5411/A League of Their Own.

A League of Their Own.
Date of Scene:	02 March 2021
Location:	Main Room - Titan's Tower
Synopsis:	Nightwing comes back to the tower to tell Donna he's planning on being around a bit more in future. She approves.
Cast of Characters:	Donna Troy, Dick Grayson

---

Donna Troy has posed:
    Back in the early days, the Titans had a reputation of being a team of sidekicks, and there is a certain amount of truth in that. When the Justice League was formed in the aftermath of the Alien Alliance invasion, Batman's former Robin, then newly dubbed Nightwing, had been frustrated by the reluctance of the new team to accept him, or any of the younger heroes who had fought alongside him, into the new team. Thus the Titans had been formed.

    Not all of the team had been sidekicks though. Raven certainly never teamed up with her father. Cyborg's 'mentor' was his father, a scientist, not a super. Donna Troy, as young as the rest of them, had a somewhat mysterious past but had appeared to be an independant hero. The story went that she had been trained by a mystic order of knights, the 'Knights of the Order of Ilium, but at least she, like Nightwing, was trained. Most were not.

    It is only since the return of the Titans that it has become known that Donna was in fact from Themyscira, and Troia is not her superhero code-name but her actual name. As it turns out she has a mentor after all, her sister Wonder Woman. It's an odd inversion - barely anyone had heard of Diana when Troia of the Titans was first making her name. It was Doomsday that marked the end of the first flourish of the Titans and the arrival of Wonder Woman in the public eye.

    These last couple of weeks, that sister and mentor, Diana, has been in a coma. It has been a hard time for Donna, doubly so while dealing with the chaos of the doppelgangers. It's now just over twenty four hours since the last of the Doppelgangers was dealt with and Wonder Woman recovered from her coma. It is therefore perhaps understandable that Donna has fallen asleep on the couch in the Tower's main room, the huge screen turned on with the volume low, showing a tedious-looking celebrity news program that is very much not a Donna thing, and suggesting that it's probably whatever was on before it she was actually watching.

Dick Grayson has posed:
The elevator doors open, revealing a familiar form clad in blue and black. He steps out and looks around the familiar room with a smile on his face. Noticing Donna, he chuckles quietly to himself and heads over towards the couch. He steps lightly, trying to make as little noise as he can, which at this point is _very_ little noise. Provided she doesn't wake up at his approach, Nightwing slips lightly onto the sofa in a relaxed position. If he was in orange and green, you'd think it was 2012 again. Looking over at her with a grin, he loudly clears his throat.

Donna Troy has posed:
    The loud throat-clearing is enough to wake an Amazon, and before she's fully awake, Donna is reaching for something. Knowing her, probably a sword. As wakefulness asserts itself her fingers clutch at the air a couple of times and she blinks up at Dick from her slumped position.

    Her hand moves carefully, moving away from the sword that isn't there to the remote control that is, and she mutes the TV. "Ugh," she announces. She blinks a few more times and sits up straight, giving Dick a grin. "Hey Nightwing," she says. Never know who is in earshot - Dick gets his codename in the main room. "I was just resting my eyes," she lies in the familiar smokey foreign accent Dick has now come to recognize as Themysciran.

    She rubs her eyes and yawns, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "Diana's back. She woke up. Cassie's double has been dealt with. It was rough, but we captured her without any major injuries on either side" she announces, in case he hasn't picked up the news from the Titan's network yet.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson nods, "Of course you were Donna, that's why I made it from the elevator to the couch while you were snoring." He looks at the young Amazon closely, "Are you ok? I know things have been really hard on you for a while now. I'm sorry I haven't been here to help, things have been kind of crazy in Bludhaven and Gotham."

He stares at you a few moments longer, then sighs, "Really sorry. You look pretty wrecked. Have you even eaten today? You need to take care of yourself when you're riding herd on all the kids, you know." He looks at the table in front of you to see if there's any evidence of food left there.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna breaks into a soft laugh and shakes her head. "Honestly, you're as bad as Cait," she objects. "Isn't she meant to be the den mother here, not you? I'm just... tired." She shakes her head again, trying to clear it a bit, and puts the remote back down again.

    "Yeah -- yeah, I ate earlier. Just what with everything here, and having to keep the embassy running... well you know what it's like trying to keep all the plates spinning. I guess this is the first time in a while my body actually thought falling asleep was a reasonable use of my time. And how about you? Things are always crazy in Bludhaven and Gotham. What brings you back to the tower, just checking up on us or following some lead?"

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson nods when Donna talks about her weariness and dealing with multiple issues. "Yeah, I know how that can be, believe me. And it's me Donna, of course I'm going to worry about you." He leans forward, elbows to knees and rests his chin on one hand. "Yeah, they always are, but they seem to have quieted down a bit. Maybe there's finally enough bats flapping around to control things a little."

He shrugs then sits back, reaching up to run his fingers through his hair, "Whatever the reason, I find myself with more time than I'm used to, and that's why I'm here. I know I've been absent a lot, and I intend to remedy that. Also known as, Nightwing's back, baby." He chuckles, laying his arm along the back of the couch, "Maybe I can help you with some of those plates. I'll be getting more involved with Titans business again."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna flashes him a brilliant smile. "Robin's back in Gotham at the moment, so you're out here. One in, one out, is that the way it works with Robins now?" She asks, eyes glinting with amusement.

    "Seriously, it's just not quite the same when you're not around, Dick. " She lowers her voice for it, but there's nobody else around, the super-hearing Kryptonian is off-world, and sometimes you just want to use someone's real name. "I mean since Gar got this whole show on the road again. To the newbies you're like this celeb who drops by from time to time to share your ancient wisdom, but those of us who were here from the beginning -- it's just not the same. You were always such a vital part of who we are."

    There's another stifled yawn. "Just don't yell at me when you take a look at the financials, okay? I keep telling you I'm not good at that stuff. I'm all about punching people. Seriously though, the Titans Foundation seems to be running that side pretty much on automatic, but the investment portfolio could probably use a bit of your expertise. On the plus side, Nadia's upgrades to the T-Jet's engines have cut our fuel costs by eighty percent. Gods. Money. The curse of Man's World." She bursts out laughing and gestures with her head towards the kitchen area. "I think there's still some pizza in the fridge unless Gar or Vic came by while I was asleep. We could reheat some if you're hungry."

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson shrugs, "I could eat." He flips over the back of the couch, landing on his feet and heading over to the kitchen area, "Let's see what we've got left. As for the financials, don't sweat it. I happen to know a pretty rich guy who can help if that sort of thing becomes a problem. Maybe we can hire a superpowered bookkeeper or something."

He opens the fridge and starts rifling through it, "Ok, that's nasty looking, this is some form of pink glop.. has Kori been trying to cook again?.. Ah! Here we go." He pulls the leftover pizza out of the fridge and heads over to the microwave, putting it on a plate and slipping it inside. A minute later the microwave beeps and he pulls the pizza out, splitting it between two plates and heading back to the couch.

Sitting himself back down, he slides one of the plates along the table so it stops in front of Donna, "Eat, you need it." He picks a slice up and takes a bite, chewing and swallowing before asking, "Still going to the same place, I see. Gar still swear it's the best pizza in the city?"

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Loyalty will out. They've been delivering pizzas to the tower for the best part of a decade," Donna says with a grin, grabbing her plate and leaning back comfortably with it. "There's another place though, Terry introduced us to it. Giorgio's. Been getting pizzas from them a bit too. They're better to be honest, but Giorgio gets upset when he's asked to provide a Kori special."

    The mustard pizza. There are actually several pizza places around St Martin's Island that have it on the menu now, but it's mostly a publicity thing.

    "As for the pink glop, who knows. Kori seems to have taken to sandwich-making lately. If she offers, refuse. It turns out that Tamaranean taste-buds are immune to chili. There's a little tub of ghost chilis in the fridge. She uses several for each sandwich. So it might be something of Supergirl's -- she has been trying to reproduce Kryptonian cuisine, and the effects have sometimes been uh... not entirely succesful."

    She bites on a slice of pizza and chews thoughtfully for a moment before looking back to Dick. "So, did you hear about the Kryptonians? They're off-world for a while. Very hush-hush. We're putting out illusionary decoys in the hope nobody notices, but I'm more worried about what happens if we get another alien invasion than if The Toyman decides now would be a good time to start his latest crazy plan."

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson shakes his head, "Oh Gods, that monstrosity. I think it makes any real pizza chef twitch." He laughs at Donna's pizza explanation, "So we can get better pizza, but Kori gets left out.. that's no good." He eats more of the slice.

Dick laughs as she describes the current culinary pursuits of the Titans. "Sounds like the fridge is getting dangerous. At least there isn't as much mold in there as there used to be." He puts the plate down and hops up again, wandering back over to the kitchen. "Forgot something to drink. You want something?"

While he waits for her to answer, he asks, "So hush-hush that I missed it, apparently. Any info on why they left, or does the secrecy extend even to you? If we do get invaded, we'll just have to manage. We usually do, after all, and we're not alone if it's something that big."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna nods her head and waits until she's finished chewing to call out "Yes please! There should be some beers left. The kids are pretty good at not stealing them. Kian seems to like beer though. Hard to know the legality of that given he doesn't know his age in Earth years, but he has completed his people's rites of adulthood, so I think it's all good.

    Even before the Titans hit legal drinking age, Donna had been pretty blase about the notion. That all makes a lot more sense now that it's known she was raised on an island of immortal women - the concept of a legal drinking age never arose on Themyscira, where all but two of the population reached twenty-one years old before the Iron Age.

    "They're visiting the remnants of their homeworld," she answers more quietly. "Stopping at the home planet of the Green Lanterns first, in search of information about what happened to it. Supergirl recently found out that there's a possibility that one of the Kryptonian cities - her own home city - survived the destruction of the planet. I'm not sure they have fully thought through the consequences of that."

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson collects a couple bottles from the fridge and walks back over to the couch, twisting the tops off and handing one to her. Once she takes it, he tinks his bottle against hers and takes a drink. "Yeah, the laws are kind of hard to apply to aliens who age differently, but I'm with you, if he's an adult to his people, that's good enough for me."

He shakes his head as he takes up the pizza again, "I mean, I can understand that they'd want to look into it, but yeah, what if they end up with another Zod or something? We do _not_ need that sort of thing going on. Heck, even just a bunch of them coming here could be a problem. Can you imagine a hundred Supermen if not all of them has his kind of code and morality? It could get really ugly fast."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "That would not be a fun time. Zod and Ursa were a nightmare," Donna agrees as they tink bottles together. "I'm glad I'm not the only one around here who remembers that not all Kryptonians are as nice as our Kryptonians. I've got to know Supergirl pretty well since she's joined up with us, and from the conversations we've had, it sounds like Kryptonian culture is... well, a little bit elitist, perhaps. Kal's upbringing was on Earth, remember. It may be that most Kryptonians are more like Zod than Kal."

    She takes a thoughtful swig of beer and ruminates in silence for a short time. "Cassie... Cassie's doppelganger. She was a /lot/ stronger than our Cassie. The magic armor was boosting it, but we think she was also granted a dose of extra power by Ares. I am covered in bruises. Thankfully she didn't have Amazon training, but it took everything we could throw at her to capture her. The idea of fighting a hundred Kryptonians who punch that hard doesn't exactly sound like a fun time."

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson sighs, "Let's be honest. There would be no fighting that many Kryptonians at all. I'm not sure every hero we could dredge up could handle those numbers. And that's the problem. They might be fine, but if just a few of them aren't, it's a disaster. Did they give any hint of what they might do if they did find survivors?"

He stops eating, just thinking over possibilities of how things could go wrong, and possibly trying to think of contingencies - something more like his mentor than he would normally do. But then, this is an unusual problem to consider. "Hopefully I'm just borrowing trouble and nothing comes of it all. Still, a certain someone's training says options are a good thing."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "They're no fools," Donna says. "If they find a city has survived, they'll at least try to figure out who's side they are on before telling them that Earth would make a great vacation spot. The most likely danger would come from them being followed home, but at least that means we'd have our Kryptonian friends back to help deal with it."

    She sighs softly, takes another swig of beer, and starts folding a slice of pizza, almost idly. "I've mentioned it to Bats already. You know what he's like, he'll have a plan already. But Earth isn't exactly helpless. The army of Themyscira has helped fight off one alien invasion already, and a few thousands Amazons is something even a hundred Kryptonians would have to take seriously. Between the Titans, the League, the Avengers and the X-Men, we can bring a lot of power to bear. And then there's magic. That's a foreign concept to the Kryptonians, and they have no special advantage when it comes to facing it. Earth seems to be unusually well-endowed when it comes to magic."

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson nods, "Yeah, that is true, we even have our own. Which brings to mind, how has Raven been? I undertand she's been... different lately. Hopefully I'm just hearing rumors, but again, I've been absent and not paying enough attention to the things I should have been. Is everything ok with her?"

He also takes a drink from his bottle, then shakes his head, "I feel bad, I've lost track of my best friends because I got too focused on Bludhaven." He sighs, "Being on my own over there has been really stressful, you know? But I still should have kept in better touch." He stares at the bottle in his hand for a long moment, then looks over to Donna. "Sometimes I think I'm trying to do too much."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "That's a mood." Donna gives Dick a sympathetic half-smile, then impulsively leans across to give him a one-armed hug. "Doing too much is the story of our lives, Dick. You and me both. Some of our friends seem to be able to drift through things pretty comfortably, but the two of us... we've both had an over-active sense of responsibility, haven't we? As soon as one problem is solved we go looking for the next one. Can't help ourselves. We're hopeless."

    She withdraws her arm and take a bite of her folded-over pizza. "Raven's... Raven," she says after a bit of thougthful chewing. "She's been trying to help me out over at the Embassy while Diana was out of the picture, and that means being out during the day, and around people. That's two things that make her a grumpy. Half the newbies tip-toe past her door because they think she's permanently on the verge of eating their souls, but she kind of enjoys that. She's... she's fine."

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson nods, then smiles at the hug, "Ok, now I know I'm getting broody when you need to hug me out of it." He grins at her, "But you're right. We do tend to take on every project that comes our way, don't we? It's exactly that problem that made me lose track of the Titans to begin with. Tell you what, let's try to keep an eye on each other from here in, ok? That way if either of us gets too wrapped up, the other can remind us to take a step back and breathe."

The eyes of his mask flicker a moment as he checks a HUD then shakes his head and says, "But for this exact moment, I have to get going. But this time it won't be nearly so long before you see me again, I'll be keeping in touch." He looks over at the young woman sitting next to him, "Now you get to your actual bed where you can get some real sleep, and we'll take things from here. I still have some more questions to catch up on, so I'll see you soon."

He gets up, looking at her with a warm smile, "I missed you Donna, and all the Titans. I think I let myself forget that this is my family too."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna looks up at Dick with a contented smile as he stands. "One big, crazy, disfunctional family. That's us. I figure that's why we couldn't help ourselves getting back together again. When Gar came calling with such a heartfelt wish to get the team back together -- well who'd want to break their little brother's heart, huh?"

    She glances back down at the remnant of the pizza in her hand. "But now we have all these other kid brothers and sisters and it kind of happen all in a rush when you haven't been around much. It's probably harder for you to feel it like that. When it's not familiar. When you come to the tower and there are faces you don't even recognize, it's not going to feel like family. So... I'm sorry about that, Dick. I think we kinda... you know. Got a bit over-excited in your absence. But what a team we've become."

    She leans back, grinning. "Still with all the strange faces, there's always you, me, Rae, Cait, Vic, Gar, Wally, Kori. Nothing can change that. Family is right. You know I always have your back. I know you always have mine."

    Deciding she's had enough pizza, she puts the last bit back on her plate and puts it down with a nod. "Getting some proper sleep sounds like a really good plan right now. And yeah, see you soon. I'll hold you to that, big brother!"