Batwoman Begins Ch 03

It's been years since Kate Kane graced the door of the Wayne building. It hasn't been quite that long, though, since she was graced with the company of the receptionist sitting behind the desk in the lobby. As she approaches, she turns on the charm, "Now there's a beautiful face I haven't seen in a while." She leans over the counter and speaks just above a whisper, "I'm realizing right now just how much I missed it." It's only when Tanya Carlisle looks up to reply that Kate notices the puffy eyes and fresh tears. Sensing trouble, she stiffens and speaks in a slightly elevated voice, "What's wrong?"

The woman swallows hard and dabs her eyes with the tissue she's strangling in her hand, "Why are you here?"

Baffled at receiving a question as an answer, Kate instantly loses her patience, "Get Hayley down here now or let me go up."

"If I could, I would," Tanya spits back. "The only person I'm willing to call for you is your father."

"Why the hell is my father here?"

Without answering, Tanya picks up the phone, "I'm sending Kate up." She doesn't wait for a response from the other end before hanging up, "Go. Get out of my face." Kate turns on her heel without a word. As an afterthought, Tanya she calls out, "Kate!" When they make eye contact, she gives the one and only demand she's ever given - and will ever give - to Katherine Kane, "You

will

fix this."

Kate's jaw clinches as she nods just once before disappearing into the executive elevator. She punches the button and as the doors close, she tries to get her breathing under control. The machine isn't moving fast enough, giving her mind far too much time to imagine what type of shit show she's about to walk into, "Come on. Come on." Her heartbeat is so loud in her ears that it's almost deafening. The taste of blood is the only way she notices she's biting her lip, "Shit."

There's a clawing, aching, foreboding feeling in her body that tells her she's not ready for whatever it is she's about to face. Her breath starts coming in pants and she tries to slow it down. She hasn't talked to Hayley in over a week now. They'd agreed that she would think about whether or not she's going to take up the mantle left behind by Batman. Hayley had sworn she wouldn't reach out first - that was up to Kate. The decision had wracked her mind for days. She'd made her decision and the purpose in coming here today was to deliver the verdict. No matter what happens from this point forward, she's made her mind up and there will be no negotiations.

The elevator doors open and her father is waiting on the other side of them, "Well?" His voice is tense, his brows are furrowed, and Kate can tell there is something terribly, horribly, nightmarishly wrong.

Panic, cold and icy, sweeps through her when she looks around and doesn't see Hayley, "Where is she?"

"She's been waiting

days

on an answer from you. Do you have one?"

They're facing each other with clenched fists. His tone easily ignites the anger that's always just below the surface of her skin, but she measures each of her next words, "Where in the hell is Hayley?"

With a muttered obscenity he turns away from her and storms to Hayley's office, "God damn it, Katherine, I don't have time for this shit."

Kate matches his stride but is still a step behind and will not be silenced, "Where is she, Jacob?"

Now in the middle of Hayley's office, he turns quickly and gets in his daughter's face, "Are you taking the job or not?"

His eyes are wild so he's not going to tolerate her much longer. Straight to the point, she answers with one word, "No."

"Shit!" He turns away to contain his anger, but then turns back again, "Then get the hell out!" Pointing, he adds, "There's nothing here for you. And there's no one waiting on you anymore. You're no damn good to her now."

There are about a million questions she wants to ask. Just as many insults are on the tip of her tongue but she knows she'll get nothing more from him now. Throwing open the door to the office, she's prepared to confront Natalie, Hayley's secretary, who is old enough to be her grandmother. Kate wasn't ready, though, to find the woman waiting on the other side of that door with a look on her face that could melt steel and a voice that could scare the Devil himself, "Check your phone."

"Why?" She asks, even as she pulls it out of her jacket pocket. There's a new text with a picture attached. When Kate opens it, her knees get weak and her stomach lurches, "Hayley." Her hands shake as her eyes water and she gasps, "Oh my God."

Bound and gagged, Hayley sits in a chair with a whiteboard absurdly resting in her lap. Kate's head starts to swim but she forces herself to study the photo through the lightheadedness. Hayley's right eye is almost swollen completely shut. Blood drops have made little tracks down her chin from a split bottom lip and a bloody nose. The woman's nose and cheek look as though they're at least cracked if not completely broken. Even with the injuries, past any fear she's surely feeling, those deep blue eyes are swirling with hate and vengeance. Her clothes are torn and there's blood on them from the various visible scratches and scrapes. It's clear that she's been tortured beyond anything she could ever deserve. Kate focuses on the words scrawled on the white board, "Save me, Batman."

Natalie, watching Kate's body shake from pure anger, speaks softer to her this time, "They took her from her house over three days ago after following her for almost a week." A red face looks up to meet hers and she continues, "They have beaten her for three days straight. But before they took her, she made me swear I wouldn't tell you until you came here on your own." When Kate opens her mouth to speak, Natalie holds her hand up to silence her, "No ma'am. Don't you say a word." Using a pointed finger to get her message through, she speaks now through clenched teeth, "You go back in that fucking office, tell your father you're going to save her, and then go kill every piece of shit who's put a hand on her. If you don't do this, Katherine, she'll never be yours."

With lowered eyes, Kate opens her mouth again, "I-"

"Do

not

insult me by saying you don't want her. I've watched you two since you were going through puberty." She tilts Kate's face back up and studies her eyes, "They will kill her, Kate." The realization flashes like little lightning strikes behind the darkness of her eyes, "I will never forgive you if they do. But worse, you won't be able to live with yourself." Standing with her shoulders back and her spine straight, she sighs, "So swallow the bullshit you want to say that I'm not going to believe anyway, tell your pride to suck your left tit, give your father the same look you're giving me now, and then go get our girl - even if it means spilling an unholy amount of blood along the way. They called Batman out but I don't think they'll be ready for you." For a split-second, Natalie's mouth crooks into a smile, "When you walk through the door do you think they'll be sad you're not the cowardly man who might've kept them alive just to have something to do later?"

In spite of herself, Kate's smirk matches the older woman's, "When I get back, I'll tell you all about it."

"I'll be right there waiting for you girls," Natalie winks.

Kate walks back into the office as her father looks up from Hayley's desk, "I changed my mind." With every ounce of composure she can muster and a look of absolute determination, she growls, "Tell me

everything

you know."