Chapter Text
Bruce had called for Kate as backup on a mission with Diana. She’d been surprised by the call since Bruce didn’t usually like to involve her in League business. Bruce tried to keep the lines between Gotham and the Justice League strict.
He had seemed hurried, which was an unusual tone from the Dark Knight. He gave her coordinates and hung up. She was used to the brief orders, but something about it had unsettled Kate. She looked at the coordinates and realized that they were right outside Gotham. Unusual for League business to take them so close to the Bats’ city.
When she had arrived, she was greeted by Bruce and Diana in the middle of a fight. The warehouse from the outside had looked normal enough, but inside it was lit up with an eerie, magical glow and fists were flying. So were the people who those fists were connecting with. She had stopped to stare in awe as Diana had punched a man clear across the building they were in.
She quickly realized why she had been the one called in; both Bruce and Diana weren’t in costume. Bruce had only a running towel pulled over part of his face and a tracksuit on. Diana’s clothes were much the same, with her bracelets on and her hair pulled into a ponytail. Kate didn’t think she had ever seen Diana with her hair pulled back.
One of the men noticed her distraction and rushed her. Kate quickly grabbed onto and twisted one of the man’s arms. When she bent him backwards, she changed her mind; this wasn’t a man. A sharp hissing sound escaped his, possibly, throat? His entire face was gone, replaced by a swirling void of things Kate couldn’t begin to try to put a name to.
“It’s just you two?” Kate asked, grunting as she slammed the body onto the concrete.
“Got caught off duty,” Diana answered. Her fist connected with one of her assailants and the body dropped to the floor. Kate noticed an energy snake over to the body as it got back up.
“What are we dealing with? Anything you can tell me would be great,” Kate knocked her elbow into the body behind her and threw a batarang into the face-void of the one in front of her. She watched in horror as the batarang was pushed out and clattered onto the floor. She saw the same energy snake around the form as it started moving again.
“Not entirely sure,” Diana said, “We know it involves magic.”
“Are you sure you’re not the detective?” Kate smirked as she threw a body towards Diana to pummel across the room.
Diana took a moment to smile back and their eyes met for briefly before Kate noticed a body behind her. She threw herself around with a kick and the force knocked it down. With her boot pressed into the body, she scanned the room for where that energy was coming from.
“It has to be coming from somewhere,” Kate mumbled to herself.
She scanned the room as Bruce moved closer to her. Between him and Diana, Kate was sure she would be able to find the source of the magic without getting blindsided.
Her eyes trailed along the lines on the floor. Whatever magic this was, she hadn’t seen it before. She only recognized about half the runes on the ground. She darted her eyes from the words to the bits of energy snaking across it. She tried to follow them, but there seemed to be no clear pattern.
“I don’t think whatever is controlling these things is on this level,” She called out, joining Bruce in throwing down a few bodies.
“We can keep holding them off,” Bruce said, his voice still even despite the sweat trickling down his brow. Kate wondered how long they had been fighting off these creatures without rest before she got here. “You go find the source.”
Kate found herself looking at Diana for confirmation. Diana met her eyes and smirked.
“We’ll be fine, go,” She said, her voice sounding softer than Kate thought it should during a battle. She tore her eyes from Diana and ducked into a door marked ‘stairs’.
The stairwell was mostly dark, lit only by the small bits of magic glow that permeated the doorways. Kate took several stairs at a time but stopped when she heard voices coming from behind the basement door. She put her ear against the door.
“Please, don’t hurt them!”
“You do not command me any longer, human.”
Great, otherworldly beings with superiority complexes. Just what Kate needed right now.
“I didn’t know you were going to be…”
“Janey, make him stop!”
“I can’t!”
There was a loud bang and Kate decided in that moment to stop listening and act. She shoved open the door and took a quick account of what was happening.
In front of her there was a large, demon-like entity just to the side of what looked like a summoning circle with a girl in the center of it. He had a bullet hole in his shoulder, but it didn’t seem to be stopping him in anyway. He was raising his hands towards a person holding a gun shakily in front of them, and a few other people were frozen in fear behind them.
Kate saw the demon’s attack and lunged towards the person with the gun. The magic hit the ground where they had been, and Kate was now holding the gun. She clicked the safety on and slid it away from the fight.
“Holy shit, you shot the demon, Ghan?” The girl in the center of the circle was clutching her shoulder. “Why would you shoot the demon?”
“You weren’t doing anything Janey!” The person in Kate’s grip wriggled out of it and pointed an accusatory finger at the girl. Kate noticed the demon gearing up for another attack and pushed Ghan towards the others as she jumped out of the way of the blast. She needed to get these civilians out of here, that was priority number one.
“Hey, demon, your fight is with me now,” Kate growled.
The demon smirked and looked Kate up and down, “You have no business here.”
Kate frowned and readied a few smoke bombs on her belt, “Oh, I disagree.” She let the smoke bombs fly towards the demon and rushed over to the people crowding together. She motioned for them to climb the stairs.
“I’ve got four coming up who’re going to need cover to get to safety,” Kate whispered into her comm.
“Affirmative,” Bruce replied.
Kate didn’t have time to be annoyed with the subtle jab at her military career and threw a cable around the demon as the smoke cleared and the door to the stairwell closed. The demon laughed as its energy snaked around the cord and dissolved it.
“Neat trick,” Kate said as she tossed a few batarangs at the demon. She sidestepped so that she was on top of a few runes and scuffed the floor. She threw a few more and slid across the floor to wipe at a few of the runes with her gloved hands.
“You think you’re clever, but I see you,” The demon bellowed.
Janey had broken into sobs and was still holding her shoulder. Kate saw blood on her hands and realized that the girl was linked with the demon somehow. She looked back at the demon just as he shot a blast at her.
“You are no match for me, for I am-”
“Save it. I don’t care who you are, I just know you’re going back where you belong,” Kate said as she sprayed adhesive at the demon’s mouth.
The door to the basement slammed open and Diana stood in the doorway.
“Did you get the kids to safety?”
“Yes, the creatures upstairs seemed to give us a respite,” Diana answered.
So, he wasn’t all powerful then, if the distraction of the fight down here was enough to alleviate the fight upstairs.
“Good,” Kate nodded at Janey, “She seems to be linked to the demon somehow. When her friend shot it, she got hurt.”
“We have to get them to switch places.” Diana dodged a blast.
The demon laughed as its energy swirled around it. “I have wasted enough time with you mortals.”
Diana rose an eyebrow and threw both hands to her sides. She looked at Kate for a moment before nodding at the girl. She turned her attention back to the demon.
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
Kate didn’t even think as she leapt for the girl as Diana brought her wrists together. The demon’s blast impacted the bracelets just as Diana slammed her wrists together.
Kate dove for the girl and then kicked off the ground just as the demon’s foot entered back into the circle from the blast. Diana gave the demon a kick and he fell the rest of the way into the circle.
“The…the words what are the words,” Janey sobbed. The girl was shaking in Kate’s arms. She gave Janey a gentle pat on the shoulder.
“You can do it, remember how to make him leave.”
Janey nodded through her tears and pulled out her phone. The screen was cracked, but Kate could see a few incantations on a pulled-up webpage. Technology was a blessing and a curse sometimes. Janey recited the words from the screen and the demon growled in rage.
“You’ve made a mistake, human! I’ll be back! I know how to get-” The demon disappeared in a brilliant light and when it dissipated, the ground was clear of any marks.
Diana slumped her shoulders and let out a breath. Kate turned to the girl.
“You summoned a demon from the internet?”
“It was just supposed to be a small one,” Janey mumbled.
Kate tried not to let her exasperation show as she tried to find words. Diana had stepped over to them and crossed her arms.
“So, you meant to summon it?”
Janey sniffled and wiped at the snot running down her face. Kate took the opportunity to inspect the wound on her shoulder, but it seemed to be gone. Only the blood remained. She really hated dealing with magic.
“It was supposed to help us!”
Diana frowned and crossed her arms.
Janey looked at the ground. “It was supposed to help us.”
“The kids are okay, if a little shaken up,” Bruce’s voice crackled into Kate’s ear, “I set them up with a counselor.”
“Good thinking. It’s all clear now,” Kate said.
“What was so bad that you thought you had to summon a demon?” Diana was crouched down next to Janey now. Kate could see a few worry lines on her features, but they didn’t detract from her beauty. In fact, if Kate was honest with herself, seeing the compassion so blatantly written on Diana’s face only made her that much more beautiful.
“These guys at school…” Janey sniffled, “They keep harassing us and we just wanted to scare them a little, you know? Scare them like they scare us.”
Diana placed her arm around Janey’s shoulders and hugged her close. “You couldn’t go to a teacher?”
“Nobody would care,” Janey said, “Nobody ever really cares.”
Diana hugged the girl a little closer to her and rubbed her arm. “Well, I care. Tell me about it.”
Janey sniffled and nodded. Kate watched in fascination as Janey explained what the boys had been doing. She realized why they hadn’t felt like they could go to anyone; the boys had been sneaky. They never made a scene, only instilled fear.
“Where did your friend get their gun?” Kate asked after Janey was done explaining.
“I don’t know, I didn’t even know they brought one!” Janey cried. She put a hand on her own shoulder and gasped when she met un-marred skin.
“You’re going to be okay,” Diana said. “We’ll see to your bullies.”
“You’re gonna beat them up?” Janey asked, hope in her voice so genuine that Kate had to bite down a smile.
Diana frowned. “We will not meet violence with violence if there’s another option.”
Janey looked a bit deflated at the words. Kate made eye contact with Diana and excused herself. She thought she could feel Diana’s eyes on her as she left, but that wasn’t her concern. Diana would keep talking the girl down, but Kate wanted to know what the plan was from here.
She emerged from the warehouse and found Bruce chatting with the kids. She could see a van in the distance, heading for them, probably a transport to the trauma clinic. She was almost shocked by the lack of police. These kids had summoned a demon and most likely stolen a gun. This was Bruce though, and Bruce was always soft on kids, especially kids who had been through abusive and traumatic situations.
She watched silently from the doorway as the kids climbed into the van, being checked over for injury and answering questions. She felt a hand ghost over her shoulder as Diana came out with Janey. Diana placed her hands on Janey’s shoulders.
“It’ll be okay. I promise you.” Diana’s voice was soft, but her expression stern. Janey nodded and gave a glance at Kate before walking over to the van.
Kate watched as Janey’s now non-existent wound was looked at. She was given a blanket and climbed into the van. One of her friends was crying into the shoulder of a social worker.
As the van doors closed, Bruce walked over to Kate and Diana.
“So, what did you tell them?” Kate asked, giving a quick look at Bruce’s casual clothes.
“What? Bruce Wayne can’t be concerned for kids?” Diana laughed.
Bruce’s scowl gave a slight upturn. “They’re kids. I’m sure they will think whatever they want to anyway. It won’t be more ridiculous than any of the other rumors about me.”
“I can see the headline now,” Kate grinned and spread her fingers out in front of her, “Cryptid Bruce Wayne spotted saving kids from demon. Where was his boyfriend, Batman?”
Diana clutched her stomach and let out a loud laugh. Bruce let out a breath that Kate knew was a chuckle.
“That’s my favorite rumor,” Diana said. She placed a hand on Bruce’s cheek and gave him a sad face. “When will you introduce us?”
Bruce rolled his eyes and gently pushed her hand away. Kate smirked, but when she crossed her arms, she suddenly felt over dressed in her cape and cowl.
“Why call me, not Duke?” Kate asked. “Surely he’s active right now.”
“Tried him first, but he was tied up with his own situation.”
“Gotham really is getting unrulier during the day, huh?” Kate looked over to the skyline of the city. It had changed so much in such a short time.
“I’m surprised you were up,” Diana said.
Kate shrugged. She had still been up from patrol the night before. She found it difficult to sleep some days after a slower night. Not that she should really complain about a slow night in Gotham.
“I better change, though. People are already upset enough about one bat during the day.”
“You’re probably tired,” Diana said.
“Nothing like a demon fight to wake you up again.”
Bruce looked between them and yawned. Kate rose an eyebrow, and not just because Bruce rarely showed any sign that he was actually human. It was a very clearly fake yawn. Based on Diana’s look of amusement, she had figured it out too.
“I should go, wouldn’t want to not be in condition for patrol tonight.”
“Yeah, that would be awful,” Kate said, wryly. This had never seemed to be a concern for Bruce before. She wondered what was making him act so unusual.
Kate watched as he gave a stilted nod and jogged away. Kate thought about walking over to where her ride was but was stopped by the reminder that Diana had stayed where she was. She locked eyes with Diana before feeling the need to look at the ground.
Something about Diana made Kate forget everything she knew about talking to women.
“Hey, this was nice,” Diana said. She placed a hand on Kate’s shoulder and squeezed it gently. Kate felt that squeeze around her heart as well. “We should meet up some time again. Maybe leave the cowl at home, though.”
Kate’s entire body seemed to freeze up as Diana gave her a soft smirk. Kate had to call upon all her training not to melt as soon as Diana turned to jog away.
-
The next few days were hectic. There seemed to be a new villainous plot every night. Penguin, Riddler, Mr. Freeze…she wondered what had them all running on the same schedule. She was tired.
Bruce had brought up Diana on a few occasions, though, which was…unusual. He never said anything during patrol, always keeping the cowl on both physically and mentally. Morning dinner at the manor was another story entirely.
A dropped line about something Diana liked here, a short story about something Diana had done there. She knew Diana and Bruce were close, but she had always assumed their relationship stayed platonic. What if it wasn’t though? Bruce usually kept his romantic relationships ‘low key’ around the family, but perhaps this was different. Diana wasn’t a morally grey villain, maybe he felt he didn’t have to? The awkwardness after the demon fight could have been explained by Bruce not wanting to admit the relationship.
She had thought Diana was flirting, but maybe she had read too far into things. She knew Diana tended to be a bit more physical in her interactions with people. A hand on a leg, a hug, a head on a shoulder. She had seen Diana interact with enough people to know these things were normal.
She hadn’t realized how far into her own thoughts she had been drawn until Luke waved a hand in front of her face. She blinked a few times and swatted the hand away.
“You still awake in there?” Luke asked, “Thought we lost you.”
“I’m fine,” Kate said, though she could hear in her own tone how unconvincing that had been. She cleared her throat. “Just thinking about the cases.”
Luke rose an eyebrow.
“It’s the truth.”
“Sure it is.”
Kate sighed and looked over at Bruce who seemed to be deep in conversation with Barbara about something. Who attended Dinner was usually based on who was closest at the time, and Barbara didn’t stop by that often. She was sure they were comparing notes, or maybe, more hopefully, just catching up. Maybe…speaking about Diana?
“Okay, what is up with you lately?” Luke scooted a bit closer to Kate.
Kate sighed and rested her head against the high back of the chair.
“I’m just overthinking things, it’s nothing. I just need some extra sleep, these last few days have been a lot.”
“Alright, if you say so.” Luke went back to his omelet.
Kate looked at her own plate and sighed. She felt bad for leaving it mostly uneaten, but she really needed a walk to clear her mind. Hopefully, Alfred didn’t take it too personally as she grabbed the plate and walked it to the kitchen to scrape it into some Tupperware.
“I can do that for you, Miss Kane,” Alfred said from the doorway of the kitchen.
Kate continued scraping the plate and smiled, “You do enough around here, Alfred. I am more than capable of bagging my own leftovers.”
“Don’t go spreading that type of thinking, I might have nothing to do all day.”
“You could retire, a nice beach with a great big umbrella.”
“Don’t put fantasies in my head, Miss Kane.”
Kate smirked and gave Alfred a kiss on her way out. Where she was headed was anyone’s guess. Home seemed logical, she needed rest. Needed a shower that wasn’t poured from bat-shaped water spouts. Her cousin was very dedicated to his theme.
Home, however, hadn’t been the comfort it usually was. Julia was out on some mission, so her normally talkative roommate was absent. This left her, and the neighbor’s dog who seemed to bark from dawn to dusk. Once Julia was back in town, she really needed to talk to her about her choice of ‘adorable townhouse’.
Kate drove for a while, trying to shake the interaction with Luke off. He was just bored, restless. Retirement didn’t look good on him, but Kate didn’t know how to convince him of that. He had known something was off though, and that worried Kate.
Was she really letting this silly crush on Wonder Woman impede her work? Batwoman was her dream, her passion, she shouldn’t be worrying about….
“Diana?”
Sure enough, there was Diana, laughing on a Gotham street with another woman. Why was Diana still in Gotham? Or in Gotham again? There was a small, petty voice that told her to tell Alfred that Diana hadn’t come to Dinner, but she hushed it. If Diana wanted to hang out with equally beautiful women instead of…her…well, instead of Bruce, that wasn’t any of Kate’s concern.
She sped past and found the motivation to get home. Locking the door behind her, she threw herself on her bed after shucking her pants off hastily at the door.
She said a brief tefillah; she had long since stopped worrying about whether or not it was technically still Sacharit or not if it was technically her morning. Surely someone was nocturnal when the laws were written.
She laid there, staring at the ceiling and wrestling with the same questions she always wrestled with before bed. Guilt, Loneliness, Regret, Horniness. She pushed the last one up on the list of things to deal with and fell asleep with a hand under her boxers.