A SHIELD Night Out

[Agent Sharper]

"Oh no, not that bunch with the John Lennon Skrull and the kid with the freaky watch," Deacon said as Coulson mentioned UNIT X. "That girl Hannah is nice. She might be able to help. And Stanhope. I think it's Stanhope. The kid and the Beatle Skrull freak me out."

"So says the guy who dealt with the big alien fish that almost ate Mayor Bloomberg!" Simmons said as he looked back at Holland. "No, they usually keep us under lock and key. Your setup there was mighty impressive, Holland. And I've never seen anything like it. That is saying something!"

"Neither have I," Deacon added as the waitress came back with the drinks. "And thanks.  We can put in a call to UNIT X and see if they have any intel. Juliet, are they based here in the bay area now? Or are they still hanging their shingle in Cardiff?"



 

[Broadway]

Juliet took a sip of her drink.  "They're still in Cardiff waiting to get the go ahead from Pete.  And Pete is waiting on Cyclops and Emma to give 'im the go ahead to bring them over.  It's a mess really.  In New York we were all set for them to come and then when everything went to 'ell there, UNIT X got pushed back.  Pete thinks that maybe Jemma Scott-Royce is having second thoughts now."  She shrugged.

Phil nodded. "She has been."

"Really?" Juliet said, raising her eyebrow.  " 'ave you been talking to them?"

"Usually we work with S.W.O.R.D on any interstellar operations, but it's no lie to say that S.H.I.E.L.D and S.W.O.R.D's relationship is a bit strained due to the absence of Nick Fury.  We needed to look for an alternative."  Phil replied, looking over at Juliet with a tight lipped smile.

Pete was not going to like this one bit.  Not one bit at all.  SHIELD was good at many things but if they could get an award for just one thing it was getting people to work for them.  They had done it with her and apparently were trying to do it with UNIT.  "They 'ave a contract with the X-Men," Juilet said, giving Phil a little smirk.

"Had, Agent Wisdom.  The contract was good for your New York base only.  Since no one bothered to update it to your San Francisco location, the contract was void."

"But-"

"We had our legal department look at it, Agent Wisdom.  They're very good at what they do."

Juliet glared slightly at Coulson.  "And you swooped in and gave them the whole 'join SHIELD' spiel?"

"I'm very good at what I do." Phil smiled before taking a drink.

Phil Coulson was kind of a bastard.  Juliet nodded, "Right, I guess you did get me to sign with you guys.  UNIT 'asn't sighed with you ... us yet, ave they?"

"Not yet."

"I suppose I'll 'ave a hard time getting out of my contract with SHIELD, won't I?"

"Having second thoughts, Jules?" JJ asked.

"Nope, I told you this wot I wanted," she said firmly, looking over at Holland and then back to the SHIELD agents.  She hoped this was what she wanted, because she knew that getting out of SHIELD was probably going to be a bitch.  She leaned into Holland and whispered into his ear.  "Please tell me that I just didn't make the biggest mistake of my life."

[Deleted]

Holland nodded to Sharper and Simmons, "Thanks mates, Its great to know when people can appreciate work."

He tossed the drink the back of his throat then slid the glass on the table, "Thanks Coulson, guys. Mu-chOs thanks."

Holland looked between Coulson and Jules as they talked, he sense some heat but nothing serious, at least he had hoped not. As Jules leaned into him he gentled held her shoulder listening to her. He couldn't help but smirk and whisper back, "Well Prime 7 can seat two." He gave her a wink then whispered again, "They seem on the Up for now, plus who knows.. maybe we can work together sometime since I will be going to check out this UNIT X gig."

He swallowed hard feeling her against him. [Holland.. I defect another high level heat rise in your temperature.. ]

"No.. No.. services not required 7.. I am ok" He whispered to his com link. Now feeling embarrassed hoping Jules didnt hear that being so close to him.

[Magnetrixx]

ooc: this is a cross post to Phil Coulson from Oksana

<Can you do my a favor?> she texted Phil and waited for a response.

<Another one? I think I should start charging>

<Avengers are trying to locate Pietro Maximoff>

<To lynch him?>

 <we're looking for Wanda>

<fun>

"SHIELD giving you the run around?" Clint smirked, looking over at Oksana as she typed on her phone.

"You know how Phil can be," she said said with a slight grin. <Do you know?>

There was silence for a minute before her phone chimed.

<Bronx- Fulton Place apartments, 13B> <last know residence>

Oksana looked up and smiled, "Fulton Place apartments, 13B in the Bronx," she told everyone.

<Thanks Phil> she typed.

<You owe me>

[Maria Hill]

"Your friend in New York again, Coulson?" Maria asked as she looked between the various agents at the table. This really wasn't the night she had signed up for. She turned as someone behind the bar was channel surfing again, and she saw Director Stark at the Hellfire Gala. "What the hell?"

Hill looked at JJ and motioned for him to look at the screen. She did the same with Coulson. "He didn't say anything to me about going to that party! He has no respect for protocol!"

As she got up from her seat, Hill thought about Juliet Wisdom and this mess with Unit X. "Juliet, your future sister-in-law is a lawyer for the X-Men, right? Oh, this is going to get messy when they find out Unit X is coming to our side now. Sorry to get you pulled like taffy on your almost first day."

Hill got up from her seat and waved for JJ to follow her toward the TV. "OK, she was your partner before. How big of an issue is this going to be? Will she walk on us now, or will her brother go all hot knives on us?"

[Broadway]

"The X-men don't own me, Deputy Director.  Everything will be fine," Juliet said to Maria just before she got up and walked away.  She wasn't so sure though.  The X-Men and SHIELD weren't exactly best buddies at the moment.  The whole thing with Stark was still a sore spot, and him being at the Gala probably wasn't the best idea.  Maria looked pissed that he was there and didn't even mention anything to her.

Juliet looked over at Holland and smiled just before taking a huge gulp of her drink.  "Come with me, luv," she said taking his hand and pulling him out onto the dance floor.  She didn't know if he was a dancer or not but at the moment she didn't care.  She just needed to clear her head from all the potential crap that could go down with this whole X-Men/SHIELD/UNIT X 'love triangle'

She grabbed his hands and pulled him towards the back of the dance floor where it was dimly lit. "You like to dance?"  she asked, raising her eyebrow and smirking a little.

[Vendetta]

JJ smiled when Maria waved him over.  Maybe this was his chance to actually get to have a little one on one with her before the evening was over.  He picked up his beer and headed over to the TV where she was standing.  "Hey," he said with a goofy smile plastered on his face.

When she asked him about how big of an issue it was going to be with Juliet now that UNIT X might be working with SHIELD instead of the X-Men, he frowned.  Not exactly what kind of conversation he was hoping for.  JJ shrugged.  "She won't walk, that I know.  Juliet used to talk about SHIELD all the time back when we were with the Agency.  Actually I was was quite surprised that she joined the X-Men."  He took another swig of his beer and looked over at Coulson and then back to Maria.  "I'd actually worry more about Pete breaking Coulson's nose again,"  he smirked.

"Just kidding.  Sort of.  I know Pete will be pissed off that Juliet joined us ...and the possible acquisition of UNIT X will just set him off even more," JJ said quietly as he looked up at the TV screen.  "So how come we don't get to go to that fancy gala?  I bet you'd look gorgeous in a evening dress," he grinned.

[Phil Coulson]

Darcy had sent Phil two photos of her in the last minute.  One of her making a 'duck face' and the other a shot of a part of her body that almost made him blush (he quickly put that in the passcode locked folder in his phone).  He drained the last of his drink and leaned back in his chair as he observed JJ and Maria talking.  It was more than obvious that JJ was attempting to flirt with Maria, by the way he was standing so close to her and that doofus grin plastered across his face.  However, it didn't look like Maria was picking up on it.  Dating was hard in SHIELD, he and Darcy's relationship wasn't exactly all roses and candy but they were trying to make it work.  So far she had been very understanding about his disappearing acts and his lack of communication.  Even though technically they didn't have to keep their relationship status in secret, he thought it best (he didn't want to draw attention to the fact that he was dating a woman half his age, not did he want people giving Darcy any flack about dating someone who could be her father ...which still made him cringe when he thought about that too long).  

But JJ and Deputy Director Hill dating could be a potential bomb if it happened.  JJ was such a frat boy at times and Maria acted like she had a giant stick up her butt (yeah, he said it) most of the time.  So them together was a recipe for disaster.  But, there was also that 'no dating' policy in the SHIELD handbook.  And with Maria as a high status officer-dating Jacoba would be a big mistake.  Then again, Stark was the Director and he'd probably be totally fine with changing that rule.

Phil's phone vibrated and he looked at it.  <<Where the hell are you?  I'm about hook up with this weird guy with a handlebar mustache that's been ogling me since I got here>>  He chuckled when he read her text.  That was one reason why he liked her so much–she had a good sense of humor.

Phil slipped the phone in his pocket and looked at Sharper and Simmons.  "I have to get going now.  I'll fill you in more on UNIT X on Monday.  Maybe we can send you two to Cardiff and you can play with some of their alien tech," he said with a smile.

On his way out he caught Maria's eye and gave her a nod that he was leaving.  If she needed him to check out anything at the gala she'd text him.

TBC Phil to the gala

[Jemma Simmons]

Jemma was supposed to meet her best friend Leo at the Tap Room tonight but he had to bail on her.  Fury wanted the prototype of the Night Night gun to be finished by tomorrow so he had to put in some extra hours.  Of course it would have been nice if he would have texted her before she got to the bar.  Instead of going home though, she thought she'd go in for a quick drink.

"Oh my god … Uncle Seymour?"  Jemma said as she spotted a group of SHIELD agents sitting around a table in the back.

"Well, isn't it Agent Jemma Simmons!"  JJ said with a big smile on his face.  "What are you doing here and where is your partner in crime."

"Ugh, working on that damned Night Night gun.  He's supposed to present the prototype tomorrow so he had to bail on meeting me here.  Luckily you all are here though.  I was about to have a drink alone."

"Pull up a chair and join us," JJ said scooting out a chair with his foot for her her.

"Thanks," she said smiling as she sat down next to Agent Sharper.  "So have you guys been keeping up with that HFC gala that's going on tonight?"

[Agent Simmons]

Seymour beamed when Jemma showed up. He was so very proud of his niece and the work she had been doing for SHIELD. Fury and the top brass had kept on eye on Jemma and moved her up the ranks quickly. He didn't get to see her too much outside of business, so this was a treat for the old man of the geek squad. 

"Jemma!" he said as he got up to hug his niece. "Leo needs to take a cue from you and take a break. He'll live longer and get more work done. Come sit. And no funny business, Sharpe!"

"Hey, you watch with the funny business business," Deacon replied as he walked to the table and pulled out a chair for Jemma. "And as for that stupid party...what the hell is a dragon doing outside the Hellfire Club?"

Seymour turned toward the TV and saw the dragon Sharpe had mentioned. "Uhm, Deputy Director Hill, I think we might be getting a call from Director Stark soon!" Seymour then turned to Juliet. "Your brother is there, right? Hoo boy. Not a good time to be there! Wait. Is that Lockheed? I thought he was a lot smaller."

[Jemma Simmons]

"What's a Lockheed?"  Jemma said looking at the dragon on the screen.  "Since when were big bloody dragons allowed to be shown on live television?  Aren't they worried it's going to freak people out.  It's kinda freaking me out."  Jemma looked down at the drink menu and ordered a beer when the server came over.

"Coulson's there and so is Stark.  Along with a thousand X-Men … I'm sure they got it all under control," JJ said, taking a swig from his bottle and propping his feel up.  Just then an explosion with in the HFC lit up the tv screen making JJ flinch.  "Or not.  Shit, what the hell is going on there?"

"Oh dear … this is not good at all." Jemma cringed looking over at her uncle.  She was close to him, even though they didn't get to spend much time together.  In fact she was closer to him than she was with her own parents.  She took a drink of her beer and looked over at Deacon.  "So …. what's new in gadgets?  Got anything the bio lab can use?"

[Agent Simmons]

"Lockheed is this little, purple alien dragon that hangs around with Kitty Pryde of the X-Men, Jemma," Seymour said as he watched the explosion on screen. "He drinks beer and shoots guns and makes Rocket Raccoon look cute. And what the heck? I see May and Blake there. Oh, I bet Coulson called them in."

Seymour kept an eye on Deputy Director Hill, but no communication seemed to be coming in from New York. He took another sip of his drink and turned his attention back to Jemma. "Gadgets? Oh, we have plenty of nice shiny things to get to you, Jemma. As long as Sharper there doesn't break them," he said as he pointed at his colleague. "I'm kidding, kid. We'll make sure to get some of the better ones to you at the lab this week. We found some medical equipment that we are trying to reverse engineer a bit. Maybe you and Leo would want to take a look at it after he's finished with his latest project? I don't want to give you something that doesn't work on our agents."

As he looked at the TV again, Seymour wondered why everyone was televising this mess in the first place. "I agree, Jemma. I'd think that dragon mess would freak out all of New York. It isn't like they dropped a bubble around the Hellfire mansion, right?"