gotta get down for a mingle

[redactions]

Who: The crew of the SS Heron and visitors.
Broadcast: nope.
Action: Aboard the SS Heron.
When: After returning to the ship.

[ finally back on the right ship, except the corridors are all mysteriously cold and the ship seems smaller. Thanks, Atroma. New crew, visitors, starters in comments ]

Comments

[reconstitution]

As long as there's one, it won't stop.

[mucked]

So -- in your experienced opinion, Winter -- what would you say we battle here?

[ it's not as simple as toiling against the atroma, because there more like an overseeing power than an ideology. is it voyeurism? is it some bizarre twist on capitalism? she can't be certain. ]

[reconstitution]

They don't seem to like it being called a prison.. But they act like they're a benevolent force. Give us nice places to go-- or nice things-- after something bad happens.

[ He doesn't really know how else to explain, and he's not exactly experienced in this particular brand of crazy.. Anyone that happy all the time is up to something. ]

[mucked]

They pray we have short memories, then. Or that we're like children -- easily bought.

[reconstitution]

I think so. They want compliance, at least..

[mucked]

And they get it. For a given definition of the word, at least. [ she huffs and taps the back of her neck. ] I heard removing them isn't an option.

[reconstitution]

I haven't tried.

[ He honestly tries not to think about it at all, otherwise he may try to remove it. ]

[mucked]

Nor have I. Nor do I want to, really. [ ... ] I heard that someone did make the attempt, and that it didn't end well.

[reconstitution]

That isn't surprising from the people who put it there in the first place.

[mucked]

Tagged and bagged. [ a quasi-angry sigh. she's more pleasant with the others -- but something about winter's bluntness lets her let loose a little more. ] We're more than mere entertainment. We're big game.

[reconstitution]

They brought us here like it was nothing. There has to be a bigger motive than watching us.

[mucked]

Data-gathering. Experimentation. Conscription. [ she counts off a few of the most obvious alternatives. ]

[reconstitution]

They have the perfect set-up for controlled experiments.

[ Great, just what he needs more of. ]

[mucked]

Those -- those dreams, not so long ago. [ she frowns. ] I doubt they were accidents.

[reconstitution]

No, I doubt it.

[mucked]

[ invasive. betraying. all too informative. she doesn't like what was learned by way of such raw tactics, and it shows in how cloudy her expression remains.

gentler: ] I did want to...apologize.

[ it isn't that she feels her comportment had been rude or inappropriate, but it remains a sore point that she'd delved too deep into someone's mind in the first place. ] Some things are best divulged outside of...moments like those.

[reconstitution]

You're not taking advantage of it.. so it's fine.

[ Definitely unsettling, but there isn't anything that any of them can do about it now. It's done.

He's used to far worse invasions of mind and privacy, so her seeing a few memories really isn't the worst thing. No harm done. ]

[mucked]

All the same. [ a twitch -- a hollow smile. not that she considers her invasion anywhere near the depths of hydra's perfidy, but the guilt sticks in place. ] Hardly seems fair.

[reconstitution]

It wasn't fair to you, either. [ Not to any of them, really. ]

[mucked]

No, I suppose it wasn't. [ a very tight smile. the woman who tries so hard to always be right concedes a point to the winter soldier. ] Injustice all around.

[ a long beat, then: ] Winter, I don't mean to be indelicate. But. [ exhale. ] You must have heard about Captain Rogers and his arrival. I'm under no illusion that it would be kept from you.

[reconstitution]

I know he's here. We spoke briefly..

[ He pauses. ]

I wasn't sure at first that it was real. He showed up during the calibration.. I didn't see him at all on the Marsiva, so.. figured it had to have been in my head.


[ He knows better now, at least. ]

[mucked]

We met on the Marsiva. [ met again, more like. but she needn't bore the winter soldier with the more sordid details of their reunion. ] But, more pressingly, I want to talk to you about your...mission.

[ breath held. ]

[reconstitution]

..Is that what all of this is about?

[ He stiffens, studying Peggy's face carefully. He keeps his expression neutral, though there are quite a few words he's thinking. ]

My mission?

[mucked]

Hey -- hey, now. [ one raised hand, palm flat. she keeps an even tone. ] If that was all this visit was about, you can be damned certain I wouldn't come wearing heels. Or unarmed, for that matter. I don't want to be enemies, Winter. I --

[ against all her better judgement and all her self-proscribed caution upon her arrival, she'd come to care rather completely for the man standing in front of her. ] It's only right we talk about it, don't you think?

[ until now, she's only ever danced around it. but circumstances have changed. ]

[reconstitution]

[ He nods mutely, trying to piece a proper response together. ]

I jumped to conclusions, I was mistaken. [ Winter pauses, rubbing the back of his neck. ]

..I don't want to be enemies, either. I don't know what I can tell you.