Confronting The Past

Chapter 3

"Ethan, we need to set a date, your mother keeps calling and harassing me!" Kate shut her cell phone with a dramatically loud click.

"Tell her we've decided to elope, and that we'll send her a postcard."

That's one thing Kate Morton loved about her fiancé, his ability to just be laid back and carefree.

"Oh my god, can you imagine!" Amusement started to fill her tone. "She would skin us alive if we deprived her of planning a social event. I fear that she might want to make this the "who's who" wedding of the year."

"C'mon Kate. I know you want to go away and have something smaller, intimate". Ethan started crawling towards her on their couch with mischief lighting up his face. "We could go to the Virgin Islands, get drunk on the beach, and make love under the stars…

"Everything you're describing happens on the honeymoon Mr. Reed!" She swatted at him with the magazine she was now holding. "I mean that's the fun part of getting married right? The vacation from one's family, or in our case, from all the socialites of Gotham."

Ethan glanced at his fiancé, and began laughing as hard as his gut would allow him. Catching his breath he retorted, "Honestly Kate, sometimes I just don't get you, if you have so much disdain for the upper crust of Gotham, then why have a wedding fit for royalty and invite all of them?"

"My mother and father married here, and as much as I hate things like this, my mother would have been over the moon about it. I want to have the wedding she would have planned with me, and I know that a large, upscale, classy wedding was in her plans for me and Olivia.

"Speaking of old Livey, have you heard from her lately?" Ethan spoke as he got up and walked to the window of their tenth story loft, turning to face Gotham's upper east side, looking out with thoughtful sea-green eyes.

"Hmm…..I think the last I heard from her she was starting her internship at Gotham General." Kate started to flip through the massive bridal magazine thinking of what kind of dress would suite her as she continued to talk. "Come to think of it that was about a month…" Abruptly she closed the magazine, still marking her spot with a finger. "Man I'm a crappy sister! I move to Gotham, live down the street from her and I think that I talk to her less now than when I was away at Vassar!" looking up she found Ethan looking at her with a unreadable expression.

"Well, when you talk to her, let her know I said hi." A slow smirk began etching on his face.

Kate woke up startled, feeling at once all her emotions rush to her head.

It had been years. Years since those memories came to her in the darkness of her sleep.

"I feel the best conclusion I can offer Miss. Morton, is that you have repressed memories. This can occur when a tragedy has overwhelmed a person, causing them to push away things leading up to it, or block out the memory of the tragedy entirely."

The memory of her first and last therapy session came flooding back to her. I suppose that quack may have been onto something, she now thought bitterly, as she was sitting in the bathtub with the shower water falling all around her. As the wet droplets soothed her, Kate thought back to that moment in her life with Ethan.

He had been interested in her even then, only a month after the engagement. He joked about the wedding details, acted just like his normal self, all the while sleeping around behind her back "I had known the whole time, but always thought the better of him. God, I had been terribly naïve." That thought brought tears back to her eyes.

Maybe the quack was right. She said something like, in order to let go you need to return to the origin of your problem. Kate contemplated for years what that root or origin was, and now she felt incredibly stupid. Gotham. Gotham was the root of all of it. Everything horrible that happened to her, everything that altered her perspective on life happened in this corrupt city.

"What possible reason could I have to stay here?" Thinking aloud she tried to riddle out her feelings.

"Why in the world would I want to stay here?" She repeated "It's corrupt and the socialistic hierarchy isn't desirable at all. Working for the museum would be a highlight, but only if I could be director……..Gavin!" Gav always seemed to have the answers. "He's like a damn oracle. Oh, god. Gavin and Molly!" She raised her hand to her head and closed her eyes "I forgot to call them!"

Reaching forward she turned the round knob to the left, turning the warm water off. Opening the regal blue shower curtain, she sat up and stepped out and into a white chenille bathrobe. Once her modesty was safe (how dreadful would it be for her uncle to walk in on her naked!) she stepped out of the bathroom and into the adjoining guest room that she now occupied. It was only now that she was recognizing the beauty of the room. Done in midnight blue, it was entirely filled with mahogany colored wooden furniture. The bed had a canopy with sheer light golden fabric draped over the frame, making it feel like the room was suited for an Egyptian Goddess from the New Kingdom Era of history. It was a defined mixture of Anglo-Saxon wood work and Egyptian coloring.

Coming out work mode, she re-concentrated on the matter at hand. Her friends.

Where was her blasted purse? She didn't remember even bringing it up here. She searched around the perimeter of the bed, having no luck. As she maneuvered her way around she noticed some clothing at the foot of the bed with a note.

Miss Morton,

I hope you like men's pajamas. I thought you might be happier sleeping without the mud.

Bruce Wayne

"What a smart ass." Even as she said it though, she couldn't seem to keep a smile from forming on her face.

Setting the note back down, she put on the black draw-string pants and hunter green shirt on. Upon looking down at herself she noticed the shirt had a faded word sprawled across its front.

"Princeton." She spoke out again to herself. "Hmm……what a shocker." She wondered what he had actually gone to Princeton for.

She felt a bit odd in a strange mans pj's but it was comforting at the same time. It was the act of kindness that eased her awkwardness about it. They were very big, "My god, how tall is this man" She thought. The pants were dragging a bit on the floor, and due to her own height that said a lot about his, seeing as she was 5'9 herself.

"You need to call them now Kate before you forget again. No distractions!" she practically yelled the statement, attempting to refocus. "No distractions" was the phrase she said to herself repeatedly when she felt her attention slipping from the matters at hand.

Deciding that she would have to go in search of phone to call her friends, she opened the bedroom door to reveal a tall, rectangular, elongated hallway. Across from her she noticed that the wall was made up entirely of draped windows that reached from floor to ceiling. She stepped out moving towards the nearest window, walking softly.

She felt hypnotized as she stared out towards the moon, a beautiful crescent that the cloudy skies of Gotham let shine through. She wasn't sure how much time was passing, but she didn't care. All that mattered was that moon. It felt so powerful, full of hope. The world was still moving, still running, and she was apart of it.

"Amazing isn't it?"

Kate jumped out of her stupor yelling "JESUS!!

She turned to see Bruce Wayne standing a few feet away from her. "You scared me half to death!"

"Sorry, I was on my way to….uh, take care of some business. I didn't mean to frighten you, to be honest I was a little shocked to see you out here myself."

"Oh." She paused awkwardly, feeling bad about her reaction. She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his.

"Do you happen to have a phone that I could use? I need to call some friends back home." She looked away, thinking "Man those eyes are distracting." She was proud she was getting back to her goal, moving past the thoughts she was having about why those eyes rattled her so much was difficult. In truth it was beginning to irritate her a little.

"Sure, there's one in the rec room two doors down on the left." He gestured mechanically towards the room, all the while keeping his eyes fixed on the women before him.

"What's wrong with you Bruce? Said his inner voice. "She just lost her sister."

"Thank you, Mr. Wayne. I'm really gonna be in hot water for not calling them sooner."

He just smiled that enigmatic smile. "Please call me by my first name. The whole name makes me feel like a bit of a relic." He leaned into her as he spoke, almost as if revealing a secret.

"I'll try to accommodate your vanity then, sir." She started down the narrow hall toward the Rec Room.

" Hey, Katherine! If you need help getting to the kitchen later, I'll be a few miles down the way." He pointed dramatically up the hall.

Twisting her neck around, she rested her chin on her shoulder. "Ha, Ha" was all she could think to say. Her witty comebacks were less and less inclined to come out as the evening wore on.

Turning her head back to the hall she walked to the recommended door and turned the handle. Invading the room's warm solitude she puttered around until her eyes rested on a black cordless phone resting on a table underneath yet another window.

"Right then, test of the brain Kat. Is it 1126 745 6900, or 3341 785 6980? Crap. I don't remember."

Kate dialed the first set of digits she could remember, including also the country code and waited for someone to answer.

"This is Gavin." The man's voice sounded a bit strained.

"Gavin, it's me Kate."

"Damnit Katherine Morton! Where in the bloody hell have you been mate? You said you'd call us when you got there, we've been worried sick for ya." Suddenly any strain that had been in the man's voice was replaced by pure agitation.

"I know, I'm sorry. I lost track of everything. I've been in a daze ever since I got here. Some how I ended up at Wayne Manor, in a billionaires pajamas, with my uncle cooking me dinner."

"Kate, I gotta be honest love, that doesn't sound all that bad." She could here the grin in his tone.

"You remember why I came back to this hell hole don't you?"

"I am aware mate, speaking of it how'd it go?" All his agitation seemed to disappear, his voice becoming soft and quiet.

Well, as quiet as a Scotsman's voice could be.

"I barely remember. It was raining a lot, and I hear that I blacked out after I saw my uncle. Anyway, I need to talk to you about something."

"You blacked out?"

"Can we please not go there right now?"

"Hey, you brought it up. What time s it over there anyway? Like eight or something?"

"Shit! I woke you up didnt I? It's about four in the morning there isn't it?"

"Don't worry mate, we're just glad that you called. So when do you plan on coming home?"

"That's the thing I wanted to talk to you about. I had this dream about me and Ethan, well more of a flashback to when we were together. I started thinking about what that shrink said about returning to the root of your issues and I think that maybe staying in Gotham would help that, but at the same time I want to fly the hell out of here right now, on the first flight I can find. So much of this place feels like home, but so many things here hold memories I don't think I want to remember."

"Stay." Gavin was usually a abrupt man, but this was ridiculous.

"What?"

"I said stay."

"I heard what you bloody said Gavin."

"Then why did you ask what? Stay is pretty self explanatory."

"Oh, piss off."

"Don't get all cheeky with me mate. You need this. I don't even need you to say anything more about the matter. You have been miserable everywhere you go for the last five years, and perhaps if you confront the past and conquer it, there's a chance that you might be happy again."

"Thank you professor for that riveting look into my emotional depths."

"You know that's why you called me, well that and the fact that you were supposed to call two days ago."

"I just didn't know that you would make a conclusion so fast."

"I love ya girly, me and Molly both. We just want to see you content with yourself. We've been sayin' you should go back for years."

"That's comforting."

"Stay, get to know your uncle, get to know that billionaire guy, and get to know your sister again."

"She's dead. I lost that chance." As she spoke the words her voice dropped to a whisper.

"That doesn't mean that she wasn't here Kate. Get to know what she did, who she did it with. You may get to know her better dead than alive."

"I'm going to pretend that's not true."

"Pretend away love, it doesn't change the reality that your sister was who she was - a closed book."

"I don't think that I'm strong enough to do this Gav, plus I don't even know if I really want to. What about practical factors like my job in Edinburgh, or my apartment, or my friends and life there in Scotland? Do I just walk away and come here like nothing ever changed?"

"You can find a job in Gotham, I'm sure you can find a flat there too, and you have old friends there to reacquaint yourself with as well, and act as though everything's changed, love. Explore the past, don't repeat it Katie." His voice was full of empathy as he spoke those last words.

"You make it all sound so simple." she was starting to see that even if she did go back, he'd probably just place her on a plane and send her back.

"It is mate, but best to think on it for a couple of days. Test the waters there, and see how it feels to be back. Go to the museum for starters and see if they have any positions open. I know you loved that place, you used to talk about it as though you lived in there."

"Test the waters hmm? Some good may come from it I suppose, if anything I will have a little more time with Alfred. "

"That's our girl! Now I got to get, Molly is wakin' in the bed here and she needs to be sleepin' eh."

"I can't talk to her?"

"I don't think it's a good idea to wake her, she's been a wee bit ill this last week. Needs all the sleep she can get."

"Alright, tell her I said I love her and I hope she feels better."

"I'm sure it's safe to say that she would tell you diddo."

Kate laughed whole heartedly. "I miss you both so much, but best to get on for now."

"Love ya… Sassenach."

"Would you stop that, I'm Scottish too ya know!"

"Ah, only by blood, but you didn't grow up here lass, that makes you a Sassenach to me."

"G'night jerk."

"Night mate."

Kate put the phone back on the base unit. Thoughtfully, she sat down on the antique loveseat by the window and pondered about what her close friend had said.

Man, she hated it when he was right.

"Looks as though you found your way." Alfred looked up at his niece, having a mental laugh at seeing her in Bruce's pajamas.

"I won't lie. I got lost twice, but I had too much pride to go and ask Bruce."

Alfred turned back to the noodles trying to hide his amused smile. "I see your calling him Bruce now."

"Not in his presence yet." Abruptly, she decided to change the subject. "So what are we eating here, it smells delightful."

"Oh, I made some fettuccini alfredo. Simple enough I hope, I thought the noodles might help settle an upset stomach, plus it's good rainy weather food."

"So…are you gonna ask me where I've been?"

Ok, so it was direct, but how else was she expected to bring up the topic?

"I thought I would let you tell me when you were ready, but now that you mention it, I would love to know."

Kate settled herself in for a long conversation by leaning back on the far right counter, opposite her uncle, crossing her arms in front of her. Ironically a large center island separated the two of them. Kate was never really found of irony.

"When I first left I went to Egypt." She started out slow, trying to remember it all. "I don't even remember why I chose Egypt. I think it was the earliest flight out of the country, so I bought a ticket and left. I can say with certainty nothing I did was pre-meditated, I just acted on my instinct. After I found them, I stayed in the loft for days before I just got up, packed a bag and hailed a cab for the airport. It seemed like the only answer at the time."

She could have said it better, but at least the jist of it was out. She already felt as if a small weight had been lifted.

"I can understand leaving Katherine, but why stay away for so long?"

'"After leaving, I just…..I just couldn't find it within myself to face them. I was humiliated, and full of pride. I didn't feel there was a life for me here anymore."

As she talked, Alfred was beginning to dish up steaming, mysteriously good smelling pasta onto white plates.

"So, I traveled for about four months, just experiencing and learning about Europe first hand. I went everywhere, France, Poland, Denmark, just seeing all the things I had studied in school. Eventually, I settled in Scotland. When I got there, it was as if everything around made me feel eased, I felt more at home there than anywhere else I had escaped to. I applied at Edinburgh University, landed a job at the National Gallery as an art historian, and worked towards my master's degree in History. I got my master's in about a year, and then started toward my PhD which I earned about a year and half ago. Since then I have worked for various organizations, conducting field research in the highlands and throughout the United Kingdom trying to help uncover celtic artifacts to exhibit in the British Museum last spring. I became so busy and engulfed in my work, I didn't pause to realize how much time I had let slip by. Once I recognized how long it had been, I didn't know how to...I was afraid that……"

"I think that you should eat a bit." Alfred motioned for her to come forward. On the center island in the kitchen he set out two plates with piping hot noodles covered in white cream sauce, with fresh parsley sprinkled on the top of the mound.

Kate wondered if he was being evasive. Please god, I hope he's not angry at me or worse, disappointed. She thought that of all people he would understand.

"Do you think I'm weak Uncle Alfred?" She kept her gaze at her plate, scared of his reply. Her voice was low and full of insecurity.

"Katherine…." Glancing upwards at the sound of his voice, she looked into his soft, emotional eyes. "I've never been prouder."

Bruce hadn't planned on eavesdropping. It had just started as a polite gesture; he didn't want to interrupt a conversation that obviously needed to happen.

So she had run away and disappeared. That explained Alfred's rather odd behavior since he returned from the funeral. Bruce had heard of Kate while attending secondary school when he was younger. Alfred had brought her sister Olivia back to the Manor after the death of their mother (his sister). It had been the April before he graduated if he remembered right. Kate had been in the hospital when the funeral commenced, recovering from severe injuries to her abdomen and head. He was eighteen at the time. All he really remembered of the tragedy was how distraught his old friend and guardian seemed. The loss of his only sister plagued him for many years thereafter.

Deciding that he had an opportunity he started to walk through the entry way with purpose, as if he never stopped walking from upstairs.

"I see you started without me." He strode to the extra plate on the counter and began to dish up a generous portion of pasta.

"Do you always eat this casually?" Beguiled, Kate looked at the billionaire as he poured sauce over his dinner and moved in their direction to eat at the counter.

"We're full of surprises, isn't that right Alfred?"

The two men exchanged an unusual look.

"Right you are Master Wayne, right you are."

"Has anyone ever told you, that the two of you together are entirely batty?"

Both men looked at her for moment before bursting into raucous, loud laughter.

"What? What did I say?"

"Word on the street Mr. Reed is that your wife didn't leave you a penny. So I'm gonna ask you again, how do you plan on paying us?"

"That's not possible. Olivia was worth millions." Ethan Reed's heart began to race; he had absolutely no idea how this happened.

"Is there anyone you can think of that might have obtained your wife's fortune?"

Ethan raked his brain, who in the world had been more important than him to Olivia? Her strange uncle? No, they hadn't spoken in a few years. Maybe she left it all to some stupid fucking charity, then he'd really be screwed. Then it hit him.

"Katherine?" He spoke her name aloud, immediately regretting it.

"Katherine who, Mr. Reed." Charlie Carver's excitement had returned. Nothing made him happier than a good hunt.

Oh, god. What have I done? That was the last thing Ethan Reed thought before a large metal pipe met his head.

A/N- I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I really enjoyed writing it, I didnt even want to end it there, but it was starting to get deadfully long!

Please reveiw and tell me what y'all think!