April 30th
Metropolis
1900 EST
Eleven months after the quake
"I don't want to be here." Barbara murmured to Aasha. Both of the women were dressed to the nines amidst the elite of Gotham's sister city. "With the Arkham riots, I need to be home." She turned out of the way to allow another tuxedoed trust-fund baby to push past her to get into the Daily Planet's penthouse event floor.
"Calm down love." Aasha said gently, patting her lover's arm. "Batman said he's got things covered, and that he needed you here in his stead. It's not every day someone gets their fifth Pulitzer prize. Besides, Lois Lane is a delightful woman when she's not working. So I've been told."
"To be fair, I'm the one that told her." The two women heard. Sparing a glance, they saw the Daily Planet's own Clark Kent strolling towards them, his arms full of snacks and drinks and a camera, leaving him looking bumbling and irresponsible, just the way he liked it. "Thank you for coming."
"Artemis, Helena, and Bette are over at the drink station. I'm not sure who's idea the open bar was, but it wasn't a good one." Barbara said wryly, still feeling exceptionally tense.
"Well, the Chief spares no expense when one of his own gets honored. Could I maybe interest one of you in a drink, maybe some of these little meatballs?" Clark offered, hoping to get his load lightened. Aasha giggled and took one of the champagne glasses and a small plate of cheese from his hands, and watched Barbara do similar. "Thank you, ladies. So, speaking of ladies, by the way, could I ask you all for a favor?"
"Of course." Barbara replied, taking a small sip of her champagne. She couldn't crack skulls in Gotham, so having something productive was better than nothing. "What did you need?"
"Today's the first day Kara's felt confident enough to come out, but I'd promised Conner six weeks ago that we'd get some more training done up north this weekend. Could you show her a fun evening?" Clark asked, the annoyance of having two commitments that he couldn't handle simultaneously showing clearly on his face.
"We were heading back into Gotham after this, is that the kind of fun evening you were talking about?" Barbara said, hoping this wasn't going to keep her from her hometown. It still needed a lot of help, and the riot wasn't helping. There were plenty of mundane criminals that would take serious advantage of the situation, and Batman and Robin would be dealing with Arkham for the rest of the night and probably into the morning. Gotham needed them, badly. Having a Kryptonian backing them up would make the work go a lot faster, and safer.
"I don't think she's ready for that, and you know his opinion on having superpowered people working his city." Clark replied. He knew Bruce better than anyone, including the rest of the Bat-Family. "Speaking of, where's your other half this evening?"
Aasha had to catch herself from saying she was right there, something Barbara caught with a tiny smirk. "Working. He's got his clinicals until our graduation, which might make for a very good story, after the earthquake and all." Barbara said, planting the idea. He'd never admit it, but her boy was a huge Superman fan, and possibly getting mentioned in a story written by the man himself would be a milestone event for him.
"I see where you're going with this." Clark said. "I think it'd make an excellent story, I agree. Oh, Kara's coming up. I can hear her complaining." He added a bit sourly.
"Teenage girls aren't easy to handle." Aasha said, patting the veritable deity on Earth on his arm. "Trust me, we're a handful at that age, even the sweetest of us."
"She's worth it." Clark said, and it didn't even sound like he was trying to convince himself. "I have no other family left, so making sure she's comfortable and happy is the least I can do for her."
Barbara smiled gently at his words. The man was a shining example even when he was hiding out as a mild-mannered reporter, complete with a mustard stain on his tie. "Okay, the Birds will keep her company for the evening, but if Gotham gets too hot to handle, it might be a short night. Deal?"
"I couldn't ask for more than that. Thank you ladies." Clark said, and turned to the elevator, a proud smile on his face. When the doors opened, that smile faded somewhat, given who stepped out. Before he'd left the apartment, she'd selected a black cocktail dress that was perfectly age-appropriate for a fifteen year old girl, but somewhere along the way, the hem had climbed several inches above her knee, and the neckline had wandered lower.
The other Birds, seeing Barbara's gesture, made their way over. Once the lot were gathered, Clark gave some very uncomfortable introductions. "Ladies, this is my cousin Kara. Kara, this is Barbara, Aasha, Bette, Helena, and Artemis. They're friends of mine and they were nice enough to keep you company after I have to take off."
"Thank you Ka… Clark." Kara replied. "I can take care of myself though, I don't need chaperones."
"Oh sweetie, whatever gave you the impression we were here to chaperone?" Helena said with a twinkle of mischief in her eye. Fifteen wasn't exactly a distant memory for her yet, and having some friends willing to indulge her wild side had been a lifesaver. "How about we let the nice reporter get back to cleaning that stain off of his tie?"
Barbara and Artemis shared a look, the one that spoke of serious trouble brewing on the horizon.
April 30th
Flatwoods Kentucky
2105 EST
Eleven months after the quake
Deke exhaled a long, slow breath to join with the spring breeze of his Kentucky home. On the roof of the hospital he was doing his clinical work in, fresh off of his fourth twenty four hour in a row, he paused, trying to gather himself before taking off and flying home, just long enough to change, before flying into Metropolis to surprise his beautiful roommates.
Of course, the feeling of those multiple shifts in a row, broken up only by naps and meals, was working a number on him. "Oh I'll be glad when this is over." He mumbled, orienting himself so he could lift off into the sky.
He was paused again at his phone chiming. Sparing it a glance, he saw it was a text from Babs, saying she, Ash, and the Birds, would be keeping Kara company for a few hours. He replied with his usual be safe, have fun, and love you message, but noticed he had an email notification too, so with a sigh, he leaned against the roof access wall and opened it.
After a minute's worth of reading, it was all he could do not to jump in the air, whooping with joy. He channeled that into doing exactly what he'd been talking himself into not doing, and took off to his house, barely under the speed of sound.
April 30th
Metropolis
2130 EST
Eleven months after the quake
"So, then she says 'I don't care what you're trying to threaten me with, so long as you're wearing pants when you do it!'" Artemis said with a snicker, drawing a rather tart glare from Barbara for her retelling of the day the Batgirl got the drop on Icicle Junior. It had not been a great day when she'd caught up to him in an illegal bathhouse in Gotham's Chinatown.
"So, he was naked, that's the takeaway?" Kara asked with a cocked eyebrow as they strolled away from the Daily Planet building and towards the nightlife of Metropolis. "Are they all that… lewd?" she asked, simultaneously curious, and more than a little disgusted at the same time.
"No, not all of them." Helena said, saying to hell with the heels and pulling them off while leaning against a lamppost. She didn't need the support in the slightest, but when a girl doesn't have superpowers, in a city where Superman usually patrolled the skies, it paid not to advertise. "There are some legit gentleman villains out there. Riddler's a goofy guy, but he's no creep."
"Luthor." Artemis piped in. "Call him every terrible name in the book, because he deserves it, but he's no creep, and he had plenty of opportunity, plenty of times. Ra's Al'ghul too. He's about as gentlemanly as they come."
"That's reassuring." Kara said, giving a glance to Aasha, who'd largely been quiet. "So, are you okay?" she asked, nudging the small woman gently after falling back a step or two.
"I am." Aasha said sweetly. "Just missing someone is all. I've already told all my good stories, and they work in Gotham, where I'm not welcome to do what I do best. Usually I've got a certain somebody I can snuggle into when it comes to this part of the evening."
"I'd make a crude joke, but current company." Artemis quipped, joining Helena in the shoe removal. She hated heels more than life itself, and wearing them once a year maybe, meant she was in no way accustomed to it.
"Are you seriously trying to rile me up Artemis?" Barbara asked with a half-frown. "Because it's working."
"Look, call me old-fashioned, but I never thought I'd get a chance to hang out with a poly relationship, can you blame me for trying to diffuse the tension of my ignorance with piss-poor jokes in the worst of taste?" Artemis replied with a frown of her own. She wasn't the most keen on not knowing something, and admitting it left a horrible taste in her mouth no matter the subject.
"Oh, holy crap." Helena said, turning to get a good look at Aasha when everything clicked into place for her. "You're ShortOrderSub, aren't you?"
"This is going to get weird." Bette said to Kara, and gestured towards a street vendor. "I think gelato's in order. It's better than the conversation you probably don't want to hear."
"I understand consensual polyamory better than you think. On Krypton, it wasn't uncommon for a man or woman to have multiple domestic partners. My parents weren't into it, but our neighbor had three husbands. Of course, this sounds like something a lot less common here, so maybe that gelato would be a wonderful idea." Kara said with a small grin. Ice cream didn't survive a visit from Lois.
Watching them walk away towards the vendor, Helena felt emboldened. "You're her. I've met you a handful of times, and I never thought I'd actually talk to you face to face. This is a big deal." She said to Aasha, who colored nicely and stepped in tighter to Barbara, who seemed perfectly puzzled.
"Goodness, thank you Helena. I assume you're RichSwitchBitch then?" Aasha asked, going from lonely to overwhelmed with attention and not entirely certain how to feel about it.
"You guessed it. So, Red, your girl here, she and I had been chatting for almost two years on a Gotham BDSM forum. I'm going to lead off by saying you and your mister have been treating her beautifully, so good on you. Secondly, your girl's a genius." Helena said with a wink.
"Well that's good to know. Since Bette's got Kara occupied with gelato, do you mind telling me how she's a genius? I mean, I've known it since I met her, but who doesn't like hearing it?" Barbara said, giving her girlfriend a squeeze and a smile.
"She wrote this whole thing about how it's important for a sub to own their doms, wound up becoming a major link for new people interested in the lifestyle. Then she writes these really good journals about, well, y'know. And before you get worried, no names. She calls you Sunset and calls him Poet. They're brilliant, I can't even stress enough how helpful they are." Helena said with a bit of fangirl in her voice.
"I knew you had it in you." Barbara said with a warm smile. "And I have to say, I approve of the nicknames."
"Well, it took me ages to think of anything good, so I'm glad you like them." Aasha said bashfully. This wasn't something she was interested in being recognized for, preferring to just say what she had to say, and hoping it'd be useful. "You're the one that inspired me, and you know exactly why."
"See, they're so cute." Artemis said, nudging Helena. "Did you hear that?" she added without missing a beat.
"Yeah, what was that?" Helena asked, turning to look behind her. Stepping from an empty side-street, they were being approached. "Oh, hey big man!" she said with a wave once the third of the triumvirate stepped out into the light, overdressed now that they'd left the award party at the Planet.
With a massive yawn, Deke waved back, feeling rather out of place in the girl's outing, and hoping he wasn't interrupting. His news was huge though, and needed shared sooner than later. "Ladies." He said, tipping an imaginary hat, before giving voice to his concern. "I'm not interrupting or anything, am I?" he drawled.
"No, we didn't hang a 'No Boys Allowed' sign on the door. You just get off work?" Artemis asked, sidestepping so Barbara could get a kiss from him, followed by a huggy Ash. He grinned at her and returned some very innocent affection with a nod.
"Yeah, four twenty fours in a row. I'll sleep until Monday morning, then get two days to do nothing whatsoever. That's, of course, considering I'll be able to sleep. Y'all wanna keep the party going for a little while longer?" He asked, flashing an uncharacteristic wide grin.
"What do you know that you're not telling us Cowboy?" Barbara asked, feeling the elation pouring off of him in tidal waves. "It's gotta be something good, and I for one would love to know what it is."
"STAR Labs emailed me this morning. They're setting up a full Xeno clinic in Metropolis, and they've already offered me an office and staff once I graduate. Full private practice with all of their resources at my disposal!" He said, still giving a cheesy grin.
"Oh that's wonderful news Love!" Aasha said, snuggling into him. "Yes, let's absolutely keep the party going longer, shall we?"
"What kind of party are we talking about here?" Bette asked, walking up with Kara, both of their hands loaded up with gelato cones. "Because we promised not to get our guest in trouble, and I'm not so keen on getting on her cousin's bad side."
"Well, there's plenty to uh, there's plenty to do." Aasha said, losing track of herself for a minute. "Where are we, in Metropolis exactly?"
"Corner of Siegel and Shuster, dead center of the city." Kara replied, pointing towards the large statue of Superman that Kal-El hated so very much. "What's got you looking so puzzled?"
"I thought I saw something, no matter. Let's go celebrate, shall we then?" Aasha said, putting her sunshine and cheer back on in full force. For a minute, amidst the high rises, LED's and neon, she could have sworn she'd seen a small store nestled between the buildings. A store with a single eye and a crystal ball for a sign. A store, conveniently enough, that wasn't there.