New Earth: Batwoman

Chapter 15

"Hey, what was with the SOS?" Helena asked as she entered Kate's office.

"You up for a road trip?" Kate asked.

"Wait what?" Helena asked.

"If we're going to find out where my mom is, then I think that the first step should be figuring out what happened after the accident and to me that starts in the last place my dad and I looked." Kate said and Helena nodded.

"Makes sense. So, where are we going?" Helena asked as Kate put a map down on the desk.

"Here. This farm is the last place my dad and I looked due to a phone call that had apparently come from Beth, but since we never found her or my mom, we assumed it was a dead end." Kate said.

"Now you're thinking that the owner of this farm lied to you?" Helena asked and Kate nodded.

"Which is why, while we're investigating the farm, Luke is going to be looking into the owner and seeing if he can track them down." Kate said.

"Do you know the name?" Helena asked.

"August Cartwright." Kate said, since that name was still on the land deed.

"Great. Any relationship with Jonathan Cartwright that's locked up in Arkham?" Helena asked.

"Luke is working on that now. I told him to call my dad with any connection he finds while we're checking out the farm for any clues we may have missed last time. Or anything that can give us some clue on where she's holding my mom now." Kate said.

"Kate, are you sure you're not trying to find a way to bring your sister out in Alice?" Helena asked.

"No. If Alice has been holding our mother hostage for years, then she's my sister in blood, but nothing else." Kate said.

"I'm just saying, no one understands a complicated family better than me. My birth father is a mob boss who's the reason my mother was killed. I mean sure, things worked out in the end for me, but still." Helena said.

"I'll deal with my emotions regarding Alice once she's rotting in a cell in Arkham." Kate said.

"Okay, just making sure. I saw the toll my father's battle with the Joker had on him and you know how it ended and this fight is even more personal for you." Helena said.

"I'm not going to kill Alice. No matter how much she deserves it, her death, it won't come by my hand. And I know I won't cross that line because unlike Bruce, I have people to pull me back from it. I have a team. Maybe if Bruce had also had one, he wouldn't have killed the Joker, or at least, he wouldn't have felt like he had to leave because of it." Kate said and Helena smiled.

"So, when do we leave?" Helena asked.

"In a few minutes." Kate said.

Later on that day, Jacob Kane was confused about why he'd been called by Kate's IT guy to come to her office and she wasn't even there.

"Mr. Kane, thank you for coming." Luke said as he held out his hand to Jacob, who shook it, though Luke could tell it was a bit reluctantly.

"Where's my daughter?" Jaob asked.

"She's running down a lead on her mother and sister, but she asked me to do some digging and I found something that I thought I should tell you, since she's not answering my calls right now." Luke said.

"What is it?" Jacob asked, a bit impatiently.

"Kate is currently investigating the farm that was the last place you looked and she asked me to look into the farm's owner, a Dr. August Cartwright." Luke said.

"So?" Jacob asked.

"You remember how when Alice first became active, she demanded the release of Jonathan Cartwright from Arkham?" Luke asked and now Jacob began to understand where he was going with this.

"What's the connection between the two?" Jacob asked.

"It turns out that Jonathan Cartwright is August Cartwright's son. He might have some answers about where Gabi and Beth are now." Luke said.

"Thank you Mr. Fox. But now I need to go." Jacob said, this time giving Luke a sincere handshake before walking out and Luke rolled his eyes, trying to figure out how Jacob had never put those pieces together himself.