bakerstreet | (no subject)

(no subject)

[ WOKE UP IN JAIL ]

Where are you? Why is your bed so hard? Why is someone peeing right by your head?
Oh right. Because you got pinched last night. Welcome to the slammer, baby.

• Post with your character name/fandom/options preferences.
• Use RNG to pick your possible scenario - or just go with what you'd like most.
• Reply to other people's tags. Use RNG or decide what your part in the whole kerfuffle is.
• Enjoy the confusion.

Reason(s) you're in jail:

1. Indecent Exposure
Nobody wanted to watch you strut around with everything hanging out, and someone called you on it. Hope they gave you a jumpsuit or you're going to be prison eye candy.

2. Drunk and disorderly conduct
"Wassat, occifer? No... I'm not dru-*hic* drunk. I'm unner the legal limit. Wooo!" No, no you're not. You're way over. Sleep it off, buddy.

3. Vandalism
Oh, you naughty thing. You got busted stealing that 'Chickens X-ing' sign. Or was it drawing boobs on the drive-thru clown? Either way, tsk tsk.

4. B&E
Apparently your friend didn't think you kicking in his window to sneak in and leave him a 'present' was as good of an idea as you thought it was. Well, no love for HIM. *hmph*

5. Grand Theft Auto
The car was BEGGING to go for a ride. It called to you with its sireny car-call. And you just had to answer. If it hadn't been for the damn spike belt...

6. Kidnapping
Trust me, there are better ways to get money to pay for your Bieber concert tickets.

7. Murder
Talk about being caught red handed. You got caught red armed. And faced. And front. You're messy.

8. Any/all of the above
Ooooh... You've been REALLY naughty, haven't you? Actually, you kind of scare me.

Relationship of the person tagging:

1. Cohort in Crime.

2. Person coming to bail you out. (or not)

3. Jailer/Warden.

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Steve's heart gave a twinge of pain and his hands clench beside him. He'd hurt Tony...he gave Tony nightmares of Steve hurting him.

"I'm sorry." He says softly and leans back further into the couch he's sitting on. He didn't know what to do to help the situation so he chose to simply sit and listen. Be silently supportive.

"This one predates you, Steve." He can offer that much, sipping his water and trying to think past, well, being made to drown. "Afghanistan. Cave, car battery-"

His fingers tap against his chest, the circle of scars where the arc reactor used to sit. "Yinsen. Thinking about him a lot, lately. What he'd say if he saw what I've made." What's become of his new legacy.

Steve nods in understanding at least grateful he's not responsible for Tony's nightmares, this time. He knows he has been and he feels awful about it. He listens as Tony speaks but can't think of anything helpful to say so he doesn't say anything. Instead he gets up and gets his own glass of water before returning to the couch, sipping the cool liquid.

"...The last thing he said to me was 'Don't waste it'. I thought I wasn't." He was pretty damn certain for a long time, that this was the right thing, that he'd been working hard to build something that would outlive him because at the end of the day he's a man in a can and he can't do much against gods and monsters. "We built something worthwhile, didn't we?"

"Yes Tony, we did." Steve says with a voice full of emotion. He is proud of the team they have built. He is proud of his family. "Sure we have some kinks to iron out, but I'd say it was worth everything to have you and Clint and Sam and everybody else come together like we did. We're all some of us have, and I think creating a family like that is very worthwile."

"We were supposed to be better, right? Together, handling things on our own, not worrying about a World Security Council. One man. One man brought it all down." What was it that Vanko said? 'If you could make God bleed, people would cease to believe in Him. There will be blood in the water, the sharks will come.' Ross had plenty of teeth and none of the instincts. Zemo- Zemo had both.

"Do any of them know what happened in Siberia?" He hadn't told anyone. Not Rhodey, not Pepper, not Vision- it hadn't mattered in the face of standing up to give the world someone to scream at while he tried to fix things. Now...Now it might explain some things. It'd make the talk with Sam less awkward if he knew.

"They have a vague idea of what went down. I didn't want to talk about it because I felt like doing so...without you there to defend your actions, wasn't very fair. I don't get to tell people how you were feeling when you made a decision to do what you did just like you can't for me. If you want too, we can tell them together. Sam knows you came as a friend but that something happened to make that change. None of them are angry, they just want to understand what happened between us." Steve says setting his cup down. "I told them Zemo manipulated us into doing exactly what he wanted, but I didn't tell them how he did it. Obviously T'Challa knows, but he has kept it to himself." Steve has spent many night agonizing over this same issue. Whether what he did was right when he joined the Avengers. When he joined SHIELD.

"I remain skeptical of them not being angry." Even if the fight hadn't gone south in the worst of ways at the airport. Even if they hadn't ended up in the Raft- they all had their reasons for speaking out against the accords and his resignation hadn't gone over well. "But talking to them together- that's probably the easiest way to go about it."

It wouldn't be painless, but it'd be quick. Ripping off a bandaid quick.

Steve gives a soft hum in agreement. "Together it is." Steve offers a supportive smile. Steve gives a long sigh and lets his head fall back against the chair.

"You know...sometimes I wish things were simpler. Sometimes I wish I was back in the war where I knew who the bad guys were. Sometimes I wish they'd left me at the bottom of the ocean." Steve didn't voice that sentiment outloud, this was the first time he'd done so that he could remember. He didn't talk about that time.

"Sometimes I wish the shrapnel killed me." Not often, not in awhile since there've been enough highs to outweigh the lows of having survived that; but it's a point of commonality and at the moment? They need as many of those as they can get if they're seriously going to rebuild this bridge.

"War's never simple, just straightforward. What we're willing to see as acceptable extremes gets stretched a little further, there are clearly defined sides that you're stuck in by choice or circumstance or where you live." Peace in their time. That'd been the mission. The hope. Everything he'd built and bled for, the brighter Future Steve put the plane in the ice for. And it's still...muddled and muddied. "We'll get another one soon. Something big."

"I had lucid moments...I don't think I've ever told anyone that. I had moments where I knew I was dying...where I wanted to die. I was aware when they unfroze me. God it hurt so badly." Steve says his voice a little broken as he trails off letting the thought die off.

"I have trouble seeing shades of grey. Would you...would you help me see those, please?" Steve asks looking Tony in the eyes. Steve's world has usually always been black or white. Yes or no. Right or wrong. He has a hard time when the situation gets muddy...when it gets grey.

"You were awake in the ice?" Fuck, what must that even be like- paralyzed and frozen, pinned by water and metal and- it'd been a vague thought he ignored but rereading the infodump from Shield had brought it right back up again, niggling in the back of his mind. Steve had crashed the plane in the seat.

They'd found him lying down, shield on his chest, lain out like a corpse. Waiting.

He scrubs a hand through his hair and down his face, trying to shove the image away and not really managing it. Looking up to see Steve sitting, warm and breathing and alive does the work for him. "If you promise to listen. I can't help you if you don't trust me."

"I crashed the plane because I couldn't reroute it. But there was more too it than that. Bucky was gone, Ma was gone. I didn't see the point in keeping up the pretense that anyone would actually care about me. I was selfish..I wanted to be with them again so I figured well, I do this I save lots of people and I'll get to be with those I wanna be with again. But that wasn't the case. Apparently I can hold my breath for a long time....it took a long time for me to pass out...I was so cold I couldn't feel it anymore but I couldn't move. Eventually I guess I just blacked out. I have no idea how long it took but it felt like forever. Then I had moments where I could hear the ice creaking. I could feel the pressure around me, in me." Steve shivers and his hands rub his arms absentmindedly.

"I promise to listen, if you do." Steve agrees. "I took you for granted Tony and I don't want to do it again."

That's- well. Probably why he's hiding in a country with such a warm climate after the fiasco in Sibera. No wonder he and Barnes were on edge; contents of the facility aside. There's not much he can say to that. It's visceral and staggering- the hopeful guy from Brooklyn that fought so damn hard gave up and maybe that's why him tossing it out so casually months ago is what prompted actual conversation.

Trying to not, this time around.

"Well that sounds. Horrible." An understatement that boarders on flippant but they're both rubbed raw here. "I heard what you were saying, Steve. I just thought my way was the right one."

Still does- but not with this price tag attached. Not with Rhodey's spine or the broken circle tagged on as the cost for accountability and oversight.

Steve nods at Tony's words. He too thought he was right in his decision. "I think we need to work on compromise. I think that's the right word. We've learned...we should have learned before this...that when we go in opposite directions there is a lot of collateral damage. I also think I might have misunderstood what you were trying to say...and before you could explain well..you were there." Steve sighed bringing his hands up and scrubbing at his eyes. Thinking about what happened to Bucky was painful for him.

"Communication. Trust." God, it is like hammering out a romantic relationship isn't it? He's never been the best at those- the people that have been with him the longest, that knew him best- Happy, Rhodey, Pepper- put up with him despite his inability to handle any of that well and when he finally thought he was getting his legs under him he still managed to fuck it up over the accords.

Dwelling isn't gonna help. Tony's exhaustion catches up with him and maybe, maybe this time when he lies down he won't get a face full of desert sands and blood. Maybe. "Falcon's gonna have a field day with this."

Steve gives a laugh and nods. "Yeah, I would guess so. He's definitely got some sass in him as my Ma would say." Steve yawns again and from the clock near his stove he can see it's 4:45am. They've been talking for almost two hours. He can see the exhaustion and tiredness around Tony's face and once more brings up sleep.

"Breakfast isn't until 9:30. It's a weekend and the palace is much more lax. We should try and get a bit more sleep. If you don't wanna go back to your room this couch is pretty damn cozy, feel free to sleep here if you want. I think I might go get back in my bed for a bit."

"I'll head back to my room, actually but-" He stands, rubbing the back of his neck, trying to blink away the weight that seems to have settled on him the longer he let himself just. Stop. Doesn't happen often but without any real projects his mind's winding down. "Thanks. For this."

Listening being present, talking- he waves a hand vaguely between them indicating the lot as he heads back to the door. This makes two conversations face to face where things went well. How's that for unexpected and pleasant? The pattern won't hold, once they're both rested up something will set one of them off but-

Probably not so bad as to keep this broken. They're fixing it by inches. "It helped."

Steve nods at Tony when he's thanked and smiles, walking him to the door. "I'm glad." He says honestly and once Tony's gone he lets himself just sag against the door for a moment, drained.

He knows their truce is unsteady, he knows he has to be very careful or everything they've laid in the foundation will burn into cinders. "I won't let you down Tony. We're going to fix this. We're going to rebuild our world." He promises to himself before eventually pulling himself up and shuffling back to his bed to try and get some more sleep before the inevitable.

This time there aren't nightmares- or at least none that he can remember. Uncomfortable memories, half finished projects, promises, playing piano for his mother; fragments that don't form anything in particular and leave him feeling a little better rested than the day before. FRIDAY flickers to life on the tablet Rhodey gave him; offering date, time, weather- the usual scroll of data that helps him drift awake and face the day.

It's nice to have it back, even if the surroundings aren't familiar. It's better than the Raft, better than the empty halls of the compound, the weight of Ross hanging over him all hours of the day. Suit (because Vision was kind enough to insist and Tony really needs the figurative armor), tie, phone, tablet, hard drive, sunglasses (Rhodey's, borrowed, might keep them) and he almost feels like himself before the accords. Almost.

Closer than he's been in awhile and that'll have to be enough. Not used to being aimless he steps out in the hall, peering for- well. Signs of life. Directions to breakfast since he might as well get this shit over with.

It was Sam who woke Steve up at 9am. Steve showers, dresses, and spends several minutes talking to his friend before they get ready to head down to breakfast. Steve's ready to go knock on Tony's door to offer to show him where to go when Rhodey rounds the corner at the other end.

"I'll bring him Steve. He's gonna be antsy enough." He offers Steve a small smile and nods his head in greeting at Sam. "Morning." He says.

"Thanks Rhodes, see you in a bit then." Steve says as he and Sam round the corner to the left heading towards the communal dining hall T'Challa had set up for them. Most of the team was there when he and Sam arrived.

Rhodey greets Tony when the man exits his room. "Well, you look much better. Ready to get this over with?"

"Not even a little." Revisiting Siberia isn't going to be enjoyable, explaining how they fought, why they fought, going through all of that again? Admitting to being played by a glorified security drone? Wounds his manly pride.

And his appetite, but that's been waxing and waning for weeks now and nothing new. "But that's a moot point. Come on, honeybear, let's face the music."

There probably won't be any fists thrown. Probably.

Rhodey leads Tony down to the dining hall pointing out other communal rooms as he goes. He's only been there a few days himself but it was long enough to learn where he could go so he wasn't stuck in his room all the time.

Steve is sitting beside Wanda and across from Sam. There are plenty of empty spots for Tony and Rhodes to choose from so he doesn't have to sit on Steve's other side unless he wants too. Clint and Scott are already starting to fill their plates when T'Challa joins them. It's nice to see the King. It's nice that most of his family is now all together. Beside him Wanda is all smiles as she talks softly with Vision.

The food was piled high in platters and people were beginning to pour drinks and dig in when Tony and Rhodey enter the room. He smiles up at them and motions towards the empty chairs. "Morning, have a seat and join us?"

It's almost sickeningly domestic- more than enough to give him pause. Months with just Vision and Rhodey and inconsistent meals in the workshop as trying to share meals only made all the empty chairs that much more obvious and uncomfortable. To go from that to the Raft to this-

Grateful for the glasses and years of experience schooling his expression, Tony waves a vague hand, pouring himself a mug of coffee. Food'll come later, if at all. "I'm good standing."

Easier to have a running start if he needs a quick exit. Probably won't come to that but- paranoia's healthy when you're the squishiest person in the room and viscerally aware of it.

No one is giving Tony murder eyes, no one is giving him anything more than just general attention. It's awkward...the tension in the room is noticeable but no one mentions it. Steve pours himself another cup of coffee and leans back.

Rhodey claps Tony on the back in a supportive manner and sits down beside Sam pouring his own cup of coffee.

"It's good to see you, Tony." Wanda says smiling over at him hoping to diffuse the tension a bit.

"Why did Ross toss you in the RAFT? I thought you two were buddies now." Clint just comes out and asks point blank. Someone has to rip the bandaid and start the conversation.