Logs:Basic Human Dignity

Basic Human Dignity
Dramatis Personae Fury, Steve
In Absentia	2022-05-13 "This ain't about justice -- it never was -- it's politics."
Location <NYC> Director's Office - S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ - Times Square
This corner office is big, bright and airy, which is not cheap to come by in midtown Manhattan. On one side, a huge glass desk sits in front of the floor-to-ceiling window looking out over Times Square. The far corner has a leather couch, a coffee table, a liquor cabinet and a sideboard, but the rest of the floor space was left open between eclectically stocked bookshelves. It's been as calm a morning as SHIELD has had all week when the door swings open to admit one (1) angry Captain America. Or maybe that's Captain Friend Bear? Steve is dressed for neither superheroing nor Care Bear-ing in a yellow New Leash on Life t-shirt, his only mildly paint-splattered work jeans, and worn, scuffed-up combat boots, the shield on his back adorned with Friend Bear's (smiling!) crossed sunflowers. He does not slam the door behind him, though he looks sorely tempted as he swings it firmly but carefully shut. "Why the hell" he's demanding before he's even quite reached Fury's desk, "aren't you allowing Jax to have visitors?" Behind his desk, Nick Fury does not even bother looking up from his screen until his unannounced visitor starts speaking. His eye fixes on Steve, blank and unreadable. "I got a bet going with Maria how long it'd take you to barge in here and I'll have you know you just lost me chunk of change with your self restraint and I ain't best pleased." He closes the laptop in front of him and steeples his hands. "That said, the literal answer to your question is in all the publicly available documentation about the transfer of jurisdiction that I am sure you've read." Fury's initial reply seems to catch Steve off-guard, and for a moment he just stands over the desk, glaring down at him. It does not take him long to decide not to dignify the comment about the bet with a response. "I've read the -- documentation. It's bullshit and you know it." He straightens up a little and looks past Fury's chair at the bustle of Times Square, though the protest has not yet started today. "Setting aside whether he should be in there at all -- and he shouldn't -- he literally took a passed on a jailbreak. He's not going to run!" Fury sighs and, rising from his chair, turns to follow Steve's sightline out onto the plaza below. "You think I don't know that? If I could turn right around and let him out I'd've done it already, but I don't get to decide that." He waves Steve over to his side, where there's a better view. "This ain't about justice -- it never was -- it's politics. Even setting aside the whole mutant terror hokum, I got to tread lightly with Uncle Sam or he gon' stomp me and anyone in a ten-block radius." Steve narrows his eyes, but does go to Fury's side when he beckons. "What do you get to decide, then?" This is still pointed, though he sounds a little calmer than he was before. "How lightly do you have to tread? I suspect the sheer bureaucratic nightmare involved with transferring jurisdiction will raise the bar for DHS demanding you hand these folks back" "I get to decide not to do all the actually illegal things HAMMER was doing, and that's more'n you probably think." Fury leans back casually against his desk, his eye tracking up. "Anything beyond that I'm gonna have to explain. But I can bullshit with the best of them, so..." He strokes his beard thoughtfully. "The US government may not have any obligation to listen to the Human Rights Commission, but we do. I can probably finagle at least getting them some Internet access and video calls to approved visitors." He levels a flat look at Steve, "Does that satisfy you, Cap?" Steve continues gazing down at Times Square even after Fury looks away. His eyes cut back to the old man, sharp and displeased. He doesn't answer at once. "No. But it's a start." Sighs. "Thank you, Director. But it shouldn't take this much palaver to get half a shred of basic human dignity. Not for Jax, not for anyone." "No." Fury agrees heavily. "No, it should not. I will try to get them in-person visits, but that'd be a taller order at the moment." He gives Steve a searching look, his eye narrowing very slightly. Then all at once he looks away and straightens up, clapping Steve on the shoulder. "C'mon. Lemme pour you a drink."