Second Chances: Batwoman - Rough Draft

Chapter 11

"Why would Alice kidnap Mary? Last time after you stopped her boy toy from killing her, she decided that Mary wasn't worth her time until she decided to poison her and Catherine, let Catherine die and then frame your dad for it." Luke asked.

"Thank you for that recap Luke, I was so wanting to remember how my sister destroyed any faith I had that there was good in her." Kate said.

"Alice might be crazy, but even the craziest super villains have some logic behind their attacks, believe me, I've fought Napier enough times to confirm that. She took Mary for a reason. We just need to figure out what it is." Bruce said.

"Easier said than done. Alice might have some kind of logic, but figuring it out is next to impossible. After what Cartwright did to her, there's a reason why people say she went down the rabbit hole." Kate said.

"She wouldn't do something like this for no reason and before you say anything, revenge is not a good enough reason. Her attacks have always had some kind of crazy purpose." Luke said.

"Yeah, the only question is what is it? It can't be a part of her endgame of making me join her side, since trust me that ship has sailed until she ditches the crazy, gives back my mom and gives me back my sister. Both of them." Kate said.

"Maybe this isn't about you. Remember, you may have put Catherine in prison, but she's still got an ax to grind with your dad. Maybe taking Mary is some kind of payback for replacing her with her." Luke said.

"Maybe, but this is Alice, she wouldn't do something like this just for that. There are other ways she could've gotten even with dad about that, like framing him for murder like she did before." Kate said.

"Maybe Mary's just a means to an end. A hostage situation." Bruce suggested.

"You mean like she wants to trade Mary for something?" Kate asked.

"It's possible. Though if she knew your dad, she'd know that Jacob Kane has a strict no negotiating with terrorists policy." Luke said.

"Not if she pushes the right buttons." Kate said.

"What do you mean? One thing I agree with your dad on is the fact that he never gives criminals what they want." Bruce said.

"And Alice played into his one blindspot." Kate said.

"His daughters disappearing." Luke realized and Kate nodded.

"He already failed to save Beth and save me. I think that if Alice gives him a chance to prevent history from repeating with Mary, he'll take it. Which means we need to find her before Alice makes contact with my dad." Kate said.

"That's not the only reason." Bruce said.

"What do you mean?" Kate asked.

"Kate, Mary isn't the same as she was in the old world." Bruce said.

"Yeah, I know she's gay." Kate said.

"That's not what I mean. I mean she has powers." Bruce said.

"Wait what?" Kate asked as she and Luke looked at Bruce, shocked.

"Yeah, it happened a few years ago, while she was still on her downward spiral after we thought you died. She was partying really hard, like Oliver Queen level hard and then someone spiked her drink or something and the next thing she knew, she had powers. She came to me immediately and I've been helping her learn to control them while also having my science team work on a cure." Bruce said.

"What kind of powers does she have?" Kate asked.

"The same ones as Pamela Isley." Bruce said.

"Wait, Mary has Poison Ivy powers?" Luke asked.

"Yes, but thankfully, whatever experiment was used to turn Pam Isley into Poison Ivy has clearly been refined since I've been monitoring Mary daily and she hasn't shown any signs of going bad. Not to mention the fact that I had tests done on her blood comparing it to Pam's and it's clear that whatever it is that gave Mary powers is not the same thing." Bruce said.

"So, Mary's a meta with the same powers as Poison Ivy, but not the supervillain tendencies." Kate said and Bruce nodded.

"Yes and while she's learned to control her powers, it's never been in a situation like this. If Mary is too stressed out, she could lose control and end up doing something she'll regret. Even if it's only by accident." Bruce said and both Luke and Kate could tell what he meant.

"Then we need to find her before it comes to that. I'm not losing either of my sisters because of Alice's insanity." Kate said.

"Wakey, wakey." was the first thing Mary heard when she came too after being knocked out and she groaned.

"What am I doing here?" Mary asked as she realized she was chained up.

"Well now, sis, you my dear, are my hostage. And if daddy wants to be spared the pain of losing yet another daughter, he'll do whatever I want." Alice said.

"You know my dad doesn't negotiate with terrorists." Mary said as Alice got right in her face and looked her in the eyes.

"If that were true, he never would've let me go when I told him I had my mother held hostage. You'd be amazed at what he's willing to do for family. Or not do. But you'll figure that out soon enough when he gives up looking for you. Just like he did me and he did Kate." Alice said.

"You really think you'll be able to hold me?" Mary asked as she took a deep breath and tried to use her powers.

"Considering the fact that in addition to those chains, I also gave you the stylish accessories of meta power dampening cuffs a friend of mine stole from Argus, yeah, I do." Alice said.

"Wait, you." Mary said.

"Know about your powers, yes I do and I have to say sis, I am very disappointed. You have the power of Poison Ivy coursing through your veins and yet you hide it. Think of what you could do if you embraced that power." Alice said.

"I don't want this power and I don't want to hurt people." Mary said.

"Fine, whatever. Honestly, it's probably for the best that you don't anyways. After all, we wouldn't want anyone to remember you in your final moments as a monster." Alice said.

"What are you talking about?" Mary asked.

"Oh you mean you don't know. Wow, some doctor you are." Alice said.

"What are you talking about?" Mary asked again.

"Well, I guess someone should tell you so you can start making arrangements. Those powers of yours, they're killing you. You just don't know it yet." Alice said, shocking Mary.

"What are you talking about?" Mary demanded.

"The thing that gave you your powers that night when you were obviously drugged, it's a little product called Greenlight. Don't know how it found its way here from Freeland, but it did and you have it in you. How you've resisted another fix is beyond me, but it looks like it gave you powers and sadly for you, from what I've heard, every meta who got their powers from Greenlight, well, it never ended well." Alice said.

"What do you mean?" Mary asked, trying not to panic.

"They die. Maybe a year or so after it happens if they're lucky and don't use their powers." Alice said.

"You're lying." Mary said.

"Am I? Well, hopefully daddy will comply with my demands and you'll be able to go home to a lab to find out for yourself." Alice said with a sick grin as she walked away.