Brave New World: Batwoman

Chapter 6

"What happened to you?" Luke asked as Kate entered the Batcave looking a little beat up.

"My lunatic of a sister, that's what happened." Kate said.

"Alice did that to you?" Luke asked.

"She had me kidnapped, she had questions about what really happened to me while I was gone and somehow she knew about Coryana and by that, I mean that Safiyah has some explaining to do." Kate said.

"You think that Alice was Coryana before you were." Luke said.

"I do. Now I need to figure out why Safiyah never bothered to tell me that she knew where my sister was. Who knows, maybe she could've given me some way to stop Beth from going full Alice." Kate said.

"Yeah, you can focus on that after we let all of Gotham know that the Bat is back. Both your suit and the batmobile are ready." Luke said.

"Right. Time to go show my dad how wrong he is. Again." Kate said as she moved to suit up.

"Could you at least pretend that you're happy about being here?" Catherine asked her daughter as they got out of the car for the ceremony and Mary did not look happy to be forced to be at this ceremony.

"I'm sorry if there's a thousand places I'd rather be than right now." Mary said.

And I'd rather be at any of them with Ryan instead of you. Mary added in her mind, but didn't say, because while coming out to Kate had been relatively easy, likely because she and Kate played for the same team, coming out to her parents was another can of worms. One that she was in no rush to do, but knew that she had to. She was honestly thinking about coming out to her parents one at a time, starting with her father, since at least he'd gone through this once before with Kate, so he'd probably take it better and she'd like to have his support, since honestly, her mom was the one who she was really worried about telling.

"Where'd you go there?" Jacob asked her as he approached his wife and stepdaughter.

"Just got lost in thinking about all the places I'd rather be." Mary said.

"Well, you can go there as soon as we're finished." Jacob said.

"Remind me again why I had to come here and Kate didn't?" Mary asked.

"Because your sister has earned a little leeway after being stuck on an uncharted island for five years." Jacob said.

"Fine." Mary said as she followed them inside, not missing all the chants of protest about keeping the light on like her parents were.

"How do you feel about that? All those chants to keep on the light?" Luke asked.

"I'll like it better when we modify it." Kate said.

"But still." Luke asked her.

"It's nice. Especially since now I understand why they want to keep the light on. I remember why this symbol is so revered in Gotham. I spent so long being angry for something that wasn't his fault that I forgot why the Bat is a hero of Gotham. It's not just because he stops the bad guy." Kate said.

"No. Batman was a symbol of hope to a city that desperately needs it. He gave people hope and something to believe in." Luke said.

"Yeah, but that's not the only reason Batman was so revered. He didn't just inspire hope in the citizens of Gotham, he put fear into the lowlifes of this city. He may not have been a hero like Superman, but Gotham didn't need him to be." Kate said.

"No we do not. Unlike Metropolis or National City, Gotham doesn't need a hero who simply inspires hope like Superman or Supergirl. We need a hero who also puts the fear of God into the hearts of criminals. That's why Gotham went to hell when Bruce left. When Batman left, the criminals had no reason to be afraid." Luke said and Kate grinned.