Second Chances: Stargirl

Chapter 10

At the same time Courtney Whitmore was working on rebuilding the Justice Society of America, she had no idea that there was another legacy living there in Blue Valley.

Rick Tyler, son of Hourman, was currently sitting in the kitchen of the home he shared with his mother Wendy, though he had no idea about the circumstances about his father's death, since like Courtney, he was not aware of his father or grandfather's actions with the JSA.

"Rick, can I talk to you for a second?" Wendi asked as she entered the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Rick asked.

"You remember your Aunt Esi?" Wendy asked.

"Dad's sister who we haven't seen since his funeral?" Rick asked.

"Well, she passed away, and so did her husband Chuck." Wendy said.

"So?" Rick asked.

"So, their daughter Mari is coming to live with us, since her sister Kuasa lives in your grandmother's ancestral home in Africa and we can't uproot either of them, so it makes the most sense for Mari to move here with us." Wendy said.

"Where does she live now?" Rick asked.

"Detroit." Wendy said.

"And she's upgrading to Blue Valley, good for her." Rick said.

"Enough Rick. Mari is family and I expect you to treat her as such. Maybe introduce her to your friends at school." Wendy said.

"So, we're not even going to discuss it first?" Rick asked.

"Rick." Wendy said.

"What, I'm sorry mom, but honestly, I wish that you'd taken my feelings into consideration before you just made the decision." Rick said.

"I didn't think I had to, since we're helping our family." Wendy said.

"I need to go. I'm gonna see if Courtney's parents can give me a lift to school." Rick said, deciding he didn't want to get into this with his mom and before she could respond, he was out the door and had his phone out.

Wendy sighed, right as her phone rang and she saw it was Courtney's mother.

"Barbara, what's going on?" Wendy asked, since they both knew the truth about the JSA.

"Fair warning, Courtney knows the truth about her father." Barbara said.

"What, I thought we agreed to keep our kids in the dark about that?" Wendy asked.

"We did, unfortunately the staff didn't agree to that." Barbara said.

"So it bonded to Courtney." Wendy said.

"Yeah and she's already started recruiting a new JSA under Pat's mentorship." Barbara said.

"Who?" Wendy asked.

"Well, there's Yolanda, who's the goddaughter and niece of Ted Grant and has metahuman powers that are exactly like the abilities Ted's suit gave him and Jefferson's daughter. By the way, Jefferson is still alive and active as Black Lightning and his daughter as an upgraded form of his powers. I think you should tell Rick and maybe even give him the hourglass." Barbara said.

"I don't know Barb." Wendy said.

"Trust me, it's better if Rick finds out from you, since Courtney's still freezing me out for keeping this from her." Barbara said.

"I guess I don't really have a choice, since Rick's cousin Mari is coming to stay with us and I'm almost positive as she has her grandmother's totem and she knows exactly what it is." Wendy said.

"Trust me, you need to do it on your own terms. If Rick finds out on his own, he'll just end up resenting you. I'm counting myself lucky that Courtney has stopped glaring at me." Barbara said.

"I suppose that finding out the truth about his father could actually help Rick, since he has been acting out a lot lately. He's been angry at the world for a while and now it's coming to a head." Wendy said.

"Courtney was the same way, except she was angry at a father who she thought abandoned her. She honestly seems happier now that she knows the truth. Though now she's been directing that anger at me for lying to her since she was four." Barbara said.

"Can you blame her? You not only lied to her about why her dad vanished, you never even let her properly grieve. At least I was able to tell Rick that his dad died, just not how." Wendy said.

"I did what I thought was best at the time." Barbara said.

"And now you have a daughter who hates you." Wendy pointed out.

"I never said it was the best decision, but what's done is done." Barbara said.

"I'll tell Rick when he gets back." Wendy said, knowing that Barb was right and she'd put off telling Rick the truth for too long.

"You should also give Rick the hourglass, since it's not fair if Courtney has her father's staff but Rick doesn't get the hourglass." Barbara said.

"I don't know. I don't think he's ready for that yet." Wendy said.

"What do you mean?" Barbara asked.

"I mean Rick's angry enough as it is without having super strength. I don't want to think about the kind of damage he'd do with it. After all, he did inherit his father's temper." Wendy said, since both Rex and his father had had violent tempers at times.

"But he also has his father's heart. I mean he's looked out for Courtney and Yolanda and Beth since the day they met." Barbara said.

"Yes, I remember being so happy when I got the call that he broke Henry King Jr.'s nose last year." Wendy said sarcastically.

"Hey, that kid deserved it, since he outed Yolanda against her will." Barbara reminded her.

"I'm not saying it wasn't justified, just that I wish he'd found a more productive way to deal with his anger, since honestly, I'm getting tired of getting calls about him." Wendy said.

"Then I think that the JSA will help him with that, since it will give him a more productive place to use his anger." Barbara said.

"Maybe." Wendy agreed, hoping that Barbara was right, though she remained firm in her decision that until Rick proved to her that he could control his temper, she was keeping the hourglass with her. Also, she'd need to direct Mari to this new JSA when she arrived in Blue Valley.