17953/RoT: Secret Labs, Familiar Labs (2024)

Within the guard booth at the gate, the sun is heating things up again. The windows are down and within an hour, one of the three guards will probably make another comment about they should just go in together to buy a little air conditioning unit for the hut themselves.

A non-descript truck pulls up to the gate, stopping adjacent to the protruding guard hut and rolling down his window. "Got a delivery," he says with a nod of his head towards the boxy truck body behind him.

One of the armed guards sets down his cup of coffee and moves over to the window. "Papers and ID," he requests, while his two companions relax in their chairs.

"Sure, let me see," replies the driver. A burly looking man, he looks over at the things on the seat beside him. "Oh, yeah, shoot. Forgot it's in back. Yeah, got your paperwork right there," he says, gesturing towards the back of th truck.

The guard turns to look, but barely has time to gape at the sight of the villain Bulldozer charging towards the guard hut. He blows right through it, scattering it and the men inside it like so much debris across the parking lot behind.

The driver grins at Bulldozer. Dirk Garthwaite's clothing shimmers and mystically changes into the costume by which most people know him, as Wrecker, the leader of the Wrecking Crew.

He pulls the truck up near to the entrance. "Alright, let's get to work. Radio MODOK for our support. He's paying us good money for this research. Be careful you don't destroy it before Thunderball gets what we need!" he shoults as he bangs on the back of the truck.

The truck body splits along two seams and falls open to either side. Piledriver and Thunderbolt hop down to the ground, the latter already signaling on a radio.

Three platforms with gunmounts elevate from inside the back of the truck now it is exposed, spreading out slightly to cover different directions. Each holds a weapon that could be described as some kind of anti-aircraft gun. And sitting at the controls for each is a man in the yellow containment suits that are worn by the henchmen of the Advanced Idea Mechanics.

As the Wrecking Crew head inside, the sound of gunfire and things being smashed can be heard. Within a minute, three boxy-shaped aerial transports sweep in low over the city, each with thrusters located on the back and bottom corners. Two land in the parking lot near the entrance, disgorging more AIM troops who follow inside. One lands on the roof, armed men spreading out to cover the skies, while two other men begin setting up a device which starts cutting its way through the roof towards the center of the building below.

It doesn't take long for alarms to go off. People passing on the street stop and begin filming on their phones, those feeds quickly making it into the TV networks who report the disturbance, and replay an image of the Wrecking Crew entering the building, and one of the AIM transports touching down.

On frequencies used by SHIELD and the Avengers in particular, assists are sent out to help stop an attack on what is just identified as a 'government facility'.

No sooner do they enter the airspace near the Amalgamated Manufacturing building, than the three weapons platforms on the back of the truck open fire on them.

"Hang on!" Captain America says as he banks the Avenger's quinjet sharply. The SHIELD jet banks the other direction, making the weapons emplacements have to split up their fire.

"I'll make a low pass and everyone jump out, and then I'll set down outside the fence," Cap calls out to those in the back of the plane. The jet streaks down low, then rapidly slows as the back opens for people to make the 8 feet drop to the pavement.

Even as the maneuver is completing, the jet is hit by weapons fire, both from a platform, and from some of the men on the roof. The jet veers away, one engine sputtering, and lands hard outside the fence.

<< I'm ok, >> Captain America sends over comms. << Meet you all inside. Let's put a stop to this attack. Be alert for civilians in need of help, keep them out of the action. >>

The inside of the Quinjet, which is soundproof, is protected from this. But what it will do is hopefully deafen anyone in the immediate area and stun them to give cover to the deployment. Natasha quickly thumbs over the hatch release to let the response team deploy!

He may be jumping the gun just a little bit and possibly breaking off from everyone else a little too soon, but that's Buck. The fall from the Quinjet to the roof would likely kill most, but not him. He he hits the ground, one knee bent and his left fist taking the brunt of the fall. When he straightens again, he's already shooting - running and shooting and still not missing a mark, one bullet equals one man down. He doesn't speak a word, he doesn't order them to stop, he has no crazy battle cry. He may be Bucky Barnes now, but Winter lies just beneath the surface - and Bucky's let him out to play.

He's as silent as the nothing his targets hear after he attacks.

Once she's placed her feet on the rooftop though she dives right into action. Sending purple bolts of magic scorching across their foes. And thankfully missing her teammates!

While a lift is already appreciated, James Rhodes -- War Machine -- bails out of the Quinjet before they actually arrive on the scene, taking flight through the repulsor powered system of thrusters arrayed across that steely exterior shell that wraps up the man within. Given his ability to take a beating -- or at least the armor that he wears -- few are better suited to take point, regardless of the weapons that AIM might be bringing to bear on the situation.

So as the Quinjets go into hover mode and start to deploy the passengers onboard, War Machine swoops in low, coming crashing down to earth in a sudden rush, that heavy metal denting the pavement sprawled out around the building with it's impact. Without waiting, those armored gauntlets lift and he sweeps a blast of repulsor energy around, knocking away little obsctructions like any yellow-suited AIM goons hovering nearby, clearing out the approach field for the others dropping in.

<< LZ is cleared, >> comes those crisp, clear words over the comm, that hint of military precision apparent even in his voice. << I've got the front door, >> he adds.

Quite literally it seems, as a moment later the next repulsor blast rips outward with that high pitched wide, slamming into the barrrier ahead and blowing it inward.

Look, he might not have a hotrod paint job, but the armor isn't exactly designed for subtlety.

One after another is struck by these darts. Their bodies shudder for the briefest of moments before that fall into a pile amongst themselves. They continue to slightly twitch even while unable to function in any actual manner at the moment. There's a good chance that Black Panther's done something to their nervous system or whatever. Who knows.

Black Panther tucks into a roll to pick up speed upon his descent and unfolds when he's closer to his chosen landing spot. Foregoing the superhero landing that would be so much more stylish, his boots connect and he almost immediately springs forward-- like a cat-- to pounce into the fray of another cluster of bad types. No words needed as those sharpened claws on his suit seem to be doing the speaking for him in this particular moment. What are they saying? Something clawful, probably.

In this case, it's jumping out of a god damn airplane.

With a grunt, Logan leans out the open hatch through which T'Challa just did a swandive. Hands on either side, hat instantly blown back onto the cord to hang, with his mask, on his back. "I ain't jumpin' out of this god damn airplane." Into the headset linked to the pilots. Who says something about 'he'll be fine', "Maybe, but how am I gonna tell a bunch of kids 'don't jump out of god damn airplanes', if they ever catch me jumping out of a god damn airplane?" The logic is sound, BROTHER.

So they quinjet has to take his old ass down there so he can do a much shorter combat jump. One that doesn't require a combat roll. Once he's in dirt side, he rubs at his bearded jaw and tosses the nub of a cigar down into the gravel. He's got a bit of a jog ahead of him, but at least, however. Quinjet wasn't going to land right in the middle of combat, that'd be insanity. Just to save the knees of a guy with one of the most powerful healing factors on the planet? Fat chance.

Honestly, did people ever consider what jumping out of those things regularly did to the knees in the long run? The back? It was bad enough trying to land in a parachute and not break both legs. Honestly, that sort of stuff could be left for the youngin's.

It was why Rick preferred to get dropped off a block away, in the buildings before the fields and parking lots, where there was cover. Perhaps it wouldn't work as well without the bravery of those dropping right into the action, but thankfully they were, and the people that were fighting them might have a bit of tunnel vision on what they were dealing with. And that ack-ack emplacement was probably looking to swat the quinjet out of the sky.

Which meant it probably wasn't looking toward the building and watching the man with the gas mask and olive drab BDU's step out from an alley, look behind him briefly, yell 'Blastback clear!' and send a Gutav's 84 millimeter recoilless rifle shell toward the truck itself. HEDP, but really, how much armor did a truck like that have? At the very least, the explosion was going to rattle their cages, if the spall damage didn't turn anyone inside to paste, before the smoke grenades were chucked out to the field in front of him, and Stadler, sighing, grabbed his rifle and sprinted across dangerously open space.

Other of the AIM troops move to attack the Winter Soldier. One of the two men burning their way through the roof with some large backpack lasers points over to Bucky and yells from beneath his mask, "We're almost through, stop him!"

AIM soldiers on the roof begin firing at Clea. Her magic bolt flies back, hitting one of him and knocking him off his feet and making him slide a few feet before coming to a stop. The man beside him turns to see what happened and then unloads his clip before retreating towards those who are steadily burning a hole into the roof. They finish as there's a crash as the section of roof a good three meters across falls in and crashes into the room below. A few of the soldiers stay there to fire at Clea and Bucky, while others touch a stud on belts they are wearing, and jump into the hole.

War Machine comes zooming in, and the large emplacements turn to blaze away at him. The bullets ping off his armor, the caliber heavy enough to be worrisome. Before he need worry about them though, Richard Stadler's fire comes down on the truck, blowing it apart. The men manning the weapons go flying and end up groaning on the ground, those still conscious enough to move.

The mellifluous voice of JARVIS replies to Kid Devil, <<Patching you into the Avengers and SHIELD frequency, Kid Devil of the Titans.>> A moment after that, a more human if less cultured voice adds, <<We're glad to have you, Kid Devil. Help any civilian you can. Take out any of the AIM soldiers that you're able,>> Captain America responds. Someone outside, like Logan, might see him leap over the fence like he were hurdling it. "Come on old friend!" Steve yells at Logan. Running straight for the building, Steve Rogers leaps at a window, shield in front of him. Though it's more reinforced than normal glass, he still smashes through it enter from a different route as the rest.

Camille lands on the roof and comes up firing. She hits the AIM soldier, the man flopping to the ground in his yellow hazard suit. About then is when War Machine blows open the front of the building below, revealing hallways within. Down at the next set of junctions, AIM soldiers are leaning out, ready to fire lasers and conventional guns. And Piledriver lets out a snorting laugh. "And I thought this was going to be milk run!" he yells, slamming a fist into his other hand as if in anticipation of it landing on a superhero instead.

Black Panther takes out the last squad on the ground outside and jumps forward into other AIM troops are trying to fall back to the hallway junctions. A few of them cry out in pain. Their compatriots down the hallway open fire on Black Panther, his vibranium habit glowing purple wherever a bullet hits, the energy gradually storing up inside his costume.

A man wearing a white lab coat lets out a yell and tries to run down the hallway. A bullet hits him in the leg and he tumbles to the ground, trying to crawl and scramble while bullets and lasers targeting the heroes zip over his head.

He ducks and rolls under one of Clea's beams when it comes just a hair too close for comfort. It doesn't stop him, doesn't even slow him down. He probably won't even remember it when it's all said and done. He's on his feet and running again in the blink of an eye.

He's silent over the comms as well, but that's something people should be used to by now if they've worked with him before. He'll respond if needed, but otherwise, he's a one man act.

Firing off a few more shots while he gains ground on the spot where that hole is threatening to happen, he takes down two more - two shots, two kills. He's not holding back, he's not shooting to wound like others might.

Once Bucky's too close to fire efficiently, he takes things in hand, literally. The first foolish enough to rush him is snatched speed that's surprising even to those that know him. Holding his enemy by the throat, he spins - putting the man between him and an onslaught of bullets from another - one makes bullet hits its mark, searing flesh as it rips through Bucky's right shoulder - it only serves to piss him off.

He tosses aside the limp body in his hand. And now he growls. It's a predatory sound, one reminiscent of a jungle cat ready to pounce from the tree tops. There's nothing but danger in that sound, that sound isn't a threat of death, it's a promise. Four, five, six strides, bullets blocked and bouncing off the palm of his left hand and Bucky's there - along with that promise of a quick death. The sound of snapping bones accompanies the left hook to the hapless fool's jaw.

...and then the damned hole is there anyway. How did he miss that? Bucky grumbles, it's more a growl again than an actual grumble, but the difference in tone is important. Without so much as a thought given, he runs and takes a blind faith leap right down into that hole behind the enemy. Better move fast fellas, death's knocking at the back door.

It's a good thing too, because where there once stood a Bucky, there's now a seared patch of roof that's spreading into a large crack. If Bucky hadn't been /Bucky/ and followed his prey like a stalking lion, he might be in two pieces up there by now.

AIM were after the individuals or projects inside the building, after all. Natasha goes to speak quietly into the comms synced p to the SHIELD Network in encrypted mode. <<Breaching interior. Command, ensure that all outside network access is blocked>> Hopefully they could block out all communications - like a wide angle Farraday Cage. It probably couldn't jam communications, but if they could scrounge up enough network bandwidth AIM couldn't just download and transmit the data, and would have to physically secure it and depart, which would slow them up.

And then she's darting past the melee, past some of the holes already made by the breakin, and she's heading into the interior, just simply avoiding everyone and everything on the way.

"Suit integrity at ninety-two percent" that faintly musical but not quite lifelike voice chimes within the armored confines of the suit and Rhodey's mouth settles into a thin line as those high calibre rounds ping off the heavily armored exterior of War Machine. "Continuing monitoring, giving me an update when integrity reaches fifty percent," he says quietly, continuing that inevitable advance.

That advance does quicken once that fleeing scientist comes into view, racing for the open doorway. Lifting off the ground, if only by a few inches, War Machine begins to soar forward, those repulsors starting to grow more brightly on the sores of those armored feet and in the palms of the gauntlets.

But long before he can finish closing that distance the man goes down, crying out, and the intensity coming off those repulsor pads grows even more apparent. Racing forward, Rhodey imposes himself between the fire and the fallen figure even as that mounted chain gun springs up menacingly, perched on one shoulder.

It is, as much as anything, a bluff. Instead of immediately opening up and risk hitting innocent bystanders, the armroed figure lets that heavy gun serve as a deterrent as the HUD in his helmet begins to scan across the interior of the building, letting the AI software in his armored suit begin to set identity tags -- something made considerably easier by the fact that most of the hostiles are dressed up like yellow beekeepers.

Then, bringing those armored gauntlets up in front of him, War Machine lets the repulsors fire -- not in a singular line, but instead in a wave of sheer force that spreads outward, again looking to blow nearby threats away from him and the downed scientist.

<< We have a bystander down. Sending an alert to first responders, >> he says levelly over the comm.

It's almost stalker-y in the way that Black Panther seems to almost be hunting those AIM soldiers that are now on the aggressive back foot. His stalking steps speed up when the scientist gets clipped! A kip-step and Black Panther rushes into that hallway and dives into another leap, flipping to send his feet crashing into the chest of an AIMer and using their body to send himself claws first into the chest of another one. His boots hit the floor and he cartwheels over to reach for the scientist with one hand while slicing through a weapon from another AIMer.

For a moment, Black Panther stares at the AIM Trooper whose gun he's just sliced in half. The scientist held with one hand and then Black Panther nods his head in a direction for the AIM soldier to look...

at War Machine.

And as those repulsors fire off, Black Panther dives out of the way, yanking the scientist with him and out of harm's way.

Teamwork Vibes.

So he's going full nonlethal for the rest of March.

A kick to the chest here, a slash at a weapon there. A lot of throwing people against heavy, hard, objects: like walls. Now, AIM aren't playing by the same 'don't kill' rules, so they unload weapons into the Wolverine, jerking his shoulders side to side as bullets riddle into him. Wont jump out of an airplane, but also wont jump out of the way of automatic weapons fire.

Clearly the Wolverine has something against jumping.

He snarls at the soldier who just mag dumped him like a 12 year old playing Fortnite and cuts the gun in half with an upper slash of his left claws. Then kicks him so hard in the chest that (POW) literally appears beside his head. Right into a wall. Bleeding from several small holes, which are already starting to heal... pushing out the bullets buried in his flesh to rain down onto the concrete. Logan lifts his head several times, sniffing at the air.

Then turns suddenly and braces, claws crossed in front of him, a half second before Bulldozer smashes through the wall and sends the small Canadian flying amidst a cloud of dust, brick, and mortor. Logan pushes a chunk of brick off his legs after he lands, jumps up onto his feet and leans forward. Black/grey beard suddenly brick dust white. Snarling. Wishing he was a quipier hero so he could call this dude the Facebook wish version of Juggernaut.

She's lucky at first, but as she gets closer to Rhodes and the Black Panther she comes under fire, runes getting a workout between dodging and ducking. The bruises are going to be terrible, she can tell already. Camille ducks into an office with a sturdy-looking desk, and trades her normal bullets for a clip that have been magicked to handle some level of armor, then moves to the next spot that allows for good cover and decent aim.

<< Point me in your direction Rhodes, I can help stabilize him. >> She's got some gauze in her kit and plenty of energy. If she gets there on time, it'll have to be enough.

"Stupid Heroes." She grumbles. "Stupid Villains." Silana holds all present in contempt, as she runs into the building, and is running towards the War Machine when he lets off a wave of force. Between one step and the next, she... flickers, slipping forward in an odd warping of space which looks almost like a heat mirage, as she appears beside an AIM soldier who is flying through the air towards a scientist huddled in a corner. Casually, she shoots the soldier in the back of his yellow helmet, no real hesitation in her attempted murder as she diverts him cruelly away from the scientist.

She kicks a window, shattering it, and motions to the scientist. "Get out of here." She says, her voice flat, cold, barely restrained in anger. It's all Chaos. And it will only get worse. Can she even help in here? Maybe she can save this one scientist, but what about the rest of the building?

But the lasers are another story. Clea's trying to trek the collapsing roof when one of the lasers manage to hit her in the back, her white hair and her jacket becoming singed in the assault. There's another bolt of energy thrown that way, taking out the one that hit her as she follows the others down into the building where the main fray has diverged to.

He moved and made his way to the front door, sweeping back to make sure the entrance was covered, before moving back to the door itself. <<Ingressing through the front. As a reminder, folks, look for NFPA diamonds. Anything with a number in the yellow and red, don't shoot it. Anything 2 and over in the blue, definitely don't shoot it and let me know. DOes anyone have any idea what they're producing there?"

They stride in with a few AIM troops with them. Various tables and lab equipment sparsely populate the sterile looking lab. Along one walls a large squat cylinder sits, green lights running up its sides, and traveling down immense cables that leave the devices to run off into other places in the room.

"This it?" Wrecker asks as he looks around.

Thunderball checks a device in hand. "Yep. Picking up low yield gamma radiation. This is it." He points to one of the AIM troops. "Get copies of their computer drives." Meanwhile, the villain, a noted gamma scientist, strides forward to look at a rack.

Dangling from it are a number of devices that look like half an exoskeleton, but just the torso part. A number of them have green lights, and one of those large powers cables runs across the floor before splitting into smaller ones that attach. "This is part of it, yeah," Thunder ball says as he examines them before pulling one down and adding it to a bag he has across his back. As he puts that way he looks over at the big cylinder with the cables. "Damn, a gamma power reactor. Wish we could take -that- with us."

"Focus on what we're here for," Wrecker reminds him. Just then the roof falls in as the hole is cut in the ceiling. It crashes down 20 feet onto a table, just missing one AIM soldier below. More troops jump in from above. Those belts they were fiddling with seem to make them fall slow enough they lightly land. They move to help grab things from the counters. Gizmos and devices, file folders, hard drives, whatever they can get.

Two others move over to a large box that looks like maybe it's some kind of fabrication machine, making other components. They start hooking up a harness to it, apparently hoping to remove it. Probably through that hole in the ceiling.

The hole that Bucky and Clea jump down through right into their midst.

Similarly, people start to climb out of the window that Captain America crashed through. But not everyone is so lucky. Other people are trapped in offices and labs near the fire fight going on in the halls.

War Machine sends out a pulse of repulsor energy that knocks back a few of the AIM soldiers. "Gonna tear you in two, metal man!" Piledriver yells as he runs forward to engage War machine. The wounded scientist lets out a yelp, scampering away, dragging his leg as he crawls to get out of the way as Piledriver's enormous fists swing with the force of a, well, piledriver.

Black Panther and Logan both make short work of a few more AIM soldiers, before the X-man finds himself suddenly attacked by Bulldozer. Bands of metal about his arms and wrists to make the impact of his charges felt all the more. That'll leave a bruise. Until it heals in a few seconds.

Soldiers fall back before Black Panther, firing lasers and machine guns at him. Some fleeing lab techs come running down a hallway only to slide to a stop with AIM soldiers in front of them. One of the soldiers fires a laser that burns a woman's shoulder.

Another AIM soldier yells at him. "Damn it, Gary, watch your fire."

"I thought it was a hero!" Gary the AIM soldier replies.

"Does she LOOK like a hero? Probably has a son at soccer practice, and you shoot her with a laser!?" the other replies.

"Basketball actually," the woman says in a pained voice as the others help get her out of the line of fire.

The conversation is ended as Silana appears behind Gary and ends his time as a villain henchman. The AIM troops continue to fight, but fall back towards the center of the facility, and the lab doors that have already been blown open. The heroes continue to advance even as Piledriver lends some superhuman strength to the battle. AIM soldiers pull out melee weapons that crackle with electricity and try to engage the Black Panther, Richard Stadler, and other heroes advancing down the hallway.

Instead, she goes to take out two sphereical grenades. What SHIELD had reverse engineered of Trapster's heavy gunk - nowhere near as strong, but as close as they could get. The first is hurled towards the face of Wrecker, the next towards THunderball. If her aim is good, both of them would have heavy gunk all over thier faces, when they would yank their hands up to try and tear it free thier hands would get stuck.. But, both were far too strong for it to last more than a few seconds if even that. But ti's good for the chaos. And the Black Widow works best in the dark.

Shots aimed up over at the lights - not as useful with the roof open, but adding to the chaos. Then grenades hurled. Sonics, designed to deafen and disorient. A series of flashbangs.. All she has to do is stall the group inside for a few seconds. Enough to disrupt what would be a smooth recovery and turn it into chaos.

After he's taken out several of them, he lets go and drops the rest of the way to the ground below. Once again, his left fist takes the brunt of the impact.

By the time what's left of the enemy team from the roof reaches the ground, their imminent demise will already be there waiting for them.

Standing tall on top the pile of rubble from the collapsing roof, Bucky picks them off one at a time as they come into range. Return fire from those that can manage the feat while descending makes a dent, but not a difference. One round bounces harmlessly off his left shoulder, another grazes his right calf and one more whizzes a little too closely past his right ear - yet he doesn't flinch, he wasn't trained to flinch, he wasn't trained to /feel/. No matter how much he tries to escape the cold, it always comes back in situations like this.

The sounds of the battle echo all around him, but those that dared come head to head with Winter are now as silent as a frozen tundra.

Rifle pointed toward the sky, Buck walks down off that mountain of concrete and steel. Blue eyes behind his mask are just as cold as the season that's become synonymous with the boogey man HYDRA unleashed so many years ago.

His head snaps to the right, attention drawn by the sounds of the walls coming down around Logan - but there are fish to fry right here, where he landed.

Now, see, Bucky isn't a scientist, he's not even close. Sometimes he still has trouble with emojis on a cell phone. Modern cars still fascinate him with all their gadgets and thingamajigs and never mind ordering food through a kiosk in the lobby of a restaurant. But he's alert, always alert - in the blink of a second it took for the rest of his fall down the rabbit hole to happen, he's assessed the threat in the room he landed in. Pretty certain that all eyes are probably on him now, Bucky lets out another of those growls. Not a scientist, but smart enough to know that it might not be wise to start shooting /in/ this room rather than up. That snarl of a growl is followed by one foot starting the charge toward Wrecker. That snarl is about as close to 'bring it bitch' that anyone will ever hear from him.

<<I think I found what they're here for...>> He mutters his location over the comms. And that's about the closest to 'could use some help' anyone will ever here from him.

She only cares for those caught in the crossfire. In this, she is an avenging angel. She runs aggressively through the facility, ducking behind cover any time an AIM soldier shoots at her, and changing her position occasionally to throw off their attacks. She is careful not to jump too quickly, letting her sense of spatial positioning stay well within 'grounded', careful never to disorient herself. But she appears behind unexpected angles of the building, breaks down doors, shatters windows, and shoots any AIM soldiers who get too near to innocents. It's not always a kill shot. Sometimes she shoots their knees, or shoulders, but sometimes it's their chest, or their heads. She is 'servicing' any AIM soldiers stupid enough to not run after the heroes, when she runs out of ammo.

Rather than reload, she just uses the gun as a bludgeon, hitting an AIM soldier with it in his face, then, as he reels, she steals his gun and shoots him with it. "Lasers. They have laser rifles." She notes, surprised, as she begins moving around, trying to steal a few of the high tech weapons to stash in her pockets, before pausing to reach into one of her shimmering pockets of twisted space, and pull out another pistol, and continuing her crusade to ensure the scientists are all getting out of the building as safe as they can be, caught in this Chaos.

A sort of real time map of the ongoing situation within the compound itself.

A brief nod is tossed to T'Challa as he streams in to draw the injured man out of harm and his voice cuts across the comm once more as Camille breaks in with her offer for assistance. << Panther has pulled him back towards the entrance and out of the immediate fray. I'm going to go... >> he begins as that sensor suite offers him a good sense of just where AIM's attention is focused. But before he can start to move in that direction he is suddenly confronted.

The average AIM solider might be deterred in confronting War Machine directly, what with that bristling array of high impact weaponry that can pretty much shread any cover they are likely to find inside. But none of them have been magically imbued with a whole lot of strength and near invulnerability.

Piledriver has.

As the unlikely figure in white and red barrels into War Machine, Rhodey gives a quiet grunt, driven back a half dozen steps before those repulsors scattered across the surface of his armor engage and bring that momentum to a halt. Technology meets enchantment -- and for the moment at least technology holds his own.

Armored hands come up, grabbing at Piledriver's wrists as the hulking man seeks to bring them crashing down onto that silver-grey armor of the War Machine suit and servos audibly grind at the strain of holding the attack back.

"Bit of a handful, aren't you?" Rhodey grunts, his voice electronically filtered through the faceplate of his armor. "Let's see how you do without any leverage to help back you up," he adds.

And with that the repulsors in those armored boots suddenly flare to life, sending the two of them shooting upward towards the ceiling above. War Machine shifts his grip on the other man, just enough so that he takes the blunt of the impact as they slam into the roof. For just a moment their momentum comes to an abrupt stop before repulsor pads flare bright once more and send them crashing through the roof entirely, up into the sky above the complex.

When the electric clubs come out and they start getting smacked into him, Black Panther seems to decide that now is probably a good enough opportunity to unleash the energy that's been stored up inside that suit. He remains crouched for a moment of beating -- long enough to allow enough troops to gather around for this to be effective. Black Panther rises out of his crouched position with an extra bit of strength... followed by a concussive shockwave to scatter AIM Bots (hah) all over the ceiling and the walls.

Which Wolverine steps upon and launches, twisting in the air to avoid a swatting hand, which still catches his out stretched arm attempting to stab his claws into the brutes shoulders. 'Dozer hurls Logan away, a rag-doll of brown and orange smashes into the side of a truck hard enough to rock it up two wheels. Logan comes down onto his hands and knees, shakes his head to clear the cobwebs, and catches a boot in the guts that sends him over the truck. He's rolling another three feet when he lands on the other side. Hand on his flank, grimacing. Healing quickly doesn't mean that this sh*t doesn't hurt.

He's just not a punk.

And is already pushing back up. <"Stay down."> Boot between his shoulders, shoving him into the concrete. Dozer moves his foot, reaches down and grabs Logan, and brings him up by the torn & tattered costume on his chest. Close enough to stare at the Wolverine.

Then headbutt the sh*t out of him.

And boy, that 21 foot rule really made sense here. They were moving forward, and it left Rick precious little time to grab the bayonet at his webbing, bring the rifle up, and fix it to the front in a quick and practiced motion... archaic though it may be. And he had just enough time to /slam/ the butt of the rifle aganist an AIM trooper's throat, before flipping it around and bringing the bayonet down across another's upper chest.

Unlike the Black Panther, Rick couldn't afford to get hit. Once, he might come back from, but a second would leave him on the floor. It using the rifle's reach to his advantage... and making sure who he hit didn't get up.

Generally this is where other heroes find something witty to say, but Clea launches into motion, her hands moving to form spells to put between the big guys and what they are going after. Sorry boys!

Silana finds plenty of wounded people, both civilians and AIM. A lot of the facility's staff are hiding rather than running, after all those sounds of gunfire around the building.

There are also some pretty clear signs, from pictures of President Luthor in offices of higher ups, to emblems on the walls and even in the flooring, that this is a government lab.

Thunderball looks up in time to get a goop grenade in his face. As Natasha surmised, it slows him down for a few seconds, pulling it free, but his strength is enough that soon he's scraping it off. He goes for more of the objects in the rack, only to find that Clea has surrounded it with some kind of magical barrier. He punches it but it holds. Punches again and it still holds.

"We might need to evacuate, boss," he calls.

Wrecker sees the grenade lofted his way. He swings his crowbar like a batter at the plate, and knocks the grenade for a home run. It detonates in a corner up near the ceiling, the goop just sticking to the walls harmless.

AIM soldiers start firing at everyone. Unlike Bucky, they aren't thinking about what might or might not get shot. Which turns out to be a problem. One spins towards Clea as she glides down, firing but missing her. The errant laser beam hits that big gamma reactor that Thunderball wanted. Sparks fly and a rent is left in the device. Acrid smoke pours out of it, and occasional green sparks snap about between it and metal that is nearby.

A shield comes flying in a red, white and blue blur, taking out one AIM shoulder, ricocheting off another, and then bouncing back to where Captain America snatches it out of the air. "How many crazy science labs have we been in now, Bucky?" he asks as he moves to stand shoulder to shoulder with his best friend and ally.

Which also makes them a good target for Wrecker. He runs at them, swinging his crowbar. Steve gets his shield up in time to take the blow for both of them, but Cap and Bucky are sent flying into the wall so hard they crash through it.

On the other side of the wall is another lab. This one has different equipment. No gamma reactor. A bunch of computers though, and in the middle is frame that clearly was made to hold a man, with half-shells on either side that likely close around it. Rather than sleek and modern, there's an aged feel to the device's design aesthetic. No signs of anyone, lab techs nor AIM troops. But the hole in the wall is an easy way back to the fight as Cap climbs back to his feet and looks around.

It can't be that many layers of difference from Three Mile Island or Chernobyl, can it? Then with the SHIELD documentation in place and hopefully if he's available perhpas even Fitz on the line.. It's time to put through what best she can do to handle this in case one of the proper techs can't get to her. <<Working on stabilizing the reactor. Panther, are you available?>>

Ow.

Blood pumping with super serum doesn't make that hurt any less either. As he's struggling his way out of wall rubble, he calls out, "Steve?!" - not Cap, no, the man will /always/ be Steve, or Steven, to Bucky. "You good?" He pushes himself to his feet finally, does a quick sweep of the room and adds, "Hey, Steven, what the hell's that?" He gestures toward some weird ass science and tech sh*t that's about as foreign to him as ordering a capalapachinotrippledippeddoublewhipnofoam coffee from Star Bucks.

There isn't much time to ponder the discovery or his question to Steve. With nothing but a nod of his head in 'that direction' and another flash of a grin, Bucky 'asks', 'Ready, Buddy'?

As surmissed, without a means of flying himself the husky member of the Wrecking Crew isn't quite as able to bring that formidable strength to bear, making it just a little easier for Rhodey to deal with him. Each time the man tries to jerk free of that armored grip, those electronic servos whirl audibly once more and Warm Machine's grip on the man tightens.

On the Heads Up Display within that helmet a scroll of information streams by and Stark's security head does his best to take in what he can -- registering first that slow but consistent energy emission from down below as well as the information on the Avenger's main frame in regards to Piledriver's capabilities.

<< Heads up. I'm getting readings on gamma energy leakage from below. Odds on that might have something to do with what AIM is after. Trying to narrow the sensor bands to fix on the hone in on the source. Sending realtime updates to your mapping imagers >> Rhodey says, a slight distracted note to his vocie.

Understandable, given that he is trying to keep a super strong criminal from pummelling him.

Finally grunting as he loses that grip one one of the hands he's trying to tie up, Warm Machine's head rocks back as Piledriver gets off a solid blow. The image on the HUB before him flickers and a chime sounds as the message --HELMET INTEGRITY REDUCED TO FORTY-EIGHT PERCENT-- flashes before his eyes.

At least it does when the brief flash that crosses them fades.

Aware that the man can take it, the War Machine begins to spin, gathering momentum. His grip slips to just one of Piledriver's arms, whirling him about until finally letting him go, hurling him towards the ground below.

"Happy landings."

The landing probably won't be happy. Even for someone with supernatural durability.

Silana repeats herself again and again, as she moves like a ghost, slipping around a combatant that swings a sparking sword at her, and shooting him in the back, before running to another doorway, and repeating again, "You have to evacuate. Supers are fighting in the building..." The thumps of gunfire continue. Silana knocks open another window, "Fly, you fools."

The lack of vest means her bullets have become an even more limited commodity, so she keeps her gun holstered for now, knife in hand while she does a crouching crab walk down the hall. Most of the doors are open, empty of people, and she's making her way towards the continuing sounds of fighting when she sees Piledriver launched towards the ground.

It's an excellent use of centrifugal force. Camille wants to pause and admire the sight, but a bullet embedding itself into the wall next to her head has her turning instead.

There's probably a frown beneath that mask that has T'Challa changing his course and his focus. It stops being about putting soldiers down and engaging in combat and becomes so much more about effective traversal to get over towards that reactor.

If the key to this entire thing is to protect innocent and civilian lives then checking out potentially dangerous Kimoyo warnings becomes the top priority.

If any AIM people get too close, they can get a Panther Kick for their troubles.

There were a few more people coming forward, but Camille's fire seems to take care of them. "Watch the fire, Air Force!" He yells through the face-obscuring M50, holstering the weapon and reaching back for the rifle. "We don't exactly know what's here to be shot, and I'd rather not hit anything errant. Keep to the knife if you can. Watch my back, I'll watch yours."

A slight beep has Rick scrambling for a device in the webbing, pulling it out, and pressing the button on the side, before grimacing. <<Folks, I'm getting more Sieverts than I should here. Some of you have those fancy suits, but some of you don't even have masks. We need to wrap this up>>

What he does not know is that Logan puts 'spec on nobody's name.

All Bulldozer has really done is change Logan's opinion on 'no kill March'. Claws extend, stab into the ground for stability, and work an anchor to push himself up onto his feet. Bulldozer already rushing back inside the facility to kick someone elses ass. Throwing things about, making a mess, because Wrecking Crew not Structural Integrity Crew. That pillar, f*ck that pillar specifically. He headbutts it. Boom, get wrecked.

Until a tiny Canadian leaps down from the high ground, from which all victories are won, onto Bulldozer's back. Claws stabbing right through the back of his shoulders. Over and over. He can take it, he's got Asgardian upgrades, right? Stocky legs flailing side to side as Bulldozer spins in circles trying to grab the dust covered mutant latched onto his shoulders, dug in, like a god damn Tick.

Stab stab stab.

<"STOP! AH! WHAT THE HELL!">

Stab stab, snarl, stab.

<"SOMEONE GET THIS TINY PERSON OFF ME!">

Logan coils up, feet beneath him in the small of Bulldozer's back, claws in his shoulders. Stirring his big ass like an Asgardian powered steed through walls. Dozer tries to slam his back into a wall, but Logan crawls around his side. Stab stab stab. <"JESUS CHRIST I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THIS!"> All good things must come to an end, however. A backhand sends Wolverine sailing, smacking against some, probably very, expensive equipment.

Collateral damage is hella important in combat.

"It's a Vitaray machine, Bucky," Steve says in a voice that has gone somber. "And I haven't seen one since Dr. Erskine's lab. In 1943." Even the sounds of battle coming from the room next door can't tear Steve's eyes away from the machine that is so much a part of his past.

Not for a few moments, but it doesn't take long before he snaps out of it. "Yeah, ready. Let's get back in the fight," Steve says, heading back through the hole in the wall.

Silana is getting people out, but there's so many. The building has a large staff, and most of them sheltered in place. But she has a good start on it.

Piledriver crashes into the ground as War Machine flies triumphantly overhead. This is no doubt going to be -such- a better story than dropping the tank at the presidential palace.

Camille and Richard Stadler are showing the mettle of SHIELD agents as they battle the remaining soldiers. Soldiers that are growing fewer with each passing minute. Clea bashes down one of the AIM soldiers who is about to open fire on her.

Wrecker yells, "Alright, retreat! Fallback with everything we can!" THey don't get the fabricator with Kid Devil having melted through the harness that was attached to it.

But AIM soldiers run over beneath the hole, hitting those devices on their belts and jumping. It's like gravity is suddenly a fraction for them, allowing them to jump through the hole and onto the roof.

The fire from the AIM soldiers is diminishing as more and more of them flee. Wrecker moves over and grabs hold of Thunderball, tossing him up through the air and out of the hole onto the roof.

"Wish we had more time to stick around kick your butts, Avengers," Wrecker says, swinging his crowbar to send a lab table hurtling towards Cap and Bucky to distract them, then another swing does the same to send more heavy furniture towards Camille and Richard. "But I have a payday to go to." He leaps, jumping up out of the hole and to the roof.

Steve Rogers assesses the situation as he reenters the main lab. Natasha is finding this reactor isn't something SHIELD has any kind of plans or information on, definitely cutting edge technology.

T'Challa meanwhile is near enough that the smell alone would be enough to worry him. Few people outside of Wakanda realize the monarch is one of the finest physicists on the planet. As Steve sees the number of zaps of green-tinged electricity arcing out of the reactor grow, he calls over to Nat and T'Challa on comms.

<< There's a lot of civilians in here still and that reactor doesn't look good, >> Steve sends over the comms. << T'Challa, do you think you can shut it down? >>

Every single ounce of him wants to give chase, every fiber of his being vibrates with the need to finish those bastards. He clenches that metal fist at his side and clenches his jaw, each warring against the other in which might crack first.

But... Steve and civilians and how Steve might look at him if he didn't put those civilians first. His teeth are still clenched when he says, "I guess we need to go get people out of here, yeah?"

It was not that long ago that he would have given chase anyway.

Progress, it comes with the small steps.

"C'mon, lets go be heroes or something," he chides along with that grin that casts memories back to better times and younger years. Those happy moments before Winter chilled Bucky's heart and soul.

He waits for Steve to lead the way, even offers an 'after you' gesture.

Oh, yeah. That pillar that Bulldozer goes through is certainly not great for structural stability, and it makes the building shake, as Silana shifts to catch falling debris, slipping it out of the way of where it was going to hit someone who'd just decided to flee, settling it gently on top of a table, a basketball sized chunk of stone clunking on the table as she shoves the scientist out.

"COME ON, MOVE MOVE MOVE!" her exhortations for the evacuation become more urgent, as more and more of AIM are fleeing the building, opening up the space for the scientists to get out.

"Captain." Finally, T'Challa's voice comes through those comms. He's been silent this whole time. That must mean there's something important that Captain America needs to know. "The reactor's going critical." While he speaks, the Black Panther is moving around said reactor as if he's trying to spot a solution that isn't there. "I do not think I can stop it..."

This is where the dramatic cinematic pause goes.

"But I'm going to try."

Wait, is Black Panther going to have to smack a reactor?!

Staying there to assist him as best she can, even if just giving him covering fire in the event there are more AIM troopers or Wrecking Crew members attacking.

Not many people can let someone tire themselves out by letting them kick their ass.

Best at what he does.

Bulldozer swings his fist backwards and comes nowhere close to hitting the small mutant, who really doesn't even have to dodge anymore. He's snarling, dancing in and out of the shadows like a predator stalking a wounded animal. "RAAAAAAA" Small, furious, he leaps out of the wreckage of a caved in ceiling and stabs claws into the big man's shoulder. It tugs him around and sends him flying with the weight shifting his center of gravity so that Logan can... well it isn't judo, but it's still a throw. armored head hits reenforced bar.

And Logan's already on him, fists up beneath his chin with the claws retracted. Fanged teeth behind snarling lips inches from his face. Lips quivering. Little snarly saliva foam popping saliva foam bubbles. Daring him to move. He doesn't. But he is breathing.

Satisfied.

Logan stands up and rolls his shoulders, popping, creaking, old person noises. Then sniffs the air... Why does it suddenly smell like Hulk in here? Sniff sniff... He glances around until he's picked up the scent of Gamma radiation. "Great." He steps over Bulldozer, reaches down and grabs his foot, and starts dragging him out of the building. "Osha is gonna be pissed."

But all things considered, having the advantage in the skies is a pretty big deal and conveniently, that just so happens to be where Rhodey valready finds himself. With Piledriver an unpleasant little memory, laying in the cratered ground down below, the War Machine can turn his attention to all of those lovely little targts that are appearing on his HUD as they leap up through the holes in the roof below.

One the opposite shoulder to the mounted chain gun a little compartment suddenly opens up, popping out from the armored housing and positively bristling with darts. Rockets might be a little more impactful, but these missions perameters also would make them a decided note of overkill.

The right tools for the right jobs. Rhodey's military mindset appreciates that.

As targeting reticles begins to appear on that display within his helmet, War Machine gives the AI targetting system in his armor a moment to compile the data, to take in the conditions -- the windspeed, the velocity of his targets and all the little variables that can make such a huge difference. Then with a rapid-fire set of little hisses those darts begin to launch themselves at high speeds to the many and varied targets below, spiralling downward towards the yellow-suited AIM operatives, the tranq darts tearing through those jump suits as often as not to deliver their sedative loads directly into the blood stream.

"Watch out below," Rhodey murmurs quietly to himself, words still distorted by that steely face plate. "Oh, I guess you probably didn't hear that. Too bad for you."

She drops again, and her knees are probably going to be black and blue in the morning but as long as they're alive at the end that is just fine with her. She bleeding sluggishly from... she doesn't know what, doesn't care, but she's swiping her finger through it and painting runes on the ground. "Down, Down!" she barks out in Rich's direction, reaching out and grabbing his ankle to pull him into the little bit of space she's managed to make. Words stream from her mouth, almost incomprehensible bits of French mixed with Spanish, the occasional English, all weaved around a steady stream of Creole.

She wobbles at the end of it, but a faintly buzzing shield pops up between the two of them and the flying furniture, and she hopes it's at least enough to take the brunt of it. With the blood, it should be.

...Getting people out alive...

She starts porting willing people to safe zones close to where there are teams already setting up. Logan is one of those that gets ported. It saves him dragging that big old sack of meat around for a long time. <<Evacuating now!>> she calls over the comms.

Another beep, and then a check, and then it's his turn to grab on to Camille's shoulder roughly to pull her out of the alcove. "OKay, that amount means /go/. Run, get to the exit, keep running, and don't stop for three blocks!"

Rick would have thrown something, some... theremite or CS gas behind them to cover their escape, but there were still too many people here, workers and agents alike. No, there was only one thing to do, and it was run.

<< No T'Chall, it isn't worth the risk. The mission now is to evacuate everyone we can. Civilians, downed AIM personnel, get as many out alive as we can. There is some distance to the buildings next door, hopefully they are far enough way they will be ok, >> Steve says.

He nods towards Bucky. "Let's go save some lives," he says. And then he's suiting his words, running forward and down the hallways. "Out of the offices! Evacuate the building now! The reactor is going critical!" he calls. Getting people moving. Guiding people down the hallways that are safe from gunfire now.

Steve picks up a downed AIM shoulder, slinging him in a fireman's carry as he works his way through the building, herding people out. Even breaking out windows with his shield so they can climb out and run more easily.

They don't have long before the reactor is going to blow. Who can say just how big of a blast it will be.

The AIM soldiers who escaped the building and didn't get darted by James Rhodes get back to the AIM vehicles. The three pods lift off, flying off in different directions. Wrecker and Thunderball made it into one, though Piledriver and Bulldozer have been captured. Shields form around the flying high tech devices to help protect their escape, and soon there are not 3 but 9 of the vehicles visible, weaving around each other in confusing patterns as they deploy holographic copies to help draw any fire.

Of course it's only /because/ of Steve that Bucky isn't just telling people to GTFO. Steve - Bucky's moral compass. So he keeps it mostly clean. "C'mon! Go go! Gotta move faster than your granny! Get!" If someone falls on the way out, he picks them up. If there's debris in the way, he moves it. If someone's cowering under something too afraid to move, he damned well moves them.

It isn't until the building is cleared that he hustles his own ass outside.

And, for only the second time through it all, his voice over the comms, <<Steve, you clear?>> Of course he's concerned about everyone else too, really he is, honest. But it's Steve's ass he's used to covering and it's /always/ Steve that has his back.

So it stands to reason that he won't move further toward a rendezvous point until he hears that familiar voice reply.

Of course the seconds between the question and the reply feel like hours.

Thankfully Clea makes it a moot point.

A portal appears and Logan steps through it. No reason to ask where the portal goes. Maybe it leads to Oz? Maybe Narnia. Only one way to find out and he's all for an adventure. He does have to scoop the big bruiser up to lay across his shoulders in a firemans carry, though. How would it look, him dragging some dude bleeding from several dozen stab wounds? "He's alive." To anyone who has questions about the state of his wounded charge.

Whom he drops unceremoniously on the ground.

That he can pull a cigar out from a metal tube tucked behind his belt.

His costume is all torn, from being shot to sh*t and beat to hell. Not that he's got any marks to show for it as he twists the cigar between his lips, bites off the tip, and strikes a match on the callous of his palm to light it. Puff puff. Head tilted back. Lips opening around the stoggie to let smoke curl upwards.

Earned.

Then he's back out through the portal to help evacuate people. Probably humans who secretly harbor hatred for mutants. Smug as hell as he grabs some ratty haired scientist type and shoves him through the portal. "I should let you get blown the f*ck up, casually out here experimenting with gamma reactors like it's the 1940s. Dumb asses."

Two, three people. All of them get the business end of 'why the f*ck are you playing with radiation' discussion. Whether they acknowledge it or not, whether he understands that there's clean and safe ways to handle these products. Doesn't matter. All he knows is there's about to be an explosion and this part of the country is about to be real unpleasant for vacationing.

Puff puff.

"Human's are f*ckin' stupid."

There's just no time.

"... Falling back." is finally added over the comms with a particular distaste for those words coming out of his mouth. But there is still something he can do. And that's save people and get them out of the blast zone. With catlike grace and speed.

The AIM Soldiers get a little bit rougher treatment during this process though. It's only fair.

And besides, there is no arguing that evacuating the civilians and downed AIM personel is the priority here. Even if they deserved to be irradiated they would probably just come back as new monstrocities to battle. And no one wants that.

So that gleaming suit drops out of the sky in a swift yet controlled descent, sweeping in towards that rooftop where that flurry of tranq darts have left a number of AIM soldiers to be scooped up and carried to safety. Deposited somewhere that the authorities that will surely arrive shortly can take them into custody.

Landing on the rooftop, Rhodey begins to gather up who he can, draping one yellow-suited trooper over his shoulders before starting to heft up others, gripping them under each arm. It isn't truly a heavy load -- not given the specs of the Stark-designed armor. But it is an awkward, unwieldy one and that counts for a lot too.

<<Clearing the rooftop,>> Rhodey reports in, the repulsors flaring much more gently when it is just him alone, making sure that his grip is secure as he begins to edge away before picking up a little speed, making that break to safety with a number of unconscious AIM prisoners in tow.

But even as they assault teams begin to beat a hasty retreat, he keeps that sensor suite peeled back towards the building, taking in readings so that they will have some warning if that reactor truly goes critical.

"Move it, c'mon, that hazmat suit isn't gonna save your ass from a full melt, let's go!" she snaps at one group, herding them through the doorway and down the hall into open air. "Keep going, you're aiming for the far treeline or the buildings, far as you can run in the next few minutes!"

She keeps behind them most of the way, then diverts to the side to meet up with with her teammates. Aww hell, she's gonna lose her new shoes to the decontamination process.

She shields those she's with from debris, guiding them through the fight torn hallways, and protecting them as best she can. And, once she's gotten everyone she can out... she flees, just like the rest of the heroes, feeling as if she's failed. She's just not strong enough. Not powerful enough to stop these sorts of confrontations that often happen at the worst possible places, with the worst possible results. She needs... more power. She'll find a way to get it. One way or another, people are going to start paying for these sorts of conflicts. She'll make sure of it.

She's probably just checking readings or something. Clea gets weird sometimes!

She braces for what needs to be done given they can't stop the explosion, but she can definitely make sure that there is a barrier that will not allow the radiation to leak out into the masses and into the Earth.

One hand is extended towards the reactor, the iridescent flames that are usually hidden licking up her arm and over her form as she starts there in the spellwork first. Then the other is extended towards where the last of the evacuees have headed off to. Forming a magical barrier that is...beyond impressive. It's a lot of magic but when you're a magical battery it helps...but Clea's stores will drain rather rapidly under this, but others will be safe...

Safer? Yes, totally safer than the woman standing next to an exploding reactor!

<< Yes, I'm out. Put as much distance between us and the building as we can, >> Steve sends back over comms. Of course, few people need more urging to get away from a building after the words "reactor" and "critical" were mentioned in the same sentence.

Thankfully it isn't a nuclear fission reactor. It doesn't have anything near the yield. Nor is it going to create nuclear fallout. And it doesn't so much create a gamma ray burst when it goes as just, it goes.

But that explosion?

The building suddenly leaps and erupts in a bright flash of green light. The hardened structure blowing apart like it were made of toothpicks in the face of a hurricane. The force is intense, but the magical barriers that Clea erects around the building contain the worst of it. Even the windows of the adjacent buildings are mostly spared being blown out by the resulting blast wave, only a few cracking here and there.

There isn't much of a mushroom cloud after. Just some smoke and dust rising in a pillar. The heroes with sensors can tell the gamma ray release was not something that should be harmful to anyone in the area.

Captain America sinks down to the ground and lets out a breath. He looks over at Logan tiredly. "You should come around more often," he offers to the Howling Commando before Steve breaks out in a tired grin.

What a day.

He looks around Steve to Logan and adds, "You still have a little wall in your hair, or is that just the gray showing itself?"

Just three dudes, barely escaping death by radiation - but bound in a way so few would understand. Brothers in Arms as it were.

Blue eyes cut towards Steve.

Arms laid across his chest, hands flexing and unflexing at the suggestion of coming around more. Maybe because of Bucky's attempts to tease him. He pulls his hat up and shakes the shaggy hair to send plaster raining around his equally plaster covered face. To sweat. Sweaty plaster face.

"Yer right, Rogers, I should come around more. To get teased by 'you youngsters'." A snort smirk, cigar taken out from between his teeth to point in the direction of 'usetobealab'. "I got a lot of questions." They can wait though. Beer first.