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

[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.

[mucked]

All I ask to know are your feelings on the matter, Winter. [ slowly, she perches her hands on her hips. this stance is comfortable to her; it isn't made as a threat. ] What happens when you see him? When you think about him?

[reconstitution]

They ordered me to kill the only person I remembered and then made me forget him again.

[ He's not happy about the questions, but he's even less happy about the situation. Winter knows what he has to go back to if he leaves. He crosses his arms, looking back at her. ]

..I'm not going to do anything if that's what you're worried about.

[mucked]

[ a slow and solemn nod. ]

No -- I know. I'm not worried about that, per se. [ because if there had been any real risk of it, she can only imagine jim would have taken a firmer stance on the subject. not that anyone wants to see winter penned up like an animal. ] Consider instead that I may be concerned for you.

[ she remembers the academy she and the commandos investigated behind soviet lines. some dysfunction is bred into the bone -- and the damage lingers. that much is made obvious just by looking at dottie underwood's scarred wrist.

or looking into the winter soldier's eyes. ]

[reconstitution]

You don't need to be. I can take care of myself.

[ His response is immediate, a jerk reaction to the sentiment. Why be concerned about him? He's weathered enough that anything less than an army couldn't take him down without a fight.

It's still something he's coming to terms with- just because he can, doesn't mean that he doesn't have support. ]

[mucked]

Oh, I have no doubt you can. No doubt at all. [ ... ] Doesn't mean I won't feel concerned all the same.

[reconstitution]

No, I guess it wouldn't stop you from doing it anyway.

[mucked]

We functioned as a team. Once upon a time. [ the commandos -- and their s.s.r. liaison who made far more visits to the lines than was strictly necessary, to a point. ] I find it hard to shake that feeling -- and I'm not certain I want to.

[reconstitution]

Then I won't make you.

[ He doesn't think he has the heart to turn her away. ]

..You always did what you wanted, anyway.

[mucked]

[ how begrudging. but (ultimately) she is comfortable with his concession -- because they must make them for each other, being of the same timeline (she can assume) and sharing this fleet. sharing the people in it. ]

Maybe. Probably. But always, I hope, with good reason. [ ... ] And now I have people 'round me who can give me a polite and gentle nudge when it's otherwise.

[reconstitution]

[ He's certain he doesn't have a lot of history with Peggy, and it's a damn shame. He'd very much like for there to be more. They'll just have to create new history. ]

People like you. With good reason.

[mucked]

[ oh, bless him. ]

I wish it were always so. [ ... ] I'm not immune to making a bad call now and then.

[reconstitution]

..People make bad calls all the time.

[ Humans are fallible. ]

Why would you be any different? [ That's entirely too much pressure to put upon someone.. ]

[mucked]

Because -- because I...

[ she shakes her head. ] It's a rather long sort of story. I'm not convinced you ought to want to hear it.

[reconstitution]

Only if you want to share it.

[ It's an easy out for her if she does decide she would rather not, as well. ]

[mucked]

Well. First things first: I don't suppose you have some sort of makeshift chair for guests in your bivouac?

[reconstitution]

..The Captain is usually the only visitor. I'll look for better accommodations.

[mucked]

-- Hell, not necessary. [ a pleasant smile. she bends down by a metal trunk of cargo and drags it closer. ] Make do and mend, Winter. Make do and mend.

[reconstitution]

Yes, ma'am. Worse things have been weathered.

[ He nods, motioning for her to sit in the space and offers her a blanket from his stash. ]

[mucked]

[ she wraps the blanket around her shoulders like a cape. or, else, a cloak. she wraps it tightly, and thinks of cold french forests. she wraps it tightly and thinks of home: frosted london mornings and the walk to school. wool socks and skirts. ]

How long have you been with the fleet? [ it suddenly occurs to her that she's never asked. ]