8972/Coming Home To Roost

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Coming Home To Roost
Date of Scene: 27 August 2019
Location: The Nest, Gotham
Synopsis: Natasha and Skye catch up on events, and Skye has new leads to follow in the search for her mother.
Cast of Characters: Shadow, Quake, Oracle




Shadow has posed:
    When the Nest was being set up, Skye's primary contribution was to help fudge the data trails -- vanishing ownership certificates and otherwise making sure that no one would ever come and ask who owned the place, or why it was getting utilities despite officially being empty -- but she hadn't visited the place physically yet.

    So when she's hovering in stealth mode about a kilometer or two up in the sky right above where the address should be, it's something of a surprise that all the Quinjet's sensors show her a fairly decrepit empty lot with absolutely nothing of interest...

Quake has posed:
Skye *knew* the place was there. Hell, she'd help set it up. That or she'd sent utilities to the wrong address.. nevermind the dummy accounts she'd set up to cover payments. If there was one thing Skye knew well, it was how to build dead end corridors of papertrails - or, in this case, data trails - to hide what was really going on. Working for SHIELD had only honed that skill given the assignments she'd been on up to now.

Thankfully Skye also understood cloaking technology well enough to understand she wasn't seeing what she was seeing, but that wasn't going to help her land the quinjet, and May would kill her if she scratched the thing.

"Roost, this is Quake. I need a fix. I'm taking it Oracle set up the double blind? Sweet little trick, but I can't hang here forever. Out."

Oracle has posed:
Babs is back at the Clocktower in the wanning hours of the night finishing up the last patrol schemes for the evenings vigilante roster when the transmission comes in across heavily (as if there's another kind with Oracle) encrypted channels. The music cuts out immediately as she turns in her seat to key up the comms, <<Quake. I did not see you on sensors. I have eyes on now. Settle down at the coordinates I am sending you.>>

Yawning into the back of her hand, her bunny slippered feet pop up onto the corner of her desk, grinning a little to herself at the surprise Skye's about to receive entering the Nest.

Shadow has posed:
    The coordinates match her location, but they're... Curiously specific, down to the meter, despite there obviously being more than enough space to land comfortably.

    At least, until she descends below twenty meters and the view... wavers... And when the confusion clears she's making final approach to the courtyard of a warehouse in good repair, and while it's certainly doable for a Quinjet it'll be a fairly snug fit...

Quake has posed:
"Damn you have faith in my piloting," Skye grins, but thankfully as it's a stationary target and she's not being fired at, she can take her time. And after all, this was precisely what she'd argued she needed the flight time for - practicing.

She takes the vertical descent slowly, and manages to hold to the course.

"You could have said I was parking a bus in a punchbuggy spot. I could have drove Gretel here." Her complaint comes over the comms as she powers the jet down and takes a good look around before exiting. Mind you, if she'd driven Gretel here, she wouldn't have gotten to fly, and Skye was finding she kind of liked flying. Maybe more than a little.

Hell, May had let her pilot the bus. Not that anyone would believe that, but it had happened.

Oracle has posed:
<<I could have. I would not have gotten to see you wiggle that big ass into a pair of jeans two sizes too small, though.>> The ambiguous voice of Oracle is replaced by Babs own over comms once Skye is within the protective bubble cast over the Nest. Feet crossing at the ankle with her half eaten sandwich and big glass of milk in reach, she adjusts her glasses and does, in fact, watch the show with a little smirk.

"Now was that so hard?" Teasing quietly. Babs never got into fly.... she can, maybe not very well, but she sure does love things that go fast. "Maybe next time don't show off with your big shiny jet, hmmmm?" Drawing the last out for emphasis.

"Door should be unlocked-" Checking, she leans forward to type in a command on one of her keyboards, "-Door is unlocked now. Not sure if Boo is inside or not, but the other ladies have gone home for the night.. I think June is sleeping off a hangover in the barracks."

Shadow has posed:
    In fact, 'Boo' is standing outside, in her coat and cloak -- but with the hat off and the scarf loosely around her neck for the moment, waiting patiently for Skye to finish landing and securing the Quinjet.

Quake has posed:
"I should really check in more often, but I have to say, I prefer my digs and the company than what I imagine the barracks here are like." Skye laughs. "Shutting down comms. You smart asses can talk to me once I'm outside the jet."

And that's really it until she's left the jet and walks over to Natasha. "Boo? Wow. I have to say you were a lot scarier before I heard that. Place looks nice. I was beginning to worry I'd been sending the good stuff to the wrong vacant lot."

Not really, but Skye did have her need to joke.

Oracle has posed:
Babs laughs quietly and grabs up her sandwich for a big bite out of one side while her other hand keys up the patrol lanes for whoever is left out in the city. Not many, really, not this close to dawn. She glances over at the little room attached to the loft where the bank of computer resides, brow raised, and another bite of her sandwich.

Sucking on her thumb, Babs pops up from her chair and tosses her headset off onto the glass head near one of the monitors so she can switch to the earbud while downstairs in her kitchen, then off to an early bed.. not really realizing how long a weekend it had been until just. this. second.

Shadow has posed:
    "I have it on good authority that I can be perfectly terrifying when I choose to be," Natasha replies with a smile. "And thank you, I'm pretty satisfied with how it worked out. Not exactly the Waldorf in terms of creature comforts, but serviceable enough for what we need. I trust you've been well?"

Quake has posed:
Skye shrugs, and gives a grin. "I've been better. Destroyed my arms pulling down a mountain. I'm under strict orders not to do that again." Like that ever stopped Skye. And here she makes a much more serious face. "I found out my mother is alive. And some other things to do with that. I was supposed to be taking time off to find her until the thing with Sebastian happened."

Sebastian who had been residing in SHIELD for a time, which the Birds had helped with peripherally. At the very least they'd been part of the intel trail, as the Sentinels were a menace to all.

"So, thinking about doing some more sleuthing around. Thought I'd peek in on the deal here. Check in. See if there's anything you need while I'm off. And who says you're perfectly terrifying?"

Skye laughs, mostly because she's aware it isn't an idle declaration, and she has no desire to be in the receiving end of the death stare anytime soon. "May sends her regards by the way."

Shadow has posed:
    "That business in Vienna, as I recall," Natasha nods. "SHIELD did a good job on the coverup, but a richter-7 event in a supposedly stable area is tricky to explain away..."

    A quick critical glance down at the young woman's arms -- but given that she managed to fly a Quinjet here, she'd almost certainly already healed.

    "Your mother's still alive? That's certainly news." ... Good or bad, remains to be seen -- the issues with Skye's father had ultimately worked out, but it had been touch and go for a while. "Have you made any headway in finding her?"

Quake has posed:
Skye nods wryly. "I know. I got an earful. And it wasn't supposed to get so.. big." She sighs, frowning a little and rubbing her wrists in memory. "It got away from me. I was angry and focusing and all I could think was making him pay."

She stops herself, forcing her hands to leave her wrists alone.

"It was stupid. I put a lot of people at risk." Which is to say May was so angry she had a talking to with skye (two actually) where she didn't bring food. "I got written up." That had stung.

Skye nods. "Yeah. My father suggested she was alive. One of the missions Clint ran before we took out Zola, he hit an Inhuman village we had intel on. Turns out she was there. Zola hit it too, and took a number of Inhumans that we rescued.. Only we don't know where the rest of them went. So I'm going searching."

She pulls a string out of her pocket, a red cord laden with coins punched with square holes in them. "She left me these. A letter. And a couple of intact crystals."

Skye doesn't need to say what kind of crystals they are.

Shadow has posed:
    Natasha's eyes narrow at mention of the crystals - she'd heard some of the stories - but then she looks at the coin cord. "Hmm... Chinese, I'm pretty sure. May I?" she asks, reaching out one gloved hand.

Quake has posed:
Skye has no problems handing the coins over. They hold sentimental value, but beyond that, she's unaware of them having any particular other use. At least none she's been able to find yet. And so far, she's found little to help her figure out where to look next. But she's still hopeful, and perhaps Natasha might have ideas she hasn't.

Shadow has posed:
    Natasha looks the coins over with a critical eye. "Hmm... Middle Imperial Chinese, I'd guess. Somewhere between the sixth and tenth century CE. An actual trained archaeologist would be able to tell you more, perhaps even pin down the geographical area."

    She hands the coins back with a tilt of her head. "I'm sure SHIELD and especially WAND have a few good archaeologists on call; they're entirely too useful identifying potentially troublesome artifacts before they explode in everyone's face..."

Quake has posed:
"Yeah," Skye agrees quietly. "I've been putting it off. Or, more like I've been busy. That, and, you know. It's kinda personal? There's been so much of that lately I guess I've been thinking if I put it off a little bit longer I won't get bad news."

Of course she also won't get good news either. It's kind of a catch-22 there.

Shadow has posed:
    Natasha actually winces. "Knowing is always better than not knowing," she replies. "Even if it turns out to be the worst case... At least once you know, you can start putting it to rest."

    All of a sudden she's not entirely sure whether she's addressing that to the young woman standing in front of her... Or her own self at twelve years old hearing the news that the plane her parents were on had dropped off the radar and wasn't responding to radio calls...

Quake has posed:
There's a slow nod from Skye, who has to admit, "Everything in my life was lie. I thought my parents were dead. SHIELD hid me away. They actively kept anyone from adopting me. Even when they recruited me, they knew who I was. And then I find out I'm not human, and my father is alive.."

She makes a futile sort of gesture with her hands.

"Things could have turned out so much worse. As it was, I barely found out who and what I was before Zola turned me. Then finding out my mother is alive.. it's alot."

She gives Natasha a sympathetic look.

"The thing is, they knew where I was. My parents, I mean. My mother.. my mother knew. And what if I ask and there aren't answers? Then it's just another question in my life. And I'm not sure how I'll deal with that."

Shadow has posed:
    "Based on past performance, I'd say you'll likely go and dig and bring the answers into light whether they want to or not," Natasha points out. "You've never been one to leave a secret alone. Especially not one that matters to you personally."

Quake has posed:
That has Skye laughing and looking first at the ground, then the other woman. "I suppose that has been me, hasn't it? In other words, quit feeling sorry for yourself, Skye, until you have something to be sorry about, and even then you get a day tops before you get your ass out there and solve the mystery."

The words are given with some wryness. She's not unaware that Nat's assessment of her is spot on. Or that there is a certain insanity to avoid answers in case there are no answers - even if she might also be angry still that her parents had played the same very game SHIELD had.

Then again, she'd forgiven SHIELD, and her father; how could this be so very different?

"Fine, so what other advice is it I need to hear, since I'm a captive audience." Amused.

Shadow has posed:
    Natasha laughs. "I'm a vigilante, not a fortune cookie dispensory," she points out with a teasing wink. "You're a grown young woman and perfectly capable of learning your own life lessons, at this point..."

Quake has posed:
"So mean," Skye complains. "Fine. I'll make my own mistakes. And I should get the quinjet back to May before she docks my pay. Place looks awesome, though. We're getting there."

Shadow has posed:
    "I wouldn't want to disappoint Agent May," Natasha concurs. "Fly safe -- and you'll always be welcome here."