Second Chances: Batwoman - Rough Draft

Chapter 19

Since Batwoman's been cancelled, does anyone else wish that they would reveal what happened to Bruce Wayne, since it's not like they have any reason to keep it a secret anymore.

Ever since the doctors had cleared her, despite the fact that she was not actually okay, Mary had been at Ryan's bedside, just waiting for her girlfriend to wake up from the coma she'd been in for the past week. Granted, it was a medically induced coma to help her body recover from her injuries, even if there was one injury she'd never truly recover from. At least physically. Emotionally, while it would take a while, she hoped that Ryan would recover from the loss of her arm and Mary would be there every step of the way.

At least she would be for as long as she could before her cellular degeneration killed her. Unless Kate was able to come through on that miracle cure she'd mentioned. Speaking of her sister, Mary smiled as she heard the door open and turned to see Kate enter the room.

"Hey, how are you doing and I'm asking both physically and emotionally?" Kate asked, since she knew that Mary likely was not in the best shape for either.

"Physically, I have my good days and my bad days. Emotionally, I'm drained." Mary said and Kate could see how exhausted her sister looked.

"Any idea on when she'll wake up?" Kate asked her.

"Doctors say it should be any day now. The coma has served its purpose, now we're just waiting for the meds that were keeping her under to wear off." Mary said.

"Well, I think I might have something that'll at least make it easier for you to be here for Ryan, since it's clear that not taking care of yourself is only making your problem worse." Kate said.

"I know, but I can't leave her. Especially since the only reason she's in this mess is because she was trying to save me." Mary said.

"Mary, it wasn't your fault. I should've gotten there before Alice had a chance to hurt her." Kate said.

"If it's not my fault then it's not yours, since you got there as fast as you could Kate. At least you got there before she died." Mary said as she then noticed the bag in Kate's hand.

"What's in the bag?" Mary asked.

"The cure for what physically ails you." Kate said as she pulled out a syringe filled with a dark red liquid.

"That's the Desert Rose serum?" Mary asked, still skeptical.

"Yeah, believe me, this thing did wonders healing me after the plane crash." Kate said and now Mary was a bit more willing to believe it, since that would explain how Kate didn't carry any injuries from the crash.

"Okay, but you're sure that it will fix my cellular degeneration?" Mary asked.

"Positive. But Mary, before I give this to you, you need to promise me that you won't tell anyone about this. The place that this comes from values secrecy above everything else. They went to extreme lengths to keep the island from being detected." Kate said.

"Okay, I promise." Mary said, hoping that someday Kate would tell her everything.

"Good. Now, let's get you cured." Kate said as Mary held out her right arm to Kate, who carefully moved to poke the needle into her arm and injected the Desert Rose serum into her bloodstream and the second it entered her body, Mary could immediately feel it start working.

"So, how do you feel?" Kate asked as she removed the needle and smiled as she saw all the physical traces of Mary's condition immediately disappear.

"Like I've been reborn." Mary said.

"We'll need to run some tests to make sure that the Desert Rose worked fully, but you definitely look better. And now you can actually use your powers without worrying about them killing you." Kate said.

"Good, because I want a place on the Bat Team." Mary said.

"Mary." Kate said, since that was not what Kate had in mind when she said Mary could use her powers.

"I need to do this Kate. I need to make sure that Alice can't do to anyone else what she did to Ryan." Mary said.

"Is this about you wanting to protect people or you just wanting revenge. Because if it's revenge, then this will be a long conversation." Kate said.

"I won't deny that a part of me does want revenge, but wouldn't you feel the same way if it was Sophie that Alice did this too?" Mary asked.

"Fair point. But still, we don't kill. Besides, right now she's untouchable." Kate said.

"Why?" Mary asked.

"Because she's holding my mom hostage. Until we find and save her, I can't put Alice in Arkham." Kate said and Mary nodded.

"Do you have any ideas on how to get your mom back from her?" Mary asked.

"None. I don't even know where to start looking for her." Kate said.

"I'm sure you'll find a way to do it. It might help if you knew more about Alice's past. See if there was anything else you could offer her in exchange for your mom." Mary said and that actually gave Kate an idea, though she'd need to run it by Bruce and Luke first.

"I'm sorry, you want to do what?" Luke asked after Kate told him and Bruce her plan.

"I know it sounds crazy, but it's the only way I can think of to get my mom back. Alice can't be reasoned with, but she can be bargained with and we happen to know one person that she'd be willing to make the trade for." Kate said.

"Mouse is a criminal. You really want to put him back on the streets?" Bruce asked.

"No and I don't intend to. But Alice doesn't know that." Kate said and then Luke and Bruce caught on.

"You want to pull a Trojan horse move." Bruce said.

"Exactly. We get in touch with Alice and offer a trade, Mouse for my mom, but once we have my mom back, we'll get her to safety and then capture Mouse and also capture Alice." Kate said.

"That's more than you can pull off alone." Luke said.

"She won't be alone." Bruce said.

"You planning on suiting up?" Kate asked.

"You can't do this alone and I owe this to Aunt Gabi. I still blame myself for not being able to save her." Bruce said.

"You did everything you could. But still, it will take more than just the two of us to pull this off. Especially since Alice will no doubt suspect this of being a trap. Not to mention breaking someone out of Arkham would not look good for the Bat's reputation. " Kate said.

"So, how do you plan to pull this off?" Luke asked, though he had a feeling he knew.

"By doing the last thing any of us would want to do. I'm gonna ask my dad for help." Kate said.