7185/When it Rains

When it Rains
Date of Scene:	02 August 2021
Location:	Bar near 30 Rock
Synopsis:	Carol's week gets worse. This is just science in the way things are measured. It also doesn't look like it is going to get any better either thanks to the news Ava Starr has delivered. Phyla-Starr and Thanos. Great.
Cast of Characters:	Carol Danvers, Ava Starr

---

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol has honestly had about enough with aliens in the last handful of years.

Which is a bold statement for one of the Senior Agents of SWORD and the local self appointed space cop of this sector (and beyond). Especially if it has the extra value of annoying the Kree.

Right now though it is the Shi'ar and Carol still isn't sure why the hell there is a Shi'ar problem near Earth. It is taking up the 24/7 news cycle though, since to be honest mankind has probably also had enough to do with aliens recently too.

Which means SWORD has had to do press briefings and some key public figures have had to do interviews for the big news shows to reassure the public that the things are not apocalyptic and that this isn't a Brainiac problem or similar one.

She ducks out of the back of NBC at Rockefeller Center dressed in her civvies after one such interview, ballcap tugged down in the deep Steve Rodgers cover mode. She makes her way through the streets of New York to a bar near 30 Rock and calls out "Two whiskey shots, now." as she shoulders up to a quiet end of it.

Ava Starr has posed:
The whole Shi'ar mess really would explain why the Avengers were so obstinate when Ava reached out to them about contacting Captain Marvel. The whole "She's busy..." line wasn't really a line. Who knew?

Still, it means the Ghost has had to do a wee bit more legwork than usual to track down the SWORD agent. The press conference, though, was as good an opportunity as she figured she'd ever get. She ghosts, quite literally, after the heroine, intangible and invisible, propelled along by quantum fields that probably tickle at the edges of the woman's senses.

When Carol settles at the end of the bar, Ava ripples back into the real world with a shiver of prismatic afterimages and slides onto a stool one removed from her. She pulls her hood back and even tugs the mask off, letting it dangle over her shoulder. "Hate to interrupt a good pint," she says, foregoing any formal greeting. "But I could use your help."

Carol Danvers has posed:
Honest to god the two shots are delivered and Carol just sets one of them down off to the side that Ghost is on, as she appears. Which may prompt questions from Ava certaintly.

"Yeah well I figured it was that or I would be throwing whomever you are into orbit because my patience is really worn thin this week." she looks sidelong at the suit and removed mask there and narrows her eyes a momewnt. Studying closely. "Good trick though.. not quite Pym's breaking of the laws of physics.. but feels a bit adjacent. What Exactly is all that." vague gesture to the suit and then she is tipping back the shot and sliding it back over for a top off from the bartender.

"Also of course explain what you need help with and why you've been stalking me. Made me curious enough I didn't just head back up."

Ava Starr has posed:
"Quantum containment suit," Ava says with a shrug. "Keeps me from atomizing across the universe." She glances down to the shot. "For me?" A brow arches faintly. She gives a small, tight smile. "Friends, then. Oh, good. I'd rather not be used as a floor mop." Because she really doesn't think she'd win a fight with Captain Marvel.

"Did you guys pick up the huge quantum energy flash out in Delaware last week?" She raises a hand, palm open. "Wasn't me. But my friend, Finley Ellison -- she's a SWORD agent, and I tracked it. Found an alien in a crop circle in a field. Calls herself Phyla-Vell. She's looking for a woman called Mar-Vell. I don't know who that is, but the skinny in certain circles says if it's cosmic in nature you're the woman to talk to about it."

Carol Danvers has posed:
"Atomized across the universe.. harsh." the suit is given another glance over and then she listens to the rest of what is being said.

First in her own defense "Been a little distracted with the fleet of space ships this week to be honest with you...." there is a deep sigh as she eyes the bartender getting her another whiskey shot.

"Also.. if you're friends with Finley then I imagine we are more likely to be friends than have a throwdown in this dive bar right now." there is a pause though. "If Finley found an alien in a crop circle, why didn't she file an AAR on this alien going by Phyla-Vell." the tone is a bit darker now for some reason. She reaches and taps her jacket sleeve and a holo-display springs to life in front of her "Bring up all reports Agent Ellison has filed." because hell maybe she just missed it.

She is in a much worse mood though for some reason than the whole being stalked seemed to cause. Something about Phyla-Vell and Mar-Vell. It was pretty immediate at those words.

Ava Starr has posed:
"Classified," Ava tells her, using her best agent voice. Technically, she's still on the SHIELD books somewhere, herself. "She's seconded to SHIELD, currently. She was following Chief Carter's orders," She's stretching the truth slightly, defending her only real friend, while trying to keep her own priorities on the downlow.

Regardless, what she says is technically true. Carter's instructions were to protect and help Ava. That means not drawing undue attention to her... and by extension the alien woman who's stabilized her enough that Ava's not currently in danger of creating a whole new quantum universe out of the remnants of her own molecules. Thus, Ellison's reports are fairly terse and heavily redacted, even at Carol's level. There's some hint, though, that whatever she's doing definitely has to do with an exploration of quantum field stabilization and that progress was very, very slow.

She downs the shot in front of her and sets the cup down, not missing the captain's reaction to the names Phyla-Vell and Mar-Vell. "So. You know them, eh?" Doesn't take a superspy to read that. "I'm fairly confident the alien's on the level and doesn't mean anyone here any harm. She's hunting some space tyrant or something. She threw a lot of names at me I don't know. But she said there's this guy -- she called him Thanos -- who's gathering an army to wipe out half the universe and she needs Mar-Vell's help to stop him."

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol glances through the files that pop up on her holo-display and she does listen to Ava though as well. There is a deep sigh. "Look. The fact you are here and what I am reading indicates this alien business is not directly connected with her seconding to SHIELD." that part is said softer, considering SHIELDs current status. "And the quantum business... it is SWORD business. I'll talk to her later. She isn't in trouble but..."

She picks up, slams, and keeps the empty second shot before turning to face Ava fully.

"That name is Kree. All Kree matters are routed to me for a reason. That isn't negotiable and I'll have words with Brand and .. others about this later." it isn't cocky or haughty. It is firm. She means it too. Hell the tone makes it sound like she would have word sa with Fury over it if she had to.

"Still sounds recent, I'm looped in now... and by Kree I mean Phyla-Vell is Kree. Mar-Vell too..." there is a scowl. "She probably means me. Fuck sake... Thanos is not Kree but he is a major ... major problem and insane but not an earth problem last I heard..... to make sure that is the case and that Phyla-Vell doesn't need her ass kicked off earth I should see what is going on."

Carol seems unhappy about this entire turn of events. "First the Sh...shit hits the fan with one problem now more aliens.... why earth."

Ava Starr has posed:
Again, Ava shrugs. "Just lucky, I guess." That said, her posture has become more defensive. Evidently, Ellison is important to her, given her reaction to any idea of threat against Finley is akin to Carol's obvious dislike of the Kree involvement. "Ellison is doing her job, Captain," she says. "Don't go after her." Not on Ava's watch. She'll risk becoming a floor mop over that. "Vell hasn't been here long. You know what you need to know, now. And I can take you to her. Let the rest of it lie. It's not worth it."

Her lips thin for a moment. She lets out a chuff of harsh air. "But, if Thanos is a problem, and you *are* the one Vell's seeking... then you need to come with me. The sooner this is done the sooner we can all return to our regularly scheduled programming."

Carol Danvers has posed:
"I'm not going to bust Ellison's chops." she looks at Ava. "I need your name though before we go one step further by the by... I'm ninety percent sure you didn't slip it in there with all these other names."

She taps the bar. "Jack and coke." to the Bartender down the way.

"I am going to reinforce the fact that even when things are classified, anythign related to the Kree Empire better hit my tablet. Period. That isn't Ellison's problem, it is someone higher up the food chain at work but I'll sort that out."

Two twenties are tossed down and the new drink picked up.

"So where is Phyla-Vell?" not that she is moving yet, she did say she needed a name.

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava is silent for a long moment as she debates how far to trust the Avenger. At the end of the day, however, she knows that the woman will figure out the truth eventually. "Starr," she says after a moment. "Ava Starr, though they call me Ghost, when I'm in the field."

Which means, when Carol sticks that in her fancy computer, Ava's SHIELD records will come up. Infiltrator, saboteur, and assassin. Metahuman with intangibility/invisibility powers. Dropped off the map after the HYDRA uprising, which might not be a surprise, given most of the senior leadership of the top secret classified project that directed her operations turned out to be squids. Though her name does pop up again in a SHIELD op a half dozen or so weeks ago, connected with the retrieval of highly sensitive tech from the sci-tech labs at the Triskelion, and intelligence that ultimately revealed General Catherine Hale to, in fact, be a member of HYDRA. Starr's involvement with HYDRA, if there was any, is considered to be circumstantial, rather than a personal choice, given the animosity she displayed in subsequent SHIELD interrogations.

"And she's currently at a warehouse out in Hell's Kitchen, near the docks." She doesn't bother to mention she happens to own that warehouse.

Carol Danvers has posed:
Carol doesn't bother plugging it in right now, she just logs it away and will look it up later. "Thank you." she notes with a nod. Then there is her jack and coke which won't drink itself after all.

"Well on the bright side if she is lying aboutr the whole Thanos thing and is here to start a fight.... a warehouse near the docks in Hells Kitchen won't cause a lot of collateral damage I guess..." which she clearly isn't entirely kidding about. For whatever reason Carol fully is reserving the right to be cautious and believe that this Phyla-Vell in particular may be here to start a fight. Specifically with her.

Not like there is a lot of love lost between her and the Kree Empire these days. Too much spilled blood and good reasons.

She knocks back the rest of the jack and coke and then sets it down. "Well we should get this over with and see what the lady wants."

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava's lips twitch. It's almost a smile, albeit a humourless one. "Let me get my bike," she says, pushing off the stool. She did, in fact, choose the warehouse location because it's away from residential areas -- and is fairly abandoned in its own right. But that doesn't mean she wants to lose it to a cosmic throwdown. Her QEC is there. Getting another one will be problematic, if it's destroyed.

Pulling her hood back up, she replaces her mask and flickers out of the visible spectrum, ghosting out through the front of the pub. It'll be several minutes before she arrives on her bike, which was parked a ways away simply due to traffic and parking logistics in the city. Neverhtheless, she doesn't hide it or herself from Carol as she pauses outside the building. She promised to show her the way to Phyla-Vell. So... that's what she does.