Preparing for infiltration

Both TemPads lay on the table. Sylvie sat on one chair, while a naked Yelena fidgeted on the other. It was, Sylvie reflected, nice to be the clothed one for once. Yelena seemed less enthused.

"Start again," Yelena said. "An agency that monitors changes in time, you want to take me there as a 'variant,' and use my espionage skills to infiltrate them and find out... what?"

"They have a map of the whole timeline," Sylvie said. "I want to find weaknesses, apocalypses I can hide in, and... maybe, rescue a few other variants they have prisoner."

"And I have to be naked, because?"

"They're used to accepting naked variants," Sylvie said. "It won't raise any eyebrows."

"And why have there been so many changes to time involving women ending up naked?" Yelena said.

Sylvie coughed.

"Not important," Sylvie said. "I have a spare TemPad - I ran into a robot apocalypse a while ago, I can leave a portal open there to distract the TVA while we sneak in with this one. If anyone asks, you're a variant, I took you in."

"Not thinking about that side right now," Yelena said. "So why do I need to be the naked one? I could be the one bringing a 'variant' in. If I'm the spy, I should be in charge."

"What does TVA stand for?" Sylvie said.

Yelena hesitated.

"What's a Timekeeper?" Sylvie said.

"Magic watch?" Yelena said. "They sound like people that would have a magic watch."

"I know more about the TVA than you," Sylvie said. "I can pose as an agent. You can't."

Yelena grimaced. She still fidgeted a little, legs and arms both crossed as though that did anything to hide the fact she was still very naked. Sylvie would admit, a petty part of her did enjoy this.

Still, Sylvie looked around the room. Disassembled weapons were still in one corner, along with a burned ball of paper. Probably a mission - she'd glimpsed an echo of something like that in Yelena's mind. Yelena didn't seem to care much about that now.

Instead, Yelena was eyeing her. Sylvie idly wondered if Yelena just thought she was insane: she'd explained a lot of her experience with the TVA, but it was definitely beyond what seemed to be the normal experience of people from Midgard.

Sylvie sighed.

"They're normally more punctual than this," Sylvie said. "Do you know if the world's meant to end soon? I swear, if I ended up in an apocalypse by accident..."

"How would I know?" Yelena said.

She shrugged, then shimmied sideways, dragging her chair a little way across the room to quickly grab a phone off of its charger, before shuffling back to hide her lap under the table.

"No headlines about it," Yelena said.

"I have no idea what that means," Sylvie said.

"Normally if something world-ending was happening, you'd get news about it," Yelena said. "My sister would be on it. She does get involved in things that are... worryingly large-scale."

Sylvie snorted, then caught herself. It probably wasn't best to reminisce.

"What was that for?" Yelena said, slightly indignant.

"Just ironic," Sylvie said. "Both with siblings on your 'Avengers.'"

"Really?" Yelena said. "Which one are you? Don't tell me it's that witch person."

"No, no," Sylvie said. She shook her head. "Doesn't matter. I shouldn't be talking about it."

Yelena continued to stare at her. Eventually, she shrugged.

"It's the worst, huh?" Yelena said. "Everyone always cheering them, and you're just there thinking, 'No, hold on, I saw them cry after getting stung by a bee, why so much adoration?'"

Despite herself, Sylvie laughed.

"Tell me about it," Sylvie said. "You're split up for a few years, and then you find out he's gone and become a superhero. Your world is weird."

"You're related to an Avenger and you don't pick them to help you?" Yelena said.

"He wouldn't be much help," Sylvie said. "Powers don't work at the TVA. Besides, he wouldn't know me. I've been... replaced."

"Know that feeling," Yelena said.

Sylvie looked away. No, stupid, stop bonding with the Midgardian. It wasn't like that had ever ended well.

"You're the look-out," Sylvie said, quickly trying to bring the conversation back onto reasonable grounds. "And my disguise. If we get questioned, cause a scene, stop them asking. With you, I ought to be able to get deeper into the TVA, and find their records. Then, you say if anyone's coming."

"I know, I know, you said," Yelena said. She pouted. "Still not happy about the uniform."

"The time I've had lately, I really don't care," Sylvie said.

Yelena flushed slightly. Sylvie groaned as the silence dragged on.

"This... TVA," Yelena said. "They control things?"

"Pretty much. Anything that doesn't fit their idea of the timeline gets pruned."

"I know the type," Yelena said.

She didn't elaborate. Sylvie didn't ask, not wanting to find any more common ground with the blonde.

Yet more minutes passed.

"And they actually exist?" Yelena said.

"Normally," Sylvie said. She sighed. "What were you planning on doing next?"

"What?" Yelena said. "Checking my weapons. Then sleeping until morning."

Sylvie sighed.

"Well that's the problem," Sylvie said. "This isn't causing any variance. You wouldn't be doing anything to affect the timeline."

She paused - there were solutions to that, of course. She could pick up one of the guns and just fire it through the wall, that would probably draw enough attention. Or she could just go somewhere else.

Honestly, neither were enough fun. Sylvie pushed herself up from the table, scooping up both TemPads; she'd pre-set co-ordinates on each while waiting.

"Okay, I need you to draw attention," Sylvie said. "Go out into the corridor and run up and down noisily. That ought to break a few routines."

Yelena looked incredulously at her.

"What?" Yelena said. "Why do I need to do that? I'm-"

"It'll draw attention, and cause variance," Sylvie said, playing it off as simple confidence.

"There has got to be a better way to-" Yelena began.

Sylvie rested a hand on Yelena's shoulder, and cast a quick enchantment, and bit back a smile as Yelena was suddenly running for the door.

Well, no one said she couldn't enjoy her scheming. Sylvie sat down, leaving the TemPads in reach, and watched through the apartment door - Yelena was yelling uncharacteristically, waving her arms to her sides and causing enough of a ruckus for several apartment doors to swing open.

She ran the length of the corridor, butt visible with each step, and when she reached the far side turned around, beet red, and started running back, still offering a total view of her front. She'd barely started on the way back when a portal opened in her apartment.

Finally. Sylvie pushed herself up tiredly - there were two TVA operatives that walked through the orange gateway, a man and a woman, looking around the empty apartment. They didn't expect someone to be waiting for them: Sylvie threw herself at them immediately before they could lift their pruning batons.

"Agh! That was terrible, never do that again- huh?" Yelena made back to the apartment, still blushing and hastily closing the door behind her, as Sylvie got the woman onto the ground and enchanted her. The man - Sylvie glimpsed the name Gamble in the woman's mind - had been tripped, but was quickly righting himself.

Yelena handled him with remarkable ease despite working one handed, her left arm firmly in place trying to cover her breasts. A bare leg kicked the baton out of his hand, and another blow to his head pushed him into the wall, and saw him slump. Meanwhile, Sylvie had finished getting the uniform off the redheaded TVA agent on the floor, and sent her to sleep with anotehr enchantment.

Grimacing, Sylvie stood up. She turned up her lip at the uniform - still, she had her reasons.

Get to the TVA. Use their records to see what apocalypses they knew about in case she needed to hide again, find out what she could about the Timekeepers they took as rulers so that she could deal with them. And, maybe, prevent the captive variants the TVA had from being pruned now the TVA thought she was gone.

She quickly fitted the armour, and shot a warning look to Yelena. Reluctantly, Yelena gave up an attempt to pick up a stray garment, still hiding behind her arms.

Was it just her, or did Yelena actually seem okay with this mission now? Vaguely, Sylvie wondered how well she'd actually explained it. Either way...

Sylvie went to the table, picking up the TemPads once her face was somewhat hidden behind the TVA helmet.

"One second," Sylvie said.

She opened a portal, stepped through, and found herself in the familiar dank underground of Sokovia. Carefully, she positioned her other TemPad on the ground, and opened a gateway to the TVA.

"Hey! Ultron! Magic portal!"

Then she quickly stepped back to Yelena's apartment and closed the doorway behind her before the robot swarm could show up. She counted a few seconds, then shrugged, glancing back at Yelena.

"It ought to be chaotic at the TVA now," Sylvie said. "Ready?"

"I guess I need to be," Yelena said.

Well, she wasn't the naked one now, Sylvie reflected. Hopefully that marked the end of that. Expression grim, purposeful, Sylvie opened a portal to the heart of the TVA itself, took Yelena by a bare arm, and walked through the doorway with her into the lions' den.