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It's been 'one day at a time' for Sousa and Mickey…and the poor nanny who now has to look after the girl -and- a young dog. Maybe Mickey has sensed a need to help out because she's been on rather good behavior for the last month and a half, a phenomena that Sousa is rather grateful for. When he's not at work, he's at home, spending as much time with the girl as he can. Yet, over everything, is immense worry over the still-missing Peggy.
He calls the SHIELD office every day to speak to Coulson or Heather or really anyone who might have information. Even if there is nothing to report, he's trying to help on his side. He's working on sending officers of his own to help with the investigation and he's been as cooperative as possible.
But he knows the statistics.
Sure, he called to speak to Coulson and Heather, but not Skye. No one ever calls Skye! But that didn't matter. It was time for the keys to return, even though Skye has held onto them for a while, she was busy doing her own thing and efforts in search of Peggy.. and those efforts had some interesting results.
So calling Sousa and arranging for him to meet her there in the bullpen was.. well.. odd. While she could have dropped the keys off, she wanted to see him in person. Mentor to a mentee. Something. She really just wanted to know if he was okay.
[09:42:20] He's trying not to have too much hope as he makes his way from the NYPD to SHIELD offices. He has a walkie-talkie in case they need to reach him as he knows better than to give out SHIELD's number to anyone. He may have given them Wing Sing's number as a backup. While he technically doesn't have time for this, the squad pretty much knows that he's dealing with family issues and have given him a little bit of a break.
Thing is, he's trying not to let it affect him as it's a new job.
Making his way to the familiar Bullpen of SHIELD Headquarters, he briefly greets those he knows, but his focus is on finding Skye, the one who called him.
She wasn't too far away. Sitting at Bobbi's desk, working on some little thing-a-ma-bobber, her eyes lifting as she sees the approach of Sousa and casts him a wide grin and a gesture towards the seat in front of her. "I need to borrow your hand.." She murmurs quietly, putting out two sheet's of paper down in front of him, as well as the keys that belong to the Carter-Sousa residence. "I want to be the one to give you updates on what I'm doing? At least.. if that makes sense. To put your mind somewhat at ease, knowing that someone is out there trying.."
"My hand?" is asked even as Sousa limps to the seat opposite Skye's temporary desk. He sits and then looks at the papers and the keys. "You're all set with the house then? Did you find anything?" He went through himself but aside from some ruffled clothes, didn't find anything out of the ordinary. The keys are pocketed before he looks over the papers briefly to see what they are. At the mention of updates, Sousa looks up sharply, "You have something?"
"Yeah, your hand. I'm building something for my hand, but I think your hand is big enough for the overlay prototype. But I'm all set with the house, I didn't find anything of importance relating to her kidnapping, but I -did- find a picture." If he were to put his hand down, she would begin to trace it. "You ever hear of the Howling Commandos? I mean, I know I need to do my SHIELD research, but c'mon. That's just the coolest name ever…"
Oh…she's drawing around his hand on the piece of paper? "Right or left?" is asked when he realizes what's being asked of him. He'll even put both; one for each piece of paper. "Of course I've heard of them. They were Captain America's team during the War. Peggy was sort of an unofficial member…or maybe it was even official, I don't know exactly. What about them?" He doesn't seem surprised that Peggy might have a photograph or two of them laying about.
"Either or." Since he put both, she carefully begins to trace around his hand, then removes the paper from in front of him, the little pieces of metal soon picked up to fit and line the digits. "Well, I was going through your closet.." She says quietly. "..and I found a box of photos. I figured, why not.. I'll just take a look. But there was this man in the picture that fit the reports of.. a Dr. Annamena Pinkerton?" She asks quietly, looking up, then back down again to tilt her head a bit to the side. "So, I went and tracked him down. The Wolverine. He still looks like he did in the picture, which was weird. Come look.."
She pulls out the picture, sliding it forward towards Sousa, then points out the man with the cigar. "Know that guy?"
Sousa looks at the photograph, "His name is James…something." He squints as he tries to remember the full name. "He was invited to the wedding," but that was over ten years ago. "How…Howler? Howard? Something like that." He looks back up to Skye, "Do you think he has something to do with her disappearance?"
"Howlet." Skye says. "No, he doesn't have anything to do with her disappearance, but he's invested in finding her. The report that I've read, and from what I've spoken with him about, he can smell people." She frowns slightly. "I don't want to say that he's a dog tracker but.. he's a tracker. He could probably tell the difference between one of us and one of them, and I think if he's resourceful as he says he is, he could be put on a trail and do some pretty crazy footwork to find her." She nods faintly. "And.. we have an Olympian.." Did Alexander have a file? She wasn't too sure. "This guy, Alexander.." She leaves out the fact that they're dating, but continues on.. "He got a vision of Jemma.. he said her future was uncertain, then that same night? They tried to take her in the lab. I figure, if he could tap into that gift and maybe get a glimpse of the future or at least a -hint- about Peggy, that'll give us some leads. Right?"
"That's the name," Sousa snaps as Skye corrects him but he then watches the younger Agent. "She's been gone for over a month. Even if he was the best tracker in the world, we don't know where the trail even needs to start and after a month…" He shakes his head. "Wouldn't getting a glimpse of the past help more? Find out where she was when she was taken so we can at least start somewhere?" He blinks and gives a shrug as Skye throws out a name, "Who is 'Jemma' and what does she have to do with this?"
"I don't know. I suspect Peggy knows what he could really do. Like, this guy could pick out what type of gun I was carrying without me showing it." She stares at the hand-prints, then frowns, assembling the pieces differently, then does away with it all together. "I know she's been gone a month, but I'm grasping at straws here. I really don't know how his powers work, you know? Maybe he could catch glimpses of the past? Maybe the future? I don't know if it's random or not, but.. if you want to meet him to see if there's anything to see with you and Peggy together, we can do that."
Now he was getting to the business! "Jemma Simmons. She's a scientist here. I think they think that they're after all of the people who were in on the developing of the maximum security prison on Governor's island. If they're key, they're replacing them, and for some reason they want that damn place built and we're a bunch of idiots who are keeping it going."
"We don't need information on me and Peggy together. We need information on where she was taken. This guy reading into the past just has to read that so we can start somewhere. The future won't tell us anything except maybe that she's still alive." He's trying not to let his frustration show; he knows Skye is doing the best she can with an impossible task.
"Of course we're a bunch of idiots for even considering that prison. I said as much back in a meeting, but I think that was the false Peggy even then. We need to start there. Send Howlett there and see if he can pick up a scent or something…since that's the last place we saw her."
Skye notes this, then frowns just a little bit. She wasn't going to get into any more about Alex, but she does raise her shoulders a little, almost as if she were like a kicked puppy. "I.. know, I'm trying." But, she just lets it go for now, shifting all of her little pieces of metal into a pile. She'll work on assembling them later. She needs leather. Ooh..
She shuffles a little towards her bag, her head nodding faintly. She wasn't going to tell him about her accident, maybe he'll look at her differently too. "That's the thing.. I don't know if he would even be able to tell if.. say for instance, one alien would generally smell like the other. Like.. how us humans may or may not have the same smell." She was obviously confused, this wasn't her area of expertise.
Sousa gives a sigh and get to his feet, "So basically nothing is being done." It's what he was afraid of. It's what he saw when Coulson called him in and it's what he figured was happening. "I appreciate you trying, Skye, but I know full well that if you don't have the support of the entire team then you're up a creek. I've worked here from its inception. I'm familiar with how it's…'evolved'." Maybe not for the better.
"I appreciate you trying and I wish that people would see the importance of finding her. It's a shame that it seems to be just you and me now. I'll see if I can get some of my men on it since it's really just a Missing Person's case, isn't it?"
Skye frowns completely, she didn't exactly call him there for this, but lately.. her mantra has been 'it is what it is'. But as he stands, she stands as well, her hands fitting into the back of her pocket, the other withdrawing to direct him towards the door with the intent to walk him towards the entrance of the bullpen.
"Technically, yes." Skye states. "If you leave out everything about SHIELD, she's just a pregnant woman who's been missing for a few months. She's critical. They'll hunt the ends of the earth looking for her and your child."
"Who will?" Sousa asks as he starts making his way towards the door. "SHIELD won't. You know it. I know it. My faith in this organization has gone down hill even before Peggy was kidnapped. Their focus has changed and this isn't it." Now, his force? Maybe they'll be able to look but there's an issue of Jurisdiction. "I'm at a loss, Skye," he finally admits. "We have no place to start, no trail…how do we find someone with absolutely nothing to go on?"
"The NYPD.." Skye murmurs quietly. But her head shakes even moreso. A look towards the office as she looks towards the door of the Director's office, now occupied by Coulson. "I don't know. I honestly don't know. I think I'm just putting all of my eggs in the ex Howling Commando basket. Maybe I shouldn't, but that's all I got. Those people were like gods of war back then. Just say the word and he'll be unleashed."
The NYPD is also limited, but he's already filed a Missing Person report. Even though SHIELD wanted to take care of it, after the one meeting he had about it, he knew that he had to take something into his own hands. "Do it. See what he can find. We need all the help we can get, Skye. Every day…every hour lowers our chance at actually finding her."