Another Friday in Flushing Meadows

February 03, 2017:

Just another Friday in Flushing Meadows Park for Steve Rogers.

Flushing Meadows Park

Flushing Meadows is a public park in Queens, the fouth largest in New
York. It's home to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the New York
Hall of Science and Citi Field. It also hosted the World Fair of '39/'40 and
'64/'65.

The park itself features wide open expanses between the various facilities
on it along with footpaths and, as is necessary in the summer, shaded areas.

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions: Vanjasyl

Plot:

Mood Music: None.


Fade In…

When people think of superheroes, people often consider the suit, the tech, the larger than life nature of men and women with unique gifts. Sometimes, Captain America engages in such things. Most times, however, he feels more than comfortable just pretending he's normal and not caring if people believe him or not.

Currently, the Man Out of Time's doing what most New Yorkers do when they want to run… go to the park. With a duffle bag slung strapped his back to carry his stuff as well as provide extra weight, Rogers finds himself just making good time as he moves through the park. Currently, there is an ear bud hanging from his ear, an audio book discussing the changes of American cultural over the 70's and 80's. While Rogers has gotten a very very general idea of important events, it's clear that he is working to continue learning in order to better understand, and thus better serve, his nation. Despite this focus on learning and the extra weight on his back, he continues to pass most joggers, giving a simple "To your left" as he moves past them with ease.

Lunch time from SHIELD means that Barry is in the park himself. The fastest man alive is on his own jog, currently snacking on an apple as he moves at a leisurely pace. Having changed quickly for the jog, he's in a pair of sweatpants and a SHIELD t-shirt as he hears the call of 'To Your Left' and the scientist moves to the side to allow him to pass.

It is not exactly a coincidence Nathaniel Richards is also in the park, in fact he saw Steve from a mile high. Or rather, the armor sensors 'saw' him. That was ten minutes ago. After landing in a rooftop and reconfiguring his armor into normal-looking clothes he waits for the running man to get to him. Once he is close enough, he raises a hand to draw Cap's attention. "Have a minute, Captain?"

It is not exactly a coincidence Nathaniel Richards is also in the park, in fact he saw Steve from a mile high. Or rather, the armor sensors 'saw' him. That was ten minutes ago. After landing in a rooftop and reconfiguring his armor into normal-looking clothes he waits for the running man to get to him. Once he is close enough, he raises a hand to draw Cap's attention. "Have a minute, Captain?" (re for Barry)

It is not exactly a coincidence Nathaniel Richards is also in the park, in fact he saw Steve from a mile high. Or rather, the armor sensors 'saw' him. That was ten minutes ago. After landing in a nearby rooftop, reconfiguring his armor into normal-looking clothes and walking down to the park, he waits for the running man to get to him. Once he is close enough, he raises a hand to draw Cap's attention. "Have a minute, Captain?"

While Captain America doesn't have the SHIELD emblem on his chest, he does seem to have the same fashion sense as Barry, wearing a white tee with grey sweatpants. The running shoes slide to a halt, however, as soon as Nathaniel comes over the horizon and lands. He doesn't really react besides taking a brief glance, however, understanding that flying heroes are, in fact, a thing and not every landing hero will be making their way toward Cap.

Except the one that does.

Shortly after the blond started running again, it seemed that Nathaniel makes his entrance. Another stop is given when the request for time is made. "Sure," he replies with a small smile. "What's up?" A brief glance back toward Barry is given, a slight brow raised. On seeing the man from behind, the shirt was not clearly seen. Upon noticing he has a SHIELD on the front, the man gets a wave. He files this away for further ammo against Peggy's claims that SHIELD agents should be subtle. Game, Set, Match, Ms. Carter…. Game, Set Match.

If only Barry was an agent - and not just a scientist working in the lab. Noticing Nathaniel as the man that brought in his girlfriend (not girlfriend) to try to punch a hole in dimensions to send him home, that is what slows the speedster more than Steve's wave does. As he approaches the others, he slows to an in-place jog. Though really, there's one problem with the act of a near thirty year old out for a jog for his health - there's not an ounce of exertion shown in his breath as he looks between the two.

"Didn't mean to interupt." he offers polietly. "Guess it's my turn to say 'to the left'." Amusement shines in the speedster's voice as he prepares to consider on his own jog, before he realizes that Nathaniel referred to the man as 'Cap'. Barry /has/ been doing his research to start to feel more normal in this world. There's several entries under Captain, but it will be a couple of moments before he matches which Cap this is.

Nathaniel does not recognize Flash, he never saw the face of the speedster when he visited the mansion. So the man in the SHIELD t-shirt only gets a glance. Aren't they secret agents? Then again anyone can write 'shield' in a t-shirt. Hell, maybe the UN sells those to tourists.

Anyway. To the left. "Good afternoon. Just tell you I found the person that killed the SHIELD agents. Agent Lewis arrested her, I believe. It was not what I expected, and maybe not related to the previous killings."

+MEET: Darcy Lewis has arrived via +meet.

"You got it," come the polite response to Mr. Allen as Rogers moves out of his way, regardless if he continues to jog or not. Perhaps the conversation to really not have much context to a random jogger, he only waits a second or two to pass before speaking to Richards.

"I had heard through the grapevine that there was some sort of arrest on that, but guess it's more than just rumor. That's good. I figure it will be up to those in the intel business to look into it further," Rogers admits with a small smile. While Captain America is never one to shy away from responsibility, he understands all too well the importance of delegating tasks or sharing burdens to those far better in doing them than himself. "If they find out they don't have their man or woman or there is an issue where they need my help, never one to say no to that sorta thing."

Barry hears the name Agent Lewis, and his ears and eyes perk for a moment, before he continues on his jog. Curiosity tugs at his senses though as he takes out his phone to text his fellow lab geek. Even though she's more of a lab rat than geek, but that's all semantics at the moment as he sends.

Putting his phone away, he's continuing his own jog unless otherwise distracted.

Nathaniel nods. "Yes. I suspected they would not tell you," comments the young man. "The woman was an alien. I suspect there are not even official protocols for this kind of incident yet. Still, if you could find out more through unofficial channels, I think defusing the situation might be important. She killed two agents, but she was not hostile, just clueless."

Cool, crisp, and dry. Describes a decent wine and jogging weather. Except in Darcy's case it's skating weather.

Dressed in a school-girl pleated blue and black mini shirt and a Liberty Belles vs Gotham Gals bout t-shirt she clearly took scissors to in order to tie like a corset, Darcy skates down the jogging trail. Earbuds in and enjoying the music, a small backpack is strapped to her back and her joints are protected by plastic and foam pads; knees, elbows, and wrists. On her head is a helmet and her hair hangs out of the underside in two Dorothy Gail style pigtails.

Green eyes on constant alert for anyone in the way, Darcy spots Nathaniel and Steve AND Barry. Whoa. Lotsa peeps! Grinning, Darcy lets her skating bring her near by before she spins to go backwards and then slams down one toe stop to grind her momentum to a stop. This as she yanks out her earbuds - Pink Floyd.

"Hey! People!" she chirps happily, red lips grinning broadly, cheeks flushed from the exercise, eyes bright as she glances about the trio without having any idea what's being spoken of.

There is a long pause as Rogers considers the information told to him. "I… see." It's clear from the uncertain tone that he seems rather glad that it was someone else that handled the questioning rather than himself. "Well, I could look into the matter, but when you kill people, it complicates things. More so if the person did it under their free will." Steve rubs his chest absently, perhaps a muscle he had pulled previously saving the world or the like. It's clear that the idea of meddling with SHIELD justice troubles him. After all, to let someone get away with murder because they were 'clueless' just seems a little wrong. "But I could see what I can do."

+MEET: Fred has arrived via +meet.

There is a long pause as Rogers considers the information told to him. "I… see." It's clear from the uncertain tone that he seems rather glad that it was someone else that handled the questioning rather than himself. "Well, I could look into the matter, but when you kill people, it complicates things. More so if the person did it under their free will." Steve rubs his chest absently, perhaps a muscle he had pulled previously saving the world or the like. It's clear that the idea of meddling with SHIELD justice troubles him. After all, to let someone get away with murder because they were 'clueless' just seems a little wrong. "But I could see what I can do."

The Super Soldier pauses to take in Darcy, blinking once at it's clear he's not used to the attire that's standard fare for derbies. "Hello, Agent-Err, Darcy, hope you're doing well. Seems like whenever I take some time in the park it tends to always be business," he admits with a smirk.

Don't consider it. Don't get involved, Allen. You have enough on your plate. He's already investigating the Mists, that alone is a big chunk of his time as Barry purposefully slows his pace to still listen. As he hears about the murder of two, and clueless, the speedster instinctually winces. If it's who he thinks it is, it definetly puts in some kinks in the system. And not the good type of kinks.

Darcy is derbying it up on skates, Steve was jogging and Nathaniel cruely ambushed him in the park while Barry is slowly moving away from the group on his own jog as it's a nice day in the park. Birds chirpping, hot dog vendors hawking. All the usual suspects for a New York day.

Speaking of the devil. Nathaniel blinks surprised when Darcy shows up. "Agent Lewis. Good to see you." Then to Cap, "I am sorry, I did not want to interrupt your exercising. I should have waited." Looks like everyone came here for running. Even Darcy. Particularly Darcy. "Maybe we can meet at the Triskelion later."

A normal day in the park, birds chirpping, hot dog vendors hawking, and a telephone booth that is suddenly free standing in a snowy field where no telephone booth stood before, or indeed, should stand at all. Our favorite accountant, Fred, steps out in a sensible black suit and overcoat, along with two teenagers dressed right out of the eighties.

"Thanks for the lift guys. Looks like the right date." Fred comments, picking up his briefcase and extending a friendly handshake to the two teens. After a rather complicated ritual of hand movements that leaves the poor accountant confused the two teens reenter the phone booth.

"Be excellent." the taller teen comments, before they close the door, dial a phone number, and vanish, booth and all.

Fred shakes a bit of snow off his feet, and then proceeds across the snow towards the group. "Nasty weather. Can't seem to decide if it wants to be nicely cool, or dreadfully cold." he comments to himself before looking around and getting that funny feeling that he should know some of these people.

"Hiya, Cap. Hey, Barry. Mr. Richards." Darcy greets everyone in turn before giving Steve a wink.

"You gotta learn to say 'No', Steve. For reals. Girls like a guy that plays a little hard to get," she teases lightly, too sure her earlier wink will make it clear she's teasing. Of course, with Darcy, it could read as flirting. It's one of those, however. Take your pick. She'll run with it. Swifting her weight makes her wheels roll so she sort of cuts Barry off. It's an 'innocent' grin she gives her co-worker before she turns to Nathaniel and nods.

"Sure. I can put you on at three? Today? Tomorrow? Were you looking for updates on things? Back at the office is best. There's where I've got all my files and sh-… Stuff." Her eyes cuts to Steve at that last, nodding and giving him a nod. See? I remembered! Language.

And then.. phnoe booth. Darcy looks over, and blinks.

"Fuck. I thought MY life was weird." Language_Filter.exe has stopped working. Please wait.

"Hey! Fred! What the hell, man?" Darcy yells over, cupping one wrist-brace-protected hand up to the side of her mouth.

As Darcy speaks of playing hard to get; there is a confused expression from Rogers. There are few people that have ever accused Rogers of being a flirt, even in jest. It takes him a couple of seconds to parse that she isn't serious and just gives a smirk, not really having the opportunity to respond in kind. Not that witty repartee is Rogers' forte. He does manage the simple and expected reminder of: "language".

As Nathaniel speaks of interrupting, a brief shrug is given. "It's not really that big a deal," Cap replies. "But if you want to talk to someone about the case, yeah, likely best to talk to Darcy about it later or the other people involved with that." It's clear if he's going to be involved with the agent killing mission it will likely be something he's dragged into, which depending on the circumstance, still might occur.

There is a brief pause as he glances over toward the new arrival that Darcy seems to know. "Fred?" he inquires simply, a brow arched toward Lewis for an introduction.

It was almost a clean getaway until Darcy bumps him with a hip and Barry stumbles a bit. He quickly recovers, bouncing aside for a moment or two, since it wasn't a true Darcy hip-check as he glances over as he starts to say. "Hey Darcy, I think they were talking about you before you got here. How's the Princess doing?" he asks about the woman, that is until the girl's foul mouth comes into play.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?" he asks as he glances at the disappearing phone booth and his brows arch, and looks over to Fred. Then back to Darcy. And the others. Okay, this is not a common occurence around here. That's refreshing in a way at least.

"Either the Doctors are getting younger, or he's been booth-jacked." Barry offers, a squint at Darcy as she seems to know the guy.

Nathaniel offers Darcy a smirk. "Yes, definitely updates and maybe not a conversation for a park. Triskelion, then. Or you can drop by the mansion anytime today, I will be there all the afternoon. There is still much to do in the labs before they are ready."

Fred? The older man gets a glance. Maybe another agent, he sure looks to have interesting friends. Now he wants to take a look at that teleporting phone cabin. Oh well.

The brave little accountant hears his name and shuffles over. "Oh, hello Agent Darcy. Lovely day for a…." he stops, glacning down Darcy's body, lingering a heartbeat too long before looking down at her skates. Ahem. Fred clears his throat, his eyes shooting back up to Darcy's face. "Roller skating?" he tries to badly cover.

"That?" the accountant asks, turning back to the smooth snow covered spot where the telephone booth once stood. "Just…..Friday afternoon." he answers with a heavy sigh.

Change of subject time. "Good evening gentlemen. Fred, from accounting. Pleasure." The man produces several business cards, which he offers out along with handshakes. They read Frederick Smith, CPA, along with his phone number.

"Yeah? That happens," Darcy quips at Barry about being talked about. She is unsurprised and unbothered. "She's fine. We're working on it. But I'm on break and not talking about it right now. But I'll hit you in the office for more intel on that knife," Darcy adds smiling.

"More than just my mother, handsome. And so far, no complaints from man, woman, or mutant," Darcy retorts, a devious smirk and wink given to Barry. Her eyes return to Nathaniel while she's trying not to look chided by the 'language' comment. Steve has recovered Language_Filter.exe!

"Why don't you stop by, Mr. Richards? You're already here after all." Darcy shrugs and watches Fred and where his eyes linger (same ol' Fred), and then shakes her head.

"Everyone. Fred from Accounting. Fred: Steve Rogers and Barry Allen, SHIELD. Nathaniel Richards, Avengers. It's a fu- very awesome block party." Again her eyes flick to Steve for a heartbeat as she censors herself.

"Oh god, I know, right. Last WEdnesday? Giant-ass Zoidberg on the beach," Darcy says to Fred, like trading watercoooler stories.

As Barry talks about a certain British sci-fi, there is Yet Another Confused Steve look. "Not sure what lower ages of medical school graduates has to do with telephone booths," Rogers replies with a shrug. Maybe it has to do with some sort of 'Reality Television Show' like they have on M.T.V..

"Language," Rogers repeats, seemingly on autopilot with that when it comes to Darcy. The lens of hindsight shines in Cap's eye, allowing him to add "Unless Zoidberg is a giant donkey. In which case, I suppose that's fine."

As Darcy introduces Fred and Fred offers the card, Rogers puts away the contact information in a pocket. The card secured, the old fashioned soul then offers a handshake. "Steve Rogers. Good to meet you, Fred Smith. From Accounting."

There's a glance at the card, before Barry nods. "Well, like I said when I first looked at it. Not a murder weapon. Looked more ornamental than anything." the young man admits before Darcy turns the flirt beams on him. Reaching up to rub the back of his head nervously, a blush blossoms across the apples of his cheeks before he ahems. "I'm sure they're broken plenty of hearts, Darcy." he manages to get out without stumbling over himself too much as he takes the card. "Hello, Mister Smith. Uh.. Zoidberg?"

"Accounting, right," mental note: ask Natasha if 'accounting' is actually some specialized SHIELD division. Nathaniel pockets the card anyway. And shakes Fred's hand. "Good to meet you, Agent Smith."

Then back to Darcy and Steve. "I see you had an eventful week. I am curious, but I better get going. But I will seek you later, both of you."

"Zoidberg yes. Giant lobster creature." Fred explains shaking his head. "That….was a lot of paperwork." he finishes. He beams at being called 'Agent Smith', and reaches into his pocket to pull out a pair of sunglasses, open them with a wrist flick, and cooly slide them into place with only one hand. Except he flicks them, only gets them half opened, and almost pokes himself in the eye. Fred pauses, fixes the arms on the sunglasses, and then slides them into place. By that time any chance at a matrix impression is ruined, so he just coughs a little and changes the subject again. "Odd place for a meeting, isn't it?"

"Dr. Who. We must abuse my Netflix account with you Cap. Come over. We'll have a slumber party. You, me, some friends, loads of popcoarn, and no spoilers," Darcy invites bascially everyone here, smiling and moving to drop her elbow on Barry's shoulder, because she's nearly eye level to these six foot guys in her skates and it makes her feel tall and Amazonian. Not that she's met one to compare, but yeah.

"He was a lobster. Is a lobster. The character is a lobster. The guy in psych-ward 10 was a lobster but now he's crazy and it's being worked on," Darcy replies, giving information and then moving right on with life because that's work and this is play and one should never cross those streams unless you have to.

"Oh. it's not a meeting. I refuse. This is a happy coincedence, all of us here together at the same time. Hotdogs? My heartrate's crashed and now I'm hungry."

As Fred tries to be cool and almost hurts himself, Steve offers out a hand in vain in attempt to stop the accountant from hurting himself but pulls himself back when it seems that sunglass situation has solved itself. "Sounds odd" comes the confused and slightly amazed response from Captain America to the explanations of a beloved Futurama character, a show that he will likely not watch intentionally.

Then there is mention of another show that he will likely not watch intentionally. "A slumber party. With girls and guys sleeping in the same area?" A brow is arched at that. "I suppose I could come if it was just a normal party though. Really should get to know a lot more people from where we work."

"I don't think that really counts as a sleepover.. more uh.. a watch party. Which is more fitting for the big game." Barry says with a shrug of his shoulders absently as he considers the offer of hot dogs, and glances down at his phone and a text. His fingers dance on the screen to respond as he draws in a breath with a grin. "Well, considering I'm still at lunch, I suppose I could eat some lunch."

….Barry won't bankrupt Darcy. Promise.

Once he's done typing, Barry reaches over and gives Darcy a poke in the side, under her rib cage. "Not an arm rest." he mutters good-naturedly at the woman as he goes back to texting.

"I don't mind the company, but I'll pass on the hotdogs. Not as young as I used to be. Terrible heartburn." Fred comments, pulling out a roll of Tums and popping one into his mouth. "French cooking gets me every time." he finishes, patting his paunch and returning the Tums to their pocket.
"Though, since there at least three employees here, you can save the receipt and expense this as a team building exercise." the accountant adds as an afterthought.

"Of course with gals and girls sleeping in the same room. If they are losery-losers and fall asleep before the movies are over. At which point, I call dibs on writing on their faces with sharpie. But yeah. What Barry said: Watch party. We marathon a few episodes, maybe turn it into a drinking game for those so inclined," sDarcy is prattling, eyes sliding down to see what it is Barry's typing. That is, until he pokes her in the ribs and she jerks at the motion, a squeak of TICKLES escaping her painted lips.

While on skates.

Balance affected, Darcy's wheels roll out from under her and Darcy wind mills a heartbeat before throwing herself forward to curl into a ball so she'll impact on elbows and knees, exactly where she's got protective gear. Unforunately, she is surrounded by heroes, some of whom might be super.

There is that moment in time when a hero must act. Captain America is that hero.

The conversation is about to get some trivial response as Steve Rogers will make some excuse why he can't do the party (he remembers a lot of girls telling him they were washing their hair, maybe /that/ could work), but he is distracted by the falling Darcy.

Noble reflex overrides common sense as he swiftly is on one knee to try and catch Darcy. If it was an issue of total trust, it could likely be some unintended hugging embrace. If it was awkward fall, might end with inappropriate grapping. Instead, it's just…. bad. The elbows are brought down, but Rogers moves to catch her. Darcy's protective gear is thrust toward the ground, but due to Steve's movement, his knee is placed under her on as he curls her arms around her. The plan is to use the knee for support while curling his arms around her to keep her from hitting his knee or the ground.

The plan MOSTLY words.

In moving the knee down, it allows the armored elbow to slam a place on Cap that is unprotected by muscle or super soldier bone: the Little Patriot.

Despite this, Steve still curls his arms around Darcy, one hand on her shoulder and another at her side as he keeps her from hitting his knee or the ground. There is awkward pause as the pained grimace on Steve's is rather plain to see by all who watch this bizarre spectacle. After a deep breath to let out the pain, there is a soft "Are you okay, Darcy?" from Cap as he moves to right the tipped over woman.

The jog is officially over for the day.

Barry feels an unsuspecting sense of deja vu. The world moves slowly for the speedster. He can see Darcy slipping from her skates and the fact that she's windmilling towards the ground. The natural reaction to this would be a subtle motion to grab her and get her back on her feet before she even realized she was on the ground.

Last time he did that though, a Batbear gave him away and he ended up with a girlfriend. Not a bad end, really. Not an experience he's eager to repeat though as he notices her going into the motion of a ball. The pads should protect her. He doesn't give away his identity. Or that he's a meta. Win-win, right?

That is until Darcy effectively ruins Steve's ability for the time to raise an army of Seamen to his aide as Barry winces sympathetically, moving to help Steve up. "I don't think you can walk that off."

Like most men, the falling woman gets Fred's attention and he starts forward to catch Darcy as well, but is much too slow. He takes a couple of akward steps forward, and then winces in sympathy pain as Steve's little soldier earns a purple heart. Yay…another bad pun. "Yikes. You two okay?"

Lara exited a yellow cab, loud music blaring from within it and the sound of the driver's voice shouting something out at her as he'd been eagerly telling Lara his entire lifestory. He'd been fascinated to have a British woman in his cab, but it had mostly just lead into him talking about himself. Not that Lara minded, but his Mariachi music was turned up so loud that she couldn't really hear any of what he'd said to her so it made it quite oawkward during the ride when he'd ask her questions.

Somehow… somehow… Lara had bullshitted her way through the entire trip though.

Outside of the cab, she graciously thanked him and tried to pull their social-interaction apart… eventually getting the door shut and the waved to him as he pulled away… "My word. There's probably a billion cabs in this city and I bet I run into him once a week or more hence-forth." She muttered to herself.

Turning then, Lara started to walk, her eyes scanning around trying to find her friend Darcy, unware of her very nearly smashing pumpkins.

Steve has always held a very special place in Darcy's heart. He's such a Great Guy, a true American Hero. It's the only reason she actively TRIES to mind her mouth around him. Doesn't always work, but she tries. And, if she were going to be honest, which she will be if anyone ever asks or if the topic came up or if it popped into her head to actually say outloud, he's the One Guy on the list of dudes willing to cheat on boyfriend with. And boyfriend will understand nad be okay with this, or there will be words.

In any case, having him reach to catch her would be a dream.. if only Darcy hadn't rflexively curled up and smacked his star-spangled banner on the way down. Held in his grasp, Darcy takes a moment to get her bearings and take stock of the situation. She gets her knees on the ground to take her weight off Steve (as if she really needed to mister super soldier serum). Her hands rests on his biceps. (Duuude.. brain filter… shorting.. out..)

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm … i'm good. Really good. So good," Darcy's babbling. Is anyone else even talking right now? Because Darcy might be swoony for a little bit. Maybe. Yeah. Definitely.

Darcy's mental soundtrack switches fro Floyd to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ScjucUV8v0

"It'll be fine," Rogers admits to Barry and Fred, getting over the pain without help. "I've been shot so definately hurts less than that. But I appriecate the thought," he concludes, clearly touched by the offer to help him up.

A glance is given toward Darcy, brushing some hair out of the way to get a good look at her eyes and the like, making sure she didn't get hurt in the fall. "Yep, you look fine. Just need to be a little more careful," he replies, Barry's role in his injury not known.

Unaware that company is coming in the form of Lady Croft, Steve merely attempts to change the topic. "So, Fred, you've been in accounting for awhile, right? Must be pretty… interesting… in accounting."

He's reeeeallllly pushing for that topic change.

"Come on, Darcy, you can imagine what the hot dog looks like in the bun later." Barry says as he moves to take Darcy's arm to help her to her feet…. err skates, and smirks. "You can even add extra mustard." he says with a glance towards the cart, trying to make sure that the woman is clear of the super soldier.

Lara earns a warm smile for a moment, though he's only met her briefly. "Agent Croft, how are you?" he asks as he continues to tug Darcy erect,.

"Faily boring, actually." Fred answers. "Been doing it for 5 years or so. Used to be a field agent. Boring was what I was hoping for. It can be interesting….sometimes…." Poor Fred starts to stammer, not used to talking about himself all that much. "The boring hasn't worked all that much though."

Oh, another agent, Fred notices. Agent Croft……Fred drifts a moment, his gaze lingering on the woman far too long as he mentally pulls up her w-2 forms. He catches himself, headshakes briefly. "Hello." Fred greets and introduces himself. "Fred. From accounting."

Lara didn't have to go too far before she found a whole group of folks around Darcy. Barry caught her approach first and thusly he received a warm smile from and a gentle nod of her head. "Allen… right? Doctor was it?" She wasn't entirely sure, admittedly. She'd been in on the meeting where he'd been hired by the moment it had ended she'd gone back to thinking about, well… what Lara Croft thinks about are things that most people wouldn't care to delve into.

Croft released a heavy exhale then and looked to the others. "Whats going on?" She asked, looking between them all. She didn't recognize Steve or Fred, unfortunately. But when Fred greeted here, Lara took her right hand out of her black leather jacket pocket and she offered it to him, her hand was encased in a black wool fingerless glove that kept it (at least mostly) warm. "Fred… from Accounting?" She asked with a sly smile. "Lara… uh, from London." She showed a sly grin then to the accountant.

Darcy nods at Steve's words. What did he say? She has no idea, but it sounded great. Something about fine. She's just going to agree with him right now. Dulcidly, Darcy lets Barry help her to her wheels, rolling backwards away from Steve.

"Mmhmm," Darcy's agreeing before he mentions Croft and Darcy's heads swivels around for her friend.

"Lara!" Darcy calls out, pushing away from Barry and Steve and toward Lara with arms open. Her legs spread out so she can slowherself from slamming full body into the other woman, but if one's not braced it might be jarring. Correction, it IS jarring. been there, done that. Ooof. Darcy, on skates, is moving to clomp-hug the Lara. But they are not in the office right now.

"From Artifacts, Croft. Get it right. I'm Darcy, from whatever-the-fu…dge May wants today. That's Barry from Forensics. That's Steve from World War Two. That's Fred from Accounting. We were going to get hot dogs. I want mine with everything. Like… everything."

"I prefer just 'Steve Rogers'," Captain America offers in response to his age as the introductions for the new person is underway. He's meeting a lot of people it would seem. "A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Croft," he says as he offers his hand with a handshake. "I did a bit of work in artifacts, but as you can imagine, it was a bit ago," he admits with a grin.

As Fred talks of boring a brief chuckle is given. "Nothing wrong with boring, more so after doing your time," Cap replies. "But I feel like if you're good at what you do, people will always want you to come back. Should be a compliment that life continues to be interesting for you." Leave it to Rogers to be the sort to be a glass half-full sort of person.

With Barry being a bit of the odd man out, he hits upon an idea. "Oh, not a doctor yet - still working on that, instead I'm just a masters in forensics with bacheloretes in applied physics and chemistry.. uh, anyway. You stay here and talk, Darcy, I'll go get everyone's dogs. Everything?" he says to Darcy, before looking around at the others to get their orders.

Is it weird to see something weird in this city anymore?

One of the best and worst aspects of being a web-slinger is the fact that, often times, you need something high enough to anchor on in order to travel fast and effectivel— so in many places, in many cases, she can dodge traffic and get around the problems that would bind most people to the ground and the laws of gravity, and being stuck using their own two feet. However, as situation requires, one has to adapt.

In this case, in the near distance, there is a big truck using the shortcut provided via the parkway to cross from one side of Flushing Meadows to the other. It isn't a common route used for commercial vehicles, but in this case, it works out, sort of: Tucked under her right arm is a corgi in a harness with a leash snapped off. Tethering her to the truck from a distance of about ten to fifteen feet, clutched in her other hand, is a line of thick webbing.

And no, it is not Spider-Man— she's in a suit of black and white, patterns of red webbing and a distinct red 'S' in the middle of the chest, the lower half of her face obscured with a mask.

Along the way, in plain view, she releases the line and stumbles before ending up in front of a mother and son, passing the dog back to them both before giving them a polite wave and letting them go on their way. As soon as they're gone and out of earshot, she's picking up one foot, balanced on the other, rubbing the sole of her foot black-clad foot.

"Oh god that hurt oh god oh god oh god oh god—" Silk repeats over and over, forgetting briefly that she's very much out in public.

Fred shakes Lara's proferred hand before being distracted by the Captain's words. Which means he forgets to let go of the hand for an akward amount of time before blinking and sheepishly releasing his grip. "I'd write a book, but most of my life is so outrageous that even I think I dreamed half of it." Fred answers Steve, with a lopsided grin. "But thank you for the sentiment."

"Nothing for me, Thanks. But save the receipt and be sure to….." Fred starts to say in response to Barry's inquiry about hot dogs before he trails off and watches the puppy saving incident.

"Seems Friday isn't done with me yet." Fred comments dryly.

Lara was still shaking Fred's hand because he continued to hold onto it, when Darcy collided with her and she released a laugh and tried to grab hold of her friend with her other free arm/hand. "Woah!" She said through the laugh. "You're going to fall and crack your head on the pavement!" She tried to steady Darce as best as she could and shen she finally had a moment to see Steve's offered hand, she'd used the one ethat Fred had had yanked from his grasp by the colliding Darcy.

"Sir." Lara said to Steve, having no real worldly idea as to who Steve Rogers was. (It had never been apart of her teachings growing up!)

"Hot dogs… Sounds great though." Lara commented, not really her favorite food, but far from her least favorite. Lara was yet-unware of Silk. To Barry though she smiled. "I will just call you Agent Allen then. Agent seems to be the appropriate title for everyone now." She said with a slight grin.

"I've got a helmet on this time!" Darcy grouces at Lara, grinning through it all. She rolls backwards smoothly, stopping with careless grace righ tbefore the sidewalk ends. Not even a balance check on that. Smiling, Darcy nods to Barry.

"Kitchen sink me, baby," she tells him, eyes sliding from him to see Spider-someone saving the puppy from the truck? Saving the truck from the puppy? No. Definitely puppy from well… traffic at least. Seeing the puppy returned to a grateful boy, Darcy brings the plastic guards on her wrist protections toward in applause, plasticky clackitty applause.

"A master's in forensics with two bachelorettes in the sciences. Seems like you had a particular job in mind or something when you got all that," Rogers theories. It's a lot more school than Steve got that's for sure. But joining the war is a decent enough for not getting a four year degree and it seems a little late in Cap's career to consider one now. "As for food, I'm fine, but thank you for offering." So polite, that Steve.

For now, Fred's talk of a book only gets a simple "I'd read it" before his slightly enhanced senses pick up movement. His attention moves toward Silk, carefully looking at the scene to make sure that Silk is actually being the hero rather than the villain. Once her intentions are confirmed and a glance is given toward Darcy, he decides to follow her lead in ensuring that the heroics are given appropriate approval. After all, it's always best to encourage humanity's best, right?

"Will do." Barry says as he starts to walk away. As he's about to halfway to the stand, the incident with the puppy happens as Barry glances at his phone and frowns. Apparently he's needed back at the lab. Moving with a little more purpose, he slides behind one of the port o' potties, and a red streak disappears from the other side, heading to who knows where, leaving only a brief breeze and red blur in his wake as he quickly snaps to just below mach one so that he's not breaking windows and stuff.

Oh, everyones clapping now. Okay. Fred catches on and starts to clap as well. Yay, saving the puppy. "I didn't know Spiderman was a girl…." he says, shrugging his shoulders. "Suppose genders are like the world trade center. There used to be two and now its a sore subject."

Flexing her foot, curling her toes, Cindy frowns. Tucking two fingers together, she tugs out another layer of webbing— toned black by the time it merges to the sole of her suit's 'shoes'— and then does the same to her other foot, to give a little more cushioning than she had previously. Tapping either foot against the ground just to check the padding and balance, Cindy—

— hears clapping—

Oh god did they see her do that with padding up her feet again because that looked so lame in the middle of public and then there's also—

Straightening her back, Silk tucks a hand behind her head, lifting up her hand to wave at the two strangers— Darcy and Steve— from where she stands, slinging her arm up and two fingers into the air before she realizes… the nearest building is way, /way/ beyond her ability to web-line and anchor right now. She's gonna have to talk to Spider-Man about that.

Lowering her hands, planting them on her hips, Silk opts to just take a moment and catch her breath. After her day so far, it'd be nice to just get /that/ much. Guess she's just going to have to, like. … Walk. Or something.

"Well crap," she says to herself, heading toward those who crave hot dogs, as a matter of necessity, "I guess I should've packed my spider-wings. Or spider-jetpack. I should ask Spider-Man if we get spider-jetpacks."

Lara grinned at Darcy and shook her head lightly. "Just be careful…" She warned her. "I've known you less than a month and I've witnessed your balance… issues, far too many times so far. Its terribly un-nerving." She said with a slight smile.

Lara looked then to the arrival of this new person, Silk. She'd offer a smile to her as well and a slight nod, feeling yet still wholely left out on who all of these new faces were.

Darcy beams at Lara. "Yeah? Well… takes one to know one," quips the roler skate booted brunette, turning to wave at Silk as she starts to approach with the warm openness as if she knew who this person was. She doesn't, but that doesn't stop her.

"Hi! Great catch with the puppy! Kudos. We were getting hot dogs." Becuase that's in invite to join them. Darcy likes people who save puppies.

"Ladies, Steve. Was nice to put a face to the expense reports, but I need to get back to the office." Fred says warmly, before nodding his head once and walking towards the street. He passes Silk on the way and gives her a golf clap as he passes. "Nice work. Save your receipts when you buy more shoes. It's tax deductible." Fred says to the costumed woman as he passes heading down the sidewalk towards the nearest subway tunnel.

A brief short wave is given to Fred as he offers his farewells to Steve and the young ladies. "Good luck to ya," he cheerfully states before looking over toward Darcy as she speaks her mind about saving animals and joining the group.

"Well, it was impressive," he replies about the agile efforts. He seems a little more reserved on the idea of invite a perfect stranger to join for a mean on the merit but an animal rescue, but it was Darcy's kindness offered, not his own and he won't go against it since that would be rather rude. "So, what's the name that goes with the look?" he states with a small grin.

Most people would criticize talking to yourself, but at least here it's not looked down on as much— at least, as far as she can tell. It's tough being around people again, damn it! There's so much noise, the smells, the food— god the /food/. Cindy tilts her head, giving a wave back to Lara as she passes by and feeling the confidence build up a little bit. Darcy joins in, too.

"Corgis are life," the spider-girl replies in an all-too sage way, giving Darcy a firm thumbs-up. Then Fred passes by as he departs from the group, imparting a very important piece of advice about shoes and footwear. Looking down at her feet for a moment, she stops to actually think about it for a moment: Oh god. She has to pay /taxes/ now. Like, she needs a job, but she has to pay /taxes/.

And rent?! Where did the time go? Why does she have to be RESPONSIBLE now?

God, adulthood sucks.

Still, as folks scatter, as some move to get their hands on food and some seek to dispense tax advice on the way out the door, it leaves a socially-awkward girl barely twenty years old with, you know.

Steve Rogers.

"Ah, it was nothing!"

Though she moves past him, Cindy twists around to give him a bit of a two-finger salute, not actually registering who this man is— the living legend, the super-soldier. "You can call me Silk!" she replies all-too-cheerfully. "And no, I am not a sidekick."

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