Chapter 9

I was once again sprawled out in the midst of papers and files trying to crack this case. School was winding down so I had a lot more free time and I worked on it almost everyday. Terry hadn't come by lately but I guess I didn't blame him, things continued to be a little awkward especially since he had broken up with Dana. I didn't really know how I felt about it. In one way I was happy that he had finally realized that she wasn't the one for him but in the other I also knew that I had outwardly rejected him and probably ruined our chances forever. I shook my head in an effort to clear my thoughts and turned my tired eyes back to the evidence. I stared blankly at it for a while and just couldn't concentrate so I gave up and turned on the telescreen. While furiously flipping through channels, I stopped when I saw a movie that looked pretty good even though it was halfway through the plot already. Apparently the girl in the movie was running a company and managing millions of dollars under a fake name because men wouldn't respect her. She acted as the "executive assistant" of the pseudo business man while in actuality she was the one running the show. It ended with her being exposed and the men in the company finally excepting her for the genius that she was. When the credits began to roll I flicked off the telescreen and laid back in my bed. I was in the middle of drifting off to sleep when it hit me. I threw the bedcovers off and ran downstairs to the batcave. Bruce and Terry were both staring at the bat computer but their attention was quickly diverted when I came flying down the steps.

"Kat, what's wrong?" Bruce said with a worried expression.

"A fire?" Terry added.

I shook my head. "I think I may have figured out what is going on with the Blake case. It's just a hunch but I think it is very possible considering nothing else seems to add up."

"Go on." Bruce urged.

"I was watching this movie where this lady ran a whole business by herself under the name of someone else. Don't you think its possible that Blake could be doing the same thing."

"What do you mean?" Terry asked.

"Blake could very well be Crime Lord." I said. Bruce and Terry just stood there for a moment, each pondering the idea.

"I think you may have something here. It makes sense. The whole cure for his formula could really be just a cover up for a bigger operation. It would explain the millions of dollars transferred from his account. Richmond and all the other stooges must have thought that they were answering to him but really they were answering to Howard Blake. Who knows how long this could have been going on." Terry said trying to put all the complex information together.

"I would like to find out. I also think that you may be right, Kat but we just can't assume anything. I'll get with my..uh…contacts and we can figure this out." Bruce said.

"Do you need me, I have finals in a few days and Max promised to help me study." Terry asked. Bruce knew as well as we all did that if Terry didn't pass his finals it would be bye bye Batman and hello summer school.

"Sure, go ahead. Kat can patrol tonight."

"Thanks." He said leaving. I waved a quick goodbye and he smiled weakly. It seemed like we had gone from bad to good to worse, again.

I knocked on Max's door and couldn't help but feeling a little odd. The last time I had done this I ruined my relationship with Dana but fortunately she wasn't suffering. Last week I saw her out with Jason Harding, star running back of the school football team, so obviously the pain wasn't too much. I was surprised that I wasn't feeling a whole lot worse than I was but I was also relieved. Max answered the door and I immediately noticed that she was crying, hard.

"Hi, Terry. I'm really sorry I don't think I can help you study tonight." She said brushing a hand across her face to clear the falling tears.

"What happened? Why are you crying?" I asked but she just turned her face away.

"I'm not crying, my eyes are watering. Allergies probably." She lied.

"Bull." I opened the door wider and dragged her to the couch. She sat down away from me and wouldn't look me in the eye. I moved closer and tried her to make her look at me.

"Max, what's wrong? You can tell me anything." I said softly. She took a deep rattling breath.

"I should have seen it coming. I'm such an idiot."

"What?"

"Cameron….he cheated on me with some college girl who was probably more beautiful, smarter, funnier…" Max plunged her head into her hands and cried some more. I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her to my chest. I rested my head on top of hers and let her sob into my shoulder.

"No one is more beautiful, smarter or funnier or more amazing than you, Maxine." I said against her hair.

"Really?"

"Yeah really and anyone who thinks otherwise will have to answer to me." She chuckled for the first time and I hugged her close to me. All I could think about was how good it felt to hold her and it was making me a little nervous.

"Oh, Ter, what would I do without you." She pulled herself up and her brown eyes met my blue ones. I had to suck in a breath because my heart was racing, I had never experienced this feeling with Max before and I wasn't sure how to respond. Before I knew it I had moved my lips until they met hers and she had her arms wrapped around my neck. I stopped thinking and just let myself surrender to what I was feeling and I know that Max did the same.

"Max…"I breathed. She answered by kissing me even more passionately. She moved herself until she was over me and then we both plummeted to the floor.

"Ow…slaggit." My head had hit the coffee table and Max sat up on top of me laughing.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"I will be." I said pulling her down into another kiss. I heard the phone ring but neither of us bothered to answer it because we were oblivious to the world, only conscious of each other.

Sunlight streamed unmercifully into the room and I felt the hot sun burning behind my closed eyelids. When I turned to move away I found myself facing the sleeping body of Max. Seeing her made the nights memories all come rushing back to me. I could not believe that I had just slept with my best friend. I kicked myself for being so weak and taking advantage of her when she was hurting. It wasn't that I didn't love Max, I always had, but there was something that felt wrong about me being with her in this way. The idea of me and Max had run through my head a couple of times but nothing ever came of it. Partly because I was with Dana. I loved and cared about Max too much to let this happen again even though I thoroughly enjoyed every second of her. She deserved so much better and I had ruined it. But laying there I couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was and how much my heart ached to think about being without her.

"Terry?" Max said blinking from sleep. I kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty." She shocked me by leaning over and kissing me on the lips. Then she bounded out of bed with the sheets wrapped around her.

"I'm going to take a shower. Get breakfast and find your chemistry books. Fun time is over…its time to study." Max flashed me a brilliant grin and went into the bathroom. I couldn't help but laugh at how nonchalant she was about the whole thing but it also was a little unnerving. I had added another complicated chapter to my life but I had a suspicion that I wasn't going to be able to detach myself from Max so easy. I also didn't know whether I wanted to or not.

"Who was Sir. Issac Newton and what principles of motion did he discover?"

I stared into space and raked my brain for the answer. Max waited patiently across from me, with have a pop tart hanging out of her mouth.

"How can you eat those things. They are so ancient." I said distractedly.

"I don't know, my parents used to eat them and got me hooked. I like them better than breakfast capsules anyway. Do you know the answer?"

"Sir. Isaac Newton was a famous scientist who discovered the three laws of motion. The law of inertia, equal and opposite reaction and force."

Max applauded and I bowed. "Nice. Now explain what each of them are."

"Uhhh….inertia is…well. Equal and opposite reaction….its…Oh I know force, its that thing they always talk about in those old Star Wars movies." I said. Max started cracking up and handed me the book so I could study some more. It was going to be a long day but with Max next to me, I knew I could get through it.