You were once my one companion, you were all that mattered.

[mocks]

WHO: Bobbi and Nick
WHERE: Avengers Mansion
WHEN: Backdated to last Saturday, before the Void nonsense
WARNINGS: N/A
SUMMARY: Mockingbird and her former mentor play catch up.
FORMAT: Quick.

[It's been years since she's seen him. She wonders if he's just the same as when they'd parted ways. Just as rough and angry, just as perpetually disappointed in her for all of the stupid choices she's made over the years. It's hard to shut those thoughts out of her mind and just focus on overriding the security codes to the Mansion to let her former mentor in.]

Comments

[agentofshield]

[Overwriting the security codes is unnecessary, but Nick doesn't let her in on that. It'd be an interesting challenge to get through them, if it came to that. Not the most effective, considering it would be yet another version of Stark's system, but interesting all the same. When he arrives at the mansion, he doesn't go for the door, instead opting for a window to the north side of the bulk of the building. From there he'll look for Bobbi. See what the girl's been up to since they parted ways and if she's still worth investing his time into.]

[mocks]

[She waits for the surveillance cameras to pick him up, staring at the console with a furrowed brow. Nothing, not even static on the screen. She's certain he won't stand her up; they've got too much to discuss for him to skip out on this conversation. But it is now several minutes past their designated meeting time, and she's starting to get a little frustrated. Frowning, she departs for the kitchen for some sort of distraction until his elusiveness decides to make his presence known.]

[agentofshield]

[Nick wanders the halls, poking into rooms where he probably doesn't belong and taking note of the layout, should the information be necessary later for any reason. You just never knew at the Avengers Mansion. Things tended to happen there. He pauses for a moment, reaching into the pocket of his well-worn bomber jacket to retrieve a cigar, lighter, and set himself up. The scent would be a dead give away, but the secrecy was for sport, and not anything more serious. Besides, given recent revelations, he figured Bobbi could use the advantage.

He makes it another few paces down the hall before turning. Then another few paces down that hall before a glimpse of blond hair and sunglasses catch his eye. Pausing in the doorway, he takes a long drag on the cigar, not bothering to obscure the smoke, or the fact that his presence there would effect the light trickling in from the hallway.]

Evenin'.

[mocks]

[If there is one thing Bobbi hates, it's being caught off guard. Lucky for Nick though, he's been expected, otherwise she might've gone into attack mode. As it is now, she's happy to ignore the stench of leather and cigar smoke and just take him in, lips twisting into an appraising smirk.]

I'll be damned. It really is you.

[agentofshield]

[Attack mode might have been interesting to see, but he can also dig not being throttled for his antics just yet. Still, at some point he needed to make a point of seeing her in action. Make sure she hadn't gone soft while hanging around the superpowered kids in tights.]

Insofar as I know. Nice place you got here.

[mocks]

Thanks. It belongs to Tony, I'm just the groundskeeper.

[A familiar situation for her, if ever there was one. But she can't dwell on the details of her housing right now. Fury is here, and all of the thoughts and memories and emotions that go along with him are suddenly filling her head. Her old friend. Her mentor. The closest thing to a father she ever really had. And that damn porter had to snatch him up, too.]

Make yourself comfortable. We've got a lot to talk about.

[agentofshield]

[He takes the invitation, shuffling more fully into the room and grabbing a chair at the kitchen counter, cigar still clenched between his teeth.]

Such as? You might wanna start at the beginnin'. I'd be interested to hear your side ta this mess.

[mocks]

The beginning is a long ways back. I've been here over two years now.

[She leans back against the refrigerator. The door feels cool against her back.]

Avengers and X-Men have been in and out since then. A few other familiar names and faces, too, like Loki and Norman Osborn.

[agentofshield]

[The only crack in Nick's pokerface, is a slight exhale, probably made more obvious by the cigar smoke lurking around him.]

The government got anything to say about those two as of yet?

[mocks]

Only that they're on par with the rest of us. Every imPort gets one free pass, whatever they did back home doesn't matter here as long as they behave themselves here. [She frowns, looking especially unimpressed.] It's a crappy system, if you ask me.

[agentofshield]

I hafta agree on that. [Seriously? A completely free pass with zero strings attached? Uh, no.]

And what about you Avengers? You guys doin' anything to keep track of 'em?

[mocks]

We do what we can. Guys like Loki and Osborn and Doom are on all our radars, but they've got free reign, Nick. Until they step out of line and we can prove it, the rules of this place keep our hands tied.