Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 18:45:23 -0700 (PDT) From: Author James Subject: Tales of a Real Dark Knight Chapter 38 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!!! Any emails you send, please tell me what chapter you are commenting on. Thanks. jmsotc@yahoo.com Chapter 38 More Harm Than Good I watched in the shadows as someone who I would never have believed walked out of the bushes. It was Hunter. "Hi, Nick." "Hi, Hunter. I'm glad you could make it." "Me, too. Is Derrick here?" "No. He couldn't make it. How was your tests today?" "Don't know. I didn't take them." "Why not?" "I didn't want to." "You need to keep up with your education, Hunter." "Why? We both know what will happen if..." "IF what?" a familiar voice said. I turned and saw Lieutenant Harrison step out of the shadows. "What will happen, Hunter?" Lieutenant Harrison was not wearing normal clothes or his police outfit. He had on this strange outfit. It looked as if it was wrapped around him like the rags of a mummy. But that was not the only thing he wore. He had hoses that ran to his wrists and feet. I couldn't figure out what they were for. They couldn't be helping him move, he could already do that on his own. "W-w-w-what are you doing here?" "I came to check on two patients. You know how the good doctor hates it when you try to reverse your treatments and therapy. He will have to give you extra treatments just to make up for the work lost. Now if you will come quietly with me, perhaps we can save lost work and get treatment before it gets completely reversed." Hunter shook his head. He looked as if he feared for his life. "No. No, I'm not going back. I refuse to see him any more! I refuse to do any more treatments!" "But, Hunter, listen to reason. Your parents already informed us that they would cut you off financially if you don't get the treatments. How will you pay for your college then?" "I can get a loan or a grant or something." "But if you renege on your promise, they will cut you off permanently. Remember 'No son of mine will be gay'." Tears fell down Hunter's eyes. "No! I won't go back! I've been doing the treatments for almost a year now and they haven't worked! They've only made me hate myself and want to hurt myself for what I am! I can't do this any more! I'll die before I go back!" Harrison threw out his arm and a hose shot out of the tubing and wrapped around Hunter's neck. "That can be arranged, boy!" The hose recoiled pulling Hunter toward Harrison. I reached into a pouch on my suit and pulled out a bat-shaped boomerang. Throwing it at the hose, it cut it off. Harrison and Nick both turned to face my direction. Hunter lay on the ground clutching his throat, able to breathe again. I leapt out of the brush. "It's over, Harrison. I'm stopping this insanity." "Hello, Bats. Nice to see you here." "Why are you doing this, Harrison? Don't you have any morals or ethics?" "I definitely have morals and ethics. That is the very foundation to my reasoning behind this. And, you may call me Bullwhip." Bullwhip threw a hand out and a hose swung out at me. I dived to the side as the hose missed. Rolling to my feet I faced Bullwhip again. He shot a hose to a tree branch and swung at me, kicking me in the chest and knocking me to the ground. "You see, Batman. I have a cause, too. I'm going to make sure every immoral and unethical gay man, woman and teenager is helped." "What about people like Hunter who don't get helped by these treatments? What will you do to them?" "They will have to die." Bullwhip shot out a hose and it wrapped around Hunter. He jerked the hose and the hose threw Hunter over the edge of the cliff. I wasted no time. I ran and dived over as well. I kept my cape closed hoping that I would have a better chance of catching up to Hunter. I could not let him die. As I neared him, my hand reached out to grab him. At the same time, I shot a line into the cliff side hoping to get a good grip. I reached Hunter's hand and grabbed it just as the rope pulled taught and swung us around. I pulled with all my strength and pulled Hunter up so he could get a good grip on me. The winch reeled us up to the top. When we climbed over the edge, Nick and Bullwhip were gone. I couldn't help but fear Bullwhip took Nick hostage. "What was going on here?" I asked Hunter doing my best to disguise my voice. With him being worked up, he did not realize who I was. "I came to meet Nick. We met at a meeting." "What meeting?" "A psychologist who specializes in curing homosexuals holds meetings for his clients. We usually do some singing and talking. It's like group therapy. Then we have individual appointments for our own individualized treatments." "What goes on at the meetings?" "He usually does some hypnosis. We all come out feeling much freer." "Where are these meetings? At the same place as your treatments?" "Yes." "Huntress, come in," I said, placing my hand on my ear. "What's up?" "I need you to call a cab for me. Have it pick up..." I looked up at Hunter. He gave me his full name, even though I already knew it, and relayed it to her. Then I asked her to get here with her motorcycle as quickly as she could so I could go after Bullwhip, and Nick. "How did you know we were meeting here?" Hunter asked me. "I've had some concerns about Bullwhip. I met him before at the building where he holds the treatments. It seems my concerns were justified." About ten minutes later, the Huntress arrived with her motorcycle. "Thanks for coming." "You're welcome. The cab should be here as well." "Could you wait with Hunter until he is safely in the cab? I need to do some investigating." "Sure." "Can I use your motorcycle?" "Do you know how to ride one?" "I'm a fast learner." The Huntress showed me the most basic of her motorcycle operation. From there, I informed her where I was going and then I left. I went as fast as I could to the dilapidated building. There I found the lights on and Nick strapped to the table. Bullwhip was standing with his arms crossed as the mysterious doctor was checking the straps. Normally I would go straight to the room and fight, but I didn't do that this time. Instead, I went to the basement and took out some fuses to the power box. That cut off the power to the entire building. Then I ascended the steps silently and carefully knowing I would meet Bullwhip. About the third floor, I heard movement. I hid and waited as Bullwhip passed the closet I was hiding in. He didn't bother looking for me. I guess he figured it was just a fuse, which would be right. But I don't think he suspected a bat getting into the fuse box. Once the hall was quiet, I exited the closet and went to their treatment room. There I found Nick alone, strapped to the table. I locked the door and moved over to him. He looked over and his eyes lit up in surprise. I held my finger up in the silence sign and he nodded. I untied him and helped him up. "Thank you," he said to me. "You saved my life." I took him to the door and listened. Someone was in the office. I didn't want to chance Nick getting hurt by a confrontation so we went to the window and I opened it. "Climb onto the ledge," I said. He did not hesitate. He went right out and I followed. As I pulled the window shut the door to the room came flying open. "What are we going to do?" Nick asked. "We are awfully high and I don't see a fire escape around here." I shot a grapple into the brick, pulled Nick and jumped. We fell toward the ground and it suddenly locked up swinging us around. It was a safety feature Huntress put into the suit. I would have to thank her for it. We were about ten feet from the ground when I decided to cut the line. We dropped, but I made sure I impacted more than Nick. We stood and ran. Nick followed me to the Huntresses motorcycle. As mounted the bike, I heard the sound of another motorcycle. I looked and up pulled the Huntress on another bike. "What's going on?" she asked. "I just rescued Mr. Carter." "Great. Now what?" "We are getting out of here for now. I don't want him to get hurt." "Okay, let's go." Both motorcycles roared down the street leaving Bullwhip and his boss behind. We pulled up to Nick's place and stopped the motorcycles so he could get off. "Thank you, Batman, for what you did for me." "You're welcome." He leaned in and kissed me. It didn't seem to matter to him that my mouth was covered with a mask he kissed me anyway. "And, please, call me Nick." Nick turned and went inside. I started up the motorcycle knowing full well that the Huntress was looking at me. She started up her bike and we took off down the street. We pulled into an alley and cut the engines. I dismounted the one I was riding. "These are awesome! Where do I get mine?" "I'm working on it," she said. She looked at me with a peculiar look. "What is that look for?" "You know what the look is for. 'Please, call me Nick'. Someone has got the hots for Batman." "You're crazy." "No I'm not. Any blind person could see that. The question is, what is Eric McCoy going to do about it?" "Nothing. Neither Batman nor Eric McCoy is going to get involved. I'm not going to get involved with anybody. I can't right now. I'm not ready." "Really?" "Yes, really." The Huntress looked at me narrowly. "You know, don't you?" "Know what?" "About Lance." "What about Lance?" "You know how he feels toward you. I can tell by that guilty look in your eyes. You don't know what to do, especially since you think both guys are gorgeous. But looks are not what you should judge someone by, not entirely. Look at their personalities and who they are inside." "That's kind of unfair because I've known Lance longer than Nick." "You can easily judge Nick, as well. I'm sure you had a chance to talk to him while you two were in the hospital together. What's he like?" "I...I...I don't want to answer that." "Why? Because you're afraid that you may make a wrong choice? Because you might hurt someone? You're human. That is going to happen. The only thing you can do is make sure you do it while giving that person dignity and honesty. "It would be unfair to not consider Lance. He has actually been there for you when you did not know it." "What? What are you talking about?" "When you were in the hospital, he sent you flowers. He has been very concerned for you, ever since the warehouse incident with Turic." "How do you know all this?" "I already told you. I keep up with my ex-boyfriend." "You mean you and Lance were..." "Yes. Lance was my boyfriend who turned out to be gay." "My God. Is that how you knew about Turic?" "Yes." "Man, can I put two and two together." The Huntress laughed. "Stop laughing at me," I said with a smile. "You have to admit it is kind of funny. Did you ever think that, when you moved out here, you would ever have dated Justin Timberlake, and have both Lance Bass and Nick Carter want to date you?" I put my hand to my head. "Never." "You are one of the most luckiest guys I've met. How many girls or guys can say they've had what you have? How many can say they help people all the time, both as a job and because that is what they are called to do? Not many. You should feel very proud and very lucky." "You're right." I straddled the motorcycle and started it up. "You know," I said turning back to the Huntress, "I would feel even luckier if I had one of these babies to ride on all the time." "Shut up," she said laughing. I smiled underneath my mask and we drove out of the alley. After driving around and finding nothing else going on, I returned with the Huntress to her Watcher's house and we parked the bikes. "Thanks for your help," I said. "You're welcome. That's what friends are for." I took my leave of her and went back to my apartment. There I saw the cop the blue mutant morphed into. I snuck into my apartment and changed really quick as I heard her knocking on the door. "Hold on a minute," I said. I pulled my robe tight around me and tied it as I opened the door. "Can I help you?" "Yes, as a matter of fact, you can." "Come in," I said, closing the door behind the mutant. "What can I do for you?" The cop morphed into the blue woman and she smiled at me with a conniving grin. To Be Continued...