12569/The Stark Files: Chapter 5

The Stark Files: Chapter 5
Date of Scene:	19 December 2020
Location:	The Second-Nicest Hotel in Tokyo, Japan.
Synopsis:	Taser Therapy! Cheaper Than Cloning!
Cast of Characters:	Iron Man, Slipstream, Peggy Carter
Tinyplot:	Stark Files

---

Iron Man has posed:
The sound of pacing feet is obnoxious, but when it's on the super plush carpet of the Second-Nicest Hotel in Tokyo, the sound is pretty much inaudible. The BEHAVIOR is still obnoxious, but that only counts if one is awake to observe it.

In this case, one is not.

The bare feet of Tony Stark pace back and forth across the carpet, while a golf game plays on mute on the very large screen television, and a vintage replay of a classic Starcraft Tournament (also on mute) plays on the smaller television above the bar. And a women's volleyball game plays on the medium-sized television next to the bed. This one has its sound on. The feminine grunts help Tony think.

"Dammit Drake... how long does it take to fly commercial from New York to Tokyo? Like... three hours?" Tony has never flown commercial anywhere in his entire life, and might be a bit off on his estimate.

"And he's got that flight ringy thingamajig, so it should be even FASTER! Meanwhile, I'm stuck in this dumpy hotel with a passed-out woman with VERY period-specific tastes in style... oh god! They're going to think I murdered a prostitute!"

He takes a sip of the Japanese whiskey that came with the room. He's pretty sure it's complimentary. But if not, he can afford it.

A sudden realization occurs to him, nearly making him spit out his whiskey.

"They're going to think 'I' have very period-specific tastes in women! Oh god! Twitter is going to have a field day... and what about the share prices!? I was going to cash a few out and buy that island... Guess I can kiss that retirement dream goodbye."

Looking at his Stark Watch, Tony's anxiety doesn't seem to dissipating at all.

"Don't worry, he'll be here. He owes me like, three favors."

Slipstream has posed:
There is a crackle of electricity as Drake apperas in the room. Whoosh! He takes a moment to dust a few particles off him, then taps a wrist communicator. "Thanks for the lift, Lar! You're the man."

As he blows some whispy hair away from his eyes, he looks over towards Tony and gives him a grin. "Hey, boss. Sorry 'bout that. Brainy had to fix the teleporter. They needed me to do an exit interview and they parked the ship near Jupiter and something about a radiation storm fucking with the diagnostic tools. I don't know. That's nerd shit. Anyways, I'm here. All my guts are in one place."

Reaching behind him, he taps the head of Snowball, his robot companion fashioned after the Overwatch bot that follows Mei around. With her LED U.U eyes, she gives a chirp and pops off the backpack that she is attached to for charging her battery. As she floats around, he gives a lift of his brows upwards.

"This place is sorta a dump. Um.. what did you need me for again?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
On the bed, still passed out cold but, fortunately, breathing, is Margaret Carter. *The* Margaret Carter, for anyone who knows their history books or especially SHIELD history. Maybe Drake doesn't and, if so, she just looks like a woman who is rather lovely in some old fashioned way.

Somewhere in her 30s, Peggy's hair is in a soft set of vintage curls that are only now starting to lose their bounce from the day. She's in a deep green 1940s style dress and T-strap heels to match, like she just walked out of a ModCloth catalogue. She looks a little sallow beneath the matte red lipstick she's wearing and some old fashioned rogue on her cheeks. The rest of her is on the edge of ashen gray. She most certainly does NOT look like a prostitue. Unless one is into very specific vintage themes and everyone keeping on all their clothes.

Iron Man has posed:
"Drake! Old buddy, Old Chum... ick... no, we're not going to start calling people Old Chum. Sounds like the kind of aftershave Wolverine buys at Wal-Mart."

Whiskey in hand, well, ice cubes in hand, the whiskey was delicious, Tony makes his way over to his very favorite protege, the look of gratitude on his face apparent.

"So, what happened is... I barely know this woman, actually, and she almost crashed my jet because she's apparently from back in the Olden Times when women still had fainting spells."

That... actually isn't a terrible recap, good for Tony.

"So, just go ahead and use your healing powers on her, and off you pop!"

Slipstream has posed:
".. Um.. "

Drake blinks his eyes slowly for a moment, then clears his throat. "T.. Tony.. I have the speed powers .. it's why I'm called Slipstream. I go fast. You know.. just not as fast as Quicksilver or The Flash. It's why I'm always getting your laundry and your lunch ... because I'm the fast guy on a budget."

He rubs the back of his neck, then reaches out to tap Snowball on the head, giving her a smile. "Snowball, I need you to read her diagnostics and let me know what's wrong with her. Once complete, please transfer the data to my comm link and let me know what the best course of resolution would be."

The Stark Tech health bot gives a 'doot!' and floats lazily over towards Peggy, washing her with a blue laser light show.

"By the way, Lar told me that no matter how much money you promise to give me, I'm not allowed to tell you how you die. I tried man. They password protected the historical archives for our Earth."

Peggy Carter has posed:
The scans of Peggy are strange. Her DNA is old. Really old. Like, 100 years old. But still in far better condition than it should be. Something, at some point, was pumped into her veins that stopped the aging process on a molecular level for her body. But that something is starting to fall apart. Certain areas of her cardio pulmonary system are starting to detriorate. Or, more specifically, the electric impulses that control them are beginning to go off kilter. It's like the basics of her most important systems are simply starting to wear out, even as her cells don't age.

Right now, she's not dead, but she's not in great shape either. Tachycardic, blood pressure dropped through the floor, and in atrial fibillation, it's no surprise that she passed out. The surprise might be that she's still alive. But a good dose of eletric to shock her back into some sort of proper rhythm should at least get her back online, even if it doesn't fix the greater problem.

Iron Man has posed:
"Shit! Speed powers, really? Who was I thinking of? Well, anyway, you're here now."

Tony steps away for a moment, turning down the feminine grunting of the women's volleyball game. He's already thinking pretty fast without it, no need to risk overclocking himself again.

"Maybe you should use that... yeah, that robot, great idea. I was just about to suggest you do that. See? That's why I brought you here."

'Brought him here' isn't exactly correct, but Tony's superpower is getting all the credit regardless of the proportion of work he actually did. They call it 'failing upward' in the cynical left-leaning press. But none of them have ever created any jobs.

"I'm prrrretty sure she's not dead. But who faints anymore? It wasn't even that stressful a situation, really. Janice is fine."

Janice is the name of the unqualified pilot that Tony hired. She's not fine, but she's going to get a nice severance and three months of free counselling.

Slipstream has posed:
"Wow. She is hella old. She's like over a hundred according to the bio-readouts that I'm getting from Snowball here. Snowball cross reference her DNA with Stark Online databases." Drake gives a long stretch of his body, then steps out of his shoes as he nudges them to the side. His toes give a wiggle. His socks have holes in them.

"So, her blood pressure is through the shitter from what I can read. Snowball's tools say that we need to taser her to get her heart pumping again quicker."

He taps a few more times on the sophisticated Legion tablet he slips out of his back pocket, then gives a swish of his finger as he sends the data over to Tony's phone. He just networks to it like it's a child's toy. Year three-thousand technology is insane like that.

"Lessie .. trying to find a name of her. Not many hot girls are over a hundred. So, she could be an Eternal, Alien, God .. or .... huh."

"Super soldier?" The brows of the speedster rises upwards as he scrolls his finger along his tablet. "Lessie here... who are you .. who are you .. I'm glad I learned how to read Thoraxian. I don't know why Brainy continues to log everything in that dead language. What a dick."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Not *technically* a supersolider. No Steve Rogers, though she did work on that project and was practically second in command of the team. Margaret Carter isn't too hard to find in databases, born April 19th, 1921. Supposedly disappeared in 1976. Resurfaced this year. SHIELD hasn't said much more publicly about it, but there's biomarkers in her blood much like those 'super soldiers' that had various enchancing serums. But she doesn't have super strength or speed. All she's done is beat the aging clock. For now.

Peggy remains still and a little too pale, like a 1940s Snow White against the somewhat gaudy, overly elegant duvet cover on the big, queen sized bed in the expensive hotel room. A queen bed in a Japanese hotel suite really is a luxury.

Iron Man has posed:
"Wait wait wait... you want to shock her with a TASER!? I'm not a medical doctor, or even a nurse, but I'm pretty sure that is exactly the wrong thing to do to ANYBODY, let alone someone who's sleeping peacefully and also a hundred!"

Tony immediately rushes to pour himself some more whiskey. This time filling the cup all the way to the top and not adding any ice. All that was left was the little shards that had mostly turned to water. But this is pretty awesome whiskey, and most people drink it neat anyway. Who knows why Tony's such a big fan of rocks?

"She looks kind of like a Disney Princess all laid out like that. If only we could figure out who her Prince was, we could try True Love's First Kiss! Only... it's 2028 and we'd get thrown in jail."

"Screw it, I guess the taser it is!"

Slipstream has posed:
"Yeah, you know, like a defibilator. Just Tony Stark up a defib with one of your power gloves and a piece of bubblegum and a shoelace and she'll be okay."

Drake gives a nod of his head as he reads the Shield reports. "Margaret Carter. Born in the 20's. Disappeared in the 70's. Um.. worked on the Captain America project? Holy crap. That is awesome. Then she just popped up this year and she's working with SHIELD again. That's .. uh.. classic Shield stuff right there."

Flopping down on the edge of a bed, he leans back to prop himself by the hands and gives a flex of his chest to crack a few joints. "I'm sure we can config Snowball to do it also. She'll at least be able to regulate the amount of shock that is required to get her ticking again. She also says it's a bandaid fix and that the issue is much deeper."

He points to Tony's phone. "It's all on there."

Peggy Carter has posed:
See? She didn't *just faint*. Though that might have been nicer than to hear that experimental super soldier serum from the 1970s is starting to break down. That is definitely a bigger problem than a panic attack in a stressful situation. Peggy's service records, meanwhile, is an impressive one. Signed up to be a code breaker in WWII before she was old enough to even legally do it. Joined the SOE when she was 18. The SSR when she was 20. Worked on Project Rebirth to completion. Served with the Howling Commandos, then went on to become a founding Director of SHIELD.

Also, in about a dozen photos with Howard Stark in that SHIELD file alone. Clearly, Tony's father and this woman were incredibly close. Maybe even best friends. Possibly there's a reason Tony's being so blaise about this. It's not some Disney Princess laying there. It's the founder of SHIELD and his father's best friend.

Iron Man has posed:
"If this doesn't work, I'm telling the authorities it was your idea. I hear the jails in Japan are actually pretty nice. Shit, this might actually be one of them... these televisions are from '26."

It's only the second-nicest hotel in Tokyo, so perhaps some of Tony's scorn is justified. But it's pretty clear to anyone watching that he's actually pretty nervous about the whole thing, and also seems to feel pretty guilty.

After all, he might have played maybe a small part in the events leading up to this, so maybe, in some small way, it's partially his fault.

Mostly it's Janice's fault though, so good riddance.

He takes another sip of whiskey, this one much less cold than the one before, and then takes a deep breath.

"Okay, I'm ready now. Light 'er up."

Slipstream has posed:
"You know I'm an intergalatic superhero now with access to a teleporter? I'll be on Neptune with a tap of a button. This mess will be all yours to clean up."

Drake gives his boss a grin, then reaches over to tap a few times on the back of Snowball's control panel. "Okay, SB. Let's try and wake her up. Did you compensate for the thingy-mah-jig?" 'Doot!' "Great. Let's nuke ourselves a Hot Pocket."

Snowball floats over towards the body of Peggy and lowers towards her chest. There is a crackle of electricity that surges through one of her little cute flappers, then leans down to tap her on the chest.

Bzzt!

She's a Stark Tech health bot and top of the line. No way she'd make a mistake, right?

Peggy Carter has posed:
The health bot is sweeping in just in time, as a few tiny alarms go off, quiet indication that Peggy's condition is actually getting worse. It takes two little rounds of ramping up shocks to get her circulatory system back on steady, even track, but she does get there. After the second jerk of her torso on the pillows of that luxurious bed, Peggy's eyes fly open in more emotional shock than physical.

She's dragging herself over, like someone who's just come up from drowning, pulling in a few deep, ragged breaths between coughs of lungs that weren't quite functioning well a moment ago. It's like she's trying to gulp in more air than her body can quite process as basic systems come back on line and the world comes back into focus.

"...Oh hell...Anthony...what..." She's ready to jump into crisis mode once more, her mind still caught in a crashing plane, but dark eyes flicker around the room. She catches up with the fact they are somewhere very different now. And not alone. Slowly, one hand comes up to rub across the top of slightly sore sternum. Electric hurts no matter what. "...w-what...Happened. We're not...Dead?" Her British accent clips out quietly.

Iron Man has posed:
Though he's never seen the movie, Tony must have some inkling of the anticipation that Frankenstein's monster felt watching the Bride get a few million volts pumped through her neck. And, just like then, this doesn't look like it's going to work at first.

But, hurray! Drake didn't kill her after all. Tony sets his glass down, after finishing it off, obviously, and gets somewhere in her field of vision.

He still looks nervous, but he tries to plaster on that Used Spaceship Salesman Grin of his, and affect an air of nonchalance.

"No, not dead, Agent Carter. But I've gotta tell you, I don't think I've ever heard snoring so loud in my entire life."

Slipstream has posed:
"I did it! Woo!" Drake hops up to his feet and gives a quick punch in the air in a rising uppercut. Sho-Ryu-Ken!

"Hello there Agent Carter. Welcome back to the land of the living. Do you want me to order any room service? Tony is paying. Yelp says they have a top notch sushi bar, even if it's the second best in Japan."

He's dressed in a black shirt, a pair of worn down jeans and an Avengeres Bomber Jacket with mulitple Overwatch patches on it. He's like half hero-half dork. He hardly looks like a superhero of any type.

"By the way, uh .. you need serious medical attention. Like, pronto. Whatever they stuck in you back in the old as fuck days is starting to break down and tear your body apart. So, I can keep on tasing you to keep you up, but it's a lot like jump starting a dying battery of a car. You need some professional help."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A few more gulps of air are dragged in by the newly conscious Peggy Carter and then she seems to have calmed some. As neatly as possible, she swings her stockinged legs (thigh highs, cuban heels, seams up the back like a proper lady) over the edge of the bed and tries to sit primly straight. Her shoulders square off and one hand comes up to smooth through her hair, trying to put a few errant curls into place. She smirks as Tony says she snores. "Your father was no better, trust me, he'd rattle doors with it some nights." It's the best defense she has.

And then she's looking back to the man she does not know. She recognizes the Avengers jacket, so he's one to be trusted, but she still looks a bit wary. She unfolds from the bed slowly and walks across the room, looking for the mini bar she knows must be present if Tony Stark has rented this place. "...And you are... young man?" She asks calmly, like she was pulling him in for an interview and he didn't just tell her she was dying. Maybe she knew already?

Iron Man has posed:
Although it makes him wince a bit, and gives him geriatric nightmare images that he never wanted in his head, Tony can't help but smile. Genuinely, this time. It was a Decent Counterburn, and game recognizes game.

"Well... shit. That's terrible news. But I know all eleven of the world's greatest doctors, and I've got like twenty thousand bitcoins. Don't worry about a thing, Agent Carter... but... gee... if you're having a health problem... I guess that means we'd better give up trying to solve the hidden mysteries that Howard left behind all scrambled up in his dusty old folders like a drunk, clue-hiding squirrel."

He looks actually a little disappointed by this development. Aside from the actual concern about Peggy's health, he's actually been enjoying tracking down some of these old clues, despite spending virtually all of his time complaining about it.

Hold the phone. Where did he put his shoes? And more importantly, where did he put his highly-classified Iron Man armor? But MOST importantly... where did he put the whiskey?

Slipstream has posed:
"I'm Drake Winters. Otherwise known as Slipstream. Member of the Legion of Superheroes, Earth sector! Also, an Avenger..ish. I'm in a transitional phase. You know.. going from one team to the other. I've been saving at least three universes over the last two Earth years and now that my team wants to go back into the future where they belong, I sorta skipped out on a chance of seeing flying cars and World War 5, which by the way kinda is your fault, Tony. Spoiler."

Drake shrugs his shoulders upwards, then flops his hands down at his side. "This is my health bot, Snowball! She's my best friend."

Doot-da=Doo!

Peggy Carter has posed:
The older woman, who really does look like both their contemporary, is silent for a long few moments as she processes all that's been said. She heads to the little wet bar and silently scoops up the tumbler of whiskey Tony misplaced. She sets it neatly in front of him, in the habit of getting Starks their drinks when they've been forgotten, then goes back to pour one herself. A bittersweet smile flickers across her slowly warming features. She doesn't look quite so deathly pale as she did 10 minutes past. "... in truth, Anthony, I think your father sent us on this hunt to partially... Fix what is wrong with me. Or with some of the serums, at least. It's not something he trusted with anyone else but...Us."

And now Slipstream knows about it. Her dark eyes flicker back up to the young man, considering the quirky, kind joking and that comment about the health bot. Her brows furrow just a bit, actually concerned that he might be such good friends with the bot. "Well...ah, Mr. Winters, and Snowball... it is a pleasure. And I thank you greatly for the assistance. I'd ask that you not speak to anyone else of... what Tony and I have been handling."

Iron Man has posed:
"Yeah, I already KNOW that I invented the flying car, Drake. The prototype was at last year's Stark Expo..."

Tony makes 'pfft' noise, and an expression like 'can you believe this guy?', once again displaying his uncanny ability to pick the parts out of a sentence that make him sound good, and not even hear the rest.

It's an essential skill, when you're a job creator.

Oh! There it is. Tony picks his glass back up, but perhaps surprisingly, doesn't drink it. Yet.

Instead, he just listens, nodding along as if he agrees with everything that Agent Carter said, though he's still clearly leaning toward the explanation that Howard just had a senior moment and shuffled up all his files. He was pretty kooky toward the end there.

"I guess if you're right... that means we're going to have to speed this whole 'find Howard's clues' thing along."

He turns, and, in a very uncharacteristic move, extends a hand out toward the younger man. He's only offered a handshake like eight times in his entire life, and seven of those times were to swimsuit models. Let's hope he's not imagining Drake in a swimsuit.

"Thanks for the help, Old Chum. You really came through for us today."

Lowering his voice to practically a whisper, he leans in a bit.

"Also... dude... come on... the robot's your best friend? What did I tell you to always say when there's an attractive woman in the room?"

Slipstream has posed:
"I have twenty thousand bitcoins and my last name is Stark?"

Drake's lips give a twitch upwards in an amused grin at Tony, lifting one brow upwards, then reaches out to take his hand for a firm squeeze.

"To be honest, I don't even know what you guys are talking about. I literally, /literally/, got into a fight on Saturn with this alien that was living below the surface and it had these acid tentacles and could manipulate nanotechnologies through some type of radiation wave. I mean, I don't know what you two are up to, but I'm sure it's /really/ lame and not worth bragging about. You shoulda seen Cosmic Boy though. He freaking hit that thing so hard it burst like a Fruit Gusher. They still make those, right? I have trouble remembering what year it is."

Sprawling himself backwards on the bed, he tucks his arms under his head and stares at the ceiling, squinting at a crack. "Oh. Uh.. Miss Carter .. I have twenty thousand bit coins and .. um.. " He glances to Tony, then back to her. ".. and a Tesla. You wanna get coffee sometime?"

He's not good at this. Probably why he's still single and his last girlfriend was a Foot Ninja who dumped him quickly after she used him for security clearances to rescue one of her companions. That was a bad day.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Did the kid just hit on her? Was he being serious? Peggy looks up from where she's poured herself a Stark size glass of whiskey and turns back to both of them. For a moment, she flickers gaze straight to Tony, her head slightly tilting in a quiet 'Is he being serious??' fashion, but she has a feeling he is. Then Peggy looks back to the young man, a softer, trying to gently let him down smile on her matte red lips.

"Mr. Winters, you seem like an incredibly brilliant, kind young man. And I do appreciate the pinch hitting saving my life, truly. It's nice to be properly breathing again. But I... I'm rather certain I could be your grandmother. If not your great grandmother. I just don't think... it'd quite... Work between us. But you'll find the right lady, it just takes time." She doesn't exactly say 'old sport' but it's practically there.

Then she turns a quiet smile back towards Tony, something bittersweet and accepting about it. "I could be wrong. Or perhaps that's what it's been all along. I had a...suspicion it might be. And SHIELD said I would run out of time... sooner... Rather than later. But perhaps I've cheated time too long already. So, if we find it. Wonderful. If we don't..." Peggy's never been scared of death. She gives a faint, too-subtle shrug and takes a deep drink of her whiskey.

Iron Man has posed:
Just barely avoiding the nearly-overwhelming urge to put his palm to his forehead and drag it all the way down to his chin... Tony just kind of... steps to the side. Then gives Peggy a confused look, as if he barely knows the guy and is dumbfounded by this entire exchange.

As soon as Peggy's back is turned, he looks back at Drake, giving him a thumbs up and a reassuring 'Nailed it!' expression.

Then he drinks all of his whiskey very fast.

"It's only cheating if you get caught, Peggy. And I almost NEVER get caught."

Stark's girlfriend dumped him like a year ago and he hasn't seen her since, so maybe his ratio of not getting caught is not as good as he'd like to pretend.

"So what are we waiting for? Huh? Back in the saddle there soldier! Get the lead out... uh... goldbricking..."

In less than two seconds, Tony has used up all the old Army cliches that he knows, and he got most of them wrong.

"Hey, uh... Drake, before you go, do you think you could do that thing where you find my shoes real fast? We've got a case to solve!"

Slipstream has posed:
"You've known me for five minutes after I brought you back to life and you already figured out I'm not your type? You know, I can just .. reverse that. Snowball, warm up the deep freeze."

Snowball gives a loud DOOT and starts to whirl and vibrate as she glows a bit blue below her thrusters.

"I'm kidding, Snowball, I just really want a slushie."

... Doot.

The bot seems a bit disappointed.

"A red slushie?"

'Doot!' Okay, they're on the same page again.

"Your shoes are at the front door beneath your jacket after it fell off the wall hook." He says as he lifts a hand upwards, giving a pointing towards the front of the room. "I know this because while I was being rejected, I took the liberty to do a quick burst around the room to check the security perimeters and lock the bathroom window. Super speed is fun."

Hopping to his feet, he reaches down for his own shoes, tugging them on. "Well, I guess if you guys don't need me again, I'll just .. um.. get lost in Tokyo or something before I give /SuperGirl/ a call, who actually is my /real/ best friend and have her meet me for coffee." He just name dropped an S-Tier hero.

Peggy Carter has posed:
A slightly apologetic smile crosses Peggy's lips. "Mr. Winters, I am sorry, it's... honestly not you. You get to my age..." And it's probably everyone else. There's a reason Peggy has been an eternal spinster since a certain someone went into the ice. She slings back the rest of her whiskey and sets the glass down with a sigh, skeptical gaze turning back to Tony.

"We are here now. We almost died. I have not a damn idea how you managed to land that plane without me and I don't think I want to know. I need another drink, a shower, and some proper sleep. We'll go to clue chasing in the morning. The least you could do is buy your friend a drink and a nice dinner in thanks for coming to the rescue but...I am going to see to my own room, gentleman, and set things at rights. I'll see one or both of you in the morning." That is as close as Peggy will get to inviting Drake on the hunt, but it also doesn't mean that he's totally dismissed from it either. With that, she gives them both one last smile then turns on the ball of her foot, heading out the front door of the room. Apparently, she trusts she can secure another room for herself, or that Tony already has. No matter what, it'll get done. Peggy's resourceful.