Post by adrini on Feb 9, 2016 0:01:47 GMT -5
All Star X-Factor 17: Reaching Out
By Adrini
"This is so exciting!" Jemma said as she and Fitz stood at the back of the room waiting for their guests. Fitz smiled at her excitement, curious about the visitors himself. However, as a biochemist Jemma already active curiosity was now hyperactive.
"Do you think they’re green?" Fitz asked, leaning on the wall with her. "Extra arms, little antenna like little aliens?"
"Fitz!" Jemma hid a laugh. May and Coulson would hear. "Coulson says they look perfectly normal. You’d never know."
"Not entirely comforting," he said but Coulson shot the two a look. They would be here soon.
Standing by to greet, Coulson and May were trying not to listen to the two scientists behind them. "It would be rather funny is they had the little-" May pointed to her head.
"No, they're completely normal looking. Fury has had them hidden for ages." Coulson was uncharacteristically serious. "I only officially found out about them last week, but the program has been going for years."
"And they've just been hidden?" May asked, looking at him.
"You know how people can be about mutants. He wanted to see them protected. Now he's trusting us." The man heard the elevator opening. "Play nice."
They all heard the door open and stood up. A dark haired woman walked into the room.
"Coulson," she said simply. Her uniform was SHIELD, the only difference being small “x” symbols in place of the usual SHIELD icons. They hadn’t been given a patch of their own yet. She was holding folders. "Is this everyone?"
"May, who will be accompanying them. And Fitz and Simmons, biochemical and tech." Coulson introduced his team. "This is Agent Maria Hill, of X-Factor."
X-Factor was a rumor, a whisper. Even Fury was said not to be crazy enough to contain mutants. The three nodded, and the elevator opened. They were coming.
"Only a hundred rooms," they heard a teen say. "Love when they do that."
"At least we know it's SHIELD. Jean?" s second man said. Jemma perked up. Maria handed Coulson the files with a smirk. "A scan?"
Three people walked in. Two men, clearly brothers, and a red headed woman. They looked normal, in the same stiff uniforms. They stood behind Agent Hill in perfect proper form, their training showing. Coulson nodded politely, but the others couldn’t help but stare. Jemma almost moved to look at them, wanting to get closer, but Fitz grabbed her arm.
"Agent Summers, Agent Summers and Agent Grey. My mutants. Shall we get started?"
"Get down! Get down!" Pietro screamed as the oncoming Friends broke the lines of defense the five, men in paramilitary gear from the local militia. Skye was already down. Ororo was trying to defend Wanda while Kurt was quickly putting barriers that were not lasting long.
One of the men got in a lucky shot and Kurt was down. This was it, they were done.
The room came back and the trainees groaned and stood up. It felt real every time.
"Now, what did you do wrong?" Elixir said as he walked into the room. The doctor was also their head trainer and they had quickly found his kindly demeanor was purely medical. "Miss Skye?"
"Join SHIELD," she said dryly, rubbing her neck. "And didn't take the first warnings seriously. We were warned they were coming, we could have moved sooner."
"Anyone else?" the gold man asked, looking around. "Don’t be shy."
"We needed to use Wanda to control the men and slow them down. It would have given us time." Ororo wasn’t upset, but she was the only one. "And allowed me time to bring in environmental influences."
"Ja, but ven zere are so many – and from so many directions." Kurt was fixing his bandage, the simulation might be false, but the bruises were real.
"Tear down three hallways, turn the fourth into a trap, and blast the ceiling," Piotr said, joining the group. "Wanda for the first, the rest for the fourth, and Ororo for the last. Kurt could then quickly move all of you out of harm's way that can't fly. This was not our hardest mission."
"Aw come on, we would have gotten it," Skye sighed. "Spoilers."
"This was your fourth try," Elixir said. "People were getting hurt. Take the day and we'll put everyone through it tomorrow, now that they know the plan. Mess is waiting."
The new people filed out, Ororo thoughtfully thinking of how exactly they were going to do this, and the two watched. Not long after they walked out themselves.
"How are the girls?" Piotr asked as the two men looked at the exhausted members taking their meal. "Doing better?"
"They will be healed by tomorrow. I don't like the progress, or lack of it," Elixir said. "They aren't SHIELD."
"They are, I have seen it. They just do not have the training yet. It is not fair to compare them to us, we trained from childhood." Piotr was the patient teacher. "The old team, we have been doing this too long. We make it look easy. They are at where normal SHEILD recruits are at this point."
"Fair enough," the doctor said. "Tomorrow is runthrough and weapons training. Think they’ll respond well?"
"Before today? No. But now they might." Piotr nodded. "Any weapon in a fight."
"Just a few more minutes," Jemma said as she looked at the incoming data. They were in charge of the pre-mission checkups before the team went out for the established mission. "Thank you your patience?"
"Find anything interesting yet?" the woman said from inside. "They never have before."
Jemma finished the scan not long after and the female mutant agent walked out. She smiled patiently as the information was looked at.
"Ten fingers, ten toes. Major organs in expected places." She sat down and Jemma had to agree. "Brain scan shows more activity then most, but not to the degree you would expect. Anything else?"
"You’ve probably done this so many times." Jemma sat down with the information pad, aware how having someone poke at you would get old. "There was some scarification on the epidermis. And a few alterations near bone."
"In the file,, page three," the woman said tiredly. Jemma opened to the page. "They had to rebuild and remodel bone in several places. I just remember that it was months before I was able to walk again. And the scarring only cleared up visibly entirely a few years ago. I'm not surprised it's still there."
"Oh." Jemma had to stop for a moment. She had heard that mutants were hunted in some places but this was the first she had seen of it. The documenting photographs were unspeakable. "I'm so very sorry."
"Don't be. I was lucky I made it. Not all of us do."
Across the room Fits was trying to understand his own charge, but not doing so well.
"I can’t get a retinal scan for the security doors if you don't look at the reader." He was explaining to the oldest agent, still only in his early twenties. The man was refusing to open his eyes.
"You don’t want me to open them," he said again, as though repeating the sentence he had long since said to death. "It’s a bad idea."
"The whole base was updated to scans last year. It's the only way you'll get where you need to go." Fitz said before Agent Hill walked over with a smirk.
"What's on the other side of that wall?" she asked, her arms crossed. Behind her the youngest agent was smirking as well. "Anyone who could be hurt?"
Fitz was confused for a moment as the two turned to look at the red head that Jemma was working with but they looked back and Agent Hill shrugged.
"That was an order, Agent," she said simply. Fitz was getting in place to take the scan.
"You'll enjoy this," Agent Summers said before settling in. His younger brother nodded behind him.
"Well if they won’t listen." Fitz glanced at the three but waited.
The machine flashed and exploded. Fitz moved to dodge the flying metal of the now broken machine to find a force field was already in place to stop anyone from getting hurt. The man was on the other side of the room, arms wrapped around his head and facing the wall, clearly doing everything he could to see no one got hurt. Coming out of shock Fitz saw Coulson and Jemma rush over, concerned, but brushed them off. He was warned, he should have listened.
"My husband cannot reveal his eyes without his glasses." The female agent picked up the ruby lenses. She walked over, and spoke softly to the agent who then let her place them back on. "Eyes I sadly will never be able to see. You will have to find another means of security."
Ororo’s costume was never heavy, her talents being what they were additional implements weren't needed. This made her current outfit more difficult to work with. She did have to agree with her fellow 'students' that there was some question as to the point. She just didn't feel as strongly as others.
"We are weapons! We don’t need weapons!" Pietro was gripping as he held the firearm, nearby Wanda was focusing on the tool and progressively getting better.
It was the second week of the training, and only one team was running rescues while the main three were on a secret mission and the new members were training here. It was becoming clear that it was needed.
"Yeah, well they say jump we have to jump." Skye was just as annoyed as Pietro, and her sheer glare made that clear. "Kids being killed out there, but why not go with target practice? It's not like we're needed."
"But ve need to know how to help, or ve vill only hurt zem!" Kurt spoke up. He was not good at the range but unlike the others was trying. His rifle started clicking and he looked over to Piotr who was in the corner. "I sink it jammed again."
The teacher walked over and looked at the weapon and nodded. It didn't take long to fix.
"I do not know why it is doing this. I am sorry Kurt," he said, handing it back. "And you are correct. Powers that are not mastered are a danger both to ourselves and others. It is our responsibility to see they are safe. You will not be given more than three models, so learning will not take long. Keep firing. This is required for the exam. Attitude will also be considered."
Wanda was in another world. Focused on her target she was blocking everyone else out. She had taken to training, unlike the others, and had become much more disciplined. Where her brother was still angry and impulsive she was fitting in well.
Which is why the explosion took everyone by surprise.
It began with Kurt’s gun, already prone to locking up, sparking. Skye’s exploded as she fired, thankfully pulling itself forward so only minor damage was taken. Pietro’s gun lifted from his hands and fell to the ground, molten hot. The lights began to flicker and Piotr moved as wall sockets sparked as well.
On the floor Wanda was curled into a ball. Walking into the room, Jubilee and Rogue tried to run over and help but the chaos got worse. Everyone in the room was lost, except Jubilee.
"She recalled something!" Jubilee screamed over the noise. "Jean puts up blocks but we can pick them away, she was thinking about something that unblocked! You need to calm her down!"
The guns and chairs in the room began to float and swirl, surrounding her. Elixir ran in with a syringe and gave it to Piotr, nodding.
The man armored up and ran in, getting hit along the way. After about a minute the chaos ended, and the items fell to the floor. Wanda, now knocked out, had been crying. Remembering something or someone. Pietro was there and holding the girl.
"Jean," he said simply. "When?"
"Take her to the infirmary. They're on the mission now. She'll be back by tonight," Elixir said as he opened the door. "The rest of you set this right and get to work."
I’m in. May heard the woman's voice in her head. It still felt wrong to have communication without an ear piece. Corner desk, easy to see everyone.
In, investor’s meeting starting soon. the elder Agent Summers, Scott filled in.
MBA’s are pricks, but I’m here. Waiting for orders to move. Alex, the younger brother filed in last. Noting the responses May, in her own office suit, was arriving as her own role.
Run it.
Jean scanned the room, picking up on minds. She delved deep where there was promise and May could hear the echos of the voices. Forbidden office romances, secret factions, the complex politics of the office. Then, something else.
Scott, go. she said as Jean found her, a fellow mutant. A mole for something called ‘The Hellfire Club’.
In the sharp suit of an executive, Scott walked in and waved over to a secretary for a prearranged appointment. Jean planted in the woman that she needed to help the new account, and May watched from her job delivering packages as he used that to get her clearance. No regular agents had been able to pull that off.
Back in the MRA grad meeting Alex heard the code and begged off to use the facilities. Going instead to the side office Scott blasted the security camera that would film him as he put in the codes. Keeping watch Jean 'notified' one of the office men that he was being double crossed and the resulting confusion drew out the security guards so they didn't have time to see the film go down. By the time Alex got back to the meeting, the data not in his pocket, everyone was back in place. A repairman was called for the camera.
Thai on the way back? Jean asked as she reviewed expense reports. It was really good that one time.
They had had Thai once. They were shut-ins, but brilliant ones. Three agents had been found trying to get this list and they had taken one afternoon. Leaning back in her chair May looked at her team. One innocently filling in reports, another talking sports with 'the guys', and the third being offered refreshments on a guided tour. None of them spotted.
Thai it was.
"It goes without say that everything you are about to see is classified," Elixir said, as the room filled up. "It will also be our final class before returning to base. Once there you will receive new assignments. Questions?"
Beginning to take real X-Factor from the group was doing better. Pietro, now reminded that his sister needed to be here, was focusing. Jubilee and Rogue, who had gotten close, walked in together already comparing notes. The beginning of a team. Kurt followed close behind, which wasn’t surprising. He had been trying to make friends.
"Has Jean been called about Wanda?" Ororo asked, entering. "She is not doing well."
"On her way to the hospital now, and she replaced the block." Piotr said as he entered after her. "She will be fine. Everyone sit down."
Where Elixir was a little harder, not mean so much as no nonsense, Piotr was patient. He took over the class, looking over the group assembled.
"I was right there," he said, pointing to where Rogue was seated. "Jean was in front of me. That's just the person she is. Scott was right next to her, person he is plus it was next to her so-"
Rogue and Jubilee couldn't hide a small laugh, and everyone in the room smiled. The room could see him staying close.
"You wouldn’t believe how long it took the boy to speak up. Maria was where I am now, and it feels odd to be in her place. Alex was visiting that day, it took him time to decide to fully join. It was the four of us. Bruised, battered and some nearly broken. Exhausted from weapon training, physical tests, test mission and everything else Fury threw at us. Alex had a busted knee, Scott was sporting burns on both arms, I hadn't gotten my armor up in time and I had the gashes to prove it. And poor Jean, she was two weeks out of her hospital bed and still expected to jump and dodge with the rest of us. She was covered in bandages, did the mummy walk when Maria wasn’t looking."
The room did laugh at that, including Elixir who was nodding. He remembered that day. Piotr ignored the podium and instead leaned on the desk.
"No one will argue that this job does not offer much on paper. Terrible hours, highly controlled living arrangements, constant danger, and the pay is pretty bad. We are distrusted, to say the least, by other members of the very organization we serve. SHIELD itself could very easily turn on us. I'm not going to sugar coat it. Every mission could be –that mission-, when Rogue or Pietro or any one of us does not come back. We're talented, not immortal. We can and do die every day, and those are ones who don't put on tactical uniforms and seek danger out. Power levels are a blessing and a curse. We have two Omegas now, Wanda and Jean. People will come after them. Power like that makes you a target. Brilliantly strong women, good women. Not bullet proof, not safe. Greatest level of power a mutant can have and if the wrong gun is fired at the wrong time they are still gone – it does not matter. And we get a lot of bullets. I will tell you that now, though some of you already know it."
Skye looked down, knowing all too well. They all did, a reality his class didn't have at their training. Piotr waited a few seconds.
"We are the last line of defense. We are it. Once a mutant's call reaches us there is no one else. We save the day or a life is ended. It's that simple. It's a terrible job, a terrifying job, and I wouldn't have any other. You are the newest chapter of this team, but you need to need to know the life that came before. No notes, no exams. Today we just talk about who we are and what we do. When you leave here you need to be solid, know what is expected and why. This time is yours. Speak."
"Well?" Coulson asked. It was just his team again, the mutants now returned to their own base. As good as his clearance was he hadn’t been told where it was. "I told you they were normal."
"Normal?!" Jemma responded, getting up and walking to where the security machine once was. "This machine was made of highest alloy, calibrated to exact measure-"
"He exploded it," Fitz added. "With his eyes."
"And his wife shielded you with her mind," May reminded him.
"You didn't read the file first. That's on you," Coulson said evenly, and as much as Jemma and Fitz wanted to argue they couldn't. "Always read the file. Always."
May pushed over a file and Coulson looked it over, his normally unreadable features actually showed some signs of being impressed. May, watching, smiled ever so slightly.
"How?" he asked, "This is the whole list."
"They handed it over. I can't tell you what we could do with power like this," May said in response. "They set the scene, adjusted behaviors, and that was it. The office never knew anything was happening."
Coulson watched as May half-grinned, her best smile most of the time, while Fitz and Simmons began to talk excitedly about all the tests they could run. He understood why Maria had hurried to get her kids out. His team, honestly good people, had already defaulted to seeing them as organic matter and tactical options.
He could only hope for a chance to work with them again, to prove they would be accepted here. He just wasn’t sure he was going to get it.
None of the team were happy, in the quiet of the ride home the three were in a conference she had not been invited to. Only facial expressions changed: ranging from rage, depression, and general listlessness. Likely without knowing it they had form a half circle, their backs guardedly against each other as though the air around them was poised to attack.
Getting reports in from Coulson’s team she was getting nothing but glowing reviews. The information was exactly what they wanted, and it was complete. They had the list of moles they had been looking for, more they had the addresses tied to them.
"You're going to find things when you jump read people like that," Maria said at last, guessing the cause for the three’s mood. "They haven’t worked with people like you before. It's going to take time."
Alex sharply put his foot on the nearby seat and turned to look at the wall. Normally more even keeled Jean was instead curled into her husband, who himself was clearly waiting to get back.
"Freaks we can take, monsters is day of the week stuff, weirdos is cute even," Alex said dryly before shutting her out again.
She felt Jean’s mind request entry, offering what was making the three so upset. Nodding permission several thoughts played in her head, all loud enough to be the surface thoughts that to telepaths like Jean were their overheard conversations. Questions about what Scott’s eye structure was like, if Jean’s brain was internally different. May thinking gleefully of ops where Jean could control, contain and even kill to quickly finish missions on order. Once Jean had said the word 'husband', there had been some interest in the physiology of mutant fetal development. Sighing she couldn’t argue, the scientists would think such things and Jean being an easy answer to missions was an issue they had been dealing with for years.
The plane landed just outside the hospital where Wanda was resting to recover. The three wordlessly got up and walked off. Maria just followed, maybe reaching out wasn’t a great idea after all.
By the time she got inside she could see the three hurrying to the wounded teammate and away from their mission. Going instead to the meeting room to get filled in she saw Piotr and Elixir signing the forms that the others had passed initial training. The good doctor was glad to see her and Piotr smiled.
"Maria." Elixir put his pen down. "We were talking about you. How did it go?"
"They loved it," she said down and took the cup of coffee that Piotr offered. "Already had ideas for future missions before we left."
"That is a dodge, Maria. How did it go?" Piotr sat down with his own cup, his wise eyes taking no time to see beyond the response. "How were they treated?"
"Like tools, or curiosities. We managed to avoid anything bad happening but the potential is there." The coffee was hot. They must have heard her coming. "I don't see them going out again."
"As Jean said, we had to try to know," Piotr said as Elixir nodded. "Which is just as well. We have work here. There has been a development."
"Wanda, what happened?" She took the offered file and picked up the main ideas. "Jean said it had to do with removed blocks."
"It began with that, but we still don't know what the ability actually was. It seemed sporadic, almost random. We were trying to find out a pattern. Maybe you’ll have better luck."
"It’s vicinity, that’s clear. We’ll have to reevaluate weapons." They were right, the pattern was hard to see. "Once we get back to base we’ll work on it, at least we know it’s there."
There was a commotion by the front hall and Maria moved to see what it was. The several classes and programs were entering out into the side halls, gawking. She couldn’t blame them.
Thickly muscled, scarred, and armed the black man walked into the center and looked around. Feeling the eyes of the room fall on her she centered herself. No one was going to threaten her kids. Walking over he look at her as she approached and smirked.
"Maria Hill, they said you were goddamn fearless," he said. "Glad to see it's true. You’ll need it."
He looked around the room, at the sea of mutants of many ages, and nodded. Then he saw who he was looking for.
"We'll need your tech for this," he said and smirked. Looking she saw the telepathy tech that had been helping the base. The man scowled but walked over.
"Of course you blow my cover." The tech, quiet and unassuming normally, glared at the newcomer. "Better be a damn good reason."
"Shaw and Sinister’s hearts on a plate."