9535/Path of Glory: Updating the Chief

Path of Glory: Updating the Chief
Date of Scene:	08 January 2022
Location:	Chief Carter's Office: Triskelion
Synopsis:	Cael meets with Peggy in her office, to report on the first battle with the angelic forces, and to make sure their forces and Sims have everything they need to win.
Cast of Characters:	Peggy Carter, Cael Becker

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Peggy Carter has posed:
Tea is made. Even in the middle of a world-ending (or city ending) crisis, there is civilization. Tea. And a selection of food easily ate brought up on a tray from the cafeteria. Peggy knows things are hard. She's been out helping in shelters most of the time, but now that she's back, she needs the front line rerpot. So she has made it as comfortable as possible for Cael.

Peggy is still in her own tac-suit, ready to go back out to the field if she needs, only one hour back herself. Her hair is pinned tightly back to let her work. But her jacket? It's worn open, not zipped. It might not quite fit zipped nowadays. The Director is looking softer around the edges than she used to.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael steps into the office as she's prompted by the sound of the Chief's voice - a massive white puppy of nearly 100 pounds walking by her side in a brightly colored 'Service Dog in Training' vest. Bear is a great pyrenees - and from the size of his paws, still has a little growing left to do. He has a cheerful, friendly expression beneath his floppy ears, tail wagging slowly as he walks beside his person. Cael, for her part, looks tired - her expression pinched and drawn beneath short blonde hair that's been dyed with riotous rainbow hues in the lower layers. They remain hidden for the most part, only peeking out occasionally as she moves, or when she runs a hand through her hair.
    She doesn't take a seat yet, but instead comes to a stop in front of Peggy's desk, offering a nod of greeting. "Ma'am," she says politely as she waits - the dog taking a seat beside her and thumping his tail on the floor twice. "This is Bear," she adds simply, a brief moment of amusement showing on the corners of her lips as she introduces the pup.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peg's brows arch quietly as she sees the size of the service dog. She heard that he was here, she's dealt with them before, but never one quite so big. A tired smile cuts across her features, somehow holding both the age of 100 years behind her gaze and the look of her 29 year old face at the same time. "Goodness. Well, Bear, it is nice to meet you. Agent Becker, please... come in. Sit. Relax. There is food and tea -- both caffeinated and not. If you want anything else... Just tell me. But sit, first. Breathe."

Peggy stands, coming around the desk to walk over to the younger agent. If Cael allows, the Chief pulls her into a brief but tight hug. It's a hug meant to be protective. Caring. One meant to help someone release tension in their chest and shoulders. "You're alive... and that's what matters. Everything else can come after. Sit." Then she lets her go to actually allow her to sit and take advantage of the spread Peggy's offering. The decaf tea is ginger, the caffeinated is gunpoweder black. Peg's mug looks like she's having the ginger.

Cael Becker has posed:
    As the Chief comes around the desk, the reaction from Cael is subtle - but very much present. Her expression goes wary for a moment, and her weight shifts onto the foot away from Peggy's approach, shifting her slightly away from the impending hug. She would do nothing more than tolerate the hug, should the Chief miss the hints, before she takes a seat at her invitation.
    "Also not deaf, which is a distinct plus. I probably wouldn't be if not for a little magical help. Having to fight when all you can hear is a ringing in your head is... disorienting," Cael remarks as she helps herself to the black tea, adding nothing to it before she takes a cautious sip.
    "We're going to need ear protection for everyone that goes out into that battlefield. Hopefully Sims is on that already, but if not... It's important we take care of that immediately."

Peggy Carter has posed:
As the woman's body shies away like that, Peggy is too good at reading people to force the hug on her. Instead, she just places a hand momentarily to her arm and then steps away, giving Cael space. She settles back into her seat behind the desk, giving a quiet nod to the start of the report. "Good. I'll make certain to send down extra supplies for ear protection before I leave tonight, then."

"...Before we get started, is there anything you want or need? I know this has been a hellish week. Almost literally. You are a person as well as an agent and... I just... I wanted to check on you first." A tired, bittersweet smile crosses Peggy's unpainted lips. She knows it probably won't help, but she has to try. She cares about her people too much.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "I appreciate that," Cael answers, taking another sip of her tea. Apparently it met with her approval. Bear has settled in by her chair, looking up at both women with his tongue lolling out cheerfully. "I think I have what I need, though. I've got my sister," the spirit she'd talked to Peggy about, "and Bear with me. I'm seeing Caldwell," one of SHIELD therapists, "daily for now. And as much as I want to be out in the field helping us get through this, I'm- I'll be taking a little time to make sure I'm ready to be properly effective before I put myself back into the line of fire. I was given a little reprieve from one of the angels that seems to be siding with us, but that affect's... expired. Unfortunately." She takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly before she adds, "But I'm honestly doing better than I expected."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A slow nod comes from Peggy, drinking in all the words that Cael is saying. She accepts it. She doesn't push harder. She simply presses record on her little comm unit, so she doesn't have to take notes while Cael is speaking but can listen while looking her in the eye. "Alright then. Agent Becker... if you are ready, give me a full report. Everything you can remember. Anything that might help us for the future. And action recommendations at the end."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Yes ma'am," Cael replies. She takes another sip of the tea as she gathers her thoughts, letting one of her hands fall to the side, to rest on Bear's head. Whens he does speak, it's slowly and thoughtfully, as she tries to recall everything that happened - and exactly when it had happened. The battle hadn't been long, but it had been hectic.
    "They came at dawn - as we'd been warned they would. Sims tried to parlay with with Archangel Michael one last time - to try one last time to prevent a loss of life, but... that was as useless as I expected. Michael demanded that we surrender, and join in his glorious purpose, or some such bull- err. ...nonsense." Her lips quirk slightly in amusement at the near slip - but maybe it's best //not// to rely on her usual vernacular in the Chief's office. While she's being recorded.
    "He also claimed that the innocent faithful had already been 'Raptured' and that only warriors resided within St. Patrick's. I... well. I worry about what exactly that means, and I'm definitely not the person to answer it.
    "When it was clear that Michael would not yield in any way, Sims tried to attack - only for his magic to fail utterly. Turns out, that when everything went wrong, back when we tried to banish Michael back to heaven? Well. Sims had surrendered to Michael to try to stop him from harming all of us. ...well now Sims can't attack the angels. Some sort of magical compulsion he can't overcome? Magic is //not// my field of expertise though. So that's when he ordered the rest of us to attack."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A little groan escapes Peggy's lips as she hears news about the magical compulsion on Sims. She drags one hand across her face, leaning back deeper in her chair and letting out a long, slow breath as she crosses her legs. This is going to be one of those reports she never wants to hear but has to consume every last inch of for the good of her people and the future of the city.

"Alright. So... Sims is off the table. How did the rest of the attack go?" She asks softly, not interrupting otherwise.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Not completely off the table. He can fight Michael 'Champion' - Caitlin Fairchild. He can fight any of the humans who've taken up arms on the angels' behalf. He just... can't attack angels." Cael does let out a frustrated sigh, though. "This is what the idiot gets for surrendering though. Anyways." She takes a moment to gather her thoughts again as she thinks back to the chaos of the fight.
    "Fairchild is strong. She was able to scream loud enough to rupture eardrums, and knock us flat with a concussion wave. She also is able to rock and crack the ground with the force of her hits. She knocked most us of us flat with her first attack. Sims went after her, encasing her in ice, blasting her with some sort of... I don't know. It was a weird beam, but it hurt her - badly. I was busy emptying my clip on Michael - well. One of the Michaels, he'd split himself in two. Sims had some 'unholy water' - and we put it into some ICER bullets, instead of the toxin-stuff." Look, she's clearly not a scientist. "It's the only reason I was able to do anything against him, and it hurt him pretty badly. Fresh outta the stuff now, though.
    "Michael was mostly focused on fighting Lady Death, who'd arrived with... well, the stuff of nightmares. Armies of the undead fighting the armies of the angels. If not for her forces, we would have lost a lot more people."
    She takes another sip, still trying to organize her chaotic thoughts. Everything had happened so fast... "One of Sims' allies from the Justice League Dark, Atrun-Rai I think? He was helping Sims fight Fairchild, and he took some nasty hits from her, and her forces - but we seemed to be doing alright - holding them back, you know? That was until Michael went nuclear. He just... he broke apart, shattered into blinding light - it knocked me flat again. Took a good chunk of our forces out and... revitalized Michael's forces. Even brought some of them //back//.
    "Oh, did you know you can blow up angels with a grenade? Pro-tip there."

Peggy Carter has posed:
There is a sadness that crosses Peggy's eyes, a weight there that makes her look very much her age. She swallows back, not letting tears come but the grief is undeniable on the often very stoic Brit's face. She takes in a slow breath and sits forward again, not able to take this report leaning back. It feels wrong to be comfortable. To relax.

"...whatever happened to Caitlin? How... god, hell, how did she get like this? When they first unfroze me, she... She helped me learn to walk again. She was so sweet, and now..." Peggy shakes her head, swallowing again and looking down to her tea for a moment. "Sorry. I interrupted. Grenades are effective. Good. So... fire is? Should we start arming people with flame throwers?" She does not appear to be joking with that question.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Chief, I-" Cael falls silent, staring down at her teacup. The pup beside her starts to whine - serving as a very blatant barometer for Cael's emotions. He moves closer to his owner, nudging Cael's leg with his nose, before resting his head in her lap. Cael's hand reaches down automatically, to start stroking the dog's head. "Michael happened to her," Cael explains in a quieter voice. "He can get inside your head. He- he can make you feel the love, and unconditional acceptance, and bliss of heaven, of God. It's heady stuff. It's addictive. You can't think of anything else, other than what you can do to serve Heaven. To serve God, to serve Michael - to help him fulfill his purpose. To help everyone else feel this, feel this way, because of course that's right, and good, and anyone standing your way must be evil. Must be wrong. That's- that's what's happened to her, if you want my opinion. I tried talking to her. I tried explaining what happened to me, to try to show her that Michael - that he isn't right. That you can get out of that place, that feeling he traps you in, even though it's hard - but she wouldn't listen. She //couldn't//. She thinks- she firmly believes that I deserved what Michael did to me, because Michael couldn't possibly be wrong."
    Blinking her eyes, a few tears fall from her eyes, and she hastly wipes them away before returning her hand to Bear's head.
    "Anyways. Umm... yeah, dunno about the flame throwers. We haven't tried them yet, obviously, but it might be worth a try. But it might be more the concussive blast and the shrapnel, then the fire itself? I don't know. It's not like they particularly... burned."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A slight shiver crosses through Peggy as she hears the information about the angel. That just deepens the grief in her eyes. She gives a slow, understanding nod. "Do we know how to... avoid him taking over your head? Is it as easy as avoiding his eyes? I'll talk to the Brotherhood as well. Maybe they have a telepath mutant that could help... Break this control. But you are right. It's not her. It's him. That's not the woman we know... Knew. Just remember that." Peggy almost reaches for Cael's hand for reassurance to the woman, but stops. She takes up her tea instead.

"Alright. Not flame throwers. Well... I'll send a few. And see if we can get sonic concussive weapons down there as well. I'll talk to Tony, I bet he has a few things. We'll get the forces every last defense we can, I promise." She realizes she's interrupted again. She takes a breath and sets her shoulders, "But... how did it end?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    "It's not eye contact," Cael answers simply. "You can close your eyes - he'll still get in, believe me." She takes a deep breath in, a little shakily, and lets it out slowly as she explains, "Jo- ...Sims built something for me, a charm. It was supposed to protect me from 'the angel' - this was before we knew it was the Archangel Michael, before we knew just //how much// power we were dealing with here. You know? But it worked for a little bit, anyways. He explained it as a mirror-ball. It reflected back his attempts to get into my head. But it required having a physical charm with me, and when Michael found that and destroyed it- that's when he got in my head."
    She lets out another sigh, and as painful as telling these things seems to be for Cael - in a way, it's also a relief. A few weeks ago, she wouldn't have been able to tell any of these things without melting into sobs. She is getting better. "You're a good boy, Bear," she murmurs, scritching at the dog, and still keeping her gaze directed downwards, away from the Chief.
    "Okay, well... umm... So, yeah. Sims was fighting Fairchild. She hitting him with a fu- err, with a tire, from a car. It knocked him flat - knocked him clean out for a while. I covered him. He woke up with broken ribs, internal bleeding... It was pretty bad. Then Michael exploded. He- I think at some point he hurt Lady Death pretty bad. I don't know if you can kill someone called 'Lady Death' but I saw her being carried off as her forces retreated. Atrun-Rai was destroyed - he's just... gone. Umm... Fairchild tried to hit Sims and I with a car. She just... lobbed it at us. But Michael said he would allow us to retreat, and the car disappeared - just before it- I mean, probably neither Sims or I would be able to give you a report if that car had landed." She states it as a simple fact.
    "Michael blew up - and yet was still just... there. Frustrating isn't even the word for it. And even when you're deaf, when you can't hear anything else - you can't get away from his voice. You still hear it in your head. You can't get away from his voice..." Her fingers lock onto Bear's fur as she offers those words, while pup whines, and licks and nudges at her leg.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"...Oh hell... Fuck it all." Peggy mutters quietly. Sometimes, you just need to curse. The stoic Chief rarely does, but she means it now. She lets silence linger between them for severla heartbeats, giving Cael the chance to recover emotionally or, at least, gather herself and focus on the dog, no thte report. "I'm so sorry, Cael. No one... no one should be violated the way you are. This is no angel. This is a... monster. That is absolutely what he is. A monster." Peggy whispers softly, after the silence got a little too long.

"And... what is the status of the field... Now?" She asks, her voice a touch raspy. It hurts to hear this about her people. It hurts to consider they might lose this war. Peggy's never lost a war before, even ones they said she would.

Cael Becker has posed:
    "I agree with you there, ma'am," Cael answers quietly.
    After a few more scritches at Bear's head, she manages to pull her head up again to meet Peggy's gaze. The state of the field now is a far safer topic - it has nothing to do with Michael. "Well, St. Patrick's is well held by Michael's forces. We can't get near it without a fight. I'm sure they'd let us send a representative to parlay if we wanted - and they'd be given safe passage, physically. ...I'm not entirely convinced they'd be immune from psychic influences, though, if we ever went that route. We're held up at Grand Central Station, which has been very efficiently fortified. Sims is using that as his base of operations."
    She hesitates for a moment before adding, "Ma'am, if I may - I have a couple concerns about Sims. He's- I think he's up to task, more than he realizes, but he's taking the deaths in the field very personally. He was trying to learn about the deaths of every individual that fell so he could contact their families - he was more focused on the civilian casualties. I had to convince him that as the leader in an active war, he doesn't have the time to do that shit, you know? So there's that.
    "My other concern is that- well. As Gaea's chosen champion," she still finds it weird she can say things like that with a straight face, "and leader of the Justice League Dark, he has the authority he needs to direct this fight - but in a way, he feels like he doesn't. Because he's commanding SHIELD forces, and he's a //recruit//," she points out simply. "I mean, obviously I don't have the authority to tell you how to manage your people but- please. Promote him, ma'am. I think he's more than earned it, and I think it would do him some good. Some serious good."

Peggy Carter has posed:
The older woman considers this quietly, as the news about Sims comes out. Peggy frowns more, her shoulders sinking back into her chair and she pulls her tea into her lap, resting it against soft midsection thoughtfully. "I... hate that I'm not out there with you all. I know that directing the evacuation was important but I... I wish I was out there. I miss the field. I know you all... have this. You clearly think Jonathan has this, that recommendation is... sound and under heavy consideration. But I hate sending my own people out where I can't... shouldn't... go." Peggy had to get that off her chest. Whatever reasons for staying behind, they are killing her quietly. Even if SHIELD needs a leader at home too.

"As for Jonathan, I can... give him a field promotion. For this battle, at least. And commendations after. He still has to pass certifications. But... if you think it will do him well, we can make certain he knows that SHIELD backs him in this even more than I already did. It's the least I can do..."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "We can't put everyone in the line of fire at once," Cael answers with a wry smile on her features. "We have to assume we're going to win this thing, and if that win is too costly - then what sort of future are we building on the other side of this?" she asks. "I do believe Sims has this, but he doubts himself sometimes - like everyone does.
    "Anyways," she adds, taking a deep breath - and letting it out slowly. "The battle was divided into two fronts - so I really only saw half of what was going on. Pezzini was helping on the other side of things. If you called her in - she could give you a different perspective. I haven't yet heard what happened on their end."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A deep sigh comes in turn to the reassurance that not everyone can be in the field. Peggy nods in agreement, "I know. And SHIELD needs me here. Hell..." A distant smile flutters across her features. "I promised my husband we'd go away this weekend. Just a day and a night. Get through the evacuation and be... us. Celebrate being alive. I... don't know how to do that, if I even should." Peggy shakes her head, giving a little wave of her hand, "But you don't need to hear this from your chief."

She squares her shoulders off again, setting up straight and putting her tea down to fold her hands on her desk. "But, I thank you for your report. That was... incredibly helpful. And I will talk to Sims. And... Pezzini. And we will win this, Becker. Somehow, I promise, we will. We have been through darker and come through..."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "It's fine, ma'am," Cael replies. If anything, amusement flashes across her features for a moment. "I, uh... I have my friends now to remind me that I should be enjoying life - when I can. I've got my bike, and my car... Bear. And Redfox," with Redfox being the mutated red fox she'd brought back from the red mist incident. The ridiculously simplistic name was a dig at Wilson's Redwing.
    Her relaxed expression grows more serious as she adds, "I don't mean to cast doubts one the severity of your own trials, Chief... I know you've been through a lot. But we're facing the destruction of all of reality here. I'm not sure there is anything darker than that." She sets the remainder of her tea aside as she adds, "But we will win this." Because they have to - and they have to believe that they will.
    "I'm glad I was able to be of help," she replies as she rises. She gives a nod - and cracks a brief smile as she adds, "Enjoy your time off, ma'am."
    Bear climbs to his feet - tail wagging a few times, as he turns to accompany Cael from the room.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peggy stands in respect to the other agent, that sad smile on her features, "I... I know what we are facing. But I also know my people. I know we will beat it. So, go rest. Relax. Tomorrow is another day and this fight is... far from over. But thank you. For your time, and your service." She escorts Cael to the door, not to force her out, but like an honor guard. She gives her a little wave out the door and watches her go before shutting it behind her and just leaning there. That's when she lets a few tears come. When no one else can see.