to tie up loose ends to make amends

[skort]

WHO: supertorso & battothefuture
WHERE: Terry's apartment.
WHEN: Sometime around today-ish? Today being Thursday.
WARNINGS: ... Possibility of some violence.
SUMMARY: Kara and Terry were gonna try again after their failed notadate. But then he got exPorted and never called, so she stops by. SHIT HAPPENS.
FORMAT: Quick to start, can do whatever after.

[ It starts like this: Terry and Kara parted ways and agreed to try again for coffee. But there was never a 'Hey, how does tomorrow sound' from his end and Kara was just this side of shy and worried about this whole friendship with a civilian thing that she wasn't sure she could call him about coffee.

But when she'd seen neither hide nor hair of him on the Network for a while, she got a little worried. She wasn't sure picking up the phone and going 'You're not dead, right?' was the kind of thing one did, so she didn't act on it, instead keeping eyes and ears out should he show up anywhere.

On the other hand, though, if she was just patrolling and happened to be in the area, she could stop by and knock on his door, right? Just... checking in. She could say she lost his number, wanted to make sure he and the dog were okay. And wanted to see the dog again. Yeah, that would work.

Which is how she ends up standing in front of his door, wishing terribly her x-ray vision could penetrate lead. One hand raises and knocks gently, so as not to... accidentally break anything. Because that would be bad. And she'd have to buy him a new door. ]

Terry? You home?

[ Wait a little bit, then knock again, a little harder this time. Maybe it was too soft of a knock. Just because she had superhearing... ] Terry?

[ More knocking. She pauses again and then knocks just a little too hard, knocking the door off its... surprisingly sturdy hinges. ]

Oh, crap! Ohcrapohcrap! Terry! If you're home, I'm sorry I broke your door. ... if you're not, I'm sorry for breaking and entering to fix your door...

[ She moves the broken door aside so she can step into the apartment and... freezes. Because that— that stuff can't be what she thinks it is. It just can't be. ]

Comments

[battothefuture]

[Kara, it seemed, was prone to jumping to conclusions and some overreaction. Terry was in his apartment. He hadn't called because the last week had been truly crazy, even by his standards, and before that he'd been in a different dimension, and after two year and a bit it was slightly difficult to remember coffee dates you'd set up anyway, especially with all this slag going on.

Which, of course, wouldn't have been so bad, if he hadn't left his kryptonite within view. Of course, he was not expecting someone to break his door down.

He'd heard the knocking, but had been in the shower, and needed to get dressed. He was pulling pants on by the time he'd heard the crunch-thump over the TV.

Frag. That was probably bad.

He moved fast, sticking a batarang at the small of his back and going, forget the shirt, that could come later and it's not like just your normal cotton fabric would do much against-

Except it wasn't anyone attacking, it was Supergirl. Which, for about a second, was almost cause to relax.]

[skort]

[ Hey, now. She's waited in between those knocks. And while the pauses there may not have been as long as they could've been, the did exist.

But that's a debate for another time, because right now she is very, very close to freaking the fuck out. Between how she'd seen him move before, the lead in his paint— no, his walls— and now this? She had a good reason to be worried.

Which meant that she also had good reason to keep him away from the Kryptonite. She's moving on instinct, not really thinking about what she's doing before she's grabbing Terry by the throat (if he'd had a shirt, she could have, would have grabbed him by that) and slamming him against the nearest wall, eyes burning red with her heat vision. ]

I knew there was something off about you, I knew it. Who are you?!

[battothefuture]

[And he had answered, even if she'd thought it was a sound effect, or hadn't heard at all. Not that it mattered, because she was moving so fast that she blurred.]

What the frag!

[That hurt when his head cracked against the wall. Of course, at this point he was operating on instinct too, moving with arms and legs and all his body in a twist designed to break her hold -- normal person it would have broken their arm, and maybe dislocated their shoulder. He doubted it would hers. But hopefully he'd get the element of surprise, because normal people just didn't react this fast. If he could get free, he had maybe a second to get to the table, because kryptonite was the only thing that would do anything. And he could do it. He could get there. The problem was breaking her grip.]

[skort]

[ Her hold on his neck loosens in her surprise at his quick moving (if Bruce knew, she would never, ever live it down. Ever) and it's just enough to let him break it. At that moment he's got the advantage and it makes her pretty much petrified.

Just the exposure to Kryptonite is slowing her down and that burst of speed and strength took more out of her than she'd like to admit it did. She sways on her feet a little, but keeps the determined expression on her face. If this guy's gonna take her out, she's gonna go down fighting. ]

You didn't answer my question.

[battothefuture]

Yeah, sorry, guess I've always has a problem with authority, so I guess someone trying to concuss me just isn't the best motivator.

[He's starting to feel a little guilty about the fact that this stuff is clearly hurting her, even from this range, but doesn't put it away, not quite yet. She could have him in a second if he did. But he does veeeery slowly back out of the half offensive, half defensive crouch that he'd settled automatically into, and take a few steps back.]

You wanna tell me what my door did to offend you?

[skort]

The door was an accident. I knocked too hard.

[ She's looks slightly sheepish at that for a moment before she sways again and leans against a wall. ]

Wanted to make sure you weren't dead in a ditch or sent home and the dog was left or something. I lost your number.

But then... [ Her glare comes back in full force and she makes herself straighten, though she's still got a hand on the wall. ] Then I see that.

So is it me or Kon you're trying to kill?

[battothefuture]

Neither.

[Of course, Kon might be trying to kill him some time soon- well, 'kill' might be a strong word for it, but it had seemed wise to have kryptonite on hand.... He sighed a little.]

I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting you, or I wouldn't have had this out.

[THERE IS A MOMENT OF HESITATION as he looks at her with a regretful, slightly pained sort of expression. Then he does something potentially stupid, but it's hurting her. And he's pretty sure that she isn't under the control of alien sealife or anything of the kind. Pretty sure.

If not, he might be dead. Let's hope she's herself. He pulls the fragment of kryptonite back into the lead-lined case, though he doesn't put it down. His gaze hardens a little, and his voice is very blunt.]

If I'd wanted to kill you, I'd have done it already. Hopefully that should be enough to convince you.

[skort]

[ She watches this a little warily, but she catches that expression and suddenly she's not exactly sure what she's supposed to be thinking about this whole thing. There's a little voice in the back of her head that's dark with pointy ears telling her to not let her guard down, but there's another part of her that just wants to sit and try and figure out what the hell just happened. ]

It's a start.

[ Kara compromises with the two warring urges and leans a shoulder against the wall. She can speed off if she wants to, but it's also a show of her relaxing a little bit. ]

The fact that you have it at all is making me incredibly suspicious, though. [ A pause, then a sigh and she looks down for the briefest of moments. ]

Look, Terry, there's obviously something different about you. Even before you threw me off of you, I knew you were trained. The way you move, you don't really mask it. You're way too chill with the whole me being a superhero thing to not have some connection one way or another... just give it to me straight. Who are you?

[battothefuture]

[He laughed a little, sort of a bark with some actual humor behind it, for all that it's short.]

Training is a complicated subject. Would you believe me if I told you that I just fought a lot? Started when I was about 12.

[But he sighs, and after a moment of internal debate, pulls out his batarang and flicks it at her. She's got the reflexes to catch it. She probably would even if he were trying to throw it to damage, which he's not. He seriously knows his way around these things.]

[skort]

There's a difference between fighting for a long time and being trained to fight.

[ It might be showing off a little when she catches it between two fingers and then slowly glances away from Terry to look at it. The effect is kind of ruined by the almost double-take, though. ]

... oh. Oh, that explains a lot. [ And then she frowns. ] Does Batman— the original, I mean— know about you?

[battothefuture]

Yeah, well for me, it's a combination.

[He grins at her doubletake.]

Who do you think trained me?

[skort]

[ She relaxes fully and tosses the batarang back at him. ]

Don't be a smartass. It's obvious Bruce trained you; I was asking if the one here knows about you.

[ Another pause and she glances at the box looking as if the thing was a snake about to bite. ] And if he's the one who gave you that, I'm going to punch him the next time I see him.

[battothefuture]

[He snags it out of the air with that easy, thoughtless speed and grace that spoke of long, long hours of practice, whereupon it became a little more obvious that he usually did move pretty normally. The batarang collapses back to a slim outline very quickly, and he puts it away. After that, his mood turns a little more serious again. He decides not to mention that bit about Bruce possibly not trusting him as far as he could throw him these days.]

He knows. And no. This is something I brought with me from home. I did end up back there, by the way. For about a week here, for about two years there. Which is why I didn't call. Sorry.

[skort]

[ Her eyes widen a little when he mentions his trip home. Two years was a long time and she knows maybe better than most how much could happen in two years. No wonder he didn't call. ]

It's fine. I'd say you have a pretty good excuse. And, uh. Sorry about the door. [ She looks down and pulls a little at the end of her sleeve to give her hands something to do. ] I was going to try and fix it when— well. You know.

[battothefuture]

[Terry finally sighs and relaxes a little, shifts his weight, and then winces. His hand goes up to his ribs.]

Ow. Remind me to stop pissing off your family.

[skort]

So what'd you do to piss Kon off?

[ The x-ray vision gets flipped on for a second as she talks and then Kara winces herself. ]

I am so sorry, Terry. I didn't actually mean to do anything other than scare you. Just... freaked out for a minute.

[battothefuture]

[Terry looks at her in slight surprise, then laughs a little.]

Slag, I guess I do still have that to look forward to. I was talking about Superman though.

Look, if I go get some tape, are you gonna try to kill me again as soon a my back is turned?

[skort]

Kal? What did— [ she cuts herself off and wipes the worried expression off her face. ]

No, I'm not going to try to kill you. That was just a... giant misunderstanding. Which I am really, really sorry about.

[battothefuture]

[He grinned at her -- though the question had only been half a joke, but there was no reason he couldn't try to make her believe that's all it had been.]

Just checkin.

[But when he goes to get the tape for his ribs, he is slightly more on alert than he normally is. He does a creditable job of disguising it though.]

[skort]

[ And while he's doing that, she skirts around back to the door to take a look and see if there's anything to do. And she can do a little, but... eventually he's probably going to need to get a new door.

And since she's feeling awkward enough already, she can't help but try and start a conversation, even if it's by calling across the apartment. ]

So you mind if I ask how you got the suit? Whichever suit it is you have, I think there's like fifty different Batpeople back home, which cold make it hard to guess. Though I'm about ninety-nine percent sure you wouldn't be part of the Batgirl legacy.

[battothefuture]

[He wanted to laugh, but stopped himself from doing so, because excessive breathing and anything related was not particularly fun with cracked ribs. He's had worse. That doesn't mean he cares for the experience. He didn't really feel like projecting either, so when she starts projecting, he grabs the tape and comes back towards her.]

Yeah, we already had the miniskirt talk. I'm gonna say that applies to any form of female costume. And... well, originally, I stole it.

[skort]

[ Her eyes close for a moment as she facepalms. ] I was trying to block the miniskirt talk out of my head. Thanks, Terry.

— Wait, seriously? How'd you even get into the Cave? [ And then she notices the tape and frowns a little. ]

Need some help?

[battothefuture]

Hey, you were the one who brought up Batgirl. Not that she exists any more by my time, not really. The... woman who used to be Batgirl is still alive, but that's....

The costume got retired.

[And then he laughs a little, and winces very slightly.]

Not that I guess that matters, mine was too. And I got in, first time anyway, by accident.

[He pauses and looks at her.]

You ever done anything like this before?

[skort]

They retired? Everyone? That... seems wrong. Unless Gotham was suddenly a paragon of justice and light.

[ She can't really imagine any of the Bats she knows retiring from the good fight, and she really can't imagine Bruce leaving Gotham without anyone to watch over her. ]

And, yeah, I have. Probably not as often as some people, but it's a good skill to have, especially in our line of work.

[battothefuture]

[Terry doesn't meet her eyes.]

Nope, same old Gotham. But sometimes things... happen. And... all right. I guess it would be nice to not have to do this myself. Thanks.