Chapter Text
"Beth..." Kate whispered as she made out the blurry figure hovering over her face.
The hand clutching hers combined with the sobbing chuckle that was let out by the figure was enough to confirm that it was Beth.
'She did it... Beth got me out of the cage'
Kate tried moving, but no matter how hard she tried her body wouldn't move, she wanted nothing more than to embrace Beth and hold onto her until they needed air. She wanted to cry out in relief that she was finally in control, she was free from the hold of Circe. But apparently, the universe hated her. The sound of boots and a flash of light interrupted her thoughts.
And before she could even thank Beth, or hug her she was ripped away from her. She was being dragged away from her.
'Not again... no'
Kate could do nothing but watch in pain and fury as her twin sister was dragged away by two cops. She tried with all her might to get up and chase after them, but she only managed to sit up before she let out a painful groan and fell back onto the cold mud. They were being ripped apart yet again. They'd just gotten each other back, and they were being torn apart, why was the universe so cruel. She could faintly hear Ryan trying to coax her to look away, but her eyes stayed on Beth as she sobbed and tugged her arms uselessly from the solid grip of the two cops. It was the last thing she saw before her eyelids dropped from the heaviness.
---
She woke in the familiar clinic with a wet rag on her forehead. Every muscle in her ached, and she hadn't even moved yet, but that didn't stop Kate from getting herself out of the bed and headed towards the door. She wasn't thinking, just that she needed to go see Beth, needed to get her out, needed to hug her thank her. Unfortunately for her though, her journey out the door was cut short by Mary.
"Um excuse me miss, where the heck do you think you're going. You need to be in bed resting" Mary sassed in the familiar tone that left no room for argument. She was dragged back into the bed she just left by the ear.
"Kate what are you thinking, three of your ribs are bruised and you just come out of a snake bit induced high. You can't be getting up your body needs rest" Mary lectures, while Kate just sits on the edge of the bed looking up at her.
'I kinda miss this' Kate thought as a small smile slips on the corner of her lips
'Okay, I guess I can take it easy for today... for Mary's sake. She looks like she’s gonna burst into a sobbing mess’ Kate thought
Before Kate could calm Mary down she was suddenly embraced by Mary in a crushing hug. She would have groaned if it weren't from the muffled sob that came from Mary.
"Please don't leave, I just got you back" Mary whispered into her shirt
"Hey, hey it's okay Mary. I'm not going anywhere, I'm here" Kate whispered back as she returned the
---
The next day she had convinced Mary she was fine to walk and ride again. So here she was back in the Wayne building, sitting on her desk facing the floor-to-ceiling window. She remembers looking out this window a million times, it always had brought her mood up. But now, as she looked out and watched all the people down below going about their day like nothing had happened last night, it just made her feel bitter... bitterness, anger, and envy.
She envied those who could just walk back into their normal routines. Envied that they never had to be brought back from the brink of death multiple times, given a new face, and forced to become an eyeball-ripping psycho. Angry that she had to be the one to deal with this. Wasn't losing Beth and getting Alice not cruel enough, was Sophie choosing someone else not enough for the damn universe, not enough. They had to take away her dad, then Beth again, and her mind.
Kate was brought out of her thoughts by the loud ding of the elevator. She shook herself from the bitterness and anger and masked her emotions with her smile. It was funny even after losing herself masking her emotions still came so naturally to her.
"Guess who brought vegan pizza and beer" Mary yelled out while posing in front of her
Kate let out a little chuckle as she looked at Luke who let out a scoff at Mary's antics
"I did, me Luke after being forced to by the literal millionaire" Luke responded with a shake of his head
"Well, it's nice to see nothing has changed between you two" Kate chuckles as she helps organize the pizza and beer on the desk she sat on
---
The conversation seemed to flow naturally as the day continued with the three friends talked, ate, and drank the afternoon away. Luke and Mary were catching her up on what happened during her time away, and how Ryan had stepped up into the role of Batwoman. Kate was impressed, Ryan had managed to do a lot in a year as Batwoman. It only solidified her plan on passing down the title to her. She'd thought about it over last night and had talked it through with Luke over the phone last night too. She needed a break, a mental break to find comfort in her new face and tattooless skin. She needed to screw her head back on before she could become Batwoman again, so she was going to keep letting Ryan have the title.
"So, you sure you're good with handing the title to Ryan Kate, I know Batwoman was important to you too. I could probably make you a suit for you too if you wanted, I found where Dad kept all the materials for building a suit"
"Thanks, Luke, but I'm sure Ryan’s earned it. And I need some time to get my mind straight, there was so much I've gone through that I need to take some time for myself"
"Well, alright Kate, but when your ready again let me know. I've got you covered"
They clicked bottles to that and Kate found it the right time to ask about the suit Luke found.
"While we're on the subject of super suits. A little bird told me you have one of your own, how'd you managed to find that"
"My dad made it, actually. When I was a kid, I used to draw pictures of how I imagined a black Batman would look like, turns out while I was imagining, my dad was making it into reality"
"Well Luke, looks like your part of the super team now"
"To having Kate back, and for Luke living his dreams," Mary said tosing them both
"But we're gonna need to work on your fighting skills, the suit can only do so much, you need to be able to fight without one too. From what I've seen from you you need to need some lessons on self-defense"
"So that's why I have put it upon myself to start training you, Tuesday in the Batcave 9 am sharp you're having your first lesson"
Luke and Mary looked at her surprised and in awe, though Luke also had a hint of fear in his eyes as they smiled at each other.
"Kate, you don't have to. There's plenty of gyms that offer up boxing and martial arts lessons"
"Luke, they can only teach you so much in those lessons, I say they're a waste of money and time. Plus they don't have the two Batwoman on their staff do they"
"No, I guess they don't," Luke says with a laugh
"And speaking of Batwoman, there she is," Mary says pointing their attention to Ryan, as she walked over towards them, she stopped and sat on a chair in front of Kate
"Am I interrupting something?" Ryan asked
"No, actually I needed to talk to you, can we have a minute guys," Kate asks Mary and Luke
They leave with a wink and a hug from Kate, and now it's just the two Batwoman left in the room. The past batwoman who was passing the mantle to the new. It's funny really, during the Crisis she was chosen as the Paragon of Courage and was destined to be the bat of the future, and yet here she was not even 2 years had passed from then and she was already passing the future of the bat onto someone else.
---
Kate looked at the doors of The Hold-Up and built up her courage. This would be the first time she saw Sophie after she nearly killed her, the images still haunted her, she hadn't been able to do anything but mess with Circe's aim back them. Even then Circe managed to almost overcome her interference, and she nearly killed the love of her life.
She shook herself from the haunting memory and entered The Hold-Up. She slowly made her way through the second set of doors, from where she stood now Sophie was seated on a stool at the bar table facing towards her. She was waiting for her, Kate let herself take in Sophie's form, she looked just as breathtaking then she remembered.
"I hear you not gonna try and kill me this time" Sophie joked as she slides off the stool and strutted towards her
"True, I'm not gonna kill you. I came to apologize and make some amends"
Sophie looked as though she was about to say something but Kate interrupted before she could
"Wait, I need to this. I know that I wasn't myself the last time we saw each other, but it doesn't mean anything. I did say things and did things that hurt you and everyone, and I'm so sorry that I ever even did it, I'm sorry I couldn't do more to fight off Circe and to protect you guys"
"I'm sorry, and I need you to know that whatever Circe made me say that I didn't mean any of it. Lying about who I was was the most difficult thing I've ever had to do"
"Kate stop, YOU have nothing to apologize for. You hear me I know whatever Circe said wasn't you. Kate nothing Circe did to us is on you so stop apologizing for the psycho alright"
"I wish that made me feel better about myself Soph, but it doesn't. I was still in there when Circe did all those things, I was there trapped in a metal cage watching, listening, feeling everything Circe did. I should’ve tried hard to warn you of what Circe was doing"
"Kate Kane, look at me. I will say this again and I will keep saying this until you get it through your head. We don't blame you for anything that Circe did, and you have nothing to be sorry for. So stop apologizing or I'm going to hit you until you stop"
Kate stayed quiet at what Sophie said, she knew logically Sophie was right. She shouldn't be sorry for what happened, she was tortured and brainwashed by a sadistic asshole. Yet there was a part of her that couldn't forgive herself forever hurting the only people she considered family. She also knew that this conversation would go in circles if she kept apologizing, and Sophie would eventually end up pushing her until she gave in. So she nodded in defeat.
"Okay fine, no more apologies, but I still need to say something"
"I know our relationship even before the whole batwoman secret identity thing happened, but having been through a near-death experience has made me reevaluate how I've handled things. Back then I held onto the grudge of your rejection to heart and that we hurt each other too much for anything to work. But now, after what I went through after I almost killed you, that life's too damn short to think of all the wrongs we've done to each other"
"I love you Soph, and I don't want to make the same mistake of walking away from you. I want to try Soph if you'll still have me" Kate finished as she grabbed Sophie's hand into hers
They stared at her for a tense second, Kate feels the air around her turn heavy with tension. The silence made Kate nervous, she hoped she hadn't screwed up too much to fix things. She went to say something to break the silence when she saw Sophie leaning in closer to her. She started leaning closer too, God she hoped she wasn't misinterpreting the signals. Before they had completely closed the gap between them Sophie whispered
"Kate, you know a chance is all I've ever wanted"
Before Kate could even take in what was said Sophie closed the remaining distance between them and lock lips. God, she missed the feeling of Sophie's on hers, she missed the taste. She doesn't think of anything else and just lets herself live in the moment. Kate pulls back to take a breath, she leans her forehead on Sophie's not wanting to let go of Sophie just yet. The two don't say anything, and just enjoyed the warmth of each other in their embrace.
---
It was the ding of Kate's phone that broke the moment of embrace as they jumped apart from the sudden noise. Kate pulled out the device with a grumble to see the notification that interrupted the moment. It was just the confirmation email of the ticket she had purchased earlier.
"What is it, is it something important," Sophie asks
"Oh it's just an email, nothing too important"
"But it does remind me of something else I need to ask you"
"Okay... what is it"
"There's this friend I need to visit in National City. I wanted to ask you if you'd like to come with me. It's just for the weekend, I'm coming back the next week"
"Um of course I'm coming. You're crazy if think I'm letting you go on another plane after your last plane was hijacked and blown up. I just got you back I'm not gonna risk losing you again"
Kate felt a smile sneak onto the corner of her lips at Sophie's answer, also shook off the feeling of dread that had settled in her stomach as she saw a flash of a plane exploding.
"So is there anything else you want to talk about, or can we take things upstairs" Sophie whispered suggestively
"As much as that's very tempting right now, I'm gonna need to push that to later tonight, I still have something I need to do before the end of the day"
"Anything I can help with, or is this a one-man job"
"It's a one-man job, unfortunately, but I'll try and be as quick as I can"
"Well then you best hurry and go I don't know how long Ryan’s gonna be out of the loft so"
Kate went in for one last kiss before she picked her helmet up from the table and headed out to her bike. She started up her bike and headed towards Arkham.
---
She followed the big guy down the hallway as he leads her to where they placed Alice. They stopped right next to where they had Roman locked up. Kate felt her fist curl up in anger as she heard the familiar voice mutter out a name repeatedly. Just his voice spiked a wave of indescribable anger in her that terrified her, she never felt this angry before it was one of the many new things she needed to control.
"Five minutes, that's it," the guard says as he snatched the 100 dollar bill from Kate's hand and pulled open the door
She took in a deep breath and unclenched her fist as the door to Alice's slowly creaked open. Alice was sitting on the bed with her head down and her eyes closed.
"Back so soon Ry, Ry. That was qui-" Alice started before snapping her mouth shut
"Well, you aren't who I was expecting to see," Alice says as she suddenly stood up from the bed
Her whole demeanor drastically changed as well, she looked so relaxed and at ease like she had no care in the world, but now she stood shifting from foot to foot and eyes filled with worry.
"What are you doing in my humble abode, dearest sister"
Kate felt her throat close up as she looked at her Beth, she felt suddenly unable to speak as she took in Beth in the ugly orange jumpsuit. She tried to speak but nothing came out but a choked sob, so she did the next best thing and embraced Beth in a tight hug. She let herself let out a sob and tightened her arms around Beth's back.
"Thank you, Beth"
"Thank you for bringing me back"
She felt Beth wrap her arms around her back and head. That did nothing to help her regain herself, it made her cry harder, her mind went back to the snake bite high she had experienced. It let her see how things would have been so different if she had just opened the damn basement door and found her. If only she'd fought harder to get Beth back if she didn't give up on her and betrayed her.
"I'm sorry Beth, I'm so sorry. I should've tried harder"
Kate sobbed into Beth as the feeling she felt from the high came all back to her.
"It's okay Kate, I told you. There's still time" Alice says back
Kate pulled back from the embrace and wiped the tears from her eyes, Alice does the same with the tears that formed from the admission of sorrow from her sister.
"I promise I'll try and get you out of here. I'm not giving up on you"
Alice could do nothing back try and hold back the forming tears. If you told her a year ago that she'd be hearing Kate saying sorry and promising to never give up getting her back, she'd laugh at you and probably would've killed you, yet here she was witnessing the person she had promised to kill for the betrayal. Begging her for forgiveness.
"Kate... thank you" Was all she could respond with before the door creaked open again signaling that time was up
"I'll be back, I promise. I'm not gonna leave you again. I'll be back I promise" Kate recited to Alice in the last embrace before she was dragged out of the cell.
Alice tried to reach for Kate one last time but was met with a metal door in her face. She pressed her hands to the door and felt Kate do the same, on the other side.
"I love you sis" Alice let out silently with a soft smile
She thought back at what Safiyah said about her having no one and let out a laugh If she could only pull the dagger out of her stomach and make her watch as she got her sister back. She continued to revel in sweet victory as she fell back onto the cell's bed.
---
Kate pulled back from the door and let out a weary sigh. That had taken more out of her than she'd expected, and now she wanted nothing more than to lay in her bed and take a long nap. She headed back to her bike and rode back to The Hold-Up. But halfway through the ride back, the fuel light lit up, so with a grumble she pulled into the nearest gas station and filled up. She had to go and pay in cash since her cards were still being unfrozen. She went in and paid for a full tank.
As she waited for her bike was to fill up, she walked over to the window cleaning station and wiped down the visor of her helmet. She wore the helmet as she wiped it down, she had just gotten it clean of the soap when she heard gunfire