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Bobbi climbs up from the depths of the labs, a sizable looking bruise on her forehead, though there didn't appear to be other injuries. She had a lab coat over her shoulders, white and covered with various stains of a .. questionable.. nature. Her blonde hair tied up and back into a high ponytail as she made her way through the bullpen to once more flick on the coffee.
A glance was spared toward Barton and she made her way over to the desk with an arched brow. "What happened to the arm?" She tilted her head, leaning a hip against the desk.
*
Barney draws a little more on the stick figure; a little crossbow with a line to make it look as if it's shooting. Along the bottom away from the one stick figure, he draws one more stick guy with a little bolt sticking right between the eyes. Blue eyes rise as Bobbi emerges from the depths of the building, and he looks at his picture, back to the agent.. back and forth before brows rise, a hint of a smirk on his face. Leaning back in his seat, he lifts his good hand to run a finger on his head where Bobbi's bruise is.
"You got somethin' right about there…"
Smart ass.
Barney sets his feet on the desk, his arm very carefully remaining still. "Somethin' came down that shoulda stayed up. Shoulder'll be fine, though." Beat. "You run into a door or somethin'?"
*
Bobbi shot him a dry look, checking back on the coffee maker and finding it dripping away with aching slowness. Then a sigh fell from her lips and she turned her attention back to him. "Something came up when it should've stayed down." She shot back, a faint twitch of her lips pulling at the corners.
"I need to get in contact with your brother, any chance he left a number with you?" She tilted her head to the side. "Coulson wants to talk with him." She added after a minute. A beat passed and she was tugging her chair from her desk and sliding into it.
*
"And that's when you hit your forehead on the toilet, right," Barney nods, that smirk just not fading. Nope. "Hope you had fun anyway."
Barney's in a comfortable lean back, worn boots on the desk, and he pulls a cigarette out from a pack sitting in a top pocket. Match. With a flick, it's lit and the match is tossed away, landing mostly near the ashtray. "He didn't leave a forwarding address here? Really?" The smoke is blown out before he shrugs, single-shoulderedly. "Yeah.. I know where he is. Mostly. An' I figure if he didn't let anyone else know, he didn't wanna be found by you all." He takes another drag and holds it before it's released out his nose.
"What's Coulson want with him? He do something wrong?"
*
An eyeroll follows and Bobbi leaned back in her chair, arms crossed. "A bit more person shaped than a toliet, but if it makes you feel better. Whatever." She muttered, and then she was sighed softly, dragging a hand through her hair and redoing her ponytail.
"No, he didn't do something wrong, might've done something right in a manner of speaking. We need to compare notes." A grimace pulled at her lips and she averted those blue eyes of her's else where.
"We've had a bit of a situation, and he might've noticed things that the rest of us missed."
*
The smirk grows to a lopsided smile, and Barney rocks his head back a moment, blowing smoke up before he comes forward again. "He's definitely got a different vantage than everyone else, but I haven't seen him since he left. No.. that's not true. Saw him just before Christmas. Said something about cards and haven't seen him since. He's probably still in the city. Clint'd at least tell his big bro that he was leaving before he did."
Barney pulls his feet off the desk and onto the floor, watching Bobbi now. Nice looking girl, so easy to look at as she turns her own gaze away. "Situation." A statement. "The kind you were askin' me about before? About watching that pretty little … back of yours?"
*
Bobbi glances back at him, her expression losing all manner of warmth and color. "No. It has nothing to do with Barnes, but he did escape containment." Her lips pursed together and she glanced around the bullpen and back.
She leaned forward, arms resting against her thighs as she bent her head toward him. "I don't exactly know how to explain it. It sounds far fetched to me." She pursed her lips together again, eyeing him. "Ever see that movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? Came out in '56? Kinda sorta like that, less pods.. well, I dunno if there are pods or not.. but.." She shrugged, exhaling once.
*
Barney watches as Bobbi's expression shifts and his jaw shifts, his cheek twitching as it tenses. He knows that sort of look, even if not from her. He's worked with lovely, albeit very dangerous women before, and he waits for her to expound. And there it is.
As she chooses her words, Barney's listening carefully, giving her serious consideration; for all the snark he may deliver, there is a certain amount of respect. Mostly. At least he doesn't call her a dumb broad!
"Heard about it. Never saw it. Wasn't around long enough, and it didn't hit…" anywhere in Russia. "Yeah.. wasn't in town for the premiere. Gimme a quick rundown, and I'll tell you if it shoulds dumb or not."
*
Bobbi shifted in her seat, and as the coffee maker dripped away, she held up a hand for a pause. A moment later she was getting up, pouring a cup and returning to her seat. "Sorry, been in the lab constantly. I need the pick me up." She smiled, but it was sort of strained, there was tightness to her jaw and line of shoulders.
"It is what it sounds like, aliens invade this town they replace people with duplicates.. By the time anyone notices? It's too late." She shrugged, sipping at her coffee.
"We have reason to think that your brother might've noticed and got out of town while he could.." She muttered, eyes locked on him to take his measure. "Did he mention anything like that?"
*
Brows rise as he takes his almost forgotten cigarette and pulls once more from it, letting the smoke linger in his lungs before he first stubs the end out, exhaling as he does. Barney shakes his head, and when he looks back at her, his head is quirked sideways a touch and he looks both puzzled and curious, blue eyes narrowing. "If he left town, he'd tell me first. He'd grab a bike and ride out. But he didn't, so he's still around somewhere." He knows the neighborhood but not the apartment, which is fair enough. Clint doesn't know where he lives either. No one does. No one but Hilde, anyway.
"Aliens invade and replace people." Beat. "Well…" Barney looks back at Bobbi and his good shoulder lifts, "I'm guessin' you're not talking about sleepers. You're talkin' full-on… replacement."
*
A small nod and Bobbi adjusted her grip on her mug. "Mhmm." She leaned back in her chair, reaching up with a hand to rub a kink in her shoulder to her neck with a faint line of a grimace on her features.
"That would be what I'm talking about…" She murmured, "He didn't say anything to you about .. say, the Director acting strange or anything?" She arched a brow, her head tilting to the side. Blue eyes scanned the room at large and back, her voice kept at a soft and even tone.
"I know, it sounds crazy."
*
"He said he didn't expect to be walkin' out the door if that's what you mean," Barney considers. "He figured that when he went in to have a chat with her, that he'd be stayin' on at least part time. Took him by surprise when she sent him packin'." He brings his free hand up to scratch the side of his face and exhales, another shrug lifting his shoulder. "I could go in and poke at her. Don't know what good that'd do, but it'd be fun." Though, even if it was the 'real' Peggy, it'd probably get SHIELD to come down around his head.
"If I see Clint, I'll ask him. Figure, he'd probably be in a pretty good position. Outside an' all."
*
As he mentions 'speaking with the Director', Bobbi pauses and leans forward. "She's not there. She's not /here/ anymore at all.." She whispered. "We don't know where she is. Coulson is acting Director now." Her lips thin to a white line and she turns her gaze back down to the coffee mug with a tightness in her jawline.
"No one noticed at all.." She muttered, and clutched the handle of her mug with a white knuckled tightness.
"If she said or did anything in particular that stuck out in his mind? It'd be awful nice to know. Anything might be a further clue. If you can, pass along that Coulson wants to chat with him, hm?"
*
Barney twists his head around to look down the corridor to where he knows is eventually the Director's office. Lord knows he's been in there more than once. Twice. Ten times. "Not my place to notice these things." Though 'pod people' might get a little creepy?
"Hey.. you think, you know, my girl might be able to sniff out someone that wasn't right? I mean, she knows stuff." It'd keep him a little safer, too, knowing what may be now on the playing field. Barney returns his attention fully and he nods, "I'll go look for him. You sure you want him to talk to Coulson, or you'd rather him just talk to you. Just to keep things unofficial?"
*
A shrug and Bobbi took the time to sip at her coffee. "I told Coulson that he left around the time that we think she was replace. He wants to see 'im. Though now I dunno. As acting Director's he's dealing with a lot. And I'm not entirely sure how much of this anyone wants to let out. It's one thing for you to know since you're here all the time.." She grimaced, raking a hand over her face.
"If you think you know someone? I guess? Is she a mutant or something? We don't have a means right now of figuring out if anyone is or isn't.. well, you know.." She wiggled her fingers.
"Sides seeing them dead.. and that's not exactly a good means of testing it."
*
"Yeah, as I said, he was surprised. So, judging from that, she might have gone just before him. I might not have been 'round little bro that much, but if he's the man I figure he is, yeah… it wasn't her. She figured that she had the chance to let an agent go. One who was good, and close. One less that she'd have to worry 'bout." Barney reaches into his pocket and pulls out another cigarette and lights it quickly, cupping the end as if there'll be a breeze to puff it out.
"Hilde?" Barney shakes his head before he takes hold of his cigarette, and he looks at Bobbi, the smoke blown out again. "She's a .. what the hell are they.. Asgard.. people. Valkyrie. Has somethin' to do with dead and souls. She might be able to sniff somethin' out that wasn't mortal… as stupid as that sounds." It's a shot, anyway?
*
A surprised breath escaped her as he spoke of another Asgardian. How many were there out in the world? Decidedly, after the alien invasion, someone should get a head count.
"I wouldn't mind having a chat with her off site and ask her what she knows. I haven't had a chance to ask our Agent Siggy, and I dunno about Valkyries unless you're talking about the opera kind.. so I guess that'll be an interesting chat. Does she like coffee?" She leaned back into her seat, sipping at her own hot, black, sludge. Slightly less sludgey since Skye looked at the machine, but still pretty horrible.
"Maybe she knows something we don't about these things."
*
"Whiskey, she likes whiskey, though I'm tryin' to convince her to stop." Barney actually sounds serious about that?
"But yeah. She has to do something with the dead. Like, when people die, she send 'em off to where ever they're supposed to go." Usually. Unless it's him, and then all hell breaks loose for her to save his life. Go figure.
"I could give her a call if you want. She knows how to get here. You all had her in custody here." This is the one time Barney is being helpful; actually helpful, but ultimately it is in his best interest. Particularly if there are 'pod people'. "Or, your place."
*
A shrug, "Alright, I was hoping to keep it.. unoffical for now. I don't exactly want to bring her in without letting her know the situation." She murmured, eyeing as he noted she'd been in custody before.
"If she's like you say.. I don't particularlly want to to piss her off with a sudden, 'hey can you be our blood hound'? I mean, hell, that's rude even if she wasn't from another .. world.. whatever.." She rolled her eyes.
"But yeah, I'd appreciate being able to chat with her. My apartment is just fine. It's not too far away. If she decides she wants to come in, we can walk over."
*
Barney stares at Bobbi before he clears his throat and slowly rises from the seat, his arm still in the sling and not moving. "Do you really think I do anything official here? Hell. Even my reports aren't typed." He takes a couple of steps before perching on the corner of 'his' desk, and brings his free hand up to run fingers through mussy hair. "'S'far as I'm concerned, ain't a damned thing that's official. I'm bringin' my girl over to your place and you ladies can have a nice chat. Maybe she'll help, maybe she won't, or can't for some reason. But, it's a shot."
*
A roll of her eye at that, "You're hardly the only man around here to not bother with typing up reports. There's plenty. Trust me." She offered blandly, rocking back in her chair as she downed the rest of her cooling coffee.
"Anyways, thanks Barton. I appreciate it." She nodded to him and rose, "I'll take whatever I can get these days." A sigh pulled from her lips again and she stretched.
"And back to the lab. Take care and keep 'an eye out and all that jazz." She muffled a yawn, and sought out more coffee.