Brave New World: Batwoman

Chapter 24

Okay, first off, the season 3 premiere of Batwoman was interesting. I can't wait to see how the rest of the batman trophies come into play throughout the season, especially since unlike the other trophies, we'll actually be seeing the real Poison Ivy return and not a next generation. Also, I can't wait to see what happens with Ryan and her mom and before anyone asks, yes, I will be incorporating that into this story, though I don't know when or how yet. And now, on with the chapter.

"Aren't you worried that Batwoman will be looking for you?" Mouse asked Alice as they walked through her lair.

"Not really, since right now, my sister is likely focused on finding out who's responsible for maiming her other sister's girlfriend. Which means that her attention will be off of me." Alice said, since she'd already told Mouse that Kate was Batwoman.

"Unless of course she thinks that you're behind it. You're not, are you?" Mouse asked.

"Of course not. I have enough heat on me from both my father and sister without adding that on. Honestly, I think they're focusing on me more now than when I was missing. I bet they won't stop looking for me until they find me. Which really says something about them, don't you think?" Alice said.

"And Kate at least won't make a move against you. Not yet anyways." Mouse said and Alice nodded.

"Not as long as I have this." Alice said as she led him into a side room to reveal an older woman, wearing tattered old clothes that looked years old, lying on a hospital bed with several tubes attached to her.

"It doesn't bother you to see your own mother look like this?" Mouse said and Alice sighed.

"The coma she's in is the only thing keeping her alive. I'm not keeping her like this because I want to. It's the only way I can keep her alive." Alice said and there was true sadness in her voice, since while she hated her father and sister, she still cared deeply for her mom, since back when she was Cartwright's prisoner, her mother was all she'd had. The one thing that had kept her sane. And then Cartwright had nearly taken that from her and that caused her to snap.

"Are you okay?" Mouse asked.

"Just thinking about how the death I gave your father was far too kind after what he did to my mother." Alice said.

"I thought you hated the Kane family." Mouse said.

"Not my mom. She's the only one of them I like, and it's only because she went through the same things I did. She did everything she could to try to make me feel safe, regardless of the horrible life we'd been condemned with. The least I can do is keep her alive." Alice said.

"Besides taking her to a hospital." Mouse said.

"I may care about her, but not enough to give up the only leverage I have to keep my family out of my way." Alice said.

"Understandable." Mouse said.

"Anyways, moving on, what did you find out?" Alice asked him, turning the attention back to their plans.

"Unfortunately, it will not be easy to get to Catherine Hamilton. Apparently your sister made a very large contribution to Blackgate prison to upgrade their security system specifically to keep people from breaking out or in." Mouse said.

"Great. Kate finds ways to get in my way without giving me a reason to hurt mommy dearest." Alice said.

"You're not going to anyways are you?" Mouse asked.

"Of course not. But Kate doesn't know that. And as long as she thinks I'm serious, she won't do anything to majorly mess with my plans and honestly, getting revenge on Catherine Hamilton, that was always just icing on the cake. Besides, I'm sure the prisoners at Blackgate are treating her the way she deserves, so we might as well just sit back and watch her." Alice said.

"Really?" Mouse asked.

"I'll give my sister some credit, she outdid me in this regard. I was simply going to kill Catherine after making her confess the truth, but what Kate has done, that's even better. Catherine Hamilton is nothing anymore. Literally everything she was and had is gone. Now, she's just a poor woman rotting in prison with not even a single penny to her name, so if she does get out, big if on that, she'll literally have nothing, since even her own daughter wants nothing to do with her, so it sounds like she'll be living on the streets, which makes me think she's hoping she'll spend the rest of her life in prison, because that means at least she'll get a roof over her head." Alice said.

"I suppose that is an interesting way of looking at things." Mouse said.

"Yes, now anyways, have you at least found a way to get that gun from Hamilton Dynamics?" Alice asked.

"Your sister is really trying to be a pain in your butt." Mouse said.

"What's she doing now?" Alice asked.

"She's working on buying Hamilton Dynamics and if she does, then she'll shut down the project." Mouse said.

"Then I guess we better find a way to get that gun before she shuts it down." Alice said and Mouse nodded.

"So, Catherine was developing a gun that was capable of piercing the batsuit." Jacob said as he and Kate walked through Gotham Park.

"Yeah. I found out about it after Mary got me access to the Hamilton Dynamics database so I could get more information about my decision to buy it. This definitely increased my urgency to get it done." Kate said.

"You're going to be putting the gun into production?" Jacob asked, since that didn't sound like Kate.

"No, I'll be shutting the project down and destroying any trace of it." Kate said.

"That sounds more like you." Jacob said.

"You object?" Kate asked her father.

"Look, I know I said I'd give Batwoman a chance." Jacob said.

"But." Kate said.

"But I still think that Gotham should have a way to defend themselves in case she or the Huntress go rogue. I'm not saying they will, but I think we should be prepared." Jacob said and Kate could tell that he was just speaking honestly, this wasn't coming from his prejudice.

"I see where you're coming from dad and I agree with you on that, but I'm more concerned about the risks that come from having a weapon like that mass produced. Or produced period. I mean, that Batsuit allowed Batman to survive punches from Bane with only a few dents from what I hear. A weapon that can pierce material like that, imagine what would happen if the bad guys got their hands on it." Kate said.

"Okay, I can see how that would be problematic to Gotham. But still, it would be nice if my men had the same kind of protection." Jacob said.

"What do you mean?" Kate asked.

"What I mean is that one of the reasons Batman and now Batwoman are both still standing is because that suit is impenetrable by most weapons. If my guys had something like that, maybe we could actually stand a chance." Jacob said.

"Yeah, not sure how a majority of Gotham would feel about bulletproof Crows." Kate said.

"Can we not get into that argument. This is the first day off I've taken, probably ever, so I'd like to enjoy it." Jacob said.

"Who are you and what have you done with the workaholic I call my father?" Kate asked and Jacob laughed.

"Very funny Kate. I'm serious though. You were right. I was running myself into the ground with work because I didn't want to have to deal with all my failures. Especially failing to protect the happiness of my daughter." Jacob said.

"Have you talked to Mary since the hospital?" Kate asked.

"No, I can't bring myself to face her and Ryan until I have the name of the person responsible for what happened to Ryan." Jacob said.

"Dad, Mary needs her father, now more than ever. Come on, we're gonna go see them." Kate said and Jacob only sighed and nodded, only because he knew she was not giving him a choice.