Voicemail

[weldedtomyspine]

"Oh, hey! I was hoping you'd call. What's up?" There was a brief pause, a wait for an answer. "Oh, sweet. Yeah, I'm doing pretty good, too. Or... at least I was when I recorded this message. Because, yep, this is my voicemail. But leave me one and I'll call you back!"

[This should have gone up a while ago... oops?]

Comments

[blondecanary]

Dinah couldn't break the news in a text. But she almost wanted to. Instead, she just sent one after noon, to Karla, Momoko, and Jaime.

Call me today. It's important. D.

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime was dialing almost immediately unlike his player.

And boy was he worried. Vague, cryptic, urgent texts weren't the sort of thing he usually got from Dinah, after all.

[blondecanary]

Dinah picked up, nearly wiped out by the day already. "Hey." She tried to smile, couldn't. "I'm glad you called. Something-- a couple really terrible things have happened. With the disappearances I told you about."

[weldedtomyspine]

That definitely got (even more of) Jaime's attention. As did Dinah's tone. "Should I book a portal?" he asked immediately.

[blondecanary]

"I don't know that it would help," Dinah said. "And Portalocity is all kinds of screwed up..." She swallowed. "Priestly called me, left a message. And a photo, I sent it to your e-mail." She concentrated on breathing. "Helena and Barbara don't remember him any more."

[weldedtomyspine]

Oh.

Crap.

What did you even say to that?

"I'm sorry," was all he could think of, and he knew it was inadequate. "Look, I'm going to book a portal..." Jaime held the phone against his ear with his shoulder and turned to his laptop, typing furiously.

[blondecanary]

Oh, Jaime. Dinah wanted to hug the life out of him for that. "It's almost Thanksgiving," she protested, even if there wasn't much energy to it. "They'll route you through ten places. I don't want you getting stuck somewhere." She drew a ragged breath. "I just-- Jak, my Jak, I think... he's gone too." She swallowed hard. "It's been a bad day."

Dinah Lance, Mistress of Understatement.

[weldedtomyspine]

What else was he going to do? Just leave her there with family who didn't understand what had happened?

Jaime was scowling at his laptop screen. "I can't even get at their schedule page."

He kept typing, but let most of his attention turn back to the phone. "Any..." He paused, took a deep breath. "Anyone else?"

[blondecanary]

"Not anyone you'd know, I think." She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I talked to Francine and Katchoo. A couple of their friends have disappeared too. Momoko hasn't lost any friends--" Yet. "--Some of Karla's acquaintance back in Kaeleer. They're all checking around..." Her voice broke unexpectedly. "I want him back, Jaime. He doesn't get to make me his last call and send me a photo and say I love you and d-disappear!"

[weldedtomyspine]

Phones sucked, Jaime decided. Because what he really wanted to do right at that moment was wrap Dinah in a rib-crushing hug and just sit there with her.

"I can get some people here to look into things, too," Jaime offered quietly. He'd basically just assumed 'Fandom Weirdness', and hadn't been too worried about things, but this was sounding much more serious than that. Worryingly serious.

Not that he thought his offer would help. Not unless it led directly to Priestly coming back, and that didn't sound likely.

[blondecanary]

Dinah gulped, dragging in a breath, fighting to be in control again. "Th-thanks." She took another, tried to force cheerfulness into her tone. "It'll be okay. We'll figure it out and... fix it. Somehow." It was just so big, and so everywhere, and she hated being scared, but the helplessness was worse. "Nothing happening in your world? You're safe? Your family's safe?" Please be safe.

[weldedtomyspine]

"Everyone's fine," Jaime reassured her. "There hasn't been anything even remotely like the kind of stuff you're talking about happening here." Part of him felt guilty at his sense of relief over that, but it was a small part. Mostly he was just relieved.

[blondecanary]

"Good." At least there was still one person she didn't have to worry about. Dinah slumped into the couch. "I'm going patrolling in a bit. I need to hit something. I wish-- I wish a lot of things." Priestly. Jak. Priestly.

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime left off his usual 'be careful' line. He just sighed softly. "I wish we didn't have to do this by phone," he decided.

And the Priestly thing... He knew that had to be hitting pretty hard. Adding other people disappearing on top of that?

[blondecanary]

Jak being the first guy she'd ever... and that he'd still called, hit her in places that bewildered and hurt too. Priestly, it was all just one big No. It was weirdly reassuring that Jaime was still okay. Or she'd start wondering if she was cursed.

"Me too." Dinah rubbed her head. "I'll text you every day. So you know I'm okay, all right? And you do the same."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Thanks." Jaime was pretty sure that his relief made it through in his voice. "And I will. Promise."

He scowled at his laptop again. "And I'll let you know just as soon as I figure out what's up with Portalocity." He hadn't given up on visiting. Some things just demanded hugs.