18349/Starlight after STAR Labs

Starlight after STAR Labs
Date of Scene:	17 June 2024
Location:	Roof - Titan's Tower
Synopsis:	In the aftermath of the MLF attack on STAR Labs in Metropolis, Karolina Dean (Starlight) and Kara Zor-El (Supergirl) aid where they can for two solid days before taking a much needed break.
Cast of Characters:	Karolina Dean, Kara Danvers

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Karolina Dean has posed:
The Mutant Liberation Front attacked STAR Labs two days ago while Karolina (or 'Starlight' as she was now known among the Titans) was 'on watch' at Titan's Tower, and though she and many others did the best they could to contain and mitigate the damage, Metropolis was still working on cleanup around the site.

In fairness, it seems like Metropolis is always working on cleanup for one reason or another. It's shocking that the City of Tomorrow is still as vibrant and beautiful as it is, but they keep building back better -- newer technology, even more modern buildings, cleaner energy... the whole place really is a marvel of innovation and technology.

And Starlight was still helping with cleanup where she could. She hadn't been home as much, her next exams were probably going to suffer a little for letting her attention slip, but the attack had left a crater in the ground, a lot of people injured (though, in fairness, it could have been a LOT more if Starlight and Atom Eve hadn't been working together on running interference... and if Divine hadn't shown up to smash some heads in a way that neither of them were capable of).

Then an EMP went off and the city blacked out for blocks.

Still, it was good PR for the Titans -- and for Starlight -- if she showed up to help where she could. She used her solar energy to help hold a big, replacement jumbotron looking sign in place while workers secured it. She ferried a few of them down once they were done. She even lifted a few of the heavier chunks of debris out of the way with her powers, but as the evening stretched into the night, she was getting low on energy, and she didn't want to run out completely.

There's a brilliant burst of color as Karolina hit super-sonic speeds on her way back to the tower, and then that familiar bright light in her new uniform -- white dress, white boots -- was landing on the rooftop of the tower.

As soon as her boots touched the roof's surface, that light went out -- apparently conserving every single second -- and she looked _exhausted_.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Supergirl is likewise amongst those helping with relief efforts. Where machines can't be brought in to lift heavier chunks of rubble, Supergirl can get easily, and in most cases, lift more than even those machines may have been able to. She had been in another part of the world during the attacks, trusting in the Titans to see to the defense of the city, and by all accounts that had done a good job. Given what they were up against and what could have happened, anyways.

Here she be. Hurling a bit of crumbled wall over a safe room built into the basement of one of the many businesses and homes that populate this section of Metropolis. "Hello?" She calls down, unable to penetrate the lead reenforced box of a room that is built to withstand seizmic tremors and nuclear fallout. It's old, but it still functions, right?

Her fingers dig into the outside of the door and yank it off the hings with a flex of her biceps, then toss it off to the side, peering into the dark cavern. The EMP had knocked out all power, including in these small hovels of safety. "Please still be in here.." She murmurs, now able to see more clearly with the lead door out of the way. Able to see the huddled figure of some man uncurling from where was laying in the floor, staring up at her. 'Supergirl?' "Yeah, come on... I'll get you out of here." She holds her hand down, pulls him up easily, and flies out of the hole she'd dug into the ground to reach this treasure case of humanity.

Where she can set him down with a group of EMTs near where Karolina, herself, was.

They'd likely both been at this for hours now.

Karolina Dean has posed:
Karolina slowed at the sight of Supergirl's red cape fluttering, the blue of her costume, the blonde hair fluttering up around her shoulders as she came in to land with the EMTs. She waited until the hand-off was complete before moving closer, her hand coming up to touch Kara's elbow lightly.

She was careful with affection in public like this. There might be pictures of them together going viral on social media at this point, but that didn't mean it wouldn't look bad if they got photographed making out above a growing number of injured. That was another aspect of being a 'superhero' that was difficult -- it didn't exactly come with its own PR department. If the Titans did anything at all in that realm, it was to make Karolina even _more_ famous, and it seemed to be up to her to make sure she didn't do anything that would turn the world against her.

And _she_ didn't have the built-in clout of being Supergirl. Despite the fact that Karolina tried not to read them, there were already plenty of comments rolling in about how Kara was 'settling' and she should be dating Captain Marvel or something.

So, no pressure or anything.

"Hey."

A tired little smile touches Karolina's lips as she nods over to the side to get a little more distance from all of the chaos before dropping her hand from Kara's arm.

"I'm feeling a little... dim."

When she was barely using her powers, Karolina hardly ever felt 'low-power,' but this singular event was taxing her. She'd used up a lot of her reserves on the night of the attack, and she'd been spending probably too much time helping with cleanup and recovery.

"How are _you_ doing?"

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara had spied Karolina throughout her working in the crater, punching into the basements of toppled buildings, but aside from brief smiles when she thought the other blonde might see it, she'd been too busy to properly engage. Which wasn't for lack of desire. There were plenty of people injured, and in the few hours they've been at work trying to find them, they'd done a great deal towards bringing most out to be seen by the EMTs.

So that touch was welcomed.

A smile for Karolina, reaching to run her pinky along the outside of her hand. It was a brief bit of affection that nobody would fault her given how dirty the costume she's wearing is. Both of them. They'd worked since yesterday. "Hey." She says quietly, glancing around at what amounts to chaos all across this part of Metropolis.

"You look as beautiful as ever." A grin, soft.

Kara didn't pay any attention to those publicities that say anything about her personal life. It's one of the few times in recent history where she understands the need for a Secret Identity, if only to take the weight off of her relationship. Specifically for Karolina.

"I...I'm... I don't know. I haven't really stopped to think about it. I wish I'd been here."

Blue eyes look down, red boots shifting on rubble.

"How are you?"

Karolina Dean has posed:
That touch. That look. Those words.

Centered on her chest, there's a faint glow that illuminates her dress -- a controlled shift of her 'heart' to that translucent light, just for a moment, before it fades again. A quiet little way for her to say 'I love you' without having to blink the whole thing out in morse code like some firefly on meth.

"Even _you_ can't be everywhere at the same time, Kara," she whispers softly, encouragingly. "We were doing okay..." Sort of. There was still a lot of damage. "But it could have been a lot worse. You should have seen how many of those bots there were. And I should have... well... there are things I would do differently, and I learned some hard lessons. You're here now."

She should have just used her energy to block the hole so the Zero-bots couldn't come out it. She'd gotten shot in the shoulder, too, once the stupid Zero-bots figured out that she was immune to pure energy blasts and switched tactics. Luckily, she heeled quickly, and that wound was pretty much gone by the time Kara made it back. Still, she was pretty grateful it hadn't been her face. That's what she got for assuming they only had one type of ammo available to them.

"I'm okay. Just... tired. _Really_ tired. I hate to say it, I think I've... pretty much given everything I have to give. I've only felt this low on power a couple of times before."

There's a pause, then, as she looks back towards the damage and back towards Kara again.

"I don't suppose you're interested in taking a break? You've been at this for a couple of days, now..." They both had. "I... don't know at what point I'm being selfish, but I could really use some time with you."

Kara Danvers has posed:
It was enough, that little flash of light.

Enough that Kara knows the meaning and enough that it's given her a second wind. Not just of energy, of which she's got plenty, but of ... self assurance? She couldn't be everywhere at once, but she still feels like she should have been here. This is Metropolis. Metropolis has always been protected by a Kryptonian.

Her blue eyes move across the destruction, then back to Karolina with a fractional nod. "I don't know how many more people there are to find." At least that may still be alive. The chances of survival drop dramatically if they're not found in the first couple of hours/days.

Her brow furrows at the thought, but she otherwise keeps it from on her face. "I believe they can spare me for a little while." LexCorp is already sending in relief of their own. Robots that mirror the strength of a Kryptonian. Perhaps not exactly, but enough.

She begins to hover above the rubble, holding her hand down and out to Karolina. "We have definitely earned some us time."

Karolina Dean has posed:
Karolina wasn't lying, before. When Kara reaches out for her and she holds her hand up, her light rips across her skin in that familiar glow, but it's dimmed substantially from where it usually is. There really isn't anyone else in the world would be able to recognizing that... no except Kara.

To the rest of them, she's still a spectacular being of light. Angelic, specially in that white dress, gold sash, and boots, with the way her mane of light trails after her like a comet.

"Thank you. If we're going all the way back to my place, I might need a lift... once we're out of zoom-lens distance," she muses, but even that playful smile on her lips has a serious edge to it.

Nevertheless, she rises up beside Kara into the night sky -- K&K, a star and a star -- rising up into the night.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Even if Kara has to carry her on her back or pull her up into the air, Karolina hovers along beside her with a fractional little nod from the Kryptonian. "I'll make sure you get there." She promises, smiling to some of the EMTs who wave in their direction once it's clear that the pair are going to take their leave. In fairness, they had been going nonstop for days, so it wasn't seen as really out of question that they would need a break.

Nobody can do this forever.

So it is that Kara lifts them up into the sky, angling her head back with her hand lacing with Karolina's to make sure that she's coming along for the ride. Until they're out of view of anything resembling a camera, at which point she pulls the dimmed plasmic form against her chest and chin resting on the back of Karolina's shoulder. Headed towards Karolina's apartment by way of the quickest route. Both of their blonde hair whipping back across their shoulders.

"I really like this costume you have chosen."

She says this in a whisper, squeezing affectionately around Karolina's waist.

"You look very cute, but also like you will whoop a booty."

Karolina Dean has posed:
Karolina wasn't fond of feeling weak. She been essentially self-sufficient since she was thirteen years old, very nearly a decade, and it still made her feel vulnerable in a very uncomfortable way. It was like losing a sense. She'd never actually let her light go OUT-out -- she wasn't sure what would happen if she did -- but it had gotten close a couple of times, especially when she couldn't easily get to a place to recharge.

Night was the hardest.

And then there was that time she lived in a cave... God, there's so much she still hadn't told Kara about.

But when they're up in the air, and she feels Kara pull her up, she loops her arms around the other girl's body and clings there.

Flying.. but not flying. She was just a faint glow, a dying light, but she closed her eyes against the wind and savored the way it felt to be held there.

That... was a feeling she could really get used to.

But a laugh ripples out of her chest, her cheek brushing against Kara's.

"Thank you. That means a _lot_ actually. I... I did kind of whoop a lot of booty," she admits, and Kara can feel the grin against her cheek. "It felt good. Not the getting shot... that felt horrible. But helping... thank you, for helping me find my way."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Even carrying Karolina, this is not a long flight. Kara has to mind how FAST she goes, but she knows good and well what the lowest limit of Karolina is, so she keeps it there and gets them to her apartment rooftop garden fairly quickly, as the Kryptonian flies. Setting down amidst the greenery without actually removing her arms from around the dimming woman's waist. "You would have fond your way alone." She says with a smile, rising up so she can rest her forehead against the other woman's.

She understood that mentality.. not wanting to be seen with weakness.

Everyone compares her to her cousin. Her YOUNGER cousin (which is all relative as time passage).

Which is why she would never shine a light on any precieved weakness in Karolina. Making certain nobody ever saw her unable to do for herself, never doing when Karolina could without her. It was important. Kara was capable of SO MUCH and she never goes out of her way to upstage anyone, even if they're a meer human.

"I bet you were a butt whoopin' machine. Screaming oneliners and kicking people with ninja moves. YA, HA-HA... YEEE..." She clearly doesn't know what real ninja kicks sound like.

Karolina Dean has posed:
Karolina lets out a long breath of relief once they're settling down on that rooftop, and her light is finally extinguished while she still had just a _little_ left in the tank.

Her smile, though, is just as radiant. Even without the light to back it up.

"I would have slept on the Tower's pool deck until morning," Karolina argues playfully. "_Tomorrow_ I would have found my way home. This way, I get to spend the night with the woman I love."

She tilts her head, then, to steal a kiss from Kara's lips before she bursts into laughter at the other woman's antics.

"That's... yeah... no. Turns out, I'm _not_ a 1980s martial arts movie star," she giggles. "Actually, I'm not a martial artist from _any_ decade. I was just telling someone the other day that the last time I tried to punch a guy without my power, it did _not_ go well at all. But I _did_ come up with some pretty interesting uses for my power, so I think I'll stick to that."

But then Karolina's slipping her hands down Kara's arms, curling them gently around her wrists and clinging to her hands as she starts to back towards the door that leads inside. There's a playful twinkle in her eyes.

"But for the record, I'm not _completely_ out of energy..."