2523/Save People... Hunt Jerks

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Save People... Hunt Jerks
Date of Scene: 07 September 2017
Location: SHIELD
Synopsis: Steve and Sam have a chat.
Cast of Characters: Captain America, Sam Winchester




Captain America has posed:
SHIELD has all the pomp and circumstance expected of a large government institution. Steve has been on edge for the better part of a week. He's working doggedly to help dismantle several HYDRA cells, particularly as Bucky has become so keen. Well, keen to follow him. Not really keen on SHIELD. But these things are currently synonymous. At least in Steve's mind.

Currently he stands at the gun range and levels the weapon he holds.

His cheeks puff out. He fires.

//I'm gonna need a rain check on that dance.//

He fires again.

//All right. A week next Saturday at the Stork Club.//

He fires.

//Eight o'clock on the dot. Don't you dare be late.//

He unloads the rest of the rounds into the target. His head shakes. He just needs to forget. He just needs to forget.

"I still don't know how to dance." He murmurs. It's only then he looks at the gun. His fingers have reformed the hilt. He frowns.

Sam Winchester has posed:
Sam Winchester has been taking tests all day. They're starting to irritate him, truth be told. All these cases, a 4.0 average, and he still has to take a "Knowledge, Logic, and Problem-Solving Battery." (KLPB). He's had to take a hand-to-hand test. A weapons test. He wishes he could say he soundly beat the crap out of his test partner, but the level 7 agent was a martial artist, so not so much on the melee test. On the hand-to-hand Sam finally got irritated and threw a handful of salt into the man's eyes just so he could beat the crap out of him. Felt pretty good.

If there's one thing Sam doesn't respond well to, it's being treated like a child. After running a simulation with other trainees where they not only seemed not to know what to do, but seemed surprised and shocked when he did things that were just //common sense//, he found himself being berated for his 'lack of communication skills.' He'd simply made the bitchface and wondered why the others didn't get it. The right play was super obvious. Was he alone in this?

Now its time for the firearms battery. He's been sent to the range to log some shots. He's not the shot Dean is, but he doesn't really have much fear he won't 'pass.' He //is// starting to wonder if this SHIELD thing was a terrible mistake.

It will not be the first time this week he has this thought, but for now he hasn't been near R&D yet.

For the first time in a long time he's itching to take to the road to just go take a case. Maine. There's gotta be something in Maine. Or hey, Miami. It could have ghosts //and// be warm, and nobody will be telling him to do //stupid things//.

So he's wearing a flat eyed, flat-mouthed, tight-lipped look when he arrives. It fades, though, when he hears Steve's mutter.

He gives the guy at the range window a long, flat, disbelieving look when he's handed earmuffs and goggles, then takes them to the next station and promptly refuses to put them on. He looks over at Steve, studying him. That's a guy who is super upset, who has plenty of stuff to be super upset about. Sam's impulse, as Sam's impulse always is, would be to make it better. But he hardly knows this guy at all.

He decides to lead in with some gentle humor.

"What, no Waltz, Foxtrot, Breakdance (WFB) Battery here at SHIELD? And here I thought there was a test and a training course for //everything// around here."

Captain America has posed:
There's a fine line to be walked when you have been immortalized as an action figure. Particularly when you come back to life following such immortalization. And today Steve skirts it. He just hadn't realized anyone was paying a lick of attention. He can feel his face warm at the remark and issues Sam a faint nod in greeting.

He manages a faint smile as he secures the weapon and then holsters it. His hand has been forever molded into it. He's pretty sure it means it's his now. "They do have a lot," Steve's agrees. But the warmth in his face doesn't drain. He's pretty sure his ears have reddened. And so, he adds, "And I guess they could. I just..." his eyebrows draw together in an effort to bring the thought into focus, "...well... I'm guessing teaching Captain America how to dance would be low on training priorities." He actually laughs at that. "My Commander would be appalled if an organization like this taught its agents to dance. Even if it had some strange connection to spycraft."

"But I guess he was a soldier. Not a spy." He shrugs.

Sam Winchester has posed:
"How'd you get swept into SHIELD, anyway?" Sam asks, even as he loads up his weapon.

He may not know much about being an icon, but he knows about people who don't want to be called on feelings. He gives zero sign he's noticed that embarrassment at all. He probably does, but he just keeps loading his weapon. "Given you're a soldier, not a spy, it seems kind of an odd fit. You seem more a straightforward warrior type."

With James, he was prepared to hear about the man's personality and history from the man himself, basically forgetting everything he thought he knew. Including action figures. He can easily extend the same courtesy to Steve Rogers. He asks his questions with the sort of earnestness that's natural to his personality; he'd genuinely like to know. Multiple reasons: talking about something /else/ might take Rogers' mind off the things bothering him, it will let him get to know this fellow a little better, and it might...better inform Sam's own worldview on what the Hell he's doing here. Saving people, hunting things, and get a steady paycheck? It had seemed like the perfect bridge, the right solution for a long-standing problem.

But a certain spell has him questioning everything. Including the nature of compromises, of third options. Is it always either-or? Is there a both answer? Or is 'both' an illusion? Is the third option a lie? A weasel way of handling what should be handled in a straightforward fashion: pick a side, make a choice, and pursue it to its natural conclusion, do or die?

He sure doesn't know, but he's committed to finding out.

Thus, he's utterly ignoring the range really, hazel eyes trained on this man who he's fought beside once now, but does not know.

Captain America has posed:
Earnest to a fault, Sam's question wears heavily on Steve's shoulders. "Sometimes we fall into things and don't get a lot of say otherwise." He could wax poetic on the nature of patriotism, of how he owes SHIELD for waking him up and making the transition easier somehow. He could discuss the importance of saving people, but he doesn't need SHIELD for that.

"It's weird. I started here because I literally woke up here," there's a laugh in his voice--humoured. "In the lab down the hall. They tried to make it something synthetic to minimize the shock, but... that didn't work." A glance is given Sam's target and then back to Sam. None of that explains why he's stayed.

"I guess... I guess I'm here because I'm chasing ghosts." His eyebrows lift to punctuate the point. "I'm over a hundred years old, Sam. That's a lot of ghosts to chase." But only one that keeps him close to SHIELD. "And now, knowing what I know about HYDRA? How we failed? How they didn't end when the War did? I don't think I'm likely to leave soon. Ghosts or not."

Sam Winchester has posed:
Note to self. SHIELD really is enthusiastic about synthetics. Note #2. Not as successful as advertised on the tin. Good to know.

Steve glances at Sam's target, and the Hunter takes it as some sort of indication that he should maybe get on with the business of shooting it. He does, planting three into the paper man's heart. Blam! Blam! Blam! There's very little concentration, very little visible hemming and hawing with aim. Hitting something stationary isn't hard. Hitting moving targets is the challenge.

It gives him a chance to absorb Steve's words though. He avoids the obvious comment-- they don't mean the same thing when they talk about chasing ghosts, after all, and he knows it.

"There are always people ready to ressurect old evils. And certain evils don't die too easy. You can't focus on that. You say you failed, but you saved a lot of people. A lot of lives, a lot of futures. I'm not saying you give up the hunt."

He raises the pistol again, puts three into the paper man's head.

"Cause that never ends."

He decides to put three in the stomach for good measure. The shots are neat, precise, clustered.

He hits the button to bring the target to him.

"But the mission is save people, hunt assholes, not hunt assholes, save people. If first part's first, you didn't fail. You're just still fighting."

He shrugs, aware he's a 21-year old trying to comfort a 100-year old, adds, "That's the way I see it, anyway."

Captain America has posed:
Steve watches Sam's ability with the firearm. There's little question that Agent-in-Training Winchester has skills. His smile turns lopsided, "I know this might sound like an odd question, but it seems like you have ample skills to be in the field already. Why are you in training?"

But the advice earns some consideration and a faint nod of his head. "Yeah. It was always about saving people. But not just their lives." He stares at the target because it's easier to consider. "Their freedom. Our freedom. Our ability to make choices and live. I wanted to stop people from pushing others into corners." He rubs his chin.

"Just seems like it's not the world we aimed to save. But it's the one we have. So, as you said, Agent Winchester, we keep fighting." He flashes Sam a small smile.

Sam Winchester has posed:
'Why are you in training?'

Sam pulls a face. "I wish I knew," he mutters, loading up the next target. There's a minimum number of shots they told him to take.

"And you did stop people from pushing others into corners. Notice the lack of a Nazi flag flying over the United States, and the general lack of concentration camps in the modern day."

He flashes a quick smile; it's a sort of a grim topic. But he wants to stress that success factor. Of course, he knows it's not just 'Murica Steve is upset over failing, but he's learned a thing or two from dealing with Dean. Mostly that you approach some things sideways, and sometimes you give support over //here// when it's too raw and too early to give that same support over //there//.

"We keep fighting," he agrees. "Even if it lands both of us in places we're not entirely sure we're suited for." Agent Winchester still doesn't have a terrible ring to it. Maybe it's worth enduring all the foolishness. Maybe. Which is ridiculous. He did ask to be here. He had just imagined he'd just go right back in the field with a real badge instead of a consultant's badge. He hadn't dreamed how sticky all the red tape would be.

Captain America has posed:
"We did what we could," Steve returns. He takes a step behind Sam. "I've seen you in the field. I know you're capable of this. All of it. If you need someone to vouch for your skills, let me know. You're an asset." He laughs at that. "Not that I know anything about assets. You'd have to see one of the other agents around here about that."

"But seriously. If you need someone to advocate, let me know. I know you know this, but there's a lot you can't learn in this place anyways. Everyone went through basic. But it taught little. Very little. And real life isn't like training." His blue eyes scan the area. "It's too controlled. So if they're going to put you in training, I think you should insist on being trained. I mean really trained. Alongside someone seasoned who can teach you whatever it is they still think you have to learn."

"Anyways. Let me know." He flashes Sam a very Captain America smile before turning on his heel back towards the door.

Sam Winchester has posed:
Um. When Steve Rogers asks, 'Do you want to go out in the field with me and do some good instead of sitting around a dusty old building playing with testing batteries', the answer is always...

"Letting you know. Like. Now." Sam raises his hand a little and smiles. "Offer accepted, with my sincere thanks." Of course, Steve is more than of a level to be able to find out what SHIELD's beefs with Sam and fieldwork are, but if anyone can tackle those little tweakable problems, Steve can. Except maybe the whole 'earnest heart on sleeve' thing, but given he successfully lived a criminal grifter lifestyle for years, one has to wonder how big a flaw that really is. He may look like more of an open book than he is. Or he might just drop his guard around people he thinks is worthwhile. Hard to say. May wrote the deficiency in though, so he's stuck with it till someone clears it. But everything else?

Well. Steve's more than capable of addressing that. If he even sees the need to.