quietmounds | (no subject)

(no subject)

WHAT 10/10 would post again
WHERE Everywhere
WHEN Day 144

[Today there are little bubbles popping up whenever you're near someone. They seem like . . . testimonials or reviews? Like "X is a great person, excellent listener. Only four and a half stars because they sing too loudly in the shower." If you've only just met, it's just your first impression. Or maybe you can check out the bubbles that are now attached to that person, so you can decide if you're interested.]

[whenever you jump someone in the post, include your character's, uh, honest mental review of them, at the top of the comment. also free to assume you can see other peoples' unless otherwise stated]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

How did she take it...?

With... the appropriate amount of horror?

[in kind of an ironic tone like, that was supposed to be a joke ok]

No, I mean... she was very supportive.

That's good.

I know I might not be able to help as much as Bucky, but is there anything else you want to talk about..?

Are you asking for my wild backstory?

If you think it'd help to tell me.

...it'd probably give you some context about what Bucky and I have in common, anyway.

It's up to you, Dana.

[just, blurts out,]

When I was in my thirties, I was abducted and used as a test subject in experiments to genetically modify humans using alien DNA.

[oh. oh...]

I'm sorry...

At least Bucky understands what it's like in that kind of situation.

[huffs]

Yeah.

I had no clear memory of the experience for the longest time. Even now it's just flashes. But it had a... a number of side effects. Brain cancer. Infertility, supposedly, but— one of the things I remembered recently was that I... I had a baby.

Except that was part of the experiment as well. I didn't know until... very recently.

That's terrible, Dana...

[he reaches out, putting a hand to her shoulder, trying for some kind of comfort]

[lets him, taking a breath and giving him a small smile. she appreciates the gesture, okay]

I gave him up when he was a year old. There were people after me, and my partner—I thought... I thought it was the right thing to do, that I was keeping him safe. It was the hardest thing I'd ever done. And it was... I think it was a mistake. I missed his whole life, and then... last year he started... calling to me. Through his mind. He has—extraordinary abilities. I started—we started, my partner and I started to look for him. And we found him, and—and he was killed. My son was shot in the head by the man who... who created him.

[she's been over this enough times by now not to break down talking about it. she just sounds deeply, quietly furious.]

I'm so sorry.

Was there anything you could do to stop that man? To keep him from hurting anyone else?

He's dead, too.

[he nods, giving her shoulder a squeeze]

At least you know he can't do that to anyone else. But what happened to you...someone should have stopped that.

We did everything we could. He wasn't working alone, he had the backing of an international group and deep reach within American government and law enforcement.

Did you have anyone you could go to? Anyone who could help expose them?

Sure. We were FBI agents, and we used every official channel we had access to, and plenty more unofficial ones. And it didn't matter. Evidence disappeared from under our noses, our work was discredited—and of course, given the subject matter, when I say "our work" I mean my life.

[shakes his head]

I'm sorry. I wish I could have been there. To do something, to help you.

A few years back I found out the organization I'd worked for ever since I came out of the ice had been infiltrated at its highest levels by the same guys who captured Bucky and brainwashed her. We were lucky, we managed to put an end to them, but I know that kind of thing isn't easy.

You're an incredible woman, Dana. That you kept fighting, that you tried to do what was right even when everything was against you. You don't deserve any of the things that these people did to you.

...anyway. I dumped most of that on Bucky while completely freaking out, so—

[he nods a little]

It's a lot to take in.

[huffs a laugh]

I'm kind of jealous you managed to take down the whole organization. That's amazing.

Well, most of it was thanks to a friend of mine. She was the one who got into their files and put all of their information out to the public. I was there for the muscle.

She sounds like someone I'd want to meet.

Yeah, I think you'd get along great. Her name's Natasha, she was a double agent before she turned and joined up with the good guys.