The SR-71 Blackbird. 10:30 A.M. EST.
As the selected team was leaving Westchester County and heading towards Dallas, Texas, where they would meet with Agent Gold first before setting up shop in the much smaller S.H.I.E.L.D. facility located in San Antonio, they had Elizabeth on conference call. "According to, and most probably specific to, the Mexican culture there, the legend of El Grande Rojo Cueva says that the cave itself is home to one of the devil's henchmen and he pries on those who are in solitude. He is weak when there is more than one, but almost as strong as the devil himself when a person is alone. I hope that helps, but I bet it only sheds light on the mindset of the Mexican people."
Scott said, "I wonder if our Mark and Reg believed the legend is true."
"They probably do now if they didn't before," Emma said. She wasn't exactly thrilled to be heading out to Texas, land of the hot sun – and rattlesnakes, she heard.
Elizabeth continued, "According to the file all of you have copies of, Mark and Regina Wilson were married less than a month ago and they traveled to many places in the Southwest for their honeymoon. The Big Red Cave was among the last of their stops before they were to settle in Chicago. They will be available for questioning for only the first couple of days – in person – that is, but if you do suspect them of foul play, obviously, S.H.I.E.L.D. can contain them."
"Right," Scott said, adding, "Though I doubt their involvement."
"As do I," Elizabeth agreed. "However, whatever happens down there, be careful. I know we weren't given much heads up, and that very well could be the reason why it feels this way, but I do think we're not being told something rather important."
Scott nodded, agreeing with her, again. "I think you're right. I'll let you know if we require any additional team members. Keep in touch."
"Will do, Scott." And with that, the conversation ended.
Turning to his team, Scott realized that he and Elizabeth weren't the only ones who suspected this case of the dead bird-man was only the least of their worries. Other than himself, and the newly deputized Dr. Hank Pym, he brought along only four other members: Emma, Jean Grey, Remy LeBeau and Ororo Munroe. Of course, if needed, Tony and S.H.I.E.L.D. would allow for more team members to accompany them, but Scott liked to live within means, and the more team members on the roster for each mission meant more money being spent accommodating them. Besides, he had a lot of faith in the ones he brought with him.
Hank, who had never ridden the SR-71 Blackbird, found it to be a beautiful piece of machinery, offering a comfortable ride. And since he had also never been on a mission before, he took clues from the other members on what seemed appropriate. Scott was reading through the mission report, but Hank had already done that, and with effective memorization skills he had acquired from his years in school, had no need to reread it.
The others, were all relaxing, perhaps. Maybe getting themselves mentally ready to handle the mission before them. He took out a magazine, and intended to read, but found himself unable to concentrate. His mind roamed instead, and he wondered if the snap decision he made was the right one. Janet, who he was causally seeing for a few months now, had given him the heads up, as she promised if ever there was a mission, and he seized the opportunity. After all, Texas was the home to the Atta texana, an ant only found in Texas and Louisiana, and one he had yet to study because of its geographical rarity. If by chance he wasn't cut out for mission work, the hopes of seeing the ant species would hopefully make up for things.
Dallas HQ. 12:45 P.M. Central.
They were met at the small terminal by a woman dressed in a pastel blue power suit, her dark blonde hair pulled back severely. She thrust a hand in Scott's direction and said, "Agent Melissa Gold. You must be Agent Scott Summers."
"It's a pleasure, Agent Gold," Scott replied, "This is my team," at each name, he pointed towards that particular person and Melissa shook each of their hands, "Dr. Jean Grey, Dr. Emma Frost, Agent Remy LeBeau, Agent Ororo Munroe and Dr. Henry Pym."
Melissa continued, going through the high points. "I'm supposing you've been briefed on our man-bird and also watched the video taped by the Wilsons. They are here, waiting to be further questioned. An Agent Mace has already taken a brief, preliminary statement. The cave in question – El Grande Rojo Cueva – is located in Jim Hogg County, which is why we'll need to station you in San An's base instead of ours. You'll have a charter plane, and the trip will be around two hours one-way, as opposed to over six if you were to travel from here." The way Agent Gold spoke of the state made them believe that she was one of the Texas residents that truly believed everything was bigger – and better – in Texas.
"Yes, we're aware of that," Scott said. "Will you be accompanying us to San Antonio?"
"If you need me, I'll fly out, yes," Agent Gold replied.
"Okay, my team has their orders. Is there anything else we need to know before we separate?"
"Well," Agent Gold said, and Scott, as well as his team, got that feeling that Elizabeth had hit the nail on the head, "There are other cases related to the cave that the locals may talk about. I'm sure it's myth, but it makes their little paper."
Scott had worked with his team members, or most of them, for long enough to know that a few of them were bristled by Agent Gold's tone. He said, in an effort to give her the benefit of the doubt, "We'll need to look at those other cases."
"Okay," she said slowly, wondering why on earth any local myth might be relevant to a mutated dead body. "I can fax you copies of anything about The Big Red Cave, probably by tomorrow afternoon."
"Make it sooner," Scott replied, and turning to his team, he said, "Change of plans. Jean, Pym, you're still doing the autopsy. Ororo and I will check out the cave. Emma, I want you and Agent Mace to further conduct the preliminary interview with Mark and Regina. Remy, stay here with Agent Gold and go through everything that came in about that cave."
Agent Gold felt as if she was being audited; for some reason her work would be meticulously leafed through by apparently a group of mutants who believed in legend. Now, she knew why some of the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who had worked with Tony's Avengers before never wanted to do it again.
Texas. En route to San Antonio. The Charter Plane. 1:25 P.M.
Scott, Jean, Hank and Ororo got on the small plane and began their four hour flight from Dallas to San Antonio. Probably before they arrived, Emma would have information for them, and perhaps, Remy, too. The information that they found would dictate what they would be doing next.
Scott turned to his team members and said, "Elizabeth was right, I guess. This death may be the worst that has happened in the cave, but it seems there's a lot more going on behind the scenes."
Ororo said, "I think the people of Jim Hogg County will be able to give us more than Agent Gold did."
"I have a feeling Agent Gold has a lot of information stored on in her files, though, information pertaining to this cave."
"People do love a good myth, don't they?" Ororo said. "And I've always thought there's a least some truth to all of them. How else would they get started?"
Scott, unlike Ororo's whimsical and somewhat superstitious nature, believed in concrete facts and not much else, but she did have a point. Even the most brutal of stereotypes or the most fanatical of ideas were very concrete in at least one person's mind. If that person was slick enough to convince others of the myth or the stereotype's sincerity or realness then they had effectively birthed that idea into subculture.
Jean remained stoically quiet – or at least on the outside. Inside, many things were running through her multifaceted mind. She wasn't exactly a superstitious person, but she tried to be open minded. After all, the stuff she had witnessed ever since she was ten years old had been anything but logical at times. Maybe there was some truth to the legend of El Grande Rojo Cueva. Maybe there were hundreds more that had fallen to the cave's legend. And if not, if it was all a hoax the people in Jim Hogg County, Texas used to get visitors and revenue for their county, then she would at least like to assist the medical staff in Texas in anyway she could. No one deserved to die, of natural causes or otherwise, without some sort of closure for those that cared for him or her. And if there was no one to care, then she would be that person.
