11742/Mea Culpa: Titan's Style

Mea Culpa: Titan's Style
Date of Scene:	25 June 2022
Location:	Madison's Apartment -- Palm Tree Apartments
Synopsis:	Victor visits Gladys - to apologize for inadvertantly enabling heroing behind her back, and to explain why the Titans might still be a good place for Maddie.
Cast of Characters:	Madison Evans, Victor Stone

---

Madison Evans has posed:
    After having been contacted by Victor Stone, Gladys had responded by inviting the Titan over to her home. Ever the gracious host, she's put on a pot of coffee, and has a homemade loaf of zuchinni bread out on the table. It might not be the best zuchinni bread you've ever had - but it's pretty good, and it's almost certainly the healthiest, with redused sugars and oil bolsterd by the addition of applesauce, and some whole wheat flour and ground flax seed added. There's also chocolate chips and pecans, because Gladys isn't a complete heathen.
    At the moment the woman is sitting at the table, working at her laptop - until she hears a knock at the door rises to open it. The smile she offers is clearly one born almost entirely of social obligation, and doesn't entirely meet the woman's eyes. "Mister Stone, would you like to come in?" she offers.

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic's wearing slacks and a t-shirt and blazer, kind of business casual--yes, Cyborg actually /does/ wear clothing, pretty regularly actually. "Thanks for having me, Ms. Evans." 'Mister Stone' sounds weird, but he lets it go for now.

    He ducks a little as he comes into the living room and looks around. "You've got a real nice place here." His tone sounds sincere, at that, but glances around, looking for a place to sit a little nervously. This 'visiting actual adults' thing is new and all.

Madison Evans has posed:
    Gladys gestures the man towards the couch and arm chair that take up part of the living room as she answers with a polite, "Thank you," proving they both know how to follow societally obligated scripts. "I have a pot of coffee on - unless you prefer tea?" Just because you have a legitimate beef doesn't mean you get to act like a harpie. At least, not in Gladys' opinion, it seems.

Victor Stone has posed:
    "Umm, no, coffee's fine," Vic replies as he goes to sit down on the couch, fidgeting with the seam on his pants for a moment while he waits for Gladys to go about serving coffee and zucchini bread and whatever else.

    "So uhh..." He reaches up to rub a hand along the chrome side of his head, then sighs. "Look, I wanted to say I'm sorry. Like, personally. I can give you the whole explanation for /why/ things with Madison have gone the way they have, if you want, but the important part is just... yeah. I'm sorry, for how things have gone down."

    Ugh, why does adulting have to be so /hard/?

Madison Evans has posed:
    It's only the coffee and zuchinni bread on offer - enough to be polite to the man, but little else. She does offer milk and sugar for the coffee, however, as she takes a seat sipping her own cup.
    Well, I say milk - but it's almond milk.
    "The apology is appreciated. I think you can understand I'm less than pleased that things have gone on behind my back. Iris gets... a pass, up until the point where she stopped being a teenager," she remarks, before pressing her lips together in silence for a few moments.
    "I would be curious to know what reasoning you had for bringing a teen into danger without having spoken to the child's guardian, however."

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic sighs. "Honestly? Because the Tower's /full/ of teens who go into danger who have no guardians at all. Most of the rest, their guardians are either superheroes or so absent they don't /care/. Madison's one of the few people around who has a parent that cares, and that's..." He shakes his head. "That's not a /good/ reason, but it's sort of... I personally figured either Madison had told you, or you didn't care enough to check in."

    He holds up his hands. "Not that I'm saying... alright, look, Madison was over for a sleepover and some /weird/ stuff started happening to the Tower. Reality warping kind of stuff. Madison got dragged into it because she was there. And honestly, she handled herself really well. After that, I figured that either she'd told you what she was doing or else she had a good reason not to. I really should've... checked in, yeah. And I'm sorry for not doing that."

    The irony, of course, is that after the reality warping of the Tower, Vic hid in his lab a lot of the time, but that's just going to sound like a cop-out.

Madison Evans has posed:
    Gladys listens politely, but with a consistent frown on her features, obviously not pleased with what she is hearing. "I suppose I could have been more proactive on my part - reaching out to the Titans to make it clear I didn't want my daughter put in danger when she started visiting Iris there, but I'd simply assumed..." She lets out a frustrated huff of air.
    "I brought her out here so she could go to a school where being unusual would be usual. I hoped that would give her a more... normal life, and childhood. I've been very clear with her that I didn't want to see her running into danger - that she was to concentrate on //school.//"
    She takes a sip of her coffee, still frowning deeply. "With everything that's happened, and the trauma of seeing her school's headmaster killed... I haven't pressed her yet. I will need to, though. She knew better."

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic frowns a moment, taking a sip of the coffee. "I think most of this is between you and Madison, for sure. I don't really know what goes on at Happy Harbor. I just know that..."

    He hesitates a moment, then says, "Ms. Evans... do you know how the Titans started? I mean, like, the official story, at least?" Implying there's an unofficial story.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "It is, I'll admit," Gladys agrees. "It's all simply come to light at a rather inopportune time." She cuts off a bit of the zuchinni bread to nibble at, as she watches Victor, before adding a simple, "I only know what's been on the news. I listen to NPR frequently enough. Are you saying there's more to the story?"

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic chuckles. "I mean... when isn't there?" He picks up a piece of the zucchini bread and takes a bite. "Ohh, hey, Caitlin would /love/ this recipe... but anyway."

    He thinks for a moment, then says, "So... the Titans were founded during the Alien Alliance Invasion, most people know that. Around the same time that the heroes who would become the Justice League decided to hit the invaders, a few of the... sidekicks... well, honestly? The adults told us to sit it out, but we just /couldn't/. What they were insisting on, handing over all the metas... it affected us, or it affected our friends. So we decided to do what we could, and attacked a Khund shield battery." He smirks. "Well... Donna and Caitlin decided to at the same time as me and Raven and Nightwing... but we joined up during the battle and that's how we met."

    He sighs. "After all that, when we stepped up to do something the /Army/ wouldn't do... we were denied entry to the newly formed Justice League, because we were 'too young.' Even though me and Nightwing were both adults, and Donna and Raven were 17. So... we founded the Titans. Got some other members. Started doing the superhero thing."

    He takes a gulp of coffee. "I think what I'm saying is... the trouble with young people who've got the powers or training to be superheroes is that they want to go out and /be heroes/. I mean, I'll admit that what we did that day was probably stupid--but I also think, sometimes, about whether or not we could've done /more/ if Superman and Batman and Wonder Woman hadn't told us to sit it out. They were trying to protect us, but we wound up in trouble anyway, off away from where they could maybe keep an eye on us. And... they haven't had an eye on us since. But /we've/ got an eye on the kids who have come to the Tower, because we remember what that was like. We know they're probably gonna run at the danger whether or not we're around, and so we figure... better to /be/ around, y'know?"

Madison Evans has posed:
    For just a moment there's a more genuine smile as Victor compliments the bread - but it doesn't last long before her expression shifts back into an unhappy frown. "So. You think I should allow my daughter to run into danger... because at least she'll be supervised, rather than forbidding her to return to the tower. And that forbidding it will simply lead to her finding trouble on her own, without any supervision."
    She grinds her teeth for a moment, glancing off to the side where a framed picture of a much younger Madison with pig tails beams out at them - with braces unself-consciously on her teeth. She studies the girl's image for a while, before looking back to Victor with, "It's hard to contradict that prediction - given that she's already shown a prediliction for hiding the truth from me. But //condoning// this- She could get killed. She's still just a //child.//"

Victor Stone has posed:
    "I know," Victor says quietly. "I think about that every time we go out. Not just about Madison, but /all/ the Titans. That's why we train, and practice. Because we're a family, and we don't want to lose any more members." He swallows. "Don and Kole dying... it broke the team apart. We almost didn't come back. I don't /ever/ want to go through that again."

    He shakes his head. "I can't tell you what decision to make, Ms. Evans... but I know that we live in a dangerous world. My parents taught me to be polite to anyone in a uniform, so they wouldn't hurt me. The ironic thing is it was my Dad's experiments that almost killed me, but..." He sighs, takes another bite of the zucchini bread, maybe to give himself a minute to think.

    He ponders for a moment. What would Donna say here? "I... uhh... one of my best friends is an Amazon, and she's always saying that the Amazons train so much so they don't /have/ to kill. Like, the better you are, the more you're able to effect what's happening. And I think that's true for being safe, too. At some point, it's like... you're trying to help her be safe by making sure she knows what she's doing, that she's with people you can trust, that she's telling you what's going on. Maybe the Titans aren't those people, to you, given... everything... but... I know some of what she's been doing hasn't been anything with us at /all/. I worry about her too."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "There's- more she's been up to?" Gladys asks. This is obviously the first she's heard of this, and it runs through her like a cold shock. "Will you tell me what else she's been up to?" she asks bluntly.
    She lets out a huff of air before adding, "I love my daughter dearly. I love her for who she is, and I wouldn't want to change that but- there are definitely times I wish she didn't have these gifts."

Victor Stone has posed:
    "I'm not sure about everything. I know she went to help Irie with something to do with a school friend who'd gotten in trouble. And I /honestly/ don't know about anything else, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's been... something." Vic shakes his head. "Oh, and, uhh... I've been helping her with a lightsaber prototype, but that's nothing more than she'd get in a high school science class. Still have /no/ idea how to power the dang thing." He glowers for a moment. That's still frustrating.

    "Look, Ms. Evans... I dunno about anyone else, but /I've/ been keenly aware that we've got kids along with us, and that Madison isn't as well-trained or prepared as she could be. She's never been out of sight of an adult on any Titans mission that I'm aware of." Even in the Wood of No Names, America was... /there/. "If you'll trust her with us, I promise you that I'll risk my own life before I let her risk hers. If she's with us, she's /family/. And we take care of each other. Just like... just like you want to take care of her."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "She's trying to buil- of course she is," Gladys replies, letting out a heavy sigh. "An actual lightsaber would be extremely dangerous. Is that- I mean, I know she's been leaning how to use wooden swords from a friend, but-" Of course it was because she wants a real lightsaber.
    She frowns down into her coffee, falling silent for a while before she remarks, "I don't know what I'm going to decide. She's already going behind my back. I worry that just... forbidding all of this will only force her to continue to lie to me. But giving her permission means-" She shakes her head.
    "She's a good girl. She's a really good kid. She's smart, and kind, and- Why does she have to be so determined to put herself in danger?"

Victor Stone has posed:
    "Because she's good," Vic says, immediately, but in a kind tone. "Because she's smart, and kind, and she sees the way the world is, and she wants it to be better. Same reason the rest of us do." He smiles. "I mean... she's a Jedi, right? The Jedi are supposed to stand against the Dark, help people, keep the peace."

    He grins. "I mean, it's not /all/ danger. We played Twister with a goddess and went to Wonderland--the /real/ Wonderland, like in the book. Evidently Alice Liddell told Lewis Carroll the story, not the other way around. It's really pretty cool." He's not mentioning the Wood of No Names. Nope. He wasn't there. And it worked out. America can explain /that/ one, if anyone's going to.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "With a Goddess?" Gladys repeats. "Madison left that part out. She did say something about 'winning' a game of Twister with the Titans. I'd... assumed they allowed her to win. To humor her."
    She lets out a sigh, then adds, "I know it's not all bad. She comes back talking about board games, and Twister, and baking with Caitlin, and the like. I believe you care about her. I do. But she's my daughter, and the most important task I have in life is to keep her safe and well, and to raise her to be a good person."

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic snorts. "Troia kept /cheating/. Phasing through people and stuff. It was... it was a lot of fun." He sighs, a little sadly. That Troia... technically doesn't exist anymore.

    Then he nods. "I understand. I just... wanted to apologize, on my own behalf and on behalf of the rest of the Titans' leadership. Though I wouldn't be surprised if others reach out, too. Try to explain. And I'd say you're doing a great job, at that. Madison's one of the best people I know."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Thank. I- Honestly, that means something. She does genuinely care about others, I just wish she found other ways to express that more fulfilling than- using a 'lightsaber.'" Gladys lets out another sigh and sips her coffee, before adding, "I really do appreciate you coming here in person to apologize and explain things. That takes fortitude and courage. I wish things weren't such a mess - and Madison needs her friends right now. I don't know if you saw the cellphone footage of what happened in Egypt. I felt I had to and- it's pretty awful."

Victor Stone has posed:
    "Yeah," Vic says. "I saw. It..." He shakes his head. "God, I wish those kids hadn't had to see that."

    And how weird is it, to /mean/ 'those kids?'

    "Is there anything else you'd like to know?" He's been eating the zucchini bread; he can pack it away, evidently.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "//Madison// saw that. I- I can't say how much I hate that she's seen something like that. And I worry that she's following a lifestyle that could lead to her seeing similar things in the future. But- no," she admits, letting out a sigh. "I can't think of anything else I want to know. Part of me still hopes I can talk Madison into giving up on this... notion. Of becoming a hero."

Victor Stone has posed:
    "She already is a hero, Ms. Evans. I guess it's up to you to decide whether you're okay with her acting like one while she's still a kid."

    Vic's expression is sympathetic, and he adds, "I, uhh... I don't blame you for being worried. Like I said, a lot of us... don't have a parent who cares this much. Madison's lucky to have you. But I should probably get going. If you do decide to let Maddie stick around, I'll be sure to hook you and Caitlin up so you can swap recipes. This really is great bread."

    He stands, offering his hand to shake once more.

Madison Evans has posed:
    Gladys rises, nodding silently. There's really not much else to say - not until she's made her decision. "Whatever I decide - I will be sure the Titans are informed," she promises, as she shakes Victor's hand. "Have a safe trip back to Metropolis," she offers, as she shows the young man to the door.