Oh Christ, this again?
She yelped and leaped back, trying to give the package a wide berth. "MOOOOOOOOM!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, eyes firmly locked on the ticking assembly of random parts and explosive compounds. She was sick to death of this, honestly, and her mother looked to be just as over as she was; the tall, dark-haired woman glared at her with those bright blue eyes, but her attention was quickly drawn towards the bomb, leaving her to mutter a few obscenities under her breath.
Really, there was a lot to admire about Veronica Clark. If not the physical beauty and perfect curves, then certainly one had to admire the way she'd established herself as a successful engineer, all while being an excellent mother to her daughter. This on top of the minor, completely inconsequential fact that she had spent most of that time moonlighting as Athena, a goddamn bona fide superheroine dedicated to keeping San Diego safe.
"I swear to god, he needs to find a hobby," Veronica muttered as she grabbed the bomb, wrapping her arms around it and holding it against her chest. After a few moments, it detonated with a loud thump, doing absolutely nothing to the ever-indestructible heroine. She dropped the ruined components out on the floor - a tile floor, because she had rapidly learned that heroism and carpeting don't mix. Rachel was already getting back into the movements, sweeping the ash into a dustpan.
It had been liberating, at first, when her mother had decided six months prior to reveal her secret identity. There would be no more constnatly trying to cover for why nobody ever saw Veronica and Athena in the same room, people were practically begging to donate to the woman who'd saved San Diego a hundred times over the last fifteen years, and overnight, Rachel had become the most popular girl in school. For a little while, she'd felt like a total rock star.
And then the murder attempts started.
Athena wasn't exactly short on enemies - and as much as they'd discussed it beforehand, as much as Rachel had been sure she was willing to accept that people would target her in order to hurt Veronica... it was starting to get a little tiring. This was the third time somebody had sent them a bomb in the mail this month. What was truly staggering was that the SDPD was still doing its job, with countless more various horrible things being caught before they arrived at the Clark home.
"Goddamnit," her mother muttered as she emptied out the dustpan into the trash, marching over to the kitchen for some early-morning whiskey. She'd noticed her mother drinking quite a bit over the last few months; not enough to be a drunk, but enough for her to start getting concerned. "That's it. We can't do this anymore. I'm not taking these risks with you anymore."
Rachel groaned. "Mooooom, I'm not a little kid anymore!" She wasn't a fan of people trying to kill her, sure, but she was even less appreciative of being treated like a child. "I'm eighteen, which means I'm an adult-"
"I fucking know you are!" she bellowed back, the glass she'd picked up crushing in her hand. There was a long, awkward moment as she glanced between the glass shards and her daughter, regret immediately washing over her face. "...I'm sorry." Her cheeks flushed with embarassment. "I.. I know you are..."
She sighed, leaning up against the kitchen counter. "You are, and... I can't... I can't... lie to you anymore." The dark-haired woman swallowed audibly. "Rachel... do you remember, when you asked once how I gained my powers... and I told you, it was a one-time thing, could never be replicated?"
Confused, Rachel merely nodded, arms still folded over her chest in some vain attempt at protection. "That was... that was a load of bullshit. It was to protect you, to make sure people couldn't find out through you and weaponize it, but... it was bullshit." She sighed and gently floated forward, arms resting on her daughter's hands. "Truth is... it can be recreated, just once. And I think... for your sake... it's time."
The gears started to move inside the girl's head. "You mean...?"
Veronica nodded. "I do. It's time.. it's time that I made sure you can shrug off explosions just like your mom." She smiled and cupped the girl's face with one hand as Rachel's pulse skyrocketed. "Come on, down with me to the basement, and we can get started..."
The teenager squealed with excitement. "HOLY SHIT I'M GONNA BE A SUPERHERO!" The outburst made her mother giggle as she started leading her over to the stairs, where she could bring her down to show her exactly what would be needed to make her little Rachel into an indestructible titan...