SO. There are, I am told, now a variety of Iron Man kinkmemes out, but how about a good ol' Doomthreading? Talk, riff, fic, Iron Man One or Iron Man Two, porn or not porn, anon or not anon. Open to all.
He's not the actual physical Captain American, unfrozen. He's not a clone, either. He's the body of some poor schmuck and the re-created mental imprint based on early projects and filmstrips and diaries and a lot of guesswork by Topher Brink with input by Nick Fury, who knew the guy like fifty years ago.
Fury grunts in response. They’ve been watching old films all fucking night, hundreds of feet of film that’s now been taken apart at their feet, curled and faded. Archive quality back then wasn’t quite what it is now.
Topher picks up another delicate Times article from the war and waves it in front of Fury’s face, like a handkerchief.
“Not helpful. Just tell me what you remember.” Topher lets it drop before getting to his feet and shuffling off, muttering the whole time.
Fury stays sitting on one of the boxes, staring at his hands. It’s been a long time since Cap.
---
Two days later Topher has 78% of an imprint done, sort of like a house that’s totally finished save for the moldings around the doors and windows and the faucets in the kitchen and the bathroom. Maybe missing a few lighting fixtures, the tile floor in one room.
“He was like a rock,” Fury says as he walks in, and Topher nearly jumps, staring owl eyed as Fury sits down on Topher’s couch. “The tide. Predictable. With a dreamer’s eye but a realist’s brain.”
Topher thinks it’s the most cohesive thing Fury’s ever said.
“He believed in trust and passion and knowing yourself. Screw apple pie and baseball, the man wanted equality.” Fury tips his head back, staring at the ceiling and beating something out on his thigh.
“That’s not much. Lyrical though. Have you thought about writing a book?” Even as he says it, all snark intended, he’s turned back to his computer.
Sometime in the next hour or two it becomes 99%. Fury looks over his shoulder and drops in the last 1%.
“Oh, and he loved that goddamn fucking shield.”
---
They pull in favors and get a doll sent in from the New York house – lantern jaw, Aryan good looks and shoulders like a fucking brick house. According to his file he was an amateur boxer wanna-be actor before hand. Now he’s never getting his body back. Topher overloads the guy’s original imprint, destroys it. Keeps the wedge at the back of his desk, but very much intends to forget about it.
The imprint is a work of art, as far as Topher is concerned. It works pretty damn well.
“Cap?” Fury’s the one to speak when the chair clicks off and back up into a sitting position. Blue eyes flutter open, and the man frowns.
“I – where am I?” His voice sounds rough, but Topher notices that he doesn’t panic. He’s too well trained for that. Look first, know second, decide to panic third. Or just don’t freak out at all.
“Alive,” Fury says simply.
Captain America sits up all the way, rubbing a hand through his hair.
“I don’t believe it,” he tells Fury.
---
Natasha introduces him to Tony.
The garage is a mess, and Steve looks around, hands in his pockets as he takes stock of the future, the way it’s played out in this one man’s house. Tony himself emerges from a pile of sheet metal, cursing and brushing his jeans off.
“Hi,” Steve says, rocking onto the balls of his feet and watches as Tony slips under tubing of some kid, held up by books and a motorcycle and – what. “Is that-“
Tony follows his eye line, looking confused.
“A particle accelerator? Yeah, no big, I’m taking it down eventually. CERN just wouldn’t let me play with theirs.” Even as he says it, Steve is crossing to where his shield, his arm, is sitting under the pipes. He pulls it out, staring in horror at how much it’s been ripped apart. “Oh yeah, that. Sorry.”
Tony doesn’t sound it, and just shrugs.
“This is like part of my arm,” Steve tells him, meaning every single word of it.
Meaning it so much that something in the very back of his head says no it’s not.
You’ve never held it before.
It’s not yours.
Steve ignores it. This is his, the way it’s always been.
Oh my god, you should. The first season is iffy but the second is SO GOOD. Also you kind of have to ignore Eliza Dushku, but whatever.
---
Topher starts the imprint with basic military training, all of it. Grab some Army, grab some Marines, grab some goddamn Coast Guard. It's all the same at it's core, anyway. The special forces are all brainwashed the same way, made to be unmoving and unthinking past the location and neutralization of threats. Captain America is, at his core, just that. Look first, know second, remove threat third. He wasn't trained to panic. The doll will not be imprinted with panic. It becomes a circle - no fear.
Dollhouse is kind of one of those things where the concept and implications are much better than the execution for the most part. But there are some good episodes.
“That’s not much. Lyrical though. Have you thought about writing a book?” Even as he says it, all snark intended, he’s turned back to his computer.
and
Now he’s never getting his body back. Topher overloads the guy’s original imprint, destroys it. Keeps the wedge at the back of his desk, but very much intends to forget about it.
and HOLY CRAP this:
Meaning it so much that something in the very back of his head says no it’s not.
All my Dollhouse knowledge is gleaned from LJ, but STILL I ADORE THIS, YES. And, really, it's easier SCIENCE to handwave than WE FOUND HIM IN AN ICE CUBE.
And this, just - the newsreels being useless for the imprint, and Topher making the thing up out of the air, and Fury's nearly-nothing details, and “Oh, and he loved that goddamn fucking shield.” is the keystone of the thing...
And aaghh how easily Stark tech and Dollhouse slide together, and “A particle accelerator? Yeah, no big," you get the voice perfect, and and and
AND EVERY OTHER COMMENT IN THIS DOOMTHREAD. I want to play in your treehouse. I'll be the Justin Hammer tagalong <3
DOLL!STEVE. And despite it all, despite the crisis of identity, the crisis of faith in a government that could do this, just program a hero with a loyalty kill switch and a vitamin deficiency that keeps him tied to the helicarrier between missions if he doesn't want his kidney failing, okay?
But despite it all, he kind of likes Tony, in a "he's a good kid" sort of way he can't really shake even though he knows the memories aren't real and he's a decade or two younger, but he does. The guy tries. The guy tries so damn hard to be liked, to be a hero, it doesn't hurt to give it to him every once and awhile. A "good job," or a "couldn't have done it without you." Would be pathetically easy if he didn't have room to talk.
Anyway, that's beside the point. The point is this: Memory engrams are all well and good, but the tech isn't to the point of pure organics yet. Tony, whether he knows it or not, or at least his tech, has had a hand in neurons that fire into processors and processors that fire back. There's a microscopic tangle of wire in Steve's brain that makes Steve Steve, and so when he gets with a shock of alien electricity, and Tony does this thing where he thinks being a hero is getting yourself killed. Well. Extremis. Electricity. Memory Engrams. Tony's better at tech than he is at sacrificing himself proper, okay?
Steve wakes up to himself in a coma, mouth slack and eyes shut, when he turns his --Tony's-- head on the SHIELD medical bed and stares and stares and stares.
Tony is terrible at pulling a martyr - he never quite gets there. He tries and tries and ends up with a fried brain or a computer in his head, but he's still alive at the end of the day, because that's the status quo. His status quo, more than anything. And hello Extremis, I love you a lot and of course that's where he was almost dead, but nope, he's going to come back with real super powers, like actual not-just-his-intelligence powers.
Steve wakes up to himself in a coma, mouth slack and eyes shut, when he turns his --Tony's-- head on the SHIELD medical bed and stares and stares and stares.
Gahhhh omg that is so perfect. I want to wrap myself up in this.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-23 07:16 pm (UTC)He's not the actual physical Captain American, unfrozen. He's not a clone, either. He's the body of some poor schmuck and the re-created mental imprint based on early projects and filmstrips and diaries and a lot of guesswork by Topher Brink with input by Nick Fury, who knew the guy like fifty years ago.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-23 07:47 pm (UTC)Fury grunts in response. They’ve been watching old films all fucking night, hundreds of feet of film that’s now been taken apart at their feet, curled and faded. Archive quality back then wasn’t quite what it is now.
Topher picks up another delicate Times article from the war and waves it in front of Fury’s face, like a handkerchief.
“Not helpful. Just tell me what you remember.” Topher lets it drop before getting to his feet and shuffling off, muttering the whole time.
Fury stays sitting on one of the boxes, staring at his hands. It’s been a long time since Cap.
---
Two days later Topher has 78% of an imprint done, sort of like a house that’s totally finished save for the moldings around the doors and windows and the faucets in the kitchen and the bathroom. Maybe missing a few lighting fixtures, the tile floor in one room.
“He was like a rock,” Fury says as he walks in, and Topher nearly jumps, staring owl eyed as Fury sits down on Topher’s couch. “The tide. Predictable. With a dreamer’s eye but a realist’s brain.”
Topher thinks it’s the most cohesive thing Fury’s ever said.
“He believed in trust and passion and knowing yourself. Screw apple pie and baseball, the man wanted equality.” Fury tips his head back, staring at the ceiling and beating something out on his thigh.
“That’s not much. Lyrical though. Have you thought about writing a book?” Even as he says it, all snark intended, he’s turned back to his computer.
Sometime in the next hour or two it becomes 99%. Fury looks over his shoulder and drops in the last 1%.
“Oh, and he loved that goddamn fucking shield.”
---
They pull in favors and get a doll sent in from the New York house – lantern jaw, Aryan good looks and shoulders like a fucking brick house. According to his file he was an amateur boxer wanna-be actor before hand. Now he’s never getting his body back. Topher overloads the guy’s original imprint, destroys it. Keeps the wedge at the back of his desk, but very much intends to forget about it.
The imprint is a work of art, as far as Topher is concerned. It works pretty damn well.
“Cap?” Fury’s the one to speak when the chair clicks off and back up into a sitting position. Blue eyes flutter open, and the man frowns.
“I – where am I?” His voice sounds rough, but Topher notices that he doesn’t panic. He’s too well trained for that. Look first, know second, decide to panic third. Or just don’t freak out at all.
“Alive,” Fury says simply.
Captain America sits up all the way, rubbing a hand through his hair.
“I don’t believe it,” he tells Fury.
---
Natasha introduces him to Tony.
The garage is a mess, and Steve looks around, hands in his pockets as he takes stock of the future, the way it’s played out in this one man’s house. Tony himself emerges from a pile of sheet metal, cursing and brushing his jeans off.
“Hi,” Steve says, rocking onto the balls of his feet and watches as Tony slips under tubing of some kid, held up by books and a motorcycle and – what. “Is that-“
Tony follows his eye line, looking confused.
“A particle accelerator? Yeah, no big, I’m taking it down eventually. CERN just wouldn’t let me play with theirs.” Even as he says it, Steve is crossing to where his shield, his arm, is sitting under the pipes. He pulls it out, staring in horror at how much it’s been ripped apart. “Oh yeah, that. Sorry.”
Tony doesn’t sound it, and just shrugs.
“This is like part of my arm,” Steve tells him, meaning every single word of it.
Meaning it so much that something in the very back of his head says no it’s not.
You’ve never held it before.
It’s not yours.
Steve ignores it. This is his, the way it’s always been.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-23 07:50 pm (UTC)He’s too well trained for that. Look first, know second, decide to panic third. Or just don’t freak out at all.
WHO IS THE HE IN THIS. THAT IS THE QUESTIOn. Oh God. That's just unfair.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-23 07:53 pm (UTC)---
Topher starts the imprint with basic military training, all of it. Grab some Army, grab some Marines, grab some goddamn Coast Guard. It's all the same at it's core, anyway. The special forces are all brainwashed the same way, made to be unmoving and unthinking past the location and neutralization of threats. Captain America is, at his core, just that. Look first, know second, remove threat third. He wasn't trained to panic. The doll will not be imprinted with panic. It becomes a circle - no fear.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-23 08:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-23 07:53 pm (UTC)“Oh, and he loved that goddamn fucking shield.”
This is brilliant. Steve as Fury's Pygmalion holy crap.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-23 08:31 pm (UTC)“That’s not much. Lyrical though. Have you thought about writing a book?” Even as he says it, all snark intended, he’s turned back to his computer.
and
Now he’s never getting his body back. Topher overloads the guy’s original imprint, destroys it. Keeps the wedge at the back of his desk, but very much intends to forget about it.
and HOLY CRAP this:
Meaning it so much that something in the very back of his head says no it’s not.
You’ve never held it before.
It’s not yours.
This is full on awesome, thank you.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-23 09:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-23 10:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-09 04:59 am (UTC)And this, just - the newsreels being useless for the imprint, and Topher making the thing up out of the air, and Fury's nearly-nothing details, and “Oh, and he loved that goddamn fucking shield.” is the keystone of the thing...
And aaghh how easily Stark tech and Dollhouse slide together, and “A particle accelerator? Yeah, no big," you get the voice perfect, and and and
AND EVERY OTHER COMMENT IN THIS DOOMTHREAD. I want to play in your treehouse. I'll be the Justin Hammer tagalong <3
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-23 07:50 pm (UTC)But despite it all, he kind of likes Tony, in a "he's a good kid" sort of way he can't really shake even though he knows the memories aren't real and he's a decade or two younger, but he does. The guy tries. The guy tries so damn hard to be liked, to be a hero, it doesn't hurt to give it to him every once and awhile. A "good job," or a "couldn't have done it without you." Would be pathetically easy if he didn't have room to talk.
Anyway, that's beside the point. The point is this: Memory engrams are all well and good, but the tech isn't to the point of pure organics yet. Tony, whether he knows it or not, or at least his tech, has had a hand in neurons that fire into processors and processors that fire back. There's a microscopic tangle of wire in Steve's brain that makes Steve Steve, and so when he gets with a shock of alien electricity, and Tony does this thing where he thinks being a hero is getting yourself killed. Well. Extremis. Electricity. Memory Engrams. Tony's better at tech than he is at sacrificing himself proper, okay?
Steve wakes up to himself in a coma, mouth slack and eyes shut, when he turns his --Tony's-- head on the SHIELD medical bed and stares and stares and stares.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-23 07:57 pm (UTC)Steve wakes up to himself in a coma, mouth slack and eyes shut, when he turns his --Tony's-- head on the SHIELD medical bed and stares and stares and stares.
Gahhhh omg that is so perfect. I want to wrap myself up in this.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-23 08:37 pm (UTC)