1964-05-09 - Sinister Purpose, Part 3: Gotta go to Madripo'
Summary: Steve meets with Carol and Kai to figure out where the trail leads next.
Related: If there are no related logs, put 'None', — please don't leave blank!
Theme Song: None
carol kai steve 


Steve put in a call to someone who knows a lot about this sort of thing. Something didn't make sense in what he was reading and he needed some information. He'd encountered Carol once or twice around SHIELD, held her in high esteem, and reached out to her to get her to come down to the mansion and get her opinion on what he was looking at.

The Mansion doesn't really look any better as plans continue to formulate as how to best make this place livable. There's one room that looks pretty "lived" in, though. There's a sofa and a coffee table, a pair of lamps that all sit a few feet from a gargantuan, unlit fireplace. Steve likes how the wind sometimes brings a chill through it as he works. He thinks it keeps him on his toes and awake.

*

Well, when Captain America asks you to come over to consult, you come over to consult. Especially given his history with SHIELD in the first place. So, Carol Danvers came over, looking a bit nonplussed as she walks alongside Steve, in civilian clothes as she explains, "Well, Captain, I'm not quite sure why you'd want me… I mean, I got placed on administrative leave for all the recent problems that happened." With that, she snorts a bit, "Not exactly a ringing endorsement." She sounds rather irritated, though not at Steve so much as the situation in general with SHIELD.

*

Kai answers the call, even though lately the result of which has landed him reading through boxes of papers. Yet he shows up still. That's dedication! He brings his little dog with him, too. He carries Kevin in under one arm, and the dog, a sad, ratlike precursor to a purse dog, looks around from this vantage, one ear perked up and the other flopped over. "Hullo," Kai says as he comes in. He ambles over to the couch with a certain 'at-home' vibe, then pauses as he sees Carol. "Oh! Hello. It's you."

*

"Yeah, well," Steve begins as he moves to the sofa, "SHIELD also hired a bunch of Nazis, so I'm taking what they do with a grain of salt," Steve says as he raises an eyebrow at her and grins slightly. He nods to Kai and doesn't seem to have any problem with the dog. He's more interested in the paperwork. "What I noticed is here," he shows Carol. "The explosives are all the normal napalmy stuff. But then there's this." The documentation shows trace amounts of Mussaenda glabra Vahl. "I've never heard of it, but the same amounts were found in evidence of all three explosions. That tells me it's not a coincidence."

*

Carol nods, "Well, Buc… er, James, repeatedly denied involvement, and I believe him in that regard." She hrms, "Definitely not a coincidence, and it is a pretty solid link to whoever may have actually set the explosives. Mussaenda Glabra Vahl…" She taps a finger on the paper, looking thoughtful. Then she looks over at Kai, "Yes, it's me. Please tell me you upgraded." To a better boyfriend, no doubt.

*

Kai puts Kevin down. The little dog scuttles first over to Steve, sniffing his feet, then he wiggles his way over to Carol, tail going a mile a minute. Hello, people! Happy dog is here! He shows no hesitation buddying up to the woman Kai eyes with mild consternation. He sits on the floor cross-legged on the floor and eyes the paperwork. He draws a deep breath. Back into the fray. "I believe him too," he tells Carol. He shakes his head, then. "No, I'm sticking with the original model. It has a lot to recommend it."

*

Steve lifts the lids on an old green Coleman cooler as his other dog reaches down to pet the animal. He fishes through some fresh ice for some beer and offers one to Carol before Kai. Chivalry and all that. "I've been researching and I know that it's local to Asia, but I can't figure out why the residue of an Asian plant might be included in an explosive in New York." He pauses, fishing out a beer for Kai, should the young man want it. "And I believe him too. More because the evidence doesn't make any sense. I believe he shot me, but don't believe he had anything to do with those vans."

*

Carol winces and shakes her head, "No thanks." She looks at the beer for a moment, then taps a finger, "Asian plant… where, specifically?" Her eyes flicker between Kai and Steve, "Admittedly, botany isn't my specialty, though I'm fairly familiar with Chinese operations." She hmms, looking thoughtful as she absently fishes a treat from her purse, dropping it for Kevin to nomnom.

*

Kai takes the offered beer. "Thanks, hep cat," he says. He watches Carol give Kevin a treat, and he shakes his head, amused. Kevin shows his loyalty by snapping up the treat and fling in with Carol. She now has a little wiry-haired shadow. "Bad dog," Kai says, but he says it in a pleasant tone. One that makes the dog's tail wag. Kai looks between Carol and Steve. "So who has access to this stuff in the amounts there would've been with the explosives?"

*

"Some place called Madripoor. I wanted to research it, but I'm not really part of SHIELD anymore. Don't feel comfortable knocking on the door and asking. I don't think it's a bad time to remind you guys that I only had an 8th grade education. I probably wouldn't even be able to find Madripoor on a map," Steve admits. He's a bit hard on himself. Pretty much everyone got an 8th grade education back then and went to work. "More of a European geography sort of guy," he adds.

*

Carol blinks, "Madripoor. Well, that's basically a hive of scum and villany." She nods, "No real laws, aside from what you can make on your own. I swear every other person there works for some sort of intel agency, too. But I don't know if you heard… I'm kinda on the outs right now, so I don't know if I can score any tickets to do an investigation on site. Remember, even though I'm still getting a paycheck for now, it's that of a government employee." She hmms, "Though, I suppose I could do a little digging around and see where the front companies are, and who they are for…"

*

Kai takes a drink of his beer and takes up some of the many papers there are to go through. "Don't worry about it, man, I didn't even get an education in this world." For as much as he drags his feet and looks absolutely tortured when it comes to the paperwork, once he starts reading, his youthful features come over all serious and attentive. "You're on the outs?" he asks. Meanwhile, Kevin sits on Carol's foot and looks up at her. Hello.

*

"Well, since you're on leave, I'm figuring you can join me and the rest of the Avengers in going to this place. Shake things up a little bit. See what we can find." Steve looks to Kai to make sure he's in. He didn't check beforehand.

*

Carol glances over at Kai, "Apparently, prisoners vanishing from their cells without much of a trace and then trying to kill Captain America is never good for one's career." So yeah, she still thinks a certain trickster got what was coming to him. Then she looks at Steve, "The Avengers? Well, yeah, I can. Um, you know about my resume then?" She tilts her head, somewhat curious… her powers aren't really a secret in SHIELD, but she's not exactly advertised them either.

*

Kai's brow furrows. "That's terrible," he tells Carol. "I'm sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. But why put you on the outs? It's not your fault." He puts down the papers he's reading through to look at her. "At least you'll be able to fight the good fight with us." He smiles at her. He gives Steve a thumbs up. Kevin's drawn to the movement and comes over to Kai, who scratches him behind his ears.

*

"I know enough to know we could use you," Steve says as he raises his eyebrow at Carol. He didn't realize that Kai was involved in all of this somehow. Rather than push, he merely leans back in the sofa and lets the two talk, seeing if he can pick up anything.

*

Carol grins, "Alright, my boyfriend will be sad, but I'm sure he'll stay out of trouble for a few days." She nods, and looks wryly at Cap, "Geez, you think I can turn down a pitch from you? I'm in." Then she looks over at Kai, "Yeah, your heart was in the right place. But I don't regret socking him one bit." What /that/ means, she doesn't clarify, though she nods at Kai, reaching down to scritch Kevin.

*

Kai regards Carol with a kind of puppyish sadness Kevin could learn a few tricks from. "I know it doesn't make any difference in the long run, but he didn't mean for this to happen." Not that he would've cared, and maybe that's why Kai says noting about whether Carol should regret it or not. He turns that doleful look to Steve. "Loki and I are close friends. He didn't mean anything malicious about letting Bucky out. He's just not the apologetic sort. Gods don't tend to be."

*

"Loki let Bucky out?" Steve asks, learning everything here by bits. But rather than really sound judgmental or incredulous, it just sounds like he asks for more information. "And you hit him?" he asks Carol. Nope, nothing to see here. Just digging for information.

*

Carol nods, "I did a little snooping around Kai's apartment, not that I knew who he was at the time… still don't, really." She gets a bit of a wry grin, "Didn't know he was… wait, Loki? Like, God of lies and trickery and general jackassery Loki?" She peers at Kai, then snorts, "I probably should have hit him harder. Er, sorry, but he was being pretty much a complete ass and avoiding any responsibility for what he did."

*

Kai shrugs and says, "He's a god. They don't perceive things the way mortal beings do." He frowns faintly. "He's also Loki, the Silver-Tongued, Loki the Clever." He gives Kevin more ear scratches behind the ear, and the dog wags happily. As far as he's concerned, this is another best day ever. After a drink of beer, Kai says to Steve, "Remember how I said Bucky being let out was my fault? It's because I told Loki I missed Bucky. So he brought him to me."

*

"You have that much control over an Asgardian?" Steve asks with a raised eyebrow. "You two have a long history or something?" His blue eyes go to Carol quickly before coming back to Kai.

*

Carol smirks a bit, "They have a history of sorts, that much I could tell. But yeah, he also threatened to murder all the agents in the SHIELD HQ if we didn't let him take Bucky and go. Considering he just appeared in the cell, we didn't have time to sound an alert before he poofed off." She still sounds a bit bent out of shape about that… Kai should definitely get a different and-one to any Avengers Social Events in the foreseeable future.

*

Kai grins, despite himself, and he rubs the back of his neck as he says, "I don't know that I'd call it control. We're close. He just wanted to cheer me up." To Carol, he points out, "He's very good to me. I'm just watching more carefully how I word certain things." He regards Carol for a moment, then says, "I know you're angry with him, but please reconsider antagonizing the Asgardians. There's no wisdom in it."

*

"Well, in the future, I think my neck will appreciate it if you don't have Loki break him out again," Steve replies as he tries to get the conversation back on track. "I'll discuss transportation with Crystal. We'll head to Madripoor as soon as we can get ready."

*

Carol sighs, "Fine. No punching gods, unless they /really/ deserve it." Of course, this is Loki we're talking about. Then she looks at Cap, and nods, "Alright, let's get this going so we can try and get Bucky cleared of the bombs."

*

Kai tells Steve, "Oh yes, definitely. No more letting Bucky out. He knows I'm much happier knowing Bucky's safe where he is." His brow knits as he considers Carol. "I just don't want to see anyone get hurt. My parents crossed them once." He takes another drink, then, "Once." Then he asks Steve, "Will all of us be going to Madripoor? This is exciting."

*

"Anyone who can make it," Steve says in reply to Kai. "Still working on the Quinjets, so we'll probably have to take the big dog." Steve sets his beer down. Now that it's been decided, he's got to get to work.

*

Carol nods, "Need a hand with the heavy lifting, Steve? I'm pretty handy with a plane, you know." She grins, "I mean, technically, don't I outrank you… since I'm a Colonel?" Her eyes dance a bit, as if that thought just occurred to her.

*

Kai gets to his feet and says, "You know me, Cap, anything I can do to help." Kevin noses around. Kai says. He scoops up his little dog. "What do you want me to do while you rally the troops?" His features are faintly pained as he asks, "More reading?"

*

"Take a nap," Steve says as he stops and looks over his shoulder on the way out of the room. "You're going to need it." And then, his eyes trail to Carol, "Yeah, good luck pulling rank out there in the field."

*

Carol actually grins at Steve, "Wow, that Super Soldier stuff really took out your sense of humor, Cap. Glad I just got exposed to alien gizmos instead." She smiles, looking to be in a good mood as /something/ is getting done that she's involved with, "I should head back to my place, then, but I'm coming with you guys when you go, even if I'm not an Avenger."

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