Stay Curious

Tim knew that, but he didn’t want to accept it. Without something to work with, all he could do was sit here and wait, and he knew he would go a little stir-crazy if that happened. 

“I don’t think that will happen,” he said with a frown. “At least, they people who have been here longest haven’t reported anything like that. Yet.” It was hard to say with only a few months of data, but anything could happen. 

“Uh, yeah,” he said a bit awkwardly. “We were together.” He thought maybe it had been because they had been touching, that they both got dragged in at the same moment. Though he hadn’t really been paying attention, too caught up in… whatever moment they had been having. But then, his luck had kicked in and suddenly they were in another universe, and forgot all about that almost-moment. 

“Yeah, I worry about the yet. This is a hard thing for a type A gal like me, if I am being honest,” she gives him a little humorless smile and a tired shrug. But she perks up a little. “I am glad she’s here. She’d be worried and I know you would be too,” She ignored his awkwardness. “Tim you’re a little old for the bird and the bees chat but if you missed it you can always come to Lo. This is a safe space,” She gestures between them, then laughs.

“We’ll figure this out — I want to help. You’re one of the smartest people I know. You should let me hook you up with some of the scientists I have been talking to.”

“If you’ve got the right texts, intent, and willingness to sacrifice a living creature.” She offered with an arch of her eyebrows before looking contemplative and tipping her head to the side to explain, knowing that Lois would want more information. “Everyone is somewhat connected to the… energies of the universe, by merit of being alive. It just takes resources and a whole shitload of dedication to access that, if you’re not born with it. Of course, accidentally inviting something in that’s been clawing to get through the veil in the first place is a hell of a lot easier than channeling real magic with intent.”

The regular people that made forays into the magical world generally ended up screwed by their own hubris, but a rare few survived long enough to gain some appreciable amount of power. Zee ran a hand through her hair, then perked up at the mention of Tim, looking interested. “Oh, good, Steph’s here, too.” Wouldn’t want them separated- whatever it was they considered themselves. “It is. I- doubt it’ll end up like that, I haven’t heard of anyone popping back once they’ve ended up here, but, then again, what do I know? If that starts happening, we’ll at least be able to get communications going, start working together to figure things out….”

She bit at her bottom lip nervously, then forced herself to stop so she didn’t ruin her lipstick, and put a smile on her face instead. “Hummus is absolutely healthy enough to balance out anything else, so whatever. Your secret is safe with me, Lo.”

“I read an article on sex magic about masturbating during a full moon, does that work?” She grins. Of course she really had read an article about that, how could someone pass up an article like that? Not Lo Lane. But Zatanna made everything that seemed farfetched within reach, that was part of her own personal magic. “I don’t like that, clawing through,” She wrinkles her nose. “That’s too much.” “Yeah I don’t know what’s better or worse, it all seems kind of — not super, not ideal, if you will. But I am trying to remain positive, It’s important I think. I think we know too many smart people for us to — not figure it out soon. Especially your people,” She nods. “I mean magic people! I hope they didn’t seem rude!” She laughs, turning a little pink. Zee wasn’t the sensitive type, but Lo wanted to be respectful. She never wanted to seem like she was blowing Zee’s powers off even if it was hard for her to swallow sometimes. “Thank you. I mean I want to be fit but gotta keep this booty, balance is important.”

“Never thought I would be so happy to see you,” She says with a lopsided grin. “Mostly because I had heard Dami was here and have been in touch with Tim,” She nods. “Have you — been here long? Doing okay? Walk with me? I’m headed toward coffee, my soul is carrying me in the right direction to the nearest coffee, always does.” She chuckles.

@adarkknightrises

“I ordered some food. Thanks for indulging me in this,” Wally was a good sport. It was childish but she knew if any of her friends would really enjoy this with her, it would be him. There was an endearing childish whimsy to Wally that Lois appreciated more than she could say.

“I’ve got booze too. I just ordered pizza. Hope that’s okay?” She grins as she ushers him in.

“Ugh, no, Halloween is always the worst. Multiple times we’ve-” Not JLA we so much as other friends involved in spooky shit we “-had to deal with the fallout of dumb teenagers trying to summon shit. You know, normal high school drama.” She rolled her eyes. It was funny to mention in passing even as she forced herself not to recall any of the incidents too closely. “Maybe. Or maybe now that we’re here, they’ll start showing up too. Who says extradimensional beings are exempt from this weird universe hopping?”

Zatanna dipped her head, shooting another annoyed glance at the billboard mocking her with her former theatre occupied by some loser. “It really does, so- at least we’ve still got each other? We can pull those all-nighters writing articles and designing sets again. But, yeah, this time maybe with more water to accompany the wine and way less junk food.”

“SO that stuff works?” Lois asks, her eyes wide. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know the answer to that. But she kind of did.

Who was she joking? She was curious to a fault, of course she wanted to know. “You can be a regular person and do that?” It was weird to know that.”

Lois considered for a moment and just shrugged. It seemed absurd enough that she was speaking rationally about these things. There was never a dull moment with Zee, that was for sure. “I don’t know. I ran into Tim Drake — I was telling him that It’s insane. I’m worried that we’ll pop back and just be stuck going back and forth waiting and hoping our loved ones come through that time and like never being able to settle.” She sighs. “No promises on more water than wine, but I’ll make you a hummus platter,” She teases. “I am still a junk food queen,” She laughs. “Don’t tell.”

“I’m trying to focus on the what, more than the why right now,” he said with a tired sigh. “Eventually I want to know why Joe gets coffee every day, but right now all we know is that on one particular day he did come here.” And okay, bad metaphor, but he was working with what he was given. “I mean, we are working with next to nothing right now, and anything is better than that.” 

Perhaps it was just wishful thinking, that they would get something substantial from this line of question, but he needed to at least feel like he was doing something. If he sat down and took a minute to breathe, the walls that were keeping the anxiety at bay would crumble to dust.

“Steph and I were watching a movie,” he said. And wasn’t that just ironic. He had taken a break from looking for Bruce and the family, and that exact moment was when he had stumbled here.

“I just don’t think we have enough to suss out a pattern, that’s all,” Lois shrugs with a small sigh as she wraps her hands around the mug. “But I am hopeful for the same. As a type A person, all this uncertainty does drive me a little insane,” She agrees. “But time to adjust, new normal and all that. I just worry we’ll end up popping back and then it’ll be some insane back and forth. Makes it hard to settle.” She nods. “Oh? Did she come over too? At the same time or separate? That’s weird. I haven’t met someone who was with someone else when it happened.”

“ahh so you weren’t worried about me at all then? being gone so long, wondering if i’d survived?” she says she’ll stay angry, but he recognizes that gleam in her eyes, recognizes that quirk in her lips, the way the atmosphere around her shimmers and glistens, the way she brightens up the whole city block. he doesn’t know how she does it, or how he sees her like this, but he’s sure he’s hopeless. “you’re not even going to grant me just a little bit of forgiveness?” his chuckle sounds more nervous than he means it too, but he expects her to know him well enough, even after these six months, to know he’s joking as well.

at her jumbled questions though, he nods fervently, distracted for a moment with the feel of her hands smoothing down over his clothes, her touch electrifying him and kindling an urge, a need, a hope to continue the connection, to never let go again. this time if he blinks out of existence, can she please come with him? “yeah, yeah, of course– of course i can. i… i came here specifically to see you, to talk to you.” a beat passes before he realizes how creepy and stalkery that sounds. “i mean– because, well, because i found your name on the database registrar so i knew you were here finally. and… you like coffee shops to write in, so…” this is going splendidly already, the clark kent persona practically writes itself and all he has to do is look at her before tripping all over his shoes.

he takes the seat opposite her and smiles– or tries to smile, still a bit distracted by her glow, still a bit breathless by her voice. finally. finally. “i’m still in the housing yeah, i don’t really have a means of leaving just yet… and i’m sort of okay there. i haven’t gotten another job as a reporter yet, i think i’m… actually going to try something a little bit different.” something he’s excited about but also incredibly apprehensive for. “i’m okay though, yes, i’m in one piece.” at her last question though, he balks a little, pausing, almost scoffs. “lois, i… i fell through just as i was heading over to come pick you up.” his speech slows slightly. “you know i wouldn’t have… just dropped off without saying anything, right?”

“Don’t you put words in my mouth, mister. Of course I was worried. The world was — confused, to say the least, about what was going on, no one had figured it out,” And with some of the brightest minds here not being able to figure it out, she had little faith that the world she had left behind was doing any better with the puzzle. “Maybe… maybe a crumb of forgiveness,” Lois finally agrees, but her eyes are all but sparkling as she looks up at him. It is nice to have someone who feels like a slice of home somehow.

Confusion is quick to slide over her features as Clark begins some very Clark backpedaling and Lois felt confused about what she could have done to have caused this… already. They had only been in each other’s presence a few moments.  But then she grins, a big shit eating grin, she can’t help it.

“You were looking for me. Clark Kent,” She smirks. “You were looking for little ol’ me,” She teases. But it was relieving to know that she was some kind of thought that had crossed his mind, even in all this chaos. But her face was back to confusion. “Like what?” Clark Kent, not a reporter? Why? Panic bells were going off in Lois’ mind and she wasn’t sure why. Felt like the world had shifted so much that every little detail that wasn’t the same felt huge and heavy and it was another thing she needed to process. “Like what? What kind of job? What else would you want to do?” It seemed unfathomable.

“Oh, uh?” At that, she turns a little pink. “Sure, my rational woman brain knows you’re not a jerk. But — just yes, I do know that. Of course I know that."

“There has to be a pattern in there somewhere,” Tim said forcefully. He had to believe it, had to believe that there was something he could do to fix this. “There is no such thing as a random occurrence, just a pattern that hasn’t finished it’s sequence yet.” In computer language, this was always much simpler, as the patterns were limited by the human brain, but in nature it could be a near-never ending sequence. 

As much as he didn’t like the idea of anecdotal evidence, it seemed like the only place to start. “Maybe we can try to pinpoint exactly where and when everyone disappeared and reappeared?”

“And so when you isolate the pattern, then what? A pattern does not show causation, at least not in the real world,” Lois says with a shrug. “If Joe walks in here every day and orders a coffee and a danish, that’s a pattern. But it doesn’t say that Joe comes in to get coffee every day because he’s a cop who works nights and doesn't get enough sleep, you know?” She quirks an eyebrow. Of course, Lois used real-life patterns in her reporting, specifically crime reporting, pretty often. But it almost never indicated causation. “Possibly, but everyone I have spoken to, and take this with a grain of salt because It’s only anecdotal evidence, has disappeared from seemingly innocuous places. I was at my desk at The Planet,” Lois shrugs. “Where were you?”

It was a good thing she held her hand up to stop him, because he was about to protest. Still was about to protest, but then took a moment to consider it and nodded. He guess he could understand that. He had a day job of course and while he liked his mechanic work just fine, it wasn’t his passion, his dream. Frankly, he couldn’t care less if people thought he was good at it or not. He just did his job as best as he could, made friends with the people who wanted to be his friends and went home and as soon as he washed the grease of, the job was gone. Forgotten.

The job that really mattered to him was the one he performed in his red uniform, and his coworkers were more often than not also his best friends, and his family. Maybe it wasn’t the same, but them not having his back would fuck him up real bad too. And probably kill him.

“They’ll see the light, don’t worry,” he promised.

He couldn’t help but break down in laughter at how high-pitched her voice suddenly went, even if it was a little mean. “Yup, that was A++ denial right there, Lois.”

He frowned in confusion.

“Wait, what? What do you mean technically? I’m sure whatever happened, he had a good reason. He’s a really good guy. Don’t be mad at the poor sap.”

He grinned and shrugged easily, like Lois was telling him something he already knew. “I mean, duh, of course. He’d eat my dust. Don’t worry, I’ll be nice. Unless he really hurt you, then I’m fucking his shit up.”

“I’ll work at it — for now It’s the ramen diet,” She teases, kind of. It was somewhat true. She didn’t mind it though. There was the exciting opportunity to prove that ‘mama still had it’ so to speak, but it was also kind of a bummer too. She was trying not to focus on it. She just narrowed her eyes at him and did not dignify it with a response.

“Well he saaaaid that he got sucked into this weird New York but men are trash so who knows,” She jokes, picking at the side of her fingernail with a noncommittal shrug. It had been nice to know it wasn’t her that had made him up and uh, disappear. But it still had wounded her ego.

Lois was good at the things she did often, writing, reporting, etc. She did not date often, she was rusty at best, which made her feel self-conscious.

Tim nodded, a bit disappointed but not surprised to hear there had been little progress from anyone else. “I haven’t heard much more,” he said with a sigh. “I’ve been talking with some of the physics professors at Columbia, and they all have theories, but none of them have actually worked out in simulations.” He had been rather open about his status as one of the refugees, and most of the professors had seemed eager to talk with him. 

“I think what we need is more data,” he said. “There has to be some sort of pattern, we just need to figure out what it is.”

“Welcome to being one of the weirdos.” She cracked a small smile, but reached over to squeeze Lois’s hand reassuringly before tilting her head as she continued joking. “Most of it’s good company, but the holiday parties get wild. And absolutely. Especially if it’s our sad thin walled apartment building that’s haunted. Wouldn’t want a crazy ghost fight disrupting the already crappy water pressure.” 

But maybe she shouldn’t complain, considering how little time she’d spent there. “So you don’t carry that cool glass statue around?” She teased, though the situation echoed closely to her own. The fame and critical acclaim from their world wasn’t exactly something she could easily transfer over here, so it was back to proving herself all over again. “I know, though, Lo, and I’m sorry… but you’re an amazing writer, and a ridiculously hard worker, and there’s, well, definitely a ton of news here, so I’m sure it won’t take long to get back to where you were.”

“Hey, we’ll fill it with junk food and commiserating, I promise.”

He didn’t tell her there was another reason too – that if this government really did plan something awful, planned to bomb or gas them, he was probably one of the very few people who could get everyone out in time. He was as much a security measure as he was a welcome committee. He’d just rather not think about that. These people just needed time, and they weren’t planning to stay anyway.

“So? You weren’t an award-winning journalist when you wrote the article that won you the award,” he laughed. “Write your story, Lois, and when it’s done they’ll fight over wanting to be the one to publish it. If they can’t get their heads out of their asses and recognize talent, that’s on them. Don’t let it get to you.”

He smiled at her.

“And hey, you need any help getting somewhere for research or anything, just say the word.” He theatrically flexed his biceps. “These bad boys here are always ready to carry beautiful ladies. I mean – After I check that’s not a bro-code violation.” He really didn’t want Clark to punch him, that’d be bad. Or upset Clark, really, that would be worse.

“You’re very right,” Lois said, giving Wally an appreciative smile. “Well I don’t know about the fighting part, but more that I have been here before and I didn’t die then. It’s just harder to be confident without people behind you backing you up,” She holds up a hand. “I know you are, and I appreciate that, I just mean coworkers and that. But honestly, you’re sweet and I appreciate it.”

It was the little boost of confidence she had been looking for, that was for sure. “There’s no bro-code violation!” Lois says, her voice pitching a bit higher than normal. “He technically stood me up for our only date so — I’m mad at him anyway,” She says, flipping her hair behind her in an equally dramatic fashion. “Plus with all your fastness — I think you could beat nerdy Clark Kent up if you wanted — I mean don’t, but like,” She laughs.

He laughed with her at her dramatic hair flip, and then gave her an mock offended look. “Kid? Wow, ouch. You wanna – wanna go in for a hair ruffle there? Really hammer it home?”

He shrugged, still smiling. “Uhu, because, you know, back home we didn’t spend lots of time together in one building either.” Sure, the Watchtower and the T-Tower had been slightly more spacious and slightly less dormroomie, but it wasn’t like Wally wasn’t used to sharing his space with a lot of people. “Honestly, it’s not the worst placed I lived. I kinda like having people so close.”

He turned more serious when she admitted to feeling tense, reaching out to take her hand. “Hey,” he said gently, to get her attention. “Whatever happens, you’re not alone. You’ll be fine. Just think of this as an interesting story to tell.”

“Maybe, if I can catch ya’,” Lois grins at him and then sticks her tongue out, playfully. “Yeah? That’s good,” Lois found it sort of stifling in a way. She liked her space and her independence. She also felt uncomfortable being surrounded by strangers. There was something that just did not feel right about all of it. Just a feeling she had, nothing she could really put words to.

Lois offered him a small smile and squeezed his hand. “You’re sweet. I wish I could tell the story,” She heaves a very dramatic sigh. “But saying that I was an award-winning journalist doesn’t seem to mean shit here.”

Diana listened, thinking it over. “Perhaps I was brought here, for a reason?” She smiled a little. “I think we both know, it would not have been much longer before I made my way here. At this point, I am needed here far more than….back there.” She didn’t want to refer to it as “home” and risk upsetting her friend.

“There are many of us here now, we will do our best to keep that from happening.“ The concern reaching her mahogany eyes. “Those like me, we have a purpose to serve.” With help from Bruce and Clark, Diana was optimistic about their defense. “Forewarned is forearmed, I think you know this saying?” As a writer, Lois would no doubt. 

“We have much in common, Lois Lane.” Diana cocked her head to the side slightly, curious as to how Lois didn’t find it obvious. “We are warriors for the truth, we just use different weapons. You with your pen, and I with my sword.”

“It would be nice to think that but I think outliers like me mean that this event is a little less picky, you know? This world doesn’t seem to be troubled like ours was, you now?” Lois says, looking around as if it were obvious. “I haven’t heard of one villain causing serious trouble. Sure there is normal crime and those people can be villains too, but It’s not the same.” There were no superpowered ones. “I’m afraid that won’t be the truth for long and this world won’t know how to cope.”

Lois smiles and nods a little bit. She did feel safe knowing people like Diana were here. Safe and that she had a friend to turn too — that was a different kind of safe. A comfort she was thankful for. “I am familiar, yes, and you are right.” Lois wrinkles her nose. “Yes, your sword and muscles and wonderfulness,” She teases and offers her a smile. “You are sweet, Diana. I have missed you. Tell me, how are you finding this place? Different? Unsettling?”

Jason opened his mouth to answer, remembering they were in a public place, and snapped it shut. He took a breath before leaning over the table a little, and lowering his voice. “I’m not doing anything different than what I was doing in our world, and no one was calling me a vigilante then. The papers still thought I was on the Joker’s payroll…” Of course he tried to keep up that appearance for his benefit of pretending to be the bad guy and taking them down from within. He leaned back in his chair again, taking another drink of his coffee and rolled his eyes at her comment.

“Just… not that word. He’s going to give me a fucking ear full as it is.” Honestly, Bruce probably won’t even see it. The thing that he was bound to get a lecture about was the fact that he was openly recruiting people to join his little street gang and taking justice into their own hands. The way he saw it, he was doing nothing different than what Bruce himself has done. Jason shook his head. “No. Just me. We were looking for Bruce, and I fell right in after him.”

“No Joker here, sorry to ruin your street cred,” She shrugs. But honestly, she wasn’t. He was a good kid, as far as she was concerned. “Just petty things, and you know murder, normal stuff.” Stuff she could handle, stuff she could write about. It was a little bit — reassuring in a way. Things made a little bit of sense.

“I don’t allow people to tell me how to write, Mr. Todd. It’s a dangerous move to let your subjects mold your writing,” Lois said with a nod. “How long had he been missing before you went?” She, of course, had written about the mysterious disappearance of one of the biggest businessmen in the surrounding area. “You’ve not been here long, then?”