Alphabet Soup Table - 6. Fatal - Batman
Title: Their New Paradise
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: Batman
Character/Pairing: Catwoman/Poison Ivy, past Bats/Cats and Ivy/Harley
Rating: PG-13/T
Challenge/Prompt: FemSlash100100 Alphabet Soup: Fatal
Warning(s): Character Death
Word Count: 1,633
Date Written: 13 August 2016
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to DC Comics, not the author, and are used without permission.
Her shoulders sag beneath her oldest cat as they reach what's currently passing for their home. Selina hesitates, with a weary sigh, as she touches the latch to the garden. She's tired today. She seems to be tired every day lately, and her nights on the city don't help as they once did. She's not that much older, but the world seems that much more wearisome.
She saved several lives today. She took control of the local animal "shelter" today and made certain that every feline on death row, and a few of the others as well, were given to a local, mysterious benefactor with red hair. Her own red lips pull up into a smirk at the memory. Ivy and she had the authorities fooled well this time, but for how long? she wonders. Neither of them have ever managed to stay in one place for long.
She saved some alley cats as well today and taught a few kids she caught tying cans to kitties' tails a lesson they'll never forget. All in all, she probably saved thirty cats just today, but how many more went without her help? How many did she miss? How many are outside of her territory, currently outside of her reach? She knows the stats -- there are 70 million stray cats in the States alone, 3.4 million kitties are tossed into so-called animal shelters during one year's time, and 1.4 million of those precious lives are extinguished every year --, and they're horrifying.
Isis mews softly in her ears. Selina reaches a hand up and scratches the black cat's head. She enjoys the way Isis rubs her head against the palm of her hand, the slide of her tail across her shoulders, and the deep purr that resonates from her best friend. But the facts of all those lives she misses out on saving are still weighing heavily on her and her smile is still gone when she pushes through the latch.
She stops in the entrance of her garden, her breath sucking in sharply between her teeth in surprise. Ivy stands in the middle, hands perched on her barely clad hips. She must have heard Selina's approach, because she's smiling expectantly at her from the very second she enters. The massive gate that they made to look more like a strange, antique door swings shut behind Selina, but she still doesn't say a word.
Isis mews, stretches, and leaps from her shoulder. She catches sight of her favorite tom of the moment and sets to chasing him, much, Selina can't help but to reminisce, as she's been known to chase the Bat, the Bat who continues to throw her behind bars every chance he gets, the Bat whose high, morale code doesn't include the truest innocents of his city simply because they're furry and not human, the Bat whose mere presence in her mind makes her want to snarl right now. But she can't seem to snarl.
She breathes softly instead as she looks around her at the beautiful paradise into which she's walked from right off the dirty streets of the city. Her emerald eyes blink several times as she continues to gaze all around her. They took this abandoned building over some time ago, and they've been adding to it slowly, but Ivy's clearly done a lot of work in a day's time. It's so tropical, lush, and green that if Selina didn't know better, she'd swear she was in the jungle.
"Well?" Ivy prompts, sashaying forward one hip at a time.
Selina can still do nothing more than breathe and look around her. There's absolutely nothing left of the building that was here. Slowly, she kicks off her high heels and lets her stockinged feet sink into the fresh soil beneath her. She hears a cat sharpening his claws on a tree and looks to see a jaguar she saved from a circus lounging on a branch several feet above her head. Ivy pops at his claws lightly with a couple of bright green vines, and the big cat settles back down to his branch. There are other trees and a cat on every branch.
Kittens play in a patch of high grass that looks like it's fresh out of a meadow. Older, domestic cats roll in catnip. Every cat who's not playing with others has a place to call his or her own, and there are plants all over the place. There are two Venus fly traps lining the entrance through which Selina just passed. She knows they're there for a reason: they'll swiftly catch any visitors they don't want.
Finally finding her voice, Selina still manages to only say, "Wow." She sits down her suitcase, sheds her jacket, and tosses it to the side. She pulls her silk shirt out of the hem of her skirt and finally gives in to temptation, tossing herself onto the ground between the high grass and the catnip. Her hands go into each bed, and her furry kids instantly and playfully slap at her fingers. One kitten jumps onto her stomach, and Selina laughs.
Her laughter resonates in the area that Ivy's created for them. It fills their surroundings and seems to fill the redhead herself. It's been a long time since she's heard anything so beautiful and a longer time still since she's heard Selina laugh so earnestly. She drops onto the grass beside her. Her fingers start to reach for her, but she stills her hand. They have yet to discuss how far this partnership is going. She rips her gaze from Selina's gorgeous body and looks around them instead, her smile growing. "We should have done this a long time ago," she comments, but the fact remains that she has done it at last and it's beautiful.
"You did an awesome job," Selina purrs as she pets the kitten on her stomach with one hand and strokes various other, furry heads with her other hand.
Ivy gazes down into her green eyes where she finally sees a merry light shining again. It's been too long since she's seen that light. "You like?" she asks teasingly.
Selina smirks up at her. "Isn't it obvious?" She gazes around at her. Suddenly, she seems worried again as she whispers forlornly, "But he'll take it away from us."
"No, he won't," Ivy vows. "Not this time. We won't let him. We can save them, Selina. Between the two of us, we can save every plant and cat that needs us."
"But if -- "
"He'll find out, but we won't let him stop us this time," Ivy swears, shaking her head. "When he finds us this time, we're going to be ready, and he's going to be mulch for my babies. Yours can play with his bones."
The idea of the Batman's death would have once upset Selina, but as she looks around them again, she can't find even a glimmer of sorrow within her at the thought that they will do whatever it takes to keep this paradise Ivy has made for them all. She looks up at her partner, notices the way the sun shines on her deeply tanned skin and fiery, red hair, and for the first time, Selina realizes how beautiful the other woman is. Maybe they can keep this place, she thinks, purring. Maybe they can have everything they've ever wanted.
She starts to reach for her hand but stops, remembering one touch from Ivy can be fatal. Ivy closes her hand around her fingers, though, and Selina feels no pain. She looks up at her questioningly, her purr halting. Ivy smiles back down at her. "There's something I made a long time ago for Harley . . . before . . . " Her smile fades; tears spring into her green eyes. " . . . before . . . "
Wordlessly, Selina squeezes her hand. She knows how much Ivy misses her first partner, and she always guessed there was something more between the two women than they let others know. Ivy had been in a dark place when Selina had stumbled across her for the first time after the last battle between the Joker and Batman had devastated Gotham City, taking many lives, humans and animals alike. Harley had been one of the countless lives taken, but she was overlooked by the city and by Batman. Selina hadn't really cared about her either, until she'd found Ivy grieving her so desperately that she had been close to death herself.
Ivy blinks back the tears and forces a smile through her sorrow. "Any way, I slipped an antidote into your milk this morning."
Selina's smile curls into a half-smirk. "I thought it tasted funny."
"You're not mad at me, are you?"
Selina again lets her gaze encompass their wondrous surroundings. "How could I?" she asks, squeezing her hand. "You've given us something wonderful, something we've always wanted and needed." She beams up at her. "You've given us, and our children, our own paradise."
Ivy squeezes her hand back and then she leans down and does something she's been trying to summon her courage enough to do for months. She brushes her lips lightly against Selina's, but when she goes to move away, Selina reaches up and catches her mouth with hers. They have their paradise now, and together, they'll keep it. Together, they will form a brand new world and save every feline and plant life that comes into their vicinity. Together, they'll save their world and keep it beautiful. Selina purrs into their kiss as Ivy deepens it and the sun sinks toward setting on their first day truly together, but both women know it's the start of a paradise, their paradise that will last a very, very long time.
The End
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: Batman
Character/Pairing: Catwoman/Poison Ivy, past Bats/Cats and Ivy/Harley
Rating: PG-13/T
Challenge/Prompt: FemSlash100100 Alphabet Soup: Fatal
Warning(s): Character Death
Word Count: 1,633
Date Written: 13 August 2016
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to DC Comics, not the author, and are used without permission.
Her shoulders sag beneath her oldest cat as they reach what's currently passing for their home. Selina hesitates, with a weary sigh, as she touches the latch to the garden. She's tired today. She seems to be tired every day lately, and her nights on the city don't help as they once did. She's not that much older, but the world seems that much more wearisome.
She saved several lives today. She took control of the local animal "shelter" today and made certain that every feline on death row, and a few of the others as well, were given to a local, mysterious benefactor with red hair. Her own red lips pull up into a smirk at the memory. Ivy and she had the authorities fooled well this time, but for how long? she wonders. Neither of them have ever managed to stay in one place for long.
She saved some alley cats as well today and taught a few kids she caught tying cans to kitties' tails a lesson they'll never forget. All in all, she probably saved thirty cats just today, but how many more went without her help? How many did she miss? How many are outside of her territory, currently outside of her reach? She knows the stats -- there are 70 million stray cats in the States alone, 3.4 million kitties are tossed into so-called animal shelters during one year's time, and 1.4 million of those precious lives are extinguished every year --, and they're horrifying.
Isis mews softly in her ears. Selina reaches a hand up and scratches the black cat's head. She enjoys the way Isis rubs her head against the palm of her hand, the slide of her tail across her shoulders, and the deep purr that resonates from her best friend. But the facts of all those lives she misses out on saving are still weighing heavily on her and her smile is still gone when she pushes through the latch.
She stops in the entrance of her garden, her breath sucking in sharply between her teeth in surprise. Ivy stands in the middle, hands perched on her barely clad hips. She must have heard Selina's approach, because she's smiling expectantly at her from the very second she enters. The massive gate that they made to look more like a strange, antique door swings shut behind Selina, but she still doesn't say a word.
Isis mews, stretches, and leaps from her shoulder. She catches sight of her favorite tom of the moment and sets to chasing him, much, Selina can't help but to reminisce, as she's been known to chase the Bat, the Bat who continues to throw her behind bars every chance he gets, the Bat whose high, morale code doesn't include the truest innocents of his city simply because they're furry and not human, the Bat whose mere presence in her mind makes her want to snarl right now. But she can't seem to snarl.
She breathes softly instead as she looks around her at the beautiful paradise into which she's walked from right off the dirty streets of the city. Her emerald eyes blink several times as she continues to gaze all around her. They took this abandoned building over some time ago, and they've been adding to it slowly, but Ivy's clearly done a lot of work in a day's time. It's so tropical, lush, and green that if Selina didn't know better, she'd swear she was in the jungle.
"Well?" Ivy prompts, sashaying forward one hip at a time.
Selina can still do nothing more than breathe and look around her. There's absolutely nothing left of the building that was here. Slowly, she kicks off her high heels and lets her stockinged feet sink into the fresh soil beneath her. She hears a cat sharpening his claws on a tree and looks to see a jaguar she saved from a circus lounging on a branch several feet above her head. Ivy pops at his claws lightly with a couple of bright green vines, and the big cat settles back down to his branch. There are other trees and a cat on every branch.
Kittens play in a patch of high grass that looks like it's fresh out of a meadow. Older, domestic cats roll in catnip. Every cat who's not playing with others has a place to call his or her own, and there are plants all over the place. There are two Venus fly traps lining the entrance through which Selina just passed. She knows they're there for a reason: they'll swiftly catch any visitors they don't want.
Finally finding her voice, Selina still manages to only say, "Wow." She sits down her suitcase, sheds her jacket, and tosses it to the side. She pulls her silk shirt out of the hem of her skirt and finally gives in to temptation, tossing herself onto the ground between the high grass and the catnip. Her hands go into each bed, and her furry kids instantly and playfully slap at her fingers. One kitten jumps onto her stomach, and Selina laughs.
Her laughter resonates in the area that Ivy's created for them. It fills their surroundings and seems to fill the redhead herself. It's been a long time since she's heard anything so beautiful and a longer time still since she's heard Selina laugh so earnestly. She drops onto the grass beside her. Her fingers start to reach for her, but she stills her hand. They have yet to discuss how far this partnership is going. She rips her gaze from Selina's gorgeous body and looks around them instead, her smile growing. "We should have done this a long time ago," she comments, but the fact remains that she has done it at last and it's beautiful.
"You did an awesome job," Selina purrs as she pets the kitten on her stomach with one hand and strokes various other, furry heads with her other hand.
Ivy gazes down into her green eyes where she finally sees a merry light shining again. It's been too long since she's seen that light. "You like?" she asks teasingly.
Selina smirks up at her. "Isn't it obvious?" She gazes around at her. Suddenly, she seems worried again as she whispers forlornly, "But he'll take it away from us."
"No, he won't," Ivy vows. "Not this time. We won't let him. We can save them, Selina. Between the two of us, we can save every plant and cat that needs us."
"But if -- "
"He'll find out, but we won't let him stop us this time," Ivy swears, shaking her head. "When he finds us this time, we're going to be ready, and he's going to be mulch for my babies. Yours can play with his bones."
The idea of the Batman's death would have once upset Selina, but as she looks around them again, she can't find even a glimmer of sorrow within her at the thought that they will do whatever it takes to keep this paradise Ivy has made for them all. She looks up at her partner, notices the way the sun shines on her deeply tanned skin and fiery, red hair, and for the first time, Selina realizes how beautiful the other woman is. Maybe they can keep this place, she thinks, purring. Maybe they can have everything they've ever wanted.
She starts to reach for her hand but stops, remembering one touch from Ivy can be fatal. Ivy closes her hand around her fingers, though, and Selina feels no pain. She looks up at her questioningly, her purr halting. Ivy smiles back down at her. "There's something I made a long time ago for Harley . . . before . . . " Her smile fades; tears spring into her green eyes. " . . . before . . . "
Wordlessly, Selina squeezes her hand. She knows how much Ivy misses her first partner, and she always guessed there was something more between the two women than they let others know. Ivy had been in a dark place when Selina had stumbled across her for the first time after the last battle between the Joker and Batman had devastated Gotham City, taking many lives, humans and animals alike. Harley had been one of the countless lives taken, but she was overlooked by the city and by Batman. Selina hadn't really cared about her either, until she'd found Ivy grieving her so desperately that she had been close to death herself.
Ivy blinks back the tears and forces a smile through her sorrow. "Any way, I slipped an antidote into your milk this morning."
Selina's smile curls into a half-smirk. "I thought it tasted funny."
"You're not mad at me, are you?"
Selina again lets her gaze encompass their wondrous surroundings. "How could I?" she asks, squeezing her hand. "You've given us something wonderful, something we've always wanted and needed." She beams up at her. "You've given us, and our children, our own paradise."
Ivy squeezes her hand back and then she leans down and does something she's been trying to summon her courage enough to do for months. She brushes her lips lightly against Selina's, but when she goes to move away, Selina reaches up and catches her mouth with hers. They have their paradise now, and together, they'll keep it. Together, they will form a brand new world and save every feline and plant life that comes into their vicinity. Together, they'll save their world and keep it beautiful. Selina purrs into their kiss as Ivy deepens it and the sun sinks toward setting on their first day truly together, but both women know it's the start of a paradise, their paradise that will last a very, very long time.
The End