Instant Freeze

Backstage

While Miao and Marion took turns singing songs on the Black Bat's microphone and Zac attempted to explain to Ku that not everyone called "Julius Caesar" was the same person, Henry and Katharine explored the bar backstage. There were the typical things behind the curtain, the ropes, the catwalk up above, all those things and there was even the dressing room for the women who worked at the former speakeasy.

Staring at a picture showing the women in their uniforms, black bikinis and long black leather boots, Henry gave a small nod. That definitely would have guys coming in... He wasn't so sure about the rest of the uniforms though: domino masks and batwings... The latter aside he was reminded of a Mexican film he had seen on television one time featuring a bikini-wearing superheroine named "Batwoman" who went undercover as a lady wrestler to face a mad scientist who went on to create a monster by combining a goldfish and a G.I. Joe action figure. The picture may have been in black-and-white, but with the name of the bar, what other colour would the uniforms be?

And then something caught Henry's eye that caused his eyes to widen. "What the hell?"

"What is it, Henry?" asked Katharine, walking over to him with one of the domino masks now upon her countenance.

Smiling at the sight before him, Henry jokingly asked: "Who are you and what have you done with Katharine?"

Giggling, Katharine answered: "Why don't you take off the mask and find out?"

Still smiling, Henry took off the mask and stared into Katharine's large, reddish-brown eyes. He felt his heart pounding as if saying "Kiss her! Kiss her!", but that was something he could not do. It was too early in their relationship and they had only been on two dates. Holding up the photograph, Henry pointed at one of the women and said: "Look at her facial features, the jaw, the hair, the cheek bones, the mouth, the nose, tell me who that is." Upon realizing that Katharine had never met the woman in question, he then said: "Wait, you haven't met her yet... That is Mari Clift, the socialite and reporter and the woman next to her seems to be Ming-Na!"

"The officer and the reporter... I can only wonder what exactly they were getting up to off-duty here at a bar." Katharine commented. "Do you think One or both of them lost a bet or something with two of the women who work here?"

Putting the photograph back on the nearby dressing table, Henry answered: "We'll have to ask Mari or Ming-Na that next time we see her." Taking a seat on a nearby chair, he sighed and said: "Katharine, I don't know what to think of any of this. Moloch, Men in Black, Campbell Ward and now this mystery woman that Zac and Marion saw, she had to show up at this trial for a reason, didn't she?"

"We may find out in time, Henry." Katharine said, taking a seat on the chair next to Henry's. Placing her hands on her lap, she looked into his mismatched eyes and uttered: "Henry, when you came to my house to take me to the reading, you quoted 'Henry V' and by doing so called me 'Kate'. Can you call me that more often when it is just the two of us?"

"Aren't we a little bit early in our relationship for pet names?" inquired Henry. He thought they might have been, but what did he know?

"Maybe we are, maybe we aren't and I don't know why, but for some reason I've never liked it when other people have called me that, but when you did, it just felt right." Replied Katharine.

Nodding, understanding what she meant, Henry said: "Alright, I can do that when it is just the two of us, Kate."