Time After Time (Evie and Steve)

[elderfrye]

It was unclear whether the brotherhood, the templars or the precursors had been responsible for what had happened to Evie, and despite it only being a hundred or so years the reasons or logic behind it had somehow been lost to time, and her memories were strangely fuzzy for the last few days of her... previous life.
All she knew was that one day she'd been running the rooftops of London with her brother, and the next she was waking up in a strange looking hospital room being told everybody she ever knew and loved was long dead.

It had been a difficult adjustment period, and several people working for SHIELD had very nearly died. It was only a good job they were used to dealing with people like Natasha, and that she hadn't had all of her weapons on her when she woke up. They'd returned them to her, eventually, her cane and her hidden blade, and it had been a relief, like they'd only just given her back some of her limbs - though they'd been very strict about her usage of them, and she had retorted that as long as none of them were templars they didn't need to worry.

She'd wanted to make contact with the brotherhood, but they'd wanted to continue to monitor her, to slowly teach her about this new world to avoid her getting too much culture shock, and every day they delayed releasing her from the hospital grated more and more.

Today, they said, she was getting a visitor. They had called in someone who apparently would be more help to her, somebody who understood how she felt because they had been through a similar experience. They wouldn't tell her much more than that, they seemed to not want to give her much information beyond what she was learning about the modern world, but perhaps this visitor would be more forthcoming.

She sat in the hospital's common room, in one of the comfier chairs, wearing a pair of jeans and a soft woollen sweater - clothes that felt strange and scandalously skimpy even for her - reading a book on 'technological advances of the 20th century' while she waited for the visitor to arrive.

Comments

[oldfashionedhero]

Steve wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that he had been selected to help in Evie Frye's assimilation into the modern world. Even though he'd been awoken from the ice for several years, there were still many things that he didn't feel like he quite understood and even more that he didn't have any particular want to understand.

Still, as Fury had pointed out, she would do better with someone who could share her experiences than having to walk through the same rough territory that Steve had trod in his climb uphill. The first thing that he didn't like was the overwhelming sense of oppression as he traveled the white halls of SHIELD. For her not being a prisoner, they certainly were treating her like one. That was something too that he remembered clearly.

When he finally stepped into the room that she was in, he took in the blank surroundings with a small amount of surprise. They had at least attempted to recreate his time to ease him into things. It seemed like Evie hadn't gotten the same courtesy.

He took the woman in and gave her what he hoped was a kind smile. "Hello. I'm Steve Rogers."

[elderfrye]

Evie saw him enter out the corner of her eye, but feigned continued interest in her book until he got closer, taking the opportunity to get a good look at him. Whoever he was, he was well-built, was he an assassin too perhaps? There was certainly a soldiery bearing about him, so perhaps he was a military man, or something else entirely. There was kindness in his eyes though, and when she finally put her book down to meet his gaze, his smile was... well, the best word for it was dashing, not quite the roguish charm that Jacob always managed to lure the girls with, but something sweeter and purer.

"Evie Frye," she greeted him, "It's nice to meet you, Mr Rogers."

It was strange to not be introduced by someone else, but it wouldn't be the first time the etiquette of the situation had been left by the wayside, even in her own time, and she was already starting to understand that everything was different here.

[oldfashionedhero]

"Nice to meet you too, Ms. Frye." It sounds almost silly considering the circumstances and he has to fight the urge to wince at himself. He clears his throat and gestures towards a nearby chair.

"Do you mind if I sit?" He hovers near the chair, but doesn't actually move to sit until he's been invited. He glances towards the camera in the corner of the room, an annoyed look flashing across his features. "It seems that SHIELD thinks we have a thing or two in common."

[elderfrye]

"Not at all," Evie motions towards the chair with a polite smile "Please, make yourself comfortable." it's not exactly her chair to offer up to him, but it's the polite thing to do anyway.

"They mentioned that you had been through something similar," she nods "But they weren't exactly forthcoming with any further details. They haven't been very forthcoming with any details, to be honest. I think they wish to avoid information overload, but they seem oblivious to how frustrating it is to be kept in the dark."

[oldfashionedhero]

"I wish I could tell you that instinct of theirs fades, but it doesn't."

He sits across from her and leans forward. "As strange as it sounds, I have been in a similar situation. I was a soldier, in World War II when I crashed my plane into an arctic shelf." He's pretty sure that in itself may not make much sense, considering what he's been told about her, so he leaves a little room for further questions before continuing. "I'd been part of an experiment that allowed me to survive. I was frozen and not discovered until nearly seventy years later."

He sighs. "I had a lot of catching up to do."

[elderfrye]

"I see," she replies thoughtfully, his words don't entirely make sense to her but they make enough sense to help her understand. A plane, she dimly recalls, is some kind of airship, and the war he speaks of happened long after... or before... in between her leaving the London she knew and coming here, anyway.

His seventy years is her hundred and forty (give or take), but the principle is roughly the same - similar enough that she's willing to accept he might actually understand what she's going through.

"How long before they let you look up those people you... left behind?" they seemed intent on catching her up on the way of the world, avoiding culture shock, but she didn't really care about what was happening out there, she wanted to know what happened to Jacob, to Henry.

[oldfashionedhero]

He presses his lips together, glancing up again towards the camera. He doesn't know why Fury has kep this information from her, when he must know how important it is to her. To anyone who has lost time.

"Let me talk to them. I can get you the information that you need." He looks her over, taking in her body language and expression. "You seem much more calm about this than I did."

Then again, he'd crashed through a wall.

"Are you okay?"

[elderfrye]

"They're lucky it's me and not Jacob," she comments with a faint snort of amusement, though her expression darkens for a moment as she mentions her brother, and she obviously has to take a moment to compose herself.

"I'm much better at seeming calm." she explains. After all as an assassin she had much better control over herself than many people, or perhaps that was more down to her particular style, Jacob wasn't controlled in the slightest.

"I'm... no." she admits, shoulders sagging ever so slightly. She feels as though she can admit it to him, since he knows something of what she must be going through "I like research and new information, believe me, but this... over a hundred years' of development and change and... everybody I knew, consigned to the history books. The only people who might have any answers are people they will not let me try and contact, and... as you can imagine it is somewhat frustrating."

[oldfashionedhero]

"Seeming calm?" Steve's mouth turns up the tiniest bit at this. Of course she has every right to feel offended that she might have been initially lied to and now had information being withheld from her.

"I can do more than imagine." He straightens up and gets to his feet. "Let's take a walk." He says it calmly, gesturing towards the door. He moves towards it and waits for it to open, looking almost challenging at the camera in the corner. After a moment, the door beeps and slides open.

[elderfrye]

Evie is going to protest that they likely won't let her, but Steve seems so determined that she holds back and instead stands to follow him. She hides a smile at his challenging look to the camera in the corner (yet another thing that had come a significantly long way since her day, a camera, that small, able to capture moving images? It alone represented more technological advances than she even knew where to begin with), but she's impressed that they seem willing to do what he says, perhaps he has more influence here than simply being the person they've sent because of shared experiences.

"A walk sounds lovely" she confirms, not that they seem to be allowed out.

[oldfashionedhero]

Steve steps through the door and holds out a hand to Evie, inviting her to come with him. He knows that SHIELD knows better than to try to stop him. And maybe he's trying to make a point to anyone watching. Evie is a person not something or someone to be studied.

He lowers his voice. "Just follow my lead."

[elderfrye]

Evie's not entirely certain that SHIELD intended any of this to happen when they chose to send Steve to her, but whether this was their plan or not she's rather pleased they did, he's polite, and friendly, and with a wilful streak that reminds her of a lot of Assassins she's met over the years - it's enough to make her trust him slightly more, and definitely enough to make her like him.

"Very well," she murmurs back with the faintest of nods, happy to let him show her the way.

[oldfashionedhero]

He leads her down a long hallway, at each guard point someone reluctantly letting them through. They step out onto the deck of the helicarrier, the sunlight beating down on the tarmac.

"Kind of terrifying if you're afraid of heights," Steve comments as he moves towards the shade of one of the overhanging upper levels. "But you can't beat the view."

[elderfrye]

Evie breathes in the fresh air with every sign of relief, and honestly she's surprised it is so fresh - it might not be to those used to the countryside, but compared to Victorian London? It's heavenly. Especially after being cooped up inside since she got here.

She laughs, following him over to the shade.

"Heights I don't have a problem with, Mr Rogers, I spend a lot of my time on rooftops," and jumping off them. Though this is, she has to admit, a little higher than she's used to, she's probably higher than any of the buildings in London and she can see this isn't even the full height of the building they're in.

"The view is rather impressive," she agrees, moving a little closer to the edge as though intending to take it in, in truth she's contemplating if a leap of faith is possible from any part of the platform they're currently on.

[oldfashionedhero]

"I wouldn't if I were you," Steve says, moving after her. "It's a long way down."

Even if you were someone who could dive without a parachute. "Do you mind if I ask what you did on the rooftops?"

[elderfrye]

The smile she gives him is amused, a little surprised. Was he observant or did he just think in similar ways? Either way it was the mark of somebody who might make a good assassin, at least the first of many qualities one might need, it made her want to watch him more closely, see what else he might exhibit. There was something compelling about him beyond that, maybe that was what was putting her more at ease than anybody else she'd met so far.

"Running, mostly," she answers obtusely, but since his question was relatively polite she concedes, continuing "It was usually the quickest way to get across London, particularly without being seen."

[oldfashionedhero]

He gives her a small smile and a nod. He probably shouldn't have expected her to be more open than that. After all, he is still a stranger, even if they've exchanged some pleasantries.

"With all due respect, something tells me SHIELD didn't bring you back for your running ability," he says, slowly. "You don't have to tell me though. Though I am curious about what they brought you back for. Have they told you anything about that?"

[elderfrye]

"As far as I was aware, they didn't really have much choice in the matter... but I know very little about how I ended up here, perhaps this was their doing..." though quite what they'd need with her she had no idea, if they had the kind of power that could pluck people out of the past, what could she possibly offer them?

She regards him steadily for a long moment, weighing up her options. She had to trust somebody here, and perhaps trusting him would get her some answers, he certainly seemed more trustworthy than anybody else she'd met so far.

"I'm an Assassin." she finally said bluntly.