fandomtownies | Causeway and Into Town

Irene had noticed that the town looked a little different upon exiting her cab at the end of the causeway, sure. But it also looked almost exactly the same in most ways. Certainly not different enough for her to think that anything was amiss as far as time travel or similar.

And while she knew she probably ought to go seek out the few people she'd called friends here, she also just sort of wanted to...settle in. It had been a long couple of months away.

Though you know what she really ought to have considered? The damned stairs. Practiced though she'd become in navigating the things in her heels before she'd left, it still made her just look up from her phone and sigh as she looked up at the sheer number of stairs between her and the blissful peace of her apartment.

(Joke was on her. Her apartment totally wasn't hers anymore.)

In any case, she started to carefully pick her way up the stairs in her Louboutins, a small valise tucked over the crook of one elbow as she discreetly began fanning herself lest her hair, makeup, or beautiful McQueen dress fall victim to the heat.

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Well... prepare yourself. Because Kitty was on her way with Lexi to go run some errands on the mainland, so they just happened to be going that way.

"Irene?"

Well, there was a familiar face, and honestly, one of the few people Irene would have eventually contacted to say she was back in town.

"Hello, Kitty," she replied warmly. "Surprise."

And really, that was probably the right thing for her to say, since Irene had thought she had been away for just a couple of months -- it was August of 2015, right? -- and thus wasn't prepared when her gaze fell on the...little girl with Kitty.

Surprise indeed, yes.

"It really is!" Kitty admitted. "Not a bad one! How've you been?"

She'd been busy herself, obviously.

"Good," Irene said, slowly, full-on staring at Lexi now. "I -- good enough. But I've been gone much longer than I had thought, it seems." It did not take an especially bright mind to make a guess about who this little person was, even if Irene did indeed have an exceptionally bright mind.

She tempered the staring with a little smile and wave to Lexi, because you know what was spooky at any age? Strangers full-on staring at you, that's what.

"What's your name?" Lexi asked, not shy of strangers.

"A little bit longer, yeah," Kitty said helpfully. "This is Lexi."

"It's very nice to meet you, Lexi," Irene said, her smile widening a bit as she directly addressed the little girl. "My name's Irene."

To Kitty, though, she added, "Congratulations," with a little lift of her brows. "Clint?"

That was a few different questions there, yes, though Irene was totally trying to sneak a look at Kitty's left hand to see if she could answer a couple for herself.

A lot of time had passed. How much had she missed?

"Yep. He made an honest woman out of me and everything," Kitty smiled. "It's been a while. Are you back back?"

"I'm back," Irene confirmed with a firm little nod. "With my name cleared back home and everything." So that sure made things easier this time around, too. "And it's only been about two months for me, so -- it seems there's a lot to catch up on."

Like, she clearly had to get you a wedding present, Kitty. And to begin burying your child in tiny designer outfits.

"Yeah, you're in for a little bit of a shock, probably," Kitty agreed.

"But things look like they've gone quite well for you," Irene noted with another bright smile for Lexi. "How old are we?"

Lexi held up three fingers, then looked confused and held up two.

"Two snd a half," Kitty interpreted. "There's no good way to say that with fingers."

So she'd lost at least four years, then. Probably a few more.

"But that's quite an admirable attempt," Irene assured Lexi with a nod. "Two and a half. Practically grown-up already."

There would be three years' worth of wildly expensive presents forthcoming, of course. And probably some sort of crying fit over a glass of wine tonight over the realization that she'd missed Kitty's wedding and the first couple years of this kid's life.

"I'm a big girl," said Lexi, who really was not.

"So do you need any help getting set up?" Kitty asked. Since it'd been... a while.

"Possibly," Irene said brightly. "I'm going to go see if my keys work, still." She would totally have 50/50 luck there, between business and apartment. "Are you still at the bar?"

If Kitty wasn't bartending still, then the world really had changed.

"Still at the bar, still Tuesdays. Still teaching during the year. Superheroing less than I should be. But the bar is a constant."

"Then not everything is different, at least," Irene said with a fond smile.

And really, even little Lexi and the idea of Clint and Kitty being married all seemed like a natural progression, rather than anything shocking. It was more the whole...time jump.

"What year is it?" she added, bracing herself for the answer.

She'd been kind of trying to avoid that.

"It's July 2021," Kitty said, sympathetic.

It had to come out at some point. Better now than when Irene was watching the Olympics on TV later and trying to figure that out.

"So that's six years, then," Irene noted crisply after a moment. "I'll have to get a new phone."

Of course that was what she'd choose to focus on. The introspection would happen later.

That was a better reaction than expected!

"They take selfies in the dark now," Kitty said helpfully.

Causeway and Into Town | Monday Morning

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