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After he and Carol push the last of the statis tubes through Billy's portal, Teddy blinks a moment as he finds himself in Central Park. Huh. Useful. The SHIELD agents quickly call for transport and several trucks arrive to take them back to their base. Pretty much just going along with the flow, he helps load the cannisters then climbs in to sit down next to Fitz, shifting into the form of 'generic SHIELD agent' that he's used before when he and the scientist wandered around the Triskelion base. Once everything's unloaded, he just follows along beside Fitz. "So now what?"
*
Leo Fitz has been in a state of disbelief for the better part of the last few hours. He'd been at the Triskelion base when he'd received the call that everyone is back. The sheer number of pods left great cause for alarm. The question is met with a hint of that same disbelief smattered with vague consideration of everything that's just happened. "Well…" his eyes drift towards one of the canisters and he frowns slightly. "…we need to run some tests. I have to get a beat on how these machines work before we can start the process of waking people up. If we don't know how they're all put together, we can't easily get people off of them, yeah?"
*
Teddy nods. He's been wondering how to get them out of those things but not being a scientist, he's even more clueless than the others. "You could ask one of the prisoners to give you the instructions? In return for letting him go? You need to do a full sweep of your guys now too and get rid of the aliens."
*
Fitz rocks his hand, "Problem is we can't anticipate whether they'd try to hurt our people. We don't know enough about these aliens in order to ask them even for instructions. Possible they aren't self-interested, and instead focus on communal culture, in which case." He shrugs. "I mean, communal cultures do what's best for the group, not the individual. Hard to know if that would or wouldn't apply. Would hate to see one of our people hurt."
He clucks his tongue, "Think we'll be needing to give a once over and then monitor and hope for the best. We can ask the aliens maybe once we've got a beat on the machines… or at least the best we can."
*
"Yeah, hard to know if you could trust one or not." Teddy agrees. "Hopefully you'll be able to figure it out. Too bad there's not just two big buttons, one red and one green." He looks around the Super Secret Shield base which looks a lot like your normal office building. "If you need a hand cleaning out the aliens, I'll be happy to help. Honestly? Even though this whole aliens invading the Earth thing is dangerous and major? It's kinda fun too. Does that make sense?"
*
A chuckle follows the last question and has Fitz rubbing the back of his neck. "Sounds like you should join SHIELD." He arches an eyebrow and shakes his head lightly, "Saving the world without them know it? That's kind of SHIELD's specialty, yeah?" With another chuckle he trails behind one of the pods and begins to look at the mechanism. "Would be good to get a handle on any leftovers in our ranks. All we need are more spies spying on the spies." There's a twinkle in his eye as he offers that much.
*
"Me? I don't know anything about being a secret agent." Teddy answers, following Fitz over to look over the controls. But then he glances around and lowers his voice. "I've been thinking about what you were saying earlier. When I first came around to ask about the radiation? If these aliens had been around a while, like twenty years ago, and wandering around as humans, and if my mom had met one and… you know. Would that explain it?"
*
Bobbi has arrived.
*
"I'm fairly certain I know nothing about being a secret agent either, yet I graduated the Academy," Fitz offers in return. He examines some of the wiring. "It's definitely non-standard," he muses. "Think I can get a basic handle on it, and then when one of the bio-folks are around they can have a go at waking someone up. Not as complicated as I thought. Pretty basic, actually," Because engineering is what most call basic.
The question, however, is met with a shrug. "Not impossible. Truth is we know very little about them or their physiology. And you weren't exactly like them either." His eyebrows lift.
*
Bobbi swung around from her rounds of checking in on various pods, clip board in hand as she checked and crossed referenced who had been freed with who they knew to be replacements. There were a lot of surprises, and not in the fun kind of way either. Her expression was stormy as she approached the men, shoving her pen behind an ear, as she forced a smile.
"Well, being a spy is pretty boring when you're dealing with just people. It's a lot of waiting around, a lot of watching and listening. Helps if you have a good memory and are good at acting." She shrugged, settling a hand on her hip.
"Glad to see you made it out of space in one piece." She nodded toward Teddy and then back to Fitz.
*
"Right. So a combination of them and human would make that possible." Teddy says though it's half a question. "And she might never have known there was anything different about him. He might even had gone native and fallen in love and planned a future together before the other aliens found him and killed him." he hypothesizes. "Not that she'd know about it, just that he died which is what she always told me about my father." And would mean she wasn't just sleeping with strange men. CLearing his throat when Bobbi comes over, he straightens up and nods. "Yeah, it wasn't too bad. They weren't expecting it." He looks like a generic SHIELD agent to blend in.
*
"Well it would make it not impossible," which, ironically probably most would say as 'possible,' yet Fitz somehow resists. It's a wonder how he thinks about things sometimes. Bobbi earns a lopsided grin, although it's not entirely clear why.
He rubs his chin and wonders aloud, "Think we can probably try to wake them up in awhile. Would like to see if I can create an alternate source of power and control for each pod. Then, with Simons or one of the bio-folks present, we can try to wake someone up." He manages an all out grin now, "But imagine the potential of this technology. We could do incredible things! We could freeze people temporarily if we can… well.. unlock how it really works."
*
A glance was spared in Teddy's direction briefly, but it was clear the blonde was more interested in what Fitz had to say in regards to waking the people in the stasis pods up. She pursed her lips, and tilted her head in thought. "It's possible we might be able to use it for those that are critcally ill, and wake them up when there's a cure. If we have a means of powering them and controlling what's going on. Which is a risk. Though I bet with enough time we can reverse engineer a good portion of it."
"I'm mostly concerned about how we will clear out all of the imposters, and contain them. Especially with the latest events that happened at the prison." A frown marred her features at that and sighed, a shrug following.
"Never mind if there's a secondary containment for prisoners else where that we missed. If they've been here for years as our hypothesis suggests, then… well, the numbers just don't add up with what we've got."
*
Not impossible means possible and Teddy latches onto that to explain what really needs explaining. And given the explanation, he doesn't even need to ask his mom about it. Win! "Call them all into the gym and put them under guard and take them out one at a time to give blood tests to." It seems simple enough.
*
The mention of the prison's latest events has Fitz outright frowning. His chin drops to his chest. He rubs the back of his neck, and his eyes stare at the component parts. His eyebrows pull together. "Yeaaaaah. About that…" his lips turn downwards. "I… think…" his shoulders tighten and his posture stiffens. His throat clears. For a moment he looks like he's going to say something else but falls silent, finally landing on, "That was probably my fault." And to just because he was so instrumental in designing the prison.
As far as missing people, his cheeks puff out with an exasperated breath. "Possible there's more vessels," he offers with a vague shrug. He offers a nod towards Teddy's idea. "It's workable. Certainly."
*
A shrug, "I figure it'll be up to Coulson on how we round up and handle them. Groups mean more chances some might try to flee. But taking them one by one could be dangerous as well." She tapped her fingers against her clip board, and a small hum of part of a song escapes her.
At Fitz' mention she arched a brow, "We talked about causing weaknesses in the event it was used against us. The problem with that of course is that we can't effectively use it as a prison if we do. So, again, it should go up the chain of command Fitz. Especially now that we've got to clean house."
*
"Your fault?" Teddy asks, looking curiously at Fitz. "That reminds me, I was looking for you that day the green guy with the big head escaped so I was there. And there was this purple energy. And those papers I found in the desk mentioned a purple crystal but you said you didn't know anything about a purple crystal. So was that purple energy from the purple crystal or is there another purple thing floating around somewhere?"
*
Fitz hums quietly. "It's possible we should… correct the problem?" He squints slightly. "I decided to put it in the design. It was small." There's a long pause. "It was exploited. There's no way Sterns should've been able to uncover it. All I did was introduce a small short. How he managed to use it?" Fitz shrugs.He really has no idea. "I mean, the power went in and out. So there was that, but it shouldn't have been exploitable. Like… I would've had to do some work to pull it apart. And I caused the problem."
His lips purse at the mention of the purple energy, "That would be the crystal. The energy keeps the prisoners in place. Sterns knew what he was doing. I've looked at what he did to my work; he saw the weakness and put it together."
*
A nod toward Teddy, "The idea was to manufacture a flaw to slow the prison's completion. They wanted it built.. thus it kept pressure on the need for them to send more of their ranks down here. Which worked to our advantage now twice. One mistake and we lost a few, yes.. But given what we accomplished to bring people home? The risk was clearly worth it." She dragged a hand through her hair and exhaled.
"I'm so taking a vacation after this whole invasion is fought off. Though I know I'll forever be checking for these things now.."
*
"Oh. That makes sense I guess." Though Teddy sounds kind of dubious since he's pretty lost in general, not actually being part of SHIELD or having any idea what's going on with them besides the obvious. "Yeah, we'll never know how many of them are walking around. Could be thousands all over the planet. Millions. Just waiting for their next chance."
*
"Everyone needs a vacation after this," Fitz continues to frown. "Just imagine how empty this place will be!" He emits a long breath. "And maybe home will call for others. Maybe." He wouldn't go back without Simmons. If Simmons say so will he. He shakes his head slightly. "Not sure whether trust will ever happen again."
*
A nod, "It's hard, trust, you know? Especially in my line of work." She crossed her arms, shifting her weight onto her booted heels. "To know the agency I worked for, that those in charge weren't those I had come to rely on and trust? It's.. well, how much of my work, what I did, was really in Shield's name? How much of the things that I did, thinking it was for the greater good.. aren't?" She arched a bow, and glanced between the two.
"If I stop and think too much about it, I don't know if I'll be able to function." A forced smile at that, "So here's to not thinking too much about that, yeah? Do you think we can expect resistance or an attempt to reclaim the people we stole back?"
*
Teddy watches the two agents and the others wandering around as well who are doing whatever SHIELD agents do at a time like this. "If they were smart, they'd all disappear. They've got to know they've lost. Here. Maybe they'll move to the FBI or something. Or go to another country. Assuming they're not already there."
*
Fitz rakes a hand through his hair. "Trust here really is concerning." He emits a soft sigh. "And long-term it's hard to decide what to do. We're responsible for what we create. We always have been." His lips twist to the side. "It was a no-brainer when we trusted our superiors. Now though?" He shrugs. Towards Teddy he nods, "But that's assuming the body snatchers want to move on and do more things."
*
A nod, "There's always the risk that their technology and weapons alone could over-power much of humanity. That once thwarted with their passive invasion, it will leap to open arms and war. In which case we can expect the worst." She pursed her lips together and glanced around the area they were in once more.
"I doubt they were planning on just taking the US, either. Which means we have to assume they tried ele where. I know if I was plotting world domination, I'd be securing power bases in multiple points. Even this, the failure of this invasion.. it helps shake the faith in the structures of power. Lead to questioned loyalties and division.. Not a good thing if we're in a war.."
*
"But it works the other way around too, doesn't it?" Teddy asks. "They tried and failed. So now everyone knows they can be stopped. Or they will if you tell them about this. It's not like the entire world doesn't know about them now. They need to know they can be stopped, even though they're shapeshifters with spaceships."
*
Fitz frowns again and he nods slightly. "They did try and fail. Once over. But they are trying to out-spy an agency of spies." He looks back towards the pod and its component parts, and his nose wrinkles. "I need to get some tools," he motions towards the lab. "I'll… be back later…" He trails to the door.
*
A snap and Bobbi grinned at Teddy, "Now that could be interesting. I'll ask Coulson what he thinks. It could be interesting. Can't say the public angle ever occured to me. The problem with working for so many years to keep things quiet, you know?" She shoved a hand into her pocket and glanced around.
"So, Teddy, right?" She arched a brow, "Are you going to join Shield? Or think you'll just keep consulting?"
*
"I think letting people know will reassure them that the aliens aren't all powerful, you know? Teddy says with a small shrug. "They've got to be worried about it already. This way they'll know we can win." The question makes him blink. "Yeah, Teddy or Hulkling." He's never given a last name or shown what he really looks like. "Am I consulting? I just thought I was helping stop aliens from taking over the world. Fitz suggested I join too but I don't know. I have classes."
*
"'Consulting', is more of a blanket term for an asset that doens't have clearance to be on site. Don't worry about it much. It's mostly for reports." A sigh and a glance spared his way again.
"You know Shield has the Academy. You could go through school there if you wanted, or wait till you graduate. It's not a bad thing to wait and think about it for a few years." She shrugged again, a single rise and fall of a shoulder.
"Trust me, as of right now? When this invasion is over, there'll be plenty of agencies that will want to hire you. Take your pick."
*
"They have an Academy?" Teddy asks, blinking at Bobbi. The super secret spy agency? "Cool What do they teach, spying and shooting people?" He runs his hand over his hair. "I don't know. I mean, I'll be glad to help when I can. It's only right. I don't know if I want to be a spy." Pause. "What's it pay?"
*
A grin, and Bobbi folds her arms behind her head as she glanced over at Teddy. "Well that's top-secret. You actually gotta be recruited before you can know what they teach." Was she messing with him? Maybe, partly, yes?
"You don't have to be a spy to attend though. Fitz and Simmons are part of the Science branch and they went. And for being an actual agent? Pretty well. Enough that I have more in savings than I regularly use. Mostly 'cause I'm using agency funds for where I live over seas on an op, or the alike."
*
Teddy looks like he's actually thinking about it. "Huh. Maybe. I don't know. I guess we'll see what happens. It is kind of fun though." He looks off int he direction that Fitz disappeared then back. "You're a real agent. Do you think so too?"
*
A smirk pulled at her lips, "I could've gained a PhD in biochemistry if I wanted to and taught at a college. I had that chance. When Shield offered me a chance to be a spy?" She shrugged, and gestured to herself then the area.
"Well, as you can see, I took it. I play in the lab when I can or when I have to. It's not my life though. I enjoy being out from behind a desk just as much as the next person. Even if it does mean I get shot at a whole lot more. It's not got a whole lot of 'fun' most days, or glory.. But .. I always believed that I was doing something important."
*
"Important, yeah." Teddy agrees. And also fun. "What was you it called me? A consultant? Do consultants get paid?" Cause that would be really nice! "I'll help out anyway, of course but my family doesn't have a lot of money and even city college is kind of expensive."
*
A brow rose, "Consultants aren't typically on the books in that way. Like I said. It's a good way to get you to where we need you as an asset, but not necessarily given you the security clearance that most agents are required." She smiled again, that easy going, open looking smile.
"But hey, you're a good kid. I'm sure if you do well here, Coulson wouldn't mind signing off on things as needed.."
*
"Oh, I'll take cash." Teddy assures her and grins. "I trust you. Coulson's the old, bald guy?" he asks, looking around to see if the man in question is still here. "He was one of the ones replaced. Is he in charge till you get your Director back?"
*
A slow nod at that, "Yeah, makes bad jokes all the time. Also has a rather nice car. Skye works on it and tinkers around with literally anything that has moving parts. Girl can't sit still." A pause though as Teddy looks around and mentions Coulson being replaced. "
Wait, what do you mean he was one of the ones replaced? I thought he wasn't?" She tilted her head to the side.
"He was in charge till the Director is well.. out of her stasis, yeah.." She offered.
*
Teddy scratches at an ear as he thinks back. "Right. Was going to be replaced, I mean." he corrects. "There was a Coulson up on the ship too. And they had his file so they were studying how to be him."
*
Coulson arrives from SHIELD HQ.
*
Coulson has arrived.
*
A silent snarl pulled at her lips at that news. "Oh, I swear if I was on that ship I'd have.." She exhaled and shook her head.
"Who else did they have replacements prepared for? We might be able to figure out what their game plan was if we can piece together what we interupted, or at least, maybe have more evidence for our given theories."
*
Teddy has taken the form of a generic SHIELD agent though his features are similar to those when he's Hulkling. "Fitz has the list of the files we found in the office. He was one of them too though there wasn't a Fitz on the ship. There were a few others I don't know the names of. Between the ones we brought back, the ones we found files for, and the ones actually looking like agents up there, there was a dozen at most?"
*
"I picked out at least twenty." The voice comes from Phil Coulson, who enters the medical bay at a brisk step with a mug of coffee in hand. "I'm… putting together a list." He looks toward Teddy (aka SHIELD agent) first, then to Bobbi. There's a general air of irritation about him, which doesn't seem entirely normal. "Probably more, but once the alien laser guns started going off, it became difficult to tell."
*
A brow rose, and Bobbi flashed Coulson a smile as the object of their discussion entered. "Ah, did we manage to appropriate one of said laser guns? Because I could decidedly use the up-grade." She eyed the coffee, and her fingers twitched. The siren's call of caffinated beverages.
"Huh, one of you and at least twenty others, interesting. That's a significant up-tick in Shield agents. They must've wanted to take over us before we could cause more damage to their plans, or it was in their plan all along. Hard to say.." She hmm'ed and then gestured toward Teddy.
"He was thinking of possibly enlisting at some point into our ranks. Told 'im about the Academy briefly too."
*
"Or twenty." Teddy agrees with a shrug, looking over at the old, bald guy in charge. "I wasn't really counting once they started shooting. I wonder if they'd have hurt me." he muses. "I've never been shot with a laser. Is there a way to experiment that won't put a hole in me if it fails?" But then Bobbi brings up jobs. "Oh, yeah. Maybe. And she called me a consultant. Do you pay consultants?"
*
"Nope," Coulson answers in regard to alien guns. "I'm glad, too. Given how heavily compromised this organization has become, the last thing we need is some alien tech leaking into the wrong hands."
The acting director takes a drink from his coffee, a pause in his part of the conversation. "At least we have more understanding of what Carter's imposter was up to. I've no doubt she - or he - or it, for all we know - must have been gathering information on all of us. Maybe they intended to replace this entire operation? Would make sense. It would've given them total control over the prison project."
Finally, Phil turns to Teddy with a more polite smile. "Pay? We sure do. Even take care of the tax side of things, meaning we pay 'em for you." He offers a hand. "Phil Coulson, acting director."
*
A sigh, but Bobbi nodded, "I figured as much. It also put them into place to have access to several different agencies and spots through the world." She murmured thoughtfully. "Just as well that we caught that. Even more so that Fitz started to work on trackers for everyone that wants them. It's a good means to keep an eye out for more attempts." She glanced toward Teddy and grinned.
"See? Told you to speak with our acting Director."
*
"You do?" Awesome! "Cool! Umm, call me Teddy. Or Hulkling, depending on what color I am I guess." He clasps the hand when it's offered. "I'd still help out even if you didn't." he assures Coulson. "But I'm glad you do. Even city college is expensive." Bobbi gets a nod. "Yeah, you did."
*
Coulson grins at Teddy's reaction. It was always nice to see such enthusiasm; most of his agents are jaded and pessimistic assholes. Bobbi excluded, of course.
"I'll get you an application and introductory packet on contractor protocol. It's… kinda big." Coulson shrugs. "Sorry."
He turns them to look toward the body pods within which SHIELD's previously missing people still slumber. Another drink of coffee is taken, before he sighs. "Hopefully I won't hold that title much longer. I much prefer 'Senior Agent'."
*
Teddy's excitement has a grin pulling at her lips, "Like I said, you're a good kid, Teddy." She hmmed, tapping her chin. "He and Skye will get along." She offered toward Coulson with a raised brow.
The glance that Coulson spared those still slumbering has her grin fading and she sighed.
"You've done a good job of it sir. Considering how crazy everything has been, we could've been worse off."
*
Teddy just nods. He filled out his college paperwork. He knows bureaucracies run on them. Looking over at the cannisters when Coulson does, he comments "Fitz thinks he can figure them out. Said they seem to be kind of simple, actually. I guess if you need to freeze someone, you want to be able to do it quickly. Maybe they use them to travel in space. It takes a long time you know." So says the SciFi nerd. "Unless they have some kind of wormhole… thing."
*
"Wormholes aside," says Coulson, "I just want them back. Fortunately, I have every bit of confidence in FitzSimmons."
At Bobbi's compliment, he smiles. "Right… I suppose Fury could have been in charge." In spite of the joke, he seems thankful for the compliment.
*
The wormhole comment had a brow rising as Bobbi glanced over Teddy again. "Huh, that could be a problem if that's the case. I wonder where their home planet is.." She mused, and glanced at the pods of slumbering agents.
"So, sir," She smirked, as she used the address since they were chatting about being in charge and all. "Fitz and I were playing with ideas about what might happen next, think these things are going to go for their guns and attack in the open next, or continue their failed plans?"
*
Teddy nods at Bobbi but admits "I never thought space travel would be possible. It just takes too long from what I read. Science Fiction is really cool and all but it's fiction. They've got to know something we don't about how to go from star to star fast. Otherwise it would take hundreds or thousands of years." With the discussion moving on to 'what's next?', he looks to the two agents.
*
"I wouldn't be surprised if they divert from their original plan," Coulson admits. "Colonel…" He catches himself. "Agent Danvers suggested they've been at war with the Kree for some time. For all we know, this has something to do with it. Either way… I've got a phone call with General Ross scheduled, after making some calls to family members. I intend to impress upon him the importance of armed forces readiness."
Talk of space travel is a bit over his head, but he does smirk a bit at Teddy. "Guess we're technically astronauts now, huh?"
*
Snorted lightly, "Speak for yourself sir. I stayed here on Earth and played security for Fitz. Would've just been our luck that if everyone went up, he'd get snatched." She rolled her eyes skywards, her lips pursed together in thoguht.
"I'm shocked that the military hasn't already started arming up. Since these things are publically known already.." She muttered.
*
"Kree?" Teddy asks, focusing on the important part. At least until Coulson mentions astronauts and he can't help but grin. "Yeah, that was so cool. I wish we could have spent more time there and just looked at space. Anyway, if they're smart, they'll just disappear and write off SHIELD as a loss to concentrate on the FBI or something. Or leave the US alone completely and go to England. Or Russia." Then look at BObbi and back to Coulson, he says "I think once you clean them out completely, you should let everyone know what happened. Everyone knows there's shapeshifting aliens invading Earth. They even killed Kennedy. Knowing they tried to take over SHIELD too but failed also lets everyone know we can win. Otherwise they're gonna stay scared."
*
"Honestly," Coulson answers Bobbi, "I think the DoD is more worried about communism." A point to Teddy's remark about Soviets. "At any rate, I have some phone calls to make." He turns to Teddy in particular then. "Good work up there, Teddy. I'll expect that application in short order."
*
A shrug follows Teddy's question about 'Kree', "I dunno," She offered simply.
"But it's possible they might adjust and go for another route. Possible.. it's all possible." She sighed and nodded toward Coulson.
"Damn. Communists? When we've got aliens invading? This is why humanity can never get anywhere.." She rolled her eyes and glanced back toward Teddy.
"Want some coffee? I need some."
*
Teddy considers Bobbi's offer but then shakes his head. "I should really get home. I have some homework due at the end of the week and I've been putting it off. I'll just do that paperwork before I go." Pause. "It's not going to ask for any real info right? Like my name and address?"
*
A shrug and Bobbi is already leaving poor Teddy behind in her haste to find and procure coffee. "Eh, put in a PO box kid. Most of us don't actually stay in one place enough. But yeah, you likely should. It's not like we can't find out if we wanted to anyways." She snorted, waving a hand over her head.
"Stay safe, yeah?" She called back toward him as she made for the stairs.