2015-08-18 Cuckoo's Calling
This scene is rated Everybody
Warning: N/A
2015-08-18
Players: Peggy, Steve, The Cuckoos
GMed by {$gm}
Title: Cuckoo's Calling

Rating: PG

[* S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ: Courtyard *]

The Shield HQ is set off in an out-of-the-way part of Upstate New York, its more of a mini-city of its own than it is a mere Headquarters. Massive stone walls encircle the complex and they are strictly guarded by the best security known to human kind.
This particular section of the complex is a idealic courtyard where one can find large reflection pools and small gardens with maticulously maintained flowers and fauna. There are stone walkways that curve to various parts of the courtyard, from the maingate to guard posts to the main HQ entrance itself.
This is also the busiest outdoor section of the SHIELD HQ complex, there is almost always activity here and always a visible security presence.


The courtyard to SHIELD HQ is quite a lovely place for a spy agency. Upon the urging of Steve, a meeting has been arranged between the mutants known as the Cuckoos and Peggy Carter in order to discuss the events of Genosha. The SHIELD Agent is already waiting in the courtyard for the meeting, sitting on a bench near one of the small gardens near the entrance.

The inside of the complex is rather maze like and it's unlikely the Cuckoos have the clearance in order to make it very far, so this seems like both a pleasant and practical place to talk.

Captain America has worked this maze plenty of times before, as he stands near Peggy - not enough to hint at a closeness, but nearby enough to protect her should the need arise. "I'm not sure how many of them are coming." he finally admits. "I met them with only three, but according to Sophie, who I assume is their lead contact, there's five of them?"

A shiny black humvee pulls up next to the SHIELD HQ after the Cuckoos were invited. Specifically the invite was likely given to Sophie, but in such a situation she'd leave none of her sisters at home. On both sides of the vehicle, not waiting for someone to open the door, two blonde women get out in a red minidress, followed by two more, before finally a fifth gets out. The two closest to the curb stand, waiting, as the other two move around the vehicle and then group up. Once grouped they begin walking forward they click and clack their way in their high heels toward the building.

If there's any sort of clearance required before the courtyard, they will subject themselves to it, basically anything shy of having dna or fingerprints taken, and then they'll move along to the preferred meeting location. Long before they even arrived they had found the Captain and use him as sort of a beacon. All five come into view, one sort of in front of the other four, but it's hard to tell as they are all fanned out, sort of moving as a mob of blondes instead of like people unsure of where they are or where they are going. When finally within conversational distance, "Captain." A second one looks to Peggy and smiles, the exact same way as the first, "Peggy." And then the three others look around, in unison say, "Nice complex." One breaks off in tone, "A little drab." Another says, "Corporate buildings always are." And then the one in the front turns back and gives a little 'look' which quiets the dissonant sisters. "We're a bit blunt. I hope you don't mind."

At the arrival of the fearsome five, Cap can't help but to give a little smirk. You'd think they'd used a different outfit for meeting with Peggy than they did with him. But he gives a little shrug finally as he listens to the inflections in their voices, but they're all too related. "Thanks for coming, Sophie. As I said in my letter, I'm not much of a detective or a researcher - I already turned over the physical evidence I found to SHIELD to go over. I'm hoping they'll have better luck than I." he admits, before he turns it over to introductions.

"As I said in my letter, this is Peggy Carter. She was one of the founders of SHIELD, and by freak coincidence went through an experience similar to my own." Cyrogenic suspended animation, that is. "She recently recovered from her ordeal. Peggy, these are the Stepford sisters - I'm sorry, I don't remember all their names, but Sophie was the one I spoke with the longest." It's easy to tell there's a certain easiness between the Captain and Agent Carter, he's completely relaxed with her and it is a feeling that runs deep within him.

"We haven't gone shopping recently." Sophie says, before looking at one of her sisters, "Besides, this is our nicest dress, and later we are going to likely go out to a club, or dance." She wastes a lot of time on the explanation, but they don't seem too concerned as they look to Peggy and then back to Captain America. Sophie smiles and mentions, "That seems like an unlikely coincidence, but otherwise you'd be… really old, prolly, huh?" She chuckles a bit, "Sorry." Looking between the two Sophie offers, with pointing, "Sophie." She points to herself, then in order, "Esme, Celeste, Phoebe and Irma." She then looks to Captain and wonders, "I wonder if they realize that they are being watched as much as they are watching us?" The five girls look around, and then shrug in sync. Irma speaks up, "If they so much as try and pat me down again…"

"It's an over-abundance of caution, I can assure you of that." Cap offers as he glances up with a look towards the guards that watch over the courtyard. "And perhaps curiosity. It's not every day that five show up with the same abilities and appearance." he points out as he nods towards Sophie. "A pleasure to meet those I may have missed at the United Nations. I assume that you finally found the information you had set out to fine when you requested the videos from the plaza?" he asks.

"We did." Sophie mentions, as she pulls her eyes away from looking around, and the others keep scanning. They don't respond to Captain, as Sophie pulls out a USB flash drive and walks it closer, reachign out to offer it to the Captain, "It took a while to find the missing people from the videos, as we supposed, we were able to find people who knew the mutant. And we also were able to piece together some information from local people who saw, but didn't notice, the assassin." A little wave of her hand like it was pretty simple, "Corresponding that information into a database of likely individuals, direction of movement, and places. We tracked back through memories of people in the nearby hours of the time of the event, and well… it's all on the flash drive. With the informtaion you should be able to at least begin tracking the right people." She adds, "On the drive, you'll also see our signed permission to go with you, when you track down the perp." She smiles, happy about herself, and she puts her hands on her hips, "We should really get a costume made if we're gonna start doing super heroics." A noticeable sigh comes from behind her, the four other sisters rolling their eyes in a huff at the exact same time.

Accepting the USB drive, Cap passes it over to Peggy who has been silent most of this time. "Indeed." he says with a mild chuckle. "Though you may not want to follow she who will not be named fashion sense when it comes to costumes." Because there may not be enough matching corset and panty sets with fur to make it all work. "Maybe find a different look for each of you." he shrugs his shoulders in thoughtfulness. "Anyway, what's the condensed version of what you found."

There's a small squint before Sophie offers, "We would never walk around in /that/ costume. White isn't really our color preference of choice, and we don't need the corset." And then Sophie tries to think of a condensed version of what they discovered, "Some member of the Brotherhood seems to have been responsible. A person named Tar-Pit. And with enough of the psionic emenations that were left over at the scene, there is a good possibility we can track them. It helps that they are a mutant. We have…" She waits for a moment and then says, "Well, just trust us. It helps."

There comes a distinct frown from Captain America. "The Brotherhood?" not that he should be surprised, but. "That puts a new wrinkle on things." he admits with a sigh as he takes a seat and turns introspective. "We could be looking at the first shots of a war between the Brotherhood and Genosha."

For the most part Peggy has been silent as she watches the interaction between the Cuckoos and Captain America. There's quite a lot of information going around and she's still playing catch up. Tucking the flash drive into her pocket, she listens with a tilted head. There's a few raised eyebrows at hearing the women's methods. For the moment, though, she does not comment on it just at the moment. It seems impolite.

"If you're able to track the mutant involved, how much time does that take and is there a proximity requirement?" She's unsure of these things. They seem to think they're going to be coming along on the mission, which fuels the questions. "If there are ties with the Brotherhood, we should look into their connections. Why would the Brotherhood wish to kill the Genosha ambassador, though?"

One of the Cuckoos addresses Peggy, "It's not impolite. It's simply a better way." She states, somewhat matter of factly, and then another one adds, "Captain agreed, that if we helped, we could come along. Not that I want to go…" Sophie, in the front smirks at that, "But you are going, and I'm going, and we'll likely need costumes." And then there's all the questions about time, distances, and Sophie starts to think, thinking it some sort of insignificant question, "I suppose there's a lot of factors. To track him directly, any one of us, it's something like hundreds of miles. Together, ummmm, much further. Really, though? I mean, like I don't think he'll have gotten /that/ far. Gawd." And then she adds, "But, indirectly, it's a little different. Time, is merely the factor there. Time, and I guess, how many people he's meeting. I'm not very good with animals, the professor is, but… it's weird." They all shiver at once. Esme adds on, "Oooh, I think I have a /great/ idea about the costume." And then the other girls start nodding their heads in agreement, to whatever it was she was thinking on.

The Captain looks a little caught. "Yes, I said she could help is Headmistress Frost gave her permission." That's something that Peggy can discuss when she meets with the X-Men liaison. "As far as why.. well, I'm not sure." he admits. "I mean, I'm just a soldier." he admits with a sigh, as much as he hates that excuse. "I doubt they're going to be very open and tell us."

While maybe later Peggy will have words with Steve about that, at this moment she's mostly surprised at the answer that one of the Cuckoos gives her. She looks to the one that spoke to her and tells says in her crisp accent, "Reading my thoughts is rather impolite," she tells the younger woman, then her attention shifts to the other four. "There's a reason I don't say certain things aloud."

To the matter of what has been told, she frowns. "If you have been promised a part of the mission, then that has been agreed upon for the information you've given us. I merely need to know the parameters of what you can do in order to ensure both your safety as well as the best way in which to include all of you."

The matter of why the Brotherhood is involved will be taken up as they can. "We'll investigate. This information will be an excellent tool in finding that answer."

The Cuckoos say, in synchronous, "We can find out why." And then Sophie takes over again, "It isn't very difficult. I mean, if you really wanna know why. My guess is that they think they'll win a war, and want to provoke one, while illiciting sympathy from mutants who hate the mutant haters." She shrugs a little, "I mean, if I had to guess. It is a bit indirect, and a little wiggly, but really when the end game is membership… you want more people more on your side than the other, you don't really need them one hundred percent. Ya know?"

And Sophie's caught already answer Captain when another of the girls pops in, "It isn't like we are 'reading' really. It's that we aren't singing in our heads, or distracting ourselves in some other ridiculous fashion." Sophie looks back and words seem to be exchanged, no words spoken, and then Sophie turns back to Peggy. "We are terribly sorry. It would be like you not listening to someone shouting in your ears. We'll try and not make it weird." And then between the group she adds, "Well, we, we are incredibly powerful. Telepathy, and we're expert level at many academic, scientific and artistic skills." Looking back, she gives a small shrug to her other sisters, and Irma states, "We can basically become immune to… harm. And fight if we need to… no need to worry about us. We should probably be more watching your back."

Noticing Peggy's glance, Steve can almost feel the lump in his throat. The Captain sighs, and then considers. "Since it seems that Agent Carter has things handled, I'm going to turn in for the evening. Had a pretty busy day." Insert fake yawn here. "It was good seeing you again, Miss Stepfords. Peggy?"

"But why Genosha? There seems as if there could be quite a few different targets the Brotherhood could have chosen other than an ambassador - if they are truly involved with this. Killing an ambassador is a clearly symbolic gesture, but why go to war with that country as opposed to any other?" These are things she might usually think internally, but there seems less of a point with the Cuckoos around. Plus, Steve might have some insight. At the offer from the girls to find out why, she frowns and shakes her head. "If it were trutly the Brotherhood behind this, we will need physical evidence that we can both defend and use in the international courts."

The apology is met with a small smile and the woman nods her head. "Your apology is accepted. I must admit, I am rather unfamiliar with the trials or the nuances of what you are able to do." Hence the questions. She likes understanding things. "I will attempt to think softer." However one does that.

Steve's goodbye is met with a blink and then a reassuring smile. "I'll be along momentarily," she tells him. "Perhaps you could grab us a dinner tray?" It's a peace offering of sorts, but there will certainly be things discussed later.

Sophie seems a little perplexed by all of this and she shrugs, "To be honest, I don't see why it matters." She pauses, "The whole, evidence and reasons and whatnot. Aren't you guys like, the Big Brother of organizations just way more public?" She looks around and shrugs again, "Plus, aren't we sort of the good guys here, and they are the bad guys. I didn't really think we'd be arresting them." At a quick glance from Irma, who glances to both Peggy and Steve, then back to the back of Sophie's head, Sophie puts out her hands, "Not like we were thinking we'd kill them. I meant, more like, we -know- they did it. No one else could catch them, not in time, and we're worried about… due process? That uhh, no offense, but sounds kinda naive."

Watching Captain America get up, she offers him a smile and a wave, before the five come to sit around Peggy, finally taking a seat. They grin at the older woman, "So, when are you planning on going after this guy?" Sophie is rather excited about the entire prospect. The other sisters start looking like they are bored, and one picks at her nails, the other fiddles with strands of hair, a third starts staring off at the rest of the courtyard, and the last is just sort of grinning to herself… or themselves?

As the five girls sit around Peggy, she gives them an almost amused smile. The least of which that amusement comes from teenagers telling her she is naive. "And if we didn't arrest them, what would we do with them? There is more at stake here than due process," she tells them. "A public figure was assassinated and the world already knows that. Simply pointing to a man and saying that he did it without any concrete evidence gives no closure, no proof. It only allows for unrest. If that evidence is your word due to Telepathy? There will be interviews, hearings, calls for you all to bear witness. Are you ready for such exposure?"

Her eyes follow the other girls, able to read at least some of their thoughts on the matter simply by their expressions - no mutant powers involved. "We'll be putting a team together shortly. You'll be sure to hear of it. We don't wish to lose the trail, however, we do need to analyze the information you all have given us." Seeing the other girls looking bored, she gives a smile. "We appreciate your help, but don't let me keep you."
There's a small pause and Sophie says, "Oh." She thinks about it for a moment, "Well, we could have them come out and give a confession?" She shrugs a moment before adding to the comments, "And yeah, the information is based upon analysis of movements, proximity, and demographics from the videos we got. Then we tracked six connection points from each individual, in every possible iteration. Found things people saw, that they didn't remember seeing, crossed referenced that with memories from others, and then finally came to the conclusion of whom it was… which then was naturally passed back through the original process to make sure it fit all possible iterations." And then Sophie looks back over at her sisters, and she mentions, "But, yeah, we don't want to be on TV, so much." She huhs and stands up. "I uh, promised everyone that we'd go out. We are really really really excited to work with you though, and SHIELD, and whomever else is there." And Sophie reaches out a hand to 'shake' as it were, "You can count on us, when the time comes." The other sisters stand, and already start walking back the way they came, but Sophie stays to make sure she gives a proper farewell.

"A confession would be a good start, were it to come to that," Peggy tells Sophie. "However, if we're able to find out who is the cause of this without causing you or your sisters to be exposed to any undue attention, then that is the avenue we will take." Of course, she hasn't yet taken the idea of using the Cuckoos as a jumping off point. If there is stopping a war at stake, then she will do what is necessary.

As the girls stand, so does she and she shakes Sophie's hand. "It was a pleasure to meet you all as well. We'll be in touch." She stands where she is, politely waiting for the girls to make it out of the Courtyard before she turns and makes her way back to headquarters.

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