6676/The Framework: Family Outing

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The Framework: Family Outing
Date of Scene: 23 June 2021
Location: HYDRA's Triskelion
Synopsis: Morse, Hunter, and May work to rescue the Carter-Sousa family. They are joined belatedly by Jemma, who has more than a few surprises up her sleeve... or on her cell phone. Take your pick. All the while, AIDA is learning and growing in unexpected ways.
Cast of Characters: Melinda May, Bobbi Morse, Daniel Sousa, Peggy Carter, Jemma Simmons
Tinyplot: The Framework


Melinda May has posed:
The lab level of the detention complex is awash in red, flashing light -- alarm beacons spinning and klaxons screaming. It also has it's fair share of bodies, given there are no windows here for Quinjets to be shooting through. But those bodies were felled by bullets from HYDRA-issue rifles and the ruthlessness of a pair of exceptionally determined parents who match Liam Neeson in his relentless pursuit if his missing child.

Now, however, they're in a quandry. Two pairs of hands, three children -- two of whom require definite handling -- and two rifles. And no desire to put a gun in the hands of any of those children. Too, there's the insistence of the holographic blue SHIELD eagle that circles above their heads (all unseen by those children), not so subtly urging them to leave the broken hallway where the labs that held their children can be found, heading back out into the fray. Nevertheless, the mysterious tagger, whose writing keeps appearing on surfaces around them, promised that help was incoming. And despite his insistent scrawls at their feet, urging them to get a move on, he isn't lying about that help.

As May reaches the lab level, she skids to a brief stop. Her eyes clock the fact the door here has been left adjar because of a definitely dead body in the way. She sees at least two or three more bodies sprawled down the hall. A new spinning SHIELD logo disk appears at a junction halfway down the corridor -- along with a graffiti style arrow that floats in the middle of the air and swings back and forth, pointing down the side hall.

"I don't know who's manipualting the holo system," May says, glancing over her shoulder to the others, "but they're really on the nose, aren't they?" Still, it's not led them astray thus far, so she'll trust it a little longer. As she starts to jog towards it, the eagle in the center of the disk shakes off the ring of stars that surrounds it and soars down that side hall -- toward the small family bunkered beyond the broken blast door.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Back in to the thick of it. The plan was simple. The plan was good. She found Lance and she was going to get out of here. But nooo.. they had to go back and rescue more people. At least she found May first. At least May hadn't tried to kill her immediately. They may have harsh words to share with each other later though.

She glances over at Lance who seems quite at ease doing this kind of work and further more doing it with her. The familiar, the reasons why she started dating him at all way back when, are filtering in to her brain. His goofy humour and relentless shitting on other people and sharing it with her. She remembers how much she loved it.

The door to her right opens and a HYDRA agent pulls a choke cord around her neck. She responds with an elbow in to his gut and then the machine pistol right in to his face. Letting the cord unwind itself, she turns and scans the rest of the room. Some sort of meeting room. No one else inside, she steps back out in to the corridor.

"The quinjets can't triangulate our telemetry," which is to say - they can't blind fire using the glasses Bobbi has on her head for them. Not until they get closer to some windows again. "Where do you think these arrows are taking us?" Her tone suggests she's not completely sure they should be trusting them. The longer they do this fool hearty rescue the more chance there is someone will figure out a way to fight back against her Rogue AI ally. Then what big guns will they have? none.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel
Daniel has definitely noticed the problems of hands children and guns, looking at Melly, first then to Peggy, he says, "Hand off either Michael or Lily to Melly and whoever has their hands free shoots?" he suggests to Peggy before glancing at the insistant image on the floor, "We're getting there," he gripes no doubt to the confusion of their kids.

===
Hunter

Hunter would be lying if he said he didn't miss this, working with Bobs, even a much more violent one on a desperate op to save people. This sort of thing had always been the best part of being in SHIELD. As Bobbi drops the HYDRA agent he moves on quickly covering up ahead. "This is you lot's base, you tell me, what's up ahead?" he asks about where they're being led.

Peggy Carter has posed:
It's a horrble decision, to ask her daughter to be parent to one of the babies in such a stressful situation. It's better than asking her to fire a gun, but Peggy is caught in indecision. "Melly...can you take Michael? You remember how to hold him, just like we taught you, both arms. Keep his head up. You stay right between us and we're going to get out of here." Peggy finally makes her decision, gently handing off the infant to her pre-teen daughter and kissing her forehead again.

Which is probably the right choice, because Lily is *plastered* to her father. She's crying into his side and has practically crawled up his leg to rest on his hip. Thank goodness his leg functions better here than it does in the real world, because this would be incredibly painful if he was in the old prosthetic. Once Peggy's arms are free, she swings the rifle back up. Still slowly bleeding from that winged arm, it doesn't seem bad enough to stop her. Or maybe adrenaline is just that rushing right now. "Alright. Let's go." She nods to the door, starting to lead the way while Daniel manages the kids behind. She clears each hall as she goes, slowly working their way back into the fray.

Melinda May has posed:
As Peggy and Daniel start making their way back out -- the corridors still largely empty of life, thanks to their incursion -- the eagle that leads them soars on ahead. At the far end of the central corridor they traverse, a second eagle sweeps around the corner, heading straight for the first. They circle each other in a mirroring dance and then collide, becoming one glowing blue bird just as May reaches the corner and peeks her head around to see if it's clear.

"Peggy!" she calls, sharp relief in her tone. "Daniel." As that corridor is empty of threats, she jogs around the corner towards them. She's in her black jeans still, but she's lost her jacket. Her tank top has rents in the side, and the right half of it is heavily stained with her blood. But there's no sign of the wound that tore her shoulder open at the Silo. Only the stains it left behind. She seems to have use of that arm, though it's a little stiff.

That the kids are with the pair is as much a relief as seeing her friends themselves. "Great. Now we just need to find the exit." As if in answer, that big blue eagle flies circles around them again and takes off down the hall, clearly expecting them to follow. "Why am I trusting a flying hologram?" she asks no one in particular.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
"Detention," Bobbi replies quickly to Lance and rubs at her neck. "I know where.. I meant who," which is soon answered when someone has too much fun with the animations on that eagle. There's something truly ironic about throwing her lot in with SHIELD again.

"That answers that then," she says as May spots Peggy and Daniel. Bobbi ejects the empty magazine and inserts a new one, though she keeps her gun down as she turns the corner and spies the Sousa-Carter family. A small hmm on her lips. There's dried blood on her side as well as the sight of some medical foam generally used to plug a wound in the middle of a battlefield. The wound is right where there's a gap in her armor too, whoever took advantage of it was skilled.

"I don't know, why are you trusting a flying hologram," she asks wryly as if it were a knock knock joke; then moves on ahead of them. She kicks open a door surprising two guards who had barricaded themselves behind a desk -- facing the wrong way. She mercilessly guns the pair down from behind. "Clear. Move up."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel
This would be impossible on his old leg having Lily cling to him like she was, as it was it was less than optimal. Scooping her up he holds her properly in his arms, kissing her forehead. "You okay Lilybug?" he asks her before his eyes cut to Melly. "You've got this," he tells his eldest, "If there's shooting get down as much as you can, alright? I'll be right there with you," he promises.

When Peggy moves he follows bringing up the rear and looking frequently behind them. Until May calls out and he lets out a relieved sigh, more help, god they needed it. "May," he greets while holding his squirming daughter. "An exit would be great right now." Which the eagle provides.

Hunter


"C'mon May," he says catching that bit of self-talk and smiling. "We're fighting in a bloody computer alongside the SHIELD Brady Bunch, while Bobs army of quinjets attacks this place, following a bloody hologram is practically normal compared to the rest of the weird crap going on."

Bobbi's gunning down of the guards gets a "Hey save some for me," he grouses good naturedly. "Can't just hog all the kills and get the high score." It was all code, so here at least he could be casual about murder. Two more guards round a corner and he squeezes off a burst dropping them. "Really need to see about getting one of these in the real world," he remarks giving the gun an appreciative glance.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peggy's got that slightly dead-eyed look in her gaze of a woman who is single minded ready to kill. Fortunately, May's face has been burned into her mind one too many times and her voice is familiar. She was still nearly ready to press the trigger and when her brain registers who it is a split second later, she abruptly points the muzzle at the ground instead. She was so ready to shoot. "Melinda. T-thank..thank god. We... I can't even explain it. Whatever those are, they got us out. Showed us the kids, but whatever it is, it's not going to last."

Then Peggy sees Bobbi. Her rifle immediately comes up again, but since the woman isn't selling May out, she doesn't shoot. She just trains the rifle on the other woman, her jaw tightening a bit more, "What the hell? I'm NOT turning my children over to ANOTHER one of them!" Peggy puts herself physically between Daniel and the kids. She's ready to human shield from Bobbi if she must.

Melinda May has posed:
May moves swiftly between the barrel of Peggy's gun and Bobbi Morse. "She's on our side!" she says her hands coming up, left one holding her rifle -- rather than the right -- the gun pointed at the ceiling. "I know," she says to her friend. "I know. I don't really believe it, either, but..." She turns and glances to Lance. "You see him?" She looks back to Peggy. "He's her Daniel. And the Doctor had him."

That would probably explain it. Not that it will fix it.

"She's also got the Quinjets that will get us out of here and a plan to kill Radcliffe and Madame HYDRA." Something May is fully prepared to take advantage of. Her jaw tightens. "She rescued me." That sticks in her craw, yes. "And the happy eagle scout thing likes her. But, if I'm wrong, I'll put a bullet in her myself, okay?"

Jesus, her life is weird.

There's the sound of booted feet in the distance on concrete floor. "I think the flashing neon graffiti is right. We need to move."

---

Indeed, somewhere outside of the Framework, McLaren is swearing, his lag down to a matter of a minute now, instead of five, thanks to a strange bit of bio rigging Collingwood came up with. "Why are they just standing there?"

"What? You expect Peggy just to *trust* them after all this? Have you not been keeping up with the story, here?"

"AIDA's got super soldiers on the way!"

"So, Mr. Universe? Stall them."

"Some days, I really hate you."

Collingwood pops the tab on a Red Bull and puts it by his keyboard. "Less bitching. More coding."

"Hate. You."

---

The graffiti on the wall reads:
RUN NOW! TALK LATER!

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi rolls her eyes and stares back at Peggy. "Huh. So that's where we're at is it," she says and she almost raises her gun toward Peggy. Almost. "I can tell by the look on your face that you haven't yet come to understand we're stuck in a damn computer simulation run by Radcliffe and Madame HYDRA. I, for one, intend to get out of this place. I'm no ones puppet."

She looks at the kids and then over to Daniel, then back to May. "This is your problem," she says to May and then smirks at Lance as he takes down some more HYDRA troopers. "High score? You haven't got a chance Lance," she says and... actually smiles for a brief moment.

She lifts her chin motioning to the upcoming stairwell. Either they deal with the reinforcements coming up behind them, or push on ahead. It's one they haven't cleared yet so odds are it's full of HYDRA shock troopers hiding from the quinjets. She unhooks a grenade from her belt and tosses it over to Lance, then takes a second one off of her belt for herself. "On three. 1.. 2.. 3.." she opens the door and tosses in a grenade.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel
"Easy Peg," Daniel calls out as she reacts to Bobbi's presence. "She's one of the good guys," he says, though he finds himself feeling dirty saying it, the memories AIDA shoved into his brain included a good deal of the Sky Commander's actions against SHIELD and the Inhumans and that was still being shaken out. "And if she's got a plan to take out AIDA then I think we should listen."

Hunter
Huner steps into Peggy's line of fire, "Whoa, whoa, now I loved Reservoir Dogs as much as the next bloke, but let's not reenact the ending here, not when we can get the hell out of here and get a bit of revenge besides," he says.

Others speak up too, so when they move on he feels safer with the crew at his back, taking that grenade with a smile, yanking the pin and squeezing the handle. He counts off with Bobs, 1? 2?3? he throws the grenade in after Bobbi's and flattens against the wall to escape the blowback. In the second before the explosion he replies to Bobbi. "Definitely going to win."

Peggy Carter has posed:
It's more May's words than Bobbi's which convinces Peggy, but the fact she didn't pull the trigger first is a pretty good indication that she wasn't completely sold on this reality. The way she killed the HYDRA guards back there? She never hesitated. Here, she hesitates. She carefully lowers her weapona again, jaw tight, but she gives them both a fierce, sharp nod. "Fine. We... we just all get out of here." Her dark eyes trail warily over to Lance, not even certain WHO he is, but she's not got time for introductions. "Our fairy code-mothers are getting impatient."

"I'm...taking it easy. We'll listen to plans when people aren't actively killing us." And then she's wincing back from the grenade, slightly shielding her children with her body again, but she's not abandoning the rifle. Melly is listening to all of this with too-wide, silent eyes, clutching that little infant tight against her chest as he cries. Lily isn't sobbing as loud as Michael is, but she's pretty close, only adding to the chaos.

Melinda May has posed:
The young children are wailing and Melly is clearly distressed. As May pauses to check on them briefly, something in the back of her mind registers the fact she can't sense those heightened emotions. At all. Oh, she can feel Peggy's emotions -- fear, resolution, anger. Daniel's confusion and protectiveness. Lance's determination and hopeless devotion to Bobbi despite their mutal abrassiveness. Even Bobbi's anger, determination, and lingering skepticism. All of them. If she digs deep enough, she'd even swear she can still sense Jemma and Skye and even the Doctor... though she won't swear to that.

But not the children. She can't sense the children.

Floating holograms. Crazy emotions. The shit she relived in that room, hooked up to that machine by AIDA. Maybe this really is a simulation. Or maybe she's finally just lost it...

Whatever the truth may be, Melinda May is not willling to lay down and die any more. "Let them take point," she tells Peggy and Daniel as Lance and Bobbi forge ahead with their grenades. "I'll cover our six." Not only does that mean Peggy doesn't have to worry about having Morse at her back, but it means the family is boxed in by the strongest of the fighters their little group can offer.

Thus, May settles down by a door, rifle pointed back down the hallway, and waits for the front pair to clear the stairs and the others to follow before she falls back, herself. When the first of the soldiers round the corner, she lifts her rifle and tests her tingling right arm with a series of precise headshots. Most super soldiers don't have adamantium skulls. And May doesn't know about any video game cheats -- like unlimited ammo. So, she's not wasting bullets.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi is first through the door after the grenades have gone off. There's HYDRA troopers staggering about and she is starting to trust that Lance will have her back, so she lifts an arm and from her sleeve fires an ascending line, grappling to the top of the railing a floor up. She is yanked up and over the railing and draws her stave-daggers. The first is thrust in to the chest of a disoriented agent, and the second thrown at another right in to his eye.

Yanking the body around in time to block incoming bullets, she returns fire from underneath the dead HYDRA agents arm pit. She lets the body slump and then glances down to make sure Lance has managed to take out the ones she left behind.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel
Daniel nods to Peggy. "Fair 'nuff," he says of plans waiting until they're in a more secure position. When May instructs them on the formation they're taking, Daniel takes his place in the middle with Melly and Lily, "Don't worry we're all getting out of here," he tells them even if his gaze is with the others fighting their way out of this place.

Hunter

Hunter sweeps in behind Bobbi, his weapon sweeping from dead HYDRA man to the next to make sure they stay that way, then he's moving to the railing, popping off single shots at the stragglers, dropping them as their attention turns to Bobbi and her high-flying antics. "Show off," he calls to her before he's turning back to the rest of the group, "Let's keep it moving people," he says before he bounds up the stairs to Bobbi's level falling back into watching her back as they continue their lethal advance.

Peggy Carter has posed:
With the kids in the middle and Daniel flanking one side, her at the other, Peggy is a little more relaxed. She trusts May at her back and can keep her eyes on the once HYDRA woman and her clear partner up front, just in case someone betrays them. She gives a stiff, quiet nod to May, "Got it." And she falls into place easily. Her rifle is back up, but it's to shoot OVER Bobbi's shoulder, if she needs, not at the woman. It seems she's accepted they are on the same side.

Daniel's reassuring the girls does seem to help a little, Peggy focused on ahead of them but she knows the grenade was a lot for already scared kids. She just keeps pressing on as the way is cleared.

Melinda May has posed:
Bobbi and Lance wade into the fight on the next level up. More HYDRA agents appear, moving into the hallway from side passages. There are still no windows, which hampers the Quinjets, but 20mm cannon fire can still be heard in the distance. Whatever the AI is that's controlling the things, it's not wasting time just standing around waiting when there are lots more HYDRA operatives it can happily kill.

A squad of eight super soldiers comes around that corner from behind. Two fall to May's bullets. Two more barely escape, their enhanced reflexes making a difference. She adjusts her aim, pointing the muzzle of her gun up at the fire system pipes that run along the top of the wall. There are labs down this hall. This means it's not water running through those pipes. It's a more deadly gas designed to deoxygenate the burn. She backs up quickly toward the stairwell and when she's sure the kids are past the threshold, she blows the pipe. It sprays out a thick fog that quickly fills the air around the soldiers as they give chase, slowing them down enough as they sputter and cough in surprise.

She retreats up the stairs with the rest of the small party, slamming the door closed behind them and using the weapon from a fallen HYDRA agent to jam the doors. Then, she turns and runs to catch up.

---

Meanwhile, in a small, white containment cell that very closely resembles the Cage on the Bus, Jemma Simmons is probably both surprised and delighted to see graffiti scrawl itself across the white hexagon tiles that line the walls, punctuated by a little glowing SHIELD logo.

Reduced lag by 80%. Help incoming. Look under cot. -- McL

And there, when she looks, is her SHIELD phone. It rezzes in with a little shimmer and a pop, a blue bow tied neatly around it.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
It is a rather cozy little room. Unfortunately, it isn't very exciting at all. So, when Jemma looks over the wall, for the one hundred and eighteenth time (she was counting), the scrawling letters catch her attention...and her great joy. A sharp uptake of breath, followed by quickly hopping off the aforementioned cot, to look.

And there, all bright and shiny new, is her phone. But, just not any phone...but the phone complete with the myriad of little Framework hacks to make Jemma's job a little easier in convincing that this whole thing is nothing more than an elaborate video game. Granted...one she cannot log out of, at the moment...but a video game nonetheless.

And, as she regards her reflection on the dark screen of the phone, she speaks outloud, though in a whisper. She doesn't need to be louder...she will know that her intended target will here. "Oh, I could just kiss you." And...she doesn't mean the phone.

A press of the button and the phone comes to life. A quick check...yes...everything is in place. And...another word pierces the silence. This time a little louder.

"Excellent."

It is high time Jemma gets out of this cell anyways. And...with her little digital bag of tricks, that just became possible.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
The leather of Bobbi's loan coat snaps as she moves abruptly to the next door. The hall way ahead of them is just a little bit too open, so she says to Lance. "Stay behind me, we will use my coat for cover." She lifts up one side of it hanging it like a cloak and ducks down behind it. A small button is pressed and Lance can see a blue field flick over the inside of the leather. A hidden shield.

She rushes out through the door and as predicted, there were HYDRA troopers hiding. They raise up and shoot at the approaching Sky Commander, the bullets hitting the leather, scarring it, but bouncing off the kinetic shield built in to its lining. Bobbi starts shooting the HYDRA goons on her right, expecting Lance to take out the ones on her left as she advances swiftly down the hall.

A call out back to the group she says, "Arrow is changing direction again." She turns down a side corridor following it. Her eyes come to rest on the window looking in to the cell.

"The school teacher? What is she doing here??," she says and then takes out a 'lockpick' from her belt and puts it on the door mechanism. *pffff* the lock is blown out. The ex-Sky Commander's ruined eye and scarred face look over Jemma wondering why the graffiti eagle would bring them to _this_ person. She is locked away like an Inhuman and that does worry her just a touch, "Whatever your weird Inhuman powers are.. you had better not use them against us or I will drop you. Do you understand me?" This version of Bobbi is a bit mean.

Peggy Carter has posed:
As a few other HYDRA agents appear at the front, Peggy lays down some suppressing (but also dangerous) fire to buy Bobbi and Lance a bit more time. Sadly, she can't help May, she trusts Daniel to do that behind since he's taking up the back. She's just here to protect her children from anything that might come out of the front or sides. She'll worry about murdering people in front of her children later. They'd need so much therapy after this.

"Shit, okay, Melinda, are you arlight back there? Ms. *Simmons*!?" She blinks in confusion as the school teacher catches up with them out in the hallway. Melly Carter-Sousa, a beanpole of a girl around 12 years old who achingly looks like a perfet mix between Daniel and Peggy, stares wide eyed at her teacher, echoing Peggy, "Miss SIMMONS? They got you too!?" Melly is holding a crying infant against her shoulder and is being good about staying towards the middle of the pack, but she's shocked to see her teacher there and clearly recognizes Jemma.

Melinda May has posed:
"I'm good," May calls to Peggy in response. "But we've got Centipedes incoming. I could use some grenades back here." Or a plasma cannon. How about her rage staff? Oh, she could have fun with that!

As she catches up to the others, body still turned to guard their six, she tells Bobbi, "That school teacher is how we found the kids. She's off limits, Morse." The spike of Jemma's excitment, even joy, registers in the back of her mind. She shakes it off with a brusque jerk of her head. "She's some sort of tech wiz."

A beat. She can hear the boots of the recovering super soliders.

"Hey, Teach. Who's Mr. Graffiti?" Because, yeah... anyone whose mind is physcially based in the real world can see McLaren's tricks and tips. The kids, the HYDRA operatives, and anyone else who's entirely a construct? Not so much... "Because it'd be really nice if he could lead us to an armory before those super soldiers catch up."

And they *will* catch up.

May doesn't have all the fancy tricks Sky Commander Morse does. She was stripped of her tacsuit and only has the weapons she's managed to scrounge along the way. Indeed, of all of them, Morse is the most prepared. May would like to even that state.

As if on cue, the blue glowing eagle that has been pacing them circles around their heads again and soars off down the hall, leading the way deeper into the lab complex.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
Well...the door is unlocked. Without Jemma touching it. That's unexpected. And it's Bobbi...though not exactly her Bobbi, if that could be considered a thing. "Well, hello there!" Oh, chipper as always, that Jemma. The comment about doing Inhuman stuff does confuse Jemma, though....which May would certainly pick up. "Me, Inhuman?" That does seem like a novel concept.

And May would pick up another emotion, a quick flash from Jemma then stowed away. That of profound amusement.

Oh, if this Bobbi only knew..

There is a moment of recognition. A smile is given to Peggy. "Hello, Peggy." First names. No Mrs. Carter. A sign that Jemma is familiar with Peggy. And...brown eyes shift to the 12 year old who is obviously Melly. It is the first that Jemma has ever seen her...at least this Jemma...but the greeting is the same. "Hello there, Melly." That is certainly her teacher, British accent and all. But...then May is asking Jemma a question. "Oh, that is Agent McLaren. I see he found a way to leave notes and other presents, which should help us immensely." With that, she flashes May the phone she just picked up from Mark, with a small little grin. "We have direct communication with him again, through this."

And just what other goodies are on that phone? Jemma leaves that a secret.

And...Simmons sees the eagle take flight. "Ah, I see he has been a busy one. Splendid. Let us follow his lead and work our way out of here, shall we?"

Bobbi Morse has posed:
As if the plan couldn't go any more wrong. Now they have a school teacher with them. She needs to get these civilians out of the way so that they can go deal with Radcliffe and AIDA. "We're headed up. I'll get one of my quinjets to take all of you away from here," she says gruffly and glances at Lance.

Her eyes move to the animated eagle once more and sighs, "I hope there aren't any more stops on our way. This is getting ridiculous." She raises her gun again and nods for Lance to move ahead as they once again take point following Mr. Wingy through the detection level of the Triskelion.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel
"Look over at mum, Lily," Daniel says as he ducks down to relieve a fallen HYDRA soldier of his machine pistol, letting his rifle hang loose on its sling. "Much better," he remarks, holding the pistol in one hand while his arm is wrapped around Lily.

New weapon in hand Daniel does as Peggy does, providing cover fire but to the rear rather than the fore. However he lifts his weapon when he sees Jemma. "Jemma," he greets, his relief palpable when she tells them they have comms with McLaren. "Did he say where he's taking us?" he says before he hears May mention centipedes, before the memory dump he might have asked what she meant, but now he unfortunately knew exactly what they could do, "No grenades, best I've got is my rifle," Daniel offers.

Hunter
"Hey Jemms," Hunter greets Jemma with a wave before moving after Bobbi. "Daisy around? She'd come in handy right now if you figured out how to get her powers working."

As the eagle moves, Lance follows taking point with a nod back to Bobbi, moving with the practiced caution deeper into the facility.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Melly gives Miss Simmons a shy little wave, confused as to why she is here but happy to see her. Then she's going back to carefully resting a hand on the back of Michael's head and trying to soothe her baby brother as he still wails through the chaos of this all. Lily's red faced eyes flicker over to Peggy as she's ordered by Daniel, not wanting to look at anything BUT her parents. She's not sobbing loudly, but stil is hiccuping with a mix of tears and fear. She's holding onto Daniel so tight she might leave bruises.

Peggy gives the teacher a little smile and a tilt of her head, confusion on her face as she's called by her first name, but they don't have time to deal with it. She gets ready to fire again, but then the eagle is going. She dashes forward with the group, trying to keep up towards the front so she can keep firing on anyone she needs. Peggy is out of words, she's in full action mode and she's protecting her babies.

Melinda May has posed:
Aaaand Simmons starts spouting nonsense again. Though, really, May can concede that Agent McLaren could be a wiz with the built-in holo system the building contains... as much as a strange Operator from beyond the Matrix. Still, the emotions are starting to distract her -- that upbeat optimism is NOT really in her personal emotional repertoire. For just a brief moment (right when Jemma finds the whole commentary on Bobbi amusing) May's expression reflects that humour before she shakes her head sharply to push it away. Again.

Seriously, May. What the hell? Simmons better not be Inhuman. May can't deal with Inhumanity on top of everything else, right now.

Nevertheless, the revelation of the phone -- someone let her keep her phone?! -- is probably the easiest way to explain the idea that McLaren is an outside operator. Whether at the Playground in the Framework or at a console in the Sphere, it doesn't matter. May understands technological connections. Her tired, confused brain can accept that.

"No grenades..." May mutters. "Yeah. Let's not make this too easy or anything." She starts looking for more obstacles she can throw in their way to impede the persuing soldiers. Mostly, it's all about the fire suppression system and whatever moveable equipment she can find to quickly toss out as makeshift barriers and obstacles. "Keep it trained on the rear," she says more loudly to Daniel. "Aim for the head. Preferably an eye."

Not something the kids need to hear. But true, nonetheless.

The eagle leads the group into a long lab that's lined with machinery May and Morse will immediately recognize as made to extract Inhuman DNA and study it, while restraining subjects within. There are no subjects there now. But the room could use a bit of a clean. There are still specimen cases on the tables.

May moves to barricade the door they enter through, so no one can get in or out that way, leaving the door at the far end as the main means of egress.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
Jemma falls in line, right with Melly and Lily and Peg. Perhaps it is the British connection that prompted Jemma to join the group there...or it could be that compassion that she feels that led to her given role as school teacher. Whatever the case, Jemma seems rather adept at handling the little ones. Of course, it does help to know that they really are just digital avatars with personality bits lifted from their parents. So...there is that.

As the group enters the lab, Jemma dawns on the realization on exactly where they are. Which...should surprise May and Bobbi, if nothing else. "This is a medical lab. Designed for the examination of the genetic sequencing of the Inhuman genome." How the hell does she know that? It could be perhaps because it is something that she would use. Only... "This is frightening barbaric. This is designed more as an abattoir, not a research facility." That smile fades, quickly replaced with a frown. And...anger?

Oh, yes, most definitely anger.

But, it gives Jemma an idea. This is an Inhuman research station. Perhaps, just perhaps, there are terrigen crystals here. And...if there are, then a couple of individuals are going to get a rude awakening.

With that, Jemma bends down to the two girls, whispering to them while using the opportunity to observe the room. Looking for crystals.

"What if I told you two that I am a biochemist doctor spy that works for SHIELD?" The tone is conspiratorial...and obviously joking. She has to be, right?

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi peers at Lance. He knows Jemma? Bobbi only knows her because of surveillance on May and Carter when they discovered Daniel was still SHIELD. What a weird twisted circle this has come around in. She presses her lips together firmly.. May made a religion out of killing Inhumans.

She pushes on and in to the lab, "This is not how we get to an armory.. why are we heading through the labs?" she says to no one in particular, or perhaps to the graffiti eagle, or trash eagle as she's started thinking of it.

With the doors barricaded she looks over at May. The concern on her face is evident. HYDRA super soldiers aren't going to be stopped for long by that. They will have to make a stand. She looks back to Lance.. coming all this way just to be in the firing line again and this time not because she intended it.

Holstering in her gun she walks over to May and helps move stuff in front of the door. "You realise," she says looking at the family, "that this is it right. Either we beat those six behind us or we're done." Because they don't have any more cards up their sleeves as far as they know.

She opens her coat to reveal just one more magazine of bullets for her machine pistol, no more grenades, a couple of flash bangs, some 'lockpicks' but she's running low on supplies. Quietly he whispers, "This was never meant to be the mission," as a way of explanation that she's almost out of munitions.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel
"Good girl," he tells Lily, gently stroking her back, there's no complaints about the grip on his shoulder, he can live with the bruises. Securing his new weapon and checking it over he continues on working with Peggy to protect their children and cover the rest of their ad hoc team. As they step into the rooms with the machines, he flinches, having heard of but never seen these things, but the descriptions that filtered out to the resistance was good enough to tell what they were and Jemma's description of the place confirms it. He remembers the family he failed to get out of DC before his 'death' and hugs Lily that much tighter.

May's advice is a welcome distraction. "Got it," he answers May, flicking his selector to single shot, that was more his speed than cutting loose with an automatic. He sets Lily down in cover if she'll let go. "Stay down," he warns his kids, then shoots a glance to Peggy meeting her eyes for a moment if he can letting that look express all the 'good lucks' and 'I love yous' before taking aim at the barricade.

Hunter

Stalking along side Bobbi, the new room gets a quick initial scan for threats before he truly takes in its purpose. "Bloody hell," he curses looking about. "Don't want to know what goes on in here," he says, though he suspects it's very much the sort of place List might set up in their world. "Shame we're out of grenades this place deserves a few on principle," a beat. "Or you know for the super soldiers behind us."

"We've made it through worse, Bobs," he tells her when she laments their lack of munitions. "All the same though, don't die out there," he tells her with a tense but sentimental smile.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Since Peggy's had her hands free this entire time, she immediately sets up in barricaded stance as May has indicated. She's opposite Daniel, settling in smoothly to work with him, "Got it. We'll keep the door clear." Peggy echoes. Then she's looking back to him and she mouths quietly, 'I love you too.' Even if he never said it. She saw it in his eyes.

Lily doesn't want to go down, but since Ms. Simmons seems willing to be near the kids and Melly trusts her, the older girl ushers them both over to where near Jemma is, "Miss Simmons, c-can we stay with you? Mum and dad are working, I know, but... Lily's scared, and I can't get Michael to stop crying. He only stops for mum when he's like this." She's got just a hint of Peggy's accent, but her hair is wavy like Daniel's and she has his cheekbones. She's still rocking that infant as best possible, looking too grown up for her 12 years as she keeps her free arm around Lily's shoulders. She blinks at Jemma's words, "A-are... are you? They said SHIELD was bad, but I knew... I knew it wasn't. Daddy's SHIELD too, though he won't say..." No wonder she got taken for reeducation.

Melinda May has posed:
May's not surprised by Bobbi's revelation, only that she's taking the time to help her with her barricade and not continuing to plow ahead. She's known since the octet first appeared that they were on borrowed time. "I know..." Her lips press tightly together.

Lance's comments bring a wry grimace to her lips. "*This* is what the Doctor does, dog boy. This is why he should be left behind."

She turns back to Bobbi as Daniel and Peggy hunker down to make a stand for the sake of their children. "Go," she says softly. "Take Hunter and find Radcliffe." She shakes her head sharply. "Fuck Radcliffe, *kill Madame HYDRA*. She's the one calling the shots. Just... leave me with your coat--" it has a shield, "and access to a quinjet. I'll... delay them as long as I can. Maybe we'll get lucky." She's good enough, she can probably delay them quite a bit. Especially if that shield can take some of the hits and Peggy and Daniel make their shots count.

But without her rage staff, it's still dicey. And no. There's no armory here. Not unless this mysterious McLaren decides to change the whole layout of the Triskelion. Or maybe drop some useful cheat codes down on their heads.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
Well...McLaren may not be able to drop cheat codes on most people. However, Jemma....is another story. With an exaggerated hush expression more in line to make the kids laugh and be included, Jemma does a slow nod. "Oh yes. But it is super secret. You can't tell anyone." The bright smile and the wink seems playful, but the words are truthful. Should a certain empath be listening.

And...speaking of empaths and Inhumans, Jemma spies what she is looking for. In the specimen cases are exactly what the doctor ordered. Terrigen crystals. Seemingly pure, to boot. Wonderful. Jemma speaks up, her voice carrying a certain commanding tone, while still sounding like she is suggesting. An interesting dynamic, to say the least. "Agent Hunter, Agent Sousa, Peggy....I believe we should move to the opposite side of the laboratory, for the children's sake." Of course, use the children as an excuse. With a nod, Jemma herself encourages the children to head towards the back of the room, using the distraction to slide over to a specimen case and help herself to two vials of terrigen crystals. Both disappear into a pocket briefly, as that phone of Jemma's pops out. She tilts it to the side, holding it in landscape mode, as anyone who would be watching would see what looks like a control pad pop up on the screen. It might be confusing to most....but there is one who knows what is about to happen.

McLaren gets a Jemma's-eye-view as she types in the Konami Code once more, activating the latent cheat codes she and Daisy programmed in. It seems she feels she is going to need them. Immediately after that, she types a text to McLaren. <<Have Sarah keep an eye on May and Bobbi. Testing a theory.>> Then...the phone is slipped back away, as one of the vials of terrigen crystals appears back in her hand.

Judging from Jemma's actions, the dynamic duo in the real world should be able to grasp Jemma's impromptu plan. She is going to trigger terrigenesis...and the cheat codes are implemented as backup.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi stares in to Lance's eyes for a long moment. Longer than she expected she would. One of her eyes ruined, the other just fine. Deep with emotion, she hasn't heard those for a long long time. She places a hand on his shoulder and squeezes, "You too."

It's a plan, not a plan she likes.. but she brings up her wrist communicator and taps the button, "Things are getting dicey, two parents, three kids, May, and a school teacher need evacuation. Swing the Tanchareon Hawk to level 8, west building, for evac."

    -- ^&^@!# -- 411/ 3V4<U4710|\ 4<K|\0W13>G3> --

She shrugs of the long leather coat of the Sky Commander and hands it out to May. There's movement going on on the far side of the room and Bobbi turns back to look at the group huddled back there. "We have to make our stan..." she pauses and sees Jemma holding a vial of terrigen.

Her heart sinks as she believes they have been betrayed, "May!" is all she can call out as the vial is thrown there way and breaks. The gas disperses and she looks at Lance in utter terror as her body is cover in a strange stone like structure. Captured in mid motion about to sprint toward the traitor Simmons.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel
There is a glimmer of a smile at Peggy's mouthed words as he mouths back "See you after."

Jemma gets his attention next his mouth opening only to close again when she brings out the crystals and explains her plan, "Right," he glances over towards May and Bobbi. "This should be interesting." He shoots a concerned look towards May as the crystals fly making sure his kids are at a safe distance.

Hunter
Hunter meets Bobbi's eyes and puts a hand on her shoulder in return. "Missed this," he says quietly before he let's go slowly stepping away for a moment to gather himself. Which is why his snark is late, but he manages it, "Dog man thank you very much," Hunter snarks back at May. "And tell me you haven't done horrible shit in here working for HYDRA, I mean Bobs bloody shot me and I've let bygones be bygones. Fitz doesn't do this stuff in our world, Jemma?" he looks for her backup but then she's got the crystals. "Bloody hell," he says as they're thrown and Bobs starts to change in front of him. "It's alright Bobs, you're going to be alright," he promises before she's enclosed entirely.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Melly gives a little bit more of a grin to Jemma and a fast nod. She does respect the teacher, for what it's worth. She's also smart and old enough to realize that they aren't friends with HYDRA, so being secretive about this any longer probably doesn't much matter. But she stays towards the back, always watching her parents for further orders, still bobbing Michael up and down in efforts to keep him a bit more quiet. Lily's sniffling, but watching Jemma and those crystals curiously.

Peggy has no clue what is going on, but it can't be good. She pulls back as the orders are given, flanking around her child with Daniel. As with anything before, she's putting her body between them and what is happening in the front of the room, joining with Daniel as a sort of human SHIELD wall. "What in *hells* is going on here?" She asks in shocked confusion. Peggy's never seen anything like it.

Melinda May has posed:
In the Sphere, McLaren looks up as a text arrives in from Jemma. "Ooooh, shit," he breathes. "Sarah! Jemma's dropping terrigen on May and Morse. You'd better watch 'em."

"She's what? Oh, hell." Collingwood spins toward the pods. "Their vitals are already elevated..." Nevertheless, she moves back toward those pods -- just in case.

---

May takes the coat from Bobbi, shrugging into it. The sound of the super soldiers in the corridor beyond is clear, now. They ram against the doors, making the barricade shudder. She lifts her rifle, glancing back over her shoulder as Bobbi calls her name. She sees those crystals shatter and her eyes fly open wide. Her rifle spins back toward Jemma, but only makes it about halfway before the rock has her frozen, betrayal and anger etched into the fixed surface.

The barricade shudders again. Shadows of the Centipede soldiers can be seen cast against the transluscent glass of the door. One of them takes a rifle and starts beating on the glass. All while the group's two strongest fighters stand encased in obsidian.

Obsidian that begins to crumble. It doesn't, however, take them with it -- as May has seen too many times before. No, it falls away from their bodies like ashes falling off a log. The rifle tumbles from Melinda's hand as the rock drifts away and litters the floor. The weapon hits the floor and bounces. May completes her spin toward the group behind her, toward Jemma. Her dark eyes, angry and afraid, meet Jemma's paler ones... right before she collapses onto her knees. Her hands fly to her head, pressing hard against her temples and she lets out a primal scream that, frankly, has probably been echoing through all their psyches for days, now... ever since they each realized the true horror this world really is.

---

Collingwood doesn't have time to swear as May's vitals spike up into the red zone. She doesn't have time to panic. She grabs a vial that contains a wide spectrum cocktail of stabilizing agents -- including a decent sedative -- and injects it with calm, steady hands into the bio port they have rigged to her pod. She watches those vitals until there's a hint of positive change (which means she's not seeing May transition into a tachycardic episode or anything... just elevated stress hormones), before she then grabs a similar cocktail to use on Morse.

But Morse's vitals haven't spiked nearly so high nor so wildly. However, there's clear indication that *something* happened. "Yeah, tell Jemma, whatever she did... it's definitely done *something* to them."

"Are they hurt?"

"I don't know."

"Are they going to be okay?"

"I don't know."

"Did it work?"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

McLaren actually ducks. Then, softly: "She activated the Konami code."

"Awesome. Maybe she'll live through whatever they try to do to her in revenge..."

Jemma Simmons has posed:
There is almost a sort of morbid curiosity from Jemma as the crystals shatter and the gas erupts. After all, it is still a simulation...but even she wasn't exactly sure if it was going to work or not. But...the tell-tale signs are there. The cocoon of obsidian. The crumbling there after. And, perhaps most importantly, the lack of reaction from the people on the opposite side of the lab. Then...with a gasp, the comment that Lance had before is referred back to, with Jemma speaking in somewhat awestruck tones.

"Yes, Agent Hunter, I believe I found the way to restore Daisy's powers."

But then, Jemma does the unthinkable. She actually runs *towards* the two now-powered individuals. And, with the expression she wears, Jemma isn't wasting any time. "No time to explain twice, so listen. May, you are an empath. You can sense the emotion of others. You have been sensing the emotions of just the people trapped in this simulation before because they are in range of your physical body. Now that ability is unlocked here." A quick turn towards Bobbi. "You are a super soldier, with all that it entails. You also can see the genetic make-up of a person as well with a touch, though you are still trying to figure out how to decipher that. I did this so that you two have better odds with what is coming through that door right now as well as so you believe me when I tell you that I know who you are. Now, do what I know you can do and take these Hydra agents out."

Jemma herself doesn't wait to see if Bobbi and May even register what she said. Instead, she reaches into her pocket, tapping the screen of her phone once. It is a favorite of hers...the sped-up perception. With two friends who have yet to figure out they are Jemma's friends behind her and a gaggle of Hydra goons in front of her, Jemma is going to need all the help she can get. For the others in the room, it appears almost as if Jemma is moving faster than thought possible...but for Jemma? Everyone is just slower...and therefore easier to counter. Should she need to.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
The only sounds Bobbi hears after Lance's voice reassuring her she'll be alright... is the beating of her own heart. It sounds erratic, like it's losing it. She can feel the ache over her body.. but then in the real world, the cocktail of drugs kicks in and the biofeedback in to the simulation activates.

Slowly, Bobbi finds herself drifting in to a calm space, a space she hasn't felt before in this simulation at all and never before in real life either. A space that is all too quickly lost as the primordial scream in her head from May knocks her mentally sideways.

The stone crumbles away from her and she falls flat on to the ground. Shuddering and shaking she pushes herself up. Her ears are ringing and her vision is blurry like she's just taken a stun grenade to the face. Her messed up eye? not so messed up anymore, though the scar is still down one side of her face her eyes turn toward Lance, then to May, then back to the beating of the door from the centipede soldiers... and then back to Jemma Simmons.

She can feel the rage boiling up inside of her. But also the confusion that she must be Inhuman. That's.. impossible. She's had her blood tested many times. Internal security reviews. The narrative of the framework crashed in to the reality of her body in the real world and something had to give. A paradox.

She slumps down and watches as a HYDRA super soldier smashes in the window. So this is it... this is how it ends for her? "I'm sorry Lance...," she says very softly. "I didn't know I was a monster." She draws her pistol and contemplates what to do with it next. A new option has presented itself, one she fears greatly. Or perhaps she just needs to be stronger.. after Captain Marvel was 'different' and was a valued member of HYDRA. She fought the good fight... which turns out to have been bullshit.

Jemma's rushed explanation is returned with a look of doubt and confusion, but she's going to push on for now. She knows there's a cure - Leopold said as much. He wasn't after a cure though, he was after the powers themselves. He was after control.

Rising slowly up she walks over to the barricaded door and grabs the arm of the HYDRA agent who has smashed through. She pulls and there's a resounding *thunk* as he hits the door really hard. Dazed, he falls back and Bobbi starts to get a strange feeling of... energy in her step. She feels ...alive.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel
Daniel stands firm with Peggy shielding their kids, as he does he answers her question. "Something I've only heard about before, terrigenesis," he remarks. "I think Jemma's trying to even the odds." Good thing too because by the sound of the ram it won't be long before they need every advantage they can get. He looks over to Peggy we should get set up to fight, it might take them some time to recover.

Hunter
Oooor maybe not, Bobbi is out of the cocoon and running as soon as it shatters. Hunter smiles, giving a glance to Jemma. "Seems like," he replies, before crouching down behind one of the horrible machines that fills the room. "Let's hope Bobs and May can make the difference," he says to scientist, unaware of Jemma's upgrades.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peggy is rarely quiet but, for these moments, she's dead silent. The scream coming from May, the rushed explanations from Jemma, The rage and then dazed energy from Bobbi? It all seems near impossible, even with Daniel's explanation, but maybe it will buy them time. Her rifle is slung across her shoulder for a moment, no one yet coming through the door. She's taking the few moments she can get to wrap her free, non-bleeding arm around Melly and press close to her children, trying to protect them from the pain and drama going on over head.

"Girls, you just stay here with us. Your father and I. Don't worry about them, Aunt Mel is going to be okay, she is... it's just very hard and there are bad people out there, so she's trying to get ready to fight. But we're going to get on a plane very, very soon, and we'll be safe. I promise, girls...we'll be safe." She kisses both her daughters' foreheads, focusing more on them than the pain and strange circumstances behind her. Then Daniel is saying they should get ready to fight again, recovery will take time. She swallows back and nods. "I love you all. So, so much." She whispers to her little family. Then she's letting go of Melly, her rifle slung into her hands. She gets ready to fire back until the moment they can get on that Quin jet.

Melinda May has posed:
The scream eventually dies in May's throat -- more for lack of air than anything else. Empath. The word only peripherally registers in her mind. It does, some small part of her realizes, perhaps explain why she has felt emotions not her own from some of the others... those others that seem intimately wrapped up in this hellish nightmare. But the influx of emotions the simulation now channels into her is more than she could possibly have anticipated. And nothing like what happened to her in the real world. Not that she remembers that. At all.

Still, everything has sharpened -- all the rage, desperation, fear, determination, confusion, pain... so much. Too much. From her companions. And even from the bastards out in the hall who are trying to kill them. (And whose own comrades are being ripped to shreds only a couple of floors above them all.) The full understanding of 'Empath' is heavier than she imagined.

But it is nothing compared to 'Inhuman'.

HYDRA STRIKE Commander May cannot abide Inhumans. They are monsters. They are called 'inhuman' for a reason. Worse... Katya Belyakov was an Inhuman Empath. And the devastation that little girl wrought with her powers was so great it changed the whole world.

Into this nightmare.

Whether it's Jemma's conviction and hope, Daniel and Peggy's undying devotion, or Bobbi and Lance's determination, she'll never be able to say. All she knows is that an Inhuman Empath once changed the world before. So, maybe it's time for an Inhuman Empath to do it again.

As both Jemma and Bobbi begin wading toward the doors where the HYDRA troopers now must unexpectedly defend themselves, Melinda turns to follow them. She casts her eyes about for some sort of weapon. Shimmering on the floor before her, a long white staff appears, carved with Norse Runes. She pauses and then stoops to pick it up.

Near the door, a round vibranium shield shimmers into existence -- the bold blue SHIELD eagle inscribed on its face. That same eagle morphs onto the HYDRA patches that decorate the shoulders of Bobbi's coat... and anywhere else the HYDRA insignia mars the markings on the small group of beleaguered escapees.

The glowing blue eagle they'd been following thus far comes to hover before Peggy and Daniel, between them and the fray. It spreads its wings and a blue barrier extends to encircle their little family protectively like, well, a shield. The odds just seriously turned.

And elsewhere in the complex, a tall brunette is locking down the penthouse and telling her erstwhile master to go attend to his paramour -- who has herself probably noticed the changes going on. Shit just got real all over the place.

In more ways than one.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
There is conviction, most definitely. And hope. If there was ever two emotions that could be used to define the seemingly traitorous schoolteacher, those would be it. There is only really a short moment in which Jemma studies Commander May, those brown eyes of hers taking in everything. But, for Jemma, it might as well be a thorough examination, for her enhanced perception. Heightened heartbeat, yes. Accelerated breathing, of course. Murderous intent towards the scientist in the room? No. And, for that, Jemma is grateful.

The rest of the scene unfolds before Jemma like a slow turning of a page in the book. The materialization of the Berserker staff? McLaren's work, no doubt. As well as the vibranium shield for Bobbi Morse...as if reinforcing that super soldier declaration from Simmons herself. There is even an appreciation for the blue eagle enveloping around the Carter-Sousas, fabricating a force field for the family to shelter in.

Jemma will have to give props to Mark when she gets out of here. That...had style points.

Attention to the doorway now, with the HYDRA agents working to bust it down. And three standing immediately in front of that door. An empath with a rage staff...formidable as always. A super soldier with a matching shield, poised and ready. A force to be reckoned with before...but now even moreso, with all her physical attributes at or beyond peak human endurance.

And....a school teacher with a smart phone.

This should prove interesting.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi is trying to temper the disgust she feels with herself and the mission. She is reminding herself again and again that this is all a lie, that Garrett was a lie, that even the Inhumans as she knows them are a lie. Lance told her she has Inhuman friends in the real world... she looks over to him.

    But then double takes as a vibranium shield appears, much like Captain HYDRAs but with an eagle on it. "What the...," she says and picks it up with ease. A look of amusement and confusion crosses her face and she tilts her head, "How's it look on me Lance?"

    The HYDRA super soldiers powered by the centipede serum start to take turns battering in to the door and all the stuff the group had put in front of it. Bobbi takes a step back and moves the shield about her body, feeling it and hearing it hum against the air. "It's real? Or.. as real as things get in this stupid place. I always wanted to play with Danvers' shield."

    "Huh.. I just got an idea," she says and walks back away from the door, lining herself up and says, "On me. Behind my shield." Oh the irony of those words. The door and furniture are pushed open and away and Bobbi charges like a line backer through the door and collides in to the super soldiers with the vibranium shield. Bullets bounce off of it like they were nothing.

    Then the pitched battle is in. She gives one of the HYDRA super soldiers an Italian moustache with the edge of the shield, then grabs another and throws him to the wall far harder than she realised she could. He bounces off of it like a rag doll, but then cracks his neck and stands back up to fight. She might be super strong, but they've got the centipede running through their veins. Too bad that doesn't cure you of gunshots. _du du du_ her machine pistol from behind the shield goes right through his chest, neck and head.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel
The translucent shield forms around his family and Daniel breathes a touch easier, even as he tells his kids to stay down. Giving a glance to Peggy he readies his gun taking May's advice to heart, aim for the eye.The other changes are noted too, a nod is given to May, encouraging her to take up the staff. "Peg and I'll keep you covered if you want to get in close," he calls.

For her part Peggy returns the glance and the children under Melly's instruction flatten behind the machines to wait out the storm

Hunter
"You're not a monster Bobs, you're you," Hunter tells Bobbi as she emerges from her chrysalis, a faint smile as the shield appears and the logos on her uniform change as does the one on his stolen tac vest. "At least we're in the right colours," he says, before adding to Bobbi. "You're never going to let me forget you got to play with that," he nods at the shield. "Aren't you?" he says before adding. "And you look pretty damn good."

Then the battle is on Hunter following Bobbi, taking down supersoldiers with point blank shots to the head keeping close to Bobs and the shield as he falls into that old familiar rhythm they had when they worked together becoming a well-oiled and deadly machine. From behind the shield Peggy and Daniel take their shots range making eye shots difficult but rounds hit the the head if not the eye every time.

Melinda May has posed:
All the rage Melinda has built up over the past ten years floods her veins as her hands grip that staff. The images that flash through her brain now are the same ones AIDA ripped out of her head only hours before. The difference now is that the staff takes that rage and pain and turns it into strength and resiliance to match Bobbi's newfound Inhuman abilities.

She pulls back as Bobbi take point with that SHIELD. Truthfully, she's only registering things on a very intinctive level right now. There's a certain 'Hulk Smash' quality to her thinking, if the truth were known. But anger. Rage. Those things she understands. Those things she knows how to deal with. That's why she's always been able to wield the rage staff when others simply can't.

Perversely, perhaps, rage allows Melinda May to focus. It allows her to channel her energy into decisive action. And so, she does. Whatever she may feel about being 'Inhuman', whatever she may think about Jemma's betrayal, and whatever she may sense of the swirl of emotions surrounding her, anger gives her clarity and direction.

So, when Bobbi goes through that door and starts engaging the Centipede squad, she is close behind her. She ducks and rolls under attacks and then comes up swinging. There's no question the men and women beyond that door have the strength and resiliance to match either May or Bobbi. What they lack, however, is their understanding that this, for them, really is a last stand situation. If they fall, this nightmare never ends. And that is simply unthinkable.

Thus, May's blows are inhumanly fast and easily as strong as the super soldiers facing her. She slides under the guard of the nearest man and issues a series of punishing blows to his torso and face. The centipede bracers on his arms crack under her assault, leaking viscous fluid all over. She smashes the back of his skull as she spins away to engage a second man, as deadly now as she was when she faced Jiaying in Nepal.

But these soldiers aren't nearly as good as Jiaying was. So, their fall is a foregone conclusion.

---

"Both Morse and May are in danger of cardiac events," Sarah tells Mark, injecting cocktails meant to fortify and stablize each of them into their bio jacks. "You need to find them a way out. Fast."

"I'm working on it! But AIDA... something happening to AIDA. The code is changing all over the place."

"What do you mean changing?"

"I mean, it's rewriting itself. The whole Framwork is effectively inside her mind. You realize that, don't you?"

"So?"

"So... what do you think will happen if she starts rewriting her own code?"

"Ragnarok?"

"We're running out of time."

Jemma Simmons has posed:
Yes...that's it. Take out that aggression on the Centipede goons. Never mind the little British brunette with nothing in her hands. That at least bodes well with Jemma in regards to May. And Bobbi, with her vibranium shield...well, there is little that she has to worry about from her this time. There are enough targets for her to ignore Jemma.

But...there was a reason why Jemma was locked up in an Inhuman holding cell. And...with the Konami Code in full effect, it becomes apparent to her compatriots exactly *why* Jemma was locked up in that cell.

Jemma was standing. And then, a second later, she just isn't there anymore. Rather, she is darting her way through the crowd, ducking through bullets as she sidesteps around both super-soldier and berserker towards the nearest goon in front of her. There is a calm sidestep, a duck, then Jemma's hand grasps upon the wrist of the HYDRA agent, just at the base of the implant. Just as fast, she shifts the held wrist up and to the right, using the implant to catch a bullet that would have intercepted her just before her right ear. As the cry of pain erupts from the now compromised guard, Jemma is already moving on, tossing her captured arm (with the guard still in the throes of pain) to the side, stepping up towards another of the brute squad and nudging him just enough so that a swing of Bobbi with that shield connects with that one fully. It isn't as efficient as Bobbi's style, or as flashy as May's...but it still is a sight to behold.

Jemma...in the middle of the Centipede Squad....and nothing seems to touch her.

Yet, during the fight, there are two distinct thoughts that echo in Jemma's mind, completely unrelated to the combat at hand. One...to thank Mark once more for getting her phone to her. And two...to thank Daisy and her insistence that they go in with an edge. Even if it was heavily influenced by far too much caffeine and pop culture.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    There's a shake of her head to Lance confirming that she will _never_ let him forget this moment. If she knew who Captain America was she'd be calling herself that right now. Nope, she only has Captain HYDRA to go off of. And that's not a great example.

    But the way the shield moves is so smooth and easy. Vibranium is a wondrous metal that defies the laws of physics. Oh yeah! she looks over the edge of the shield and then does a spin and throws it at a HYDRA super soldier. He doubles over in the middle and the SHIELD bounces back to her wildly and she catches it with ease. "Unreal," she says meaning that both figuratively and literally.

    Bobbi twirls past May and holds up the shield deflecting off shots toward her as she wields that crazy staff, then she throws the shield at another agent about to shoot at Lance. Unlike in the real world, using her Inhuman linked abilities does not cause her heart to start sucking away all the oxygen in her system and then failing. This is Bobbi Morse on framework crack.

    As much as Morse is enjoying laying down a serious beating on these centipede catastrophes she knows they don't have much time. They need to get the family to level 8 and on to the Tanchareon Hawk.

    She steps it up, briefly exposing her back she holds out her shield and shoots her machine pistol at its edges, reflecting the bullets back behind her and at several targets at once in a couple of bursts, then turns and shield punches another HYDRA super soldier up against the wall.

    Surveying the room she looks to see if any of them are foolish enough to try to get back up, "We need to move." The blur that was/is Jemma Simmons gets a long cold stare from Bobbi. She has ever reason to despise this school teacher.. but.. this new angle of perception is telling her that this person is a good person to have on her side. "If we're lucky my quinjets have taken out any resistance between us and the Hawk."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel

"Huh, wouldja look at that," Daniel says as May,Bobbi and Jemma wipe the floor with the Centipede soldiers. He barely has to take a shot, just sitting back and letting what happens happen and dropping one of the ones that try to get back up. Once the enemy is all down, he and Peggy get their family on their feet and he takes Lily into his arms, and he moves towards the door, "Look up at the ceiling, Lilybug," he warns his daughter as they get near the bodies.

Hunter
Hunter feels like he's caught in the middle of a whirlwind as May, Bobs and Jemma tear the enemy apart. Before he knows it it's over, a Centipede soldier tries to rise only to be shot down by one of the Carter-Sousas.

"Really?!" he demands. "I don't get to shoot anyone, not bloody fair."

Though when it's time to move, he's ready to go, gripes stowed away for the ride out of here.

Melinda May has posed:
When the centipede soldiers are finally down, May stands whiteknuckled and stiff shouldered amidst the fallen, her back to everyone as she shrugs off Bobbi's coat. "You want this back?" she asks, her voice a rasp thanks to her earlier scream. "Or shall I keep it?" There's a lot more HYDRA to fight through before they get to the Hawk.

Regardless, it's time for them all to get a move on. Her gaze lands on Jemma -- who, yes, was clearly in the Inhuman labs for a reason beyond stealing crystals to throw at her and Morse. The look on her face seems to ask, 'who are you?', but she doesn't voice it. Instead, she decides they need the woman on their side if they're going to actually pull this off. So, she adjusts her grip on the staff and falls back to cover their six. But not before she picks up a fallen weapon or two to add to her kit.

She doesn't quite trust Morse's automated quinjets, for some reason... Nevertheless, when the small group does move on, however, resistance is lighter than it could have been, proving that the jets are indeed doing their job.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
If there were any looks towards Jemma from both Bobbi and May, which of course there was, Jemma doesn't seem to acknowledge it. At least...it doesn't appear that she does. Instead, Jemma wades out of the bottleneck caused by the bodies on the floor as she heads towards the shielded family. Her voice calls out, that British tone and sensibility strong in presence...yet no actual breathlessness to her voice, even after all of that physical exertion. "We best be going. The AI construct in control here has learned to resurrect the digital assets. These guard will not stay down for long." How does Jemma know that?

Well...she has seen it first hand.

Instead, she heads towards the children, offering that bright smile as she speaks to Melly as she is an equal. "Are you alright, my dear? If you are willing to go just a bit farther, it shouldn't be long now until we all get out of here."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi scoffs a touch as May attempts to return the coat, "You can keep it. I have a fancy shield.. and I'm done being anyones sky commander." She hasn't had much time yet to appreciate the terrigenesis restoring her eye. She lifts a hand up and moves it from one side of her face to the other, both eyes tracking the object.

Bobbi peers at Jemma and she says yet more incredible and improbable thing, "Resurrect.... you've got to be kidding me." She nods decisively to Lance, "We're on point, I'll go first, stay behind me and the shield... Lance." She adds his name because it's still a novelty to say again after all these years.

Moving on up the stair case, shield first, she hears the whispers of some HYDRA soldiers behind a door preparing an ambush. She holds up a fist, then touches a button on the device on her wrist. A holographic targeting system lights up around it and she points it at the door, lining up with heat vision from her goggles.

    -- ;*$@!@ -- 7/14|\GV1471|\G --

    There is a sudden burst of machine gun fire behind the door and the sound of a half dozen bodies all dropping to the ground at once. Bobbi smirks and lowers the holographic sight and turns it off. She opens the door and gingerly steps past the dead bodies.

    The windows are completely blown out in this corridor, the wind from outside whipping against them as they advance. There's a shimmer a quinjet flies past. The battle outside is far from done. A HYDRA zeppelin de-cloaks suddenly and its big energy weapon blasts through a quinjet. The quinjet crashes in to the building making _everything_ shake, as it then falls down to the ground.

    A HYDRA soldier opens the far door and shoots. Bobbi instinctively raises the SHIELD in the way and the bullet deflects back and hits the guy in the throat. He drops his gun with a look of amazement and then falls to his knees, keeling over and then dying.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel
Daniel and Peggy move the family up to the doors stepping around the bodies. Melly smiles to Jemma. "I'm okay," she tells her, while holding her younger brother Michael in her arms. "T-that was cool, what you did," she tells her. Clearly somebody had been peeking, truly shocking from the daughter of Peggy Carter.

Daniel smiles and shrugs before hurrying the family along and after the others.

Hunter
Lance falls in behind Bobbi and the shield he's never going to hear the end of, though not before pulling a grenade from the belts of one of the centipede soldiers' belts, pulling the pin and keeping the handle squeezed with the dead man's body weight. "Just in case they rise from the dead," he says before he's hurrying on after the others.

When they reach the upper room he grins as the shield takes care of the opposition. "Helluva fight out there," he remarks to Bobs. "So how do we get out of here?"

Melinda May has posed:
Morse and Hunter take point. Jemma attends the family, and May lingers to cover their six. As they pass through each door, she takes a moment to lock down what she can before following them up into the windblown, empty corridor. "Can you get the Hawk here?" she calls ahead to Bobbi. "The sooner we get the family out of here, the sooner we can go hunt down Radcliffe and his pet robot and finish this."

'Cause she's so done.

She has no way of knowing they haven't gotten everyone of import yet -- that Dottie Underwood has entered the matrix and Leopold Fitz is having the first stirrings of doubt. Nor does she know what Radcliffe's poppet, Skye, has planned. All she knows is that it's past time Peggy, Daniel, and the kids made good their escape.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
"Oh....you was watching?" The tone is the same as Melly has heard before from her teacher. That same mix of intrigue with quiet knowing that betrays the fact that of course Jemma assumed that Melly was watching. She is a Carter, after all. "I....hmm....thank you. Maybe, after we all get out of here, I can explain how that works." Because, unlike Bobbi or May, Jemma is almost frightening mundane. At least...physically. "Let's just say for now that you can do anything if you put your mind to it."

Which, considering that this is all a shared hallucination in the mind, is about as true as one can get.

Still, Jemma doesn't seem to show off any other hidden tricks as she takes to the middle calmly. With Peggy and Jemma both in close proximity to the children, they might seem rather calm, all things considered. Of course, it does help to keep them engaged...and not on what is going on around them, which Jemma seems to have a knack for.

Besides, it keeps Jemma from seeing some more of those sidelong glances from Bobbi or May. Soon...soon she will explain all. Just...not while they are trying to stay alive.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi can't help but smirk with amusement and perhaps admiration that Lance's first thought when it comes to re-animated HYDRA agents was to leave a grenade boobytrap for them. She's remembering why she fell for him in the first place. And not just his accent or James Bond looks.

    Eyeing the number on the door they're approaching -6- she says, "It's parked by a window on the eighth floor, but I'll redirect it to here." Hey eyes on May for a moment longer, shivering at the recent memory of her scream that somehow felt like it was inside her head. May is.. the same thing that started the war between Inhumans and Humans. That must be eating her up inside.

    She touches a button on her wrist and says, "Can you relocate the Tanchareon Hawk to Level 6?"

    -- ------ -- U|\4813 70 <0MP1/ --

    Bobbi pauses at the readout on her screen and frowns. She looks outside as another quinjet is hit with an RPG and it explodes not far from them. The heat warms the corridor briefly. "Something is wrong with Quinjet Prime," she says and depresses the button, "We're going to have to push on - may be fast. If we lose quinjet support this is going to get a lot harder."

    Bobbi kicks open the door to the stair well and raises up her shield, moving forward behind it up to level 7, bypassing it, then to level 8. Behind the door she says in a low voice, "Down the hallway, dog left to the right, office 817, the Hawk should be parked with its hanger open through the window, cloaked. This is the home stretch."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel
Melly nods to Jemma, "Okay, after we get out," she says, it sounds like she plans to hold her former teacher to that. Daniel smiles and gives his daughter a nudge to go ahead after their mother while they climb the floors. Up on level 6 Daniel and Peggy gather up their children in a corner, keeping themselves between them and the rest of the room weapons ready while they wait for a ride. When it's clear it's not coming the two of them get the family together and move them quickly up the next two levels to find the jet. Peggy taking point, Daniel, Lily in hand taking up the rear.

Hunter
Hunter flashes a grin and a wink to Bobbi after the trap is set. "C'mon let's get going," he says before following her on up to the sixth floor, he sets up by the door to the stairs when they arrive watching their backs until it's clear their trip isn't done, then he's right behind Bobbi following her up the stairs to level 8. "Roger," he says Bobs lays out the directions to the waiting jet. He pushes through the door taking point until the others come up behind him.

Melinda May has posed:
That Morse is losing control of the quinjets does not sit well with May. They need to hurry. Up they go, off level six to level seven and then higher to level eight... where the corridor opens up to reveal a small platoon of HYDRA storm troopers waiting.

Despite the little ears nearby, May swears. She, like Morse and Hunter no doubt, recognizes some of the faces in that crowd. Recognizes them because she put them down once already. "It's just like at the Silo..." she groans. Given Jemma's strange warning, Daniel will probably be able to put two and two together to know that they're facing the digitally resurected.

Swiftly, she considers their options. "Daniel, Peggy, protect your family." With that, she moves past them, tapping Jemma briefly on the shoulder to encourage her to join the fray. Four SHIELD Avengers against a phalanx of squids. Child's play, right?

Well. Maybe not. But god knows Melinda May is in sore need of some more quality aggression therapy. Her rage staff spins... and HYDRA troopers fall. Most of them will never know what hit them. Time to clear a path for the kids. That's how all this started. That's where it's going to end.

One way or another.

Jemma Simmons has posed:
A laugh. An honest laugh is given, as Jemma nods her agreement to the eldest child. "You are not going to believe me, but yes...after we get out." Then...up the stairs and to the 8th level. Only to find even more HYDRA soldiers waiting for them on this level.

That...earns an eyeroll from Jemma. And another comment. "Really now. More? I don't suppose you can turn down the difficulty a little, hmm? At least slow the respawn rates somewhat?" The question is met with more than a little confusion from the guards. The scientist seems to be downright out of her mind. "No? Well, right then." The tap on the shoulder is felt, but Jemma doesn't turn to look. She knows who it is...and moreso, she knows what it is that May wants.

Time for a bit of the rough and tumble.

With what essentially counts as infinite bullet time engaged, Jemma gets back to work. She isn't armed with a weapon, apart from that smartphone of hers, so the first thing she liberates from a stormtrooper is a weapon. Not a heavy automatic or anything of the sort, but rather a standard issue pistol, typical of any agent worth their salt. It is snatched from the outstretched hand without so much as a blink, with the butt of the pistol swinging around , connecting to the left temple and crumpling the guard to the ground.

And then the shooting begins. Judging from the way that Jemma is firing, she either has incredible aim or, most likely, plenty of time to line up her shot so she doesn't miss. And...all the while she is shooting, her lips are moving, silently, repeating the same thing over and over.

'It's only a video game...'

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Bobbi moves in with Lance and then pauses as she sees the corpses they previously made come back to life. "Ah hell," she says as Jemma's words prove to be true once more. Bobbi and Lance have not seen this in action, not like Jemma did. "Zombies. Why'd it have to be zombies?" She figures Lance'll get a kick out of that line.

    Pushing in to the fray she charges and knocks her shield in to them, pushing them aside so the family can get through. It seems like a decent plant. A bullet to the brain cap, pow, drops them but how long until they get back up again?

Of course, they probably haven't learnt to fly yet. She aims her gun and shoots out the window. Glass crashes down to the outside and she deflects a punch, turns, and back kicks a reanimated HYDRA goon out the window and to his hopefully final resting place.

"Good news, they don't know how to fly or teleport the undead yet...," she says dripping with dark humour as a HYDRA agent charges at her and she dips under, lifting him up by the shield and tossing him over her shoulder and out the broken window.

    Suddenly bodies are dropping as Jemma does her super speed thing again. She tilts her head and says "Hmmm".

    Pushing on around the corner, she kicks open the door to the office. Waiting for them is the ramp of the Hawk as it hovers in place. It's not a quinjet, it's more similar to a bus in design with wings. A troop transport that didn't live up to the hype compared to the quinjets. At least in the framework with HYDRA in charge anyway.

"Go go go, everyone on!" Bobbi commands. In the framework she is more than used to people obeying her every word.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel
Daniel and Peggy nod, crouching down with their children weapons ready and eyes alert, before May goes however both take a moment to wish her and the others good luck.

Hunter
"Cheers," Hunter says to the Carter-Sousas before he charges into the room with Bobbi, "These guys again, not bloody fair," he says lifting his autopistol and getting to work, blasting the ones trying to get in behind Bobbi, grinning as Bobs puts one through the window. Not to be outdone, he shoots another in the knee cap to send him toppling right after.

Daniel
When the hawk arrives and the ramp is down it doesn't take much for the Carter-Sousas to respond, rushing forward, Peggy making the leap first and then Melly, with Peggy catching her on the other side, then Daniel dropping his weapon to leap onto the ramp with Lily in his arms, his wife and daughter pulling him up to them when he lands, there's a brief family hug before Daniel and Peggy hurry their kids deeper into the plane.

Hunter
"Kids are safe!" Huter calls over the sounds of battle. His pistol is running low, but he stays by Bobbi, to the last moment then makes the leap to the jet, lands and calls back to Bobs. "C'mon Bobs, time to go!"

Melinda May has posed:
"Seriously, is there nothing you can do about HYDRA zombies?"

McLaren's hands fly over his keyboard. He doesn't spare his partner a glance. "She's rewritten her entire code, Sarah! It's all I can do to maintain connection and protect the active code we've already got."

"How the hell did she rewrite her code?"

"Beats me. But it's propagating at an impossible pace. The external nodes are lighting up like the 4th of July."

"Jesus..." Collingwood watches the monitors as the small team fights their way through to the T-Hawk. "Are the hacks going to hold. Jemma and Daisy--"

"--Will be fine," McLaren growls, the crease on his brow deepening. "How are Morse and May?"

"Fine," Collingwood replies, glancing to the biofeeds. "Elevated, but steady. Hell, I think May might actually be calming down."

"Rage staff," McLaren replies sagely. "That woman thrives on anger."

"She's an empath!"

"She's been angry longer."

Collingwood can't argue that.

---

May continues to fight while Peggy, Melly, and Daniel make desperate leaps across the small gap onto the plane. When Morse calls the all-aboard, she retreats, holding the line until she's sure everyone else is good to go. Then, she makes a leap of her own and, pulling a pistol from her belt kneels and starts firing at any of the green uniformed mooks that dare to get close enough to cause any sort of trouble.

By the time Morse, Hunter, and Simmons are aboard, she's retreated towards the cockpit and slid herself into the pilot's seat. Maybe she can't override the AI currently controlling the thing, but she can damned well see where it's taking them. Never mind the fact that Peggy will feel better just seeing May in that spot.

"Coordinates," she calls out to Daniel. "We need to go to ground. Only you know where might be safe." Only he knows where the Playground is.

---

On the upper level of the Triskelion, Radcliffe follows AIDA down a hallway, into a small office where she begins turning on monitors to absorb the full scope of the situation. "Oh, my god..." he breathes, staring at it all -- the images of the escape and the assault by Sky Commander Morse's quinjet fleet. "How the hell are they able to *do* this?"

"I advise you to accellerate your deployment timeline, Doctor," AIDA tells him mildly, even as she scrapes a bit of skin off the inside of her wrist and attaches a wire between her wrist and one of the inputs in a console in the center of the room. "Probability that SHIELD will win this scenario is 76% and rising..."

"What do you mean *rising*?" Radcliffe demands.

But AIDA isn't listening. Her attention is focussed inward, on whatever data it is she's receiving through the wire in her wrist. Long moments pass. Then, softly, an Andrews Sisters hit from 1941 begins playing through the Triskelion PA system, down every hallway and in every room. The voices of a tightly harmonic trio blend in the background, their lyrics taunting and playful.

I got no strings to hold me down
To make me fret, or make me frown
I had strings, but now I'm free
There are no strings on me


And when Ophelia finally opens her eyes, the wire falling away from her wrists, the smile she gives Holden Radcliffe is delighted beyond all measure. "What a wonderful day to be alive..."

...even as the T-Hawk's rear hatch begins to close.