[for Steve] sticks and stones

[hasnobullets]

I don't like hospitals. They're an assault on the senses. The monitors beeping. The astringent smell of anesthetic. The coughing and the crying and the hurried footsteps and the sirens and the oppressive presence of death and all that that entails around every corner. I appreciate the work of hospital personnel (despite Foggy's adoptive mother's

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[onlyforthedream]

If there's any argument to be made for the island being sentient or for it being controlled by someone with an agenda, the sheer number of people from home, specifically my version of it, would be it. Daredevil is less of a team player than Wolverine, so I can't say we're close, but I know him, and it's good to see Matt Murdock.

"Mr. Murdock," I reply with a slight smile.

"I think half of New York is on this island."

[hasnobullets]

"So I've been told," I say. All the more reason to keep my secret identity just that: secret. I can't be sure when or where everyone is from. If they even know my name's been plastered across the tabloids in connection to Daredevil. Not that it matters; lying is no longer a thing of consequence, I do it so often. And though I hate myself for the compromises I've been forced to make, I understand, too, that they were necessary (even if no one else agrees). I listen for a moment to make sure we are, in fact, alone, before adding, "I'm surprised you don't have company."

[onlyforthedream]

"I haven't been lacking for it," I reply.

"There are lulls- you happened to find me during one. I have to admit, I'm out of practice. There hasn't been much time for socializing, the past few months." Which is putting it mildly, perhaps, but the nature of time here begs caution when relating recent events to people from home.

[hasnobullets]

It's a sentiment I relate to all too well. Adjusting to the slower pace of this island has been a challenge after the barely controlled chaos I left behind. My life was in pieces. Shattered. I'd only just started to pick up the worst of it, mending what I had I broken, when I showed up here. There hadn't been much time for socializing, the past year. I've taken that isolation further here, distracted in trying to regain the skills I've lost. Progress has been slow.

"You're a busy man," I say, suddenly reminded of something I told him once, when he asked me to join his New Avengers. We aren't all so lucky to have Peter Parker's talent for time management.

"Possibly more so than I'm even aware. You were shot?"