----
"Want to tell me what happened?" Setting the cup of coffee down before her
sister, Martha did her best to look supportive as she took a seat across the
table. "Did Ron..."
"Oh no!" Mary's eyes widened in considerable shock and her head moved back
and forth in a vehement shake. "He'd never do that. No, it was..." She sighed.
"There's been some problems over the last few years and we just couldn't
escape them." She wasn't lying - exactly - there had been some problems over
their marriage. Normal issues that any married couple would have to deal with.
But those weren't what finally led to their separation.
Rebecca's burgeoning powers were.
Ron was a good man, and if their daughter had been a typical human child, in
all likelihood, their marriage would still be as strong as it always was. But
she wasn't. Rebecca had been born on an alien planet and had - for some
unknown reason - been sent to Earth as a young child. And as she grew, things
began to happen to her, her body began to change and become stronger,
developing shocking powers that seemed to crop up one after another in rapid
succession.
Gripping her coffee, Mary Elizabeth recalled the first time it had happened:
Rebecca had been four, her favorite ball had rolled under her father's beloved
convertible. Without even thinking, the tiny child had rushed over, picked up
the car and reached in to get her ball. Oblivious to her parents shock, she'd
returned to playing as if nothing had happened.
It had only gotten more shocking from there.
In the way only a mother can, she had accepted her daughter's powers and all
the responsibility that came with it. It hadn't been easy but she'd done it.
Ron, however, had never quite been able to come to terms with it. In fact,
he'd always been just the tiniest bit afraid of his daughter. Whenever she'd
had a temper tantrum, it was his wife that had to intervene. He loved their
little girl, that was undeniable, but he lacked the ability to accept without
condition the things that she could do.
It had been hard on her, but Mary had understood her husband's reticence about
Rebecca's powers. The one thing she'd never been able to forgive him for was
the fact that he'd never been able to completely hide his fears about their
daughter's powers...and Rebecca knew it.
It hadn't been noticeable at first but as the young girl got older, she withdrew
from her father more and more, being careful about everything she said and did
with him. It was something that had always grieved Mary Elizabeth and - if it
hadn't been for Bruce Wayne - she wouldn't have known what to do.
The young man hadn't known why exactly Rebecca and her father had a strained
relationship but he'd stepped in to help without hesitation. As things became
more and more distance between her and her father, Becky's relationship with
Bruce had become closer and closer. She idolized the young billionaire and had
spent more of her childhood playing in the massive Wayne Manor than she'd spent
at home.
"Mary," Martha's gentle voice interrupted her musings and she looked over at her
sister with questioning eyes. "Are you all ok? You know you can tell me anything,
right?"
Mary Elizabeth smiled sadly and covered her sister's hand with her own. 'Not
everything, baby sister. Not everything.'
TBC
"Want to tell me what happened?" Setting the cup of coffee down before her
sister, Martha did her best to look supportive as she took a seat across the
table. "Did Ron..."
"Oh no!" Mary's eyes widened in considerable shock and her head moved back
and forth in a vehement shake. "He'd never do that. No, it was..." She sighed.
"There's been some problems over the last few years and we just couldn't
escape them." She wasn't lying - exactly - there had been some problems over
their marriage. Normal issues that any married couple would have to deal with.
But those weren't what finally led to their separation.
Rebecca's burgeoning powers were.
Ron was a good man, and if their daughter had been a typical human child, in
all likelihood, their marriage would still be as strong as it always was. But
she wasn't. Rebecca had been born on an alien planet and had - for some
unknown reason - been sent to Earth as a young child. And as she grew, things
began to happen to her, her body began to change and become stronger,
developing shocking powers that seemed to crop up one after another in rapid
succession.
Gripping her coffee, Mary Elizabeth recalled the first time it had happened:
Rebecca had been four, her favorite ball had rolled under her father's beloved
convertible. Without even thinking, the tiny child had rushed over, picked up
the car and reached in to get her ball. Oblivious to her parents shock, she'd
returned to playing as if nothing had happened.
It had only gotten more shocking from there.
In the way only a mother can, she had accepted her daughter's powers and all
the responsibility that came with it. It hadn't been easy but she'd done it.
Ron, however, had never quite been able to come to terms with it. In fact,
he'd always been just the tiniest bit afraid of his daughter. Whenever she'd
had a temper tantrum, it was his wife that had to intervene. He loved their
little girl, that was undeniable, but he lacked the ability to accept without
condition the things that she could do.
It had been hard on her, but Mary had understood her husband's reticence about
Rebecca's powers. The one thing she'd never been able to forgive him for was
the fact that he'd never been able to completely hide his fears about their
daughter's powers...and Rebecca knew it.
It hadn't been noticeable at first but as the young girl got older, she withdrew
from her father more and more, being careful about everything she said and did
with him. It was something that had always grieved Mary Elizabeth and - if it
hadn't been for Bruce Wayne - she wouldn't have known what to do.
The young man hadn't known why exactly Rebecca and her father had a strained
relationship but he'd stepped in to help without hesitation. As things became
more and more distance between her and her father, Becky's relationship with
Bruce had become closer and closer. She idolized the young billionaire and had
spent more of her childhood playing in the massive Wayne Manor than she'd spent
at home.
"Mary," Martha's gentle voice interrupted her musings and she looked over at her
sister with questioning eyes. "Are you all ok? You know you can tell me anything,
right?"
Mary Elizabeth smiled sadly and covered her sister's hand with her own. 'Not
everything, baby sister. Not everything.'
TBC