17257/Back from the Dead - Medbay

Back from the Dead - Medbay
Date of Scene:	23 February 2024
Location:	Level 1 - Medbay - The Roost
Synopsis:	Conner confronts Phoebe, who appears to be grabbing her things from the Medlab and moving out of the Roost
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Conner Kent

---

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The system had alerted that Phoebe's tracker had kicked on at the Roost. Her signal was strong, indicated heartbeat, and even that she was moving unaccompanied!

    Which means Phoebe was alive!

    The young woman's black hair had been cut short to help clean it, and was wrapped up in a hair scarf. She had a couple of bags with her that she was sorting things into, her candy drawer pulled entirely out of its filing cabinet and inhabiting its own bag.

    Unusually she is not accompanied by either of her canine companions, nor any other Outsiders.

    She takes off her glasses and rubs at her face a moment, digging her palms into her eyes.

Conner Kent has posed:
"And there you are," comments a voice from the door into the room. Conner can move quietly when he wants, as he can fly. "It is good to see you again. But it is... not so good you come here unannounced, we should be celebrating, you know?"

He has his arms crossed over his chest in disapproval. Or perhaps he is just worried. Conner is hard to read when he is distressed, because there is almost no physical sign of any kind of problem. He probably could go for two or three weeks without sleep without any visible consequence.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    As Kryptonians and their wild biology do.

    Phoebe startles. She drops a bag of M&M's, and gives to hacky sack it back up to her arms as she looks over to Conner, and she opens her mouth. She closes her mouth, and then shakes her head.

    "Nothing to celebrate. Saif Hassan stabbed me with a sword that disappeared into ash, I died, and was brought back because Jason doesn't give a shit about Batman's opinions on anything." Phoebe states plainly, raising her gaze to Conner.

    "I'm sure everyone was worried when my domino disconnected."

Conner Kent has posed:
"Yes, of course we were... are," confirms Conner. "And good for Jason, he had a chance to help and took it. I would have done the same." He takes a step forward, sighs. "You are not okay yet, are you? But who would?"

The looks pained, then his eyes go over the bags and drawers. "Will you be staying here for a few days?" He asks. "I am sure everyone else would like to see you and talk to you. And know you are safe." Here. Not outside where someone might attempt to stab her again.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I'm... um... considering staying at Jason's. Or Robbie's." she states, and she looks down. Her left hand has bandaids on it. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Mickey Mouse. She moves her right hand to cover her left, and she looks up to Conner as she lets her shoulders drop. She works her mouth a moment, and then shakes her head.

    "I probably shouldn't be around too many people at once. I don't really have an immune system."

Conner Kent has posed:
"You lost your abilities?" Conner frowns, studying her hands for a few seconds. "You should be here for a time, this place has medical facilities and it can be made sterile. And no one in the team is sick right now."

Also a better chance to find out what is wrong, right? Maybe not if it is a magical problem. Although they do have a few contacts. He doesn't say that, though. Instead "What are you planning to do?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Yeah." Phoebe confirms. "Healing," notebooks go in a bag "shields," a couple of clipboards with notes, and she pauses, looking at the notes "-- my ability to read dead languages! --" she angrily adds, and slams the clipboard down, her shoulders tensing.

    "It's gone. All of it. I can't summon fireballs. I can't fly. I don't even know if any of my other tattooed wards will work or if they're just fancy ink now." Phoebe states, and she takes a calming breath, gripping her hands until her knuckles pale.

    "... I died. The shard separated from me. If the world is very lucky I have some unknown relative of my mother's line who got it. If not? It went back to Heka."

Conner Kent has posed:
"I have admit I never understood how your powers worked," comments Conner. "But that shard was an add on, wasn't it? You can use magic because some inherited thing, maybe genetic quirk. Like Zatanna. Right?"

He tentatively reaches for the notebook, "if feels you are packing for leaving. But I don't think you should. You have many of your friends here and it is a much better place to heal and recover than Jason or Robbie's place."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "... kind of?" Phoebe states, and she plucks out another piece of paper.

    "So. My whole biological family are blended with Homo magi lines. That's because the village had a neat quirk where they'd send out the young women into the world to 'steal' bloodlines to strengthen the village. And, y'know. Genetic diversity." she explains, "But the Shard was a bit of actual Creation. That was confirmed two years back in New York." she explains. When she was living there, dealing with Leksandra and then The Angels.

    "But even stuff I learned from The Other One, or processes I learned from Zatanna? Even my magical senses? Nothing." Phoebe states, and she rubs the back of her head.

    "I'm supposed to be the magical expert on the Outsiders, right? And the magic Bat. But without my powers I'm not even... I'm just not even." she stammers.

Conner Kent has posed:
"That doesn't makes sense. Losing that shard shouldn't have negated the basic and learned abilities..." Conner narrows his eyes. "You said the blade that guy used to hit you vanished? Maybe it was some kind of magic dampener?"

Conner leaves the notebook alone, but outside Phoebe's bag. "Look, if I lost my powers suddenly, I wouldn't want to leave the team right away. Not until I was completely sure they would never return. And even then, I would try to help you with investigations, maybe visit often."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Yeah. But as it turns out Saif Hassan somehow disappeared in Slaughter Swamp." Phoebe states, and she looks back over to Conner. "... so I can't ask him what he did. Damian seems to think that there's a connection between what arms they used and maybe the preacher who showe dup a couple times." Phoebe states, and she sits down.

    "But I'm not you, Con. My powers were the only reason Tim invited me to the team. Now I can't do anything. I've been cut off from all magic." she explains, and holds up her left hand. "My red dog is gone. My other dog doesn't recognize me. I can't sleep because I feel Nothing. It's like..." she frowns a moment.

    "I think all that would happen is I would end up a liability, or get in the way. And I don't want that. I don't want people to have to worry about me."

Conner Kent has posed:
"Your powers weren't the main reason Tim invited you here, it was what you were doing," replies Conner, "and your powers are not the reason why you have friends here, don't sell us short, please."

He raises a hand between them, pointing at her, "too late to stop us from worrying about you. We do that all the time. You have this... very negative way to going through life. Low self-esteem or something. No idea what is going with the dogs, I assure you that your human and close-to-human friends do recognize you."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Tim invited me to the team beecause I was out there superheroing because of my powers." Phoebe points out dryly. "and I'm not negative. I'm a Realist. Fact of the matter is I'm not really that impressive without powers." Phoebe points out, reaching out to push Con's hand down.

    "Maybe I wanna be done with it. With the whole life. I tried to leave it behind before when I went to a small town in North Eastern Kansas and Tim and Dick and Zee and freaking Meggan Constantine decided to show up and drag me back here. They didn't ask. They knocked me out and I woke up in the Bat Cave. died, I woke up having kicked Tim and Damian across a cavern. And to do what?" she sits down, defeated, and looks at the computer.

    "To play medic to a team that doesn't need me? To be constantly reminded that I wasn't good enough when I *did* have powers to be anything? I look at my record, and all I see is failures, Con. I couldn't stand up to Eclipso the Spirit of Wrath. Other heroes would take people who I could have healed out of the room and brought them to Doctor Strange. Even Oracle recommended Strange over me, while I was in the room, on the case. And... for what?"

    She looks out over the medical bay.

    "So a bunch of people can go 'woo, she's still here'? Yeah, ask Roy how that one works out." she tilts her head forward.

    "I'm tired, Con. And I can't handle this without my powers."

Conner Kent has posed:
"Wow," connect takes Phoebe's hand and smiles, "that was a lot of negativism in five seconds. Even for a brooding bat-person. Well, guess what? Pretty much no one wants Superboy if they can have Superman instead, either. Or Robin when Batman is available. Those guys have ten to twenty years of skills on us. You are going to have grey hairs before they start saying 'Phoebe is as good as Strange, maybe better'. What did you expect?"

He shakes his head. "Gotta lower your standards, girl. I think I told you this the first day. We can't save everyone or beat everybody. I tried that after Tana died and... I ended up in a rather bad spot. You have been going there once a year, and it is not a happy place to live."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe tries to pull her hand away from Conner with a sour expression on her face.

    "Yep. That's the key. You're absolutely right. I should definitely lower my standards. That will make everything better." she states.

    "now that I have no expectations or standards, what now? Oh, right --" she states, giving her hand another tug. "Moving out, because I'm pretty much useless to the team right now. Not that I was any particular use before, aside from making Centerhall All Over The Room and -- oh wait, that *also* required a connection to magic so that I could turn the medical bed he was vivisecting my arm on into shrapnel to decorate the wall with his insides."

Conner Kent has posed:
"You have been a lot of help countless times," Conner lets her pull her hand back, "do I need a list... and what is that about Centerhall? You mean in N.O.W.H.E.R.E.?" Now, that does bring bad memories. Dr. Centerhall left no good memories among his victims. Rest In Pieces.

(Note: He is probably still alive, just more cyborged, and still a sadistic asshole).

"One of the first things you did here was to cure my Kryptonite poisoning after Deathstroke stabbed me," he notes. "I could have died. Or if not, I would have been sick for months."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Or gotten treatment at the League, or the Titans. You think I'm not aware that they have better facilities? More competent healers at the time?" Phoebe points out. "I was a convenience. That's all I've ever been." Phoebe states, and she rubs the back of her head.

    "Centerhall caught me on one of my walk arounds. I was trying to destroy the samples he'd taken. So he started to vivisect my arm without anesthesia, and I kinda exploded the medical bed underneath me to... kill him." Phoebe states.

    "... I want to go to Jason or Robbie's so that I have someone I trust watching over me. At least until I know I'm... leveled out, I guess."

Conner Kent has posed:
"I don't know the Titans very well," and weren't they just reforming when Tim opened the Roost? For the first three years of Superboy's careers there were no Titans and no Justice League. Only reliable super-team was the Fantastic Four, and he didn't know them well either.

The stuff about Centerhall is worrisome, but it was over a year ago. That is not the main problem now. "Oh, I see. So, it is you are closer to them. But Jason can come here anytime... and, well..." that makes Conner feel they are not good enough. He sighs, "at least say goodbye to the others. Stay a few hours."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe's quiet for a moment.

    "Jason and Robbie both died. And were dead. And came back." she states.

    "I can sleep on Jason's couch and not have to worry about screaming at night. Robbie..." PHoebe trails off, and she rubs the back of her head quietly.

    "I'd just feel more comfortable. I think. Rather than here in case someone brings back a date again."