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[It was their fault.

It was their fault.

Zari's had failures before. The Legends can screw things up on the daily. They almost always fuck things up before they get it right, but they've never destroyed something so completely, at least not while she's been a member of the team. They've never collapsed an entire world trying to help.

Even when she was working for HATHAWAY, they never destroyed an entire world. They might have left things in a bit of shambles in Drakstaden, but the people were alive. They could rebuild in what was left behind. Akvos was just gone.

There's a tightness in her chest that pushes her up and away from the temple itself, heading towards the trees and the lake as though that kind of space will alleviate the pressure. She doesn't even really see Tony as she pushes past him, needing space to breathe and try and process this in a way that will help her function again. Princess Kea had been right next to her, using her communicator to try and coordinate things, what if she had just reached out and grabbed her.

What if they had stayed behind, stayed out of the rift, tried to find another way(, left the mermen to die? Could she really have lived with that any more than the end result)?

She doesn't know. But right now, the end result is untenable, and she doesn't know how they're ever going to manage to fix this.]

[ the avengers are much the same. hell, that's probably why he's out here instead of in the temple with everyone else. when a familiar figure flits by him, he doesn't hesitate to follow her, not trying to be sneaky but kind of sneaking up on her anyway??? sorry. ]

Zari? [ is his concerned ask from literally right next to her. again, yikes, sorry. he didn't mean it!!!! ]

[She does jump, the anchor of her own thoughts dragging her into a place where she doesn't want to be so in a way, she's grateful when Tony drags her back into the present. At the same time, that doesn't force the look of horror on her face to fade, or stop the words from falling from her lips:]

We did that.

[ it doesn't take tony long to catch on, tony's expression growing dark as clouds gather over their heads. between how tired he is and how much he's learned to control his ability however, no rain falls. yet. ]

Did we? 'Cause from where I'm standing we were sent without any backup into a losing battle.

It may not have been intentional, but I guess we ... overloaded the rift somehow. We upset the balance and it took both kingdoms down with it.

[The person delivering the message to her made it seem like they could have stopped it if they just had more information, and maybe she should be angrier with that, but right now, she can't help but think she should have known better.]

[ he nods slowly. that's probably what happened, but even he of the blaming himself for everything is failing to see how this is their fault. ]

She gave us no intel, we didn't even have comms for half that mission. It's a miracle we got anyone out alive, Z. [ he sounds angry, but it's all for astoria, even as thunder claps overhead. he gently takes her shoulders in his palms in contrast. ] This isn't your fault, and it isn't mine. We did our best, okay?

[She knows he's right. It's logical and sound and it appeals to the scientist in her because of course they weren't able to stop it. They didn't know all the variables.]

Usually when we screw something up, we're able to fix it.

[They're superheroes after all. This isn't how the day is supposed to get saved.]

Yeah. [ he gets that, maybe better than anyone. he rubs over her shoulders and drops them as the clouds calm and part amicably over their heads. ] But sometimes we can't, and we have to live with that.

[She nods because living with this sucks, but he's not wrong. Though that brings up another thing.]

The person that told me it was something we did? Wasn't Astoria.

[And she'll pull up the message to play the mystery voice for him.]

Okay, well. That's good and spooky.

[ thanks he hates it. it's starting to sprinkle now - or at least until he glares up at the sky and it moves back into its ineffectual thunder rumbling. ]

Even the disembodied voice said we didn't have enough info though. [ he scratches his nose and sighs. ] If no one's gonna help us out, how are we supposed to help them, you know? I'm not saying we should stop trying, just... maybe hold back a little, on the next turn. See if we can gather real intelligence before - acting.

[ this from a guy who once said his attack plan was "attack." what is character development? ]

[He's grown up so much. ;;

Zari nods in agreement, running a hand through her hair.]

Hathaway was way better at this. We had dossiers, we had information. We knew which buttons not to push and what the end goal was going in. Why does she keep doing this?

Why are you asking me? [ it comes out more hostile than he intended, or maybe that's the snap of the clouds behind him. will u guys shut up?? he's having a ~moment here. ] I would say ask her, but look where that got you.

[ he gestures to her device and shakes his head. ]

From now on, this is our op. Screw her.

[She nods. Screw her indeed. Which reminds her, they have a project that they need to be working on.]

I'm going to reach out to the people I looped in on our little project to see if we can meet before we get shipped off to the next place again. Hopefully we can at least get the groundwork laid before we have bigger problems to deal with.

[ of course, if it is their op that means... it will be their fault the next time they screw up. but that's a future tony problem for sure. ]

You know I'm in. Who else did you call?

Keith had a friend named Pidge who he said was tech savvy so I reached out to her. And I have a friend named Billy who knows more of the magic end, that way we're covering all our bases.

[A beat.]

I'm gonna loop in Sara and probably Constantine too. If you want to fill in Steve, you should.

[Especially given that Sara has "find a way home" on her priority list, and Steve might be able to help with that angle too.]

That's one of those magical teens, right?

[ there were a lot of those, but he'd met billy briefly before they'd been whisked off to akvos. he forgot to check and see if he was still here, god. ]

If I know something, Steve knows something. That's how it's gonna be from now on. [ which is to say: ] Yeah, I'll brief him. Well, as brief as I'm capable of anyway.

[She smirks at that.]

You know how to be succinct when it counts.

[Usually when it involves telling someone to go away.]

Just... doublechecking, but this is one of those times?

[ just tell him what to do he's so tired ]

[She nods.]

I'm gonna go find Sara. You go find Steve. We'll probably be smarter if we sleep on it.

Okey, smokey. Can do.

[ the 'sleep on it' gets a wisp of a smile, the sky finally clearing up in anticipation of them parting ways. ]

Hey... [ he's going for it - tony drags her into a gentle half-hug, one arm snaking around hers to pat her back and rest his head against her hair. ] You're not alone, okay? Remember that.

[She gives him a small smile in return and nods.]

You too.

[And with that, off she'll go to find Sara. /scene]

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