The Universe's Mixer

Castiel stood outside one of the strangest homes he’d ever seen. He wasn’t even sure it was a home, really, the magic imbued in it gave it a lifelike presence that bordered more on creature than physical structure.


It was obviously very powerful, and spoke vaguely of what could only be a more powerful entity inside. But, from what the warrior had been able to gather, this was where the strange older woman Beauty had called “Red” lived.


He didn’t trust this woman, but she was clearly a strong entity, and she seemed to have taken at least a momentary interest in him. In Cas’ experience that was when bad things happened, so he had tracked her down to find out what her purpose was before any of his new friends in the City, and possibly older ones he hadn’t found yet, were dragged into something.


Still, he wasn’t quite determined enough to try breaking into that house and angering her outright, so after a few moments’ contemplation he turned, leading all of the humans in the vicinity a safe distance with subtle but undeniable encouragement, and then popped out of thin air directly in front of the structure, standing still as he looked up at it.


“Woman, Red,” he spoke in his true voice, a sound that brought most humans to their knees in agony. He wanted to know how it would affect this… entity. “I would speak with you.”


( --- )

Annie wandered downstairs from her apartment into the shop below. She was pretty sure she'd stayed the night at Tony's, as that's where she was 99% of the time now. Yet she'd opened her eyes to the Halo City sign that the City had thought she might want to have hanging in her room.

As soon as she was in sight of the shop bodily, a ruckus sprang up. It was almost deafening. Every machine in her shop calling for her all at the same time.

ANNIE. ANNIE we missed youwhere have you beenit's been too longAnnie you were gone gone gone gone Annie gone nobody here to take care of us like you did Annie don't leave us again Annie Annie Annie Annieannieannie

She had to cover her ears, but of course that didn't block out the machines. She didn't really hear them with her ears. Tears came to her eyes, rolling down her cheeks. She couldn't stop them. It wasn't just the pain of the noise, either.

How could they say that she had abandoned them? How could they believe that? She would never! She came by every day to check up on them and make repairs. She visited! She would never ever forget them!

"No." Annie said, her power truly springing to life then. Her words came in a choked sob. "No, I wouldn't. Please, please be quiet. I would never leave you. Stop saying that, I'm begging you."

But they didn't stop. They only got louder and more insistent.

Slowly, the little mutant fell to her knees and tried to cover her head with her arms to block out the sad calls and accusations.

She was used to her and Charlie missing one another in their day. Sometimes he got up way before she was even willing to entertain the idea, and sometimes she got called on their day off to go look into something at work. They were partners, and they had the same cases, but occasionally they had different aspects to look into.

Of course, it had been a few days this time, and she was missing him a lot. She felt like she'd not seen him in much longer than just a couple of days. Something in her heart ached as if it had been months since she'd last laid eyes on her boyfriend. Or longer. Jennifer couldn't escape it. She attempted to go through her normal routine, but the sensation lingered. The fact that she wasn't finding Charlie didn't help.

Jennifer sat at the island counter in the kitchen, wondering at the emptiness. Ted wasn't here, none of the strays that they'd picked up were here. The horse was here, which was a bit of a comfort, but the horse had been aloof with her. Stopping to acknowledge her briefly as it moved from one room to the other, and giving a bit of a huffy snort, but nothing else. Not even trying to persuade her to give an apple.

Her phone had been M.I.A. for a few days, too. She'd been walking to the station to see if anything needed to be done, sometimes waiting for Charlie to show up - which he hadn't. She'd been roaming around looking. All of it had been fruitless. Well, now she was going to stay put. She was going to stay in this house until Charlie came back. If the City was keeping them apart on purpose, she would find a way to punish it. Somehow. If the City had taken him from her, she would find a way to take something from it.

She figured that if she was going to stay inside, she could at least try to find her phone. Jennifer began the search out by the pool, then in the living room, where she discovered Jake and Lucy-Belle; then back into the kitchen, all producing nothing. Finally, Jennifer headed to Charlie's room. If the phone wasn't here, perhaps it was back in her own semi-abandoned apartment. But she'd look everywhere in the room first. Even between the mattresses. It would be a disaster after she was done with it, she knew. The kitchen and living room had not Hurricane Government, why should the bedroom?

The Slice of Life cut through the waves easily. Dexter had taken it out every day this week. He still hadn't really found anyone in the City that was capable of keeping him in check. He'd not killed anyone since he'd returned, despite the fact that he wanted so much to kill the girl, Effie.

He'd avoided Red, though he knew that if she wanted to find him, she would. She hadn't, and he was thankful. Something about her was very dangerous to him. He hadn't seen the cop, Charlie Crews, either. Nor had he stumbled upon his strange neighbor, Wash. That would have at least given his mind something to focus on. Currently he had nothing. There was nobody. Almost daily he'd gone through his phone, hoping that George's or Deb's name would spring up, or Selina's.

There was something wrong with the City, things were off. Twice now he'd spied another land mass while in his boat, but he hadn't quite had the gumption to go explore it. There were other things, too. The guy at his favorite coffee stand was not the same guy, and he'd told Dexter that that guy hadn't been there for almost a year. Which didn't make any kind of sense at all. His apartment had been coated in dust, and that was just ... well. Dexter was a clean kind of guy. Yet the papers all stated that the date was what he thought it should be. Time had always been fluid in the City's walls, of course. But 2013 was 2013, no matter what. Wasn't it? Hadn't it always been?

The confusion and lack of anybody to talk to had driven Dexter to his boat. And while he was on the water, he felt peace. There was nobody out there to fake it for. Nobody he had to be careful around. Just him and the open water. Not really the ocean, of course. If he went far enough, there was a wall. The ocean didn't have a wall. But on some days, the expanse of water between the City proper and the wall was large enough that it took a whole day to cross it.

Dexter pulled the Slice of Life into the dock slip he'd bought, and went about securing the vessel safely.

Melody had no idea how the hell she'd gotten to a city, she was just overjoyed that she had. There was a brief panic that she'd come alone, without anybody she knew, but she'd closed her eyes and looked inward. Pam was there, inside of her, and it called to the vampire somehow. Pam was here in this city as well.

There were cars!

There were shops with pretty little useless baubles!

Clothing stores!

Restaurants!

A hot dog cart!

Melody stopped at the last one, digging through her pockets frantically. These weren't her clothes, even though they fit her wonderfully. She'd woken up in an apartment that wasn't hers, too. Nobody had shown up to kick her out, so she'd stayed. She'd grabbed a handful of change from the counter, the street urchin in her kicking in automatically. That's what she dug for now. She was going to have a hot dog. No! A polish sausage! No! Kielbasa! With everything on it! And a big ice-filled bubbly soda to wash it down with.

She wanted to find Pam, of course. To see if Eric was here, too. And John. And Aidan. Their little weirdo family. She was just a little too overjoyed at not being in a shithole, dealing with starving people and unnatural world occurrences that she couldn't quell the excitement enough to think. Once she'd eaten, it would be better.

Enigma may have been correct: Bruce Wayne might need a hobby.

There was The City Industries - the amalgamation of Wayne Technologies, Lex Corp, and others - but the place didn't have the same draw to it as it would have, had the City left Wayne Enterprises alone. There was something to be said about protecting the family's investment, but without Gotham... All of it just seemed like vanity.

It hadn't been too difficult to leave Wayne Manor behind (though it was very difficult to leave Alfred), to change clothes, change hangouts, change everything and fade into the City's background. He'd lived like this for years, now, watching everything from a distance. Batman was doing well. The City, with a few hiccups, was relatively safe. No one needed him.

That was all right. In fact, that was better than all right; it was good. That'd been the trouble with Gotham. The city had needed Batman. And it'd broken him. He'd lost so much, and he kept on going back for more -- because he knew he was strong enough. He knew he could continue to take it. And he knew that there was no one else who could.

The burden wasn't on his shoulders any longer, now. And it left him feeling... empty.

Bruce lounged in a rumpled heather t-shirt and a pair of faded black jeans, booted feet stretched out under the patio table in front of him. Every so often, he picked up the gently sweating whiskey glass from the tabletop and held it for a while. Sometimes he drank. The sun was out, the sky was bright blue, and it was a day just like any other in the City.

And he was just another citizen. Empty, like the rest of the blank faces here.