6507/Prismatic Aftermath

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Prismatic Aftermath
Date of Scene: 11 May 2021
Location: Vault D - Playground
Synopsis: Ava wakes up in the Playground, still in the midst of a molecular disequilibrium meltdown. Several SHIELD agents try to get her to calm down so they can help her. That takes a bit of doing.
Cast of Characters: Ava Starr, Achilles, Dottie Underwood, Phil Coulson, Peggy Carter, James Barnes




Ava Starr has posed:
It's been a couple of hours since the Quinjet and team that hauled Ava Starr's ass out of the fire at the Trikselion touched down in the hangar of the Playground. When she was brought in, she was unconscious. The last expenditure of energy she had before Agent Drew picked her up and slung her over her shoulder, siphoned off a sizable amount of the build-up that was threatening to demolecularize her, buying her precious time. At least, it let them get the jet back to base in one piece.

Now, she is in a hospital pod bed that has been moved from Med Lab to Vault D... just in case. It's not that she's a prisoner. It's that all readings indicate that she still has dangerously high levels of quantum energy building up in her system. If she goes critical again, the Vault is about the most protected place in the base, the place least likely (outside of the containment room on the Bus) to cause her to endanger the rest of the infrastructure.

The woman lays on the bed, her dark hair spread over the pillow like a halo, eyes closed. Even unconscious, there is clear pain etched on her face. It's no wonder since, periodically, her body can be seen to ripple with prismatic energy that pulls her in all directions at once before snapping her back together. It doesn't happen frequently, but the frequency *is* increasing over time.

Machines have been brought in to monitor her condition. All they need now are the pieces they requested from ARMOR and SWORD to try to stabilize her, control the energy build-up that's threatening to tear her apart at a molecular level.

Eventually, her eyes flutter and slit open. She lets out a soft noise in the back of her throat, trying to recognize where she is. That there are soft restraints on her limbs -- placed there to keep her from falling off the bed during a seizure -- wakes her up entirely when she realizes where she is... Namely, trapped someplace she doesn't recognize.

Achilles has posed:
    Delivery boy. Seriously. Angelo is a three thousand plus year old immortal warrior and intelligence operative. Relegated to delivery boy. But hey, when SHIELD reaches out, they do so because they -NEED- help. So if this is what it takes to help them out, then he's perfectly satisfied with doing it. It's just that it feels a bit beneath him. The old him would have told someone else to do it. Maybe even threatened them. That though occurs to him as he pulls the van into the assigned parking slot.

    He steps out and heads towards the back doors. It's a good thing he is in excellent shape. So when he unfolds the portable pallet jack, and then stacks the requested items on the pallet before wheeling them inside... he does so with a jaunty bounce in his step, and a song stuck in his head. What? It was on the radio as he pulled in... OH NO, THERE GOES TOKYO! GO GO GODZILLA!!

    But he rolls the delivery into the side room and peers through a window, "Now that's someone having a bad day." he mutters as he steps into the room.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
Finely has the disruptor weapon on a lab table nearby. It's not out as a threat or a means of control. It's a last ditch failsafe in case she needs to dispel the quantum build up.

"Hi there," Finely says as she sees Ava's eyes flutter open. "Sorry about the restraints. You were having seizures. We're still trying to stabilize you."

Phil Coulson has posed:
Having gotten word about their current guest, Phil made his way own as well, stepping inside and moving a bit forward in Finely's general direction, although he comes to a stop as he hears her greeting Ava. For now he seems content to listen to what's said, studying the woman in the bed a bit carefully. He doesn't say anything yet, simply observing for now.

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava pulls at the restraints. Her breathing comes quicker, a hint of panic rising in her eyes. "You can't,' she says bluntly. "SHIELD promised me a cure *years* ago. I don't expect you to deliver." Her accent is clearly British. Her attitude is clearly bitter. Another small seizure takes her, splitting her image into prismatic parts again, and she grimaces in pain, grinding her teeth against it.

Her head falls back heavily on the pillow. "I need my quantum chamber. So, unless you have one of those just laying about..." They can piss off, as far as she's concerned.

Vault D is well secured, really, down a long flight of open stairs that hug the wall, beneath the main level of the base. It's split in half by a force field that can keep metahumans in -- unless, of course, they've got something like an Asgardian weapon and the strength to back it up. That doesn't mean it's energy proof.

Achilles has posed:
    Well, -some- form of mystically augmented weapon at least might pierce the shields. Olympian might work. Not that Angelo plans to test that right now. But as she speaks of needing a quantum chamber, he moves to check the manifest of what he just delivered. It would really be convenient if it -was- a quantum chamber. Or the parts to assemble one or some such. Not that he could tell such a chamber from a tanning bed.

    Either way, he goes quiet and just waits to figure out what all this stuff -was- for.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
"Help us help you," Finley says. "You're too unstable right now. You wouldn't survive the trip."

She still doesn't move toward the restrained woman. Agent Finley Ellison is the definition of unthreatening. And she obviously doesn't want to cause Ava more distress.

"I've been trying to assemble a suppression field before your molecules disperse and tear you apart. The last of my requests just got here." And she nods to Angelo.

Phil Coulson has posed:
"There must be something we can do," Phil says, looking from Ava to Finley, then to Angelo and back again to Ava. He doesn't rush forward either, simply staying in place. "If there's something I can do to help, let me know," he offer to Finley.

Ava Starr has posed:
The name on the military ID Ava wears is Dr. Jessica Hart. Any research into that identity pulls up a record of GS-12 clearance associated with the Armed Forces. An engineer with former ties to both NASA and the NSA. It's a fake, though. Not easy to determine as such, mind. But a good SHIELD hacker -- like Daisy -- would be able to uncover it. Who she really is, what past connection she obviously has to SHIELD, if her words are to be believed, is unknown.

She fixes a hard gaze on Finley. "A suppression field? What will that do?" The quantum chamber channels an excess of quantum energy into her, which stabilizes her for a while. So a suppression field, from her point of view, sounds dicey. On the other hand, her Ghost suit -- also back with her quantum chamber, unfortunately -- uses a combination of energy feeds and suppressors to allow her to function as she does.

Achilles has posed:
    "Just tell me what to put where." offers Angelo. His own voice has just the hint of an English accent, like someone who grew up there but who has been away for a long time and has been Americanizing.

    He gives a bit of a lopsided grin as he adds, "Just think of me as the muscle to move things around and set them up for you all."

    To demonstrate, he hefts the nearest parcel and moves it to an indicated position.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
"The quantum instability in your molecules keeps magnifying, like tremors before an earthquake." Finley tells her. "I noted that when the disruptor hit you at the point of a seizure, rather than before, it would disperse the energy that is destabilizing your physical form. If we can activate the suppression field once the energy is dispelled, it should stop the seizures long enough for your molecular structure to re-cohere."

"Can you open that box? -- Carefully!" she tells Angelo. "There should be a series of glass canisters inside."

And then she looks to Phil. "Can you talk to her, Sir? Just help her stay calm. I have concerns that any intense emotions, -- like fear or panic --, might exacerbate her condition. And if she's calmer she might be able to help us with her situation. I'm sure she knows more about her condition than anyone else."

Phil Coulson has posed:
Phil Coulson nods as he hears that, stepping a bit forward, holding up his hands so Ava can see he's not any kind of threat. "What's your name?" he asks, words kept softly. "Perhaps it would be easier for us to help you if you tell us more about your... condition?" He nods to both Finley and Angelo again, then looks back to Ava. "We will do everything we can to help, even if it sounds like we haven't succeeded in the past," he assures her.

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava barks a laugh. "It's called 'molecular disequilibrium'," she tells them. "I've spent twenty years being a lab rat for SHIELD. All I got for it was license to kill and a head full of nightmares. Why the hell should I trust you? When you all turned out to be bloody HYDRA?" Okay, yeah. Someone's bitter.

Still, from the look of her, she's in her late twenties or early thirties. That suggests she was a *kid* when this all started. Maybe she has reason to be bitter.

"Don't think I won't use that license, if I have to." She looks at Finley. "You really wanna help? You a quantum lens to focus the energy, not disperse it. Too little energy is what causes the tremors. But my molecules can't sustain a charge for long. And without it..." She groans again as another small seizure wracks her body. It's proof enough.

Achilles has posed:
    Nodding his head, Angelo opens the indicated box with the utmost care. He sets it down first and then delicately manipulates it before reaching in and carefully extracting individual items from it. These are set aside on a table before he goes to retrieve the next box.
    He also knows that nobody would ever send him anywhere -just- to deliver supplies. His other job is to basically be a human shield in case something goes wrong. To be the combat expert who cannot die if and when things go to hell in a handbasket. He'd love to not have to do that though. So he unloads another box of supplies without speaking. Just quiet efficiency.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
"Thank you," Finley says to Ava, "That's very helpful." She resists the urge to give a thumbs up to the rest of the team. This whole situation is well above her pay-grade; and she's an engineer, not a doctor, damnit! But with the supplies ARMOR delivered and the information gathered by Agent Coulson's gentle coaxing, they just might save this woman's life.

"Once you've finished unpacking, if you can help me place those canisters in a circle around the bed."

Phil Coulson has posed:
Phil Coulson listens to Ava's words, pausing as she speaks of twenty years being a lab rat. "I'm sorry we haven't been able to solve it," he replies, words sincere as he raises an eyebrow. "Twenty years? You can't have been very old when this started?" He glanes to Finley as he hears the woman, before he looks back to the patient. "Let us all make sure you will not have to use that license," he tells her quietly, taking a few steps closer to the bed.

Ava Starr has posed:
"I was eight," Ava snaps. It's the pain, really. It makes her surly. And, she's in a *lot* of pain. The tremors continue to increase in frequency, though they're not constant, obviously. But the way her body has tensed makes it pretty clear she's doing her damnedest to control them. "You wanna look at my dossier? You go right ahead. Ava Starr. Most of it's redacted, anyway." Which is true. But Phil's L8. There's a lot less redaction at that level.

She watches Finley and Angelo setting up that suppression field, still pulling occasionally at her restraints. Periodically, she closes her eyes, trying to concentrate enough to go intangible and phase right through them. Usually, she has the opposite problem -- having to concentrate to *remain* tangible. The disruptor shots must have screwed something up...

Dottie Underwood has posed:
Finely sees the movement out of the corner of her eye and looks to Ava. "Something wrong?" she asks. The woman's frustration is clear, whether it's her current predicament or something more internally dire is not.

Peggy Carter has posed:
While Peggy was trying to be hands off about this all, especially after she flew the mission that picked the young woman up, after hearing a few other things over the radio she was monitoring through in her office, she couldn't stay hands off any longer. The director's high heels click hard down the vault floors, a warning that the woman is coming before she actually steps foot into the office. They also might be a clarion call to Bucky that *something* is going on, something Peggy isn't happy about.

Without knocking, the dark haired woman pushes the door open into the vault and looks across the room, catching the tail end if Finley's words. "HYDRA. She thinks we are HYDRA. THat is well and part of what is wrong especially because we bloody well sure AREN'T." Oh yes, it offends Peggy, that thought alone. "Report. What else is going on here?" She asks the room, stiff command behind her tone.

James Barnes has posed:
    He's been here the whole time. Is it any surprise no one really noticed Bucky or said a word to him. It's like he's become one with the wall he's certain will fall if he steps away from it. But his anxiety is growing with every second. It's seeing Ava all strapped down like that, hearing her story. EIGHT YEARS OLD?! He was an adult when the experiments started, but he suffered the results of them for over a lifetime. His anxiety might soon turn toward anger. Onetwothreefour... he's counting in his head... fivesixseven. "Eightnineten..." not even whispered, just mouthed really. Cool your shit, Barnes. Will it work?

Phil Coulson has posed:
Phil Coulson pauses at Ava's words, and hearing her name. "We're here to help you, Ava. Hold on." Trying to be encouraging, he steps back a little, pausing as he sees the way she seems to be struggling with this whole thing. He pauses as he looks around at the others, letting out a bit of a breath. "She seems to have been promised help by SHIELD in the past, without us managing to do so," he replies to Peggy, before he adds, "She said her name is Ava Starr, and that her dossier is mostly redacted." Leaving it to Finley to explain the more scientific or technical parts of the situation.

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava's eyes fall on Peggy as she enters. Unlike everyone else in the room, she actually has very little clue who the woman is. Not to see her. Her name, sure, but that's about it. With her appearance, not to mention the fact there are two big guys in the room in addition to Phil and Finley, she's quickly coming to realize her chances of getting out in one piece are dropping precipitously. "Bloody hell," she swears.

Again, her head falls back against the pillow. She closes her eyes, ignoring Finley's question, and the conversation around her. She's trying to concentrate -- to block out the pain and let her 'natural' state reassert itself. All through her life, she's wished to be able to hold onto her tangibility without thinking. Now, she'd like nothing more than to let it go.

Peggy Carter has posed:
In Peggy's hands, and possibly the reason she decided to finally join the team, are two different things. The part that Ava nearly gave up her stability and life to steal from the Triskelion, and a tablet with a file open on it that looks very much like the woman on the table. "Ava Starr. Her file has been hacked to pieces, probably by HYDRA. It's got the same earmarks of the other files that HYDRA deleted from our digital archives so we wouldn't jump on their trail. But there's some information about her... condition in here. She's in quantum flux, of a sorts. It goes above my head, but there's a listing of her condition. There's a suit she uses... and a chamber. I don't know that we have it here, but..." She passes the tablet off to Finley, "Hopefully that helps. And this is what she was trying to take out of HYDRA's hands." Peggy holds up the piece. She seems genuinely willing, and interested, in helping the woman.

Her eyes lock towards Bucky across the room for a moment, slightly softening towards him, "Barnes, we're going to help her. You can breathe. We all know what bastards HYDRA is and, in her case, this is no different." Peggy really does seem to have the woman's best interests in mind, even though the wreck of files caused by HYDRA has her seething again. "Coulson, I've got this from here." She dismisses him quietly. She doesn't need ALL the commanders in this room if something epic would go wrong. Senior staff need to survive.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
Finley scans the tablet, assessing and reassessing her assumptions. "Thank you, Ma'am," she says. Then she reaches her hand out for the piece of tech. "Do we know what this does? Ava, can I use this to help you?"

James Barnes has posed:
    Bucky sees Peggy, he registers her words but still he pushes off the wall to move closer. Maybe feeling the pull of a kind of kindred spirit? "Ava!" He snaps her name pretty loudly, but it's only to get her attention. "Look at me. Do you know who I am?" ...or who he was? Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't. He continues anyway. "...if it wasn't for most of these people," and Steve Rogers but he's not here right now is he? "...I'd still be one of HYDRA's playthings, an asset used to do their dirty work. You are safe here." That last part is a promise, but it's not the most important thing he has to say, not in his mind. "But Ava, you *got* this." Whatever this is... the pain, her powers, whatever. "I know it hurts like a motherfucker." Language Barnes! "... I know it does, but you *got this*. So just talk to me while they figure out how to help, yeah?" With his index and middle finger, he'll point to his own eyes and then to hers and back again. "Look at me, talk to me."
    Odd sight that, HYDRA's boogie man doing his best to calm a freaked out phase challenged woman?
    A beat and he adds, "But answer her too, that could be important."

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava's eyes snap open when Barnes shouts at her. She doesn't have a friendly look on her face. "Oh, bloody hell," she repeats, exasperation mingling with pain. "You want to help," she demands, struggling to sit up, hampered by the restraints. "Let me go. I *need *to get back to my chamber..."

She pulls on the straps again, and her whole body shudders, pulled in too many directions at once by excess energy. "Yeargh!" She grits her teeth, but can't quite suppress the cry of pain. One wrist pops out of a restraint. Instantly, she's pulling on the other and trying to free both her hands.

"Not fucking HYDRA? Fuck me. HYDRA's fucking squatting in the Triskelion, right now." She turns her attention on Peggy. "Why the hell should I believe anything you're saying? It's bloody obvious to anyone with half a brain that HYDRA's in the White House. Look at that shit with the Secretary of Defence. It's in military. The biggest laugh is they've put HYDRA -- bloody Hale -- in charge of hunting what's left of SHIELD." She looks around. "Is this what's left of SHIELD? Aces. I'm in great hands."

She fumbles, trying to free her feet, glancing to Finley as she does... despite the fact by now they're probably trying to stop her. "That thing doesn't do anything on its own. But it *could* help cure me. You want to prove you're not HYDRA? Give it to me and let me fucking go!"

Peggy Carter has posed:
The Chief's features set in a bit of a grimace, looking from the pained young woman back towards the scientist. Barnes is even given a bittersweet smile as he tries to coach the woman to seemingly little help, but he did focus her enough to listen to the fact they aren't HYDRA. "This isn't *all* that's left of SHIELD, but it's a part of it. And you're in a highly secret base right now so letting you go puts us all at risk. But if you take a breath, and talk to my people, we might be able to rebuild you that chamber here. Or, at least, recharge your suit. But take a breath and cooperate with us. We really, really are just trying to help you."

Then Peggy is looking back up towards Finley, true concern in her eyes as she studies the scientist. "Can you recreate whatever this chamber is for her? Even on a small size? What do you need to do it? We'll get it... " Sadly, Peggy doesn't seem willing to take the risk to let the woman go.

James Barnes has posed:
    "Chief Carter," kudos to him for keeping it... formal? But it's gritted out between clenched teeth. "Let her go. Put a fucking bag over her had on the way, but please... let her go. If you can't tell me what she's done *wrong*, it's not our right to keep her here." Bucky's tone is half righteous anger and half pleading on Ava's behalf. He steps a little closer to Peggy and lowers his voice, "...no more than it was their right to keep *me*." He glances back at Ava, back to Peggy. "At least take the restraints off while you figure out how to help her and maybe you'll get a little more cooperation." After all that's said? He walks from the room, lest things not go the way he believes they should and he loses his temper. Onetwothree... Yeah, he really needs a new therapist, that never works.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
"The disruptor reversed your condition," Finley tells Ava, honesty and compassion, and above all scientific certainty radiates from her earnest expression. "You're too, too solid flesh, now. Too much energy, not too little. Your chamber won't help you right now. But the suppression field might. Please, let us help you."

Ava Starr has posed:
"I don't know how to rebuild it," Ava tells Peggy, desperation in her eyes. She's scared. It's coming out as anger, but she's scared. She's trying not to die and these people are getting in her way.

But Barnes' words, on her behalf, make her pause. By now, she's worked out of the restraints herself and his sliding unsteadily to her feet. She watches him leave and settles dark, angry eyes on Peggy again, trying to figure out how to get past both her and the other big guy still in the room -- especially if the mousey tech is right and she's too solid, now.

"You... think you can fix this?" she says cautiously. She knows it won't fix her real problem, but if she could just phase again, she could be out of here and home before anyone was the wiser. It could buy her time... She takes a deep breath, still clearly angry, but perhaps holding herself in check. "I need that," she says pointing to the device. "It..." she eyes Finley. "It could help fix me. Like actually fix me, not just... this."

Peggy Carter has posed:
The words from Barnes, and Ava being up, gets a faint line from Peggy's lips. She's silent for a long moment, but she knows her old friend is right. She sighs deeply, looking over to Finley and Ava. There's a weight in her eyes of consideration, but then she offers quietly. "I'm going to get Collingwood. Ms. Starr, we need to black bag you to get you out of here. Finley, I want you to go with her and Collingwood will be your body guard. You go and try to help her fix this. You see where she is and monitor the situation. Collingwood will drive, get you both where you need to go, and remain back to make certain she doesn't attack you. Ms. Starr... we aren't HYDRA. You aren't our prisoner. We don't want to hurt you, but we will protect ourselves as well. Understood?" Peggy looks heavily around the room, trying to be certain that everyone knows how deadly serious she is.

When there aren't any immediate disagreemnts, she gives a sharp nod. "You are dismissed. I'll put the call into Collingwood now and get the things to get you out of here without knowing our location, Starr. Finley, gather any tools you might need to help this woman back on her own base. I expect a full report by this time tomorrow." And with that, Peggy's moving to the old comm system, probably to wake Collingwood out of her bed. but it's better than just turning the woman loose alone.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
"I think I can fix this, yes," Finley says. "And that's the first step to fixing you right now." She looks up at Peggy and places the device on the medical tray next to the disruptor. "Ma'am? Thank you ma'am."

James Barnes has posed:
    Oh he heard that on his way out. ...and Bucky's smiling a little when he heads up the lift or the stairs or whatever gets him out of this dungeon. He'll be waiting at the top for Peggy, still wearing that crooked little, half smile.

Ava Starr has posed:
Does she trust these people? Not really. But she can't fight a full base of them the way she is now. And, unlike Hale and Talbot, these people aren't shooting at her. (It could be argued that's because they don't need to, of course.)

Regardless, Ava has learned some patience in her time as an operative. And how to play the odds. She gives Peggy a twitch of her lips that would be a hint of a smile, were her eyes not so angry and her tone so sardonic. "Fine," she agrees. "As long as you let me go." She eyes the other Brit closely. "If you're *not* HYDRA... then you you need to know: General Hale *is*. But, if you are? You'd better kill me. Because otherwise, she'll be the first one I kill when I get out of here."

She once swore she wouldn't kill again. Not for money, certainly. But there are exceptions: Hale. HYDRA.

And Ava has a new vendetta to pursue.