WELCOME TO DREAMWIDTH, HERO...

[ You can't see it, of course, but Natasha is sipping wine in her house— work has given her the day free. It's not her first glass. ]

When I was young, they told me I should hate America. It is a land of hypocrites, corporations, debt, and twenty-four hour shopping networks. That isn't wrong.

[ A pause. ]

But it's easy to hate people you've never met.

It's also easy to hate people who light fireworks on your doorstep. [ You can muffled kids noises playing in the distance. Natasha still doesn't like fireworks, the noise reminds her too much of bombing, gunfire. But she doesn't say that. ]

Happy birthday, Steve.

[ Backdated to the fifteenth, before all the latest modplot stuff starts going down. ]

The day after Valentines has more poetry to it, I think. All the hearts marked down to half price, all the chocolates gone on sale.

And the chocolates. Buy them late, when they're cheap, forget you're alone on Valentines. Eat too many: that's why you're alone on Valentines. They sell you everything, in this country. Like I said, poetic.

We didn't celebrate the holiday, where I'm from. But I guess that's not so strange here, is it?

[ A pause. ]

I need a good rock climbing place. Let me know if you know one.

[Natasha is in an odd mood, which is why she's posting to the network. She's in a nicely appointed office with a glass of white wine the desk— in her house, not where she works, for the few people that could tell the difference.]

So.

A few weeks back I had a houseguest who didn't know how to knock.

It was all very boring, so I'll cut to the meat of it: now my foyer is a mess and I've just spent a terrible amount of money on getting all the glass back in the window just so.

But when you tear something down you can build it back up again. Not how it was, but exactly how you like. I've always loved to redecorate.

Neons with neutrals would be very on trend. But there's something dreadfully impersonal about being in fashion. How would you do it— classic or modern?

You know, I bought a lot of candy two weeks ago, because I didn't want to get stuck with last minute sugar price-hikes. I thought I was being clever. Thinking ahead.

[Pause. Obviously not many trick-or-treaters this year.]

I think Halloween might be my least favorite holiday. Masquerading… I don't see the appeal.

[Natasha is using the "Yelena" communicator because she is paranoid and does not trust the network— but the network seems to be the viable method of mass communication. Dilemna.]

Are all who were taken now accounted for?

Does anyone expect it to stop?

[There's the ambient noise that comes with dining at a sidewalk café pouring out over the communicators before a voice cuts in, with a businesslike monotone.]

Selina's gone.

[And then the sound of a waiter trying to interrupt, and being waved away.]

That is, she's been ported out. I thought I should make an announcement, in case she made any... arrangements.

[ETA: I'm not getting notifs!! So tags may be irregular.]

[There's a throng of reporters outside the Avengers mansion, obviously eager to ask questions in the wake of Tony's blowing himself up. Natasha is there, in civilian garb, fielding questions.]

"So you're saying the team will continue as normal."

"Despite the loss of Tony Stark, yes."

"Don't the Avengers foresee problems? Iron Man was a huge asset to the team."

"Of course there will be problems. If there weren't, we wouldn't need Avengers at all. But the idea behnd them, the original mission statement: to fight the foes no single super hero could withstand. It's never been about one person's contributions, a single leader, individual grudges or individual goals. And we owe it to Tony Stark not to lose sight of that."

[Blah blah blah, more press conference happenings, basically Natasha is running the Avengers now and all of Tony's bases are belong to redheads.]

We haven't had a team meeting in a while. I think this should be rectified. I already brought up some of my concerns about leadership with Tony, earlier. I also think we should look into having more formalized contact with the police— an official liaison, of some sort.

Also, as our numbers have dwindled, maybe recruitment should be a topic.

I think for some people, being transported to another dimension has resulted in more free time. Others, not so much. This is generally where I'd insert some lecture about continued learning and making the most of our opportunities, but truthfully, this is just something I'd enjoy.

Would anyone be interested in starting a book club? I'm pretty flexible with the format, but I think it would probably have to be in English.

Let's talk about teams. Vigilante teams, the kind with the important sounding names and often unflattering costumes.

Now, I hate to be the bearer of common sense, but these teams? Depend on teamwork. It's not a military hierarchy, you need the general consent of everyone involved to effect major changes, not just word from the top. This means, everyone in the group needs to be on the same page, new members are added with the consensus of everyone on the team. If individual members have different ideas of what the team is supposed to be about? Then said team will not be very effective. This is apparently a difficult concept to grasp.

I know there plenty of teams on this network, and that some of them try to recruit through this device. I'd urge that anyone who gets offered an invitation think carefully on the subject rather than accepting for novelty's sake. It's a serious commitment, or at least, it should be. I question whether recruitment over the network is wise in and of itself. But then, what do I know? I have so little experience in these matters.

[A blonde woman sits in a nondescript warehouse-- there are weapons on the table behind her, but no way to discern her location from the contents of the video. She speaks with a Russian accent, but nothing so thick that it prevents her from being understood.]

From what I have learned from my reading this feed the past few days, and my own reconnaissance, I am trapped here and there is no way out as yet. Therefore, it is good thing to make contacts.

I am Black Widow. Hello.

(ooc: see this post for what is going on)

What can you tell me about 18455360? You are from the same city, correct?

Just so we're all aware. The Hawkeye look-alike is Bullseye. I say this with an overwhelming degree of certainty. He has nothing to do with the actual Hawkeye.

I have some intel on Norman.

Is there anyone within a [pause] two-and-a-half minute vicinity of the MAC with experience diffusing bombs?

I am too far away. Though, maybe, if I had video feed of the bombs, I could be of some assistance.


Edit:

This would work best if we were organized into teams, one for each bomb.

Bomb #1: Domino (first group of floors)
Bomb #2: Shatterstar (second group of floors)
Bomb #3: ??? (third group of floors)
Bomb #4: ??? (top of the building)

ooc: regarding this, of course!