video; guess who's back, back again

[assembles]

[ The feed snaps on, and the frame is on the crowded side. In the foreground Steve and Wanda are seated, arranged on a couch in one of the mansion’s tea rooms, while Natasha stands behind them, leaning against the wall near the door. Steve has his phone tilted so that all of three them are visible, Wanda’s arm linked with his.

Steve’s in civilian wear, his expression composed and collected. He isn’t here to give out orders or make any speeches, though. ]

So it looks like Wonderland sent all three of us home at once. Sorry about that. [ As if they had any control over it. ] But we’re back now and more or less in one piece. [ Which isn’t the full story at all, but that isn’t something that needs to be shared with all of Wonderland.

Natasha pushes away from the wall at this and moves closer into the frame of the video, leaning on the back of the couch over Steve’s shoulder, expression mild. ] I don’t know if any others of us were sent home recently, but if so, letting us know would be greatly appreciated.

[ Her lips quirk briefly. ] Either way, I think some of us will need to be assembling for a SitRep soon regardless. But we wanted to let you know we were back to keep people from worrying.

[ Steve glances over his shoulder at Natasha, nods, and then returns to looking at his phone. ] Let us know if we’re needed anywhere.

[ With that, the feed cuts. ]


[ They’ve done their duty and reported their return, which means that it’s time for all three of them to go and lick their wounds. Steve returns to his room first and foremost, finding Bucky even sooner than he had expected when it turns out he’d camped in his room.

Once they’ve reunited, though, Steve laces up his shoes and goes for a run up and down the beach, needing some time to clear his head. Everything that happened back home has him on edge, searching for a way to take action, to do something, and yet none of it means a thing here in Wonderland. There are no Accords here, but a secret that had been revealed in the worst possible way back home remains a secret here, and it’s eating at him.

He also heads up to the roof, as if hoping that a bird’s eye view of everything will somehow cause it all to make more sense. Wonderland isn’t where he’s supposed to be, but at least some of his team is here. They maybe be prisoners, but they’re not caged and collared. It’s something. ]

[ Once Natasha parted ways with Wanda and Steve, having had a chance to - finally - compare information, she briefly stopped by her room upstairs, checking to make sure everything she'd accumulated here was as she'd left it. Then, after replying to a few text messages that had been waiting for her, she headed to the fifth floor. And the bar.

Because damn, did she ever need a drink. Or twenty. ]

[ For most of the day following their return to Wonderland, Wanda remains out of sight. There's no trace of her in either of her usual haunts, the training room or the magic study: she shuts herself away in her room for the better part of the afternoon, door locked tight, though she'll likely answer for those who seek her out. It's been months since she's been this withdrawn-- longer, considering how much time had passed during her trip home, but she finds herself feeling very much like the Wanda who had first come to Wonderland one year earlier, skittish and wary of human contact, unnerved by the idea of having to explain exactly what had changed to rob her of the confidence she had spent so many months building alongside her teammates and new friends alike.

Eventually, it's one of the most basic of human needs that forces her to emerge, hunger driving her to leave her room behind and make her way down to the communal kitchen. After spending time in government custody, the need for a real meal as opposed to whatever the closets might be able to supply is enough to make her brave the mansion beyond her room. She keeps her focus narrow at first, rummaging through the pantry to see what it might have to offer in the way of ingredients, occasionally turning her attention to the kitchen at large to see who else might have wandered in since her own arrival, an attempt to remain aware of her surroundings. House arrest followed by more severe isolation has done very little to put her at ease, and she finds herself unwilling to trust even the slightest creak of the floorboards, regardless of the fact that here, the word fugitive means very, very little. ]

[ OOC: One or all of them will respond to any network replies. If you reply to any of the action options, please specify who it’s for! ]

Comments

[hypoxic]

Mm, yes. She does seem to hold a lot of your trust.

[Even though a lot of her access seems wholly unwarranted. But that's a concern for Dr. Foster, really.]

You aren't concerned that he might run off on his own during an event?

[widows_kiss]

She's had time to earn a lot of it. And she's much more capable than you'd expect.

Run where, exactly? [ Her lips twitch in a hint of a smile. ] Would you prefer we get him a leash? Maybe a collar with a bell on it?

[hypoxic]

If it would keep him from hurting anyone innocent, I'm sure something similar could be arranged.

[It would be a really cool, high-tech leash and bell okay.]

[widows_kiss]

[ She arches an eyebrow. ]

Depending on the event, I'm to understand that any one of us could hurt someone, should the magic in this place mess with us in a particular way. That's not limited to him. And outside of that... [ She pauses to choose her words with care. ] He's not just a weapon any longer.

[hypoxic]

Events aren't a controllable setting. The Winter Soldier could hurt people outside of that regular variance.

[He squints a bit at the new bit, though. It matches other snippets he's heard.]

I've heard that he's no longer operating under Hydra protocols, yes.

[widows_kiss]

So could several of us.

[ She repeats it again, her expression serious as she meets his gaze steadily, takes a casual sip of her coffee. ]

There is never a truly controlled settling, Fitz. And especially not here. The events magnify that, yes, but not even you can account for every extenuating circumstance when you put this many dangerous people into a contained space.

[ She inclines her head at that in confirmation. ] Steve helped shatter that when we took down the helicarriers in DC a while back. He's been on the run and hiding ever since. Laying low. Piecing together what he can of who he was before he was made into the Winter Soldier. Our recent trip home interrupted some of that, but if the Barnes that is here is the one from the events we just experienced... He won't go out of his way to harm anyone, unless they give him a reason.

[ There's a caution layered in those words. Natasha doesn't think it's smart to give him a reason, or make him an enemy. It's a careful line to walk, but she's not currently identifying him as an immediate threat. ]

[hypoxic]

You could. But you won't.

You're Avengers.

[This is such a fact of the universe, it's ludicrous to have to say it out loud.]

[widows_kiss]

We are. [ She subdues a smile at his unwavering faith in that fact. ] But in case you didn't know? Before the Russians messed with his head? Barnes was Steve's first partner, on his first team. There's no one he trusted more at his back. Knowing Steve, that should tell you a lot about the man Barnes is, when there's not someone controlling him.

[hypoxic]

That last bit is the concerning part, Ma'am. I've... We've attempted to recover others from Hydra's control. Our success rate hasn't been particularly favorable.

[RIP Agent 33.]

[widows_kiss]

[ She cocks her head to the side, curious. ]

Did you have anyone working with them who had managed a successful separation from the conditioning?

[hypoxic]

It's a loose interpretation of "success," but we had lost one of ours to Hydra, yes. We provided treatment to counteract their conditioning. Her brain scans returned to a normal state, and she was nearly cleared to return to duty.

Nearly lost some very good friends when she betrayed us again. One imagines that we might have known better, considering the nature of our industry.

[widows_kiss]

[ She absorbs that information seriously. ]

Sometimes there are triggers buried deeper than something a scan would pick up. Something that lies forgotten until just the right conditions unearth it.

[ She sounds like she's speaking from experience. ]

[hypoxic]

That's part of the problem, yes. I think it would be beneficial to continue keeping tabs on the Winter Soldier issue for that reason.

[widows_kiss]

I don't think you have to worry about keeping tabs on him, I'm fairly certain Steve won't be letting him out of his sight anytime soon. But at the same time, if we wish him to reclaim more of himself and his control? You need to be prepared not treat him like he's a loaded gun aimed at your head every moment of the day.

[hypoxic]

It's important to keep a B plan, no matter who it's for.

[There's just about a 0% chance that he'll have to interact directly with the Winter Soldier anyway.]

[widows_kiss]

[ Are you sure about those odds, Fitz? ]

Why stop at B?

[hypoxic]

[He is the most sure he'll be so disappointed when he finds out he's wrong.]

So you understand the severity of this issue.

[widows_kiss]

I tend to not underestimate the severity of any issue. In my line of work, if a plan can go sideways in the worst way possible? It usually will.

[hypoxic]

[He smiles ruefully.]

Yes -- that tends to be the way of things, doesn't it? No room to take a holiday with regularly-scheduled disasters.