Rooms

Dear Sharon,

You've been such a kind host. Thank you again. I can't tell you what it means to have family in an unfamiliar city, especially when things change so much from day to day.

I've cleaned out the freezer for you, and stocked the cupboard.

Perhaps you will come by the new place for a drink, when you're older.

[Her address, a small room in a larger building, with a shared kitchen. Nice but not too expensive. Sensible when income is limited. Thank you rent control.]

Most affectionately yours,

Aunt Peggy

[The day after the gathering at the Murray Estate, London has little else to whisper about. For a people dull and bored, the happenings inside that house are enough to carry them through summer.

Though, there is general disappointment that Vanessa Ives climbed on no tables in a display of fits, and tales of her theatrics months earlier resurface like the orchid from its soil; of the man she spent the evening bent close to, there is not much known. Whispers about the daughter of the house involve a pallid man of poor constitution; flame sparks quickly, and those whispers turn tawdry, filth in those crystalline voices that carry the tales.

To that, most of the men present are new faces, which increases the ferocity of the whispers in drawing and sitting room alike. There is one man, however, that draws quite a bit of attention, scarred, deformed, and certainty he is no fit match for gently-reared ladies, however fall they have fallen. Drawings of the man (Caliban, though they know not his name) circulate, roughly sketched things oft-folded and hid between layers of petticoat, and he is the new terrible delicacy in London - or so it would seem.]

[Locked to Harry O]
We should talk in case Did you buy that yacht yet, Harry? The tide predictions are super favorable for late April.

[Locked to Jason T]
Hey, James Dean. I hear you're totally in the loop now.

[Call to Peter P]
[About an hour after this, as she leaves NYU. Ring.]

[Emails & Voicemails left for Stephanie B]

( Late Monday Night/Tuesday Morning )

News: Gotham City

[Tuesday morning, reports trickle out of Arkham Asylum regarding the disappearance of the director, Dr. Jonathan Crane. Police were on the scene early in the morning after the discovery of three bodies on the stairs to the basement. The cause of death of the three found has not been released, nor has their names pending notification of the family. No further details have been made available.]

[locked to batfam+]

[After this, a link to the news report from Gotham City's NBC affiliate, the two emails she received, and the two voicemails she received after the fact.]

Well. That's happening.

WHO Spidey & Black Cat.
WHAT spidey's got a bee in his bonnet about a certain thief.
WHEN recently!
WHERE Marvel: NYC.
WARNING nada~
( It was funny how putting on the mask could make all his problems go away for a while. )

Next time, I shall ignore such invitations and simply stay home.

The company was enjoyable, but I do not enjoy being whispered about.

Who: Jean & Wanda
What: Going home
Where: X-Mansion
When: Friday Afternoon
Warnings/Rating: Doubtful.

( Jean still remembered Magento as the man that killed her. Asking his daughter to do that very thing was some strange poetic tragedy that they never covered in Psychology class. Probably because any story of a person that died more than once was reserved for the Theology department. )

[Anon.]

That moment when you realize you are either too old or they are too young.

[Operation HYDRA Decapitation Lock]
HYDRA is active in S.H.I.E.L.D. and beyond. They're working on something called Project Insight, conceived by Dr. Arnim Zola and Alexander Pierce. It's a program to eliminate all threats to HYDRA, or "freedom," as they see it, with the help of a predictive algorithm, that is meant to draw on past actions to determine future ones. S.H.I.E.L.D. was working on the same, HYDRA having grown from within like a cancer. Director Fury thought it would help ensure safety in this uncertain world, a gun to the head of everyone. We disagreed on this point. Where I come from, HYDRA then tried to take out Director Fury by employing an assassin called the Winter Soldier.

That's Bucky. He goes by James now. He's with us. He's broken off from HYDRA and has made it his own mission to finish stamping them out.

Fury lived, but the Project still went live, pushed by HYDRA within S.H.I.E.L.D., until the façade fell. Myself, Natasha, a man named Sam Wilson, and Maria Hill worked to take down the hellicarriers they programmed to feed from satellite information, to determine their targets.

Unfortunately, here, in this world, it seems that never happened. Though we're missing key people, like Alexander Pierce himself, Director Fury, Sam, Maria—the plan still seems to be in action, just more underground. HYDRA has been splintered, but they remain in sleeper cells scattered throughout here and the rest of the world, in enclaves, still working hard to bring Project Insight to fruition.

We need to stop this. I don't know how deep HYDRA is in S.H.I.E.L.D here, which is why, Sharon, Natasha, Barton, you're all very important in this aspect. We need to know what's going on on the inside.

There are a couple locations we're planning on hitting. There's an old S.H.I.E.L.D. base, probably one of the first, set up at the camp I trained at a long time ago: Camp Lehigh. Inside of that base, there's a secret HYDRA hold, and it holds the mind of Zola on thousands of feet of data tape. Natasha and I were attacked there before, the base destroyed by HYDRA when they learned we'd infiltrated, but not before we spoke with Zola. I am fairly certain, if it's still intact here, Zola and all, we'll trip an alarm going in, and they'll know we have them in our sights.

Second, there's a bank vault where B James was being kept by HYDRA, a place likely vacated quickly, where we might be able to find clues as to their next moves.

Bucky has more information on possible locations. We need to figure out how to split and tackle this best, and we need to remain in communication. When Natasha and I did this the first time, there were only a handful of us. It was enough, but barely. All of you are integral. We need to finish this before they try to. [Whew.] Okay. Questions or thoughts? [...] Introductions?

Who: Neil Donovan & Lin Alesi
What: Elvis watching
Where: Elvis Chapel
When: nowish
Warnings/Rating: language?

( #bless. )

[FaceTime call to Clementine M]
[From the new place, and wearing only a robe on the clear little video, because fuck you—! Ring!]

[Phone Call - Cris M]

Ring!

[Locked - Clementine M]

Hey, honey, just checking in.

[Locked - Jake R]

Hanging in there?