3200/Have You Seen This Wasp

Have You Seen This Wasp
Date of Scene:	02 September 2020
Location:	6A - Janet's Condo
Synopsis:	The Russian Consulate and US State Department visit Janet and Nadia spends the night.
Cast of Characters:	Janet van Dyne, Nadia Pym-van Dyne

---

Janet van Dyne has posed:
A long night of fun and partying leads to a very tired Janet. The house AI buzzes her into her penthouse loft and turns the lights up to a low level of illumination. Janet hikes up the hem of her toga so she doesn't step on it and, once the doors are shut, kicks off her heels with a sigh of relief and carries them up the stairs from the landing. Once she's in the living room proper the rest of the lights warm up. Automated systems tint the windows for some privacy and soft music plays. Janet tosses her thousand-dollar heels aside near the head of the stairs with a lazy indifference, heads to the living room, and crashes facefirst into her favorite lounge chair with a groan of relief.

"Those Amazons *really* know how to drink," she mutters to no one in particular.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Perhaps ten or fifteen minutes pass after Janet's return before there is a buzz from the intercomm that connects to the front door requesting the socialite's attention. Almost like fate was kind enough to give her a few minutes to get situated before whoever this caller is arrived or perhaps it is the amount of time it took for someone watching to relay a message to the caller in question that his quarry is now present.

Regardless of which it might be, through the video monitoring a man with a pair of men can be seen. Both of the men are wearing well tailored suits. One of them is blond and blue eyed with a thick mustache and sports a Russian flag pin on his lapel as diplomats are want to do. The other, brown of hair and clean shaven, a bit taller, also bears a flag pin on his lapel, though his is American.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet groans at the doorchime and rolls onto her back. She could have totally just fallen asleep there; in fact she was nearly dozing. The fashionista gets to her feet and gathers her toga up once more, making sure it's all in place properly. Barefoot she pads down the stairs to the entryway, checks the video feed again, and presses the intercom button.

"No solicitors. If this is a DoD thing, bear in mind my hourly consulting rate goes up four hundred percent after nine PM," she bids the two gentlement. Despite her glib tone, they're both given an examination with a furrowed brow.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"This is not solicitation or DoD thing." The mustached Russian glances at the American next to him before looking back at the camera. "I am Boris Ivanov, special diplomatic Attache with Russian Embassy. This is Mr. Michael Harris of your US State Department," He gestures towards the American gentleman. "We would like to talk with you about Hague Convention case, girl Nadia Trovaya has reportedly been seen in your company."

"Ms. Van Dyne," Harris adds, clearly here to lend an air of US Government legitimacy to things, "Can we come in and talk this over?"

Janet van Dyne has posed:
The door's hauled open, and Janet rests one palm on the doorframe overhead. She also blocks the doorframe pretty completely despite her petite size, and stares daggers up at the two men. "Oh you mean that bullshit from the Russians about Nadia's mom, and we all know it's a scam to try and extradite a little girl away from her dad?" she inquires.

"Because if so, I haven't heard anything about it, I don't know anything about it, and even if I *did* know where Nadia was--" a little emphasis on her name to downplay the lack of a surname-- "I wouldn't tell you. Does that about answer all your questions, Ivan?" Janet says, and gives the Ruski a thin-lipped smile.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Boris looks pointedly at Harris, there is clearly some diplomatic arm twisting going on here.

"Ms. Van Dyne, I am not sure what you have heard but there is a very real Hague Convention case pending. This girl is a runaway and very confused, her mother in Russia just wants her returned safely. This situation doesn't need to escalate." Poor Harris seems quite sincere, a pity for him he really drew the short straw on this assignment.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Oh I'm sure you think it is," Janet tells Harris, sweetly. "You're aiding and abetting the kidnapping of a girl from her dad. I wonder who's got a better handle on this situation? Two of the founding Avengers, or someone who wasn't talented enough to pull embassy duty in somewhere like Greece or Monaco?"

She looks over at Boris, reading him with an up-and-down. "And you're dressed like you found fifty bucks and blew it at Mens' Wearhouse," she chides him. "I've seen better-fitting suits on corpses."

That thin-lipped smile reappears. "So now that we all perfectly understand one another, get to the point. Because unless you've got a warrant on you, I'm not letting you in my house."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
It is then that Janet's phone begins to vibrate heralding a new incoming text message. It's from Nadia and reads 'Janet, I just got out of the Titans afterparty. I'm in the area, so I'm going to stop by, okay?'

Harris stiffens at the verbal assault, clearly not sure what to do with this. They don't teach you Dealing with Avengers 101 in the State Department training courses. "If the Hague warrant goes through, her father will be arrested on kidnapping charges and the US Marshall's service will become involved in locating her. We were hoping to sidestep all of that."

Boris for his part just watches, seemingly satisfied to let the Americans fight it out as their own laws and treaties are turned against them.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"That's a pretty good bluff," Janet congratulates Harris. "I mean granted he's got a legal claim to visitation from his daughter, reasonable cause to believe his wife-- pardon me, EX-wife, is dead-- oh, and Nadia's a US Citizen so its' not like he took her to a foriegn country," Janet says, counting on her fingers. "Meanwhile, I've got enough time and money on my hands to bury the US Consulate in red tape from now until hell freezes over."

For once, unfortunately, Janet's phone is not on her person. It buzzes away near-inaudibly in her purse, upstairs next to the lounge chair.

"And y'know what I don't like?" Janet emerges from her penthouse and steps up to Boris, deep in his personal space. Green eyes flash with anger, and despite being barefoot in a toga she radiates a significant force of presence. "I don't like you. I don't like your cheap suit or your face or how you're sitting there smirking at us like we're a bunch of morons. You do know who you're screwing with, right? Who buys my clothes in Moscow? Here's a hint:" Janet holds a hand to her mouth, whispering sotto-voce: "Her husband controls about eight thousand miles of the Siberian Oil Pipeline." Her hand drops. "So maybe wipe that smirk off your face before you end up on my bad side," she glowers.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Boris looks nonplussed by Janet, "Mr. Harris, we should go. Ms. Van Dyne is clearly upset by our presence. It is unfortunate but court will decide based on facts."

Harris on the other hand seems intimidated but completely unsure what to do in this situation where the facts he is being told do not seem to match up with those he has been given in his paperwork. Ultimately he nods to Boris, "Alright," he produces a card offering it to Janet, "If you change your mind Ms. Van Dyne, please contact me."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet flicks a piece of lint off of Boris' shoulder. "Bug landed on you," she says, and flashes a simpering smile. Janet turns to Harris and gives him a look of disgust, but takes the card anyway. "Better check yourself Harris," Janet bids him. "Decide which dog you really wanna stake in this fight."

She glares them both down until the men reach the elevator to the lobby, and only then does Janet close the door.

Eyes screw shut and she leans her shoulderblades against it, one hand pressed on her belly. A few slow, soothing breaths through pursed lips slow her heart rate down.

"Shit. Shit shit shit." Janet darts up the stairs and goes for her phone; the first thing she sees is Nadia's text. <Be careful, use balcony. ICE is here.>

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
A text comes back <Ice? Did the HVAC malfunction?> Someone is like imagining Janet's front door covered in actual ice. Stranger things have happened.

About five minutes later a tiny fly Nadia becomes a regular sized Nadia on Janet's balcony as instructed. She's still in her white sleeveless dress and opera gloves from the festival party at the embassy.

"Janet, I'm here. Where's the ice?" she calls into the apartment.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Immigrations, kid, not ice for a drink," Janet says. Her tone's clipped, made brusque by the situation. "Stay away from the windows, okay? House, maximum tint." The windows dark until the lights of the city are barely visible at distant stars, and Janet walks over to Nadia.

"Immigrations and Customs. I deal with Customs all the time, but Immigration's a nasty other department," she explains to Nadia. Janet checks her over, then hugs her tight and sighs in relief. "Means the US Government is dancing to the Russian's tune and they want to extradite you. They said ... something. The Hague Warrants?" she hazards. "I've heard of it but I don't know exactly what it is."

Her face grows concerned and she rests a hand on Nadia's shoulder. "You know this is bullshit, right." It's statement, not question. "Your mom would come *here*. Not send the Consulate after you."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia's expression falls when Janet mentions immigration and she quickly steps further inside as the windows tint. Janet's hug is returned with a tight squeeze of her own. "Was it Ivanov? Did he come here, too? Ms. Walters came to visit Dad and I and told us the Russian Consulate came to the Avengers Mansion looking for me. Wait the US government? That's new... I mean Dr. Morse said something about the Attourney Colonel or something wanting to place a hold on my citizenship but I thought, though it was things they really shouldn't have been able to know..."

She lets out a long sigh, "It's them, it is has to be them. This is how they do things, they lie with the truth, and their truth is lies. They whisper in the right ears and let others do their work for them." She frowns. She always knew the Red Room would come for her on some level, but at the same time she was really hoping maybe just maybe they'd let her go. "Why the mansion and here though? There's no way they don't know where Dad lives..."

Janet's last question leaves her shaking her head, "I don't know what to believe. Everything is lies with them, they could be lying that she was dead, they could be lying that she's alive, maybe the her that was her is dead and a different her is alive through brainwashing and conditioning, maybe they've kept her as an ace all this time and are threatening to kill me if she doens't help them get me back alive. I don't know what's real, what to believe."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet squeezes Nadia's shoulder, pointedly. "Don't get yourself in a tailspin," she says, interrupting that train of speculation. "That's a Hank habit. Not seeing the forest for the trees. Whomever or ... whatever is going on, the point is that it's a con, and they're using diplomatic strings to do it."

Janet gestures at the conversation pit for Nadia to take a seat there, and heads herself over to the bar. Ice-cold vodka's poured into two cups along with a lime wedge, and she walks them both over to Nadia. One drink's set in front of the Waspette; Janet takes the other and curls onto the chair, tucking her legs under her.

"I would imagine they came to the Mansion because Jen was there," Janet points out. "Hank's pretty territorial about his lab space, and he *really* doesn't like Russian agents. Showing up there demanding to see you probably would have triggered him into doing something regrettable. Which reminds me--" Janet gets to her feet and moves to a window. It's opened a crack and she extends an index finger, the same one that'd flicked the Russian's suit. Ominous buzzing noises can be heard outside as a wasp's nest under the eaves responds to Janet's mental imperative.

"Have fun with that, Ivan," Janet mutters, and peers out the window in a fruitless attempt to see if Boris happens to be on the sidewalk.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"It's a con." Nadia repeats to herself. On some level she understands that but something about it all seems to bother her.

"What if they went there and came here to show off? Just to get my attention. I mean if they wanted to try to kidnap me they could do it any time. If they want to serve some weird warrant, why not just do it?" She reaches down for the glass and takes a big swallow of what she probably assumed was ice water, eyes going a bit wide and coughing in surprise at the burning sensation of the vodka against her throat.

Somewhere down on the street a diplomatic attache is cursing and shouting as he is attacked by a swarm of wasps.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Right, because it would definitely work out really well for anyone who *tried* to kidnap you," Janet says with a voice of vast sarcasm. A grin crosses her face at Nadia's spluttering reaction; she sips hers more carefully and waits for the coughing fit to pass. "Even if they did kidnap you, it'd be a tight race between me 'n Steve and your dad for first place on your trail, and the rest of the Avengers right behind us."

"This is why I'm sure it's government. Normal people don't pull power moves like this. They make phone calls, they fly into the country, they get you on Facetime or whatever and try to talk it out. Going right for the jugular with a legal play is how bureaucrats think. Most people don't *trust* the government-- and considering how very helpful Mister Assface was being to Ivan the Terrible--" she wiggles a finger over her shoulder-- "that tells me there are people in high places making this happen."

Her hand drops and she gives Nadia a level look. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess your dad's had a whole lot of really outstanding and totally impractical ideas."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"What is this?" Nadia asks looking down at the glass in her hands once the coughing has subsided, "It tastes like burning." But at the very least it derailed her endless spiraling speculation for the moment.

"That's what makes it hard," she finally continues, "I /know/ it's them, I also know some of what they are capable of. They're pulling all kinds of strings here making the government dance how they want it to... but I still can't say with certainty what the truth is. It may be their plan for me to assume they're lying, but once the second guessing starts, once they're in your head, they have you. And... and I can't science my way out of this. Science needs facts and with the Red Room there are no facts, nothing can be believed with certainty. I don't know how to deal with that."

At the mention of her father's plans she hesitates, "I think he is underestimating them, he's probably going to cause an international incident."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Vodka. Seemed appropriate because, y'know. Russians and stuff," Janet explains. "If you're old enough to be extradited internationally, you're old enough to have an adult drink."

Janet sips again, smacks her lips. "Listen, this is something you're going to have to come at from a different direction. You'll go crazy trying to chase down every bluff, blind, double-blind, or false flag that they pull. That's part of the game, they want you so busy chasing fruitless leads that you don't think about the bigger plan."

"So. Whether or not she *is* legit, the US Government's prepared to accept that she is. From the sound of it, they're going to take your dad to international court and get you removed back to Moscow. You could run; we could hide you until you're 18," Janet suggests. "We could fight it on their terms, go to court. They probably still sucker punch us afterwards whether they win or lose, in some way we haven't seen coming yet. With me so far?"

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia peers down at the drink for a moment, "And people drink this? Willingly?" She regards it like she might a vial of dangerous chemicals in her lab.

She nods slowly listening to Janet as she breaks things down, "So what should I do?" She finally asks. She may be able to put tenured experimental physicists to shame, she may be a more capable combatant that most special forces soldiers, but right now under these circumstances she's just another lost teenager in over her head.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet hedges. A fingernail rolls over the edge of her lowball; she takes a sip in answer to Nadia's question.

"This is the part that I've been wracking my brain over," she says. "Can't run, can't hide. That leaves fighting. We can fight them in court but that's a game on their terms, and from the sound of it they've got more prep time than we do. Not to mention whatever other BS they come up with."

"So if we can't win on their terms, we fight on ours. We've got to get a little underhanded. Sometimes you lose the battle to win the war, y'know?"

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia blinks a few times like she isn't quite following, "Wait, so what are our terms? If I can't run or hide or fight them in court... what's left? Beat up the diplomats?"

The half-empty drink is set on the coffee table, she doesn't seem terribly keen on her first experience with vodka.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"That would fall under 'international incident'," Janet says. "I had the same idea, believe me, but Steve talked me down."

She exhales through her nose. "Look, we've been coming at this all wrong. Like if you go behind the Iron Curtain again, we're going to lose track of you forever. I'm saying what we need to do is make a plan *assuming* that will happen. Figure out a way to... I don't know. Send up a flare, sneak a backup team in with you. Let them think they won, that they've got you locked up, and then we break you out of the Red Room. Er, again."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia leans back in her seat thinking pretty hard about what Janet is proposing. It is hard to argue that no matter what happens that sort of plan is their best tactical move, an ace even if the Red Room wins, so there is still a chance.

"Here take this," Nadia says reaching into one of her pockets and withdrawing something that becomes about as big as a smartphone once it is finished resizing. "This is a tracker for my micro quantum beacons. If I'm able to activate one it should lead you to me anywhere in this world or even the microverse." She has to say 'this world' these days, having been to alternate dimensions, 'the world' just doesn't seem correct anymore.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet takes it, examines the device. It's a Nadia design but it's not entirely unintuitive; Janet shrinks it, then makes it appear again, and then sets it on the table between them.

"Listen kid, I'm not..." Janet brushes her short, curly behind behind one ear. "I'm not exactly made for this..." she gestures vaguely back and forth between them. "I don't know. Whatever this is. But I'm doing my best. My best isn't great," she concedes, canddily. "But I do have a few things going for me. Moooostly that I'm a very vindictive bitch," she says, drawing the word out with a slow nod and thoughtful pursing of her lips. "So what I'm saying is that-- that the options here aren't 'we win this case or you disappear forever'. The options are that we go talk to Bucky and Natasha and brush up on your espionage. Steve helps you with some new judo moves, o-or your dad, he comes up with some science thing that's going to let us pop out of your nostril at the last moment."

Janet reaches out and takes Nadia's hands. "Because, sweetie, I know you're Hank's kid, but if the Russians think that the entire Red Army's going keep you and me apart, then there are going to be a *lot* of dead Russians before this is over."

Janet's eye contact is pointed, and there is nothing in her eyes that speaks of any sense of exaggeration.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Threatening to kill an entire army is definitely worth a hug, not that the hug bar has ever been terribly high with Nadia. When Janet makes eye contact with her Nadia just smiles perhaps appreciating the sentiment in a way that only someone raised in a Soviet Assassin School Gulag could.

She rises from her seat and crosses the intervening space to give Janet a big hug. "Thanks, Janet. That means a lot." She smiles resting her head on her shoulder, "I escaped once already, there's nothing they could do that would keep me from coming back." Which really is not true, there's plenty they could do with Bucky levels of brainwashing and conditioning but it's the sentiment that counts.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Oh honey," Janet says, and hugs Nadia back as good as she gets. When they break, she cups Nadia's cheeks in her hands. "It's not a question of them keeping you from coming back. It's just a question of how many bodies I end up stacking before the Russians realize that *this* is your home."

She turns then, hugging Nadia's shoulder with one arm and urging her along. "The Avenger's lines are as secure as it gets. So take my communicator, text your dad, and let him know you're staying here tonight. Okay? I don't know about you, but I need another drink before bed, and if I'm drinking vodka I just *have* to have some pizza to go with it."