11939/A Road Already Traveled

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A Road Already Traveled
Date of Scene: 09 July 2022
Location: Labs - Titan's Tower
Synopsis: Donna attempts The Power of Friendship. Kara is both denied freedom, or the consolation prize of being knocked out so she doesn't have to listen.
Cast of Characters: Kara Danvers, Colette O'Connail, Donna Troy
Tinyplot: Red Daughter of Krypton


Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara is in the containment room under Titans Tower, after the earlier interrogation/torture/revelations by Cyborg and America. Thanks to America and her little dose of yellow sun radiation, it has her in a healthy enough state, though this dart is still in her lower back, and still uncomfortably close to her spine. Thanks to the red solar radiation Caitlin had going for hours, most of her cells are still saturated in red solar radiation, rendering her powerless. Her costume is still spattered in Monet's dried blood, and while she's physically intact at the moment, she's also spent the last several hours bathing in the negative effects of the foreign object in her back.

    Right now, it means the blonde is pacing back and forth, like a caged animal, brewing in her own negativity.

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    Donna stands outside the secure containment chamber for a while before she makes her presence known. She's unsure to what degree Kara's powers are depleted -- can she still see through walls? Is her hearing still acute? Donna doesn't know but that's not really what's on her mind.

    Eventually she gives a sigh, shifts the box she's carrying under one arm and taps a few commands into the control console. The door slides open, Donna steps in and shuts it behind her and then looks towards Kara. Her expression is not a happy one. "/,kara, ehrosh :bem/" she says quietly. Hi Kara.

    She puts the box down on the floor and leans against the wall, looking at Kara sadly. <<Things progressed fast,>> she says, continuing the conversation in Kryptonian. <<I'm sorry that I didn't come and seek you out before things got this far. I didn't think things were this serious. That was my mistake. I can only apologize for it. You are my friend and I let you down.>>

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara blinks, as the door actually /opens/, and starts to lunge for it, and then Donna comes through. She listens as Donna speaks in her native language, and she'll reply in kind. <<Then get me out of here, Donna. If you're my friend, let me out. This is the second time in a week that my "friends" have tried to confine me in the Tower against my will. Oh, /and/ used the Kryptonite on me that I was trying to collect exactly so that people DIDN'T use it on me.>> Not that she's bitter about that. Thankfully, she's apparently clear-of-mind enough not to try forcing her way past Donna, cuz there is absolutely no way that would work right now.

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    Donna frowns unhappily at Kara's words, but makes no move to let her out. Instead she lets herself slide down the wall until she's sitting on the floor, and gives another sigh. <<Sit down Kara. Talk to me a bit, okay? Firstly, no I am /not/ happy that Kryptonite was used on you. I'm trying to decide what exactly I'm going to say to Cait and Vic about that. The problem is... I'm not sure I can exactly criticize them for choosing to do so.>>

    Another sigh. <<Everything you say is reasonable, Kara. But your actions have been less reasonable. Had we had a chance to talk about you wanting to get rid of the Kryptonite before...>> she gestures towards the containment chamber door. <<Before this. If we'd talked about it first, I would have told you what I told you before. The Titans don't keep stocks of kryptonite on hand. We have access to some though. And I'd have discussed with you why it's a good idea for there to be some kryptonite available. I would also have also told you how important it is to me that any kryptonite on this planet be kept extremely secure, and only accessible to people I trust absolutely. Because if there's Kryptonite around, that's because there's a danger of Zod's people turning up again, not to use on you.>>

    <<<But then you went and attacked M. From what I have heard from Heather's report, you were pretty much going to kill her. That's not exactly like you, Kara. Something's badly wrong here. No... it's more than that. Someone's manipulating you.>>

Kara Danvers has posed:
    <<I /tried/. I came here to talk to Wally, because you were out. And what did they do? America and Viv both tried to LOCK ME IN HERE.>> Her voice goes a little shrill. She hasn't seated herself; she's still pacing. <<My so-called friends have done nothing but betray me. Let me OUT of here. I want nothing to do with any of you!>>

    Kara looks back, eyes narrowed. <<And did Heather's report mention that the only reason I'm IN here is because I got sucker-shotted while I was busy /saving Heather's life/?!>> She demands, clenching her hands into fists at her side.

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    <<Something like that,>> Donna says with a nod of her head. <<What do you want me to conclude from that, Kara? That you're a good person? I already knew that. Kara, we've known each other what... two and a half years, roughly. In that time I like to think we've become good friends. I think we have a lot in common. We've shared things with each other that we haven't shared with other people. When I got to take you to Themyscira, to show you my home, I can't tell you how happy that made me.>>

    <<So should I let you out? You know that while I'm part of the leadership council, I don't call all the shots. I don't have the right to make a decision like that for the Titans on my own. So let's call it what it is. You want me to break you out.>>

    <<Well...>> Donna tilts her head to on side, and gives an expressive shrug before sighing again. <<I would, Kara. In a heartbeat. If it was the best thing for you, I'd break you out of here. But it's not the best thing for you right now. Someone has done something to you, and it is affecting your decision making process. It may have a worse effect than that on you if it can't be reversed. We need to find a way to remove the thing that has been poisoning your body, and your mind. And when we have, I won't need to break you out of here because everyone will want you freed. Nobody wants you stuck here Kara.>>

    <<But if you doubt what I'm saying, if you doubt this toxin is affecting your mind and your decision making process, then explain it to me. Explain to me why you attacked M, and then tell me honestly -- is that a decision you would have made even a few weeks ago?>>

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara looks back at Donna. <<The leadership council didn't make any votes to put me in here. That was Heather and Caitlin on their own.>> Her voice is almost a little desperate. And then as Donna speaks more, she shouts, her tone going almost a little shrill. <<If they didn't want me in here, then I wouldn't BE here. They don't /trust/ me. They're just PRETENDING to be my friends. Just like Monet was. She pretended to be my friend, pretended she was going to help me, and then tried to turn all of you against me!>>

    Her expression doesn't look particularly...well, rational, at the moment. <<A few weeks ago I didn't have my "friends" using Green Kryptonite on me and locking me up! If I mean that much to you, Donna, then show it. Show you trust me, and let me out of here.>>

Donna Troy has posed:
    <<You didn't answer my question, Kara. Maybe that's because you already know it? You haven't been behaving like yourself. You say they don't trust you. Well, what changed? They've trusted you well enough for two years. What changed suddenly that meant that your friends who trusted you all this time suddenly don't trust you? There's two possibilities, Kara. One is that something changed in your behavior. The other is that something changed in /everyone else's/. You're extremely intelligent. Ask yourself which one of those seems most likely.>>

    Donna leans back against the wall, her arms raised and her hands folded behind her head to provide a cushion. The metal of the bracers on her wrist glint in the reddish light of the containment cell. "Kara, flip this around a minute," she says, switching back to English. "Imagine you heard that I was behaving strangely. Not from just one person, but from everyone who'd spoken to me for several days. Then imagine you heard I had violently attacked someone, apparently setting out to kill them, saying that they had betrayed me because they had been telling people how oddly I had been acting. Wouldn't you be concerned? Wouldn't you worry that something was wrong with me, that something was effecting my mind? Wouldn't you want to try to help me by stopping whatever was doing that to me? And wouldn't you want to stop me from doing something I would hugely regret later, when I came back to my senses?"

    "Kara, you are a friend who I care about very deeply, and that's why I'm not going to break you out of here. I'm going to make absolutely sure that whatever is hurting you /stops/ hurting you. That you don't do anything that you will regret for the rest of your life. And that the thing that is poisoning your body and mind is removed. Not because I don't trust you, but because I care about you."

Kara Danvers has posed:
    "You mean like recently when you turned into a different /person/?" Kara demands, as she moves over to Donna. "And I did what I could to help you, but I didn't fight you, or try to lock you up? Is that what you mean?" She storms over to her friend and fellow Titan. "You're a hypocrite. If you're not going to help me, then just get out!" she shouts. "It's good to know my /friends/ have left me in here, still covered in blood, with nothing to eat and drink, and occasionally decide to bathe me in lethal radiation. So good to know I have /friends/." Her voice is bitter and full of spite, as she looks at Donna with nothing but hatred and anger in her eyes.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna nods her head in the direction of the box she'd come in with, resting on the floor. "There's clean clothes and wet wipes in the box. Also some snacky shakes and a few other snacks. Some books, and a tablet so you can listen to music, watch films or whatever," she says, her expression stony.

    "As for what happened to me, that other Troia... how many people did she attack, Kara? Or even threaten? If she had proven to be a genuine threat to people, then I hope you would have locked her up, yes."

    She tilts her head upwards, still resting against her hands. "You're being bathed in non-lethal radioactivity. Light. Enough to limit your uptake of cellular energy, so that you can't do anything you will come to regret immensely in the near future, when you're recovered. Nobody has any reason to use kryptonite on you in this condition, and if they do they will have to answer to me."

    "You have a toxin in your bloodstream, possibly something closely related to kryptonite, and it's almost certainly the reason why you are not thinking straight. Why your mind is trying to find rationalizations for your behavior that mean you have to avoid answering my question, when I asked if you could honestly tell me you'd have acted towards Monet they way you did if this had happened just a few weeks ago. Something has changed with your behavior very suddenly and very recently. We're going to find a way to remove that toxin so you can get better. And when you're recovered, when you're thinking straight again, if you still think it best to get rid of all the kryptonite, you'll have my support."

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara actually...stops, when Donna reveals she brought her things. Honestly looking surprised. "I... Thank you. You...brought that for me?" Much as Heather the other night, being confronted with something her paranoia can't explain away helps to knock a hole in whatever-it-is that's affecting her.

And so, given that...and given that it's DONNA, Kara does something that would probably surprise anyone who's seen the way she's been acting lately. She apologizes.

    "You didn't have to do that. And you did. I appreciate it. I..." She hesitates again, and frowns, like she's trying to clear her head. Finally, she looks up to Donna and says, semi-urgently, "Hit me."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Of course I brought you that, Kara. I believe it's necessary to keep you here, but I hate doing it and I am going to make sure you have every comfort I can provide until we can get you out of here. You're my friend. You're /family/. If there's anything else you need, you can call me on the comms, and I'll get it for you -- so long as it isn't something dangerous to others - or yourself."

    Donna gets to her feet, coming close, her features creasing with concern. "And request to hit you kind of falls into that category, Kara. Why do you want me to hit you? It doesn't feel like a good idea. Even when you're charged up with solar energy I can hit hard enough for you to feel it. Like this..." she gives a worried shake of her head.

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara looks over at the box, and then to Donna, as she approaches. That earnest look in her eyes fades as Donna declines. Instead, it's almost like a window closing behind her eyes, as the moment of sisterly comradery and gratitude fades. Instead, she smirks. "Figures. I shouldn't be surprised. You people want to maintain this fiction about how you're all so good and above reproach while you play judge, jury, and executioner on your own."

    She walks over to the box, and picks it up, looking back. "Well. Guess I have something to read while I'm waiting to see whatever you people are going to cook up next to do to me against my will." The words are bitter, and cynical. Not Kara's normal behavior at all.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna sighs and steps back. "I wish you'd find a way to think through what you're saying more rationally, Kara. Have you really persuaded yourself that I mean you harm because I don't want to hurt you? Because that's what just happened. I don't want to hurt you. I care too much about you for that."

     She switches back to Kryptonian. <<I do not consider myself above reproach, I know I am flawed. All I can do is my best. I do not believe that hurting other people is good, Kara, even when sometimes it is necessary. Ever since we have known each other, you agreed with that. Yet you set out to hurt Monet. What I am doing is not an easy choice, but I believe it is the right one. What all of us are doing -- it is not because we judge you, but rather because we know you are not acting the way you yourself would wish.>>

    And back to English. "And certainly nobody is going to execute you, not as long as I can stand. We'll cure you of the toxins that are poisoning you Kara. Then you'll understand everything. And I believe then you will agree with the choices that were made."

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara, meanwhile, opens the box...takes out a book. "You do so love to hear yourself talk. I think it's an Amazon thing. Your people just aren't happy if they can't be judgemental and superior." She ignores the words in Kryptonian. Or at least she pretends to. Flipping slowly through the first couple pages of the book.

    The last part, though, seems to trigger her. "Listen to yourself." She throws the book in her hand at Donna's head. "We'll cure you. Then you'll understand. Then you'll agree with us. You sound like you're going to put me through conversion therapy. Or brainwashing. Not that I'd put either past this collection of hypocrites. Just kill me now. At least then I die without going through whatever "cure" you're planning." Her expression is pure hatred.

Donna Troy has posed:
Donna's hand snaps up to catch the book out of the air. Fast as Donna is, normally Kara's a fair bit faster -- but not like this. Donna just tosses the book back into the box. "You have my promise that we're going to do nothing to your mind, Kara. Whatever it may sound like to you right now. You're a scientist -- you understand perfectly well that toxins in the blood stream can cross the blood brain barrier and interfere with normal neurological function. You have a toxin in your bloodstream. Something intentionally introduced by someone who meant you harm. We will find a way to remove that toxin."

    "When we've done that, your thoughts will be your own again. Nothing will be interfering with your mind. Not us, not any radioactive toxins. You'll be free to make up your own mind."

    "And if your judgement of me remains as harsh then as it is now, then I'll accept it. But you'll still be free to leave."

Kara Danvers has posed:
    Kara replies "You'll excuse me if, after the last day, Titan "promises" are worth precious little to me now. I'm better than I was before. You people just want me to go back to being boring, one-note, little sweet Kara. Instead of recognizing what I want and doing what I have to do to get it."

    She crosses her arms over her chest. "I am a scientist. And none of you have drawn blood. Which means that any notion of toxins in my blood are theory at best. You just don't want to accept that I've changed."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "As a scientist, you'll be aware that there are non-invasive scans that can be done. It's not just theory, Kara. Vic identified a foreign radioactive signature." Donna slumps back against the wall, one leg crossed in front of the other, watching Kara closely. "Also as a scientist, even though not a doctor, you should be aware that sudden drastic personality changes are a matter of medical concern."

    "As for 'boring one-note, little sweet Kara' -- I can't agree. Sweet? Yes. But hardly boring or one-note. Kara is a woman of considerable depth, with a razor-sharp intellect, a vivid imagination and fascinating mind. Someone I love to spend time with, just talking about ideas, sharing our observations of the world. "

    "The only people who think she's boring or one-note," Donna says, one eyebrow arching meaningfully. "...are people who don't know her."

Kara Danvers has posed:
    "Oh, by Rao, spare me your moralizing!" Kara takes the book out of the box again, and sits down, back against the wall, pointedly ignoring Donna by reading the book. "Or are you planning to babysit me all night?" A bitter chuckle. "Or, I know, this is your version of psychological torture."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna responds to Kara with a wry smile, though there's no happiness in it. "None of that was moralizing," she says, pushing against the wall with her shoulders to get upright. "But you want to stick to the strict empirical facts? Scientific observations, without value judgements? Fine."

    She steps over to the door, and pulls out her T-com to remotely unlock it. She steps through, her eyes on Kara to ensure she gets no chance to escape. The door closes behind her, and Donna turns to look through the small reinforced window into the chamber. "Observation, no judgement," she calls in. "Every time I present you with fact and reason that contradicts your biases, you simply ignore it. Like just now when I told you the toxin had been located with remote scans, and pointed out that sudden personality change is a matter of medical concern. Ask yourself why you're doing that and come to your own conclusions. Another observation: it is common in delusional states to find excuses to not think about data that contradicts your biases."

    She steps away from the window, but her voice can still be heard in the room beyond. "Kara? I'm going to sit out here for half an hour. I'm switching off all security monitoring in there until I leave, to give you some privacy. I suggest you use the time to get cleaned up. You can message me from the tablet if you think of anything else you need. Otherwise I'll be back when the battery on the tablet needs recharging."