9890/A Complicated Silence

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A Complicated Silence
Date of Scene: 29 January 2022
Location: The Carter-Sousa House
Synopsis: Dinner at the Carter-Sousa house is always interesting. Tonight, it's a welcome home for Phil and some uncomfortable news about Melinda May's medical state.
Cast of Characters: Peggy Carter, Daniel Sousa, Melinda May, Phil Coulson




Peggy Carter has posed:
A lovely two story with built in garage suburban home on Long Island. It's on a street of perfectly manicured lawns and houses just different enough to look interesting. The outside is red brick with white shutters and large, open windows. Inside, there's a posh 1950's living room with a long, bright green rectangular couch and two matching arm chairs. All the furniture would now lovingly be called 'Mid-Century Modern' or retro. A brand new 1951 model television rests in front of the couch with still shiny rabbit ears on top. In the dining room, there's a large Queen Anne table, a side board, a full bar, and a swinging stereo with record player and radio. A fireplace occupies one of the living room walls as well a mason jar half-full of spent bullets sitting in a place of pride on the mantle. The kitchen is all done in canary yellows and avocodo color with matching wallpaper and tile.

    here's a master bedroom on the first floor with a huge jaccuzi tub done in 1950s blue. The desk area and side tables look the most used of anywhere in the house and the king sized bed was clearly well loved with fresh sheets and comfortable duvet to match the warm creams and blues of the room. Upstairs is a rarely used guest bathroom and two more bedrooms, one with beds small enough for children another which belonged to Lily Chen. The latter is decorated with pictures of the agent and her friends on the wall, lace curtains on the windows and quilts and knit blankets piled on the bed.

Through the door at the back of the main floor there's a large back yard with a patio that all the bedroom back windows overlook.

Peggy Carter has posed:
With Phil finally back off of mission, and Manhattan still not really a safe place to meet, Peggy's invited both him and May to the house for dinner. Technically, the house has been May's house as well for the last while, but Phil doesn't need to know that over an electronic invitation. There's a promise in the note that Daniel will cook and there are guest rooms if people wish to stay the night instead of driving back to Westchester. The old fashioned house is warm and inviting. Peggy's got the old stereo playing a jazz record.

Everyone home from the Triskelion for the day, Peggy's changed into a more forgiving plaid skirt and sweater than the suit she was in earlier. She's not really growing *out* of her clothing yet, but anything that was tailored or form fitted is definitely, noticably tight these days. She's got a bottle of wine decanting, and some green tea on to brew already as well. She's letting Daniel handle the kitchen. It's a pattern they comfortably fall into. "It will be good to see Phil again. I thought Fury was never going to give him back."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel's lifting the lid to the beans steaming on the stove as he calls back, "Had to give him some time off sometime," he says."Just glad it's now."

Green beans coming along nicely, he lowers the lid and then checks on the roast, it was looking and smelling good. "Hope people are hungry tonight," he says. He'd been cooking more with the three of them sharing the house but tonight he was going all out, pot roast, green beans, gravy, mashed potatoes, the whole nine. "Anyhow dinner should be ready soon," he as he closes the oven.

Melinda May has posed:
It's been about three weeks now, since the incident at the Triskelion that actually precipitated May's temporary relocation to Long Island -- the night Yelena Belova stumbled in with a severely beaten and bleeding Melina Vostokov in tow... The night Melinda May ended up flashing an emotional surge through a football field sized portion of the building before going off rez for nearly 48 hours. But, Peggy found her. Brought her home. Or, at least, back to Long Island.

So, May has spent 3 weeks in the room with Lily Chen on its walls. And thus spent most of her waking hours elsewhere in the house. The basement has made a good substitute for the gym. It's been too cold outside. So, she's done a lot of PT. And she's even done some work, though she's fairly certain her network use is monitored. And she can't begrudge them that. She's even been able to get out and fly quinjets in and out of Manhattan -- she's still the best pilot SHIELD's got, after all. (No matter what Danvers or Morse might tell you.) So, not totally sidelined. not totally squirrelly with inactivity.

Thus, she's actually able to behave as if everything were normal. Just another day at the office.

And, well, this is SHIELD. So... it kinda is.

She comes down from her bedroom, freshly showered, dressed in her usual black jeans, a dark red blouse. Just in time to overhear the conversation, she chuffs a soft breath of air that's half laugh, half grunt. "Fury just wants to keep him out of trouble and make sure there are more people around to keep their eyes on him." Since she can't.

Yeah. That rankles.

Phil Coulson has posed:
The doorbell rings, precisely at the appointed time. When it comes to others, Coulson is always on time. Unlike the others who have adopted their casual at-home attire, he is wearing the same grey suit that he always wears. Maybe he didn't get the memo. Most likely he did - coming straight from the Triskelion, and planning to go straight back.

He has, however, brought a hostess gift, in some fashion. A bottle of wine, no doubt taken from somewhere in the stores of SHIELD. It is held in his right hand, naturally. In his left, still not quite fully naturally, is a bundle of flowers. They look suspiciously like a cluster of flowers that grow over near the Triskelion.

He waits, politely, at the door, oblivious of course to any conversation about him occurring within.

Peggy Carter has posed:
A small, appreciative moan escapes Peggy's lips as she takes a scent of the kitchen, "Oh, you're spoiling us. Or just showing off for Coulson, hmm? You know, he was a very big fan of yours." Peggy teases her husband, stealing a brief kiss to the corner of his mouth before stepping out of the kitchen and flashing May a smile. "I wouldn't say that, besides, you keep the best eyes on him. You must, for him to trek all the way out to Long Island to see you." Peg grins at her friend and then moves for the door.

Opening it with a warm smile, the picture presented looks far more like a home entertaining guide from 1959 than a top secret meeting of SHIELD's greatest minds. Peggy motions Phil in, "Phil! You are... exactly on time, practically to the second. That is almost unnerving. Come in, come in... wine's decanting, dinner is almost done. Melinda is grumbling. It's a normal Friday. Welcome to our house. Ignore the bullet jar and hope we don't add to it tonight..." Peggy pulls him into a brief, one armed hug, before ushering him the rest of the way in. The door is shut and firmly locked behind.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel grins, "So I've heard," he says of Coulson being a fan, shifting a little uncomfortably. "And just living up to all the talking you've been doing about my cooking, got to make sure the reality lives up to the legend," he grins returning that kiss then getting the roast out of the oven while Peggy handles the greetings. After a quick check of the potatoes Daniel wipes his hands on dish towel and comes out to extend a hand to Phil. "Phil, good to meet you," he says. "Welcome to our home."

Melinda May has posed:
May gives Phil a small smile and a simple nod as he makes his presence known. She's unsurprised by his punctuality. Indeed, if she'd been paying closer attention to the clock, she'd probably have anticipated him at the door. As it is, she moves into the main room to help Peggy collect his offerings. "I was not grumbling," she retorts mildly. "I was merely making an observation." About Fury. Totally. Yep.

"You should see the bullet jar," she tells Phil. "I'm surprised neither of us thought of doing it before now." A beat. "I'm also surprised there are so few bullets in it."

Phil Coulson has posed:
"Thank you for the invitation," replies Phil, offering that dopey half smile that he always seems to have towards Peggy as he leans into the one-armed hug. He offers the wine bottle first, and then the flowers to May as she collects them. May of course earns a slightly less dopey half-smile, the more reserved one. "May." Something about that seems to set him more at ease.

He then sniffs at the air, perhaps a bit overly dramatically, and remarks, "Did you pick up Julia Child on your latest exploits?" He spares a brief glance at the bullet jar, and then adds a remark tossed towards May. "I am not quite sure a jar would have done it. Maybe a water cooler?" He shrugs as he continues inside, following the guidance from Peggy.

Peggy Carter has posed:
A quiet roll comes to Peggy's eyes as May comments about how many bullets are in the jar. "In my defense, I did stop filling it between, well... 1957 and now, really. So, that's just from '51 to '57." Peggy gives Daniel a momentarily apologetic, almost guilty smile as she says that. She knows she should have kept up with tradition, but it was hard. "But if we get unlucky enough for more attempted assassinations, I promise I'll start filling it again."

Then she's leading the rest of the way in, looking between the two men. "Goodness have... Have you two actually, properly met yet? I know you've been on assignments, Phil. but, well... incase... Phil Coulson, this is my husband, Daniel Sousa... Daniel, one of our best and one of the ONLY to give Melinda a run for her money, Phil Coulson. I'll...get these in water. They're lovely." She takes a deep breath of the flowers, setting the wine on the table and then going to vase them.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Who? That analyst for Naval Intelligence?" Daniel teases about Julia Child, playing the man out of time. Even if he did miss her TV debut he was aware of her since. "And good to meet you Phil, your legend proceeds you," he tells the man.

As for the bullet jar, Daniel just shakes his head quietly, no apology needed. "Going to have to wait a bit unless the angels start carrying guns."

Melinda May has posed:
May passes the flowers over to Peggy as she seeks a vase for them, turning away to take a peek into the dining area to see if they went all out with the table spread, too. She can tell by the scent and the way Daniel busies themselves in the kitchen, that it's just about time to sit down and eat. Good thing, too. She's hungry.

And there's a lot they should talk about. She doesn't have to look forward to that. But the meal should soothe it some.

Even so, she finds herself settled by the idea that Phil will be brought up to speed, tonight. As angry as she is to find herself in the position she is... all the people she mosts trusts to watch her back are in this room. "C'mon," she tells Phil. "We might as well lead the way to the table. They'll just shoo us from the kitchen anyway."

Phil Coulson has posed:
"Oh, you don't need to tell me that!" replies Phil as Peggy elaborates on Daniel's reputation. The excited (for Coulson) grin that breaks out every once in a while on his face is there. It's been visible when he talks about Captain Rogers. THAT look is earned by Daniel Sousa.

Phil extends his hand for an eager shake. "I have been looking forward to meeting you, Agent Sousa. Quite an honor. Welcome to..." Phil pauses for a moment. "I cannot help but think we keep plucking the best from history." He tosses a glance over to Peggy and smiles. "And he cooks, too. Good catch."
A nod to May. "Of course. As much as I'd like to lend a hand, I don't really have any to spare." Seems he is acclimating to that, at least.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The smile across Peggy's features only grows as she sees Phil's expression in reaction to Daniel. "Yes, well... we got lucky to be able to *keep* him around. We'll tell you the story. Some day." When they all remember it all. But she doesn't elaborate, she comes back with the flowers to put them on the table next to the stereo, so they aren't obscuring peoples' view across the dinner table, then ducks into the kitchen.

"Here, let me help... The faster we all sit and Melinda gets this off her chest, the faster we can all relax." Or, possibly, Peggy gets it off Melinda's chest, considering the circumstance. But it is her help, and she's starving too, stomach grumbling as she takes whatever dishes Daniel handles her and brings them to the table. She will fleetly help him get everything set out, the two working in tandem like only a long married couple can. Seeing them live together, it's clear how they ran SHIELD on scraps and hope so well even at the beginning there.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel finds a bit of colour coming to his olive heued cheeks at that 'Coulso' smile. Clearly he's not used to being a SHIELD celebrity. "Well I'm not sure I'm in the same category as Peggy or Steve but I'm happy to be in the future all the same, and to stay as well."

Then it's all about getting food into serving dishes and on to the table in tandem with Peggy until it's all there and they can be seated. "Feel free to dig in, no need to stand on ceremony."

Melinda May has posed:
May smirks slightly at Phil's joke. She's drawing on Peggy and Daniel's good humour to allow her to maintain this mask of being relaxed among friends. Channelling their easy camraderie and genuine welcome. The tension she's lived with for weeks -- possibly months now -- never quite leaves her spine, however. But she smiles that small smile she reserves for her closest friends. These three are the only people in the world, aside from her parents, that she willingly lets call her 'Melinda'.

She knows, though, she'll need Peggy's words to get through the explanations tonight. Because she quite literally can't speak about it. Everything she has done to explain has been to approach it sideways. And nothing's changed in the last 3 weeks. Everytime they've tried... She shuts down, whether she wants to or not.

Phil Coulson has posed:
Peggy's words clearly evoke a concerned expression from Phil. "Get what off your chest?" His progress to the table is stalled, and it isn't until he is reminded by Daniel that he continues his way over forwards a seat. But his attention remains unyielding on Melinda as he does so.

He settles into a seat, as he is told, but his gaze is steady on May. The look of not only a friend but also a spy who is used to trying to pick up every small detail that is there. Even hearing it is about to be handed to him Phil still tries to discern it for himself.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Once dinner is settled in and Peggy makes certain everyone has wine -- well, everyone except her, she's on the green tea tonight -- Peg settles in at her chair and looks between the trio. She can practically see Melinda's skin crawling with the things the woman cannot say. And Phil's sharp enough to realize that this isn't just a friendly house call, especially with that look he's giving May. Peggy lets a slow breath out of her nose, taking a single sip of her tea before she starts.

"First, rule one of this house is we generally do working dinners. So, no need to stand on ceremony of small talk. Rule two is... if we have something to say, we get it out." She looks between Phil and Melinda. "Unfortunately, with what happened to Melinda, she is unable. So, I will. Sometime last month, she was ambused by Red Room agent Melina Vostokoff. She was given a chemical serum that the Red Room has developed to perfect, well... Mind control. It also seems she was programmed with trigger words. I have yet to figure out what those words are. In her first bout of programming, she was forbidden from communicating this information. I managed it through...some lucky guesses, hints, and our taking this Red Room agent into custody. We've yet to figure out how to clear it from her system. So, while there are possible Red Room or HYDRA triggers implanted in her... I've set an order she doesn't go into the field without a trusted agent. I think that covers most of it."

Melinda May has posed:
Melinda meets Phil's eyes briefly. And in that brief moment is all the things she can't say. Her quiet, well-suppressed fury. And the shame that she was caught so easily. *That's* really what pisses her off. It's been seven or so months since she went through Terrigenesis. Five months since they escaped the Framework. And she's yet to really gain her feet stably underneath her for any significant amount of time.

She'd like off this roller coaster now, please.

Ultimately, her eyes slide away from his. She reaches for her wine, unable to say anything aloud about it, in any case. That she's not leaking her emotions all over the room is a testament to the relief that underlies her fury. They know. These people know. That means there's hope.

God, she hopes.

Phil Coulson has posed:
Yeah. Definitely a good thing they got the items out of his hands before he learned that. The left hand clamps shut with an artificial sound and he clenches his jaw a bit, making what appears to be one effort to open the fingers up before moving on from that to focus on the real matter. "They what?"

The moment passes quickly - or rather, Coulson summons forth that brave face he always puts on when something is bothering him and he needs to project confidence. May has seen it plenty of times before - but that does not stop him trying it anyway.

"You have overcome worse." Not an exaggeration. "How are we at finding something to counteract the serum?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
Concern tightens the edges of Peggy's eyes, helping her to look a little closer to her age than the strangely fresh-faced 29 years old she appears nowadays. She might even seem younger than the last time Phil saw her, which should be impossible but SHIELD has done stranger things. She sets down her fork quietly, hands free just in case she needs to intervene somewhere. Or pour more wine. Fortunately, she needn't do either.

"As far as we know, there is an antedote. Vostokoff's daughter has defected to SHIELD and brought in at least one dose that the science team has been trying to replicate, but I don't know that they have yet been successful. And Melinda won't take the only dose we have access to because she is stubborn and self sacrificing." Peggy smirks in her friend's direction. "What? You know it's true."

Melinda May has posed:
Still Melinda remains silent, though her lips quirk into a slightly wry, slightly sour half-smile at Phil's brief outburst. She knows that brave face. She knows what's behind it. That's all that matters.

She snirks, however, as Peggy ribs her. She can talk about antidotes. She just can't talk about how it happened. "We have the best lab in the world. Even FitzSimmons need time to come up with a miracle."

Phil Coulson has posed:
Opening his mouth almost immediately to try to agree with Peggy, Phil closes it just as quickly as he realizes the greater implications. He is thus already nodding with Melinda. "She's right. We can't reverse engineer it if we don't have it."

He looks about the others at the table. "I assume this is not common knowledge." Slowly he works the fingers of the prosthetic hand back open again. "How long do FitzSimmons think it will take? Do we have any leads at all on how it works?" So many questions...

Peggy Carter has posed:
There is a slightly grim expression on Peggy's features as Phil agrees with Melinda, but she's not going to push it any further. She exhales a slow breath through her nose and sinks back a bit deeper into her chair, focusing on taking a few bites of the truly delicious roast beef. At least dinner was good, if the conversation was uncomfortable.

"They've had it for weeks now and aren't close to cracking it from the last report. There ... may be more doses. We need to speak to this Vostokoff now that she's near recovered. See who else she gave samples to, if she'll talk. From the information on her... she might be one of the most brilliant neuroscientists in the world. It's taken her decades to develop this drug. But it's a chemical. Chemicals can be fixed. It's not brain washing. It a... switch. We'll fix this. We are just taking... precautions until then.'

Melinda May has posed:
Melinda is eating a little more quickly than she normally might. Not significantly, but just enough. Since she has to choose what she can say and how fairly carefully if she wants to avoid a headache bad enough to make her puke or pass out, she is navigating mostly by being her usual, taciturn self.

As she finishes her glass of wine as well, though, she quietly takes the bottle and refills her glass. "I can't talk," she manages to say after a moment or two of mental gymnastics. "Vostokoff can."

Phil Coulson has posed:
Another nod from Phil. "The programming." he says to Melinda.
A look to Peggy. "Have we considered running it against the command words we have in our database? Or just random words? Do we know how targeted the words are?"

He stops himself. "You have done all of this. You just want me to know so..." he nods, and looks to May. "We'll get through this. We always do."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A quiet nod comes from Peggy about the command words. "We've tried, but... it's not just words, it's a pattern as well. It's hard. We keep trying. But the woman is in custody and awake now. She was... heavily injured when she first came in. She should be fine to be spoken with now. I think the next step is to get someone who is *not* Melinda, or at least, not Melinda alone, in to speak with the woman. Her daughter defected. She may be interested in doing so as well. HYDRA is the one who nearly killed her. Not us. There is... hope here. One way or another." She gives them all a quiet smile.

"But... there is also a delicious dinner here. And you haven't been around in ages. Now that we know the elephant in the room and have stared it down, maybe we relax? A little bit? Do any of you know how to do that or does Daniel need to put on the old Red Skelton records?" That MIGHT be a joke, but it's just as likely that they do have those records and the Carter-Sousa's will torture the duo with them. Peggy grins, lifting her tea in a little toast, and she takes another sip. "Welcome home, Phil... it's so damn good to see you."