Thread: Human Connection [Avengers -- Sprouts & Virginia]

Sometimes the people she was sent after were some of the worst sorts. Sometimes those were the kind of people who hung around and she'd take a little side mission. Mostly she knew that humanity was filled with terrible people and terrible things and it wasn't any of her business. It sucked but... helping wasn't necessarily what SHIELD was for. They did help, and in a decent number of ways, but there were always reasons. They weren't a charity. Or a... whatever Bruce was. He had so much reason to never be around people or want to help them but here he was. Trying his best to help as many people as possible and getting pretty much nothing out of it except whatever this might do for his conscience. He could have more money, or things, or even the attention of women or men if he was into that too and instead he had this impersonal apartment and barely anything. She nodded her agreement, but didn't bring up any of the examples that rose to mind. Theresa knew about the cage on the Helicarrier, but that wasn't what she thought of. She'd been stuck in some pretty terrible and interesting places, it just wasn't at all appropriate to share those stories with Bruce. Even if he'd known who she was she still probably wouldn't have. It probably all put together to explain why she was how she was, but Theresa didn't want any kind of sympathy or pity. Every choice that lead up to now had been hers, no matter how bad some of them had been. She'd learned from pretty much all of them, so there was that at least. The stab was less of a problem than he'd ever get to know. I'm trying hard, she admitted. Otherwise I think I'm going to start crying and never stop, which won't help anyone. Maybe hyperventilate, and that will definitely hurt. So it's better to be chatty and focus on positive things. Just tune the bad stuff out, it would fade eventually. It was something she'd been good at before SHIELD. Well, mostly. I'm alive because two good people saved me, which means in the ratio of good to bad people I've interacted with today I've still come up positive. And I'm repeating that to myself a whole lot, I think it's helping. It also wasn't the first time she'd been attacked with a knife, even in the story she'd given Bruce. I don't know if 'fake it till you make it' actually works, but that's what I'm banking pretty hard on. All she ever needed to do was fake it until others believed it. Yes, the brunette agreed. It was a long way indeed. They were... very bad choices and some very big consequences. She let his comment about it being just her seem to hit a weak spot though it was one she created only because it seemed appropriate to the backstory and didn't respond, instead frowning slightly. No perky cheerfulness to the idea of being alone, no strong independent woman jokes, just a moment of quiet before she focused on his question like it was a way out of the discomfort. The silence could speak for itself. I speak it decently. Didn't used to... talk to very many people but now I'm feeling a lot more confident in my language skills and trying to take advantage of the fact I can be social again. She spoke a lot of languages. It was a skill that Theresa had discovered because of SHIELD, and one that she supposed that she was a little bit proud of. I'm not sure my skills are up to emergency standards, so it was a relief you spoke English.