All eyes turned when the familiar sound and puff of dark smoke heralded the arrival of Nightcrawler. But the expectations were shattered a moment later. Nightcrawler wavered and collapsed to his knees, shaking his head slightly, and beside him Logan stumbled a bit. Behind Logan, Reid staggered and toppled over, and behind him… Morgan fell flat on his back. All four of them groaned.
"… You came back with an extra, I see." Said a dark skinned woman with white hair.
"It vas… unexpected, to say zee least…" Nightcrawler admitted, getting to his feet and rubbing his head.
"Get these things offa me!" Logan snapped, turning around to show his wrists encased in handcuffs.
"What did you do?!" Laughed a man with a red screened visor over his eyes. He raised his hand and adjusted the goggles, and a red beam shot out of them, blasting the handcuffs off of Logan. Logan then strode over to Reid, clasping his arms and pulling him to his feet. And then he looked down at Morgan, who was staring around with eyes wide and mouth agape.
"That was a dumbass move." He snorted, and Morgan struggled to his feet, looking past Logan to the crowd of people watching them.
"Nothing we can do about it now." Reid said firmly. "We have to move. And he'll just have to come along." And he grabbed Morgan's wrist and started tugging him towards the Blackbird. The others didn't even hesitate; they just boarded the jet. Morgan frowned, noting that they were all wearing uniforms like the one Logan wore, just with different style and flair.
"Whoa!" He blurted, putting on the breaks. "Whoa! These guys are… are…"
"The X-Men. Yes. Now calm down and come on!" Reid complained, tugging Morgan up the ramp.
"Reid, we—"
"You made your choice when you grabbed me, Morgan. I had everything under control!"
"Wait… you PLANNED this!"
"Minus you, yes." Reid said as they reached the top of the ramp and it closed behind them. Morgan stared around at all the mutants staring at him. "I'm not leaving Remy. Not now." And Reid moved to the side where Remy was. Morgan followed, if only to stick close to Reid. But he froze. Working on Remy was the red headed woman from the hospital and a great, big blue…
"… Furball?" Morgan asked weakly, looking at Logan as he passed.
"Yep." Logan nodded, moving up behind said "furball". "How's he lookin', Beast?"
"Stable, for now." The massive furry blue man said with a very cultured accent as he hung the bag of blood on a hook. "We're still going to keep him on a respirator for a time. But until we get home, he's going to have to breathe on his own."
"What if he stops?" Reid asked.
"Don't worry about that." The red haired woman said. "We're prepared for anything. If anything goes wrong, Nightcrawler can teleport us to the mansion, once we're close enough."
"I vill rest and focus." The teleporter announced, settling down into a seat. "So I am ready to do so if needed."
"Everyone strap in!" Called the white haired woman. Most of them obeyed.
"You heard Storm." The red head said, looking at Reid and Logan. They both hesitated, but sighed and moved to the seats lining the walls of the jet. Reid guided Morgan into following him. The man sat down and watched Reid buckle in, then did the same.
"Phoenix. You've got Gambit stable?" Called the man with the visor.
Morgan watched as Phoenix braced herself and lightly touched her temple with one hand, and Remy's bed with the other.
"Ready, Cyclops." She nodded.
"Take us home, Storm. Fast." Cyclops called, and the white haired woman nodded. Morgan clenched his fists as the jet roared to life and lifted off. Once they were airborne and flying smoothly, Beast unbuckled and joined Phoenix by Remy's bedside again. Reid sighed and began to relax. Then he noticed the others watching. And he smiled.
"Guys… I'd like you to meet my teammate, and best friend, Derek Morgan. Derek, you of course know who Beast is. That's Phoenix, Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler, Iceman, Colossus and Shadowcat." Morgan nodded to them, and they nodded back. "And of course, you know Logan is Wolverine." Logan snorted and pulled out a cigar.
"Don't you dare, Logan." Cyclops warned, glaring. Logan paused, glared back, and put it away.
"Where are we going?" Morgan asked Reid, quietly.
"To the headquarters of the X-Men." Reid responded. "They have a state of the art medical facility there, specifically designed for the medical treatment of a variety of mutants. When we get there, you can call Hotch so he knows we're okay. And we can see how bad the situation is…"
"No offense, Reid, but what you did was stupid."
"Not nearly as stupid as your screw up." Reid snapped back, frowning. "Between the two of us, I'm at least here intentionally."
"Which is stupid! These people are criminals, Reid!"
"We can discuss this later." Reid said firmly. "Right now, all you have to know is that I trust them with my life. Just as I would trust you."
Morgan frowned at Reid, but then sighed and relaxed back in his seat.
Their arrival was anticipated, and well attended. Apparently, Phoenix had "called" ahead and a lot of worried people were there. When they brought Remy down the ramp, a woman rushed forwards with a sharp cry of "REMY! Oh mah God… hold on, sugah…" Other people gathered and stared in horror, and some in obvious fury, when Remy was brought by.
"Move aside, this is no time for gawking!" Beast commanded. More than a little nervous at all of the mutants around him, Morgan stuck close to Reid, who seemed completely unconcerned with anything beyond Remy.
But then, the most shocking event of the day happened.
'Welcome, Agent Morgan. I am pleased to meet you. Spencer speaks very highly of you.'
To say that Morgan was startled was an understatement. He shot nearly three feet into the air with a strangled yelp, and toppled back into a very broad, powerful chest.
"Easy, my friend." Colossus said in a deep voice, his large hands steadying Morgan, who jumped away, looking around, alarmed, and then moved closer to Reid.
"What the hell is going on here, Reid?!"
"What?" Reid asked.
"I'm hearing voices, man!"
"Oh. Man or woman?"
"Man."
"Oh." Reid said, smiling and nodding. "What did he say."
"He… he said he was glad to meet me and you spoke highly of me."
"Then the polite thing to do would be to respond that it's nice to meet him too." Reid announced, cheerfully. Morgan gave him a look, and Reid sighed and shook his head. "It's the Professor."
"Wait… THE Professor?! The one that helped you?"
"Yes. This is his school." Reid said as they entered the MedLab. Morgan shuffled to the side and stood with his back to the wall, watching as Reid, Logan, Phoenix and the "Beast Dude", as Morgan was referring to him mentally, got together around the gurney.
"Phoenix? Please?" Beast asked.
"Yes." She nodded, and held out her hand, narrowing her eyes in concentration. Morgan's eyes widened when Remy's body suddenly rose into the air, floated a couple of feet to the right, and then came down to rest on a proper hospital bed.
"Rogue, remove that, please." Beast commanded, and the woman who had been so upset upon their arrival did as she was told.
"… Is he gonna be okay?" She asked.
"We're going to do our best, young lady, but for now, all we can do is wait." Beast said calmly. "Now, I need all non-essential personnel out, please." And he shot a glare at all the faces in the doorway. Reluctantly, they did as they were told.
Finally, it was just Morgan, standing awkwardly against the wall and watching Phoenix, Beast, Reid and Logan help get Remy all set up. Reid was hanging the bag of fluids, while Logan set up the blood pack to continue Remy's transfusion. Phoenix was making sure that all of the lines were still clear and in place, while Beast put Remy back on the respirator, saying "we need to take as much off of his body as we can, so that all his energy can go towards regenerating his BioKinetic Energy and healing…"
"… BioKinetic Energy?" Morgan asked from the wall. Reid glanced up and gave his friend a slight smile.
"It's his mutation. One of them, at least…" He said. "Remy can tap into the potential dormant energies in an inorganic object, and then convert it to kinetic energy."
"… What?" Morgan asked, making a face.
"The Cajun makes shit blow up by touching it." Logan snorted.
"… It's a bit more complex and elegant than that." Reid sighed, rolling his eyes.
"He touches something and, in his words, it go boom. Simple." Logan argued.
"You're telling me that he can… turn anything into a… a…"
"A bomb?" Logan asked, then smirked. "Yep."
"Not quite. I'll explain in more detail later, Morgan." Reid sighed, shaking his head as he settled the bedsheet over Remy's body, and then moved to stand at his shoulder and stare down at his face. A pained look appeared as he reached out and gently brushed his knuckles over the darkly bruised cheek. Logan turned and gripped Reid's shoulder, fixing a sad look on his face.
Then, the door opened and two men entered. Morgan eyed them. One was Cyclops, though he was now in civilian attire; khaki slacks, a dark blue button down shirt and broad glasses with red-pink lenses. The man with him was in a wheelchair, and fully bald. The man in the wheelchair headed straight over to the bed, a look of upset concern on his face as he looked over Remy.
"Well?" He asked.
"He's in bad shape, Professor." Phoenix murmured, injecting medication into one of the ports on Remy's IV.
"Indeed…" Beast said, peering through a pair of reading glasses as he looked over the medical chart that Phoenix had pilfered from the hospital. "But given his BioKinetics, barring any complications, I do believe that our Cajun friend will recover. That is not to say that he will be 100%... some of these injuries could be lasting…"
"What do you mean?" Cyclops asked.
"Both of his hands and both of his ankles were all but shattered." Beast said, turning and tapping at a keyboard. A moment later, and a wide bar dropped out of the ceiling and passed over Remy's body. X-Ray images of the man's body appeared on a large screen. "See?" Beast said, tapping the areas in concern. "His right hand looks okay, but I will not lie. I am concerned for his left hand. And his left leg is a very nasty break. He's going to have to take it easy through his recovery and go slow. And… we all know how he will take to that."
"The idiot's going to go on a larceny binge when he's cleared…" Cyclops sighed, pushing up his glasses and rubbing his eyes as if trying to stave off a headache.
"I have faith that Gambit will recover." Phoenix said, firmly. "I'm more concerned about the psychological damage."
"Why?" Scott asked. "After all he's been through…"
"The abuse he suffered at the hands of these men…" Phoenix said softly, shaking her head and wrapping her arms around herself. "Extended to sexual abuse."
The room was silent. Cyclops and Xavier just stared, stunned. Beast kept his features neutral, but fury broiled in his eyes. Logan was looking murderous, and Reid just looked… sad.
"Maybe… maybe he wasn't… conscious?" Reid finally offered, weakly.
"You know better than that…" Morgan found himself saying, and all eyes turned to the one human in their midst. Reid gave him an agonized look, and he winced. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have…"
"It's okay. I know." Reid nodded. "Uh… Derek? This is…
"You would know me as Professor X. I am Charles Xavier. Welcome to our home." The man in the wheelchair said. Spencer looked a bit startled that the man had given Morgan his real name.
"Agent Morgan." Cyclops greeted, offering an open smile and nod as they shook hands. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I wish this were under different circumstances." Morgan nodded back, and Xavier sighed and bowed his head slightly.
"As do I. But as Remy would tell us were he awake, we must play the hand we were dealt."
"Remy would also tell us to always make sure we have an Ace up our sleeve." Logan snorted, and the others smiled when he tacked on a barely audible "damn cheater…" But then they all turned to the comatose mutant.
"I know we all have a lot more on our minds, but… I seem to have two FBI Agents in this school." Xavier sighed.
"Agents that, as far as the Bureau knows, were abducted and are being held unwillingly." Reid nodded, and Cyclops pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fortunately, that can be easily rectified."
"How?" Cyclops asked.
"We call our boss." Morgan said with a shrug. "And tell him that's not the case."
Hotch was more than a bit on edge. Of course, he wouldn't let anyone see it. Not that he could ever fool one infuriating David Rossi… But now, he and his team were sat in separate rooms, being interviewed by Agents from the Boston Field Office in regards to the escape of two wanted mutants, and the abduction of two Agents. Strauss was here, and Hotch knew things were going to get a lot harder. The team had finally been allowed to gather, and were now facing down Strauss, her boss, Unit Chief Perry (another BAU Team) and the head of the Boston Field Office.
Detectives Sanders and McKennon had eagerly spilled the beans. One of the escaped mutants had been seen with the team on numerous occasions, and seemed to personally know one of the Agents on the team… one of the two who had disappeared. The term Double Agent had been thrown out… Reid had officially been accused of being a spy by the two detectives. The team had been outraged.
But now, it was time to face the music…
"Agent Hotchner." Strauss said, her tone hard. "The accounts of events that you and your team have given, don't completely mesh with some of the Detectives. And this needs to be addressed. You need to come clean. You need to tell us about this… mutant you were apparently working with."
"I honestly can't say much." Hotch admitted. "We know he was connected to the last victim."
"And to Agent Reid, apparently."
"… Apparently." Hotch sighed, nodding.
"Were you aware that Agent Reid was consorting with known members of a mutant terrorist faction?"
"… Not until this case." Hotch said. "And… Agent Reid firmly denies that their activities can be classified as terrorism."
Strauss opened her mouth to respond but at that moment, Hotch's phone went off. He dug it out.
"It's Morgan…"
The response was immediate. Within three rings, Hotch's phone was plugged into a speakerphone, and a TA was preparing a trap and trace. At Strauss' nod, Hotch answered.
"Morgan?"
"Hey Hotch."
"Where are you? Are you alright? Where's Reid?"
"I'm fine. Reid's right here next to me,"
"Hi, Hotch."
"And… We don't know where we are."
"Agent Morgan…"
"… Chief Strauss." Morgan greeted.
"What do they want?" She asked.
"Nothing." Morgan answered, and then Reid piped up, "Taking us was unintentional. And they do not intend to hold us hostage or for ransom. They've already offered to bring us back."
Everyone looked confused at that. At the silence, Reid continued.
"All they want is to take care of their own. The victim is a friend of theirs, and they don't trust his care to outsiders."
"And why not?" Strauss asked.
"You're kidding, right?" Morgan asked. "All due respect, Chief Strauss, but mutants face nothing but hostility, hatred and bigotry day in and day out. The first doctor that tended to the victim, had to be threatened with a Malpractice Lawsuit just to get him to treat him enough just to stabilize him. He was prepared to let the victim die. Just because he was a mutant. You should have seen how many of the cops were openly hostile to the idea of stopping the killers, once they found out the victims were mutants… Now, I don't exactly trust mutants myself. But seeing all of this, well… I don't blame them. These people we're with, doing what they've done… They do it out of self preservation. They literally have no other choice but to fight, and hide, all for their own survival."
The room was silent as Morgan's words were digested. Back at the Xavier School, Reid was giving the man a grateful look, as were the X-Men who were present and listening in. Morgan smiled back at Reid and gripped his shoulder, then turned his attention back to the phone when Hotch called "when are they bringing you back?"
"Actually, sir, they're not." Reid answered. "Morgan and I have elected to stay for a few days."
"What?!" Strauss blurted.
"The victim is still unconscious. And we'll need his statement." Morgan explained. "They've offered to bring us home, but have made it abundantly clear that it's a one-way ticket. Once we leave, there's no coming back. And they aren't going to maintain communication. The victim will NOT come in. None of them will."
"The only way we're getting the victim's statement is if we're here when he wakes up." Reid concluded. "Morgan and I are staying here, willingly, so that when the victim wakes, we can get it. And as soon as we have his statement, they'll bring us home."
"How do we know they can be trusted." Chief Strauss asked.
"You have my word." Came a third voice.
"Who is this?" Rossi asked.
"I'm called Cyclops. Field Leader of the X-Men. I apologize for the alarm we caused, taking your agents like that. It wasn't planned. Things happened a bit too quickly. Our only intention was to bring home our own people. We were just as startled as I'm sure you were, when they landed in our laps. But we have no desire to harm Agents Reid and Morgan. We just want to make sure no harm comes to our own. And we want this situation resolved as peacefully as possible."
"Then release our Agents and agree to bring in the victim when he is able." Strauss said.
"With all due respect…" Cyclops responded. "I think we all know that he would never come home. You would never let him. He stays here. If you want your interview with him, then it's done here. I'm not risking my people any more than I have to. Your Agents have discussed it with us, and we are all satisfied with this arrangement. Should you not approve, I will bring them home today. We have no quarrel with you, and we are grateful to you for the life of our friend. But I will do nothing to put it at risk again."
"You know I cannot negotiate with a terrorist group." Strauss said, and there was a laugh.
"This isn't a negotiation," Cyclops said. "You tell me to bring them back, I will. But you'll have to make your case without a statement. As it is, you'd probably have to make the case without your latest victim anyway. It's not like he'll appear to testify in court, and you could never subpoena him. You don't know who he is or where he is. As it is, you won't even know if he survives his injuries, because once I drop off your Agents, all communication will cease."
"I think we all know that's a lie." Strauss said, and Hotch held up a warning hand, looking tense. She frowned, but bit back what she was going to say.
"Morgan." Hotch called. "Reid. Thoughts?"
"They're trustworthy." Morgan called.
"Alright then." Hotch nodded. "But I want you to check in every day."
"You got it." Morgan said, and the call ended. Everyone turned to look at the Technical Analyst.
"Nothing. The signal was scrambled." He sighed. "They could have been calling from the moon for all I know."
Hotch just frowned… he wasn't sure it was safe for Reid to come home… hell… he knew it wasn't…