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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi, and thanks for deciding to try our story. Just so you know, we would like you to think of this chapter as a preview, sort of like a movie trailer. "The Eye of Anubis" has been in the works for almost a year now, going through continuous plot tweaking and editing, and we have decided at last to share it. The purpose of putting the first chapter up is to gauge the reader's response and ask for feedback on: writing style, characterization, and interest in reading more. When you're done reading, we would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to leave an in-depth review. If you liked it, say why. If you didn't like it, say why. We will state now that chapters will be coming out slowly as we continue to tweak the plot and mess with the timeline, so please don't leave a review that just asks for more. Thank you for your time and enjoy the first chapter!

The Eye of Anubis
By Nightmare and Winged Dreamer

Chapter 1

Dick Grayson, formerly Robin of Gotham, now Nightwing of Bludhaven, sat crouched on a high rooftop of his city and scanned the maze of buildings before him, watching for inevitable foul play. Few believed that Bludhaven had a higher crime rate than even Gotham, but Nightwing knew it to be a harsh truth. If he didn't stop at least ten crimes tonight, no matter how small, he'd be surprised.

Seeing nothing that needed his immediate attention, Nightwing leapt from his perch and pressed the outside of his forearm to activate his swing line, its grapple hook latching onto the edge of a nearby roof. The line's tension carried him to the top of a building almost a block and a half away from his original location, and his boots made no noise as he landed in a crouch. Silently traveling from shadow to shadow, he crept to the other side of the roof, where he would have a good view of a street lined with well-to-do homes. Nightwing had to stop at least one attempted robbery here a week.

It looked like tonight would be no different. Being a cop made it easy for Dick to keep track of which homeowners where in town and which were abroad. Tonight, the home of a family he knew to be out of the country had an open window on the second floor. Time to go to work.

Nightwing leapt down to the street, landing in the house's shadow. He crept into the alley beside the house and started to climb, his senses always alert for noises from the open window or the street below. At last he heard the sounds of rummaging from within, and Nightwing crawled in through the open window, making no sound to alert his presence.

An open closet door across from the window revealed a large safe. The safe was open and the thief had her - it was definitely a her, given that gorgeous ass and those flared hips, which were both encased in tight black leather as a delicious bonus - head buried deep in the safe's bottom compartment. Smirking, Nightwing allowed himself a moment to simply observe before making his presence known with a sharp, hopefully startling, "Hello." With any luck, she'd hit the back of her head on the safe's shelf and knock herself out, saving him the trouble of a conflict.

"Hello," came her deep, purring response. The woman gracefully withdrew from the safe and straightened, turning in a slow pivot to face him. "Nightwing."

Standing with one hand on her waist, the lady thief cocked her hips and lifted her chin. Dressed entirely in supple black leather, she was a sight to behold. Her lithe body was poised so casually she seemed to be incredibly nonchalant about the whole situation. There was a smug, almost playful smirk tugging at blue-black tinted lips and the little light that filtered through the uncurtained window winked off the yellow lenses of her domino-style goggles. Part of her leather costume was a cowl... with cat ears. If Batman hadn't given him extensive schooling on hiding his emotions, Nightwing's jaw would have been in contact with the floor.

Catwoman.

And not just a copy-cat thief in a copy-cat suit, no. This young woman had what was either a damn good replica of Selina's Catwoman outfit or what was Selina's Catwoman outfit, because it looked exactly like what Selina used to wear. And there was no way she could be Selina, because Selina Kyle had been dead for over a year, somehow having met her end on a trip to the remote jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula. Dick had gone to the funeral after Bruce had brought her ashes back from Mexico, and Bruce had seen the body before the cremation, confirming her identity.

Batman was not going to be happy when he found out about this.

'Alright, Grayson, now's not the time to stand here staring, even if she is a babe.' Nightwing crossed his arms after giving himself a mental shake to get back on track and stated, "Looks like Kitty escaped from the pound."

Her laugh was rich and her shoulders shook with each honest chuckle. "Your playpens can't hold me," she informed him as she straightened her hips, dropping her hand to her side. In the other she casually clutched the strap of a black leather over-the-shoulder satchel. Slipping that strap over her head, she settled the bag into place and took a moment to buckle down the closure flap, the bag's zipper facing her belly and thus out of reach.

"How about we test that claim?" Nightwing whipped out one of the eskrima sticks from the back of his suit in the blink of an eye and threw it at her with the aim to knock her out, pulling the other stick out while its mate was in mid-flight.

In one fluid motion, Catwoman dropped out of the way of the lobbed weapon and twisted, aiming not for the window, but for the nearest door. Boots made for aiding in the scaling of brick buildings found solid traction on the carpet of the hallway, and she sprinted off like a cheetah, hitting the stairs and taking them at a dead run.

'Shit.' Nightwing was on her tail from the instant she turned, following her at top speed, scooping up his dropped stick on the way. If for nothing else, he at least had to question her about where she'd gotten her suit and just what the hell she was thinking, impersonating Catwoman. Of course, Nightwing had to catch her first, and damn, was she fast. He ran down the stairs after her and pulled out all the stops, using every trick he knew to try and get her in a corner. But she was wily and flexible and seemed to have no fear of heights or the imminent splat that could follow a miscalculated step.

Once they were out in the open, she hit the nearest alley and scaled the fire escape with an execution few amateurs could replicate. Her leaps from one apartment roof to the next were perfectly timed, her stride never faltering as she led him on a wild chase over the rooftops of Bludhaven's "nicer end of town" and right into the slums. Still, her pace never slowed, and she never actually tried to shake him. Evade, yes, but she never attempted to lose him. Most other pursuers wouldn't have noticed that she was deliberately keeping a pace with which Nightwing could keep up. Most other pursuers wouldn't have been trained by The World's Greatest Detective since before puberty. The longer Nightwing chased her, the more he was certain that she thought of this as a game and was toying with him.

No one toyed with Nightwing and got away with it.

Popping open one of the compartments on his gauntlet, he pulled out a set of bolas and threw it at the girl's legs. The whipping sound behind her was Catwoman's only warning, but it seemed to be more than enough. The bolas were almost on her when she suddenly slowed and bent backward mid-stride. The back-flip was flawless, bolas sailing right on by beneath her flexed frame. She landed in Nightwing's path, kicking out in a sweep the instant she finished. Dropping down into a crouch, Nightwing grabbed her ankle and gave it a sharp yank.

A small squeak emerged at the unexpected yank to her foot, and when Nightwing reached for the satchel he received the nasty bite of her hidden-until-then claws ripping fine scratches through his suit and into the flesh beneath. She had also - unmistakably - hissed at him. However, rather than let her go in surprise at the harsh pain in his arm, Nightwing tightened his grip on her ankle and glowered.

"Looks like you need to be declawed." His free hand darted out for the satchel again, and this time the pain was delivered to his jaw when the heel of her other foot connected with his chin. Vision flashing white as his teeth slammed together, he grunted and his grip loosened. Catwoman delivered a second blow with her booted heel to his chest, at the same time yanking free, and she immediately launched herself to her feet. The chase began all over again.

Hours ticked by, Catwoman staying just out of Nightwing's reach. Occasionally they clashed, but even as dawn began to approach he was no closer to catching her or to retrieving the stolen goods. Predawn melted into true dawn and Nightwing found his stamina to be completely exhausted. Tired and beyond frustrated, he pulled out one last burst of speed to make the wide jump from one roof to another and stumbled, landing on his hands and knees. He didn't get up. Sweat dripped down his face and his legs burned from the hours of running, trembling so hard he knew if he rose to his feet now, he'd only fall right back down again. Nightwing had lost the chase.

The tickle of sharp claws lightly trailing over his scalp from crown to forehead was the only prelude to the gentle grasp of gloved fingers in his hair. She made no sound on the graveled roof even as she crouched beside him and carefully pulled his head back. A warm tongue lapped against his temple, licking up the beads of sweat that were gathering there.

"Thanks, baby. It was fun." She sounded more like they'd just had a few hours' worth of mind-blowing sex, not like they'd just been vaulting across alleys and playing a deranged game of "Mouse and Cat" for the whole night. Catwoman released him with a gentle kiss to his cheek. "Don't worry. I paid for it with my own, hard-earned money."

A single bottle of water sat sweating in front of him, glistening in the morning light. Catwoman had seemingly vanished into the last remaining shadows of the night.

Nightwing glared in the general direction of where she had been, not amused in the least by her invasion of his personal space, and grabbed the water bottle. A close examination revealed that there had been no tampering with the seal or the plastic casing, so, against his better judgment and spurned on by his fierce thirst, he opened it and took a careful sip. Cool, clean water ran down his parched throat and Nightwing gasped a breath, his chest still heaving. Waiting for his stomach to settle after that little bit of liquid, he poured some water into his palm and scrubbed it over his sticky face, then took another sip and shakily climbed to his feet, feeling like absolute crap. He stumbled slightly on the way up and the side of his foot bumped something that gave under the contact. Looking down, Nightwing saw a large drawstring bag, about as big as the woman's satchel. He crouched down, ignoring the burning pain in his legs, and opened up the bag. Inside he found money, jewelry, stock papers... everything that had been taken out of the safe - or, a least, he hoped it was everything.

"You've gotta be shitting me..." She really had just been playing with him. That decided it. Nightwing didn't care how cute her ass was, how soft her lips were, or even how arousingly playful her tongue had been against his temple. Next time he saw her, she wasn't getting a lick of leeway for being female.

Cursing his luck with women, Nightwing rose again, this time with the bag over his shoulder, and began the slow journey back to the robbed house to return the safe's contents. Thankfully, there was an abandoned building nearby where he'd stashed a bike, meaning he wouldn't have to walk the entire way back. At least something was going right tonight.

As he climbed down a fire escape to the street, he flipped open the small communicator on the armband of his right gauntlet, instantly connecting him to an old partner and friend. "Oracle? This is Nightwing. Oracle, you there?"

"Here, Nightwing. Go ahead."

"We've got a serious problem. Guess who I ended up chasing around all of 'Haven tonight? And I mean all of 'Haven." Nightwing reached the bottom of the fire escape and jumped down after a careful visual sweep of the alley.

"Mm, normally, I'd play along, but I'm just... not in the mood tonight. Just tell me."

"Catwoman."

-----Clock Tower, HQ of Oracle, Gotham-----

"Here." Dick handed Barbara a mug full of steaming coffee, one for himself in his other hand, and leaned back against the nearest spot on the wall that wasn't covered with computer monitors as he took a long pull of his drink. His entire body ached for him to go home and sleep after that veritable marathon, yet he ignored the demands with practiced ease. Absently, Dick rubbed at a spot on his face where the adhesive from his mask insisted on lingering; the mask itself sat with his gauntlets on a rare bare spot on Oracle's console. "So, what do you think?"

"Could be a damn good copy cat. Could be Selina, but you said yourself already that it wasn't. Could be Selina's killer, too. There aren't enough facts and I haven't got enough evidence to start researching." Barbara gazed into her mug of coffee as she spoke and then pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose when she looked up from it and into his eyes. "What do you think? You dealt with her."

"Honestly? I have no idea what to think." Dick sighed. "She's fast, she has crazy amounts of stamina, and she's a skilled acrobat. That's all I know. She was either playing with me or testing me, or maybe even testing herself. That's something we can't know without asking her." Frowning, he took another long pull of his coffee. "We can't tell Bruce about this."

"What do you mean we can't tell Bruce? He should know there's someone out there impersonating /her/." Babs looked a little shocked.

Brilliant blue eyes filled with sadness gazed at her. "Do you have any idea how much that would hurt him, Babs? Bruce loved Selina. I mean really loved her. And you saw him at the funeral. Losing her cut him deeper than I think he'll admit even to himself, and finding out there's a new Catwoman wearing Selina's suit will just rip open those wounds again. No." Dick shook his head. "We can't tell him about this so long as she stays out of Gotham. This is something we're going to have to take care of on our own."

"Try to take care of on our own, you mean." Sighing, Oracle turned to her computers and pulled up a few police issue programs for suspect sketching and detailing. "Alright. Give me a run down and we'll see what we can do. Height? Approximate weight? Build? Skin tone? Well...you know the drill."

Allowing himself a small smirk, Nightwing padded over to stand behind her chair and began to rattle off data.

----------

The sound of Barbara closing the hidden door to her Oracle room woke Dick hours later. Grunting as his stiff muscles protested, he sat up and folded his arms on the back of her couch, watching her roll towards him with tired eyes.

"Any luck?" he asked as he ran a hand through his mussed hair, voice thick from his long, exhausted sleep. At least he'd had the sense to follow Barbara's advice and changed out of his Nightwing costume before passing out on her couch in a borrowed pair of sweatpants, allowing him more rest than he would have gotten otherwise.

"None. I've got dozens or more potential matches, but without more information I'm stumped. We'll have to take this one step at a time." Coming to a stop beside the couch, Barbara let out a soft sigh. "So, you get to patrol for her, and I'll keep trying to narrow the search. Though I won't be able to actually start that until I have a little more to go on. How are you feeling?"

"More human than I was this morning, that's for sure. I called the station, told them I have a nasty twenty-four hour bug, so I have the day off. What time is it, anyway?" He looked around for a clock.

"Five PM. I bet you're hungry. Want me to order in?" One slender hand found its way into wavy dark hair, smoothing it back from his forehead before caressing the side of Dick's face. There was a momentary loneliness in her green eyes, but it was only a brief flash, easily overlooked or explained away by the lighting of the room it was gone so quickly. That hand returned to her lap, and she waited with a patient expression for him to decide whether he would stay or go.

Dick smiled at her and lay back down on the couch, folding an arm behind his head as a makeshift pillow. Lean muscles honed by a lifetime of acrobatic training flowed smoothly beneath the bare skin of his torso. "Yeah, sure. Whatever you're in the mood for. After we eat, we can run through those potentials, and, hopefully, I can narrow it down a little." Noticing the slight bags under Barbara's eyes, his smile melted away into a concerned thinning of his lips. "Please tell me that you managed to get some sleep in and that you haven't been awake this whole time."

Barbara's smile was warm and bright. "I catnapped here and there like I always do. I'll sleep tonight. For now, I'm famished and so are you. Chinese or pizza?"

"Pizza, large, with everything on it." Getting up, Dick went over to the armchair that had his costume dumped on the seat and rummaged around in it until he found his wallet, pulling out a ten. He looked at the bill for a moment, then changed his mind and put it back in favor of a twenty. "Make that two large pizzas with everything on it. I'm going to call Tim and ask him to come over."

"You got it, Grayson." Taking the money, Barbara wheeled her way to the end table where the phone sat and dialed the all too familiar number of the nearest Pizza Shack.

----------

"Let me get this straight," said Tim around a mouthful of pizza an hour later from his seat on the couch next to Dick while glancing at Barbara where she sat across the coffee table from them. "A new Catwoman wearing Selina's costume showed up in Bludhaven last night, ran Dick into the ground, gave back the stuff she stole, and then took off?"

Swallowing the last large bite of his third slice, Dick nodded. "Pretty much."

Tim hummed thoughtfully. "And you're sure she's not Selina? She wouldn't be the first to come back from the dead."

Dick shook his head, getting up to refill his glass of water at the kitchen sink. "Her attitude was different, and what I could see of her face looked nothing like Selina. For one, her skin was much too dark. For two, do you really think Selina would have given back stock certificates, bonds, and jewelry?"

"Good point," conceded Tim.

"Tim, we're going to want to try and keep this one to ourselves for now. At least until she hits Gotham. If she even hits Gotham. We're not sure what's going on here and we... just don't want to see Bruce hurt again. He's been dealt enough pain in his life." Barbara finished off the crust of her second piece and reached for a third before continuing. "We wanted your input and to give you a heads up. Three observers cover more ground."

"Yeah. Do you think she's gonna hit Gotham, Dick?" the youngest Bat-kid asked as Dick reclaimed his spot on the couch, a full glass in hand.

"I have no idea. If she does, no matter what we do, Bruce will find out," Dick said around a sigh, reaching for another piece of pizza.

"I kind of hope she does." Tim shrugged as two sets of questioning eyes landed on him. "Selina was good for Bruce, wasn't she? Even if they were more off than on and had a ton of problems, she still made him happier than he would have been without her. If this new Catwoman is anything like Selina, it might happen again."

"Tim, you know Bruce." Oracle shook her head a little and gave the Teen Wonder a small, sad smile. "The chances of that happening are so slim... he'll probably just be angry."

Dick shrugged and shook his head once. "You never know, Babs. But for now, let's keep Bruce from finding out for as long as possible."

"At least until we can present him with more information than we have now," she agreed. Wiping her lips and hands on her napkin, the former Batgirl gave the situation a final moment's thought before asking, "So, can I count on you two to scout for me?"

She got twin, virtually simultaneous nods as an answer. "I'll keep an eye on Bludhaven. Tim, you-"

"Watch Gotham and try to be the first one she meets if she does show up. Got it." Tim glanced at his watch and stood up. "I'd better head home. The Penguin's expecting a huge shipment tonight and we need to go over what we know before we go bust some heads. Did you find out anything new about it, Babs?"

"No. Just a couple dozen potential sources, but nothing concrete and nothing based on more than the scantiest facts. I'll keep at it, but every ounce of information you and Batman can give me will help. I'll be listening, Tim."

"Alright. I'll see you guys later. Let me know if either of you find out anything else about Catwoman. Stay safe." Tim snagged another piece of pizza and left.

"I'd better head home in case she shows up again tonight. Unless you can think of anything else we need to talk about?" asked Dick, hands on his knees in preparation to stand.

"Not that I can think of at the moment, Dick." For a moment, green eyes that were almost feline in their intensity studied him. Then she gave him a happy smile. "It was good to see you."

A lopsided smile lifted one corner of Dick's mouth, and he got up, strode the two steps to Barbara's wheelchair, and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "It was good to see you, too. Thanks for letting me crash on your couch."

"Any time, Grayson. You know that." Pale cheeks flushed a little with pleasure at the warmth lingering on her cheek. Dick had a way of doing that to her and Barbara never tired of it. "Now get out there and see if you can't catch the cat, Charmer."

"Hopefully without getting scratched." Ducking her swipe at his poor joke, Dick grinned and scooped up the pieces of his costume.

To Be Continued...

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