Avengers Catch-All Post

[widows_kiss]

Who: The Avengers and YOU
Where: Along the Oregon Trail
When: Sunday, August 31 - Thursday, September 4
Rating: S for Shpadoinkle. And Snowmen. And Sickly Steve with his entourage.
Summary: Catch-All Post for the Avengers Wagon Train and all related shenanigans. Of which there will be many.

The Story:
Sunday morning dawns bright and early and full of confusion, because this is Wonderland, which is reason enough. But the setting everyone wakes up to is not the Wonderland they've become used to. It's not immediately obvious to some what event this world has dropped them into this time, but for others...

The presence of the wagons and oxen and the trading post's residents encouraging cheers to send everyone on their way to Oregon is a fairly telling clue. And since it seems there's no avoiding this one way or another, the resident superheroes form up a wagon caravan and hope to get through the long journey in one piece.

...Or at least as close to that as they can manage it.

[OOC: Top-threads to be added for individual Avengers below]

Comments

[hyperkinesia]

[ She neither confirms nor denies, and all Bruce sees when he looks it's her - even the dark hair, the light eyes, the warm smile, and the way she says his name. It's Betty he sees, and even if Natasha tried to tell him otherwise, he would still not believe her.

She's here. Somehow, he doesn't know how, why or since when, but that doesn't really matter to him. In his dazed state he can only reach for her, clasping her hands in return, one of his own moving to pull her closer, though weak as he is, it's not really much of a hold at all. ]

You will... don't go, don't... I'm sorry... [ His voice withers and dies into a quiet sob, not even yet a cry as a hand reaches for Natasha's arm, her shoulder, a feeble and weak hold, only desperate to keep her close. ]

I'm sorry, just... Betty, stay-- please... I won't... [ A shivered breath, a quiet noise. ] I won't hurt you...

[widows_kiss]

[ Her eyes close for a moment at that broken confession. The apology. That's not something she was meant to hear and this was why she'd wanted to tell him the truth, but at the same time...

It's not a decision she's ready to make. Prepared to make. But she's the only one here and the others have found other places to bed down for the night. She just hopes he doesn't hate her later for what she's going to do next.

She opens her eyes and gives him a small reassuring smile as she cupped her free hand against his face. Maybe this could help in its own way. ]

I know you won't, Bruce. I know you would never want that.

[ When he tugs, she lets him, understanding what he wants, even if she'll only accommodate to a point. She shifts, stretching out beside him, because this will at least help keep him warm, maybe help the fever break in the process. His hold on her is weak, but she wraps her arms around him, letting him have the contact he seemed so desperate for as she wrapped around him. She settled down at his side and let him curl up against her, his head on her shoulder as she combed her fingers through his hair, hoping this might soothe him enough to let him rest. ]

Don't be sorry, Bruce. It's alright. For now, I promise it's alright. I just want you to rest and get better. Can you do that for me?

[hyperkinesia]

[ For that while he seems both scattered and entirely focused on her, his eyes at the same time searching wildly, yet lingering only on her, though only on the image that he sees with his mind's eye.

And she smiles and speaks softly to him, reassuring as she'd always been, keeping him afloat though, ironically enough, right now it's the image of her that's making him sink even deeper into his own mind, and the illusions caused by the venom. But Bruce doesn't care; right now he can't even remember anymore that all this was no more than hallucinations, tricks of his own mind.

It's with a sigh and sheer relief that he welcomes her presence near him, and he curls and shifts close, settles his head on her shoulder. When he closes his eyes, even the scent is something else altogether, something that's not actually there, but in the midst of the chaos in his mind, it soothes him. Even if it's not real.

(And he won't hate Nataha for any of it. If anything he'll blame no one but himself for the situation she's found herself in.) ]

I can... [ If you stay. He puts an arm lightly over her, almost limp in the way it rests so bonelessly across her. ] I will... Thank you.

[widows_kiss]

Shhhh.

[ She hushes him softly, pressing her lips lightly to the top of his head when he settles down against her, her fingers lightly carding through his hair as his arm drops to drape around her. She lets her other hand come to rest there, a reassurance she wasn't going anywhere. ]

I'm here. [ It's simple. Simple words, simple thought. But she thinks maybe it'll be enough. For a little while at least. ] I'm here. Close your eyes, Bruce. Rest for me.

[hyperkinesia]

[ Real or not, whether he's completely lost in the illusion or part of him is even aware that it's Natasha comforting him right now, her presence and soothing touch does calm him, his breath quieting as he falls silent and stops moving.

He nods only, his eyes closing at her request, not even mustering the strength to speak again. It might take him only a few minutes or over an hour but eventually he falls asleep, much needed in his state as the supposed medicine does its work. ]