Life with Bruce Wayne was a circle.
"Katie, sweetheart, don't you want to say hi to your cousin?"
Kate's family moved so much in those early years of her life that the idea of extended family had been like hearing life existed on another planet. Granted, the idea of hearing said family, the Waynes, lived in Gotham City sounded interesting. Almost any story about that part of the world were never good, reminded her of where Mom and Dad apparently went on missions in the army. She only ever heard that things got rough, waiting with her sister Alice for them to return… sometimes worried someone in army fatigues would come instead…
Seeing Wayne Manor for the first time, she believed them to be like those politicians who shook hands with her parents; all painted smiles and hollow eyes, treating the act of thanking those who saved lives like cashing a check, literally treating them as a worthwhile deposit. She hadn't expected the warmth. Aunt Martha was as radiant as ever, Kate thought 'Kane' sounded way cooler than being renamed Wayne. The dress was nice though, sparking like a silver star. The same could not be said of the eight-year-old body with the 40-dollar haircut and suit that he fidgeted in. Kate was two years younger, but slightly taller, a fact of pride for herself. When they shook hands timidly, Bruce hadn't bothered to look at anything but the floor. This allowed Kate to entertain herself by wandering about the party, most guests high on cocktails, and possibly other things, to bother with a little girl. Alfred was the best, Kate never saw someone smoothly move through a crowd and he always managed to keep her glass of cranberry juice filled without asking, even while contending with over 60 guests.
Kate never properly spoke a word to her cousin.
A month later… Kate wished she had.
No one in the family saw much of Bruce after the funeral. Kate had tried to talk to him, she knew what it was like to lose people, Mom and Dad taught her all about it. But she couldn't say a word, not when they locked eyes. Kate didn't understand the stranger who stared back at her. Not for many years.
After she'd been expelled from the army for refusing to disavow the accusation of being gay, Kate had felt lost. One night, wandering the streets of Gotham, a mugger tried and failed to get the best of her. She lashed back, screaming about being a soldier. All bravado stopped short when she met her cousin again.
He had been cloaked in shadows, the yellow-black symbol on his chest radiated like an evil eye. Narrow, clear-white eyes looked down at her. The combination of darkness and striking colors made Kate fall onto her back out of shock. Not speaking, he offered her a gloved hand. Kate couldn't see his face, just the eyes, and the symbol. Mesmerized, she barely processed how he had helped her stand up. After looking to make sure no harm had been inflicted, a shadowy limb reached up and it was as if the night sky pulled him up.
Kate spent fifteen minutes staring up, it had started to rain, her clothes were flooded but she never turned away. There in the sky was the symbol on His chest, larger and burning through the sky. It would be another seven years before she understood the person who she'd met that night, the one seen at her Aunt's funeral. Another year would pass before, she would decide the sky needed to see that symbol again. Before any of those choices led her to this path, there was this moment.
Looking up a blazing bat in the darkness.
When Kate Kane finally found her way to serve.