Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last conversation. You are all lovely. This is the last of the chapters on which I did the initial draft before my surgery. I pre-drafted enough chapters to get through the healing process. After this, you'll be getting into chapters drafted post Wakanda Forever, and after my mom died. I did the rewrite on this chapter literally the day before my mom died, but the Grammarly and proofreading afterward which meant I did a lot of edits. Your perspective changes when you go through something traumatic.
Conversation 68: Bobbi Needs New Shoes
Mr. Leopold: Hey, sweetie. Sorry, I didn't reply to you right away. I wanted a little while to collect my thoughts.
Mr. Leopold: And throw up a few times. I owe Bobbi new shoes.
Mr. Leopold: You don't need to do the official notice. Dir. Stark-Rogers will take care of it after notifying Coulson. He prefers that you don't because that would result in Ana having to tell him, and we don't want that. We don't want to trigger the Fallen Avenger protocol because Jeffrey will be ridiculous.
Mr. Leopold: Although that won't matter much longer since they're already in DC. Yo-Yo promised to give me a readout. I know it's going to be a bloody disaster.
Mr. Leopold: I expect at least one broken wall and somebody getting iced.
Mr. Leopold: I was a coward and decided to stay back in Oakland with the team as we prepared to relocate to Wakanda.
Mr. Leopold: Beta timelines Stark had a breakthrough, and we think we now know how to re-create beta Simmons' work. The various teams are getting the components together now. The Princess believes we will be ready to start testing Saturday. Hopefully, you and the team only need to be on the run until the weekend. When we get it to work, Wanda will bring the ring pop to the Princess's house for movement to the beta timeline.
Mr. Leopold: We lost May for that bloody ring pop. We sure as fuck aren't letting the purple asshole get his hands on it. That's the director's position, anyway.
Mr. Leopold: Obviously, everybody knows at this point. Bobbi caught me crying, and I told her why I was crying. And then I threw up on her shoes. Do you think Mary would get replacement shoes for me if I asked nicely?
Mr. Leopold: OK, it was more than that, but I am not embarrassing myself in writing—no more than I have to. Before I realized it, everybody on base knew, and the director took over.
Mr. Leopold: Too bad Margarita is busy on the East Coast. I'm a mess, and Bobbi is my only outlet.
Mr. Leopold: You too, but you still need to reply. I assume you're too far out, so I'm going to ramble for a bit.
Mr. Leopold: I feel a lot of guilt. I am so happy that she iced you so you wouldn't sacrifice yourself because I know you would have. There would have been a fight, and you're very crafty. Also, you came out of the framework with fighting skills and have been refining them with me for a while.
Mr. Leopold: Do I think you can actually stand up against Agent America? No. It would have been a rougher fight then it would've been before. That is why she worked smarter, not harder, and just knocked you out.
Dr. Leopold: Probably because she realized she would've had to knock out Deke as well to keep him from jumping. Although nice to know that my fiancé doesn't think I'm hopeless.
Mr. Leopold: And he would've done it too. Because he's 100% FitzSimmons.
Dr. Leopold: He really is. He's the one keeping everybody but Natasha from me right now.
Dr. Leopold: It's OK that you waited a little while to write. We are now just back in range for near real-time communications.
Mr. Leopold: It's good to hear from you again.
Dr. Leopold: It's good to hear from you too. We'll keep on the move until we can move this to the beta timeline. This might be the last time we can have a real-time conversation for a while.
Mr. Leopold: It's probably for the best that you keep moving. You will be staying away from the part of the universe that he might be in?
Dr. Leopold: Yes. Also, any place where he showed up in the other timeline.
Mr. Leopold: That's a good strategy. Ana just informed me that Nebula sent a list of known hideouts for the purple one. She's one of his estranged adopted daughters. She hates him for murdering her sister in the beta timeline to get the ring pop May died for in our timeline.
Dr. Leopold: That is a very valid reason to hate him. I just got the info from the other timeline. We will check that first.
Mr. Leopold: That is for the best. Who's with you right now?
Dr. Leopold: Natasha, the grandson, the happy couple, Davis, and the rest of team Delta.
Mr. Leopold: That's a good group.
Dr. Leopold: Natasha might go to Daisy when she contacts us. We're still waiting for her to make contact.
Mr. Leopold: She is fighting in Asgard right now?
Dr. Leopold: Burning it to the ground.
Mr. Leopold: Obviously, that's going to take a while.
Dr. Leopold: I am glad for the delay. I don't want to tell her that I lost May.
Mr. Leopold: So, is Natasha planning to do it in person once team thunder quake has the blue ring pop?
Dr. Leopold: Maybe not even then. Did Stark have a recommendation?
Mr. Leopold: Only that they couldn't have Robbie bring her back to be briefed about May until after Asgard. Also, finding out about the truth of your parent's death during the middle of a mission by the bad guys can completely derail things, so she should find out in a controlled situation. We are still figuring out what the best-controlled situation would be. Also, who can we send back up if she needs to be pulled. The bulletproof pacifist volunteered along with Bobbi and Yo-Yo.
Dr. Leopold: Honestly, we could use more back up if possible. At least he learned something from Siberia. Which means Natasha should tell her.
Mr. Leopold: That's my preference if you can spare her.
Dr. Leopold: Possibly if we keep jumping. We do have the happy couple. When getting the other ring pop, Wanda took out most of the henchmen herself. Yo-Yo would be a good complement to her. I know they get along well working together.
Mr. Leopold: That ring pop isn't with you right now?
Dr. Leopold: No, it's secure elsewhere. This is why we must keep moving until we can ship it to the other timeline. We can't have any more stones in the same location.
Mr. Leopold: That's a good strategy.
Mr. Leopold: How do you feel?
Dr. Leopold: Like, I want to throw up. I can't because I already did that 20 minutes ago. Thankfully, I avoided everybody's shoes.
Mr. Leopold: Good for you. I'm serious about needing to engage Mary's services for shoes for Bobbi.
Dr. Leopold: I'm sure she'll be willing to help once you return from Wakanda.
Dr. Leopold: I'm going to send you May's letters to us. Only showed them to Bobbi and Tony for now.
Mr. Leopold: She wrote letters?
Dr. Leopold: Yes. It almost feels like a suicide note. This was all very premeditated. It was supposed to be Natasha, but she couldn't let that happen.
Mr. Leopold: That's what happened in the other timeline.
Mr. Leopold: Did you get the transcript from the Grant Roth interrogations?
Dr. Leopold: Yes, but I didn't read. Natasha is. I am just too upset to even try. Honestly, I'm just glad Natasha is here to take over. I'm going to flag the Nebula notes for her as well. Or Deke, since he is more familiar with the space stuff. He was with the Guardians for a year, looking for my variant.
Mr. Leopold: It's probably for the best.
Ana remote: I hate to disrupt this conversation, but I just received a message from Daisy.
Dr. Leopold: What type of message?
Ana remote: She just pushed her report of the Asgard incident. She is not in range for real-time communications. I also have two personal messages for Agent Romanoff.
Dr. Leopold: A few more hours before I destroy everything.
Mr. Leopold: Natasha's going to be the one to tell her. I thought we agreed on that.
Dr. Leopold: I don't think it matters.
Mr. Leopold: I know. Will you send that message to Earth as well?
Ana remote: I've already done so.
Mr. Leopold: You're the best, Ana.
Mr. Leopold: I know you're heartbroken right now. If Robbie was available, I would have him bring me to you.
Dr. Leopold: I wish you were here.
Mr. Leopold: So do I, so much. But I need you to stay with me. Don't let the guilt make you make bad decisions.
Dr. Leopold: I'm going to stay away from the purple one. He's not getting the ring pop. It cost too much.
Mr. Leopold: Exactly.
Mr. Leopold: OK, I'm getting text messages from Yo-Yo.
Dr. Leopold: What happened?
Mr. Leopold: Coulson punched Stark in the jaw. I have pictures and video, but I don't know if I can transmit them. Ana is going to try.
Dr. Leopold: I'm not surprised. What did Steve do?
Mr. Leopold: Hugged him when he started crying.
Dr. Leopold: That also makes sense.
Mr. Leopold: Although Yo-Yo says that might be because they're splitting up. Your baby brother is heading to Wakanda, and she's going to Malta.
Dr. Leopold: They agreed to that?
Mr. Leopold: She's going with Coulson because she doesn't want him to be alone. However, we need a Fitz in Wakanda, and you are far away.
Dr. Leopold: That makes sense.
Mr. Leopold: I will keep an eye on the brother-in-law. Actually, Simmons is texting me right now.
Mr. Leopold: She's also yelling at me for not coming to DC.
Dr. Leopold: Why didn't you go to DC?
Mr. Leopold: I didn't want to leave Bobbi here alone. She can't go anywhere near a Shield base until her new identity is completely established. Also, the Princess needed somebody to entertain the press and rich assholes. That was me.
Dr. Leopold: So, are you and Bobbi better?
Mr. Leopold: For the moment. Tragedy tends to bring people together. She was with me when I got your message. Honestly, I was afraid it was May telling me you were dead.
Mr. Leopold: I collapsed in tears when I realized it was the other way around. She caught me. Then I ruined her shoes.
Dr. Leopold: I'm glad she was there. Let the others know I'm OK, just processing.
Mr. Leopold: I will. Even if it's not real-time, keep me updated on your progress.
Dr. Leopold: I will as much as I can. Unfortunately, there shouldn't be a paper trail. I'll see you soon.
Mr. Leopold: You will. I promise. Go read through Daisy's report. It will make you feel better.
Dr. Leopold: Or possibly worse if not everyone survived.
Mr. Leopold: They did the first time around.
Dr. Leopold: Until the purple asshole showed up. May survived the last time too.
Mr. Leopold: Point. Try to be optimistic right now, even though I know it's impossible. I'm going to talk to Simmons.
Dr. Leopold: Tell her I said hi.
Mr. Leopold: I will.
To be continued…