(no subject)

[beforeblue]

Who: Wash and you :D
Where: All over Wonderland
When: The Duration of the event
Rating: R for violence and trauma and language, I guess?
Summary: Wash during the event. Because he just can't stay quietly on the outside of the action.
The Story:

08/28
First zombies now what? There's whispers in the corridors and some... frankly pretty creepy symbols marked around the mansion. Hydra? Not an organisation he's ever heard of but they sound like fucking creepers as it is. Another Insurrection and he's fought too many of them to feel much sympathy. He'd ignore it but then things start getting violent. people start disappearing and returning and yeah... This is not a good situation.

08/29 - 09/01
In a lot of ways, this is actually a relief. Combat, warfare, this is stuff that he knows how to deal with. There's enough people willing to liase, to work together to stop the kidnappings. Some of them are pretty persistent. He thinks that he has it easier than most. He's not been here long enough to make any real connections. It's easier for him to drop people without flinching. He still has to pull his punches where normally he'd just take them out. Has to remind himself that these aren't his enemies. They're just being manipulated by the mansion.

He can't sleep. Too wired to settle down even for a catnap. How can he when most of the people here are civilians. They're not made for combat like this. And that's what gets him in the end.

He wakes strapped down to a chair, to needles and drugs and they're in his head and Epsilon, Epsilon, shrieking and unspooling in his head because he's supposed to be dead dead dead they killed him their plan killed him so how is he alive? And they'd lied the man they admire and the man who they are had lied to them and fractured them and Allison don't say goodbye they'd lost her, lost all of them and I hate goodbyes.

It's waking up in Recovery all over again, his head ripped open and the bleeding marks at the back of his neck where he'd tried to get it out. He's still himself though. No, not really. He's... He's alive. Not Hydra. Maybe that's the best he can hope for.

Comments

08/28

[oversight]

There isn't the same sense of awareness around the mansion that John expects to run into on a daily basis, and he can't help but wonder if that's because there's something more going on.

As a HYDRA agent, he's trained to look for anomalies, and probably trained to do that anonymously, but there's a lingering uncertainty that causes his mask to slip for just a moment. He sneers, momentarily perturbed by the appearance of HYDRA imagery. "Sloppy." A mutter. He tears it down the logo and it's likely the glance around to make sure he wasn't noticed that really gives him away more than the utterance of disdain.

He figures he's alone, but he's wrong. Wrong enough that he comes face to face with Agent Washington as he turns to leave.

"'Scuse me, there." It's said as if there's nothing else to be addressed.

Re: 08/28

[beforeblue]

The trouble is, Wash hasn't had to cook for himself since he was eighteen and he joined the military. And before that there hadn't been a whole lot of cooking himself either. Oh, he can heat MREs, but that is about the extent of his culinary skills, which means frequent trips to the mess here. The dining room. Because he is not fucking subsisting on MREs while he is here and there is real food.

Which is why he's noticed these symbols appearing around the place. Sloppily drawn on the walls, pinned up. Reminds him of the Insurrectionist bases.

And then there's this guy Wash spots on his way down to get food. Wash spoke to him on the network, he knows that. But there's that muttered curse, the furtive look. "If you're trying to hide those things, you've got your work cut out for you."

[oversight]

Blake glances up and shakes his head. "They're an abomination." It's a half-lie. Their appearance is what he takes exception to, and he has no trouble seeing what a bad idea it is. "Who the hell's puttin' them all 'round this place?" John asks. He hasn't placed a single emblem by his own hand, but someone's proudly presenting HYDRA and boy would he love to get his hands around their neck for their negligence.

"Do me a favor an' let me know if you figure it out." He doesn't suspect this guy will do that, but it doesn't hurt to cover his ass a little more. There's no reason to believe he's HYDRA, after all. Even if the disappointment he'd expressed had been oddly pointed.

[beforeblue]

That's kind of... vehement, for a few bits of vandalism. "What even is it? Some kind of Octopus thing?" With a skull for a head. Well, he's seen weirder military insignias. This one is just creepy though.

"Take it this is something you know from your world?" Unless he just really hates octopi. Or graffiti. Maybe both.

[oversight]

"Yeah, it is. It's... considered to be an omen." He's not lying, not that he has any qualms about saying what he has to. "People adopt it without knowin' it's history. You know what they say: Put an octopus on it and anyone'll buy."

John pushes his hands into his pockets and leans against the wall nearby. He'd like to beat a hasty retreat from this line of questioning, but walking away not will only increase Agent Washington's suspicion.

[beforeblue]

"...I have never heard that said before." Blake's world must be pretty weird. What, do they have octopi instead of kittens or something?

He pauses a moment, mulling over the design. "Looks more like a military insignia. The ODSTs have skulls as part of theirs for one."

[oversight]

Blake tilts his head slightly as if trying to see what Washington sees. It's a good assessment and he respects that, but John has reason to suspect there's more tension here than either of them are letting on, so he tries to shift their conversation a hair.

"You think? Not sure I could see that on a uniform." There's a short pause and then John shrugs. "There'd have to be water involved, right? For the fish thing to work. Navy?"

[beforeblue]

"I've spent a lot of time in the military. You see a lot of crazy insignias." Skulls were just one small element. He turned away from it and leans back against the wall, looking at the other man. "Navy covers space too. I mean, I'm a marine so..."

[oversight]

This is news to Blake. Or he's good at pretending. "Space, wow. That's advanced." Not really, but HYDRA has kept most of their secrets for decades and he's not about to start chit-chatting about closed files just because he finds it interesting.

"How much time's a lotta time?" He looks over Washington approvingly, all the while wondering just what it's going to take to get this guy on his side.

Casually, John pulls his phone from his pocket and looks over his messages. He could potentially reach out to one of the others while they have this conversation.

[beforeblue]

"Getting that impression considering the reactions I get here." Really, everyone was fascinated by the idea of space colonies and travel and for him? It was his life. And sometimes it also really sucked.

He tilts his head; a look like that isn't quite what he was expecting. "Since I was old enough to enlist. Right out of school." He'd been so desperate to get off the colony he'd been born on. To get away from home. He'd never looked back.

[oversight]

Blake can understand ambitions like that, so he nods somewhat approvingly. He's getting something more from this guy, thus far he feels they've successfully managed to avoid excess suspicion.

"And what drew you to that life?" Parents? Friends? War? No one decides to sign up just to escape (unless maybe they're Luke Skywalker or something). "Personal ambitions aside, I mean. What did you believe you were fighting for?"

[beforeblue]

The approving nod grates on him. He feels like he's being sized up and he's been through enough of that just to get into the project. His posture stiffens a little, though he's still mostly relaxed.

He blinks at the question, frowns. It's weird having to explain stuff like that. "To stop the human race being driven to extinction by the fucking Covvies. It's a pretty good motivator."

[oversight]

"Survival is a huge motivator," John agrees. He senses tension, but he doesn't think there's anything particularly alarming about his sentiment. Nevertheless, there's certainly an impression that this conversation could take a southernly turn at any moment.

"Find myself thinkin' 'bout survival a lot more these days," he says. He didn't have nearly the same amount of problems back home as he does here in Wonderland, and that's mostly because his hands are tied.

[beforeblue]

"It really is," Wash agrees. Freelancer had been only one of the many secret projects going on, each searching for a magic bullet to win the war. "No-one wants to be wiped out." If he never has to see another planet glassed, it will still be too many.

He lets out a breath at that, nods. "I dunno. Apart from the... hordes of the undead apparently, this place is a hell of a lot calmer than home." No leader boards, no... no, stop, I'll do better, I just need more time. He squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, looks back at Blake. "Not at war. That's nice."

[oversight]

By all accounts, Blake doesn't agree. This Blake doesn't agree, anyway. But he doesn't mind riding that line so that he doesn't cause issues here. He nods, somewhat thoughtfully, and then reaches out to offer his hand.

"What was it you said your name was again?" he asked. If Agent Washington knows much about the real John Blake, he'll know the guy's like a steel trap; forgetting a name just isn't in the cards. But maybe they don't have enough history to make a difference here.

[beforeblue]

He takes the offered hand, shaking it firmly, feeling how the other guy does it. "Agent Washington," he replies. That's about as much of a name as he goes by these days. Hasn't used David since he entered the project. It doesn't quite feel like his name anymore.

[oversight]

"Right, right, Agent Washington. How could I forget?" It only leaves Blake that much more curious despite the fact that he's faking his remembrance. What does agent mean in this case? He's almost tempted to find out. A well-timed strike would certainly do the trick.

John smiles and tosses caution to the wind. His grip tightens and in a flash, he's trying to use Wash's weight against him in a toss that's designed to put the other man into a prone position on the floor.

[beforeblue]

"I normally go by Wash. Less of a mouthful." Or rookie, but that was annoying enough from York. He wasn't about to let random people call him that.

He feels the tightening of the grip, catches the tail end of Blake's smile and then there's the twist of his wrist to force him down and... Wash rolls with it, turning it into a kick aimed square at the back's of Blake's legs. Fuck. Guess he should have worn his armour after all.

[oversight]

By way of recourse, Blake doesn't have a lot of options. He pitches forward and catches himself on his hands and knees, but he's quick to recover. With reflexes honed by extensive training, he quickly tosses a mule kick in the direction of Wash's face.

Whether he lands a hit or not, he'll be attempting to scramble back to his feet the moment he has a chance.

[beforeblue]

Wash is already scrambling back and jumping to his feet, narrowly avoiding the kick and slipping into a much more defensive position. He's not taking any chances.

"Guess we know which side you're on."

[oversight]

"Don't be so narrow-minded," he spits, a sudden change in spirit washing over him. "This isn't as simple as that. There aren't sides. Survival is more than just that and you'd be stupid to think otherwise."

This version of John is much more vocal, and much more openly opinionated. He won't be holding back on any front, which is why he pops back in to try to grapple Wash. This battle isn't close to being over.

[beforeblue]

"I know the value of survival. Where I'm from, humans are on the verge of extinction. I saw a planet glassed by the fucking Covenant." He knows what survival is, and it's not creepy insurrectionist cults.

He's ready for the charge, twists to bring his knee up towards Blake's gut.

[oversight]

In getting close to a person, a guy like Blake knows he's apt to take a few hits. The knee to the abdomen knocks the air out of him, but what does he need of air, anyway? It only incapacitates him long enough to gasp and then he makes to take advantage of the proximity, breathless but determined. His hand clasps tight and he aims a closed-fist punch right at Agent Washington's neck.

He'll trade his breath for this guy's voice any day, especially if he's going to keep talking.

[beforeblue]

He'd really hoped that he'd go down easy. He didn't want to hurt anyone here, not when he didn't know for sure what was going on. But if Blake wanted a fight, Wash was more than prepared to give him one.

He twistes and dips so that the punch hits his shoulder instead, and shoves forward with it, slamming his weight into Blake's chest.

[oversight]

For a guy that's well-trained, Blake is frightfully easy to move under the right circumstances. He's solid, but not exactly hefty in any regard, so Wash's impact has little resistance. They end up wrapped together, Blake's arms grappling around the other man, somewhere stuck between wanting to headbutt him and wanting to knee him in the groin.

"Why you gotta—" He grunts and twists his grip. He can almost get his hands to clasp around the other man, but only when Agent Washington's not completely resistant. "Just yield before this gets serious!"