Jessica Drew

[carolfreakingdanvers]

Take the Night Off | Carol & Jess

“Jess!” Carol called out in a sing-song voice, knocking repeatedly on her apartment door knowing it would wind her up.

She had called earlier in the week and complained about her day, trivial things that she could hear Jess rolling her eyes at over the phone before she eventually owned up to what was really bothering her. She was going stir-crazy, moving had seemed like a good idea and it was but she still found the old anxieties creeping up. Deciding to do the most sensible thing she could think of, she called Jess. It was much better than the alternatives, most of which involved bottles and very non-heroic and embarrassing dangerous displays of superpowers. Jess, reliable as ever, hadn’t pushed and suggested they do something fun. Carol decided it should be Friday evening, insisting she was ‘not old or boring enough to be staying in with her cat on a Friday night’ and immediately added a warning against contradiction before Jess could comment.

“If you don’t open up soon I’ll blast open your door!” Carol called out again and teasingly added, “And I won’t pay for the repairs this time.”

[axrp-agentdrew]

Jessica had been curled up the couch with her personal phone, swiping left on just about every dater's profile before resorting to Facebook stalking colleagues. Christ, she thought, Nina from R&D likes Nickelback and she made it public knowledge. She shook her head wishing she could swipe left on her coworkers, too. Life would be so much easier if social interaction came with an antisocial eject button. The thought escaped her when she heard Carol's voice at the door. There were some people she didn't mind seeing, some who even brightened her day.

"I hope you haven't pre-gamed without me," Jessica called out as Carol continued to knock. Jessica scurried about, hiding her pirated DVD of Spirited Away to pretend as though she hadn't just watched the film four times in a row. Kicking her slippers on, Jessica opened the door. She gave a coy smirk, adopting a convincing southern accent as spoke, saying, "My, my, my, if it ain't the lovely Miss Danvers."

She extended an arm for an embrace, asking, in a normal voice, "What's shakin', bacon?"

[axrp-agentdrew]

Along Came a Spider || Stark & Drew

[thegeniusplayboy]

Tony jumped as she jumped up and into action.  “Wait, so this is happening now?  Right right now?” he asked with a concerned voice.  He thought he’d have time to prepare, time to make sure the suit was airtight and he wasn’t going to die.

But before he knew it, she was in one of those too-inappropriate suits that Natasha wore, and shouting at him to be useful.  He opened the briefcase on the table next to him and suited up, turning to Jessica and prepared for anything.  “FRIDAY, put all defenses up, take Ms. Drew’s information and scan it, see if there’s any material known that can defend against this threat.  If not, then make one.” he said to the AI.

“What do we do now?  Wait to see if he can get in here?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

[axrp-agentdrew]

Jessica fastened a pair of advanced goggles over her eyes and slipped on gloves before her purse disintegrated at the touch of a button.

"I know you Avengers aren't much for running away from a fight, but I think you'd better rethink that strategy," Jessica said. "There's some wisdom to that adage about 'living to fight another day.' Do you have an escape route from your office?" Without waiting for an answer, she barked an order to Agent Woo on a nearby helicarrier from her radio. "I need readings on abnormalities booted to my visor. Tell R&D to look for any sort of light radiation."

Jessica put a finger to her temple and looked about as the SHIELD technicians remotely scanned for energy signatures.

[axrp-agentdrew]

Along Came a Spider || Stark & Drew

[thegeniusplayboy]

Tony raised an eyebrow and nodded.  It wasn’t every day that people actually stood up to him.  Very few people would try to out sass him, and even fewer were successful in their attempts.  The last person who had really gotten to him would probably be Romanoff.  And now he’d like to think they were pretty good friends.  So he smiled gently and put his hands up in surrender.

“Alright, alright, I got it.” he said and put his hands down. “I’ll figure it out.”  He could work around her if he wanted to.  And he supposed having her watch him  was better than dying.

[axrp-agentdrew]

Jessica eyed Tony with suspicion, but the expression didn't last long. A beam of light shot from a nearby building to the street below, dissipating in only the blink of an eye.

"Shit! Stark, now would be the time to batten whatever hatches you have," Jessica said. She kicked off her heels and held a bracelet close to her mouth, saying, "Jimmy, I need backup at Stark Tower, right now. Dr. Parks is making his move. Get every engineer on R&D to focus their efforts on combating the blue prints we found. Send anything useful directly to Stark."

With a steady beam of green bio-electric energy, Jessica burned and tore her dress shirt and skirt off, revealing a flexible albeit skintight suit lined with graphite and carbon fibre-reinforced carbon. R&D couldn't be sure, but if Parks' laser was anything like a normal one, she might be able to absorb the energy directed at her.  

[axrp-agentdrew]

Sleeping Dragons || Barton & Drew

[axrp-agentdrew]

Hawkeye616:

“Don’t snap at me.” He ground out, wriggling and twisting in the vents to get turned around. “Your intel is off. They must have done some remodeling, there’s a dead end where there’s supposed to be a turn.” He grumbled as he managed to find a turn that should lead him the same way. “I’m going to have to wing it.”

He held still for a moment, grinning at the mental image of the look on her face. He had just ticked three checkboxes for things spies tend to hate.

1. Bad intel 2. Not sticking to the plan 3. The phrase “wing it” and everything it implies.

There’s also Clint’s manic enjoyment of winging it (which has only gotten worse since joining the avengers) but that only applies to people he’s worked with. He’s excited to see how Jess handles it.

Jessica's eyes rolled. Her fists clenched. Winging it was the last thing she needed to hear, especially in an operation as delicate as this. If the intel was off, then what could she say other than wish him luck? She wasn't about to get positive on him. Clint never needed a cheerleader to get things done anyway. Besides, she knew he was probably grinning, because she knew he knew just how perturbed she'd be. She'd find some opportunity to sass him some other way to make up for it.

"Hope you've got your wits about you," Jessica said. "You'd better—" She was caught off at the sounding off a thunderous gong, one that reverberated through the whole building. "Something tells me that's not the dinner bell," she said. The gong rang again. "Looks like tonight's going to be one of those nights where nothing goes as planned."

As Jessica let out a sigh and stepped out from her hiding place, the gong rang once more. She observed that it was ringing at a rhythmic pace. Whenever the reverberation mellowed out, the gong would ring again. Walking around the corner toward the lobby, she turned to see Dr. Franklin coming toward her. "Things are moving quicker than I expected," he called from down the hall. "The Council must be getting anxious."

[axrp-agentdrew]

Sleeping Dragons || Barton & Drew

[axrp-agentdrew]

Hawkeye616:

Clint stopped wriggling through the vents when he heard her drop Franklin’s name. The anti-Bruce. Not that he could really do much to help. Until he found an intersection he was pretty much stuck going forward. He took a breath and reminded himself that Jess can take care of herself and kept crawling.

He listened in on their conversation, apparently Thunderball might have some work for Joan, which would hopefully lead to a SHIELD sting op and the four members of the crew back in jail (for all the good that ever seemed to do). Wasn’t much point in thinking that far ahead though. For now he had fifteen floors worth of vents to cross, a shot to make and a building full of bad guys to escape.

“One, but unless he’s had a major boost in power your SHIELD training should hold up. Sebastian Druid. He still on SHIELD’s payroll or not? It’s hard to keep track of the on and off romance you guys have with him.”

He came to the first junction and made a right turn, then- “Fuck.”

Jessica hadn't seen Sebastian Druid, but it was certainly reassuring to know there were more boots on the ground than she had anticipated. A mystic might make for an easy escape, assuming the Hood or some other magic wielding villain wasn't present. But why wasn't Jessica briefed on Druid's assignment? Did the Director have a reason for keeping her in the dark? Perhaps the same reason her contact inside and the SPEAR undercover agents were kept secret. There must have been some contingency plan in place in case she and Barton failed. That had to be it.

With a casual step, Jessica returned to strolling back to the lobby only to stop and duck into another dark corner when Barton cussed. "Report," she said.

[axrp-agentdrew]

"I'm a secret agent hunting alien Skrulls. But you already knew that from my last interrogation and the dead body in your basement." Jessica Drew

[axrp-agentdrew]

Sleeping Dragons || Barton & Drew

[axrp-agentdrew]

Hawkeye616:

Clint rolled his eyes at Jess’s comment, yeah, he knew the suit was tight, but there wouldn’t be much room for anything else in the ducts, so spandex it was. “Sorry, Jess. Don’t think brain bleach is a thing yet. Guess you’ll just have to live with the image of my ass burned into your mind for the rest of forever.”

He stowed his clothes in a corner and took the mini crossbow from her. He gave a chuckle at her comments, covering his own irritation. “I wont miss. You know I wont miss.” He wished that shit annoyed him less as the years went by, but it never really did. It was especially bad when someone who really knew him said it. He’d have hoped Jess would have gotten it, why he doesn’t miss, why he can’t.

“Yeah, yeah. Ears on the whole time, I got it. Anything else?” He ignored the comment that was equal parts about their past relationship and his mission behavior.

He started shimmying into the vents as soon as the door clicked behind her.

“I’m in.” He said, once his whole body had cleared the opening. Over her com he heard a voice calling her code name. “Everything ok, Jess?”

From the corner of her eye, Jessica could see the man coming toward her. It was Eliot Franklin, former gamma physicist turned to a life of crime. He was out of costume and missing his signature wrecking ball, but she'd recognize that jaw line from anywhere. She turned to face him, all the more sure that it was him when she saw his square shoulders and large frame, triceps and thigh muscles ready to burst through his elegantly striped two-piece suit. "Dr. Franklin, how did you come to know my name? Or should I call you Thunderball?"

She was sure Barton would recognize the name. The Avengers had had their run-ins in the past with Franklin's team of villains known as the Wrecking Crew, baseline humans enhanced by Asgardian enchantments. They thought they could hold New York for ransom with a gamma bomb. The team made short work of that, but not before the Wrecking Crew lived up to their name and demolished a block of Harlem.

"Same way you knew mine," Thunderball said, his voice was deep and raspy. "Word travels fast. It's not every day that someone evades the Avengers and reaps the kind of profit you have. I'm sure you'll have an official invitation after tonight's festivities, but my associates could also use a smuggler to move goods to the West coast."

"Oh? And how do I contact the Crew? Do I shine a bulldozer decal into the Hong Kong sky?" Jessica asked with a chuckle.

Dr. Franklin grinned. "Here's my card," he said, handing her a business card for a New York construction company. She scanned it over. It was an obvious front organization with a fake name.

"I'll be in touch," she said, turning to walk away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, the Maggia don't like it when you make them wait."

When it seemed safe and no eyes were upon her, Jessica slipped into a shadowy corner and looked for potential cameras that might be watching her. Satisfied that she was truly alone in the hall, she spoke to Barton, saying, "If Thunderball is here, then I'm sure the rest of the Wrecking Crew is down in the lobby. That's at least four class tens. I'm sure I'll find more dangerous new friends downstairs. Did you see any telepaths before we slipped out? I don’t like surprises."

[axrp-agentdrew]

Sleeping Dragons || Barton & Drew

[axrp-agentdrew]

Hawkeye616:

Clint swallowed obviously and nodded his agreement for Joan and Benjamin to “liaise” upstairs. As he followed her up the stairs he couldn’t help but smile, knowing that the sultry and coy game she was playing was nothing like the real Jessica Drew (if it were, this might have been awkward, but like he said before, Jess is damn good at her job).

Once they were safely in the closet and had cleared it for bugs he dropped the enraptured fool act and started to case the vents. They looked like they would hold his weight, if he was careful.

“So what’s the plan from here? You hide out and make sexy noises while I climb through the walls, make the shot and then we get out?” He knew the plan, but it always made him feel better to go over it once more, especially since they were winging their access point. He was already stripping out of his suit, leaving himself in an all but skin tight field suit that meant he would never be able to mock Pietro’s costume again. He looked down at himself as he slipped gloves on, and somehow her seeing him like this was worse than her having seen him naked. He shot her a warning look. “We will never speak of this after today.”

Jessica rolled her eyes at Barton's comment, returning quickly to her real self at the first instance of the archer's attempts at humor. "I'm already disassociating," she mumbled, knowing full-well that the comm links would make her words clear anyway. His skintight suit hugged everything a little too snug. There were more man bits and pieces than Jessica cared to remember. This was a bad dream. 

From her purse, Jessica pulled out a deconstructed arrow with a USB at the tip. She twisted the individual parts together until the projectile was sturdy and complete. She passed it to Barton. "You're going in alone. Woo's booted up the schematics that our contact was able to construct from blue prints to your comm link. A GPS program should take you straight to the hatch leading to the mainframe. You've only got one shot. Shoot too hard and you'll damage the USB and this whole operation is a bust. Don't make today the day you miss either. I'll be on the comm link with you. Woo and other agents are standing by. If anything happens we need to know. I've got more recon to do outside. I’ll keep you posted as best as I can. Do the same. Communication’s key, not that phrase ever meant anything to you before."

She gave a self-satisfied grin at the last jab before ruffling her hair a little and stepping out into the lion's den once more, closing the closet door lightly behind her.

"Ms. Quesada," she heard a voice call out as she turned a corner toward the main lobby.

Shit, she mouthed before turning to see who it was.

[axrp-agentdrew]

Along Came a Spider || Stark & Drew

[thegeniusplayboy]

Tony’s stomach flipped at that side eye.  That was a terrifying look, god only knows how her friends and coworkers lived with that.  He shifted uncomfortably and crossed his arms, listening to what she had to say.  He smiled a bit at her last comment and nodded.  He was sure that the two of them could figure something out with this information they were given.  “Darn, I was really hoping I could get Katy Perry to help us.” he shot back with a playful smile.

“Alright, are you just here to deliver news and go, or is this another Natasha situation?” he asked after a moment.  “Because you’re lovely and all, but I don’t really need a babysitter.”  He hated being looked after, he had the best security in the world, better than the president.  No matter what Fury thought, Tony was 100% capable of taking care of himself. 

[axrp-agentdrew]

When Tony called her a babysitter, Jessica's eyes narrowed. She took slow, calculated steps toward the billionaire, her heels clicking against the hard floor. As she neared him, she crossed her arms tightly, burrowing her hands as though she were holding back her fists from going AWOL on the rich boy's face. She flicked a line of hair back with a crick of her neck.

"Listen," Jessica said, "I'm not anyone's babysitter. I'm the seasoned agent who's going to guard your ass from a man with a mastery of light and teleportation, a man that you've pissed off very much. Do what you need to do to prepare yourself, but I'm not going anywhere until I know you're not seconds away from a laser-induced death that would make Auric Goldfinger green."

[axrp-agentdrew]

Sleeping Dragons || Barton & Drew

[axrp-agentdrew]

Hawkeye616:

Clint did his best impression of Cap’s ‘aw, shucks’ face and ducked his head, knowing it made him look at least five years younger and dumb as a stone. “I don’t know about fresh faced, ma’am.” He smirked, all Iowa drawl. “Probably about ten years too late for that, my family has been in the business for a while,  but never at this level.” He surveyed the room, allowing a touch of awe to light up his features. He kept talking, babbling as he watched the man Jess indicated (and if he was coveting the mans suit, he kept that to himself)

Aussie boy made some comment about Hammer as he walked past and it could have just been gossip, or underworld name dropping, but it could also be something more. He wished he could ask Jess what she was thinking, but the bartender was back and smiling that bland smile that always means they’re on the take.

“So what do you do, Ms. Quesada?”

"Oh, enough naughty things to land me in Ryker's a couple lifetimes over, but that's small-fry stuff compared to some of the players tonight," Jessica said, brushing a stray hair from her brow. She stepped closer to Barton, but she knew she was still within range of the bartender. "I'd heard some big names from the California families would be making an appearance, but our hosts must have something special planned considering this showing. We should talk business, but maybe not so out in the open. I prefer my operations stay hush-hush."

She dropped a large tip for the bartender and leaned in close. "Is there a more intimate place where my new friend and I can get more acquainted before the big show?"

The bartender laughed, taking the money with subtle swipe of his hand. He leaned in and whispered, "There's some intimate dining spaces upstairs, but if you want to get really acquainted then there's some closets along the upper stairwell."

"You're a doll," Jessica said with a chuckle. She took her drink in hand and stepped close to Barton.  

With a gentle hand to Barton's shoulder, Jessica whispered in his ear, saying, "There's a closet in the upper stairwell. We should check to see if we can get access from there." She feigned a nervous giggle, putting her nails to her lips and eyeing her partner for confirmation.  

[axrp-agentdrew]

Along Came a Spider || Stark & Drew

[thegeniusplayboy]

Tony gave her a look and rolled his eyes as the files showed up on his screen.  “Of course the windows are reinforced.  I’ve had a target on my head since I was born, Stark Towers has the highest level of security in the country.  But that’s against guns and basic stuff like that…” he said, trailing off as he read the files.

This guy knew what he was doing, he was intelligent and all of his theories could work.  Which was what scared Tony.  He ran his hand through his hair a few times and let out a long sigh.  “Shit, I need a drink…” he mumbled and looked up at her.  “I think I’m gonna have to talk to Bruce.  This is a lot of information, he’s… he knows what he’s talking about.”

[axrp-agentdrew]

Jessica shot Stark a frigid side-eye. Drinking? At a time like this? S.H.I.E.L.D.'s personality profile of the billionaire wasn't kidding. Though she supposed getting drunk in a crisis wasn't the most unheard of reaction. Too many people seemed to think numbing the mind was akin to making their problems disappear. People were short-sighted, not exactly a trait she would expect from a proclaimed futurist.

"I think that consulting Dr. Banner would be wise. His expertise in radiation could prove useful given your stalker's field. We've been trying to get in touch with enhanced people with light manipulation powers, but we haven't had much luck. Last we heard, Spectrum, was averting a crisis on the other side of the world. Alison Blaire's been unreachable," Jessica said. She tried to stay collected, matter-of-fact. This was a mission after all. Her personality tried to claw its way through anyway, however little it could. “A scientist is certainly preferable to a pop star, of course.”

[axrp-agentdrew]

Sleeping Dragons || Barton & Drew

[axrp-agentdrew]

Hawkeye616:

Clint made it into the building without issue, nodding his acknowledgement to Jess’s intel, not that he hadn’t seen the mercs for himself, standing there like fucking golems made of muscle and fully automatic firearms.

Once inside Clint made a tour of the room, exchanging smiles as he cased the room, looking for their contact. He didn’t find her in the quick circuit of the room but he did see several familiar faces in the crowd, their weren’t the only agency in attendance, though none gave any indication that they were there for anything more than survalience.  He’d been doing this for a long time and that meant knowing a lot of the players, at least on the good side (the bad side ended up in jail or a grave if they did their jobs right).

“It’s good to see you, Dominic.” He said as he passed a dark haired man on the way to the bar. He wound his way through the other guests, sidling up to the bar and ordering two drinks.

“Balls if I know. She’s your contact.” He mumbled while the bartenders back was turned. “If she has been then our cover might be blown too. Think we should get out of here?” The bartender came back and he tipped generously (on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s dime, of course) and took the drinks with a grateful nod.

He sidled up next to Jess and held one glass to her. “Benjamin Croft, ma’am. Sorry to interrupt, but I couldn’t stand to see such a lovely woman all on her own.” He gave a lopsided smirk, aiming to match his cover of being new money, a member of a reliable and established family that had only recently found success in the business.  

"Joan," Jessica said, playing along. She held out her hand for Clint to take it. Her index finger was bedazzled with a white gold ring and a square amethyst stone. It was no gem of course, but S.H.I.E.L.D. tech—a homing beacon in case the director needed to fish their corpses from the South China Sea. "Joan Quesada. Judging from your accent, you're an American. Hah! Of all the fine women from the world over, you pick me. Trying not to veer too far from your comfort zone I take it, Mr. Croft? I don't blame you. There's a lot of people here who would take advantage of a fresh face."

She watched a group of party goers walking past her from her peripheral. One was placing a key card into his coat pocket. Putting a free finger to her eye as if to scratch an inch, she casually let her hand drop in the man's direction. He walked past Clint and Jessica made a mental note: tall, white, deep plumb suit and azure blue tie. His hair was wavy and brown. He spoke with a heavy Australian accept as he passed, saying, "Hammer's acquittal is just a matter of padding the right pockets."

Jessica was quick to make a connection with his words. Justin Hammer, one of Tony Stark's rivals. Word had it he was out for blood, but what part did he have to play in Hong Kong’s terrorist underground? It was possible his tech was what they were after. Hammer Industries was more than capable of developing an internet-toppling device. If what the Empire was plotting was a cyber-attack, they could use a poor man's Tony Stark to make it possible.

[axrp-agentdrew]

Along Came a Spider || Stark & Drew

[thegeniusplayboy]

Tony rolled his eyes so hard at that, that his eye nearly started twitching.  “Please, you say that as if I wasn’t literally the smartest man alive.  I just need anything you have on him.  JARVIS, pull up everything you can find on Parks.” he said quietly and ran a hand through his hair. 

He looked up at Jessica right as the green spark flicked out of her hand.  He jumped at that, and looked up at her with wide eyes.  “Well, fuck.” he said softly and scooted his chair back after a second of carefully watching her.  “That’s slightly terrifying.” he said with some trepidation before looking down at the hologram on the table.

“Can you send me everything you have on Parks?  I want to start figuring out how to defend myself as soon as I can.” he said with a determined look.

[axrp-agentdrew]

"Jimmy," Jessica said, putting a finger to a comm link concealed in her ear. "Have R&D send everything you have on Arthur Parks' tech to Mr. Stark." She paused before advising Tony that schematics were on their way through a secure line.

Crossing her arms, Jessica eyed the windows of the office. They were beginning to feel like more and more of a liability every second they were able to see the city. If she could stare out at New York, someone else could easily be peering in and ready to pounce from elsewhere. "Are the windows of Stark Tower re-enforced in case of a situation like this? I suppose you weren't expecting teleportation laser tech, but maybe keeping you out in the open like this isn't the best idea. Parks doesn’t need an advanced laser if a sniper rifle will do the job." Though she supposed a scientist would be more comfortable with a laser than an ordinary, muzzled firearm. 

[axrp-agentdrew]

Along Came a Spider || Stark & Drew

[thegeniusplayboy]

Tony flinched at the mention of Venko.  That had been a shit show.  He could only imagine what could possibly be worse than Venko, and he immediately realized that he was far too sober for this.  He ran a hand through his hair and reached for his coffee, taking a sip as he listened to her speak.  

“So you’re saying to me that this guy can just zap himself in here and attack me at any given moment?” he asked.  He tried to hold back his excitement at the idea of teleportation being available, as his life was at stake.  But still.  It was cool, and he wanted to learn how to do it.

“What can I do to prevent this?  Can’t you get Banner to help me work on something to protect against him?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

[axrp-agentdrew]

Jessica grinned at the genius's question. "I'm a special agent, trained for espionage and the dangers posed by super powered peoples; I'm not part of SHIELD's R&D, so I'm not exactly equipped to tell you the strict mechanics of it. Maybe I can get you in touch with someone who can, that is, if you think you can dismantle his tech before we find ourselves face-to-face with Parks."

She felt silly for even making the remark. She knew Stark's personality profile well enough, having studied the Avengers in-depth before undertaking this mission. Anyone with Stark's ego or sense of wonder for science would take such a challenge in stride, that seemed sure enough.

"I'm not sure what help I'll be if he really can harness light to teleport," she said. She held her hand out and let a small spark of green bio-electricity jet between her fingers. "My enhancements are only any good if I have a target to take aim at."  

[axrp-agentdrew]

Along Came a Spider || Stark & Drew

[thegeniusplayboy]

Tony frowned at the mention of Parks.  It wasn’t always easy to remember every business that hated him or tried to out-do him.  But for some reason he had always remembered Parks.  It was probably because he was around 16 the time his father had to deal with him, and the Star Wars correlation always stuck with him.  

He never even thought that this would be an issue again.  Most people, once they get trampled by Stark Industries don’t jump back up again, but there were always those people who just refused to stay down.  He frowned at the picture of Parks and took it from her.  

“I have the best security system in the entire world.  Fury knows this, he insured it.  Tried to break in once, almost lost his other eye.  If he sent you, that means there’s something special about this guy, right?  You wouldn’t be afraid of him getting to me if he didn’t actually have a chance.” he said as he looked back up at Jessica.  “So what’s the catch?”

[axrp-agentdrew]

Jessica watched Tony swipe the hologram display and made a mental note that the presentation was over. It was better that way. She knew she was much more adept at punching things than she was at showing advanced PowerPoints.

"You're quite right. From what we've seen of his notes and the devices in his New York lab, we might be looking at another situation on the scale of Ivan Vanko, perhaps even worse," Jessica said. "Granted SHIELD doesn't have easy access to Dr. Banner to confer our scientists' findings, but we have reason to believe that Parks has discovered a way to merge carbon materials with light.

Jessica stood up and crossed her arms, eyeing the windows that overlooked the city streets before turning her attention back to Stark. "What this tech means for the world at large remains to be seen, but instant teleportation isn't out of the question. We've all seen stranger science fiction become fact."

[axrp-agentdrew]

Sleeping Dragons || Barton & Drew

[axrp-agentdrew]

hawkeye616

This was officially the best mission ever.

Ok, yeah, awkward as hell because he’s here with his ex-girl-friend-with-benefits(?), but awesome because he gets to crawl through ducts and use the cool mini-bow thing Stark built him and a USB arrow, which is unbelievably cool (respect the USB arrow).

He rolled his eyes, of course that was her first question. “My ears are fine, Jess. tuned into your frequency, any static is ‘cause I’m deaf as hell, not the tech.”

He leaned back in his seat and straightened his tie. He didn’t see why he couldn’t just infiltrate from the roof (ok, so maybe the multi million dollar security system and the fact that it was one of the tallest buildings in Hong Kong…never mind). Still, it made him miss old missions with Natasha, her providing recon and distraction, him in the vents…that wasn’t really fair to Jess though. She was a damn good agent and a friend. Just, things had been a little off since he fucked things up between them.

He feels his car come to a smooth stop and puts his game face on. The door opens and he steps out of the car in a smooth motion, shooting his cuffs and smoothing his jacket, smiling blandly and looking around for a familiar face.

As the limo rolled up to the towering skyscraper at the city's edge, Jessica took a brief moment to appreciate the lights of the city through the smog. Yellow and blue glyphs shined, blinking and glinting through the purple haze of a polluted night. How strange it seemed, the juxtaposition of the wonders and horrors of human progress could be found in the Pearl of the Orient. The thought wasn't lost on her that despite all the threats from terrorists, megalomaniacs, and alien beings, the world would probably end from corporate greed.

As the door opened, a man in a deep crimson suit and tie gave her a slight nod of his head. He spoke in Mandarin with a heavy American accent, saying, "Ms. Quesada, welcome to the Lodge."

"Thank you," Jessica said, stepping out of the car. She turned to see Barton a few cars down the lane. All around them were attendants wearing matching red attire and well-dressed guests. She shot Barton a glance before making a move toward the entrance. There were a number of burly men with earpieces. They barely fit in their suits, matching with the rest of the staff. Their guns looked a little out of place, perhaps even illegal. From the look of them, they might have been American or British private contractors. SPEAR intel had said that there would be hired hands.

"Mercs on perimeter," Jessica said through her teeth. "Recon inside." As she entered, Jessica was taken aback by the somber lighting. Lanterns covered in cardinal red glass dimly illuminated the enormous main lobby. In the corner was a bar lined with expensive drinks and attended by an attractive bartender in a two piece suit. Jimmy had said there was a woman still on the inside, but Jessica couldn't find her among the guests.  

“No sign of our inside ‘man’. Think she’s been made?” Jessica whispered, inaudible over the people talking around her and the sound of erhu fiddlers in the distance. She moved through the crowd and snatched an hors d'oeuvre from a passing attendant. She could taste roasted duck with a hint of scallion and cucumber wrapped in savory, salty seaweed. Maybe she defected, Jessica thought. SHIELD didn’t offer a meal plan quite like this.                   

[axrp-agentdrew]

Along Came a Spider || Stark & Drew

[thegeniusplayboy]

It took Tony a second to put it all together, even after she basically told him.  But after the research, the pen, and piecing together what she was saying, he finally understood.  He felt kind of stupid, which made him angry, because no one made him feel stupid.  But he supposed he deserved it, he hadn’t made the best decisions in the past 24 hours.  He rolled his eyes at her claim to not be life coaching him and looked down at the files.  Now he knew where he knew these from, they were Jane’s.

“Nick needs to start telling me before he sends you guys over….” he said quietly and threw the files in the trash.  If they weren’t actually her, he didn’t need them.  “Cool, cool, I’m getting targeted again, nothing new.” he said.  Honestly, it didn’t surprise him at this point.  The amount of people who wanted him dead right now could probably populate a small planet.  “Who wants to kill me now?  And who are you really?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. 

[axrp-agentdrew]

"I'm Drew, Special Agent Jessica Drew," Jessica said. "I've been tasked with protecting you from a Dr. Arthur Parks. Perhaps the name sounds familiar to you. Stark Industries was in heavy competition with Dr. Parks' laser research team for military contracts during the Reagan administration. You might recall the absurdist program of 'Star Wars' or the SDI program that the Gipper proposed in the 80s. Reagan's administration wanted a laser defense system to protect the U.S. from nuclear threats from the Soviet Union or otherwise. Parks and Stark were leading the field at the time. It was your company that ended up with the contract in the end and Parks drove himself in bankruptcy in his attempts to out-do Stark Industries."

Jessica removed what looked like a compact mirror from her purse. With a click, it opened to create a holographic display of Arthur Parks from 1987. She made a swiping motion to show a much older, disheveled Parks, date stamped for December 11, 2015.

"Even without federal funding and the money necessary to maintain his staff, Dr. Parks continued his research. Based on what we discovered in his lab, his tech has evolved quite a lot from the 80s. We think he may have been responsible for a string of bank robberies," Jessica said. She swiped her hand over and over to showcase a number of photos of bank vaults that had been cut open. "From his internet history, we could see he was quite obsessed with you. It didn't take long to piece together that he was planning some kind of action, especially after the FBI was informed by a private investigator that Dr. Parks was trying to learn your weekly routines."