Three more chapters 'til the end. A little extra writing and editing for 18. A lot for 19 and 20 and then on to part 2. I'm trying to get some other work done so expect a bit of a break between part 1 and 2.

Washington, D.C….

Jason groaned after he downed his fifth shot of liquor. He rubbed his eyes, bleary from the shots and the four beers he had before that, then blinked and smacked his lips, getting nothing but the alcohol.

"You look awful." He groaned and twisted his neck to the right to see Helena Bertinelli standing with crossed arms and full of judgement.

"You would too after a week of bar-hopping."

"That's pathetic."

"You don't get to judge me, Bertinelli. You were once like me."

"Angry? Yes. A killer? Yes. Pathetic? Uh, no. And it's because I was like you I get to judge." When he didn't reply, she sighed through her nose and sat on the stool next to him. "It also means I understand what you're going through more than most."

"Oh, this should be enlightening." He reached out for the bottle the bartender who resembled a post-leading man Brendan Fraser had left. Helena beat him to it and due to his inebriation only grasped air following the moving bottle. She sniffed it, made a face, and then reached over the bar to find a clean tumbler. He watched her take two gulps of the brownish liquid before he asked, "Why are you here?"

"Barbara sent me."

"Did she now? What's Red want with me?"

"She concerned."

"About what?"

"You, you moron. Or have you forgotten not everyone hates you anymore?"

"Red never hated me," he mumbled. Helena shook her head and rolled her eyes. When Faux-Brendan returned to the bar, she flagged him down for a glass of water. He brought her three water bottles and lined them up in front of Jason. "Kara didn't either." She opened one bottle and placed it in Jason's hands then pushed it to his mouth.

"Drink. Flush your system. We'll talk more when you're sober." Jason nodded and grumbled out what Helena assumed was a thank you. They made small talk about the weather and the city, the past few months, and what they thought of the new heroes appearing in the states and around world. Helena felt she made a mistake when she mentioned Superwoman. Jason went quiet and pouted in his water bottle.

"I miss her, Hel." She nearly cried at the crack in the young man's voice.

"I know, Jay. Me too."

Gotham City…

Maggie clenched and unclenched her fists. Rocked onto the balls of her feet then onto her heels. Kept shifting her feet, which caused her dress shoes to scuff at the marble floor, and letting out longs exhales of air through her mouth. She finally stopped when the maître d' cleared her throat in a heavy phlegm-filled fashion and pointed her to the bench in the waiting section. It was a quarter-to-eight, and Kate was nowhere in sight. That being said, it was in no way her fault since the date hadn't been schedule until eight and Maggie arrived at the restaurant 30 minutes early. She ran a hand through her short-cropped blonde hair and adjusted the tan pantsuit she was wearing. One of the waiters had asked Maggie if she wanted a glass of water while waiting when Kate finally arrived. A spaghetti-strap black dress with red hibiscus flowers along the bottom draped beautifully over Kate's body.

Maggie glared at the waiter when he let out a long whistle in appreciation. Kate smiled once she saw Maggie, her height and heels giving her an advantage over the crowded foyer. "You look dapper," Kate said with a kiss on Maggie's left cheek.

"Thanks. You look-"

"Femme?"

"I was going to say fantastic but that too." Kate giggled as Maggie rubbed her neck.

"Come on. Let's see why it's a two-month wait to get a table here." She curled her arm around the detective's and led her to the maître d'. The woman gave them a relieved smile and snapped her fingers for a waiter to lead the to their table. "Thank you, by the way, for this. It was time for me to get out of the apartment. Move on."

"To be honest, I was afraid you'd say no."

"Then why ask?" They arrived at their table. Kate sat and allowed the waiter to push her seat in and Maggie did the same.

"A part of me hoped you'd say yes," came the reply after the waiter handed them the wine menus and left.

"How could I not?" Kate suppressed her giggle this time as Maggie hid behind her menu. She briefly recalled that the last time she was one a date.

***F***

After pacing back and forth for almost an hour Kate felt none less nervous than when she left her apartment. She pulled her jacket tightly to her body; it was nippy at the top of the Gotham Cathedral. When she got home, she found an envelope on her floor. It was a letter from Supergirl telling Kate to meet her where they first met and to dress nice. After going through her entire closet, twice, she finally settled on a pair of black jeans and a button-up green shirt. Since she knew it would be chilly that night, she grabbed a jean jacket and a black beret.

"Nervous, are we?" Kate jumped and almost bumped into a pair of feet hovering in front of her face. She followed the feet up as Supergirl floated to the ground. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"You didn't."

"That's good." Kara touched down and smiled at her. "I like your clothes. They remind me of Linda's."

"Oh, well, that's what every girl wants to hear, her being compared to another girl."

"You should take that as a compliment. Linda is a great kid."

"Kid? You two are probably the same age."

"I'm technically older than Superman." Kara hummed with a smirk at Kate's expression of confusion and clarified. "To make a long story short, I was trapped in a stasis pod and because I was released too late Superman ended up aging past me."

"Wow. How much older are you than him?"

"About seventeen years." Kate remembered Batman stating he and Superman were born within six years of each other. When Kate compared her age to Bruce's it put…that put Kara in her fifties! Her eyebrows rose.

"How old are you?"

Kara's brow scrunched for a second as she did the calculations in her head. "I think I'm fifty-four no… Fifty-six years old."

"That makes you over twenty years older than me."

"Hey! I've only aged to between twenty-five and thirty. I wouldn't try to make me out to be old enough for the Modern Maturity Center yet."

"Whatever…" Kate winked at Kara who rolled her eyes and chuckled. That gave Kate the chance to appreciate her friend's outfit. "I thought we said no costumes." Kara stepped back and placed her hands on her hips.

"I will have you know this is not a costume."

"I'm not complaining. You look hot but I was figuring you'd be wearing-"

"Something more civilian?"

"Yeah."

Kara shrugged then leant against the wall. "I only wear civilian clothes when I'm undercover. Other than my Kryptonian clothing, this is all I have that's Supergirl-ish." Kara pushed off the wall and rotated to show off the rest of the outfit. "I modified it to make it less punk-rock, but it's still pretty out there, for me anyway."

"Where did you get it?" Kara took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. "Kara?" She held her hand up to quiet Kate then opened her eyes.

"Remember those stories about Supergirl losing it in Metropolis?"

"Vaguely."

"For me it still feels like yesterday." Kara sat on the building's ledge and Kate followed suit. "Those moments were mental relapses. Years ago, Superman, Superboy, and I were kidnapped by an otherworldly villain called Darkseid. He had kidnapped Superman before but this time he went after all three of us. He wanted to brainwash us to create these mighty warriors. Since he succeeded with Superman before, Kal-El knew how to fight it. Superboy, Kon-El, has powers Superman and I don't have and he used them to fight. I wasn't as strong as them." Kate placed her hand on Kara's shoulder. The blonde reached up and squeezed it in return. "Darkseid brought out this monster I didn't even know existed inside of me. I… I killed people, Kate. I used my heat-vision to burn holes into them, my super-breath to break their bones, to freeze them to death. Even crushed a man's head with just two fingers. And I know you don't want nor need to hear this but I wanted you to know where I got the outfit from." Kara glanced at Kate from the corner of her eye and gave a sheepish smile.

When Kate said nothing; only smiled at her and tightened her grip on Kara, the Kryptonian stood and pulled Kate with her. "Follow me." With her hand still in Kara's, Kate was led around the corner and past the gargoyles until they reached their destination. "What do you think?" Kate released her hand and absorbed everything around her. The entire area was lit with Chinese lanterns. In the middle of all this light was a small table and two chairs you might find in front of a French café. A single carnation sat in a small vase between the settings; Kate's favorite flower.

The night was filled with easy chit-chat and quiet eating afterwards. They talked about their favorite foods, other planets, what Krypton was like, and Kara's family. The last one made Kara cry, much to Kate's chagrin. Without a second thought, Kate jumped out of her seat and hugged her. Kara tensed, but eventually the taller girl relaxed and hugged Kate back. When she pulled away, she wiped the tears from her eyes and the ones from Kate's.

"As much as I love being here it's time for me to leave." Kate gave her one last hug, not really wanting her to leave, and stepped back. "Don't worry about cleaning up. A friend of mine said he'd do it for me. Goodbye Batwoman, I hope we meet again and soon." Kara slowly ascended into the sky, leaving Kate with that same look she had given her once before.

"Kara!" She stopped and floated down a little closer to Kate. "That look you keep giving me. What does it mean?"

Kara smiled the kind of smile that was warm and bright at the same time. It stretched across her entire face and gleamed in a way that maybe even the occasional star could envy. "It means I love you." And with that, she was gone.

***F***

"Kate? You know what you want?" She flicked her eyes to Maggie then back to the menu before closing it and setting it on the table.

"I do now."