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CHARACTERS: Peggy Carter and YOU
LOCATION: The Oxygen Garden
WARNINGS: None.
SUMMARY: Peggy is exploring the ship and comes across the oxygen garden.
NOTES: Basically an open post for new and old CR. Gimme it~

It wasn't her intention to go to the oxygen garden but somehow, Peggy had ended up in the area and she was fascinated by it. The room reminded her of botanical gardens she had been to when she was a young girl back home, except this was much more technologically advanced. She knew the function of the area by reading a guide but in a way, she still wanted to see it for herself. It made her think about the future; not that she would be around of course but even so. Is that what the people of the future would construct? Peggy could only speculate.

As she walked around the room, her thoughts drifted to Steve and how his arrival seemed to have change things for her. Peggy thought that he was dead and seeing him was such a shock, then a relief. Perhaps it was selfish of her to want to have him here, especially considering how dangerous the ship could be, but a part of her was glad because she got to see Steve again.

Anyone who comes across Peggy now will find her deep in thought.

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At the voice, she looks up.

Since the jump, Rey's ongoing silence had been a ritual. She had no reason to talk to people, and people had no reason to talk to her. It was useless. Purposeless. That's what she ever is and will be.

Whether or not if she's with purpose now, or something else that's been summoned with the song stuck in her head, she finally makes an exception -- and speaks:

"Here."

Faced with silence, Peggy waits and listens, on guard the whole time. She had been trained to look out, watch her back and be careful. An enemy could be lying in wait just about anywhere after all. She didn't have a weapon on her right now but she wasn't completely defenceless.

Upon hearing a reply, she moves towards the source and stops when she sees another woman sitting on the ground.

"Oh. I didn't know anyone else was in here. Sorry."

It was a good thing that Rey is less prone to violence when being unexpectedly approached -- a habit which she tried to control. Not always a good idea to go around attacking passengers; they were all trapped in the same situation.

"No big deal." Hearing her own voice again is strange. It's like listening to a complete stranger speak, and the sound alone is enough to rattle her for a moment.

It's my fault.

Peggy keeps a polite enough distance as she crouches on the ground, wanting to be on the same level with the other woman. There seems to be something off but she could always be wrong which is why Peggy doesn't draw attention to it.

"I'm Peggy. Hello." It's said in a warm and a friendly tone, her stance relaxed and open. "Lovely to meet you."

Distance is a comfortable proximity that Rey doesn't usually take for granted. Still plagued by the feeling of hands or needles or something running over the surface of her skin, being near people in general had a penchant for making things worse.

Loneliness was better. She liked being alone. But she didn't have the energy or the inexplicable discourtesy to turn someone away. Not when they talked to her like that. In some strange way, Rey easily fell prey to one's niceties, more so than she'd care to admit.

She nods slightly, though her eyes narrow, as she tries to place the name and face to some familiarity, and finding nothing.

"It's Rey."

The last thing that Peggy wanted to do was make anyone feel uncomfortable which was why she kept her distance when she came across someone new; close enough to talk but not in their personal space too much. It was the right thing to do after all.

She had made a promise to herself to try and make friends with people on board this ship, help them if necessary without coming across as too imposing. It was in her nature to look out for others, she just couldn't help it. However, that didn't mean that Peggy wasn't completely off her guard; she was still cautious after all.

"Rey," she repeats, offering a small smile. "Not a name I've heard before. Have you been on the Tranquility long?"

If it were up to Rey, and she fell victim to her own whims, she'd have simply crawled into a hole and stuck it out on her own. Forget all of these people that were on the same boat as her.

But then a latent fact came to mind, and it turned out to be a quiet desire for approval. Or, it was something. Buried deep, Rey had no idea what it really was.

Once again, she nods. She turns up her arm, to reveal the tattoo.

001.

"Since the beginning." Considering that it isn't the first time someone had wondered about this, it must've meant that Rey was seriously failing somewhere here. And she had a feeling that she knew where.

After she displays the tattoo, Peggy looks at it closely and reads the numbers, her eyes widening for just a second. She hadn't met anyone who had been here since it all began and Peggy quickly reined her shock in, not wishing to prompt a negative reaction from the other woman.

"I haven't been here as long as you," she says finally, now seating herself on the floor, stretching her legs out in front of her. Peggy maintains her distance still. "I can imagine that it must have been troubling for you to be one of the first arrivals and not know what was going on."

Rey just as easily shrugs, like it's nothing. It was difficult to care about her situation when she didn't feel like she was leaving much behind. There were people here who tried so badly to make it home, but Rey didn't know where she would end up. Dead or alive, it gave her no reason to care.

"When I woke up, I didn't even know my own name for several days. I walked around, thinking that maybe someone could recognize me and tell me. No one ever did. I had to remember."

Peggy decides to listen to her carefully, watching how the other woman reacted as well. She had often thought herself about returning home and what was waiting for her there. At the same time, Peggy had found someone aboard this ship, someone she thought she would never see again. Leaving her would mean leaving him.

"I'll admit, I wasn't the best when I woke up from my first jump but I wasn't on my own and I could remember my name, details about my life. I take there's no one else from your own world here?"

"No. I'm alone. I've been alone." Even when in the company of others, she still feels so faraway from people. Disconnected. She can't bring herself to pull close to someone, even to those who try. Like Ariadne, who definitely comes immediately to mind when Rey thinks about such things.

She's wondered what it must be like, to feel that sense of closeness to someone. It isn't that she doesn't have a desire to, but it almost feels like it's never been something worth pursuing. At one time, she mistook it for disinterest, but now it's become something else -- something buried in the song that reruns inside her head, sings in her sleep.

Then, it wakes her from that dream -- and she's alone all together again.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry." Peggy says softly, her expression matching her tone. Perhaps her sympathy wouldn't do much for the other woman but she is at a loss at what to say in this situation. Some people didn't like hearing the word 'sorry' being said to him and Peggy wasn't sure how she would react to it.

She fidgets with her hands for a moment before looking to her. "But the ship is full of good people. They look out for others." Herself included. Peggy always kept an eye out for those who were in need; it was in her nature after all and her training in the military had taught her to never give up and to help wherever possible.

Peggy saw no reason to not use those skills here.

She nods, and scratches the back of her head. The apology seems counterproductive, but even then, Rey doubts she's deserving of it.

"I know it is."

But I am not good people.

At least, that would have been the straightforward thing to say. Nice, succinct, and straight to the point. Surprisingly, though, even Rey has enough tact to not just blurt stuff like that to people she'd just met.

People don't need to know the things that go on in her head when they aren't aware...

She knows that there is something more to her than what lay on the surface and perhaps Peggy was trying to empathise with her, get her to open up a little. But she also understood that at times, people didn't like being so open, especially with a stranger. Despite her cool exterior, Peggy was in tune with her emotions and cared about others.

"Where are you from?" She asks eventually, her tone quiet and curious at the same time. It seemed to be a question that most people asked and Peggy hopes that she will respond. Then Peggy could tell her where she was from and perhaps they could have a conversation and get to know each other more.

Where is she from.

The question was met with a long, expressionless stare at first. It didn't change much, but wavered slightly more just before words came out:

"Underground." At least, that was the closest semblance to the truth that Rey had to offer. "Can't be more specific than that."

Because, really, the details were pretty fuzzy.

She was almost tempted to ask what year she came from as well because everyone on board came from different universes and eras in history. Some were even from the future.

Her reply makes Peggy pause for a few moments, not sure if she heard it right. Out of politeness, she speaks up again.

"Well, that is quite specific. I've never met anyone who is from there before." That sounded better in her head.

"I'm from a country called England. I grew up in a city known as London."

She shrugged. "I don't know where it's located, exactly. I remember being stationed in Russia, once. And Nevada. But I'm not from those places."

Rey paused. She'd never really shared much information to people before. Suppose the fact that she used to not have an answer for any of them had a lot to do with it. But it was different now. For someone still fumbling in the dark, there were little bits and pieces left for her to pick up.

It was different.

"London." She stopped to think. "Don't think I've ever been there, but I've heard of it."

"Stationed?" Peggy repeated, one eyebrow rising up. "Are you from a military background?" It was the first thing she thought about when she heard that word; Peggy had already spoken to people who had served in some branch of the military.

She didn't mind telling people about herself or the line of work that she was in. Peggy just couldn't go into full detail because it was classified, despite the fact that none of her superiors were here. She had made a vow to uphold the promise she had made when she joined the agency in the first place.

"It's the capitol city of the country. Although it was bombed not so long ago and it's still recovering from that."

Rey shrugged. "Sort of."

She didn't know what it was, in truth. Her orders were clear and cut, and resembled a military façade on the surface. But the wars she fought were more like slaughters...

"Ah." Her brows knit as she digs for thought. "I remember lots of places were being bombed back then..."

She isn't sure if what she remembers matches up with what Peggy remembers. For all Rey knows, they're not even from the same version of their worlds.

"I'm from one myself." She replied, not elaborating about it at the moment.

If the other woman didn't want to tell her, then she couldn't push her into revealing anything about it. That wasn't in Peggy's nature and it wouldn't change anytime soon. She knew how difficult it could be in a warzone, how traumatizing it was.

"Yes, all over Europe and even further abroad."

It was highly likely that they did come from different worlds, possibly even different eras in time. The only way that they could both find out for certain was to ask one another.

"What's your world like?"

That piqued Rey's curiosity somewhat. "Which branch?"

There was only so much that Rey could tell. Not because she didn't want to, though the notion of sharing too much information with a stranger (even if the stranger had the name -- Peggy) didn't seem prudent, either. She was still piecing together bits of a puzzle, so to speak. The events were there, but the timelines were displaced.

A shattered chain.

"It wasn't really my world." Rey blurted, then paused, then decided to amend herself: "I was an outsider. I was called when something needed to get done, and no one else could do it. Mostly solo missions. I don't get to see people that much. What I do know about the world... It's been killing slowly itself for a very long time. Just people fighting one war after another. Last I heard, they called it the Long Winter."

Rey stopped. Realization.

Funny.

"I've never told anyone this before." Because she couldn't.

"The US military. Despite my accent, I did get involved in working with them. Although my work is top secret."

Proving herself to others had seemed like an impossible feat but Peggy did it without giving up. She had shown time and time again that she was someone who could be depended upon, to follow orders and do her job well. No other woman had ever gotten into this position she was in and perhaps they never would again but Peggy knew that her job was important.

She fell silent when Rey began to speak, listening to her carefully; Peggy couldn't help but react to her words, her eyes widening a little. But she didn't say anything just yet, wanting to get the full story or at least what the other woman was prepared to tell her.

"It's not something that anyone could tell so easily," Peggy replied gently, looking over at her. "Revealing something about yourself or indeed where you come from..well, not everyone likes to do it. I can imagine that it's difficult for you in particular because of your experiences and what your world is like in the first place."

There's a brief pause as she considered something.

"At least that's what I've seemed to gather from what you just told me."

"It usually is." Though Rey's memory of it all blew past like a blurred dream, she did not recall ever even having the opportunity to divulge in any information regarding her past. She also did not express much desire to do so.

Most people she knew would have rather slit her throat while she slept.

The more she thought about it, Rey began to change stance. She was not relaxed, legs crossed, but wound up folding her knees to her chest. Her arms rested over her knees, and her chin over her arms. Her green eyes fell on Peggy and beyond Peggy, listening, but at the same time hearing her own strange words that somehow sounded like it belonged to someone else.

"I believe the only reason it was difficult, for a time, is because it got buried in my head for a reason. When it was dragged out, I got stuck for awhile, unable to communicate. It was like being trapped in a box again."

Again being the key word here. She thought about the casket she woke up in, and the song, and the device that somehow ended up in her locker...

One thing after another...

"Again?" Peggy repeated, her voice a little hushed as she kept her gaze on Rey. She wondered if something she had said triggered the change in the other woman's body language and now Peggy was a bit concerned. It had been some time since she had been in a situation like this and while she was good at offering support, Peggy wasn't sure if Rey would accept it or not. At the same time, she didn't want to cause her any distress.

What else had she gone through in her life and world back home? It seemed to Peggy that Rey had perhaps endured something quite traumatic and it had an impact upon her even now. Peggy could only speculate and she wasn't going to delve too much or ask a lot of questions to be on the safe side.

Silence had fallen between them again and Peggy felt a little awkward, wondering if she should come up with something to say and break it. Perhaps she could encourage Rey to ask her questions and then she wouldn't have to discuss anything about herself. It looked like the easier option but Peggy wasn't entirely sure.

"Did you have any questions for me? I'm open to them."

There. She broke the silence with something. Hopefully it was the right thing to do.

Rey nodded slightly, once. "I don't know why, but it's the first thing I could remember before here. I was locked in a box. After I broke out, I found out that I'd been in a morgue for some time..." She paused. "I think I was there for a reason."

It was just a feeling. Rey didn't really know why she was there. She wasn't dead, though she didn't necessarily feel alive, either. Perhaps she had no way of telling the difference, for certain.

Yes, it was traumatic. That's what others had said. But looking back on it, all she could ever feel was a horrible, blinding anger.

Rey had completely disregarded the silence for normalcy, until Peggy spoke again. Her question evoked confusion, for a particular reason: "I would've thought it'd be the other way around. I have been here longer."

Though she couldn't say she didn't find the sentiment entirely without warrant. Rey just had a way of looking into things differently than most people did. Oftentimes, it was usually the wrong way.

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apologies for the delay, i was at a convention~

no worries. i went on an impulse hiatus, anyway, and will probably be slow myself