15148/Full time Mockingbird

Full time Mockingbird
Date of Scene:	14 June 2023
Location:	Quinjet (SHIELD)
Synopsis:	After a successful mission in Russia, Steve and Bobbi discuss the future of Mockingbird. Bobbi agrees to join the Avengers.
Cast of Characters:	Bobbi Morse, Steve Rogers

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Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi flicks the switch on the quinjet over to autopilot. They're out of the hot zone now. Russian territory - aren't necessarily always glad to see SHIELD in their airspace or on their soil. Despite how many times they've been saved too by their actions.

The quinjet is cloaked and not just because the Russians might want to target them. Their cargo is dangerous. Someone managed to gather up a lot of energised weaponry, de-power them, and turn it in to a bomb. The bomb is, in theory, de-activated now. But it's sitting right there, strapped down, in the cargo area of the ship.

Bobbi walks out to the cargo space and goes straight for the first aid kit. "Cults. They're universally bad. You'd think the Kremlin would have been all over that one but I got the distinct impression they wanted to see how it was going to play out."

With a slight groan she sits down and starts to swab at the various cuts on her body. They'll heal quickly enough but for right now they still hurt. The rips and cuts in her uniform attest to the difficulty of their battle. She looks over to Steve, "I'm glad you reached out. This was more than either of us could have handled alone."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers removes his arm from the straps of his shield, and fastens the shield onto a storage spot on the wall made for it. He stretches a little bit, a hand going to his back where Steve had landed on the top of a truck after a long fall out of a third story window during the fighting.

"Yes, didn't quite know if they just had their hands on the equipment, or already were capable in putting it to you," he comments, eyes going over to the shield to visually check the energy blast that sent him out the window didn't leave any lasting harm. Just a faint scorch mark that should buff out easily.

"Thank you for coming," Steve says as he moves over to take a seat in the cockpit, but spin the chair back to face Bobbi. "Hope I didn't take you away from anything too important. You and Lance making it out to the beach much?" he inquires in a tone of voice more suited for neighbors talking over a fence, or friends at a bar, than in a cloaked plane fleeing partially-hostile airspace.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Awkwardly with a small grunt, she takes off the alien wings strapped to her back. They're de-energised right now. They rest on the seat for now as do the tactical goggles. And just like that she's back to being regular Bobbi Morse once more. Well, except for the super soldier capabilities.

Hands shake through her hair and she feels the spot on her skull where she took a blow from the BIG guy. Why is there always a guy twice the size of Cap in these fights. "It was fun. Usually I go in to these things with more intel and a whole team but I appreciate the hands on approach too."

She grins over at Steve. "Well Lance and I operate best with an on again off again basis. We love each other very much but need time away from each other too. Basic rule still applies - don't die. He's taken the dogs on a wine tour."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve turns towards the console briefly to check on a soft beep that indicates a radar system scanning the skies. But they pass on through the area without any signs they were detected.

He swivels his seat back towards Bobbi, giving her a soft grin back as she explains her relationship with Lance. "Finding something that works for both of you, that's the important part. Though, he wouldn't actually give the dogs some of the wine would he?" he asks, the grin at the end suggesting he doesn't really think so, more joking than anything.

"Well it will be good to have this out of their hands. I'm not sure who they would have targeted with it," Steve says, eying the bomb. "Quite possibly something inside Russia itself. Which you might think they'd be fine with our involvement for that," he comments, before glancing back at the stealth systems evading the weapons systems searching the skies for them. Obviously they aren't fine with it.

"How are things going in general over at SHIELD?" Steve still has a lot of involvement, and does missions with them, though his focus is on the Avengers now.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
A big grin comes on Bobbi's face at the suggestion Lance would give wine to the dogs. "I don't thiiink he would?" Always amusing to cast doubt on Lance's judgement calls. But she has complete trust in the man - otherwise she wouldn't have married him. Twice.

"It'll take months to leech all that energy out of the device..." she considers thoughtfully about how SHIELD will have to deal with it. "The Kremlin has a culture of chasing its own tail. If the bomb went off they'd just choose flavour of the week to blame and mobilise another reason to attack a neighbour."

Her eyes look back up to Steve, the only other person in the world she can talk to about super soldier stuff. Sure, there was Natasha, but that was a different kind of transformation. As such Steve had become, and remained, a good friend. Even though he didn't spend a lot of time deep in the guts of SHIELD any more he still had high clearance and that meant she could banter with him about the day to day.

"Ever since we took down Pierce's operation it's been disturbingly quiet. It's amazing how many flow on effects HYDRA had - from daily, to weekly, now barely a trickle taking down their past operations."

She motions wide with her hands, "We've never had such a big win against them - except for Red Skull's World War 2 theatre which you utterly destroyed." She suddenly realises how de ja vu this might feel for Steve - flying back in a highly advanced jet with a city destroying weapon in the cargo hold. At least Red Skull isn't controlling this one.

"You know, Pierce really proved something with his HYDRA bid. Conventional war doesn't work anymore. Their Swiss military base in the mountains was an army big enough to conquer a medium sized nation but they knew they couldn't use it."

"There's too many powered people out there willing to stop them. The attack on the USA was a desperate last attempt and if he didn't secure as many hostage cities as possible in the first few hours it was never going to work."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"I'd like to say it would prevent them from trying again," Steve Rogers replies about Hydra. "But I'm afraid it just means they will change their tactics. Unfortunately their saying has proven to be frustratingly accurate about what happens when you cut off one head," the super soldier says with a small shake of his head.

"But we'll keep after them. It's good having SHIELD keep a focus on them. Other sorts of issues end up taking up a lot of my attention now," he comments. Steve swivels the chair back to the console again, confirming everything is good and there isn't any air traffic ahead likely to identify them visually.

"So have you given any thought to working with teams outside of SHIELD?" Steve asks, true blue eyes moving back to eye Bobbi where she sits in the seat. "Not that what you're doing in SHIELD isn't valuable. But there also aren't an endless amount of those capable of going up against the bigger enemies out there."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
"I expect they will. But may be the finger print will be more obvious. Look at the way the Brotherhood of Mutants fell apart the moment Magneto got too big for his britches. Traditional recruiting methods that HYDRA have used won't work on the more readily available mutant population."

"And there's far too few Inhumans to make a decent army too - not that any of them would ever work for HYDRA after all the kidnapping and experimenting they did." She shakes her head. "And when we shut down List's Inhuman based super soldier program we haven't seen any attempt to restart it. The Inhumans are far more organised now."

Not to mention the Secret Warriors team in SHIELD specifically designed to act as the spear head in defending Inhumans and Mutants alike. "Working with teams outside of SHIELD? well it happens from time to time. A great way to make new friends - that mess down in the Savage Lands? I was in the guts of it. I don't know how much you know about mutants but without them I'd be dead right now."

The big nuclear bomb kaboom - well - she was part of the team that was still inside the monstrocity they nuked when the boom went off. Without Jean Grey they'd have all been vapourised. "There's something on your mind. It's written all over your face."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"I was down there for a few of the incidents, though not at the end," Steve confirms. Something in his expression suggests those might not all be highpoint memories for him, though he does say, "The land itself is quite beautiful. But dangerous for all that. Even without the Brood there."

Steve crosses one leg over the other, resting a hand on his knee. "Well, we're always looking for capable members of the Avengers. Granted, Nick might have some unhappy words for me if we did manage to secure some of your time as a member," he says, gesturing with the other hand. "But that's something I'm willing to deal with." And maybe Steve's taking on this mission for SHIELD might have gone a way towards building up some goodwill there.

"If, being an Avenger might interest you. It does mean even more time around Clint," he says with a teasing smile.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
"You know I spent several years there? Savage Lands is burned in to my core - it was a day to day struggle, even after I met Ka-Zar. That's just life there. There's always another thing out there that wants to eat you.. in many respects it made me the survivor I am today but I wonder what kind of person I'd have been without it. Without SHIELD. Adrenaline junkie without an outlet perhaps."

Bobbi smiles whimsically but then her eyebrows raise. Her relationship with Fury is a complicated one. He says jumps she jumps. He recently sent her off world specifically for the Savage Lands mess. Somehow that man makes the impossible happen - such as the Avengers.

The Avengers took on a life of its own once Loki decided to attack Earth. Sure, in theory, a SHIELD project. But it was its own thing. Three SHIELD members of high standing are already a part of it and many more friends of hers are part of it too. "Well - it wouldn't be the first time I've worked with the group."

"Then again - Clint." She smirks back at him. Between Clint, Natasha, and Bobbi, they all had a complicated history of mutual trust and yet somehow disappointing each other. The world of spies is a complicated one after all. Yet they still trust each other implicitly. When Natasha was taken by a the red room - Bobbi crashed her quinjet in to the red room jet just to slow them down.

"You're asking me to join-join? Make Mockingbird a public name? Daisy will have a field day with that." The ridiculous M-buckle on her belt is because of Daisy after all.

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Join-join. I think that's the technical name for it," Steve confirms with a lighthearted grin. "Mockingbird would indeed become publicly known. Whether Bobbi Morse would, would be your call mostly. We do favor making our identities public to help instill trust. But it's also not a rule cast in stone," Steve tells her.

"It's a chance to do the things that need to be done. Not that we never have to worry about red tape or dealing with governments and their agendas," he says, letting out a little sigh at the end that makes the situation there clear enough. "Though we've probably garnered a little more trust in those areas than SHIELD, generally speaking. If only because they figure they can't take us over like some of them have tried to with SHIELD." Or if they do figure they can, they at least haven't acted on it yet.

Steve's head tilts slightly as he regards Bobbi. "Interested?" he asks her, gauging her expression.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi considers for a moment all the enemies she's made over the years and which ones know who she is and which ones don't. Some enemies know they were visited by Mockingbird. The more savvy enemies know they were visited by Agent Morse. It's hard to stop truly inquisitive adversaries from figuring out who you are. That's part of the risk of the spy game.

Yet, so many of those enemies have been put in the dirt or behind bars. It's been a career of intense highlights for her. What would truly happen if people know Biochemist Bobbi Morse was Mockingbird? probably no worse than when people found out about Black Widow and Natasha."

"Yes. I am. Lance might be pissed about it but he'll come around. Same rule will still apply: Don't Die. He'll be worried about retribution but that's always been a threat and will remain one. Pepper will be happy to have me around more.. Bruce, Carol, Clint, Nat, even James might grunt a friendly hello. Honestly I have a lot of friends in the team already. So yeah. Count me in Steve."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers's face lights up at Bobbi's answer. "Excellent. We'll get you over to the mansion and introduced around the rest of the group then when we get back," he says. "And we can let Nick know. Or, let him find out," he says with a chuckle. Steve glances around the inside of the cockpit. "Nick, you got that already?" he asks. Jokingly. Ok, half-jokingly.

Another beep draws Steve's attention back to the controls. He accepts the autopilot's redirect to avoid a passenger plane that might get within range to detect them visually. Though the plane's cloak usually avoids it, best not to take chances. Steve turns back and says, "The facilities are a perk. If you'd like a room at the mansion we'll pick one out for you. A lot of us have rooms there plus our own places elsewhere. I've still got my apartment that SHIELD helped me get when I first came out of the ice," he confirms.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi grins a moment and says, "Oh he'll know. I do my paperwork. You don't get to be a Commander in SHIELD unless you are willing to become a slave to the paperwork." Oh how she's changed over the years. The very idea of having this much responsibility was alien to her the first time she met Steve.

"If there's room - otherwise I have a safe house close by that I can use. I generally keep a quinjet parked at my house so if I'm there I can join the action soon enough. It's not a fancy 'go to space' quinjet though."

The idea of casually going to the mansion intrigues here. She's only ever been there on official SHIELD business. "We need to catch up properly some time. I was going to reach out and suggest your favourite gym, but I have so much weird stuff to tell you about. A beer at the mansion then..." She sits smiles at her friend. A new chapter for Mockingbird has just begun.