"You're telling me you want me to meet a criminal who you befriended and now get information from because he rats out anyone to keep you happy in hopes that I'll like him too and we can all hang out together outside of work?" Speedy asked. The pair had agreed to meet up on the weekend to do some random hero work here and there but Kid Flash had conveniently left out the part about meeting with notorious burglar Kitten until they were at the meeting spot. He'd heard rumours about the criminal that had taken a liking to his fellow ginger but he'd assumed that it was just something made up. Yet here they were waiting under a bridge for the criminal to turn up. "Pretty much."

"Nice," he replied. "Say, he won't rat us outright?"

"He doesn't do that sort of thing. He has rules to leaking things," Kid Flash assured him. The other raised an eyebrow, prompting him to continue. "Well, he doesn't like getting blood on his hands. Always says he could never repeat what happened to him, whatever that means. He'll leak anything that doesn't directly lead to murders, he won't leak real names of heroes or sources and he's picky about who he talks to."

"Huh, suppose that's better than being loose-lipped about everything. Still, he's saying things that make our job harder," he argued.

"Yeah but also gives us info that makes it easier. The guy knows everything about what goes down in Gotham and some juicy stuff happening in the surrounding cities. If you befriend him then it can only work out good for you," the speedster insisted. Speedy hummed as he leaned against the wall with his arms folded. 

"I'll take your word for it but if this turns out to be a trap I'll scream."

"It won't! He saved my life dude. I told you that."

"Yeah but then he got to know you and you're pretty annoying. Who knows if he'd do it again?"

"Hey!"

The pair continued to bicker until they heard a soft thud. They turned to find Kitten dusting himself off from jumping. "Hey KF, I see you brought Speedy," he greeted. He pulled his goggles up, setting them on top of his head and pulled his mask down, his tail swaying from side to side as he looked over the new hero. With his mask down, they could now see he was sporting a busted lip and a black eye. The injuries weren't too unusual for them to see but Kid Flash looked sufficiently worried about them for Speedy to point them out. "What's with the black eye, kid?"

"Oh, just got jumped. I also got stabbed-"

"You got stabbed?" Kid Flash shrieked. "Where?"

"In my shoulder," he replied, pointing to the spot. There was a visible hole in his suit and they could see part of the stitched up skin. Only, they noticed how red the skin looked and how the blood still shined when it caught the light. It can't have been done too long ago nor did it look like it was done by a seasoned professional. The stitching was too uneven for that.

"Dude, how long ago was this?" Speedy asked.

"I don't know like an hour ago? Some guys heard I knew who Bats was - which I do but don't go blabbing that - so they asked my price and I said no. Cut to twenty minutes later and they're unconscious on the floor and I'm stitching myself up." He spoke about it so casually that it was almost unsettling to hear. They understood minimising things that civilians would be shocked by yet they weren't exactly comfortable hearing he'd been jumped trying to protect the secrets he'd learned.

"Please tell me you at least cleaned it," Kid Flash begged. The criminal nodded and rolled his eyes at the heroes, as though they were overreacting. 

"You two are bigger worry warts than CW. Now c'mon, I haven't even introduced myself yet."

"You've certainly made one hell of a first impression," Speedy commented. "It's Kitten, isn't it? Can I call you Kit for short?"

"If you like."

"Dude, I really don't know about letting you go around with your wound out like that. Maybe you should get it checked out," Kid Flash fretted. The younger waved his hand dismissively but it wouldn't halt the speedsters attempts. "I'm just saying. It looks nasty. You better not be licking it."

"That was one time!" They shared a short-lived glare before Kid Flash faltered. "If you're that bothered by it then I suppose you don't want the lead on the bank robbery happening in half an hour." Thanks to spending time with the ginger often, he'd learned that you could often take control of the narrative if you changed the topic to one of his interest. He didn't like to do it often as it felt a little manipulative but if it got Kid Flash off his back then he'd whip it out the bag. Like a moth to a light, the hero's eyes widened and dropped the subject. 

"No way! Is it big time?"

"It's big enough for us to handle. Especially with Speedy, I've seen your work. It's pretty good."

"Would you expect any different?" the older asked confidently. 

"Enough chit chat, you two slowpokes will take forever getting over there. We gotta go now if we're gonna make it in time!"

With Kid Flash a mile ahead of them, Kitten and Speedy took their time to properly introduce themselves. Well, more so for Speedy to set some ground rules and figure out what the younger actually wanted. It was suspicious that this random criminal had suddenly befriended a hero and wasn't using that information for some sort of evil. "If you even think about hurting that kid, I'll personally fuck you up," he stated bluntly. 

"If I wanted to, I would've done it already," Kitten replied just as bluntly.

"You might be playing the long game." The younger tutted at him. "What? You're just some kid in a suit running around committing crimes and I'm supposed to trust you?"

"You're just some kid in a suit running around solving crimes and I'm supposed to trust you?"

"Yes because I'm the good guy." Kitten laughed at him, making him scowl. The criminal had to stop running because he was so tickled by what he was being told. 

"You think that? Oh, you're the big good guy, you couldn't do a thing wrong could you?" Speedy paused and continued to glare at him. "Things aren't black or white dude. Sure there are some really fucked up people out there, I just got stabbed by a few, but not everyone here is wholly good or bad."

"I don't need or want a lecture from the likes of you. You and Catwoman have done plenty of bad things."

"I didn't say I haven't. I've done shitty things, I know that. Stealing from rich people ain't exactly how I thought I'd spend my life but fate had different plans," he replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Not that you'd give a shit but my parents died and before I knew it, I was on the streets in a foreign country. CW took me in, kept me safe, taught me what I know now. Sure it's not great for a kid to be running around like this but it's not normal for either of you to do it. I'm not entirely good, I get that. I've done sucky things that I regret but I help where I can. Especially with him," he explained briefly. He wiped at his eyes quickly when he felt them well up. Speedy watched him and narrowed his eyes but ultimately softened. He didn't know where he'd be if his own mentor had picked him up and if Oliver had happened to be a villain, he didn't know if he'd be the hero he was now. He still couldn't trust Kitten fully. Not yet at least. But he could agree to play it cool for a bit. "How old are you Kit?"

"Just turned twelve," he answered.

"When did you end up with Catwoman?"

"When I was eight." Then he probably didn't have much of a grasp on things. He supposed if he was leaking information to the good guys as well as the bad, he was more of a neutral figure in the world. "I don't want to hurt KF. I could've ratted out Batman to everyone in Gotham but I didn't. You've all got families and it's not right for me to do anything to put them in danger."

"You're saying all the right things Kit but I can't trust you now. Suppose in time I can. It's just KF is like a brother to me. I can't watch him get hurt."

"I wouldn't hurt him. He's my only friend."

"I'm open to trusting you, I really am, you've just gotta work for it." Kitten nodded and put his hand out.

"Truce?"

"Truce," Speedy replied, taking his hand and shaking it.

They arrived at the bank a few minutes before they spotted a black van parking up and a few men filing out. There were four to be exact, three of them carrying guns whilst the last carried bags. "You didn't say there'd be guns," Speedy commented. 

"I didn't know there would be," Kitten replied. He narrowed his gaze as they tried to break into the bank by pick locking the back door but was drawn to how they struggled to do it. The locks on banks were admittedly harder than others but they shouldn't be taking so long to crack it. He shook his head. "They're new to this. We best not get involved. Newbies have itchy trigger fingers."

"But this could be so fun!" Kid Flash complained. 

"Have you ever been shot before? Not a fun time," the younger informed him. 

"Pause, when were you shot?" the eldest questioned.

"Unpause, I'm as fast as the speed of light maybe even faster."

"No, you aren't," Speedy and Kitten replied in unison. He pouted at them and turned his attention back to the men. They were still struggling with the lock. He ignored his friend's protests and jumped into action, much to their discontent. They quickly went after him and hoped he didn't run in the way of a bullet. Kid Flash ran behind a bin and once he was close enough, he heard them all bickering about the lock. He got ready to strike when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see one of the drivers who'd stayed in the van had apparently spotted him and now was reeling back to punch him. His eyes widened and he put his hands up defensively, not even thinking about the fact he could run away when something wrapped around the man's wrist and he was yanked back harshly. When he fell to the floor, he revealed two very pissed off kids. Speedy handcuffed the man whilst he was still surprised and Kitten gagged him, hoping that they hadn't alerted the others to their presence. They dragged the man behind the dumpster and Kitten unravelled his whip before glaring at the speedster. "I know this looks bad-"

"Don't even start with me. God forbid he had a gun, he would've one-shotted your ass. You need to think before you leap, dumbass," Kitten scolded. "Ugh you almost gave me a heart attack and I'm only twelve." He glanced over to the men who were thankfully still struggling with the lock. Maybe he should give them some help? No no, he was with the heroes, he had to stop the robbery this time. "How do you deal with this guy?"

"Like this," Speedy replied as he slapped the ginger on the back of the head.

"I wanted you two to be friends, not bully me."

"That's the same thing." The speedster muttered something under his breath. "Heard that. Let's just go."

"No, we gotta stop them." Kitten rolled his eyes and took another look at the men. One of them had noticed he could no longer see their driver. Soon enough they'd be coming to investigate and he'd rather the men with guns didn't have the upper hand. He pulled out a few smoke bombs then pulled his goggles down and his mask up. "You two ever used smoke bombs?" They nodded. "These are our best bet. Hopefully, the surprise doesn't spook them to shoot. KF, you go in with me. Speedy, you're best at long-range combat so get on top of the van and pick them off."

"Last time I checked, I don't take orders from the likes of you," Speedy told him sternly. "But it's a good plan. Break on three?" They nodded. "One. Two. Three. Go."

They broke apart and Kitten threw the smoke bombs, the area was quickly consumed by the grey substance. The men jumped and started yelling out into the smoke as Kitten and Kid Flash surrounded them. Speedy climbed onto the van and prepared himself to take a shot if need be. There were flashes and gunshots as the men panicked and decided that if they shot wildly they were bound to hit something. Seeing this reaction, the three decided this needed to end quickly. Kitten lassoed a gun out of the hand closest to him whilst Kid Flash snatched the other two away. Now stripped of their guns, the men turned to punching the air and continuing to shout at their attackers. Kitten whipped one of them then wound his whip around their ankles, pulling them to the floor. Kid Flash then handcuffed that man and they continued as the smoke slowly disappeared. Speedy shot two with arrows that released a fast-acting foam that then hardened around them whilst the remaining man scrambled for his gun and took aim. Luckily, Kitten whipped his hand and roundhouse kicked him across the face before he could take the shot. "Nice one Kit," Speedy called out.

"Can't have you die without liking me, can I?" he joked. He rolled his shoulder with a wince before putting his whip back on his hip. 

"You okay dude?" Kid Flash asked, catching the wince.

"I'm fine. It's just sore. Wanna do another one which hopefully won't get us shot?"

"Sure!"

The three ended up zig-zagging across Central City before Kitten said he needed to get back to Gotham. He said goodbye to the gingers then disappeared into the night. "So?" Kid Flash began.

"So what?"

"What do you think of him?" The hero thought about his answer. Kitten seemed like an alright guy who was just on the wrong side of things. Some things could've been done to prevent this life of crime but he doubted he'd be much better off that way. Gotham was notably shitty towards Nekos given how they'd previously been a novelty to the rich. Kitten was nice to Kid Flash, looked out for him and gave actually good snacks. "He's a criminal who could take us down with the info he has...I like him."