A Life Beyond Love

Chapter 5: Cats, Bats, Allies, and Foes

My whole ordeal lasted all of 2 ½ weeks and left me out of commission for a bit longer yet. I needed to reestablish old contacts due to lack of work but ironically enough the demand for my expertise grew substantially. I had thanked Patience profusely for her help with Kate and my parents as well for looking over the house. My father and Ororo decided to stay in Gotham for a while to visit, and to make sure that nothing else was going to happen.

My father and I were enjoying a coffee one morning as Patience, Ororo, and Kate had already made their way off to the mall to go shopping. That left them out of the picture for a bit of the day to say the least. He and I were simply bullshitting about anything and everything, that was of course until he brought something unexpected.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked leaving a dumbfounded look on my face.

"What do you mean?" I questioned in return.

"You know," he said seeming to look for the right words. "I've sent the way she looks at you, and I know you know about it. You even give her shots in return; in fact you haven't been this way for years, not since before Kitty died."

"Are you suggesting Patience and I?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied.

"We've been friends for years now I wouldn't think it would ever be more than that," I told him.

"That's the thing, it has been years. How long has Kate known her?"

"All her life, Patience has helped me since she was in diapers," I replied.

"Then who better, who better to be there for her than one of the people that know her best," he said taking a sip from his cup.

"I...I...sighI just don't know," I began.

"But I do, Ororo and I have know Patience for all of a month now, you only mentioned her before but we had never met. Since meeting her I think that there would be no one better. To be perfectly honest, a lot of our morning discussions would be either about you or Kate. Ororo and I agreed that we would talk to the both of you and maybe clear things up."

"I would hate to be in a position where it doesn't work and then we fuck up what we already have," I told him.

"I know what you mean but I don't think anything bad will happen. If you are going to sit on it then give it time and then make a decision," he replied placing his cup in the sink.

It was then that the doorbell rang. Setting my glass in the sink I made my way to the front door and opened it. Before me stood the one and only Bruce Wayne. Quickly I fixed my image inducer.

"Hello Jack, feeling better?" he asked.

"Yeah...wait, how did you...?" I began to ask.

"Wayne Enterprises provides supplies for the hospital that you happened to stay at and your ailments caused quite a stir within the staff," he explained positioning himself on his cane and removing his hat. "May I?"

"Oh sure," I said letting him in. "So you know everything then," I asked.

"I would assume so yes. At first I found it a little hard to believe, that was until I started digging. With my connections, I found birth records, military records and medals, living addresses, and info on a weapons program you were involved with..." he began as I took on an expression of disgust. "So it was true, weapon X did exist. Or does I should say."

"That was many years ago and I'm not the only one. To be honest I have no clue as to how many those people butchered in order to make more like us. But if you know of weapon X then you know my father, John Howlett."

"Yes I do but by another name...Logan is it not?" he questioned shaking my father's hand.

"Yes that it correct," he answered remaining in his seat. "What brings you to my son's humble abode?"

"Well Jack, I would still like to have you working for me," he said pulling out a sheet of paper from within his coat. "This is just a general overview of the work that you would be doing for me, mostly advertising and such more or less for the private sector and their customers."

Taking a look at it I scanned it and had to set it down, "Sorry Bruce, I can't. I know that your offer will never cross my way again but I have a small fortune stashed away right now and I have plenty to live off of, if my work is going to put me harms way then there is no use I don't want to leave my daughter fatherless in this world," I explained handing him the sheet in return.

"Well that's a shame," he replied. "But I must be off, good day to you and you Logan."

"Would you like me to call you a cab?" I asked.

"No, Terry my assistant will be waiting up front but thank you for the offer," said placing on his cap. "I have many more meetings ahead of me today, one of the many perks of being a multi billionaire."

Opening the door there was a black limo parked out front with a young boy holding the rear door open and beside him sat a very large and aggressive dog.

"Here you go Mr. Wayne," Terry said guiding him in.

"Thank you Terry," he answered. "Jack do you know that you are the luckiest man in the world?"

"No, what makes you say that Bruce?" I asked in curiosity.

"You and your father have been able to do what the rest of us cannot,"

"What's that? If you mean be tortured and experimented on, I think there are more than just us hanging around."

"You two have been able to elude the bullet of old age. I'm 57 and I look like shit compared to you. To add insult to injury your 116," he replied as I noticed Terry's jaw was hanging.

"Actually 117, but you can blame genetics for that one," I told him chuckling a bit.

He just smiled as the window rolled up and Terry got in to pull the car away. Heading back inside my father waited for me at the kitchen table.

"That was a pleasant surprise," he said.

"He seems to have that somewhat annoying and yet remarkable ability of coming and going unnoticed, almost out of nowhere," I mentioned beginning to clean up.

"I still think that you should give Patience a chance," he said to me.

Sighing, "dad I know what you mean. I know that Kate needs a mother and Patience is the only one for the job, but I don't really know how her and I will do you know," I said placing dirty dished into the dishwasher.

"I think that you two will be great for each other. There was a spark that you had when you and Kitty were together and it burned so bright, I remember when you came over all in a fluster because you two were going to have Kate and that was the happiest that I had ever seen you. It was then that evening that she had died that I didn't see it anymore and I didn't know what to do. When she and you were at the dinner I seen it again and I knew that she had brought happiness back into your life, you were you and I missed that these past ten years," he told me as memories began to flutter back and I had to get out.

"I've got to leave for a while, if I'm late getting back don't worry about me," I told him grabbing my coat from the hook and setting my inducer.

I don't know what it was but I just couldn't be in the room at that moment, it must have been what he had said about Kitty that broke me down like that. I got out on my bike and didn't care what I did or where I went as long as I left for a bit just to clear my head. My tour led me out of the cit and into the rolling hills abroad, through the forest and into the wilderness just on the edge of civilization. Looking left then right I felt an odd pull over to an area not far from where I was. It was small and secluded and surprisingly tranquil for having a large waterfall in the background. I stopped and got off my bike taking a tour, this place seemed to be everything I missed from my mountain home in Canada. Taking a seat at the base of a tree I put my head back and relaxed, then inadvertently fell asleep. God knows how long I was there, but as I looked around me something drew my eye to the waterfall. There on the rocks was a woman clad in white just looking at me, she was familiar in appearance but I couldn't make it out from the distance. It was then that she began to speak to me, it was if her voice was right in my ear yet she was so far away, oddly her voice too I found remote comfort in.

"Jack, you need not worry about me," she spoke. "What you have to do is stop waiting for me and live again. I have watched you corner you emotions and they weigh heavy on your heart. I know that you believe that you can never feel again but you have to move on, she is the one you want to be with."

It was if someone stuck then and there with a sledge, "but you can never know how much I miss you, even now it burns holes in me."

"I know it hurts, it hurts me that I can't be with you and Kate, but you have to move on. This maybe hard to hear but there is every part of Patience in Kate as there is of you. Kate means so much to her, you mean so much to her, I would have no one else," she told me as her image began to fade. "She is the one."

"Wait! Come back! Kitty!" I called but to no avail.

I sat there and began to sob, I couldn't help it. But I couldn't also help but think that she was right, I had to move on. Looking around I found that it was getting dark and I needed to get home and see everyone. Hopping back on my bike I headed back to the city and back to my home. The night wasn't dark yet because of the full moon, but it was the mid dim that lit up everything and yet it lit nothing, of course with my eyes it didn't matter anyways as I saw it all. The city was lit up as usual and as I rolled through the last corner to my home I was greeted with flashing lights, those found on emergency vehicles and police cars. It worried me even more as the mass of them were parked out front the door to my house.

"Officer, officer!" I called out as a young man in uniform approached me.

"Sir, please no closer, we have an incident," he advised.

"No, this is my home," I added.

"You're Jack Howlett?" he questioned.

"Yes, now what happened?"

"Well form what you neighbors said four men went in and left the premises with a young girl and a young woman both of which struggled. Not long later another man and woman came out the front door as services showed up, the man unharmed but the woman quite beat up," he explained looking back to his notes.

"Where is the man and woman?" I asked.

"They are being treated in the back of unit 212 that would be the one over there," he pointed to the ambulance in the distance.

"Thank you."

Rushing over I found my father with Ororo, "what happened?"

"Someone came looking for you," my father said changing bandages.

"Any ideas who?"

"I could bet you a million bucks saying it was your vampire friends again," he said finishing up.

"Fucking CHRIST! Why don't they just get the picture?"

"I don't know but I would hurry and find them because they have Patience and Kate and I don't know if they'll try and drill for information or not," he informed me as I heard my name being called from behind me.

Approaching me was Luna, the liken that I had helped back in the alley. "Now's not a good time."

"We'd like to help," she told me.

"What do you mean we?" I asked seeming intrigued.

Slowly from the shadows approached more likens and took to her side. "We."

"Not bad."

"We know where they are keeping them and we will take you there, we will be quick and silent sneaking in and sneaking out, they have quite the little army in the basement of their manor and plenty of silver nitrate to go around so we don't want to be seen," she explained.

"Son, you sure about this? Can you really trust them?" he asked.

"I think I'll be alright, you stay here and look after Ororo and I guess that I'll see you in a couple hours," I told him crawling back on my bike and following the others as they took to the roof.

We headed West out into the richer villas and mansions of the city. IT was there that we had to slow down because the likens had to take a ground route. Soon enough we came upon a long driveway were armed guards patrolled the tops of the wall, there were more than obviously needed so they must have been expecting something. Parking my bike I removed my image inducer and put it off to the side. The group of us crept up to the wall and remained quiet. The guards circled around leaving a gap that would last about two minutes, so just as a man left it was easy to cut a hole and creep on through. Staying low we covered the wall and made near the house undetected. Peering through and open window you could see the main kitchen and a doorway that appeared to lead off into a dinning room. Looking through I began to explain my plan.

"Alright, we go in and spread out. Once we have covered the main and upper floors we'll assemble in the main lobby and then proceed to the basement, alright?" I told them moving to leave as I felt a sharp prick in my back.

Turning I found Luna removing a syringe, "What the fuck was that?"

"A sedative," she began. "I'm sorry Wolf my hand was forced," she finished as my view clouded while I slipped into unconsciousness.