7010/Mo's Saving America's Ass

Mo's Saving America's Ass
Date of Scene:	20 July 2021
Location:	Steve Rogers' Apartment
Synopsis:	Steve's sick, Buck's freaking out about it; pastries suffer, Sam's stoic Sam as usual and Mo saves America's Ass.
Cast of Characters:	James Barnes, Steve Rogers, Morrigan MacIntyre, Sam Wilson

---

James Barnes has posed:
    After they got the information needed and the scientist needed to save Steve from Zola's treachery ... that took place two weeks ago in 1943... Nagel proved less useful than a bucket with a hole. For some reason, the man clammed up and refused to talk further.

    But that's okay, right? Why? Because they have a Morrigan on their side. Bucky's heard things, probably because he went looking for things when his curiosity and paranoia was first piqued by the woman.

    So, he's reached out to the best woman he knows for the job.

    "Okay, well, she should be here soon," Bucky mumbles under his breath for the fifth time in the ten minutes he's been pacing the floor since he made that call. He's a little nervous, this is Steve's health... *Steve's* health. The gash to his forehead, right above his left eye and the split lip from his adventures of the night before are both healed to the point of being minor blemishes already.

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Hope so," Steve mumbles. A sincere and deep lethargy has claimed his stout frame; though in a t-shirt and sweats, his musculature seems somehow deflated. Dark bags under his eyes bring out red-rimmed eyelids and his face looks sallow with blotchy red marks down to the crew neckline.

"I don't think I've felt this bad since I caught pneumonia back in '38," he rasps. He reaches for the bottle in front of him, a probiotic smoothie recommended by Dr. Cho. She'd been able to help his respiration and body temperature to a point, but the illness was exceeding what her short-term remedies could accomplish. Steve was very rapidly going from 'sick' to 'ill', with 'terminal' not far over the horizon.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan had not been expecting a call from James. And given that it was about Captain Rogers that was another tally in the unexpected events of today checklist. The Doctor thankfully had been at the hospital so it wasn't really a stretch to take an uber over to the place. She was nervous though given the last time she saw everyone there was a lot of blood, confusion and...it was bad.

There is a rapping on the door, three soft knocks after she finds the apartment. She steps back from it with her bag in hand and waits for someone to answer.

It would be rude and a waste of magic to just walk through it really.

James Barnes has posed:
    Chaos, that's what their last meeting was. It's something that seems to just follow Bucky around most days isn't it?

    His pacing, heavy footed, takes him straight to the door when Morrigan knocks. In his anxiety ridden state, he rips that thing open with enough force to almost tear it from its hinges.

    He's been there, where Steve is, it wasn't pretty and who knows, given the difference in their Super Soldier 'make-up' how much worse it'll get for his friend than it did for him.

    "Mo..." WHAT TOOK SO LONG?! It's kind of implied in the way he says her name. "... we got files, we need an anti-virus." Jumps right to it, doesn't he? They don't have time for small talk.

    He steps aside so she can enter and finally lay eyes on Steve.

Sam Wilson has posed:
    All of the gentrification that's taken place in Brooklyn means that when Sam pops out to "get some air" AKA put some distance between him and Bucky before he snaps at the guy for being anxious (which in itself would have been an outward sign of Sam's own anxiety, and they don't need to kick off a panic spiral here) there is no doubt at least one bougie tea place nearby. Sam's wallet is maybe not okay with it, not really, but damn do they get him with their local-sourced, single-mom-New-Yorker-owned spiel so not only does he walk out of there with a full tray of drinks, he has a paper bag with an assorted selection of pastries too.

    Damn. They really got him, didn't they?

    He's back at Steve's apartment building not long after, and Morrigan will probably hear him coming up the steps behind her (just a little cardio to offset the carbs he's about to eat) just before the door swings open. "Hold up," he says so that he doesn't have to awkwardly shuffle things in his hands to grab at his keys, and shoulders his way in through the door before Bucky closes it.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve looks up with a haggard eye; he nods at Morrigan, one hand rising and falling listlessly. "Dr. Macintyre. Sam." He must have heard the Falcon's distinct stride down the hallway.

Steve struggles to sit up but only makes it about halfway. The mild exertion sets him coughing, a deep and wet cough that looks painful as cracked ribs. "This all started going downhill bad last night," he rasps. "I was feeling fine and then the chills, sweats, fever, all of it." He gestures vaguely at Bucky. "Buck said you'd know how to synthesize a cure. Hopin' you don't mind giving me a little help. Wasn't sure if you'd even do house calls," he says with a grim sort of humor.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan looks up when the door is opened and the smile that was usually there for James falls instantly when she sees his face. Ah great. The redhead is dressed how she usually is for the office and work, so her heels make little clicks as she heads into the apartment. She takes a second to remove her sunglasses and gives a look back to Sam, "Hey Sam." she smiles a bit at him. Then she turns to look at Steve and there's a moment that she almost doesn't believe it's him.

"Hey, nonono, you don't have to move so much." she tells him as she steps closer, sitting her bag on a nearby table. "I don't mind housecalls, so you all are in luck." she teases gently.

"When and where did this start?" she asks. "Also, it might not be everyones favorite thing, but we'll need to draw blood if you think you can handle it." she comments to Steve.

Then she looks to the other two, "How long has he been like this?" she frowns as she opens the bag.

James Barnes has posed:
    Bucky lets Sam in too, really, he doesn't slam the door in his friend's face. Only ALMOST, because he's so focused on Morrigan and Steve.

    Focused to the point that he's *hovering* in a decidedly intimidating fashion. His BuckyStare(tm) is out in full force this evening. "Just fix him." He tries, but fails, to keep the little snarl out of his voice.

    Dude is terrified, completely terrified. Peggy's already dying and now Steve? How can this be happening?

    He points at a file that got printed along the way, some point between the retrieval of the information and now. It's laying on the coffee table. "There's the manual, just fix him."

Sam Wilson has posed:
    Sam makes it through the door by the skin of his teeth and a muttered, "C'mon, I paid $7 for these teas." Each. Fucking NYC prices, ugh. And let's not get started on the pastries.

    His first instinct is probably to tell Steve not to move so much, judging by the concerned look he shoots Cap's way, but Morrigan beats him to it. So he snaps his mouth shut and says nothing, deferring to the expertise of the actual medical professional in the room. He has no illusions as to his own credentials, even if he's had plenty of opportunities to keep his skills sharp lately.

    "Hey Mo," he greets instead, and moves off to the side to deposit his expensive tea house bounty on an out-of-the-way flat surface. "Do you need any supplies? I can go get the first aid kit."

    He deposits something warm that probably has honey or lemon as a main component in Steve's general area because that cough sounds brutal, and then Sam stands up straight sharply. "Man," he says to Bucky, and then points over to where he's left the pastries. "Go eat one of those overpriced chocolate croissants I bought and calm the hell down. Morrigan's here to help."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Buck." Steve's fingers flex in a weary echo of a pacifying gesture. "Ease off a bit. She's doing what she can."

He breaks into coughs once more and reaches for the tea Sam brought over. Honey and lemon probably won't cure a brutal super-soldier flu, but they sure don't hurt any. He hoists the cup in salute to Sam before taking a few long draughts, ignoring the temperature.

"Been about two weeks," he tells Morrigan. "Bucky says, it looks a lot like this virus that Zola cooked up and used on him. Something tailored for serum-enhanced individuals. Dr. Cho-- she's the staff doctor for the Avengers," Steve clarifies, "she had me on this inhaler with some other stuff in it. Helped a lot but last night it all kinda broke loose. I woke up this morning an' I could barely drag my butt out of bed. Bucky said, it was probably time to bring in an expert."

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
'Don't slap one hundred year old super soldier assassins!' Morrigan's inner voice states to her. And she listens. There's the faint working of Morrigan's jaw as she tries not to bare her fangs at Bucky. She'd done well and not let anyone else in on that. Instead she gives a look to Sam and there's a half hearted smile, "If I need some help I'll let you know, Sam. Thank you." she tells him.

Then she picks up the files and looks them over, "I'm going to need the lab. I can't come up with stuff here. I can take his blood back to the hospital and do all the testing and get the cure made there." she states to them. "And yeah...you definitely don't need to be overdoing it. I'm just afraid if we don't get this made quick enough that there might be lasting effects." she admits. "So...that means I need to get blood, get back to Mount Sinai and get to work. I've never seen any of Zola's work, but I'm guessing that I can figure out whatever hideousness he did create." she frowns to that. "We'll get you fixed up, Captain Rogers. I promise." she tells him with a soft smile.

James Barnes has posed:
    Bucky growls out a little grunt of a sound and then, fists doubled at his sides, stalks toward the kitchen. He picks up the box with those expensive treats inside, might be considering trying to eat one of them? Maybe.

    But then Morrigan is in there talking and it's sounding more and more like she's not going to be able to help Steve RIGHT THIS SECOND.

    SNARL! The box gets summarily crushed between his hands and dropped onto the counter after, it was nice to imagine that as being Zola's head, it really was.

    When he exits the room for the safe haven of the bedroom, where he can maybe cool off a little, he *slams* the door hard enough to splinter the thing a little bit.

    Steve must not have been thinking about his security deposit when he let Bucky move in here? There's a tiny little silver lining to the cloud that is Bucky Barnes. He didn't take his retreat out the front door to look for some means of blowing off steam that could have landed them all in another world of hurt.

    Progress, tiny little baby steps, but progress.

Sam Wilson has posed:
    Sam returns the cup-salute with one of his own, having already doubled back to pick up one of the teas for himself. Iced. Because it's July and Sam's lungs aren't threatening to eject themselves from his body.

    "Sure," he tells Morrigan. "Whatever you need. We might need to get you in touch with Dr. Cho since she's been overseeing Steve's care, but--"

    Annnnd there Bucky goes.

    After a moment, Sam takes a placid sip of his tea through the straw (paper, because it's from a bougie NYC place) and stares at the bedroom door. Then he sighs out through his nose. Despite there presence of a whole lot of things on the tip of his tongue, all he says is, "There isn't enough chamomile in the world for this shit."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve uplifts his chin at the cabinet over the fridge. "There's some liquor over the ice box," he tells Sam. "Help yourself to whatever Janet hasn't replaced yet."

Bucky's exit gets a weary look from Steve, but the Captain's too fatigued to make a deal of it. Still-- it's noted. Property damage is one of those things that can invalidate a lease pretty fast.

He looks to Morrigan, then at Sam. It's Sam's call, and Morrigan's medical degree notwithstanding, Steve's faith in his favorite combat medic could override the Surgeon General. "Sam will draw it," he tells Morrigan. He lifts his left arm up onto the end table and flexes his fist several times to start making the veins in his elbow rise up. "My blood-- you can't tell /anyone/ you have it," Steve rasps. Despite his illness he stares into Morrigan's eyes with a purposeful gaze. "And when you're done, you destroy it. And any notes or data."

"I'm dead serious, Doc," he tells her. "People will kill for a phial of serum-modified blood. They'll kill you, cops, bystanders-- and if they think you can get more, they'll turn screws on you forever until you come up with some. You gonna be OK playing this off the books?"

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan looks up to the ceiling when Bucky snarls. And then she waits for whatever door he is heading for to shut. She then looks to Sam and Steve and tries to smile, but it's forced. Apparently she's sort of soft on Bucky. "He's just worried. And I don't want to let you all down." she admits. This was a tall order. Save Captain America. No pressure at all Morrigan.

She then gives a nod of understanding to Steve, "No problem on that, Captain. Sam might have a steadier hand at the moment. I brought everything needed." she offers with a gesture towards the bag.

Then there's a look to Steve, "I was going to destroy the blood after creating a cure. I don't want anyone getting ahold of Super Soldier dna. While I'm rather fond of one of them, most don't want to do good." she states. "I'm good with off the books for this. I could just take it home to my lab as well. Might leave less of a trace just in case." she offers as she looks over to Sam.

James Barnes has posed:
    From the other room, Bucky's cellphone announces softly: It's your sister, she's going to ask for something. There's only one 'sister' Bucky could possibly be communicating with when he's in THAT mood. Sharon. At least he got rid of the 'porn' mentioning tone?

    ...and a least he's reaching out to *someone*?

Sam Wilson has posed:
    "I'm fine," Sam says, which is a lie, but one he's pretty good at telling. At the very least he has his not-fine shit on lockdown right now, because there are more important things to deal with at the moment. Besides, he doesn't really think alcohol and the tea cafe's Chill-Out Time chamomile iced tea probably wouldn't be a good mix.

    Not that Sam is feeling chill. But he's not the type to ask for a refund.

    He sets his drink down and nods once at Steve, and that's it. That's Sam's call. He might not be storming out like Bucky but he's still worried, with the added bonus of generally being able to document Steve's decline in all the relevant medical terms. It's just that he's, y'know, better at controlling himself.

    Those pastries were really expensive, though. Damn.

    Then he diverts into the bathroom to wash his hands. Super soldier or no, Sam knows an infection is nothing to joke at, and with Steve already as sick as he is it'd probably be a death sentence right now. Not gonna chance it. "Whatever you think is best," Sam tells Morrigan as he returns, already pulling on a pair of nitrile gloves from the kit he's stashed in the bathroom. He leans over to retrieve the supplies from Morrigan's bag and looks down at Steve's arm for a moment. "Just be careful." That's all he can really ask.

    For as weighty a thing as it is, taking a sample of super soldier blood, it's not exactly a dramatic procedure. Sam ties a tourniquet around Steve's arm and cleans the puncture site with an alcohol prep pad, then sits there and waits until it's dry. The needle goes in, blood fills the specimen tube, and within a few seconds Sam is snapping the tourniquet free, withdrawing the needle, and holding a piece of gauze in place over where it went in. He holds the sample out to Morrigan. "How long do you need?" he asks.

James Barnes has posed:
    'Take a step back, center yourself, Buck, meditate like I taught you and don't forget the sock'. Those words might reach sensitive ears from the bedroom, in that robotic 'text to speech, read me my shit' voice of Bucky's phone.

    When he reappears, he's dressed for a jog with Lili by his side, apparently she'd been sleeping on the bed through the rest of it.

    "I'm going for a run," he says to the room in general. To Steve directly, although without any actual eye contact, because he needs that distance, "Call me if you need or if there's any change."

    He takes a second to leash the dog, who by the way is super excited about the prospect of a run with 'daddy', and shrug on a thin hoodie from the closet. Gloves get pulled on last. Man, it must suck to run in July dressed like that, but... his arm just draws way too much unwanted attention.

    This time the anger is gone and there's nothing but desperation when he addresses Morrigan, "Fix him, please?"

    Maybe it's shitty of him to run off, literally... for a run... when Steve's laying there so sick. But, whoever's voice was turned into that robotic advice, they were right. He needs space and a step back to re-center.

    'Sister Golden Hair' by America squeaks out weakly from the earbuds hanging around his neck. It'll certainly be louder than loud once they're in his ears. Maybe he'll have to talk to Nadia about adding the ability to play Spotify through his cochlears?

    "I'll be back in an hour," he murmurs before shoving those buds into his ears and heading out the door with a happy puppy by his side.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve watches Bucky grab his shit and leave with his rough excuse, and he curls his left arm towards his chest to pin the gauze in place while the wound heals. It won't take even a minute.

"'Fix him'?" Steve rasps into the awkward silence left in the wake of Bucky's sudden departure. "Gee whiz, oldest buddy I've got and he treats you like a mechanic and me like a busted transmission." He manages a feeble grin up at Morrigan-- weak, but real. Defusing some of the AWKWARD TENSION Bucky abandons in the wake of slamming doors and noisy earbuds.

"I guess we could get you one of those service station uniforms," he suggests to Sam. "White bus driver hat and all."

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan gives a look to Sam as he draws Steve's blood. She couldn't have done it. She didn't want to make him wince and Bucky try to take her head off. He wouldn't hurt Sam too much. Probably.

Morrigan reaches out a pale hand to take the vial of Cap's blood and curls her hand protectively around it. "A few hours. I'm guessing once I isolate things that it won't be too hard. Then again, I don't know how smart Zola was compared to me." she states. Steve's words manage to make her smile a touch, "Well, I'm going to go back to the shop and see about what we can do. If anyone needs to drop in, just head on over. If he of the stare needs to come and hover, he's more than welcome as well. You all know where I live as it is." she shrugs.

She collects her bag and keeps the vial in her hand, not wanting to let it go, "I'm going to just...pop out. Don't exert yourself. I'll try to get this done as quick as I can." she tells them.

Then she takes a few steps back and just...disappears. Taking an Uber was too time consuming. Teleporting worked for this time constraint better.

Sam Wilson has posed:
    Sam's busy doing what he needs to do and it's a good excuse not to look up when Bucky opens the bedroom door. But then there's nothing else for him to do--he can't even whip out one of the novelty superhero bandaids he stocks up on just to be a little shit, because Steve heals too fast--and so he sits back.

    Not much more for him to do, at this point. "Just let us know," he tells Morrigan, though aside for understanding vaguely what was in the files she's been given, Sam's pretty well out of his depth. He only shrugs at her mention of Zola.

    "I really don't want to give a Nazi a compliment, gotta admit."

    He steps away to discard his gloves and the various other trash that accumulates during a blood draw. "I do look good in white," Sam admits as he returns, just in time to see Morrigan disappear. He leans his hip against the back of the couch, arms crossed over his chest.

    "...so she's definitely a wizard, right?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve blinks twice as if trying to make sure Morrigan's really gone. He shifts uncomfortably; sure, Janet can pull that trick, but he can at least track the motion of her shrinking. Morrigan just fades into the shadows.

"That sounds like a question to refer to Dr. Strange," Steve tells Sam with a feeble attempt at humor. "Wizard, sorcerer... not sure what the difference is. Maybe Wanda knows."

He eases back in his seat. "But I'm not looking at the wizard bit. I'm looking at the fact she's a hematologist with a medical degree." Steve sips his tea and sighs at the modicum of relief it offers.

"Besides, you and Buck trust her. That means... I trust her, too."

James Barnes has posed:
    Bucky didn't lie, by much, it was more like an hour and ten minutes that he was gone. When he came back through the door, he looked... well, sweaty, it's hot out and he had gone running wearing a hoodie. But he also seems a little less 'wound to kill'.

    'Amie' by Pure Prairie League squeaked out from his earbuds when he tugged them out.

    He even replaced those pastries, but it was with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and some apple pie for dessert from a little place a few blocks down, mom and pop run, down home cooking. The hell with all that gentrification shit. There was also a container of chicken soup for Steve.

    He was still pretty anti-social though, still not as centered as he needed to be in order to have civil conversations, so after making sure an exhausted Lili had fresh water, he hit the shower to wash away sweat and, maybe, a little more of that anxiety.

    Now, clean and changed, he steps from the back room just looking tired rather than ready to choke the life out of something with his bare hands. Step back, center, meditate and a sock... it seems to have worked.

    "She'll get it, Steve," he murmurs quietly from the perch he's taken in the kitchen, still distant but close enough for conversation.

Sam Wilson has posed:
    "Hat or no hat," is Sam's final decree regarding the wizard vs. sorcerer debate. For now, at least. It's really not as fun when there's no one actively getting riled up about it, but Sam's heart just isn't in it.

    That was like $20 worth of pastries, man.

    He nods something agreeing about Morrigan's trustworthiness, but Sam doesn't really think anything else needs to be said. Not after he handed off a vial of super soldier blood to her, and Sam can appreciate the seriousness of that.

    For however long it takes, Sam settles in to wait in a way that looks stiffly uncomfortable because he's putting a lot of effort into not hovering. Steve isn't going to keel over in the next couple of hours, or at least that's what Sam keeps telling himself.

    Once Lili (...and Bucky) is back, Sam busies himself with sneaking her treats. "It'd be disrespectful to dump mashed potatoes on your dad's head, wouldn't it?" he asks the dog. "Disrespectful to the food, I mean."

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
If anyone wanted a small glimpse into a hematologists thought process as they tried to come up with the cure for a super soldier, they really should be watching Morrigan. There's notes, formulas, machines whirring in the back ground of her basement lab. Occam was looking annoyed at the top of the steps, "Occam you're going to have to wait a few on dinner, I'm saving Captain America." she shoo'd the cat away from the steps.

It was two hours later when she was finishing the last trial. Her glasses were on and she was trying to figure out just the last bit. When it all fell into place she looked at Zola's notes and files and there was a nauseous feeling, "This will not be going on the resume." she whispers to herself.

This was a success...but she had to get back to Captain Rogers and the others. The serum is put into one of the spare injection guns that she keeps for her own serum and with little ceremony she pops back into the apartment, "Got it." she announces. She looks a little disheveled...but they'd forgive her hopefully.

James Barnes has posed:
    From the kitchen, where Bucky had just been leaning against a counter, left arm crossed over his chest, right elbow on that metal limb and his right thumbnail being gnawed on until it bled... now lets his head thunk back loudly against the cabinet and lets out a sound that's half sigh of relief and half strangled gasp filled with emotion. It's not quite a choked back sob but it was close.

    Steve and Peggy, at the SAME time. It was definitely eating him up from the inside out and had his mind going to all sorts of dark places, like burying them side by side on the same damn day. In the grand scheme, that might have been almost poetic, but it certainly would have ended with Bucky losing what's left of his mind.

    He resist the urge to bark, '/are you SURE/?' and just mumbles, "Thank you."

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan's not really sure what to expect when she gets back. But thankfully she didn't return to anyone screaming or Bucky hitting walls. So this is a plus. She heads over to Steve, but stops at a conversational distance, "Do you want Sam to do this? I'm fine if that's what you want. I'm guessing once the cure is in your healing will take over pretty readily." she explains.

Either way, by Mo's hand or Sam's hand Steve was getting his heals.