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

[red_hood_rat]

"I spoke to her in person, but she has her own flight setup," he said.

"She'll be here. She might be pissed at me, but she only gave me the time of day when I mentioned you."

[not_a_wonder]

Nessie tries to smile -- it shakes a little too much to be called that -- and asks, "No punting?"

[red_hood_rat]

Jason snorts.

"Not when I've got connections like you, right?"

[not_a_wonder]

Nessie takes another moment for a deep, deliberate breath. At least, if Donna does decide to ditch them both, Nessie still has Jason as backup. And on that subject...

"You got all dressed up. T-to meet my mom?" The idea that he wants to make a good impression on Julia, as a way to help Nessie, makes her smile (and this one is a lot steadier). "Thank you, Jason."

[red_hood_rat]

"Least I can do is not fuck this up for you," Jason says. "Don't know I'll be of any help, but if things don't work out with Donna, right?"

[not_a_wonder]

Donna has been hanging back, within earshot but unobserved by them (so far as she knows). The conversation they're having certainly seems to point to the fact that Vanessa was the instigator of this meetup -- which is good, because Donna really would punt Jason again if it turned out that he was using her friend.

Her friend... it's been a long time since Donna saw this particular friend. The superhero life is so busy, and it's so easy to fall out of touch with those outside the life. Donna walks up to the pair of them, letting her heeled white boots clack loudly on the paving so that they are aware of her approach.

Nessie looks up, and furrows her brow slightly at the sight of Donna in the sparkly black bodysuit that is the current Troia costume. But Nessie gives a welcoming smile and calls out, "Donna! You made it!" as if the doubt was Donna's ability to show up, and not her willingness.

[red_hood_rat]

"Gee," Jason says, giving her a glance over. "Now I feel overdressed."

[not_a_wonder]

The sarcasm in Jason's tone makes Donna pause, and she frowns at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Nessie hurries over to Donna and takes a hand in each of her own, giving them a squeeze. 'Please don't leave.' "It's just... we're meeting up with Mom, maybe, and I don't think either of us were expecting you to show up in... your work clothes."

Donna squeezes Nessie's hands gently in return, but the explanation does make her raise an eyebrow. "I thought I might have to... protect you." The 'from Jason Todd' is unspoken but the message is likely received loud and clear by Jason and Nessie both.

[red_hood_rat]

"Yeah, 'bout time one of you protected her, right?"

...

... why are they looking at him like that -- oh, fuck, he said that aloud, didn't he?

[not_a_wonder]

Donna drops her hold on Vanessa's hands and takes a threatening step toward Jason, clenching her hands into fists. "What did you just--"

"He's right." Nessie says, cutting Donna off. "If... if Diana bothered to keep me in the loop at all, maybe some of the bad things that happened to me wouldn't have." She speaks quickly, raising her voice a little to stop any protest from Donna, "I'm not saying it's her fault, or yours! But if she'd even called the once, to cancel our meetup... I wouldn't have been so upset. I might have seen the driver who lost control of his car, before it hit me!"

[red_hood_rat]

"Or had someone to see Sebastian fucking grooming her," he adds.

Donna, for her part, looks stunned. "I -- I didn't know."

[not_a_wonder]

Vanessa feels a flush of shame coloring her face, when Jason so baldly brings up the grooming. It's still difficult for her to accept that she'd been so twisted around and taken advantage of -- that Sebastian had been lying to her all the times that he claimed to love her. But she won't tell Jason to be quiet -- someone ought to say it, get it out into the open, and there are plenty of times that Vanessa can't trust her own voice.

"I know you didn't know," she says, striving to keep her words quiet and controlled. "That's why I want to talk all this out with Mom, and have people there to back me up. We don't talk about anything, not really. Handle it all with the professionals, honey; there's a good girl. Mommy is busy with her career, like she's been busy your whole damn life."

Quiet, yes. Controlled, maybe. Free of bitterness, hell no.

[red_hood_rat]

Donna glances down at her outfit, apparently contextualizing the reason Jason called it out.

"So that's really the whole reason I'm here?" she asks. "To back you up with your mother? I was expecting..." she side-eyes Jason. "... trouble."

Donna shakes her head. "Listen. I'm here for you, I promise. But before we talk with your Mom... maybe we should just talk."

[not_a_wonder]

"What, did you think Jason would lie?" Nessie puts a hand on her hip and gives Donna a look. "He's my friend, but I'll grant you didn't know that. Still... what possible benefit could he have to lying about me?"

Nessie looks over at Jason, silently asking for some help -- or at least the truth. She can work with information, but not the refusal to share it.

She switches her attention back to Donna and says calmly, "If you want to talk, that's fine. That's probably fair. There's a couple benches near the big oak that we can claim for a while."

[red_hood_rat]

"I really don't know, Vanessa. It's--" Donna sighs exasperatedly.

"Oak works for me," is all Jason says.

Donna glances back at him. "Could you hang back? I want to talk to Vanessa alone for a few minutes."

Jason shrugs, looking at Nessie.

[not_a_wonder]

Nessie does not look happy with the condition that Donna gives, but she keeps her voice mild as she says to Jason, "I'm sure it will be fine. And if she rips out my traitorous heart, that's a sign for you to run the other way."

[red_hood_rat]

Jason snorts, while Donna shoots her an expression both reproachful and hurt, but leads the way to the oak tree.

"Vanessa... Nessie?" Donna says, not sure which form of address Nessie currently prefers. "How exactly did... this --" she gestures vaguely at Jason. "Happen?"

[not_a_wonder]

The pair of them leave Jason behind by the statues for now. Nessie doesn't apologize for what she said -- she's not sorry, and she wants Donna to know that the lack of trust goes both ways.

"Do you even know where I work these days?" Nessie asks, but doesn't wait for her answer to go on. "I work in Gotham City. Because it's one of the worst off places, so it's the place that needs the help the most. I assist in placing the kids whose lives get torn apart -- by drugs and crime and supervillainy -- in safe homes where they can heal, whether that's in Gotham or out of it. The Red Hood noticed what I do, and he started calling on me to help when he ran into kids like that, breaking up all kinds of illegal trades."

Her chin goes up, displaying some of the scars on her throat, as she locks eyes with Donna. "I know what it's like to passed around like an object. He stops that, for these kids who can't save themselves. We stop that. And he respects how hard I work to make up for the bad I did."

[red_hood_rat]

Donna listens -- actually listens as Nessie speaks, waiting for her to finish. After Nessie stops, Donna is quiet for a moment, thinking.

"I knew him when he was a kid," she says. "He was a good kid. His death devastated Nightwing and hurt us all. When I heard about what he did when he came back, I didn't know what to think. When he came to me after Duela's death and we got dragged into the hunt for Ray Palmer, I gave him a chance."

"It's not that he can't be nice, or heroic, or that I can't believe he can change. I always believe in redemption. It's an Amazon value. But I've seen how unstable and unpredictable he can be. He can be brutal and vicious, and he'll kill without a second thought. And it's worse because it comes out of nowhere, and he doesn't even understand why you're upset."

"There is something broken in him. And I don't want you to get hurt because of it."

[not_a_wonder]

Nessie doesn't say a word. There's so much -- maybe too much -- that she could say about this. Maybe starting with 'you knew me when I was a kid, too, before life messed me up'. But her eyes are hard and angry...

And she steps in close, throwing a sharp, vicious elbow into Donna's side. Even as that impacts, she brings her purse up, strap flying as a distraction while tries to drive her left heel into Donna's ankle and throw off the older woman's balance. The unexpectedness of the move lets it hit, and Donna yelps --

Then Nessie wraps her arms around Donna's torso and heaves her up -- belly to belly -- before throwing her in a sprawl to the ground. Donna lashes out with a kick to drive Nessie back, but Nessie ducks low and twists one of Donna's arms into a joint lock.

"Vicious," she hisses out, "unpredictable. And there's plenty broken in me, sister. Isn't it lucky that we birds of a feather flock together?"

Donna could probably break the hold. She's much stronger than Vanessa, and what offense that Vanessa was able to mount didn't do much harm even with the advantage of surprise. But she lies there for a moment, staring into Nessie's angry eyes, and says, "You're not a killer like he is."

[red_hood_rat]

Jason's plan to give them space lasts about until Nessie starts throwing hands, at which point he runs over there immediately.

"You're not a killer like he is," is the first part Jason manages to catch. So it's with some idea as to the inciting incident here that he asks --

"Whhhhat the fuck is going on here?"

[not_a_wonder]

It's through clenched teeth that Nessie responds, forcing herself to speak in a low voice. "You don't know anything. You don't know anything. Tell Sandsmark I'm not a killer, and see what she does to you."

"You were under Dr. Psycho's control!" Donna exclaims in protest. She breaks the hold that Nessie has on her, simply by overwhelming the other woman's strength, and reaches out to grab Nessie by the upper arm --

"Stop!" The cry from Nessie, full of anguish, is more than it ought to be. Not as powerful as it once was, it's still far too loud and far too physical -- enough to push Donna's seated form back toward the oak tree. Nessie chokes, and blood paints her lips and chin. She scrambles back away from the both of them.

[red_hood_rat]

Jason reflexively clamps his hands over his ears at the level of noise that hits him, though the step he takes backwards is probably more out of shock than actual force.

Donna, for her part, is staring wide-eyed. "Your voice --" she says.

"Shit, Nessie, you're bleeding," Jason says, rushing towards her. "Let me see --"

[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."