[hr][hr]
[center][h1][color=lightgreen]Maria Novikova[/color] & [color=add3ff]Dominika Novikova[/color][/h1]
[I]Location: San Francisco, Saint Francis Hospital 
Date: April 2nd, 2021[/I][/center]
[hr][hr]Maria had taken her wife over to the Saint Francis Hospital for a medical checkup, she was really happy to find out that Novi was pregnant. She gently held her hand in Novikova's and smiled at her, waiting in one of the examination rooms she had taken the day off for the appointment as well. [color=lightgreen]"How are you doing?"[/color] Maria asked looking over at her for a moment and smiled at her.

Novikova was about two months pregnant. They had spent a lot of money in order to get a baby together, looking through catalogue after catalogue of sperm donors. Novikova was the one carrying the child as Maria's absorption powers could prove dangerous for the baby. She had morning sickness and she couldn't stand the sight of seafood. Whether that indicated anything about the health of their future child, she had no idea. [color=add3ff]"Could be worse,"[/color] she told her wife with a coy smile. 

[color=lightgreen]"Want to get some seafood after this or something?"[/color] Maria asked teasingly, even though she knew that Novi couldn't stand the sight of seafood at all at the moment. She did end up going out at odd times in the morning for any weird cravings that her wife had as well, and did anything that she could think of to make her feel comfortable. 

[color=add3ff]"Do I get to puke on you at the restaurant or do I have to wait until after?"[/color] Novikova quipped. Her voice was even and steady, to the extent that those who didn't know her would have assumed she was completely serious. When she and Maria first started dating, she never would have imagined puking on Maria. But now, pregnant and married? Vomit warfare was fair game. How things changed. 

[color=lightgreen]"Eww god no, only if I get to return the favor."[/color] Maria quipped back jokingly, she of course wouldn't eat any kind of seafood around her at all, she would have gotten some in the HUB's food court. [color=lightgreen]"Soooo, any ideas for names?"[/color] Maria asked, she hadn't really thought of to many at the time but she was open to suggestions.

Novikova smirked a little bit. Her own name was rather basic - [i]Dominika[/i]. It was the Russian equivalent of naming a baby [i]Karen[/i]. She preferred going by her surname for that reason, plus it just so happened to match the culture of working at SHIELD. Almost everyone went by their surnames. It was only close friends that used first names with one another. [color=add3ff]"I was thinking something traditional... Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way for instance."[/color]

Maria gave her wife a weird little look, the name didn't sound like a traditional name to her really, it sounded something more out of a fantasy book. [color=lightgreen]"Sounds like something out of a Lord of the Rings book."[/color] Maria said teasingly, her name was just really basic and simple she had been named after her grandmother, and her middle name was her mother's.

Novikova's eyes widened, although it was difficult for someone to tell with her shades. Most of her facial cues and expressions came from her mouth and eyebrows, as her eyes just weren't an option anymore. It made her wonder about how some costumed heroes could emote with a complete mask on, like the minor hero Spider-Man out in New York City. She had seen videos of some of his stunts on Youtube. He was funny. [color=add3ff]"Have you never read [i]My Immortal[/i], the greatest literature work of our time?"[/color]

Maria looked at Novi for a moment, and shook her head slightly the title sounded more like the Evanescence song that was released years ago when she was little and growing up and listening to it all the time. [color=lightgreen]"Nope, never have actually."[/color] Maria said looking at her wife seeing the surprised look that she was giving her.

[color=add3ff]"I'm filing for divorce,"[/color] Novikova deadpanned. [color=add3ff]"What did you have in mind for a name then? Do you want to honor anyone? For example, Kool-Aid Man Novikova-Smith I think sounds rather regal and would turn every head in the classroom out of awe. It's also hard to make funny names out of it, since it itself is pretty stupid. Anything you do to it just improves it or won't make sense."[/color]

[color=lightgreen]"You'd miss me way too much if you did that."[/color] Maria teased back, as she thought about names growing up she thought of all of the books that she read the most growing up. She was really into Rick Riordan's books growing up as well, as she thought about some names, and thought of two in mind. [color=lightgreen]"What if she's a girl, cant name her like the Kool-Aid Man, that just doesn't make sense."[/color] Maria said as she shook her head slightly and giggled a bit. [color=lightgreen]"I was thinking Diana, or Artemis maybe."[/color]

[color=add3ff]"I thought Kool-Aid Man was gender neutral,"[/color] Novikova teased. [color=add3ff]"Hmm... I like Diana. She might be teased with the name Artemis, but at least Diana is a bit more normal sounding. Do you have a middle name in mind?"[/color] she asked, rubbing her belly a little bit, as if to see if baby Diana or baby Kool-Aid Man liked the idea. [color=add3ff]"If you want the mythological trend, Cynthia was another name for Artemis."[/color]

[color=lightgreen]"Not if it has man in it."[/color] Maria said jokingly as she gently wrapped an arm around her wife and hugged her tightly as she gently rested a hand on her wife's belly as well giving her a loving smile as she thought of a middle name. She started to think for a moment and looked at Novi as she thought, Niah had been one of her closest friends since the academy and her friend had gone through so much as well. [color=lightgreen]"Niah maybe?"[/color] Maria asked looking at her wife.

Novikova's knee jerk reaction was to object to Niah being the namesake of their child, but then she hesitated, rethinking it. Yes, she hadn't gotten along with Niah during her time at the academy. But if it hadn't been for Niah, Maria would be dead. Novikova would be dead. The world would have been destroyed. Their baby never would have been born. [color=add3ff]"Alright, Diana Niah Novikova then."[/color]


[hr][hr]
[center][h1][color=6ecff6]Cassandra Reed[/color] & [color=f6989d]Bonnie Chase[/color][/h1]
[I]Location: The HUB, Virology Lab 
Date: February 18th, 2021[/I][/center]
[hr][hr]It had been four days since they had fought on the Moon against The Black Order, and they were successful Cassandra made her way towards the virology lab. She hadn't really left the base just in case they needed more blood samples to synthesize more of the cure from her, and just another health check in case there was any other ill effects left behind by M-Pox. She also wanted to check in on Bonnie as well and how she was doing as well, Cass thought for the last couple of days on who she wanted as her second for the team. 

Tinley had been a good leader, even though Director Hill had demoted her before her untimely death, she knew that Bonnie would be a good choice and she completely trusted Bonnie to be her second. Cassandra knocked on the door to the virology lab and stuck her head in seeing Bonnie there and smiled. [color=6ecff6]"How are you doing Bonnie?"[/color] Cass asked as she walked into the lab.

Bonnie glanced up from her work. She was currently meticulously pipetting using a multi-channel pipet into ten wells at a time. It looked fairly simple, but the real difficulty came in ensuring that each of the ten wells received the same size aliquot. Bubbles were a commonplace frustration, as well as simply losing track of which row one was working with. [color=f6989d]"Could be better. Can I do something for you?"[/color] she asked. 

Cassandra made her way over and sat down across from Bonnie and shrugged slightly. [color=6ecff6]"Needed to get another medical checkup, I guess and also to see if you wanted to hangout or something get you a break from this place to."[/color] Cass said looking at the setup she was working with. [color=6ecff6]"What are you doing anyway?"[/color]

[color=f6989d]"Oh, just working on an assay,"[/color] Bonnie explained. [color=f6989d]"Let me finish this up and we can go grab a coffee?"[/color] she suggested. She couldn't really wait and finish this up later, it was time sensitive and the cells needed to incubate at room temperature for at least an hour. She picked up the pipet and quickly went about finishing her work as methodically and exactly as she could, until all of the wells were complete. 

[color=6ecff6]"Sounds like you said essay to me."[/color] Cassandra said with a slight laugh and nodded towards her. [color=6ecff6]"Coffee sounds good to me, my treat."[/color] She watched what she was doing, but looked wasn't sure what it was all that she was working on. [color=6ecff6]"Is there anything I can do to help or anything?"[/color] She offered.

Bonnie shook her head. She picked up her tray and took it over to a rotating plate, setting it down. After a few minutes passed, she took it off and set it on her work space. [color=f6989d]"All done. That needs to incubate at room temperature for at least an hour, more is better, so I'm all yours. Where do you want to go get coffee? The cafeteria? Or somewhere outside the Hub?"[/color]

Cassandra thought for a moment, on where they should actually go for coffee the HUB did have a nice cafeteria but she really did just want to take some time away from the base for a little bit. [color=6ecff6]"Lets go somewhere outside the HUB, would that work?"[/color] She asked, and nodded they could have sometime away while the thing incubated.

Bonnie grinned. [color=f6989d]"Definitely. Are you kidding me? This place can get stuffy sometimes, especially with... Well, you know, things have just been tense lately,"[/color] she admitted. Tinley had died up there on the moon. While Cass was her best friend and she was happy Cass had been promoted, Bonnie did miss Tinley. She hadn't had much of a chance to lead the Secret Warriors. Barton had begun mentoring Tinley just for the rug to be pulled out under her. 

Cassandra smiled and nodded towards her, things had been really tense and she did feel really bad for Tinley's sudden death, sadly there wasn't much that she could do about it really. [color=6ecff6]"Oh yeah things have been really tense around here, and i'm kinda tired of being cooped up here all the time."[/color] She said, Cass really did get tired of the constant medical check ins as well. She got up as she thought about how Bonnie would react to being promoted as well as she started to make her way towards the vehicle depot.

[color=f6989d]"I'm sure someone somewhere will cause a weird enough crime that Hill'll have you lead us to glory, Captain,"[/color] Bonnie teased Cass gently. While Cass was her superior, they had been friends for ages. She looked back fondly on when the two of them had been the science geeks on Coulson's team. It must have been five or so years ago now - maybe four, time was a bit blurry sometimes. 

Cassandra smirked and giggled slightly and nodded. [color=6ecff6]"I'll be sure to lead everyone, you can totally start calling me Captain to."[/color] Cass said smirking back, she hadn't ever expected to become the leader of their team at all. It felt like a lifetime ago when they were on members of Coulson's team. [color=6ecff6]"It feels like it was a lifetime ago we were just on Coulson's team."[/color] Cass then found one of their cars and climbed into it after she was given the keys to it, she turned to look over at Bonnie. [color=6ecff6]"So, any particular coffee place you want to go to?"[/color]

[color=f6989d]"Hmm... Cafe Roma is pretty good?"[/color] Bonnie suggested, getting into the car. She didn't get off base as much as she should have. Even when it came time for dates with Flynn, they generally ended up just hanging out in her room or in his. The base had a foodcourt as well so they didn't even need to leave in order to get a hot meal. 

[color=6ecff6]"Café Roma sounds perfect to me."[/color] Cassandra said giving Bonnie a smile as she started the car up and started to pull out of the vehicle depot, and out onto the streets again. She looked over towards Flynn for a moment, she was curious about how Flynn and Bonnie were as well. [color=6ecff6]"So, how are things with you and Flynn?"[/color] Cass asked.

Bonnie blushed, her cheeks bright red. She had always been a rather private person when it came to romance. It was mostly a defense mechanism after James' death. If she didn't talk about her emotions and desires, then she could just knuckle down and focus on her work. Of course, her therapists at the hospital had tried to break her of that habit, but Bonnie hadn't completely changed. For instance, she had been incredibly flustered when Niah gifted her lingerie for Christmas. [color=f6989d]"They're good - I think,"[/color] Bonnie answered. [color=f6989d]"I, um, let him spend the night in my room on Valentine's Day... Not sex or anything like that, just cuddling and watching movies."[/color]

Cassandra looked at Bonnie when she told her that they had been hanging out in her room more, which was a big step for her and smiled. [color=6ecff6]"Thats really good to hear, I'm really happy for you guys."[/color] She said, knowing that her friend still had a hard time moving forward after James' death she was happy Flynn was making her happy. They eventually made it to the coffee shop, Cass got out of the car and locked as soon as Bonnie got out and made her way inside. [color=6ecff6]"So, what were you craving anyway?"[/color]

Bonnie bit back a smile, although it didn't really work - her happiness was clear in her eyes. [color=f6989d]"After this is all over - and by this I mean M-Pox - we should go do a museum day again,"[/color] she interjected, perhaps a bit randomly. She loved going to museums, especially air and space ones, though she also adored art museums. She hadn't gotten to draw professionally very much since joining SHIELD, usually just sketching the members of her team for fun. [color=f6989d]"I'm thinking... a cappuccino sounds good today."[/color]

Cassandra gave Bonnie a smile, she certainly did like the idea of going to some kind of museum with Bonnie. [color=6ecff6]"We should drag Flynn along as well, that'd be fun to."[/color] She teased her friend as she entered the café and thought for a moment, she was craving just a regular coffee and nodded towards her as she started to make her order, and then got her coffee and paid for it and made her way over towards an open table. [color=6ecff6]"So, I was thinking ever since getting promoted any suggestions for anyone to be my second?"[/color] Cassandra finally asked, she of course was going to ask Bonnie but she was also curious who she'd suggest as well.

She raised a bit of an eyebrow. Bonnie figured she knew who Cass was going to pick for her second in command, but she decided she would bite and play this game. [color=f6989d]"Well you need to think of it logically. Your second should be someone with tons of experience. They also should be someone you can interact with easily and work with well, perhaps someone you've been partners with before. They need to have a good sense of strategy and leadership, as well as be able to show off physical prowess... Now for experience, the person with the most is... me. For who you get along with, I've been your best friend for over seven years now, so that's also me. For strategy and leadership, I l-like Flynn but he doesn't have that. I have the most of it. Maria's also liable to quit soon to join the Avengers I imagine. Oh and for physical prowess? I killed a member of the Black Order single handedly a few days ago."[/color]

Cassandra leaned forward slightly as she listened to her best friend, giving her a smile as she listed her opinions, she wasn't going to pick Maria knowing that she could most likely join her wife Novikova with the Avengers which was understandable. Flynn was an alright choice, she is friends with him, but his temperament wasn't really that good. Bonnie had been her friend for years and she got along really well with Bonnie as well and smiled some more. [color=6ecff6]"I am picking you obviously, we have known each other and have been with SHIELD the longest out of everyone on the team. And you deserve it as well. That is if you do want the job I cant think of anyone else who is qualified enough as well and I want you by my side to since you are my best friend after all and we have to stick together, and you are a total badass to."[/color]

[color=f6989d]"Of course I want the job. My Hogwarts House is Slytherin after all. And my Avatar the Last Airbender Nation is Fire,"[/color] Bonnie pointed out. [color=f6989d]"If we're talking Riordanverse Books, I'm a child of Athena. Ambition runs through my veins. In fact, that's actually what the blood type A+ stands for - [i]ambition positive[/i]."[/color] She grinned at Cass and gave her a tight hug. 

[color=6ecff6]"I thought you were more of a Hufflepuff, the job is completely yours then."[/color] Cassandra said teasingly as she hugged Bonnie back, she knew that she was making the right choice and knew that she could easily rely on Bonnie. And if the event were to ever happened in the field or if she wasn't in a condition to lead Bonnie would step up.