[ Lucky that she chooses that moment to look away, that he doesn't have long to consider the slight colour in her cheeks or the way she fidgets, so unlike her typical poise — because she asks after the science, so his focus drifts, spying something in the corner of his eye.
This is the part he knows intimately, the knowledge he's withheld since arriving here and chatting with Strange (seeing the slight knit of his brows, hearing the suspicion in his voice). Fitz knows exactly what tests you need to run to ascertain to get a full picture of their inhuman profiles. His life's work was finding ways to identify, extract, and use that data. Bloodwork's only the start. ]
Yes, apart from the aliens and the androids, we're rather ordinary.
[ dry, that. he straightens up. ]
But there are other tests. [ Fitz's hand returns to his pocket, shifting the coin between his fingers. ] We'd need DNA samples and lots of them. [ rattling them off, ] Hair, nails, cheek swabs, and so on. [ a noncommittal noise. ] We could look at hormone levels, too. And see if we've been exposed to radiation of some kind through frequent blood tests over several days, looking for drops in disease-fighting white blood cells and abnormal changes in the DNA of blood cells. [ sighing. ] We'll also need controls from several local individuals willing to submit the same samples — [ oh, now there's an idea. ] — like the lab techs we rescued.
[ He glances back to her, eyes alight with interest. Maybe they can look into this, after all. ]
[ Yes, that all makes sense. It's what they tried to do with the blood samples they took from Steve in an effort to reverse engineer the serum created by Erskine. The man had been killed and the last vial stolen, lost forever to the pavement of New York City. All they had was Steve's blood and even then, the science wasn't advanced enough to do what they wanted to do.
But here, now? In the year 2511? Should be easy as pie with the facilities available to them. It's just a matter of doing it discreetly. But then —
Their eyes meet as they arrive at the same conclusion. ]
The lab techs, [ she echoes softly, pleased. ] They must be curious, especially if we've run samples by them in the past. We just have to hope the others are as on board with the idea as we are. [ Because they obviously are, discussing it like this. ] So we have a strong theory on our varied skill sets, but what about the one thing we do share?
[ Now it's her turn to put a hand to her chest, right beneath the gold pendant hanging from her throat. ]
The bond. [ A beat, then: ] Although mine has felt a little — strange, today.
[ There it is again. Synchronicity, nothing short of a word, here at the end of the multiverse. His mouth curves, helpless to do anything else. The lab techs can help them test the samples, compare them, destroy them. They're trusted and located nearby for this short window of time. Perfect. ]
The bond.
[ low agreement. he has more to say on that, only she mentions feeling off. concerned, he adjusts, facing her and canting his head. ]
[ She doesn't have a word for the glowing centre of her chest other than glowing centre of her chest. Referring to the bond seemed the most expedient, to make the most sense, if only because she isn't aware that the others believe they house a portal of some sort in their own bodies. But she does know of the circumstances that may trigger the burning sensation from her trawling through the network.
As it is, Peggy shrugs one shoulder, dropping her hand into her lap. ]
It was burning when I woke up. I've read about the possible causes but I still don't understand how it's possible.
[ And as far as she's aware, she isn't missing any time. The dates still line up. So that leaves the sudden appearance of her necklace. ]
[ he leans forward, elbows resting on his knees, as he thinks over how to respond. he feels confident in aspects of his approach to to this world and its peculiarities, but uncertainties persist. ]
It's only a theory, but it seems to burn when something flows through us — emotions, objects, ourselves. [ and rattling them off, ] It's an opening, a portal, a transfer in progress, or something like it. Connected to us, tapping into us. I don't know.
[ he drags one hand up, carding it through his short curls. ]
We may have come through a portal to get here, but in doing so, well, we've become gateways ourselves.
No testing for that, I suppose, [ she murmurs after a beat, considering him and his words. She handles this information better than she did the reveal of her true ability; partly because she's rested and recovered, and partly because it's a unique quality they all share rather than a single particularity.
Peggy resists the urge to touch her chest again and instead lets her fingertips drift higher to the pendant resting above her collarbone. ] But it does explain my mother's necklace turning up this morning. I thought I'd lost it when they took me.
[ Items they value turn up on their person, just as they all seem to wake up in their own beds in the event of a disappearance. How does it find them? How do they find Point A again? Like a yo-yo or some kind of homing beacon. And there are no further answers as to how or why. She exhales, grimacing only faintly when her ribs protest the expansiveness of the breath, and looks back out over the water.
After a beat, she moves on. ]
So our best course of action is to run a myriad of DNA tests and compare our results to the local population and perhaps those creatures, too, if they came through the same way we did. Maybe we'll manage to narrow down that interactant — if it's present in our cellular structure. Maybe it isn't. But it's the only start we have.
[ when she mentions the necklace, he turns to look back at her. daisy had experienced the same thing, and he'd received the photo of jemma, too. his expression softens at the edges, even as she shifts back to business. he thinks to say i'm glad you have something from home but can't find the words. ]
That it is. [ test their DNA, complicate some theories and toss out others, hope they don't blink out of this bloody universe before they land on something solid. ] So, we'll figure out how to ask our fellow displaced and local agents, run the tests, and go from there.
[ he stands, rolling his weight on the balls of his feet. ]
But first — [ jerking his head in the direction of the market. ] Could go for some dessert.
[ She does wonder how their fellow displaced would take this development, should they choose to pursue it as far as they can manage. Maybe some people aren't built to seek out and solve puzzles the way they are, perhaps that's what makes them such excellent agents — what serves as a criteria for the SSR in the 1940s and SHIELD in the 2010s. Maybe it's because they were in the business of creating and studying what the world calls superheroes and now they're living it, twisted on its head.
Will having answers point the way back home or will it just make it easier to live in this city until then? That's something she hasn't answered for herself yet. But as she watches Fitz pull himself to his feet, she wonders why he's as invested as she is. Because he's certainly invested, far more deeply than she even realised. That's another why she'd like to chase, amongst other things. ]
Peckish already? [ she teases as she rises gingerly from her seat, falling into step with him. In the same light, conversational tone: ] You must be feeling better.
[ Their mission wasn't too long ago. She'd been unsteady then, but so had he, in his own way. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
This is the part he knows intimately, the knowledge he's withheld since arriving here and chatting with Strange (seeing the slight knit of his brows, hearing the suspicion in his voice). Fitz knows exactly what tests you need to run to ascertain to get a full picture of their inhuman profiles. His life's work was finding ways to identify, extract, and use that data. Bloodwork's only the start. ]
Yes, apart from the aliens and the androids, we're rather ordinary.
[ dry, that. he straightens up. ]
But there are other tests. [ Fitz's hand returns to his pocket, shifting the coin between his fingers. ] We'd need DNA samples and lots of them. [ rattling them off, ] Hair, nails, cheek swabs, and so on. [ a noncommittal noise. ] We could look at hormone levels, too. And see if we've been exposed to radiation of some kind through frequent blood tests over several days, looking for drops in disease-fighting white blood cells and abnormal changes in the DNA of blood cells. [ sighing. ] We'll also need controls from several local individuals willing to submit the same samples — [ oh, now there's an idea. ] — like the lab techs we rescued.
[ He glances back to her, eyes alight with interest. Maybe they can look into this, after all. ]
no subject
But here, now? In the year 2511? Should be easy as pie with the facilities available to them. It's just a matter of doing it discreetly. But then —
Their eyes meet as they arrive at the same conclusion. ]
The lab techs, [ she echoes softly, pleased. ] They must be curious, especially if we've run samples by them in the past. We just have to hope the others are as on board with the idea as we are. [ Because they obviously are, discussing it like this. ] So we have a strong theory on our varied skill sets, but what about the one thing we do share?
[ Now it's her turn to put a hand to her chest, right beneath the gold pendant hanging from her throat. ]
The bond. [ A beat, then: ] Although mine has felt a little — strange, today.
no subject
The bond.
[ low agreement. he has more to say on that, only she mentions feeling off. concerned, he adjusts, facing her and canting his head. ]
How so?
no subject
As it is, Peggy shrugs one shoulder, dropping her hand into her lap. ]
It was burning when I woke up. I've read about the possible causes but I still don't understand how it's possible.
[ And as far as she's aware, she isn't missing any time. The dates still line up. So that leaves the sudden appearance of her necklace. ]
no subject
It's only a theory, but it seems to burn when something flows through us — emotions, objects, ourselves. [ and rattling them off, ] It's an opening, a portal, a transfer in progress, or something like it. Connected to us, tapping into us. I don't know.
[ he drags one hand up, carding it through his short curls. ]
We may have come through a portal to get here, but in doing so, well, we've become gateways ourselves.
no subject
No testing for that, I suppose, [ she murmurs after a beat, considering him and his words. She handles this information better than she did the reveal of her true ability; partly because she's rested and recovered, and partly because it's a unique quality they all share rather than a single particularity.
Peggy resists the urge to touch her chest again and instead lets her fingertips drift higher to the pendant resting above her collarbone. ] But it does explain my mother's necklace turning up this morning. I thought I'd lost it when they took me.
[ Items they value turn up on their person, just as they all seem to wake up in their own beds in the event of a disappearance. How does it find them? How do they find Point A again? Like a yo-yo or some kind of homing beacon. And there are no further answers as to how or why. She exhales, grimacing only faintly when her ribs protest the expansiveness of the breath, and looks back out over the water.
After a beat, she moves on. ]
So our best course of action is to run a myriad of DNA tests and compare our results to the local population and perhaps those creatures, too, if they came through the same way we did. Maybe we'll manage to narrow down that interactant — if it's present in our cellular structure. Maybe it isn't. But it's the only start we have.
no subject
That it is. [ test their DNA, complicate some theories and toss out others, hope they don't blink out of this bloody universe before they land on something solid. ] So, we'll figure out how to ask our fellow displaced and local agents, run the tests, and go from there.
[ he stands, rolling his weight on the balls of his feet. ]
But first — [ jerking his head in the direction of the market. ] Could go for some dessert.
[ it'll help ease the portal revelation, too. ]
no subject
Will having answers point the way back home or will it just make it easier to live in this city until then? That's something she hasn't answered for herself yet. But as she watches Fitz pull himself to his feet, she wonders why he's as invested as she is. Because he's certainly invested, far more deeply than she even realised. That's another why she'd like to chase, amongst other things. ]
Peckish already? [ she teases as she rises gingerly from her seat, falling into step with him. In the same light, conversational tone: ] You must be feeling better.
[ Their mission wasn't too long ago. She'd been unsteady then, but so had he, in his own way. ]