11/30 Instance: Black Ops

[Starfish]

Timelined a few hours after [Instance]Cooperation.


<@Carol> Lunch with Erik had taken longer than she'd expected and the weather wasn't getting any better so she sent a runner over to get her next surprise appointment while she made a fresh pot of coffee.

<Victor> Vic hadn't been doing much - going over a few reports he'd been sent over, and unimpressed by what he was reading - so when the runner had appeared, he'd shut his laptop, given Rahne a kiss on the cheek and ambled over to the office. He smiled as he smelt the coffee, tail curling a little, knocking on the door. "Y' called, Danvers?"

<@Carol> "I did, have a seat," she gestured to the chair opposite her desk, "And you might wanna close the door.... Coffee?"

<Victor> "Is lifeblood. Hell yes." He did as she said, raising an eyebrow. "So. This ain' a social chat then. Sup, Lieutenant Colonel?" She wasn't her usual self, as far as he knew her anyway, which meant serious - and given their positions, serious meant...well, anything, really.

<@Carol> "Well it's just that I don't want to make things awkward for you..." she poured the coffee and offered him the cup.

<Victor> Definitely something serious. Vic took the cup, long fingers going around it and taking in the warmth. Damn, but it was cold. "Buuuut...y're gonna be makin' things awkward for me." He smiled. "What's on y' mind? If Fury's said anythin' about me tossin' the agent into the snow, tell him it seemed like a good idea at th' time and wasn't my fault."

<@Carol> She shook her head, "It's not about that." She sat back down in her seat, setting her own cup on her desk, "Actually... I would like to ask for your help."

<Victor> Vic took the seat, tail curling automatically to the side, leaning back. "My help." He tilted his head, blank white eyes watching her. "Is this you personally, Carol, or is it somethin' to do wit' the reason you're lookin' after this place?" He knew better, these days, than just to say yes.

<@Carol> "It's a little bit of both, to tell the truth." She leaned forwards, resting her forearms on the desk. "We're doing what we can on our end but we're hitting a lot of walls."

<Victor> "Hydra." It wasn't a question. Vic let the word hang in the air for a little bit, taking a mouthful of coffee and letting the woman have space for a moment. "Am I close? Obviously th' kids want revenge and your government wants the bastards put down."

<@Carol> "It's not just about them. SHIELD are tracking them as we speak, they're not exactly laying low." She pushed a hand through her hair, "Unfortunately, we're not allowed to investigate the government facilities they've been hitting. That's all being handled by a different department that we know next-to-nothing about."

<Victor> Shadow ops. Vic nodded, he understood those - hell, he ran one. "I've taken their attack pretty damn personally, Carol. That place was my home, in some ways still is - set me on th' straight an' narrow, you know." Another mouthful of coffee. "Hydra's one slippery group, give 'em their dues..."

<Victor> He sighed. "I told Bobby tha' I'd lend what help I can. As I said, officially my bosses don' know where I am and care less what I do wit' my free time, but between you an' me you know that's bullshit. So long as I don' start wars, though..." Another silence. "What do you have in mind?"

<@Carol> "All we've got to go on about these suits that aren't cooperating at all with us is a name for a department. We'd like to know more - like who's in charge of the department and shutting us out. I've already spoken to Professor Lehnsherr and Sebastian Shaw about using their own resources to find out what they can and I've spoken to one of my own contacts but I'd like to hit this from as many angles as possible."

<Victor> "I got plenty I can pull in." Vic smirked. "An' best thing is no psychic can read me an' know what I'm doin' either. Give me th' name, an' whatever you have on 'em - no detail's too small. I'll send it through my folks, see what I can get y'." He paused for a moment. "...We've been trackin' Hydra too. S'pose if you're good enough to include me, I can let you in on a...few things."

<Victor> He frowned. "But I don' like the fact you got coverts that y' own government won't talk to you about. You gonna tell the kids that?"

<@Carol> "I've told the staff, it's up to them what they pass on to their students, that's not my call." She shook her head, "At the moment, the priority is on finding out what we can. I'd rather go to the kids with more intel than what we have."

<Victor> "Yeah. Nothin' looks worse then 'there's these guys, they're from our government, but fuck knows who they are or what they're doin'.' huh." Vic scratched his stubble for a moment. "Alrigh'. I'll contact Black Air. I trust y' know who that is." There was a flash of a fang in his grin. "Nothin' like usin' one government's shadow ops t' spy on yours, huh."

<@Carol> "You say that like you don't already spy on us." She rolled her eyes, the corner of her mouth quirking up in a smirk, "The division in question is called the Sentinel Department. That's all we know. And I've already pissed off enough higher-ups asking the wrong questions so I can't use all my contacts right now which is... frustrating."

<Victor> "What's a little spyin' between allies?" Vic grinned. "Besides, we know y've got 'em in our ops, it's all in th' family." He went serious again. "Sentinel...alrigh'. I'll see what we can dig up. Luckily I am the higher up, an' I don't give a shit if I piss people off. It's why I got th' job. Is there anythin' else you can tell me?"

<@Carol> "Other than that they took a bunch of things that they won't talk to us about from the site in Westchester, nope."

<Victor> "...Holy fuck." Vic frowned then, eyes narrowing a little. That got his back up in so many ways, and for good reason. After all, it had been home. It was his territory, almost. "Screw that. Firs' thing on the books after findin' out who this is is what they took an' where it is so you can get it back."

<@Carol> "Trust me, we're working on that. Fury's just as keen to get it back to its rightful owners as I am but, the fact is, it's probably already too late." She pinched the bridge of her nose, "In the mean time, with the weather how it is, we can't get back to the site to do a visual check of what's left."

<Victor> "I can." Vic chuckled. "This ain' nothin' to the Scottish Highlands, an' I go walkin' in that. Get Fury to give me th' all-clear officially, ain' gonna go without Nick's blessin'." He sat back. "You know this is all gonna be unofficial, righ'? But under that, what affects SHIELD's gonna bite Black Air sooner or later."

<@Carol> "I want the staff and students to go and check together, otherwise I'd go and look around myself. It can wait until the weather clears. All of this is going through me, there's no paperwork and Fury doesn't need to know anything about it - he's given me full autonomy to manage this how I see fit. So that should tell you something."

<Victor> Vic grunted at that. He could see why the students should, but damnit he - no, he couldn't get personally involved. He tipped his head back for a moment. "Alrigh'." He said shortly. "I'll still have a chat wit' good ol' Nick though, but you'll get all th' reports. An' don't worry, I fuckin' hate paperwork, so you won't get much from me."

<@Carol> "Good. This has got to be off record... The last thing I need is to wind up in Alaska." She shook her head. "By all means talk to Fury, I can get that you'd want to check up."

<Victor> "Yeah. No offence, but I can't afford Black Air dragged int' somethin' that ain't quite...clean, and I don' know you well enough t' say yes straight off yet. But you got friends of mine trustin' you, so you get th' benefit of the doubt." He chuckled. "Bobby seems t' be doin' well, same wit' Jay an' the punk brat...and Kyle. Jesus. Guy got a growth spurt."

<Victor> He ran a hand through his hair. "No records. Good job I'm used to tha' and so are my boys, huh."

<@Carol> "It's as much for your benefit there as ours. You may as well know the reason I got this assignment was to keep me out of the way. I started asking questions about the group that assassinated Madelyne Pryor and her running mate. They were supposed to be in government custody. I was actually making progress but making a lot of enemies at the same time."

<Victor> Vic snorted. "Out of th' way, huh. That never fuckin' works. Trust me, I learnt tha'." He finished his coffee. "An' my thing is, if y' manage to piss people off, you're obviously on the righ' track. My resources are yours. Maybe t'gether we can get somewhere an' piss 'em off enough tha' they make a mistake."

<@Carol> "That's the plan. And yeah, I kinda figured I was getting somewhere but Fury's instructions are to lay low for a while and he's looking into it so that's what I'm doing... and, honestly, this place takes up a lot of time anyway so it's not so bad. I just hope I don't wind up getting any of you in trouble."

<Victor> Vic put the cup on the table. "Lemme tell you a secret. I got where I am by gettin' into trouble. Every single damn inch of my record says I'm th' worst possible person y' want in shadow ops." He smirked. "Which, apparently, makes me th' best guy for th' job. Go figure. Don' worry about me, girl. My hide's pretty hard t' break, an' I'm good at stayin' hidden."

<@Carol> "Well good, maybe you can help the rest stay out of trouble too and then I'll only have one to worry about." She managed a small smile.

<Victor> "I can do my best." Hnn...he knew the two best people in his own unit for this job too. "No promises on Shaw though. He's good at trouble, if I remember righ'." Really good at trouble, and it made him twitchy that he was here, honestly. Oh well. He was a member, after all... "Anythin' else you wanna discuss?"

<@Carol> "Well hopefully the impending wedding will make Shaw think twice before he gets in trouble." She pushed a hand through her hair, "That's all for now, obviously I'll let you know if I get more information and I'll keep your involvement secret if that's what you'd like."

<Victor> Wedding. Oh, he needed to see Shaw. So bad. He fought to keep the grin off his face. "Yeah, please. An' getting married didn' keep me outta trouble, trust me." He chuckled, standing. "Th' moment somethin' hits my desk I'll be bringin' it to you. I'd appreciate the same. No one fucks wit' family, an' these kids - even th' new ones - are mine."

<@Carol> "Understood." She got to her feet too, "I'm starting to get that protective too... which is bad because that's exactly what I'm not supposed to be doing."

<Victor> "You an' me both. This place has a habit of breakin' the rules and gettin' under your skin though." Vic chuckled. "If that's all...I gotta go make calls an' then take the wife out to dinner. We're makin' the most of our temporary freedom from th' brood."

<@Carol> "Yeah, I don't blame you... go have fun but keep an eye on the weather, the forecast isn't good..."

[steyn]

Still think Kyle and VIc must have at least one instance