The city never slept. It was known. Cars honked, people hustled through the streets, rats scurried in the shadows — each of them chasing something, always moving, never stopping. And above it all, the moon hung in her black sky, watching over the chaos below.

Under her gaze, Kathrine stood at the edge of a rooftop, her silhouette covered in darkness. Her eyes resembled the same cold void but now they glistened with an added hunger. They were dangerous, electric. She had grown used to the city's pulse beneath her feet, she was familiar with it, it couldn't hide anything from her, not anymore.

Beneath her black attire (An hoodie, a pair of trousers, worn sneakers) something inside of her needed to be fed. It gnawed, clawed. The lust inside her had grown louder, more urgent, impossible to ignore, even thought she had tried it many, many times. It demanded—no, ordered—blood.

Feed me. It shouted. She couldn't escape it, she could only surrender to it. She had always been ready for a fight, but how do you win against your own self?

She took a deep breath and it made the pain inside of her calm down. The constant ache gave her a moment of peace. (It didn't make it better) The wound sill refused to heal. Kathrine would always know pain, she would always swim inside of it. Use it to wash away her sins. Tonight, there was no denying it. The hunger could only be satisfied one way.

A white mini van parked in the alley under her feet. She put on a balaclava, it was the same dark color of her clothes. She crouched down to take a better look at the vehicle. Two men came out, arguing about the time it took them to arrive there. She watched as they entered the building before she rose back up on her feet, then, without much care, she stepped forward. Falling swiftly to the ground. She landed smoothly, silently, right behind the van.

She used her nail like a key, to open the back doors. She jumped inside, she didn't make a sound. It was full with cartoon boxes. Curiosity called. She always answered. Inside one of the box she found ropes covered with blood. She looked into another, knives and saws, rusty old things. The crimson red on them made it clear that they had been recently used.

It took Kathrine less then ten seconds to enter the building and find the two men. Now there were five of them. They all looked the same, big and angry. Yet, they weren't stupid. They were ready to fight, always. Like Bulls waiting for something red to charge at.

She cut one man's neck. Blood dripped to the ground from the injury caused by her nails. His hands came up to his throat, one last pointless attempt to save his own life. She kicked his back and he fell to the floor. A puddle of his own blood covered the grey cement. Yes. Spoke the creature inside her. All she could see was red. Red, red, red.

The bull came running. Was it the color that had called him? Or maybe the sound of his colleague's body hitting the hard, stone-cold ground? The man looked frenetically from the figure standing tall, half covered in the shadows, and the other laying unconscious on the ground. Kat tilted her head. She remained unmoved as her opponent quickly grabbed the gun strapped to his belt. He shot. One. Two. Three, four. Five times. Not one bullet landed on her. They passed right trough her, what remained of her.

Kathrine wasn't a normal being. She knew it. And now he knew it too. Her silhouette didn't even resembled one of a human as she kept still. The molecules in her body stretched, like they were pulled apart. Her outline flickered, like the static on a broken TV screen. Her skin became translucent, her form deformed and reformed, all while the bullets passed right trough her.

The pain of a wound would have never compared to what she felt everyday. But she could easily lick her injuries away, her atoms knew what to do to put her pieces back together — They had done it a thousands of times already — and Kat knew that she would always have the pain to comfort her. To let her know that she was still there, alive. Death was waiting behind the corner, she would always wait. She liked to play with her favorite toy, too much to let it go. Kat was used to being thrown around, being used for amusement. Death could wait, Kat would have her moment sooner or later.

The man had just the time to look confused. His eyebrows shooting up in surprise as he realized that she was still up on her feet. His weapon was useless, much like anything else against her. The shadow of Death was actually there, but for him. Kathrine jumped at him like an animal at its pray. She would love to say that it looked like a cat catching a rat between its paws, but she knew how she was during those nights. She was sure she resembled something darker. A hyena finally getting the chance to eat the leftovers. Laughing with a mouth painted red.

She hated it. (She loved it)

(It was way worse—Just like her)

Kat hands were covered with the dense liquid. She wanted every drop of it. No. She scolded herself. Like a mother with a child. Yes. The darkness said back to her, chuckling at her tone. It was pointless to fight it. She knew she would fall in its grasp once again. She moved her gaze to the rest of the room. Now two bodies were on the ground. One coughing the other begging. They screamed out their pain, trying to push it away. How naive of them to think that there was a way to control it. You don't choose how it hurts, where it hurts, when it hurts. You just take it.

Preferably silently.

Kat crushed one head with her foot. She grabbed the gun and shoot the other man between its eyes, one bullet flying right into his brain. From that spot up on her feet she got a first row seat to her favorite show (Her means the Kathrine of the night. The one that has a lust for blood and can't act without thinking about it. The one that is a monster. The one that loves to see the dark river stain the clothes of her victims) The carcasses remained empty. Death did her job.

Three more bulls came running. The creature inside the cage succeeded on breaking one of the bars. Kat smirked under her mask. Her eyes screamed hunger, she would feed the monster until it's satisfied. The men grabbed their rifles, they emptied their weapons in a couple of seconds. They thought they won, it had been just another stupid gangster who didn't know when to say no to their curiosity. (Half of that sentence was true) But then they understood the truth. Actions have consequences, sadly for them that night it was Kathrine's turn to make them face theirs. And there wasn't a worse end.

She hunted. They run. She caught them, they fought back. She sinked her nails into their hearts. They let their souls leave their bodies. With the last one she took her time, the name 'Sergio' sawn on his shirt was enough to remind her of the writing on the golden card. The card that had been left on the counter hours before because apparently he was 'Too much trouble'. The creature inside her had roared at the thought of a new snack. "What does he do?" she had later asked to Wade. His eyes had widened after he had read the golden square. "Shit Kitty, you really don't know this name?" He had leaned with his forearm over the counter. Her silence had been enough of an answer for him "He's like the Wario of crimes"

She had looked back, unamused. She had snatched the card from his hand, putting it back in its rightful place, with the other names that no one cared enough about (How pointless — Or powerful — can you be if not even mercenaries care enough to kill you?) "Okay okay" Wade had pushed his hands up in surrender. He would have gotten on his knees just to make her stay with him a little longer "In alphabetical order. He's searched for armed robberies, assaults, blackmails, child exploitations, drug abuse and trafficking, escaped prison, kidnaps, kills—"

"Alright, i get it." she had stopped him. She had used her hand to move her locks on the other side of her head, one fell in front of her eyes. "He's bad, bad."

"He's bad, bad" he had nodded, repeating her words. "One of those big rats that eat their own kind when they aren't feed enough." he had smirked at his own phrase. He had tilted his head to look right into her brown orbs, a teasing look on his face "A big cat would love to eat him for lunch"

She had stilled, he didn't notice it. Maybe he would have had if he hadn't been so lost inside her eyes. Kat had gave him a fake smile, one that was reserved for his lame jokes that couldn't seem to make anyone laugh. "Very funny Win, but you know i don't like to get my hands dirty"

She punched the unconscious man in the face. For the fifth time now. Five punches for five bullets, for five men. She should have stopped there. She would have, really, if she didn't had the monster inside of her almost out of its cage. Kathrine kept going. The face of Sergio didn't even resemble him anymore. He was dead. Her hand could stop landing hits against his skull. Bloodied knuckles against ripped flesh. (Was it her blood? Had she finally succeeded on escaping the loop that was her own body?)

Death thanked her for what she did that night, like many more nights before, like many more nights after. Kathrine nodded back, spots of crimson stained her black clothes. It couldn't be seen. Her sins were hidden right under her cloth of darkness.

"Rough night?" his voice made her stop. Her punch stilled mere centimeters from the deformed face of her victim. Her gaze fell down to his torso. A cut right over his chest had ripped the name tag away from the shirt. Kat closed her eyes. "You know, only bad kitties play with their food" He said, referring to the way her mask looked like it had cat ears. She got up on her feet, she stepped towards the man leaning against the pillar of cement. Five dead bodies were scattered around the room. White floor tainted with the consequences of their actions.

She stopped in front of him, slightly to the side. She grabbed the golden card from her back pocket and she pushed it in his direction. Wade stayed silent. It was a strange sight. He had the same red jacket with the white fur inside. He grabbed the golden card and he read the name out loud "Sergio Castillo, a.k.a. Red Hand" he whistled out loud. Kat left the building without saying anything. Wade would have recognized her voice whichever form she changed it into.

"You know, just say the words and i'll leave him to you" Vanessa voice brought her back to reality, away from the memories of the night before. Kathrine had to remind herself that she was back at the pub now. That the creature was satisfied — For now.

She blinked, she realized that she had been staring at Wade Wilson's profile all this time. Her hand cleaning the counter, she could almost see her reflection in it for how long she had been standing there. Vanessa chuckled lightly, a sound so soft that it almost made Kat's ears bleed. "I don't think he would mind" she added as the bartender turned her head to look in her direction.

"I don't know what you are talking about" she grumbled back. She forced her eyes down, it was a task much harder than she had anticipated. She started to move the bottles around, trying to find any empty ones that needed to be thrown out.

The other woman crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't move, instead landing her eyes on the figure of the man that in the past months had grown very fond with the idea of occupying her bed. She liked his attention, his soft gaze. She liked the way he wasn't pure, but he was indeed good for his line of work. She liked that he had wanted to see the true her. Maybe she even liked him. It was far too early to establish that and for now she only saw their relationship as two friends with a side of benefits. On top of all Kat was her bestfriend, even if she would never call herself such thing. And Vanessa was sure that there was something going on between them, especially since she had caught Wade staring lovely at the bartender more than once.

Vanessa didn't mind the merc. She could see herself being easily loved by him. She cared more about that than actually loving back. And Wade didn't care about her thoughts, if something was good enough to distract him from his unrequited love then it had to be worth something, right? He wouldn't be able to deny the feelings for his newest acquaintance anyway. Vanessa was interesting and clearly cared about him.

Kathrine hated the feelings in her stomach as she thought about the two. She hated that something other than herself had control over her. Only her dark thoughts had the right to make her feel something, not anything else.

"Sure you don't." teased her Vanessa "I'm going to the bathroom" she added.

Kat furrowed her eyebrows. Her eyes and focus had been trained to her work but she heard her friend's heels as she walked away. "Why would i care—"

"Hi Kitty" Wade was there, on the other side of the counter. Because of course, of course he was everywhere she went. On her job as bartender he was there, drinking and laughing with his friends. And the night, when she had to feed the beast, he would catch her in the act. He didn't know that it was always her, he didn't need to know that. But she knew. And it made her absolutely crazy, couldn't he give her a moment of peace?

"Win" was all she said back. She couldn't look at his face, he knew how to look at her the right way to make her crumble (He absolutely had no idea how to do that).

He looked around the pub. Searching for something—No, for someone. His fingers tapping to a rhythm inside his head. He turned his head back towards her. "Vanessa?" he asked. Kathrine wanted to grab the back of his head and smash it against the wood at least ten times.

"Bathroom"

He putted an hand inside his jacket and he took out a golden card. He slid it to her side. She read the name and her heart skipped a beat. She cleared her throat, she grabbed it from his hand and she moved to the cashier. "I thought i had gave it to someone else" she muttered as she counted the money. It was a sum far bigger than any she had given.

He nodded "It was Felina. Cat ears on, looking like she just stepped out of some twisted anime—and trust me, the mess she made was art. Seriously, is she trying to be the lovechild of Jigsaw and Cheetara, or does she just have a thing for causing carnage?"

Kat went to gave him the money. "Did you kill her?" She asked instead, ignoring all that he had previously said. She needed to be distant. Kathrine ignored everyone and everything and she always got what she needed. One way or another.

Wade chuckled "Pfft, of course not. She handed me her card like 'Here's my number, in case you need a ride to the ER'. Seriously thought, have you seen her? If we went toe-to-toe, I'd be the one tapping out first. She's got killer written all over her. And by 'killer,' I mean 'I'll snap you like a twig and then use your spine as a back scratcher' vibe. Not exactly my idea of a fair fight." he admitted without much fuss.

Kat tried to keep her part going. Not that it was difficult for her. She remained silent as she slid the money to the man, Wade smiled widely as he pushed it into his wallet. "Thank you Kitty"

She kept silent. The pain grew — It always did.

Authore's Note:
A little shorter than the first.
Wade and Kat nation RISEEEEE (All they do is silently yearn for each other)