858/Two girls one roof

Two girls one roof
Date of Scene:	30 March 2020
Location:	Rooftop of April's apartment
Synopsis:	Power Girl comes to check on Harley and finds her sitting on the roof after defending April's apartment from goons. Harley drowns. Fin.
Cast of Characters:	Harley Quinn, Karen Starr

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Harley Quinn has posed:
After finishing her pancakes, because that's important, Harley went to check the door.. see if there was any damage to the frame where the goons used a prybar to breach... Finding the one directly into the apartment was largely fine, she went downstairs to check the one into the alley. It will have to be replaced... "Ugh... son's of bitches.." Frowning to herself, in boxer shorts, t-shirt with a unicorn spearing a Donut, and bunny slippers. The Clownette grips her cellphone and calls up a locksmith to get an appointment to fix it, then climbs up to the roofby way of the fire escape and sits on the ledge over the old Antic shop.

The bunny slippers are sitting on the ledge beside her, feet dangling and slowly kicking back and forth over the void of space. Both hands are turned outward, drumming the smooth stone as she gazes out into the Brooklyn night with a frown..

Across her face is a long splatter of blood running from just behind her ear all the way to her forehead that she hadn't thought to go clean.. And even more on her shirt. A distinctive splash pattern like someone took a heavy object right across the face and sprayed blood when flying backwards. "Ugh..."

Glancing at her phone, then up at the sky, then over the city... Elbows on her knees, chin in her palms, cheeks pushed up against her fingers. "Uggggggggggggh...."

Karen Starr has posed:
    There is this cracking peal of thunder. It's kind of a mystery noise, considering that the sky is experiencing a moment of incredible clear. The truth of it, though, is floating behind Harley. She arrived before the sound of her breaking the sound barrier, but for the moment, she isn't sure what to say.

    Her day has been, apparently, much less chaotic. Which, really, isn't out of the norm considering to whom her day is being compared. However, despite that she'd come by just to visit Harley- to see how the woman was post-intoxication- what Karen arrives to isn't necessarily pleasant.

    "You're covered in blood." she remarks, first. Her tone is altogether just as grim and dour as it could be. Someone attacked this place- and with a quick scan of x-ray vision, she confirms that. "What happened?"

Harley Quinn has posed:
The crack of thunder in the clear sky draws Harley's thoughts out of her own inner monologues of self doubts, whether she was accidentally responsible for bringing trouble to April... They'd said something about Christmas.. she remembers that much. No, it was a guy, No Christmas Louis or something, the details are kind of lost in the constant chatter... Which on most accounts would be normal for the Good Doctor, but her thoughts have been focused for the last few weeks.

Eccentric, but not chaotic.

Now she can't shut it up.

Maybe it's the smell of blood?

When Peej speaks from behind her, Harley is already looking backwards. Most likely the accompanying woosh of air blowing over her single ponytail of blue/pink/blonde hair. There's blood in it too.

Blue eyes fix upon the Kryptonian. For once not immediately grinning upon seeing her or breaking into some crazy attack of hugs and boob worship.. She just looks up at her. "Some people tried ta break in an' I hurt'em real bad.. but then they disappeah't..." She doesn't know that a Ninja Turtle spirited them away, as far as she knows she imagined it all... that wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility.

"Now I don't know if I imagine't it an' hurt someone else.. or.. I don't know.. an' I'm real worried cus theah's a lot of blood inside.."

Karen Starr has posed:
    There's an amount of recognition in her features as Harley talks to her, but her face doesn't soften. Instead, it redoubles... But it's not focused on Harley for the moment. Instead, she seems to be looking at the roof of the apartment- almost squinting. From her eyes, there's this almost-invisible blue light that overtakes her pupils.

    "You didn't imagine anything, Harl." she offers, after a moment- touching down on the roof and continuing to look around it as if she can see through it. "I've got at least four different people. Blood still has the DNA. And... Something else, I think. Wholly different, not blood but almost... A footprint?" she wagers, her head rocking quietly to one side. A brow raises.

    "Who, or what else was here... Did you see anything that only had two toes? You might've written it off as a hallucination. There's... Almost no sign of it. Only know one person that thorough, and his boots don't look like that..." she trails off, then. Power Girl, it seems, is lost in thought.

Harley Quinn has posed:
"Two toes?" Harley blinks at Peej, now wondering if she's imagining //her// too, but.. to be fair.. one of her friends is dating a green dude who turns into pigs or whatever, so is this really that odd? No, no it is not. "I heard one of'em shoutin' outta the door then he jus' shut up suddenly? It was like B-Man was theah.. I actually said, B-Man?! but he wasn't theah." Because Harley didn't get punched in the head.

And B-Man always punches her in the head.

She does seem relieved when the blonde landing on the roof confirms that she didn't murder some postman and imagine that there were goons though, "I got concern't.. It happens, ya know? I think somethin' is one way, but then it's somethin' else enti-ahly.. an I been doin real good.." Her expression isn't sour, it's just kind of sad.

Looking down at her shirt for the first time, seeing the blood splattered across it... It has her shoulders slumping forward and looking back out over Brooklyn. "Ya mus' be pretty disappoint't in me." using her shirt to wipe at her face, but the blood there is dried... and... "EHHHH..." Grinding her teeth, she slams her fists down on the ledge.

"Why am I such a fuck' up..."

Karen Starr has posed:
    There's an ever-expanding frown that Karen is decidedly directing towards someone that isn't there. The nerve. It's a form of outrage that she's entirely too used to- but the subject is a little strange. Someone showed up. Covered this thing up. Disappeared. Their actions are playing havoc with a mind that Power Girl doesn't like people playing with. Then there's the attackers.

    Idly, and seemingly from nowhere. "Drag marks. A few drops of blood... There. Someone moved them." she states, looking around the perimeter of the building now. That she can do this without moving from where she's standing is the exemplary part.

    Then, just as suddenly as she'd started disassembling the crime scene without even being inside, Karen turns, and steps up to Harley. Her features soften. "I'm not disappointed in you. I'm disappointed in -somebody- but it has nothing to do with you. You did exactly what you said you've been doing. They broke in. You stopped them. I don't see any brain matter so I don't think anyone's dead." She says that at the same time her hands find Harley's shoulders. "Where's April? You mentioned this before. Someone's got her on their mind. I don't know if you two can stay here."

Harley Quinn has posed:
Harley isn't prone to temper tantrums, especially not where it pretains to things like this. She can be a brat, sure, but this is different. Tears streaming down her face, which is all twisted in real agony, because she's convinced she screwed everything up. That she slipped into some psychotic fugue state and hurt some people... She's trying to breath, but its' ragged. Shoulders jerky as she sobs quietly to herself, staring across the street at whatever building is there.

How do ya not know yah neighbors? Is that important right now?

With Peej behind her now, hands on her shoulders, she snorts backwards through soggy nostrils and pulls her forearm across the bottom of her nose and eyes. Thankfully not wearing any makeup to smear... "No?" Looking back and up at Peej...

Another breath, a little less ragid, and then she leans against Power Girls right leg and wraps her arms around the knee. "I'm glad I aint kill't nobody.. I jus' want't ta keep them from comin' back.. Ya sure the one I hit in the head wit the mallet is gonna be okay? Some'uh his teeth came out." That's probably where the blood spray came from.

"April's at the news Station. The Babies is at the vet." She looks around as well, brushing her cheek against Peej's knee, "Yeh, I was thinkin' tha', but I don't know if April'll leave.. an' we aint got no place tah go anyhow."

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen kneels, then. She leaves the leg that Harley's gripping where it is, so that the other woman isn't put off balance. Power Girl's hands remain where they are for a moment, then slink carefully forward and around. She pulls the other woman into this sort-of embrace, placing her chin on Harley's shoulder.

    "Yeah, I saw the teeth. You hit him... -Really- good, apparently. Maybe pull some swings, here and there. But... No. You didn't kill anyone. No bits of bone, or anything like that. You did good." There's a squeeze, then. Karen isn't good at this, but she figures that's the time.

    There's an acknowledging nod. "Well, I live in Metropolis, so that's out. Aren't you both employed and still kinda wealthy? Money can be exchanged for goods and services." she states, offering this small laugh. "See if you can get her to go somewhere safe, but I want to talk to her, too."

Harley Quinn has posed:
"I wanted to call you when it happen't... okay.." Harley says, then corrects herself, glancing up, and kind of back, at Peej kneeling behind her. Shifting from hugging the womans leg to leaning into the embrace. It's helping. Which is saying a bit for a woman who doesn't have the firmest grasp on reality at any given moment, "Okay.. first I ate my pancakes.. but they was really good pancakes an' ya don't waste tha'." It's a small attempt at levity, which does not mean it isn't true.

"THEN I want't ta call ya, but I figgah't.." Her shoulder jerks, arm up to wrap around the back of Peej's neck where the Kryptonians chin is resting on her shoulder, "I figgah't aftah the othah night ya might think tha's we'iad.." The other palm runs along her nose, then down on the ledge. Cleaning it off.

"Yeh, I got a lot of money left', I can get us a hotel'ah suh'n, but convince'uh to go will be difficult I think. She really likes this place. I think hu' fathah built it'er suh'n." That probably isn't true. "Maybe if you tell'er she'll listen... I was gonna call the cops, Peej.. but.. like what if they think't I did it? Oah they came in theah an' seen all that blood an' wasn't no bodies'uh nothin'. An' they thought I hu'at someones? An' then I'm back in Arkham.

"If you was smaht you'd get as fah away from me as ya coul't. I'm not good foah nobody... Imma jus' bring trouble." Blue eyes turning, glancing at the face right there beside her. Waiting for it.

Karen Starr has posed:
    "You should've called me when it was happening." she remarks, closing her eyes for a moment. "It takes me seven seconds to get here. That's not that long. You could have held them off."

    There's a sigh- but she's understanding, really. "Next time, if you've got any blood on you, maybe let the pancakes rest for a bit. I think we can get really, really good pancakes -after-, but you have to get help first." she comments, continuing to just rest herself there. "Now, listen- we'll call the police. I'll help them figure out where they went, and they'll look at what happened. They'll be able to tell it was a break-in. If they don't, we'll get someone they can't ignore. There'll have to be somebody."

    Lifting her head up somewhat and then moving to use Harley's grip on her neck to lift the smaller woman into a stand, and once there, she'll carefully turn Harley around to face her. One hand will come up under her chin.

    When she finally reaches Karen's face, there's that billion-dollar smile. "You think -you're- trouble? You've never seen trouble. Maybe heard of it. None of this was your fault, and April was -lucky- to have you here. She'd be dead, probably, if you weren't. I think there are a lot of people watching her, and I don't think all of them are bad, but the ones that aren't weren't there on time. You were. Think about that- mull it over- and then shove it in the face of a few of the voices in there, okay?"

Harley Quinn has posed:
"I know wha' yer sayin' logically.." About the pancakes, "But theah was peach slices, Peej." She's not irratically speaking, which makes the crazy stuff she's saying sound even more nuts. Just how calm she is about that whenever thing else seems to be the end of the world. Like she found this one island in this sea and hooked her wagon there..

"Next time, I promis I'll call ya.." She says quieter, turning as Power Girl lifts her with her own arm around the womans neck.

Feet drop down on the ledge, spinning on the balls to face the Kryptonian. One hand on each of the bigger womans shoulders, a few three inches taller even while standing on the eight foot ledge. "If ya shu'.. I don't really trust cops so much." That's her own fault, but.. "I mean I done a lot, so I get they may not trust me so much eithah, but still. I don't wanna go ta jail."

Either way, she nods, the infection of that million dollar smile winning over, even if her eyes are still red rimmed. "Ya know, ya kinna cute when ya bein' all heroic." Bouncing her brows, "Wanna go inside an fool around? I'm kiddin', I'm kiddin..." Sliding her hands from shoulder to the sides of Peej's neck. "Ya sure ah good at talkin' me offah ledge foah someone says they wouldn't know how ta help me.. I think ya got it all wroang about yaself too. Cus I didn't call ya this time."

Leaning forward tenatively to rest her forehead to Peej's, "Ya jus' showed up on ya own." With that said, "Whatevah ya say do, I know it'll be okay. I trust you."

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen nods along, "Have you ever had peach cobbler? If you've got peach slices and pancakes, it's not too dissimilar even if you let it sit. Mix it up a bit. Throw some ice cream on it. Do that after you get in touch with the authorities. Make dessert for breakfast." Kryptonians have terrible diets. This means they give great junkfood advice.

    There's a short pause as she listens, but moments after, she speaks up. "Then let April do the talking. The less you say may be for the better if people aren't going to trust you. Maybe... Maybe you ought to take a trip to Gotham. He might have some connections in law enforcement. Get yourself some people that are on your side. Maybe take those first steps."

    Power Girl then lets out this... Amused little chuckle at the remarks. She's not sure how much of that is a joke. "Only when I'm being all heroic? No, I can't this time." How much of her reply is a joke is -also- not clear. "I understand but I'm just... Waiting for my luck to run out. Flying blind."

    She closes her eyes once more when Harley's forehead taps against hers. "Wanted to make sure you were okay. You had more than you could handle."

Harley Quinn has posed:
"Peach cobblah foah brinnah." Harley says with a big grin spreading on her face, still holding onto the sides of Peej's neck, resting her forehead against hers. "Ya got tha kinna diet a girl can appreciate... until latah when it's comin' back up."

A nostril flaring sigh, "Yeh.. maybe I shoul't jus' stand in'uh back an' let April talk. Ya prolly right. Usually when I staht sayin' stuff, people get all upset an' next thing ya know I'm layin' face down on the sidewalk gettin' cuffed... An' then whose gonna call ya ta come take care of'em when they had too many shots? Y'all be stuck gettin' kittens outta trees oah whatevah it is ya do when I aint aroun'."

The answers to her question, joking or not, draw out a playful frown. "Well aint ya always bein' heroic? Everytime I've seen ya, ya was.. Ya kinna like mah guardian angel, ya know tha?" She moves her head in a twisting roll to brush her nose against the side of Power Girls, "Ya aint even begun ta get lucky... yet..." A smirk wield like a scalpel..

Blue eyes set on Peej's, not ignoring the comment about the shots, just.. "It's been ye'ahs since anyone gave a fuck about me, Peej. April does, an... then tha's you.. swoopin' in when ya aint gotta.. takin' an interest in me an' believin' me when everyone would tell ya I'll let ya down.."

She keeps her forehead there, close enough that Peej, especially Peej really, can smell the peaches on her breath. "Aint nobody evah cared about me. Not really. The people whats suppose to, they nevah did.. so I throw mahself at the foist poisin tha' pretend't to.. an' look how tha' turn't out." Her head rocks side to side, sliding across Peej's. "Ya bein heah means a lot to me.. ya presence calms some of tha woist of.. me.. an' makes things feel calm an' safe.."

Karen Starr has posed:
    There's this sigh at first. Her face contorts into a smirk, but her nose wrinkles just a touch. "You probably ought to stop that. It's not healthy. I'm sure you can find a way to get right of one or two bad habits, huh?" she asks, her voice... Showing mild, genuine concern.

    Her hands come up to press into Harley's cheeks. "That was before. This is now. It's April's apartment. Only makes sense she should do the talking. For now, until everyone knows what April and I know, until the world knows how hard you've been trying, just keep a low profile. Show, don't tell. There are people that are willing to help you, the right way. We just have to find them."

    At that point, the gloved hands that feel so smooth on the surface depart Harley's face. "You got a raw deal. Took you down a bad alley and you got lost. Now we found you- you just have to keep tabs on yourself. I can't be there all the time- but I wish I could. I -trust- you to keep it together." She's not sure if it's all through- but at the same time, she hopes that it's what Harley needs to hear.

Harley Quinn has posed:
Harley squeezes her hands around the side of Peej's neck, fearless that she's gonna do tha first bit of damage to the Kryptonian, and stands up with her shoulders rolling backwards. Half glancing over one of them down at the street two floors below, then bunny slippers on the ledge beside her feet. She hops into a tap dancing twirl, one foot sliding into a slipper, taps her ankles to toe, and slides the other one in. Foot up to hook a finger in the heel to pull each on fully, and then leaping up sideways at Peej's with n arm around the back of her shoulders.

Even if gloved arms don't come up to catch her, Harl's full capable of keeping herself up with that arm, one leg out and the other crossed beneath the ankle at a horizontal plain. "Yer talkin' about B-Man, huh? Tha' I should go ta Gotham an talk to him?" The notion... it's not an easy one for her to swallow. "I aint been back to Gotham since tha Wallah' got me outta Arkham.. an' I don't know tha' it's really tha best play foah me, but if ya think I should, I will."

Regardless, her grin is coming back, hair slapped out of her face to dangle off Peej like a piece of gymnastics equipment, "I aint a complainah'" About her raw deal, "It nevah got me nothin' when I tol't people in the Asylum, so I jus' stop't tellin' people.. I jus' want't you to know how important ya was... April, I think she gets it, ya know? She seen me when I was in theah... In Arkham I mean.. How they look't at me.."

Wiggling her painted toes, pink with the outlines of black smiley faces. "An' I feel like you needs ta heah it. Like I listen to ya talk about yaself like ya fail'd oah suh'n... an' I can't imagine tha' cus ya suoah ain fail'd me. I don't know whethah I'm worth tha', but.." She nods slowly, curls a finger beneath Peej's chin and pushes up... which will still require Peej to.. like.. move'er head, cus she aint wear'n no kryptonite. "But I think ya the tits... an' ya tits is definitely the tits.. an' ya good kissah, so all aroun' Ya seem like a package, an' I hope... well I hope a lot."

The finger used to try and lift her chin, taps the end of Peej's nose. "So look't tha', you kryptonians can' make even /me/ hope.. Who'da thunk't."

Karen Starr has posed:
    That Harley does the deed of putting on her bunny slippers doesn't go missed- and that she does it while deftly hanging off of Karen like, as mentioned, a piece of gymanstics equipment is altogether just -slightly- impressive. She is already expecting the little hop that the other woman gives, her arms coming up to support the smaller blonde.

    She doesn't even budge throughout all of this.

    "I think it is. He's... Rougher around the edges than even -you- think. But he always caught you. He always knew where you were, and he's got more experience handling you than anyone else. There has to be a reason that he hasn't come calling already, even if you're in New York. I think he's already watching. It's probably only a matter of time, and it should be on your terms. Tell him what you told me."

    There's a sort of pause, then, and Karen rolls her eyes. "Maybe not that last part." she responds, looking back down at the other woman. "I think a lot of people failed you. The more that do, the more... It becomes worth it. Not because of what'll come of it, but because you deserve at least someone to rely on. Where you go from there is, -finally-, all up to you. It's going to feel scary." A pause, as assuredly Harley has something to say about that, but when she finishes- "Really. I mean it. Once you're there, though, once you've made those first steps, you're finally You again." Now, she's going to toe a line.

    "And -he- won't have had anything to do with it. You'll look down and you won't even see his shadow."

Harley Quinn has posed:
That is a very dangerous game Peej just played. Not for her, Harley can't hurt her, at least not physically. She wiggles around against the stalwart woman holding her and alternates kicking her feet out as if she's dancing right there in the perch of arms keeping her aloft. "Its cus'e down caih.. He aint tryin' to fix none of us, Peej. Ya don't unnahstand him.." Batman, not the Joker. "He needs us as much as Gotham needs him..." She snorts a quiet laugh, "I've seen'em, right up close.. an' theahs some deep psychological trauma rattlin' aroun' in tha' brain, lemme tell you... All the classical signs of post traumatic stress disordah with borderline narcissistic rage manifest in a savior complex..."

She twirls a strand of Peej's hair around her index finger absently, hanging backwards so her head lulls up against the other womans shoulder. "If'n I had ta guess, I'd say he witness some kinna traumatic experience wheah he felt helpless tah assist.. a family membah probably, but certainly someone close enough ta leave deep enough scahs tha' it's tempered his entire demeanor inna a personification of a guardian... which is all well'n good as long as theahs plenty of people to guard against." She tugs playfully at the hair, harder and harder each time when it doesn't come free, and grins a little wider each time. "But if ya pull tha rug out from unnah him? He'd have'ta face all them demons he's been buryin' an' soaht through like... ye'ahs worth'uh scar tissues to even begin ta do any real healin'..."

Her gum, hitherto held up in the upper part of her gums against her teeth, pops a tight bubble in her back teeth. "All them kids is prolly jus' as bad too... an' I bet half of them hate him." Her tongue clicks off the roof of her mouth at that. "But if ya think he'll actually help, I'm fine tryin'... like I said, toots... I trust'ya."

This all after she mentioned the other him. A cool look in her expression. "They desoive each othah, Batsy an' Mistah J.. two peas in a pod.. different sides of tha exact same coin, they is.." Still, she smiles at Peej and leans in to kiss her cheek, hand up to lay against the oposite.

"Nah, it'll be because of you, n' April, n' me. Fuck Mistah J."

Karen Starr has posed:
    There are a number of responses that Karen has- but in the end, none of them are safe. Hell, none of them are even guaranteed to be technically relevant. At most, she knows, that this Batman is younger than the one back home. A couple of decades are enough to change a person- but she's not sure he was ever really that much different. She still has yet to -meet- this one, though. All the same: Hope. Gotta hope. She knows that Batman can help her- he just has to believe that she's capable of being helped.

    "You've probably hit the nail on the head a few times, but maybe this can be a reciprocal thing. You never know what people need. Maybe -everything- can get better because you're getting better." Ah, rampant speculation.

    "I'm not saying you're wrong, but I don't think anyone deserves that. Least of all you." A pause, then, "Maybe a different adjective, Harl. Probably use those college English courses. Get creative." she says that, and then one hand lowers, so as to let Harley down. That same hand will come up, to poke the other woman on the nose.

    "Sentiment is correct, though."

Harley Quinn has posed:
The poke to her nose has the immediate response of Harley reaching up to rub it with the tip of her fingers once she's settled onto her feet. A grin stretching out around the sides of her hands, "Okay tha's faih.." Not fucking the Joker, makes sense in hindsight, "But from a purely academic standpoint, ya gotta appreciate the validity an' multifacetted usage of tha woid fuck foah a plethora of vary different connotations."

She wont get into them, comedies have been covering it for years.

Instead she staires up at Peej... way up. Forehead just above the level of her clevage window, "As soon's I know April's somewheah safe, I'll go back to Gotham an' try'n find B-Man.. but if he throws me in Arkham, ya gotta promise not to leave me theah... oah at tha very least come visit me." Last hero someone sent her to was Diana Prince and she did, in fact, send her back to Arkham.

Both her arms sling around Peej's waist, face going forward to bury itself... well.. theah's only one place to bury it. Laughing for several long moments, but she aint coming up immediately. Oh no.

Not until the motorboat sound starts.

"An' now I'm bettah." Lifting her head, big blue eyes, all wide and staring, pink lips smiling until her cheeks demple and the little heart tattooed beneath her eye looks like a winking Eye of Osiris. Her hands are already dropping from around Peej's waist, though.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Power Girl nods. "Yeah, I do not at all question the validity of its use, it's just in -this- specific context you might need to figure out something better or else we're going to find out what Kryptonian vomit looks like." There's a significant pause, and Karen nods. "Yeah. If he sends you back to Arkham, considering that you don't have a warrant out for you, I'll come get you. Sign the papers Power Girl and everything. Have them remand you into my custody and I won't even lecture you when you're flipping Gotham the bird as we fly off."

    Then, Harley goes diving. Power Girl rolls her eyes silently for a moment. That becomes more than a moment. Honestly, it's starting to be a while, with the other woman's face just sort of... Stuck in there. Karen honestly wonders if she'll come back up.

    Then the noise starts. Double eyeroll. She's just standing there while that happens, until the other woman finally dislodges herself.

    "You almost drowned. It was touch and go there, for a second. Might want to tone things down a bit, because you missed all the mouth-to-mouth."

Harley Quinn has posed:
"Theah is nothin' in this world I want moah than ta give Gotham tha boid while flyin' away in ya ahms... well anyonws ahms really, but ya hold a special place in mh heart when it comes ta flyin'. Ya was ma foist..." Harley reaches way up and boops, "Boop" Power Girl's nose. Even with things getting all silly, she's blinking in a languid easy way of familiar comfort.

Sure, her grin is still all kinds of crazy, but it's a tempered madness.

Then she goes flacid, hoping Peej catches her, "Oh. no.. I have died.. I requiah mouth to mouth..." Incase her word isn't good enough to sway Peej, her eyes cross, and her tongue lulls out the side of her mouth, "bleeeeeggg..." Arms hanging loose behind her.

"Help me Powah Girl, yer mah only hope..." Right back into over dramatized death pose.

One blue eye winking up at Peej and her dead lips cracking into an amused grin.