19945/Through the Looking Glass

Through the Looking Glass
Date of Scene:	26 January 2025
Location:	Alley
Synopsis:	Batgirl falls down a rabbit hole, and finds herself in the den of the White Rabbit. Things take a turn for the surreal, when the topic of conversation turns to dreams and nightmares. And in the end, Stephanie Brown reveals her face to the villainess, who returns the gesture in kind with a bunny-hop of a hug. Curiouser, and curiouser.
Cast of Characters:	Jaina Hudson, Stephanie Brown

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Jaina Hudson has posed:
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Gotham City Alleyways
3:37AM
Two weeks before New Years Eve...

"In the garden of memory
In the palace of dreams...

That is where you and I shall meet."

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How long has Batgirl been in pursuit of the White Rabbit? After finding those officers, still alive, hallucinating and slipping into nightmare, her quarry had retreated into the shadows. And in the space between the two old, burned-down buildings of Gotham City, where concrete fuses to concrete like some sort of structural umbilical cord, claustrophobia begins to set in.

At some point, it will need to be pure, unbridled perseverance that sees Batgirl through it all. The darkness thickens, but so does the warmth. Tucked away into the belly of the building, through strange and winding little passageways, Stephanie can follow white rabbit rather easily -- because there is only one path. And though that path grows tighter, and tighter, and more claustrophobic, it does offer plenty in the way of spaces to turn around. And at some point, through this pursuit, it's likely that Stephanie Brown herself may wonder just... what exactly is compelling her forward? Those officers are alive, after all. They could benefit from her help. Is she really chasing this woman down the rabbit hole, out of some sense of justice? Stubbornness?

Or is it curiosity that presses her ever forward?

Eventually, the darkness of the space will yield to warm, comfortable light. It spills out from the far side of where the rabbit hole ends, and though Stephanie can't look through it from this angle, all it would take is a few more feet -- maybe ten, or twelve -- to get close enough to look within it.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Steph's not sure how long she's been chasing the mysterious stranger, long enough she can no longer hear the babbling of the cops she left behind when she spotted the figure responsible for their suffering. Long enough the city is dark and foreboding and every corner, every shadow lurks and looms with threat. Which, really, doesn't help her narrow down the time. Gotham. It's not actually that comforting of a city.

But if there's one thing Stephanie has learned from her mentors it's a simple mantra. Always Keep Going. She'll stop when she can't take another step, when she's given every effort and truly exhausted herself.

Of course, her mentors also drilled in that the 'job' is about protecting the citizens, and while she could, even should, help those police officers she's got guilt and uncertainty weighing her down, having failed to stop, or even notice in the moment the kidnapping of Harper Row, Steph's working on one shining, unmistakable goal. This criminal is not getting away.

And then Steph breaks out into warmth and light and a confusion that has her reeling, for a moment she wonders if she ran through some sort of magical portal, if this was all some hallucination of dark alley and twisting turns. But whether it's magic or just Gotham's cramped alleys, that light beckons. Almost taunts her.

And she's not going to stop now. She has to see. And so she closes in to get a view of the light source and what it heralds.

Jaina Hudson has posed:
"--and just how do you figure that?" comes a voice, from the end of the tunnel. Stephanie will be able to hear it, as well as the preceding conversation, quite clearly as she crawls down the small space and towards the light.
"Oh, I see. Now that certainly is interesting! I do so love it when you talk about these sorts of things."
...
"Mine? Oh, no. I... I don't really remember my dreams. I actually sometimes don't really know if I dream or not. Or if, when I close my eyes at night..."

Stephanie will reach the 'portal' into the small little space beneath Gotham City now, and be able to see inside.

"...If I sleep, or if I just disappear."

The voice belongs to White Rabbit, and Stephanie will see her now, kneeling on a small pink pillow in front of an equally small table. Across from her are two little chairs, one of which seats a small stuffed white rabbit, and the other seats a doll with tan skin and dark brown hair. There are little tea cups set in front of them, but only White Rabbit's has anything in it.

The space itself is small. Comfortable. It could quite fittingly be called a den, with how cozy it is. Fur carpets and pillows and cushions piled up high in the corner that allow for the aforementioned sleeping and not-dreaming. On the far wall, over that nest, are the words 'NEVER FORGET YOU ARE REAL' painted in a splash of neon pink. The same shade of neon pink as White Rabbit's eyes, that blink over towards the pair of dolls and stuffed animals across from her.

"Oh, no, Janey... I don't think it's your fault. You aren't the reason I'm -- no. No no, you musn't, it's --"

The White Rabbit's body posture stiffens, and her ears flick up, high above the messy blonde bun she's pulled her hair into. And then, she turns her eyes towards the hole in her wall, through which Batgirl is now peering.

Those eyes widen, pupils dilating, and her ears flatten against the top of her skull. Still, she seems to be... mostly safe, in this moment. It would take Stephanie a considerable bit of effort in order to actually squeeze through that hole, and sitting up against the wall over there is a Heckler and Koch UMP 45 that's well within reach if the White Rabbit were to feel threatened.

Still. She doesn't look it. Not too much, anyway.

"You followed me all the way down here, Little Bat?" she wonders. She sounds more... amused, than anything else. Though her amusement's on a warmer shade of tenderness, than anything sharp, harsh, and judgmental.

"Can you answer me something?" White Rabbit wonders. She doesn't wait for a reply.

"When you go to sleep at night, where do you go? Do you go to the land of dreams, and come back with wonderful stories? Or... do you go somewhere cold and dark, until you wake again?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
To her credit, Stephanie does not have her skeleton leap out of her body when that voice speaks, even though she feels every muscle in her body seize up and lock in place, as she momentarily assumes the worst. She was just spotted. Spotted by someone who heard her internal monologue! But no, that's surely silly.

She exhales slow, careful, and slips further forward, to get some visual to go with the auditory. Surely, that voice is speaking into a radio, which is why she only hears one voice.

And then she's slipping into that portal carefully, as she spots the White Rabbit. As she spots the table. And the chairs. And their occupants. Ah! A conspiracy of...

Oh. Oh. Ohhhhh.

That's a stuffed rabbit. And a doll. And that's one person talking to-

The White Rabbit turns and spots her as she's trying to wiggle and crawl through that portal with dignity and grace. And she's like halfway to either. "I... uhh... heyheywhoa!" Her eyes dart to the gun near the White Rabbit, and then dart back to... damn! Those are /real/ ears!

Steph was not expecting this. Why wasn't she expecting this? Always expect anything, you silly girl. "I... uhh... I think I was chasing you?"

She blinks at that question, mouth pressing into a thin, thoughtful line, "I mean... I dream sometimes. Sometimes I have nightmares. Sometimes I close my eyes and then suddenly I open them and it's like ten hours later?"

Jaina Hudson has posed:
The White Rabbit has changed some, since she'd first approached Stephanie in that dark alleyway. The bodysuit, and the thigh-high boots -- they're off. Left on the floor next to that rather angry looking submachine gun and stockpile of ammunition boxes. Instead, White Rabbit's wearing... well. Normal clothes. A little sleepy tanktop, and sleepy shorts. It almost seems as if Stephanie Brown has interrupted a little bit of tea time before bed.

White Rabbit tips her head to the side when Stephanie indicates that she was chasing her.

"I don't think you were," White Rabbit decides after a moment, and then slowly rises to her feet. As she moves, her sock-covered toes step across the various rugs and bits of carpet lying along the floor, and she passes by that weapon for a worrying moment as Stephanie is still, like. Half-wriggled through that hole in the wall. But she doesn't reach for it. Instead, she walks right past on her approach towards Batgirl, and then holds up her right hand towards the masked woman above her.

"What's a nightmare like?" White Rabbit asks Stephanie, while pushing herself up onto the tippy-tips of her toes, to get that hand a little closer to where Stephanie can grasp it. And, if Batgirl does, White Rabbit will puuuuuuuull her through the space and into her den.

"Is a nightmare more like a dream, or is it more like being awake?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Steph is definitely thrown off by this whole villainess casual chic thing. Like, she's fully aware that they don't always wear the costumes. Hell, she's got a closet full of comfy civilian attire herself! But... it's still a little incongruous and throwing her for a loop. But at least it seems like her quarry's not itching for a fight.

Which is great since... she's stuck. Halfway through the portal. This. This is why she usually fights crime alone. Or with Cass. Because Cass wouldn't make fun of her if she was here. She reaches out to take that offered hand, managing not to squeal as she's hauled in and tumbles to the floor, "Ah! It's... more like a dream. Like, it's totally like a dream but scary, and usually you like... you, or I, realize the nightmare doesn't make sense. Like, you're at a job with a manager who's yelling at you and then you go 'Wait, I've never worked at this job. And that manager was from another job' and then you just... snap awake!" She huffs out and shifts onto her bottom, sitting on the floor and raising her eyebrows, "Do you have nightmares?"

Jaina Hudson has posed:
White Rabbit pulls a few times, dislodging Steph from the small opening in the wall/ceiling, so that Batgirl can go a-tumbling down to the ground where she remains. Mercifully, the floor is not particularly hard, nor particularly cold. In fact, it's kind of... warm? Soft. There's lush, fur carpeting beneath White Rabbit's sock-covered feet, mixed with shag, mixed with burbur. The place itself seems... well. Impossible, in a way. Sort of like White Rabbit herself. Impossible, in her sort of... perfection. Those pink eyes, and those rabbit ears, and the fluffy little tail that pokes out from the top of her sleep shorts. When Steph shifts to sit on her bottom, White Rabbit kneels down in front of her. She places both hands on her knees, and then drags them a little higher, criss-crossing french tips somewhere in her lap.

There's a pause for a moment, when the question is turned around towards her. And then, White Rabbit shakes her head.

No. No, she doesn't have nightmares.

"I don't remember my dreams. I'm not even sure if I have them. Or if I'm just..."

Another pause.

"Somebody else's dream."

White Rabbit's neon pink eyes fall away now, turning to look at Stephanie Brown's chest, where the bat logo stretches across that suit. And then, one of White Rabbit's hands falls away from her knee, to plant on the ground. The other lifts, as she sort of stretches her body outwards, squeezing the muscles of her thighs to lift her bottom off her ankles, sealing space between them. That free hand reaches towards Stephanie's mask -- her own is lying somewhere on the floor, after all -- and, if Stephanie doesn't pull away, she'll feel White Rabbit trying to figure out how to get the mask off of Batgirl. But she doesn't push. It isn't insistent. She just wants... to see her.

"Nobody's ever... been here before. With me. I wasn't even sure if it was real, but... if you're here... if you're real, maybe..."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Steph just... sprawls on her back on the comfortable floor. Yep. There's no hurried chase right now, she sent a brief comms burst earlier so someone's helping those cops, and she's just... reveling in this not turning into a knockdown bout of fisticuffs. She's going to keep the low key conversational vibe going. And so she peers up from her seated position to watch the White Rabbit carefully.

"That's... I mean, you seem pretty real for someone else's dream. I'd poke you to make sure, but... seems kinda impolite to just poke you, suggest maybe you're not real by implication and all."

Except then the woman's so close, those bright pink eyes are staring into her own eyes, and that hand's lifting, and Steph jolts... jolts to reach up and nimbly work at a few small, hidden and precise catches, "Oh, wait... it uhh... it zaps anyone who's not supposed to be taking it off and..." She lifts the cowl with a soft little huff, blonde hair damply clinging to her forehead, baring her face as she mumbles softly, "God, this is a bad idea, but like..." But what, Steph? This is like, a really big no-no, revealing the Secret Identity and all. But hey, maybe showing a little trust to a woman who's clearly in some crisis will help her. That's heroic too.

Jaina Hudson has posed:
White Rabbit's fingers retreat, when she's warned away from pulling off that cowl. "Oh," she says, matter of factly, and then her lips form a little bit of a frown when the realization sets in that she might not actually be able to look her new friend in the eye. And really, none of this will feel like... manipulation on her part. There is something just so... bizarrely intimate about it all. This whole place, feels a little surreal. Like an act, subversive as it is, of pulling off one's cowl might... just not really count, in here. So when Stephanie does lift that cowl from her head, and that blonde hair tumbles out, she'll feel a pair of bright pink neon eyes beaming at her again.

And the smile on White Rabbit's face is about as genuine, and earnest, and as heart-meltingly real as anything else. Perhaps, in its own way, even more so.

"Hi," White Rabbit says, and then giggles once. A whole-body sort of laugh, that makes her belly sort of tremble, and her body lean in a bit more in engagement. It's that sort of laugh that you get, when you can't really believe something is happening. Like you just aced a test. Or that girl who you like, said she likes you too. White Rabbit's long dark lashes lover over those strange pink eyes, and then, she suddenly lunges forward, toppling on top of Stephanie Brown and forcing the other woman onto her back, with the White Rabbit smooshed sweetly to her front, as she wraps both arms and legs around Batgirl in a very bunny-hoppy sort of hug.

And all the while, those pale, neon-pink words on the wall over the top of White Rabbit's head remind Stephanie Brown...

'NEVER FORGET YOU ARE REAL'