Owner Pose
Kate Bishop Kate has been spending a bit more time than usual training.

The teen already spent literally hours of her day training before school and after school during the school year. Now she is training even more and the uptick can be tracked back to the last danger room simulation.

It isn't big scenario team work training today in the danger room though.

She is standing in the middle of an empty Washington Mall, bow loose in her hand as the scenario goes to the next sequence.

Then suddenly a green teleportation beam and a drone materializes about thirty feet away from her. An arrow is drawn and fired in the space of a heartbeat, lodging into one of the microjoints where the head and neck meet ... then the dangerroom simulates a massive explosion of expanding putty into the drone, that then hardens as fast as it expands.

Kate stares at it critically moments before it vanishes. A moment later two drones materialize one on each side of her now only twenty five feet. She snaps an arrow at one, again hitting the joint at it's waist and then ducks, rolls randomly towards the one she hit and fires a second hitting the joint where the right leg joints the torso.

She watches the effect on both those joints simulated by the danger room critically from her crouch. The waist seems to work pretty effectively.

The leg joint doesn't stop it from firing a blast, which incinerates her.

The scenario flashes game over above it and pauses to be reset. "Hm.. okay.. good to know."
Donna Troy     "There's a missing element from your simulation." Donna stands on the raised circumference of the room, close to the door. She'd been very quiet up until then, so it's not clear how long she has been watching.

    "You're on your own," Donna continues. "And that shouldn't happen. Vorpal could give you a portal to work with, changing the direction you attack from. Techno could momentarily disrupt their processing to give you an extra second to adjust your position after the roll. Cyborg could give you a force-field to fire behind. Or I could keep the laser bolts off you."

    She steps down from the raised platform, walking into the simulation area until she arrives standing in front of Kate. "I know what you're thinking. What happens if we aren't there? If you're on your own?" She gives a shrug of her shoulders. "None of us can face this alone, so why ask the question? Kate, I can't predict the future, can't promise how this is going to go down. But I can promise you that I will do everything in my power to make sure you don't end up on your own."

    She takes a half step back, and folds her arms. "You did a really good job in this, Kate. You're a good addition to the team. But I feel like there's something bothering you that you haven't put into words yet. Would you like to try?"
Kate Bishop "That... isn't entirely it Troia." she looks over and watches the other person approach. She shifts her footing and hooks the bow back out of the way now and then sighs. "I .. yeah it might look like that is what I am dwelling on I guess but no." she shakes her head and gestures to the Danger Room floor.

"This is just practice, I'm working out which arrows are best to use based on the forensics Vic did.... the idea of hitting the joints and flooding them with the putty was a really good one. It isn't the usual targets I use or go for though... you know not center of mass or a usual weak spot a person would have so I am just practicing. A lot."

Then though she gestures at Troia. "That said, it is still worth practicing alone even if I do.. and Troia I truly believe you.. think I could count on not being alone and the team will deploy together. There will be instances when we could be cut off from each other. Also what if you were all taken out through some meta human or magical dampening effect and it was just Robin and I... there is no harm in practicing for being alone and also being with the others right?" her head tilts.

"I know I am good and I add value too... I do know it.. but I know I can die too. I really do not react well to being made to feel helpless or have that rubbed into my face. You kind of did by doing the whole Trek no winning scenario on me. I do not need a pointed lesson on relying on the team and their strengths and not getting cocky.. or how dangerous it is."

She frowns "I mean hell.. one lucky stray bullet from a kid with a glock and I am dead." flail a hand "I know it.... ok. I'm a superhero but I am not superhuman and I know I am not invincible and I don't think I've ever given the impression that I am overconfident. I mean stubborn sure... but I am the last one you have to worry about underestimating the danger..."
Donna Troy     "Three years ago... two Titans died. I don't believe anyone underestimated the danger facing them then, Kate. No more than I think you underestimate it now." Donna shifts awkwardly. It's obviously not an easy topic for her, even three years later.

    "What they faced then was... apocalyptic. No more than what we're facing, probably less. But the personal danger was immense. They knew that, and because they were brave and they believed in what they were doing, they went ahead and did it anyway. Two of them - Kole and Dove - never came back. Even heroes can die."

    She looks down at the ground a moment and tilts her head from side to side, stretching her neck muscles, then looks back up again. "The team died too. We could all cope with the thought of dying. You don't last any time in this business without realizing the possibility is there. It doesn't matter if you have powers or not, there's always going to be something stronger than you, something that can brush you aside like you're nothing. Coping with the failure to stop our friends from dying was the really hard thing, Kate. We were prepared to die for the cause, but none of us were really prepared to see our friends die for the cause."

    She sighs and rests her hand on Kate's shoulder. "Kate, I believe in you. What you have achieved already is impressive, but your potential... you've impressed me a lot, since the day we met. I wasn't trying to teach you a lesson about cockiness. Yes I wanted to impress on you all the seriousness of the situation. Not just to make sure you didn't underestimate the danger, but so you'd actually think about what failure could look like. Not to yourself, but to the team. To the people beside you, your new friends. "

    "We didn't, Kate. It broke us. I don't want to see you die out there, but I don't want to see you go through what we went through either."
Kate Bishop Kate considers that and then nods lightly. "I don't want to assume but.. from observation it does feel like a lot of those with actuap Super Powers do have a bit of cockyness and tend to think they are immortal. I am not saying the Titans did.. pretty sure based on the footage everyone was surprised what Doomsday as and did. I can't see how anyone thought Superman could go down, even Superman.

She shakes her head "Also don't get me wrong.. I know superpowered individuals can die.. that wasn't what I was trying to say.,... I'm not trying to crap on anyones memories or how hard the thing was on anyone."

She listens to the last bit there and then sighs and walks over to Donna. It isn't a sigh of disappointment but really some realization as to why Troia did what she did the other day. "I know we can.. .and I know it could. I didn't see that in the excercise though and I.. I'm not sure the others did either Troia. Bomb-Twins as it were... I." she pauses and thinks. "I get what you wanted to do now.. and sorry if I flipped out a bit at you for it. I don't like being .. helpless and I knew there was nothing I could do but die in that scenario once I saw the setup. I . yeah I don't deal well with being put in those spots . " there is some good reasons there.

"I don't want any of us to go through that.. but I might die... any of us might die and the team has to keep it's center and push through and keep doing good if it does happen. We know the risks we signed up for when we decided to be heroes right. Though the Titans aren't just a job they are kinda like a family.. and I know what happened before but... well I think we can handle anything now. The team is stronger now." she doesn't say stronger for getting through the before but she is thinking it.

Then she steps and gives Donna a hug.
Donna Troy     Donna does not shy away from the hug but accepts it with a grateful smile. She hugs back with perhaps a little more strength than is entirely comfortable, though no ribs creak. After a few seconds she pulls away again, smiling.

    "I didn't expect anyone to get the message right away to be honest," she says. But I am hoping that... well, bomb-twins bravado aside, I hope that something lodged in the back of their minds that gives them something to think about over the coming days. "

    "You're wrong about one thing," Donna continues, eyes flickering towards the control console. "I didn't set that simulation up so you couldn't do anything but die, I only set it up so you couldn't /win/. You could have run away. You /should/ have run away, when you figured out there was no winning it. In the TV show he reprogrammed the computer, and that's kind of dumb, right? But not completely. Because he changed the rules, and there is always a way to change the rules. Sometimes you need more time to do it, though."

    She breaks into a grin. "I think you're right. We are stronger now, and you're a significant part of that. You've got your head screwed on, Kate. Never let yourself worry about being helpless, because the only way that will ever happen is if you're already dead. It might not be obvious at the time exactly /how/ you can help, but you're smart and resourceful. You'll always have that, however dire the situation is, and that's how you change the rules."
Kate Bishop Kate steps back from the hug, a half smile there and then she loses it for a moment. "Actually I did move off the field.. quick as I could while providing a little support on the roll. Off the grass.. behind cover... from cover to putting an APC between me and the enemy... but three materalized and blasted me pretty quick. Trust me I was retreating." a shrug. "The scenario did what it was programmed to do... it may be bad luck and maybe if I had told everyone to fall back and they had listened and I hadn't done it alone I would have made it.. I mean maybe. There are a ton of variables and hard to predict how it will play out."

"Also.. thank you. I know I am not helpless now." there is a big heavy but I was before hanging there unsaid by her. "Also... yeah you are right I am pretty good at changing the rules. ... Still I don't think it is a bad thing that I about how far above my weight I can safely punch. It ... isn't a bad thing if I choose to help carefully or hell maybe not even deployed in every scenario. Trust me I do not want to be a matyr either Troia." she smiles. "I'm okay with that.. even if ..well maybe I do occasionally struggle with some very internal doubts.. brains suck sometimes."
Donna Troy     Donna gives a short nod of her head. "You weren't committed enough to the retreat. You said it yourself, if you'd told everyone to fall back, you could have been covering each other. Instead you ended up covering Sam, while you were retreating. That's exactly the wrong way to do it. "

    She walks over to the console, hopping back up onto the raised area, and studies the settings. "The way you said that... does it concern you that if you called for a retreat, nobody would listen? It's possible. Everyone's still a little raw, and I'm including us older ones in that. Sometimes we forget that we were once the poster children for what you new guys are doing now, and it would be pretty damn hypocritical of us if we don't treat you as equals. Robin is a brilliant tactician. We'd be fools not to listen to him. And you're a leader, whether you realise that yet or not."

    Donna pores over the controls, switching things here and there. "You're always thinking, assessing, trying to figure things out. We don't have an official 'leader' on this team, never have. Even when D... Nightwing was our kind-of-but-not-quite leader. We always listened to each other, but people can only listen if you talk. Don't be afraid to speak up, okay Kate?"
Kate Bishop Kate shakes her head "I don't know.. . I mean you just said it they are a little raw and hell .. Kian is moo'in raw. He may not even get run away or fly away or fall back right now. As for the other two.. Sam may not and.. Vic.. he may need to try to save people.. we have no chain or command or real understanding of who knows what they are talking about in these cases right."

She does blush a bit at being called a leader. "Thanks."

"And .. I won't be shy.. not in my nature.. but yeah I think we need to build more trust and train more together... so we do listen to each other and don't doubt it when someone else on the team says duck... or run." a smile as she watches you fiddle, trying to figure out what is about to happen. Always thinking and assessing indeed. "Whatcha up to?" she finally asks amused.
Donna Troy     "Right and right. That's why I've been stepping up the training so hard. It's not just about drumming tactics into your heads; getting everyone used to working together is the most important thing."

    Donna smiles up from the console. "I'm serious. Get used to barking an order from time to time. That's how other people will get used to listening to you. We don't have a chain of command, but it's amazing what speaking with confidence will do."

    A drone fades into existence ten feet in front of Kate, unmoving. "As for what I'm up to... call it perspective." There's a faint glow around Kate's arms, and suddenly she's wearing holographic duplicates of Donna's own bracelets. "I'm going to show you the world through my eyes. Ready or not, here they come."

    Donna flicks a switch, and the drone starts advancing. Something's wrong though - it's moving very slowly.
Kate Bishop "I've been running scenarios for the same reason and worry." she admits and then looks amused at the next part. "Okay I'll start yelling more when I notice things or think we should do things..."

She blinks and looks down at the duplicate bracelets. "Wait what how?"

Which is when the scenario unpauses and everything starts to go nuts once more. "Woahoh...." when she realizes it is not moving very fast at all. She blinkss and then her eyes widen in alarm as she actually side steps moving to dodge the eyeblast from the drone. "Okay... this... I hadn't thought of trying this." surprise in her voice. That is a surprising lack of wish fulfillment too all things considered.

She almost draws the bow but then moves to the sword in her hand and lunges forward watching the drone very closely. The blade hits the neck joint just as on target as the arrows would have ... which is kind of disturbing really... though the effect is amazing popping the head off with a clean slice really. She might have guessed wrong in assuming that she would have more than just sight and speed but also the whole strength, but she didn't.

"Okay.. damn." and then shifts and ducks as two more drones materalize around her now and swing while barely there. Targeted now by the simulation as a threat. Of course it will still just go exponantionally though like the Hydra of old as heads are cut off.

Still, one thing becomes clear is while she is Donna's speed and strength right now, she is not use to fighting with this despite how well she handles the sword. She manages to sweep the legs of one drone causing it to land hard and then slam her sword down through it's head but she misses the twist out of the way of the other drone.

Timing did her in, she is seeing things move slow that should move fast and messed up the timing.

When it doesn't instantly game her out though, hitting like.. well like she was as tough as Donna... she does get knocked down buckling still a bit under the punch to a crouch and then gets popped a second time for her surprise. "God damn it" cursing like a new Yorker she punches it the stomach with the hilt of the sword and then jams it up thorugh it's jaw and out the back of its head.

Standing wobbly she asks "Have you ever tried to see the world like Wally does?"

Pause a beat.

"Also.. damn this is amazing."
Donna Troy     Donna watches the fight with a huge grin. She's obviously enjoying Kate's reactions. As always when she's watching anyone in training, there's that weird balance between a real intensity of study and a sense of relaxation, as if she finds that level of intensity almost restful.

    After a disappointingly short space of time, with only a few drones disposed of, Donna's voice rings out: "Simulation pause." She steps down from the control console and walks to Kate, smiling. "You didn't try the bracelets. That was smart. The speed is what makes that possible, but without precision and anticipation, the speed won't cut it. Takes a /lot/ of practise."

    "Speedforce is kinda... different. When I move fast, physics is still physics. What Wally does kind of breaks physics, I'm not sure we could really simulate it. So you know what this program is? It's one I made for myself, I've used it a few times when nobody else is around. Except for you, I turned division symbols into multiplication symbols. "

    "So..." Donna looks at Kate with a studied nonchalance, like she's trying to hide how closely she's really looking. "You can recall these settings with program T407 if you want to play with it later, but I don't really advise spending much time with it. Why uh... why do you think I showed it to you?"
Kate Bishop Kate doesn't actually mind the pause. She did just get love tapped twice onto her ass pretty much. Those things still hit hard, just not as hard as they would normally. Also physics to a degree and laws of motion when not braced to resist with strength in this case.

"I guess Wally would have to design it to get it to look right... I am just curious how speedsters see the world."

She is paying attnetion to the description of the program, division to multiplication not missing that. "Interesting." she notes thne she narrows her eyes when the code number is rattled out like that. Yeah she is trying to make sure she has the code down in her mind. Of course the ackward question makes her focus back on Troia. "Early birthday?" she quips using a bit of sass to give her another moment to think before talking.

"Well.. might be to give me insight into how you operate better and others like you.. strategy and tactics and how you can handle enemies. A lot more personal than watching footage." she smiles "Though I don't think that is it... I think if it was to convince me that I couldn't help even more people or survive better or fight better with powers.. that backfired so not that." she "It kind of has me stumped... though I know you did the division so you would understand how we operate and also in case you are ever depowered you still have training to stay in the fight.. I could see depowering in combat lead to quick defeat if not ready for it."
Donna Troy     "It's hacks, Kate. Cheat mode. My life." Donna gives an almost sheepish shrug. "You're absolutely right, powers make it easier. I've been granted these advantages by the gods, and yeah absolutely I can help more because of them. That's why they do it, that's why they created the Amazons. You don't have them, and that sucks."

    She takes a few steps away, and sits on the edge of the raised platform. "I didn't know my sister when I was growing up. She was over here. She didn't go public until Doomsday, but she had been around for decades before then. She was... when I was growing up, there was this wonderful sister I had who I'd never met. Almost like a mythical figure. Everyone adored her, everyone told me how brilliant she was, and I wanted to be her. She inspired me to come to America and become a hero. So I came here, I met her, and she was as wonderful as everyone had said. I adored her and I wanted to make her proud of me."

    Donna gives a rueful shake of her head. "I'd been training like crazy since I was six. Everyone else on Themyscira had been training for thousands of years, and I worked my butt off to catch up. I was good. I could hold my own. Against Diana? Not so much. First time we sparred, I lasted about three seconds. I was humiliated. How could I seriously have compared myself to her? Thought I could follow in her footsteps? I was ready to go straight back home right then and never show my face again in the World of Men. Diana wouldn't hear of it though."

    "It's never about what other people can do, Kate. It's only about what you can do. I know that I have kind of a reputation for trying to talk people up. 'Oh yeah, that's just Donna, always trying to give people a little ego boost, yeah.' That means nobody takes me all that seriously when I tell people I respect them. But that's B.S. It's easy being me. It's a lot harder being you. Yeah, you have no powers. In my eyes that makes you /amazing/, because you're doing this in hard mode while I'm on cheat mode. You do what you do without the advantages I have, and you do it really well. I want you to understand that when I'm praising you, it's not just to big you up. I mean it."
Kate Bishop "I do appreciate the video game analogy Troia." she does too smling "Cheat mode, also well I get what you are saying, the whole big up.. but" she tilts her head studying the other woman. "I've never really thought you were being disingenous either. You just haven't struck me as the type. For the record."

She also nods "Also this is nice... I honestly don't think I've had as indepth talk about... important shit like this with anyone around here yet. I think it is a trust and opening up thing."
Donna Troy     "That kind of trust takes time," Donna says with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "I mean you newer Titans keep hearing us older Titans going on about 'family', but I guess you're only really starting the see the edges of that yet. What we had took years to really develop. I hope our experience smooths that out for the rest of you, and you're able to just kinda..." She makes a sliding gesture with her hand. "Slip in. You know. It's not going to happen overnight, but I have my fingers crossed that if we don't overdo the family talk and alienate you all before you have a chance to really feel it for yourselves."

    Donna gets up and walks over to one of the frozen drones. She stares at it for a few moments, then says "Scene resume", punches it straight into the wall, and says "Scene pause!" again. She turns and grins at Kate with an expression a little like a cat that has been caught stealing cream. "Sorry. I couldn't resist. Look Kate, I get the impression your own family was not exactly... you know. The best of families. Not a happy place for you. If you let it be, and I think you will, the Titans can be a real family for you. It'll take time, but I'm willing to work on it if you are. When you are ready to talk... about anything... I'm here." She breaks into a big grin. "I think you'll make a cool sister."
Kate Bishop Kate watches the simulation unpause and swiftly pause. She was about ready to react though and start to move to disable th drone nearest herself before she got sucker punched. But.. no the drone is frozen again. At which point she cracks up at the line about not being able to resist.

She almost misses the nice bit and harder bits .. but they do still her laugh and she focuses on the conversation once more. "It was mixed... it wasn't abusive it was just cold after my mom died. I honestly even can't say if the distance and cold was my dad always being an asshole or if it was her loss that did it. So while my dad is an asshole and all business, I can't claim he made my life miserable or anything. Just... distant and my sister too she got it from dad I guess." not the source of her trauma not quite, well not all. It does make it harder for Kate to get real close to people sure.

"I would like that, I think you and Cassie and all would make excellent sisters. Hell I get to be the youngest... I know how spoiled the youngest get to be." yeah she is one in her othrer family too. "Thanks Troia."
Donna Troy     "Being distant isn't good. Sometimes I worry that I've been too distant from my mom. I'm adopted, and I learned that pretty fast. Kind of hard not to when you live on an island where your mom is the only person with any kids and there are no men around. "

     Donna stretches her arms out, tensing and loosening the muscles. "She always treated me like I was a real daughter. I mean I don't know, maybe she didn't at first. But as long as I can remember, she... she always had time for me. She had a country to run, but she'd always find time for me. Always cared for me. But you can't help /knowing/, if you get what I mean. So there was always some part of me that felt like I didn't deserve it, I was taking up too much of her time, that kind of thing. So I tried to be valuable. Tried to show I was worth keeping around, not just like a freeloader. The last few years I started to realize that might have made me come across as distant and unapprecaitive. It's a difficult balance..."

    She switches from stretching her arms to twisting her neck from side to side, then standing on tip toes and extending her leg muscles. "Anyway. You ready for some more training? Without the cheat mode. New scenario. Drones will be incoming for ten minutes at a time. My job will be to not just keep you alive for those ten minutes, but maximize your opportunities to get kills. Your job is to pay attention to what I'm doing, and take every opportunity to get a shot in that I can give you. Sound like fun?"