driftfleet | Try Catching Flootemon with your Communicator!

There was a really shitty radio commentary once, but she went on to become a supervillain so I'm gonna go ahead and say she doesn't count. Ms. Grant - that's my boss, she runs this massive media empire - is pretty protective of her image, so anything cheap doesn't really fly.

...She's safe-guarded by the media? [ it's not that it's surprising, really. but: ] What about the military? Have they got any investment in your...Supergirl?

Uh... [ he's not sure how much he should be saying. kara's not hiding anymore but exposing the deo is something else entirely. ]

She works with the government sometimes, I mean - she definitely doesn't work against it, you know? Unless...the government will go and do something nefarious which they - totally could because politicians aren't really the most trustworthy people out there, you know? I mean, just a little while ago there was this huge scandal about this senator making a bundle over covering up toxic waste dumps - [ winn you're babbling. ] - and Supergirl would never do anything like that, goes right against the whole hero creed.

[ ... ]

Winn -- [ she holds up a hand, as though to halt his explanation. she can read his hesitation. ]

I'd understand if you'd prefer not to delve into the details. I'll be honest with you -- [ she might as well; he'd already seen, by way of her memories, how knee-deep in the intelligence community she'd been. ] Confidentiality is something I respect.

[ he smiles gratefully when she stops him (he could go on forever otherwise) and nods at her reassurance. if kara busts the lid off the deo, she could handle herself. if he fucked this up - he's got a feeling no one would ever find his body. that hank - j'onn - whatever - is one scary dude. ]

She's not a military experiment. She's an alien so you know her powers are -- hers. [ which is part of the reason why the military is so unhappy about her. those people have some serious trust issues. ]

[ without meaning to, peggy hits exactly that nail upon its head: ] And military operations are so rarely fond of things they can't control. I stumbled upon a few nasty HYDRA laboratories purported to have gotten their hands on alien life-forms. It was horrid.

[ -- the research reels alone had made her sick. ]

[ that's one memory he does not need to see - what she says is enough to drain the color right out of his face. ]

Nobody's ever getting their hands on Supergirl. [ she's good, she's strong, and she has friends who would do anything for her. he may be a liability on the battlefield, but no one could help her disappear better than he can - cyber trails, cameras, break ins - anything she'll ever need he'll do. but the thought of her having to hide is horrifying - and not that far fetched. she told him j'onn and alex are on the run in her time, because as a martian he's mistrusted. it's not that big of a stretch to think they'll come after her next.

it'll be the last mistake they'll ever make though. (jail, they'll rot in jail, they're strictly anti-killing on this team, but it just sounds more badass that way. why is he explaining that to himself? he knows he and kara are anti-killing. time to come out of these parentheses now).

this is extremely personal for him, and it shows. ]

Something tells me you're speaking as more than just a grateful citizen. [ her smile is sly. despite the bruising, she somehow manages to exude a kind of poise. but in addition to the poise is also a depth of understanding -- a faint flicker in her brown eyes denoting sympathy, and a kind of comradely feeling. after all, he must have felt the poignant concern she'd felt for captain america.

ever curious, she wonders if that's what prompts him to display so much of his own cocnern right now. ]

[ back home, kara would be pissed at him for this. but here...she's been talking freely, openly. every time he's tried to keep her secret - he was told by the person he was trying to keep it from to lay off it, they already know. still, he won't expose her identity, not on purpose at least, but he can expose the acquaintanceship, right? james always got to tell people that he's superman's best friend. he's never gotten to have that moment. ]

Even superheroes need friends.

[ he smiles, shrugging a little. ]

They certainly do. [ funny, peggy doesn't precisely count herself among steve's friends -- that title is reserved for the howling commandos. for sam wilson. for bucky barnes, although he's the reason she's sporting so many bruises and cuts. ] I can't help but imagine they'd be a great deal less super without them.

[ that's what kara always tells him - that he's important, she needs him, she'd be lost without him. he doesn't believe her for one second - kara would be amazing with or without him. she'd just...not look as cool while doing it, and might need to find creative solutions to problems that are easily solved by hacking. ]

I can't imagine a reality where they need to find out. [ they're so easily likable, it's impossible not to want to be their friend. ]

[ peggy could imagine it. but, then again, she's got a cynical streak a little wider than most -- tempered by captain america's influence. he inspires her to be hopeful, even after she'd lost him to the ocean. to the ice. to the slow march of time. ]

Your faith is admirable.

They're easy to believe in.

[ he shrugs. he believed in kara long before she was supergirl. her coming out as a superhero just unlocked exciting new ways for him to believe in her in. ]

-- Touché.

[ except, of course, that hadn't been what she'd meant. rather -- that his faith in himself, and in a world where those heroes did not need to go it alone? that was admirable. but peggy had the forethought to understand how bringing attention to faith in oneself is an awkward path to tread.

so, graciously, she concedes the point to winn. she doesn't feel any desire to clarify or correct out loud. she simply doesn't have the ego for it. ]

[ it's a correction that would've surprised winn because that's not where his faith lies at all. he believes in himself plenty when it comes to assisting kara in whatever she needs - he's got mad skills - and he believes in himself plenty when it comes to standing by her, certainly. but with or without him, she'd never be alone. it doesn't matter which world she ends up in - or even if she goes home without him. it's impossible not to love her, not to want to support her, to stand by her side.

and steve, steve's just as easy to like. and he tried to dislike him because his girlfriend has a very obvious crush on the guy, but it just cannot be done.

he smiles, rubbing the back of his head as he searches for the next thing to say. his eyes fall on that crutch, and again his stomach clenches painfully. he'll never forget that day on the iskaulit for as long as he lives - seeing kitty with blood oozing out of her head... ]

I remember the point about fussers I promise I'm not gonna fuss but - how are you feeling?

Oh, this? [ she nudges the crutch with a toe. ] I've been in worse states. Mind you, I've also been in better. I think the physical damage is peanuts compared to -- to all the other healing that needs doing.

Barnes is a friend. [ she turns her head. looks out at the water. ]

That has to be rough.

[ he doesn't actually know much - or anything - about the guy, except the fact that has been hammered into his head repeatedly that this wasn't his fault. (he understands it, he knows it. but feelings are illogical and the memory of kitty's head covered in blood is not one that'll go away anytime soon. or ever.) ]

Is he...ok? Or I mean - as ok as you can get after something like that...

We haven't talked. [ ... ] Steve would know. They've kept in contact. But I can hazard a guess that he isn't doing too well. There was a lot of guilt there long before his mind was hijacked.

[ that petty angry part of him thinks good. the rest of him hurries to explain that it's good because it means he's back to normal, that he really is a good person like people are saying. ]

That's a lot of guilt to deal with.

More than one man ought to bear. I mentioned HYDRA, earlier. And it was HYDRA who did this to him, initially.

You mean this -- wasn't just the Atroma?

[ is it bad to be relieved, because ever since it happened he's been terrified that anyone could be next but if it's a preexisting condition... ]

[ she shook her head. ] They merely took advantage of dormant programming already in place. He'd overcome it, once, but I suppose the triggers remained. Persistent bastards.

There really needs to be some kinda cosmic law against bastards that big being efficient.

[ he knows there's nothing he can say that would help and worse - nothing he can do because he's getting nowhere on trying to figure out the augments and that's something that's stuck in his head - and he hates it. so bad attempt at humor it is. ]

They ought to have been toppled. [ peggy's lips purse. ] As far as I'd known, before coming here, they had been. Thoroughly dismantled, and their top brass dead or detained.

Secret evil organizations always come back.

[ the conspiracy theorist in him is vindicated. everything else in him is very sad, because that sucks on just about every level in existence unless you're secretly evil. ]

Try Catching Flootemon with your Communicator!

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her* sigh.

I didn't even notice

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