3341/Holiday Dreaming

Holiday Dreaming
Date of Scene:	08 December 2017
Location:	Gotham City
Synopsis:	Sometimes words are the best gift to give.
Cast of Characters:	Oracle, Power Girl

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Oracle has posed:
These calls are never made in the daylight hours. No. They always come in the Witching Hours, those hours from about 1am to 4am when most of the city is asleep and quiet. That's when a ping goes from Batgirl asking Power Girl for a moment of her time.

What Power Girl finds when she reaches the rooftop in question might seem a tad.... shady. Of course, this is Gotham. The old building looks as if it might have once been a university or a hospital, beautifully wrought architecture with those crazy roof lines that the Bat-types love. But it's an orphanage -- one of the few true orphanages in the region, where kids actually go and LIVE in a boarding-school-like environment.

Atop the building, Batgirl stands out of the shadows, waiting for the other heroine to join her.

Power Girl has posed:
    Power Girl is the girl of Babs' dreams.

    No, it's not for any reason like that. Rather, it's because not only does the blonde show up when she's called in a timely manner, but she arrives, in front, descending from the sky in a slow and languid way. No hiding in the shadows, no having -somehow- been there before Batgirl even -called- for her. No jumpscare. If ever there was a Christmas gift to get a Gordon.

    Either way, she arrives below the speed of sound, thankfully, and in the way that the Super-Fam does so as to make people feel less like they're in the presence of... Well, an impossibly strong person who can break the -light- barrier in the -air- while shooting lasers out of their eyes. The least humble out of any of them, and Power Girl still has the tact to address Barbara from the rooftop, rathern than the sky above the rooftop.

    Then, she yawns. Because she was asleep, because of -course- she was asleep. "What's up? Someone going to rob an orphanage? I feel like nobody comes out of that not-sad."

Oracle has posed:
Batgirl laughs softly. "Nope -- just the opposite, actually. Thanks for coming." She gestures into the shadows behind her. "I thought I could manage it myself, but it turns out that I overestimated my abilities just a bit." Tilting her head, she admits, "And honestly? You're the person I thought would *enjoy* this the most. Just... because I'd really like it if you didn't always see the worst of Gotham."

Walking over to the shadow she gestured at, Batgirl hauls a MASSIVE bag out into the light. "I got it here... but, well... we won't talk about exactly how I managed it. It has to do with ropes and pulleys and a theft from a rather large logging truck." She whips aside the bag's material. "I wanted to leave a decorated tree for them. They don't always have one."

Power Girl has posed:
    Power Girl kneels next to the bag, and pretends for a moment that she didn't already look inside. She can't help it- if Superman barely has the control not to look inside the gifts at Kent Farm this time of year, she doesn't have the restraint not to look into this bag. After a moment of looking at the tree, Power Girl stands. Her arms fold in a way that, really, shouldn't be allowed- and has, before, had her banned from an interview- and she places one blue-gloved hand on her chin.

    "Well, we'll need a way in. I'm not really about to break anything on an orphanage, but you can pick the lock, right?"

    This question is a partial ruse. Sure, Power Girl doesn't want to actually break into the orphanage- with emphasis on the break- but it also gives her a prime opporunity. There's something -missing-, after all.

    There's this thing, that Kryptonians do. That the Flash does, too- in fact, it's really a Flash-Fam trick more than anything. The trick, specifically, is moving at a speed so fast that a detail of the environment changes. Super-peeps are worse at it thanks to that whole friction thing...

    But that doesn't mean that Babs will notice the red and white, conical hat they're both wearing immediately. She might- but it's up to Babs' perception to handle that. Power Girl isn't saying anything.

Oracle has posed:
"Of course I can pick the lock," Batgirl snorts in amusement. "Do I look like an amateur here?" Shaking her head, she has to admit, "I'm honestly shocked that you didn't get here, take one look, and move everything before I could even tell you what I wanted."

And then there's a hat on her head. The ears hid it for a few seconds, but she can see Power Girl's head, so her hand immediately seeks out her own. And she grins. "I knew you'd be up for this. Do you actually WANT me to pick the lock, or are you just going to speedster in there and come back and it's done?"

Power Girl has posed:
    "I could have, a little. But there's something of a price to pay, and this is your rodeo. I'm not about to take that from you." she notes, offering this little chuckle in the time it takes for Batgirl to notice that it's there. Really, it's probably -that- too, that gives it away. She's got a strong willpower, but she doesn't quite have the decorum that the Boy in Blue has.

    She places her hands on her hips, before moving to the large bag carrying the tree, and with an almost effortless heft- that, really, -also- isn't fair in a lot of ways- slings it over her shoulder lightly enough that it doesn't lose any of its boughs. "Yeah, I want you to pick the lock. I can't really get in there without breaking anything, and the faster I do it, the louder it is. You've got my help, but you're going to have to set the pace. Don't want to wake any of them up, right?"

Oracle has posed:
Batgirl is definitely amused by the hat. And she nods with a dimpled grin. "I just wanted them to wake up in the morning with a holiday tree and some holiday beuaty. You know?" She's grateful that Power Girl seems to be happy enough to go along.

A jump line later, they're on the ground at the glass double doors that open onto a massive verandah -- although to be fair, only Batgirl uses the line. Power Girl, of course, just floats like a feather. So not fair.

At the door, it takes the masked redhead less than a minute to pick the locks -- after all, who's going to be breaking into and stealing from an orphanage? Seriously. Then she holds the doors open for Power Girl and murmurs, "This goes right into a large common room. We'll just set it up right there in the corner."

Power Girl has posed:
    With an affirming nod, Power Girl is more than happy to go along with this. The most practical way is to do it at the pace of a normal human- though they'll get the tree decorated, when they get to it, much faster thanks to not having to do things the normal way. Indeed, while she -could- take the line down, she simply floats. It's a Metropolis thing.

    Nodding at Babs, but not speaking- so as to risk waking the kids as little as possible. She sets the bag down, and makes with the unpacking, setting up the small metal clamp and various little under-tree doodads that'll keep it stable. With a breath, too, she chills the metal reservoir under the tree, and starts condensing the air, so as to fill it with water.

    It'd honestly be quicker to get a pitcher of the stuff from the kitchen, but at the same time, doing it with a few breaths is just so -cool.-

Oracle has posed:
Quiet is definitely something Batgirl is incredibly good at. As they work, stringing lights and ornaments, garlands and a couple of wreaths, candy canes and even little stockings -- which, thanks to Power Girl can each hang on a little hook and the wall of stockings is LITERALLY a wall of stockings, there is hardly a sound in the whole room. And it doesn't take nearly as long as it would have if Barbara had tried it alone. She hadn't really thought about what huge undertaking this actually was.

By the time they're finished, the common room of the orphanage looks pretty amazing, if she does say so herself. Barbara is pretty darn thrilled with their night's work. She grins at the superheroine and they sneak themselves right on back out of the building, Barbara taking to the sky on a jump line to get out and away before they talk.

Landing on a nearby rooftop, though, the redheaded Bat says to her partner in crime for the evening, "Thank you *so* much. I don't think I would have actually been able to do what I wanted to do without your help." She sounds genuinely relieved and thrilled. "I appreciate that you came more than I can possibly tell you."

Power Girl has posed:
    Power Girl is invaluable, for a thing like this. Just the fact that she can hang garlands in flight rather than having to deal with the ridiculous pedestal shuffling that it normally requires. That alone saves tens of minutes, and then being able to hang ornaments literally anywhere at any time? Well, that's a big deal if ever there was one.

    The biggest deal, though, comes later. The most important thing- the second part to this particular endeavor. Power Girl smiles at the redhead... And then, though Babs probably shouldn't ask where she was keeping it, Power Girl produces a small bundle of envelopes. Wrapped in a rubber band, it isn't necessarily obvious just yet what these are, but Barbara doesn't need it to be obvious.

    "I figured the caretaker would have these, but it was a real task to find." When did she even -go- to find them? You can't let these damned aliens out of your sight, else you end up with a damn Christmas Miracle. "How in the hell I'm going to find..." She seems to riffle the sides for a moment, before commenting, "Fourteen bikes and..." There is a pause. "Jenny Micheals? That kid's got priorities... Either way, see you on the Eve?"

    She's wagging the lists as if she's not about to do something just a little crazy, over the next couple of weeks.

Oracle has posed:
Blinking as Power Girl catches up to her, hands full of envelopes, Barbara is surprised. "What are.... Oh God! I didn't even think of that! I am *really* liking the way you think." Batgirl looks almost as excited at the prospect of hearing what's in the letters as she was at decorating the tree. "14 bikes? Good grief," she laughs. "What's Jenny Michaels asking for? Let's split up the list... surely you can't afford to do all of that yourself!" But Barbara knows a freakin' billionaire who *can*.

Then she grins. "We're going to have to figure out how to be best buddies. I desperately need GIRLS to hang with. And I already like you." Barbara sounds thoroughly amused. "Besides, if Batman can be.... I don't even know what we'll call Superman and Batman -- frenemies? A bromance gone sideways? Anyway! Then we can too, right?"

Power Girl has posed:
    Power Girl shakes her head. "No, there's uh..." she looks again at the closed envelope, because you can x-ray those basically as much as you like. "His name is Billy. He's got her on -his- list, so that kid's going places. Maybe a little too fast, but..." She shrugs, "I can handle the bikes, but there are a lot of things here that I have... I have -no- idea where they'd even be. We need a detective on this. Like someone who wears a bat on their chest, probably a redhead."

    Power Girl offers this nod in response to that. "Do me a favor and photocopy these- and we'll get to work hunting down what we can?" she says at first, organizing the envelopes, and handing them, still unopened, over to the other woman. "I don't know how much ol' Bats will like me hanging around, but truth be told, I really want to hear how he takes it, so I'm in. Whenever you need me, you know how to call. I can't leave you hanging out with Angry Bird and Edgy Mullet."

    Dick's probably gotten over his half-feud with Bats. Power Girl doesn't know that. All she knows is that one Robin traded the red for the black and blue, and the hair. If Dick ever finds out she said that, he'll probably try and steal Bats' Kryptonite Knuckledusters.

Oracle has posed:
Batgirl grins. "He'll manage. Hey.... he gave you a freakin' commlink. That's tantamount to a personal, engraved invitation to come into Gotham. You know.... as long as you follow The Rules and all." And then she snorts a laugh. "Angry Bird and Edgy Mullet?" The giggles are instant. "Worst haircut ever. I know what I'm getting Robin for Christmas now... an Angry Bird ornament. Bwahahahaha!"

She reaches out to take the letters. "I would *love* to play Santa's elves with you. We'll definitely sort out the list and see what we need. We can meet for coff...."

The redhead trails off. Her identity would lead to *far* too many others. And she substitutes, "Coffee on the roof of the old Gotham bank. They've got a cafe up there and we can work on splitting the list then, okay?" She seems apologetic, as she says that, as if she is sorry she couldn't finish the original thought.

Power Girl has posed:
    There's an amount of respect offered by the Super-fam that a lot of people overlook. It's something people don't talk about, and that nobody really recognizes or acknowledge.

    It's not about the lack of use of x-ray vision, necessarily. After their initial meetup, Batman was ready for that, and so, likely, is Barbara. It's about just how easy it'd be for someone of Metropolis' crowd to snoop out the identity of anyone they meet in a costume- yet nobody thinks about it.

    Mostly because not even the Kryptonians -themselves- think about it. Something is just so alien about invading privacy on that level. This means that when Babs trails off like that, Power Girl knows exactly why, and the way she handles it is soft. As if it's not a big deal that they know each other by Batgirl and Power Girl rather than Barbara Gordon and Karen Starr- or, alternatively, Kara Zor-L.

    After all, there's a level of exposure to it. Power Girl doesn't feel the -need- to know who anyone else is. Because she knows them as someone willing to risk their life and limb for people who otherwise can't. Even the selfish ones.

    "Sounds like a plan." She doesn't call it a date. That'd mean something entirely different, but it tips the hand just slightly that she doesn't. "I'll meet you in a couple of nights on the roof of the bank. Same time?"

Oracle has posed:
"Sounds perfect," Batgirl replies, her smile easy. She didn't want Power Girl to take it as not being trusted, and it seems that the other woman didn't. So that makes her relax. "By then, I'll have a spreadsheet or something that will list out how many of what we're looking for in terms of their wishes. And I have someone who can make contact with the director of the orphanage to see what they *need*, and then we'll maybe be able to cover a lot of it with some donations from friends." She grins.

Power Girl has posed:
    Silently regarding Batgirl for a moment, Power Girl's expression remains happy, if a touch neutral. "Okay, that'll be a few extra steps, but I can't argue with getting the kids a bit more than they asked for. They could really deserve it." she notes, taking a moment to look towards the other building. Barbara can't really know, at this stage, that- while nowhere near as wealthy as Bruce- Power Girl has a few resources of her own. She has to make sure that the name Karen Starr isn't attributed to, well, anything, but she can still sling money around to make all of this happen. "I look forward to having everything compiled. It's going to be a pretty long list- but that just makes it all the more worth it."

Oracle has posed:
Blowing out a breath, Barbara nods. "I can't always do much for the folks who need it most, but ... at this time of year? I just can't NOT do something. It's been a tough year all the way around." Invasions are terrifying. "Power Girl, I'm really looking forward to seeing how much we can pull off." She smiles, mentally rubbing her hands together to raid both Dick's and Bruce's funding. Ha!

Power Girl has posed:
    Power Girl nods, somewhat solemnly. "Yeah. This time of year is actually where you guys shine the most, I think. It's one thing to swing down from the rooftops, risking your life for the adrenaline rush of beating the shit out of somebody that deserves it... But it's another pulling together whatever you have to remind someone- anyone- that there's light in a world that seems ruled by the other side of the coin. I'm sure we'll pull off a Christmas Miracle. Nothing less will really satisfy, right?" Somehow, when someone like Power Girl says the word Miracle, it doesn't sound so far off.

    "Okay, I'm going to get back to sleep. Only the crazies are out at this hour." she offers this wink, punctuating the joke, before, with arms folded, she starts to effortlessly slip into the air. There's a small mock-salute, before she starts picking up speed.

Oracle has posed:
The words that Power Girl offers render Batgirl speechless. And she pulls in a soft breath, surprised at the praise itself... and at the fact that anyone might have the opinion that the superheroine expresses. "See you in a couple of days," the redhead murmurs quietly, certain that the Kryptonian can hear her just fine.