ptsd is just spicy nostalgia (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
billionaires) wrote2022-08-27 10:43 pm
billionaires) wrote2022-08-27 10:43 pm
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one of these things isn't like the other✨
Tony had actually done pretty well tracking down the totem-bearers and convincing at least some of them to help him put down Thanos for good. Without ever meeting him, he somehow already knows Behrad will be the glue for this operation, and after everything Zari told him he desperately wants this to go well. Behrad is visiting his family because their superhero group actually gets vacation time, as Sara explains to Tony. Being able to harness time itself does have its perks, or so he would assume. Strange always looks miserable, but there's a lot to unpack there aside from the time stone.
Anyway, that's how he ends up being dropped off in a really nice neighborhood sometime in the 2030s and wondering how long he's been dead in the present. Hopefully, they won't find him as recognizable as Zari had. He buzzes at the gate of their McMansion, remembering all too vividly that portion of his life where he lived in a gated community. It doesn't seem to jive with totem girl, but she did say the family changed completely after her sacrifice.
"Singing telegram for Behrad Tarazi," he deadpans, waving at the security camera and holding up the bouquet of flowers in his hands to show whoever is watching he isn't a threat.
Anyway, that's how he ends up being dropped off in a really nice neighborhood sometime in the 2030s and wondering how long he's been dead in the present. Hopefully, they won't find him as recognizable as Zari had. He buzzes at the gate of their McMansion, remembering all too vividly that portion of his life where he lived in a gated community. It doesn't seem to jive with totem girl, but she did say the family changed completely after her sacrifice.
"Singing telegram for Behrad Tarazi," he deadpans, waving at the security camera and holding up the bouquet of flowers in his hands to show whoever is watching he isn't a threat.
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"And they call me dramatic... I already had tinnitus, you know, but thanks for the encore." He rubs at an ear with one hand as he goes to scoop the necklace up tenderly with his other. "Hey, girl. You okay in there?"
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The siblings outside are still all drama though. Behrad sprints over to his sister looking both deeply concerned and maybe a little uncomfortable. The totem reacted to his sister the way it did him once upon a time. It wants to be with her. It recognizes her. He instantly feels insecure about it.
Zari Tarazi is still freaked out. She snaps immediately at Tony. "Oh, I'm sorry! A necklace flew in my hand and I'm supposed to just be cool about it?!" The anger is quickly replaced with fear. Zari looks down at the necklace. It's like she's no longer in the room anymore. Her gaze is devoid of anything because even without touching the totem, the connection between the two women draws Zari in to experience a life she never lived.
She can hear herself shouting that it's her totem. For a brief second, she sees a pale woman who looks possessed snarling angrily at her. The scene shifts again. She sees a beautiful African woman at her side. She feels such love towards this perfect stranger as she explains it's like Behrad is with her again. Her heart is suddenly heavy with grief, guilt, and longing so powerful it could destroy her where she stands if she let it.
"Behrad..." It doesn't sound like her. The voice is too deep and harsh. Zari Tarazi doesn't have a reason to sound so devastated while speaking her brother's name.
Whatever connection going in is quickly broken by her younger brother grabbing onto her shoulder because yeah this is getting freaky for him. "Right here, Z." His sister glances at him in open relief and falls into an unusual silence afterward.
Behrad keeps holding onto her shoulder protectively as his sister sorts through something he doesn't understand any more than she does. "So you found the family heirloom, huh? That's cool. I think it likes you." It all sounds very friendly, but there's a tense undercurrent as Behrad tries to figure out if they're in danger here and from what exactly.
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"Don't freak out. Nobody freak out." He's mostly looking at Behrad when he says it though his gaze keeps flicking back to Zari-1. "...But this is still really neat. Sorry, it is."
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She looks up to meet his eyes, wet and completely humbled. "You actually did it. You kept your word." This Zari sounds like she can scarcely believe it. She had trusted him. Things never work out so neatly for her. She had assumed he'd fail through no fault of his own. Tomaz shifts her attention to her brother. She looks so uncertain about what to do. It's one thing to long for someone, but it's another to finally get them back. She doesn't even know what to say. He doesn't remember what they went through together. He can't give her the absolution she desperately craves.
"Behrad, I..." It's now Behrad finally catches on. When he meets his sister's eyes and no longer sees Zari looking back at him. He doesn't freak out. Behrad looks at Tony with a wave of righteous anger he rarely has in him. "What did you do to my sister?" He asks with a quiet fury. He is already plotting the next move. He needs to call Gary or search the timeline for a point where they know where John is. He'll fix this and help beat up Iron Man once it's done without asking him to forgive first. He won't. Not when it's Zari involved. For all the bad blood between them, he loves her so much. Losing her would destroy him.
Tomaz quickly reaches up to make Behrad look at her. It's no easy feat. She realizes quickly this version of her brother is taller. He's older now. "I'm right here, Behrad. Please. I know this is a lot to take in, but I'm your sister. He is our friend. Tony brought us back together." She sends a quick look in Tony's direction. "Tell him."
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"I mean... not exactly." He mostly kept his word, he thinks, but the rest...? He keeps Behrad's eye contact though he isn't sure how to answer him at all, and Z wants him to explain it. "Maybe we should all - " He gesticulates to the totem in an effort to ask Tomaz to do her weird I dream of Jeannie thing. "Your sister's okay. We're all going to touch the rock so we can see her and talk together. Count of three?"
Tony is hopeful as he holds his hand out for the totem and hopes Behrad will do the same rather than laying him out.
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"John Constantine is my friend. He is a nasty piece of work to anyone who hurts his friends. If Zari and I don't make it back to the ship, he'll send you both to Hell. Literally." Behrad threatens without ever breaking contact with Tomaz. She winces but doesn't respond to that. She grabs Tony's hand and trusts Behrad will follow her lead. "Three." They touch it together.
Her spirit violently crashes into the couch as if the totem was trying to punish her for her misstep. Behrad manifests more cleanly and doesn't waste any time running up to his frantic sister to pull her into a hug. The ancestor who had been comforting her quickly retreats elsewhere. "That could have gone better," Tomaz admits as she goes to check on Tony.
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Not like he thinks he'll ever finish repaying the people he's wronged, but this seemed neater than the way things usually go for him. At least no one new is dead... okay, so it's a tragically low bar.
"Now maybe you get why I had trouble putting this into words...?" Hopefully, they'll forgive him too and he'll be three for three. A new record, actually.
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The Tarazi siblings eye both of them warily. Zari is the first to say something. "Yeah, you weren't kidding. It's me dressed as a twelve-year-old boy. I even have the entitlement down! Consent isn't a big thing where you come from, is it?" She asks sharply. Getting kicked into the totem while someone hijacked her body is the worst possible first impression.
Tomaz looks away because accident or not, she'd been tempted to stay. It's only Behrad's rejection that made her stay on the mission. "Yeah, I probably deserve that. Look I can explain everything and then I am going to need you to listen to him." She jerks a thumb in Tony's direction. "As far as I can tell from listening in, the world went from one egomaniac killing everyone in sight to another. I didn't sacrifice my existence so that my family could die all over again. We need to work together on this." That earns stunned silence from the pair. Good. Tomaz is sick of the guilt trip already. She glances at Tony. "You up for explaining your problem after?"
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"He's right as much as it pains me to admit." Tomaz points out snarkily. It's a cover and comfort. Being mean is a way to dodge her grief. The source of it is across from her. She stares at him before giving something real. "The truth is up until recently Tony Stark was the man who ruined our lives. I come from a version of the timeline where Ultron killed off most of humanity. He was only interested in sparing metas or people who were special in some way like us." She swallows thickly. "People who were chosen for a higher purpose." She stares straight at the younger Tarazi to make her meaning impossible to miss.
"Behrad couldn't accept a world where people died because a robot decided they didn't have any value. I wasn't a fan either no matter how much he tried to force us to change our minds." Her eyes glaze over as she recalls some of the cruelties she endured. She'd been an easy person to make an example out of as someone old enough to remember life before Ultron's reign. She's grateful Behrad had been spared imprisonment unlike her. Death had been kinder in so many ways. "Eventually we started fighting back. Behrad used the family totem and I got really good at turning Ultron's machines against him. He was the hero and I was the sidekick. I was happy to follow his lead." That part clearly shakes the siblings. Out of the two, it's plain to see which of them was a natural leader.
"Eventually, Ultron found us. We got our parents out but, Behrad he..." Her eyes well up with unshed tears. "You were killed. Our parents were killed before I could catch up to them. I couldn't accept it so I decided to the only way to win was to destroy the game. I joined the Legends and started hacking history bit by bit. It took a lot of time, but I found a point where I could safely change how the story goes. I made a world where Ultron loses the Battle of Sokovia. I made a world where we grow up free together this time." A soft laugh that borders on a sob escapes her mouth. Go figure she didn't get to live it. "Guess history didn't like me screwing with it because now you're both going to have to fight again. Different bad guy, pretty much the same plan." She looks to Tony for confirmation. "Your guy is wiping out as many people as he can to make the world a better place, right? I can only get so much here."
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"Not my guy this time," he points out helpfully with a sharp sigh through his nose before continuing. "But that's the gist, yeah. He thinks half the people means more plentiful resources and a better experience for all involved, allegedly. And his rocks are shinier than yours, but if we stop him before he collects 'em all I think we stand a fighting chance."
Only once he's done does he turn that kicked puppy look to the siblings on the other couch. It is kind of funny how fast he and Zari got through their ish, meanwhile the one from his timeline he'd immediately connected to now seems like she'll never trust him again in just as short a span.
"If you and the other totem bearers are willing to help little ol' me, that is."
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(Tomaz fails to hide completely how much it wounds her to see someone else enjoying the relationship she longs for with Behrad.)
It sounds like a nightmare. Some parts are simply hard to accept. Behrad as the big hero? Zari as his faithful sidekick? They both suppose that is the dynamic they are in now. They can only hope it doesn't end nearly as tragically because it doesn't even need to be a discussion. Neither have ever been good at ignoring a call to action when it counts.
It doesn't change how on guard they are. It's difficult not to feel sorry for someone who went through such a terrible ordeal and essentially died at the end of it. Tony is a more complicated matter for Zari at least. Behrad, while cautious, is always the more forgiving one.
They exchange looks once Tony speaks up. Despite all the drama and disagreements, for now, they are perfectly in sync with what they should be doing as a unit. Zari is naturally the one to speak up. "We're in. Morons and shiny weapons are a pretty dangerous combo. I can talk the rest into it." It doesn't matter that she never met them before. This is where she shines.