8637/Catch a Falling Star

Catch a Falling Star
Date of Scene:	10 November 2021
Location:	The Triskelion: Courtyard
Synopsis:	Ava brings Finley to the Triskelion for help. Peggy gives what help she can. In the end, though, it's a waiting game.
Cast of Characters:	Ava Starr, Peggy Carter, Finley Ellison

---

Ava Starr has posed:
The flash above New York is visible across the city. A bright white light like an old fashioned camera flash, but stronger. Oh, so much stronger. With it comes a spike of EM, quantum, and cosmic energy that register on instruments across the continent. That it doesn't short out electronics has more to do with the fact the the EM part of the flash is mostly light. Still, it definitely REGISTERS -- at the Triskelion as well as other science facilities across the nation.

The streak falls toward the north of the city, down into Westchester county. The tracking scanners in SHIELD operations register it as being something like Captain Marvel's signature... but not. That raises the question: Who or what is it?

The answer appears in the courtyard of the Triskelion. Ava Starr, in her Ghost suit, cradles Finley Ellison in her arms, expression wild. "Help," she begs the first agent she sees. "Please. She needs help!"

Peggy Carter has posed:
The moment the readings started to be tracked, security was on stand by. By the time they are getting closer and the triangulation puts it likely in the courtyard? Well, there's a small army of SHIELD security in the front doors and spilling onto the grass. Peggy Carter was on site and while they wouldn't let her near the front lines, the moment she sees the women, one clearly incapicated, her eyes go a little wild, "They've got clearance, someone get medical down here, NOW!" Peggy orders, a line parting in the crowd.

She jogs up to them, "Come on, come on...let's meet the gurney in the lobby. Give me a report of what happened on the way." She has her calm crisis voice on.

Finley Ellison has posed:
Finley doesn't stir in Ava's arms. Her head lolls alarmingly in her unconsciousness. A faint glow emanates from her skin -- pale yellow, like her hair.

Ava Starr has posed:
As the sea of combat ready agents part, Ava looks visibly relieved. Given how greatly she mistrusted SHIELD the last time Peggy saw her, the fact she's here now is probably remarkable. Never mind how she got here. The only real change between now and the last time Peggy saw Ava are the new bracers on her suit -- something easy to overlook -- and the fact she's clearly functional and not struggling to hold herself together.

"We were on Hala," she says, carrying Finley swiftly behind Peggy as she leads them back toward the foyer, "with Captain Marvel. We were looking for a scientist we believed could help me. But he was dead when we got there. We don't know what killed him. But I think Finley's been infected with nanites he was working on."

Her voice, as English as Peggy's but not as high class, is thick with tension, but stays even -- in direct contrast to the tightly wound distress on her face.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Hearing that, Peggy touches the comm that almost always lingers in her ear when she's on site but not in her office, "<<Medical. We have a patient, infected with some sort of... Nanites? She's on her way up now.>>" And sure enough, as they spill into the front area, there's a gurney coming down out of the elevator, being wheeled forward to Finley's body. If this is some sort of trick to get past security, well... It's working. Peggy won't waste time risking an agent's life on being overly paranoid.

"Alright. Did you manage to collect his body as well? You don't think it's the same thing that's infected her, do you? What were the first symptoms?" Peggy motions for Ava to talk to the medical team with the gurney as much as she's talking to Peggy.

Finley Ellison has posed:
Finley's body is taken from Ava's arms and placed on the gurney and strapped into place. The slight glow surrounding her dims.

Ava Starr has posed:
If Ava wanted past Triskelion security, she could get past it. Beyond the fact she knows SHIELD protocol, she's still very good at being both intangible and invisible. No. She wants help, plain and simple. Finley is important enough to her that she'll look for it anywhere she thinks she can get it. Even SHIELD.

"Body? No... No, but... Captain Marvel may have the data. She..." Ava looks back over her shoulder toward the doors. "She'll be here." That shows an inordinate amount of trust, too, really. Something has changed in Ava Starr.

"There weren't any *symptoms*," she tells Peggy as Finley is put on the stretcher and pushed toward that elevator. She picks up her pace, unwilling to be left behind. "I sensed an energy signature. Carol illuminated it. And then they just swarmed Finley." A beat... "I don't think they liked the energies Carol and I gave off." But Finley, unenhanced, regular human Finley, was apparently an ideal treat.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Well, she'll be in the best medical care Earth has soon." Peggy does her best to reassure, as they ride up to the higher levels as quick as an elevator can. It still, no doubt, seems like an agonizingly long time. The moment the doors spill open, Peggy steps back so the medical team can rush Finley out the doors and into the medical ward. More doctors are waiting there with the most advanced scanners money (and research) can buy. Peggy motions for Ava to follow with her.

"...and... How are *you* feeling?" She looks the woman up and down, as the medics tend to their patient.

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava watches as the medics sweep Finley into a nearby quarantine pod -- the glass walls allowing her to see in, to see what's happening. That's a good thing. It's what keeps her from getting in their way.

"Me?" She looks startled a moment. But then chuffs a soft breath. "I'm fine," she says. "I'm not cured, but..." She eyes the chief a moment and then raises her hands, palms empty. "I'm stable for now, thanks to these things." She means the bracers that encircle her wrists.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Fine is far, far better than you were the last report I had. So, that's encouraging." Peggy is splitting her attention betweem the woman behind the glass and the one at her side. She's taking in the clear changes from Ava, the body language and the care between the two. She makes no comment, but there is a curious arch of her brow.

"And...what *are* those, on your wrists?"

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava grimaces faintly, the first hint of personal discomfort not connected to Finley, becoming evident. "They're called Quantum Bands. Q-Bands." She turns her attention back to Finley, arms crossing over her chest, fingers curling over her elbows tightly. "They... belonged to a friend of Carol's." She doesn't even begin to try to explain the ramifications of that. Nor the impact carying them with her has had.

Instead, she watches the medics, her shoulders and spine stiff. "I suppose we've had something of an adventure."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A slight tilt of her head comes as Peggy can read there is SOMETHING more behind the quantum bands. A weight that Ava doesn't want to talk about, but Peggy doesn't miss that it's there. She finally gives a small nod, "I'm glad they are... effective for you. I know you were... were in a lot of pain. It's good to see you up and functioning. Now, we just need to take care of your... Partner. And she's in good hands." Peggy is throwing out that guess into the air -- business or personal -- and watching Ava out of the corner of her eye as she says the word partner.

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava's eyes dart briefly toward Peggy as she calls Finley her partner. She gives the faintest of nods, watching the medics closely. She knows what her limits are. She's no scientist. The best she can do is read energy signatures. "Those... things... had some sort of quantum signature," she says. "They will need to account for that."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peggy gives the smallest of smiles and a faint, approving nod in turn as she sees that response from Ava. She certainly isn't going to press about it in public, but it's filed away in the back of her head for the future. She then leans forward, pressing the intercom to the isolation room, "Ms. Starr says that the things in her have some sort of quantum signature, if that is of any assistance." Though that makes Peggy frown. "Our quantum experts are... not that man. Ellison being one. We could call in Jane Foster, unless you think you can help them separate from her?"

Finley Ellison has posed:
Behind the glass, medics in hazmat suits, attach Agent Ellison to medical monitoring devices, suctioning diodes onto her body and prepping an intravenous line in case she should need immediate introduction of fluids. Samples are taking of her skin, her hair, her saliva, her blood. The team swarms like a hive, and Ava recalls the nanites covering Finley, glowing and busy and everywhere.

When they briefly clear, and the two women outside quarantine can catch a glimpse of the young scientist, Finley seems more machine than mammal, small and pale and blonde amid the white and chrome, like a religious icon haloed by technology. She's breathing on her own. But she still hasn't regained consciousness.

One of the doctors in the room pulls up Finley's SHIELD medical file. He looks at the sample he's assessing and makes some notes. Whatever he's noticed, he doesn't seem inclined to share with anyone outside the quarantine room. Not yet.

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava glances to Peggy again. "Call in whomever you think can help," she tells the chief. "I'm no scientist. I can track the energy, I can't control... whatever's generating it." More importantly, she's afraid of hurting her friend. Yv'Kar look like he'd been massacred by a swarm of bees.

When the curtain of bodies parts, Ava's expression grows tighter and she leans her hands against the lip that bisects the wall. "God damn it," she swears softly, "I hate aliens." She's so very much had her fill of space.

For now, anyway.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"When Jemma gets back, she... might have better ideas on how to separate this from her body. And I'll let Jane know, but she's halfway around the world on missions these days. But, Finley's in good hands now, Ava. This is the best place she can be and she seems... Stable, if nothing else." Peggy looks back from the scene behind the glass to turn and face Ava instead. She gives the woman a long look over before offering softly, "Do you want some guest quarters here? Get a shower and maybe... a little bit of rest. I'll have them contact you if anything at all changes."

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava isn't likely to rest. But... it's easier to keep quarters here than to commute from the warehouse in Hell's Kitchen. So, she gives Peggy another simple nod. "I'd appreciate it," she admits. "I'm not leaving." Not yet. Not until someone can tell her what's happening to her partner. Which means even the quarters will wait.

It may be a long wait.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peggy gives a slow nod of understanding towards that, her face closing off a bit. She needs to go back to being proper, distant Chief instead of friend and shoulder. "I'll have the quarters set up for you so they will be there for you when you are... Ready. And someone will send up food in a little bit. Sit, at least... " She motions to one of the leather chairs which is for work or waiting. It's the best she can do.

And with that, Peggy gives Finley one more look before turning on the ball of her foot and heading out. Peggy wished she had the time to keep bedside vigils, but no such luxuries are given to Chief's. Beside, she almost felt she was intruding on Ava, somehow. That this waiting was intimate and raw in a way the tough woman probably did not care to show.

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava isn't quite ready to be friends with anyone at SHIELD yet, in any case. She is... marginally willing to rebuild some broken relationships -- professional trust between herself and the chief, for instance. Especially since she's effectively asking them for a favour... for all that Finley *is* one of their own. That mitigates things, Ava knows. But, still. She'll end up paying for this, one way or another, she knows.

But, for now... she waits. Alone.