Jennifer Granger

"She's late…" Wraith snarls.  He glares down at his watch angrily.  "Too late.  Why do we rely on that snot-nosed, teenaged mutie?  She does nothing but lead us around by our ears…"

"Because I have connections and abilities that you have wet dreams about, Colonel," a soft voice says.  Wraith turns to see Jennifer Granger, better known as Boost, walk into the room with an armful of folders.  She has a large smile on her face.  "My mutant power lets me take away or boost up a mutant's ability, making them totally helpless or god-like, with a thought.  I can control an army of mutant for you without breaking a sweat.  That, sir, is why you rely on me."

Wraith clenches his fists.  "You're expendable, soldier."

Jennifer shakes her head.  "Not until you can manufacture my God-given ability, Wraith.  You want my list of recruits or not?"

Wraith snatches the folders from Jennifer, dropping most of them.  He is absolutely furious that he can't control her as he controls the mutants he already has in his possession.  His organization needs her abilities and the fact that she's already suicidal means that they have to give her what she wants, not threaten her life.  "Rogue, Juggernaut, Sabretooth, Nightcrawler… what is this garbage?"

"Codenames for your new field team, laughing boy," Jennifer says.  "Cain Marko, Victor Creed, Kurt Wagner, and Rogue doesn't have a real name.  These are what you'll be referring to them as while training, while beating, while urinating on them for all I care.  They're at your disposal."

"You've already got them?" Wraith asks, genuinely impressed.  "Recruiting" generally takes months of planning and more funds than are usually provided.

"Not yet," Jennifer says.  "I need a hand collecting these specimens.  I need someone with a bit of muscle to do this.  Juggernaut and Sabretooth are big boys."

Wraith nods.  "Fine.  We'll get you a team together…"

Jennifer holds up a hand.  "I've already got my eye on one kid who can help me.  She's a wandering nightmare.  Doesn't speak, doesn't move much… she's killing herself inwardly because not much else can.  She was chased out of town after her girlfriend was murdered right in front of her.  Apparently the bullet was meant for her and the girl took it.  Lousy part is, bullets can't hurt her anyway.  Been acting like that for almost a year."

"How do you plan on breaking her out of her self-imposed funk?" Wraith demands.  "I don't want any mistakes."

"I'm a professional, Wraith.  I don't let my recruits escape," Jennifer narrows her eyes.  "By the way, how is the search for Wolverine going?"

Wraith turns red with rage.  He whirls around and gets ready to attack Jennifer but she's already holding a gun to his head.  "You have a friendly face, Wraith.  Don't make me mess it up."

"Get out of my sight, Granger.  And get those mutants!"

A WEEK LATER:

            Jennifer, dressed in civilian clothing, wanders about New York seemingly aimlessly.  She looks down dark alleys nonchalantly and hums quietly to herself.  She's been searching for Donovan Milady for almost two weeks, reading the tabloids regarding "sightings" of a winged demon gliding over cities, sobbing.  The latest was in New York and Jennifer intends to find the young woman responsible.

            Donovan Milady is asleep in an alley as far away from the street as possible.  She is clutching a t-shirt tight against her chest.  There is blood on it.  It's the t-shirt that Mandy had been wearing the day she was shot.  Her sleep is tormented by nightmares of that day.  She cries out loudly, as though she is reliving the shooting over and over again in her mind.

            Jennifer hears the shout and turns into the alley.  She smiles when she finally finds the beast-like girl sleeping in the shadows.  "Morning, sunshine… wake up and face a brand new day!"

            Donovan jerks awake and leaps to her feet, holding the t-shirt protectively.  She stares at Jennifer menacingly.  "You wouldn't hurt a fly.  You just let the authorities take the man who shot your girlfriend.  And you know what happened then?  They let him go.  Self defense.  He was going after you and she just got in the way.  A terrible, tragic mistake that you'll be paying for all your life."

            Donovan growls viciously.  "How do I know all this, you ask?  I've been tracking you for a while.  I want to offer you my condolences and a solution to the life you lead."

            Jennifer snatches the t-shirt from Donovan's hands.  "This is in the past, honey.  You've got to move upward and onward.  You can help other mutants avoid the pain that you've gone through.  Maybe save other Mandy's."

            Donovan yanks the shirt back and glares at Jennifer.  She sees that the slightly older woman seems very sincere.  She stuffs the shirt into her pocket and nods once.  She'll go with Jennifer to help prevent her pain from ever being inflicted on anyone else.

A MONTH LATER:

            Caldecott County, Mississippi is a pretty little town.  Jennifer parks her black Dodge Ram 350 at a gas station and looks at Donovan, sitting in her human form next to her.  "You okay, kiddo?"

            Donovan shrugs and looks out the window.  She is holding a picture of Rogue in her hand.  She was supposed to be memorizing it for when they approached the girl.  Jennifer sees Mandy's t-shirt hanging from Donovan's belt.  "You're never going to move on if you hold onto that rag all the time, you know."

            Donovan gets out of the van and stalks away.  She knows what her job is and plans on doing it to the best of her ability.  She won't let anyone hurt like she did.  She heads to the gas attendant and holds up the picture.  "Her? Shoot, we ran her outta town a week ago.  The mutie freak tried t' kill Cody Robbins!  What d' ya want with her?"

            Donovan pats the holster at her hip, revealing a very powerful weapon.  She doesn't like the idea of lying to him, but his knowing that she wants to help the run away wouldn't help the situation at all.  The attendant chuckles.  "Huntin' season already, eh?  Well, she's just a young kid.  Can'ta gotten too far.  Check out by the woods an' fields.  Used t' hang out there a lot with the normal kids 'fore she changed."

            Nodding, Donovan heads back to the van.  Jennifer has just finished fueling up the vehicle and was stepping inside.  "What's the word?"

            After a second of silence, Jennifer sighs.  "We have got to work on your people skills.  When someone asks you a question, you generally answer with some kind of verbal response.  Anything?"

            Donovan points out to the woods.  Jennifer shakes her head.  "We're doing good, I guess.  I should have made you pump the gas.  At least I'll open my mouth to do more than cry at night."

            A slight growl makes Jennifer shut up.  Donovan pockets the picture of Rogue and starts to gently stroke the t-shirt.  It's a habit that Donovan often gets into when she gets very nervous, Jennifer's noticed.  She whines a bit when she does.  It gets annoying after she gets into the third hour or so.  Jennifer turns on the radio.  She begins to flip the channels.  "Damn.  Don't these hicks get anything but country stations?"

            Donovan notices a flash of movement from the trees and jumps out of the moving vehicle.  Jennifer stops the van immediately and hurries out to follow the mute girl.  "Hey!  You could  have said stop!  Or slow down.  Or something," she realizes that she's lost sight of her partner.  "Crap."