Ray Palmer (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} at0mic) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} momadness_log,@ 2023-05-02 07:07:00 |
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| Entry tags: | !red portal event, dc: ray palmer, stranger things: robin buckley |
Who: Robin Buckley and Ray Palmer
Where: Blue Valley, NE (DC’s Stargirl)
When: March 23 to May 2
What: Living in Suburbia
Rating/Warnings: SFW
Status: Complete
If there was one thing to be said about Ray Palmer, he always managed to do well in a crisis. Twenty-four hours had passed since he’d been hurled into this new world and he’d already secured funds and accommodation for himself. After being stranded in the past, he knew the importance of setting up a place to stay and a job to keep himself busy until he found a way back home, or in this case another red portal appeared. It also helped that he wasn’t alone.
The rental place was a nicely furnished two bedroom house in a suburban street not far from the town hub, with a lawn out back where Cosmo could play. Some clever not-quite-hacking with the ATOM suit had allowed him to set up his identity and a modest checking account. There was another Ray Palmer in this world, but he was a Tenured Professor at Ivy Town University, also a redhead. While the new resident of Blue Valley was currently unemployed and was guardian to his younger sister, Robin.
"I’m making coffee." He called upstairs, opening the kitchen curtains to let the morning sunlight in.
Being pulled through a mysterious portal to another new world wasn’t exactly Robin’s idea of a good time. Thankfully she had Ray Palmer with her. He seemed to be living up to the Boy Scout thing of being prepared. He set them up rather quickly and Robin was grateful to him - happy to accept her role as his new little sister.
The call had her stirring out of her dozing and it wasn’t long before she made her way into the kitchen and was pouring herself a mug. “So how long do you think we’ll be here?” Robin asked, sitting at the table and drawing her legs up to her chest. “Not that here is a bad place. Here is actually kind of nice. Just… it’s not going to be permanent, is it?”
Offering a smile of greeting as Robin appeared, he tried to remain cheerful in the wake of her question. He didn’t really have an answer, but he didn’t want to scare her with the reality of his foray into the past either. "I’m not sure, I’d love to give you a more concrete answer but honestly, we could be here indefinitely." Pouring his own cup, he joined her at the table, taking the chair opposite.
"In my limited experience of previous portal travel, minus the portal that brought me to the facility; people are usually away for a month at most." He curled his hands around the mug, "It is nice here and I’ll find a job somewhere so we won’t starve, I promise."
Robin didn’t do well in uncertain situations and Ray’s less than concrete answer wasn’t helping. But she’d try to put on a brave face. “Hopefully it isn’t indefinitely. I don’t think Steve could survive on his own.” She tried to joke, although she actually was really worried about Steve. He was probably panicking, wondering where she went. “A month?! Okay, he’s doomed.”
Sensing the unease in his new companion, Cosmo padded over to sit beside Robin, looking up at her in reassurance. "It will be okay, Comrade Steve has Miss Zari and Thor to look out for him. And we have Ray, he is a clever human."
Taking a sip of her coffee, Robin looked down in her mug, wondering why it was so much better than when she made it. “I think you can add barista to your potential jobs. This is delicious.” She finished the mug and placed the empty on the table before her. “And I can get a job too. You don’t have to do everything. Maybe one of the local shops needs an after school worker.”
Ray chewed on his lower lip for a moment, knowing that his uncertainty hadn’t helped Robin’s worries. "Is he really that helpless?" Steve hadn’t struck him as such, but he didn’t know the teen as well as Robin did. "Maybe he’ll be okay, he has his bat, doesn’t he?" Giving a little smile, he sipped his coffee, remembering the first network post Robin’s friend had made.
"I’m glad you like it. Hmm… I never considered that as an occupation." He could probably do that during the day and work on trying to get them back to the facility at night. "You don’t need to worry, but if you want to help out, I won’t say no. I hope you won’t mind being enrolled in this school too much. It‘s the only one in town so there wasn’t an alternative."
“Well, maybe not completely.” Robin gave a little smile. She knew Steve could handle himself in most situations but she couldn’t help but think the worst. It saved time when the worst eventually happened. “Maybe he got lucky and was sucked into a portal with a bunch of babes at a pool party.”
Yeah, it was better to think that. Steve would be fine.
“It’s okay. I have to go to school to keep up appearances. Can’t have the locals suspicious.” Although the locals, for the most part, seemed pretty harmless. “Although, I’m already thinking our neighbour, Pat, is onto us.”
"Maybe he did." Ray chuckled, a teenaged boy would definitely appreciate that particular portal trip. Maybe not him as a teen, but certainly Syd would have. He was trying not to think too hard about Zari and where she might be. He hoped she wasn't missing him too much, and if she was in yet another world, then it was one like this, which so far seemed relatively safe.
"Mmhm, until we can figure out a way back, that's what we'll both have to do." He looked across the room and out of the front window to Pat's house. He'd seen the man the previous evening, as they'd moved in, whilst he'd taken his bulldog for a walk. "You do? I suppose we did have very few belongings with us when we got here. That could look suspicious. I'll try and find a cheap car today. But until I do, are you okay walking to school?"
Almost on cue, the front door opposite opened and a familiar blonde girl emerged, followed by a younger boy and finally Pat. "Wait… is that Courtney? We must be in her world. But if she's here, are we in a time before she travelled through the portal… or after?"
Robin nodded, keeping up with appearances was the easy part. Thankfully she wasn’t as far behind in the times as she was when she had first travelled by portal. She had learned a lot about life after the Eighties and thought she would be okay. The hard part was figuring out a way back. If there was one.
“Oh, I’m totally fine with walking.” Robin chuckled, waving Ray off. “Before I became friends with Steve I would walk everywhere. I don’t have a licence. Never saw the point when my parents weren’t rich enough to buy me a car like some of the other kids.Walking to school here will be a breeze.”
At the mention of Courtney, Robin twisted around to look out the window, almost quick enough to give herself whiplash. “That’s… that’s her!” Robin confirmed, knowing those curly blonde locks anywhere. “And Pat must be her Pat. Her step-dad. Court told me a little about him. Oh wow! How did I not make the connection?”
Robin looked back to Ray as he continued, her excitement dimming. “How could we tell?”
"That sounds a lot like me when I was growing up. I didn't have a car, but I did have a bike. Cycled absolutely everywhere. Found an alien in a storm drain once." He chuckled, finishing up his coffee and getting to his feet. "I can walk with you as far as town, I need to take Cosmo out and fetch some more groceries."
Watching as the little group exited their house he smiled at Robin's reaction. "Of course! She's mentioned Pat to me before too, when she saw my suit. Apparently Pat made a giant robot suit too, in the back of his garage. Do you want to go out and see if you can walk to school with her? I bet she's friendly in every world."
"I'm not sure we could." He puzzled over the conundrum for a moment before shaking his head. "I'm not even going to worry about it just yet."
***
“Finally! The weekend!” Robin announced as she entered the house she shared with Ray. She then proceeded to flop on the couch and let out a long sigh. It had been a long week at school and Robin was keen to have some down time. It was hard work trying to keep up appearances as a normal teenager in the 21st century.
“Ray?” She sang out when she didn’t get a response straight away. Robin sat up straighter, pausing to see if her portal-brother replied. “Hey Ray? You here?” Getting up from the sofa, Robin walked out the back door, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw him outside. “There you are. Was wondering why the house was so quiet.”
Ray had ventured out into the back garden to tinker with his suit and Cosmo had followed, the dog content to sprawl out on the grass while his human worked. His ears pricked up when he heard Robin's voice and he greeted her at the back door with a soft bark -knowing not to talk outside of the house- tail wagging like crazy.
Ray on the other hand had been so focused on the suit that he only looked up when Robin spoke. "Oh! I didn't hear you come home. How was your day?" Setting the gauntlet he'd been adjusting down on the wooden table, he smiled across at her. "Any preferences for dinner? I should probably wait until after dark to test this out."
They'd settled into a routine pretty quickly once Robin was enrolled in High School. Ray had found a job at American Dream in the tech department, providing the kind of IT and other technical support he could give in his sleep. It was easy money and part time maternity cover so he didn't feel bad about taking a job from a local. It had also given him the opportunity to get to know Barbara, Courtney's Mom, and by extension the rest of the family.
Robin dropped down as she exited the house to greet Cosmo with pats. She never had pets growing up and really Cosmo wasn’t a pet either. For one, he could talk. Kind of. But only inside the house. Outside he pretended to be a regular dog.
“Long, tiring, all those adjectives that mean I am exhausted.” Robin stood and moved over to Ray, curiously looking at what he was working on. “School work isn’t hard. It’s pretending to know what the other kids are talking about these days. I thought I was getting the hang of it in New York but nope. There’s a whole lot I don’t know.”
It felt good to vent to Ray. He really was a good big brother and seemed to be on a similar wavelength to her because he liked to ramble a bit too.
“Yeah, you probably should wait.” She agreed, knowing the neighbours might get extra nosey about things if he tested during the day. “I don’t mind what we have for dinner.”
Cosmo soaked up all the attention and trotted by Robin's side as she meandered over to where Ray was tinkering with his suit. The dog nodded in understanding as Robin explained about school being tiring, he guessed being cooped up in a classroom all day would induce lethargy in most young humans. They needed fresh air and exercise, like puppies.
"Hmm, maybe we should look up pop culture for this time and world?" Not that it was something he'd run into trouble with, but he was from a year much closer than Robin's. Ray shifted slightly in his seat so Robin could get a clearer view of the gauntlet he'd been working on. She seemed interested, so he'd encourage that spark if he could. "The primary weapon emitter was a little off… it needed to be realigned. Don't want to be shooting wonky and causing unnecessary damage."
The sound of the doorbell chiming broke into the impromptu ATOM study session and he raised an eyebrow at Robin before getting up, wondering who could be calling on them. He didn't have to wonder too long as the silhouette through the glass of a petite girl gave Court away. "Hi, Courtney." He greeted her as he opened the door, "What can I do for you?"
"Hi Ray! Mom was wondering if you and Robin would like to come over for dinner tonight? Pat's cooked way too much for just the five of us… and I think she might have done something to her work laptop so be prepared for a question about that too!"
“Maybe.” Robin agreed with a shrug, not dismissing the idea but also knowing they had far more important things to worry about. Science wasn’t really her strongest subject but she still had an interest in learning. She knew of someone else back in Hawkins that would love to work on ATOM with Ray. “If my friend, Dustin, saw this… he would lose his shit.”
The doorbell interrupted their conversation and Robin and Cosmo followed Ray inside. Seeing Courtney’s silhouette, Robin hung back a step to eavesdrop on what she wanted. Hearing the dinner invite, Robin stepped into Ray’s periphery vision and nodded her head, willing him to accept.
Ray had been right when he had said that Courtney was friendly in every world and Robin liked hanging out with her. And her other friends too. They had been quick to accept her at their lunch table. However, Robin knew they had their secret lives and respectfully played oblivious to it.
He couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled up at the thought of one of Robin’s young friends going nuts over ATOM. His younger self had been just as awestruck and excited by the suit. Though Gumball was still a higher step on the coolness ladder.
"Of course we’ll join you." Ray accepted the invite as soon as he caught Robin’s little nod. " What time should we come over? And you can tell your Mom I’d be happy to help her out with the laptop too."
"Five-thirty." Courtney smiled, "Cosmo is invited too of course, if he doesn’t want to be left by himself." She patted his soft head as she spoke, earning a tailwag in return. "See you then!"
The five-thirty invite gave them enough time to wash up and clear the garden of all ATOM evidence. But the suit was carefully tucked into its case in Ray's pocket as he knocked on Courtney's door. Hopefully he wouldn't need it at a neighbours house, but one thing he learned from living in Star city is that you were never guaranteed a peaceful evening.
Luckily for them, as the same could be said for Blue Valley, their meal passed comfortably. Ray helped Pat clear the table when they'd finished but was stopped from doing the dishes by Sylvester. Which freed him up for tech support.
After dinner, Robin joined Courtney to watch a movie while Ray helped with the computer. There were still a lot of movies that Robin had yet to see so she was quite enthusiastic. However, her eyes lit up when they landed on a title in the DVD collection.
“I’ve seen this one!” She beamed as she pulled out a copy of Back to the Future. “My friend Steve and I snuck in to see it back in my hometown in Indiana. We missed the very start of it though.” And then it suddenly struck Robin that seeing a movie from the 80s in a cinema was odd for someone supposed to be from the 2000s. “Oh… it was an anniversary showing.” Robin supplied more information to cover her track. “Not when it originally was released back in 1985. That’s not poss-...”
Suddenly Robin’s rambles were cut off by a loud noise. “What was that?” Robin asked, voice edging toward panic.
"Uuhhh," Court glanced at the door as a telltale golden glow headed down the hall toward the den. "We get a lot of unexpected things happening around here and—" Her partial explanation was cut off by the Staff swooping into the room and nudging her toward the door. "Short version… I’m Stargirl, and you’ll probably be safer up here. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you or your brother." Grabbing hold of the Staff, she gave Robin’s hand a squeeze before dashing out of the room and downstairs.
Cosmo nudged Robin’s leg with his nose, "Do we wait? Ray has his suit, da?"
Robin knew unexpected things happened in Blue Valley. But even though she knew there was a possibility that something unexpected could happen, it didn't actually prepare her any better than if she had no clue at all.
The Staff swooped in and Courtney gave Robin an explanation. Yet before Robin could respond that she knew, Courtney was off. Robin looked down to Cosmo, reaching down to pet him behind the ears - more so to comfort herself with his presence. “You’re right. We should tell Ray.”
Racing downstairs, Robin went to find her adopted big brother. “Ray! Ray! Where are you?”
As usual when things went south, everything happened too fast to really process anything; one minute he was rebooting Barb's computer after fixing the software error, the next he was ducking behind the table as icy projectiles flew over his head to smash against the wall behind him. Mike and Barbara were huddling behind said wall while Pat and Sylvester were trying to take down their attacker, somewhat unsuccessfully.
He heard Courtney coming down the stairs, no doubt with the Staff and a second later a blast of yellow light knocked the intruder on his back. Taking the momentary pause in action to don his suit, Ray stepped out from his hiding place as Robin raced into the room, Cosmo hot on her heels.
A man made entirely of ice clambered to his feet and flung his hand out toward Robin, sending icicles flying toward her like bullets. "Pick on someone your own size," Ray's voice came out clipped as he sent a blast of energy in the man's direction while moving swiftly to stand between Robin and the deadly projectiles. Most melted in the energy shield which emanated from the suit, but a couple pinged off the dwarf star alloy with tiny little ringing sounds.
"Good idea." The man clenched his fist and the air inside his lungs started to freeze, making Ray choke, he struggled for air until another blast of cosmic energy broke the man's concentration.
"Robin-" Taking her hand, Ray pointed through the open front door and the swirling red portal which had just blinked into existence out on the drive. "We have to go."
As soon as she entered the room, Robin froze (no pun intended) in fear when the ice man noticed her and flung deadly icicles toward her. Thankfully Ray saved the day and the ice just melted in the energy shield of his suit.
“Ray!” Robin cried out when the ice man took Ray’s threat seriously and made him choke. She felt absolutely useless but then a blast of cosmic energy saved him. Her eyes darted around looking for Court to thank her but then her attention was snatched away when Ray took her hand.
“What?” She asked before looking toward the door, a huff of surprise escaping her. “But what about the others? Courtney needs help.” Robin knew they had to go while they had the chance but it didn’t feel right to just leave their friends. Another shot of ice hit a little too close and Robin jumped. “Okay. I’m going. You’re coming too, yeah?”
Ray was still shivering from the after effects of that icy hold the Blue Valley villain had set on him, his lungs felt rattly like he had a cold and he hoped there wasn’t any lasting damage done. "I know… but we have to take this chance while we have it. Who knows if the portal will come back if we miss it." He nodded in answer to her question and guided Robin and Cosmo ahead of him while he created a distraction so they could escape from the house. A combined blast from the suit’s weapons and the Staff knocked their adversary down for long enough for them to get clear and Ray followed, just as more teen heroes arrived on the scene.
Slipping his fingers into Cosmo’s collar, he took Robin’s hand again and together the three of them stepped into the tumultuous red light.
The rental place was a nicely furnished two bedroom house in a suburban street not far from the town hub, with a lawn out back where Cosmo could play. Some clever not-quite-hacking with the ATOM suit had allowed him to set up his identity and a modest checking account. There was another Ray Palmer in this world, but he was a Tenured Professor at Ivy Town University, also a redhead. While the new resident of Blue Valley was currently unemployed and was guardian to his younger sister, Robin.
"I’m making coffee." He called upstairs, opening the kitchen curtains to let the morning sunlight in.
Being pulled through a mysterious portal to another new world wasn’t exactly Robin’s idea of a good time. Thankfully she had Ray Palmer with her. He seemed to be living up to the Boy Scout thing of being prepared. He set them up rather quickly and Robin was grateful to him - happy to accept her role as his new little sister.
The call had her stirring out of her dozing and it wasn’t long before she made her way into the kitchen and was pouring herself a mug. “So how long do you think we’ll be here?” Robin asked, sitting at the table and drawing her legs up to her chest. “Not that here is a bad place. Here is actually kind of nice. Just… it’s not going to be permanent, is it?”
Offering a smile of greeting as Robin appeared, he tried to remain cheerful in the wake of her question. He didn’t really have an answer, but he didn’t want to scare her with the reality of his foray into the past either. "I’m not sure, I’d love to give you a more concrete answer but honestly, we could be here indefinitely." Pouring his own cup, he joined her at the table, taking the chair opposite.
"In my limited experience of previous portal travel, minus the portal that brought me to the facility; people are usually away for a month at most." He curled his hands around the mug, "It is nice here and I’ll find a job somewhere so we won’t starve, I promise."
Robin didn’t do well in uncertain situations and Ray’s less than concrete answer wasn’t helping. But she’d try to put on a brave face. “Hopefully it isn’t indefinitely. I don’t think Steve could survive on his own.” She tried to joke, although she actually was really worried about Steve. He was probably panicking, wondering where she went. “A month?! Okay, he’s doomed.”
Sensing the unease in his new companion, Cosmo padded over to sit beside Robin, looking up at her in reassurance. "It will be okay, Comrade Steve has Miss Zari and Thor to look out for him. And we have Ray, he is a clever human."
Taking a sip of her coffee, Robin looked down in her mug, wondering why it was so much better than when she made it. “I think you can add barista to your potential jobs. This is delicious.” She finished the mug and placed the empty on the table before her. “And I can get a job too. You don’t have to do everything. Maybe one of the local shops needs an after school worker.”
Ray chewed on his lower lip for a moment, knowing that his uncertainty hadn’t helped Robin’s worries. "Is he really that helpless?" Steve hadn’t struck him as such, but he didn’t know the teen as well as Robin did. "Maybe he’ll be okay, he has his bat, doesn’t he?" Giving a little smile, he sipped his coffee, remembering the first network post Robin’s friend had made.
"I’m glad you like it. Hmm… I never considered that as an occupation." He could probably do that during the day and work on trying to get them back to the facility at night. "You don’t need to worry, but if you want to help out, I won’t say no. I hope you won’t mind being enrolled in this school too much. It‘s the only one in town so there wasn’t an alternative."
“Well, maybe not completely.” Robin gave a little smile. She knew Steve could handle himself in most situations but she couldn’t help but think the worst. It saved time when the worst eventually happened. “Maybe he got lucky and was sucked into a portal with a bunch of babes at a pool party.”
Yeah, it was better to think that. Steve would be fine.
“It’s okay. I have to go to school to keep up appearances. Can’t have the locals suspicious.” Although the locals, for the most part, seemed pretty harmless. “Although, I’m already thinking our neighbour, Pat, is onto us.”
"Maybe he did." Ray chuckled, a teenaged boy would definitely appreciate that particular portal trip. Maybe not him as a teen, but certainly Syd would have. He was trying not to think too hard about Zari and where she might be. He hoped she wasn't missing him too much, and if she was in yet another world, then it was one like this, which so far seemed relatively safe.
"Mmhm, until we can figure out a way back, that's what we'll both have to do." He looked across the room and out of the front window to Pat's house. He'd seen the man the previous evening, as they'd moved in, whilst he'd taken his bulldog for a walk. "You do? I suppose we did have very few belongings with us when we got here. That could look suspicious. I'll try and find a cheap car today. But until I do, are you okay walking to school?"
Almost on cue, the front door opposite opened and a familiar blonde girl emerged, followed by a younger boy and finally Pat. "Wait… is that Courtney? We must be in her world. But if she's here, are we in a time before she travelled through the portal… or after?"
Robin nodded, keeping up with appearances was the easy part. Thankfully she wasn’t as far behind in the times as she was when she had first travelled by portal. She had learned a lot about life after the Eighties and thought she would be okay. The hard part was figuring out a way back. If there was one.
“Oh, I’m totally fine with walking.” Robin chuckled, waving Ray off. “Before I became friends with Steve I would walk everywhere. I don’t have a licence. Never saw the point when my parents weren’t rich enough to buy me a car like some of the other kids.Walking to school here will be a breeze.”
At the mention of Courtney, Robin twisted around to look out the window, almost quick enough to give herself whiplash. “That’s… that’s her!” Robin confirmed, knowing those curly blonde locks anywhere. “And Pat must be her Pat. Her step-dad. Court told me a little about him. Oh wow! How did I not make the connection?”
Robin looked back to Ray as he continued, her excitement dimming. “How could we tell?”
"That sounds a lot like me when I was growing up. I didn't have a car, but I did have a bike. Cycled absolutely everywhere. Found an alien in a storm drain once." He chuckled, finishing up his coffee and getting to his feet. "I can walk with you as far as town, I need to take Cosmo out and fetch some more groceries."
Watching as the little group exited their house he smiled at Robin's reaction. "Of course! She's mentioned Pat to me before too, when she saw my suit. Apparently Pat made a giant robot suit too, in the back of his garage. Do you want to go out and see if you can walk to school with her? I bet she's friendly in every world."
"I'm not sure we could." He puzzled over the conundrum for a moment before shaking his head. "I'm not even going to worry about it just yet."
“Finally! The weekend!” Robin announced as she entered the house she shared with Ray. She then proceeded to flop on the couch and let out a long sigh. It had been a long week at school and Robin was keen to have some down time. It was hard work trying to keep up appearances as a normal teenager in the 21st century.
“Ray?” She sang out when she didn’t get a response straight away. Robin sat up straighter, pausing to see if her portal-brother replied. “Hey Ray? You here?” Getting up from the sofa, Robin walked out the back door, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw him outside. “There you are. Was wondering why the house was so quiet.”
Ray had ventured out into the back garden to tinker with his suit and Cosmo had followed, the dog content to sprawl out on the grass while his human worked. His ears pricked up when he heard Robin's voice and he greeted her at the back door with a soft bark -knowing not to talk outside of the house- tail wagging like crazy.
Ray on the other hand had been so focused on the suit that he only looked up when Robin spoke. "Oh! I didn't hear you come home. How was your day?" Setting the gauntlet he'd been adjusting down on the wooden table, he smiled across at her. "Any preferences for dinner? I should probably wait until after dark to test this out."
They'd settled into a routine pretty quickly once Robin was enrolled in High School. Ray had found a job at American Dream in the tech department, providing the kind of IT and other technical support he could give in his sleep. It was easy money and part time maternity cover so he didn't feel bad about taking a job from a local. It had also given him the opportunity to get to know Barbara, Courtney's Mom, and by extension the rest of the family.
Robin dropped down as she exited the house to greet Cosmo with pats. She never had pets growing up and really Cosmo wasn’t a pet either. For one, he could talk. Kind of. But only inside the house. Outside he pretended to be a regular dog.
“Long, tiring, all those adjectives that mean I am exhausted.” Robin stood and moved over to Ray, curiously looking at what he was working on. “School work isn’t hard. It’s pretending to know what the other kids are talking about these days. I thought I was getting the hang of it in New York but nope. There’s a whole lot I don’t know.”
It felt good to vent to Ray. He really was a good big brother and seemed to be on a similar wavelength to her because he liked to ramble a bit too.
“Yeah, you probably should wait.” She agreed, knowing the neighbours might get extra nosey about things if he tested during the day. “I don’t mind what we have for dinner.”
Cosmo soaked up all the attention and trotted by Robin's side as she meandered over to where Ray was tinkering with his suit. The dog nodded in understanding as Robin explained about school being tiring, he guessed being cooped up in a classroom all day would induce lethargy in most young humans. They needed fresh air and exercise, like puppies.
"Hmm, maybe we should look up pop culture for this time and world?" Not that it was something he'd run into trouble with, but he was from a year much closer than Robin's. Ray shifted slightly in his seat so Robin could get a clearer view of the gauntlet he'd been working on. She seemed interested, so he'd encourage that spark if he could. "The primary weapon emitter was a little off… it needed to be realigned. Don't want to be shooting wonky and causing unnecessary damage."
The sound of the doorbell chiming broke into the impromptu ATOM study session and he raised an eyebrow at Robin before getting up, wondering who could be calling on them. He didn't have to wonder too long as the silhouette through the glass of a petite girl gave Court away. "Hi, Courtney." He greeted her as he opened the door, "What can I do for you?"
"Hi Ray! Mom was wondering if you and Robin would like to come over for dinner tonight? Pat's cooked way too much for just the five of us… and I think she might have done something to her work laptop so be prepared for a question about that too!"
“Maybe.” Robin agreed with a shrug, not dismissing the idea but also knowing they had far more important things to worry about. Science wasn’t really her strongest subject but she still had an interest in learning. She knew of someone else back in Hawkins that would love to work on ATOM with Ray. “If my friend, Dustin, saw this… he would lose his shit.”
The doorbell interrupted their conversation and Robin and Cosmo followed Ray inside. Seeing Courtney’s silhouette, Robin hung back a step to eavesdrop on what she wanted. Hearing the dinner invite, Robin stepped into Ray’s periphery vision and nodded her head, willing him to accept.
Ray had been right when he had said that Courtney was friendly in every world and Robin liked hanging out with her. And her other friends too. They had been quick to accept her at their lunch table. However, Robin knew they had their secret lives and respectfully played oblivious to it.
He couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled up at the thought of one of Robin’s young friends going nuts over ATOM. His younger self had been just as awestruck and excited by the suit. Though Gumball was still a higher step on the coolness ladder.
"Of course we’ll join you." Ray accepted the invite as soon as he caught Robin’s little nod. " What time should we come over? And you can tell your Mom I’d be happy to help her out with the laptop too."
"Five-thirty." Courtney smiled, "Cosmo is invited too of course, if he doesn’t want to be left by himself." She patted his soft head as she spoke, earning a tailwag in return. "See you then!"
The five-thirty invite gave them enough time to wash up and clear the garden of all ATOM evidence. But the suit was carefully tucked into its case in Ray's pocket as he knocked on Courtney's door. Hopefully he wouldn't need it at a neighbours house, but one thing he learned from living in Star city is that you were never guaranteed a peaceful evening.
Luckily for them, as the same could be said for Blue Valley, their meal passed comfortably. Ray helped Pat clear the table when they'd finished but was stopped from doing the dishes by Sylvester. Which freed him up for tech support.
After dinner, Robin joined Courtney to watch a movie while Ray helped with the computer. There were still a lot of movies that Robin had yet to see so she was quite enthusiastic. However, her eyes lit up when they landed on a title in the DVD collection.
“I’ve seen this one!” She beamed as she pulled out a copy of Back to the Future. “My friend Steve and I snuck in to see it back in my hometown in Indiana. We missed the very start of it though.” And then it suddenly struck Robin that seeing a movie from the 80s in a cinema was odd for someone supposed to be from the 2000s. “Oh… it was an anniversary showing.” Robin supplied more information to cover her track. “Not when it originally was released back in 1985. That’s not poss-...”
Suddenly Robin’s rambles were cut off by a loud noise. “What was that?” Robin asked, voice edging toward panic.
"Uuhhh," Court glanced at the door as a telltale golden glow headed down the hall toward the den. "We get a lot of unexpected things happening around here and—" Her partial explanation was cut off by the Staff swooping into the room and nudging her toward the door. "Short version… I’m Stargirl, and you’ll probably be safer up here. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you or your brother." Grabbing hold of the Staff, she gave Robin’s hand a squeeze before dashing out of the room and downstairs.
Cosmo nudged Robin’s leg with his nose, "Do we wait? Ray has his suit, da?"
Robin knew unexpected things happened in Blue Valley. But even though she knew there was a possibility that something unexpected could happen, it didn't actually prepare her any better than if she had no clue at all.
The Staff swooped in and Courtney gave Robin an explanation. Yet before Robin could respond that she knew, Courtney was off. Robin looked down to Cosmo, reaching down to pet him behind the ears - more so to comfort herself with his presence. “You’re right. We should tell Ray.”
Racing downstairs, Robin went to find her adopted big brother. “Ray! Ray! Where are you?”
As usual when things went south, everything happened too fast to really process anything; one minute he was rebooting Barb's computer after fixing the software error, the next he was ducking behind the table as icy projectiles flew over his head to smash against the wall behind him. Mike and Barbara were huddling behind said wall while Pat and Sylvester were trying to take down their attacker, somewhat unsuccessfully.
He heard Courtney coming down the stairs, no doubt with the Staff and a second later a blast of yellow light knocked the intruder on his back. Taking the momentary pause in action to don his suit, Ray stepped out from his hiding place as Robin raced into the room, Cosmo hot on her heels.
A man made entirely of ice clambered to his feet and flung his hand out toward Robin, sending icicles flying toward her like bullets. "Pick on someone your own size," Ray's voice came out clipped as he sent a blast of energy in the man's direction while moving swiftly to stand between Robin and the deadly projectiles. Most melted in the energy shield which emanated from the suit, but a couple pinged off the dwarf star alloy with tiny little ringing sounds.
"Good idea." The man clenched his fist and the air inside his lungs started to freeze, making Ray choke, he struggled for air until another blast of cosmic energy broke the man's concentration.
"Robin-" Taking her hand, Ray pointed through the open front door and the swirling red portal which had just blinked into existence out on the drive. "We have to go."
As soon as she entered the room, Robin froze (no pun intended) in fear when the ice man noticed her and flung deadly icicles toward her. Thankfully Ray saved the day and the ice just melted in the energy shield of his suit.
“Ray!” Robin cried out when the ice man took Ray’s threat seriously and made him choke. She felt absolutely useless but then a blast of cosmic energy saved him. Her eyes darted around looking for Court to thank her but then her attention was snatched away when Ray took her hand.
“What?” She asked before looking toward the door, a huff of surprise escaping her. “But what about the others? Courtney needs help.” Robin knew they had to go while they had the chance but it didn’t feel right to just leave their friends. Another shot of ice hit a little too close and Robin jumped. “Okay. I’m going. You’re coming too, yeah?”
Ray was still shivering from the after effects of that icy hold the Blue Valley villain had set on him, his lungs felt rattly like he had a cold and he hoped there wasn’t any lasting damage done. "I know… but we have to take this chance while we have it. Who knows if the portal will come back if we miss it." He nodded in answer to her question and guided Robin and Cosmo ahead of him while he created a distraction so they could escape from the house. A combined blast from the suit’s weapons and the Staff knocked their adversary down for long enough for them to get clear and Ray followed, just as more teen heroes arrived on the scene.
Slipping his fingers into Cosmo’s collar, he took Robin’s hand again and together the three of them stepped into the tumultuous red light.