Avengers Training Center, Upstate-ish New York

[heroic_jawline]

The other team's mission had been successful and Tony had insisted they all fly back to the training center upstate to use the extensive decontamination systems he'd installed there. Steve, knowing an olive branch when it was tossed out in a too-casual to actually be casual way, thanked Tony and didn't push it further.

Steve had taken an extensive trip through the exceedingly cold shower and then an even longer nap, and now he was dressed in borrowed Stark Industries sweats and sitting in a conference room for a debriefing with the entire team.

"It's very good to see you again, Colonel Rhodes," he said with a genuine smile.

[NFB and for allll the SP!]

Comments

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"It's good to not be in a tube anymore," Rhodey said, looking maybe a little more shaky than the other one had been. But it was to be expected after everything.

[upthereistheendgame]

Tony was doing the anxious fluttering thing that he would deny to his dying day as he fussed with the coffee maker. "We'll get you all caught up, honey bear," he promised. "Once we sort this whole thing out."

[heroic_jawline]

"What's the last thing you remember?" Steve asked, settling in next to Rhodey, but leaving the other seat open. He knew where Tony would be sitting once he stopped futzing with the coffee.

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"Falling," Rhodey said, not looking at Sam or Vision as he took a sip of the coffee that Tony had shoved at him.

[upthereistheendgame]

"Alright!" Tony said loudly, clapping his hands together to avoid this whole thing right now. "Matter at hand. What to do about the Skrulls and this whole bioweapon thing!"

[heroic_jawline]

"I think they might be two different problems," Steve said, pursing his lips.

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"They are the ones who released it," Vision pointed out, not seeming to feel one way or the other on the matter. "But it was made by the U.S. government."

[heroic_jawline]

"Talos says that this Skrull was a member of their splinter group," Steve said. "I don't have a way of confirming that, though."

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"Well, I can tell you as a parent, I know the tone of yelling at your kid for doing something dumb even if I can't understand the language," Clint chimed in.

Oh yeah, that'd been all kinds of awkward when breeching the room all ready for a fight.

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"Is that what was happening when I woke up?" Rhodey asked.

Look, he'd been out of the loop for so long.

[heroic_jawline]

"Fury didn't tell us about this part," Steve said, leaning in to get the gossip be more fully debriefed.

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"Are you surprised by that?" Natasha asked dryly. Because Natasha had known Fury for so long that almost nothing surprised her about him.

Other than the alien thing.

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"Hey, no one was expecting the cell to be mostly kids. Or whatever the alien equivalent of kids is."

It was still just kids, Clint.

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"I do not believe they were children," Vision said, possibly missing the point of his complaint. "They appeared to be adults by the measure of their species."

[heroic_jawline]

"Ohhh," Steve said. "It makes sense that they're mostly kids. Well, young adults who view this planet as their home and do not want to move from it to another planet, which was what Fury had promised their parents when they showed up as refugees...at some point in our past when Fury had a job where could make promises to aliens."

Twenty years or so ago? Maybe? The timeline was still a little foggy.

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"Well, what do we do now?" Wanda asked. Maybe the refugee thing was hitting a little close to home for her. Maybe it was the doing something unsavory for what you believed was a just cause. It was complicated.

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"Are we quite certain that the biological weapon's release was unintentional?" T'Challa asked. "I can negotiate with an unhappy faction,--" M'Baku certainly gave him practice, "--but not with terrorists."

[upthereistheendgame]

"Fury seemed certain, but we'd be taking him at his word."

Which... eh.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve's face said "eh", too. "Did he know Talos' child was involved in the splinter group?"

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"That Talos guy didn't seem to know, so I want to say no." But then again, it was Fury. Who had some completely secret life. Like Clint and his farm family.

[heroic_jawline]

Clint wasn't married to a Skrull, though! As far as they knew!

Steve nodded thoughtfully. "That might be an avenue to explore, but I think we need to know more about the relationship with Talos. Will we be more appealing because we're not Fury or still bad because we're from this planet?"

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"I could quietly extend an offer for this group to visit," T'Challa said. "I will get a sense of their grievances and how attainable mitigating some of them may be. And if they are truly dangerous--" he gave a little shrug "--not all visitors leave Wakanda."

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"We're not going to kill people for wanting a home," Wanda said with some steel in her tone, only softening slightly as Vision reached over to put his hand on her's.

[heroic_jawline]

"Of course not," Steve said, "but if they want a home that is, say, entirely us-free, there needs to be a conversation." He turned towards T'Challa. "That's not a euphemism. There would be a conversation with words."

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"And what about the DNA Fury had them gather?" Natasha asked. If it was anyone's, it would be Steve's and two people not in the room with them. Possibly not on planet anymore.

[heroic_jawline]

"That bothers me," Steve said. "I can't think of a good reason to keep it and about a thousand ways it'll go badly."

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"Then we keep an eye on him," Natasha suggested. "And have a plan if it goes bad."

You know. Again.

[heroic_jawline]

"When it goes bad," Steve said softly.

He was earnest, but he wasn't naive.

"My husband's fought something called SuperSkrulls, enhanced with that kind of DNA," he said. "It gets bad."

[upthereistheendgame]

"First off, ridiculous name," Tony said, scribbling down notes that were mostly just things to make Rhodey roll his eyes at him. "Second off... Nat on the inside there is a good idea. While we look into the paper trail of this lab. I'm certain Fury has a better idea of where to start looking than us. And probably more access still. Old spy habits dying hard."

[heroic_jawline]

Steve smiled at Tony. "Gonna take a peek too?"

Tonys were gonna Tony, after all.

[upthereistheendgame]

"Nothing wrong with a group project," Tony replied with a little sniff.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve laughed. "Exactly. I'd feel better with your input, too."

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"Mom and dad getting back together is all well and good, but what does that mean for the whole fugitives from the law thing?" Sam asked.

Since that was sort of a pressing matter for him at least.

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"Well, we found a secret government lab where a bioweapon killed dozens of tourists."

Never let it be said Natasha wasn't practical.

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"Are you implying we blackmail the US government?" Rhodey asked incredulously.

Mostly because he didn't really think something like that would even work.

[heroic_jawline]

"I wouldn't call it blackmail," Steve said. "Just a reminder that we're still out here doing the right thing."

With or without their permission, Ross.

[hailhailgangsallhere]

Steve gotta Steve. That much was consistent.

"It's a plan, then."

Which was more than they had before now.

[heroic_jawline]

"We might have more leverage--" for the thing he's not calling blackmail, "--if we find out who gave the orders to weaponized the virus," Steve added.