It was a rather quiet night in Gotham City, especially for a Friday. Usually around this time, some greasy thug came out to shake down the first poor sucker to stroll his way. Or maybe a hooker ends up getting strangled by a lunatic looking to satisfy a bloodlust. Better yet, Alice, the town nuisance makes everyone's day that much harder with a ridiculous plan to terrorize the innocent. At least she was locked away in Arkham. Yep, the streets have been safe ever since Batwoman came into town. She's definitely made the police and the CROWS, Gotham's private security force, job that much easier, whether they appreciate it or not.
One person who appreciated it more than anyone, was Lieutenant Sophie Moore. Second in command to Jacob Kane, leader of the CROWS and the man who she has to thank for being in her current position. Sophie was also the lover of his daughter Kate Kane, also known as Batwoman to a select few. Batwoman took a vacation for the time being while Kate left on a weekend business trip in Metropolis, working on a secret project with Kara Danvers. This left Sophie to her work and private thoughts until she returned. Many things ran through Sophie's mind ever since she discovered Kate moonlighting as a masked vigilante.
Can their relationship work despite what sides of the law they stand on? What's going to happen if her dad finds out? How will Jacob react to Sophie knowing about Kate's alter ego, and keeping it a secret? For now, she wondered why the drive-thru line at Burger Boy hasn't moved in the last three minutes.
She beeped the car horn, prompting a middle finger from the car in front of her. The young employee handed over their food, finally letting Sophie drive to the window.
"Hello," said the teenage cashier. His nametag read 'Trevor'. "Sorry for the delay, we've had a few callouts tonight."
Sophie exhaled, "it's fine dear. How much longer is the wait?"
"Um," he pressed a few buttons on the monitor, "you ordered the chicken wrap, french fries and diet coke, right?"
"Right."
"About another minute miss." He then disappeared into the restaurant.
Sophie turned on the radio, which played a country song. It wasn't modern day country with a mix of pop. It was the old school, cocaine cowboy country. Not in the mood for that. She scanned a few different channels, coming across one playing "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls. This brought Sophie back to her childhood, as she began to mutter the words.
"If you wanna be my lover, you gotta with my friends. Make it last forever, friendship never ends." She continued to sing as she looked up to the sky.
The stars were shining bright and gleaming. Always a wonderful sight to see. A plane flew by the full moon, creating a visual that would make a nice computer screen saver. This image didn't last long, as the aircraft suddenly exploded, which sounded like the world's biggest firework going off.
Sophie's eyes grew wide. "Oh shit!" She hit the gas, just as the teenager returned.
"You forgot your food!" he yelled.
Food was on the last thing on her mind. A damn plane just blew up in mid-air. Taking another look at the sky, she watched the massive fireball slowly descend upon Gotham. Judging by the trajectory, she deduced that it would land in the Gotham Harbor, and that's where she was headed.
"Lieutenant Moore, come in! This is officer O'Brien. Come in Lieutenant!"
Sophie detached the CROW issued walkie-talkie from her hip and answered the call. "This is Lieutenant Moore."
"Did you see that plane blow up"
"Yeah, and it's landing at Gotham Harbor! I repeat, it's landing at Gotham Harbor!" She pounded the car horn again as a minivan tried to swerve the lane without a signal. "I'm going to need all CROWS on duty and medical staff there ASAP! Inform Commander Kane as well. Lieutenant Moore out!"
"WAIT! One more thing you should know. That wasn't just any plane. It's a Wayne Enterprises private jet."
In that moment, her heart skipped a beat. Besides the pilot, only one person could have been on that jet. She quietly uttered, "Kate," under her breath. Going into third gear, Sophie sped past a red light and blazed a path to the crash site.
She was the first to arrive, parking on a nearby shore where most of the wreck had landed. Pieces were on fire, scattered across both land and sea. The amount of gasoline a plane carries will barbeque anything and anyone caught in the vicinity. This meant the probability of Kate surviving an explosion of that size is low. It didn't stop Sophie from having hope. Flashlight in hand, she weaved around the wreckage, looking for survivors.
"KATE! CAN YOU HEAR ME! KATE! IS ANYONE ALIVE OUT THERE?"
Her voice echoed into the night, calling for her love, but there was no answer. It would take hours to find a body in this mess. Standing by the shore, Sophie noticed patches of bright red floating in the water. She recognized it instantly. The Batsuit! Sophie ran straight into the water, soaking her pants suit from the knees down. Maybe Kate managed to escape, only getting knocked out from the blast. Sophie grabbed the outfit, lifting it in the air. The lack of weight instantly killed Sophie's chance for a miracle. It was filled with holes and dents, but no body. Clutching the suit, Sophie began to shudder. Not from the icy drink, but fathoming Kate's demise in this manner. If it weren't for the ambulance sirens, she might have cried right there.
The first thing crossing her mind was, "they can't see the suit". She quickly skipped back to shore, dashing to her car. Throwing it in the trunk of her sedan and buried it under a spare tire.
The CROWS arrived shortly after, along with the Gotham police. Of course, an incident of this magnitude would draw the attention of every law enforcer in the city. The news reporters would be on their way too. Sophie gave her team a small briefing, which ended in her finding nothing, besides what she had stashed away. The recovery team eventually found the pilot's dead body, but not Kate's.
Jacob took it about as well as any parent losing their child could. He stood in the middle of the chaos, stone faced. Sophie watched from afar as he barked orders to the lower ranked CROWS when necessary, keeping a cool composure. But Sophie knew the man too well, seeing right through his facade. Kate was his everything. If he lost her, then he lost it all. She paced towards him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Jacob turned around to see who dare bother him now. He was relieved to have it be Sophie's face, considering the two haven't talked all day.
"Lieutenant. Thank you for being on top of this situation."
She half-heartedly smiled and nodded. "That's why you gave me my rank in the first place."
Jacob once again stared out into the open water, waiting for the good news. Waiting for Kate to come out of the water. Cold and injured, but alive. Four hours had passed since they arrived, and no progress had been made on Kate's status. Sophie knew he wouldn't leave unless she made him.
"Commander," she woefully spoke, "maybe you should go home. Get some rest. I'll finish up with the guys here."
Jacob rubbed his eyes, which Sophie read like her favorite book. Trying to stay awake as the caffeine from his five cups of extra strength coffee wore off. He'd been up since 6 A.M. doing paperwork, keeping the CROWS in order, and having a thousand voices in his ear. The clock struck midnight over an hour ago, and exhaustion began to set in. "Alright I'll go, but only because you're forcing me too. If you find anything-"
"We'll be sure to let you know," she said, finishing his sentence.
Jacob nodded and walked to his car. Sophie's eyes went from watching Jacob to her trunk. She wondered if that was the time to tell him. No, absolutely not in his current emotional state. Sophie cared for Jacob, and as much as she treated him like a boss, she treated him even more like a father figure.
The search ended a half hour after Jacob left, considering he would be the main one keeping them there. Driving back to her apartment, Sophie ran inside and flung the Batsuit in the closet. A part of her knew that damn bat symbol was the cause of this happening. Kate should have known better than to play superhero. How could she lie to her friends and family? Putting them through copious amounts of worry and misery.
Now that she was alone, Sophie cried in the shower. Curled up in a ball, sitting against the wall as the hot water beat against her face. As a CROW, Sophie knew the chances of losing your life at any point were high. A rare occasion where it's a matter of "if" and "when". Kate knew that, still choosing to wear the cowl, and it wasn't fair for Sophie to point fingers. Only blaming Kate to try and cope with her death. That wasn't going to bring her back.
Once she emotionally recovered, Sophie decided to get some sleep. She dug out an old Point Rock Academy sweatshirt and threw it on over her underwear. While tying up her hair, she noticed one of Kate's leather jackets hanging on her desk chair. A spare one she left when they had recently spent the night together. Sophie picked it up by the collar, hugging it close. It had Kate's scent, which calmed her anxious nerves. She crawled into bed, jacket in hand. Falling asleep with Kate on the brain.
"This is Gabriel Smith here from VPR news. Tonight, disaster strikes Gotham City. In what appears to be an act of terrorism, a private jet belonging to Wayne Enterprises, exploded mid-flight while coming into the city. The jet landed in the southeast harbor, thankfully avoiding collision with any buildings. As of right now, only two people are confirmed to have been on board. The pilot, who's body has been recovered, but has yet to be identified, and the other being Kate Kane. Cousin of Gotham icon Bruce Wayne, and rising figurehead within the inner city. Kane has been involved in various..."
Luke Fox tuned out the remaining news report. Standing at the bat computer, it showed over ten call attempts to Kate's phone and communicator. She never replied. Luke fell back into a chair, loosening his tie and removing his glasses. The frozen image of Kate on the news burned his pupils. This couldn't be possible. He's taken extreme measures to make sure things like this didn't happen. Even then, Kate should have been able to escape that explosion. Right?
Before he could ponder that question, his phone rang. He didn't bother to check the caller I.D. as he answered. "Hello?"
A heavily sobbing female was on the other side. "Lu-Luke," she cried.
He somberly asked, "Mary?"
"Did you see the news?" she asked between broken coughs.
Luke's hand shook listening to Mary break down. He couldn't lie to her. "Yeah."
"Please tell me Kate's there with you. I know she's there. I keep calling her and she's ignoring me! Put her on the phone Luke. Put her on RIGHT NOW!"
"Mary," he took a huge swallow, "...she's not here."
Luke heard the phone crash, and the call ended.
Way out in Arkham Asylum, the inmates paraded around the rec room. This was their rehabilitation hour. Where they can sit with the other inmates and have positive, intelligent discussions. The well-behaved ones are allowed to move freely inside the allotted space. Playing checkers and painting. Or any activity that didn't exacerbate their villainous tendencies. The bad ones were sedated with tranquilizers and pills. They were placed in front of the television, unable to physically do nothing more. In fact, it was time for the pharmacist, Dr. Rowe, to administer their daily medicine. He went down the row of chairs followed by his female assistant Sheila Vaughn. She used a gloved hand to open their mouth as he dropped the meds. The fourth chair was occupied by one of Arkham's most troublesome inmates, Alice. Her eyes were glazed over, staring into the abyss, but her face remained pointed to the television.
"Good afternoon, Alice," greeted Rowe in an upbeat, yet condescending manner. "How are you doing this fine day?"
"Muuhh." The left side of her mouth hung open, dripping saliva on her orange jumpsuit.
"That's great. You've been such a good girl lately. Keep it up and we might drop your dosage. Ms. Vaughn, please clean up our patient."
"Yes Dr. Rowe." She used a thick napkin to wipe the saliva from Alice's mouth and chin. Then dabbed the bit on her jumpsuit. With that done, she squeezed both sides of Alice's jaw, lowering it just a little. "Patient is ready for her medications."
Behind the glass stare, Alice's perception of reality had been completely warped. The color palette no longer a dreary set of greys and blacks, but now an ever-changing set of purples, pinks, and blues. Her chair was made of leather, where the arms and legs were curved snake heads. Their tongues slithered, wrapping them around Alice's wrists and ankles, rendering her immobile. Rowe appeared as a chuckling cat with piercing yellow eyes that corrupted her colorful surroundings, and Sheila grew two long rabbit ears and whiskers.
Rowe commanded her in a deep, demonic voice, "SAY AHHHHH!"
Alice screamed on the inside as Rowe grabbed her tongue and shoved his clawed hand down her throat. Back in the real world, Rowe dropped two tablets and poured in a small amount water. Sheila closed Alice's mouth and gently rubbed her neck to make sure it went down. After double checking to make sure she swallowed it, they moved on to the next patient.
One of the guards turned on the news, where the Wayne jet story played once again. The images of the broken plane flickered across the screen. Kate's face popped up, triggering Alice's subdued memory.
"Kaaahyt?" she mumbled.
"That's insane," said the guard to his co-worker. "I knew Wayne had a target on his back, but like that?"
"I feel you," his co-worker replied, "and that poor girl had to die because of it."
Alice's mind moved at a snail's pace, forming a coherent thought for the first time in months. For now, the only word she could muster was, "Kaaahyt".
