11863/Gotta Get Back In Time

Gotta Get Back In Time
Date of Scene:	29 July 2020
Location:	R and D Labs, The Triskelion
Synopsis:	There is a surprise in the storage rooms at R&D. This one has a name: Peggy Carter!
Cast of Characters:	Peggy Carter, Captain America, Black Widow (Romanoff)

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Peggy Carter has posed:
SHIELD is a lot of important work, but it's also sometimes lots of annoying, busy work. And sometimes it's cleaning out the dustiest, oldest storage in the back of the labs where the strangest prototypes were kept to make room for, well, more strange prototypes and experimental designs. Most of the boxes that came out of this round were from the 70s, all with the original, more chunky SHIELD logo on them and several with Stark Industries written on the side as well. Most of it's dead, useless, eletric-fried junk. But in one box, there was light. A strange energy signal. They didn't know if it was going to blow up, cause an EMP burst, who knows. So, it's been pulled out into a lab for further study and disarming.

Record traces give no indication of what could be IN the box, but it's one of the ones with Stark on the side. And the energy signal hasn't died. So, the closest people who could actually take some injury were called to disarm the either highly dangerous or completely innocent thing. It already looks like the back half has been the victim of an eletrical fire, but the front panel is still giving lights and some strange frequency readings on a green LED display.

Captain America has posed:
    "So tell me about this whole thing called disco again." Is the voice that is heard in the depths of that convoluted storage space. There's a cheerful tone to the voice, and the faintest hint of a Brooklyn accent to it that usually comes or goes when the owner of it might be feeling a little wry.
    In the depths of the storage area there's the sound of boxes being displaced, the shift of materials, the faint /whumpf/ of a stack of papers likely falling and being caught at the last moment.
    "I'm not seeing any sort of..."
    But then there's a flicker of light and the tall blond man with the furrowed brow has his features illuminated by those flashing green LEDs.
    "No wait, think this is it."
    He came in after the usual hours, not exactly in his usual SHIELD Agent uniform. Instead the man known as Steve Rogers is in a pair of blue jeans and a black Stark Industries Expo t-shirt that hugs tightly to his chest. His over-shirt is likely hanging up near the door since they've had to move a fair amount of gear.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"That would be the one. We're to take it up to the R&D lab for the boys to get a better look and figure it out. Basically, we're the sacrificial lambs in case it blows. I'll let you carry it."

Natasha smirks, motioning for him to pick up the box containing the blinking object and then leading the way. "Maybe I should hold your shield while you do that." The look she get makes her laugh as she knew he wasn't going to be agreeable. "Spoil sport."

A punch of the elevator button, a step inside and another button. They made it to the R&D lab just as she was finishing up her explanation. "So disco had it's good points but sadly, a lot of it hasn't aged well. Yet, there are some classics. I'll give you some names to add to your list after we see if the lab rats get us blown up."

In the R&D room the box would be deposited and a few of the scientists would rush in to start examining it with all sorts of devices in preparation for trying to disable it. Whatever it was.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The jostling of the box is all it really takes. Maybe a switch was flipped. Maybe it was just waiting for a small wire inside to be connected. No matter what, the eletric fire smell starts again and there's a bit of smoke coming out of the fried, broken opposite end of the device which has a very 1970s Stark Industries logo on it. The rest of the things in the room are mostly deamed dead or useless, so, if it explodes, it's probably not going to hurt anything valuable. Unless it shuts down half the city, one rarely knew how bad it'd be with Howard.

Any brief attempt to shut it off or kill it is to no success. So, it's a mad rush to try and cover it with something, anything, that will contain the explosion. And then the explosion happens, a brief burst of utterly blinding light and that arcid ozone smell is nearly choking in the air, but there's something much larger beneath the pile. The sound of coughing and an ankle kicking out of a few boxes. "...Bloody hell, Howard... I think it exploded, what in the HELL are you doing down here..." Peggy Carter's voice grunts through smoke, trying to shove things off of her.

Speaking of disco, she's wearing the height of fashion. Orange and green plaid on a white wide legged suit with orange lapels. The ankle obvious at first alone is awful in it's 1970s chic.

Captain America has posed:
    It was a rush of motion, a blur of an instant. And luckily Cap and Widow... they work well together. "We got a problem here, get clear!" His words were hurled abruptly as the thing started its acrid smelling and flicker of lights and warnings. Roughly he turns and /kicks/ the stack of papers out of thew way, fire hazard, but then grabs a pile of old CPUs and pulls them over onto the device as it 'fires'.
    There's that burst of blinding light, the crisp smell filling the air even as Steve is knocked back taking some small cover behind a storage case proclaiming a Texas Instruments Vacuum Cycle-5 as being within...
    And then silence.
    For just a moment. Then coughing and a British voice that he hasn't heard in years. The lights flicker, flashing off then on as some of the cases near her are shoved off and out of the way.
    Only for Captain America's voice to be heard again, though for Ms. Carter it's the first time in a long while she has. "Widow, notify sectech, we're gonna need people."
    There's a moment where when she might well lift her eyes she'll see a silhouette limned by the faint haze of reddish emergency lights, then the normal halo of the regular halogen as those shunt back on. A hand reaching out.
    "Hey, are you alright?"

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Told you!" Natasha gets out as the thing starts smoking. She dives for cover, ending up behind a large box that had something super heavy in it. Thus why it remained in place instead of having been moved around like everything else. It was even above Cap's usual strength levels.

She dove behind it in a smooth motion, crouching low. The burst of light is not as bad for her as she wasn't facing it but then she rises, glancing around the room.

The British voice has her drawing a Glock from her right holster, aiming it in the direction of the fallen figure. Steve might be nice and helping her up but she tries anything, she's getting a bullet right between the eyes.

Her left hand comes up to tap the small communicator hidden in her ear canal. "Sectech, needed to R&D storage immediately."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A few more, faint coughs, but the voice she's hearing is absolutely not Howard's. Maybe she hit her head too hard because it sounded like an impossible voice and he was very dead. Peggy lays there, staring up at boxes and messy papers as she tries to process what just happened, but the panicked voices are enough to get a huff from her, "No, no, hell, it's *me*. Howard's machine just... went off, we don't need security..." She calls out of the pile, not really injured, just awkwardly shoving things off of her so she can get to the panicked man and woman's voice she really swears she doesn't recognize.

Then she's out, or out enough she can see him in the outline of smoke. And another face behind him, something she's only seen in files but she knows the woman is dangerous. If it was possible Steve was here at all, she'd be screaming for security and reaching for her gun herself. But it's not. Even if it looks like him. She swallows back tightly, trying to smooth down that garish suit, her hair still in soft vintage waves, though, and her face somehow looking as young as she did during the war. "... I do not know what is going on but I demand to see Howard Stark. Immediately." Her eyes frantically jerk around the room. Was she in a Red room facility? Was this some torture for a prisoner of war?

Captain America has posed:
    "Peggy?"
    he voice is a remarkable facsimile, the timbre is right, that small quaver is there. And the makeup work is amazing considering so few images exist of Steve Rogers outside of uniform or without the trade mark helmet/mask. They even got that scar just above his eyebrow, fragmentation mine from that op in Belgium.
    Still.
    "This uh...is that _you_?" That hand remains there offered to help her up and doesn't waver. But if she intends to make a break for it, it'll likely be in the moment Cap lifts his head to address Natasha, "Widow, get on the primary channel? I think this is..."
    Then he looks down and smiles a little, grudgingly so. "Peggy Carter."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
When the woman was clear enough to be seen, Natasha's eyes narrowed. It was about as close to showing surprise as she was going to be when in a situation like this. She knew that face. Had seen it in the past. She was known to all graduates of the Red Room, after all. Up until the day she died in an explosion at the R&D labs of SHIELD.

The gun remained pointed at the woman even as she followed the instructions of Steve. "SHIELD primary, Security team to R&D Storage. Immediately. Get me Fury. Now. We have a --situation."

Her next words were for the woman before them. "Talking to Howard Stark would be difficult, unless he's in one of these boxes too," she murmurs. No Russian accent. Sounds very American. The redhead then speaks to Steve. "It could be a trap, Cap."
Sheomehow, she feels like those words will be falling on deaf ears.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The sight of his face is enough to freeze her in place. Peggy completely misses that offered hand for a moment as she studies him in the clearing smoke, right down to that scar on his temple. No one knew about that, she didn't even have time to update his personnel file with that, they'd been so busy during the war. She breathes slowly and carefully through her nose, fighting back a mix of panic, confusion, and the want to toss herself at him with the tightest hug ever. "...Steve?" She finally breathes out, her clipped voice far quieter than before. And it absolutely sounds like her. Like that last, echoing, shaky voice on the communications unit so many years ago.

Ever British, and hearing that more commanding, American sounding voice from the Russian face behind her, Peggy takes a breath and takes his hand. She gets herself up and out of the pile of clutter, at least, her dark eyes dragging away from Steve to flicker around the room, see how much she recognizes. It looked like the labs just... different. And that woman who mentions the boxes looks achingly familiar. "...Captain Rogers, I do not quite know where we are, but did you know you have an operative of the Red Room behind you?" She's not daring taking her eyes off of Natasha.

Captain America has posed:
    She's eased to her feet and for a moment they're standing close, near but not too near. But close enough to be uncomfortable for most. And she'll see his eyes slipping back and forth as if trying to find which iris her thoughts might well be hiding behind. He bites his lower lip and hundreds of words or questions might well wish to be uttered. Yet now his curiousity isn't the most important thing. His wonderment at the moment not the most pressing.
    Instead the focus needs to be on her if this is for real.
    "Yeah, about that..." He grins a little then gives a look over towards Natasha as he tilts his head slightly as if to say, 'You got me, I just work here.'
    Then it's back to Peggy he says, "A lot of things have changed." And that's when he finally steps back a little and notices what she's wearing and smiles a little more as he says with a little more gravitas. "A lot of things."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Remember me mentioning some things from the 70s didn't age well? That outfit is one of them," Natasha says, still keeping her eyes on Peggy. She raises her left hand, fingers curled into a fist, front of that fist aimed toward the British woman. The Glock his holstered at her hip. Those who know would realize that the wristband she wears is more dangerous than the Glock in some ways.

"Former operative of the Red Room. Things change. I am an Agent of SHIELD now. I would like to suggest you come along peacefully to the detention area until we can sort all this out."

Peggy Carter has posed:
The suit is eye-catching, to put it mildly. But the thing that might be really shocking, all things considered, is that Peggy is also wearing a rather large wedding ring. Many things have changed. But the former director's mind is going through about a dozen calculations and while every inch of her body wants to jerk forward and hug Steve, this is all a lot. Instead, her hand tightens on his, a clasp and a question. As if she could confirm it was him from that touch alone. It wasn't a hug, but it was something.

She slowly puts a few other things together. The very modern, different logo for Stark Industries on Steve's shirt. Natasha's bracelet. The modern SHIELD markings in the hallway. "...Howard said he... figured out how to fold something in... Quantum space. I didn't really... understand, but..." And that might confirm it. Peggy was marked missing, presumed dead, after a lab accident with Howard in the 1970s. Everything seems to line up for the strangest sort of miracle. She swallows back tightly, but she doesn't look like she's going to put up a fight. "...what... Year is it?" She just needs to know if her suspicions are correct. Did she jump timelines, or just time?

Captain America has posed:
    He's there to support her, to be solid when she squeezes, and to give her a nod as she speaks to him, taking what she says in stride but also starting to direct her toward the door.
    "Let's get you settled, Peggy. I think there are going to be a lot of things we have to talk about. And a lot of people that will want to talk to you." He returns that squeeze of hands, as if to just signal his support in that instinctive way even as he turns to look over at Natasha almost pained in that expression. He smiles a little wanly in her direction as they move to the door.
    And as they're moving to the door he'll say quietly. "Probably best place to start is for you to tell me what year you think it is..."
    And off they go.