Welcome to the Jungle...

[agentx13]

Who: Sharon Carter and the other freedom fighters.
Where: THE WOODS. The big bad scary woods!
When: Day 31
What: Escape attempt numero uno.



Sharon stands facing the forest, standing perfectly still and breathing calmly. One hand rests on her hip with her gun, the other is held in front of her face so she can see the comm. What no one on the comm can see is that she's also holding her knife. You can never be too careful when planning to take on unknown legions of men that had managed to capture the Hulk. And Natasha. And Tony Stark. And her aunt.

And a bunch of kids. And Barton. And a Steve.

Really, it's hard to tell where these people screwed up first. Messing with Sharon? Messing with the people around her? It doesn't matter. Either way, she's tired of sitting around and trying to learn information about them. They may know now as much as they ever will. And that means that they have to fight. As much as Sharon doubts they'll succeed, she also knows that they have to try. They can't just sit around like lemmings waiting for the food to run out.

She studies the gaps between the trees, then the trees themselves. The captives don't control the environment here. Dangers could be hidden anywhere here.

She may have waited too long to try this. People might be too weak from hunger, not at their best.

But they have to try.

No matter what happens, that's what it boils down to. They have to try.

Comments

[rigging]

It's lucky that Jesse doesn't throw up after the abrupt - teleport? What the fuck was that, anyway? It's not like he's coherent enough to really figure it out, but the dizziness and change of scenery sends him reeling. There's not much else he can do, and the pain seems to flood up, like the shock is wearing off, like his body is finally registering it, and he lets out a sharp, muffled whimper when he's set down, barely cognizant of the fact.

Jesse closes his eyes and coughs weakly, dizzy as hell and breathing rapid, shallow. He'll just take this opportunity to pass out from the pain. Yes? Yes.

[rigging]

Hey. Jesse's already prickling still from being called a kid, so when the Hulk tells him it's safer in the trees, Jesse's expression sours. "M'fine down here, I can handle myself." A beat. Okay, how about this. "Bet you could use someone like me, yeah? I can knock shit off of you if it tries to jump on you, whattabout that?"

[agentx13]

"When I think you kids aren't kids anymore, I'll ask for your names. Until then, don't treat this as a game, and try not to die." She looks at each of them. If she were still with SHIELD back home, she might manage to admire their spunk. Of course, she doesn't have much to do with the greenery back home - one of the perks of being a two-digit agent.

Her gaze falls at last on Kenzi. The one who astonishingly seems the most capable. "In the past, when we've retreated, they've left us alone and let us go back to the village. Something to keep in mind." She manages a brief nod and heads back to the others.

God, she hopes they turn back before they can get killed.

Last chance to tell Anna not to teleport those three...

But Sharon knows she won't ask Anna to do that. Those kids have as much of a right to be here as Sharon does. And they have to learn that when Sharon says "no," she's not doing it just to hear herself speak. They have to learn that she isn't their "Nemesis." She'll just have to hope they run for it later. Or are teleported out of there.

[greenisnteasy]

He watches Iron Man pat his arm, but his relaxed expression disappears as soon as he mentions that the Hulk should come around more often. He scowls, face turning dark as he shakes his head.

"Tell that to Banner."

[manofiron]

It's Tony's turn to frown and he looks away, retracting his hand.

"We don't talk anymore," he says after a moment's silence, glancing at the Hulk out of the corner of his eye. "To be honest, I'm probably not supposed to be talking to you right now either, but..."

He shrugs, shaking his head as his attention returns to the woods around them. "Never was very good at following directions. Sorry."

[reluctantsword]

Wallie gave a grin, a slightly bloodthirsty grin that horrified him even as he felt it spread across his face. "So far, so good."

He would pay for it, if he got out of this in one piece. He wasn't sure anymore what the odds of that might be.

"Sorry about last time we met. I know better now." He gave a little salute, laughing breathlessly from adrenaline.

[greenisnteasy]

He considers that for a second; that could be a problem because of that machine gun fire, but these animals are starting to catch on that it's good to jump onto his back. His answer is a curt nod before he picks Jesse up around the middle and then reaches around behind him, holding him over his back. He doesn't let go until he can tell that Jesse's got himself settled back there.

[agentx13]

"You remember when they dropped you from above after they caught you?" She points at the sky. "I'd like for you to tell me if you hit anything when you jump." If she's right, and the village is shaped like a dome, then he should be able to hit something now that they're this close to the edge - and they might be able to use that to calculate how much further they have to go.

[gleans]

Galen nearly throws up, himself, and if Kenzi doesn't catch him, his legs give out underneath him; they're just sources of pain, right now, and he can't even think to move them without his vision going white and his head swimming. If he does fall, he tries to land on his arm, next to Jesse. His mind is just a constant stream of panicked thoughts: make sure Jesse is okay, make sure he's okay, don't let anything happen to him. It doesn't even register, at first, that they've completely changed location.

"I'm -- m'okay," he nearly giggles, breath choking in his throat. Jesse's chest is so bad. Oh god. "I -- I. Oh, god, oh god, J-Jess, wake up --"

[greenisnteasy]

Huh? That gets his attention, and his scowl is deeper now because what -- is Banner trying to take his... his friend away? It seems all too likely; Banner doesn't even want him to live, why should he want him to have a friend? He snarls and touches Iron Man's shoulder, poking him lightly so he'll turn back to the Hulk.

"Tin Man is Hulk's friend. Banner isn't here. He doesn't matter."

[onteamdyson]

It's really not that weird. It should probably be weird, but Kenzi doesn't even flinch and barely gives it a second thought. Anna got them out and that's all that matters.

Of course Kenzi catches Galen. She catches him, but she can't completely support him and they slowly sink to the floor. It's fine. She can see the damage to his legs better like this anyway. After a brief inspection, she nods to Anna. "He's good for a bit. I can try to slow the bleeding. Just fix Jesse however the hell you're gonna fix him and do it fast."

No questions. No judgement. She sees this all the time and if it's going to save her friends, she doesn't give a fuck.

Kenz lays Galen down as gently as possible and pulls her hoodie off, using it to apply pressure to the wounds. It's probs gonna hurt. "Sorry, sweetie. Just stay with me, okay? He's gonna be fine. You're both gonna be fine."

[greenisnteasy]

The Hulk studies him, then nods, deciding he's telling the truth.

"Good. Don't forget it." He sniffs. "You're not bad."

[manofiron]

He turns, looking up at him as he tries to figure out what to say. Too much seems like a conflict of interest. Bruce and the Hulk have enough problems, the last thing he wants is to turn them even further against each other than they already are. But he feels like he owes the Hulk at least some explanation, since he goes so far as to call him a friend.

"Yeah, I'm your friend. I thought I was his friend too, but it turns out that I'm not. Can't say I blame him." He gives him a smile, encouraging and understanding. Everyone deserves an out, and he gives him one now. "You can tell me to hit the road too. I'll understand. I'm not good for people. I know that. I won't have any hard feelings."

[afallenstar]

Alright, that's good. She's got a bit of time then, which is a relief because the flight has really taken it out of her. It's harder without the direct connection to Heaven, it puts more of a strain on her and for a moment she just has to close her eyes and take a deep breath. She's dizzy, things are spinning a little but she gets it back.

She doesn't have time to be out of it, after all. Jesse is...well, he's pretty much dying here.

Anna doesn't waste any time, just frowns as she rests a hand on his head gently. It happens all in a rush, and though no one can see it and Jesse's probably the only one who can tell, it's like a soft breeze just brushed over him. His clothes are still torn, there's still blood covering the two of them, but if you look at the wounds they're just gone. Not a scratch or a scar, and Anna just turns again.

Another deep breath, another closing of her eyes. Angels aren't meant to rebel and this is her punishment, but she can still do it. She's not that bad. Another couple of seconds and she's already looking better, enough to turn to Kenzi and gesture to Jesse. "He should wake up soon. make sure he doesn't freak out."

Seriously, what would she have done without the other girl here? She moves to Galen's side quickly, and smiles faintly as she touches his cheek. The feeling might strike a familiar chord in Galen, given her accidental slip up at the Christmas party when he'd lost his voice, and when she lets go she just sits back, looking at the two of them. This was a close call, too close. They should have known better, really.

Finally, sounding far too tired for any of this, Anna addresses everyone. "You're all okay now?"

[rigging]

Somewhere he feels the rush of air over him, and it cools him off, cools him down. His body settles, breaths and expression evening out. He looks much better, even with the blood, just maybe a little worn out around the edges. He'll be freaked out when he wakes up, anyway, but for now, he's fine, and he'll be alive, thanks to Anna. Somehow Jesse will thank her.

He stirs, just a little, but doesn't wake up quite yet, just sighs, and murmurs something.

[rigging]

So maybe Jesse squeaks a little bit (it's a manly squeak) when the Hulk picks him up, but by the time he's settled on the Hulk's back, he's grinning like a maniac. He's holding on very tightly, and he's got his pipe, and the Hulk is his steed. This is like one of his dreams as a kid times a million. "I got it, I got it," Jesse assures the Hulk, waving his pipe a bit. "Go for it, dude, we're gonna kick some ass."

[reluctantsword]

He wasn't sure if that was a high compliment or not, considering the source, but he'd take it for what it was.

"You either. I got your back if you got mine."

Movement caught his eye; the lull was passing, and without further word he rushed forward to meet a charging wolf with his sword.

[greenisnteasy]

The Hulk does not like this idea at all. He's only now learning the value of friends, but he likes it when people aren't mean to him, and he likes it even more when they aren't afraid of him. Iron Man's always been so easy with him, and the Hulk can sense that, not that he realizes it in so many terms.

"I'm not people. We're friends." And stupid Banner's not going to change that.

He frowns, trying to tug at the connection to Banner, trying to see what's wrong, but that's not really reliable.

"What happened?"

[gleans]

Galen tries to see what Anna does to Jesse, but she's in the way, and the stab of the pressure Kenzi is putting on his legs makes it hard to concentrate on anything but gritting his teeth -- but then Anna comes to him, touches him, and the pain disappears so fast that it's like having a bucket of cold water dumped on him. Galen gasps, grips at the bottom of her coat, breaths coming out short. What the fuck was that?

"Holy -- holy shit," he breathes, leaning one foot to the side experimentally. It feels fine. "What the hell did you just do?" It's not accusatory, or scared; it's a mixture of shock and amazement.

[greenisnteasy]

Satisfied, the Hulk lets him go and rolls one of his shoulders, balancing out Jesse's weight and figuring out how to walk without knocking him off. The little guy feels strange up there, but not in a bad way or anything. He doesn't get a lot more time to worry about it before one of those saber-toothed tigers comes running, with one or two others coming in from the sides. Trying to ambush them, huh?

The Hulk snarls and leans forward, holding his hands out, waiting; two tigers lunge at once, and the Hulk manages to clock one in the head, sending it flying back.

[onteamdyson]

"Yeah, I second this question. What did you do, life-saver extraordinaire?" Kenzi's smiling so wide it's starting to hurt her face. She stands up, grabbing a pillow off the couch, and kneels next to Jesse's head. Just gonna gently lift that brain full of dumb and slide the pillow under there just in case.

She also takes one of his hands and holds it in both of her own because you fucking idiot, you scared the shit out of everyone here. Thank everything you're okay. "Just for the record, I hope you still have some juice left in you, Banana. Because when he wakes up, I'm smacking him. Sorry, Squishy. Just look away."

[gleans]

"Uh." Shit, how does he describe Jesse in the middle of all this fighting mess? "He's about my height, dark hair, hooded sweatshirt, he's using a fucking lead pipe as a weapon -- he's over there." Galen points in the direction Jesse has gone; he's not in the thick of things, exactly, but he's close enough to danger.

"He's not moving much since he runs out of breath pretty fast. Just -- if you could watch out for him, I'd... really, really appreciate it."

[afallenstar]

Everyone is alright, thank Christ for that. Anna lets out a sigh of relief and rubs her hands over her face...and then the questions start, just as she has expected. It's not like she hadn't known this was coming, she'd just hoped that it would take a little longer to kick in. She tries to smile, really she does, but this is it. It's over now.

"I, uh." She's not really sure where to start, to be honest. It's not the most believable thing in the world to come out with, and she could probably come up with some sort of plausible lie if she thought about it hard enough, but Anna is tired. She's tired, and she just stopped some people she likes to think are her friends from dying, and someone's going to figure it out anyway, so why the hell not.

"I'm...an angel."

And cue laughter in three...two...one...

[manofiron]

It would be easier if he could say that something horrible happened. If he could blame it on some outside factor. But the truth is even worse, at least to Tony, and he’s not going to spare himself by lying to the Hulk. What happened to prompt Bruce to ask him to stay out of his life?

“He got to know me.”

It’s the same thing that always happens. He opens up, lets someone in beyond the public persona, and then he watches as whoever he thought to trust walks away. It’s not their fault. He never blames them. They can’t help wanting to distance themselves from him. He wants to distance himself from himself. That’s a large part of why he drinks.

[gleans]

Galen doesn't laugh. Not after feeling that rush of calm and relief flow through him just before the pain disappeared, not after seeing the deep gashes in Jesse's chest and seeing, now, that they're completely gone. No, instead his eyes widen, and he pushes up on his elbows, stares at Anna and pauses as he edges closer to Jesse.

"Wh... holy shit." He glances at Kenzi, then back to Anna, one hand coming up to his cheek where she'd touched him. There's no denying that right now, he feels better than he has in days.

"You're not kidding."