THE BIONIC WOMAN
Jenna's Story
by
bionic4ever
Chapter One
(Jenna):I can't remember when I first realized my parents were different from "normal" parents. I mean, every kid goes through that stage, right? Usually, it follows the "My-Parents-Can-Leap-Tall-Buildings" stage. Trouble with that one is, my parents really could.
I was 15 before I heard either of them even say the word 'bionic', and 21 when Uncle Oscar finally explained to me exactly what that meant. Now I'm 30, the same age my mother was when she had me, and I've wasted so many years on anger and bitterness when I could've learned so much from them about life, and about the meaning of love. Standing in this graveyard, looking at the grave, I wonder why it took this - one of them gone forever and the other just as buried by grief and regret - for me to really see how truly special they've always been. Not because they were bionic, either; my parents were two unique, loving and - yes - special people who just happened to be bionic.
The day that Jaime and Steve brought their new daughter home was a day in which they knew pure bliss. It was also a day of great solemnity. They assured each other that they were both done with the drama and danger of the OSI. True, they'd said it before, but their newborn daughter gave them the determination to actually mean it. The thought that Jenna would be at high risk to be kidnapped - for ransom, information or revenge - terrified them. Jaime, especially, used to make a strong case for remaining childless, for just that reason. Looking down into Jenna's perfect little face, though, and feeling her tiny hand grasp their fingers, told the new parents that this really had been the right choice.
I don't remember anything really unusual happening happening when I was very young, although one of my earliest memories is of the time a neighbor ran over my tricycle with his car, bending it into a piece of pop art. I cried so hard, but Dad just picked it up and bent it back into shape again, as good as new. Didn't seem strange at the time. Aren't all daddies the strongest men on Earth?
"No way, Oscar! it's out of the question!" Jaime stalked angrily from the living room (and Oscar) to the kitchen window where she could see Steve outside, pushing 5-year-old Jenna on her swing. "Steve is retired," she said emphatically. "We both are. We're Jenna's parents now, not your operatives, and NOT your puppets!" Oscar joined her at the window, and she stepped aside to give him a clear view of father and daughter at play. "I'm not gonna let you take that away from her!"
Oscar hung his head, unable to look at her. "Babe, I didn't come to see Steve..."
"Oh, Oscar - No!"
"I came to see you, and it's urgent."
"Isn't it always?" Jaime sighed sadly. She knew she could argue until she turned blue; she'd still be going with him. The fact that he'd showed up now, when she'd been off the job for nearly six years, meant this had the potential to be really, really ugly.
I first met Uncle Oscar when I was 5 or 6. Dad said he'd been a close friend for many years, but for some reason they never seemed happy to see him. The first time he came, my dad saw him looking out the window at us and he practically ran into the house. I could see Mom and Dad arguing with him while I sat all alone on my swing, wondering why everyone had forgotten about me.
After that first time, Uncle Oscar never visited Mom and Dad without saying 'hi' to me first, and he always brought me a box of animal crackers (my favorite) to try to make me smile. I'd still cry every time I saw him, though, even when I got a little older, because every time he showed up, either Mom or Dad was going away again...
As Jenna grew older, she learned to tell her classmates that her father was a retired astronaut and her mother a former tennis pro. Even at a very young age, however, she knew instinctively that there was more to the story...