11348/Red and Residential

Red and Residential
Date of Scene:	26 May 2022
Location:	Rec and Res: Triskelion
Synopsis:	Natasha and Jane talk with Yelena and think about life.
Cast of Characters:	Natasha Romanoff, Yelena Belova, Jane Foster

---

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff is currently settled in over in the Recreation Area where she has a book. Having not gone to any of the rooms or proper recreation areas, she's just taken a small slice of a corridor for her own, where she's occasionally paging through it. A tome that's from the KGB Archives, made up of photocopies of ancient papers yellowed even more with time as copies of copies of copies.

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena Belova is still getting her 'sea legs', in terms of being an actual operative and not a suspicious individual. Well, she's still pretty suspicious, but she is theoretically on the road to reform. She enters the recreation area wearing a USA t-shirt in white with a rainbow stripe, combined with a pair of jeans and tennis shoes. As All American as they come, da?

"What is it that you are reading there, Natasha? I thought we had nerds on staff here to do all the pesky research for us," she grins.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would take a moment to glance up and over at Yelena, "Ah, hello there. I was thinking if you'd have on anything it would be a 'Ninja Gladiator' one." She would gesture at her sister to join her to sit, "Merely a refresher." SHe would pass over the binder full of KGB files from the 1960's and 1970's. On the Oktober Guard, the Soviet Union's equivalent of their own superpowered strike team of that era.

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena Belova takes a few files, albeit gingerly with her fingertips, as if they might be radioactive. "I do not feel that these would be very refreshing. Like drinking kerosene," she says, even as she flicks one open and takes a closer look. "The building blocks and cogs of what would become us, da," she says. "I do like some of the outfits, at least."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would nod at Yelena, "no, not at all. But it is good to remind myself of what possible adversaries are capable of. Also to see what they have done historically so one can evaluate how they have fared over time and what they have been estimated to be capable of."

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena Belova sits back, kicking up her feet. "All of this sounds very official and very critical to operations. Also very boring. So boring. Soviet Union was so boring, it should have been called So Boring Union!" she says, flicking through a couple of pages, "Early Crimson Dynamos look like water heaters. Oh, look, there is Vlad Voynovich. You remember him, he was the foriegn languages instructor. Creepy old prick," she says before spitting into the file. Not exactly sanitary.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would smirk at Yelena, "The Soviet Union was extremely bureaucratic, methodical, and obsessed over records. There is a massive amount in the archives that was filed, sorted, and generally kept accessible and updated. However, it was almost always put in paper format. Which makes it rather tedious to review if one is used to the modern age."

Jane Foster has posed:
Happy Memorial Day, enjoy that as a person who may have contributed to that body count?

Jane hasn't particularly slept the last few hours the way she may have days earlier. Thus the search for something to banish the weariness, a shadow medication that she can get without questions. A handful of coins can ameliorate that, plunked into one of the vending machines that specializes in iced coffees and occasionally pop. The press of a few buttons gives her what she seeks, though the machine is far from silent. Thunk! The cosmologist might perk up at the mention of conversation, though the language barrier doesn't bother her in the least. She cautiously tips her head back, glass bottle in hand, listening for whether it's a safe idea to go around that corner. Familiarity certainly helps her identify Natasha, and with that, she carefully eases her path to follow that green painted line through the area.

Which means a chance to acknowledge Yelena and the elder Widow, fingers crooked. "Afternoon." Is it afternoon? She has no idea.

Yelena Belova has posed:
"Is what I said. Boring. Is there audiobook of these? So bland. Russia is famous for novelists, can no one write worth a damn?"

She glances up and looks at Jane warily. It isn't personal, she looks at everyone warily. Trust isn't exactly a commodity in which Yelena has frequently dealt. "Hello to you."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would stretch out, "Greetings Jane, Yelena." She would gesture over. "I hope that you're finding your own assignments productive. And excellent work in your last field operation." They hadn't quite managed a clean sweep of high ranking Hydra officers, but they'd taken enough out to hoepfully at least slow Hydra's progress for a few months with infighting until someone was able to take firm control voer again.

Jane Foster has posed:
Not one to disappoint, Jane accepts that wary look rather calmly. Not taken personally, it would seem, though she gives Yelena a weary, friendly smile. "Good to meet you, Yelena. I work with Natasha fairly regularly."

The explanation might prove unnecessary, being somewhat blatantly obvious if she's on the ground and on a first-name basis with someone like Natasha Romanoff. Still, the small gestures speak to politeness. "You're too kind in your appraisal. I don't think I have deserved that. Always room for growth." That lid pops off the glass bottle quite easily. "I wasn't expecting to see familiar faces not rushing off to prepare for annual fitness tests. I can move along if you'd both like your privacy."

Yelena Belova has posed:
"Natasha has always possessed a surprising kindness. Some have seen it as weakness. Not me, of course," she says with a bemused raise of her eyebrow.

"I have no need for privacy. They may test my fitness as they like, I am elite killing machine. Oh, I am sorry, national security machine. Still adjusting to new employment," she teases.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would nod, "Have you read one another's files?" She would muse over to Yelena and then to Jane, "It's good to familiarize yourself with those you're going to be operating with, in the field or just in the facilities. It's something worth pursuing. If only to help demonstrate that you're willing to put in effort." A light offer made to Yelena. "And you're learning."

Jane Foster has posed:
Jane nods. Anyone reading her file is bound to know she's not just some Nobel Prize-winning scientist dragged into SHIELD for whatever reason. Fury got his claws in her around the time Asgard popped up and it's never changed since. "We can't be all work and no downtime." No suggestion of play. Play is not spylike. Her mouth lifts a fraction. "I'd be remiss not to extend an invitation to come to the Hayden Planetarium whenever you like. My other office away from here."

Her gesture lifts the iced frappuccino to her lips, and she drinks a fair bit of it. Can't blame a girl for being thirsty. "I doubt either of you would require fitness requirements, though the rest of us have to prove our mettle. It causes wonderful headaches in the research and development side. Do you enjoy your employment so far?"

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena Belova flicks her eyes towards Natasha, "Just read each other's secrets off of a file, like a common plebe? Natasha, we are spies. Is more in spirit to sneakily learn things about each other through implication and subtlety. Also, if you do read my file, just skip the part about Bangkok. I was young and stupid and he was very cute," she sighs.

She gives a light shrug to Jane, "Is fine so far, although leash remains short. Former enemy assets have to earn trust, after all. Will get more free hand in time, I am sure. In the meantime, is better than alternative," she says. Which would be a prison cell probably somewhere undisclosed.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would curl her legs up underneath her, "Well, it's up to Yelena if she wishes to do it. And you'll earn your place in time if you continue to do well as you have." That's ultimately the decision for May and Peggy to make. but Natasha is inclined to recommend that for Yelena. And either of them would likely lend it some weight if she did.

"We recently dealt with another cell of the Red Room. We thought most of them had scattered. We were wrong."

Jane Foster has posed:
Jane shakes her head mildly. "I deal in much stranger things than a handsome person in Bangkok. Consider it scrubbed." She swirls the contents of the bottle, the traces of caramel vanishing into the action-packed, high calorie drink that promises enough caffeine to keep her awake for several more hours.

Her gaze flickers to Natasha at mention of the Red Room. "They continue to make your life difficult? That has to be unpleasant." Her tone carries a soft frisson of sympathy. "Let me know if there's any assistance you need." What help a physicist can give in dealing with pretty young women trained to murder, other than be the murder investigation itself, remains utterly opaque. She still chuckles softly and casts a look back to Yelena. "Understandable that your locations are restricted. I leave it open to your superiors, if you're interested."

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena Belova crinkles her nose, "Learning my place sounds awful. I am trying to make peace with being a tamed predator, but it does not come easy. Being bad is so much fun," she admits. "But I suppose is for the best."

She frowns a bit at Natasha, "Yes, I wanted to be involved, but my superiors, as Jane calls them, do not want me crossing paths with Red Room yet. I think they are nervous I will un-defect."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would fold her hands together, "We can try and work on that. If you wish, I can speak to the duty officer on taking you out on a field mission. Stretch your legs somewhat." And see how she's doing out there as far as Natasha is concerned. Perhaps something that strikes a nerve with her.

"I appreciate it. The anti-viral serum we utilized against the corrupted operatives was effective. What we have now is a great deal of data in various bits of disarray that may or may not be useful. We don't have an exact idea as to who triggered teh cell to active or gave the command controls to. If we can backtrack that we can hopefully pursue it and tkae it out at the other end."

Jane Foster has posed:
The sidelong look from Jane to Natasha gauges something, and she comes to a quiet decision somewhere behind those bright brown eyes. "You could potentially be acknowledged doing something good for humanity, if they sign off on it. Briskly at that; it wouldn't be something weeks from now. More like suited up and out in the next eighteen hours. It needs lethal skills, and it's something that Reed Richards signed off on to assure we could get people out there -- and back."

Because no matter how cool NASA is, it's not possible to launch /anything/ on short notice. Hell, even the private corporate sphere struggles to manage that. But her smile stays there, ghostly. "Backtracking and sifting through data can be exhausting and time-consuming. Especially when it's not a matter of programming or equations, but understanding human nature. The time that no one talks about."

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena Belova pushes up from her chair, sliding on a pair of sunglasses, "I'll keep it in mind, "she says to both women. She sighs, "Now I'm meant to go and learn more oef the bureaucratic procedure I need to follow after field missions. Pencil pushers always find ways to keep their phony baloney jobs," she teases.

"I will be seeing you both soon."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would sigh, "She'll figure it out in time." She would smile sadly. "But she has to figure it out on her own. Whether it is with SHIELD or something different. But it's good that she's in a place where she can figure it out. We can keep her safe here. At least from everything but herself."