xp_logs | Doug and Topaz | Translating Wade

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Doug and Topaz go over security footage and decipher Wade's cryptic message.

The atmosphere in the Blackbird was tense. And Topaz was doing what she did best - ignoring it.

Not that she wasn't taking this seriously. They were flying into a dangerous situation with dangerous adversaries to rescue people who had been so brainwashed that they wouldn't want to be rescued. But being tense - and letting everyone else's feelings get in her head - would just make things harder in the long run.

Which was why Topaz had sat in the back with Doug, who was completely fixated on a tablet and had earbuds shoved in his ears. Every now and again he would hold the screen closer to his face, as if that would help him hear better. Then he would rewind and play the same several seconds again. And again. And again.

Topaz finally took one of the earbuds out of his ear and said, "Maybe your hearing is just bad."

Yes, he was hyperfocusing. Yes, it was probably on the verge of dissociating. Yes, it was probably not the healthiest coping mechanism. But there was something about the encounter (and Wade) that didn't quite make sense to Doug. Like a puzzle piece just barely not fitting correctly where it ought to. He blew a raspberry at his teammate. "What, because of all those heavy metal concerts I've been to in my life?"

"Or all the concussion you've had," Topaz said. She tucked her hair back behind her ear and popped the earbud in. "What are we listening for?"

"I haven't had -that- many concussions," Doug muttered peevishly. "And I'm trying to figure out what the hell Wade was trying to say here." It was footage of the attack on Shaw, "He says something about them having biological molly? I mean, he's crazy enough without them putting him on psychedelics, right?"

"Unless molly stands for something else," Topaz said. "Hit play."

She listened for a few seconds, tilted her head, then gestured for Doug to rewind so she could listen again. "There's something else in there. It sounds like 'they have my biological Molly."

"His?" Doug's face scrunched up in confusion. "That makes less sense. His molly? I mean, if Wade's got a stash of drugs anywhere it's cocaine..." He pressed at the conundrum like a tongue pressing against a loose tooth. There was something else.

Push. His biological Molly. Capital M? Molly Hayes had been there on the scene. She'd been Wade's protege, similar to how Laura had become his and Kyle's.

Push. Laura called him and Kyle 'pops', like they were her...

~Oh fuck.~

"And what should I call my daughter?" he asked in Asgardian, his voice rough with emotion.

"My name is Eleanor Camacho Wilson Ramsey Colbert. But I prefer Ellie."

Doug growled low in his chest. "They have leverage on him. And I know what it is." He did his best to rein in the simmering rage he knew Topaz could probably feel off of him. "They have Ellie. ...this universe's Ellie, I'm guessing."

"Ellie...?" Topaz repeated the name. Then her eyes widened. "Oh. I didn't know this universe had an Ellie."

"Either did I. And I did some looking, after we sent that time-travel group back." Doug leaned back in the seat, staring up at the ceiling. "Hell, maybe she wasn't born then? I didn't exactly ask Ellie how old she was and all that." He set the tablet aside. "Now I just have more questions than answers, honestly."

Topaz looked toward the front. "Well. We should be there soon. Maybe you can ask the man himself."