Summary:Thor goes looking for the person who's supposed to be helping Steve and ends up having a physical himself. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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It's quiet in Jemma's lab for the moment. Well, it usually is. Usually there's only the hum and buzz of machines as the biochem works. Sometimes there's the sound of something more mechanical, but not today. Today it's just Jemma, standing before her workbench manipulating an image on the 3D hologram above it.
In the laboratory there are any number of systems operating, lights flashing, read out reports streaming lines of data across what displays are currently in use by the scientist. She might also notice another stream of information as a text message is sent her way, composed of quick and furtive words as a co-worker in another lab down the hall likely tries to give her a heads up.
There's even a brief moment when a seemingly beleaguered Agent enters the area and lifts his voice, "Agent Simmons?" Agent Nickels says as he seems to come to a halt and catch his breath. "I tried to tell him you were busy…"
But that's all the time he has before a loud boisterous voice is heard in the depths of the Triskelion that is rarely graced with its acoustic resonance. "These are the halls of knowledge then!"
Not that he is loud, nor that he is in particular yelling. More that most people in the area where they know delicate research is being conducted develop a hushed tone out of courtesy for others. And Thor has not developed that yet.
And then there he is, standing tall in her doorway, jeans, t-shirt, hoodie, hair pulled back in a rough looking pony tail. Then his sea-blue eyes fall upon Jemma at the direction by Nickels, the other agent totally selling her out as Thor clearly makes him uncomfortable.
"And you would be…" A brief pause as his eyebrows lift slightly, "Lady Simmons. I would have words with thee."
"Tell who, what?" Jemma looks up, she's only just seeing the message as Nickels arrive. "Agent Nickels?" beat "Oh, I see. I suppose he's been in to see Agent Rogers, then."
It's resigned, Jemma's tone is as she waits for the Lord of Thunder to appear.
"This is the Science Wing and I'll thank you to keep your voice down, Thor." She says as the man enters, standing her ground right next to the bench. "It's *AGENT* Simmons and what would you be having words with me about? How many do you have a budget for?"
He draws up short for a moment. Her conversational sortie causing the great man to pause as his brow knits for a brief instant, then he reembarks on his efforts, not to be deterred so easily. "Lady Agent Simmons." He corrects, the words running together slightly and his voice lowered. "Forgive my tone then if it fits not your environs, but know that I will not be dissuaded from my efforts."
Thor steps across the room and nods to her sternly, "I will know the why of Captain Rogers' captivity and what is being done to aid such a worthy." He then turns and starts to look around her place of research, examining the 3D display and making a small 'hm' sound to himself. He taps a screen with a fingertip as he ponders…
Then he turns back to her, "And I have been told you are the one to which I should speak. Thus, I would bid you speak."
At least that slowed the big man down and big he is. Jemma has to look up as Thor speaks. When his finger taps the screen she firmly takes his hand with her cybernetic one and moves it away. "You are forgiven. Please don't touch the equipment."
It's all so even and controlled.
"The why of Captain Rogers captivity. You mean, the fact he's in a detaining cell. What is it you suggest we do with a man who turns into a Werewolf possessed of Super Soldier strength and healing? "
Again the brow furrows, but then he redoubles his efforts as he rounds to her fully, resting his hands upon his hips and leveling his gaze downward with a gaze most stern. "I understand the need, and the good captain does indeed seem to be comfortable in his place of holding. But a cell is still a cell despite the need, and so I would see him freed by way of returning him to himself."
That said he gestures with one hand to the side, "And I am told you are the one to do so. I would aid thee, though I know you likely need not a foe vanquished there are other tasks suitable for Odin's Son." He looks to the side in the direction of the elevator he used to descend down to this level, likely thoughts drifting in Steve's direction, then back to her.
"And the resources of Asgard are not inconsiderable. We have the Wolf-Kin of Vanaheim, perhaps they may be of some use."
"We are taking good care of Agent Rogers." Jemma answers "And when we are sure he won't shift again soon, he'll be released. I expect that to be soon. As to cures, I'm told the Loup Garou curse has its basis in magic and that it's possible a Scientific cure may never work."
The biochem brushes her hair back from the face and moves to take a seat of the stool at the bench. "And what tasks do you think are suitable for an Odin's Son?" beat "Wolf-kin? Are they Loup Garou and afflicted by this curse?"
"Nay," Thor answers the latter question before the first, "They are a folk descended of storied blood, capable of becoming the wolf or of the man." He nods slightly, then lets his gaze slip to the side as his thoughts distance, contemplative. A rare look for Thor. "Yet there are those among them that have traveled far."
He looks back to her, "It is possible they have met and dealt with such an illness and their magic is strong. Perhaps it may be of use."
That said he steps across the room and crinkles his nose, frowning to himself as he once again casually starts to pick up a clipboard and look at it, but remembering the admonishment he received he stops in mid-motion and plays off the movement like a faint pat-pat to his hip.
"As for your former question, Lady Simmons." He turns back to her, "I know not. A magical solution at need, I may be of use if some task must be performed, some item gained. For there is little that I cannot overcome."
Then he looks at her with a slight twist to his lips, the first hint of self-deprecation as he adds, "Though. My brothers would likely disagree."
"Yes, they are and something that I thought a myth until recently." Jemma answers quietly. "Perhaps you could question these Wolf-Kin and see if there is one who knows anything and would be willing to work with me here…"
It's possible but Jemma's not really sure the probability is high.
The biochem does manage to smother the smile that comes to her when Thor taps his hip. Yes she saw that aborted action.
"I will keep in mind, Thor. Right now, I'm working on the Science aspect of this. Steve and Bucky are looking for the creature that bit him."
"Very well!" His voice rises again, though not quite as strongly as before. He gives her a firm nod and then lifts a hand to point at her, "I have my task before me, I shall away and find what the learned folk of Vanaheim may know, and then return."
That said he turns away, clearly ordering his thoughts as he moves toward the door, reflecting on what she said and how he should present it in turn. He pauses in the doorway and then asks, "The Loup Garou curse." He nods somewhat thoughtfully and then holds up a hand as if to stay any objection before closing it and lowering it back to his side.
"You shall hear from me again, Agent Simmons." There, got it right that time. And with that he turns and starts back down the hall, Nickels seeing him emerge he runs off to quickly trot after the Thunderer, leaving Jemma finally back to tend to her work.
"Do that and if you can return with one here. I suspect they won't know."
"Call me Jemma, Thor. Not Lady Simmons. Or Agent Simmons. Just Jemma."
Watching the big blonde leave, she shakes her head. "Perhaps, given you're here, you would permit a physical?"
That does stop him in his tracks as he pauses and turns his head slightly to the side, partially out in the hallway. He looks mildly confused for a moment as he looks down the hall, then back to her, then back to Agent Nickels for support.
Nickels just shrugs.
But then Thor steps back into the room slightly and asks, "To what purpose. Jemma." She can likely tell the price he pays for referring to her in that single first name sense. Clearly not a comfortable thing, but it comes along.
There's a slight twitch to his lips as he adds, "As you can see I am in the peak of health."
"Yes, I can see that and I'm a Scientist. Professional curiosity, Thor. I want to know what makes you tick."
There's the faintest of smiles as the blonde looks a little perturbed. "You wouldn't be the first man I've had with his shirt off in here."
Cheeky thing.
"I'm a biochemist. You're physiology is alien and I like learning."
A small furrow touches his brow, only his time it's more in confusion than in consternation as he again looks to Nickels for some sort of understanding. Understanding that the SHIELD agent does not have to give. Instead the poor fellow who is tasked with keeping an eye on Thor while he's in the Triskelion turns and tells Jemma, "I'll be right outside." And then he sets action to words.
Thor, for his part, turns back to look at her and says. "If time permits and you are sufficiently quick, I see no harm in it." He agrees with those caveats, stepping back into the room and sparing a secondary glance for the place, now with a different purpose than before.
"Where would you have me?"
"Without your shirt, right here." Jemma pats the stool and moves away. "Don't worry, it will only hurt a bit when I take the organ samples I need." She's watching his face as she says that, the slightest smile tugging at her lips.
She looks a little more human.
"I can make time, I'm running tests on the werewolfs we retrieved with Steve the other day. Those will take time and you're here, now."
"I'll want to get your vitals to begin with, heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature etc. Why don't you tell me about your powers as I do that."
In no at all, Jemma has a cuff on the blondes arm and is making notes on her tablet as she listens to him talk.
To his credit, Thor is only mildly suspicious of Jemma, as if this might not have been the first time a child of Midgard had tried to get him to disrobe. But she is an agent of SHIELD, a trusted comrade of the good Captain. Assuredly she is above such things. So for her efforts she only gets a mildly quizzical quirk of his eyebrow before he steps over to the aforementioned stool.
The hoodie is pulled off, one sleeve at a time, and set with a casual toss on one of her workbenches. It leaves him with that black too tight t-shirt on hugging the contours of his broad chest and thick shoulders that even with it still on would give her a strong understanding of the man's anatomy.
But then with a quick and casual grab at the back of his t-shirt he pulls it over his head and tosses it over to rest with the overshirt, revealing the powerfully muscled and taut frame of a man who has clearly been built for physical effort and power. Steve's a man who some would say is perhaps the perfect specimen of masculinity. And yet Thor…
"Is there aught I should do while you perform your examination, Jemma?" He asks as he settles on that chair, bare chest bronzed and firm, musculature clearly defined and marred only by a handful of scars that might be worthy of remark.
Jemma will allow that her teasing has probably put Thor off balance a little. "I did ask you tell me about your powers." She says quietly, with that British accent and no nonesense way of hers. "Your heart rate is a considerably faster than a … Midgardians. Blood pressure a little lower. Body temperature is slightly higher as well. I am given to understand, Thor, that Asgardians have a higher metabolism and are physically stronger all round."
The scars certainly garner some interest from the woman, who examines the larger more notable ones with care. "You can obviously be injured. I take it these were from elsewhere in the Nine Realms? Oh, may I also draw some blood, please?"
At least she's asking.
His head tilts back as his lips part, an inhalation of understanding, "Ah." He again answers the latter question first, gesturing to the scars along his side, one just under the left breast that seems to have a mirrored one in his back, punctured or impaled most likely. "Aye, my years have taken their toll, though each was hard-earned and well-fought." He offers that. Not exactly scientifically useful.
"As for my abilities, I am Thor." He says as if that explained it all, but then elaborates. "God of Thunder, the Storm, the Rage of War." She can hear the capital letters in each of those words. "Son of Odin and Thunderer."
His lip twitches a little, "There are few I cannot fell, and the very heavens answer to my whims." He does not speak to Mjolnir, however… which is still upstairs sitting unmovable in the middle of the SHIELD insignia in the main entry hall. With tiny orange cones placed around it so nobody trips.
As to the blood, "As you would, Jemma." Asgardan skin is very tough after all, but it's not impregnable, more that they recover quickly and their lower epidermis, their organs, and their internal systems are staggeringly strong.
"I understand if there is information you do not wish to share but I am curious as to whether any midgardian weaponry may cause you harm." The biochem asks as she turns to get a straw to draw blood into. The blood draw system SHIELD uses doesn't require a needle to pierce the vein, and with a little effort, two vials of blood are obtained and marked accordingly.
"I've seen the footage, of course, where you can call the elements. If I can arrange a safe testing area, would you permit me to monitor you when you do? I'm wondering what it does to your physiology." Scientific curiousity. She's got in tons.
"Were you always able to call the Storm and Thunder?"
There's a tilt of his head as he considers the blood draw technique, curious about it and even lightly poking it with a fingertip when she's looking away. But then he answers her question as he murmurs, "Perhaps when time is more permissive of such exploration, Lady Simmons." His thoughts are clearly elsewhere.
But then he gives a nod, "To an extent. I always felt… a kinship? One could say. I could tell the ebb and flow of its power around me even as a youth. But my calling came to me only when I reached my majority, and my father granted me the titles I now hold."
Perhaps that might help her, though he takes a deep breath, broad chest expanding and then receding as he lets that breath go. "Will this be much longer?" Restless, so often in motion.
"Of course. I would need to secure the permission and facilities to do so before then but if you're ammenable, then I shall." Jemma says with sigh. She's no Lady, just a good Devon girl. There's no marking on Thors skin when he pokes at it. The technique is really quite unique.
"Is that so. So … would you say the powers were bestowed by your Father at that time? Or was it that you had reached a level of maturity?"
It has her thinking about the nature of things 'divine'.
"I have all I need for now. I really want to thank you for permitting this. Who knows, maybe one day, you'll have need of my talents and we'll look back to this moment and be thankful for it."
"You can get dressed now, if you want."
"We are all connected to the All-Father, every one of us though some may not wish it so." A curious thing to say, though reflective of some of his thoughts of late. That having been said, however, he bobs his head and smiles when she grants him leave.
"As you say, doctor." Thor says with a small smile as he nods to her latter words, hopping off the stool and rolling one shoulder through its range of motion idly, even as he reaches for his discarded bits of clothing. He takes some time finding the right facing of the t-shirt, twisting it around in both hands before pulling it on quickly.
"I shall return with what information I gain as quickly as I can, and perhaps with that we may be of further aid to Captain Rogers."
That said he slips his arms through the sleeves of his hoodie and pulls it on, adjusting the collar and then giving her a nod with an open smile. "Good day 'til then."
And out into the hall they go with him calling, "Nickels! To Mjolnir and away." To which the Agent seems oh so relieved.