8246/Hot on the Trail...

Hot on the Trail...
Date of Scene:	15 October 2021
Location:	Mutant Town, Brooklyn
Synopsis:	Dottie finds Melina this time, curious why she's not left the United States. And they have a very confusing visitor to their conversation -- a certain Lily Chen.
Cast of Characters:	Melina Vostokoff, Dottie Underwood, Melinda May

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Melina Vostokoff has posed:
If someone asked Melina why she was still in the United States, she'd probably not have any good answer. At least, not one she was willing to speak out loud. She'd caught up with two of them. She'd not been willing to try to kill either one. She dropped the bit of useful science she could smuggle out with the one person who might make it work. Now she was left with choices... Choices she didn't know how to make.

So, she kept making a home. That little apartment in Mutant Town she'd shared with someone decades ago, that time mostly lost in brainwashing to both of them, but the place felt better than others. She had enough money and skill to get whatever she needed. She occasionally stalked the few old Widows she could find. She never managed to find the one she wanted. Otherwise, she lived as a Normal American Woman. Something she'd gotten better good at doing.

Right now, this Normal American Woman is sitting alone at a table in the corner of a cafe's outdoor patio. She has a pashmina wrapped warmly around her against the fall air and is reading by the late afternoon sunlight. A glass of wine rests next to her hand. Her dark hair is swept up in a fashionable beret. She looks like a Brooklyn soccer mom enjoying the afternoon while she waits to pick her kids up from school.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
But Melina is watched in turn. Lulu Morganstern might have abruptly vacated her Mutant Town apartment, but Dottie saw no reason to let the alias die. So she visits from time to time. Keeps in touch with acquaintances, tells them about the terrible pest infestation problem. Of course she had to break her lease. *Bedbugs!*

Large round sunglasses and wide brimmed hat covering most of her face, her brunette hair lightly waved to suit Lulu's boho chic aesthetic, Dorothy Underwood spots a familiar profile in the cafe across the street. Fascinating. Who would have thought she'd still be here? Dottie sips her boba tea and peers suspiciously over her fashionable sunglasses.

Melinda May has posed:
Following Dottie occasionally is, frankly, a bit of sport for Lily. Truthfully? She's finished all she *needed* to do in this time and place. She *should* move on. She should spend an afternoon with Peggy and then head back off-world so she can let Melinda return to her life without having to worry about some timelost doppleganger bringing trouble down on her head.

But, before she does... she just needs to see Dottie again. See that she's still breathing and thriving -- as well as she can be -- in this time and place. Just to know that the reset worked and Dottie is still alive in this time.

Lily's bullet wasn't the end.

So, unconcerned about being seen by her quarry, Lily enters the cafe casually and moves toward the counter to order herself a cup of green tea.

Melina Vostokoff has posed:
Another page of her book is turned and a languid sip of her wine is taken. Melina almost looks entirely comfortable, other than the fact that she's sitting with her back to the wall of the restaurant and, every so often, flickers a slightly paranoid look up from her pages. It's the sort of look that drinks in the entire street, then windows above, and shooter points. She knows too sharply where to look to just be a normal woman.

That paranoid look catches her something this time. A SHIELD woman... and then that casual other looking across glasses. Maybe it wasn't Dottie, but she's pretty certain it is. This can't just be concidence. As casual as ever, Melina turns the page of her book and just slightly shifts her body so she's facing their direction a bit more, able to keep a look out of the corner of her eye.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
Spotted! 'Well,' Dottie thinks to herself,'that's as good an excuse as any.' She crosses the street, ignoring traffic. And breezing past the hostess with an, "I'm meeting someone," she slides into the empty seat across from Melina. She's betting that the other woman won't make a scene, won't flee. And if she likes this cafe, she'll want to pay her bill.

"Mila," she says with a falsely bright cheeriness, "It's Lulu! Can you believe it? It's been ages. What have you been up to?"

Melinda May has posed:
Lily turns casually as Dottie moves through the cafe to join another woman. Her dark eyes settle on Melina briefly -- long enough to note details and trigger a couple of Melinda's memories, but vaguely... like a seeing a face in the crowd that's familiar but unplaceable.

A small smile touches her lips. She pays for her tea and weaves her way between the tables to find one of her own. She doesn't put herself facing the pair. She puts herself facing a nice window with enough reflections to let her see that way. Not like she expects either of those other women to be fooled. It's not a hard leap to decide that the vaguely familiar woman Dottie has joined is 'in the game'.

Melina Vostokoff has posed:
It's not until someone wearing Melinda May's face shows up in the crowd as well do Melina's hackles start to shoot straight up. She's not quite greeted Dottie yet, but now she's looking for the crowd for other obvious plants. Surely she's surrounded by now, if they are doing what she suspects they are doing. "So... you really are working for *them*, ... Lulu." Melina isn't rude enough to break the other Widow's cover, but she doesn't say the name with any deep affection to it.

"You know...I won't go in without a fight. Might end up dragging you back with me. We... don't have to do this." Melina's voice is far lower than before when she says that, the words meant only for their ears, even as her hazel eyes flicker back to whom she thinks to be Melinda May once more. She can't spot any other agents.

Dottie Underwood has posed:
"I'm not trying to drag you anywhere, Mila," Dottie says, still a little too bright, but soothing too. Then as she spies Lily's reflection, she takes a brief moment to look for the tell-tale signs. Ah, yes. That one. She can tell them apart now, Melinda and Lily. Something in the set of their shoulders. She smiles as she follows Melina's thoughts to their obvious conclusion.

"It's not what you think, not at all," Dottie says. As if that's any reassurance at all.

Melinda May has posed:
Indeed, the fact Lily rarely dresses all in black and has an easy, ready smile only those old enough to remember Melinda before Bahrain would ever recall, are the easiest tells. She's can sense Melina's tension, see it in the line of her body. So she lets her own shoulders relax, her spine slide down into her hips a little as she leans back with her tea.

It's a subtle sign, perhaps, but certainly one Dottie will understand -- she's not here to fight or challenge, either. Maybe Melina will read it, too. Whether she trusts it?

Lily really doesn't worry about it.

Melina Vostokoff has posed:
The look on Melina's features says she doesn't much believe Dottie's words at all, her expression still closed off and shoulders newly tense. The look of relaxation upon the woman who LOOKS like Melinda May only makes things more confusing, because May is not someone who goes relaxed anywhere. Melina is silent for several heartbeats, taking a long sip of her wine and daring to gaze away for a heartbeat or two as she considers her exits. She's planning her way to run.

"It looks like you are sitting with a known SHIELD agent after finding me in the middle of the city. I already gave them what I had. If Natalie didn't hand over what I gave her, then you better question who really is loyal to whom."

Dottie Underwood has posed:
"That isn't who you think it is," Dottie says. "And I have no idea what you're talking about. Natalie hasn't spoken to me."

Admitting that she doesn't know about Melina's hand off galls her, but needs must. Saying so just might keep Melina in that seat. And Dottie's curiosity is piqued. She'd've expected the other woman to have left the country already.

"Lily," she calls to the reflection. "Why don't you join us?"

Melinda May has posed:
Lily sips her tea and chuckles softly as Dottie summons her over. She pushes back from her table and crosses to the table with Melina, selecting a chair that will afford the woman her escape, should she wish it. Why? Because Lily, strictly speaking, isn't SHIELD. She plays a game all her own and Melina doesn't yet factor into it. Perhaps she will, eventually. Perhaps she won't. Who's to say?

"It's so nice to see you again... Lulu." She was listening. She cants her head to Melinda. "Was it Mina, I heard? Lily. A pleasure, I'm sure."

Melina Vostokoff has posed:
Very little in her near hundred years of life confuses Melina Vostokoff, but this moment is high up in those instances now. She stares in silence between the two before muttering beneath her breath, "This is a time for vodka, not wine." And she shoots back the rest of her glass of wine. It still doesn't help the thirst, but she didn't feel like pretending life was good and casual over a glass. She couldn't just relax with a book and wine any more.

"Well, maybe you aren't in as deep as I thought, or Natalie isn't. Mm. No matter. I just..." For a heartbeat, she was maybe going to say something. A crack of a view into the woman's real heart. But then that May look alike is joining them and she ices right over, shoulders going a bit more stiff. She is quite ready to run. "Ah. yes. Mina. It is always nice to meet a... Friend... of Lulu's. Lily."

Dottie Underwood has posed:
"If we're switching to vodka, get a small bottle this time, Mila," Dottie says with a quiet laugh. Then as Lily joins them she says more loudly. "Lily and I act as private contractors, Mina. More or less. After all, who would trust me?"

Melinda May has posed:
Lily arches a brow faintly at Dottie's explanation to 'Mina'. "Mm," she hums her agreement with that. "And I'm not who I resemble," she tells Mina. "She and I are very separate people, I assure you." As if to emphasize that point, she flashes a small smile, a hint of impishness in her dark eyes.

She'd tell them her Russian's just as bad as Melinda's -- she never did really get the hang of the accent. But what's the point? They're not here to speak Russian.

"I'm really just here to make sure Lulu's still in one piece. And she is, so my mission's accomplished."

Melina Vostokoff has posed:
A slight shake comes to her head. They are not alone. Melina is not going to relax enough to have *that* sort of conversation over vodka in front of a stranger. She is watching Lily curiously now, however. Her neuroscientist brain is trying to put a few more pieces of the puzzle together because she can tell there is something very, very different here.

"Well... If I was going to hurt Lulu, she would be dead. Someone else might come soon, when they realize I have not... cleaned matters up, and Lulu is not coming home. For now... I buy time." She shrugs quietly, as if she wasn't risking her whole life and mind to let these other Widows run free. "If you find the others, Lulu...tell them. There is only so much time."

Dottie Underwood has posed:
She shoots a glance at Lily. "What did you do to me?" she asks the woman. She has no doubts that Lily is not here to protect her from Melina. Just as she has no doubts that she wouldn't need that protection, should it come to that. "Why didn't I notice?"

Then she turns back to Melina. "Who else have you found?" Dottie asks. "Will you say?" The words are too eager, for all she tries to keep them light.

She nods very slightly at the other Russian's explanation. Buying time makes sense, as an excuse. Dottie's used it often enough herself. Then she asks very softly in their mother tongue, "And what will you do when they come for you?"

Melinda May has posed:
Lily gives Dottie a tight smile. "What I had to." She gives no more explanation than that. Maybe she'll tell her more one day. Probably not. It can be one of those mysteries between them.

The conversation between the two Russians is interesting, however. And even when Dottie switches into Russian, she understands -- even if she won't speak it. Not unless she wants to make them laugh.

Regardless, she also knows she doesn't have the need to intrude on that conversation, so she sips her tea and glances briefly out the window at the busy street passing beyond.

Melina Vostokoff has posed:
There is silence from Melina, especially as she studies Lily even more heavily. The fact that Dottie is, at all, speaking around the other woman tells her volumes, but not enough that Melina herself is willing to trust. Her expression darkens a little more, and she gives the only response to the answer she can, "Natalie. I told you." She'd already dropped the other woman's name. She wasn't willing to risk any more information. That was previously in play.

Then she's smoothly pulling out an elegant red leather pocket book, pulling out a twenty and a few ones to pay for her drink and leave a tip. She doesn't want to ruin this place for herself, but she has been pushed beyond her trust zone.

She does reply to the other woman, in Russian. Maybe this woman doesn't speak it. Her voice is quiet as a mouse, meant just for this table. Just for them. <<"Probably die. Either my body, or my mind, again. As it always is. Use what I gave Natalie. Get the children out, if you can. For us old woman, there is nothing left but to die. Natalie knows it.">> She then stands, plastering a too sweet smile on her face, "Ladies, you have to forgive me. Michelle's soccer practice finishes soon!"

Dottie Underwood has posed:
<<"Remember Mila,">> Dottie whispers just as quiet, just as small, <<"dying's never been part of the plan.">> It's the closest thing to an olive branch that she can offer. Then she lets Melina go. Offers her a cheery little wave. They shouldn't be seen together for long. It isn't safe. For either of them.

Melinda May has posed:
Lily watches Melina retreat, wondering if Peggy will mind letting her sift through old records so she can figure out who this old spy is. In the end, though, she's not sure it really matters. Instead, she gives Dottie a warm smile. "I suppose I should go, too. Time waits for no one." A beat. She winks. "I should know."

She pushes to her feet and nods lightly before she takes her leave. When she turns on the street, it's in the opposite direction to Melina, and at a slow enough pace... she's almost certainly not following her. She simply has no need.