driftfleet | did somebody say mingle

Yes'm.

[ That didn't take long at all, did it? His eyes twinkle, as he gets two tumblers and measures a finger for her, and one for himself. ]

Sorry we don't have proper glasses.

[ They are in space. ]

Cheers.

[ it's not dignified to suggest that even a battered canteen would do, and so she doesn't. best leave well enough alone: if he's anything like the barnes she'd once known, then he'd know how little the cups mattered. and yet (for good show) she crinkled her nose as she raised the tumbler. ]

Here's to 'make do and mend', no matter where we find ourselves.

[ space. the western front. a london tube station during the blitz. what a frightfully useful saying for all occasions and for every toast. ]

[ They could be drinking out of shoes (not that he would), yet some part of him is still subtly tense. To all appearances she's Peggy, but he's no longer the same man, just as he no longer was the man Steve remembered, in the War. Never the same, after Azzano. ]

Been a while since I heard that.

[ Comforting, if the cold around him could be pierced by such a small, perfect thing as an old toast. ]

Somebody shooting at us, and it'll be just like old times, huh?

Yes. I rather suppose it has -- [ been a while. she knocks back the first long sip and feels first the burn of the booze and next the fresh tingle of citrus. like a hard sugary fire with a tropical twist. her exhaled breath carries notes of masked delight. mild enjoyment. ]

But let's not say too much that might bring fate crashing down on our heads. [ to invoke gunfire is a lot like welcoming it. ] Tell me instead about your crew, Captain.

[ His eyes crinkle at the corners, amused both by her preamble and pleased by the fact that she enjoys her first taste of space scotch. ]

My crew, or one in particular?

All of them. Their names, at least. [ her answer is prompt. circumspect. ] And then the one in particular.

[ He tilts his glass towards her, in a cheery gesture. ]

There's six of us, including me. I'm the engineer, Michael's on security; Vima Sunrider's the pilot, Leanne is on tactical support, and Hinata Shouyou on maintenance. The other Barnes is lab support. S'a pretty well-equipped ship; we just lack a comms officer.

[ It's not an invitation. Peggy will go where she's needed and no less. ]

He's been here about two months. There's marked improvement, all things considered.

[ not an invitation, no. but she can't help but hear the absence of precisely what she can provide. the thought sits heavy in her mind for a moment. once upon a time she might have leaped at the opportunity. but now...

well, that's a conundrum for another day. let's start small: ] We spoke. Him and I. I can't decide whether it's a blessing or a curse that he doesn't remember.

[ remember me. ]

[ The absence of what she provided once, with her steady friendship and steadier shot. Now don't get him wrong, he's hardly one to dwell on what's been lost, but in the future... he can't trust the STRIKE team like he trusts the Commandos. Rumlow's all right — Jim holds himself apart from the others. Call it Natasha rubbing off on him, but there's better people to spend his time with than the ones who he has to see at work. But maybe — one of these days, he'll have the courage to take them up on the standing pool invitation. ]

Yeah, it [ he pauses, looking for the words ] whatever you said, it did him good.

[ Keep doing it; she will. ]

There's some kinda... programming. I don't know. Whoever did that number on him — they did a damn good job wiping everything away. I've told him about Steve; he likes listening, but [ gesturing ] nothing.

[ He scrubs a hand down his face. ]

There's a way, Pegs, we gotta find it.

[ there it is again: pegs. she lets her attention sink into her scotch -- but doesn't dare ask him not to call her that. it bears a familiarity long buried, and one he might have once had every right to claim. but now? now she feels so far away from pegs. a younger woman with younger dreams. what a difference a few years makes. ]

Hypnosis, perhaps. [ an unhappy look. she swallows another mouthful of drink. ] I've seen something like. Well, not quite like it. What I saw hadn't erased so much of a person.

[ but then she thought about dottie, as well. or whatever her true name might be. whatever had been done to those girls had erased their foundations so that any number of new ones might be applied on the surface. something in between that and leviathan's hypnosis. that's what the winter soldier made her think. ]

[ It speaks to his desperation for familiarity that he doesn't even notice that minute detail, where before he prided himself on picking up. ]

Like how?

[ His jaw sets with worry, and he leans forward, hanging on her every word. The only person he's been able to ask is Natasha and well, he hasn't, figuring he's pushed at her enough without asking for her history to be laid bare for some audience. ]

-- Does the name Leviathan mean anything to you, James?

[ she nearly chokes upon the familiarity -- but she feels she owes him something for his hospitality. ]

[ James. Not Barnes, which usually had a clip of irritation to it, or the insistence upon distance in the professional arena. And thank God, not Bucky. He doesn't think he can stand being called Bucky, after all these years. That man fell with Steve. ]

Sounds familiar — I think I read record of a prisoner transport; nothing more than that.

[ He hasn't finished catching up on everything that led to the Cold War; some records got lost. They know why now, of course, it's HYDRA's doing: obscuring the truth. ]

What've they got to do with this?

Only that they've proven themselves a thorn in my side for the last little while. [ pursed lips. her face reveals distaste -- and for a moment, the scotch is forgotten. but otherwise she meets barnes with utter honesty. ] I watched as a good man -- an SSR chief -- was compelled to ruination through Leviathan's tricks. Mind control. Hypnotism. The Leviathan snake nearly ended Howard Stark, too.

Nearly ended all of Manhattan.

[ He frowns; the full reaction will hit him in a moment, but for now, he quickly compartmentalises. ]

Is there any reason you'd want this highly classified? I didn't read it anywhere.

[ If she would, a yes is all he needs. He trusts her judgement. ]

[ highly classified. peggy quirks her head at the implication -- still living in the aftermath of dooley's death, it's hard to say what might someday prompt such a decision.

she sucks in her breath. ] It wasn't our finest hour. I'll grant that. But embarrassment isn't the best excuse for redaction. [ ... ] Though I don't see where my wants enter into the equation.

[ after all, she still sees herself as something of a desk-jockey. or, rather, the agency does. ]

[ That's — weird, even if SHIELD doesn't exist yet. ]

... Why not? You served same s'us.

[ It's terribly, unnecessarily blunt, naive in only the way he is: having a vague idea of her situation and assuming something changed after the war. She rose up to head SHIELD, didn't she? They had to have been listening to her. Someone did, at least. ]

I did, yes. God knows I did.

[ softly, she concedes. and she does not complain about that which she endured: the ignominy and marginalization at the ssr offices. perhaps if he thinks about it long enough, barnes will come to the conclusion all upon his own.

after all, she isn't the sort to make a grand to-do about her own burdens. instead, she takes another stiff drink of scotch. ]

But that report's security level wouldn't have been my call to make.

[ He's missing something. It's sitting on the tip of his tongue. ]

All right.

[ It'll niggle at him until he figures it out, but for now he's willing to accept that an agent involved might not have the same input. After all, this grows up to be something run by Nick Fury, and Peggy would've had a say in that matter. She might've been a soldier once, but she's a spy first. ]

[ But maybe in the end, HYDRA is what destroys it, and not anything she said or did. ]

So the hypnosis — it didn't erase his memory, did it?

Edited (html my nemesis) 2015-09-19 01:46 (UTC)

No. Not really. Nor did it have the opportunity, if I'm honest. [ ... ] Chief Dooley died as a direct result of the mental tampering. And as for Stark, well --

[ a mild shrug. she doesn't really want to talk about the painful process of talking him down from from the air. so, instead, she deflects: ] Bloody hell, did you know his son is here?

[ His expression turns sympathetic. You prepare for loss, on the battlefield, but it never gets simpler to lose someone. He appreciates bullets to the head: at least that's quick, and the only mercy some men get. ]

Tony? Yeah. I know him.

[ Guess Howard found his right partner. ]

Chip off the old block, isn't he?

Remarkable, really. The voice is different. And so are the words. But the damned tone remains the same.

[ she harbours a great many reasons to go frigid on the thought of howard stark, but it's hard not to feel some manner or shape of friendship. and an odd course of warmth had hit her bloodstream the moment she'd met tony -- the very inkling of a protective streak. as though she owes howard at least that much. ]

And if he's half as smart as his father? Well -- [ she doesn't finish the sentence, but instead merely marvels for what that might mean for the future of stark industries. ]

[ A crooked smile. ]

You don't gotta tell me. Have you met Vision?

Is -- is that a person? [ no, she hadn't. but 'vision' seems like an odd name. perhaps barnes is actually speaking of a ship. ]

[ that's actually a very good question. ]

Ah — I think so? He's an android of some kind. Tony and Dr. Banner built him. I haven't met him in my timeline yet, but he's around here.

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