1963-12-30 - This is Fine
Summary: The construction of the Triskelion faces a major setback.
Related: None
Theme Song: www.dramabutton.com
skye peggy coulson bobbi bruce teddy fitz betty leader 


=Governor's Island — NEW YORK

Governor's Island was relatively peaceful until construction on the Triskelion began. The prison beneath has been well-underway, and is well-in-hand. The crystal powering it, buried deep within the depths of the prison is almost forgotten above ground. The blueprints had been impressive, but the rush job on the site as been even moreso. But even the upper levels have undergone enmass construction to get the building whole within the next month if all goes according to plan.

Evidently NATO wanted many hands on deck. More than one entity felt it necessary to create a more permanent base of operations for SHIELD and its work.

It had meant that the hiring process for people on the team had been swift. Recommendations for construction workers had come in and been contracted, especially for this leg of project. No 'real' secrets were above ground. Not in the traditional sense, anyways. But the rush job had spurned some controversy among the labour unions.

The site hums with the quiet thrum of activity. Many workers piece together parts of the building, almost like a puzzle that they're collectively constructing; each dressed the same. The construction crew consists of blue jumpsuits, white hardhats, goggles, and gloves. Evidently, they were, at least, advised on protective gear; mostly because of what the building houses. Other practices, however, including length of workdays, mandated breaks, and general considerations for accidents on site have been problematic. At least SHIELD has a working medbay on top of its prison. Nothing like healing the sick in the depths of the Triskelion.

A few workers linger along the outside of the site, calling to one another loudly over the din of the machines. "Hey! Sterns! Get me the wrench by my tool box."

The mousey haired Sterns peeks up from his work and whistles loudly. "Looks like the eggheads are bringing in something again."

The large very armoured truck accompanied by several SHIELD agents, including one Leo Fitz, transports a series of different different nuclear materials. The testing would be clear and contained. After weeks of prepping the adequate cell inside the prison, it was decided that the energy of the crystal and its full capacity would need to be considered.

"I don't suppose you have a phillips head screwdriver handy, yeah?" Leo cocks his head towards his nearest comrade as he taps along the top of the nearest dwarf. Sleepy continues to be the favourite… and the one in tow. The vague transmission that it receives, however, causes Leo's nose to wrinkle: "That's weird. And not possible." His eyebrows lift expectantly, "We're not testing trinitrotoluene around here, are we?"

The armoured van, however, isn't the only vehicle onsite. Many others have been routed this way either intentionally or unintentionally on the ferry to get to this side — one of the side-effects of having an overworked (but mostly(?) well-enough-paid) construction crew. Some are purposely here for deliveries of various sorts, including: building materials, medbay devices… prisoners. A little bit of everything for the well-rounded building the Triskelion is becoming. Also: the lunch order for the crew for the day.

As the boss always says: A fed team is a functional team.

*

Back to work. The incident that shall not be name nor spoken of will ever be spoken of in a place of business. Skye checked out. Medical exams passed. Everything done with a straight face and a certain set of calmness that one has -NEVER- ever seen in the young woman before. She was all business, that was until a screwdriver was asked for.

"You gotta let me take one of these dwarf's apart.. man.." She says to Fitz, wanting to at least strike out a foot to tap against the metal hull. "Or at least let me watch you put one together. Do you know -how- fast I can put things together? Do you? Have you even -seen- me do it? It's the stuff of legends.."

*

While some people might grumble about someone as pregnant as Peggy traveling along with NUCLEAR MATERIALS, no one was going to tell the director to stop working to her face. She and Phil Coulson are in a guarding van just ahead of the big armored truck, accompanying it all to the new base and observing the load off. While she didn't exactly approve of Phil's new abilities, she would at least make use of them, having ordered him to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

She's quiet in the car, as they make the last stretch to base, her expression stern and protective over the entire operation. "We get there, get the materials inside, let Fitz secure everything, and then you are off for the night. I don't want you… taking any more of that… muck today, understood, Agent?" She mutters to Coulson, her clipped British voice very much making it an order. She'd give him that order in private, where no one else could hear that he was on something. Hence saying it before the car stops.

*

Meanwhile, back at the SHIELD Prison

There is Bach playing on a turntable in Bruce's cell. He finds the sounds so soothing and, under the influence of the large cocktail of drugs he is constantly under, it has a surreal effect to where he can almost feel the music on his skin, past his eyes, through his veins.

"Banner," calls out one of the SHIELD guards. "You haven't touched your dinner yet tonight." Bruce's brown, glassy eyes turn to the side to look out the clear glass pane of his cell to finally notice the sirloin steak dish that's been sitting there for some time.

"You alright?"

It takes him way too long to answer.

"Yeah," he calls out as if it takes all of his energy.

*

Bobbi had driven over on her motorcyle sometime before, having standing orders to speak with Fitz or Simmons, but seeing as very time she tried both were occupied, nothing had been done. Still, she watched the construction with a seemingly bored air, magazine in hand and cola in the other as she leaned against her motorcyle.

But it was clear to anyone else that knew her, that she was working security. Keeping eyes on the ground around the exposed construction workers and the alike.

Few escaped her gaze or inspection. It was hard to clear everyone, or everything on site, damn near impossible; but Agent Morse seemed undaunted by the prospects. So it was that when a certain car pulls up to the base she grins, behind her magazine of course.

*

Coulson has partially disconnected.

*

Reluctantly, Coulson had taken another dose of vigor, if anything, just to straighten himself out. Addiction's a bitch, folks. "Understood, Director." He almost answers too quickly; a side effect of the drug that amps up his mental processing speed beyond that of the human norm.

*

Fitz's cheeks flush a pale pink. "Jemma and I are kind of attached to them," Leo more than Jemma. "But yeah, maybe one day you can watch me put one together. Not keen on having it dismantled," his nose wrinkles, "less I have to put Sleepy up for parts. She's," Liv's gender assignment has stuck, "been a bit odd lately. Finding readings of nothin'." He shrugs. "Like just now, seemed to think there's traces of trinitrotoluene." He shrugs.

Sterns treads away from the vehicles entrance. His eyes turn to the many trucks entering the island from the ferry that carted them over, and he can't help but sneer. More ridiculous demands, no doubt.

Enough is enough.

He reaches into his pocket and just out of the presumed blast radius, sets off the first round of TNT… directly beneath the armoured van.

The chain reaction is too fast to stop.

BOOM!

The first explosion causes the armoured van to spin. Thanks to its very-armoured nature, it doesn't disintegrate under the force, but it does spin into a circle, wreaking destruction on the very building being constructed. And as it rolls, it continues to set off a series of explosions… one after another, like the symphony Bruce listens to miles away — wreaking havoc across the site as some fall victim to the explosions, others to the falling debris that was once the frame of the building.

And with the last explosion — the fifth explosion — the back of the van opens, and the package in several large containers tumbles out.

The succession is swift, dismantling construction as it goes about its work until it crashes HARD against a particular metal frame.

Unconscious, the driver falls against the horn of the vehicle. As does one Leo Fitz in the back, slumped against is beloved Sleepy.

*

Crystal's comment the other day about people jumping in to do thing during times of need kind of got Teddy feeling a little guilty about not doing more. Since then, he'd been trying to do a little more of the heroic stuff when classes allowed. Which is why he was flying over the river when he hears an explosion. No, two explosions. Thr… Five. That's not good. Altering course, the large green Hulkling with bat wings swoops down toward Governor's Island to see if he can help with whatever just happened.

*

"Trin-it-tra-ha-who-what?" Skye was serious, once the screwdriver was out of her hands she leans back, both hands reaching up to the ceiling to stretch and soon lace behind the back of her head, her hat slightly sliding upward. "You two are attached to them? Or are you and Jemma attached to each other? You know, one day we should talk about that co—…"

Whatever words that were going to be spoken were cut off with the explosion. The whirling twirl of the armored van and the contents within that were shaken up, thrashed, tossed aside.. and laid to rest as everything comes to a stop.. somewhat..

Her newly found enhanced psysiology allows her that little moment of serenity. To deal with the brunt of the pain, to wake up sharply from it with a gasp of her breath, her eyes nearly rolling as her hands reach up to touch the water.. no blood upon her forehead. And Fitz.. "Fitz?" She questions loudly, receiving no reply. She coughs a little, rolling forward to place her hand upon the ground, the shocks of the van beginning to shake as all the metal within begins to rattle as she tries to crawl towards Fitz's side.. "W.. wake up.. Fitz.. we have to move.. FITZ!"

*

As Phil responds to her order properly, she gives a simple nod, "Good." And that's all the discussion of drugs, addiction, and the mess he got himself into that is going to happen today. They had more concerning matters, like getting this shipment safe under ground. Which, a moment later, becomes a FAR BIGGER concern as the armored vehicle behind them suddenly explodes.

Peggy has not even half a second to curse, trying to vere the truck away from the explosion, but there's no time. The armored van slams into them in it's bouncing, exploding glory, and suddenly their own vehicle is tumbling violently over. Hopefully everyone's buckled in. Peggy gives choice curses as the whole vehicle tumbles onto roof, then back upright, before finally coming to settle on it's side, still shuddering from other explosions in front of them. Her hand is going for her gun on instinct alone, but the whole world is spinning. At least she's managed to remain conscious…"…Phil? Phil, are you with me?" She asks, pregnant frame hanging awkwardly against her seat belt. Everything hurts. The glass from all the windows have shattered. But she's still moving and that's a good sign.

*

The guard outside of Bruce's cell is called by another. "Ralph, you gotta see this on the news feed. There were just a ton of explosions at the Triskelion Site."

"Really?" comes the reply to a shocked guard. He jogs over towards the doorway to get a look just as Bruce slowly sits up on his bed. He stands, careful not to tip over, and shuffles slowly, one foot in front of the other, towards the dinner tray. His bones and muscles are so tired, but a man is willing to go to great lengths for salisbury steak.

*

Explosions rock the air and the scent of flames and burning plastic clings to everything. That was what Bobbi first noticed when all hell broke lose and she dropped to the ground, hands covering her head and closing her eyes. After the intial shock, and as it became clear that there were no bullets flying, she jumped upwards to scan the grounds and find utter chaos.

Where to go first?

The thought barely had time to escape her before Bobbi ran for the closest turned over car that she could get to, throwing back the doors and trying to extricate whoever was inside.

*

"Holy-!" Coulson doesn't have time to finish the exclamation. He throws a hand up to brace himself against the roof, another against the door, as the truck goes rolling.

When at last the van stops spinning, he finds himself dazed, having struck his head against the dashboard. Blood seeps from his hairline, and his face is peppered with little cuts from the broken glass. "I… I'm here. The package." He turns to Peggy and gasps. "The baby!" He looks to his window but finds only charred pavement; Peggy's door faces the sky. "Help!" he calls, while undoing his seatbelt. "Over h- Agent Morse!" He reaches over to Peggy, and begins undoing her seatbelt. "Here," he says, and moves to brace Peggy in an effort to help Bobbi evacuate her.

*

The package — in its many containers — tumbles throughout the site. The three crates of various sorts, labelled with a very distinctive NUCLEAR MATERIALS symbol go different routes, tumbling from the van with unplanned direction… each bound towards flame and former explosion.

Inside the vehicle Skye's voice echoes against metal. The words deaden, and Leo's name resounds time and again. Unlike Skye, blood pools on Sleepy — a sure indication that the engineer is bleeding from somewhere, and his body doesn't respond to even the sound of his name. There is, however, indication he lives thanks to the rise of his back as he remains positions against the DWARF.

Sterns reaches into his belt, donning a weapon all his own, and trails back towards the centre of the chaos.

POP!

The pressure from one of the crates causes one of its corners to buckle, and the materials inside create a very focused green beam of energy through that particular corner. Green smoke begins to fill the area in the construction site — thick like a fog.

"Don't enter the mist!!" one of the SHIELD scientists onsite calls. "I think its filled with gamma radiation!"

*

Teddy lands near one of the downed trucks with a loud thud and reaches for a door, which he tears off easily. "Everyone all right in here?" he asks, poking his head in to look around then sort of freezing in place when he hears the shout. Gamma radiation? He's not radiation proof no matter what he calls himself. Quickly stepping back, he looks around to see if he's near any of the mist.

*

The low hum of vibration echoes through Skye's ears. The metal slowly creaking as she reaches Fitz's body, her hand reaching up in a haze to try to shake him. "Leo.." But there was blood. Blood running along the drawf that causes her to grasp, her fingers grasping at his shoulders to try to tug him off of it, attempting to draw him into her lap as she tries to assess the damage to his body. "Come on.. wake up.. wake up!"

The torn door from the hinges of the van has her eyes lifting, the truck itself beginning to slide just a touch from it being shaken so hard. Skye was about to go off the rails, but there was a pleading look towards Teddy even though one eye was hindered from sight due to the blood that falls from her split scalp. "He's hurt! Go fin-.." Gamma radiation? What? "Oh fuck me.." She hisses, though not one to throw Fitz aside, she bumps and bops herself around to try to drag Fitz to a safe place, so that she could at least get out there and help.

*

Normally she's faster than this, but that's probably a good sign she hit her head somewhere in all that rolling around. And bleeding. Peggy was definitely bleeding. She lost a bit of time, but she's trying to keep moving, "Fine…I'm fine. We need to get out, protect the assets." She snaps out, trying to keep her voice focused even through the blood and confusion.

Then Bobbi is there, opening the door to their vehicle, and she gives a little bit of a pained curse as she shifts to move out of the truck. While she'd prefer not to need the assistance, she really probably did. So, instead of fighting with them, she shifts into the assistance and tries to make it as easy as possible to get her unweildy form out of the truck. Just in time to see that green mist. "We need to evacuate this area *now*." She looks a dazed mess, but she's got a gun in her hand and that stiff, commanding presence about her by habit alone. Even if she's probably leaning a bit too heavily on Bobbi right now. Could she stand on her own? She wasn't certain.

*

Both of the SHIELD guards at the prison are now sitting by a kiosk, watching the events unfold through a grainy image on a security camera feed. It is extremely difficult to make anything out, but with the radio links, they seem to get the picture alright.

"Gamma Radiation?" asks the first one, a prim agent with neat blonde hair. He looks over his shoulder, back down the long grey corridor, and into the cell where the fuzzy Banner is eating his food slower than a caterpillar.

*

"Director!" She breathed a shocked response, before her expression darkened and her jaw squared. Bobbi moved, pulling the pregnant woman along with a firm grasp and steady lift up and out of the fallen truck.

Once on the ground, she leveraged her arm beneath Peggy's shoulder, offering aid without remarking on it or even asking. At the shout of radiation, her eyes snap in the direction of the panicked voice and she starts forward again. "My motorcyle was out of the blast radius." The statement was clearly intended to encourage the woman to clear the area herself.

"I'll go back for survivors, evac who I can."

*

Coulson is climbing out of the van when he hears the alarm. Gamma radiation. It's possible his skin just grew a touch more pale than it should be.

With the Director in Bobbi's care, he immediately turns his attention upon the wrecked van behind. Rushing over, he has just enough time to see Daisy working hard to drag an unconscious Fitz. His attention darts toward a passing SHIELD agent, and he reaches out to stop the man briefly. "Your radio."

"Sir?" the agent asks, while offering Coulson his walkie talkie.

Taking the radio in hand, Coulson gives the agent an encouraging look before opening the channel. "This is Coulson. Get me Prison Security."

A moment later.

"Senior Agent Coulson speaking. I need to talk with Bruce Banner, it's an emergency."

*

Unconscious Fitz is easily pulled into Skye's lap. He's not in the best shape. Blood oozes from his nose, his face has severe swelling in several areas (and will likely bruise in the hours to come), and his forehead has a large goose egg. He likely has a concussion to accompany his unconsciousness. Consequently, while he's heavy, and cumbersome, he's not exactly difficult to move — compliance isn't in question.

The construction crew follows orders, hopping towards evacuation and avoiding the green mist where possible. One of them emerges from the mist, but Sterns, without much pomp and circumstance, easily blends with the others. There's little question he shouldn't have been in there. But things seem simple enough. He has minor injuries, like the others.

He hides his gun in his pocket and falls into step with his cohorts, blending with the rest in the chaos.

The frame of the building that remains begins to teeter, threatening to collapse upon the now-evacuating construction workers. The labour union protest may have taken a very unpredictable turn.

*

Gamma irradiated mist isn't something Hulkling can do much about, that he knows of anyway, but collapsing building? Totally in his contract. "Get out of here." he tells Skye then leaps over to the building to prop it up so people can get out. "OUTOUTOUT!" he encourages. Okay, more urges. Okay, rushes.

*

"What?! I'm going to help!" Fitz, was carefully discarded to the side. He looked like holy hell but he was alive, and he was relatively safe. She checks him once more, then frowns as she leans in to whisper. "I'll be back, okay? Don't you dare die.." Plus, maybe.. just maybe they get to put the dwarf back together. It takes a moment for her to actually shuffle out of the van, determination upon her features, one arm drawn up to wipe away the blood that trickles down. The groan of metal was heard not too far off, and the hushed and rushed cries of the men attempting to flee the fallen debris, along with Teddy's help.

It was slow, the run. The run that picks and builds up into a breakneck speed that would have others twisting their heads to try to catch just 'who' that was. "I'm helping! Goddamn it I'm helping!" How? But how! A beam begins to fall from the sky, and Daisy's own hands reach out, the concussive, vibrating force causes the air itself to quiver and ripple which blasts the metal thing in the opposite direction and away from those it could have harmed.

All KERPOW like.

A look of shock, she glances around quickly, her own hands snapping down to the ground to try to hide what she had done.. but that doesn't help. The entire platform begins to shake, the ground cracking and splitting beneath her as she tries to run towards the rest of the crew as if it'll turn it off. Nope!

*

Leaning slightly on Bobbi, Peggy surveys the chaos all around them. Phil is on the radio already, people are moving out of the contaminated area. As long as a wind didn't kick up, they might end up okay. "We need Fitz and Simmons on this now. Need to figure out how to get this cleared." She tries to shake her head clear, but then she hears the groaning of that building ahead and her eyes go wider. There were a LOT of people working on that structure. "Bullocks." She hisses beneath her breath.

Peggy is then unlacing her arm from Bobbi, managing to stand up on her own, even if it's a bit shakey. "Morse, go in there. Get as many people out as you can. I'll stay back and survey from here. I won't go far, I promise, but they need more help than me." Peggy insists in that no-nonsense tone which says this is absolutely an order. Peggy will stay out of the chaos for the moment, though her gun remains in her hand, ready to handle any actual threatining people. If she can figure out who might have done this. Her dark eyes scan the area, looking for anyone suspicious. Anyone out of place, or acting odd instead of panicked chaos. Her eyes widen as she catches sight of Skye's motions, that ripple in the air, the force knocking a beam back from half a dozen people. That was unexpected. Her eyes narrow on Skye a moment, but this was not a time for questions.

*

"Hewooah?" Bruce says, barely awake and barely lucid. He still has a bit of gravy in his beard. And he is high as hell. "This is Bruce Banner." His glassy eyes look up at the screen, and in a moment that would embarrass him any time in the future, he erupts in a short snort and laugh. "Looks bad." He tries to stifle a giggle. The prim SHIELD guard's eyes pop with incredulity. Banner is now sitting next to the pair in their seats at the console. The scientist begins to giggle, "Far-out, man."

*

As Peggy leans away from her, standing on her own, Bobbi fights back the frown of concern. Instead she nodded, gestured to her motorcyle once more. "Yes, ma'am. If anyone needs it, the keys are in the front pocket and ready to go." She saluted Peggy once, checking that the area around the Director was clear of gas, or threats, before running off once more.

She sprinted back to the vans, spotting Skye's actions and gaping for a second, blinking back dust from her eyes. Then she was moving again, sliding through a narrow opening between steel beams to get inside the building proper to see if there was anyone inside that might yet require assistance getting out.

*

"Doctor Banner." Shame there's not time for a more proper introduction. "Phil Coulson with SHIELD. We have a gamma radiation leak."

Even as he speaks, his eyes are darting around, taking things in with rapid fire precision. Vigor may be a nasty drug, but in such a state, his mind works beyond overtime. Fuck eleven, this amp goes to fifteen.

"I need a containment or neutralization protocol." He speaks clearly and with a sense of urgency. Skye's feat is seen; Teddy's heroism noticed with a grateful look. Something else… one of those construction workers seems to be looking a bit green, and not just around the gills.

"Director!" he calls off radio, and points at Sterns while going back on channel. "Can you talk us through it?"

*

Slowly, wearily, now left on his own, Fitz curses lowly to the ground as he spits blood. "Jemma," he whispers softly as his face scrunches into a pained mess. "Je-Je-did," the blurriness of his eyes does relent, prompting him to return to the ground for a few beats while he collects himself, his surroundings, and attempts to make some sense of whatever has gone on.

Clipped paces have Sterns falling even tighter with the crowd as they pass the Director of SHIELD. But as they do so, he takes a single step out of line, draws the weapon, and fires his gun at Peggy. This is, of course, not some kind of warning or distraction. Instead, it is the intended purpose of the thing. Management is to blame for all of this. Management is to blame for the poor working conditions faced by the working stiffs it employs.

The sound of the weapon creates a small circle around Sam Sterns, but as the crowd shifts, the oddity of the situation increases. His skin colour begins to change, and the normally pale quality begins to take on a green hue. Perhaps he's merely ill.

*

"Hurry!" Hulkling shouts, resisting the urge to start grabbing workers and tossing them away. Leaving one hand on the wall to keep it from collapsing outward, he… well, reaches is accurate if it includes having his arm stretch several feet in order to grab a sheet of metal which he then uses as an umbrella to keep debris from falling on those fleeing near him. "It's not going to stay up long. Hurry!"

*

No one saw that! No one saw that! Each pace she takes the ground begins to shake and crack, both hands rising to curl into a fist to cross against her chest as she tries to focus on the task. Teddy's shout for them to hurry gets her an idea.. maybe.. just maybe…

The ones that pass by Hulkling.. "..did he just.. stretch.." Urp! Whatever Skye ate that day tried to make a debut but she still was willing to help out the fellow man with her approach.

A hop, a skip, arms lifting to shield herself from dust that flies, she places her back towards Teddy, her gaze darting left and right, turning to look over her shoulder as she murmurs.. "You tell anyone, I will pop your head off.."

And then she goes!

Her hands strike out again, the air begins to knock one.. by one.. by one of those construction workers off the platform and into safety of the water (barring any sharks or narwhal's.. of course..)

"I'm sorry!" Goes one.
"You're moving too slow!" Goes another!
"He said hurry up!" And a third..
*CRACK!* 'Oiiiee! My leg!'
"You'll heal!"

*

While Phil Coulson's mind is operating a mile a minute, faster than human mind's are, Peggy Carter's is not. She's still just human. And as he calls her title, she looks directly back at him to figure out what is going on. It's that split second of a look where everything changes. It means her head is turned away as Sterns brings up the gun and she only looks back to him in time to see the shot go off.

Peggy Carter is good. She's sharp, smart, one of the best in the business, but Peggy Carter isn't faster than a point blank bullet. Her soft frame is violently knocked back as she takes the shot straight to the chest, stumbling back in numb shock. Her own gun drops from her hands, fingertips numb. Her dark eyes go wide as she is suddenly on the ground and bleeding quite heavily into her dark coat.

Maybe it's not that bad. The black of her coat hides the blood at first. But shocked, numb hands reach up, trying to pull it open, pry free that burning in her chest. Her dress underneath isn't nearly so dark as her coat. A light green, most of the chest is now soaked in a substance that is very much not green. So much blood. So fast.

*

"That's a bummer man," Banner replies. "Yer gonna need to get yourself something thick. Somethin' real thick like lead or concrete or somethin. Gamma don't go through too much if it's dense. Good news, too is that it'll work itself out all the way pretty quick. It doesn't stick…" He sighs, losing his train of thought. "Around," he gets a second wind.

*

Bobbi had slid into the chaos that was the collapsing building as per the Director's orders. She missed the gun shot, deep inside the groaning, collapsing structure it was hard to hear more than the thunderous shaking of cement and the screaming of metal all around her. Never mind the dying pleas of those trapped within.

A few seconds of running had her upon one such blocked area, and she was grabbing a sledge hammer that had been discarded sometime ago. With a heave, two, three, she smashed the steel and concrete structure that blocked her way, and the workers trapped behind it. "RUN!" She pushed them behind her, and continued to run through the trembling building's skeletal remains.

Dust coating her skin by now and making it hard to see in some places.

*

"Worlds leading gamma scientist," Coulson murmurs off radio, "sounds like a damn reefer addict."

Like he's one to talk.

He's listening to Banner's report when the gun goes off. There's a precious second where Phil's eyes widen, and his mind goes into overdrive. "NO!" he cries, and drops the radio right as Banner trails off.

Lead or concrete. Thick. Doesn't stick around. The words echo through his mind like a ricocheting bullet as he races toward the fallen Director.

Skidding to his knees, Coulson immediately presses his hands to her wound. "I'm sorry," he says, knowing it'll hurt like a mother. "Gotta keep pressure." Then he turns aside and shouts at the top of his voice, "MEDIC! AGENT DOWN!"

*

SHIELD Headquarters

"We're expecting hundreds of wounded! Do NOT tempt me or tell me what we need to do, I know what we need to do. Our MedBay isn't set up for this. Get them into the Hospital at Astoria. I'll follow with my people — " Betty Ross traipses down the hall towards the holding cells and eyes the guards and then Bruce.

Her eyebrows draw together, "Bruce," concern writes across her expression with a hint of suspicion that perhaps the guards put him into such a state. "Focus. I need you to focus. Please. For me." Dark eyes plead with the field expert. "Please…" but even as she says it, she can see Bruce's eyes glazing over. This may be an utter failure. And a very bad idea. Betty turns to the guards, "Turn off his meds. Now."

= Governor's Island - NEW YORK

People bolt from under the building as fast as they can to get out of harm's way, but the site is BUSY. It's good that Teddy has managed to hold up the frame as long as he has.

Sterns snarls as his bullet hits the Director. His weapon remains clutched in his hand and he fervently begins firing at will at anyone he deems management, which, in this case, means anyone not dressed in a construction uniform. But as he does so, those paying close attention see the subtle changes at first: the twitch in the creases of his forehead, the continued green of his skin, and the tremble of his hands all seem to indicate something is amiss with Mister Sterns.

He fires again, this time squarely at Skye.

He has no qualms about shooting any of the non-construction workers.

The ruckus around him has Fitz ambling to his feet only to fall back to the ground as a bullet catches his jacket shoulder. He peers at the green gas and curses again as he reaches for his walkie-talkie. "W - we need to get into the bottom floors… the crystal… use it to contain… need someone to reprogram machine…" his mind is foggy.

*

At the sound of a gunshot, Hulkling whips his head around in that direction. "Stop!" And here he is stuck holding up a wall while a gunman is taking potshots and people. While he can't just leave the building to fall, he can - and does - toss that sheet of metal over at Stern much like a vastly oversized frisbee.

*

The sound of the gunfire has everything coming to a halt. The rest of the construction workers knew to keep moving lest they face the same fate as the others by being catapulted into the water. Her head turns at the sound of the gunshot as well, her eyes widening considerably. While Skye was a little bit upset at the Director and tried to avoid her at all costs.. she did not deserve that. Why, Skye didn't even have a chance to personally check in, rant, rave, and be put into her place yet! How -dare- he. How dare he indeed.

"MARGARET!" Yes, Skye has been shouting names it seems ever since she's joined SHIELD, one stroke of bad luck became .. something collossally worse. That stress of seeing the Director shot and fallen, Fitz hurt and bleeding, and everything else causes a massive wave of destruction that could possibly cause the buildings upon the surface to tumble and fall apart at the seams. For that rippling through the air extends to all the four cardinal directions, a massive, seismic earthquake upon the very grounds of the area which extends to the waters surrounding her, the waves soon crashing and spreading away from the structures to create a wall of water upon all sides. Yes. Skye was pissed, rock the Earth pissed.. so pissed that.. everything suddenly stops.

The wall high ocean collapses in a fit of rain that showers the fragile area.. Skye's hands raising to grasp against her middle as she looks down towards the area of where the blood begins to spread. Shot right in the stomach. Destruction stopped. She makes a slight little squeak of a sound as she collapses to her knees, her body crumpling there after into a heap of blood as she curls into a little ball.

*

Death is strange. It wasn't expected this way, the shock clear across the middle aged director's features. Distantly, she hears someone screaming her name. Her full name. Her head tries to turn, twitching in Skye's direction, but everything's fuzzy already. It's Phil who's with her. She shakily looks back to him, a too-pale smile smattering across her lips. "C-coulson… It's… It'll be alright. You… you did good…" Still trying to maintain some sort of command, some sort of control, but then her words are cut off by a cough. A rather violent, pained one. Blood all across her lips now. It's probably all through her lungs, and the speed which she's losing it is too much. That bullet came dead center. Chest shot. Lungs, possibly heart hit. A big artery at least. It's very likely that Peggy Carter is a dead woman.

She doesn't manage any other words. The cough and the blood loss was simply too much. Her head sinks back, body going limp under Phil Coulson's touch. There's blood pooling on the ground beneath her too, as more chaos and gunshots rain all around.

*

Bruce frowns as he looks on the monitor. "Peg, no," he says quietly. Definite buzzkill.

*

Bobbi smashed through another collapsed beam, running through and freeing trapped construction workers as she could find them. The raido static was faint, but she paused long enough to catch the crackle over the static.

"Copy that. Agent Morse, hears you loud and clear Fitz! Where am I going? What am I looking for?" Already she had caught bottom floor, a glance was spared for the groaning and shuddering ceiling before her as she ran around a corner. A partially stable looking set of concrete stairs spread out before her and she took them two at at time, flinging herself forward at break neck speed.

"Fitz! Tell me what I need to do!"

*

Coulson glowers at the shooter with fire in his eyes. He watches for a moment, before turning back toward Peggy when she speaks. The fire fades, and he smiles in a sad way. He's held men in the battlefield before; men both younger and older, soldiers brave and frightened all at once. This is not new to him, but losing Peggy… well, he always believed it would never happen. Not like this.

"Shh," he shushes her, reaching with a free hand to brush some hair from her forehead. "Don't, you need to preserve your str… Director?"

Then she slumps. Life is leaving her, he can feel it in his hands. "Peggy! Stay with me," he urges.

There's no medic. No one to stop the bleeding; Phil's hands are now coated in red, making it hard to keep putting futile pressure on such a lethal wound.

"Stay with me, soldier," he tells her, even though he knows it's futile. "That's an order." Coulson's voice does not break. He doesn't tremble. He simply watches as her life leaves, but all the while, the mist in his eyes becomes shrouded by something much more disturbing.

Coulson lifts a bloody hand from Peggy's wound… and reaches for her gun.

*

SHIELD Headquarters

"Dammit, Peggy, no!!" Betty blinks hard against the tears that form in her eyes. "No! We need medical choppers for pick up out there NOW! I don't care that I don't have the authority, evacuation means medical needs too!" she swallows hard. She turns back to look at Bruce. "We need him lucid." She sniffles hard. "Please."

Governor's Island — NEW YORK

The metal sheet tossed at Sterns is highly unexpected, and the increasingly green fellow collapses underneath it. The gun is knocked from his hands as his feet extend over his head. He crumples to the ground underneath it. The force is enough to have him collapse into the ground, and, for the time being, she's pinned.

Dizzy along the ground, Fitz nods at the walkie talkie, which he automatically finds ridiculous because no one can see him nodding through a walkie-talkie. "I.." he starts and then stops. "I need you to… there will be an array of five buttons. A blue one, an orange one, several green ones. You need to hit the pink one. It has a sticker beneath it that says never to press it. It's going to reroute the power so it's above ground."

He pinches the bridge of his nose and turns on the ground, "Then… you've got to… and this is important or the machine will blow up. Hit the first, second, then third green buttons. That will override security. Simmons said it was a terrible password, but I disagree. I can remember it," even when concussed. Which probably means it IS a terrible password.

"You'll then need to go underneath the panel and flip wires. There will be three. Uh…" he freezes. "You'll need to cut the one that's canary yellow, and swap out the blue and brown inputs. That should mirror the prison shield up here so we can contain the radiation. It's not a solution long-term, but it'll give us time to come up for one."

It's then that Fitz's gaze turns to Skye. His mouth gapes open and his eyes scan the scene. "Christ. Skye's hurt. I gotta… I gotta go. Morse, radio if you need more. But you gotta get out of there quick — no idea whether any of it will be sound with the reroute."

And as he speaks, he pushes himself to a stand and, rather wearily, treads to where Skye is to attend to her.

*

The ground rumbles and shakes. The building Hulking was attempting to hold up collapses as it only needed one little push (and it wasn't anywhere near little) to come crashing down to the ground. Which at least frees Hulkling up from standing there. But to do what? The one with the gun is down, he's no healer and he's not radiation proof. Controlled violence is his thing. Seeing Skye on the ground, he goes over there, asking Fitz "What can I do? Should I fly her to the hospital? Though his wings went away earlier so how isn't immediately obvious."

*

Daisy (read: Skye), was down for the count for now. The gut shot was nasty, but there was no exit wound which could possibly be good enough for now. Her foot wriggles, she can still move her legs.. so that was fine. But she tries to press and pull herself up, only to be heralded by Fitz and Teddy near her side. "Guys.. I'm.. I'm okay.." She stammers out, her breath heaving, "..get.. get to the Director. Don't worry about me!" She didn't know it was too late. "Go!"

*

Within a few seconds of Peggy slumping to the ground, something very different starts to happen. Slowly, where the director's face had been, skin shifts and transforms to a greenish, reptilian color. Scales where skin was. Large, long and pointed green ears. Folds beneath the chin. The carefully formed shape of Director Peggy Carter fades entirely away into something not human in any way. Totally green beneath the now far too large clothing and open jacket. Certainly no longer pregnant. As the transformation finishes, shoes fall off of the now too large, inhuman feet. Wherever Peggy Carter is, she's certainly not here. And whatever the thing was, it certainly is dead. The one bit that remains is that hole in its chest and the fact it's not moving.

*

Bobbi makes it to the bottom floor, panting for breath that was increasingly more dusty than previously. She pauses long enough to listen to Fitz's crackling voice over the radio. Then she was off again, mentally repeating the instructions over and over again.

Still, to find the room where this crystal was? Where this relay was?

Well, as they say, fifth time's the.. no, that was third, third time's the charm. So she was two room over? So what? Breathing hard, with sweat staining the back of her neck, Bobbi settled the sledge hammer to the side, pushing back the grey cover on the buttons to reveal…

Way more than five green buttons. At least twice that.. and..

"Shit."

Agent Morse pulled up the radio, "Fitz! Fitz! There are way more than those five. Are you /sure/ that's the sequence that I need? Because if I blow up over this I'm haunting your ass!" She screamed into the radio, waiting and wasting precious seconds with her heart hammering in her chest.

She'd only wait a minute for his reponse, and then she'd try it. Death or luck!

*

Phil Coulson is not there to see the transformation taking place. With his back to the corpse, he's stalking toward the downed Sterns with Peggy's gun in hand. "You dirty bastard," he seethes, and raises the weapon with both hands, aiming it directly at his greening head.

Apprehension be damned. There's gamma radiation about, and the man who just killed Director Carter is turning green. Coulson plans to put him down while there's still time.

If time hasn't already run out.

Also? A part of him wants revenge.

With a bitter frown, Coulson stops two feet from Sterns and points the pistol directly at his forehead, before pulling the trigger.

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

Triple tap. Sometimes, being a SHIELD agent means making tough calls.

*

Skye draws Fitz's attention and his eyes widen with shock as he nods towards Teddy. "Get her to the hospital — " but even as he says the words, he spins around upon Skye's direction to see the Director. He collapses to his knees and presses his hands to his head only to view Peggy's transformation. "What the hell! Skye, it's not… the director isn't — " or his head injury is worse than he thought.

It's at that moment that Morse cuts into his thoughts. "Right… yeah. It's the right panel. Follow the pattern! First three green buttons, yeah?" but even that minor peak in his adrenaline can't have him focus on the present. "The Director isn't human," he murmurs again. "No one is human," he logically concludes. Well done concussed-brain.

The three bullets fired at Sam Sterns actually fall just before hitting him. All three collapse to the ground as if by some invisible force. But still knocked over, he seems unconscious. It may not be possible to hurt him, but bringing him in is certainly on the horizon.

*

Director? "Who's the Director?" Hulkling asks, looking around in time to see Pe… Is that an alien? "Your Director is an alien?" Wait, a dead alien. And judging by Fitz' reaction, one they liked. "I'm sorry." Who knew SHIELD was such an equal opportunity employer? "So, ummm… where's the nearest hospital?"

*

"Wha.." Skye could at least see well enough to know what the hell Fitz was talking about. Whatever that thing was, that.. Peggy was.. it made sense. It just made sense. And it made her mad. "Get everyone out of here.." Skye quietly intones. She didn't know where Bobbi was, what Bobbi was doing. She didn't even know that her friend was here. But Skye was about to ruin everything..

She shifts upright, both hands placed upon the ground as she focuses, at least attempting to call upon her inhuman power because Skye? She no longer gave any fucks. There was even Coulson, putting bullets into the man who killed Peggy-Not, but.. nothing. Nothing happened. There was no blood, nothing. She was about to bring the entirety of the place down.

She forces that vibrating power into the ground, attempting to shake the entire island loose with just her fury alone. Whatever this things creation was, she would see it ruined.

*

Bruce sits back in his seat, sobering up just a little bit as those glassy eyes stare at the screen. His bearded mouth is agape and it looks as if he's going to cry. He can't tell that there's been a metamorphasis. He's just gutted one of the two people he trusted in this world is dead.

*

Huzzah for Fitz catching her from flipping over the /left/ panel's buttons. Would've been nice to know ahead of time. Still, the blonde cursed a few more times for good measure, before flipping the required buttons. Then she was dropping to her knees and flipping over onto her back to wiggle up underneath the panel. Her hands shaking with nerves as she pulled her boot knife free and looked for the wires he'd mentioned. There were again. More than expected.

Wonderful.

"If I die, I swear.." She missed whatever radio chatter there was about the Director being human or not. And cut the yellow wire. Fingers moving rapidly she switched the relays and then leapt up back to her feet.

Heart pounding she grabbed the radio and turned to run. Just as the first tremors rocked the building above her.

Shit.

"Fitz?! Fitz?! What's going on? I got the wires and buttons all done. I'm trying to get out of here." She shouted over the radio as she ran, hall ways collapsing that had been cleared seconds ago.

*

With blinking eyes, Coulson realizes that he was too late. Whatever happened to Sam Sterns, he surmises that the deed is done. "… damn," he breathes, and quickly holsters the blood stained pistol in the shoulder holster that held his own sidearm, which had been knocked away during the vehicle crash.

He's about to start dragging Sterns away, when he feels the ground shake again. Looking up, he spots Skye with her hands on the ground, and his eyes go wide. "Skye, don't!" he calls out, before ducking when an iron beam falls dangerously close to him.

*

Fitz stares at Skye a few beats. There's no time to reason with her. No time to explain that there are people in the prison — including Agent Morse who just contained the radiation. And with him already suffering a concussion, he doesn't really have the words to do so, anyways. The ridiculously heavy walkie talkie still in hand is lifted, his head shakes, and he mutters a quick, "Sorry," before thunking it down hard across the back of Skye's skull.

He frowns.

He just hit a girl.

His mom would've scolded him for that.

He turns to Teddy and nods once, "Don't think we knew we were so equal," his accent seems to double underneath his head injury. He bends down and plucks the walkie talkie, "It's okay Agent Morse. I think you're okay… just… " he squints and looks towards Teddy, "..minor earthquake. Think it's fine now…" he cringes.

*

Hulkling looks around at the rubble. At the green tinted Stern that the older guy tried unsuccessfully to shoot. At the dead alien Director. At the mutant who can make earthquakes and the cute black guy who just hit her over the head with a walkie talkie. So this is what SHIELD gets paid for. "This is fine?"

*

Bobbi dropped the radio as she was forced to dive beneath a crumbled doorway, the stairs just ahead of her now. She turned, twisting back to pull the radio out and catch Fitz's transmission of 'minor earthquake'.

"Bullshit." She muttered, dropping the thing, and pushing herself up again to dart back up the stairwell that was mostly now caved in. Several minor mishaps, wrong turns made right, crawling through debris and rubble, has one Agent Morse climbing out of the building via a solid kick to a slat of metal in her way.

A completely grey, dust covered Agent Morse. One who's hands were scraped, and looked more like a zombie of the walking dead with the dust that covered her skin to a sickening color.

But she was out and coughing, bent double as she inhaled fresh air.

"What.. the.. hell.. happened?" She coughed out, blinking her eyes clear as they burned. All she could see was the chaos at ground level, bodies, blood, hysteria and crumbled building behind her.

*

Coulson's back straightens when Fitz hits Skye over the head. That's… entirely unexpected, and likely worthy of some kind of commendation.

Its funny, how an incident in the field can go from fifteen to one in a matter of seconds. An eerie calm falls over the area in the wake of radiation containment, silent guns, and the sudden waning of an earthquake.

This leaves him time to assess the situation and get things under control again. He's now the ranking officer in the field; orders are inbound. Of course, he spares a momentarily look toward Peggy's corpse, which is when his mouth falls open, and for four long seconds, he just…. stares.

At an alien corpse.

"Okay….." A pregnant (see what I did there?) pause ensues. "So… where the hell is our Director Carter?"

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