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The Bat-Signal, with small shadows of bunnies, illuminated the city, penetrating even the darkest streets.
After the ban on any contact with Batwoman, there was only one living soul crazy enough to openly seek out meetings with her.
Kate knew that it was a trap, but she couldn't come. It is her duty as the defender of Gotham to respond to a call for help without unnecessary questions.
In a fully equipped suit, she hurried to the roof without even warning Luke.
The only hope was that the Crows wouldn't attack too quickly. Whatever her personal madwoman wants, Kate needs to hear every word without outside viewers.
In a familiar gesture, she fixed the hook and, as if after a flight, landed on the roof of Gotham's tallest building, which overlooked the millions of lights of the night city. The light from the bat-emblazoned lantern was enough to spot the one that was waiting on such a cold night.
Kate wasn't surprised that Alice was the one who greeted her, clasping hands behind back and staring off into the distance.In a few seconds, Alice noticed the appearance of the long-awaited guest and walked towards her with a light springy step.— It's already becoming a habit to meet here, isn't it, batty?
Alice was smiling and, with her usual theatricality, folded her arms in the shape of bunnies again for a few seconds.
— What do you want, Alice?
Kate didn't want to play games, she was too tired of it.
— As always you are so serious, can't I just want to see my dear sister for no reason?
Alice came even closer and stopped at arm's length.
— And yet, there is a reason for this, isn't there?
Kate's anxiety was growing, she did not understand why they met here and now.
Alice slowly crossed the centimeters separating them and found herself almost right next to each other. Kate felt the warmth coming from another body and heard the rapidly increasing beating of her own heart. Alice's hands reached towards the helmet, casually clinging to her red hair, deliberately tangling it.
— I hope that awful wig wasn't your idea.
A light laugh followed. Alice put her hands completely on the base of the helmet and tried to take it off. Kate abruptly grabbed the girl opposite by the forearms, stopping her. Not expecting any resistance, Alice froze. A second later, Kate let go of someone else's hands and they fell down like a stone. She noticed that a shadow passed over Alice's face, which disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
Batwoman had no choice but to take it off herself. In one swift movement, the helmet, which covered most of his face, ended up on a rack under a Bat-Signal lamp.
Kate shook head and met the gaze of her sister, who had a warm smile on face. Her blue-gray eyes didn't have their usual crazy sparkle, making her look sad and distant.
More slowly than before, Alice raised her right hand and gently placed it on Kate's disheveled hair. For a couple of seconds, the weight of someone else's touch was confusing.
Kate didn't understand what Alice wanted to achieve until she felt the mess on head turn into uncontrollable chaos from intense stroking in different directions.
Despite the strangeness of what had happened, Kate didn't even think about pulling away, dutifully waiting for what it would lead to.
When the hand that had created a real storm in her hair left Batwoman's head, Alice began to speak.
— You always had such soft hair, like that dog from the lot across the street, remember? What was her name, Maggie? Molly? Millie, that's right!
Kate was completely at a loss, the thread of the conversation had slipped away from her.
— I... don't understand why you suddenly remembered about it.
Alice tapped her chin with her index finger, clearly thinking about the question.
— She was quite nice.
That's the whole answer that Alice provided, no clarity. Kate felt the irritation spread throughout her body.
— If you have nothing more to say, I'm leaving.
She started to turn around, but felt a firm touch on hand, which made her freeze. All the old lightness in Alice has disappeared, and she has become more serious than ever. Only loosening her grip a little, but not releasing it, Alice spoke.
— I'm leaving town. Forever. All I wanted to do was say goodbye to my little darling sister, whom I might never see again...
The sound of Alice's voice became quieter towards the end, but for Kate it sounded like a bell ringing in her ears.
"Leaving," "Forever," the two words swirled in head like a kaleidoscope.
The first shock passed and rage took its place. Kate pulled her hand out of sister's grip and quickly approached, forcing Alice to flatten herself against the nearest wall.
Their faces were so close that their breaths mingled. Kate grabbed Alice by the lapels of her coat.
— Do you really think I'm going to let Gotham's biggest criminal get away with it?
A furious whisper of hot air escaped Kate's lips, and she involuntarily pulled the woman closer to her arms. Alice chuckled.
— Why not? The marital cat-and-mouse relationship between the Joker and our cousin over the years, where one puts him in Arkham, the other escapes, and so on in a circle, doesn't seem appealing anymore. You can't kill me, not your beloved Beth.
She spat out the last word in disgust and slowly put her right hand on Kate's cheek. The soft touch made a lot of goosebumps run down spine, even against will. The violent outburst almost faded away, and even the neglect of the name of her dear, long-lost sister didn`t allow the anger to flare up further.
— I know I said Beth was gone, but that's only part of the truth. "Alice" can't exist without "Beth," but neither can "Beth" without "Alice." As much as I hate to admit it, it's a fact, I'm her, and she's me.
Alice's palm, which had previously rested on Kate's cheek, moved to her hand, which was still clutching the fabric of her coat. Kate didn`t resist when Alice took hand and placed it on her chest, in direct contact with the frantic rhythm of her heart.
Kate knew that pleasant sound, as if her own heartbeat were beating against her palm. She dissolved in it and did not notice how her hand pressed closer and closer, wanting to feel the tremors more intensely, even more equal to her own restless heart.
A deep breath brought out of the pleasant sticky haze, bringing me back to reality.
Kate pulled away abruptly. The realization of what she was doing a few seconds ago flooded mind. She raised her head and was faced with an equally surprised face, so similar to her own. The new gleam in her blue-gray eyes was riveting. It was the first time Kate had encountered such a look from her sister. The hot flame melted the silver, mixing with it in a bright symphony, where the cold absorbed the fire, leaving only a spark from it. Heavy breathing heaved her chest, the one where, a few seconds ago, Kate had felt the heat of the living heart of the closest person in the whole world.
The panic that had been hiding in the back of mind lifted its head, threatening to swallow whole.
She didn't know what felt, what kind of craving almost succumbed to, but she couldn't look away.
The gleam in Alice's eyes slowly faded, and her breathing returned to normal.
A grin like that of a cat from Alice's favorite book graced her face. Her hand reached into her coat pocket, taking out the infamous knife. With a practiced movement, she opened the blade and, with almost superhuman speed, found herself in Kate's personal space, placing the sharp part of the blade against a bulging vein in neck. Alice snuggled close, her breath brushing ear, filling it with quiet words.
— "I will tell everything that happened to me this morning", Alice said uncertainly. "And I won’t talk about yesterday, because then I was completely different."
Kate swallowed hard, acutely aware of the knife where it touched her skin. The quote from Alice in Wonderland did not bring clarity to the scattered consciousness, only new disordered thoughts replaced each other in an endless carousel.
She turned head, inevitably coming into contact with the blade, which cut through the delicate skin, sending a few drops of blood down the length of neck.
Kate forced herself to keep her face from grimacing in pain, only to catch Alice's gaze once more, which would have said much more lengthy words.
The bright lights of silver were completely replaced by the cold gleam of metal, so similar to a knife near a restlessly beating vein that it became impossible to read the thoughts of their owner.
Alice took the knife away from neck as suddenly as had put it there. Still within breathing distance, she twisted the blade, catching glints of light on the part of it where Kate's blood slowly began to congeal.
— The same red as our stone.
Alice turned the knife once more, exposing the hilt to the light, where the stone placed in the center glowed scarlet.
— Do you remember what it means?
Alice, without lowering her hands, looked expectantly. Kate remembered, but she couldn't bring herself to say a word.
— Red grenades. Stones symbolizing love, courage and loyalty.
Alice clenched her teeth on the last word. Kate realized which scene from their shared past she was remembering.
Unpleasant spikes of guilt penetrated deep into the heart, returning to that very door with two keys on the lower floor of Arkham.
She had to close that door, as the heroine of the city, to save everyone from the threat that Alice carried. Chaos and destruction. Kate knew it was the right decision. But no one said that the price would be the betrayal of a part of soul that would always love her sister no matter what. She felt like she had locked herself in that transparent cell and still couldn't get out. The words of apology that were so needed stuck in throat, squeezing her in a vice of regret. Kate can be called anything but a coward, but for some reason asking Alice for forgiveness feels much more difficult than jumping from a skyscraper.
She opened her mouth with an effort of will and tried to speak with a heavy tongue, as the cold metal that had already become familiar fell on her lips. Alice seemed to know what Kate was going to say, but she didn't seem to want to listen.
— Words have never been your strong suit, dear sister, you shouldn't start trying at such an adult age.
Alice's speech became slower, honey thickened in the space between them, filling the silence of the unspoken words.
The sharp part of the knife cut through the thin skin of the lips. The drop of blood that was slowly coming out of the body joined with the one that had already congealed on the blade. The two types of blood created an unusual contrast, where one was dark, as if lifeless, and the second was still very pure and sparkling, merging into a deep red color.
With a smooth movement, Alice took the knife away from lips. Kate froze in disbelief, not knowing what to expect from a woman who was looking at a weapon covered in scarlet liquid with such awe.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps broke the silence. At least 8 pairs of legs in full combat gear were rapidly approaching.
— It must be the Crows.
Kate rushed to the counter, where a long-forgotten mask with a wig remained and returned it to her head, hiding her identity.
— Alice, they will be here very soon, there is no time left...
Kate didn't have time to finish, as Alice loudly uttered not the first quote for this crazy evening.
— "So know that if you were on good terms with Time, it would do whatever you want for you."
Kate shook her head, time has never been their best friend.
She took another look at sister. Alice caught that look, brought the knife to her own mouth, stuck out tongue, and with a slow but incredibly precise movement collected the blood from the knife, as if nothing around her mattered.
Kate was speechless. The extremity of the situation and the tension that did not have time to form into a conscious feeling knocked the ground out from under feet. The knees lost their resilience and were practically betrayed. Once again, Alice broke into her personal space.
— We will meet very soon, our conversation is not over.
And just as swiftly as she had approached, Alice headed for the edge of the roof. She turned around one last time, winked at the frozen Batwoman, and disappeared behind the ledge. Kate anxiously ran to the edge, but saw no one. Banging on the door brought her back to reality, and she jumped after it, disappearing into the night.
***
Kate was restless. A cold shower, after a rapid escape, did not help to put thoughts in order. A strange night revealed secrets that she had been afraid to think about for many years, not allowing the demons of her mind to capture her in the embrace of dark desires.
That happened on the roof did not even think to fit into a series of logical events.
The gleam of metal, it`s coldness on sensitive lips. The tongue, greedily absorbing the scarlet blood, burst into consciousness like a bright flash.
Kate shook head in a desperate attempt to stop thinking, but her hand involuntarily reached for the still-stinging wound on neck. Nothing helped, only the haze in eyes caused sharp ripples of pain. Restless energy demanded an outlet, but Kate, with characteristic stubbornness, fell onto the bed wrapped in a blanket. Sleep seemed so far away, but a welcome salvation, that the tired body plunged into it almost instantly.
The sound of falling water snapped Kate out of dream. She hadn't even had time to come to her senses when a noise from the bathroom brought the realization that someone was in the house. Only two people had keys: Mary and Sophie, but she doubted either of them would have decided to sneak into the house for a midnight shower.
Thoughts came to the only possible option. How the intruder had gotten past the security system undetected remained a mystery, but with Alice, many things ceased to be surprising.
Kate tried to think of a plan of action, as the batarang was still there under her pillow.
The water stopped pouring and Kate knew that Alice would be out very soon, so she quietly got up and headed towards the bathroom entrance.
She went to the door and it opened a few seconds later.
Without thinking for a second, Kate wrapped one arm around the taller woman's neck, and with the other she placed the batarang dangerously close to the artery.
— Not the most original greeting, don't you think?
Alice's voice betrayed only amusement, not a hint of fear or surprise.
— Breaking and entry, isn't that a bit too shallow for you?
Kate answered the question with a question.
— There was no entry as such. How could you have overlooked the fact that biometric locks aren't particularly sensitive to twins?
Kate hadn't thought at all about the fact that their shared DNA could play against her.
— Maybe we should put down this pathetic parody of guns and talk like normal people?
Kate took a deep breath, but obeyed, releasing the woman from the grip. She didn't want to lie to herself. She was wondering why Alice had come to her house.
It's unlikely that it's really just to say goodbye and disappear from Gotham and Kate's life.
She went to the other end of the room, towards the door leading to the hall. Without saying a word or turning around, sat down on the large sofa. Kate knew that Alice was following her, and very soon she sank down on the same sofa, not close enough to touch, but still close enough to feel the other person.
Silence descended like a thick, oppressive fog, and no one was in a hurry to start a conversation. Kate has never been very patient, and in this case she couldn't stand it first.
— Why did you come? Don't say just to take a shower.
Alice pulled legs up under her and turned to Kate.
— When you live in an abandoned subway car, a hot shower is an unaffordable luxury. If I'd known you didn't have protection, I would have done it sooner.
Kate exhaled wearily. It was worth contacting Luke for a new security system to avoid similar incidents in the future.
— And yet, why are you here?
Kate was losing what little patience she already had.
— You're right, wearing the clothes of a teenage boy wasn`t my goal.
For the first time, Kate looked at Alice's clothes. An old rock band T-shirt and equally old sweatpants. The difference in their heights left her ankles exposed, and overall, nothing remained of Alice's fairytale image. She looked softer without her bright makeup and pretentious outfits, and visibly tired.
Slowly, realization began to dawn on Kate. Alice wasn`t only Gotham's most famous villain at the moment, but also a fugitive from Arkham. The constant feeling of being followed, chased by the police and equally useless Crows, all this could not but be exhausting.
Alice's face went from relaxed to annoyed.
— Just don't feel sorry for me! Save that sympathetic face for fake sister Mary or poor Sophie.
Alice abruptly lowered her feet to the floor and tried to stand up when someone else's hand abruptly pulled her back. The grip was firm, almost painful. Kate loosened her fingers and lowered her hand when she realized that Alice wasn't going to run away.
— There's no need to defend yourself so fiercely. Despite everything that has happened between us in recent years, you are my sister and there will always be a place for you in my heart.
Alice stared straight ahead, not expressing any interest in that Kate was saying. Only her quickened breathing indicated that she was listening.
— A place in your heart? Do you think I need it after you left me to die on a dirty floor? Or after I locked you up in Arkham, when I trusted you!
Alice spoke sharply through her teeth, holding back anger.
Kate knew Alice was right. She abandoned and didn't fight enough to save her, even when she asked for it. Guilt raises her tenacious hands again and squeezes everything inside.
— The thirst for revenge made it possible to live every new day. The Queen, then Catherine Hamilton, and finally the Caterpillar, they're all dead, but it didn't make me feel any better!
This time Alice jumped to feet, and Kate didn't have time to stop her. Alice frantically began pacing back and forth in front of the sofa, increasing the speed of her steps with each word.
— Then the plane crashes, and my last revenge remains unfinished. Months of trying to cope with the grief of loss, and then weeks of chasing a ghost, and for what? For a girl who doesn't care about me and never did!
Alice approached the place where Kate was sitting and bent down, blocking any opportunity to escape with her hands. Her blue-gray eyes were glowing, and the red circles under them made look even crazier. Alice was so close that Kate felt more than heard next words.
— You're a cage that I can't escape from on my own, please let me go.
Kate felt tears welling up in her eyes.
— I can't...I...I can never let you go. If I'm holding you, then you're holding me the same way.
Kate took one of Alice's hands and placed it on her chest. It's completely mirrored how Alice did the same thing earlier.
The determination and anger in Alice's eyes rippled softly across the surface of the silver lake. They were both silent, there were too many words said that they were not ready to accept.
Only the loud pounding of Kate's heart went from chest to hand, which was still resting on it, deafening in the silence.
Without breaking the silence, Alice moved her free hand to the cut had left on Kate`s neck. Not wanting to hurt, she brushed lightly over it. Next, she made her way to another left wound. A barely noticeable scratch on lip, covered with a dried thin crust. Gently, Alice pulled Kate's lower lip away, miraculously avoiding damaging the barely healed wound.
Kate watched every move as if mesmerized.
— "We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad"
The new quote brought Kate out of her reverie. Again, she didn't understand what Alice meant, and it obviously showed on her face.
— You can't let me go, and I can't let you go. We can't get out of this vicious circle that we repeat over and over again, so what is this if not madness?
Kate knew that Alice was right, as always, but she didn't want this to be their reality. Alice's hand had stopped wandering over Kate's face some time ago and was hanging limply.
She didn't even notice how the body rushed forward. Kate, in a fit of utter desperation, grabbed the taller woman and hugged, forcing to fall on top of her. The embrace was more like a bear trap, where there was no chance to get free. Kate buried face in her bleached hair and inhaled deeply the special scent peculiar only to their mistress.
There was no logical explanation for this impulse, but Kate never followed logic, only impulses and actions guided all her actions.
Alice froze, didn't snuggle closer, but she didn't pull away either.
— And if I don't want to break this circle? Madness or not, it doesn't matter. Beth has been my sister for 13 years, and you, Alice, too, we are forever connected. Our lives have not belonged to us for so long, please trust me one more time.
The tears that had frozen in Kate's eyes burst out and rapidly turned her clean hair into wet and tangled ones.
— "This strange girl just loved to split herself, becoming two girls at the same time."
Alice's quiet but clear words hung in the air. This time, Kate understood exactly what her sister wanted to say.
Beth and Alice, Alice and Beth, both of them will always be inseparable from each other, and Kate finally realized that there was no need to try to separate them. Understanding this felt like finding the missing puzzle for a large painting to make it whole. Kate pulled back a little to look into Alice's eyes. She knew that looked terrible after crying, but she didn't care.
— I need you, whether it's Alice or Beth, both of you.
The tremors through Kate's body due to the close contact with Alice felt so clearly, as if it were her own. Alice was shaking and clinging desperately to Kate. She couldn't remember the last time she hugged someone so hard and for so long, but it didn't matter.
When Alice calmed down and pulled away, Kate was acutely aware of the loss of warmth. Despite Alice's reddened eyes and tangled hair, Kate couldn't take her eyes off the woman in her arms. More beautiful gray lakes with long-unseen blue lights that made their eyes even more similar, Kate was captivated by something entirely different.
A smile, soft without a drop of madness or sarcasm, warm and most importantly sincere.
— I hope this isn't a dream.
Alice reached out to Kate and placed hand on cheek, gently, as if she couldn't believe that Kate hadn't disappeared at the touch.
— All you have to do is believe in reality.
Kate couldn't help but smile back.
— All these years of our confrontation, this very moment came to me in dreams as greatest desire.
The guilt can't go away that quickly, but Kate couldn't help but feel joy that, behind all the fear and hatred, Alice dreamed of being accepted by her hard-nosed younger sister. I wonder if she dreamed of anything else?
— Yes, I did.
Kate quickly realized that she had spoken the last question out loud.
— About what?
Voice dropped to a whisper and Kate moved hands to Alice's waist and lifted the still reclining woman, sitting on her lap. Their gazes found each other again, and neither of them thought to look away.
— About that.
Alice placed hands on Kate’s cheeks and, with a sharp movement, pressed her lips to Kate’s lips.
There were no flashes or fireworks, just a feeling of rightness. Kate was exactly where she was supposed to be.
Kate returned the kiss.
Only when the metallic taste appeared did she realize that the wound on lip had opened, but didn't care at all. Kate snuggled closer, chest to chest, face to face, lips to lips.
Head started spinning from lack of air, but it seemed impossible to break the kiss. It was at that moment that Kate felt someone else's lips open her own in an attempt to deepen the kiss, moving one hands to her neck, leaving scratches. It was as if a second wind had opened up a new thirst in Kate, and she was trying to quench it by twisting tongues into an inextricable knot, absorbing Alice entirely. Kate was intoxicated by the touch, by the weight on her lap, by the lips that destroyed everything that had been before and everything that would be after.
They were forced to pull away.
Quick breaths and sharp exhalations in an attempt to fill the lack of air in the lungs.
Kate was burning inside. She shared the best kiss of her life with none other than Alice. The villainous and former head of the Wonderland gang, and most importantly, her twin sister.
None of this mattered.
It was thanks to Alice that Kate felt whole for the first time in 15 years, and she was never going to give up on this. So many mistakes, wasted time, but she's no longer the same.
Alice's breathing returned to normal, but her eyes were still clouded with desire.
— What will happen next? With me, with you, with us?
Kate felt a stab in her heart, but she knew it was her own fault that her sister couldn't trust her—not yet. She took both Alice's hands in hers and looked into her eyes, trying to convey all the confidence she possessed.
— "You take the red pill — you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes."
— That wasn't in my version of Alice in Wonderland.
Alice raised one eyebrow in disbelief.
— I know it's from The Matrix, we should watch it later, you haven't seen much.
It was as if all the weight of the world had left Alice after these words.
— Of course, a rating above pg-13 was banned, our parents wanted to make us social outcasts.
Kate laughed at the memory.
— Another reason to catch up.
Alice clung to Kate and hugged her with all might, as if still not believing that was real.
— Will it always be like this?"
Kate responded by wrapping her arms around Alice and fully believing in that she was saying, replied.
— Always.
This time Alice believed it.