( open ) just keeping life and soul together

[rightly]

who: Steve Trevor & YOU!
what: memory share + catch-all
when: month of October; 9th to 23rd for memory share things
where: all over
warnings: death, violence, some gruesome stuff, sappiness. will update if need be!


I ▹ VISIONS

[ You're a little scared, but you don't look it. You don't act like it, either. You're aware of being in enemy territory, surrounded by people who would torture or kill you without a second thought, if they knew who you were. But they don't. You're dressed like them, talk like them, and you walk among them completely unnoticed.

It's a good thing. It allows you to come into the factory, see what kind of work they're doing. You watch as the scientist you've been sent to check up on works on an experiment with a sort of poisonous gas. It fails, but frustration and anger has her killing the guinea pig anyway, a man who's as scared as he is helpless, restrained and with a mask strapped to his face.

You have no time to think. You can't let her finish her work, you have to find a way to stop it, or at least delay it for long enough that you can bring this information to the people who can actually do something with it. So, while she speaks to the General, you sneak your hand through the cracked door and you steal her notebook. You manage to walk halfway across the factory before she notices it's gone, and by the time she yells out and the alarm sounds, you're already outside.

Walking calmly isn't an option anymore. You start running, then sprinting, yanking a pilot out of his airplane and climbing in yourself, quickly taking off. You double back, though. It's risky, but you may as well cause as much damage as you can, and you shoot across the field, the other airplanes and soldiers there, and as you approach the factory, you let a bomb down through the glass ceiling, flying away as it all blows up, the scientist's work all going up in flames. There's a sense of relief and accomplishment, even as the enemy force seems intent on finding a way to chase you down and catch you. ]

II ▹ DREAMSCAPE

[ It's a peaceful scene, for a change. You find yourself standing a little to the side with Steve, while the perfect copy of him, in the memory, sits on the edge of the fountain, next to Diana. Sameer comes by, happy and chatting, offering them both drinks, and they help themselves. Both the protagonists of the dream and the rest of the people around them, singing, dancing and laughing, seem to be entirely unaware of their presence.

Steve reaches out to clink his beer against Diana's in a toast, then looks around them, a warm contented expression taking over his features. ]

You did this. [ He says to Diana, but she's prompt in correcting him, smiling as he glances at him. ] We did.

[ The other Steve, the one standing next to you, doesn't look particularly comfortable being here, but he knows there's no point trying to leave. He just looks at you awkwardly, shrugging in way of an apology. He knows what's going to happen next, after all, and... well, it's about to get very sappy. ]

III ▹ VISIONS

I have to go. [ She doesn't understand, but you know better. You can't stay now, there's no choice. But you can't leave without telling her, without at least getting it all off your chest. At least she'll know before you're gone. A small comfort (no comfort at all), but it'll have to do. ]

What are you saying? [ She asks, you shake your head. You have a feeling you're both speaking in different languages; you can't hear her, she can't hear you. ] Steve. Whatever it is... I can do it.

No, no. [ Stop her, you need to stop her. You know Ares will never let her go through with it, even if she could, and she would be able to survive it. She insists, you push back. ]

It has to be me. It has to be me. I can save today— you can save the world. [ God, he means it. He believes it. She'll save the world, and that's bigger than him, than surviving, than breakfasts and reading the newspaper and growing old together.

You smile, even if you feel miserable. You look away briefly, then back to her, shaking your head. Your heart pumps wildly in your chest. ] I wish we had more time.

[ She stares at you; she can't hear you, you realize. ] What? What are you saying?

[ You reach down and take off your watch, pressing it to the palm of her hand. Then you start walking backwards. ] I love you.

[ You don't want to let go, but the more you linger, the surer you are you won't be able to. So you pull your hands away quickly and start running away, towards the airplane waiting for you. Your fate— your coffin.

She calls out after you, but you don't look back. You can't look back. You know a glance will be all it takes for you to hesitate, to lose your courage and not do what you have to. ]

IV ▹ VISIONS (this can be a continuation to the previous memory, if you'd like!)

Steve! [ You don't look back. You can't. You rush towards the airplane, and you jump in. You climb inside and take on the pilot, kicking him out. The adrenaline and the haste kick you into action, mask the other feelings that would freeze you to the spot.

You take the seat and you take the plane up in the air. Up, up, away, as far away as it can get. You keep looking back over your shoulder, until the flames and the factory are but a dot in the distance. You laugh, breathless. You laugh and you can't stop, exhilarated and terrified when the reality of it all sinks in.

You're going to die.

This is the hard part. Because now you can safely end it all, not hurt anyone else, but the gun is suddenly heavy in your hand, and your arm shakes, your body shakes, your head spins and your heart is tearing a hole in your chest. You try to breathe deeply but you can't calm down, you can't. Does it matter? Not really. Calm or not, you're going to die. The end result will always be the same.

You close your eyes, try very hard not to think of good things. Diana. You know the moment you remember her smile, her laugh, her eyes, you'll want to turn the plane around, and you can't.

Deep breaths. One, another. You open your eyes again. Your breathing gets calmer, you don't know how. You decide to count down the exhales. Five... four... three... two...

One.

You pull the trigger. ]

[ ooc: if you'd like any other specific memories from the movie, feel free to let me know and I can write a starter for you! ]

Comments

[ohhmrburnsides]

I figured we could start with sports stuff! I wanna see what we'll be working with when we get the sportsball events rolling. And then after, we can go over repairs n' stuff.

But first, uh...

[Aw, jeez. He doesn't want to make Steve uncomfortable. But, if he doesn't explain before this tour starts, the whole thing's gonna be weird. He may as well get it out of the way.]

You should know that I had—I guess, a vision?... I don't know, Riverview's weird, you probably already know that, but—the point is, I had a vision, like, about you.

[rightly]

Alright, then. We can start with the different fields we've got so you can get a better notion.

[ With some luck, they might even find a few people playing a match there, so Magnus can get a better idea of how some of them are played. Before Steve gets to lead the way towards the first field, however, Magnus speaks again, and Steve stops, expectant at first, then his expression falling when he realizes what he's talking about. ]

I see. [ He looks down, shoulders falling. The memories have been difficult to cope with, but it's always particularly awkward when it happens with people he barely knows. ] What, uh... did you see?

[ohhmrburnsides]

Well....

[Magnus wonders if there's a way to back out now, just to avoid this becoming Steve's initial impression of him, but it's too late. He's gotta finish what he started.]

I, uh, saw how you died.

[He’d meant to leave it at that—he doesn’t want to be weird about it—but he can’t help himself.]

But—I gotta say, though, I really—I have a lot of respect for that. For what you did. It was really... cool.

[rightly]

[ It doesn't reflect on the image Steve might get of Magnus, not really. Steve knows all too well how this sharing of memory works by now, and he knows that Magnus is not at fault for it, that he didn't choose to take a peek into Steve's past experiences. If anything he's glad that Magnus has chosen to be honest about it, rather than pretending that he didn't see anything.

Well, maybe not glad, but... relieved. Something like that.

He nods once, not particularly surprised by the memory he got to see. It seems as though the more intense the memories, the likelier they are to reveal themselves to others. He is, however, surprised by the last statement. Surprised and admittedly puzzled. ]

Exactly... what about me blowing myself up do you consider cool? [ The word rolls weirdly in his tongue, as he's yet to get used to its more modern and informal meaning. ]

[ohhmrburnsides]

[He’d kind of regretted saying “cool” as soon as it came out of his mouth, but that’s just how he talks. He couldn’t help it. And, at least, Steve doesn’t look offended or anything.]

Well, first of all, I just think big explosions are cool in general. But, seriously, though—I didn’t really know what was going on, but I could kind of… Feel what you were feeling? I guess? So I know that whatever you did saved a whole bunch of people. I think that anyone who puts their life on the line like that, even for one person’s sake, is… Like, the epitome of cool.

[rightly]

[ Well, Steve isn't particularly familiar with that word being used in that sense, so he doesn't realize how casual or nonchalant it might come across as. He just finds it odd, for the most part, and also, the more Magnus tries to explain it, the less he feels like he deserves all that praise. ]

Right. Well... London would have been wiped off the map, for sure. Someone had to stop that plane. [ And who else, really? He'd have never let his friends sacrifice themselves, even if they knew how to fly that airplane (which they didn't). And he's sure that Ares would have stopped Diana, had she tried to take care of it herself. That was what he meant, when he told her it had to be him. ]

[ohhmrburnsides]

[That's the same way Magnus would respond if someone were ever to praise him for rushing headfirst into danger—Well, someone had to do it. But he's still so impressed by Steve's heroism.]

But you're the one who did it. It takes a hell of a guy to do something like that.

[He does understand that this is probably really weird for Steve, so he reels it back when he realizes he might be coming on a little too strong.]

Sorry, I, um. Anyway, I just thought you should know. We don't have to keep talking about it.

[rightly]

[ He nods faintly, feeling more awkward and exposed than anything. He's definitely not upset at Magnus, though, and he appreciates the honesty. ]

It's not that I mind, I just... I don't really know what to say about it. [ He shrugs. ] Actually, if you could just not mention it to anyone else, I'd rather keep it that way. A few people know, but there's someone here I haven't talked to about it, and... I'd rather be the one telling her.

[ He's planning to anytime now, anyway. He's just trying to gather up the courage to do it. ]