Earlier I wrote a story set in the Young Justice animated series verse, set in the time in between the first and second seasons. That story can be found here: “She Likes Taking In Strays”.
I’ve been thinking of the time period after that story… While I’ve got vague scenes in my head, I wanted to write it out as a timeline here, timing it out in the five years between seasons.
Yr 1:
(“She Likes Taking In Strays”) Selina Kyle, as Catwoman, happens up on a 12-yr old Jason Todd attempting to steal the tires off of the Batmobile as a way to get into the Royal Flush Gang in Gotham City. Selina helps him steal the tires, but on the stipulation that Jason joins her instead of the gang.
Yr 2:
Selina trained Jason abroad for over a year to become a more accomplished cat burglar like her. She gives him the official codename “Bombay” on his 13th birthday after he resoundingly rejects “cute” nicknames like “Catboy,” “Catlad,” and “Stray.” He will endure Selina calling him “Kitten,” though woe be to anyone else who dares to call him that.
While training, Selina instills in him the “code” she lives her life by. Stuff like:
Rule #5. Don’t steal from those who are worse off than you.
Rule #8. Never kill anyone unless absolutely necessary.
Rule #11. Always be specific when you lie.
Rule #17. When the job is done, walk away.
Rule #23. It’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you.
Selina never reveals her rules in any specific order, and Jason’s half convinced that she makes these things up as she goes along just to mess with him.
Yr 3:
At the start of the new school year, Selina and now 14-yr old Jason return to Gotham City, living together as an aunt and nephew in a high-rise apartment. She enrolls him in Gotham Academy, much to his displeasure, until she explains to him that by going to school with rich kids, he’ll be in a prime position to scout out potential wealthy families as marks.
While at school, Jason is your typical troublemaker, bad-boy, which of course attracts the attention of many spoiled teenage princesses in the private school. “Aunt” Selina spends a lot of time in the Headmaster’s office because of him.
Jason ends up in a fight with a then 16-yr old Dick Grayson over something pretty stupid while at school, and both boys end up in the Headmaster’s office. Selina meets Bruce Wayne during this meeting, and it’s during this meeting that Selina sensing a good mark, manages to wrangle a date out of Bruce.
While in Gotham, Catwoman and Bombay make their presences known as they begin robbing various people and places blind, while taunting Batman, Robin, and Batgirl.
(It irks Robin to no end when Bombay shamelessly flirts with Batgirl right in front of him… then confuses the crap out of him when Bombay will switch things up in the same breath and start flirting with him too!)
Yr 4:
15-yr old Bombay stumbles upon a strange boy following Batman in Gotham City one night. The boy, who looks to be only about ten or eleven, nearly gets himself kidnapped on the street by a guy Jason knows is a child prostitute trafficker. So Bombay goes out of his way to beat the tar out of the bastard and saves the kid. The boy is grateful, and lets Bombay take him home, which is in a mansion in the area where Bruce Wayne lives.
Imagine Jason’s surprise when the next morning he sees the kid again at his high school. The boy’s name is Timothy Drake, he’s only eleven, and he’s a certifiable genius. Tim’s skipped ahead several grades and is enrolled in the Academy as a sophomore. High school is hard for Tim, though, in the social aspect. He tends to get bullied frequently by the older kids. It’s interesting to note that both Jason and Dick take Tim under their respective wings to protect him, though the bullies are clearly more intimidated by Jason than by Dick.
The more Jason learns about Tim, the closer he gets to him. Jason can relate all too well to Tim being alone without his parents most of the time. As they get closer, more brotherly, Tim figures out that Jason is Bombay, and subsequently that Selina Kyle is Catwoman. Previously, he already figured out that Batman and Robin are Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson, but Tim doesn’t reveal that to Jason.
Later on that year, Tim’s parents are kidnapped on their return trip home. Despite the fact that Jason doesn’t have any fondness for the Drakes because of how they treat Tim, he joins in the search for them as Bombay for his little brother. This is against Selina’s better judgement.
Turns out her instincts were spot on because the Drakes had been kidnapped by the Joker. Bombay finds the Drakes, but not before the Joker finds him.
…The scene plays out like “A Death in the Family”, with Jason being beaten to within an inch of his life before being left for dead with the Drakes. Jason struggles to save the Drakes for Tim’s sake, manages to get Tim’s mother out of the building before it blows up, killing both Tim’s father and Jason.
Batman and Robin show up just in time to see the explosion. Batman finds Tim’s mother, badly injured from the blast, but alive. Robin, however finds Tim’s father and Bombay. He’s horrified and stunned to learn that Bombay was really Jason Todd.
Of course, Selina is told of Jason’s death, and is completely grief-stricken. Immediately, she goes out as Catwoman and starts hunting for the Joker in order to kill him. Tim finds out, and knowing Jason wouldn’t want Selina to be hurt or killed, goes to Bruce and reveals the whole truth about knowing that he’s Batman, and that Selina is Catwoman.
Batman tracks down Catwoman just in time to stop her from killing the Joker. This enrages Selina and she rejects all his attempts to console her, even though he swears that Joker will never be allowed out of Arkham.
Not being allowed to take revenge on the Joker for the loss of Jason, who she had grown to love as a son, eats away at Selina. She decides that there are some people… horrible people out there (especially those who would kill children) who deserve to die.
Yr 5:
Selina disappears for a year after Jason’s death. When she returns, she’s no longer Catwoman. Instead, she has retrained and has reinvented herself as the Huntress. She’s a colder individual now, focused solely on killing those who need to be killed.
At the same time, Vandal Savage and the Light are interested in manipulating the former Catwoman for their own purposes. Additionally, Vandal knows that a vengeance-driven vigilante willing to kill could turn into a more serious threat to his plans than many of the Justice Leaguers. He recruits Ra’s al Ghul/Lex Luthor to resurrect/clone Jason and to leverage him against her.
