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.
This story has taken on a life of its own. From its inception a year ago, I had only thought it would last ten chapters maximum. As you can see, it has grown tremendously. Mostly due to readers emailing me and telling me they've enjoyed it or have received help due to certain issues addressed. I've enjoyed writing this story but it would not have been written without men and women reading it and telling me they've enjoyed it. I do hope that you continue to enjoy each new chapter as our hero lives and grows.
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.
Author James authorjames2002@yahoo.com
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Chapter 1 Homecoming
Nervously I walked from the Orlando airport toward home carrying my only possession at the moment, a new Bat-suit made for me by the Council of Watchers and a duffel bag of clothes. I didn't want to take a taxi. I wanted to see the city, the sites that I had missed for so long. I heard a scream ring out. Part of me wanted to go and investigate, the Batman in me cried out for it. I'm sure Batgirl could deal with it, or whoever the new slayer was calling herself. Plus the city had Nightwing and Robin, not to mention the band that toured with NSYNC and the X-MEN, if they were still around. It was not my time to protect. Now was not Batman's time. Now was Eric's time. I had a mission as Eric. I had to reach Lance. He was my priority now. He was the love of my life and had to be told that I was not dead but alive and well and needing to come home to his loving arms, to his tender kiss, to his sweet caress. My eyes filled with tears at the thought of seeing Lance again. I missed him so much. My heart longed for him. I felt as if I was on my way to heaven. I was on my way to be with the one I loved. I was on my way home.
I worked my way through the city streets and came up to the neighborhood I called home. I found Lance's house, no, our house, waiting for me. I was so excited to see Lance.
I walked up to the door. "Should I ring the doorbell or just walk in? He believes me dead. Would it freak him out if I walked in and called his name? Or would it bother him for me to ring the doorbell? No matter what happens, he will be freaked by the fact I'm alive."
I tried the door but it was locked. Lance must have been out for the evening. I manipulated the locking mechanism and opened the door. I stepped in and familiar smells floated back to me.
Quietly I went upstairs in case Lance might have been sleeping. I found the room quiet. I walked over to the closet and went through his clothes caressing them and smelling them, feeling my love for him grow stronger than it ever had before. I had lost him for a time. But I was back. And nothing could prevent us from being together.
I heard a car pull up outside.
"Perhaps Lance was out with the guys and they are dropping him off."
I headed downstairs in the dark and listened for Lance's footsteps. The steps, however, stopped at the door and I heard Lance's voice coming from the other side.
"I'm glad you came over tonight. It was good to see you."
"It was good to see you, too, Lance."
I peeked out the curtain and saw Lance with a redheaded man. "Are you doing okay, Lance?"
"Yeah, Paul. I really appreciate your company. You've been a big help."
"I know what it's like to lose someone you love. It may take a while, especially if you were deeply in love with him."
"I was, Paul. I am." Lance shook his head and tears formed in his eyes.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"I don't know. I just...I feel like I'm betraying him somehow. I still love him."
"You will always love him, Lance. That will never change. What may change is that you may fall in love with someone else. That is not betraying him. You would be doing what Eric would want you to do. He would want you to be happy, wouldn't he?"
"Yeah."
Paul stepped closer to Lance. "It's okay," he whispered in a comforting tone, a tone that I did not like. "Everything will be fine. Trust me."
Paul leaned in and kissed Lance full on the lips. My heart stopped beating as he lightly kissed Lance. "I've got to go. I'll call you later tomorrow."
"Okay. Take it easy."
"You, too." Paul stepped down to the path and turned around. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay the night?"
"Yeah. I'm not ready to let another man share my bed."
It was all I could do to hold back my tears. I watched as Paul walked to his car, climbed in and drove away. "Where's a bomb when you need one?" I said to myself.
I turned my attention back to Lance. He was trying to be happy for Paul, but he was still fighting tears. He watched as the car drove away. Then he whispered, "I miss you so much, Eric."
My heart sank further in my chest. I loved him so much. I wanted to tell him I was alive. But what about his new relationship with Paul? As much as I hated and despised Paul at the moment, I could not help but look at the situation from their perspective. Paul was comforting Lance in his time of need. Lance obviously felt something for Paul or he would not have kissed him. Was it my place to disturb what Lance was building with someone else? The questions were too terrible to deal with at the moment.
Lance came to the door. I jumped up and ran to the kitchen carrying my duffel bag. I silently slid the door open and stepped out then shut it as I heard the front door open. I jumped the wall and went to the front of the house to listen.
I climbed in the bushes and listened as Lance locked the door and turned out the porch light. I sat in the bushes for several minutes until I gained the strength to stand.
I walked back into town and stumbled across the church that the X-MEN had used when the Friends of Humanity were hunting down mutants. I found a room that still had some bedding in it and crawled underneath the covers. It must have been Joshua's room. I could smell him. I hoped things had gone well for him. I needed to contact him, as well.
I curled up into a ball and cried myself to sleep.
In the morning, I awoke and headed to the airport. I had some money given to me by the Watchers' Council. I didn't have Lance. All I had left was my childhood life. I bought a ticket to Canton and boarded the plane.
The plane landed at Akron-Canton airport without incident. I disembarked and headed to the payphones. I wanted to surprise my parents so I called a taxicab to pick me up. Besides, as far as they may have known, I was dead. They would think it a sick prank to call and "pretend" to be their son. I went outside to enjoy the nice summer air and wait for the cab. When it picked me up, I gave the driver my parents' address. He drove down Interstate 77 and got off at the exit near my house. I climbed out, paid the driver, and walked to the side door, the door we always used. I knocked and waited for a moment.
"God, don't let this kill my parents," I prayed. "Give them a strong enough heart to see their son alive."
The door opened and my dad stood facing me with a look of shock and disbelief on my face.
"Oh my God," he whispered.
"Hi, dad."
I did all I could to contain my tears. The screen door flew open and my dad embraced me.
"You're alive!" he said. "Thank God, you're alive!"
"I've missed you, dad!"
We cried holding each other for a minute until I heard the top door open up. It was my mother.
"Who's at the door?" she asked my dad. She stepped down and slowly my dad and I released each other. When she saw it was me her hands went to her mouth and she screamed. "You're alive! Oh my goodness! It's a miracle!"
My mom wept with my dad and I. They took me inside and sat me down.
"What happened?" my mom asked. "Lance came here at the beginning of May and told us you were..."
Mom could hardly contain the tears. I smiled at her.
"It must be difficult for you. I know. I'm sorry."
"We didn't believe it for a long time," Dad replied. "It took us awhile to accept it."
"But you're here now," Mom said. "And that's all that matters."
We hugged again. Then my mom called my sisters and told them I was alive. They wasted no time in getting to my parents' house. We sat and talked and they asked what had gone on, where I was and such. I explained to them that I had to go to England for work, since they didn't know I was Batman and that technically wasn't lying.
"How did you survive?" Tammy asked me.
The room quieted down and everyone listened to discover the miracle of my survival. I cleared my throat and said, "There is something else about me that you don't know, something that makes me different from most people."
The room was dead quiet. You could hear a snowflake hit the window. Yes, it was summer time, but Ohio weather is so erratic that it's possible. We once had snow during Spring Break. Believe me, it's possible.
"I'm a mutant. My gift is that I can manipulate molecules around. It helped me..."
"You're a what?" Tammy interrupted with shock.
"A mutant."
Everyone's face became downcast.
"What's wrong?" I asked. "Mutants are different than most people but it doesn't make us bad people."
"I'm glad you're alive, son," my mother said with a sternness in her voice. "We all are. And heaven knows we've been tolerant of your alternative lifestyle. But this is too much. We cannot accept the fact you are a mutant."
"What do you mean?" I was shocked to be hearing what I was hearing coming form my mother, especially when a few hours before they believed me dead.
"What I mean is I want you to go to the local Friends of Humanity center and register yourself for treatment. You need to be cured of this."
"Mom, it's not a ..."
"YOU HEARD ME!!!" she shouted at me. She took several breaths and continued. "You cannot be serious about living your life as a mutant. It's wrong and it needs to be corrected. If you do not contact the Friends of Humanity, then we will."
I couldn't believe my ears. It was shocking to hear them fall on my ears. She believed me to be diseased.
"God made me what I am. Without my mutation, I would be dead now."
"Better dead than a mutant," she replied.
It was as if someone punched me in the stomach. All the air was knocked out of me. I must not have breathed for several moments. Finally I started again. And with that breath, I stood up and left.
My mother looked to my dad. "Call the Friends of Humanity office. Tell them about Eric. Hopefully they will talk some sense into him and get him the help he needs."
I had no particular destination in mind. I just walked. I ended up walking past Matt's old house. Memories of my past flooded back to me of the good times I had with him. Memories with his family and with mine. I just lost my family, and I didn't know if I still had Matt. Last time I was with him, he wasn't sure if he could accept the fact I was gay.
I walked to a motel and paid for the night to sleep. There was nothing I could do but sit and cry. I lost Lance and I lost my family. What did I have going for me? Those who meant so much to me are no longer with me. Life was meaningless.
A small glow appeared in the corner of the room. I recognized it as the glow that so often visited me when I was in England suffering from amnesia. I turned to it hopeful of God's words of wisdom and comfort.
The light took shape and the being that always came to me came before me once more.
"Greetings, Eric."
"Thank you for coming before me."
"You are troubled."
I nodded. "Definitely."
"Speak."
"What is all this? I'm losing so many people. Lance. My family. What's going on?"
"You are experiencing the beginning of the trials, Eric."
"What trials?" I was intrigued.
"Trials of life. Trials that will reshape you and determine if you can resume being who you once was."
"Being Eric? Or Batman?"
"Yes."
"What must I do?"
"You must decide which trials you can fight and which ones you must submit unto God. Those that you can fight, you must fight."
"Lance."
"Yes. He will be a trial that you will face in time. Not yet. Here is your first priority. These are the beginnings. Your firsts are in this city. Rest for the night. The trials will come soon."
"How will I know if a trial has started?"
"There is no one keeping time, telling you when to begin the trial and when it will end. You must be still and listen to the voice inside you, the one that guides you and teaches you. That will tell you what you must do."
The messenger stepped back from me. As it stepped away, its light faded and I found myself alone.
To Be Continued...
Eric's family does not seem to be too happy that he's a mutant. They want him to go to the Friends of Humanity. They even went so far as to call the Friends of Humanity. What will happen next?
Questions and comments can be emailed to me. I enjoy getting reader responses.