All In (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

February 2012

Outside of his brief experience with interplanetary kidnapping, Harrier wasn't around much over January. Steve Murdock went to work and socialized with the other security guards at HAX, occasionally volunteering his expertise for experiments that had something to do with the Terminus or extradimensional radiation, but generally he was focused on one particular moment: the evening he'd shared with Gina Evans back in December. In a lifetime walking carefully between the fires of grief and despair, a moment of emotional connection, even friendship, deeper than the casual, too-easy acceptance that so many of the city's heroes so prided themselves on giving him, had been something to reach out for. So every day, instead of his usual evening of watching television or taking extra shifts at HAX, whenever he wasn't needed to help deal with an emergency as Caradoc or Harrier, he walked the streets of Freedom City, triangulating on his goal.

He'd done things slow and methodically the way he usually did, carefully comparing his own walking pace to the likely traveling speed of a car in winter, carefully measuring out where likely turns had gone, and generally doing his level best to trace the residence of the mysterious woman he just had to see again. He could just have called Miss Americana, of course, but with how firmly she protected her operator's privacy, he doubted she'd simply hand the number over. No, he'd have to find her and see her again, and tell her that he wanted to have something more, and then...well, after a month of searching and a frank acknowledgement of his own weaknesses, he wasn't sure what he'd do next. Perhaps he'd go to one of the men he knew like Jack of all Blades, Victory, or Gabriel (or perhaps all three!) and try and figure out how a man should court a woman.

He'd managed to narrow things down to Hanover, a prosperous district of scientists and engineers, walking past Internet cafes and small bookshops on his hunt, even to a particular block in that neighborhood, but things had gotten much more complicated after that. The houses around here all resembled each other quite strongly, and he hadn't seen Gina's house well enough in the dark to recognize it specifically. If he'd come on his own account, he'd simply have knocked on every door, but he didn't want to draw attention to himself here. He'd had one bad moment a couple of days earlier when he'd picked what he thought was the right house, screwed up his courage, only to find inside a cordial disabled man and his helpful caregiver sibling who'd been nothing but sympathetic but had no idea how to help find a neighbor, especially one who Steve didn't quite dare name.

He'd been stopped by the police and questioned, even, his unusual appearance having attracted the wrong sort of attention, but he'd managed to talk his way out of trouble. So he'd come back to this district and this block and was walking it again with his slow, methodical stride, studying every house with increasing frustration. Today looked at first like it wasn't going to be any different than any other day; he'd passed a few community parks with milling crowds unusual for the weather, he'd been conscious of a chill in the air he didn't recognize, but for the moment all that was on his mind was a leaking feeling of unease. Perhaps all of this has been a mistake. Perhaps it wasn't going to work. Not one for giving up despite all hazards, he sat down on the sidewalk on one particular street and began studying the houses, deep in thought.

[Electra]

After the incident with the police, Murdock might understandably be wary about being approached, but the individual who came up to him today wasn't the threatening sort. Shorter than Murdock by several inches, and with a fair, unlined face, it could've been a man or woman bundled into the puffy green overcoat with matching hat and mittens, perfectly appropriate attire for the weather. It was only when the person approached him and stopped that Murdock could see the subtle wrongness in the face, something that was too smooth about the skin, green eyes that didn't quite slide smoothly in their sockets. All the same, though, the person seemed perfectly friendly, giving Murdock a pleasant smile. "I know what you're looking for. Will you come with me, please?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Murdock studied the androgynous figure for a moment, hesitating only briefly before he realized what was going on. Gina, and through her Miss Americana, was evidently a robotics genius, with significant access to machinery to wear around the city. Despite the nature of his own cybernetic implants, the idea of communicating through a machine held no particular terrors for him, and so he had no qualms about following this one. "I will come with you," he said with his typical shortness as he followed the android down the sidewalk, hands in the pockets of the thick secondhand jacket he wore to allay suspicion. He wasn't much for conversation at the best of times, particularly when what he had to say was best-said face to face.

[Electra]

The peculiar stranger seemed comfortable with the silence, walking next to Murdock while still directing their path of travel. Several people in the neighborhood were out in their yards today, but two people walking together didn't draw the attention that one large man walking alone did. The emissary's walking action was not perfect, with a slight limp to the gait and a hesitation when stepping off curbs and over piles of slush, just enough to make Murdock suspect that Gina was not practiced with this particular model, or perhaps not piloting it herself at all. It was certainly not the polished finished product that was Miss Americana, but seeing a superhero in this neighborhood would surely draw attention that Gina would like to avoid.

Somewhat gratifyingly, Murdock's calculations were not far wrong. A short walk of one block west and another south brought them up in front of a moderately-sized white house that he'd passed several times in his travels. Murdock had discounted it on previous visits because of the pet tracks in the yard, when he knew Gina didn't have a dog. Despite that, the emissary led him up the driveway and in through a door beside the garage, which contained a familiar car. "Remove your shoes, please," the emissary told him. "You may place them on the mat. Even as it spoke, Murdock's guide matched words to action, removing coat and shoes and placing them in a closet alcove off the garage. It was a bit of a shock to see that underneath those items of clothing, the robot had no skin at all, just plastic bones and bundles of tubing for blood vessels and tendons. It made subtle hydraulic noises as it moved, stepping into the house and gesturing him to follow.

[Avenger Assembled]

Steve Murdock wasn't a man to shock easily, but he could certainly be surprised; he started at the sight of the exposed robot flesh, his idle speculation about what could have produced the pet tracks in the lawn interrupted by the reminder of the machine he was dealing with, at least for the moment. The fact that he'd seen worse had no bearing on the fact that it was quite unexpected! He mastered his surprise as best he could, and soon began doing just as the near-fleshless robot said, removing his shoes and coat, though he kept the coat itself in hand. "The craftsmanship is very sophisticated," he finally said, consciously speaking to the 'driver' rather than the machine itself that stood before him. "I would not have guessed she was half-finished until her clothing was removed."

With his shoes removed and his coat folded over his arm, Steve followed the robot into the confines of Gina's home.

[Electra]

"Having you wandering around for days was causing enough commotion with the neighbors," Gina's voice echoed over a subtle intercom panel set into the kitchen island. "Sending Miss A out to fetch you would just make things worse. That one's still a prototype, but he's passable with enough clothes on. Still gotta work the bugs out, then contour and skin him." Even someone as socially unskilled as Murdock could hear the strain underneath the easy words, but she seemed to be trying hard to speak casually. "Help yourself to whatever you like in the kitchen. There's a coffeemaker on the counter if you're cold." The robot helpfully opened the refrigerator for him, revealing a varied stock of foods that was heavy on salt and chemicals.

[Avenger Assembled]

Murdock took a ginger ale from the back of the refrigerator and sat on a stool before the kitchen counter, looking at the intercom impassively. He didn't drink from the can, instead he sat there, holding the can between his hands as if trying to warm it, trying to visualize the woman on the other side. He was silent for a long time, sorting his thoughts out, before he spoke. He was nervous now, almost more nervous than he'd ever been about anything on Prime. While rejection today might be his due, it was no less unpleasant a prospect to contemplate.

"I am sorry if I have caused you difficulty with your neighbors, Gina. I have been looking for you these last few months because I wanted to see you again. I found you a very compelling woman." He realized his hands were shaking, hard enough that he might crush the cup in them, and so laid them flat on the marble countertop. "We know little of each other, but what I have seen...I would like to see more of." He reached into his coat and nervously took out a red dime-store teddy bear, hanging onto a plush pink heart that said "I LIKE YOU BEARY MUCH". "This was on sale at the drugstore near where I live. It seemed...appropriate." he went on, just a trace of nervousness in his voice.

[Electra]

There was a moment of silence over the line, long enough that he had to wonder if he'd gone too far with the gift. Finally, though, she came back, though her voice was a bit fainter. "Thanks," she told him. "It's cute." The robot had slipped away while Murdock had been looking in the fridge, so now they were alone, or he was alone with her voice, anywhere. "I'm sorry I've avoided your calls," she admitted after another moment's pause. "I had a lot to think about after what happened at Christmas. And it's hard to do that and be Miss Americana at the same time." A beat of silence, interrupted by the fridge humming into a cooling cycle. "I hope I didn't hurt your feelings."

[Avenger Assembled]

Murdock shook his head. "I was not hurt, Gina. I should not have called you on Miss Americana's line. I know you value your privacy." His hands had stopped shaking, but his back was still ramrod-straight, his nerves coming through in his posture as the metal stool creaked slightly beneath his weight. "I thought much as well, about you, and us, and many other things. I am what I am." The words covered his look, his manner, the memories that loomed with dead eyes in the back of his mind as he walked the streets of Freedom City. "And I have done what I have done. But if we can be friends, we can yet be more than that." He nervously shifted the bear back and forth in his hands, then set it on the counter again next to him. "What...did you think about?"

[Electra]

"All sorts of things." That was certain to be true; with Gina's enormous intellect, it was doubtful she could constrain herself to one train of thought at a time. "I was ashamed for awhile," she admitted candidly, made bold by the shreds of anonymity the intercom gave her. "I worried that I'd used you because I was so lonely. Christmas is just the worst, isn't it?" she asked rhetorically. "But maybe we used each other. Maybe it was something we both needed. You know now that you can, ah, be with another person, even an unaugmented person, and be all right. And up until Christmas, I hadn't touched another human being in more than a year, more than five years if you're talking about sex. And it didn't break me, or hurt me. Maybe it taught me the same thing it taught you, so maybe we're even."

[Avenger Assembled]

"I never thought I would be intimate again," said Murdock truthfully, remembering loves lost and long ago. "I thought such things were not part of my new life." He studied the intercom before saying, "Once I saw that I had not hurt you, or repulsed you, I did not regret what we had done. We gave each other joy, and there is nothing to regret in that. If I am to be a man, or anything like a man, I cannot be a prisoner of the past. But I would like us to have more than what we have had. I would like to...to see your face again, and hold your hand, and do what men and women do when they...when they are more than themselves. If you can look beyond what I have been, I would like to be yours." He reached up and put his hand on the intercom, trying to reach right through it to the woman beyond. "May I see you, Gina?"

[Electra]

Again there was a long and echoing silence over the intercom, only this time it wasn't broken by reestablished communications. Instead, Murdock's well-honed ears eventually picked up the sound of soft footsteps from the back of the house, hesitant, stopping completely a few times, but eventually coming closer. After far more time than such a short trip should've taken, a shadow fell across the doorway and Gina stepped in.

She'd changed up her look a little from last time, when Murdock had seen her rumpled and in pajamas, well past tipsiness if not falling-down drunk. Tonight she'd obviously thought about her appearance before inviting him in or at least while talking to him remotely. She wore a forest green sweater and brown slacks that were far kinder to her figure than a ratty sweatsuit, and she'd brushed her hair and done something to reduce the frizziness. It fell loose around her face, partially concealing her features, but it was a start, anyway. "Hey, Steve," she said quietly, not leaving the doorway.

[Avenger Assembled]

"G... Gina," said Steve with a rising confidence in his voice, taking a few cautious steps in Gina's direction. When he saw her pull away, he stopped and instead handed her the bear as a peace offering. "There is chocolate inside the heart," he added, "I was told it was a good gift for a woman." He kept his distance after that, studying her from an arm and a half's length away. "I am glad to see you, Gina," he said levelly. "You are as beautiful as I remember," and though the words had Steve's usual lack of affect, she could see in his eyes that he meant them. He wondered, not for the first time, what trauma had made her so fearful of others. "I saw an animal's tracks on the lawn," he said suddenly, "...a robot dog?" he enquired imaginatively. "I have seen robotic pets at HAX, but none that would leave tracks like that."

[Electra]

"Your memory's cloudy," she pointed out, her voice low enough that he had to strain to hear, even from just a few feet away. "Took you this long to find your way back." She glanced toward the front room at his words, with its picturesque view of the front lawn behind one-way privacy glass. "Robot dog's pretty close. Sentry droid patrols at night, the feet look less weird than treadmarks. Decent camouflage, too." She looked at him again, then after one false start, reached out and took the bear, snatching her arms back as though she were afraid he'd bite her fingers. "People around here notice unusual things. I try not to give them too much gossip."

[Avenger Assembled]

"But I looked, all the same." Steve walked to the back window nearer himself, studying the outside carefully, before he turned back to Gina. This was all completely out of his expertise, and he found himself groping for the solutions he'd seen on television and in the movies. I really must speak with my friends about women. "I have kept my promise. No one knows, and no one will ever know from me. But...that is no great sacrifice. I would rather have my happiness private." He flexed his hands a little awkwardly before suggesting, "Shall we watch more movies?" he asked seriously. "I know the Christmas season has past, but there are still several channels that broadcast many different programs. I can prepare popcorn..."

[Electra]

Gina flexed her fingers nervously, making the chocolate wrappers inside the bear crinkle with the pressure. "I..." she began, then stopped, regrouped. "There's nowhere for this to go," she told him flatly, trying to keep both fear and regret out of her tone. "I like you, and I admire you for what you've done, and Jesus, I let you into my house twice, which makes you the rarest creature in Freedom City."

She took a deep breath, set the bear aside. "But what could possibly happen here? This is my place," she told him, glancing around the rooms without moving. "For good or bad. Maybe we could do something or have something in here. But all I can give you out there is Miss Americana, and trust me, she's a fake bitch who isn't worth your time."

[Avenger Assembled]

Steve was silent, and expressionless, for a long moment at Gina's words. For all that he'd been and done, opening up about this, about his very soul, was as risky as anything he'd done on Prime. "I am a monster out there," he finally replied. "I can wear Caradoc's mask, or even this one, but nothing can change what I am, or the consequences of my nature. I am shunned, or feared, or pitied, or embraced by those whose hearts exceed their wisdom."

He looked away. "I met a...dimensional refugee during a crisis some weeks ago. A hero who had seen her world fall to the Terminus. The look in her eyes when she recognized my nature was..." He couldn't finish. "But you know me, and what I am, and could take me despite all that." He looked away for a moment, as if seeing himself in another place. "What I feel here, in this place, is precious. A single candle may vanish in the darkness, but it was warm and bright all the same. I...I would keep that candle burning."

[Electra]

Gina studied him for a long moment, neither speaking nor moving, till it almost seemed as though she'd fled her own body to find shelter in some hidden computer network. After a pause whose length would've made most people very uncomfortable, she finally blinked and pursed her lips. "The world out there's a mean place," she agreed softly. "Maybe everybody deserves a little escape, however they can get it." She scrubbed her hands over her face, then went to shove them in her pockets, only to remember she wasn't wearing her typical blue jeans or sweatpants. Instead, she laced her fingers tightly together in front of her. "I'm not going to promise you anything," she told him. "Not even that I'm not going to bug out in five minutes and run the hell away, not because I'm scared of you, but because I'm a seriously screwed up person. But I've got popcorn in that cupboard over there if you wanna make some."

[Avenger Assembled]

In the kitchen, while the microwave popped and as Gina channel-surfed, Steve allowed himself a moment to relax. He'd worked very hard, over a great many weeks, to find himself back in this place with Gina, and now that he'd accomplished that...he had no idea what to do next! He had a feeling the lessons he'd learned about dating and relationships from television and movies weren't going to help him much here, and the personal relationships he'd learned about in his youth weren't going to be of much assistance. Maybe he would have to turn to friends after all.

Back in the other room, he joined Gina on the couch with a bowl of popcorn that he carefully set between them. Sharing food was an easy romantic gesture; it was also a convenient barrier between the two of them. He still didn't know what experience had made Gina so fearful of others, but he wasn't going to pry; this quiet moment, for all the stress and fear behind it, was one of the best he'd had in a long time. He sat bolt-upright on the couch, occasionally looking from the television to Gina, when he wasn't eating the cheesy popcorn. After a few moments, he settled on the easiest sort of conversation: their work. "The children in Antarctica will be transferring to the Nicholson School. They might appreciate a visit from Miss Americana when they arrive. They have grown accustomed to my face."

[Electra]

Gina sat crosslegged on her half of the couch, hands folded self-consciously in her lap when she wasn't grabbing the occasional handful of popcorn. Part of her wished they'd decided on beer and pretzels instead of popcorn and cokes, but look what had happened last time they'd done that. As uncomfortable as it made her, she was going to be clearheaded about this. Besides, sitting on a couch with Murdock and silently comparing her own issues with his made her neuroses seem even more ridiculous and pathetic than usual. Knowing she was pathetic and doing anything about it were two very different things, but sitting on the couch feeling pathetic and uncomfortable instead of running away and hiding was a more proactive step than she'd taken in a long time.

"Yeah, that sounds good," she told Murdock, twisting her fingers together. "Miss A's pretty booked up, but I'll carve out some time when the transfer is scheduled. If it would help, she can accompany them on the trip. I've already spoken a bit with the administration at Nicholson, they've installed several new staff members at the dormitory for the new students."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Thank you," said Steve, nodding seriously at her words. "They have few advocates, and a word from Miss Americana will carry much more weight than a word from me. I have been a poor guardian," he confessed, remembering the long hours he'd put down in Antarctica as teacher for the refugee children and advocates for them with the Freedom League. "Sometimes they see me as the monster that took them from their families; other times, what I say on their behalf is dismissed as just one monster speaking on behalf of others. But they have done well despite that." He took a moment to sort his thoughts, putting them into words like this an unaccustomed effort. "The scars on their bodies and minds may never fade, but they can learn that there is a world beyond what they have endured, here in Freedom City."

He fell silent after that, watching the television news and musing on their situation. He was aware of Gina's discomfort, but if she could stand to be so close to him, he would take it for all that. If they were both isolated by their pasts, whatever Gina's past had been, at least they were isolated together. He looked down at his hands, acutely conscious of the metal inside them and scars across the skin, but took handfuls of popcorn to eat.

Their silence was finally interrupted, not by their own initiative, but by the news. Trish Tucker, a cheerful young cub reporter for one of the local newstations, Steve couldn't remember which one, was just reporting on a fascinating new development at nearby Hayes Park. Perky, blonde, and in her early twenties, it looked like Tucker was just starting out in the news business as she stood outside on the unusually warm February afternoon. "And on the lighter side, this "Flash Mob" has been at work in Hayes Park all day, building this contraption," she said, gesturing behind her, where some two dozen people from all walks of life were working together to build something: a half-finished contraption that looked a bit like a giant globe: a half-built sphere mounted inside a semi-circular frame with all sorts of glowing lights inside. "The organizers won't say what it's for, but they say it'll be a big surprise for the people of-"

Steve was on his feet, his eyes widening at the sight, flushing red along the lines of his scars. "With your powers, can you see that spot again?" he murmured urgently. "That place in the park, and what they are working on there?"

[Electra]

Gina startled at the sudden movement, knocking the bowl of popcorn to the floor. She watched Murdock watching the screen, then turned her attention to the news itself. Something about that sphere was obviously incredibly agitating to him, and damned if it didn't niggle at the back of her massive mind as well. "Yes," she told him, "just give me a moment and I can bring it up on screen... No," she interrupted herself firmly. "That's stupid, we'll never see everything. Come this way."

With barely a hesitation, she led him back through the kitchen and through the well-concealed and heavily fortified door that led to the basement. Lights flicked on as they descended the stairs, even as she called out a string of coded commands that would keep the automated defenses from annihilating Murdock as an intruder. She fought the ringing in her ears that grew as they descended, the speeding of breath, the clawing panic in her stomach that someone, a real living someone was down in her sanctuary. Someone she couldn't control or banish or turn off the way she could Sharl. It was, she realized, not at all the same, and nothing she was prepared for.

Gina focused her attention and headed towards the ring of computers and equipment that made up her command center, but as soon as she heard the footsteps behind her, little dots began to form and explode at the edges of her vision. Bending at the waist, she put her hands on her knees and squeezed her eyes shut. Panic attacks, she reminded herself, were completely useless and counterproductive. She just wasn't going to permit herself to have one. "Activate surveillance network downtown quadrant, Hayes Park, eighty percent resolution," she wheezed, hoping her words would be audible. "Main screen."

At the command, the computers in the ring began flickering to life, apparently quite able to discern Gina's wishes. The largest screen lit up with a view of Freedom City as a whole from high overhead, and within moments had zoomed in to Hayes Park with its strange collection of builders.

[Avenger Assembled]

"...that is a doomforge," said Harrier, as appalled as he would at the too-familiar sight in this unspoiled place, one of the few true blasphemies the misotheist former Omegadrone recognized. "It is not a weapon or a portal the League's sensors would recognize. They are not portable. None would have been built here in 1965 or 1993." His hands tightened into fists as he gave Gina a wide-eyed look, only just noticing her condition amid his own extreme focus. "It is part of the Omegadrone assimilation process. Without a connection to the Coil, it could not actually transform a person into a drone, but it could certainly kill anyone put inside. We must destroy what is happening there!"

He was already turning and all but running for the door as he spoke, but at the sight of Gina's condition he bent low. This was too important for him to delay, but neither could he sacrifice Gina on the altar of urgency. "Gina? Gina, speak to me," he asked urgently. Behind him on the monitors, she could make out the construction process. For a trained engineer and scientist like Gina, the workers were decidedly odd to watch, moving with a singular purpose and with uncommon skill as they climbed and walked around the growing structure, which they seemed to be building out of car parts, scrap computer parts from a nearby donation bin, and even metallic items from the park itself. They didn't seem to be communicating with each other; instead moving with the unity of army ants as they went about their construction. When she looked up at Steve, his face was white, save for scars that had flushed red.

[Electra]

Gina stared at the floor, clenching her hands into fists and digging her nails into her palms as though she could physically hold onto the dregs of her composure with a tight enough grip. Even as she struggled not to hyperventilate, a corner of her mind recorded and processed Murdock's words. He's leaving, she told herself, and was able to turn her face to the screen. And there's hero work to do, lives at stake. Pull yourself together, you goddamn gutless coward! "'M fine," she gulped, sucking in another deep breath. "Go, I'll catch up with you." She waved vaguely towards the door and fixed her eyes on what was taking shape on the screen.

[Avenger Assembled]

Gina's reassurance was all that Harrier needed; faced with a resurrected doomforge in a park in Freedom City, only the approach of her death would have kept him on the spot. With her promise, he was gone, his heavy footsteps thudding down to Gina in the basement as he all but ran for the door: he did run outside, once he could snap open his pike and vanish beneath its chameleon circuits. Distracted as he was, he didn't even think to activate Caradoc's shell: this was no appearance before admiring children or battling muggers on the streets of Lincoln; this was an echo of living death, terrible and everlasting, and not one he would meet with any face other than his own.

Once in the air, he made a beeline for Hayes Park, his jetpack roaring behind him though the man himself was invisible to most of the humans below, and took in the scene on the ground: nothing had changed, the 'mob' was still in the middle of building the bones and meat of their own destruction in steel and silver, their expressionless faces speaking to a sinister purpose as they worked in unison before a crowd that was appalling with its casual tourists' interests and occasional photographs. He could not simply land and destroy the sphere, not with the 'mob' working inside; they might well be innocent victims of whatever had brought this potential horror. No, get out! he wanted to scream as they hammered together sheet metal in a jagged metal shape familiar enough to make what had once been his bones ache.

Instead, he hastily landed, still cloaked invisibly, and cast his eyes around wildly for any organizing this terrible scene.