haolehothead | (no subject)

Danny's actually pretty proud of himself for this. Kate's got that gun of hers, but there's a lot of lessons Danny wants to review before she fires it. He wants her to study the medical side of it (wants her to do a CPR course, too, but one of those quick ones and not the lengthy version), and he wants her to understand the assembly of the gun. In addition to that, there's a lot of practical tasks that are associated with the weapon and he's bringing her to New Pemberley to go over one of them today.

"So, the family's not here," he warns. "But I may have contacted a friend, who's been sent ahead," he says, taking hold of one of the water guns he's borrowed from Alistair -- at this rate, it's a whole-island-wide production. "Your job, today, is to clear all the rooms of the house and find the bad guy, me, without me 'shooting' you, first. So, remember what I talked about. When you clear a room, back is always to the wall. You move swift and you follow the edges of the walls to the corner, always keeping your eyesight clear of any blockages. You announce the room as clear the minute you finish it. You move into the house, clearing all checkpoints and ensuring there are no exits behind you, otherwise you need to set down a little flag," he says, wiggling one of the orange flags in his hand, "and we'll pretend that's a uniform to hold down that exit point."

"If I squirt you where a flak-vest goes, you can keep going," he says, gesturing to her torso. "If I get you in the neck, leg, head, arm, or otherwise, then we start over. If you find me, you announce 'freeze' and do not shoot unless there is a clear and present danger of being shot on. Your goal is to find the hostage and get them out without being shot at. Clear?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

In that moment, so much of what Danny tells both of them sounds like the words of wisdom offered by members of the Order, and Hermione can only think of how she, Harry, and Ron had decided to go against the desires of some of the Order's members. Repeatedly, even. And Hermione's not sure that she'd behave any differently if given a second chance, because while she knows that the three of them probably could've lived safely for some time to come if they simply avoided the fray of the war, she would never have been able to live with herself, knowing that she gave anything but her all.

Strategy always plays into it, but necessity is such a gray line that Hermione isn't sure that she's able to walk it at all. When does it become necessary to step in? When is it reasonable to step in for the purpose of trying to save a life?

Her gaze skirts slightly to the side. It's not that simple, she thinks to herself.

"So if I'd brought a flag with me it would have been acceptable?" she asks, because it's sort of tough to practice with having backup when the only real back-up she has is the flags. She hadn't thought to bring one with her while chasing Danny down for that reason alone, but if that had made it okay, then she'll have to do it next time.

"Because, if I've got this right, you're basically saying that I chose to follow you and put myself in danger, which yeah, fine, I did. But if I'd brought back-up with me, because I already had back-up back there at the house, it'd be okay?" she asks. "Next time can my flags be real people?"

"If you'd brought three flags with you," Danny corrects. "One to watch the perimeter, one to keep an eye on your tail, and one to go for requested aid, if needed," he cites, as if he's back in the Academy. This is his bread and butter, the stuff he lives off and loves. He doesn't foresee ever getting tired of this. "You can go after the bad guy, but don't do it unprepared," he lectures.

"And yeah, maybe next time, we'll use real people." He's already thinking about the activity. "I'll have to recruit specific types, though."

"Okay, I— mm," Hermione sighs, pressing a hand to her lips as she glances over in Danny's direction, her gaze thoughtful. "As much as I love the idea of always having three people nearby as backup, or the idea that there would be three people at all to call and wait for, there may be situations in which we don't have that many people. The island's plucked us out of our everyday lives before and dropped us in the middle of dinosaur territory, how, I don't— I'm the last person who wants to go against the book, but I'm having a difficult time seeing how it's possible to always adhere to it, and I'm sure that people more passionate or who act on the spur of the moment could do with some guidelines, at least, some way of judging the risks before blowing them out of the water because the feel the need to do something."

"Yeah, doesn't the IPD require that you patrol with just one other person?" she asks. And at this point she isn't doing it just to push his buttons or make things tough on him, she's genuinely curious about this. "How's it possible to make sure there are three people with you when you're only sent out with one?"

She knows there are call boxes, but even those aren't everywhere.

"And that's where good instincts are gonna come in," Danny advises, offering Hermione a proud smile. "Look, would I love to say that I followed the book every single time? Yes, but, that's not true. I've gone on a limb, I've been hotheaded." He shoots them each a wry look. "No smart comments. I've been doing this for a long time and I know that I need to make sure someone's aware of my whereabouts and capable of enforcing what I'm doing. Nothing's ever going to be perfect, not ever. Instincts and judging the risks are key, they're critical. I just want you to realize that you need to be safe. You need to make sure you make the best possibly choices for your situation."

Breathing a small sigh of relief, Hermione nods at Danny's next words, shooting a small smile Kate's way. To be told that there are occasions when going against the rulebook is acceptable calms Hermione somehow, because she's never really known herself to learn well from a teacher who demands such an unbreakable amount of order. Hermione herself already struggles with the ability to know when to peel away from instructions, tending to err in the favor of sticking to the rule; she's pretty sure that she doesn't need any more pressure in that direction.

"I understand," she nods again, shifting until she stands closer to Kate's side, the smile on her lips slightly wider than before.