punched_hitler | ☆ 33 ☆ (TEXT; Private to Bucky

[TEXT: Private to Bucky]
Hey, I need you to hang on to something for me for a little while, if you don't mind.

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[It's not that there's a new guy on the Barge - there's not. But anyone used to seeing Captain America around might notice that he's conspicuously missing as of Saturday - or, at least, he's not six-foot two and two hundred twenty pounds anymore. He's five-foot four and about a hundred pounds soaking wet, and he's not apologetic about it in the least. Same haircut, same voice, same style of dress (at least he asked for some civilian clothes that would fit), same attitude.

Steve goes about his day the same as he ever has - he goes for a run through the Barge early in the morning, and he shows up for his lunch shift in the kitchens and his shifts in the infirmary on time. He shows up at T'Pol's cabin for meditation, and he's even in the gym sometimes, working out against the bags. It's just that his mile has gone from two minutes to twenty, and he's got an inhaler in his pocket for those times when running or climbing the stairs - he's not taking the elevator, he refuses - gets to be a little too much.

Of course, he knows people are going to notice, but unless someone says something to him first, they're not going to hear a word about it from him. Actions speak louder than words, after all.]

[ooc: If anyone needs a reference, 1, 2, & 3, just with this haircut, still. Feel free to recognize him or not!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Her face closes off just a little bit more at that.]

Nor the desire to.

No.

What about assuming neutrality? That the people you meet mean you neither friendship nor harm, until you learn otherwise?

[He's trying, here.]

I assumed that with some. [Literally any non-Terran in Starfleet.]

Then you can do it with more.

[He pauses, frowns.] I'm not telling you to abandon caution or good sense. But going through life seeing enemies everywhere... that seems like a very sad existence, to me, and I'd like to help you change it.

[He understands part of that might be changing her world. But that can come later. Right now, they need to start with just her.]

In my experience, it's been an honest one.

[She isn't willing to let go of her experience: her life, her universe, has colored the way she sees everyone and everything. And unfortunately, in a space dominated by Humanity, she's struggling to even want to see past her bias.]

In any case. [She gestures at him.] You did not do this for my benefit.

Maybe so. But there are other ways to be honest.

[He just wants her to think about it. That's all. Just... realize why you're doing what you're doing, and how it can hurt you as well as help you.

He tilts his head a bit, considering.] Yes and no. I guess technically, you didn't lose anything when the Admiral brought you on board - not powers, like some of the inmates have. Unless your file's missing something.

But I mean what I say when I say it, and if this will help you believe that, then yes. It's for your benefit.

[Her eyes narrow just a little at him - he knows her ability to take advantage of her inherent touch-telepathy, and for a moment, she wonders if that's a dig. It's dismissed quickly: usually, he's more obvious about it.

Still, she crosses her arms.]

I didn't lose anything. [She's not sure she's gained anything either, though. Because...] There are people who suspect me of being an 'inhuman psycopath' here, just as there were on Enterprise and Defiant.

[She pauses to arch an eyebrow at him.] It helps me believe that you are as much a fool as you act.

[It's not a dig - he's just pointing that out. Because there are a lot of reasons he did this, and it's not just to show the inmates who are missing powers that he believes maybe it was the right move.]

There are people who'd call me the same thing. [Maybe not here, but that's surely what HYDRA considers him. Or something like it. Hell, there are plenty of people who aren't part of HYDRA that probably think he's insane in the worst ways, for a hundred reasons.] But there are people here trying to be your friend - or, at least, support you, too. That's why you're here.

[To get the support she needs.

He matches her, look for look.] I was pretty sure you already thought that.

[She arches her eyebrows at him, gives him a look, because there is no way she believes there are people who would call him inhuman or psychopathic. He is, as far as she can tell, a practical poster boy for his world.

In her universe they would call him crazy, and they would kill him, and they would take whatever secrets his adjusted biology held. She wonders how long he would survive there.]

I thought I was here to be redeemed. How am I supposed to find my footing if the expectations continue to change? [She's just trying to be a bitch, now.]

[Yeah, well, everyone has a different opinion on that one.

He frowns.]

I think redemption is... maybe it's not the right word for it. There's something about you, something that hurts you, the way you are now. I think you're here to find that, and to fix it for yourself. That's my expectation, and it's never changed.

Besides - you've got to know by now, life never makes it easy.

☆ 33 ☆ (TEXT; Private to Bucky | SPAM; OTA)

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