3973/Rising Tide: Aftermath- The Mission's Burden

Rising Tide: Aftermath- The Mission's Burden
Date of Scene:	27 February 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Red Robin wants to talk to Agents May and Johnson about the Rising Tide. Things do not go as anticipated; Red Robin asks Agent May for greater information on mutants.
Cast of Characters:	Melinda May, Quake, Red Robin
Tinyplot:	Rising Tide

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Melinda May has posed:
It's been a few days since Rising Tide finally got taken down. Skye's back on the 'not an enemy' list, though there's someone that May still feels needs to hear an explanation. Thus, before the younger agent can even tell May about her promotion, she's been stuffed in a car and they've driven to Gotham. They likely got to talk about a few things along the way, but nothing about their destination. That May is keeping to herself for now.

Once in Gotham, they park in a decidedly seedy part of town and Skye is directed to climb a fire escape. Yes, a fire escape. Once they reach the rooftop May promptly holds out a hand to Skye. "Give me your sidearm."

Quake has posed:
Who isn't pissed off at Skye? Okay, there are some who aren't, but just as many who are. Though Skye had to admit it was hella funny to see the faces on the first security team who tried to escort her back to her cell post-promotion when Fury just walked away, leaving the holding room door open for her, and her shiny newe level 4 badge on the table. There were a lot of people's jaws who dropped to the floor for the first day or so when they found out what the IT girl had done...

The ride over was actually mostly silence. Sure, Skye had her promotion to inform May of - but May already knew, right? The operation was mostly closed pending paperwork and some loose ends. Skye was back on the roster as an Agent - albeit still on leave at the moment. If May had missed any of that, she wasn't paying attention.

And, of course, she wasn't sure where she was being dragged off to. Or, more to the point as their journey became pointedly clear it was in Gotham, to whom.

When she's asked for her sidearm, Skye's lips press into a thin line of 'I am sooooo not happy with this' because she knows whatever is about to happen is either going to be a test of her skillset - or something she's not going to be happy about. Possibly both. Whichever, it's patently clear Skye isn't going to add 'shot a third Agent' to her cred list.

Wordlessly, and unhappily, her sidearm is handed over.

Red Robin has posed:
    At least it's not the bitter cold it has been in the past meetings. It's hardly springtime in Gotham though. The snow is mostly gone due to the efforts of a recent warm trend. Some pools of black ice remain periodically. This rooftop is mostly clear, though.

    There is an explosion of sound as fur, leather, and impossible chitters, respond to something the ladies cannot hear. It's bats. Hundreds of them, that explode out from somewhere, swirling about, teasing hair, sending cool air into faces, and generally being a giant nuisance. There is some primal fear associated with them for many people. Maybe it is the fear of them and the eyes, and losing one due to a stray wing or claw. Or just the sinister shape. Maybe the jump scare from the nature of the explosion as they arrive, or the quick way in which they depart They seem to evaporate into the darkness with far less noise than they emerged.

    What might make them worse is in the time one closes and opens eyes out of instinct, he arrives. He's not the Batman, but the young man is different. May has seen him changing in front of her eyes over these meetings. He was strong before, but the armor no longer has fake muscles. That is all Red Robin now. Lean and hard like a stalking cat or a lone wolf. His footfalls, despite their confidence are so light as to be eerie. May is no fool; he's been training harder. His left hand emerges from inside his vaguely sinister weighted cloak and push back his hood. His face is hard. This isn't the smiling Red Robin that Agent May has seen. He has a purpose, and his anger is well in hand, both restrained and focused.

    "Agent May." Confidence stains and colors his voice. "I am about to talk some serious shit." Red Robin actually swears. "Given our previous conversation, consider yourself completely excluded from said shit. You, we can work with." His voice is a baritone, but only barely. It is the confidence, training, and control that give it strength, not the brusque masculinity. It simply doesn't mesh with the young, lean man. It's not arrogance, that is the little one, and he has earned most of that. This is experience, and it simply does not fit with the form of one so young as this.

    His whited out mask lenses settle on Agent Johnson.

Melinda May has posed:
Taking Skye's sidearm, May makes sure the safety is in place. She's fully aware of the younger woman's displeasure, and she looks at her as if to silently convey that she took the sidearm for Skey's own best interest. Of course, it's entirely possible that sullen-teen-Skye will be in control here and she'll just snark about it.

The bats are certainly not something May has experienced before, but at the same time she doens't startle visibly or try to swat the flying creatures away. She knows that they can see her far better than she can see them, so she merely stands still and lets them fly on past.

And then, of course, Red Robin is there. Again May doesn't visibly startle, though this is more likely because she's used to the way the Bat types like to just appear out of nowhere and disappear again similarly. She nods a hello to him, and then when he uses serious words, she crosses her arms. "Within reason. I won't tolerate you verbally attacking one of my agents."

Quake has posed:
Oh yeah, Skye isn't pleased about the sidearm thing. But hey! She's been without before. And hell, if you have to depend upon the thing, then clearly you're not as good as you think, right? (Not to mention what a statement on May's training of Skye as an Agent). Instead Skye just shakes her head and rolls her eyes, looking about for whatever the 'surprise' is.

There's going to be a surprise. She knnows that.

However, bats are not what she's expecting. Not one bit. She's not a screamer, however. Or a runner. Okay, so she does duck and cover her head. At least at first. The things don't seem inclined to foul in her hair or attack - which only goes to say they're not all they seem either (perhaps). At the very least they stop being this swarm of omg and shift down into a curious annoyance. Loud. Over-present. And just a bit creepy. Just a bit. (Hey, the girl has lived in some pretty shitty conditions; she's familiar with vermin. These aren't that far off.)

The arrival of Red Robin - there's a shock and a half - for a millisecond. May's not jumping, or making a move to defend or attack, so the man is both known, and expected. Which means he's why her firearm was taken. So that she didn't make rash decisions they'd both have to explain to Fury later.

His words, though? Right. Not unexpected. But neither is she taking shit from him. "So serious shit comes with showing off, huh? I give you a 5.3. No class. I'm not some piece of trash off of your streets. You want to have a serious talk, you have a lot to learn about your audience." The *Fuck You* is implied. May might even be impressed at Skye's restraint.

Red Robin has posed:
"Of course you will not Agent May. She's your family. Your partner, your comrade. She'll bleed and die for you. I disrespect her, I disrespect you. I will not disrespect you ever, Agent May. You're a rarity around here. You're the real deal." Some emotion comes through. Respect. Maybe something more. His assurance is quietly confident, certain, and precise.
    "Let the shit talk commence." Red Robin says casually. His white lensed mask is apparently fixed on Johnson, but SHIELD agent training no doubt assures the agents that either he sees a lot more than he lets on, or someone else is watching. "I understand missions, Agent Johnson. I appreciate casualties, and I understand the doctrine of acceptable risk and losses. Let me restate that. I understand that in order to bring down a greater evil, sometimes people get lost in the cracks. I do not have to like it, and I have dedicated my life to trying to save them all, but I am not here to throw photos of dead children I could not save. I'm not here to challenge you over necessity." As shit talk go, its apologetic. Misdirection is a practiced tool.

    Red Robin regards the agents with a canted head, gently tilted as if he is really trying to emote behind that mask. "I am the Batman's partner. Not his sidekick. Not his child. Not his friend. Not anything so crass. I've bled with him, and I would die for him. I understand respect." He regards Skye. "The next time you need to handle the Mission. Please get the appropriate information out to us. We have back channels. You put us in a place where we can mobilize faster and better mitigate the anticipated losses. Maybe you didn't know we had back channels. Maybe you thought that the Avengers were better at sharing. Maybe the need to be secret and compartmentalize was too great."

    His features actually crack a small smile there as his left hand caresses his mask. "We understand secrets." he is so confident there. "We maybe kept the back channel too secret. That is on us. For that, I'll actually say I am sorry." His tone is completely at odds with Skye's. Not at all sarcastic. Maybe lecturing, but when he says he's sorry, he sounds sincere. When he says he thinks they kept the back channel too secret, he sounds like he's thought it over a lot. He's not here throwing all the blame at Skye, not like he wanted to a few weeks ago. "Now you know. About it though. Now you know that while I'm not a SHIELD catspaw, I am empowered to help."

    He quietly says, "Agent May, I promised you I would not disrespect your agent, which is why I will not demonstrate on her just how I treat street trash. Please, when you leave, let her know just how much better than street trash she was treated?" He asks, because he will not threaten. His respect for May is plain. "Agent Johnson. We don't do acceptable losses. I will not hold you to our standard. It is impossible, even for us. I will ask that you use the resources you know about in the future."

Melinda May has posed:
At this point May would normally have raised an eyebrow. Maybe both. But, she's not about to let on that the young man's words were NOT what she was expecting. She was fully expecting him to get all up in Skye's grill the way he did to her. So this, yes. Considerably better.

She simply nods to Red Robin when he addresses her directly. Otherwise, she's not interfering. At all.

Quake has posed:
Skye clearly was expecting something else, too. But she listens to the whole speech without even looking once like she might try to interrupt. Or protest. Or defend herself. Which, given some reactions she's had lately to this whole 'hey you! your mission sucked' is really a step up in the girl's world.

Her lips stay pressed into that thin, unimpressed line. Or maybe it's more a thoughtful line. She doesn't look so pissed anymore, but neither does she look mollified. Acceptable losses? Using resources? He had no clue. None. And there was the thing: How could Skye defend herself, or say how wrong he was, without giving away someone else's secret? Not that Skye was 100% certain that this was what Oracle had eluded to with that one, brief, mention of 'caped' ones. There were others who wore capes. It could be them just as well. Regardless, though, Skye had made as certain as she could that someone other than Fury knew everything she did. She hadn't even tried to code her messages to the Director of SHIELD, knowing that Oracle could, would, and should read every one of them. She'd been in contact setting up relays and other things with the hacker the entire operation.

In short, she hadn't dropped this ball. And for whatever reason Red Robin hadn't been kept in the loop wasn't Skye's fault.. She just couldn't say much about it, if anything.

"I'm sorry," she says, finally, her words tight and clipped. "There are things I can't talk about. I made promises to people." It's as close as she can get to admitting there were things going on here that neither he, May, or SHIELD were privy to. Well.. Fury knew. He couldn't help but know. But he hadn't shared with SHIELD proper either.

Red Robin has posed:
    "Agent Johnson, I have a boss too. We might be partners, but he's the senior one. Now, I know that you know we are here, we listen, and that we will still be here. Just please, next time?" He pauses. "I'm flogging a dead horse. I apologize. Just believe me." Red Robin gestures over where the bats came from. "I'm hell on wheels when I'm prepared for things." Suddenly, maybe the bats make sense?

    "Agent may?" His gaze settles on the other agent. "I hope I have not damaged our working relationship. You are courageous."

    His demeanor changes. Confidence vanishes. "The last time we spoke, I was unprofessional. She was two years old, and I couldn't save her, and no one could get EMS. I was overly emotional. I was invested. I was cruel. You do not deserve that. Batman will never say he is sorry. To him, they are weakness. Sometimes, I am weak." he owns it, his disgust not with her, but with him. "I hope you can forgive me, because I am sorry. If I damaged our relationship, tell me what I have to do to mend it?"

    His hands hook into his belt, sliding his cloak back. Trim armor and ready gear.He regards her seriously as the Gotham breeze plays with his hair. THe Batman is a force of nature. Robins can say they are sorry.

Melinda May has posed:
May does have to admit, it's kind of refreshing to have an apology from a Batperson, though from his explanation, his ire was more than justified. She watches as his demeanor goes from confident adult to something almost resembling a small boy seeking reassurance from a parent. It's... just a bit disconcerting. And she makes extra sure that her reaction doesn't show on her face.

"Already forgiven. Everyone is human." Well, maybe not the Batman. "Just keep the line of communication open."

Quake has posed:
Skye, however, isn't in May's shoes - or able to dismiss things so easily. What he said niggles and grows in the pit of her stomach.

"This kid - because of what Rising Tide did?"

She wants to say 'because of what I did' but she knows that would get slapped down for all the reasons. It isn't her guilt to bear solely, but she can't help bear some of it. Enough of it that she feels suddenly ill. While it's not like she didn't know these things happened, it was easier to ignore them when they didn't have stories behind them. Faces. People who cared and were sharing their tales in front of her face and making them real.

Fury had warned her, and she had listened. She just hadn't expected it to be this hard.

'You self-medicate' he'd told her, handing her that first drink before she'd left his office, the night before the mission started.

Acceptable losses weren't all that acceptable sometimes.

Red Robin has posed:
    "Of course I'll keep the line open. You're useful." His left hand produces a zip drive. "Because you are practical. Metropolis is a little too far away for me. It's fresh data, and it's worth chasing. It might be the last major cache of Alien tech from the invasion I'll be able to bird dog down for a little while. My attention is being shifted to some local matters." The Bat mission? It never ends. Red Robin's little smile is just about what she likely remembers.

    His gaze settles on Skye. "The mission sucks." He says with the trained confidence of the operative. "It sucks. Good people die. Agent May didn't earn my tirade last time. She was just there. There is wisdom in understanding that." Red Robin points with his right hand. "Sometimes.bad things are going to happen, and sometimes no matter what, someone who has done nothing wrong is going to be in that place when it happens." Red Robin seems uncertain he has said enough.

    "Even Batman doesn't save everyone. I would know, I've been there. Bad things happen to good people. We hurt, we grieve, we get over it. The mission demands it. Life demands that it be lived."

Melinda May has posed:
May accepts the zip drive. "I'll make sure this gets immediate attention." She can even think of a couple of younger agents that would be ideally suited to dealing with the messes that usually seem to arise in Metropolis.

Pocketing the zip drive, May offers Skye her sidearm back, grip first of course. She doesn't pressure the other two to wrap up the conversation, though. It's not her place to do so.

Quake has posed:
Skye takes her sidearm back with the same wordless grace that she handed it over to May in the first place. Of course Tim's words don't make her feel much better. She knows the truth of them - she can't be responsible for every death or horrible thing that happened while she was undercover. Hell, every day she'd been at SHIELD, no matter what job she was working on, someone had something go wrong, go bad, hurt them, possibly even cause deaths - that she couldn't stop, or even know about - as a direct result of things she was working on.

It was, truly, the nature of the beast in their line of work. Superhero. Superspy. Sometimes good people got hurt.

It was when that stopped mattering that you had to walk away from the job.

Skye had barely touched the edges of that.

"I know," she says flatly to the young man. "I did what had to be done. It would have been worse if he'd gone on and we didn't know where the next attack was coming from. We got them all because I stayed under until we could. Doesn't make it feel any better, though."

Yeah, she and a bottle were going to get friendly after this. She'd caught up on her sleep. Now the job was catching up with her.

Red Robin has posed:
    He never touches them. He might touch something that touches them, but Red Robin never touches them. Maybe he is a germophobe, or he is just that careful with DNA. Regardless, he reaches for his grapnel gun. "Now. Go home. Sleep. Tomorrow?" he points the gun. "Be better than you were today." He gives Agent May a respectful nod.

    "I don't know enough about mutants." he says in a quiet tone. He isn't mean about it, or nasty. he quietly, and in a way that she has complete deniability is asking for some information. "Ladies. Thank you." There is a sharp pop and a hiss as he targets, then he is off.