17908/Counseling

Counseling
Date of Scene:	12 May 2024
Location:	Happy Harbor
Synopsis:	Caleb reveals a lot of Trama uwith Jonn, who listens with concern.
Cast of Characters:	J'onn J'onzz, Caleb Dykstra

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J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz has routine appointments to act as counselor for the students, since there is more to being faculty at Happy Harbor than just teaching classes. He sits at his desk, going over paper work and also looking at troubling paperwork from Central America that he needs to investigate soon.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Suddenly, there's a knock on the door from the outside.

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz opens the door telekinetically. He is in his JLA form, ready to telepathically make himself human in case a rando walks by, but he tends to let the powered students know who he is.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Well, Caelb has no powers, but he knows through M'gann that John Jones is in fact J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter. Taking the opening door as an invite to come inside, he does so.

"Professor Jones, you got a minute of your time?"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz nods and lets him in. A friend of the powered that are trusted get the same treatment. So many of them end up putting on capes, that there seems little reason to,"You seem troubled." Of the nine martian senses, Empathy is the most useful but dangerous since folks often think he is reading their mind when he is in fact extending courtesy.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"How much does it show?", Caleb asks. And by the looks of it, it's possible he's been losing sleep the last few days. "The fact is, I'm seeking cousel, because I got these tons of bricks being laid all around me, and I feel like they're about to collapse with a flick of a finger."

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz says, "Even without reading minds, Martians are natural empaths. But it shows physically as well. How can I help?" He listens.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"I have no idea where I'm headed, the way things're going", Caleb says. "A year back, I was some asshole kid being the errand boy for a mobster in Gotham, but I got away from that life with my family."

"Before that, I survived 'No Man's Land', and I survived the invasion that followed - an invasion I had to kill invaders in in order to survive and save my family." He adds, "I took a bullet to protect my sister when she was four."

"But during my criminal tenure in Gotham, I discovered and fought entities assimilating population to pose as people, fought more aliens, fought some of Batman's adversaries." He pauses, "When I left Gotham, fought ninjas who wanted to kill me, discovered vampires are real, witnessed the power of mutants, helped them out in a situation of crisis, saved people from accidents, even helped stopping some golden android that seemed to be able to copy powers, and at some point it was just like feeling second nature to me." He looks back at what has happened since. "I... I don't know myself anymore." He reasons it over and over in his head. "Does that make sense, Professor?"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz listens. He has always been good at listening, but he is particularly good at it with his students. "Amazo. Yes, he rattled a lot of people. I have had to redefine myself many many times. There is nothing wrong with that need, and you are very young; thats also normal. You have suffered more tramau than most....but that is all perfectly normal..."

He pauses, "Except course unless you are worried about someone BESIDES yourself forcing you to make choices...and then I hope you realize all the friends you have.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"I almost died in that fight. Two daggers in its eyes to test out the possibility that it would need to scan someone to copy their abilities, and repeat the process when it spat them out to serves as lightning rods." He sighs, "If it weren't for your niece, back then..."

"But it scares me, the fact I'm getting more and more used to this, when I could lose my life. And then, who's going to take care of Sheila?"

"I don't want to be a hero, but sometimes it feels like whenever I blink, something happens and I must do something, or it's going to eat me inside." He sighs, almost a sob. "What does that say about me?"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz listens more, not interupting the whole time. "Mgann is very heroic....more heroic than I am to be honest. But its about what you do when danger finds you than going around looking for trouble that determines that path. And if you arent seeking it...short of moving to Nebraska....I think that you should do what you feel makes you whole. It says you are a good person if you feel you have to do something. If trouble finds you routinely, then best prepare for it. Especially if you will begin looking for it."

He pauses briefly and finally says, "Either way....while commendable that it grieves you, you should talk more about this. Therapy is key to helping your mind detoxify itself. I am always here to listen...or, should you so choose it, more accelerated training."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
In his head, the gears work, so much so that he decides to ask, "Have you ever come across this man, japanese accent, covered from head to toe in sharp metal bladed plating and helmet, with gauntlets on his fists to match. He claimed to be the leader of a so-called ninja clan called 'The Foot', but I didn't get a name. He seemed interested in knowing how I took out a squad of Hand - that would be another ninja clan - assassins single-handedly." He pauses, "It wasn't singled-handedly exactly, but I was not gonna realy tip my hand. But let's just say I felt inspired by 'Home Alone'." He adds, "But, not only did he offer me a place, he also hinted that there were those who wanted my head."

"And the same was confirmed by this girl, about the same age as me, maybe slightly older, silver-haired, one-eyed, that she had taken up a bounty on me before going away. Since this happened at a coffee shop, she had a nametag, 'Rose', but it could be fake."

He shrugs, "You wouldn't happen to know anyone fitting those descriptions, would you?"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz watches Caleb work things out and listens. "I am familiar with him. The Shredder. The League has compiled quite the dossier on his antics. I am familair with the Foot. Home Alone..." he smiles enjoying the image, tempted to be rude and borrow it from Caleb's mind. "The woman you are describing might be Ravager....she is exceptionally dangerous and has caused the Titans no end of grief.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"It was very much unlike the kid-friendly version", Caleb just states. Maybe he was already thinking that J'onn, telepath that he is, could get a glimpse, and completely change his opinion on him, so he just points to his head and shakes his head. "It's not something to be proud of, but I failed to check what laws there were for ninjas, and something tells me that Courts would be too merciful for the likes of them."

"The Shredder...", he repeats. "Well, one thing is for sure: he could run for Mayor of Gotham. Whenever there's a new motion for something, he'd just..." But he finds it's really not that good a joke. In fact... Why's he laughing at all? His heart is runing just low of 160 bpm right now...

Control, Caleb! Control! "Ravager..." He ponders just how big it can get, given the Titans - no short a team - seem to have had trouble dealing with her. "So, it's gonna get deadly, real fast. Got it." Plan. Plan! Plan!! PLAN!!

He needs a plan. Badly!

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz is astonishingly polite for people he cares abot and students and with perfect disclipline does not gaze into minds uninvited unless thoughts are literally broadcast sometimes as telepaths or others are want to do. He listens and nods, "There are many villains that are highly charismatic. Look at the American President." He smiles thinly and then considers. "What is the problem Caleb? Please be as direct as you can...." he listens and is curious but lets him speak himself.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"There's a bounty on my head", Caleb replies. "I don't know how much, but I've had a big-time organization crawl out of the shadows just to get a good look at me, and even offer me a position in their ranks, /and/ protection. I said a 'no', and it didn't come to blows because he thought lack of loyalty would only be a waste. So I basically Neo-dodged that one." If you recall the movie... "But still, there's no reason why they won't come back."

He adds, "And then there's this other one, Ravager... And God knows who else that won't be so corteous to give a warning about coming after me."

"Can you blame me that I'm making weapons in my spare time?"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz frowns and his eyes glow a bit,"I am always willing to show such organizations the true pecking order of such things. As fierce as my niece can be, know that while you are in this school you are under our protection...and I am capable of, and HAVE ended entire organized crime networks. I leave that to your judgment but know that while at this school if they bother you, they will be destroyed."

He calms down a bit, "No, I dont blame you for learning skills. Before I ask more about this situation with Ravager, I thnk you are facing some of the same problems I did after the Martian war. We killed each other...again and again and again for centuries until our world was ruined. Individual or large scale PTSD is still PTSD...and I now insist that you get counseling. I am not going to force the issue, but know that your mind is as much of part of your being as your body. Without even reading your mind, it is obviously wounded, and if not treated will fail you at a time least opportune.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"And not only that", he continues.

(Wait... There's more??)

"Sheila's turning thirteen soon." He nods, "Yup. Officially a teenager."

Oh, that's the worst part in his list of priorities?

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz recognizes deflection when he sees it, but the thing is, sometimes that is a defense that people need. And right now, what Caleb needs is someone to listen so he can work things out. He leans back and smiles gently, "Do you have something planned for her birthday?

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"I already have a present wrapped up for her: a big stick to beat other kids off with." He describes, "Silver plated, but hollow titanium core, very light weight. Press a button and you get a one-fifty thousand volt discharge." He counts with his fingers, "A complete armory set against boys I've seen around who'd like to sink their teeth - literally - into pretty young things. The other girls? That's their problem. But I did teach my kid sister how 'Twilight' sucked, and it wasn't blood."

He adds, "Not all kids know how to hide their nature well."

But it sounds like he really means it. Over-protective brother complex, much?

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn J'onzz smiles at the elaborate and yet simply thuggish design, "That is....innovative and very..." he thinks for a moment to consider the right words, "Appropriately Gotham." He nods and thinks Caleb has answered his own question on heroism but does not verbalize that.