Oliver Sulivan and Niah Bautista
Physical therapy had been rough, but Niah could walk again. She was determined too. She entered the gym at work and stared at the treadmill. She was going to get back into running. She missed it too much. After a moment of stretching and testing the leg, she felt satisfied and started the treadmill, going slow at first. It was easier to start on the treadmill because she could control the speed and angle and if she needed to tap out she wouldn't have to worry about trying to get back to work.
Stepping into the gym, Oli looked for a brief moment to see Niah, and flinched for a moment. He didn't particularly
want to exercise in front of other people, but he had to get better, and not be a liability to the team. He didn't want something like the White House to happen again, and that meant actually getting his body into some kind of shape. Superpowers had been a crutch for him ever since he got them, and he needed to learn to be independent without them. Almost as a joke, he stepped on the treadmill next to Niah, turned it on, and said, "
I don't know if this counts as exercise for me, what do you think?" as he started to walk on it.
Niah laughed.
"Hello Oli. You still burn calories. What you should do though is not train for speed, but control. Also considering your charley horse you should stretch." She gave him a humorous smile.
"I can give you some tips if you'd like. I'm really in the deep of getting back into shape." Her humor didn't leave her voice as she referenced the damage that had been done to her.
Oli laughed back and said, "
That's... probably a good point. I've been reading what I can, but I'd still appreciate some pointers if you could toss them out." He said, powering down the treadmill, and elevating his leg by stepping off, and putting his foot forward, and twisting his hip a bit, stretching his calf. "
I kinda got thrown into all this field work, I'm used to being behind a computer, but that feels like a waste when I can zip around like I can, you know?"
Niah understood exactly where Oli was coming from. She slowed down her own treadmill until she was walking and then took a step to the side carefully, she kept a hand on the rail not entirely trusting her balance yet.
"Oh believe me I understand. I am used to being in a lab. My powers blended themself to it quite well too." She took a sip of water from her water bottle and then said,
"As for stretches I recommend calf and quad stretches as some of the most important. You want to be gentle with the stretch and not overdo it, that is just as bad." Niah continued to explain stretching some. She told Oli,
"I used to run every morning. Maria and I often would run together. Without her living here I don't have a running partner anymore." Matt ran too, but the two of them didn't get along well.
Oliver smiled at the tips, and tried to put them into action, feeling a pop out of back of his leg, and he made a small, surprised noise. He needed to learn more about his body and how to actually take care of that, so his joints didn't crack like pop rocks whenever he was gearing up for a fight. Nodding at Niah he said, "
You know, if there's one thing I'm suddenly very good at, it's running. I'm pretty sure I can keep up with you as much as you need." Oliver said that, but he didn't actually know if that was true or not. For all he knew, his lungs might give out the moment he tried to run without using his powers.
Niah smiled. It would be nice to have someone to run properly with again.
"Running in San Francisco is a whole different beast from anywhere else. I haven't tried since..." She started to trail off,
"Well not since I lost my leg. Mostly because I know if I get to the point where I can't anymore I'll have to rely on the tech to bring me back and I should be careful about using it." She had played around with it in the lab with Sparky, but that wasn't the same as being out in the field.
"What do you say to a jog over to a bubble tea place and back?" Oli nodded at her, he didn't think he'd ever had bubble tea before, being the welshman he was, he wasn't opposed to any sort of tea. Besides, he'd been wanting to spend more time with Niah, after barely surviving an encounter with a monster from hell, he felt like they should have quality time that didn't endanger their lives. "
Let's do it!" he agreed, happy to get outside today. He'd been wanting to try some actual running anyway, find out what it's like to jog around
anywhere at a speed that didn't make the rest of the world seem like it was standing still.
Niah swung by her room and grabbed a bag, she already had her water bottle for the gym. There wasn't much reason to get out of the gym clothes since they were going to be jogging. She gave Oli time to get his own things that he might want for the jog. Once they were on the streets she smiled at Oli and said.
"Alright, if you get worn down while we're jogging we can slow down. I know I probably will too." She turned and while Oli couldn't see her face she chewed on her lip worrying. Her hand almost started toward the new necklace but she caught herself.
"Let's go." She said and started a slow-paced jog.
Having only just stretched and already leaving so soon, Oliver didn't have anything he needed to grab before leaving. He didn't
think he was going to get worn down, but as much as his mind liked to toil over things, he hadn't actually taken much time to understand the physical mechanisms by which his body allowed him to zip around, so he didn't open his mouth with any form of snark, in case he got winded after a few minutes. Following not far behind her, Oliver didn't have any trouble keeping up. He felt like he could go faster, but didn't signal that. Instead, he just enjoyed the jog with her, taking in the city and the day. As they got to bubble tea, Oli realized he had no idea how to order a drink that he had no real conception of, and turned to Niah to say, "
Um... so, could you order for me? I'm not quite sure what to get." He realized that might sound dumb or flirty, and he rubbed the back of his head, trying to keep himself from blushing.
The jog was nice. She could tell she was getting worn down faster than she used to and would probably have to walk back to Headquarters, but at least she had done this much.
"Hm, you should try a basic one for your first try. How sugary and how much ice do you like your drinks?" When they got to the front of the line. Niah ordered two drinks. One was fairly basic with sugar and ice to Oliver's liking, but she made sure there was boba in it so he could try it. For herself, she ordered a Nutella Milk Tea with high sugar and low ice with boba.
While they waited Niah decided to chat with Oliver. The jog itself hadn't led to much conversation as they were keeping their breath under control.
"You handled that really well." She smiled, and considered what some of her thoughts had been since the incident at the hospital. She was ready to live her life.
"We should go for dinner. If you're interested." She could tell her sentence was going to get away from her if she wasn't careful.
"That is to say, I would be interested in dinner with you." God please don't let this be a HR nightmare. Oliver poked curiously at the bubbles in his tea with the straw. He didn't think he'd ever actually had tapioca, but it was oddly chewy in his mouth. He didn't hate it, but he didn't totally get it either. It certainly was fun, and sweet, and
tea, so he wouldn't be opposed to getting it again in the future. At the question, Oliver swallowed hard in surprise. He was not expecting her to be that forward in any universe. Thinking quickly for a moment, his head ran through the different possibilities. If he said no, things would be awkward for the rest of the time they worked together, but if he said yes, things would probably be fine, unless their relationship ended in tragedy. That all being said, he
wanted to have dinner with her, and so he said, "
What a coincidence, I am also interested in having dinner with you. How about we grab some Thai?" He hoped that didn't sound clunky or awkward, but that was about the best he had.
Niah smiled and her shoulders relaxed a little.
"I like Thai. Sorry if I came off as forward, but I've decided that I don't want regrets. I've spent so much of my life debating over questions and not living. My last relationship..." She trailed off a bit.
"It ended before it could really begin. He died during the Phase Three testing." She told Oliver honestly. Since he hadn't been around for that she figured he should know.
Oliver smiled at what she said, "
Honestly, that makes sense, and I'm right there with you." He admitted, "
After the attack on Cardiff, and the cancer scare with my mom, and almost getting murdered by a demon bear in a twisted nightmare hospital... well, my point is, life in our line of work is too dangerous to not actually live." The color drained from his face at hearing that from her though, and said, "
I'm sorry to hear that." He wasn't quite sure what else he could say about that, not wanting to come off as insensitive. IT felt too soon to promise he wasn't going to die, especially because he didn't know if that would be true or not.
"It isn't your fault." She gave him a smile. Niah was joking obviously.
"I left the team for a while because I needed some time, but ironically the demon bear did a better job of getting me to deal with everything I've seen." She gave a shrug.
"You've had to deal with a lot too. It has been rough. But we've figured it out. The future is unknown right. We just have now." A look of faux relief at being absolved of responsibility for the death of the person he'd never met danced across his face, before saying, "
Yeah, the demon bear kinda helped me too." Oliver started to say, and then tacked on. "
I think.. that might be a new sentence. I sincerely doubt any human has ever put those words together in that order before." He chuckled to himself, before continuing, "
I think, oddly, a part of me is scared of turning into, or at least, being seen by people who don't know me as being the same as Thanos. The last thing I want is to be tossed in the Raft because the government decides I'm too much of a risk to be free." Oliver frowned, and sipped down some more tea. "
But, yeah, the only way to the future is to live through the present, right?."
Niah nodded as Oliver explained what he was afraid of. She wanted to promise that she'd never let them, but she had tried once before to get someone out of the Raft. That had failed miserably. If she had just been able to get him to work for SHIELD not against it. A regret that there wasn't anything she could do about it now.
"You're reasonable to have that fear. I'm not worried about you being evil. I've seen you struggle to make sure the right thing is done. All you can do is keep fighting against people's assumptions of you. Remind them that this place is your home and you want to protect it." She smiled. That's all she wanted was just to protect Earth and those she loved.
"Remember what Dr. Larson said about protecting just one person. That's what matters. It can be an idea or a place too. As long as you have something to hold onto in the world." Oliver smiled at her words, and said, "
I just... I never thought I'd be a ... hero? That word feels weird." He admitted, but what else do you call somebody with superpowers fighting for the fate of his planet? "
I kinda intended to be off to the side most of my life, but more than anything, think a lot about the reason Thanos came to kill me, I'm supposed to kill him? It just wasn't ever what I planned." He shrugged, and then continued, "
But hey, if I gotta only protect one thing, how about I protect the entire universe from him?" Oliver suggested jokingly, knowing that he way overscoping himself on that.
Niah understood exactly where Oliver was coming from. She snickered at his joke.
"A lot of the old prophecies were self-fulfilling. I believe Thanos has done this to himself. He has made an enemy of you, and you would not have been before." She took a sip of her tea savoring the sweetness.
"But I understand where you are coming from. I'm a Forensic Scientist first. I expected to be in a lab most of my life. Joining Phase Three put me on a very different path. When I took time off from the team I couldn't stand seeing you guys leaving and going to fight, on the moon, without me. I couldn't stand knowing you had one less person helping." She shook her head.
"That's why I came back. Now I know I'll most likely die in the field. But I'll die doing what I love and have dedicated myself to doing. Being a SHIELD." She grinned at her own joke.
"You'll be great at protecting the Universe." Oliver rolled his eyes playfully at the pun, "
Using a backronym for a pun is cheating." He pointed out, before finishing off his tea and throwing the cup in a nearby garbage. "
Well, Niah, I appreciate your vote of confidence, and balk at the true immensity of the task in front of me, saving the Universe and all." He said, laughing a bit, "
Let's hope I'm not the universe's only hope, but I'll give it my best effort." And with that, Oli and Niah committed to going on their first date, setting the stage for what would hopefully be a long and fruitful relationship.
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