House calls

Kate woke up instantly aware that something was very different. She cracked her eyes and stilled. She wasn't where she had fallen asleep. Instead of a cavern mixed with golden technology, she lay on the blankets she had fallen asleep on in what looked like an office of some kind.

"Great." Kate sat up slowly. "Am I dreaming or unstuck again?" She looked down at the pillow and blanket, but they remained where she had been sleeping. She touched them and they were real. Either she was still asleep or they had come with her. At least she hadn't brought people with her! "Ah, okay." Kate swallowed hard and looked around. "So… Where am I?"

Kate went utterly still as she saw things that were very out of place. Yes, she was clearly in an office of some kind. The cubicles, workstations and general décor all screamed 'office' to her. But everything was old! The phones, the water coolers, the posters… And was that a slide projector on a rolling table? Who the hell still used slide projectors? And what was the thing with the two reels on it, one above and one below? She jerked as it clicked and an image was projected from it onto an ancient looking wall screen. Everything looked old! It all looked like it had all been transported wholesale right out of the 1960s. She had seen some of that in time travel shenanigans. Add to that? The place was wrecked!

Kate Bishop had been part of many superhuman battles as part of the Avengers. She was no stranger to seeing places that looked as if a tornado had gone through. Actually, considering that a few of the Avengers' foes had used weather to fight with and that actually made sense. Fighting Ororo Monroe. AKA the X-Man known as Storm, was no joke at all for someone who relied on the air to deliver her projectiles. Wind did really crappy things to arrows even when the wind was simple nature, not guided by someone's will. Good thing Storm was such a good person in real life. If she ever went true supervillian, it would be almost as much fun fighting her as fighting the Master of Magnetism, Magneto himself. The Avengers had learned the hard way how not to try that unless specially prepared. A series of humiliating defeats by that specific Omega level mutant were actually one reason that Kate's bow was made of non-magnetic ceramics and her quiver always had at least one non-magnetic arrow in it. Always. Not that it helped on occasion. Magneto and other Omega level mutants were forces of nature and just as hard to beat. It was astonishing and a bit worrying that the X-Men managed to defeat him as often as they did. Then again, they knew their foe very well, so, that made sense.

This place made no sense. And old office building? And… What was the circle inscribed on the ground in the distance? It was surrounded by scientific equipment of come kind. All of that looked fa newer than the rest of the area. So time travel or something weirder?

Kate gathered up her blanket and pillow and, without anything else to do with them, wrapped the pillow in the blanket. She twisted the blanket into a sort of sling pack and took stock of herself. She wore jeans and a t-shirt, not the suit that the Lotus had given her. One odd thing. She wore boots that were far more like her own attire than anything the lotus had given her. They were a nice soothing purple and felt good on her feet. Kate shook her head and started for a door she saw in the distance. The boots felt good on her feet and she was halfway there when the door opened and a pair of humans appeared in them. She was about to call out when both leveled sub-machine guns at her!

"You! Freeze!" The taller man commanded. Was he wearing a suit under his body armor? Kate had seen weirder stuff.

"As you wish." Kate froze in place and didn't move as both men covered her. She realized she was in the circle she had seen. Coincidence? Was there such a beast? "Um… Where am I?"

"You don't know where you are?" The smaller one scoffed as he produced cuffs that glowed oddly. They didn't look like they would tickle. Kate fought a sigh. This was going got suck.

"If I did, would I be asking?" Kate inquired. She tried for reasonable instead of snide. It was hard. "Look, I am not hostile. I am not armed. I am clearly trespassing. I know that. It was not by choice. If you have to cuff me for whatever reason, feel free, but I am very confused right now. If you try to hurt me, I will fight back. Fair warning."

"She is not a Hiss." The taller one seemed almost as as confused as Kate was. "They don't talk."

"She has something to do with it or she wouldn't be here!" The smaller one snapped right back. "Hands!"

"Front or back?" Kate was resigned now. These seemed like regular security guys, so their focus was security, not odd stuff and if she didn't follow their procedures, things would get bad-

WHOA!

A faint tingle of energy was her only warning, but it was enough. Kate dove to the side as energy discharged from the circle and a young woman was suddenly standing where Kate had been. She looked fairly normal on first glance. She wore a suit and no armor. She had red hair and piercing eyes that… Oh dear. What color were her eyes? They seemed to be shifting. That paled beside the weapon in her hand. It was the size of a pistol, but it was seemed to be shifting. One moment, it had a single barrel, the next it had several set up like a Gatling gun, the next, it had a long angular bladed on the top and bottom that looked unwieldy. Morphing weapon? Probably bad-ass person.

"Director!" Both of the guards seemed to brace to attention but kept their aim on Kate.

"I expected something weird. The Hotline was vague even for them. This, I did not expect." The woman said slowly, taking in Kate who flushed.

"Neither did I." Kate admitted. "Um… I'm Kate."

"Jesse." The woman smiled at Kate and then looked at the guards. Her smile turned professional. "I have this. Put the cuffs away and get back to your posts. Check your HDAs while you are at it. The last thing we need is another infiltration. This is my problem. You are not cleared."

"Yes, Director!" Both of the men vanished as if they had teleported.

Kate stared after them and then at Jesse who seemed to shrink a little. Or just relax a bit. Kate shook her head and smiled. Working with SHIELD as much as she had made her well aware of such things as security and 'need to know'.

"A long story that I bet I am not cleared for." Kate kept her tone light and Jesse smiled at her. Said smile was tired, but heartfelt. "I don't know how I got here or where I am."

"I know." Jesse held out her hand that was not holding the weapon. "I was briefed but I need to be sure. The Hiss are relentless and sneaky as all hell."

"I understand." Kate held out her own and was pleasantly surprised when Jesse too it and nothing happened. Jesse relaxed further and then smiled.

"Coffee?" The woman in the suit asked and released her hand. Where had her weapon gone? Kate snarled at herself! If her weapon could morph it wasn't gone, simply disguised as something else on her person.

"I could really go for some coffee right about now." Kate admitted. "Even office coffee."

"Oh, I can do better than that." Jesse smiled as the world flashed and they were elsewhere. "One of the few perks of being Director is that I get to choose the coffee I drink. The institutional sludge they call 'coffee' in here would never pass muster anywhere outside this place."

"A military?" Kate asked as Jesse started off and Kate followed. She had nothing better to do and this odd woman had said the magic word. The magic bean was her friend in the mornings and many other times. Several people around the area had looked up as they had appeared, but all ignore Kate as soon as they saw he woman in the suit. They all nodded to Jesse and went back to whatever they were doing.

"I have never been in a military. Never had their coffee." Jesse admitted. "You?"

"I worked with military occasionally. I tried it. They say their coffee is not strong enough unless the spoon stands up straight in it and starts to melt." Kate shivered hard and Jesse shared it!

"Yeah. No! We can do better than that." Jesse led the way into a large room that was set up for conferences with a huge table in the middle. Again, it looked straight out of the 1960s. A dozen chair were set around the table, but only one was occupied. "Kate, this is Emily, Head of R&D. I was told we would need her too."

"Told?" Emily looked like hell. She clearly hadn't been sleeping well. "You got another call?" She took a sip of her coffee but it didn't seem to help her much.

"Among other things." Jesse led the way to a side table that had coffee cups on it and an honest to god stainless steel coffee making machine, again straight out of the 1960s. "Emily, Kate. Kate, Emily."

Kate nodded to the other woman who nodded back. Jesse started fiddling with the coffee machine and Kate let her. She had no idea how to run such an old device and was astonished that Jesse did. Jesse seemed almost Kate's age so how did she know how to use such an antique? She clearly did because in just a moment, she handed Kate a cup that steamed and waved the girl towards sugar and all the other things that made coffee better. Kate mixed her coffee and took a sip. It was good! Maybe not the best she had ever tasted but very good!

"Take a seat, Kate." The Director said with a smile as Kate all but moaned. "Yeah. I only get the best. I will join you at the table as soon as I have my coffee. Emily, drink. I need your expertise in on this. Wake up!"

"Sorry, sorry. I had just gotten to sleep. Did you get any, Director?" Emily did not get an answer and she went still. "Jesse. Did you get any sleep?"

"I don't need as much as you do." Jesse said diffidently, but paused as Emily surged as if to get up. "Don't get mad at me, Emily! We had another incursion!"

"And if you collapse, who takes your place?" Emily demanded, her lethargy gone. "Driving yourself crazy won't change anything!"

"Crazy-er." Jesse was sour now as she finished up her own coffee and moved to the table where Kate had finally picked a chair and sat, shifting her sling to sit easily. "As I said, this is Kate. She is not 'technically' under our jurisdiction. She is not from this reality, but she is not a hostile intrusion either."

"Um…" Emily jaw had fallen so far that Kate was sure it was about to fall off. "Ooookay." The research specialist clearly wasn't okay with this, but she was trying, so that was good. "So… What?"

"Kate? What do you remember?" Jesse asked as she sat. "As I say, I was briefed and Emily here is our head of Research. She is cleared for a lot of stuff. She knows about alternate realities but all the ones we have seen have seen hostile."

"Alien in most cases." Emily interjected. "Incomprehensible or baffling at the very least." She glanced at Jesse. "Or just dangerous."

"Yeah, I know all about that." Kate allowed. "I am… uh… Well… I was in a fight." Neither other woman interrupted and Kate continued. "I used technology I didn't entirely understand to get an advantage in that fight." Jesse and Emily shared a look, but again, neither spoke. "I fell unconscious and when I woke up, I had apparently slipped out of my reality."

"Some kind of quantum translation?" Emily inquired and Kate stared at her, shock exuding from every pore. Emily shrugged. "That would make the most sense."

"Very little of this makes any sense at all to me." Kate snarked, but then nodded. "I think that is what happened. So I was told anyway. Then, I don't know what happened after that. I 'fell' from somewhere that I don't remember and landed in a lake that was apparently underground. Despite it no having any access tot he outside, I hit it hard enough that I nearly went splat."

"Water is not soft when you hit it fast." Jesse's voice was an undertone of vast experience. "Like slamming into concrete." Again, that sounded like experience, but if so, how had she survived? On second thought, never mind. Superpowers didn't need to have any outside signs and Jesse was clearly far more than an ordinary woman.

"No. I woke up in a very different place with very different people helping me." Kate took a deep breath, ready for both women to call her a liar. "I went to sleep there and woke up here."

It boded that neither woman called Kate a liar. Indeed, neither of them even looked confused! Jesse looked at Emily who nodded slowly.

"You can't control it." Emily stared at her coffee, as if afraid to look at Kate.

"I don't know what 'it' is." Kate argued weakly. "Is it something I am doing? The tech I used did to me? Is it going to keep happening or am-" She was almost ranting now but broke off as Jesse reached out to take her hand.

"We can help with that." Jesse promise. "Control is what we do." Was that a snicker that came from Emily? "We deal with extra-reality intrusions all the time and you are far nicer than most. I don't know if we can fix anything, but we may be able to get you some answers."

"Answers would be good." Kate allowed. Jesse gave her hand a squeeze and released it. "I don't even know if I hurt people when this happens."

"You don't." Jesse reassured her and both other woman stared at her. "I was briefed. I cannot say by who."

"Good." Kate relaxed a little and took a sip of her coffee. "So… What do we do?"

"The Director here reopened our 'Investigations' department so we have a lot more options than we had even a week ago." From the look Jesse and Emily shared, there was a lot left unsaid. "Can I have my pick of staff, Director?" Was she about to pant in anticipation?

"For this project, which now bears the code name 'Hawk', yes." Jesse was firm even when Emily fake pouted. "After? We will talk. We do have other problems."

Kate was about to inquire into specifics when some kind of alarm sounded and Jesse was on her feet and out of the door in seconds. Emily stared after her and then at Kate who looked confused.

"We have a hostile extra-reality intrusion in the building." Emily said quietly. "If you are not from our reality, then you will understand." Kate nodded, struck silent by the pain and fear in Emily's tone now. "Jesse came when we needed her. We, the Bureau…" She paused as if sad now. "I was not involved. They treated her like an experimental animal. That is why she wanted me in on this." Emily intoned in sudden understanding. "She knows I won't treat you like that. Like she and Dylan were treated."

"I don't think it is any of my business." Kate shrugged. "If you can help me get answers, I would appreciate it."

"Well, if we learn how you do it, maybe we can cut down on some of the less friendly intrusions like the one Jesse is probably now fighting. She is only one woman no matter how powerful. She cannot do it all by herself." Emily's concern for Jesse was professional, it seemed. Then she ruined it. "I know it hurts her, what happens when she dies. I can see her falling apart and I can't help her! Maybe helping you can?"

"Maybe." Kate offered. "I don't know. "Dies'?" She asked.

"Jesse is incredibly powerful and she can pull herself back together when…" Emily swallowed hard. "But it seems she loses a little of herself each time. She is distant now. She tried to be a friend before. Now? She gets so cold, I fear for her. Her sanity at the very least after what happened." She started to say more and broke off. "I shouldn't say any more."

"I don't have the need to know." Kate agreed and Emily smiled her thanks. "So, I assume there will be poking and prodding. There always is with docs and scientists of any kind. That seems utterly universal no matter the reality."

"Some basic tests do require physical contact but we will try not to do any of that." Emily promised. "It might get weird or gross, but since you are human, we know how to test humans without causing too much harm. Now anyway." Sadness. The kind that came from horrible experiences.

"How do you know I am human?" Kate joked to brighten things a little. "I mean, I am not from your reality and-" She broke off as Emily spun her mug so the logo faced Kate. Kate felt the world lurch under her but it had nothing to do with quantum physics this time. On the mug was a purple archery target! Her logo as an Avenger!

"Umm…" Emily swallowed hard and suddenly a delighted fan-girl peeked out of the scientist's eyes. "Kate Bishop? Hawk-eye? I am a big fan. Can I get your autograph?"