001; video

[wingedman]

Who: Sam Wilson
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Marsiva
When: Today!

Well, now, this is real nice, isn't it? [Judging by the dry tone of Sam's voice, it isn't.] Not that I was doing anything important back home, but it sure as hell beats being scooped up and used to boost ratings on some sort of intergalactic Big Brother. [And, muttered to himself:] I don't even wanna know what happens if you get voted off.

[Back in a normal voice:] So, I'm Sam. Earth, twenty-first century. Guess I'm stuck here for a few days, huh? On the totally not creepy uninhabited giant spaceship. Yeah, I can see the ratings skyrocketing already. This sure better not be some kinda horror show, 'cause I know the black guy's always the first person to get killed by the out of control robots.

-nah, just kidding, they never even have black guys in space to begin with, I'm safe.

[sam what r u even on about]

Also, this food sucks big-time. Come on, can't they feed TV stars better than this? Why couldn't I get trapped on Food Network?

Comments

video

[outstandingbalance]

Depends on your definition of a horror.

[Drift Fleet certainly has its moments. There will be plenty of time to deal with that later, though. Right now, Natasha has other priorities.

Like finding out just when Sam came here from, and what the fallout might be.]

Hey. Been a while.

[wingedman]

Not so long, for me. I'm guessing longer for you, though.

[Sam has a hard enough time wrapping his mind around the rest of this shit without throwing time travel into the mix, but okay, sure, there's some serious sci-fi going on here.]

Should I ask how much longer?

[outstandingbalance]

[Her smile in response is thin, but not insincere. She can appreciate Sam's approach. Could be worse, at least.]

A little shy of a year since Leipzig. And pretty much all of it here.

[wingedman]

A year? [Have an impressed - or maybe slightly alarmed - lift of his eyebrows.]

Only been a couple weeks on my end.

[outstandingbalance]

It's been longer for some of the others. Steve and Barnes were already here when I got here.

[Though Steve remembered the Accords after she, so maybe it counted differently. Natasha is gonna try very hard not to think about the details of timelines.]

[wingedman]

Steve and Bucky are both here?

[Sam feels a combination of relief and concern - it's good to have his friends here, people he's used to having by his side when he fights, but at the same time, this has got to be more dangerous than it appears. But if they've all survived for a year without him, then there's probably nothing for him to worry about.

(Sam's going to worry about Steve anyway, because that's what he does. Bucky and Natasha are more than capable of taking care of themselves because they aren't dumbasses.)]

Anyone else I oughta know about?

[Please don't let the answer to that question be Tony Stark.]

[outstandingbalance]

[Luckily, Natasha has been here to keep Steve from being too much of a dumbass. Which isn't as hard now, but there have been times...]

Right now? Peggy Carter. [She gives that a moment to sink in before she adds:] Tony was here when I first arrived. And Vision. So were Wanda, and Pietro for a while.

[wingedman]

[Welp. Always great to meet someone whose funeral you attended. But if Sam's a little weirded out by the prospect, he doesn't let it show.]

Sounds like I'm late for the party, then. [He pauses, then adds in a lower voice.] So what's your theory about what happens to people when they leave?

[outstandingbalance]

[There's a reason Natasha likes Sam. After Steve and Tony, there's a relief in dealing with someone who keeps that kind of reaction to themselves.]

Yes and no. You were here too, but I'm guessing you don't remember that. It's a thing. Happened to me too that way.

[wingedman]

Oh, that's real reassuring to hear, Natasha. Was I murdered by robots? Please tell me I wasn't murdered by robots.

[Sam's not even sure how he got on this 'murdered by robots' kick. Too much sci-fi, maybe.]

[outstandingbalance]

Not as far as I know. [Helpfully not ruling it out.] We don't really know what happens when people leave. Just that sometimes they come back, and sometimes when they come back they don't remember what happened before.

[wingedman]

[He's totally assuming he was murdered by robots and then regrown in a vat now. Yeah, maybe he's watched too many bad movies.]

I think I liked it better when you just got voted out of the house and vanished into obscurity once your fifteen minutes of fame were over. This is way weirder.

[outstandingbalance]

Just as happy not to be voting anyone off. That could get dark real quick.

[Even uncertain fates aside, sending people home had it's own politics and pitfalls.]

Steve'll be happy to have you here.

[Back, goes unsaid.]

[wingedman]

How much stupid shit have you had to keep him from doing?

[Look, they both know Steve. It's obvious the answer to this question isn't nothing.]

[outstandingbalance]

You know as well as I do that no one stops Steve from doing anything. You can just try to redirect him, reason with him a little. Make sure he doesn't get himself killed in the process.

[And Natasha is very good at running damage control.]