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Months ago, Crystal met Sue and Johnny in a little restaurant. Business cards were exchanged, but she's never reached out since then. She found her sister, and there's a certain risk to interacting with geniuses with a reputation for heroics, especially when you're trying to keep some very big secrets.
The problem is, those secrets are starting to spill into the open, thanks to the efforts of other people. And when the car is starting to go off the cliff, you're a fool if you don't try to do a little bit of steering. So Crystal called the number on the card, setting up an appointment to meet with the siblings.
When she arrives, she looks as composed as ever in a mid-calf dress of green silk with colorful embroidered flowers on it, her hair half-up and a warm wool capelet over her shoulders. She's just tucking her gloves into her purse as the elevator opens.
*
The intervening months had not precisely been quiet for the residents of the Baxter Building, either — not even by the Fantastic Four's rather skewed standards. Even when the aftermath of the Science and Technology Conference had finally begun to settle out, new bits of chaos always seemed to find a way to pick up the slack.
Johnny Storm hates Dallas.
Still, a polite request for a meeting is a polite request for a meeting, and so Johnny is waiting a short distance from the elevator for their guest to arrive. Just jeans and a t-shirt for the youngest member of the Four today, but that's nothing special, really. That's kind of the standard. Hands clasped behind his back, he straightens up a bit when the elevator arrives and flashes a bright smile Crystal's way.
*
ROLL: Sue +rolls 1d10 for a result of: 8
*
Even when expecting company, thanks to the chaos that is the life of the Fantastic Four lately, Sue Storm got wrapped up in the lab. With a pair of dark glasses perched on her nose, a lab coat over her yellow dress, and a clipboard in hand, Sue looks more work-ready than anything.
Her hair has been pulled into a tight ponytail and she squints at the clipboard in front of her. "I think we need to check the samples again — I worry that we're not g — " but she stops the thought mid sentence. "Oh," she twists around to see the clock. "Ohmygosh I am so sorry! I lost track of time in the," the glasses are plucked from her nose and hung unceremoniously on the neckline of her dress. "Please, come in," she casts a one shouldered shrug to Johnny, <Sorry. I was just caught up comparing notes.> She leads the way to the sofa in the living room, "Please have a seat. Can I get you anything? Tea?" No coffee lately, it's been making her nauseated.
*
"Tea would be wonderful, thank you," Crystal smiles warmly, unbuttoning the cape and letting it slide into the crook of one elbow as she takes a look around the headquarters. It's like home in its own way, clean and advanced. "Though I can see that you're busy. I don't want to take up too much of your time, but I do think it will be worth your while. I found my sister, by the way," she says first, following them into the living room.
*
Seo lifts hand, "Not at all. Everyone is always busy," she assures smoothly. Sue puts on the kettle and begins to set out the tea service. She places cups on the tray, followed by a small container of cream and the matching sugar bowl. When the kettle whistles, she fills the teapot and sets it on the tray. Carefully the whole service is walked back to the living room and set on a coffee table.
"So, I'm glad to hear you found your sister," she grins brightly. "It seemed like there were many missing people for a season."
*
"Yeah, now we've got extras," Johnny says with an odd look cast towards the guest apartment as he trails along behind the pair. He stops to offer a hand for Crystal's cape, arching his eyebrows questioningly. "I can hang that up for you, if you want?" he offers, thumbing back towards the front closet.
*
"Thank you," Crystal smiles warmly to Johnny, passing over the cape and her purse before she settles into a seat. "Yes. It seems there were some people…Well," she waves a hand. "It's been taken care of. As much as these things ever are. There will always be people looking to take advantage of others."
She smooths a hand over her skirts, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. As close as she comes to fidgeting. "I understand that you're both involved in this new task force, intended to deal with the alien issue?"
*
Three cups of tea are poured — the first of which is passed to the visitor and the second to Joon. The third is grasped, along with its saucer before Sue settles in the armchair. Her lips press together at Joon's observation, and a small smile tugs the edges of her lips at the question. "We are. Both of us joined. I'm sure you're aware that my brother recovered a body from the demonstration some weeks ago. After that, we were requested to join the group. I believe it's an important endeavour, and one that could reshape our future in meaningful and important ways."
*
Johnny accepts the cape and purse from Crystal, flashing a smile before he turns to go and dutifully stash them both in the front closet, as offered. It gives Sue a chance to offer the nice-sounding response to the question.
Which her baby brother immediately editorializes.
"It's easier to keep them from doing anything stupid from the inside than flailing around outside the window," Johnny says in a wry voice, wandering back to the table. Ooh, tea. "Thankyou."
*
"I'd actually hoped to speak with you sooner about that recovered body," Crystal says ruefully, taking a sip of the tea before setting it and the saucer down. "Things got…busy, though. And given what happened next, I can't help but question myself for not getting here sooner."
"Has anyone in your task force been able to tell you exactly what it is you recovered?" she asks, looking between the pair.
*
Sue's eyes narrow some. "Not exactly," she offers in response before sipping her tea. She inhales an audible breath and considers the question. "We were descended on by the Department of Defence who treated us extremely rudely. Preliminary examination indicates the being was not of this earth. But it's preliminary, and we haven't had further access. As of yet." That won't stand, it seems. "Do you know more?"
*
"If anybody there does know more than that, they haven't shared with us," Johnny says by way of agreement, settling into a free chair at the table.
*
"I do." Crystal folds her hands in her lap, looking for the best place to start. "What you had was a Skrull. Now, my information on Skrulls is outdated by several millennia," she adds quickly. "But I can tell you that at least some of them have shape-shifting abilities and various powers. And I can tell you that another alien race known as the Kree, thousands of years ago, came to Earth to conduct some experiments in hopes of creating slave soldiers to fight them."
*
There's an irony that these discussions lately seem to always happen over tea. Sue takes a long drink of her tea. She swallows around the growing lump in her throat and her gaze turns deadly serious. "A Skrull," she repeats, allowing the phrase to linger on her lips.
"How do they know how to shape-shift? And more importantly, how do you know any of this?"
*
It isn't until Crystal mentions the shape-shifting the Johnny really seems to be focused on the conversation. Not that he wasn't listening before, but there's a difference between paying attention and actually, actively focusing on it. He rests his hands on the table, his tea already forgotten, and he looks like there's a question on the tip of his tongue. But Sue asked two very good ones already, so for the moment, he keeps his mouth shut.
*
"Well, the Kree left," Crystal explains to Sue. "But they left their experiments behind. I'm one of their descendants. We call ourselves Inhumans."
In the wake of that announcement, she reaches for her tea again, giving the others a moment to absorb the information. "I'd like to offer my services to the task force. I suspect there are more things I know. I have some…diplomatic connections to Asgard as well, for whatever they may be worth."
*
Well. It seems the Baxter Building has become a place where people confess to being alien-esque. Over tea. Seo's eyes sweep towards Johnny indicating as much as she attempts to process the information herself. She sucks on the inside of her cheek thoughtfully while the cogs in her mind work out the information further.
And then as she stares ahead, she finally draws her tea to her lips again, an action fully intended to grant her a moment's pause. Seo lifts a finger and opens her mouth only to close it moments later.
She inhales another audible breath and her gaze flits to Johnny. "Crystal? You have to recognize that this is a lot for us to process, and seems… extraordinary. That said — " her eyebrows draw together " — we are not immune or unaware of the fantastic. I can believe it possible. What this means about the world, its origins, and its history, however, is… earth-shattering." Her lips press together tightly. "What… does it mean to be Inhuman? I mean, if you were to be soldiers engineered, what does that look like generations down the road?"
*
For whatever reason, Johnny seems to be taking these revelations with a great deal more ease than his sister is. Maybe it's the difference in their scientific fields — biology and genetics aren't his field, so it's easier for him to just hear things like this, file them away, and carry on.
"I don't know, you look pretty human to me," Johnny notes lightly, offering Crystal a lopsided smile. "I guess names can be kind'a misleading, though." He taps his fingertips against the table for a moment, hesitating before he takes a breath.
"If I told you that the man I arrested in Dallas was a shape-shifter," Johnny says slowly, his brow furrowing. "That he looked like one person one moment, then like Loki the next. What would you assume?"
*
"Well, I could submit a biological sample, if you'd like, but I suspect the differences would take your technology an inordinate amount of time to map," Crystal smiles ruefully to Sue. "But. We have enhanced strength, speed, stamina, reflexes. That much is from the engineering. In the intervening years, we did some tinkering of our own. Some of us have powers."
She looks between the two of them, pausing at Johnny's question. "I would say that I wish they were less clever than that. But that is…very clever. I thought it was odd that Loki would come out and then do that, but I chalked it up to the fact that he's chaotic at best. That it was a Skrull, framing him? Very smart. It handily limits the likelihood of Asgard standing in the way of their plans."
Looking back to Sue, she clears her throat. "My powers are elemental in nature," she explains. "Earth, air, fire, water. Electricity and magnetism. I can demonstrate, but I find it prudent to warn people before I do."
*
"A sample certainly won't be necessary. Unless you'd want to provide it. We typically don't just study people unless they've requested it," typically being the operative word. Seo's eyes narrow at Johnny's response. Her jaw tightens and her head cants to the side, and she nods slightly at the offer of demonstrating what Crystal can do. While she has no words to offer she lifts a hand. "Please. Do what you can."
*
"So, a Skrull, then." That's all Johnny was wondering. He makes a bit of a face and drops his chin into his hand, drawing in a breath deep enough that he allows his cheeks to puff up. He is, after all, a mature adult.
Once Johnny exhales, he glances over at Sue, lightly scratching the side of his nose. "We should probably see if we can spring Loki, if he didn't do it. That's the diplomatic thing to do, right?"
*
"'Springing' is not diplomatic," Crystal advises Johnny with a flicker of an amused smile. "But a bit of discussion with the relevant parties would be wise. Asgard can be…prickly. They were seen as gods, after all. It makes them rather proud."
She sits up a bit straighter then, holding her hands out in front of herself, palms up. "Fire," she says, as a ball of flame swirls into being above one palm. "Water." And a globe of water above the other. Her eyes glow with the use of the power. "Air." A breeze circles around the trio, ruffling their hair. "Earth." Which, it seems, includes metal, as she causes a fork to float up from the sink. All four at once doesn't seem to cause her any issues, either. "Magnetism." The fork finds itself stuck to the side of the stove. "Electricity." And the lights flicker.
*
Seo watches Crystal with rapt interest, and murmurs quietly: "Fascinating." Again she emits a breath and considers something silently.
"Diplomatic, certainly," Sue replies to her brother. Her lips twist to the side, "But it might not be the best thing on a political front." Again her lips twitch. She takes another sip of her tea. But somehow, the tea isn't doing the work it ought. She feels agitated. She places the cup and saucer on the coffee table and rises to her feet.
She begins to pace the room. "Perhaps we can find a way to make Loki more comfortable. But to be frank, if we want to trap something or someone, we need to be cunning. Which, unfortunately, baby brother, isn't always fair. Or just."
Her gaze darkens considerably and her speech slows, "If I was one of these shapeshifting fellows, and could be anyone, why would I choose Loki? I don't know what their motivation is, but they're trying to make the Asgardians take the blame. So… logically, we need to let them believe that we blame the Asgardians… while getting the Asgardians on side," her eyes flit towards Crystal. "Could you communicate with the Asgardians? Tell them we know Loki is innocent. But more than that, that we want to work with them and we need to best these Skrulls at their game. Which means that, for now, we need to let them think they've bested us." Her eyebrows lift to punctuate the point. "All while working with the enemies they think they've given Earth to take down those that have long infiltrated us."
*
"Aish. Politics." Johnny doesn't like politics any more than he likes… well, any of the rest of it, honestly. He leaves his chin in his hand, his eyes occasionally drifting back towards the previously-dancing fork or up towards one of the lights. "This is going to get really complicated, really fast, isn't it?"
*
"I could, yes," Crystal nods to Sue before she flushes slightly. "I was, ah. Briefly…dating their prince. I can still get in touch." Complicated would be one way to put it. "Whether or not they'll agree to such a plan is less clear. Or why they're here. What their plans are. Who was the captive from Dallas, then?" she asks, looking to Johnny.
*
Seo's eyes roll at her brother. "This is already complicated, Joon. This isn't about science anymore; it's about games and, unfortunately, motivations. If someone wants to interfere with our planet, we need to stop them." Her eyebrows lift to punctuate the point. "And already it would seem they've done so by taking out our President." She nods at Crystal, "If they won't get on-side, then I suspect the Skrulls have already won. If at all possible, I would appreciate a meeting with the Asgardians. Maybe we can smooth these ruffled feathers and have an honest chat about the future, goals, and what we can do to make our world safe. Presumably they want that considering they've been living here for some time as well."
*
"You were dating Loki?" Johnny asks Crystal, his brow furrowing. Sue him: he only knows about the one prince so far, it's an easy mistake to make. He seems to think about it, then just shrugs and sits up a bit straighter. "The captive from Dallas was… well. I'm virtually certain that it was the assassin," he says in a low voice, his expression growing sour. "I told them to watch him, but he broke out anyway, apparently." He grunts, clearly irritated.
Leaning back in his chair, Johnny looks over towards Sue, loosely folding his arms across his chest. "Shouldn't we… I mean, I know the task force has kind'a become our thing. But don't we need to talk to somebody about this stuff before we just do something?"
*
"Ah, no, Thor," Crystal clarifies for Johnny. "Loki's one of the younger brothers. Until a few months ago, it was Thor who was the protector of Midgard - which is what they call earth - but as Thor is the heir and his father is trying to groom him for the throne, they're trying to pull him back to deal with bigger picture issues, which is why Loki currently holds the post."
Asgardian politics in 5 minutes!
"I can speak with Thor," she nods to Sue. "But whether or not he can or will step in when his brother is meant to be making these decisions…Politics. I agree with your thoughts on the plan, though. The less they know, the better."
*
"Like most things in life, baby brother, it's easier to apologize than ask permission. And, in this case?" Seo arches an eyebrow, "Well, we don't even know if General Ross is General Ross." She shrugs her shoulders and then purses her lips. "We need a code. Clearly. Something only we know so we can tell if someone has been replaced." She frowns slightly, "I suspect our abilities at least will set us apart from these shapshifters, yes?" Now she looks towards Crystal. "Am I right on that assumption? Or do you know?"
Seo hums at the Asgardian political rundown. "Alright then. Please speak to Thor. I will try to get an audience with Loki. God-willing this ACT-F initiative gets us even remote access. I've done some reading and, from what I understand, Loki is a trickster god. Hopefully this falls into something of interest for him. He did, after all, say the Asgardians would stand with us and protect us. So. Let's bridge that gap."
*
The clarification from Crystal has Johnny tilting his head, as does the crash course in Asgardian politics. "Oh. Gotcha. Big brother has more important things to do, so the little brother gets to babysit the planet," he muses, nodding his head from side to side. He doesn't sound judgmental as he says this. He sounds more amused than anything else.
He runs a hand over his face as he looks towards Sue. "…suppose that's a good point. A code or a secret handshake or something," Johnny grumbles, frowning down at his hands.
*
"Ah…accounts are unclear," Crystal answers Sue. "They suggest that the Skrulls - or at least some of them - may have powers, but not what. Or why. I wouldn't rely on that. But code words, yes, that would be prudent. Cycled, in case someone is replaced. The problem is, I have no means of identifying them. Which means if someone else has been replaced already? For all I know, one of you could be a Skrull."
*
"We met in a restaurant and we discussed missing people. Your sister was missing and you explained that it was complicated. You described her to us, and we went to our own corners to follow up. If I'm a Skrull, which I'm not, I was a Skrull then." Seo's eyes flit to her brother. She swallows hard, sniffs once, and mentally steels herself; some stories never get retold despite being burned permanently on one's memory. This is one of those, spoken in direct Korean towards Joon: <Our neighbourhood block had just been bombed. The housed collapsed on us, and we were recovered amongst the wreckage. Two children made to stand in a bathtub of all places to keep us safe. We were relocated to a refugee encampment. You were scared. What did I say to you to calm you down?> she swallows hard and sniffs again.
*
For his part, Johnny almost looks alarmed that Sue feels the need to check that he is who he seems to be. Or maybe it's the specific instance she's chosen to use as her meterstick. <Oh, come on, nunim, you know I barely remember anything that happened before we got shipped here,> he says awkwardly, shifting to his feet to go find her some tissues.
"Sorry, sorry. Something like that, the least I could do is remember it. But I barely remember Seoul at all. You know that," Johnny says with a sigh, offering the box of tissues her way. "I remember how pissed Aunt Margay was the first time she realized I took her car apart, though. I was, what. Fourteen?"
*
Crystal reaches for her tea as the siblings check each other, taking a sip. "For what it's worth, I'm reasonably certain you would have tried to kill me if you were a Skrull," she notes. "Probably. I could be wrong, they seem to be more clever than I would have hoped for them to be so far."
*
Sue reaches out and accepts the box of tissues, drawing one immediately after and tabbing at the corners of her eyes. Some things are unlikely to ever be repeated. "Not quite fourteen. That was the first time she called you incorrigible. It became a much regarded descriptor in the future." She sniffs again. No, she's not crying. Allergies. Or something. Sue turns to Crystal, "And to be fair, I suspect you wouldn't have told us anything if you were a Skrull. So there is that. Alright, we need to establish something we say to verify we're still us. We don't write it down. We don't speak it to anyone else." Pause. "Ideas?"
*
Johnny leans over to peck the top of his sister's head once she takes the box, lightly patting her on the back before he moves to reclaim his seat. "You don't want to know my ideas. They're pretty much all expletives," he confesses, dropping his chin right back into his hands with a tired sigh. "I miss last week. Things were better."
*
"Pina colada?" Crystal looks between the pair, smile quirking. "It's a start, at least. And I can't imagine it's the sort of thing anyone would have any reason to guess."
*
"Alright pina colada it is. It'll be the response to a question. Something easy. What can I get you to drink?" Sue's eyebrows lift. "Answer: pina colodas." She swallows hard. "And it seems we all have things to do." She manages a quirk of a smile towards Johnny, "Don't lose heart. Nothing has changed except knowing about the madness, it seems."
*
"Yeah, well." Johnny shifts to fold his arms on the table and drops his head down onto them, with a tired-sounding grumble. "Ignorance is bliss."
*