This is a little idea that game in my mind after I watched the Cortrol Freak (again) and noticed that Sam´s mom has many similarities with on of the my favourite DC characters... For example, think about those flower dresses that she wanted Sam to wear.
This story takes place about ten years after the end of the Young Justice season 1.
Sorry in advance about all spelling mistakes. English is not my the first language, but I have made my best.
Enjoy
An outsider´s point of view Pam Manson seemed to be very shallow and vainglorious woman, real old-time diva. Her appearance was always clean and groomed. She invariably looked down on people who she saw as her lowers and would make her best to get what she wanted.
She was all that but what those people didn´t know was that, even thought she seemed to be a materialist, to Pam Manson family was the most important thing in the world.
She loved dearly her forever optimistic and cheerful husband who was always supporting her decisions. She deeply respected and admired Ida, her mother-in-law, even though she had become a bit fool on her late days. But the dearest person to Pam was her daughter, Samantha, her little angel. Thanks to her, she had managed to find meaning in her life, and she would do her everything to keep her save.
However there were some things in her daughter that Mrs. Manson didn´t approve.
She had never understood Samantha´s gothic sense of fashion. In Pam´s opinion young girl looked more beautiful in bright, flower themed dresses, which make her look more like a princess she saw in her.
She couldn´t stand the fact that her daughter spent almost all her free time with her two lover class, suspicious, male friends instead of hanging out with other, more lady like, girls. Especially that Fenton kid, with his ghost hunting parents, was on Pam´s black list.
But most of all Pam disapproved her daughter´s passion of protecting nature. There wasn´t nothing bad in the ideology itself, but the extreme and loud way how Samantha expressed her opinion wasn´t suitable action for young ladies like her daughter was.
Yes, Pam Manson was woman whom the good image was a very important thing, but like each person, also she had her past with many secrets, some darker than others.
Pam had thought she had managed to leave it all behind when she had returned Amity Park, but after waking up from that plant ghost´s mind control spell she had realised it was only about a time when her former mistakes would return to haunt her again...
It was cool night of the early October. Almost whole Amity Park was sleeping, people tired for spending whole day cleaning and repairing last big ghost attack´s damages, even most of town´s usual pests had decided to stay in their zone. Yet in one particular house someone was still awake.
In the Mansons´, Mrs. Manson was drinking relaxing herbal tea her mind deep in thoughts. It had already been two days for Undergrowth´s failed attempt to turn Earth to his personal greenhouse. Two long nights she had spent sitting alone on the kitchen table only waiting some unwanted visitor. The visitor who she had hoped never meets again.
Mrs. Manson glanced at kitchen´s clock and sighed deeply. "I was starting to doubt that you wouldn´t come."
A man, who had appeared in the room´s shadow almost imperceptibly, didn´t answered Pam´s greeting. He just stood there staring slightly younger woman through his mask´s white lenses.
"Would you like to sit down? I could make some tea too if you want." Still no response, "I won´t poison it, if it is what you are afraid of." Pam tried again without any result. Sighing again she got up from her chair and walked to the stove´s edge where empty kettle already stood.
"You know, I actually heard your cape´s rustle when you came in." Mrs. Manson continued talking to man over her shoulder. "Maybe you should consider leaving crime fighting and give your title to some younger hero. One of your sons perhaps. I have heard that the youngest has become almost as good detective as you are, maybe even better."
This caught masked man´s attention. "You have been keeping touch with your old allies." he noted with rought and cold voice which sent chills down Pam´s spine.
"Oh just Harls and Kitty." Pam answered, seeking carefree tone, even though she hasn´t been so nervous since she had returned home after being gone whole six years without seeing her family. "What kind of friend I would be if I turn down my two best friends only because I decided change my career."
On the stove kettle started to whistle so Mrs. Manson picked it up and poured hot water into the white china cup. "I don´t think I ever asked what kind of tea you like. I have camomile tea, some green tea and couple different herbal teas. Or do you like more good old Earl Gr..."
"I´m not here to talk about what kind of tea I like to drink." man snarled impatiently which made Pam flinch and tighten her grip on kettle.
"I know very well why you are here." she answered almost hissing voice "And the answer to your question is no. That attack wasn´t my doing."
The man just stood quietly in the corner for long while probably studying Pam´s pody language, she could feel his stare on her pack, before he spoke again
"I know."
Red head lowered the kettle back on the stage and turned slowly face her visitor. "Then why, if I may ask," she asked with sweet but still cold voice, which would have scared any other person but this man to death, "you are here?"
Smoothly, like appearing out of the shadow itself, man stepped in the pale moon light revealing his dark armored figure. "Because of her." he told and dropped pile of paper on the table.
Even though every part in her screamed to stay as far as possible for this bat like man Pam moved forwards so she would be able to see better those papers that the Dark Knight had brought with him.
They were pictures. The first one wasn´t very clear, the most likely taken for security camera, but you could still see that person on it was clearly female, a young woman, probably not older than 16-year-old. Girl was pare feet and seemed to wear some kind short green dress, which reminded slightly Pam for her old uniform, made of some leaf like material. Part of her black hair was held up with leather band with silver dots, metal spices perhaps, similar like ones tied around her neck and calf. But what made picture interesting was the girl seemed to control half-dozen vines that were growing from her back. The second picture that Mrs. Manson saw was probably zoomed and cleaned version of the first one, which made girl´s identifity possible.
"No..." Pam whispered in horror when she recognized her own daughter. "You´ve made a mistake. My Sammy doesn´t have anything to do with that plant invasion!"
"Evidences are telling other story." the man said with emotionless voice and tossed more pictures on the table every single of them showing her dear little Sammy controlling plants around her. "Cameras have managed caught her traveling with those plants all over the town. I have even a tape where she is talking with boy she addressed as "Danny". She seemed to think plants as her own children and liked also call herself their "new mother." Sounds familiar?"
"You are wrong!" Pam cried. "She was born two years before my accident! There is now way that she could have inherited my powers!"
"But you know how to re-create it." the man pointed out. "In fact, your whole so-called family should be death by now because of your poisonous touch."
Out of rage Pam slammed her hands on the table. "How dare you! I would never do something like that to my loved ones! I might have given them a serum, which will protect them for toxins but that's it. No mind control, no love potions and definitely no re-created accidents!"
"Then how you are explaining these pictures?"
"I don´t know! The whole attack was that stupid plant ghost´s fault. He must have used my daughter as some kind of... marionette. A human slave!"
The mention of the ghost made the detective tense. Just a little bit, normal person wouldn´t even had notice it, but Mrs. Manson had known this man for years and was able to read his body language almost as well as he read her.
"You know what I´m talking about, don´t you." Pam said huge, victorious smile on her lips "You have seen him in your cameras, haven´t you. You knew that it was him all along."
The man narrowed his eyes behind his mask. "Yes, I have read the mayors report for the attack. But we both know that you, or your husband," the last word come out almost with despice "could easily have manipulate or bribe him to write it."
"But you can´t prove it." Pam pointed out "You don´t have a single one water proof evidence that you could use against me or my family."
It was now battle of the minds. The old enemies just stood there staring each other on the eyes, waiting who would give up first. The woman´s lips bended almost insane smile while the man´s face screamed almost completely hidden fury.
"Fine." the Dark Knight snarled and started to walk past Pam to backdoor "But remember my word Pamela." he warned coldly "Just one mistake, anything that will give me a reason believe that you are fall back your old habits, both you and your daughter will find yourselves locked in Arkham faster than you can say Poison Ivy."
That threat was the last straw that broke Pam´s selfcontrol. Full of pure hatred and fury she ordered special plant seed, that she had hidden under the floor, just in case if she ever needed protection from her old enemies, to grow and crap this man who had the nerve to break in her home. The attack was so fast that detective weren´t able to sense danger until it was too late. Maybe he had trusted too much Pam´s desire to keep her past hidden or he was just become slow at his old days, so it was easy to giant vines to slam him on the wall and chain him on it.
"You can threaten me, my friends, even my husband, but never, ever, dare you threat lock my daughter in that so-called asylum." ´she hissed dangerously to squirming man. She was raised her hand front of her on slowly closing fist as if she was the one who has holding him instead of vines. "I will rather to die protecting her than see my baby girl in that hell hole!" little by little the vines started tightening along their mistress` hand, crushing the man who was tightly stuck in their deathly embrace. "And if it means killing you", she told gently to choking hero, "I will do it with pleasure."
"...Mom..."
The end
Sorry. Couldn´t resist
That quiet whisper was all that was needed to change Pamela´s fury to pure horror.
"Sammy?" she spun around to face her daughter wishing whole time that she had heard wrong. But there she was. Standing in the doorway staring scene front of her. She was still wearing her day clothes, covered by mud and some kind of wrist gun on her arm that Pam had seen Mrs. Fenton use once. Pamela didn´t know, or even cared, what she had been doing outside at 2 am; no the only thing that marked at the moment were her eyes, which were full of shock, betrayal and, the worst of them all, fear.
"Sammy it..." Pam moved slowly closer to her startled daughter, the dark hero completely forgotten, trying desperate to find some words that could wipe those emotions out her eyes, find a way to explain. "It´s okay... I´m not going to hurt you."
"You are... Green..." her little girl sounded so calm that Pam wasn´t sure should she cry or laugh. It was like to her seeing her own mother controlling plants and trying to murder one of the world´s greatest heroes was something that happened every day. "Yeah..." she mumbled sadly not wanting to break eye contact with her daughter. "It happens sometimes."
That was when everything started to go down hill.
Pam was able to hear someone running down the stairs before her husband appeared behind Samantha pistol on his hands.
"Is everything alright? I heard nois..." Mr. Manson swallowed rest of his sentence in shock when he saw destroyed kitchen and very pissed hero glaring him murderously on the wall. "Oh shit..."
"Jeremy. I´m so sorry." Pamela apologized turning her gaze to blonde man "I didn´t mean to."
"I know honey." Jeremy said absent-mindedly and raised his gun again his gaze now locked on man across the room. "I know."
"You knew!" Samantha´s bewildered scream broke silence that had fallen on room . "You knew who she is and never told me?"
"Sammy please... Let me explain."
"No." she muttered her eyes full of tears and turned to run.
"Sam! Wait!" Pam cried when girl disappeared out of the door and tried to follow her only to be tripped by very familiar bola that curled around her legs.
"Pam!" Jeremy shouted worriedly and kneeled next to his fallen wife. His attention had slipped from intruder only couple second when his daughter had rushed out of the house but it had been enough to him to break free from his organic prison and throw bole around ex-villainess legs.
"Leave or I call polices." Jeremy warned him firmly. "Just because you call yourself hero, doesn´t give you a right to break into my house or attack my family."
"We both know that they will only arrest your wife Mr. Manson." hero told man front of him.
"That might be how things are in your city, Batman." younger man admitted "But why would they believe you?"
"I think in these ower grown vines have proved enough."
"You mean those plants that we haven´t had time to clean of after last ghost attack?" Jeremy asked calmly helping his sobbing wife, who looked again like her normal self, to sitting position. "I´m busy man Batman, and police commissioner knows that too. Besides, last time I hear about Poison Ivy, she had green skin."
The Dark Knight glared younger man angrily. "Very well." he said coldly "I will leave, but remember what I said Ivy. Next time I won´t be this merciful towards you or you daughter." And then he was gone. Disappeared into the shadow of the cold October night, leaving weeping woman with her loyal husband in the destroyed kitchen.
And in the first time during his long career as hero, Batman had to admit to himself that maybe this time he had been the bad guy.
So yeah... I quest that you all know now which DC character I was talking about. I mean seriously. Just think about their names. Pam Manson. Pamela Isley. Plus it this theory will explain why she always wear those gloves. And makes The Urban Jungle even more epic that it already is :)
I have a possible second chapter for this story but I need to fix the plot a bit before publishing it.