Wow. This is exciting. I've started watching this show since the day after it came out and I already adore it. And so obviously I had to write a story about it. I hope this isn't too OOC as I've never written these characters before and there's only been like five episodes, haha. This just popped in my head and I had to get it down! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I mean, I wish I owned this.
Mary knew today was going to be exhausting from the moment she woke up.
First, there was a power outage in the morning resulting in her alarm clock to not go off. She would have used her phone but it was dead and she was charging it but, again, power outage.
And then once school was over- which was exhausting and that one boy Marcus wouldn't stop hitting on her no matter how many times she told him she wasn't interested and wouldn't even shut up for just one moment- she'd decided to stop by her favorite coffee place but of course, it had been raided during the power outage meaning she definitely wouldn't be getting that coffee.
Which was, admittedly, very petty of her to be fretting over not getting her favorite coffee due to the place being robbed, but still.
She could have really used that coffee.
The city was still in a power outage and it was now totally dark by the time she arrived to her clinic which was just awesome.
And this is how she ended up standing in the middle of the main room, sipping on black coffee -which shouldn't even exist. Bless the dear person who thought of making creamer- and trying her absolute best to light just one freaking candle.
"This night couldn't possibly get any worse," Mary muttered to herself.
Boy, was she wrong.
"Having difficulty?"
She jumped with a yelp, having accidentally burned herself at the sudden voice that intruded her silence. She quickly blew out the candle, clutching her thumb close to her chest.
"You have got to stop entering a room like that," She declared once she found her voice, looking at the red-head cladded in black just casually leaning against her doorframe.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Batwoman spoke, voice modulated. But it almost sounded strained. That is, if you can tell from a heavily auto-tuned accent.
What? That works.
Mary frowned.
Come to think of it, she didn't exactly look like she was just casually leaning against the wall. In fact, she looked like she was using it for support.
"...Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Batwoman assured, but no sooner after she'd spoken did she stumble forward; barely managing to catch herself on the table between them. On instinct, Mary immediately moved towards her, but not quite close neough to reach her.
A quiet groan came from the other woman, before she huffed quietly.
Almost laughing.
"Okay, I might have lied," She admitted, lifting the hand placed on her stomach to place on the table, leveraging herself upright. But her hand slipped and she stumbled a little more, causing Mary to close the distance between them and lift her for support. She couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her at the sight of blood on the vigilante's hands.
Batwoman noticed this, and spoke again, her voice breathless.
"So, I might need some of your help," She grunted, knees buckling enough that it almost took them both to the floor.
And Mary suddenly was wishing she hadn't declined taking those gym classes her mother was always on about.
She lowered her sudden burden to the floor, noticing how she limp she was.
"Hey, Batwoman, you with me?" She asked, squinting in the dark to see if she could find the current status of the vigilante.
Apparently, she's not with me.
She realized, taking in the closed eyes and labored breathing. Plus the lack of response was pretty much a dead giveaway.
She lightly patted her face, trying to rouse her but her attempts were merely met with failure.
Of course this is what would happen today.
Because of course, today of all rotten days, an unconscious and bleeding Batwoman would show up at Mary's clinic when she had no power, no lights, and no coffee.
Well, she had black coffee but does that even count?
Ignoring that, her nurse instincts kicked in and she immediately sprung into action.
First things first.
Light.
She stood back up, grabbing a match once more and doing her best to light it. It took a few tries, but she gasped with joy when a tiny flame finally lit. She moved it to the wicks of the candles she'd set out around, before carefully blowing out the flame.
Finally, something went right.
"Huh. Let there be light," She joked, even though the only other person in the room was currently unconscious.
Oh, and bleeding out.
She should probably do something about that.
Hurrying back to the hero's side, she did her best to assess the damage in what little light she had. She placed a candle on the ground next to her, mindful of where in case Batwoman woke up in a fit.
Normally, she liked to have her patients on a bed.
Not, ya' know, in the middle of the floor.
But then again, she also liked to have lights that worked, too, so she figured she should just work with what she's got.
"Okay," Mary breathed, pressing her hand onto the blood pouring out of her stomach. "How the hell am I supposed to get this off?" She wondered aloud, as if Batwoman would answer her. "Maybe I can cut around it," She grabbed one of her scalpels and began cutting the rough material surrounding the blood, revealing enflamed skin.
"So that's the culprit,"
Two bullet wounds neatly placed right under her ribs.
That explains the ungodly amount of blood.
She quickly felt beneath the unconscious body, feeling for any more bullet holes and praying that there would be an exit wound.
And that's exactly what there was.
One exit wound.
Because of frigging course there was.
Grabbing a nearby blanket to keep her body upright, Mary rolled Batwoman onto her side, angling her so she could reach both the entrance and exit of the bullet wounds. She grabbed the scalpel and disinfectant, before inhaling a deep breath.
"Batwoman, I hope you're a deep sleeper."
Mary shakily wiped the bead of sweat forming on her brow with the back of her wrist because, bloody hand, before blowing out a breath.
Phew.
She managed to dig the bullet out and stitch her back up while simultaneously keeping Batwoman alive and not accidentally cutting the wrong part of her open because it was fricking pitch black in here. Miraculously, the vigilante never woke up and that left Mary enough time to focus on any other areas that might be injured or bleeding.
She felt both her arms and legs, pushing down on her ribs even to make sure there were no breaks. She couldn't exactly be too thorough with this rugged and overly thick -if you ask Mary because what good does this amount of this much rubber do if it can't even stop bullets?- suit being in the way at every point.
Lastly, her eyes went to the face of the wounded hero and she noticed the blood trickling down into her closed left eye. Mary bit her lip.
It's probably just a cut.
Then again, maybe she was hit in the head and possibly concussed or maybe even worse and this was all for naught because she's going to die from trauma to the brain and-
She had to remove the mask.
She had to.
Right?
She inhaled briskly, reaching for the mask and grimacing.
"Sorry, Batwoman," She apologized, before gently tugging the mask off.
Nothing could have ever prepared her for the sight in front of her.
Mary gasped, the mask dropping from her fingers and clattering on the floor.
"Kate?" She breathed out, heart pounding at the sudden discovery. "What the hell?" She questioned the unconscious and bloodied person before her, despite knowing she wouldn't respond. Her face was bloody and bruised but there was no denying that that was her stepsister.
"Oh my God,"
How was this possible?
How was her step-sister, the woman who had barely acknowledged her presence other than when she was forced to, and the woman who wanted nothing to even do with Gotham anymore, Batwoman?
And why did she go to Mary for help?
Shaking the thoughts out of her mind, she put being a nurse above anything else she may be feeling. Right now she needed medical assistance, later she could ask her questions.
And somehow she thought the day couldn't get anymore surprising.
It was only about twenty minutes later when Kate started to stir.
And guess what?
The power was back.
Now.
Not a half hour before, ya' know, when Mary needed it.
She crouched down to Kate's level, next to the makeshift bed she'd made on the middle of her floor, watching as Kate's fingers twitched and her head moved.
"Kate?" She paused, watching as her eyes fluttered beneath closed lids. "Are you with me?" Maybe she was just as restless sleeper-
She choked on a scream as Kate jerked awake, grabbing her wrist. She saw the look of panic in her eyes, and knew for a fact that her own eyes matched. Kate blinked, focusing in on her and immediately released her hand with a start.
"Oh my God, Mary, I'm so sorry-" She immediately apologized, and Mary released the hand she held cradled to her chest. She swallowed, trying to get her heart back down from her throat.
Kate frowned, taking in their surroundings. "Wha-" She started, but a sharp gasp and wince cut her off as the pain must have registered. She looked down, her hand meeting with the bare skin on her torso.
Mary watched as the realization dawned on her.
Her head jerked up, eyes wide.
"I-"
"Yeah," Mary cut her off. "I already went through the stages of having realized that my own step-sister is Batwoman so save yourself the trouble," Kate simply stared at her, as if she was trying to gauge her reaction to it all. She sighed. "Seriously, don't worry about it. We're obviously not close enough for you to tell me," There was that pang in her heart again.
God, she hated that feeling.
"Mary, no, that's not-that's not why I didn't tell you,"
"I'm guessing Alice knows. Obviously you trust her more than me. Does dad know?" Kate sighed, rubbing a hand over her face.
"No, he doesn't know. But I didn't tell you not because I don't trust you," She wanted to believe her, she really did. And the sincerity in her eyes was almost too much, that Mary found herself looking away. "I didn't want to put you in danger-"
"Well, I mean, you did kinda' leave a blood trail right to my place," She joked and Kate stared at her for a moment, before looking down and chuckling. She hook her head, a slight smile on her face.
"I don't deserve to have a sister like you," Kate stated, looking back up to her and it was so genuine that it made Mary's heart hurt but oh, was that nice.
"Damn right, you don't." She declared, hoping the emotion didn't show in her voice.
Kate chuckled again, before cutting it off with a grimace. Mary winced in sympathy.
"Yeah, I'd suggest not moving much for a few days. And your stitches probably aren't the prettiest, but, duh it was pitch dark in here, what do you expect? The things I do for people who throw themselves in front of danger," She sighed in exasperation and Kate smirked.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, did you not hear what I literally just told you?" Mary asked as Kate started pushing herself up to stand.
"I think we both know by now that I don't exactly follow orders," She grunted, grabbing onto the table next to them to leverage herself. "Besides," She breathed out, "Nick is probably wondering where the hell I went off to. He's gonna' be pissed I ruined the suit," She grimaced, and this time Mary wasn't sure if it was from the pain or for future confrontation.
She grabbed her mask, and Mary bit her lip.
"You really shouldn't be moving yet-"
"Hey, you patched me up, right?" Mary nodded. "I trust you," She smiled and Mary couldn't help but smile back. Kate limped forward, heading towards the door but stopping in front of Mary. She clasped Mary's wrist, giving her the most genuine smile she'd seen in a while.
Maybe ever.
"Thank you, Mary. I always knew I could count on you," She winked, before moving away and leaving behind a confused yet almost happy Mary. Almost. She turned around just in time for Kate to go out the door, sliding on her mask and heading into the dark. But she paused once more.
"Let's get coffee tomorrow. Maybe they'll be open by then," Kate smirked, before disappearing into the night.
"Wait-"
But it was too late. She hadn't even given her the pain medication.
She sighed.
This was absolutely not how she imagined the day going.
But she wasn't entirely upset with it.
Maybe she wasn't completely happy about having such a big secret kept from her and maybe she didn't exactly know where they stood, but.
Kate had called her her sister.
Not friend, not even step-sister.
But sister.
Of course, that didn't fix everything, and oh yeah, they'd definitely be talking more about that fact that Kate Kane was Batwoman.
But for now, Mary was content.
She turned around, and a sigh of frustration escaped her lips.
Well, except for this ridiculous amount of blood she had to clean up now.
Ta-da! I hope you liked it! Feel free to drop a review ;) and be extra sure to have a great day! Stay awesome!