Chapter 11
“Alright, so this is my apartment, er, penthouse,” Kate said as she escorted Kara out of the elevator. The blonde girl had been in Gotham for a week, originally staying at Wayne Manor with her mother while the former dark knight taught her a few meditation tricks that would help keep a tighter control on her powers and not use as much of her strength when she didn’t need to. He believed that having a tighter control on her mind would help her have a tighter control on her abilities. While Kara was working on meditating, Cat was needling the billionaire for an interview, asking hard hitting and occasionally invasive questions about his business, and completely ignoring his extra-curricular activities. The woman claimed that people didn’t really want to know who superheroes really were, they enjoyed the anonymity of heroes, the thrill, the secrecy. Once the novelty of their identities wore off, they would become just like everyone else, someone fallible, someone breakable. While there was a small percentage of the population that desired to know superheroes’ identities for nefarious purposes, the larger part of the population truly did not want to know.
“It looks nice,” Kara replied, glancing around the penthouse. “It’s very um… very clean.”
“You can say it, it’s a bit bare, I know,” Kate laughed, “You can blame my military upbringing, it taught be to be very spartan with my decor. I tried to liven it up a bit while you were staying with Bruce but um, well, all I managed to do was making a mess in one of the guests rooms. It was the only one furnished, but it’s no problem, you can stay in my room while you’re here.”
“Oh no, I couldn’t do that, I don’t want to put you out,” Kara hurried out, looking at the woman with distress written on her face.
Kate just waved her hand, “No it’s fine, I barely sleep in my room anyway. I’m usually either at the office or you know, out and about. When I do sleep here, I just either collapse on top of my bed or the couch. It’s no problem, and hey while you’re here, maybe you can help me liven up the place a bit. Doesn’t really help with the ladies if I live like some kind of weird psycho.”
“Ladies? So what my Mom said is true you’re a… what was the word…”
“Lesbian?” Kate offered and Kara nodded. “I am, why? Not many lesbians where you’re from?”
Kara just shrugged, “No labels really, matches were formed to advance the house, gender didn’t matter. Male, female, it was a secondary issue.”
The older woman hummed, “How very forward and yet archaic at the same time. Arranged marriages really?”
“There were some made for love, like my uncle and his wife. My father and mother grew to love each other, my aunt and her husband though…” Kara shook her head, “Anyway, it doesn’t matter, on Krypton marriages were for life.”
“So if you were to ever get married, it would be for life then,” Kate inquired, her curiosity piqued by an alien culture. She had an alternative motive for agreeing to teach Kara what she knew, she had always loved traveling, experiencing other cultures, learning their language. She was dying to know more about life on another planet, the things the younger girl had seen. She’d been tempted to track down Superman and ask him, but from the things she had learned in the past week, he didn’t know anymore about what Krypton was like than she did. The only one that knew, that remembered and was willing to talk about it was the girl in front of her. She wasn’t passing up this opportunity.
The blonde girl nodded shyly, “Yeah. Mom said I should hold on to as many of my beliefs as possible, and that’s one that I have to keep. I’m afraid that Rao’s light wouldn’t shine on me anymore if I were to disregard marriage vows, whether they were taken following Kryptonian tradition or not.”
“Rao, that’s your god?”
Kara just hummed and waved her head around slightly, “Rao is the name of our sun, but yes he was the first. He put the planets and stars in order and made Krypton long ago.”
“Fascinating,” Kate murmured before realizing what she said. “Oh no, I sound like I’m studying you or something, don’t mind me. I just love learning about other cultures. Anything you want to tell me about Krypton, your culture, your language, I totally want to know. You don’t have to though. I won’t tell anyone either in case you’re worried, I’m a vault.”
“The only one I’ve really talked to a lot about Krypton is Cat, my mother. I’ve told my best friend a little bit, but she doesn’t want to know much because of her family, just in case something slips,” she replied, smiling wryly, “They don’t much care for aliens.”
“It’s difficult for humans to like each other, I can’t even imagine how a lot of them feel about beings from another planet.” The girl just hummed again, knowing that what she said was true. Kate studied her for a moment, “Look, all I’m saying is that if you need someone else to talk to, I’m here. We all need someone other than a parent to talk to, and we’ve already got the gritty part over with, you being the Cat Grant’s daughter.” A faux-terrified look crossed Kate’s face, “I watched her make a grown man cry on live TV, and this was a hardened politician. It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time, and I had never been more attracted someone before in my life…”
Kara blushed, “Ka-Kate, that’s my mother.”
“She’s a beautiful, strong, terrifying woman, I’m alive, it’s only natural…” Her voice trailed off as she took in the uncomfortable look on Kara’s face and smirked. “Alright, I’ll stop, now let’s get you settled in and then I’ll order some dinner. You like Thai food?”
“It’s food, I’ll eat any food,” Kara grinned.
“Good girl,” the older girl replied, leading the blonde towards her bedroom. “Now, no more of this about putting me out, you make yourself at home. How much do you need to eat a day? How many calories?”
“When I’ve been using my powers, somewhere between 12,000-15,000 calories, depending on how active I’ve been. Normal activity around 8,000 calories. Mom likes for me to limit the junk food, so I have to eat more healthy food in order to meet the calorie requirements.”
“So no junk food but everything else is fine, good to know,” Kate murmured. She pulled out her cellphone and dialed her favorite Thai food place, ordering enough food to feed herself as well as make sure that Kara received the amount of calories she need. She and the girl were going out later so she needed her energy. “I’ve never, you know, taken care of a kid before so if I do something wrong, just let me know.”
“It’s fine Kate,” Kara replied, setting her hand on the older girl’s arm. “I’ve never really spent this much time away from home before, from Cat and Carter so if I get homesick, forgive me.”
“Nothing to forgive on that front Kara, I understand.” Kate leaned back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. “Did Cat or Bruce tell you my story?” She glanced over at the girl who was sitting on her bed looking at her. When the blonde shook her head, Kate continued, “My family is wealthy, has been for a long time. Whatever the Wayne industries didn’t own, we did. I had an identical twin growing up, Beth. When we were twelve, my mother, sister and I were taken hostage by this armed group. My father, an army colonel, led a rescue mission to save us, but my mother and sister were killed. I have a stepmother now, she’s fine, but I joined the military as soon as I could, but I was dismissed for being a lesbian.” She pushed off the wall to turn and stare out the window, “I kind of lost my way a little bit, took up the party girl lifestyle until I was saved from a mugger by Batman. I wanted to be like him, so my father sent me on a trip to learn, to train.” The redhead turned back to the girl and sat down next to her, staring into entranced blue eyes. “I didn’t have anyone to turn to in that time, not my father, not my stepmother. I have been basically floating aimlessly, so never apologize for being homesick, for missing your family, either of them. I only wish I had a stable environment to call home at your age, or someone to really call family.”
Kara was quiet for a moment as she took in Kate’s words. “I’ve learned a lot since coming to Earth,” she started. “On Krypton, one’s bonds, blood, it was everything. But here, I’m learning that family is more than just the people we share blood with, it’s the people that we love, that we care for, a found family.” The blonde stood quietly and moved to the woman, softly taking her hand, “You could be part of my found family if you want? I have a mom, Cat, a little brother in Carter and a best friend but… I could use an older sister?”
It took all of Kate’s training not to cry at the girl’s words, but she still teared up a little from the emotions welling up within her. “It’s been awhile since I’ve had a sister,” she replied, wiping away a few of the traitorous drops that escaped her eyes. “Even longer since I’ve had a moderately functional family, mine’s mostly dysfunctional.”
“Mine too, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing,” Kara replied. “Sometimes it’s more fun.”
Kate let out a barking laugh, nodding her head in agreement. The buzzer from the security guard at the front desk rang and Kate made her way to the intercom, the guard telling her that the delivery man was there. Kate took the elevator back down to the lobby and returned a few minutes later. She owned the entire building, the majority of it being offices for her business empire, but she made the top floor into her own living space, which included her own private elevator. Nearly ten minutes later, she was watching in fascination as Kara inhaled her food in record time, while she dug through her own. They talked about random things, Kate telling her about her on and off again ‘thing’ with police detective Renee Montoya, and Kara tentatively told her about her ongoing crush on her schoolmate Lucy Lane. The woman pulled her into a tight hug when the younger girl told her that, murmuring words of support for coming out and not to pay any mind to closed-minded bigots.
“It sure is different from Krypton,” Kara muttered. She has used her abilities to report several hate crimes throughout National City, feeling incredibly guilty that she hadn’t intervened to stop it sooner. Cat had consoled her, telling her that she couldn’t stop everything, couldn’t save everyone, but to take comfort and focus on the ones she did save. “There was still crime and discrimination, but not like this.”
“I don’t think any society is advanced enough to completely rid themselves of crime,” Kate said when she released the girl. They both returned to their food and finished within a few minutes, Kara inhaling the last of her cartons while Kate continued to watch in amused fascination. Kate tossed the boxes in the garbage and glanced out the window in the living room overlooking the downtown region of Gotham. Night had fully set on the city and darkness pressed down on the streets. Even the streetlights seemed overwhelmed by the oppressive darkness, emitting only a dull light that barely reached the ground.
“Alright, it’s dark out, you ready to head out?” Kate asked, looking over at Kara.
The blonde perked up, “I get to go out with you?”
Kate nodded, “Yes, but you’ll have to stay out of sight and you’ll have to put on something to cover up…” She waved her hand gesturing towards Kara’s body, “All of that.”
“Do I get to be Batgirl?” Kara asked bouncing.
“No, but you do get to wear all black and put grease paint on your face,” the older girl chuckled, pulling some of her old army clothes out of her closet and tossing it at the girl. She hit a hidden switch inside her closet and the wall shifted to reveal her bat suit, all black with blood red accents and the bat symbol on the chest.
“That’s so cool,” the blonde girl murmured, staring in awe at the suit. She had seen Batman’s old suit, Bruce kept it in the batcave where he taught her some meditation techniques and showed her some of the weapons and gadgets he used during his tenure as the hero. Although Bruce felt he wasn’t up to being Batman anymore at present, he knew that he would take up the suit again one day so he kept everything safe and in good condition. “Batman’s suit is dark though, black and gray, why red?” Kara asked, turning her attention back to the older woman.
“Other than the fact it goes fabulously with my hair?” She smirked, flipping her long red mane, “It looks badass. Sure having this dark figure cloaked in shadows coming at you is wicked cool, but a dark figure accented in blood? It’s visually terrifying and I love it.” She motioned for Kara to turn around, and shed her clothes when the girl had turned, quickly pulling on her suit. “So what do you think?” Kate asked after placing the mask over her face. It was a special type of mask that created a vacuum seal around her face so that it wouldn’t fall off and could only be removed by her.
Kara turned around and blinked before an excited look crossed her face. “You look so cool,” she squealed, bouncing slightly. The redhead grinned and grabbed her cape, lifting it up to complete the look. “Oh it makes a bat, that’s cool,” the blonde murmured again. She reached out a softly touched the material of Kate’s suit, expecting leather but finding it to be a different material. “What is this made of?”
“Experimental military fabric,” the woman replied, “It’s mostly bullet-proof, like kevlar, but lighter and breathable. My father had it made for me so that I could do this stuff, be Batwoman.”
The blonde hummed and continued to examine the suit and Kate let her, knowing that the girl was curious and the innocent brushes of fingers along her arm were born out of that curiosity. “What about the mask?” Kara asked, her eyes turning to Kate… no, Batwoman’s face. “You’re eyes are white and glowing, and it doesn’t look like it has any ties on it.”
Kate reached up and grabbed the mask, triggering the release and pulled it off her face. “It forms a vacuum seal on my face so it doesn’t fall off no matter what,” she explained, showing Kara the mask. “The eyes of lenses over them that also act as night vision, thermal sensors and other things. The glowing eyes helps to hide my identity.”
“The mask is probably very useful for that,” the blonde murmured, “Kal, Superman, he doesn’t wear a mask.”
“There are a few superheroes that don’t,” Kate agreed, “But even more that do and I feel like that’s something we should talk about before going out.” The redhead led Kara back over to her bed and sat down, still letting the girl hold her mask. “Kara… if you do chose to become a hero, or if being a hero chooses you, will you wear a mask?”
Kara considered the woman’s question for a few minutes. “On Krypton, it was considered distasteful to hide your face,” she murmured, “It was an ancient custom, one that had grown lax as time progressed, but a few of the traditionalists kept to that belief. My uncle Jor-El, Kal’s father, he was steadfast in this belief. I’m assuming that Kal learned from him and that’s why he chose not to wear a mask.”
“That was Superman’s choice, but what will yours be?” Kate pressed again. When the girl didn’t respond, Kate reached over and grabbed one of her hands, squeezing it with more pressure than she normally would, knowing that it would help ground the Kryptonian. “Kara, if he opted not to wear a mask while he was Superman, that means that he has to wear a disguise when he is in his normal life. The normal life, working, having a family, that should never be the disguise. Being a hero, it’s a hard life, but it shouldn’t be our only life. It should be the part of our life where we’re disguised, where we can help people with our anonymity. Our personal lives should be our refuge where we can be free without having to be in disguise.” She softly took the mask out of Kara’s hands and put it back on her face, feeling the material adhering to her skin. “Plus, with the way technology is going, you’ll always be afraid of someone running your face through facial recognition technology. The mask is good for disguising certain features to make that impossible.”
The girl nodded, she knew what Kate was saying and had observed it when she saw her cousin out of his super suit and in street clothes. He was dorky looking with large glasses and the buttons of his shirt buttoned all the way up to his neck. Kara wasn’t sure what to make of it. He didn’t need glasses, so why wear them? She had assumed it was part of hiding his identity, but from what Kate said, it is easier to wear a mask, to hide yourself as a hero rather than hiding in a normal life. She would have to think on it for a little longer. “So I can’t wear a suit when we go out?” Kara asked, changing the subject.
Kate rolled her eyes and rifled through her closet, finding some grease paint and a hate. “Go on, put the clothes on and then put this on your face,” she said, handing the container to the girl. “And cover your hair, it’s pretty distinguishable in the dark.”
“So’s yours,” Kara shot back but went to the bathroom to change her clothes. It was only a few seconds before she was walking back in, a hat covering most of her hair and smearing grease paint on her face. “This stuff feels really weird on my skin.”
“What I wouldn’t give for just a little super speed, just a little, it would make changing so much faster and convenient,” the older girl grumbled a bit. “Alright, so rules for tonight. You’re coming out with me, you are staying out of sight and observing. If you hear something, you tell me and I will investigate or report it as necessary, but you are not to get involved.”
“But-”
“No.”
Kara sighed, “How am I supposed to learn if I don’t actually do anything?”
“Observation, watch what I do. If you decide to be a hero one day, you’ll be different from me, but you’re supposed to stay back and watch. I’m teaching you how to think through problems, how to analyze situations. You’re going to stay back, watch what I do, watch everything and learn to think.”
“Learn to think?”
“Exactly, let’s go.” Kate led the girl back to the elevator and she stuck the key card key in to take them down to the subterranean level she had installed in the building. It was her own secret lair, her personal bat cave where she kept her bike, car and other things that she needed. She had different tunnels that went under the roads surrounding the building that emerged further away from her building. Unlike Bruce, she didn’t have the luxury of a house outside of the city to disguise her coming and going, so she utilized her other connections to hide her movement. Though she did pop out to Wayne Manor to the bat cave and “borrowed” the batcopter when she needed it. Alfred always let her take it, despite Bruce’s grumblings. “We’re taking the bike, so grab a jacket and hop on.” Kate swung her leg over the back of the black and red motorcycle and started it, reviving the engine.
Kara grabbed one of the leather jackets that was hanging up in the room and briefly glanced at the different weapons lying on the table and hanging on the wall, before jogging over to the bike. “I thought Batgirl was the one that drove a bike?”
“She did, doesn’t mean she has a monopoly on motorcycles,” Batwoman replied. She pulled her customary helmet over her head and handed one of her spares to the younger girl. She took off down one of the tunnels and triggered the remote on her bike that opened the hidden door, and she zoomed out onto the streets, weaving in and out of traffic. Circling around the city once, Batwoman soon pulled over in a dark alley, abandoning her bike. “Do you think you can fly?” She turned and asked Kara. “If not, I have a grappling hook, but I know you mentioned you’ve really been wanting to try flying.” She pointed upwards towards the top of the building. “Up we go.”
The blonde bit her lip for a moment before slowly floating off the ground. She picked Batwoman up and zoomed towards the top of the building, landing only a few seconds later. The female dark knight was disoriented for a moment before steadying herself. “Okay, so much better than a grappling hook,” she muttered, slowly walking to the ledge. She concealed herself in the shadow of the billboard situated above her and the door leading to the building staircase. “One of the best vantage points for dealing with a problem is above,” she told Kara as she motioned the girl over. “It helps you see all of the angles and allows you to assess the situation faster. Batman and I obviously prefer building ledges, though you’ll be able to fly. This area is usually rife with crime so it’s a good place to start.”
Kara nodded but perked up when she heard what sounded like alarms a few streets over. “I think you were right,” she muttered, “a bank robbery, about three blocks away.”
“Can you see them from this distance?”
She narrowed her eyes and peered through the buildings, and spotted the criminals running out of the bank and tossing bags of money in their car. “There’s four of them, three broke into the bank and one is driving the car,” Kara replied, “They’re coming this way, they must’ve triggered something on the way out of the bank.”
“Car chase, this will be fun,” Batwoman muttered. “Okay, I’m going back down to my bike. You follow above on top of the buildings, and stay out of sight. Use that super speed to your advantage, but don’t run into any buildings.” She looked back and saw the nervous but excited twinkle in the girl’s eyes, “Are you having fun yet?”
Kara bounced a little as she nodded, her mouth fighting a bright smile. “So much fun!”
Cat settled onto the chair she had on her balcony, a glass of wine on the table next to her and a book in her lap. Normally she would be busy going over papers, checking in with her lawyers about acquisitions, or jotting down questions and discussion notes for the guests on her show. She had recently acquired a publication in France, getting closer to her goal of having Catco be worldwide, and the writers for the show were adequate after nearly of year of working for her so she felt comfortable to take the rare night off. It was quiet in the penthouse, quieter than it had been in a few years. Carter was spending the weekend with his father and Kara was still in Gotham having a wonderful time with her newly acquired older sister, former party girl Kate Kane, and shadowing Batwoman at night as she fought crime and terror in the dark city. The blonde woman wasn’t pleased when she heard that the woman was taking her daughter out at night, especially with all of the psychos that terrorized Gotham on a regular basis, but both Kara and Kate assured her that the girl was staying out of sight and out of danger, only observing. She could hear the longing in Kara’s voice though, the wish to be out there with Kate fighting crime. Cat resigned herself to it not being an if Kara decided to be a hero but a when. She hoped that her daughter listened to her and heeded her rules to waiting a few more years until she was older and better equipped to deal with the stress.
She sipped at her wine, relishing the smooth, bittersweet flavor as it slid down her throat before returning to her book. Whenever anyone questions her as to what was her favorite book, she makes the appropriate replies with books by Toni Morrison or whatever thought provoking book was popular at the time. The truth would most likely startle people, but the well-worn copy of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in her hands was truly her favorite book. The dark and disturbing content, the torn nature of the main character, and the humanity of the monster in the end, the desire for companionship that was denied by another’s choices, it all spoke to the woman. She has always been a lover of the science fiction genre, having an alien daughter just proved to increase her fascination. And she was of the opinion that Mary Shelley was the first author of modern science fiction, and no one could tell her differently.
Her mind was lost in the sad, twisted tale of an ambitious scientist attempting to play god with his experimentation, only to find that his creation is more monster than man. The constant sounds of the city dulled in her mind as she became lost in the words, but not lost to the point where she wasn’t aware that someone was watching her. The feeling had been a steady tick in the back of her mind, a fleeting awareness that someone was there for a brief moment but gone the next when Cat whirled around. At first, the irrational side of her mind harkened back to childhood fantasies of ghosts and spirits, and she believed she was being haunted, for a total of five seconds. She dismissed the idea after pinpointing the original time frame for the sensation, starting only a few months after she had brought the bubbly, blonde girl into her home. Her suspicions grew after the gifts from ‘Santa’ that first Christmas and then again last year, but she had never been able to nail down anything concrete.
At present, Cat had two choices. She could continue ignoring the sensation, no matter how irritating it was and just peacefully accept that someone was watching and occasionally interfering with her family, or she could call out and confront the person. The former of those options was the safer route, although it could prove costly in the long run, the latter though could prove dangerous at the present moment and that is what had Cat hesitating when she felt the sensation for the past month. Both of her children were away at present though, and never let it be said that Cat Grant ran away from a confrontation. She chased down the Penguin and stared the Dark Knight right in the eyes during her first few months as a reporter, demanding an interview. She would not be deterred.
“I can feel you, you know,” Cat said, not looking up from her book. The sensation would always disappear if she even moved her head so she waited. “You’ve been watching my family for years now, an explanation would be nice.”
The sensation didn’t disappear like normal, it seemed to intensify. The hair on the back of her neck prickled and she heard the sound of wind shifting, something she had grown accustomed to living with Kara and having her floating around the house every now and then. Cat chanced a glance up and her eyes fell on a tall brunette in dark clothes floating just off her balcony. The prominent white streak in her hair was stark against her dark clothes and hair, even her eyes were dark as the gazed down at her with an unreadable expression.
Cat set her book down and took another sip of her wine before she addressed the woman. “Santa Claus I presume?”