11/7 Instance: Logistically Impaired

[Svartfreja]

Timelined for right after [Instance]No News is Good News.


<Shaw> He looked around the room, but it was impossible to tell where Hope was, and he couldn't use telepathy to find her like this. Instead, he inspected his hands and hissed as he flexed his fingers.

<Carol> "You okay?" Carol stopped him from moving his fingers so she could inspect them, "I could go down and get one of the doctors...?"

<Shaw> His wife was tossing cookies and so he let Carol take his hands. "Perhaps that would be best," he said quietly, hoping Jess wasn't paying attention since she was having a moment herself.

<Carol> "I'll go get the one with the magic hands so you don't have to be all bandaged or whatever... don't let your wife vaporise the tv when she runs out of cookies. I need it." She turned for the front door.

<Shaw> Sebastian nodded once to Carol and moved over to the television, turning it off with a less frostbitten finger.

<Jessica> "Thank you!" Jess threw the biscuit she'd been about to throw at the tv at him instead, it could be a prize.

<Shaw> The cookie bounced off his thigh. He sighed.

<Jessica> "My aim is bad... I can try again?" she chewed her lip, glancing at the doorway, "Am I... in trouble?"

<Shaw> He followed her gaze, then met her eyes and rejoined her on the sofa. "No, they have larger problems."

<Jessica> "And you're not mad at me?" She went to take his hand then stopped to stare at them. Screw that, she was mad at Hope.

<Shaw> "I wish you had told me, but no." He restored their link, but didn't let her feel the pain when she took his hand.

<Jessica> "Well... everything was awkward enough when I asked her... and I didn't want Hope to wheedle it out of you... well, and I told her it was... someone else." she wrinkled her nose.

<Shaw> "And who was that?" He was curious now, and happy for a distraction.

<Jessica> "I kind of told her it was an ex-client from... from before... only so she'd stop asking questions... totally worked. She regetted asking that question."

<Shaw> His own nose wrinkled in return. "Ah, I see." Still, it was amusing to imagine Hope's reaction. Curling up his hands to protect the nasty forming blisters, he sent her a surge of affection and reassurance and wrapped his arms around her.

<Jessica> She slid her arms around his waist, "She's good at finding people... you have to give her that. When she wants to find someone she does it...."

<Carol> Weird. It was weird. And invasion-y. But it was faster, that was for sure. Carol appeared in the doorway again, "Okay, bear with me... have a passenger because apparently it's too cold to run over here on her own two feet or even in her own skin."

<Shaw> Oh, the timing, and ... passenger? Indeed, and if she would have stopped to listen a moment with Danvers out of the room, Sebastian paused to give the woman a blank look. I would have suggested to Hope to use the woman's forces for backup. As much as it pains me to admit it, her tech is harder to trace and counteract than my own or Tony's as it's not as well known.

<Shaw> "Tell her I will owe her more scotch."

<Carol> "Jameson's or get out," Carol's voice was not the same as Anna had taken over, "Hands." She gestured for him to present them. "You have to stop aggrevating people or I'm going to start charging."

<Jessica> Well maybe we can still do that... or just tell Viper to do that and she'll show up when they go to get them. She's also good at showing up.

<Shaw> "That's not at all offputting," he said, head tilted at the Irish woman's voice coming from the SHIELD officer's body. Still, he disentangled from Jess and presented as ordered. "It's simply frostbite."

<Shaw> That's likely a good plan, as she's probably on her way to Alaska now.

<Carol> "Nothing simple about frostbite, you can lose all kinds of bits that way." A simple poke with a finger healed it right up, however, "There, good as new. Try not to do it again."

<Jessica> She won't get that far, her range isn't good enough.

<Shaw> Well, no, not in that form.

<Shaw> "Yes, and I've lost enough bits." He flexed and curled his fingers, then adjusted his wedding band. "Thank you. Jameson's it is."

<Jessica> And then she'll be naked and cold so she'll want to come home. Her logic was flawless!

<Carol> "You're welcome!" Anna stood Carol's body up, gave a bow, and promptly exited as Carol breathed out leaving the woman slightly disorientated. "That... was so weird."

<Shaw> Sebastian could only nod in agreement with Carol, then he sighed. "Well... that went just fantastically off the rails." His wife's logic circuits had clearly been blown by the incident, so he bent to pick up the file Hope left behind. "At least we have this, I suppose."

<Carol> "Hey, it could have gone worse." Carol shrugged, picking up Hope's unattended coffee (because it contained the promise of scotch as well as caffeine) and mixing it with her own. "She could have decided to borrow my powers and punched me through a wall. Then we'd have another hole or five in the building because I wouldn't have taken that well."

<Shaw> He looked up from the file to give Carol an assessing look. "As much as I didn't appreciate the frost bite, I suspect she could have taken my head clean off with your abilities." His sniff showed how he felt about this.

<Carol> "Probably. There are limits to absorption powers." Carol nodded sagely, moving over to perch on the arm of the chair beside him to peer at the file.

<Jessica> "I like your head where it is..." Jess put in.

<Shaw> "As do I." Especially as the upper limits of his absorption abilities had never been tested extensively. This thought made him frown and he handed Carol the file and went to join Jessica again. "Are you all right, koibito?"

<Jessica> Jess nodded, sliding her arms around him again now that his hands were better, "Just seeing all that on the news..."

<Carol> Carol took the file to her sofa with her coffee and thumbed through it to give them some semblance of privacy.

<Shaw> "I understand." Sebastian rested one hand on her belly and stroked her hair with the other, pulling her into a full embrace. The baby squirmed and he smiled.

<Jessica> Jess smiled too, turning her face into his neck and breathing him in for a moment, "I'm okay..." Painful memories, you know?

<Shaw> He nodded and gave her a gentle squeeze and a kiss to the temple. They were quiet for a few moments and then he raised his head. "Well, Colonel, is there anything useful in there? Hope seemed to have a sudden and strong assertion that this attack was related to Mr. Nord, but that could be wishful thinking on her part."

<Carol> "Well, that crazy lady with the green hair hinted at the same and the file confirms it. That was Chris... which is bad for so many reasons." She was glad she'd stolen the scotch-coffee.

<Shaw> "Is there any hint on what was done to him, or by whom?" He couldn't think of many of the usual suspects with ties to Alaska, of all godforsaken places.

<Carol> "There's a couple of possibilities listed, one highlighted as the stronger possibility... and some information about them too. She's thorough." She may have been a little impressed, "I'll get on to Fury and see what SHIELD has on these people, see if there's anything to add."

<Shaw> Sebastian nodded. "Get me a copy, please, and I will check through my own channels." He punctuated his request with a wolfish grin. "And, of course, we need to find Hope."

<Carol> "She's Bobby Drake's problem now," Carol waved it off, "I'll get you a copy if I can find something to copy it with... or maybe if we find whoever hired her, you can get them to contact her for another copy."

<Shaw> Jess tensed in his arms and their link radiated her unease. "Do what you can then," he dismissed. "I've already contacted Tony, but I'll not leave her just to Drake's care."

<Carol> "Don't get me wrong," Carol added, "I mean, I care, I just don't have the time to go chasing after her all the time, it's not technically my job... and I have enough to worry about with the hole in the building and your brother and brother-in-law building who the hell knows what new doomsday device down there now that he's finished putting the homicidal robot back together."

<Shaw> That made him laugh softly. "Better your basement than mine." After a few moments more, he nudged Jess. Ready to escape?

<Jessica> Yes, please... I think we should go home or somewhere else safe... It would make her feel better.

<Carol> "You can have him back any time you want... Seriously. Please. Take him back."

<Shaw> "Where Broo lives is up to Broo," he said diplomatically, though he was still grinning as he disentangled from Jess again to stand and help her up.

<Jessica> Jess accepted the help and gave him a grateful smile.

<Carol> Carol narrowed her eyes at Sebastian, "I hate you."

<Shaw> "I do aim to please," he told the blonde. Since he already had Jess' hand, he kissed it and spun her in a slow circle. "And since I've completed that mission, we shall take our leave. You have work to do, after all, Colonel."

<Carol> "Yeah... starting with drying out all these essays." Carol sighed heavily, "My week is just getting better and better."

<Shaw> Sebastian picked up his untouched coffee and placed that in front of her as well. "At least you have fortifications." With that, he smirked and guided Jess from the room. "I do wish you the best of luck."

<Carol> "Yeah yeah... if you want to make yourself useful to me, invent a phone that can stand up to my EM energy." Because now she was going to have to get off her ass to find a landline.

<Shaw> That made him pause. "...I might do that. Only for you," he added as they left. Perhaps we should make a stop by Nord's trailer, just to see if Hope has resurfaced. Or, perhaps just you, as she likely doesn't want to see me.

<Jessica> Okay... but I don't think she'll want to see me either, she didn't seem to like me very much before she left there... She glanced over her shoulder, "Bye, Carol..."

<Carol> Carol gave them a wave, "Safe drive."

<Shaw> She didn't like any of us. I understand her need to do something. When someone you love is missing... He squeezed her hand.

<Jessica> I know... I get it, she returned the squeeze, But she needs to understand the need for a plan... I hope she cools off a little and lets people help... I wish I could help.

<Shaw> You can, just not in the way you would normally want, I'm sure. They navigated the damaged building and found their coats to head outside.

<Jessica> I already helped the only way I could... now I just have to wait. You know I hate waiting... she took her coat and pulled it on with some help.

<Shaw> I know. Sebastian leaned in to kiss her and opened the front door. We can keep to the hope that our Hope calms down. At least a tad. "Shall we?"

<Jessica> Jess stepped out ahead of him, being very careful on the icey steps, "This is going to be difficult..."

<Shaw> "Nothing is ever simple," he pointed out with a wry chuckle, and helped her down the steps and toward the still-alarming trailer.

<Jessica> Jess didn't like the look of the trailer either, "Is that even safe?"

<Shaw> "Hope told me she had it professionally cleaned."

<Jessica> "Well that's better than nothing..." she sighed, reaching up to knock on the door when they got close enough.

<Shaw> He was unsurprised there was no answer, and he closed his eyes to focus on the interior and the immediate vicinity.

<Jessica> Jess just tried the door, "Hope...?"

<Shaw> "She either isn't here or she's hovering in that irritating freezing mist form... or she's using someone else's abilities to hide." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

<Jessica> "Yeah there's a few people good for that, here..." she sighed, "I guess we'll just have to come by and check on her later... or tomorrow... or call Bobby."

<Shaw> "Agreed." He gave the trailer a shove and watched it rock slightly. "Let's go home."