driftfleet | [snuggle up real close everyone]

[It was totally before this then. Sure.]

Wiiiiinn~ [Smiling because he's ridiculous.]

[ you don't understand, kitty, it's hilarious. he's the biggest wimp, and everyone in his life is a hero. three of the most important people in his life - are badass lady superheroes whose name starts with k, even. that is weirdly specific.

why do any of you keep him around? ok, laughter may be subsiding now, because you know, that thought'll do it. he wipes at his eyes as the laughter dies down. ]

Sorry, sorry, it's really early - or really late - or really something - we were being serious - [ clearing his throat. time to think of serious thoughts to get himself back under control. but mild serious thoughts. nothing too depressing. like. like... ] broken sewing machine. boring planets. Vanilla Sky. [ that might be pushing it a little, rein it back. he lets out a slow breath. ] OK. Got it. [ he's done laughing, he thinks. he pulls himself back. ]

I know. You're a hero, it's what heroes do. And I'm a person who befriends heroes, and fell in love with one. Worrying's what I do. [ he wants to be a hero too, but he hasn't changed that much. what can he do? he'd just get in the way. ]

Just one? [Because she kind of thought you'd maybe been in love with Kara even if it wasn't returned.] No, I didn't ask that.

Vanilla sky? [This is a much better question.]

[ yes, yes he has been. and if she changed her mind about him now, honestly he would be horribly torn. which is why he's not talking about that. leaving it alone feels like the easiest way to let it die.

there is an uncomfortable beat of silence before he jumps on her other question. ]

Weird movie.

[Even though she said she didn't ask, she's pretty sure he would have told her if the answer was, "yes, just you." It's okay. She doesn't fault the man for being in love before her. She'd been in love before him. Part of her still was...

Kitty has definitely wondered and worried over the possibility of Kara waking up one day with memories of home that tell her she ended up in love with Winn after all. Hell, she's even lightly considered her realizing it her in the fleet. That might have been part of why she was okay with Kara and Hank when there was a Kara and Hank to consider.]

Weird movie that does not make you feel like laughing, right?

[ for winn, it's not a concern. he always suspected that kara would never see him as more than a friend - it's why he had to be pushed so hard past his limits to be able to bring it up with her in the first place. her reaction proved him right, and that was that. the end. it's the only reason he can let it go this way without feeling bad - those feeling will be left to die, they'll never come up, they'll never have a chance to hurt kitty. and she's definitely helping him hammer in their coffin. ]

Might even make me tear up with sheer frustration.

[ he nods ]

A little Winn-cheatsheet for you.

[She kisses him.] Winn... [Voice trailing off before she decides she needs to continue.] There's something I should have told you before now. I didn't want you to worry and I know you're going to worry, but it's not my job to stop that, right? My job is to communicate and reassure and love.

[ oh god. how can there still be things they should have told each other before? his heart is already sinking, and he tries to take in a soothing breath as discreetly as possible. ]

Right. [ he seeks out her hand to give it a little squeeze. ] Tell me?

[ if he hasn't succumbed to depression and or a heart attack from her stories yet - he can take one more. can't be worse than her dying. nothing could be worse than that. ]

There's a guy on the Blameless named The Stalker. Yes, that's his actual name somehow. He's an assassin. [Which begs the question why isn't his name The Assassin?] And he wants to kill a member of my crew—Tenno. Apparently, he isn't above hurting other people on the way to him.

We have facial recognition software protocols running for any shuttles trying to dock. But you're here a lot so you should have been warned. I'm sorry.

-- on the Blameless?

[ you mean that ship where most of his friends are? ]

Does Kate know? [ does hank? does sara? does cisco? ] What has he tried? I wanna take a look at your software. [ work mode is on a 100000000%

it's funny. for a self proclaimed coward, he's not particularly worried about his own safety at the moment. ]

They should all know now, but initially I didn't want to just call them since he's their communications officer, so I was telling people as I could make arrangements to see them in person. Hank and Leto knew first. I was trying to set up telling Kate, but it's more in the open now. Wrath made a call to their ship about him after he called us to warn us about the murderer on board.

[ he supposes he should at least be grateful his name isn't winslow schott. gotta hang onto the small graces. ]

If he's got network know-how - you're gonna need sick firewalls. And thanks to Cisco's phone - I should be able to hook you up.

[He actually seems more okay with things than she expected. Just jumping in to find solutions.] Vision and Kurt have been working on our set up. I checked some of it over [but obviously she has some augment-less issues in both areas though the piloting augment has some overlap and she has her natural instincts.] but I'm sure they wouldn't mind your input. [Vision doesn't seem like the ego type and Kurt, well, he's learning when it comes to this area so hopeful he won't mind.]

He doesn't have any powers without his exoskeleton and we have no evidence that he has that. Without it he only has his systems information and skills. But he seems like...a zealot. [And they are dangerous because they can't be reasoned with.]

[ when there's time to sit and postulate he can get very scared. but when it's time to act? especially if it's behind a keyboard? get out of his way. ]

Walk me through everything that's happened so far. Everything you know.

Tenno and Ordis transferred on board the same time Kurt did. [About a month ago? More?] They're from the same world. Ordis is actually a ship's intelligence that the Atroma put in a humanoid form which is...weird. I really haven't talked to either of the much. Tenno was the one Wrath called cute. [You remember.] He's the one marked for assassination. Not too long after that The Stalker arrived and we had a ship-wide meeting about him. That's where I found out about his strengths and weaknesses [because that's what she asked about] I started working on setting up meetings with people I knew well on the Blameless after that. [She didn't hear about Tenno and The Stalker running into each other at the masquerade] Then really recently The Stalker called and...

[She reaches over for her communicator and scrolls through before just handing it over.] Then Kurt set up a private call just to the Blameless and I'm not sure exactly what Wrath said but she was not happy.

[ after watching through everything quietly with a serious expression, he rolls to the side, and picks up the phone cisco made for him, before getting up. ]

Let's take this baby for a spin.

[ tracking. malware. turning his communicator into a remotely activated stun gun - ideas come and stay and build one on top of the other with every passing second. they don't know the truth of what happened in that world - but they do know which side is instigating violence here, and that's the side that needs to be stopped.

he may be useless in a fight, but this is where he's at his most useful. he may not get along well with the network, but if he can work on the phone and have kurt and vision help him upload and sync his creations with the network -- they're in business. ]

[She gets up too, but instead of going with him to...somewhere. Wherever he's thinking. She reaches out to to rest hands on his waist since his hands are occupied.]

Hey. [Softly.] Where are you right now?

The Zone.

[ all he needs are some energy drinks and some junk food, and this'll start feeling like home. a part of him wants to pull away - they don't have time for this! if that guy is a communications officer he could be doing god knows what to their system as they speak - if he has the kind of knowledge winn does and mastery of the network - it could be disastrous. ]

I may be useless against a werewolf, but this? Is what I can't walk away from.

[ she has to jump in to save people in trouble in real life, and he has to do it virtually. especially when these people are his girlfriend and his friends - most of his friends are on board with this nutjob. a way to stun him in case he decides that taking them hostage to try to force tenno to turn himself in is the way to go? yeah, it sounds like a great idea to him about now! he just got a brother, no crazy stalker assassin is taking him away from him! ]

[She looks thoughtful and doesn't respond right away. It might be driving such a driven Winn a little crazy, but eventually she nods.] I can understand that. I'll help. Just stay with me? [Don't get too carried away or lose yourself.]

[ he's not understanding her hesitation at all, and it really is a little maddening to him. ]

I just need a terminal for this, I'm not going off-board - [ is he taking her request way too literally? yes, yes he is. he's in the zone, his brain isn't focusing on anything but what it currently has to do - and the hour and emotional exhaustion of everything that's happened tonight aren't helping him focus. ]

Not what I mean. [Already feeling the disconnect here and it's disheartening enough for reasons she can't even explain to herself that she doesn't try to explain. She steps back.] Do what you need to do.

[ an alarm goes off somewhere in his head, letting him know that something is wrong here, that he should ask, that he should hold her. but unfortunately, it's drowned by the constant buzzing of ideas in his head.

groping for his shoes in the dark, he pulls them on. ]

When they wake up, send Kurt and Vision my way. I haven't tried anything this large-scale yet, but there's no reason this baby shouldn't be up for the task, [ giving the phone an appreciative squeeze. cisco really did a great job on it. ] don't worry. This guy won't know what hit him.

[ this is his domain. ]

I'm not worried about him. [Just Winn at the moment.] I'll let them know.

[ straightening up once his shoes are on, he gives her a quick kiss. ]

Thanks, I'll just be - [ you know. messing with a terminal. and off he goes.

he hasn't had a chance to stretch his hacking skills in way too long, and the first chance he gets the stakes are high...he's got full on tunnel vision right now. ]

[She sits back on the bed once he's left.] Gone. And I'll be alone. [She can appreciate emergency situations, but working on them separately instead of as a team? That doesn't feel good to her. She's tempted to slide through the wall and just rest next to Kurt until morning.]

[snuggle up real close everyone]

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/decides to just make this thread REALLY recent now... >_> TIME!

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