Vance, Janet
Aug. 17th, 2012 11:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aa_natasha 8/17/2012
Natasha has acquired two fresh recruit-type-things and sat them down in a small conference room, one on each side of the table. It's early; the sun is still low in the sky. There is no coffee. There are no donuts. There is only a screen mounted on the wall, a shiny SHIELD table, and a Black Widow in black uniform, arms folded across her chest.
Poor things. There are some things no one should be forced to endure early and with no coffee. Janet is one of those things. And annoyingly chipper early morning person, she hasn't stopped talking since she sat down and pulled her feet up under her. Like Stark, she must have an aversion to sitting in chairs properly. "...always work. You should have seen the early attempts. Hank seemed to like them, but it's so hard to tell with him sometimes..."
It is early and there is no coffee? Vance looks-- well, actually he still looks excited. Sleepy, but excited. He is dressed in dark sweatpants and a Saugerties High Baseball t-shirt. Their team name appears to have been the Sawyers. Really? Oh well. He has let Janet keep talking without really trying to interrupt, just drinking everything in.
Natasha clears her throat lightly and quirks a single brow. Ahem? Janet? If they could get started?
Janet flicks a wide eyed blink in Natasha's direction and subsides. But she doesn't stop fidgeting in her seat.
Vance doesn't fidget, just sits up a little straighter and looks to Natasha.
Natasha does not hesitate once Janet has quieted. Her voice is low and brisk, and she indicates each with her chin in turn. "Jane van Dyne. Vance Astrovik." And then after a moment's pause she adds, "Natasha Romanov," for Vance's benefit. Hi. "You're here for slightly different reasons, but you could both benefit from this review, so I'm killing two birds with one stone. Please keep in mind that your security clearances--" A brow quirks toward Janet. "--are significantly different."
Natasha lifts a hand to direct a remote at some unseen receiver, and the screen behind her flares to life. It shows a still image of an alley from a high angle - it's a familiar alley to Vance. "I can talk to you about the importance of being aware of your surroundings at all times, about not underestimating an enemy, about the dangers of tunnel vision. But it's much more effective to show you. Mr. Astrovik, I want you to focus on the points where you made mistakes that could have gotten you killed. Ms. van Dyne, I'd like you to offer suggestions for what he could have done differently to have the situation in hand from the first moment." She pauses, looking them both over for understanding.
Janet sideglances Vance curiously, wondering what the differences in their security clearances actually are before her attention is dragged back to Natasha's presentation. And her instructions. "Oookay."
Vance turns to look over at Janet, wondering what her security clearance might be before he turns his attention back to Natasha's presentation as well. Oh look, that's him. He looks a little embarrassed at the video as he recognizes it, rubbing idly at a cheekbone and nodding. "Okay," he agrees, watching.
"Mr. Astrovik, why don't you fill Ms. van Dyne in on what exactly you can do, before we get started," Natasha suggests.
Janet shifts in her seat and plants her elbows on the table, cupping her face between her hands and giving him her full (and slightly obnoxious) attention.
Vance laughs a little awkwardly as the attention is turned so pointedly on him, and then shrugs and nods, "Okay, I can, uhh. I guess you'd call it telekinesis?" he says, "The wikipedia page about it sounds like what I can do, anyway. I move stuff by thinking about it."
Janet blinks slowly, then lets a low, grunting "Hnh" escape.
"'Stuff' including people," Natasha clarifies, just in case Janet didn't pick that up. Her toes twitch inside her boots where no one can see them, and she turns smoothly back to the screen and sets the footage rolling with a click of her remote. The alley is empty at first, showing nothing but dim shadows for several seconds. When Natasha appears around the corner, she's a blur. It takes her less than a second to bound up the wall using a few loose bricks, so that despite the fact that Vance appears a few seconds later, she's already had time to position herself for a drop behind him. Her kick to his head comes with amazing speed, and Vance goes staggering forward. The video continues to play, showing their confrontation in slightly blurry frames before Natasha cuts it off when Vance finally pins her arms to her sides and retrieves the card.
Janet shifts in her seat once again, leaning further onto her elbows and pulling her foot up under her before settling back down again. She watches the film with the eye of someone already a bit used to the strange and fantastic, though she also looks like she doesn't know who to be more impressed by.
"Yeah," Vance confirms with a nod, "Anything that's not too heavy, really." He turns to watch, brows rising at the sight of Natasha scaling up the wall so easily. He makes an 'ahhh' sound of understanding. So thaaat's how she did that. Cool. He watches, wincing at the head-kick, and the next low kick that puts him flat on his back. He rubs self-consciously at the back of his head, and then says, "Looks even worse on camera, I think."
Natasha gives Vance a dry look, though it's not exactly unfriendly. "So," she says, drawing in a breath. "Who wants to tell me all the points where Mr. Astrovik could have been dead?"
"Are you line of sight with your... thingy?" Janet asks curiously, waving her hand a bit to indicate, you know, his thingy.
"Almost all of them?" Vance suggests, "Any of the moments where I wasn't holding you still, pretty much." To Janet he nods. "I have to be able to see it. Or at least, like... like when I was trying to get the card out of her pocket, if it'd been a phone or wallet or something and I could see the outline, I can sometimes move stuff like that, but it's harder."
That earns a small twitch of Natasha's brows, almost approval. "Not inaccurate," she agrees. "But let's be a bit more specific."
"And how much force can you take? Could she have broken your hold? Or could you have stopped projectiles?" Jan seems to grow a little more eager with her questions as possibilities and scenarios tumble around her brain.
"Ummm," Vance says, shaking his head, "I don't know. I don't think so? I've never had somebody break loose on their own. And I haven't tried with projectiles. I mean, I've only been able to practice it with people for like a week or two, you know?" He shrugs, and then looks back to the video, saying, "I mean, I should've been more careful coming into the alley. Not just run straight in like an idiot."
"We'll set him up against the Captain sometime," Natasha murmurs with a low hum of amusement for the thought. "Or Thor." She tips her head, allowing for Vance's point. "If I'd wanted you dead or incapacitated immediately, I could have done it then. When else?"
"Probably before you even got into the alley. I mean. If you were aiming for him," Janet interjects thoughtfully.
"Yeah, I've never tried with somebody extra-strong," Vance says with a shake of his head, "I've lifted the Captain up but he didn't try to get away." He leans an elbow on the table and looks at the video and shrugs, "Yeah, I'm sure you could've snuck up on me any time, really, if you wanted to. And at the end when I let you go."
"And several times in the middle," Natasha points out with a tip of the head toward the screen. "You didn't secure my hands. I don't need to be touching you to get you down." Her brows rise a touch. "/And/ you encouraged me to tug something out of my pocket and hand it to you."
"Ooo. BOOM!" Janet doesn't quite bounce in her seat and clap her hands, but she gives the general impression.
Vance looks confused. "How could you have hit me if you couldn't reach me?" Projectile weapons, duh. He is not quite so dense that this doesn't occur to him after a second, "Oh, did you have a knife or something?" There was no room for a gun in those jeans, he has decided. "I guess I should've thought of that. And I wanted you to drop what you stole, I would've come and picked it up. But yeah," he nods, "That was dumb. I mean, usually people are just freaked out, you know? They're not still thinking up ways to attack me. I guess I'll have to get used to that."
"Among other things," Natasha answers vaguely. She tips her head toward the screen. "And I'm only human. /Normal/ human. What you're dealing with from now on may not be." Her eyes flick toward Janet, brows raised in silent inquiry. Want to show off?
Janet catches the look and makes a face, but plants her hands ont he table top and pushes back in her seat before squeezing ehr eyes shut and concentrating on activating the Pym particles. The action and transformation happen in the blink of an eye, leaving her hanging in mid air and about 10 inches tall with a pair of translucent, wavering "wings" sprouted from her shoulders.
"Like what?" Vance asks Natasha curiously. He tilts his head a little, like he is trying to guess where the weapons might be and what form they might take. Or he is checking her out. Maybe a little of both. JUST A LITTLE. Then he is looking to Janet at that look. What is that look? Eyes widen as she shrinks. "Whoa!" he says, "That's crazy! Are you-- are those wings? Are you like a fairy or something?" Those exist, right?
"Or something," Natasha answers dryly. "She hasn't even shot things full of holes yet." The Black Widow stirs, pacing across the front of the room with her arms crossed. "What I want both of you to take away from this little lesson is this: what you've just signed up for is so far outside your realm of experience that you can't even imagine it. Every time you walk down an alley, every time you turn a corner, something could be waiting for you. And from now on, every innocent-looking bystander, every thief you decide to chase--" She lifts a hand, gesturing at the screen. "You can assume that there's a chance they're as good as I am." She does not say 'better'. That'd be silly. "Until you can learn to gauge the difference, you need to arm yourselves with a healthy suspicion, and a sense of reality about your own skills."
Janet grins broadly at the holes comment with just a little smugness that is dashed by Natasha's reality. She shoots Vance a 'later' gesture' for his questions and lowers herself to the table, folding her arms in front of herself and nodding at the lecture.
Vance is still boggling a bit at Janet's ability, and clearly has questions, but listens attentively to Natasha, expression growing more serious. He gives her a sober nod in reply.
Natasha swings her arms free and gives them each a steady look in turn. It's not an easy thing, being Looked at by the Black Widow. "I want the pair of you to decide what Vance could have done to prevent his death if I were a hostile. Then put Janet in the situation and do the same for her. I'll expect a report by the end of the day." Her eyes flick between the pair of them again, just in case either looks confused.
Janet looks confused. Well, actually, she looks dubious. She glances at Vance.
Vance bears up under that Look, though he shifts a little in his seat like a guilty schoolboy. "Okay," he agrees, nodding, "We can do that." He glances over at Janet and raises his brows. Can't they?
"Have fun, kids," Natasha says, and she tosses the remote to Vance with a flick of her wrist before disappearing out the door.
Natasha scares the new kids.
Natasha has acquired two fresh recruit-type-things and sat them down in a small conference room, one on each side of the table. It's early; the sun is still low in the sky. There is no coffee. There are no donuts. There is only a screen mounted on the wall, a shiny SHIELD table, and a Black Widow in black uniform, arms folded across her chest.
Poor things. There are some things no one should be forced to endure early and with no coffee. Janet is one of those things. And annoyingly chipper early morning person, she hasn't stopped talking since she sat down and pulled her feet up under her. Like Stark, she must have an aversion to sitting in chairs properly. "...always work. You should have seen the early attempts. Hank seemed to like them, but it's so hard to tell with him sometimes..."
It is early and there is no coffee? Vance looks-- well, actually he still looks excited. Sleepy, but excited. He is dressed in dark sweatpants and a Saugerties High Baseball t-shirt. Their team name appears to have been the Sawyers. Really? Oh well. He has let Janet keep talking without really trying to interrupt, just drinking everything in.
Natasha clears her throat lightly and quirks a single brow. Ahem? Janet? If they could get started?
Janet flicks a wide eyed blink in Natasha's direction and subsides. But she doesn't stop fidgeting in her seat.
Vance doesn't fidget, just sits up a little straighter and looks to Natasha.
Natasha does not hesitate once Janet has quieted. Her voice is low and brisk, and she indicates each with her chin in turn. "Jane van Dyne. Vance Astrovik." And then after a moment's pause she adds, "Natasha Romanov," for Vance's benefit. Hi. "You're here for slightly different reasons, but you could both benefit from this review, so I'm killing two birds with one stone. Please keep in mind that your security clearances--" A brow quirks toward Janet. "--are significantly different."
Natasha lifts a hand to direct a remote at some unseen receiver, and the screen behind her flares to life. It shows a still image of an alley from a high angle - it's a familiar alley to Vance. "I can talk to you about the importance of being aware of your surroundings at all times, about not underestimating an enemy, about the dangers of tunnel vision. But it's much more effective to show you. Mr. Astrovik, I want you to focus on the points where you made mistakes that could have gotten you killed. Ms. van Dyne, I'd like you to offer suggestions for what he could have done differently to have the situation in hand from the first moment." She pauses, looking them both over for understanding.
Janet sideglances Vance curiously, wondering what the differences in their security clearances actually are before her attention is dragged back to Natasha's presentation. And her instructions. "Oookay."
Vance turns to look over at Janet, wondering what her security clearance might be before he turns his attention back to Natasha's presentation as well. Oh look, that's him. He looks a little embarrassed at the video as he recognizes it, rubbing idly at a cheekbone and nodding. "Okay," he agrees, watching.
"Mr. Astrovik, why don't you fill Ms. van Dyne in on what exactly you can do, before we get started," Natasha suggests.
Janet shifts in her seat and plants her elbows on the table, cupping her face between her hands and giving him her full (and slightly obnoxious) attention.
Vance laughs a little awkwardly as the attention is turned so pointedly on him, and then shrugs and nods, "Okay, I can, uhh. I guess you'd call it telekinesis?" he says, "The wikipedia page about it sounds like what I can do, anyway. I move stuff by thinking about it."
Janet blinks slowly, then lets a low, grunting "Hnh" escape.
"'Stuff' including people," Natasha clarifies, just in case Janet didn't pick that up. Her toes twitch inside her boots where no one can see them, and she turns smoothly back to the screen and sets the footage rolling with a click of her remote. The alley is empty at first, showing nothing but dim shadows for several seconds. When Natasha appears around the corner, she's a blur. It takes her less than a second to bound up the wall using a few loose bricks, so that despite the fact that Vance appears a few seconds later, she's already had time to position herself for a drop behind him. Her kick to his head comes with amazing speed, and Vance goes staggering forward. The video continues to play, showing their confrontation in slightly blurry frames before Natasha cuts it off when Vance finally pins her arms to her sides and retrieves the card.
Janet shifts in her seat once again, leaning further onto her elbows and pulling her foot up under her before settling back down again. She watches the film with the eye of someone already a bit used to the strange and fantastic, though she also looks like she doesn't know who to be more impressed by.
"Yeah," Vance confirms with a nod, "Anything that's not too heavy, really." He turns to watch, brows rising at the sight of Natasha scaling up the wall so easily. He makes an 'ahhh' sound of understanding. So thaaat's how she did that. Cool. He watches, wincing at the head-kick, and the next low kick that puts him flat on his back. He rubs self-consciously at the back of his head, and then says, "Looks even worse on camera, I think."
Natasha gives Vance a dry look, though it's not exactly unfriendly. "So," she says, drawing in a breath. "Who wants to tell me all the points where Mr. Astrovik could have been dead?"
"Are you line of sight with your... thingy?" Janet asks curiously, waving her hand a bit to indicate, you know, his thingy.
"Almost all of them?" Vance suggests, "Any of the moments where I wasn't holding you still, pretty much." To Janet he nods. "I have to be able to see it. Or at least, like... like when I was trying to get the card out of her pocket, if it'd been a phone or wallet or something and I could see the outline, I can sometimes move stuff like that, but it's harder."
That earns a small twitch of Natasha's brows, almost approval. "Not inaccurate," she agrees. "But let's be a bit more specific."
"And how much force can you take? Could she have broken your hold? Or could you have stopped projectiles?" Jan seems to grow a little more eager with her questions as possibilities and scenarios tumble around her brain.
"Ummm," Vance says, shaking his head, "I don't know. I don't think so? I've never had somebody break loose on their own. And I haven't tried with projectiles. I mean, I've only been able to practice it with people for like a week or two, you know?" He shrugs, and then looks back to the video, saying, "I mean, I should've been more careful coming into the alley. Not just run straight in like an idiot."
"We'll set him up against the Captain sometime," Natasha murmurs with a low hum of amusement for the thought. "Or Thor." She tips her head, allowing for Vance's point. "If I'd wanted you dead or incapacitated immediately, I could have done it then. When else?"
"Probably before you even got into the alley. I mean. If you were aiming for him," Janet interjects thoughtfully.
"Yeah, I've never tried with somebody extra-strong," Vance says with a shake of his head, "I've lifted the Captain up but he didn't try to get away." He leans an elbow on the table and looks at the video and shrugs, "Yeah, I'm sure you could've snuck up on me any time, really, if you wanted to. And at the end when I let you go."
"And several times in the middle," Natasha points out with a tip of the head toward the screen. "You didn't secure my hands. I don't need to be touching you to get you down." Her brows rise a touch. "/And/ you encouraged me to tug something out of my pocket and hand it to you."
"Ooo. BOOM!" Janet doesn't quite bounce in her seat and clap her hands, but she gives the general impression.
Vance looks confused. "How could you have hit me if you couldn't reach me?" Projectile weapons, duh. He is not quite so dense that this doesn't occur to him after a second, "Oh, did you have a knife or something?" There was no room for a gun in those jeans, he has decided. "I guess I should've thought of that. And I wanted you to drop what you stole, I would've come and picked it up. But yeah," he nods, "That was dumb. I mean, usually people are just freaked out, you know? They're not still thinking up ways to attack me. I guess I'll have to get used to that."
"Among other things," Natasha answers vaguely. She tips her head toward the screen. "And I'm only human. /Normal/ human. What you're dealing with from now on may not be." Her eyes flick toward Janet, brows raised in silent inquiry. Want to show off?
Janet catches the look and makes a face, but plants her hands ont he table top and pushes back in her seat before squeezing ehr eyes shut and concentrating on activating the Pym particles. The action and transformation happen in the blink of an eye, leaving her hanging in mid air and about 10 inches tall with a pair of translucent, wavering "wings" sprouted from her shoulders.
"Like what?" Vance asks Natasha curiously. He tilts his head a little, like he is trying to guess where the weapons might be and what form they might take. Or he is checking her out. Maybe a little of both. JUST A LITTLE. Then he is looking to Janet at that look. What is that look? Eyes widen as she shrinks. "Whoa!" he says, "That's crazy! Are you-- are those wings? Are you like a fairy or something?" Those exist, right?
"Or something," Natasha answers dryly. "She hasn't even shot things full of holes yet." The Black Widow stirs, pacing across the front of the room with her arms crossed. "What I want both of you to take away from this little lesson is this: what you've just signed up for is so far outside your realm of experience that you can't even imagine it. Every time you walk down an alley, every time you turn a corner, something could be waiting for you. And from now on, every innocent-looking bystander, every thief you decide to chase--" She lifts a hand, gesturing at the screen. "You can assume that there's a chance they're as good as I am." She does not say 'better'. That'd be silly. "Until you can learn to gauge the difference, you need to arm yourselves with a healthy suspicion, and a sense of reality about your own skills."
Janet grins broadly at the holes comment with just a little smugness that is dashed by Natasha's reality. She shoots Vance a 'later' gesture' for his questions and lowers herself to the table, folding her arms in front of herself and nodding at the lecture.
Vance is still boggling a bit at Janet's ability, and clearly has questions, but listens attentively to Natasha, expression growing more serious. He gives her a sober nod in reply.
Natasha swings her arms free and gives them each a steady look in turn. It's not an easy thing, being Looked at by the Black Widow. "I want the pair of you to decide what Vance could have done to prevent his death if I were a hostile. Then put Janet in the situation and do the same for her. I'll expect a report by the end of the day." Her eyes flick between the pair of them again, just in case either looks confused.
Janet looks confused. Well, actually, she looks dubious. She glances at Vance.
Vance bears up under that Look, though he shifts a little in his seat like a guilty schoolboy. "Okay," he agrees, nodding, "We can do that." He glances over at Janet and raises his brows. Can't they?
"Have fun, kids," Natasha says, and she tosses the remote to Vance with a flick of her wrist before disappearing out the door.
Natasha scares the new kids.