9219/Captain Concern

Captain Concern
Date of Scene:	16 September 2019
Location:	Game Room, Avengers Mansion
Synopsis:	Steve and Carol discuss mutual concern for a friend and contempt for one of the Avengers' most insidious foes.
Cast of Characters:	Captain Marvel (Danvers), Captain America

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Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
It had been a simple little text message from Carol to Steve, typed out in the format of a letter because she knew - or figured she knew - that the First Avenger would prefer it that way.

'Hi Steve, Would like to talk to you in private when you get a chance. I'm downstairs. - Carol.'

She tucks the smartphone away into her jeans pocket, glancing over at the flat screen televisions playing out news and sports from all over the country. Then she turns back to the antique Asteroids cabinet lined up against the wall, bringing her palm down on the 'Start' button and grabbing immediately on to the joystick.

The colors reflect off her impassive features, blue eyes narrowed with all the cold focus of a fighter jock on her hundredth air mission. The electronic chimes and whistles fill the air around her.

Captain America has posed:
Upstairs, Steve glances over from his sketchbook as he sees his phone's screen light up at his desk. Seated on his bed with ankles crossed, it brings him back from attempting to remember the way the sunrises used to look reflected off the mountain ranges of northern France. Charcoal and pad of paper get set to one side before he slides off the bed to go see who needs him.

A squint down at the phone and he looks over his shoulder towards his door. "Hmm." Pulling a sweatshirt over his head, he then pads downstairs. Where downstairs is Carol? Hearing the electronic sounds of video games being played, the Captain meanders in that direction.

The round of his shoulder appears first in the doorframe and then follows the rest of him, wearing a bemused little smile. "Didn't figure you for an Asteroids fan," he says by way of announcing himself. In jeans still despite the hour, it might seem odd that his feet are bare.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"Are you kidding?" Carol asks, not looking up from the cabinet as she violently jerks the joystick to one side, "This is what made me want to be an astronaut as a kid. Let's just say that even in the Nineties, Harpswell Sound was not at the very forefront of video game technology. I thought this was the pinnacle of entertainment technology until my brother Stevie got a Gameboy."

There's a pitiful 'wa-wa-wa-wa' sound as the S.S. Triangle is defeated by an asteroid, exploding into a scatter of white lines as the 'Game Over' screen flashes up. Carol gives the cabinet a gentle slap with her open palm and turns to Steve, shrugging her shoulders.

"So, what's new with you?"

The way she draws out the words, the way she plasters an almost painfully bright smile on her face - all of it suggests she has something she wants to talk about, but now that she can she's beating around the bush.

Captain America has posed:
Steve observes the video game's bright flickering shapes responding to the touch of the controls on the console. He smiles when he sees the starfighter ship's emblem exploded and glances over at Carol with eyebrows flicked high. His mildly-amused expression remains as she asks her question.

"Nothing much, if 'm being honest. You were the one who asked if you could talk to me. Something eating you?" He's not rudely blunt, simply curious. Taking up an easy lean on the gaming machine, he gives Carol the quietly searching look.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"Agggh," Carol groans, shaking her head and taking a few steps away from the machine to pace uneasily, "I don't know. It doesn't feel like my business. But at the same time, you know, it probably is - I would know about it better than anyone, after all?"

She's babbling. She knows she's babbling. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and steels herself. Just like before a mission. Laser focus, nothing else but the objective. In this case, the objective is tell Steve her concerns.

"You were drinking with Tony the other night, right?" she asks, bringing her voice way down into an almost conspiratorial whisper, "Asgardian ale? And you polished off a bottle between the pair of you? Super soldier or not, Cap, that's ... yikes."

Captain America has posed:
His true-blues follow the pilot's fidgety wanderings within the room, his expression now schooled to a thoughtful and attentive neutrality. The smallest vee of concern lingers between his brows. Steve squints the slightest to hear the drop in Carol's volume and then lets out a gusty sigh. His regard slides away from her and briefly to the wet bar in the gaming room.

"'m not gonna sit here 'nd preach that I wasn't enjoying the hell out of being drunk," he says frankly as he looks back to Carol again. His wheat-gold eyebrows flick. "The conversation required it. That Tony joined me in the bottle...yes, I was aware of it, even while I was on my second glass." His voice drops quieter yet. "Haven't brought it up with him either, what I've seen. The Asgardian ale tipped the dominoes. Things is..." There's a small wince. "Pepper. We gotta assume Pepper's brought it up to him, Carol. If she hasn't? You touched base with her at all?"

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"I'm working with the org chart here," Carol answers, almost apologetically, "I saw a potential problem - or maybe what might be the beginnings of one - and I brought it to the CO. Tony's one of my closest friends, but me? Of all people? I didn't want to say anything to her just in case I was imagining it. I can't imagine how it'd feel to have someone walk up to you and say 'hey, take care of that drinking problem' - especially someone who got drummed out of the Avengers because she was getting drunk on the job."

It isn't often that she talks about those times. Her humiliating resignation from the Avengers when it became clear her drinking was putting the lives of others in jeopardy. She'd gotten past it, but it hurt to revisit. Feeling the combined pity, contempt, and resentment of your teammates all at once will do that.

"I don't have a problem with booze as a - a thing, Steve," she carries on, "My problem was always with me. I can't drink it responsibly, so I don't drink it. I'm not going to stand here and say the Mansion should be a dry zone or something. I just see a lot of me then in him now - maybe I'm projecting. Maybe you guys were just commiserating."

Captain America has posed:
Steve's expression is eloquent of pensive concern. His eyes shift between Carol's own as he listens, his arms still neutral; one rests the webbing of thumb and hand on the side-edge of the gaming machine while the other hooks a thumb in the pocket of his jeans.

"There was some commiscerating," the Captain acknowledges quietly. "But I don't think you're projecting. I see Tony more often 'n you do 'nd...maybe, as his friend, I don't want to accept that little itch in the back of my mind about his drinking. Want him to be hale 'nd whole 'nd functioning at his best." Smoothly, he roll his hip off his gentle lean against the Asteroid cabinet in order to wander over to the wet bar.

Stooping behind it, he emerges with two ginger beers, non-alcoholic, the precursor to canned ginger ale, from one of the mini fridges beneath the countertop.

"Don't think you're calling yourself out in the process. If anything -- respectfully," he's sure to add, " -- you'd be aware of someone struggling. Maybe stop beating yourself over the head 'nd think of it as you being able to level an honest, knowing opinion on matters?" His humor is mild, his smile equally so, as he returns and offers one of the glass bottles to her, its cap missing.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
Carol clearly tenses up a little as Steve disappears behind the wet bar. She eyes him warily for a moment, and already she's trying to internally decide what she would do if it turned out Iron Man and Captain America both were drunks. Maybe there's an opening on the Justice League?

But then it's ginger ale and she's immediately relieved, reaching out to take the glass bottle when it's offered only once he's closed enough. She avoids the bar in the corner of the room like it was radioactive, keeping herself at a neat distance from it. The screw cap of the bottle undone, she stands there holding it for a moment.

"I just feel like I know it when I see it now," she admits, drumming her fingers on the bottle, "And I feel like I'm seeing it. But you're right. The brave thing to do here isn't to kick it up the chain. I've gotta say something."

Captain America has posed:
"No, you did the right thing." Steve accents his point with a tilt of his open bottle towards the pilot. "As I said before, I was sitting on it because I wasn't sure if I was seeing something else too. It's been...a slow thing, like an engine getting towards overheating. He's gonna burn out."

Letting out a sigh, the Captain glances away. His gaze unconsciously travels in the direction of the stairs; these lead down to the mansion's R&D, after all -- home-away-from-home for the genius-inventor from time to time.

"Figure this's something we should touch base with Pepper about. Start there," and he nods curtly, glancing back to Carol again. "Tony likes attention, but he doesn't like criticism, not about his coping habits. If there's gonna be an intervention, it'll need to be small 'nd personal. The whole team doesn't need to weigh in on it."

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
Carol does her best to keep the frown from her face, and in manifests only as a tight-lipped look of concern. Her memories flash back to her own intervention. The gathering of Avengers. The clear build up to dismissal before, in a last desperate attempt to spare her dignity, she had just thrown it all back in their faces and quit. Her lips purse, and instead she brings the bottle of ginger ale to her lips for a sip. It's bitter - like anything she drinks these days tends to taste when she's feeling anxious enough.

"I'll help however I can," she adds, words perhaps a little terser than she intends, "If you need me to speak to Pepper, I can do that - we don't know each other all that well, but I can do that. If you need me to pick up any slack here in the meantime? I can do that, too."

Another sip of the ginger ale and she sighs, putting the bottle down and folding her arms across her chest: "It's probably better coming from you, anyway. I'm just ... saying that if this is - uh, if this is that, then this is what it looks like."

Captain America has posed:
Steve catches the shadows and attempt to control her own expressions in turn. It brings him to press his lips thin and look off to one side. He too can remember the gentle reminders, at first, to then escalate to firmer requests and then the absence of the woman.

"Duly noted, Carol, and thank you. I appreciate you bringing this up to me. It's...thinking about it, it's a situation of twenty-twenty hindsight. Might've accidently...condoned it, drinking with Tony that night. I know Pepper's been away from some time too," he adds, giving her a solemn look. It breaks into a hint of a smile. "She's always been there for him. Wonder if her being away has a hand in the increase you 'nd I have both seen. She'll be back in about another two weeks or so. If you beat me to speaking with her, you let me know."

Now comes the quiet consideration of Carol, his true-blues never leaving her face. "You happy back with us?"

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"It's where I ought to be,' Carol answers, a sigh escaping her - she probably ought to have known better than to think everything she was feeling wasn't marching quickstep across her face, "I was focusing on Alpha Flight - thinking maybe I ought to be out west more. But I always get the sense that this is where I belong. Even if it isn't full of the happiest memories."

She takes a slow look around the room, catching the wrist of one hand in the palm of the other and worrying it with her fingertips. It's the sort of grip that would pulverize concrete but watching her do it just looks like someone fretting just a tad. Finally, when she speaks about it, the floodgates open:

"I don't resent what happened," she says quickly, "And for me it was a million years ago. I was mad at the time, I won't deny that. But AA helped me realise it wasn't anger at you or anyone else but me. Things are different now. I won't pretend I don't look at that bar and remember how guilty I felt - how much I felt like I needed to make excuses for why I was behind it whenever one of you found me there."

She sighs, "But I'm good now. It's a struggle some days, true. But I'm good. I'm here. I'm around the people I want to be around, doing the things I want to do. We might've had words in the past, Steve, but I'll never forget that I wouldn't be Captain Marvel without you."

Captain America has posed:
While Steve hasn't yet mastered the art of disappearing into the background in a conversation, he does remain silently and calmly present. He continues watching Carol, both listening and reading her unconscious signals of poise. Without sound, the rounded base of the bottle taps against the outer seam of his jeans in no apparent pattern, forgotten in the moment.

Her claim takes him in the heart as few things do. His lips part in surprise and he then dips his chin. A small laugh escapes him even as his ears pink.

"Y'know, coming from you, that's a helluva compliment, Captain Marvel." He looks up again, dimpling heavily in passing. "Things're in the past, yeah. No use lingering on them. Got enough to worry about these days." A flick of his eyebrows accents his statement before he drinks more of the ginger ale.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"Speaking of things to worry about," Carol offers, "I've got Sebastion's number. In the very literal sense that he put it in my phone. I wanted to tell you - maybe get your blessing, I don't know - I'm going to try to meet with him. Then, once we've met, I'm going to pull him apart."

The woman provides a quick and no-nonsense off-ramp from the discussion about Tony's drinking. They've figured out what they need to do next, and there's no point thinking about it anymore than they must. In Carol's mind, at least. Tony is going to suffer more before he improves and talking about her friend that way is an unpleasant experience.

"I know he's not actively hurting us," she explains, holding hands out with palms up, "But you know what he's capable of. I've seen it, too. He's not a - well, he's not a person. He's a machine. An errant machine that could cause a lot of people a lot of pain and suffering. I won't pretend to be the same calibre of strategist as you, but I know a wild card when I see one. With everything else that's going on, we can't afford to have him on the board anymore."

Captain America has posed:
The light-hearted gleam in Steve's eyes dies away to become something cold, a candle wick smoking rather than glowing, at the mention of the erstwhile cyborg. He sighs again and kills the rest of the ginger beer if only to rid himself of something in his hands. One might wonder if there was the threat of structural integrity to the bottle.

It ends up in the recycle bin and then Steve walks back over towards Carol, arms coming to lightly cross before his broad chest. "He's not a person. You get no argument from me. He was uncanny to start with 'nd damned if I didn't want to believe he was coming from a place of being simply confused 'nd out of his time. Point of empathy there. Stings to think he might've exploited it." His frown is directed off over Carol's shoulder.

"You've got that point of contact. Tony should know about it if he doesn't already. Pym's managed to sabotage the main Sentinel construction plant, something about a virus spreading. There's a chance it's reached Sebastion by now." His eyes slide to meet hers. "'Bout time to move."

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"It was Tony's idea, really," Carol says of letting him know, her shoulders lifting in a slight shrug, "I brought it up thinking he'd want to plan this all out and have some sort of strategy. Turns out he just want me to find the thing and break it. Fortunately, that's one of my strong suits."

There's no doubting that Captain Marvel can do what she says. While her understanding of the cyborg's full capabilities is limited, she's met a lot of nasty opponents in the past and generally come out on top. To hear Cap agree that Sebastion is not a person makes it all the more easier - any misgiving about attempting to 'kill' it have completely vanished now.

"I'll do it, then," she says, nodding her head with military tightness, "I'm going to try and lure him away from the city. Whatever happens, if I need to pull the stops then it's better nobody gets caught in the crossfire."

Captain America has posed:
"It's a good plan, but let's have a sit-down with Tony first. I don't need to tell you that Sebastion's no small fish. When we first dealt with him, he nearly took Janet to pieces. I took a hit too 'nd the end result wasn't pretty -- 'nd that was before he got to mucking around with the technology he's touched since he got out of SHIELD's sight."

A harsh sigh. "Away from the city, yes, but even if it makes me God's biggest hypocrite, don't run it alone, Carol. From me to you, all it takes is one bad hit 'nd when your team's not there to cover you, things go to hell in a handbag fast." Steve gives her a level look. "We'll need cover in case he calls in his robots. I only have a handful of 'em I can sideline -- not all of 'em. There's no saying Sebastion won't override the protocols I had him set to recognize every listed Avenger as a neutral or friendly party by his Sentinel bots. Not only that, but if he pulls an attack elsewhere, we'll need to cover that potential."

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
Carol purses her lips at the thought, eyes narrowing and hands wringing together at her front. All she's being told - the dangers of Sebastion, the need for the team to be there. It strikes that same old chord that drives her competitive spirit. It's only the source of the words that seem to cool her jets just a little.

"I'll try and put something together," she agrees, nodding once more, "but if I see him in the meantime? I'm taking the shot. I don't doubt he's a threat, but all it takes is one good hit to get him out of our hair forever. See how much of a threat he is when he's free floating in high orbit."

Captain America has posed:
"I don't disagree." Steve lifts a hand and nods. "You catch him by himself, where he can't take out anybody along with him, you lay out him. But if there's the chance of bystanders, we can't risk it. Things're more crowded than they used be around here."

The hand moves to rub at the back of his neck, where it blends into the muscle of his shoulder. "Be glad when that's over with," he admits in a subdued tone. "Used to be the strangest thing around New York City was me. Now it's robots acting like humans 'nd trying to convince everyone that just because somebody's born a certain way, they aren't human either."

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
Carol nods her head curtly at that. The idea of making a plan unless a more valuable opportunity to charge in without one comes along sits well with her. It's right within her wheelhouse.

"I'll be careful," she tells him. She doesn't insist that she's always careful. That's not true, and she wouldn't lie about it. But collateral damage has been something she's always been very careful of in the years since she became Captain Marvel. Gone are the wild, unthinking photonic blasts that accidentally wounded enemy and ally alike because she was seeing double. She's a professional now.

"I've gotta go," she adds on, taking a step past him and patting him on the shoulder. She considers something in her head for a moment, and then speaks a little more quietly, "You're a good person, Steve."

She doesn't share the genesis of the thought and given their conversation it seems almost out of nowhere. She leaves him to stew on it a little bit, stepping out into the main foyer of the Mansion before turning on her heels and disappearing towards the exit.