mostlysunny | Open RP Post

I don't know but what if Supergirl was another file in that stupid metahuman file thing Lex had in Batman v Superman.

Of course she was there. Not at the big, crowded, loud, political display in Metropolis, the memorial for Superman. He wasn't there. He was in Smallville, and she was in Smallville, a small, pale figure in black, oddly motionless even when she was walking in step with the other pallbearers, dispassionately taking only her share of the weight on her shoulder. If she'd been able to carry him herself, gather him up and fly, it would have sunk in that Kal was gone.

But she couldn't, it wasn't what they did on Earth. She couldn't even send his body back to Rao, she didn't even know if that's what he would have wanted. It felt so wrong to pile more and more dirt on top of him, separate him that much more from the sun—even today, cloudy and unchanging, she could feel it keeping her going—but Kal had been Clark all his life, and where Clark was from, sons were buried next to their fathers.

She didn't speak to him that day, she could hardly speak to Martha that day, but she watched him and wondered what he was doing there, Bruce Wayne at the small private funeral of a Daily Planet reporter. She wondered what he was thinking. What he was carrying. But she didn't speak to him.

Two weeks later, she dropped to a gentle landing in civilian clothes just outside the gate to Wayne Manor, and met him walking up the drive. Her face shuttered, and for a moment she wasn't certain she'd be able to speak, even though she was the one who had made the trip, taken the risk to come here without her costume. Flown there just as herself.

"Hi," she said at last, quiet and subdued. "I'm Kara. I'm—I was— I'm Clark's cousin. ...Kal's cousin. I'm Kara Zor-El. I, um." She took a quick breath, a little shaky. "I just want to know what happened. Please. I can't sleep. I mean, I don't have to sleep. Not technically. But I like sleeping. But I don't like sleeping when I keep having dreams, really...awful dreams about...I should have been there. He should have called me, I know he was trying to keep his distance and let me be a hero on my own but why didn't he? ...sorry, I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne, I probably, jeez, I sound like I'm raving, don't I? I can go. I should go. Right? I'll go."

It's funny— how Bruce could go from wanting to kill Clark— Kal— Superman— to feeling as if something broke inside him when they buried him. He figures if he ever brought it up to Alfred there would be a particularly dry comment about how he was right. Bruce had noticed Kara, questioned how she was lifting the casket just as well as some of the others. He shouldn't have been surprised after Diana, but sometimes there's a part of him that wishes looks were not deceiving. Diana and him have to go hunting for Arthur, Barry and Victor soon, but for now he needs to stay in Gotham to help rebuild.

About a week after the funeral he realizes why he recognized Kara. She had been the S symbol that he had clicked out of sheer curiosity. There's an idea in his head to hunt for her, to ask if she would like to take up her cousin's mantle as a member of the— League he wants to form, but he thinks better of it. National City needs their Supergirl and well, Superman can't be replaced.

When Kara flew to him he was not entirely surprised, the survalliance helped alleviate that possibility but there's a part of him that's confused as to why she's here to speak with him. He let her talk because he knows sometimes people need to do that and because he wonders what exactly she'll tell him before he finally spoke as she tried to talk herself into leaving.

"Don't," he uttered, putting his hand up in an effort to make her be quiet for a moment. "We— This isn't a conversation I want to have on the grounds of my manor, Ms. Danvers. Or Ms. Zor-El. I have no basis for what you'd prefer to be called."

"Oh, it's, um. It's Danvers. But it's, just Kara is fine." She looks around dubiously at the expanse of silent land surrounding them—why wouldn't he want to talk here? there's no one to overhear, right?—but she nods anyway, a little steadier now that she'd gotten all that out. "Right. I guess I should've called first. I know I hate it when people just show up and think they can talk to Ms. Grant."

And she tries a smile, which sort of works. It's a start, anyway.

"Where, um..." She gestures vaguely around them, as if there's somewhere else she should be, a designated secret identities zone. Not that she actually knows in any detail why Bruce Wayne would know about her cousin as Superman, she'd just been pretty sure he hadn't been there to attend Clark's funeral instead of the big Superman funeral...it's complicated.

But he already knows her last name. So he already knows about her. So he definitely knew about her cousin. So this is where she needs to be to get answers. "Okay. We don't have to have it here. But," and now she does look a little more defiant, serious, there's some family resemblance now, "we should have it."

Never underestimate Bruce Wayne's paranoia, Kara, because it may be silent now but suddenly something will appears because honestly that's his life before and after becoming Batman, so he just expects to never have piece and quiet. Or people not being creepy and not in the cool way he does it. "Alfred would have told you he's not my secretary and that you were fine flying to here as long as the military didn't follow you."

He stared at her for a moment, his eyebrows lifting just a bit as if to clarify that she did indeed come alone. His eyes then darted up to the sky around them and the skyline before he shifted his eyes downward and tilted his head down just slightly. That was her answer and he was hoping she understood what he meant by it. Though just in case she didn't, he offered his hand. Right now he was straddling the line between Batman and Bruce, so it only seemed right to play up Mr. Wayne, the good businessman.

His lips almost curled into a smile when he sees the resemblance and instead of commenting on it he nodded, "I'm not saying I don't want to have the conversation. I was just teaching you that a bit of vigilance goes along way in keeping secrets. Or in protecting things. Getting answers."
.
He started to walk back to the house then and made sure he was holding her hand so she wouldn't perhaps cause a bit of havoc. He might have learned to trust Superman but Supergirl is still a bit of an unknown variable even with Luthor's files.

Edited (i typed that here correct originally and corrected it to hear oh my god) 2016-06-17 07:04 (UTC)

"Oh, no, they didn't, I can hear them," she answered matter-of-factly, before blinking and taking his hand. And then getting towed along toward the house, which surprised her enough that she just went, no real objections. She'd expected that to be a handshake and for a wild moment she wondered which Earth custom she'd overlooked in the last decade or so. But no, she told herself, maybe he was just...being cautious. Maybe the house had booby traps. ...Kryptonian-strength booby traps. Maybe.

She got distracted from thinking about what Kryptonian-strength booby traps would look like when they reached the house, which was gorgeous, but dark. Really somber. Maybe she should have expected that? It suited him, but she still found herself wishing the day wasn't overcast, and what the place would look like, bathed in sunlight.

The idea made her smile, if a little small and sad, and she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, a carefully gentle one. "I'm not mad," she said softly. "I just want...well. Answers. Like you said."

"Of course you can hear them, you're Kara Zor-El, you can do all the things Clark can do," he keeps a hold of her hand and after a few seconds realizes what he says and tries to correct himself. "What Clark could do."

He's working on the Kryptonian booby traps, they're mostly not deadly but crafting something like that takes time and Bruce hasn't quite had the time. His eyes glance at Kara once they reach the house almost as if he's worried about what her reaction will be before he realizes that she doesn't seem to mind it. He makes sure to not be too obvious about it but doesn't quite look away until he sees her smile.

Between that and how she squeezes his hand his shoulders loosen just a smidgen. "I can't guarantee I have them all. I'm not— I'm not your cousin, Kara. Some questions you might have are questions only he can answer. Before I let you into my house you have to tell me you can accept that."

[See, she'd just known something like this would happen. She'd been on edge about it, even Cat had commented. The parties she'd planned for Ms. Grant back in National City got interrupted often enough by cackling villains, naturally a party in Gotham City wouldn't go even an hour without something happening. But there's a new wrinkle this time: she's the hostage.

In a way, it's a good thing—at least they can't hurt her, hopefully they won't try—but on the other hand, none of Gotham's heroes have shown up yet, and Supergirl can't exactly appear to save the day and rescue the girl when she's the girl who needs rescuing.

There's an arm around her neck, holding her tight against, well, mostly leather and skin, and pink and blue hair is bouncing in and out of the edges of her vision. Kara ventures a smile, one hand on her villain's arm, the other holding her glasses firmly in place. Just in case.]

Um. I love your hair.

[Should she be more scared? She should probably be more scared.]

[Working together with the Flash to take down Livewire and Silver Banshee is, to date, one of Kara's favorite things about being Supergirl. There's been a lot of great stuff, of course there has, and she works with a lot of great people every day, but there's something about working with another hero, working with Barry, who really...who really gets it. Barry gets what it's like to be more powerful than the people around you who keep insisting on putting themselves in danger. He gets what it's like to be scared for them so often. He definitely gets what it's like to have to do whatever you need to do to keep them safe.

She's really missed Barry, starting right after he'd left and she'd returned to National City just as Myriad had been activated, right up to now, curled up on the couch under a blanket, trying to remember 'warm' as well as she remembers 'cold' after flying Fort Rozz into space and feeling cold for the first time since Krypton. She's missing Krypton tonight, looking at her mother's necklace and thinking back before the troubles had started and she'd just been little Kara Zor-El, when there's a knock at the door.

Kara sits up and looks through the door automatically, and the blanket pools on the floor as she zips across the apartment and opens the door.]

Barry! [It's impossible to hide how pleased she is to see him, but her bright smile falters at the look on his face.] Barry? What's wrong?

[ when barry sets his mind on something, it's impossible to rip it from his hands. his grip is often so tight the idea begins to embed itself into his skin, and eventually it seeps right into his marrow to become a part of him. going back in time to save nora allen has always been a part of barry allen, albeit it had never been so specific before. ]

[ rather than leaping straight into the speed force to go back to the year 2000, barry's feet take him further, his mind settling on a destination that's not embedded so deeply into his very being. though he's slightly confused when he ends up slamming into national city, barry feels as though he has to be here. this is where he needs to be, where his heart and mind, feet and speed force, have guided him. ]

[ finding kara's apartment isn't easy, but it's quick nonetheless. he hesitates many times over, taking the stairs to only go back down them, then the elevator, pressing the button for her floor before he impulsively selects them all so it takes him even longer to reach her. it's not out of a desire to not see her that he acts so childishly, restless and unable to make a decision, but it's his instinct to run away. ]

[ he wants to run away from a lot of things lately, and it's the thought that kara's now become one because of what's transpired back home that propels him forward. lifting his fist, he knocks on her door, and realises there's no turning back now. ]

[ attempting to paint a bright, bubbly smile on his face, it only lasts a second. it falls away when he hears her footsteps on the other side of the door, and when it opens, it's a look of being rundown that greets her instead. ]

Hey! [ the brightness to his voice isn't forced, though his expression seems to be with how it begins to beam and then putters out almost immediately. ] Sorry — Are you … I should've called. Or … [ lifting his arm above his head, he scratches the back of his neck. looking a bit sheepish, his heart sinks a little when he says, ] I don't know how to call you.

Oh! Oh, right. We should, um, we should fix that. There's probably...a way to do that.

[She has no idea what it would be, but that's what the tech guys are for, right? Like Winn, or Cisco on Barry's side. They could figure it out.

But that's less important, because she doesn't need to call Barry, he's here, and something's wrong.] No, no, I'm not busy, come in.

[She steps back to let Barry in and closes the door behind him, and it's probably obvious that she wants to hug him when she turns back, but he still looks exhausted and worn down.]

What is it? Are you okay, do you need help?

[ barry's pretty sure cisco could breach his way through, but — things should feel simpler. his friendship with kara is something barry values, despite only knowing her for a very short amount of time. nothing about them is normal. him coming to her apartment isn't normal in himself, since it shouldn't even be possible. ]

[ calling her should be simple, just like dealing with the loss of dad should be just as easy. ]

[ he steps inside her apartment, hands slipping into his pockets as he does so. glancing around, he notes how it's still the same — a great space for a cool alien woman to live in, who also masquerades as a valuable member of a media conglomerate and as a superhero. ]

I just wanted to come and see you. It's been a while. [ he lifts his shoulder, smile in place. barry looks down at his feet, then back up at her. ] We defeated Zoom. I felt like you should know about it since … you don't really get the Central City news here. They should really have Multiverse cable available ...

You did!? Barry, that's great! [It is great, it should be a weight off his shoulders, why does it seem like there's more weight now than there had been before?

Kara frowns, worried, and decides that she doesn't feel like erring on the side of caution. This is Barry, this is her friend, and he's hurting. She steps closer and pulls him into a hug, carefully as always, but even more carefully now. He doesn't need to talk about it if he doesn't want to, but she has a feeling he just isn't sure how to start talking about whatever it is. She knows that feeling really well.]

That's great, Barry. I'm so glad you're okay.

Yeah, me too.

[ he easily returns her hug. where she's tentative, he's not. without the threat of potentially crushing someone into a pulp with a mere hug, barry doesn't quite need to worry if his abilities will overpower him in this regard — if that's what kara's worried about at all. it's his easy summation. he may be able to bounce back from being shot with an arrow, but he doesn't quite know how he'd do if she broke all his bones at once. ]

[ still, if breaking all his bones means he gets a hug from kara, it'll be worth the downtime. ]

[ he rests his chin on her shoulder for a moment. ] I'm glad you're still here. Not that I didn't think you would be, but — [ he lets out a breath. ] This Multiverse thing is kind of hard. I'm just glad you're still here.

Of course I'm still here.

[It's safe now to hug a little tighter, now that she knows he doesn't mind it, and when he rests his chin on her shoulder she smiles and leans her head against his.

They stand like that, next to her front door instead of sitting down somewhere, just breathing. Barry is warmer than most of the people she hugs on a regular basis, and that lingering chill in her bones has her wanting to stay like this for a while.]

I'm glad you came back. It's...a lot's happened since you left. I missed you. I know that, that probably sounds kind of strange... [They've barely met, after all, but it's still true.]

I missed you, too.

[ barry pulls away. it doesn't matter how comfortable he may be — or how he thinks, if he asks, kara won't let go and he won't be able to fight out of her super-alien strength to flee into the speed force and change history for possibly the better. he doesn't pull away because he wants to get away from her, it's mostly to try and outrun his own thoughts. briefly, he wonders if he goes back to 2000 if that erases them ever meeting, and barry finds that to be an incredibly depressing thought. ]

[ looking at her, he smiles, and says innocently, ] I had ice-cream a few days ago, and I knew you'd appreciate it. It kind of sucked not having you there to race eating a whole pint of it with. Wells … wasn't impressed when I ate it all within, like, a few minutes. [ he shrugs his shoulders and playfully adds, ] But it's not my fault I need energy, you know? I take it where I can get it. Ice-cream makes me run faster. It's not my fault the universe wants me to eat dessert after breakfast.

[She lets him go as soon as she feels him pulling back a little, and there's still worry around her eyes—there's something wrong, there's definitely something wrong—but she still grins when he talks about speed-eating ice cream.]

A few minutes, pfft, I could beat that easy—oh! Jeez, I'm sorry, are you hungry? You must be hungry, you ran all the way to another universe again, what do you want, do you want to go out somewhere or should I just, I can bring something back?

[It's a distraction, a little, she can tell there must be something wrong that he isn't telling her, and at least this way he can settle in and maybe he'll open up a little more if she doesn't push, right?] How does pizza sound? Pizza's always good, right? One for you, one for me?

[ the best thing about kara danvers — other than everything — is that she talks almost as quickly as him. following her easily, he smiles, and waits until there's a bit of a break in her rambling before he even thinks to open his mouth. ]

Are you a fan of surprises? Garlic bread?

[ of course, barry allen has a plan in mind, and that's to do as he had done so before — home deliver. after all, she'd been so hospitable and kind to him when he wound up in national city, he thought it was only fair when winn and james wanted a demonstration of his speed, he bring back some goodies, too. ]

[ same rules apply here. for once, barry's not running to avoid, although one could say he is, if only to avoid an inevitable conversation he can feel sitting on his heels. ]

[Kara practically lights up at the suggestion of garlic bread, garlic bread is one of the best things about Earth, along with potstickers and bear claws.]

Yes, and yes definitely. ...the pizza place on 7th has the best. If, you know. I had to pick one. For some reason.

[Because Barry might not realize it, but he has some tells when he's going to sprint off somewhere in a crackle of electricity. Maybe they're not tells that everyone would be able to spot, but she can see the way he shifts his balance just a little, puts more pressure on one foot so he can push off into a run, so that part isn't really a surprise, but it's a good surprise that he wants to go get something for them, that's so nice. Barry's so nice. She hopes she can help with whatever's wrong.]

[ the one thing about kara that barry likes is how quick she is at keeping up with him. he smiles, not wanting to let her know what she obviously already knows of his intentions. nodding his head a little, he looks over her shoulder, creases his brows, and tilts his head as he goes, ] Huh. That's new. [ with the intention to (horribly) distract her, he's gone. ]

[ wind picking up and tossing itself toward her, barry's out that door, a golden streak through the city as he quickly navigates his way to seventh. dropping some cash (god, he hopes national city uses the same dollar bills) into the register, he's picked up a couple of boxes of pizzas, four garlic breads, and two bottles of soda which he's pretty sure are either going to spray everywhere or be flat by the time he arrives. ]

[ arriving back in her apartment in one piece, he zips through and lays everything out on her dining room table. rubbing his hands together, he takes in a breath. ] There's a good chance those sodas are going to go everywhere.

[Of course she looks, she even looks in earnest even though she knows he'd be trying to distract her, but it makes her laugh when he disappears out the door anyway. She zips across the apartment to clear everything off the table, and it's only because she's so fast that she's ready for Barry by the time he gets back.]

That's still so cool. Did you get faster?

[She's already reaching for one of the sodas and pulls her hands away like it burned her, then frowns a little in thought. What can she do to fix that? Cool them down more? No, they'd just expand if they froze, and probably explode everywhere. Reluctantly, she decides they'll just need to wait. Ugh.] I think I have some in the meantime.

[One unopened bottle in the fridge, which she pours into two glasses evenly, to tide them over, and now it's time to open all the pizza boxes and almost swoon with happiness at the sight. She zips over and gives him a quick hug before pulling a slice of pizza out of a box, and topping it with a slice of garlic bread. It's really good okay.]

You're the best. You should come visit more often. Or just stay here for a while, you could use a vacation right?

[ when she zips over to hug him, he laughs. he's working at human-pace to open all those pizza boxes, trying to ensure that there's enough space around the table so that they ultimately have enough room to stretch their arms and even put their elbows on the table. ]

Um. [ he laughs it out, momentarily distracted as he pushes one of the boxes slightly along the table. sitting down, barry reaches over to grab two slices of pizza, two bits of garlic bread, and drains a quarter of the soda she's poured before he remembers he needs to pace himself. depositing his food onto his plate, he's already got a slice in his mouth and cheese strings attached to it as he looks over at her. ]

[ muffled with food: ] Probably. [ placing his hand in front of his mouth, he drops that slice onto his plate and properly finishes. ] Do superheroes really take vacations? I'd ask Oliver but he'd probably give me a speech about the island and act all confused about the idea. I'm still waiting for my superhero handbook.

Oh yeah, you told me about him. I don't think he'd take a vacation. [The first slice of pizza disappears like it was never there and Kara picks up a second, and adds some of those spicy red pepper flakes. They aren't spicy to her, but they do taste good.]

I'm pretty sure even my cousin is still waiting for his. They must be backordered or something.

[She drains half her glass to wash down the first half of her second piece of pizza, reflecting that this really is pacing herself when it all looks and smells good, and Barry must be pacing himself too, he must be hungry after coming so far.

Kara still wants to ask what's wrong, but instead:] How long are you staying? I mean, do you need to go back right away?

[ do you take vacations when you're a superhero? barry thinks he's about to take one that'll either make or break the universe. is it a vacation if he's redoing his life, ensuring that the people who should be in it are in it? it sounds more like work than a relaxing time away, but he thinks it's the best option to remove his grief completely from his story. ]

[ he's only got a bite left of his second slice when kara asks her question, and he takes his time in chewing, licking his fingers before grabbing a napkin to properly wipe them. then he downs it with most of his drink, placing that glass back down with just the dregs of soda leftover. ]

I don't know. [ he smiles, but doesn't hold it. the entire atmosphere of barry allen becomes a little morose. ] I kind of just came here on a whim? [ he finds himself picking at his napkin. ] I was supposed to go ... elsewhere. But I came here instead.

[When Barry doesn't answer right away is when Kara knows something's really the matter. He's the Flash, she knows it sometimes takes effort for him to slow down his speech, he really isn't the kind of person who sticks to silences.

She frowns a little, but gets up and brings one of his bottles of soda to the sink, opens it carefully, successfully, and then brings it back and refills his glass.]

Supposed to? Where were you supposed to go? Why don't you want to go there?

[ barry watches as she fills his glass, focusing on those bubbles for a moment. they look the same as they do back home. maybe their sodas are the same, earth-1 and earth-…kara. ]

[ he keeps his focus on the glass. ] Um. [ he thinks to take a drink, but he'd end up downing the entire thing in one go — and that doesn't seem like the best way to go about dealing with this. ] I was going to go back to 2000 and … [ he shakes his head, takes a deep breath through his nose, and glances up at her to ultimately focus on his glass instead. he doesn't want to see the expression kara's face. ]

[ ever so slowly, like he's weighing each word: ] Zoom killed my dad. And I … I just want to fix it. I know I shouldn't, but it's all I feel like doing.

Open RP Post

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does it look like i know what i'm doing besides breaking your curse. BECAUSE I REALLY DON'T KNOW

WHO NEEDS PLANS NOT US whoops this got sad maybe we do need plans

THIS IS RUDE AND I FEEL LIKE PLANS WOULD HAVE NOT HELPED.

YOU'RE PROBABLY RIGHT #winning

#winning and crying

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rolls in

@lbs

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