7506/Freedom With a Side of Potstickers

Freedom With a Side of Potstickers
Date of Scene:	16 May 2019
Location:	Clint and Skye's, Greenwich Village
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Peggy Carter, Melinda May, Quake, Nyx, Hawkeye (Barton), Captain America

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Peggy Carter has posed:
Well, venturing out for a cup of tea had seemed like a good idea, and she met a fair enough, nice enough woman, but Peggy never thought about how many things would remind her of Daniel. Janet's comment about sitting by the phone, waiting for her guy to come home, it just reminded Peggy of what Daniel used to do and that, now, one day, he never got the call. She didn't come home. That was enough to kill whatever appetite she may have had and the need to roam the larger prison she was on simply went away. So, she's come back up to Medbay. She left Steve's buttondown behind as to not be recognized wearing his clothing (one can never be too careful when trying to keep a low profile.) but now she steps over to the bed she's been occupying and slips arms through it, the one piece of actual comfort she has left in this whole world.

Sweater on, she turns to stare in a mirror for a heartbeat or two. She almost didn't even look like herself, in those plain, gray modern sweats with her hair back. She pulls the tie out of her hair and shakes waves loose too. It still didn't look like her. Nothing looked right. "...bloody hell..." She breathes out, somewhere torn between wanting to hit something or simply cry.

Melinda May has posed:
Currently not entirely aware of Peggy's inner turmoil, May has not been idle since she last spoke with the former Director. The moment Medical came back with Carter's DNA results, phone calls were made, a car reserved, and all that fun stuff.

She arrives in Medical and heads straight for where the two women have been staying and (gasp!) actually knocks. She waits for admittance before entering, her SHIELD uniform gone and in its place fairly generic dark jeans, shirt, and low-heeled boots along with the ubiquitous jacket and a plain black tote bag in one hand. Immediately following her is one of the doctors from Medical who's been tending to Skye, and who promptly starts going through all of those 'I'm releasing you now, don't do anything stupid that'll land you back in here' things.

"Skye." She hands off the tote bag to the young woman before focusing on Peggy. "Director Carter, our doctors confirm that there's no more reason for keeping you cooped up here, so you're free to leave as well. I'm going to be driving Skye home if you'd like to accompany us to get out of the building for a while." All so innocent sounding.

As soon as the doctor finishes with the outtake instructions and Skye's changed clothes, May leads the two women to the motorpool and out of the building. They're driving for less than five minutes before she's placing a call over the vehicle's bluetooth connection. The person on the other line sounds older, and is most definitely not speaking English. She and May have a quick conversation and the call ends just like that.

Skye will likely know what that was all about.

The drive likely feels quick enough with the way Manhattan has visibly changed since 1975, but finally they're in an area that's all tree-lined streets and brownstones. Almost the same moment the reach the door of Skye and Clint's residence, another vehicle pulls up and a slightly stoop-shouldered Asian man approaches them with a nearly completely full brown paper sack.

"Go on ahead," May tells the other two. "I'll be right in."

Quake has posed:
Skye gives May a 'huh' look for all about about .005 seconds flat before the young woman groks what's in the bag and her glee is obvious. Likely the medical staff will share in this glee once Skye has exited their care, because 4.5 days of Skye on enforced bed rest and nobody is unaware that Skye is bored and wants to go home. Nobody.

She's the first one in the car, and practically quivers with excitement - it's likely excitment because she's also not supposed to use her powers for the next few either, even with the pills. Totally a condition of her release. As is frequent breaks while working (like Skye ever listens to that).

Once at Chez Miscreant, Skye makes her way in, leaving the door open behind her, calling out, "Hey, Hotshot? You alive? Guess who flew the coop. I figure we have an hour before May sends out the troops."

Totally lying, but that's half the fun.

When Peggy makes it in, she'll find the curtains are blackouts, and lined with what will prove to block more than light, and the livingroom looks like someone dumped a science lab in the middle of it, but for the couple of couches that still occupy a central space. Not that Peggy will know it, but the basement and the guest room are similarly decorated.

"Fuck I've missed this place."

One would almost think she'd been gone months.

Peggy Carter has posed:
While Peggy doesn't get most of what Melinda has said, she recognizes a few scraps of words, mainly food, and her stomach actually growls a bit aloud. She barely touched what little she had before her in the cafeteria, and med bay food isn't exactly exciting. She's starving for something good and that all sounded quite, quite good. She's still just wearing those borrowed sweats, not having a scrap more of clothing to her name other than the rust orange suit that is going to keep a place of honor in her eventual closet, but probably not get worn again for a long time. Oh, and Steve's sweater. She's still wearing that. It's the one bit of proof that she is human, she needs something of comfort and familiarity. She spends most of the car ride in silence, staring at the city around them with slightly wide eyes as she absently plays with her wedding ring.

Exiting the car and into the house is the same strange mix of fascination and silence. Peggy's trying to take everything in the way a trained agent's eyes would, and everything swings between either being so familiar it's like nothing's changed (the Village really is like that, especially brownstones) and then some things so modern they really seem out of a sci-fi novel. There is little in between. Peggy doesn't hesitate stepping inside, however, and politely slips off her shoes out of pure habit of going into someone else's home. "Skye... Do remember what Dr. Simmons said. No using your gifts for another few days, even while home." The British voice clips out gently. Partially as a reminder, but partially so whomever Skye is calling 'Hotshot' knows that she's still under medical watch. Yes, Peggy is tattling on her the first thing walking into Skye's own house.

Nyx has posed:
Samantha looks up from the spot on a couch she has taken over after her shift today, practicing on some technology that Fitz setup for her before d-day. Well as Samantha likes to think of it, it will probably have it's own codename or stuff in the annals of SHIELD reports once it can be put into them safely.

While she isn't the one that Skye was addressing about her breakout she is the one to fall for it. "Oh crap... you checked yourself out... Skye if you get in too much trouble they will bust you down and assign me to someone like Romanov..." she pauses not recognizing Peggy but then groans "Oh god you hurt yourself with your powers again?"

There is a pleading look to Peggy like she must be kidding. Of course Sam is mostly giving Skye a bit of teasing, covered with earnest teenager right now. Also she looks like.. what 18... how young are they recruiting them these days.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint is in the kitchen when Skye and Peggy come in. Just back from his little trip to Tibet he'd sent a message to May and Skye he was back and had a report then dove into helping Nyx with mission prep and generally getting the place back in shape.

"Right on," Clint calls from the kitchen cracking a beer and heading into the entryway. "Did you ICER her? Or is that just what you do to me while making an escape?" he asks handing over the beer, even as he spots Peggy. "Whoa, you may have picked up a tail though," he says. Damn that face as familiar but where'd he see it before... "Hey," he says with a wave as he ponders where he'd seen her before. "I'm Clint."

Melinda May has posed:
May follows the other two just a few moments later with a full brown paper sack, closing the door behind them all. She walks past them all toward the kitchen Clint just emerged from as if it were the most normal thing in the world (hint: it is). Her passing leaves a wafting of aromas that Skye and Clint at least will recognize instantly.

Once in the kitchen, May sets the bag on the counter and promptly turns to get the kettle going for tea. THEN with that important step out of the way she starts setting out the food containers and what plates and bowls and silverware aren't already dirty.

She leaves introductions to Skye, because she's a little bit evil that way.

Quake has posed:
"Ha!" Skye laughs, moving to give Clint a kiss. "Nope. I only ICER you. And that stupid Agent in mutant town." She notes his pause, and offers, "Clint, Peggy. Peggy, Clint. Peggy's kinda a guest at the Trisk. She needed some from air, so May said she could come for the ride. I think May wants more witnesses to the list of things I'm not allowed to do."

And yep, Peggy and Nyx chime in right on cue with the admonishments.

Peggy earns a, "Not you, too. Holy crap. Spend a couple days with someone and they jump right in on the teamwork." Not that Skye sounds bothered. In fact, her lips are twisted over a lopside grin.

Nyx gets a "Watchit. I can assign you to Hotshot here and you'll never make it out of being a trainee. And Nat's a fine agent. You can't do much better at SHIELD, so if you ever get the chance? Jump on it. You got it?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peggy's eyes track May across the room or, more so, probably the food. She's definitely hungry. But the man is here (Hotshot, if she could guess), and a probably trainee of Skye's, so it'd be rude just to book it to the kitchen. Therefore, Peggy remains near to her friend and brief roommate, a slightly awkward smile cutting across her mouth as she studies the other agents and then some of the utterly unfamiliar tech in the room. She could barely even guess at what she was seeing, the things were so beyond even Howard's work. Skye's protest of her tattling takes some of the awkward out of her smile, though, and lends a bit of wryness that actually manages to reach her eyes. No guilt, no apologies. "Someone's got to watch out for you, Skye. You are right shite at doing it yourself." She smirks.

Then she looks ahead, studying Clint a bit deeper since clearly Skye is fond of him in a way that isn't just sisterly or a teammate. Was this rough one good enough for her? For SHIELD? Probably, but it didn't mean he wasn't getting some mom eyes already. "Clint? Good to meet you. I... I'm Peggy." She was about to say her last name but, being that May or Skye didn't use it, maybe they were still trying to keep a low profile. Even if she looks very, very much like that statue in the lobby of SHIELD.

Nyx has posed:
Samantha smiles and leans back after setting down the computer hardware she was handling. She waves to Peggy "Hi there.. I'm Samantha, or Sam, nice to meet you Peggy." she considers the phrasing about being a guest of the Trisk. "Also big mood on being a guest at the Trisk." which probably is like a foreign language for Peggy.

She turns her look to Skye. "Ah come on I am just teasing... I am sure Agent Romonov is absolutely effecicient and amazing..." pause "If scary."

"Also can I say I am amazed at how fast she got your number Skye?" which she manages to look innocent saying, somehow.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint returns the kiss, chuckling about the other agent Skye had ICERed. "Oh right, Quick Draw Carson," he grins of the guy. He became something of a joke after that, losing to the 'IT girl' even if said IT girl had been trained by Agent May.

Speaking of the Deputy Director, Clint says, "Sorry about the dishes, just got home haven't had much time to clean up," he says before calling to Nyx. "Right Sam? You'll back me up on that right?"

As for Peggy, Clint wipes the damp off his hand from the beer and extends it, "Nice to meet you Peggy," he says. "Just so you know, Skye won't forget you ratting her out, but I appreciate it. And, I've sure I've seen you somewhere before, are you on TV or something?"

Captain America has posed:
It's been a long day.

Nix that, it's been a long 48 hours. 72? It's not worth much to keep track when he's finally all clear of the remnants of a growler's worth of Asgardian mead. Steve Rogers has learned what a hangover is like and man-oh-man: never again if he can manage it. How he was able to communicate with the Avengers' erstwhile Doe-bot was a miracle in itself; thank you, Tony, for being present, if only on-sceen and -comm.

Regardless, rumor's gone around that May's got food and it leads him to the door of Clint and Skye over in Greenwich Village. The rumble of his motorcycle announces him to those sharp of ear and he parks it before walking up to the door.

Shave-and-a-haircut for a knock, and he opens it to walk into the place. "It smells good in here. Is that potstickers?" Steve sounds tired if still good-natured, and he rounds the corner in a leather bomber jacket, fleece lapels and all, jeans and his combat boots. "Wonder sometimes if you all eat anything...else."

The man's voice as well as travel comes to a stop as he sees the gathered group.

The sweater.

His throat bobbles and pink touches the crests of his cheeks.

"Hey."

It's a quiet greeting, hollow if only because it contains too much all at once.

Quake has posed:
Skye makes a flapping motion with the fingers of one of her gauntleted hands, as much as if to say 'of course you appreciate it, traitor'. "I hate all of you," she laughs. Nodding to Nyx. "Yeah, she was my roomie in medical for a few. You'd almost think she's done this before."

If Samantha thinks Nat is scary, she should try May on for size. Skye would go toe to toe with Nat (and likely lose), but she's not insane enough to challenge May.

Peggy checking Clint out is most amusing to the young woman. "I think you're about to get the speech, Hotshot. You still have time to bribe me into saying nice things about you."

STeve's arrival gets blink, but not an unhappy one. "Hey, Bucky coming too? Close the door behind you, and sometimes we have pizza. Or barbecue. But I just got sprung so nobody thought to plan ahead." She ignores the awkward of his greeting to the room once he sees Peggy.

"So," Skye says in the tones of immortal storytellers everywhere, "I guess you all wonder why I've brought you here today." Sobering nearly immediately after that, and nodding to Peggy. "Sorry for what's probably a bit of subterfuge on May's part here - Hey, May, am I really sprung? - But yeah, this is our place. Mine and Clint's. This is where we bring our friends. Where everyone is safe to just be themselves, whatever that is." Pointedly. "Of course we look like Jemma and Leo decided to vacation here, but i promise there's a very good explanation for that."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"On TV?" Peggy chuckles lightly, "Once or twice, but that was quite a while ago. I wouldn't worry too much about it, Clint. Thank you for inviting me into your home. Skye has said utterly nothing about your existance yet, so you get to be evaluated on your own muck-ups." Peggy is all clipped British polite tones with just an edge of sass beneath it all to say she's probably far more dangerous and troublesome than her polite words and generic SHIELD sweats would hint. Her smile widens a bit more towards Sam and she tilts her head, "Samantha. I..." There is definitely confusion at her description of being on the Triskelion. "It was a... time. Yes." She flickers a look towards Skye and Clint that says 'Did that make sense to anyone else?'

Just on the edge of asking May about that food, and someone else comes knocking for it. Instinctively, she turns to put her back to the wall of the room, not being vunerable to the door that is about to open. Even if she doesn't have a weapon on her, and the knock sounded friendly, Peggy is always ready for a fight. She wasn't ready for the sound of that voice, though, or the man who walks in the door. Tension drops from her shoulders and her smile falls away into a hundred other emotions as she stands there, still wearing his oversized button down which looks like she's in her father's clothing and she clearly doesn't care. "...Steve." She rasps out after a moment. She's looking oddly more herself, hair combed into some soft waves and her classic red lipstick, if no other make up. It must have been in the pocket of her suit. The training sweats under that button are an echo of the BDUs or sweats they worn back in the SSR, if with more modern lines.

She clears her throat, forcing herself to remember to breathe, remember other people in the room, especially as Skye plows through introductions and admissions of the 'trick' here. "...it... it is nice to... Have a place to relax. And... food. We... we probably all need food, yes. Director May got... food." She was starving a moment ago.

Melinda May has posed:
With all of the food containers set out and the kettle still heating water, May moves on to cleaning up the kitchen while she's in here. Her jacket is hung over the back of the nearest chair and she's starting in on the piled and waiting dishes. Some of these are DAYS old. Tsk.

Then, there's the knock and Steve's sudden arrival. She abandons the dishes immediately and gets her phone to make a quick call to Gino's. She got a decently large amount of food, but not nearly enough for everyone here AND a super soldier. Luckily, the people at Gino's know Clint and Skye (perhaps a little too well), and in short order she's got food from them incoming. After that's done, the kettle has started to complain so she moves to get that taken care of, getting out the teapot she'd left here for this exact reason.

"Yes, you're really cleared from Medical," she calls back before stepping just far enough from the kitchen to be seen. "We should start before the food gets cold." Because cold potstickers are sadness. "Skye can continue to explain while we're eating." Her eyes catch on Peggy and she offers, "I also have some tea brewing."

Nyx has posed:
Sam smiles brightly when Skye waves her hands at her and mock says that she hates the all. "I can give super tips about stays in medical if you ever need advice." the young woman notes to Peggy and then she looks to Clint and nods solemnly "Clint totally didn't have time to clean up." yeah Sam has his back.

Of course this is all before things really go off the rails. "Wait.. food was a subterfuge... we still get food right?" and then she just goes quiet as Captain America (who she hasn't met yet) comes in and things get tenser in the room. She looks confused back and forth now between everyone. Finally she looks to May "Oh thank goodness, the cake isn't a lie." which also may lose people.

Quake has posed:
Skye meanders towards the kitchen and expects the others to follow.

"So, the welcome was sincere, Peggy, but today it was because we needed to be able to talk, and we can't at the Trisk. Zola is up to his eyeballs in our systems and has been for years, only we just found out about. Ooops. Partly my fault there, but that's not relevant to today."

She'd decidedly more serious in this mode. "So we came up with a plan both to oust him, and to hide what we're doing from him. this place was made clean ages ago so that I could work from home, and I tend to work on higher profile things than most and have a lot more exacting security standards. Turns out to be a bonus when you want a legit reason to move operations to your house - we're off grid as far at the Trisk and Zola are concerned, and because this is a known work area, we're hoping Zola is ignoring it."

"May arranged for our old furniture to go bye bye.. damn I miss that sofa.. and carrying on, only what she moved in was materials that Fitzsimmons needed to do their work as well."

"We're creating a myltipoint attack on him. Switching out the Trisk's mainframe. Inserting an ousting virus and a dynamic virus targetted to his engrams specifically at the source, while also relieving him of the materials that created me."

"Samantha there is our ace in the hole - she doesn't need to touch the computers to do the insertion. He's likely to be hyperfocused on me, and the rest of the crew will be manning a physical attack as a distraction."

She grins. "Welcome to Chez Miscreant, where it's never just a meal."

Captain America has posed:
Peggy sounds just as hollow as he does. And god, she's a vision from the past in brilliant technicolor -- that's //his sweat// --

Skye addressing him has the Captain coming out of his semi-shocked fugue. He blinks and looks at the young woman, replying to her, "Oh -- um, no, Buck's not coming, he, uh..." Wow, that's some deeper pink at his ears now. "He's got other plans," Steve explains, sounding vaguely guilty somehow. He appears to remember to close the door after another second or so, the motion stilted and precise, almost too hard to indicate a lack of composure.

A grit of his jaw and promise to himself that he'll not embarrass himself and Steve then turns back to the group. Apparently, there's subterfuge? Hey, there's also food, so the senior agent doesn't count himself too dismayed. How could he with a stomach turning over on itself in nerves? Hands seem safer in his pockets as he steps farther into the residence, somehow feeling as if he's intruding on something he shouldn't be.

The group may move as they please. Steve remains quiet as he sticks near the back of things, listening to Skye explain the whys and hows of their being here. The mention of Zola's name has his brows knitting in a thundrous frown rarely seen on him. Immediately, his eyes flick to Peggy as he inhales deeply, centering himself; fingers and toes still tingle in adrenaline's chilling rush. Hunger leaves him for now.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint grins, "Hey I brought you a beer!" he complains of having to bribe Skye to say nice things. He gives her a nudge with his hips careful to avoid her arms.

"And yeah, our house, your house, beer's in the fridge, but we've been told our brand is an acquired taste," he says.

"You're welcome Peggy," Clint answers before adding, "Though the whole de ja vu thing is totally going to bug me."

Nyx though, totally gets a grin and a thumbs up for her support with May.

Steve's arrival and Peggy's reaction are noted on the way to the kitchen the gears turning, then it clicks, duh, Steve and Peggy, Peggy and Steve, /that/ Peggy. "Holy shit," he breathes. I mean it was crazy but what else explained it, Skye gets a quick confirming glances before she goes into her briefing.

As for the briefing itself, Clint is quiet for the most part, taking a spot on the wall arms crossed in front of him.

"As for the physical attack," he chimes in at the end. "Looks like Zola got tipped off, when we stole his plane, he pulled out of his base in Tibet, but I got a tracker on one of his jets, he's in Austria now, and with hostages, metahumans most likely, given their inhibitor collars." Of course he means Inhumans but that's only a suspicion and he's trying to stick to the facts given the company.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peggy takes exactly one step closer to Steve when Zola is mentioned. Almost close enough to touch, almost. But it's also a subtle thing, to putting herself on the same level as him, standing in a sort of line, shoulder to shoulder. It's the way one would keep a line going into battle, or at least prepare one. Whether she's done it consciously, or the simple thought of going back into the fight against Zola means that's just where her brain feels like she belonds, she's standing there and listening with darkened, pinched eyes. Clint's realization of her identity receives a flutter of a smile.

"Yes, I'm... Margaret Carter. But it's been about fifty years since, apparently, I got caught up in a piece of one of Howard's experiments, so I am very much playing catch up. And just in time, it seems. I... fought them. I didn't want SHIELD to hire Zola. I... We..." She looks to Steve's blonde head for a moment, her fingertips intinctively playing along the edge of his sweater, "We saw the horrors he could commit. There was no... turning a new leaf for him. Clearly, I was right and... clearly they didn't listen."

She sighs and reaches one hand over, for just a moment, against Steve's forearm. A single squeeze. A touch of reassurance and familiar stability. This was a fight they both knew. One they've trained for. A heartbeat later and her hand is gone, she striding across the room towards the food. "Since you've brought me here, I am going to assume I've been verified. I need... a very large bowl of the beef you ordered, May, and access to every file you can give me on what Zola's been doing and his hire in SHIELD in the 1970s. I've got catch up to do."

Melinda May has posed:
May has the kitchen counter set with the food containers buffet-style, and she disappears again briefly while the awkward heads toward critical levels only to return a moment later with a lurid purple coffee mug filled about half way with gently steaming black tea. She sets the cup on the table Peggy in hopes of using it to steer everyone else toward the table. She'll make them sit and put plates in front of them like the Agent Mom that one of their consultants takes glee in calling her.

Serving the beef up for Peggy is the work of but a moment, and there's a potsticker set at the top of the pile of food.

Quake has posed:
Skye grabs a plate, sets it down on the kitchen island, and hops up to take a perch there. "Wait, what's that about Zola tipped off?" Not that it's a huge surprise, because the Cuba mission had gone a little sideways. Mostly she means how does Clint know about where he'd gone to and all, because she'd been kept out of the loop on matters. "So we know where he went, huh? How much time does that buy us?"

Because someone had put their ETA back a bit by injuring herself. Mentually she calculates the minimum time she still needs, and then a grace window of 'damn it would be nice to have this much extra time'.

"So we're all up to snuff, feel free to introduce yourselves properly, keeping in mind that nothing said here is cleared for outside space." Mostly for Samantha because while the trainee knew about the Zola business, it wouldn't do to have an accidental slip about Peggy. At least not until Peggy had had a chance to feel her own way around that matter.

Nyx has posed:
The stuff about Peggy does get a slightly wide eyed look from Samantha as she vacates the couch and heads towards the buffet style food May has laid out for them all "That's me secret weapon." calling back to Skye's briefing statement really. Honestly some of the wide eyed was how fast the time displaced person jumped right into the thick of it.

Still food must be got so eventually the staring stops and she gets a plate full of delicious pot stickers. "Oh introductions.. um... I'm Samantha Twining, Agent in Training but I've also got a plus one named Nyx.. which is an alien or time displaced Artificial Intelligence in my head with me." ah so complicated.

Captain America has posed:
Steve doesn't miss Clint's reaction either and while he doesn't smile, there's a subtle nod towards the archer -- yep, can confirm, good friend. He notes Peggy's movements and almost as one half of a reactionary dance, he steps up alongside her, solemn and silent. His gaze drops to his boots as he listens to Peggy explain further of her arrival. A nauseated twist of his mouth falls to resigned flatness to hear of how things played out in his absence. His was a gaping hole in the puzzle-field of SHIELD itself.

Her touch has him rising from the mire of grief over had-beens and looking over at her. The Captain has enough time to meet those dark eyes, glittering with intent, and he's washed over with memories of recognizing that expression across war tables, in HYDRA-owned hallways, and in the muck of trampled earth on a smoking battlefield. This is a flag he can rally behind. For the first time in days, he feels a dimple begin to show, even if it's still melancholy.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Alright. You're telling me he's been tipped off and something went sideways in Cuba. And we got his plane? Well...that's a start. I don't know what information you can get from it but... do planes still have black boxes? We could at least hard code track his previous movements from that, which should be separate from any cookie crumble trail he's purposefully leaving us... I also need to know just how bad it is in SHIELD's computers. From the way Skye was acting in Medical, he could be hearing every damn thing said there. Is that correct?" Peggy is in full work mode now, though she has no authority here and might not even be up to snuff enough to be on this mission, her mind clearly thinks like she is.

Bowl of beef and potsticker taken from May, she flashes the woman an starving, thankful smile, "You are the boss I always needed in my life and never had." That is... remarkably high praise from Peggy, all things considered, and how she could know that already is a bit strange but Peggy is good at reading people (genuis level good, according to her file) and May just takes command like few she's seen. Much less being able to work beneath a woman she respects. With that, she steps up to the couch and tucks in herself to the corner, nodding for Steve to join her, "Come on, Rogers. War's not over yet, it seems."

Melinda May has posed:
May nods in acknowledgement of Peggy's words. Inwardly, she is very much aware of how high that praise is, knowing as much of SHIELD's history as she does. "From what Skye has been able to determine, that is the case. There isn't a single system networked into the Triskelion that can't be accessed by Zola. We've found a few ways to convey information when we can't get clear, like sign language, but that's not infallible."

May returns to the kitchen as she's explaining to Peggy -- her voice carries well enough -- and snakes Skye's plate away from her to start loading it with food. Yes, at least two potstickers included.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint mimes a low whistle to Cap when his friend confirms his suspicions. Wow, how does this stuff even happen, but there's no time for those particular questions at the moment.

Instead Clint explains further, "Sort of," he says to Peggy. "What you suggested was pretty much our plan, we were infiltrating the plane to get the info off it's black box and things sort of went haywire and like you said, we ended up stealing the plane." Small smile at that, because as much as it made things more complicated it was pretty fricking awesome.

"Anyhow, we got lucky, we used what was on the plane to track down Zola's base as his people were pulling out and got a tracker on one of his planes, so we now know where his new base is," he says pulling out a SHIELD issue secure phone, and opening up the map. "It's here in Austria," he says.

The site should be familiar to Peggy, she and the Howling Commandos took it at the end of the war when Reinhardt was minding the shop.

"I've got two guys we can trust watching in case he moves again, but to answer your question Skye, we've got I'd say about two weeks or so, we can't trust our comms and satelites right now, and the observation post we have set up won't stay hidden forever."

Melinda May has posed:
Handing Skye her now full plate back with a fork (no chopsticks for now), May adds on to the end of Clint's words, "See if you can access either Google or the NOAA weather satellites. We can get close to real time images from either of those."

Quake has posed:
Skye takes her plate and wrinkles her nose at the lack of chopsticks. "Hey! I learned how to use those you know." Not that it stops her from picking up her fork and starting to eat. Also, just how was she going to with her hands anyway? "So what do we know of the new base, anyway?"

Smirking at Clint, "Things went haywire /after/ we decided to steal the plane. Why am I even admitting this." Because now there were both May /and/ Peggy to contend with. Not that May was likely going to be surprised, but Peggy at least had only a small sample size of Skye to go on.

"And cool. So the download worked, huh? at the end there I lost track of what happened." Because she'd not only passed out, but since then she'd been in medical,a nd then there was Peggy, and well.. Skye's life was a circus.

Captain America has posed:
Still hanging back to some extent, Steve eventually does make his way to the counters and their spread of food. He takes a plate and piles it with a little bit of everything, including three potstickers. A beer is scrounged up, something he won't remember later, and he returns to the living room in time to hear Peggy speak to him.

"War's never over, Carter," he replies in a dessicatingly dry tone very rarely used; the old, uncertain nerve stills with some mental pressure on his part. Still, with body language a little less reserved than before, he approaches the couch and sits down upon it with at least a half-body's worth of space between himself and the woman.

"I read through the paperwork on that mission," he adds, speaking to Clint and Skye primarily, May by proxy of her position in the hierarchy. "That's where Buck got his latest graze-wound from." He lifts his head to look at the map of Austria pulled up by Clint and gives Peggy a concerned glance.

This site he doesn't know.

Peggy Carter has posed:
A single brow arches towards Skye, skeptical and smirking, as the woman finally admits that they stole the plane THEN things went sideways. That's better. Peggy doesn't praise the coming clean, but smoothly moves onto the situation actually in front of them. Especially as Clint mentions that base. It was thirty years ago for her, but they spent so much time studying those halls and in the clean up, sometimes things just feel like yesterday. She leans in a bit closer, looking at the maps and what May manages to get pulled up from satellites. "...they... They'll just let you pull sattelite images, just like... *That*? And you can access them from a living room? This is on the Google?" She is a bit in awe, truthfully. Though her mind is boggling at the security risks to that alone.

Get it together, Carter. She shakes off the thought and looks back to the display. "I remember that base. Well. I... could probably redraw half of it just sitting here. But if Zola's in our records, he'd know that we have an entire map of that place and all its subbasements. Now... if they don't realize we're onto them, they might not have rearranged. Best I can do is give you what we found the first time. That still doesn't change the terrain and the best ways to approach, which means they'll be the last things we should use. But, if you want someone familiar with the ground, I'm your girl. I took the damn place once, I can help you all take it again." There is a happy sort of gleam in her eye, the excitement of actually being able to get back into the field was almost irresistable. As Steve settles down, though it's not directly next to her, her toes just slightly tuck under the edge of his leg. She took her shoes off to be polite in someone else's home, but now feet are cold and she's not even entirely aware of what she's doing physically, her mind off in tactical planning zone. She's just getitng comfortable, filling herself with food, and letting her brain work a mile a minute. Like the good old days.

Quake has posed:
"Actually," Skye says, setting her plate down and doing her thing with the available tech, "They can't. But I have access to all sorts of things that can." She's bypassed SHIELD altogether and accessed a whole other set of satellite feeds, neatly using the bypass codes Oracle kept them up to date on. Mind, SHIELD had access to some of these as well. It was, how should we say, a gift for being a good friend. Something of a gesture of trust between the two hackers.

After what seems like entirely too short a time, Skye has a screen broken into several viewpoint vantages, any of them easily focused in in and take a better look at. "Ta da. You know, if you didn't know what you were looking at this is pretty fucking innocent looking. Hydra is really upping their con game."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Yeah, we got the data, and then I ended up climbing a big old moutain to confirm it," Clint gripes to Skye.

He decides not to comment further on the theft of the plane instead nodding to confirm Cap's statement. "All in all though, despite the wounds and the rest, it went pretty well. For us anyhow."

Nodding to May, Clint starts on the satellite date before Skye takes over and he leaves it to the expert. "What she said," he says of Skye's explanation.

"Yeah, no doubt they made changes, but between your knowledge and what Skye can pull from the satellites we should be able to put together a solid plan of attack. Which is good, because on top of distracting Zola so Nyx and Skye can do their thing, he's got prisoners, likely metas, and god only knows what he's doing with them. I think we can all agree, getting them out needs to be a priority."

Captain America has posed:
Steve can be seen to jitter in place slightly as if tickled and dart a quick look down towards his leg. Pink returns at the tips of his ears and he tries very hard to not look overtly concerned about the current stance on things; really, the seating arragnement on the couch more than anything else. The Captain tries, instead, to look as if he's studiously enjoying the food he plated up for himself.

Skye's better showing of the Austrian site itself has him sitting up higher on the couch cushion, almost like a dog on point. The shift in weight will be noticeable. "They've probably preserved and fortified the interior, dug more escape tunnels. Used to use some heavy-weight steel in the war to withstand the bomber runs," he comments before putting another potsticker into his mouth.

Peggy Carter has posed:
As Skye manages to hack into things which AREN'T on Google, the images are present, clear, so much nicer than the black and white photos Peggy was working off half a century ago, and yet they look so damn familiar. They really hadn't changed much on the outside at all. For a few moments, it's Peggy's turn to be quiet, pulled back into those last few runs with the Commandos. Cleaning up after it was all over. Just missing capturing a few others, but getting Reinhardt and freeing some of his test subjects. "...I remember well what they were doing to their subjects back then. I... don't even want to think about it now, with everything else they have at their fingertips. The prisoners absolutely need to be a priority. HYDRA..." Cut off one head, two more will appear. The words echo in her head like the whisper of a stalker. She breathes through that flash and continues, "HYDRA... can always be handled another day. Those prisoners might not have another day. So, we need an extraction vehicle after we get in and take the place."

Finished with the food, she sets her bowl down and now just hugs that sweater around her. Either she was cold, or that touch of familiar comfort, along with the warmth at her side, was a true comfort in pushing back a few of those more vivid nightmares. "I'm... entirely uncertain of what your technology is. Once I understand our infiltration capabilities, I'll have... Better ideas than the drop in behind enemy lines and hoof if, like we did back in the day. Could we go in beneath, somehow? Trace where they've fortified from the surface from scans? How big of a team will the strike team get?" She's grasping at straws, drowning in ideas and not enough information to make any of them good.

Quake has posed:
"NIfty thing about underground stuff - you still have to have electrical and plumbing." It was sort of the human condition that folks liked light, and a place to eliminate their waste. "I can see if I can track those plans - at the very least, standard sets would skirt the area giving us a neat outline of where the underground boundaries should be, and possible points of egress."

She really doesn't wait for May's permission. Skye is mostly an ask while I'm doing it sort of girl. So by the time she's finished asking, she's already got several sets of blueprints and city logistical plans at her fingertips.

Melinda May has posed:
May watches Skye work, quirking an eyebrow only once at the clearly not Google satellite information. She can guess where it's coming from. She also doesn't seem perturbed by the lack of requesting permission. This is why they're here.

Having waited for everyone else to serve up plates for themselves, she puts together a plate with what food is left. It's not all that much. But then, there is still pizza incoming.

"We'll need to find a more covert way to get to Austria, it's likely that all SHIELD quinjets are compromised." She makes a mental note to ask about the Bus. That bird very intentionally has a separate and independent computer system.

Captain America has posed:
Having settled back into the couch's comfort again, Steve gives Peggy a lingering look when he's certain she's not got any direct attention on him. It was hell for him to figure out what on earth happened to life around him when he woke up from the ice. Sympathy wells in his heart for the woman even as he reminds himself that this is one tough broad. The sweater...she can keep it; it can have conveniently gone missing...or something.

"Private plane. Civilian-owned," he volunteers as to an idea. "Not Stark. He doesn't have anything less than shined and chromed last I checked. Somebody here's gotta know a civilian pilot or know someone who'd be able to keep their mouth shut about flying us out."

Quake has posed:
"As it happens," Skye says - those who are just getting to know Skye are going to find this is a very familiar phrase the young woman uses, "I happen to know a few people who can help us in that department.."

A look is shot to May who should know exactly who Skye means at this point. "Shall I?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Steve's sudden jitter and look is noticed by Clint and he shoots the man a covert, but curious look. Trying to avoid calling attention to it while everyone's looking at the screen.

Nodding to Peggy, he says, "Glad we're on the same page," he says. "As for an extraction vehicle that's where things get tricky, with computers being in everything, even our planes can be compromised. We'll need something with VTOL and detatched from the regular systems." There's a glance to May with that statement, since she was the resident ace pilot as well as the deputy director. "As for keeping it all under wraps, either we need to not file it or set up another reason to head to Europe." A beat. "Also, it wouldn't hurt if we sent out people to 'look' for Zola's new base, he's watching us, so if we look like we don't know where he went, it's got to make him feel safer."

A nod to Steve, "He's not wrong about Stark's planes. Though you can't beat the sound system."

Then back to business, Clint says, "Strike team's a bit of a thing like transport, we can only rely on people we can trust, so we're likely going to be small. The people in the room and a few others."

Skye's comment gets Clint's attention, and he looks expectantly to May.

Melinda May has posed:
May nods to Skye, then at a knock on the front door puts her plate down and goes to answer it.

Pizza's here.

Once she's settled the bill with the delivery person and closed the door again, she carries the new round of food toward the kitchen. "I have an idea for a way to get there and back covertly, but this will be a huge gesture of trust toward your friends, Skye." She means to allow them access to the Bus's systems to make sure the bird's not been compromised. "She'll be able to get us there and back, and is VTOL capable."

Not many birds in SHIELD's stable that May refers to specifically as she. That might be a hint that Clint will pick up on.

Peggy Carter has posed:
To anyone else in the room, Peggy looks like she's not missed a single step. Woke up, got cleared, right back in for action. It's only, probably, Steve who can see the slightly deeper lines of tension around her eyes and the uncertainty in the set of her lips. She's off-center. More than a bit overwhelmed and clinging to every last inch of work she can find here like a life boat in a hurricane. It's the most subtle things, but the name 'Stark' stings like a whipcrack. Her feet against his leg twitch, just a bit, breath stopping a moment as she reminds herself this is Howard's son, not Howard. Howard is gone... But that gives her an idea.

"... Howard... had a whole slew of planes. Big and small. Not with modern technology but he sure as hell put some of his own tricks on there. If we could talk to his son, see what is still around... You'd be surprised how many people we could get on one of them. He even had some light reflection technology he was developing for SHIELD on a few of them. If... if your current contacts don't work, that is."

Then May chimes in with her idea, and Peggy arches a brow. Her eyes flicker to Steve for a moment, trying to get the read on the whole situation from his face more than anyone else. She KNEW him. She could pick up what were good ideas, and what weren't, from him more than from anyone else. "...and, depending on space on the planes, if the whole strike team can't get back, we send back the prisoners. There's more than one way out of Austria that isn't on a plane."

Captain America has posed:
Clint gets to notice another little jitter from Steve on the couch when Peggy moves her toes, this time accompanied by the shift of his fork. He catches the utensil before it hits his lap, a quick and precise motion, and finishes chewing his chipmunk'd cheekful of food -- had to stash it there, otherwise he might have swallowed the ball whole and man, choking is not a great state to be in.

The Captain's attention flickers from speaker to speaker and ends up on May in the end. His eyebrows flick high. Potential: this idea has potential, if it's what he thinks it might be. A glance over at Peggy is accompanied by the faintest ghost of a dimple and a nod especially to her addendum as to prisoners.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Realizing he's yet to have any of the chinese, Clint grabs a silce of the pizza when it's brought in.

"We'll all get out," he assures Peggy. "One way or the other," he says as May and Skye hammer out the details of their flight. "And yeah, Tony has a ton of planes too, with some... interesting features on some of them," he says with a faint smile.

"Anyhow, what we've got here are the details I've got so far," he looks to the others. "So, I guess we need to prep the computer side, nail down transport and our strike team."

Melinda May has posed:
Unbagging the items that apparently came with the pizza (garlic knots, anyone?) she puts several tiny clumps of buttery, seasoned, toasty bread onto a small plate and carries them over to Peggy and Steve. She's expecting that sampling them will entice at least the latter to get up for seconds.

She also refills Peggy's tea while she's over there.

"Leave arranging transport to me, so long as you can get your contacts to scrub her for any outside influence."

Quake has posed:
Food forgotten, Skye busies herself sending out feelers against the contacts she's confirmed with May they'll be using. While the others eat, a flurry of code and text leaves her computer as she nods to May. "Done and done. All we have to do is send word and the passcodes when we're ready an they'll tie up their end of things for us, leaving our guys to cover the rest of the deets."

She sighs, "Why does this feel a hell of a lot more complicated than Tidepool was?" Like Hammerfall so many details needed to fall into place correctly. Like Tidepool, the stakes were high.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"The... bus?" Peggy asks. She's clearly missing something, as she looks between Melinda and Skye. "No offense, ladies, but... Unless they have changed busses, I am not quite certain how that will get us across an ocean." Peggy quite feels like she's missing the mark on something, so she looks over to Steve to see if this makes any more sense to him than herself. That's when it hits her that she's sitting in a manner which is probably ENTIRELY unprofessional. Cold feet or not. Thrown totally off center, or not. They were working. She forces herself to pull her legs down, stocked feet on floor now, as she sits up straight and forward in her seat the way Steve was before. The fresh tea and garlic knots are just a good excuse for that, as she wraps her hands around the newly steaming mug, "Mm... Thank you, May." She echoes gently.

The way she sits now, it puts her bodily a little closer to him, but not quite touching. Just close enough to feel that warmth of leg and shoulder as she leans a bit closer over the plans, nursing her tea like an old friend. "Count me in for the strike team. I don't know who you've got leading, but I suspect I know that terrain better than anyone. And... the learning curve on your technology is undoubtedly too deep for me to be effective on it for... Some time to come." Even admitting that is a deep sting to her ego. Peggy Carter has never said she's bad at anything, but she has to be practical here and she's in a totally new world.

Captain America has posed:
May must have a sixth sense for empty plates, given that the very platter is set off to Steve's side, where no one's seated but a decorative throw pillow. He too is grateful for the cover of the arriving garlic knots and tea, and he takes the former while the latter goes to Peggy. The man considers the plate and takes one before glancing over at the woman sitting beside him.

"Peggy's not wrong. The place is practically our backyard." 'Our' - inclusive in his joking now, even as he offers the plate towards Peggy. "Count me in. With the resources we have at hand, it'll be just like old times." To the brunette sitting beside him, he adds, "And guns are still guns. Nothing's changed there." Again, the ghost of a dimple shows. Caution keeps warring with a self-questioned elation at being thrown into the heart-throbbing, teeth-clicking, breath-taking violence of combat -- like old times indeed.

Melinda May has posed:
Yes, May noticed how Carter had her feet tucked under Steve's leg. And while that sort of casual posture is completely normal anymore, she understands why the brunette abruptly shifted to a more formal stance. As she steps back around to carry the teapot into the kitchen she (oops?) knocks a fuzzy puple throw blanket from the back of the sofa so it falls against Peggy's back.

She nods as Skye confirms that she's sent out feelers to her contacts. "This IS more complicated than Tidepool. And you're orchestrating it, you're not just a single player." She reaches to steal Steve's empty plate as she goes.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
It's hard not to notice Peggy and Steve but Clint does his level best, which apparently includes a snuck glance at Skye coupled with a bemused look.

"Anyhow, I figure we leave things off for now, enjoy the food and company, and we work out the roster over the next little bit, how long until the computer side is ready?" he asks Skye.

"And definitely more complicated," he agrees.

Peggy Carter has posed:
A single brow arches in May's direction. Peggy Carter sees you, Director May. She knows those old tricks. She's not judging, but she sees, a thankful and amused flicker crossing those dark eyes before she returns to sipping her tea. Steve's comment about that being their back yard gets a full smile she can't supress. It's been too long. She's missed it too much. A warmth that always comes with the thrill of action runs up her spine. "Well, it's been about a decade since they let me go into the field -- Director apparently meant sitting mostly behind a desk when I got officially promoted. Glad to see they let you out of the bullpen, May. But... I kept up conditioning and still was one of the best shots in SHIELD, so I think I can manage another mission. For old times' sake. Who will be leading the strike team on the ground? Barton? Rogers? Is... Lieutenant Barnes up to field work again? I don't know where he is in... well.. In however you all got him out of there. Once I know who I'm reporting into, then that'll be a good start once I finish studying what information Skye's pulled."

Quake has posed:
Skye lets the others talk the actual rescue mission; it won't be her, though she'll need to know the details. BAck at the Trisk, Jemma and Leo would be on hardware duty and tending to the insertion of code here. Oracle would be remotely watching the bus. And she? She'd be keeping Zola's eyes off of Samantha.

"Samantha and I are a separate team. The rest of you are a distraction. Main mission is the code. Secondary is the materials. Tertiary is the rescue."

But because each mission was at a different point, each mission also dealt with their part as though it were primary. Only as a whole...

Melinda May has posed:
"They don't let me out of the bullpen, Carter. I choose to leave." Are they gonna try and stop her? The Ops agents are the best at what they do, and if they can't keep doing their jobs when there's not someone in Fury's place, there's a problem.

This is technically Skye's mission, so she leaves it to the younger agent to get all of the headaches that go with being in charge. Of course she'll offer advice and suggestions as the younger agent asks. If she asks.

For her own part, May will be driving the Bus. That should be enough.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"...We'll...figure ground command when we get closer. For now..." Peggy unfolds from the couch, having finished tea and food, "I...think I could use some fresh air. Looks like you have the impossible back yard in New York? If... you all excuse me..." And Steve is given a look. "Captain, perhaps... we could chat a moment or two? About the mission?" Not subtle in the least, but after everything, what good did subtle get them? She nods to May, cracking a bit of a smile at the bullpen thing... And then leading out.