Our only lead is -- oh, hell, what did Samberly call it. [ a click of her fingers. ] Gamma radiation. Howard sent through designs for a cannon that could shoot the stuff at...
[ she trails off, rubbing the bridge of her nose. ] The science isn't my strongest suit either, I'm afraid.
It doesn't. [ make her stronger. which is to say, the rays have already been shot. the cannon has already been fired. ] And it's how we just about barely managed to contain an atomic explosion that threatened to tear a fresh hole into wherever-the-devil Zero Matter comes from.
[ and because (just maybe) she's feeling sore that he sees fit to lecture her at all: ] Without it, our best asset in bringing Isodyne to bear -- a Doctor Jason Wilkes -- would have surely been killed.
[ aw jeez. he groans, covering his face with a palm. ]
it has consequences. The first time I heard about gamma rays was after I woke up from the ice. Gamma rays - the one person exposed to them is Bruce Banner. He's - the Hulk.
[ though he likes to think he would have heard of another hulk sometimes in the 40s, maybe it's all okay anyway. ]
He worked with gamma radiation and ended up changing into - well. you heard about him, right? he turns into the Hulk whenever he's angry.
[ he frowns ]
it's what got him to join the Avengers at a time. they needed someone who understands gamma rays since - well. apparently, red skull's weapon left traces of it.
[ she doesn't stomach well the way steve covers his face, nor the way he frowns, nor even the tone he takes when he dares to outline the very dangers of what's dealt with. her chest puffs; her dander rises. ]
Your Bruce Banner, [ she huffs, ] likely comes a great deal of years after my little predicament, yes? Seems a bit futile to get shirty with me over data I won't have.
[ she looks stern with him -- her walls are instantly up, no matter how tightly she holds his hand. ]
We're doing the best we can with the intel we've got.
It sounds like you are. [ doubting me. and although the opinions of others never much mattered, steve's certainly does. nowadays, at any rate. his 'sorry' barely registers, but his list of all else certainly does. she makes not of each and every one. what the devil is an infinity stone, for one.
she shakes her head. ] I made a call; I don't need you sitting here leveling criticism at it. If it was you, left back in '47 and confronted with the same choice, I'm convinced you would have done the same.
[ -- she hopes he would have. she dreams he might have. peggy tries to live her life based on his example, a fact made evident in the memories he'd seen during calibrations. this counterargument now treads dangerously close to that same sentiment. it's enough to put colour high in her cheeks. ]
[ he says, not without a hint of tension of his own, not without a tone of warning. lord knows what he'd give to be left back in his proper place in time. it wasn't perfect but god, it was home and steve does miss home.
but that's not peggy's fault and it's not her doing that steve simply knows too much and knowing too much has always come with a price. ]
I would have.
[ he nods.he's been so defensive of it all; Greatest generation? You guys did some nasty stuff, fury had said and steve nearly lost his temper. ]
[ on this -- all of a sudden, on this, he doesn't fight back. he admits to what she's posited and she sees no raised fists in his words. no bullheaded bollocksing difficulty presented just for her to swerve and weave. it leaves her with nowhere to point her restlessness or her dismay. nowhere, really, but inward.
thoughtless (because she doesn't remember it healing half-so-well) she pushes a hand under her pajama top and rubs at the scar that had healed twice over now. something tells her it ought to still burn and sting the way it did back home.
with a grunt, she slumps backward onto the bed. not a surrender -- just an easing of the guard. ]
She can't have children. Not now. [ so she loops back to ana. as painful as it is, it's clearly a safer subject for the pair of them. ] How am I meat to explain any of this to Jarvis? Should I explain any of this to Jarvis? I don't see how I have any right to keep it from him -- not now.
-- He tried to murder a woman over it. [ which, alright, peggy can understand the inclination for revenge. it's terribly human. ] And that woman might not be here, but it's not as though Mister Jarvis isn't in a delicate spot already what with learning about Howard's death and...
[ and that's precisely when she snaps her mouth shut and sits back up -- quick, stiff, and upset. she'd never meant to say as much. she'd purposefully hidden that revelation from steve the first time around, and not so she could just casually reveal it now. ]
Good Lord, man. Just do as I say and ask a bloody question.
[ she runs roughshod over his fear while carding fingers through her hair. there's a leading edge of panic in her voice. she knows this feeling; it'd attached itself to her conversation once before, back when they'd been on that faction-split system. the truth had come too easily then also. ]
I need to make certain of something and I'd much rather make certain with you than anyone else.
[ almost romantic, if not for the way she squeezes motivation into his hand. ]
[ were he any other man, he might have asked her about the ring but steve frantically searches for a safe topic, one he could ask of without any serious repercussions. ]
-- It's all I did at the SSR after the war. Cups and cups and carafes of the stuff. 'Marge, bring us some coffee,' all bloody day long. The smell turns my stomach.
[ quick and sharp like rifle-shot. too many details are volunteered; she shakes her head.
and yet. and yet there's so much more he could have asked, and she can't help but blurt: ] Christ, I love you.
Thompson does. Among other names. [ she huffs, shaking her head. there's a visible wince the moment the words leave her lips. ] Neither detail is something I'd ordinarily tell anyone. Not even you.
[ it takes him a moment to put two and two together before - ]
I see.
[ well that's not good at all. and just when she acquired all these new memories she's not sure what to do with. he sighs, he could kill the atroma. ]
alright. let's think - we can get through this. we just need a plan. these things never last too long. you'll need to avoid one-on-ones and then maybe we could make it work. don't worry.
[ he may not be able to go back in time and solve her gamma ray and whitney frost problem but surely this, here, is doable. ]
we'll figure something out. in the mean time, I'm not asking you anything at all anymore, until we're sure it passed.
[ and just like that, steve shifts immediately into an attempt to find a solution. or, at least, a working protocol that might see her through this time with as little pain as possible. 'we'll figure something out,' he promises her. and from another person, she might have resented the sudden appropriation of her worry and her predicament.
he tells her she needs to avoid one-on-ones; he doesn't extend that avoidance to himself. ]
You know, I'm not convinced I could be as good about it if our positions were reversed.
[ -- she'd ask questions. god, she would ask questions. ]
[ nothing is assuaged, really. but peggy manages to set the worst of it aside -- reminding herself that it is of home and not of here. even so, she remains on edge. torn between leaping back to her feet and staying seated, stiff, where she is. ]
Should work. [ she echoes him with a snort. she knows as well as he does the kind of power that puts in his hands -- the things he could be asking, discussing, investigating. not too long ago they'd sat in this very room and, as she'd scraped his chin clean of his coma-beard, he'd asked her why they shouldn't be married.
as frustrating as he'd been then, it's impossible not to understand how decent he's being about it just now. again, she thinks she could never match that pitch. ]
Ideally, it will. I'm not so keen on the idea of avoiding you altogether during the next few days.
[ he moves, gets up to reach for her tea cup and hand it back to her. ]
we'll just have to stick to subjects that are safe.
[ he walks to his table, to the drawer that usually houses the box where he keeps the ring ( these days, it's hidden beneath his undershirt ) but pulls out a notepad and offers it to her. ]
I kept notes during the week. Figured you could use them when you wake up.
[ everything that's been said of weird dreams, the departure from the planet, the re-stocking and re-ordering of the kitchen. ]
[ she's not proud of it -- but when he touches the drawer, she stiffens. her fingers contract around the tea cup. the fact that she says nothing, that she holds her tongue, is testament to how she trusts him to keep his word and play this fairly.
he mentions notes. he mentions work. and she nearly smiles at the irony that either of them should find the subject 'safe.' ]
-- You reorganized the kitchen? [ it's the first observation she makes when glancing over his notes. a report, nearly. and there's something bone-deep pleasant about receiving even a makeshift report from captain rogers once more. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2017-09-01 05:31 pm (UTC)[ she trails off, rubbing the bridge of her nose. ] The science isn't my strongest suit either, I'm afraid.
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Date: 2017-09-01 05:41 pm (UTC)[ steve turns, sharp and startled. he can't blame the man, it's howard stark's son who would meet the result of gamma rays but still. ]
if that thing somehow ends up here in any way, we gotta destroy it. He shouldn't - gamma radiation isn't really something one should mess with.
[ never mind shoot out of a cannon ]
it might make her stronger if she's anywhere near it.
[ in a horrible, horrible way. ]
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Date: 2017-09-01 05:50 pm (UTC)[ and because (just maybe) she's feeling sore that he sees fit to lecture her at all: ] Without it, our best asset in bringing Isodyne to bear -- a Doctor Jason Wilkes -- would have surely been killed.
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Date: 2017-09-01 05:56 pm (UTC)[ aw jeez. he groans, covering his face with a palm. ]
it has consequences. The first time I heard about gamma rays was after I woke up from the ice. Gamma rays - the one person exposed to them is Bruce Banner. He's - the Hulk.
[ though he likes to think he would have heard of another hulk sometimes in the 40s, maybe it's all okay anyway. ]
He worked with gamma radiation and ended up changing into - well. you heard about him, right? he turns into the Hulk whenever he's angry.
[ he frowns ]
it's what got him to join the Avengers at a time. they needed someone who understands gamma rays since - well. apparently, red skull's weapon left traces of it.
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Date: 2017-09-01 06:18 pm (UTC)Your Bruce Banner, [ she huffs, ] likely comes a great deal of years after my little predicament, yes? Seems a bit futile to get shirty with me over data I won't have.
[ she looks stern with him -- her walls are instantly up, no matter how tightly she holds his hand. ]
We're doing the best we can with the intel we've got.
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Date: 2017-09-01 06:31 pm (UTC)[ keeping the Tesseract, trying to harvest its power - it's hubris at its worst and it brought such terrible, terrible results. ]
I'm not getting - [ did she say shirty? what does that even - ] shirty -
[ there's no way this is a word. ]
I'm just worried, that's all. I'm sorry, you're right.
[ she is, he realizes. lord, he wishes he could chase away the thoughts of banner ]
I just - it'll sound stupid but it's one of those things I wish wouldn't have ended up discovered. gamma rays, the Tesseract, infinity stones.
[ the list is getting longer as of late ]
I don't doubt you, never had.
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Date: 2017-09-01 06:45 pm (UTC)she shakes her head. ] I made a call; I don't need you sitting here leveling criticism at it. If it was you, left back in '47 and confronted with the same choice, I'm convinced you would have done the same.
[ -- she hopes he would have. she dreams he might have. peggy tries to live her life based on his example, a fact made evident in the memories he'd seen during calibrations. this counterargument now treads dangerously close to that same sentiment. it's enough to put colour high in her cheeks. ]
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Date: 2017-09-01 06:59 pm (UTC)[ he says, not without a hint of tension of his own, not without a tone of warning. lord knows what he'd give to be left back in his proper place in time. it wasn't perfect but god, it was home and steve does miss home.
but that's not peggy's fault and it's not her doing that steve simply knows too much and knowing too much has always come with a price. ]
I would have.
[ he nods.he's been so defensive of it all; Greatest generation? You guys did some nasty stuff, fury had said and steve nearly lost his temper. ]
I know I would have.
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Date: 2017-09-01 07:19 pm (UTC)thoughtless (because she doesn't remember it healing half-so-well) she pushes a hand under her pajama top and rubs at the scar that had healed twice over now. something tells her it ought to still burn and sting the way it did back home.
with a grunt, she slumps backward onto the bed. not a surrender -- just an easing of the guard. ]
She can't have children. Not now. [ so she loops back to ana. as painful as it is, it's clearly a safer subject for the pair of them. ] How am I meat to explain any of this to Jarvis? Should I explain any of this to Jarvis? I don't see how I have any right to keep it from him -- not now.
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Date: 2017-09-01 07:26 pm (UTC)[ he can't offer her any sound advice save for his own troubled thoughts of the matters ]
sometimes when we love people we spare them. I don't know - it'll happen anyway but.
[ he shrugs. he would have hidden her funeral from her if he could. he still keeps the secret of a vase full of peonies. ]
whatever happens, he'll have you for support. going through this with someone is a little easier. you just do what you think best, Pegs.
[ he smiles a bit ]
you're his best friend, here. no one knows better than you.
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Date: 2017-09-01 07:30 pm (UTC)[ and that's precisely when she snaps her mouth shut and sits back up -- quick, stiff, and upset. she'd never meant to say as much. she'd purposefully hidden that revelation from steve the first time around, and not so she could just casually reveal it now. ]
Something's wrong.
[ she blanches. ]
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Date: 2017-09-01 07:33 pm (UTC)[ hell if someone had touched her here, steve would have been as unstoppable as the infamous winter soldier, fueled by his anger.
he startles, moving back. her mood changes so quickly that he almost doesn't register the moment it shifts about ]
what is it? Peg?
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Date: 2017-09-01 07:38 pm (UTC)[ a waggle of her hand, whipping the air as if to encourage him. ]
Something I wouldn't normally want to answer. Go on -- quick.
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Date: 2017-09-01 07:46 pm (UTC)[ he's sporting the rather frightened look he wore when she fired four bullets at him ]
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Date: 2017-09-01 07:49 pm (UTC)[ she runs roughshod over his fear while carding fingers through her hair. there's a leading edge of panic in her voice. she knows this feeling; it'd attached itself to her conversation once before, back when they'd been on that faction-split system. the truth had come too easily then also. ]
I need to make certain of something and I'd much rather make certain with you than anyone else.
[ almost romantic, if not for the way she squeezes motivation into his hand. ]
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Date: 2017-09-01 07:52 pm (UTC)-- why do you hate coffee so much?
[ there. safe enough. ]
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Date: 2017-09-01 08:14 pm (UTC)[ quick and sharp like rifle-shot. too many details are volunteered; she shakes her head.
and yet. and yet there's so much more he could have asked, and she can't help but blurt: ] Christ, I love you.
[ because he asked about coffee. what a saint. ]
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Date: 2017-09-01 08:20 pm (UTC)[ oh hell, maybe it's better he wasn't there. he can't stand it at all, not his best girl turned into a barista by a couple of inadequate jerks - ]
well.
[ he is so very confused, evidently. still, he smiles, brings her palm to his lips ]
I love you too, Peg, more than anything, really - but I have a feeling I'm missing something here.
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Date: 2017-09-01 08:30 pm (UTC)[ she meets his eyes with an unhappy shrug. ]
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Date: 2017-09-01 08:35 pm (UTC)I see.
[ well that's not good at all. and just when she acquired all these new memories she's not sure what to do with. he sighs, he could kill the atroma. ]
alright. let's think - we can get through this. we just need a plan. these things never last too long. you'll need to avoid one-on-ones and then maybe we could make it work. don't worry.
[ he may not be able to go back in time and solve her gamma ray and whitney frost problem but surely this, here, is doable. ]
we'll figure something out. in the mean time, I'm not asking you anything at all anymore, until we're sure it passed.
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Date: 2017-09-02 01:06 am (UTC)he tells her she needs to avoid one-on-ones; he doesn't extend that avoidance to himself. ]
You know, I'm not convinced I could be as good about it if our positions were reversed.
[ -- she'd ask questions. god, she would ask questions. ]
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Date: 2017-09-02 10:06 am (UTC)[ he'll just have to be careful about saying anything that might invoke any details that she wouldn't have said otherwise. ]
I just won't ask you anything. should work.
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Date: 2017-09-02 11:09 am (UTC)Should work. [ she echoes him with a snort. she knows as well as he does the kind of power that puts in his hands -- the things he could be asking, discussing, investigating. not too long ago they'd sat in this very room and, as she'd scraped his chin clean of his coma-beard, he'd asked her why they shouldn't be married.
as frustrating as he'd been then, it's impossible not to understand how decent he's being about it just now. again, she thinks she could never match that pitch. ]
Ideally, it will. I'm not so keen on the idea of avoiding you altogether during the next few days.
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Date: 2017-09-02 11:47 am (UTC)we'll just have to stick to subjects that are safe.
[ he walks to his table, to the drawer that usually houses the box where he keeps the ring ( these days, it's hidden beneath his undershirt ) but pulls out a notepad and offers it to her. ]
I kept notes during the week. Figured you could use them when you wake up.
[ everything that's been said of weird dreams, the departure from the planet, the re-stocking and re-ordering of the kitchen. ]
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Date: 2017-09-02 12:02 pm (UTC)he mentions notes. he mentions work. and she nearly smiles at the irony that either of them should find the subject 'safe.' ]
-- You reorganized the kitchen? [ it's the first observation she makes when glancing over his notes. a report, nearly. and there's something bone-deep pleasant about receiving even a makeshift report from captain rogers once more. ]
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