(open) there's got to be a morning after;

[hypoxic]

Who: Leo Fitz and anyone else who really needs a beer right now
Where: The bar
When: August 9th, during that very still period between the end of the event and the return of everyone's powers.
Rating: PG-13, will note if anything escalates
Summary: Everyone got to live different lives and be different people! And then they woke up with the realization that they might have said or done some things that maybe shouldn't have happened. Beer is the solution to this problem. Come commiserate.
The Story:


[People talked about it, of course. They mentioned that events could change more than just parts of the mansion. But this was the first time Fitz had the chance to experience it. He'd lived an entirely different life, and it was... Pathetic. He'd become a person so steeped in published dogma that he lost track of common sense and self-awareness. He let people perform atrocities on him, all because he "knew" he was adhering to science.

And ever since waking up with his true memories restored, he's felt absolutely sick about it.

He settles down at the bar at just before noon, nursing a beer and brooding. He's not an expert drinker, and lets the beverage sit long enough for condensation to bead along the exterior of the glass between sips. But the sips do come eventually. How else is he going to wash away an alternate lifetime's worth of horrible choices?

Occasionally, he'll glance to whomever's settled down nearby, seeking comfort in shared misery.]

If I never hear the word "mutant" again it'll be too soon, yeah?

[This might be the most social he's been in the four months since his arrival.]

Comments

[widows_kiss]

[ She reaches out and carefully nudges the bottle back down before he can inadvertently drown himself for real. ]

That was yesterday. This is today. So. Her, then?

[hypoxic]

[He lets her push the bottle away from him, swallowing thickly before he answers.]

Her. I've not been to see her yet now that things have settled.

[widows_kiss]

Do you want to?

[ The question is asked gently as she watches his face. ]

[hypoxic]

Seems like I ought to make sure she's all right. She's probably got some regrets of her own.

[He's progressed to biting on the insides of his mouth, mouth working anxiously.]

[widows_kiss]

I didn't ask what you thought you were supposed to do. Do you want to see her, Fitz?

[ There's a very large difference there. ]

[hypoxic]

[His lips press together.]

That's a complicated question, Ma'am. I don't know her yet.

[widows_kiss]

You don't have to call me ma'am, Fitz. Natasha is fine.

[ Her lips quirk at his phrasing, but it's been a while since she's had SHIELD agents answering to her like that. ]

And the 'her' you knew is probably not the same 'her' that she is normally.

[hypoxic]

Well I bloody hope not.

[He tries to smile, but it's more like a grimace.

He's also never ever ever going to call the Black Widow by her first name is she mad?]

[widows_kiss]

[ It gets a wry laugh from her, her gaze warming a hint as she takes another drink. ]

That bad, huh? I admit, I didn't have to work closely with her while we were there, but I have... some memories of who she was. She sounded like a piece of work.

[hypoxic]

Not bad by the standards of that place. I'd gotten the idea that being kept as a dog was an elite position.

[He takes her drinking as a cue that it's all right to return to his own.]

Had a pet bed and everything.

[widows_kiss]

[ She winces at that information. ]

Well, that won't make things awkward at all, will it?

[hypoxic]

Can't see how it would.

[He hesitates, giving her a long look after that. It's not the sort of topic he'd breach normally, but he's just warm enough from his drinking to find some bravery.]

When events are this complete, there's not much chance of anything transferring back when we're ourselves again, right? Physically, I mean?

[Did he impregnate a complete stranger, is what he's asking.]

[widows_kiss]

Physically? [ She narrows her gaze at him at that, because there's a couple ways to take that question and none of the ways are ones she likes. ] I don't believe so? Everything I've heard said that what happens is temporary. When it's done, everything returns to as it was, with the exception of new memories of the experience.

[hypoxic]

[Her reaction prompts him to consider the other meanings. He rubs at his inner elbow absently.]

I ought to run some bloodwork just to be sure.

[It makes him queasy to consider it. He'll probably end up asking Darcy to help. She's less likely to faint at the sight of blood.]

[widows_kiss]

[ Her frown deepens as she studies him. ]

What are you testing for?

[ Just to be clear here. ]

[hypoxic]

Were you familiar with the HEART program that was operating in that world?

[She probably was. She seemed to have a finger in all the major events.]

[widows_kiss]

Only on the outskirts of it. I didn't get involved with what the organizations were doing in their labs much. I spent more time out in the field dealing with the outbreaks of violence. Although I knew some of the people working with the program.

[hypoxic]

They did genetic testing. I'd just recently signed off my rights to them.

[And now he's fretting all over again.]

If things haven't reset, I ought to keep tabs on it.

[widows_kiss]

I've not heard of anything lingering in the aftermath of events, except for maybe an occasional item or two, in special circumstances. But I imagine double-checking does no harm either.

[ She is serious, contemplating that for a moment as she watches him. ]

Is there anything I can help with?