12063/To Russia With Love

To Russia With Love
Date of Scene:	22 August 2020
Location:	Ready Room, The Triskelion
Synopsis:	Clint briefs Peggy on the next step in he and Natasha's search for Molokov. She prepares to go to Germany.
Cast of Characters:	Hawkeye (Barton), Peggy Carter

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Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
It's been a recovery like 'the old days'. Once his head is in the game, there is very little that can stop the Special Field Agent, and he's not only in the game, but he's almost fixated on what sort of outcome he wants. Where else can one play with all the big toys, do a good job for the world, AND take out one more cog in machine that has everything to do with your 'personal' working life?

Nowhere.

Clint's taken up one of the Ready Rooms, and he's packing for a trip, it's pretty obvious. He's got a gymbag off in the corner for the important stuff (he knows how to travel light in terms of personal items), and on tables, he's got arrows set in small piles, pistol cases with a case of ammunition near each, presumably in the correct calibers..

With a call set in for Ms. Peggy Carter to meet him in Ready Room 3 in the Trisk, Clint is eyeing one of the pile of what looks to be specialized arrows, looking them over carefully.

Peggy Carter has posed:
While Peggy is still getting used to the modern uniforms and body armor, she certainly appreciates how helpful it is. So, when a possible field mission comes up, she's finally forsaken her preferred wide legged pant suits and is in something far more sleek and modern. Black, standard issue slacks and a SHIELD armored jacket, the outfit is sleek enough to show just how hour glass built Peggy Carter is. She looks a little out of time, still wearing her red lipstick and with her hair in old fashioned rolls down the side of her head, tucked into a low pony tail, but it's clear she's making the jump to modern equipment fairly easily.

"...So, is this about the Molotov?" Peggy's clipped accent questions into the room as she steps in smoothly, dark eyes curious, going from the other agent down to the pile of equipment in the room.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint's dressed in jeans, dark purple t-shirt and boots. His sunglasses are tucked away under the handle of his gymbag, and as he catches the motion of the door, turns his head to look at the newly arrived. ""Ms. Carter, ma'am.. Hey, just on time.. and yeah. Molokov. With a 'k'. But we all like our cocktails." Potato, potahto.

Setting his arrows down, Clint turns fully around to gesture at a chair while he grabs one himself and spins it backwards before doing the same. "You deserve an explanation." Keen blue eyes remain on the woman, and he watches .. everything. It's not hard to figure out why he's been given his moniker.

"Me and 'Tash.. Widow. We go back aways." Just as easy to spot the Midwestern boy that is hidden under that 'Agent', too. "And, I'm sure you know you follow leads wherever it'll take you. Me, I heard something that had to be followed before it disappeared." And it wasn't the bleating of a goat, thank you!

"There's something going on with some very bad men." Understatement of the year.

"I'd like you to be part of the investigation."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A faint laugh actually escapes her lips as Clint corrects her on the name, "No one's put an actual report in front of me. Whether Captain Rogers heard it wrong or I did, who knows... But *Molokov* makes far more sense. And yes, I heard a little bit about something happening over in Russia." Peggy studies him a moment longer, taking in his own paranoia and complete awareness of the room around him. There is just a slight nod of approval from her. It's a habit she understands well.

Peggy folds down into the offered seat, giving the room a momentary look herself but she trusts him and his eyes, so she's not quite scouring it like she might normally. As for herself, his trained eyes can probably tell she's strapped with at least three weapons beneath that body armor and she carries herself like someone who is ready to fight at any moment, even sitting almost relaxed in a chair at SHIELD.

"...So. Russia. If this has to do the Black Widow and someone named Molokov, I'm going to guess the Red Room is still partially involved. I've been watching them since '47. And I'm fluent in Russian. So, I'm here to help. All I'm missing is about the last fifty years of the story..." And Peggy doesn't look thrilled to admit that. Her intelligence being out of date is a weakness she dislikes.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
It's old habits that Clint falls in to, and he's figured out what she's carrying and where. Knives, well.. that's another story, but he's pretty certain he's fine! Watching her enter, and sit down, he can't help but feel that //air// around her. It's not a press of age, not to him. It's experience, wisdom, and a large helping of 'ma'am'. There are very few that he holds in that high a regard. Even Fury is 'the Old Man'.

"Russia," Clint nods. "I spend a lot of time in the Afghan theater." Even during Peg's time, it's been a hotbed. "And points east." Russia, the little '-istans and the like. "And there's some destabization going on, and I don't know what they're planning. All I know is that they're back in the region between Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Back in a soviet era fort, in a pass that is really treacherous and has been used for smuggling." He smiles tightly before, "That's where they picked me up. I was able to get movement information and cripple their communication, but now it's like a beehive in an earthquake. I'm seeing tremors for miles."

Peggy Carter has posed:
The technology in SHIELD nowadays is more than a little mind blowing. Peggy's good at it, but it still takes her a moment to remember the built in computers on the various tables all around them, especially here in a ready room. She sits up a touch straighter, careful fingertips quickly running over the little display below her and bringing up what ever files she has access to with her clearance. Her nails are still carefully squared and deeply red, the small touches that says parts of her are still from a bygone era, even as she looks as stern and sleek as most modern agents.

"At the end of World War II, we had information that a Red Room operative had been working in conjunction with at least one HYDRA agent. While both those assets were neutralized and imprisoned, where there is one, there are going to be... Many more. I was in and out of there all through the 70s. It's never been a stable region and..." Peggy's dark eyes pause on the file she's reading, looking back up to him with a hint of a smirk, "I doesn't seem that it's gotten much better. Just sad I wasn't around for the end of the cold war... If it ever really... ended. So. What do you know that *this* isn't telling me, and what sort of support do you need and Agent Romanova need?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"In short?" Clint hasn't taken his eyes off the woman since coming in, but it's not anything intense. It's attentive, and, well.. personal reasons. "Afghanistan's always been screwed up. It's screwed up more. Iran's in the game, probably being played by Moscow." Officially, it's 'Moscow'. The two agents are more than aware that Russia is plagued by the cult of personality, whether it's the Primier.. er.. President, or the head of the totally non-existant GRU. Or the KGB. "They're trying something, and I really think that Molokov is trying to either take advantage, or is playing the tune."

Leaning over, Clint totally gets into her space to shift a window for her for Andrei Navalny. "This guy. Anti-Kremlin. Lawyer. Now, over the years, we've seen the powers that be take out enemies with poison. We know it's poison, THEY know it's poison. It's just so toxic that we can't do anything about it. This guy was poisoned in Siberia. Tramsk. Landed in an emergency in Omsk. Now in German in a coma and on a vent."

Clint takes a deep breath and pulls back to his own seat. "Me and 'Tash are gonna be headed to Tramsk and see if we can't pick up a trail. We need Omsk and Germany. And back into the pass in Tajikistan. I took out some of the fort, but they're gonna be rebuilding it. Or moving."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peggy feels that gaze. She knows when she's being watched, evaluated so to speak. It seems she not only trusts him enough to watch her back, so she can focus on catching up on the files in front of her, but she is content to let him evaluate as he needs. There's no showing off of the older agent, no trying to prove herself. It's more like letting a wary animal get used to your presence. If he needs to study the way she works and moves to be comfortable with her in the field? Well, she appreciates his process. As for what he's seeing, everything about her speaks of a woman who is an absolute expert, comfortable in her own abilities, and not scared to admit where she falls short. The 50 year gap is probably her biggest weakness, but she's never been quiet about that.

As he comes into her space, she leans just a bit to the side to give him room to pull up the most recent file. This close? She smells old fashioned too. Something of rose and vanilla oil. Clean soap in her hair. Red lips press into a deeper frown as she reads the article with a slight shake of her head, "Movements like this?... Just further serve to add powder to the keg. Little explosions everywhere, all over eastern Europe and the middle east for as long as I've been in the field. This might not set the whole thing on fire, but it's going to ruffle a lot more feathers." She mutters thoughtfully.

Once she's done with the article, her dark eyes turn up to study him now, get a read on his thoughts and feelings for the whole situation. He can't profile the profiler without getting a bit of his own medicine. "I know Captain Rogers and Lieutenant Barnes are eager to assist as needed as well. If you want people taking out a compound, well... They are particularly good at destruction, in their own ways. If we think they've got more people to finish the job in Germany, I can head out that way, see what trails I can pick up... I speak most of the languages and, nowadays, am pretty good at blending in."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Well, there's sizing up, and there's lip reading tossed into the mix. It's a little bit of Clint that he hasn't yet shared with his best friend, and probably won't for a little while. He's getting back into fighting frame, and when he's close? He smells like Dial soap, some random shampoo and a touch of sweat. He's.. a guy.

The mention of Rogers gets something of a lopsided smile in return. "Yeah, well.. he's a battering ram. I'm not, if you read my file. There's a bit of it in there that isn't included. I go deep, I go dark. Usually it's with 'Tash, and we could be on two different sides of the planet, and still have a mission come together." It's not bragging. It's stated as a fact.

"He'll be good for the pass, but he's gotta be given decisive orders, or have him totally understand the outcome, because we can't go destabilizing Russia either." He pauses, and the smile turns into a grin as he adds, "That would be bad."

Clint sobers up again, and he nods. "Omsk, I think, is going to be a dead end. It's just a landing spot. I don't know if the assassin," that's what the poisoner is, "counted on it, or not. But he's probably not their best because if he was? Navalny would be dead right now." Which, to the two seasoned agents, could mean that Germany is going to be a hot spot.

"I'd say you're in for Germany."

Peggy Carter has posed:
As he mentions Steve, Peggy cannot entirely hide her smile. There is a bit of a softness in her for the man, even as she tries to be steel otherwise. A weakness, probably, but at least he's on their side. She cannot help but chuckle softly, "You'd be surprised, the two are better at espionage than you'd expect. Dismanteling what we could of HYDRA wasn't all bombs and grenades. But.... I agree that they'd be incredibly effective in making certain that compound will never be an issue again. The quicker the better.

Clint's not-quite bragging about he and Natasha earn him another smile, this one understanding. "...that's how it used to be with the Howling Commandos. I...understand when a team ... works like you're all parts of the same body. It's special when it happens. I'm glad you both have that. I'll... trust it, with your evaluation."

Then he spills the same line of thinking about Omsk which she had a moment after her lips opened. Peggy nods in agreement, expression going more serious as she looks down to the display once more. "This is either going to be a very exciting, or utterly boring assignment. It's distinctly possible they didn't actually want him dead, just wanted everyone on edge to light a fire somewhere else, and he in a coma means it worked exactly. If... it didn't. They'll send in someone better. And I'll be there to intercept." With that, she saves the few notes she's taken to access in her own quarters. "Well, if I'm dismissed, it looks like I need to pack for Germany." It's still a little strange, technically being nothing more than a field agent, but Peggy's eyes are also bright with the enjoyment of getting to go OUT there again. She gives him a small salute and turns on the ball of her foot, marching out the door to go pack.