| The Heart Remembers | |||||
| |||||
| What: Pepper finds out that Tynan is injured, Natasha is in the brig, and both of them plus Bucky Barnes are on the Helicarrier Argus. Cue Angry Worried Pepper. And her tagalong autonomous AI-controlled Iron Man armor. | |||||
It doesn't take long for word to spread through SHIELD; the wayward widow is back on the hellicarrier...though apparently in custody. The rumors say she was aiding the Red Skull to plant a bomb in a subway-- or maybe it was a cake without a bomb? The rumors aren't too clear on that part.
In any case, word is the Skull was also struck down by Captain America, and is also in custody.
They had put the Black Widow in an isolated cell in the brig. That wasn't suprising, given what had transpired. What is suprising, maybe, is that when Natasha awoke, she had not only insisted on remaining in the brig,n she had asked for some pen and paper.
When Tynan's scheduled 'lesson' with Pepper came and went and the young woman never showed, Pepper was understandably worried. She tried to call Miss Morrigan and didn't get an answer. She then tried Natasha, same thing. Even more worried by this point, she tried to reach Barnes. And learned vaguely what had happened. Which prompted her to demand transport to the former assassin's location. Immediately.
Having just arrived and spent about three seconds staring at the man, Pepper insisted the SHIELD agents 'escorting' her about take her to Tynan. The young Widow protege got pretty much identical treatment, and then Pepper's next demand was to speak with Agent Romanoff. Maybe Fury has special dispensation in place for her, or maybe the agents have simply learned better, but they take her to the brig after only a brief hesitation.
Now, as she approaches Natasha's cell, she looks at James and Tynan. It's storytime, children, and this time imagination is NOT encouraged.
James Barnes has been ghosting around the hellicarrier much as he was before the run-in with Skull and Widow, so he at least answers his phone when Pepper calls. He's vague on the details.. he seems almost guarded as he says Widow was undercover..but also doesn't deny SHIELD put her in the brig. He sounds worried.. when he adds that Tynan's phone was probably off because she was in the ER for a neck wound, that probably does little to assuage Pepper's concern.
Whatever the case, he's surprised when Pepper enters the Argus like some sort of business-formal whirlwind, politely ordering SHIELD agents around like interns. He shrugs, and falls in line. He's been wanting to talk to Nattie himself, but after the warning he received.. he'd given some space.
Tynan is in her Widow outfit right now. Its not desc'd yet, but will be sometime soon. She coughs a few times, and does this sheepish moving behind the big man named James technique that she learned from Widow. When its something bad, or involves Pepper, hide behind Cap or James. She rubs her neck bandage, staying hidden behind James.
Natasha Romanov is in her cell, of course. She's facing away from the entrance to her cell, furiously writing down on her notepad. What ever she is writing, she wants to write it down fast, but neatly.
Pepper Potts stops her 'ducklings' just short of Natasha's cell and turns to look at each of them seriously. She focuses on Tynan first. "No talking. No moving your head." She holds up one hand in a fist turned palm-down, then bobs her hand in the ASL sign for a nod. "Use this for yes," then she gestures with the thumb, index, and middle fingers of her right hand thumb-down as if catching something out of the air with chopsticks. "and use this for no." Her eyes turn toward Barnes again, possibly warning him to keep quiet. Shouldn't be that much effort.
"I was told that Natasha was on an undercover mission. Is what's goign on here now related to that mission?"
James Barnes 's expression is largely impassive when Pepper stares him down, and weather Tynan hides behind him or not he returns her gaze calmly. He tilts his head a bit at the ASL, but seems in no hurry to make comment. He does glance in at Natasha though, a brief flicker of worry showing on his features.
"Make way, fleshy SHIELD agent!" The modulated voice of the newest version of Iron Man sounds a lot like the erstwhile Tony Stark. However, no matter how good the programming job might have been, there are still some idiosyncracies that creep up from time to time. For starters, Iron Man tends to speak a bit more formally than Tony did.
And of course, Tony never referred to anyone as 'fleshy', 'meatbag', or even 'human.'
Still, Iron Man's got a high enough security clearance to get onto the Helicarrier, and past the various SHIELD agents guarding the sub-levels. That's extremely fortunate, because Iron Man didn't exactly 'ask' to board, he just kind of... burst through one of the bulkheads.
"Attention, SHIELD! This is a Priority One emergency! All personnel are advised to remain in their quarters and out of my way until I have located Virginia Potts!"
The SHIELD agent on duty looks at Pepper as the redhead woman marches in with an entourage of agents. Well, that was unusual. The man looks to the grunt agents flanking Pepper, who quickly explains what happened. "Well, it's more complicated than tha - What." Yeah, no one's missing that entrance. "...Fucking Stark. Miss Potts, would you deal with that?" He looks on edge, but also highly exasperated.
Pepper Potts is about to address the SHIELD agent guarding the brig when she hears that rather telltale voice. And how she's learned to distinguish the autonomous armor from Tony himself //already//, well, that's for her to know and everyone else to marvel at. "Yes, I'll handle this. But then I'm going to want to talk to Agent Romanoff." And no, that wasn't a request.
She turns and steps toward the Iron Man armor, looking calm but at the same time ready to pull a 'mom voice' if she has to. "Compromising the structural integrity of this aircraft isn't the wisest decision. You know I carry my phone with me, why didn't you just call?" She's still not entirely sure how to address the AI housed in the armor, but she knows using 'Tony' would just be too confusing for everyone.
James Barnes shifts to a ready position at the sound of the bulkhead caving in, having taken a protective step forward when the agents exchange words with Pepper. He turns to her with a raised eyebrow, since she seems to know how to deal with this. It seems to be an impressively running theme with the woman. "Who's that?"
Tynan coughs a few times. "Thats my boss at Stark Industries. I think. Havn't met him, and wait...", Tynan whispers before she looks at Pepper. "Virgina?", she asks. Tynan blinks a few times, qickly realizing the mistake she just made, and quickly starts trying tomake herself look small.
"Virginia Potts. You are in violation of Article 14 of the Stark Directives, which states 'Oh! By the way, I'm going to be gone for a while, so can you, you know... keep on eye on Pepper? I appreciate it, Broseph.' You are therefore ordered to remain within range of my optical scanners at all times!"
One of the agents in the brig looks as if he's about to take a step in Iron Man's direction, but he is quickly dissuaded by the sudden 'K-Tchak!' sound that accompanies Iron Man's shoulder-mounted missile panels opening up. And pointing right at the agent.
"You are all ordered to remain three meters or more from Virgina Potts or I have been authorized to use explosive force to ensure compliance!"
The guards react by backing up slowly, eyes wide. "Fucking Stark." the head guard swears again. Natasha is suddenly not visible in her cell, having taken cover under her cot. "Iron Man, please, calm down..." They're not sure what, exactly, is in the suit, but it's not behaving. "Miss POtts, please dissuade that Iron Man from further damaging and endangering Shield personell..."
James Barnes moves the instant the turret appears, though he aborts his duck to the side when Pepper steps straight forward.. and puts her hand on the turret. His gloved left hand is raised, and ready to crush the weapon if it shows any sign of powering up with Pepper in the way.
Tynan goes into Oh **** mode, and quickly her eyes start to glow, and the tips of her fingers start to glow. In a manner of seconds, she makes several slashing motions with her fingers as SHIELD agents start running down. The woman growls a bit. "Grab what you need from the rifts!", she tells. Those who know Ty's powers would find her arsenal of weapons quickly at their disposal...The woman starts to groan a bit as blood starts to come from her eyes, neck, and the tips of her fingers seem to have smoke coming from them. Tynan has never openned this many rifts before, or summoned this many weapons. The strain is now being physically seen, as the glow in her eyes does not fade...She keeps the rifts open though, as long as the agents need weapons...
"Article 7 of the Stark Directives states 'What? Pepper? Oh totally, do whatever Pepper asks. I mean, unless she asks you to do something I wouldn't like, you know?.... Hm? Oh, you know, something like... let's say she asks you to tell her what I've been up to, or she tells you to hide my gin, or if she asks to see the surveillance tapes from my jacuzzi. You know, stuff like that. Don't do those things. But anything else, sure, listen to Pepper.'"
The weapons systems make audible clicking noises as they retract back inside the armor. "I will comply with your directives. But under no circumstances are you to order me to grant you access to the jacuzzi surveilance videos. I have been authorized to use EXPLOSIVE FORCE if you request access to those files."
Among the agents that start moving down from the decks below were three moving in a tight knit group. All three of them were in rumpled suits, that were haphazardly covered by SHIELD tactical armor, evidently being placed on in the past 5 minutes. Hands reaching over to affix modulators to throats, pulling down balaclavas just as they clear the stairs. They aren't going to take advantage of Tynan's hospitiality, having made a visit to the armory at a run on the way down here. The male and female in the rear, both have six round grenade launchers, and the leader, who does /not/ look happy, carries a drum loaded shotgun.
It's doubtful any of those weapons has regular ammunition in them.
Agent Geiger pipes up in the lead, voice distorted but powerfully speaking from the diaphram like a soldier who'd worked with it for a while. "What. The. /FUCK/. Is going on here?" He yells. And he... for better or worse, seems to be glaring at Pepper and the Iron man suit next to her. A hand comes up to signal Barnes and Tynan to fall in on his left and right flank, to form up a line in front of him. "We've got a bulkhead breach and this tin man brandishing weapons on a SHIELD helicarrier. So I want answers, and assurances. And before you ask, Ms. Potts, yes, I know who you are. And if you have a possible follow up, I don't particularly care at the moment."
One of the guard agents comes over to Tynan, helping support the mutant woman. "Calm down Agent Morrigan. It looks like the Iron Man is standing down..." He sounds geniunely worried for her, as the other guards eye the machine warily. When Gieger's unit comes in, everyone kind of relaxes slightly. The main guard gives a terse but succinct summary of what happened, leaving out the part that Pepper was here to see Romanov.
Pepper Potts manages to not breath an audible sigh of relief when the Iron-AI puts the missiles away again and -- even though it's a close one -- she also refrains from rubbing her forehead at the mention of the jacuzzi. "I can reassure you, I will //never// ask for the jacuzzi footage." And then the three suit-and-kevlar-vest agents appear and the leader of the trio begins shouting to beat the drill sargeant from Full Metal Jacket. And now she does sigh. And then turns to look at Geiger. "This was a misunderstanding, Agent. This Iron Man's operating guidelines indicated that I was to be monitored at all times," and thank you so much for that, Tony, "but misinterpreted the figure of speech 'keep an eye on'. I promise, there will be no further incidents, and I'll arrange to have that bulkhead repaired immediately."
Then, very deliberately, Pepper reaches and takes the Iron Man armor's hand in hers like she's going to start leading around a particularly gigantic child. This is reminding her of Dummy's early days, when he was all enthusiasm and eagerness to please paired with too much mechanical strength and almost zero comprehension of idiomatic human speech.
"Now, may I please speak with Agent Romanov?"
James Barnes looks between the suit as it stands down, and the arriving SHIELD team with a tension to his stance. He finally glances to Pepper as if seeking her approval before he actually steps over to close ranks with Geiger and his people. He catches Tynan by the arm as he does, and whispers to the glassy-eyed Irishwoman, "Look alive, we're standing down for now." though the bleeding from her face is more than a little concerning..
Tynan nods her head to the agent and James. The rifts close, and she shakely makes her way to the line, keeping her hand near her pistol. Her body is shaking a bit. The woman sighs a bit as she stands at attention, ready to react. She's not saying much right now...
The Hollow Iron Man suit was designed to be an all-purpose ultimate solution to any problem the Avengers might encounter. The lack of a human pilot has allowed Stark to cram more weaponry, more armor, and more artificial musculature into the thing than any of his previous suits. So it's no exaggeration to say that the robotic hand that Pepper is taking could crush coal into diamonds. But, in compliance with the (unfortunately worded) Stark Directives, it actually holds her hand as gently as the child she seems to be reminded of.
But just because Iron Man isn't reacting to the agents and their weapons, that doesn't mean he doesn't notice. His head turns, as if he's assessing a threat, but then his modulated voice takes on an almost cartoonish quality: The pitch that Tony always used to take when he was making a big sales presentation.
"Are you tired of using Last Year's Starktech? UPGRADE TO OUR PLATINUM PACKAGE! You'll be afforded the very latest in Starktech explodey goodness, straight from my brain to your hands! I'll just need you add a few billion dollars to our current contract, Fury! Come on... you know you wanna..."
Geiger turns his head as the main guard describes exactly what's gone down. Between that and Pepper's explination of the situation, Geiger gives a small hand signal, his own two people lowering their weapons to go down to assault slings. "That helps, Ms. Potts. I'd expect you to be good for the damage, but please understand that, while I respect your promise, it's simply not going to be enough for me to let you walk around with an armorer, overzealous robot you can't control." He says.
Turning his head, he gives a few quiet words to his team, who both, after a long long at Pepper and her guardian, move back over to the stairs, the female taking Geiger's combat shotgun. "You can talk with the rest of us here. I've been meaning to have a talk with her anyway. Agent Morrigan, Mr. Barnes, you're on station with me until that titanium golem is off this ship. Clear?"
Martin also seems relitively unimpressed by the sales pitch. "I prefer Hammertech." Oh, Ouch.
At Gieger's words, the brig guard takes one more glance at the Iron Man, before stepping over to Natasha's cell. "Agent Romanov. You have visitors. And the Iron Robot or whatever seems to be under control, now." The red head woman barely acknowledges the guard, but she does sit down on her cot, resuming writing on her notepad.
Leading the Iron Toddler along, Pepper moves back toward Natasha's holding cell. And yes, she levels the sort of glare at Geiger that would probably make Tynan pee herself if she were the focus.
"Nat? It's Pepper. How are you doing? I'd have been here sooner, but I just heard about this." Well, she heard about the whole fiasco with the Red Skull, but it was understandably kind of thin on details about who all was involved. She look at the woman inside the cell, as if trying to gauge if she's truly all right, or just pulling up that 'everything's okay' facade that she used rather a lot when she worked for Pepper.
James Barnes glances to Geiger with a chilly look of his own and replies, "We're not going anywhere while that's around." nodding to the armor Pepper is leading by the hand. He seems to have decided he's allowed to speak for the ailing Tynan on this point despite her actually being an official member of SHIELD, though while his hand on her arm has become supportive should her shaking turn to further weakness, he's not actually holding her if she does choose to go with Martin. He does ask though, "What the hell is it?" he's still watching the tableau at the cell-- Pepper, the robot and Natasha, though he stays back for the moment.
After a few more moments, Tynan seems to settle down a little bit. "I'm fine. Just never pushed my mutant abilities to their full strength before. I'm still working on the fact that did an Avenger just break through the back door, and aimed a missile at people? Or was I in La La land, with morphine in my system?", she asks. THe woman shakes her head a little bit. "Cause its its the morphine...I need to so be off this stuff, cause its not a fun trip...ow..."
The docile (for now) giant seems content to follow where he's lead. After all, he IS adhering to the instructions he was given. Pepper isn't getting out of his sight, all is good. However, he seems to be a bit unsure how he should handle the suspicious looks he's getting.
"Never fear citizens! I am IRON MAN! I enjoy loud rock music, alcohol, sexual intercourse, and ethnic foods! But my father didn't give me the emotional support I craved..."
When in doubt, announce yourself over the loudspeakers located in your chest. It worked for the original Iron Man, though the new model's greeting protocol could probably use a little bit of work.
"Nat? Accessing file: Romanoff, Natasha. From Russia. 9 out of 10. Natural hair color: Results Inconclusive."
Geiger gives a nod to Barnes and Tynan... well, he does at least give a somewhat concerned look under the mask to the fact that she's bleeded. "Good. Stick with me. And don't worry, Morrigan. Either this isn't a morphine trip or you have a latent power to psychically create..." He trails off. "You know what? I'm not going to jinx it." See, a little humor does wonders in defusing a situation. Never mind that he has a hand gripping the depleted uranium machine pistol he has at a belt on his waist.
He doesn't seem react much to Pepper's glare (or is trying not to), facing over to Natasha in the cell, herself. He was crossing his arms, staying silent, obviously waiting for an answer. Let someone else lead the interrogation, as it were. Come up with a few different questions to add in. At least Pepper could do something beyond ensure the helicarrier lasted a few extra minutes.
A quick glance over to the robot blasting out his idenity. "Oh, wonderful. I really hope the bugs are working in here. I'm getting a lot of mileage from that line."
Natasha Romanov looks up as Pepper addresses her - and doesn't snark at the Iron Robot. Oh dear, that's not a good sign. "Pepper."The woman blinks a couple of times. "I'm... I'm not safe for anyone here. Not yet, anyway. I have to finish writing everything down before I forget." she says cryptically. "She's still sleeping, and when she wakes up she'll forget me."
"Hanging in there for now?" the voice is Barnes' addressing Natasha with a tense frown. "The way you were talking before, and with the notes you left.. I thought you might already be gone."
Tynan wavers for a second. "H-hey...I think I'm going to go to the infirmry. Sorry, but I'm not doing too well here. May I be excused here?", she asks. Yes, Tynan is asking for permission. Why? Cause Pepper is in the room, and Tynan has learned that Manners keep her from getting the Death Pee Glare of doom...That and keeping her feet on the floor, and not on the table...
"Updating File: Romanoff, Natasha. From Russia. 9 out of 10. Natural hair color: Inconclusive. Enjoys writing prose fiction. Spelling: Within normal human parameters."
Still holding Pepper's hand, Iron Man doesn't have much to contribute. He has no actual memories of Natasha, and certainly doesn't feel any sort of friendship or connection. He merely has a brief entry that Tony hurriedly added to his programming before he vanished.
Martin Kavanaugh speaks up before Tynan can get a response from Pepper. "You're cleared. Get that looked at. Keep a gun handy. An actual gun in /this/ reality." He mentions, continuining to face Natasha. "You have use concerned, Romanov. What your saying, esspecially, concerns me. Normally I'd say you'd be perfectly safe, but I know you, and I know this cell. Whose sleeping? Why do you have to get as much information down before she... wakes up?" Crossed arms. Undercover for that long, reports of working with Hydra... a split personality to mantain a cover? It was possible... but, then again, who was the one that would wake up and forget about the other?
Natasha Romanov glances at James, and nods. "It's hard. But I know a lot that needs to be remembered. What Marlowe did and said..." She shudders a bit, looking over at Gieger in appearent confusion for a moment. "It's complicated. James can explain what happened. But I can tell you, Natasha is safe. I kept her safe from HYDRA."
Making a mental note to sit this AI down (figuratively, not literally) and have a long talk with him about what's okay to prattle on about and what's not because heaven knows he would not have gotten a proper guide from Tony, Pepper avoids disrupting what Natasha's telling James by silently tightening her grip on the armored hand she's holding.
When Tynan asks permission to return to Medical she looks at the young woman and offers her a smile and a nod since Agent Gieger started speaking up first. She resolves to check in on the young woman again before leaving to head back to the Tower. Then, she looks at James briefly for keeping focused on Natasha and remembering some useful details before turning back to the woman in the cell.
...Wait. She said Natasha is safe. "I'm sorry, you mentioned Marlowe, and just now you said you can keep Natasha safe from HYDRA." Her eyes flick toward James again in concern. "May I ask your name, please?" Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! We're officially heading into Sybil territory here.
James Barnes grimaces, but nods to Natasha.. if she's writing things like that down, it means she didn't nab the bastard. "If you think it's important, you should do it."
The man who was himself in that cell not more than a couple months ago turns to look to Geiger, an expression of distrust still leveled at the masked man. "..You do that, I'll fill them in on what I can."
James Barnes supplies to Pepper with a tight sound to his voice, "She is the Widow, just not SHIELD's Widow."
"Updating File: Romanoff, Natasha. From Russia. 9 out of 10. Natural hair color: Inconclusive. Enjoys writing prose fiction. Spelling: Within normal human parameters. Suffers from moderate to extreme psychosis, paranoid delusions, and obsessive compulsive disorder. Also, doesn't take proper care of her nails. Recommendation: Acrylic overlays."
It's almost as if Tony removed every single filter from the new Iron Man's operating system. Perhaps he was hoping that people would find the new Iron Man so annoying that they'd be excited when Tony finally came back? Or perhaps he just ran out of time when writing the program.
Either way, Iron Man is missing quite a bit of backstory, and doesn't quite seem to have a grasp of the context.
"Conducting internet search for 'licensed therapists in the New York area'... eliminating all therapists who cost less than... pausing."
Iron Man's head slowly turns, until he's staring directly down at Pepper. "Virginia Potts! Your sodium levels are outside of optimal parameters. You will ingest organic matter as soon as possible. Conducting new internet search for 'Pretzel Stand.'"
Geiger turns to the robot standing their, scowling. "Potts, if you can't shut that thing down, at the very least shut him /up/." That's almost coming out as a growl from the modulator at his neck. Perhaps the fact that he was hiding his actual idenity was contribting to that distrust. Or maybe it was the standard distrust for someone who, when Barnes annouced exactly who the women in front of them might be, his hands gripping on the sidearm. "So. This is... someone else." He says. Working for meaning for someone who doesn't quite understand what's happening, but is /somewhat concerned/ about it. "If you're keeping her safe, that will... hold us. For now. Write down what you need to write down, then. We'll monitor from video feeds so we have a back up." And make sure that there wasn't some very odd code contained in the writing, of course.
The woman in the cell nods to James's comments, and to Gieger. "I'm the one who remembers what she forgot." she says. "When Natasha first came to SHIELD, she couldn;t remember most of her past. That let her make a new life. I'll protect that. She deserves her happiness. When I am done writing down what needs to be remembered, I will die, fading back into her mind." She seems almost scared by the prospect. "But that's okay."
Pepper Potts is already reaching to put a hand over the lower part of the armor's faceplate, where a mouth would be if the AI were a human before Gieger gets all snarly about the lack of processor to vocoder filter, and then turns and levels that Death Pee Glare (as Tynan so aptly named it) at the man again. "Shh, please," she tells the autonomous armor. "Don't offer any more information until I ask you to, okay?"
And then she returns her attention to the woman in the cell. She spent a good amount of time around the assassin turned SHIELD agent a while back, and did her nerdy research at that time. Natasha is the family familiar informal version of Natalia, and the proper Russian suffix for a girl child's family name is missing. So, she ventures a guess. "Natalia Romanova, we'll make sure you're honored for what you're doing here. And we'll make sure Natasha remembers."
James Barnes nods soundly to Pepper's assertion, agreeing completely with the sentiment. He's not sure what Pepper was thinking when she first stormed onto the Argus and rounded them all up.. but he thinks she understands now why things are as they currently are.
"You won't be gone." Barnes insists quietly. "Not really. Even if you're different, even if the mind forgets.."
"There is a pretzel stand approximately..." A small white hand gets slapped over what would be Iron Man's mouth, and although his actual voice emanates from the speakers in his chest, he still gets the message. But more importantly, he complies. "Fine. But after this, I'm taking you out for dinner, Virginia Potts."
Tony left out the filters, but left in the sense of entitlement, it seems. And like any child, he doesn't see any reason not to turn what should be a solemn occasion into a travesty. But fortunately, thanks to Pepper, he's content to wait silently.
There's... not much that Geiger can say to the... woman sitting inside that cell. Someone he's heard of, certainly, but not someone he knows. At the moment, he can simply look stoic, nodding curtly as she annouces what's to be come of her. "I'm not a man easily convinced... Natalita. BUt you have some important people speaking for you. If those are your objectives, and you mean them, then I can't do much more than watch and catalogue. I'll keep someone posted here in case you need anything."
He turns for a moment, looking to Barnes. "I'll have someone posted down here, but I think you'd probably want to agument them. That's not a problem. As I said. I am not a man whose easily convinced, but I'm sure you know what we're capable of if you wanted to try something.
And then over to the Pepper and her metallic humanoid puppy. "Stay as long as you want, as well. Hell, with that thing and the AD going to bat for you, I don't think I could kick you off this ship if I wanted to. If you're moving elsewhere, though, the guy I send down will have some proper ID badges. Put them on, wear them, and for Fury's sake, don't blow anything else up. Clear?"
"Alianova." The redheaded woman smiles faintly, sadly. "Before I was taken by the Red Room, my family name was Alianova. It's just one of the many things stolen from me... From us." She seems touched by Pappers words, looking grateful. "You must be one of her dear friends. She's lucky to have you."
At James's words, she blinks, and becomes noticably misty-eyed. "The heart remembers." She finishes his statement. "I'm the one who told you that, Uchitel. But... I guess you're right. Even if I'm scared." She looks over to Gieger, nodding respectfully. "I know Natasha's with capable and good people. I'm glad. I'll be able to rest easy. But I still have work to do."
Alianova. Pepper is sure to remember that. "You've earned it back and then some. And I count myself lucky to count Natasha in any form as a dear friend." Another mental note added here: Get JARVIS to look into requesting official US citizenship for one Natalia Alianova, formerly of Russia.
She looks over at Geiger again, and this time seems less frustrated with the g-man. "Thank you. I do want to go check in on Morrigan again, but I'll be sure to let someone know when I'm ready." She's not planning on leaving Natalia here alone. Iron Broseph might have to settle for dinner being something brought down from the Argus' kitchen facilities.
James Barnes doesn't recognize Geiger for the harried but capable man from the SHIELD base where he deposited the jet-pack and the wounded child. He sees only the faceless SHIELD commander that he is meant to see.. and he doesn't look like he has any love lost for the type. But he does give a short nod of acknowledgement. "..I'll stick around." he agrees. Not like they don't know anywhere the outsider might go on this tub anyways..at least as long as he doesn't start systematically disrupting things as he did the time he broke out forcibly a couple months before. But since his return he's played by their rules and stayed where they can see him, at least so far. He leans against the wall by Natalia's cell, and nods to Pepper. "I'll be here if you wanna stop by later and chat." he tells her in a far less brusque tone.
Geiger ives a look to Natalia for one more moment. A women who would die soon so a friend could live free. He wished he could be touched. He'd probably think on it later... but couldn't, now. It was a damned shame, but there was the mask, and then there was without the mask, and he was wearing the mask now. So it was a curt nod over to her. "All right, then. Good luck, and get it done." The best he can do, before acknowleging Pepper and Barnes. "Thank you, both. Just make sure we don't upset the apple cart any more, all right?" A bit of a matching look to James. He still didn't tust someone like him on this ship, but he wasn't lying. If he tried anything, they'd be able to handle it. Hopefully.
"Call if you need anything." He finally says, before moving to the ladder to the deck above, to actually finish the work he started when he came up there. Preferably without the mask.