outstandingbalance | IC Contact Post

You don't know that I never went after innocents. I went where I was told for a long time, and I did what I was told. I didn't—[She cuts off. He's so serious about this, and it would be very easy to make something up, tell him that she was just a girl in a bad situation, that she got out as soon as she could and never looked back.

But he deserves the truth.]

I was a lot older than eleven when I realized I didn't like what I was doing.

You don't get to be the Black Widow because you show mercy, Dick, or because you're honorable. Even now, I'm not exactly the nicest part of the team. I'm the person who kicks people off buildings or dangles them off the subway platform because Captain America isn't going to.

And there's no amount of playing the hero that's going to get the red off my hands.

People do things that aren't always great when they don't think they have a choice. However old you were when it happened, you chose to get out.

Maybe it didn't happen on its own. Maybe someone saw something in you and helped you out. And whatever you did then, whoever you were at home, you've been a hero here. You've done nothing but try to help people.

What counts is what you're doing now. That you're helping people now. That you were willing to sacrifice everything just a few days ago to make sure we could help people through a bad spot.

It's in you, Nat. Even if you can't recognize it yet.

You have more faith in me than I do.

[She says it softly, because she doesn't intend to draw out an argument about what a terrible person she is. She put it out there. If he still wants to trust her, or pursue... whatever it is he's looking for, then that's his choice.]

What would make you feel normal then?

[Not that she doesn't have a pretty good idea what he means. For all their playing, it just doesn't seem all that likely. Most of their bonding experiences have been decidedly not normal.]

That's fine. I'll hold on to all the faith until you're ready to believe in yourself.

[His hand raises to her face, gingerly cupping the edge of her jaw. Instead of responding to the other part, he leans in to kiss her again with as much tenderness as he can manage with consideration to how many fangs are there between them.]

Edited 2016-01-29 16:36 (UTC)

[That's its own kind of answer, really. And confirms what she thought, but wasn't willing to assume when she was a spider from the waist down. And when there really is a lot of fangs between the two of them.

She freezes at first, half afraid she'll accidentally envenomate him. But if he has a little patience, she'll start to soften, rising a little higher and moving in a little closer, long legs circling around him.

Kind of hard to figure out where to put her hands, though.]

[They'll make it work. They'll take the time and figure it all out. They just have to lean on one another.

He leans into her in kind, resting spikes against her underside, where he knows her to be the most armored. She can take him. She can handle him properly. She can...

The kiss tapers off slowly, but not because he's voluntarily abandoned it. A shudder runs through him, and for just a moment he sinks against her, going through her.]

... Nat?

[At first, she doesn't understand why the kiss ends. It was going well, once she started to relax. When she opens her eyes, she's in for a shock, shuddering and drawing back to look at him—because goblins don't do that, not as far as she knows. They don't fade or become insubstantial.]

What's going on?

I don't know. ... I..

[He looks down at a hand, which is substantially less solid than it was last time he'd seen it. His voice is softer when he speaks next, the murmur of someone whispering in another room.]

We'll figure it out. We just need to

[And then there's nothing at all. Empty space.]

[It would have been nice to say that she protested, or that she tried to grab him before he vanished entirely. That would have been dramatic and touching, maybe? Natasha's not without a sense of performance.

She didn't have a chance though, and even if she had, she wouldn't have taken it. Instead, she tenses, scanning the cavern for a threat or a clue, some kind of sign that Ryslig is playing host to some new threat.

And then he's gone.

And there are no breathing holes in the stone, or attacking mutants, or fog.

She's just alone.]

So i have a question for you

[ After a moment: ]

this is Skye by the way

[It's not long before Natasha responds, curious.]

Hey. I remember you.

Fire away.

when my boss was here he got something from creepy mchorseman

so we ended up with the files on the winter soldier

half of them are in a mess of languages we dont know and half of them are on aperture cards which means I have to read them write them out and then hope i didnt screw up copying what i read cause most of that isnt in english either

we were trying to translate them but we got a little sidetracked

so question

want to help us with this particular mess??

[Phil bought info on Barnes? That comes as something of a surprise, mostly because she imagines they had higher priorities, but if they had them...]

Let me guess. Most of them are in Russian?

[And if they were lucky, just in Russian, not in code or military shorthand.]

I could probably help with that. Definitely the translation.

Do you know where the files are from?

got it in one

there is kind of a mix. some of it's been written out and translated but not too much. we were all on it for a while.

then things got weird and we lost most people that could translate

but bucky deserves to know and who knows what else they hid in his head or something weird

fitz has checked his arm but you never know what those creeps couldve done

You know he might not like what he finds out. You might not like what you find out, either. The things that happen to someone like him aren't pretty.

You sure you want to go through with this?

i know im going to hate every second of this.

hes [ Oh this takes a moment. Skye doesn't even know how to quantify this. ]

hes important to me, and it doesnt matter what happened, hes a good man that bad things happened to. i know that.

but we need to know if theres something more that they can do to hurt him, either if he remembers it or if theres anything they did.

we'll regret finding out the hard way

I can respect that. It'll be hard, but knowing more will only give you more of an advantage in the long run.

If you're prepared for it, then I'm here to help.

My schedule isn't so packed that I can't fit some time in for Barnes.

And you.

i think we are. i think its going to royally suck but we are.

anything is better than not knowing

[ Well. That makes her feel kinda cool. Tiny hero worship moment. NGL. ]

thank you it means a lot

Don't mention it. We're on the same side, right?

you hear from our green friend lately?

[A pause.]

you know the one I mean. it's not weird we have more than one green friend is it? like

that I need to specify

I know which one you mean. If the other one were here, I think I'd have heard by now.

But thanks for the clarification.

[The next pause is on her side. Osborn hasn't been off her radar, but with one thing and another, he's been low priority for a while.

And then he dropped off the map.]

Nothing since the evacuations.

evacuations? what you mean with that stuff back in January? son of a bitch. guess I'm not surprised he made sure he had a finger in that pie

I haven't heard a thing either. was thinking about doing a fly by.

That would be it. He was using it as a chance to shill his town.

Nothing noteworthy since then, though. At least nothing that I can speak to.

there's a member of the bloody bones named frank
according to what i got from tikbalang he's the key
the rest of the group use him to translate old texts with spells and secrets for fighting monsters
taking him out of the picture won't make them lose what they already have but they shouldn't be able to get more

if we trust his word he's 16
the mask he wears glows green and is somewhat bird-like but it's no hardship to change masks
as far as i can tell he's not on the best of terms with the rest of the group
he's been barred from the network before and he's spent some time hiding with a monster as well
last i saw him he had a new weapon
a skeletal dog
if you find yourself confronting him don't let it touch you - it kills on contact

ok so let's play it safe and assume he decided to stop hiding in plain sight

in which case I don't expect to find much by dropping in. but somebody might know something.

IC Contact Post

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

<R1S1NGT1DE>

<latrodectus>

<R1S1NGT1DE>

<latrodectus>

<R1S1NGT1DE>

<latrodectus>

<R1S1NGT1DE>

<latrodectus>

<R1S1NGT1DE>

<latrodectus>

<AuTiR8>

<latrodectus>

<AuTiR8>

<latrodectus>

<stocke> backdated to earlier this month, sorry about that

<AuTiR8>

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, 10000SPIDERS. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 018.07.154.55 * 10000SPIDERS has joined 008.01.989.15 <10000SPIDERS>** This is a placeholder.