Catgirl: Young Justice BOOK 3 (ON-HOLD)

CHAPTER 37

|Gotham City
|April 27 2016, 16:39

"Mmmm...", Katherine moaned a little as she started to come to. She felt a small squeeze on her hand. Even though her eyes were closed, she still knew exactly who was with her. She twitched her finger a little in his hold, trying to let him know she felt him.

"Hey, Kath..."

She eventually opened her eyes a little but couldn't see much with how blurred her vision was. "Batcave?", she managed a mumble, wincing a little as her sensitive hearing processed the bats above. "Batcave..."

"Yeah..", Felix sighed, stroking his thumb over her hand, "I said just until you woke up, but your Birdy seems to want you here until a cure's made."

"I'm sick?"

Felix stared at her for a moment. "Damn, you really must've been fucked out your mind if you don't remember anything." He rubbed his thumb along her had a little more, wondering, "What is the last you remember, Kath?" It would've been nice to piece together a clearer timeline on recent events.

Katherine thought about it, her mind very foggy. She felt there was a lot she'd blacked out after relapsing. All she got were tiny pieces, blurred in her broken memory. Eventually, she answered, "I was in a bar...heard about a deal."

"Drugs?"

"...thought so. When I got there...it was this cat lady- Tigress, I think her name was. She...said she was going to take me to Kaldur. He's her boss...I think."

Felix weakly smiled, "Please don't tell me the reason Miss Knight's not found Kaldur yet is because there's nothing to find. Or do, I'm sure I'd not stay mad at you for long..."

Katherine shook her head a little, mumbling, "Nothing worth finding. Miss...Martain broke...him. He's...better than...dead."

"Ah...my friend, Miss M.", Felix subconsciously put a hand to his head, remembering what just a little bit of her power felt like when you were on her bad side, "Yeah, it's pretty safe to say we don't need to worry about him any more. That's Artemis avenged."

"Mhm...", Katherine nodded, starting to doze off again, "She got justice...at least..."

Felix frowned down at Katherine, slowly nodding back. He gently pulled the sheets back over his little sister and tucked her in, much like he would when she was still little. "You'll probably feel as shit as you look, so I'll let you go back to sleep. Best thing you can do, apart from get a fix, is to sleep through catnip withdrawal. I'll keep you comfy."

"Yeah...", Katherine sighed, letting herself relax. A moment later it processed what he said and she sprung up on the bed, staring at Felix in shock. "Did...did you say...?", her condition caught up to her, causing her head to spin, "Fuck.."

Felix sighed and gently held her arms to stabilise her. "You're gonna be ok, Kath. It's not the end of the world. You're alive, and you're with me- and if that brings you no comfort, rest assured as I tell you Nightwing is going to do the impossible and create that miracle cure for you. He's too fucking stubborn not to."

"The only cure...to catnip...is death."

"I'd not tell him that.", he chuckled a little, trying to lighten to mood, adding, "Or the butler, as he's encouraging your Birdy's stupid theories."

"You're lucky...I do feel like shit..", She groaned, leaning into him, "Otherwise..I'd want...to kill you..for this."

"Yeah, that's fair.", Felix sighed, carefully pulling her into his arms to hold her close, "For what it's worth, I feel awful about it. I'm supposed to protect you."

"You don't have...the best track...record of...protecting...people...", She grumbled, starting to doze off again as he began to gently rub her back.

"I know.", Felix rest his chin on her head. Changing the subject, he told her, "On that note, at least this year you'll be able to visit Jason's real grave."

Of course, it just had to be April 27th.

"Today's...that day.."

"That it is..", He frowned a little, moving to see her tired expression, "You wanna go visit him? After a quick cat nap? I'd say it's pretty overdue."

"Yeah..."

**********

Felix finished ripping out parts of Wayne Manor's garden, jogging to the site of Jason's grave to hand Katherine the bouquet he'd collected.

As Katherine took the flowers, he got his first proper look at the headstone. It wasn't too different from the one at the cemetery, just made from a slightly more expensive material. 6 feet beneath them, it had a casket with remains too.

Katherine crouched down to place the flowers, resting her hand on the grass infront of the headstone. "It's weird.", she said, "Even though he's here, it doesn't feel like he's with me."

She'd always thought visiting Jason's actual grave would feel different, that somehow she'd get to actually say bye.

It felt no different than it always did.

Felix sighed a little as he looked down as his sister grieving. He put a hand on her shoulder, glancing at the flowers he'd stolen with a smirk, "Sure the little shit's looking up at us, seething at the forget-me-nots."

She laughed a little, getting back to her feet, "Yeah...not the best choice of flowers to pick for him, Felix."

Felix hugged Katherine from behind, resting his head on her shoulder. "You know he's not been forgotten. If he is tuning in, he'll know we've been busy."

"It's still two years, today.", she frowned, searching her pockets for a moment before pulling out her broken lighter.

"A lot happened two years ago, Kath.", Felix took out his cigarettes, lighting one with his working lighter and handing it to her. "My priority now, just as it was then, is you. Until you're okay, nothing else matters."

"Then we need to avenge him.", Katherine crouched back down for a moment to place her broken lighter with the flowers, "Because I'll never be at peace until he is."

Word Count: 1012