Field Trip to the Golden Age for rekindledtitan

[red_room]

There's a whole lot to like about Steve's new place in the Nexus.

It's in a quiet part of the multiverse, plenty of open air and room to train or scout undisturbed. It's a bigger place with a lot more room for furniture and a spare room that Natasha has already commandeered for a makeshift safe house including a bug out bag all ready to go at the drop of a hat. Ready for missions or trouble and ready to come back and have a safe place if her own place is compromised.

The other nice thing about it is having a perpetually warm doglike creature napping over her leg as she cleans her weapons next to one of the windows. Thanks to the Accords and Steve's determination to have that all go sideways and the fallout because of it they'd be on the run a lot more if they were frequenting their home. Having a safe place to escape to in the Nexus for a breather is every kind of good for the soul.

Natasha spies the bots PINpointing to the front walkway and tosses a look over her shoulder toward where Steve's sitting with his sketchbook in lap.

"Looks like the party's about to be started, Rogers."

She'll let Steve worry about getting up and answering the door for Blaze and Ghost. It buys her a minute to finish with her guns.

Comments

[rekindledtitan]

Blaze is already striding for the door, armored up and trailing tattered cloth from her hip. She's forgone most of her usual weaponry, keeping just a chunky sidearm with her as she often does when in non-hostile environments. This is a day for diplomacy, after all. Her unease shows mainly in the way she doesn't stop to take a good look at the place: there's a cursory glance to take in tactical details and then she's knocking on the door. Ghost hovers at her shoulder, looking almost as determined as his Exo partner.

Her expression does soften very subtly when Steve opens the door. "Hey, Steve. Are we all set to play covert ops?"

[red_room]

A bark sounds out through the house. Sarah's scrambling off of Nat's lap and clattering her nails against the floor as she hurries to the door to welcome friends being let inside. It's the robot lady and her toy! Toy is floating too high for play but that is okay hello friend~!!

"At ease, Sarah. Come on in, you two." Steve shuts the door after Blaze steps inside and gives the growlithe a pat on the head as he walks by.

"Covert ops is where I come in anyway. Rogers here seems to draw attention no matter where he goes."

Natasha's greeting comes from a doorway to the left of the Exo and Ghost. She tilts her head forward by way of greeting before glancing between the bots and Steve. "No earpiece for me or Stark will be all over this. You alright with me going dark?"

"Ghost will keep me up to date. I'll have my phone on me." Steve gives the little bot a grateful nod before glancing at Blaze and putting on his most confident smile. "You'll love it there. Plenty to see."

"Oh yeah. We're not exactly going on a tour. Half of New York will shit their pants if they see a robot lady wandering around. I've got this handled. Give me a minute to get dressed and we can head out."

[rekindledtitan]

"Good to see you, Romanov." Of course Sarah's greeting is getting answered with headscratches, though Blaze isn't as enthusiastic as on their last meeting and she soon leaves off. Too much else on her mind. After a second to glance around Natasha's greeting is likewise returned, with a salute from the Guardian and a little dip from Ghost.

"No tour? With all those stories I figured one old Exo wouldn't impress any of your civilians." She looks up at Ghost. "I told you spooky jobs were no fun."

"I think you're jealous that it's my kind of spooky for a change," Ghost replies. His partner is no Cayde-6: he can hear the tension in her voice through the attempted levity. And he can feel the uneasy way she's shifting her weight beside him, like she's not sure what to do with herself. If playing along with her joking helps distract her, so much the better. "Keeping Steve in the loop will be much better than chasing monsters around in the dark."

"Easy for you to say." She folds her arms and settles her weight back deliberately. "So where is our entry point, and what's our approach? They gonna want me to disarm?"

[red_room]

Natasha seems to see a lot and say a lot without opening her mouth. Nothing psionic or the like but she's got body language down to an art form. Blaze's questions make the spy pivot at her waist and stab Steve with an intense look that seems critical of something. Something Steve sets his jaw against and nods once. It's not the answer Natasha seems to be looking for but she holds back any sighs before pulling out her own handgun and offering it out grip first to Steve.

"We're going to disarm before we go." Natasha at least isn't asking Blaze to do anything she's not also complying with.

"We've all gotten jumpy and suspicious after so many times getting attacked. Tony's especially wary so we're not going to give him a reason to say no before we've even started." Steve supplies even as he's removing the clip from Natasha's handgun without looking down at what he's doing.

"Trust me. If things go tits up in there, we'll have weapons quicker than you can spit. Or well, quicker than I can spit at least. I don't know if that's something you can do now that I think about it." It doesn't sit well with Natasha to go anywhere unarmed these days but they can't risk being stopped or arrested.

"We're going to PINpoint to an agreed upon location. Tony knows I'm coming and I'm bringing guests."

[rekindledtitan]

Blaze gives a grunt and a nod. She's certainly not joyful about the prospect, but - perhaps surprisingly - she accepts it without complaint. It goes against the grain, but that's diplomacy for you.

It's while she's making sure her own weapon is unloaded and quiescent as can be that she asks a little more quietly, "And my armor?"

Because that's the one that really matters to her. Any show of disarmament from her is just that - a show, a statement of good intent. It's not as if she even really fears coming under attack. She's mostly confident in Steve's judgment. Maybe too confident in her own abilities. But her fieldplate is much more to her than a defensive bulwark or enhanced strength. This trip may involve cracking it open one way or another but she's... reluctant.

[red_room]

"Relax we're not going to make you parade around upstate New York naked. You can keep the gear. If anything, I'd be willing to bet Tony'd have a field day looking at that stuff too."

Natasha leaves the room as Steve holds up both hands to reassure Blaze that her thoughts are well founded. An act of good faith and not a trap. Tony Stark has more than his share of PTSD from everything that's happened. Steve just wants to make sure they get this going with the right foot forward. It won't be more than a couple of minutes before the tank top and shorts wearing spy comes back out now dressed in a sleek black ensemble and boots long enough that Blaze can suspect at least one knife could be hidden there if Nat wanted to.

"Any questions before we go?" She holds up the PINpoint in her right hand before she looks between Blaze, Ghost, and Steve.

[rekindledtitan]

"I have other clothes," Blaze half-protests - but not loudly. She doesn't sound at all sorry she isn't being asked to use them, and her posture has relaxed slightly. Her emergency civvies likely don't fit her anyway. Natasha, on the other hand, looks like she's ready to handle anything no matter her outfit. While Blaze is sure she's abiding by Steve's rules of engagement, there's a part of the Exo's mind which is quick to note approvingly that she could choose not to. Loyalty and obedience only overlap sometimes.

"I'll follow your lead," she tells Natasha. Ghost vanishes in a flicker of blue light, anticipating their departure. "We brushed up on Old English in case we don't get a free ride on the translation. Let's get to it."

She feels she ought to ask more questions. She hasn't done that enough before. But right now the only ones that come to mind, that burn to be answered, are questions that would betray her worries. They'll all be answered soon enough.

[red_room]

"That's a neat trick." It's hard to parse Natasha's slow drawl as serious or joking when she comments on Ghost's vanishing act with a quirk of her eyebrows. "Can you cloak your Guardian like that too or is it not just a stealth thing?"

"No, I-I think he actually disappears somewhere else." Steve reaches up tentatively where Ghost had been but unsurprisingly ends up touching nothing. Of course, Ghost could have simply zipped out of Steve's reach but he doesn't think the little bot would if he were still here with them. "They've got a uh...Blaze how did you put it? Trans...mat? Technology???"

"Like de- and re-materializing across distance? Like Star Trek?" Natasha's frown is genuinely startled then as she looks between Blaze and Steve.

"I don't really understand the details of it but it's not dissimilar to Thor coming and going."

"That's magic Steve."

The super soldier shrugs then, clearly out of his depth. Natasha keeps her frown but nods at Blaze all the same.

"Well, just make sure your little buddy doesn't get left behind when we Point outta here, I guess."

[rekindledtitan]

"Transmaterialization tech," Blaze confirms, nodding at Natasha. Funny how it's the little things that take you by surprise, but of course they wouldn't have transmat systems. "That's Golden Age stuff, from way back in the day. We mostly use it to get stuff between ship and surface. What Ghost does is... different, I think. He's still in here. Somewhere." She taps her chest, but admits, "I don't really understand where he goes either."

"I won't get left behind," Ghost says, hijacking her armor's audio outputs for a second. He sounds suspiciously like he's doing his best not to laugh at all of them. "I'm along for the ride wherever Blaze goes."

[red_room]

"God, Stark's going to have a field day with this if we can get past step one." Natasha shakes her head but seems to be reassured when Ghost pipes up that he's more than fine when it comes to PINpointing. For his part Steve beams a small smile to Blaze--to both of them really since Ghost is hanging out in there-- and gives a tiny wave.

"I'll be her--"

Bip.

The Avenger's compound in upstate New York isn't as lively as it once was, but Natasha's room at least hasn't been given out to anyone else. The spy lets go of Blaze's shoulder and immediately heads to a computer outside her room to alert FRIDAY that everything's fine and not to summon all the Starkbots onto their location.

"Welcome to New York, circa 2018." Natasha calls out from the hallway. "I'm sending Stark a message to let him know we're here. FRIDAY's saying he's not here yet but that's probably for the best. Means he hasn't gotten distracted by any pet projects."

[rekindledtitan]

Blaze takes a second to look around, surprised by their surroundings. She wasn't sure what to expect, but this is definitely better than looking down a few gunbarrels.

"We land in someone's quarters?" she asks as she follows Natasha to the hall. Despite her tension she's genuinely curious as she looks around. Whichever way it goes, this is a chance to meet more of the people Steve talks so fondly about. People who sound to her like the Iron Lords of this Earth. And all that wrapped up in a snapshot of an Earth long past.

She's a Guardian on an adventure, with a mission to fulfill. If she keeps her mind on that, she'll be all right.

"Guess we're not in a hurry. FRIDAY's the local AI?" She's looking out for a terminal interface, maybe a holo-avatar although she can't remember if Steve mentioned them having holograms here. It's been a long time since she encountered a proper AI.

[red_room]

"Yeah, mine. The Avengers have--had--their own complex. Though Tony Stark still owns and runs this place the government's collared those of us who're left tighter than their own prison system thanks to the Accords. S'why Rogers and I live in the Nexus. We're war criminals and wanted terrorists here."

Natasha barely looks up from the computer station she's at while she relays the information Steve's kept from everyone in the Nexus as casually as if they were discussing the weather. Hiding it won't change anything and Blaze needs to know this before they meet Tony Stark in person.

"That's why Steve can't come. Tony wanted us to sign on to keep the team together. Steve threw that away to save a friend the government viewed as a national security threat. And....I helped him get away."

She finishes typing and turns back to face the Exo properly.

"I'm sure Boss would say you betrayed the team, Agent Romanov." The voice that clips in is pleasant enough. Vaguely Irish sounding and female and decidedly no nonsense.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. this is Blaze-37 and her Ghost." Natasha doesn't seem surprised about the dig. She is Stark tech after all.

"Welcome to New York and the Stark Complex, Blaze-37 and Ghost. Please be advised that this complex is under strict observation at all times. Tony Stark would like you to know your privacy in this matter is being taken very seriously but any threats or disturbances will be picked up by government teams outside of our control."

Natasha snorts and shakes her head while her heals click down the hall from the living quarters.

"She means we're all on a short leash these days, so no matter how irritating Tony is, don't pick a fight with him please. Last thing any of us wants is the government declaring us all a threat again."

[rekindledtitan]

There's a low clunk as Blaze folds her arms and listens, the Exo's golden eyes narrowed in a frown that only deepens when FRIDAY speaks. Ghost is keeping quiet: shy now that they're outside the Nexus and about to meet strangers, busy observing without being observed in turn. She knows he'll have informed Steve of their landing. His opinion of the discussion, he keeps to himself. Could be a hint to her to do the same. She did make a promise.

She gives a synthetic grunt. "Just like old times. Understood." A nod toward the terminal. "Good to meet you."

A few short years and already she's gotten too used to the Guardian way of operating. Used to heeding commands and taking instruction by choice and duty and little more. She remembers the outline of how this works, but she can feel the flickering annoyance at all the surveillance and demands and restriction. She's no Hunter: she appreciates discipline and sound precautions. Even so...

This isn't the world Guardians were made for. Exos, maybe...

"Plenty of Guardians who like to run their mouths," she says as she follows Natasha, the heavy sound of her tread a counterpoint to the spy's sharp footsteps. Never mind that her brethren tend to consider her chatty, for a Titan. "I can handle that. Besides, even if this was the place for a match, it wouldn't be honorable." Speaking of the place, though- she's never been to this part of Earth before. She's veering over to the first window that comes up and taking a good look at their surroundings. It's nice out there - green and pleasant-looking and not at all irradiated.

[red_room]

I didn't know FRIDAY nearly as well as JARVIS. She was always nice enough, but I don't have any real advice on how to handle her. Sorry.

Steve's reply to Ghost is brief but as reassuring as he can manage. Tony's interface AI have always been extraordinary to the super soldier. He considered JARVIS to be a good friend. The circumstances that lead to FRIDAY replacing him however meant that Steve never did get much of a chance to get to know her.

This being one of Stark's places means there's no shortage of floor to ceiling windows showing off the sprawling complex of the former Avengers' compound. The neat green courtyard gives way to a long warehouse on one side of the complex and a landing site for some kind of ship on the other. Beyond all of it they're surrounded by trees and hills as far as the eye can see.

"Used to be housed in the middle of Manhattan but the population density and risk for collateral damage was too high, so we tucked in somewhere a bit safer for the general public." Natasha's never seen even photographs of Blaze's world, but she's heard a general idea from the time she's spent with the Exo and Ghost. She knows all too well how rare this kind of a sight would be to Blaze.

"Boss says to head to the East wing research lab. He'll meet you there."

Natasha nods at the AI's helpful message relay. When Blaze pulls herself away from the window Natasha will turn and start heading that way.

[rekindledtitan]

Well, she's a lot more welcoming than the other AI we know. So far so good, I think. So long as Ghost doesn't have to go toe-to-metaphorical-toe with her. Which really shouldn't happen. But all he can do to back his Guardian up right now is watch and weigh up all the possibilities he can think of.

"You picked a nice place," Blaze says before she turns from the window, scenery admired (and cover evaluated, as always). Most of the Earth they know is long since reclaimed by nature of one sort or another; although these two don't spend a lot of time in Earth's woods, it's less the green spaces that are weird than... well, small things, in their way. The juxtaposition of greenery with an intact, old-style building that's clearly living and lived-in still. The subtle tang to air laced with a strange mix of trace pollutants. The absence of the shadow that pervades their wilds and weighs on the soul.

That's the strange part. The strangely familiar parts lie in the clean lines of glass and concrete and trim furnishings. Household electronics humming behind polish and leather, functional tiling that damps the edges of their footsteps, the polite, watchful presence of a facility AI with a near-Golden Age dialect... it's neat and modern and it rings unnervingly, tantalizingly familiar. Or maybe that's her purpose here playing on her mind.

Maybe Natasha was very wise to warn her about fighting. This is exactly the kind of thing she usually picks a fight to avoid dwelling on.

"Must be strange coming back here," she says as Natasha leads the way, the Exo keeping pace at her flank. There's a touch of apology in her voice - she's feeling a new-found appreciation of how awkward this is for her friends.

[red_room]

"Blaze, I'm a spy. Sneaking into where I'm not supposed to be is ninety-five percent of my job description. Besides, it's good to be back and be welcomed back. Even if it's unofficially."

FRIDAY says nothing about the circumstances of Natasha's being here and being welcomed in any capacity but that's really as positive as the spy expected from Tony after everything has gone down. The talk they had Before she showed up with Blaze was a minefield of hurt feelings and egos but Natasha's confident she's mended the bridge at least well enough to see this through for Steve and for Blaze.

She understands modern technology a bit better than Steve does and everything her friend has told her about the Exo's predicament has Natasha on edge. It sounds like Blaze is barely holding it together and able to function. That's not going to be self sustainable forever and if her crashes are becoming more frequent then getting a diagnosis from Tony Stark is probably the best thing anyone can do for her right now.

Especially because no one in Blaze's world understands how the heck Exos are meant to work anymore. And god if that's not horrifying to think about. Blaze must be terrified about it.

Down a floor from the personal quarters and through a large set of reinforced steel doors sits a small dimly lit lab. Unlike the rest of the compound this is not meticulously cleaned and polished. Tools sit atop half finished pieces of machinery and crumpled up bits of paper litter the floor next to a trash can (which houses several more crumpled up paper balls). It's easy to see this place is lived in and well used. Even most of the chairs are piled with boxes and discs of various things. Natasha clears aside a box of spare coils and strangely glowing parts and makes room for herself to lean against one of the counters off to the side of the room.

There's a human bent over one of the tables at the far end of the room soddering a chip into the lining of a suit who looks up when the doors shut behind Blaze and Natasha.

"Holy shit. When you said 'Ultron but prettier' I thought you were joking, Romanov."

[rekindledtitan]

The Striker pauses before following Natasha in, reaching out and touching the wall beside her. A second is enough to ground the nervous static she feels building on her armor. She doesn't need it here - and if she knows engineers at all Stark won't thank her for carrying a charge into his workspace.

But once she steps inside and glances around the room, Blaze finds herself relaxing a little. This lab is almost homely. If there's any familiarity to it, it's a quiet kind she can easily ignore. Mostly she just has the impression that a very busy mind lives here, before the man himself speaks up and her optics land on him again.

"Hah!" Her chuckle carries her surprise: that's not the kind of reception she expected. Natasha's standing aside, so the Exo steps into the middle of the room, stopping there and tilting her head at Stark. This is the man who drove Steve into exile. The man they have to be so wary of approaching. The man who holds her best and only chance of overcoming the Nightmare that haunts her.

He doesn't look that bad. Or that dangerous, though she's heard enough of him to know better. Odds are he and his security are sizing her up pretty effectively, and she almost wants to know what he could pull if he had to. Still, right now the scariest thing about Tony Stark is how much she might be going to tell him.

"I'm not sure if that's flattery," she says. "Wasn't Ultron the guy who tried to kill you?" She'll ask Ghost for a picture later. Now is the time for courtesies, so she gives Stark a polite salute. "Blaze-37. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Stark."

[red_room]

Natasha gives Blaze a sympathetic shrug of her shoulders. She knows it's not exactly flattery but she was trying to give Tony an accurate idea of what he was about to be dealing with here.

"Sorry, that's the closest thing to an Exo in our world I could think of. That or Zola."

"That's just insulting her." Tony points his tweezers accusingly at Natasha before dropping them unceremoniously atop the suit he's been tinkering with and crossing the distance to approach Blaze and shake her hand. The philanthropist and CEO has forgone the usual three piece suit and tie and is dressed down in his 'workshop' clothes for this meeting. Taller than he is. Everyone is always taller than he is. Irritating. Not important right now.

"Tony Stark. Strange to be introducing myself to someone who doesn't already know my name--"

"She does." Natasha's interruption earns her a scowl from Tony but he continues on without missing a beat.

"So, what's uh...what seems to be the problem. Please don't ask me how you make babies."

[rekindledtitan]

Ah. They're doing handshakes. That's unusual for her, but she takes his hand and shakes it with measured care. Both her gauntlet's plating and the flexible mesh lining the inside of her fingers are warm, the metal scratched and worn but clean, save for a few burn marks she didn't quite get rid of before coming. She'd laugh outright at his quip if she weren't so uneasy, but he still gets a snort out of her.

"Nah, I'm not good with kids." Although come to think of it, that question is sort of related to her problem. She glances at Natasha, almost looking like she's drawing a deep breath before she explains, voice steady.

"Short version first, then. Exos like me have this... problem where we reboot every so often. Full shutdown, memory wipe and starting from scratch. Hnh. More-or-less. Doesn't seem to be a set time-frame, and far as I know there's no trigger condition. We don't know why it happens. Some of us don't reset very often anyway."

She's quiet for a half-second, gaze dropping before she looks Stark in the eye again. She's not trying to keep the urgency from her voice when she speaks again. "I do it a lot. I want it to stop. That's why I'm asking for your help."

[red_room]

And this is the other reason why Steve isn't here right now. Natasha has no doubt that Steve would be bristling visibly at Tony's habit of making light of a situation when he's trying to lighten a mood that has no business being lightened. Steve is the serious sort especially when the going gets rough and Tony--well. Tony needs room to breathe.

Blaze isn't reacting badly to the comment though and Natasha's sure Ghost is busy keeping Steve in the loop so she hums thoughtfully herself and settles in to make herself comfortable as Blaze's moral support. Makes sure Blaze sees her nod slowly when the Exo glances her way.

You can trust Tony Stark.

"Who is, really?" Tony quips back, vaguely distracted trying to place the metals he's touching, understand the scope and depth of the artificial mind he's speaking with. Giving himself time to think before Blaze gets down to business. The short explanation answers at least one question he'd been sitting on and he nods while he walks round her in a circle. One hand is stroking his goatee thoughtfully while the other taps and fidgets at the bent arm constantly.

"So you're Blaze-37 because you've wiped thirty-seven times? Over how long, do you know? Full memory wipe and reboot--what do you keep in between resets? Your motor subroutines, but Nat mentioned you were a soldier. Do you keep all your combat specs?"

Strange. Everything about this is strange, but it's the fun kind of strange and not 'the world is going to explode if I don't fix this' strange. A nice change of pace, really.

[rekindledtitan]

They're getting right down to business. He doesn't seem very patient but I think he's just interested in the problem. Agent Romanov doesn't seem worried.

Blaze twists to watch Stark curiously as he circles, the tattered hunk of cloth at her side swaying with her. She's been on the receiving end of plenty of scrutiny, but from a reputed genius from another universe, it's something different. Though her fieldplate is currently programmed white on black to match its wearer, up close it's not the same style or material as she is. Solid, but not seamless; efficient but not particularly elegant. It's mostly plasteel plate with mesh-lined cloth in strategic places, ensuring the bulk doesn't actually hinder her movement. A Striker is meant to move.

At his first question she nods. This is already more than she tells a lot of people, but they're only getting into the serious parts now.

"No way to be sure of the timeline. I can take a guess and say a couple hundred years, but I have a feeling that's generous. There just aren't any records to say otherwise." She shifts her weight uncomfortably. She just needs to relate the facts, but this is the first time she's stood and laid out the problem out loud, and so completely.

"I retain practical skills, yes. I remember how to fight, how to fly old ships, how to repair equipment. I keep my name and my purpose. I, uh... remember faces. People I've met, I think, but I don't remember who they were. Everything else... I get fragments. Flashes of déjà vu, emotions out of nowhere, bits and pieces that don't make any sense. It's not so bad when I'm in combat. Worse after I resurrect." Oh. She'll have to explain that at some point, though it's probably not very relevant. And where's- is Ghost still hiding? Stark's not that scary.

[red_room]

He's not patient in general, no. He's also pretty open about what he's feeling. If this starts to turn you'll know and Nat will even sooner. If she's not worried you're good.

Steve sets his Starkphone aside and gives Sarah an idle headscratch from where he's holed up at home. This is kind of nerve wracking, sitting back unable to help if something goes wrong. Well, not unable to help exactly. He can always PINpoint in if he has to. It just won't be an immediate response and that doesn't sit well with him. He's got to trust in Natasha though. Trust in her and in Tony.

--------------

"So you're basically left in the dark about your maintenance and upkeep because no one's left who understands how the hell you work. Typical government efficiency. Good to know it's still recognizable in the future or wherever you're from."

Tony takes a step back once he's gotten a decent look at both Blaze and her armor before turning on his heel and heading back to the table he'd been working at before they arrived. He picks up a screwdriver and flips it end over end with a little toss before turning and pointing at Blaze with it once he's caught it.

"Full disclosure-- I have a few theories as to what could be causing the problems but I'm going to have to do a full scan to try and figure out what exactly I'm looking at here. Uh, I have no idea how that's going to feel to you. Do you have a sleep mode? I'm not sure you're going to want to be awake for this."

[rekindledtitan]

Blaze considers that the ancient government can't really be blamed, this once. Although come to think of it, maybe if they'd left more widespread records then the Cryptarchs would have figured all this out by now. Doesn't really matter now. She relaxes and shifts her stance again as Tony backs off, feeling more free to fidget now she isn't under inspection.

"I can sleep." Does she want to? Not by preference, but Tony raises a good point. She figured on her brain getting probed at some point, but does she want to be conscious to find out what that stirs up? She doesn't like being so vulnerable, but that's going to happen one way or another.

"Might need some help getting there," she says, decision made. She holds out her left hand, palm upward. "Enough hiding, Ghost. Come on out." The little bot materializes above her palm, looking up at her, then round at Tony with an uncertain spin of his shell. "Ghost's my partner: he knows my internals better than anyone."

"Hi."

[red_room]

"I've been awake while someone was messing around in my head more than once and let me tell you it's fucky in a way you never want to experience if you can help it." Tony gives a firm shake of his head and drops his gaze for just a moment from Blaze to the floor between them. His expression has soured slightly and Natasha chooses that point to push herself away from the table and approach the trio, giving Ghost a tiny little nod as she comes into view once more.

"This isn't the same, Tony. She needs help. She's giving you permission." Natasha knows the demons that crawl in Tony's mind because they're the same ones Wanda unleashed on her own years ago. They might have experienced different things, but they both know how it feels to have something else intruding in your head.

"I know, I know." Tony's head jerks up at the unknown voice speaking up and his eyes widen considerably when he spies Ghost. "What th--you brought another one?"

"He's Blaze's Ghost. Friendly guy." Natasha extends one palm toward Ghost's spinning shell and then moves it toward Tony. "Ghost, this is the Tony Stark who invented the Starkphones you've scanned on multiple occasions." Mostly Steve's but she leaves that part out. "Tony, this is Ghost. He watches over Blaze and acts as her eyes and ears in the field."

"Wow. Okay, I was impressed before? And then you brought in another bot? This is unreal." Tony sounds more amused than anything though, and it looks like he's fighting back an urge to smile. "Right! So. Let me uh..huh. I hate to ask a lady this but how much do you weigh? Trying to figure out the best place to set this up."

[rekindledtitan]

The Exo's gaze is on Tony for a minute, watching him with a mix of concern and sympathy. She nods slowly to both humans. She knows the sound of an awful memory only too well. Whatever else can be said of the man, she thinks he knows the weight of what he's about to do. That reassures her, even more than her trust in her friends.

"Oh, yes." Ghost perks up a little bit at Natasha's reminder. He floats up to Blaze's shoulder. "I, um, I like your phones." Very smooth, Ghost.

"He's shy," Blaze explains, in case they didn't deduce that. Stark's positive reaction toward Ghost obviously pleases her, and she chuckles when asked about her weight. It's a small point of pride: the more weight a Titan has, the harder she can hit. "Hah, more than these benches would tolerate. But... if I'm honest, most of the mass I carry is in my fieldplate. If it's necessary I can ditch it and just use the undersuit." She glances aside at Natasha. "So long as it's close by."

She's seen Tony Stark now - for five minutes, but it's enough for Blaze to form some conclusions about him. Besides, both Natasha and Ghost will be keeping watch over her.

"Think you can get me under for this scan?" she asks Ghost.

"Yes. I think so. But you'll have to let me. If you fight it you'll never get to sleep."

"Whatever it takes, Ghost."