c0mplex-heroes

[c0mplex-heroes]

Maggie knew bits and pieces about Bucky's life here. The Winter Soldier's reputation was hard not to ignore. People still talked about it to this day. But Maggie certainly wouldn't be someone to hold that against him. Never.

"Young ones huh?" Maggie didn't feel young but compared to Bucky well... Made sense. "Well regardless, I'm glad to help keep that hope alive as best as I can. Might not be my job but it's still something I'm happy to attempt to."

Although if she was truly honest, holding onto to hope was getting harder and harder with each passing day. She was just getting better at hiding it.

That's the thing-- Bucky's name is all his own, his reputation tarnished since he came back to himself. There was the expectation of Before-- the kid following after Cap-- and the one after-- you know, the mass murderer. He's glad to hear she doesn't have some expectations, regrets, maybe, that drag her down to the depths.

"And that's why we've got to try, for young ones like you. To never forget that. Much as I don't like seen kids fight...you do keep the rest of us honest. It isn't your job to."

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The offer certainly was generous. But Maggie truly meant it. She never wanted anyone to feel awkward in her home, hoping it could be more a place of sanctuary. Sure it wasn't the most conventional home. One of the downstairs rooms had been converted into a bedroom for her aunt, who had come to stay with them when she got sick. And there was still always the chance of finding weaponry hidden around the house. Maggie was still trying to find them all but Peggy had certainly gotten creative in her later years in life.

"Alright full tour it is." Maggie beams at that. Maggie might be one of a few people that wouldn't find looking for easy escape routes strange. She'd served, and well she could understand it brought a sense of ease. Although one thing she hadn't really considered was how seeing Peggy might make Ava feel. There were still only bits and pieces she knew about Ava's past - and well she didn't like to pry unless someone wanted to open up.

"Well this is the living room." Maggie led the way into a door just off from the hallway. It's cozy. The couches looked dated but well cared for. A fireplace sat in the centre of the room. A cascade of family photos sat upon it and framed above. Wedding pictures of her grandparents, Maggie as a kid, photos of each generation of Rogers in their military service uniforms. There's a few newer ones that Maggie has added- happy times spent with Sam, Bucky and Joaquin. There's a TV up one corner and the other is a record player that by the lack of dust clearly gets a lot of use. As does the guitar sat next to it.

"It's not a big room but that helps it make it super cozy in the winter."

Make yourself at home seemed like such a strange concept to Ava. But she appreciated Maggie's offer, understanding it was coming from a place of care and generosity. It would take a while for Ava to fully embrace the concept of making herself at home in Maggie's place but already she could feel herself relax just a little more than she would normally.

"A tour would be great, actually," she said. She didn't feel it appropriate to mention that a tour would allow her to see all the possible ingresses into the house and possible hiding spots. There would also be photographs of Peggy Carter, which put Ava back on edge. She had never met the woman but she had been in charge of SHIELD when Ava was one of their lab-rats. Had Peggy known about Ava? Did she approve all the ways SHIELD treated her?

Ava pushed all of that to one side. Now wasn't the time to think about that. So she put on a nice smile for her new friend as she was shown around.

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Maggie waits. She did tend to like to be prepared as much as she could before a mission. Although she had been known to improvise and perhaps pull a few reckless moves too. "Electric powers okay. Good to know. I'm sure it should be fine, I mean you've been using them a while now right?"

The Starling wouldn't be in danger of getting electrocuted would she? Maybe she'd just keep her distance to be safe. There was still a lot they didn't know about each other. But for now, they had a common enemy - surely that should be enough.

"Alright, give me a few hours I'll see what I can pull together." She holds out her phone for Elva. "Put your number in there and we'll arrange a rondavo tonight when I've got everything we need. Just name the time and place."

Surely some of the Avengers would provide her with what she needed.... Right?

Elva thinks for a long moment, trying to decide what else would be needed to be told, but it's all falling through her memory like a sieve. Damn it. "I have electric powers? If that's like. Something you need to prepare for or pad against or anything just in case."

It was unbelievable the relief she felt in being believed and trusted. Sure, she was still cautious, and likely would continue to be for a long while until Maggie could prove to her that she could fully be trusted, but man, it was a start. And it was a relief to finally, finally, not have to be alone anymore in this aspect of her life. She was not at her core a solitary creature.

[c0mplex-heroes]

It didn't mean Maggie didn't have other regrets. But making this choice to be a hero like her family before her... Well that wasn't one of them. She was so proud of her family name. But it didn't mean it didn't come with its complications, especially the pressure that came to live up to them.

One thing that had stuck with her was the ability to adapt to her circumstances. And so far she had - trying to carve out a place for herself here in this new world. But it didn't mean she wasn't still sitting with a lot of... Well a lot.

"No it's not. I mean realistically it seems like there'll always be another fight, another enemy. But that hope for a better world, it can be hard to hold onto but it's important to try. Sometimes that can be the only thing keeping you going."

His chest blooms with warmth to hear her say she doesn't regret it, wouldn't change it. Much as he hates the thought of children and teenagers getting caught up in the fight, the war, time and time again, and tragedy keeps following them like a veil of despair--

But she seems alright. Despite being stuck somewhere unfamiliar. Out of time, another thing he relates to.

"Don't know if I'm young enough to think it'll ever stop. That kind of hope you younger ones have, that maybe one day it will. Not a bad thing, to think that it could."

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(Essentials, okay that shouldn't be too hard to find. Alright I'm on it.)

May as well take advantage of her new found fame and position right? At a light jog, Maggie makes her way to the facilities building - she'd probably have more luck getting them on her side than Sivana. Luckily one has already spotted her opening up the door. It seemed her arrival hadn't gone completely unnoticed. Quickly she explains the situation and what's needed. The employees are sprung into action by her words, almost honoured to be helping an Avenger.

---

It takes time but with the employees help they gather up all the cleaner they can - loading it all up into a truck. The Starling could only have faith it would be enough for what they needed it for. All she can do is look at it all and have faith. This had to work. With one last thanks to the staff, they close the truck up and Maggie clambers into the driver's seat.

(Alright I've got as much as they can spare. I'm heading back to the airport. Meet you there?)

She doesn't give him a chance to respond as her foot hits the gas and Maggie begins her journey. As quickly and as safely as she could. Crashing with all this precious cargo was not on her agenda today.

(Storage, and in any parked vans you can see that look like they'd be sent on maintenance calls. I'm inclined to think they'd leave them packed with essentials, and I'd consider this to be one.)

There is a fleet of vans, doubtlessly all locked. A sign with arrows does point to several buildings, or at least vague directions, suggesting which might be facilities and maintenance supply. Those doors might be possible to open with a keycard, and there are certainly bound to be employees inside- even if only a few. Maybe they'd let her in if she asked?

---

Sivana's having luck, boxes of drain cleaner powder stolen directly from shelves at the first location. It's time to find another supply house. It's not going to be enough to help the entire airport, but he's wondering if they can create a barrier around parts of the spill, cutting it into chunks they can contain until they're able to procure enough of the material to clear the entire airport...a job he realizes is going to take all damn day and night and probably at least another full day or two after that.

[c0mplex-heroes]

@mcltitudes // cont.

In a way Maggie could relate to that. Growing up she'd never really had any friends and now it felt like she was making up for that. And well any friend of Bucky's was a friend of hers. A friend that was always welcome to her. "Fair enough," she chuckled at that, smiling wide. "I mean it Ava you're welcome any time you want. So make yourself at home... Unless you want the full tour first?"

This had been her grandparents house, her and her mother moving in years ago. Typically when people saw the family photos they were naturally curious. Joaquin certainly had been.

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Was she the pro? Maybe in comparison to Lance she was. Typically though she tended to feel more like the novice, usually the youngest among her fellow hunters. But maybe being the only professional hunter here was a good thing. This was Alexis life, all she had. It didn't have to be Lance's. And fighting for some kind of normal and peace for her friend... Well that was important.

No-one chose this life after all. She hadn't. Not really.

"Are you sure? I don't want you taking any risks you can't afford to make. I can afford the cops being suspicious of me." The choice was ultimately Lance, but Alexis didn't want him risking what he had built here. She knew it was important to him. That security. Something Alexis had never had. "Well that other option would certainly be safer. But the choice is yours, no matter what you decide I've got your back." The later would be her pick but she wanted to make a point. This wasn't her choice, it was Lance's.

(Alright. Respect.)

Lance huffs, canting his head in acknowledgement. Alexis is the pro here. He's the fucking mailman. He abuses the keys that job gives him, he loses the job- and his health insurance. He's not keen to play that game. Also, he's pretty sure he could do prison time for that?

(Not sure. Don't care to find out.)

"Alright. We'll go about this your way. I could get a room for the night, or at least pretend I want one and distract the clerks to let you get in without being questioned on sight. So long as I get out of the way before you bring them down, I should be able to stay in control." It's still a risk. He knows that. He's inserting himself into this like he has any business pretending he knows how to hunt. "...Or," he guiltily concedes, "I can meet you at the final destination. Whatever that ends up being." Much more sensible...if boring. For him.

[c0mplex-heroes]

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[c0mplex-heroes]

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[c0mplex-heroes]

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[c0mplex-heroes]

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[c0mplex-heroes]

Kimiko unfortunately wasn't one to go along with all of her crew mates' crazy whims. But she couldn't pretend she didn't have a reckless streak... No matter how hard she tried. So maybe maybe she could be convinced in the right circumstances.

The sorceress could sense his disappointment. Okay maybe she was a little too, a fight allowed her to test her skills and new techniques. But first they needed that treasure to get Nami off their back. "I suppose if we do run into anyone we won't have a choice..."

It was the only compromise she could offer.

The door had been standing in plain sight, but could she be surprised he missed it. Deciding to take the lead this time, Kimiko makes sure he remains following as she heads for the door. "Fine, if it leads to a dead end you can smash the first wall in sight." Another compromise, perhaps she was too impatient to argue now.

Opening the door, it leads to a long winding corridor. It's quiet... Unusually quiet. Either this was a trap or the attention of the marines had been drawn elsewhere. Well guess there was only one way to find out.

Zoro wasn't surprised that she wasn't just going along with his desire to smash walls, after all, he was pretty sure Luffy was the only crewmate who would go along with that idea without asking any questions. At least his idea wasn't completely off the table, so he couldn't complain too much.

"Hmm. I guess." She did have a point - even if they wouldn't be difficult to beat, it would still take to deal with them. Hopefully there weren't any worthy challengers he was missing by doing this the less destructive way.

His attention shifted from her to the door that she pointed out. It would make things a lot easier if that door did lead to the treasure. "We might as well try that one." There was no reason not to after all. "If that's another waste than we can think about smashing walls down." The swordsman sounded far too eager about the destructive idea, perhaps he had been getting a bit too bored lately.

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Maggie had been a little reserved when she first got to this earth. In her defense everything had felt so jarring and almost frightening. Parts of this world felt like home but parts felt so different. It had made her a little vague on purpose when it came to herself, almost like a defense mechanism.

But she wanted to change that. Especially if there was a chance she was stuck here more permanently...

"They did their best to keep me safe and protected. Sure we didn't have the usual average family life but... Well I don't think I'd change a thing."

God she missed them. Sure there was a Steve here and he'd certainly looked out for her since she arrived. But he wasn't her grandfather, at least not the one she had.

Nodding somberly, she caught Bucky's eye. "True... Even when you finish one fight there always seems to be another one around the corner. It can be hard to get out of that life once you start, whether it was by choice or not."

Bucky doesn't know much of her story, the vague details, the note of a connection to the legacy his friend has left. If he knew she was related to Steve, well, he'd probably be a little too protective. And standoffish. And awkward.

So this is great! The normal kind.

"You had your family, you had each other's backs. Complicated, but I'd think it can be....good. Depending."

Bucky's mouth quirks a little more. "More like get dragged in, one way or another. And it hasn't really stopped."

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Side eyeing Murdoc, Maggie's surprised he's not more panicked. But maybe this was a normal part of his life. Still this whole thing had her on edge, maybe it was those old paranoid instincts kicking in or maybe she just didn't like not knowing everything.

"Let's be careful about this hmm? I'm not going to claim sides here but starting a fight here is not the way to go about this."

Not that she couldn't handle a fight, although Murdoc's words chiming in didn't seem to be helping his case. These guys were already bad news, getting them riled up wasn't going to help. Or maybe that was weirdly what he wanted... Maggie couldn't be sure. There was still a lot they didn't know about each other.

"Killed?"

Okay that caught her interest and now she was even more curious about the enigma that was her new friend. And now her guard was up. Had she gotten involved with someone dangerous? Or was there more to the story?

As they back down, Maggie's guard remains up watching them as they go. Had they gotten lucky? Or maybe Maggie was starting to get a reputation for her heroic antics? Her face was starting to get more public now and sometimes she got recognised.

"Seems rather extreme for them to go to those lengths." Maggie's now got a thousand questions. "Not exactly, but close enough I guess. This kind of stuff is more in line with my work... Wait wait slow down." A pause. "You blew up an island? And assassins... Are you being serious? Because if you are you are going to have to give me more to go from and don't leave anything out. I want to know exactly what that was all about."

"I'm a defenseless old man. I'm going to be able to order off the senior's menu next month. We wouldn't put our nasty little pawsies on little old Murdy, right? I'm borderline senile."

The men look between themselves, at Murdoc, at Maggie, and then back to themselves.

"Actually I told my boyfriend I'd eat him alive if he ever put me in a home, so I take that back. I am a Normally Aged Person and I am 100% innocent of whatever this is still about. I thought I paid that guy off."

"You killed him," one of them replies. Seems like they're starting to wonder if he IS senile.

"I would remember doing that. Unless I didn't. You heard the lady, something something warrant, unless you just like tying old guys up. Wrrrrrinkly AND cuffed? And the suit? I wasn't expecting the night to be so exciting..."

"You can have him," that was way easier than expected, and Murdoc watches them leave while they mutter something into a radio.

"They were gonna assassinate me...After brocce ball no less..." He sounds devastated, and a little offended. "You a lawyer or something? I get guys like that all the time, usually I just channel the Creeper from Scooby Doo and they leave me alone for a little bit. See, few years ago I blew up a floating island and instead of getting my revenge on their boss I got trauma and a lotta baggage from that old label. Also what the fuck kind of label has submarines and helicopters and assassins? Fucking ridiculous!"

[c0mplex-heroes]

What are you in your purest form?

a child’s laugh

your voice carries a melody. a secret. you are pure. you know pain. you look it in the face and smile. nothing you do will stop it. you will embrace it, let it change you. there’s nothing else you can do. you’re just a kid.

tagged by @mcltitudes (thank you lovely <3) tagging whoever wants to steal! :)

[c0mplex-heroes]

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[c0mplex-heroes]

@held-heart // cont.

A smile lit up Maggie's face at the returned offer from Sharon. When it boiled down to it they were technically related and Maggie always looked out for her family. Yet the smile doesn't linger, a serious tone falling over her again.

"I mean it, really I'm here any time you need me. You can always talk to me." Her tone is troubled, perhaps she'd read too much into things... But Maggie had a feeling something was troubling the agent and the last thing Maggie wanted to do was leave her to deal with it alone.