Summary:Long flight home from the Ukraine, much soul searching and pain, also some brainstorming Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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In the wake of the tiff — no, more of a skuffle-kerfuffle — in the Ukraine, thanks to the generous application of Pym Particles to the Bearcat, the assorted heroines, merc chick, and rather hirsute hero end up on a RESCUE corporate jet. The Bearcat plane, 'Nina' by name per the technopathic Io has been shrunk down to a size that could be a charm on a keyring and kept secreted away. One nice thing about private charters - customs is MUCH easier to deal with, as in you really don't have to mess with it at all. Another perk, the obvious mutants are not harrassed.
Having had his leg patched up, and dressed in sweatpants, Hank is happy to sit in his seat with his injured leg elevated. Thankfully the femoral artery was missed, and so was the femur. Just meat, which he'll heal pretty quickly. He does look pretty much like a partially mummified ape considering the bandages swathing hands and feet as /they/ heal.
At least the burnt fur smell was easily dealt with!
Toni, meanwhile, has not yet slept. Because she's not allowed, given the fairly bad concussion she had after she was pried out of her wrecked armor. Not exactly her best showing. This particular jet was picked specifically because it had several beds, specifically for Posse, among others, to rest and recover during the trip. Toni has not actually made use of them, preferring to sit in a chair. She's been trying to work, but it's sort of hard to concentrate for her, so it's mostly an exercise in tired frustration more than anything else.
Angela looks, well, perfectly human, a far cry from the flame-haloed battle angel that she was in the bunker. She has her hair worn loose for once, though, as she doesn't look too worse for wear, but she definitely carries herself like she's a bit tired from the fighting.
At the moment, she sits not too far from Hank, giving him a curious look. Then she glances over at Toni, "Well, now I'm glad I decided to come along, though it would have been nice if Kurt could have made it. He definitely would have helped." She currently nurses a glass of cognac, unwinding after the fight in her own way.
It's taken a while for Domino to come back to her senses enough to figure out what's going on. Walking's tricky at best and she probably shouldn't be doing it but she's stubborn as hell and thoroughly insisted with potential threats of bodily harm that -she is going to be mobile.-
If anyone had dug through her personal effects up to this moment then they probably would have come across the bag of gold she had received as bonus payment, however she did arrive with plenty of weapons and gear. Maybe it had been there all along..? Who knows! Though it may raise some questions at the very least if discovered.
With the flight underway the battered albino staggers down the aisle with one hand keeping a heavy blanket closed around herself and the other reaching for the backs of chairs so she doesn't fall over. That act is reserved for the awaiting comfy seat which she finds across from where the others are, as if making a point of not getting TOO close to anyone.
One thing that Veronica has learned in her years working with RESCUE since it really took off is how much sufficient money can solve so many problems that otherwise seem insurmountable. Given they were already going to pay over a million dollars for the Bearcat itself, paying another half a million for supplies for the refugees and a corporate jet rental is very nearly a rounding error. Getting the plane does assure that everyone is getting the rest and recuperation they require, and that they are not trying to fly the Bearcat before it has been sufficiently repaired and upgraded.
As the plane continues, Veronica is herself currently occupied in one of the bedrooms on the plane, checking on Posse. Ava has regained consciousness, but given she had no such shielding her brain antennae is ruined and will need replacing. Veronica has determined that as much as Ava hates it, that is going to have to be done back at the Wellspring. "But we will work on EMP shielding for the unit. I promise. I'm sorry, Ava. So very sorry."
Only after that conversation does she roll back out of said bedroom and make her way to check on the rest of her patients. Let's see: Beast and his leg? Toni and her concussion? Domino and her gunshot wounds? So many choices to pick from! And then there's Io's PTSS.
A wealth of options.
Hank being Hank, he'll pretend to be in better shape than he is, and encourage the others to be getting care. And truly, aside from the Angel of the Lord, he probably heals faster and better than any two of the people present at a time. "So…that was interesting. Two iterations of the Crimson Dynamo, -and- the Titanium Man."
Stating it like that really underscores just how powerful the opposition was.
"We're lucky we didn't suffer any casualties, well done everyone. Yes, there were lives lost, but ultimately our timely presence was sufficient unto the day to save a lot of lives that would surely have been lost otherwise. Including all the refugees outside." Trust Hank to focus on the /good/, it is pretty clear that he's trying to bolster people's spirits, but…it is just as clear that Big Blue is earnest and he -does- have a point. Had they not been there that base would have been taken, the entire complement of soldiers likely killed, and the refugees at -best- displaced again.
"…both Soviet era supersoldier designs. Helping Ukrainian rebels." Toni mutters. "Twenty to thirty years old." Toni closes her eyes and lets her head rest against the headrest. "We're lucky no one was killed. You and Domino were hurt. Io has…PTSD, from feeling all the machinery die from the EMP. Roni is going to be having nightmares." And she already is about what happened to Hank, she doesn't add. She quiets as she sees Roni coming back up front. "How is Ava?" she asks simply. "How bad is it?"
Angela nods, "I've seen my share of battles, and we came out lucky from this one." She pauses, "Even though right now, we don't feel particularly lucky." She sips her cognac again, and looks over at Veronica, waiting for her answer to Toni's question as well. Though when she sees Domino, she does wave the other woman over to the seat next to her, if she wants to take that invitation.
Being offered a closer seat is unexpected. Possibly even undesired given her current state of mind, but..Domino accepts Angela's offer. May as well not act TOO troubled, right?
"Yeah. Real lucky" she asides while her attention focuses out of the nearest window. It's nice to see open sky again, regardless if they happen to be suspended in the middle of it.
About the only event which could reroute her attention is Veronica's arrival. Dom is only half of a second too slow in asking the same question as Toni, 'How's Ava?' There is honest to god worry in her pale blue eyes, now mostly free of the hematite surface sheen under the brighter artificial lighting.
Veronica sighs angrily and shakes her head. "She is … helpless, and bitterly angry about it. The EMP fried the antennae I implanted in her brain, and the module generating and transmitting the signals. It will have to be replaced at the Wellspring, and first I have to figure out how to shield these kinds of incredibly delicate electronics against anything like that ever again. Not to mention the potential for this to have done significant neural damage in the overload! There's no sign of that, thank goodness." Bitter, hurting, blaming herself for everything, Veronica is a mess. And likely to stay that way for quite a while. "How is your headache? And stop trying to pretend you don't have one, damnit."
"Mm…I read about them a bit when I was a student at The Institute." Which of course he still works at. Still, they didn't have a lot of information on things that far back, so, his info was sketchy at best. Hank also does not have access to SHIELD archives, he's a contractor, his access is strictly limited to project related areas and nothing else, he's a contractor not a field agent.
Hank shrugs about his own injuries. "I'll heal, no broken bones to worry about, I just need plenty of meat to heal the tissue damage. I'll be pretty well recovered by the time we reach LaGuardia."
He DOES worry about Roni, he can smell how messed up her emotional state is, and Dom's, and yes, he can smell Toni's pain. "As to the shielding…what about shielding the wiring with carbon-composite nanotubes, something to ground out any EM disruptions? Build in surge suppression to the antenna…?"
Toni's eyes flutter open. "Mm? Not sleeping." she says after a moment, blinking blearily, stubbornly. "Can't EMP proof a human brain at close range….lucky we didn't fry." She breathes out, her eyes unfocused. "…I'm sorry. I should have designed my armor better to be stronger. It couldnt' even take on thirty year old tech." She tilts her head, focusing on Domino. "You're getting a major hazard pay bump, by the way. We didn't hire you to do all that, just as our translator and local specialist. Expect your pay to double. And we owe you a favor." The purple-haired woman sighs a bit. "We owe all of you. We weren't supposed to be going into a combat zone."
Angela smiles faintly, "Well, thirty year old tech can still pack a bit of a punch. Those things are designed for brute force, not subtlety. At least they haven't quite figured out how to use a celestial forge." She seems a bit smug about that, probably because well… humans are clever, but angelic blades can still carve through such toys.
She then takes another drink, and looks over at Hank, "So, the Institute? This is the one in Westchester, right?" She sounds a bit curious about that.
"So 'not well'" Domino eloquently summarizes. The look of worry shifts into something which could be best described as haunted. It's a small comfort to remember that there aren't any psychics aboard. At least none which she is aware of. Her mind has been a dark and uncomfortable place since they left.
When Veronica mentions the headache she passes a glance to Toni, slightly curious.
This curiosity soon turns into a stunned -stare- as Toni offers her DOUBLE pay AND a favor. Yet again, any other merc would be dancing in the streets to have such luck! With any other crew she would probably be doing the same..except that her conscious is resting pretty heavy after this gig.
"No you don't" she replies with just a -slight- edge to it. "I mean it. We're square."
Holycrap could she maybe just for a moment be a little less lucky? For once? Like five seconds..?
Oh, god.
Angela's commentary proves to be a good distraction. "I'm thirty year old tech" she mutters with her forehead ducked into a hand. "Well..rounding up."
When Angie mentions the Institute and Westchester her head lifts up slightly and turns, curiosity renewed.
"I have to put surge protection into the new unit. And probably EMP shielding into the suits." Veronica continues. She rolls over to take Toni's head into her hands - she doesn't ask, just takes - and checks her eyes and reactions, grimacing. "You are getting an MRI when we get home. With our luck you have TBI."
That done, Veronica then turns on Domino.
Uh oh.
"It's done, Tamara. You engaged in open combat, without even the advantages of full RESCUE gear. Ava would never allow us to do anything less, and we certainly shall not." Veronica just taps on that final line. She's not debating this. It's done.
"She might really appreciate a visit back there, by the way. Just … remember. Right side, Tamara." Veronica offers quietly, and then she rolls over to her spot and locks down, strapping into stay in place as the flight continues. She doesn't feel lucky. Never will. She can't even take credit for her people surviving. It's all blind stupid luck.
"You owe me nothing." Hank states firmly. "What little I did would have been done regardless, I wasn't on the payroll." At least he didn't think he was, he didn't remember signing up for any such thing. "If anything, I still owe you for saving my life a couple weeks back." Hank smiles then. "Right, because technology advantages are always the deciding factors in a fight, the Zulu incident, for example. I'm sure the Brits would totally agree that their tech advantage was pivotal."
Hank shakes his head. "You were in a suit designed to perform search and rescue, not a front lines battle unit. THEY were wearing armours designed for front line combat, in a slugfest they had the advantage, and there's no shame in that being the case."
A soft sigh. "If I can do anything to help with Ava, please let me know, we have proven to work well in projects, I'm sure our combined talents can find a way. Actually…how about dermal plating for the skull, subcutaneous, to shield the entirety of the brain and any systems housed in the head?"
He nods to Angela then, a little nonplussed at the question. "Well, yes. I'm an instructor there, and sort of…groundskeeper." And facilities, and maintenance…and a few other hats. "You've heard of it?"
He's a little surprised to hear the girl try to /refuse/ hazard pay AND favors offered. Eyes of yellow narrow as he scents the woman's guilt, and it is no small spike, it is a pretty major one. Still, he doesn't actually /ask/ her about it, but she might just get a mite un-comfy by the look.
Tamara? Oh, right, her alias…Neena, aka Tamara, Codename: Domino - man, that's going to get confusing, he's sure miss Guilty McGuilterson Tammy has a bunch more aliases too.
"Roni…there was no way to anticipate what happened. Without that ability, how could you be negligent?" It is pretty clear she blames herself about things going pear shaped. "I only know of one or two people who can sense the future, and none of them are present." A sigh. "And I know that knowing all that doesn't do a damn bit of good for the guilt…"
Toni waves off Domino's assertion that everything is square, then points to Roni, nodding, as she reiterates the reward. "That'll include medical treatement at the Wellspring if you need it, since you got hurt working for us. That goes for all of you." She points to Angela. "You get a replacement wardrobe though for damage to your clothes. Since you're apparently bulletproof." Who knew? Not Toni. "And I need to come up with something really good for GIRL after Nadia helped save our shiny metal asses in there too." And then there's Io.
Ooooh, is Toni feeling super guilty about Io. Because she can guess exactly what it's like to have all your electronic 'friends' short out all around you. Particularly Goliath. "…I'm going to let her use the Foundry fabricators." she says, talking outloud to herself. Not realizing that she's doing it, apparnetly.
Angela smiles over at Toni, "Well, you didn't hire me to be an Avenging Angel. You hired me for my diagnostic skills, Toni. It didn't really come up before this point, but I'll take the wardrobe replacement, gladly." She shrugs a bit, looking perfectly innocent… but then again, she's had a few years of practice with that.
Then she grins over at Hank, "Well, yes, I'm seeing one of the instructors. Kurt Wagner. I'm pretty sure you know him." Wait, so the angel is dating the fuzzy elf?
Shit. Shit shit no shit -no- Shit -FUCK.-
Now it's Roni's turn to get that stupefied stare as Domino looks so VERY ready to say something to both her and Toni until she realizes that it would get her exactly nowhere. -At all.-
If this had been at all intentional it would transcend waaay beyond a guilt trip. This is full on grand tour guilt!
When Roni suggests giving Ava a visit Dom can't get out of her seat fast enough. Not that her feelings are going to get any better back there, likely much the opposite. But, at least she'll only have to worry about losing her cool in front of one better known person than a bunch of lesser known ones.
"Right" she grunts to the 'right side' comment.
Is this what Dom needs? Probably not. It might make matters several degrees worse. But it just might be what Posse needs. So..it's a start.
There's still a bit of turbulence as she leaves, momentarily catching Hank's suspicious look. Not ONE word, Doc Fuzzington.
That argument settled, Veronica glances up at Hank consideringly. "I would like to get you, Toni, myself and Io working together on this. I'm not against a subdermal plating solution; our nanobots can deploy it if we plan for it carefully. But I want the internal components built to the best of our abilities, and if there are better solutions for any of this, including signal integrity, gain balance, and secured encryption, I want to include it. If we're upgrading, we might as well do our best work." As for not blaming herself? Good damned luck. That's never taking hold. Ever.
Yup, Dommie has NO idea what levels of stubborn Toni and Roni share, she's GOING to get her bonus, on top of the Krugerands bonus, AND a favor. Hank /briefly/ considers telling her he owes her one too - mad impulse to see how that spikes her guilt, whatever she did, it must have been major leauge. As he wasn't on the payroll, so, neener. No hazard pay for him! Yay.
Yeah, Hank has no idea of the levels of stubborn Toni and Roni share either, apparently.
Angela's response surprises him, and then he smiles hugely. "Really? Kurt and you are dating?" The most devout man he knows, dating a genuine, fully bona fide Angel of the Almighty. Wow, no way Hank saw that one coming. "Remarkable." A nod then. "Yes, Kurt and I are old friends and colleagues as well." And X-Men. And their stunning good looks and flamboyant fighting styles? Sheer coincidence.
He watches as Domino retreats, and then mmphs, before turning back to Roni. "I'm in. The subdermal plating seems an efficient solution." Hank smiles, rather toothily. "Thank you for the opportunity to help."
Toni is hella stubborn. So is Roni. And they both believe in rewarding people who go above and beyond, of course. "I'm…I mean, I don't know about giving it to all of us, but to help Ava and protect that antennae…I mean, other than coming up with a non-implant antennae. Or perhaps something we can reset where it shuts down automatically when detecting a pulse build up then restarts after it's done." She sighs, then frown sa bit. "Sure, I"ll…I can figure something out." She's sort of half listening to Hank and Angela chat, thoughs he does furrow her brow a bot at Domino's abrupt departure, before shrugging it off. She and Ava must be closer than she thought? But then again, Ava doesn't give her thumbs up on just anyone for consulting, too. No reason she shouldn't want to make sure she's okay, if she's awake.
Angela laughs softly at Hank, "Yes, he's very wonderful, and it's been good for both of us. A bit sad that I can't visit the Institute as it sounds amazing… but well, rules are rules for a reason." She shrugs a bit, and chuckles, "I've been meaning to talk to him about getting him to come along for these missions. With his talents, he'd be exceptionally good here." And not just because they're dating.
She then looks over at Toni, and mentions, "Kurt is a teleporter, so I was thinking that could be very useful on certain missions. I did mention the group, but I wasn't sure how much time he'd be available for. He seemed interested, though."
Let it never be said RESCUE doesn't take care of their own. Moving aft towards the back of the plane, the seating area gives way to a dimmed hallway with curtained pods on either side. A few are open to expose comfortably furnished but unused beds, while plenty more are closed to afford rest to the battle-wearied members of the group. A door to the end closes off the one true bedroom on the plane, complete with a guest chair, separate lighting, a TV built into the wall, and a small nightstand. Standing sentinel as if it were her guard, Posse's armored suit is on its feet half-open and with her green pressure suit folded neatly before it. The ammo pouches, provisions, and medical kit attached to its frame are still present, though her weapons have been fastidiously made clear and safe before being set aside. Last anyone checked, the stone-faced sergeant herself was sleeping with a worryingly mildness, with stable vitals but little other reassurance. Brain scans and a better understanding of her injuries would have to wait for their return to RESCUE HQ.
And yet with her head propped against her headboard and a blanket covering all but her right arm clad in its black sleeve, two green eyes are staring directly at the albino mercenary when she opens the door.
It's perhaps a small comfort that the prone form which Domino approaches is still alive and not another corpse. She's already lost too many she had considered friends and allies. Still, seeing Ava in her current situation hurts as sharply as a stiletto through the ribs.
The albino can keep thinking that this would have happened without her double play. Hell, it could possibly have been -worse- if it happened at a time where RESCUE and CO weren't around to intervene. Still..it had been Dom's handiwork which popped the lock on the Soviet Pandora's Box. Secrets this big don't stay buried forever, as she herself had just helped to prove.
"Hey" is all that comes to mind at her first proper post-battle sight of the cyborg.
Would this feel any less awkward if Ava could respond? Acknowledge her presence? Maybe call her a bitch? It's hard to say.
The merc still keeps the blanket held around herself while limping into the room, her face and hands cut up a little but most of the damage kept hidden from view. It's that black-clad arm which she reaches for, taking Posse's hand within her own with a thin smirk.
"That was a helluva thing, huh. We took a beating but the team made it out. The civvies faired alright, too."
Drawing in a breath and looking away, she mutters "Sorry I was late on the go-fast. Wasn't my finest operation. I owe you something nice when we're in the clear. Just..don't go AWOL on me, Anodyne. You and I, we're not done yet."
Both eyes turn at Tamara's touch and lift to find her scratched up face. The light is out from one of them, its pupil dull and glossy, but the other…
"No casualties?" the white-haired sergeant asks with a voice that's dry and strained.
"We, Toni. We will figure something out." Veronica murmurs. "Take your Tylenol and rest your eyes. I'll check on you in an hour." Roni's pad, however, comes out and she starts jotting down notes, looking up alternatives and doing research. When they have this discussion again she will be better armed with her plans and ideas. And it will, perhaps, help her ignore conversations going on around her that she shouldn't pay attention to.
"Depends on which of you has headgear like that, honestly." Hank says in a very reasonable tone. "Though…considering the potential risks to the brain for EMPs in general, might be worth consideration."
He nods along with Roni's suggestion that Toni rest her eyes a bit. "You're clearly in significant pain." He observes mildly.
To Angela. "Oh, Kurt? One of the best people I have ever known, period." He nods about the rules. "Yes, I truly wish that they were more—liberal, but as you say, the rules are the rules. I didn't write them, I simply have to live with them." And then he smiles hugely. "Oh, if he's up for it, he's an /excellent/ team player, he'd be a tremendous asset."
He tries not to pay attention to the other room but with Hank's auditory acuity having been roughly doubled in range, and extending a bit above and below what is baseline human, yeah, he's going to have to take some fairly extreme measures. His solution? He roots about in his host of pouches, most of them intact, and then produces a wrecked cone of silence. "Well…phooey." Yes, that's the 'expletive' Hank came up with - 'phooey', not even PHOOEY, it sounds more disappointed than angry.
A sigh follows, and then the Beast nods firmly to Roni. "Actually, that's a fine idea." If she permits he'll help via a chat window, bouncing ideas off the woman in a bid to keep them both distracted from the events in the other chamber. He DOES have one solution he can apply though, he takes out some tiger balm, and dabs a /miniscule/ amount under his nose.
"A teleporter? That /is/ handy, yes. And he's a friend of yours too Hank?" Toni says, roused from her poor mood as she looks over at the pair. "What do you think Roni, can certainly use someone who can get to people quickly and get them back out." She frowns a bit, muttering her her breath. "I don't got time ta bleeeed….." She settles back into her chair though. Perhaps she's just a BIT loopy at the moment. "Gonna haveta make it bigger…" she mutters, poking at her tablet a bit. "Has to be stronger…."
Angela ahems softly, "Maybe you should work on that later, Toni. Seriously, no work for the moment, otherwise I'm going to tell you about the time that I met Herodotus back in Athens. Great fellow, but a bit too enamored about romanticizing the Spartans and their alleged might in battle. And other things."
She then flashes a bit of a grin back at Hank, "Yeah, he was a little surprised when I told him who, and what, I really am, but he's taken it pretty well."
Domino's eyes widen -just- a hair before she hangs her head with a weary sigh. "Sonuvabitch I thought you were more out than that" she groans, a little embarrassed.
Recollecting herself with another breath she lifts her head back up and returns her focus to Ava. "They're all clear. Soon as your heavy metal butt hit the floor they went on hard defense. You can take pride knowing that you took the worst of it. You should probably stop doing that" she gently teases with a lopsided grin.
More could be said. Her thoughts are a chaotic blend with several ideas all trying to stand in line for their chance to be voiced but they're all turned back at the gate.
It's all been based off of a lie.
Ava doesn't smile back, instead quiet for several seconds as if living in slow motion, digesting the albino's words before forming word by word a laconic reply. "Our objective?" she next asks, perhaps realizing this isn't likely to be a half-functioning Soviet prototype aircraft she's laying in.
Veronica sees Hank's crushed cone of silence, and proceeds to pull out of her chair's pack a set of over-the-ear headphones, which she hands up to him. She then puts in a pair of earbuds. There. Silence? No. Music! But she welcomes the chat window and accepts the request, and starts working with Hank on her ideas and research. She may also not have done as good a job hiding research she has started, notes she has taken, on anti-powered-armor systems and gear for the future.
"Objective is secured" Domino confirms with a gentle headbob. "Something-something-shrunk it down to the size of a bracelet charm-something..I don't know." She can take a real good guess where Posse's mind is going to go next, too. "Those responsible also took a beating but they got away."
(You're looking at one of them.)
"Listen..Ava," she quietly resumes. "I can stick around until you're back up to speed. If you'd like. No reason why you should have to enjoy this shit sandwich all by yourself," she jokes again.
Relief is expressed by the wounded cyborg in the form of her head laying back against her pillow and her eyes falling briefly shut to rest before reopening. Posse turns her head left and glances in the vague direction of her chair before lifting herself with an effort onto her right elbow and grunting as she drags her body backwards to sit just slightly more upright. Her blanket falls away enough to expose the cyborg's bionic left arm, its mounting bracket, and more of her suit, but the limb dangles completely limp and unhelpful to the endeavor.
Toni's condition is noticed, once she gets past the 'oh, shiny' stage of knowing a teleporter might be interested in helping out in the future. He frowns very faintly.
A nod of support when Angela chimes in, he actually ponders just tranqing the woman, but…no, that would have repercussions. He'll leave that to Roni to decide. A shake of his head, and then a nod. "Oh yes, Kurt is also very flexible." A bit! Man is bendier than a pipe cleaner and is accepting of other's faiths. Not always the case with the devout.
The Beast is VERY grateful for the ear bud sharing, and the music /and/ the intellectual diversions. He might have to share some of his own designs for anti-power armour weapons systems. Granted, some of them are rather…aggressive, then again, as tough as such suits can get, especially the modern ones? Yeah, 'aggressive' might just be needed.
He's also grateful for the eye watering microspeck of Tigerbalm, it lets people have their privacy back a little. He'll learn to filter it again, but he's been months without super senses, so…yeah, out of practice.
The least that Dom can do is try to help Posse in sitting up. It's a nice idea in theory but she's battered and with the cyborg's metal bits down for the count there's some real dead weight to shift. Still, the effort is made. Maybe in part because Ava hadn't actually said anything here and Dom's left to her own thoughts, not many of which are positive in nature.
"Well you didn't tell me to GTFO so I'll take that as an affirmative" she thinks aloud.
There's a reason why Toni and Roni get along…they both tend to get lost in their work really easily. And Toni is already a bit out of it because of her getting smacked around so, well…she's kinda off in her own little world as the others talk. Though she does say distractedly. "Sure, bring him by you two, we'll interview him. Have to figure out a pay scale for a teleporter…like…three times? Something like that. Unique ability vital in crisis intervention…" she mutters to herself.
Angela grins very cheerfully as she confirms, "Oh yes, Kurt is very flexible. I'm sure he'd be perfect if he agrees, but I'll see if I can bring him around for an interview, if Hank doesn't do it first." She looks perfectly innocent when she says that too.
Veronica's own musical choice right now is swelling orchestrals, but Hank can listen to whatever he wants. She keeps up through their chat, working through and taking notes on ideas and additional research topics. Eventually she pulls out a bottle of water from a pocket on her chair, and tosses another towards Hank, somehow trusting he'll know it's coming and catch it even though she never said anything. For now, she sips hers and keeps listening, thinking, letting her thoughts swirl around … and stay off, at least for a bit, her soul-crushing guilt.
With some muscling up and help from Domino, Posse lays back with her shoulders on the pillow and rests against the headboard. "Go ahead," she adds to be explicit, turning to half-spy the albino for only a moment before weight and inertia face her forward again. The cyborg's normal hard-charging energy is nowhere to be found. Instead, she just seems tired.
It's several seconds before the white-haired sergeant works up another question, this one as obvious as the rest: "Where am I?"
Domino probably should have seen Ava's next question a mile off, too. Darn mental distractions. "Commercial flight heading home. We're the cool kids sitting up front, got the section to ourselves."
Motioning toward the door, she adds in "I think every tech-minded head on this flight is trying to figure out a way to keep this from happening to you again. I'm feeling a little out-classed here."
The rest of the flight will pass in relative peace, assuming mental anguish isn't factored in. Hank and Roni get to brainstorm for hours - AND listen to great music, Hank's tastes are eclectic enough that he's just as comfy with Reggae as Disturbed, Classical to Rap, even Country and Western - pretty much the whole gamut, just not death metal or cop killer stuff, screw that shite. Since he's primarily working with Roni, some of the designs are for metal corrosives, or other chemical agents to muck with armor.
Angela does get her blush out of Hank - in this case he ends up nearly BLACK as blue skin under blue-black fur darkens - so, yeah, he can blush.
Ava and 'Tamara' get to talk in privacy, and when Toni drops off finally, they make sure she's covered and comfy for the remainder of the flight. True to his words - when they land Hank unwraps hands and feet, and they're pretty much fully healed.