6827/The Framework: The Doctor's Doorway to the Universe

The Framework: The Doctor's Doorway to the Universe
Date of Scene:	07 July 2021
Location:	Security: Triskelion
Synopsis:	May goes back to the Triskelion to rescue Dottie... and ends up bringing in Leopold Fitz in the process. (No one is more surprised than she.)
Cast of Characters:	Melinda May, Leopold Fitz, Dottie Underwood
Tinyplot:	The Framework

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Melinda May has posed:
Life at the Playground has gotten very interesting. With the arrival of Skye and Holden Radcliffe, on top of Sky Commander Morse, STRIKE Commander May, and the Carter-Sousa family and friends, SHIELD has been all but overwhelmed by weirdness. Add to it the fact that Skye's face is all over the television and internet proclaiming the atrocities of HYDRA, spilling the Doctor's secrets, and proving that HYDRA is nothing but an evil, fascist fist seeking to eradicate all freedoms everywhere... Well, they find themselves in a very unique position of having to both trust people who were once their enemy while simultaneously trying to take advantage of the chaos this all has wrought.

On top of it all, the Triskelion is a serious mess. Most of the windows from the sixth floor upward have been shot out by 20mm cannon fire, thanks to the Sky Commander's betrayal. Hundreds of HYDRA agents were killed... though no one knows exactly who since most of them seem to be back up and running again, as if nothing happened. Yes, that's very weird.

The worst part, as far as Melinda May is concerned, is the war council the small group of resistance fighters held in the rec room of the old Playground base. It included her, Morse, Simmons -- the unusual school teacher, Sousa, Hunter, Radcliffe, and Skye -- who now calls herself Daisy Johnson for some reason. Whatever. It didn't include Carter, who was taking care of her children. Just as well, in May's books, since the discussion would likely have sent her friend right off the deep end.

It nearly sent May there, herself. Especially with all the strong emotions in the room.

Regardless, the point is, Simmons and Johnson were adamant that Leopold Fitz has to be brought along for the 'great escape. Worse, they said, their contact, McLaren, insisted that Dottie Underwood also needed to be found and freed because she, too, is part of the 'other world' incursion.

Like, seriously. Could her life get any more weird?

In the end, it was decided Simmons and Johnston would go deal with AIDA. With McLaren's help, apparently, they have the best chance of surviving the encounter. Even winning. May, meanwhile, has been nominated to go extract Underwood. *IF* she can get Fitz, too, great. If not... well, she really doesn't care. If they want him, Simmons, Johnston, and Hunter can come get him themselves. But, hey... you never know what opportunity will present.

She steps out of the strange interior of what was once a closet at the Playground, but turned out to be a *lot* bigger on the inside, into a corridor on the interrogation level of the Triskelion. According to the app McLaren's avatar put on her own phone, Underwood is in a holding cell somewhere on this level. All the rebel agent needs to do now, is find her...

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Is the Detention Wing of the Triskelion oddly quiet? Perhaps, perhaps not. These are turbulent times to be sure and under such circumstances perhaps the standard regiment of guards within the very heart of HYDRA's power is a luxury that they just can't afford right at the moment. Or perhaps it is just fortuitous timing on the part of the former HYDRA Commander, Melinda May.

At the very least it keeps things from instantly devolving into a fight, so there is that.

Of course, just because the hallways are currently -- seemingly -- devoid of any guardians, that doesn't mean they are unwatched of course. There are all the usual video cameras tucked away in hallway corners -- and who knows how many more subtly concealled cameras -- watching every square inch of the building. HYDRA is everywhere afterall. And no one is above suspicion.

Even potentially the last prize prisoner of the Doctor sits unguarded to all appearances, what with the recent escape. Perhaps she has no more value? Perhaps HYDRA's scientific genius has simply grown bored of her. Or perhaps their straits are truly that desperate.

Either way, a seemingly unobstructed path awaits.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
Dottie Underwood knows that this is all a sophisticated program, but that doesn't stop it from feeling real. The torturous simulation had felt unending. And reminding herself that it wasn't real, didn't stop the whiplash of high and withdrawal cycling through her system from taking it's toll. But she learned to ride the pattern, sink into the pleasure and ride out the pain. She could breathe through it, sweating and ill.

When it was finally over, after an indeterminable amount of time, she closed her eyes against the blinding cell light and the migraine it gave her. She couldn't sleep, but Dottie knew the importance of rest. So she slowed her breathing pattern and relaxed her body.

All she could do, until she was presented with more information, was wait.

Melinda May has posed:
May doesn't remotely trust an empty hallway in a detention center run by HYDRA. She's been on the other side of those cameras too often not to know the likelihood of someone watching. She also saw damned corpses rise and shake off their wounds... much like her own ruined shoulder was healed. As if by magic.

Her lip curls faintly and her eyes narrow. Across her back is slung the rage staff she picked up on her way out the first time. On her thighs are a pair of pistols. Although she has ICER rounds available for them, they're currently armed with live fire rounds. Because she's really not interested in playing nice. As she starts to walk, she glances down at her phone, muttering, "Anytime, McLaren."

As if right on cue, a small blue disk appears in thin air in front of one of the cells. In its center is the SHIELD eagle, surrounded by stars. It spins slowly and pulses with soft light.

It's also entirely invisible on camera. Even in person, it's only visible to those who aren't part of the simulation -- people who are alive in the real world.

"Huhn," she grunts, looking up at what is effectively a big flashing neon sign telling her right where to go. "Thanks."

The phone gets slid back into her breast pocket and she jogs straight down to the room she needs. She kneels, sets a small detonator on the lock, and then backs up and turns away. It hisses and burns, before a pop sounds and the lock becomes useless slag.

Entering the room, her eyes fall on Underwood, tied to the same type of hook up she was once cradled in -- sans all the wires May endured. "Time to go," she tells the other woman succinctly as she moves to start freeing her from her restraints.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
It is almost a given, even if the way is unobstructed that there will still be someone watching. There is always someone watching. No matter how the tides might have seemed to have shifted in the last few days, that assuredly has not changed.

Still, a free pass is not to be missed or passed up. Who knows when it might come again afterall. And the alternative is worse. Waves of HYDRA agents and automated defenses? Traps of varying degrees of lethality? Mind-controlled mutants and genetically modifed humans with grafted on Inhuman power? It might be someone's idea of a good time, but it comes with some pretty serious drawbacks.

None of that assails May, at least not yet. Not even when she blows open the door to Agent Underwood's cell. No waiting guards here either, hoping to catch the intruder offguard. Just a woman who has clearly been put through one hell of a time.

The Doctor's a peach.

Nothing interferes with any of the attempts to remove the restraints and they're certainly not up to stopping the former HYDRA agent for long. But almost the instant they come loose and are discarded the intercom crackles to life. "Ah, Commander May. I'm surprised that you came back for this... thingm" come the familiar and chillingly cold tones of Leopold Fitz. "You can have her. She's of little use to me afterall. Or is she? I'll leave it for you to decide if she broke. If she's my creature now."

Dottie Underwood has posed:
When the door blows inward, Dottie opens her eyes. Finally something is happening. It's still hard to focus her eyes, but she recognizes that voice. "Ah the other one," she mumbles.

When May begins to set her loose, Dottie grins. And with that grin comes a swirl of that odd sense of anticipation. "Where's Peg?" she asks the woman in her cell.

Melinda May has posed:
May's expression drags back into a grimace when she hears Fitz's taunting words. Without even looking at it, she raises a hand flip the bird at the nearest camera. Okay, yeah. That's why she brought ICER rounds. Just in case.

Though, really, she owes Underwood a bloody shoulder. Even if it was all AIDA's fault.

"At the Playground," she answers the Russian succinctly. She steps back when the woman is free and passes her one of her pistols. "Don't shoot me, this time."

Why, yes. She is expecting to face all those things -- genetically modified humans, mind controlled mutants, digtial zombie HYDRA agents... That's why she's wearing a full tacsuit under that torn and bloody leather jacket. It has SHIELD patches on the shoulders, though only one is visible through the rip in the right shoulder of her leather jacket.

She's really just hoping McLaren is holding that door open for them, like he promised.

"Blue door at the end of the hall," she tells Underwood. "That's our exit."

Leopold Fitz has posed:
A cold laugh sounds over the internal comm system. Maybe it is better that the Dcotor is not given to such expressions of emotion. It is neither pleasant nor reassuring.

"I suppose you have good reason not to dwell overlong on the possibility that the woman you rescue now might betray you at my command any time to come," he muses, his voice seeming to come from every direction at once as it reverberates down those empty halls. "Afterall, you and her are practically the same, aren't you? Traitor."

While it might be true that she betrayed HYDRA whether or not that is what Leopold Fitz refers to is... less clear. "Look at you. Fighting the good fight for your new friends," he says, tone cool and dismissive. "All powered up. An Inhuman," he adds, pausing there, letting that word hang in the air. "Does that gnaw at you? How many of them did you kill? Does it gnaw at you? That, in the end, you murdered your own kind? That you murdered a child? And now you are the same."

Dottie Underwood has posed:
"I shot you?" Dottie asks. "Funny. I thought I would have remembered that. I usually remember shooting people."

She does too. Some of those are memories she savors. And some are just are the haunting background of her subconscious. But she *remembers*. The blur of violence that has been her life is hard to forget.

Dottie isn't quite steady on her feet, but that doesn't stop her her from moving. Time to head toward the door. "What about him?" She asks May, nodding her head toward the loud speaker. She hasn't forgotten her mission. Leopold Fitz is on her list.

Melinda May has posed:
The look May gives Dottie in response to her question is oh-so-very eloquent. Her hatred for the man is clear, as is her unspoken opinion that he can rot in Hell for all she cares. Given that chilling laugh and the speech that followed it, is it any wonder? She's never liked the man. Right now, she loathes him.

Because, he's not wrong. She loathes herself on so many levels right now. He's hitting all her buttons.

Fortunately, however, the ragestaff is on her back and not in her hands. It means she has a modicum of control over her actions still.

"Blue door," she repeats to Dottie. "Fuck Fitz."

Leopold Fitz has posed:
They can call this reality whatever they choose. They can claim that it is virtual, that there is another world out there. A 'real' world. But Leopold Fitz knows better.

Reality is a construct. One that each individual builds for themselves. Those with suitable vision, those with enough influence can impose their will on others, can shape their realities for them. That is reality. And this reality is his.

Of course, that doesn't mean their reality can't be his as well. His vision can definitely encompass that.

"Yes, lets get to the blue door," comes the Doctor's dulcet tones over the intercoms. For a man who is not given to very much in the expressive department he sounds infuriatingly smug. But perhaps there is cause.

It won't take them long to find the blue door, to find it exactly where it was supposed to be. But the shimmering field of golden energy that surrounds it? That doesn't look like it should be there. Indeed, the fact that it is visible at all suggests a monstrous amount of power is flooding through it. "Do you like my surprise? It is just for you. I wouldn't want you to leave, afterall."

An instant later one of the side doors along the hallway opens up and outstrides the familiar figure of the Doctor, all in his customary black, hands folded behind his back neatly, encased in gloves, that rest folded neatly atop one another and the belt that encircles his waist. "I wouldn't want you to leave, that is, without me," he says cooly, those icy blue eyes dead, devoid of any seeming emotion. "Shall we?" he asks conversationally, motioning slightly, briefly, towards the sealed blue portal as that energy field simply melts away.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
"Right behind you," Dottie says with a small nod. She freed from her bonds. She has a gun. The possibilities are endless.

Melinda May has posed:
Yes, May's gun comes up when the doctor appears. That there's a force field aorund their exit point is... both a surprise and an inconvenience. She really hopes McLaren can move that damned door to one of the other doors in the corridor. Because, according to the Triskelion schematics, that door should lead to a guard station. That May walked out of it -- when she was clearly *not* in that guard station -- probably speaks volumes about the technology McLaren is playing with.

Her brows dip. "You *want* to come?" Ooooh, that's not good. Still, she glances briefly at Dottie, feels the anticipation from her... and the Doctor, too, for that matter. Yeah. This isn't good.

Well. A base full of SHIELD people, including the newly enhanced Bobbi Morse, ought to be able to handle it, right?

So, she gives the man a dark, wry smile and moves to pull that door open and gesture him through...

The guard station is definitely not what lays beyond. Beyond is a circular room with curving columns and strange circles on the walls. A large console with a green shaft that rises up to a secondary cluster at the top dominates the center of the room. It hums softly with the low buzz of the energy that powers it.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Chances are, he's not surrendering.

But just what he might have in mind is not reflected there in his features, that much is for certain. Then again, that is almost always the case.

Either way, Leopold Fitz strides forward without any apparent care to the fact that he is walking right into the lion's den, that he will be surrounded by enemies on all sides. He walks forward, not as a man heading to his execution. But to one heading towards his coronation. The traitorous agents Underwood and May are merely his attendants.

The Doctor walks forward and to all appearances leaves behind every advantage that the home field of the Triskellion can provide.

But appearance, appearances can be deceiving.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
Well, well, well, it seems like her prodding might have had the desired result. Dottie thrills inwardly. She listens to the click of heels on the concrete floor and thinks to herself, *There's no place like home.*

Melinda May has posed:
Oh, May's seen this strut from the Doctor before. And she's worked with him long enough to know he's not remotely as unarmed as she'd like to think he is. She draws her phone, one handed, from her pocket and swipes her thumb across the screen, sending a quick text off to both McLaren -- whom she's het to meet -- and the team back at the Playground.

<<Fitz is with us. Need backup.>>

She really doesn't want to take him in without a thorough search and disarm. And this waystation is just that. A waystation.

Lights ignite on the center console and it sounds like engines or... something, anyway, powers up. The central column pusles with light as well. Then, it all seems to grow quiescent.

May slides her phone back into her pocket and pulls out an ICER mag. Casually, she swaps out one mag for the other and aims her gun at Fitz. "Yeah. You're not walking out of here, Doctor." She'd much sooner carry him.