Kate Kane's New Life 2: A Permanent Reminder

Kate shifted uncomfortably. She was at her desk, though her chair felt harder than it usually did. Normally she preferred that firmness, but now she had the sturdy wood, the firm cushion digging into her bare skin.

There was no pretending that today was normal. She'd closed the blinds on her office window as soon as she'd gone in, so she was lit up only by the electric light, neatly sat behind her desk. She'd been there for a while. Normally she preferred to be a bit more hands-on, but today she was definitely happy to focus on the admin.

The sturdy seat cushion had only a little give to it, pressing against her ass, one of a dozen little small reminders of the life she now had.

When the phone rang, Kate stiffened, glaring at it. She waited until it fell silent before relaxing - a second later, and it rang again.

Grimacing, Kate reached for it.

"Nice speech."

Her blackmailer. Kate scowled, but held her tongue. It wasn't like there was much she could say.

It was something about being in the office. Kate was hardly a stranger to a bit of risk, let alone nudity, but there were places that hadn't touched; Wayne Tower was one of those places. She tried to be on her best behavior here, both for the reputation, and the fact it was wired up with cameras all over the place.

Not that there was much she could do about them, nor much point in doing so now that her naked body had aired on almost every network in Gotham.

"Just calling to congratulate you on a job well done," he said.

"So can I expect to keep being bothered by you?" Kate said.

"Oh, no, I won't be a regular presence in your life," he said. "I know how this goes. I push you too far, and you'd rather admit to being Batwoman. This is more or less it from me."

"More or less?" Kate repeated.

"We'll get to that," he said.

Kate blushed, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. That was the last thing she needed.

"Speaking of Batwoman," Kate said.

"Oh, yes, I guess you would need a costume for that," he said. "I won't expect you to stop. But any business out of the mask, you're going to be doing nude - and I don't want to find out that Kate Kane has vanished from public life. Still do events, still show up to work, you know the basics. It's going to be anything but a chore to look up what's happening in your life. Have you googled yourself lately? I think half a dozen new subreddits for you appeared in the last five minutes."

No. She'd carefully avoided any news stories about her - and for that matter left her emails untouched for now. Her face was burning.

"Is that all?" Kate said.

"Almost," he said. "Just one more thing, before I return to being a silent observer. I feel like you could do with a reminder."

No traversing the city as Batwoman. That would draw undue attention, especially from her blackmailer, until there was an active case. This was something she'd have to do as Kate. Though that wasn't to say she couldn't use a few shortcuts. Kate had taken a shortcut through the Batcave rather than face walking through the office building again, emerging in a shuttered up building in the city. She'd been given a destination and a task that she had to go through with.

Better to do it sooner, she reasoned - as soon as she got it over with, hopefully she'd never get any phone call from the telepath who'd put her on this path.

She still wore nothing. Not a shirt, not panties, not shoes. She'd had to leave her phone behind on top of everything. At some point she'd have to figure out a practical way to carry things that didn't breach her promise. Squirming, Kate Kane stood by the door, bracing herself for stepping outside.

She had a choice. Either she could play it cool, or she could act the way she felt inside and try to cover up what she could - it wasn't like Kate wasn't familiar with ENF, she knew the pose, and honestly had seen enough that it did give her a few ideas for how to get around and the best routes to take. It wasn't something she'd ever expected to need as practical research, but she'd take what she could.

The problem was that if she showed her embarrassment, it would raise a lot of questions about why she'd made the promise she had at the press conference. And more than that, she had something of a reputation to uphold - if pictures of her flustered and flailing about got out there, that would just compound the humiliation of needing to live like this.

There were a lot of things to be proud of when it came to her body; you couldn't be a vigilante without being in seriously good shape. Tight, firm where it counted, a light tan with noticeably no tanlines, she did like how she looked. She just didn't want every detail to become common knowledge.

Her hair, short, lightly butch but just enough to accentuate the femininity of the rest of her body. There were her boobs, larger that her constricting bras normally let show, decorated with tattoos like much of her body - the artwork however only seemed to be making it stand out all the much where there was plain, unmarred skin, the places too sensitive for a tattooist's needle. Each nipple, and most of her boobs, drew the eye. So too did her ass, though that had a couple more pieces of artwork on it. Her pussy, meanwhile, was completely bare of hair and of ink - even she wasn't that brave.

The tattoos, inevitably darker, had the effect of making her body pop. Against her arms, her sides, the sides of her thighs, it was impossible to not look at her chest, or her crotch - the blank spot midway up her back, above a tramp stamp she'd picked up after a lost bet and a tattoo across her shoulderblades, was the one vaguely innocent spot remaining. She had been saving that for something special - now, though, she had a task.

Kate took a deep breath, and walked out onto the streets of Gotham City butt-naked, trying to think about anything else. She couldn't. The cool air against her skin, making her nipples harden slightly, or the concrete against her bare feet. The shocked stares she got from people she walked past.

She made herself nod casually to them, tried to pretend this was in any way what she wanted. The alternative would only draw more attention.

The tattoo parlor was only a street away. Stepping inside wasn't the relief she'd hoped for, though; being indoors and no longer feeling the breeze on her skin meant nothing when four men were staring openly at her. Three burly-looking guys were sat in the waiting area, while one was behind the counter.

She froze for a second, then willed herself to keep moving, face burning in embarrassment. She could feel their eyes tracking every shift of her body as she walked closer.

"Hi. Kate Kane? I made an appointment on the phone," she said, by some miracle keeping the tremor out of her voice. "Are you ready?"

"Er, yes, we got your design," the man behind the counter said. "It makes more sense now. Head back there, first door on the right."

Kate nodded stiffly. She walked as quickly as her shaking legs could carry her, going from being naked in front of four strangers, to just the one as she reached the tattoo artist's room. Not exchanging any words beyond a vague acknowledgement, Kate walked over and lay down on the bed, face down.

She'd been shown the design; her blackmailer had sent the tattoo he wanted her to get, as a little reminder of her new situation. That blank spot on her back was about to be filled. She bit her lip, feeling the artist start, a hand on her ass apparently just for balance, and then the needle taken to her back.

It was a simple design. A rectangle, a little like a banner, with some vague flourishes. Over the top, her name, and then filling the rectangle one word.

Kate Kane: Permanude.

As if she'd ever be able to forget. One more thing to try and justify to the world at large. It wasn't like she'd be able to hide it.

She waited until she was marked, until her very body said that she'd be naked for the rest of her life, letting the man take his time drawing out the symbol on her back. Then she just had to work out how to get back anywhere from here.

And do so knowing that tomorrow wouldn't bring anything except more embarrassment.