Re: (Before Ninja: The Cat)
Inventive wasn't always bad. Oh, Cat would be the first to admit that inventive? Could be the makings of a Very Bad Man, but that wasn't always the case. Bruce, master detective that he was, was inventive. His little boys, they could be called inventive also. Robert - well, Robert had been brilliant. As for gossip? Cat knew it had weight. Even here, in this tiny place. Perhaps more here, even, than other places.
And Cat's lean days were over. She had gaming halls, she had charities, and she had offshore accounts. She had Rex's funds, stashed away from Egorovs eyes, and she had this. But she was still hungry. Hunger? That was something that never died, that never should die. It kept her going, kept her lean, kept her afloat. And lately? Lately Cat had needed afloat more than she liked to admit.
Cat, young, had no last name. Cat, young, had been just Cat. It was a deliberate Egorovs effort to erase who she was, to bury the Catalone name, just like they'd buried her father in jail. Selina Catalone didn't exist, and they'd let the little five-year-old go by her nickname - Cat. Just Cat. Cat, who belonged to no family, who had no one. It had almost worked.
Was this place full of surprises? Cat chuckled. She pushed her emptied glass away. She didn't need a refill. Not tonight. Or, rather, she needed much, much more than a refill. She watched as the redhead's glass was refilled, but she didn't comment on it. This woman, with her Russian constitution, could probably more than hold her liquor.
Cat stood with a long and graceful movement, and she returned the barstool to its previous location. Was this place full of surprises? Well. "I don't think you'll be bored. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't think so." Cat's smile was enigmatic, a thing comprised entirely of secrets. "You might find some familiar names and faces. This town? It has a way of making coincidence an everyday occurrence." As if that was her last bit of wisdom, she tapped the bar to get the tender's attention. "The drinks are on me." Whether she was telling the redhead or the bartender? Wasn't truly important, was it?