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Who: Starstruck crew and visitors
Broadcast: None
Action: The SS ~~Trainwreck~~ Starstruck
When: August

[It might be accurate to say that the crew of the Starstruck had spent the majority of the month prior avoiding each other, or people in general, but as we leave the hand holding planet perhaps the crew can get back to normal.

Whatever that means...]

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[ -- oh, snort away. somehow, she finds it endearing. don't ask. ]

It isn't all that old fashioned to me.

[ ahem. ]

That's all that matters.

[ it's an easy truth. ]

People in the 21st century always seem to think they invented everything from good music to good coffee.

[ yes, she imagines it's a bit like how americans believe they've perfected all else. really, the gall of it. ]

Oh, Lord, the music is rubbish. I'd thought it was just me.

Some of it isn't half bad. Sam likes Marvin Gaye and he's actually really good - Billie Holiday, really great voice. But the recent stuff is -

[ he makes a bit of a face ]

Not what it used to be.

[ -- she flexes her fingers, like fighting against webbing that's not really there. ]

There are times when I feel so woefully left behind by a world I can't say I recognize. And I'm not the one who has to live in it, I suppose, as you do.

Some things haven't changed. I mean, people still come to NYC and go to see Lady Liberty first and you'd still hate the coffee.

[ it is an odd thing. in years and years, it will be more of her world than it would be Steve's. She'd have grown and seen it change, know it better than he ever will. now, they are both as estranged to it. ]

It's really much more expensive, too.

So Jim told me. A room in a Manhattan boarding house nearly tapped me out, back in '46. And the food wasn't even that good. [ ... ] How does anyone live in New York, these days?

[ a mild smirk. ] I hope the Avengers pay you well.

You know, it's really a trouble keeping a place in Brooklyn these days. You should see the apartments some of these people rent. Thousands of dollars - I think our shuttles actually have more in the way of space.

[ he shakes his head ]

Since I started training the new additions to the team, I've been spending some of my time at Stark Tower.

[ because of course Tony has one. ]

[ and so they find themselves both depending upon Stark charity for a roof over their heads. her smirk twitches -- decades apart, and they still share something in common. it hardly feels fair. ]

And how do your new additions take to being trained by a relic, hm? [ because she can't imagine him as anything but a relic come that time. a highly efficient, still effective relic. but a relic all the same. ]

Fossil is the word they use.

[ shaking his head. ok so it's mostly Natasha and Tony but still ]

You know three of them. Wanda, Sam, Vision, all good friends. You're missing Rhodey, he's a good guy. A good friend of Tony. As to how they take it, well. Me and Natasha have been busy beating them into shape, as she says - and I'm nicer than her.

[ totally gives him credit points.

he thinks. ]

[ fossil. in the very least, it earns him a bout of laughter. ]

Now I understand what keeps them in line. [ natasha, obviously. ]

I'm glad to have her. We make a good team. It's nice to have someone stick around. Thor's home is in Asgard and Banner always prefers to keep his distance.

[ and apparently Barton is married with children, who even knew. ]

and Tony's a good Avenger but he has his own business to handle.

[ and no level of discipline whatsoever. ]

Banner. [ look, she only knows most of these names by way of jim's report. ] He's the one who -- who transforms into a giant green monster. Is that right?

[ she sounds like she barely believes it. ]

We call the other guy the Hulk. It's a bad result of gamma radiation - he was going for the serum.

[ he winches and shakes his head ]

He's the smartest guy I know which makes me think that Erskine was really the only one destined to make that thing.

[ the hulk. yes. that was it. ]

A copycat gone wrong. Bloody hell. How many of those has the world seen by the 21st century?

Banner's the one I know of. I like to think that after what happened to him, it might be a good enough warning to all others about messing with that stuff. I guess the only other person is Bucky, though I have no idea how the hell HYDRA ever figured out Erskine's work. I used to think Red Skull was the only other one who was that familiar with it.

[ but as it turns out, there was always more to that than Steve had ever known ]

[ the possible implications make her uncomfortable. did hydra manage it through underground connections in the ssr? peggy hopes she poured away the last of steve's blood, but can she be certain? well and truly certain? ]

Your very existence changed the whole world, I suppose. I can't approve of others trying to replicate Erskine's results, but I suppose I can't blame them either.

With all the other Avengers and everything else happening in the world, I can only hope to be considered outdated. Maybe then people won't get hurt trying to recreate the serum.

[ with loki's staff gone, the chances of more human experiments have become slim as well, something he's all too grateful for. ]

What faith you have. [ it's admirable, if (she fears) a little misplaced. ]

A fool's hope, maybe.

[ he smiles. ]

But sometimes I guess it's what we have to go with.

[ -- back home, she tries so hard to see the world as faithfully and with as much hope as he must have seen it. it's difficult; quite often, she fails. old pessimism sneaks in. ]

Your time -- their time -- is lucky to have you, Steve.

[ he smiles a bit, ducks his head at the compliment ]

it's teamwork. The others, they do just as much. I'm lucky to have them.

[ in the way of friends, the Avengers are everything he has, after all. without the initiative and the team, where would he be? still taking out his sadness and frustrations on punching bags? ]

So sentimental. [ hm! ] Do assure me you're a bit more hardened when you're actually training them.

More often than not.

[ a bit of a grin ]

They're lucky to be able to train. When we came together, it was after Loki's arrival. We didn't have the time to work on becoming a team, they do. I make sure to remind them of that.

[ good lord, no wonder pietro called him a grandpa. ]

And do you also remind them of how when you were a young upstart hero, you had to walk uphill both ways to your battles?

[ this is the part of steve she'd never seen back in their own time, and one that's readily apparent the more she learns about his future-team: a paternal kind of leadership. she can't say it isn't attractive. ]