15726/The Return

The Return
Date of Scene:	21 October 2023
Location:	Apartment 30C, Croft Centre
Synopsis:	Captain Boomerang and Kara.
Cast of Characters:	Supergirl, Captain Boomerang

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Supergirl has posed:
The apartment wasn't all that fancy. Just the basics. One bedroom. One bathroom. Open floorplan for the living/dining areas with a bar separating it from the kitchen. It was more than enough for her as a young woman out on her own. Though admittedly, her adoptive parents were still helping when she couldn't quite make ends meet.

Thankfully she was now an entry level multimedia reporter at the Daily Planet. One of probably hundreds if not thousands around the country. She had been an intern but recently was added to the payroll so she must be doing something right. It wasn't much but it had been enough to get her own place in town instead of commuting from Starling. Admittedly, commuting for a Krytonian was nothing but it was also something that had led to a few fibs on her paperwork. Because she had been taken under her cousin's wing and used his address for a time. Yet, when he had moved in with Lois after their engagement, Kara needed to find her own place with an official address for work. A bit of searching and here she was. No boxes left unpacked though. Superspeed was awesome.

Currently she was sitting on the couch, her laptop on the table in front of her but not being used though there was a half written article on the screen. Instead her attention was on the big screen tv (thanks Mom and Dad!) on the wall and the movie playing upon it. There was a guy and a girl and the guy stepped into the sunlight to show he was all sparkly. Kara let out a little sound of disgust and reached for the remote. Click! The movie stopped. "By Rao, how did I ever like those movies?"

She started sorting through the menu of movies to see if there was something better available.

Captain Boomerang has posed:
The first sensation was a breeze that didn't have an obvious source. It was as if a strong wind was flying through the apartment, picking up and rustling stray pieces of paper, the bag a loaf of bread sat in, anything light and pliable. Except the windows were not open, and it didn't seem to have any specific source.

Next, there was the light. Not a light source per say. It was as if the air around the center of the living room had taken on a blueish hue. And then there was a crackle, the noise, like sizzling bacon, but without the smell or taste.

A second later, and a haze began to form in the middle of the blueish tint, this one being white, and finally yellow.

But last of all, well, it was a portal, there was the sight of green grass in the background, blue sky, some kind of building, and then a man appeared. It was Owen Mercer!

Stepping through, the portal would close shortly thereafter, and everything returned to normal. Owen looked just as he had when Kara Danvers had travelled off into space, even his hair looked to be the same length, maybe a touch longer, but we're talking weeks, not years.

And upon seeing Kara sitting on the couch, he immediately went to her, as if to slip his arms around her in a big hug...

Supergirl has posed:
That wasn't normal. Kara wasn't afraid precisely. But she was concerned. She quickly jumped up to her feet and moved a distance away from the glowing area that had appeared in her living room. The mail that has been on the counter was blown who knew where. Papers she'd had next to the laptop were added to the mess. Thankfully most of those were on a notepad but it was flapping in the breeze created by the...

Was that a portal? She balled her hands into fists, ready to fight despite being just Kara at the moment. In appearance at least, since she was always Kryptonian, not like some shapeshifter or something. But she did try to keep the two parts of her separate for safety reasons. Yet an attack in her own home? That was another story!

Only, that was a face she knew. Someone who was a friend and, at one time perhaps the chance of something more. But he'd also disappeared for years. Literally.

Thus when he moved to close that distance for a hug, she actually returned it. At first. Just a quick strong hug, not full strong for her but strong for a normal human. Think bear hug from a gal of her physical appearance. "Owen!"

It only lasted about thirty seconds perhaps and then she was stepping back, not allowing for more than that if he had expected it. "Long time, no see. Or heard from. Or texted. Or ...anything."

Captain Boomerang has posed:
"Kara" he exclaimed, feeling the intensity of her bear hug. He might have also winced a tiny bit, not prepared for such a strong hug. She modulated her strength, it wasn't going to hurt him, but few women could hug as tight as her, even at this level. Sometimes it came as a surprise.

It felt good to have her in his arms again, it had to have been weeks since he did that. But it ended, and he took a step back, but not that far. He smiled, glancing to her TV, where he could see Twilight paused and faded behind a selection screen, "long... time?" He asked, looking confused, but then nodded, "ah, yeah, you did go to space. I was supposed to be back before you, but I guess I'm a little late. You're still watching Twilight, which yes, I know, I promised to watch with you when you got back."

Reaching to take her hands in his, so that he could rub the top with his thumbs, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you could receive texts when off planet. What kind of plan are you on, something with the Fantastic Four?"

Supergirl has posed:
And she stared at him. For long silent moments. Moments that eventually moved into that uncomfortable silence situation. Before she finally spoke. "Are you trying to be funny?" Because sometimes their senses of humor didn't always meet in the middle and they each would not quite hit the mark. It was the way of humor, after all.

But he didn't seem to be laughing. His pulse hadn't changed, his breathing was normal. No telltale signs that he was waiting for the punch line. "You are serious."

And things just got way more complicated. "Uhm. One sec." She slipped her hand out of his and there was a sudden rush of air as she quickly picked up and sorted everything that had been messed up from the portal. Having speed powers himself, he surely would know what she was doing. She was stalling. For them it was a fraction of a second to do it all but it was still stalling.

Finally she stopped, now in the kitchen. "You want something to drink? Or eat? If I don't have something you want, we can order. There's a great Chinese place around the corner with the best potstickers I've found in Metropolis." A little hint that this was not quite the same as he remembered.

"And maybe we should sit down. Cause I have a feeling we're gonna need to," she added in a murmured lower tone. Then in a normal voice. "For giggles, how long were you gone?"

Captain Boomerang has posed:
What had felt like a wonderful reunion, oddly turned into something more unnerving. He looked into her eyes, she looked back at him, but hers was more of a stare, a hard, confused stare, whereas his was well, much lighter, softer, gentler. His face contorted a bit when she asked him if he was joking. He shook his head in the negative, "no, I'm not, why... would I?" He trailed off. He couldn't lie to her. And he wasn't trying to.

He dropped his hands when she slipped out of them, and he saw a sort of blur, a Kara colored blur, as she tidied up at super speed. He actually could move at super speed himself, but he had to consciously do it. He never saw anything coming until it was there, unless he sped up before it happened.

Turning around to see her in the kitchen, "Um," he moved, so that the bar was between them. He could sense something was off, but the important thing was that he and Kara were both here, both safe, so whatever it was, it could be dealt with.

"Sure, Chinese sounds great. Whatever you want to order." He hesitated, "okay, you're scaring me now, but uh, three weeks?" He said, carefully.

Supergirl has posed:
At the suggestion, she reached for her phone that was actually on the counter nearby where she'd had it sitting on the wireless charging station. A few quick taps on the screen and food was ordered for them both then she put it aside again and focused on him.

"I...think something might be off between where you were and here. Not sure where that was but..." Kara took a deep breath then put her hand on his. But he could sense it wasn't an affection contact. It was more comforting. As though he was about to be told something that might upset him.

"I went to space and have been back for a while now. I..." There just was no easy way to do this. Just treat it like a bandage on a wound and take it off quickly. "I left in August '22." Which he should remember. "I didn't come back until March '23. And I've been back for seven months. So...I haven't seen you in over a year."

Captain Boomerang has posed:
He could sense the hesitation, that something was left unsaid for now. It wasn't like Kara to be this... Well, it was Kara, but she seemed to be different than he remembered. He saw her reach her hand out across the bar to place it atop his. And yet, it didn't feel the same as before. It was more distant. Colder, hasher in some way. Something was off. He looked over into her bright blue eyes.

And she broke the news to him. Owen Mercer took it surprisingly well. He took a lot of things well. He left his hand beneath hers, but rotated it, so that he was cupping her hand as she cupped his. He looked around the apartment, taking it all in.

With his free hand, he reached up to scratch the patch of strawberry blond hair on his chin. "Okay. Firstly, this wasn't something I planned, but I'm sorry for my part in it. You must have felt hurt, abandoned, that I literally dropped off the Earth, and not even a Kryptonian could track me down. I'm guessing you lived a lot of life in that time, grew, changed, dated..." he paused, curious to see her reaction to that. "The way I see it, there are three options. One, I decide to play rao, and try and come back again when I wanted, create a whole new timestream, butterfly effect, Marty McFly, and bring all kinds of trouble on the world."

"Two, I grovel, and grovel, and grovel, and when I think I have groveled just as much as I can bear, I grovel some more, in the hopes that you'll forgive me, and that we can try... again, like it's the first time. Or three, we go our separate ways. Personally, I think that second option is the best, I'm game for the first if you are, and I really don't like that third, but I totally understand if that's the way we go. But then, who would help you eat all that Chinese food you just ordered?"

Supergirl has posed:
"I mean, don't get me wrong. I was in space far longer than I expected to be. Seven months before I came back. Then I tried to get back to life and couldn't reach you. At all. I tried all means I had." With superhearing, that took on a whole new meaning. "I thought you'd just ghosted me. Which I get after seven months. But I figured we'd at least talk about and it be friends when I came back if nothing else. But the complete nothing. Then eventually your phone stopped working and I took the hint."

She shrugged. "Didn't really do much dating after that. Maybe once or twice but admittedly, just focused on my career. I'm at the Daily Planet now. Started as an intern, worked up to Multimedia reporter which means I just find what I can and put it on the website then hope people read it which gets me paid."

At his suggestion about obtions, Kara had to grin as she shook her head. "You don't need to grovel. It was something beyond your control. Though I am curious where you were since it wasn't apparently here." A glance to the living room where the portal had been then back over to him.

"I lean toward starting new kind of. We obviously are already friends but see if that's the same. A lot of time has passed, at least for me. So I may not be the same as the gal you were into. We'll take it slow and see how it goes? That work?"

Captain Boomerang has posed:
He nodded his head in understanding, taking it all in. He had a calm exterior. But his heart rate did elevate. His breathing a little too, but any normal person probably wouldn't have caught it. "I didn't ghost you." He said in a steady voice, as his eyes belied the sorrow he was feeling that she thought that. "I would never ghost you, or anyone." Pulling his phone out of his pocket, it was fully charged, "hmm, no signal. Which is odd, but I guess that synches with the idea that I came back later than I was supposed to." He set it down on the counter, "password's 0922."

"A reporter, just like your cousin. And a belated congratulations on the promotion. I guess this means that I lost my job at the cinema... movie theater." He still spoke with an Australian accent, he just usually used American terms. "I suppose that would make me a gentleman of leisure, for now."

He glad to see her grin, and the way her blonde hair cascaded as she shook. "Are you sure? Being waited on hand and foot does have its advantages. You're not going to milk it for at least a week?"

Answering out of order, he left the part about where he had been for a moment. "Oh, I think you're the same, but maybe you've gone off on me. My hair style could be out of fashion, my clothes... I... I guess I literally only have the clothes on my back. I bet all my belongings were put up for auction by now by the landlord."

He breathed out a sigh. No job. No home. No clothes. Not even a pillow. "Well, this has been the costliest trip to the future ever. But at least I got to see my mum, my birth mother."