The world could end and it would feel no worse than this... [Closed]

[feedislive]

who ; Georgia Mason, Steve Rogers, and Shaun
what ; This is literally the worst possible time to fall through a space-time rift. The rift... doesn't seem to care.
where ; Junkyard
when ; Now!
warning(s) ; Impending zombification! Plus a suicide attempt (does it count if you're already legally dead?) and probably a lot of cursing. :|

Comments

[usavatar]

Steve hears the chimes, the welcome, and winces.

Wonderful. Someone else has ended up here, too. He'd come back to the scrap heap to find his shield, hoping that maybe, somehow, it had ended up here as well. That he just hadn't seen it - he had been distracted. Disoriented from the impact of the Valkyrie hitting the ice.

Which should have killed me, he thinks, but that doesn't matter now. "Hello?"

He clambers his way out from between two piles of junk, stumbling slightly as he hits the ground. "Anyone here?"

[needs_answers]

Shaun didn't waste any time.

Even her answering message found him already throwing the body armor on. His motions fast and precise, born out of years and years of practice.

He didn't go straight to the teleport, though. Instead, he made a detour - to a place where he could get raw meat from. In a big, unimposing brown paper bag.

Because he wasn't going to leave her alone, he didn't know long she would be down, and he certainly didn't want the damage of the virus on her body - or on his - to be particularly extensive.

And then he 'ported to the junkyard.

He thought he knew the general idea of where the video was from, he'd seen some of that, but he still called out, to make sure they hadn't moved.

"George? George!"

[usavatar]

Steve doesn't take his eyes off the young woman, just shifts a little to call, "We're over here."

As for her question, he just shrugs. "Nothing that's going to change, at this point. I'll be fine."

Yes, he's putting a lot of faith in Erskine right now- he doesn't even know what she's so afraid of spreading - but the man is worth putting faith in, even now. "...And I should mention, if he plans to shoot you, I'll disarm him too."

After what got said on the network, he hardly thinks that's the case, but still. Might as well be honest about it.

[feedislive]

"Shaun?" Georgia calls, not quite managing to keep the edge of panic out of her tone.

She does turn toward the sound of his voice, waiting for him to appear among all the piles of junk - until Captain fucking America mentions disarming Shaun. That burns through her fogged thinking, allowing her a moment of clear thought, and she spins back toward the man with a positively feral expression that suggests she might go for his throat before she fully amplifies if he pushes her.

"Don't you touch him. You don't get within six feet of him until you've tested clean, or so help me, I will..." She can't think of an effective threat right now. She settles for brandishing the dart at him like it's a weapon and repeating, "Don't."

[needs_answers]

"Hey, hey, George. Calm down, okay? I want you to calm down and listen, because this may come too fast, and I don't know where you are time-wise, and it's important."

Shaun gave only a quick glimpse to the other man, waving him aside for the moment.

"First. This place takes people from different places and times. And different kinds of people, we'll have time to go into that later. But just. I come from a time later than you and I know some things which we didn't when that happened." Eyes quick to the dart in her hand, and then back to the glasses.

"Reservoir conditions are called that because they're a reservoir of live KA which the body keeps - this part you knew - because it's already fought off an infection and it needs to recognize it later. So it can fight it off again.

"You'll amplify. We don't know how to stop that yet. But then you'll get better."

No, his voice wasn't anything like steady as he was talking, but he was rushing. Before the virus destroyed her mind temporarily. She had to know.

[feedislive]

Georgia just stares at him for several long moments while she tries to process that. It's not easy, trying to wrap her head around what he's telling her, when she's having enough trouble hanging on to coherent thought. She shakes her head slowly, in numb disbelief. Shaun's supposed to be the one she can count on. That's what makes it bearable, the risks they take, knowing that if it all goes horribly wrong, he's going to be the one to...

"Shaun. I know this is... It's not supposed to be this way. But what you're saying... That's not possible. It's just." She draws a shaky breath. It's hard, something she actually has to focus on now, and it's making it difficult to rally her thoughts. "We trained for this, remember? No way out of this. You just have to- You- Don't let me hurt anyone. Hurt you. Please."

[needs_answers]

"Insufficient data, George. The fucking CDC hid info from us. That's only part of it, and I'm sure we haven't gotten to the bottom of it yet, but this much I had confirmed by your friend Joe. Sort of. You'll get better." No, there's not a world of irony in the way he says the word friend. Really.

"I won't let you hurt anyone, George. You've gotta trust me with this. But I'm not going to shoot you, either. Not again."

The last part slips before he can stop the words.

[usavatar]

Steve is very, very conscious of the fact that he's standing in the middle of something excruciatingly personal, something that should probably be private. But he's here, and until he knows exactly what he's exposed himself to, he's not going to leave and risk infecting anyone else.

And, well. He might as well be some kind of use. "If this is out of line, I'm sorry- but I can restrain her, if it's necessary. I have her gun. And I touched her. So you should probably keep your distance from me, anyway."

[feedislive]

"No." She shakes her head firmly, still staring at Shaun with a look both disbelieving and betrayed. The dart slips from her fingers, and she doesn't bother picking it up. "It doesn't- People with reservoir conditions amplify all the time, you can't take that risk, you..."

She wants to scream at the Captain's oh so helpful input. She wants to turn and take her gun back, but her coordination at this point... She wouldn't manage it. She knows that much, so she keeps her eyes on Shaun, pleading.

"I don't want- God, don't do this. Let me die while I still know who I am."

[needs_answers]

"Yeah, you do. There's only one person I know who doesn't amplify. At all. That said, all the cases we know? All the cases we're told of? Y- they get dealt with before they have a chance for the body to fight it off. That's why they did this to you, you see. We were on the track to finding that out. And they knew what I'd do when you amplified.

"But that's not it. You'll remember. You'll get better."

Shaun takes a deep breath, frowning a bit at the other man. "What? I mean, she didn't bite you or nick you with that thing, right? The live infection doesn't transfer without body fluids exchange. The thing with touching is that it's safer not to - they turn and bite you, you're one of them. Just stay away for right now, okay? I'll keep her safe - and I mean keep her away from anybody else - and then we can talk."

Beat.

"This is likely to turn ugly." Back to Georgia. "But it'll be all right. You'll be okay, George. And I'll be here."

[feedislive]

It's hard to tell if she's processing any of this. Hell, she's not sure, certainly can't focus on most of the actual words - she's fading, and she knows it. No matter how hard she fights it, she's losing herself, bit by bit, and the worst part is she has to fight to remember she should care.

No. The worst part is that Shaun's just standing there, without even a gun on her, letting this happen.

"Shaun-" Her voice breaks. She's not sure if she's still crying anymore; her body feels distant, not really connected to her. She wants to look away - she wants to close her eyes and curl up on the ground and sob, she wants to scream and punch someone, she wants to give her brother a fucking hug - but if these are the last seconds she gets to live, she wants to see Shaun's face.

"Last time. Please. Shoot me. Please please I'm sorry, please, Shaun, just do it..."

[needs_answers]

And just like that, tears are streaming down Shaun's face, unchecked and unnoticed.

"I know, George. I'm sorry, too, this shouldn't have happened." He swallows, very faintly aware that there's somebody else nearby. But it's his one moment to tell it to her before it goes bad.

"I love you, Georgia."

And yes, he's standing there. He's in full readiness to fall on her and pin her down and contain her as soon as the last traces of sense go from her and she lurches, because she will; but right now, he's trying to give as much as the whole situation allows him to.

[usavatar]

Steve almost takes a step back. There's no place for him in this conversation - it's too much, to familiar, and then there's a roar in his ears and the bite of air so cold that before long you can't feel anything, a voice in his ears calling his name while he can't seem to respond.

And then there's the junkyard, Shaun, George, and the here and now. He still can't seem to breathe.

Without looking at either of them, without asking, Steve drifts to the nearest pile of scrap and starts tugging pieces free, pieces thin enough for him to manipulate. He might not be able to do much, but he can at least keep George from hurting herself or anyone else.

[feedislive]

The moment when Georgia - everything that makes her Georgia - dies is impossible to miss. The pleading trails off. Her ragged breathing steadies. The tears stop, and her expression goes momentarily blank. Her eyes are still visible over the top of her sunglasses, and they're as dark as ever, but there's nothing of Georgia in there.

Her gaze goes unfocused for a moment, then snaps back to Shaun - and then expression returns to her face, but it's nothing but hunger. A low, rattling moan escapes her as she lunges for him, arms outstretched and teeth bared.

[needs_answers]

"Here we go." Choked voice, and half to himself, half to the other guy. "Just stay clear now." Mostly to the other guy.

Since Shaun takes a deep breath through the tears and for the first time in his life consciously, willingly steps towards a zombie coming his way.

Of course, not in the way of offering himself, though. He steps as much past her as he can, then wraps his arms around her from behind, trying to keep his hands tucked in under the body armor's sleeves, and uses his weight to sit her down.

"Hello, George. Let's hang out for a bit, I'll take you out to meet the locals later!"

[usavatar]

If Shaun didn't seem to know exactly what he's doing - if Steve wasn't used to taking counterintuitive orders by now -he would already be moving. As it is, he takes a half-step toward Shaun, grimaces, and then nods.

Steve wrenches a piece of sheet metal free from the pile, braces one foot against it, and bends it out of shape with a horrible shriek. Wince. "Sorry- Can you bring her here? Or I'll have to get close."

He manages a small smile. "I'm not leaving you alone like this," he says.