Nazi Bees and Modern Banks (Open to anyone who might be in NYC!)

[death_and_reboot]

Today was an excellent day. Why was today an excellent day? It was Friday. And it wasn't just any Friday. Oh no. It was the second Friday of the month! That meant payday! Believe it or not, SHIELD payed biweekly just like anybody else. Well, lots of anybody else's, at least. From what Eleanor had heard, they used to pay monthly, and then everybody pitched a fit. The true heroes of the modern age, and all that, achieving the major victories! And this was Eleanor's first paycheck since she'd been relocated from Miami to NYC. SHIELD tried to make out like other major cities were just as important and needed just as much manpower, but everyone knew that NYC was where it was at. This was where the tights fought each other all the time.

"But why? It's colder here. Spandex can't insulate that well..."

"Excuse me?" The man standing in line in front of her at the bank looked over his shoulder and lifted an imperious eyebrow at her. So many eyebrows around here were imperious. Ugh. Not that Miami was much better. Actually it was probably worse, if you were counting numbers of assholes. But at least it was warmer. Why didn't the heroes here wear flashy parkas and bubble jackets?

"Sorry. Just talking to myself," she muttered. He harumphed and turned back around. Soon enough they'd have her back in the direct deposit system and she wouldn't need to come to the bank, like, ever again.

The hidden earpiece in her right ear suddenly sprang to life. "All Agents in the lower Manhattan area, be advised, the villain Swarm is active and moving towards the Wells Fargo on 97th Avenue. Repeat, Swarm is active and moving towards the Wells Fargo on 97th Avenue. If you are in range, please respond but be advised that you are NOT to use lethal force. Technically, Swarm is covered under the Honeybee Protection Act of 2016. You may find yourselves preventing well-intentioned Heroes from harming him. Hold them off, protect civilians, and stall until containment can arrive. ETA is thirty minutes from now."

"Oh you have got to be kidding me..."

"What is it now?" The man in front of her was starting to actually look irritated. Bully for him. He'd be a lot more irritated in a few minutes.

"Bees. Nazi bees." She sighed with exasperation, puffing an errant strand of hair from her cheek.

"What?" Now he just looked angry, like he thought she was having some fun at his expense.

Eleanor, meanwhile, ran over to the nearest column and hopped up to it's little ledge so she could address everyone. "HEY EVERYBODY!!! YOU MIGHT WANT TO GET OUT BECAUSE I THINK THIS BANK IS ABOUT TO BE ROBBED BY NAZI BEES THAT DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW BANKS AND ELECTRONIC MONEY WORKS NOWADAYS."

Everyone looked around in confusion, but nobody took the short, perky little woman who didn't look official at all seriously. She thought she could hear the man muttering to a woman in front of her that "she's crazy". Well, she wasn't quite official as a hardcore agent yet or anything, and she was certainly nothing like the legend that Black Widow was, but she did at least have a badge, so she flashed it and shouted, "OUT!!!!" Still, nobody listened.

"Really? Nothing? You guys really are the most desensitized. Okay fine. THIS IS A STICKUP! I'M GONNA SHOOT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU IF YOU DON'T SPRAY THE DOORS WITH OFF! ON THE WAY OUT!!" She whipped out a gun and waved it around menacingly. That got people moving. And what do you know, a few even sprayed a bunch of Off! as they went. Would wonders never cease. She also now had the attention of security. Balls.

...But that didn't matter, because suddenly she heard a loud buzzing voice go, "Off!? Really? That is for ze mosquitos, fraulein. I am most certainly not composed of ze mosquitoes."

"Here we go. And me all non-combat. I wish I had some RAID..."

Comments

[ngm_parents]

Carol Danvers was a presence unto herself. Dressed as though she’d just come from the headquarters of her magazine empire, worry flickering in her bright blue eyes. She set her satchel down on an empty stool and took her daughter’s other hand in her own, squeezing it warmly. It would be obvious to whoever was looking at them that Carol and Roxie were related, they looked so much alike. “Is there any place where you go that trouble doesn’t follow?” It was, Carol knew, a silly question. Trouble tended to follow her around too - especially back in her heyday as Ms. Marvel.

She looked up then, at Eleanor, and smiled warmly. “Carol Danvers. You must be Agent Camacho,” she extended her other hand towards the SHIELD agent. “Thank you so much for contacting me. And, I presume, your help out in the field.” After all, where SHIELD went, trouble also tended to follow. Put a SHIELD agent and an Avenger in one room together, and the universe practically begged for trouble to be brought forth.

“What antidote are they giving her?” she asked, suddenly wishing for Henries McCoy or Pym to be there. They’d be able to take a look at the antidote, make sure it was Kreek-friendly. Carol grimaced. Kreek. God, the things my daughter comes up with.

Still, she could trust SHIELD as far as the antidote went. They wouldn't harm Roxie for no reason.

[death_and_reboot]

"Yeeaah..see? They should be spending more energy on keeping her around than on having me replace her. But then, I guess, serum or no serum, she deserves to step back and relax at some point just like everyone else. She'll just look a lot better retired than most old people."

That skill of the person in the outfit thing hit the nail on the head exactly for Eleanor. Having that kind of skill...it was a lifetime's worth of work. More than, considering all the life extending SHIELD liked to do. Of course, she'd been told that her regeneration meant she'd live longer than anyone could possibly estimate, which was intimidating enough in it's own right.

She was saved from her thoughts by the arrival of Carol. Hearing herself addressed as Agent Camacho was never not weird, but she still managed to hold her hand out and shake the living legend's hand without her mouth dropping open and closed like a fish. She also managed not to squeak, too, which was a feat. She'd just been thanked by Ms. Marvel for her help. What did you say to that???

"Thank you." Her voice sounded tiny to her ears. Also, did she just respond to a "thank you" with a "thank you"?! How lame and awkward was that??? "I mean..um...you're welcome." Wait. Did she just say 'you're welcome' to Ms. Freaking Marvel??? "I mean..."

Welp, foot was officially in mouth. Fortunately, a doctor stepped up to answer the antidote question. He knew far more about that than Eleanor, and he still retained his ability to sound intelligent in her presence. He also gave her the rundown on how rough the antidote would be. And then the necessity for it.

"This is a rare frost giant poison, Ms. Danvers. To Frost Giants, it isn't fun, but it's not the worst. To anyone else, however..." He cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable. Discussing what wouldn't happen due to the antidote was still bad if what would happen was as awful as what he was about to describe. "Let's just say that she may look like she feels fine, but that's only the beginning. It progresses to freezing all internal organs. They look like freezer burn. From there, the organs begin to liquify as the body's own immune system is compromised and used against them. The antidote will feel like being on fire from the inside out because, well, it is counteracting that. She is lucky that she was brought here in time. In about five hours, the process would be irreversible."

When Eleanor could stop gaping at the doctor's description, she looked vaguely sick, and then guilty. In a small voice, she said, "My job is to make Swarm talk about where he got that kind of poison."

[ngm_parents]

Noticing that Roxie was saying nothing, Carol decided to forge on ahead. She set a reassuring hand on her daughter's shoulder . "You're welcome is more than sufficient," she said, almost as though she was reading Eleanor's mind.

Not that mind-reading was one of her powers or anything.

"Frost giants. We're getting poisons from Jotunheim." An eyebrow went up. Someone was going to be contacting Thor, that was clear. That someone being Carol. He had to know what was going on in one of his realms. She'd send a note to Niklas Thorson of the Avengers as well. He had a right to know what was going on.

It was convenient that Carol was forgetting about her daughter's ex-boyfriend, Vincent Amorason.

Different reality. He has no need to get involved.

She redirected her attention back to Eleanor. "Start with Loki, when it comes to the Swarm. Work your way down from there." Sure, obvious suspect was obvious, and there was every chance that there was an entirely different game afoot, but the girl needed a place to start. "You can do this, Agent."

[death_and_reboot]

"Loki. Right. Loki."

Her voice was small as she said it. She could do this? No. No way. Loki was major league. He was training wheels off, final boss battle, hope you've leveled up all the way bad. And Eleanor? She wasn't even sure she'd started the game. Oh well. At least she knew that she couldn't die in the encounter. Not really. But boy would a guy like Loki sure get a kick out of her power.

"I'm glad you think so." She sighed and ran a hand back through her hair. It was becoming quite a nervous tic for her. That and chewing her lower lip. "You can call me Eleanor, if you want. 'Agent' still feels weird. And besides, if you do call me Eleanor, I get to tell everyone I know, which isn't really anyone, that Ms. Marvel is on a first name basis with me. I hope you don't mind if I fangirl you or anything, because if you do, it's already too late. Although if I wasn't in time to save your daughter, this fangirling may come to a sudden, tragic end where you hate me forever."

The doctor cleared his throat. "You were in time. By five hours. I've said that already."

"I won't believe it until my role model isn't pounding my face into the pavement for not taking good enough care of her daughter...," Eleanor muttered. The doctor just rolled his eyes.

((ooc: Apologies for some of the delays in replies...I've been out of town visiting my family so it's been dicey as to when I'd have time to write stuff!))

[ngm_parents]

"He's not as terrifying as you would think," Carol said, from experience. "Tricky, yes. You really do need to watch yourself around him. But as far as bad guys go, they have worse up there." She reached into her bag and pulled a glass bottle of water out. If Eleanor was paying attention, she'd noticed the water had mint leaves and slices of lime in it. No, not alcohol - just flavoured water. Carol had long since given up alcohol after a years-long struggle with it.

Still, she smiled at Eleanor. "Roxie's friends fan over me enough. Believe me, I'm used to it, Eleanor. It never ceases to be flattering." She just hoped that Eleanor wasn't going to ask her to sign her bra or something. "And you did do well by Roxie. Believe me, it's not easy, this line of work you're in. During my earliest days as Ms. Marvel," once Carol had figured out and come to terms with the fact that she and the entity known as Ms. Marvel were one and the same, "my constant fear had been to do something that cost a lot of lives. Or even a life. It's a good worry to have, but I know in my bones that my daughter is going to be fine. She's made of stronger stuff than even me." Not that she would have said that out loud if Roxie had still been awake.

She smiled and stroked her daughter's head gently. Love and pride flickered over her face. Bringing Roxie up had been difficult, and for awhile, she'd moved her daughter to Avengers Mansion to give her some sort of stability. (Yes, even a Mansion that was regularly attacked was more stable than Carol's brownstone, which had very little protection.) But from what it looked like, after years of struggling with partying and drugs and sleeping with anything that moved, Roxie was finally getting some stability. And growing up. Who would have ever thought that something so wonderful could have been the result of Amora's curse?

"If you require assistance, the best person to turn to is probably Sammy Fury. She's the daughter of Nick Fury, and a hell of an agent. She'd be able to guide you through the right channels better than I could ever hope to."

((ooc: Oh hey, no worries at all! I'm sorry for this late reply, myself! I thought I'd already replied, but I think DW ate my reply last week, and I didn't even know. So sorry!))

[death_and_reboot]

One of the tics that was ingrained into any agent was a constant undercurrent of paying attention. Eleanor's mind absently picked up that bit of information and cross referenced it with the knowledge of her previous addiction. She wasn't surprised though. That her hero had kicked the habit was only to be expected. That she'd had the habit in the first place only made her more heroic; if you knew your heroes had flaws, then you knew you could aspire to be like them. One day. Maybe.

"The tricksters are the worst. At least you have a target to punch with the fighters." She sighed. "But I'm not an invulnerable, super strong fighting type, so I've gotta learn to play the role of trickster myself. Maybe I should hope for Loki, so I can learn from playing against him. Like Agent Romanova did." Not many humans could outsmart a trickster god. It was just another legendary trait of the woman that formerly wore the Black Widow mantle.

"Kree and Ares...," Eleanor murmured. The mix was staggering. The SHIELD files on Roxie were more than a little nervous. If that much power ever went bad... "I look up to you." She just suddenly blurted it out. Then she flushed, her cheeks going pink. "I mean...I just...want to be like you. You always do the right thing. I don't always even know what the right thing is."

"I've heard of Agent Fury. But our paths haven't crossed yet. Which I guess is weird considering what SHIELD wants me to be, but not as weird as you'd think. SHIELD is pretty huge, and everybody's always busy. But you knew that. Because you're Ms. Marvel."

((ooc: Aahhhhhh...I know that feeling so well! It's all good. I've done the exact same thing until somebody poked me. Worst feeling ever, but just a part of long form RP sometimes!))

[ngm_parents]

"Well, I'm not sure how you're going to get him in here for questioning - and I'm not suggesting that either. But profile him, start from there, see what his contacts are - if he has anything to gain from this - and then move on from there. Chances are, it's probably not him. But the obvious suspects - the most famous ones - are always the best place to start." Carol was no spy. Not in the way that Natasha Romanov, Jessica Drew, and Sammy Fury were.

She grinned. "That's highly flattering, Eleanor." And it was. Carol liked to think that she'd inspired a generation of younger woman. "Though it's never not awkward hearing it," she added with a wry smile. "SHIELD's grown a lot. It was already big by the time I started working with them, of course, but..." it had grown exponentially since. And there were many groups who weren't fond of them - and not just AIM, HYDRA, and the other obviously villainous groups. There were groups on the side of the angels that had their issues with SHIELD as well. "Well. The world grows, and so do some of the agencies in it."

[death_and_reboot]

Eleanor was nodding as she spoke. It was good advice from one of the foremost experts on the biggest bads. Also, even if it wasn't Loki, it was a good idea to do some research on him anyway. The bad thing about the immortal ones was that they never went away. The good thing about them was that meant there were files and files of information on them. Loki was by far the least predictable of the gods, but by the same token immortality had a way of making even the god of mischief more predictable than the latest insane lunatic on the streets.

"I know. I mean, I'm sorry. I mean...you're welcome. I'm sorry and you're welcome? I don't mean to be awkward. But...you've done a lot to give a lot of newbie heroes someone to look up to. Paved a lot of ways, and all that. Roxie is lucky to have you for a mom."

She stopped before she got so awkward that she said that she wished Ms. Marvel was her mom too. What a legacy to live up to, though. Wow. But at least Roxie had a legacy to live up to.

"Thanks for the advice. I will totally let you know what comes of it. If anything. Sometimes these villains can just be...random. As I'm sure you know."