The Clocktower, New Gotham, Monday afternoon

[blondecanary]

Dinah had gotten Priestly's message early in the morning; and spent half of it crying. Going to class? Not happening. She'd sent the photo to Barbara with the message, What is this? Then gone to the Clocktower

Comments

[unborn_renegade]

This voicemail started with static and then the sound of gunfire. That wasn't... necessarily a worrying thing; it just meant it was a message from Jak, who had a habit of calling from warzones, if he even called at all.

"Di-- nah?"

Distortion ripped the word in two.

"Big trouble's-- coming. Don't know-- how long-- it keeps coming. Rolling like the-- ocean or something. Doesn't seem-- to be-- stop--"

More gunfire. Jak's comm cut out.

[blondecanary]

Dinah checked her voicemail, then frantically tried to call back. "Jak? Jak? Please, please..."

The number you have dialed is not a valid entry. Please try again.

"Who's Jack?" Barbara asked, then wheeled over to hug Dinah as she dissolved into tears again.

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine would have forgiven Dinah for breaking the news in text, if she had. At least it would given Francine an excuse for this unsettled, lurchy feeling in her tummy while she made a call that she'd been planning to make anyway, to talk about Thanksgiving plans.

"Dinah? Is something wrong?"

[blondecanary]

"Priestly's disappeared." Dinah cleared her throat so it was more than a croak. "And so has Jak." She closed her eyes. "Have you heard about this, lately? People just-- going away?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"What? What do you mean disappeared?" Which was a no, or sort of a no, since she'd heard about people getting stranded every which where by Portalocity, but that wasn't the kind of thing that would make Dinah sound like this.

[blondecanary]

"Ummmm. Okay." Dinah closed her eyes to concentrate, and managed to talk, voice rough with crying. "I got back from Homecoming, and people were missing here. One of the criminals we fight. People in Jump Club. Priestly called because his mom had vanished and no one remembered her." She gulped. "I visited Momoko, and coffee shops, they were going missing, no one missed them, and then we visited an informant, and his house-- it evaporated behind us. And no one remembered him." She let out a shaky breath. "Priestly called, Friday? Thursday? I don't know. Japan was missing." Don't cry don't cry don't cry. "And he left me a m-message, and now my phone won't connect..."

[heromaniac]

Momoko's phone was connecting to New Gotham even as she was pushing open the door to the School's roof. "Dinah? Momoko. What is it? What's wrong; what's happened?"

[blondecanary]

God, Dinah wanted to sleep for a million years. But she had to tell people what was happening. "Priestly's gone." She swallowed hard. "So is Jak. Priestly sent me a photo, I'm gonna send it to you." Breathing, just breathing. "Told Karla. And Francine. Trying to think what to do next."

[heromaniac]

"Gone." Momoko repeated as she dropped her bags and leaned against the roof railing. Gone, now, meant... gone. And the way Dinah sounded totally confirmed that. "First, are you okay?"

[blondecanary]

"No. Not even a little." Her voice cracked. "You remember Priestly still, right? Like Karla does? You know who I'm talking about?" Jak too. But one heartbreak at a time.