New Earth: Batwoman

Chapter 27

Jacob Kane was currently sitting in his cell at Blackgate, furious at the news conference he'd seen on TV earlier in the common room.

His daughter, his own daughter, was actually praising vigilantes and denouncing him. And she was changing the Crows, the organization he'd founded, and actually intended for them to work with the same maniac who put him in here, when he should be back at the Crows, hunting down Batwoman and helping Gabi recover from the ordeal she'd been through. The only thing he truly took any comfort in was that Alice was also behind bars.

He was drawn from his thoughts when he heard someone knock on the bars of his cell and he turned to see a guard standing outside his cell.

"Can I help you with something?" Jacob asked.

"No, actually, I wanted to give you this. A little token from one of your admirers." the guard said as he covertly slid a bag of big belly burger through the bars and into his cell.

"What do you mean?" Jacob asked as he took the bag.

"There are those of us here who think that locking you up is a mistake. You're what Gotham needs, someone to protect it from these vigilantes, who think they know best." the guard said as Jacob opened it up.

"Well, there isn't much we can about it right now." Jacob said.

"Maybe not, but maybe you can get the occasional perk, like real food instead of the slop they serve here." the guard said.

"Thank you. Never thought I'd be someone who'd take something like this, but then again, never thought my city would turn on me and want me to be locked up either." Jacob said.

"Just make sure that you get rid of the bags before anyone sees it, or we could all get in trouble." the guard said and Jacob nodded as he began eating his burger and sighed in relief at the taste of real food entering his mouth.

Alice smiled when she entered the common room in Arkham and rushed over to Mouse.

"Hello my little Mouse. We're finally together again." Alice said with a grin as she hugged him.

"The plan was for us to reunite outside of Arkham." Mouse reminded her.

"I know. But circumstances change. And maybe this is better for us." Alice said.

"What do you mean?" Mouse asked.

"Well, for starters, now I don't have to keep trying to break you out from the outside. Now that we're together again, we can use your particular set of skills to be able to walk right out the front door." Alice said and Mouse grinned as she continued to tell him her new plans.

"Hey mom, how are you feeling?" Kate asked as she entered her mother's hospital room.

"Getting damn tired of being poked and prodded by needles and having morphine being pumped through my system, I've had enough drugs to last a lifetime." Gabi said and Kate chuckled.

"Well, your discharge is tomorrow." Kate said.

"But I'm not going home to your apartment yet am I?" Gabi asked and Kate sighed.

"You're not. Mom, I wish you could, but you were held captive for 15 years. I saw the scratches on your wrists. You need more help than I can give you." Kate said.

"I know. I'd be surprised if you didn't lock me up in a rehab place." Gabi said.

"You're not going to be locked up. I've found a great place for you. You'll get to spend plenty of time outside, get real food to eat and I'll visit you whenever I can." Kate said.

"Kate, I still won't be able to leave the property until someone deems that I am mentally stable enough to interact with society." Gabi said.

"Which is why I picked a place that does allow you to make visits home once a month, as long as you have a clean record so they can see how well you interact with the rest of the world. I promise, I'm not going to just lock you up like I did the rest of our family." Kate said.

"Kate, you don't have to sound so pleased about that." Gabi said.

"They both tried to kill me and this city." Kate said.

"I have no words to defend your father, but Kate, please don't write your sister off so easily." Gabi said.

"Mom, how can you defend her. She held you captive for years, she drugged you." Kate said.

"Alice did that, not Beth." Gabi said.

"Beth is gone. Alice is all that's left." Kate said.

"If that were true, I wouldn't be alive or I'd at least be more injured. But here I am, not physically injured except for my own self inflicted injuries." Gabi said.

"You think Beth is still alive somewhere inside of Alice." Kate said.

"I do. And I think that now that she's locked up in Arkham, you have a chance to get through to her." Gabi said.

"I've tried talking to her. She won't listen to a thing I've said." Kate said.

"Because you've confronted her as an enemy. Maybe try approaching her as a sister." Gabi said.

"I'll think about it." Kate said, not wanting to argue about this anymore.

"Have you called Bruce yet. I'd love to see my brother's son." Gabi said.

"I called him, haven't heard back yet. Though I'm sure that if anything is going to bring him back to Gotham, it'll be this." Kate said.

"Yes, I'm sure knowing I'm alive will take some weight off his shoulders." Gabi said with a smile as Kate's eye widened.

"You know?" Kate asked.

"Once I pieced together who you are, it wasn't hard to put together, considering how similar you and Bruce are." Gabi said and Kate smiled at her.

"I'll let him know that you know. I'm sure that will definitely hasten his return to Gotham." Kate said and Gabi smiled as she and Kate resumed talking.