Chp 3 – Reunion and Memories

They sat there for a while, allowing Wordgirl a chance to compose herself. She was still clutching to Steve's lab coat sobbing, like she was afraid that if she let go he would disappear. If one thought about it, it was a possibility. Steve looked at May, her eyes tearing just a bit. Enemies they may be, but seeing such a tearful reunion was enough to make any grandmother cry. It simply reminded them both that under the costume she was still a young girl that was hurting in all kinds of ways. They made no effort to hide their thoughts from each other, and both saw that they thought the same thing. How the heck are we going to do this? They noted that the girl had finally slowed her sobs and breathing, knowing that she was almost ready to talk.

"I missed you so much," she mumbled. That got a surprised look from the two adults. "I've been so alone that I can't stand it."

"I understand," comforted Steve as he tried to ruffle her helmet, then settled on placing a hand on her shoulder instead. "I had no idea that I was going to leave you, but it wasn't your fault."

Wordgirl sniffled again. "I know."

"And I really hope that you're not blaming yourself for what happened on that bridge, either."

"But...it was my fault. I've been getting faster, getting better control of my powers, I've grown up some, but I couldn't stop him. I couldn't save them." She tried to continue, but the sobbing returned in full force. "I let them die!"

The adults exchanged worried looks. This was what they were afraid of. Sure, she would likely take herself out of commission for a while, but if left alone she would eventually withdraw into herself completely, only to explode on the next unfortunate soul to tick her off. Steve cracked a small smile.

"Well, it's a good thing we were chosen to do this, May."

"Why's that?" puzzled May.

"Can you imagine Chuck or Lady Redundant Woman trying to handle this?"

Hearing the now infamous giggle-snort relaxed the trio.

"I'd be here all night if she were here."

"Can't argue that," replied May as Wordgirl giggled again. The girl still had tears running, but it was encouraging to see a smile.

"Okay, Wordgirl," said Steve, "this is your time. May and I are here for you for this moment. I know that with your powers you can do some colossal things, but the one thing I hadn't considered was your mental health." More feeling Wordgirl nod then seeing her, he continued. "I probably would've gotten to it at some point...anyway, how is your family life, back at home?" He felt her stiffen a little. "You don't have to reveal who you are to us. Squeaky did let me out, but I doubt we can trust that information to him." He winced slightly when his mouse brain pulsed green. "Oh settle down, you know I'm telling the truth."

Wordgirl was silent for a moment before she began. "Well, I don't have too many friends as Wordgirl, but I was kinda close to the district attorney's family. They've helped me out several times in one way or another. District Attorney Botsford, she was as close to a mother as I could imagine. Sometimes I would call her mom." The adults quietly processed this as she paused yet again. She had to be careful to not expose her father, but now she didn't have to worry about her mom and brother as much. She tried to resist another sob. She was clutching the lab coat of her long lost friend that was taken over by an evil mouse. It was yet another weird situation that happened in her life so often, so she might as well open up a little. Lord knew she needed someone to talk to about this part of her life.

"Yeah, I remember her family," Steve recalled. "That was back when I thought...when I thought...heh, why can't I remember why I went there?"

Wordgirl giggled. "You were hit with your amnesia ray at the end of that one. I'm not telling."

Steve pouted for a moment when May spoke up. "I remember babysitting for that family a few years ago. Very nice family. Sweet kids. Tried to use them as my alibi for stealing that golden car. I believe that was before she became the DA, though, because the next time I tried that she wouldn't let me anywhere near her family. I can tell you one thing, dearie, and it's that she must have been a good role model for you if her kids were anything to go by. I also know that she had a soft spot for you, too."

"You could've fooled me when I was put on trial."

"HA! Yeah, I remember that. I thought I'd die laughing about that one. My son was there, and he told me all about it. One thing he said that didn't surprise me so much was that she was so distraught before she came out to face you. You'd think she was prosecuting her own daughter." At this point Wordgirl should have known to keep her guard up. All this freezing when they started getting close to her real life was going to tip her hand. "I think she was quite happy with how that ended up."

"Yeah, I learned a lot that day."

There was a comfortable silence as the adults let her reminisce on that day before Steve spoke up again. "What about her son? Were you close to him, too?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "He was like that annoying little brother that you never wanted but was still glad he was there. He was president of my fan club. He even won a chance to see my hideout. He was definitely one of my biggest fans." She smiled. "He even got me out of a few scrapes over the years. I never did tell him how much I..." she sighs. "I'll never get to tell him..."

"Let it out, Wordgirl," soothed Steve as she began crying again. They both noticed that it wasn't as bad as before. Apparently having them talk about the recently departed was a good strategy for consoling grieving kids. There just might be something to that new world web thing after all.

"I-I'm fine," she sniffed, gathering herself. "It just hurts to think about them, you know?"

"Believe me," said May, "I know all too well. You don't get to my age without losing more than a few loved ones along the way. I lost my Pappy, my husband, two children, and a grand, and that's not even counting my friends."

The young patient couldn't resist. "You had friends?"

"Girl," she yelled, shaking the business end of her cane, "if you weren't already suffering. Anyway, I had plenty of friends, and many of them are still around, in one way or another. Old age can be a terrible thing, sometimes, like with John. Poor John. That man was a mountain of a man. This was before people used their powers in public, but looking back I'd swear that man had some super strength. He was big, strong, and quite the looker, if I do say so myself. Girl, I had a downright nasty fight with my two best friends over that man. I'm talkin' down and dir-TAY. We fought each other tooth and nail, only for him to fall head over heels for the one girl that paid him no mind. They did get married, but man, what a time that was. My friends and I decided that since no one actually won, we might as well start over. We did, and since then we had a running bet to see who would outlive the others. I'm still competing with Delores, but I think I'll get her yet. But you know, about ten years ago we got an invite to John's funeral from his wife. Let me tell you, that mountain of a man wasn't much more than an anthill when we saw him. We was shocked. Delores asked the wife what happened to him, and she said he got depressed when he buried his first son and he stopped working out. It only got worse with the next two kids dying before he finally passed away himself. Even before then he was slowing down. He was totally dependent on her for the last five years.

"I guess my point is that even though it does hurt to think about your passed loved ones, it should make you cherish the good memories that you do have instead of the bad. You don't have to let go of the bad ones, just also remember the good along with them." Wordgirl thought about her story, trying to find her point. "Alright, girlie, I see you missed my point. I could've made myself all sad about him bein' gone, or that one of my two lifelong best friends had died, but instead I smile as I remember the good times we had while we were together."

Wordgirl nodded slightly into Steve's side. She hadn't yet let go of him since he first revealed himself. It was all very endearing. Again they sat in silence for a while before Wordgirl spoke up.

"But it's still my fault that they died."

"And there's the main event," said Steve as quietly as he could as he patted her head. "I'd like to hear how you think that you were the one that killed the Botsfords."

"Not all of them!"

"You know what I mean."

Wordgirl calmed herself. Having a fit was not going to help her, especially with these two. "Mo...I mean..."

"Just call her what you want, dear," said May.

"Thanks. Mom and TJ were very close to me. I just don't understand why she ran her car into him like that. If I was stronger, I could've gotten out of that hold before she did that. If I were paying more attention, I would've seen that hole forming before they fell through it. If only I was faster..." She lapsed into silence as she couldn't go on. It was finally out there. Not once had she had the chance to speak it out loud, as hardly anyone would truly understand. "They were family to me. How can I save the day if I couldn't even save them?"

"Tell me," said Steve. "Looking back, is there anything you could've done that could've stopped this? Did you try to move the fight to a safer location?" She nodded. "Did you try to talk him down?" Another nod. "Do you know how many people were on that bridge that day?"

"No, but there were an awful lot of cars there, and they were all occupied."

"I'd say there were probably hundreds, if not over a thousand people that were in danger, at least. Not to mention that Whammer was more than reckless at the time."

"He forgot that the people were still in the cars."

Steven's eyes went wide. "Wow, okay he was beyond reckless, then. But you see, from what you've told us, you didn't kill them. They gave their lives to help you."

"But why?"

"Girl, the same reason you risk your life for them. You're so young you don't even notice how much people love you. That woman treated you like her daughter. Of course she'd try to help you if you were in trouble." The girl was speechless. Not once did that possibility come up. All she saw was that they hit Whammer, then they fell through that hole. She knew that they did it, but never thought to ask "why?" "I see you startin' to understand. Love makes people do some crazy things, and parents especially. If she thought of you as part of her family, there's nothing else she would've done but to help you out. It's not your fault, dearie, that woman willingly gave her life for someone she loved."

"So tell us," said Steve. "What will you do to honor her sacrifice?" Wordgirl continued to shed silent tears as she heard May's speech, but she was caught off guard by Steve's question, though. Was she honoring her mother's sacrifice with what she was doing? What would TJ think of the way she was acting? "You don't have to answer that now, but it's definitely something to mull over." He paused for a moment, giving Wordgirl a chance to speak. She remained quiet, but awake. "Well, this has been a rather draining experience for all of us, but there's still two more things to talk about before we let you go."

"What's that?"

"I'm not sure which one will be harder to talk about, so I'll go to the one I know about. The Whamm...urk, please...air..."

"Sorry!" as she loosened her continuous hold on him.

"Oof, yeah, you really need to work on that. Ouch."

"Sorry."

"I'll be fine. Just so you know, he's going to be transferred out of state in a few weeks. Lady Redundant Woman and Ms. Question went to speak with him a few days back."

"Wow, those three?"

"I'm just glad I didn't have to go," said May.

"Me neither, but what they told us was pretty sad. He's so depressed that he's not even saying 'wham' anymore."

Wordgirl's eyes bulged as she sat up for the first time. "What?"

"Uh, huh. He was so depressed that the girls even dropped their thing to talk to him. Said he's lost his will to wham, or something. Sounds like he's as torn up about that incident as you are, if not more so. He hates the fact that he actually killed someone."

"I had no idea."

"Didn't think you were up on current events, all things considered. He pretty much expected the news that he was expelled from the Evil Villains Association."

"Expelled?"

"Yep. There's a strict "no killing" rule that he broke, regardless if it was an accident. He accepted it without a fuss." Another pause. "He did have one request, though." Steve gently placed Wordgirl to his side so he could look her in the eye. "He wanted to see the child that he orphaned. His words."

Wordgirl's eye went wide once again. "She's not an orphan, her dad was home at the time."

The adults shared another look. "Some of us figured as much," said May, "but he doesn't know that. As far as he knows, he done killed that girl's whole family."

"But why would he want to see…her?"

"Who knows but him?" shrugged Steve. "The question needs to be asked, however. Will you and she have the mercy to tell him?"

"Mercy," Wordgirl ground out. "Thanks to him I almost lost the meaning of the word."

"I doubt you'll ever forget the meaning of the word," Steve said, shaking his head sadly. If he wasn't sure before, he was now most certainly glad that he managed to second the motion to do this. "I was afraid that you would forget the significance of it."

Both Wordgirl and May stared at Steve for a moment before looking at each other.

"Has he always been this deep?" asked May.

"No. He's shockingly focused right now. Usually he's very distracted."

Their attention returned to Steve, noticing that he had just finished eating a piece of cheese. He shifted his eyes between the two.

"What? It's been a while since I actually ate anything. Normally I know everything that's happening, but don't get to experience any sensations. This is my first actual taste of anything in four years."

"And it had to be cheese?"

"Sorry, Wordgirl. It's the only thing around."

They shared a light laugh before Wordgirl spoke.

"I don't know what to think of this. Normally I'd have someone to bounce off ideas to, but…"

"That brings us to the last thing for tonight," said Steve. "You lost more than two loved ones that day."

At this Wordgirl's tears streamed down her face as she was hit with a jumble of memories of the late Captain. He would've been the first to go to sort things out about the Whammer's request. But not anymore. He was always there for her when she needed him the most. He saw through Miss Power's lies. He helped her when Violet ended their friendship over her secret identity. Without him the vast majority of her battle plans were worthless. Yes, he was a space monkey, but he was smart and he loved her, even if he pretended to not know what a lot of words were. At this point she noticed that among her tears was a small smile. Is that what Granny May meant? To remember not just the loss, but the good memories as well.

"I think she's starting to get your point, May."

"I'm glad. I don't know how else I could've explained it."

Wordgirl soon picked herself up from the couch, finally disconnecting herself fully from Steve. She floated to the floor between them and took a deep, calming breath.

"I still have a lot to think about, but I have to admit, this really helped." She floated over to May and gave her a hug. "Thank you, Granny May." She then turned and gave the now standing Steve a hug as well. "And thank you, Steve, for coming back for me. I just felt so alone."

"I know, but I have to tell you, I don't think there's much of a chance of this happening again for a long while."

"The therapy or you?"

"Neither, but I am glad to at least come back to light your darkest hour."

"Light my darkest hour?"

Steve shrugged. "Eh, just a line from some cartoon movie the henchmen picked out one day. Something to do with giant transforming robots or something."

"Well I'm glad I could see you again."

"So am I."

"You'd better get on home now, dearie. You don't want to have whoever's home to be worried about you."

Wordgirl bowed her head for a moment, thinking of her dad. "Yeah, it's gotten late, hasn't it?"

"Yeah," answered Steve. "Go on, girl. I'll try to see you again in the future."

"Thanks again," said Wordgirl as she stopped herself from flying through the ceiling, instead going to the door once again. She took one last look at her long-lost friend, then a moment later she was gone.

As soon as she left, Steve lost he balance and flopped on the couch, his mouse brain pulsing slightly. May went to check on him but he waved her off.

"Nah, I'm fine. Had to put Steve back."

"Wow, that was quick."

"Yep, and that's another twenty you owe me for her exit."

"Dag nabbit!"

(B-D)

A/N: Should've known the Christmas season would be busy. Anyway, it's a new year and a new chapter. Hope you enjoy.