Kate's father Jacob was standing in the Capitol Rotunda, about six hundred miles direct flying distance from where his daughter was standing in her apartment on the 33rd floor of the R.H. Kane building, 1550 N Lake Shore Drive in Chicago's Gold Coast district.

"Do you want the good news first, or the bad news?"

Katheryn Kane knew that her father was in Washington DC for a meeting with men and women in the Pentagon who had enough medals on their chests that it must be giving them lower back pain, but he had remained mum about what that business was.

"Since you never told me why you're there, I have no idea which one you should start with, so I'll default to my usual good news first, and then hang up before the bad news."

She could tell by the change in his voice that he was smiling when he spoke.

"The Pentagon has agreed to fix the discharge records of all LGBTQ+ personnel who were denied honorable discharges under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. I pushed for them to do more, but right now, it's all I could get them to agree on. The bulk of the records will take time to adjust, but they promised to fast-track yours. You should have it in about a week."

Kate's heart had moved up into her throat as her father was speaking, and it took her a moment to force it back down again so she could inhale enough air to reply.

"They're changing my discharge to Honorable."

"Yes, you and everyone else who were discharged for what at the time was called homosexual activity. It's the very least they could do to begin to make it right, and you can always count on the Pentagon doing the least it can do. It's a start, but I'm not letting it drop off their radar. They could do, and should do, more; and they will do more if I have anything to say about it."

Kate had had a promising career in the US Army when she had been outed at West Point. She chose to come out as a lesbian at the time to short-circuit any investigation, which would protect her girlfriend, who was also a cadet, but end her career before it had even begun.

Less Than Honorable Discharge - homosexual activities. Her choice had saved Sophie and led to years of alcohol abuse, and fucking anything on two legs. She came up for air finally, got her life back together, and found a measure of peace with her decision. She had never heard from Sophie again, but she hoped she had done likewise.

"That's excellent news, but I don't want special treatment just because you threw your weight around. I can wait my turn."

She heard the smile fade from his voice as if his audible sigh blew it away.

"If that's what you want, I'll let them know."

"What's the bad news?"

"It looks like another CR."

Kate was staring at the mannequin proportioned to duplicate her shape exactly, and the armor that resided there that she had only worn in the field a few times. Her old armor, and the old mannequin, were close by, and she knew that armor like the back of her hand. She knew the new set would be just as comfortable as the old one, once she took the time to break it in. But the sore spots on her more sensitive areas were a constant indication that the breaking-in process would take time, and the chafing was something that she would have to endure.

Right now she, her father, and Kane Industries were forced to endure another continuing resolution, which meant less money spent for military defense (and offense) by the US government, and since Kane Industries was in the military defense (and offense) business, that meant less profit for them.

Kate took a moment to take in a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

"Great. Just great."

"I know, I feel the same way. But we've been on this ride before, and we know how to manage without laying anyone off."

Kate reached forward and picked out a piece of lint from the red wig that was attached to her new headgear.

"We've been on this ride too many times in the past five years. Why can't they get their shit together and do the fucking job we elect them, and pay them, to do? You need to think about running for office and then going in there and banging some heads together."

"You're better at banging heads together than I am. Why don't you run for office?"

When would I find the time? I have a day job, and a night job, and I do both on about four hours of sleep a night, Kate Kane thought to herself as she looked from one set of armor to the other, each displaying the symbol of a bat on the front.

"For the same reason you don't."

Jacob knew all too well that Kate's reasons and his own were nothing even approaching the same reasons, but he let that small detail slide.

"OK, then; neither one of us is that stupid, or self-centered. Like I said, we'll be fine. Change of subject, when does Beth get in?"

His daughter Elizabeth, whom he had thought dead for many years, and who he had only recently recovered, in the physical sense at least, and her twin sister Kate had been so identical when they were young that Jacob's wife Gabi had taken to giving them different colored hair ties, which had almost immediately proved to be a mistake, since both girls were highly intelligent, and equally mischievous, and could swap ties in the blink of an eye. It was not until they had seen eleven winters when Kate had acquired a scar Beth lacked, that either parent had a sure-fire method of telling one from the other. Jacob had lost his wife on the same day that he believed he had also lost Beth. He and Kate persisted in that false state for over twenty years before learning the truth, a truth that came with a terrible price tag.

"She said she'd be back in New York today, and they should be flying out tomorrow afternoon."

"Back from where?"

"She only said that she had a thing and that it wouldn't take long."

Beth had confided in Kate regarding the nature of the thing, but her father was still a stranger to her in many ways, just as she was a stranger to him. The first time they had seen each other when he visited Beth in the psychiatric hospital had brought on a full-blown Alice meltdown that had taken a triple dose of whatever they were giving her to calm her down. The last time he had seen her she had been almost…not normal, that wasn't the right word. Jacob had no idea what normal was when it came to Beth, he was not sure anyone did. But by all accounts, she had gotten much better in the last few months, and both Kate and her cousin Bruce were clear on why while remaining vague on specifically how.

"Are we going to meet this new guy of hers?"

Kate had met him already, though her father didn't know it. Beth had wanted her to and given Julia's description of him, Kate had wanted it just as much. She had to admit that he was pretty fucking hot, and if she had been the least bit interested in men she would be seriously jealous of her twin sister.

In the time since they had been separated, they had each collected a set of scars that were just as distinctive as any set of fingerprints. Some of those scars were external, visible to the naked eye to anyone who got close enough to either woman to view them so intimately. But others, the deeper scars, the ones imprinted on their minds or their souls, if you believed in that sort of thing (which Kate did, but Beth did not), the wounds inflicted on the psyche, those could not be perceived by any of the five senses. It was only because Aric had a special power; not a sixth sense, but not far from it - something that could not be described with words, that he was able to see Beth's invisible wounds and act as a tool to repair them. Kate knew that as well, one more detail that she had chosen not to share with their father. She had hoped that Beth and Jacob would eventually become Father and Daughter again, but when Julia and Beth had moved to New York, a city that held no terrible memories for Beth, Kate's hopes began to fade. More than two decades had passed since the two had shared that bond, and Kath began to fear that it was too large a gap for Beth to jump.

"I don't think so. The last I heard from her was that he was currently living in Buenos Aires. But Julia will be here. I've got two of the bedrooms ready for them."

"What's the word from Ms. Pennyworth?"

Julia Pennyworth, daughter of Alfred Pennyworth, her cousin Bruce's butler, was currently Beth's handler, or controller, or a host of different labels that never fully captured the role she played keeping Beth alive during an op; just like she had done at one time for Kate. But Kate could never adapt to having someone's voice in her ear, seeing what Kate's eyes saw, and hearing what Kate's ears heard, via special contact lenses and audio pickups.

"She was seeing someone for a couple of months, but it didn't work out. She works odd hours, and he couldn't handle it."

"So, she'd be available then. We should invite her to dinner, and invite Bruce."

Kate's eyes rolled as if they had a mind of their own, and her mouth followed close behind.

"Oy vey, will you stop trying to fix those two up?"

She could hear the laughter in his voice, but she knew he was only fifty percent joking. Everyone except Julia and Bruce thought the pair were a good match. But as much as Julia worked odd hours, Bruce worked even odder hours. It was something they had in common, and on several family dinners, the two of them had sat together in a quiet corner discussing details of their most recent operation or reliving details from a past op.

"What? I'm just suggesting. She likes him, he likes her; why is that a problem?"

"Excuse me, I'm going to open one of the windows in my apartment and then jump out of it."

"None of the windows in your apartment open, in case you haven't already noticed."

To call where she lived her apartment was a bit of a stretch. Her domicile consisted of the top two floors of the building that sported the same last name as she did, though the 32nd floor was given over mostly to workshops and labs; places that Luke knew much better than Kate. But she wasn't a stranger to that special floor that could only be accessed by a private staircase in the floor above, the floor that was entirely given over to living space. It was on that lower floor that she was currently standing, technically leaning, her rock-hard glutes supported by the low workbench behind her as she continued to look at her new suit.

"Fine. But if you want to tackle something challenging try something easier, like getting Congress to pass a fucking budget."

The rain, which had been a sporadic companion, returned, sending drops of water onto the outside surface of the windows that allowed diffused daylight to paint the two sets of armor as well as everything else in the workshop. Kate could hear an announcement of an upcoming vote through her phone speaker as her father spoke.

"You kiss your girlfriend with that mouth? We're going to have a conversation concerning your language next time I see you."

"I'm between girlfriends at the moment, but fine; I'll tone it the fuck down."

She could hear her father's laughter echo throughout the rotunda.

"I can't wait to see you," Alfred Pennyworth said to his daughter.

"Me too. It'll be nice to relax for a week and take in some of the old haunts. Beth is looking forward to it. It's a good sign that the prospect of a visit home doesn't have her white-knuckling the armrests for the entire flight."

"She's doing well, don't you think?"

"I think so. She seems to be at peace with herself, and with the world. No voices, no Alice incidents, no meds; not since that night after the beach party."

That night they had returned home, the fine sand from the beach on Passion Island still stuck to their skin, in their hair, and on their clothes; Beth, Julia, Aric, and Tyler. That night Aric had done whatever it was he did when he fixed someone, or cured someone, or whatever it was. He had argued that it was just run-of-the-mill transference when Beth professed her love for him immediately afterward. It was only after a mandated month-long period of separation that he acknowledged her feelings might be genuine. They had spent a fair amount of time together since then. Neither Beth nor Julia had ever been to Argentina before they had met Aric. It was on Beth's third trip she had invited Julia to come with, which Julia had politely declined until Beth had insisted. It wasn't the only trip the three of them had taken together, but Julia always felt like a fifth wheel when they did. It wasn't like she could have asked Terry to go with her, not given the mode of transportation they used.

Hey, pack a bag; we're taking the next super cavitated bubble of exotic gravitons to Buenos Aires, Julia could close her eyes and imagine the look on his face at his first glimpse of a sphere of folded space that made traveling from New York to Buenos Aires as simple as stepping through the shining interface.

"Well, just so you know, Bruce wants everyone over for dinner while you're here. Any chance of what's his name attending?"

"His name's Aric, as you well know. Don't play obtuse, Dad, it doesn't suit."

"I'm not. I just forgot his name."

"How many hours have you spent trying to dig up information on him? Just a rough estimate, please."

"Um..."

That's what I thought. You should be ashamed, lying to your daughter like that."

"It's a fair cop, guv'nor; I'll go quiet like."

"If you're serious, I'll pass along the invitation. It's not like he has to buy a plane ticket. Is Selina going to make an appearance?"

Selina Kyle, known by other names, was a long-time acquaintance of Bruce Wayne, though that word did not even begin to encompass their relationship. Family friend, ex-girlfriend, occasional ally, past foe. There was more than one PhD waiting to be written on the topic of relationships for anyone willing and able to study Bruce and Selina's bond. Julia had no idea as to their current status, except that it had been almost a year since they had seen each other.

"No. Last I heard she's not on this continent and, unlike Beth's boyfriend, she does have to buy a ticket and fly the old-fashioned way. And this isn't her home anymore."

Good, Julia thought. She was being ungenerous, and she knew it; but there were times when being the empathic, understanding adult was too exhausting.

"Beth invited Trish to come and stay for a few days. I don't know if she asked Kate to put her up as well, or whether she would just get a hotel. You might have heard the news reports from the last time she visited."

The news reports about the attack at Navy Pier when Trish Walker had been working private security for the world's most famous actress. That news had even penetrated the cave in which her father occasionally worked, and had earned him a call from Commissioner Gordon's de facto daughter Babs, as Beth liked to call her.

"Was that you at the Pier today?" Barbara Gordon had asked Alfred.

"Was what us at the Pier today?"

It took almost no time for her to realize she was barking up the wrong cave. It took a bit longer to explain to Julia's father what Barbara's father had told her five minutes previously.

"News to me," was all Bruce had said as he lay on the couch with The Art of War suspended over him as he continued to read.

"I do remember those reports," Alfred Pennyworth said to his daughter, "let me know before she gets in so I can run around the mansion and check all the fire extinguishers."

"Hilarious. But If she does come out to visit she wants to meet Bruce to thank him for helping her friend Jessica out of a jam."

"I remember that particular jam as well. Why are people from New York always such pains in the ass?"

There was a moment of silence on both ends of the phone before Julia replied to her father's question.

"In case you forgot, I'm from New York now," Julia stated dryly.

Try as he might, Alfred was not able to stifle the chuckle that bubbled up inside him, which his daughter heard and took for a warning of what was to follow.

"Why would I have forgotten that?"

"Are you saying I'm a pain in the ass?"

They were both laughing enough that words were getting harder to speak.

"And have been since the day you were born. Just like your mother."

"You know, it's a mystery to me why Mom divorced you."

"You and me both."