Homecoming (Complete)

Chapter Nine

Kate didn't know if she was angry or worried—she waffled back and forth between the two on a minute by minute basis. It had been a full week since the weird departure Alex had made from her apartment and not even Dinah had heard from her. Dinah was worried—she and Alex had become quite close and, when Alex hadn't shown up for a lunch date, she had called Kate to find out if she knew what was going on. Kate hadn't given any details—just said she hadn't heard from Alex in a while. It wasn't a lie...just not all of the truth. She wasn't sure she wanted Dinah to know about the relationship she and Alex had seemed to be developing the past month or so.

When Bruce called and said that he had some information on Alex that he needed to discuss with her, Kate agreed to be there within the hour—his stipulation, not hers. She would have been there in minutes but he said he had a conference call that he couldn't put off. By the time she got to the mansion she was highly agitated, and barely keeping her anger reined in.

"Miss Kate. Welcome. It's been a while since you've stopped by. It's a pleasure to see you. Master Bruce is waiting in his study," Alfred said pleasantly as he took her coat. "I assume you remember your way?"

"Yes. Thank you, Alfred," Kate said curtly, grinding her teeth.

"May I bring you some tea?" he asked, choosing to ignore her tone.

"No. Thank you. I'm hoping this won't take long. I don't want to take up too much of Bruce's time. I know he has a busy schedule today and I appreciate him squeezing me in," Kate said as courteously as she could—Alfred didn't deserve to be subjected to her foul mood.

"Very well. Let me know if you change your mind," Alfred called as Kate disappeared down the hall toward the study.

"Come in," Bruce said when Kate tapped on the door. "Kate. Good to see you." He stood and stepped around the desk to give her a quick hug.

"Alex," Kate said, cutting off the pleasantries. "You said you had some information on her?"

"Impatient and right to the point as always, eh Kate?" Bruce smiled at her as he stepped around his desk to sit back down and pointed at a chair to indicate Kate should do the same.

"Yes," her mouth was a hard line as she sat, straight-backed and rigidly, in the proffered chair.

"Well...," he hesitated. "First, why don't you tell me what you know about Alex Read."

"I don't know what I know," Kate said angrily. "I mean...we've been talking for weeks. A lot. She's told me bits and pieces about her life and...I don't know. There were times she seemed to gloss over things. I got the impression her life was hell when she was a kid. She said that one day she would tell me everything, but that it was hard to talk about." Kate closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to let go of her anger.

"Sorry, Bruce. She...I...," she sighed as she reached up to rub at the tension headache in her forehead, "she left in such a hurry. I haven't been able to get a hold of her.... We kissed...and everything was fine...and then she noticed my shoulder injury, made a beeline for the cut on my side...then she panicked, apologized profusely, and ran out the door, promising to explain everything later. She said she had to stop something before it was too late."

"Okay," Bruce said slowly. "Before I start, keep in mind that Alex came to me with this. She could have kept quiet—I don't know how long it would have taken me to figure it out on my own. Especially since I had no reason, as far as I was aware, to go looking for this information. Also keep in mind that it appears she didn't want the two of you to start a deeper relationship without you knowing the truth."

"That sounds ominous," Kate frowned and leaned forward in her chair.

"It depends upon your point of view," Bruce said. "And considering you kissed her I'm going to guess that your point of view might be a touch harsher than mine," he smiled. "Just...remember there's no malicious intent here. Just...," he sighed at the sour look on Kate's face and changed direction. "Okay. More to the point...Alex gave me a drive a few days ago with a ton of information on it—everything she discovered about me, tons of information about her—her history, who she really is. Alex Read used to be Alexis Andrea Damian."