5344/The Paraguay Hardening Mill

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The Paraguay Hardening Mill
Date of Scene: 26 February 2021
Location: Vatican City
Synopsis: Peggy's special group stumbles upon a very old HYDRA temple, painting a picture of HYDRA that extends far before World War 2. Chaos ensued, but it appears they got away with it.
Cast of Characters: Peggy Carter, Lance Hunter, Melinda May, Elena Rodriguez, Lester Colt, Bobbi Morse




Peggy Carter has posed:
It's about an hour before the meeting, maybe a little longer. The various members of the team have all been instructed to make their own way to Italy and, eventually, to a little cafe in the bottom of an old fashioned hotel in Vatican City, a few blocks around the corner from where this strange meeting is happening. Peggy came in separately, on a personal, private vacation to France, actually, then she took a train over the border and down, deeper into Italy. Just a single woman using some of her vacation days, nothing to see here. She's the first at the little cafe, in the farthest back booth, her shoulders to the corner.

Every bit of technology she has right now is off grid, other than the burner phone she has been using for this mission. No SHIELD laptops, tablets, no SHIELD phone. Nothing to trace her to this location and the other agents have been given the same orders. They all know what a tight rope they are walking.

Lance Hunter has posed:
Hunter arrives a short time later, dressed in jeans and a blue and white SSC Napoli jersey that gets a few rude gestures from some of the local AS Roma fans leaving the hotel. Besides his burner phone he's without tech, just a small backpack thrown over his shoulder for a few of his non-networked SHIELD tech and to carry off the whole tourist look he's going for. Spotting Peggy, he makes eye contact before waiting to see if she motions him over or if they're all playing it cool for now. Either way though he's hitting the coffee shop up for a proper cappuccino, in half-way decent Italian.

Melinda May has posed:
The tour of 'The Church' was a fairly simple affair. An old gothic cathedral with a fairly impressive SHIELD monitoring station underneath. May and YoYo played it fairly straight, landing the jet, hand delivering the packets they were charged with back at the Triskelion. May ended up in a 20 minute debrief because... Level 7. That wasn't expected and left her a little grumpy -- not that any of the Italian agents would really have noticed. May has a reputation all over the world, it seems.

Now, as the jet is being refueled, she joins the Colombian, dressed casually and out of SHIELD uniform. "C'mon," she says to Yoyo, her demeanor not really changed from what the local agents would expect. "We're in Rome. You need to see this place before we head back to New York."

Thus it is, some twenty minutes later, dressed casually and free of all incriminating electronics, that she's leading YoYo into the small Cafe where Peggy sits at the back, watching the door. She pauses only long enough to clock the Brit and then makes her way casually through the tables to join her. "Buongiorno..." she greets.

Elena Rodriguez has posed:
The Columbian, one YoYo Rodriguez, is in Catholic splendor.

Sure, they're on a mission and this is not an actual sight seeing tour, but fat chance explaining that to her JUST once. "I know." She says, probably for the hundred (millionth) time when she asks May if she can go look at that or this, or those, or these.. "how often I get to come here? And I just saw a sign for fried Cheese cake." Unless her Italian is off, which it might be, because she doesn't know Italian.

Stepping into the cafe with May, she's dressed casually as well. Carrying on a flip phone, analog, which she keeps opening and closing in her right hand. Wondering, deep down because May is scary when you keep asking questions, if it takes passible photos... for surveylance, surely.

And not for a scrapbook of that time she went to Vatican City.

She's a spy guys, seriously.

"Fancy meeting you here." See? Totally casual.

Lester Colt has posed:
     Several children play with their action figures by the roadside as they had been for some time crashing little hand me down cars into one another. They play and laugh as they have themselves a fun time smiling and giggling as they shout out onomatopoeia and throw their little vehicles into the air.

     They aren't as fancy as the toys back in america for the most part but they do their part as the parents set not too far off drinking coffee and chatting about their day.

     In Italian one of the parents calls over a man with short grey hair. (Come along little one the time for playing is done it is time to be a man, and collect your things.) The young child sighs as he collects his little jeep and his soldiers wandering back over to his grandfather, the other children collecting their own toys.

     One of the action figures happens to fall out of his grasp and onto the cobbled roads tumbling down to the ground in the midst of the somewhat crowded road. It rolls across the cobblestones between one set of feet to the next darting to its feet.

     Doll Man kicks his feet down springing onto the ankle of a passing businessman using him to stealthily move through the city undetected towards the destination hopping from one pant leg to the next. He'd been keeping an eye on many parts of the city for the better part of the day, and this was but one more part of that effort, till finally he arrives at his destination dropping from a passing backpack.

Peggy Carter has posed:
It's not that Peggy is an entirely different woman, her other agents and friends would recognize her, but she's done some very specific things to hide her face and make her look entirely different to various cameras and security feeds. Her hair is beneath a short, dark red wig, styled in a high fashion European pixie sort of cut, it somehow makes her look a handful of years younger than her usual self. She's also contoured her face enough to change the seeming shape of her cheeks and nose. She's wearing dark taupe lipstick, not her usual red, and a set of high fashion, round glasses. She looks like she's here on some grand fashion tour or vacation.

When May arrives at her table, she's unfolding smoothly and leans over, staring in her very comfortable Italian, "Buongiorno! Ciao, è passato troppo tempo!" She even has the accent down. This is a language she's spoken fluently for decades. When she switches over to English, she has a very well trained Italian accent edging her words, as if it was her second language, "Oh, but your friend... she only speaks English...yes? I know mine... You remember Connor, in from Liverpool?" She smiles to May and leans over for the proper European cheek kiss, before giving Lance's hand a too-familiar squeeze. This is a very *strange* Peggy. "Sit, sit! There is cappacino coming for everyone..." And then she does a double take, noticing the smallest of figures leaping off a backpack. She's trying not to stare, and she knows his MO, but she's still a bit surprised.

There are small envelopes and goodie bags for everyone that she slides over, like she was giving wedding thank yous. "Itineraries, and treats for site seeing!" She gently coos. There are just a few notes. The first is a single piece of paper: 'Paraguay Hardening Mill' 'p a r a g u a y h a r d e n i n g m i l l' and finally 'Annual HYDRA Pilgrimage'. Seems someone cracked the code. The second is a very clear photo of Vogel, the man they are here for. The third is a set of orders. 'Vogel is our target. He is somewhere entering Vatican City's public area. There are these entrances. We need to find him in the crowd, tail him, and collect all evidence on his allies possible. Pen cameras, non-SHIELD wireless comms, and bugs are in your goodie bags. Stay in touch.' Of couse, Yo-Yo's goodie bag also has a few high energy snacks.

Lance Hunter has posed:
'Conner' takes his goodie bag with a smile, "Allo' good to meet you," he says to the others leaning into his accent and then sorting through his stuff, taking note of the picture of Vogel and the meaning of the phrase they'd been straining their brains over. "So, not knock off Viagra then," he says lightly, before adding. "Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll all burst into flame as soon as they touch holy ground." Faint chance of that, the name made this seem like a regular thing.

He puts his gear into pockets. "Anyhow, ready to see the sights whenever you lot are."

Melinda May has posed:
May's eyes dart briefly over note and instructions, absorbing them almost automatically. "Nice to meet you," she says to the others, playing the role Peggy has set up. There's only so much she can do, which means either leaning into the Asian tourist trope, or leaning into the American tourist trope. With Yoyo in tow, the latter is more believeable.

She palms the various bits of technology and slides them into pockets until she can discretely deploy them.

She takes a moment to study the picture of Vogel, committing it to memory. Then, it gets slid away, too. "An afternoon of sightseeing seems like just the thing."

Elena Rodriguez has posed:
Elena grins, but she has no idea what all the Italiano words mean, except the first part. Hello. She will not fall blunder to the trap of speaking louder to cross the language barrier though! She leans over to look at the picture, still opening and closing her flip phone in her lap. More out of habit and keeping herself focused than any need for it right now. "Yes, I saw a shop that I would like to check out before we get too far away.." Memorizing Vogel's picture with a brisk nod, leaning back to wait for the arrival of the cappacino.

Slipping her phone away in favor of the goodie back, she is ever so delighted to find the energy bar!

Pocketing it in her coat, along with her phone, she goes through the other items discreetly. It's not hard to appear a tourist because part of her actually is right now. Vatican City is a very big deal for her. Her head is in the game though. Smiling to Peggy, then to May. "Looks like we have a bus to catch." Nodding to Lance.

Lester Colt has posed:
     The six inch tall Doll Man leaps his way up onto the table checking out the goodiebag with a good deal of interest he's got a quick scan no more than a split seconds glance at the target taking in those features with a quick bit of memorization.

     He's so small it's difficult for most to notice him and yet there he is a six inch tall man dressed in military camouflage and goggles that hide his eyes. "Doll Man, at your service." He offers with a bright and friendly smile practiced far too well over the years and forced onto his face.

     He sets himself down at the table with a light smile at the other people he's meeting for the first time. "I can't wait to go on this little tour." He adds after a moment. "Should be a blast."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Kirk Vogel, a tall man with stature. Short curled hair and a fine jawline, if his wife does say so herself. Dressed in an expensive Italian business suit. Rome is where his headquarters is after all. Not in the old city, he likes the history of the country but he couldn't stand working on such a small building.

    The limousine takes him across town to the Vatican where he steps out amidst the bustle of pilgrims attending for their church. He too was attending for his church, a family tradition and one that is a secret. His religion is not exactly Catholic, more like Catholic adjacent. His is the religion of HYDRA.

    Adjusting the ring on his finger and then the silk purple tie at his neck he steps through the boundary between Italy and the independent city state of the Vatican. The Piazza san Pietro. He pauses to give some money to a violinist performing, and then strides across the vast courtyard toward the Galleria Lapidara. Upon his face is a look of satisfaction and ease with his place in the world.

    He passes through the gallery taking in the beautiful ceiling as he weaves casually through the crowd. His next destination takes him past the Fontana del Cortile del Belvedere. He pauses and looks in to the fountain, then continues on his way past the plethora of parked cars.

    Walking like he's meant to be here, he arrives at Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, but he does not stop to look at any of the books. Instead he heads to an old wooden door at the back of the library past several maze like isles of books.

    There, a man waits guarding the door dressed in a long black robe with hood hiding his features. There is a bowl to the side. Vogel takes from his pocket an old golden coin and drops it in to the bowl. The guard takes Vogel's hand and kisses his ring, then steps aside and whispers in to Vogel's ear as he passes by.. 'Hail HYDRA'. Vogel shuts the door behind him.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"As the tour company indicated, at the end of the night, you all have rooms upstairs, with Bella Notella Tours. Just show your goodie bag at the desk and they will give you your key. If you get lost, you know how to find your guide again." Peggy's gentle Italian accent come, as welcoming and warm as any tour guide should be excited to show off her home to a new group of people. She looks around to be certain there aren't any other questions but, with that, she stands. "You may pick up your drinks on the way out!" And sure enough, she's ordered a whole tray of cappacuino's to go for them all, so it didn't look too weird meeting here.

With that, Peggy gets up, letting them all filter out as she checks her own burner phone and puts the little burner comm unit into her ear, getting ready for reports in as the team begins to fan out over the city. She shifts her own brief-case like shoulder bag onto her shoulder. The top of it has a flat edge that is about an inch and change across, certainly enough for Doll Man to stand on and ride along until she has a better place to drop him. SHe gives him a silent, inviting look, then she's walking them both out of the cafe. SHe does not have eyes on Vogel yet, but she's remaining mobile and quick. Basically, as soon as someone spots him, she's going to go drop off Doll Man to ride along as best possible.

Lance Hunter has posed:
Hunter for his part does his best to look as bored as he can, finding a spot to sit in the Piazzo keeping an eye on the passers by, while fiddling with his pen. When he spots their mark swaning his way through the crowds like he owns the place, he says over comms << Eyes on Vogel, poncy suit and purple tie, heading to the Galleria Lapidara>> he says glancing at his tourist pamphlet he picked up to know the names of the bloody places around here. << Tailing at a distance. Will update his 20 if he moves out of the square >>

He gets up and starts to follow.

Melinda May has posed:
Sipping at her cappuccino as she exits, May strolls casually through the square. Leaning into the tourist look, she uses the phone she's been given to scan, as if she were taking photos. Once upon a time, she'd be doing this with a camera. These days, cameras are totally passe, what with cell phone cameras being so ubiquitous.

"<<Copy.>>" she says softly, hearing Lance's words. "<<Heading towards the fountain.>>" Since it's a fairly central observation spot.

When she spots Vogel, she is careful not to draw attention to herself, or present an obvious profile to him.

As he passes through the gallery and into the fountain area, she says. "<<Eyes on Vogel. He's heading for the library.>>"

Elena Rodriguez has posed:
Once outside, Elena fixes her comms behind her ear while pinning up her hair, and moves along with May until they reach the location they're expecting to find Vogel. Half tourist, half act, she smiles and looks around for the image she was shown, spotting him after May directs their attention to the library.

>>I see him at the library.. Moving closer..<< Quiet, moving through the croud into the library with a smile, trying not to draw attention. >>Room in the back... door closed behind him.<<. She grabs a book from the shelf and taps her camera pen against her upper lip, >>What now?<<

Lester Colt has posed:
     Doll Man hops his way up and onto that rim of the bag lowering himself flat onto it. He drops himself just behind one of the handles using it as a bit of cover to blend himself in better between the handle and tour guide Peggy. He locks his legs down, shoring up as he lowers his arms down into a southpaw stance, to root himself into position so that the sway of the bag won't quite knock him off.

     His attention locks forward from behind that strap, as Carter begins to move his own motions locking down hard into place with the sway to and fro with the bag. He locks his eyes forward slightly swaying with the motion to steady himself further keeping himself consistently just behind the strap of the bag.

     That Krav Maga is well practiced and shows restraint in its motion to keep him standing with each sway shaking his platform like a ship at sea. He's spent most of his life in the Marines and it was no new stay for him. He latches his arm around the leather strap of the bag for support once he's almost knocked clean off by the swaying of the bag from the walking. His other hand draws out that laser pistol of his as he warbles on his ballance.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Across the comms, Peggy's voice comes as sotto vocco as possible while still being heard. These aren't the fancy SHIELD sub-vocal coms, these are something a little less fancy, but still practical. <<Keep eyes on him. Take photos of anyone he interacts with and anywhere he goes. We need to run reports on every single person he finds. If you can get close enough to drop a bug, drop a bug on him. Dollman, take a ride on someone's bag and get in there.>>

As she gets the reports, she starts very casually making her way in that direction, the careless step of a city-stunned tourist about her even as she's firmly mentally going in a certain direction. She's trusting that Lester is going to keep hanging on until she's somewhere closeish, about half a dozen feet from Vogel, and dropping him cleanly into the rush of people so he can HOPEFULLY get some ride along near or into the room. She wants their secret doll plant as close to the action as possible. If it seems she absolutely needs to go in, she'll start listening for what people are saying at the door so she can get past subtly, but she's hoping Lester can make the cut without being seen.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The guard with robes is wearing a suit beneath it. With careful observation.. very careful, since this is a dead end with no other way through than back or through the door; it is evident he has a comms system of his own. And a moderna Uzi hanging from his belt.

    The bowl next to him has three golden coins in it. They have an octopus carved in to them. They look positively old and beaten up. Used a lot it seems. The traffic near this door is low. A person opens the door from the other side and they can see briefly a darkened hall way lit with torches. The person hangs up a black robe on a hook and steps out. She smiles and shakes the guards hand and he reaches in and takes out one of the coins and hands it back to her.

    Dressed in a black suit with a deep V neck and a peach blouse beneath. This blonde woman holds herself with confidence and a visage of calm after her trip in to whatever is behind the door. The guard closes said door and she makes her way out of the library area.

Lance Hunter has posed:
Hunter follows Vogel into the library, setting himself up a few rows of books back from the door tapping his pen against the book he pretends to read. As the blonde emerges from within the doors, Lance taps the the pen to take a photo before turning and whispering into comms << Got an image of someone coming out. Can run distraction if someone needs to get inside >>

Melinda May has posed:
<<Send Yoyo in,>> May suggests. <<She can drop Dollman inside, see what we get.>> She's probably not the only one thinking this.

She doesn't enter the library, remaining out by the fountain, instead, to cover the paths for retreat. Thus, when Lance mentions someone else coming out, she asks, <<Description?>> Because she can track where they go from out here.

Elena Rodriguez has posed:
The camera pen, pauses in tapping against Elena's lip to snap a picture of the guard Vogel had spoken to when entering the backroom, getting the door itself in the image. Getting as many angles as she can, >>Afirmativa.<< At May's suggestion, >>Doll Man. On me.<< She says into comms, accidentally bumping into Peggy while looking down at the book she's reading, "Oh... Lo siento mucho! No te ví! Por favor perdoname!"

A few steps away, >>Hold on tight.<<

The blonde lady comes out from the back room and YoYo leans- At least to everyone watching -towards the door.

The world RUSHES past both she and Lester, like the extending pinlight of stars as a ship jumps into Hyperdrive, there's a fraction of a second where everything slows down. Which doesn't bother YoYo at all, but could just as easily be teleportation for Lester who doesn't get her increased sense of spartial awareness as they move at those ridiculous speeds.

Suffice that half a second they're outside, him on her jacket, and the next she's setting him down on a table. She probably looks like a ghost to Lester in that half second of time where she sets him down, but then she's gone. Rushing backwards, turning as she approaches the door- A door that's creeping slowly closed in front of her.

Knowing that she's got only a couple inches of wiggle room or she's going /through/ it and this whole thing is going to get realy interesting.

Grinding her teeth, she turns her body and blows out every bit of air in her lungs to shrink her chest cavity down. Shoulders rolled straight, she slides out just as it's about to click closed...

And leans straight.

Less than a second.

New record.

>>He is in.<<

One hand comes out to grab a book shelf to steady herself, the other grabs at the side of her head, "Dios ayuda.." A little wobbly in the knees.

New Records come at a price.

Lester Colt has posed:
     Doll Man stumbles and tumbles down to the table. He huffs and he heaves holding down something as he blinks his eyes rapidly for a few moments trying to collect himself as clearly in spite of being ready for such a scenario he wasn't fully prepared for the experience that had awaited him on the other side of the door.

     He holds a single hand to his mouth as his eyes focus in and out grasping at the sides of his lips he takes in a deep breath of air collecting himself as he places his hand back down onto the table pressing himself back up to a stand.

     A single hand presses up to the side of his glasses taking a quick photograph of his surroundings and sending it to a disposable SD card in the side of his goggles. He's looking around to get a better idea of what he's dealing with now that he's inside the darkened depths of this HYDRA stronghold.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The blonde business woman strides out in to the parking lot past May. She has slipped her golden coin in to the right pocket of her long pants. She doesn't expect to be running in to trouble in the Vatican it seems.

    The sudden rush past the guard and through the door takes Elena in to what looks to be a storage room of books. An old one at that, but a book shelf has been left open which goes in to a secret room beyond.

    There several robes hang from hooks and a staircase winds down down down under the city. There are alcoves carved in to the stone work with torches that flicker as Elena runs past at high speed. Though too far for Elena to explore in that moment, the staircase ends in a tunnel lined with burning candles too and at the far end several rooms are connected.

    Giuseppe watches with interest as a tiny doll appears suddenly on the table near the top of the stairs. Then the doll is moving. Very interesting indeed. Dressed in a long black robe, the older man slips off his chair in front of the sophisticated and modern surveillance room. He picks up his moderna uzi, but leaves his hood pulled back. He steps out in to the first antechamber of the underground temple and waits to see just who it is that has decided to step foot in hallowed HYDRA ground.

    The guard upstairs feels the brush of breeze past him and then back again in an instant. He blinks and frowns, turning back to make sure the door closed properly. His eyes scan the books around him momentarily and then he rolls and shrugs his shoulders and resumes his duties.

Peggy Carter has posed:
<<Distraction would be lovely.>> Peggy confirms very quietly, as she steps deeper into the library, well past the door and looking utterly uninterested in anything that's going on there. She's here for books! Travel! To be totally unnoticed as just another annoying tourist! <<Yoyo, he's all yours. Update us when you are out.>> Meanwhile, Peggy is moving deeper around the back, searching for any other entry way to the place, even if it's a vent or a back door. She doesn't want to be on comms organizing anywhere near the front of the building or where she could be recognized by HYDRA, even in her fairly expert disguise.

<<Keep a tail on the person leaving if you can. Keep in touch. This is recon gathering, just get as many names and faces as we can.>> All Peggy can do is listen, search for more ways in, and wait, hoping she's not done her team wrong. Unless she can see any other way in, which is a heavy doubt in her head.

Lance Hunter has posed:
<< Blonde, pretty, black V-neck suit, peach blouse, should be coming out of the library any minute now, she's got one of those coins they're using to get in if you want to grab it off of her >> Hunter suggests over comms before he gets a word from Peggy for a distraction. <<Roger>> he says approaching the guard while the Elena does her thing. "Mate, you know anything about this history stuff," he asks, holding up the book for the man to see. "This Banquet of the Chestnuts thing really happen? Who knew you priests knew how to party..."

Melinda May has posed:
"<<Copy,>>" May says to Lance's description. As she emerges from the library, the agent speaks softly again. "<<I see her. Moving in.>>" And with that she makes the subtle transformation from typical gawker to horrible tourist stereotype.

Phone up, as if she's filming the upper portion of the view, she stumbles back and around quite expertly, really. Perhaps those early years of ice dance are paying off -- or, you know, it could be decades of martial arts training, too. Regardless, totally aware of her surroundings while appearing totally clueless, she backs into the blonde, appearing to stumble and loose her balance. "Oh, my GAWD," she says in a broad, almost Southern accent, trying to help right the poor woman. "I am so awfully sorry!" For just a moment, to the ears of a certain Brit, there's shades of Dottie Underwood in her tone. The scariest thing? In her flowered blouse and khaki trousers, she can actually pull it off. "I am just *such* a klutz. Here. Let me help you." She even brushes the woman off, narrow fingers slipping into the woman's pocket so she can palm that coin. "I'm just so, so sorry. Scusi! Scusi!"

Her expression is truly art. And any of the agents who've gotten to know her as the Ice Queen of SHIELD will no doubt be stunned by this display of honed Specialist skill. She doesn't even break character when the blonde reacts to her, continuing to be oh-so-apologetic and conciliatory. Truly, it's a Oscar worthy performance.

Elena Rodriguez has posed:
Don't mind Elena, she's over here still collecting herself.

Palm against the side of her head as if this will stop the world from spinning, she'd dug down deep into her speed for that one... Blood sugar kind of low, she roots around in her pocket, leaning against the bookshelf, for the energy bar Peggy had left in her tourist bag. It's unwrapped and eaten with a breathy urgency, sinking to the ground where she just lays on the floor.

Not because she wants to, but because if she doesn't, she's going to faint.

It's one of those weird situations where you just know that laying down is so much better than standing up right now.

Well, it's definitely a distraction, right?

Someone said they needed a distraction. That's totally what she's doing, distracting.

Lester Colt has posed:
     Doll Man is at the top of the stairs, on a table. He catches sight of Giuseppe too late to stop himself, not that he could have really stopped himself retching and catching his breath from that little teleportation trip. One is never REALLY ready for their first time experiencing Star Trek first hand.

     So instead he throws his rifle round his shoulder and into his hands and starts marching back and forth from one side of the table to the other as if he were little more than a wind up soldier. He makes his movements stiff as a soldier, something he had practiced for ten thousand hours and maybe more in the marines rifle lent against his shoulder as he looks dead ahead to play to the tactic.

     He kicks his leg up high at the end of his walk spinning round in an obvious motion as he reaches the end of the table before marching right back towards the other side, the entire time just taking care to plan out his next move.

     .oO(First step, marching soldier routine, the moment he goes to inspect giving him a salute and the typical smile, along with a canned greeting should throw him off guard.)Oo. He thinks to himself. As he turns back around on the spot. .oO(The Uzi would tear me apart in my current gear, and alert the guards so my best option is to surprise him with a return to normal size and a choke hold, once he's unconscious I inject the body with a small dose of the serum shrinking it down to size for easier storage, and snap his neck while he's reduced in size removing the possibility for retrieval of the serum. Travel deeper into the base.)Oo.

     He narrows his eyes as he looks off down the hall kicking his boot high into the air as he spins around marching right back the other way. .oO(I should have some time before radio check-in alerts the others that something has gone wrong and the entire operation is bust. Let's just hope this gives me enough time.)Oo.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The blonde woman is startled as May runs in to her. She steadies herself and tries to steady May too. She might be HYDRA but she's no Agent. She looks more than a little relieved that she's an American tourist and replies in her north-eastern accent. "Oh you're from the south? Well, enjoy the city it's quite something isn't it."

    Smiling kindly she walks away from May and then suddenly pauses. Her hand goes to her.... left pocket. She takes out her phone.

    Giuseppe watches the little toy from where he stands and he looks a touch confused. He takes a phone out of his pocket and dials, "Madam Huttz, I think you left your toy soldier here."

    Kathlene Huttz places the phone to hear ear and says, "Toy? I didn't leave a toy?" She turns around and looks back toward the library and starts heading that way, "I'm coming back."

    The guard hears .. and then sees .. a tourist dropping to the ground. Well, he can't pose right there and not help. He locks the clip to his gun and then rushes over to Elena, "Signora stai bene?" he asks and places his fingers to her neck to check her pulse.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The sound of May's voice -- not May, but Dottie Underwood -- is a flash of cold water to Peggy's face. She knows what is going on, she should at least. She knows who is doing it and how well trained May is. It still shoved her into another world for a heartbeat or two before she gets her head back on straight and into the game.

Lester's report gets a quit, <<Well shit.>> Peggy mutters as quiet as possible. <<They're going to know something is up no matter what now. Goals change from just recon to getting as much information as possible while not getting *made*. But if they realize someone's onto them, as long as they don't know it's us, we're fine. Yo-yo...if you can disable the guard outside the door, get back in there with Dollman. Hunter, if you are close enough to get past.... go in, take out anyone necessary before they realize who you are. Pick up what information we can get. Get out. I'm right behind you if we can get through without being recognized.>>

While she's not seen an easy way in around back, she hugs the wall closest to the door, waiting for a moment in. She catches sight of Elena on the floor, mentally cursing, but she can't speak again right here or someone will notice. All she can do is try and take advantage of Elena being a distraction. Slower than some of the others, Peggy hug-slips into the door as subtly quite as possible.

Once inside the hallway, she looks between Guissppe and the Doll Man. She frowns deeper, that face most certainly one she recognizes. But they need to get in deeper, to take advantage of what bit of time they've bought themselves. So she's moving in deeper with whatever agents can make it.

Lance Hunter has posed:
Hunter snaps a picture of the coins in the bowl with his pen before rushing to join Elena and the guard. "Is she alright mate, need me to dial 112?" he asks before Peggy's orders come through and Lance calmly draws his ICER and drops the man with a shot from behind. "Boring conversation anyway," he remarks before offering Elena a hand up. "Shall we? Seems like Carter's stepping on the throttle now."

Melinda May has posed:
"Oh, it's *wonderful*!" May gushes before the woman walks away from her. Then, she fades expertly back into the crowd, keeping as many bodies between her and the blonde as she can, only barely catching wind of her conversation. She stoops, as if to tie the laces on her ankleboots and pushes the coin under the tongue of her shoe, listening for just a moment.

"<<The blonde's coming back,>>" she reports softly. "<<Dollman's been noticed. They think he's hers. I have her coin. You need to stop her.>>" Or else everything May just did will be for naught.

Because, really, if they can interrupt the blonde, May can find a way to change her clothes and approach the door to get in to retrieve the miniaturized agent. All it requires is a stolen jacket, like the one on that bench over there, and a scarf, like the one that tourist has fluttering off her shoulder, to go with the sunglasses she's kept in her pocket.

Because, hey. She's already said "Hail HYDRA," at least once this week. What's another go-round? Nothing a bottle of whiskey won't clean out later.

Elena Rodriguez has posed:
Neutralize the guard outside, that's what they'd said right? Surely Elena's not just hearing things through the cloud of dizziness! lord she hopes that's not the case.

The guards hand comes down to check her pulse and she grabs his wrist, spinning on her butt so her legs can wrap up around the side of his shoulder and pull with her arms as she pushes out with her crossed ankles. Flipping him onto his back in an arm bar.

It's not nearly as fast as she'd intended... and her head is still spinning like the tea cups.. Communications in hear ear sound distant and muffled like she dropped her phone in a glass of water.

All she knows is she's got to move before someone gets a good look at her face, flopping off the guard, she grabs for his gun before she's knocked him out... Throwing a punch down at him while they wrestle for the weapon in a drawn out, WAY too drawn out, struggle. All of her body weight into, and it takes three of them before it's done a damn thing...
Blinking, slowly, and looking around at a world going way too slow.

At least it seems that way to her.

In reality YoYo is moving so damn fast nobody even notices. One minute there's a tourist there laying on the ground and the next there's a Guard. The Tourist is gone.. standing way too far into the book depository when the door opens for May. Panting, hand on her chest, waiting for the SLINGSHOT back that never comes. >>What is in this power bar?!<<

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The poor HYDRA guard is wrestled down at super speed and then shut with an ICER for his trouble of caring about a tourist. That'll serve him right for caring about the common folk instead of the rich folk he's normally looking after.

    Katherine Huttz turns the corner back around the book cases and sees the guard down, Elena holding open the door and her expression changes rapidly from serene, to shock, to anger. She does the sensible thing in this situation - she runs. She runs fast.

    The candle lit staircase leads down in to the tunnel below where Dollman is pretending to be a doll and Giuseppe is standing at its end, shadows cast behind him, holding a moderna uzi in one hand, and phone in the other.

    Over the phone he hears, "We're under attack!" through panted breaths from Katherine. Giuseppe's expression changes and he puts his phone away, then lifts the uzi to point it down the corridor. "Whoever you are, come out with your hands up or I *will* shoot."

Peggy Carter has posed:
The moment Peggy hears Giuseppe's voice, the memories of old days hit her. And the knowledge he's probably going to recognize her if she lets her face be seen in the room, even if none of the others would necessarily be known. She pulls her ICER out, creeping into the hallway, closer to where Giuseppe is. She whispers across the comms <<I'll take him out. You all get what information deeper you can, then we're all out.>> And then she strikes. Keeping her head down so her face is obsucred a bit behind the glasses, she shoots Giuseppe with an expert marksman's aim straight at the neck with her ICER. SHe'll let the others get what deeper information she can, she's pulling phone, coin, note... Anything off his body she can get. Being subtle is a lost plan now.

Lance Hunter has posed:
Hunter for his part raises his gun and fires as Katherine runs hoping to drop her with a couple of ICER shots before he turns his attention to the stairs. "C'mon," he says when Peggy say she's dealt with the man below. He helps himself to a handful of those coins, then heads down stairs to cover Peggy as she searches the body. "Going about as well upstairs," he reports. "Where you want us to go?" he asks looking around the temple now that he's down here.

Melinda May has posed:
Yeah. As the proverbial excrement hits the imaginary fan, May redirects her efforts. There's absolutely no point in stealing a jacket or a scarf or even using that coin she went to the trouble of stealing.

Huttz begins to run. May decides it's time to cut their losses and see what can be salvaged. Which... isn't much. Hunter takes down Huttz. Peggy is in position to retrieve Colt. So, May does the sensible thing, she decides to start clearing their means of egress. She pulls a nearby fire alarm. Worst that'll happen? She'll have to break herself out of a HYDRA holding cell. Or maybe just the Vatican police precinct.

Total deniability.

Elena Rodriguez has posed:
"Sorry sorry sorry..." Elena murmurs to herself, using the distraction, or whatever is going on right now, to try and grab something of value that she can leverage for her job later. Yes, I know I did the thing that I am accused of, but look at this tourist map I found... certainly this is worth my pention

"Go to Vatican City, they said.. break into a secret HYDRA base in the back of a library... what could go wrong?" A whirlwind of motion, moving as fast as she can before the inevitable whip back effect drags her to the point of egrass May is now clearing. Hopefully with an information swag bag.

Anything that looks marginally important.. or expensive.. or cheap for that matter, she watched Indian Jones, it's always the cheap looking cup...

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The Secret HYDRA temple beneath the Vatican City. It's clear to those that this place was carved out not by machine but with picks and smoothed over time. These are the architectural techniques are old. This tunnel was likely made when the Vatican was still being built.

    The body Giuseppe drops with a klompfh on the floor. Past him, the antechamber opens up in to one could best be described as a mini room of worship. Shadows cast on the floor flicker in the shape of tentacles.. but when someone looks up to see what is casting those shadows, they see a stain glassed mural of a man wearing renaissance clothing. His hat, a chaperon, is in just the right shape to creature those tentacle shadows.

    Carved in stone beneath the stain glass in Italian is written "We stand between the right and the wrong, human nature dictates that this is the eye of the storm where we shall call home." -- Arturo Malevolo de Roma, MDCXXXIII.

    What is also clear is that Vogel is not here. There's an empty robe left on the floor and not too far over to the side the grate to a sewer line has been opened. There is another way out of here, perhaps out of the Vatican City itself.

    Which is just as well as Katherine is dropped by an ICER and a priest nearby sees her body go sprawling. He gasps and calls out "Sicurezza! Sicurezza!" The fire alarm is pulled and the general populace begins to exit as men wearing armor, ear pieces, and have pistols drawn move in to the area. They see May near the fire alarm and command, "Rimani dove sei. mani dove possiamo vederle. tu sei sotto arresto!"

    The sound of the fire alarm upstairs echos like a distant bell to those down underneath the Vatican library. The phone Giuseppe had on him called Katherine's phone and may have other numbers on it too. There's more than enough confusion to slip out with the general civilians up in the library, or follow the sewers out...

However, they have stumbled upon what appears to be the oldest known HYDRA 'base', unlike any that have ever been found before. Who Arturo is and what this place is for? worship? it was a pilgrimage for Vogel.

    On top of that, a true prize, there is an old scroll behind some glass that lists a family tree with Arturo at its head with three generations.

Peggy Carter has posed:
As quickly as they can, snapping photos of the entire place around her, Peggy is going through the underground place. Empty now, she can at least take a few minutes to get as much info as possible. Any papers left around, any other notes or phones dropped, she's taking. The empty robe? She's taking that too. <<Get what you can and get out. We all scatter. You know where to meet back. Make certain you're not followed. If you get in trouble, let us know over comms and we'll come find you.>> There's the last set of live orders she's giving until they're all free and meeting back up at the distant hotel. She considers the chaos behind her, and then the sewer grate ahead. While she doesn't expect to catch him, she does suspect it'll be easier to get out through the sewers than the library herself. So, that's how she's moving to escape.

Melinda May has posed:
Now, see, May is good enough... she *could* probably take out those security men. She probably *should* take them out. But they're using live rounds and there are still civilians present. If they fire, someone's going to get hurt. She lets out a sigh, speaking slowly in Italian, knowing it will carry over comms. "<<Non sparare. Mi arrendo. Voglio parlare al consolato americano.>>"

Yeah, when she finishes breaking out of the Vatican City precint, she's totally going after Hunter and Rodriguez for this. Someone got shot -- albiet with an ICER -- and some things went missing. Good thing she doesn't actually have any weapons on her. Maybe they'll believe her when she tells them it wasn't her.

If she tells them anything at all.

Elena Rodriguez has posed:
It is entirely possible that Elena has just picked up a bunch of notes detailing a rather good, but not great, recipe for Italian Iced Coffee, but she's grabbing stuff none the less. Moving quickly, taking pictures... she'd leave bugs, but that ship has sailed.. Nor can she help thinking that she, maybe, possibly, probably sailed that ship.

Right off the edge of the flat earth.

YoYo rushes back out through the door into the library, still hopped up on energy bar, and out into the street at a hair whipping run, ready to blend in with the crowd outside and make her way towards a hotel to get a room until things calm down enough to get back in touch with the rest of the team... "Querido diario, no es demasiado tarde para ser revolucionario en Colombia..."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    -----

    The shadowy figures appear as holograms around a table. One missing. A muffled voice says, "The temple was attacked today."

    Another of the shadows asks, "By who?"

    The first shadow responds, "Unclear. Their tactics didn't match any usual M.O."

    A third shadow speaks up, "This cannot go unpunished. Find out who they are and what they wanted."

    One by one, the shadowy figures disappear. The lights in the room come back on and Vogel adjusts his tie, then fiddles with the ring on his finger. Somehow, the tie feels extra tight around his neck today. His lips tighten and he reaches in to his pocket for his golden coin... but it was left behind. His eyes narrow with annoyance. He presses a button in front of him, "Peter, cancel the rest of my appointments for the week."