Day 1: Darcy

What the hell had been Bat's hang up with her hair? No matter, she had to find somewhere to lay low for the night. Think, Darcy, think.

She looked at the pamphlet the lady at the GCPD had given her. It was a pretty decent map of the city, all things considered. But what concerned Darcy more was the pamphlet didn't even say "Welcome to Gotham" but instead said "Occupational Hazards of GCPD Employees." Inside was packed with information of Gotham city "rogues" and what areas they tended to favor when they escaped Arkham.

Lovely. She squinted at the map. She was, at least, in Old Gotham and not Crime Alley or the Bowery. Her luck granted her that much. Still, the streets were far from safe and she shuddered to imagine how much worse they were in those areas.

"Parkour," Darcy whispered with a quiet laugh to herself, spotting a ladder hanging down just enough for her to manage getting a foot up if she jumped off the wall to grab it. She trailed closer, looking up the ladder to see what she was working with.

It wasn't much, but it was safer than sleeping in the alleys. The roof of the building hung over the fire escape by about six inches, and she noticed she could pull the ladder up a little… She would have to be very careful, because everything looked so rusted and she may not be strong enough to haul the ladder up. Hmmm. Well, no harm in trying.

She tucked her stolen shirt into her pants–both were far too big on her, but she was doing the best she could with the hand she was dealt–then tucked the map of Gotham into her shirt. Gritting her teeth, she went for it. Except she pushed off the wall way too hard and grabbed the ladder far above her intended target. Darcy blinked, then scrambled up the ladder.

Rust flaked off the rungs, sticking to her sweating hands. The rain made the climb all the more difficult, but she finally made it to the top of the escape. Now, she had to pull the ladder up behind her. With a groan, Darcy realized she would have to partially climb down the ladder in order to pull the ladder up. She was really tempted to just leave it, but her internal monologue said "Excuse you, I choose life."

The ladder freaking broke on her. She clung to the rungs, her hair wet and matted to her face, and began to cry. Great. Now, she was stuck on the fire escape. Delightful. She climbed slowly up the ladder, her heart aching inside her chest.

Curling underneath the scant half foot of roof the building afforded, Darcy shivered into a restless sleep. She woke up screaming.

Day 2: Darcy

This sucked. Gotham sucked. Everything sucked.

Darcy rubbed a hand over her face tiredly. There had to be somewhere she could go for resources. Every place she tried today either slammed the door in her face or threw her out. It was getting old and fast . She needed to find something to eat and drink. And then another safe place to sleep.

Her ankle thrummed with pain at the reminder of having to jump from the fire escape's ladder to the ground. Stupid broken ladder. She was pretty sure she had sprained her ankle, and her feet were already in terrible shape thanks to walking around the city barefoot.

She found herself staring up at a large ionic-style building ten blocks away from the GCPD. The Gotham City Public Library was a monstrosity of white brick and looked exactly like the kind of building that would kick Darcy out if she tried to step foot in the building. Sighing, she decided to try it anyway. It was a public library, after all. Which meant, hey, it was open to the public.

She was not, surprisingly, kicked out. She was, however, waved over by a sweet-faced librarian in a wheelchair who was eyeing Darcy's hair with a raised eyebrow.

Good grief, what was with people staring at her hair lately? Granted, she hadn't gotten the chance to look in any mirrors lately, but still. She would think people would pay more attention to the fact she was walking around barefoot in Gotham than her hair.

"Is the dyed look coming back?" the librarian asked smoothly, giving Darcy a small smile. Darcy stared at her carefully. The librarian's expression was open and friendly, but something made Darcy uneasy about the question.

"Yeah," Darcy replied, the lie slipping out easily. She shoved her hands into her too big pockets. "Should have waited though. Didn't know I would end up on the streets the night after. Could have used the money for something else."

The woman nodded. "Ah. I see. Would you come with me for a minute?"

Still uneasy but deciding what the heck, Darcy followed the woman towards the back of the library.

The woman gave her shoes, and Darcy may have teared up a little bit. She also handed her a heavy backpack, which Darcy prayed had at least some toiletries and a little food, if not some extra clothes. Specifically socks and underwear.

Swallowing thickly, Darcy looked at the woman. "Why are you helping me?"

The woman appeared to think for a moment before she shrugged. "A little birdie told me you might come by."

Darcy stared at her. "A little…what?"

The woman smiled. "Sorry. You aren't from here, are you?"

Darcy blew out a long breath. "Is it that noticeable?"

The librarian laughed softly. "A little, but I think you'll be okay. You seem like a smart woman."

Uncomfortable now, Darcy breathed a little more shallow and shuffled her feet. "Uh. Okay. Thank you. I…I appreciate the help."

The librarian nodded. "Anytime. I do mean that. Please, come back. The library closes at nine o'clock every night, but I'm here a little later if you need me. Just press the call button on the back door and request "Gordon.""

"Okay. Thanks. Uh, can you point me in the direction of the ladies' room?"

"Walk to the first set of shelves you see on the left. Then walk all the way to the back of the room. You'll see a small alcove there that's an entrance to the bathrooms."

"Thanks." Darcy held the backpack tightly in her fist as she walked away, afraid she would get it dirty if she slung it on her shoulders.

She found the restrooms and decided to go through the bag before she tried to look in the mirror at herself. She almost cried in relief when she saw the unopened pack of socks and a pack of underwear at the top of the bag's contents. Sitting on the floor–not as gross now that she had trudged through the disgusting streets of Gotham–Darcy dug through the bag. She found some toiletries–toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, deodorant–two shirts and a pair of jeans, a belt, and a few other odds and ends. There was a box of granola bars, a few cans of soup with the easy-open pop-lids, and a reusable plastic water bottle.

Darcy took a deep breath in and let it out, feeling more than a little relieved at the help of the librarian.

Getting a whiff of herself in the enclosed area, she decided that was probably best to go ahead and clean up while she had the opportunity. Her heart sank as she finally got the chance to look in the mirror for the first time since she showed up in this place last night. She looked awful .

Darcy grudgingly admitted that she looked like a crazy person. She had dark purple bags underneath her eyes, her skin was dirty from roaming the streets–don't even get her started on her feet and legs–and she was pale and shaky looking. Scratch that, she was pale and shaky feeling . And her eyes screamed "I am crazy." So much that Darcy herself was a little taken aback by the emotions she saw there. Simultaneously like a deer in the headlights and a feral dog who was cornered. A combination of don't hurt me and I will rip you to shreds. And were her eyes freaking green? Weren't they blue last time she checked?

She chalked it up to anxiety at her changing appearance, but Darcy felt off in ways beyond the change. She stared at her hair. Two white streaks had likewise made an appearance, starting at her temple and falling at her shoulders. Considering she had leapt realities, physical changes were not too far out of the realm of reality, were they? Realm of reality. Hahahaha. What a wise-crack. This wasn't even her realm of reality. She had no idea what was possible here. She looked the same for the most part, but then there were these subtle changes... Maybe she was an alternate version of herself?

She shook her head and lifted one of the two streaks of white hair with a finger, staring at it with an unidentifiable emotion. Shaking herself out of it, Darcy grabbed and wet a few paper towels to begin cleaning herself up. Washing her hair in the sink had been interesting, but what put her most off kilter was when she hoisted one foot at a time into one of the three sinks in the room.

She got some very weird looks from one of the library's patrons when they came into the restroom, but considering there were three sinks, they gave her a wide berth and kept their mouths shut. Thank goodness for small mercies, Darcy thought as she continued to wash Gotham streets off of her calves and feet.

After she felt a little cleaner–she wouldn't feel completely clean until she had a nice, long shower–Darcy stepped into a stall and changed clothes. There was something odd about the clothes though, and Darcy didn't recognize what had put her on alert until her gut clenched uncomfortably when the jeans slid on perfectly.

"Not cool," she whispered, trying to calm her panic.

What had the librarian said? That a little birdie said she might show up? Darcy's heartbeat raced. What was that supposed to mean? That she was being followed? That someone knew she was displaced? Someone obviously had a photo of her somewhere for them to guess her clothing size so well. Uncannily well, even if they had a photo.

Darcy hurried to finish dressing. Despite the shoes Gordon gave her not being broken in, they felt like heaven to Darcy. Especially when she realized how well they supported her swollen ankle. She only started crying after she pulled the socks on and her feet began to warm and lose their chill. She quickly shoved down her frazzled emotions, making a list of what she needed to do. First things first, look more carefully at the contents of the bag.

Uncapping the shampoo, she scowled at the tiny device in the lid. A bug. Darcy scowled and crushed it. Nat would be proud. She would be even prouder, Darcy noted, knowing she recognized the bug was too obvious to be the only one in the bag. Darcy knew there was more in the bag, and she dug through everything with renewed vigor until she found and crushed three more. She would do an even deeper search later, when she found a safer place. What kind of library wasn't safe ? She scowled. Damn Gotham. Even New York's libraries were safer than this in the bad neighborhoods. The niceness of structure was just a cover for heaven knows what.

For good measure, Darcy ran the bugs under some water to further short out the circuits. Her free hand clenched the sink tightly, and she withdrew her hand quickly when the heavy porcelain cracked, spider webbing out and then partially crumbling. Water spilled out onto the floor.

Darcy stared at the sink, then at her hand, then back at the sink. Her heartbeat picked up speed again.

"What is going on with me?" she whispered in confusion. She recalled a conversation she had had with Peter Parker about his realization he had powers, but Darcy hadn't been bitten by any radioactive spiders. No, a small voice said in her mind, you only drowned in what might have been a radioactive sludge pit . Not to mention traveled between worlds. You think that won't have consequences?

She shuddered at the idea as water continued to drip out of the broken sink and onto the floor. Was this why she had been able to jump higher than she anticipated on the fire escape? Hell, was this why the fire escape broke? She had just thought it was rusted and therefore a little more delicate, but now… Ugh, yet another thing for Darcy to deal with.

She shut the water off quickly, drying her hands. She shoved some paper towels into the backpack. What could it hurt? They might come in handy later on.

She glared at the sink again, angry at herself. Now she really had to leave.

"Okay, Darcy," she muttered to herself. "WWND? What would Nat do? Disappear, obviously, but I'm not the best at that. Gotta try anyway."

Staying under the radar was going to be even more difficult– and dangerous–if she kept breaking things by accident. She made a note to dig into Gotham's attitude towards enhanced individuals whenever she found a place she could access a computer and wifi. A different library, maybe. She certainly wasn't going to use this library's computer lab now that she suspected she was being followed. They would surely look at her computer history and–

Darcy paused, an idea blossoming. With a grin, she decided she would stop by the computers. Squeezing a little more of the moisture out of her hair before she left the bathroom, Darcy exited and followed the signs leading to the technology department. She had to be fast. But, she thought with a smirk, she was a millennial, after all. Technology was like breathing for her.

Darcy thanked her lucky stars that the Internet was a thing in this reality. She signed a paper under the alias Natalie Rushman–a nod, of course, to the woman who was her inspiration behind this–and sat at a computer. Pulling out her pamphlet from the GCPD as a reference, Darcy quickly began typing in a series of confusing searches to throw whoever was on her tail off.

Metropolis University

Star City Internships for English Majors

Rent Rates in Metropolis

Two Room Apartments in Metropolis

How to Work a Crowd as a Pair

How Much is Cab Fare to Metropolis?

How much is Bus Fare to Metropolis?

She typed in a few other searches, making sure to navigate through several of the links the search pulled up. Grinning, Darcy wiped her search history–well aware that they would pull it up again if they were serious about finding her–and left the computer lab.

The Gordon woman was waiting for her near the front. Darcy grimaced, thinking she should have found a side exit. One step forward, two steps back.

"Before you go, do you want to set up a library card? It'll take two minutes, tops." Gordon was giving her a smile.

Darcy pretended to hesitate, then shook her head. "No. Better not. I have to get back home."

The words were full of loaded meaning, and Darcy rocked from one foot to the other awkwardly.

Gordon looked at her, squinting her eyes a little bit. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. But I'll think about it."

The librarian nodded, still giving Darcy that look that made unease stir in her gut. "I would love to see you back."

Darcy gave her a tight smile, anger fizzling in her stomach as she walked out.

"Come again!" Gordon called, waving after her.

Darcy had no intention of returning.