( mixed. ) pasa mi corazón del frío al fuego

[ashaya]

Who: Spock, Jim, Gwen, Peter, and various.
Where: Various locations (see prompts for details).
What: Gnosia-related shenanigans.
Warnings: Uh. Probably more than a few? Most likely: references to genocide, references to starvation/famine, references/overt descriptions of being targeted by racially motivated crimes, general violence, and gore. Maybe some vaguely racy commentary here and there (linked).

Comments

[finalfrontiersman]

[ Jim nods his assent slowly, the concern clear in his steady blue gaze - no longer iced over with madness but warmer, crystal water. The buzzing from Spock's side of the bond, Jim pushes back, trying to stay grounded in the here and now and not lose himself to the turmoil again. He has no idea if the Gnosia can re-infect him while they're connected, and he'd rather they find Spock and Peter and cure the Vulcan before they have to find out.

He'd make a joke about how often he loses his shirt, but Jim's not sure either of them are in the mood for it. At least this isn't his uniform shirt, because it'd be a real bummer to ruin the only one he's got on him here in Aldrip. ]

And...those people. We need to free them, get them medical attention. [ He'd lost count of how many were trapped in that building. Deactivating the traps so no one else fell prey to them... ] Oh god, Claude. Fuck -

[ Jim tries to stand too fast and staggers, blood rushing in the wrong direction. Still, he relentlessly pushes on, catching himself on another nearby car. ] Fuck, he's stuck in the bottle dungeon -

[ What the hell had they been doing? ]

[arachnerina]

[Right. The people inside. She had almost forgotten about that, and that makes her feel even more guilty. Peter could take care of himself. Even in Spock's hands, he was still more than capable. But the people trapped here and now needed her help, and she was too distracted and self absorbed in the moment. She needed to get it together.]

Yeah. Yeah-- I opened one of the cages already. Hopefully the people I set free already started that process. No... no offense, but they might not be excited to see you, even if it is to help.

[She still feels some kind of way, after facing Jim like that. It was intense, to say the least. Maybe it's a good thing she doesn't have the time or mental space to process that right now. Just bury and deal with it later, yep, sounds good.]

Bottle dungeon...? What? [yeah, she has no idea what he's on about right now.]

[finalfrontiersman]

You're right. [ Jim forces himself to take a breath, trying to get his head on straight. Of course she's right, after everything him and Spock have been doing for the past couple days - it's hard to focus, hard to process properly, when it all feels like such a nightmare. He lets the air out slowly, determination settling over his shoulders like a well-worn blanket. ] I need to disable the traps, though. We set tons, all around the perimeter. If someone steps into one...

It's exactly what it sounds like. [ Jim is heading back for the warehouse door, a man on a mission, despite whatever blood pressure problem he's having - but luckily there's plenty around to aid him. ] It's a trapdoor that drops its victim into a pit. An oubliette.

[ One guess as to who that idea belonged to. ]

[arachnerina]

An oubliette, seriously? For two guys from the future, you and Spock really went all out with your medieval means of torture. Geez. Remind me to never get on your bad side again.

[She supposes that even in the future, people have a fascination with medieval times. Meanwhile she just played a lot of D&D.]

But fine. Then you work on traps. I'll get the cages open, and funnel the people through the areas that are already cleared. And rescue whoever had this misfortune to end up in your pitfall. Sound good?

[finalfrontiersman]

We were... [ Jim frowns, eyebrows knitting together as he tries to dig through the mire of his memory. ] ...we were trying to channel the impulses into not killing anyone.

[ Whether or not they succeeded depended upon how far Claude fell, probably. Christ.

Jim nods, already hanging a right towards the back of the warehouse. He remembers, at least, where they put everything. ] The way you originally came in should be clear. That tripwire is fake. Well, not fake - it sets off an alarm. It shouldn't hurt anyone.

[arachnerina]

So you went with an obliette? Please tell me you two didn't put spikes at the bottom.

[But all things considered...it did appear that what he said was true. Even if his stunts were terrifying beyond belief and very dangerous, Jim could have outright tried to kill her as soon as she walked into that warehouse. He honestly got close to outsmarting her, but it felt more like he was toying with her than anything. And she had powers. Not everyone that fell into his trap would've been so lucky.]

--- Right. Okay, so avoid the tripwire still, so I don't get an even worse headache. Perfect. I'll meet back up with you after everyone's out, then we can figure out...whatever's next, I guess?

[And take a nap. Lord know she needs a nap, though she doubts she'll be able to rest until she knows Peter is safe again.]

[finalfrontiersman]

Which trapped them. Didn't kill them. [ God, he hopes not, anyway. Only one way to find out, and Jim mentally tries to steel himself for - he doesn't even want to think it but - finding Claude's body.

Jim didn't want to think about what they could have achieved, had he and Spock both been completely stripped of their inhibitions. Everyone they'd caught could have been dead and Gwen - Jim doesn't know if he would have been able to kill her, but he does know he never wants to find out. ]

You got it. [ Jim pulls it together in a beat, setting his shoulders back with the veneer of command confidence - even if he didn't really feel it. Especially when he didn't really feel it. That's when he needed it the most, after all. Jim takes a breath, ready to turn and head off to the oubliette - but he turns, briefly, back towards Gwen. ] I'm sorry, Gwen.

[ It can't make up for it right now - he'll have many more apologies to make, depending on how this all goes down - but he gives it to her anyway. ]

🎀?

[arachnerina]

No, you just made them fall how many feet into a pit? [Lord, Gwen hopes they didn't kill anyone. The fact that everyone in their cages seemed alive-- honestly, a little surprising, but welcomed. This could have gone a lot worse, and been a lot more bloody. And she knows Jim and Spock would have a harder time handling the fallout if they did truly hurt someone like that. This was already bad enough.]

Don't-- don't worry about it. [She really not in the mood, anyway. She definitely doesn't feel like talking it out right now, when there were civilians to help and Peter was in danger.] We have other priorities right now.

[And with that, she takes off back inside, being mindful of the traps, just like Jim warned her. These people would be free soon, and then. What? Regroup and figure out how to get Peter back was priority #1, but how was going to be the trick. Hopefully Jim would have insight into what Spock might be planning next.]