i_turngreen Re-entry (OPEN)
Characters: Jennie, anyone else who would like to join in Setting: Starbucks Summary: She was gone, now she's back. The City certainly does some wacky things...
Cynthia's cafe had been one of Jennie's favorite places in New York. She'd found it on one particularly blustery morning while trudging home from her classes. And no matter how hard she tried, she hadn't been able to find it during her time in the City.
It had been odd. One morning, two months ago, she'd been on her way to work in the City, and had turned down a street, only to find herself in front of Cynthia's.
She'd assumed it meant that the City had finally sucked in her favorite place to sip lattes, but on returning home to her apartment... As in *her* apartment, and not just the one she had found in the City, she had found her Kyle.
Actually, oddly enough, her Kyle hadn't been sick with worry, and even more, hadn't been still waiting in bed after a wonderful first date.
No, instead, her Kyle seemed to have taken up residence in her apartment. In fact, quite frequently, he'd referred to it as 'our' apartment.
Knowing better than to let on that there was anything odd about this, Jennie had resigned herself to yet another changing reality. It had surprised her how easily she had melted into cohabitation. How much she had missed the way Kyle looked at her-the way he knew her better than anyone. The way that he could tell, with just a glance, what she was thinking and how she was feeling.
And yet, she couldn't help but find herself wondering about the Kyle she'd left behind in the City. The last she'd heard from him had been a letter, promising his safe return. Had he returned, to find her missing? They'd certainly begun to regain some of the friendship she loved so much. And she was almost certain she'd spotted that look in his eyes once or twice-but perhaps that had just been wishful thinking.
But this was definitely New York City, and this Kyle looked at her like that every day. He woke up next to her and kissed her on the forehead, and he murmured "I love you" every night as they fell asleep together. Occasionally, she swore she even heard it muttered in his sleep.
And so, this morning had been like any other. She'd woken up, kissed him goodbye, and after a few such drawn-out goodbye kisses, headed off to class. Nothing out of the ordinary. And she'd stopped at Cynthia's on the way home, to get some studying done, and enjoy her staple latte and scone.
Really, looking back, she should have expected something like this. The last two months had been like a dream. Of course it couldn't last.
And yet, she hadn't. She hadn't even felt the shift, as she'd read through her History of Art book, completely absorbed in a paragraph on Impressionism. When she'd looked up to check the clock, realizing it was most likely far later than she'd planned on staying, she'd realized, with a start, that Cynthia's had somehow morphed into a Starbucks, and the latte in the funky ceramic mug was now a styrofoam cup, filled with frothy whipped cream. Before realizing just how bad this was, Jennie felt her lips turning down in disgust. She had always loathed Starbucks-whether it was the ridiculously high prices, or the generic atmosphere, or just the fact that one could find a Starbucks anywhere-and oh boy was it anywhere-she didn't know.
But then, her heart dropped into her stomach as she realized that it had happened yet again.
A quick glance at the patrons beside her revealed a man in a business suit, hiding behind an edition of the City Voice. And a woman on her other side was poring over City Woman's Weekly, a publication that Jennie herself had been on the cover of twice during her time living in the City.
Her heart pounding, she reached for her purse, fumbling for the key to her apartment, but instead finding only a green keychain with a key that led to a stylishly furnished apartment a few blocks from here-give or take, given that the City streets were ever-changing.
From: i_hunt Date: 07/25/2006 15:57:33
When Helena Bertinelli had been maintaining a precarious balance between School Teacher and Huntress, Starbucks coffee cups had been symbiotic life-forms that were permanently attached to her hand. She had given lectures with coffee cups in her grasp, she was unable to grade tests without coffee on the table, and she had splashed hot coffee in the face of many a mafioso thug. When she committed her entire life to being the Huntress during the Gotham 'quakes, she gave up the addiction. She became nocturnal, and had no need for caffeine life support. Later still, once she struck up a two weeks on / two weeks off balance between Helena and the Huntress, she had had little need for a regular Starbucks fix, and only indulged occasionally.
Today, she was starting fresh. It was a first day. On a first day at a completely new school, she needed as many old comforts and addictions that she could hold in her arms to keep from feeling lost and abandoned. That's what brought her to Starbucks for a double eternity of waiting at the circular counter for her foamy iced green tea. Leaning back against the counter's edge, she admired her stylish new leather briefcase. It was another tradition, on first days, to buy herself a new 'case. She had been gifted a gorgeous eggplant briefcase from a student last Christmas, and it was still in her closet in its original wrapping. Call it superstition or call it tradition tradition, but Helena had woken up early just to buy herself a new briefcase.
She was beginning to regret the decision.
The briefcase's strap was beginning to dig into her shoulder, and Helena pondered if she should have worn a blazer over her burgundy blouse. Sweeping her wavy black hair back, from off her shoulder, she pinched at the offending strap in an act of blatant revenge. With it in her grasp, she twisted the strap to get the padded side down against her shoulder, but ended up infuriatingly twisting the entire length. Hurling it off of her shoulder in frustration, she accidentally swung the briefcase into the back of a brunette's head.
A History of Art book went tumbling from the young woman's hands.
"I'm sorry," Helena called out ...but she sounded mostly indignant at the young woman's head having been in her way.
From: i_turngreen Date: 07/25/2006 16:25:23
Jennie barely stifled a shout of "Ow" before looking up in surprise at the hardly apologetic-sounding tone issuing, well, an apology.
She turned around to face her assailant, eyebrows rising, as she self-consciously brushed herself off.
"That's quite all right," she said in polite, clipped tones as she knelt down to pick up her book.
From: i_hunt Date: 07/25/2006 19:42:28
In aristocratic tones, Helena remarked, "No. It's not. I did wrong." --She wrapped both of her hands around the base of her exceedingly large frothy tea-- "I deserve more than bland, polite lies."
Helena regarded Jennie, watched the way she moved, and then took her first chilly sip of the tea. When Jennie stood up, Helena looked at her face, really saw her for the first time. Cocking her head in curiosity, she raised her plastic mug to the light, and held it in front of her left eye. She tried to see Jennie through the filter of the green iced tea. It didn't work, but recognition set in. Helena swung the plastic mug away from her body, and used her free hand to point a pair of fingers at Jennie.
"I know you, don't I?"
From: i_turngreen Date: 07/25/2006 20:02:25
Jennie opened her mouth to reply to that rude assertion when the woman's expression changed, and she pointed.
Her eyebrows raised as she racked her brains for where she could know this woman from. Most likely the woman recognized her from some modeling campaign or other, and was just superimposing some sense of familiarity, but she wasn't about to say so. There was enough attention called to her as a result of her 'career' and she certainly didn't enjoy it, nor did she intend to bring it on herself.
"I... don't think so. Are you from around here?" Here meaning the City. Its inhabitants got rather testy if one insinuated that there was anywhere outside the City, so she had learned to ask these questions very gingerly.
From: i_hunt Date: 07/25/2006 20:39:33
"I'm from Gotham," Helena asserted, tentatively. It felt as if her internal organs were playing musical arteries, with her throat welling and her stomach plummeting. She curled her arms in towards her chest, but then she twisted back to drop her drink on the counter. Her inexplicable dread was replaced by a simmer of excitement at her ability to recognise anything -- anyone. With a surge of unexpected camaraderie, Helena beamed, "I know you. I do. But I know you from New York."
She formed a circle with each hand, and put them both around her eyes, like a domino mask. To sell the reference, she stuck up her pinkies like the upper points of her 'H' mask. In a sly, secret society kind of way, Huntress said, "I know you from Outside."
From: i_turngreen Date: 07/25/2006 21:03:12
"Outside?" Jennie's brow furrowed in confusion. She must have been referring to outside the City... right.
And yet, something about the woman's gesturing and the significant tone of voice told her it was more than that.
She politely extended a hand, unable to resist returning the woman's smile.
"You know this already, but I'm Jennie-Lynn Hayden and... I'm afraid I don't know your name."
She paused, flashing an apologetic smile.
"This place certainly does funny things to people," she continued. "How old was I when you knew me?"
From: i_hunt Date: 07/25/2006 21:21:35
When asked for her name, Helena opened her mouth, but only produced an undefined "Hhh" sound. As an Outsider, Jennie had only known her as the Huntress, but now she had seen her without the dramatic purple mask. That likely wouldn't be a problem, since Ms. Bertinelli, school teacher, wasn't readily recognizable to the general public. Helena struggled to think of even a single reason to keep her identity a secret, and she couldn't. At the same time, she couldn't manage to say her given name.
That mental block was forgotten --probably only for half a minute-- once Jennie asked about her age. It seemed a peculiar question, eliciting a haughty cocked eyebrow from Helena. Before she could work up a cutting remark, she was struck by how baby-faced the young woman appeared. Sliding into the empty chair at Jennie's table, Helena began speaking before she even knew what she was talking about. She said, "I don't know that. We were teammates for just a brief time. Still... you were, I think you were... somewhat... more mature... Botox cocktail?"
From: i_turngreen Date: 07/25/2006 21:34:00
Jennie raised an eyebrow. "Botox?" she repeated in disbelief. "Hardly."
"Team-mates?" she studied the other woman curiously. "You weren't..." she glanced around nervously and then lowed her voice. "A member of Infinity, Inc, were you?" she whispered.
No. It couldn't be. She had known many of the members of Infinity without their masks as well as with.
"As I mentioned, this place does strange thigns to people. Would you believe I, er, ran into my boyfriend on arrival, two years prior to our getting together?"
She decided to leave out the fact that she was then unceromoniously shuttled back to a time six months to a year after her own time, nor did she mention the fact that this was now her second return trip to the City.
She did, however, wonder briefly just how long this woman-who still remained nameless-had been here.
From: i_hunt Date: 07/25/2006 21:49:03
Squinting at Jade, Helena attempted to perform the mental acrobatics of puzzling out the temporal paradox. When her mental acrobat tripped and figuratively landed on her face, she just pursed her lips. Shaking her head, Helena braced her elbows on the table, and leaned in to speak softly.
"I, never in my life, met Infinity Inc. I think I read about them, once, on monitor duty." --She swallowed hard-- "We were Outsiders, both. I'm Huntress." --She made firm eye-contact and held it, appraisingly; she only saw openness-- "You should call me Helena. Helena Bertinelli."
From: i_turngreen Date: 07/26/2006 09:31:08
The Outsiders? Well, Jennie had always aspired to doing her own work, but the Outsiders had certainly boasted some impressive, though unconventional members.
"Huntress," she murmured, smiling at her future teammate. "It's good to meet you. I'm just... sorry I'm not from your time. I know how disconcerting it is to meet someone who hasn't gotten to the point where they would remember you."
She bit her lip, not wanting to say more on the subject.
"How long have you been here?" Here meaning the City, not just the Starbucks.
From: i_hunt Date: 07/26/2006 10:31:59
Counting back the days, Helena's eyes strayed towards the ceiling. It was a bad habit that she occasionally chastised her students for exhibiting. (Her former students back in Gotham, she reminded herself, on a tangent.) Meeting Jen's eyes, searching for answers, she eagerly replied, "Almost a month. When I first arrived, I thought I had..."
Helena tilted her head down, and stared at the tabletop between her elbows rather than finish the sentence. Before her silence reached an awkward duration, she settled back into her chair. She regained eye-contact, but Helena's eyes were quarter-lidded. In a professional timbre, she explained, "I didn't leave my condominium much. I was confused by the fluidity of space and time here. ...What do you mean by not being from my time? Where is here?"
From: i_turngreen Date: 07/26/2006 11:03:45
Jennie paused thoughtfully, trying to determine how best to explain this place.
"They call it the City. Just the 'City.' From what I can tell, it's an ever-changing place with no set time period, or even location. I'm sure you've noticed that streets and landmarks, and even entire sections of this place move around at will."
She paused, allowing this much to sink in before continuing.
"And I'd imagine that the Jennie you knew was a few years older than I am now. It seems as though this... place... pulls in people from different times. Perhaps even people from different worlds, as there are definitely some heroes here that I've never heard of before. I ran into Kyle-er, someone I know, only he was a few years younger than the Kyle I know."
She paused again, with an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry. I've been here for nearly six months, and the whole concept still makes my head hurt."
From: i_hunt Date: 07/26/2006 13:33:04
Bertinelli breathed out the "hunh" sound that she made whenever she was faced with something fascinating. The furrows in her forehead relaxed; in fact, all the lines of her face softened. Relief poured into each word, as she said, "No, that, that explains a lot. Thank you." The thanks being punctuated by mildly emphatic hand gestures.
Unlike when Helena had entered the Starbucks, there was now a clear view of City Hall from Jennie's table. Parts of City Hall's grounds were still cordoned off because of the gas-line explosions.
Helena looked away from Jen, because it became uncomfortable to maintain eye-contact for more than thirty seconds. When her eyeline intersected with the tall bay windows, she announced, "A managia!" Swinging a hand in the direction of the windows, she hotly enthused, "This City is why my car isn't parked outside anymore? ...Or is it that we're parked somewhere else?"
From: i_turngreen Date: 07/26/2006 21:40:33
"Quite possibly," Jennie said with another apologetic smile.
After a moment's pause, she spoke again.
"You're taking this quite well. But then again, if you're a member of the Outsiders, I'd imagine you're no stranger to... well, strangeness."
She frowned thoughtfully.
"You said you've been here a month?" she asked, reconfirming.
From: i_hunt Date: 07/27/2006 06:46:12
"Roughly a month," Helena replied. Although she nodded with conviction, the fluctuations of her voice betrayed her uncertainty. Aware of how she sounded, she amended, "...Allowing for some days to take longer than others. (Much like in Prometheus' crooked house.)"
After clearing her throat, Helena wondered aloud, "Why do you ask?"
From: i_turngreen Date: 07/27/2006 09:19:44
Jennie nodded, chewing her lip thoughtfully.
"I ask because Huntress has been running around the City since... before I got here. I've heard brief reports of her every now and then."
She frowned thoughtfully.
"When I arrived here, I found an apartment that belonged to me... Only... not my apartment from New York. I also had a job that I was called into shortly after my arrival."
She paused, still staring off into space as she formulated the theory in her mind.
"I had this theory that... there were other versions of ourselves in this place before we arrived, and that they exchanged places with us when we were sucked in, as it were. I wonder..."
From: i_hunt Date: 07/27/2006 10:28:31
Throughout the Starbucks, there was an amorphous din from dozens of overlapping conversations. The grating sound of Bertinelli's chair scraping back managed to pierce through it.
The idea, the very idea, it was too much...
Helena's expression blanched. She began to blink more than before. She was cool in stuttering, "I, uh, I thank you...."
The thought of another Helena trundling through her life, just as it was starting to make sense...
"I have a class-- there's a classroom that needs me," she resolved. Helena rose from her chair on unsteady feet, eyed the room in a paranoid fashion, and strode back to the counter to retrieve her melty iced tea.
The thought, the certainty, of having lost her old life, just as it was beginning to make sense...
"It's my first day. I can't be late," she pre-defensively said. Spinning back to Jennie, Helena held out a hand for shaking. "It's been a... Meeting you has been for the best."
From: i_turngreen Date: 07/27/2006 12:32:56
Jennie's smile faded slightly. She opened her mouth to explain that the other version of herself was nowhere to be found now, but somehow felt that wouldn't comfort the other woman.
Taking her hand, she forced another smile.
"It was nice meeting you too, Helena," she replied, pretending as though she had actually said and meant as much.
Withdrawing her hand, she pulled out a business card and pressed it into Helena's hands.
"Here. Feel free to give me a call if you have any more questions about the City. Or... if you just wanted to meet for coffee again."
From: i_hunt Date: 07/27/2006 14:47:36
She stared at the card dumbly for a moment, and then seemed to catch up. "Thank you," Helena said automatically. Far more genuinely, she promised, "I will. ...After I've slept on this. It's all too big for my head right now." She squinted at Jennie, searching for some sign that she understood, and then offered a nod of good day.
Turning on the spot, Helena sashayed towards the door, but turned back before she reached it. She returned to Jennie's table, and crouched down beneath it. When she came back up, she had her shiny new briefcase in hand. Helena held up the almost-forgotten-item, and sheepishly said, "...I really am sorry about hitting you."
From: i_turngreen Date: 07/27/2006 14:50:59
Jennie nodded, her expression sympathetic.
"Of course. I remember what it was like when I first got here. It gets... easier." Somewhat, but it was always better to give hope than to put a negative spin on a situation.
She smiled as the woman returned and gave a much more sincere apology.