Hokay, guys. So I'm sitting here at the end of Darkstar Rising wondering what the hell is going on here. I mean, the proof is becoming more and more believable that there is no way in HELL that these could be the same two Kevins. So…here's my take on what happens after the end of the episode.

Please note that this is NOT the slightly AU world of LaK, but it's confiding by Man of Action's rules here. Sorta. ;)

—SPOLIER ALERT!! DARKSTAR RISING SPOLIERS AHEAD—

Reunited

Kevin could hear the Tennysons following him as he got into his car. Pride swelled in his chest as he smiled proudly, absently rubbing the pad of his thumb over the smooth face of his badge over and over again. He was a Plumber. Just like his father. A real Plumber, one that didn't need to slip into the shadows when the law came around because he was on parole. One that didn't need to take a dead Magister's badge.

His thoughts now turned somewhat grim. After all this time away, perhaps it was finally time to return to his mother. He'd had a lot of time to think about what happened that night, as he'd watched his mother walk away, her last words still ringing in his ears. Mommy…can't handle your talent anymore, sweetie. I'm sorry. I love you.

At the time, he had thought the rambunctious troublemaking he used his powers for was what she spoke of. He was so sure that his father had never done things like explode light bulbs and short out the TV. It wasn't really his fault—he often became frustrated even with himself for not being able to regulate his abilities.

Tired and hungry and running late for school, a brush against the TV for an extra pickup of energy ended up shorting the television out due to his sleepiness.

An attempt to turn on the light without actually touching the switch resulted in an explosion—Mom had bought a smaller wattage this time.

Trying to run wire to fix the too-short light bulb cord after renovating the living room rewarded him with burnt and blistered fingers and a length of electrified copper wire because his fingers slipped while he was testing the current. He'd been so close to succeeding that time.

But no. Now that he was older, understood the pain of loss and memory, he realized that it had not been his fault.

Mom was always proud of her husband, even in telling stories of his adventures. She told Kevin with fierce pride about the protection the Plumbers provided now, and the service Dad had provided in life. The stories stopped when Kevin, trying to imitate his father, actually succeeded. Well, he did somewhat.

Touching the glass on the screen of the TV and imagining it flowing over his skin like water, coating him in a shiny, protective shell, he instead drew something else out.

Lightning danced across his spread fingers. It tickled a little, and seven-year-old Kevin giggled, wiggling his hand. The lightning ascended.

Up his arm…encircling his neck…trailing down his sp—whoa. Energy. All over. He couldn't stand still, couldn't focus on one fixed thing unless it was moving as fast as his energized cells.

As his mother entered the room, she smelled the scorching on the glass of the screen and her young son bouncing about, laughing maniacally. And she recalled one of the stories her husband had once told her.

When we're young, we can't absorb matter. Call it our larval state. Instead, we can pull energy out of things…

Kevin shook himself as Gwen's hand darted out to bring him into the present. He realized with a jolt that he'd been on the rumble bars for a while, and steered back into the lane. "Sorry, guys. Lost it a little."

"It's okay," Gwen murmured, somewhat pale and shaking her head slightly.

Well, now he knew. The stories stopped when he developed his powers, Mom started crying more, and finally, she abandoned him. Because he just reminded her too much of her husband.

Kevin tried to hate his mother for leaving him behind. In the beginning, when he was young, it had been easy. But now, now that he knew the pain of remembering something special, he couldn't blame her. This was just the thing to make things right.

—

Kevin drove away from Gwen's house with butterflies in his stomach. Usually he was too preoccupied with Gwen herself to give much thought to anything else, but tonight the reverse was true—his mind refused to light on anything but the thought of seeing his mother again. He'd seen her once, a while ago, when he was still a mutant, fleetingly, going into a department store. So he knew where she was.

He pulled up to the familiar address, wondering if perhaps this was fate. Word had come in that a second Levin had moved into Belleview long ago, and he wondered if, after learning that Kevin was running with Ben Tennyson and Ben lived here, that his mother had moved here as well, perhaps hoping to reconcile over what she had done. He'd stayed far away from here until now.

With a deep breath, he glanced at himself in his rearview, trying to see himself as his mother might.

He'd been a skinny, twitchy little thing the last time she saw him. No muscle, skin and bones, with big brown eyes and clumsy feet. Wild, too, so full of energy for obvious reasons, and loud. The makings of a regular juvenile delinquent—too much energy for anything good, too loud to cover it up, and enough reckless to try anything.

Now, she'd meet a young man with the build of an athlete; good muscle, tall and broad-chested. His eyes had grown darker and lost their childish largeness, giving the new space to a square jaw and strong nose. Just about the only thing she'd recognize in the quieter, more reserved teen was the black hair, the same length as it had always been.

He stepped out of the car, tucking the keys into his pocket and approaching the house. Hesitating on the burnished brass doorbell, Kevin had to fight himself to keep from bolting. The door opened.

At this moment, Kevin let himself be relieved that he'd inherited all of his looks from his mother. His father's human guise was just that—a costume, and he'd been unable to get anything from him genetically. Well, nothing that showed. He didn't think it would have been fair to show his mother a mirror of what his father had probably looked like when she met him.

Alicia Levin was fairly short, with a face somewhat like his, but much softer. Her dark eyes were a cloudy gold, and her raven-black hair was tied back in a tight ponytail. She was a little older than forty, Kevin recalled, and had aged well. There were only soft crow feet in the corners of her eyes, and little enough gray in her hair that he could count the strands on one hand.

Her mouth fell open in shock, her eyes wide. Tears gathered in her eyes, and Kevin opened his arms to hug her.

"Hi, Mom," he choked out, relaxing a little.

And after a few seconds, he felt warm arms return the hug, not hesitantly, but meaningfully. Finally, there was complete calm in his mind. His past could lay at rest.

"It's been a long time, Kevin. I'm so sorry."

"I know, Mom. It's okay. I understand now."

"Oh baby…" Alicia stepped back to look at her grown son, touching her fingers to his cheek gently, as though if she pressed too hard, he would disappear. "You don't know how long I've hoped you would come back someday. I was so selfish to hope…you've grown up so well."

"It's all because of you," Kevin replied with a watery smile, his cheeks brushed with red. That was another thing that has made it easier to forgive his mother—had she not left him alone in the city, he never would have met Gwen. "I met so many people because of the chance you gave me. Can I come in? I wanted to show you something."

Alicia tripped over herself letting him in. "Oh, of course! Yes, come in. Are you hungry? Where have you been sleeping? Do you have money? How are-…things?"

Kevin correctly interpreted the stutter to be an inquiry about his powers. "I'm not hungry, I have my own apartment, I have way too much money, and…things are better now." To prove his point, he absorbed some of the wood from the coffee table in the warm living room. "I've outgrown the power absorption. I'm…just like Dad was, now."

"I hoped you would. Kevin, I…" the earnest start trailed off, leaving Alicia looking open and awkward. "I regretted what I did before I got home. But when I went back to find you…you were gone," she whispered.

Kevin couldn't quite tell if she was telling the truth or not—he was torn in equal parts between believing her or not. So he said nothing.

"Thank you for giving me a chance to say I'm sorry."

"A lot of stuff has happened since you left," Kevin told her. "I fell in with—"

"Ben Tennyson. I know. When I heard about him and what he was doing to start a team of Plumbers, I wondered."

"I did it for dad. And for you." And Gwen…

"He would be proud. I know I am."

"But there's a reason I came by tonight. I want to show you something I just got."

Kevin reached into his pocket, withdrew his new Plumber's badge, and let it sit in his palm, its face shining softly.

"A Plumber's badge," Alicia whispered, her eyes soft and remembering. "Just like your father."

"I knew you'd like it. I went through a lot to get it." Like resisting the urge to punch Mike Morningstar's ugly face into an oblivion he would never come back from.

"I believe it."

A long silence yawned lazily between the reunited family, both of them just smiling and looking at each other, trying to catch up on the years that had passed.

"You're sixteen now, aren't you?" Alicia finally asked.

"Yeah. Bought a car and everything. But…I need to go, Mom. There are some things I need to take care of."

Alicia smiled knowingly. "I know you Plumbers. Always off saving something or another."

"I'll come back soon, though. I'll bring Gwen and Ben with me, too."

"I would love to meet them in person, dear."

"I won't keep you waiting too long." Kevin smiled shortly before hugging his mother once again. "I'll see you soon, Mom."

"Goodnight, Kevin."

As Kevin walked out, smiling faintly at the old bond reforged, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment.

His father had never been proved dead. For a fleeting moment, he'd thought that maybe that was him in the Darkstar armor, and that maybe the energy absorption was a revert back to the beginning state. When he was proved wrong, he'd been foolish enough to hope that perhaps the senior Levin was with his mother, and had been this whole time.

Oh well. He was used to being wrong by now. And yet…

Kay. now that THAT'S over…um…everyone who came here looking for Lock and Key…no, it's not on hold, and I know I'm just being an insensitive jerk, but I haven't felt right about working on it without A/F being on. So now that it's on again…who knows?

Oh…and HAW…this is New Document 11 on my computer. Coincidence? I think not.

In the meantime…WHO WANTS TO TELL MEH THEIR OPINION OF DARKSTAR RISING?