Chapter 12

There was silence on the other end of the phone and Kara was beginning to worry about her friend. The blonde had just told Kate that her sister had been spotted in National City and that she might have something to do with Marie's disappearance. Kara could understand that it was a lot to process but normally Kate would not go that silent on her.

"Diana is here. Hang on," Kate's voice finally came back over the phone. Kara heaved a sigh as the call switched to speaker phone. She quickly gave Diana the update that she'd just given Kate.

"I'm not sure why the Gods decided for us to be going through this, but we can all handle it. We know that right?" Diana asked the question and Kara felt that it was more for Kate's benefit. The blonde wished that she could find both Mary and Marie and get this all over with but the truth and people's movements were causing the situation to become more complicated.

"I can't understand how Mary got to National City. Sure, it was before all this hullabaloo here in Gotham but…" Kate was confused.

"I think she may have been used to help get Marie into the car but it's all speculation right now. ARGUS is trying to identify all the people in the vehicle. It's possible she was just asked to help with this, but between the sabotage at Obsidian North and our perps making it look like L Corp had something to do with it, they're back at making big plans," Kara said.

"You think that they wanted something from Obsidian North so that they could pull off what happened in Gotham?" Diana asked.

"Possibly. Tatiana and her crew love to play the long game. Maybe they needed something here in National City, not realizing that Marie was working at Obsidian North. Since Wayne Enterprises and Obsidian North are both owned by Kate now, it's possible this was just a little offshoot project to get both Obsidian North and L Corp disqualified from the joint NATO and US planet protector project," Kara was realizing there were more questions than answers.

"If Obsidian North, Wayne Enterprises, and L Corp were bumped off the project, who would stand to gain?" Diana wasn't sure how many companies could be involved in such a project in the first place. The capability for such a complex project was something left to specialists.

"Since they are doing it in conjunction with NASA, I'm not sure. I'll have Brainy get on it. I have to get back to the group. Hopefully, I'll have another update soon," Kara said. With that the call ended and Kate plopped down on her sofa, immediately regretting it.

"Watch those ribs," Diana cautioned her, taking a seat next to her. They were in Kate's apartment, having swung back by for a quick stop before they intended to head back to Wayne Enterprises and the Bat Cave. Diana suggested that they go out for breakfast. Kate wondered if all of Gotham would wonder if she had a new girlfriend but Diana didn't seem to mind. She attracted attention everywhere she went, even though a select few knew her secret identity. Kate had to admit that when Diana wore her hair up and put on her glasses, she still did not blend in much. Though she was beginning to understand how Kara pulled it off every day. As Batwoman, her face was never on display, so she didn't have to worry about it.

"How did it come to this?" Kate asked after she carefully adjusted herself on the furniture.

"J'onn thought he got through to Mary but somehow the hold on her was much deeper than anyone could have realized. I haven't met your sister but who would she turn to for help – I mean aside from you?" The Amazon wanted to know.

"Well, she would have gone to her mother. I'm not sure she'd reach out to Dad unless there was no one else to go to," Kate figured. Sure, Mary had friends but for something like this, it seemed she wouldn't lean that way.

"So, her psyche may have been more fractured than we originally thought. Her mom died in front of her, you try to help, but you're also helping all of Gotham, so you're not as accessible as she might want or need. However, she isn't about to let you stop what you're doing. Too many people count on Batwoman. So instead of talking about it, she buries it. She thinks that you and your father managed after your mom died and you assumed that Beth had done the same, then so can she. Truth is, we're not all built the same – we don't all process tragedy the same. So, Tatiana orders Pike to get close to Mary, in an attempt to hurt you, but he realizes that he can go much deeper. Maybe Mary opened up in a way she shouldn't have, not really noticing that she was. This Pike guy was probably her lover, right?" Diana asked. It was a hard question but given the circumstances, Kate knew why she was asking.

"Kara and Nyssa saw footage of them sharing a rather ardent kiss, so I would assume so," the brunette said.

"Ok, so maybe her loyalty to him and his organization is deeper. She was tricked into having feelings for him. Pike doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would be able to do that but she was vulnerable. She wanted someone to listen to her, to tell her it was going to be ok. So, what started as a work necessity led to more. Then that hypnotist just manipulated her into believing that Pike was right about everything. That Gotham and you needed to pay. So J'onn broke through the "needing to pay" part but not the "I'm in love with Pike and he's been thrown in jail" part," Diana suggested.

"So, this is my fault?" Kate gave her a look.

"No. This is Tatiana and her goons' fault. What I'm saying is J'onn couldn't penetrate something that he didn't know existed. No one knew at the time he tried to help her that she and Pike were more than just friends. I'm beginning to see why the hypnotist was called Enigma. How she managed to get that spell to withstand a Martain is incredible but I think we have to assume that Mary's psyche is no longer her own. She's no longer Mary, she's someone else, and that someone else is willing to go out for this cause, despite the man she loves being in jail. She is maybe doing this because of him," the Amazon was having a thought.

"Ok so what now?" Kate asked.

"Call Kara back. Tell her what we just talked about. I need to call Lyla. I have an idea," Diana told her.

To Be Continued…