Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 19:31:56 -0800 (PST) From: Author James Subject: Judgments of a Real Dark Knight 49 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. 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. The Vampire Chronicles and all related characters created by Anne Rice. Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice. Star Wars and all related concepts created by or based on the universe created by George Lucas. Copyright 20th Century Fox, LucasFilms Ltd. and Lucas Books/Ballantine Books. I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered. 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. authorjames2002@yahoo.com I also have several online messenger services. If you want to chat with me in real time, email me and tell me the services you use and I will tell you my screen name. Other stories in this universe written by other authors: "Tales of a Superhero Band" "Tales of the New Phoenix" "Tales of a Young Mutant" Chapter 49 Come To Me I ran across the rooftops looking for Christine. Catman was somehow connected to her. He was the one killing all the people who somehow wronged Christine. She would be the one that could clue me in as to who this vampire was. Having done some checking, I discovered Christine was living a block from the place where I found her prostituting. I would no doubt find her there getting ready for her job. With any luck, her children wouldn't be there. I wouldn't want to scare them. As I neared the building, I noticed, to my horror, a shadowy figure embracing Christine. It was Catman. "No!" I called out as I leapt down to the street. Catman turned, zipped up his mouth, and kicked at me. I blocked and spun around, backhanding him. He grabbed me by the throat, and tossed me into the brick wall. Then, he jumped up to the building's roof and disappeared into the night. I would have gone after him, but Christine was more important than the vampire right now. "Christine," I said as knelt by her body and pulled her to me. "Christine?" "My children, it's turned so cold. My children, it's passed your bedtime. You've played the day away and soon it will be night. Come to me, my children, the light is fading. Don't you see, the evening star appearing. Come to me and rest against my shoulder. How fast the minutes fly and every minute colder? Hurry near, another day is dying. Don't you hear the winter wind is crying? There's a darkness which comes without a warning, but I will sing you lullabies and wake you in the morning." "Oh, Christine, her time is running out. But Christine, I swear this on my life." "Look, Mister, where all the children play?" "Be at peace. Be at peace ever more." "My children..." "Shall live in my protection." "Take them now..." "Your children will want for nothing." "Good Mister, you've come from God in heaven." "And none will ever harm your children as long as I am living." "Take my hand, the night grows ever colder." "Then I will keep you warm." "Take my children; I give them to your keeping." "Take shelter from the storm." "For God's sake, please stay till I am sleeping. And tell my children I love them and I'll see them when I wake." Christine's body slumped in my arms and tears fell from my eyes. Catman had taken her life, for whatever reason. My hand went over her stomach to the child that would never be born, and I wept all the harder. Her last words rang through my head as a plea for help. I took her words as a swearing of an oath to take care of her surviving children. She said something about where children play. I stood and leapt to the fire escape heading to the nearest playground, where I found two very young children, twins, one boy and one girl, huddled underneath a picnic table. They couldn't have been much older than three, if that. I knelt down in front of them and they looked at me terrified. Reaching up, I pulled my mask off. "It's okay," I said. "I won't hurt you. Let me take you someplace safe." "But what about..." "I'll make sure your mommy finds you." Slowly, the two climbed out from underneath the table. "I need to put this mask back on," I said as I slowly replaced my mask. Then I picked them up in each arm. The boy reached up and ran his finger along the curves in my mask, running his finger up the ear. Then he traced the lines on my chest, outlining an image of the bat. I smiled underneath the mask and then carried them off to the nearest police station. An officer came out and headed toward his patrol car. "Excuse me," I said. He turned but all he could see were the children. I stood behind them but my black suit helped me blend into the shadows. "Who's there?" he asked. "These children need help." The officer knelt down to the children. I felt their grips tighten on my gloved hand. "It's okay," I whispered. "He won't hurt you." Slowly, the two released my grip and went to him. He called to an officer coming out of the station and asked her to take the children inside. Then he stood up and looked into the shadows, trying to find me. "What's happened?" he asked. "There mother was killed a short while ago. I tried to stop the killer, but he got away. The woman's last dying breath was that her friend, Eric McCoy, take care of them." "Do you know this Eric McCoy?" "I've seen him before, though he hasn't seen me. I like to keep to the shadows." "Yeah, I can see that. Where can I find their mother?" I gave him the address to the alley and then disappeared into the night. I returned home and changed quickly. Lance was sitting in the den doing some work on the computer when I entered. "Hey," he greeted. "Any luck?" My face tightened up and tears fell down my face. "She's dead." "What?" he gasped as he stood up and grabbed me. "What happened?" "Catman killed her, orphaned her children." "My God. What are the children going to do?" I wiped a tear and readied to tell him when the doorbell rang. "Who could that be?" he said. "Stay here. I'll take care of it." I nodded and sat down on the leather sofa. Lance went to the front door and opened it. Two officers stood on the other side. "Does Eric McCoy live here?" the officer asked. "Yes. What's this about?" "We need to speak to him. Is he home?" "Just a minute." Lance made his way back to the den and told me to come up, that two police officers were here to see me. I stood and he took my hand, squeezing it. I wiped the tears as best I could and went to the front door. "Can I help you, officers?" "Do you know this woman?" one asked showing me a picture of Christine. "Christine," I said. "Why do you ask?" "A short while ago, she was found dead." The tears came once again, although these officers believed them to be the first shedding of tears over her death. "From what we've been told by a mysterious benefactor of her children is that her last words requested you take care of her children." "What?" Lance said looking at me and then at the officers. "How old are they?" I asked. "Three. They are fraternal twins, one boy and one girl. They are going to stay at a home tonight, but a social worker will come by in the morning. She will have some things to talk with you about before the children can be placed with you." I nodded. "I'm sorry about your loss." "Thanks, officer." I shook their hands and they turned and left. As I closed the door, Lance said, "Take care of her children? Are you serious?" "She asked Batman to," I said. "We both know that Batman can't do that. But we can. We've talked about it. Maybe this is can be a blessing instead of a tragedy." "I don't know, Eric," Lance said. "We really don't know anything about these children." "I understand your point. I honestly do. But they have nowhere to go. They are bringing the children tomorrow. We can interact with them and they can interact with us and we can see what happens." "Okay," Lance said. We locked up and went upstairs to bed. "I just think this is happening too fast. I figured we would have to plan stuff, go through channels. Now it seems like two children are being dropped in our laps and we don't know what is going on." "I know," I said as I kissed him The night's sleep was horrible. We both lay awake thinking about the possibility that, on tomorrow, we could be fathers. We would have an instant family. The thought was both exciting and terrifying, the same feeling that gay people who struggle with their sexual orientation go through feel when they are about to have their first kiss with their first boyfriend or girlfriend, the same feeling when they are intimate with someone of the same sex, anticipation and fear. We finally both slept, although it wasn't restful. When we woke up, we showered and I made us some coffee. We sat at the table when the phone rang. Lance answered it. It was the social worker and he told her to come on over. Twenty minutes later, the social worker arrived. "Eric McCoy?" she said when I answered the door. "That's me. "Hello. I'm Lisa, from the Department of Human Services. I'm here about Preston and Sarah, Christine's children." "Come in." The social worker entered. "Would you like some coffee or tea or something?" "Coffee would be nice." "Would you like cream or sugar?" "Neither," she replied. "Have a seat," I said. "I'll be back in a moment." Lance and I returned with coffee. "Lisa, this is my husband, Lance. Lance, this is Lisa, from the Department of Human Services." "Nice to meet you, Lance, although I really don't need an introduction. My daughter has all of NSYNC's CDs. And she has your movie." Lance smiled and we sat down. I sat on the couch next to Lisa, while Lance sat in the chair next to the couch. "Well, as you heard last night, Christine has passed away. From what we were told, she requested you be the legal guardians of her children, and since we can't find any relatives of hers, her last words are legal, at least to start with. You and your home will be evaluated to find if you are fit to take care of Preston and Sarah, Christine's children. She must have some faith in your abilities or she wouldn't have requested you in the first place." "What do the evaluations look for?" Lance asked. "Parenting skills, discipline styles, overall if you are fit to parent children. Remember, our first priority is to the safety of these children." Lance and I nodded. "Then let's begin." For the next several hours, Lance and I were interviewed, financial records were looked at thoroughly, police records were looked for in case either of us had a record. All in all, every square inch of our lives were gone over with a fine-tooth comb to see if there was any reason why we shouldn't be able to take care of these children. When it was over, Lisa smiled at us. "You two came through everything," she said, "except actual observation of your interaction with the children. Would you like to see them?" Lance and I looked at one another and nodded. "Then I will be back with them." Lisa left and Lance and I breathed a sigh of relief. "That was scary," I said. "Not that we have anything to hide, sort of, but I agree. I was just waiting for her to find something that the state considers wrong." "She hasn't commented on us being gay, yet. I introduced you as my husband. We know Florida isn't very fair when it comes to homosexuals, whether coupled or single." "We'll see how that goes," Lance answered. Lisa called us twenty minutes later and said she was on her way with the children. A short while later Lisa arrived with Preston and Sarah. They were adorable. Both had light blonde hair and blue eyes. They just seemed to capture the presence of anyone they came in contact with. The children were hesitant at first. They stayed with the Lisa, although I did notice they were looking at me an awful lot. I don't know if it was due to the marks on my face, the fact I was bald, or that they remembered me from the night before. It was late and dark, so it was possible they didn't recognize me. I got down on my knees, as did Lance. "Hi, Sarah. Hi, Preston," I greeted them. "My name is Eric. This is Lance." We reached out our hands and the two took them and shook them. Lisa said she would return in a little while so Lance and I could interact with Sarah and Preston without her interference. For an hour, we talked with the children and played with them. At one point, I saw Lance and how he interacted with Sarah. She definitely had his heart. Any fears that he expressed the night before seemed to disappear in that moment. My heart rejoiced. When Lisa returned, Sarah and Preston were having a great time. "They definitely took to you two," Lisa said as she watched Lance and I play with the children. "I can see they like it here. I'm going to have to take them, but I will bring them by every day this week and leave them for longer periods. Do you two have bedrooms for them?" "The house has four bedrooms," Lance said. Lisa wrote that down. "Okay, Sarah, Preston, it's time for us to go." The two seemed hesitant to go. "You can come back tomorrow and play," Lisa said. "I promise." Reluctantly, the children went with Lisa. After a week of observations and visitations as well as Lance and I getting two of the bedrooms ready for them, Lisa returned with the children and all their things, which, honestly, wasn't much. Lance and I had gone shopping for the children, though, so they had things here. We took Sarah and Preston to their rooms where their eyes widened with delight at the toys and the beds. They ran in cheering and went straight to work. "It appears we have a match," Lisa said to Lance and I as we stood in the hallway watching them play. "I don't see any reason why you two shouldn't be allowed to parent these two children. The only issue I can see is the fact you are gay. This state doesn't allow homosexuals to adopt, whether committed or not. Personally, I don't agree with that law. From everything I've seen here, you two provide an excellent environment for these children. I would suggest getting lawyers to work out a defense. It will be difficult, but you two can prove you are fit parents. In a sense, you already have. They can remain here as foster children in your care, but, like I said, it would be wise if you got lawyers to work on making this permanent." Lance and I both nodded. "We'll get on that," Lance said. "I will leave the happy family to enjoy each other." Lisa shook our hands and I showed her out. For the next several weeks, Lance and I worked with lawyers on seeing what we could do to keep Sarah and Preston by becoming their legal guardians. We found two lawyers who were happy to take our case. And from their records, they had experience in dealing with minority issues and civil rights. We trusted them to do all the necessary paperwork, and they would report to us often on what was happening, what the forms and legal actions they were taking would do, and we did our best not to let the seriousness of the issue get to the children. They did not need to feel threatened at the moment. On the Batman front, Catman seemed to have disappeared. Batgirl and I kept a constant look out for him, but he never surfaced again. Maybe he moved on and another Vampire Slayer got him. We weren't sure. Batgirl had Watchers and Slayers the world over keeping an eye out for him. If he surfaced, we would know about it. Until then, the only other thing Batman could do was patrol and stop the villains that surfaced. And stay alive so he could return, not just to his husband, but to his children as well. To Be Concluded... What do you think of this chapter? What do you think will happen with Eric, Lance, Sarah and Preston? Wait and see in the next and final chapter, "Judgment". Author's Note: the conversation between Batman and Christine as she was dying was adapted from the song "Come To Me" from the play "Les Miserables".