[Videoooo it's the only thing he's figured out how to use...]

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[The feed flickers on to show Steve scowling at it. He seems to realize the expression on his face, coughs, and manages to look neutral.

And yes, he's still wearing his torn, blood-diced uniform.]

Quicksilver- can I have a word? Um. In person, maybe. In private?

Comments

[audio || ULTIMATES ENCRYPTION]

[checkthetapes]

[He grimaces a little at the use of the code-name. He hasn't been... entirely careful about who he's given it to, but announcing it on the network-- well.

There's a sharp inhale, and then,]

Where are you?

[audio || ULTIMATES ENCRYPTION]

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[...Oops. WELL IN HIS DEFENSE IT IS THE NAME PIETRO USED TO INTRODUCE HIMSELF. Steve looks up from where he's seated, trying to get his bearings.]

The uh- the first garden area. Zone. Near one of the junkyard entrances.

--> action

[checkthetapes]

[And suddenly Pietro is just THERE. Like literally less than a second after Steve stopped talking.

Who's fast?

He's fast.]

I am going to teach you how to do encryptions at my earliest convenience. What do you want?

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[Steve jumps, staring at Pietro like he hasn't quite registered the man before.

Which, well. He hasn't. Not really. Quietly, he says,] Metahuman, huh.

[He clambers upright, dusting himself off- and then realizing his uniform is filthy enough that a little dirt isn't going to make a difference.] I... Had a favor to ask. I know it's presumptuous, and you can say no. But- The man, Clint Barton. Tony Stark. What- Can you tell me anything about them?

[checkthetapes]

[Pietro's expression sours.]

I'm not a meta-human. I'm a mutant.

[He manages not to say 'AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT'.]

I can tell you quite a bit about both of them, but I'm not certain what good it would do you. We're-- from different realities, you and I. Different continuities entirely. I have every reason to believe they are as well. What I know might not be applicable to these men. You're certainly different than what I remember.

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I don't know anything. Even maybes would be better than that. [He's resisting the urge to ask about himself. Very hard.

A pause, while he wonders whether or not this question is offensive.

...Probably.] What's the difference? Between metahuman and mutant?

[checkthetapes]

[Pietro holds up one hand and ticks down fingers as he talks.]

Tony Stark, also known as 'Ironman'. Consummate debaucher and alcoholic. Would seduce anything with more beauty than brains. I've seen him sober perhaps twice in our acquaintance. But, if nothing else, for the virtue of his technological intelligence he can be a valuable member of the team. I don't like him, but I -- do. Trust him. Somewhat. Though I believe he would act in his own interests first and everyone else's after the smoke clears.

[and now on to HAWKEYE.]

Clint Barton, codename Hawkeye. A former Olympic archer. He was in jail for an unspecified amount of time and pulled to be a member of a black ops team before his background was falsified and he was put on the Ultimates' public line-up. He's a good man. Solid under pressure. Never misses. Calls his children before every mission in case he doesn't make it back.

[That might be an odd detail to include, but-- it's a novelty to Pietro, okay. Someone who's actually a good father. What Romanov had done to the man

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[Moment over for Pietro, maybe. For Steve, though, the obligation set in place by those two words is the most grounding thing that's happened since he got here. It's a bit like all the scattered fears and overwhelmed inklings have come together, settled into their manageable corners, set aside in the face of command. Because in a way, that's what Quicksilver just gave him - honored him with - and now it's his turn to earn it.]

Thank you. [There's a lot more than thanks for the information in those two words.] So, from what you know of them - the one's you've met - they'd be assets. In trying to figure this place out, figure out how to get out of here.

[He nods, thoughtful, and then flashes a crooked smile.] Up for a mission?

[checkthetapes]

[Pietro studies him a moment, and then cocks his head to one side. Not his Captain America. But perhaps this will do.]

My public name here is Peter Maximoff, by the way. Use that next time you want to contact me over the network. My real name is Pietro Lehnsher. Keep that to yourself.

[he folds his arms.]

Depends.

['do go on.']

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Got it. [His expression goes a little distant, like he's reading a mental file.] Recon. I want to know everything we can find out about them. See how it compares to your own experience. I'm not prepared to bring them on board just yet. P- Agent Carter is here now, too, so that's someone else we can count on in this. Getting a team together, a reliable one - that comes first.

[Steve sighs. He just wants to get out, but- one thing at a time.] This place gives me the crawls.

[checkthetapes]

And do you consider me to be a member of your 'team', Rogers?

[He manages to make that sound like a challenge, equally sarcastic and defensive, and not like what it actually is: an honest question.]

... Commander John Shepard. He's-- not from our universe, but he's. ['like you'.] ... Decent. If we need an outsider, I nominate him.

[and then he just. pauses and it is quite possibly the longest pause in human history for a guy whose heart beats 28 times a second.]

Two men to avoid. A man calling himself Magnus, or 'Magneto', and one known as Wolverine or Logan. And a woman named Mystique.

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I'll be honest - right now, aside from Peggy, you're probably the only person here I trust. [He scratches the back of his head and shrugs.] If you want to be part of my team, that's really up to you.

[Steve takes note of the names, good and bad, resolving to investigate them himself. It's good to have a place to start - but some things you just need to find out for yourself. Which reminds him.] Camille. Why do you hate her? If I can ask.

[checkthetapes]

[... UM. OKAY. GIVE HIM A SECOND. Pietro is just going to-- LOOK THERE'S SOMETHING THAT NEEDS INVESTIGATING A VERY RAPIDLY TRAVERSED THREE FEET AWAY. YEP.............

In all his time with the Brotherhood, he'd never heard those words from his father. He'd thought he stopped wanting to hear them from the Ultimates.

He folds his arms rather tightly, and is very definitely going to just-- look pointedly out over the terrain instead of at Steve.]

I reserve the word 'hate' for a few select people, Rogers. She isn't one of them. But she's irritating and antagonistic.

[And she totally beat him up for his lunch money once upon a time. TOTALLY.]

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[Steve is pretty sure he said something wrong just now, but he doesn't know what it was, and isn't sure how to find out without making whatever-it-was worse. He focuses instead on what he can address.]

You called her vile and a sow. [He thinks it's only fair to point that out.] It seemed kind of mutual.

[checkthetapes]

[Oh Steve. Only you would think that you said something wrong.]

She's hardly the first woman I've called such things. I doubt she'll be the last.

[issues with women? Issues with women.]

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Then she has every right to be as irritating and antagonistic as she wants. And it might not be the first time, but it had better be the last. [He quiets, scowling.] I'm not saying that as Captain anything. I'm saying it as one person to another.