Only the Lonely, chapter 10
Mar. 6th, 2012 09:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lirillithTitle: Only the Lonely
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Characters/pairing: Karina, Barnaby, Kotetsu, Karina's dad
Length: 2300 words
Rating: T
Summary: When Kotetsu returns from retirement and starts coming to Karina's performances again, she thinks she has her chance to get closer to him at last... but that also means getting to know his partner.
****
The next day, Karina's call bracelet went off around five, just as she'd left a TV studio where she'd recorded an appearance. She sighed as she climbed into the transport, checked in with Agnes - a NEXT who seemed to have super-speed powers was on a thieving spree downtown - and then switched over to a call to Barnaby. "I never even got to change," she complained.
"At least it won't be too late a night, even with the MVP ceremony and the after-party," he said. "Oh, and Kotetsu wishes you luck."
"And you don't?" She was ahead of Sky High by fifty points.
"Of course I do!"
"Is the criminal even attacking anyone? This seems like a pretty anticlimactic finale. Just one arrest?" And a few scattered points for first on the scene, that kind of thing. The close match might be exciting for the viewers, but not so much fun for the contestants.
"Speedy must have some accomplices," Kotetsu said. He was trying to get his head into the video screen, but all she could see was his chin. "If she didn't, why get so greedy? It'd be easy enough to grab a few purses and run, but she's swiped cash from people at five ATMs so far, plus... yeah, couple smash-and-grab thefts too." He twisted his head enough to get the left half of his face into the screen. He already had his mask on, of course.
"Huh," Karina said, pulling up a second screen. Sure enough, there was a still of a young, lanky woman, short hair flying behind her, stuffing something into a large tote bag. "You're right. It'd be a great power for petty theft, but once you get noticed..."
"Agnes must be banking on a spectacular getaway," Barnaby agreed.
"Don't waste your powers on tying up the monorail tracks into a pretzel this time, Kotetsu," she said.
"They're gonna need a new nickname for me," Kotetsu said with a sigh. "Like the, uh..."
"I doubt they're taking nominations," Barnaby said.
"Especially not from you," Karina said. "Do tigers even roar?"
Sure enough, just before they all went into action, there was an explosion on the freeway - no suspects on the site, so it was probably remotely activated, but with rush-hour traffic still choking the roads, plenty of potential injuries. From the images of it Karina glimpsed on the screen as she tried to loop around to catch the speedster, it looked like it'd be a nightmare getting an ambulance in. And then there was a carjacking, closer to downtown. That'd be for the getaway. She'd have to see who was headed for the explosion site once she had the thief, she decided, but then she heard something about Origami rescuing some civilians. Good for him. Maybe he'd get his points up to four digits.
Nathan was giving Bison another ride- that had been happening a lot this season, she'd have to ask him what was up - so they were rivaling her for speed, and of course anyone could surprise her by getting some height, but Sky High and Kotetsu would head either for the explosion or the carjacking, so that's where Barnaby would be as well. Pao-lin might still be in the area - but no, Mario said she was pursuing a possible culprit in the freeway bombing. Kotetsu got some points for rescuing a civilian from a car that had nearly fallen, so that answered that.
Speedy was on the sidewalk now, darting between pedestrians, barely visible, so Karina ditched her bike and rode her ice overhead, keeping her target just to her right, underneath and a bit ahead. She could just about match the thief's speed, but she wasn't used to it - her bosses liked her visible. Out of the corner of her eye, Karina saw a red blur with a dash of olive-green speed by and then peel off to her left, so Nathan and Bison were off to the carjacking. Maybe she should have left the single arrest to them, gone for more points, but at this point she felt almost like she had something to prove.
"And Sky High rescues a falling civilian! He's neck-and-neck with Blue Rose, and that puts him in the lead for now!"
Awesome. Thanks, Mario. That accounted for everyone, though. She put on another burst of speed, planted herself in front of the thief, and then things seemed to move very slowly for a short time. She saw the fist, felt the impact, and felt herself falling. Screw catching myself, she's going down, she thought, firing at the thief, and then she hit the ground hard. The thief was still moving - what the hell. Karina picked herself up and took off, shooting after the woman. Another blast of ice - okay, she could just outrun them. All this to catch a stupid shoplifter. Mario was reporting on the rescue efforts at the bombing site. And from the sound of things, Nathan and Bison were still chasing the carjackers.
Her guns wouldn't do it, and neither would her traditional missiles. Karina focused on the runner - she was in good shape but she was still sweating, a little. There was humidity in the air. Karina could try to focus it around her, and-- she had a gun? She was too fast, so all Karina could do was pull all the water she could in front of herself in the thickest shield she could manage, and freeze the moisture in the air around the runner.
When she opened her eyes, the shield had a starburst crack where the bullet had struck it, and the NEXT with the gun... was encased in ice. "And Blue Rose makes the arrest!" Mario shouted, sounding almost as stunned as she felt. She dispersed the shield, walked up to her frozen target, and put an extra chunk of ice into the space where a pulled trigger would have gone. She could hear the sirens approaching from behind. Time to make the handoff and head for the bombing site, then.
"No cutie escape?" Kotetsu greeted her when she reached the traffic snarl on the overpass.
"No time for it," Karina said. Sky High was still here, helping get civilians to the ambulances that were parked on the median, no longer racking up points for it - they weren't in danger, just needing assistance - and she felt a bit guilty for her points focus. But that was her job, right? All their jobs. "I wonder what all of this was about," she said. "Or which part was meant as a distraction from the other part." He just shrugged. "Anything I can do?" she asked.
"Maybe shore up some of the structural damage," Kotetsu suggested, so she coasted down below to take a look.
When they'd finally gotten one lane of the freeway open again, they got out of the way to let the real emergency personnel take over, and in Karina's case, to get acquainted with the medics. Nathan and Bison had apprehended the carjackers, Bison managing to rescue the driver who'd been taken hostage while Nathan got the arrest. Karina was Queen of Heroes for the season, and she was going to have to have to accept the MVP award with a black eye, it seemed.
"I'm fine," she was reassuring everyone. "My nose isn't broken. I have good makeup artists." It was kind of annoying to have Barnaby and Kotetsu fussing, because she kind of wanted to feel sorry for herself rather than reassure them. She was marketed on her appearance so much that face injuries could be a serious problem, and she was not looking forward to her next meeting with Robert.
"A broken nose isn't the end of the world." Kotetsu was obviously trying to be reassuring, but he hadn't been marketed on looks at any point she could remember. Whatever she might think of that decision, it meant he didn't think twice about scarring.
"It can be pretty significant when you're endorsing cosmetics," Barnaby said, so she didn't have to.
The medic passed her an ice pack, which she held to her eye. "I can make my own," she said. "Or keep this one cold."
"Convenient," the medic agreed, packing up the supplies. "Remember not to take any aspirin, it can make the bruising worse."
"Honey, are you all right?" her father asked, and she jumped.
"Daddy, how'd you get here?"
"I had a meeting that ran late at the Kronos building. I was about a mile off from the explosion."
"You let Mom know you're okay, right?" Jeez, she hadn't even thought he'd be near downtown. He nodded.
"What about you, though?" he asked. "There was gunfire, wasn't there?"
"I blocked it," she said, feeling pretty proud of herself. A lot more dignified than Cutie-Escaping every time the guns came out.
"How'd she even manage to dodge the ice?" Kotetsu asked. "From the replays it looked like she just turned and shot at you about half a second before you froze her."
"I was trying something new-- oh, sorry," she said. "Guys, this is my dad, Eric Lyle. Daddy, Wild Tiger and Barnaby Brooks Jr." He'd probably know who they were, since Mom had Hero TV on all the time, but they all shook hands anyway. She distinctly heard Barnaby call him "sir." "I was trying to freeze the moisture around her rather than firing at her, since she was too fast for projectiles. But I think she felt it getting cold."
"Good idea," Barnaby said. "Against someone without superspeed, it ought to be much safer."
"I still think you need armor," her father said. She didn't think she'd rolled her eyes, but he continued, "I know, I know, but parents worry."
"It's true," Kotetsu said. "Part of the job description."
"If you absolutely insist I'll bring it up again," she said. "Robert's going to be mad at me anyway, so I might as well just go for broke."
"What's to be mad about?" Kotetsu asked. "You just made MVP!" Her father nodded vehemently.
She counted off on her fingers. "Got hit by the crook I was chasing, skipped my catchphrase, might have been moving fast enough to obscure the logos..."
"Surely they realize some of this is part of being a hero," Barnaby said.
"I don't know. He always says he's getting complaints from higher up."
"No offense, Rose, I think your manager's kind of a jackass."
"I've been saying that for two years!" her father exclaimed. "Even if she needs the..." he gestured vaguely, "the Blue Rose look, I'd think they could work in some safety features."
She narrowly restrained herself from saying They could hide them in push-up inserts. "At least some kind of informational system like we have in our helmets," Barnaby suggested.
"A visor or something," her father agreed.
"At least she's got good control of her powers," Kotetsu said to her father, reassuringly, like she wasn't even there. "My daughter's powers..."
"Oh, your daughter's a NEXT?" her father asked Kotetsu with interest. Karina looked at Barnaby, who just smiled.
"Can I get you anything? Something to drink? It looks like they may be a while."
"Ya think?" Kotetsu was making some kind of crunching noise to describe Kaede's powers - she must have been breaking things with them at some point - and he father was laughing. "I wouldn't mind some bottled water." He left for the "concession table" - it consisted of bottles of water, the obligatory Pepsi, and urns of coffee and hot water for tea.
"--all these pots and pans sticking to her, who even knows where she found this NEXT, so that's how we found out she picks up new powers when she touches anyone. So it's pretty unpredictable. I mean, Sky High touched her on the shoulder, she was fully dressed and he was wearing gloves, so she could brush up against someone or hit them and get their powers. No way would that work for a hero."
Barnaby returned with two bottles of water, opening one for himself. She took a long drink. "I wonder if I can keep cold on my eye without an icepack? That way maybe I can minimize the damage but not look like the walking wounded at the after-party."
"On the bright side, at least anyone who might object to facial damage will be able to see up close that it's not serious," Barnaby said. "With the possible exception of your manager himself."
"True." She heard her father saying her name, and prayed it wasn't the swimming pool story again.
"He's really that bad?" Barnaby asked.
"Yeah. He doesn't like me to give rescue points to other heroes, either. Even if it's for a storyline. Thinks it damages the brand."
"It might be wise to demand a new manager the next time your contract's up for re-negotiation," he suggested.
"Just two more years!"
"Seriously?"
"We went for the long contract because I was so young," she said. "The idea was that they'd have to put some resources into training and promoting me if they committed long-term, in case I didn't do too well in my rookie season."
"I can see the reasoning, but it's a shame under the circumstances."
"Hey," Kotetsu said. "Maybe somebody could buy out your contract, like Apollon did mine."
"What?" She'd figured he wasn't listening, probably distracted by embarrassing stories about her childhood.
"That's a thought," her father agreed.
"I'll call Ben." Kotetsu tapped at his PDA.
"I'll leave you to it," her father said. "You have the awards ceremony, right? I'll have to see if I can make it home before it airs."
"On city streets?" Kotetsu asked. "That should be fun."
"Oh, my wife will be recording it no matter when I stumble in," he said, then kissed Karina on the forehead. "Congratulations, sweetie. Your mother and I are very proud."
She tried not to be too embarrassed. Every single person here was a huge fan of being affectionate with parents, for different reasons. "Thanks, Daddy."
****
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Characters/pairing: Karina, Barnaby, Kotetsu, Karina's dad
Length: 2300 words
Rating: T
Summary: When Kotetsu returns from retirement and starts coming to Karina's performances again, she thinks she has her chance to get closer to him at last... but that also means getting to know his partner.
****
The next day, Karina's call bracelet went off around five, just as she'd left a TV studio where she'd recorded an appearance. She sighed as she climbed into the transport, checked in with Agnes - a NEXT who seemed to have super-speed powers was on a thieving spree downtown - and then switched over to a call to Barnaby. "I never even got to change," she complained.
"At least it won't be too late a night, even with the MVP ceremony and the after-party," he said. "Oh, and Kotetsu wishes you luck."
"And you don't?" She was ahead of Sky High by fifty points.
"Of course I do!"
"Is the criminal even attacking anyone? This seems like a pretty anticlimactic finale. Just one arrest?" And a few scattered points for first on the scene, that kind of thing. The close match might be exciting for the viewers, but not so much fun for the contestants.
"Speedy must have some accomplices," Kotetsu said. He was trying to get his head into the video screen, but all she could see was his chin. "If she didn't, why get so greedy? It'd be easy enough to grab a few purses and run, but she's swiped cash from people at five ATMs so far, plus... yeah, couple smash-and-grab thefts too." He twisted his head enough to get the left half of his face into the screen. He already had his mask on, of course.
"Huh," Karina said, pulling up a second screen. Sure enough, there was a still of a young, lanky woman, short hair flying behind her, stuffing something into a large tote bag. "You're right. It'd be a great power for petty theft, but once you get noticed..."
"Agnes must be banking on a spectacular getaway," Barnaby agreed.
"Don't waste your powers on tying up the monorail tracks into a pretzel this time, Kotetsu," she said.
"They're gonna need a new nickname for me," Kotetsu said with a sigh. "Like the, uh..."
"I doubt they're taking nominations," Barnaby said.
"Especially not from you," Karina said. "Do tigers even roar?"
Sure enough, just before they all went into action, there was an explosion on the freeway - no suspects on the site, so it was probably remotely activated, but with rush-hour traffic still choking the roads, plenty of potential injuries. From the images of it Karina glimpsed on the screen as she tried to loop around to catch the speedster, it looked like it'd be a nightmare getting an ambulance in. And then there was a carjacking, closer to downtown. That'd be for the getaway. She'd have to see who was headed for the explosion site once she had the thief, she decided, but then she heard something about Origami rescuing some civilians. Good for him. Maybe he'd get his points up to four digits.
Nathan was giving Bison another ride- that had been happening a lot this season, she'd have to ask him what was up - so they were rivaling her for speed, and of course anyone could surprise her by getting some height, but Sky High and Kotetsu would head either for the explosion or the carjacking, so that's where Barnaby would be as well. Pao-lin might still be in the area - but no, Mario said she was pursuing a possible culprit in the freeway bombing. Kotetsu got some points for rescuing a civilian from a car that had nearly fallen, so that answered that.
Speedy was on the sidewalk now, darting between pedestrians, barely visible, so Karina ditched her bike and rode her ice overhead, keeping her target just to her right, underneath and a bit ahead. She could just about match the thief's speed, but she wasn't used to it - her bosses liked her visible. Out of the corner of her eye, Karina saw a red blur with a dash of olive-green speed by and then peel off to her left, so Nathan and Bison were off to the carjacking. Maybe she should have left the single arrest to them, gone for more points, but at this point she felt almost like she had something to prove.
"And Sky High rescues a falling civilian! He's neck-and-neck with Blue Rose, and that puts him in the lead for now!"
Awesome. Thanks, Mario. That accounted for everyone, though. She put on another burst of speed, planted herself in front of the thief, and then things seemed to move very slowly for a short time. She saw the fist, felt the impact, and felt herself falling. Screw catching myself, she's going down, she thought, firing at the thief, and then she hit the ground hard. The thief was still moving - what the hell. Karina picked herself up and took off, shooting after the woman. Another blast of ice - okay, she could just outrun them. All this to catch a stupid shoplifter. Mario was reporting on the rescue efforts at the bombing site. And from the sound of things, Nathan and Bison were still chasing the carjackers.
Her guns wouldn't do it, and neither would her traditional missiles. Karina focused on the runner - she was in good shape but she was still sweating, a little. There was humidity in the air. Karina could try to focus it around her, and-- she had a gun? She was too fast, so all Karina could do was pull all the water she could in front of herself in the thickest shield she could manage, and freeze the moisture in the air around the runner.
When she opened her eyes, the shield had a starburst crack where the bullet had struck it, and the NEXT with the gun... was encased in ice. "And Blue Rose makes the arrest!" Mario shouted, sounding almost as stunned as she felt. She dispersed the shield, walked up to her frozen target, and put an extra chunk of ice into the space where a pulled trigger would have gone. She could hear the sirens approaching from behind. Time to make the handoff and head for the bombing site, then.
"No cutie escape?" Kotetsu greeted her when she reached the traffic snarl on the overpass.
"No time for it," Karina said. Sky High was still here, helping get civilians to the ambulances that were parked on the median, no longer racking up points for it - they weren't in danger, just needing assistance - and she felt a bit guilty for her points focus. But that was her job, right? All their jobs. "I wonder what all of this was about," she said. "Or which part was meant as a distraction from the other part." He just shrugged. "Anything I can do?" she asked.
"Maybe shore up some of the structural damage," Kotetsu suggested, so she coasted down below to take a look.
When they'd finally gotten one lane of the freeway open again, they got out of the way to let the real emergency personnel take over, and in Karina's case, to get acquainted with the medics. Nathan and Bison had apprehended the carjackers, Bison managing to rescue the driver who'd been taken hostage while Nathan got the arrest. Karina was Queen of Heroes for the season, and she was going to have to have to accept the MVP award with a black eye, it seemed.
"I'm fine," she was reassuring everyone. "My nose isn't broken. I have good makeup artists." It was kind of annoying to have Barnaby and Kotetsu fussing, because she kind of wanted to feel sorry for herself rather than reassure them. She was marketed on her appearance so much that face injuries could be a serious problem, and she was not looking forward to her next meeting with Robert.
"A broken nose isn't the end of the world." Kotetsu was obviously trying to be reassuring, but he hadn't been marketed on looks at any point she could remember. Whatever she might think of that decision, it meant he didn't think twice about scarring.
"It can be pretty significant when you're endorsing cosmetics," Barnaby said, so she didn't have to.
The medic passed her an ice pack, which she held to her eye. "I can make my own," she said. "Or keep this one cold."
"Convenient," the medic agreed, packing up the supplies. "Remember not to take any aspirin, it can make the bruising worse."
"Honey, are you all right?" her father asked, and she jumped.
"Daddy, how'd you get here?"
"I had a meeting that ran late at the Kronos building. I was about a mile off from the explosion."
"You let Mom know you're okay, right?" Jeez, she hadn't even thought he'd be near downtown. He nodded.
"What about you, though?" he asked. "There was gunfire, wasn't there?"
"I blocked it," she said, feeling pretty proud of herself. A lot more dignified than Cutie-Escaping every time the guns came out.
"How'd she even manage to dodge the ice?" Kotetsu asked. "From the replays it looked like she just turned and shot at you about half a second before you froze her."
"I was trying something new-- oh, sorry," she said. "Guys, this is my dad, Eric Lyle. Daddy, Wild Tiger and Barnaby Brooks Jr." He'd probably know who they were, since Mom had Hero TV on all the time, but they all shook hands anyway. She distinctly heard Barnaby call him "sir." "I was trying to freeze the moisture around her rather than firing at her, since she was too fast for projectiles. But I think she felt it getting cold."
"Good idea," Barnaby said. "Against someone without superspeed, it ought to be much safer."
"I still think you need armor," her father said. She didn't think she'd rolled her eyes, but he continued, "I know, I know, but parents worry."
"It's true," Kotetsu said. "Part of the job description."
"If you absolutely insist I'll bring it up again," she said. "Robert's going to be mad at me anyway, so I might as well just go for broke."
"What's to be mad about?" Kotetsu asked. "You just made MVP!" Her father nodded vehemently.
She counted off on her fingers. "Got hit by the crook I was chasing, skipped my catchphrase, might have been moving fast enough to obscure the logos..."
"Surely they realize some of this is part of being a hero," Barnaby said.
"I don't know. He always says he's getting complaints from higher up."
"No offense, Rose, I think your manager's kind of a jackass."
"I've been saying that for two years!" her father exclaimed. "Even if she needs the..." he gestured vaguely, "the Blue Rose look, I'd think they could work in some safety features."
She narrowly restrained herself from saying They could hide them in push-up inserts. "At least some kind of informational system like we have in our helmets," Barnaby suggested.
"A visor or something," her father agreed.
"At least she's got good control of her powers," Kotetsu said to her father, reassuringly, like she wasn't even there. "My daughter's powers..."
"Oh, your daughter's a NEXT?" her father asked Kotetsu with interest. Karina looked at Barnaby, who just smiled.
"Can I get you anything? Something to drink? It looks like they may be a while."
"Ya think?" Kotetsu was making some kind of crunching noise to describe Kaede's powers - she must have been breaking things with them at some point - and he father was laughing. "I wouldn't mind some bottled water." He left for the "concession table" - it consisted of bottles of water, the obligatory Pepsi, and urns of coffee and hot water for tea.
"--all these pots and pans sticking to her, who even knows where she found this NEXT, so that's how we found out she picks up new powers when she touches anyone. So it's pretty unpredictable. I mean, Sky High touched her on the shoulder, she was fully dressed and he was wearing gloves, so she could brush up against someone or hit them and get their powers. No way would that work for a hero."
Barnaby returned with two bottles of water, opening one for himself. She took a long drink. "I wonder if I can keep cold on my eye without an icepack? That way maybe I can minimize the damage but not look like the walking wounded at the after-party."
"On the bright side, at least anyone who might object to facial damage will be able to see up close that it's not serious," Barnaby said. "With the possible exception of your manager himself."
"True." She heard her father saying her name, and prayed it wasn't the swimming pool story again.
"He's really that bad?" Barnaby asked.
"Yeah. He doesn't like me to give rescue points to other heroes, either. Even if it's for a storyline. Thinks it damages the brand."
"It might be wise to demand a new manager the next time your contract's up for re-negotiation," he suggested.
"Just two more years!"
"Seriously?"
"We went for the long contract because I was so young," she said. "The idea was that they'd have to put some resources into training and promoting me if they committed long-term, in case I didn't do too well in my rookie season."
"I can see the reasoning, but it's a shame under the circumstances."
"Hey," Kotetsu said. "Maybe somebody could buy out your contract, like Apollon did mine."
"What?" She'd figured he wasn't listening, probably distracted by embarrassing stories about her childhood.
"That's a thought," her father agreed.
"I'll call Ben." Kotetsu tapped at his PDA.
"I'll leave you to it," her father said. "You have the awards ceremony, right? I'll have to see if I can make it home before it airs."
"On city streets?" Kotetsu asked. "That should be fun."
"Oh, my wife will be recording it no matter when I stumble in," he said, then kissed Karina on the forehead. "Congratulations, sweetie. Your mother and I are very proud."
She tried not to be too embarrassed. Every single person here was a huge fan of being affectionate with parents, for different reasons. "Thanks, Daddy."
****
