runs_the_show (runs_the_show) wrote in doorslogs, @ 2012-08-07 22:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | captain america, door: marvel comics, pepper potts |
WHO Justine & Mike, then Pepper & Steve
WHAT Dragging Mike through the door
WHEN Recently.
WHERE MGM Grand -> Passages -> Stark Tower
WARNINGS None!
Justine was getting annoyed at Mike. He’d been here for ages now and he hadn’t asked about his voice or even asked her if she had one. Surely he’d noticed some of the other people posting on the journals and recognized their names. Cobb was there, and Ariadne, Arthur, Eames, and Mal! There was no other explanation for their appearances other than their being Alters for people in Las Vegas. It seemed like everyone on the journals had a voice in their head, an Alter that would take over once they stepped through the door. She really wanted to know who Mike had and curiosity finally got the better of her. So one night, once dinner had been finished and showers were done, Justine put the Olympics coverage - which she privately thought would’ve been handled so much better at home - on mute and turned to Mike. “So, I’m going to tell you something and I don’t think you’re going to think I’m crazy because I think you’re dealing with it too, but if you do think I’m crazy, you’re not allowed to put me in the hospital or something, okay?” Justine didn’t even bother waiting for a reply before launching into her story. “When I just up and left to come here, it was because I had a nightmare. There’d been a car crash and one of the women involved ended up in my head.” She tapped her forehead for emphasis. “You know those Iron Man movies? Well, the lady, it’s Pepper Potts. She was upset, obviously, and all she wanted was to get back to Tony and she was worried about Thor too, because she’d spent a good bit of time with him. She also knew about their others, their Alters. The people they are here, in Las Vegas. Well...Benji has Thor in his head. So, as soon as I figured that out, I was on the next flight out. When I got here, I called the guy who has Tony in his head, and he picked me up from the airport and brought me here. He reminded me a lot of you, which reminds me. I should probably tell him that you’re here.” Justine shook her head because she knew she was getting off track. “My point is, I know you’ve got a voice too. You have one of the journals, and that means you probably have a key too, right?” Justine reached over to her keychain and tossed it to Mike. “The red one’s my key to the Marvel door.” She had to bite her lip then, just to stop herself from talking more and more. She’d talk all night, just because she was afraid that maybe she’d gotten it wrong. Was he going to tell her that she was crazy? Would he pack her up and take her home? She desperately hoped not. It had started off as a normal evening between the two of them, a simple dinner watching the NBC Olympics coverage -- which was rather tedious, really, because Mike had never really been one for commercials of any kind -- but there was an odd pressure to the room. It had been present for a bit, few days at least, but Mike was good at ignoring things and he had, at one point, been one of the best Seal snipers in the history of the program so it was safe to say that he also had a fair amount of patience as well. The pressure was a steady building one, which was a bit of a surprise coming from Justine (who it was from, of course, who else was he ever around?), but that fact only gave Mike all the more reason for patience because he knew it must have been important. Mike could feel the exact moment that the odd static in the room finally snapped and his suspicions were only confirmed as Justine reached over to grab the remote, putting the telly on mute. Brow raised, Mike mimicked Justine, turning to her as she had to him, though only half way, showing he was listening. Justine was nervous, rambling and gesticulating and talking just this side of too fast. Mike secretly thought it was such a Justine thing to do, it was kind of adorable, but he pushed the thought away swiftly to focus on the dialogue at hand as Justine stopped her words with a bite to her lip. “I don’t think you’re crazy, and yes, I have noticed the goings on round the journals -- some of them, anyway, I actually haven’t delved that far because none of it pertains to me, exactly.” Mike paused to gather his thoughts a bit, he had noticed, really, but he’d decided that as long as no one talked to him, then it wasn’t in his best interests to go making friends with miscellaneous people with the same problem. Steve wasn’t loud, he didn’t know why he was in Mike’s head, but he was courteous enough not to be yapping along in his mind so Mike didn’t really want to figure it out at the moment. He’d gotten Justine back, knew where Ben was -- he was just getting back into the swing of things as it was, he didn’t need any more coals under his fire at the moment. “I thought you may have had a voice, but I wasn’t going to say anything if you weren’t,” Mike shrugged as Steve piped up from the back of his mind, saying something about knowing Ms. Potts and Thor -- though Mike had gathered that from the movie Justine had dragged him to see a few months previous, The Avengers. “When I got here and realized what was going on, I kind of figured something like that had happened -- or, just you getting a voice in your head, not the car crash part. Anyway, I haven’t been to the door yet, but my ‘Alter’ and I have been planning on it. Think I’m in the Marvel one as well, I’ve got Steve Rogers in here.” Mike tapped his head as Justine had done and pulled out his own set of keys, separating the one he’d received in the mail from his others before giving them a jingle. Justine lit up like a Christmas tree when Mike said he didn’t think she was crazy. She wasn’t all that surprised that he was keeping to himself on the journals because he tended to keep to himself in the first place. She grabbed her phone off the side table and texted Silver, because she wanted to tell him that Mike was here before she forgot. Her attention went right back to Mike though, barely even paying attention to her phone anymore. “Why not?” she asked accusingly, and while her hands weren’t on her hips, they might as well have been given the tone and the way she was glaring at him. “You should’ve said something! Here I was, thinking you’d cart me back home and off to an asylum!” A muttered, “Jerk,” followed that, but she couldn’t be too mad at him after he continued. “Steve Rogers?!?!?!” Needless to say, Justine was oh so very excited. Now she had three superheroes looking out for her! Benji and Mike would always look out for her and since they were both in her door, she knew Thor and Cap would take care of Pepper. She was set, and Pepper had Tony too! It was just too perfect. Now if only there’s a way for me to get in the same room as all three of them, she thought, but that would be for later. “Okay, we’re going to the hotel now. Poor Steve is probably desperate to go through. Peggy’s there, and the rest of the team.” She slid out of bed, dressed in her pajamas, and immediately started rummaging through her clothes. “Come on, get dressed.” She disappeared into the bathroom a moment later and reappeared wearing a floral sundress. Black flats were slipped on, her keys, phone and wallet gathered, and then she was at the door, waiting none too patiently for Mike to get his stuff together so they could go. Putting his keys back in his pocket, Mike watched as Justine pulled out her phone, no doubt doing as she’d said, texting whoever it was who had Tony in his head. There wasn’t much Mike could say about the guy, he had taken in Justine right off the plane, got her the hotel room and hadn’t showed up unannounced or anything -- he’d let it go, for the moment at least. Justine switched gears soon enough and was back on Mike’s case, “What? I wasn’t exactly certain about the situation either. I figured you’d talk about it if you wanted to, and if not then we’d just go about it in our own ways.” Mike shrugged once again, not exactly blowing off the situation, but it was just too crazy to take too seriously -- he was afraid he’d overthink it if he thought about it much at all. Mike almost physically shrank in his seat as Justine gave a yell, his eyes widened and he could feel Steve kind of shrink back as well, just as startled at Justine’s reaction as Mike was. Mike recovered quickly however and frowned deeply as Justine demanded go to the hotel that instant. “Seriously? It’s getting late! Steve’s waited this long, I’m sure he can wait until morning.” At Justine’s next words though, Steve perked up considerably, as close to the surface of Mike’s mind as he’d ever been questioning the name Peggy, wondering, wishing, hoping and confused most of all. The jumble and intensity of emotions displayed was enough to keep Mike glued to his seat, overwhelmed. After the plethora of feeling from Steve, Mike couldn’t bring himself to question the act of going to Passages with Justine. Shaking himself from the inside out, Mike stood and risked one look to his ward before grabbing his own clothing and heading for the bathroom. There he pushed Steve to the back of his mind with a ’Calm the hell down, soldier.’ as he dressed in a simple button down and dark jeans. It took him only minutes to be completely ready to join Justine at the door, his own keys and money in hand as well. Justine was absolutely bouncing on the balls of her feet, texting away with Silver mostly because she was getting the feeling that he needed a Pepper too. It seemed like he could use someone to tell him to at least use an actual bed. Honestly, what was it with men thinking they could make it through anything without talking or taking proper care of themselves? She wrinkled her nose at that, but then turned to Mike. “I don’t want to wait! Go get dressed!” It seemed mentioning Peggy had done the trick though because he was heading into the bathroom with some clothes. She knew Mike wouldn’t take long at all so she quickly texted Silver the good news. As soon as they were both ready to go, Justine put her phone in her pocket and grabbed Mike by the hand, leading him out of their room, down the hallway and to the elevator. She didn’t even let go of his hand as she pushed the button and the elevator was already there for them. It was barely any time at all before they were out on the curb, hailing a cab. Once they were on their way to Passages, she turned to Mike. For once in her life, Justine was mindful of her volume when she spoke. “I told Tony’s guy, Silver, about you. He also needs a place to stay so he’s going to be our neighbor. He’s got a budget though, only two thousand a month. I think if you find something close to it, we’ll just pick up the difference. Daddy wont know the difference. And you have to look for a place that’s okay with puppies. I kind of already started the paperwork for one.” It didn’t take long for Mike to get Steve to calm himself down, he didn’t really know who this Peggy girl was (though he vaguely thought he should, since he saw all those movies), but he could take a pretty good guess. It gave Mike pause, but made him get his ass up and dressed to head to Passages -- Steve hadn’t bothered him at all in the time that they’d been intertwined but he seemed to need this, who was Mike to deny him even for a few hours? Sooner than he’d thought, Mike was being literally dragged out of the hotel room, Justine attached to his hand in very thinly veiled excitement. Mike ignored the fact that they were still holding hands as they boarded the elevator and approached the curb to hail a cab, chucking it up to Justine being Justine and overly excited. Though he couldn’t quite grasp why she was so impacted by the fact that he had Steve in his head, he resolved to ask her about it at some point. As they arranged themselves in the cab, Justine turned to Mike and spoke in a hushed tone. Mike would have taken the words just as good as if they’d been shouted however and he frowned deeply. “The hell is this Silver guy anyway? And just what kind of name is that?” There really wasn’t a reason to question the guy, he’d helped Justine out after all, but Mike wasn’t one to just automatically trust mysterious men Okay, so maybe she’d been a little too hopeful that Mike would simply accept what she had to say and leave it at that. Still, that didn’t give him any right to sound so accusatory (though that was probably all in her head). Immediately, she got defensive and crossed her arms over her chest. “You be nice to him! He’s really sweet and he’s a really good listener. He came to get me even though he didn’t know me and he didn’t even know that his friend had died!” Her whispering was angry, though as she started to talk about Felicia, she was more upset about the fact that she’d been the one to tell him without even realizing it. “Plus, someone has to look out for him. He’s sleeping in a warehouse and he doesn’t even have a real bed! He didn’t want to move in with us, so being our neighbor is the next best thing. And yes, I would have let him live with us if he wanted and no, you don’t get to be annoyed about it. I’ve been living on my own for nearly two years now so I could just as easily go live on my own instead of living with you.” It was a low blow maybe, but she wanted it to be very clear that Silver wasn’t a bad guy and that Mike had to be nice him. It was Mike’s turn to get defensive as Justine crossed her arms over her chest and proceeded to give him what for. Hell he was just asking... kinda. But it was his job (nevermind the fact that he genuinely cared and worried) to ask and question motives and Justine was just too damn trusting for her own good. Mike didn’t want to see her hurt so if that required acting like a dick sometimes, then so be it. “I don’t care if he’s the goddamn pope, Justine, I ain’t gonna be nice to him just because you think he’s ’sweet’.” Mike didn’t mean to come off so harsh, but his default was to give as good as he got, so when Justine became angry, Mike couldn’t help but mimic that. “He sounds like a grown man, I’m pretty sure he can take care of himself.” The last bit came out sounded more sullen than anything as Justine mentioned that she could just go off to live by herself. That was pretty much the last thing he wanted, but that didn’t mean he could just blindly accept this Silver guy, he’d just have to keep his mouth shut about it, it seemed, until he met the guy and could tell for himself. Suddenly Mike remembered a different part of their earlier conversation, “A dog, Justine? Goddamn it.” Justine was just mad. It didn’t really help that they tended to feed off each other and a few of their fights had gotten explosive, but she wasn’t going to let this one get too bad. They were in the backseat of a cab, which certainly helped. She slumped in her seat and sulked, more than a little annoyed with him. “I’m not daft, and you all should give me just a little bit of credit,” she bit out. Yes, she liked to talk a lot and yes, she tended to be more open than most, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have common sense! Benji had taught her before Mike had come along, and he’d only reinforced it. She knew she had people looking out for her too, and while that didn’t mean she got to do whatever she wanted, it did mean that they had to let her make her own mistakes. Having a good relationship with Silver wasn’t a mistake though. She was content to just sit there and sulk, but then Mike started in on the dog thing. “You know what?” The cab stopped then, stopping her from continuing for a brief moment as she paid the cab driver. “If you want to yell at me or chastise me or comment in any way, then you can just go live somewhere on your own,” Justine finished angrily, stepping out of the cab and slamming the door shut behind her. She didn’t even wait for Mike as she walked into the hotel and made her way up to the Marvel door. If he was following her or not, she honestly didn’t care at that particular moment. He was just being mean and she didn’t like it. She wasn’t twelve anymore! That anger continued to show not only in the way she’d walked but also the way she slid her key in and wrenched the door open. Of course, given her mood, it opened to Stark’s place in Malibu and Justine slammed the door shut, taking her key out and kicking the door for good measure before opening it again, this time to Pepper’s office at Stark Tower. Stepping through the door, Justine became Pepper almost in the blink of an eye. The change was obvious given the differences between the two women. The redhead was taller, her curves filled out a bit more, and she was dressed impeccably in a black skirt/blouse combination, her red hair falling down her shoulders to frame her face. The anger and tension in Justine was gone in Pepper, who turned to offer Mike a warm smile. “If you’d just step through, Mr. Gideon,” she encouraged amicably. It wasn’t that Mike wanted to fight, quite the opposite in fact, but there just wasn’t any backing down from the situation. Mike wanted to make his point clear and though it was a bit convoluted, all it really boiled down to was that he wanted Justine safe and he couldn’t keep her that way if she was frivolous with herself -- information or otherwise. He was worried and when Mike was worried it tended to come out more like ‘jackass’, at least where Justine was concerned (and the rest of the family, it really should be noted that Mike wasn’t good at expressing himself correctly). Though as Justine paid the cabbie and practically exploded from the vehicle in rage, Mike could feel himself deflate. He trusted her and her decisions, she was actually a pretty good judge of character, but that didn’t mean he could just give her over to miscellaneous strangers, even (especially) if they did house Superheroes. Sighing, Mike extracted himself from the cab to follow Justine, who just happened to be moving like a bat outta hell toward the hotel. It was apparent that she’d done it before (Mike firmly squished down the sense of worry at that and resolved himself to not being a douchebag for the rest of the evening) and she knew exactly where to go. Mike didn’t speak, knowing that whatever he could say would just make it worse, as Justine wretched the door open, only to slam it shut and give it a good kick for effect. Brow raised, it was easy for Mike to see over Justine’s head and into the door, but what greeted him was borderline unbelievable. Or, it would have been, had he not been through the last few weeks with an estranged Captain fucking America in his head. The room seemed to be an office, well organized and neat, but what really grabbed Mike’s attention were the giant windows offering a (several) million dollar view of what, at first glance, seemed to be Manhattan. If Mike were a lesser man his jaw would have dropped to the floor in astonishment and it was a very near thing as Justine took the last steps through the door and transformed right in front of his eyes. Mike recognized ‘Pepper Potts’ immediately, but was hesitant about stepping over the threshold, wary and gobsmacked. Steve piped up in the back of his mind, pushing him gently toward the door, reassuring Mike in a way that probably should have been patronizing or something, but was only reaffirming. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Mike strode with firm resolve through the door and Steve Rogers emerged on the other side, dressed casually and mentally reeling from the feeling of owning his own body once again. Pepper was nothing if not patient, particularly considering she worked for Tony Stark. Her first time crossing had been much simpler given that she had a great deal of control over Felicia, but she knew it could be jarring. She saw the recognition in his eyes, but she only knew that he was Mike and a very brief He looks after me from Justine, who was currently pushed away in the furthest corner of Pepper’s mind. The pair didn’t communicate at all, save for dreams, and that was just fine with Pepper. Justine would’ve asked a zillion questions and Pepper never would’ve been able to get her work done. Her smile was polite and encouraging for Mike, but when Steve appeared, her smiled was much more personal. “Captain,” she greeted, stepping back to let him come through properly. “I’m sure the others will be glad to see you’ve returned. What happened to your previous Alter?” Pepper asked, putting the pieces together. Mike had only just recently arrived but Steve had been here before she’d woken up in Justine’s head. That meant that something must have happened to whoever he’d been in last time as far as she understood. “Mr Stark isn’t here, but I can ask him or the others to come. It’s good to see you again, though.” As Mike practically melted into the back of Steve’s mind, taking his place where Steve had been held previously, Steve felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He hadn’t known what to expect in his crossing, but he would have been lying to himself if he couldn’t admit he’d been a bit apprehensive. Seeing Justine cross over the threshold had been encouraging, and seeing Ms. Potts on the other side had been even more so. Steve was elated, finally back in his own body and spying a familiar face was as good as any homecoming could hope to be, ten times better than his last one (waking up from almost eighty years of natural cryostasis to a fake room and a completely new world hadn’t been exactly welcoming). Mimicking Pepper’s smile, Steve’s own grin grew as she spoke of the others, he couldn’t wait to see them, get caught up. She mentioned another ‘Alter’ however and Steve’s smile dimmed into a confused twist. “It’s very good to see a familiar face, Ms. Potts, thank you and Justine for guiding me through the door. I gotta say though, I don’t know what other ‘Alter’ you’re talking about.” Steve paused for a moment as Pepper told him she’d request the others if he wished and even though Steve didn’t want to pull them away from anything pressing, he couldn’t deny that it’d be good to see them. “If you could, Ms. Potts, I’d like to see them if they aren’t doing anything else at the moment. Maybe Tony could at least drop off my shield.” Steve felt incredibly exposed, not knowing the placement of his most prized and treasured possession. He was still the same Captain she’d gotten to know at various points, from the way he spoke to the way he held himself, but it seemed like he didn’t recall being here. That was interesting, something Mr Stark would no doubt find interesting. She’d have to warn the others too, just in case. “You were here before, Captain. I’m not...certain why you don’t seem to remember, but rest assured, we’ll catch you up as quickly as possible,” she promised with a smile. He’d need a communication device too, but that was something for the others to figure out since she wasn’t supposed to know about them. “I think Natasha - Agent Romanoff - might be a better person to ask after your shield and your...suit for that matter,” she added, in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. “They’re all on the journals, too. Doctor Banner, Thor, Agents Barton and Romanoff, and Mr Stark. General Carter is here too. I’m sure she’d love to hear from you,” Pepper added warmly, recalling the memory she received from the woman. Those butterflies meant quite a bit which made her confident that the other woman should be one of the first the Captain reached out to. It seemed he was late to the party -- or he’d already been? It seemed to be the latter as Pepper spoke of him being there before, though Steve had no recollection of being anywhere outside of his own body before. He was sure that he’d remember having been placed in yet another person’s head beside his own, once was quite enough for him thank you very much. Mike wasn’t a bad guy, they actually got along rather well, but there was just something about the whole situation that made Steve’s skin crawl. Steve didn’t take the time to wonder why it would be Natasha who could get him his effects, they were probably stocked up in a SHIELD facility or something. No, Steve was distracted as Ms. Potts continued speaking, telling him how everyone was on the journals and how there was a General Carter -- Steve couldn’t let himself believe it, not until he saw her, but a flutter of hope burst in his chest as he spoke and it was all he could do not to... well, he didn’t know what. “Thank you very much, Ms. Potts, I appreciate the quick debrief and it’s very good to see you. I think I’ll put something out into the journals, speak to everyone that way.” Steve’s grin was genuine and excited, if just a bit shaky as he spoke. |