9669/Meanwhile, In The SHIELD Science Wing

Meanwhile, In The SHIELD Science Wing
Date of Scene:	20 October 2019
Location:	Sciences Lounge, The Triskelion
Synopsis:	Lara, Kurt and Grant hear what information was recovered from the Hydra research into Vi. They decide to send her to Xavier's school, to the dismay of the SHIELD scientists.
Cast of Characters:	Vi, Nightcrawler, Lara Croft, Grant Ward

---

Vi has posed:
The Hydra research papers taken by Vi when she fled the work camp she grew up in were in very bad shape after their dip in the ocean. Lara Croft had delivered them to the SHIELD techs though, who said they would recover what they could.

That has been done now. Lara received a full copy of the findings and is invited to a meeting to discuss the results. With Kurt Wagner's familiarity with mutants, he was chosen to attend as well, with Captain America and Wasp unavailable for the meeting.

The recovered research also went to a pair of SHIELD scientists with specialties in the field. Rick Briggs and Jim Meyers, their names quite unfortunate given how much they work together. They have both heard enough 'personality test' jokes to last a life time.

Briggs and Meyers are already seated at the table, having set out of packets of information and prepared a few slides. Their excitement is palpable from their demeanor.

The girl, Vi, who is the source of the research papers is on site, having been brought over from the Avengers safehouse. But she is in a holding room elsewhere for the moment, close enough she can be brought in if needed.

Nightcrawler has posed:
BAMF! appearing within a indigo cloud of Brimstone, Kurt appears in the corner in full X-Man regalia, the red and black suit with white gloves and socks. Approaching and, due to the design of most office chairs, actually climbs onto the table at his spot. Hands splayed between his feet, like a gargoyle... or a cat.

A cat gargoyle. That's perfect.

Fuzzy blue, handsome, beared cat gargoyle.

Who is handsome.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara Croft, member of the WAND division (its a heck of an acronym when broken down), slips into the meeting room wearing a black leather jacket and a dark blue SHIELD hoodie on beneath it with the hood laid down back behind her shoulders, a pair of simple dark trousers and leather boots.

With her she carries a leather duffle bag that she deposits onto the table and then draws a chair back to settle into it. She offers a smile to the others in the room, its a soft smile, a gesture that is calm and collected. Her eyes dart over to Kurt and she nods once to him. She knows who he is, though they've never spoken much. Lara spent a semester teaching World History at Xavier's about a year and a half ago... so she has some pretty solid ties with that school and some of its faculty, Professor X primarily as he'd been the one who original sought her out to teach there for as long as she desired.

For now though, Lara opens her duffle and starts to pull out a file folder, while setting her phone down beside it. She looks to Briggs and Meyers then and there.

Grant Ward has posed:
Word had gotten to Grant that this /meeting/ of the minds was occuring and that the word Hydra had been dropped. A full afternoon of paperwork and some extra training had been set aside for the moment to see exactly what was going on. This was Ward, nothing happened that he did not what to at lleast no the basic details about. It was a control thing and something he was never going to ever let go.

The stoic figure appears in the doorway, a darkk black suit with a blue tie. His arms are crossed in front of his chest and her surveys the room with a narrowed eye. A casual shrug is given and his steps take him into where the others have gathered, making no attempt to really greet any of them save from a hand wave, his words plainly delivered. "So where is the little rock eater?" He moves to sit on the edge of a table, apparently expecting a reply from the raised brow of inquiry.

Vi has posed:
Briggs and Meyers perk up a bit when Lara comes in. They don't get out of their lab very much. So stunningly beautiful agent, and with impressive degrees in archaeology to boot? If they'd know she was attending they probably would have worn cologne. Low price cologne, but cologne just the same.

"Oh good, so everyone's here," Briggs says once Grant Ward arrives. Kurt is given a smile and a look of interest. He probably wants to figure out how Kurt teleports. "Everyone is here, right? Captain Rogers and Miss van Dyne... ah I guess not. Well, drat. But that's ok."

Meyers rolls his eyes and mutters something that might sound like, "Kiss-ass." Briggs ignores it pointedly and fires up the display screen. "So we got some great stuff from their research," he says. "Turns out the girl, who they refer to as Subject Six, is a mutant. She can ingest metal in small amounts-"

Meyers cuts in, "Metal of very specific compositions." Briggs frowns at him. "I was getting to that. Yes, metal of very specific compositions. And each can fuel different powers of hers. One is she can apparently influence metal, move it around. And she can also become stronger, faster," he says.

The display comes up, showing some of the recovered information, which mentions "Subject Vi". Apparently Briggs and Meyers think it's a Roman numeral. "Ah, I think she's in holding down the hall. Close by in case we need to talk to her," he says.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Nodding to the information provided, studying it with a soft frown over his features. Where his focus is being a mystery as his eyes lack pupils, but they narrow slightly as he reads, and listens.

"Was is her name?" information about her ability is interesting, but, "She's a person, you shouldn't caller just... Subject Six." a little admonishment in his tone as his head swings around to the presenters, brow raised slightly. His general stillness causing the shadows to begin gathering around him, sapping light from his corner of the table.

Lara Croft has posed:
Grant's spoken words draw Lara's eyes to him, she stares at him for a few moments before Briggs and Meyer start up and then she raises her left hand up to touch the back of her fingers to the back of her neck on that side as her eyes drop back down to her own file of information in front of her...

But it's Kurt's statements that make her look up and over to him, to which the Briton nods once toward. "I agree with Herr Wagner." She says, using the German version of Mister for Kurt's own appreciation. Her eyes then go back to the two men running this meeting.

"She's going by Vi, for now." Vee that is. "But I wouldn't mind offering her the chance to choose a name she might like more. One she could possibly identify with better." She glances to Grant again then. "She was... tortured by Hydra, terrible torture. She needs this new life to start on as good a foot as possible." She states, her British accented voice is calm and soothing to most ears.

Grant Ward has posed:
His hands go to grip the edge of the table where he is sitting, listening to the scientists explain what they have found. There is the occassional nod given as the other's speak, and when the time is right the serious agent speaks up. "Well Vee, Vi, the little girl down the hall...call her what you will. I am simply here to make sure her transfer is done by SHIELD protocol and all the T's are crossed and the I's are dotted." He holds out a yellow folder and stoicly states. "Somebody has to sign for her."

He slowly pushes himself off the table and moves to walk towards Kurt, offering Lara a nod. "I assume that would be you." He turns his attention to the powerpoint presentation. "So it is the general concenus that she is better off there, then let's get her there. However, we want the data and research to continue here with what we have already gathered." This is Grant Ward, business and to the point. Yes, there is a girl down the hall, but protocol, there is always protocol.

Vi has posed:
Briggs nods to Kurt. "Oh yes, of course. She's a person, a girl really," he says. "And such an interesting one. We only have a tiny picture of what she might be capable of from what survived of the papers. But she's a truly remarkable subject!" he says.

"Person," Meyers corrects.

"Right right. Person. Girl," Briggs says as if that's what he'd said. "So, it looks like if she ingests the right composition of Iron she can pull metal to her, and Steel she can push it away. And Pewter lets her strengthen her body. Um, this one test that survived, she lifted 400 pounds, and ran 20 miles per hour," Briggs says. "25," Meyers corrects.

Briggs amends, "Yes yes, 25mph. So, the composition of Iron she needs was recovered, but not the other metals. But, this was also in the backpack," he says, pulling out a small thumb-sized vial. "It contained some water with flakes of Iron, Steel, Pewter and Tin in it. The Iron composition matched that in the papers. So we believe..." he says, grinning and looking to Meyers to finish the thought.

"We believe we have the right compositions. And this could just be the start. We want to pick up Hydra's research with her. Test other metal compositions. I mean, there's hundreds of thousands of compositions to test with her. Who knows what other powers they might give her," Meyers says.

Nightcrawler has posed:
"I'll need a bigger Kugelschreiber..." Kurt holds up his hands to give example, "Too small und... well." looking a touch embarrassed by his handicap, looking to Briggs and Meyers, "I need all of your notes on this for Doctor McCoy, so that we can check into how to help her explore her gifts safely, and without feeling..." like a lab rat, his expression says.

"The Professor has already confirmed she is a mutant, I asked him before I came here. Can you bring her in? I don't like speaking about her in the third person, it's dehumanizing... paperwork, taking custody. Like she's livestock..." while memories of being locked in a box, unable to see and so not able to find a place to teleport to spring to mind. A trip to Texas... Escapes. Returning home. Worse

Lara Croft has posed:
Another glance is given to Grant, she knew of him and had seen him around the Triskelion here and there but she had yet to ever have any meaningful interaction with him up to this point.

Its the talk of tests and the like that draw Lara's eyes back to the two scientists, though Kurt gets a glance as well and a nod. "I agree, she should be here and we cannot run any tests or any such thing without her permission and desire to do so. This is a young woman who... just a few days ago... I had to explain how a television works, let alone the remote control that operated it. We cannot..." Lara shakes her head side to side slowly. "Under any circumstances... make her feel uncomfortable, or as though she's left one Hydra organization for another."

She motions to Kurt then. "She must go to Xavier's and be a -person- for however long it takes until she decides it is time for her to learn about what her mutation is... and is not capable of."

Vi has posed:
As Kurt asks for the girl to be brought in, one of the lower ranking agents listening quietly nods and heads off to retrieve her. Meanwhile, Briggs and Meyers are looking a little distressed at how the conversation is going.

Briggs says, "Well, who knows what kind of advancement we could make. I mean maybe there's something about these metals that others than she could use?" he says looking back and forth for support from Kurt, Lara or Grant.

When he doesn't seem to find any he looks back to Meyers for help. Before Meyers can help, Vi is brought in. She's a pretty girl in her late teens, a bit undersized, but the Powerpoint mentioned the forensic dentist figures she is 18 or 19.

She's wearing a pair of jeans and a SHIELD sweatshirt, the Henley shirt she has on beneath it having been not quite warm enough apparently. She has a metal case worn with a strap across her body, that she's hugging to herself. Her eyes go back and forth to everyone, a brief smile for Lara before the appearance of Kurt gets a wide-eyed stare from Vi.

Briggs tries to salvage matters. "Perhaps we could come up and do the tests there?" he suggests of the school.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Vi's look for Kurt is well known, he's received it millions of times, but his face still falls some. Ever the demon. Never the saint. A moment is spent to gather his composure before he leaps to the ceiling, twisting to 'land' on all fours and begins to crawl towards Vi. "Nein. No experiments." there's a sudden fierce venom to him "We're people." the distance traversed he is on the table again, standing, hands fists at his side.

"I don't care if you want scientific progress. Or study. We. Are. People." mouth in a savage frown. "We're not curiosities. We're not lab rats, or commodities. She's coming to the school to avoid such. She's going to be allowed to be an eighteen or nineteen year old girl, and she can learn to utilize and control her gifts where she will be safe... and Doctor McCoy will be on hand to help her understand the science of her gifts, if she wants."

He turns then, his tail flashing close enough to the scientist's faces to threat clipping them. Hopping to the floor and offering a bow. "Guten tag miss. My name is Nightcrawler. I'm here to offer you a place to live, und not a cell."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara is about to speak up again to the scientists but Kurt is a much more qualified individual to do so, so she just settles back in her chair and gives him all the room to talk that he'd like to.

She does look to Vi though and offers the young woman a soft smile in return. "Kurt is a member of Xavier's School. The place I told you about, the place where you can go and... live, happily. It'll be wonderful, I promise." She'd not had a chance to brace Vi about Kurt's physical appearance though, as she hadn't even considered it... But now that she'd seen the reaction she felt a bit bad for not getting that opportunity, as it seems perhaps Vi's never seen a mutant with a physical alteration to their appearance.

Lara motions to Kurt then. "Herr Wagner, I promise you I won't let them do anything. You need only ever speak to me if..." She glares over to Briggs and Meyer. "These gentleman don't seem to understand when to back down a bit." Lara can give an icy glare when she's pushed to it, and considering what she's been through in her life, they'd be wise to take heed of it!

Vi has posed:
When Kurt jumps up to the ceiling, Vi takes a quick step back away from him, her eyes wide, and clutching her metal case tightly. Though as things play out, and Kurt is clearly speaking as an advocate for Vi, the young woman's tension drains away just a little bit.

Vi looks over to Lara, the only familiar face in the room for Vi. She looks back to Kurt then, saying "Hello, Nightcrawler. I'm Vi," she says quietly, pronouncing it the same as the shortened nickname for a Violet.

Vi looks over to the two SHIELD scientists and, then back to Lara and Kurt. "I think I would prefer to go there, over staying here," she says softly, trusting in Lara it seems. And maybe in Kurt too as he's spoken up rather firmly in her defense.

The two researchers look at each other and sigh. "Well, this is, most disappointing," Briggs says, rising to his feet and gathering his notes. "If you ever change your mind, ma'am, you'd be a most welcome subject here," he says.

"Person," Meyers whispers.

"That's what I said!" Briggs protests as the two walk out together, the door swinging closed on their argument. Vi looks back to Lara and Kurt expectantly.

Nightcrawler has posed:
Calling her a Subject causes the fuzz on his body to stick out like an angry cat, tail snapping back and forth. Kurt looks to Vi, saying the message in Austrian, Czech and Sokovian "I was told you can make yourself... stronger, durable?" head tilting to the side, watching for any sign of recognition of a language before continuing in English,

"I ask because I can bring you there without risk of being followed or stated at - but it can be draining to those not used to it, or unable to make themselves more durable." offering her a soft smile before he offers, "Don't be scared. I'm going to give an example. A twinned BAMF! sound and brimstone clouds marks his movement, away from Vi and across the room, which where he starts to crawl from, towards her.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara goes about putting her things way into her black leather duffle bag and she too glances up to Briggs and Meyer to give them both a little continued glare around the time that Kurt was reacting to what they said about a Subject as well.

Once she has her stuff put away, she is in the process of rising up from her chair and hooking the bag over her shoulder. Lara looks to Kurt when he speaks in another language, a language that she's fluent in, and it makes her shift her gaze to Violet.

Croft takes a step to the side and when Kurt BAMFs she hesitates and just stares with a bit of a wide-eyed look herself. She'd not seen that before. She'd not expected such a--- Lara's eyelashes flutter when the 'smell' hits her nostrils and she tries to compose herself, first glancing to Briggs, expectin him to be blushing as though he'd just had a upset stomach moment...

But then she realizes it couldn't be that, its too... potent. It was the teleportation. She looks back to Kurt, and her eyes blink. "Impressive." Lara says, before she watches Vi. "You can trust him." She assures, knowing he's with Xavier's.

Vi has posed:
Vi's expression at the other languages is a bit of bewilderment mainly. Though as he switches back to English and asks about making herself more durable, Vi hesitates for just a moment before giving an affirmative nod.

The petite girl says, "I can. Enough I don't get hurt by things," she tells him. As Kurt warns Vi he's going to do something, the young woman gives a timid nod and watches, gasping and eyes going wide as Kurt disappears and reappears.

The smell also gets to her but just for a moment. She burns some of the Pewter in her stomach which helps a bit, the smell still noticeable but just not bothering her as much.

Vi looks over to Lara, swallowing but then nodding. "Ok. I... I want to go to this... this school place," she says. timidly. Vi takes a slow step over to Kurt, eyeing his blue fur and yellow eyes in a way that make it clear she's never seen anyone like that before.

Vi looks over to Lara and says, "Thank you. Thank you for everything," she says quietly. Vi looks back to Kurt then, unsure what she needs to do. Though she'll do as he instructs, including strengthening herself before he teleports them both.