Looking For a Stranger
Jan. 23rd, 2013 08:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
angelswannawearmyredshoes[These entries take place after "After Life Conquers Death..." (which can be found here: http://dc-nation.dreamwidth.org/208819.html)]
Linda was feeling more like herself than she had in a long time. She liked nights patrolling around Leesburg in her wig and the outfit just Supergirl-ing--if that wasn't a word, it was now. She had done this for years and would continue to do so for...God only knew how long, but Linda was happy enough to wait and see.
The night, thankfully, was free of the usual aliens and supernatural oddities that dropped by. As Linda patrolled, she caught a glimpse of a purse snatcher and a little old lady in an alley. Nothing too complex, really. A well-placed TK blast and a bit of banter--that was all the situation called for.
"Look, up in the sky," Linda called out as she descended to the earth. "It's a bird--"
The purse snatcher fired a round from a simple handgun and Linda fell with a thud to the earth.
Quickly, Linda arose with a grin, "I really don't know why people still try that on me."
The guy fired more rounds and Linda simply kept grinning as she harmlessly deflected each bullet with TK blasts. The little old lady was Mrs. Jones--Linda remembered seeing her around at her parish. The assailant? Linda didn't recognize him. He didn't attend Leesburg High--Linda would have recognized him from the art classes she taught. He was tall, red-haired, a pretty hardy build for his age--late teens or early adulthood. Maybe he was from out-of-town.
"Thank you, Supergirl but...um...aren't you a bit too old to dress up so...youthfully?" Mrs. Jones asked her as Charlie prepped to throw the gun and run--Linda felt a bit odd calling him Purse Snatcher and figured she could do him a favor by giving him a name.
"Oh, Mrs. Jones, you know I'm just a girl at heart," Linda bantered quickly as she disarmed him with a TK blast and, while Charlie gawked, and gave him a good sock in the jaw. "I say, if you've got it, flaunt it. And if you flaunt it, keep at it while you've still got--"
Mrs. Jones cut in with a scream.
Charlie wasn't breathing normally, twitching, beating his chest. Linda recognized what was happening; she didn't have Super-hearing to listen to his abnormal pulse and she certainly didn't have an encyclopedic knowledge of human health in a Super-brain, but she made herself recognize these signs.
Charlie was...Charlie was going into cardiac arrest.
"Hang on," Linda cried out as she set Charlie down and began administering chest compressions. "Mrs. Jones, there's a payphone over there--call the Paramedics."
Linda let her pride get the better of herself yet again...it's been years since she began this beat and she still made the same old mistakes. Or, somedays when she was feeling like she wanted to change things up, she found new ways of screwing up. When she made mistakes like this, she still found herself thinking, 'Mae wouldn't have done this.'
Linda laughed at herself; she didn't have time for this self-pitying--he certainly didn't. This self-pitying was just another form of her pride. Even if she didn't have Mae anymore to fall back on, she knew she had compassion and strength enough to keep going. She'd just have to save the pitying for another time. For Charlie.
Okay, Linda really had to ask for his real name after this was through.
Speaking of Charlie, he wasn't easing up.
Mrs. Jones got off the phone."They're on their way, Supergirl."
Linda feared it wouldn't be soon enough.
"Mrs. Jones," Linda spoke calmly, to keep Charlie and Mrs. Jones calm."I think I need to grab a defibrillator. Do you know CPR?"
A beat.
"Mrs. Jones, I know it's hard to empathize with the guy who just tried to take your purse--"
"I know, I know, Supergirl...I can take over," Mrs. Jones sighed as she rolled up her sleeves and began the chest compressions--with quite a lot of vigor.
With that, Linda took off into the skies.
There was no way she was letting another person die from a heart attack on her watch.
Linda was feeling more like herself than she had in a long time. She liked nights patrolling around Leesburg in her wig and the outfit just Supergirl-ing--if that wasn't a word, it was now. She had done this for years and would continue to do so for...God only knew how long, but Linda was happy enough to wait and see.
The night, thankfully, was free of the usual aliens and supernatural oddities that dropped by. As Linda patrolled, she caught a glimpse of a purse snatcher and a little old lady in an alley. Nothing too complex, really. A well-placed TK blast and a bit of banter--that was all the situation called for.
"Look, up in the sky," Linda called out as she descended to the earth. "It's a bird--"
The purse snatcher fired a round from a simple handgun and Linda fell with a thud to the earth.
Quickly, Linda arose with a grin, "I really don't know why people still try that on me."
The guy fired more rounds and Linda simply kept grinning as she harmlessly deflected each bullet with TK blasts. The little old lady was Mrs. Jones--Linda remembered seeing her around at her parish. The assailant? Linda didn't recognize him. He didn't attend Leesburg High--Linda would have recognized him from the art classes she taught. He was tall, red-haired, a pretty hardy build for his age--late teens or early adulthood. Maybe he was from out-of-town.
"Thank you, Supergirl but...um...aren't you a bit too old to dress up so...youthfully?" Mrs. Jones asked her as Charlie prepped to throw the gun and run--Linda felt a bit odd calling him Purse Snatcher and figured she could do him a favor by giving him a name.
"Oh, Mrs. Jones, you know I'm just a girl at heart," Linda bantered quickly as she disarmed him with a TK blast and, while Charlie gawked, and gave him a good sock in the jaw. "I say, if you've got it, flaunt it. And if you flaunt it, keep at it while you've still got--"
Mrs. Jones cut in with a scream.
Charlie wasn't breathing normally, twitching, beating his chest. Linda recognized what was happening; she didn't have Super-hearing to listen to his abnormal pulse and she certainly didn't have an encyclopedic knowledge of human health in a Super-brain, but she made herself recognize these signs.
Charlie was...Charlie was going into cardiac arrest.
"Hang on," Linda cried out as she set Charlie down and began administering chest compressions. "Mrs. Jones, there's a payphone over there--call the Paramedics."
Linda let her pride get the better of herself yet again...it's been years since she began this beat and she still made the same old mistakes. Or, somedays when she was feeling like she wanted to change things up, she found new ways of screwing up. When she made mistakes like this, she still found herself thinking, 'Mae wouldn't have done this.'
Linda laughed at herself; she didn't have time for this self-pitying--he certainly didn't. This self-pitying was just another form of her pride. Even if she didn't have Mae anymore to fall back on, she knew she had compassion and strength enough to keep going. She'd just have to save the pitying for another time. For Charlie.
Okay, Linda really had to ask for his real name after this was through.
Speaking of Charlie, he wasn't easing up.
Mrs. Jones got off the phone."They're on their way, Supergirl."
Linda feared it wouldn't be soon enough.
"Mrs. Jones," Linda spoke calmly, to keep Charlie and Mrs. Jones calm."I think I need to grab a defibrillator. Do you know CPR?"
A beat.
"Mrs. Jones, I know it's hard to empathize with the guy who just tried to take your purse--"
"I know, I know, Supergirl...I can take over," Mrs. Jones sighed as she rolled up her sleeves and began the chest compressions--with quite a lot of vigor.
With that, Linda took off into the skies.
There was no way she was letting another person die from a heart attack on her watch.
