Field Trip-The Prelude

[Enchantress]

She tilted her head towards him as he began to nuzzle her and laughed softly.
"Jamacian or Puerto Rican?" she pulled back and smiled at him. "The Rum." reaching down, she opened up her nightstand and produced a large bottle of premiere Jamacian Rum.
"Ah prefer Jamacian personally. Puerto Rican has a smoother taste. Jamacian burns going down." she snickered, placing the bottle on the nightstand she had produced it from and looked up at him.
"John..Ah um..Ah ain't makin no promises here. You intrigue me beyond reason, which baffles me to a point. But, Ah'm game, you wanna play, Ah'll play." she reached up and ran her hand along his cheek.
"There's more ta you than meets tha eye sugah, and Ah plan on finding out all about it." she chuckled seductively at him and arched an eyebrow at him.
"So, you up for tha rum and tha companionship. Maybe we could swap war stories, get ta know each othah a little better than we do now." she let her fingertips trail from his cheek to his neck and watched his expression as she pulled her hand back and used both of her hands to pull her pink hair up into a pony tail, then let it fall down against the small of her back.

[Prodigy]

"Kei if you want I'll sit outside the door for you, just let me grab a room and put my things inside and im your shower buddy." Nate said with a smile, though there was no ill intent, he was still the perfect gentleman. He picked up his bags and headed to the closest room which was free, and planted his bags in the middle of the bed and began to unpack. He had brought a number of suits with him and some casuals just incase. The next item was his SHIELD uniform, it was always handy to have a light and flexible, kevlar laced body suit that could be comfortable under most items of clothing. After leaving SHIELD he was able to keep a few things, Fury wasn't overly pissed with him about his so called treachory, but for the sake of image he had to be discharged from the service. Unofficially though he still had contacts within the organisation and a number of the paraphenially that came with such a boon, com device, body armour and a PDA, though one thing he refused to take with him was his gun. Nate was NEVER a fan of guns and only ever used them as a last resort, he had other means on incapicatating an opponent.

With everything packed away he took out his last item, a photoframe with his 'family' in it. Extreme had posed for the photo just after the became officially sanctioned by the government, it had been happier times for him. All his friends were in that photo, Orion had left the team after Flare had been killed, and at that stage Blast Radius was leading the team. Blur, Centurion, Myst, Wraith, Fusion, SkyBlazer, Revenant and himself. He wasn't angry at them for throwing him out, no he was angry at himself for what he had done, they were still his family he was simpl the prodigal son.

-Shadow Strike

[Solace]

Chandi had stood watching Cameron as he looked out towards the ocean seemingly lost in his thoughts; she had a feeling she might have been able to figure out what he was thinking. It might be awhile before they’d be able to relax like that again, so she knew just as well as he did that they should take in every moment of the peace and quiet they could get. Staying in the little alcove of palm trees and sitting encircled in a friends arms was almost to tempting to resist, but Chandi knew it’d be best if she and Cameron went back into the compound and introduced themselves to the rest of the team.

“Yeah I know.” Chandi replied knowing that her friend knew her best wit the feline features and so this human appearance must so how be disconcerting to him. “But I promise I won’t always stay like this….” She added heading up towards the building along the little path, only stopping to wait for Cameron to catch up with her. “Cold beer? You just want to get my tipsy again don’t you?”

[Tessa]

Kei poked her head into Nate’s room, “hey, you still offerin’ that door-guard?” She asked him stepping inside the doorway a short ways, “Or did I catch you at a bad time? If you want to be ace I’ll leave…” Kei trailed off fidgeting with the small bag of shower stuff she was carrying, he had been unpacking when she had barged into the room. He was holding a photo that much she could tell from where she was standing.

“Who’s in the picture?” She blurted out then cringed, her brain obviously hadn’t taken the time to tell her to keep her mouth shut. But she was curious, she had a few pictures of her own still packed away in one of her bags, she hadn’t had the resolve to unpack them yet since quite a few were of Marco or Carly, she had also stashed one in there of her mother, father and her when she was about 3 years old. That photo most likely wouldn’t see the light of day; it would end up between the mattress and the box spring of her bed.

[The Mighty Thor]

She had gotten her claws into him pretty deeply, but 'Vok wasn't planning on letting AJ have all the fun. He was interested. She was intrigued. It had all the earmarks of a great thing. A hot fling at the very least. "More than meets the eye? Ye have no idea, me beauty."

With a subtle roll of his shoulder, and a toss of his body, 'Vok rolled up and over the unsuspecting faery, landing upright and on his feet on the opposite corner of the bed. Somehow, he had snagged the bottle of rum along the way, and now stood with his arms outstretched to either side of himself. He held the position for just a second, before he backflipped down off the bed, and into the nearest chair. With his feet propped up on the edge of the bed, and the mysteriously half emptied bottle of rum in hand, he smiled broadly in AJ's direction. "Me gots the rum, ya wee picaroon. An' the companionship is just fine. So lets have it. Lets hear one of them war stories."

[Prodigy]

Kei speaking broke Nate out of his trail of thought, and smiled at her. "No its alright." Looking at her he moved towards her and showed her the picture. "My old team, Extreme, you may or may not have heard of them, but its of them and me, when things weren't as screwed up as the are now." Grabbing his PDA he looked at Kei with a charming yet disconcerting smile, obviously not wanting to talk to much about the whole Extreme situation, "So we're getting you showered then?"

-Shadow Strike

[Tessa]

“We’re getting me showered.” Kei confirmed, getting the hint and not pressing the subject of his former team, “If I have to smell like saltwater and itch like hell for much longer I’ll be the grumpiest person to live with.” She headed back for the door and down the hall, searching out an open bathroom. Glancing over her shoulder she double-checked that Nate was still there and made a triumphant little noise when she realized that she had found the bathroom.
“This is my stop, be out in ten.” She gave him a quirky smile and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

[Enchantress]

Angelee smiled at John as he took the Jamacian rum and propped his feet up.
Reaching over to the night stand, she grinned widely and pulled out a bottle of Puerto Rician.
"See, Ah have a hard time lettin' go of things Ah love. Like Rum. Ah figured you for tha burnin' Jamacian...Ah'll take the PR." She winked and unscrewed the bottle and took a healthy swig. Recapping it, she stuffed it back into the nightstand and began to regal him with stories of her past, Vicki, New Orleans, but never once did she mention the most recent span of years in her life.
"So yeah, Ah used ta race motorcycles. It's a rough game, but ya just gotta know how to handle tha machine. Ah think Ah outgrew that. Moved on to other things...Ah outgrew alot of things." she cast a glance towards the window before looking back at him and smiling.
"So, spill it! Ah wanna know all about the mysterious man drinkin' up mah rum!"

[Prodigy]

Nate planted himself out side the shower door and sat down on his honkers. "So this shower thing?" He shouted over the water, "What's with that then?" He found it 'quirky' to say the least but in some strange way it was quite endearing as well.

-Shadow Strike

[The Mighty Thor]

"Well now, if I told ye all 'bout meself, I wouldn't have nothing to hide from ye later, now would I?" 'Vok leaned back in his seat, balancing the chair on its back legs, with a rather self-satisfied look about him. His smile grew even larger as he tipped the relatively small bottle of Jamaican Run up into the air, letting the wonderful taste of the dark liquid fill his mouth. He had relieved this bottle of about half of its contents, and already knew that he would be requiring more. But fist things first.

“I will be honest enough to tell ye this though. Plain and simple…no bones about it, I am a scalawag of the first order. A sea dog…a freebooter…a buccaneer of some renown. Plain and simple me dear, I am a pirate. I started with the best intentions of coarse. Glory and honor and all the like. Steal from the rich: give to the poor. That sort of thing. I even spent many a year aboard a starship called the Starjammer. We had some good times, we did. But, the best-laid plans have a habit of going belly up, and it didn’t take me long to run afoul of Jack Ketch. Which is what brings me here. Our esteemed government gave me the chance to serve me time here with all of you, instead of rotting a mile down.” ‘Vok had obviously left out quite a few of the more juicy details, but he hoped that the small nuggets that had been dropped would be enough to satiate the woman’s appetite. The same way the rum seemed to be satiating his own. “So now that ye know the truth ‘bout me, I’m left to wonder how long it’s been since ye been right good and plundered?”

[Tessa]

Kei laughed, though Nate couldn’t hear her through the door, “I have a fear of solitude, I can only handle being alone so much before my brain starts to shut down on me and I panic.” Kei called over the water, rinsing the shampoo out of her hair, “Which is usually why I like to know that somebody is nearby. Also, I didn’t want anybody walking in on me, since that could be potentially embarrassing.” She finished, putting conditioner her in short dark hair as she waited for a response from the man outside the door.

[Local Hero]

"The thoughts had crossed mah mind Princess." laughed Cam as they approached the main door to the building. "But ah reckon ah dinnae want everyone tae get the impression we are a bunch o' drunks right off the bat." His nonchalant grin told Chandi he actually couldn't give two hoots what anyone else thought of him. "Unless that is we discover the rest o' them are a bunch o' drunks." He shrugged as he turned back towards the building, which definitely looked out of place when he considered the buildings he had seen on the nearby Keys on the way down. Fishing around in the deep pocket of his shorts, Cam retrieved his battered hipflask. It too had it's share of scars, including a ding where it had stopped a rather angry individual from perforating Cam's chest. With a swiftness that defied the eye to follow it, Cam twisted the cap off with his thumb allowing it to flip back on it's retaining strap. He tipped it lightly at Chandi, then took a swift draw of the golden liquid within. He leaned back against the door jam, holding the flask out to Chandi. "Fancy a wee bit o' joy juice before we check out this lot?"

[The Truth]

It was some minutes later when De emereged from his room, now fully dressed in a tieless black suit with a white shirt. Across his face was plastered a carefree, almost unaware, smile and his eyes while still alert and focus, told the tale that he wasn't completely in the moment.

His body carried him absentmindedly back downstairs and once again towards the foyer, though this time he carried all the way on into the living room, pulling his pant legs up a hair before taking a seat upon the sofa and propping his feet up on the table. Dimly he was aware that he had a few calls to make and that he had left his gun among other things in his room, but in that instant he was simply a little to far gone to care.

[Enchantress]

For the time he was speaking, Angelee sat silently listening to John as he told her a bit about himself.
But she couldn't help but to break into a huge grin when he asked her about being "plundered."

Looking towards the window, her attention was drawn to a scratch at the door. Standing, she walked over and opened it, letting Vicki in.
The dog walked over to John, growled a few times before AJ admonished her to "Be have". Vicki jumped up on the foot of the bed and laid there staring at him. Angelee simply sat back down where she had been and smiled at him, like she had been thinking about his question the entire time.
"Well, Good and plundered....a very long time. Plundered, not so long ago. But it wasn't that good."
She let out a bit of a sigh and smiled.
"But Ah've been told Ah have ta been on my very best behavior down here. Ah'm here servin' time for breakin into a S.H.I.E.L.D. base and stealin some designs. An' Ah've already been told not ta go toyin' with tha hearts of everyone on this team. But it's just so much fun." she grinned wickedly and reached up to twine her finger around a long piece of pink hair.

[Solace]

Chandi rolled her shoulders and gave herself a mental pep talk as they stood in front of the door; even with her human illusion up she was unsure of how everyone else would react to her. “What the hell, why not one or two sips won’t make me tipsy.” Chandi threw Cameron a smirk and took the offered hip flask from him. “Might take the edge off if we find out the rest of the team are straight laced goody two shoes.” She added before tipping her head backwards and taking a nice long swig from Cameron’s flask. “Thanks.” Chandi handed the flask back to its rightful owner and reached for the doorknob, mentally wondering if the entire team was still in the same area or if they’d whisked themselves off to the far corners of the building.

[The Watcher]

The radio in Firefly's bedroom broke away from the annoying bubblegum pop it was playing for a news brief. A sultry female voice who introduced herself as Starry Knight came through the radio and read off her news.
"Hey kids, this is your old pal Starry Knight with a WKEY weather bulletin. The National Weather service in Miami has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the Dade County area extending as far south as Key West until 5 am tomorrow morning. This storm has been producing 45 mile per hour winds and tornadic activity. So batten down the hatches, looks like Key West is in for a long night. In the meantime, let's switch over to our love songs after dark, keep all your would be romantics minds off the stormy weather. Starry's here to keep you company."


Valerie Cooper sat at the computer bank watching the impending storm approach. Either she'd have to leave now and beat it, or wait until morning to head back to Washington. A soft beep pulled her away from her thoughts and she pushed a red button the console to reveal a man in shadows on the viewscreen.
"You've done well enough for the day Doctor Cooper, they can handle themselves while your gone. You have business to attend to." With that the communication ended and Val pulled her glasses off and rubbed her eyes.
"What have I gotten myself into now?" She stood up and grabbed her briefcase and told her assistants to make the helicopter ready, they were departing immediately.
She pressed an intercom button as she pulled back on her suit jacket. Her voice was immediately heard in every room of the building.
"Ok team, I've been monitoring a weather situation and it's forcing me to leave earlier than I had expected for Washington. I'm sure you'll figure things out, and Firefly has already been her long enough that she's had some computer training on these systems should you need to monitor anything, I'm sure Ms. Broussard will be more than helpful to you." The last part sounded more like a threat than an actual statement. Val ended the message with a "Take care and don't blow the place up."
Anyone looking out the windows would see Dr. Cooper and her 2 assistants making a mad dash to the awaiting helicopter and sprinting off into the darkening late afternoon sky.

[Local Hero]

Cam chuckled as he took his flask back from Chandi. "Aye, here's hoping the tropical air will get everyone relaxed." he said before taking another swig. "If it disnae, ah have a bottle o' something special in mah bag we can spike the coffee with." As he spoke he flipped the lid back onto the neck of the flask, twisting it into place with his thumb. Taking a final look down towards the beach, Cam paused as he watched a bank of clouds rolling in. "Looks like a storm's brewin'." he said as he turned and followed Chandi into the building. As he entered Dr Cooper's voice came over the intercom informing them of her imminent departure and her reasons for it. "Well that's the cat away then. Ah guess the mice will be able tae play in peace for a while." After the bright warmth of the beach, the main reception area of the base seemed dark, cold and sterile. "The scenery outside might have changed, but why do all these island bases have tae be so damned institutional. Anybody would think we were bein' punished or somethin', eh?"

[Enchantress]

She looked over at John after the radio played it's message and Cooper said hers.
"Well, Ah guess that means we should head upstairs and ah'll show you how that lite brite works up there." she jumped up off the bed, turned the radio off and walked towards the door.
"Come on you, you'll finish tha whole bottle an' Ah ain't goin' be gettin' inta Nawlins until tha weekend ta pick up anymore." She smirked at him, gave him a wink then said.
"Ah'll be upstairs..."

Angelee walked out of her room and was turning the corridor when she saw Chandi and Cameron coming in.
Waving to them, she simply ran up the stairs and into the main monitoring station.
The room was a series of huge monitors and bulletproof glass windows. Bulletproof glass because it could withstand hurricane force winds. Plopping down in a chair, her fingers began to work quickly over a keyboard until she saw a large mock up from the NWS of the storm.
"Aww, it's just a baby...." she said as the wind outside began to increase.
A few more clicks of the keyboard, a few buttons pressed, and she seeing a large scale map.
"Ok, so maybe it's not a baby, but it ain't no Andrew."
Sliding the chair across the floor, she stopped at another keyboard and began clicking away on it. Pulling up all the "Weekly World News" and "Paranormal Weekly" websites to see if she could pick up anything unnatural about the storm.
"Best investigative reporting on tha planet." she muttered to herself as she sifted through webpage after webpage.

[Tessa]

Kei opened the bathroom door, toweling off her dark hair as she adjusted the drawstring on her board shorts, “So Bunny’s left us ace…this could be wicked!” She threw the wet towel on the bathroom floor, turning to Nate, “Got anythin’ you’d like to do? She only told us not to blow the place up, which granted leaves me a little short of ideas…” Kei padded down the hall to her room, dropping her shower stuff inside before coming back to stand with Nate, “Come on, we’re getting’ somethin’ to eat first off!” She took him by the arm and began to forcibly try to move him from his position, headed for the stairs and the kitchen.

[The Mighty Thor]

Feet still up on the bed, 'Vok watched AJ leave the room. He had his suspicions, but this definitely proved it. The sight of her leaving a room was even more enticing than watching her enter one. It was incredibly tempting to sit there and drain the remaining contents of the bottle straight down his neck, but he didn't want to be rude. So 'Vok sat the bottle down on the night stand with at least a few swigs left at the bottom, and took a look around the faerie's quarters. She had settled in nicely. Her room had a nice lived in feeling to it. He realized that he should be following the girl upstairs to the monitoring room, but he couldn't help the inquisitive feelings burning his curiosity.

He stole a glance down the hall, making sure that he was the only snoop around, and stepped back into the room and over to the large chest of drawers. 'Vok wasn't sure what made him do it. Maybe it was the pirate in him, but he just had to have a peek. As quietly as he could, 'Vok reached out and slid the top drawer open a few inches, and stood in stunned silence as he examined its contents. Without a word, he slowly slid it closed once again, and walked quietly out of the room. It wasn’t until he was a few paces from the room that he busted out into fits of laughter, as he made his way upstairs to join AJ.

By the time he had found his way to the computer room, ‘Vok had managed to get his laughter under control. Suspicious was the last thing he wanted to be around his new team. AJ was sitting over a keyboard when he entered the large glass walled room. As casually as he could, ‘Vok made his way over to where she was sitting, placed his hands on the back of her chair, and leaned over her shoulder as far as he could. “So how bad is she, then? Baton down the hatches, fasten the main sails kind of girl? Or was the Battle-ax over reacting…again?”

[The Truth]

De's eyes crept open as Cooper's voice came over the intercom system. He could tell it was her speaking, but the words themselves were all garbled, as if being spoken through water. His head laid back on the rear of the sofa as his hands folded into his lap, everything the in room including the ceiling he was staring at was glowing softly...but without any color.

De found himself basking in the glow of an invisible light, which in and of itself explained why his father had named his product the way he had. In the back of his mind he knew he should be worried about the fact that he could no longer understand spoken language, but the euphoric feeling that had washed over him simply wouldn't allow him to worry or fear. A thin smile spread across his face as his lips began to part and a hushed whisper escaped him.

"Two roos carry lager...."

[Enchantress]

She looked over her shoulder at John and shook her head before returning her attention back to the windows and the storm brewing.
"Nope, she wasn't overreacting. Looks like this is going to be a gale."
Looking up at the computer monitor again, she went back over her "investigative reporting" seeing if she could find anything unnatural about this sudden storm. When she found nothing, she only sighed and shut the monitor down.
"Looks like it's nothin that needs our attention though. This place runs on generators, so unless one of them gets struck by lightening, we ain't go nothin' ta worry about." She took a few moments to show John the layout of the computer system and how to punch things up. "It's pretty simple, Ah'm sure a smart guy like yourself can figure it out, Tiger." the southern drawl of her words filtered softly across the room.
"Ah wonder where everahone else is? Ah saw Chandi and...Cam comin' in as this thang began brewin', Kei must still be in tha shower and Nate must still be standin' guard. Nice guy that is....and De, no tellin. That guys almost as much a mystery to me as Cameron is." she shook her head and laughed. "Although De's alot more fun." she snickered as she leaned back against the chair and looked up at John.
"Ah thought about grabbin' a pair of night vision goggles and goin' up to tha roof an' checkin' for water spouts. Pirate that ya are, ya'd know that if ya see one of those, a swirly cloud ain't far behind." Angelee had no love for storms or bad weather of any kind. Violent weather had always caused her powers to whack out and made her feel out of control and out of touch with herself. She had somewhat learned to calm it all during her time at home with her own kind. She had learned that nature was not something to be feared, but something to be worked with and worshipped.
She smiled again at the thoughts of her sister, her mother and her own people. She fit in somewhere for the first time in her life. Part of her missed them, but for the most, she was enjoying her new friend and being so close to New Orleans that she was only a 30 minute flight away.
"So, Ah got someplace Ah gotta go this weekend....you wanna go with me? Maybe we should take tha whole team...kinda as a "Welcome to tha Island." kinda thang. Ah mean, since Cooper ain't gonna be around. Ah know how to fly the helicopter and Ah know Chandi does as well... but Ah've got a weekend job that Ah told them Ah wasn't givin' up.
So...you up for a trip to tha Big Easy Tiger?"
Angelee turned in the chair slowly and batted her eyes playfully at him.

[Solace]

“Spiking coffee?” Chandi questioned a small smirk gracing her features, already feeling as if this little stint with another superhero team might not be that bad. “I think we are being punished.” She replied, looking around the main lobby of the compound. “Although this one looks a little bit less like a prison.” Chandi added her gaze moving around the room as she spoke. Noticing A.J. rush through and give them a little wave that reminded Chandi that the two of them needed to have a talk later. “Always was a bit stormy on Muir Island as well…I think it must be a curse.” She shrugged and made her way across the lobby and towards the nearest room, which she mentally hoped was the kitchen. “Hungry?” Chandi questioned Cameron as she looked over her shoulder at the Scotsman. “Because I’d be willing to make and old friend and sandwich if need be.” She said right before slipping through the doorway of the room ahead, relieved that she had in fact found the kitchen. “Jackpot.”

[Local Hero]

Cam stood looking up at the stairway for long moments after AJ had vanished from sight, torn between following her or waiting till she gave some indication that she was ready to talk. He had almost decided to follow her when another man bounded down the corridor and headed upwards after her, a huge smile on his face. "Of course she found someone new! Ye think she sat around waiting for ye tae get yer dumb arse in gear?" Cam mentally cursing himself as he turned away to follow Chandi into the kitchen. "A sandwich would be grand darlin'" he said, although not spectactularly hungry, it would give him something to do besides mope. "Ye need a hand? Or should ah just look for the alcohol stash?"

[The Watcher]

As everyone went about their own business the rain began to beat down outside. The wind, whipping violently howled against the windows.
An alarm sounded everywhere around the team filling each room of the base with a loud siren type noise.
Lightening flashed and light up the darkened sky. It was then that anyone near the windows could see something, huge and ominous rising from the waters just off the island. The alarm, apparently their warning of this event.