Batwoman Begins Ch. 04

Relief washes over Jake Kane as he stands, "That's my girl." He walks to the bookshelves lining one wall of the office and activates the lever that opens the hidden door behind them. With a knowing smile thrown over his shoulder, he motions, "Follow me. It's time to try the suit on."

As she follows her father into the darkness of the hidden sanctuary, she speaks to Hayley in the privacy of her own thoughts, "Hang in there, Hay. I may not know what the hell I'm doing or how the hell I'm going to pull this off, but there will be no stopping me. You will be safe if it's the last thing I ever do. You're the strongest person I know, Hayley. Don't give up on me. I'm coming, baby."

Elsewhere, in the dark, Hayley's eyes open as much as they can. The silence around her is deafening even though her mind is flooded with the sound of Kate's voice. The fear that had worked it's way into her being is freshly pushed down by the words. The vow makes her back straighten as a wicked smile spreads painfully slow across her lips. If anyone were around to see them, her eyes brighten under the hood she's wearing. She responds to Kate in her mind, "I know you're coming. I feel you more now than ever before. And because you've accepted the role you were given, I've got a little secret to share with you."

Her father is talking to her but all of a sudden her ears no longer hear him. The air is filled with the sound of Hayley's voice. She stops him with a hand gesture, "Wait. Dad." Her brain reels and the dizziness comes over her in waves, "What the fuck?" Steadying herself by pressing a hand against the nearest wall, she gasps, "I can hear her!"

For a moment, Jake almost lets the tears go, "Thank you, God." He catches himself just in time, though, and remains silent as his daughter gets her first glimpses of what it means to be Batwoman. There are so many things that he's wanted to tell her, but until the events unfold as they're meant to, there's no way he can prepare her for the change. Bruce told him she'd be imbued with powers and strengths they could only imagine. And when Bruce sat him down and told him how Hayley fit into the picture, Jake laughed heartily at him. When the man didn't laugh along, it dawned on Jake that the two women have a connection mere words can't really describe or explain. He watches the emotions snake around his daughter's body as her eyes take on a far-away look.

A room, vaguely familiar but still elusive, grows up around Kate in her mind's eye. Somehow she knows she's watching the past as though she'd been a part of it. Hayley arrives home and changes clothes. Kate watches as she makes herself dinner while yelling at the basketball game on TV. When the woman sits down on her couch to eat, Kate reaches out to touch her but, like a mist, her fingers go right through the vision. Disappointed but attentive, she watches as Hayley finishes eating, turns the TV off, and pulls something up on her phone. The blue eyes that she's always been mesmerized by water and Kate wonders what's making the woman unhappy. Transfixed, she watches as Hayley begins to outright cry. The sobs shake her shoulders and break Kate's heart. She struggles with the urge to hold her and take away the pain.

Hayley speaks softly to her phone, "I miss you so much. I need to be strong but, until you're ready, I'll only be half as strong as I could be. I know it's hard to give up an idea of perfection for the reality of imperfection. I know you're scared. I am, too." Curiosity gets the best of her and Kate walks around to look at Hayley's phone. She gasps as the woman continues to speak to a photo of the two of them together, "You're unsure of what you're capable of but I can't stress to you just how much faith I have in you. You trust me so implicitly, without questioning if I'm strong enough. I wish you'd believe in yourself that much. Soon, I will be asked to trust you with my life. Later, you will be required to trust in me just that much." Kate's heart aches when Hayley strokes the image on her phone, "Katie, I would trust no one else on this planet with my life other than you. Not Bruce. Not Batman. Not your father. No one but you. Always you. Only you." Hayley yawns, having tired herself with the release of emotions, "Remember that I trust you. Trust yourself. And I'm waiting." When the last sentence is spoken, Hayley looks up into her face as though she can see Kate standing there, "I love you, Katherine Kane."

Quicker than the images appeared, they slip away and she's back in the sanctuary with her father, gasping for air and groping to keep Hayley's face with her, "No! Hayley! I'm here!" She fights the urge to vomit as she sinks down to her knees, "What was that, daddy?"

"Oh, darling, I wish I could explain it to you but I'll do my best," he sits and pulls the woman into his arms as she cries, "Souls are created individually. Before they can take on a human form, they must be split in two. When the two bodies meet and the souls recognize each other, they must make a decision to join again or to walk away." Stroking her hair and remembering his wife, he sighs, "Very few ever really commit to being together in life the way they are joined in spirit. But my God, Kate," he smiles at the memories, "when they do come together, it's magical."

"So," she looks up at her father's face, "you're saying Hayley and I are soul mates?"

"Yes, as best as I can tell, you are. At least, that's the way I choose to explain it." He laughs, "But what do I know? I'm just a dude."

She takes a moment to consider what he's told her before speaking again, "It was like she was right there. Just as though I could reach out and feel her the way I feel you."

Nodding, he smiles, "Did it scare you?"

"No," she answers. "But it did hurt when she was gone."

Wiping a stray tear off his daughter's face, he sighs, "I know that pain. And I'm sorry you have to feel that. But don't let possible pain keep you from certain happiness, even if it's temporary, or hard to understand, or scares you a bit. You both have powers you know nothing about because they don't get revealed until you've committed yourself to each other in some fashion. Just like you, she's not just a woman. You're Kate and Batwoman."

Kate doesn't even bother trying to hide her shock, "So she's Hayley and someone else?"

"Yes," he smiles. "Bruce renamed her when he took her in all those years ago. Her full name is Hayley Raine Ilsabeth Kane."

"Why did he name her that?"

"Her father was known as Storm. So that's where Raine comes from. Her mother's name was Ilsabella. And she'd been named Bethany. He merged the two to honor her mother. Then he chose Hayley for reasons he never revealed to me."

"Ok, but what's her street name? I'm Batwoman, she's..."

Her voice, when it comes, is still shocking to Kate, "Hurricane."

"Hayley?" She looks around even though she knows the woman's not in the room.

"My initials are H. R. I. Kane."

Kate looks at her father, "Why didn't he make her a Wayne?"

"You can ask me. He can't hear me, but I'm still here."

The blush on her cheeks can't be helped, "Sorry. Why did he make you a Kane?"

"Because he knew that I'd outlive him. And until then, he didn't want me to have to explain how Bruce Wayne had a child but never had a pregnant wife. Plus, since your parents are my Godparents, we wouldn't have to worry about changing my name to match." She can almost hear Hayley smile, "Plus Hurricane is so much cooler than Hurriwayne."

When she laughs, the sound echoes against the walls, "Yes, I can see your point." The lump in her throat is hard to swallow but she manages to ask, "Are you okay?"

"Now that I know you're coming, yes."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you, Hay."

The woman admonishes Kate softly, "Hush, woman. If you were meant to be there, you'd have been there. If I had been meant to fight off my captors, I wouldn't be here in the dark hidden under a hood and bleeding everywhere." She pauses a moment, "Oh stop with the wincing. Every breath I take now is making me stronger. By the time you figure out where the hell I am, I might even be able to kick your ass."

That small joke, told to make her feel better, actually makes her feel invincible. She manages to smile wickedly as she quips, "Don't you threaten me with a good time, Hayley Kane!"