New Earth: Batwoman

Chapter 6

"Dad, we need to talk." Kate said the next morning when she entered the kitchen to find her father getting ready to go.

"Kate, can it wait, I need to get to work?" Jacob asked.

"Mom and Beth aren't dead." Kate said bluntly, causing him to turn to face her.

"What are you talking about Kate? That is not something to joke about." Jacob said angrily.

"And I'm not kidding. I found it a bit strange how the people who found those bone fragments happened to work for the same woman that you're now married to, so I had a friend at Wayne Enterprise examine the bone fragments and well, these were the results." Kate said as she handed the results to him.

"Wait, Kate, these results say that the fragments they recovered are from a deer." Jacob said in disbelief.

"I had my friend run it twice and confirmed it." Kate said.

"Kate, you know I'm going to need more proof than this." Jacob said.

"Then why don't you ask Catherine?" Kate asked as Catherine entered the room.

"Ask me what?" Catherine asked.

"To tell the truth about the bone fragments we found that we thought belonged to my mom and Beth." Kate said and she could tell that Catherine was nervous.

"What are you talking about?" Catherine asked and now Jacob could tell that his wife was nervous.

"Catherine, what is going on?" Jacob asked and Catherine could tell that she was not getting out of this.

"Fine, those bone fragments that my employees found, they were not from Gabi or Beth. They were from a deer some of my employees found." Catherine said.

"Why did the police and coroner claim that they were from Beth and Gabi?" Jacob asked, his voice dangerously still.

"I paid them to fake the results." Catherine said tearfully.

"Why would you do that?" Jacob demanded, refusing to even look her in the eyes and frankly, neither could Kate, since while she was relieved that Catherine was alive, the fact that she had not only kept her sister from her, but also her mom too overrode that relief with fresh anger.

"Do you remember what you and Kate were doing after the accident? You had the entire Crows force searching for Beth and Gabi, Kate wasn't going to school, the two of you were putting your whole lives on hold." Catherine said, trying desperately to get them to understand why she did what she did.

"Maybe that's because half of our family was missing and we didn't want to live our lives when we still didn't know what happened to theirs. You had no right to make that decision. Maybe if you hadn't, we could've found them. But instead, we gave up and who knows where my mom and sister are right now? Maybe they really are dead now because we didn't find them in time to save them. And that's on you." Kate said angrily.

"Please, try to understand." Catherine begged.

"I think I'm gonna stay in a hotel tonight." Kate said as she turned to head back upstairs to start packing.

"You can expect to receive divorce papers by the end of the week." Jacob said as he walked out of the apartment, intent on just hiring some people to move his stuff out of the penthouse, since he couldn't even stand to be anywhere near Catherine right now.

Later on that week, Kate finally found time to talk to Mary.

"Kate, I've been trying to get a hold of you. What's this I hear about our parents getting divorced?" Mary asked, shocking Kate.

"You don't know?" Kate asked.

"No, I mean, you're staying in a hotel and so is your dad and my mom won't tell me anything." Mary said and Kate sighed.

"You might want to sit down for this." Kate said and Mary nodded as she did.

"Look Mary, we recently discovered that the bone fragments that were used to identify my mom and Beth's bodies actually belonged to deer." Kate said.

"Wait, what? How is that possible. There are so many differences, how could the coroner's office make that mistake?" Mary asked.

"Because your mom paid them to." Kate said regretfully.

"What? Kate, that's not funny." Mary said.

"I'm sorry Mary, but it's true. Your mom confessed to my dad and I. I would've told you sooner, but my dad and I have been busy trying to figure out where my mom and Beth are now." Kate said.

"So, do you hate me now?" Mary asked and Kate was shocked that she'd think that.

"Of course not and neither does my dad. You had nothing to do with your mom's decision and honestly, you will always be my sister." Kate assured her.

"I don't know what to say." Mary said and Kate could tell that the floodgates were opening and she simply pulled Mary into a hug as she felt her sister begin to weep into her shoulder and Kate just did her best to rub comforting circles.