6642/The Framework: After the Download

The Framework: After the Download
Date of Scene:	20 June 2021
Location:	The Framework: The Triskelion cells
Synopsis:	Daniel and Peggy share a difficult conversation when he returns with both sets of memories in his head. They are on the point of near breaking when a miracle helps them break out of the cells instead.
Cast of Characters:	Daniel Sousa, Peggy Carter, Melinda May
Tinyplot:	The Framework

---

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel wasn't sure he remained in that room after the procedure, he'd drifted off after he closed his eyes to keep out the light and didn't wake until the HYDRA troopers picked him up and carried him back to his cell. It was good that they carried him, his head felt like it was ready to explode and the world was spinning. Once he was shoved into the room he fell, laying there for a long moment waiting for the world to stop spinning and the troopers footfalls to grow faint and then vanish entirely. Carefully he belly crawled towards the grate flopping on his side and calling in as loud a whisper as he dared and his head could bare. "Peggy," hoping they hadn't taken her away while he was gone.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"D-daniel?" Peggy's voice rasps out immediately, a little thick, probably the sound of someone who just woke up in an incredibly uncomfortable position. But she's awake, and present. She sorely drags herself up into sitting, right next to that vent that brings his voice to her. Shaking fingertips reach to the edges of the metal useless, but somehow it feels like she's closer, "How... how bad was it? I tried to get them to take me too, to do... anything. They don't care. They just wanted you."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Yeah, Peg, it's me, are you okay?" Daniel asks noting the rasp to her voice. "And you don't want them to take you, I met the thing that runs this place AIDA, she did something to my brain, wanted to reprogram me, like they tried at the enlightenment center, but worse," he says the construct's memory coming easily from his lips like it was his own. "Feels like they put my brain in a blender, I don't know what's what right now, my head hurts and I'm dizzy as hell."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Fine. I'm fine. Tired, worried... I must have fallen asleep again. I'm sorry, my darling... I'm so sorry. Just... Talk to me. I'm here. What did she do? Are you injured? Just talk it through, slowly..." Peggy coaches him quietly, heartbreak behind her voice at the fact she can't be in the damn cell with him, but as she hears him falling apart, she keeps herself better together. As they have for so many years, she will be his rock when he needs to collapse, and he's her's when she does. She sits up straighter, breath more even and voice stronger than it's been before. She's got herself together.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel can hear that heartbreak and like Peggy he reaches for the grate in a need to be closer to her, knowing it's as close as he can get to wrapping her in his arms. "They took me to a room and strapped me to a table, hooked some wires to my head and she was going on about making me fit the narrative and how the technology wasn't compatible but then all these memories came pouring in, it almost broke me, Peg, it still might, I'm not sure what's real anymore, I remember somethings twice. Like May knocking me out in that warehouse but then waking up in my own corpse after crossing over from the real world. I tried to fight it to hold on to the truth but it's all so confusing now it's like I've lived two different lives at the same time and all the memories are fighting each other over which one is real."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"...What?" Peggy breathes out quietly, the sound of her brow furrowing practically screaming behind her voice. She shifts her body so she's directly leaning against the wall, her voice as physically close as possible to the vent. Her fingertips remain splayed open on the other side of the grate, pressing hard there, the physical sensation the only thing that lets her know she's micromillimeters closer to him just for the pressure. "Why would they... *give you back* your memories, if their torture took them in the first place? What do you mean you... you remember waking up in your own corpse?"

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"I don't know, I think she wants me to play along with whatever HYDRA land world she's building here, but I remember things now, not sure if they're real or not, but I remember them, like when Melly was born, and Lily and Michael?"that last one is hazy, the modern hospital fading in and out with the familiar halls of New York Presbyterian circa the 1950s."I'm hazy on who was there when they happened, I can't tell if it was Lily or May, and I'm sure Howard was there and Dugan, but maybe not? both seem so real." He presses his hand against the grate desperate to be nearer to Peggy to hold onto her and let her achor him in some form of reality. "I love you Peggy, and I'm sorry I got involved with SHIELD again, I thought I had to, but it put us all in danger."

Peggy Carter has posed:
There's a few moments of silence from her, as her mind tries to reach for the memories he's talking about. "No, darling... Howard and Dugan, they... They both died a long time ago, darling. Michael was born just this year." But, if he's got enough focus to hear the hesitance in his wife's voice, she doesn't seem to wholly believe that. Like, there's something in the back of her mind that the 1950s hospital also feels right. She shifts restlessly, pulling herself onto her knees and her arms folding just above the grate so she can rest her forehead on them and direct her voice perfectly through the vent. "I love you too... HYDRA Is... evil. Awful. You were just doing what you felt was right, to make the world better for our family. Like you always, always have..."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel shimmies closer to the grate so close his face is almost pressed against it. "I know... but I can see them so clearly... them and the nurse in those horrible starched white uniforms they used to make them wear trying to chase us out of the waiting room when Howard and Dugan got started early on the celebratory cigars..." he says. "At the same time I remember being at Reinhard Memorial last year, being so worried when they drew Michael's blood to test for Inhuman markers, just like I'd been for Lily or when they tested Mel at school."

He lets out a sigh, "None of this makes sense Peg. How can two different things feel so real."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"I... I feel like I was so mad they wouldn't let you in the room with me. But you were...there." Peggy mutters softer, more to herself, as she doesn't really have the memories but there's this feeling in the back of her head. He probably only hears it because of the echoing metal of the vent and how closely she's leaned to her side of the grate. "I don't understand... I don't. Why would they give you your memories back when they tried to take them? And what do you mean you... You woke up in a corpse? You're alive, Daniel. You're here with me, now, breathing and alive. May didn't kill you..."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"See I remember that too..." he says of not being let in the room. "We tried everything to talk them into it but they wouldn't budge," he remembers. Peggy's question focuses his mind on the matter at hand. "When I came through, I woke up in the ruins of the warehouse, there was blood all around me, there was blood on my clothes and a bullet hole through my jacket and shirt, I felt like I'd just been another of the bodies there left to rot."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"...what the *fuck*, HYDRA... What the FUCK?" Peggy breathes out, so on the edge of her own breaking points and aching for him through and through. She knows traditional torture, they've all been through it before. But this is a whole new level, even for HYDRA. She lets out a slow breath, one hand balling into a fist that she doesn't yet shove into the wall, but goodness she want to. Her anger is clear behind her voice, as much as her worry. "I don't understand, Daniel. I... don't. This world? It has to be... real. It's the only life I remember. Our children? They *have* to be *real*. They're our *babies*."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel flinches to hear Peggy's pain. Her words echoing what he feels in his heart. "I know Peg, I loved them before they did what they did to my mind, letting me remember their lives," he says his voice pained and ragged. "But the other world feels right too, in different ways, I think AIDA even admitted to it, she said she was kept as a thing, but I got the feeling it wasn't here, I mean here she's Madame HYDRA... god I don't know... I do know I love our kids Peg, Michael is just like I remember from the other world, Lily's completely got my number and I'm so proud of Melly, I know it wasn't her when she shot me." He lays his head down and closes his eyes. "I don't know anymore Peg, the other world feels real, but so does this one. Now more than ever."

Peggy Carter has posed:
While Peggy knows he's falling apart, she can't let herself do the same. Even if the pain in his voice tempts her tears back, the thought that somehow this place could not be real. She swallows back tightly, fighting for control of her emotions as her fingertips claw against the wall. "If...how, if it wasn't Melly? I know she never would, either. I don't understand what they could have done to her to... to make her do that. I don't understand. She loves you so much. She wanted to be like you so... so damn much." Peggy rasps out quietly, a bittersweet smile on her lips. Even if Melly wanting to be like him was probably why she got pulled to the reeducation center.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"AIDA can do a lot of things here, I mean if it did what it did to me, then who knows what they did to Melly. Maybe they triggered something in her, changed her to fit AIDA's narritve, whatever that is."

He sounds tired and near the breaking point, holding onto sanity by trying to solve the puzzle. "I know, sometimes I think Melly did a better job of being me than me sometimes," he says unable to keep his mind from wandering down this path or keep the pride out of his voice. "You should have seen her before it all went wrong Peg, she was calm, cool, took charge of the other kids. We did things right with her, she'd make a hell of an agent."

He lets out a slow breath. "I don't want this world to be real, Peg, with HYDRA in charge, that /thing/ AIDA calling the shots, but I want our kids to be real Peg, with all my heart."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"They ARE real, Daniel. They ARE. They are our children. I gave birth to all of them. There is NO way that pain is fake. I remember it too well. You don't just...make things up like that in someone's brain. I remember Lily having jaundice and neither of us really slept for days because we were so damn worried even though they said she'd be fine. I remember nearly giving birth to Melly in the Brownstone because I didn't want to tell you how bad the pain was and clearly it was just false labor. I remember the first night Melly slept in her bed all alone and we spent the whole night worried that she was growing up to fast, and how we CAN'T get Lily to stay in her own bed. How... how does some... vicious bitch of a...whatever AIDA is. Whatever Madame HYDRA is... How does she make all that up? Isn't it just as likely she made up the other place to try and break YOU?" Not that it explains him waking up with a bullet hole in his shirt, or all the other little things she almost remembers. But Peggy's clinging tooth and nail to their children.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"If the other world is fake why is she working so hard to make me believe in it, it was all I could do to hang on to myself during that, but I dunno, maybe you're right, a world where HYDRA hasn't won does sound more like bait than a world where HYDRA runs everything...At the same time Michael seems so real, and Daisy and Jemma all know who I am they feel like people I've worked with before, people I trust, how does that make sense if this is the real world, especially since they were willing to come spring Melly. Why would HYDRA make them do that?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
"I... god, I don't know, Daniel. I just don't know or understand any more. How can I say you're right? Where are Lily and Melly in that other world? You talk about Michael, but not about them. Where ARE THEY?" Peggy asks, though the tremble in her voice says she's fairly certain she already knows the answer. She just has to hear it from him.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel should have known that question was coming, but he'd blocked it out of his mind, there's silence from him at first eyelids closing over glassy eyes. "T-they don't exist, we had Michael in the 50's and then I just got pulled forward in time a few months ago, I'm sorry Peg, they're not in that world."

Peggy Carter has posed:
The silence after that answer is heavy. Peg doesn't even breathe for a few moments as she tries to swallow back the flood of emotions that hits her like a truck. She knew it, but it's different than hearing it from his lips. A slow, shaking breath finally escapes her chest as she sinks harder into the floor, collapsing to the side instead of on her knees, straight in front of the grate. She rests her hot cheek against the cool metal of the wall there. "How can I want to go back to a world where my children, *my children*, are dead? Aren't even... Real? How can you ask that of me?"

Daniel Sousa has posed:
That silence speaks volumes and Daniel braces for what's to come, looking at his hands, unsure how to answer. "They're not dead, they just haven't been born, we never had the time I got pulled out of time right after Michael was born and I've only been back in the real world for a couple of months."

His own words felt hollow when compared to fifteen years of memories of their children. "I don't know Peg..." he says wrestling with his own thoughts on this, could he really just walk out of here and leave their kids to whatever happened next? "I really don't know even what I'll do at this point, but this world isn't real and we're needed in the real world, and we're going to have to deal with that somehow."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"They aren't *there*. You say this world isn't real, but it's the only world I know. I *raised* these children, Daniel. I promised I'd always keep them safe. I already failed that... I've failed every promise I ever made them, how do I just abandon them? If this place really is some...digital dream, what happens to them when I go? Do you understand? Do you know why I... I can't imagine abandoning them like this? If Michael was born in the 50s, he... he doesn't need me. These children do." Peggy shakily admits, but the tears have been pushed aside and he can hear the stubborn steel in her voice. Peggy Carter who fought so many things, who stands up for near all her believes and who gave them up *for these children*, she's not giving these children up now.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel reaches out for the grate unable to take her hand right now, as much as he would like to, he leaves it there quiet for a moment before he says. "Michael still needs us, hell he thinks we abandoned him for most of his life, staying here just makes him right, Sharon loves us and needs us too in her way," he says. "I know I'm not going to talk you into giving up our children but will you at least once we get out of here, come with me and see the other world and make your choice with the memory of both worlds?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Who says I'll ever get memory of that world back? It's not there, Daniel. Even if some things feel... I don't know, right? Familiar? But the memories aren't there. Maybe it's because I just know and love you. Or sometimes personalities are just... so similiar. I don't know where or how you think those other memories are going to surface, but they aren't here. This is my life and all I can think about now is trying to figure out how to get our children out of this hell." Peggy's voice cracks, the words steady and strong if a bit desperate from her. She needs him to understand how hard she will fight for this.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel lets out a breath and leans his head against the grate. He knows that determined tone well but that note of desperation is new and heartbreaking.It echoes what he's feeling inside, before the kids were just bait for HYDRA's trap, strangers, but since whatever AIDA did they weren't strangers they were /their/ kids, his and Peggy's.

"Let's put a pin in this real world fake world stuff then, right now it's not important we're all in danger as long as HYDRA has us, so let's just focus on getting out of here, save the big questions for later. If we can get out I know a spot where we can lay low and try to figure things out."

Peggy Carter has posed:
As he agrees to put it aside, Peggy pulls herself together just a bit more. She can breathe, knowing he's not going to tell her just to abandon their children here for not being real. He'll hear the slightly catching, almost hiccupy echo of her breath through the grate, but it's a sound of pure relief too. "A-alright. Yes. This aside, we're getting them out of here. If we can get ourselves out... we get them out. I'm not leaving this place without them, you understand? That means, if we get out and you have to go... go back to that other place, go. But if I don't have them, I'm not leaving this place. Is that clear?" The steel in her voice is all Peggy. Her mind is made up.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Even before the steel in Peggy's voice registers Daniel is shaking his head. "I'm not leaving you or them in this place, Peg, you've got my word on this we'll get out of here, together," or not at all is the unspoken part of that promise. "I love you Peg, a-and I love our kids" now thagt he could remember their lives. "I'm not just going to run away and leave you guys here, it's not going to happen. We'll all get out and then we can figure out what's next."

Melinda May has posed:
There's a bloody pitched battle going on outside the pod chamber. Dottie Underwood has just talked her way into being jacked into a VR rig. Collingwood lets out a sigh as she backs away from where the woman now lays, immersed in whatever hell Dr. Leopold Fitz has in store for her. McLaren has returned to his work trying to get and keep May's -- though that's become somewhat easier with the intrusion of Bobbi Morse into her interrogation chamber.

"Shit. Look, Sarah." He points at the screens again, drawing his partner's attention to where May's view intersects with both Bobbi's and Hunter's.

"Is she... helping May escape?"

"Sure looks that way."

Collingwood retreats back to where the trapped agents lay in their pods, checking their spiking vitals. "That explains all this..."

"The texture changes worked on May," Mark notes, his fingers flying over his keyboard. "What's her nerve blocker look like?"

"Decreasing. Not a lot, but... some. Going in the right direction."

"Okay. I'm gonna let that routine run. See if we can get her full use of her body back. She's gonna need it." A beat. "They all will."

"What abot Carter and Sousa? They're nowhere near the others."

"They will be..." Mark says, lips setting into a tight, determined smile. "Just lemme confirm the kids' geocodes..."

"You can't teleport them to them."

"No," he agrees. "But I can lay down some digital breadcrumbs and redirect traffic..."

Peggy Carter has posed:
That is what Peggy needed to hear. Any of the tears that she was on the edge of shedding again are gone. They had a promise, even if not a plan. Peggy draws in a slow, steadying breath and forces herself to sit up straight once more. None of this broken, collapsed girl being supported by the wall. She was stronger than this mess. She reaches the back of her wrist up to brush saline off her cheeks and takes in another deep, steady breath. "Alright. They've pulled you out once. It means I'm probably next. If I can be ready for them, maybe... Maybe I can over power one.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Good plan, guessing as I'm not seeing much light through the grate your cell is as dark as mine, maybe do what we did in Munich back in '52?" he suggests hoping that much stayed consistent. Where they used the dark to jump the guards by lurking by the door and getting them as soon as they entered. "They've got heavy armour, but throat, armpits and behind the knee was still vulnerable."

Melinda May has posed:
"I'm going to try injecting the same graffiti code into their cells," Mark says to Sarah, focus intense on his screen. "They're pretty dark. The shield glow should attract some attention."

"I can't believe you integrated Unreal into the frickin' Matrix."

"Hey! It's a great engine!"

"You are such a gaming geek."

"That's gaming geek *HERO*, thank you very much."

"Only if this works."

"It'll work," Mark says. A beat. "It'll work!"

---

Five minutes later, by McLaren's reckoning, the lighting in the cells slowly changes. It's not dramatic, but a soft blue glow gently shines around the doors -- like a signifier in a video game. It pulses gently... and the sound of the bolts on their doors being thrown back echoes through the dark rooms.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Just like Munich. I think I can handle it." Peggy responds with a bit more genuine energy behind her voice. She might not have been in the fight for many years, but she remembers the excitement of it all. The thrill of a good mission. Just like flying tonight, it's as if the training is still somewhere deep in her. She carefull moves back to the far edge fo the cell, but on the same wall as the door. Even if she has to wait a long time, she'll be ready when they come in. She steels her breath, preparing quietly...

But the thing to change isn't the door coming openn. It's the door slightly glowing. And the sound of a heavy bolt going. And then another. She blinks in confusion, slowly stepping forward, "What in...hell..." She breathes out. Fingertips very warily test the door, pushing it open and jerking back to... Nothing. Nothing but freedom. "Daniel, I... I'm coming for you. I'm out." She whispers with confused elation. Double checking the hall to be empty, she spills out and moves for his cell.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
The glowing cell door causes Daniel to blink in surprise, but not as much as the sounds of the locks sliding open. "What in the hell?" he echoes Peggy's exclamation as he gets to his feet and slowly makes his way towards the glowing door frame. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing," Daniel calls through the grate only moments before Peggy says she's out. That's enough for him he moves to the door and tries it eyes closing for a second as he expects a shock of some sort of energy field but instead it's just a door that opens easily, he pushes it turning immediately to look in the direction of Peggy's cell.

Melinda May has posed:
When the pair stand together in the hallway, a disk appears at the far end, by the door that leads away from the cellblock. It is blue, surrounded by stars that rotate slowly around the perimeter. In its center is the SHIELD eagle. Spray painted type appears on the door itself. Let's go get your kids...

Again, the sound of bolts being thrown as the door glows gently. If there are guards, they're definitely not paying attention.

Or mabye they're deaf.

Peggy Carter has posed:
For all the time and energy Daniel spent trying to convince her that this world isn't real, these strange things are the first time she's genuinely considered maybe he's right. She blinks, staring at him in the hallway and then down to the glowing, clear markers on the floor. As she reads the grafitti, a little breath of surprise and relief cracks out of her throat, "I swear to god, this better not be a trick."

She pauses one second, pulling him into a deep, passionate kiss. If either of them die doing this, she doesn't want to have missed the chance. "I love you. Let's get our babies." She has no guns. No weapon but her hands and eyes, but she remains close to a wall, moving fast after those arrows.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel shares that suspicion of the sudden glowing symbols leading the way, but says, "Well it's a weird trick if so, they've already got us what else can they want?"

But the time for talking and speculation is quickly tossed aside to return that kiss, holding Peggy tight for as long as their lips meet, having wanted to be able to hold her since they first started talking between the cells.

"Love you too, and I'm right behind you," he tells falling into step behind her checking their six as they move swiftly down the hall. Just like old times.

Melinda May has posed:
As they open that door, the eagle on the shield opens its beak as if it's crying out. There's no sound, but it launches itself out of the disk that floats before them and soars off down the hallway ahead of them.

The corridor ahead is dim. The eagle glows like a comet in the half-light. It flies over the heads of a pair of guards who stand talking, their backs to the pair of escapees. Oddly, they don't react, even as it circles around them, illuminating just what weapons the men are carrying and the armor that protects them. It's almost as if they can't see it...

Peggy Carter has posed:
While it's not the most secure position, she trusts him to watch her back and she does not want to lose him in this mess of corridors, so Peggy's keeping one hand very tightly in his. The moment they encounter opposition, she'll let go to fight. But while it's just them, she wants to hang onto her husband's fingertips for dear life. She didn't know if she'd ever touch him again. She doesn't want to take for granted these moments.

"Is this...your people? SHIELD...doing this? How did they get into the lighting systems?" Peggy asks in a very low, slightly hissing whisper, but she's still running. She's not going to let up the search or lag until she knows they are free. It leaves her a little breathless -- she still has a broken nose and it's been a long time since she's run this much, but she doesn't care. Adrenaline helps.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel keeps hold of Peggy's hand, like her he didn't know if they'd do this again and he wasn't going to let go until he had to.

He returns the whisper stepping close to Peggy. "Yeah, this stuff is still all over my head but from what Simmons and Daisy said the way we got in here, lets them make changes like that," he says noding to the aniated symbol.

Spotting the guards Daniel gives Peggy's hand a quick squeeze before letting go. "Take the one on the right and I take the one on the left?" he asks.

Melinda May has posed:
The guards remain oblivious to the pair for the moment -- mainly because the door they opened was silent and McLaren is working very hard at overwriting their code. It's not working nearly as well as he'd like... Particularly when one turns his head and blinks in complete surprise to see the pair standing there. "Hey! You! Stop!"

His rifle comes up. His friend spins around, just as surprised, and then drops to one knee with his own rifle braced. They both know, if they kill these two, Radcliffe himself will have their heads. But they shoot, anyway.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Fortunately, Daniel's already claimed his. She nods to him just as the guards are turning and then Peggy is springing into action. She doesn't even give them time to really call out or warn, she's leaping on the guy, her bent arm across his neck and her other arm reaching down to try and arm lock his wrist behind his back. She isn't gentle, trying to cut off his airway and she does not care if she collapses his wind pipe as she does it. She just wants him to shut up before they warn others. She rides him hard, the whole way down and into a wall as he flops around like a fish. When she finally gets her heels back on the ground, she shoves him bodily into the wall, smacking the back of his head with the harder part of her forehead.

Eventually, enough abuse is enough. She feels him go limp and then she's leaning down to scoop up his rifle before looking back to see if Daniel managed his. She's utterly out of breath, but she somehow remembered how to fight. "I...didn't know I could still do that."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel is a half-step behind and flattens against the wall as the crouching man shoots, then he charges hoping against hope it doesn't get him shot, the man's worry about Radcliffe saves Daniel from that fate, he hesitates and takes a boot to the jaw, before Daniel tackles him coming up with one knee on the man's throat and his hands pressing down on his weapon. They struggle but Daniel keep the pressure up with his leg until the guard goes still. He looks up breathing hard, but nods, "Still got it," he says getting up and taking the guard's weapon with him.

Melinda May has posed:
The gunfire does attract attention. It's hard not to. That said, as they emerge out into the main cooridor, red flashing lights and a klaxxon greet them. Judging from the sound of distant 20mm cannons, however, it's entirely possible that this little jailbreak really isn't the focus of attention.

The eagle flies on ahead, warning them of danger in the way it banks and circles, and leading the way.

Those few guards they do meet respond as hostilely as Peggy and Daniel would expect, particularly those on the lab levels... Which probably bodes very, very badly for their kids.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Hopefully your friends don't lead us to any friendlies, because I'm not stopping to check who is on our side." Peggy states to her husband, her breathless tone flat and cold. She means to kill anyone who stands between her and her children without hesitation or thought. She just doesn't care who they are now.

That means every moment they see a guard even begin to flash into the corner, Peggy is lighting up their head and neck with uncomfortably expert marksman shots from the rifle she's stolen. She doesn't remember the last time she was this good, but she was also unexpectedly talented in the Quin Jet. She doesn't have time to think about it. She just shoots down, always taking the right while he takes the left. One time they get a shot into her upper bicep, her ripped and old clothing ripping through the wound, but it doesn't stop her. Especially on those lab levels. She's a killing machine as they go with a singular purpose -- rescue her kids.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Simmons, May, Bobbi, Sharon, Fitz, Dottie and Daisy are all friendlies, otherwise let them have it," he clarifies.

He moves in behind Peggy, calling out targets so they're not wasting fire shooting the same people and checking their six every couple of seconds, it's a good thing too, as pair of guards appear from a side corridor behind them, he cuts them down quickly with shots aimed at their head and throat.

Then he's pressing on, glancing to Peggy as she takes a hit, "Still good?" he asks her without too much concern, the wound looks mild and they've been down this road before he'd know if the wound were truly serious. He lifts his weapon again dropping another guard as they enter the floor with the labs.

Melinda May has posed:
The eagle comes to hover in front of the blast door of a long corridor in on the lab level. Slowly, the graffiti type appears to scrawl across the door's surface. Give me a sec. AIDA is being a bitch again. Still. Yet. Inevitably.

The graffiti slowly fades as moments tick by. Finally, there's a grinding noise. For a moment, the doors seem to flicker, almost like they can't decide whether or not to be real. But they remain solid. That grinding noise intensifies, but stops. There's a heavy clunk. It sounds like whatever bolts the mysterious tagger was trying to move have fallen back into place with terrible finality.

Fresh graffiti appears. OFFS... Stand back.

Then, somewhere near the bottom of the door, a brightly glowing spot appears. It's not some sort of visual overlay. It's like an intense, molten spot where a welding torch is being employed. The spot begins to move. As it does, it looks for all the world like the blade of a purple lightsaber is sticking out of it, cutting a person-sized hole for them to step through when the cut piece finally explodes down the corridor away from them.

There is no one there. And no sign of the blade.

Graffiti floats in the air below the circling eagle. Go get your kids! And the sound of doors unlocking all down that hallway rings through the air.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"...How in the...*hell*..." Peggy breathes out at the strange graffiti and light show that is happening before them. She does listen, drawing back with Daniel and pinning her shoulders against the wall just in case they need to fight again. She looks down at her bleeding arm with a bit of a frown, but it's not even bad enough to make her hand numb, so she's not bothering with it. "Still good. Confused, but good." She affirms for him, waiting for the explosion she's half braced for.

Then, sure enough, that person sized hole just explodes to.. Nothing. She stares through the hole, ducking in and clearing the room while she tries to avoid the burning hot edges. "I... I'm not even asking questions. It's clear." And then she's running. She pulls open the first door down the hall, letting out a sound of relief that is almost not human. "I have the girls. Michael's got to be somewhere here!" She yells back to her husband, but she's rushing forward, wrapping her arms so tightly around the tall, thin Melly and the short Lily. A sobbing breath of relief chokes from her throat.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel flattens against the wall beside Peggy, looking relieved when she confirms the wound isn't too bad. Nodding he says, "That makes two of us? that's new?" he says of the light display complete with a lightsaber from one of those Space Wars movies he remembers HYDRA banned ages ago.

There's no time to marvel at it all he ducks in the hole behind Peggy as she pops the door to the girls he boots open the one next to it, eyes and weapon sweeping until he sees the plastic walled crib in the room, "I've got Michael!" he calls letting his weapon swing down on its strap as he picks up the little warm bundle in both hands. "It's okay," he murmurs holding Michael to his chest for a quiet tearful moment, "Mum and I are here to take you home," he blinks away his tears, murmuring to himself "Wherever home is..."

Melinda May has posed:
That glowing eagle soars along the corridor, darting into one room to fly around Peggy's head briefly before doing the same to Daniel. On the wall outside the rooms, facing them, more graffiti scrawls. Help incoming... Time to go. The eagle swoops along the message, heading back toward that broken blast door.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peg really doesn't want her children to see her crying, but she cannot help it. She truly never thought she'd see them again. She leans down, kissing Melly's cheeks, "I know, I know it wasn't you, love, it wasn't, don't think about it and just come with us, we're getting out of here. We're going somewhere safe. Help your sister, we're getting out." And then she's covering Lily's face in kisses for a moment too, "I love you, Lilybug. I love you so, so much... Come on, stay between us all, we have to go fast."

Peggy's trying hard to keep herself together for them all, but it is a challenge. She then looks over to Daniel and Michael, her throat tightening once more, "Oh thank god..." She leans over to kiss him and Lily is abruptly velcroing herself to her father's leg. They might have to do a trade off, Lily is holding on so tightly and starting to cry. But she wants her daddy so much. "...Here. I can take him, you get her..." Peggy murmurs, still one good arm to easily hold Michael.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel's heart rises to his throat when he sees his daughters. "Hey," he greets them before Lily attaches himself to his leg. He hands of Michael to Peggy before scooping up Lily into a big hug. "Missed you," he tells her kissing her forehead, before looking over Lily's shoulder to Melly extending an arm to pull her into a side hug while his other arm holds tight to Lily. "Glad you're safe Melly," he tells his eldest. "I know it wasn't you," he adds quieter, letting her know there's no sort of hard feelings for what happened before.

Melinda May has posed:
The eagle banks, soaring back to circle around the small family. An arrow appears on the ground at their feet, rolling with color, pointing back the way they came. Annnnd we're walking!!!1! appears on the ground beside it, flashing like a neon sign. The eagle flies on again, toward the way out.

Time to go.