tushanshu_logs

Prisoner of war?

[ Bucky's voice is so, so heavy and wry. He's been there. He knows what it means, down to the marrow of his bones. ]

[ But he shakes the memory off, rubbing a hand over his face. ]

Giving them a common enemy doesn't take much. Big bad seems big on blood magic, so anything that looks like a ritual involving blood will eventually be concluded as his work.

[ It's up to much more than time constraints, for Bucky, too. He remembers stories from Rikki, about Onslaught. He's seen the damage Malicant's caused on the turtle, and walked the ruins of the last-but-one turtle with a city on top of her back. If this would turn into a center of power for Malicant? ]

[ He wants that stopped. Now. ]

[His eyes fall on Kaine after he speaks and then to Bucky.]

What grounds do we have to kill him beyond suspicion?

[Maker he sounds like Aveline now. Wherever that captain of the guard might be he's sure she would be proud. Except for the part where they're still considering assassinating someone.

He hits his temple with the heel of his hand and groans.]

Maker things were so much easier when all I had to do was kick down a door and fight the bad guys.

War? Barnes, we're not even citizens of anything. Hard to be part of an army when you don't have a home front.

[Looks in Hawke's general area when he mentions suspicion, but doesn't attempt to make eye contact.] We don't even have suspicion. [Reaches into his pocket to run his thumb over the shield, and it gives him some temporary comfort.] I'm not sure about the two of you, but...I've killed people for less. [Not that he's proud of it.

He sighs wistfully at the mention of an actual fight.] Tell me about it.

Wars ain't only fought on the home front.

[ Quiet, hard, curt. He died in Switzerland, after all. Somebody's home front, sure. But not necessarily his. ]

[ On the other hand, Bucky does have a suspicion. He looks between the two of them, his brows drawn down, but not avoiding anything. ]

I'm sure a distraction could be of use. You can get to kick in a door and fight somewhere - two wheres - else while I... take the cut.

[ Not the shot, not if they want to make it look like Malicant. ]

[Hawke's hand snaps outward trying to signal everyone to stop talking for just a moment before he looks to his companions.]

Hold a moment, before we start making all the plans, are we out of ideas here?

[They may have a finite amount of time but Hawke still feels there's enough to talk this out.]

I want to know that we're all agreeing to this.

[Well that made that guy testy.] I know that. What I meant was we don't have a home front to bring him back to.

No offense Barnes, but--[Pops one of the bone stingers out of his wrist and holds his hand out.]--I can go invisible and can get up-close and personal. [Because he was already damned anyway. Might as well damn himself more.

Shoots a look in Hawke's general direction.] If you've got any others, let's here it, because it sure sounds to me like we're out of them.

Edited 2014-04-24 01:55 (UTC)

I didn't say you couldn't do it, you know. Just that if you to prefer doin' something else, I can handle it.

[ Another rubbing of his face, then he leans back, a little, eyes on Hawke. ]

I'm out of ideas on how to avoid chaos and war here in any other way, yeah. Unless one of the spells in that gun can make him speak the truth in public or something.

[ Which Bucky doubts will do the trick, either, if the President denies his words, later, if somebody detects the magic and calls it forcing him to lie, if, if, if... ]

We could fold. Try to get some people to come with us and help us, and leave the rest to what might happen here. Horrid as killing one person might be, I like that option ... even more cowardly.

Seems like all my ideas have come crashing out of the sky.

[Any sense of levity disappears from Hawke completely. He hates this idea, but he agreed to come here. Only then he imagined there was a way to do this beyond assassinating someone like this. The worst thing is not knowing.]

What I want to hear is a yes or a no if this is the plan. Because this means keeping this secret, from everyone.

[If they ever learn the truth of this it'll bring even more trouble down on their heads, on everyone's heads.]

So the last thing we want is for someone to back out. We all need to be sure of this.

Even if we convince people to leave, everyone that stays is going to be in danger. [That is how the hero thing works, right?

He brings a hand to his head, as if nursing a headache, but in reality is reaching out to the nearby spider-things to make sure they're still alone, especially with what he's going to say next.]

I think it's clear our only real option is to kill the president and pin it on the other guy. As far as everyone else is concerned... We heard reports of the other guy being here and simply came to investigate. What happened while we were here was an unavoidable tragedy. [The words are hard to come out, and leave a rather nasty aftertaste. When did this become so hard?]

I'm not backing off.

[ Bucky's words are dark, but steady. He's committed. ]

[ His eyes move from one one man to... the seeming-Endai. ]

Who knows that you're here? I mean, who'd you have to lie about this, when we get back?

Since, as far as the Endai authorities are concerned, only I'm here, from Keeliai.

[Hawke looks to Kaine and nods.]

Save a few or save them all and possibly kill an innocent man. Don't you just love being a hero?

[Maker he can't wait to be back in his own skin.]

Well, I'm not sure if I can look Jaitet in the eyes after this, but I'm more concerned about telling anyone in Keeliai. If word gets around there and gets back to Endai that we all but lied to everyone here about what really happened there might be some resentment.

...I'm not a hero. [And he's never meant those words more than right now.

He looks over at Bucky.] Ke Divan knows me as a disembodied voice from when I helped him with his cop problem, but there was a little beggar girl that saw me when my suit fizzled out for a second. [He will not acknowledge it's because he fell off a roof.] I don't think she's going to be telling anyone, though.

But I was talking more about Keeliai, and if and when we show up with a bunch of these people. [Peter can never know what happened here.]

Yeah, that makes two of us.

[ Bucky nods, though. ]

I meant back in Keeliai, too. Anybody there know? We don't have to return with them, or at least not all of us.

[Hawke's eyes flicker between the two of them before he folds his arms over his chest.]

Where I came from they called me the Champion because I spent six years of my life there fighting to save people's lives. It has literally become my job. These are the kinds of things that I think about.

[While everyone there was concerned with trying to draw him into their particular cause, all he wanted to do was keep the people caught in between safe.]

If we kill their leader and then just leave, what kind of chaos would throw Endai into? If we take them to Keeliai and go with Kaine's story, what happens if truth gets out that we lied to everyone? The three of us are deciding the fate for an entire group of people. If people die because of this it's on our hands. If they help Keeliai then we've handed the city a major asset. All I want to know is if everyone is ready to deal with that.

[Then he sighs and unfolds his arms. Suddenly Hawke just feels tired.]

My friends don't know I'm here but they'll notice I'm gone. When they ask me what happened I want to know that I'm lying to them for a damn good reason. Maybe I'm not the only one, but I hate lying to my friends.

Well la-di-fucking-da, buddy. Great speech. It got me right here. [Holds his hand over his heart.] You know, I haven't been giving any of this serious thought until now. I'm so glad you set me straight.

[He takes on a more serious tone.] Just because I don't consider myself a hero doesn't mean I'm a complete asshole. You think I like this idea? I don't. I would love for there to be some sort of magical, hold handing option where we just talk sense into the idiot and show him the error of his ways, but from what we've all seen that's not an option. So let's drop the holier-than-thou crap and act like we all know exactly what's at stake here.

[He takes a deep breath; that made him angrier than he thought. This whole damn "mission" is making him testy.]

My brother knows I'm doing "something I shouldn't," but that was the story I was planning on telling him when I get back. [He still can't believe Peter tried to come with him.]

Leave?

[ Bucky's objection to Hawke is much quieter, milder than Kaine's... but he's not letting it go, either. ]

Our task is to bring help. Leaving these people 'to their fate' - whether it leaves the President alive or not - is not what we agreed to do when that dame brought us here. Whether or not you see it as war [ quick glance at Kaine ], the Endai are fighting this war the same as us brought here. They're not allowed to build up their defenses, or to help us build up ours. What if a spell-gun such as this can prove to be what's necessary to smoke out people the big bad has possessed? What if one of those turns out to be a vulnerability for him? What if they can shield people against the big bad's mind-killing?

We need to bring them to work together with us.

And, if you think 'bout it... the President ain't exactly innocent. Executing people for saying the truth isn't innocence at all.

[ Deep breath, and then he nods. ]

People know I'm away, too. I'll prob'ly tell at least one person what I did, 'cause you don't lie to the Black Widow when she wants to know something, but neither of you'll be mentioned.

[ Oh, yeah, Steve tried to come with him, too. Steve's not getting the unedited version, either. ]

[ Beat. Then, despite the entire situation, his mouth twitches. ]

'Something you shouldn't'? ... okay, I'm not gonna comment on that.

[Hawke points at Kaine.]

See outbursts like that are why you aren't getting a new toy.

[Then he shakes his head. Maker he wishes he was just working with his old friends on this.]

My point was there are going to be a lot of consequences, ones the three of us need to discuss. As much as I'd love to just storm the castle and say our problems are solved, somehow I get the feeling that won't work here.

[The amount of sarcasm there could fill a bucket.]

Lets just make sure we don't start an even bigger fire while we try putting this one out.

[Because he's speaking from experience here.]

[Despite the fact he's still annoyed at Hawke, he smirks ever so slightly at the mention of Peter.]

He's 16 and has the morals of Captain America. I chalk a lot of things up to "something I shouldn't."

[Pops his stinger out from his right wrist. It isn't meant to be a threatening gesture, Kaine just wants to show he already has toys of his own.]

Barnes has a point, so let's stop talking about him like he's innocent in all this. More importantly, let's actually talk consequences and cut the coddling. I'm guessing we've all got blood on our hands here, we know what's at stake.

[ Excuse him, Kaine, Bucky'll just sputter for a moment. When he gets his breath back, he'll. Grumble. ]

Believe me, Captain America at sixteen wouldn't'a just let it go at 'something I shouldn't.' Good thing I learned it then, or he'd prob'ly be here right now.

[ And wouldn't that make the current job harder. ]

[ Deep breath, and he rolls his shoulders. ]

Consequences. Gonna restate the goals, here, 'cause we've gotta steer things, that way. Make people with magic from here come help and teach people back home so we can maybe stand a better chance.

Means we'd have to solidify the thought that we've gotta all stick together against Big Bad. [ He nods at Hawke. ] As not obviously foreigner, you might hafta try and steer people into thinking in that direction? I'll be doing my best on my end, definitely.

As to 'out of the frying pan and into the fire,' I guess... if somebody up top tries, you can always try 'n scare them into behaving? [ This one goes to Kaine. ]

[Captain who? Hawke hasn't a single clue what either of them are talking about right now.]

Well don't I just feel out of the loop right now.

[Maker, for once he would just like to know what everyone is talking about. When did he become the dumb one here?]

And let's not forget that if we screw this up people are going to die, Endai will likely want nothing to do with Keeliai, and we may as well be handing this place over to Lord Spooky. Oh, and we'll likely be killed.

[He adds the last part like it's an afterthought.]

No pressure right?

[And he smirks.]

Don't worry, I've got a way with people. Just look at me and Kaine here.

[Arches an eyebrow at Bucky's sputtering... and then it clicks. Where he heard the name "Bucky" before, why the guy looked so damn familiar. He's the other Captain America. The Winter Soldier. ...Well damn, how about that.

Glances over at Hawke.]

Captain America. Superhero with a big-ass shield and an A on his forehead who thinks he knows better than everyone but is also irritatingly humble. [Kaine also had a hand in temporarily turning the guy into a giant spider.... when he was also temporarily a giant spider. Fun times to be had by all.]

It's all the more reason to do this right. Good thing there are people in this room who did it for a living, then.

[Can't decide if he wants to roll his eyes or smirk.] Tell me you're talking distraction and not diplomacy, because I had to promise the kid I wasn't dying here today.

[ This time, the sound Bucky makes is an amused snort. He's never... really thought how Steve might be coming off to a stranger, at this point, but that doesn't sound too far from the realm of possibility. ]

He's a good guy. Hates bullies. That kinda thing.

[ The words are fond, but then the humor chips away from his expression. Eyes flick to Kaine. ]

Will do it for a living, they tell me.

[ The set of his shoulders hard, determined once more, he turns to Hawke again. ]

If we don't do anything, the result will be the same, possibly without the last part, for now. If we do pull it off, we all get a better fighting chance. If that's what happens, if that's the price we have to pay for trying to make things better... I'm willing to, for my part.

[ Seeing as he's the most obvious target, should things go hairy, that's not said lightly. He does look at Kaine, nodding a bit to let him know he hears that Kaine made a promise. He'll try to help him get through with that, should there be a choice. ]

We'll need diplomacy after. Shouldn't be required of the guy who's not really even supposed t'be here.

But we'll do it right. No failure.

Endai

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