capeandcowl | 24 ⊗ video ⊗ might've liked to know this earlier

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† hank mccoy | beast

24 ⊗ video ⊗ might've liked to know this earlier

[Hank is huddled over his worktable, playing with a small camera.]

I've always been something of a tinker, even since I was a child. [He gives the lens a momentary smirk.] But you'll know this already, you've seen it.

Even with having some sort of block this past month, wondering if I was doing something wrong when all the pieces seemed like they were in place. I know that because I checked, double-checked, ran diagnostics, tried alternatives. Took the every prototype apart and rebuilt it numerous times, trying my best to isolate and work out any kinks.

And even then, we never detected a single Skrull until they revealed themselves. But see, there was still one thing I'd never gotten to tinkering with. Funnily enough, the first thing I noticed when I returned.

[He points to the camera.] I keep this remote camera for Network interface when I prefer to work hands-free. It shorted out while I was gone, and I hadn't had time to repair it. Doing so would require familiarizing myself with the circuitry of the new communicators, in order to copy it.

So, tell me. How many of you had your communicators in Times Square last night? [He holds up a small silicone tube to the camera, almost buried in his large fingers.] And who can tell me what this is?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Not all harmful actions will be. This does little to erase our culpability in them.

This is like the Registration Act all over again. We do what we have to so that we stop whatever's trying to kill us or hurt the City or both. And whatever collateral damage there was, it's still a hell of a lot less than there would've been if we hadn't done what we did.

This isn't about registration, Julian, it's about being responsible for the results of our actions. Things are never as black and white as you'd like them to be!

That's what they said registration was about! Except it wasn't. I don't think things are black and white. [ That's exactly what he thinks. ]

I just know they can't have it both ways. If they want us to protect them, this is the risk they take.

And how much of it is really their desire for our protection, rather than our entitlement that we should be able to place ourselves in a position to give it?

Are you kidding me? The bad would be happening whether we gave enough of a damn to stop it or not.

If one person has to die so I can save a hundred, I'm making that call. Tell me you wouldn't do the same.

That isn't for me to choose. I'd rather save one hundred and one.

[And he can't help thinking who else would abandon the one for such a thing.]

There isn't always that choice. This time there wasn't.

[ He has to justify it. To do anything else would mean admitting their actions were wrong.

And if their actions were wrong...then those deaths are on their hands. That's not something he can deal with right now. ]

Because we never looked.

[That's just part of the job, Julian. Every death is on their hands.]

Because not acting would've been worse and we didn't have a choice.

I never said that we shouldn't have acted, only that we could have acted better.

By doing what?

If we collectively devoted half the energy to it as we did paranoid self-sabotage, we certainly could have formed some plan of action.

They tried that, and ended up putting a bunch of the wrong people in jail.

That's what I meant by paranoid self-sabotage. We caught one, but the others weren't uncovered until they saw fit to be so.

That was them trying to organize. You can look back on it and say we should’ve done better, but everything they tried just didn’t work. So we did what we had to and saved whoever we could.

I won’t feel sorry about that. I’d do it again. If we had to.

Yes, but they organized it around the fea--

[Wait. Seriously, Julian?] You mean you'd let innocent people die for our benefit? Congratulate ourselves on the few we saved while dismissing the ones we couldn't as impossible?

We can do better, we're supposed to do better! If we're to be heroes, we need to act like it, not just cavalierly exert ourselves on situations and demand to be respected for even making the effort! That's...it's irresponsible, unaccountable!

We were accountable for rooting out the Skrulls. For stopping them. Half that fight's still to come. No one wanted people to die, I didn't! None of us did. No one did, except for them. Because that's why they came here. We had to do whatever we could to stop them.

So yeah. If it came to it, I'd do it again. Are you seriously gonna tell me you wouldn't?

But have we remained accountable for the mistakes made during that? They came here because of us, Julian, it's part of a cycle that began with us, and only continues because we're still here and we insist on galavanting around as if we're owed respect by that mere presence.

We've grown conceited, forgetting why we do this, the very ideals behind it!

You're talking like we chose to be here in the first place! None of us did! None of us asked to be brought here, so us being here isn't our fault. And their being here isn't our fault either, we don't control any of this crap! We just did what we could to make sure as few people got hurt as possible, and now we're carrying the can for a fight we never asked for! And that's wrong. However way you look at it.

It is't our fault that we arrived, but it's our responsibility what we do with it now that we're here!

[He snaps Julian's comm back together, everything in place, and slides it over, cross his arms afterwards.]

This wasn't heroism, Keller, and we can't pretend that it called for wartime tactics, either. While we may have survived this, it was only by the skin of out teeth. We did not win.

[ He actually agrees with that. ]

Which means there’s more to come, because they’re still here! For everything we did, it still wasn’t enough so there could be worse to come. And if it does, what do you want us to do then? We have to win. We have to beat Vulcanus. For all their sakes, not just ours, and while we do it they’ll just hate us more.

Not if we do it right. At least, not as much.

Some of them are sure to hate us anyway, that much we can't pretend otherwise about, but self-aggrandizing attitudes and stubborn dismissal of the harsher aspects of the situation will only further encourage that.

If they hate us, we make it a result of their own dysfunction. We can't allow ourselves to justify it.

We can't allow ourselves to be afraid, either! If the only way to win is by doing what we did, that's what we have to do again. Because it's a hell of a lot better than the alternative, Professor. I'm sorry, but it is.

But, if it can be done differently, better, we can't just jump to such methods.

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