Figuring it out (Avengers, SHIELD)

[comic_awareness]

(this immediately follows this post: http://nextgenerationmarvel.dreamwidth.org/58549.html#comments)

Bruce sat in his chair in the meeting room, mulling over the report he was writing for the files on their battle at Project Pegasus.  Yes, they'd stopped the super-villains, but he had the feeling that they'd really lost the day.  According to PEGASUS's inventory, a handful of scientific devices had been stolen, but nothing that was expressly dangerous in and of itself.  Just various pieces of energy research.

Sure, you could probably eventually turn some of it into a power source for a weapon, but there were way easier ways out there.  And how had they managed to steal anything?  Security cameras briefly showed some kind of blur, but not one of the super-villains they'd been fighting.

It didn't add up.

Fortunately, the others (and their new SHIELD Liaison, possibly less fortunate there) were on their way for a meeting.  He'd even (somewhat reluctantly) called in Vincent to get a scientific viewpoint on things.

Comments

[vincent_amora]

Vincent responds quickly, as surprised by the request as he may be. He eschews showing up in 'costume', in favor of his usual lab attire, and a utility belt with some Pym-tech involved. He should have everything he needs for whatever task Bruce has for him.

He makes himself comfortable in a back corner of the room, preferring, (for a change), not to be the center of attention until he's addressed.

[asgardian_angel]

Nicky sat at Bruce's right, his expression one of utter calmness and serenity. Sure, the bad guys had gotten away, but there was nothing to be done for that at the moment. They would catch them, and the bad guys would be brought to justice. That was the way it worked out, the way it always would.

It would have to, because if it didn't, then it meant that Hela would never be brought to justice for the death of Sif.

He eyed Vincent without question. He knew why the other Asgardian was here, after all. They needed another scientific mind, and like it or not, that mind was Vincent Amorason.

For his part, though, Nicky felt as though he was out of his element. Science, it wasn't his thing.

[lil_hulk]

Jay walked into the room and did a double-take at Vincent being in there. He shook his head and found a chair to flop down into. He doubted Marcus would stay if the Black Knight showed up.

He sniffed and settled back more into the chair.

[poorgirlsarcee]

Mira was a little late, at least she thought so. She hadn't been on mission, but took a seat towards the back of the room just in case she could help. notebook went to her lap, plans for some improvements on the bike's engine in mind.

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie hadn't been around for the mission either, having had something else on her plate, but she still managed to make it to the meeting. She slipped off a luxe lead-toned leather jacket, revealing lithe, toned arms. She slid into the seat on Bruce's left and smiled warmly at everyone - her ex-boyfriend included.

"Sorry I missed out," she apologized. "A thing had come up." She directed her attention to Bruce. "Is everything okay?"

[shieldbrat]

They heard the sharp click of heels long before the statuesque blonde with the blank affect stepped into the room. She didn't pause to look at the faces before moving straight to the table to put down a briefcase. "Ladies...Gentlemen...Captian Marvel, I am Agent Coulson of SHIELD. It seems you have a problem on your hands. I'm here to find a solution."

[comic_awareness]

"Ah, thank you for joining us, Agent Coulson," Bruce said amiably. He nodded politely to the other members.

"Here's what we know. For the past couple months, I've been trying to figure out what's been going on with a large group of super-villains. Nearly thirty of them have just dropped off the map. No arrests, no crimes, no nothing.

"A few days ago, we stopped four of them from completely wrecking Project PEGASUS. But they must have had another partner, because several items turned up missing. That's where Vincent comes in. He's here on a purely scientific consulting basis, so we can see what you might do with that equipment.

"But my gut tells me that if four from the list were there, then the others are out there too. Every instinct I've got tells me something damn big is coming down the horizon."

[asgardian_angel]

Nicky eyed the SHIELD agent with a bit of mild curiosity before turning his attention back to Bruce. "I'm going to assume that the older Avengers didn't band together and send them off to a desert planet somewhere," he said lightly. "All jokes aside, though, thirty is no small number." Nicky pressed his lips together, deep in thought for a moment. "I wonder if they end up destroying themselves before they're able to do anything of actual import, though." They were an untrustworthy lot, after all, weren't they?

[vincent_amora]

Vincent smiled and raised a hand to Mira... followed by finding his insides lurching as Roxanne entered the room. Oh no, this isn't going to be uncomfortable at all.

He gives the agent and Bruce his full attention, mulling over the implications. The first scenario to come to mind was some nefarious party thinning out their own competition.

"I'll need to see a full accounting of the materials stolen. Schematics as well, if applicable. No ridiculous red tape about clearance levels or that sort of thing."

[poorgirlsarcee]

Mira gave a slight smile to him before turning back to the others. "I think we would have known if that was going to happen Nick." She spoke up. "And from what me and Bruce saw... A lot of these guys normally don't work together. Though so far, what ever they're up to, they're not recruiting just yet. My contacts at colleges are coming up with nothing." She tapped a few keys on the data pad with her, though didn't send anything out. She'd wait until one of the older members said it was okay, after all she was still the new kid.

[avengingwarbird]

"The bad guys usually don't unless someone's able to round them up into a thing," Roxie replied. "I mean, we've had the Masters of Evil before, as well as other groups." She had caught the slight wave between Vince and Mira, and a small smile played across her smooth lips. Does this mean he'd moved on? Because if he had, then good.

Her attention snapped to Agent Coulson, then. "I can't imagine that your agency is lacking in details about all this, though," she said lightly. "Considering you have eyes and ears everywhere. Surely there's something that you can bring to the table to in helping us find a solution to this issue."

[shieldbrat]

She met Roxie's eyes, "Yes. Myself. And a fairly extensive database of past patterns and behavior, known associates. With an appropriate amount of leg work, finding these people is a foregone conclusion."

[lil_hulk]

Jay took in a breath through his nose and scratched an eyebrow. He glanced over the new to them SHIELD agent in their midst.

"Sammy have a day off or something?" Jay didn't trust SHIELD much. There was only one person in SHIELD he trusted, and she wasn't there.

He turned back to Bruce. "We only faced low-level flunkies at the place with the things." He waved a hand. He was green at the time and hadn't kept many details. "Someone with bigger brains has to be using them. Abomination is lucky breathing is automated or he'd be doing it out of his butt."

[comic_awareness]

Bruce fought the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. Sometimes, this job was a lot like being a football referee for a group of kittens, only the kittens were playing disk golf. And there was a dog, for some reason.

"I've got to agree with Jay. Basilisk and Abomination were cannon fodder, Doctor Spectrum and the Cobalt Man just a step above that. None of them have the kind of 'conquer the world' mentality we'd been looking for here."

He went on. "The problem with that is that most of the people who are are fully accounted for."

[asgardian_angel]

Nicky stifled a smile. Roxie and Jay were two of the hottest-headed Avengers, and they definitely weren't taking well to the new girl.

This would be awkward to watch. Or fun. He pressed his lips together. If it got too bad, he'd step in to bring the peace, but that wasn't needed yet.

"So it's either a new player -" was it wrong that Nicky's first thought here drifted towards Loki? "- or maybe one of the ones is an LMD or a really good hologram." He raised an eyebrow. "I feel as though there's something obvious here I should be realizing but it's just out of my grasp."

[vincent_amora]

Vincent manages to substitute a moderate sigh in place of an impatient comment.

"Were those four the only assailants, or was there anything close to a field commander as part of the attack? They all seem a bit too rough to even be trusted to carry back valuables for too long. They must have at least had extraction nearby." He pauses. "With... all due respect, how did they get away from you?"

[avengingwarbird]

"Vincent kind of has a point," Roxie said. "You guys, you should not have been easy to get away from. There's something here that we're missing. That I'm missing, at least." She pondered over Bruce's words, the information that he'd found. "You said that there was someone else? A partner. A speedster or something? Someone who could be in and out fast - someone who could also, presumably, move the villains quickly out of the way after they'd distracted us enough?"

[comic_awareness]

"I'll see that you get a copy of the list, Vincent," Bruce said. "And I hate to do so, but I just want to remind you that you're here in an advisory capacity only."

He nodded thoughtfully. "And you and Roxie are also both right. Security cams blinked out at a couple different times. Speedsters would leave some kind of trace... so I'm worried they've got a teleporter of some kind. Explains how they got away so easily as well."

[poorgirlsarcee]

"He's more useful to this than I am." Mira had meant to keep that to herself. Though she went silent again, pulling up something with her tablet.

[asgardian_angel]

"No one's saying he's not useful," Nicky replied. "But clear lines, et cetera." He looked down at his lap for a moment, deep in thought. "We're going to need a list of teleporters, and teleporting devices. Probably updates on where all of those things are." His lips twitched. "There are far too many people who can teleport, though."

[shieldbrat]

"I think you're right, I think there's a new player recycling. But is there a chance that the footage itself is tampered with? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to mess with a time stamp."

Evil masterminds never just appeared. They had a history. A record. To be that smart - it made people take notice.

[lil_hulk]

"So, which of the nearly thirty Bruce has been keeping track of has superspeed, teleportation, elite hacking skills, or technopathy?" Jay didn't have much of the information. He'd just been there to clobber people. He could say with certainty it wasn't one of them Logans. Completely not their style. So, the ball was in the informed people's court.

[vincent_amora]

"The best first option would be looking at known associates and other personal connections for anyone sighted at the incident. If you'll allow me access to the relevant files, I can most likely point you in the right direction. I'll work on what the purpose of the heist was based on the materials after that."

He looks to the agent. "Have all staff on-site been cleared for the possibility of sabotage or mental tampering?"

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie raised an eyebrow. "We have people who can work on clearing them of those things," she said. "SHIELD is aiding us, not conducting the entire investigation, just as you're helping us." She looked at Bruce. "I can get Sofia Strange to come up with a spell to see if there's anything hinky going on here with our staff." Granted, Roxie didn't think for a moment that the issue was with their staff, but it couldn't hurt to cover all of their bases.

"Vince, I think that maybe you should concentrate on figuring out the why, maybe with Mira's help. Bruce, Coulson, and I could maybe work on figuring out the who while Jay and Nicky play good-cop-bad-cop and work on chasing down any leads." She looked towards Bruce for approval. "Unless you had a different plan in mind."

[poorgirlsarcee]

Mira glanced at Roxie a moment but nodded at the thought. "I don't mind working with Vincent if there's no other plans." She looked over at Bruce as well, after shooting Nick a glance that she was a little embarrassed about her comment being loud enough for everyone to hear. "Unless you think I should actually get field training."

[comic_awareness]

Bruce allowed himself the barest twitch of a smile. They sometimes didn't always get along, but when push came to shove, they always came together. And it was truly amazing how much Roxie had progressed, from the flighty individual she had once been.

"Good idea, Roxie," He said. "Lot of energy manipulators or other specific technologies in my list too. We might be able to find a way to track some of those things."

[asgardian_angel]

Nicky grinned at Mira and Roxie, for wildly different reasons, before looking at Jay. "You wanna be bad cop, don't you?"