Mobile - The Raft - Lab (January 2018)

[Hollywood Heidi]

The Lab inside The Raft

The lab inside the Raft, a prison located on the ocean and created for the sole purpose of detaining and incarcerating enhanced individuals. It has the ability to float on the water or become completely submerged.

---

Exterior and other interior Raft areas

[Kristi Lynne]

Jemma was still calibrating and rearranging equipment in the Raft's makeshift lab, trying to make the space her own since she wasn't sure how long they would be there. Whatever equipment they didn't have could easily be augmented by the Zephyr docked nearby. Most people would be happy to never see the inside of the remote floating prison for enhanced individuals, but Jemma wasn't most people.

They hadn't known what to expect when they got the call to travel to Norway, and the tactical personnel who had taken in the detainees spoke as if the new arrivals had appeared from out of nowhere in the middle of a field. To their collective surprise, the billionaire playboy Tony Stark was among them, insisting that these people would be needed in order to save the universe. Well, she'd always heard he was a bit dramatic. But since he had vouched for the group, they'd received a more hospitable welcome than most of the Raft's arrivals.

The five detainees, including Mr. Stark, were put through a basic quarantine protocol to ensure their safety as well as that of SHIELD personnel. And though they knew the Asgardian Thor, who was looking dishy as ever though less one eye, Jemma could only guess the origins of the woman with the green skin and the other woman with the antennae on her forehead. Preliminary testing had only served to further pique her interest, and she had to remind herself to see them as more than mere lab rats. So while Fitz had his dream assignment of examining the Iron Man suit they had confiscated from Mr. Stark, she'd asked that the green-skinned woman be brought to the lab. 

[Ariel]

(GAMORA - TEMP PLAY BY ARIEL)

Exhaustion blanketed over Gamora's face as one guard on each side of her gripped her arms tightly, escorting her to what appeared to be a lab of high tech equipment. Although Tony had told them all to follow his lead and to surrender, Gamora couldn't help but put up a bit of a fight, leading to her spending most of her energy pushing the guards away and becoming non compliant. Finally in her defeated surrender, she peered downward as her eyes had a steady hold on her wrists. Raw and sore from trying to wriggle out of the toughest restraints that she had ever been in. They were here to save these Earthlings, and yet instead of a warm welcome they were escorted around and quarantined like criminals. Little did these Earthlings know that the real threat was coming, and if they continued to waste time asking questions all of humanity would be wiped clean off of the face of this planet. Gamora caught sight of some very questionable machinery and her heart began to race. Was this the part Peter was talking about where I would be Man's experiment? Gamora thought internally, remembering what Peter had warned her about, Did I make a mistake? Peter...I'm so sorry. She grew frightened as to what these humans were going to do with her next before they sat her down in front of a brunette lady in a lab coat. 

[Kristi Lynne]

Jemma spun around with a warm smile as her first patient was placed across from her. "Ah, hello, Gamora. We can do without the shackles, can't we, boys?" she advised the guards. Best to build trust from the get-go. Besides, she had an icer on her hip if the woman became a threat. Then again, Jemma had to wonder if an icer would have the same incapacitating effect on her species. The restraints on her wrists unlocked with a pneumatic hiss as the guards reluctantly complied and then retreated to their posts on either side of the doorway.

"Gamora -- am I saying that right?" Jemma inquired. "It's quite fascinating that you can speak and understand our language. Is that some sort of linguistic trait in your species, or perhaps a neural implant that acts as a universal translator? I mean, some of us just struggle with the one language...." Jemma, you're rambling, get to the point. "So, I'd just like to take some readings, establish your baseline vitals. I'm not here to hurt you."

She retrieved a blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope from the desk and approached Gamora. "This device will tell us your blood pressure, how fast or slow your heart is working," she explained, as she undid the velcro and placed the cuff around Gamora's arm. She breathed on the metal ring of the stethoscope before placing it just under the cuff on the inside of her elbow and listened intently. Wouldn't it be amazing if she had two hearts like a Time Lord? But of course, Time Lords weren't real, and this was a real alien lifeform. Which meant she honestly had no idea of what would be a good or bad reading.

[Ariel]

(GAMORA - TEMP PLAY BY ARIEL)

"Gamora -- am I saying that right?" "It's quite fascinating that you can speak and understand our language. Is that some sort of linguistic trait in your species, or perhaps a neural implant that acts as a universal translator? I mean, some of us just struggle with the one language...."

Rubbing her freed wrists from the restraints, Gamora stared blankly at the young lab technician that was babbling on about who knows what. She was too freaked out of her own green skin to even register or enjoy the conversation that was being presented before her. All Gamora could think about was what they were going to poke or prod her with first.

"So, I'd just like to take some readings, establish your baseline vitals. I'm not here to hurt you."
"This device will tell us your blood pressure, how fast or slow your heart is working,"

Gamora's breath quickened as the metal object attached the the young girl's ears by a couple of tubes came into contact with her skin. Gamora shut her eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath inward as she nervously braced for the worst. The metal end was ice cold against the skin of her chest and allowed it to remain momentarily before sheer panic overcame her being. Gamora gasped as she flinched away, her backside hitting against the back of the chair.

"Before you...experiment on me...I need to speak to your superior. Where is the commander of this ship? We're wasting time...," Gamora began to speak with urgency as she stared at the girl, her eyes full of terror as she thought about what was coming for them all.

[Kristi Lynne]

"Before you...experiment on me...I need to speak to your superior. Where is the commander of this ship? We're wasting time..."

"Yes, yes, I know, world-ending event and all. My team and I have been through a couple of those," Jemma explained, trying to calm the fear in this woman's eyes and tense posture. "This isn't our first rodeo. And I've no intention of experimenting on you. This is just...a process. Step one before you can move on to the next one. I'll try to make it as quick and painless as possible."

Jemma removed the blood pressure cuff and set it aside, writing down the results. She then picked up an ophthalmoscope and held it up to each of Gamora's eyes. "Your retinal structure is unlike anything I've ever seen. Are those ocular implants?" she wondered aloud. The scars and strange lines on the woman's face told of some form of surgery. "The seamless integration of cybernetic implements with your existing organic structure, it really is amazing! Far beyond anything we've managed to accomplish. Fitz is going to love you!" she beamed.

[Ariel]

(GAMORA - TEMP PLAY BY ARIEL)

"Yes, yes, I know, world-ending event and all. My team and I have been through a couple of those,""This isn't our first rodeo. And I've no intention of experimenting on you. This is just...a process. Step one before you can move on to the next one. I'll try to make it as quick and painless as possible."


Gamora neither rejected nor fully accepted the process that this young technician was talking about. She watched carefully as the woman worked quickly from one painless procedure to the next, none of which involved any sharp objects or dissections. A thin level of trust between Gamora and the woman in the lab coat started to form, as Gamora was willing to finally cooperate and see where the next step would take her. Hopefully to some sort of superior so she can carry out what she came here to do.


"The seamless integration of cybernetic implements with your existing organic structure, it really is amazing! Far beyond anything we've managed to accomplish. Fitz is going to love you!"

"Amazing?" Gamora detested hurtfully as she pierced the girl with a look of sheer distress, "My own father did this to me. Piece by piece, he modified my body against my own will to make me into his strongest weapon," Gamora's voice quivered with anger, "He tried to use me before. And if he finds me...," Gamora wanted nothing more than to yell and scream. Gamora wanted nothing more than to tell this girl everything. But she couldn't, that wouldn't do any of them good. She could only hope that by the time they got to the next step, that it wasn't too late.

[Kristi Lynne]

"Amazing? My own father did this to me. Piece by piece, he modified my body against my own will to make me into his strongest weapon ... He tried to use me before. And if he finds me..."

Jemma backed off from the woman and cast her eyes downward, feeling properly chastened. "I...I'm sorry," she said softly. "I can't imagine." Parents were supposed to protect their children, but she'd seen the effect of Fitz's father's manipulation on his own son. The monster that he'd become in the Mainframe, and that was without removing and replacing parts of his body. How afraid and betrayed this little girl must have grown up.

"You should know that you're safe here," Jemma explained. "Some of the most brilliant minds and the strongest people on the planet are here within these walls. We'll do everything we can to help." Jemma decided to set the instruments aside on a table, as if setting aside her scientist self, and took a seat across from Gamora. "Look, I'm just a human. Got all the same parts I was born with. Only been to outer space once, and that was extremely unpleasant. So I'm sorry if my curiosity got the better of me. Hazard of the job. Anyway, you came to us because you had information about your father, this ... Thanos?" She clasped her hands together and leaned forward. "So tell me about him. As much or as little as you like."  

[Ariel]

(GAMORA - TEMP PLAY BY ARIEL)

"Look, I'm just a human. Got all the same parts I was born with. Only been to outer space once, and that was extremely unpleasant. So I'm sorry if my curiosity got the better of me. Hazard of the job. Anyway, you came to us because you had information about your father, this ... Thanos?" "So tell me about him. As much or as little as you like."

Eased by the girl's words, Gamora nodded as she leaned back into her chair slightly. The girl was gaining her trust, slowly but surely. Uncertainty still resided at a small percentage and Gamora hoped that she wouldn't be away from the rest of the group for too long. Tony seemed to be better at these kinds of things than she was. 

"He's relentless. Merciless. He uses the ones he claims to love for personal gain and power, and will annihilate innocents without hesitation. He's a monster...," An expression of pain that still plagued Gamora looked off into the distance as her memory recollected the agonizing facts, "...And he's coming here. Thanos will stop at nothing to get what he wants."

[Kristi Lynne]

"He's relentless. Merciless. He uses the ones he claims to love for personal gain and power, and will annihilate innocents without hesitation. He's a monster...And he's coming here. Thanos will stop at nothing to get what he wants."

"And what he wants is something here on Earth?" Jemma asked, trying to understand. "Can you tell us what it is? Perhaps we can find it and secure it, make sure he can't get it." It was true, SHIELD had a treasure trove of artifacts -- both human and alien -- that people always seemed to want to get their hands on in order for world domination. if they had what this Thanos was looking for, then they might have leverage.

[Ariel]

(GAMORA - TEMP PLAY BY ARIEL)


"And what he wants is something here on Earth?" "Can you tell us what it is? Perhaps we can find it and secure it, make sure he can't get it."

Gamora had already emphasized the fact that her father was unstoppable to this girl, so she felt no need in repeating her previous statement. Her remorseful stare dragged out for moments as she tried to find a way to tell this girl, without really telling her. If others knew what she knew, Gamora felt that their lives would be put at risk more than they already were. She didn't need to make anyone an accessory, she just needed to keep them informed. Gamora needed to do her part, even if it meant sacrificing her life.

"He wants...what's up here," Gamora lightly tapped the green temple on the side of her head in a seriously dire nature, "I know something he doesn't. Something that will allow him to...succeed," Gamora's voice trailed off in fear, her gaze dropped along with her hand that found it's place back in her lap, "When he finds out what I did, he'll come for me. And everyone that we love will die." Gamora had painfully squeezed her eyes shut to prevent the flow of tears to form as her heart grew heavy with the words she spoke, before looking back up to the young lab tech with a pleading look, "If he comes for me, you have to promise me that you will do everything you can to keep him from me. Even if you have to kill me." Gamora's body trembled in distress as she uttered these requests, yet she knew it was the right thing to do.

[Kristi Lynne]

"He wants...what's up here ... If he comes for me, you have to promise me that you will do everything you can to keep him from me. Even if you have to kill me."

A shocked exhale escaped Jemma's lips at her request. "Gamora, I can't," she declared. "You...you can't ask that of me. My work is about saving people. SHIELD's whole mission is to protect this planet and everyone on it. That includes you now."

She sighed and gave the woman a sympathetic smile. "You say you know something that Thanos doesn't know yet, right? And that gives us some time. I don't expect you to tell me what that is," she remarked. It would be futile, anyway, as this woman clearly believed it necessary to sacrifice her own life to stop an impending catastrophe. But there was someone else currently on the Raft who perhaps put his own welfare if not above, then at least on the same level as the world.

Jemma got to her feet and went back to her work desk. "But you must have told Mr. Stark something significant enough to make him break the Sokovia Accords. I think I should speak with him now. You can return to your ... temporary quarters," she advised, choosing not to use the word 'cell' with its negative connotations. She looked to the guards and made a nod toward the doorway. "Please try and get some rest, Gamora."

[Ariel]

(GAMORA - TEMP PLAY BY ARIEL)


"But you must have told Mr. Stark something significant enough to make him break the Sokovia Accords. I think I should speak with him now. You can return to your ... temporary quarters," "Please try and get some rest, Gamora."

Choked with anguish of what was coming for them, Gamora solemnly nodded in the young woman's direction. She didn't have much to be thankful for, as she was still a prisoner in captivity. Yet she was grateful for this young woman's unnecessary kindness, as the outcome of this whole scenario could have been different if not worse if it wasn't for this lady handling matters as gently as she had. Gamora's fearful eyes flickered up at the guards as the closed in on her, returning the cuffs back to her wrists before escorting her back to her cell.

*** Gamora exits ***

[Kristi Lynne]

"...Subject shows nearly seamless integration of cybernetic and organic systems," Jemma was reciting into a recorder after Gamora had left. "Major manipulation and augmentation of the ocular region, likely replicated in her auditory and respiratory systems. Baseline heartrate slightly elevated during interview but not evident in pulse points or pupil dilation. She's scared but her biology won't show it, as if she's been programmed that way."

The noise of booted footsteps in the hallway alerted Jemma that her next guest was en route. She stopped the recording and set the dictaphone aside, focusing her full attention on the doorway as it opened with a hiss. The billionaire philanthropic playboy himself, the one who had likely invented or at least had a hand in most of the equipment around them -- it was difficult not to be a little starstruck or intimidated. 

"Hello, Mr. Stark," Jemma greeted, with a practiced smile and detached poise. "A pleasure to finally meet you. Though I wish it were under better circumstances."

[DarkSideCookie]

*** Tony, led by two guards, enters from the cells ***


"Hello, Mr. Stark," a female voice greeted him already once they'd made it through the door. Tony gave the woman in the swivel chair an unfazed expression. But then again, he caught himself at a short moment of sizing her up - not in an obtrusive way but more like in the way of someone who just hadn't expected to get led towards a laboratory with an attractive looking woman awaiting him there. "A pleasure to finally meet you. Though I wish it were under better circumstances."

Then, as soon as the guards were letting off of him, he was taking a seat in the chair opposite the young woman - before even got asked to do so - and started to chatter away with his usual lack of respect.

"Yah yah, feeling flattered, feeling appreciated, but as we chitchat here, you still have waiting in line a stressed-out man who can become green but not with envy, a god, doped up with enough testosterone that it seems to affect the - as you should think so - most important muscle, and a bug lady, probably on a whole different kind of drug which I haven't found out yet. Oh, and how could I have forgotten Jumbo from Outer Space, going to snuff out world population. So, we better get this started." He couldn't help but add a sarcastic mien before leaning back in the chair like he was the one having the upper hand in this interview.

[Kristi Lynne]

"Yah yah, feeling flattered, feeling appreciated ... and how could I have forgotten Jumbo from Outer Space, going to snuff out world population. So, we better get this started."

Jemma merely sat motionless and stayed quiet through Stark's monologue. "Coulson did warn me you were a charmer," she remarked with a wistful sigh. "That must be how you manage to routinely flaunt the rules without consequence. Mr. Stark, you were a major proponent of the Sokovia Accords, you advocated for oversight of enhanced individuals, and yet in the past 24 hours you allegedly facilitated the entry of an alien craft into Earth's atmosphere.

"You broke the Accords, Mr. Stark," she stated sternly. "Or at the very least bent them quite a lot. Or would you like to pretend that you didn't have a hand in putting those aforementioned enhanced individuals and aliens in those cells outside?"

[DarkSideCookie]

"Coulson did warn me you were a charmer,""That must be...""...""..."

"Wait, you mean Agent?", Tony asked like that would be the actual first name of the man who once had recruited him and who they all thought to be dead, and also like he hadn't been listening to anything the young woman had said after that (well, he hadn't). Tony would never forget how Fury had said Agent Coulson is down and how that message had affected each of them to function as a team again. How long ago was that even? Like five years ago? Tony wanted to make a remark, something like don't you think it's still too early, but something in her way of speaking about him made Tony wonder if she really was talking about someone dead. But... Fury had watched him die. So... how?

For once, Tony was speechless and just watched his conversation partner in uncommon silence.

[Kristi Lynne]

"Wait, you mean Agent?"

"Well, I think his first name is Phil," Jemma replied. "Or perhaps, Phillip. I just call him 'Sir.' But yes, he's doing quite well. My colleague Fitz was able to use some of your prototype nanotechnology when we had to replace his arm, so I'm sure he thanks you for that."

She was slightly confused as to why Coulson's name had rendered the normally chatty Stark speechless, so she decided to press on while she could get a word in edgewise. "As I was saying, the Sokovia Accords clearly stated --"

[DarkSideCookie]

"Well, I think his first name is Phil,""Or perhaps, Phillip. I just call him 'Sir.' But..."

While the lab assistant was quibbling over details about how Coulson's first name had been, or how he'd been called by his buddies, Tony was still staring at her in disbelief. And when she just went on like this would be nothing of importance, it seemed like his eyes were going to pop out of his head any moment. Wait... did she just say... he's doing quite well? How was he doing quite well?

"...""As I was saying, the Sokovia Accords clearly stated --"

"Okay," Tony suddenly interrupted, leaning forward in his chair and making a silencing gesture. "Could you do me a favor and stop changing the topic while we're sitting here talking about a man... coming back from... the dead?" The last words he elongated and also accompanied with another gesturing of his hands. Then he leaned back again. "Fill me in on that, if you please."

[Kristi Lynne]

"Okay, could you do me a favor and stop changing the topic while we're sitting here talking about a man... coming back from... the dead? Fill me in on that, if you please."

Jemma allowed herself a pre-explanation inhale as she regarded Mr. Stark, feeling uncomfortable about sharing a story that wasn't hers to tell. "Project Tahiti, the source of Coulson's resurrection, was well above my pay grade. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that Director Fury has his secrets. As for why he chose to keep this one from you and your team, you'd have to ask him," she advised.

"However, a very much alive Coulson will be very irritated with me if I don't find out what prompted your Norwegian detour," Jemma continued. "Gamora made it sound rather momentous. And I doubt you would have submitted to SHIELD incarceration if you didn't believe her."  

[DarkSideCookie]

"Project Tahiti, the source of Coulson's resurrection, was well above my pay grade. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that Director Fury has his secrets. As for why he chose to keep this one from you and your team, you'd have to ask him,"

Tony was just inhaling for a response when the lab assistant went on already. So, this was how others must feel when it was him not letting somebody get a word in. Would that cause him to change that quirk? No, probably not.

"However, a very much alive Coulson will be very irritated with me if I don't find out what prompted your Norwegian detour,"

Now it was on him to let out a sigh. And yet, this woman was right. That was what they were here for in the first place, and if Captain Lego© and his crew - in reference to the new size of Quill's spaceship - would be proved right, there was not much time left.

"Gamora made it sound rather momentous. And I doubt you would have submitted to SHIELD incarceration if you didn't believe her."

"Right, and that's why I don't get that we're still sitting here and talking.", Tony almost broke into her last words. "As for my part, I would have already gone in preparation to ward off the end of civilization, but - as you probably know - the Avengers are hogtied through the Sokovia Accords." He made a gesture as his hands were literally tied. It was a fact that he once had been the first signing them, but it was also a fact that recently he wasn't so sure anymore what was the right way and what was not. He most probably wouldn't admit that though, especially not in front of Rogers. Anyways, learning about the catastrophe that was going to come, the government must be foolish not to give their OK.

[Kristi Lynne]

"Right, and that's why I don't get that we're still sitting here and talking. As for my part, I would have already gone in preparation to ward off the end of civilization, but - as you probably know - the Avengers are hogtied through the Sokovia Accords."

"Accords that you yourself signed and advocated, Mr. Stark," Jemma reminded him, slightly more emphatically this time. "And thank you for the reminder that you don't play well with others. Do you really think you're the only person who cares about this planet and the people on it? That you're the only one who knows the best way to protect it?"

She paused and collected herself, regretful of her outburst and fairly certain it would result in a reprimand from someone higher up. "That woman -- Gamora -- based on preliminary diagnostics, is one of the strongest and fastest beings I've ever seen," Jemma informed him. "I'm pretty sure she could snap you like a twig if she wanted, suit or no. But she's terrified of what's coming. This Thanos. So terrified that she asked me to kill her rather than let him take her. I'd rather not have to do that. So perhaps you could stop being a self-obsessed wanker for five seconds and help us use whatever it is she knows, to keep her and the rest of humanity alive?" 

[DarkSideCookie]

"Accords that you yourself signed and advocated, Mr. Stark,"

This time, he didn't bite back right away but instead gave her a look that mixed up the unspoken words Thanks for refreshing my mind with enough sarcasm to make them guessable in the first place.

"And thank you for the reminder that you don't play well with others. Do you really think you're the only person who cares about this planet and the people on it? That you're the only one who knows the best way to protect it?"

"No, but obviously the only one who cares and is ready to.", Tony interjected smart-alecky, after all. Judging by her glance, he also already had made a new friend around here.

"That woman -- Gamora -- based on preliminary diagnostics, is one of the strongest and fastest beings I've ever seen,""I'm pretty sure she could snap you like a twig if she wanted, suit or no."

"Oh funny, really, but ---"

"But she's terrified of what's coming. This Thanos. So terrified that she asked me to kill her rather than let him take her. I'd rather not have to do that. So perhaps you could stop being a self-obsessed wanker for five seconds and help us use whatever it is she knows, to keep her and the rest of humanity alive?"

"Wow, you remind me of my girlfriend, eh, ex-girlfriend, anyways, that's not the point.", Tony started in his joking yet matter-of-factly spoken manner - a move certainly not helpful with this issue -, but then finally became more serious, leaving her no time to react to his former comment even if she wanted. "I say we start helping each other first. You wanna know what it is that Big Bad wants, and I'd like to be free to act in this matter." Actually, Tony wasn't in the know of Gamora's secret himself, or rather not yet. She seemed to have something like an ace up her sleeve, or so he guessed, but wasn't willing to talk about it with one too many. Pretty much understandable, yet not helpful. "A little bit more line, and I'm gonna play the alien whisperer for you."

[Kristi Lynne]

"I say we start helping each other first. You wanna know what it is that Big Bad wants, and I'd like to be free to act in this matter. A little bit more line, and I'm gonna play the alien whisperer for you."

"That would be just enough line to hang myself," Jemma countered. "There are people I have to answer to, Mr. Stark, and they're not known for their patience." On the other hand, these aliens had trusted Tony enough to allow themselves to be taken in without a fight, which had perhaps engendered some goodwill. And how likely was she to ever get the chance to work with Iron Man again? 

"But I would rather have you as a friend than a foe," she relented. "Gamora says she has information that Thanos needs. If we can protect her, or obtain and safeguard whatever it is, then we have leverage. Or at the very least, she can inform us of his weaknesses so that we're not going into battle blind."

Jemma called up the diagnostic scans of Gamora and sent them to different holographic screens floating in the air between them. "Obviously, you didn't get any of this information from me," she cautioned. Much of this was Stark's own technology, so she doubted she would have to explain how to read it. "But as you can see, Gamora is a breath-taking and highly efficient combination of organic and cybernetic implants. She heals quickly as evidenced by the small amount of scar tissue, but not entirely. And different procedures seem to have been done throughout her life, judging by the bone length.

"She said Thanos did this to her," she informed Tony, a note of regret and sadness in her voice. "And he's been doing it since she was a child, molding and making her into a weapon. If he could do this to a little girl...."

[DarkSideCookie]

"That would be just enough line to hang myself,""There are people I have to answer to, Mr. Stark, and they're not known for their patience."

"Mmh mh.", Tony replied with no more than quiet tones of affirmation - well, usually used as an affirmation, but the way they came from him, was more likely just supposed to be an interlude out of boredom.

"But I would rather have you as a friend than a foe,""Gamora says...

Although he hadn't expected anything different after all, Tony's mien lightened up a little at her but - the but with one t. Okay, Tony, stick to the point. He cleared his throat quietly, almost as if he feared Jemma might have read his thoughts.

For a moment, his eyes widened at the diagnostic scans that suddenly appeared right between them. Yes, he was easily diverted, just like a child, but with the big difference that, with Tony, it was nothing like an attention deficit in general but rather a result of too much non-self-involved input. If the focus wasn't on him or, at least, not directly linked to him, his mind just went off at times. So, strictly spoken, it was not even his fault. It was not that he was doing this on purpose.

The scans, however, drew his attention back, and even set him into an upright position to get a closer look at them.

"Obviously, you didn't get any of this information from me,"

"I'm the quintessential.. of.. discretion...", he replied rather preoccupied, marveling at Gamora's vital parameters and body structure. "May I?" Tony asked, yet wouldn't wait for an answer, before zooming in the area of something that looked like cybernetic implants.

"... She heals quickly as evidenced by the small amount of scar tissue, but not entirely. And different procedures seem to have been done throughout her life, judging by the bone length.""She said Thanos did this to her,"

Tony's features hardened. Hadn't she said something about Thanos being her father? What kind of father could do such things to his own daughter...

"And he's been doing it since she was a child, molding and making her into a weapon. If he could do this to a little girl...."

"... then what would he do to people he sees as his foes, if even." he finished her sentence, still looking at the scan between them.

Anyways, let's face a fact - Tony didn't really believe that he was the right person to press a secret out of anybody, especially, when this somebody was, at least, half as obstinate as he was himself. But what was the best about being him? Well, there were a lot of other things that would suit this phrasing better, so let's forget about it. However, he knew enough people who would fit this job description of an alien whisperer more than him. And he already had the right man for that in mind. A satisfied smile was forming around his lips, yet disappeared before he spoke up again.

"So, when's checkout? Oh, and I want my toys back. That's something out of your team's league anyway - most of them got an age limit. No offense.", Tony added, though making it not clear if that had been a joke or not. It hadn't been.

[Kristi Lynne]

"... then what would he do to people he sees as his foes, if even."

"Exactly," Jemma concurred. She didn't doubt Tony's grasp of the seriousness of the situation -- indeed, she was still working on coming to grips with it herself -- but she was hoping her little illustration of Gamora's inherent power and pain would elicit some amount of sympathy from the playboy billionaire.

"So, when's checkout? Oh, and I want my toys back. That's something out of your team's league anyway - most of them got an age limit. No offense."

Eh, not so much, she realized. "Are you referring to physical or mental age, Mr. Stark?" Jemma retorted. "Also, detainees don't get to make demands. Your 'toys' are now the property of SHIELD and will be returned to you if and when the director sees fit to do so. Which should be on or about the time you get some answers from Gamora, Mr. Alien Whisperer." 

[DarkSideCookie]

"Are you referring to physical or mental age, Mr. Stark?"

"You got a sense of humor. I like that." Tony reacted rather flirty than offended. She had the super-hot-lab-assistant bonus, so he didn't mind competition. Anyways, he wasn't here for any of that and was, of course, pretty much aware of the gravity of the situation. Yet, her next words made him wonder if she was.

"Also, detainees don't get to make demands. Your 'toys' are now the property of SHIELD and will be returned to you if and when the director sees fit to do so. Which should be on or about the time you get some answers from Gamora, Mr. Alien Whisperer."

"Okay, how much time are we talking about here?" Tony asked visibly surprised. "Since when is delivering yourself to shorten your stay not a thing anymore? Or... was that... never a thing? How about 'when in doubt, for the accused'?" Okay, granted. Tony didn't know much about bureaucracy and never really had been interested to change that - which had brought him a lot of exhausting arguments with Pepper in the past - but there must be some kind of law that the Avengers had to be released from arrest in the case of a world catastrophe on the horizon. Or somewhere in the Accords? For the first time, Tony wished he would have read something that got handed to him.

When it seemed that none of the points he'd delivered to her would help to get released on parole, Tony let out a heavy sigh, as he sat back in his chair. "Happy New Year."

[Kristi Lynne]

"Okay, how much time are we talking about here? Since when is delivering yourself to shorten your stay not a thing anymore? Or... was that... never a thing? How about 'when in doubt, for the accused'?"

"So bloody dramatic," Jemma sighed as she whisked the holographic images out of the air and back into her tablet. "You're still presumed innocent, Mr. Stark. Even though we have dozens of witnesses to your breaking the Sokovia Accords, and likely a handful of international laws. But you are being detained until such a time as SHIELD can gather enough information to make an informed decision about how to proceed in the current situation." 

That was enough bureaucratic talk for one day. Long past any feeling of being starstruck or intimidated, she turned away from him and walked back to her desk.  

"Happy New Year."

"Is it? I hadn't noticed," Jemma responded, unsure if the sentiment was even directed at her. Safe bet that it wasn't. "Better get a kiss from one of the guards, then. Thank you for your time, Mr. Stark."  

[DarkSideCookie]

"Is it? I hadn't noticed,""Better get a kiss from one of the guards, then. Thank you for your time, Mr. Stark."

"You're kiddin' me," Tony stated honestly surprised, as he stopped the fiddling with something his fingers had found lying on the desk in front of him. "Don't tell me you've spent New Year's Eve here -- all alone? How weren't you invited to the party? No party? Okay okay, got it. Time's up." With a knock on the desk, Tony raised from his chair, about to let the guards lead him back to the others when he suddenly turned around one last time. "So, uh, who's next, or are you gonna do the drawing a straw thing first?"

[Kristi Lynne]

"Don't tell me you've spent New Year's Eve here -- all alone? How weren't you invited to the party? ... So, uh, who's next, or are you gonna do the drawing a straw thing first?"

"That is all, Mr. Stark, thank you," Jemma repeated insistently, hoping that her accent somehow masked the implied rudeness. Again, she'd already reckoned on a stern talking-to from her superiors, what more harm could she do? In for a penny, in for a pound. And yes, she was spending New Year's Eve here; there was no party. There rarely was for anyone on the SHIELD payroll. Much as she craved a kiss from Fitz and the sort of hug that made the world stop and forget all its problems, her place at the moment was here.

"Would you bring in the Asgardian next, please? Thank you," Jemma requested. If Fitz was currently drooling over Stark's suit, she could indulge in a little aesthetic pleasure of her own.