11934/YA Beginnings: Second Steps in Reverse

YA Beginnings: Second Steps in Reverse
Date of Scene:	09 July 2022
Location:	Memorial and Meeting Rooms - Titan's Tower
Synopsis:	America broaches the subject of a Titan's NYC/Young Avengers team and finds the woman more receptive than she expected. She also learns there's a lot more to having a super-team than a name and a few interested parties.
Cast of Characters:	America Chavez, Donna Troy

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America Chavez has posed:
    America isn't sure she's ever actually been -in- the memorial room for the Titans. She wanders a bit as she waits for Troia to make her arrival. She sent the message--after debating for -far- too long--and she imagines it was received as the woman in question answered quick enough. Still she paces and looks over some of the artifacts and the pair of statues in the memorial hall.

    She's not sure why she's so nervous. Maybe it's because Donna has always been something of a role model for her. She wants to make the woman proud and while this suggestion is a path to that, it's also a request to leave the nest--so to speak and those are always awkward. She scrubs her hands on her hotpants, scolwing at the moisture the action leaves behind on the spandex.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna is slightly late. This is normal for Donna. She's rarely significantly late for things, but she has an impressive ability to show up a few minutes late for absolutely everything. This is even true when she is in the training rooms and only needs to travel the short distance between them and the meeting room, though today she's coming from outside, so she's a few minutes later than normal.

    Which has been something of a new normal for Donna since the whole Troia business. She just hasn't been around as much as usual. She's always a quick T-Com call away and still showing up regularly -- just not for as long. Perhaps she just feels the need for a little distance while she readjusts.

    When she does arrive, she comes in quietly, heading through the opening into the memorial room to join America there. She takes a moment to look at the statues of Kole and Don before turning to America with a typically bright smile. "Hey America! Sorry, got a little caught up with stuff at the embassy and lost track of time. Had to fly back. So, you wanted to chat?" Chat. While America had asked for a meeting, and hence the meeting room, it's quite a Donna thing to classify it in those informal terms.

    Donna tilts her head back towards the meeting room itself. "Want to go sit down and tell me what's on your mind? Or want to look around here a little more first?"

America Chavez has posed:
    America shakes her head. "Oh no. It's fine I was just... I don't think I've ever been in here. Was just checking it out while I waited. Not long, obviously. But, uh, yeah we can sit." She starts back for the meeting area. "I.. uh..." she swallows. So damn nervous. It's unlike her and she knows it.

    She flips her hair over a shoulder, the dark curls bunching together picturesquely against her denim jacket. "I hate feeling this way, you know? But I was wondering... how you would feel about me maybe... starting my own crew. In New York. Nothing huge and I'd still be a Titan. I just..."

    She sighs. "The city's my stomping grounds. Always has been and there are a lot of people there--people like us--who could use a home of their own. A place to call a base. To go out and help people when they need it. I want to sort of foster that sort of community there. But I'd like approval" she gestures at Donna, "from you guys before I go and do that."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna takes her own seat, lounging a little and smiling comfortably in America's direction. Everything in her body language says 'relax! Just a couple of friends having a chat.' She's rarely the most formal of people, but it's almost certainly intentional.

    She listens closely, giving a short nod when America has finished, and remains silent, obviously thinking things through, for about ten seconds afterwards. "You know... back before we founded the Titans, I was living in New York. I met with Caitlin there, breaking up a fight. Two absolute amateurs with no idea what they were doing, honestly. But we bonded over it, and agreed we wanted to do more. The first real opportunity came during the Alien Alliance invasion. We travelled to Metropolis during the cease-fire to take a look at the invader's beachhead. I didn't explain to Cait before we came that I was intending to attack them -- I think she thought we were there to help with crowd control. When it came down to it though, she jumped in enthusiastically. So did three other people we'd never met before. Nightwing, Raven and Cyborg. "

    "Nightwing had wanted to get a team of young heroes together for a while, but it certainly wasn't something that had occurred to myself or Caitlin. After the invasion -- well, Metropolis seemed to be the place to be. That's where the League was setting up, and Nightwing had access to some property here we could use as our first base. And that's how the Titans happened. My sister has an apartment in Metropolis and she let me move into it while I applied to attend Met U. Honestly if it had been my choice, we'd have set up in New York, but it didn't really occur to me at the time. It would have been better to have us in Manhattan and the League here, rather than both of us in Metropolis. "

    Donna smiles wider and leans forwards a bit. "Honestly, America? There are a lot of Titans these days. I've been thinking we out to branch out a bit. There has been some talk about a 'Titans New York,' though I'm a little reluctant to go ahead with that because I don't want to tread on the toes of the Avengers. They've kind of staked Manhattan out as their territory, and the work they've done kind of earns them that. How do you see dealing with that issue?"

America Chavez has posed:
    America's expression relaxes as Donna gives her account to the point that she's beaming as the Amazon offers the question. "Oh... I uh..." she runs a hand through the thick curls, bringing the hair back behind her. "I already covered that base... before talking to you actually. Panther and Captain are all for it. I've already been given official standing with them."

    She looks a little embarassed. "I know, I know... I went to them before you. But I figured best to get permission to even use the grounds before I go thinking of approval of expansion, right? Need a building permit before you break ground, sort of thing."

    She leans back a bit. "Pepper Potts offered to fund me... but... I don't need it really. I got the deed to a abandoned publishing house in Harlem that I'm thinking can be the base of operations and I've also got a number of interested parties already interested in signing on." She's done a lot of ground work on this before coming for approval or permission. Initiative was never a problem with America Chavez.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna nods her head. "Well, I suppose the next step would be for the pair of us to talk things out with the Captain and T'Challa together then, wouldn't you think? We'll need to discuss issues of demarcation, and decide what works best for you, the Avengers and the Titans in terms of division of responsibilities and support. Have you talked things over with Hawkeye yet? Our Hawkeye, I mean. She lives in New York and obviously she's close with the Avengers too. It would make a lot of sense for the pair of you to be working together on this."

    Is it going to be that easy? Apparently so. Donna's smile grows a little wider and she leans back again, crossing her legs. "Don't underestimate the costs involved in setting up a team. There's a lot more than just finding a property to consider. Security, equipment, legal issues, insurance and so on. Some Stark Industry funding would be a good idea, but we can sort most of that out for you through the Titans foundation. Create a separate but connected T-Com network for you. Duplicate over some of our infrastructure. Handle PR questions. But again, I think I'd like to make sure I'm not treading on any Avengers' toes with it. We need to find out what exactly they are comfortable with."

    "Training facilities will be an issue. A good gym isn't a problem, but the Danger Room isn't cheaply or easily duplicated. However Themyscira has commissioned GIRL to provide us some Zeta teleporters, and I can see about arranging a point-to-point between Titans Tower and your facility so you can easily bring people over to train with the Titans and use our Danger Room, if you'd like that."

America Chavez has posed:
    America's eyes go wide as Donna comes at her with logistics of what it takes to set up a team. All the things she -hadn't- thought of. "Oh... umm... wow... you're... legal?" she asks with a shake of her head. "What... someone's going to sue us for... helping people?" she asks.

    She sits and listens, nodding in places. When Donna finishes with an offer of Zeta teleporters. "I mean I could do it... but I might not always be there. Might be a good idea." She makes a contemplative face and looks at Donna when she mentions Hawkeye. "I wouldn't want to take one of the Leadership Council away from home base if they don't want it. But yeah... I was going to approach Kate. If she's fine working with another archer then I'd be more than glad to have her. Which... I guess leads to the next topic of it."

    She quirks her mouth to the side. "There's no way to easily say this, but... cross team recruitment. There are a couple of Titans--aside from Kate--who are on my radar. Nadia and Viv. Would it be okay to approach them with offers to call Titans NYC--or Young Avengers--their home?"

Donna Troy has posed:
    The smile turns into a broad grin. "America, there's /always/ legal issues. Yes, even if you're out to save someone, there's someone else who will consider suing. You stop a bank robbery, the bank puts in an a claim with the insurance company to repair the damage, and the insurance company employs people to decide exactly how little they can claim was actually covered. If they can claim that the super who went and saved the day caused unnecessary damage to the property, they're going to tell the bank that's not covered, and then lawyers get called in. "

    "And then there's accidents. Incidental damage. Something gets thrown and there's property damage. There will be people who argue with a straight face that if we'd only let the criminals get away with it, then at least /their/ property wouldn't have been damaged. Ask Cait some time about the guy who sued us over his car that one time."

    Donna gets to her feet and walks over to the water cooler, grabbing a paper cup and holding it out to America. "Want one?" she asks before filling it. "Look, Kate is New York based, and she's got good practical leadership experience and huge potential. She'd be ideal. As for others... I don't have any claim on any of the Titans. We all come and go as we wish. There's a lot of us, and the team seems to keep on growing. It makes /sense/ that we'd split the team up a bit to cover more area. What you're talking about is your own spin on what I was thinking of doing already."

    She holds the cup of water out to America. "So sure. Recruit, with my blessing. The only thing I'd ask is that we stay close. Inter-team communications have traditionally been poor between the super teams. I don't want to make the situation worse by having Titans go over to New York and /not/ stay as closely in contact as they were before."

America Chavez has posed:
    America takes the paper cup of water and sips some. "I'm glad I wasn't the only one thinking it" she says as Donna vocalizes some of her own ideas. She nods at the mention of inter-team coordination. "Oh... sure of course. I... look... even if we go with the Young Avenger's monicker for location branding... I will -never- forget where I started. I'm not going to cut you and the rest of the Titan's out of what's going on in New York or... anywhere else we end up."

    She gestures absently. "Regular reports, documentation of our exploits, competitive exercises... you know... the usual." She grins at Donna. "I'm joking about the last one. Unless you decide to want to go that route, I won't argue with you about some direct friendly sports."

    She sets the cup on the table after finishing it off. "I appreciate this, Donna. Really I do and I hope that I can be half as good a leader as you are to us here. I will strive to follow in your footsteps on that front." She frowns and approaches another thing. "What is Wally?" she asks. "Aside from being one of a handful of Flashes... I mean. Like... is he on the Council or a Field Leader or...?" she arches a finely plucked eyebrow.

Donna Troy has posed:
    After delivering the cup of water to America, Donna briefly rests her hands on America's shoulder and gives a quick squeeze before heading back to the cooler to fetch herself a cup of water too. "I'm fine with whatever moniker the people want to select. 'Young Avengers' might be a good way to make the Avengers feel like we're not trying to steal their pitch. A name really isn't what defines an identity, it's what you do."

    She sits down again with her water, resuming her comfortable lounge. "We exist as a team to help people. Not just out there, but also in here. Helping young heroes get established. It's not a branding exercise. My only concern is thinning resources, so I believe that sharing communication channels, intelligence and documentation would be important. I also would not ask anyone moves over to the New York group, whatever it is called, to feel that makes them any less a part of the Titans. You'll all always have a place here, too."

    "If you'll take my suggestion, and it's only a suggestion -- talk to Kate about a roving role between the two teams. A leadership position with both, as an inter-team liaison. And I'd suggest looking into joint mentorship from the Metropolis Titans and the Avengers. I would be honored to work with you helping to mentor your team as the Titans representative."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Wally?" Donna asks. She cants her head to one side, eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "He's a Titan," she answers after a few moments. "Just like you are. He's rather impetuous, which seems to be a feature of speedsters. Though let's be fair..." she breaks into a grin. "Neither you nor I are in the best position to criticize anyone for being impetuous."

America Chavez has posed:
    America nods to Donna. "Oh... yeah, I hadn't thought of that. If Kate -wants- to be the inter-team liason position, that's fine. I'll offer it to her." She takes a breath. "And mentorship is something Black Panther mentioned as well... it's something we'll have to look into and it'd be on a volunteer basis, obviously."

    She pauses and listens to the explanation about the Flash. "He wasn't being... impetuous. I know impetuousness. I see it when I look in the mirror." She smiles and then shifts it to make a face of concentration. "He was trying to give orders when Kara was here before. Commanding types of orders. Like military."

    The concetrations shifts to a quirk. "I've been in militaries before... other worlds. I know the type and the sound of someone reaching for command when there was none to be had. That's all." She shrugs a shoulder. "I just didn't know if he'd been made a field commander or something and I missed the memo. I barely paid attention to him... but his actions were... they came off grating. I'm not saying my reaction to it was... stellar, but he might need to know that he can't just expect command because of his tenure."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna nods slowly. "We don't really have such a thing as a field commander," she says. "Part of the reason why we try to get as much team training as possible in is that so everyone gets to learn who to listen to in the field. Some people shy away from leadership, others fall into it naturally. Neither tells you anything about how good they are as a leader. That's something you can only really judge when you see it. "

    "In my opinion there are four things that a good field commander needs. A quick analytical mind, a clear knowledge of the force at their disposal, a loud voice, and the trust of the people they lead." She flashes a bright grin at America. "It's not for everyone, and even for the right people, only three of those can really be learned. You have a quick analytical mind, and a loud voice. You could use more experience and some tactical instruction, but you've got what it takes to be a leader because I think you have an innate understanding of the need for the other two things."

    "As for Wally... high stress situation and not knowing you, that would be my guess. Wally's a good man, but he's not really a leader type. He's also in an odd position. He's a few years younger than most of the original Titans, he was used to being the kid. Now he finds himself surrounded by younger team members, and he's even got an adult daughter to cope with. And of course, being a speedster, he has a dangerous tendency to think that everyone else is far too /slow/, so he needs to do everything. You've always got to watch for that with speedsters."

    "But honestly, he was probably just worried. Some people try to present a very ordered exterior when they are nervous. My guess is that he was acting like he was in charge of the situation to try to prove to himself that he was in control of himself."

America Chavez has posed:
    America nods in acceptance to Donna's words and then some of them sink in. "You... you think I'd be a good leader?" she asks, sounding like an amateur actor people told they really sold the scene by an A lister. "Than... thank you!" she says, beaming. "I mean it. Coming from you that's..." She looks like she's close to tearing up from sheer pride.

Shehe takes another deep breath and wrestles control of her emotions back into place, sniffing a few times to clear the wave from her. "So... what's the next step? Meeting with the Avengers and dealing with the--can't believe I'm saying this--" she mutters, "the legal?" She pauses. "Do you want... do you want to meet the team I've got sometime?" she asks. "I mean... they probably all know you, but it'd go a long way to know that Troia is aware of them just as well. It'd be a big boost to their confidence, I'm sure."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna cracks a smirk. "America, I was hoping you'd take me up on my offer to be the mentoring rep from the Titans. I could hardly hope to do that without meeting the team, could I?"

    Donna leans across the table, laughing gently, and gives America's arm a squeeze. "Look, setting up a team -- a serious team -- is no easy matter. Especially when you're young, when a lot of people are going to tell you that you're too young and you're taking on too much responsibility. The Titans did that because nobody else would believe in us. We proved that it can be done, that it can /work/. That doesn't mean we own the idea, that anyone else who comes along can't do things entirely their own way and entirely on their own terms. But it does mean there are people who know what it's like, who've trod that road before. Making sure that young heroes get every opportunity to succeed is our mission, and it's at least as important as the rest of what we do. Because maybe we can save the world today, but there's always going to be a need for someone to save the world tomorrow. And next year. And next century."

    She leans back, giving America a nod, and reaches for her water. "Yes, I'd say next step would be to talk with the Avengers. And don't worry about the legal side just yet. We'll work something out with the Titans foundation. I'd like you and whoever else is leading the group to learn the ropes of that side of things, get to see the less glamorous side of these big hero teams, and discover the terrible secrets of paperwork. But that can wait until you have things running smoothly. The Titans Foundation handles all the complex bits, we just need to make sure they know what's going on really."