[closed] and since we've one place to go

[nonscriptum]

Who: Nathan Drake, Elena Fisher, Agent Washington, Agent Maine, Kyna Midha, Staci Pratt, Poe Dameron, Taako Taaco, Lup Taaco, Peter Parker
What: Nate leads a polar expedition out to the mountains.
Where: Out on the tundra; at an undisclosed excavation site in the foothills.
When: February 1-14
Warnings: PG-13+ for swearing, descriptions of dead bodies/science torture. :(




[source]

WELCOME TO SNOW HELL

the journey | the door | the bunker | the lab

Comments

[itsnotaonesie]

I'm okay.

[It's less a response to Nate's question and more a reflex, which probably isn't a good thing, but hey. Kid's seen some shit. This isn't his first rodeo, but it might be his most fucked up one.

It takes Peter a second to realize that Nate's planted himself in front of him, and another couple of seconds before he actually registers everything that Nate's said to him. He rakes his fingers through his hair anxiously and takes a deep breath in an attempt to steady himself.]

I-- I'll be okay. I just need a minute.

[nonscriptum]

[Yeah, no, that's a defense mechanism, not an affirmation.

Peter's movements are stilted and Nate knows them because he had them, at that age. Just after someone had him cornered at the far edge of a building, a gun trained on his tiny teenage skull after he thought he'd beaten them across the rooftops. After he'd accidentally killed someone when they fell from the tiles, and he'd pushed.]

C'mon.

[He urges gently, squeezing his shoulders and jerking his head to the door.]

We'll get some water. Take a breath of some oxygen that isn't recycled.

[itsnotaonesie]

[If there's one thing Peter has going for him, it's his resiliency. He's only been Spider-Man for a couple of years, but there's still a certain level of self discipline that comes with the responsibility. His determination to get back into the action no matter how physically or emotionally he ends up damaged might be keeping him from just having a breakdown right now, but it's also keeping him from focusing on Nate for longer than a couple seconds.

There's work to be done, evidence to record, notes to take, leads to follow. An Avenger doesn't have time to freak out. Peter may have only been one for like, a day before he ended up here, but that didn't mean he could slack off. He reaches into a pocket for his phone with one hand, starts digging around in another pocket for his charging cable. Can he even hook this shit up to these computers? He's about to find out--

Nate squeezes his shoulders. Peter's jarred out of his thoughts once again, and he's suddenly acutely aware of how upset his stomach is, how lightheaded he feels. He may not be on the verge of a panic attack or anything, but his nerves are definitely rattled. Taking a break doesn't seem like such a bad idea anymore.]

Yeah, I uh. I don't feel so good. Let's-- let's go for a bit.

[nonscriptum]

[Resiliency doesn't mean shit when you've still got the emotional maturity of any other teenager. Nate put on a good show after he almost got shot by a cult at fifteen, he joked with the man who had saved his life, they exchanged names and had a decent chat over ajiaco, but that didn't mean he didn't still feel the shake of near-death in his bones. Kids are resilient through defiance rather than experience.

He knows.

He also knows there's shit to do, but they have more than enough time to do it. Peter makes shaky eye contact again and knows he's pulled him out of the same distracted headspace that Nate often enters himself.]

Yeah, do us some good. The lab isn't going anywhere. [Nate reassures him, guiding the way back into the dimly-lit corridor.] Y'know I found a Nazi bunker once? In the middle of a rainforest.

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter can at least claim to have some experience. Granted it's more from trying to save half the goddamn universe from a giant alien fuckball than it is from stumbling across creepy alien torture bunkers. He's seen worse, he can deal with this.

In the long run, at least. Right now he just needs to take a minute to get his head in the game.]

Ah, right. For the tropical Nazis, of course. Weird subject change, by the way.

[nonscriptum]

I'm trying to distract you.

[Nate says helpfully, a little defensively, because he thought the mental leap from bunker to bunker made sense in his head. It's unfortunately less effective in practice.]

They were looking for ancient power sources, y'know? Fringe science, magical artifacts. Weird Nazi stuff.

[itsnotaonesie]

I know what you're doing.

[Peter rolls his eyes, more in a playful way than in a shitty angsty teenager way. But shit, maybe the best thing to do right now is to just let himself be distracted for a minute. So, okay Nate, let's talk Nazis.]

They also bred their own turbo-cows, but right, I'm with you so far.

[nonscriptum]

Okay, smartass.

[He's grinning, because it's better than thinking about what happened here. Almost anything would be better than thinking about what happened here.]

Was there an Ahnenerbe in your world? Himmler's pseudoscience think tank? Like the guys in Indiana Jones who wanted to find the Ark of the Covenant?

[itsnotaonesie]

[Oh he's a smartass and he knows it. He can't help but laugh a little bit, which he probably really needed right now let's be real.]

Yeah, for sure. Side note, it's pretty depressing how many worlds had Nazis, but continue.

[nonscriptum]

[They couldn't have had superheroes in common, could they? It just had to be Nazis.]

They were looking for El Dorado.

[Nate keeps an eye on Peter - the further they get from the screens right now, the better.]

Got a whole U-Boat stuck up a river trying to follow clues the Spanish left behind. They found the city, but the locals weren't happy with them.

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter's fully aware that Nate's doing the whole... protective old guy thing? Whatever that's called. He'd normally protest in that "dude i'm fiiiine" sort of way but then he'd probably miss out on a wacky Nate story and that's simply unacceptable.

In other words, the distraction is working. Good job, Nate.]

I mean, I can imagine. That's not somewhere people would just roll up into on the regular.