Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2001 15:04:32 -0700 (PDT) From: Author James Subject: Adventures of a Real Dark Knight Chapter 13 Disclaimer: This story, though maybe not in this chapter but in subsequent chapters, will have celebrities in it. I have no knowledge of their sexuality and this is not intended to imply their sexuality. This is all from my own mind. Scary!! People actually get a glimpse into my mind!!! Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters created by Joss Whedon. Copyright 20th Century Fox. Batman, and all related characters created by Bob Kane. Copyright DC Comics and Warner Bros. X-MEN, and all related characters created by Stan Lee. Copyright Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. Star Trek and all related characters created by Gene Roddenberry. Copyright Paramount Studios. I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered. In this story, which has been floating around in my head most of my life, you will find many universes merging, as the above copyrights reveal. I hope you all enjoy this. I appreciate any feedback that you may want to give. This story doesn't deal so much with sex, sex, sex, but more of my feelings that I struggled with and am starting to come to terms with. Part of his background is mine. I do hope that you enjoy it!!! I have received many emails from people who have enjoyed it and some from those who do not. I would enjoy hearing from you. Any emails you send, please tell me what chapter and story you are commenting on. Thanks. jmsotc@yahoo.com Chapter 13 Flight After the cemetery I went over to Joshua's house. I knocked on the door and his foster parents were rather surprised to see me. "Eric. Hello. What a pleasant surprise. Would you like to come in? We have plenty of food left over from Thanksgiving dinner." "No, thanks. I am actually here to see Joshua. Is he available?" "Yes. Come in." "I'd rather talk to him out here, if that's okay." "Uh, sure. Hold on." Roger disappeared and a few minutes later Joshua appeared at the door. "Hi, Eric." "Hi, Joshua. Can we talk?" "Sure." Joshua came out and he and I went over to the porch swing and sat. "What's this about, Eric?" "There have been some things that came up in the last couple of days. Things that I have no control over. I'm leaving town." "What?" "I'm leaving Los Angeles in a couple days. I don't know if I will ever return. Maybe to visit with you and some other people but not to stay." "I don't understand. Why do you have to leave?" "Batman has been accused of murder. How can he operate in a city that believes him to be a criminal? It's not possible. Besides, Lance has asked me to move with him to Florida. I really think there's a future with him. And I need that stability." "I'm going to miss you. I know we haven't known each other all that much but I feel like we've known each other for a long time." "I feel the same, Joshua. I will miss you as well." Joshua and I hugged. It was a hug of friendship, of brotherhood. He and I had many things in common. "Listen. I've arranged for you to meet the instructors at the Xavier Institute. Lena will take you next week and if all goes well, you will probably be moving in. They are very opinionated let me tell you. Especially Logan and Remy. Don't let them get to you." I stood up and put my hand on Joshua's head and rubbed it. "Take care of yourself, Joshua. And help take care of this city. It needs people like you who can understand the underdog, those who are trodden underfoot by they so-called elite. You can be a great force in this city. Always remember to take care of those who don't know how and don't have the strength to take care of themselves." I removed my hand from Joshua's head and walked away. At the apartment, I finished packing up my stuff. I had written a note to the landlord and placed it in an envelope. Once I was out the door, I would put the key in and drop it off in their mailbox. The room was strange looking. I had a feeling of déjà vu. I remember a few months ago when I arrived here and had so many expectations and fears of my new life. I would never have suspected things to happen as they did. I never thought I would turn out to be a mutant, befriend a vampire slayer and help save the world from crazy demons and megalomaniacs. And I never thought I would have been sexual with a member of NSYNC, let alone date two of them. I was sure I would be able to testify that I had sex with both band members, but not yet. That will happen in time, I was sure. And what new adventures awaited me in Florida? What would I be exposed to? I could not tell, nor did I want to know. It would ruin the surprise. A few days later, I arrived at the airport. The Center had arranged for my flight and Lance helped me pay for my stuff to be moved. I stood in line at the gate. The stewardess was very helpful in directing me to where I needed to go. The flight was nice and quiet. I fell asleep, thank goodness since I had a hard time with heights and flying. The plane landed and Lance was waiting for me. "Hi, Eric," he said smiling at me. "Hi, Lance. Thanks for meeting me." "Thanks for coming." Lance grabbed one of my bags and we went over to get my other suitcase. Then we went and arranged for the airport delivery service to deliver the rest of my things to the airport, then on we went to his car. He was driving a Lexus SUV. We put my things in the back and then climbed in the front. "How was the flight?" he asked as he started up the SUV. "It was okay. I was a bit nervous. I'm not too fond of heights." He smiled at me and moved his hand over toward mine. I knew what he wanted and grabbed his hand in mine. The song on the radio was "All My Life" by Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt. We just sat there and enjoyed the music and the touch of one another. A little while later, Lance pulled into a driveway belonging to a nice house. He reached up and pressed the garage door opener. The door went up and in went the Lexus. He helped me bring in my stuff and take up to the bedroom. "That dresser is empty if you want to put your stuff in there." "Thanks." "And the closet has plenty of room for your things that need hung up. Would you like me to help?" "Sure," I replied. He grabbed a suitcase and placed it up on the bed. It dawned on me that suitcase contained my Bat-suit. "Wait a minute," I said. "What?" The telephone rang. "I'll get that." He walked over to the other side of his King size bed and picked up the phone. I took the suitcase and put it in the closet in the far back out of sight then began unpacking my other things. Lance hung up the phone. "That was Justin. He was wondering if you arrived okay." I smiled at him. "Of course I did. You were waiting for me." "What would you like to do tonight? We have all of Orlando to see!" "Actually, I'm kind of tired. I'd like to take a nap, if that's okay." "Sure thing. Make yourself at home. Are you hungry? I can make us something to eat." "Yeah, a little." Lance went downstairs as I finished unpacking my things. Then I went to my black suitcase in the closet and pulled it out. I opened it up and looked down at the Bat-suit. "Should I continue being Batman? Or should I just let him disappear from the face of the earth? Sure, he did a lot of good things, but once he's accused of murder, all the good that he's done disappears to the one bad thing. We all make mistakes. It's too bad Batman was accused of a mistake he didn't commit and now he's paying for it. Still, I look around and see the consolation prize...me living in Orlando with Lance Bass. What more could anyone ask for?" I put the suit back in the case and pushed it back into the shadows of the closet and of my mind. I had other things to do...wearing the costume of a Bat was not one of them. I stood and went downstairs. I couldn't get over Lance's house. It was nice, especially because it was his and his alone. Don't get me wrong it was nice to see the other members of the group. They were all very nice. But living with them was a whole other ball of wax. Living with them is great when you have to contend with a psychotic wizarding vampire but we didn't have that problem in Orlando. Orlando promised to be a much more normal city. I found Lance in the kitchen putting cheese on two sandwiches. "Ah, lunch is served." He brought them over to the table and sat them down. "Have a seat. What would you like to drink?" "Ice water would be fine. I'm thirsty, too." "Ice water it is." He got my drink and sat down. "So how was your Thanksgiving?" "It was nice. David and Michael invited me over to their penthouse for dinner. I really enjoyed it. How about yours?" "I stayed with my family in Mississippi. It was fun...but I looked forward to seeing you here." "I looked forward to seeing you as well." We talked about Lance's work here in Orlando while we ate. Sometimes he would have late nights due to getting things ready for their new album, which they still had to work on. It was just getting off the ground. "No Strings Attached" was selling very well and they wanted to let it run it's course while they prepared a much more dynamic album. "Do you have any plans for here, yet?" he asked me. "I talked with Dr. Allison at the Center in Los Angeles. He paid for me to come over here. He wants me to attend the Save the Children benefit and after that decide if I want to stay here or go back to L.A. If I decide to stay here, he may be able to get me a job at one of their centers here." "But..." Lance said with a grin. "But I don't know if I want to work at another center or open up my own private practice. There are so many possibilities out there that it's overwhelming." "I know exactly what you mean." We finished our lunch and Lance took the dishes to the dishwasher. "Let's go for a walk," he said. We left his house to walk around the neighborhood. As we walked, I felt his hand slip into mine. I looked over at him with a look of concern, which he easily recognized. "Don't worry. The families in the neighborhood know I'm gay. Except for a few teenage girls who were hopeful of a fairy tale ending and a few boys who don't know much about being gay, everyone else is fine with it." I smiled at him and he smiled back. I held his hand tightly. As the song "Memory" goes: Daylight I must wait for the sunrise I must think of a new life And I mustn't give in When the dawn comes tonight will be a memory, too And a new day will begin I started to fall in love with this new life. This was a dream come true. I was with a guy whom I cared deeply about and he cared deeply about me. He and I lived in a nice house in a normal neighborhood. And everyone around us knew we were gay and it wasn't an issue. This was something I had always dreamed up but never expected to be reality. I had always figured I would be dating guys off and on but never settling down with one. That's what I had always wanted. But when I read a very good book written by a gay psychologist about finding Mr. Right, my eyes were opened to understanding things I had never understood before. I decided not to think about those issues, or anything else. I wanted to enjoy the moment for what was: my lover and I walking and holding hands. Lance and I walked down the street and came across a playground. Kids of all ages, sizes and colors were playing. It was wonderful to watch them play. "Have you ever wanted kids?" Lance asked. "At times I do...and sometimes I don't. It's not that I doubt my abilities as a parent. I work well with children. But I wonder if the kind of life I live would be good for children to be around." Lance looked at me strangely. Of course, I was referring to the Batman factor, but I couldn't say anything about that. Plus there was the other factor, which I could talk about. "What do you mean?" he asked. "My work with children. I don't know how my own child would feel if I were to spend so much time helping other children. Plus, with some of the things I've experienced with the children, I get very emotional. Well, you know about that." "Yeah. I think you'd be a great daddy." I smiled at him. "What about you? What do you think about having children?" "Very good question. I would love to. Having a family is what I've always wanted. But with the group and us touring so much, I wouldn't be able to see them. What kind of life is that? I don't want to put any kids through that. But I have thought about having children." "Adoption or a surrogate mother?" I asked. "Hmm...never thought about that. Maybe adoption. But surrogacy sounds good. To have a child that has my genes in them." "And I can just imagine all the women who would be happy to have sex with you just to get your semen." Lance started laughing. "I wouldn't go that far to impregnate a woman with my seed. I would have to go with the modern way...that is..." Lance trailed off. "That is what?" "That is unless you could cover up the woman's face and body with yours. I could do it then." I blushed. That only served to make Lance's enchanting smile grow even more. "I embarrassed you." "Yes. You did." We walked over to the bench and sat down to watch the children playing. That was a moment of great confirmation for me. I had always had a burden for children. I know what it's like to feel left out and not part of anything. At times, I felt it was my job to help children feel accepted and to protect them from harm. It sounds almost like an obsession. What can I say? I love children. A blonde woman came over and sat down next to Lance. "So when did you get back, Lance?" "Saturday." "And how was Los Angeles?" "It was Los Angeles. One good thing came from there, though." "And what's that?" "Him," Lance said referring to me. "Hi. I'm Beth." "I'm Eric." I reached out and took her hand and shook it. "He's cute, Lance." "I know." I couldn't handle all this flattering talk. I had never been gushed over so much. It was so nice to hear. "Too bad you're not heterosexual," Beth added. She turned and looked over as a kid started crying. "Be back. That's mine." Beth got up and walked over to a little eight-year-old blonde boy. Aside from the hair and eyes, he in no way looked like her. Lance must have caught my observation. "That's Jack. Beth is a foster parent. She's had Jack almost since infancy. His parents were not fit to raise him so the state took him from them. He's had a pretty good life with Beth." The two came over to us. Jack was a little dirty from his spill. "Jack, this is Eric, Lance's boyfriend. Eric, this is my son, Jack." "Nice to meet you," I said. I reached out my hand and he took it. "Nice to meet you." Jack smiled at me. "We're going home now. We have some things to do. Talk to you later, guys. It was nice meeting you, Eric," Sheila said. "Nice meeting you, as well, Sheila. And you, too, Jack." I watched them walk off and I felt love flow from me to Jack and Sheila. There was a woman doing what she wanted...raising a child who would otherwise have not had a good life if he had remained with his parents. You have to have a license to own a gun, fly an airplane, drive a car, and even fish. But anybody can be a parent. My sister and I came up with a good plan. If you plan on having sex with someone of the opposite sex, you should have to take a parenting class. If you fail, you get a week to study and take it again. If you fail again, you get neutered. My sister is a bit stricter with it: fail once and it's taken care of. I guess the psychologist in me says everyone should have a chance to improve. Lance and I sat for a while just watching the children. As the sunset we headed back to the house. To Be Continued... Wow! Eric is finally settling down with someone. No chance on a spell being the thing that made Lance gay. Of course, what does this bode for Batman? It sounds like Eric is contemplating putting Batman away...for good. Especially with what happened in Los Angeles and considering his future and what that would do for his children. What do you think about all this? I'd love to hear from you. Next chapter: Eric and Lance make love.