Scott took a sip of his coffee and ground his back molars as they came up the restaurant. The cheap vinyl squeaked against the leather of Remy's trenchcoat as he slid in across from the two detectives.

"Kid, I want you to meet Robert Lord," Scott kept his eyes low and grunted. "Ignore my partner. He's new and kind of upset I didn't roll out the red carpet for his promotion." Bishop and Remy shared a quick laugh.

The table shook, slightly.

"Is that so? Well, he looks a little soft, " Remy grinned and ordered a cup of coffee, while Bishop walked toward the restroom, muttering something about "cheap dime-store meat." The two were quiet, content to let the sounds of others' problems wash over them. The coffee came and Scott listened as Remy stirred the sugar and the spoon tapped against the mug.

"So, Robert, you known Bishop long?"

"Bishop and I go back a ways. Bout three years now, I'd have to say."

"Well, we ran together in the same group for a bit. Kinda funny, we didn't get a long at all. I thought he was an uptight prick and me, well, I'm guessin' my reputation met him long before I did," He waved the waitress over and ordered a coffee, then began poking through a menu as he resumed his story. "Now, we ain't do too much at first, but we run into some trouble the first mission we go on. After that, he found out his girlfriend been experimented on by his mentor and he left the same day. Nobody around there seen or heard from him in three years until the day Robert Lord find himself sitting across the table from him." Scott stared with his mouth slack.

"Well, that's…nice. I'm…glad you two were able to work together."

"Don't bullshit, Summers." The name lingered.

"What are you doing here?" Scott finally asked.

"Running into ghosts, apparently."

"Don't be cute."

"Bishop asked me for breakfast. He know about-"

"No."

"No? How you get detective so quick and they don't know about your little exploits?"

"My winning personality." The table shook, and a fork fell to the floor.

"Come on, tell me."

"I was called on a coke bust about three months ago. Just me and another guy, supposed to be an easy take down, right? Reported as a guy dealing out of an apartment, nothing serious? Well, turns out it's not one guy, it's four, and they're all loaded, completely coked out. We knock on the door and announce ourselves and they start shooting, clipped the other officer twice, once in the shoulder," Scott gestured. "And once in the knee. I managed to keep him alive and took out three of the four in the apartment. The last guy slipped out the fire escape. I took after him, chased down the alley way for about a mile, finally took him down and alive. Turned out he was wanted for three murder-for-hires, one of which was a judge."

"Impressive. You got every right to be proud."

"Well-" Scott's reply was swallowed up by the explosion. It ripped through the restaurant, toppling booths and spraying glass over patron and worker alike. It all went black.

Several miles away, Wanda and TJ were in the car, approaching New York. Stuck in rush hour traffic, they had for some time felt the aftershocks and heard the booming in the distance.

"What is that? Feels like an earthquake." Talia roused from her slumber.

"It can't be an earthquake. It's been going on for a while."

"Oh no," Tj slammed her hand on the armrest. "Sounds like a job for the X-men!" She said before breaking down in a series of giggles. Wanda rolled her eyes, and her phone buzzed in her pocket. She took it out, and her jaw dropped at the news. She glanced behind her once and then pulled the car out into the breakdown lane. She gunned hard, the buzz of the rumble strip was loud, and she took the first exit she could.

"So..."

"Did I call it? I called it, didn't I?"

"Shut up. You won't believe what's just happened. He's just going to be lucky it's me getting there first."

Scott came to under a fog. Dust clung heavy to the stench of spilled food and blood that floated through the air. He felt the sting of blood in his eyes as he pushed himself to his feet. He brought a hand to his head and it came back wet and red. Outside Several feet away, Remy brushed himself off. Scott could see a large red welt beginning to form near his temple.

"What the hell just happened?" Bishop came running out from the bathroom, gun already drawn. The two were silent for a moment; in the distance they could hear another explosion in the distance. Closer, survivors began to moan and cry under the rubble. Beside Remy, Scott noticed their server, crushed under a table and gushing blood onto the tiles.

"I have no idea.

"It's just one person," Remy was at the gaping maw that had once been the entrance. 'What y'all waitin' for?" He ran, and Bishop and Scott followed quickly, leaping over upturned tables as they chased Remy's billowing coat.

"Wait, Lebeau, you can't just run after a bomber!" Bishop tripped on an upturned piece of concrete, falling into a fast growing puddle under a gushing fire hydrant. Scott helped him to his feet, the two soaked in an instant. The chilled morning air hit both of them like a slap. They took shelter under the nearest awning where Remy had already hid.

A few hundred feet away, the figure brought his hands out, another explosion. The motion revived a dead memory in Scott's head. He stared at the figure in the distance, trying to make out a facial feature. He recognized the gesture, and could even put a face and name to it. But he pushed that thought out of his head, because for him to admit that would mean lightening had struck twice.

"You two law keepers got anything planned? This seems to be more your territory."

"Remy, who does that look like?"

"Remy? Who the hell is Remy?"

"Who, the bomber? He looks like a bomber."

"Don't give me shit, this is serious!"

"You lied about your name? Shit, I knew you were fishy, I fucking knew it! Why I don't listen to my gut I'll never know." It was a scene of mass confusion, despite a dangerous attacker only a few hundred feet from them. It was then that Wanda and Talia came around the bend, Wanda's fists were already a nasty blue.

"Scott?" She dropped her hands immediately.

"Wanda? Tj? What are you doing here?"

"This is no place for civilians. You ladies are going to have to get out of here."

"Xavier called. That's Lance over there, but his powers are going apeshit. My words, not his."

"Lance Alvers? Yea, I guessed. What else?"

"Not much. We're all that's coming for now though. The rest of them are off on some mission with the Fantastic Four."

"Well, I'm not involved with that. As far as I'm concerned, this is the responsibility of the NYPD." Another explosion rocked the ground, they felt the pavement groan and glass shatter and rain to the street. Above, news helicoptors buzzed, quicker than ambulances or aid.

"We've got more pressing issues, we can deal with this later. We need to take that guy down, now." Bishop growled.

"Look, I used to know him, real well. Let me try to talk to him."

"He don't look like he's in any mood to talk." Remy said, and Scott could see him checking out Tj with sly glances. If she noticed, she made no attempt to stop him.

"No, we try it," Scott said. "I'll go in behind in case you need backup. I assume you've been trained." Scott gestured toward the X patch on her shirt, half-hidden by her coat.

"Yea, I can handle myself."

"Hold on, newbie. You're going to let a civilian act as a terrorist negotiator?"

"Hey, copper, I think I can do this." Wanda yelled as she fired of a hex bolt in Lance's direction.

"You got a problem with mutants?" Bishop grinned, then made a fist. It began to glow a deep red.

"The opposite, actually. Now I know why they paired you up with me."

Scott shot Bishop a grin, then darted off, coming to a stop behind a bus on its' side. He kept a steady hand on his glasses as Wanda came to Lance's side.

"Lance? It's Wanda, you remember?" He turned to her, his face slack and his eyelids heavy and drooped. His breath was ragged and he smelled of body odor. He showed no recognition of her but he paused in his movements. He seemed to be only dimly aware of any outside stimuli. Gently, she lay a hand on his shoulder. He cocked his head, and collapsed to the pavement. Scott ran from his position.

"What happened?"

"I have no idea. He looked drugged."

"H was never able to anything of this magnitude before. He never attempted it either."

"I lost touch with him the day he moved out of that crapshack."

"Lady," Bishop came from behind with Remy and TJ in tow. "I don't know what the hell you just did but half of Manhattan owes you a thanks. Now, how's about we all get comfortable, wait for backup, and we start talking about what's going on and just who all of you are."

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