[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]

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?) ]

[boobwindow]

[ She opens her mouth at first, shuts it, gives him a look and then: ]

Seriously, Booster. You asked.

[you_tried]

And I was trying not to say something totally stupid!

[boobwindow]

Like what? [ What could he possibly... Never mind, it's Booster Gold. ] Forget it.

[ She folds her arms over her chest. ]

What's the last thing that happened back home for you?

[you_tried]

Uh...

[ This is where you try not to poke holes in the timeline, Booster. Try hard. You have one job. ]

... Well, I'm in talks to do a sports drink commercial...

[boobwindow]

[ She doesn't appear surprised, only disappointed. ]

You could always do non-profit, Booster. Don't tell me you're going to play glory hound here, too.

[you_tried]

[ That stings more than usual, given what they've just been through back home. Even if she doesn't remember. ]

Y'know, I'm not always totally selfish. Is it so hard to believe that maybe I've changed? Even a little?

[boobwindow]

It is when the first thing out of your mouth is autographs and photo-ops.

[ It's her temper getting the best of her and lashing out now. She knows Booster has changed in his own ways, but sometimes it doesn't feel like it's enough. ]

Ugh. Just tell me if the world is still in one piece at least. I haven't gotten any news from home in ages.

[you_tried]

... It's in one piece.

[ He hesitates. Sure, in the end, they'd won, technically, but it hadn't really felt like a victory. Maybe she should know. This was a special situation. They were already playing with alternate universes, right? Could a little foreknowledge really make things any worse? Damn it, who decided that he had to be the one in charge of all this information, anyway? And where was Rip Hunter when you needed him? ]

Listen, I have a really important kinda-maybe-hypothetical question for someone way more responsible than me, and you're the only one around.

[boobwindow]

[ It's a small relief, but an important one nonetheless. She breathes a sigh and nods, uncrossing her arms and standing akimbo now in midair. Down below, passerbys point and snap a photo on smart phones as quick as they can at the two costumed heroes.

Peej arches a wary, but curious brow. He's got her attention. ]

Shoot.

[you_tried]

Okay, so say you knew that something really bad was gonna happen — not like a premonition, but 100% undisputable fact. And you were the only one who had any idea. Great, right? Total hero stuff. Except the problem is, there's a really good chance that trying to do something about it might make something even worse happen.

What would you do? You know. Hypothetically.