Doesn't everyone have an opinion on "Kingdom Come"? In addition to beautiful artwork, it, like all Elseworlds, gives alot of food for thought.
Compared to the grand scope of the Elseworld, don't expect too much from this little vignette, about Clark and Diana's child.
Of course, I believe Diana was right -- it was girl. :)
It had been an unexpected manifestation of her powers.
She was barely ten at the time.
The toll on her person had been so great she was unable to recall anything surrounding the incident.
It had been one of Avi's bad days. Instead of her going to Wayne Manor, Avi had decided to come to Themyscira to relax.
Molly had been surprised, but her mother had merely smiled, as if she'd been expecting something like this for a long time.
"You should know by now to expect the unexpected from your godfather, Molly," she murmured as she stroked her daughter's hair, gliding out of the bright communications room and into the hall. Calling over her shoulder, she added, "Go tell your father."
He wasn't hard to find. It took a few seconds to hear the distinctive, gentle snore on the far porch, but she'd been trained well. Gliding through the house's broad, high-ceilinged halls, she landed with a decided thud on his chest, barely missing the glasses folded in his pocket.
Clark opened his eyes with the pleasant sight of his bright-eyed daughter grinning widely at him.
"Hi Dad!"
"Hi Pumpkin!" he smiled, sitting up and returning her hug. He couldn't help but notice how much stronger she seemed nowadays, and was wistful for the days (the very few days, granted) when she was so helpless and small.
He was shaken out of his thoughts by a happy "Guess what?"
"What?"
"Avi's coming here!"
"Bruce is coming here?" mumbled Clark to himself, shaking his head a little. The World's Greatest Detective never failed to surprise him.
But back to the incident.
Bruce Wayne, known as "Avi" to his cherished goddaughter, arrived a few days later. But it didn't take long before he had one of his episodes, his exoskeleton reacting against the little true flesh he had left.
Aricia, used to taking care of her godfather when she stayed with him, volunteered to oversee the assistants that scurried in and out of the suite. Her parents were well pleased with her dedication, but exchanged worried glances as they saw her grow weary: almost more so than she should be.
It was a few nights into the ordeal, when Moly had collapsed into a cot in the outer room of the suite, a blink away if anything happened.
Little did she know that she would be the "anything" that happened.
Molly woke up in a small room she recognized was off the MedLab of Wayne Manor. When she sat up and was able to see the date on the calendar, she realized a week had gone by.
A nurse came in, and immediately spun around, returning quickly with a doctor and her parents.
Her father looked like he hadn't slept in awhile, and her mother's normally spotless tunic was a bit wrinkled. Her hands firmly stroked the sides of Molly's head, slipping the small circlet onto her forehead as she arranged the dark blue-black hair around it.
"How are you?" her father asked, feeling her forehead, though they both knew the gesture was futile but heartfelt.
"I feel fine."
"She's right," piped in the doctor, a trim woman with glossy white hair and skin that reminded Molly of a sunset: all shades of gold and pink and purples.
She had been flipping through the computer display of Moly's chart, and spun the flat screen around so her parents could see.
"Completely normal -- at least for Miss Molly."
"How is Bruce?" Molly heard her mother say from over the crown of her head.
"I'm FINE," boomed a familiar voice from just outside the doorway.
Her father got up quickly and left the room, while her mother got up and sat between Molly and the doorway, obstructing her view.
"Is that Avi? Why won't you let him come in?" Molly cried.
"Shh," Diana said, cupping her daughter's face in her hands. "We don't want to shock you... we wanted to prepare you before you saw him, sweetie."
Molly struggled against her mother's palms. "Why?"
"Something's happened while you were asleep. In fact, we think it may have something to do with why you were asleep so long."
"Is Avi OK? I heard him say he was fine. Did I hurt him?" Molly knew how fragile her godfather was, and her cheeks burned to remember many of the times she had forgotten her own strength.
"No, Bruce is fine, sweetie. It's just that..."
She couldn't get any more out, as she saw the look on her daughter's face and turned around. Clark had led Bruce in, and Molly had already flown out of her relaxed grip and was hovering before her two fathers, darting slightly in curiousity.
The exoskeleton was gone. There was no metal anywhere. Molly tentative touched his neck, which she had never seen. She looked up, and was amazed. Avi had always looked much older than her father, but now they looked almost of an age. In fact, Avi looked the younger now, with lots of dark hair only winged with white at the temples, the network of wrinkles dimmed as if by magic.
For a brief moment, Molly had a spasm of doubt: was this man even her Avi? Had they replaced him, like they had tried to do so with her goldfish when she was six? What where they doing?
She hovered at his eyelevel, her toes curling and uncurling near the man's knees in agitation. She backed up sightly, whispering, "Avi?"
The man broke into a wide smile: something she'd never seen before. She backed up some more, but suddenly the man threw his arms open and said, "It's me, little one."
"AVI!" she laughed, flying into the offered hug. She was still in her godfather's arms as they walked into the MedLab. Dr. Bitan smiled as they approached, shrugging her shoulders.
"I still have no explainations to offer, Mr. Wayne. That little girl has done for you what no one in this Lab could."
Bruce Wayne shifted the light burden in his arms, looking at the bright eyes that seemed to take in the whole world. "She's made me whole."