Brief Title:
Roster Pains
Characters:
American Dream, Mockingbird, Arachne, Ms. Marvel
Scene Runner/Watcher:
IC Date:
08/08/12 13:00
Location:
Medical Bay, Avengers' Mansion
Summary:
Some of the Avengers gather, and end up discussing the much-reduced Avengers roster and the team's needs.
Social or Plot:
TS:
No
Log:
-----==[ Med Bay - Sub-Basement - Avengers Mansion ]==------------------------
This large room is totally white from the ceilings, to the walls, and to the floors. The middle of the room is filled with many medic beds of all sizes and shapes. Each is covered in white sheets with a white pillow. Along the walls, many cabinets, drawers, and tables are found. Located all over are medical equipment of all sorts and of the utmost quality and very advanced for its time. Anything from a stethoscope to a heart monitor is located through out. Several monitoring devices, IV's, medicines, antibiotics, and other such chemicals and the like are also located in different types places. Along the wall handing up, are several containment suits to allow medical attention when exposure to the patient is harmful. Also fire suppression gear as well as climate control is through the medical area. The door is air-locked and can be completely sealed off if the need ever arise and unable to be opened unless from the outside.
==============================================================================
Contents:
American Dream
Obvious Exits:
[O] - Sub Basement - Avengers Mansio
Two days after the end of the case of Ultron's heavy metal horde and Shannon Carter finds herself in the medbay. Again. This time, its a few cracked ribs and the aftermath of a concusion. She's also in much better spirits, this time. In fact, there she is now! Sitting up in her bed and dictating her mission report into a Starkpad that's connected to the mansion mainframe. "Finally, I want to comment on Doctor Michael Morbius. Despite his reputation and the nature of his curse, he acted with valor. In addition to fighting Ultron directly, Doctor Morbius assisted Doctor Yashida in providing medical care to the injured."
Mockingbird isn't a doctor, but she's been trained in basic first aid like all SHIELD agents, which puts her in the Medbay. In costume, she's armed with a pistol on one thigh and a short-barreled shotgun on the other, even though they're in the Mansion. The blonde is going over data and reports right now, perhaps looking for something or maybe just idly curious. Since Shannon is dictating, she remains quiet.
Coming in through the whooshing doors, Carol Davners - aka Ms. Marvel - has been one busy beaver since the end of the crisis. Press conferences. Debriefings, including one at the White House and another on the helicarrier. And another one she isn't talking about, isn't admitting to just now, on the SWORD watchship. A tete a tete with Brand wasn't exactly thrillsville, and the news from that one still has her head spinning, when she allows herself to think about it. So she's not. Instead, she's here checking up on Shannon. "Well, he had better have helped. If he hadn't, his 'get out of stir free' pass would have been rejected, and he'd be back in custody. Instead, for now, he's free to go." That's about as far and as nice as Carol is willing to get where Morbius is concerned. Bastard feeds on people. "How's the concussion?" She has to wonder if anyone has told Shannon about the commendations on her jacket, now. She glances across and gives a nod to Mockingbird. "Morning, Bobbi. Everyone else recovering OK, considering?"
"End file." Shannon dictates to the Starkpad. Then she sets it down on the nightstand beside her hospital bed. "I'm doing just fine. Ready to get out of this bed." She insists. "They're insisting I stay in it one more day, though. I can move back to my own room tomorrow. No active duty for about a week." She rolls her eyes. "But I'll help you with the paperwork if you want, Ms. Marvel."
Mockingbird looks up from her analysis to flash Shannon a wry smile. "If you get out of bed right now, Shannon, we all know you won't be still. You hero-types don't understand the concept of 'light duty'." Looking over to Ms. Marvel, then, she offers. "Morning, Carol. How are things with the bureaucrats today?"
Carol smiles and walks to Shannon's bedside, laying a hand on the other woman's shoulder. "Helping me with paperwork would /not/ end up light duty, though I admit it wouldn't be very active duty, either." With two Avengers actively involved in becoming threats to public safety /and/ half the active and reserve rosters out of commission with power loss, not to mention cutting most of the brass out of any decision-making in a world crisis, Carol's paperwork load is hefty, to say the least. She offers, wrily, to Bobbi, "I /wish/ I had no idea how things were with the bureaucrats. Damned fools will thank you for saving the world in public. In private?" She just shakes her head. Not going to finish that statement. "You take care of this one. She definitely earned her 'big damn hero' badge on this one." Not like Shannon hasn't a half-dozen times before, if not more. But this time, she's willing and ready to hear it. So Carol says it. That's how it works.
It's nice to have the occasional day off and after the robot thing and then the attack on the Ecudorian festival, Julia has decided that today is going to be that day off. After spending some quality time with her daughter she has decided it is time to pay the injured a visit. "Can anyone join this party or is it invitation only?" she jests as she comes through the doors and sees that she isn't the only one to have had the idea to visit Shannon.
"Like you would just sit around if there was a job to be done, Bobbi." Shannon smirks at the other blonde. Carol's praise puts a big smile on Shannon's face, though. And then? Julia's here! Lady Liberators unit! "Hello, Ms. Carpenter. Please, come in." Shannon says to the strawberry-blonde. "I hope this means you're considering returning to active duty full time? Doctor Pym told me earlier that everyone's powers are fully returned now but we'd still love to have you here."
Mockingbird laughs softly and looks over when Julia comes in. "C'mon in. And it's good to see you in spandex, too." she greets. "Right now we could use all the help we can get, so feel free to jump in whenever you're ready." Setting down a large bundle of reports, she plants herself on the edge of a table. "So, Carol, who's active and functional these days, anyway?"
"Well, I'll give you all the short version." Carol answers. She has given this run-down in at least six briefings in the last two days, so it rolls quickly. "Vision is out until Pym can get him repaired. Stark is out for the foreseeable future. Grimm is back with the Four. Widow and Hawkeye are helping SHIELD right now. Dane's with Excalibur in Britain. And Shannon's on injured status. So, ready active status, we have Julia, Bill, Sandy, Bobbi, Hercules and myself. T'challa will take our calls, but has remained on inactive reserve for his own reasons, as has Cap. And right now, we're under standing orders NOT to even consider opening up Phil for review and analysis, let alone reactivation." Pretty grim, really. But what else is new?
Julia crosses to where everyone else has gathered around Shannon "Please call me Julia...I'm not old enough to be Ms'd and ma'am'd just yet. Even though I feel that old sometimes." she smiles handing over a homemade red, white and blue construction paper get well card, "Rachel made this for you this morning." she listens carefully to the run down of Carol, her smile fading into a slight frown, "Knowing this I fully intend to stay on active duty for the foreseeable future."
"Well, with Beta Ray Bill, Sandman, and Hercules, and you, Ms. Marvel, we've got some strong heavy hitters. Mockingbird, Arachne, and I can be strong tactical assets. Once I'm cleared for duty. I'd feel better with another blaster on duty. Hawkeye or Captain Marvel." Shannon admits. "Or maybe Scarlet Witch." She accepts the card and opens it then smiles. "Tell Rachel this is wonderful, please."
Mockingbird purses her lips, drawing a deep breath and exhaling slowly. "That leaves us pretty thin." she replies quietly. "And I really shouldn't be inside playing lab-rat." Easing off of the table, now, she stands casually and smiles a little. "Good to have you, Julia. And likewise, I'm Bobbi when we're off-duty." She sure as hell doesn't answer to Mrs. Barton, even though that name still legally applies.
"Thanks, Julia. Give Rachel a hug from me. I'm glad to have you both here." Hey, Carol may not show it often, but she /does/ have a soft side. Really. She does. "Admittedly, it's not a bad roster. But I got spoiled with a larger team. I would rather have more bodies to throw at particular problems. Hopefully we have enough, for now, and will have more before we can't live without them." Don't borrow trouble, right?
"I want to bring all of you in on ... an issue." Carol offers. Geez. That sounds grim. "During the fight with Skuttlebutt, something happened. No one is sure how, or why. Least of all /me/, and I'm the one who /should/ know. But Brand and SWORD have telemetry that nails it: I became Binary, full-on, during the fight. It didn't last. But this wasn't just 'holding lots of energy'. This was the whole enchilada. I don't know what that means, or what might come of it. But someone here, on the team, needs to know, outside of me, since it /could/ affect me or my judgement in the future. Obviously, I hope as Hell not. Equally obviously, I don't believe in hiding my head in the sand." See here the fact that she had plans in place to deal with Phil when he went rogue, /and/ was prepared for Vision to crack /before/ he did.
"Well at least it was a timely appearance." Julia comments, though she understands how such a manifestation could be worrying, "Were there any signs that this was happening to you? Or was it just an all of a sudden thing." she doesn't add the without warning thing, as obviously Carol had none.
Shannon listens and then thinks, recalling what she read in 'Wild Blue Yonder', the autobiography of Major Carol Danvers, USAF. The Carol Danvers from her world, anyway. "You were turned into Binary when the Brood linked you to a white hole. You lost the connection when you used all your power to save the planet..." She considers. "Maybe you didn't lose it. Maybe you just burned out for a while and its coming back? You should have Doctor Pym give you a check-up. Or maybe Doctor McCoy."
Mockingbird purses her lips, brows knitting as she gives Carol a dubious look. "You became Binary? How the hell does -that- work?" she muses. And she takes a few steps closer to Carol, looking at her as if expecting something spectacular to happen at any moment. "I mean, your physiology is already unique enough that you've got a little corner of the database marked out especially for you." She pauses, then her expression becomes wry. "I agree with Shannon, too. You're not going to want to hear this, but we should run some tests..."
"No warning signs in advance. The only thing is that taking in Skuttlebutt's heaviest canon's is the most energy I've had to absorb since losing my powers after saving the sun." Carol answers, answering the questions put to her from multiple quarters. "It's possible. I'll grant, that the link to the white hole might still be there. But I'd have expected to have some sign of that before now. Now, in this context, with this timing, seems like it could be something else. What, I don't know. But that's why I'm bringing you all in on this rather than keeping my own medical condition to myself." Which she would be completely in her rights to do, normally.
"I intend to have McCoy check me out, as soon as he's free. He's got a lot going on up in Westchester, and I'm staying out of his way until they're stable and secure." She gives Bobbi a wry smirk. "Once Henry is free, we'll run tests. I'll even allow blood samples, like a good girl. But for now, I just wanted to read you all in." Yes. She used those terms specifically. She has classified this Top Secret. But these women were just read in. "Bobbi, once you are to a stopping point with your reports, I'd appreciate it if you and Julia would take escort duty. We brought Ultron back, and Pym has cleared his core as powered down. But my orders are to turn it over to SHIELD for independent confirmation. I want the two of you to get it over there. If anyone or anything interferes with that transport, your orders are to pull out and sound the emergency. Then, frankly? Tac-nuke the site if necessary."
"Escort duty sounds easy enough." Julia comments about the assignment. She knows full well though that what sounds easy usually turns into a fight fest "I can make the initial arrangements with SHIELD while Bobbi wraps her reports up." she reaches over to squeeze Shannon's hand in what could be seen as a motherly gesture "I fully expect to see you up and around soon, right." with that she waves to the other ladies and departs.
"Yes, Julia." Shannon says to the other woman. "Give my love to Rachel." Then she leans back into her pillow. "You should have Doctor Morse do a blood draw now, Major." She notes. "She has the time and you're here. Won't take more than a minute."
Mockingbird nods in agreement with Julia, hands moving to absently check over the gear she's packing. "Catch up with you shortly, Julia." she replies. Turning to Carol, then, she looks thoughtful. "Give me a moment, actually. I'm not exactly familiar with -needle- protocol where you're concerned, Carol. Do we even have something that will pierce your skin?"
"Right." Carol smirks. She nods and lets Julia depart, offering the woman a smile, appreciating her willingness to take this assignment on her 'day off'. "See you later."
As for Shannon's idea? Carol shakes her head. "'Doctor Morse' is it, now? Nah. I think the blood samples can wait until McCoy is free." Because a needle through her skin is a challenge, to say the least. "Standard protocol was, two months ago, adamantium needle, using the robotic arm for insertion." Yeah. She dreads it. Reminds her entirely too much of the Brood, and worse.
"Sometimes people forget Bobbi is also a biologist and a darn good one. PhD in biochemistry and she worked on Project: Gladiator before she decided she wanted to be a spy. You can trust her to at least draw blood, Carol." Shannon says, firmly. "We need to be sure you aren't going to melt through the mansion."
Mockingbird doesn't look too disappointed to put off the blood sample extraction, truth be told, and she chuckles at the title Shannon gives her. "Technically, yes. But not a licensed medical doctor all the same. But we're not set up with adamantium needles and robotics, I'm afraid. Have to defer to McCoy on that one. Just get over there soon, okay? And by 'soon' I mean today-soon."
"Good cripes, you two. Have you /seen/ Westchester? They're not exactly in a guest medical conference mood, y'know?" Carol complains, because she /hates/ needles and stuff. She knows it's important. But damn it all. "I'll call. That's all I'm promising. But we should probably /get/ set up with the right tools here, too. /This/ is where I'd come for most of my physicals and medical needs, anyway." Hence why she usually just flies McCoy down here from upstate. "And for the record? I didn't forget Bobbi's a biologist, anymore than she forgot that I'm a pilot, jet-jockey and ex-spook myself. She just doesn't usually dust off the 'doctor' bit." Carol does pay attention to her people, and these are /her/ people. "If you're good today, Shannon, I'll come down tonight and help move you to your room. Then we'll look at getting you set up for reports and comms from your room. OK?" Will that be enough to keep the blonde Avenger off her feet and properly 'light duty' until her body is really ready for the demands she will place upon it?
"Actually..." Shannon picks up her Starkpad and taps the screen a few times, then shows it to Carol. The X mansion not only rebuilt but bigger. "Current satellite imaging on Xavier's. I checked earlier today because I was curious to see how they were doing. Sh'iar technology, huh?"
Mockingbird arches a brow and gives Carol a -look-, pointing a gloved finger. "Tomorrow morning, if you haven't bled for McCoy I'll INVENT a way to draw blood on you. Just so we understand each other." she declares. "But you just get up there today and we won't have to do anything unpleasant." Wink. "I'm gonna go catch up with Julia and come up with a plan of attack. I'll see you both later."
