The Last Voyages: IC Inbox

[worthallthis]

There is no voice message here. Better hope you got the right box.

Comments

[cactusy]

[Shaw is quiet for a moment or two, considering the story. Finally, she says:]

That sucks.

[Truly she is a wordsmith.]

Another Steve?

[worthallthis]

[It's okay, he's not expecting a lot there. And he's been through the story enough times that it's not too hard to talk about.]

It's complicated. The Steve here ain't from the exact same version of the universe I'm from. Us both coming here from different points in time spun them off onto different timelines. Or maybe somethin' else did, I'm not really sure.

[He shrugs.]

I've been to his. Seen his version of me, in his universe.

[cactusy]

And that didn't cause some kind of, I don't know, time paradox?

[worthallthis]

Well, his version of me didn't see me, that would have seriously fucked up our plans. I don't think it would've, though. Time doesn't really work like that in our set of universes. It just spins off new branches, so there's not really any chance of a paradox.

[He pulls one hand from his mug to illustrate, veering it off in another direction.]

Just whatever you change starts a new branch, or changes the course of the one you're on. The one you came from stays pretty much the same.

[cactusy]

Huh.

[Pause.]

Is that how deals work? I won't actually change my world, I'll just start a new one?

[worthallthis]

I don't think so. I think you'll be changing your actual world, the one you'll go back to when you're finished here.

But if one of your team-mates shows up, if they're from a different point in time from you, your deal might not affect their version of the world.

[He shrugs helplessly.]

Or it might. Maybe the universe bunch me and Steve come from is unique in how timelines work, or maybe yours is. You'd have to ask the Admiral to be sure, but I know that most people go back to their own world and their deal works just fine.

[cactusy]

[Okay.

Okay, good.]

I didn't think about the timepoint thing. Guess I just assumed we'd all come from the same spot, if it happened.

[worthallthis]

There's people from all over timelines, here, when they come from the same or similar universes. So you never know.

I know Steve came from further on than I did. And he's had, uh. He's had several other version of me here before me.

[cactusy]

That's gotta be weird for both of you, right?

[worthallthis]

Weird as hell.

[B looks rueful.]

He married the one right before me, actually. I, uh. Spent a long time afraid I wasn't measuring up.

[He still kind of is, sometimes. He knows Steve loves him, for him, not because he's got the face and prior history as his husband. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have some imposter syndrome going on. (While occasionally he also thinks his other self was a moron, too. It's complicated.)]

[cactusy]

[Her eyebrow arches, and she takes a long sip of her cocoa before answering, really taking in how complicated and confusing and, honestly, kind of messed up that sounds to her.]

You guys got your own little soap opera going on, huh.

[worthallthis]

I know, it's pretty wild.

[He grins, lop-sided.]

I'm my own evil twin. Or he was the evil twin, I don't know. I'm not glad he lost his first guy, but. I'm glad I have him now, you know?

[cactusy]

It doesn't feel kinda weird?

[worthallthis]

[B laughs, but it's an amiable, slightly self-depricating sound rather than a mocking one.]

It absolutely feels weird, Sameen. Absolutely.

It feels less weird than it did at the start, though. I guess human beings can get used to a lot of weird shit. But after seeing him fake his death in his own timeline, so he could come back to a place he hates just to be with me... I know he means it.

[cactusy]

There's another... him... still alive in yours, though, right?

[Are you going to kill the other Steve y/n]

[worthallthis]

Ah. Well. That's one reason I'm here, actually.

[He sighs down at his cocoa, half-gone and cooling.]

The Steve in my universe went off to live in the past with his girlfriend from the war. Time travel was a thing for a while, so it was possible for him. He aged and had his life with her and, well, once he got around to my time again he was old. We buried him a couple months before I left my world to come back here.

[cactusy]

Are you... bringing him back to life?

[worthallthis]

[B shakes his head.]

He made his choice. If that's what he wanted, if he was finally happy, then I'll let him have that life. I'm not going back to my timeline after the Barge. There's nobody there who needs me around.

[cactusy]

So you guys are going to another universe entirely?

[worthallthis]

With any luck, a bunch of universes. The goal is to get some kind of mini-Barge, a small spaceship with the ability to go between universes. There's, uh, a lot of people who want to see Steve once he's done here.

[And himself, of course, but Steve is the real excuse here.]

And trying to pick between them is hard. So we thought, why try?

[cactusy]

You gonna do that forever?

[worthallthis]

Dunno. Long enough to maybe decide where to stay, at least.

Maybe we do, though. I know Lark's got this grand plan for us to go scooping up mistreated supersoldiers across the multiverse and rehome them. Wouldn't be a bad job.

[cactusy]

[She pauses, glancing over at him.]

If any of them want to keep fighting instead of retiring, and don't mind a high potential for dying sooner rather than later... that's kinda what my team's ended up doing.

[worthallthis]

[B nods.]

We're pretty sure at least some of 'em will. Hell, even I don't mind a good fight now and then, even if I've got no taste for killing.

We've got a handful of places we could put 'em. Including my old warden's world, where there's zombies to take out. I can add yours to the list, if you want.

[cactusy]

I probably shouldn't be recruiting without consulting... uh, anybody.

[Finch especially would probably be kind of pissed about her making the offer without letting him vet first. Oops!]

But yeah. Put me on your list of potentials, at least.