fandomhigh | Unconventional Tactics, Tuesday, Period 2

"You ain't gonna win 'em all." Nope, there wasn't even a 'Yo, Rookies!' today as Reno made his way into the Danger Shop, only a couple of minutes late. There had been an important stop for coffee this morning, which he was now pausing to take a mouthful of as he settled in. Suck it up, kids. "You ain't. And, much as you all wanna think otherwise, you ain't all gonna be able to survive everything that life throws at you without a few bumps an' nicks along the way, yo."

This was Reno-ese for 'people get their idiot butts killed out there all the time.'

"I know, you all been spoiled by Fandom's practically nonexistent mortality rate. An' maybe you figure you're all invincible or some shit as a result, an' you can handle anything that you go up against. But news flash, kiddos: You ain't. And you can't. I don't care how strong you are. I don't care what superhuman abilities you got. Someday, you won't be able to out-run, out-think, or out-fight whatever it is that's comin' down on top of us. Someday, you will be thrust so friggin' hard on your ass that you will consider yourself lucky if someone shows up like a knight in shinin' armor to haul your sorry self outta there."

He smirked. He shrugged.

"So, we're gonna have a bit of a team-buildin' exercise, yo. Bit of a go against the Danger Shop, here. And I want you to all try an' tackle it without powers, to try an' keep things on an even playing field. You're each gonna break off into pairs. One of you's gonna play injured and pretty much useless, and you gotta get your ass rescued, yo. It's up to your partner to drag you outta harm's way." He nodded, and the Danger Shop flickered. And suddenly, everyone was standing on one end of a very shoddy looking suspension bridge. "Across this, zoto."

Really, he didn't even need to toss in enemy fire for this exercise. You guys would have an interesting enough time of this activity as it is.

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Right. Dumb question.

Tara bit her lip, willing it to come to her. "Nothing ... nothing I know off the top of my head with no supplies," she said apologetically. "Wait, which of us is dead weight?"

Kennedy was stronger, but Tara was bigger (and, thus, harder to drag across a rotted bridge). She could see an argument either way.

Kennedy really, really wanted to take the lead on this, but she could be practical-- and, honestly, was still a little shaken up about following her instincts after last Thursday.

"I think... It'd be easier for you to get me across that way," she said after a moment.

"Okay," Tara said, trying not to be nervous. There was nothing to be nervous about, right? It was just a simulation, the river wasn't real..

"I guess ... I give you a piggyback ride and you play lookout."

It was just a simulation. Right. Never mind the way that gust of wind just whipped Kennedy's hair across her eyes.

"You can pick me up just fine, remember?" Kennedy told her encouragingly. That bridge was way too freaky for her to distract either of them with some suggestive comment, although one might slip out eventually just because it was her. "I trust you."

"Silly girl," Tara said affectionately, but she did sound reassured. She bent forward so Kennedy could climb on her back. "You hold on tight, okay? And tell me if I'm about to ... you know."

Step on a rotten board, break through, and crash. That you know.

Kennedy waited until after she'd wrapped her arms firmly around Tara to say quietly, "I always trust you, you know." Extra encouragement couldn't possibly be of the bad, right?

Crashing, on the other hand, would be worlds of bad, so...

"I'll do lookout duty. We'll be awesome."

Tara dipped her head to kiss the back of Kennedy's wrist, feeling warmer. The encouragement helped.

"Better than awesome," she said, on the same theory, and took her first terrified baby step onto the bridge. "It'd be bad if I closed my eyes," she said, without conviction. "Right?"

"No closed eyes," answered Kennedy. This was already harder than she'd thought; her role in this scenario was more passive than she ever cared for, and the urge to take charge was nagging at her. "One step at a time, baby, 'kay? We got this-- and watch that next board, it's splintery."

She was supposed to be making this difficult, not easier, but there was only so much you could expect her to sit back and take.

"One step at a time," Tara echoed, and took a big step to get over the splintered board and onto a safer one. The movement made the bridge shake, and she scrabbled for the railing with one hand. "It's not much father, right?"

It was very far.

It was, in fact, very far. Still.

"Not as far as it looks like it is," Kennedy said, gritting her teeth a little and raising her voice to be heard over the wind that wasn't going to make this any easier. "We'll hit the other side before you know it."

"Just a few more steps," Tara said, tottering forward on the shaking boards. ".... you'll give me a backrub, after, right?"

"Aww, babe." Only sheer force of will kept Kennedy from nuzzling at the back of Tara's neck right then. "I'll give you more than a-- careful, that part of the rope looks kinda bad."

"Which" -- And Tara was turning to ask, which was dumb, because it meant her hand came right down on the fraying bit Kennedy had been talking about. "Oh, it is."

She snatched her hand back and took another careful step. "I'm so glad I don't get seasick."

"Yeah, 'cause now would be the worst place ever to have to stop and throw up over the side." And wow, Kennedy wished she hadn't looked down right then. "You're doing amazing... I think we're almost there."

She hoped, especially after looking down. Hello, moment of holy crap long way down! There just looked like there was a two-board-wide gap between them and the next steady segment of bridge.

"If you talk about throwing up, I'm going to get all nauseated," Tara pointed out, and took another big step. "One more step. Right?"

"Okay, no more thr--" Oh yeah. Not looking down, not looking down...

Kennedy took a deep breath. "One more really careful step between you and that backrub, yup."

Tara closed her eyes so she wouldn't see the water and took that step. The firm ground felt glorious.

"I'm letting you down on three," she warned. "One, two...."

Kennedy was already hopping down on her own mental count of three, only to reach out to pull Tara into a proper hug. "What'd I tell you? Awesome. Oh god, I like solid ground, by the way."

"It is the best ever," Tara said, sprawling down on said solid ground after Kennedy got a nice, long hug. "Oh my god, I love you, but I am never carrying you that far again. Oof."

"But we did great."

Unconventional Tactics, Tuesday, Period 2

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