7491/Troublemakers in Little Medbay

Troublemakers in Little Medbay
Date of Scene:	15 May 2019
Location:	Medical Ward - The Triskelion
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Peggy Carter, Quake

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Peggy Carter has posed:
The morning of Peggy's third day in the modern era. Technically, her second full day, but after time jumping 50 some years, keeping track of things is a bit wibbly. She still slept much of yesterday, body adjusting to the shift and any after-effects of being stuck in some sort of battery for that many years. Then there are the tests, so many tests. So far, genetically, Peggy is an identical match to the woman SHIELD examined at her last physical in the early spring of 1974. Including some slightly strange biomarkers, but no one has really mentioned it as a worry. Not yet, at least.

She's awake early, that doesn't change anything. Her request for a newspaper was looked at like she grew a second head and the team psych seems to think letting her see modern news isn't wise yet, so she's been given a book. She's now curled up in a fresh set of clothing, comfortable SHIELD sweats, with Steve's stolen button down wrapped across her shoulders. The bed is totally folded up to sitting to make reading and sipping her morning tea easier. From the look on her face and the carefully combed curls of her hair, she's probably been up for a while.

Quake has posed:
Skye was trying to sleep, hampered by the fact that medical has been in and out several times now, and it's surprising how loud page turning is when you're trying not to be awake. Despite her 'blunting' her hearing, it was the little niggle of a straw that broke the camel's back/

Skye, it should be noted, was not a morning person.

Since sleep is out of the question, she's decided to give in to wakefulness, and despite orders not to, she's somehow gotten ahold of a cellphone and is serreptitiously texting away on it, frowning at things she's reading periodically.

To be fair, Jemma's pills have worked wonders, and her arms have mostly healed, but official word hasn't been given that she's free to tap tap tap yet - likely for more reasons than her arms. Like Peggy in the bed next to her, for example.

Peggy Carter has posed:
A few moments just looking to the side, realizing that Skye is most certainly awake and most certainly picking around on something that is a remote control of some sorts? Well, Skye is clearly determined to be on it long enough that Peggy's better judgment kicks in. "...Were you cleared for fine motor work after everything? I...didn't hear Dr. Simmons bring that up yet." The tone of her voice is that of a curious mother who has caught her child doing something they aren't supposed to be doing, but it waiting on a better explanation before passing full judgment about the matter.

She finally drops her own book, dog earring the one page but changing it out from her little plastic bedside table for her tea instead. She hovers fingertips across it, not so much drinking the tea but nursing it for its warmth and familiarity.

Quake has posed:
Skye doesn't look up, continuing to frown at something. "Totally not fine motor work if you're only using one finger," she tells the other woman without lifting her head, or addressing the actual question.

After a minute, she seems eiether satisfied with something, or made a decision, and looks up and over. "Let me guess. You're a morning person." Grinning. "Just when I decided to like you."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"The use of a finger to do detailed work, even one finger, is fine motor control, Skye. Trust me, I've been sassed by the best." Oh, there's Director Carter. Whether she was more terrifying as a mom or a boss is hard to figure, but she definitely has that vibe. She shifts enough that she is half curled on her side as she faces Skye now, studying the woman a bit deeper. The look of her dark eyes is that of someone who probably can't STOP studying people, it's such ingrained habit.

"...I can't truthfully remember if I'm a morning person or not. The military, then government service, then children... Well, none of those things give you any other option." She admits with a bit of a smirk, trying to keep her words light and conversational despite the weight of sheer history behind even that simple statement.

Quake has posed:
"OOooo," Skye laughs. "That wasn't even my sass voice. You'll understand the difference when you know me better." Her head tilting to one side as she continues to regard her room mate in equal measure for the look upon herself. "And even if it is fine motor control, it's been over four days now. I'm going crazy. I can't do anything and no offense to you, but I'm BORED. I can't even work on my current asssignment - all my gear is back at home."

Which is only part of the truth there. She also can't work on the deal here because Zola has eyes everywhere. But it's mostly the truth.

"Dedicated night person here. Totally hacked into the systems so my rooms here didn't do that wake up bullshit. OMG who thought birdsongs at 6am was reasonable. Some of us only got to bed at 5." She chin nods to the book. "What'd they give you to read? Let me guess, keeping you away from current events. So they probbly gave you a classic. Something you read already. Maybe not. Certainly nothing before 75. You're reading it because it's what you have and it's letting you think while you do it, but you're bored too. You've figured out you can't go back, and you need to know where it is you are and what the hell is going on so you can begin to piece your life together again, and in case you figure out we're not all we seem and you need to get the fuck out of Dodge."

She smirks.

"How'm'I doing?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
"You are clearly a trained SHIELD agent and mostly accurate in your analysis of the situation, yes. I am... curious as to why everyone is on *quite* so high security alert. There is more going on here. But they refuse to give me any of your fancy, tiny computers. Or many guests, other thank yourself. I'm... also guessing you are being kept in here longer to get closer to me in attempts to figure out if I am actually who I claim to be. I'm sorry if I've extended your stay." Peggy tosses out, trying the waters of analysis herself, even though she's on completely new footing in this era and version of SHIELD. She still formulated a lot of their training on how to read people.

A sip of tea is finally taken, something to remind her that it isn't just a prop, but she doesn't seem all that interested in it. Even if tea had always been a comfort of home for her, right now it's more just a reminder of how far home is. Still, she's going through the motions. Best to keep composure in tact.

Quake has posed:
Skye laughs, with a smirk. "No, I was being kept in here because I don't behave. And they need to make sure I actually do heal as we've a few things on our plates that sorta require that." She's not really giving anything away there. "And yeah, you've pegged it mostly right. I'd be really disappointed in you if you hadn't. Mind you, there was a time everyone thought I was the IT girl and pretty much expected my job was handing out passwords and turning the computers off and on. I almost miss those days. People left me alone a lot more then."

Skye considers her cell phone, and Peggy. "I could share. There's a risk. To you, and to me. I mean, I don't think we're even remotely what you expected the future would be. I've seen the movies, and I have to say you guys were way off. Tell you what, though, ask me things, I'll give you the answers I can."

Adding, "For what it's worth? I think you're who you say you are. Just we can't be too careful right now. We've been fooled before." Again, not giving anything away, really, and added bonus, if Zola or his minions were listening in, totally expected conversation between two agents. All that supposing Zola wasn't behind Peggy's appearance.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Silence for several heartbeats, as Peggy studies Skye just a bit deeper and logics through the situation silently. She isn't a woman to rush, and it offers a more fascinating brain puzzle than dwelling on the emotions she mostly has packed away again. She sets down her tea, far less interested in it than the security problem in front of her. A slow exhale of consideration preceeds her words...

"Considering the amount of care you are all taking, and with a few words said before, I suspect you think I am a plant. Now, anyone unexpected showing up here could be a suspicious plant, but there is something more here. That would imply that they who put me here would get something out of it beyond shaking up SHIELD's security, and that they would have to know me well enough to be able to train an agent to entirely emulate my personality as well as my genetics. So... I'd put that at either HYDRA or Leviathian, considering they were two of our biggest threats and ones I personally was on the front lines of fighting. Though, we had stumbled upon the Red Room in the last decade of my service. I suspect several Leviathian agents came from there, but that was only a part of the picture. A woman with my face and personality would be their sort of speciality. But then...HYDRA..." Peggy frowns deeper, sitting all the way up and letting legs fall over the side of the bed, "HYDRA would have an interest in both of us, considering your mother. In fact, HYDRA's tests on her... I was remembering my interviews at the Rat. They were essential to much of HYDRAs operations in Asian at the time. So, if I was a HYDRA plant, and that was still SHIELD's largest worry, leaving you here to bond with me could be a double edged sword. Effective, because of a shard history a step emotionally more removed than Captain Rogers or Lieutenant Barnes, but also because you have skin in the game. Literally."

Quake has posed:
This is precisely why Skye had been left with the woman. To listen. To assess. Hell, to challenge. Sure it had been happenstance Skye had found another avenue of confirmation - or at least egress, given Zola's interest in her might only have planted evey bit of this information, but seeing how the woman dissected and disseminated things was also valuable in sussing her out. Also in figuring out how much use she'd be to all of them after her sojourn... wherever it was she was. SHIELD of today wasn't SHIELD of the 70's and if Peggy couldn't adapt...

"Right on the first. Right on the second. Zero'd in on the trifecta."

"So. Yeah. I'm not Barnes or Rogers. I'm not going to fall over myself because I want to believe you're you. Love Bucky to death, but if Steve thinks you're you - and he does - Bucky will back him with his dying breath, and it won't matter who the hell you are. Makes them a liability in this." Even if they still might be the only way to confirm she's the real deal.

"I'd toss some Mandarin at you, but all I can do reliably is order noodles. By now, May knows there's a deeper connection between your past and mine. She likely didn't when she assigned me, so half points there. But since we're being frank and all I'm also your best access to the present."

Skye considers, running through several worst case scenarios in her head, including May's reaction if she were wrong, and asks, "So, what can you tell me about Arnim Zola?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
The moment Skye mentions the name Zola, Peggy's expression darkens just a touch. It's a subtle change for a woman who tries to pride herself on being unreadable, but the amount of vitriol in her system for the man (and the time of the morning) makes that near impossible. She swallows back and gives a little huff, almost hesitant to speak, but this was SHIELD. There was no doubt in her mind this was SHIELD. At least, so far, there hasn't been. "...A biochemist in HYDRA. He was the Red Skull's right hand man and one of the people behind the attempts to steal the formula we used to create Steve Rogers, among many other incredibly unethical projects..."

Then Peggy hesitates. Why was she being questioned about Zola. Didn't they know? Her eyes narrow just a touch and she looks around the room again, flickers of exhaustion and paranoia crossing her eyes. ",,, And now I am trying to figure out just how likely this is some... incredibly elaborate creation of Zola's to convince me to spill SHIELD's secrets about him. I'll admit, this is not the future the fiction books pictured but... very few things fall out the way they are fictionalized. And the replication of Steve and Bucky was... Remarkable..."

Quake has posed:
Skye laughs darkly, "How about this, how about the fact he was SHIELD. Or was that the holdback? See, I play this game, too. And you're talking to likely the singlemost modern authority on the man." But she gets it. She saw that darkening in Peggy's eyes before she answered.

"So we're on the same page. We don't like him." Deciding, for once and for all, that if someone didn't trust someone in this, they'd never get answers. "Hey, Gimme your book for a minute? And a pencil if you have one?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
While Peggy doesn't want to say anything else, there is the faintest movement to her eyes as Skye says that Zola was a part of SHIELD. Whether that is unspoken acknowledgment or shock, who knows. But full wariness has taken over now. Still, what could her book and a pencil hurt? She stands up slowly and hands the book over towards the woman, and a pencil she'd requested, since they wouldn't give her things to note electronically. "... After Captain Rogers disappeared, I was probably the single most authority on HYDRA even when SHIELD was founded, much less after twenty more years. They deciding another tactic to break me would not be beyond their pattern of attack."

Quake has posed:
The book is calmly taken and Skye, the younger agent nodding, "Yeah, we had some issues verifying him. I mean, okay, not me particularly, he's a slight bit before me. Overlap. Not really sure. I was pretty much in my I hate everyone and everything SHIELD phase at the time."

She carefully flips through the book, smirking wryly as she circles a few seemingly random things. Draws an arrow on one page and writes a note in the margain.

Overall, when Peggy gets the book back, things will eventually resolve to:

"Ghost in the Machine. But we need to talk."

"Kinda shitty book they gave you. Did you know that there's a sorta sequal to this. The Watchman. Harper actually wrote it before Mockingbird, but it wouldn't sell."

The book is tossed bck.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The book is taken back, but warily. Peggy doesn't put her back to the woman now, scared she'll miss the hint that this isn't what it seems. She begins flipping through the book slowly, looking for the marked words and the silent message there. It creases her brow but eases a touch of the tension for just a moment. Why would Skye indicate something to her to shut her up if this was a plan for HYDRA to get information. Peggy leans against her bed but doesn't go back to sitting, taking in all this information. "...I know there had been talk of hiring him, giving a pardon, when I was still director. I firmly fought it. It's possible... after I left... " She looks even more uncomfortable at THAT idea. Other parts of her world just crumbling before her.

"...and... Beggars can't be choosers where reading material in this prison is concerned... Though, now I have a thought that if we are in some HYDRA compound in my era, no wonder they are keeping me from these wonder computers. They don't really exist." The pad in Skye's hand. All the internet and all the world. It'd be proof more than anything of modern days, most likely, but they won't let Peggy see it. Was this her way of tricking Skye into giving her a peak?

Quake has posed:
Okay, now /that/ hits Skye where she lives.

"Yeah, they are pretty good at making you believe you're where you think you are, aren't they?" She ponders her palms, fingers circling a small silvered scar on the one of them. "I still think you'd know. Something would be wrong. They can only make you believe what they want for so long. It's the things that tie you to people and places they can't forge. Eventually, if you can hold out long enough, they can't keep you."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"It's... gone. The things that tie me to this place, my people... They are gone. What, half a panel with Howard's logo on it and... five minutes with people who looked..." Talked like. Smelled like... Felt like... "Steve and Bucky, before they quickly left, before I could see through it all. Just enough to put me off my game." That's not helping in the least. Peggy is still wearing that button down sweater like a blanket, but it suddenly feels somehow itchy and alien. Had she just played right into their hands? "If you had shown me around this place and told me it was SHIELD... I'd have never believed you four days ago. This looks like some... Alien ship. And the last time I saw James Barnes, he was an assassin for HYDRA."

Quake has posed:
"For me," Skye reveals, "It was my childhood. Bits and pieces. Some good. Some bad. He was trying to convince me that what he offered was better. All I had was an arrow and my badge. They were the only real things in the room. Only the room was my mind. I wanted to believe him.. mostly because it was all shit. All of my past was shit. He took everything that had hurt me and said he could make it better and I had nothing to believe it wasn't true."

Again, she circles the silver on her palm, then sighs deeply.

"And this isn't helping you any. Been there, though. Not sure what I can offer to help?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
"...they can put things in your mind..." That wasn't helping *at all*. Though, why would they tell her that? Peggy starts to pace again, restless, that feeling of being trapped just having increased thrice over. Her fingertips play at the edge of Steve's sweater, desperate for it to be real but also suddenly uncomfortable in its grasp. She finally just unbuttons the thing, shrugging thin shoulders out of it and balling it up even as she takes a deeper breath. Did it really smell like him, or did her mind just tell her it did?

"So... tell me 'Agent Johnson'. What's real, here? The sweater? Did you have a trunk of his things to recreate? You'd think they'd know my taste in reading better, after all these years." A shaking hand forces the sweater down on her abandoned bed as she begins to stalk through the room, looking for any curtain to find the HYDRA-wizard and truth behind. Anything that looks wrong, off, fake... "Prove it to me. Prove this is... 2027. Something even HYDRA technology can't do. Something that isn't a dream. Prove it." Peggy's voice is under control, but barely. The last two words hold a crack that wasn't there before.

Quake has posed:
"You really do want to get me in trouble, don't you?"

Skye sighs, and eases herself to the edge of her bed. "You are totally backing me when May lays down the law, I want you to know, because this is your fault."

Skye looks for something she can act upon and finds something small, and hopefully not going to shatter her arms, even as she knows this is another couple days in this stupid, stupid room. There's a water glass by Peggy's bedside, and grimacing, Skye hold out a hand towards it.

"It takes a few, but in due time, a singular note rises in the air, wavering at first until Skye hits the right vibrations and then the note is thin and clear in the room before she makes a face, and tucks her hand under her other arm. "That's what he's after. What he's been after all along. Not just me, though. But he's responsible. Fuck that was a bad idea.. " Skye laughs to herself. "I haven't a lot he couldn't have put in your mind.. other than I know Howard's son. We've worked together. He's a bit of a jerk, but brilliant. Calls me by every flower name in the book but my own."

Then it hits her, and she laughs even more. "Oh god, I'm so stupid. Okay, here." /Now/ Sye remembers the phone on her bed, and carefully turns it on, opens a browser, and tosses it to Peggy. "You were only dreaming of that when you disappeared. A way to store all the world's knowledge at your fingertips. We've dubbed it the Internet. I'm pretty good with the thing, and I'd show you, but it seems someone was stupid and totally undid the healing she'd done."

Someone who she doesn't name, but they both know who she means.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Skye... don't... !" Peggy chimes in, worried, protectively, all too easily able to see the woman is trying to activate some sort of power, probably the same power that hurt her before because it was similar to the same practiced gesture. Peggy winces in empathy, almost reaching her own fingertips up to stop the woman mid-gesture, but she has no clue if that will make it worse. Still, the vision is impressive and the powers look real. The old Director is clearly emotionally invested or trusting enough in Skye to be worried, even if it's some grand illustion. "Bloody hell, woman... Do they teach EVERYONE in SHIELD to be martyrs?" It's only half a joke, but some of the paranoia has cut down in her voice.

And then, there is the phone. Peggy stares down at the little white screen and the bar. She just touches the screen, not certain where or how, and the set of letters come up like a keyboard. At the same moment, her mind registers something else. "Someone... reproduced with Howard? He actually had a son? Was it Marie? Did that poor woman finally convince him to settle down??" She blinks twice. And just quietly begins to type 'HOWARD STARK SON' awkwardly. Nothing happens. She stares more. "...I typed it. It's letters on a screen. It's... a fancy trick."

Quake has posed:
"Think it's in our job description," Skye laughs of being a martyr, still clearly in pain but making light of it. "I'm sure it was in the fine print. And you should see what I do for an encore."

Despite the pain, she walks over to Peggy, to tell her verbally how to navigate things further. "You have to hit that little crooked arrow thing. It's an enter key. Tells it to initiate the search. Sorta like on a computer, only you know, digital."

Peggy Carter has posed:
And, within a second of hitting that button, there is a plethora of listings popping up for Howard Stark, Tony Stark, notes about Maria... Photos. Newspaper articles. Something called Wikipedia with a whole run down of it. Peggy stares hard, some blood quickly leaving her face as most of the wind is taken from her sails where the paranoia was concerned. If this was a trick, it was beyond elaborate. She sinks deeper against the edge of her bed. "How... how do I... open the listed files?" She asks, not recognizing link throughs or browsers, just the list before her. But it's an easy tap for Skye to show her.

And there is everything. The run down on Tony but, more so, the run down on Howard. Photos of him older. Uncaring commentary about his drinking problem. Reports of her disappearance. His assassination. Tony's carrying on Stark Industries. "...He... he got so old." Peggy whispers after a few heartbeats, paging through pictures of her friend twenty some years after she disappeared.

Quake has posed:
"Finger," Skye direts. "Touch screen activated. Your finger on the blue wording gives a heat signature that activates the code beneath. I'd go with that second listing. The first isnt' really all that.. some sources are better than other. That one is a bit of truth. Some lies. The second isn't so bad. Will be a more consise overview. I'd show you more on our systems other than, you know."

Skye shrugs. Besides, so many firewalls to go through and she's not precisely sure she wants to talk someone through that pain in the noggin for something Peggy just wants to get a feel for at the moment.

Besides, Skye is fiarly certain May or Jemma or both are likely to arrive in no time flat and take the thing away.

She lets the other agent read in peace, answering questions only when asked.

Peggy Carter has posed:
While the internet is definitely a challenge to her, Peggy is a quick learner. The basics of clicking on things and typing in a search? That's not hard to figure out. She scans slowly down paragraphs, looking white as a ghost as she reads the echoing years of her best friend's life. A deep, shaking breath escapes her lips and she forces herself to click off of that screen, moving for another. "This... thing... It just has files on everyone? Everything? Do you know how big our computer was in 1975? It was state of the art, better than what even NASA had, we were told. It filled most of the sub basement and then some..." Peggy states flatly, an incredulous laugh escaping her lips. Of course, that was the very same computer Zola infiltrated, just about the same time.

STEVE ROGERS. She types that next, still having somehow kept down the CAPS button. And, in a moment, there's another hundred photos and articles. Her breath catches tightly as she clicks on one 'Steve Rogers Discovered Alive in the Ice'. It's old news, but a run down of the location, the miracle of the century. "... he really was still there. After all that searching. We tried to find him, you know? For... for years, we tried."

Peggy pages through a few other things. She hasn't even realized that the tears have broken through, but a few silent escapees have struck out and cut a damp path down her cheeks. She ignores them with restrainted dignity. After a few more searches, she finally whispers, "... this is ... actually real. Isn't it?" Glassy eyes turn up to Skye, searching for any hint she's wrong. She no longer thinks she is.

Quake has posed:
"Damn skippy I know what you had in '75. I'm a hacker, Peggy. My job is making those things do what I want that the programmers didn't intend for them to do. I got picked up for sticking my nose into other people's computer files and posting them for the world to read.. Probably not making my case here."

Skye chuckles, still careful to keep that arm tucked under her body. Thankfully her off hand, but really she performed best with both.

"The internet is .. everything. Everything we know or think or see or feel - it's all there. Some of it is bullshit, because it's still public and open property in the sense that anyone can post. But - uh, hey. YOu might not want to look at everything all at once. I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to see all your past. And I'll be frank, not all of it because we still need to convince May that you're you. You fill up on our time and it's going to get a lot harder."

EVentually, when the tears come, Skye takes the phone back, and wraps Peggy in an awkward one armed hug. "Yeah. You're here. The year is 2027. We've got some really awesome stuff, and some really shitty stuff, and I'm really sorry you got dragged here and away from everything you knew. It sucks."

And somehow that 'away from everything' was also one of those fine print matters. They all knew it. They just didnt' talk about it much.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Hugging. Peggy isn't much of a hugger, especially to a stranger. But she also knows Skye is still hurting and yet dares to reach out, one armed, and give it a try. She's desperately trying to swallow back in those tears and emotions, the fierce sting of embarrassment only making them somehow worse. But, for a moment, she lets her now free arms wrap around the thinner woman and just holds on for a few breaths. "...I... still don't know if I really believe it. But, I don't know how I... don't, either. And I don't know what to *do*... with it. How to prove to her I am who I say I am. How to just... carry on." The entirity of her situation is finally beginning to settle in and it's overwhelming, to say the least.

Quake has posed:
Skye holds for as long as she thinks the other needs it, and then a few more just for herself, before giving a quirky half grin and nodding her chin at Peggy as she steps out of the embrace and back. "Well, start with giving me my phone back and wiping your cheeks before anyone finds out we've been all sentimental in here and you know, thinks we're human or anything like that."

Emotions are still one of those things for the younger agent.

"I don't think you get a choice," Skye says of believing it. "Yuo're either here, or you're stuck in one of his machines. If you're there, it doesn't matter, does it? Time will come and go at whatever pace and as long as you fight him you're stuck there. And if you give in, you'll believe what he wants, anyway. You'll be happy and forget after awhile that you even questioned it. Or you'll be dead. There's not a lot of inbetween."

As an aside, she mentions, "Did you know brainwashing works more easily on intelligent people? They do half the work of it themselves. Comvince themselves it's real. And yeah, I know, not helping Skye, but maybe? I mean, think about it - you're questioning it. And you're going to go the rest of your life waking up every now and then questioning it. It won't be some sad forgotten memory of a time or place, but a cold sweat full body from asleep to awake can't breathe oh my god am I still there.."

Yeah. Skye might have that problem every now and then since her sojourn with Zola and her own experience in the machine.

"But what you do is you lock yourself in the bathroom and have a last good cry. Then you come out and you ask to speak to Director May and we prove you're you, and you help us kick Zola's fucking ass. You get yourself back up to speed on this place, and you find out who it is here you want to work with. And how you want to work with us. And you come over to our place and eat food and kick back and you find out what it is that keeps us all here doing this stupid job day after day as thankless as it is."

Another grin from Skye. "I suck at the recruitment speech. And sometimes I give it with a field promotion I'm not auithorized to give. I'm thinking you'll outrank me so I'm holding off on that, because man you know damn well I've not been behaving."

Peggy Carter has posed:
The comment about crying in the bathroom makes her frown a moment. Apparently, she wasn't quite as subtle as she hoped last night. She takes in another of those shuddering breaths but does pull back, reaching the back of her wrists up to brush away the tears which had dared escape. "No... no crying. No reason for it. Helps nothing, especially in an emergency." Not that this was an emergency, but it's a good excuse. She takes one more steadying breath and turns back to the bed, intending on claiming her tea, perhaps settling down again. Then, there is Steve's sweater. Balled up from where she pulled it off in the fit of paranoia. She really isn't ready for all these emotions.

She keeps her back to Skye as she heads over there again and fingers at the soft, oversized button down. At least this time she isn't facing anyone for that sting in her eyes. "You're... right. Don't let it go to your head, young lady. But... you're right. As soon as Director May returns we'll figure some sort of... strategy. And..." Another breath. Steadying, controlling, clamping down every last emotion behind that iron will. "I'd... like to meet this Anthony. At some point. I imagine he's... incorrigable, if he's anything like Howard."

Quake has posed:
"I know," Skye says as gently as she can manage. "You didn't want anyone to know. I'm trying to be open here because we're all walking around this like it's a minefield. Someone has to give. You don't know me, but I know me, and people trust me a lot. Like more than they probably should. And if there's something I've learned is that sometimes I gotta take a chance and listen to my gut, and if I'm honest with you about things, it gets us over that other bullshit faster. So yeah, I heard you. I can't help it. It's part of what was done to me. Part of the change to me. What Zola did. I can do a bunch of other stuff, too. Not important. I also know that even if it doesn't help, sometimes a cry is all you have. What else do you get to do? Can't punch a wall. Or blow up the Trisk. Pretty sure May could drop you faster than you dropped Bucky - which was amazing, by the way and more than a little scary. So you do what you need before everyone tromps in here and makes a circus of things."

She shrugs, because it makes no matter to Skye if Peggy cries or not. It's more that the other know that she's got the freedom, and someone who will look out for her if she does. Who understands, in some small way, this bazarre arena Peggy has wandered into.

"I'd.. I mean, I have him on speed dial, but I really think May would have my ass back down to Agent in Training so fast if I did that. Think you can hold out a few more before meeting him? Steve and Bucky, they're up on what's going on. We can get them to come. Hell, my quarters aren't being used, and they're pretty much as safe as I can make them. Coudl totally have a meeting with them there off the main grid if you wanted. I'm the one stuck in medical."

Peggy Carter has posed:
First thing, Peggy finally shifts that sweater up and around her shoulders, slipping arms through the sleeves which are almost comically big on her, but it somehow helps. She scrunches them up and hugs the lapels over herself, taking in a deep breath of those last scraps of his scent. Real. It was truly real. "... If... they are up for it, St... Captain Rogers and Lieutnant Barnes probably can do the best verification. And vice versa, for me. They're the only two I really know here, unless Fury shows his face again." Her voice is the calm, methodical step by step of someone who lives on making plans to make sense of the world. It also helps her pull back those emotions. "No more tears." That's probably a lie, but she's holding onto it almost as tight as the sweater. "Clearance from May. I want access to this... Internet thing, again. Full access. And then I'd like to meet Howard's son. But... a step at a time."

She gives Skye a weak, half smile. It doesn't quite reach her eyes but it's more honest for that, Peggy not putting on a show for the woman but leeting her see, if just for a few heartbeats, her true colors. "Thank you, Skye. I can't imagine any of this is... easy for you either. We'll manage through it then get some truly good food. I used to know an excellent diner, I'm sure New York still has a handful of them." She crosses to the woman, reaching up to her good arm's shoulder and giving the smallest squeeze. "For now, do try to not use those hands again, just for a day or two? You're of no use to anyone if you continue damaging yourself when it's not an emergency. How you treat yourself when not in crisis tells me... a lot about how you consider life in general. I'd like to work with you in the field. Prove to me you're a responsible agent worth working with, not just... a good friend." With that oddly chiding reassurance, Peggy stalks back to the wash room. Not to cry this time. But she could certainly do with washing those tear streaks off her face and probably a good brush of her teeth. Time to face the day.

Quake has posed:
Skye doesn't try to defend herself to Peggy. It isn't necessary. She'll see or she wont. And there is no loss in this one whichever way Peggy decides. Besides, Skye is pretty certain she'll do just fine in the 'responsible in the field' arena. It's not like they don't have an upcoming chance to prove that.

Instead? A single text is sent on Skye's phone before the woman gives and admits she needs Jemma.

Skye>> (to May's personal line) It's her. She's ready.

Then a button push for medical help. Peggy is doing her own 'may as well get this over with'. Skye does hers.