Jemma Simmons is a terrible liar (needanewplan) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-02-18 08:34:00 |
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Thanks to the information obtained from the party, Natasha had the timetable for the Kazan’s launch for sea trials. It had given her time to bribe the right people, and spend a very nice Valentine’s with Stahma back home. But now she couldn’t think about that.
Because right now she was crammed into a compartment with two other people and had been for several hours.
She looked at Laura. “What do you hear.”
Laura lifted her ear from the bulkhead. “We’re at five hundred meters, traveling at twenty knots.”
That would put them nearly sixty kilometers from the coast. “Do you know our direction?”
“South-east, but that’s all I could hear. I don’t know our destination.”
“Jemma.” Nat looked over her shoulder. “I think it’s time. Will the gas masks protect us?”
Jemma hated everything. Not only was she in a very tight compartment underwater, but the bot Cosima had managed to implant in her cheek was preliminary, so while the degeneration of her cells had stopped, nothing was being repaired. But given the mission and how Natasha had needed her for her emergency medic experience and anything else that might come up in regards to science…. Well, she had needed the quick fix. So while she was doing this, Cosima and Martha and the Doctor could figure out an actual cure… or she’d die. Whichever.
But that didn’t matter right now, and she had managed to keep it secret, which was what she was doing now. No. The focus right now was this mission and the question.
“Yes, they will.”
Marguerite was missing all the fun, Nat would have to give her a tour later. If she knew what Jemma was dealing with, she’d probably a little upset, but there’d been no hints about anything that was going on.
She’d have to scold her later.
“Okay. Everyone mask up. We’re going to go deck by deck, starting with the engine room here. Once we’ve secured the ship we can unload the crew. There are some islands controlled by the Russians that won’t be too difficult for them to survive on until someone picks them up.”
Nodding at Jemma, Nat handed over a gas mask, then gave one to Laura. “Once we’ve taken this deck, I want you to stay here and make sure no one wakes up. Jemma and I will need to move fast to take the command center.”
With their luck, they’d still have a fight on their hands.
If there was one thing Jemma was good at, it was masking when she was falling apart. She had done it in the dreams (okay so being undercover and away from everyone had helped in that and then none of them had noticed when she got back and they’d all been dealing with Trip’s death and the Inhumans…), she had done it here while dealing with the dreams…. Jemma was the one who was always okay, the one who fixed things. So she knew just how to hide it.
Still for now, it was the mission. Which was going to be more than just gassing people so they were knocked out and dropped on islands. Reasons she had also been doing more...physical… training. God she hoped this all worked out.
So Jemma nodded as instructions were handed out. Just focus on one step at a time.
Mask in place, Nat pushed the grate open and slipped out. She listened for the sound of sailors, then gestured for the others to follow her. The engine room was nearby, and with a skeleton crew on board there would only be a few people in there.
“Okay Mitochondria, do your thing.”
Once the three had their masks on and they were in place, Jemma released the gas in the engine room. It would be methodical, but it wouldn’t cause any lasting damage. Hippocratic oath and all. Which of course didn’t always work out if they had to resort to more physical matters, but so long as no one fought them, it would be peaceful.
Jemma just knew that things rarely ever went according to plan.
Things never did, but a quick sweep of the engine deck revealed that the crew had been knocked out. Laura set about dragging the unconscious bodies to a single location, then went to secure the engine room. “When we surface, I will flush the gas out of the ship.”
She liked this job. They weren’t killing anyone.
Natasha nodded at Jemma to follow her, and climbed the ladder to Deck 3. She peeked around, then popped up and stood guard while Jemma came up. “Let’s put this deck to sleep.”
It was just about then that someone jumped them.
Of course they were jumped, because it had just been far too easy for them to be able to clear all the levels without some sort of drama. As she came up, Jemma noticed the person but of course it was too late to do a warning because as she tried to give one, they were jumped. Bloody hell.
Not to mention she had no idea how her current health situation would hold up in this sort of situation. No matter. She would push through it and handle whatever happened because of the exertion after the fact. First they just had to get through this.
Nat threw an elbow into the man’s face. One huge advantage they had was no one would be crazy enough to shoot a bullet at this depth. Enough of a puncture and the entire submarine could be crushed.
She grabbed onto him and flipped him over his shoulder. A shot to his face with her palm and he was out. “We need to move faster. We can’t risk them getting a message out. We’re too deep for that, but if we go up a few hundred meters…”
“Then the imperative of not using a bullet is gone. I understand.” It was math and science, things Jemma understood. Risking a puncture and the entire submarine would be flooded and sink. No. That was the last thing any of them wanted despite their different sides.
“Let’s go then.” Because the sooner they got this done with, the better. And hopefully with fewer interruptions. There was only so long she could rely on adrenaline which this part of the mission required before the feeling of weakness would make it more difficult. So there was that other reason for her.
“All right.” Nat fished around in her belt. “I’m reluctant to use my Widow’s Bites down here too. So we’re going to have to rely on punching people if we get caught again.”
Not telling if a spark might ignite the richer oxygen atmosphere or not, and better not to risk it. She just hoped they didn’t get caught. If they couldn’t get to command soon enough then there was a great risk of not being able to take the vessel at all. “Lets gas this deck and then move up to the next one.”
She was already heading to the ladder. With a total of thirty people on board the boat felt deserted. And thirty people were a lot easier to deal with than the hundred plus that would be on board during normal operations.
“Punching people it is.” Not that Jemma was known for her sparring and punching. But using random things like briefcases and fire extinguishers as makeshift weapons? Jemma was good at that. Though the main plan was of course using the knockout gas.
At least it was a skeleton crew with only thirty people. Only thirty, the things you got used to in this sort of work. The life of spywork she supposed.
Deck cleared and upwards it was. Or…. another person. Brilliant, ducking a punch, Jemma grabbed a nearby object and hit the the crew member in the back of the head, knocking him out. That took more energy than it had any right doing so but no matter. Knock out the rest, finish the mission so they could head back home.
“We always have the most interesting lunch dates.” Natasha fixed her gas mask back into place and signaled for Jemma to start the gas up again. Jemma was keeping up nicely, but Nat was worried she was starting to look a little winded. They needed to finish this. “We’re almost through this. I hope I get to punch the captain.”
“Would be nice if they weren’t quite so interesting.” Yes. Just be quippy, it was perfectly normal. But at least they were getting there. One more deck to go and then it was the quote unquote easy part. Easy in that they could offload the crew, not easy in that Jemma would still be trapped in an enclosed space under water for an extended amount of time.
“I promise you we’ll have a nice tuna melt at a cafe overlooking the ocean. With a nice glass of wine. I even know a place.” The last deck housed the ops center and several other rooms, but the only people there were the captain and the people with him. Nat crept close to the door. “Give me two minutes, they’re sealed in. But we haven’t started to surface yet.”
“Vegetarian. But the rest sounds lovely.” Besides, most places had vegetarian options so it wasn’t that big a deal. It was just random talk anyway as they worked their way through to the last deck. But at least there was just the last deck and then surfacing to put them on the island. Jemma quirked a brow behind her mask at the comment on Natasha going in alone. She could handle herself, even as she felt herself losing stamina. She was the backup which meant that she should be going in as well.
“BLT without the B.” Natasha replied. She started to work at the door. Either the captain was suspicious or paranoid, and this time he had reason to be. It took her the two minutes to get it open, then she signaled Jemma to go low, while she went high. Trusting Jemma to understand, Nat jumped in.
There were four people inside. The pilot, the captain, the officer on deck and a fourth that she couldn’t tell what rank or position, but that didn’t matter. Nat jabbed the first person in range in the throat and went right for the pilot. The woman pulled back on the controls and the submarine tilted as she engaged emergency surfacing procedures.
“Get the Captain before he radios!”
Well that wasn’t good. But of course it would go this way. Luckily she had understood Natasha’s signalling and jumped in as well. And… time to go for the Captain. This should be fun, only not. But that didn’t matter so instead she just jumped for the Captain and knocked him to the floor. Probably the most awkward image ever given Jemma’s size and general personality but she managed to knock the radio away and knock the Captain out, struggling to catch her breath as she got off his body and bound his hands for the time just in case he came to before they surfaced.
Natasha choked out the pilot as the amazing flying Jemma slammed into the captain. She watched them both go down, then grabbed onto the controls to stablize them and point them to the island. In the chaos the fourth man had gotten knocked out when he’d fallen as the boat had tilted. Saved them the trouble.
“Good work! Grand Theft Submarine is nearly complete. If we’re lucky none of them will come to until after they’ve been disembarked.”
She was already running a checklist in her head. Disable any tracking or listening devices being the priority.
Well that was nice of the tilting submarine to do their job for them in dealing with the last person. Because Jemma didn’t know if she had the energy anymore. The tackle had taken a lot out of her and once she was sure that the captain wouldn’t be able to have use of his hands if he did wake up? Well, she just remained on the ground, back against the wall.
From what she could tell, the bot in her cheek wasn’t damaged. Yes she knew that it was supposedly only if someone tried to remove it forcibly that it would kill her and that Cosima had found a workaround for that, but she still worried.
“Let’s not jinx it.”
After signaling to Laura to start bringing the crew up to the airlock, Natasha came over to Jemma and knelt next to her. “Are you all right? You’re looking a little pale. We’ll be on the surface soon, you can get some fresh air.”
That was the question, wasn’t it? All things considered? Yes. She was fine. On the other hand, there was that pesky dying thing she had going on even as there was a chance at a cure once she got back. Not to mention her PTSD related issues which clearly she wasn’t over even if she felt she should be as she was never given a chance to deal with… well, any of the trauma she’d been through really.
“Fresh air will be good. Like I said when you first asked about the mission, I don’t exactly do well in enclosed spaces for extended periods of time.” Or under water. And it was the truth, not the whole truth but part of it. It was the easier thing to explain at any rate, the one that caused the least amount of worry.
Natasha nodded. “Sit still until we’re on the surface.”
She returned to the controls and sat down to study them. She’d read what intel she could, learned how to pilot a submarine, but theoretical was a lot different from actually doing it. Still, it was easier than some of the vehicles she’d flown in her dreams. “We’ll surface in five minutes.”
Laura entered a moment later. She eyed Jemma, then bent over and picked up the captain. “Long, deep breaths.”
Then she disappeared through the door.
Right. Long deep breaths. She gave a faint smile to Laura as she mentioned that and left. She was well aware of how to deal with panic attacks as she had been doing so in private for awhile now. That and she really did dislike the fact that she was even showing this amount of weakness. But there wasn’t much she could do about that now. Breathe and pray that the trip was the allotted week and a half as opposed to two weeks.
“I need to come up with a name,” Natasha mused, mostly to herself. But she had at least ten days to think of one.