bullet is going to leave a larger exit wound than entry. That's basic ballistics. If he'd used a hollowpoint... well I wouldn't be here. It would have pretty much blown me straight in half." As Stephanie winced and absorbed this, Barb paused as a fact clicked in her own mind about Stephanie's injury. "Worse in front... that means there's an exit wound too? He punched all the way through?"

Stephanie nodded. "Yeah... it's what saved me actually. He was using a heavy construction drill, and it thunked into something hard behind me and got stuck. The bit couldn't spin anymore so the drill started spinning instead, and it ripped itself right out of his hands. If he hadn't been stopped, he'd have probably kept grinding away at me until I was hamburger." She paused, wincing a bit as Barbara did the same, but then shrugged it off and continued. "Best part was, one of the handles caught him right on the side of the head, threw him like five or ten feet. It was epic! Last thing I saw, before I blacked out, but it was nice... I went out with a smile."

Barbara gave a soft, sad smile at the bright spot in the otherwise horrific situation, and Selina smiled and took that moment to derail them from their tangent and get them back on the sexual track they'd been on. "That's right, it was bad but it ended well. Now he's dead and she's alive... we're alive, despite any odds and near misses to the contrary. That's why we enjoy what we can, when we can, we never know what we face tomorrow."

Selina's meaning wasn't lost on Barbara, and she nodded and kissed Stephanie firmly on that scar, as if she could somehow kiss it better, and then resumed her path to the blonde-trimmed triangle of the teenaged woman's feminine center, already moist and flushed in anticipation. Barbara smiled and paused for long moments, drinking it in with her eyes and nose as her fingertips gently spread the lips and she leaned forward to examine it closer still.

Stephanie, however, took the pause the wrong way and stiffened in sudden self-consciousness, muttering "Umm? Am I, you know, ok?"

She was already blushing, and she eeped in soft terror when Barbara shook her head and said no. Fumbling in near panic, she almost missed the clarification, as the redhead smiled and mmed and said "Ok doesn't cover it... more like wonderful." She couldn't possibly miss it, however, when Barbara proved her words with a deep kiss to those slick lower lips, pushing her tongue deep into her center and setting her world ablaze with pleasure. As she let her head fall back and a gasp fell from her lips, followed by a deeply impassioned moan, there was only one thing that could possibly make it any better.

And so it seemed almost that Selina had read her mind when she came and gently urged Barbara to change positions, rearranging them into the classic 69 position and bringing the redhead's intoxicatingly alluring womanhood to eager, questing lips and tongue.

"Much better..." Selina purred softly as she settled back to watch them for a while before joining.

Stephanie couldn't agree more.

-----

PART II: SAN FRANCISCO

Tigra couldn't believe the coincidence. A normal night, in a normal neighborhood, walking in her normal identity as Marie Grant-Nelson, in normal human form. She wasn't on patrol, there wasn't anything in particular going on, no reason to expect trouble.

And yet her sensitive hearing picked up the telltale wail of a burglar alarm, nearby no less. Maybe some of Felicia's bizarre luck was rubbing off on her, because it was hard enough to be in the right place at the right time to stop a crime in progress even with all the resources and expertise at her disposal. To just stumble into one was almost insanely unlikely. It was the kind of thing that only happened in comic books.

And yet, as she moved closer there was no denying what she heard. And as she moved within sighting distance of the source of that sound, she was able to confirm that the unlikely had indeed occurred. There was in fact a crime in progress, with no police on the scene and no sound of sirens to indicate any were nearby and incoming. It was up to her to put a stop to it.

And so, regretting the necessity of killing her buzz and bringing her enjoyment of the evening to an early end, she stopped quickly to change forms before moving in. As the magical transformation exchanged her human form for the power of the tigress, and her civilian garb for tawny striped fur and barely-there heroic costume, she drew the Sword and tucked it blade backwards against her side as she crouched low to stalk into the scene undetected. The enemy would never know what was coming.

Ducking behind a nearby parked car, and then dashing to the wall nearest the entrance, she peeked inside. She couldn't see the perp or perps yet, but they couldn't see her either. So far, so good. What she could see inside the smallish convenience store was the clerk, hands in the air and a bag with cash next to the open register, shaking her head and emphatically denying something Tigra's ears couldn't make out over the piercing wail of the alarm. Probably trying to explain that she couldn't open the safe. That marked it pretty good timing for Tigra to make her move, before the badguys could either bolt with what they had or attack the clerk trying to get more. So far, so good.

Crouching low to flex her powerful feline leg muscles, she did what tiggers do best, pouncing through the smashed-open window in a graceful arc, rolling into an offensive crouch with the Sword pointed at the place the perp or perps would surely be.

"FREEZE!"

And to punctuate her point, she summoned the power of the Eye to flow through the Sword, activating it and spurring it to grow from it's compact dagger form to full broadsword length with an impressive crackle of lightning along it's shining razor sharp length. If the would-be robber had any sense at all, they'd drop any weapons they had and surrender on the spot.

She should have known it wouldn't be that easy.

-----

The girl in the costume, robbing the convenience store --perhaps it would be appropriate to call her Catra despite that she hadn't settled fully on the name-- couldn't believe the coincidence and the bad luck it spoke of. A superhero, here and now, on her first (and hopefully only) robbery attempt? The odds were ridiculous. She might as well buy a lottery ticket and a lightning rod. And yet here the woman was, looking like a furvert's wet dream more than anything, but the claws and that sword looked plenty sharp enough to make her no joke. There was no way she was going to take chances or push her already bad luck any further by trying to fight. No way in hell.

Fortunately, she had just what she needed for the situation. Subtly palming a handful of marble-sized items from a dispenser on her belt, on the side of her turned away from and thus out of sight of the feline superheroine, she tossed them just as the clerk shouted a too-late warning. As the bomblets burst in bright flashes of light and plumes of stinging, acrid smoke laced with irritant chemicals, Catra moved. Grabbing the bag of cash from the counter, she dashed for the rear doors and the emergency exits there, looking for a quick escape. With luck, she'd be long gone before the tiger woman could pursue.

She should have expected that luck would continue to be anything but on her side.

-----

Tigra growled and cursed as her lungs and nose rebelled against the burning smoke even as her eyes reacted to that as well as the blinding flashes. For long moments, all she had to rely on were her ears and her instincts to ward against attack, and the former were still filled with the high-pitched alarm siren which had drawn her to the scene in the first place. She felt suddenly like a bloody amateur, caught off guard in her overconfidence by a foe who wasn't quite the ordinary gunman she was expecting. She winced inside as she braced for an attack, but one never came. Instead, she was surprised by shouts of anger and frustration coming from what sounded like a back storeroom, muffled by the intervening wall.

"Where the fuck is the back door?!"

A female voice, almost certainly the costumed criminal performing the robbery. She'd chosen to escape instead of attack, a stroke of luck for which Tigra was thankful.

"Umm, it's behind some boxes, the bolt is rusted shut so we just stack stuff wherever."

That would have to be the clerk, announcing another stroke of luck for Tigra and a bad break for the villainess. There was no way out for her that way, and Tigra stood between her and the front entrance and freedom. As the wind through the broken front glass cleared the air and Tigra's superhuman healing took care of the swelling in her eyes and nose and lungs, clearing her senses, Tigra stood ready to fight. She wouldn't be caught off balance a second time.

After a bit more furious cursing, her quarry fell silent and Tigra stretched her senses to locate her and be wary for attack. A loud crash and blur of movement erupted from the doorway, but Tigra's stun bolt from the Sword only struck the box that had been thrown, while the quick blur in the corner of her vision revealed that the girl had gone low and dived for the safety of the shelf-lined aisles. She was using them as cover now, stalking in near silence and seeking either escape or an opening to attack. Tigra stood crouched at the ready, prepared for either. This girl was good, but not that good. Tigra wasn't about to let her past.

A bright flare caught Tigra's eye, red and intense, and the feline warrior hero quickly scanned in the opposite direction, alert for another diversion. To Tigra's surprise, the girl was cleverer than expected and had set off the flares from very near her own location, and it was from that direction the pounce came. The Sword went skittering across the floor as the pair tumbled together, gleaming metal claws slicing the air deadly close to furred skin as Tigra only barely squirmed to avoid them as they rolled in combat. It was almost the end of her.

Almost, however, was not going to be good enough, not against the Tigra. Superior training and experience, combined with vastly more physical strength and ability made short work of the brief tussle, Tigra ending up on top in short order with her enemy pinned securely beneath her and claws at her throat while the girl's claws were safely restrained. It was over in seconds, and the tigress was the decisive victor.

Another flash took her completely by surprise, and as she summoned the Sword to her hand and prepared to fire on this new enemy, she managed to stay her hand just in time. To her annoyance, it was the clerk, who had pulled out her cell phone camera and was snapping pictures.

"Kinky... oh this is SO going on the web..."

Tigra only groaned and almost regretted not having stunned her when she had the chance.

Still, she had other things to concern herself with, such as completing the arrest at hand. Looking back down at the captive pinned beneath her, she was shocked by what she saw.

To start, she wasn't struggling anymore, and the look of fierce defiance in her eyes had been replaced by actual tears and a pleading, pathetic gaze. The change in demeanor was startling, and Tigra paused to get a good long look at her even as she began to beg.

"Look, please, I'm sorry I'll never do it again I swear oh god I can't go to jail my sister will totally kill me cut me a break just this once you'll never see me again I swear I swear I swear..."

Tigra frowned. On closer inspection, the woman couldn't have been older than college age, probably younger and maybe even a well developed high schooler. She was surprisingly cute behind her cat mask, and her voice was filled with genuine fear and contrition. Tigra's empathic sense could tell truth from lies and sincerity from a false front, and this girl meant every word. She was near panic, and really was more akin to a teen caught in trouble than a hardened criminal. She really was scared, and she really was trying to beg for mercy. Part of her was tempted to give it to her.

Hearing the sirens of approaching police, Tigra realized she didn't have much time to deliberate, and so she followed her gut and made a quick decision. Hauling the girl to her feet, keeping her slender wrists firmly grasped in one of her strong clawed hands, she pulled her Avengers ID with the other and flashed it to the clerk.

"I'm taking this villainess into Avengers custody, by authority of the Superhuman Affairs Act. Tell the police when they arrive."

The clerk responded by snapping another picture, this one of the girl in tow and Tigra flashing her badge, and that was all the confirmation Tigra needed. Pocketing the badge and cuffing the girl with a durable beta fiber zip-tie, she pulled her outside and then into a firm hold as she leapt with her to the roof. From there, a few more hops onto increasingly taller structures brought her into good position to call for an airlift. After summoning it, she locked eyes on her captive as they waited for the aircraft that would pick them up.

"You want a second chance? Fine, come with me. Tell me your story, and if it's good enough I might actually let you go. But you'd better mean it about keeping clean. I won't be so nice a second time."

The girl nodded enthusiastically. "You won't regret this, I promise."

Again, Tigra's empathic sense told her the girl was telling the truth.

-----

An hour later, the girl had finished the meal Tigra had provided for her at base, and sat unbound and unmasked before her. Tigra didn't need her empathic sense to know the girl wouldn't try anything now, but nonetheless it told her exactly that. As Tigra repeated her earlier request for her story, the young woman sighed and drained her drink, asking for another before steeling her resolve and beginning her tale.

"My name is Adrienne Montoya, and I--"

She was interrupted by Tigra, who couldn't help but joke. "I didn't kill your father, nope not me, only five fingers see? I'm innocent I swear."

Her feline smirk was anything but innocent, but Adrienne just rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Oh like I haven't heard that joke enough times already. You gonna let me tell my story or not?"

Tigra only muttered a half apology in response and bid her continue.

"Like I said, my name is Adrienne Montoya, and my sister Renee is a cop in Gotham City, New Jersey. She pretty much raised me, and there were two things I always wanted to be because of her, a cop and a superhero. I don't know how much you know about Gotham, but it's kinda locally infamous for a pretty colorful cast of freaks and weirdos and psychos, a few of which are actually good guys. We don't have the heavy hitters like New York does, but we're pretty well populated with costumed types."

Tigra nodded, and smiled as her senses confirmed this was truth. So far so good.

"Well I was never the type to sit quiet and do my homework, hell I was so bored in most of my classes I barely could make myself show up. On the other hand, I was a good cop's cute little sister, so I was able to get all sorts of training just by either begging cutely or claiming it would keep me safe on the dangerous streets. I learned self defense, security stuffs, lockpicking, hell pretty much anything you can think of short of guns. I was on the gymnastics team at school, too. But that's not the best part."

Tigra smiled and tilted her head in curiosity. Thusfar she was quite intrigued and more than a little impressed. Taking a chance on her was proving to be a good idea.

"I'm not gonna lie, I was a little troublemaker a lot of the time. I always had way too much energy and too wide a mischievous streak for my own good. When I got bored, I tended to get in trouble, and I got bored a lot. I never really hurt people, I'm not the type, but I did do the kind of petty pranks and thefts and stuff teenagers tend to do when they have too much time on their hands. I got into my fair share of fights, too. I suppose it was good experience? Anyhow... one thing I did was the coolest thing I ever pulled off. I managed to swipe a copy of the key to the evidence locker at my sister's precinct. And let me tell you, it was like the fucking motherlode."

Tigra only chuckled... she could empathize with the girl, and it was clear she wasn't a bad person but she definitely needed a direction and some guidance. Tigra knew she could provide exactly that.

"There were gadgets and paraphrenalia of every sort from the various villains that had been cycled through to Arkham from lockup, and a few things recovered from the scenes of incidents that had been left behind by heroes too. Among other things, I found a partially depleted utility belt from one of the Batgirls, a working Batarang, some of the Joker's prank stuff... and best of all, an almost complete Catwoman outfit. One of her older ones, not the high tech gear she's rocking now, but for me? Holy shit it was the greatest thing ever. I had to have it. And it was just collecting dust in a box, no one would miss it. So over time I was able to put together a quite nice little collection of goodies to make myself a costume out of. I was gonna be Gotham's newest sensation. Or at least I'd have something to do on Friday and Saturday nights."

Tigra grinned. She was liking where this was going more and more. "Tell me about the gear, darlin'?"

Her hunch had been right that was a good question to ask, as the girl's eyes lit up with geekish passion about the equipment. It was a look Tigra knew well and marked her as a good prospect for what she had in mind.

"The base layer's a bodysuit, I wear a flesh colored leotard over it cuz purple isn't my color but it's awesome. It's flexible as hell, thermally insulating, and it's cut and puncture resistant even up to small arms fire even though it's thin and stretchy like spandex. Seriously good stuff. On top of that are a mask with low light enhancement, gloves with pop-out metal claws that cut way better than you'd think, maybe they're vibroblades or something? I dunno but they rock. The corset is extra armor and it locks on so if I ever get kayoed nobody can get to my girly bits while I'm unconscious --that's a plus for sure. And the boots... I don't know if it's springs or an artificial muscle weave or what but they magnify the force you put into them, both in jumps and in kicks and even running is better in them. Even the heels collapse when you put full weight on them, so you can pose sexy or fight flat footed. It's pretty cool."

Tigra nodded and smiled. "It sounds cool. So what happened? What took you from Gotham hero to robbing a store in San Francisco?"

Adrienne sighed as the excited light in her eyes faded with the change to a less pleasant topic. "My sister and I got in a fight. Well, more like a final blowup in a series of them. She wanted me to go to college, settle down and be normal, forget police work and oh but fuck no on ever doing the costume hero thing. I just couldn't do that. I'm not quiet normal girl material. So... I ran away, you could say. I'm too old to be a runaway technically, but yeah it was basically the same thing. I packed up my shit in a duffel bag and I left. I did some hitchhiking and some stowing away on buses and trains, and made it across country to here, because I wanted to set up in San Francisco. I mean shit, where else would you wanna go as a gay teenager looking to start a new life? I spent my twentieth birthday in the Castro district and it was all the proof I needed that I'd made the right call."

Tigra grinned softly at that... the girl was definitely going to fit in here juuust fine. Still, her story wasn't quite finished. "Go on?"

Adrienne sighed again, and nodded. "I ran out of money. Frisco is more expensive than Gotham by more than I ever imagined, and getting on my feet proved pretty hard. I didn't have a job history or any real marketable skills to fall back on in normalsville, and I can't join the police academy until 21. And so... I got desperate. I figured the take from a small robbery would get me through until I could find some sort of shit job, something to keep me going. Maybe even until I could start a bit of heroing and umm you know confiscate some drug money or something, maybe shake down a pimp, I dunno. But I just didn't know the streets here well enough, you gotta do a lot of legwork to know where to be when shit goes down, or else you'll just sit on rooftops forever waiting for something to happen and you'll miss it all."

Tigra nodded agreement to that and sympathy for her position, and Adrienne shook her head sadly as she finished. "So, I modified my costume to look like an old cartoon villain, and planned my first job. Which I hoped would be my last. Then... well you know the rest. I guess it really was my last. And now I'm here."

Tigra nodded. "And now you're here." a pause, and a feline smile. "What would you think about staying here?"

Adrienne blinked, wide-eyed, but then narrowed them as she realized that could be taken more than one way. Tigra just chuckled softly and smiled reassuringly.

"No, not in the holding cells don't worry. I was thinking more as a live-in trainee."

The young woman gasped and stared, not sure she could believe what she was hearing, and Tigra continued.

"I'm an Avenger, and I hold an Initiative license besides. I can get you into a program that will qualify you as a reserve Avenger in training, and when you're done you can join my team or one of the Avengers squads, or get a license to go solo. Or, you could use those qualifications and my recommendation to get into the SFPD on an accelerated academy program. Hell you could do both for that matter, if you really wanted to never sleep or have free time again."

Tigra chuckled softly at that, but Adrienne was staring in open shock. "You... you mean it? I could really do that?"

The feline Avenger nodded. "I mean it. I'd expect you to work hard and stay out of trouble, but I meant it when I said I could give you a second chance. You want it, you're in. I'll sign you up this week, and you can room and board here until it starts. So, are you in?"

Adrienne blinked again, absorbing this, then locked excited eyes on Tigra's feline golden blues. "Are you kidding? Hell yeah I am! I could totally fucking kiss you...!"

The attractive young woman blinked and blushed at that, realizing she'd blurted out something potentially awkward, but Tigra merely gave a soft, almost predatory feline smile and stalked to her, lifting her chin and regaining eye lock, tail lashing behind her as she delivered the verbal pounce de grace.

"So what's stopping you?"

-----

A short time later, that kiss was still continuing as Tigra carried her to her room and laid her gently on the bed. There was no question in her mind that Adrienne wanted this as much as Tigra did, her scent and empathic vibes confirmed that much. Continuing the kissing and caressing, she gently stripped her down and purred for her as the enticing scent of her arousal was freed to perfume the air around them. Leaning back, she smiled and removed her own outfit, such as it was, and paused a long moment to allow her new partner to admire her in her naked glory. As she slid back into bed to resume their passion, she was interrupted by a question.

"Umm, you're gonna stay like that?"

Tigra blinked. "Like what?"

Adrienne blushed. "Umm, you know, all furry and stuff."

Another blink of tiger's eyes. "Well I was planning to, I usually do, why? Is it a problem?"

Adrienne blinked this time, adding to her blushing nervousness. "I umm dunno it's not weird? I umm oh hell I'm sorry..."

She looked down, realizing she'd probably just insulted her, and Tigra softly sighed and turned her chin back up to look in her eyes again.

"Darlin'... this is the real me. If you insist, I can take my human form for you, but... honestly, are you attracted to me or not? If the answer is no, then it might be best we don't do this."

Adrienne shook her head, quick to deny that. "I am, honest I am and I do want this. Want you. I just... hell I don't know. I guess I got worried I'd be a furvert or something, but fuck it. Fuck me."

Tigra smiled. "You mean it? Fur and stripes and all?"

Adrienne nodded with a bit of a smirk. "Shut up and put your tongue in me."

-----

Not too long later, Tigra was doing exactly that and not just meaning deep tongue kissing, either, unless you counted the other set of lips below. She was taking it slow and gentle thusfar, not overwhelming Adrienne just yet, but even in low gear it was heavenly. The same could be said for the tiger woman's intimate scent so close to her face, as the tigress was mounted above her in the classic 69 position straddled directly over her face. It smelled good, it looked good, there was no doubt it would taste good. Still, Adrienne hesitated. This was the final line to cross. If she put her tongue in the pussy of a furry animal woman, she'd be a furvert then for sure.

Still, it smelled so good... and the fur against her skin felt warm and soft and nice... and the woman was in the process of licking her out in most delightful ways...

Fuckit, she thought as she took the plunge and buried her face into deliciously scented moist folds and her tongue deep into the center of hot clenching woman wet. If she was a furvert now, so damned be it.

In a choice between being a furvert and being a complete idiot who couldn't or wouldn't indulge in a clearly good thing when it was right before her face, she'd pick furvert every single time.

-----

PART III: EARTH AND MOON

"What do you mean Ryoko's not here? This is her ship isn't it? Who the hell are you anyhow, and why are you here when the captain isn't? I expect a good explanation."

Felicia sighed. Of all the luck, to be on monitor duty when an unexpected visitor from interstellar space should show up looking for Ryoko, who wasn't there and really couldn't be located. Given the look, stance, and demeanor of the woman making demands, she was suspicious and borderline hostile. Playing her cards wrong could easily land Felicia in a fight with no telling how powerful a foe. The clawed hand on the hilt of her weapon proved just how precarious a situation it was.

Then again, it could be worse. For one, the other was a powerfully attractive catwoman, tall and dark haired and exquisitely built, and she was threatening but not attacking, indicating that she was at least willing to listen. Felicia had charmed her way out of worse situations than this before, and perhaps she could even charm her way into this tall dark catwoman. Maybe luck was on her side after all, as it so often was. After all, she was the Black Cat. Luck was one of her specialties.

So, she put a soothing purr beneath her voice as she raised her hands in the universal "I don't want trouble" gesture and began the requested explanation.

"My name is Felicia, fighting name the Black Cat, and you could say I'm a member of Ryoko's new crew here on this planet. I honestly don't know where she is right now, she's off on a private excursion with one of the others and they didn't tell me where they were going. It's my shift for monitor duty right now, so it's on me to meet and greet you if you're not hostile, and sound the alarm if you are. There are no less than a dozen of us in quick distance, so how about we play nice? You're clearly a friend of Ryoko's, and that puts us on the same side."

The larger catwoman frowned, still skeptical it seemed, but at least the hand came off her weapon and she relaxed her stance a bit. So far, so good.

Felicia gave a dazzling smile as she completed the verbal pounce. "So how about we go to the lounge, have a few drinks and something to eat, and we can exchange stories?"

The catwoman nodded, but gave a stern frown. "All right, but no tricks. I'd hate to have to separate your pretty head from that body of yours, but I will if I have to."

Felicia softly chuckled as she agreed. The compliment, however backhanded, weighed more heavily in her mind than the idle threat, proving that so far was indeed so good.

-----

The as yet unidentified beautiful catwoman just sighed, blinking in disbelief as Felicia completed her side of the story. "So she's stuck here? On this backwater planet? That must be a nightmare! -- umm, no offense."

Felicia merely chuckled and shrugged it off. "I know we're primitive compared to out there. I'm not a sci-fi geek, but I've seen enough to get the idea of what space life is like. We're so very much not there."

The woman sighed, going deep into thought before Felicia gently touched her hand. "You promised me your story? I don't even know your name yet."

The catwoman blinked at the contact, locking eyes on Felicia for long moments, and then looked off and her eyes unfocused as she delved into memory.

"Well my true name isn't pronounceable by humans, but if you're feline enough you might be able to. You definitely can't pronounce the Shi'Ar translation. The fighting name I went by translates into your language as "Battle Cat", but I'm not sure what you could do with that."

Felicia nodded, and brainstormed for long moments. "Battle Cat... Bee-Cee... what about Becca?"

The catwoman from space raised an eyebrow, mulling it over. "I take it that's a local name?"

Felicia smiled warmly. "It is, and a pretty one at that. It would fit you nicely."

The newly renamed Becca absorbed it, and nodded. "I suppose it works. Becca it is, then."

Felicia nodded and smiled, and gently spurred her on. "Tell me how you know Ryoko?"

Becca paused for long moments, reminded that she was telling her story and figuring out where and how to begin. "Well, she and I were rebels against the Shi'Ar Star Empire, well I was a rebel and Ryoko always more a pirate, but we shared a common enemy that was for sure. She was merciless on them, and hooking up with her was the best thing our rebel group ever did. Do you know who the Shi'Ar are?"

Felicia shrugged. "Vaguely? We've got a woman here from that part of space, on our sister team, but I can't say I know more than just having heard the name."

Becca nodded, and her eyes grew dark at the recall of a decidedly unpleasant set of memories. "Well they're not nice people, that's for damned sure. They'd occupied our planet since before I was born, and they were brutal on us. They wanted resources and strategic basing, and we wanted them the hell off our planet. We were rather primitive when they came, kinda like you are now, only just starting to reach spaceflight technology. We didn't stand a chance in open war, but we could fight and we made them pay in blood for what they stole from us. Of course, the worse we made it on them the worse the reprisals, and slave labor and collective punishments were part of the response to our rebellion. But we never gave up. When most of our men were killed or enslaved, thinking that would pacify us, our women took up the fight. When they began destroying our cities, we hid in caves and fled off planet to continue the fight. We know we can't win, and eventually the last of us will die fighting, but we won't go gentle to the grave. They'll know we gave them hell and they should have left us alone."

Felicia softly shuddered in empathy for the pain in those words, and the memories it flowed from reflected in those feline eyes. She found herself instinctively reaching out to give the woman a supportive hug, and meeped in surprise when she was pulled into the larger catwoman's lap with strong arms wrapped around her.

"You might as well settle in, the rest of the story doesn't get any happier."

Felicia nodded and got comfortable, purring soothingly as she nuzzled in to listen. She could certainly get used to this.

"Like I said, Ryoko and I were rebels, space pirates, whatever you want to call it. We had a ragtag little rebel fleet and spent our time making Shi'Ar life hell, and it was good for a while. But when she disappeared... things fell apart. We needed her, she was our wild card that was so much more than conventional forces. She was our edge, our difference maker. Without her, we went from 'living on the edge' to 'we're fucked' in no time flat."

She sighed, and delved into what was clearly the worst part. "I was the first to be targeted. I fell into a trap, and my ship was destroyed and nearly me with it. I lost a lot of good people that day... I would have died with them if my crew hadn't insisted, basically picked me up and threw me into the escape pod... but I lived to fight another day. Problem was, nobody knew it. Including my mate, a pirate captain who'd thrown in his forces with ours mainly because he was chasing my tail at the time. He... went berserk. Threw everything into a one-way, blaze of glory assault on the sector command base and the bastard who'd been our nemesis from the start. And... gods bless his blasted soul, he did it. He used every one time emergency trick we had to confuse and disable the enemy defenses, and rammed a flagship loaded to the bulkheads with mines right into that one-eyed birdshit's face. Took him screaming to hell with him. Avenged me, avenged my crew, destroyed an entire starbase, killed everyone in command of the sector and our planetary occupation... we won it all, and lost it all, in one day. It only cost us everything."

Felicia sighed gently in sympathy, and stroked her hair. "And now...?"

The rebel star captain they'd renamed Becca just sighed and shrugged. "I don't bloody know. Finding Ryoko was all I had left. Only direction I could think of. I managed to steal a rich bird's star yacht and set out on the trail... and it led me here. Without anything to live for or die for, and not a damned clue what to do next."

Felicia nodded softly, and locked diamond crystal blues onto the deeper sapphire blues of the alien catwoman. "Why not me, then?"

Becca blinked. "What...???"

Felicia only smiled that seductive feline smile. "You don't know what to do, so why not do me? It could make you feel better. In fact, I guarantee it."

The feline warrior woman only growled, pushing Felicia off her lap as she stood. "I don't want your stardamned sympathy fuck. I still have my pride."

Felicia merely shook her head, her gentle sigh still laced with that purr. "Are you kidding? Yeah my heart went out to you for your story, but I've been wet for you since you first showed up. Or did you fail to notice?"

Becca blinked, reflexively sniffing the air in response to the suggestion in the words, and blushed deeply as her conscious mind registered the pheremones her body and instincts already knew of. When she finally spoke, her voice was husky and laden with a heavy purr.

"All right then. What the hell. I've certainly done worse." she paused, and looked over the platinum-haired feline stunner as if with fresh eyes. "A hell of a lot worse."

-----

Nearly a quarter of a million miles away, a certain much-discussed former space pirate was spending some time away from her newly-adopted world with another starlost traveler amidst the ruins of an ancient city constructed and abandoned by a powerful star empire before humankind's first civilizations. The other woman's name was Talia, the Starlion, and Ryoko leaed back into her embrace as she looked on the image of Earth so close and yet so far. Sighing, she gave voice to her thoughts.

"Planets look so tiny from a decent distance away... how do you get used to being stranded on one? It's driving me stir crazy."

Talia softly purred for her as she massaged her shoulders. "You do get used to it... mostly. I get starsick too sometimes, but having a home and people to belong with grows on you too."

She shrugged, and continued. "Still, it's nice to get away. This has been a favorite thinking spot of mine for umm, well since before I was myself again. It isn't a starship in deep space, but it is a connection to interstellar culture. It tends to make me feel better, and that's why I shared it with you."

Ryoko managed a soft, wistful smile and returned the purr. "I appreciate that... and it does help, at least some. I'll survive... I'm good at that."

Talia nibbled on the delicate juncture of Ryoko's neck and shoulder, stimulating the sensitive erogenous nerves there, and whispered seductively. "It's not the only thing you're good at."

Ryoko feigned shock as she twisted in the larger feline alien's arms to lock eyes with her, gold on gold. "You're coming on to me, here? Among the ancient dead? These buildings might as well be gravestones."

Talia nodded, not deterred in the least. "X'Hal yes I am... and I don't think they'd mind. They've been dead a very long time, I think they'd welcome the reminder of what it means to live."

Ryoko chuckled softly. "Alright then, but if we end up haunted over it I'm blaming you."

Talia softly grinned. "Don't worry, if we gather any voyeuristic spirits I'll make sure you're too preoccupied to notice."

-----

Back on the planet below, the newly minted pair of earthborn and alien feline women had wasted little time. The soft shine of moonlight caressed the room in it's glow, revealing two sets of fighting outfits tossed heedlessly onto furniture and the pair of naked and entwined lovers on the bed, freed of their constraints and indulged deeply in passion. As they touched and tasted of one another, faces and tongues and fingers pressed deep into hot, tight, wet and scented feminine cores, the intensity of their joining pulled purrs and moans and, soon enough, screams from deep within them both. Almost as soon as one peak had struck and passed, it seemed they were beginning once more, riding the delicious spiral of pleasure and intimacy to dizzying heights.

Eventually, though, even superhuman stamina and feline lust met their limits and the urge to rest and luxuriate in affectionate afterglow took over. As they lay close and stroked skin and hair and purred for one another, conversation began, which led to an offer that took the ebon-haired alien catwoman by surprise.

"What do you mean, stay?"

Felicia softly shrugged. "Exactly what it sounds like. There's nothing else for you out there, nobody left who even knows you. And the Empire thinks you're dead, right? They won't be after you... you could start over. Stay here with Ryoko, and the rest of us. Start a new life. Think of it as early retirement."

Becca sighed. "I don't know..." but then looked over the moonlit form of Felicia's incredible body, and breathed deep of the scent of their recent sex, and shrugged softly. "I have to admit, though, it's damned tempting."

Felicia nodded and smiled, purring for her. "It's not forever, you can stay a while and if you need to leave again, nothing's stopping you. But how long have you fought now? Your side won... you've earned a long vacation."

Becca's sigh was more relaxed and relieved this time, as she nodded agreement. "I suppose I have. And from what you're saying, it's not like I'd get too bored here. You have your share of battles too, right?"

Felicia chuckled softly. "Our share and then some. Trust me, you won't want for excitement."

She then kissed her once more, and grinned. "Or for pleasure, for that matter. I've no doubt at least a few of the others will find you as delightful as I do."

Becca kissed back with passionate intensity, and returned the grin with sparkling eyes. "If these others are even half as delightful as you've been, I think this will be the start of a beautiful alliance."

Looking over the luscious brunette, Felicia smiled. Beautiful was a perfect way to describe it.

-----

[Author's note: Sorry this took so damned long! It's been a rough spell in my personal life, and it's cut into my writing time. Again. I have plenty of more plans, though, and no intention on giving up. Thanks for the patience and hope you enjoy the continuing ride.]
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Scarlet Starlight