"As things return to some sense of normalcy in Gotham, Kate becomes concerned when she learns from Montoya that her father has acquired the spare Batsuit, which had been kept in storage by the GCPD. She receives unexpected help in the form of John Diggle, who just happens to be in the city on some personal business. Meanwhile, Ryan tries to deal with the aftermath of Scarecrow's unexpected death."
Jacob Kane looked very determined as he entered the Mayor's office, intending on speaking about an important matter.
"Commander, this request is unexpected." The mayor began saying.
"It's critical to my team's training for Operation: Knightfall. Scarecrow is dead, there hasn't been anything from Alice in some time now and Safiyah Sohail appears to be on the outs with Gotham City. This is the perfect opportunity to move forward, to finally bring a sense of order back to this city." He expressed.
The Mayor sat back putting his hand under his chin. "What about commissioner Montoya? I don't feel comfortable keeping her in the dark. Besides, it isn't like you'd be able to keep this hidden from her. It's in GCPD lockup."
"Montoya will alert Batwoman immediately about this. We can't allow her to have this knowledge, she could counter strike against us."
"There isn't evidence to support she'd-"
Jacob cut him off. "Sir, no disrespect, but you authorized this operation I brought to you and now it feels like you're trying to have it both ways, having a foot in and out isn't going to work. If this operation is going to be a successful take down, we need that item for training proposes."
The mayor sighed. "Your right commander, fine. I give you permission to retrieve the batsuit from GCPD lockup. It'll help greatly in your fight to bring her in surely."
"And to stop this rise of vigilanties from continuing, the city has been put through enough due to the action of them, Batwoman is going down." He declared feeling certain about this course of action.
Batwoman
Casting
Ruby Rose is Batwoman
Vanessa Morgan is Ryan Wilder
Stephanie Beatriz is Renee Montoya.
Kate sat in her office with Luke, looking over a bunch of files. It still wasn't very long since Scarecrow's murder processing it was done for both of them, instead for Ryan naturally who was sitting the cave with Mary while Kate and Luke focused on something else they'd been neglecting.
"None of this is making any sense." Kate admitted putting down some of the files.
"I wasn't expecting it, real estate business isn't easy. Especially considering how busy we're being with everything." Luke replied, looking over at her.
Kate sighed. "You know I've forgotten about my bar too, I think it must be repaired by now right? I've been so focused on Safiyah, Alice and Scarecrow. I feel embarrassed forgetting about it, I should really open it back up soon. Though I still do need a manager don't I? Don't think I'd be able to manage it unless everything calms down in our lives. And then there's Ryan's job. Yeah, I have a lot of house cleaning I've gotta do." She admitted leaning back.
"Yeah, we're short it out. We're down two enemies of ours which is a positive, now we've gotta deal with Safiayh." Luke said relieved.
"True, we've got a lot more free time now. I think I'm going to pay Ryan a visit. I'm thinking about her. And we've gotta give her that gift too after all."
Luke recalled what she meant. "You're right! That'll be great, she's going to be ecstatic! She's most certainly earned it!"
Before they could continue speaking about it, surprisingly a formulier looking face entered the building approaching them.
"John Diggle? What are you doing in Gotham?" Kate asked immediately, surprised by his sudden appearance.
"And how do people keep getting past Carl?" Luke wondered.
He smiled upon seeing them both. "Well, I had some personal business to attend to." That smile faded briefly as he continued. "It wasn't very helpful unfortunately, but that's unimportant. I wanted to see how you and your team were holding out. Things always seem to get worse before they get better around this time of year." He pointed out.
Kate and Luke looked at each other.
"The situation we've been dealing with appears to be letting up." Kate replied.
Diggle nodded. "I'm glad to hear that. The situation is Smallville was looking more serious, but Superman will handle it not to worry."
"What situation?" Kate wondered.
"I'll tell you later, what exactly were you two working on? Seems as if I interrupted."
Kate brushed it off. "Wasn't too important, I need to figure out my usage of my assists I own and other business related things."
"Spreading the wealth?" He was interested.
"Trying to, harder than it looks, actually managing it all. How on earth did Oliver Queen manage being the mayor and The Green Arrow?" She wondered to him.
Diggled chuckled softly and looked to the ground for a moment remembering his fallen friend missing him. "Oliver struggled a lot managing all sides of his life, couldn't tell you how he did it, besides having a lot of help. More importantly, being able to accept help. Something he struggled with all the way to the end."
"Yeah, I wish I got to know your friend better." Kate admitted.
"Me too." Diggle replied.
Then, interpreting their conversation Kate's phone rang. It was shockingly Montoya who she gave a fake encrypted number to call. "I've gotta take this. It's the police commissioner. She hasn't called for anything social before."
Diggle nodded understanding.
She answered it on the spot, as Luke listened in curiosity.
"Montoya? What's going on?" It also scrambled her voice making it harder to pick accurately, in case of anyone listening in.
"Do you remember that batsuit from that mess with Thomas Elliot? Commander Kane has requested access for it behind my back to the mayor himself. My hands were tied, my people had to hand it over." She immediately stated.
Kate rubbed her forehead. "I should've spoken to you about it sooner. Having it destroyed or sent away." She looked at Diggle. "To Argus, if it couldn't be destroyed or given back to me." She noticed the irony of having the husband of the head of Argus walk in during this conversation.
"You had a lot on your plate, it's on us both for not considering it being used by somebody else. Only question now would be what's he after with it? Unfortunately, you're on your own getting to the bottom of this. I wasn't even allowed to tell you about this." She confessed.
"Alright, we'll get on this and investigate ourselves. Thank you Montoya, I understand the risk you took telling me. Nobody will know." She hung up and sighed.
"Please tell me I heard that wrong." Luke said, sitting back down shaken by the news.
She frowned. "My dad, who hates Batwoman, has the spare suit. Whatever he's going to do with it, can't be good. We should've handled this sooner."
"How much of a threat is this?" Diggle questioned.
Kate looked out the window. "My dad despises Batwoman, he wants her captured. He likely just has it as bait, assuming I might want it out of his hands."
"Sounds like a trap, what's going to be the game plan then?" Luke asked curiously.
Diggle cleared his throat. "I could start making calls, hopefully get started on finding you some helpful information on blowing the lid open on this."
"That'd be fantastic. Thank you." Kate nodded, as he stepped out to make them. "I'm going to check on Ryan and Mary, get them up to speed. Help Diggle anyway you can." She then said to Luke heading inside of the elevator to the batcave.
"Uh, alright! Sounds like a plan!" Responded Luke as he got to work.
Elsewhere, Jacob Kane was inside of his own office, shortly after his meeting with the mayor. Considering one of his people was fired for excessive force, he realized a replacement was needed and under the short time frame, he knew only a single person could fill the void. It wasn't exactly someone he hoped to be seeing anytime soon, but he recognized that he'd be the only logically fit to complete the team. A man named Brian Krauser, whom he sent elsewhere on another assignment for sometime now.
"Reporting for duty, sir." He saluted upon walking into Kane's office.
"Thank you, I appreciate you coming in on such short notice Krauser. This operation in the works, it's of the highest importance The Crows have done since opprationing in Gotham City. I needed a replacement and quite frankly, you are the only candidate I could use this late into the operation." He confessed pressing his forehead.
"I'm ready to do whatever is required of me sir. You know not to question my loyalty, I'll get started immediately. After all, it's gotta be very critical, pulling me off my previous assignment, right? You put me out of Gotham for a long time." Brain replied, with some slight hints of resentment.
Jacob Kane ignored that hint. "Yes, that'd be greatly appreciated. Anymore questions before we begin? There is a lot to go over, I'll be setting you up with the team to start the training as soon as possible."
"Will Riley be joining us on this assignment? We worked together for many years now, I personally find I work best alongside her. I'd find it best having a person I can rely on myself." Krauser remarked, looking serious.
Kane stared at him. "Hudson is taking command of that assignment for the time being, I'll reunite you both once the operation is over. She'll be a good fit until your able to return, after all I need you over there. Any more questions Krauser?"
"Understood sir, let's begin then."
Jacob nodded and pulled out a large file, on Operation: Knightfall.
Kate went into the batcave smiling slightly upon finding Mary doing her very best job cheering up Ryan, who wasn't feeling as cheerful lately.
"How about shoes? Do you like any from the catalog?" She asked her.
"Not really, I'm sorry Mary no offense. I like shoes that feel comfortable, not over complicated fancy ones. Though to be honest, I never tried any of them before, like all those beautiful dresses. Only as cheap as dirt is the clothing I've worn for as long as I can remember after going to the orphanage." She admitted with a sigh.
Mary still perked up. "That's a okay! We'll just have to go on a trying season one day right? That'd be pretty fun, I know a wonderful place!"
Ryan accepted her kindness and smiled brightly. "Thanks Mary, I'd love a shopping day just the two of us."
"Maybe you could bring your girlfriend? Is she the shopping type?" Mary then questioned cerious.
"Definitely not her cup of tea. She'd not like to tag along for that no." Ryan replied with a slight frown and looked away somewhat.
"Hey it's alright, don't worry we're going to have a magnificent time! We can go whenever you've got time! We'll have the best time ever!" Mary reassured her.
Kate came over. "Could I borrow Ryan for a minute? It's important, a good kind. Not trouble, well, much."
They both understood and waved to each other, now Ryan followed Kate to the side of the cave away from Mary's ear range.
"First off, I'm embarrassed to confess, I completely forgot to tell you something incredibly important." Kate began saying.
"Is it about Scarecrow?" Ryan asked, concerned.
Kate shook her head and put her hand on Ryan's shoulder. "Crane's dead, don't worry about him. What I actually wanted to say was, I'm proud of you Ryan Wilder. Seeing you grow into this strong woman, when I met you things were completely different. You lived in a van, we're running illegal things just to put food on the table. Had connections to bad people, I really wasn't sure of myself if bringing you into this was the right call at times. Now, you've proved me right and yourself more importantly. You stared that monster down, in the eye and didn't let him win. After everything he did, after all the horrible things he put you though, you beat him in the end. That was all you Ryan, you made the choice to be better.. I couldn't be any more proud to call you my partner out there. So, thank you is really what I should be saying."
Ryan was greatly surprised and felt proud of herself. "I should thank you Kate, for giving me this chance. A second chance at living. Having a life I'm actually proud of."
"That isn't all, Luke wanted it to be a surprise, but I say screw it. You should know right now." Kate said and paused, giving her a chance to guess.
"What's this surprise?" She asked, greatly curious.
Kate smiled. "You dreamed of a real suit, Luke's almost finished it. And you are damn well deserving of that suit, along with the equipment with it."
"You mean, it's actually almost done?" Ryan was ecstatic.
"You bet it is, hopefully next time we go into the field for a major mission you'll be wearing the brand new suit, fit for Black Bat."
Ryan hugged Kate, which was surprising. "Thank you so much." She then let go. "Sorry, I know you're not big on hugging, but I just really felt like I needed to do that."
"It's alright Ryan, you earned it." She cleared her throat and continued "Now, there is actually more going on right now. An ally is here and is helping us with a situation involving my father. Come up stairs soon, we're working on it." She started saying, before Mary came over and interpreted.
"O.M.G! Ryan's getting an official suit! No offense to the one you got now, but girl you could be doing so much better, and you are! This is awesome!" Mary exclaimed.
"Yes I am! It's going to be fantastic, I drew up a design for it before."
"Show me now then! I gotta see it!" Mary said ecstatic.
Kate stepped away from them, going to check on Alice briefly, recalling she wanted to give her something and wanted to try speaking to her.
"I could hear it echoing through this cave, your sidekick is getting a brand new suit, aren't you so proud? Sure sounded like Mary was. Who'd guess the little criminal would be actually working out?" Alice mocked.
"Ryan Wilder is a much better person than you are." Kate remarked back.
Alice shrugged. "At least you got to save one person, you royally failed with me. Your own sister, thank goodness that homeless orphan is fine."
She scoffed at her sister, disappointed. "You always have to try making a good thing, turn rotten don't you? Why can't you just act happy for once? It's like you are getting worse, even more cruel. Before you showed a chance at redemption, now look at you. I can barely stand looking at you, Beth."
"I. Am. Not. Beth. How many times must I remind you of this Kate?"
"Maybe I'm still holding out hope, somewhere inside of you. Beth is still there and not just Alice. Deep down I feel like you are in there." She replied, crossing her arms.
Alice smirked, waving her hand. "Nope, it's just me. I'm the person I am. Saving me isn't an option, if only you'd get over that. You keep on calming you've given up on me and yet, you haven't yet! Make up your mind sister, all this double talk is making my head spin and confusing me. I already have a headache." She then grabbed onto her head feeling pain, a surprising amount, seemingly, but Kate didn't buy it assuming it must've been a trick. With Alice it probably was.
"Should I get you an aspirin?" She replied with a bit of sarcasm.
"I've survived much worse than an annoying headache, perhaps it's the lack of daylight? Maybe you should take me outside on a leash?"
Kate rolled her eyes and continued with why she even came there in the first place. "I came here for a reason, dad's planning something. He took the spare batsuit Elliot was using, any ideas?"
She just smirked and approached the tight bars. "Perhaps, with any luck he's planning on killing Batwoman. Or arresting you. Oh, maybe even replacing you? With some Crow sponsored Batmen and Women? Though, that'd be quite baty, wouldn't you say? Or too smart for our father, he'd do it boring just want to kill you, not ruin you."
"I bet you'd be disappointed by that. You really like rubbing the salt in wounds, it's your favorite thing, isn't it Alice?" Kate replied.
"I'd accept it, dad killing you would be magnificent. My own wonderland came to life." Alice said mockingly with a sinister smirk across her face.
"It'll never get to that point, Alice." Kate replied confidently.
"We'll see. I wish I had more to say, I'd love to give you a reason to run right into the belly of the beast. Meet your marker, sooner than later."
Kate approached her closely. "Thank you for not giving me any assistance. I'll figure this out, without your help. There is no way in hell I'll ever be needing help from a monster like you Alice."
With a smirk, she turned away for a moment, before trying to grab Kate though the bars, which Kate was prepared for banging her arm into the bar and backing off. "Nice try Alice, you need to be faster and smarter than that." She walked away, then stopped for a moment.
"Fine you win again! Good for you, but you never know. You never know Kate! After all, Safiyah is still out there. And I bet she's going to have some questions after what I did. She'll make you suffer." She smiled to herself.
"I wasn't going to give you this letter, but you know what. You deserve it." Kate pulled out a letter. "It's from Scarecrow." She walked away throwing it to her, which she could barely even reach.
Alice managed to grasp it and ripped it open and she read it allowed. "Dear Alice, by now I am obviously dead. And you are most likely locked up waiting for Safiyah to seek her revenge. Assuming you manage to see a doctor, might I recommend checking your head?" She was puzzled by that remark and kept reading. "Besides that, rest assured there was no hard feelings, though I am still quite mad about your sister murdering my friend. And leaving no evidence behind too. Or perhaps I'm assuming wrong, maybe it was you? Or maybe the good doctor is alive. After all, the dead are never dead right?" It was cryptic and Alice was frustrated ripping it. "Useless, why can't you speak normally! Even in death, you make no sense!" She threw it away.
Upstairs Luke and Diggle were using all their resources to figure out what was going on with Jacob Kane's plans.
"I'm finding nothing about Jacob Kane's activities." Luke sighed leaning back in his chair on the computer hacking into secure databases.
"Potential good news I'm hoping, I've tracked Kane's spending as of late." Diggle added coming over to him. "He's buying top notch weaponry, armor and brand new vehicles. Clearly he's trying to keep it very well hidden. Had to make a lot of calls to figure that out, but the question still remains. Why's he need it?"
Luke sighed. "He's gunning for Kate, Batwoman. Probably planning on throwing all this manpower at her. Personally I'm holding it out he's just expanding the Crows operation and we've got it all wrong."
"Unlikely, why keep it so silent? It's very covert, clearly he's planning on going after a target who he doesn't want to know how much danger there is." Diggle explained.
"You're right, that's very bad. Completely so. Do you have anything else?"
Diggle grabbed his head feeling a bit of pain for a moment. "No, I've found out nothing else yet. I've got another contact currently trying to track down a blacksite Kane has. Speaking of which, why exactly are there Crows stationed outside? Is that important?"
"Oh right, no it's fine. Kate's sister, um, not super villain. She was attacked and nearly kidnapped, so they stationed some Crows to follow her. Protect her in case of any more danger. It's been a bit annoying trying to sneak past them while Mary is here, oh and don't get me started on how hard it was to keep them outside." Luke explained.
Diggle nodded understanding.
"So, you worked with The Green Arrow? And The Flash?" Luke then asked.
He nodded and sat down. "I did, Oliver Queen was a great man. My best friend. I'd call The Flash a good friend too, I feel proud to. Along with many other great heroes that don't get mentioned as much. The world is filled with a ton of heroes, now it feels like a charge of generations. With Batwoman and your team, it seems to be part of the change." He sighed briefly. "You knew The Batman?" Diggle then asked.
"Somewhat, mostly in his later years thanks to my father. He worked with him for most of his crusade, without him, Batman would've had a lot more trouble opprationing. Did that while being a damn good dad. He's gone now, he was shot by a corrupt Crow. Horrible way to go, if Batman was furious, he was trying to figure out who did it, but that was a really bad year. Fortunately he's rotting in prison now, we managed to find him after years. He still worked there and nobody knew they had a murder in their ranks for years." Luke explained.
"I'm very sorry to hear that. Horrible thing, having him be under your nose for so long. Had a similar experience myself." Before Diggle could share that event they were interrupted by Kate returning up stairs.
"Have we found anything?" She asked.
Elsewhere, Jacob was now inside of his blacksite where the training for his mysterious plans were taking shape. It was only thickening, as he made a call to General Sam Lane over video.
"Thank you for agreeing to speak to me, General Lane." Jacob said respectfully.
"It sounded important and I'm aware of your career in the military, you've spent a lot of time serving. It's the least I could do. You wanted to speak about your contingency plan against Batwoman?"
Jacob sighed. "Yes, generally I do. Batwoman is a problem for this city and I believe it's of the highest importance to deal with her asap."
"Of course Colonel Kane, I perfectly understand your intentions on protecting your city, I have my own contingency plan against Superman. It's certainly a necessity in case of the worst case scenario occurring." Lane agreed.
Jacob was surprised upon learning that. "Why do you have a plan against Superman? I understand wanting to be safe, but he's the greatest hero this planet has. Him and his cousin have even assisted on two occasions this year in Gotham. I can't imagine a world where Superman would turn against us."
"Neither can I colonel, but it's something we need to be prepared for." He sighed and sat back. "A mysterious stranger in an armored powerful suit has recently appeared and has given warnings about Superman. Normally I wouldn't believe this, but with recent events there has been a strong reason to be concerned."
Kane understood. "I certainly hope this stranger is incorrect. We'd be outmatched and at a great loss without him."
Lane seemed to agree from his face, but wanted to move on, opening up a file on his desk. "Now, I wanted to question your own reasons for forming this contingency plan. I've looked you up and I've heard from Superman before, but you have a very low option of Batman. Even more so of this new Batwoman. I'm concerned by this being a personal vendetta considering the events in your life. Batman failed to save two members of your family and now Batwoman has been going head to head against your returned daughter. And making your organization look bad for failing to protect your city." Lane replied, looking serious.
"Vigilantes are a threat in my city sir. I simply want to bring them to justice. Quite frankly, the only concerning thing Superman ever said was his past defense of both bats. I disagree highly with that stance. Along with defending The Batman for disappearing. It's unacceptable giving them passes." Kane expressed back.
Lane nodded. "You might not be aware, but I'm fairly certain Superman and Batman had seemed to know each other on a personal level, they teamed up on multiple occasions to help the world. In fact, one time Batman even saved my daughter from that madman The Joker. Not to mention, once he vanished Superman was clearly troubled by those events, missing his ally. You can understand my apprehension for your distaste for the man and your current plans. What you are asking from me most of all."
"Of course General, I know it's a major ask, but please. I need that Kryptonite. It's the only weapon at my disposal that could penetrate the batsuit, a fact that still confuses me greatly. You are the only one where I can find Kryptonite legally from. And I refuse to turn to the blackmarket. You are my only option. This contingency plan won't work without your help, this is the most important piece." Kane explained genuinely looking more disparate now.
Sam Lane saw this clearly and thought of his answer for the commander.
Back over in Wayne Tower, Ryan had come up stairs along with Mary who was just leaving to get the Crows off their backs.
"Where exactly does the elevator lead?" Diggle asked curiously.
"Wine seller." Kate remarked sarcastically.
Diggle chuckled. "Sure it is." He then reached out to shake Ryan's hand. "My name is John Diggle, nice to meet you. I'm assuming you're her partner?"
"Indeed I am. Nice to meet you too, my name is Ryan Wilder." She replied, shaking his hand back.
"Huh." He seemed to think about it, but moved on. "You all seem to be doing good work here, great to see." Diggle replied and answered his phone, backing away for a moment. "Thanks, you had perfect timing." He hung up.
"Is that a lead?" Kate asked immediately.
"Yeah, a contact came though. I've got you a location on your father's blacksite." He responded and nodded.
"How secure is it?" Kate then questioned. "
"Quite locked up tight I'm afraid. I don't think going in as Batwoman would be the best call, or bringing your teammates." Diggle confessed.
Kate put her hand under her chin. "You're right." She turned to her team. "I'm going to go alone on this. Without the suit."
They all understood, but seemed concerned.
"Diggle, are you planning on sticking around? You have a lot more experience with sneaking around, could use your help, if you're able?" She then asked.
He grabbed his head. "I'm sorry, I should really be heading out. Hoping to head home, see my family soon. Though could we speak privately quickly?"
She nodded and they stepped to the side heading out into the hallway. "What's up?"
"Everyone hasn't discussed the crisis as much as I'd personally have liked. It was a game changing event and look, I don't know you and your team too well, but I want to be able to help where I can. Oliver sacrificed himself, gave all of us a second chance at life and put everything right. There is still so much going on that I've got to worry about." Diggle confessed.
"Such as your headaches?" Kate pointed out.
"Yeah, it all started after a box came crashing down and landed right in front of me. Whatever the hell it is, clearly wasn't from our planet. That isn't even everything, my daughter who was erased from existence years ago is back and my son is still here too. We've moved to Metropolis to start a brand new life and I'm deeply hoping my son doesn't grow up to become a criminal named Deathstroke, like in the future. I saw his future and it could still come to pass. The world is constantly changing, I remember when I was just a soldier before everything began to change. I've seen everything change right before my eyes." He paused. "My point is, listen, Kate Kane. I'm here for you, with whatever you need. It's the least I can do, I want to help and never stop living Oliver's legacy, the age of heroes he brought on."
Kate was taken aback. "That's definitely a lot to handle. Can't blame you for having headaches. If you ever need more help, I can get you the best doctors. Though I have a feeling you'll figure it out. You seem like a wise person."
He laughed softly. "What can I say, after everything I've seen and done in my life, how couldn't I be? You know, something else I couldn't believe was Bruce Wayne was The Batman, kept that secret pretty well. Not even my wife knew."
Kate nodded. "Indeed he did, can't say the same for Oliver or Barry. Especially The Legends." She remarked.
"You know, the previous head of Argus did know his identity. A woman named Amanda Waller, of course she never shared it even with my wife before her death. It was just a part of her files that she had dealings with Batman."
"Must've been intelligent to know his identity. Makes me wonder." Kate pondered, but brushed it off. "Doesn't matter, not like either of them is here to elaborate on that. Besides, I should let you go see your family. Have a good day with them, I've got to get to the bottom of everything with my dad." Kate replied.
"Think I'll say my goodbyes to your team first. Until next time Kate Kane, hopefully we'll meet sooner than later." Diggle replied kindly and sighed as Kate departed.
Upstairs, Luke and Ryan were speaking.
"You know, if Diggle comes back up. You should speak to him about Scarecrow, he's amazing at pep talks, which I can attest to." Luke began saying.
"Not any of his business and he doesn't know me, why would he care?"
"Don't know, but I got a feeling you should talk to him." Luke persisted.
Ryan sighed and nodded. "Alright, you win. I'll talk to Diggle, if he comes back up." As she said that, he did exactly that.
"Well." Luke replied, now heading down the elevator.
"Are you heading out?" She then asked.
Diggle nodded. "Yes, I was going to wish you all luck, but it seems like your two friends have other things to do."
"Yeah, actually that works out. I was hoping to ask you a question, I've heard you give legendary pep talks." Ryan began saying.
"Might be an over exaggeration, but what's up?" Diggle replied interested.
Ryan looked down and sighed. "The man who murdered my mother was finally apprehended, we got him. I always wanted him gone all my life, I wanted to kill him. Then I changed and grew, I wanted him in prison. We got so close, then someone killed him before we could. He knew it was going to happen, I stared at him while he died. In a way it feels like he still won. Scarecrow. He left a lot of scars behind. Now, honestly I feel lost. I don't know how to move forward or how to make sure my mom's memory goes on. I haven't talked about this to anybody else, not my teammates or even my girlfriend. I feel ashamed by not knowing what to do now." Ryan confessed to Diggle.
"I understand, you've clearly been through a lot and have even more flowing around in your head right now. That killer, he hasn't won anything. He's gone now, even if he's left behind some hurt. You gotta focus on that, he can't harm you anymore. That part of your life is over, all those nights of wanting revenge, it's over. Alive or dead, you can be certain he can't come after you. That nightmare is over." Diggle replied.
"He's dead, but I still can't get him out of my mind. I want to never think of him again, I know it's unrealistic, but I feel like just remembering him means he won." Ryan expressed putting her hand over her face.
Diggle nodded. "I understand where you are coming from, it's always hard to remember the past, people who hurt us. Part of you will always feel it, but I can promise you this it'll get better. All of that. I mean look at you now, your Batwoman's partner. You are a protector of Gotham and all of its people. That's impressive and no small feat. You must've come a long way, you've only been around for what? A year at most, you went from seeking revenge to finding peace and finding friends. Ryan Wilder, you obviously are honoring your mother's memory everyday you are alive. Everyday you fight to do better and push yourself to become the best person you can be. You've still got a long way to go, but I'm sure your mother is extraordinarily proud of you for everything that you've accomplished and everything coming. Take this victory with stride, you win by not letting the monster who took your mother keep you down. You are winning, this is an important defining moment for you. Whatever life throws at you, Ryan. You've got this!" Diggle exclaimed genuinely and confidently.
"Thank you, I really needed to hear that. I will make my mom proud." Ryan replied, nodding to him. "You should probably head out, don't want to keep you any longer."
"It was nice meeting you and everyone. See you again sometime." Diggle headed out thinking to himself about the name Wilder, it seemed formulier, but he couldn't put his finger on it and didn't want to ask Ryan about it. Before he could finally depart heading home, he got a call from some friends in Central City. "Slow down, who is Godspeed?" He asked knowing where he'd be heading next.
Elsewhere Kate was heading to the location given to her and contacted Julia first.
"Where are you right now?" She asked immediately.
"I was with Sophie, what's going on? Is it serious?" Julia asked on edge.
Kate looked around where she was placing her bike for the time being and then responded. "It could be. My dad is running a secret operation and I'm about to confront him about it. Please be ready to act depending on how this goes and what I learn."
"Understood, I'll inform Sophie. Why didn't you call sooner if this is a Crow issue?"
"I was honestly hoping to not get either of you involved. This could be seriously dangerous and risk you both." Kate expressed.
"It's our call. Stay safe Kate." Julia hung up.
She sighed. "Thanks." Now she stepped up the blacksite having her helmet still on, unfortunately for her The Crows were highly effective clearly, as they rushed out with their guns raised noticing her staking out the building about to enter. Her father was with them all looking quite serious. She raised her hands up realizing that this was probably not the greatest plan.
"Take off the helmet!" Kane yelled.
She listened. "Hey, dad. I came at a bad time didn't I?"
Jacob Kane was stunned upon seeing her there and stood still.
Batwoman
In Response To C.G
Thank you, hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner. I've had a lot of progress now for that other series so I feel more comfortable putting more effort back here. Thank you for the recommendation. It was pretty good I saw you reviewing that one. I'm glad I did a pretty good job, I really wanted it to be one of my better chapters considering how important that was. I'm glad you were surprised, I wanted to make it a shocker how he ultimately turned on her by the end giving her that "screw you." I'm glad I did. I tried hard with those, I wanted to give that moment to Batman and yeah it is nice seeing Gordon. I wanted her decision to be impactful, you are most certainly correct about that, he may be gone, but there is still a lot of trauma to work though. Yep you were right about that, this chapter was more thin so I wanted to have more of the payoff and down time to occur here. Thank you for calling that clever, your right about that going to take some time until his successor's plans come along, glad you thought of that too, it was intentionally hinting towards that possible future, Safiyah is going to have some trouble to face certainly. It's crazy to me approaching the end of Season 2 and setting up Brian now giving his introduction. I'm really looking forward to Season 3.
(Embarrassing, but I forgot and can't find your posting about who was cast as Brian Krauser. I remember the previous one, but I know you changed your mind later on. Past me seemed to have not considered that important to the organized document I have for season 2, opse. I'll fix that if you recall or if I find it)
Random Topics:
Maggie's Question Origin Episode for your Season 3 – I agree and think that is a good title episode too and thank you for clearing that up. Sounds like it's going to be an incredible chapter, season 3 is going to have a lot of those for sure.
Gregor Dosynski "Portrayal" Suggestion for your series – Okay thank you for the suggestion. I've seen a couple episodes of that show, but I'll definitely try to watch the one where this actor appears. Thank you for that.
Name for the New Chinese Triad that will eventually in your series – That makes sense, I'll be sure to go with that.
In regards to Julia – That makes sense, I understand that logic and will be keeping her a part of season 3. My thinking is it might just interrupt things going on and force her to choose at times about what to do petetelly. We'll figure it out next season completely.
Who Should "Portray" Damian Wayne in Your Series? – Alrighty, I never saw that show, but I'm sure it's a good choice.
In regards to what you said about Jacob – Yes he is driven by that and it's his biggest flaw being blinded by that hate into doing what he's doing instead of protecting the city as he should and not paying enough attention to his organization. It's great how he'll eventually learn from all the mistakes in the past building a better Crows and being a better father too.
About Scarecrow hinting at Alice's brain tumor – Hopefully I did that right and I like your thoughts about it.
Kate's Response to Mary being Kidnapped – Your right, I wasn't thinking that was a good idea so I'm glad you agree. I'll certinly still have her worried and angry, but not going to that low especially after everything with Ryan and Scarecrow.
Alrighty, I'll try reading those once the series is completed, it's interesting they chose a antagonist from "Kingdom Come" and yeah I'll diffently have it be a background thing. (Also I wonder if anymore comics will come out now with the shows fate)
I have long heard by now yes. I agree with you completely on everything you said there it was her fault completely mismanaging the show, probably too everything going on with that marger maybe and if any of those horrific stories about the behind the scenes being true too. Overall, it was just a complete mess and it was doomed after season 1 due to the bad choices being made.
It sucks too about Legends even though I wasn't keeping up with it anymore, sad Booster Gold got screwed over and that cliffhanger you mentioned too. It does seem the Arrowverse is dying off. I haven't been into it as much as I was during the beginning honestly, but it did mean a lot to me when I was younger. I watched Arrow season 2 live and flash first appeared. Then I was so happy and excited watching the first couple seasons of that show. It was great, I still watched Arrow live every time it aired until the ending and still am trying to keep caught up on Flash. And Supergirl obviously meant a lot to me with the creation of Dreamer. Legends was nice too, I just wasn't so much into the increasing craziness by the end (Though I always loved Gary for some reason). So it is sad seeing this universe dying off, I wish better choices were made to help the shows out and I wish they got a more dignified ending. I hope the Arrowverse somehow keeps going.
(Also yeah I agree with you that report they gave is no way the full story behind all these cancellations)
Sophie and Julia post episode 20 - I know that Sophie is going to be getting into a heaping load of trouble next episode trying to help out Batwoman. I was wondering about Julia first, will she also be getting into trouble or will she manage to not get into legal trouble like Sophie in your mind? Perhaps they are caught, but Sophie sacrifices herself to protect Julia from being caught alongside her?
Secondly I was just double checking that she'll be a fugitive going into episode 21, my assumption she is, but I want to know if you agree? I want to pull this off right as I really have been putting Sophie on the backburner this season so I want to pull off her big turning point the best I can.
Finally, thank you for your patience and I hope the chapter title was alright, could change if you have any suggestions for a better one.