[VIDEO]

[you_tried]

[The communicator blinks on, revealing the face of a reasonably handsome blond man in navy blue and blindingly gold spandex, wearing – are those orange sunglasses? What year does he think it is? How can he possibly think that looks cool? Whatever the case, he’s obviously impressed with himself. He’s grinning broadly, clearly aiming for dazzling but winding up somewhere on the border between cheesy and embarrassing.]

Goooood afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! Booster Gold’s the name, and I’m coming to you live from Wherever-We-Are-I-Didn’t-Catch-The-Name-Sorry, Florida! You might remember me from my many thrilling exploits – please, feel free to ask about those – or, slightly more recently, from the third season of Celebrity Dance-A-Thon. You probably don’t have that here. Don’t worry, I’ll give you the highlights. I didn’t learn to samba for nothing.

[There’s a brief hesitation, and he takes a few steps to the left, where the lighting is better. It really shows off his hair. That seems to have satisfied him. God, how is anyone this shiny?]

And before you ask, yes, I do sign autographs.

[Another gleaming smile. He must floss like a madman.]

Oh, yeah, and does anyone know where a guy can get a drink with a tiny little umbrella in it? First answer gets a free photo-op with yours truly. Don’t say Booster Gold never did anything for you.

Comments

[you_tried]

[Like Booster could ever forget.]

[He's surprised at first, but circumstances aside, he can't help feeling happy to see a familiar face. Even if it's a familiar judgey face in a crazy alternate Florida.]

Heeey, Power Girl. Fancy meeting you here.

[At least he has the decency to tone it down a little. There's even a tiny little hint of an apology in there somewhere, if you're really looking for it. He does care about some people's opinions.]

I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS TAG AND MY LAPTOP DIED... booster what did you do!!

[boobwindow]

[ She won't admit it outright, but deep down, she's also glad to see someone, even if it's Booster Gold. After everything she's been through, it's a small relief in its own way. It's been a hellish six months that show no signs of slowing down. ]

You arrive god knows where and the first thing you do is start this again?

[you_tried]

Nice to see you too.

[boobwindow]

[ She squints initially. ]

Fine. Hello, Booster.

Where are you?

[you_tried]

Thank you. And I'm not on a beach, I can tell you that much.

[This is why we don't let Booster go unsupervised.]

[boobwindow]

[ Why is this her life. ]

Did the military give you the basic rundown?

[you_tried]

More or less. I mean, less than I wanted, but more than I expected.

[He sobers, running a hand through his hair. Overcompensating is kind of exhausting.]

Too much secrecy. Makes me feel all — [vague handwave] you know. Batman-y.

[boobwindow]

[ She's inclined to agree. ]

They seem better in one on one conversations, but I don't doubt we're being kept in the dark about something. What it is, I don't know yet.

[you_tried]

[SIGH.]

That's PR for you. It's too easy to be reassuring face to face.

[boobwindow]

I don't like it. They're also messing with Porter tech they know nothing about.

[you_tried]

What, seriously? But they seemed so... so professional.

[boobwindow]

They don't know where it came from or how it came to be, so they're supposedly not responsible for bringing us here in the first place.

[ She's skeptical. So damn skeptical. ]

[you_tried]

No kidding? Huh. People usually wanna take credit for that kind of thing, even if it's a stupendously bad idea...

[boobwindow]

Bad ideas, huh. [ She eyes him before rolling a shoulder. ] Sympathy points? They're always pushing for positive relationships between us and them.

Where are you?

[ She's already listening for his voice, rising into the air and taking off to pinpoint his exact location. She hasn't seen anyone from home that she would want to see in months, so she would prefer to have this talk in person. ]

[you_tried]

Pretty sure I'm downtown somewhere. At least I think this is a downtown. I see a shoe store and somewhere that claims to have over 400 kinds of taffy, but I don't think that's even possible. You know what? Hang on a sec.

[ Can't miss him if he's flying, too, right? ]

[boobwindow]

[ Not with her superpowers. It's impossible to miss the gold blip amidst a bright blue skyline. She's a few kilometers away and once she's located Booster, she shuts off the communicator and heads straight for him, a streak of white, blue, and red. ]

Booster!

[ She calls, suddenly ten feet before him midair. This time, she knows she's not imagining familiar faces. ]

[you_tried]

[ Anyone imagining familiar faces could probably do better than Booster Gold, anyway. Circumstances aside, he lights up when he sees her, and this time it's more genuine than the cereal commercial smile. ]

Kara! Wow, it's great to see you.

[boobwindow]

[ It might be Booster Gold's dumb face, the one she's yelled or glared at over the years, but right now, more than ever, Peej is glad for a familiar face that doesn't hammer her with guilt or concern — or both. (Thanks a lot, Max.)

Someone she has history with, even if she's moved on from that period of her life a long time ago and found her place, her other family, among the Society. ]

It's good to see you, too. I know how this is going to sound confusing, but it's been forever.

[ Who knows from where in the timeline he's from and if he saw her two minutes ago or two months ago? ]

[you_tried]

Uh...

[ Boy, does he not like the sound of that. ]

Aaand just how long is forever?

[boobwindow]

It's been a bit over half a year now since I've been —

Well, I wasn't here originally. I was in another universe before we were dumped here.

[you_tried]

... This is gonna give me one of those paradox headaches, isn't it?

[boobwindow]

I don't get it entirely myself.

[ She sighs, shoulders sagging for a moment. ]

All I know is time doesn't flow the same way here. Nor did it back in the City. There were others, like Zatanna and Misfit, who'd been there for years, but from my end it was as if they had never disappeared.

[you_tried]

Okay, fine, so we're dealing with timestream shenanigans too. I can deal with that.

... But wait, so, six months... what's the last thing you remember?

[boobwindow]

Back home? I was dealing with Ultra-Humanite. He took my friend's body, so I had to help her retrieve it and get her brain back.

[ Comics.

She doesn't want to get into Vartox showing up, even for a brief moment. Nobody needs to know about that pigheaded idiot. ]

[you_tried]

Oh. Uh... neat.

[ Crap, crap, crap, he didn't want to have to be a walking spoiler warning, not today. (Also, what the heck do you say to that?) ]