driftfleet | Open: July Starstruck mingle log

-- Which is why I ought to know better than to break her out of an SSR prison. [ a beat. ] But I desperation makes a fool of me and...

[ oh, here it is. ]

And maybe if I'd seen a bit more of what happened at those training facilities before I made the decision, I would have been cleverer about it.

Something you don't get to clever your way out of. Frustrating, believe me I know it.

[This isn't exactly the conversation Natasha expected to have, but the notes are there. Peggy's regret about the facilities.]

You did what you could based on the best information you had at the time. And you know Underwood gets away. It doesn't sound like you know yet if it was worth it.

Well -- you exist. And so it must have been.

[ which sounds grossly sentimental until one remembers peggy's fairly certain the ultimate price paid of her mission's failure might actually compromise the whole damned world. so it goes with interdimensional science. ]

[Natasha doesn't mistake that for some kind of personal compliment. That would be far too honest between the two of them, and Natasha doubts she's had that much of an impact on Peggy's life—so she can infer the other woman's meaning. She shrugs.]

So there it is. One more rogue spy out thee, the world keeps on turning. Can't say the same thing about every threat. Sounds like you triaged the situation appropriately.

[ natasha's right, of course. at least jarvis seems to think so -- but peggy doesn't have the benefit of hindsight to see herself vindicated. instead, she stews in what could have been, what could be done better, what might be avoided. ]

She's a bit more than a rogue spy. But I doubt I need to explain that to you.

I don't know about that. As someone in a position to know, I think rogue spy is the most accurate description when you get to the heart of it.

[At the heart of it, Natasha would probably describe herself the same way.]

[ peggy might argue that those girls are broken down and built up to be something rather more than spies. but that's yet another uncomfortable conversation. they're dancing around so many of them. ]

Provided she stays rogue. [ a beat. ] Which she likely will -- I suspect her handlers have long since disavowed her.

At least they won't be bringing her back in. That puts a target on her, too, if it's true. There's a very real possibility Red Room will take care of the problem for you.

[Not that it will probably make Peggy feel better, but Red Room has it's own secrets to protect, and reason not to want their burned asset going elsewhere.]

While I'd much rather see her back in SSR custody before that happens.

[ for obvious reasons. ]

I'm sure you'd rather that. But how many times do you get your much rathers?

-- I try not to count. [ peggy sits back, cradling her cup. ] But a great many have come to pass here in the fleet.

[ so perhaps she's feeling empowered by those parallel successes. ]

And who knows, maybe you'll catch her again before someone else does. [Natasha shrugs. Why not a little optimism? But tempered with priorities. They both understand that.] But if not, the point stands. You had bigger priorities than keeping one woman behind bars.

So -- [ she huffs, aware that she's about to ask something she shouldn't ask. ] What did you see of Dottie Underwood? Apart from the glimpse in my mind at the airfield.

Other than the airfield... There was a memory of Jarvis's. They had to work together. [A slight smile.] He scolded her, actually.

But you can say I have some insight.

Yes. That's the bit I haven't lived. Yet.

[ peggy leans back in her chair -- enough to untuck her blouse and pull the fabric aside to show a whorled and discoloured scar. ] Back home, I've just been impaled on a bit of rebar after a nasty spill. It should have been me out in the field with Mister Jarvis but I was hardly fit for it, I suppose.

As far as I can follow my own logic -- [ she tucks the shirt back into her skirt ] -- I end up choosing Dottie as my replacement.

Not a whole lot of other female operatives with that level of training to choose from. Fewer you have on hand. Makes sense you'd go with her.

Yes. A cold and impersonal kind of sense.

[ -- one that gambles with people who had no right to be on the playing field in the first place. and that's without yet knowing the cost. ]

[Natasha realizes that the criticism is meant for Peggy herself, but it's hard not to feel the sting in it. She glances away, lifting one shoulder in a shrug.]

Sometimes that's what we get.

[ and other times, it's not so much what they get but what's been stamped into them. ]

So. [ a change in subject, maybe. ] Where have you been hiding out, then?

[ because it's been a while. ]

[Not everyone can be idealistic in the face of everything. Especially when the choice has already been made.

Though maybe it's easier when Natasha isn't the one making the choice. She thinks she'd be able to... but she doubts that would make Peggy feel better at this point, though.

So the new topic is welcome. To a degree.]

I haven't been hiding. Just haven't been out, and didn't feel like sticking around on the Vanquish.

[So essentially hiding.]

[ her smile is pure polite. they both know there's nosiness that lurks below. ]

Where have you been 'sticking around,' then? Because it hasn't been here.

Sticking around here might have defeated the purpose.

[Natasha is well aware that Peggy is being nosy, and her smile is equally polite. The question, though, is what information she's trying to uncover

I spent some time on the Iskaulit and some on the Heron.

[She lifts her chin a little.]

And how was that? [ she's so coy -- but in no way is she subtle. peggy tilts back another mouthful of tea. ] The Iskaulit, of course. I haven't been off the ship since we returned. I assume everything's still where we left it before our month on the Marsiva?

[ yes. because she so very much wants to know about the heron. ]

I think you'll find everything more or less where you left it. The firing range came though fine.

[Peggy Carter can be many things. Discreet, certainly. Tactful when the situation calls for it. For a spy, though, subtly isn't her forte. Natasha cottons on to what Peggy's after a little on the slow side none the less. Natasha's fault for assuming Peggy's curiosity was be about Natasha's past, not how she is recovering in the present or who she's been recovering with.]

I ran into Jarvis there, eventually. He hasn't gone out of business.

[Natasha will decide how she want to deal with Peggy's real question when Peggy actually asks them.]

[ -- subtly certainly could be her forte. but peggy isn't the sort to waste energy on being subtle when that subtly is more of an academic exercise than a practical one. ]

Everyone's got to eat. And most of us would rather eat well. One presumes. [ and back to jarvis. she nods. ] Fond of the bistro, are you?

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