Batwoman #23

Issue Details

Synopsis

THIS BLOOD IS THICK: VEINS Kate Kane has remembers a story from her childhood; a boy who puts his family to sleep with the sandman's dust while he has adventures at night. The story strikes her as sad, because she imagines that if that boy really loved his family, he would have shared that part of his life he loves most with them. Ever since she started leading a double life, Kate has wished that she could make her life as Batwoman and her life as Kate Kane one and the same. Now that her loved ones do know, they all have a stake in her survival. Her mission is soon to start, and her fiancée Maggie is grilling about whether or not she is adequately prepared for it.   Kate insists that she is ready, but Maggie's own experience of being accidentally injected with fear-toxin by Batwoman leads her to doubt. In order to make it right, Kate decides - against Maggie's protests - to inject herself with it, so she would know what Maggie went through.   Bette Kane, meanwhile, has to tell herself that the DEO is an evil organization intent on tearing her family apart in order to justify her ambush of an unarmed DEO Agent. She tries not to think about what her uncle Jake is going to do with this man once she and the Murder of Crows get him back to their safe house. She tries not to think about what her cousin Beth could do to everyone once the information this man gives them leads to her breaking Beth out of the DEO.   Kate's hallucinations and nightmares are full of violent imagery featuring her sister Beth, her father Jake, Director Bones, and the Batman. As she cowers on her bed, Maggie sits beside her, waiting for her to come down.   Bette is uncomfortable with her father's interrogation methods, particularly since the victim seems unlikely to talk. Annoyed, Jake warns that this is no time to be squeamish. Sternly, she responds that she's not being squeamish, she just thinks he's doing things the wrong way. Now, it's her turn to interrogate. Bette's approach is markedly different. She offers Agent Asaf some water, and explains that she knows he's too smart to be tricked by her, and that the only way she'll get the info she wants is if he wants to give it to her. So, she is betting instead on his ambition rather than his fear.   She correctly deduces that his non-genius IQ paired with high marks suggest that his multiple PhDs were gained through hard work and ambition, rather than just smarts. Even so, he has never reached the top of anything, despite his efforts. She suggests that Director Bones probably doesn't have many friends at Washington, and if it was discovered that he brought a terrorist back to life, and then let her escape, he'd be out. That would leave a power-vacuum that Asaf could fill. After a moment of consideration, the Agent agrees to help.   Meanwhile, Cameron Chase releases dangerous criminals as part of "Operation Batfrack", leaving Bane in charge, with the warning that there are to be no civilian casualties.   Kate wakes from her nightmares to find Maggie holding her. Maggie admits that Kate was out for more than twelve hours, and she had stayed with her the whole time. Kate weakly complains of how she felt she couldn't wake up, as much as she had wanted to. Maggie responds that she found that experience made her feel more powerless than she'd ever want to feel again. Through tears, Kate apologizes for hiding who she was and for dosing Maggie with that toxin, worrying that she'll never be forgiven for all the things she did wrong - and all the things she might do in the future. Calmly, Maggie asks Kate whether she will ever cheat, and Kate says no. She asks whether Kate will ever kill someone who wasn't going to kill her, and Kate says no. She asks whether Kate would ever hurt her daughter Jamie, and Kate says no. Maggie responds that she can forgive anything else. Now in tears herself, Maggie asks whether Kate still wants to marry her, and Kate says yes. Kate proposes for a second time, and Maggie kisses her, and says yes.   Soon, the mission begins, and Kate must go out as Batwoman while Director Bones watches on, and Gotham City burns.