4369/Let the Games Begin

Let the Games Begin
Date of Scene:	11 December 2020
Location:	Roxxon Chemical Plant, N.Y.C. 1948
Synopsis:	Dottie Underwood seeks to fulfill her promise to May to bring her Peggy Carter... only to discover Peggy and May aren't nearly as at odds as they once were.
Cast of Characters:	Bobbi Morse, Peggy Carter, Melinda May
Tinyplot:	Times That Bind

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Bobbi Morse has posed:
It's a distinct sound, the cocking of a pistol's hammer. Then a decided unexpected accent. English. She spent all that time coming up with an excuse to ~be~ Peggy Carter and never really got to use the accent that much. "Peggy," she says with an almost cheerful tone. "We have to stop meeting like this."

She even has the red fedora on again, for old times sake. She's not trying to be Peggy any more, that got ruined. Now she's pretending to be Darla Sykes. She says, "Hands. No sudden moves. Slowly take your gun out, and the spare.. and the knife.. and the stiletto."

It was the right place to ambush her. Right before she can get in her car with whatever she has on her. Usually keys out means one less hand to hold a real weapon. She's also kept space between them, this isn't the time to get in to fisticuffs with her mark. "It's been so long, ..how have you been?," she comments idly as her eyes roam over Peggy looking for obvious tells of weapons.

Peggy Carter has posed:
It's late. A little before 1 am, when Peggy had plans of going back up to the Roxxon site to meet May; to meet the woman who seems to genuinely be telling the truth about her strange arrival here, who is genuinely someone out of time. The readings from Howard and quiet, worried confirmations she got were concerning, to say the least. So, all that weighing on her mind and the lateness of the evening means she's a second too late in realizing someone else is there. Then, the woman has a gun on her and she sighs quietly.

"...You aren't going to shoot me. You'd have done it by now if you really wanted." Peggy states flatly, turning a dark eyed look over to the other woman. "So, why not tell me what you really want and we can stop with this little dance." Peggy is keeping her hands up, for the moment, but she's not removing any of her weapons. She's turning to face the woman, evaluating her possibilities here.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Dottie Underwood looks back to Agent Carter with her usual enigmatic smile. It's bizarre how quickly she adopts such a good received English accent. Where ever she got her training, they were years ahead of what the SSR was putting out. "Such a time to be alive. Oh I don't know Peggy," she says switching to her American accent again, "May be I'm just being charitable."

She pulls the trigger. The silencer deadens the bang to a pop and the bullet lodges in to the car door next to Peggy. "Let your imagination run free Peggy, think of all the wonderful places a bullet can go that won't kill you." With a flick of the gun toward the car, "Now ditch the weapons and get in. You're my chauffeur tonight Peggy."

That sternness she saw on Dottie's face when they fought in Stark's office is there once more. That look indicates she's not messing around. Despite the push and pull of her friendly attitude, "Oh don't get me wrong. I think the world of you Pegs, I really do. But you're not the belle of the ball this time."

Peggy Carter has posed:
The bullet in the car door makes her slightly jerk in surprise, but it also gains a slightly rueful smile from her. "Still, you were awfully careful not to put that bullet any of those places." Peggy deadpans back to the woman but, for the moment, she slips the gun from beneath her shoulder out and a knife from the small of her back. Probably not *all* the weapons, knowing Peggy, but the easiest ones. She tosses them aside, just in front of the SSR door, so if someone else finds them they'll probably realize something is wrong.

With that, she slips into the car and starts the engine, even more curious about the woman's other plans. "...And just where are we going, Underwood?" She asks, voice cold and measured. It seems she's decided to play ball for the moment, though there's still enough tension in her that is readying for a fight.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
It's a delicate slide in to the back seat so that her gun remains trained on Peggy. Dottie wonders if Peggy has cottoned on to the notion that she isn't killing people for the sake of it yet. Orders must be given. Not that she can't do terrible harm in the meanwhile though. It is a weakness and she loathes adhering to it. Though, that weakness only persists as long as she feels she has other options.

"Don't get any funny ideas seee," she says sounding like a gangster and then laughs lightly as if she were casually making a joke with a friend. "We're off to see cinderella of course. Or as she calls herself, May. And you're going to tell me all about what you've learnt so far and why you've let the Chinese take such an interest in Roxxon's latest weird weapon."

Dottie can't help herself. She wants to dangle the bad assumptions in front of Carter just to see how she reacts. May be she hit the nail on the head with some of those guesses, but it'd be far more exciting if none of it were true. "I'm sure you know the way. Drive."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A slight snerk of a laugh escapes Peggy's lips as Dotti puts out a few theories about what is happening, but she doesn't verbally respond otherwise. No need to clarify or correct any assumptions the enemy agent might be making -- Peggy is sharper than that. She simply pulls out into the late night street, barely any traffic around them at this hour. It won't be too long before she's pulling up outside the abandoned Roxxon site which is little more than a crater in the ground with a large fence and warning signs around it. The implosion was bad enough people are still being warned off of the area.

When she pulls to a stop, she flashes her lights twice. Just a little indication that she's there but, also, that something is wrong. Maybe May will pick it up because she's smart and Peggy would normally approach here very quiet, lights off, trying not to attract attention. Maybe it'll fall flat. But after that little hint, she kills the car and gives a slight shrug to the woman behnd her. "Not much here of Roxxon nowadays. Boring to see."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
"Isn't this great Peggy? Like old times. You and me. Hitting the road. Solving mysteries," she says rather playfully and then asks, "I sure hope they don't have you working as a secretary again. You should be running the place. Oh how much fun would that be. Me, best friends with the head of the SSR."

"This is quite an embarrassing hole you've made isn't it Peggy. Not at all subtle. A lot of people noticed," she suggests as they pull up at the site. "Now get out," she says her voice turning harsh almost cold once more. They say it's cold in Russia but the winter is chilly this year in New York.

She gets out behind Peggy, gun still there and says, "Let's go say hi to our new friend May." And there is a little method to her madness. Like she said to May not long ago - Peggy doesn't listen unless she's out of her comfort zone. Whatever is to be said, Dottie really wants to hear it.

Melinda May has posed:
May has been waiting for perhaps twenty minutes. She spent the first few minutes checking out the anomaly, hoping to find another note. She found nothing. When, in the distance, she sees the lights of the car flicker through the upright pipes and between buildings, she retreats back to the shadows. When Agent Carter flashes those lights twice, her dark eyes narrow.

There's simply no reason for her to flash those lights, unless she's trying to say something. Which probably means trouble.

Hidden, the Asian woman watches the tall blonde with the red hat emerge from the car with the brunette. Oh. Yeah. That's trouble.

She schools her face into the impassive mask that she's so good at. The best she can do now is hope that this decade's Peggy Carter is smart enough to realize May isn't part of this setup... even if she ends up having to play along for a while.

What she won't do, however, is walk right out into the open. She does, however, circle close enough to the car to step out of the shadows on the flank of the pair. Her movements are precise, but unhurried. After all... she has no reason to suspect Darla Sykes, right?

"Miss Sykes," she says. "Agent Carter. What a surprise."

Peggy Carter has posed:
The comment about the hole gets a slightly deeper smirk, "Actually, it was one of your people who made this hole, if we are splitting hairs about it. Leviathan threw the Nitramene. Then you always were more self destructive than you were intelligent. Especially your men." Peggy cannot help but banter back a little bit, especially since she knows she's right about most of it. And remembering that Leviathan were directly to blame helps ease some of her guilt of the place. Especially as one has a gun to her back.

Then she's swinging into the street, keeping her hands slightly out but down, closer to her hips and body, ready to move if she has to without actually reaching for any weapon she may still have hidden. She arches a brow as she hears May's words, dark eyes narrowing at the Asian woman in the shadows. "...Sykes...that's the name you're using now? Underwood fit better. Sykes just sounds like trouble." Peggy clips back to the woman behind her.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
"Oh... they're not my men," she drops with a dead pan voice. The lack of intelligence in the Russian secret intelligence agency has not been lost on her one bit. It amuses her, and a smile broadens on her lips, to think she can continue to perplex Peggy with the fewest words possible.

There's something a little off with the way this is happening. She thought Peggy would be coming to arrest May again, but instead it's a calm 'Agent Carter' from May. "May, I brought you a Peggy just as we discussed. Isn't that delightful. We can all be friends together now," she says and it's clear she's holding a gun to Peggy. She shifts it indicating for her to move.

Dottie laughs a touch at Peggy's quip about the name. "She's lovely, door to door cosmetic saleswoman. She travels the world, uninhibited by the whims of man, bringing a touch of joy to the lives of servile housewives," she expands on her current fake identity. The real question for her is will she get to keep the identity long enough to use it on non-SSR related matters.

Melinda May has posed:
Maybe Peggy did turn up to arrest May. May can't actually be entirely certain she didn't... though the flashing lights is a good clue not. Given, however, that May -- even on that first night Dottie saw her -- approached the Agent calmly then, there's no reason she'd react any less calmly now.

Besides. Isn't she supposed to be a highly trained Chinese operative? She shouldn't be reacting badly to seeing the English woman now. Even if she is presumably about to be arrested.

"I wondered if you'd turn up here with her," she says to Dottie. It's not like they made arrangements to meet anywhere. She's careful not to deviate too far from her behaviour in the coffee shop. Thus, he even offers Dottie a reserved smile, similar to the one she used then. "I'm a little surprised she came so willingly. You didn't even muss up her hair."

She glances to Peggy, actually reassured by that fact. The other woman appeara unharmed. That means there's still hope to turn this to their advantage.

She approaches the pair obliquely, keeping Dottie vaguely between them. Her body language suggests she's doing so for her own defense.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The actually British agent is mostly quiet, after having given those few quips to Dottie, she's not going to get sucked into a battle of wits and lose an advantage she might have when the fight genuinely starts. She walks smoothly around, letting May counter point her across Dottie's frame. Her dark eyes are doing their very best to fully analyze the Chinese agent across from her. To finally see if she is actually trust worthy or if she's somehow in league with the blonde.

"I figured we have plenty of time to fight. Since we were both going to the same place, why not give the woman a ride." Peggy flatly responds to May's comment about her hair not even being mussed up. She takes a step closer to Dottie, trying to get herself in comfortable fighting range and not easy shooting range. She's not tensing anything to fight. Yet. But the preparations are there.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
If there's one thing Dottie can sense, it's that things are... weird... right now. There's a weird energy about this interaction. She narrows her eyes just a touch and when Peggy steps closer, she moves to keep the triangle of agents the same distance. Her gun points to Peggy's thigh.

"Uh uh. Peggy honey. You're glorious but you'll be less so if you're limping about with gun shot in your leg," she warns as her eyes flit back and forth between Peggy and May. "Speaking of glorious, who is going to talk first about why we're all sooo interested in this crater hm?"

The moment has become tense and Dottie's posture has become active. She's ready to pounce and isn't tensing up at all. "You know Peggy, I think you're growing as a person. You've shown real restraint tonight. There may be hope for you yet."

Melinda May has posed:
May's gaze lands briefly on the bullet hole in the chassis of the car. She gives Peggy a tight not-quite-smile at her flat explanation for their simultaneous arrival.

Thus, she arches a brow, regarding Dottie. "I don't think there's actually much we can say, here," she says after a moment. Her head cants to the side. "Not without access to better equipment. Unless you've got some hidden somewhere."

She can see Dottie's relaxed posture. And she's fought Romanova often enough to recognize that crouching tiger energy about the Russian agent. She shifts casually as well, her hands loose by her side as she turns and shifts a couple of easy steps to balance out the line again, drawing a little nearer. She keeps her body in that semi-profile position every single one of the women standing here knows is purposefully meant to present a much narrower target.

Hell, they're all doing more or less the same thing.

May evaluates her chances of getting close enough to disarm Underwood -- without anyone getting shot. If it comes down to it, she does have her ICER on her, as well as a reliable, recently acquired PPK. But she rarely uses a gun. She's hoping she won't have to.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The threat about a gunshot wound in her leg makes Peggy's red lips pull into a firm smirk. "I've certainly had worse. I think I'll survive." That should be the set up to a sudden kick, the fight starting, but Peggy doesn't want to be predictable. Or, more so, she wants Dottie's eyes on her, in order to give May an opening to act. Maybe it's a test -- will the other agent attack the blonde or the brunette first? Will she gang up on Peggy, or give Peg a chance to put the Russian agent down once and for all? Either way, Peggy doesn't use the set up, but gives a simple, cold smile, it never reaching her eyes, to the other woman.

"And she's right. This place is nothing but the site of horrible history and a convenient meeting place because it's so well abandoned. Not much else to see." Peggy lies fairly smoothly, though the anomaly is so small now it might as well not even be there. She's got none of her scanning equipment tonight, either.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Finally some answers. The usual from Peggy, tight lipped and stressing normalcy so hard it's obvious something abnormal is going on. But it's May that gives her the answer she needs. Better equipment. That's something she can manage. She can get Leviathan out here to do their thing. Perhaps she is a friendly Chinese agent after all. That's enough though, she can diffuse this situation and be on her way. They're keeping secrets, it's obvious that they've decided to trust each other.. but she doesn't have orders to get answers from them, kill them, torture them... it's their lucky day!

She flinches to the left, then to the right, just to see if Carter will flinch again, "Oh looking Peggy, what will I do...." Her gun lifts to stomach, to shoulder, to the heart, back to the thigh. There's a wild look of glee on her face for just a moment.

Then her face snaps back to all seriousness, "Kidding. Relax Peggy you'll give yourself an ulcer," she says and lowers her gun. It's still in her hands. She can still lift it. But better to perplex Peggy Carter all the more. They've done remarkably little discussion since she reunited them which tells her they've already settled their differences. "I think today is going to be a pie day. Don't you girls agree? we can discuss how boys ruin everything over a hot brew of joe."

Melinda May has posed:
May watches as Dottie shifts her attention to Peggy. Apparently, her comment was, in fact, enough to disarm the Russian agent. Metaphorically speaking. There's still the matter of that gun.

She lets out an almost theatrical sigh, her shoulders drooping and head dipping as if in resignation or defeat. The movement allows her to shift her weight enough that when she strikes, it's with the lightning fast reflexes her colleagues in the future know her for -- the ones that, even in her middle age, still let her hold her own with the likes of Romanova and Morse. Her goal is simple: Get the fricking gun away from the crazy lady. Thus, the strike is precise, quick, and tactical. She knows she'll take a hit in return. But that gun *will* go skittering away.

She just hopes Peggy's prepared to jump in. But, even if she's not. What the hell. She could use an aggression therapy session. God knows she's got the pent up, entirely controlled frustration to accommodate it.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The fluttering gun is enough to give Peggy a moment of pause, eyes just a little wider than normal, as she weighs how off her rocker Dottie has gotten over the last few years. Possibly this is the night the woman finally shoots her? But then the gun is dropped, Peggy lets out a bit of a breath and a strange, half sick little laugh at the thought. "I can't say I'm in the mood for--" And there goes May. Beautiful, brilliant, incredibly fast May. If she's not a Chinese agent, she's definitely been trained by someone.

"Pie." And Peggy's dropping fast, spinning out with a kick towards Dottie's ankles as May went for the gun. She's not certain if the gambit with the gun will work, but Peggy is doing her best to be where it's not going to be and get at the blonde from another angle. In her elegant suit and heels, Peggy doesn't look like a fighter, but she's up to it with the best of them, following that kick with a body punch meant for Dottie's solar plexus.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Combat she was expecting. Highly skilled combat she was not expecting. Not from the Chinese, not from the Americans especially. May comes from a time period where martial arts skills have been wildly spread across the globe and adopted by SHIELD training; not to mention May has trained with the future Black Widow.

Betrayal doesn't hit home on any emotional level. It's hard to know if she really has any emotional depths left within her after being raised in the Red Room. Something that affords her the ability to switch gears suddenly from pretending to be their ally to being their enemy.

Peggy has seen the switch happen before and it's no less instant this time. May's strike to the gun is effective and efficient and Dottie notes that as being improbable and unexpected. Threat assessment has been upgraded. She moves with the speed of a human at the peak of humanity. Not superhuman, but darn near close to it. She strikes firmly with a knuckle to May's exposed ribs as punishment for the attack on her fire arm.

As she suspected, the two have teamed up.. against her apparently. What is it with Peggy and the predictable but inevitable betrayal. The kick to sweep out her legs is met with a foot to her thigh, not a kick, not a strike, but instead a glorious flip. A spring loaded knife shoots out from her sleeve arm and in to her palm of her hand and she cuts down at the attacking arm as the punch lands at her solar plexus.

She eats the strike, like she was taught to do. Sometimes self preservation is a cost game. "Ladies, I'm so disappointed, here I was imagining matching hats for weekend outings to the park," a hand casually rises up and plucks the fedora from her head and she tosses it to the ground, shaking out her long blonde hair.

Melinda May has posed:
May grunts as she take that knucke to the ribs. It's going to leave a mark, but the SHIELD agent doesn't care. She counters as quickly as Dottie can dish it out, particularly when that knife comes into play. The Russian flips back, and the Asian darts in feinting low, but striking hard against that knife that slices into Carter.

Beneath her coat, and beneath the loose trousers she wears, is her SHIELD tac suit. Because, really, she figured this night could go south. She just didn't expect it to go sliding down hill quite this way. This means eventually Dottie's going to clue in that the Asian has some sort of unusually slim, lightweight, but effective protection going on beneath those fashionable duds. Cheating? Maybe.

Again, May doesn't care.

She trades no banter. She's never been known to before. Why start now? No, her focus is tight, flexible, and fast, much like her fighting style.

That said, despite the flurry of strikes, blocks, feints, dodges, and kicks she whips at Dottie (and takes in return -- ain't nobody getting out of this fight unscathed), she has enough awareness of Peggy's movements to work with the English woman, freeing her to press her own attack and protecting her from the most damaging of Dottie's counterattacks.

All because some 60 years in the future, SHIELD will start issuing nanofiber tactical suits to its agents that the Russian and the SSR agent can't possibly match.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The knife is just going to be one of those battlefield injuries one has to expect. It's out fast enough and Peggy's arm is just *there*, that getting between that particular attack and the SSR agent's flesh is going to be an impossibility for the first strike. At least Peggy gets in the wind-knocking hit against Dottie before pulling back, blazer arm sliced through and freely bleeding, but giving May a chance to hopefully disarm the weapon as Peggy reasses her own fighting style.

There's a moment of damage to the brunette's ego as she realizes the Chinese agent is trying to take more hits than she does, but they don't have time to argue either. So, she's doing her best to take advantage of the woman pressing on Dottie to shift into a position that she can come up behind the blonde. She doesn't want to *kill* the woman either, Underwood with too much valuable information, which means the gun she's pulled out is suddenly swinging around, aiming for Dottie's temple in some effort to incapacitate the woman.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Dottie barely has time to recover from the strikes to her chest. Her hand smarts from the strike to May's side. What's with that? Armor of some kind? She switches up targets, she needs to test the theory. Standing right next to her this whole time may very well have been the thing she has been looking for - advanced weaponry. Or in this case, advanced armor.

And so as the strikes start coming in from May, she moves back and to the side, circling around, blocking and taking some of the hits, making it difficult for them both to strike at her at once.

There - the opening. She stabs May in the side with the knife, only for the tip to snap off. Confirmed, armor of some kind. Then the knife is disarmed by May and she is back to unarmed.

Next test, -- nope, gun!. She ducks under the attempt to hit her with the gun and and twists the barrel, to twist the trigger hand in a painful arresting motion. She ducks under Peggy's arms and pulls the gun away, turns with a twirl and shoots May point blank in the chest. Time to see just what kind of armor she's dealing with here.

The banter has ceased, her face is stone cold and blank. This is the look of a Red Room agent who's entire being is focused on the fight right now. That intense focus is something that is drilled in to them from a very young age and yet she is still not going for killing blows, nor running away. She still thinks she has the upper hand.

Melinda May has posed:
At such close range, the explosive impact of the gunshot sends May careening back. Her arms flail, her shoulders flex and head whips forward because of the backward thrust. It's clear to both of the others she's taken the bullet square in the center of her chest. She lands with a heavy thud onto the concrete, letting out a sharp cry as her head snaps back against the hard ground.

Still, it's May. Even down, and gasping for air, she doesn't quite give up. In her mind, as these things go, time slows down. Her right hand comes up to her chest, as if to cover the wound. But her palm slides into her coat, fingers curling around the butt of her ICER in its holster. She yanks the weapon out, eyes still half closed with the pain of impact, and swings the muzzle around toward her attacker.

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

Three precious dendrotoxin rounds cut through the air at nearly 3000 feet per second towards the blonde before the Asian begins to curl on her side and cough, body demanding air.

Peggy Carter has posed:
It all happens so fast. Peggy is good, but Dottie's trained since she was a child and Peggy's only trained since she was 18. There are moments where the blonde is simply faster. And this moment could have lost May her life. Peggy's eyes shoot wide, not yet aware of the armor the other woman wears. "No!" She cracks out suddenly, somewhat certain that the other woman must be dead. Anomaly or not, possibly out of time or not, she was a woman. A SHIELD agent. Peggy's responsibility. And she's dead.

Where as precision and ice cold numbness is what often drives the Red Room agents, Peggy's at her very best when she has her heart in the game. She was fighting good before. Now, the pain of loss and anger pushes her adrenaline reserves into overdrive and she's suddenly sharper. Faster. And quite determined to kill the woman across from her.

There's no letting up in her fight now. Two spinning kicks with those high heels followed by an elbow to the face, punch to the gut, another to her kidney.. She knows they won't all land, but she's not holding back for the knockout any longer. Peggy's letting out every inch of what she has and it's terrifying to see. She's quite capable when she lets herself be.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
The experiment is complete. She didn't die. But she did go ... for ... that ... weapon. She is moving even as Carter is crying out 'No!'. She is diving behind a jutted out chunk of concrete and steel as the blue bolts whizz through the air. She rolls back up behind the rubble and says, "Bullet proof and ray guns? May are you an alien or a time traveler?"

She has no time to really finish the line of thought as she sees death in Carter's eyes and the strikes and blows start raining down on her. She can see she is being driven by her emotions right now. An elbow hits her in the face and she starts to bleed from her nose, there was a crack, her nose may have broken. A gut punch is blocked, another to the kidney makes her stumble.

The threat of a gun isn't going to cut it now. She either kills the SSR asset or she surrenders or she finds a way to disengage. Surrender leaves her fate up to the whims of the universe. What she needs is the disengage because she was not given orders to kill Peggy Carter. May... well, apparently she'd need to be shot in the head and that's going to be hard to do right now.

The best bet, the long game... is to surrender and re-play the 'but I can be of use to you' game. Now they know they need leverage over her to make it work, she can dangle some. What she has learnt here tonight is too valuable not to pass on. This is a temporary pause in her duties as Black Widow. Mother will understand and punish her the appropriate amount later.

She drops the gun and skips back holding up her hands and stepping back in to the line of sight of May, "Okay you've got me. You and Buck Rogers have bested me. I know when I'm beat." She says and licks the blood gushing over her lips, "You're too good for me Peggy Carter."

Melinda May has posed:
The fact May is coughing, even curled on her side as she is, is actually a good sign. It means she's *not* dead yet! She sucks in air while Peggy pummels Underwood with blow after outraged blow. Coming to her hands and knees, the SHIELD agent raises her head just in time to watch the Russian drop her gun and raise her hands in surrender. May doesn't even think about it. She raises her ICER a second time.

*BANG!*

Even winded and in pain, May's still an excellent markswoman. The sleeper bullet slams into the center of Dottie's chest. The Russian agent has a fleeting moment of surprise before the chemical round does its job and she drops bonelessly to the concrete.

Lowering her gun, still on all fours, May lets out a stasified grunt. "Payback's a bitch, ain't it?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
While Peggy appreciates the back up, and is slightly reeling from a few of Dottie's punches that she took, she didn't expect the blonde to drop that fast or that hard. She blinks, standing there, panting quietly for air as she looks from the unconscious Red Room agent, back towards the somehow not dead, probable time traveller, then back to Dottie. "T-thanks. I'm... glad you're not dead, but...uncertain how you survived, I will admit. We've been working on bullet resistent fabrics but... they're a far way from being able to take something that close."

Peggy then drops carefully down to Dottie's side, checking her pulse, considering she doesn't see the blood she might expect from point blank bullet wounds either. If she had any doubts about the time travel theory, the last ones are quickly leaving. Her left arm is freely, rather awfully bleeding, having soaked through sleeve of her suit and trickling down her fingers now, but otherwise she seems in one piece. "She's not dead."

Melinda May has posed:
May slowly pushes herself back up onto her feet. "Not dead," she confirms. Neither she nor Dottie. Go figure. Still panting just a little, she presses a hand to the painful spot the bullet impacted. She rolls her shoulders and winces in pain, starting to cross toward Peggy. Her movements are slow and careful because she's also hurting from several other blows Dottie landed on her. She's not quite limping, but she knows she's going to be bruised in the morning.

She pulls open her coat and the top couple of buttons of her blouse. Matte black fabric shows beneath, densely woven and subtly padded. "I figured it wouldn't hurt to wear my tac suit. Just in case." She looks down at Dottie.

*BANG.*

One more shot to her center of mass. Then, and only then, does May shove the ICER back in its holster. "She'll be out for a while, now. But she'll recover." She gives Peggy a tight smile. "Tranq rounds. Promise."

Peggy Carter has posed:
As the last shot comes, Peggy jumps just slightly, not really having expected it but thankful for it as she hears they are tranq rounds. Her brows arch, looking over that black suit below which is entirely thinner than even a flack jacket. Then to the ICER rounds. Technology that doesn't exist. She knows it doesn't. May can practically see the last few puzzle pieces slotting confirmations together in Peggy's brain.

"...The amount of lives we'd save with tranqualizers and tactical suits like that alone... And I can't even ask you questions for fear of damaging everything." She mutters to herself, but that's probably a good confirmation she believes May's story.

"Help me get her in the trunk. Back to the SSR, and then we can... consider next steps." Peggy's not quite dizzy yet, but bleeding enough that the arm that took the knife is mostly useless for little other than operating car keys. She gets the trunk open with her good arm and then moves back to help with the body.

Melinda May has posed:
May might be the smallest of the three women here, but she can handle a body. She squats and hoists Dottie up over her shoulder in a fireman's carry, grunting softly as she thrusts back to her feet and hauls her over to the car. She dumps the Russian heavily into the trunk, only perfunctorily protecting the woman's head from smacking anything that might hurt it.

"That's why we switched to them," she admits, when Peggy marvels over the technology she displays. "Trust me, Carter, you're gonna love the technology in the future." Even if she isn't going to transition to it nearly as quickly as she'd like.

As it is, May's just grateful she's finally got the woman's trust.

She closes the trunk on Dottie and glances to Peggy's mostly useless arm. "We need to get that arm of yours seen to. I don't want you passing out behind the wheel." Because she doubts Peggy's quite ready to trust her with the keys. Of course, she's got her own wheels stashed nearby. But she'll worry about that, later. Better to stay together for now.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"I can... help..." But it's a little too late, and Peggy has to admit that Dottie got her arm quite good. She frowns, shrugging out of her probably ruined suit jacket to look down to the injury. Her arm is absolutely covered in blood and it's still pouring fairly freely, so she gives a little breath of disapproval. "Yes. Probably needs a stitch or two. Damned knife." Peggy mutters.

Instead of worrying too much over it, she pulls open the back door and grabs the little first aid kit that lives beneath the front seat. There's a rubber tourniquet in there which she wraps around her arm, between her heart and the open wound. A few wraps of gauze go overtop of it in efforts to make certain she doesn't bleed all over her car, but that's the most she worries about it. "Arm is done. Back to the SSR where we can put her behind at least four sets of locks... then figure out what to do with you." Peggy turns her head, finally meeting May's eyes fully. "...Really from the future, hm?"

Melinda May has posed:
May watches Peggy attend her arm, but doesn't interfere. She knows how proud Peggy is in the future... with many of the sharp edges filed off from simple wear. Here in the past, when they're all still rough and fresh? Yeah. Not going there.

Not yet, anyway.

She meets Peggy's gaze with dark eyes, letting her guard drop enough that the neutral expression she's been trying to hold slips into honesty again. "Yeah." She gives a wry smile. "My parents are still in China. I'm not even a glimmer in their eyes, yet."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"...My goodness. Well. This is highly dangerous and a mess we absolutely need to clean up as quickly as possible." Peggy states in as calm and understated a tone as a Brit ever gets. She then gives May a half smile and swings down into the car, so she can start the drive back to SSR headquarters.