4465/How strong are you

How strong are you
Date of Scene:	22 December 2020
Location:	Carnegie's Gym
Synopsis:	Bobbi and Steve catch up out of work hours. Bobbi asks if she can work out with Steve to help get a handle on her new Metahuman state of being. Taco Tuesdays is a thing.
Cast of Characters:	Steve Rogers, Bobbi Morse

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Steve Rogers has posed:
The Brooklyn neighborhood has seen better days. Or years. Like much of New York the buildings are much the same as they were decades ago, just with newer signs and models of cars on the road.

It was a curious place for the SHIELD dispatcher to send someone. But when the location of Captain Rogers was requested, rather than the Avengers Mansion or possibly the Triskelion, the dispatcher had given the address in this quiet Brooklyn neighborhood.

Snow is falling from the evening sky, illuminated by the lights from the city that never dim. A fresh dusting covers the pavement, concealing any dirt or grime and giving the place a more wholesome feel than normal.

Up ahead on the quiet, nearly deserted street is the address. The sign proclaims it to be Carnegie's Boxing Gym. The windows are covered over though, and there's a general sense of disuse that a practiced eye could pick up on. However, it wouldn't take a practiced eye to notice the window covers are lit enough to suggest there are lights on inside. And right in front of the door where fewer flakes are able to land, there are footprints in the older snow. The door itself is unlocked.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    It's a rare sight, one usually reserved for Lance, to see Bobbi Morse out of any kind of SHIELD uniform. Whether that's business like clothing, a lab coat, or her more usual black armor and split cape. Dressed in jeans, boots, a dark blue blouse and fur lined hoodie. The weather demands a touch more heat than usual. She has a heart monitor on one wrist and no doubt a few hidden weapons on her person despite being off duty. You're never truly off duty when you have enemies. Bobbi has lots of enemies.

    She had mentally prepared herself for a trip to the mad house, aka, the Avengers Mansion. But instead, she was headed to Brooklyn. Parking her bike out front she looks at the old place and shakes her head, "Huh. Well he grew up around here right?," she murmurs to herself and pushes the unlocked door open to enter the gym.

    She was half expecting the place to be derelict given the neighborhood and state of the buildings outside. But, never judge a book by its cover. "Rogers, are you around?," she calls out, bike helmet tucked under her arm. It had been a while since they'd simply _talked_. He was busy, she was busy. That's the nature of level seven agents of SHIELD.

Steve Rogers has posed:
The distinctive sounds of a heavy punching bag being hit can be heard coming from the back of the gym. Hard thuds speaking of heavy impacts on the bag, coming quickly together as one punch after another is thrown.

Towards the back, Steve Rogers can be seen. His blond hair is cut a little shorter than the last time she saw him. He's wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of dark grey sweatpants as he works on the bag, hitting it with force that has it swaying heavily even though the bottom is tied down to prevent it from moving much.

"Over... here... Agent..." Steve says through breathing which is quick if short of labored. He ends the workout with a combination and a final hard punch that leaves the bag swaying like it wishes it could keel over. Steve turns, moving to pick up a bottle of water from nearby before moving over towards Bobbi nearer to the entrance.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    There aren't that many top agents at SHIELD. The level sixes tend to go do a lot of very exciting stuff and the level eights tend to get stuck amidst bureaucracy, which leaves the levels sevens with the most flexibility in how they get the job done. A balancing act between administrative power and spy power. So it is a warm smile that graces her lips when she hears and then sees Steve, because their club lives in that strange place and only those in the club understand the weirdness of it. Many of the level eights got there before SHIELD got big enough to even need level sevens.

    It hasn't escaped her gaze, just how much that punching bag is dancing on its line. Even so, she doesn't accept a handshake from her peer, instead she offers him a hug and says, "It's good to see you. This is where you hide from Avengers and SHIELD?" She takes off her yellow tinted sunglasses and looks around the place, taking the ambience.

    "When I asked dispatch where you were I was expecting to head to the mansion. This.. I think I prefer this," she says with a chuckle. "Lance and I have been spending a lot of time out in Westchester. He has a place rented out there. Brooklyn is.. expensive."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers gives Bobbi a genuine hug, display of warmth at seeing her. "Well, maybe from the Avengers," he answers as he turns to glance around the gym. "Nick set me up with this place not long after I woke up. Old stomping grounds. I suppose it probably has helped me adapt a bit," he comments. A certain fondness can be detected in his expression as he regards the old-fashioned boxing gym.

Steve turns back to Bobbi directly and gestures towards the front. "I've got an apartment next door upstairs, actually. Though I'd not used it as much of late," he tells her. He has a moment of thought and says, "I kind of prefer it to the mansion too. But don't let Tony hear I said that, he'll probably have them redecorate my hallway to lined with brownstone or something." He gives a quiet chuckle and says, "What brings you by?" Amongst the agents, Steve is probably a bit of an oddity. Less involved continually as others are, but brought in for missions. It also means he is less in touch with SHIELD happenings that don't directly involve him.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi tends to think of Steve as 'running the Avengers'. With three SHIELD agents in their number it's easier in her mind to think of them as a specialised unit that Fury set up. Very specialised. Very loose on the regulations. She says, "Fury's good like that. It's always amusing to me watching him deal with people outside the agency. He gets very prickly, very fast. You can almost see the pressure inside him building up when he's deliberately not swearing."

    There's a smirk on her lips and she nods her head, "Don't tell Tony, got it." She sighs and then lifts up her heart rate monitor on her wrist. It's a steady 58 at the moment, "Fury, actually, is the reason I'm by." She waggles a hand, "I may or may not have inadvertently entered a new phase of my life. Something that can't quite be fixed just yet.. so I'm stuck with the ramifications for now. Not that I wouldn't make the same decisions again if I were given the chance..."

    She rolls her eyes and says, "Okay so yes, getting to the point. Fury suggested I come talk to you because..." she rubs the back of her neck not quite sure how to get these words out, "I am more Metahuman now than Human. Yes, that's the best way to put it. What do you know about Project Gladiator?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve just gets a soft, somewhat wry smile as he considers Nick Fury trying to avoid swearing. Not that he tends to do that around Steve very often, the man considers. Though as Bobbi gets into why she's there, she'll find the man's attention focused on her situation fully.

"And he figured, maybe I could help you come to grips with it, having been down that road," he finishes. "Metahuman. It's something that we need a name for such things, isn't it?" Steve Rogers asks.

He answers the question about Project Gladiator with a little shake of his head. He takes a sip of the cold bottled water, and picks up a towel, wiping down the punching bag and then hanging it about his neck as he gestures over towards one of the lockers along the wall for Bobbi to follow along with him. "Not familiar with it. But let me guess. Someone trying to work up a version of Doctor Erskine's formula?" he ventures.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi walks and talks as they head in to the locker room. Some real locker room talk. "You guessed right. Dr. Calvin was running a research project on the recreation of the serum. I was doing my doctorate at the time and was part of her team, as well as Dr. Sallis, and Dr. Allen. My doctorate was on Super Soldier Serum."

    She is still very proud of that work, even though the unredacted version is a rarity. She literally wrote the paper on the serum and all its versions. "Turned out Dr. Allen was working for AIM. This was my first real exposure to spy stuff and SHIELD. I was recruited while on the project."

    "I know quite a lot about how the serum works and its risks. But recently myself, Agent Simmons, and Agent Hunter, were captured by HYDRA. He had been working on duplicating gifted humans abilities in to a serum of his own. He'd condensed it down to a watch sized injector. So... not only were we captured, but we were guarded by super hydra agents, basically."

    She glances around the room to make sure they're alone, "I took the opportunity to level the playing field and invented a new kind of super soldier serum. Before anyone tried to convince me not to do it, I injected myself with it. We were able to escape the facility. We wouldn't have made it if not for ...the advantage I gave myself."

    "Steve, I have running through my veins a combination of Erskin, Calvin, ...another formula I'm not at liberty to name.. some Inhuman DNA.. Whitehall's work and of course my own. It's a heck of a concoction."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers doesn't need to go into the locker room itself, there are a number of banks of lockers along the wall just for holding personal possessions when changing or showering isn't needed. Steve opens one up and pulls out an old oversized sweatshirt which he tugs on over his t-shirt. It's grey and has "Army" across it in faded letters, and below that "Camp Lehigh".

The locker clangs softly closed as Steve turns back to Bobbi, having stayed focused on what she's telling him while he grabbed the warmer top. "Seems everyone was interested in finding a version of it," he comments, tone suggesting thoughts there, but ones that he doesn't delve into just now.

"And how do you feel about it?" he asks Bobbi as he focuses in on her state and situation amidst the rest of the story.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi lets out a nervous laugh. It's a rare thing from her. "Terrified." That's her immediate response to the question. "I've spent most of my life honing my body to be the best it could be. Before I was in SHIELD I was obsessed with martial arts and sports anyway. And now? Now I accidentally broke my favorite coffee table because I didn't know my own strength. No matter how long I job or swim, I don't get tired.. and on top of not knowing myself any more."

    She lifts up the heart rate monitor again, "Because of the way the serum was made, if I let my emotions get the better of me my heart rate spikes if I'm pushing myself beyond human norms and I have a heart attack.. and heal rapidly from it.. and have another.. and heal. Over and over again. I've only passed out from it once so far when Ant-Man managed to pick a fight with a green haired super villain who created a tsunami just to get away from The Hulk."

    Her eyes widen just remembering that recent fight, "I got too stressed and had to lift two heavy men up out of the way of the tsunami on to a quinjet with very little time. Suddenly I have to act like May and keep my emotions internally in check, not just externally."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers leans back against the wall beside the bank of lockers to listen to Bobbi. The heart rate monitor gets a glance and a nod as she explains her situation. Afterwards Steve considers, but only for a moment or two before responding.

"I can recall breaking a thing or two unexpectedly," he says with a nod and a faint grin at the memories, relating to what she's experienced. "Though, as much as things might change? It's easy to lose track of what stays the same," Steve says.

He gestures with a hand towards Bobbi. "You might not be May. But the woman I've seen in you? Knows how to be in control when she needs to. Maybe this is a little more extreme. But I'd be on that woman being able to handle this," he says. His tone is straight-forward, there's a transparency to the man that imbues his words with the conviction of the truth he sees in them. "To exert control when needed, and to be able to harness those kind of abilities and use them when they need to be used," Steve tells Bobbi. Finally he breaks into a wry smile. "It may just take some time to be second nature."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi smirks at how corny he is. It's just who he is, he can't help it. To her, it's admirable and adorable. You can't buy that kind of honesty. She nods her head, "Thank you Steve. But I was hoping for something a bit more.. hm." She holds up her hands, "I'm not suggesting martial arts training because I know you don't want to have to deal with yet another SHIELD lady tossing you about. But.."

    She motions to the punching bag, "the kind of stuff that'll help me get a handle on just what the extremes are, and also to get used to doing it, feeling it, and not letting my heart race when I suddenly need to do it in the field. Would you be interested in having me tag along as a training partner? It might be a bit weird training with someone who can keep up with you, but I can't keep doing my usual routine at the SHIELD gym. People.. stare."

    She narrows her eyes a bit, "And as much as I love my fellow agents, they don't understand what I'm going through right now. They see Agent Morse, indestructible Level 7, boss to most of them, ... struggling not to bend a towel hanger." She takes a deep breath in and out.

Steve Rogers has posed:
A nod of the man's fair-haired head is given. "Of course. We can work out here sometimes, but if you want to focus on controlling the abilities beyond normal, we might want to use the Training Room at the mansion. It has weight machines that can handle Thor's workouts. It would be a good place to be able to safely test things and work the rest of you up to match the physical abilities," he offers.

Steve takes a sip of his cold water, and says, "If you like we can start this week. I'll set you up with access and we can get work on it together." He offers her a smile that exudes a confidence that Bobbi will succeed in making the strides she wants.

He crosses his arms and asks. "How is Lance handling the changes?"

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi smiles and says, "That sounds great. Thanks Steve." She folds her arms and grins at him, "How is.. oh, okay you first." She starts asking at the same time. "Lance is.. brooding about it. He is pisss~ upset that I did this to myself, that I could have died and he didn't get a say in it. He says I always put SHIELD ahead of 'us'. He's ...not wrong. It's part of the job."

    "I made a promise to spend more time away from work, with him. Just us. Doing us things. He's still brooding though, because niggling in the back of his head is that he's going to grow old and I'm not." She presses her lips together tightly and has no retort for that fear at all. "...he's not wrong." There's a slightly pained expression on her face.

    "But who knows, in another 10.. 20.. years time, living longer might be the norm in society. Or I'll understand the changes in my DNA enough that I can turn it off when I'm good and ready. Buuut.. I also do a very dangerous job, even though I'm stronger now there's no guarantees. Perhaps, probably, there's more targets on my back. Anyway. My turn.. how is the Avengers?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
The relationship issues draw an understanding nod from Steve Rogers. "Doctor Erskine never worked anything for dealing with those things into the formula," he says with a chuckle.

After, his eyes look away for a moment. The Man Out of Time lost for a moment in the thoughts that come as Bobbi speaks of the issues with relationships and aging. "Every moment we have is precious," he says without looking back to Bobbi yet. "And whether 'enhanced' or not, that never changes. Try to enjoy them while you can, with the people you want to be with," he says, looking back to her. "That's one I can speak to at least," he says with a little sigh.

He lets that topic slip as he says in a more normal tone, "The Avengers are doing alright. We've had a lot of individual matters of late. Which I suppose is a good thing. When the whole team has to come together for something, it usually isn't good. Well. Except for Taco Tuesdays."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi gives a slow nod as she wonders just how strange it must have been for Steve to suddenly wake up in the 21st century. Weirder still to find out some of the people he knew were still alive and well.. others not so much. She smiles and says, "I've never been good at that work life balance thing. Lance is helping me make it work. Well, we've never been great at communicating our needs.. this time we did though. He had a captive audience though, I was stuck in a hospital bed in the medical wing."

    She smirks again and says, "Hey isn't that the whole point of the Avengers. Do your own thing and then get together when the shii~.. bad stuff happens." She gives Steve a deadpan look as she censors herself from swearing a second time just for him.

    "Taco Tuesdays are a thing? huh. I'm still working for Gonzales. Since he left the Iliad Fury had him create S.P.O.T. which is when he asked for me to join his group. It's been.. complex. I've been using it as a way to go after the things that slip through the cracks. Gonzales doesn't seem to mind me doing whatever I want and he takes the heat when external forces try to get in the way. He's a good man."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Taco Tuesdays are a thing," Steve confirms with that grin of his. "That's good, being able to attend to the things that need it," Steve comments of Bobbi's current assignments and affiliation. Steve's tone is a bit understated as he says, "That's not something that it's always possible to do in SHIELD. Though they try."

He gestures over towards the entrance, and if Bobbi joins him he walks with her over that way. At the door he turns down the lights to the place, just leaving a few on. Steve pauses to look back at the empty gym, expression fond for a moment before he turns back and opens the door for he and Bobbi to depart. "If you want we can start your workouts on Tuesday so you can experience one. Though we'll stop early. Have to get there before Hulk," he says as they pass out into the cold Brooklyn night.