onemorebounty | Going the Distance [for Verity, Jim]

*The elbow is met with a quiet grunt, the Hunter twisting her foot just enough to turn the instep kick from a serious injury to a minor bruise. The boops in lieu of follow-up strikes are accepted with a chuckle; Verity gets away with it this time because she's demonstrated in the past the ability to actually use those strikes when appropriate. Samus reacts appropriately, dropping back a few paces before renewing the chase. Jim wins no such respite, however, as she seizes on one of his remarks for her next advance.*

That's an interesting assumption, that your crew's lives will be at risk by default. You should tell Verity about the volcano thing, by the way, it's not a bad story.

No rest for the wicked. But the chuckle is a decided victory. Ver smirks to herself when she's free to get back to the running. With her head tilted slightly toward Jim, it would be easy to assume she's listening. But really, she's plotting. She matches Jim's pace until Samus starts to advance again. "I like stories."

Then she plants one foot firmly in the sand and throws her weight into a roundhouse kick that sweeps through the space behind her Samus was occupying a moment ago. Will it connect? Probably not the way she was hoping.

"Is it?" Jim responds, though he's not easing up his wariness at all, trying to keep an eye on Samus' movements. Just because she's not going after him physically doesn't mean she won't, and complacency makes for a tempting target. "Even if the Federation didn't have enemies, space travel is inherently risky. There's always a chance that something can go wrong, no matter how small."

"I like stories too," he adds, in reply to Verity's comment. "I just hadn't thought of it as being a good one. Or 'not bad.'" Still, that's not a refusal.

*Samus only gets a hint of what Verity's up to because she's behind them and can see the planted foot and shifted weight. It's a very good roundhouse.*

Oop!

*She's glad she started their run on a beach, as it makes it a little bit easier to drop to her knees and arch back, sliding under Verity's kick and under Verity, springing to her feet ahead and turning to await her pupil's turn, a hand poised to deliver an answering nose-boop. Boop fu has been invoked, and it shall be met.*

There's always a chance, but would every captain make the choices you do, take the risks you do?

If Verity were attacking the air, she'd be doing very well, because that's about all she ever hits. She's a natural. Alas, her actual target goes sliding right under her and she has to scramble to find her footing again before the counterattack. Boop fu or not, she'd get in trouble for not taking this seriously.

Scrunch-nosed from the boop, her attention flickers briefly to Jim before she focuses on Samus again. Rocking back on her heels, she looks like she's planning to retreat; a last-minute shift throws her weight forward and she barrels into Samus instead, trying to drive her down. Pinning her will be the more difficult part, being so much smaller.

It's a little weird, carrying on a conversation while his running partners are otherwise occupied, but Jim is quickly adapting to it. If he weren't focused on the pointed questions and the accompanying guilt they're bringing up, he might even find it a little amusing that Samus has chosen - quite skillfully, at that - to fight a battle on two entirely different fronts at the same time.

At the moment, of course, he's quite otherwise occupied. "No, of course not. No two captains would make all the same decisions."

*The tackle actually surprises Samus a little--enough that the impact knocks a pleased laugh out of her. She rolls with it, falling back and taking control of the momentum, tucking and rolling until she's back on top and can take advantage of her longer limbs and greater strength.*

Good, Verity, very good! You caught me off guard, there. Is this performance because I let you skip the weights, or because we have an audience?

*Jim may have had to wait a moment for it, but a response is coming his way as well.*

Then what makes you a better choice than someone else who might fill the same place?

Ending up in exactly the last place she wants to be in this fight is doing good? Samus is so confusing sometimes. It's a familiar position, the confusion and the being pinned. Let's see, what attempt to escape should she try this time?

"Oh, you know me, boy-crazy and needing to show off," she deadpans. No offense, Jim, but she's a married woman.

But it gives her an idea... maybe while Samus is distracted with the questioning, Verity can get her hands on one of the many weapons Samus usually has hidden? Not that she's going to use it, but just getting it should be a win...

Jim certainly isn't offended by any of that. While he does think that Verity's good-looking, and while people in his century aren't necessarily monogamous by default, he knows enough now not to hit on people unless they signal they're available. Avoids a lot more diplomatic incidents that way.

That aside, Samus' questions are certainly prying deep into his doubts and fears, as they're no doubt designed to do. He's been asking himself similar questions ever since he got a good portion of his crew killed during their last mission, and he doesn't answer right away as he struggles to come up with an answer to that, one that he'll actually believe himself.

He can't cite his track record, only one year long and now tarnished with the biggest failure of his career thus far. He can't claim experience, or confidence, or anything so unscientific and nebulous as destiny, no matter what future Spock said.

"I don't know," he admits at last. "I've been asking myself the same question for weeks."

If that's it, I'll have to invite him more often.

*Samus might be putting just a little too much of her focus on Jim at the moment, studying subtle cues of inflection and body language for some of the insights that seem like mind reading; with Verity pinned, she's making the classic mistake of underestimating her. If Verity's quick, and chooses well which weapon to go for, she could score that point she's after.*

Why am I asking you these questions, Jim? Why am I striking at your insecurities like this?

Verity was caught up in a diplomatic incident once. It wasn't as much fun as you'd expect. Latveria's on exactly nobody's bucket list for a reason.

"Oh, please do." Yes, please, Samus should definitely keep inviting someone who distracts her. Verity will not complain about that... until she learns the price of victory. But for now, she's shifting, twisting, reaching... and claiming a flimsiknife from around Samus' wrist. There's a soft pop when she snaps it open. Surprise!

Jim decides he's not going to comment on their friendly taunting, even though it's about himself. It seems the wiser move to make at the moment, and he's got enough on his plate as it is.

This question, at least, is one that doesn't require quite as much soul-searching to answer. "If I don't know what I'm doing or why I'm really on the bridge, I can't be an effective captain."

*The flimsiknives Samus wears on her wrist are easy to overlook--clear plastic, they're essentially weaponized slap-wraps (remember the '80s, kids?) that practically vanish against the background of her vacsuit. Verity knows Samus' arsenal, though, and the pop of a flimsiknife straightening pulls her attention back to her pupil in an instant.*

Oh, you little... well done.

*She lifts her hands from where they'd been pinning Verity's shoulders, spreads her fingers in a gesture of surrender, then rocks back on her heels and stands, reaching down to offer Verity a hand up.*

That's half the reason, Jim. The other half is that other people are going to ask the same questions when they're trying to argue you shouldn't be there. If you know their plays, then you know how to beat them. Just look at Verity, here: knowledge is power.

Wait.

That worked? Holy...

Verity practically lights up at the praise. The memory of this moment will be treasured. She doesn't move to press her advantage when Samus releases her, waiting until her teacher is standing to offer the flimsiknife back. Then she'll take that hand up, trusting it won't be used against her later.

She brushes sand off her clothes while the others talk, then adds a quiet comment learned through bitter experience: "If you don't deal with your issues now, you'll be forced to on someone else's schedule."

Bitter experience all around, it seems. Jim isn't spared from it either, and he looks away for a moment. "I know. If you'd asked me that a few months ago, I would've had an answer, and it would've been wrong anyway. I've made mistakes and I'm learning from them, and I don't intend to make those same mistakes again. But I am still the youngest captain in the fleet, and my decisions have resulted in casualties." His self-confidence has been pretty badly dented, ever since he woke up in the hospital and had the time to realize what exactly had happened. And while he's better now, Samus has a talent for sliding a verbal knife right into the heart of the problem.

((Sorry for the long wait on a reply, work has been kicking me somewhat soundly.))

*The flimsiknife is accepted, and returned with a tap to its hiding place on the Hunter's wrist, before she indicates with a tilt of her head that they really ought to get back to running.*

Your decisions also prevented a war. Does your Starfleet teach you about cold equations?

Everyone has bitter experiences. It's what makes the sweet ones so sweet.

Verity settles back into the pace they'd been running at before, keeping an eye on Samus and an ear on the conversation. The victory, however hard-won, will likely be fleeting and she doesn't want to make the mistake of assuming she can relax. Something Jim said does distract her briefly while she tries to work out the logic behind it. When she can't, she asks softly, "Would it be easier to cause casualties if you were older?"

"No. But a more experienced captain might know better than to make those mistakes in the first place." His youth and subsequent inexperience have been the focus of most of the criticism regarding his captaincy, and he can't help but wonder if it's justified.

When Samus asks her question, Jim's expression immediately closes off, and he involuntarily tenses like he's preparing for a fight. A fight he wouldn't stand a chance of winning, but reflex doesn't care about that. "They do." His answer is short, his tone flat. He's been badly burned by this topic before, a long time ago.

*Samus sizes Verity up as they run. She's keeping cautious, not letting one victory go to her head and make her careless. Good. Admittedly, that wouldn't be much like Verity, but it's always good to check. She's also pleased to see she can count on her pupil for incisive commentary at the right moment. For now she pulses her stride, pulling ahead and dropping back, angling back and forth across their trail, maneuvering in search of an unguarded moment.*

*As for Jim--ah, Jim is an open book, even if she hasn't read the early chapters and so lacks a little bit of context for the current page. Still, his tension is obvious to the point of being palpable. He's expecting a fight on this point; she wonders how he'll handle what she has in mind.*

Balance the casualties from your recent action against the war you were ordered to go start.

Every time Samus drops back, Verity tenses slightly. Just in case this is the time she does something. Her pace remains even otherwise. She glances over at Jim when he answers her, and listens to his continuing back-and-forth with Samus before commenting again. There's a big part of the story she's missing.

"And older captain may have become so used to following orders, they wouldn't have questioned the ones you did to stop the war," she points out. "Or they may have seen so many people die over the years they didn't care as much as they should anymore."

Jim knows that Verity's missing some of the pieces, that this conversation surely isn't making complete sense, but he's nowhere near in the right headspace to think about explaining. It may have been a few months ago that this all went down, but Jim's only had a handful of weeks to process the true extent of the destruction, most of it kept from him while he was recovering in the hospital.

He's silent for a long, long moment. "If we'd started the war, there could've been millions if not billions dead, not thousands," Jim says at last, fighting to keep his voice calm. Even if he sees the logic in it, he can't see the deaths of thousands of people as something that he should be okay with.

*Samus fights her battles on many fronts, and in many forms. She knows from experience that talking about a trauma can help, and that Verity makes a good, sensible listener, and she hasn't missed the signs of acquaintance-possibly-friendship between them. A few hints dropped in the natural course of a conversation, and Jim may feel the need to fill in the rest of the picture at some later date. Because even her words are weapons, deployed to steer her targets toward her goals.*

That's the burden of responsibility--not choosing the good option, but sorting between bad options and choosing the least-worst. Verity makes a good point, that your youth, flexibility, and idealism are assets. For my part, I suspect you were given those orders because the man giving them assumed you were a hot-headed idiot who lucked into a command by default, or lack of alternatives. You probably have a lot of critics who think that, hmm? Good.

*Samus has been watching Verity as she circles. Her student is wary, and she's pleased. She needs to throw in something unexpected, and as she pulls ahead again, she decides. Abruptly she turns, rising into a scything kick at head height. She's given herself just enough room to miss Verity, and for Verity to have a chance at recognizing Jim is this strike's target. (She can pull the kick if she needs to, but she has a great deal of confidence in her student.)*

Verity's had her share of trauma to talk out. And Jim seems like a good person, worth knowing better. Scars are maps of memories. If he never wants to talk to her about it, she'll listen and do her best to help.

Any comments Ver might have added at this point are forgotten. Jim will have a chance to see why she trains so hard and learn a fair bit about her: she doesn't especially love the training and doesn't seem to have much interest in the fighting, but when someone else is the target she doesn't hesitate. Ver tackles Samus, not as cautious now and not trying to be clever, focused only on keeping the innocent bystander out of harm's way.

It takes him a moment before he realizes that strike was meant for him, though he still flinches at the nearness of the kick before it truly registers, already on edge from the topic at hand. Fortunate for him that Verity's paying attention.

Jim doesn't bother to insist that his path hadn't been the 'least-worst.' Samus knows that already; they've already done an extensive post-mortem on the worst of his mistakes, and there's little point retreading old ground. "Yeah, they do," he answers instead.

*There are limits even to Samus' grace. She can dodge and avoid with the best of them, but tackled midway through a kick, she's still going down. The air forced out of her as she hits the ground sounds a little like a laugh, and she gives Verity an approving double-pat (both benediction and signal that they don't need to fight any further).*

Nice reflexes, solid strike. That was very well done.

*Looking up to Jim, she returns to her earlier point.*

As I said: good. Everyone who underestimates you because of your youth is doing you a favor. They're handing you a weapon that's already inside their heads.

*Here comes a lesson that Verity has heard a thousand times by now.*

Everything is a weapon; your body, your surroundings, even the ideas in other people's heads. Learn how to use them, and you will never be unarmed. So: your critics think you're young, brash, thoughtless. How do you use that?

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