nightingalesong (nightingalesong) wrote in marvel_nextgen,
@ 2009-10-27 19:08:00

Entry tags:

iason, inactive - daniel sherwood, inactive - emily banner, inactive - james romanov rogers, inactive - nightingale, inactive - swashbuckler, lady devil, sammy fury, team - avengers, toni rhodes

A difficult conversation:
It's been a couple days since the assault on SHIELD. Nightingale hasn't been seen by the Avengers since then.

But eventually, things need to be sorted out. So against his own better judgment, Qamar uses Nightingale's Avengers pass to get into the Hydrobase, then finds himself approaching Sammy's room. He takes several seconds to calm his heart, then knocks on the door.

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	nightingalesong 2009-10-28 03:45 am UTC (link)
	"Can... we talk?" he asks. He has trouble maintaining eye-contact, but he makes an effort to do so. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sammyfury 2009-10-28 03:49 am UTC (link)
	"That depends." She leaned against the door and folded her arms. "Which costume will I be talking to this time?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	nightingalesong 2009-10-28 03:54 am UTC (link)
	"No costumes. Just me." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sammyfury 2009-10-28 04:02 am UTC (link)
	She shrugged and moved back to the rumpled bed with books scattered on the blankets. She sat cross-legged on the foot of it, leaving the room's one chair for him. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	nightingalesong 2009-10-28 04:04 am UTC (link)
	He comes in, but he doesn't sit. He has too much energy for that. "So," he says. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sammyfury 2009-10-28 04:09 am UTC (link)
	"I'm not armed, if that's on your mind," she said with a nod to the desk. Both Glocks rested there with extra clips. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	nightingalesong 2009-10-28 04:11 am UTC (link)
	He shakes his head, unconcerned with where her weapons are. "It wasn't ever my intention to deceive you, Sammy." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sammyfury 2009-10-28 04:18 am UTC (link)
	"Just convenient, I suppose. So how does it work?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

nightingalesong
2009-10-28 04:22 am UTC (link)

His tone is strong and even. "When my father was killed by a suicide bomber, I found out who was behind the bombing... and I tried to put a stop to it. But I had no idea what I was doing. They captured me. They tortured me. They shot me." He opens his shirt, showing bullet wounds on his belly... wounds that should have left him dying painfully.

"And they left me in the desert."

He refuses to look away from Sammy, meeting her eyes.

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	sammyfury 2009-10-28 04:31 am UTC (link)
	"How did you survive?" Curiosity would take over when she was nursing a resentment at being used by Qamar as well as Mikel. She stubbornly hung onto it. "Your file says you survived but nothing about how it happened." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	nightingalesong 2009-10-28 04:32 am UTC (link)
	"I didn't," he replies simply. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sammyfury 2009-10-28 04:35 am UTC (link)
	"You're pretty lively for a dead man." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	nightingalesong 2009-10-28 04:37 am UTC (link)
	"By pure chance, I found a lost temple of Khufu, the ancient Egyptian God of the Moon. And I died in the shadow of his statue." He pauses a moment. He's never told another living soul what he's telling Sammy. "Through Khufu, I was reborn." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sammyfury 2009-10-28 04:45 am UTC (link)
	There are crazier stories out there and she's heard a few, so it doesn't occur to her to doubt him. She wrapped her arms around her knees and hugged them to her chest. "Then what happened?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

nightingalesong
2009-10-28 04:51 am UTC (link)

"I was given powers and skills. And I put together a costume based on Khufu. But I am not a tall man, and my frame is not particularly masculine." He shrugs, but still doesn't break eye contact. "When I attacked the group that had killed me, one of the few people who caught a glimpse of me thought I was a woman."

He tilts his head. "I knew how brutal these groups could be. I wanted to protect, not only myself, but my friends, my neighbors, anyone I'd ever known, even if I had no family left. So I knew I needed to keep my identity a closely-guarded secret. But what better way to do so than to pretend to be a totally different gender than I truly was?"

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	sammyfury 2009-10-28 04:58 am UTC (link)
	"Even in New York when you approached the Avengers for membership?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	nightingalesong 2009-10-28 05:01 am UTC (link)
	He pauses. He's not sure how to broach this. "I trust the Avengers with this information," he says. "I trust you." He breaks eye contact finally. "But I don't trust our enemies." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sammyfury 2009-10-28 05:07 am UTC (link)
	That was a 'duh' moment. "That would be why they're enemies," she said with exaggerated patience. "A team runs on trust. Not trusting us is playing with our heads." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	nightingalesong 2009-10-28 05:59 am UTC (link)
	"I can't underestimate our enemies," he explains with a similarly exaggerated patient tone. "I can't trust that they won't find a way to read our minds, or..." He breaks off before he can say, mind control. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sammyfury 2009-10-28 06:05 am UTC (link)
	Sammy flushed with anger. She can fill in the blanks just fine without the help. "I didn't tell anybody what I saw. You can walk right out the door and go on being Nightingale. No one will know the difference." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	nightingalesong 2009-10-28 06:07 am UTC (link)
	He pauses. "But what if you'd known beforehand?" he asks, carefully... and even compassionately. "Would I have been safe? Would my neighbors? Or would I have been targeted?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sammyfury 2009-10-28 06:17 am UTC (link)
	"I don't know. How could I know that? As far as I knew, Nightingale wasn't even on his list of targets." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	nightingalesong 2009-10-28 06:19 am UTC (link)
	"I don't know either," he admits. "But I never want anyone to get hurt because they were standing next to me, and I was careless. Ever." He drops his head. "I am sorry I betrayed your trust, Sammy. I never wanted that." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

sammyfury
2009-10-28 06:33 am UTC (link)

She could hear Dad now. "If you're going to be in this business, you accept people are going to get hurt. Or you get out and stay out. That's the reality."

She unwound herself, wiped away some non-existent moisture around her eyes, and moved to the dresser in the corner. A flat, wrapped package was picked up. "I knew she...you had secrets and I didn't pry. I took the two of you at face value."

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