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]

Yes, thanks. [ but she at least busies herself with some moderate clean-up. standing (stiffly) from the table and collecting both their plates. ] And a piece for Howard's son, as well, if you don't mind. I could use a means of ingratiating myself with him.

[redactions]

Hm, if he's anything like the one I know, homemade pie won't do it. I'll get ya somethin', don't worry. [ a beat. ] You're prob'ly not gonna like the smell, just sayin'.

[mucked]

-- Dare I ask what?

[redactions]

A grilled cheeseburger. Nearest I can approximate.

[mucked]

[ bugger, but he knows her too well. the simple thought makes her nose twitch with anticipated disgust. ] Burgers -- oh, blimey. What a perfectly horrid way to ruin a good piece of beef.

[redactions]

[ He snorts, close to laughter. ]

Wait til you hear his music. If it can even be called that.

[mucked]

If the future can be changed, that ought to settle somewhere nearish the top of the list: encourage Howard not to raise his son like some sort of barbarian.

[ she doesn't dislike tony -- not really. but at least howard had possessed a sensible charm and courtesy instilled in him by his decade. ]

[redactions]

Sorry, I'm kinda busy coolin' my heels for that one.

[ He smiles, a little helplessly. ]

[mucked]

A burden for my own shoulders, then. [ a huff. a sigh. a roll of her eyes. ] Right after I slug him for five or six other offences. He...

[ it almost tumbled out -- naturally, easily. but she reins herself in. ] Sorry. Shop-talk. Not always welcome, and decades in the dust for you -- now.

[redactions]

Doesn't mean I won't listen to a friend.

[ Open-ended, for her to talk about if she wants. ]

[mucked]

[ alright. she'll pick up the opportunity.

she turns away from the sink, still-sudsy dishes left half-scrubbed. peggy leans her palms on the counter's edge and stands -- like a statue in a hauntingly domestic pose. ]

What's worse, Jim? An intentional security leak -- a mole, or sorts -- or an unwitting one?

[redactions]

[ He doesn't even need to ponder. ]

The intentional one, but I get the feeling this ain't that black and white.

[mucked]

The intentional leak -- we can punish this chap. We can leave him out in the cold, so to speak. [ or worse. likely enough, she means worse. ] But the unwitting fool! Well, we can punish him too. Demotion, or we cut him loose. Find him a cushy desk job far from anything of any importance.

And then there's Howard Stark. He doesn't work for us -- can't fire him. But the bastard's got whole vault of toys and tricks that can cause an awful lot of havoc if he gets...foolish.

[ breathes in. breathes out. she cares very much for howard, in the end. friendship takes her across a great many bridges, and she came too close to burning that one. but she isn't so blinded by her affection to realize that (in practical terms) his poor judgement with 'dottie' is barely a step above being the traitor the s.s.r. so desperately wanted him to be. ]

[redactions]

Not good news in a Cold War. [ he runs a hand through his hair lightly ] You won't have to worry about it for very long, though, you fix that.

[ Howard works for SHIELD, where she can keep an eye on him. Probably half the reason he sticks around there. ]

[mucked]

So it's not all fumbles and mistakes, is it? [ the quirk of her mouth suggests she's (mostly) joking. ]

[redactions]

[ The ghost of a don't do this crosses his face. ]

You're human, you know. So wa — is — he. Don't forget that.

[mucked]

[ -- something in her expression slips. a crack, briefly lining her face before she resumes control. it's not about the blame; that's hers to carry, and his to question. it's about the grammar of it all. she isn't surprised by the past tense -- after all, her last round with tony stark had been illuminating indeed.

but it doesn't mean she can't still feel sorrow over the reminder. ]

He fell prey to a honeypot. [ she puffs her cheeks and marches onward. ] Soviet. Impeccably trained. Frightening, really. And I can't trust him not to fall for the damned same thing a second, third, or fourth bloody time.

[redactions]

[ There's a moment of tense silence. A Black Widow. Must be. Has Natasha mentioned her codename? He thinks not. ]

Who's t'say you're not going to be on the business end of a few sniper rifles? It's the game.

[ Steve wouldn't call it a game, but Jim knows: it's the deadliest one. ]

Least he'll know to be on the lookout now, and so will you. [ his mouth twitches ] Lot more where that came from.

[mucked]

[ her thoughts are still on the classroom -- on the dorm, with girls handcuffed to their beds. peggy has already made a broad link between that sort of programming and winter's brainwashing. the technology involved makes no difference; they're both as bloody wrong as the other.

dottie had been a dab hand with a sniper rifle, too. but she doesn't bring it up. instead:]

One last thing. [ her jaw works left and right. she shouldn't ask -- but if she tries to ask steve, he'll shoot her down. bucky, maybe... ] You talk about cooling your heels. You talk about being on ice. You don't mention where...

[ because if one thing can be changed, then perhaps... ]

[redactions]

[ Perhaps that one thing is Steve being found in her world, and Steve and her getting the life they deserve. Jim doesn't even hesitate. He scribbles latitude and longitude on a piece of paper and hands it to her. ]

Don't tell Steve. The other me, you can look for later. He'd agree.

[mucked]

[ she holds the paper between her fingertips. and she's ashamed to see it tremble -- it's a selfish request, but it's one she doesn't make lightly. peggy puts a crisp fold in the paper. she pockets it, and vows to herself that it is (at most) an insurance policy against the darkness. if the pressures of this new shield become too overwhelming, and she's forced to question her place at its head, then she'll have something she can trust in her back pocket. coordinated to be memorized.

a slow nod. ] Luckily, keeping secrets is a specialty of mine.

[ even with steve. ]

[redactions]

[ He moves towards her, his flesh hand curling lightly over her wrist. Soft, ]

You've waited long enough.

[mucked]

[ she swallows the greater portion of her emotion. and she doesn't pull away from her friend's touch -- these are the moments that keep her grounded, and which remind her of the stakes. the scale of it all.

peggy appreciates how she's never had to say the words out loud. jim already knows how fibre-deep her feelings have become for captain rogers. ]

Not as long as he has. [ she shakes her head. ] And then -- God, here he is.

[redactions]

[ Still soft, ]

You doin' all right?

[mucked]

I've been worse. [ and she can't precisely say she's been 'better'. that, there, is the rub. why should this place offer her so much when its premise is so rotten? ] I thought I was seeing things...back on the Marsiva. I want to say he hasn't changed a bit, but --

That's my sentimentality talking. And not my pragmatism.

[ there must be a change somewhere beneath all that familiarity. look at bucky; look how he's different. ]