"I'll give you props for that." John loves his folks, but to say he's close to them would be stretching it a little. He hasn't been home since he was eighteen.
"It's three." He's got a small smile back and he nudges her foot intentionally this time. "Yeah, it's not really all that important." Not for what he had to do to get them. "It was mutually beneficial. Until it wasn't."
She gets comfortable in her chair. This probably isn’t a good story, nor one that presents John in a positive light. Midge actually thinks it’s pretty brave of him to tell it on what is essentially their first date. Her plan is to try to listen without judgment until he finishes the whole story.
"The first thing you need to know is Lemar Hoskins. My best friend, on the football team with me, joined the army with me, we were stationed together, and he was the Battlestar to my Captain America."
He's clearly important.
"Our first mission was to take down a group of terrorists who had been attacking government aid camps and stealing supplies and we were getting our asses kicked. Turns out they had found a formula and were all super soldiers. We couldn't take them on and win. So when I found a vial of the formula I took it to even the playing field."
He takes a sip of beer and looks over at her. "You with me?"
That sounds risky. Midge doesn’t even eat Cheerios off of the floor, let alone take vials of what may or may not be a highly dangerous substance that you don’t know how your body will react to.
But, it sounds as if he and Hoskins were desperate.
"Okay." Another sip of his drink before he starts again. "We tracked them down and it made a difference. I could keep up with them, but there were too many of them. They had me down, dead to rights, when Lemar knocked their leader out of the way and saved my ass. He always had my back. And then she killed him with one punch."
He has to stop for a minute, face blank and eyes shifted well away from her face.
"They knew what they'd done and they ran. She got away. I chased one of them down and... I killed him. It wasn't pretty. It also was in the middle of the town square and a lot of people got the whole thing live on video. Government didn't like that part."
More back to himself, he looks back at her with a mirthless smile. "Got fired over that. Took away all my army benefits. Everything. No more Captain for me."
"I was very angry and in shock and the guy was still a terrorist who had earlier tried to kill me, so. The pieces just fell together." More beer now. And then he sighs and seems to relax a little, burden lifted in a way.
"You can look it up if you want. It's still out there. I'm surprised you haven't already."
It’s not great. Video of him killing a man as Captain America (which is not something she wants to watch, by the way). But, it’s not like the guy was an innocent bystander. Midge may not approve, but she can understand. That decision ruined his life. She won’t even ask him if he regrets it because surely he does.
“Thank you for telling me.” She wonders, briefly, if she ought to be afraid of him, though she hasn’t seen any of the rage that he says he exhibited in that moment. “After that, you… tried to move on?”
“Tried, yeah. I got a new job. Clean up. Given my skill set you can probably guess what that was all about. I don’t do it anymore. But it brought in income, which we needed when we decided to have a baby.”
Shockingly, the baby didn’t fix everything. Who knew?
“He’s amazing. I was still angry, mourning and probably depressed when he was born. I wasn’t the most attentive father. Olivia finally had enough and left me.” Because now that’s he’s told her the worst, he might as well cop to everything else. “It’s been rough. Not exactly a great catch anymore, am I?”
That right there is her cue to get out while she still can.
Midge shrugs almost imperceptibly, then takes a deep breath. “This isn’t the same by any stretch of the imagination, but I know what it’s like to think that you’ve done everything right and still lose everything. My ex-husband cheated on me with his secretary. That’s what ended our marriage.”
Not the same as killing someone while representing the US government, but that’s the baggage that she carries around.
John just shakes his head. “He’s a complete idiot. I don’t get people who cheat. Never did it to Olivia and would never for any other partner.”
Their food finally arrives, though he’s almost lost his appetite. Almost. He orders another beer and when it comes shortly after he holds the glass up to her.
"Footsies on our first date?" Yes, he knows he started it. And he can tell she's going to stay, at least for tonight. He appreciates it and offers her a genuine smile.
He just smiles at her. It isn’t until she mentions his dinner that he takes a good look at it. He samples and nods.
“It’s great. Nice little place you picked out.”
Their baggage matters. Just not maybe as much as they thought it would. Hers? A piece of cake as far as he’s concerned. If this gets serious, he’ll happily be faithful to her. He can be a jackass, but not in that way.
He’s pretty sure what he told her hasn’t really sunk in yet, and that when it does she’ll run. So he’s just going to enjoy tonight for the first date that it is.
Maybe it will sink in and maybe it won’t. John was a soldier who saw combat. It was obvious to Midge, even before tonight, that he’s killed people. The thing with the terrorist is different, but it’s all state-sanctioned killing at the end of the day. The government just said, “not like that”.
Point being, she was okay with him being a killer. It’s not great that he killed a man in a blind rage, and Midge will watch for signs, but she doesn’t get the impression that he would hurt her.
“Thanks. It’s been a while since I’ve been here.” She glances up at him. “What about now? Are you happy with the job you’re doing with the New Avengers?”
He'll believe it when she goes out with him again. Or maybe he won't. He's his own worst critic at this point. He's certainly learned well enough how to be one.
But he is a military man through and through, even if that part of his life is over now. He may not wear his dogtags like some people do, but he's still got them on his dresser in his room. Still, he's not proud of much of what he did.
"What, you don't bring all your dates here?" He teases and then nods. "I'm happy enough that I'm doing it. We haven't done much yet, but there's plenty of crime to stop."
“Only the special ones,” she replies with a sly smile. It’s really not a bad place for a date, though most of the ones she’s been on have involved jazz music and cocktails, or they’ve been after one of her gigs.
“I’m sure. How do you feel about funny housewives being arrested for obscenity?”
In spite of herself, Midge actually blushes a little when he asks that question. “I’m a good girl, thank you very much,” she replies cheekily. “But when I come from, some people are very offended when a woman says ‘fuck’ into a microphone.”
It’s not as if she’s shouting it in the streets. Saying it on stage at a comedy club patronized by adults only shouldn’t be illegal.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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"It's three." He's got a small smile back and he nudges her foot intentionally this time. "Yeah, it's not really all that important." Not for what he had to do to get them. "It was mutually beneficial. Until it wasn't."
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That’s maybe unfair, but it was too good of a quip not to make. Midge lets out a deep breath. “You ready to tell me about what happened?”
Even if the food hasn’t come yet, at least they’ve got their alcohol.
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“You ready to hear it?”
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She gets comfortable in her chair. This probably isn’t a good story, nor one that presents John in a positive light. Midge actually thinks it’s pretty brave of him to tell it on what is essentially their first date. Her plan is to try to listen without judgment until he finishes the whole story.
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"The first thing you need to know is Lemar Hoskins. My best friend, on the football team with me, joined the army with me, we were stationed together, and he was the Battlestar to my Captain America."
He's clearly important.
"Our first mission was to take down a group of terrorists who had been attacking government aid camps and stealing supplies and we were getting our asses kicked. Turns out they had found a formula and were all super soldiers. We couldn't take them on and win. So when I found a vial of the formula I took it to even the playing field."
He takes a sip of beer and looks over at her. "You with me?"
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That sounds risky. Midge doesn’t even eat Cheerios off of the floor, let alone take vials of what may or may not be a highly dangerous substance that you don’t know how your body will react to.
But, it sounds as if he and Hoskins were desperate.
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He has to stop for a minute, face blank and eyes shifted well away from her face.
"They knew what they'd done and they ran. She got away. I chased one of them down and... I killed him. It wasn't pretty. It also was in the middle of the town square and a lot of people got the whole thing live on video. Government didn't like that part."
More back to himself, he looks back at her with a mirthless smile. "Got fired over that. Took away all my army benefits. Everything. No more Captain for me."
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By all accounts, that man was his best friend, one who had been through everything with him. Losing him must have been horrible.
“Why did you kill him? I mean… I understand why. Did you lose control?”
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"You can look it up if you want. It's still out there. I'm surprised you haven't already."
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It’s not great. Video of him killing a man as Captain America (which is not something she wants to watch, by the way). But, it’s not like the guy was an innocent bystander. Midge may not approve, but she can understand. That decision ruined his life. She won’t even ask him if he regrets it because surely he does.
“Thank you for telling me.” She wonders, briefly, if she ought to be afraid of him, though she hasn’t seen any of the rage that he says he exhibited in that moment. “After that, you… tried to move on?”
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“Tried, yeah. I got a new job. Clean up. Given my skill set you can probably guess what that was all about. I don’t do it anymore. But it brought in income, which we needed when we decided to have a baby.”
Shockingly, the baby didn’t fix everything. Who knew?
“He’s amazing. I was still angry, mourning and probably depressed when he was born. I wasn’t the most attentive father. Olivia finally had enough and left me.” Because now that’s he’s told her the worst, he might as well cop to everything else. “It’s been rough. Not exactly a great catch anymore, am I?”
That right there is her cue to get out while she still can.
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Midge shrugs almost imperceptibly, then takes a deep breath. “This isn’t the same by any stretch of the imagination, but I know what it’s like to think that you’ve done everything right and still lose everything. My ex-husband cheated on me with his secretary. That’s what ended our marriage.”
Not the same as killing someone while representing the US government, but that’s the baggage that she carries around.
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Their food finally arrives, though he’s almost lost his appetite. Almost. He orders another beer and when it comes shortly after he holds the glass up to her.
“To divorce.”
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Midge holds up her glass and toasts to that. “To divorce.”
She cuts into her steak and it looks to be the perfect amount of rareness. Under the table, she gives his foot a little kick.
John gave her a chance to cut and run, but she’s still here.
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"How's the steak look?"
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“Perfect.” She cuts a piece and eats it. “Delicious. How’s yours?”
It’s such a normal conversation after both of them unloaded their baggage. Maybe each others’ baggage isn’t such a big deal to the other person.
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“It’s great. Nice little place you picked out.”
Their baggage matters. Just not maybe as much as they thought it would. Hers? A piece of cake as far as he’s concerned. If this gets serious, he’ll happily be faithful to her. He can be a jackass, but not in that way.
He’s pretty sure what he told her hasn’t really sunk in yet, and that when it does she’ll run. So he’s just going to enjoy tonight for the first date that it is.
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Point being, she was okay with him being a killer. It’s not great that he killed a man in a blind rage, and Midge will watch for signs, but she doesn’t get the impression that he would hurt her.
“Thanks. It’s been a while since I’ve been here.” She glances up at him. “What about now? Are you happy with the job you’re doing with the New Avengers?”
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But he is a military man through and through, even if that part of his life is over now. He may not wear his dogtags like some people do, but he's still got them on his dresser in his room. Still, he's not proud of much of what he did.
"What, you don't bring all your dates here?" He teases and then nods. "I'm happy enough that I'm doing it. We haven't done much yet, but there's plenty of crime to stop."
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“I’m sure. How do you feel about funny housewives being arrested for obscenity?”
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"You're kidding. Are you a bad girl, Midge?"
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It’s not as if she’s shouting it in the streets. Saying it on stage at a comedy club patronized by adults only shouldn’t be illegal.