Chapter Three

Batman was the least of Barry's worries at the moment as he dialed his sister's phone number.

Not only had his sister - Mariah - been extremely surprised when she witnessed Erika took off like a speedster, she'd been livid with anger. He'd once told her that Erika would never have powers, just so long as she took the pills everyday or, at least, if she didn't take them, she should avoid excess running.

The ADD had been a side-effect of the speed, a warning sign that she could be a speedster, and they had been able to stop the powers from developing due to their diagnosis of what seemed to be a disability.

But now … now his niece was vibrating and it was all his fault. He'd been the one to talk Mariah into helping him at the lab that stormy night when lightning had struck that shelf of chemicals.

"Barry?" Mariah asked over the phone in a tone that was somewhere between worried to death and a growl. "Did you find her?"

"Yeah," Barry almost impishly answered.

"Is she alright?"

"Depends on your definition of 'alright'."

"Barry, how badly is she hurt?"

"Well … she's unconscious. I'm guessing a sprained ankle, and an odd assortment of bumps and bruises. She stepped in cactus. Plus she lost her glasses somewhere along her run," Barry supplied, putting Erika's injuries mildly. "She's probably in extreme need of nutrients."

"Where are you? I want to see Erika," demanded Mariah, and Barry groaned. He knew that Mariah wouldn't be permitted into Mount Justice. Heck, Barry would be lucky if the League was understanding of this situation.

"Um, sorry, but she's at a Justice League base and I doubt that the League will take kindly to me bringing Erika here, let alone you," Barry answered.

"Fine," his sister snapped at him, "but you had better keep us posted on how she's doing."

Erika's injuries turned out to be slightly less extensive that Barry had guessed. There was, of course, some bumps and bruises, but they healed swiftly as Erika's body accelerated. Thankfully, nothing was fractured. The sprained ankle and the foot that had had the cactus stuck in it would remain for some time, but he supposed that with Erika's body changing quickly they would be gone before the month was out.

Within a few hours of arriving at the Cave, Erika stopped vibrating. The transition from normal to speedster was almost complete. Sometime soon Erika would be waking up and she would probably want an explanation. Not to mention, she would probably be pretty upset and scared.

In the meantime though, some other people wanted an explanation.

"Why is she a speedster?" the Batman demanded, sending Barry a withering glare.

Upon hearing that the Flash had brought his niece to the Cave due to injuries she had received during her first speeding, a small number of Leaguers had assembled in the Cave's medical bay seeking the same thing: an explanation.

So Barry was obliged to tell in full what happened the night that he had received his powers. He told them of how he had talked his sister into going to the forensics lab in order to help him despite the fact that she was six months pregnant.

Though Mariah hadn't received any powers from the explosion, they both suspected that the unborn child may develop powers over time. Mariah and her husband - Ray - had taken Barry's advice to look for any signs of super speed. When they noted Erika's ADD at age eleven they had been able to design a medication that would prevent Erica's speed from developing.

Mariah had even moved her family to a small town in Arizona in order to keep Erika somewhat anonymous if the pills only stalled her powers.

"Why didn't you tell us that there was a possibility of there being another speedster?" questioned Batman.

"Because when she started taking the pills there seemed to be no sign of Erika getting super speed," replied Barry.

Bats was about to ask another question when Erika mumbled, "What the heck happened?"

Good, Erika was awake and now he had to explain to her what she was and why.

Batman and the other Leaguers exited the medical bay, giving Barry some privacy for a very complicated conversation.