Story: "No Winter Lasts Forever" (Part 6)
May. 16th, 2013 12:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis story is a sequel to "Love Is for Children," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," and "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," and "Birthday Girl."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanova, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Hulk, Steve Rogers, Betty Ross, JARVIS, Bucky Barnes, Nick Fury.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Mind control. Inferences of past child abuse and other torture. Current environment is supportive.
Summary: A mission in Russia introduces the Avengers to the Winter Soldier. Steve wants Bucky back and will stop at nothing to make that happen. Everyone else helps however they can.
Notes: Asexual character (Clint). Aromantic character (Natasha). Asexual relationship. Sibling relationships. Fix-it. Teamwork. Canon-typical violence. BAMF!Avengers. Vulgar language. Drama. Rescue. Hurt/Comfort. Emotional whump. Survivor guilt. Friendship. Confusion. Mind control. Memory loss. Slow recovery. Nick Fury makes stupid-ass decisions. Fear of loss. Fluff. Nonsexual ageplay. Making up for lost time. Tony Stark has a heart. Games. Trust issues. Safety and security. Howard Stark's A+ parenting. Obadiah Stane's A+ parenting. Food issues. Multiplicity/Plurality. Sleep issues. Non-sexual touching and intimacy. Yoga. Personal growth. Family of choice. ALL THE FEELS. #coulsonlives.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5. Skip to Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11.
"No Winter Lasts Forever" Part 6
Soon Clint and Natasha came into the kitchen and sat beside Steve. Phil cast a careful look at Natasha, but she seemed to be more or less back to her usual state of calm reserve. "We should finish the debriefing today," she said, "and then I wish to begin the interrogations."
"All right," Phil said as he put breakfast on the table. What with one thing and another, Black Widow hadn't gotten to hunt recently. Given any of the rank-and-file prisoners who didn't recognize her, she could seduce the information out of them. For the ones who did know her reputation, well, she had other methods. This would give her an excellent chance to release some stress on legitimate targets. "I'll make sure your part of the debriefing gets scheduled first. You can peel off for interrogation after that, and rejoin us later for group analysis."
"Agreed," Natasha said. She licked her lips.
Then Phil turned his attention to Bruce and Betty. "Are you two staying in the lab here, or coming to SHIELD with us?"
Bruce looked up, his mouth full of waffle. SHIELD still made him nervous.
Betty answered for both of them, "Bruce is staying in the lab. I'm coming to SHIELD to pick up the captured gamma equipment that they want us to study, and what little is left from Stark Industries for Tony."
"I'm coming in with Natasha," Clint said. He wolfed down ham and eggs as fast as possible. "Steve, what about you?"
"I'll come too," Steve said, cutting his ham into neat pieces. "It was my call to refocus the mission; I need to answer for that."
"I approved it," Phil reminded him. "Let me deal with Director Fury on that account, and you just concentrate on giving a detailed report of the action. We've been wanting to get the Winter Soldier for a long time. What happened yesterday actually exceeded our previous projection of a best possible scenario."
"Best possible ...?" Steve said, his voice cracking.
"No casualties on our side, nothing more than trivial injuries. Original mission goals met. Winter Soldier contained, with nothing but a scratch that healed by the time we got him to SHIELD medical. With you and Natasha as anchors, we have a good chance to break the brainwashing and recover his original personality," Phil said, ticking off the points on his fingers.
They finished breakfast expeditiously and then went to work. Betty disappeared with several SHIELD lab techs, their animated chatter bouncing off the metal walls. She makes friends like bees make honey, sweetly and busily, Phil observed.
Clint and Natasha had plenty of experience with debriefing. They went through the interviews and written reports at a brisk pace. Then Natasha headed eagerly for the prisoners. Information was about to flow.
Phil managed his own debriefing with professional grace. When the Winter Soldier came up, though, Director Fury got a glint in his eye that made Phil uneasy. Fury uses people. This could get ugly if he tries to manipulate the Avengers right now, or worse, Bucky. I'll have to watch the situation closely, Phil realized.
Steve had less experience than the rest of them, but he made up for it with determination. His account of the battle was precise and thorough. Nobody challenged his decisions. He had handled himself and his team well in the face of difficult and rapidly changing circumstances, with excellent results in the end. Everyone was thrilled to have the Winter Soldier in hand.
"Do you think they'll let us see him?" Steve asked when they regrouped in Phil's office after a collective debriefing session.
Clint and Natasha looked at each other but said nothing.
"Based on the reports I have, Bucky is still unconscious while the doctors try to flush out a bunch of foreign chemicals from his body," Phil said. "They're finding substances associated with cryonic suspension, state-dependent memory, and suggestibility. The progress looks good, but it's going to take some time."
"If he's still got that much in his system, then he's not long out of storage," Natasha said. "No wonder he didn't recognize me. We'd gotten to where, somewhere toward the end of our first day together or into the second, he'd think he knew me even without prompting, and by the next he could remember bits of our joint missions. It came back faster if he had me there to tell him things. I think he may have been primed for that kind of input, and I simply ... coasted along with it."
"But Bucky will be okay, right ...?" Steve said. Huge and hopeful, his eyes turned to Phil.
"That's very likely, although there are no guarantees. I'll see what I can do about a visit," Phil said. He had to pull a few strings, but he managed to convince one of the more sympathetic doctors that a five-minute visit from Steve and Natasha wouldn't do any harm.
They fell into place around Bucky as if choreographed. Phil stopped at the foot of the bed. Steve folded his massive frame into the flimsy plastic chair. Natasha perched on the edge of the bed like an autumn-red leaf alighting on a snowdrift. Clint stood watch at the door, clearly uncomfortable, but unwilling to abandon his teammates.
Even though Phil didn't know Bucky, it hurt to see him lying so still and silent in the narrow white bed. The Winter Soldier had been such a valiant, ferocious enemy for so long that it was eerie for him to be reduced to this vulnerability. It just seemed wrong.
The whole scene brought up painful memories for Phil. The soft whirr and beep of the equipment scraped along his nerves. The sharp smell of disinfectant made it just a little harder to breathe. Too many times Phil had lost people this way, or gotten them back ... not entirely whole. He concentrated on maintaining his composure so that he could support those who needed him now.
Phil looked at his assets, grateful again that they had survived the mission. Clint could have passed for a statue. Natasha's face showed no emotion, but her shoulders were taut and Steve's cheeks were wet. Phil's Starkphone chimed. He took a deep, steadying breath and then said, "Time."
Natasha leaned down to kiss Bucky on the forehead. "Доверяй, но проверяй," she whispered to him. Trust, but verify.
"We'll come back when we can," Steve promised, trailing his fingertips through Bucky's hair. "I swear I won't abandon you again, never again." Then he followed Phil and Natasha out of the room, dragging his feet every step of the way.
Phil knew that Steve tolerated the separation only because the SHIELD doctors could do things for Bucky that Steve couldn't do himself. It was not trust, but reliance, and fragile at that. I really hope Fury doesn't do anything stupid, Phil thought. It wouldn't take much to destabilize this situation all over again.
* * *
Notes:
Interrogation is the art and science of extracting accurate data from unwilling informants. Enhanced interrogation is torture. In order to be effective, this requires a superlative understanding of both the psychological and physical aspects. Getting accurate answers entails figuring out which techniques will work against a given target, applying them, preventing the person from dying too soon, and sorting truth from falsehood. Most torture amounts to brute force abuse of mind and body; it is rarely subtle. Therefore, it is considered unreliable. Excuses aside, torture is usually done for personal and/or institutional gratification, not because it elicits usable information.
However, canon establishes Black Widow as brilliant and subtle. Both in psychological and physical combat, she uses finesse rather than brute force. Therefore she gets results that most other people could not. It is indeed possible to perform that well, something that opponents of torture prefer to deny or overlook -- but it takes someone about this caliber to do so. It's extremely rare to find that skill set at a high enough level. While I don't dwell on them much in a series this gentle, neither have I removed these core traits from her character.
Dealing with manipulators is difficult because they often gravitate to positions of power, disguise their manipulations, or both. They also cast the blame on other people and never consider what they themselves might be doing wrong or could do better. Consider common manipulation tactics. Here are some examples of manipulative behavior. Learn how to identify and cope with manipulators. Now think about this material in the context of Nick Fury's dialog and behavior in the movies.
All kinds of triggers can reactivate associations with unpleasant past experiences. It is difficult for anyone to forget painful memories. This is particularly a concern for people with PTSD. There are strategies for dealing with and letting go of painful memories.
Unconscious people may perceive some of what happens around them, especially sounds and touches. Gentle words and contact can help them feel better.
Доверя́й, но проверя́й.
Transliteration: Doveryay, no proveryay.
Translation: Trust, but verify.
[To be continued in Part 7 ...]
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanova, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Hulk, Steve Rogers, Betty Ross, JARVIS, Bucky Barnes, Nick Fury.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Mind control. Inferences of past child abuse and other torture. Current environment is supportive.
Summary: A mission in Russia introduces the Avengers to the Winter Soldier. Steve wants Bucky back and will stop at nothing to make that happen. Everyone else helps however they can.
Notes: Asexual character (Clint). Aromantic character (Natasha). Asexual relationship. Sibling relationships. Fix-it. Teamwork. Canon-typical violence. BAMF!Avengers. Vulgar language. Drama. Rescue. Hurt/Comfort. Emotional whump. Survivor guilt. Friendship. Confusion. Mind control. Memory loss. Slow recovery. Nick Fury makes stupid-ass decisions. Fear of loss. Fluff. Nonsexual ageplay. Making up for lost time. Tony Stark has a heart. Games. Trust issues. Safety and security. Howard Stark's A+ parenting. Obadiah Stane's A+ parenting. Food issues. Multiplicity/Plurality. Sleep issues. Non-sexual touching and intimacy. Yoga. Personal growth. Family of choice. ALL THE FEELS. #coulsonlives.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5. Skip to Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11.
"No Winter Lasts Forever" Part 6
Soon Clint and Natasha came into the kitchen and sat beside Steve. Phil cast a careful look at Natasha, but she seemed to be more or less back to her usual state of calm reserve. "We should finish the debriefing today," she said, "and then I wish to begin the interrogations."
"All right," Phil said as he put breakfast on the table. What with one thing and another, Black Widow hadn't gotten to hunt recently. Given any of the rank-and-file prisoners who didn't recognize her, she could seduce the information out of them. For the ones who did know her reputation, well, she had other methods. This would give her an excellent chance to release some stress on legitimate targets. "I'll make sure your part of the debriefing gets scheduled first. You can peel off for interrogation after that, and rejoin us later for group analysis."
"Agreed," Natasha said. She licked her lips.
Then Phil turned his attention to Bruce and Betty. "Are you two staying in the lab here, or coming to SHIELD with us?"
Bruce looked up, his mouth full of waffle. SHIELD still made him nervous.
Betty answered for both of them, "Bruce is staying in the lab. I'm coming to SHIELD to pick up the captured gamma equipment that they want us to study, and what little is left from Stark Industries for Tony."
"I'm coming in with Natasha," Clint said. He wolfed down ham and eggs as fast as possible. "Steve, what about you?"
"I'll come too," Steve said, cutting his ham into neat pieces. "It was my call to refocus the mission; I need to answer for that."
"I approved it," Phil reminded him. "Let me deal with Director Fury on that account, and you just concentrate on giving a detailed report of the action. We've been wanting to get the Winter Soldier for a long time. What happened yesterday actually exceeded our previous projection of a best possible scenario."
"Best possible ...?" Steve said, his voice cracking.
"No casualties on our side, nothing more than trivial injuries. Original mission goals met. Winter Soldier contained, with nothing but a scratch that healed by the time we got him to SHIELD medical. With you and Natasha as anchors, we have a good chance to break the brainwashing and recover his original personality," Phil said, ticking off the points on his fingers.
They finished breakfast expeditiously and then went to work. Betty disappeared with several SHIELD lab techs, their animated chatter bouncing off the metal walls. She makes friends like bees make honey, sweetly and busily, Phil observed.
Clint and Natasha had plenty of experience with debriefing. They went through the interviews and written reports at a brisk pace. Then Natasha headed eagerly for the prisoners. Information was about to flow.
Phil managed his own debriefing with professional grace. When the Winter Soldier came up, though, Director Fury got a glint in his eye that made Phil uneasy. Fury uses people. This could get ugly if he tries to manipulate the Avengers right now, or worse, Bucky. I'll have to watch the situation closely, Phil realized.
Steve had less experience than the rest of them, but he made up for it with determination. His account of the battle was precise and thorough. Nobody challenged his decisions. He had handled himself and his team well in the face of difficult and rapidly changing circumstances, with excellent results in the end. Everyone was thrilled to have the Winter Soldier in hand.
"Do you think they'll let us see him?" Steve asked when they regrouped in Phil's office after a collective debriefing session.
Clint and Natasha looked at each other but said nothing.
"Based on the reports I have, Bucky is still unconscious while the doctors try to flush out a bunch of foreign chemicals from his body," Phil said. "They're finding substances associated with cryonic suspension, state-dependent memory, and suggestibility. The progress looks good, but it's going to take some time."
"If he's still got that much in his system, then he's not long out of storage," Natasha said. "No wonder he didn't recognize me. We'd gotten to where, somewhere toward the end of our first day together or into the second, he'd think he knew me even without prompting, and by the next he could remember bits of our joint missions. It came back faster if he had me there to tell him things. I think he may have been primed for that kind of input, and I simply ... coasted along with it."
"But Bucky will be okay, right ...?" Steve said. Huge and hopeful, his eyes turned to Phil.
"That's very likely, although there are no guarantees. I'll see what I can do about a visit," Phil said. He had to pull a few strings, but he managed to convince one of the more sympathetic doctors that a five-minute visit from Steve and Natasha wouldn't do any harm.
They fell into place around Bucky as if choreographed. Phil stopped at the foot of the bed. Steve folded his massive frame into the flimsy plastic chair. Natasha perched on the edge of the bed like an autumn-red leaf alighting on a snowdrift. Clint stood watch at the door, clearly uncomfortable, but unwilling to abandon his teammates.
Even though Phil didn't know Bucky, it hurt to see him lying so still and silent in the narrow white bed. The Winter Soldier had been such a valiant, ferocious enemy for so long that it was eerie for him to be reduced to this vulnerability. It just seemed wrong.
The whole scene brought up painful memories for Phil. The soft whirr and beep of the equipment scraped along his nerves. The sharp smell of disinfectant made it just a little harder to breathe. Too many times Phil had lost people this way, or gotten them back ... not entirely whole. He concentrated on maintaining his composure so that he could support those who needed him now.
Phil looked at his assets, grateful again that they had survived the mission. Clint could have passed for a statue. Natasha's face showed no emotion, but her shoulders were taut and Steve's cheeks were wet. Phil's Starkphone chimed. He took a deep, steadying breath and then said, "Time."
Natasha leaned down to kiss Bucky on the forehead. "Доверяй, но проверяй," she whispered to him. Trust, but verify.
"We'll come back when we can," Steve promised, trailing his fingertips through Bucky's hair. "I swear I won't abandon you again, never again." Then he followed Phil and Natasha out of the room, dragging his feet every step of the way.
Phil knew that Steve tolerated the separation only because the SHIELD doctors could do things for Bucky that Steve couldn't do himself. It was not trust, but reliance, and fragile at that. I really hope Fury doesn't do anything stupid, Phil thought. It wouldn't take much to destabilize this situation all over again.
* * *
Notes:
Interrogation is the art and science of extracting accurate data from unwilling informants. Enhanced interrogation is torture. In order to be effective, this requires a superlative understanding of both the psychological and physical aspects. Getting accurate answers entails figuring out which techniques will work against a given target, applying them, preventing the person from dying too soon, and sorting truth from falsehood. Most torture amounts to brute force abuse of mind and body; it is rarely subtle. Therefore, it is considered unreliable. Excuses aside, torture is usually done for personal and/or institutional gratification, not because it elicits usable information.
However, canon establishes Black Widow as brilliant and subtle. Both in psychological and physical combat, she uses finesse rather than brute force. Therefore she gets results that most other people could not. It is indeed possible to perform that well, something that opponents of torture prefer to deny or overlook -- but it takes someone about this caliber to do so. It's extremely rare to find that skill set at a high enough level. While I don't dwell on them much in a series this gentle, neither have I removed these core traits from her character.
Dealing with manipulators is difficult because they often gravitate to positions of power, disguise their manipulations, or both. They also cast the blame on other people and never consider what they themselves might be doing wrong or could do better. Consider common manipulation tactics. Here are some examples of manipulative behavior. Learn how to identify and cope with manipulators. Now think about this material in the context of Nick Fury's dialog and behavior in the movies.
All kinds of triggers can reactivate associations with unpleasant past experiences. It is difficult for anyone to forget painful memories. This is particularly a concern for people with PTSD. There are strategies for dealing with and letting go of painful memories.
Unconscious people may perceive some of what happens around them, especially sounds and touches. Gentle words and contact can help them feel better.
Доверя́й, но проверя́й.
Transliteration: Doveryay, no proveryay.
Translation: Trust, but verify.
[To be continued in Part 7 ...]
Ohmigod
Date: 2013-05-17 02:55 am (UTC)Re: Ohmigod
Date: 2013-05-17 02:59 am (UTC)I customarily post updates daily, usually after midnight. That way if something goes wrong, I've got the next daylight as backup before the project officially runs late. My internet service is erratic, so this helps keep the flow intact.