A Break in the Weather

[stands_for_something]

There's an old man sitting at a table in the Forum, reading his way through a pile of mail and enjoying one of the first balmy days this part of the Nexus has had in a while. To all appearances, the letters are a series of magazine-publisher sweepstakes entry forms, if anyone feels like reading over his shoulder.

Setting one down, he sighs, then looks up and turns a question toward whomever might be around and inclined to talk. "Does anyone have a story of a particularly satisfying way they quit a job? Or if you're management, a satisfying way you dealt with a problem employee?"

Comments

[stands_for_something]

"You saved a lot of lives," he counters gently. "That's not nothing. It's important to focus on what we accomplish, as well as what we don't."

"Some of the questions and interviews are designed to provoke an emotional response. Someone planning trouble might get neural implants to block a telepath, or train to encrypt the thoughts they don't want found, but those split-second gut reactions are harder to wrangle."

[brave_heart_verity]

"Yeah." It's a good point and a fair one. She's done some good in the world. People are alive. Just... no. It had nothing to do with this, that's not something she's going to think about right now. "Right. I know."

Ver tucks her stray hair out of her face while he's explaining. "Ooh, you sure know how to show a girl a good time," she deadpans. "What happens to the people who can't swing it? Because I can't fly and you've got helicarriers..."

[stands_for_something]

He gives her hand a squeeze. Everyone needs a little help through their first few disasters.

"It's not a pleasant process," he admits. "Part of that's by design--to get the people who aren't really committed to the work to find something more their speed. But, 'can't swing it' in which sense?"

[brave_heart_verity]

The reassurance gets a ghost of a smile from her. If what she's needed is a 'little' help, she'd have to wonder what a lot of help would be. Probably being committed and medicated. She'll keep getting out of bed on her own to avoid those fates, thanks very much. Getting up means getting to talk to her friends. That's worth the effort.

"Uh... The ones who wash out, I guess. I figure the ones you catch with nefarious purposes get put somewhere I'm not allowed to know about."

[stands_for_something]

It's good to have goals.

"Ha!" He chuckles. "You figure wrong: the ones with nefarious purposes get make-work until we can figure out what they're up to and who their contacts are. The ones who aren't suited to high-clearance work get a lower clearance level, or help with job placement elsewhere, as they prefer." At least, under Steve they do.

[brave_heart_verity]

It really is. Even a small sense of accomplishment can go a long way.

"That's... probably a lot more useful," she admits. It explains the thing with the tape and the casino that she can't admit she knows about. "Ferreting out their connections before you arrest them, I mean. I'm glad you're the new director of SHIELD. They'll be a lot better off. And it's so thematically appropriate."

[stands_for_something]

It would be kind of priceless if she brought up Operation: Eucritta Tape. "And there's always the chance that if they never get a chance at something juicy, they'll never act on that troublesome twinge, and we don't end up trying to arrest them for things they haven't done." Strong believer in due process, including order of operations, this one.

"Since I used to carry a shield?" Yes, he appreciates that, too. "I suppose I still am, sometimes."

[brave_heart_verity]

Priceless in that she and Clint would both get lectures from him? She'll pass.

"You'll keep people around who you know are actively trying to undermine you until they actually do something?" That seems foolish to her. To her. That's got to mean something.

"Mm-hmm. Do you think you traded up?" A loaded question, she realizes too late. But who's she going to tell?

[stands_for_something]

"When you give people the opportunity to not do the wrong thing, sometimes they take it," he answers. After a moment, practicality rears up and he admits, "and if they don't, they're in reach when they finally do that wrong thing."

He gives a short bark of a laugh, slightly rueful. "Well, I thought I had the weight of the world on my shoulders before... ha."

[brave_heart_verity]

His idealism is quite possibly his most attractive feature, and the one she thinks she understands the least. Maybe she should stick to admiring his pretty blue eyes like the other girls.

She ducks her head for a moment while she carefully turns her hand in his, not breaking the contact but altering it so he's not the only one offering comfort. "You've got a lot of good people who want to help. A lot of people who maybe don't know how they can."

[stands_for_something]

No, Verity. Gaze into the idealism. Be corrupted by its rosy worldview and sincere belief that a better tomorrow can be made with sufficient effort and care. Or, not corrupted, but something like that.

Her offer of comfort in turn is appreciated, and she gets a smile--a rare, tired smile, that gives a hint that apart from that very cold nap he took, this is a man who's had very little rest since he stepped up to serve his country. "Thank you. As I think of things, I promise I'll let you know. Right now..." He sighs. "I've got a damn good agent I'm not sure I can trust, because half the time I think she still thinks she's working for one of the other directors SHIELD's had in recent years."

[brave_heart_verity]

Calmed? Cleansed? Converted? (And those are just the "C" words.)

She's noticing a distinct 'I don't sleep enough' trend among the heroes she meets. She doesn't approve--for all the good it does. Whatever part of his burden he's willing to share with her, she's willing to take. "Maybe she's due for a sabbatical? Or reassignment to a job that'll reinforce why you're changing things?"

[stands_for_something]

Those are good words. Steve's idealism has sometimes been compared to a religious experience.

Few heroes get enough sleep. It's a flaw intrinsic to the breed. "A sabbatical, she'd never take--she'd be convinced I'm a Skrull infiltrator putting her out to pasture so I can run my scheme unhindered, or something. Reassignment could work, though."

[brave_heart_verity]

Verity's not going to think about what else of his has been compared to a religious experience. Poor girl can only take so much.

Something to train out of the newer generation, perhaps? "So now you just need a job for her that'll provide the perfect teachable moment. No problem." She knows it wasn't a super helpful idea.

[stands_for_something]

For the best.

Verity is welcome to try to get those kids to sleep more--they sure don't listen when the advice comes from Cap. "Every job has teachable moments. I need the right teachable moment. But it's a direction to move in, so that's progress. Thank you."

[brave_heart_verity]

Yeah, because they're definitely going to listen to her. Cap's got the whole 'I'm the original Captain America' thing going for him. Verity's got... a magic curse and an encyclopedic knowledge of braids.

"You're welcome. I hope you find the right place for her soon." What good hoping is supposed to do, she's not really sure, but it usually makes people feel better.

[stands_for_something]

Verity's closer to them in age, while Steve has been an authority figure for half a century--rebelling against him is practically a requirement for teens.

"Thanks. If you have any ideas for a job that could remind someone of why we do it without seeming like either being put out to pasture or make-work to hide a nefarious scheme, I'd appreciate hearing them."

[brave_heart_verity]

Maybe they should team up and do a PSA about the dangers of sleep deprivation. They know of what they speak.

"Um. Well. Why do you do it?"

[stands_for_something]

The more you know...☼

"Because there's still a long way between where we are and where we should be. Justice isn't a fist, or a hammer, one bad choice doesn't have to damn you forever, and every single person in the world could be better if they tried, and had the chance. I try to give them that chance."

[brave_heart_verity]

If he keeps talking to her like that, she's going to start getting ideas. Lovely, shiny ideas.

"You make it sound like it could really happen," she sighs. It'd be so nice to live in that world. "Have you helped anyone change for the better lately? Maybe she could be their handler, helping them get situated out in the world again?"

[stands_for_something]

America was built on lovely, shiny ideas, and it's a nation forever under construction. Yes, even Steve Rogers' narration is endlessly optimistic and patriotic.

"Actually... there's someone Clint helped straighten out, who she could handle. Abner Jenkins, Mach VII. He went through quite a lot on Clint's word, really turned himself around."

[brave_heart_verity]

She doesn't have a great track record with lovely, shiny things.

Believing that Clint helped save someone from a life of crime isn't hard for her; she gives him flack sometimes, but she really does love and admire him. Her trouble now is in trying to remember where else she's heard that name. 'Mach VII' never much made it to the 6 o'clock news, after all.

"And he needs someone to help him figure out the whole civilian life thing now?"

[stands_for_something]

She might sooner connect Abner Jenkins with "the Beetle," his villainous handle, or one of the previous "Mach" iterations that made headlines during his time with the Thunderbolts.

"He's become a special parole officer. He needs someone to watch over his shoulder while he tries to do for someone else what Clint did for him. If that someone learns something while looking over his shoulder, so much the better."

[brave_heart_verity]

She'll get there. There's a lot of names to sort out, names and code names and costumes of people who were really just excuses to stay inside to her for so long.

"An elegant solution." She has no idea how badly that's going to go. Then again, neither does Steve, or Maria, or Abner. The Sinister Six is in so much trouble. "And you can tell her you need to put a top agent on it because you need someone capable of dealing with things if Mister Jenkins starts to backslide, or his parolee starts trouble..."

[stands_for_something]

That's fair. You need a pretty thick book to keep track of Who's Who in the Marvel Universe.

"Exactly." Dammit, Boomerang. "At least, that's the hope. But it's sounding good in a first draft."