3/21 Instance: Conspiracies and Cover-Ups

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Svartfreja
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3/21 Instance: Conspiracies and Cover-Ups

Post by Svartfreja »

Timelined for after Valentine's Day.


<Carol> Carol sat at her desk, feet propped up on a pile of paperwork and a glass of scotch in her hand as she watched the latest news of Sentinel shenanigans. There were a multitude of screens displaying various news feeds, some of the feeds came directly from SHIELD and these were the ones she kept most of her attention on during the periods where she actually watched them.

<Shaw> After teaching one of his sparse classes and taking his time with a cup of coffee, Sebastian set about finding Colonel Danvers. Finally, he knocked at her door, surveying the trailer. Interesting.

<Carol> Carol looked over at the door with a sigh, hitting the mute button and putting her glass of scotch in her desk drawer at the same time, she took her feet down off the desk and picked up her half-drank and stone cold cup of coffee. "Come in..."

<Shaw> Opening the door, he took in the interior, not sure if it was an improvement. "Good afternoon, Colonel."

<Carol> Carol stared at him for a moment, "... Did we have an appointment?"

<Shaw> "I believe it's more of a standing date," he said, turning his attention to her with a smirk.

<Carol> She used her powers to reheat what was left of her coffee as she got up to empty the filter and start another pot. "Do you have some news?"

<Shaw> "That I do." Sebastian closed the door behind him and listened for a moment to ensure they were alone, then cleared a chair of the woman's junk.

<Carol> "I'm assuming you want coffee...?" Carol glanced over her shoulder at him as she filled the jug, the screen behind him catching her eye, "Mind hitting the mute button? I want to hear what they're saying."

<Shaw> "Yes, please." He noticed the line of her gaze and looked over his shoulder. Sentinels. How... topical. Sebastian searched out the button and punched it.

<Carol> [The situation escalated when several other privately owned Sentinels arrived to assist...] the newscaster went on. Carol rolled her eyes, "It just gets better and better every day...."

<Shaw> "Yes... Well, Osborn hardly developed them to make the world a better place," he pointed out, making himself comfortable in the chair.

<Carol> "He shouldn't have been allowed to develop them at all, never mind able to." And now she wished she'd put her scotch in her coffee instead of in her drawer.

<Shaw> "He wasn't working alone, of course, which we already knew, but to see it in black and white..." He shook his head. "Tony clearly needs to pay more attention to matters in his own government."

<Carol> "It's been a problem from before he was in office." She poured him some coffee and topped up her own before returning to her own seat.

<Shaw> "Oh, I'm aware, but he should have worked harder to clean house once Kelly left office." Sebastian took the coffee with a thank you and breathed in deeply.

<Carol> "Maybe... but it doesn't help us right now - the damage is already done." She leaned back in her chair and narrowed her eyes on one of the screens, the Sentinels had made a terrible mess in that location.

<Shaw> "Indeed. Probably more than even we are aware." He placed his cup on her desk and bent to pull a slim folder from his attache case.

<Carol> "We'll probably never know the full extent of it... or maybe that's wishful thinking." She hit the mute button again before she threw something at one of the screens and turned her attention to Sebastian properly.

<Shaw> He watched the stack of sticky notes bounce off the screen and raised an eyebrow at the blonde.

<Carol> "It makes me feel better," she shrugged, "Anything heavier than that and I risk breaking them..."

<Shaw> "Does it really?" He smirked, tapping the folder against the heel of his hand.

<Carol> Her eyes were on the file, "Punching something would be more effective."

<Shaw> He looked at the folder as well, briefly, then back to Danvers' face. "I haven't read it."

<Carol> She chewed the corner of her lip, tentatively reaching out a hand in silent request for it.

<Shaw> He leaned forward, the creaking of the chair the only sound in the office, and gave her the folder. Sebastian held onto it for a moment, meeting her eyes before he let go and sat back to pick up his coffee.

<Carol> Carol took the file, tracing the edges of it with her fingers as she rested it on her lap. This was what she'd wanted but what if the contents made her more angry than the redacted file had managed to? She hid her face behind her hands for a moment and tried to clear her mind.

<Shaw> "There is, of course, no timeline on when you should read it. Would you like to be alone?" He blew on the coffee and took a small sip.

<Carol> "I don't know..." she sighed, lowering her hands to rest them on top of the file and looking at him, "The other file pissed me off so much and it didn't even have anything in it... this could be worse... or a different kind of worse..."

<Shaw> "You're right." He considered his coffee. "So, you could wait, I'm certain Miss Kincaid would be happy to help you digest its contents." It had been a difficult decision to make - whether to read the file before he came or not.

<Carol> Carol shook her head, "No... Cessily can't know about this... At least, not yet..." She picked up the file from her lap and offered it back to him, "You open it."

<Shaw> "Are you certain?" He sipped his coffee, watching her for a moment, then accepted the file.

<Carol> She nodded, "Yeah... you can warn me about whether or not I'm going to like it..." she opened her drawer and added the glass of scotch to her coffee after all.

<Shaw> Sebastian watched her splash a healthy dose of scotch into the mug, but did not comment. With a hum of assent, he flipped open the folder and started skimming the first page.

<Carol> Carol sipped her coffee flavoured scotch and sat back in her chair, watching his face for any clues as to the contents of the file.

<Shaw> There were definitely interesting tidbits, though he doubted the autopsy reports were something the woman should see. He raised his eyes to hers for a moment before he went back to reading.

<Carol> Carol took a larger sip of her drink after he looked back down again. She wanted to ask but she was half afraid of the answer.

<Shaw> Finally, he sighed. "Osborn has much to answer for, it would appear. And, of course, no one is making him do any such thing."

<Carol> "So it was his fault then? And someone knows and covered it up?" She put her mug down before she broke it, "What happened?"

<Shaw> "Well, it seems your brother was quite inquisitive, and OsCorp security was... overzealous in protecting company secrets." He took a sip of his coffee and located several pages of the autopsy report, removing them from the file and placing them back into his case.

<Carol> Carol closed her eyes and bowed her head, a glimpse was all she needed to get the gist. She clenched her hands into fists and counted slowly in her head. She wanted to kill him, to wrap her fingers around his neck and choke the life out of him. The screens in her office flickered as her energy levels waivered.

<Shaw> Sebastian looked over his shoulder to the screens and then back at Danvers in mild alarm. He snapped the folder closed. "Perhaps that's enough..."

<Carol> She shook her head, "Keep going. If I read that when I'm on my own it'll be worse."

<Shaw> "As you wish," he said with a sigh and opened the cover again, rifling through pages.

<Carol> The screens flickered again but stabilised and she straightened up in her seat, picking up her coffee.

<Shaw> He ignored it this time, debating what he should say. "Well... if I've never said I'm sorry for your loss, Colonel, I am that."

<Carol> "And I'm sure I'd try to be grateful if you weren't dancing around the point. We know I'm going to be angry, I'll try not to break anything..."

<Shaw> "Preferably nothing in my vicinity," he said drily, then sighed and closed the folder again, crossing his legs and surveying her for a moment. "Your brother's investigation into the Danger matter didn't go unnoticed, and, it appears something tore through the security on base and attacked your brother's unit during a training exercise."

<Carol> "His whole unit? But... we didn't hear about anyone else...?" Oh God that was horrible. What would they think if not one of them had sent a message of condolence to the other families?

<Shaw> "No witnesses," he pointed out, shifting slightly.

<Carol> All of them? She stared at Sebastian for a long moment. No. That couldn't be true. Someone would have said something. Someone would have called. Surely? She got half way out of her chair then sat down again, downed the coffeescotch, then got back up again.

<Shaw> He looked down, flipping through the folder. "There's no list of the deceased, but it would appear it was a small group training exercise, and they were ambushed." He watched her move about restlessly. "It's likely it was a Sentinel attack."

<Carol> There was another flicker across the screens, "I can't believe this has gone unchallenged."

<Shaw> "Which raises an entirely new line of questions, yes?" One of those screens was going to blow from the power surges. It was simply a matter of time.

<Carol> "Yeah... I need to talk to some people." And not fly her ass to OsCorp's HQ to punch their CEO in the face.

<Shaw> "Yes, but you must handle your investigation with some delicacy." He shifted in the chair to locate her in the room. "We wouldn't want you to fall victim to the same fate."

<Carol> "There is nothing in the rulebook that says a grieving relative can't go and check in with the relatives of people in the same unit as the person they lost... and because no one told us there were other losses, maybe I want to talk to his friends? It's not that suspicious."

<Shaw> "Very well," he said, flipping through the folder again. "Do you want me to leave this?"

<Carol> Carol shook her head, "No... I'll come and get it when I can look at it... you know... without the rage related power issues..."

<Shaw> "Of course. I understand." Sebastian tucked it away in his bag and took another sip of coffee. "Tony..." Unsure how to continue, he sighed and stared at the cup. "He needs to know of this... atrocity. Such things cannot simply happen under his nose."

<Carol> She nodded, "Yeah he does... but let me talk to the families... find out what they know.... maybe give them a little warning without making it obvious."

<Shaw> "That sounds reasonable." The coffee was sufficiently cool that he drained the cup and placed it on her desk, then stood. Navigating to the blonde, he took her hand in both of his and gave it a squeeze, meeting her eyes. "Just be cautious. Osborn will pay. In time."

<Carol> She nodded, looking down at his hands holding hers, "The way I feel right now... I could kill him and I wouldn't even care... but I want to be there. If they confront him with this, I want to see it. That's all I ask..."

<Shaw> "If I were in your shoes, I would feel precisely the same." He nodded once and gave her hand another squeeze.

<Carol> She supposed this was where a hugger would hug but, rather than make both of them uncomfortable, she settled for patting his upper arm with her free hand, "Thanks... I really appreciate this. I owe you a favour."

<Shaw> Sebastian smirked and let go, turning to pick up his attache. "Of course you do."

<Carol> "Is that you humouring me or letting me know the favour was a given?"

<Shaw> "Oh, you'll find out. Someday." He grinned.

<Carol> Carol nodded, "Uh-huh..." She sighed and pushed a hand through her hair, "I'll come and get that sometime... now, if you'll excuse me, I have some tv to shout at."

<Shaw> "I will let you get to that." He gave the screens a pointed look, then inclined his head in farewell and let himself out. The news in that report disturbed him more than he dared to show, and now he had his own work to do.
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