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Since the Director's been unfrozen, Carol has been a little busy dealing with various issues. At least so she couldn't be there at the actual defrosting. Though now, issues have settled down enough that Agent Danvers is now at the makeshift hospital room that was once a lab in the HQ.
Carol gives the Director a fond, if somewhat worried, look, "You know, after being turned into a popsicle by shapeshifting aliens, you /can/ take a bit of a break, you know?" She grins a little lopsidedly, ignoring the fact that she's notorious for pulling multiple double (or triple) shifts.
*
It's been a day and change since Peggy woke up and, of course, she's already terrifying the junior agents and lab techs. They still haven't let her out of the one lab room they've turned into a medical suite, insisting that they need to study any long term effects of the cryogenic stasis she'd been in, and that the baby is stable, and that it's REALLY PEGGY. Of course, by the morning of today, anyone could have confirmed the fact that it was Peggy by how many files she's demanded to see and how much she's working around the various wires and monitors.
Peggy is sitting upright in her hospital bed, monitors strapped to one arm, the side of her stomach, her chest and her forehead. Her other hand is combing through a file that sits in her disappearing (but not yet that small) lap. She's got a whole stack of them on the second side table she bullied some intern into bringing in. Peggy turns dark eyes up from her reading material, an honest smile flickering across her lips, "I realize I *can* do most anything I please, Danvers. What I please to do is catch up on the two and a half bloody months I missed." Yep, it's definitely her.
*
Carol grins back, "Yeah, but I'm thinking that's the closest thing you've had to a vacation since V-E day." She teases a bit, because, well, it's her. Stepping into the room, she moves over to the side of the bed, "But I haven't seen the junior agents this scared since… um…" She pauses, "Actually, I don't think I've ever seen them this scared, which is a good sign really. Definitely glad I punched a bunch of Skrull faces along the way to get you back, boss."
*
*
"Incorrect. I took exactly five days off for my honeymoon and two weeks when Mickey was born. So… a few days in bed is just exasterbating the problem. Besides, another few months and it'll be another two weeks down." Peggy mutters, though she can't entirely hide the annoyance in her tone at the thought she might actually have to *recover* after having a baby and stay home a little while. Nonsense. She does give a little pleased smile at the thought of the junior agents. "I ask the senior agents and they give me the same damn song and dance about resting that you are. So… I had to make my… orders known to some junior agents. I wouldn't call it bullying. Not really."
*
Carol laughs softly, "Because we senior agents know better, Peggy. It's why you picked out Coulson, me, and the rest in the first place, so on the off chance that you do get kidnapped by Skrulls wanting to take over our planet, we can handle things until we get the inevitable rescue mission planned out." She grins, "Just don't scare the junior agents too much… too many heart attacks and we'll get short-staffed. But if you need me to smuggle you some work, I can probably be convinced. Maybe." She seems to be enjoying this just a /bit/ too much.
*
That makes Peggy's brows climb high up her forehead. "…Be convinced? Hmm… How? Since I know you'll bring me the important files and not just everything from the drawers that goes back to November…" She motions to the stack of files on the rolling side table. Yes, the junior agent literlly just brought the whole drawer for the last few months. "And if I am giving them a heart attack, well, they shouldn't have made it past basic. Consider me natural selection for proper agent material."
*
A soft laugh, and then Carol gives Peggy a wry look, "Well, don't freak out when I tell you what happened to me over the past few months, while you were gone." She grins a bit, but does look a /little/ nervous. Just a bit.
*
That makes Peggy sit up a bit straighter and set the random file aside. Somehow, she manages to make sitting in a hospital bed, in a cotton gown with wires everywhere look commanding. Even almost elegant. She just has that power, that austerity about her. She tilts her head to the side, "You have my full attention."
*
Carol hrms, "Well, I mean, you always knew I had powers, from when I was given over to NASA to watch out for alien influence and sabotage. But I figured out, recently, /how/ I got those powers. Though I'm still puzzling out a bit of the why." She gives Peggy an even glance, pausing a bit as she steels herself to follow through.
*
The look that Peggy is giving Carol says that the brunette knows the blonde is stalling and she's not going to put up with it much longer. Peggy just smirks, brows slightly furrowed, as she waits for Carol to continue. Finally, she actually gives a coaching nod. "Come now, out with it. You know me, I don't like all this dancing around. Are you still loyal to SHIELD? Do you have control of your own brain? As long as that is all true, everything else can be dealt with. OUt with it."
*
Carol coughs, "Apparently I got hit by a Kree, that's another kind of alien, gizmo called a Psyche-Magnetron, and my DNA got spliced with Kree DNA." She blushes a bit, "As far as I can tell, my loyalties and brain matter is still where it should be, though. But I haven't turned blue yet." She blinks, then amends, "Ah, most Kree are blue skinned. Though there are exceptions."
*
"…Kree. The ones that… those who took me hate, yes? They are fighting? I've read something about that here, I think. Or maybe I heard it? Some of the first few weeks with them… it all blends together." Peggy admits with a slightly deeper frown. That's hard for her to admit, but apparently she was awake for some of the time. Captive, questioned, tortured? Who knows. She seems perfectly stable now and not all that much changed from when she disappeared. "…How many people know about this?"
*
Carol hrms. "That the Kree were involved? Coulson, some of the people over at ACT-F that were helping us out… as far as the DNA changes? Just you, me, and the Kree scientist that figured out what exactly DID happen."
*
"…Kree…scientist? Back up. How did you meet a kree scientist?" Peggy sits straighter now, a few monitors clipping along slightly faster than before in her own low hit of adrenaline. Her brain is truly working now, analyzing the situation, the woman across from her, every little detail…
*
Carol pauses, then notes, "He's apparently been working with ACT-F, though I'm not sure how much /they/ know, but he's working against his own people in this regard." She says that much with ironclad certainty before she continues, "He's one of the Kree that… well, looks Caucasian, not blue, so he can infiltrate easier. He's trying to get the other Kree and Skrulls to fight each other and leave us alone, from what I can tell."
*
The director looks a touch non-plussed by all this news, but she hasn't lost her head yet. She just takes in a slow breath through her nose and gives a small nod, "…I'd like to meet this scientist, if possible. I am also curious what makes you think he's fully… reputiable. Why trust anything he says?" This isn't Peggy accusing Carol of anything. This is the director looking for facts, proof… For back up from a good agent.
*
Carol nods, "He gave me the genetic workup that he did, I was waiting for a good time to hand that over to Fitz/Simmons so they could take a look at it. But things have been a little full speed for me to do that just yet." She looks at Peggy, "And… well, he was telling the truth. Or at least he thinks he is, which doesn't mean they couldn't have made him to be an agent provocateur. But I believe him, Peggy."
*
That makes Peggy consider for several more heartbeats, studying Carol's face and now trying to decide just how much she trusts the woman. There is a tension behind her eyes that wasn't quite there before. Finally, she settles on a quiet, "…Please get that genetic work up handed over to Agents Fitz and Simmons as… soon as possible." It's hard. Peggy doesn't want to lose trust in her, but then that was what got her in trouble with Anne…
*
Carol smiles a little, "First thing in the morning, Director." She does notice the look, she's too sharp of an agent not to sense the change, and she does what she always does. Feelings get buried under professionalism, because she learned from the best. The one currently on involuntary bedrest and terrifying the junior agents.
*
"…Carol. Come here." Peggy commands quietly, as she sees that slight deadening in the woman's gaze. She recognizes the turn from emotion to duty. She's done the same change a million times herself. Peggy reaches out her unburdened hand for the woman, offering fingertips and a slightly softer look.
*
Carol bites her lip, then takes Peggy's hand, coming closer as she sighs, "Okay. And… um, oh, the really important news." She gives Peggy a bit of a smile, "I've gone completely dry. For about three months now." It's not that Carol looks at Peggy like a big sister except, well, yes, she DOES totally look at her like that.
*
A quiet squeeze is given to Carol's palm. Peggy's fingertips are still a bit cold, seemingly colder than they should be, but maybe that is just one's imagination. She holds on tight and releases a slow breath, though the next news does get a longer, slightly more proud look from Peggy. "…Hold that thought. First, tell me… when you learned about this Kree matter… how did it change the way you saw yourself?"
*
Carol looks over at Peggy, "It… honestly, it made me feel like everything made sense. I mean, in a flash of light and a collapsing cave, I went from a mild mannered, if elite, secret agent and into some sort of superwoman." She smiles a little, "But it still bothered me, I mean, the how and why always got past me, and now I know. Which makes me feel better in the knowing. But I'm still Carol Danvers, from Boston, hater of the damn Yankees, Air Force Colonel, and the best damn pilot you'll ever find in the cockpit and I don't care if they would never let me fly combat missions." She grins at Peggy, "And I'd never endanger SHIELD, the United States, or you and the other agents. But if they start calling me the Cavalry, May might sue me for infringing on her trademark."
*
Dark eyes remain weighted heavily upon her old friend and agent, Peggy still considering this all. She then gives a slight nod, as if deciding something for herself, "THen, do you think I should change the way I see you?" Yes, this might be the director luring her into a teachable moment. Or it might just be Peggy really trying to feel out her agent for all facets of the situation.
*
Carol glances over, and smiles a bit, "No, it shouldn't." She shakes her head, "You can still make me feel like a rookie at this, you know Peggy?" She sighs a bit, and all that tension that had wound up in her just seems to poof away. Or at least most of it does.
*
A slightly warmer smile cracks through Peggy's features as well, not entirely able to hide the amusement as Carol makes her rookie comment. "Well good, I should be able to. Part-Kree or not, I'm still your director and have quite a few years on you." SHe squeezes Carol's hand one more time, "…as for going dry… Good. I'd never have told you to… You had to want to do it on your own. But… that stuff was killing you. Will kill you."
*
Carol nods, "Yeah, I'm going to weekly meetings. It's just… well, I found that my powers work better with a clear head, and none of that in my veins." She glances at Peggy, "It's one of the reasons I took off when I did on that personal leave. I just wish I was here though, maybe I could have blasted those Skrull creeps before they got to you."
*
A slight nod comes from Peggy, though she frowns just a bit more, "…I'd rather you do it for YOU instead of your powers, you know that? But… however you have found help, I'm proud. If…I can help, at all. ANything. You just say, yes?" Peggy hasn't removed her cool hand yet. If anything, her grip has tightened just a little bit.
*
Carol nods, "Well, yes, I did it for me, not for my powers. But that's a definite side-effect, Peggy, I've… got a lot more mojo than I realized I did." She grins a bit lopsidedly, "Still not enough for a steady boyfriend, but I've gotten used to that." She returns the squeeze, "And you're the first person I'd call, Peggy, you know that."
*
The comment about a steady boyfriend actually gets a little smirk and a half glare down to her rounding stomach, "…I cannot say that going steady is all it's cracked up to be. There are some… difficult side effects, on occasion." Peggy teases before finally letting go of Carol's hand, save the hold get a little bit too awkward.
*
Carol chuckles, "Duly noted. Though it's hard finding a guy that can keep up with me anyway." She grins, "Not that I'm exactly looking… it does get to be a bit hard with my job, after all."
*
That gets Carol a sideways look and a slightly higher brow. Oh, now Peggy is plotting. "Mm… do you need to be put on light duty a few weeks until you manage to nail down a date or two? I think I can arrange this, I know the director…" Oh yes, Peggy would absolutely play match making services for Carol.
*
Carol snickers, "Oh no… I mean, I'd probably end up just sitting around my apartment eating ice cream and watching TV or something." While an amusing image, Carol just shrugs a bit, "If I need the time Peggy, I'll let you know, don't worry. But there's not much point unless something actually comes up." She knows better than to try and dissuade Peggy from matchmaking, but at least she can keep working until someone comes up!
*
"Mm… that Fitz is rather handsome, you know? If a bit shy… Or perhaps a few of the new recruits? I'll see what I can arrange. Perhaps get you paired up on a long stake out mission." Peggy leans back in the bed, eyes dancing with amusement as she plots this matchmaking, probably as much to make her friend squirm as it is because she dislikes seeing Carol alone.
*
Carol blinks, "Fitz? Um, no, definitely not Fitz, not that he's a bad fellow but I'm pretty sure he's got someone else in mind." She shakes her head, holding up her hands, "Just please, if you have to meddle, don't get too out of left field, okay?" She looks a mix of amused and resigned at Peggy's reaction, knowing that the Matchmaking Is Coming.
*
"mm… I suppose. I just don't know that the girl sees it that way. But, fine… I'll have to meet all the new ones first. And I think I can handle not being TOO left field. I do rather know what I'm doing." In spy work, not really in matchmaking, but it's probably not wise to tell the Brit that. She then stifles a bit of a longer yawn, the work and the fact nurses come in every few hours… and still being knocked up, it's enough to actually make her tired, though she'd insist she wasn't.
*
Carol grins, "Alright, time for you to get some rest, Peggy. I'll make sure you get some /real/ work to do, though." She smiles, waving as she makes her way to the door, "Just give me some warning before you send a young, well-tanned agent of dubious morals out with me on an 'assignment,' alright?" She winks at Peggy, then steps out of the room, closing the door behind her.
*