Agent Washington (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
unrecovered) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
legionworld2017-03-17 08:44 am
unrecovered) wrote in legionworld2017-03-17 08:44 am
Entry tags:
We're All Adults Here [Closed]
Who| Wash and Soldier 76
What| Two grown men are going to fight like children. Or possibly talk it out.
Where| One of the training rooms
When| Half an hour after this
Warnings/Notes| These two, I swear.
Thirty minutes is a long time to consider life decisions, both yours and the incredibly shitty ones everyone around you seems to be making at the moment, and Wash takes full advantage of it. He still can't believe 76's idea of a solution is the equivalent of taking it outside, and he's pretty sure 76 knows it's not the best idea either - that challenge had been locked down for a reason.
The less said about the situation with Tracer and Widowmaker, the better. At least everyone's alive; he really couldn't have asked for more than that.
Now he just has to deal with the followup.
He shows up at the training area in sweatpants and a t-shirt exactly thirty minutes after the challenge is issued - no armor, no weapons, no nothing. If this escalates, it will not be because of him.
What| Two grown men are going to fight like children. Or possibly talk it out.
Where| One of the training rooms
When| Half an hour after this
Warnings/Notes| These two, I swear.
Thirty minutes is a long time to consider life decisions, both yours and the incredibly shitty ones everyone around you seems to be making at the moment, and Wash takes full advantage of it. He still can't believe 76's idea of a solution is the equivalent of taking it outside, and he's pretty sure 76 knows it's not the best idea either - that challenge had been locked down for a reason.
The less said about the situation with Tracer and Widowmaker, the better. At least everyone's alive; he really couldn't have asked for more than that.
Now he just has to deal with the followup.
He shows up at the training area in sweatpants and a t-shirt exactly thirty minutes after the challenge is issued - no armor, no weapons, no nothing. If this escalates, it will not be because of him.
no subject
When he sees Wash enter, he drops his hands and rolls his shoulders, turning to face him.
"Ready?"
He's not about to start dirty--this is a spar to blow off the steam and settle the matter, as far as he's concerned, so he's not looking to open this conversation with a punch. He will, however, ready himself for the fight to start sooner rather than later, shifting his feet into a defensive stance.
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Wash waits for the door to close, then leans against the wall, shoving his hands into his pockets. Not everything Project Freelancer taught him was good, but it sure has been useful, and that includes the fact that injuring someone you don't particularly like in a sparring match and claiming it was an accident tends to be a legitimate and frequently used strategy. He doesn't think 76 will try to pull that, and he's certainly not planning on it, but that doesn't stop him from removing it from the table entirely. Sparring it out works with people you actually like; in this circumstance, it's a terrible idea.
"Because fighting about it isn't going to solve a damn thing, but talking might. So." He shrugs. "What's your problem with me?" Might as well give him the floor first instead of immediately laying into him.
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On the surface, 76 seems perfectly composed, his voice dry--but there's a dangerous, icy undercurrent in his tone that almost dares Wash to try and condescend to him. It's clear he won't be having any of that, and he stays in his defensive stance to indicate that he doesn't consider the fight off the table.
"It ain't personal," he says, offering a shrug, even though he's sure that Wash will take this very personally.
"Just think you need to keep your mouth shut when it comes to things you don't know anything about."
Seems a simple enough request to him.
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So while he hears that icy undercurrent and the warning that comes along with it, Wash doesn't really care. That's the funny thing about pulling a stint on Sidewinder - after a while, ice really doesn't bother you anymore.
"Oh, like the teammates that I'm supposed to be working with, or the interpersonal drama that could cause massive issues with that teamwork and lead to potential mission failure. I should just not say anything about that, and not try to get to know anyone that I'm going to be working with, because I didn't come in already equipped with that knowledge, so what's the point?" Maybe if he makes it sound as ridiculous as it actually is, 76 will get the point.
And maybe Caboose will learn calculus, but at least Caboose has surprised him before.
no subject
Still collected, but this time there's an edge of impatience in his voice. He adjusts his gloves, peeling velcro away and then tightening it back around his wrist. He'll let Wash talk, sure, but he doesn't really have the patience for this kind of missing the point.
"Here's what would've happened if you kept your goddamn nose out of it. They meet, they throw a few punches, the higher-ups step in, and that's the end of it. Don't agree with it, but that's what would've happened."
The real root of the problem is the fact that the Legion doesn't bat an eye at letting terrorists take the oath. And he might not have much faith in the organization, but they jumped in to handle Reaper. He has no doubt that a fight between Tracer and Widowmaker would be broken up in short order.
"Last I checked, no one died and put you in charge. People don't take well to you acting like you are. All you did was escalate."
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And who knows: maybe that's the part that 76 isn't getting.
So wash takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, ignoring the accusation of escalation - fuck that; he was trying to stop the fight from happening, but that's not important now - and choosing his words. "You know, there are mind readers on the ship, but I'm not one of them."
...not a great start. Too late for that now.
"Look, it's great that you can lay out that little scenario, but that's because you have context, and right now, that's something that you and maybe three other people here have. Widowmaker is a complete stranger, and talking to her is the angriest I've ever seen Tracer, and I think it might be the angriest she's been since she got here." Unless he missed something big, which is always a possibility. "So without knowing who Widowmaker is beyond what Tracer said, and without knowing how Tracer acts when she's that angry, that situation looks like a fight between an assassin and someone who hates her. Thinking that someone could die as a result really isn't a far-fetched assumption in that case." He's speaking pointedly, but the volume is staying down. Good. "What you didn't see is the private conversation I had with Tracer trying to talk her down, and me calling Kid Q and telling her what was happening when that didn't work. The brass isn't fucking omniscient - they showed up because I stuck my nose in told them about it.
"I acted on the information I had because it looked like lives were at stake. You want to tell me I don't know everything? Fine. No shit I don't know your world history. But if all you do is tell me I'm wrong, and you don't bother telling me why or filling in the gaps, then how the fuck am I supposed to know what the "right" course of action is?" Scare quotes and everything, because obviously they have very different definitions of right. "I did what I could with what I had, because without the rest of that information, it looked like the other option was losing a teammate, and that's not an acceptable choice."
no subject
As far as 76 is concerned, this has just proven his point, and that hint of impatience in his voice gets that much more of an edge, even as he keeps it lowered. He rolls his shoulders as if brushing it all off.
"You had no authority in that situation and no right to tell Tracer what she is and isn't allowed to feel. We lost a lot of good people to Talon and your opinion on the matter ain't appreciated."
76 is sure he's going to get another mountain of words in response to that, but he flexes his hand, leather gloves creaking and making it apparent that he really doesn't have much else to say on the matter, especially if Wash is going to continue to be willfully obtuse about the way he likes to pretend he's in charge. It's an obliviousness more than evidenced by the fact that he keeps going on about all this with some measure of authority.
"Now are you gonna fight me or what?"
no subject
Talking to Caboose is easier. Caboose can't understand; 76 won't.
Wash closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly, and takes another one for good measure. It would be so, so easy to drop the conversation and just take a swing at 76 right now-
Which is exactly why he can't do that. Not if he ever wants to get past this ridiculous impasse between them.
Right. Eyes open. Time for round two.
"One: no, I'm not going to fight you, because it's not going to solve any of this." And because it would be way too easy for it to turn from a sparring match into a real fight, and Wash does not need to wind up in Kid Q's office again. He knows better, dammit. "Two: I was trying to explain why I did what I did, and I have no idea how that became a lecture, but here we are. Three: I didn't know about Talon. I didn't know they were called Talon until just now. And I don't know why you keep getting mad at me for not knowing shit that I couldn't possibly know. I'm doing what I can with what I have, and if you have a problem with that, then I need to know how to fucking fix it."
no subject
If Wash isn't going to fight, then 76 will shove his hands in his pockets--perhaps an indication that he doesn't consider any of this to be actually threatening. He has enough faith in his heightened reflexes to be certain that he can block anything Wash tries to throw at him, even if he has a head start.
The arch of his eyebrow is visible right at the top of his visor, like he's sizing Wash up.
"Nothing's gonna leave this room." As in, he's most certainly not a snitch. "Think we could both stand to blow off some steam."
no subject
"Because like it or not, you and Reaper and Tracer and Widowmaker are all part of this larger team called the Legion of Superheroes. I don't know if you've heard of it, but I'm pretty sure there's an oath involved." Turns out it's fairly difficult to keep from being sarcastic when 76 is being this frustrating. He takes a breath and tones it down. "You don't have the luxury of just being Overwatch anymore. You're part of a bigger team, and what you do affects all of us. The more we as a team know about a situation, the more easily we can solve it." He's starting to repeat himself, which is a pretty good sign that he's running up against a brick wall - not that that's going to stop him from trying.
no subject
"If you think I'll jeopardize a mission because of my personal feelings, you're a bigger idiot than I thought."
And still missing the point--hell, here he is talking about Overwatch like he hadn't just heard the name and drawn his own conclusions from there. The implication that it was just people doing whatever they wanted with no regard for a bigger team or a bigger picture is demonstrably false, and 76 will be quick to correct those presumptions.
"You heard about Overwatch. You want to know about it?"
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Almost to their own detriment, at times. It puts a great deal of Lena's behavior in context, he thinks--she's been burned by the so-called 'higher ups' before. Can't trust them to deal with the situation appropriately when they're the ones who might have wanted Overwatch gone in the first place.
"Someone sold them out. Killed their commander and took the organization down. The terrorist cell that Widowmaker's part of likely had something to do with it."
He doesn't expect Wash to be particularly sympathetic and quite honestly expects more lecturing about how they should or shouldn't behave, but there's an iciness to his voice that indicates he's about to leave the conversation if Wash thinks it's a good idea to talk at him some more.
"Lena doesn't need you to tell her how to act. It ain't welcome, and I don't want to hear about why you think your opinion matters. The higher-ups want to bring on terrorists? They can be the ones to deal with the consequences."
Consequences here including the varied reactions of Legionnaires who are understandably upset that the Legion brings on terrorists.
no subject
"And I'm assuming you were part of it." He pauses. "Overwatch, I mean. Not the betrayal."
For the moment, Wash is ignoring the reprimand - it's the third fucking time 76 has said it in ten minutes, and he's tired of hearing it - and resisting the temptation to point out that the Legion doesn't pick who gets brought here; that's on the Time Trapper, and everyone knows he's a cosmic asshole. He's sure they'll get back around to that particular topic soon enough; right now, he's more interested in information.
no subject
There's a reason he's referring to its members as they, and why he's talking about their commander like he's another person entirely. He finds it helps to just talk about Overwatch as if he's an outside observer, even if he's clearly showing some form of intimacy with the organization. Wash certainly hasn't earned any of the information that 76 is currently imparting. He'll get the bare minimum, for now.
"But I lost a lot of good people who were." That part, at least, is very true. "So has Lena. I'm sure you wouldn't take well to some unrelated party in your lane."