Jemma Simmons is a terrible liar (needanewplan) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-07-06 20:48:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, jemma simmons, kitty pryde (shadowcat), natasha romanoff (black widow), peggy carter |
Who: Jemma Simmons, Kitty Pryde, Natasha Romanoff, Peggy Carter
What: Jemma gets shown around the Agency and job things like running a department. Hydra talk.
When: 6 July 2015, morning
Where: The Agency
Warnings: Low
Status: Log | Complete
Jemma was nervous, probably more nervous than she would have been normally. And because she was nervous, she had ended up showing up at the Agency earlier than she was supposed to. Of course, that also had to do with the fact that she’d woken up from a new set of dreams and once again found herself unable to sleep. She was causing Fitz more harm and so had gone undercover at Hydra in order to be of some use to the team. Coulson felt she was a good recruit for it and at least she would be productive.
In theory. She hadn’t advanced as much as she would normally and it was apparently because she didn’t make friends because she refused to be like Ward, to lie and manipulate people. She used half truths. Then everything with Donnie and the run in with SHIELD. The fact that she was advancing and how absolutely nervewracking that was. The threat, the fear. When she had woken up, she’d been too tense to try and sleep and so she’d gone running, had her tea and gotten ready.
So here she was. Sitting in the main lobby of the Agency. Waiting.
Natasha’s cover had been blown wide-open by her actions in the dreams. It was much tighter in the waking world, except of course to people from her dreams. She didn’t know Jemma personally but she’d reviewed her file and Kitty’s files on the woman and knew something about her. Still, she wanted to know if Jemma recognized her.
“Hello, may I help you?” She flashed a smile. “I’m with human resources.”
Having been lost in her thoughts, Jemma jolted and blinked as she was approached.
“Oh! Hello!” It took her a brief moment before she recognised Natasha, smiling a more real smile and less of the fake one she’d been using as of late both in the real world as well as the dreams, “It’s nice to officially meet you, Natasha. It’s Jemma, which you probably knew? I didn’t realise you were human resources here. Though I suppose that makes sense, Kitty did mention you worked here.”
Yes, she did still tend to ramble when nervous. Not that Natasha made her nervous.. .maybe a little, but just the dreams and where she was now.
“Kitty was going to show me around but I ended up showing up here early.”
“Glad to be recognized,” Nat joked. She held out her hand for an official greeting. “It’s as good a job as any, for my skill set. Relax. I’m not gonna bite.”
So Kitty was right and that Natasha wasn’t nearly as intimidating as Jemma had felt. Of course, Jemma did tend to work herself up some when she got nervous. It was just part of who she was. Smiling, Jemma took the other woman’s hand and shook it with a nod. “Well that’s good to know. Given my history in science and my dream history, it does seem to fit for me as well.”
“Science is invaluable. As long as it’s pointed towards good things rather than bad things.” She’d seen her share of mad science in both sets of dreams. It was enough to make one wary of ‘hey check out this new discovery’ because her mind automatically went to ‘how do I have to fight that?’
“It is. And in the wrong hands, it’s terrifying.” First hand experience there. Or...dream!First hand experience at any rate. Between Project Centipede and then everything she was seeing Hydra doing while undercover? Yeah. It left her shaken. She had gone into science to help people, find answers. Now she was expected to use that same knowledge and weaponise it.
“I’m sure we could both tell each other stories at this point. Kitty has a few too. She once saved the world from a city-sized bullet.” That had been one of those things that Nat couldn’t have done a damn thing about. She still wasn’t sure whether to blame the X-Men for the bullet existing in the first place, or thank them for saving the day. “Most of my dream adventures are a lot smaller scale.”
“Most likely… It seems I’ve been sent undercover, so I am getting to see how they manipulate and weaponise science to their aims. It’s horrifying.” Especially given how those she worked with were excited by the damage they could cause. People could die and they thought that was a good thing. Even if she wasn’t a medical doctor, she was the one who did medical healings for the team, she took care of people. To see research she did used in a such a way…
Natasha grimaced. “That’s not something anyone should ever see.” Her expression shifted and she gave Jemma a good hard look. “Coulson sent you undercover??”
“No, it isn’t.” And then the look that made sense to anyone who knew Jemma. If she hadn’t been getting better at holding her own in the dreams, and if she hadn’t been so desperate to do something that would help? She probably might have questioned it as well. But May had seemed to think it would be okay as well, and the woman would know better than anyone. “He did. Agent May backed the decision.” It also meant that she’d be able to be away from Fitz and maybe he’d finally be able to heal instead of getting worse when she was around.
That raised Natasha’s eyebrows. She knew May. “If May backed the decision, then it was a good one.” Coulson was a good man, but she’d never pegged him for leadership. May, on the other hand, Natasha would (and had) trusted with her life.
Jemma didn’t have much opinion on whether Coulson was a good leader or not. Between the fact she was internalising everything in the Dreams and isolating herself in a way to just keep working and trying to be of use, she wasn’t questioning him as she had about the GH325. Perhaps that would change, but for now, she was just doing as told to rebuild SciOps, or now going under cover. Still, she did have faith in May, and that had helped her own confidence in the dreams that she could do this.
“It was, though I don’t know how anyone can go deep cover without losing a part of themselves because of the cover they need to maintain.” They had both prepped her, and it was just as Natasha had mentioned before. Half truths. Remain loyal to science. They knew she’d been SHIELD which helped, though that also meant there was the ever looming threat of brainwashing and compliance.
“You do. You do lose a part of yourself. The question is, how do you get it back? The hard part will come when you have to bend your moral compass in order to stay in cover.” Natasha was far too familiar with that. It was a part of her being that she just couldn’t shake.
That was what Jemma was afraid of. She had been annoyed that she wasn’t advancing in the dreams because hello, she was a genius, it shouldn’t take her that long to climb the ranks. The fact she needed to for a mission? That was also extremely important. But the pride bit as well.
“Coulson told me to make friends, to do the same thing Ward did to us. I just…” Perhaps she was too green to be undercover, but they had needed the intel, and she had the skills to do it. May had backed the decision and it was better than feeling as if she wasn’t doing anything. But the idea that she had to make friends just to betray them? It didn’t sit well with her.
Go figure it was her saving Bakshi that got her that advancement. Just like Ward saving her to get the trust of the team. The parallels made her sick, both here and in the dreams. “I suppose I will have to wait to see how it plays out…”
“I hope it turns out well. Missions can go sour, and fast. But there’s one thing I know about May and Coulson,” Natasha replied. “Is that keeping you safe is their highest priority. They’ll move heaven and earth to get you out of there.”
They’d wandered around to the cafe. Natasha gestured inside. “We try to compete with Stark.”
“It’s an ongoing process.” Kitty jogged up. “Sorry I’m late.” She smiled at Jemma. “One of these days I expect Tony to airlift a bunch of food trucks to the top of Stark Tower.”
“I know.” And she did. Coulson had defied a direct order when she’d been infected with the Chitauri virus so that she would have time to find a cure instead of just dumping her, something Jemma herself had been prepared to do. She had seen him and May move heaven and earth for the team, so despite her worries about being undercover, the threat of brainwashing ever looming, she knew they had her back.
As they walked into the cafe, Jemma looked around. If she could get proper tea, she would be happy. Things like that were important. And healthy food options were always important.
“I see!” And there was Kitty, to whom Jemma smiled in greeting, “It’s fine. And I wouldn’t be remotely surprised if he ends up doing that one of these days.”
“I hope I can get pictures of that if that happens.” Kitty nodded her head towards one elevator. “Let’s show Ms. Simmons the lab before pestering Carter.” Because pestering Carter, while fun, could wait until Jemma saw the lab.
“Want a cup of tea before we go up?” Natasha asked.
Right. There was also going to be meeting Peggy Carter, founder of SHIELD, British… the morning after she dreamt of being undercover in Hydra and receiving her Hydra credentials. Oh this day got better and better. It was going to be something she just dealt with, though. It would play out however it played out. She had to accept that.
“Tea would be lovely, thank you.” And then the tour and meeting Peggy Carter.
“Over here.” Kitty led Jemma over to the machine. Most of the food was served out of machines. “Sometimes we have people come in and sell fresh food.”
“I want a more permanent solution.”
“You’re the one in HR.” Kitty put her fingers up in air quotes.
Grinning, Natasha replied. “Then I’ll get right on it.”
Following after Kitty, Jemma made note of what they had and to make a mental note for when the fresh food would be. That was always important. But right now, it was making tea while listening to Kitty and Natasha discuss the food option and making fresh food more permanent. Though she also did notice the air quotations, which wasn’t all that difficult to make sense of between the Dreams, as well as conversations she’d had with Natasha.
Tea made, the scientist turned her attention to the other two women.
“So, the lab?” As upsetting as the dreams were, science labs had a tendency to cheer Jemma up, they were exciting. They may all seem the same, but between working at Stark Industries, and what she’d picked up about the Agency? Oh she was definitely interested and excited about the labs here.
“It’s this way,” Kitty gestured towards the elevator. “All the good stuff is on the third and fourth floors. My department is higher up. The Director gets the best view, of course.”
Nat pressed the third floor. “Do you want to see the biology lab first?”
“Of course.” Because the person in charge would always get the best view. But that was good to know. Third and fourth floors. And with Natasha pushing the button for the third floor, Jemma nodded. “That would be wonderful.”
Sipping her tea, she could feel the excitement of seeing the equipment available to her push away the lingering self loathing and guilt from the dreams.
The lab was well equipped, with the latest technology and even a few bits of technology that shouldn’t exist. Kitty gestured towards one device. “That belonged to Doctor Moira Mactaggert. She was from my dreams and she left that behind when she moved back to Scotland. It’s a really advanced bio scanner. I’m sure you’ll love it.”
The technology that shouldn’t exist was really going to be exciting. Mostly because there was technology Jemma would love to have at her disposal from her own dreams because of what it could do. For now though, she would make due with what was available to her here.
“Ohh….” And like a child in a candy store, Jemma made her way to the scanner and because to examine it. Really, labs were Jemma’s version of a candy store, and there were always new things to examine and use.
“Sounds like she approves.” Nat grinned at Kitty, watching as Jemma walked over to the scanner.
“I’d hope so, that’s based on alien technology,” Kitty replied. “Shi’ar tech.”
“You X-men and your Shi’ar tech.” Nat shook her head.
Words like alien tech should not sound so normal to Jemma, but well… the world from her dreams? It was quite normal. There had been run ins with them, artifacts, Asgardians, viruses. It made one much more open to those possibilities. As such, Jemma just looked up from her investigating to Kitty, tilting her head to the side.
“Shi’ar?”
“Uh, they used to have an empire, until a lot of bad things happened and there wasn’t much of a Shi’ar Empire anymore,” Kitty explained. She rubbed the back of her neck. “There were on again allies and enemies, depending on circumstance.” She had never really forgiven them for what they’d done to Rachel.
“There’s been a lot more interaction and alien encounters in the dreams I share with her, than in the ones I share with you,” Natasha added. “It’s pretty much been New York and a few other encounters there.”
If there was something that was an interesting phenomenon, it was the fact that some people dreamt multiple versions of their lives. Such as Natasha and how she mentioned more alien encounters in one set of dreams versus the ones in the ones they shared.
“Yes. New York, the Chitauri.” Not something she was going to forget. But that virus had been dealt with, so no matter. “There were a couple of interactions with Asgardians but beyond that…” Shrugging, Jemma instead mulled the information over in her head about the Shi’ar. Fairweather allies, then.
“I see, though. Well, the technology is absolutely gorgeous.” Because this was Jemma and she got excited about these sorts of things. True, Fitz probably would enjoy it more as he was engineering, but he wasn’t there and after what had happened in the dreams… No matter. New technology to learn and use to study things.
“It helped us figure that that people like me do have the x-gene.” Kitty had her arms folded as she looked at the machinery. “...hoping it’ll help you work some magic. If you want to work some magic.”
Nat smiled. “What do you think of the lab?”
And more information to file away for later. SHe had the samples Kitty and Clarice had given her that she had looked over, and really, the molecular structure was fascinating. From the X-gene she supposed. It was a genetic mutation. Idly she debated comparing it with Skye’s blood to try and isolate the GH325, but that would probably be a project for another day.
“It’s brilliant!” Jemma’s eyes were lit up because the lab was amazing and she was already excited about what sort of research she could do with the machinery here.
“Glad you think so.” Nat looked at her watch, then glanced at Kitty. “Think Peggy is in?”
“Should be by the time we get up there.” A smirk crossed Kitty’s lips. “Though with how slow that elevator has been lately, we might end up with her leaving for the night by the time we get up there.”
“Well we can’t have that.”
Oh yes. Meeting Peggy Carter. Exciting and also that feeling of dread as the dreams she’d just managed to push aside returned to her memory. Well. Not much she could do about that now. Right? She could be calm. She could be collected. Especially if she wanted the job. She was fine.
“....I know that look, what are you planning?”
Or Kitty could suddenly make her think something was being planned. She remembered the demonstration that had happened before. Was it that? Or was she planning something else? Oh dear.
“Oh, nothing planned.” Kitty laughed. “Peggy is really nice. Don’t be nervous. I mean there are quicker ways to get up there but no one who can help is really present.”
She led the way into the elevator and pressed the button.
And sure enough, it was slow.
All Jemma could do was nod slowly at the comment about getting there quicker, but with no one to help presently. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, though she supposed she would find out soon enough. So instead, it was a slow elevator ride. At least her current aversion to heights didn’t include panic attacks while in an elevator. That would be rather sad. Just focus. Just breathe.
But eventually they stopped and it seemed that the meeting of Peggy Carter was about to happen.
The doors finally opened. Nat stepped out first, walking with purpose towards Peggy’s office. She knocked on the door as Kitty brought up the rear with Jemma in the middle.
It was uncommon for Peggy Carter to actually go home on time these days. There had been a handful of files on her desk when she came in and she had been slowly working through them. The giant spider had been vanquished, but the result always caused more paperwork and Peggy was making sure that all the various government agencies had the same cover story. One of these days she was going to get out into the field again, but right now it was the joy of paperwork and various conference calls.
It hadn’t surprised her when she heard the knock on the door, people were constantly in and out some days, so she quickly moved to her feet and made her way across the office. A pleasant smile was on her face when she saw familiar faces on the other side and one that looked vaguely familiar, “Hello ladies, care to come inside? And if you’re coming to me with any sort of giant monster news please wait until tomorrow to tell me.”
And the door opened and all Jemma could do was feel both giddy and then like she needed to hide. Forgive me Peggy Carter, for I have sinned. Well okay, it wasn’t her and she was undercover in the dreams. But the Hydra credentials had shown up on her nightstand that morning so it still felt accurate.
Right. Try not to make a fool of herself. That should be easy enough. Though she figured she would remain quiet for the time so as not to babble herself into embarrassment and also because Peggy Carter. Not to mention this was her first official visit to the Agency for the tour and the fact that well, no giant monster news. So it was just following Natasha into the office since Kitty was behind her.
“No giant monsters today,” Nat reported.
“Or aliens,” Kitty chipped in.
“Or vampires, zombies, or invasions of any sort.” Nat stepped aside and gestured towards Jemma. “Director, this is Dr. Jemma Simmons. The one we wanted to steal from Tony.”
Chuckling, Kitty added, “The man collects talent like I collect Cubs memorabilia.”
Peggy let out an exaggerated sigh of relief at Natasha and Kitty informing her that there was nothing going on in the outside world - for the moment - but she was more excited to see the young woman in front of her. Peggy’s face turned itself into a happy smile as she let out a chuckle at Kitty’s comment, “Well, it’s going to suck for him when I start poaching his talent. This is only the first step.”
“Dr. Simmons, it is so lovely to meet you. I’ve really enjoyed talking on the Network to you and I’m really glad you’ve decided to come check the Agency out. I think that you would fit right in here, especially with S.H.I.E.L.D. dreams to help you along. I like to think that we’re a less hectic version from what I hear about it from people,” Peggy took Jemma’s hand in her own and gave her a shake before holding on and bringing her into the office.
“Technically it was Ms. Potts who found me.” It was reflex, because Pepper was the one who had reached out to the BBSRC to have her come over. But that was irrelevant. Jemma just automatically had a tendency to highlight women in competitive fields. Even if she was being poached at the moment.
Smiling, Jemma took Peggy’s hand and shook it firmly.
“I’ve enjoyed our conversations as well. It’s brilliant to be meeting you.” And then the comment on coming Oh yes. I was quite interested when I was spoken to.” There was just that whole… vampires, demons and nearly dying thing that had taken precedence over trying to make things work out so she could actually take the job. “From what I have both seen and heard, I feel that I would fit in as well. Less hectic than S.H.I.E.L.D in the dreams does seem an accurate description.” She didn’t know how much Peggy knew and given the whole...undercover thing, well, she would prefer the less hectic version as opposed to the terror of her dreams.
“First his talent, then everything else,” Natasha added. A sly smile crossed her lips as she watched Jemma converse with Peggy.
“Vampires, giant spiders, zombies, and we’re still less hectic than the dreams,” Kitty confirmed. Her own smile was almost as wide as her face. “We showed Jemma the lab. She looked right at home.”
Peggy shot a smirk over her shoulder at Natasha as she and Jemma made their way over to the desk and she pulled out a chair for the woman. Once that was done she addressed Kitty, “The dreams tend to be absolute insanity some days. I don’t know how everyone managed to keep up with it. And as for the lab, I’m so glad you like it, Jemma. I’m not sure how the labs of the modern S.H.I.E.L.D. look like because my dreams are still in the 1940’s, but I hope they’re comparable. We can certainly make some adjustments if needed to make sure that you can work properly.” Oh yes, she was going to make certain that Jemma was going to be comfortable here.
Absolute insanity seemed an accurate description. Especially the dreams she had discussed with others. There really wasn’t anything Jemma could add to that assessment. Instead she focused on the comment about the labs, smiling.
"From what I've seen, they seem quite similar to the labs from S.H.I.E.L.D. Though I certainly will come to you if I can think of any sort of modifications."
Oh yes, Jemma could definitely fit in here and figure out improvements based on her dreams.
“As a department head,” Natasha explained. “You’d be at liberty to make your department suit your specifications. Walking into Pryde’s department is a bit like walking into a comic shop sometimes.”
Laughing, Kitty shrugged her shoulders. “It helps us techies feel at home.”
“Certainly feel free to voice your ideas. We’re certainly about ways to make things better. Especially if there’s some stuff from the Dreams that would work for us, although I don’t know if we have all the tech, but you never know,” Peggy commented as she pulled out a chair for Jemma, “Would you like to sit and we can discuss some things? I like open discussions and I’m sure these ladies would love to pick your brain a little bit more as well.”
Jemma hadn’t anticipated department head when Kitty had approached her, and so she could only blink.
“I suppose the fact I’m rebuilding SciOps in the Dreams would help with that as well in terms of experience.” It was an observation at any rate. Admittedly at the moment in her dreams, she wasn’t at SciOps but she had still be in charge of that and would undoubtedly return to it once her mission was over.
“Of course, that would be wonderful.”
After all, Jemma hadn’t known what to expect for the walk through and so had made sure she had nothing else on her schedule.