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[agentxthirteen]

[ The comm is propped up against a paint can, and Sharon sits in front of it. Her hair is askew; tendrils have escaped from her ponytail. Wet trails testify to not only how much dust is on her face, but also how much she's sweated.

Sharon Carter does not admit defeat often, but when she does, it's because she's in over her head. Disastrously in over her head. ]

So. [ Her voice is tired. She wipes her forehead with a forearm, leaves a smudge in its wake. ] I mentioned a while ago that I wanted to get some training sessions off the ground. There was enough interest that I realized we would need a bigger space than the gym.

There were some rooms available on the first floor that I've taken over. And that's where the problem came in.

[ She leans forward and tilts the feed toward a hole in the wall. A sledgehammer rests against part of the wall that hasn't been knocked out. She turns the feed back toward herself and blows some hair out of her face. ]

I don't suppose there are any construction people here.

Comments

[agentxthirteen]

Maybe if enough people sign a petition.

[ Wait. No. ]

How many times can she kill us, again?

You know what? Never mind. I'm sure if someone here needs a wheelchair, Wonderland will accommodate them. Somehow. Magic and all that.

[voiceinthedark]

Oh yeah, back home we couldn't even get the government to read petitions and they're elected. I'm sure a hereditary monarch dictator will totally care.

[He's grinning though. it's just a funny idea.]

Um... a few? I've died once. Plenty of people have died more.

[agentxthirteen]

Whoa. [ The feed tilts so she can turn to face it while it rests on the floor. ] Zombieland has a government? Like... how much of a government? Are we talking president or city council?

[voiceinthedark]

Well, the petitions were before, but yeah. Kind of. The Ministry of Recovery. They're sort of coordinating stuff.

[agentxthirteen]

The Ministry of Recovery.

Did you have a Ministry of Magic, too?

[voiceinthedark]

No, but we did have runners hunting down Harry Potters books for the kids.

And we found a lead about Viking zombies, but I'm not convinced.

[agentxthirteen]

Oh, man. I hope Rowling wrote that last book before you got here.

[ She makes a face at "Viking zombies." Why would that even be a thing? ]

[voiceinthedark]

Yeah, thank god. We'd never hear the end of it if not.

No more Doctor Who though. And I never got to see the last Avengers movie.

[agentxthirteen]

[ Sharon's brain screeches to a halt. ]

An Avengers movie? You have the Avengers where you're from?

[voiceinthedark]

Uh... we have comic books with them in. And films.

[agentxthirteen]

You're fucking kidding me. You do not!

[ Sorry, Sam, but except for some propaganda issues in the 40's, Steve isn't comic book material. And there aren't any Avengers films, unless you count the pornographic ones that Sharon has most certainly not ever seen.

She makes a face at the comm. ]

There's no way. What, you mean to tell me that, like, I don't know... the Black Widow shows up in comic books? Or Captain America or Iron Man?

[voiceinthedark]

We do! I have a bunch here I can show you.

[He grins at her and leans back.]

Yep. Black Widow, Iron Man, The Hulk, Daredevil. The Winter Soldier. Hawkeye. Thor. All of them. They've been running since the 30s I think. But they just started doing the movies recently.

[agentxthirteen]

The Winter Soldier.

[ Her voice is incredulous. ]

The Winter Soldier has his own comic.

You and I are going to have a talk, pal. Where are these comics?

[voiceinthedark]

Uh, yeah. And it was awesome.

There's loads of superheroes though. Those are just a few.

Found them in the library mostly. Got a few from the closet because I really wanted those issues.

[agentxthirteen]

[ Sharon hesitates. ]

Uh... Where in the library are they? The comics?

[voiceinthedark]

It depends. I'm never quite sure about the layout. I just seem to find stuff.

I've got a bunch of them here if you want to borrow any though.

[agentxthirteen]

Any of them you think I should read? Which, uh, Avengers ones do you have? [ Not that she's looking for any with Steve in particular. She's just... looking. ]

[voiceinthedark]

Well, Hawkeye had a really good run. There's some good Captain America stuff. The Winter Soldier comic was pretty good to. There's loads I could recommend.

[agentxthirteen]

If we're going to do this logically, I should probably work my way through the alphabet. So... I guess I'll start with the Captain America stuff...

[ Yes. Alphabetical. Yesssssssssss. That's what she's thinking. Sure. ]

[voiceinthedark]

Oh yeah! He's a good one to start with. I mean, you could probably even get the really old ones from World War Two here, but you don't really need to go back that far.

[agentxthirteen]

Why do I not need to go back that far? Were his love interests all, I don't know... helpless secretaries and nurses or something that constantly needed to be rescued?

[ Like a certain radio show that she's not going to mention because she's pretending to know nothing about it... ]

[voiceinthedark]

Well, since then, there's been so many retcons and changes, and like, you'd have to read about a million issues if you wanted to see everything.

Continuity is kind of a mess. Everyone comes back to life eventually.

[agentxthirteen]

Oh.

[ She makes a face for a moment as she thinks it over. ]

That's... unrealistic.

[ And then she remembers. Steve hadn't technically been dead, but he'd still come back. She'd thought Coulson was dead, only to find that he'd been brought back and was the new director of SHIELD. She'd thought Fury was dead, but it turned out he was alive all along. Maybe the notion that people come back from death isn't so far-fetched as she would like to think. ]

But it sounds interesting?

But yeah. So... I should check the library first, then see you for the more obscure stuff? And for any questions I may have?

[voiceinthedark]

It's superhero comics. At least in my world, no-one expects them to be realistic. And no-one is gonna kill off a beloved character. Not permanently anyway.

Sounds like a plan! If you don't like a storyline, just pick another. There's like, seventy years of stuff to choose from. And movies.

[agentxthirteen]

Jesus. Seventy- [ She takes a deep breath. She can read instruction manuals for weaponry more complicated than Ikea furniture. She can handle this. ]

Movies. Right... [ She might have to look those up. ]

I'll get started and track you down. Eventually. Thanks for the information.