Excerpt 010: Hero's Return

[rekindledtitan]

TYPE: Personal log

LOCATION: Earth, The Last City

PARTIES: Five[5]. One [1] Ghost-type, [1] Guardian-type, designate Blaze-37, Titan-Class rekindledtitan , One [1] Unconfirmed, designate Rogers, Steve juststeverogers , One [1] Asgardian, designate Odinson, Thor pirateangelbaby, One [1] Guardian-type, designate Ming, Jie, Titan-Class


ASSOCIATIONS: Multiversal Nexus; Infinity War; Blaze-37; Asgard; Rogers, Steve; Odinson, Thor; Stormbreaker; Mjolnir;


She said they were coming straight there, but you can't teleport straight into the City. There's protection in place against ships warping in overhead, protection that they've found out extends to PINpoints. That, and the quarantine protocols in place concerning the Nexus. All it means is that they have to PIN into Blaze's tiny ship before they drop out of orbit. Ghost's at the controls as soon as they materialize. There's just enough space in the cabin to lay Steve out on a fold-out workbench and fit his friends too. Blaze mutters something to herself about needing a bigger ship as she slides into the pilot's chair.

There's not much to see, at first. It's just Earth, and they're dropping toward the night side. In fact, there's nothing to see. No glittering constellations of light from below; no cities and spiderwebbed roads blazing through the small hours. This is a hushed world, an Earth far removed from the one they've just left. And yet, Blaze keys the comms and informs Tower control they're coming in with a guest and someone replies with landing protocols, so clearly there is life here. Somewhere beneath the clouds ahead, as they drop into atmosphere with a jolt and a rumble of building resistance against the hull. Nothing to worry about. The little jumpship is rough and sparse, but it's sturdy, and the inertial sinks keep the turbulence to a mere tremble of deckplates under their feet.

Even while the clouds ahead get denser and more ominous. Thor will feel the approaching storms in a way even the Striker in the pilot's chair cannot. Feel, perhaps, something beyond them, quiet but vast. For Blaze, though, the buffeting of their ship and the lightning flash that illuminates the cabin are as good as a welcome home. There are glimpses of the snowy peaks below, a steep wall of ice and snow to match the swirling barrier above. She keeps a hand on the controls and urges them through the tempest. Into the sudden silence and the clear air of their destination. Ahead of them-

It looks like a moon, miles across, its smooth silver-white surface glowing softly. Its pale light can almost be felt, subtly, the influence of a power great and gentle- and dormant, for now. It hangs suspended within the eye of the storm system, poised between the mountains. In the valley beneath lies a city, glittering with life, towers rising up as if to touch the silent orb above. They'll have time for a glimpse, but they're dipping down, heading over urban sprawl and farmlands, to the massive city wall.

"We're almost there," Blaze says over her shoulder. "Welcome to the Last Safe City on Earth." This is what Steve will be fighting for. The whole of humanity gathered into one last sanctuary. She looks up at the Traveler as they bank around to land, and though she's not a mystical sort she prays, in this moment. Please be listening. Choose him. Give him your blessing. There's no-one better, I swear to you.

Don't let this be for nothing.

Comments

[pirateangelbaby]

Hearing her correct herself is painful, not because she's wrong, but because even though the body is laid out right in front of him, part of Thor still resists believing that Steve is really dead. Or maybe it's just the part where it reminds him that there is no guarantee that this will work. Or that the Steve that may return might not be the same Steve that he knew, though he can't imagine his friend being any less eager to meet a worthy fight either.

She has Thor's attention almost at once, a flare of surprise in his eye, followed by a sort of incredulous look. "But you knew Steve. And so did the others - some of them anyway. Is that a problem, too?" If not, that seems horrendously unfair at best.

[rekindledtitan]

"It's not ideal," she answers, a touch dryly. Her optics are tracking his body language, more than his face. "Maybe they won't be too pleased with me either, when I tell them what I'm thinking. But Tarana and I and the rest are Guardians - we know the custom. The way it's supposed to be done. You're a stranger here, so they'll worry about you first."

She considers for a second. "And they'd be kind of right to. If he decides he wants to know who he was, you're not going to hold the truth from him, are you?"

[pirateangelbaby]

It's a good thing Thor doesn't play poker, because he's developed quite a few tells that give away his thoughts. Namely his habit of wringing his hands together, a mannerism Frigga used to do when she was under stress or deep in thought, which seems to help - a little - in soothing his anxiety. He's clearly not happy about what he's hearing, holding himself stiffly as he listens.

"Of course I-" He bites down on his words before he can finish, wrestling down a flare of temper that he hasn't felt in what seems like ages. He can't go leaping over cliffs without looking anymore. He can't. Flying off the handle is what got half the universe killed, and he can never forget that, its lessons beaten harshly into him. So he forces himself to stop and consider it, consider Steve coming to him renewed and empty and asking about his past. Considers how secrets have affected those that he loves already. Considers how those secrets came to light, and the poison that came from keeping them locked away. Loki's parentage. Hela's existence. Stark's parents' deaths.

He's still upset, but he's calmer when he responds again, several long moments later. "Of course I'd tell him, if that's what he wanted." Even if she hadn't specified it was discouraged, not forbidden, he's not sure he would be able to keep it to himself. Not if it was Steve asking. "If he ever visits the Nexus, I'm not sure you could hide it from him." Maybe because of people he'd meet here, or maybe not, but there's no avoiding the PSA looming over the Plaza with Captain America on the screen.

[rekindledtitan]

What surprises her is that he hesitates. To Blaze, at least, the answer is obvious, and she tilts her head a bit as she waits for him to reach a conclusion. It's still the one she expected. But it's an answer less of instinct than of determination and reason. Less spark and more steel.

"Yeah. I'd do the same." She folds her arms, and Ghost glances up at her from where he's floating in downcast silence. "Truth is, I don't know how I feel about it. Seems to me there's a good reason we leave our past behind. But... actively concealing the truth from him is. And you're right. It'd never work in his case. That's what we all have to accept. The only way to keep him from finding out about Steve Rogers would be to hide the Nexus from him, and even saying that out loud sounds epically dumb." And she means that in the most literal way. It's the kind of terrible plan which kicks off every ancient fireside tale that lasts five nights and, if you're lucky, turns out to be a comedy.

[pirateangelbaby]

The sound Thor makes is less a laugh and more a snort of dismissal at the very idea of trying. The tension in his shoulders relaxes a little, once she confirms she's on his side of this, though he doesn't fully let down his guard. By the Norns and all the Nine, why can't things ever be simple and straightforward for once?

He clasps his hands together to try to keep himself from endless, restless fidgeting. It doesn't work, exactly, but it helps a little. "I've seen little good come of keeping secrets, even the less obvious ones. Whether they are kept in good intentions or not. Tradition is worth honoring, but if it's not practical or possible, shouldn't there be exceptions?" It's a problem he's sure Asgard will need to address in the coming years, integrating their ways with those of the humans, adjusting to more primitive technologies and alien customs in their new home. They will have to decide what is worth keeping, and preserve those traditions that still dwell at their core, but they cannot follow in the exact footsteps of their ancestors any longer.

Steve won't know who he was, where he came from. But if the essence of the man that Thor knew remains, he's damn well not going to be content leaving a mystery like this untouched.

[rekindledtitan]

"Some secrets are better kept that way," she says quietly, optics steady on him. "But this one is his. It's not ours to keep from him." Not unless he wants them to, and she doesn't really see him making that choice.

The Exo shakes her head. "I'm with you on this. And the Commander's a wise man. He's got to see the same thing. So maybe it'll make some of us uncomfortable, but they can't stop us, and they aren't going to turn away a Guardian. People here might make a fuss but at the end of the day it won't matter. So it's not them I'm worried about. It's everyone else who knew him."

[pirateangelbaby]

That gets a deeper frown out of him, creasing his brow. 'Everyone else' must mean the Nexus, or home, but... Thor feels like he's on uncertain footing again, not understanding the gravity of what she's trying to convey. He's trying, he really is, but today has been such a long and horrible day even before he had to try to get his head around the Guardians' cultural norms. "What are you worried they'll do?"

He's fidgeting again, already having forgotten that he was trying not to, tracing the grooves in the joints of his metal left hand over and over.

[rekindledtitan]

It's difficult as well because these are not things Blaze is used to discussing. Thinking about, yes, in one way or another. But it's a problem she's not actively confronted before, nor spoken of to anyone else. Finding the words takes some thought.

"There'll be people in the Nexus who think they know him," she says, her gaze dropping back to Steve's covered face. "Some of them might be enemies, most of them won't. You understand he's not going to be the same man, but other people- they'll just see their friend come back to them. Steve Rogers version 1.2, just with new gear and new powers." She doesn't realize how her optics have narrowed, the tension creeping into her voice when she looks up again. "We need to look out for him. To make it clear he gets to define himself. I don't want-"

"Blaze." Ghost interrupts, his voice shaken but determined. "We can deal with that when the time comes. Right now we all just... need some breathing space." He's looking between them cautiously, knowing the fears troubling his Guardian and reading the agitation in Thor's body language.

[pirateangelbaby]

To make it clear he gets to define himself. Maybe there's more to it, more nuance than he can see, but that... that much is enough that Thor thinks he's on the same page. He has spent his own entire life trying to live up to what his father expected him to be - warrior, king, god - only to be led to the realization that he is his own man, and need follow no other path than the one that he chooses to walk.

Steve has a chance for a fresh start, unburdened by his past, the expectations that others have placed on him. To escape the unhappiness and heartbreak of the last few years, and leave the figurehead of Captain America behind him, leaving only the man.

Thor nods once, slowly, following Blaze's gaze to the shrouded body. And yet, her Ghost's interjection brings a small measure of relief, putting this problem off for another day. Perhaps all the way until the day that Steve comes back to them, if that is his fate. They do not have to solve this all at once. His shoulders slump a little, and he lets the air out from his lungs. "Right. Of course."

[rekindledtitan]

“I’ve put the word out to as many other Ghosts as I can,” Ghost says softly. “They’ll share it wherever they go. If his Ghost is anywhere out there, they’ll hear. Eventually. For now, that’s… all we can do.”

“For now.” Blaze reaches up to touch her tiny partner as he drifts closer to her. There’s time yet. Ghost is right. Still, she wouldn’t be so willing to settle down if she didn’t get the impression that Thor understands. Whether he sees it from the same angle as she does or not, they seem to be in accord. Questions of exactly how they’re going to handle what lies ahead can wait a while. Until what comes, comes.

There’s some relief in having that out in the open, for her. Blaze isn’t one to sit on an issue when it’s eating at her. With it settled, she takes more note of Thor’s weariness. She has no idea how long it’s been since he rested. Doesn’t know the half of what he’s been through these past few days. Months.

“If you need to rest here, or eat, you’re welcome,” she offers, though at that moment the door opens again, Jie carrying a small table into the room. He nods to them before setting it against the farthest wall and unslinging the pack at his back, setting out a small burner, sticks of pine kindling, candles, incense. He’ll set it all up as quietly as he can: a shrine both to the man they’ve lost and the man they hope for. Somewhere for Steve’s friends to nurture the hope smoldering yet.

There are words to be said, to Steve and for him. A vigil to begin. The service bots will bring chairs for those who wish to sit with him. Soon, as the sun rises higher, Blaze will have to leave a while and put their case to the Speaker, to Commander Zavala. Steve’s other friends will come to pay their respects: Lord Shaxx, his boisterous presence turned solemn; Tarana Parvin; a young doctor too shy to speak to anyone else there. The number of candles will grow, their light flickering over the walls, and the sweet scent of incense will twine with the fresh scent of burning pine. Steve may be dead, but he will not be forgotten. And he’s not going to be alone.

Beyond the great windows, the Traveler watches over them.