15525/GODFELLAS: Round Up the Usual Suspects

GODFELLAS: Round Up the Usual Suspects
Date of Scene:	08 August 2023
Location:	Swordfish Bar (SHIELD)
Synopsis:	the crew come up with a few ideas on what to do.
Cast of Characters:	Alexander Aaron, Daisy Johnson, Ares, Jessica Drew

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Alexander Aaron has posed:
    After things had settled down a touch, and the crew had gotten away from the Triskelion proper, it was clear that in some ways they were operating half-blind, and that there were more elements at play here than they had any idea. Which is why after a time it was decided to adjourn to a place more amenable for a casual discussion of fantastic and wild things. And where can one do that relatively in peace?
    But in SHIELD's own watering hole.
    For many a wild topic had been broached there and many crazed plots had been considered. This one? Should perhaps be no different. Which is why the current crew are seated at the corner booth in the Swordfish, a few beers are set before them. Some full, some empty, some in progress. Though the drinks were there mostly for show and the social aspect of it. Yet it gave something to occupy their hands and for something for them to do while they spoke on matters.
    "So, quick run down." Alexander held his bottle by the neck, casually rotating it on its bottom. "What we know for sure. There is the Real Estate mogul. He was willing to go in for the nastiness. There was the Russian mafioso who was wanting to get things moving. And now there was a corrupted Hindu spirit that likely... was working for someone else."
    Alex chews on his lower lip thoughtfully, "So, stepping back. At the least, if these aren't all directly related. There has to be something that all of this is happening nowish. So what we need is intel and leads to chase. And starting here at homebase with you, Dad."
    A nod is given, "So I'm asking you to wrack your brain and tell us who... realistically might still be out to get you." Since really the list of people who would want Ares dead is a long thing. Though likely not as long when one considers those who remain alive.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
A gathering such as this wasn't unheard of in the Swordfish. Did they even know who was on attendance today? Considering the kind of spy org it is most certainly yes though it's not like there was any kind of differentiated treatment of the guests as E, the bald enigmatic bartender of the place continuing serving drinks like he did this for a living. Which he does!

And the only place where Daisy could get the E special, which was a green and red beverage, slice of lemon atop and little umbrella on the edge of the glass. Little sip as she hears Alexander speak on about the various suspects, occasionally disturbed by the sound of her slurping on her beverage. She can't help it! Sooo goood. "You should try this." she tells Kelsey when she spots the bodyguard drifting by. She knew it was a lot to take all of a sudden. Gods. Spy orgs. Supernatural assassins. Clearly above many people's paygrade!

"That's a lot of situations to be just a coincidence that they would all be suddenly looking to take a bite out of John Aaron." a beat, "... and of his alter ego." she says. "But it always starts with..." and she looks at the others, "... who benefits?"

Ares has posed:
John is making sure they are keeping the drinks coming for Kelsey. She isn't actually sitting with them but somewhat apart. And probably for good reason. Not just because the discussion is a more private thing with the agents but because she's likely had enough for one day. So the drinks are continually refilled and, instead of not drinking because she's on duty, she is enjoying each and every one of them. While maintaining a stoic demeanor and NOT looking at John Aaron. Or his son. Which means poor Daisy is the only one that can draw her eye as she returns from the restroom toward her table. "I'll have one of those," she calls out to E then moves to her table and sips on her beer.

John eyes her curiously but then shakes his head and focuses on the conversation at hand. A look to each of the agents at the table then a shrug of his massive shoulders and his hands spread out a bit in front of him, palm up. "I have already given you the answers. Those mentioned by Alexander," he nods toward his son. But then there is a hint of a smirk. "Or do you wish me to think back to less than recent? When we first discussed these threats, you wanted to know if there were any potential suspects and I thought those of recent months were the most likely. Do you wish me to go back years? Or centuries?"

And it was an honest question as he picked up his half-full (or half-empty depending on the person) bottle of beer and draining it dry then thumping the bottle down on the table to continue the small war wall he is building with them.

Jessica Drew has posed:
Never one to turn down a drink, Jess tagged along with the crew dealing with their Hindi guest now cooling his heels in lockdown. Of course, she is also at their fave bar for more official reasons and, needless to say, for another perspective on the matter. She is too modest to say for brains.

E, the bartender, knows how to shake a mean martini, too, another trenchant argument for being at the bar. Twirling a stemmed glass containing three olives in its cup, she has maintained silence while sipping and listening to their subject's list of enemies which considering his age and background seems impressively short. I mean, the God of War? She had been given the full file, breaking his cover. One would think he would need crowd control for enemies

After another sip of her drink, "The supernatural element is where I think we should concentrate? Don't you?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Alexander looks over at Daisy, then Jessica and takes a deep breath, then exhales slowly as he tells them, "Hard to say when you reflect on these things. We're talking about a long life span that has touched a lot of lives. A long list of people and beings that might be holding ill-will. Though focusing on supernatural might be a good idea. So..." He looks over at Ares and murmurs, "We need to look at who benefits, and who also might find a reason to act now? Or why now might be significant. Like an anniversary maybe or?"
    He chews his lower lip again and shakes his head, feeling a little out of his depth.
    "I suppose go back as far as you think might be feasible. The month of August as long as it's existed mean anything special? Did you defeat a particular enemy then. Or someone you have to tolerate? Another pantheon or something?"
    

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"All good questions..." Another slurpy sound from her drink that she's having with a straw, leaned back on her seat. "And focusing on the supernatural is what makes sense.." a nod over to Jessica. "It's where it all seems to stem from. Though the killer didn't seem aware of Mr. Aaron's alter ego so there's something to be said about that too..." she puts the half-FULL drink aside for the moment.

"Could it be someone that knew John Aaron in the past? But not necessarily the other you?" she is making damn sure to not say the name Ares in THE Shield bar.

Walls have ears. And this bar? It's no different.

Ares has posed:
As the next three beers are delivered, John gives a nod to the server then picks up the first to down half of it before they can even walk out of earshot. He waits until they are gone though before he considers the answer.

"John Aaron has not existed that long. Just this lifetime." Which could mean a lot of things but hopefully it can be understood. "When I chose to take this path, settled as a man, married." For an instant, there seemed to be sadness. Then it was pushed away before and replaced as he looked at Alexander. "Then the boy was born and I raised him. Though there are many I have likely annoyed in this role, besides those you are aware of. I am always..." He considered the term then shrugged and half smirked. "Me. Thus, I tend to upset others who do not see the wiseness of my ways."

He considered the approach from both Jessica and Alexander. "Considering the creature that attacked us, I might think the Hindu pantheon but the Divine Mother--in her Kali manifestation--and I worked out our differences." The way he said that was probably not a tone that Alexander needed to ever hear from his father. The sly smile with the tone didn't help.

He took a sip of his beer. "August. Perhaps the Egyptians? They did not appreciate my nose in the Battle of the Nile in 1798." Then there was a little laugh that escaped him. "Could even perhaps be the Themyscirans. We...have a lot of history." A sip of the beer then a tilt of his head. "Hercules has been on Earth of late, yes?"

Jessica Drew has posed:
After considering the look of the three beers sweating beads of moisture on the tray, Jess purses her lips in thought and points at her nearly empty martini glass, adding, "Please," and a winsome look to E. "You make the best."

Shrugging at the other agents, "Yes, another interruption but worth it," she says, by way of apology.

She meets Alexander's unusual hazel eyes and nods, then glances at Daisy before returning her gaze to Ares. "Good thing, you have that in, ah, order, sir. So, is their much cross-pollination between pantheons? Or would someone like us to us to pin it on the Vedic kids and waste our time?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "Wiseness." The single word floats there for a moment as Alexander gave it no inflection, no tone. It just was there. Then he adds, "I am sure there are many who understand that you are a wise guy."
    But he nods a little as John speaks toward his relation with the Hindu pantheon which has its own ins and outs. So much so that it causes the younger Olympian to raise his eyebrows a little. A few nods as Ares speaks...
    But then Hercules is brought up and Alex actually sort of rolls his eyes not unlike a teenager as he says exasperatedly with the tone one reserves when they catch their elder reading the Weekly World News from the Supermarket, "Dad. I doubt Hercules has it in him to coordinate a plan like... this would entail." A polite way of saying what they all likely knew.
    He does offer an aside to answer Jessica's question. "Sometimes, though in my experience it's always rife with danger. But I've only met like... half a dozen other deities."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
It's perhaps a good thing that Daisy decided to put her drink aside because at the mention of Hercules she coughs into her hand almost as if she remembering something. "Yea..." overly dramatic pause, "He's around..." she mulls it over a bit, "Met him at some fair with Jemma. We took pics .., and Harley Quinn was there too and ..."

Well, she won't go into detail about the wild night that it was.

"I think it's safe to say he is not behind this though." She leans back on her chair, thoughtful, then finally suggests, "How about we go talk with those pantheons? Ask around people in the know. Maybe even those in Mr. Aaron's pantheon. Someone you can trust, though that's probably hard to come by." she knows it's like wild Rome up there. Backstabs galore.

E, for his part, just continues to smile and watch from the bar, cleaning a glass.

Ares has posed:
"I would not dimiss him so quickly," John says with a faint tsking sound as he raises an index finger. "Hercules despises me. Almost as much as the Themyscirans." Another smirk. "Mostly for the same reasons but not all. Though he is not intelligent enough to come up with a complicated plan of attack, he most certainly could cut a deal with someone from another pantheon which would lead to hiring a mystically powered hitman."

Then he picks up his drink, finishing it off and adding it to the Wall of War!

"Let me think..." His brow tightens as he considers then he laughs again. "Viracocha was upset with me for destroying a volcano he had all poised for a lovely eruption." A soft aside voice. "He's a bit of a pyromaniac." Then back to normal voice. "I made it explode early and wiped out the little Incan civilization he was helping nurture." Then realizing how that sounded, he shook his head. "Not all of them. Just about forty percent."

Then he leans forward. "Eshu! I almost forgot about that bastard. I wonder if he figured it out..." He pauses as he remembers something, a glance to the tabletop as he sought at the memory then a big smile as he looked to the others. "He made a bet with me that I could not drink as much as he could without getting drunk. For months, we drank and eventually, I stabbed him through the heart when he wasn't looking. It forced him to stop drinking and I won the bet."

Jessica Drew has posed:
"So, Hercules is the original model for 'brains not brawn'?" Jess snorts softly, and taps her left bicep with a half-smile.

The smile waxes, "Though, I guess brains isn't everything. Eh, Agent Johnson? I saw the interrogation tapes and caught the last half live."

One shoulder rises as she shakes her head dismissively, "He didn't strike me as being a powerhouse of intellect. More like a gamble on taking Mr. Aaron by surprise and overwhelming him with muscle and teeth. He has a rather impressive set on him like the gavials of the Ganges."

With a look of appreciation and a murmured thanks she takes a new Martini glass delivered to the table by the inimitable E. She slurps it audibly while Ares continues his litany of enemies. She poses the drink politely back on the table, "Someone really has it in for you, Mr. Aaron. Though, I take it that it is not something new. Now, the Incans could be implicated. Last gods any of us encountered, present company excluded, were in the Norse pantheon. Anyone there have it in for you, sir?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    A short exhale as Alexander rubs the bridge of his nose and shoots a glance at Jess in commiseration, "Dad it's not Hercules." Which might give the others some insight into the fact that this really... isn't the first time they've had this conversation. "The last time you thought Hercules was messing with you was when you had that faulty propane tank in your grill. It wasn't Hercules then..."
    Though he turns away, likely leaving the man to insist, albeit perhaps silently about it.
    A sip of beer is taken, though he listens to the names given voice. "Viracocha, Eshu." He takes a deep breath, then eyes Daisy and Jessica sidelong. "What about more close at home, other Olympians? I mean, I suppose we could go to Olympus. Though that is..."
    He looks again at his SHIELD compatriots. "Dangerous."
    Then his brow furrows, "Wait you stabbed a guy to win a drinking contest?" At first he's a little aghast... but then he's quirking his eyebrows since well... that probably is a winning strategy.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"It probably ceased a few other vital functions too.." Daisy mutters about heart stabbings. Not that she finds it surprising. Something something wild Rome backstabbings after all. But then again they are talking about Gods so it probably didn't stop Eshu for long. She picks up on her drink again. She needs a bit more alcohol for this. "So considering it's not Hercules. And perhaps like Alex says it being someone closer to home it would be good to look into Olympus."

A brow arches when Alex suggests it's dangerous. "And we are Agents of SHIELD. Danger is somewhere in our name." some even have it in their codenames, like Danger Jacket.

"Not sure if the Norse.." and this she is saying to Jessica, ".. would be the ones. I believe the Asgardians are busy with all that happened a couple months ago. So .., Olympus trip?" she arches her brows at Alex.

Ares has posed:
"Just because you couldn't find your 'proof'," John said to Alexander, that last word obviously a mockery of even needing it. "Does not mean Hercules was not guilty, boy."

Then he looked back to the others as they consider Norse and Olympians. "All of the Olympians hate me." There is a dismissive wave of his hand on that statement. "It is a waste of time to go there to ask. Though a few are friendly to Alexander, as they know that the child is not always like the parent." Which may or may not be taken as a positive, depending on the child and parent. He had his own opinions on the offspring of several Olympians, as they had conspired to stop him in the past from achieving his goals. To say their names were on a list somewhere in his mind would be a factual statement.

"The only Norse god I can think of I have conflicted with is Odin, when he chose the path of peace." And that got a wrinkling of the nose from the God of War. "I always knew he was weak. Didn't have the stomach for it."

Jessica Drew has posed:
At Alexander's exclamation about the stabbing, Jess mutters, "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary." Jess waves a hand wearily, asking the others to ignore her, then drains half her glass.

She clears her throat on Ares' comment about the universal hatred of Olympians for him. "Well, who doesn't have it in for you, Mr. Aaron? Not on good terms with Asgard, then?"

Turning to Daisy, "Shall we start with the usual suspects then? Olympus?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    At the mention of the Norse, Alexander bobs his head in time with his father's words, then slightly smirks in Jessica's direction. "Renfesters. Pfft." Which thus seals their doom. But a glance is given over toward Daisy as he takes a moment to consider and he says. "I don't mean like... dangerous in the conventional sense."
    The young Olympian straightens up, "Dangerous in that horrible way you can't directly face." A look is given over toward his father, as if asking permission to explain further. When there's no word coming to cut him off, he looks back. "Last time I went to Olympus it was..."
    He slouches back into his chair, pulling his beer bottle toward himself. "During a gathering of scions. A competition of sorts. But Olympus has this strange way of changing, and changing you. I went there and felt like we were there for..."
    He looks to his father for his thought as to how long, but then he turns back to Jessica and Daisy, "Well longer than the year that I was gone from here."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Usual Suspects? "Beware of the guy walking with a limp and playind dumb." Daisy, being the nerd she is and talking about movie stuff. Still, there's always some wisdom to pick up from those. Like never trust people to show you their true faces until you get to know them more.

"If going to Olympus is not an option how about contacting someone from there that may not hate you?" This she asks of Alexander since Ares very much said they all hate him. Probably with good reason too. But it's not like Daisy will say that to a God.

"Can always talk with other groups. Like the Amazonians but ...." and she turns her nose, "... sending assassins doesn't seem to be their usual methods, does it?"

Ares has posed:
"Their hatred of me runs deep. Though I would be surprised if the Themyscirans sent an assassin who hides in the shadows. It is possible though unlikely," John said with a shrug as he finished off another beer and added that bottle. "They blame me for all the woes of their past." Which probably was earned but he said nothing else on that topic.

Instead he nodded to Alexander, to give that permission for him to speak freely. "Going to Olympus is out. In the time we were there, around five years had passed here on Earth. While this is nothing for Alexander or myself, the rest of you have a very limited lifespan and I would hate to waste years of it in such a manner." Which implies he would waste years of it in other manners but another question for another time!

Jessica Drew has posed:
Jessica snorts, biting down on a smile at Daisy's dry wit. "Not Hephasestus again?"

Frowning at the idea of losing several years of her life to an investigation done in the name of following every lead, she taps a finger on the table and looks up at the ceiling, gathering her thoughts.

She looks at each of them in turn before saying, "Bear with me. Olympus is out unless Mr. Aaron or Agent Aaron were to go to explore. Right? Which takes us back to why a supernatural being and who has connections with them? We have motives for the attempt but still no clear trail to who is behind it. Who do we know that deals with supernatural beings?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    "I mean, we could go to Olympus. Just..." Alexander lifts a hand and gestures to the side in Daisy's direction with the bottle, "Dangerous."
    That said he looks back over toward Ares. "You got it reversed, 5 years there I think, one year here? Something like that." Which had been an... experience. That having been said he rubs the back of his neck thoughtfully. "I think Jess has the right of it."
    A deep breath is taken, "Or..."
    He looks distantly to the side, pale eyes reserved. He shakes his head, "We could turn to other less traditional means to turn up information. Scrying, or..." He looks back toward John, "Are you on good terms with any of the Oracles? Or the Fates?"

Ares has posed:
"Was it?" John looked very confused when Alexander mentioned he had it backwards. Another dismissive wave of that hand. "It is such a small amount of time, it is easily confused." Which yet again shows just how alien the Olympian truly is behind that human fascade.

"Aye, I am on good terms with the Fates. A few Oracles. Though you have some humans that dabble in such things as well. The Sorceror Supreme I belive he is titled? Or she? Not sure which it is at the moment. They change often." Not really but perhaps in his lifespan it might seem so.

Jessica Drew has posed:
Glass raised to Alexander, "Scrying?"

With an elaborate eye roll. "Why not?" She drinks from her raised glass, then nibbles at an olive from its toothpick. "Better than crystal balls or consulting with magicians, I suppose?"

"Or not?" she adds with a small respectful toward the God of War. "That could work."