"So," Jacqueline Crighton said in summary as the white haired
woman walked by Pete's side out of the labs into the light rain, "the
Marauders probably have all of the data from Reed Richards on most of
the US superhumans."
"Looks like it," Pete Wisdom agreed, "which means Sinister has
it." The black haired man in a business suit lit a cigarette grimly,
"Wish we knew where he was."
"So what do we do now?" Jackie asked him curiously, her shoulder
length white hair blowing around her face.
"We go see Dai Thomas," Pete said crisply, "see if his people
have hit and jackpots. Then we head back to the island and see what we
can get from the computers and Kate."
"You think that Kate Pryde knows more than she's telling?"
Jackie asked as she fell into step beside him, frowning as they strode
threw the mud.
"Something, anyway," Pete said with a sigh. "My gut tells me
there's something involving Codex, but what I dunno," he said.
"Could be something personal," Jackie offered.
"Huh," Pete blinked then he shook his head as he conceded, "I
hadn't thought of that."
They reached the crime scene in moments, the blasted wall now
fenced off by yellow police tape. Dai Thomas looked up, the older police
officer scowling as they grew nearer. "What do you two want now?" he
demanded.
"Any luck yet?" Pete asked.
"And why should I tell you two anything?" Dai demanded.
Pete just shrugged casually. "As two officers of the Crown I'd
think of it as a professional courtesy," he said mildly. He tilted his
head to the side, "And I'd be willing to share information we get with
you, as well."
"Oh really?" Dai looked at him disbelievingly. He took his
notebook out as he asked, "Who attacked this facility, then?"
"The Marauders," Pete said and then calmly ran through the list
of members, only leaving out the information they had on Codex's true
identity.
Dai put his notebook away, nodding slightly. "I suppose you
don't know anything else about why they attacked?" he asked curiously.
"Hacking, I think," Pete said, "it appears the computers here
were being used remotely to hack secure systems in the US."
"That's as good a theory as any," Dai said thoughtfully, "though
we'll also look into our own avenues of inquiry."
"Anything on your end?" Jackie prompted, the lady meeting his
eyes calmly.
"We're running the security camera data through our computers,"
Dai reopened his notebook to another page, "one hit so far. It seems
that your 'Shades' is a missing person named Jenny Gibson." He flipped
the book shut, "Other than that not much."
"It's a start," Pete said thoughtfully, "thanks."
"Welcome," Dai nodded slightly. He tucked his notebook away as
he said, "If you get anything else, let me know."
"Got it," Pete waved as he and Jackie headed off.
"I was a bit surprised you gave him that much information,"
Jackie said, "it doesn't quite fit with your reputation."
"I'm trying to turn over a new leaf," Pete said dryly, "and most
of our information wasn't confirmed anyway." He pulled his cellphone out
and hit the speed-dial, waiting for it to be picked up before saying,
"Kate, we could use a pick up."
Almost before he finished speaking the first rainbow bands of
light began to appear, the shining teleport portal quickly forming in
front of them. "You called?" Kate asked, the metal skinned woman
offering them a smile.
"Thanks," Jackie smiled as they went through, reappearing on
Muir Island.
The Mutant Research Facility stood before them, a complex of
building devoted to the study of human mutation. There was a sound and
Britannia descended in front of them, touching down even as a furry
shape bounded across the rough terrain.
"All clear so far," Britannia calmly offered, the heroine
dressed in her usual black costume with the Union Jack design,
Wolfsbane reached them even as she shifted to the half-wolf form
then fully to human form. "No unfamiliar scents," Rahne agreed, her red
hair messy from the change.
"Then let's go in," Jackie urged, "I'm getting chilled all of a
sudden."
Pete looked at her then his eyes widened slightly in surprise.
"Look out," he yelled to the others even as Jackie ignited.
The white haired woman suddenly blazed brightly, a column of
flame dancing around her body as her clothing was quickly consumed. Then
as soon as it flared up it died down, the flames disappearing as soon as
it came. "Damn it," Jackie cursed, standing there dressed in the yellow
and black uniform of the X-Men.
"Wore one under your clothes?" Britannia quickly deduced.
"Cecelia told me the unstable molecules in the uniform wouldn't
burn," Jackie explained with a sigh, "I didn't want to give everyone
another free show."
Rahne smiled just slightly in memory of the free show even as
she said, "Let's get inside, Dani probably wants to know what's going
on."
They headed inside as a group, heading for the command center
where the others waited for them. Rachel Summers seemed to be drawn to
Kate, standing beside the teleporter even as the other members grabbed
any available seats.
Dani Moonstar saw the look on Pete's face and the Native
American smiled slightly, "You found something, didn't you?"
"You could say that," Jackie smiled slightly.
Pete quickly sketched in the details of their meeting with
Mouse, the Black Air connection and talking to Dai, finishing with,
"...so it looks like the hard drives the Marauders got away with had
genetic data on most of the superhumans in New York."
"At the very least," Kate pointed out, "Reed Richards has had
contact with numerous superbeings from around the world as well as
off-planet."
"But I thought Sinister was only interested in mutant DNA,"
Rahne offered tentatively.
Britannia had her helmet sitting on the table in front of her,
Lisa Garrison's short blonde hair matted down a bit. "Could be he's
branching out?" she offered.
"This Sinister," Llyan said questioningly, the willowy redhead
sitting protectively by her lover, "is he such a villain, then?"
"He's a manipulator and a schemer," Dani said seriously, "with a
vein of ruthlessness in his nature." She closed her eyes a moment, "I
remember the slaughter in the Morlock tunnels, the massacre of innocents
he ordered, he is not one to underestimate."
"So what do we do now?" Rachel spoke up to ask them, the redhead
standing comfortably at Kate's side.
"We got our asses kicked because we didn't fight as a team,"
Pete said dryly, "so we're going to start training, first. That way
we'll be ready if the Marauders pop up again."
"I intend to be around for that," Jackie firmly said before
adding, "I want to pay back whoever knocked me out."
"You'll be welcome," Pete smiled.
The meeting broke up then, Cecelia showing up to take Jackie to
her lab for another examination, Pete heading for the computers, running
comparisons with the Marauders photos with on-line archives and the
others scattering to other duties.
"I don't know if I said this already," Kate noted as she and
Rachel walked along the hallway together, "but I like the new costume."
Rachel blushed slightly, "Thanks." She looked up at Kate, gazing
at the silver skinned woman, "I've been doing a lot of thinking lately."
"Oh?" Kate smiled slightly, "What about?"
"Us," Rachel answered simply.
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