MONDAY: ONLY ONE WORD
Hello, everyone. I’m hpfangirl71 and I'm going to be your host this week!! Today we're going to start it out real simple... your theme is One Word Prompts. Prompts can be anything just as long as they consist of only one word
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Nick is no stranger to collateral damage. Every time he sends an agent out, every time he gives an order, he knows the costs. He realises, starkly, that somebody is paying the price. Sometimes it's his agents, sometimes it's the targets, and sometimes it is simply a person who is at the wrong place at the worst possible time.
When he gives his orders, it always comes with the reminder to minimise the damage - whether it is explicit or not. Most of the agents know better, too, but sometimes it cannot be avoided. This he knows, and he carries it with him always. It makes him weigh every choice, consider every possibility.
That is why, as soon as he gets the orders, he shuts it down. Nuke downtown Manhattan? Destroy 1.7 million lives, lives he is supposed to protect. No way. Not on his watch.
Decision made, he runs all the way to the hangar, only stopping to grab a rocket launcher. When the plane he shoots down turns out to be a decoy, he runs odds and strategies in his head, and knows that there’s only one that might work.
He comms Stark, lays out the situation, not giving any instructions. He knows what he’s asking, and so does Stark. There’s a moment of silence at the other end of the line, and then Stark springs into action. Just like Nick knew he would. The billionaire puts on a convincing act, but when push comes to shove he’s always dependable.
Another collateral, a voice says at the back of his head. He pushes it away, for now, because one life against millions is odds that he will always take.
That doesn’t stop him from taking a quiet breath of relief when Stark jerks awake, back on the ground. One less life on him, one less ghost to carry. Only Hill seems to notice, giving him a nod of acknowledgement. He returns it, and then gets back to business. Aliens invasions are a bitch to clean up, and he wants to get a head start.
The next time he sees Stark, there is a moment that stretches when they look each other in the eye. “Nice job,” he says.
“All in a day’s work,” Stark replies, waving it off.
After that, there is nothing else to say. He did what he did, because it is his job to protect the people down there, and he will do it in any way he can. This he knows, and he is pretty damn sure Stark knows it too. If - when - he has to make the same call, he will do it again.
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Another collateral, a voice says at the back of his head. He pushes it away, for now, because one life against millions is odds that he will always take.
Yes. I really do love Nick in Avengers. He and Tony have this fascinating thing between AV and IM2, and that moment here kind of brings it back around.
*sighs happily* I do love Nick, you know? Heh. Thank you!
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