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Tweak says, "SHEEEEEIIIILAAAAAA!"

Callen, G. (g_callen) wrote in omega_reality,
@ 2012-03-27 07:43:00

Entry tags:

*complete, 2012 03, character: alexis castle, character: g callen, character: troy bolton, dead: jenna hanna, dead: mike renko

RP: A Few Casual Interviews
Who: G Callen, Mike Renko, Jenna Hanna, Troy Bolton, Alexis Castle
Where: All over the ranch
When: Tuesday, March 27, 2012 -- all day
Summary: G talks to a few people to assess training needs

The director liked his office and his meetings. G preferred being out with his team and seemingly casual conversations. For most everyone he had a good idea of what they could and couldn't do at this point. They'd been training as a team with their power for long enough what he hadn't seen he could extrapolate.

Still, there were a few people who had newly come into their powers or who had seen changes recently that he needed to assess before they went forward with any further training. And, now that they'd explained the day before about the new ruling on not training with powers outside group training or with G's supervision or approval, he wanted to make sure he touched base with those he had less firsthand experience with their powers.

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Re: Callen and Bolton -- After Flying

t_bolton
2012-03-30 12:21 am UTC (link)

"Right, got that part down." Callen might say it wasn't his fault that Hetty died, but everything else he said proved exactl that point. However, the news about the job had him grinning. "If you think they will survive with me in charge, then it sounds like fun." He snorted. "Yep, got that part, too. Not speaking to Ash, solved that problem pretty quickly. i couldn't want to kiss someone without wanting to fuck them." He rolled his eyes. "Woman can't see what's right in front of her."

Troy grinned again. "That's the old comics, for the ancient people. Then she comes back and it's Jean Grey with the Dark Phoenix inside, she's got all the power while still being her, not that I'm saying I want to be a chick, just saying that the power is cool." He took a deep breath and let it out. "You really know how to take the fun out of things. These are the coolest superpowers. You could make it fun. Have a basketball or football game with powers, a treasure hunt, hell even a game of hide and seek. Not that I don't get the importance of training, I do, I really do, because you need to get to get comfortable with what you do, but you're supposed to have fun with them too. It's like training for basketball and never playing. Really, we're stuck here for what could be forever, why can't we mix business and pleasure? And if we don't, what's even the point of surviving. This is our life, Callen. There's no training and then you go home and forget about it. There has to be something more than training for training sake, because otherwise people who aren't agents give up."

There it was again, the stupid comments. "Seriously? Is there anyone who hasn't read comic books, watched the movies, watched the cartoons? If there is, have they lived under a rock? You, Derek, Dom, Sean, Savannah, Nell, Alexis, Tim, that's already eight, that's assuming Sam, Mr. V and Emily don't know, add everyone that can guess. Seriously?" he asked again. "It's not even the most remarkable. Dom is Mastermind; Nell is Magneto; Tim is Havok. I don't know who Savannah is, but she's a freaking league all by herself and Sean can fry you with his mind. Alexis is invisible woman and Dom has gone on and on about her powers. Renko can hear a baby's heartbeat miles away. John flies. Brian can turn into any animal he wants. Hell, he could be one of those cows listening to us. I don't think my power is that impressive when you list all of the powers around, but fine, I won't say a word, in case there are any idiots around who can't figure it out."

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Re: Callen and Bolton -- After Flying

g_callen
2012-03-30 04:36 am UTC (link)

G chuckled. "Despite my earlier assessment, you're not one of my greatest worries." And G was going to have some fun with this. He intended to have a little test for each of them in turn. Still, he shook his head as Bolton went on. Though he privately agreed with Bolton, this was one point on which he couldn't afford to side with one or the other if he wanted to keep the team together. "Different people have different perceptions based on their experiences. As long as it doesn't cause problems for the team as a whole, however, whether you talk to her or not is none of my business. You're still stuck having some conversations with me, though."

Snorting, G shook his head. "Here's the thing, Bolton. You think these powers are cool and fun. Other people think they're terrifying and best used sparingly. Personally, I think they're a mixed blessing. They can be useful if used responsibly, but they can also be a hindrance and a crutch. The catch is that I have to find the balance that works best for the team as a whole, while not handicapping anyone and trying to learn as much as I can about how these things actually work in reality, not comic books. You're each trying to learn to control one power. I'm researching all the possibilities of thirty powers so I can be prepared if something goes wrong with any one of them or a combination.

"Besides, you want to talk about boring? Where's the fun in using our powers to play basketball or football for someone like me or my brother, as an example? I can think of only one person with both the reflexes fast enough and a power that could allow them to stop me safely. Last time someone tried to stop me when I was going fast, the impact with both me and the ground broke their ribs. And that was before I trained at all. Any team Rob's on, all they have to do is throw him the football every time and he teleports to the end zone. How much fun is that for anyone? Renko playing hide and seek would find everyone every time without having to look hard, while Alexis would just have to stay still and quiet and she'd evade everyone but maybe one or two people. There's no skill or challenge involved, nothing to make it interesting for long. A treasure hunt might be a possibility, although under Vance's new ruling, it would take some arranging for supervision since everyone would, by necessity, have to be spread out. I tell you what, if you want it, plan it. You'll have one day to run things the way you think they should be run within the limits of Vance's orders. Plan it and run it on your day to be Lead."

Biting back another sigh, G nodded toward the cab. "Get in. We can finish this conversation while we head back." He kept talking as he moved toward the driver's side. "It's not about what they might suspect, but what they know. And, actually, yes, there are some people here who had no idea what was in the X-men stories until they came here. Although, relying solely on one pop culture example is dangerous in it's own right. But, that's a whole other debate. My point is, the less people know for certain, the less likely they are to perceive the threat. Take Sean and Nell just as examples. Listen to Nell when she talks about her powers in front of people she isn't close to. She never goes any further than an ability to manipulate metal. In fact, she very rarely uses the word magnetism at all or goes into any explanation of what being able to control that basic physical force actually means. And Sean doesn't advertise the fact that he can probably turn a person into a KFC special in under ten seconds. Even though they train in the basic skills that allow them to do those things, they don't draw attention to the fact they can do them because, human nature is more likely to cause people to be careful, to treat them differently because of what they can do instead of who they are and how they behave.

"But don't discount yourself, either. You want to make comparisons to Jean Grey? She was one of the most powerful mutants ever. You can do anything if you can think of it, from what you've told me. Stop and consider exactly what that means, all the possibilities, then tell me if you still think your power is unimpressive."

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Re: Callen and Bolton -- After Flying

t_bolton
2012-03-30 12:40 pm UTC (link)

"Yes, and this is why I'd never try with Savannah, but then it's not secret how she thinks. It's when you pretend to be something that you aren't, then you shouldn't complain when people see you in a different way," he said with a shrug, because at this point, it was all theoretical. It wasn't like he was going to deal with her. "Unfortunately," he added without censoring himself. "Easier with Sam. He says do this; I do. No need to talk. Maybe you should consider it."

Troy rolled his eyes. "Of course they are a mixed blessing. Everything is in life. Take basketball. You can be the most talented person, but then you give up everything else to train and work your ass off toward one goal to the neglect of everything. You can sit and moan about the things that you're missing or," he stopped grinning, "you can enjoy everything you get to do. Same with being in this reality, you can bitch about what we've lost or embrace what we've found. Powers, same shit. If you're always looking at the negative, life sucks. I'm always looking at the good things in life." It was when he stopped doing it that the doubts cropped up and that need to crawl into a ball and hide for a while popped up, so he pushed it away again. "You can't prepare, though. Like a game, you can talk strategy and do drills until you're blue in the face, but it's not until you put people on the court, even for a mock game, that you know what they'll do. All your training means little, because you're training our powers. You're training people like it's an individual game, but then you're talking about the team. It doesn't match, do you know what I mean?"

He got into the truck and chuckled. "You even think boringly. You think it's that easy? Give you the ball and you're done? What if someone makes you think that the ball is somewhere else? Dom can. What if someone moves the basket? I can. What if someone start sending thunder and lighting? Like Gemma. What if someone makes you float? Like April. What if the end zone is full of electricity? You see where I'm going with this. You're thinking same sport rules; I'm thinking here's a ball, don't send anyone to the hospital if possible, have fun," he said, laughing. "And you can get Mr. V to make an exception. Just tell Savannah to ask. But no, thanks, this is your gig. I'm a player, not a coach. I can give you my opinion, if you want it, but otherwise, I'm doing what I'm told and keeping my mouth shut... well, at least when it comes to work, I'm not really good at not talking. It's why I was going to be in TV."

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Re: Callen and Bolton -- After Flying

t_bolton
2012-03-30 12:40 pm UTC (link)

He looked at Callen. "So you're saying that you're counting on people being stupid? And that sounds like a very bad way to run a team. You need to know your team mates' weaknesses and strengths to truly work together. It's why I spent so much time looking at what people did when I had no power, and not just know what they can do, but know when they are holding back, and if it's because they don't want to show their hand or because they are hurt. You can't know all of these things if people never show what they can truly do. Maybe without this idea of secrecy, we would have known that Tyra could cause earth quakes and someone could have suggested that it's really not a good thing in the spring, after a winter with little or no rain or snow and the ground is already dry and the little quake can cause a lot of damage because there's nothing to hold the ground together."

Troy shook his head. "I don't believe that for a moment. Human nature is to distrust what's different and bond with what's the same. The secrecy makes us all feel different and not feel anything in common with the other people in the team, but that's my point. It's not that my power is unimpressive, but that they are all impressive. Take yours. Pretty simple, right? It's not that great, except that if you run in circle fast enough, can you create a tornado? Or what about cyclone wins? Northstart can. What about running up walls and walking on water? The Flash moves through walls and time. Suddenly superspeed is not so ordinary. The same can be said about every power if you really explore it, and yes, I get that comics aren't science, but there's some science behind those comics, and if we finally accept that we're all different and screwed up, then we can see that we are the cool kids, or the basketball players, or whatever group you like, that this is our clique, not because Mr. V tells us, but because we're more alike than different, and yes, we all have powers that can make us lethal or can invade our privacy, but I'm pretty sure you were lethal and Eric could invade our privacy before the powers. The powers aren't the relevant part, the people are. The powers don't turn you good or bad that's why you have the X Men and the Brotherhood. People are who they are. Powers just change the way the game is played, but the game itself stays the same. Sean is still that brilliant musician whether he can fry someone or not and Nell is that scary know-it-all who downplays just how brilliant she is, because they are good people and the powers won't change their personality, and...." Oh shit, he had said that he was not going to speak and he'd probably told Callen more in a few minutes than he had since November, even worse, he was basically telling the head coach how to run the team. Shit! "And I'm talking too much. Sorry, you're in charge, and you should run things however you want. It won't happen again."

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Re: Callen and Bolton -- After Flying

g_callen
2012-03-30 03:58 pm UTC (link)

"It's also not secret that her husband would have your balls for dinner if you tried," G added with a chuckle. But, thinking of Savannah allowed him to just listen as Bolton rattled on. Smirking or chuckling at different points, yet still just letting the kid talk.

All the way back to the parking area.

Turning off the engine as Bolton wound down, G turned and regarded him with another smirk. "Easy Bolton. You don't really think you're the first person who's told me who they think I should run this operation, do you? You have met Savannah, right? Although, don't ever let her hear you say I should talk less. She's put in a lot of work getting me to open up this much and actually explain why I do things to people. She might hurt you if I stop now. And, in part, she's right. When I can, it's my responsibility as lead to explain why I want things done a certain way. If this group were strictly made up of people like myself or Sam, it would be different. But, I have to adjust the way things work for the civilians. For that matter, most anyone who has actually talked to me has told me at one point or another how I should do things differently. I actually encourage it. Do I always agree? No. But, when someone else has a good idea, it's as much my responsibility to listen to that idea and see if we can make it work as it is to tell someone else they're way off base about things.

"Which is also why you're not getting out of having to do something when you're Lead for the day, whether it's plan a treasure hunt or run basic training. Morgan, Sam, Prentiss, myself? We'll be around, but we're only stepping in if someone's about to die. Training is on you. Work is on you. People with questions, concerns, problems, and complaints are on you. Meeting with Vance? Also on you. Making sure everyone is safe and activities are within the guidelines Vance sets out? Yep, on you, too. Discipline problems? All yours." G was really, really looking forward to this. He'd have to send the announcement out before week's end.

"I'm not saying I'm counting on people to be stupid, not at all. I'm saying people, good often otherwise intelligent people, react with fear. And it's not always my decision. There are some people I've asked not to advertise certain of their abilities, to work on them in private. And some people have asked me not to share how powerful they really are. But, we do train as a group. That's what those evening sessions are for. Training to work together doesn't preclude a necessity to work individually, either. No group is stronger than it's weakest link. So, we have to do both. Things may change in how we do these evening sessions. I don't know yet. It's part of why I'm talking to people, getting a feel for where they are individually. But, I'll tell you something else, something I was also reminded of just today by someone else: what you don't know, you can't be forced to share." G might have scoffed when Renko said it to him, but it was an entirely different situation. There were things most other people who weren't in charge didn't need to know for everyone's safety, whether they understood or agreed or not.

"And we can always prepare. We may not foresee every possibility, although there are people who can see a damned sight more than most others, even without superpowers. But, this is why you spar with as many others as you can, why the training scenarios change daily, why evacuation drills vary with different possible scenarios. You're right. Until you put someone out into the field, or into the middle of an attack, you can't guarantee how they react. But, then, there aren't any guarantees about much of anything in life. We can only plan for as much as we can and those who can hope for the best when shit actually happens. When you drill and train in things long enough, though, it becomes instinct. Just like that time out gesture I'll bet you didn't even think about before you used it back at the pasture. How many times have you used that signal to get breathing room? How instinctive was it to do it just now? It's the same concept, same concept as in basketball drills, body-building, basic training, even academics. Repetition is what makes something stick in your head."

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Re: Callen and Bolton -- After Flying

t_bolton
2012-03-30 06:34 pm UTC (link)

"Couldn't care less about the husband to be honest. I respect her, and if she thought it were all right, too freaking bad if he doesn't," he said.

"I might not be the first person, but it's wrong, and I am sorry." It was something that his father had drilled into him, the only way that they could survive high school without fighting like cats and dogs. "You don't have to be in the military to understand that orders are orders. Anyone that's played any sport knows that."

Troy nodded. "I get it, but there's a difference between running things and changing things."

Those were the easy parts, but the rest, he knew that they'd never agree. "True, except you're making one mistake: I know the weakest link in my team. In fact, I know everyone's weak spot, because it's not just the hand signal that's instinctive. It's going more to the left when a certain player has the ball, it's making that extra dribble if it's someone else. It's knowing what I need to do to compensate which I can't do, if I don't know their full powers. Hell, if Nell and Sean are downplaying it, how much more can people do?. So you can do all the training and drills, but we're not a team and we'll never be until we know each other. You might think that the secrecy is more important, I'll always think that the team is more important, and we'll just have to agree to disagree, but as I said, your gig, so your opinion is the one that counts." He'd just never buy the idea that they were a team, more like different teams despite of the official assignments.

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Re: Callen and Bolton -- After Flying

g_callen
2012-03-30 09:27 pm UTC (link)

G let that much go. As long as Bolton kept his activities to his friends and people who didn't mind his actions, G wasn't going to pass judgement. It was unlikely that anyone of them whose spouse didn't like it would be allowing Bolton to kiss them anyway.

"It's not wrong and there's no need to apologize. This is something I have always told my team and will hold by as long as I'm Lead. When I give an order in the field, don't question it. There's no time for questions out there when every second lost could mean lives lost as well. During training exercises when I say to treat this like the field, same rule applies. But, afterward, or when we're discussing how to proceed with training, ask your questions, give me your opinion. In the end, yes, as long as Vance wants me as Lead, the call is mine. But, I'm only human. I can't think of everything. I need to hear these things. I can't know what I'm doing right or wrong otherwise."

G shook his head. "And that's where the basketball analogy has to end because this is a paramilitary operation and sometimes one guy on the team has secrets the others don't. Whether it's different orders, different levels of classified information, whatever it is. You know the people. You train together until you know how they think. But, you don't always know what they'll do. The trick is being able to trust they know what they're doing even if you have no idea. It's about trusting that the information you do have is all you need to know to get the job done. And, be honest, if I hadn't asked would you have told me as much about how your power works? Have you asked Sean or Nell or Alexis or Riggins how theirs works? Has anyone else asked about your power? Compared notes?" Chances were, they either didn't care, or, as G suspected, didn't really want to know. "You can make yourself fly. Have you talked to John to get his insights after having done it for months?"

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Re: Callen and Bolton -- After Flying

t_bolton
2012-03-30 09:45 pm UTC (link)

"Fine," he answered, although he wasn't convinced, because ideas meant nothing when they were built from different starting powers.

"This has nothing to do with basketball, and everything to do with life. How the hell do you trust people you don't like or who have secrets? Just because you work that way, it doesn't mean that everyone will. In fact, most people don't. Do you really see me trusting Ash ever again? Or even worrying for more than half a second if something happens? Or vice versa?" He snorted. "I wouldn't tell you about my powers, because I don't know you. You ask, then I'll answer because I have to, but tell you? Oh hell no. You just happen to be the guy in charge. I wouldn't even trust you if it weren't for Sean and Nell. There are little groups and we aren't a team. Sorry man, but we're so far off from a team that's not even funny, and trusting information or getting the job done sounds like pure bullshit to me. I'll be happy if we can get out of here alive when it happens, but not because I'm trusting any of the training, but because I know the five of us will stick together and help each other get out of here. It doesn't mean that I'm not going to do what you say, only that this isn't a team. You might think it is, this might be the way you worked at home, but anyone with normal lives will tell you otherwise."

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Re: Callen and Bolton -- After Flying

g_callen
2012-03-31 04:40 am UTC (link)

"Those normal lives are gone," G stated simply. "Even what I think of as normal and everyone else thinks of as strange. It's all gone, Bolton. Basketball is gone. Cheerleading is gone. Federal agencies are gone. When we get home, I have to explain to a man I've looked up to most of my adult life why the girl he loved like a daughter, the same way I love Savannah, is gone." Of all the things he thought about when he thought of going home, that was what G dreaded the most, telling Jethro Abby was dead. And, even though it had been out of G's hands, years of friendship told him it was his task whether Vance intended to do it or not.

G huffed softly and shook his head. None of this was normal, not to any of them. Hell, normal for G would have been to strike out on his own months ago. He stood a hell of a better chance at survival that way than trying to protect the people here. But, he hadn't become the agent he was because he thought he was going to have that idyllic life coaching his son's little league team. When had doing the right thing because it was the right thing become the wrong thing?

"You know," he added after a moment's silence. "Maybe you're right and we aren't a single team yet. But, sticking to our small little groups won't make us one, either. And maybe that's the real difference because when the next attack comes, I'll the one making sure Ashleigh gets out alive. Not because we're friends or I care about her the way I care about my family. But because she's a human being and she's one of us. I don't need another reason." And if that made him strange, G would take his abnormal over other people's normality any day. "I'm going to make mistakes. I've had to come to accept that. But, normal people aren't hunted by the government for existing and when someone comes along who's better able to help everyone here survive, then that person can have the job with my blessing. Until then, I can only keep going the best way I know how and try to adapt as I can without jeopardizing that survival."

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