Work Text
Nearly a year had passed since her last stint with the Religion of Crime. The same sacrifices, the same chants of the twice named Cain, and the same crushing pressure of death breathing down her neck as she escaped it yet again by the breadth of a hair. There lived a good portion of the Religion that believed in the permanence of Beth’s death, and Kate would rather it be that way. It was easier that she be the only twin visible to the ever-looming presence of the Religion.She knew that every picture of her taken by the tabloids, both as Batwoman and as herself, served as a stark reminder to the syndicate that their Bible had yet to be wrong about her. There were more than frequent reminders with the way the Gotham Daily loves both her personas.It still surprises her that it took nearly a year for the draught of the Religion to pick up on her radar. But none of that matters, Kate decided. What mattered was that her sister is safe.She had noticed how much cleaner National City’s streets are when she had first arrived five hours ago. Kate wonders where all that fundraising money her step-mother donates goes to when she says it’s for the state departments. She tried to keep a low profile, to not draw more attention to herself than necessary as she roamed around her apartment block for a quick dinner. The last thing she needed was for them to hear she’s on their tail.What she had heard from Gotham told her that the new game was long term. Somewhere last week was when Abbott informed her, turning up uninvited to a party with his stellar frown. “They’re calling her the Bastard’s Angel,” he said. “She will turn from her path of righteousness and bring an end to the age of Heroes. Should the twice-named daughter of Cain and the Angel’s righteousness fall, the time of reckoning will come.”“Heresy’s a good look on you,” commented Kate. “Look for the Angel, and I may be a heretic no longer. You may not survive this.”“I appreciate the faith.” “They’ve found her. But to turn the righteous down the dark faith will be a harder stunt than they are anticipating.”“The coven brought my dead twin sister back from the dead. I’m sure difficulty’s just a minor bump in the road.”“And now we’re on the same page, you and me.”Kate shuddered. She remembers the agony of watching her sister fall out of a plane, and she feels the snaking scar on her chest throb. The organization made the insurmountable look easy. Kate could only hope that she still had time. The Chinese take-out was long cold by now as it sat untouched on her desk. It’s three A.M and her eyes are glazing over. She breaks into a yawn and blinks back the tears that bring tangibility to her exhaustion. The chatter of the NCPD radio is no more than background noise at this point. Owned by her family’s company, this penthouse suite on the forty-eighth floor, smack center in National City, stayed dimly lit despite the current occupancy. Kate liked the dark sometimes. She enjoyed watching the strobe lights of the city stream through the ceiling-to-floor windows as she pulls her knees to her chest on her couch. Insouciant, fingers reach for her phone mindlessly. She doubts that tonight would be fruitful. A notification informing her of a match pops up on the home screen just as it flickers to life. It’s the only intriguing alert that she has in this moment. Her step-mother’s text, Kate decides, could wait. She swipes at the notification, and Tinder congratulates her for matching with an Alex Danvers.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
She’s got her elbows propping her up on the kitchen counter as her knees lock beneath her. Kara yells for her to sit on the barstool and that she didn’t pay for her sister to just stand around hunching over her kitchen counter eating a bowl of cereal. But Alex just did what she liked. She hums in response. Alex is mindlessly swiping around at her phone, unable to pay too much heed to the women on the app. It only takes a couple of minutes for all of them to blend into one, uninteresting flurry of faces she would never remember. She could taste the metal of the spoon in her mouth. There were barely any traces of sugar left with the way she’s been pressing the poor spoon between her tongue and the roof of her mouth for the last minute or so. She wonders how long it would be until someone caught her eye. Kara had been getting at her to try online dating for over a month now, and inspiration had only struck her this morning at dawn before her usual run. Alex was half a coffee down when she downloaded Tinder, just for shits and giggles. No harm could come out of it, she thought. Setting up a profile, eight miles and a day at work later, this was more boring than Alex had expected. She’s swiping around now for the first time. None of them clicked. Her mind threatened to stray to Maggie, but it was in a voice that was not her own. It had been long enough since they last spoke that tears no longer prickled at her eyes at the drop of a dime, and her chest didn’t tighten at the thought of her dimpled smile. A flash of red on her screen throws her off her routine, so much so that Alex had missed her approaching sister, sneaking up from behind. The phone was swiped out of her hand before she could get a better look, and Alex instantly regrets doing this at the sleepover. “—Hey!” The spoon clatters against the counter as it falls out of her mouth. “Hey yourself, I can’t believe you hid this from me!” Kara’s feet swivel on its axis, far too nimbly for Alex to catch up with. Alex’s fingers grasp at sudden air as the phone is whisked away from her reach again. She feels the blonde hair whipping against her face. “Who’s this?”“You didn’t give me a chance to look, Kara,” sighs Alex. Kara smiled her crooked mischievous smile, and Alex makes a face. With her romantic life held hostage yet again by her younger sister, she finally takes a seat, plopping down on the stool with an odd mix of amusement, and frustration. “She’s pretty and punk,” comments Kara, with an undeniable lilt of excitement in her voice. Alex was on the trajectory to protest, lips parting in anticipation. But Kara has the uncontested upper-hand in speed and cuts in, eyes still trained on the profile that Alex thinks they’ve spent an uncomfortable amount of time on. “Her name’s Kate, she’s thirty, and wow, all that red’s natural.”“Would you like to share it with the class, Kara?”The blonde gives it a thought and a giggle, apologizing with a grin as she settles in next to her sister. “I’m just happy to see you give this a shot.” Alex’s vision adjusts to the shot of Kate, 30, five miles. Five miles is nothing, she decides, remembering the route of the jog she took this morning and wondering if she had passed by one of the buildings this woman lived in. The red of her hair was nothing short of fiery, and it was something about the combination of that and the wry smile on her face that catches Alex off her guard. A porcelain-fair face coming to a sharp point at the chin with cloudy green eyes. The hair looked manicured, and the dusty pink jacket, expensive. Alex notes that she isn’t by any means the girl next door. Kara flicks to the description and lets out a huff Alex didn’t know what to make of. It begins with a disclaimer that the hair is real. “Jewish, lesbian, and weak for good avocado toast. What do you think? Right or left?” Kara pipes, turning to find Alex’s quiet expression of focus. “Well, you’ve got me invested in this girl, so I guess we owe it to ourselves to give her the first right swipe of the day,” offers Alex. “First?” “What? There wasn’t anyone particularly interesting.”“Did you actually look at every one of them?” “Come on, Kara. Baby steps.” Alex swipes at the profile. “And no, I didn’t. Are you supposed to?” “How are you supposed to give them a fair chance if you don’t?” Kara’s response was as swift as it was accurate. Alex agreed. “Ooh! Looks like she’s given you a chance too.” Kara was absolutely beaming, and Alex feels a weight being lifted off her chest. Who knew Tinder was stressful? She figures that it was most likely her ingrained nature of wanting to do well that made risking a virtual rejection scarier than it is. She taps to send a message, grateful that it wasn’t worse, and that her sister was near. “Should I send something? What should I say? Is it weird if I send her a message this quickly?” Panicking at the prospect of a romantic interest? Force of habit. Alex had to remind herself to breathe. She felt her palm get clammy. Kara’s almost as giddy as her sister; this exhilaration at three in the morning in the face of a possible new match for her sister expressed itself in a bubbly giggle. Caving into those anxious puppy eyes her sister was adorning, she motions for the phone, this time seeking permission. Alex’s expression switches to one of caution in a flicker as Kara spares no hesitation in tapping away furiously. “Here.” Kara’s earnest smile and solid support for her would be something Alex can never be more appreciative of. “Now it’s your turn.” Alex shoots the chat screen an apprehensive glance, and Kara pipes up immediately. “Come on, Alex. You got this. Your wing woman’s got your back.” She rolls her eyes, but truth can be found in the way her cheeks ached with the grin her little sister always solicited. She glances at the text and takes a deep breath.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Alex D. [ 03:11 ] – You’re up early. Thinking about avocado toast? Kate [ 03:12 ] – Well now I definitely am, thanks.Kate [ 03:12 ] – Know any good places this time of day? None of that touristy bs tho. Alex D. [ 03:12 ] – Not one at this hour.Alex D. [ 03:12 ] – Though I know this place Paisano’s that’ll be open in about…Alex D. [ 03:13 ] – 4 hours. Not touristy, I promise.Alex D. [ 03:13 ] – So I take it that you’re not from National City? Kate [ 03:13 ] – I’m…technically a Gothamite. The jetlag sucks.Kate [ 03:13 ] – Kidding. I mean coming here, it’s practically New York to LA butKate [ 03:14 ] – y’know, time is a social construct and whatever. I’m exhausted.Kate [ 03:14 ] – Please mind the mild delirium haha. I promise my jokes land in real life. Alex D. [ 03:15 ] – No I totally get that. It’s stupid o’clock and we’re still human. Alex D. [ 03:15 ] – Wait, what do you mean by ‘technically a Gothamite’? Kate [ 03:16 ] – Short version’s that I live in Gotham. Alex D. [ 03:17 ] – What’s the long version? Kate [ 03:17 ] – It’ll depend on whether you take me out to Paisano’s for their famous avocado toast. Alex D. [ 03:17 ] – How long will you be in National City? Kate [ 03:18 ] – Can’t really say. I’m here for work, so I guess I’ll be here till whenever I’m done, or whenever they’re done with me.Kate [ 03:18 ] – Whichever comes first.Kate [ 03:18 ] – What about you, Danvers? Leaving town any time soon?Alex D. [ 03:19 ] – Nope, no plans yet. My work doesn’t require much travelling.Alex D. [ 03:19 ] – What do you do? Kate [ 03:20 ] – I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.Kate [ 03:20 ] – Kidding. I have affiliations with Hamilton Arms.Kate [ 03:20 ] – What about you? Alex D. [ 03:20 ] – Law enforcement, of sorts.Alex D. [ 03:21 ] – Hamilton Arms is impressive. They’re NCPD standard issue, right? Kate [ 03:21 ] – I can’t say, I don’t handle distributions, officer.Kate [ 03:21 ] – So when you say ‘of sorts’… Alex D. [ 03:22 ] – I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you. ;-) Kate [ 03:22 ] – You really know how to get a girl’s attention.Kate [ 03:22 ] – What do you say to breakfast on Friday?Kate [ 03:22 ] – It’ll give me enough time to say my goodbyes to my family. Alex D. [ 03:23 ] – Paisano’s at 8?Alex D. [ 03:23 ] – I could show you around National City, insiders edition.Alex D. [ 03:23 ] – Your very own personal guide. Kate [ 03:23 ] – It’s a date. ;) Can’t wait.
Alex D. [ 03:23 ] – My sister’s summoning me I might have to go crash for the night. Kate [ 03:24 ] – Yes ma’am, do what you need to. We’ll have time in a couple days to talk more. Alex D. [ 03:24 ] – Have a goodnight. Rest well!Kate [ 03:24 ] – it’s already better than I could have imagined. You too.Kate [ 03:24 ] – Stay safe in the meantime. I’d be pissed if you come with less than half of you from some wild case. Alex D. [ 03:25 ] – Wouldn’t even dream of it.