I would break the laws of gravity

[hypoxic]

Who: Leo Fitz and OPEN (log is for all, some closed starters in comments)
Where: Checkerboard Hills
When: August 9th, just past midnight
Rating: PG+
Summary: Man returns to Wonderland after two months at home under heavy stress. Man throws toddler-level tantrum in public space. As adults are wont to do.
The Story:

[Apparently, the stories are true. When one leaves Wonderland, one is thrust back home without memory. There's nothing to prevent the mistakes he should know to avoid, no way to apply the emotional developments he's earned. It's just the harsh progression of time, doing what time wishes. And there's no way to stop it from bringing them back before they're ready to come back.

When Fitz arrives, it's facedown into a patch of eternally-manicured grass. The memories hit all at once, but they're not memories he wants. He doesn't need to know about a ridiculous fantasy dimension holding people hostage. He was kind of in the middle of something a little life-or-death...!

It's too much to hold, and far more than he can process. Instead of wandering back to the mansion and settling back into his personal space, he stays where he is, pulling himself up to his hands and knees and tearing at the grass in open distress, shouting out at nothing and everything all at once.]

Not now! There's no time for this!

[Some people hit pillows. Right now, he's technically landscaping. And he's definitely not tearing up. That's probably all the dirt he's dislodging.]

Comments

[mucked]

Conjecture, yes, [ she allows, ] and I can't imagine it accounts for the lion's share of our fellow residents.

[ but it bears considering, doesn't it? ever since her arrival, peggy has been considering the potential role of the zero matter in this entire affair. she craves a linear explanation. or else she craves something she can hit.

but knowing she's unlikely to be granted either, she's taken to stewing instead. ]

[hypoxic]

[Linear explanations all seem to involve some sort of nonlinear shortcut. "Magic" or some rot.]

Most of them wouldn't know string theory from a shoelace, so probably not. We'll simply have to continue studying events and hoping that something will present itself more plainly soon.

[mucked]

You have a point. [ peggy concedes again. ] These events are tied to other worlds. Our worlds. Something must somehow be drawing on those elements.

[ psychologically, perhaps, rather than physically. but it's worth the question -- even though she's certain it's one asked by veterans before her. she's still finding her feet in this madness. ]

[hypoxic]

The general lore seems to be that the events themselves are tied to memory. How our memories are interpreted appears to be developed on a case-by-case basis. I believe we've already had some discussions about what's become of the Captain, for instance.

[mucked]

[ something sharp and unhappy flickers through her eyes. it coincides with the miliseconds following fitz saying that one word. captain. but she quickly chases the feeling under a rug, sucking on her teeth with a soft and played-up hiss.

as if she's more bothered by the memory issue than anything to do with steve. ]

Arguably, the very grey matter housing our memories might be equally tied to the phenomenon. Something altered, perhaps, in our coming and going. [ like so many whitney frosts, slowly driven mad. ]

[hypoxic]

That certainly might be something to look into, especially given the way memory retention upon returning is such a variable. One of my friends has been here several times and not remembered Wonderland any of them. If she's come from the same universe each time, then that could cause terrible stress...

[That's a problem he hadn't been considering, actually. There always seems to be more problems than solutions lately.]

[mucked]

Like a well-used jacket. Going threadbare.

[ it's an unpleasant prospect. ]

By the one account I could trust, Zero Matter did inflict a kind of stress. [ ... ] The physicist that had been rendered intangible -- he struggled to even maintain a visual presence. He described it as though he was being dragged somewhere. Compelled.

[hypoxic]

...Which all opens up the possibility that the longest residents might actually account for some of the safest.

Perhaps we'll need to sit down with that librarian for an interview.

[mucked]

The librarian. [ a beat, before peggy cottons on. ] The one who's been here the longest, you mean?

[ yes. especially if the woman hasn't since gone home, though she hasn't the foggiest as to whether that's true or not. ]

Annoyingly, someone might have already plumbed this avenue and come up dry. We'll not know unless we ask.

[hypoxic]

[He nods.] I don't believe I've met her specifically... I thought I had, but she was the other one. [The mirrorside version.] She'd most likely be privy to any of the avenues residents have explored.

You'd probably need to lure her out of the library first, though. She's a bit of a stickler about volume.

[mucked]

[ -- a moment passes. peggy's chin lifts. ]

I'm not that loud, am I?

[ tread careful, dear fitz. ]

[hypoxic]

[His eyes snap open wider. Oh dear. He knows that look. That's the look he gets from Jemma when he agrees with something her Dad's said.]

N-no! Not at all! She's just hypersensitive, is all.

[mucked]

Is that really the cleverest way to talk about someone who is, as you suggest, hypersensitive?

[ -- she might be teasing him. it's admittedly hard to tell. ]

[hypoxic]

Well -- she's not here, you see, and...

[He trails off into sputters, flushing at the base of his neck.]

[mucked]

And you're trusting me not to rat you out.

[ she won't, of course. but there's always a thin interest found in watching how a person copes with being eased into a corner -- doubly so, really, when that person is an agent of the very thing the ssr one day becomes. ]

[hypoxic]

Well -- I hadn't imagined that was a -- it was just a--

[He shrinks back at that, flushing more completely.]

Would you really?

[mucked]

[ she settles into silence for a moment -- eyeing him, appraising. there's nothing wrong about his reaction. indeed, it's rather earnest. there's likely a strength found in it at one turn or another. albeit, all different turns from hers.

peggy shakes her head with a shift of curls. ]

Of course not. But, hell, the look on your face...

[hypoxic]

[He breathes a sigh, relieved at first. But then his jaw tightens. Oh. She'd been doing that thing specialists like to do. That thing Sharon had done. Perhaps harassment is hereditary.]

I'm certain it was hilarious.

[To cruel people.]

[mucked]

Not at all.

[ peggy might employ similar tactics, but it's very rarely in service of entertainment. if she's to embark on anything with agent fitz -- even a minor investigation -- she needs some measure of his mettle. ]

Rather, I was only thinking how sincere you looked.

[ sincere in chagrin, maybe. or in muted panic. but sincere all the same. ]

[hypoxic]

[At the moment, he's mostly projecting sincere suspicion. Where's the rib?]

And what about it?

[mucked]

[ peggy's not quick to defend herself. at least, not in any way that applies to her motives or her virtues. if fitz is suspicious of her, then let him be. she won't rain on that parade; he'll sort it out for himself or he won't. it's never been her prerogative to care about what others think of her.

but she will answer his question. ]

Depending on what has and hasn't changed since 1947, I imagine you know as well as I do that sincerity can be something of a rare thing in -- [ the ssr ] -- these acronyms we work for.

[hypoxic]

Are you questioning my competency in the field, Ma'am?

[It's a sore spot, and he'll rear back in defensiveness.]

[mucked]

Quite the opposite, actually.

[ except-- ]

Why? Would it bother you if I did? [ ... ] We hardly know one another. You've got no reason to put any stock in my verdict. Good or ill.

[hypoxic]

It shouldn't come as a surprise to you that the opinion of Peggy Carter carries quite a bit of weight.

[If she hasn't noticed, then he'd question her stated identity. Peggy Carter's much too good for something that big to go unnoticed.]

[mucked]

Whoever that woman is, I'm not her. Not yet. I'm only a field agent. A damn good one, but... [ her head tilts. and here's something she's considered ever since they'd first chatted in the ski resort. ] I rather suspect you outrank me, Agent Fitz.

[ after all, he'd suggested himself as having worked closely with the director of shield. not that it matters in the end; the agencies might share ancestry, but they're still two separate beasts. ]