Twisting and Turning, Your Feelings Are Burning...

[not_a_wonder]

Parkman Plaza, Boston Common -- Vanessa Kapatelis is seated on the concrete retaining wall that connects the three bronze statues known as Learning, Industry, and Religion. She is between the man depicted using a compass and reading a book (Learning) and the man using a jackhammer (Industry).

Nessie is dressed rather smartly in a light pink skirt, pale mint green sleeveless blouse, and a blazer of a slightly darker pink. Her curly hair has been tamed with a flat iron and braided back away from her face. Her brown flats match the brown purse that she clutches on her lap. She would blend in with any of the young professionals that frequent the business sector of Boston. However, Nessie looks rather stiff and nervous as she waits, scanning the crowd for familiar faces.

A message was left on her voicemail a few days ago, instructing her to call back at a particular number. Jason Todd answered and confirmed that he'd located Donna Troy. They arranged a time to meet in Boston, when Julia Kapatelis would also be in the city. Nessie would get a chance to explain things to Donna, and hopefully they'd go on to meet up with Julia.

The therapist said it was necessary to talk out her feelings with her mother, but despite all her own training in the field of counseling, Nessie was still frightened of it. Julia hadn't meant to harm Nessie, ever, but the harm had still occurred. Addressing it... was not something that the Kapatelis women did.

And if Donna decided this problem was not worth her time... Nessie would either have to do this alone, or resort to having Jason come along as backup instead. (Nessie appreciated his willingness to help, but worried about how Julia would react to Jason.)

Nessie clutched her purse closer and silently counted to time her breathing, 'In -- two, three, four, five -- and out...' just like she'd done for Jason once. She had to stay calm.

Comments

[not_a_wonder]

Nessie brings her hands up to hide her face, and coughs again -- blood splatters, in tiny aspirated droplets, onto the sleeves of her jacket. When Jason says, "Let me see," Nessie shakes her head as if to refuse.

"I thought... I thought Dr. Anderson was able to help you!" Donna moves closer, unable to hide her worry. Diana had said that Vanessa was doing fine. This looked to be the furthest thing from 'fine'.

[red_hood_rat]

"Speaking as someone who's had a lot of shrapnel removed," Jason says, still staring at Nessie, "I'm guessing they probably couldn't get it all out."

"Nessie, you're fucking bleeding, please let me make sure you are not about to choke."

[not_a_wonder]

Nessie wheezes, then spits up a gob of blood and mucus that probably coated her whole tongue -- it basically lands in her lap, and ruins her skirt. There are tears streaming down her face when she looks up at Jason and Donna again, but... after a moment, she lowers her hands and raises her chin.

Her lips move without sound, but it should be clear that she's telling him, 'Then look.'

One hand moves to press against her heaving chest -- someone with particularly sharp ears might hear a high-pitched, machine-like whine in counterpoint to her pained breaths. Donna hangs back for a moment longer, since Nessie didn't address her, and waits for Jason to approach instead.

[red_hood_rat]

Jason inspects the area carefully, pulling one of his gloves off -- and yes, he was wearing those even with the suit -- to probe the area. At this distance, the remaining cybernetics are apparent, as are the scars on her throat from various surgeries. As for her throat itself, Jason has to dig out the penlight on his pocket knife, as well as a small mirror he's carrying around because that's who he is as a person, but he definitely sees damage around the area of the cybernetics.

"Looks like whatever's left did some damage," he says. His tone is surprisingly observational and neutral, and Jason frowns as he investigates further. "Not really my area, but I don't think this is dampened properly... it's pulling at the surrounding tissue when it activates. But the injury's not real bad... I don't see anything that needs immediate medical attention."

[not_a_wonder]

Donna moves closer when Jason starts to speak, and touches one of Nessie's elbows. There's no more suspicion or anger on her face, just worry for her friend. Nessie holds her eyes for a moment before glancing away -- unable to turn with Jason still inspecting the damage.

Nessie taps at Jason's wrist to get his attention, so that he can look at her and read her lips. She mouths silently, 'Dampeners were killing me. What's left... can't come out, or it'll kill me.'

[red_hood_rat]

Jason nods, understanding. "You can type if you need... you got your phone, right? Might help."

Jason remembers spending a while not being able to speak, too... of course, his was for different reasons, and the phone wouldn't have helped him much, but it's something he thinks about surprisingly often.

"Pretty sure you're going to need to reschedule with your mother. Sorry."

[not_a_wonder]

Nessie spreads her blood-speckled hands and wriggles her fingers, looking annoyed at the suggestion. She really doesn't want to get blood on her cell phone, so she'd need to clean up before that idea is viable.

Donna goes to grab Nessie's purse where it lies on the ground, and starts to rummage around in it. After a moment, she pulls out a packet of tissues and a small bottle of hand sanitizer. She nudges at Jason, a silent request for him to get out of the way. Then she speaks to Nessie, "Here, hon. Let me clean you up a little."

Nessie considers that, then nods. She solemnly presents her hands to be cleaned off, and while she goes a little rigid when Donna continues -- cleaning her face off as well -- Nessie lets it happen.

"I'm sorry," Donna says quietly. Maybe to Nessie, maybe to Jason? It's not clear. "I shouldn't have pushed so much... I shouldn't have been so stubborn."

[red_hood_rat]

When Nessie spreads her fingers at him, Jason shrugs, muttering something about how phones can be cleaned... but it seems like Donna's beat him to it. Or rather, beat him to an even better idea. He moves aside at her prompt, standing by awkwardly as Donna cleans the blood off of Nessie. He doesn't acknowledge Donna's apology, assuming it's meant for Nessie, and instead says,

"We're all stubborn. Kind of the defining trait of the cape and cowl crowd, isn't it?"

[not_a_wonder]

Donna glances over at Jason with a sad expression, and says, "Maybe it shouldn't be. Maybe we should be more patient, more compassionate..."

Once she's been cleaned up, Nessie gets into her purse as well, pulling out her cell phone. She pulls up a Notes application and types out:

I didn't schedule anything with Mom yet. I figured I could call her after we decided who was going to come with me. I won't be able to talk for a day or two, though, so that plan is a bust.

Then she holds the phone out for one of them to take, so they can get a better look at her words.

[red_hood_rat]

Jason nods as he reads the message, then pauses.

"A day or two? How do you know --"

He cuts that train of thought off as he glances over at Donna, apparently too late to prevent her from picking up on his train of thought.

"Has this happened before?" she asks.

[not_a_wonder]

Donna offers the phone back to Nessie, so that she can type a new reply. Nessie swallows, then winces at the pain, before she begins. This time, there's some backspacing and rephrasing before she holds the screen up to where they can see it.

Dr. Anderson and her team know. We found out after the first round of surgeries to get out the implants that were being attacked by my immune system. Raising my voice above a certain volume while I am upset will set off the cybernetics that they can't remove.

First time was worst. Weeks with no voice. This time won't be so bad, I think.

I didn't let Dr. Anderson tell Mom or Diana.

"Why wouldn't y--" Donna cuts herself off, and shakes her head. "No, that's... It's your health. It's your body. You don't have to tell anyone you don't want to. But... is there a reason you didn't want people to know about it?"

Nessie gives Donna an annoyed look, and adds to the Notes document: Tell them I could still hurt them? Tell them that I'm still dangerous?

[red_hood_rat]

"Didn't mean to blurt that out in front of Donna," Jason says quietly to Nessie. "Fucked that up. ... sorry," he continues.

Louder, he continues, staring at and addressing Nessie but clearly also addressing Donna, "It's no one else's fucking business but yours. The Boy and Girl Scouts talk a big game about 'wanting to help,' but they don't actually care what you need. They just want to handle you."

[not_a_wonder]

Nessie just shrugs in response to Jason's 'sorry', flashing him a tiny smile to try to say that the apology is not necessary. At Jason's next declaration, though, she rolls her eyes and nods in exaggerated agreement.

Donna glares at Jason, annoyed at the criticism as well as the fact that Vanessa is agreeing with him. There's still a part of her that doesn't want to believe that the two are actually friends, and seeing Jason act familiar with Vanessa gets Donna's back up. She tries to keep her annoyance out of her voice when she asks,

"Is that really the way you feel, Jason? Or are you just trying to make the community sound bad because we don't agree with your methods?"

[red_hood_rat]

"Do you really want to know how I feel? Or are you just trying to discredit me because you don't want to admit I have a point?"

[not_a_wonder]

Nessie waves her hands at both of them, to cut off the argument before it starts. She quickly types on her phone and shows them both the screen:

Girls, girls, stop! You're both pretty!

And both my friends.

[red_hood_rat]

Jason makes a face, but bites his tongue as he glances at Donna, who looks similarly mollified.

"... how are you feeling?" Donna asks, apparently wanting to change the subject to something more Nessie-related. "Can we get you anything, or take you somewhere you'd rather be?"

[not_a_wonder]

Maybe we should go back to my hotel? These clothes are all bloody, for one thing. We can talk in my hotel room after I change? And order some hot tea from room service, or something

Donna nods, "Of course, of course. We want you to be comfortable." She moves to Nessie's side, offering a steadying presence as all the exertion and stress of the morning likely wore Nessie out. "And I'm pretty sure that you're going to insist that we all talk, even if you literally can't?"

Nessie raises both eyebrows at Donna and gives a close-lipped little smile as she nods.

[red_hood_rat]

When Nessie affirms her desire to insist they all talk, Jason grimace-smiles, the grimace part seeming a bit more sincere than the smile. Still, he also walks beside Nessie, standing on the other side from Donna. "Lead the way," he says.