The Causeway, July 1 Mid-Day

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

Hayley didn't even have the nerves to look the GCPD officers in the eye. The fact that a Gotham City police squad car was taking her off the island, it was just demoralizing. At least they let her put her suitcases in the trunk.

They gave her a nod of acknowledgment when she asked if she could wait a moment in case anyone wanted to say goodbye. While she thought that she might come back, she was completely worried that they'd lock her up forever.

So Hayley, she was treating this like it was the big goodbye.

[ooc: Hayley's last post before going alum (and the plot will be thickening. Muhuahaha). Handwavey voicemails will have gone out that morning telling her friends about leaving and where to say goodbye (but not explaining why), so feel free to mod receiving one. tl;dr, post is open!]

Comments

[glacial_queen]

Karla arrived at the Causeway, trying to look like she wasn't fretting. She couldn't put her finger on why Hayley's voicemail had left her feeling uneasy, but it had. Of course, Hayley could have sounded like she was touring a land filled with unicorns and rainbows and Karla would still be upset over her leaving, but she really doubted that was the case here.

Seeing the uniformed people escort standing with Hayley didn't help much, either. "Kiss kiss, Hayley," she said, drawing closer. "I got your voicemail. Thank you for thinking of me."

Awkward beginning, yes, but the sentiment was there. "I just wanted to say--oh, Hell's fire!" And that was Karla saying 'screw it' and reaching out, intending pull Hayley into a tight hug.

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

Hayley gladly hugged Karla back, just a little clingy.

"It won't be so bad," she said, her voice a little shaky. Hayley was going to try her best not to lose her seemingly calm demeanor. If she started bawling, who knows what the fuzz would think. She had to act as calm and sane and normal as possible.

"See, some old friends even showed up to take me home," she said. Apparently lying to your dear friends qualified as normal in Hayley's book.

Or maybe, just maybe, she was afraid what Karla would think of the truth.

[glacial_queen]

"Course it won't," Karla said, shoving her personal abandonment issue back to make this easier for Hayley. "You probably won't be gone long, either. You've got to come back and be a model, remember? And teach me more about the King?"

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Oh, you bet," Hayley said. "Just as soon as I get the stamp of approval I'll be right back, I promise. And I'll be nice and sweet and not that I've ever been not nice and sweet but you know."

Hayley was sadly partly performing for the benefit of her armed escort, which probably made her seem a bit more manic than normal despite all her efforts.

"A promise is a promise."

[glacial_queen]

"Just relax," Karla breathed into her ear. "You've come a long way in the year since you've arrived. You needn't put on a show for anyone."

She drew back and looked Hayley in the eye. "You can do this, you know. You really can."

Karla wasn't entirely sure what 'this' was, but Hayley could do it anyway.

[trigons_child]

Raven came down to the causeway to say goodbye, glad she had returned to Fandom in time to see her friend off. "Why are you leaving, Hayley?" she asked, puzzled by the sudden decision.

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"My nice friends back there told me I should?" Hayley said, hoping her blatantly obvious embellishment of the situation would somehow explain it all. Somehow.

"I'll be back soon, though, right?" Her tone was more of a question and not actually a statement. "This isn't a big deal. They just want to make sure I'm doing okay. They're from the Gotham police, they're all really nice."

She fidgeted a bit, desperate to seem like everything was okay.

[trigons_child]

Raven eyed the police officers. "Are you certain you will be all right?" she said, concerned. "They are not going to take you to a prison, are they?"

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

Hayley laughed, nervous in her tone and demeanor. "Hopefully not, right?" she said. "They just have to make sure I'm all, you know, rehabilitated."

From her Batman-hitting ways.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Faster than running, riding her bike was. So that was how Leda reached the causeway.

"Hayley! What's going on?" she asked, with a suspicious look at the cops.

[RL calling. SP?]

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Just going home for a bit," Hayley said, plastering on a smile. "Don't worry, I won't be gone too long."

It was amazing her pants weren't on fire, for how much she was lying.

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Leda got off the bike and went for a hug. She wasn't sure she was buying the spiel. Cops rarely showed up for good reasons in her experience. "You okay?" she whispered. "You know Bordertown's really nice this time of year."

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

Hayley swallowed hard, worried that Leda might try something rash. "Only the guilty run away," she said, repeating a line she heard on TV. "I just gotta do this and then I can come back. Promise."

Her false resolve wasn't very convincing.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata had known this was coming, of course and she hadn't needed a phone call to remind her to show up.

"Hayley," she said simply, giving the police men a steady gaze for a second before turning to look at her friend.

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Hi Hinata," Hayley said, again doing her best to feign courage in the face of what she thought was certain doom. "Sure is a nice day out today, huh?"

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"It is," she said, smiling very slightly. "Perhaps it is indicative of a good future?"

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"I can hope," Hayley said, getting a glimmer of confidence in her voice. "Thanks for comin' to see me off. It means a lot."

[heromaniac]

"Hayley?" Momoko frowned at the somewhat familiar logo on the Gotham City squad cars as she hurried to hug her friend. "What happened? Why are you leaving? And with the police?"

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

Hayley nodded, her cool very precarious. "They're just my nice friendly escort to make sure I go back to Gotham," she said, trying to smile. "I have to go back, you see."

[heromaniac]

Momoko didn't like this one bit. She felt like she was missing out on something here.

"What do you mean have to? There's a whole summer session left!"

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Apparently the City Police think I need to undergo some evaluation," Hayley said, a fake smile on her face. "I thought I'd humor them, you know? So they can know I'm all better and not like I was."

[svetocha-blooms.livejournal.com]

Dru had made a stop at the Perk and gotten a cup of coffee and a donut. "Here. Food for the road."

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

Hayley cast a glance back at her escort. "You think maybe if I give them the donut they'll let me stay?"

It was, sadly, an honest question.

[svetocha-blooms.livejournal.com]

"I would have brought more if I knew," Dru said, eyeing the cops warily.

[onlysmokesnics.livejournal.com]

"Thanks," Hayley said. "Sorry I'm leavin' ya alone so fast. It wasn't really my idea."

Her apology was genuine.

"Thanks for being so nice to me. Even after all I did."