Pete flipped open his cellphone with a distinctly irritable
expression on his face. "Yes?" he asked coolly. He listened a moment,
"Allistaire. What can I do for you?"
"Allistaire?" Rachel looked over at Kate curiously.
"Allistaire Stuart, the Weird Happenings Orgaization," Kate
smiled slightly. "He ended up in charge, after they had absorbed Black
Air and then consolidated all the paranormal spy agencies in Britain,"
she explained.
Rachel nodded thoughtfully, remembering the WHO scientist that
Excalibur had worked with in the field. And whom had quite a crush on
her, too. "I can't quite see him as a spymaster," she admitted to Kate
quietly.
"Something he uses to his fullest advantage," Pete said as he
flipped his phone shut and tucked it away in his black suit coat. "He's
being mysterious again, says he has something to show me," he complained
irritably.
Kate looked at Rachel thoughtfully, then over at Pete. "Then
let's go pay him a visit," the metalic woman said with a shrug.
"What, now?" Pete blinked, then a slow smile spread across his
face.
Rachel nodded slightly, seeing that he had got it. "Having a
team teleporter comes in so handy," she said with a drawl.
Pete moved to lead them out of the bar when he paused and
gestured to the dragon, "Could we please leave that here?"
"Grrrr," Lockheed growled low in his throat.
"Pete," Kate chided him, "he's a little darling."
"I seem to remember that little darling trying to burn my pants
off once," Pete scowled, but didn't press the issue any farther.
Lockheed perched on Kate's shoulder and gave him a smug look.
She reached up to scratch behind it's ears and Lockheed gave a soft,
"Cooo!"
Rachel was dressed in a simple sweatshirt and jeans, much
different than what Pete was expecting considering her reputation.
Noticing his look she smiled slightly, "Cable convinced me to tone
things down just a bit."
"Too bad," Kate murmured softly, but Rachel didn't hear it over
the bar noise.
They went behind the pub to stand in a deserted alley. Rachel
took Lockheed in hand while Kate floated up slightly off the ground, and
energy began to radiate out of her mechanical form until a portal fully
formed before them.
"You know where we're going already?" Pete blinked.
"I visited it in the future," Kate said with a smile, "and I
know it wasn't moved after the ew organization was founded.
"Let's do this," Rachel said, holding Lockheed in her arms as
she leapt through.
Pete followed a bit more cautiously and Kate followed him,
collapsing the portal shut behind her. There was a sense of
displacement, a bright flare of light, and they dropped unceremoniously
right into Allistaire Stuart's office.
Thankfully, Pete fell onto the carpet, not on top of the desk.
Rachel descended smoothly, as did Kate, while Lockheed soared around the
room curiously.
"Sorry," Rachel smiled as she offered Pete a hand up, "I'll try
to soften your landing a bit the next time we do this."
"Gee, thanks," Pete sighed, rubbing at the small of his back. At
least he'd had a bit of beer back at the Wolfshead as a pain killer.
Allistair looked mildly shell shocked as he took them in. "Looks
like your team is starting to form," the brown haired former scientist
smiled. He spotted Rachel and his eyes widened.
"Hi, Allistaire," Rachel gave him a wave and a smile.
Allistaire blinked, noting the resemblace between Widget and
Kitty Pryde, and looked equally shaken. But Pete quickly jerked him back
into the here and now.
"You wanted to see me?" Pete asked him cooly. He still hadn't
forgiven the man for keeping some of the Black Air operations running,
and he wasn't quite sure how far to trust him.
"Yes," Allistaire tried to regain his focus, "we stumbled across
something from Black Air that might be of interest to you." He lead them
out of his office and down the hall, "For a while there were two Captain
Britains operating in the UK."
"Brian told me about that once," Kate said quietly, "his sister,
Elizabeth, wore an alternate universe Captain Britain's uniform. But she
was hurt, blinded, and gave up the identity."
"The uniform itself wasn't destroyed however," Allistaire
relayed cheerfully, "and apparently Black Air somehow acquired it."
"But I thought the suit had to be synched to a certain person to
work properly," Pete said with a frown.
"They've modified it somewhat," Allistair explained, "and we're
still figuring out just what they did do to it." They reached a door
which he keyed open, "Here we are."
Inside was a massive laboratory, modified to test the limits of
physical strength. The woman in the center was dressed in a uniform that
resembled the final costume Captain Britain had worn, mostly in black
with a simple Union Jack across the chest. She herself was slim but
muscular, and the costume seemed to fit her well.
Monitoring the hydrolic press that the woman was lifting against
a techitian reported, "We're nearing the fifty ton range. Any strain
yet?"
"Smooth as silk," the woman answered him calmly.
"Can we shut down the test?" Allistaire requested, adding
cheerfully, "Our guests are here."
The press was shut down, allowing the woman to step out from
under it. She pulled the simple black helm off, running her hands
through short blonde hair before walking over to their side. "My name's
Lisa Garrison," she offered her hand, "formerly of STRIKE and WHO."
"And when you're in the suit?" Rachel asked as she shook the
tall blonde's hand.
Lisa smiled slightly, "We were thinking of Britannia."
"Ms. Garrison," Pete nodded, obviously recognizing her from his
past.
"You've met?" Kate looked between the two of them curiously.
Lisa smiled slightly, "On opposite sides of a fight. We were
both after an artifact, he for Black Air and I for STRIKE. I got the
artifact, and a nifty little scar to remember him by." Surprisingly
there was no anger in her voice, as a professional she knew what the
risks were.
"You were good," Pete smiled slightly. He looked over at
Allistaire, "I guess you're proposing that Britannia here become a
member of Excalibur?"
"That's what I'd like," Lisa called his attention back to her
firmly. "I'm a free agent, not officially tied to WHO," she explained.
"Why'd they cut you loose?" Pete blinked.
"Because," and this time Lisa did sound angry, "my sexual
orientation makes me a security risk according to the Ministers."
Pete gave Allistaire a look, "Who's asinine idea was that?"
"Not mine," Allistaire scowled. He took a breath, "Lisa's good
at what she does, as well as being a patriot. I figured making her
Britannia would be a good way of keeping her in the game, as well as
being able to help your team."
As far as Pete could tell, Allistaire was telling him the truth.
He looked up to meet Lisa's eyes steadily, considering what she said.
She had come pretty damn close to killing him all those years ago, and
he knew just what she was capable of for her country. He looked over to
Kate and Rachel, then back to try and read her eyes.
"It ain't just my call to make, but as long as my teammates
don't object," Pete finally said, offering her his hand, "we'd be glad
to have you."
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