10106/Problems of the Past

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Problems of the Past
Date of Scene: 13 February 2022
Location: Labs - Titan's Tower
Synopsis: After the angels, Sarah talks with Donna and gets reassured over contact from her siblings. But thoughts of dark and deviations loom for the future..
Cast of Characters: Sarah Rainmaker, Donna Troy




Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
Sarah Rainmaker is in the medbay. It's some time after the end of the angels. Or at least, the end of their occupation of Manhattan. The war will be fought in another plane now. Sarah Rainmaker; covered in second and third degree burns, arm in a sling and leg tender, is just sitting in one of the medical beds. And hse's just sort of looking to the side, at no one in particular, in the manner of just.. Processing things. And failing.
    In her hand, the phone would hang, loose and occasoinally being twirled, shut off.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Sarah was in medbay, because Donna had put her there. Admittedly Sarah had agreed to this, but Donna was prepared to be insistent. If Sarah had wanted to avoid this, she should have avoided being at the meeting of the resistance in New York showing so many wounds. While Peggy Carter's field dressings were excellent, Donna had felt that Sarah was in need of a little more medical attention than that, so had flown her to the tower, placed her in the medbay, run the AI assisted diagnosis systems over her, given her proper dressings for her wounds and pumped her full of painkillers before leaving her to sleep it off.

    It's now the best part of a day later, and Sarah's had time to sleep, as well as fret, when there's a knock on the door of the room Sarah has been put in, and Donna puts her head around the edge of the door to flash Sarah a bright smile and say "Hi!" before coming in. "Do you like donuts? Or cinnamon rolls? I brought both." She indeed has brought both, and puts a box full of delicious-smelling pastries on the bedside table for Sarah.

    "How are you feeling?" she asks. "Recovered a little?"

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
Sarah Rainmaker would nod at Donna, looking at her phone fora moment more before going to let it drop, "Yes. Sleeping was.. Hard." She admits it without any sort of real pressure to do so. She's let herself be put over in the medbay and has stayed there without any real sort of resistance. She would shake her head.
    "Has.. Caitlin been out of her room?" Not expecting Donna necessarily to know; or even to have checked.
    "And.. Those would both be good thank you. Just not spicy ones. I think I've suffered enough burns lately." An attempt at humor that comes out horribly wrong.

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Cait... will need some time to come to terms with things," Donna tells Sarah with a slight frown. "She's not feeling great about the way things went. And she's probably pretty worried about how people are going to react to her. I found her hiding out at her brother's place, and in no mood to speak to anyone. We had a good long talk and... well. She wants to set things right. But I don't yet know how long it's going to take her to feel that things are... back to normal. You know."

    Donna gives a shrug of her shoulders and sits on the edge of Sarah's bed. "She's going to need her friends around the next little while, Sarah. Showing her that we aren't angry with her. That we know it's not her /fault/. Michael can be very persuasive, and what he was telling her, what he offered her... well her beliefs, her faith, that put her in a position where she was always going to listen. And it was always going to take a bit for her to realize she was on the wrong side. She's there now, but not without the cost of... well, of something of a crisis of faith. So she needs space, but she also needs her friends. I hope you'll be prepared to stay here a while longer."

    She tilts her head to the side. "You could always consider making it a permanent thing. Not necessarily living at the tower if you don't want to, but you've shown how capable you are. The hero life isn't for anyone, but now you've given it a try... well, you could put some thought into whether you'd like to make it a bit more formal. Whether you'd like to be a Titan."

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
Sarah Rainmaker would nod, "She needs.. Time. If she wants to talk things over then she'll do so on her own initiative. I'm sure that everyone being here for her and patient will.. When she's ready help her deal with things. And the feeling of normalcy.. Will help with her healing process as she figures things out."
    Sarah would sigh. "Michael is a monster. I'm so sorry that she's had her faiths hattered. It's been such a huge part of her that.. Rebuilding it will be hard. It's kept her strong and going forwards, she can't be without it. And I'll stay as long as I can. At least.. if she wants me here. If not.."
    She would take a breath, "And I'll.. Have to think on that. I'm not sure. I've never really been in one place for very long. Not in a long time. Or been around people. It would be an.. Adjustment I'd have to think about."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna nods and reaches out to give Sarah's shoulder a squeeze. "There's no rush to make a decision, Sarah. Take your time. I'm sure it'll do Cait good to have you around in the short term. As for the longer term -- that's totally up to you. And as I said... you don't actually have to move into the Tower full time, if you don't want to. That's an option for team members, but not an obligation. I think you've got the potential to make a really good addition to the team though."

    "As for Michael, he's... he's not so much a monster as he is complicated. Flawed. Broken. He genuinely means well, I have no doubt about that. He just doesn't have the mental framework to really understand how bad the decisions he has made are. His actions have been monstrous, but to call him a monster? That's over-simplifying things."

    She turns her head, staring out the window in silence for a few moments, before turning back with a smile. "Anyway. Caitlin and the angels aside... is there something bothering you, Sarah? You don't have to share if you don't want to, but if you've got something you need to talk about, or need advice on... well I'm sitting right here."

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
Sarah Rainmaker would nod at Donna for a few moments, "I understand. I just.. I don't know. I'm.. Something that adds another layer of complication to things not just for you, but for Caitlin and I'm not sure if when she's recovered it's the best thing to have to bring up all the time with her." SHe would turn over.
    "And I don't know Michael. I was just in this to get my friend back. She's here and can recover at her own speed. And.." There's a final twist of pain in her eyes.
    "I'll tell you, but you'll have to swear to keep it a secret and not tell anyone unless it is completely necessary."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "I'm not in the habit of sharing people's secrets with everyone I meet," Donna says with a smile. "Generally speaking that's something you have to be pretty good at in this business." She tilts her head to the side, wearing a faint grin of amusement. "I mean there's the whole secret identity thing. I know a lot of secret identities. I could tell you the real names of all kinds of bat-folks for example. But... I don't. And I won't."

    Donna gives a little shrug of her shoulders. "Nothing you tell me in confidence is going anywhere beyond my ears, Sarah. Nor do you have any obligation to tell me anything if you don't want to. But if you /do/... don't worry. You can trust me to keep your secrets."

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
Sarah Rainmaker would take a breath, "All right. I.. Presume that Caitlin has told you something about me." She would turn that over simply and let it hang there. "Let me know if she hasn't and I'll try to explain. But.." She would take a breath and try to put itinto words. Then go to take up a phone to show a picture of two.. Individuals. One a girl with purple hair, the other a boy with half his face burned off with blonde hair. Both of them waving in a way that even through just a simple photo could be described as -sadistic-. "Matthew and Nicole. My.. Siblings."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "A little," Donna says. "Nothing... nothing personal. But I know about CADMUS, yeah. And I know a couple of years ago, Caitlin found out that they were up to their old tricks, and she met up with a few of her father's old Team 7 people, and..."

    She gives a spinning wave of her hand to denote 'and all that' without going into further detail on things that don't necessarily need to be spoken out loud. "So when you say 'siblings' with that dramatic pause... I'm guessing that's what you're referring to?"

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
Sarah Rainmaker would nod flatly over at Donna, "They are some of the ones that did not get away like the rest of us were so lucky. I had thought they were dead. If only for their own sakes. They're among those that weren't saved."
    She would go on, "And the phone that I was using at the time was one of the ones that was intended for communication amongst the group and coordination in the fight and was encrypted for that. And I received the photo on it."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna gives a slow nod of her head. "I think I'm getting the picture. So you received a message you weren't expecting to receive, and this leads you to believe that maybe the rescue mission from two and a half years ago might need a sequel?"

    She studies Sarah with a thoughtful expression for a few moments before continuing. "Do you know who sent the message?" she asks. "It's got to be someone within the old group, right? Unless someone else has got their hands on one of those phones and is using it to bait you in some way, which is also a possibility."

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
Sarah Rainmaker would take a moment to evaluate hte questions, "I had hoped that they were dead honestly. For thier own sakes. I.. Don't have any real connections with the network. That was always Caitlin's thing. Cell structure." She would take a moment to explain, "You try and minimize the connections and contacts throughout a group so if something happens to one person, the entire network doesn't come crumbling down. I haven't heard from any of them in hte last year."
    Sarah would shake her head, "I'm guessing that it was from the two of them. Mathhew and Nicole. What I'm worried about is.." She wouldshake her head, "That they've been made into what we were supposed to be." That finally comes out. Forced. But honest.

Donna Troy has posed:
    "That's something Cait struggles with a lot," Donna says. "I have seen it come out, on a couple of occasions. When she's under a great deal of stress. I know for her at least, it's there under the surface. You think with these two, it's perhaps not under the surface but right there front and center?"

    She rests her elbows on her knees to lean forwards, lowering her voice a little. "If that's the case, then... I guess you're worried that this wasn't some friendly gesture, or an attempt to inform you of something. That instead it might be bait. Or a threat."

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
Sarah Rainmaker would lean back and close her eyes, "I'm worried that.." She would try to think of a way to put it. And fail. "I'm worried if they didn't escape and.. That they were fully condit.. Brainwashed. That was the ultimate intention for us. They were never rescued, they went through everything."
    Her tone is very, very raw now. "And that they had the ability to send the message over on this."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "And at another time, you'd take this to Caitlin. But this isn't exactly the best time to do that, so you're not sure what to do, or who to talk to about it."

    Donna leans back again, folding her hands in her lap, and bits her lip thoughtfully. "Cait arranged the phones, right? She'll have put some security measures in place, but they won't be unbeatable. I suggest that for now at least you don't carry that phone around with you when you're outside the tower. If they want to come for you, they're not going to do it here, this place is far too secure. But there's a possibility they have figured out how to track you through it, so best not to have it with you when you aren't at the tower."

    "If you were willing, we have some good techs here. Vic, Robin and Nadia. It's possible one of them could flip that around and figure out where exactly the message to you was sent from, if you'd be willing to take them into your confidence. If we can track them down -- we can make sure they aren't a threat. Get them help to overcome their brainwashing."

    "But a warning, Sarah. If they've contacted you now, after all this time -- that probably means they feel ready for whatever they are planning. Right now they are the ones initiating things, which indicates a degree of confidence. "

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
Sarah Rainmaker would give a nod over at Donna with her tone flat. "Exactly. I'm not even sure if I could pass along a warning to anyone or would know who to contact for more information." Her tonewould be grim.
    "She arranged the phones. I think she had friends assist wiht them but I don't know a lot of the details. Nothing's impregentrable. I'd be more htan happy to let your friends have a look at it." The paranoia of Donna's advise seems quite reasonable ot her.
    Then her tone is scared. "I'm worried if I look into the eyes of one of them that could have been my fate. And if they've contacted me.."
    She would force herself to breathe in and out. "If they've contacted me, it means that they're coming."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Nothing's impregnable," Donna agrees. "But there are few places closer to it that Titan's Tower. Our security measures are... pretty intense. You don't generally see that side of things, but this tower is a fortress. And it's occupied by a significant number of pretty powerful people. So they may be coming, but I doubt they're coming /here/, because that would be tactically very unwise."

    "There's a possibility we can beef that up a bit. But... for that, I'd say your best bet is to talk to Caitlin about this. Maybe give it a day or two, to let things settle a bit first, but she's the biosciences expert. There's a significant possibility there are genetic markers inherent in the CADMUS enhancements that could provide an added level of security, a warning if anyone displaying those markers who isn't you or Caitlin comes within range of the tower. But ultimately you don't want to be hiding here forever, and the best solution is for /us/ to find /them/."

    Donna reaches out a hand, resting it on Sarah's upper arm and giving it a gentle squeeze. "You don't have to face this alone, Sarah. We've got your back."

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
Sarah Rainmaker would smile, "Thanks. That means a lot to me. And I doubt that they're insane enough to want to bother with coming here. Caitlin's too high profile for it, and I've been coming and gonig here for awhile. If they can track me they'll know that. So this is.. I don't know, designed to bait?" She would rub at her temples.
    "The genetics of whatever we are is so far beyond my ability to understand I'll take Caitlin's word of it. I'm just worired what it is after so many years that they suddenly sent that. There has to be something bigger beyond just trying to lure me out."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna gives Sarah's arm another gentle squeeze, then takes her hand away to shrug her shoulders. "Maybe, maybe not. It may be the reason why now rather than before is that they are ready now. Or it may be there are other factors at play that you just don't know about yet. All the more reason for us to try to do a bit of fact-finding. Cyborg or Robin are your best bets for tracking the message to a source. But... yeah, I really would suggest talking to Caitlin about this soon."

    "Another thing. I suggest you keep a T-com with you at all times, and when you're away from the tower, send me regular messages. That way if you miss a message, I'll know something's up. And if you like... if it would make you feel better, we can implant a sub-dermal tracker on you. They biodegrade and are absorbed into the body after a few days, but it'll mean we can always find you if something does go wrong."

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
Sarah Rainmaker would give a nod, "When she's ready. I don't want ot push on this given what I.. Think her state is unless necessary. She has her own life to rebuild first. So I.. Don't want to push this on her unless there's no other choice. I'll let your friends look at my phone, feel free to tkae it right to them."
    Then as Donna would go on Sarah would start to chuckle, then rise up to give Donna a big hug. "Thank you. I'm sorry I was too scared to meet you earlier. I missed out on a lot of friends I could have made a lot sooner."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna returns the hug with a wide grin, hugging /very carefully/ because unless you're a Kryptonian, Caitlin, or her sister, you probably don't want her hugging too hard. She leaves her hands on Sarah's upper arms when she pulls away, and she's still grinning. "Oh hey I'm sure when Caitlin said 'come meet my buddies, they're the Titans' that felt kind of intimidating. We're a friendly bunch really though. Even Robin isn't that bad when you get to know him."

    She pulls away and gives Sarah a nod. "Rest up another day or two, and when you're feeling up to it, we'll get things moving on an investigation, okay? You're welcome to stay here as long as you like, and before you next go out I'll go over the security features on the T-Com with you to make sure you know how to trigger an emergency alert and so on."

    Donna nods her head in the direction of the box of pastries, and gives Sarah a grin. "And... anything else you need to help your recuperation?"

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
Sarah Rainmakerwould smile, "Thank you for everything. I don't feel like I deserve this but.. Thank you for giving me a place tos tay for now and somewhere to feel useful at. I'll.. Figure things out and what to do. I really appreciate it. And.. I look forwarsd to getting to know some of the members of the team a bit more since the immediate crisis has passed." At least her own little part of it.
    She would take a breath and close her eyes, "No. I think I just.. I think I should just try and get some sleep and try and figure things out from there in the morning."