3396/Just airing out

Just airing out
Date of Scene:	17 September 2020
Location:	Downtown - New Troy
Synopsis:	Babs is in Metropolis dealing with dayjob business and stays behind for a night out on the rooftops where she has an impromptu meet and therapy with Power Girl.. who has her own stuff going on. And now for live coverage of the wrap party... Bill. Bill: It's an ugly planet... a BUG planet.
Cast of Characters:	Barbara Gordon, Karen Starr

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Barbara Gordon has posed:
With everything going on in Gotham, the whole family feels like they've got their backs against the wall. Streets Barbara has known for two days and more, they feel unfamiliar.. a friend that's not quite so friendly anymore. Business had brought her out of Gotham earlier in the day, a meeting in New Troy with a newer corperation interested in having her handle cyber security for their firm. Usually she'd have done this meeting remotely, from the safety of her Clocktower and walls of physical and neumonic security, but she was feeling caged in.

Not since having her surgery had she felt so unable to to /do/ anything.

After the meeting, she'd walked the streets for hours. Had lunch, and later dinner, at bristo shops leading up to Memorial Walk. As night fell, however, she found herself still unwilling to leave. Something nagging at the back of her mind urging her to stay a few more minutes until, before she even realized, night had fallen over the City of Tomorrow.

Now sitting atop one of the skyrises buildings, Babs, ala Batgirl, sat on the smooth marble stone halfwall staring out at the city beyond. Knees up with her arms gently wrapped around the thick materialed legs of her armor, she watched Metropolis from behind the white eyes of her cowl. The Hall of Justice stood quietly on the horizon like a beacon of hope.

Hope that was in dreadfully short supply for her right now.

Karen Starr has posed:
    The Metropolis night sky is usually pretty clean and clear. The city, very much different than Gotham, gets quieter as the night progresses. Less explosions, less gunshots. It's practically serene.

    That does not, however, equate to empty- nor does it mean that its protectors are sleeping, yet. This early into the night, Big Blue is still active. At the same time, so is somebody else.

    There's so little sound heralding her arrival that Power Girl's descent from the sky that she might have snuck up on one of the Gotham folk, on a particularly bad day. Probably not today, but all that's to give her away is that, as she lowers into the harsher winds around the building itself, her cape begins to move in the wind enough to produce something akin to the sound of a flag.

    "Normally when you guys visit," she announces herself, "I leave you alone. Figure if you've got business, it's best. But it's pretty rare that you're sitting on a roof hugging your knees. Everything alright?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Metropolis was beautiful.

The streets were clean and, by comparison to Gotham anyways, safe. Babs let her mind drift as she stared at the building that could just as easily by a monument for the grandure of its design. Sitting upon the buildings edge, she could be relaxed, almost anyone who looked at her would think she's a dark kind of calm, but this wasn't anywhere... and Power Girl wasn't just anyone.

The descent catches Barbara's well trained ear only a few seconds before she's within speaking distance. Not enough time to have done anything except be aware of the danger that had approached on silent wings. The greeting, however, gives her pause.. cowl tipping forwrad with the brush of fiery red hair curling out behind her in the breeze up this high. Looking on her own knees with a smirk.

"Would you believe that I'm just sight seeing?" Glancing back over her shoulder as she turns. A palm on the roofside edge of the ledge acts as a pivot to twist and face one of the World's finest... Curious..

Babs had, of course, seen Power Girl before. News articles and one particularly odd social media hit on a person who Batgirl /had/ been keeping tabs on a few months ago, "I needed some fresh air." Over simplified.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Barbara might correct her posture to look just a little less vulnerable, but as Patrick Stewart would say about the screenplay he's written, it's too late. Power Girl has seen everything. She lands calmly upon the rooftop, and idly closes the distance, taking those last few steps towards Batgirl.

    When she arrives, more or less, she leans herself quietly against the building on the rooftop, which leads down into the building proper. Her arms fold. It isn't fair. There's this confident, crooked smile that she displays, her pearly whites expressly visible in the dark. Being frustratingly perfect must just be a Kryptonian Thing.

    "Yeah, but there's always a reason for something like that. We don't really know each other- I haven't been to Gotham in a while. But if you're here, and you need someone to talk to, we're always ready to lend an ear."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Babs knew it was too late before it was, but be damned if her pride would let her admit it openly without having it metaphysically arm twisted out of her.. Her easy grin twitches downward only slightly when her ploy doesn't pay out, but had she really expected it to? How could she?

Glancing down at the roof now beneath her feet, she gripped the edge of the halfwall upon which she's sitting and ... shrugs. "It's nothing. Sometimes you just have to get out of town to realize what matters." Which isn't exactly a Bat Family thing to do... One hand comes up to touch her side reflexively, but the gesture isn't a long one as much as it is an expressive one. The heart of her problem stims largely from the healing wound on her flank.

"So.. seriously.. does it ever get frustrating being that god damned perfect?" It isn't mind reading. "Or smug about it..." The last part is more of a whisper, but she knows Power Girl heard it. It was also added in jest. A diversion. A sloppy attempt to change topics away from what's actually bothering her.

A weak and sloppy attempt that Babs is, quite frankly, kind of embarrassed by.

"Ugh.. Christ."

Karen Starr has posed:
    Power Girl isn't necessarily an expert manipulator- but when she's caught someone in a moment, it takes a little more to get her to ignore it than simply stating it didn't exist. Sometimes, it's important that someone doesn't pretend nothing bad is happening to you. Even if it's a stranger. Karen believes this, and it hasn't bitten her so badly just yet.

    Power Girl is also pretty merciless about calling people out. That might take a little getting used to.

    "Sure doesn't seem like nothing sent you up here. From what I know, nothing doesn't do much of anything. This seems more like a strong Something to me." There's a little sigh, and Power Girl's eyes roll, calmly. "Thanks for the compliment, but I'm really far from perfect. You guys just don't get to see it often, because you don't follow me around when I'm not lifting cars."

    It might seem for a moment like she's fallen for the diversion, but at the same time as it exists, it seems to be over. "But that's enough about me. I've been doing this a while. Sometimes you just have to vent. Else maybe you're a little too angry, and get vented."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"You've seen through my clever ruse." Babs says dryly, far in contention of her easy going grin beneath the cowl. "I wouldn't even know where to start, if I'm honest." Both hands come up in a shrug, then drop down with a plack to push her off the half-wall and onto her feet. Stepping gingerly towards Power Girl leaning against the roof building access.

"A lot of introspective self doubt and spiraling confidence issues that would just bore a Kryptonian, I'm sure." Joke it off, shaking her head. Hands cross over her the yellow symbol on her chest, hip jut out to one side. "And you know, I'd probably follow you around a lot more if you didn't fly off at mock 4 after you lift cars? I'm fast... but come on, you're making it tough out here for us normal, everyday ladies to keep up."

As if Babs was anything even close to an every day girl.

Her head cants slightly, grin visible. "So.. Power Girl... you know, I ran into a friend of yours a few months back? Name dropped the /hell/ out of you." Wiggling pointing with a turn of her shoulder so her index finger extends out from beneath her elbow.

Karen Starr has posed:
    "To be fair, I'm sure you could throw up a really, really clever ruse. If you wanted to. I know that that's the first skill you guys figure out, the clever ruses. The problem is that I really don't think you want to right now." Power Girl's arms drop in silence, unfurling from one another and placing her hands on her hips. It's then that she slips off of the wall.

    "Listen, I'm not going to lie, it might end up being a first for us to hear any sort of self-doubt coming from anyone wearing the Bat. Not sure if you're aware, but we get told everything is fine, and handled, and that we're not needed and to stay on our side." There is this dry laugh, then, for a moment.

    "We both know you're pretty far from ordinary, Batgirl. Probably just need to pratice the bat-grapple the angle move. I'm sure you can handle it, just like I'm sure you can handle talking about your problems." There's a raise of her brow, and Power Girl's head tilts.

    "Well, depending on which friend of mine this was, I can tell you that it was probably all true, or all lies. A lot of people I know are unreliable narrators."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"Second thing, actually." Babs says, holding up two fingers in the universal 'Peace' sign. "The first is, don't tell people shit.. Batman is pretty hard on that point.." It's probably one of those ruses they've been talking about, but she delivers the joke with a straight face and a dry enough tone that it very well may be the facts as laid down in bat-law. The great book of code followed by the paramilitary vigilante group based out of Gotham City.

"It /is/ fine." That part is true, but not for the reasons one might think a thing is true. The truth is it's not fine, but Barbara /can/ handle it... she will handle it. Because she's Batgirl. Which is bigger than her. Symbology is important in a place like Gotham, afterall. She might not be the only female vigilante in that city, but she was certainly one of the first.. a trend setter and a path blazer. She cannot afford to be seen struggling with indecision.

"But I'm not." That part is also true.

And obvious.

"Only thing is, I don't know how to get into it because as soon as someone realizes that one of us isn't okay, they think they need to help... which they don't... and they absolutely shouldn't. Because stay on your side." That part, however, is a joke. When Power Girl said it, she grinned. So it had to be said again.

"Suffice that.. I'm human, no matter how extraordinary a human I might be-" No sense of self congratulation there, "-failure is still something that stings. It leaves scars.. and as you so eliquantly put it.. we don't talk to strangers, so I can't exactly get a therapist."

Speeaakinng of therapists.

"Harley Quinn." The name isn't intentionally wield like a weapon, but she's obviously gauging reaction here. "Is that why you're so keen on me expressing my feelings?" And joking.

Karen Starr has posed:
    "Honestly, that's really just an extension of the ohter thing. Or, rather, the other thing is an extension of it," she admits, offering this small shrug in response. Karen, frankly, considers them quite tantamount to law herself. She's quite certain that nothing they've said about the Bat-family is really a joke. It's just the -tone- of it. Which makes Babs' tone there the most honest thing about it, but one can use honesty as comedy. It works.

    "Yeah, I know it's fine. I know that everything will be okay, because it has to be. You'll get through this, because you have to. But, despite all of that, what it really means is that you're going to make the right decisions." She pauses, then, stepping forward towards the shorter woman.

    A hand will make its way to Barbara's shoulder. "Sometimes the right decision is talking to a random stranger and making sure you tell yourself how awesome you are, that you'll get through it. Failure happens, but you'll be damned if you let it stop you, right?"

    Then, of course. The mention. Karen offers a slight sigh. She squeezes at the other woman's shoulder somewhat. It doesn't hurt. "It's complicated. But you can learn a lot from the idea of psychotherapy." Or, you know, Psycho Therapy.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"I guess you've got a point there." Babs doesn't dispute that the two concepts are, if not the same, well acquainted. Kissing cousins, as it were? Truth in comedy, however, is a thing... and in this case it does work. From both of them, if Batgirl's grin is an indication.

As does Power Girl's motivational speech... Which, if someone were to tell her that she was about to receive a pep talk from Power Girl, she'd have laughed that right off too... yet here they are. "You're unsurprisingly good at that." Harkoning back to earlier mention of Kryptonian perfection.

Because the potatoes of this meal comes in Karen's reaction to the mention.

It is not what she'd expected, no not at all... because that tightened grip speaks more than just the control Power Girl has over her own strength. Barbara Gordon is a lot of things, but foremost among all those, is a woman. And while there's no pain in Karen's eyes, less perhaps than in her grip on Babs' shoulder, there is a tenseness to her sigh.

Rather than continue to prode, she wraps her head around the fact Karen has her hand on her shoulder... reaching up with the hand on the same side to pat the hand gently, "I'm sorry I brought it up."

Karen Starr has posed:
    There's another sigh. The squeezing hand leaves the other woman's shoulder for a time, and Karen's head bows low for half a second, to shake lightly. "Listen, sure, it's complicated... But it's the kind of complicated you walk away from. Because you have to. It'll be alright. Because it has to. I'll be alright, because I have to. Probably not best to spread it around, though. I don't know if anyone has really wrapped their head around multiple aspects of the concept."

    She shrugs, though, and continues. "Listen, the point is, sometimes you have to talk to somebody. Not always somebody with a degree. Sometimes it's... Some slag from another planet. If you ever need to just talk... Say so. I'm sure I'll hear it, and I'm sure it'll be good for you. So, you know. Don't be afraid of screaming into the wind. Sometimes that's how you figure out how to make it die down."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
The contradiction in what Power Girl is saying is blaring right in Babs face so brightly she almost LAUGHS... she doesn't though because it is certain to send the wrong impression. Instead she shakes her head and pushes at the Krypotonian's shoulder with knuckles that probably don't even move her clothes. She does not seem at all flustered by that fact either. "You realize that you're telling me to tell you what's bothering me while telling me what's bothering you is too complicated to talk about and will be just fine?" Grinning slightly, a half little smirk.

"I get it. I understand complicated." Hands up, not defensively, but placating. "Maybe this..." Motioning at the rooftop, "Wasn't just for me though? I mean, I had no idea what kind of complications you were going through, but sometimes shit happens and someone shows up when they BOTH need someone to listen? Or not.. maybe I've got the wrong idea. It's cool either way."

What is obvious is Babs isn't uncomfortable anymore. "I got stabbed. Which probably shouldn't bother me... and I guess it doesn't, but... It's the first time I've gotten /really/ hurt since the suuuu..." Coughing into her fist, hand up to her neck.. "Since I came out of retirement."

For years, Babs was bound to a wheelchair because of the Joker. She'd only just regained the ability to walk after an experimental surgery and a year of rehab... that ended months ago.

Karen Starr has posed:
    There's a small roll of her eyes, but PG can recognize game where it manifests, and despite the roll of her eyes, she nods. "You're partially right, but also kinda wrong. You see, I know what to do, and I know when to do it, I just have to... Get it done. Sure, I could talk about how talking is hard, but we both know that already. Lifting cars is easy, but none of this... This part, never really is. So that I have issues doesn't discount that you have issues. Mine just.. Are on the way out, right now. For better or worse."

    There's a pause, then, and she nods again. "Maybe, but hey, I've benefitted from it. Helpes me understand it's gotten bad enough that people can notice, which means I've got to sort it out sooner, rather than later." She stops speaking then, and just... Listens. She's good at that.

    "It's okay. I won't make any assumptions. Identities are important. As far as I'm concerned, you could be any redhead." She nods again, then, and her arms return to that frustrating position of folded, beneath, well... You know. "At the end of the day, you're right to be worried about getting hurt. When we first start this, it's easy to feel invulnerable- doubly so if you actually -are- but then you understand... Or are told aggressively that you -aren't-. Which makes it all the more terrifying, even, perhaps especially if, you're supposed to be. When you put on the mask- or whatever suit, don't start- you're not supposed to be human anymore. It's easy to feel it. What you're feeling now is just that feeling. Maybe it's -again.- Maybe it's worse because you got hurt really bad before and that's all coming back. I can only guess. But... That's life, and now, you move forward, you get better, and you start taking steps to close those wounds forever. To get to the point nobody will ever do that to you again."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"Yeah, so do I." Know what to do and just need to get it done. Their situations, while coming from very different places, aren't terribly different as to their needs in approaching them. At least objectively. Nothing is so easily defined. "I've started thinking that maybe putting the cowl back on was a definitive attempt by me to show I wasn't scared. Which is kind of contrary to reality, because I'm terrified.. Healthy amounts of terrified, but..." Hands out, palms up.

"I'm only human, no matter how badass I look in nomex armor."

Hard not to notice the frustrating position of folded and... you know. She wears a damn suit that makes it obvious not to know.

With a sigh, Batgirl shrugs, "It's not like I'm new to this... I train new kids, but what am I suppose to tell them when they ask why I flinch now whenever a gun goes off? It's not stopping me from acting, I still act, I'm not less strong because I acknowledge my mortality.. but I've seen it." Pointing between the two of them, "This close."

Perhaps realizing that, through her best efforts tot he contrary, she's rambling... Babs laughs and shakes her head. "I know that... That and I can't resist spilling my guts to a pretty face, apparently... I don't know. It's.. complicated."

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen offers this little chuckle that isn't okay in any sense of the word. Shaking her head slightly, not in an angry fashion, but more in this bemused, almost happy way. "Ah, yeah. Complicated. A whole lot of things are very, very complicated." she states, turning her head then to look off into the distance.

    "The important thing is that, well, someone is here for you. And I can be, if you need it. That's the most important thing I can say. In every way, you're not alone. If you need to talk, just let me know. I'm sure you'll figure out how." There's this sigh, then, and a few short cracks on the wind. "Okay then. Guess I'll go get that." she offers, before beginning to rise into the air.

    "I'll see you around. Seriously. Don't let it accumulate. It festers that way. Probably in the liver." And, with that as a nominal farewell, Power Girl prepares to, and boosts off into the aether, to stop whatever maybe-robbery is happening elsewhere in Metropolis.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Babs smiles at that offer and nods, "You too." It's weak by comparison, maybe, because she can't just shout yo Batgirl, sup and have her fly over seconds later... but she means it all the same. "No matter how complicated."

Babs also hears the distant mating call of the silverback goonrilla and turns towards the muffled whoop-shak fractionally. This is not her circus, though... and it's not like Power Girl is going to have any trouble winding those would be criminals up in a pretty bow to deliver like an early Birthday Present to Metropolis police.

Looking back up at the Kryptonian as she begins to hover above the roof, she grins ever so slightly and gives her a thumbs up. Which, in hindsight, she will regret. Maybe, she's pretty dedicated to it once she's down it and just keeps it there like she totally meant to do it and it was her plan the whole ass time.

"I'll definitely protect my liver from festering bad feelings and regret." Stepping back a single step to cross her arms over her chest just beneath the short sides of her cape, "I genuinely hope to see you around Power Girl. I'm glad you showed up.. It's exactly what I needed.. Now go do your SECOND good deed for the day-" Pointing in the direction of gunfire. "-Or I'm going to go do it for you."

She probably wouldn't.. and definitely couldn't beat her there anyways!

Babs stays behind, grinning to herself on the roof. Again looking out at the view of the Hall of Justice but with a great deal of the weight lifted off her shoulders. Whether she's over her troubles or not, she feels better about them.. and that counts.

It has to count.