Comments | blondecanary: New Gotham City, early Monday morning

blondecanary

New Gotham City, early Monday morning

Nov 28, 2011 12:50

There had been a nightmare. People vanishing. Dinah walking on a road that lead off a cliff. Falling... She'd woken up as dawn was on the horizon, and left the Clocktower to get coffee, unable to get back to sleep. Recent phone calls hadn't helped. The streets already had early morning commuters on them, the sounds of the city waking up. Espresso ( Read more... )

the nothing moves in, karla, francine, barbara, new gotham, katchoo, alfred, arthur, jaime, helena, momoko, roy

Comments 19

glacial_witch November 28 2011, 20:05:09 UTC

Karla saw Dinah's number flashing on her screen and didn't even pause before flipping her phone open.

"Is your portal there?" she asked. "Is it time? Where should I meet you? I can be at 'Dite's suite in the Arms in like twenty minutes. Sooner than that if I run. Do you need anything? I can stop by J,GOB's or the Perk if you want. Seriously, Dinah, just say the word..."

She needed to stop babbling and let Dinah get a word in edgewise. But as soon as Karla stopped talking, then Dinah would be free to start. And the sinking feeling in the pit of Karla's stomach wanted desperately to keep that from happening. As long as Dinah wasn't talking, Karla was free to believe they were on their way to the island.

blondecanary November 28 2011, 20:08:48 UTC

"Karla." The doors to the elevator opened, and Dinah called out, "Helena! Barbara! Alfred! Could you get down here? Now!"

What to say. How to say it. "I don't think that's going to happen."

Barbara wheeled herself out of her room, bleary-eyed, as Helena stumbled out in her pajamas. Alfred came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands- then slowed, his face falling into sad lines as he saw Dinah's face.

glacial_witch November 28 2011, 20:15:00 UTC

She'd known. Somehow, from the moment the phone had rung, she'd just known. But that didn't mean she had to accept it just yet.

"Maybe--maybe I could call?" she tried, voice already thickening. "See if I can't get you bumped? I'll namedrop the Worthingtons and Starks like there's no tomorrow if I have to."

Except doing that would mean getting off the phone with Dinah. And she just--just couldn't.

"With enough nastiness and threats of hexes, we can probably get you a portal in like an hour. Maybe even less."

blondecanary November 28 2011, 20:22:21 UTC

"Sweetie." Dinah took a breath. "The people are gone. And, I just-- there's no way there's time."

Barbara had her head in her hands. Helena moved forward to hug her, face blank, but her eyes....

"I'm sorry." Her voice cracked. "We should have left sooner. As soon as this started."

Alfred walked over to place a hand on Helena's shoulder, and take Barbara's hand.

Thread 17

A Room At The Arms Hotel, Just About That Time... thatsamilkshake November 29 2011, 02:14:37 UTC

You'd think the solid feeling of safety and home that had hit Francine like a tsunami when she and Katchoo stepped out of their final portal and onto Fandom Island late last night would at least stick around until morning, but no. Not once she'd closed her eyes.

The darkness of the hotel room slipped quietly into the darkness of sleep, and from there into another sort of darkness altogether. Black thunderheads of absence on the horizon like they'd seen on tv in St. Louis, but this time it wasn't the Arch they were rolling toward, it was the jagged skyline of New Gotham. This time, it wasn't Katchoo's hand she clutched way too tightly as they waited for the first flicker of a portal; it was Dinah's.

And then, like water, like smoke, like air, nothing, it wasn't. Francine woke up to the sound of her own voice shouting Dinah's name, nails dug so hard into her palm that even after the third time she'd listened to the message telling her there was no such phone number, the flesh still stung.

Re: A Room At The Arms Hotel, Just About That Time... thismaskiwear November 29 2011, 02:43:56 UTC

Katchoo couldn't sleep through that. There was just no way.

She didn't have to ask, either, once she sat up and caught the telltale glow of Francine's phone screen; nightmare versions of Claire's last message had been playing behind her eyes, asleep or awake, since she'd listened to that voicemail. She'd tried to call back a few times, with basically the same results. Hearing Dinah's name now . . .

That made the giant fist clenching around her stomach squeeze a little harder and throw in a sharp twist just to up the ante.

Gritting her teeth and holding in blue streak she could swear at whatever the hell this was erasing worlds, she slid her arms silently around Francine and held on tight.